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Chapter 69: Port Town Orb – Seven Seas Of Rhye

—Three days later.

Our Viking fleet, consisting of three ships, sailed westward from the trading city of Livonia.

「I see it!」

Gauch, standing at the prow, shouted loudly.

Everyone craned their necks to look ahead.

It was the Barbar inlet!
A wide sandy beach, and a rocky area visible a bit off in the distance.

The Viking ships slid up onto the sand.

「All right! Get to it!」

At my command, the soldiers of the Barbar Mercenary Force began unloading the Viking ships.
Gold and spoils of war were carried off one after another.

Balta, chieftain of the Kiritai tribe, disembarked with his horse.

「Oho! So this is Barbar’s territory!」

「That’s right. This is the northernmost port. Further south, the tribes live in villages.」

When I answered, Balta stared silently toward the far-off forest.

「I can sense beasts.」

「Monsters. They’re stronger than animals, so don’t provoke them needlessly.」

「I see. I’ll keep that in mind.」

To sense the presence of monsters from this distance, his instincts are sharp.
Impressive.

At the coast, work on expanding the port was underway.
Barbar laborers carried wooden stakes they had cut, and Great Lizardfolk entered the sea to drive the stakes into the seabed.
Barbar men, skilled with their hands, connected planks between the stakes to complete the pier.

「Oho! It’s coming along nicely!」

Uncle Athos cheerfully gazed out over the pier under construction.
Compared to modern-day Japan before my reincarnation, it was primitive, but even a simple wooden pier makes a huge difference.

「With this, merchant ships will be able to dock right at the pier. We’ll be able to attract ships from other nations.」

「Yeah! It’s only three days from Livonia! Even slow ships should make it in six!」

Close to Livonia, and easily accessible from northern countries too.
As a trading port, the location isn’t bad at all.

「Truth be told, I’d love for us to have a trade monopoly here…」

「Don’t be greedy, Gaia. It’s hard enough just to prepare our own ships. Having ships from other countries come here is faster. And besides, it’s important to spread the benefits to other nations.」

Spreading the benefits, strengthening ties with other nations through trade, raising Barbar’s presence, and increasing the number of allies.
As expected of Uncle Athos.

「You’re right. You make a good point, Uncle Athos. For now, we should focus on attracting foreign merchant ships while building up our own fleet.」

「Mm!」

Uncle Athos nodded in satisfaction.

Voices called out from the rocky area.

「Hey! Time to get to work already!」

A young man with curly black hair from the Brumund tribe stood among the rocks.
He was Diaz, the foreman.

Diaz had taken charge during house construction using logs.
He wasn’t quite a master carpenter, but he was good at planning and had a knack for construction, so we’d put him in charge of port development.

A problem, maybe?

Uncle Athos and I headed toward Diaz, who stood with arms crossed among the rocks.

「Diaz! What’s up?」

「Ah, Gaia! You’re back! Hey, can you talk to the Lizardfolk for me? There’s some of them going fishing, and it’s causing issues.」

「Fishing?」

Diaz pointed from the rocks out toward the sea.

The sea was clear.
Something was moving beneath the surface.

What was that?

As Uncle Athos and I peered down from the rocks into the water, the underwater shadow grew larger.
With a splash and a dramatic noise, something emerged from the sea.

「Phew.」

It was a Great Lizardwoman.
Then, more Great Lizardwomen appeared from beneath the water.
There were five of them.

「Oh my! Gaia! You’re back?」

「Yeah, we just docked. What were you doing underwater?」

「Fishing.」

「Fishing? Free diving?」

「That’s right. There’s a lot of catch around here! It’s a great fishing spot!」

Looking closer, the Great Lizardwoman was holding big turban shells in both hands.

「Ah! Turban shells! Those are tasty!」

「Really?」

The Great Lizardwoman tilted her head.
Right, Lizardfolk eat everything raw.

「They’re better grilled.」

「Huh! Is that so?」

Grilled turban shells.
Back in modern Japan, I’d eaten them on trips to the sea.
Grilled, with just a dash of soy sauce.

They were delicious.

Diaz tapped my shoulder with a finger.

「Hey! Gaia! Listen up! These Lizardwomen keep diving into the sea instead of working!」

「They’ve got to eat, don’t they? Fishing’s still a proper job.」

The Lizardwomen tilted their heads, looking genuinely confused.

The Great Lizardfolk live in wetlands.
They dive into ponds and rivers to catch fish to eat.
They may be humanoid, but they have aquatic traits.

They move freely underwater, so we leave the job of driving stakes into the seabed to them.
Diaz likely wants to speed up the construction by putting the women to work too.

Still…

「Hmm… Diaz, the Lizardfolk just want to fish. Let them off the hook a little.」

「You sure?」

「Yeah, it’s fine.」

Lizardfolk are strong, but not particularly smart.
They’re fickle, too.
If we forbid them from fishing and they throw a tantrum, that’s just trouble.

Have them drive stakes into the seabed, and when they get bored, let them go fishing.
That kind of flexible approach probably suits the Lizardfolk best.

I explained my thinking to Diaz.

「Huh, is that how it is? Well, I get that the Lizardfolk are a bit moody. All right, I’ll manage them.」

「Thanks. I know it’s a pain, but I’m counting on you.」

「Got it. I mean, they’re the only ones who can move like that underwater. They work at least twice as fast as we do. If they go fishing now and then, it’s not a big deal.」

「Exactly. Let’s go with that policy.」

「Understood!」

Diaz showed a refreshed smile.

「Hey, Gaia! Let’s eat some turban shells!」

A Lizardwoman called to me.

They’d lit a fire among the rocks and were tossing turban shells directly into the flames.
Brutally bold cooking!

Steam spurted from gaps in the shells.
They looked ready.

「I don’t like these. They’re gritty and bitter,「 a Lizardwoman grumbled.

「You’ve gotta remove the sand sac and the innards.」

「Sand sac? Innards?」

「Watch this.」

I pulled a turban shell from the fire.
Recalling the grilled turban shells I’d eaten back in Japan, I got to work.

I drew my knife from my belt, jammed the tip into the shell, and twisted.
With a slick pull, I extracted the flesh.

Uncle Athos grimaced.

「Looks pretty gross…」

「Yeah, it’s not the prettiest, but it’s good. This part is the sand sac. This is the innards. If you don’t like the grit or bitterness, just cut them off.」

I sliced off the sand sac and innards with my knife.
The bitterness of the innards can be good, but for people who can’t take it, this makes it easier to eat.

The Lizardwomen watched my hands closely.

I tossed the cleaned turban meat into my mouth.

「Ahh! Delicious!」

The taste of the sea, wild and earthy!
So good!
A true seaside treat!

The Lizardwomen and Uncle Athos copied me and tried the cleaned turban shells.

「Ah! This is good!」

「You’re right! Not bitter!」

「No grittiness at all!」

「Oh! I need some booze with this!」

Then I had an idea.

Why not make grilled turban shells a specialty of the port of Barbar?

I gave the Lizardwoman a suggestion.

「Merchants from other countries will start coming to this port. If you sell grilled turban shells, you’ll have a good business.」

「We can make money? That’s great!」

「Sell them for a high price. If you overharvest them, the shells will disappear. Keep the quantity low and raise the price.」

「Got it.」

「Also, cook them thoroughly. Humans have weaker stomachs than Lizardfolk. If they eat bad shells or ones that aren’t cooked through, they’ll get sick. Be careful.」

「I’ll feed ‘em to Diaz and learn how to cook them right.」

「Hey, don’t test them on me!」

Diaz protested with exaggerated gestures.
Laughter echoed among the rocks.

Uncle Athos swallowed a turban shell and showed a satisfied smile.

「Hey, Gaia. What’ll we name this port? Turban Shell Port?」

A name for the port…
We’ll be inviting foreign merchant ships, so it’s time we had one.
Turban Shell Port is a no-go.

After some thought, I proposed a name.

「How about ‘Orb’?」

‘Orb’ means ‘dawn’ in the Barbar tongue.
Barbar uniting as one, using this port to grow, advancing from a dark age into a bright one.

That was the thought behind the name.

「Dawn…! That’s a fine name! Then let’s call this place Orb!」

「Port town Orb! I like it!」

Uncle Athos and Diaz both sensed the meaning in the name and were fired up.

I clenched my fist tightly.

「That’s right! Port town Orb! From this town, Barbar’s dawn begins! We’ll conquer the Seven Seas and make the name Barbar known across the world!」

「「Yeah!!」」

Uncle Athos and Diaz joined me in cheering.

The Lizardwomen didn’t really get it, but they were all smiles, enjoying the atmosphere.

「Wow! There are seven seas?」

「Then there must be lots of turban shells!」

「So many delicious things to look forward to!」

…Crap. I don’t actually know how many seas there are in this world.
But hey, there’s a lot, so let’s just say seven!