Chapter 11 – I turned around and saw an old man!
"Ah!!"
The goblins all shouted in horror.
The ship had capsized…
And we could already see close to a dozen faces sticking out of the water.
"O-oh no…most of them can't even swim."
Erevan said frantically. But it was clear that he didn't know what to do, and so he couldn't move.
However, Rienna alone ran to the boat.
"We can save them with the boat!!"
Upon hearing this, Baris and Erevan started to move towards her.
But could they save all of the goblins in such a small boat?
That being said, we couldn't just do nothing…
If only Cave King had a feature… No, there was nothing that would help me save them.
In that case…
I decided to use Crystal x 8879 in my Inventory.
I had forgotten to use them recently and so they had stocked up quite a bit.
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Only magic could help them in this situation.
And so I raised my right hand to the ship.
And then the goblins turned to look at me in surprise.
Erevan questioned me frantically.
"Chi-chief? What are you doing!?"
"If they can't swim, you'll never make it in time by boat… I'm going to help them with magic."
But what magic…? There was only one.
"Freeze!!!! Huh!?"
A burst of white, cold air rushed from my hand.
It went straight forward, freezing the water…
And the entire area around the capsized ship.
"Wh-what?!"
Baris raised his voice in surprise.
Rienna and Erevan were also shocked.
Hey, I was pretty shocked too.
I looked at my right hand in disbelief.
I had stopped it, but I felt as if I could have kept going…
So this was the power that the crystals gave me…it was incredible.
However, this was no time to be thinking about that.
"Let's go!! Taran and Shiel! All of you, come with us!!"
I started to run over the ice.
The goblins, slimes, and Cave Spiders all joined the rescue team.
"Hurry!! Ah…!"
But since the goblins kept slipping and falling, Taran carried them on its back and headed towards the ship.
When we arrived, I saw that some of the goblins had been able to pull themselves up onto the ice.
But there were many others who were still floating in the water.
There was no time to lose. I quickly gave out the orders.
"Taran, shoot your webs towards the goblins!"
And so Taran and the spiders shot their webs out to the water.
The floating goblins then moved towards them and grabbed them desperately.
However, there were some who were unable to reach the webs by themselves.
They were probably wounded or ill.
"Shiel. Can you do what you always do!? You other slimes too."
I said. And then Shiel turned into a boat.
The other slimes followed Shiel's lead.
"You guys, go and help those who can't move!"
"Yes!"
And so the goblins and I put the slime boats on the water and jumped into them.
And like that, we were able to save all of the goblins.
"Phew. For a second, I wasn't sure what was going to happen back there…"
We had returned to the shore after saving everyone.
As I went around and treated the injured and sick goblins with healing magic, Rienna gathered together the healthy goblins and started to cook some fish.
As for Erevan, he went and talked to each one.
Perhaps the small goblin he was talking to now was a family member because he was shedding tears as they embraced.
"Fu! I'm so glad that you're alive!! I knew that we would meet again!"
"Fa-father…could you let go of me?"
While Erevan's face was contorted with tears, Fu looked very confused.
Just as I had finished treating the last goblin, Baris walked up to me.
I had asked Taran and the other Cave Spiders to use their webs to pull the capsized boat to the shore.
Baris had been checking on the supplies that were on the ship, as well as finding out what other damage had been done.
"Lord Heal. Thanks to you, none of the goblins were drowned. All 203 of them are safe. I do not know how I can thank you…"
"No, no. I'm just happy that everyone is safe."
"Yes. On top of that, because of your healing magic, one of the gravely ill goblins who could not even walk previously has now regained his health completely. How did you…"
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"It's just magic called Recover and Cure… Uh, it was thanks to my magic energy, I guess."
Recover was for strength and any internal damage. Cure was for poison and sicknesses.
And their effectiveness was based on your energy.
As I had already used over ten thousand crystals, I seemed to have acquired an immense amount of energy.
Otherwise, I would not have been able to freeze the sea like that.
"By the way, how were the supplies?"
"I am ashamed to say this, but we were always poor. That ship was made with the last of our meager savings. So we only have a minimum amount of food and tools."
"I see… Well, you still got a ship of this size."
It was a wonder that the thing could even float. However, we could also think of it as acquiring a lot of wood materials.
And so I looked at Baris and continued.
"Besides…I'm glad to see that the island is so much more lively now."
"We will try not to get in your way, Lord Heal. And if it is your wish, allow them to serve you as well."
"I don't mind… But, only those who want to. I'll think of a way to help those who want to leave."
"That will not happen…they must all serve you. …But more importantly, and I've been wondering about this for a while now, who is that person behind you?"
"Huh?"
I turned to see the person that Baris was looking at.
A very portly old man was standing there. In terms of height, he reached my waist.
He had a great mustache and beard…and was completely naked.
Uh? Who the hell was this guy?
"Um, I don't know either. Maybe he was on the goblin ship?"
"No, I have heard of no such reports. But he was staring at you the whole time that you were treating the injured. And so I had to ask…"
"I, I see… Well, Taran and other spiders helped with the mining a lot, so maybe they encountered him somewhere."
No, that was ridiculous.
I was mining in the cave and found an old man. No way.
And so I asked Baris.
"Uh… Are you sure he hadn't been hiding in a wooden crate in the ship or something like that?"
"Th-that… It is not impossible."
"It must be that. He is a stowaway."
That being said, why was he just staring? Say something… And why was he naked?
And so I tried talking to the staring, naked, old man.
"Uh, I'm Heal. Who are you?"
However, as soon as he heard my voice, he turned around and went off to the kitchen.
Of course, he ended up wasting no time in eating all the fish that Rienna and the others had cooked.
Well, at least there was no shortage of fish to eat…
But if he was going to live here, he would at least have to wear some clothes.
And like that, the residents of Sheorl Reef had increased in number.
It wasn't until that night that I realized the Dragon Sphere Stone near the entrance of the cave was missing.
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Chapter 12 – He was an amazing person!!
"Phew. All done. All done."
I returned to the cave's entrance and sat down.
My work for today involved preparing rooms for the goblins.
Yesterday, we had saved over 200 goblins.
In other words, there were now that many more residents on this island.
And that meant they could not all sleep near the entrance of the cave, and so it became necessary to prepare new living quarters.
Using my pickaxe to hollow out a cube-shaped space and then making simple tables and beds with Stone Blocks…
That was my role.
Well, as it was still related to mining, it was basically the same as my usual job.
On the other hand, the goblins concentrated on making cloth, clothes, and fishing nets with the Cave Spiders.
At the same time, they were also taking apart the ship.
I intended to make it again, but as Baris said, they did not have many tools, and so things were not going very smoothly.
And so I decided that we should make the tools first.
Like axes and pickaxes.
Everyone was working very hard.
After taking a short break, I would go fishing, and then return to mining.
It was as I was thinking such things and rubbing my own shoulders,
"Lord Heal! You must be tired."
Rienna was walking quickly towards me while carrying a wooden bowl.
"Rienna. You too. Are things going well at the farm?"
"Yes! In fact, I was wondering if you'd like to taste this."
Rienna offered me the wooden bowl.
It was filled with a purple liquid and a sweet fragrance wafted through the air.
"Is this…grapes!"
"Yes! We'll be able to pick fruits from the trees again next year as well, and so I planted all of the ones we have now."
"Ah, I see."
Next year…huh.
Up until now, I hadn't even believed that there would be a next year.
But now, I had more friends and it seemed like we could easily survive for that long.
And Rienna must intend to stay here next year as well.
In that case, I had to make this island more comfortable to live in.
It was with such thoughts that I drank the grape juice.
Yes. It was so fresh. I never would have imagined that I'd be drinking something like this here.
"It's delicious… I see you and the others are doing your best. Hmm?"
Just then, I remembered something.
…What had I done with the Dragon Sphere Stone?
Coming to this island had made me cling less to material things. And so I had forgotten all about it.
And so I looked around the area where I had left it, but it was nowhere to be found.
But I remembered putting it near a skull that was too big to be human. That way, it would be easier to find…
But neither the skull or stone was there now.
In fact, the skull and bones in the area were all gone as if they had been neatly cleaned up.
Even if the goblins had thought it looked valuable and taken the stone, would they take the bones too?
Or the Cave Spiders and slimes could have…
Just then, I heard an angry voice roaring.
"You! What are you staring at!! Do you have a bone to pick with me!?"
The person who was shouting was one of the new goblins.
Apparently, he had been making pickaxes and axes in the smithy that Baris had made…
And he was angry that the small man had suddenly appeared in front of him.
As for this small, old man. Ever since appearing yesterday, he had done nothing but eat a lot of fish and wander around the caves by himself.
He had seen me mining once and looked very surprised.
…And he was still completely naked.
"Hey! Old naked man!! How dare you stare at me like that! Do you think that you're better than me!?"
It was no wonder that the goblin was angry.
The old man was just folding his arms and watching the goblin work.
As a person who was sweating and working hard, you would find this spectator very annoying.
The goblin approached the old man and handed him a hammer.
"Help me if you have nothing better to do! We don't have enough of these pickaxes and axes."
He said as he showed them to the old man.
The old man saw them and boldly headed towards the furnace.
Once he was there, he started to move the rocks around.
"Hey!! What are you doing!"
But he had no ears for the goblin. And once he was done, he ignited a fire in the furnace with a satisfied smile.
And then, with a speed that the eye could hardly follow, he began to hammer a block of iron that had been set to the side.
His speed was so incredible, that not only I, but all the surrounding goblins found our jaws drop.
What was most surprising, was that he completed the head of a pickaxe in about half a minute.
The more he worked, the wider his grin became.
It seemed like he was making an axehead now.
Before I knew it, I had walked straight up to him.
"Wh-what is this…"
The goblin said as he picked up the head of the pickaxe.
What the old man had created had a thin, graceful arch and was beautiful, like a work of art.
However, the goblin shook his head and said,
"Tsk. Something this thin won't be able to break the rocks! It will bend immediately! Remake it now!"
The goblin tried to stop the old man.
However, I stopped him.
"Wait! I will test it out. But let him continue for now."
"Huh? Yes!"
The goblin quickly attached the head to a stick and then handed it to me.
Well, I would go and test it out then.
Was he just very fast, or…
I returned to the caves.
The angry goblin, Baris, Erevan, and Rienna came with me.
And then…
"What!?"
I couldn't believe my own eyes.
The amount of rock that fell away was several times more than usual.
Just in case, I tried using my old pickaxe again.
However, sure enough, I was only able to cut out half of what I could with the old man's pickaxe.
"They're both iron pickaxes… Who the hell is that old man…?"
I returned to the smithy.
And then, I saw that a large pile of pickaxes and axes had been completed.
He was nakedly looking at me with a smug expression. As if to say, 'how's that?'
Uh, amazing? But…
Well, naked or not, he was clearly a master blacksmith.
And so I walked up to him and started to take out different materials from my Inventory, such as Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Tin, and Coal.
"Can you use these to make anything else?"
Upon hearing this, the old man stared hard at the ore and then laughed mischievously.
His eyes…were those of a maniac. Besides, he was naked.
Well, he seemed harmless enough.
In fact, something about his smell seemed similar to me.
But I didn't like the idea of smelling like a naked old man.
However, he met my expectations…no, he exceeded them by far with what he made.
Still, we could not let him continue to be naked like this.
And so the next day, a skirt that was spun with spider webs was made for him, and he was made to wear it.
However, at this point, we had all gotten used to calling him Mappa*.