“Let us live in your village.”
I was afraid of what they might say, and the man that looks like their chief tells us they want to live in our village.
We are living comfortably in the middle of the forest, and I’m sure they want the same blessing. They really want to get involved with us. They’re desperate to survive.
That’s why they make this demand, but we can’t just accept on the spot.
But what will happen to mister Roma if we say no? This is a threat disguised as a negotiation.
The man in front of us has a very rigid expression. I can’t answer right away. What is the best response? I don’t know. The man is talking to me, and only me.
“What cowardice, taking someone hostage and demanding to talk to you since you look weak.”
Freinet expresses her anger, but I’m the only one who can hear it. No one else reacts to her voice.
She’s right, it’s probably cowardly. They demanded that only a few people come here, and without the gryphons. Not to mention they took someone hostage.
Still, I think that’s a sign of their fatigue.
I struggle to come up with a response.
“We should capture these three or kill them!!”
A young man says, and other people rush to stop him, saying ‘Stop it! How can you say that to the one that saved us?’.
Ah, that’s one of the people I saved, among the people stopping him.
“You can try to gloss over it all you want, but we took someone hostage! So what if we take more!?”
“Yes! We’re in no position to worry about anyone else…”
A couple of people on the other side scream.
They can’t afford to make allowances, and say that since they have a hostage, it doesn’t matter if they take more. The man that’s talking to me directly looks very serious. Their original intention wasn’t to take more hostages.
Our village decided that the best option was to not get involved with them. It’s an extreme option, to wish to keep our distance. It would’ve been better if we never got involved, but I did, and this is the result.
But I still don’t think that not saving them would’ve been the right choice.
“…Capture, kill, you can’t. I’ll, fight back.”
They aren’t going to capture or kill me. I might’ve been alright with that when I first got to the beast people’s village. I thought it didn’t matter if bad things happened to me… But that’s not an option anymore.
I want everyone to be safe, and that includes me.
“Fight back? A little girl?”
“Freinet.”
I call out to Freinet, as some people try to jump at us even if they have to mow down the ones stopping them.
Gaius and Wetani are also prepared, but I think it’s better if I make them understand quickly. Also, Freinet can do something about this while not hurting them too much.
When I call out to her, she moves.
Magic energy starts welling, and wind starts blowing. The wind strikes the people that are trying to attack us with pinpoint accuracy. Freinet’s control of magic energy is great. If I did it, I would’ve hit everyone. Spirits really are great.
“I can do, something about you, any time I want.”
I say, to stop them from trying to head towards us.
“I don’t want, to be your enemy. I’m not going to, do everything you say. But I know, that we can’t stay, uninvolved forever. That’s why, I want us to work to, move forward together. That’s my answer. Is that, no good?”
I try my hardest to respond.
They have mister Roma as a hostage, but we shouldn’t just listen to everything they have to say.
Still, the fact that so many people jumped in to stop the ones that wanted to attack us means they’re not completely bad. The ones that are trying to capture us are probably acting like that because they’re at their wit’s end too.
“…What do you mean?”
“I still, don’t know. It’s not something, I can decide on my own. But we definitely, don’t want to hurt you… If you promise mister Roma will be safe, of course. We thought to not, let you get involved with us, but we will look for a path, we can walk together.”
I try to look for common ground. We can’t not get involved anymore. I don’t think people in the village want to abandon these people, or outright remove them.
So I want us and them to look for a compromise. I don’t know if we’ll find it, but I want to at least look.”
We can’t let them live in the village, but we can compromise.
The old man then answers.
—Girl and people – Part five
(The girl that is probably the miko looks at the current situation and negotiates. She says they should look for a compromise and a path they can walk together.)
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-shake head- i like this serie, not everything goes well