Chapter 8

Apparently, based on Chief Harald's story, this island is called Azrael Island.

It is located between the Samarta Kingdom, where I was about to be taken prisoner, and the west coast of the empire, where I was captured.

To ordinary people who know about this island, it is just an island that is rarely visited because it has nothing but monsters.

But to the Magnoras tribe, this island is a forbidden island that must not be visited.

There is a legend in their tribe that says, this island is guarded by a terrible monster from the deep sea, called the Trench Keeper.

And they just got a taste of that horrible monster last night.

If it wasn't for necessity, Chief Harald wouldn't have brought his tribe here.

They just had no other choice, as this island was the closest island to theirs.

They could not risk being at sea for too long, as they could be captured by the Imperial Navy or the navies of other kingdoms.

After all, the indigenous tribes in the Bosias Archipelago were well-known for being used as slaves.

"Do you know why this island was forbidden in your tribe's legends, Chief Harald?"

Halfway through the journey, Sarah asked that.

"I don't know, Lady Sarah. We were just forbidden from coming to this island, no matter what happen."

"I see, is there any explanation why this place is forbidden to your tribe? Other than that monster."

"Not that I know of, my lady."

I interjected into their conversation because I was still curious about something.

"You still haven't told us why you left your island, Chief Harald."

Chief Harald's expression turned grim.

"Just the usual thing, sir. The colonists came, and we had to leave because we lost. I lost my first son to them. Even if I also wanted to die with him, I still had my wives and other children to look after. So I gathered my people and decided to escape to this island."

Hearing that, Sarah and I could only stare at each other.

The atmosphere suddenly became gloomy.

"Maybe you shouldn't have asked." That was the message Sarah conveyed to me with her gaze.

I gave her an apologetic look.

Fortunately, perfect timing.

We arrived at the east coast, our destination.

I quickly changed the topic.

"Chief Harald, what do you think of that ship?"

I pointed at the pirate ship that had been abandoned on the beach for days.

"A brig? How did you get this ship, my lord?"

"Some pirates gave it to me."

"They gave it to you, my Lord?"

"Yeah, they're pretty generous."

Chief Harald nodded in understanding, he then put his hand to his chin while looking around the ship.

"Hmm... There are some holes in the hull, probably from hitting the reef and there are also some torn sails. I still need to check it further, but other than what I mentioned earlier, I don't think this ship has any major damage, my Lord."

"Can you fix it?"

"Yes, my Lord. We happen to have a great experience with a ship, and as for the sails, I think we can pick up some good ones from our ship. Our ship is too damaged to repair after all. But why do you ask, my Lord?"

Chief Harald looked confused, so I explained my goal.

"I want to sail out of here, Chief Harald. Not to leave this island forever, but I want this island to grow. And for that, I need some goods that can only be taken from the outside world. I also plan to make some connections with merchants, your people will also be happy if they can trade with them, right?"

Chief Harald nodded, but he still looked confused.

"But my Lord, you saw those monsters last night, right? We can't go out to the sea,they guard the sea around this island. Of course, if we're lucky, we might be able to get past them. But we can't rely on luck, my Lord. The merchants who know about the monsters won't want to come here either."

He was confused as to why I would want to risk going out to sea even though I had seen those deep-sea fish monsters, it was only natural that he would think I couldn't handle them.

I have to admit it myself, they are a problem, but I think I can take care of them.

Not now, obviously.

"Just fix the ship, Chief Harald. I'll take care of those fish monsters, got it?"

Realising that I didn't ask, Chief Harald nodded, with a slightly skeptical look on his face.

"Oh, by the way, Chief Harald?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"It's not 'my lord', it's 'Milord'."

"Pardon me, my lord?"

"'My lord'?"

"No, it's 'Milord'."

Chief Harald only looked confused.

Yap, given his expression, I don't think he'll get it.

"Forget it, just fix the ship."

"Yes, my lord."

"Blast!"

I can hear Sarah chuckling from my side.

----

Over 2 months have passed since Chief Harald and his tribe members started living on my island.

Their small village had grown much better, now they didn't need to use tents anymore, almost all the residents had their own houses.

Of course, their houses were not big, each of their houses only had one room and they only had one public bathroom.

But you could say, their lives have almost returned to normal.

Today is the day they will harvest the first vegetables they have grown since arriving on the island.

So this morning, the girls had gone to help them.

The girls have even made new friends now, they go there every day.

I don't hate it, though.

At least now, they have something to do with their free time and don't have to keep staying at my base.

As for Chief Harald, he brought some of his men to repair my ship, just as I ordered.

The repair process is almost complete, I asked him yesterday and he said that he just needs to change a few more sails on the main mast.

So you could say, the ship's repairs are almost completely finished.

And me, what have I been doing all this time?

As usual, I was hunting monsters to increase my power.

I'm still hunting in the southern part of the island, hunting a crocodile monster that seems to be called Swampgator or something.

*Boom*

*Splash*

From afar, the sound of a tail slapping could be heard, and several of my shadows were thrown through the air, but it's not enough to kill them.

I watched them fight from the top of a tree, while drinking the tea Sarah had made for me.

I guess I'm a true imperial citizen after all.

"Ah! Drinking tea while your man does your job for you sure feels amazing."

Lately, hunting in the southern part of the island has gradually become easier and more inefficient.

That means my strength has been increasing, and the number of shadows I can create has also increased drastically.

I didn't even need to bother interfering in the fight now, I just needed to rely on my shadows and adjust their numbers.

But that's still not enough if I want to defeat those deep sea fish monsters, what are they called again?

Well, whatever.

I guess it's about time I got up the courage and went to the centre of the island to hunt.

"Ah, damn it. Alright, lads. Time to go."

I dispelled my shadow, packed up my tea utensils and moved North, to the centre of the island.

----

Approximately 10 minutes, that's all the time it took me to run 5 km to the centre of the island, and I did that without my armour.

My physical strength really can't be compared to before, back then I wouldn't have even been able to run 1 km.

And now, I was just sweating after running 5 km.

"Anyway, I think I've arrived at the centre of the island."

How do I know that?

Well, the centre of the island has bigger and taller trees compared to the coastal areas of the island.

In addition, the atmosphere here is also very intimidating.

Maybe it's because the trees are so tall and lush that they make the place dark, or maybe because of the gazes around me.

"I haven't even been here for a minute and there are already monsters that want to eat me? Terrific."

Right after I said that, a monster suddenly leapt out from the bushes beside me.

I avoided its jaws by jumping up and landing on a large tree branch.

I looked at the identity of the attacker, and as I expected.

"Hey, it's you!? This time I'll beat you without my armour, you cunt!"

It was a two-legged lizard monster, the same monster that had attacked me before.

Only this time, it was bigger.

Oh, I get it.

"Hey, are you the mum of the lizard that attacked me back then?"

*Roarrr*

The big lizard gave me a roar filled with anger.

"I guess I was right. But hey, there's nothing you can do while I'm up here, right? I've got the high ground, bitch!"

I summoned my arrows, and fired them at the lizard.

The first arrow hit him right in the forehead, but it wasn't deep enough to kill the lizard.

It had a big head, you see.

Realising that my arrow could hurt it, the lizard started dodging and running away from me.

I could have killed it easily if I had summoned my shadow or my armour, but I decided not to.

I chased the monster through the tree branches, and focused my arrow towards its legs.

Shortly after, my arrow finally hit its mark.

One of the lizard's legs was wounded, but it still hadn't stopped, so I shot at its other leg until it finally fell to the ground.

"Well, well, look at you. Not so tough now, eh?"

*Rrrrr*

Even though I had crippled both of its legs, the giant lizard still tried to fight back by swinging its tail and spitting fire from its mouth.

"Let me end your suffering, mate."

I summoned my spear, and threw it right at its heart.

"And it's done, but I still feel not satisfied."

Hunting this damn lizard was actually not very efficient, because now he was much weaker than me.

But I still feel a bit of a grudge, this damn lizard once ate half of my body, you know?

So I'll hunt a few of them until I'm satisfied, before I go deeper into the centre of the island.

------

"Aah, nothing beats the taste of drinking tea after work."

As I ordered my shadow to collect the corpses of the monsters, I sat on a piece of wood while drinking my tea.

I forgot the reason I came here, but at least I feel satisfied, so I decided to go home.

But I couldn't go straight home to my base today.

I had promised the girls that I would pick them up.

Besides, today Chief Harald also invited me to their first harvest celebration.

So I'd better get there before sunset, or Sarah will nag me if I'm late.

"Alright, time to eat my little white flame."

After burning all the monsters' corpses, I walked away with a satisfied smile.