I Was Connected to Earth’s Black Market From Another World With The Skill [Market]! (WN)

Chapter 238

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Chapter 238 – Three People in the Fortress

I turn the wheel of the Griffon in the direction of the pirate fort. I thought I’d never return to this place.

The inner bay of the island had an opening to the southeast, but there was no need to approach naively from that direction, which would be guarded from the inside of the island. For the hovercraft, as long as there was an inclination to approach, it did not matter if the landing point was on the side facing the open sea. Since the island is made of reefs (or basically reefs themselves), it is important to choose the terrain carefully to avoid damaging the rubber skirts.

Myrril sits on the roof of the driver’s seat and is alert to her surroundings, but she never points the UZI she carries at her chest. This means there are no enemies or signs of hostility.

“Myrril, is there any movement in the fort?”

“No. It’s a strange feeling. They’re not even awake. They’re trying… desperately to hide.”

Finally, I found a loose slope and slowly landed on the island. There were no attacks, no warnings, and no guards at first. The back side of the island, which is the back side of the hill where the hideout is located, is completely unprotected from enemy landings. However, it is like a sheer cliff, so it is not a good place to enter from.

I advance the Griffon and go around the hill. I bypassed the outer wall of the fort and went through a gap in the ramparts from the same position where I had boarded. From the sea, it looks like a rampart, but it is actually just a wide wooden structure. Although it protects the west and south sides, they are not connected, nor does it surround the hill on all sides. It has no function to prevent intruders. In other words, it is nothing more than a gigantic barrier that only serves to warn those approaching from the continental side.

If you enter through a gap in the wall, you will see an area of about 200 meters square. Here and there, scrap wood was piled up, and fires were lit.

“The smoke that rose was this.”

“If someone wants to keep warm, they don’t need to build a fire outside… Ah.”

The smell that came into the vehicle made it clear that it was for burning corpses.

“…There seem to be about a dozen bodies in there.”

“The question is, who do they belong to?”

At the far end of the plain was a hill about ten meters high. At the top of the hill was the entrance to the hideout the pirates had occupied. I could see people peering out of the simple wooden gate, but the distance was about 250 meters, and I could not make out their identities.

“What the hell is that?”

Myrril shouted. No, even if you ask me, I don’t know.

“Aren’t they pirates?”

“Huh. We’ve killed them all before. I thought they were newcomers, if there were any.”

When the pirates occupied the hill, there were several guards posted in front of the hill, but there are none now. They seem to have escaped into the lair and are just shivering.

“Maybe some drifter from somewhere else. Or a criminal who got away?”

“I don’t know. Looks like a kid to me.”

“Huh?”

Three figures burst out of the entrance and ran down the hill toward us. There was no intent to attack. Myrril did not appear to be pointing a weapon at them.

“Yoshua, can you prepare some food?”

“Food? Oh, we have all sorts of supplies, but why…?”

The reason was immediately clear. As soon as the approaching figures became visible, I recognized them as skinny children. They were barefoot and dressed only in thin rags, even though it was winter and snow was falling.

The oldest boy, who seemed to be at the head of the group, raised his hands and shouted at us.

“Don’t kill us! We’ll give you anything; we’ll be your hostages! We’ll do whatever you want! So don’t kill anyone!”

There was a short pause before Myrril answered. She had somehow understood what he was going through and what he had prepared for when he ran all the way here.

She called to the boy from the roof of the Griffon.

“Oh, I understand. Don’t worry; neither he nor I will hurt you.”

Myrril’s voice cracks unnaturally in mid-sentence. Her face contorts as if she is about to cry.

“Um… Instead of that… say. You can have dinner with us.”

“Eh?”

“We are hungry. We brought food. Just a little bit of it. Help us prepare it. That’s all I ask of you.”

Even I know it’s too much to ask. It’s hard to believe that a child in such a state of alertness would readily accept being told to eat: “I’m not going to watch you, so eat your food.” Even if they had gulped down their food as soon as they heard that food was available.

“Oh, yes. No, but… we are…”

“I don’t know who you are, and I’m not particularly interested. If you want, we’ll ask; if you don’t, that’s fine.”

The two girls with sharp eyes, hidden behind the older boy, stared at us as we talked. They looked like twins, or maybe they were, with the same face and build. One was staring at Myrril, and one was staring at me. Each of them had a knife or something behind their backs. They seemed to be thinking of protecting the boy, even if it meant stabbing each other if it became clear that we were hostile to them. Both the boy and the girl were in their early teens, possibly a little older, as they appeared to be poorly fed. They did not appear to be beastmen, but their eyes looked a bit like Yadar’s when I first met her.

“Can we not trust them? I suppose so.”

Myrril jumps down from the roof and walks over to the children, UZI wrapped in a leather belt behind her back, her hands open and outstretched where I can see them.

Her hand flutters, and I do as she wishes, placing the supplies I took from the storage there. On my left hand is a small box of food. On my right hand was a shrink-wrapped bundle of twelve 500ml bottles of mineral water. The package must have been quite heavy, but Myrril picked it up without moving a muscle and pushed it toward the boy, who was frozen with a blank expression on his face.

Perhaps surprised by the light weight of the petite Myrril, the boy staggered back, frightened by the weight.

“…Ah!”

The girls tried to jump as quickly as possible but found that the boy had stopped them with a gesture. The two girls, still in their prepared stance, hurled their bare hostility at Myrril.

“Don’t worry, it’s just food and water.”

“”Do you think we will be fooled by such a thing?””

The twin girls with fierce eyes both spat out the same words at the same time. The one without a weapon scratched her hand slightly in the air, perhaps about to jump away from them, saying that she would not accept charity. Had it been just them, they would have rejected it, but their hands stopped when they noticed the people behind them.

I can only imagine, but I think he was probably thinking of his friends, who were still hiding in the lair and watching us. I don’t know who they are or where they came from, but I have a vague idea of their posture and appearance. They must have been abused, trampled, abandoned, or run away from somewhere, and they must have a massive distrust of the world.

“”…What does this mean?””

“Nothing at all! How can I not care about a scrawny little kid like you?”

“”You’re no better than us!””

I thought that was a bad thing to say, but Myrril-san paid no attention to it and laughed at the two girls.

“Don’t make me laugh. I will not let my young friends starve.”

The two girls and the boy, who seemed to be the leader of the group, both gasped at her words. The words took their breath away, and they gritted their teeth. It was a sales pitch, but it was too cruel.

“I’m sorry, I went too far.”

The boy and girl are unable to react when they see the dwarf girl bow her head in frustration. I guess I don’t know what’s going on. I wonder if I should leave. But if I leave, I wonder if these children will be even more suspicious.

“””…..”””

“The fact that I have managed to keep my people from starving is simply a combination of chance and luck. I am no better or more merciful than you.”

“…What do you say?”

“Let’s talk about that later. If anyone is injured or sick, we will do everything we can to help. I’ll give you food, and if you have a home somewhere, we’ll take you there. What would you say?”

“Yes.”

“”Do you trust this person?””

The boy nodded silently as he met the angry glances of the two girls who approached him. He looked as if he was not as good as the girls in his ability to handle the rough stuff, but his demeanor had enough spirit to keep them from complaining about his decision.

“Promise me one thing.”

“…I’ll listen to you, say whatever you want.”

He turned his serious face to Myrril, then looked at me and said.

“If you ever have to kill one of my friends, please make me the first one you kill.”

The other party may have felt the same way, but Nojaloli-san also seemed confused by the other party’s different circumstances. She looks back at me and shakes her head in dismay.

“That’s all right. Both I and this man. We will never break that promise.