Episode 117. Tira and the Temple of Demons (2)
It’s a pretty deep night.
The number of guests in the inn was reduced by almost half.
Some were drunk and fell over the table, while others were talking loudly.
But it wasn’t as full as when Tira and Hanson first came.
“What do you think Hanson?”
Tira asked while watching the owner serving the dishes.
“It seems to be a very suspicious island.”
“Yes? An island with evil spirits… … . Besides, it’s very strange that harpy pirates come and go on that scary island that the natives don’t even go near. Could this be the treasure house of the Harpy Pirates?”
“It is a reasonable guess. If it’s an island everyone is afraid of, there won’t be any need to raise guards.”
“You mean rumors of a terrifying evil spirit will protect the island and the treasure at the same time?”
“yes.”
“Then I should go there.”
“We only heard about the island, but we don’t know where it is or how to get there, so how?”
“Hmm… … .”
I was lucky enough to meet a talkative islander and hear about evil spirits and islands.
But after they’ve already left.
It seemed like I would have to find another person to buy information about the island’s location.
There are so many small islands in the Pinas archipelago that it is impossible to search them all.
Then the inn door burst open.
bang!
Men who came in as if to break down the door.
With a vicious impression, he wore a couple of metal pieces around his waist.
The tumultuous interior of the inn suddenly became quiet.
“Ha, it’s the Harpy Pirates… … .”
“All eyes! There’s nothing good about bumping into each other.”
Even the drunkard, who used to dance and sing on the table, comes down quietly.
Tira and Hanson pulled their hoods down deeply and turned their heads.
“It’s not nice to run into a group of harpy pirates in a place like this.”
“If you have to, you have no choice but to fight. If a fight breaks out, run away to the ship we came from first.”
“What about Hanson?”
“I’ll follow you after I punish them.”
“I will fight too!”
“done. It’s comfortable to do it alone. Go ahead and get the boat ready to leave right away. Of course, this is when a fight breaks out.”
“… … yes.”
A few members of the harpy pirates slid into the inn.
The owner who was serving the dishes bowed his head, and the man at the front of the pirates received the greeting.
he even said
“This is a message from Henry ‘Harpy’ Morgan, the ruler of the Pinas Islands and the pirate king! It is an order from today to recruit one person from each village to join the great task! The recruited personnel are committed to moving the pirates’ goods! Make sure to spread the message well around you!”
Notice of sudden labor requisition
The people inside the inn were making noise.
But no one was outright dissatisfied.
If I did, my life would have been running away from this spot.
The pirates were satisfied when no one chimed in.
“Okay, then I’ll select the first recruit.”
The pirate’s gaze scans the surroundings.
The townspeople quickly averted his eyes!
At that time, a person came into the pirate’s field of vision.
It was the son of the innkeeper who was helping his father with the food.
“you! Come out to the pier by dawn tomorrow!”
“Me, me?!”
“Yes, you!”
“I had to help my father with his work… … .”
match!
Courage!
The boy who was slapped rolls across the inn floor.
Tira stopped Hanson from leaving after seeing him.
dory dory.
Tira shook her head.
‘If we fight here, things will get bigger.’
Seeing the look in her eyes, Hanson managed to suppress his anger.
“If you come out, you will come out, so talk a lot!”
“… … I’m sorry, but what are you going to do?”
The fallen boy looked up at the pirate.
“It carries things. From Harpy Island to Ruin Island.”
“Lung, ruined island?! Is that where evil spirits come from?!”
“Heh, that’s right. but what? Demons are just rumors! A superstition invented by you timid archipelago natives!”
“Ahh… … .”
At that time, the innkeeper knelt down in front of the pirates.
“please! This child is my only blood relative! If you enter the island and things go wrong… … .”
“This is a message from Henry ‘Harpy’ Morgan. If you do not comply, I will kill you here.”
“omg!”
“Decide, do you want to die here? Or would you like to participate in the transport of goods?”
“Ha, I will! I will!”
The boy grabbed the pirate’s pants.
Then the pirate who was about to draw his sword removed his hand from the sword.
“let’s go!”
The pirates leave as noisy as when they came.
Hanson’s clenched fists trembled.
“I remembered the face. We will meet someday.”
“I hope so.”
The two watched the pirates leave the door.
Their eyes turned to the boy whose mouth was bleeding.
***
whimper, whimper
A dark alley behind the inn.
A boy was sitting there, pulling his knees and crying.
A young boy who must have been about 15 years old.
He couldn’t believe his situation.
I wanted to help my father run the inn diligently, marry a beautiful wife someday, and live happily… … .
If they are taken to the ‘Island of Ruins’ tomorrow, they will die.
Because there was no one who went there and was fine.
He resented his own fate, but he resented the fact that he had no power to resist the thug-like Harpy Pirates.
The culprit behind all the problems in the Pinas Islands, the Harpy Pirates!
The boy was willing to give anything if someone would drive them away.
It wasn’t just the boy’s wish.
‘If there was a temple, I would have gone and prayed to the sun god… … .’
He said that if it was a sincere prayer, he would hear it.
However, in the Pinas Islands, the temple has long since disappeared.
It also happened when the Harpy Pirates occupied this place.
It was because he destroyed all the temples that were still alive.
No one knows whether the traces of the ancient temple on the ‘Ruined Island’, which we will visit tomorrow, are actually of the Sun Gods or other religions.
The problem is that a terrible evil spirit roams within the ruined temple.
The boy remembered the story of the ‘pirate member who committed suicide by hanging’ that he had heard earlier at the inn.
I had goosebumps all over my body.
“excuse me… … Are you okay?”
A voice at the entrance of the alley.
Contrary to the petite figure of a woman, a gigantic figure was watching the boy as if the mountain were walking around.
The boy remembered that they were a group of ‘adventurers’ who stopped by the inn earlier to eat.
They slowly approached the boy and pulled up the hood.
A round and good impression revealed.
The smiling girl slowly held out her hand.
“It must have hurt a lot.”
The girl’s hand touches the boy’s cheek.
White light emanated from the hand of the girl, Tira, and the inside of her chapped lips slowly began to heal.
amazing experience!
The boy’s eyes widened as he experienced divine power healing for the first time in his life.
“Hey, what is this… … ?!”
“He healed the wound with divine power. We are priests from Meirium.”
“Sir, priests?!”
“I’m sorry for deceiving you as an adventurer. Because he came to the island secretly from the Harpy Pirates. lol.”
“ah… … .”
The boy heard the rumors too.
A group of priests anchored on an island near the entrance of the archipelago, and they fought against Krenek and other pirates.
If this woman and hulking are real priests, it’s a big deal if they get caught by the harpy pirates.
So it was easy to understand why he disguised his identity.
“Are you really priests? Then go away! If you stay on Harpy Island, you will be attacked by scary pirates!”
“It’s okay, it won’t happen.”
Tira’s gaze turned to Hanson.
I could feel the reassurance in his eyes.
“Involuntarily, I heard about the ‘ruined island’ that I am going to transport goods to tomorrow. I heard there are dangerous demons there?”
“yes… … I’m sure I’ll die… … If my father is left alone, how will he manage the inn? … .”
A single tear fell from the boy’s eye.
Tira cupped the boy’s cheeks with both hands.
“Don’t worry, we will help you.”
“Really?!”
a boy who rejoices.
But soon the grass died again.
“The Harpy Pirates are really scary, and they say they recklessly harm adults and women. But how did the two priests… … ?”
“How about if you trust us and leave it to us? Even if things go wrong, there will be no harm to the inn or villagers.”
“Ahh… … .”
In fact, there is no other way.
The boy has two choices: either be dragged away or beheaded miserably.
In addition, Tira suggested one more method, so there was no point besides following it.
The boy nodded.
“Do you know where the island is?”
“Are you thinking of going there?”
“is it so. Go and see if the demon really exists, and if so, we will drive it out.”
“Ahh… … I know the location! I even have a boat!”
The boy drew a map on the floor with his finger.
It was a map of the surrounding archipelago, centered around the large Harpy Island.
“If you only go to this point and spread the sails of the ship, the current and wind will take you to the ruined island.”
“Ocean currents and winds take them… … . It is a strange place.”
“We, the people of Pinas, consider it a curse. Not one or two people have died after accidentally entering the ruined island while fishing in the nearby waters… … .”
“… … .”
A boy with a sullen head hanging down.
Then, Tira’s eyes caught the pendant necklace hanging around the boy’s neck.
Surprisingly, it was a pendant with the Divine Mark of the Dawning Bridge engraved on it.
“uh?! Is that the Dawning Divine Pendant?”
He held up the pendant the boy was wearing.
“It is a keepsake left by my deceased mother. You got married from a foreign country, but a few years ago… … .”
“… … I see. Was your mother a member of the Dawning Church by any chance?”
“I heard that. However, there is no Temple of Dawning in the Pinas Islands, so he placed a small wooden object he carved himself in one of the inns and prayed for it. Even though the bad pirates took it away.”
“Oops… … .”
Tira’s expression was not good, perhaps because she was sorry for the boy’s situation.
she said as she stroked the boy’s head.
“Do not worry. We will make sure to exorcise the evil spirit.”
“… … thank you.”
A small smile forms on the tear-stained cheeks.
Soon after, the boy pointed towards the muzzle.
“If you go over there, there is my father’s ship. It’s a small boat with sails, and that should be enough to get you to the Ruined Island. I will lend you.”
“thank you.”
Tira stroked the boy’s hair once more and stood up.
“then.”
Tira nodded.
She and Hanson headed straight to the port.
“Tira, if there really is a demon, it could be dangerous.”
As they were walking, Hanson said.
“I think it would be good to report to the captain first.”
“… … Then it takes too long. Because that child will be taken away right around dawn tomorrow.”
“hmm… … .”
“And the ruined island could be the treasure house of the pirates, right? Let’s try it together.”
Hanson paused for a moment.
He looked into Tira’s determined eyes and nodded.
“Okay, let’s try it.”