The villagers must be as small and precious as their homes. And unlike animals or human children... If, like Fog, the kobold children weren’t afraid of him...
...Then, perhaps they might allow me to pet them. The thought brought a smile to his face. To someone who didn’t know him, his expression was like that of a ferocious beast, baring its fangs before its prey.
Behind him, Fog muttered darkly. “Well, we had to rebuild everything in a hurry. It’s the best we could do.”
＊
The cart soon reached a row of houses, and—
“Stop right there!” a voice shouted. Suddenly, kobolds wielding stone spears and axes closed around the wagon from all sides. Every one of them was growling, their noses wrinkled in snarls.
Gaius slowly lifted his hands from the reins and gave them a smile, trying to show that he didn’t mean any harm. His smile was partially a show of friendship, and partially because his heart was dancing at the sight of so many fluffy kobolds gathered in one place. Of course, a smile from Gaius never really looked that friendly in the best of circumstances.
“Why have you come here?!”
“My name is Gaius. I’ve only come to bring one of your injured villagers home. I bear you no ill will.” As Gaius said this, Fog popped her face up beside him from the back of the wagon. She barked at the armed villagers.
“Cut it out, he’s telling the truth! This troll saved me from a bear!” The kobolds turned to one another and began to argue among themselves. Eventually, they lowered their weapons.
“Is that right?”
“I guess it must be, if Fog says so.”
“Yeah, and if we argue with her, she’ll hit us.”
“I’ve never seen a troll before.”
“Me either, me either.”
“Hey, what’s this mud monster?” As they turned to each other and began talking noisily, the tension in the air dissipated. Gaius watched the cute sight, his eyes crinkling with delight.
Ah, what a wonderful scene. Just this makes leaving the capital worth it. I hope they’ll allow me to stay for a little while, so I can remember this sight forever... Although I suppose that would be selfish of me. ...Ah, but if I settled down in the ruins of my village, it would be a simple enough matter to stop by every once in a while. If he did that, he could lay his mother and the villagers to rest while also being able to visit the kobolds. It wouldn’t be the most convenient life, but there were a lot of merits to living there. He’d need to dip into his savings, but perhaps he’d try digging a well after all. Maybe he could try to build a home there. Surely that was the best thing for him to do, right?! That must be it!
Gaius was lost in thought as Fog descended from the wagon. “Make way, make way! I’ve gotta give a warm welcome to the guy that saved my life. Over here, Gaius. It’s getting dark already, so come stay over at my place.” She began leading the way, dragging her left leg. Gaius gave the golem the command to stop and tried to follow her, when—
“What do you think you’re doing, Fog?! You’ve led a human right to us!” Gaius immediately stopped when he heard those harsh, spiteful words.
“Elder,” Fog said, turning around. When Gaius turned in the same direction, he saw a kobold leaning on a walking stick.
As a human, Gaius did not know what an old kobold looked like, but from the faded fur, cloudy eyes, and his slightly shaky gait, it was clear that he was looking at one.
“Fog, why have you brought one of them here?”
“Why? Didn’t I just say? I got attacked by a six-legged bear and he saved my life. I was this close to getting eaten alive.”
“Even so, to bring a human right to our village...!”
“Huh?” Fog turned to look at Gaius. She then turned back to the village elder and said, “What are you talking about, you damn stupid stank-breathed old fool?! Humans don’t get that big, now do they? I’m telling you, he’s a troll. A tro-oll. And besides, look. Even his hair is grey. Don’t trolls have grey hair?”
“So do humans! Trolls have dark grey skin! And male trolls don’t even grow hair, only the women do. You haven’t even seen a troll before, have you?” There was silence.
“...Is that true?” Slowly, nervously, Fog looked over at Gaius.
“So I hear.”
“...You’re not a troll?”
“In a sense. My mother was half troll.”
“And what was the other half?”
“Human, I suppose.” The atmosphere changed in an instant. A clamor broke out among the kobolds, and they hurriedly picked their weapons back up. Seeing this, Fog heaved a deep sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Why didn’t you say something sooner...?”
“Er, well. I’ve been mistaken for one before. And as I said, I am a quarter troll. It can’t be that big an issue.”
“It’s a huge problem, you idiot!” She gave another heavy sigh.
“Do you see what you’ve done, Fog?! I told you he was human!”
“Okay, I was wrong, Elder.”
“...And on top of that, you insulted me something fierce just now, didn’t you?” Fog didn’t reply other than to wave a hand dismissively. Dragging her injured leg, she left them and headed for the cluster of houses.
The village elder watched her leave before turning back to Gaius.
“Tie him up!” He ordered the villagers surrounding Gaius. All at once, the kobolds rushed forward and piled onto him.
As the soft, fluffy kobolds swarmed over him, pushing him down and leaning their weight against him, Gaius sat down and bent forward so that they could restrain him more easily, holding out both hands.
“Wahahahaha!” Gaius cheered with joy and put up no resistance as they tied his binds.
＊
After he’d had his fill of being buried in fur, Gaius allowed himself to be led into a building slightly larger than the other dwellings. Its roof was low, however, and even when he crawled in on his hands and knees, he could only barely fit through the entrance. The earth inside had been dug out, which made the room a little more spacious, but with Gaius’s massive build, it would still be an exceptionally tight fit. Apparently, this was originally a storehouse, which the villagers had hurriedly prepared to hold their new captive.
“Get in there, human!” They pushed Gaius inside, prodding him with spears and axes. Once inside, they bound his ankles together and tied his arms against his body with several loops of rope.
“And keep it down, you human!” With that, they all left, though it seemed someone was still at the entrance. A guard, perhaps.
“Well, now, what do I do about this?” Gaius said to himself, adjusting his body to get more comfortable in his simple jail.