ALL NOVEL Chapter 4: The Crocodile Man Who Emerged from the Land of the Dead
Life in the primitive world was rather dull. People rose with the sun and rested with its setting. Even before the sky was fully bright, one could hear the loud singing of the tribal members.
“Muscles big are so fine~”
“Sisters plant, brothers hunt~ The little ones grow big and strong~”
“Hey!”
Garde, lying in his bed, covered his ears. The singing couldn’t disappear quickly enough for his liking. Once the tribal members who went out for the hunt left, Garde breathed a sigh of relief and turned over in bed, continuing his dream.
In his dream, he saw a few dazzling fangs, which made him emit a low growl.
It wasn’t until mid-morning that Garde opened his eyes, still half-asleep. One of the most annoying things about being a crocodile man was that he couldn’t lie down to sleep comfortably with his large tail acting as a support.
Garde had considered cutting a hole in the bed to allow his tail to pass through, but he realized that doing so would force him to lie down all the time.
After getting up, he casually brushed a pot and threw in a piece of preserved meat. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. In the Wild Will Tribe, Garde was one of the more refined crocodile men, seldom seen among the male Adakrys purchasing toothpaste and a toothbrush.
Anyone willing to put a pinch of salt in their mouth could be considered hygienic, and chewing a bit of tea leaves made one almost civilized. Recently, more crocodile men have become willing to brush their teeth and wash their faces.
On the stove, water was boiling in a large pot. The meat had too much salt, so it needed to be boiled in water before it could be eaten. In the field behind the house, Garde had planted garlic, and he washed it to make it into a dish.
The rainforest climate wasn’t suitable for growing wheat, but in certain areas, rice grew well. Garde wondered why a crocodile man like him liked to eat rice and had even gone so far as to make his own mortar and bamboo sieve.
Meanwhile, some unexpected guests arrived outside the tribe.
“Miss Inam, is this the place?”
A young woman’s voice came from deep within the jungle. She was wearing protective gear with a noticeable high-tech feel. Leading the way was a woman who looked significantly different from the usual Tiacauh Tribe members, with a pair of horns on her head.
Behind her was a whole expedition team, with about twenty or thirty people, most of them well-equipped. Only a few individuals were dressed as scholars and were carefully guarded by others.
A young woman with slightly dark skin, who was dressed very differently from the rest of the group, earnestly reminded, “Miss Saria, even though I don’t know where you heard that Garde from the Wild Will Tribe had been to the Foehn Hotland, I hope for safety’s sake that if Garde refuses your request later, you won’t resort to violence.”
If it weren’t for the sudden orders from above, she wouldn’t have brought this group of people to find Garde.
“Hehe, of course. Miss Inam, we come from a civilized nation, and we’re not barbarians. You don’t need to worry that we’ll harm your friend.”
A young man with gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined, laughed.
Before coming, the minister of foreign affairs from their country had sternly warned them not to interfere in the cultural and political affairs of the Acahualla region, except in cases of attack. They wouldn’t harm any of the residents living here.
‘I’m not worried about you hurting him, I’m worried that he would hurt you!’
Hearing the words of the young man, Inam murmured in her heart.
She wasn’t very close to Garde; she had only helped him get some supplies from the city. In case of a fight, she was certain she would run as far as she could.
It was impossible to offer help.
Inam thought of the rumors she had heard when she first arrived in the Acahualla region. There was a young Tiacauh youth who, to save his ailing mother, recklessly ventured into the forbidden land of the Foehn Hotland and emerged alive.
Although the medicine he brought out couldn’t completely cure his mother, it did give her an additional six months of life, when she had previously been on the brink of death.
The indigenous residents of the Acahualla region didn’t even understand how to treat a common cold or fever, so how could they know what kind of incurable ailment the Tiacauh youth’s mother had? The fact that they could bring a patient in the late stages of Oripathy back from the brink of death was a medical marvel beyond the reach of not just the Sargon, but even the entire Terra.
And that young man was Garde.
He was the warrior who emerged from the Land of the Dead, a title the Tiacauh people bestowed upon Garde. The term “warrior” was not an exaggeration. Inam had witnessed Garde’s battle with a Lurker once, and she didn’t find these accolades to be an overstatement.
Upon entering the Wild Will village, with Inam’s negotiations, the group easily made their way into the village. Of course, they couldn’t avoid the curious and scrutinizing gazes of the Tiacauh people, who regarded them like rare animals.
Far in the distance, Tomimi followed behind Gavial like a little shadow. She whispered, “Gavial, it looks like they’re here to find Garde.”
Seeing this, Gavial raised an eyebrow and spat out the grass in her mouth. “Come on, let’s go check it out.”
In the pathway, Inam, under the scrutiny of the group, walked up to Garde’s house. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Garde, are you home?”