Hello Scrolls Nazarins, Mr.Bones bringing the first chapter with Lupusregina in my fanfic The One Who Came Back.
The Traveler arrives at Carne and soon tells one of his stories.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 35: City of Carne
The "Village of Carne," some residents still insist on calling it that, even though it has become a small city. As if the sudden appearance of five thousand new residents wasn't enough, just a year and a half ago, since then hundreds more have been moving there every week.
After the defeat of Prince Barbro, the goblin army camped in the vicinity of the village. They couldn't remain idle, so over the weeks, shifts were implemented to take turns in hunting and agriculture, as feeding so many, including humans, required a great effort. Another group would be responsible for the maintenance and expansion of the village itself, where there were once tents for the army, it quickly transformed into accommodations and a large training barracks, and later they began constructing houses for the incoming population. The third group would be in charge of guarding the village, as well as training their own members and willing citizens, as it had been done by the General even before the army existed.
After these months, the city was now well-formed, even a town hall and buildings existed. Unlike E-Rantel, with its varied architecture but carrying a touch of dwarven influence, in Carne, a single style became predominant and came to be called Ar-goblin. They were not primitive or rustic as one would imagine from a goblin dwelling, they were modern and similar to human houses, but when you looked at them, there was a sensation that they were not built by humans. The rent or sale of these houses returned to the town hall, which funded the army.
With the continuous growth of the city, the Mayor, who was reluctant at first, was eventually convinced to impose taxes on the residents. After all, a city cannot sustain itself on gratitude alone. The taxes remained minimal, as the Sorcerer Kingdom was more interested in expansion than profit, and part of the administrative infrastructure was funded by the Kingdom itself. The citizens imagined that soon their post office would receive landings of Frost Dragons, a sign of prosperity, apparently.
The carriage approaching followed this route twice a day, departing from Carne early in the morning and returning in the late afternoon, while another carriage made the reverse journey. After passing through the main gate checkpoint, it headed to the central square, where the Traveler disembarked and looked around as if unsure where to go.
Lupusregina was invisible, positioned a hundred meters above the town hall tower. Her target seemed to be waiting for something, and she saw him approach a visibly pregnant young woman passing by.
"Hello! Good afternoon, ma'am. Is this Village Carne?"
"Good afternoon, yes, sir."
"THE VILLAGE Carne!?"
"Yes," the woman replied with a humorous tone. "Village, city, depends on who you ask, but we are Carne."
"Well, it looks different from what I imagined. The stories don't seem to describe the city well."
"STORIES! What stories? I like stories," said the child accompanying the young woman.
"Oh! Hello, little one. The stories of this city, you didn't know? It's famous."
"Really!?" both of them exclaimed in admiration at the same time.
"Well, yes, and there are many of them," the traveler said to the girl. "There are many stories and many versions. Most of them tell about the attack of a Barghest and the defeat of the troll horde, about how the Goblin General summoned his army and prevented the invasion by the evil prince, and about the Warlord, Enri the Bloody." As he said this, he gestured with his fingers as if it was something to scare the children, who were now starting to gather, drawn in by the mention of stories.
"WARLORD! ENRI THE BLOODY!? Who is calling her that?" the woman spoke in surprise.
"Well, people in other cities, in the taverns where I've been, say that she bathes in the blood of her enemies and impales their heads on the walls."
"THAT'S A LIE!!! And it's not HE, it's SHE, and I haven't done any of that."
"Wait, you are Enri? Enri who defeated monsters and subdued goblins and trolls?"
"I-I didn't do that, not exactly," she spoke with embarrassment, but at that moment, a group of goblins and trolls arrived.
"Any problem, boss?" Jugem asked, intrigued.
"No, nothing for you to worry about," she said, then realizing the irony of the situation. "Okay, right, they follow me, but it was more of a negotiation than a defeat, and I don't know anything about this story of Enri the Bloody."
"Hmm! I see that some of my fellow storytellers sometimes exaggerate at some point, so the defeat of the Eastern Giant's horde and the summoning of an army of three thousand goblins didn't happen either."
"N-No! YES! It happened, and it w-was five thousand, but they might have exaggerated the rest."
"Ah! Well, I guess fame creates its own stories, doesn't it? It might have been better that way."
"Why?"
"Well, it provided greater security than these walls. I believe stories have more power than they realize."
"Stories! We want a story!" Nemu said along with the other children and the people who were gathering.
"Hi! I think most of them wouldn't be appropriate for you children, but I have one that should do. Do you know the story of the four elves and the troll?
"THREE elves, everyone knows."
"Ah! This one is a little different. You see, Ahem:"
"Once upon a time, there were four elf siblings who decided to move from their village. Each of them went to a different place: the first one moved to a pasture where there was only straw to build their hut; the second one went to a forest where they built their house with branches and logs; the third one moved to a quarry and built their house with rocks, and the fourth one ended up in an open field with almost nothing to use."
"Then one day, a War Troll appeared. In the first house, he only needed to blow and blow until the house collapsed, but the quick elf escaped and hid in the forest-dwelling sibling's house.
"When he arrived there, a swing of the troll's club was enough for the wooden house to come crashing down. Once again, the siblings fled and hid with their quarry-dwelling sibling."
"Then the troll arrived and huffed and puffed, blew and struck until he got tired and left," interrupted Nemu confidently.
"Hey! Who's telling this story?!" said the Traveler, eliciting giggles from Nemu and the other children. "Where was I? Ah!:"
"So the troll arrived and blew, blew, hit, and shouted until he got tired, BUT, he didn't leave, he stayed there waiting and waiting. After a few days, the elves had nothing else to eat, so they had to flee. Each of them ran in a different direction, and the confused troll ended up letting them escape. He then followed the trail that led to the fourth sibling's house."
"Without anything to use, the fourth sibling had to dig the ground and discovered that it was an ancient battlefield. So, they used the only available thing to build their house."
"When the troll arrived and saw the house, he turned around and fled. What he found was a house made of troll skulls. It wasn't very sturdy, but it definitely sent a message."
"I don't get it!" Nemu said.
"HAHAhaha! Yes, I'm sorry, I think it was too much for the little ones. Alright, in this version, the supposed fame saved the elves' lives. Similarly, I believe that the real fame of Carne may have deterred other invaders. Here, the first Runecraft forges outside of the Dwarf Kingdom are located. One would expect you to be more harassed, but from what I've heard, that's not the case."
"The Sorcerer King protects us!" Nemu proudly said.
"Yes, I'm sure. But the stories speak of you, of your own strength and your victories." Everyone looked at each other with pride and then admired their mayor.
"You are very kind, sir...?"
"Talbot, John Talbot, a storyteller looking for interesting places."
"Thank you for the story, Mr. Talbot! Since it's getting dark, I believe you'll spend the night here."
"Well, I guess I don't have money for an inn. I spent my last coins on the carriage."
"No problem, my husband and I can accommodate you for tonight."
"I appreciate it, but I must decline. It wouldn't be appropriate to take advantage of the kindness of people I just met."
"Well, if you'd like, you can stay in the barn or even sleep in the lodging with Jugem or Grork", the huge troll nodded.
"What? Sleep alongside a troll!". Everyone was startled by the change in tone. It sounded extremely prejudiced.
"Do you have any idea about the size of their farts?! It would be enough to burn the eyes of a green dragon!"
Everyone looked at him strangely. What was he talking about?
Then a strange sound started, a kind of guttural gargle that grew louder and joined others coming from behind the people who turned around and were surprised.
The trolls were laughing, repeating in their language what the traveler had said, and they laughed even more. No one had seen a troll laugh before; it was strange, but it started to affect the children first. They understood the joke and burst into laughter, which made everyone laugh while the traveler smiled satisfactorily.
The only one not laughing was Lupusregina.
She was a sadist and enjoyed the suffering of others, including her friends. In Nazarick, her sisters ignored her and never reacted to her pranks. But in Carne, it was a playground. Small scares amused her, even though people didn't understand. But what mattered was her, her favorite victim: Enri.
However, ever since the girl became pregnant, Lupusregina was prohibited by her sister from bothering her. After all, this pregnancy may have been her fault, as buffing and restoring Enri's strength during her encounters with her husband became a fun pastime. The poor guy could barely handle the recovery potions; it was hilarious.
But now, seeing all these people, including Enri, laughing at a fart joke, seemed to generate discomfort in Lupusregina. Was she jealous? Or worse, envious?