Several of the villagers with lanterns had joined the original attackers and were now glaring at Zundar as they continued to shout at him.


    Unfortunately, Akira could not understand what they were saying. The language felt familiar but... he looked to Zundar but his face was blank not understanding what was going on either.


    “They''re speaking in the ancient language! It is similar to the language my holy chants were based on!” said Klyn after listening to the shouting for some time.


    “Hmm, now that you say that... I can sorta understand what they are saying...” said Zundar with his face scrunching up as he concentrated on listening to the villagers.


    “Well? What are they saying?” asked Akira.


    “... what a bunch of rude people!” said Zundar as he glared back at the villagers.


    “They''re hurling some rather... unique insults at him if I am understanding the words correctly...” said Klyn.


    A Female who looked to be in her 20s and had two stubby horns on her head stepped forward out of the crowd while carrying a spear that was as tall as her. She pointed the spear at Zundar.


    “Ohiesuyuelpnoider?”


    “What?” asked Akira.


    Both Klyn and Zundar were able to understand her... sort of. They were a bit rusty as they did not use the language to speak much.


    “She asked why Zundar is helping outsiders,” said Klyn.


    “Can you tell her our purpose here? We are not here to cause problems,” said Akira.


    The two whispered with each other trying to figure out which words to use along with the proper grammar.


    The female and villagers were all staring at them with undisguised anger as they whispered for some time.


    When they had decided on what to say Zundar was given the task to speak since he was of the same demon race as the villagers.


    “Groblumabanuobubuubsrnice. deseismumbujumbu,” his voice sounded surprisingly barbaric as he spoke the ancient language... or at least tried to.


    “Inonowahusai...” said the female with a frown and shook her head.


    “What?” asked Akira.


    “She doesn''t understand what he is saying,” said Klyn.


    “You try it then!” said Zundar sheepishly, embarrassed at being so rusty.


    Luckily for them, the female managed to understand Klyn''s speech and nodded her head.


    Klyn turned to Akira and said, “I told her that we are not from this land and are just here scouting the area around our campsite near the shore.”


    “Is it wise to tell her that?” asked Akira.


    “She and the other villagers all sighed when I said that,” said Klyn. “Judging by their reactions so far I don''t think this land is too peaceful.”


    Akira looked at their faces and saw that they had relaxed slightly but were still on guard against the new outsiders.


    “Can you ask her if there are any dangerous monsters or cities around here that we should be worried about?”


    Klyn and Zundar exchanged a few sentences with the villagers but when they looked at Akira their faces were not all that happy with what they had learned.


    “There seems to be some major conflict happening on this continent. They thought we were here to raid their village for food and other supplies since you look slightly similar to their enemies minus a few major features,” said Zundar.


    Ding!


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Main Quest [Island in a Cold War!]:


    Two large factions, the Oni clans, and the Barbarian clans have been fighting with each other for ages upon ages. They have long forgotten the reason why the war between them started.


    Choose one side of the war and participate in helping them conquer the island!


    There are plenty of raids and skirmishes to earn rewards from!


    The land is harsh and hard and so are the people that live on it!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    “Ask her which side of the conflict they are on.”


    The villagers immediately were on full alert as they looked at Klyn and Zundar with gazes full of suspicion that the two were trying to catch them in a trap. But after a few seconds of hesitation, the female in front of them answered the question.


    A few other villagers shouted out some other things as well while shaking their fists in the air angrily at some unknown enemy.


    “They are part of the Ancient Alliance faction but their enemy, the Oni faction, calls them the Barbarian faction,” said Klyn.


    “Apparently from what they are saying the Oni faction is made up of demon races with slender and well-groomed looks. While the ''Barbarians'' are rough-looking with varying heights. The Oni live in the large central cities while the barbarians live in the outskirts and near the shoreline,” said Zundar.


    With Klyn and Zundar acting as translators they were able to learn more about the land, its people, and how the many ''barbarians'' made a living.


    The small farms of dry hardy-looking plants were a part of their main diets along with the shriveled fruits that grew on some of the gray stone-looking trees.


    Many of the trees that were not fruit-bearing trees were hollow inside and produced a large amount of sticky sweet liquids. The tree''s special sap could be used as a sweetener and ingredient in many food recipes. It could also be turned into a beer and in a pinch and if needed it could be a source of food during harsh times.


    Thus the trees and fruits were the main source of income to poorer villages who sold the products made from it to the larger cities in the central part of the island. The large cities would never give a decent price but would always demand more.


    This new information caused a slight problem for Akira''s plans of fortifying their temporary base with the trees that were so important to the village.


    “Can you ask them who owns this forest and if it''s possible to cut some trees down,” said Akira.


    After a few tense minutes of fierce debates back and forth with many of the villagers, Zundar said, “They say no one really ''Owns'' it but it is customary that the village that is next to the forest can take ownership of the forest and all that it produces as it is a source to keep them and their families alive. I''m guessing that this also includes other villages raiding and taking over the areas for themselves...”


    “They are asking if we want to trade with them,” said Klyn.


    Akira thought for a few seconds going over the supplies that they still had on the ships. They were in serious need of alcohol since they had drunk it all after all the fighting they had done on the sea.


    “You said they make beer, right? If they will accept foreign gold then we will buy as much as they will sell us.”


    Akira pulled out a leather pouch and grabbed a few coins to show the villagers as Zundar spoke to them. The villager''s eyes had all grown big at the sight.


    Upon hearing Akira''s offer the female nodded her head vigorously and motioned for a few people to go gather everything.


    The first person to return was an elderly man with two dull cracked horns. He was carrying a three-legged wooden stool and a gold weighing balance tool along with its small weights.


    Akira offered the old man one of the coins to inspect. He rubbed his fingers over the gold coin and then flicked it before making a mark with his sharp fingernails to see if it was just metal that was plaited with a thin layer of gold.


    When he was satisfied with the results he placed the gold on one side of the measuring tool and started adding the small weights onto the other side until both sides were evenly balanced. With another nod of his head, he wrote down some numbers and spoke to the female handing her the paper.


    “He says that the coin is larger by almost half of the normal gold coins that the large cities use,” whispered Klyn.


    “Make sure they don''t try to rip us off,” said Akira as he watched many of the young village men come back with small barrels on their shoulders, while others carried medium-sized barrels or rolled larger ones over to where Akira''s group was standing.


    “You don''t need to worry! I am good friends with Delgar so I know the prices of almost all ale, wine, and beer by heart!” said Zundar, thumping his chest.


    Over the next ten minutes, they haggled over the prices for each of the different-sized barrels.


    When the price was finalized Akira handed over a small pouch of gold coins and then looked at the large cluster of barrels all sitting on the ground in front of them.


    “How are we supposed to get all this back to the ships?” asked Akira as he scratched his head deeo in thought.


    “Yap!” said Fluffball.


    “That will take too long...” said Akira.


    The villagers were all quite giddy at managing to sell their beer at a decent price for once compared to what they normally got in the cities.


    When they saw Akira''s predicament they happily offered to help them carry them wherever they needed but they would need to get their wheelbarrows and small wagons.


    “Tell them we accept... oh and ask them what they call themselves. Their demon race I mean, not their names,” said Akira.


    Zundar and Klyn listened to their answer and then turned to Akira, “They are called the [Minos].”