Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 586: The Western Exploration Team
Chapter 586: The Western Exploration Team
TL: Rui88
“So, you’ll be leaving soon?”
Inside a dim tent made of animal hides, Egbert, the shaman of the Great Stream Tribe, asked in his deep yet somewhat ear-rattling voice. At that moment, he was mixing a medicinal paste, first pounding different herbs into a mud-like substance in a stone mortar, and then mixing them according to their respective proportions.
“Yes, I came this time to bid you farewell,” Gran said, sitting opposite him, almost completely obscured by Egbert’s tall figure. Although his team had been in the Great Stream Tribe for over two months, he still couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease, even absurdity, when facing Egbert and his people.
As for the source of this absurdity, one only needed to look at Egbert across from him. A massive ox head… in short, a head strikingly similar to a certain domestic animal used for plowing, was placed on a humanoid body. It looked out of place no matter how you looked at it.
Their first contact with the Great Stream Tribe had been more than two months ago. Before that, Gran had commanded the Western Exploration Fleet, drifting on the vast ocean. After leaving the Northwest Bay, guided by the stars, their fleet had sailed continuously westward. Fortunately, the waters they passed through were very calm, and they did not encounter any storms or other bad weather, so much so that Gran planned to name this vast ocean the Ocean of Tranquility. While drifting on the ocean, they encountered many islands. Each time the crew thought they had found a new continent and their spirits soared, subsequent exploration would always bring them down again. Fortunately, these islands could more or less replenish their fresh water and food supplies, which was what sustained them in their westward journey.
Finally, nearly four months after departing from Port Fran, the Western Exploration Team encountered a true continent. Realizing that the land under their feet was not the small specks they had encountered before, the excited team members quickly organized a party to explore inland and ran headfirst into the hunting party of the Great Stream Tribe.
The initial contact was not very peaceful. The Great Stream Tribe… let’s just call them minotaurs for now. Their appearance terrified the exploration team members. A combination of an ox head and a human body…such a bizarre creature had never been seen on the old continent. The exploration team members also gave the people of the Great Stream Tribe a big scare. It seemed they too were seeing human beings for the first time, but their alarm was slightly less than that of the exploration team.
Upon seeing the first minotaur, fear drove the team members to nearly shoot the crossbows in their hands, while the other side also raised their stone spears…yes, their tools seemed very primitive, and their level of civilization should be low. Their clothes were also made of animal skins decorated with bird feathers. Gran, who was leading the team personally, stopped his subordinates in time. In his impression, any animal that could walk upright possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Even the notorious goblins of the old continent could understand a little bit of human speech, and having intelligence meant that communication was possible.
Gran’s judgment was correct. He made some gestures that he believed expressed goodwill. At first, the other side just looked at them hesitantly. After repeated efforts, the ox-headed, human-bodied creatures finally lowered their weapons.
Through a combination of gestures and drawings, the two sides confirmed that the other was harmless. Thus, after leaving half of the crew behind and entrusting Vito…a young shipwright from Port Fran…to lead people to gather materials and repair the ships, Gran led a group of people into the camp of the Great Stream Tribe. The items they brought from the ship…porcelain, metal tools, tea, bags of salt, and cloth…were welcomed by the Great Stream Tribe, and the exploration team members were treated as honored guests. In the eyes of the exploration team members, these strangely-looking natives seemed more qualified to be called “orcs” than the orcs on the great plains of their homeland. The orcs back home just had longer body hair, but the minotaurs here actually had the head of an animal.
Over the next two months, Gran and his team members worked hard to learn the language of these minotaurs. Fortunately, the structure of their tongues should be similar to that of humans, so they were not able to produce sounds that humans could not. Although these creatures sometimes liked to bellow like oxen. Gran himself had a high aptitude for languages. He was already able to have some simple conversations with the minotaurs, albeit haltingly. During their communication, he got to know Egbert, the shaman of the Great Stream Tribe. His position seemed to be somewhat similar to that of a shaman in the orc tribes of the plains, both dealing with mystical things. And this shaman seemed to be the person with the highest status in the tribe.
Although the Great Stream Tribe did not have a highly developed civilization, it at least had a sense of life. The exploration team, long separated from human civilization, recuperated here for more than two months through simple barter trade. After all the ships had been repaired and their supplies were fully replenished, Captain Gran decided to bid farewell to these new friends. He first came to Egbert’s tent to visit the shaman.
After hearing Gran’s intentions, Egbert said with some regret, “Friend, it is a pity that I cannot continue to listen to your stories about the other continent. In my previous understanding, the sea was just the sea, and beyond the sea was still the sea. Apart from the land across the southern strait, there was no other land in the world.”
The land across the southern strait. Gran had heard about it while gathering geographical information here. His departure this time was to go south and see that land.
Gran responded sincerely, “If I have the chance, I will visit you again. However, respected Shaman Egbert, I seem to see worry on your brow. If you have any difficulties, could you tell this new friend you have just made? Perhaps I can be of some help.”
Shaman Egbert let out a long sigh. “I do not wish to hide anything from a friend. Actually… our tribe is in danger.”
“Are you facing some enemy? Where do they come from?”
“Yes, the enemy is from the land to the south.”
The land to the south. Gran was startled. He was just planning to go there and have a look.
Egbert shook his head and said, “I don’t want to hide it from you, my friend. When we first met, I did harbor the thought of seeking strength from you, because you have metal weapons like the southern enemies. However, your people and weapons are simply too few…”
Metal weapons? Could it be that there was a human civilization on the southern continent?
“Are they… are they human? Ah, I mean, are your enemies creatures with the same appearance as me?” Gran’s tone was a little excited.
Shaman Egbert shook his head again. “They are very similar to you, but not exactly the same. This is also why our warriors did not attack immediately when they first met you.” ℝＡ𐌽ő฿Ë𐌔
Gran thought to himself, no wonder when they first encountered the minotaurs, the minotaurs were surprised, but not nearly as shocked as humans were upon seeing minotaurs. So they had seen a human-like race before.
“Then can you describe to me what these enemies look like? What are the specific differences between them and us?” Gran continued to ask Egbert.
With Gran’s current command of the minotaur language, it was clear that he had not yet reached the level where he could understand the other’s description of the specific details of an object. Egbert spent a long time, but with Gran’s still-confused expression, he finally gave up on his verbal efforts. So he turned and began to rummage for something, and soon took out a stone slab. “This is their image on it. Take a look.”
Gran looked at the stone slab, his expression growing more and more surprised and suspicious. Although the painting on the stone slab was primitive in technique and somewhat abstract, it was still understandable. The creature depicted was indeed very similar to a human, with a human head, a human body, human limbs, and even a human face and slightly pointed ears.
Except for the curved, goat-like… horns on top of its head.
Chapter 586: The Western Exploration Team
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