I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree-Chapter 20 - Turns Out There Were Traitors (2/5)
“Apologies, but it seems for now, we can only gather some provisions through hunting and collecting wild berries,” Arati said to the crowd below, his tone helpless.
But the people below still didn’t buy it. In their opinion, the tribe’s losses this time could have been avoided. It was all Arati’s fault for insisting on waiting for those who had already died.
“Alright, alright!” Molent stepped forward at this moment. It was clear he was supporting Arati’s authority. “Complaining now is useless. Let’s quickly go hunting and gathering. Don’t let the children starve!”
Arati’s influence was still considerable. At his words, the young people of the tribe quickly got moving. Even those from the search and rescue team who had just returned still got moving after hearing Molent’s words.
There was nothing they could do. If they didn’t act, they would starve to death. Faced with the pressure of survival, they had no choice but to do this.
And in a harsh environment like the desert, they were used to doing this.
Meanwhile, Orson, who was sitting beside Laina, also stood up.
“Mr. Edward, please stay,” Arati said this, calling out to Orson.
He walked forward, holding a roll of parchment in his hand.
“This is a map of the vicinity. Please take it. We are moving to a new place, and we no longer need the map of this area.”
“Thank you,” Orson heard this and nodded.
He unfolded the map in his hand.
The map was drawn somewhat crudely, but in the desert, having such a map that could help with direction was extremely valuable.
He saw the markings on the map and looked at Arati curiously.
“Chieftain Arati, did you also relocate from somewhere else before?”
“Yes,” Arati nodded. “The land in the desert is not uncultivable, but without water and fertilizer, crops cannot grow. After the soil fertility disappears and the groundwater dries up, we have to move. We demi-humans generally move to a new place every five to ten years. I have moved six times in my life.”
“Alright,” Orson heard this and nodded.
This map recorded the trajectory of the tribe’s several moves.
From this, it could be seen that they were continuously relocating towards the periphery of the desert.
“When relocating towards the periphery of the desert, have you considered moving into human territory?” freewebnσvel.cøm
“Humans!?” Arati heard this, looked at Orson, and said seriously, “Mr. Edward, don’t assume that just because you have lived among humans for a while, you can assume all humans are easy to get along with.”
“The reason humans are willing to befriend you, in my opinion, is definitely because you are capable, Mr. Edward. For ordinary demi-humans like us, interacting with humans will only result in being sold as slaves to powerful individuals with special preferences.”
“Even ordinary humans see us as monsters. How could we get along well with them?”
“What about the east?” Orson asked in confusion.
While the western continent was the domain of the human Empire, the eastern continent had a completely different structure.
Due to the desert barrier, the eastern continent had, up to now, remained in an era of independent city-states. Each city-state had different policies, and there were even city-states specifically for races like vampires, elves, and dragons. In general, it was quite diverse.
Due to the desert and the snowfields, communication between the eastern and western continents could only be achieved through the southern sea trade routes.
However, this sea trade route was also extremely dangerous. Besides the sea monsters and sirens that frequently appeared in the sea, even basic winds and waves were something that ordinary ships could not navigate through.
Therefore, communication between the eastern and western continents had not been deep for a long time.
After all, at most only a dozen ships could communicate with each other each year, and to ensure the ships arrived safely, they had to take extremely high risks and pay a huge price.
Although both sides had their own specialties and could exchange goods, when the costs were too high, profit-driven merchants would not use this trade route.
Therefore, the ships that traveled between the eastern and western continents each year were either on political missions or were groups of adventurers preparing to get rich on the other continent.
“The east?” Arati heard this and showed a strange expression. “Are you saying, the other side of the desert?”
“Yes. Is there no place for demi-humans to live there either?”
“No,” Arati shook his head. “It’s just, you might not believe it, but the east side of the desert is a range of towering mountains, and even volcanoes. Traversing the terrain there is even more complex and difficult.”
“There is only one path that easily leads to the eastern continent, but a restriction was placed upon it a long time ago. Let alone us demi-humans, even beastmen cannot pass through.”
“So that’s how it is?” Orson frowned upon hearing this.
Information about the terrain in the desert and the eastern continent was rarely recorded in the books of the western continent. Even the mountain range separating the desert and the eastern continent, although Orson had heard people mention it before, he only completely confirmed it from Arati.
As for the restriction Arati mentioned, it was completely unheard of.
Perhaps people from the western continent who traveled to the eastern continent would spread this kind of news, but it was limited to oral legends and could not be considered documented information.
Indeed, just as Teacher Therese said, only after truly entering the desert could one understand the real situation within.
“However...” Orson said this, looking at a place marked with a special symbol on the map.
That location was even deeper in the desert than where the demi-human tribe first relocated.
“What is this place, and why is it specifically marked here?” Orson asked.
“Ah, this is the temple of the deity we worship, Limusa, Lord of All Beasts.”
“Limusa?” Orson did have some impression of this name.
