On the ninth day after arriving at the Redleaf Tribe, Broly was invited by the chief to go out to the deep water and take part in collecting freshwater pearls.
"We use balls of fermented, very stinky spitting‑fish meat to lure away the dangerous fish in the deep water.
"Once the dangerous fish are drawn off, the tribe's best divers seize the chance to go down to the bottom.
"There are large freshwater clams down there. You use a chunk of fresh fish to tempt them to open, and while they're gaping you can use a stick you brought down to pick the pearls out of their mouths.
"A pearl the size of a pea can be traded for six or seven sacks of flour. If you find one bigger than a pea, a good one can be exchanged for half a month's rations for the whole tribe, or for some iron tools.
"But remember: you can't hurt the clams. That way they'll produce new pearls again in a few years…"
In the little boat, Reedril explained how the Redleaf Tribe made extra income. They were a pearl‑collecting tribe of the mangroves, earning their living by diving into the dangerous deep marshes to gather freshwater pearls from the bottom.
"Broly, you're incredibly strong. If you're willing to join the Redleaf Tribe, I'll give you my position as chief."
After explaining the tribe's trade, Reedril got straight to the point.
These days, he had quietly watched the boy and knew Broly had a good nature, valued his companions, and—most importantly—possessed terrifying strength.
If someone like that led the Redleaf Tribe, they could ignore the maze of mangrove islands and grow far stronger.
So when he realized the boy seemed ready to leave with some of the children who did not want to stay, Reedril decided to ask him out and talk.
As a chief of a not‑very‑"civilized" tribe, Reedril was not one for schemes. He simply showed his greatest sincerity.
"Stay. The Redleaf Tribe can be a home for you and the others."
He meant it. He was even willing to hand the chieftain's seat to an outsider child.
But no matter how sincere he was, it changed nothing. Even if Broly agreed, the Crystal Palace would still forcibly send him back to his own world once his time here ran out.
"I can't stay." Broly shook his head. "Those who have no home and want to stay can stay. But the ones who want to go home—I plan to take them back."
Life in the Redleaf Tribe was stable now for the kids who had followed him out of the forest, but some of them still felt no sense of belonging here. They envied Rivarina for being able to go home and wanted to return to their own real homes too.
"Do you know where their homes are?"
Reedril asked.
"The ones who want to go home have talked about where they used to live, even if I don't know the roads there."
Broly answered honestly.
"If you don't know the roads, how will you send them back?"
"I didn't know the road here either. But I still got them here."
Broly did not see taking people home as difficult. He had done it in the last world too.
"The empire's roads aren't easy. But with your strength, you should be fine."
Reedril sighed. He knew he would not be able to keep Broly, and let it go.
"Can you help me gather some pearls first?"
Broly nodded.
In a single day, he brought up a heap of pearls from the deep that outstripped everyone else's put together.
"You cleared the whole area of clams, didn't you?"
Looking at the pile of pearls in the boat, Reedril could only give a wry smile. The boy's efficiency was too high. They probably would not need to visit this deep pool again for a year or two.
That night, back in the tribe, Broly talked with the other kids about leaving. Some already knew.
"Sorry, Big Brother Broly. I'm going to stay."
That was how most who had no homes felt. They had finally found a place to belong and did not want to go back to wandering.
"I want to go back. I don't believe my parents sold me. That had to be a lie the slavers told. I want to go home and learn the truth."
That was how one of the homeward‑bound children felt. All of those who wanted to return had homes; they just did not know exact directions at their age, only rough place names of the regions they'd once lived in.
"We'll need a map."
Naha Shu said. He had no home himself, but he wanted to leave with Broly.
"Where can we get a map?"
Broly asked. The kids who wanted to go with him all looked at each other. Until now they had mostly just drifted along wherever they were taken.
"I have one. It's not very precise, though."
Reedril walked in from outside, holding a leather scroll and a bundle.
"This is a map my father—the previous Redleaf chief—bartered from a traveling merchant. He once tried to take our tribe's pearls into the empire to sell for a high price.
"He failed. Imperial folk despise foreigners. Thieves targeted us, and even lords and nobles did too. We took heavy losses, and the map ended up gathering dust.
"It's useless to us now, but it might help you, since you want to go back into the empire."
He handed Naha Shu the scroll. It was over ten years old, but well preserved. The lines and writing were still clear.
Broly could not read it, but Naha Shu could. He was well‑educated and had clearly once been trained in manners and more.
"It's old, but definitely an imperial map. Glen's home is about here."
He pointed out Glen's town. Of course, that was only a rough position on the map. They would have to narrow it down once they got close.
"If you're not in a hurry, wait two months here in the village. A trading ship will pass near then. They can take you back into the empire. I'll pay."
"I don't have that much time."
Broly shook his head. He only had forty‑nine days left in this world.
"But if you don't need me to take you home, you can stay."
He told the homeward‑bound kids. None chose that.
Big Bro's strength was something they had seen with their own eyes. With him, even a forest crawling with danger beasts had been nothing more than a stroll.
So it felt safer to go home with him.
"If you're all going, then this is my parting gift."
Reedril seemed to have expected this. He set down the bundle.
When he opened it, it was full of pearls.
"Once you're in the empire, unlike here, you'll need money for almost everything. Our tribe doesn't use imperial currency, but we do have pearls we can trade for it.
"Change these pearls for money, and your journey will be a little easier."
Of course, money meant trouble too. But Reedril glanced at Broly; with this boy along, they should be fine.
"Thank you, Chief Reedril."
"No need. You've done plenty for us already. You brought Rivarina home, for one. And you moved an entire mangrove here. With that new link, our Redleaf Tribe can expand into something much larger."
In the marshlands, the size of a mangrove determined the size of the tribe it could support. The bigger the mangrove, the more people it could feed.
"You really need those things?"
Broly tilted his head.
"Want me to move you a bit more?"
Reedril opened his mouth, but did not refuse.
"If you can, I'd be grateful."
In half a night, Broly dragged over a whole cluster of mangroves from other parts of the swamp. If Reedril had not told him to stop, he might have moved every last one nearby.
"We have to leave some for steppingstones."
The tribe's territory had nearly increased tenfold. Reedril felt a little guilty—he had given some pearls and an old map and received such a ridiculous return.
The next day, he gave the Redleaf Tribe's biggest boat to Broly and the children who would leave with him.
Of the seventy‑three kids who had started out with Broly, only fourteen remained. The rest stood at the new border of the Redleaf mangroves, eyes red, seeing them off.
After going through hardship together, these rootless children had forged real friendship.
Now they were parting, maybe never to meet again. Of course it hurt.
"Naha Shu, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you a noble's kid."
"It's fine. You weren't wrong."
"Pony, stop picking poisonous mushrooms. You really can't eat those."
"But they taste so good."
Bonk.
Cornelia smacked her on the head and called to the friends on shore, "I'll keep an eye on her."
"Chikushi, we'll never forget your roast meat."
"If I get the chance, I'll come back and cook for you again."
"Akame, Kurome, stop stealing Big Bro's meat."
"We didn't. He gave it to us."
The twin sisters felt wronged.
…
"We'll never forget you, Big Brother Broly!"
They all shouted at the end.
Their farewell tugged at Broly. For the first time, he seemed to truly feel a kind of reluctant sadness.
At the same time, he found himself missing someone else in another world—Taiga Fujimura.
"I'll do my best to remember you too."
He answered them. He said "do my best" because he had not learned all their names and faces.
More than seventy was a lot. And they were not Crystal‑Palace‑approved wives.
The boat slipped away, leaving the Redleaf Tribe behind.
As the sadness faded, Glen suddenly asked Naha Shu:
"So you really are a noble?"
"Just a bastard. I've fallen to slavery. That title's not worth much."
They were two friends talking easily, now that their moods had steadied.
And once Broly's mood settled, he had only one thought left:
Time to go find wives somewhere else.
__________
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