Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 437: Northern Exploration Team

TL: Etude Translations

Feather-like snowflakes danced through the air, filling the space between sky and earth with a blanket of white.

Stanford looked up into the sky, but could barely make out anything, only glimpses of light filtering through the gaps in the snowflakes.

This made it difficult for him to distinguish north, south, east, or west.

This damned place is really cold! He wondered how those hairy barbarians managed to survive here.

Shivering, he quickly fastened his trousers and walked a few steps to a mound rising from the ground.

He lifted a thick animal skin, revealing a hole emitting a warm, yellow light, and eagerly crawled inside.

Ah! Was his decision correct? He sighed.

Stanford, the commander of the Northern Exploration Fleet, was appointed by Count Paul Grayman of Alda. Since June last year, he led three ships from Port Fran on the northwest coast of the Kingdom of Ordo, sailing northward along the continental coastline to explore.

The journey northward was smooth at first. The fleet, consisting of three ships, split from the other two at the edge of the bay and continued northward, charting their course as they went.

They discovered that the northern edge of the Northwest Bay was formed by a huge peninsula jutting into the ocean.

Stanford landed on the peninsula with some crew members to explore. The peninsula was covered with hills and mountains, and they encountered traces of orc tribes. Due to the consistently bad reputation of orcs, they decided against making contact and returned to their ship. It was already known to the inhabitants of the Northwest Bay that orcs lived across the sea. During the times when pirates were rampant, some of the notorious groups included large, hairy individuals known for their brutality and bloodlust.

Continuing northward along the coastline for a month, they noticed the continental edge did not extend straight north but veered northwest.

The exploration team also surveyed the coastal geography, especially potential port locations. According to Lord Grayman’s grand vision, fleets from the Northwest Bay would carry craftsmen, food, militia, and then construct docks, warehouses, and shipyards to serve as supply stations for longer voyages.

The three-masted ships they sailed had a little over two months of supplies. After a month of sailing, they had used nearly half of their provisions. Freshwater could be replenished occasionally onshore (if they were lucky to find rivers or lakes), but food was a major concern.

According to the original plan, they should have turned back by now. However, during one exploration, they were surprised to find traces of human natives, having previously thought that only orcs lived north of the Rocky Mountains.

The first contact between the two unfamiliar groups was not warm. The natives, paddling canoes, were intimidated by the explorers’ “giant ships,” leading to a standoff.

After half a day of standoff, the exploration team made the first friendly gesture. They launched a small boat towards the natives and tossed a bottle of honey and a bag of salt towards them – originally they wanted to give biscuits, but unfortunately, the ship’s biscuits were spoiled and worm-infested.

The natives opened the gifts of honey and salt, instantly enamored by the sweet and savory flavors, and waved at the strangers from a distance.

“They seem friendly; I think we should engage in deeper communication,” suggested the flagship’s captain.

After some consideration, Stanford agreed.

The first mate went ashore with some crew members.

He presented a silver coin with King Rodney’s portrait to one of the native leaders. However, the native only curiously examined the coin as if it were a novel trinket, not money.

When the first mate gifted a finely crafted steel dagger, the tall native jumped with joy and reciprocated with a gemstone he wore, appearing somewhat sheepishly as if explaining that the stone was the most valuable thing he possessed.

“It seems their society still operates on a barter system,” the first mate told his companions.

“First Mate, we have lots of shiny glass pieces on our ship. Maybe we can trade them for food—if they have any.”

A crew member proposed what he thought was a clever idea.

“That’s too immoral, isn’t broken glass just trash? Trading garbage for supplies, do you really have no shame?”

“What’s the difference? It’s all the same to them anyway.”

The first mate waved his hand to stop the crew’s argument. “Enough! Let Commander Stanford make this decision.”

…

“If we want to gain their support to explore more vast areas, we can’t engage in such deceitful behavior! As our interactions deepen, they will inevitably discover the truth,” Stanford rejected the absurd suggestion.

“Before we set out, Lord Grayman emphasized to me that if we encounter natives capable of communication—whether human or not—we must show a friendly demeanor.”

Once it was clear that the natives were not hostile, Stanford personally led the team to the native settlement.

The settlement, or village, mostly consisted of low wooden houses or mud and straw huts, with living conditions far below those of Alda’s countryside a few years ago. In the center of the village was a notably large wooden house, likely the leader’s residence. The layout of the entire village was not clearly planned, appearing quite messy from above, but there was an open space in front of the leader’s longhouse.

Judging by the number and density of the buildings, Stanford estimated the village had around four to five hundred inhabitants.

Considering the possibility of interacting with foreign natives, the exploration team included scholars proficient in language studies. Through a combination of guesswork and observation in communication, Stanford was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was a significant amount of agriculture here, though hunting and fishing seemed to be the primary means of sustenance, evidenced by animal skulls and bone decorations on the walls.

The people here seemed to use wooden and bone tools, and their clothing was made of animal skins.

Thus, the exploration team brought out many metal tools, such as hammers, axes, hoes, nails, needles, along with three rolls of cotton cloth and several spools of thread for mending clothes, expressing their intent to trade for some food.

A venerable elder—presumably the leader—lit up upon seeing the items brought by the strangers. He picked up each item with a look of wonder, gently touching them as if they were treasures.

The exploration team successfully traded for thirty bags of grain and five bags of hard, dried meat. There were other items that intrigued them, such as fur pelts, which could be sold for a fortune back home, but food was the priority at the moment.

After returning to the ship with the traded goods, Stanford convened the leaders from all three ships to discuss the next course of action.

Now with a slightly more abundant food supply, should they set a ‘slightly’ more ambitious course?

Moreover, having encountered a human native tribe open to trade, could they not more easily obtain supplies in other places following this example, supporting their voyage? Surely there must be more than one human tribe on land.