Settling down

While the breeze from the ocean was still whistling through the forest among the leaves, a few silhouettes appeared in the direction the girl ran to.

An old man with a shaved head, with his green hair jutting out on the sides and the back, and a large beard all in the form of leaves appeared leading a bunch of people.

The people following the old man were carrying sticks, broom, axe, shovel, etc. and such materials. They marched towards Devlin with heavy footsteps, probably trying to intimidate him.

'Am I that scary?' Devlin questions his aesthetics once again.

As the group approached Devlin, they looked around him and at the surroundings. When they look at Devlin's face, they whispered, "Is he the dangerous man seeking sacrifices after emerging from the sea?"

'Dangerous man... Seeking sacrifices...' Devlin wondered whether he had heard it wrong. His face fell looking at his hands and feet. 'Everything seems human to me.'

"He looks like a senile old man dressed in good clothes. If someone pushed him, he might die from falling," one in the back of the group said aloud.

"Who are you calling senile? You senile... Your entire family is senile." Devlin made sure to not go overboard, as he had to ask them for help.

"Everyone calm down." the group leader said.

Then he focused on Devlin once again, "Who are you? How did you get here?"

"My name is Devlin Fairburn. I travel around the sea searching for old histories and stories. My ship got caught in rough weather and I washed up at this place." Devlin calmly described his situation adding some bait for the group.

The old man nodded and introduced himself, "I am Clover. I am a professor as well as an archeologist. As long as you don't have any bad intentions, we might be able to help you."

"Thank goodness." Devlin sighed. To his expectations, Clover didn't ask any questions and gestured to follow him.

"Everyone, let's go back. There is nothing dangerous about this man. Robin must be scared of him, and made up some stories." Clover waved for the group to return.

'Hmm. So, that little girl was Robin.' Devlin felt there was still a difference between seeing a face in a comic and a real-life face made up of flesh and blood.

During the journey back, Oliver and a few people from the group kept glancing at him from time to time. They were still prepared with their weapons on hand, in case anything happened.

Finally, houses came into view. The houses were spread around the tree of knowledge cleanly.

When the group arrived with Devlin, people from houses emerged and surrounded the group asking about the details. Clover taking responsibility for Devlin chased most of the people away.

"Devlin, from now on you are my responsibility. I hope you will cherish my trust and live here peacefully until departing from the island." Clover caressing his long beard handed a key to Devlin.

Taking the key, Devlin stared at Clover without blinking. He wanted to ask a question but got interrupted by Clover, "You don't have to be that surprised. The people still don't trust you, only I do. After all, we are fellow scholars."

Devlin smiled gently, "Thank you. Professor Clover, I won't create any trouble for you." "And this key..."

"Follow me."

Devlin followed Clover under the watchful eyes of the people and stopped in front of a house.

"This house belongs to the Nico family. The little girl you met before is the child from this household. After her mother left, she stayed with her uncle. You can stay in here for the time being." Clover opened the door.

Devlin got a chance to ask a few questions. He asked mainly about Robin and her situation. It turned out, she was six years old.

This means there were still two years left before the tragedy hits Ohara. Devlin decided to stay for the time being.

After Clover left, Devlin cleaned one of the rooms for his stay. He tried to clean around the house as much as possible.

After an hour of cleaning when he opened the door to go outside, he met Robin in front of the door, staring at the house.

Devlin got into another awkward situation with Robin. "You can come inside if you like." Devlin tried to ease the situation.

Rolling her eyes, Robin ran again towards the shore. Devlin looked at her disappearing back and walked to find Clover. He wanted to get the necessary supplies.

Devlin waited in front of the tree of knowledge for Clover to come out. He asked Clover for necessities.

Clover agreed to help but put forward a situation. Clover asked him to share his knowledge in front of other scholars. Devlin understood it was the only way for him to gain the trust of other people, and agreed happily.

Returning to his brand-new house with supplies, he found Robin standing in front of the door again.

"Robin, you can just come in if you want." Devlin pushed the door open.

Robin jumped to the side, finding Devlin appearing behind her back. She followed Devlin inside the house with her eyes, still contemplating whether she should enter the house or not.

Devlin left the door open and started to manage the ingredients and other commodities in the kitchen. It took him till late in the dusk to settle everything around the house.

Robin took her first step inside the house after many years. Looking around, her feet take her to her parents' bedroom at first. Devlin didn't interrupt her and began to prepare the food.

When an aroma of food escaped outside from the kitchen, a grumbling sound followed from the living room.

Devlin peaked from the kitchen to find Robin standing in the middle of the living room looking towards the kitchen. She probably was on her way out but stopped by the food.

Devlin gestured with his hands to call her in. Devlin busied himself setting two plates for the food. Robin entered the kitchen one step at a time with hesitation.

Devlin waited for Robin to sit and eat. She gulped down the food. Then she glanced at Devlin's face and found him smiling gently.

Robin returned a rare smile. Seeing the smile, Devlin asked, "Do you want more?" He didn't feel like he should ask anything on the first day of the meeting.

Robin nodded.

After the meal was done, Robin stood up and left the house. Devlin watched her from the front door till she vanished in the dark. Devlin thought she should have probably returned to her uncle's house.

Devlin returned to his room; recollected all the things that happened to him from the moment he woke up on the ocean shore.

"Looks like a new life isn't going to be that bad," Devlin mumbled looking at the ceiling. "I should start to train from tomorrow as well. And maybe I will be able to help Ohara when the time comes."