9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 78 - Another World Army Officer (3)

The elf who appeared to be a servant silently led Fael and Daniel.

They passed through an expansive garden intricately decorated along paths paved with smooth stones. Various exotic plants, colorful birds, and even fountains made of gemstones—the foreign landscape naturally drew their eyes.

The interior of the palace was much cleaner and more comfortable than expected.

Upon entering the building constructed from an unknown stone material that was similar to marble but slightly more textured and duller in color, pleasant and warm air enveloped their bodies.

Though not particularly spacious, the high ceiling allowed good air circulation and gave a majestic feeling.

One peculiar thing was that shoes had to be removed when entering the interior.

When Daniel mindlessly tried to follow along, Fael taught him in a small voice.

Though he felt slightly resistant, the sensation of the floor against his feet wasn’t actually bad. No, it was pleasantly soft.

After passing through a long corridor, they finally arrived at a room where an old elf was waiting.

“Fa-Shahin. The chieftain of the Fa tribe.”

An elderly man with wrinkles carved here and there on his weather-beaten face, giving him a formidable impression.

“It’s my first time meeting you, Chieftain. My name is Daniel Hartmann.”

Daniel bowed his head while answering in halting elvish.

He had been studying diligently with Fael ever since the desert expedition was decided.

Daniel could even write some elvish characters, albeit clumsily. It was thanks to being a bibliophile who had read many related books.

Fa-Shahin’s expression noticeably softened.

“Welcome to the Fa tribe’s village.”

“Thank you.”

Sitting on the soft cushion, Daniel tried not to grimace.

Not knowing how to sit, he glanced sideways at Fael and the chieftain’s postures and folded his legs the same way, but his entire legs were numb and painful.

In contrast, the two of them looked very comfortable. They had clearly been doing this torture-like eccentric posture since childhood.

“What do you do for work?”

“It’s nothing impressive, but I worked as a journalist. Coming to the Great Desert wasn’t just for business, but also to write a travelogue…”

Eyes that sparkled like sapphires examined Daniel thoroughly. Daniel quietly met the deep, sunken, and sharp gaze.

Dark brown skin, light silver hair, distinct features.

Fael was a spitting image of his father. Of course, the father was much smaller in height and build, but he had an intense charisma that his son lacked.

‘Being a chieftain isn’t something just anyone can do, I suppose.’

Even if it was a position leading a small number of people in a declining region.

Fa-Shahin casually reached for a gourd bottle beside the fireplace. A long pipe was connected to the bottle.

After putting tobacco leaves in the gourd bottle, Fa-Shahin extended the pipe.

“It’s a water pipe. Also called shisha. Would you like to try it?”

“Thank you.”

Daniel hesitantly put his mouth to the pipe and inhaled the smoke. Along with the sandalwood scent, his head cleared sharply.

“It has a very sweet taste.”

“That’s because I mixed in spices made from dates.”

While he was absorbed in the shisha, Fa-Shahin conversed with Fael in low voices.

“What on earth were you thinking? Running away on your own whim, and after returning for the first time in ten years, you even bring humans.”

“Running away, you say. Wasn’t it you, Father, who drove me out? Calling me a traitor who abandoned his homeland.”

“Right, my thoughts haven’t changed.”

“Mine haven’t either.”

The son with a gentle smile and the father with a stony expression glared at each other.

“Huff, hoooo…”

Intense breathing sounds came from beside them, and both their gazes turned. Daniel, didn’t know what to do watching the father-son quarrel, was earnestly inhaling the water pipe.

“Ahem, anyway, you’re welcome here. Consider this my home and please stay comfortably. Gladly welcoming travelers is a tradition of our Fa tribe. There might be some inconveniences since you’re from a human country.”

“Inconvenient? I’m grateful for such generous hospitality.”

“Well then, you may withdraw. Elhar, let’s talk again later.”

“Yes, Father.”

Thud!

Daniel had no sensation in his legs at all. When he tried to stand and smashed his face into the floor, both of them looked at him with pity.

“Ugh, I’m sorry.”

Fortunately, it was a soft carpet, so his nose wasn’t broken.

***

Fa-Shahin didn’t ask many questions of Fael, who had suddenly appeared and caused a great commotion.

Even though it had been ten years since Fael left the village, and there must be many accumulated stories and unresolved emotions.

He simply had several tents set up at the edge of the oasis for them and told them to rest.

“Is there a reason you’re not staying in the palace?”

At the servant’s polite report that everything was ready, please come in, Daniel asked carefully as they walked slowly.

“Well, we are foreigners after all. It might mean he doesn’t acknowledge me yet.”

As he said, the tents stood facing the village as if confronting it with the oasis between them.

Inside the tent, warm and cozy air circulated.

Unlike what Daniel had imagined, this place was only a tent in appearance—inside it was just a house.

Rooms were divided by thick cloth instead of walls. The floor covered with beautiful patterned carpets was soft, and a fireplace installed in the center expelled steam outside the ceiling through pipes.

There were even newspapers and a radio visible in the corner, and when Daniel asked Fael about it, he was told there were newspaper companies and radio stations in the Great Desert too.

“Tents this luxurious are rare though. The ones merchants usually use are more simple and basic.”

While Fael explained various things, dinner was brought in.

Perhaps because it was a region difficult for farming, it was mainly meat-based, with unfamiliar fruits laid out. It looked simple but extremely delicious.

Following elvish custom, they ate with their hands, picking up food wrapped in soft leaves without utensils.

‘The fastidious Schufaben people would be horrified.’

Especially those who despised elves.

Daniel was seeing real Great Desert elves for the first time, so he received quite a fresh shock.

Until meeting Fael, the elves he knew were usually miserly loan sharks who exploited neighbors, or urban poor who had fallen to the bottom, selling their bodies or doing menial labor.

He had only read about the small number of elves living in the Great Desert while maintaining their traditions.

However, the way of life enjoyed by the elves here was extremely beautiful and gentle.

Without having to hide from human abuse like sewer rats in cities, they could exist as themselves.

‘To think I’d come to find elves endearing.’

He too, as a human, didn’t hate elves but had at least harbored uncomfortable feelings.

Having heard only negative things all his life, and because of things he experienced growing up, it was the kind of feeling that couldn’t be easily corrected.

Even after meeting Fael and Bletter and cooperating with them.

However, that feeling gradually faded as he crossed the Great Desert, passed by elven merchants, talked with them, received water from them, and finally arrived at the Fa tribe’s village, and now it had completely disappeared.

‘If I brought the Supreme Leader here, would he change his mind?’

He chuckled at the sudden thought.

The Supreme Leader’s deep-rooted elf hatred didn’t seem like it could be cured to that degree.

‘Come to think of it, Lucas suggested joining hands with elves without any hesitation.’

Someone who used to hate elves as much as the Supreme Leader. It was truly strange.

Daniel had long accepted Lucas’s change, but he was still curious about the reason for the change.

He just buried it because there was no way to find out.

“…What are you doing?”

At Fael’s voice, he suddenly came to his senses.

“Ah, sorry. Actually, I was thinking that the way elves live isn’t bad either.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Fael smiled.

“Want to look around more? We should pay our respects too.”

“I’d be grateful if you’d guide me.”

Fael took Daniel around various parts of the village. They visited houses here and there and greeted people they encountered.

“It’s been a long time.”

The elves looking at Fael mostly had gazes mixed with affection and anxiety.

Affection was natural since he was the chieftain’s son, but what about the anxiety?

‘Could it be related to what was said about abandoning his homeland?’

Still, the elves smiled kindly and welcomed Daniel when they saw him. The saying about liking to host guests seemed to be true.

“Living in the barren desert, we used to hear stories about the world from travelers. We also occasionally heard news of those who left as merchants. So we had no choice but to welcome guests. Now there are newspapers and radios though.”

“I understand. Traditions don’t disappear overnight like that.”

When Daniel nodded, Fael made a slightly enigmatic expression.

***

Before they knew it, a large full moon was reflecting in the oasis waters.

“Are the greetings finished now?”

“More or less.”

Fael sat on a rock near the oasis. Daniel also stretched his stiff legs.

How much time had passed?

The sound of footsteps on sand could be heard.

“Our prodigal brother has returned.”

A young man appeared who resembled Fael but was somewhat less exotic and much more youthful.

“Namir. It’s been a long time.”

“Right. About ten years? Since the busy older brother was doing who knows what in the city and rarely contacted us. I almost died waiting.”

“You waited for me?”

“Why? Can’t I wait for my runaway brother? Do you have something to feel guilty about?”

“Namir.”

“Ah~ that’s right! Before running away, you fought with Father and fought with me too! You said whether I became chieftain or not had nothing to do with you. But why would someone so uninterested in the tribe come back? I heard you were living well with humans.”

“I didn’t betray the tribe. I was just trying to find a better path.”

“Is that so? So did you succeed? With those great human friends of yours. But wait, there seems to be only one human among the people you brought? Did you finally give in? To ‘discrimination.’ That discrimination you insisted so stubbornly you could overcome. How was it experiencing it firsthand?”

“Stop it, Namir. Aren’t you ashamed in front of our guest?”

“The one who did shameful things was you, brother. Father might not know, but I haven’t forgiven you.”

The man called Namir turned his head sharply to glare at Daniel. With the eyes of a fierce beast.

Daniel was desperately concentrating, trying to follow the conversation between the two, but could only understand about half.

“I don’t expect forgiveness. But—”

“Ah, yes, for the tribe, for Father, and for poor little brother Namir. No need for lies you don’t even believe yourself. You’re just a traitor.”

Namir turned around with his tunic fluttering and strode away.

“…”

Fael’s expression looked somewhat troubled and somewhat dazed.

“Sorry. Namir still doesn’t know much about the world.”

After a long while, as they returned to the tent, Fael apologized.

“It’s fine. But why is he so hostile? I understand hating humans, but that was…”

“Namir is my half-brother. His mother was human.”

Come to think of it, it was dark so he couldn’t see well, but his ear tips seemed round.

“After our mother passed away, Father fell in love with a human woman. The process was complicated too… The important thing is that my stepmother and Namir didn’t receive favorable treatment.”

“I see. But if he hates humans so much, why do the village people treat me kindly?”

“Because they’re afraid.”

“…”

“They do it because they’re afraid. Of course, there are people with fewer prejudices and some who genuinely treat you as a guest. But most find humans troublesome. Memories of war and massacre are still vivid.

On the continent, the number of humans exceeds elves by hundreds of times. So they fear being driven from this land again at any time. Since having humans enter the village rarely leads to good things, they consider it taboo, but they treat them kindly out of fear. If they harmed a human and he brought his kinsmen back for revenge, the village would inevitably be destroyed.

Our Fa tribe especially, since Father who loved a human is keeping a sharp watch. Father is a great person who has protected the tribe for a long time. They can’t openly dislike it.”

“Even though a human became the chieftain’s wife, the perception is still the same?”

Fael let out a small sigh.

“My stepmother died early. When Namir was young. Father was truly saddened. So Namir is Father’s sore point. He protected Namir, shielding him from the tribespeople. That might have been a mistake. There was internal strife over the succession. The Fa tribe follows primogeniture. There was me, the eldest son with a significant age gap, but Father loved Namir much more.

Eventually everyone became sick of it, and they considered bringing a human in the first place to be the source of discord.”

“Did you leave because of that too, Fael?”

“Right. We fought over that measly power called the chieftain position. I thought it would be better if I stepped aside. But Namir saw me as a traitor. Even when I tried to persuade him, he cried and clung to me.”

“That must have been difficult.”

When Daniel spoke carefully, Fael smiled.

“Thanks. Let’s go in now.”

Daniel couldn’t fall asleep.

The conversation with Fael seemed to spin round and round in his head.

‘Elves would feel the same way about humans as humans feel about elves. Why didn’t I think of something so obvious…’

The unfamiliar sleeping arrangement of blankets spread on the floor made his head even more complicated.

After tossing and turning for a long time, Daniel finally left the tent.

The desert night was always beautiful. While looking at the stars that seemed ready to pour down, he suddenly took out his notebook and drew a picture.

During the past few days of camping, he had been drawing star charts of desert constellations different from those in Schufaben.

As Daniel walked around the oasis while drawing stars, a small voice reached his ears.

A faint light was leaking from Fael’s tent.

When he approached without thinking, he could tell two people were having a conversation.

“…So that’s your plan?”

It was the chieftain’s voice.

‘Oh no, I shouldn’t eavesdrop.’

Just as he thought that.

“Yes. I’m going to make Lucas Redan king.”

“What?!”

At Fael’s voice that followed, Daniel choked spectacularly.