9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 87 - Treasure Chest (4)

“Brother! Wake up!”

Fael felt someone shaking his body vigorously and opened his eyes.

“Ugh, urgh…”

“Thank goodness, I thought you were dead!”

As he blinked several times, his blurred vision cleared. He could see Namir, Daniel, and the workers with relieved expressions.

“Where is this?”

“Inside the tent. Do you know how shocked everyone was? You suddenly lost consciousness and fell! The dragon caught you with its front paw and set you down on the ground. What on earth happened?! And why are you covered in blood?”

“Give Fael some time.”

Daniel restrained his excited brother.

As soon as Fael heard the word ‘dragon,’ his mind snapped awake.

“Tan, no, where did the dragon go?”

“It’s still right there, where else would it go!”

When he shot up and flew toward the dragon, everyone followed running after him. Ah, Namir was carried on a worker’s back, just shouting.

Fael landed in front of the dragon.

Honestly, his cold reason mocked whether this made any sense. But…

“Tan.”

The red dragon, no, Tan’s eyes sparkled.

“Kuuuuuu!”

A joyful rumbling sound.

“Tan, well done.”

Tan pushed his face forward. Fael stroked his snout.

“My goodness!”

Behind him came Namir’s dumbfounded muttering.

***

“Hmm, no matter how much dragons are said to be spiritual beings.”

Daniel, who had heard Fael’s story, wore a puzzled expression.

“I agree, Daniel. But that wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. I’m certain.”

Fael spoke firmly while stroking the purring Tan.

“Really, was it undiscovered ancient magic?”

“Enchanting a newborn dragon with songs and rituals. I only thought such things were fantasies…”

The workers were also mostly confused.

“Ah! I get it now. That’s what it was!”

Only Namir jumped up and down excitedly.

“Dragon worship and all that was nonsense. It was only Tan! They only tamed one dragon from the beginning. With perfectly fitting magic. No wonder there were no records or oral traditions about other dragons.

Congratulations, brother! I may not know much about magic, but I understand this much. If what you saw is true, then Tan probably mistakes you for ‘Your Majesty.'”

Fael smiled wearily at him.

“Thank you, Namir. More than that, everyone. I have a request.”

His voice was utterly serious.

“It would be best to keep the stories about the Golden Clan, pure-blood elf lineage, and Tan secret.”

Daniel had expected as much.

“Why? This is an incredible discovery! It would make the whole world take notice. Imagine, everyone would newly recognize the value of us elves…”

“That’s exactly the problem, Namir.”

Fael cut off his excited brother’s words.

“We’ve already faced discrimination and persecution. But what do you think humans would do if they found out we have special abilities?”

“Well, respect and cooperation?”

Fael had to suppress a sigh that wanted to escape.

‘Ah, Father, how preciously have you raised your son.’

Namir, now seventeen years old, still had naive aspects.

He was a child who had experienced all the massacres and violence only through books in the comfort of the palace.

He might constantly voice complaints, but in his heart he surely harbored romance and a spirit of adventure.

“Such dreamlike things won’t happen. On the contrary, they’ll try to capture elves as test subjects. They’ll extract blood to analyze its components, throw elves without status into dragon pens, march armies into the Great Desert they dismissed as worthless to wake sleeping dragons. Do you really want that?”

Namir’s face hardened at the grim prediction.

“You like humans, brother. Why are you saying such things?”

“I told you, it’s a misunderstanding. I would have thought the same even if the positions of humans and elves were reversed. People’s selfish nature is all the same. Don’t you understand? How cruel the Elf Kingdom was. It was a country so corrupt that the king’s daughter wished for its downfall.”

It was quite a cynical response.

“Look at reality. We, the elves, are never noble victims. You might believe that, though.”

“I, I am…”

Namir seemed about to argue something, but eventually hung his head and muttered weakly.

“So you want to bury all of this?”

“Let’s not give humans any excuse. Even now we’re called a race spawned by demons—what do you think would happen if the truth about the kingdom became known?”

After delivering that blunt blow matter-of-factly, Fael looked around at everyone.

“I’m asking you.”

That night the desert was silent and cold.

***

Daniel faithfully kept a journal throughout the expedition.

「World Calendar Year 1902, December 15th.

Clear weather.

We are now on the back of the red dragon Tan. Since it’s a house-sized dragon, there’s no worry of falling, but it’s far from comfortable.

Even drowned out by the fierce wind sounds, shivering cries about the cold can be heard from here and there.

We’re wearing thick clothes and wrapped in blankets, even with gloves on, but continuously facing the cold wind high in the sky is unavoidable.

Still, this would be much better than crossing the desert with the injured.

Tan is very well-behaved. Following Fael’s command, he even lowered his tail so we could climb up and ride.

Still so amazing.

Everything is going smoothly, but there’s just one thing—I’m a bit worried about Namir. He’s been looking dejected ever since his fight with Fael. He might have been hurt.

However, though Namir is pitiful, Fael’s argument is correct.

That humans hating elves is as wrong as the reverse.」

***

“We’re here!”

The workers began to stir.

The oasis and Fa tribe’s village were already becoming visible. It was truly an astonishing speed.

Fael stroked Tan’s nape and whispered.

“Let’s go down, Tan.”

Then Tan rapidly descended.

“Hold on tight!”

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Tan’s body suddenly tilted, and Namir’s desperate scream echoed through the air.

“Hupppp!”

Fael chose to jump down. Flying through the air, he landed in an area a little away from the oasis. Shortly after, Tan also crashed down as if smashing into the ground.

BOOM!

The tremendous sound made their ears ring, and Fael even fell over from the vibration.

“Is everyone okay?”

The dazed people soon came to their senses and slid down from Tan’s body.

“What the hell is going on!”

Among the villagers who came running out in the commotion, tribal chief Fa-Shahin was visible.

The dragon’s appearance threw the entire village into chaos, but Fael kept his mouth shut.

He only confided in Fa-Shahin alone and secretly had the shaman summoned to make dragon restraints.

“Hmm, has it changed?”

Daniel tilted his head while looking at Tan, who was lying near the oasis wearing restraints.

“It’s a magical formula developed to reduce violence and increase friendliness toward people. In harsh terms, you could call it mental domination.”

When Fael stroked Tan’s snout, the creature made a pleased rumbling sound.

“So you’re saying Tan hasn’t changed at all. Thanks to the Golden Clan bloodline.”

“Don’t look so amazed. I’m amazed too.”

He smiled bitterly.

The setting sun in the west scattered its final light. The intense red sunset was dazzling.

Hearth smoke flowing from the village, the sweet scent of dates, the bustling voices of elves busy preparing dinner.

“…What should we do now?”

“…Who knows.”

At Daniel’s question, Fael sighed, and another long silence flowed between them.

When darkness had settled around them, Daniel spoke again.

“In the end, we went all the way to Asma’s ruins but got nothing.”

“Why do you think we got nothing?”

Daniel, who had been stroking the smooth scales, looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What did we gain?”

He silently pointed to Tan, who was contentedly enjoying the attention.

“Surely, it’s an amazing dragon, but we can’t make business profits from it.”

“That’s something we’ll have to think about from now on.”

Fael grinned.

***

“What will you do?”

Deep night. The palace reception room.

Fa-Shahin asked while puffing on his water pipe.

Fael, Namir, and Daniel sat before him.

Namir, despite receiving treatment from the shaman, was still uncomfortable from his injuries and lay prone on the cushion.

“We’ve decided to return.”

The tribal chief slowly closed his eyes.

When his eldest son had suddenly barged in, the tribespeople’s reactions had generally split two ways.

“Finally, the rightful heir has returned!”

Or,

“My, he’s become quite the human.”

Even after causing a disturbance in the village, his son remained steadfast.

Without showing any sign of trying to usurp his younger brother’s position, he simply requested help with ‘business.’

Still, the expectations and anxieties permeating the tribe remained.

Fa-Shahin still found his son distant and unfamiliar.

‘It is my sin…’

When a late child was born to his second wife, the eldest was inevitably neglected.

Fael, entering adolescence, would venture alone to places where the oasis couldn’t be seen, or constantly follow trading expeditions outside the village.

If only he had noticed earlier his desire to venture into a bigger world.

If he had noticed?

Would anything have changed?

Fael and Namir had been overflowing with curiosity and brilliance from birth.

It was just that their passions burst forth in different directions—the outside world and the world of books.

Whatever he did, the eldest would never have stopped exploring the continent beyond the Great Desert.

Fa-Shahin slowly opened his eyes.

“Go then.”

His voice was calm, and his gaze was directed toward the oasis beyond the window.

“Will you take the dragon too?”

“It’s an important business asset. I’ll be careful not to harm the tribe, so please give permission.”

Fael replied with a bitter smile.

“What permission is there to give or refuse. That dragon is yours, so do as you please.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll wait for letters.”

“Take care, Father.”

“We’ve been much in your debt, elder.”

The two bowed to the tribal chief according to elven etiquette. And when they rose to leave the room—

“W-wait!”

The temporarily forgotten Namir cried out.

“Father, I want to go too!”

His eyes shone with earnestness.

“I want to meet humans too. Could you let me join brother’s, um, what was it called? That company?”

“Personnel decisions belong to Daniel.”

Fael replied in bewilderment.

“Huh? Really?”

“Well, that’s true. But why did you change your mind? Originally you… hated humans.”

Namir rolled his eyes this way and that while lying prone, then answered in a trembling voice.

“I want to see humans. Whether what I imagined was right, or if I was mistaken. And I want to find ways to protect our tribe from them.”

Each word spoken with such difficulty.

Everyone felt it.

The moment when the sheltered young master was finally trying to break out of the hard shell that had confined him for seventeen years.

“Then let’s do this.”

Fael smiled brilliantly for the first time in a long while.

***

Preparations for departure took quite a while.

First, Namir’s injuries had to heal completely, and they had to exchange letters with the Schufaben side.

They also informed the villagers that Namir would be leaving together and held a ritual to wish for good fortune.

“Well then, take care, Fael.”

On the day of departure at last. Daniel, exchanging final handshakes, climbed onto Tan’s back.

“Take care, brother.”

Namir, awkward as he was, gave a brief greeting and grabbed onto Tan’s scales.

Fael and the workers decided to remain here. Fael had also imprinted Daniel in Tan’s memory, and with the restraining spell, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Tan flew toward Schufaben in the central continent. Raising the altitude a bit to avoid air defense networks.

Even if they were caught, with Lucas’s reputation and perfectly prepared documents, they’d easily get through, but they’d prefer to avoid such incidents if possible.

From the Fa tribe village to Schufaben was a distance slightly longer than crossing the Great Desert.

Thus, when they finally landed quietly in the border region between Schufaben and Rubellia, it was January 5th, five days after the new year had begun.

“Did no one see us?”

As the ground tremors subsided, Namir asked quietly.

“Probably not. We deliberately came to a heavily forested area.”

The vast forest region.

Since Schufaben and Rubellia were wary of each other and installed no facilities except border posts and railway lines, there were no signs of people at all.

Daniel hoped the soldiers standing guard in the distance either hadn’t seen them, or if they had, would think it was a wild dragon.

“This should pick up a signal.”

Muttering, he pulled a radio from his leather pouch.

The Great Desert also had broadcasting stations run by elves. They also listened to broadcasts from other nearby countries.

The elves had modified their radios to pick up various signals. This differed from Schufaben’s standard radios, which were manufactured to tune into only one signal.

Daniel carefully adjusted the frequency. If the distance was too far, the signal wouldn’t be picked up.

“Schufaben National Broadcasting… right.”

Soon the radio began playing a familiar voice amid static.

“…has been several days since he collapsed. Mr. Redan remains in a comatose state, and with Cortana being caught changing their official position and other issues, they still haven’t provided adequate explanations…”

A smile that was both laughing and crying appeared on Daniel’s lips.

“Really, you’re a genius.”

He recalled Lucas’s last letter.

「January 1st. Remember that.」