Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
Click.
After a moment, he climbed into the prepared vehicle and started the engine, speaking quietly.
“Was that tailing earlier really something to ignore?”
At his question, Yerna nodded without a hint of hesitation.
“Yes. It doesn’t matter.”
Yerna and he were veteran forest keepers who had been assigned to various special missions in the past.
So, they were not the sort who wouldn’t notice such crude tailing that didn’t even qualify as real surveillance.
However, Yerna decided not to take any action despite realizing the tailing.
‘After all, it was my husband’s acquaintance.’
If it had been a stranger tailing them, it would have been natural to be wary, but he was someone Yerna was already familiar with.
Perhaps, it was just a chance encounter on the street, and he was trying to greet them but ended up feeling awkward and left without approaching.
That was actually a fortunate outcome for Yerna, who didn’t want to waste time with unnecessary interactions.
And, would anything significant occur simply because they passed by without having a brief conversation?
That wasn’t important for the time being.
“Let’s move for now. We don’t have time.”
“Well, that’s fine, I suppose.”
He started the car with a somewhat dubious expression.
“By the way, what was that line? It’s not like we’re joking around.”
“Huh? Wasn’t it natural enough? I really have no talent for that sort of thing.”
“I don’t know. If it was strange, it’s your fault.”
Yerna felt the texture of the clothing she wore under her coat.
It was a sensation familiar to everyone who was a forest keeper of Luke Forest.
It was the feel of a first-class Magic Defense Tunic.
‘To ask for something like this to be shown outside, that’s a serious joke.’
There were many people around, so there was no way she could display something like that here.
Yerna wanted to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.
“Anyway, since we don’t have time, could you give me a rough explanation on the way? That would be alright, right?”
“Of course.”
-Thud.
He pulled out a few sheets of paper from inside the vehicle and handed them to Yerna.
“First, take a look at this. It’s the data we recovered.”
Yerna accepted the documents with an intrigued look.
However, her expression soon hardened.
The documents, filled with complex medical terms and disorganized place names, were impossible to understand, even though the important parts had been marked for easier reading.
Finally, Yerna gave up on interpreting the documents and shot him a curious glance.
“What is this?”
“It’s the distribution routes of special drugs we found in a similar research facility.”
“Drugs…? What kind?”
“Anesthetic. I don’t know what they’re planning, but it seems that a large quantity of drugs capable of even sedating dragons is being distributed unofficially. And as you can see, some corporation is behind it.”
At the mention of a corporation, Yerna turned her gaze back to the documents.
The name ‘Ruchest’ was clearly marked there.
“Ruchest… I’ve heard of that company.”
“Yeah, probably. They’re a huge multipurpose company involved in the medical industry, alchemy, the excavation of Dragon Hearts, and magic research… They’re quite widespread.”
“So, are they behind this?”
He shook his head and continued.
“That’s not certain. It’s just a possibility.”
“So we’re going to investigate that now.”
“Right. From now on, we’re going to infiltrate the facility that’s in that ‘unofficial drug distribution intermediary’ stage. To find the destination. And that location is…”
“Is it the Rienne Forest again?”
“Yes.”
Yerna sighed.
In the past, due to the incident, magic storms still sporadically occurred in Rienne Forest.
These magic storms were a negative influence on facilities requiring stable magical supply, but conversely, they offered a tremendous opportunity for those wanting to hide within the storms.
And despite being aware of this situation, some forest keepers in Rienne Forest were turning a blind eye.
‘Luke mentioned once that he suspected the forest keepers in Rienne Forest of being corrupt…’
Even though he was the leader of Luke Forest, he didn’t have much authority over other forests, so he had brought it up with ‘Sanson’ with whom they had previously collaborated…
It seemed that his rank was still not high enough to significantly alter the circumstances.
Still, it felt strange.
‘The nation’s corruption detection system must have been operational, but how did they fool the system?’
That certainly meant something was going on.
Lost in such thoughts, the one who appeared to be focused on driving suddenly spoke up.
“By the way, seeing this brings back old memories. It’s been 10 years, or maybe 20, since we last had the same mission. You, being an elf, don’t seem to have changed much at all. Haha, thanks to that, I feel younger as well. Even though my body has already aged considerably.”
“…Is that so?”
Yerna quietly watched him, who was unusually chatty.
When she first met him as a commander in the unit, he had a rather blunt personality; it was curious how he had become so talkative.
The saying that time changes people wasn’t a lie at all.
But she couldn’t blame him.
He was now nearing 70.
For an elf, that wasn’t an age likely to hinder activity, but for a human, it was considered quite old.
There was plenty of time for one’s standards or personality to shift.
‘Even after working together for a long time, seeing myself unchanged makes me feel like I’m younger…’
It felt odd, considering the last mission had been just a mere decade ago.
Indeed, was there truly a difference in how humans and elves perceive time?
“….”
Thinking this, she felt a bittersweet sensation.
Time felt this divergent between the long-lived elves and humans.
That meant her time with Dayton was likely shorter than she thought.
Even though Dayton was still in his early to mid-20s, considering that humans can live for only about 100 years, it meant their time together wouldn’t exceed around 80 years.
For an elf with an average lifespan of 200 years, 80 years isn’t short, but it was still a considerable insufficiency to call it a lifetime.
This is why most elves are reluctant to marry other races.
Marriage generally means finding a life partner, and who would want to be with someone destined to live only half as long?
So perhaps it’s not surprising that most elves never consider leaving the elven society of Beriton.
Moreover, it seemed that Dayton had also been contemplating such matters, as they had exchanged apologies regarding it a few times.
Yet, the fact that she had been happy upon receiving his confession and eventually liked him was undeniable, so she had no regrets at this point.
Everything was her own choice.
Thus, Dayton had no need to feel sorry about that aspect.
It just left her feeling truly disappointed…
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
“…I was just thinking about my husband.”
“My husband, you say?”
Hearing Yerna’s words, he looked surprised and continued.
“Oh my, I can’t believe you got married; congratulations! I didn’t receive any invitation or anything, so I had no idea. But why suddenly think about your husband? Are you already wanting to go back home?”
As he teased, Yerna retorted.
“Not really… It’s just that my husband is human. Hearing you whine like an old man makes that fact really sink in.”
“…I want to tell you to get older as well, but you’ll have your whole future ahead of you until the day I die, so I have no words.”
“Yes, that worries me. I’m afraid of living too long without my husband.”
“Haha, for people like us, even that kind of concern is a luxury. You know how few forest keepers live to a ripe age.”
He spoke, and Yerna agreed.
The job of a forest keeper inherently involves a high level of risk.
That’s especially true for the forest keepers of Luke Forest, where massive waves are a daily occurrence, so they are inevitably at greater risk.
No matter how much they prioritize their own safety, there are always variables in real-life situations.
Even if spells have developed somewhat, saying it’s relatively safe, the danger in the job of a forest keeper remains quite high.
“So, you know, once this is over, I think retiring as a forest keeper and living a family-oriented life wouldn’t be such a bad idea. What do you think?”
Hearing this, he suddenly changed his expression and said.
“You probably don’t know much since you haven’t been married for long, but you absolutely should never say such things in this profession.”
“Why not?”
“Well… it’s just bad luck.”
Once this is over, I’m going to confess to my childhood friend back home.
Once this is over, I’m going to visit my mother, who is bedridden.
Once this is over, I’ll throw a big feast.
Once this is over…
“Those who say such things seem to suffer terrible misfortune that day.”
“…”
Now that he mentioned it, that indeed seemed to be the case.
Mason had been that way before, and Calypso had gotten badly injured after saying something similar…
Seeing Yerna’s expression stiffen rapidly, he burst into laughter.
“Ha ha! Well, I suppose it’s really just a sort of jinx. Those who are doing well are still doing well. Kirira and Zahard are doing fine, retired well and living comfortably. So is Pelesa.”
Hearing him list the names of comrades who were doing just fine, Yerna responded, somewhat irked.
“…Don’t bother me with that. You worried me unnecessarily.”
“Heh, you’re still sensitive to teasing.”
Yerna made a face as she watched him suppress his laughter.
At least that part of him remained unchanged.
“…”
However, thanks to him, her tension and anxiety eased significantly.
He probably cracked those jokes because he already sensed that he was doing okay.
“Well, in any case, once this is over, I’ll send you an invitation.”
“At my age, being invited to a former comrade’s wedding… Hah, now that sounds good.”
—–
At that time, Luke left the café slightly earlier than usual.
The reason was that if he left Pyris unattended, there would be no more meat ingredients left in the café.
However, he couldn’t send both Diana and Pyris home alone without Dayton, and since the café was about to close soon anyway, Kaila had decided to let Luke leave a little early.
Luke recalled Kaila waving her hand while saying, “I’ll let you know the tally results later!”
“She won’t falsify the results, would she?”
Though he felt that Kaila might do something like that, he decided it was a bad habit to be overly suspicious about things that hadn’t even happened yet, so he tried to trust her.
And nowadays, in an era where all information is documented, it wouldn’t be easy to forge transaction records without hacking a payment system.
Kaila couldn’t be that malicious.
“And even if she did forge something, I could recognize the traces.”
So now, Luke was wandering through the festival streets, holding the hands of Diana and Pyris.
Originally, Luke wasn’t a fan of loud events like festivals, but here he was, accompanying two children.
He was already beginning to feel fatigue set in, despite having walked only a short distance.
“Sis, look! That’s a huge balloon!”
“Sis, cotton candy! That looks delicious! Right?!”
The kids seemed to just enjoy walking with Luke, marveling at everything around them.
Seeing them, the momentary fatigue began to fade.
“Yeah, as long as the kids are happy, that’s what matters.”
He wished they wouldn’t argue over trivial things at home and just always be like this.
At that moment, Pyris stopped walking, seemingly captivated by something.
“Sis, what does this say? It looks fun!”
“Huh?”
‘Ah, this is…’
He’d heard there was some content hastily created using club support funds by a department that had no festival preparations since their head had disappeared.
Luke realized that what Pyris was pointing at was exactly that.
The sign pointed to a ‘Prize Lottery, Test Your Luck Today!’.
The concept of ‘lottery’ was probably difficult for Pyris, who wasn’t yet accustomed to reading letters.
“It seems like a lottery. You randomly get a predetermined prize based on probability.”
“I want to try this! It sounds fun! Let’s do it, sis! Okay?”
“Hmm.”
Truthfully, Luke wasn’t a fan of lotteries.
He wasn’t particularly fond of the concept of luck in the first place, and ever since he had inexplicably become strangely fortunate after becoming this body, he hadn’t engaged in any gambling, which included anything with the element of chance.
Because he felt guilty that something that should have been given to someone else over luck was coming to him.
If the process governing luck were fair, Luke wouldn’t have such a repulsion, but knowing for sure that he was ‘lucky’, he couldn’t do it.
It felt like a form of nature-given theft.
But, without the correction of that luck now, wouldn’t this be a ‘fair’ situation?
Luke cautiously examined the items listed as prizes.
1st Prize: A four-person hot spring trip.
2nd Prize: The latest model mobile phone.
3rd Prize: A high-end vacuum cleaner.
“Hmm…”
Honestly, except for the first prize, he found every other prize quite tempting.
