Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: The Reactionary, the Egoist, and the Red
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Communists – Atheists who worship Marx and Stalin as gods. Similar to ancient demons in that they spring up regardless of race or bloodline.
*Synonym – Red
(Excerpt)
Democracy – A form of mental illness that insists serfs should directly elect someone as ruler who’s just as stupid as they are.
Can be cured with nearly any kind of attack magic.
(Excerpt)
Voting – An irrational act in which noble aristocrats who wield mana and orcs who can barely speak properly exercise equal rights.
The House of Nobles urges flogging any serf who demands two rye loaves or four or more eggs as payment for ballot papers.
『Excerpt from the Earth Language Glossary for Imperial Nobles』
***
Dawn rose over the trash heap of a city.
As sunlight reached out and stripped away the darkness, the city slumbering beneath cracked its eyes open slyly.
By the laws of nature, the first rays hit the eastern district.
A chaotic jumble of Soviet-era factories and workers’ housing left behind by the Soviets.
In a back alley of that eastern district, in the attic room of a tavern called “Camel’s Tear,” a young man threw open the window to breathe in the morning air.
By a stroke of ridiculous coincidence, the moment he opened the window, sunlight flooded the surroundings.
The young man winced at the sudden brightness. He blinked a few times to adjust, then took in the view below the window.
Weary workers trudging to their shifts, merchants heading north, taverns just now closing their doors…
The scene reminded him of Incheon’s back alleys. Were all places where people lived pretty much the same?
Gazing at a city that reeked of rust and damp chemicals instead of the sea, he reminisced about home.
Until the sound of a door opening came from behind him.
Creak—
Turning at the sound, he saw a black-haired girl who hadn’t fully woken up yet.
Still in the dress she hadn’t bothered changing out of from the night before, she dragged its hem into the room and plopped down in the room’s only chair.
“Good morning, Dawn… or not. Why are you up so early? You didn’t stay up all night, did you?”
“I slept. Not deeply, though.”
No sooner had Dawn—the young man—replied than the girl stretched, her smooth underarm peeking briefly through a gap in her dress before vanishing.
Dawn averted his gaze with effort and closed the window.
With the sunlight blocked, a soft gloom settled over the room. The girl leaned back against the chair, tilting it at an angle.
Creak, creak. As the chair groaned in protest, Dawn spoke first.
“Seti, what about you? Why are you up so early?”
“Same reason as you, probably.”
She couldn’t sleep. After a brief pause, she asked cautiously.
“Dawn, about that proposal last night… what are you going to do?”
An incomplete question, missing context.
Instead of asking what she meant, Dawn recalled Bikof’s words from the night before—the East Palace Lord’s words.
—Dragon Liberator, if I may be so bold… could you lend me a hand?
The Palace Lord, disguised as the tavern owner, had revealed his identity and begun explaining.
—For the past half year, someone’s been spreading rumors outside the city. Ridiculous tales that World Tree Crystals and sacred relics are hidden somewhere in the city… All sorts of scum have been flocking here because of it.
Dawn hadn’t questioned if it was true. The arms dealer Joseph, whom he’d met just yesterday, was living proof of the rumor.
—I traced it myself, and the source points to the western and southern palaces. Those two Palace Lords are clearly baiting with their treasures, deliberately spreading the tales.
—I don’t know what those two Palace Lords are after, but it’s bound to be bad for this city. They both despise it, after all.
—I intend to stop their scheme. This city is my hometown, and I can’t just stand by while it’s ruined by a few idiots’ greed.
With that, the East Palace Lord extended his hand to Dawn in an earnest voice.
—Dragon Liberator… no, Cheon Yeomyeong. Won’t you join me in thwarting their plot? For all the people of this city.
But instead of taking his hand, Dawn had said he’d think about it.
Because the East Palace Lord was allied with the elf who’d ambushed him?
That was part of it, but the biggest issue was that they were just passing through.
Dawn and Seti had only one reason to be in this city.
To uncover whatever scheme the Shepherds from the Korean government, colluding with the West Palace Lord, were plotting.
Whether they’d kill the Shepherds or just learn the plot and leave—nothing was set in stone.
Either way, once it was done, Dawn planned to board a train and leave the city.
He intended to return to the academy before the Superhuman Olympiad. Not enough time to join the East Palace Lord in some venture…
As Dawn mulled this over, Seti spoke up quietly.
“I vote no.”
“Why? I thought you’d be for it.”
The moment Dawn asked, Seti’s delicate brows curved slightly.
“Time’s an issue, but… that East Palace Lord, the old man. I just don’t trust him.”
“Don’t trust him… Yeah, fair enough.”
Overlooking his Russian-style name and alliance with a red elf, a high noble running a tavern incognito?
Dawn’s back-alley life was too long to chalk it up to a mere hobby.
The tavern’s vantage point overlooking everything, the secret codes with the elf… It was obvious at a glance.
The East Palace Lord was deeply tied to the back alleys—or at least knew them inside out.
“Then we reject the East Palace Lord’s proposal… The remaining question is whether we can investigate the West Palace Lord on our own.”
“What’s the problem? We’ve got money, and Joseph.”
Seti added that she’d ordered Joseph to return the gold and remove the tracking spell last night, and arranged to meet in the sewers.
During the elf fight? Dawn poked the back of Seti’s hand.
“Good job.”
“No big deal.”
Seti poked his cheek in response. They shared a smirk, then dusted themselves off and stood.
Tough luck for the East Palace Lord, but the two planned to slip out of the tavern without a farewell.
No reason to stay once they’d decided against partnering with him.
“Oh, and… about Neti.”
“My sister-in-law?”
“How’d she get to this city? Some special sister power?”
“…No special powers like that. Would be nice if there were.”
“Then?”
“Uh… sorry, I don’t know the details yet. Things were hectic, so I didn’t hear much. From what she said before I slept, Ironwire opened a dimensional gate…”
“…Ironwire?”
Did the elf princess have dimensional gate powers too? Dawn tilted his head and opened the door.
And the next moment—
The girl who’d had her ear pressed to the door tumbled inside.
She hit the floor with a clatter, looking up at Dawn and Seti with a flustered expression, as if she hadn’t expected the door to open.
“…”
A brief silence. Seti glared daggers down at her, and the girl stammered.
“S-Sis, um… I wasn’t… trying to eavesdrop…”
“Neti!”
Neti tried to make excuses, but Seti shrieked and grabbed her earlobe first.
Screaming, Neti was dragged outside.
Dawn watched the sisters’ commotion for a moment, shaking his head, then followed the two girls.
***
Neti poked her head out of the carriage window, scanning the pedestrians on the road, then pulled it back in and looked at Dawn.
“Bro-in-law, where are we headed now?”
“…”
Dawn, slumped against the carriage seat and dozing off, jolted awake.
The word “bro-in-law” carried an embarrassing warmth. Blinking at the girl calling him that, he hesitated.
Should he tell her not to? Or just let it slide?
‘If I say no to bro-in-law, she’ll probably switch to “oppa”…’
For some reason, his instincts warned against “oppa.” So Dawn just answered.
“…Heading to the northern train station for now.”
“Oh, the train. This is it, right? The massive north-south continental railway beyond the dimensional gate.”
Dawn nodded.
As Neti said, Dreitirial’s north had a massive train station.
With Stalin gone, it was simply called the terminus of the north-south continental railway.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high. To Earthlings, it’s just a big old-fashioned station.”
“How big? Bigger than Kaesong Station?”
“Obviously bigger than Kaesong. Several times over, I’d guess.”
No need for more explanation when 70% of why this trash city stayed afloat was thanks to that continental railway and station.
Neti let out an impressed “oh” and turned to the window, while Dawn closed his eyes again.
He wanted to catch even a bit more sleep, but his sister-in-law(?) had no intention of letting him.
She called him again.
“Hey, bro-in-law.”
“…What? More questions?”
“How far have you gotten with Sis?”
Dawn was glad there was no water. He’d have spit it out if he’d been drinking.
Seeing him stiffen, Neti grinned slyly.
“How’s my sis in bed?”
“…What?”
“Come on, you know. This. This.”
Neti made a shape with her hands and thrust her fingers in and out. A gesture so blatant his face burned.
As Dawn rubbed his temple, lost for words, Neti pressed on.
“You’re not… a block of wood, are you?”
“…What?”
“I was really worried, you know. My sis seems all proper, but she’s so shy… What if she freezes up when it’s go-time…?”
“…”
“And bro-in-law, you’ve got tons of competition just looking at you? But Sis… she’s got zero sex appeal…”
As she trailed off, Dawn straightened up and shot back.
“…Seti’s plenty attractive.”
“Come on, my sis wears nothing but standard-issue undies every day? I gifted her that black lace one this time…”
Thud!
Neti’s words cut off. The carriage had stopped abruptly.
Had Seti come back? No, not that.
She’d split off to retrieve Joseph, the gold, and Ballagu, heading south.
‘…Something’s off.’
Feeling uneasy, Dawn stepped out of the carriage.
The road outside was jammed with wagons, carts, and carriages, all halted, everyone staring north.
Dawn grabbed a nearby middle-aged man.
“What’s going on?”
The man, carrying a load like a transport worker, looked dazed.
“Y-You didn’t see it?”
“See what?”
“Uh… that… meteor? A meteor fell.”
“…Meteor?”
A meteor from the sky? The city wouldn’t be intact.
Dawn figured the man had mistaken something else—or seen magic—for it.
Confirming Neti climbing down late, he leaped onto the carriage roof.
The driver yelped in fright, but Dawn ignored him, narrowing his eyes.
The road to the northern station was completely gridlocked.
“Neti, you know Flying Leg Art?”
Before she could answer, Neti sprang up onto the roof with a light step.
Actions spoke louder than words.
Dawn tossed a coin pouch to the driver, then unleashed Flying Leg Art, leaping from the carriage roof.
Whoosh!
From carriage roof to cart, cart to building wall, wall to another carriage roof.
Gliding almost like flight, he glanced back—Neti followed effortlessly. More adept than Seti in some ways.
“Bro-in-law, don’t worry about me—go faster!”
Neti shouted, and Dawn accelerated gladly.
The two blazed through the streets with Flying Leg Art for a good while.
Dawn spotted the distant station—and smoke rising beyond it—frowning.
“This… looks like it got bombed.”
Neti’s impression upon seeing it. Dawn didn’t disagree.
The station, larger than Kaesong’s, had a massive crater punched through it.
They slowed, approaching the northern station cautiously.
Firefighters, merchants, and guards under the three Palace Lords’ separate commands rushed about nonstop.
Pushing past into the station interior, it was worse inside.
Under collapsed, melted steel beams, countless trains lay toppled. But the real problem was the tracks.
Even to a layman like Dawn, the melted tracks looked impossible to repair anytime soon.
“This… isn’t an accident. It’s terrorism. They targeted the rails blatantly.”
Neti said, eyeing the scene. Dawn frowned silently.
Not because his plan to take the train to the dimensional gate city was ruined. No.
He’d realized what fiery force had struck the station.
“What could they have used? Missile? Meteor?”
“…Neither.”
“Huh? You know what it was, bro-in-law?”
Dawn nodded, staring at the tracks—at the blue flames still burning them.
“Dragon Breath.”
It was the same breath he’d seen in Manchuria—from the skeleton dragon.
* * *