The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Seven years was by no means a short amount of time. It was enough time for a child to become an adult, and long enough for a fragile self that had once been nothing more than a sapling to grow big and strong like a giant tree. Just like Damian standing before Zeon now.
The weak young boy from seven years ago no longer existed.
His stubbornly closed lips, unwavering eyes, and straightened back all told the same thing.
That Damian was no longer a boy of soft temperament, but a man with strong conviction.
The problem was that Zeon could not tell what conviction Damian held.
Unless Zeon was a god, there was no way for him to know exactly what sort of heart Damian had brought here.
Damian, who had been smiling at Zeon, opened his mouth.
“Hyung, can I ask just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Did Lord Dayeoden achieve what he wanted?”
“He did.”
“Then High Elton is no longer part of this world, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what about Lord Dayeoden?”
Instead of answering, Zeon looked up at the sky.
An expression of regret came over Damian’s face.
“So it really turned out that way. Still, he must have gone in peace, having fulfilled the wish of his entire life.”
“I suppose he did.”
“How have you been doing, hyung?”
“Just drifting from place to place.”
“When I look at you, hyung, I really think the world is unfair.”
“Why?”
“Some of us work our asses off just to find a path, while you wander around like the desert is your own front yard.”
“Your ability is fraudulent enough too. You know that very well.”
“I do. I’m only saying it because the difference is still too big.”
Damian pouted.
“Don’t make a face that doesn’t suit you.”
“Was it obvious?”
“Very.”
“Looks like I’m still lacking a lot. I thought it was pretty natural by now.”
“Then I’ll ask you just one thing too.”
“What is it?”
“Elharun.”
“….”
In an instant, Damian’s face hardened.
As if by magic, the smile vanished completely.
“Did you find it?”
“What about you?”
“I asked first.”
“Not yet. But it won’t be much longer.”
“Really?”
“What about you?”
“I still haven’t found it.”
“I figured. It’s not like it’s been hidden away all that carefully.”
Damian smiled coldly.
Studying that expression closely, Zeon asked, “Will you tell me when you find it?”
“Of course I should tell you, hyung. I promised Lord Dayeoden.”
“Can I trust that?”
“Hyung, at the very least, I always keep the promises I make.”
“Then I’ll trust you.”
This time, it was Zeon who smiled.
Damian looked at Zeon with a strange gaze.
* * *
By the time Zeon and Damian returned to the White Bear Caravan, Brielle had already finished shopping.
Zeon asked Brielle, “Did you find anything you liked?”
“Yeah. But it was too expensive, so I couldn’t buy everything.”
Brielle made a dejected face.
The things the White Bear Caravan had brought were things difficult to obtain in Neo Seoul.
Naturally, their prices were so high they defied imagination.
That was why Brielle too had been unable to buy everything she wanted, and had only managed to get a few things.
“Still, this is enough for me to try some alchemy I’ve always wanted to do.”
“At least that’s good.”
“Yeah. Did your talk with Damian go well, Zeon?”
“It went well enough.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.”
Zeon nodded.
His eyes caught the sight of Damian talking to Aleksandro with a serious expression.
Aleksandro might have been the captain of the White Bear Caravan, but he listened carefully to what Damian said.
That alone was enough to tell.
Who the true master of the White Bear Caravan was.
‘He really has grown.’
The problem was that he had grown too much.
His outward appearance had hardly changed from back then, and yet inside him it felt as though ten crafty snakes were coiled up.
Zeon lightly shook his head and said to Brielle, “Let’s head back now.”
“Okay.”
The two left the White Bear Caravan fortress.
Once they had gotten some distance away from the fortress, Brielle carefully asked, “What kind of person is Damian?”
“Why?”
“No, it’s just that he has way too many things that elves and dwarves would want. All of them are very hard to get.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There were tons of things I’d never even seen back in my village. Especially blue laurel leaves. Even I had never seen a treasure like that before.”
“Blue laurel leaves are a treasure?”
“They’re useless to other races, but to elves they’re an incredible treasure. Just carrying them on your person increases your vitality. There’s nothing better for enduring the harsh climate of the desert.”
“So it’s an item especially compatible with elves.”
There were sometimes such things.
Things that had little effect on other races, but had a great effect on a specific race.
Blue laurel leaves were apparently one of those.
Originally, blue laurel had been very common in Kurayan.
But on the desertified Earth, it had become a precious rarity that was hard to obtain.
It had gone so far that even Brielle’s High Elf village had not been able to procure it.
“How on earth did he get blue laurel leaves? If I could, I’d kidnap him and ask.”
“If you’re reacting this much, the other elves must be even worse.”
“Probably. They’d lose their minds over it.”
“Hmm.”
Zeon turned his head and looked back at the fortress.
At the highest point of the fortress, he could see Damian watching him.
* * *
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen you take such interest in someone.”
“He’s a man worth taking interest in.”
“Is that so?”
At Damian’s answer, Aleksandro’s eyes sharpened.
He had known Damian for a full seven years.
So he knew.
Just how incredible Damian’s ability and mind were.
Navigator.
It meant exactly what it sounded like, a guide.
Many Awakened existed in this world, but those who awakened as guides were extremely rare.
Even among them, one as outstanding as Damian was rarer still.
He had learned that while dealing with other colonies.
That Damian was truly an absurdly exceptional guide.
Because Damian was there, they could exchange with other colonies with only minimal losses, and the White Bear Caravan had been able to grow this much.
No matter how strong an Awakened from Akutsk Colony or another colony might be, Damian paid them no mind.
This was the first time Aleksandro had ever seen him care about another Awakened.
At least since the day he came to know Damian as an Awakened.
“Is he a magic-type Awakened?”
“Who knows. I don’t really know how to describe it. Ah, never mind. I won’t say.”
“Why? Did you swear an oath to keep his secret or something?”
“I owe hyung a debt. So I want to keep at least that much loyalty.”
“Hmm.”
“More than that, I don’t want him to think poorly of me.”
“Is he really that frightening to you?”
“Honestly… yes. I’m afraid of him. At least, on this desert, there isn’t anyone who can stand against him.”
“Mm.”
Aleksandro let out a low groan.
‘If Damian is saying this much, then he’s definitely someone we need to be careful about.’
Suddenly, a hot emotion surged up from deep within his chest.
Aleksandro knew exactly what the emotion he was feeling now was.
It was competitive spirit.
The competitive urge to fight and defeat someone strong.
Though he was now the captain of the White Bear Caravan, he was still an outstanding Awakened and a warrior.
When he saw someone strong, he wanted to fight them.
And crush them.
‘Someday, there’ll be a chance for us to clash. For now, Damian’s business comes first.’
He forcibly suppressed that competitive urge and calmed it down.
It was then.
From far off, another group could be seen approaching from Neo Seoul toward them.
Just by their clothes and the state of their armaments, one could tell.
They were a group of Awakened.
It was people from places other than Dongdaemun and Sinchon hearing the rumors and coming as well.
Aleksandro shouted to his subordinates, “Guests are coming. Prepare to receive them.”
“Yes.”
The vigorous answer of his subordinates came up from below.
Aleksandro was about to head down, when he suddenly turned back to Damian.
“Damian.”
“Yes.”
“When do you plan to open the fifth floor?”
“After we’ve attracted enough attention.”
“Understood. I’ll do that.”
Aleksandro went down, leaving Damian alone atop the fortress.
Damian watched Zeon all the way until he disappeared into the slum.
* * *
The moment they returned to the slum, Brielle ran home.
She was dying to test alchemy with the goods she had bought from the White Bear Caravan.
The place Zeon chose to go was the row of street stalls where old man Klexi did business.
Though the sun was still high overhead, he could already see old man Klexi’s stall open.
When Zeon approached, old man Klexi greeted him.
“What are you doing out here in broad daylight? You’re the type who only starts moving after the sun goes down, so what’s blown you out this early?”
“And what about you, old man? Why are you open this early? It’s not even ten yet.”
“Me? I opened early because it’s peak business.”
“Peak business?”
“Thanks to that caravan from outside, all of Neo Seoul is in an uproar. Even the bastards who never show their faces in broad daylight are wandering around since morning. If a merchant misses an opportunity like this, he might as well shut down his business.”
“I got up early too because I went to the White Bear Caravan.”
“Ho. You’ve already been there?”
Zeon did not miss the sharp light that flashed in old man Klexi’s eyes.
More than any group in Neo Seoul, the one who was keeping the closest watch on the White Bear Caravan’s movements and information was old man Klexi.
No doubt he had already mobilized the Eyes of Argos in full to gather information on the White Bear Caravan.
“So then, what was the inside of the caravan like to your own eyes?”
“A perfect fortress in itself.”
“A fortress?”
“Dongdaemun tried something and ended up humiliating itself. That’s how formidable the defenses are.”
“Tsk. I’m not surprised in the least that those fanatic bastards tried something.”
Old man Klexi clicked his tongue first.
That was because he had already guessed they would.
What surprised him a little was only the fact that they had made a move this quickly, and gotten caught and humiliated for it.
“Those bastards will never give up. Once fanatics get obsessed with something, they cling to it to the very end.”
“The White Bear Caravan won’t go down easily either.”
“Ho. You rate them that highly?”
“I saw their strength with my own eyes.”
“Then that’s trustworthy. If nothing else, your eye for judging things is exceptional.”
It was a remark that acknowledged Zeon.
In truth, old man Klexi already held Zeon in very high regard.
“But you don’t look like you came just to eat. So what’s your real business?”
“If any strange movement from the White Bear Caravan is detected, let me know.”
“Strange movement? Do you have some sort of guess?”
“I just have a bad feeling.”
“Hmm.”
Old man Klexi narrowed his eyes.
Since the day he had come to know Zeon, this was the first time he had seen him make such a serious expression.
That alone made the feeling sit badly with him.
“All right. If I see any strange signs, I’ll tell you first.”