Wolves of Hader

Chapter 57

We set off again.

The young Dran sat down in front of Donnie.

Knights of the Syren family were following, but from quite a distance, so it would be hard for them to notice the presence of the Dran.

"How did you meet?"

Donnie answered with a smile.

"I went to the market at a small town to buy food and water, and saw this fellow and five other Dran protesting in front of a building."

"Protesting?"

"Yes. When I asked what was going on, they said they'd been cheated. By a local merchant."

I looked at the Dran sitting in front of Donnie. The Dran sighed deeply, looking as if anger was rising again.

"Don't even ask. That merchant broke the original promise and then started saying something else entirely."

"So, it wasn't a merchant you knew?"

"To tell the truth, this was the first time in our generation that we'd ever traded with humans. We discovered a new mineral, but since we didn't particularly need it, what could we do but sell it?"

The Dran sighed once more.

"The elders always said not to trust humans, but to be tricked like this..."

"What happened to the goods?"

"We can't do this or that. The merchant says he'll only buy it if we sell it exclusively to him. And he wants it for half the promised price."

"Is that an outrageous price?"

"It's laughable. And then he goes on saying that we should be grateful because he's buying some useless ore from us. I'm completely dumbfounded."

The Dran shook his head from side to side. It seemed the words about it being useless hurt more than the low price itself.

"He wouldn't listen even when I explained the value of the mineral. He just kept repeating that only if we sell at his price would he continue to do business in the future. It's not even a price that we are allowed to decide."

"There must be merchants in other towns?"

"Are there other towns?"

Donnie spoke up.

"There aren't any large towns nearby. There are villages, but no trading merchants who would buy rare minerals."

The Dran smacked his lips.

"I thought maybe a new town had sprung up without us knowing. Still, with that as the only place to sell the mineral, we're in quite a pickle. They say there's a port city south across the desert, but it's far too distant."

"What kind of mineral is it?"

"I can't tell you that. I can assure you, though, that it's very valuable. But that merchant doesn't know that either and is trying to make us sell it for a pittance—it's really frustrating."

The merchant was trying to buy up the mineral for next to nothing, fully aware that, regardless of its value, he was the only buyer.

And without competition, too.

If the deal went through as is, it would be a big win for the merchant, but if not, he'd just stall for time and try to renegotiate.

The Dran had brought the mineral with great effort, so it'd be hard to just go back emptyhanded.

And no one else even knew of the mineral's existence.

"So, you tried to negotiate, but he wouldn't meet with you?"

"That's right. I waited in front of his house every day for a week, but not a word from him. I said I needed to discuss with the clan elders, but I can't do that if he won't meet. He just said if I didn't want to sell, then don't."

If the mineral that the Dran vouched for was anything significant, it wouldn't be just any ordinary material—certainly not a gem, since anyone would recognize one of those.

"Can I see the mineral?"

"That's not difficult."

The Dran pulled a small ore from his pocket and showed it to me.

It was a crude, gray mineral.

"May I touch it?"

"Go ahead."

The Dran tossed me the ore.

The moment I caught it, I couldn't hide my surprise. It was a raw material I knew.

It was actually surprising that this substance was only just being discovered.

Then again, unless you were Dran, it would've been hard to recognize its true value.

Processing it was notoriously tricky.

"This material seems softer than steel, doesn't it?"

"How did you know?"

The Dran looked startled.

"This material becomes very strong when it's refined with steel or other metals. Depending on which metal you alloy it with, it can become either stronger or lighter."

The Dran stared at me, unable to go on.

"That material isn't used by humans, is it?"

"That's true. Actually, I'm more surprised that the Dran only just now started working with this material."

"The truth is, we've known about Racrom for a very long time. It was always found in tiny bits, but recently we discovered a huge vein. There's enough left even after our use for us to try selling it outside."

"So it's called Racrom. About how much did you find, if the vein is so large?"

"Just from what's exposed, we could mine it for a hundred years. It's so deep underground, even we aren't sure exactly how much there is."

After finishing, the Dran glanced at me. Maybe hoping we might be buyers.

"But, where are you from?"

"We've come from very far away."

"Then it would be difficult to do business with us, wouldn't it? I followed this big friend here because he thought of something."

He didn't say any more.

Donnie just smiled.

He'd already read my expression and guessed what I was thinking. And Donnie knew, too, that bringing this Dran along could be profitable.

"Do you plan to guide us all the way to the Dran village?"

"I'm afraid not. It's forbidden to bring outsiders to the village. Who knows what harm might come to our village?"

"No one knows?"

"No one. In truth, I'm heading back to consult the elders about this matter. I also hoped you might be interested in making the purchase."

"You plan to go alone once we reach the point where horses can't go?"

"I do thank you for letting me ride this far. But no—I've already been swindled; what more blame should I bring on myself?"

"But we already know where the western Dran village is."

"Hm? How?"

This Dran looked about my age, and his face was cute, in a way.

The way he spoke, like an old man, was a bit funny too. He was probably actually much older than me.

"How do you know about our village? Not just humans, but even Dran from other continents don't know where it's hidden."

"I know a Dran from the west."

"Who is it?"

This young Dran probably wouldn't know him. He'd been in the human world a long time.

Still, the way to enter the western Dran village might have changed in the meantime.

"Why don't you guide us to your village?"

"I said that's not possible."

"What if we want to buy that mineral in bulk?"

The Dran whipped around to look at me.

"Are you serious?"

"If the price is right."

"Hm. Fine. But I'll have to bring the elders out."

"That's fine by me."

I spurred the horse forward, feeling satisfied.

If I managed to obtain the Weight Reduction material as well as this mineral, I'd secure the best materials possible.

Back when I played Rac, it was hard to get and had low thermal conductivity, making it difficult to refine.

Even so, it was incredibly tough and light, and so was extremely expensive.

But here, unlike in the game, the Dran tribe existed.

They could handle that difficult substance easily, and it had only just now been discovered.

Luckily, Donnie had met this Dran. Actually, it's more accurate to say he recognized the value of Racrom.

After all, it was a metal we desperately needed.

/ / /

The journey to the Dran village was grueling, to say the least.

We rode horses for another day, and after entering the mountains, had to walk for two more full days.

I lost count of how many mountains we crossed.

We kept advancing along the ridges, eventually reaching a very high altitude—so high that the surrounding mountains were below us in the view.

Everywhere in sight, it was high mountain and snowy peak. All rocks and perpetual snow. It felt like entering the most treacherous heights of the Andes.

Donnie glanced around and said,

"We're already past our expected arrival date. At this rate, it's going to take far longer than planned."

I stared at the Dran.

After three days traveling together, I had become a little closer to this fellow.

"Urendo. Shall we take the shortcut?"

"Hm..."

Urendo hesitated deeply.

I'd realized since yesterday that we couldn't take the shortcut because of us.

He'd been struggling for our sake, too.

But since arriving in this area, Urendo had been dithering and stalling.

That meant there was indeed a shortcut nearby.

"Will you really buy the Racrom?"

"How many times do I have to say it? We'll buy it."

"Let's say you do. How will you transport it? You said you've come from very far away. Can you promise steady trade?"

"I don't think it'll be hard to bring it down from here to ground level. From there, we'll haul it by wagon to the southern port and load it onto a ship. The desert's not a problem. The pirates in that region are more of an issue."

The southern part of the west was a vast desert stretching east-west, but crossing it wasn't that hard.

The challenge was that on the western coast, pirate villages made transportation tricky.

Urendo spoke.

"But what do you mean it'll be easy to bring materials down to ground level?"

"You know what I mean. We don't have time. So either summon your elders here or guide us to your village. Decide."

Urendo hesitated briefly, but finally came to a decision.

"Follow me."

We left the mountain peak and descended. The slope was littered with bizarre rocks.

Eventually, we slipped between two giant cliffs, and as soon as we passed through the gap, everyone gasped.

Far below, hidden from above.

A green forest, shrouded in mist, spread out before us. The forest itself was astonishing.

Not only was it invisible from the mountaintop, but the climate of the mountains and the forest seemed completely different.

"Is that your village?"

"Yes. I can't tell you where the entrance is. I can't summon the elders out either, so we'll have to go to the area near the entrance."

Urendo carefully made his way along a path built into a steep cliff.

The path ran along a precipice and, although the Dran walked it, it was very dangerous for us to use.

Sticking close to the cliff, we came upon a metal structure embedded in the rock, reaching all the way to the ground.

It looked like someone had installed a roller coaster rail on the cliff.

Perhaps because it was used only as a shortcut, it seemed a bit ramshackle.

Urendo pulled a lever on the device. There was a sound of machinery moving on the fog-covered ground below.

After a moment, as we watched, something like a metal platform slowly ascended.

It was an elevator that moved up and down on rack-and-pinion rails. It could hold about six people.

"Everyone, get on."

"Can we all fit?"

"Of course. This elevator hasn't been used for a long time, but you can trust Dran engineering."

"There aren't any other elevators?"

"We mostly use the elevator at the village entrance, but that's far from here. And you said we were out of time, right?"

"Then I guess we can't help it."

We all got on the elevator.

There was no problem as I pushed the lever.

At first, the elevator descended slowly and smoothly—but suddenly, there was a hollow clang.

A nasty sound, like a bolt coming loose.

Just as I feared.

The elevator began to shake precariously as we descended, and then the whole structure began to shudder a little. And that wasn't all—

Kiiiiiing!

The structure shook and gave off a piercing shriek. Everyone flinched and froze.

The elevator's framework seemed about to tear away from the cliff.

"It can't bear the weight?"

Urendo was even more flustered.

"This is supposed to hold twenty people with no problem! What's happening?"

Kiiiiiing!

Thunk-thunk-thunk—

Along with the screech, we heard the sound of rocks splitting and falling.

The elevator was already on its way down, so there was no way to get off now.

"Urendo! You said Dran engineering was reliable!"

"How was I supposed to know you'd be this heavy! Still, it shouldn't be swaying like this, so what's going on?"

"I think it's because of the greatsword!"

I knew that the greatsword was heavy. I thought the structure could handle it, but maybe it had rusted over time from lack of use.

Tting!

Then, up above, there was the sound of something snapping!

"The fixture is coming loose!"

"What?!"

Everyone looked up at once.

The upper rail was tearing away from the cliff, bending downward.

That wasn't all.

With a series of ting-ting-ting-ting sounds, the whole top section of the structure ripped away from the cliff.

"It's bending!"

"Hold on tight!"

Tutututut-tung—kiiiiiing—

The structure started to fall apart even more. The upper part bent even more dramatically, coming down toward the ground.

Amidst everything, Urendo looked at me and gave an awkward smile. Whether out of embarrassment—or perhaps it was the final smile of his life.

Haaa....