Chapter 148
"Ahahaha, I see. So, even among True Persons, you're quite an active young man. No wonder you're so straightforward. Or perhaps you've been affected by the aura of the dragon on the verge of awakening? I'm sorry. I mishandled things too."
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up with an apology, Ryusui Teikun laughed, looking extremely pleased for some reason.
Just what kind of person had he expected to come?
An elf curmudgeon who was indifferent to everything happening outside, yet had an overbearing attitude?
Ah, that's exactly what the High Elf elders in the deep forest of my homeland were like.
So he must have deliberately withheld information, watched me while adopting a provocative attitude, and tried somehow to make me act as he wanted.
When I actually arrived, I must have seemed like a simpler creature than he'd expected, so he was glad things could move forward quickly.
That did result in us talking past each other, though.
Even an immortal probably rarely had the chance to meet a High Elf, so it couldn't really be helped.
Well, we were both rare beings, after all.
I no longer had any reservations toward Ryusui Teikun.
I understood what he had been thinking, and I also understood my own mistake.
Ryusui Teikun was the guardian of the True Dragon's sleep.
Naturally, he would grow anxious if that sleep became shallow.
I had been affected by the dragon's aura.
That might indeed have been the case.
Since entering Yellow Ancient Province—or rather, since entering the Yellow Ancient Empire—I felt like I had been somewhat more combative.
If I had unconsciously sensed the aura of the dragon on the verge of awakening and had therefore been in a slightly excited state, then all I could do was gnash my teeth at my own immaturity.
According to Ryusui Teikun, this land had originally been a place where nature ran wild and monsters rampaged because of the power emitted by the sleeping True Dragon.
To protect its own sleep, the True Dragon divided off some of its power, created four attendants, and had them guard the lands in the four directions.
They included the white spirit cat with the forked tail worshipped in White River Province and the black-shelled spirit tortoise.
Just as the god who left this world had created various races, a dragon with enough power to inspire fear in them could apparently create other beings as well.
However, the sole priority of the four attendants was protecting the True Dragon's sleep, so the rampaging monsters were left alone.
Thus, the rampaging monsters attacked people, and this land came to be feared by everyone.
The people living in the surrounding lands—including the ancient steppe peoples and the nations to the south—repeatedly invaded this land to exterminate the monsters pouring out of it, and apparently fought against the four attendants as well.
If things continued this way, people would eventually mistake not only the four attendants but even the sleeping True Dragon for evil beings and try to fight them.
If that happened, people might one day disturb the dragon's sleep.
Someone needed to rule this land.
The ones chosen were Ryusui Teikun and four immortals who, at the time, went by different names.
Even immortals could not continue to exist if the world itself were destroyed.
They discussed the matter with the four attendants and created a new system in this land.
Yes, that was the Yellow Ancient Empire.
The four attendants became the guardian deities of their respective provinces.
The extreme differences in environment from one province to another were probably the result of the attendants' influence.
No—more accurately, they were the result of the immortals' intervention in that influence.
Each province functioned as an independent country because of the belief that no nation could last forever.
Even if the government of one province became corrupt and ceased to function, as long as it was somewhere other than Yellow Ancient Province, they could simply destroy it and build it anew.
That was the nature of the immortals and the four dragon attendants.
I deliberately didn't ask whether they had actually destroyed and rebuilt a province before.
The dragon's power was sealed within Yellow Ancient Province and used to create a forest, where elves—the forest people—were settled to serve as its administrators.
Ryusui Teikun lived in Yellow Ancient Province, absorbing the dragon's power that leaked out and maintaining his existence as an immortal.
The other four immortals drew their power from the four attendants, using them to separate and control the environments in the four directions.
That was because the power of an immortal dragon was close to the power of nature itself.
...That was roughly how things stood, I supposed.
I believed I had learned everything I wanted to know.
I couldn't judge whether the immortals' actions were right or wrong, but I understood very well that they had done all this so they could survive and so that people could continue living in this land.
The High Elf elders would probably still disapprove of humans and immortals—beings descended from humans—using the power of the dragon's attendants and the True Dragon, and of the very existence of the Yellow Ancient Empire.
But I had no intention of denying that way of life.
I was now making my way underground through the castle, guided by Ryusui Teikun.
Yes, we were heading toward the true heart of the Yellow Ancient Empire, where the True Dragon slept.
The farther I descended the long spiral staircase, the stronger the power filling the area became.
This was because I was drawing physically closer to the True Dragon, and also because, as my presence approached, its sleep was growing shallower.
Yet I could feel power accompanied by enough pressure to make shortness of breath only natural, and somehow it caused me no discomfort.
If anything, I even felt as though I were wrapped in something warm.
However, halfway down, Ryusui Teikun crouched down in pain and could no longer continue down the stairs.
Apparently, even a powerful immortal like him, despite continually absorbing and refining the dragon's power, could not approach the True Dragon on the verge of awakening.
Well, that didn't mean I could turn back now.
I told Ryusui Teikun to return to the surface, then continued down the stairs alone.
Though sunlight never reached this underground place, it was faintly lit, and I could see my footing.
The giant body sleeping in the depths of the earth was what gave off that quiet, shimmering light.
A beautiful, gigantic dragon, golden from its scales to its wings.
The True Dragon, guardian of the world, sleeping until the end of time.
No, wait—despite the scale of the story, the dragon's form was surprisingly small.
I'd imagined a dragon as large as a mountain, but it was at most the size of a small fortress.
Of course, there was no guarantee whatsoever that the size I saw was its true size as a dragon.
Rather, I'd be more surprised if an existence that emitted such immense power couldn't at least change its size.
At last, I stood before the dragon.
One of its great eyes opened slightly.
Even its irises were golden, and they were incredibly beautiful.
'Oh, oh, old friend. Do you wish for me to awaken—and for the world to end?'
Then it asked me that.
Though the thought shook the very space around me, it sounded incredibly gentle to me.
"No, of course not. I just came to see you sleeping. Sorry for waking you."
I moved close to it and reached out toward its golden body.
I didn't wish for the world's destruction.
Ah, but somehow, I understood.
'No, don't trouble yourself, my friend. But now that you and I have met, I must make a judgment. Tell me about the outside world, my friend.'
What it meant by the end was a calamity that only the True Dragon could deal with—a situation that had come to pass.
For example, if monsters covered the world and even the High Elves, fighting with all their strength, could not exterminate them... or if humans rather than monsters became such a threat, the dragon would act.
If the dragon acted, everything would be burned away and the world would become a barren wasteland.
It was also our role as High Elves to plant more trees in that world and restore it alongside the spirits that kept nature's flow moving.
...Yes, something like that really wasn't necessary right now.
So I smiled and nodded.
"It's a long story, so I can't tell you everything at once. But yes, if you're fine with a little bit each day, I'll come here and tell you about it. I'll tell you bedtime stories until you really do get sleepy."
Actually, I was surprisingly confident when it came to telling stories about myself.
I'd told Kaeha so many stories, over and over, until she fell asleep, and by watching the elven bard Huresio, I'd also learned the tricks of telling a story.
I'm sure even the True Dragon would be satisfied.
The reason I wouldn't tell it all in one sitting was to encourage it to make calm, composed judgments.
Because the story of the outside world wasn't made up entirely of pleasant things.
So that it wouldn't judge everything based on a single installment, I would continue telling the story slowly and gently, day after day.
The True Dragon—though it was hard to tell with a dragon—seemed to smile a little.
Then shall I tell you today's portion first?
"The first story begins with me leaving the deep forest of my homeland. All right, Act One—the title could be 'The Shitty Elf and the Shitty Dwarf,' don't you think?"
I remembered.
Why I had decided to leave the forest of my homeland that day.
How I had made my way through the forest.
What I had encountered along the way.
And the sights I had seen and the people I had met after leaving the forest.
The humans I had grown close to, now gone.
The elf who had always supported me—who still supports me.
The shitty dwarf who had called me a shitty elf.
I wanted the dragon before me to share all those memories and feelings with me.
I pressed my forehead against the golden scales, closed my eyes, and began to weave my words.
As always, just as when I spoke to the spirits, I made our hearts resonate with each other.