Belaegon Chapter 17
Actually, I had about a week of free time and was planning to write and post a chapter. But unfortunately, one day, just as I was about to finish and post this chapter, I left the tablet on charge and went away, and I haven't been able to open it since. When the tablet broke, I was going to switch to the computer right away, but the moment I turned it on, it broke too. On my phone, there's not enough storage and the specific AI I use isn't installed, so I couldn't find the chapter either. That's why I'm late. I got the tablet and I'm posting this chapter now. But just so you know, I've written about 500 words of what was supposed to be Chapter 18, but I'll most likely be going to the village to work, so I won't be able to write much. Just a heads up.
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The night was like a heavy blanket over the hill. The lights reflecting from the dragons' white scales slightly diminished the darkness of the night, along with the moonlight above. People were huddled together inside the cages, trying to stay warm; of course, the chained patients in the cage Vaegon carried couldn't move much, so they were shivering, and most of them had passed out. Some were crying out of fear, their voices spreading all around. When the three brothers came to the cages and faced such a scene, they couldn't comprehend what to do for a moment. As Vaegon was about to move to help, Vaelar grabbed his arm. "Never mind, Vaegon, let's look out for ourselves first. I'm so hungry that I'm going to die of starvation."
Placing his hand on his brother's back, Vaegon said, "No, Vaelar, we caused them to be in this state, now we must help them and fix our mistake."
"What mistake, Vaegon? They should be grateful to us; if it weren't for us, they would have been stuck in that damned city. Besides, do you even know what to do, have you ever encountered this situation before?"
"No, but we still have to help, or they will die. They are our first capital in this world; how will we build cities and rule without them? Besides, perhaps by helping we can win their hearts and reduce the possibility of them betraying us."
Shrugging, Vaelar said in an emotionless voice, "Vaegon, let the dying die; if they survive in situations like this, it means the survivors are stronger than the rest. We don't need to feed the weak, they will only make us lose money and food for nothing, there's no need at all."
Vaegon couldn't believe what he was hearing; pulling his hand from his brother's back, he said, "Vaelar, how can you say that? Are you going to think about your own gold instead of a person's life? Darion, say something."
Vaegon's plea for support hung in the air. Darion raised his head, gripped the axe in his hands with both hands, and his eyes shifted first to Vaelar, then to Vaegon.
"Actually," said Darion, his voice calm and thoughtful. "It could be said that Vaelar is right on one point. The strong survive. That is the law of nature. But..."
A victorious smile appeared on Vaelar's face. "Aha! Look! Even Darion said I was right!"
Darion shook his head. "But... Vaegon is right too. These people are entrusted to us. We brought them here. Without them, we are nothing in this world. Even though we have dragons, we can't do anything alone. Besides, who will be the servants to work loyally for us noble dragon lords? One day, a single drop of poison in the water will send us to see our mother and father..."
"Stop philosophizing, white-head, and give a proper answer to the question we asked. Something must have happened to your head while cutting trees today; you normally talk nonsense, but today you are talking especially more nonsense," Vaelar's voice interrupted. Meanwhile, when wood was mentioned, Vaegon said, "The logs, yes, the logs. We didn't cut them for nothing or sharpen their ends for nothing; we made them to plant around and protect the camp when we set it up at night. Now, how are we going to place them without the people in the cages, Vaelar?"
Shrugging and trying to act as if he didn't care, while thinking of the people torn apart by wolves, Vaelar said, "Simple, we have our dragons, brother. What idiot would disturb the dragons knowing they would end up as bait? But if you want, you can drive the stakes in."
Vaegon took a deep breath in the face of his brother's nonchalant attitude. His patience was running out, but he had no intention of giving up.
"Vaelar," Vaegon said, lowering his voice. "I understand you. You are hungry and tired. But right now, there are people about to die in front of us. We brought them here. It is our responsibility to save them."
Vaelar rolled his eyes. "Responsibility? Vaegon, we are dragon lords! Our responsibility is to rule, not to provide care!"
Darion interrupted, resting his axe on the ground. "Actually, Vaelar, ruling is also a kind of care. Think like a gardener. If you don't prune the plants, they won't grow. But if you don't water them, they die. What we need to do is find the right balance. Not prune these people, but water them—"
"Darion! I told you to shut up! Take that philosophy of yours and go apply it somewhere else!"
Vaegon lightly patted Vaelar's shoulder. "Brother, look. These people will be loyal to us. If we save them, they will feel they owe us their lives. Which means, they will serve you more in the future. More workers, more soldiers... If you have many soldiers, what do you do? You conquer new lands, your people multiply, and you pillage. And then there are taxes. The more people you have, the more taxes you collect."
Vaelar's eyes gleamed for a moment. "Taxes?"
Vaegon grinned. "Yes. Every person you save will pay you taxes in the future. And think about it this way; if you take 2 gold as tax out of 10 gold from 100 people, you will have 200 gold, but if you take from 1000 people, you will have 2000 gold. As your people increase, your money increases."
Vaelar thought about what he heard for a short while. Vaelar immediately started counting on his fingers.
"A thousand people..."
"Two gold per person..."
"Two thousand gold every year..."
His eyes widened.
"WHY ARE WE STILL STANDING HERE!" After shouting, Vaelar started running as fast as the wind.
A bewildered Vaegon and Darion were left behind. When Darion shouted, "Where are you going, Vaelar?"
The reply from the fading Vaelar was heard, "Where else? To save my gold, of course."
Vaegon and Darion stared after Vaelar in astonishment. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Then Darion, resting his axe on his shoulder, let out a deep sigh.
"There," said Darion in a philosophical tone. "Greed for money drives a person to do anything. This, in fact, is an art. The art of greed—"
"Darion, cut it out now," said Vaegon, shaking his head. "But I must admit... it worked."
Darion shrugged. "What can we do? Sometimes, to win people over, you have to speak their language. Vaelar's is women and money."
Vaegon and Darion stopped talking and followed Vaelar toward the other end of the camp, where the cages were. Vaelar had run with ambition, as if going to war. When they reached the cages, they found Vaelar, despite being out of breath, saying, "O... Ou... Get ouuu out, cooome on!" Even though the people didn't understand what was happening, they obeyed the owner of the supreme beast. As they came out in rows, Vaelar counted them one by one, trying to figure out if anyone had died. He was paying such close attention that he didn't even care about Lord Daemir, who was glaring at him, and carefully continued.
Seeing this situation, the two brothers stayed silent, thinking that if they said anything now, they might lose prestige. Vaegon saw that Aeros had also come out.
"Aeros, come here."
When Aeros saw Vaegon in the direction the voice came from, he went almost running without caring about anyone else.
"My Lord."
"Aeros," said Vaegon, without waiting. "Make the logs we cut and sharpened all day into a line encircling the camp. While doing this, light the fires. Everyone needs to warm up and have good morale. If anyone freezes to death tonight, you will be responsible."
Aeros bowed his head quickly. "At your command, my Lord."
Aeros immediately turned back to gather the other people. Meanwhile, seeing a few women coming out, Vaegon told them to distribute carrots for the people to eat. It could have been meat or boiled potatoes and corn, but since he thought it was late, he only asked them to bring carrots. As for the flame grapes, he had no appetite for them right now, and if he wasn't eating, his brothers wouldn't eat either. It was a small, silent revenge for the money issue that had just occurred. Darion didn't care about them at all. But he also wanted to mess with Vaelar for cutting him off today. He was caught between a rock and a hard place when Vaelar got everyone out. While Darion was mourning the missed opportunity, the brothers began walking toward their dragons this time.
Just then, a figure appeared from the shadows. Rhaenor. He was walking silently with the rusty chainmail he never took off, and his half-rusty sword in his hand.
"Rhaenor!" Vaegon called out.
When Rhaenor saw the brothers, he remembered what had happened, and the person who normally wouldn't even kneel to Lord Vaenis immediately knelt and bowed his head. "Command me, my Lord."
Vaegon squeezed the man's shoulders. "Weren't you supposed to be placing the logs around the camp with Aeros? Why are you here?"
Hearing this, Vaelar said with his eyes sparkling, "What, are you slacking off from work, huh? You must be punished immediately, immediately. The penalty for slacking off is 20 golden claws. Give the money immediately."
Rhaenor hadn't understood what was going on. Vaegon, on the other hand, had covered his face with his hand. This greed for money would be his brother's end. To the confused Rhaenor, he said, "Never mind him, answer my question."
"I report to my Lord that I had gone to the trees to relieve myself."
Upon hearing Rhaenor's words, Vaelar's sparkling eyes faded. "Damn it, we lost the money."
Ignoring Vaelar completely, Vaegon nodded. "I understand, but don't forget to be careful; I don't want the previous incident to happen again."
"At your command, my Lord, I will be careful to make sure such a thing never happens again."
Meanwhile, Darion, who wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, said, "This is a flaw. And a flaw means a mistake. And people cannot find the truth without making mistakes. Remember, to be flawless is a flaw."
No one expected Darion to interrupt suddenly. Looking at Darion, Vaegon said, "Whatever. Just make sure it doesn't happen again, do whatever you have to. In fact, go take a few experienced men with you and start patrolling in 3 teams. If you see an animal and can kill it, kill it. If you see a human, bring them without killing them."
Striking his fist to his chest, Rhaenor said, "At your command, my Lord. This time there will be no mistakes at all."
Rhaenor stood up and walked away. Behind him, the sounds of his rusty armor echoed in the silence of the night. The three brothers watched his departure.
Vaelar was still grumbling: "Twenty golden claws... we missed it..."
Vaegon shook his head wearily. "Vaelar, is money your only concern?"
"Of course it is; am I looking after them just because their mothers or they themselves are beautiful? They all have to give me money."
His eyes twitching with anger, Vaegon cut the conversation short here and continued walking toward his dragon. Because he knew that if he pushed any further, Vaelar would bring up the 50 thousand gold issue again. After Vaelar and Darion looked at each other, they started walking too. Why on earth had they made Vaegon angry?
Meanwhile, everyone, men and women, was working under the leadership of Aeros. The men were planting the logs, the women were gathering branches from the forest, and the elders were lighting the fires. As for Rhaenor, he had divided 12 people, including himself, into 3 groups of 4 on Vaegon's orders and they had started patrolling.
When the brothers arrived next to their dragons, they saw a small fire burning on the ground, and a girl of 12 or 13 years old throwing thin branches into the burning fire. When the girl heard the footsteps and turned around, she dropped the branches in her hand and immediately knelt. "Your Lordships."
Vaelar completely ignored the girl, came to the fire and sat on the ground. "Little girl, go bring us food. Don't forget to be a bit fast."
The girl originally worked as a servant in Lord Daemir's house. Because she had seen what Vaelar did to Lady Daemira and knew that this person possessed the supreme beast, she started shivering with fear. When Vaegon saw the girl shivering, he calmly said, "Don't be afraid. We won't do anything to you. Now go, food must have started being distributed; either you bring it or have someone else bring it."
"At your command, my Lord."
Hearing Vaegon's words, the girl quickly stood up and started running. Seeing the girl running, Vaelar grinned, showing his teeth, and said, "Am I such a terrifying person?"
Darion replied, "The girl is right; if I saw a bloodsucking vampire like you, I would run away too."
"Shut up, you famous philosopher! What was it, flawlessness is a flaw and I don't know what, or we are gardeners, bah... Ever since we landed, you've been seeing yourself as a sage and talking nonsense." While looking at his two brothers arguing, Vaegon said, "Really Darion, what kind of thought is 'flawlessness is a flaw'? You say a flaw is a mistake. So you're saying not making a mistake is making a mistake, and you are leading people into making mistakes."
"Say something sensible, like... like... Ah look, didn't the sun eventually rise after the darkest night? It tells people not to fall into despair no matter what the situation is, that even the worst thing will pass," he said.
Under the attack of his two brothers, Darion looked at them without answering at all, and finally, "Art is for art's sake, philosophy is for philosophy's sake, but for two idiots like you, there is nothing. That's what I am sad about."
Vaegon and Vaelar were stunned by Darion's words. For a moment, both didn't know what to say. Vaelar's mouth was left open, and Vaegon had raised his eyebrows.
Darion leaned back with a calm expression, looked at his two brothers. "What happened? Couldn't you find anything to say? I told you 'flawlessness is a flaw' and you attacked me. But now you are left speechless."
Vaegon rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. The great philosopher Darion won. Now let's stay quiet and wait for our food."
Vaelar grunted but did not object. The three brothers sat around the fire and started waiting in silence.
After a while, the girl returned with a tray in her hands. There were only carrots on the tray. Trembling, she placed the tray on the ground.
"Your Lordships, your food," she said, her voice still trembling.
Vaegon smiled at the girl. "Thank you. What is your name?"
The girl looked in astonishment. "M-My name, my Lord?"
"Yes. What is your name?"
"T-Taela, my Lord."
"A beautiful name, Taela. Now go, rest. You must be tired."
Taela bowed her head in gratitude, and walked away.
Vaelar looked after her, grunted. "You're asking her name and all. What is the need?"
Vaegon shrugged. "Knowing people's names shows that you value them."
Darion took a bite of the carrot, in a philosophical tone: "A name is a person's identity. Addressing someone by their name is to acknowledge their existence. And this is the art of—"
"Darion, eat your food," said Vaegon, grinning.
Darion shrugged, continued eating. Vaelar grimaced as he bit into the carrot.
"Am I a dragon lord, or a rabbit? We carried logs all day, felled trees with axes… and now they thrust carrots into our hands? Where is the meat? Wolf meat, bison meat… isn't there anything?"
Vaegon chuckled lightly while gnawing on his own carrot.
"You're mistaken, Vaelar. Donkeys like carrots the most."
Vaelar froze for a moment, then his eyes narrowed.
"Are you… are you calling me a donkey?"
Darion silently bit his carrot, but a slight smile had appeared on his lips.
"You are right this time, Vaegon. Vaelar has truly been working like a good donkey today."
"Haaaaaahaaaaaaa haaaaaa!"
"Haaaaaahaaaaaaa haaaaaa!"
The two brothers' laughter echoed around in the darkness of the night. Vaelar finished his food sulking. Then he turned around and went to sleep next to his dragon. Vaegon and Darion couldn't help but grin as they looked at the departing Vaelar. The revenge had been successfully taken. The two brothers nodded to each other and went to sleep.