Chapter 01 - Brumbard

The room is remarkably clean and tidy, with walls crafted from stone and a wooden floor. Despite its modest size, it accommodates a bed where my wife is currently lying down. Suspended from the center of the ceiling is an upside-down ore bulb emitting a soft blue glow. This unique bulb is made from a material that illuminates when exposed to oil. Several years ago, an abundance of this ore was discovered by a worker, revolutionizing our approach to room lighting. That worker has since retired but holds the 8th seat in the council.

The stone walls are adorned with several paintings, enhancing the room's appeal. On the open wooden door hang various pieces of clothing. The room's square layout contributes to its cozy ambiance.

I am standing in the room, holding my wife's hand tightly as she goes through the intense process of giving birth to our baby. Her face shows a mix of surprise and pain, perhaps astonished by the intensity of the experience. I feel a strong desire to help her, but my role is limited to offering support through my grasp.

Meanwhile, one of our maids skillfully assisted in delivering the baby. After several minutes of struggle, my wife finally relaxed, and I was able to hear the cry of the baby that my maid was holding. She wrapped the baby in a blanket and gently placed him/her alongside my wife. When I saw both of them, I was overwhelmed with joy. I thanked my wife for the baby, and she smiled while saying, "Take the baby in your arms."

The baby is a boy, and he has a few brown hairs on his head, which are the same color as mine, while his eyes are green like his mom's. He is so small that I am just surprised. My wife giggles as I look at him, probably laughing at my expression because I am sure I am looking weird right now. The baby himself isn't crying anymore and is trying to reach out to me, so I give him my finger. Soon after, I placed him next to my wife so she could hold him too. After placing him in her arms while he is sleeping, I head out of the house to tell my friends and colleagues, including other council members, about the birth of my baby and to celebrate the occasion with them.

A few months have passed, and we are still struggling with the boy. He is just so full of life that we all get tired while handling him, although he does not cry too much. It feels like he is a bit odd in that case because most of our friends have told me that their kids cried a lot when they were young. He always seems curious about several things and wanders around the house almost every day. If we take our eyes off him even for a bit, we find him in an entirely different place from where he was before. I only experience this when I get back home after council work, so I can only imagine what my wife goes through during the day. Although I must say, our maid really helps us a lot.

Our maid stays with us in this house 24/7. She came with Amelia when I married her to assist with some work and was supposed to leave after a few days. However, my wife asked her to stay in our house for her own reasons, probably because it was a bit hard to manage a big house on her own.

Another few months passed, and now it has been a year since the birth of Brumbard. He is already 1 year old and able to walk on his two legs. A few days ago, on my week off, I went outside with him for the first time, although my wife was not so happy about it because she was afraid he might get lost. But nothing like that happened. I showed him the underground river from which we get our water supplies and even showed him the council office. On the way back, I carried him on my shoulders as he was very curious about everything.

Sometimes I feel that it would be much better if he had been born in an era where dragons didn't exist. Maybe that's what my father thought too, but I can never know for sure. He just sits in his chair with a blank expression all day long. It seems like he has forgotten about everyone. It happened 7 years ago when I was 15 and was a month away from getting my scavenger hunter license. Both my father and mother were professional scavenger hunters.

There are about 10 parties, each containing 10 people, that go on scavenger hunts every week to find fallen dragon scales and other resources. It is said that a few years prior to my birth, it was all about hunting animals and collecting plants that could grow underground without sunlight, but it mostly shifted to finding scales after discovering their applications.

One day, a man from a certain party was attacked by a saber-toothed tiger. Although his party members managed to kill the tiger, the man's injuries were severe. The claw cut was so deep that blood was profusely flowing. However, a pink dragon happened to pass by, and a scale from the dragon dropped near the injured man. Pink sparks began emanating from the scale. Initially shocked, the party soon realized that the had healing properties, and it saved the man's life.

After the incident, a report was submitted to the council. Consequently, the council members decided to prioritize scavenger hunts for finding scales.

Since then, we have learned a lot about these scales. There are six different kinds: healing scales, fire scales, water scales, air scales, earth scales, and energy scales. However, storing these scales is challenging because they must be kept separate. Even the slightest touch between scales can cause them to explode, which can be fatal if you are not cautious.

Coming back to the topic, my father and mother were both professional scavenger hunters. However, one day, my mom was devoured by a dragon during a scavenger hunt. It happened 7 years ago right in front of my father's eyes, and all he could do was watch because he wasn't strong enough. His companions told me that it took quite some time to snap him out of it, but they were eventually able to do so, otherwise he might have died too.

He was sleeping when I arrived, and when he woke up, he didn't remember anyone or anything at all. It was hard for me to deal with the situation at that moment, but somehow I managed.

Anyway, back to the current time. Sometimes I saw Brum going into Dad's room, and I always wondered what he did there. I was curious, so I went inside once. Brum was grasping Dad's finger, and though there was no reaction, there might have been a faint smile on his face. Brum was chuckling and laughing. I don't really understand kids, I guess, but I was happy to see Dad somewhat happy once again.