Chapter 03 - Reunion

"In light of the upcoming elections, the council will be disbanded for two weeks, and elections will take place in one week. CHOOSE WISELY."

This notice was posted on the bulletin board in Sector 1, alongside a list of candidates running for election. Among them was my old friend Reginald, who held the 7th seat in the previous term. I hope he gets elected again this year because his proposals have greatly benefited the dwellers of Sector 1. Initially, residents of Sectors 2 and 3 opposed his ideas, but they ultimately proved successful.

Reginald's primary proposal was to move the residents of Sector 2 to Sectors 1 and 3 based on their contributions to the settlement, thereby emptying out Sector 2 for public works like schools, cremation grounds, agricultural areas, and various shops. His goal was to centralize public facilities instead of duplicating them in every sector. As a result, Sector 2 has become the largest and most important among the five sectors, with Sector 4 dedicated to mining, Sector 1 home to the families of laborers, and Sector 3 housing the wealthy and those who have significantly contributed to the settlement. Sector 0 serves as the first line of defense for the underground settlers.

While I was reading and contemplating the notice, I heard someone call my name. It was a familiar voice. Turning around, I realized it was Ryze,a recent school graduate, 15 years old, and passionate about scavenging. Since today is Saturday, he's probably heading out for his first scavenger hunt after completing his training. I asked, "What happened?"

He replied, "I'm here to get your blessing, sir, because you’re one of my favorite teachers. Today, I'm going on my first scavenger hunt."

I felt flattered but responded, "Flattering won't get you anywhere, but I wish you all the best out there. My blessings are always with you.It’s a tough job you're about to do, but given your passion from the start, you’re probably more excited than frightened right now. That’sgood."

Ryze was happy to hear this, said his goodbyes, and headed to the lift that led to sector 0.

I continued on my way to sector 2, where the school is located, to prepare for the new batch of students arriving on Monday. I had heard thatReginald's son would be joining this batch. It had been a while since I last saw Reginald, and with the council on break, I hoped we could catch up when he dropped off his son.

On Monday, I stood at the school entrance, greeting the many new faces. Most of the adults knew me, but the kids were new. In the distance, I saw a child holding hands with two adults. One was Reginald, and the other was Martha. It was likely that the child between them was Brumbard, it's been a while since I last saw Brumbard and kids grow seriously too fast.

As soon as Reginald approached, I greeted his whole family, and they greeted me in return. It was nice to see old friends after such a long time—two years, to be exact. It wasn’t that we had any issues in our friendship; we just hadn’t had much time to meet. They said goodbye to Brumbard, who they called Brum. Most of the new children I met today cried a lot, but Brum was different. He went in with a smile on his face, showing he was raised well. I couldn’t help but notice how much Reginald had changed. He seemed like a good father now, something I could never have imagined. I mean, this guy wasn’t serious at all back in the day. Can you imagine he once tried to eat food with his nostrils? Still gives me the creeps.

When Brumbard entered the school and left, Reginald told Martha to go ahead without him, saying he had some things to catch up on with me. I was kind of wondering what we would talk about; it had been a while, and it's hard to break the ice with just a normal “How are you?” conversation.

After Martha left and Reginald confirmed it by looking around carefully, he said, “How the hell did you manage to become a teacher? Do you even know anything?”

Was he being serious? I guess he hadn’t changed much after all. In a louder voice, I shouted, “Huuuuh????” followed by, “You were the one who didn’t understand anything the teacher said back then. I was always ahead of you. It makes sense that I’d become a teacher. Of course, I know more than you. Me becoming a teacher doesn’t make sense to you, but do you think you becoming a council member does? I guess we really are on the path of destruction.”

He laughed at my retort, and I gave an awkward laugh in return. I guess he did all that to break the ice. I really didn’t feel that way; he was a good council member after all, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been elected three times in a row. But I wouldn’t be surprised if what he said was what he truly thought. Our commotion drew the attention of a few bystanders, whom I quickly shooed away.

He then said, “Don’t worry, I was just kidding. How are you doing with all the teacher stuff? It must be hard to handle that many kids.”

I nodded. “Yes, but it’s not like all of them are troublemakers. They’re just kids doing whatever they want to do. It reminds me of how I sometimes laugh when they say adults have too much freedom. I mean, look at us—this is the first time we’re meeting in a whole year. When the kids grow up, they’ll realize that the freedom they sought as kids was already left behind.”

“Damn, you’ve gotten philosophical as a teacher, haven’t you? But I agree. Every child is like that.” We both sighed and then the bell rang. Reginald left, saying, “Take care of my son, and good luck to you. It was fun seeing you after so long. Do let me know when you’re free; we can have dinner together someday.”

I said my goodbyes and walked away. It was certainly nice to meet him again.

A few days passed, and I was sitting in my house doing nothing when suddenly there was hustle and bustle all over the tunnel. Something big must have happened. Today was scavenger hunt day, so I figured they must have found something significant. My main door was knocked on so hard it sounded like someone was slapping it. It seemed urgent. What could I do? I’m just a normal teacher.

When I opened the door, there stood a boy almost my height, named Ferao, with tears mixing with the sweat on his face. He was still trying to catch his breath, having clearly rushed here. Then he told me, “Ryze got killed by dragons.”

I lost my usual composure and went blank. For a moment, it felt like I was about to faint, but Ferao helped me maintain my balance. Without asking for any details, I rushed toward the cremation ground with Ferao leading the way.

Quite a number of people had gathered there, and it was hard to get to the front, but Ferao made a path, and I followed. On the cremation stone, I saw a chewed-up head with no body, the blood already dried by the time it was brought there. Many people couldn’t stand the sight. I instantly remembered the last conversation I had with him, the day he first went on the hunt. I was too shocked, but my body moved on its own. A loud thud of my leg hitting the ground resonated, and my hand was on my head, saluting Ryze. Some might think what I did was a bit weird, but I didn’t mind. Ferao followed suit, and eventually, everyone saluted him. His head was set ablaze, and his Orichin stone was given to Ferao, as he was orphaned and the closest person to him.

Today, the election results were going to be announced, and for that reason, every department was closed for the day. As I headed to the announcement hall, which could hold over 200 people, I noticed it was only half full. I guess people aren't that interested in the results. The announcer, a permanent member of the council with the least power, only used in case of a tie vote, was already announcing the winners. I was a bit late and missed the first four candidates being declared winners, and they were already seated on the stage, their chairs decorated with embroidered flowers carved out of wooden planks.

“The 5th seat is won by Frankfurt's son, Reginald,” the announcer declared. It seems Reginald's popularity is rising with each term. “Kuzin's son, Fades, is the 6th seat,” he continued. Fades is new to the council and quite young too. “The 7th seat goes to Jinro's son, Blorgin,” and “The final seat is held by Jinro's other son, Kaijin.” So, Jinro retired, and now both his sons are on the council. It almost seems hereditary, but they were elected by the people, so I can’t say much. The crowd cheered and clapped as Kaijin took the 8th seat.

Later, I personally congratulated Reginald and asked him to throw a party. That evening, we celebrated, and I drank so much that Reginald had to help me home, supporting me on his shoulders. He told me later that I was quite sad about Ryze's death. It’s not the first time I've seen someone die; it's common on scavenger hunts. But it felt different because Ryze was my student—the first batch I taught from beginning to end—so it felt especially sad.

I had to go to school to teach, so I dressed quickly. The school was opening for the first time in four days due to the death and the election results. When I stepped into the classroom, I was horrified. For a moment, I saw everyone as skulls, their bodies shouting, “Only if you taught us better... Only if you taught us better.” Even after regaining my senses, I was shaking and felt like throwing up. I covered my mouth and ran out of the classroom, but nothing came out. I drank a lot of water and began to doubt whether I was really a good teacher. If I had taught Ryze better, maybe he would have survived, or if I had stopped him from becoming a scavenger...

I was terrified to go back to the class. The students were probably worried about me too. Brumbard even came running out after a few minutes and asked if everything was okay. What could I tell this kid? It’s not like he would understand. “Is it about Brother Ryze's death?” he asked. I was a bit shocked that he knew. He continued, “If you’re blaming yourself for his death, you’re wrong. Dragons are big creatures, and you can’t do anything when they’re in front of you. If there were a better way, deaths by dragons wouldn’t be so common in the settlement. And if you think you should have stopped him from being a scavenger, that’s wrong too. He was passionate about scavenging. He used to tell us stories about the outside world and wanted to experience it himself. All you can do is get better at what you’re doing and raise the current children to be better than Brother Ryze.”

I was shocked, being consoled by a kid, and not just any kid, but that doofus Reginald’s kid. He even knew what I was thinking. He’s definitely different. I patted him on the head and smirked a little, saying, “Who told you that? I was just having a bit of indigestion. You’re just a kid, trying to console an adult. That’s really funny.” I patted his head too much, and he got a little annoyed. Then he faced me and said, “Oh, that was the case,” smiled, and left. I can’t give up on these kids. I will become an even better teacher than before.