The Nebula’s Civilization

Then the errand boy who came from Maganen replied, “Yes.”

Lakrak had been using a stamp. It was a wooden stamp with his name embossed on it, and he would put it in water mixed with charcoal to stamp things.

The Lakrak said, “Is the crawfish named Lubo the one who’s asking for the stamp?”

“No, it is not.”

“No? And why are they even asking for this?”

“That is…”

The warrior who came from Maganen told Lakrak what Tatar had gone through.

***

Tatar saw the Astacideas ship from across the sea. He found it suspicious because it had not been long since Lubo left after their fifth trade.

But it was not Lubo. Lubo was part of the Turquoise Astacidea Tribe, but the newcomers were blue. Fortunately, these Astacideas did not show any hostility towards the Lizardmen either.

The Astacidea leader approached Tatar, who was standing on the coast, and said, “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard that you are lord Tatar of the Thunder Dragon Kingdom. I am Marang, an Astacidea of the Blue Tribe.”

“...Thunder Dragon Kingdom? …Lord Tatar?”

Tatar asked about the unfamiliar terms.

The Astacidea replied, “News about the Thunder Dragon Kingdom is in full swing among us Astacideas. It’s said that across the sea there are descendants of dragons. They possess the Power of Lighting, they make and wear beautiful clothes, and they forge swords with the most solid metal which can’t be broken.”

Tatar got lost in his thoughts for a moment. He had once told Lubo, the Astacidea of the Turquoise Tribe, about Lakrak. It was joyful for Tatar to share with someone who did not know Lakrak’s prestige what Lakrak had accomplished and why their country was so great.

‘...But I don’t think I’ve ever said he was a descendant of a dragon?’

It was possible he had exaggerated some of the details to make the story more enjoyable, but Tatar thought that calling them dragon’s descendants was a bit too much.

There had been occasions where they exchanged diplomatic documents with other countries, and the national name Lakrak used was not quite as dignified as Thunder Dragon Kingdom. It was Black Scale.

But without giving Tatar the chance to point that out, Marang continued to say, “If it would be okay with you, what do you think about also making trades with our Blue Tribe…”

“Hm, alright.”

“And I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

Marang said while handing over a piece of silk, “If possible, I was wondering if the token of the Great Thunder Dragon King could be stamped here…”

Tatar got lost in thoughts for a moment after hearing the grand title, Great Thunder Dragon King, and an unusual request. Asking Lakrak to stamp something was not so difficult for Tatar. Lakrak was indeed king, but at the same time, he was also a comrade to Tatar. Tatar had fought alongside Lakrak in battles and shared food and water with him, so asking for a stamp was not a big deal.

‘But asking for a stamp on clean silk is kind of suspicious.’

The stamp was an indication that the king had seen and confirmed whatever it was being stamped. And if the clean silk was stamped, the silk itself would be guaranteed its value, but…

‘If they write something else on the silk that is stamped, it would mean that Lakrak has seen and confirmed whatever it says.’

Therefore, it was necessary for Tatar to ask Marang why.

“What is the reason?”

“The…reason is…”

Marang nervously gathered his claws in front of him. Even though Tatar did not know much about Astacideas’ body language, he could still tell that Marang was worried.

Then Marang said, “It is because we have won.”

“Won what?”

“There has been a long-lasting battle on our archipelago. Different species, as well as us Astacideas, were divided into several tribes. But our tribe has ended the battle.”

“Good for you. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Marang bent his feet and lowered his whole body. Tatar assumed it was a gesture of gratitude.

“But there are a few who oppose our victory. In order to be acknowledged by them, we need to be acknowledged by the king of the largest country that our archipelago recognizes, which is the Great Thunder Dragon King of the Thunder Dragon Kingdom.”

“.....”

“If the Great Thunder Dragon King acknowledges us by stamping this silk, we will be able to live in peace without any further troubles.”

Tatar was even more bewildered than before.

‘What on earth are people there saying about our country?’

Tatar initially told Marang it would take a while for the silk to be stamped since they would have to send an errand boy to Lakrak with the silk. Marang then replied that he would bring more fish, shellfish, and pearls in exchange for the stamped silk the next time they came before departing.

Tatar did not believe everything Marang had said.

‘I get that Lakrak’s stamp will be useful for them. But there are holes in his story. If they wanted a stamp on a document, wouldn’t it have been better to write the reasons on the silk rather than just handing over clean silk?’

There was also another issue.

‘And it hasn’t been too long since Lubo, who I have traded the most with, left. It must have been Lubo who had been exaggerating the stories about Thunder Dragon Kingdom…no, Black Scale. And I’m not really convinced that the other crawfish has won.’

Tatar sent these concerns along with the silk to Lakrak.

***

Lakrak did not think for long before making his decision.

Lakrak said to the errand boy, “We should go and see for ourselves.”

“Pardon? Are you going in person?”

“No. I leave this matter to executive Tatar.”

“But the crawfishes’ archipelago is far across the sea.”

“And that’s why I asked you about the number of ships we have.”

Lakrak continued to say as if it were not a big deal, “If we’re going to interact with them anyways, shouldn’t we know how the crawfish live, what kind of technology they have, and what we can get from them? So you, errand boy of Maganen, go tell Tatar exactly what I just said.”

Lakrak’s will was conveyed to Tatar a few days later. It was what Tatar had already expected.

Tatar and the other warriors had learned how to steer ships from the Astacidea sailors following Lubo. Steering ships was a first time thing for Tatar and the warriors, and it was also a first for them to scout and fight a species they had not met before without Lakrak. As the land the Lizardmen dominated expanded, there were more new creatures and land, and they had to learn about technology they were not familiar with before. Now, they were even going to explore an unknown archipelago. None of the warriors had any qualms to that. Adventure was a familiar thing for them.

***

Although they encountered a stormy sea on their way, Tatar safely made it to a particular island of the archipelago. It was the island where Lubo’s Turquoise Tribe resided. As soon as Tatar arrived, he met Lubo.

“Lord Tatar of Thunder Dragon Kingdom! What brings you here?”

“Well…”

Tatar hesitated, wondering where he should even begin to correct Lubo, but decided to just get to the main point. He told Lubo about the blue Astacidea, who introduced himself as Marang, and that Marang had requested for clean silk to be stamped. After hearing that, Lubo raised his big claws over his head and opened and closed them. Lubo was mad.

“Dang it…! Marang! How rude of him!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Marang is the chief of my old enemy, the Blue Astacideas!”

“He claimed that he had unified all Astacideas.”

“That’s a lie!”

Tatar nodded. It was just as he’d expected.

“He was trying to gain the prestige of the Great Thunder Dragon King through the stamp!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Us Astacideas have not yet been able to completely unify as one big tribe, but if someone appears with the stamp of the Great Thunder Dragon King of the Thunder Dragon Kingdom? And if they have writing saying that they have the support of the Great Thunder Dragon King? Then many tribes will begin to take their side. And that tribe would gain an advantage in this battle, which has dragged on for a long time.”

“I see.”

Tatar thought carefully. It was interesting to see that his country was so respected by a small island, but apart from that, it did not seem like a big deal to Tatar or Lakrak if someone used Lakrak’s name. It was a battle between crawfish far across the sea anyways.

Lubo got mad again after Tatar shared his thoughts.

“Lord Tatar! Isn’t it true that you don’t know much about trades?”

“That’s right. I’m a warrior, not a merchant.”

“Then allow me to share my thoughts, Lord Tatar. Think about it. What did the buyer, Marang, say he would give you in return for the stamp?”

“He said he would put extra care into our next trade.”

“Look, that’s it. He never even promised what exactly he would give you! This buyer named Marang is trying to buy the stamp of the Great Thunder Dragon King for a low price!”

Tatar nodded. There was a problem with Marang as a buyer.

‘He showed me such an unreliable attitude because he was planning to deceive me in the first place.’

However, Tatar could ask the same question to the other Astacideas. For example, to Lubo in front of him.

“Then how much would you buy it for?”

“...What?”

Tatar took out the silk from his inner pocket. Lakrak’s stamp was on it.

“Chief Lakrak told me to bring this just in case, since I could always burn it if we didn’t need it.”

“Oh my! What do you mean burn it?”

“And Chief Lakrak has left this matter to me. If necessary, not only is it possible for you to have the Great Thunder Dragon’s support in name, I can give you Lakrak’s real power and authority.”

“R…really?”

“So tell me. How much would you pay?”

“G…give me a moment, please…”

Lubo went to his relatives. They talked among themselves while bumping their antennae, and then Lubo came back. However, Tatar declined before he even properly heard the price. Lubo raised the price twice more, but Tatar declined all of them. Tatar did know Lakrak would be satisfied with the price even though he did not know too much. Still, Tatar was too much of a square.

‘I am not a merchant. So I’ll just do as Lakrak taught me.’

As Lubo seemed hesitant, Tatar said, “If you can’t pay the price, I guess I must go find another Astacidea tribe.”

“That would be a fool’s errand. Didn’t we trade the most with you? None of the other tribes is as wealthy as us.”

“But I’ve only put my trust in you until now. And you’ve probably been selling our things while saying false things such as we’re dragon’s descendants. And you would have profited more from that.”

“...Hm.”

Tatar was right, so Lubo hesitantly made excuses.

“You’re right. I did say those things to make the silk and iron more valuable. Wouldn’t they sell better if they were said to be made by descendants of dragons, rather than being simply named Lizardmen silk and Lizardmen iron? However, it wasn’t a complete lie! At least to us, it seemed that way.”

When Lubo easily spilled the truth, Tatar was glad that what Lakrak had taught him actually worked.

‘Initially, just turn everything down… Then what’s next?’

This method that Tatar had been taught was not completely Lakrak’s own. Lakrak had learned it from Hwee-Kyung. No, he did no learn it from her per se; Hwee-Kyung had bragged about how much she had profited from her previous trades, so Lakrak thought he ought to use the method someday. But that did not mean it was originally Hwee-Kyung’s knowledge, either. Hwee-Kyung had learned to do so from other merchants at Automation. So it could be considered Human wisdom, so to speak.

“However, there is a way to restore the trust between us, Lubo.”

“W…what is it?”

Tatar recalled the piece of Human wisdom.

“Lubo, gather all the tribal chiefs who could pay for this.”

“What?”

“I will give this silk to the one who pays the highest price.”