Desert • Flower | TaeJin || BOOK 3#

VI. Being aware of the arid desert

Taehyung has been going back and forth to the coast to check if more people are coming and indeed, they are. One after another rafts arrive with people desperate to flee Japan and not be found here. It becomes a nuisance and nightmare that it might happen that they will come, Taehyung has made more rocks grow from the bottom just to prevent large ships from arriving or approaching. On the other hand, it is possible that the rafts may come in, they are the size of the ones that have been coming lately, that is, it prevents soldiers from coming in, not so those who have to take shelter from them.

Apparently in Japan it has already become popular, somehow word got out that someone is picking up refugees without mistreating them or doing anything bad to them. It's not what Taehyung prefers, he'd like it better if it was more anonymous because, as well as they are watered Japan, it can be watered here and generate him a long term problem with the crown. However, he can't entirely blame it happening; people need to know there is a place they can turn to.

Taehyung doesn't like it at all, but what he can do?

Since it's one thing to help and another to go overboard, he has decided to make these people a cave. Big, spacious, with light entrances, space for them to get comfortable and everything they might need, so as not to disturb his employees and people he already knows, whom he has to put above all else. Another thing that has caused a stir is his ability to control the earth, it is too masterful according to people who see it. In Japan, earth dragons seem to be much more common. However, they do not reach his level.

There is no real reason for Taehyung, maybe it's just natural born talent, practice, more space; who knows, he doesn't have much of an idea, he's just curious. Taehyung has also been told that the flowering dragons are very common there. And that the rare ones among them are when they have pink hair. Those blossom dragons that are pink, it means that they come from a Sakura tree.

"What exactly does Sakura mean."

"They can mean many things" states the lady who arrived a week ago, arranges what will be her space with her children inside the huge cave. It still expands so that everyone is comfortable in their space. "They symbolize rebirth, because they always start in a season when no other tree blooms. They make the ground pink like their petals when they fall." Taehyung tries to get the idea, but he's never seen so many flowers watered together to make it happen.

"It sounds pretty."

"And it is my lord, it is," she states enthusiastically. "On the other hand, the word Sakura itself has a very nice meaning in our language: what it means to smile. Mainly it speaks the bloom, but speaking the little deeper it is also smile. The blooming of a smile."

Taehyung smiles square, tilts his head, that sounds very beautiful. It is impressive how the general problem of the empire causes him to have forgotten one of his main aspirations: to get flowers and make them grow. Taehyung hasn't had much time for that, he heard that down the coast a month away, some troops arrived. As he warned that very possibly they would come that way, the imperial guard was asked for help and they were able to repel them successfully; prepare the people a little and according to rumors, there was also some forced military service to the vast majority of the men present, except for the nobles. They were asked and for the most part agreed to help, to be good men who helped their nation.

Taehyung is slightly confident that they will not make it this far. The coast doesn't allow it and if they already got a disappointment coming in that way, the Japanese are not going to try to come to a place relatively close. They are going to try to go to another entrance. It's not in their best interest to try again and lose both people and resources.

~ * * * ~

His walk through the town is depressing. There are very few people. Many have had to go to train and be part of the army, some for their dragons, others for being strong, others for being in the age range and so on. He has been spared because of all the inheritance they left him, since he is considered a nobleman and not someone who should lose himself fighting. Not to mention that his father never registered him with a dragon. He never said that and has kept it a secret in a good way. It is a small space that knows how to keep its own secrets, the few that have been revealed with dragon, have been unavoidable, but do not expose others to avoid a disgrace how to be enlisted.

Taehyung realizes that the flower shop closed, who supplied it was an old lady accompanied by her son. The lady passed away and her son had to go to the army. It made Taehyung very sad because everything looks so gray, miserable, sad. The plants are not growing much, even though the soil is fertile, there has been a lot of rain, there is practically no life. It is as if the earth itself is withering away because of all of them.

Three years of war that never seems to end. Taehyung hopes it will not reach ten, which is the forecast that almost all the gentlemen who work in his house have. Pessimistic, but he can't take away the reason it may happen.

In conclusion, Taehyung feels he is living in a desert where he can hardly find a cactus or two. That is to say, depressed and suspicious people; dry hot arid with nothing to appease him. Lacking any flowers that might brighten people's eyes.

. . .

"They seem to have managed to adapt very well to being down there."

"Yes sir, they have also come to show us their progress to return the favor."

Taehyung superficially reviews how things are going with The Japanese refugees. Last time he counted and so far, the most he has had is two hundred people. That's already too many and it would be impossible to cope if they didn't pitch in as well. Fortunately they are people who are aware of the situation and very grateful to him. Not only because of the space, but also because they have not been treated badly at any time. While it is true that they are under a large rock, because it is a cave, many plants grow. The soil is insanely fertile.

They farm, they try to keep some livestock that is given to them to raise and have their own. They keep themselves as a kind of small community underground. They can go out as much as they like, however, they prefer to stay hidden to avoid disturbing or avoiding some bad moment; never know if some imperial general will come to check. Taehyung is aware that it will happen at some point, he is aware that they will come to check if they can get anything out of him: money, jewelry, workers, whatever.

The Japanese are staying down, their workers are working as usual and the desert is still as barren as usual, it seems nothing is going to change it. Despite the depressing note he strikes, Taehyung finds himself happy. Taehyung knows he is doing good by helping many people not to die and to have a dignified life. That alone makes him satisfied and slightly cheerful in such a horrible time.