11. Mysterious Tram Journey: The Appearance of the Drunken Dwarf
Starting November 2023, The Korea Daily is excited to publish the fantasy novel series “Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years” on our website. This new captivating series follows a trio of young adventurers on their quest to uncover the mysteries of ancient civilizations, including the Maya and Inca. In an exciting development, Netflix is currently adapting the novel’s storyline into a film.
The ‘Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years’ is the latest novel authored by Jeeyoon Ha, who created the “Pangaea series.” Ha’s debut novel, “The Pangaea: Finding Xibalba,” was selected by the Korea Creative Content Agency in 2022 as part of their initiative to support the global export of fantasy literature.
Readers can eagerly anticipate the online publication of two installments each month, with new chapters appearing bi-weekly, offering a regular escape into this magical realm. *Mark Oh translated the Korean novel into English.
Suri, Sabi, and Maru boarded the six-car yellow tram. The interior of the tram was made of silver metal. There was a small child sitting at the very end, and the rest of the seats were empty. The child was holding an amphora in one hand and a newspaper in the other. His face was hidden behind the newspaper. Suri stared at the child who was boldly gulping down alcohol from the amphora. At that moment, the child lowered his newspaper. A long and fancy white beard was revealed. It was not a child, but a dwarf.
“A drunkard… Is he an alcoholic?”
Suri kept glancing at the dwarf. Without caring, the dwarf buried his face back in the newspaper.
“…If it’s Malta, whether you take a boat or a plane… Isn’t this how you’re supposed to travel…? A tram can’t cross the sea, nor can it fly in the sky… Hmm… There’s something fishy… Ugh, talking about smell makes me suddenly hungry.”
Maru began to chew on the T-shirt he was wearing by pulling it into his mouth.
Maru began to chew on his T-shirt by pulling it into his mouth.
“Are you saying that Dragon Eridan deceived us? Is that what you’re saying? …You should have some faith in people, not just in food. He is honest and brave. I trust him.”
Suri was furious. From the moment he met Dragon Eridan, he had admired him.
“…He’s not a person… Eridan?”
Maru looked incredulous.
“Oh, you’re absolutely impoverished in your stomach…”
Suri shot back and looked out the window. Outside the window, the yellow, red, and blue lightning he had seen in his dream was swirling around in the shape of a snake. Baby lightnings were flashing and popping like fireworks in between.
“…It’s Sirius lightning. I’m sure it’s following me…”
Suri spoke with a confident voice.
Suddenly, the tram stopped. A staff member who they didn’t even know existed popped out from somewhere. His face was unrecognizable because he wore his cap too low.
“Please get off~! Please get off~! This is the last stop.”
He shouted loudly, even though there were only four people on the tram.
“No, it arrived so quickly…?”
Suri looked at his digital wristwatch. The numbers were flashing irregularly.
At that moment, the dwarf who had been sitting at the end stood up and approached Suri.
“I’m Barrel. I’m from the Beer Tribe… Beer gives me strength… Haha.” Barrel shook his amphora and handed Suri a newspaper before disembarking the tram. Suri, Sabi, and Maru also alighted from the tram. “Valletta… look there, do you see the sign?”
Sabi clapped her hands in excitement.
The city, composed of Baroque-style limestone buildings, hid mysterious alleyways and even more secretive staircases between the buildings. The three children exchanged greetings with the friendly people who smiled or waved at them. In the meantime, Barrel shot lightning towards the city with his hand. As a transparent barrier was lifted, another city was revealed. It was Valletta within Valletta.
“Uh…? Uhhhh…”
Suri swayed for a moment. He felt as if a strange energy had passed through his body. But it was just a feeling, nothing had changed.
“Guys, the people are acting weird… It’s like they’re treating us as if we’re invisible.”
Maru looked at the people who passed by without even making eye contact with a surprised look.
“…Think positively, Maru… It’s not that the people are weird, you’re the weird one. Look, everyone around here is slim, aren’t they? It’s because you’re fat.”
Suri took a small revenge on Maru, who had insulted Eridan.
“…Weren’t you the great deceiver Suri, bound by heroism?… Petty, you have to resort to personal attacks even here?”
Maru tried to laugh it off, but he was inexplicably sullen.
Suri opened the newspaper his had received from Barrel. The newspaper was in tabloid format. Each page fluttering in the breeze was filled with advertisements about artifacts. One picture caught Suri’s attention. It was a torch-handle sword entwined with three spiral flames.
“Helix… that’s the name of the sword… They’ve drawn the shape of the sword in great detail.”
Suri was examining the picture of the sword in the newspaper almost with his nose touching it.
“I want to see it too… How much does it cost?”
Maru snatched the newspaper away.
“…There’s no price.”
Sabi took the newspaper away from Maru.
“The funnier thing is… a store called Fairy’s Chimney claims to own this sword, and the description says this store is over 10,000 years old, and there’s even a detailed map… I don’t know who the owner is but… isn’t he a fraud who could rival George Adamski…? Sigh….”
Sabi sighed heavily with an expression of disbelief.
“Just remember the pattern on the Dead Disk box we found in the Cartoon Laboratory? It was a torch-handle sword, wasn’t it? I have an intuition that this is the sword. I think we have nothing to lose if we go and check it ourselves. Let’s go!”
Suri had already started moving before he finished his sentence.
“…According to the newspaper, Fairy’s Chimney is the most famous antique store in this city selling various items containing magic and history… But the strange thing is… Valletta is a city with a history of less than 500 years, but the store is over 10,000 years old. So it existed before the city was created…? When primitive people were running around?”
Sabi was still shaking her head, holding the newspaper
[To be continued…]
