Chapter 101
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: The Power in Words (7)
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Rushing through the downpour toward home, I shouted.
"Tactile Officer, what's the situation now!?"
Please don't let us be too late.
Through the crystal orb held by my direct attendant, the Tactile Officer—who had stayed behind at the office with the guards to monitor for vibrations—replied.
A fight just broke out on Bibachen Street. I can feel multiple people's footsteps...
Huh?
She had been calmly relaying the situation when she suddenly flinched and cried out in alarm.
Be careful! There's an enormous vibration coming from right there!
"Vibration?"
The answer to my question didn't come from the orb. It echoed back from far ahead, right in front of the house.
- KABOOOOOM!!!
A roar like a meteor crashing down.
At the same time, a fierce gust blasted toward us.
"Ugh...!"
I barely kept my balance and forced my eyes open. An utterly unexpected scene unfolded before us.
- Grriiind...
"Guh... Heuk..."
A man's limbs were twisted grotesquely, slammed into the pavement.
"...My God."
A woman stared down at him with eerie green eyes.
"U."
Elaine pinned the man to the ground with invisible force, crushing him as if he were vermin.
- Drdrdrdr...
The vibrations were vivid, palpable.
But there was no savagery in Elaine's demeanor.
Instead, her lips pressed tight, she methodically and coldly buried the man into the earth.
"Stop, stop...!!!"
"Ugh."
Ignoring the man's desperate plea on the brink of live burial, she flicked her right hand.
- Thunk!
Something ripped free from the poor victim's torso and hurtled toward us.
- Thud! Clang!
With a sharp metallic ring, it skidded to our feet: a massive chunk of metal.
Everyone looked down at it.
"...Armor?"
It was a section of armor plated in dragon scales.
Only then did we realize who Elaine had subdued.
Kaban Bloodbeach.
The dragon hunter, his living armor being systematically torn apart.
That sight jolted me back to my senses.
Ah. This isn't the time.
"E-Elaine, stop! You'll wake up the whole neighborhood!"
Smashing things this loudly will draw attention.
We've got to take him down quietly.
"U?"
The moment she heard my voice, Elaine's expression softened.
She saw me and swiftly released her power.
At the same time, another woman behind her shouted.
"The Central Officer is here!"
"Mnatsil! Are you all right?"
Mnatsil rushed toward me alongside Erzena, peeking at her egg with a smile.
"Not a scratch on me. Thanks to your females."
Thank heavens—she and the egg were both unharmed.
Meanwhile, the sensory officers—who were meeting Mnatsil for the first time—gawked at the woman who had burst out of my house.
"Mna...tsil? Who's she?"
"She's a total beauty. And... huge."
"What? What's the connection? Another woman!?"
Ignoring their whispers, I scanned the surroundings.
"The triple-layer defense magic is shattered. Damn it, I'll have to request help from the Magic Society again."
Fortunately, the agents nearby were safe.
Holes torn in their clothes clearly indicated injuries, but the golden aura enveloping them told me exactly what had happened.
I bowed my head to Erzena.
"Erzena, thank you so much. Without you, there surely would have been casualties."
"No need. It was Elaine who let us subdue him, so thank her."
She gazed at the princess with a mix of tension and awe.
Elaine still held the dragon hunter pinned with a single hand's psychokinesis.
'Just how strong is that power?'
Ever since gaining emotional control, its scale felt boundless, as if it had shattered all limits.
But ripping off dragon-scale armor? I never imagined that.
'Well, she healed Mnatsil alongside Erzena, so it's not impossible.'
It strangely made sense.
That was when it happened.
"Hah... Heuk... You... bastaaard!!"
Regaining consciousness at last, Kaban spat curses and roared.
I've pinned him down so he can't move.
"Ah... Well done. Really."
Yeah. Compared to the old Elaine, that's excellent control.
But we couldn't let our guard down yet.
This much racket could draw onlookers, even in the pouring rain.
"Agents. Please isolate this area—no witnesses."
"Yes, sir. Leave it to us."
The agents grasped my intent and scattered immediately.
I turned to Elaine next.
"Elaine, keep him pinned. Not even a pinky twitch."
Leave it to me.
She nodded lightly and clenched her fist just a bit.
- Crunch.
Kaban's body crumpled—not slightly, but noticeably.
Already a wreck, he looked even more hideous now.
"Aaaagh!"
I walked slowly toward the satisfying scream, then bowed my head.
"...Mr. Kaban Bloodbeach. How did flying feel?"
"You... Cough! What the hell... are you...?"
"As you see, an immigration officer."
"Bull...shit."
Kaban spat blood-flecked saliva.
He bellowed at me, full of pent-up fury.
"Why protect that monster?! Why?! If you're human, eliminate all threats to our future! What payoff did you get to defend her like this?!"
A howl brimming with self-justification and arrogance.
I answered flatly.
"I made a promise."
"...What?"
"That if you passed inspection following the rules, I'd ensure the egg and her safety to the utmost."
He stared blankly, caught off guard.
"Not a dragon's minion, no deal...? Just because you're an inspector?"
"Yes."
"For one measly rule, one promise, you went this far?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
I fell silent at the final question.
"...Because that's all I have."
Words.
The only power I can wield is words.
I lack the Olfactory Officer's muscles and combat experience.
I can't wield magic like the Auditory Officer, or match the Gustatory Officer's innate riding skill and mobility.
No racial gifts like the Tactile Officer's bizarre abilities.
No mana, no holy power, let alone psychokinesis.
A perfect weaponless weakling.
The frailest human—that was me.
The only thing I could do was speak.
'That's why I must uphold every word, staking everything I have.'
If even that is denied, I'm nothing.
"Ha, haha... Hahaha... For a promise. Ridiculous."
A hollow burst of laughter.
But his eyes still burned with murderous intent.
"A hunter... never gives up. Once I set a quarry, I hunt it... no matter what."
The Olfactory Officer spoke, utterly disgusted.
"Central Officer. What now? Arrest him?"
"..."
I stayed silent for a moment.
If it had ended at causing a disturbance, arrest would be right.
'But he already injured an intel agent.'
The instant he harmed a state operative, his fate was sealed.
"Current time: 8:20 PM. Terrorist confirmed injuring state agent."
I murmured softly.
"Resistance to arrest and flight. Attempted civilian murder. Possession and use of an extremely dangerous artifact. No remorse, declared intent to reoffend. Clear violation. High risk of recidivism. Therefore."
Just as he had resolved to kill Mnatsil no matter what,
I made my resolution.
"I cannot let you live."
The sensory officers froze at my first summary execution order.
"K-Kill him...? But who's going to...?"
"Better leave it to the intel agents—"
That was when it happened.
"I'll do it."
Mnatsil stepped to my side, her face coldly set, clutching something in her hand.
A mithril arrowhead pulled from her own heart.
Kaban's eyes flew wide in disbelief.
"You... going to kill—"
"Shut your mouth."
Mnatsil cut him off.
"You're no dragon hunter. No hero. No era-maker."
"What?"
"You're just a whelp who scavenged my dead kin's husk. Now stripped bare, weak as I am—a monster, nothing more."
"...!!!!"
Words striking his reverse scale, Kaban thrashed wildly.
"Don't lump me with your kind! I'm opening the human era—"
"Yet you're utterly alone. Lonely as a dragon."
Sharper than the arrowhead, Mnatsil's words gutted him.
She knelt beside his psychokinetically crushed form.
"Your gift returned. Wearer of dragon skin."
Then drove the mithril arrowhead into his heart.
- Pshk.
It sliced smoothly through flesh.
"...Kuh... Heuk...!"
His ragged gasps were hard to hear.
But Kaban wore no expression of agony.
"Heh, hehhehe... Hahaha...!"
An eerie laugh escaped him.
"You... lost, Mistress of the Volcano."
"I lost?"
Kaban grabbed Mnatsil's arm as she faltered.
His hate-filled gaze bored into her.
"You and your egg... can't hide forever. Someday the world... will know!"
"..."
"Even if not me, another will come! An era-ender!"
Blood surging, he unleashed mad laughter.
"It won't end here!"
Meeting death before the dragon, Kaban's proclamation rang to the heavens.
Like an indelible echo.
I watched in silence.
'Kaban's right.'
No matter how repulsive, he was right.
That egg.
As long as it existed—and a powerless dragon guarded it alone—this tragedy would repeat.
'Then...'
I had to stop it.
I turned and extended my hand to Mnatsil.
"Mnatsil. Give me the egg."
She hesitated briefly, then handed it over without reservation.
"..."
Heavy. Solid.
Yet fragile-thin, warm to the touch.
- Twitch.
Sensing the heat of my palm, the egg quivered faintly.
"..."
I felt it too. Tiny kicks tapping against my palm.
Irrefutable proof this was no mere object, but a vessel of life.
'Then it deserves to shatter its world and greet the true one.'
And Mnatsil—who flew here staking everything, even her life, for her offspring—deserves to live.
- Just a border guard, don't block the great cause.
Why did his words from the office echo now?
Border guard. Yes, that's right.
An immigration officer.
But also the one who connects worlds.
At the forefront, first to meet the outside.
Both arrived at this border, so I had a duty to protect them.
I promised.
Through words—my sole ability—and the rules I must uphold.
'I won't let some worthless dying words sway that.'
Make them untouchable.
So no one in this world can bring them misery again.
No more lunatics calling themselves dragon slayers.
Those who would use an unborn child as a tool for their beliefs—they're the real monsters.
To stop that,
I must be their guardian.
I steeled my resolve.
"[All who have ears, hear.]"
A voice of such dignity rang from my lips—even I was startled.
In two languages.
- Rumble...
The thunderclouds overhead howled in response to my resolve.
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!!"
Everyone turned toward me, entranced.
"C-Central Officer...!"
Mnatsil stared in disbelief, realizing my intent.
Only the Guard Captain remained unshaken.
Anomalous energy converging on Central Officer. Immeasurable.
But after finishing her analysis, even she spoke in hurried tones.
Source of energy... Central Officer. Impossible.
Dragon Tongue.
The power to twist the laws of the world.
A language only the extraordinary mythic dragons could wield.
And my ability to speak it.
These two in my possession—surely no coincidence.
- There are no coincidences in this world, Central Officer.
As the Director said, no such thing as coincidence.
I cradled the egg securely in my left arm.
Against my heart. Never to fall.
- Thump, thump.
The pulse of life resonated from where they touched.
Beating in sync with mine, like an echo.
"[This egg... no.]"
I paused.
I couldn't keep calling it an 'egg' forever.
This held not an object, but life.
It needed a name.
'What would be good?'
At least until it hatched, something to call it.
Then it struck me: the most moving sight at this border.
Signaling new beginnings, symbolizing tragedy's end.
Flame-born light approaching the world.
Every day without fail from the east, I whispered its name.
"[Kirba (= Dawn).]"
- Gush.
Pain like my heart was ripped out surged in my chest.
Unable to hold it back, I vomited something up.
"Cough...!"
Bright red, clashing with the dark surroundings.
- Drip, drip.
My blood poured onto the egg.
- Sss...
Washed away by rain? Or seeping into the shell?
I didn't know.
It didn't matter now.
"Kyaaa!! Nathan!!"
Nathan!!!!
"Central Officer!!"
The sensory officers, princess, and Erzena screamed.
I raised a hand to silence them, then continued.
"[Kirba...]"
On the brink of death, Kaban stared at me in shocked disbelief.
To him, I poured every ounce of strength and will, bellowing.
"[By my name as Central Officer, I guard Mnatsil and Kirba.]"
⟨ Dragon Tongue Proclamation ⟩
The Dragon Word was proclaimed.
And at that instant, my vision went pitch black.