Chapter 293: Interrogation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 293: Interrogation
Calling a wyvern a dragon is like calling a cat a tiger.
It would be more accurate to call an imugi a dragon.
An imugi, at least, is comparable to a leopard.
To be honest, I thought the difference between a lower-rank and a mid-rank dragon wouldn't be that significant.
That was because the only lower-rank dragonkin I knew was the Snake Queen's Basilisk.
Despite being a lower-rank dragon, it was stronger than the Red Dragon before her awakening, and even now, it was a powerhouse that could win against her about half the time.
If the Snake Queen holds a Dragon Pearl, she's basically a dragon.
But seeing another lower-rank dragon is changing my mind.
A lower-rank dragonkin with brass-colored scales.
It had no forelegs, instead using its developed wings like front paws.
It wanted to resemble a dragon, but it hadn't overcome the limitations of being a wyvern.
Is this the average for a lower-rank dragon?
It's a good thing I evolved twice in a row; I almost ended up in that category myself.
“Gekgek.”
I tied up the fallen wyvern tightly.
Pus and Nephila's spider silk always came in handy, since I could find some just by lifting one of my scales.
“What should I ask first?”
Now that I've captured the Ice Dragon's subordinate, I should be able to dig up some information.
“Ugh… Huk? Keuk! W-what is this! To bring me to a place like…!”
Of course, I had no reason to trust a creature I just met, but I wasn't too worried.
Fwoosh.
Because I had the best search engine: Jiggle.
“I'll talk!”
“No need.”
“W-what?”
FWOOSH!
“I-I-I'll tell you everything!”
The wyvern became docile after its scales were lightly scorched by the Red Dragon's flames.
I thought it would have some immunity to fire since it was a dragonkin, but I guess not.
Then again, a wyvern can't be expected to withstand a dragon's fire.
“Now we can have a proper conversation.”
The wyvern looked at its scales that had nearly been sizzled to a crisp and let out a sigh of relief.
“Divine Beast, is there anything you want to ask first?”
“Gekgek.”
Of course.
That's what I'm curious about first.
What's with the carriage, and why was it talking to a carriage?
“Umm, I'm usually on your side, Divine Beast... but I think it might be better not to ask about that.”
“Gek?”
“I think we should let it keep a minimum of its dignity.”
The color returned to the wyvern's pale face.
Does it think we're not completely heinous villains?
It seems to be under a strange delusion.
Depending on what you do, we can be Geeeek or Gerorong.
First, I asked for its basic personal information.
“I may look this way... but I'm actually not from the Central Plains.”
The wyvern glanced around as if it had just revealed something huge.
But it was obvious just by looking at it that it wasn't from the Central Plains.
For one, there are no wyverns in the Central Plains.
“So... I lived in a place called the Western Regions here. Endless fields and flocks of sheep, perfect for eating. All sorts of carriages coming and going on the streets... That is my home.”
It suddenly starts talking about its hometown.
And I didn't like its expression. It was the kind of look that said, Didn't I just say something incredible?
That was exactly the look on its face.
“Gekgek.”
How dare you make that face at me.
“H-hiiik!”
Chomp.
Snap.
I made a motion as if to bite it, like I usually do.
Of course, I wasn't the size of a small lizard anymore.
CRUUUUNCH.
KWAAAAANG!
The sound was something like that.
“Huuuuhk!”
The wyvern's wings trembled violently.
“W-wasn't this what you wanted? I-I heard it was high-level information... L-Lord Ice Dragon also told me not to speak of this to outsiders...”
Ice Dragon?
A rather interesting name had come up.
I gave a slight nod, signaling it to continue.
“Are you perhaps looking for Lord Ice Dragon... Huk, never mind!”
The wyvern tried to ask me a question, but it quickly swallowed its words, as if it had just caught a glimpse of its own future.
It seems to have gotten the hint now.
“There are quite a few spiritual beasts in a similar situation to mine. We were captured from places outside the Central Plains and are now working under Lord Ice Dragon. And Lord Ice Dragon strictly warned us not to let information leak out that spiritual beasts from the Western Regions have gathered here...!”
The Ice Dragon is a Western dragon.
It made sense that its subordinate was a wyvern.
But why go to the trouble of hiding that?
And it said they were captured?
CRUNCH!
“Kyak!”
The Red Dragon, as if she couldn't stand to watch any longer, lightly stepped on the wyvern's tail.
“Stop beating around the bush and tell us everything you know about the Ice Dragon.”
Her eyes were completely different from the expression she showed me; they were the eyes of a true dragon.
“Y-yes, I understand! Sob, hic...”
Most beasts would freeze just from meeting that gaze.
“Lord Ice Dragon was a very powerful spiritual beast from my homeland. His power, reigning at the apex of the ecosystem, was truly on the level of a high-tier dragon.”
A high-tier dragon.
It seems to be a level above me or the Red Dragon.
But in terms of raw power, the difference probably isn't that great.
After all, both the Red Dragon and I were spiritual beasts who had surpassed the normal bounds of the Transformation Realm.
If the two of us attacked together, we could probably take down the Ice Dragon without much difficulty.
The only problem is that it's with the Thunder Bird.
“Despite possessing such great power, he never wielded it recklessly. Back then, Lord Ice Dragon was someone whom anyone, human or spiritual beast, could respect.”
The Red Dragon's expression soured.
“Never wielded it recklessly?”
She had been separated from her sister because of the Ice Dragon.
And the indelible scar she mentioned, the one from her heart being frozen, was also caused by the Ice Dragon.
“...Just keep talking for now.”
But now, that scar was gone.
She hadn't forgotten her past grudges, but she no longer clung to them.
That was the Lizamone I knew.
“Ahem, he was perhaps a true dragon... Anyway, I'll continue. Lord Ice Dragon was living peacefully like that, but at some point, he lost the sagacity of his former self.”
“Yeah, that figures.”
“...He joined hands with a strange monstrous bird called the Thunder Bird, began indiscriminately attacking his own kind, and eventually started a war.”
The Red Dragon's parents must have been casualties of that war.
And it was the Ice Dragon who chased the fleeing Red Dragon and her sister to the very end after they lost their parents.
“So, what happened after the war?”
“The war ended, but he never regained his former clarity. He showed obsessive behavior, as if possessed by something.”
“How, specifically?”
The Red Dragon was asking questions with a business-like, cold demeanor.
The old her would have lost her patience and burned this wyvern to ashes.
“...For starters, lower-rank dragonkin like me aren't much of a military asset from Lord Ice Dragon's perspective. So he never paid us much mind. But after the war, he began to indiscriminately capture wyverns like me.”
Does this mean the wyvern before me had nothing to do with that tragedy?
It could be a lie it concocted after noticing the Red Dragon's pain, but the creature didn't seem that intelligent.
“He captured them and made them his subordinates? For what?”
“...Lower-rank dragons who could fly like me served as messengers, flying between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Those who couldn't literally became Lord Ice Dragon's troops.”
“His troops. So, troops for what? He won the war and took the dragons' inner cores, so there shouldn't be anyone left there to threaten him, right?”
At that, the wyvern began to look around nervously.
It was checking if anyone was listening, and since it looked like it was about to reveal something more important than anything it had said so far, I perked up my ears.
“...First of all, Lord Ice Dragon did not take the inner cores he obtained from that war.”
“He didn't take the inner cores?”
“Yes. ...Didn't I say I traveled between the Central Plains and the Western Regions? I often transported several thoroughly sealed items back then.”
It looked around nervously again before continuing in a small voice.
“...I didn't know what was inside, but an incident occurred where another wyvern tried to steal one of the chests. In the process of killing that wyvern, the chest opened, and they say a dragon's inner core was inside. That must mean the things I was transporting were the inner cores of spiritual beasts, too.”
A dragon from the Western Regions transported other dragons' inner cores to the Central Plains.
What could that mean?
Jin-ryong.
All the dragon cores were headed for Jin-ryong.
The Red Dragon was silent for a while.
Her shoulders were trembling slightly, so I wrapped my tail around her waist.
“...You don't have to do that, Divine Beast.”
She gave a faint smile, as if she was comforted.
“But even if the Ice Dragon didn't take the inner cores, it doesn't change the fact that there was no one left to threaten him. Why did he gather troops? What did they do?”
“Well...”
The wyvern trailed off.
Its attitude clearly showed it really didn't want to talk.
Fwoosh.
Of course, one little jiggle fixed that.
“We were tasked with tracking down those who inherited the blood of dragons.”
“Inherited the blood of dragons?”
“Yes. The once-sagacious Lord Ice Dragon was gripped by fear every day. He kept saying that a being who would one day destroy the world would appear, and that this being had to be killed beforehand.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“I don't know the exact details, but I do know that he indiscriminately hunted not only lower-rank dragonkin but even beings that couldn't be called dragonkin at all. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards—all of them. They were either taken in as subordinates or simply killed.”
Is this why the Ice Dragon pursued the Red Dragon and her sister to the very end?
I don't know the exact reason, but it seems he was obsessed with the idea that he had to kill all who inherited dragon blood.
“Back then, Lord Ice Dragon... no, the Ice Dragon was more like a ferocious beast. He would mutter that death would come one day. That only by killing all dragonkin, regardless of whether they were lowly or noble, could 'his' advent be avoided. Muttering like that, he froze the entire continent.”
The deeper I dig, the less I understand.
Still, considering the connection to Jin-ryong, I can at least guess that bastard was pulling some strings.
“He had to kill all dragonkin? Then how are you still alive?”
There was definitely something strange about it.
If he went around killing even snakes and lizards, why would he spare a wyvern, a member of the dragonkin?
“...We too were fated to die someday, but very fortunately, Lord Ice Dragon came to his senses.”
He came to his senses?
Didn't he say he'd lost his former clarity?
“I don't know the details either. But after confirming that a certain small lizard had died, he rescinded the order to kill all dragonkin from that day on.”
A small lizard?
A strange feeling washed over me.
Lizards are cold-blooded animals, so their hearts don't beat fast.
They don't even move much in extreme situations, so why is my heart pounding right now?
“A lizard? Be specific. What kind of lizard was it?”
“It was just an ordinary gecko. I heard it had green scales and a very long tail, but nothing else unusual about it.”
...
Green scales and a very long tail.
Is it a coincidence that this reminds me of how I looked when I first hatched from my egg?