Ep.10 - Chill
Ep.10 - Chill
We had spent hours punching and kicking each other, and in the end, we had to Load once more to rewind time. If we hadn't turned it back, we wouldn't have slept until dawn.
"Hmm... nyaang... hwuu-eum..."
"..."
But even after Loading, I couldn't fall asleep easily. It wasn't because of Kaede's bizarre sleep-talking—I couldn't tell if she sounded more like a dog or a cat—but because my body was strangely cold and shivering.
The chill only seemed to intensify, growing stronger and stronger until Kaede's sleep-talking became completely irrelevant.
"Ahh... so cold..."
Without realizing it, I rummaged around trying to pull a blanket over my head, but it was the height of summer, so there was no blanket on the bed.
In that case, maybe it would have been better to just grab anyone and sleep hugging them. While I slept, I might have gotten groped here and there or kissed a bit, but at least I wouldn't have been cold.
"Hwuuu... so cold, so cold..."
In the end, I forced my shut eyes open and ended my sweet rest for a moment. There's nothing as irritating as waking up in the middle of sleeping, but still, it was better than dying in my sleep.
'Aren't the others cold...?'
First, I raised my body and struggled out of bed, then looked around. My vision was still blurry and my strength hadn't returned, so I couldn't see properly, but at least blurry outlines came into view.
As I pondered who to ask for help, I took in the silhouettes for a moment and finally settled on two candidates: Neva and Chichi.
If I went to Riko or Kaede, I wouldn't be able to sleep and would be subjected to all sorts of things, and if I went to Helen-ssi and got caught by the noonas the wrong way, it could get troublesome again.
On the other hand, if I said I was cold, Neva would likely kindly tell me to come into her arms, and Chichi would probably help me with various magic, so I chose the two of them.
'Ah, there's also Eva.'
Come to think of it, Eva was next to Neva, so it would be terribly awkward for the three of us to sleep together. In the end, my steps headed toward Chichi—toward the bed where the silhouette of a pointy hat had been placed nearby.
"Chichi noona, wake up for a moment. I'm so cold... No, why is it this cold...?"
Even as I approached and shook Chichi awake, the cold only seemed to grow fiercer. I'd never participated in severe cold-weather training, but it must have been at that level, right?
"..."
Then, I suddenly realized that even the feel of Chichi at my fingertips was quite cold.
That sense of incongruity came so suddenly that it bewildered me.
"...Noona? Chichi noona?"
The cold air I'd thought was just an unseasonal dawn chill suddenly turned into a chilling, deathly coldness. When no response came from Chichi, the anxiety in my heart only grew.
E-everyone! Wake up!
First, I opened my mouth and shouted, intending to at least wake the others. But something was strange again. I definitely felt like I had spoken out loud, but for some reason it seemed like it didn't come out properly...
"..."
My mouth was shut. As if it had always been that way.
And as my mouth was tightly shut, my body also lost movement. As if frozen.
"You grew complacent, drunk on a minor victory, and that is why you are in this state."
In that strange sensation where I couldn't even properly move my eyes, I heard someone's voice.
The unfamiliar voice I was hearing for the first time was steeped in an inexplicable coldness and a sense of pressure. It felt almost like when I had faced the Queen.
Or rather, if from the Queen I'd felt 'a lofty, god-like being,'
Then what I felt now was a slightly more primal, instinctual level of fear.
"Boy, do not be afraid."
I heard the sound of it walking closer. It was clearly walking on wooden floorboards, yet it sounded like something frozen being crunched underfoot—odok, odok.
"You seem quite usable. Hmm..."
Finally, when it approached right in front of my face, a pair of vivid red eyes revealed themselves. But, unbefitting those frightening eyes, a remarkably beautiful face unexpectedly captivated my terrified heart.
Having already been surrounded by beauties, I thought I wouldn't feel much interest in a face anymore, but the subtle smile of that dangerous-looking being was utterly beautiful.
"Let us go. It took quite a roundabout way, but in the end, I achieved what I set out to do. Let us bury the past..."
Cold air flowed from her.
As I faced that cold air and a tone that felt like something transcendent, I realized. It was too late to realize, and there was no way I could have realized sooner, but anyway...
'T-this... This is definitely that Dragon the noonas said they killed.'
Suddenly she had appeared out of nowhere in human form, but the cold air and aura she emitted... every bit of it revealed without filter that she was a Dragon.
The traces of destruction I had seen at the entrance to L'Myune came to mind. The castle walls with cut surfaces frozen stark white, the dwarves wailing loudly, and even Kaede's tense expression as if frightened...
"I am sorry to your women. But, could I help it? I clearly warned them not to escalate matters and to simply bring the man."
Carried in the Dragon's arms, I left the bedroom, and there, too, chilly air hung about just as in the bedroom.
The dwarves who had been guarding the surroundings of our bedroom were truly frozen as if time itself had frozen, standing exactly still,
and even the flames burning nearby...
Unable to show their flicker, they were frozen before the cold air. Everything had stopped. The only things moving were the Dragon and me.
"Still, they fought quite well. You have some useful wenches. For any man, it is the best to seduce such wenches and live with them at your side, so you may pride yourself on your good fortune."
We rose, dragon-quietly. Held in the arms of a woman who seemed colder than the blue moon floating above, I couldn't even close my eyes and could only fear the gradually rising view.
Yet, fortunately, I didn't get frostbite or have my body freeze.
For some reason, in the arms of the spirit that relentlessly spread cold air, I felt a faint warmth...
But,
the Dragon's words were as cold and sharp as if frozen.
"What is unforgivable, however, is the insolence of your women who turned their backs as if the matter were completely finished. For other stupid, inferior lizards, killing the dragon-formed body would be the end, but my lifeline is tenacious, and only in this form does it truly end."
So, basically, the noonas came back thinking it was all over before it went into Phase 2...?
I gritted my teeth at this absurd development. No, if it was going to go into Phase 2, you could have gone into it sooner. Right...
"But do not feel wronged. Did I not show mercy and specially let those ones go alive? I acknowledged their strength and spared their lives. Originally, since they invaded my resting place, they deserved death. I could have beheaded them all on the spot and even slaughtered the dwarves' village as well. And by doing so, boy, I could have taken your body without resistance. Do you understand?"
...Listening quietly to the Dragon's words, it seemed this wasn't some insane isekai screw-over after all. Indeed, if the noonas had fought this monster in its current state...
"Still, I will send you back when the time comes, so do not be afraid. I will not bare my fangs at a small, pitiful boy like you. I have also spared the lives of your women and those dwarves who dared to raise their swords against me. Once the ritual is complete, I will go and release them all."
Thus, we flew dragon-quietly beneath the moonlit sky toward a tranquil forest. Unlike the forest into which Neva had dragged me, the forest I was taken to this time was rather chilly yet strangely brimming with vitality.
It was a different place from what I expected. So much so that it was puzzling.
Even though I hadn't been with her long, I could feel in my bones how dangerous the Dragon was, yet the forest of this being—where it wouldn't be strange for her emanating cold air to swallow everything—retained its vitality.
"Do you see that cave opening over there? We will spend a few days there together."
From the cave, bright-colored energy was seeping out. Maybe it was because it was nighttime, but the lights felt particularly vivid.
"Is it not quite beautiful? It is the first time I have brought a man into my nest, but I did decorate it with considerable effort. I hope it pleases you."
Those were not like the mana flows Chichi had shown me; they were like living fragments of ice.
In that which was brighter and more transparent than Chichi's translucent moonlight mana, there was a strange flicker. A flicker that felt like the Milky Way flowing...
"But you are quite silent. You should be able to move now?"
"Uh..."
Really,
as she said, both my hands and mouth became free again.
If this happened, I could just immediately shout 'Load'...
"Well, I cannot force you to enjoy the ritual. My dragon form will not be lacking, so it will not be painful, but since you are involved with those women, I already know you will be distressed. So I shall make you a small offer."
"An offer...?"
Inside the considerably luxurious cave,
she seated me on a divinely plush sofa,
and the Dragon spoke in a generous voice.
"Boy, I will grant just one wish that you desire."