Episode 60
Episode 60
"How is it? Do I seem a bit stronger? Can you feel the difference?"
After spending a week comfortably in Tiamat's nest, the magic circle finally disappeared.
Tiamat said she had done her best and gave her farewell blessings.
She said she needed to rest now and sent us on our way.
And so, I stepped outside for the first time in a while.
"Ugh, ugh! It feels good to have sunlight on my skin after so long. Is this why they say people need to go outside?"
As I stretched, Aron nodded in agreement.
"The house is spacious, but it's still different from being outside. Since we're out after so long, let's warm up a bit."
Watching Aron lightly warm up his body, I suddenly became curious.
How much has Aron recovered by now?
Tiamat said that once he reaches about 90% recovery, his soul will become visible from that point.
"Aron. How much of your power have you recovered now? About half?"
"Now?"
Aron threw a few punches into the air before answering.
"Seems like a bit more than half?"
"At that level, how strong are you? Can you take down a dragon?"
"At this recovery level, it's enough. I can win against most opponents unless they're particularly strong. I'd be slightly weaker than Anti in the forest though."
"Slightly weaker than Antikythera?"
Aron nodded lightly.
"At that level, shouldn't you be able to defeat the Demon King?"
"The Demon King? That would be difficult. It took a half-completed hero party to barely defeat him. At my current level, even if the whole party gathered, it would be tough."
"I see."
It seemed this world followed the game's lore rather than in-game difficulty levels.
In the lore, the Demon King is much stronger than Antikythera.
"Mia-nim! Aron-nim!"
As we were walking leisurely, I heard our names and looked in that direction.
I saw Haeammer running toward us urgently.
When he reached us, Haeammer was panting heavily.
While he caught his breath, I asked first.
"Haeammer-nim, what's the matter? Is it already time to go back?"
It definitely hadn't been a month yet.
We arrived and immediately subjugated the Cult of the End. Then we teleported back and rested at Tiamat's residence for a week.
At most, about three weeks should have passed.
Haeammer shook his head side to side.
"That's not it. I just hadn't seen you for so long that I held out as long as I could. You know, there are some strange folks among the dragonkin. I was worried some weirdo might have kidnapped you."
I wondered if it was okay to say such things in a dragonkin city, but I quickly understood.
Dragonkin are naturally strong-willed individuals.
They mourn for family, feel sorry for acquaintances. For anyone else, their reaction is more like 'A dragonkin died from that?'
And since they're such strong individuals, their tastes and personalities are diverse.
'In the game, there were dragons who only liked books, dragons who only liked the same gender, dragons who enjoyed being stepped on by weaker races - they had diverse tastes.'
There was even a dragon who wanted to be stepped on by pretty characters.
That alone cleared the quest, making it famous among players.
Dragon-related quests had good rewards but the content was easy.
It was literally a quest with no reason not to do it.
"It wasn't anything like that - we just had a long conversation with the Dragon Emperor. We had some things to help each other with."
"Well, that's a relief. The Dragon Emperor is quite famous these days for various reasons."
"She's a famous dragon?"
"Very famous. She has a completely different disposition from the previous Dragon Emperor."
Haeammer's intense reaction made me curious.
To me, she just seemed like an incredibly lazy woman with an unbelievable figure, closer to being vulgar. Of course, we're in a cooperative relationship now.
"What kind of person—no, what kind of dragon is she?"
"The previous Dragon Emperor was extremely strict and, should I say, oppressive. Anyway, her personality wasn't great either. She'd often say things like 'a mere dwarf'."
"And the current Dragon Emperor?"
"Um..."
Haeammer stared at the distant mountains for a moment before saying briefly.
"Neglect? Free-range? That kind of feeling."
"Ah."
I understood immediately from his words.
Anyone could see she had that kind of personality.
She's the type who would refuse if she had to pay attention to every little detail because it would bother her. The type who doesn't say anything even if you just do things moderately.
"Anyway, since nothing happened, let's go now. I want to relax properly during the remaining time."
Haeammer nodded.
"Excellent! Then let's go have a comfortable chat about equipment! I just received several new pieces of equipment this time too."
"Huh? From whom?"
"Well, I've lived quite a long time so I have some dragon friends. We exchanged some equipment after a long time. Let's go check them out."
"Ah, ha... Equipment. Sure. Let's go quickly..."
Seeing Haeammer so happy, I couldn't bring myself to refuse.
I ended up being dragged to his temporary workshop and had to talk about equipment all day long.
*
After a week of rest, we returned to Petra immediately.
Thanks to the dragonkin's consideration, we could come directly in one go.
According to Haeammer, this was the first time they sent someone directly to Petra.
Did Tiamat show consideration because of us?
Anyway, it's a good thing.
"What should we do now... Should we go back to the ruins and investigate?"
As I got off the carriage and muttered to myself, Aron followed me out.
"What are you thinking about? Worrying about how to prevent what will happen in the future? Do you have any ideas?"
"Even if I want to do something..."
Actually, there are more important quests, but I can't do them.
They're quests that start automatically when the time comes. When the event that signals the start of the quest occurs, then you have to follow the traces.
Even veteran players can't do anything about this.
Countless veterans tried, but before the first event occurs, no matter what they did, they couldn't discover the location of the Cult of the End's headquarters.
The other one is the Empire's Revolution, which you can't force to start either.
'Should I go to some square and shout too? If successful, become emperor; if failed, execution!'
I thought about it for a moment but shook my head.
"Should we go meet the other two while we have the chance? Or do you want to go see your childhood friend?"
When I glanced at Aron and asked, he instead asked back.
"Will that be okay?"
I understood the intention of his question immediately.
Until now, if there were other women, my mood would fluctuate like some kind of minefield mental health girl.
I'd be happy when he hugged me, then if I saw him with other women, I'd get angry in front of him and cry behind his back.
Thinking about it now, I seemed like a crazy bitch.
Anyway, it's fine now.
'Other women can't have Aron, right? Because we have a promise with each other.'
That one fact is enough.
If she gets too angry, I'll just take her to bed and have my way with her.
My next estrus period should be coming soon anyway.
"It doesn't matter. I have the upper hand."
"Hmm?"
Aron reacted as if he didn't understand what I meant, but I didn't pay attention.
He'll understand what I mean immediately once I get pregnant first.
"But where are you thinking of going first? They're on completely opposite sides. The Great Plains are at the eastern end, and the Blue Forest is at the western end."
"Since we're going anyway, it's better to go to the forest first."
"Do elves taste good?"
At my question, Aron seemed to inhale wrong and started coughing.
Even while coughing, he waved his hands dismissively, making me think he was quite surprised.
"It's not that. Every time I take Ryeong-i to the forest, we end up fighting. But Eri gets along well with beastkin too."
"Didn't beastkin dislike elves too?"
"Dwarves and elves don't get along. But beastkin and elves actually don't have strong feelings either way. Both have clear standards, so it's fine."
"What are the elves' standards?"
"That is..."
Haeammer, who had approached without us noticing, interrupted from beside us.
He seemed slightly excited as his voice was louder and his speech faster than usual.
"Hmph! Those delicate fox-eared folks have no manners. I'd rather deal with beastkin. They at least communicate well. They don't just dismiss you outright."
"Seems like they don't get along worse than I thought."
Haeammer stroked his beard and nodded vigorously.
"It's because those bastards always call us fat, lumpy moles buried in the ground. And they have the nerve, being leaf monkeys hanging from trees."
"Seems like there's some deep history I'm not aware of."
"I'll tell you about it when I get the chance! Right now I need to go report the delegation's results. I'll see you later then!"
I bid farewell to Haeammer as he walked away with his hammer and alcohol, then looked back at Aron.
"From what Haeammer-nim said, it seems like elves are quite rude?"
At my question, Aron stared straight at my face.
With his eyes looking intently at me from right in front, my face gradually grew warm.
Then Aron spoke.
"It's fine. You'll never be ignored."
"Y-you could have just said that! Why were you staring like that! You did that on purpose!"
"Hey, it's not like that."
Aron answered slyly.
"Elves' standard for ignoring people is appearance. But among dwarves, there aren't many handsome or pretty people. Everyone's a bit rough-looking."
"That is..."
It was an undeniable fact.
They're more wild and masculine rather than handsome or pretty.
Manly men, bears, beards, muscles, rough attitudes, tanned skin.
You could say those things suit dwarves well. Actually, those things might be their standard for being handsome.
Simply put, dwarves pursue true testosterone.
"Right. They're definitely far from being handsome or pretty."
"Yeah, that's why. If Pania-ssi met elves, even the elves would like her. Pania-ssi is very pretty, after all."
"I understand what you mean now!"
Living in forests, good at archery, appearance-oriented.
These characteristics completely remind me of a certain peninsula country.
"So that means Mia won't be ignored."
After hearing the explanation, I suddenly realized.
What Aron has been repeatedly telling me essentially means 'You're really pretty.'
Realizing this, my face instantly grew hot.
"I understand now, so just decide where we're going first! I'm going to go rest!"
Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I ran toward the castle first.