Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Black Market (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
That was a story from the past.
The Red Dragons had once been mighty beings who dominated the Pione Mountains for hundreds of years.
But that was just ancient history. Now, the Pione Mountains had long been annexed by the territory of the Holy Empire Ires. Dragons could no longer live there.
In the end, many dragons fled, and many more lost their lives there.
...What a ridiculous tale.
All that tragedy, caused by a single human.
-Splash!
Red blood splattered across the ground.
Moments later, a massive dragon plummeted from the sky to crash into the earth.
-Boom!
The fallen dragon had both wings severed. Not only that, but its horns were gone too, and its steel-like body was slashed open in places by blades.
The bleeding from those wounds alone was severe.
No matter how much of a dragon it was, it was still a living creature. That much blood loss was inevitably fatal.
Normally, it would focus on recovery right away, but the dragon struggled to rise and assumed a battle stance.
The reason was probably...
"...I missed. I was aiming for the neck."
-Thud!
...the hulking man who landed in front of the dragon.
The man in the black coat was known as the Holy Empire Ires' 'Dragon Slayer'.
The 2-meter-long greatsword in his hand was proof of that.
No matter how strong one was, it was impossible to wield—this weapon boasted an immense weight. It was the demon sword Gram.
Gram was a legendary weapon used by the Giant Race thousands of years ago to hunt dragons. Legend said no one without the Giant Race's blood could even lift it.
And this man wielded Gram.
Originally an imperial treasure of the Ires Empire, the emperor had bestowed it upon him. Following orders, he had come here to exterminate the remaining dragons.
The man pointed the tip of his sword at the dragon.
"That makes fourteen."
The blade flashed next.
-Slash!
The greatsword severed the dragon's neck like tofu.
With one strike, the dragon's breath was cut short.
And so, another pool of dragon blood formed.
But it wasn't just one pool.
One, two, three...
There were so many pools that no human eye could take them all in—countless dragon corpses littered the area.
"That's the end."
The man confirmed the number of bodies and vanished.
Matching the count reported by the mountain folk, he gathered his spoils and departed.
"Mommy..."
However, one dragon still remained there.
A hatchling too young to have ever left the cave.
The baby dragon simply stared for a long time at the headless corpse of one of its kin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
I looked around.
Judging by how the ink on the map smeared at the slightest touch, whoever wrote it had been here at least five minutes ago—no more than ten, for sure.
This room connected to the underground slave prison.
The door that had been firmly shut when I first arrived was now open, so someone had definitely come and gone.
'But I sense a presence, yet can't see anyone.'
-Clunk!
Someone was definitely here.
That meant they were hiding somewhere in this room.
For something like teleportation, those sensitive to mana could detect an arrival.
In the game, teleportation started with a blurry figure forming, completing after four seconds.
Unlike blink for short distances, it gave a minimal window to react.
Of course, just the bare minimum.
Four seconds was so short that even frantic escapes usually ended in capture. Most hid or concealed themselves instead.
Like in that box over there, or the wardrobe that's visibly trembling...
...Isn't that too obvious a hiding spot?
'Maybe I should scare them a bit.'
For a bit of fun, I walked toward a box big enough to fit a person.
"Hoo."
Standing in front of it, I clenched my fist, deliberately radiating killing intent and mana as I took a stance.
-Boom!
Then I punched it to smithereens.
Wooden shards flew toward the trembling wardrobe.
For some reason, the shaking seemed to intensify.
'Still not coming out, huh.'
Plenty of time left, so no issue.
Plus, this spot was detached from the black market proper, so a bit of excess force wouldn't bring anything down.
Alright, next up: that bookshelf over there.
"...Come out, or you're dead. Your call."
I said that, but I had no intention of killing—too much of a waste.
Take that bookshelf right here: high-quality solid wood giving off a luxurious vibe.
Not much worse than stuff in the Mage Tower.
Some of the books inside were decent magic tomes too.
I'd already stored them in my Subspace to read later when I had time. Gotta give a scare, though, so smash a wall a bit.
-Bang!
Chunks of stone wall flew into the wardrobe.
A few pieces slipped through the cracks, judging by the ragged breathing that jumped out with them.
'They must know they're busted by now.'
Low intelligence? Or too scared to think straight?
I approached the last remaining wardrobe.
"...Only this one left. If you don't come out even after I smash it, guess I was wrong."
"H-Hic...!"
Now it was even making noises.
Still not coming out.
Fine, no more wasting time on this hide-and-seek.
If it won't budge, dead or alive, doesn't matter to me.
Can't force the little guy along if it doesn't want to.
I'll amp up the power with Body Enhancement for a quick, painless kill.
It's a dragon, after all—a mage character's normal attack shouldn't one-shot it anyway.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Body Enhancement – Buff Skill Attribute: Physical / Range: None / Max Targets: 1
Partially strengthens the user's body. Boosts not just strength or speed, but durability as well.
-Crackle!
Black aura leaked from my fist.
Felt kinda familiar, but I ignored it.
"W-Wait, I was wrong!"
A panicked voice rang out then.
'Finally came around.'
Hearing that, I dusted off my hands and chose to open the wardrobe door instead of smashing it.
"P-Please spare me... I was wrong. I'll do anything you say, just please let me live..."
There sat a little kid, face pale blue, trembling in terror.
But don't be fooled by appearances—those lingering horns made it hard to see as human...
'Didn't expect this one to be female at first...'
This was the Red Dragon hatchling captured in that prison cell.
Just in the human form I'd forced on it with Transform about an hour ago.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Captured Red Dragon (Human Form) – Lv.150 HP: 2,000,000 / MP: 15,000 Notes: Stats reduced by 75% Skills: Transform Description: Abandoned by its mother, this hatchling is weakened from a grave wound in battle with the Minotaur King. Currently in human form due to Transform. At first, I'd given it a choice.
When I saw it in the cell, it was more disappointing than expected. For a split second, I considered just killing it, but I changed my mind.
Help me escape this place, and you can follow me—or run if you want.
But if caught fleeing, I'd kill it. Had to add that, or its proud dragon pride would've made it ignore me.
'In the game, picking "flee" led it to rampage and die on its own.'
The right choice was persuasion—with cringey lines to move it, then wreck the black market together. I'd heard as much.
Couldn't pick something that embarrassing back then, and here I couldn't say those lines aloud, so I chose another path.
Yet it's still hanging around here...
I'd humanized it to prevent rampaging, told it to flee with the other slaves, but it stayed behind messing around alone.
The Transform spell wouldn't last more than an hour unless it maintained it itself.
Horns would stand out, but it could cover with cloth amid the chaos. Dragons innately knew Transform anyway—disguising as human wasn't hard.
'After the Dragon Slayer showed up, many dragons hid in human society.'
In-game, dragon monsters were wyverns, not true dragons.
True dragons were boss monsters, quest-related, or hidden NPCs in human villages.
Endangered species, basically.
"...What are you doing here?"
I asked the trembling dragon.
A dragon hiding in a wardrobe? I'd had some romantic notions about them, so this was extra disappointing.
Who even imagines a dragon hiding in a closet?
The dragon sniffled as it spoke.
No trace of its initial arrogance.
Maybe beating it just short of death and healing it worked.
"That..."
"?"
It pointed at the map.
Yeah, figured you marked it.
Prison door open, warden gone—who else?
No way the black market warden would kindly mark it out of goodwill.
Even if betraying for mercy, I'd have ended it painlessly as thanks for the info.
Humans aren't worth fixing.
"Everything marked on that map—is it real, not a lie?"
"Y-Yes. From what that masked weirdo said, it should be true. Pr-Probably..."
"That guy?"
The warden? Not sure.
My knowledge was limited to game intel—NPC chats and internals were beyond me.
"...Got it. I'll use it."
Worth verifying anyway.
No confidence searching that maze again, but following the blueprint? Should work.
Time to hurry.
Boss probably fled ages ago, but I'm after the cash it couldn't grab.
Smashed a box earlier and picked up about 30 gold—better than leaving empty-handed.
"W-Wait!"
But the dragon suddenly stopped me.
"...You're just gonna let me go?"
Oh, right. Forgot.
I turned back to it.
"Stay still."
"H-Hic?! I was wrong! Sp-Spa—"
-Crack!
I ripped off the restraints binding it.
"...Huh?"
No key or dispel skill—just brute force. It dinged me a bit, like static, but nothing else.
Good—no brain-fry like the lore warned.
...Realized that after smashing. Kinda scary.
Whatever, it's fine.
"Wh-Why..."
So, let it go.
It basically helped me, and kid form makes killing iffy.
Just massacred everything in sight earlier—time for some mercy.
I'm not a murder hobbyist.
"We're done. The spell on you will wear off in about 30 minutes. Stay human and flee, or revert and fly—your choice."
"So... you're sparing me?"
"Yeah."
-Creak!
I stepped outside.
Feels kinda nice showing mercy for once.
Anyway, grab the cash quick.
Then hit the nearest village, wash off this grime in a nice inn bath.