Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Dragon's Alibi
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"Even before I arrived, this mountain range was already covered in snow."
The dragon revealed an unbelievable fact.
Lucia knew the dragon wasn't lying, which only made her more confused.
"It was like this from the beginning...?"
People usually lie to protect themselves.
But the dragon was a being that needed no physical or mental protection, so it lived without ever resorting to lies.
Lucia knew this well, but Kang Jin-hyuk did not.
"Is that true?"
"Not a single shred of falsehood."
The pristine mountains and plains hadn't been blanketed in snow and ice by the dragon.
"I merely came here seeking a suitable place to live."
The beastmen had assumed the weather in the area changed because the dragon arrived.
But the truth was the opposite.
"So the weather changed for some other reason..."
"The weather changed? Does that mean this place wasn't always like this?"
"Yeah, that's right. The beastmen said it wasn't a cold region originally."
"Do you know when it changed?"
"Around the time you arrived, it seems."
"Then we can't chalk it up to winter arriving."
It had been several years since the dragon came here.
Given the amount of time that had passed, this wasn't some simple seasonal shift.
"How strange."
"What's strange?"
"Even with such a sudden change, there's not a trace of magic to be felt here."
This wasn't a temporary alteration—it had completely upended the ecosystem itself.
For such a massive change to occur without any magical residue was odd.
"It might not have been done with magic."
"That makes even less sense."
Without magic, there was no way such a thing could happen.
The dragon firmly denied Kang Jin-hyuk's words with conviction.
"Nothing but magic can explain this phenomenon."
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't muster a rebuttal in the face of the dragon's resolute attitude.
If this had happened on Earth, he might have suggested unusual climate patterns.
But this otherworld hadn't suffered that level of environmental pollution.
Moreover, in a world where magic and monsters truly existed, he questioned whether a scientific approach even made sense.
"Then maybe someone deliberately erased the traces."
"That's the most likely possibility."
It didn't make sense that the traces had been wiped so cleanly that even the dragon couldn't detect them.
But for now, it was the most credible explanation.
"Then we won't uncover the cause with just a day or two of investigation."
The dragon didn't respond.
It simply didn't want to admit out loud that there was a problem it couldn't solve.
Before the silence could sour the mood, Lucia made the first suggestion.
"Then let's head back to the beastmen for now."
"Yeah, that sounds best."
They needed to return to the village, explain the truth to the beastmen, and regroup to sort out the incident.
"You come with us."
"Pardon? Why should I go?"
"We need proof that the dragon isn't responsible."
"Must I reveal myself to mere beastmen just to convince them?"
The dragon made no secret of its displeasure.
In that moment, Kang Jin-hyuk felt he needed to firmly establish the hierarchy between himself and the dragon.
Not just the earlier attack on Lucia, but its attitude now.
It called itself God's messenger and demanded respect, but didn't seem to fully acknowledge that authority.
"Do as you're told."
Kang Jin-hyuk spoke to the dragon in an intentionally cold voice.
In a way, it was a reckless attitude.
Ordering around a being that could effortlessly crush a human like an insect was arrogance incarnate.
But Kang Jin-hyuk had his ace in the hole.
'She definitely said the dragon's attacks won't work on me, right?'
Even if the dragon snapped and lunged at him here, he could escape if its attacks didn't land.
......Understood."
Fortunately, the dragon meekly nodded and accepted Kang Jin-hyuk's command.
It was humiliating to obey a human, but the opponent bore a mark from the god.
The dragon's long-held faith tempered its pride.
'Phew.'
Thanks to the dragon backing down, Kang Jin-hyuk could finally relax.
He'd been racking his brain for an escape plan with Lucia in tow—for nothing.
"Still, there's one request I'd like to make."
"What's that?"
Kang Jin-hyuk tensed up again, unable to guess what the dragon might say.
To the outwardly composed but inwardly anxious Kang Jin-hyuk,
The dragon's proposal was surprisingly straightforward.
"I don't want to appear before the beastmen in this diminutive form."
"Why?"
"They might look down on me—or worse, doubt I'm even a dragon."
The dragon insisted as much.
Kang Jin-hyuk read the true intent hidden behind that claim.
'In the end, it just doesn't want to lose face.'
Talk about a creature with pride and nothing else.
'The old man I met at the Dragon Temple wasn't like that at all...'
According to the dragon, that old man was the god who created dragons.
But in Kang Jin-hyuk's memory, the old man didn't seem to live by pride alone.
Perhaps dragons became such arrogant beings not due to their nature, but because their overwhelming power left them without natural predators.
"Do whatever you want."
Kang Jin-hyuk accepted the dragon's request with weary resignation.
* * *
Raoul, standing watch at the fence as usual, jumped to his feet upon spotting Kang Jin-hyuk's face.
It should have been a welcome sight, yet Raoul's complexion turned ashen, as if he'd seen something horrific.
In a panic, Raoul raced home and shook awake his father, who had been napping.
The words Silva heard from his son upon waking were utterly absurd.
"A d-dragon is coming!"
"What?!"
The news of the dragon's approach chased away Silva's sleepiness.
"What happened to those two who went to the nest?"
"They were with the dragon!"
At first, Silva thought Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia had failed, and the dragon was coming for revenge.
But if those two were traveling with it, he couldn't jump to conclusions.
"Did they succeed? Or fail?"
Unsure either way, Silva grabbed his clothes and hurried to the fence.
By the time Silva arrived, the dragon stood right before the village.
"Heh heh..."
Its body was so massive he had to crane his neck just to see its face. Its arms and legs thicker than any ancient tree trunk.
No matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, what he saw was unmistakably a dragon.
As their gazes met, Silva prostrated himself on the ground.
"Gr-gr-great one, wh-what b-brings you to our humble abode?"
Silva trembled so violently he could barely get the words out.
Having only heard tales of dragons, he had no idea how to act now that one stood before him.
He feared the dragon might raze the village on a whim if it took offense.
"I have come here to clear up a misunderstanding."
"A m-misunderstanding?"
"I am not the one who brought this chill to the land."
Silva didn't believe the dragon for a second.
Who else but a dragon could cause such a phenomenon?
But with the dragon asserting its innocence, Silva had no choice but to accept it.
"Y-yes, of course. How could it be otherwise? We understand..."
Silva just prayed this moment would pass quickly.
Sensing Silva's trepidation, the dragon spoke up.
"You don't believe my words."
"N-no, not at all! How could I dare question the words of such a great being?"
Silva's exaggerated gestures and frantic tone only betrayed his disbelief.
"Village chief, if it's too much pressure, try looking me in the eye and saying it."
"In the eye... you say?"
Kang Jin-hyuk met Silva's gaze with a light smile.
"Honestly, you don't believe what the dragon's saying, do you?"
"!"
Silva flapped his mouth like a fish, utterly flustered.
On the verge of losing it from anxiety, he rushed to Kang Jin-hyuk and whispered in his ear.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? In front of a dragon...!"
"No one's dying here. I've already worked everything out with that dragon."
"You worked it out?"
"Yeah. I can't go into details, but bottom line: the dragon's agreed to follow my orders from now on."
Silva barely swallowed his retort that it was nonsense.
A dragon obeying a human?
That was more ridiculous than an orc ballerina.
"This isn't the time for jokes!"
"I'm not joking."
Kang Jin-hyuk's eyes, fixed on Silva without a smile, were utterly serious.
"Got any proof?"
"The dragon right here is your proof."
"The dragon as proof? It could be lying..."
"Would a dragon come all this way just to lie?"
Silva pondered Kang Jin-hyuk's words for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
"Considering a dragon's pride, absolutely not."
Humans don't visit an anthill to apologize for accidentally stepping on one ant.
Dragons were the same.
To dragons, all other races were insignificant specks.
Appearing in person just to convince such beings was unthinkable.
The one condition that could make the unthinkable happen? Exactly as Kang Jin-hyuk said: if the dragon obeyed him.
"How on earth did you convince a dragon?"
"Explaining that would take forever."
"I've got time to spare."
Silva couldn't contain his curiosity.
This was a chance to hear directly from the man who subjugated a dragon.
No matter how busy, he couldn't pass it up.
"Then let's not stand here—somewhere we can sit and talk."
"Very well."
"Then I'll wait nearby."
As Kang Jin-hyuk moved to follow Silva into the village, the dragon vanished with an invisibility spell.
With the dragon stationed around the village, Silva's nose detected no trace of the yeti stench.
Convinced no monsters would invade, Silva relieved the sentries and returned home with Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia.