Chapter 270
Chapter 270
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Dragon's Presence
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"Rishir. There's no need to worry. We're fine."
"Caroer...!"
"Even if you're human rather than a demon... we're prepared to accept you."
Rishir was moved.
But as he was getting emotional, something felt off.
'Usually, isn't it the other way around?'
Why were they making it sound like it was easier to accept him as a demon?
-It's because Little Master's prestige among those pointy-eared fools has reached such an exalted realm that no mere mortal could ever aspire to!!!
'I... get what you mean, but I can't help this weird feeling.'
-I concur!!! For Little Master to be lumped in with such ugly creatures! How about becoming a god while we're at it!?
'Thanks for the suggestion, but that's not something you decide on like a day trip to a farm experience...'
Rishir suddenly felt the irrationality of this world.
'Demons are running rampant like this, so where the hell are the angels...'
The irrationality of a world where the very concept of angels didn't even exist.
If there were such things as good demons called angels(?), they might have at least treated him like one.
'Though that would probably be awkward in its own way—'
In any case, Rishir concluded that the elves' current treatment of him was something to be grateful for.
"It hits me anew, but thank you, Caroer, for always making the effort to see me as human."
"...The conversation feels a bit off."
"Right?"
The elves, confused by the traces of Nad'ga's curse, gradually regained their composure.
In truth, the reason for their confusion wasn't just the 'Rishir is human' theory.
"Forgive me. In this situation, I should be helping you, yet I'm too busy just taking care of myself..."
"N-no, Lunadien! You've already helped more than enough! Without you all, I couldn't have faced that Nad'ga alone!"
"What a truly kind man."
It was hard to believe she was the daughter of that witch.
Lunadien muttered softly, adding,
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Anyway, I'll gratefully accept your kindness. It does seem like I need a bit more rest..."
"...Is it that shocking that I'm human?"
"Haha. You think it's just because of that? You're still young, so you wouldn't know. How many long years we've spent revering Nad'ga—that horrific monster—as the world's guardian."
"Ah...!"
Rishir's face filled with shock.
Lunadien's words made him realize once more.
Nad'ga's curse.
How vicious its power truly was.
"Roughly hundreds of years... A curse influencing the entire world for so long. So it really is possible."
"Those horrific monsters aren't impressive."
"Alenza?"
As if she couldn't tolerate even a shred of awe toward Nad'ga.
The dragonkin girl Alenza interjected in a firm tone.
"Any race could do what they did. But no one has. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because only they are foolish and ugly enough to sacrifice their entire race's fate for something like this."
"..."
Though it had been a short time, Rishir and the elves—who had intensely experienced Nad'ga's power—couldn't fully agree with Alenza.
The power of that superior race that threatened even dragon dignity couldn't be dismissed as mere folly.
Still, they didn't bother contradicting her.
Nad'ga.
Those who understood that race's horrific power most deeply were none other than they themselves—dragons.
"Alenza. Speaking carelessly about Nad'ga in your presence—I was too rash. I'm sorry."
Rishir's sincere apology startled Alenza, who had been annoyed, and she waved her hands frantically.
"N-no! I'm the one who's sorry—I got carried away on my own..."
You got offended, right?
The dragonkin girl stammered, glancing nervously.
Her habitual cowering posture naturally concealed her draconic traits.
It vividly showed what kind of life she had lived as a dragon.
"Alenza."
"Y-yeah!?"
Rishir bent his knees to meet the young dragonkin girl's eye level.
He stared straight at her face and flashed a playful smile for no reason.
"You know it, right? It's all over now."
"Over...?"
"Yes. No more need to watch your back or hide."
"...!"
Alenza's posture, shrunk like a lizard hiding in a crevice, slowly changed.
"Yeah... right... it's all over now..."
The young dragon who had strived to preserve her pride amid endless scorn and persecution.
Her eyes instantly regained their brilliant glow, as if she had awaited only this moment.
Alenza exchanged a glance with Rishir and nodded.
Then, a fierce gust swept the area.
The young dragon spread her hidden wings and soared high into the sky.
"Hah... hah..."
Alenza's breathing grew ragged.
Along with the air resistance pushing against her body, memories of the past flooded in.
A burning city.
Before the eyes of countless people, the young dragon crossed the skies above the city.
Each time the dragon descended upon the city with powerful wingbeats, thick smoke billowed.
It was something only Alenza could do at the scene back then.
With those wings, she had saved countless lives.
It was truly deserving of everyone's praise.
-Kyaaah!!! Gross!!!
-D-dragon!!!
-That monster set our city on fire!!!
But what returned was resentment-filled condemnation.
Contemptuous glares.
From that incident, mercenaries and adventurers calling themselves dragon hunters began pursuing Alenza.
From that day, the young dragon no longer spread her wings where eyes and ears could see.
Alenza unconsciously squeezed her eyes shut.
Yet she could still feel their contemptuous stares.
Hear their resentful voices.
Shadows of scorn and persecution chased after the dragon.
"Alenza!!!"
It was a voice that pushed away those shadows.
Alenza unwittingly opened her eyes.
There, looking up at her with a bright smile, was the man.
Rishir.
He shook his head side to side.
Alenza's gaze, fixed on Rishir, slowly widened to follow.
"...Ah."
And so the young dragon discovered.
"Ooh..."
"Amazing..."
"What majestic presence—"
Humans and elves alike gazed up at the dragon in awe.
"...!"
With surging emotion, Alenza soared even higher.
Higher. Higher still.
The young dragon who had once shrunk to avoid being seen now flew high enough for the whole world to witness.
"Kyaaaaaaaah~~~"
The young dragon's flight continued until she was utterly tired.
"She adapts fast."
Rishir remarked as he watched the dragon, who had conquered the skies above the camp and now descended to the ground.
"Hehe."
Having finished her flight, Alenza was like a completely different person.
No. A completely different dragon.
Look at those fully spread wings!
Look at that proudly raised tail!
Look at those armor-like scales!
The dragonkin girl who had hidden herself from prying eyes was no more.
She proudly flaunted her existence as if it were the treasure of the century.
"Well, I'm a dragon. Of course."
Her eager display meshed perfectly with her youthful appearance, drawing a smile from Rishir.
"Hey, what's with that look? Like I'm some kid—"
She even hated being treated like a child despite being one!
The epitome of a teenage girl.
Rishir smiled warmly, marveling at how this child had endured until now.
"S-stop! Quit looking at me like that! H-how dare you look at a dragon that way!!!"
"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Ah! N-no, don't apologize...!"
As Rishir showed genuine remorse, Alenza startled and waved her hands.
Her dignified eyes now wavered unsteadily, as if it had never happened.
Within them, the wounded young monster and the proud dragon coexisted unstably.
"O-okay! I forgive you! Specially because it's you, got it!?"
Alenza said that, then cautiously gauged Rishir's reaction.
When he playfully nodded as if honored, the wounded young monster finally faded.
"Hm?"
Then.
A group of humans approached Alenza.
They were ones who, as Nad'ga followers, had once tormented her alongside.
Seeing her up close, they fell into shock.
"To think such a young child..."
As if unable to forgive themselves for blindly hating and despising her until now.
"Ares!?"
A knight of the Debryen Grand Knight Order, sworn to that great bloodline, cried out urgently in surprise.
Ares ye Debryen.
The great noble was about to kneel before the dragon.
"Stop."
"...!"
Staying him was none other than Alenza.
"You don't need to apologize."
"But—"
"This is ultimately a matter between us dragons and Nad'ga. You humans were just caught up in it. So no need to apologize."
Ares's group felt a familiar air from the young dragon.
It was like facing Nad'ga.
That loftiness toward lesser beings.
The difference was that the dragon's loftiness toward humans held gentle consideration.
They realized anew.
Nad'ga.
That superior existence had regarded them as insects.
Thanks to the dragon's gaze, like looking at fragile sprouts, they could clearly see it.
"..."
The great noble who had pitied the young girl corrected his attitude.
Gazing at Alenza, he showed the respect and awe due her.
"I offer my respect to your vast magnanimity."
"Ooh..."
Was this the innate dignity of a superior being?
'Earning awe as a matter of course from that great noble and his group.'
Rishir, watching from the side, let out admiration.
Then the elves approached, bowing their heads to the superior being in respect.
"..."
In that atmosphere, the young dragon's immature identity ripened.
"The respect you have shown me... our race. I will never forget it."
Alenza spoke with even greater loftiness.
No one present saw it as arrogance.
For it was the position duly permitted to a superior being.
"Especially. Rishir."
"...!"
Rishir instinctively straightened his posture.
The dragon's eyes fixed on him.
"The kindness and tolerance you have shown. Above all, that aid. Your name will be praised alongside our dragons' for eons to come."
I promise.
She intoned calmly.
Rishir inwardly panicked.
Remembering Alenza's recent immature demeanor.
'If I look at Alenza with that expression in this mood—...'
It was unfounded worry.
'Hm?'
Contrary to his concern, his expression remained impassive.
Only then did Rishir sense something off about Alenza.
Her eyes gleamed with golden light.
'This is...'
The dragon's presence overwhelmed not just others, but the dragonkin girl—herself.
She was no longer the dragonkin girl Alenza.
The dragon who had reigned as guardian of harmony and balance.
That superior being spoke loftily to those around.
"I grant you the shaft of creation—will you accept that fate?"
It was an obscure sentence hindering understanding.
Yet the dragon uttering it brimmed with conviction.
Nad'ga's plundered dragon presence.
If it had returned to its place, and they recalled what it meant to be dragons, surely they could grasp the meaning within those words.
Thus, the dragon calmly gazed at Rishir.
Awaiting his answer.
"...What does that mean?"
That was Rishir's reply.
He blinked, utterly baffled.
"What does it mean... Surely you know?"
"Pardon?"
"Huh?"
"...Pardon?"
"...You don't know? For real?"
"..."
Rishir awkwardly scratched the back of his head and looked to Caroer and Lunadien.
They shook their heads.
So Rishir turned to Alenza and shook his head too.
"Wha, what...?"
The dragon.
That superior being slowly reverted to the immature girl.
The next day, early morning.
The elf expedition, human group, and dragon gathered once more.
To discuss the issue that had belatedly arisen.
"Caroer, is that true!? The dragon's presence—might have been extinguished!?"
The high elf and green grand mage reached that conclusion after discussion.
"Yes. Presence is another form of divinity. Alenza. If her words are true, the dragon's presence was plundered by Nad'ga and continuously denied. Considering the time elapsed, its extinction wouldn't be strange at all."
"N-no way...!"
The dragonkin girl wailed in despair.
"The dragon's presence extinguished? Th-that can't be! It's only been a few hundred years!"
"..."
Rishir nodded.
Plenty of time to spare.
"Above all, Nad'ga's power is gone!!! Then the presence they stole should return to its place, right!?"
"You vaguely understand, but it's not that simple."
The green grand mage's words nailed it down.
"Waaaaaah!!! Wh-what is this...!!! How am I supposed to face our ancestors now—"
Alenza collapsed onto Rishir's arm.
He gently patted the dragonkin girl's head.
Ratsil silently nudged her head in from the side.
What.
Rishir pushed her head away with his index finger.
Then Lunadien spoke to Alenza, who was wailing as if the world had ended.
"Girl. It's still too early to abandon all hope."
"Huh?"
"Yesterday, I investigated Nad'ga's power with Lunadien."
Caroer continued.
"You investigated Nad'ga's power!? Wasn't it completely extinguished?"
"Do you remember the relic they used?"
"Ah! Yes! That egg-shaped—"
"Whether due to the relic's inherent power, traces of that power still linger in the surrounding area. We preserved it and investigated based on that. The result: faint remnants of that power's influence still persist."
"...Could you explain it simply so I can understand?"
Caroer calmly organized her thoughts before speaking.
"Perhaps we can wield Nad'ga's power in a limited way."
"You mean...!"
"Yes. Perhaps we can restore the dragon's presence with it. By reclaiming the presence Nad'ga stole—"
"Wh-what do I need to do!?"
Alenza bounced up, asking.
"It's not certain. It's just a possibility, so keep that in mind."
"Yes! Yes! Got it!"
"Can you inspire awe in us?"
"Awe!?"
"Yes. As you know, a massive presence currently lacks its master. Namely, Nad'ga's presence. Precisely, the one they stole from dragons."
"I know! Of course!"
"In that situation, if a dragon draws greater awe than Nad'ga—"
"The dragon could claim the masterless presence!?"
"Yes. That's our hypothesis."
"Great!"
The dragon girl who had wailed like the world was lost was gone.
Her face beamed.
Inspiring awe in humans as a dragon.
With Nad'ga's curse gone, it was the simplest thing.
"Alright! I'll start light, so don't be too shocked!?"
She held up both hands.
"O-oh...!!!"
In that instant.
Awe erupted from the human group.
Magic and divine power bloomed in each of the dragon girl's hands.
Dragons.
Superior beings incarnate of power transcend ordinary laws and standards.
The multiple powers Alenza displayed like warm-ups proved it.
"Hey, if you're shocked already, what then. This is just a part of our draconic authority—... Hm?"
Though she said that, Alenza was basking in the humans' reactions.
When she checked the elves' response next, she was speechless.
Had she unconsciously used 'word spirit' or something?
Don't be too shocked.
Just as Alenza had said, they weren't too shocked.
No. They showed no surprise at all.
They still stared intently at the dragon's hands.
As if nothing had happened.
As if watching a play still in progress!
"Hm? Ah!"
Then.
Ratsil seemed to realize something from Alenza's appearance and widened her eyes.
She frantically clapped for Alenza.
As if cheering a failed play!
The dragon girl didn't know.
That for some reason, the elves' senses were thoroughly skewed.
Alenza's gaze turned to Rishir.
"Ooh..."
To him, awkwardly clapping.
The masterless presence haunted their surroundings like a ghost.
The young dragon was swept by vague unease.