Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Tail-Cutter Philo
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“Right.”
Tail-Cutter Philo.
‘There was a guy like that.’
There had originally been many clans that served the spear.
However, the only survivors were the current Empire and these dragonkin.
They were indeed descendants of dragons, but their blood had thinned, earning them the name lizardmen.
They would meet their end at the hands of the Empire, which was carrying out its異種族 extermination plan.
The Empire had once utilized their power, claiming they served the same spear, but in the end, they purged and killed them.
It stemmed from the bizarre doctrine that refused to treat異種族 as human.
The rift between humans and dragonkin had always been fraught with issues.
‘Come to think of it, that’s happening right now.’
The extermination of the dragonkin.
Having expended much power against Karpe and suffered heavy damage, they were consolidating their strength by dealing with long-standing headaches.
Nothing particularly special about it.
“That guy might be utterly useless, but his skill with the spear is top-notch. It’d be a shame to just let him die. Besides... we’ve been through some things together.”
That was Aldu’s story.
He wanted me to lend my strength to save him.
That was what he was asking of me.
However.
“Why should I?”
That wasn’t a reason for me to help. Tail-Cutter Philo.
Of course, if I saved him, he had the potential to grow into a pretty decent character.
I didn’t know his personality, but I knew his skills well enough.
However.
‘He’s a spearman.’
In the end, a follower of Lactus.
Of course, that was just a surface-level reason, and I didn’t know much.
He was originally a character who died.
Pillomatur’s potential if he survived?
I wasn’t sure.
Since I wasn’t sure, I couldn’t commit.
Helping them would build rapport, but I had no desire to take on the risk.
The dragonkin’s opponents were likely the Empire.
Probably the prince or princess, with high odds on the princess.
‘Getting tangled with the princess brings nothing good.’
Even in the Empire, she had a savagely violent disposition beyond necessity. Catching her eye offered zero benefits.
The moment she saw my black hair and blue eyes, she’d instantly recognize my identity.
I had no interest in walking a thorny path for no reason.
“Of course, I’m not asking you to help without any conditions.”
Aldu glanced at Serena, who nodded and pulled something from her bosom, placing it on the table.
A small box.
I gestured with my chin—what is it?
He scanned the surroundings.
Perhaps wary of me, the tavern was empty—no patrons happily drinking.
We were the only customers.
Realizing this anew, Serena slightly opened the box.
“...This is?”
“A Spirit Stone.”
My hand, reaching for the wine glass, froze mid-motion.
Spirit Stone.
I hadn’t expected this to come up.
‘They keep surprising me in all sorts of ways.’
This world had fairies.
Fairies possessed all sorts of abilities.
They were bound by contracts, living for contracts.
Assimilated with nature, they grew stronger with each promise fulfilled for their contractors—a unique race.
‘House Jerban has one too.’
It was easy to understand thinking of Jerban’s butler, Nohtel.
Lifespans several times that of humans.
Moreover, their fairy power, commanding nature’s forces, was never to be underestimated.
That’s why, back in the North.
Even while provoking Nohtel, I never crossed the line.
‘Contracts with fairies are products of chance.’
Encounters with them were rare, and successful contracts even rarer.
But there was one thing.
That made it possible.
‘Spirit Stone.’
The existence of the Spirit Stone.
Even in elf forests, relatively friendly to fairies, they were hard to find—yet here they were offering one.
Even Helena would have handed over several merchant groups for one if she’d seen it.
Fairies were that powerful, willingly binding themselves to labor through contracts.
“You know the value of a Spirit Stone.”
“Of course. I do.”
But dangling a Spirit Stone for something like this only made it suspicious.
It was too much.
Weighing Philo’s value against the Spirit Stone, anyone—a hundred out of a hundred, a thousand out of a thousand, ten thousand out of ten thousand—would choose the latter.
So I asked bluntly.
“It only makes me more suspicious. Does a guy named Philo really merit offering a Spirit Stone worth trading for an imperial fief?”
Serena’s voice grew a touch colder.
“Do you only see people in terms of value?”
A hint of contempt seeped into her tone.
An elf preaching morality?
I was a bit dumbfounded.
‘Was she always like this?’
Elves in this world were strong.
Superior lifespans and physical abilities to humans.
Leveraging the range advantage of bows, they had carved out their own domain—a race.
Thus, most elves were arrogant.
Steeped in racial superiority, they were exclusivist to an easy-to-understand degree.
‘An elf saying something like that.’
It was absurd, but that’s probably what made her a hero.
Honestly, I didn’t know these people well.
They weren’t my creations.
So I was a little curious.
‘Serena and Aldu aren’t complete yet.’
Still pilgrims.
Even if they became heroes later, right now they were just pilgrims.
Thus.
My thoughts concluded there.
What sword would be born if I killed them now.
‘I’m deeply curious.’
“!”
A natural desire as a pilgrim—I entertained it briefly, but the reaction was immediate.
“What are you doing...!”
“You’re radiating too much killing intent.”
Killing intent had risen unbidden.
Serena shot to her feet, and Aldu’s previously friendly voice dropped low.
“......”
Serena’s hand was hard to see inside her robe, but the shape suggested a bow, and Aldu fixed sunken eyes on Kallias.
A situation where they might lunge at each other any second.
Silence stretched, and in the end, Kallias stepped back first.
“My apologies. But with a Spirit Stone as payment, I can’t help but be wary. Understand my position.”
Here, he yielded a step.
This might even earn their trust.
“It’s precious to us, but not so much a price for Serena. And it signifies how dangerous it is to help our comrade.”
Aldu explained patiently in a softened tone.
Serena’s sharp gaze under her hood didn’t change much.
“I’ve heard the Empire’s princess and the duchy’s lady are mobilizing to subjugate the dragonkin.”
Princess and lady.
Exactly the ones I didn’t want to run into, both at once—already off-putting.
However.
I snatched the Spirit Stone box right away.
“Ho.”
Honestly, whatever schemes they had, if the reward was a Spirit Stone, I didn’t care.
“Serena, how do you use the Spirit Stone.”
“Burn the stone in a forest where a fairy might hide.”
Then a curious fairy would be drawn by its energy.
Intoxicated by the fairy power, their guard down—that’s when you make the contract.
‘Nothing different from what I know.’
The info matched what I knew.
But they’d omitted something.
‘Having a Spirit Stone doesn’t guarantee meeting a fairy, nor a contract.’
It was merely a medium to summon them.
The contract was another matter.
Fairies’ whims were like reeds in the wind.
Pure luck required.
But.
‘For anyone else, maybe not—but with me holding it, it’s different.’
Lush jade-like Spirit Stone.
Size of a pebble.
So I thought.
‘Perfect size to swallow.’
* * *
Aldu and Serena.
Back at their lodging, they shed their hoods the moment the door closed, revealing their faces.
Pale gold hair tied in a ponytail style, ears twice as long as a human’s.
Eyes like embedded gold—inhumanly beautiful.
But Aldu’s eyes on the elf were utterly indifferent.
“Aldu. Can we really trust him?”
Serena snapped at Aldu the instant she removed her hood.
Referring to Kallias, no doubt.
Aldu chuckled dryly, stroking his beard at her sharp demeanor.
“His suspicious side was rather refreshing. Means he’s seen it all. Guys like that tend to have real skill.”
The greed and killing intent he’d glimpsed briefly.
That had been genuine.
Proof his abilities exceeded expectations.
“I don’t see it that way.”
But Serena denied it.
She clearly didn’t like him.
“What’s the problem?”
“Is it right to hand a Spirit Stone to someone we can’t trust first thing?”
Spirit Stone.
A treasure even elves rarely possessed.
A mineral born only by luck in rare regions where fairy power converged.
Handing it to a stranger met today—was that wise?
He could just run off with it.
“We’re the ones who need to show trust. He’s the one we’re dragging into our mess.”
“But the Spirit Stone...”
“It’s not that precious to you. If it saves a comrade’s life, isn’t that worthy use?”
Spirit Stones were precious.
But not for Serena.
She already had two more besides the one given to Kallias.
Even so, their rarity didn’t change.
Better to sell it and hire skilled mercenaries.
Even the Mercenary King would covet a Spirit Stone and help them.
‘But no time for that.’
No time to spare.
“...You’re right. But I still can’t trust him.”
“Time will sort it. But in my eyes, he’s solid.”
“What makes you think so?”
“You saw how he handled the gatekeeper.”
“Hmm...”
Anyone at the tavern could see what happened when the gatekeeper put down 2 silvers.
That he’d tried to scam Kallias.
“He could’ve killed him, no issue. Plenty of justification. Scamming a pilgrim? Cutting off a wrist or tongue would’ve been fair. But what did he do?”
“Made him clean.”
Just cleaning.
In other words.
“He’s not a bad sort.”
Not evil by nature, so set aside the worries for now.
Moreover.
“While gathering info, I heard about a recent wanted poster.”
“Wanted? From the Empire?”
“Yeah. Some lady or whatever issued it—calling him a lecher harassing women. Says he molested hundreds.”
“Scum.”
“That’s probably Kallias.”
“What?!”
Then why travel with such a thug?
No wonder his gaze felt off.
Did he see her that way?
Serena hugged herself.
Chills ran over her body.
“Aldu! You’re not saying use beauty as a ploy now, are you? Think he’ll betray for me? That what you want?!”
Misunderstanding, Serena raised her voice.
Aldu scowled like he’d seen every sorry sight.
“Misunderstanding much? What’s wrong with your head?”
“You called him a lecher! I’m an elf, incarnation of beauty. No lecher would leave me alone!”
“Enough crazy talk. A pilgrim molesting hundreds in a week? Empire or duchy aside—impossible. And that’s not the point.”
“Then...?”
Lecher just now.
What was the point then?
Serena couldn’t grasp it.
“They issued the warrant, soldiers surrounded him—but he didn’t lift a finger, just killed them. Know what’s funny?”
“What.”
“Said he commands magic beasts.”
“Magic beasts?”
Commands magic beasts? Not something to overlook.
“Yeah. Could be a whip follower.”
Whip God, Auste!
“Heard they were exterminated.”
“Gods don’t vanish easily.”
Fair enough.
They still didn’t know what god Kallias followed.
Thought sword originally, but maybe not.
‘That killing intent burst—eyes screamed sword, but...’
Aldu recalled tales of Valterus pilgrims, shaking his head.
Only sword pilgrims killed each other like mad.
“Anyway, not Empire or duchy folk. More like he’s the one hunted by them.”
“But a lecher...”
“No... ignore that. Looked like he had zero interest in you.”
“What!”
Then it happened.
Serena’s long ears suddenly perked and twitched.
“Enemy?”
“No, he left the inn.”
“Gonna try the Spirit Stone? Follow him?”
“You might think so, but not me. Could be running—let’s tail him. You sleep, dwarf.”
“Hmph, suit yourself.”
Whether trustworthy was her call.
Aldu had reasons, but not enough for full trust.
Tap, taat.
Leaping from the window, Serena’s form was graceful, utterly silent.
Hood up, ears perked, she ran—and soon spotted the man.
White robe.
Kallias.
Swish.
Confirming him exit the village into the forest, Serena cautiously followed.
And moments later.
“......!”
Serena’s golden eyes widened round, mouth agape.