Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: The Sprout of Future Troubles
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Kuuung-!
『Sprout of Future Troubles』
【Quest Completed】
<Reward>: Thunder Azure
I spat out ragged breaths as I gazed at the fallen Thunder Dragon. The breath rising to my chin formed white puffs of steam, gradually calming.
Suddenly, a faint light emanated from the Thunder Dragon, concentrating its energy in one spot.
That spot was its heart.
The lightning energy had condensed there, revealing itself faintly.
I thrust straight into it.
Stab.
「Thunder Azure's energy greatly increases.」
The moment I pierced the heart with the Thunder Azure Sword, its lightning seeped into the blade.
At least double.
Twice as strong.
I could feel it instantly.
Kwajijik, pajik!
"It's gotten a bit murky."
The blade, red-black as befitting a spirit-grade sword, had darkened slightly.
"That can't be right."
This quest had simply raised the Thunder Azure Sword's rank a notch.
It wasn't yet a phantom sword.
Sword ranks rarely rise.
Quests related to swords don't appear unless there's a clear connection.
Not appearing often means they do exist sometimes, but one thing was certain.
"This one didn't exist before."
Yet now it did.
Unspecified elements had emerged, and unused pasts were sustaining the present.
I didn't find these changes amusing.
Unknown elements meant variables were forming.
Variables in this world could kill me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Eek!"
Raibun turned into a handful of dust.
Druma had his head torn off by the Thunder Dragon and died.
Orkal had been stabbed by a sword but wasn't dead. More precisely.
Not yet.
"I haven't killed you."
The insect manipulator Orkal.
He was someone who shone more in areas other than combat.
True to his nickname, he was more useful for scouting and reconnaissance by commanding insects. After all, he was the one who created the Spirit Lord's scabbard.
A paladin who had fused himself with a manifestation sword that produced insects.
Unlike the others, he had tremendous utility.
"Brans."
"Yes! I'm here, milord!"
Brans burst out from the bushes. I ordered him to bind Orkal, and he pulled rope from his double backpack, tying him up tight.
Even a paladin, once wounded, could be restrained by someone like Brans. It was quite a rare sight.
"Urk… Damn it! What do you plan to do with me!!"
"Milord, what should we do?"
"Shut him up."
"Yes! Shut your trap, you scum!!"
Thwack!!
"Guh! You, you lowly servant scum!"
"Lowly, my ass! He's the count's servant!"
Thud!! After a few more blows, he went quiet, either fainted or silenced.
Killing Orkal would be the standard move.
But I hadn't fully decided yet.
It wouldn't be too late to determine his fate once my policy was set.
I reached into empty space and pulled out several glass bottles.
Troll blood was one thing, but the blood of a dragonkin descendant was treasure in itself.
I'd come prepared to capture it, so I had plenty of bottles.
"Milord! Let me do it!"
"No need."
The Thunder Dragon bore even a trace of dragon blood.
It carried the impurity of demonic energy, but if refined, I might extract a small amount of dragon blood.
Dragon blood had myriad uses on its own.
Simply, in artifacts.
More complexly, even in carcass swords.
‘If it's true dragon blood, it might create a sacred relic, albeit lower grade than holy artifacts.’
Priceless, truly.
Just possessing it would have holy alchemists lining up to buy.
I needed to collect as much as possible before the blood clotted.
Brans, having tied Orkal securely, rushed over to help.
As we filled bottle after bottle with the Thunder Dragon's blood, a voice approached.
"You're going to sell that to me, right?"
"Eek! You startled me!"
Helena.
She stood silently atop the tree's shadow without a sound.
Ignoring Brans's startled fussing, I replied.
"I'll think about it."
"Even if we offer the highest price?"
I stared steadily at Helena.
She turned her head away, flustered.
"W-Why?"
She wasn't going to ask anything?
I'd killed two heresy inquisitor captains.
One was bound, and she surely knew I possessed a taboo sword.
There were plenty of points to challenge me on, but Helena spoke casually as if oblivious.
If she asked nothing, it was best I asked nothing either.
"How much do you value it at?"
"Hmm… Well. The hide's slashed up badly. The inner meat's overcooked and hard to sell. But the horns look good."
"I'm keeping the horns."
"Come on. Then claws and teeth are intact, oh! The tail fur's in decent shape too. So…"
Helena pondered, then wrote numbers on the ground with a stick and slyly glanced up.
"Ten thousand gold?"
Ten thousand gold coins for everything but the horns.
"Who do you take me for?"
This was no ordinary beast—it bore dragon blood.
If it were just a lightning-spewing magic beast, maybe, but dragon blood was mixed in.
Trying to lowball me at ten thousand for that?
Merchants can't be trusted.
"But the meat and hide are badly damaged… Factor in transport and fees, and that's fair."
"Nonsense. Magic beast meat has limited uses anyway, and while the hide's damaged, it's not unusable. Plus, the other parts are perfectly intact."
Organs might be out, but eyes are fine, claws and teeth pristine.
And above all.
"Just the Thunder Dragon's bones would fetch ten thousand gold. You know that."
And more.
Wealthy nobles sometimes buy whole magic beasts for taxidermy.
The story behind this Thunder Dragon—devouring heresy inquisitor captains only to meet its end at the hands of Kallias, the kingdom's wastrel turned northern hero—would make it even more premium.
"You know that, yet you treat me like a fool."
"Ahem, I must've overlooked it."
I'm not one to fall for such bluster. I held up three fingers.
"Thirty thousand."
"Thirty thousand's too much! Twenty!"
Even for dragon-blooded, thirty thousand was steep.
The price depended on how much dragon blood remained… but bargaining was about momentum.
"Thirty-five thousand."
"Why does it go up when we're bargaining!"
"Bargaining takes time too. You're wasting mine, so it rises naturally."
"What kind of logic is that? Does that even make sense!?"
"Forty thousand."
"Ah, fine, thirty thousand!"
"Forty thousand."
"Come on! Really!? We don't even know if it's truly dragonkin, or how much blood it inherited—forty thousand's outrageous!"
"Forty thousand!"
"What, are you a puppet or something? And look—it's female! Females… Huh?"
Noisy Helena fell silent.
She inspected the belly area, then spoke with an odd expression.
"It's pregnant. Or gave birth? Look here. It has milk."
"……."
True enough.
There were signs.
Did it have pups?
"Looks like it had pups. That's why it was so vigilant… Why?"
"No way it does, but we'll check."
I drew the Thunder Azure Sword.
Channeling sharp sword energy, I sliced the belly skin—it split open.
The sharpness was definitely improved.
But that wasn't important now.
Rummaging inside the split belly, I found something.
Pulling out what looked like a pouch and slicing it open revealed contents.
"It really gave birth."
Cutting open the Thunder Dragon's belly produced what seemed to be its offspring.
About five.
They looked like wolf pups.
Unlike the Thunder Dragon, no scales on their bodies—just ordinary wolf pups, it seemed.
"It mated with a wolf-type magic beast."
If the Thunder Dragon had given birth, there must've been a mate.
If it were another Thunder Dragon, it wouldn't fit the "Sprout of Future Troubles" quest.
But the lack of draconic traits in the pups suggested the mate was a plain wolf magic beast.
"Poor things. Some cruel soul killed them before they could see the world."
"……."
As I moved to sheathe my sword, ignoring Helena's teasing.
Twitch.
One of the supposedly dead pups twitched.
"This one's alive! Hey? What are you doing!?"
I brought the sword to the pup.
Helena glared, protesting why I'd do that to something that couldn't even open its eyes.
"Quiet."
I quietly pressed the sword tip close, drawing out a bit of Thunder Azure.
It whimpered, wriggling toward the blade.
"As expected, it reacts to Thunder Azure."
"What?"
Perhaps inheriting its mother's lightning.
The pup responded to it too.
It whimpered persistently, crawling over its dead siblings to rest its head against the blade.
Finally calm, it breathed softly against it.
"I joked it was pitiful, but you know? It's a magic beast."
Mixed with demonic energy.
That harms humans.
The only harmless magic beasts are dead ones.
Just a weak pup now, but grown, it would harm humans.
Faint though it was, with dragon blood, it'd have a ferocious nature.
Once it tasted human flesh, it'd raze villages and plunge the north into chaos.
Better to kill it.
"Valterus taught: No mercy for things tainted by demonic energy."
We must uproot the devil's remnants.
That's right.
That's correct.
Yet.
"What's that?"
"Troll blood."
"What!? Troll blood, extinct for centuries—where'd you get it!? Our family searched everywhere and found no trace!!"
Unrefined troll blood.
Mixed with demonic energy, drinking it raw would poison and kill.
Normally.
‘Should be fine for a magic beast.’
Couldn't even nurse yet.
Troll blood would restore its strength and more.
-Kyiang kyiang
Uncorking and dripping a few drops, the beast sniffed eagerly.
Blind, it flailed its head until drops fell, lapping them up.
"The Church won't allow it."
"Nobles keep magic beasts as pets, and the Church tolerates it."
Common enough.
Plenty of nobles with magic beast pets.
One more wouldn't hurt.
"But why suddenly?"
"No need to know."
Simple curiosity.
Seeing it react to the Thunder Azure Sword piqued my intellectual interest.
Nothing else.
"That sword. That's why, right?"
"Helena."
"Yes?"
"A merchant's virtue: pretend not to know what you don't, pretend to know what you don't."
Helena flinched, tapping her lips, then said.
"Hmm… Then thirty-five thousand?"
"Forty thousand."
"Argh! Cut me a deal!"
Can't.
Need the funds.
"Forty thousand. I'll handle transport, so no discounts."
"For real?"
"Yes. It'll go into my artifact—no spoilage worries."
"Great."
Deal sealed, Helena beamed and asked no more.
‘Raising this might strengthen the Thunder Azure Sword again someday.’
It could even reach phantom sword rank.
Slim chance.
But if there's any possibility, and I have the means, why not try.
And.
Pity flickered in Kallias's eyes as he gazed at the Thunder Dragon pup.
Born into a world where all kin were dead, clinging to a familiar yet first-seen being—it reminded him of himself.