Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Dragon's Bargain
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"That's as far as it goes."
With those words, Derkyos fell eerily silent.
Sion stared at him with a look of utter bewilderment, but he quickly pulled himself together.
He had spent over eighty years in this world already. Now that he had his answers, another twenty-odd years were no big deal.
"Alright, got it. Then let me ask one more thing..."
"Based on the imprinted memories, the answers I can give you end here."
"What?"
Sion furrowed one eyebrow at the sudden shift in attitude.
"You are an incomprehensible existence that defies the rules. Taking that into account, I've made exceptions for a few questions and answered even things I shouldn't tell a user like you."
"..."
Sion was momentarily at a loss for words.
Derkyos's lips curled up slightly, unmistakably a smile.
"But if you're still curious, I can answer within my authority. Provided."
"Provided?"
"From now on, we do a trade."
"A trade... Fine, let's hear it."
"I phrased it as a trade, but you should know this is still a huge favor to you. Anyway, my condition is this: deal with the goblins digging tunnels near my lair. In return, I'll answer one of your questions."
A dragon asking someone else to handle goblins it couldn't be bothered with?
At the absurd nonsense, Sion snapped back curtly.
"Goblins? Can't you handle that yourself?"
"Based on the imprinted memories..."
"I get it. I get it."
It had only been a few hours since they met, but Sion already had a rough read on Derkyos.
He was incredibly intelligent and, having lived alone for ages, loved conversation and was bursting with curiosity.
He kept referring to his "imprinted memories" to portray himself as passive, but Sion suspected it was deliberate.
In his experience, someone as sharp as Derkyos never took others' words at face value.
'What's his angle?'
The question nagged at him, but Sion didn't ask.
He knew the answer would be some dodge about "imprinted memories."
"How big is the group?"
"Last I checked, under a hundred, but some time has passed, so they've probably multiplied quite a bit."
"Hmm."
Sion nodded in agreement.
Goblins had short lifespans of around twenty years, but with a three-month gestation-to-birth cycle, they bred like rabbits.
A goblin pack settling somewhere could quadruple or quintuple in a year without breaking a sweat.
"Where?"
"About half a day's walk east of the lair—on your pace, of course. In human measurements, a bit over twelve and a half kilometers."
The precise numbers from a dragon of another world using Earth units didn't faze him.
For some reason, this world's measurements registered to Sion as meters and grams, his old familiar ones.
What struck him as ridiculous was calling it "nearby."
Over ten kilometers away?
Then again, with Derkyos's territory spanning the entire Dragon Wasteland, ten kilometers was probably "next door."
"I'll head out right away."
"The sun's setting soon. Even for a user like you, the wasteland nights are dangerous. And given your condition, you'd be better off resting a few days first."
"Hmm... You're right."
He had been wandering the Dragon Wasteland for months, and he was in rough shape, so Sion took Derkyos's advice.
Even an immortal superhuman felt fatigue; plus, rest might let him pry more info out of the dragon.
But after handing Sion what he needed, Derkyos stopped talking or answering questions altogether.
He even led Sion to a lower level of the lair where he could stay alone, then didn't show his face for days.
Sion had no choice but to focus on recovery.
Four fruitless days passed, and he set off for the spot Derkyos mentioned.
* * *
"Damn it all..."
Drenched in blood and gore, Sion collapsed with a curse.
The underground cave, lit by scattered torches, was piled high with goblin corpses.
He couldn't gauge time precisely underground, but it felt like over two days since entering the goblin nest.
And for those two days, he fought nonstop without rest or sleep.
"Not a big group? Under a hundred last you checked?"
He hadn't counted precisely, but Sion was sure he'd slain thousands since entering.
Just in this apparent main nest, four or five hundred.
"Huff... huff..."
Sion caught his ragged breath.
Even if goblins were weaker than humans, numbers were their weapon.
This was their home turf, too.
Navigating the maze-like unfamiliar terrain, dodging traps and ambushes, facing cunning foes—it was brutal on body and mind.
Killing Intent, for crowds, couldn't be spammed endlessly.
It drained emotions and mental strength heavily. No status screen meant no exact gauge, but assuming a twenty-meter radius, five or six times a day was his limit.
Beyond that, he had no special skills like sword aura or battle spirit.
Just combat techniques honed from countless masters over decades.
In favorable terrain, he could handle hundreds, but over a thousand goblins in a hellhole like this? Even for him, it was grueling.
In fact, he hadn't felt this exhausted in the last decade. He'd half-thought he'd die to goblins.
"Crazy dragon. Talks like it's a casual stroll."
Fury rose at the memory of Derkyos's nonchalance.
Sure, to a dragon, goblins were bugs.
"But this is overkill."
He itched to chew the dragon out, but he got why Derkyos asked.
His massive bulk couldn't even enter the goblin warrens.
The deep, twisting structure made flattening from above impractical.
Only humans, elves, or dwarves could handle it.
"Ah."
A realization hit, and Sion narrowed his eyes.
When proposing this, Derkyos called it a favor.
"No way... is this a quest?"
It clicked.
Per Derkyos, this world was in the prologue before AWS's main story.
The dragon, basically a GM, was giving him—twenty years early—a quest ahead of other users. Even if called a trade, it was a favor.
Though he still denied this was a game.
"Time to head back."
Somewhat recovered, Sion stood.
He hadn't wiped them out completely, but survivors would take years to rebound.
Derkyos would be satisfied.
* * *
"Well done. Your reward will come when 'that day' arrives."
Derkyos's pleased response confirmed Sion's hunch.
It had been a quest.
'No immediate payout, but later reward means profit.'
Plus, as agreed—separate from the reward—Derkyos answered one question.
It was a crucial one about what Sion should do next, and the answer satisfied.
But he had more questions, and sensing the trade was a quest system, Sion proposed again.
"I have a few more questions. Up for another deal?"
"Splendid. Absolutely splendid."
Derkyos beamed with satisfaction.
Sion figured he might be a bit lonely and bored.
After that, Sion cleared more quests via trades with Derkyos.
One took him to the wasteland's edge to meet desert orcs; another hunted massive scorpions undermining the ground near the lair with their burrows.
Having left both horses at the border village before entering the wasteland, Sion traveled on foot. Quests took five days at shortest, over a month at longest.
Nearly a year passed clearing five quests.
He still had questions, but his sharp ones led to more refusals and redirects, so Sion knew it was time to go.
"I see. Then prepare from now on."
"Indeed. Other users might call it unfair, but since you defy explanation, it's unavoidable."
"Tell the others to grind this world eighty years like me, denied civilization, even dying for real. Anyone whining about my head start is a selfish prick."
With that, Sion slung his pre-packed bag over his shoulder.
"Anyway, take care. It was fun."
"You too. I hope you fare well until the users arrive—and beyond."
"Thanks. Hope you don't get too bored. Oh, wait—a few centuries solo? Piece of cake. Just twenty more years."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"What else? You've been alone here for centuries. Tedious, but hang on twenty more, and users come..."
"You seem to be misunderstanding something."
"Misunderstanding?"
Sion tilted his head.
Derkyos eyed him oddly, then chuckled as if remembering something.
"Ah, I forgot to tell you something important."
"Important... what?"
An inexplicable unease gripped Sion as he pressed.
Usually, the "important thing" in moments like this was a game-changing cliché bombshell...
"I'm a thinking being with reason and emotion. Spending eons alone is tough."
"What? Then someone else is here?"
He'd seen no one but Derkyos in over half a year, leaving Sion stunned amid his anxiety.
"Haha. No one else here. I mean the time you mentioned."
"Time...?"
The dread intensified.
"One of my abilities accelerates time in my lair only. About ten times outside."
"...Ten times!?"
"Yes. So the time I wait for users is just a few years now. Manageable alone."
Derkyos grinned.
But Sion's mind blanked.
Then the year he'd spent here wasn't a year...
"Ten years? Over ten years have passed?"
(To be continued in the next installment)