Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Dragon Slayer
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A single crack split the ground, and suddenly a pillar of fire erupted, shaking the entire mountain.
Every bird in the mountains took flight from that transcendent vibration, while the two-headed monster turned to ashes without even a chance to scream.
Pipi, who had lured the beast along as if toying with it, landed atop the pile of ashes and flapped its wings in triumphant victory.
“EASY, EASY, EASY. EEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSYYYYY.”
It had been a while since I’d cut loose, and my shoulders were feeling stiff. I rolled them out as I descended the mountain path.
In the midstream basin of the Bellsor Great River, nestled in the eastern forest region, lay a village called <Basenya>.
Floating lazily above <Basenya> village were radishes and cabbages. Valensidis must have been helping the villagers with their harvest using telekinesis.
“Wow…….”
“Amazing…….”
Amid the villagers’ awed cheers, countless crops were being neatly stacked onto carts.
The blue witch, who had been staring at the scene with eyes round as saucers just like the villagers, spotted me and her eyes widened even further.
“Eh, you’re already done? Already?”
This village’s blue witch was a fresh-faced rookie who’d only recently been assigned here.
She hadn’t even mastered the Yuljang used in combat from the Dragon Scriptures, and she must have been fretting over all her various shortcomings.
When we offered to help if she let us stay for a few days, she readily shared her troubles.
A C-grade superior mana beast called a Kalse rot had taken up residence on the mountainside.
- It howls noisily every night, so the villagers can’t sleep. It started by dragging off livestock, but lately it’s begun attacking people too……
She’d requested aid from the <Aurelinople> Witch Association, but they’d replied that they were short on red witches and she’d have to wait a while.
She’d even scraped together her witch salary to hire a famous adventurer once, but the thing was so clever it hid every single time.
She stared at me in utter disbelief that I’d taken care of it in half a day.
“Yes, you won’t have to worry anymore.”
“What should I do? We don’t have anything worthy to offer as payment…… My next salary comes in half a month, so maybe then.”
“No, no, as I said from the start, it’s fine. Food and a place to sleep are more than enough.”
The witch bowed her head repeatedly in gratitude before breaking into a feeble smile.
“Truth be told, when you all showed up at the village outskirts and she saw the mage’s hat, old lady Segrille went absolutely wild, saying Lady Tureina had come to help us.”
“Old lady Segrille?”
“She’s the eldest in the village. She says she’s met Lady Tureina many times in person. Apparently, she visits once a year.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but I don’t think even Lady Tureina would have helped us so kindly if she’d come herself. We’re truly grateful.”
My heart ached like it was being torn apart whenever I glimpsed fragments of the world Tureina had ruined, but stories like this filled me with pure joy.
That said, Tureina’s hat……
I’d thought it was fine since the Osarius Academy’s standard robes included a hat like this, but more people recognized it than I’d expected. Should I change the color?
“Ah-baht!”
Just then, the cutest voice in the world rang out, and a bundle of adorableness latched onto my leg.
“Ahbat, ahbat, ahbat.”
“Aki~ You’ve been practicing well?”
“Aki, hug-hug-pwease.”
Maybe because it had only been half a day, clinging to my leg wasn’t enough—she was demanding to be picked up.
“……Wow, she’s just too cute.”
The witch murmured, lightly covering her mouth with both hands.
Aki’s snowy-white nape was beautifully adorned with intricate red leather cords.
A pomegranate stone at the center reflected the sunset, matching perfectly with Aki’s red hair.
It was a gift from Juliana. This was only the second witch we’d met while wearing it, and once again, she hadn’t sensed the draconic presence in Aki’s soul.
‘Maybe this witch is just a beginner. She said you need to reach a certain level for that.’
I scooped Aki up, and she rubbed her head against my chin. Back then, she would’ve slathered me in drool, but she’d grown so much.
I was grinning vacantly at the thought when someone approached with a slightly peeved expression.
It was Selene, the great disciple of the Heavenly Flower Sect and the Heavenly Flower Dragon.
“Let’s talk for a sec.”
“We can do it here.”
“Aki can’t hear. Leave her with the witch and follow me. That guy has to come too.”
Selene had mostly recovered, with color back in her cheeks and no issues in her movements. The problem had just cropped up elsewhere.
“Aki won’t even try learning martial arts?”
“That’s what I’m saying. When I try to teach her, she thinks it’s a game and refuses. If I scold her, she runs off.”
“Maybe she’s not comfortable with you yet?”
“It’s been five days already! We’re plenty close.”
“Hmm…….”
Just then, Valensidis appeared, kneading the area around her scapula. She’d been using mana all day, and it must have left her stiff.
“What’s going on?”
“We need to plant a fascination with martial arts in Aki. Help me out a little.”
“How?”
Selene crossed her arms with a meaningful look.
“We’re putting on a play.”
“A play?”
Selene passionately explained a script that could’ve come from a madman, even drawing diagrams in the sand with a stick.
By the time she finished, Valensidis’s and my expressions were 99% identical.
Faces doubting our ears—no, all our senses.
“You’re serious?”
Valensidis asked.
Selene nodded.
“No way. You’re seriously telling us to do this?”
I snarked to confirm.
But Selene nodded.
“This is how it has to be.”
“No, there’s definitely another way.”
“There isn’t. This is the only option. Do you guys really not know how effective plays are on kids?”
Selene shoved a ghost mask—cobbled together from patched old clothes—and a wooden sword into Valensidis’s hands.
“Ha.”
Valensidis sometimes sneered coldly when her anger hit its limit, and even I found it chilling.
Pipi buzzed noisily overhead, cawing mockingly as it circled our heads.
“Come on, loosen up those faces. This is the only way to get Aki to take martial arts seriously.”
“Since when are you this proactive? Your first impression was like a lonely wolf shouldering the world’s sorrows…….”
“I can’t just keep moping forever. So, you in or not?”
I can’t just keep moping forever…… For some reason, her words washed over me like a gentle comfort.
“Ah, fine, let’s do it. But here’s the thing—I bet five silvers we fail. Aki might look dumb, but she’s not. She’s crazy smart.”
Aki was a dragonkin.
The most intelligent beings there were.
So this bet was as good as mine.
“Hmph, it’ll succeed for sure. Make it ten silvers.”
“Deal.”
It took Valensidis even longer to accept the proposal than it did me. Maybe because of the debt she felt, she eventually agreed.
But once she committed, she was thorough. The moment she donned the ghost mask, her aura shifted completely.
This utterly absurd, childish play began when I led Aki—who’d been holding the witch’s hand—to the riverbank.
“Hmm, Aki, the weather today~ is just so nice, isn’t it~?”
I had zero talent for this kind of acting.
My stiff, book-recitation tone drew a sharp glare from Selene, who was hiding in the bushes ahead.
Hey, I’m trying my best here.
“The birds are chirping…… the flowers are blooming…… on a day like this—”
Luckily, my script pretty much ended there. At that moment, a masked figure burst from the reed thicket. Valensidis.
“—scum like you should burn in hell.”
It was a cold, razor-sharp voice, like an assassin leaping out of nowhere.
In the blink of an eye, the wooden sword crashed down on my crown…… Wait, is this bastard seriously hitting me way harder than the script called for?
I swallowed my surging rage and recited my final line.
“Ugh! A~a~ack!”
I flopped dramatically to the ground, and Aki’s eyes flew wide open as she bolted straight to me.
“Ah, abaht, ma—mani, appa?”
I wanted to pet her brave little head, but according to the script, I was dead now—no replying.
“Emergency~ emergency~ emergency~!”
Pipi chimed in with its line.
“Super~emer~gency~!”
Then it landed right by my temple and started pecking away.
This wasn’t in the script, was it? Could you maybe stop?
Dead people aren’t supposed to hurt.
“Ahbat, abaht.”
No matter how much she shook me, I didn’t respond, and Aki blankly drew in a breath. Then she turned to the villain.
“Grrrrr…….”
Aki baring her fangs in hostility! The play was nearing its climax. Wait, she’s actually buying this?
“Kuh-hum, that’s Valensidis, isn’t it…….”
I let out a death rattle, playing up the post-mortem stiffness for effect.
Selene shot me a piercing glare, but just as I’d hoped, Aki tucked away her fangs and stared at Valensidis before tilting her head.
“Balububut?”
Valensidis flinched, apparently convinced Aki had seen through her disguise, and halted.
Yes! This is it!
Dragons peer into souls.
No way a mere disguise could fool her. But as if flipping me the bird, Aki bared her fangs even fiercer than before and lunged at her foe with a snarl!
“Kyaaaa!”
Was dragonkin intelligence really below a chimp’s?
I even gave her a hint!
In the end, this laughably juvenile play barreled toward its conclusion! Danger!
“You want to protect him? Sorry, but a weakling like you who hasn’t learned martial arts can’t manage it.”
I’m gonna lose it—why was Valensidis throwing herself into this role so damn seriously?
No, this wasn’t acting. The wicked woman was genuinely mocking me. She was having way too much fun and fully immersed.
But seeing Aki—who used to cower even from turtles—stand guard in front of me brought tears to my eyes.
“This’ll finish you off, slippery mage!”
Valensidis effortlessly dodged the charging Aki and raised her wooden sword over my head! Aki clung desperately to the villain’s leg, grunting!
Right then!
The bushes rustled, and Selene exploded out like a shot, unleashing three satisfying solar plexus strikes on Valensidis amid fierce kiai!
“Haat!”
“Kuh.”
“Haap! Get it straight.”
“…….”
“Eeyap! I said get it straight!”
“Kyaak!”
With a pathetic yelp, Valensidis went flying far offstage. Selene watched her go, then brushed her hands smugly.
“Whew~ That was close. Aki, you okay?”
“Aki, safe-safe.”
“Things like this’ll keep happening. If you want to protect that guy—who’s either your big bro or your dad—you’ll need power.”
“Need—need power!”
“The power to beat down villains like that? That’s martial arts!”
Selene kicked off the ground with perfect form, leaping onto a tree branch. She struck a dashing pose from the Heavenly Flower Sect’s signature techniques and shouted.
“You want power like this? Wanna learn martial arts? Wanna protect your big bro?!”
“Pwotect—wanna!”
“Then starting today, Aki, you’re a Heavenly Flower Sect disciple! I, great disciple Selene, am your master!”
Selene dropped her stance and demonstrated the baoquan salute, famous among ronin.
“If you wanna walk the martial path, copy me. This is where it begins!”
As Aki mimicked her with sparkling, envious eyes in the cutest way, Pipi looped around my head, chirping cheekily.
“Nungi, nungi, nungi, nungi, nungi.”
I wiped the single tear from my eye and rose to my feet.
“Let’s head back…….”
My body was a mess of mud and gravel, but I felt no disgust whatsoever. The real mess was my heart.
“I’m starting to seriously doubt dragonkin intelligence…….”
* * *
The southern decline zone of the Adrion continent.
The lands bordering the ‘Flowing Desert’ were known as the decline zones.
It was a name born from how those border regions were slowly desertifying, causing civilization itself to crumble.
“Yeah, time to loosen up a bit!”
A massive halberd blade slammed into the earth, and lightning cracked across the clear sky.
The torrent of falling thunder swept away the demons hiding in the decline zone—and the mercenaries pursuing them—without discrimination.
When the thunder’s dance ended, the only thing left in that wasteland was a man clad in bizarre heavy armor.
“Still no decent mortals among the perishables. At least crushing demons is pure fun.”
His yellow armor boldly took the form of a dragon, exuding draconic majesty. The material itself was irreverently dragon scale.
“So, what’s your business this time?”
The hefty spear he’d just plunged into the ground—its shaft and blade each the length of a full-grown man—was made entirely of dragon bone.
“Still that insane power. Feel loosened up now?”
As the dragon-scale-armored man yanked his spear from the ground, cracks spiderwebbed across the earth.
“Far from it. Ten years gone, and you still can’t accept ‘our’ power. That’s the flaw of mortal flesh.”
He slung it over his shoulder, and the metallic clang reverberated with a lethal tremor.
The human char scattered around promptly exploded.
“But like I told you, drop by with no business and I’ll kill you.”
The man had suddenly thrust his spear-end toward……another man standing there.
“That hurts, saying something so harsh between us.”
He wore a grotesque eyepatch over one eye, utterly unmoved even by the aftershocks of that thrust.
“I’ve brought some killer info.”
Instead, the eyepatch man waved his arm in theatrical nonchalance.
From within the helmet of dragon scales that covered his entire face, the armored man’s eyes narrowed coolly.
Noble golden irises with long, vertical slit pupils…… Unmistakably, the eyes of a dragon.
“Time to hunt the next dragon, don’t you think? Dragon Slayer.”