Chapter 179
Chapter 179
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: The Monster Serpent of Beltino Lake
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The monster serpent of Beltino Lake, huh.”
Early April 1426.
319 years since the great mage Lin’s death.
At the mouth of the lower reaches of the great Belisor River, fierce rain and wind poured down. The sailors said it was the gods sending spring rain.
‘Timing-wise, it’s spring rain, alright. The seasons just haven’t shifted yet.’
But for spring rain, the sea-like churning of the river waters was far too dangerous, and the mission I’d taken on wasn’t exactly fitting for “spring rain” either.
Aki, who’d undergone rigorous training from Celine before the rain hit, was now asleep in her arms inside the cabin.
After checking on Aki’s condition, Pipi and I climbed up to the deck. It was chaos with sailors battling the storm, securing ropes and chains.
“Hurry and reef those sails! They’re gonna rip!”
“We’re hurrying as fast as we can!”
Valencidis, perched on the figurehead and chanting a spell, cracked open one eye at that moment.
“Found it. Outputting coordinates.”
She’d detected the presence of the massive creature stirring deep in the water through the subtle tremors in the air. Coordinates soon floated in the empty space.
“Confirmed. Everyone, cover your ears.”
The instant I gripped the magic circle spinning blood-red amid the downpour, sound vanished from the world.
A bolt of lightning tore through the black clouds dumping the storm. Thunder that erased color and sound struck the water, forming a chilling silhouette.
Earsplitting roar, massive steam from the heat billowing as a blast of hot wind.
“Valencidis, barrier ahead.”
At once, the wind barrier she deployed in front of the figurehead deflected the storm to either side.
When the thick fog of steam finally cleared, a charred black form floated to the surface.
A river-serpent with a body as wide as a mid-sized merchant ship.
“Whoa, that’s insane!”
“Took out the river-serpent in one shot!”
The deckhands securing rigging in the rain and wind let out cheers. The captain approached, clapping sincerely.
“Truly impressive! To take down that sly bastard in one go...”
They said it was so cunning it only attacked ships without mages or witches aboard, sinking them.
“Its rampage got so bad we considered hiring slayers, but their fees are downright unscrupulous...”
“Slayers?”
“Serpent slayers. Specialists who only take serpent-hunting commissions.”
Valencidis, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Slayers have started operating around here too?”
“Yes. They’ve driven out other adventurers and claimed the territory. They used to be reliable, but lately they’ve turned thuggish, gouging insane prices.”
“Slayers, huh. Seems like more than a few are sporting that ridiculous nickname.”
I knew three slayers.
Goblin Slayer, Miria.
And from 500 years ago, the greatest mercenary in history who’d hunted over a dozen wyverns: Dragon Slayer Arthur Brius.
—Link, link, link.
And from 300 years ago, the one who’d gone with us to the edge of the desert: Demon Slayer Kassel Linkan.
A giant even taller than Bart, he’d suffered some brain damage as a kid and could only say his name, “Link.”
He was so gentle that even when Pipi perched on his head and pecked away with her beak, he’d just mutter “Link, link” and take it.
But on the battlefield, he was different. Seeing villages or cities ravaged by abyssal demons, Link filled with rage became a monster himself.
That’s how he earned the moniker Demon Slayer.
Kassel Linkan was the name I’d dug up from history books to fit the title.
“You imperials might not know, but around here, all adventurers calling themselves slayers are descendants of that Demon Slayer.”
What...?
For a moment, I could almost hear Link’s dumb laugh, the one where he’d hoist me onto those massive shoulders.
Huddled under Ceresia’s sleeve to escape the rain, I mouthed to Pipi, who looked up at me.
‘Hear that? That blockhead left descendants...’
I knew the five adventurers who’d helped us in the final battle had survived. I’d just been afraid to learn what came after.
—Link, link, link.
—Link, link, link.
Pipi used to mimic him like a parrot—better than a parrot, really—and make everyone laugh...
Valencidis shook her head lightly, unaware this was my reminiscing face.
“Thinking of that goblin girl?”
“Goblin girl? Miria?”
“She’s probably just claiming the title. True slayers, descendants of the Demon Slayer, carry a mark on their bodies.”
“A mark?”
“Not so much ‘carry’ as ‘forced to have’... Anyway, if she had it, I’d have recognized her.”
Whether that’s a relief...
For a split second, imagining Miria as Link’s descendant had turned my stomach.
“Anyway, seeing you dispatch that river-serpent so spectacularly with one spell reminded me of the stories our guildmaster told about the great mage Lin.”
“Great mage? What great mage? Zernix?”
“Zer... who? I mean the great mage Lin.”
Great mage Lin? Me?
I felt my facial muscles stiffen.
“It was 300 years ago. When red dragons crossed the sea in droves, a small river-serpent appeared in these waters.”
Back then, the founder of this merchant guild was just a boy paddling a flatboat.
He’d made his living trading local specialties between villages.
But the river-serpent blocked the route, cutting off his livelihood. It cunningly hid deep underwater, striking only at small boats.
“Finally, he took his boat into the river in desperation, and it attacked... That’s when the great mage Lin miraculously appeared and helped.”
Yeah, that happened.
Some crazy kid rowed straight into snake-infested waters like he wanted to die, and Fride pushed me, so I helped.
“The founder never forgot that grace. It was a minor skirmish unrecorded in any history book, but to him, Lin was a hero.”
A hero, huh.
No need to make such a fuss over that.
“After the guild grew big, he made that day a holiday, holding grand festivals every year, giving food to all for free. He always shared this story and ordered his descendants to do the same.”
“...!”
“The festival’s continued for 300 years. Called ‘Great Mage’s Day.’ Every December 28th.”
The captain pointed to the figurehead.
“That stone staff figurehead is a token of respect and gratitude for Lin. All our guild’s ships have it.”
Ah, so that’s what it was.
No wonder it looked familiar—it was shaped like the stone staff Yoshuhar gave me back in my Lin days, the gold eagle one.
“You’re wearing that conical hat out of respect for Lin too, aren’t you, mage?”
Tough to answer.
I couldn’t very well say I respect myself.
Instead, I lowered the hat to hide my face and tried recalling the kid’s face from back then.
—Thank you! Really, thank you so much!
Bowing repeatedly, swearing he’d never forget the favor... He was about my age.
—Try reaching out a hand to someone, even a little.
Suddenly, I felt like I heard Rista’s voice through the rain.
—That way, people will remember Lin like this and pass it down: the great mage of the hero party.
A connection 300 years later.
Guess living long enough brings days like this. I thought only those three would remember my good deeds...
I figured I’d just feel awkwardly embarrassed, but it’s not so bad.
“Just so you know, don’t make a day for me. I was just earning my fare to Terbenopl.”
“Of course.”
“That was a quick answer...”
That wrapped up our journey through the Belisor River basin. Three days since boarding the merchant ship.
The next day at noon, the ship finally entered the domain of the blue city, Terbenopl.
“The blue city’s navy will protect us now, so you can relax.”
Sea breeze mixed with the wind, gulls crying out.
Riverbank villages we passed showed signs of prosperity again—ones under the metropolis’s administration.
By then, the estuary had widened insanely; from mid-river, you couldn’t see either bank.
“Terbenopl!”
Two days later, as Terbenopl revealed its majestic grandeur, Aki yelled excitedly.
Her body had grown more in two months; she looked seven or eight now.
Her slurred speech had improved a lot, which was good... but she’d gotten haughtily arrogant.
“Dat, dat, dat, dat!”
She used casual speech with everyone except me. Even starting to with me.
—Wanderers need beastly ferocity.
The one who’d fixed her timid speech was none other than Master Celine...
Thinking about it, dragons—true dragons at that—using polite speech to humans is absurd. Better this way.
...Except human speech mixed with Pipi’s created a bizarre hybrid grammar.
“Aki, look closer, sirs! Aki give piggyback dat!”
“Not piggyback, it’s pony ride.”
“Fast, fast, fast, fast.”
“Aki give pony ride super fast dat dat dat!”
“Everything’s good, but why the commands?”
Truth is, she’d reached martial arts master level, so if I didn’t, she’d leap up and cling to my neck anyway...
Hey, where’d my small, cute Aki who begged for hugs go?
Swallowing tears, I gave her the pony ride. Aki, plopping my conical hat on her head, let out a gasp.
“Whoaaa...”
Truth be told, when Terbenopl showed its clearer, bluer form than even Changcheon, I couldn’t help but gasp too.
‘Really, second time seeing it, but it’s always amazing. Unreal.’
Sun of Changcheon, holy land of Terbel: Terbenopl. Two cities at where the Belisor meets the sea.
“Two cities?”
“Yeah, more precisely, one city bisected by the river.”
“The separation’s ridiculously wide, though.”
“Right. But ignoring that to connect them as one...”
Right ahead, ahead even of Terbenopl: the warships appeared first.
Yeah, warships.
Not just any: divine-era warships that roamed freely, the Teritos.
‘Terbel’s flagship, one of the world’s eleven wonders...’
The city-sized warship anchored mid-Belisore estuary.
From its deck, eight pairs of gangways stretched to both riverbanks, linking the two cities.
Less gangways, more bridges—exquisite structure and appearance.
“So advanced even elves can’t read its framework. A true divine wonder...”
Around then, Celine came up to the deck, yawning.
“What, it’s the Palaseiom already. Made good time.”
On the bridge like a fortress, piercing the sky: the Palaseiom lighthouse.
“Humans in Terbenopl tell time just by its shadow.”
Palaseiom normally works as a lighthouse, illuminating the distant sea beyond the horizon like daylight.
Another wonder: no need for anyone to light it or angle mirrors.
It charges itself with solar power—a pioneering method—and shines...
Celine said,
“See it good, Aki?”
“Aki see good dat!”
“At the All-Out Martial Arts Tournament, it opens to everyone. That’s where you’ll fight.”
I thought she’d tense up, but after four months of insane strengthening, Aki was shaking with uncontrollable excitement.
“Aki win all dat! Punchy! Punchy punchy!”
“Yeah, that’s it! Be our Heavenly Flower Punch!”
Aki, on pony ride, wildly punched the air—dangerously—then as the ship rocked on a wave, lost balance and tumbled... not!
“Yah!”
Before red hair touched deck, she spun midair and landed stylishly! Master!
“Aki land!”
Deckhand saw it and went wild, clapping and cheering.
“We’ll cheer for your All-Out win, Aki!”
“I’m betting half my fortune on you!”
“No joke, bet all on Aki dat!”
“Wahahahaha!”
If it were someone else, I’d clap and move on, but why the worry?
“Celine, you turned Aki too ferocious, didn’t you? How am I supposed to handle this?”
“Ferocious, ferocious, monster, monster, chimp, chimp, fast chimp.”
Pipi, strutting like that, got snatched in an instant by the absolute lifeform’s vicious grip.
Oh no!
Pipi screaming for help at me got slobbered on by Aki, covered in spit.
“Pipi tasty smell... gonna grill and eat dat!”
“Keeeak, keeeak, keeeak, save, save.”
Celine nodded approvingly.
“Beastliness is key for young wanderers. This isn’t ferocious. Aki’s super mild.”
The last village’s blue witch said it was overflowing youthful energy. She’d mature as she grows.
‘If like humans, sure...’
While chattering, amid captain’s busy shouts, the ship furled sails, rowed toward the west harbor.
—Why do most ships head west, not east?
Far-off, 300 years ago.
I’d asked Fride that on this sea.
—The east city’s for Terbenopl citizens. West is commercial. Most foreigners go there.
At the east city’s cliff end rose the blue palace Teranidoria, famed as built by Terbel himself.
Only the ‘blue bloods’—noble lineages—could live there.
Noble lineages: descendants of witches who held tribune honors in the dragonkin republic’s great era.
“So that fortress is more famous as the ‘Witches’ Palace.’”
Reciting Fride’s old explanation to Aki felt weird.
—Those snooty bloodlines acknowledged me, top shrine maiden of the republic, and gave me a spot inside. Get my prestige now?
Hmph, so what.
She didn’t live there, left no descendants, vanished somewhere.
Meanwhile, blockhead Link, same orphan as me, seemingly unmarriageable, founded a whole slayer clan.
“Daddy, so many boats.”
Aki pointed: different ships everywhere.
Deep-sea fishers, whalers, warships, traders, sloops, galleys...
East harbor probably held the Blue Sea Fleet, humanity’s proudest navy.
I knew it was true—saw it plenty in the 300-year-ago civil war.
“Yeah, tons of boats...”
“Wanna ride dat.”
“Yeah.”
300 years ago, wartime: Blue Sea Fleet all deployed, harbor crammed with refugees and rescue ships.
—It’s the hero...
—Hero...
—Hero, please...
Refugees who’d lost families, friends, homes knelt weeping as we sailed in.
—Lin, I’ll never forget this sight.
Rista waved to them, said that to me.
—Five years, maybe ten. When we return here, I want this city smiling. That’s the dream I’ll fight for.
—....
—I won’t live long, so you watch. See how the city changes.
And now...
So vibrant, full of life—Rista, who loved smiling faces, would’ve been thrilled.
“But why Daddy cry? Daddy hate boats n’ people?”
As memory’s light faded behind reality’s shadow, Aki—now on my shoulders—flipped upside down, shoving her face in mine.
“Not crying.”
Yeah, can’t cry. What’d we board that warship for back then.
“Sea breeze stinging my eyes.”
In their place, enjoying the peace we built together—that’s one of my jobs.
Would’ve been better if we could’ve come together...
I smiled wryly, brushing away a drop of dew from the irrecoverable past. Whispered softly to this era, 300 years beyond.
‘Don’t know about ten, twenty years from now...’
Rista.
Right now, 300 years later, everyone’s smiling.
Wish you could’ve seen it.