Chapter 60
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Then Let's Call It a Deal
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The woman stared down at the grave, her lips twitching.
It looked like she had something she wanted to say, but it wasn't coming out easily.
"You can cry if you want."
"Fuck that. Dragons don't cry."
Lies don't work in front of me.
She was telling the truth about being a dragonkin, but the part about not crying was a lie.
What a ridiculous girl.
Even someone as dim as her knew enough to be embarrassed about it.
"Do whatever you want."
I sat down on the bench Erakinsa had made next to the grave.
The self-proclaimed dragonkin woman stood in front of the grave, muttering something under her breath.
It was a language even Insight Ability couldn't decipher.
'The language from her original world, maybe.'
Her clear tone didn't match the heavy atmosphere.
It seemed like she was praying for the deceased's soul to rest in peace.
I glanced at her sidelong, waiting for the right moment.
Waiting for her to compose herself and speak.
"Fuck."
No, something else.
She'd wiped away a single tear, so it looked like she'd gotten her emotions under control.
That's when I broke the ice.
"Are you the last dragonkin on the Eaar Continent?"
The dragonkin's blank gaze fixed on me.
"Last? What do you mean by 'last'?"
She wasn't asking about the word itself.
She was questioning the context.
"Are you the last surviving dragon?"
"Fuck. No, I'm not."
Oh my god.
Insight Ability confirmed her answer as truth.
Did that mean there was another monster like her on the continent?
The dragonkin peered straight into my eyes.
"You're not that guy, huh?"
Meaning I wasn't Luke Seid.
"You know his face?"
"Yeah. He showed it to me after popping the lid off. Before he put me to sleep."
Her expressions were all over the place.
She'd woken up in a blank-slate state, and maybe because she hadn't absorbed enough power from me, she'd come back a bit dim-witted?
"His face and mine should look the same. How'd you know I'm someone else?"
"Your eyes."
The dragonkin pointed at my pupils with her index finger.
"Because of the color?"
Luke's eyes were originally golden.
They turned bluish when Blue Eye was activated.
"Nah. I can change my eye color too."
Good lord. As she said it, her black pupils shifted to red.
Goosebumps.
I got chills.
It was just a change to blood-red.
Her pupils didn't morph into slits like a snake or cat.
Still impressive.
"Mine are Dragon Eyes. Like how yours are Blue Eyes."
"Dragon Eyes..."
"They pierce through to the soul beyond the pupils."
Ah, I knew of another pair of eyes like that.
Requiya's Devil Eyes.
This world was full of freaky eyes.
"So you know who I am."
"Yup."
"Why's your speech so weird?"
"I fell here and only lived with Grandpa and Granny, so that's how it is."
The woman gestured with her hand, mimicking plummeting from the sky.
"Picked it up from the old folks."
That made sense. Learning speech from elders.
I'd already experienced how a girl raised by her grandma talked.
But I sensed something off in a different way.
"Fell? From the sky?"
"Yup. From the sky. I wasn't born in this land."
It felt unnatural, but somehow familiar.
Requiya had said he was from another world too.
Though he never mentioned falling from the sky.
It sounded absurd, but amazingly, the dragonkin's words rang true.
"Have you been living here for about a hundred years?"
"Nah. Twenty years or so... I fell wrapped in Rebeck stone. Grandpa and Granny touched it, and I woke up. Don't remember anything before that."
I asked what Rebeck was, but she said she didn't know. Just that she remembered it by that name.
'A dragonkin who fell from the sky like a meteor... Does that mean her kin aren't in this world?'
My assumption was correct.
That proved she wasn't the last dragonkin. Her people were in another world.
At the same time, she was the only dragonkin in Eaar.
"What's your name? Luke was worried you'd be remembered as a calamity or destroyer."
"Star said that? That he felt bad for me?"
"Yeah."
He hadn't said it outright, but I'd felt Luke's earnest emotions. This much confirmation was fine.
"Fuck. He did, huh."
Seeing her expression soften a bit, I relaxed too.
I no longer sensed the sorrow and rage from the cabin emanating from her.
She still felt empty, though.
"My name..."
The dragonkin scratched the side of her head and the back furiously.
Her long hair, reaching to her knees, swayed pitifully.
"Your guardians must've called you something. Grandpa and Granny."
"Oh! Baby. They called me Baby."
She widened her eyes like a kid who'd just remembered after crapping her pants.
"Something else."
"Aigoo, my little piggy-."
"That's not a name."
"My real name's Tiyediedorton Tuenadelarene Gnogard-."
"You remember that one fine."
"Yeah. Dragons are good at dragon stuff."
The dragonkin grinned widely.
That wasn't praise, dude.
"Granny named me Poloma. But it's useless now. No humans remember my name anymore. Who's gonna remember Poloma?"
Poloma.
Translated, something like Flower Bud.
A grandma-worthy name.
"Fuck, flowers are nice, but Poloma sucks. Sounds like an ugly fish. I hated it, so Granny just called me Baby."
She was in a neutral state.
Both intellect and emotion.
To make her my ally, I needed her to trust and rely on me.
The method was simple.
Just like Grandpa and Granny had taught her.
"If you want, I'll give you a name."
"Fuck. Awesome."
She jutted her chin out expectantly, rubbing her palms together like a pig about to tear into delivery food.
"Give me a sec to think."
"Fuck. Then think."
She headed back to the cabin like someone remembering something she needed to grab.
'What name would be good?'
Truth be told, she was stunningly beautiful. The kind that could steal your soul at first sight.
I didn't know when she'd turn into a dragon and swallow me, but... ah, she wasn't thinking of me as takeout, was she?
I shook off the random thought.
'Silver Star would've told me to snap out of it if she were here.'
A bitter smile spread across my face.
Anyway, there's a saying: No demon without a past, no dragonkin without a story. Wait, is there? Maybe somewhere. Who cares.
The present mattered more.
Looking at the grave made me hum a dirge involuntarily.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way~."
Right on cue, she came out carrying an axe.
It was a thick, heavy logging axe, but the handle had rotted away, leaving just the blade.
The teeth were chipped and cracked—utterly unusable.
'A beauty with an axe...'
It reminded me of a fantasy novel from my childhood.
One of the protagonist's friends was a lumberjack who carried a massive axe and saw around.
Short and petite, she roamed the mountains thinning trees.
A lonely girl who learned about the world after meeting the protagonist.
"Fuck. No handle."
That character was a potty mouth too.
And her name was probably...
"Eve."
The 'Potty-Mouthed Eve.'
I'd died on Christmas Eve, so it had some meaning. Seemed fitting.
"Eebu?"
The dragonkin, jamming a crooked stick into the axe head, widened her eyes.
A straighter pole would've been better, but this axe handle was so twisted it was worse than an old folks' cane.
"Not Eebu, Eve."
"Not Eebu, Eebu?"
Ah, pronunciation issue.
"Ee-vuh~."
"Ee-boo~."
No idea why her lips were flipping inside out, but I got the picture.
This one wasn't normal either.
Why did all the weirdos have to flock around me?
"Fine. Eebu it is."
Come to think of it, the only medicine that worked on my drug-resistant body was ibuprofen.
So be my cure, Eebu.
A bit forced, but meaning is what you make it.
She seemed to like the name.
"Fuck. Great. Eebu. Eebu. Way prettier than Poloma. Eebu sounds super noble and pretty-liking."
"Got any plans?"
"Gonna beat all the Draven bastards to death, stomp 'em, burn 'em."
"Revenge?"
"Fuck yeah. You'll help, right?"
Me?
I widened my eyes, questioning her with my expression.
"Fuck. You named me, so take responsibility. Like Grandpa and Granny. Hehe."
Don't swing that axe while laughing in my face!
If I said no, she'd split my skull.
"If you help me, I'll help you."
"Fuck. I get it. Order matters. Like buying and selling. A deal, right?"
Her long hair swayed every time Eebu tilted her head.
At least she understood deals. Not a total idiot.
"Then let's call it a deal. I've got a job that's too much for me alone, so I woke you up."
"Fuck. There's some super-duper strong bastard? Like Draven? That's why you woke me. Right?"
"Draven Empire?"
"Fuck. Yeah. Super strong. Lotsa arrows, lotsa knights. Black magic too. That's why Star blocked me. Said I'd die if I went in."
Ah, so it wasn't to minimize casualties that Luke sealed the dragon?
Couldn't read that guy's mind. Frustrating.
"Star wanted to keep me alive. That's why he put me to sleep."
But if Luke said it, it must be true.
He couldn't lie either, thanks to Insight Ability.
"To get revenge on the empire, you need to get stronger. You know that much, right?"
"Fuck. Yeah. I was real mad back then."
Eebu glanced at the grave as she spoke.
Sure enough, she'd rampaged because her guardians were sacrificed to the army.
"Fuck. Those bastards lifted my skirt. Pulled my hair. I got scared and cried."
"Couldn't fight back?"
"Fuck. No strength. I was chasing ogres to help people. That's how I lived."
"You chase ogres, but cry when soldiers mess with you?"
"Fuck. You panic like that. And a huge pack of armored soldiers is stronger than an ogre. How'd you feel if a dog pack groped you?"
Ah, yeah. Even tough people panic and fumble when caught off guard.
She seemed sharper as we talked.
"I was picking wildflowers with Granny then. No axe either."
No blame toward me—Eebu just shrugged.
"Draven's got tons of soldiers. Tons of arrows. Tons of machines."
You smashed all that yourself...
"Fuck. Only remembered I was dragonkin after Grandpa and Granny died. Got so mad."
Ah, the puzzle pieces fit.
Losing her guardians had awakened her dragon side in grief and rage.
"Fuck. Sorry, Grandpa. Sorry, Granny."
Finally, Eebu spat out what she'd wanted to say.
She bowed deeply to the grave, then looked at me.
"What's your name? Kim-Jang-Gun?"
"You can see my name too?"
"Ah, fuck. Nah, can't see that. Star's memories came over."
Ah, so Silver Star's memories transferred when I woke her? Weird stuff happens.
But kinda convenient.
No need for long explanations.
"I'm living as Kalruk now."
"Fuck. Star's old name. Got it. Kellogg."
"Not Kellogg, Kalruk."
Felt like tiger energy surging, but I'd prefer my name pronounced right.
"Fuck. Ka-ruk."
"Yeah. Close enough."
We were wrapping up the situation rundown.
Kweeeee~!
Rumble rumble rumble~!
A hippo bigger than a housepig came charging, shaking the earth.
It must've tracked my scent, moving way faster than the bandits.
"Fuck! What the hell!"
Startled, Eebu quickly assumed an attack stance.
A bit sloppy, but nimble as expected from someone who'd chased off ogres even before becoming a dragon.
Hey, hey, stop.
Don't do it!