Book 5 Chapter 7
Chapter 109
The Red Dragon, who could see beyond the blizzard with its eyes of power, said that we should first find stability and led us to a nearby cave. Due to ancient conifers, the entrance was skillfully hidden, so it seemed suitable to hide for a while. While the Red Dragon lit a fire with its breath, I cast a barrier, sealing the entrance from potential enemies and the cold.
“First, warm yourselves. There’s a long way to go.”
The Red Dragon said, gently laying Kasena on the ground. Each of its movements was as kind and delicate as a child's mother, a trait I had never seen among the many Red Dragons I had encountered. In the tranquil peace that felt like it had been a very long time, Rain plopped down next to Kasena and examined her condition. By then, the poison had receded to her ankle, so even Friede's divine healing ability seemed to pale in comparison to this Red Dragon's.
“Thank you, truly, thank you so much, um… Ah, my name is Rain Ludwig.”
As I bandaged my arm, where flesh had been torn by the teeth of the undead, and bowed deeply, the Red Dragon nodded.
“The name given to me by Karendel, the creator of the Great Fire Dragon Bel’dakidun, is Alakish. You may call me that too.”
Alakish… If my knowledge is correct, it would mean 'mission' (使命) in ancient dragon tongue. As true dragons receive their names from divine dragons at birth, and live lives befitting that name, it felt significant for some reason.
By the way, it was Alakish all along. During the war 300 years ago, I had only seen four red true dragons. I had only heard that one had received a different mission and gone north.
“It's strangely brave how you don't fear this Alakish. Are all humans like that these days?”
“I've had frequent encounters.”
Of course, I don't speak informally to dragons. In Yoshuhar's case, it was possible because Reistar told me to speak comfortably from the moment we met.
“I don't know what the situation is like in the south, but for someone as young as you to have so many interactions with my kin, it seems like your side is indeed full of eventful occurrences.”
One might wonder how I could already let down my guard, having just met them, but the Dragon race itself was created to protect the world, so they are benevolent towards humanity. As long as one doesn't engage in useless acts like black magic, that is.
As I slowly stroked Pipi, who had by now regained stable body temperature, in front of the fire, I realized I had to resolve the question I had earlier.
“Excuse me, Alakish, by any chance, could you tell me where this is?”
Carefully licking my chapped lips with my tongue, I waited for the answer. Honestly, I was already making the worst possible guess… I just hoped it wasn't true.
“Hmm, this place is Harbadonia.”
However, Alakish transformed that guess into reality by reciting that terrifying place name.
“North of the Wall, it is the continent of snow, darkness, and madness.”
Just as I thought… I sighed deeply and pressed my hand to my forehead. Because in this world, the term 'Wall' was used in only two places.
The northern boundary, <Snow Spirit Great Wall>.
The southern boundary, <Blazing Thousand Miles>.
Beyond the walls protecting the civilized world… was the land of the abyss (深淵), so it was a land of death that humans could never traverse. And if it was a land where bitter cold raged, not tropical nights, then there was only one such place.
If the Red Dragon Legion built the <Blazing Thousand Miles>, the White Dragon Legion built the <Snow Spirit Great Wall>. Now, the 'White Wolves' are guarding it…
How on earth could we have come all the way from the Blade Peninsula, in the southeastern part of the continent, to here, Harbadonia? All spatiotemporal magic used by black mages, borrowing power from the abyss, is short-range. To be able to perform such long-distance spatiotemporal transference… it could only be the gods.
“This time, I, Alakish, will ask. Who exactly are you? How did you get here?”
Alakish looked between Rain and Kasena, as if highly suspicious.
“I sensed the presence of gods and rushed here, but it was you two who were there.”
“The presence of gods?”
“All humans of this land are those into whose beastly bodies the gods carved light… But for some reason, the scent of gods emanates from your souls.”
Light into beastly bodies…?
I couldn't understand the meaning of the former statement, but I immediately understood the latter for some reason.
“Could it be because of this?”
When I held up the Black Yanglin, which I had cherished and worn around my neck on a chain, Alakish's eyebrows twitched, and its eyes widened in wonder. Feeling that I needed to dispel any trace of doubt, I explained how I had obtained it, and how I ended up here (though I myself didn't fully know), detailing the circumstances.
As Alakish listened carefully to all the explanations, stroking its chin, its eyes quietly narrowed.
“So, Anridal was indeed involved in the commotion south of the Wall.”
“Anridal?”
“It is the true name of the Lord of Time. For a sealed evil god to have used its power means something must be happening south of the Wall as well…”
Even south of the Wall?
Does that mean something is happening north of it too…? That question was pressing, but for now, there was a more urgent task at hand.
“We must return to the Empire. As quickly as possible. Is there no way?”
Just before the incident, I wondered what Yoshuhar had been trying to tell me about Turaina. And I was worried about what had happened to Rin's body during this attack. If they were beings with the power to summon the <Forgotten Kings> again, then achieving a special purpose with that body would be no problem. Additionally, I couldn't continue to carry Kasena in such an extreme land.
Alakish, who had been reverently caressing the Black Yanglin, finally returned it and spoke.
“In this situation, if it is true that the Black Sun personally chose and sent you here, then there must be a definite meaning to it.”
“…!”
“In accordance with the mission bestowed by the Fire Dragon, I, Alakish, will guide you to the Wall.”
Things are going this smoothly?
With the help of a true dragon, it wouldn't take even a month to reach the Wall. Since we could just ride its back and fly through the sky. Perhaps reading the hopeful observation in my gaze, Alakish briefly shook its head, tilting its golden dragon eyes towards the campfire.
“I understand your urgency, but it will be a long journey.”
“Excuse me?”
“First, this Alakish cannot fly. As you saw earlier, my wings were damaged in a long battle.”
I thought, feeling my hope being crushed by despair. Now that I think about it, its wings did seem to be unnaturally twisted earlier… A true dragon that cannot fly, is such a thing even possible? If it had visited a divine dragon just once, it would have been healed immediately. During the 'long battle' Alakish spoke of, how could it be, unless it never met a divine dragon?
“And the situation in Harbadonia is also not something to be easily overlooked.”
Is it because the undead are swarming?
I had a vague understanding of Harbadonia's notoriety through various books, but if a true dragon warned me like that, did it mean it was even more serious…?
It was right around that time that a wriggling sensation emanated from the basket Alakish carried on its back.
“I've been wondering since earlier, what exactly is that?”
At that question, it suddenly felt as if Alakish smiled. For a moment, I doubted my eyes. As Red Dragons, due to their combat race characteristics, rarely smile. An answer that piled new perplexity upon my existing perplexity returned.
“It is this Alakish's daughter.”
A daughter…?
And that moment was also the moment the answer was given as to how Alakish could treat Kasena so gently. As if handling the most precious treasure in the world, what Alakish carefully took out of the basket with both hands was a gigantic egg. A dragon egg, as tall as I was sitting, with three golden stripes on a red base.
“Th-this is…?”
As it was something even Rin's knowledge couldn't explain, I could only blink my eyes. A true dragon laying an egg? Wasn't that something only divine dragons and wyverns could do?
“Although you say you've interacted much with my kin, it seems you don't know this particular fact.”
As Alakish gently stroked the egg, the egg, the life within the egg, wriggled vigorously.
“True dragons give birth to new life when their lifespan nears its end. And they make that new life inherit their mission.”
Until it becomes a proper adult, they accompany it, teaching it its mission and guiding its character, so that it can fulfill their mission in their stead.
“You wouldn't be so surprised if you knew that this Alakish has spent over 1,400 years in Harbadonia.”
Fourteen hundred? Fourteen hundred years? Is that real? No, a dragon wouldn't lie… but that means it has lived here alone since the beginning of the Telsia Calendar. During those countless eons, I tried to imagine how it had endured alone in this land of madness, but I couldn't even begin to grasp it. Alakish, perhaps thinking similar thoughts, gently pressed its forehead against the egg and smiled sadly.
“That is why I am a little worried. Whether this child will be able to endure the mission that this Alakish had to bear…”
* * *
Alakish caressed the egg all night, chanting dragon tongue as if singing. Only the Dragon race could imbue power into the language itself without auxiliary elements, and Alakish's dragon tongue permeated deep into my soul more warmly than any sacred psalm or hymn I had ever heard. Like a campfire on a winter's day.
Was it prenatal education, or was it consideration for us? Perhaps it was both.
As the fiery tones echoed in the cave, Kasena's face began to regain its color, and a fatigue of several days poured over my body, my consciousness gradually blurred. What awakened my drowsily sleeping consciousness was a smell. A truly dreadful smell… so bad I wondered if the undead had attacked.
“Rin, Rin, Rin.”
Having regained consciousness at some point, Pipi, who had been sitting on the unconscious Kasena's head, flew over and rubbed her face against my cheek. Without even the luxury of welcoming the reunion, I followed the source of the smell.
“What is this?”
Next to the campfire, a bizarre piece of meat was skewered and completely burning away. And above it, on a helmet so old it was impossible to tell who had used it or when, something was bubbling. A murky, dark something, a mixture of all sorts of entrails, blood, and meat… What on earth was this?
“You're awake.”
Then, Alakish, who had walked in from behind, filled a ceramic bowl, obtained from who knows where, with that something and took it to Kasena.
“Um, excuse me? Alakish? May I ask what you're doing right now?”
Alakish cocked its head, as if I had asked an obvious question.
“Humans are weak. They must be supplied with nutrients. This Alakish hunted this.”
And as it gently embraced Kasena's body, and was about to pour the liquid into her lips, Rain let out a shriek.
“I-I! I'm hungrier, so! Could I eat first?”
Alakish extended the bowl, as if asking what could possibly be wrong with that.
Looking closer, it really was… What kind of overpowering presence was this? Cold sweat poured down like rain. If I had to compare it, the deadly poisonous cookies Kristia made were child's play.
“Emergency, emergency, Rin emergency!”
Pipi, who was staring at it with me, flew around frantically and tried to envelop herself in flames. It might have mistaken this for a formidable enemy.
“Don't, Pipi! Alakish prepared this for us since dawn…. W-we have to, thankfully, eat it….”
Gathering as much courage as I did when facing black mages, I remember closing my eyes tightly and taking a mouthful of the liquid. But when I opened my eyes, the horizon was tilted, my head was spinning, and Pipi was wailing that I was dead.
It was undoubtedly an enormous rudeness to someone who had shown kindness, but Alakish, rather than being embarrassed, had its eyebrows raised in puzzlement.
“Don't human children eat food like this? How truly finicky they are.”
“It's not that I'm finicky, it's just a bit…”
“They truly are a pitifully fragile race.”
Since dragons obtain nutrients from the life force flowing in nature from the moment they become adults, it's natural they wouldn't know the concept of gourmet food… And as children, they probably just tore into raw meat a few times and that was it.
“Then what should be done? Nutrients must be supplied so the body can stabilize.”
If you just bring me the ingredients, I'll try cooking it…. I was about to say that, but Alakish, who was looking out of the cave, made a decision first.
“The blizzard has stopped just in time. Prepare to move, human boy. We must go to a village.”
A village? What kind of village? There's no way there would be a human village here… Surely, you're not talking about a village of cursed beast-men (獸人), are you?
“Of course, that's what I meant, is there a problem?”