Book 8 Chapter 2
Episode 176
A crack appeared in the ground, and suddenly a pillar of fire surged up, shaking the great mountain.
All the mountain birds flew up in response to that transcendent tremor, and the two-headed monster turned to ashes without even a chance to scream.
Pipi, who had lured the monster as if to mock it, landed on the ashes and flapped its wings in victory.
“EASY, EASY, EASY. EEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSYYYYY.”
My shoulders felt a bit stiff after using my power for a long time; I rolled my aching shoulders and came down the mountain path.
The name of this village, located in the eastern forested area of the middle basin of the Bellisor River, is <Basenya>.
Radishes and cabbages floated gently above <Basenya> village. Valensidis must have been helping the residents with their harvest using psychokinesis.
“Wow…”
“Amazing…”
Amidst the residents' exclamations and cheers, countless crops were neatly stacked onto carts.
The blue witch, who had been staring at this scene with eyes as wide as the villagers', widened her eyes even further when she saw me.
“Oh, have you already finished? Already?”
The blue witch of this village was a fresh, greenhorn newcomer who hadn't been assigned for long.
She hadn't even mastered the Yuljang used in battles during dragon encounters, and perhaps she had many worries due to her lack of various skills.
When we offered to help if she let us stay for a few days, the witch readily brought up her worries.
That the C-class high-grade magic beast Calserot, which I had just exterminated and come down from, had settled on the foothills.
- It cries loudly every night, so the villagers can't sleep. It started carrying away livestock, and then at some point, it began attacking people too…
They said they had requested help from the <Aurelinople> Witch Association, but received only the reply that they would have to wait a long time due to a shortage of Red Witches.
They even managed to pool the witch's salary to invite a famous adventurer once, but the creature was so cunning it would hide every time.
Her eyes conveyed that she couldn't believe I had dealt with it in half a day.
“Yes, you won't have anything to worry about now.”
“What should I do? For payment… My salary will come in a fortnight, so then how…”
“No, no, it's fine as I said from the beginning. Providing food and a place to sleep is enough.”
The witch bowed her head repeatedly in thanks, then gave a faint laugh.
“Actually, when you appeared at the village entrance, Grandmother Segile made a huge fuss, saying that Lady Tureyna had come to help us, after seeing the sorcerer's conical hat.”
“Grandmother Segile?”
“She's the oldest person in the village. She says she's met Lady Tureyna many times herself. Since she used to come once every year.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, but I think even if Lady Tureyna herself had come, she wouldn't have helped so kindly. Thank you so much.”
My heart would ache as if torn when I saw fragments of the world destroyed by Tureyna, but sometimes, when I heard stories like this, I was simply happy.
By the way, Tureyna's conical hat…
I thought it would be fine since a conical hat is included in the basic vestments of the Osarius school, but more people recognize it than I expected. Should I try changing the color?
“A-baat!”
Around that time, the cutest voice in the world was heard, and a cute bundle of joy clung tightly to my leg.
“Abat, abat, abat.”
“Aki~ Were you learning well?”
“Aki, H-u-g-me-now.”
Perhaps because it had only been half a day, it wasn't satisfied just clinging to my leg and kept insisting to be held.
“……Wow, it's really too cute.”
The witch muttered, gently covering her mouth with both hands.
A beautifully crafted red leather strap, formed of delicate strands, adorned Aki's snowy-white nape.
The garnet, reflecting the sunset from its center, matched Aki's red hair perfectly.
It was a gift from Yuliana, and this was the second time I'd met a witch with it, but again, she couldn't read the presence of a dragon from Aki's soul.
‘This witch might just be a novice. They say you have to reach a certain level.’
When I picked Aki up, it rubbed its head against my chin. In the past, it would have been covered in drool, but it had really grown a lot.
As I chuckled absently, thinking about that, someone approached with a slightly angry face.
It was Celine, the first disciple of the Cheonhwapa and the Cheonhwa Illyong.
“Let's talk for a moment.”
“It's fine to do it here.”
“Aki shouldn't hear this. Leave him with the witch and follow me. That guy needs to come too.”
Celine had mostly recovered, her face had regained its color, and there were no issues with her movement. The problem had simply arisen elsewhere.
“Aki isn't thinking of learning martial arts?”
“That's what I'm saying, right? If I try to teach him, he thinks it's a game and doesn't do it. If I try to urge him, he runs away.”
“Isn't it because you're not close yet?”
“It's already the fifth day! We've gotten close enough.”
“Hmm…”
Around that time, Valensidis appeared, massaging the area around his shoulder blade where his jukyeol was. It seemed his jukyeol was stiff from using magic power all day.
“What's going on?”
“I need to plant a fantasy of martial arts in Aki's mind. Help me a little.”
“How so?”
Then Celine meaningfully crossed her arms.
“We're going to put on a play.”
“A play?”
Celine passionately explained a script that a madman might have written, even drawing pictures with a branch on the sand.
When her explanation finished, Valensidis's and my expressions were almost 99% identical.
It was an expression of doubting our ears, no, all five senses.
“Are you serious?”
Valensidis asked.
Celine nodded.
“Oh, come on, no way. You can't be serious about doing this, can you?”
I tried to scoff by way of confirmation.
But Celine nodded.
“We have to do it this way.”
“No, there must be another way.”
“There isn't. Only this. Do you really not know how effective plays are for children?”
Celine handed Valensidis a ghost mask roughly sewn from old clothes and a wooden sword.
“Ha.”
Valensidis often gives a cold sneer when his anger level exceeds its limit, and in this case, even I felt fear.
Pipi flew around erratically above our heads, cawing loudly and mocking us.
“Hey, why aren't you loosening up your expressions? There's no other way if we want Aki to truly learn martial arts.”
“Were you always this proactive? My first impression was of a lone wolf burdened with all the world's sorrows…”
“You can't just keep grieving forever, can you? So, are you going to do it? Or not?”
You can't just keep grieving forever… For some reason, those words came as a quiet comfort to my heart.
“Ah, alright, let's do it, let's try. But, listen, I bet five silver coins that it won't succeed. Aki might look like a fool, but he's not, you know? He's really smart.”
Aki is of the Dragon race.
He is a more intelligent creature than anyone.
So, one could say I'm bound to win this bet.
“Hmph, it'll definitely succeed, you know? Make it ten silver coins.”
“Alright.”
It took Valensidis longer than me to accept this proposal. Perhaps due to a debt of gratitude, he eventually agreed.
But he's the type to thoroughly do whatever he decides to do. As soon as he put on the ghost mask, the atmosphere completely changed.
This ridiculous, childish play began when I brought Aki, who was holding the witch's hand, to the riverside.
“Mmm, Aki, the weather today is~ so nice, isn't it~?”
I had no talent for this kind of play.
When I recited my lines in a stiff tone, as if reading a book, a sharp glare flew from Celine, who was hiding in the bushes ahead.
No, I was doing my best too.
“Birds are chirping… flowers are blooming… on a day like this─”
Fortunately, my script could be considered to end here. At that moment, a masked assailant wearing a ghost mask appeared from the reed thicket. It was Valensidis.
“─A wretch like you should burn in hell.”
His voice was truly as cold and sharp as that of an assassin suddenly jumping out on the road.
In the blink of an eye, the wooden sword struck the crown of my head… No, is it real that this dog-like bastard hit me incredibly hard, unlike the script?
While suppressing the surging anger, I still had to recite the last line of the script.
“Ugh! A~a~argh!”
As I slumped to the ground, Aki's eyes widened and he immediately rushed to me.
“Ah, Ab-at, M-my, Daddy?”
I wanted to pat his head, he was so brave, but according to the script, I was in the "dead" stage and shouldn't answer.
“Emergency~ Emergency~ Emergency~!”
Pipi also recited its lines.
“Su-per-E-mer-gen-cy~!”
And then it landed on the side of my head and started pecking my temple.
This wasn't in the script, was it? Could you please stop?
Dead people shouldn't feel pain.
“Abat, Abaah!”
No matter how much he shook me, I didn't answer, so Aki took a dazed breath. Then he looked back at the villain.
“Grrrrrr……”
Aki showing hostility and baring his fangs! The play is just about to reach its climax. No, is he really falling for this?
“Khu-hum, that looks like Valensidis…”
I let out a dying sigh, under the pretense that my vocal cords had stiffened from rigor mortis.
Celine glared at me, but Aki, as I intended, retracted his fangs and looked intently at Valensidis, then tilted his head.
“Ba-roo-boo?”
Valensidis also seemed to think Aki had recognized his identity, and paused his actions with a start.
Yes, this is it!
Dragons see into souls, you see.
He wouldn't be fooled by mere disguise. As if to mock my thought, Aki bared his fangs even more fiercely than before and threatened the opponent!
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Is the intelligence of the Dragon race worse than a chimpanzee's?
I even gave a hint?
In the end, this utterly childish play is rushing towards its conclusion! Dangerous!
“Do you wish to protect him? I'm sorry, but it's impossible for a wretch like you who hasn't learned martial arts.”
This is driving me crazy, why is that Valensidis acting so genuinely again?
No, it's not acting. This wicked bastard is genuinely laughing at me right now. He's so amused that his immersion has increased.
But seeing Aki, who used to be scared even of turtles, standing to protect me, brought tears to my eyes.
“I'll finish you off with this, you slippery sorcerer!”
Valensidis lightly dodges the rushing Aki, then raises the wooden sword above my head! Aki clings to his leg, whimpering!
It was at that very moment!
The bushes rustled, and Celine, leaping out like an arrow, delivered three satisfying long blows to Valensidis's solar plexus in quick succession with powerful shouts!
“Haat!”
“Kuk.”
“Haap! Get it right.”
“……”
“Yaa! I said get it right!”
“Kkwaak!”
In the end, Valensidis, letting out a bitter scream and flying a good distance away, exited the stage, and Celine watched him, then triumphantly brushed her hands.
“Phew~ that was dangerous. Aki, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Aki, D-Dan-ger-ous-was.”
“Things like this will happen often in the future. If you want to protect this guy, who you don't know if he's your brother or father, you need strength.”
“St-Strength m-must have!”
“The power to defeat villains like that, that's martial arts!”
Celine forcefully kicked the ground with a jingak and leapt onto a branch. She struck a magnificent pose of the Cheonhwapa's ultimate technique and shouted.
“Do you want to have this kind of power? Do you want to learn martial arts? And so protect your brother?!”
“P-Pro-tect-want!”
“Then, from today onwards, you, Aki, are a disciple of the Cheonhwapa! I, Celine, the first disciple of the Cheonhwapa, am your master!”
Celine retracted her stance and demonstrated the pokwon, famous as the greeting of wanderers, to Aki.
“If you want to walk the path of Mu, follow me. This is the beginning!”
As Aki, with eyes shining with admiration, cutely and charmingly imitated the pokwon, Pipi hovered over my head, chattering mockingly.
“Lingchi, lingchi, lingchi, lingchi, lingchi.”
I wiped away a tear that had gathered at the corner of my eye and rose from my spot.
“I'm just going to leave…”
My whole body was a mess of mud and pebbles, yet I felt no discomfort. That was because my mind was the real mess.
“I've started to feel deep skepticism about the intelligence of the Dragon race…”
* * *
The Fallen Lands, southern Adrion Continent.
The lands bordering the ‘Flowing Desert’ are called the Fallen Lands.
It was named that because those border regions were gradually desertifying, and civilization itself was collapsing.
“Alright, shall I stretch my body after a long time!”
As a massive, alien spearhead plunged into the earth's axis, thunder suddenly flashed in the clear sky.
The lightning, pouring down like a whirlwind, swept away the demons hiding in the Fallen Lands and the mercenaries who were subjugating them, indiscriminately, in a single strike.
When the dance of lightning ended, only a man clad in grotesque heavy armor remained in that wasteland.
“Still, there isn't a single useful one among mortals. But exterminating demons is quite enjoyable.”
That yellowish armor, which stood out with the form of a dragon and displayed the dignity of the dragon race, was made of a material that was, blasphemously, dragon scales itself.
“So, what's your business again?”
Furthermore, the heavy spear he had just plunged into the ground, its entire structure, with the shaft and blade each as long as a grown man, was made of dragon bone.
“Still immense power. Have you warmed up a bit now?”
As the man in dragon-scale armor pulled the spear from the ground, cracks spread across the surface.
“Not yet. Even after 10 years, you still can't accept ‘our’ power. This is why mortal bodies are like this.”
And when he shouldered it, the metallic sound resonated terrifyingly with a tremor of immense power.
Then the human charred remains scattered around exploded.
“But, I think I told you. If you come without any particular business, I'll kill you.”
Suddenly, another man stood in the direction where the first man had thrust his spear.
“That's disappointing, saying such harsh words between us.”
He had a grotesque eye patch around his eye, and he didn't even flinch from the thrust that had just caused such a powerful aftershock.
“I've come to give you incredibly good information.”
Instead, the man with the eye patch theatrically waved his arm with a very relaxed and confident posture.
Inside the dragon-scale armor helmet that covered his entire face, the man's eyes narrowed calmly.
A vertically elongated pupil within a noble golden iris… it was undoubtedly the eye of a dragon.
“Isn't it about time to hunt the next dragon? Dragon Slayer.”