Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 94 : The Land of the Demi-Humans (2)

The Land of the Demi-Humans (2)

I could feel the air trembling.

'No, it's not the air—maybe it's the magic power moving.'

Originally, mages stored magic power in their hearts.

Whenever a mage's magic power increases, a circular ring forms around their heart—this is called a 'circle'.

Of course, that's only true for humans.

The circles that form in a human's heart act like protective gear, enabling the heart to withstand magic power.

Or, it's a kind of device that makes absorbing magic power easier.

But dragons are different.

A dragon's heart is itself a massive vessel that can contain more magic power than anything else.

If they so wish, they have the strength to fill that giant vessel at any time.

That is why humans can never defeat dragons in magic.

"This, this strength...!"

The fear was evident in the voice of the one who had shot the arrow.

After all, the demi-humans harbored a fundamental fear of dragons.

"Break, break, break, break."

Rumble, thud! Boom boom boom!

Riya, having absorbed enormous magic power, cast Dragon Tongue in rapid succession with that power.

As she did, the trees densely packed all around started to fall one by one, snapping as they toppled.

As thick, massive trees snapped and fell, screams rang out.

"Wait! Stop, Riya!"

It had all happened so suddenly that I was late to intervene.

In just a few seconds, the center of the mountain range had been shaved down to a barren hill.

When every tree in the area collapsed, we could see those who had been hiding among them.

'As expected, they were elves.'

No one but elves could have shot arrows so accurately in this deep darkness.

[Why are you stopping me? Filth like them should just...! I understand hating humans, but does attacking like this without warning make any sense?]

Even Granseia, who rarely got serious, was genuinely furious.

In the end, I was the one attacked, but it was difficult to even get angry.

'... There's no need anyway.'

More accurately, there was no one left to get angry at. The elves were moaning, collapsed among the snapped trees.

"O, O Great One, please forgive my brethren! They did not know what they were doing!"

Startled by the sudden incident, Piorn hurriedly dropped to his knees before Riya, pleading.

Riya tilted her head slightly at Piorn, gazing at him.

"Ignorance does not always deserve forgiveness. Sometimes, ignorance becomes a grave sin."

"Pl-please, I beg you. They only..."

"They just tried to kill the very benefactors who saved the demi-humans."

Riya cut Piorn off mercilessly, then swept the surroundings with eyes that had begun to flush red, like a dragon's.

"The Empire tried to build peace with the demi-humans, but if they're such savages, perhaps we should reconsider."

"...!"

At those words, the faces of the other demi-humans instantly turned pale.

Having stayed at my estate and learned of Riya's nature, they realized just how terrifying her words were.

"That's enough, Riya. There were those slave trader incidents recently—they must be feeling sensitive."

Here, I spoke up with as conciliatory an expression as I could manage.

At that, everyone's eyes immediately turned to me. Their hope-filled gaze was practically begging me to persuade Riya.

Of course, once I intervened, Riya instantly pouted.

"But..."

"This much is enough. I'm sure they've repented plenty."

After coming all this way, killing them would defeat the whole purpose.

Of course, we might be able to get what we want by force, but that could create unpredictable variables.

"Right?"

When I addressed the elves groaning among the fallen trees, they responded immediately.

"O, O Great One! We attacked you out of ignorance. Please, forgive us!"

A middle-aged man, who I surmised was likely the elves' leader, hurried over to us, dropped to his knees, and bowed his head.

"Hm."

Watching him, Riya leaned forward slowly.

Then, with her palm, she gently stroked the back of his head.

Her touch seemed to comfort a child, but everyone present knew—if she put strength into that hand, she could crush his head right then and there.

"You have done me no wrong. Maybe you're apologizing to the wrong person?"

"... O, human! We have done wrong, we have sinned greatly!"

The middle-aged elf crawled on the ground toward me, banging his head on the earth.

'Human, he says.'

He seemed pitiable, but considering they had shot arrows at me, I wasn't particularly inclined to pity them.

Still, I had to maintain a gracious demeanor, so I smiled and reached out to the kneeling elf, whose head was pressed to the dirt.

"It's fine. I came to send the demi-humans home, not to engage in pointless fighting."

"O-ohhh."

He gazed up at me with an expression full of emotion.

The other demi-humans were the same—some even had tears in their eyes, as if they had found a savior.

"Well, we can't just stay here forever... Would you be able to guide us?"

"O-of course. But..."

The middle-aged elf glanced nervously at Riya.

Her face showed clear displeasure, but as if to show respect for my choice, Riya gave a slight nod.

"I don't mind."

"T-then I'll guide you right away!!"

The middle-aged elf rose with effort and turned his body.

Then he began to urgently spur on the elves who were still on the ground.

'Thanks to this, I don't have to explain anything unnecessarily.'

Even if I explained that I'd come to free the demi-humans, I thought a little friction was inevitable.

But thanks to Riya, it seemed I'd skipped needless trouble.

"Riya, you did all this to push things in this direction, didn't you?"

I asked, following behind the quickly moving elves.

If Riya had seriously tried to kill them, there's no way there wouldn't have been casualties.

"No."

"No?"

"Correct."

It seemed it had just been luck.

* * *

"Thank you so much for saving the children from those brutes."

Upon leading the demi-humans to a nearby village, the village chief expressed his thanks to me.

When I'd first arrived, they had been on high alert at the sight of a human, but when they learned I had rescued these folk from the slavers, their wariness eased somewhat.

'Riya's presence helped too.'

The elves around kept casting glances at Riya, who stood at my side.

The two horns on her temple, no matter how you looked at them, set her apart from ordinary humans, and the aura unique to dragons emanated from her.

To them, it must have seemed as if a dragon was toying with mortals; it was only natural that they would be wary.

It wasn't what I had originally planned, but thanks to that, we had saved quite a bit of time.

"Chief!"

At that moment, an elven girl ran to the chief and leapt into his arms.

She was the girl with the profile of being the second master of the 'Calamity of Madness'.

"Titiana, you're safe! Thank goodness!"

"Chief, I have urgent news."

She glanced at me briefly, then tugged at the chief's sleeve.

I nodded slightly in her direction.

'Looks like she's going to speak of it now.'

Titiana possessed information that couldn't be gleaned from anyone else's profile.

Specifically, regarding the reason they had been captured by slavers.

'... Zervisia, was it?'

In Lavantara, among the representatives put forth by elves, dwarves, and beastkin, one had been chosen as king, and currently, the elven representative Lavantara was ruling.

And Zervisia was that elven king's son.

'He was in league with the slavers from the Kingdom of Talua, wasn't he?'

Had Titiana known exactly who Zervisia was colluding with, or who the head of the slavers was, it would have been nice, but it seemed even she didn't know that much.

'I'll have to confirm it during the birthday celebration...'

Or perhaps, once I met Zervisia in person, I would find out.

"Then, shall we go right away?"

"Understood."

The dwarves complied immediately, despite likely being tired.

Unlike the elves, the dwarves placed complete trust in my words.

Perhaps being the master of the Seven Swords Under Heaven meant more to the dwarves than to the other races.

That must be why they agreed to my request to stop by the ruins where the Calamity of Madness was discovered before heading to the village.

"Are these marks from the battle between the demonkin and the calamity?"

"Yes. We never should have borrowed the demonkin's power back then..."

The dwarf who had transported the Calamity of Madness bowed his head deeply in response.

If I remembered right... his name was Shondar.

Judging by how the others followed his lead, he was probably the highest ranking among them.

"Perhaps these troubles are retribution for relying on the demonkin's power."

They displayed an attitude of self-reproach, as if the reappearance of the demon sword their ancestors had hidden was a result of their past deal with the demonkin.

"This is the ruin where the demon sword was discovered."

Guided by Shondar, we climbed the mountain and were met with a place that looked as if a chunk had been sliced away.

It was deeply gouged out, as if melted by flowing lava, giving me a sense of just how fierce the battle between the demonkin and the calamity must have been.

'Calamity of corrosion, huh...'

According to the synopsis, the calamity that appeared in Lavantara before the Calamity of Madness was the 'calamity of corrosion'.

Seeing the devastation before my eyes, it seemed the name was well-deserved.

'Let's see.'

At the ruins, half-melted terrain partly exposed the structure.

As I carefully stepped inside, a corridor shrouded in deep darkness was revealed.

"Hmm?"

As I carefully followed the corridor downward, a small altar came into view.

There was a groove in the altar, just wide enough for a single sword to fit.

==

〈Altar of the Madness Sword〉

An altar sealing Hella, the Madness Sword.

While leading his army to assault the capital of the Kingdom of Talua, Zervisia happened to discover it.

==

A very concise profile.

But it didn't match the situation at all.

'It says it happened while marching to Talua's capital?'

Let me think for a moment.

What was the relationship between Lavantara and Talua in the original story?

'... I get the general idea.'

But a few gaps remained.

If only I could fill in those gaps now...

Sizzle!

While examining the altar, I stepped in a puddle and my shoe began to burn.

I took my foot away in a hurry, but the front was already melted off.

"...!"

At the same time, something unfamiliar brushed against my perception.

I knew this chilling sensation all too well.

"So you were hiding here!"

I swiftly drew Genova and swung.

At that moment, a thick green liquid spurted from the crack in the altar, splattering in all directions.