novelraw Chapter 83 : Chapter 83
Chapter 83 : Chapter 83
Chapter 83
“Hmm…….”
Although Hoodwock didn't seem to know, Ian and Vergil had realized the dragon was alive from the moment they found it.
Every time the creature’s body moved slightly, the surrounding mana fluctuated.
“What should I do?”
The monster I needed to loot was alive.
Perhaps if the system wasn't under maintenance, a choice to save it or kill it would have appeared.
“Captain!
A Drake!
It’s definitely a Drake!
Could that dragonfly mark have meant it was a Drake’s territory?!”
I didn’t tell the thoroughly excited Hoodwock that the monster before us was a dragon.
Not only was there no chance he’d believe me if I suddenly said the monster was a dragon, but dragons in this world were closer to objects of faith, like gods or angels.
If he found out it was a dragon, there was a high chance his favorability would drop if I decided to kill it.
‘It’s tricky to either save it or kill it…….’
Compared to other Ogres, this creature seemed to have no will to live.
The way it was curled up as if sleeping suggested as much…….
Flinch!
“Hm?”
Didn’t it just move?
“It's a shame, it would have been better if it wasn't dead.
If it's a Drake, it would have been a great asset to the fortress!”
Flinch!
Could it be…….
I looked at the dragon with narrowed eyes.
It seems to be reacting every time it's called a Drake.
I was already worried because it was much smaller than what I’d seen in the game.
If it died in this state, it would be difficult to even get a single piece of equipment for one person.
“Hoodwock.”
“Yes! Captain!”
“Do you know anything about ‘Drakes’?”
Flinch!
As I thought, seeing it react, it was clearly listening to our conversation.
“Ah, no.
All I know is what I’ve heard from the old men at the fortress… bits and pieces from here and there is all.”
“For someone who only knows that much, you seem unusually fond of them.”
“That’s because it’s a ‘Drake’!”
Flinch!
“Have you perhaps heard of the Wyvern Rangers of the Terife Kingdom?
Not knights, but rangers who ride wyverns!
Rangers!”
As he spoke of ‘wyverns’ with a somewhat dreamy expression, the dragon flinched a little more noticeably.
Was ‘wyvern’ more offensive than ‘drake’?
Hmm?
In that case…….
“Ahem, ahem.
Wyverns or Drakes, they’re all just winged liza…….”
Before I could finish, I met the eyes of the dragon, which had finally managed to lift its eyelids ever so slightly.
“…lizards.
Even so, aren’t they just a subspecies of the great dragons?”
Calua, who had struggled to open his eyes, looked at him pitifully.
As if to say he himself was that great dragon.
Lightly ignoring the gaze, Ian asked Hoodwock.
“Ah, do you happen to know much about dragons?”
“Huh?
Why a dragon all of a sudden……?”
Because there was a dragon right in front of us.
It would be troublesome if I saved it only for it to rampage, claiming a mere human had dared to touch it.
Its black color gave off a strong impression of a crazed or evil dragon, and I had no certainty otherwise.
“The old men from the outside would have seen and heard many things, so they must have heard about dragons too.”
“Nah, no matter how bored those old folks are, they don't talk about such useless things.
Dragons?
I’ve heard of talking Trolls, but I’ve never heard of a living dragon.”
Ah.
In this world, dragons do not interfere in the human realm except during their period of amusement.
Once they showed themselves, humans would swarm their lairs in lava caves, begging for blessings, protection, or just offering whatever they had, so they decided to hide their forms instead.
Naturally, the forgotten dragons were treated as imaginary monsters.
“Anyone who claims to have seen a dragon is just an idiot who mistook it for a Drake.”
Flinch!
The dying dragon glared at Hoodwock with all its might, but Hoodwock, whose sensitivity to mana was low, waved his hands dismissively, saying dragons were imaginary monsters.
Thinking it would be difficult to get an answer from Hoodwock, Ian glanced at the dragon and asked.
“Are dragons creatures that know gratitude?”
* * *
At the human's words, Calua blinked his eyes as if in reply.
He wanted to chew up and swallow the human who dared to compare the great dragons to mere animals, but the other one was an ignorant human.
Blink.
“A monster blessed by mana!
There’s no way such a thing exists!”
Thinking he would have silenced that annoying human's mouth if only he could use magic, he glared at the man.
Then, the handsome human asked again.
“I heard that dragons kill any human who sees their true form.
Is that true?”
His eyes darted.
Startled, Calua shook his eyes from side to side.
As if a dragon was some ignorant Ogre to kill someone just for making eye contact!
If his true form was discovered, he’d have to pack up and move his lair immediately before fearsome humans started swarming in!
Calua did his best to ignore the annoying human chattering on about how such rumors must have started because humans who saw living Drakes died.
The unpleasant human next to the annoying one somehow seemed to know that this body was a dragon.
‘Ugh… the elders of the clan said all humans are filthy and stupid…….’
The more he looked at the unpleasant human, the more his mana twisted and he felt suffocated.
It was like finding a sandworm larva while cleaning his lair.
‘Still, still, I can't be called a Drake!’
Declaring that alone was unacceptable, he put all his strength into his eyes and focused on the human.
“Hmm… then if by some chance I help a dragon on the verge of death, would the dragon repay the favor?”
Calua didn't understand the question right away.
Not only was death itself an unfamiliar concept to dragons, but there was no way a wicked human could help a dragon that had manifested in its true form.
“……?”
Could he be talking about me?
He can help me?
“Tsk.
So they know gratitude but don’t repay it?”
Calua quickly darted his eyes, thinking.
A wicked human, help me?
I’m a dragon.
It was impossible.
The elders of the clan had said that humans were more wicked than demons, more cunning than goblins, more barbaric than orcs, and more ignorant than ogres—in short, the worst of all intelligent beings.
* * *
A long time ago, when he was young, before the color of his skin had changed.
The kind elders of the clan often visited Calua to teach him.
-The great dragons fear nothing.
Not goblins, not orcs, not ogres, not even the demons who tear through dimensions and invade.
Calua nodded his head repeatedly.
Because dragons were truly great and amazing!
- …But not humans.
- …Pardon?
- Humans are contradictory beings who record and remember, yet also forget.
That is a very dangerous thing.
The young dragon did not understand.
It wasn't as if humans were the only ones who kept records; there were elves, dwarves, and beastmen too, so what on earth did that mean?
What was there for a great dragon to fear?
- Hmm… yes.
Let’s think about the dwarves.
At those words, Calua recalled the dwarf who had brought a gift last month.
A kind race that left gifts no matter how many times he refused.
- If you set fire to a few of their clans, they will come on their own and offer gifts.
That is a dwarf.
……?!
Learning the truth about the dwarves, Calua looked at the elder of his clan in surprise.
My goodness, he thought they were kind people, but they were being threatened!
No, more importantly, if they had threatened them first before setting fire to their clans……!
- Those stubborn fools will try not to be broken, but once they are, they will pass down that fact for generations.
Then there is no need to set fire to them again.
Calua gradually learned the old dragon's way of thinking.
Hmm, when they don’t break easily, you can just set them on fire and burn them.
It would have been better for everyone if they had given gifts before being set on fire.
- The same goes for the elves.
They are a proud race, but they never make an enemy of a dragon.
They record and remember what they fought for and what they lost.
A fear, once instilled, is passed down through generations.
The wise old dragon said that no race, not even dragons, was different in that respect.
- Even those stupid and savage goblins know how to carve fear into their souls and remember it.
Just as we pass down knowledge like this, all races pass down knowledge and experience.
Understanding the old dragon's words, Calua tilted his head.
As far as he knew, among all the races, the ones most diligent in ‘education’ were the foolish humans who had no particular talent.
- But humans are different.
- …In what way?
- Humans remember and teach, but at the same time, they forget.
- ……?
- Those fellows think that even if one kingdom burns, it has nothing to do with the kingdom next to it.
- Pardon?
…….
Isn't that just stupid?
- So, if you burn two countries, only then do they hastily offer gifts and bow their heads, telling you not to be angry.
Calua nodded his head vigorously.
Hmm, as expected, dragons are great!
- And then, behind your back, they sharpen their teeth to chew up the dragon.
……?
- Pardon?
Calua genuinely did not understand, but neither did the old dragon.
- Of course, they will fail at first.
No matter how hard and sharp a sword is forged, it is unlikely to ever touch a dragon's body.
Nod, nod!
- Then a few more countries will burn, and after a few dozen more years, the next one will come.
……?
- This time, they will come prepared with a sharper sword and a few spears to throw.
……?
Aren't they a really stupid race?
- After spears, arrows; after arrows, magic; after magic, divine power; after divine power, black magic… Hmm, they might also bring a few demonkin and celestials who have been tricked by cunning humans.
……?
Then when do they sleep?
- They might even trick the kind dwarves and elves and bring them along.
They usually say they are slaying an evil dragon to win their freedom.
Or they might just conquer them and bring them.
…Huh?
That was more troublesome and unfortunate than he thought.
Calua was quite fond of the dwarves who came every month, or more accurately, the gifts they brought.
Besides, an evil dragon?!
He was a good dragon who had never burned a single dwarf village!
- Eventually, someone will die.
The dragon in the lair that the humans have entered might have been preparing to return to the embrace of mana.
Calua listened to the old dragon's words with a serious face.
Imagining a truly impolite and wicked race that would invade the lair of a dragon preparing to return to the embrace of mana.
- Then that becomes a human record.
A terrible record that can never be erased, no matter how hard they try.
- …Pardon?
- To remember it, humans will make armor from a dragon’s scales, forge a sword from its bones, make a bow from its sinews, and chew on a dragon’s heart.
Feeling a shiver run down his spine, Calua let out a small gasp of horror.
- And they will say.
If we have hunted one once, we can hunt one again.
The old dragon spoke slowly, but clearly.
- From that moment on, to them, we are not great dragons.
We are expensive Drakes.
The old dragon took his time teaching the young hatchling the rules of the clan.
To experience and understand the human world upon waking.
To never be discovered as a dragon.
If discovered as a dragon, to flee to the farthest, most undiscoverable place.
And never.
No matter what, never, ever trust a human.
* * *
“Even if it's a little painful in the process of saving you, the dragon will understand, right?”
Calua quickly blinked his eyes, thinking that perhaps the clan had been wrong about humans.
He had thought he would die before even going out for his amusement, but here was a human trying to help him!
‘That’s right!
My personality is different from other dragons, so humans must all be different too!
Although this human is brimming with an unpleasant aura, he must be a trustworthy human……!’
Just then, the human, who had approached him, bent down to meet his eyes and spoke slowly.
“Can you swear to mana that you will endure a little pain and not forget the grace of having your life saved?”
‘How does a human know about that……!’
Like the foolish human who kept calling him a Drake, most humans wouldn't even be sure of the clan's existence, yet he knew about the oath!
‘Could it be that he’s not a human, but a demon……!’
Convinced that Ian was a demon, Calua blinked his eyes repeatedly.
Since he knew about the mana oath, the being before him was surely a demon in disguise, not a human!
‘What a relief!’
Hadn't the wise old dragons of the great clan said it was better to seek out a demon than to make a contract with a human!
Just as he was about to praise the nameless demon in the hope that he could live, he felt his skin and shell being torn off, and a pain incomparable to anything he had felt before washed over him.
-Kwaaaaaaaah!
He said ‘a little’!
A little, he said a little!
You cowardly demon