Chapter 251 : Chapter 251
Side Story 10. The Rohan Brothers (3)
It was an unexpected windfall.
‘A Hatchling.’
It had an aura similar to Rosie’s.
Perhaps this one had lived a century or two longer than Rosie.
There was a slightly greater sense of maturity about him.
In any case, the boy was the Polymorphed form of a Red Dragon Hatchling.
I had not expected to encounter a Dragon this quickly.
I had only heard that a Dragon’s Nest had appeared and vanished somewhere in this area, so at most, I had hoped to find some clue concerning the Red Dragons.
That was the extent of my expectations.
“Sir, did you perhaps kill our parents?”
The boy smiled as he asked me the question.
It was the first change in expression he had shown after remaining expressionless all this time.
There was something almost chilling about the sight.
The parents he was referring to were presumably the Red Dragon Devrias.
In truth, however, the concept of parents meant little to Dragons.
Although a Hatchling was born from the egg of an adult Dragon, Dragons had no concept of raising their offspring.
I had also heard that Dragons cared nothing for who had given birth to them and did not even bother trying to find out.
Of course, that did not mean there was no sense of kinship among their kind.
Dragons were known to punish those who killed one of their own without mercy.
The recent appearance and disappearance of numerous Dragon’s Nests throughout Kalia was likewise a precursor to their coming revenge.
It was also the reason I had come to Kalia.
“Child! What has gotten into you all of a sudden?”
When the atmosphere around the boy changed, the Rohan brothers seemed to realize that something was wrong.
However, they apparently had not grasped just how dangerous he was.
That was only natural.
They had never encountered a Dragon before.
The boy grinned and glanced back and forth between the Rohan brothers.
Then—
“Would you two please be quiet?”
As he spoke, balls of fire formed in both of his hands.
No matter how young the Hatchling was, he was still a Dragon.
And no matter how skilled the Rohan brothers were with the sword, the difference in their very standing was far too great.
“Gasp!”
Naturally, Ash and Emon recoiled in shock.
The brothers hurriedly raised their weapons, preparing themselves for the boy’s attack.
“He is a mage!”
That was not exactly wrong.
The being before them was a Dragon, the progenitor of magic itself.
In any case, the balls of fire the boy had created never reached the two men.
FSSSS—
Because I extinguished them immediately.
“You two, stay back for a moment.”
“But, young master! What in the world is happening?”
“You can figure that out later. And do not make me say the same thing twice. He hated that sort of thing too, remember?”
As expected, the Rohan brothers understood immediately.
“Understood!”
The boy turned his head back toward me.
“Tell me quickly. You are the one who killed our parents, are you not?”
“Why do you think that?”
“I think I can smell it on you.”
“A smell?”
“It is faint, but you smell as though you became entangled with one of our kind.”
“You have quite the nose.”
“So it really was you.”
“Do all Dragons have that ability?”
It was something even Rosie had never mentioned.
But this Hatchling did not appear to be bluffing.
“No. I am simply a little special.”
The boy grinned as he continued.
“Anyway, I have to kill you now. In the most painful way possible.”
“You think you can?”
“Of course. There are only three of you here.”
“Hmm.”
Perhaps that was an entirely natural assumption for a Dragon.
He could not imagine that I had killed Devrias alone.
“Either way, this works out nicely.”
“What does?”
“If I beat the answers out of you, I should be able to find a way to meet the older Dragons as well.”
A mere Hatchling was not the one with whom I needed to negotiate.
If I wanted a guarantee for Kalia’s safety, I would have to meet someone on the level of the leader of the Red Dragons.
***
The boy’s Hellfire came hurtling toward me.
Of course, compared to Devrias’s, it was little more than a child’s trick.
‘What an adorable little Hellfire.’
I cut once horizontally and once vertically with Bastian, and the flames vanished completely.
The boy’s smug expression twisted.
I broke through the flames and charged straight at him.
Then I gave him a flick on the forehead.
BOOM!
The boy clutched his head with both hands.
“Aaagh!”
I whispered quietly to him.
“Consider yourself fortunate. If you were in your true form instead of looking like a little boy, I would have cut off your tail.”
His appearance was certainly doing him a great favor at the moment.
“Do not make me laugh!”
But the boy refused to accept defeat and immediately tried to launch another attack.
My fist was faster.
BOOM!
Of course, this was no ordinary flick.
The mana that traveled through his skull must have wreaked havoc inside his body.
“Aaagh!”
“Why do you not just return to your true form? Beating up a little boy makes me hold back without even realizing it.”
As I spoke, I struck him on the forehead once again.
“AAAAAGH!”
This time, a ball of fire erupted from the boy’s mouth along with his scream.
It possessed enough power to reduce even a considerable expert to ashes in a single blow.
To me, however, it looked almost laughable.
SWOOOSH!
The Holy Sword swept past just in front of the boy’s nose, splitting the flames apart.
His face went pale as he asked me,
“Sir... are you really human?”
“Enough with the ‘sir.’ You have probably lived ten times longer than I have.”
“But by the standards of my race, I am still a child, while you are simply a sir. Anyway, this will not do. I cannot fight properly in this form.”
It seemed the boy had finally decided to return to his true form.
Light flashed around him, revealing the imposing form of a Hatchling.
The Rohan brothers’ mouths fell open.
***
In the end, it had not been a good decision for the Hatchling.
Once he returned to his true form, the restrictions on his mana disappeared, allowing him to unleash far more powerful attacks.
However, what he lost in exchange was much greater.
Now that he no longer looked like a boy, I could beat him without feeling even the slightest guilt.
BOOOOM!
The ground shook.
I grabbed the Hatchling by the tail and slammed him into the earth, drawing a pained groan from him.
I waited a little while for him to recover his senses.
I was curious what he would say this time.
“Please spare me.”
At last, he had begun begging for his life.
I had been wondering when those words would finally come out.
“You may only be a Hatchling, but is it really acceptable for a Dragon to beg for its life like this?”
“Life is precious even to a Dragon.”
I had not realized it while he was in the form of a boy, but I was beginning to like his personality.
“Then I will give you a chance to preserve that precious life.”
“R-Really?”
“So answer my questions properly.”
“I will keep that firmly in mind.”
The corner of my mouth lifted as I began questioning him.
Perhaps things would proceed more smoothly than I had expected.
“I understand that quite a few Dragon’s Nests appeared throughout Kalia and then disappeared. Was that indeed a precursor to Dragons appearing here?”
“For mere humans to—no. Ahem. It seems humans have managed to discover quite a lot.”
“So it is true?”
“Yes! A Dragon’s Nest cannot simply be completed overnight, so it takes some time. Those nests appeared and vanished because we were only establishing the sites where the actual nests would eventually be built.”
In other words, it was now only a matter of time before Dragons appeared in Kalia.
According to the Hatchling’s estimate, it would take no longer than a month from now.
“Then why are you wandering around Kalia before your nest has even been completed?”
“I told you earlier, did I not? I possess a somewhat unusual ability.”
“You can smell people who have come into contact with Dragons?”
“Yes. I was sent ahead as a scout to find the one who killed our kind. I did not expect to pick up the scent so quickly near one of the nest sites, though. More shocking still is the fact that you killed one of our Red Dragons by yourself. That is true, is it not? You killed them alone?”
I nodded.
“Ha! I wonder whether anyone will believe me when I return and tell them. It is simply too absurd.”
“Return where?”
The Hatchling stared at me incredulously.
“You said you would spare me if I told you everything honestly. Surely you have not forgotten? I have told you nothing but the truth without a single lie.”
“I said I would spare your life. I never said I would let you leave.”
“What?”
“You will be traveling with me for a while, until the rest of your kind appears.”
“But why?”
“Because if I keep you with me, it should be easy to gather the rest of your kind in one place.”
The Hatchling looked at me as though I were insane.
“You intend to face them head-on instead of running away? Are you out of your mind?”
“Perhaps.”
I had never avoided something merely because it was dangerous.
There was no reason that should change simply because my opponents were a group of Dragons.
I merely found it amusing that the bait had walked straight to me on its own.
***
A tavern in a nearby city.
The Rohan brothers remained dazed until alcohol finally began flowing.
That was understandable.
Few people could remain entirely composed after seeing the true form of a Dragon.
Among the people living in Kalia in this era, the two brothers might very well have been the only ones who had ever seen a Dragon with their own eyes.
“You will probably want to tell everyone about it, but pretend you saw nothing.”
“Understood!”
Having answered like that, the two brothers would take the secret to their graves.
“What are your plans from here?”
At my question, the brothers merely looked at one another.
Well, there was no reason they would suddenly have a plan.
They had spent the past seven years foolishly carrying out a punishment they had imposed upon themselves.
If I had not appeared today, the next seven years of their lives might not have been any different.
“We will take our time thinking about it.”
“I am not forcing you, but there is one option I would recommend.”
“An option? Is it perhaps related to our lord’s wishes?”
As expected.
They had not even begun thinking about stepping out from Johan Raven’s shadow.
“No. Not particularly.”
If I said it was, then it would become an order rather than an option.
“This is purely my own opinion, so you are free to ignore it.”
“Please tell us.”
“Lucy Raven. How about going to her and placing yourselves in her service?”
Both men’s eyes widened simultaneously.
“Our lord’s family?”
“Yes. With your personalities, I cannot imagine either of you establishing a family of your own, and it would be a waste to let your abilities rot away. If that is the case, why not go to the Raven Family and lend them your strength?”
The Raven Family under Lucy was still weak.
There probably would not be any trouble for the immediate future, but there was no telling when another force might reach its claws toward them.
By then, I would no longer be here.
I would not be able to protect her.
‘These two should be more than enough.’
Their swordsmanship went without saying, and their steadfast loyalty was beyond question.
“If we can continue serving our lord’s family, there could be no greater honor for us!”
“We will do it!”
“Do not answer immediately. At least think about it first.”
But the brothers appeared to have already made their decision.
“Thank you for the excellent advice!”
“Seriously. This is precisely why people call you fools.”
The three of us raised our glasses and talked about all manner of things.
And beneath the table, a puppy wearing a dog collar grumbled irritably.
Naturally, it was not an actual puppy.
It was the Polymorphed Hatchling.
He was ready to escape at the first opportunity.
‘If I want to put a proper dog collar on him....’
My next destination had been decided.