Chapter 260 : Chapter 260
Side Story 19. Red Dragon (1)
I had thought that living two lives had given me a fairly steadfast, unshakable mind, but at this moment, powerful bewilderment flooded over me.
‘……Why?’
Diorin had entered my shelter alone.
According to Leviar, it had also happened quite recently. The thought that it might not have happened only once led to another.
The shelter was protected by the highest level of locking magic, something even a Hatchling could not easily undo. But rather than how, the question of why struck me far more intensely.
In truth, Diorin was no longer my lover.
Even at the point when I had died to the Red Dragon, we no longer had any relationship.
She had already left behind only a letter saying that she would leave me before vanishing like the wind.
‘But for what reason…….’
I could not understand any of it.
“Leviar. Are you certain that what you saw was an afterimage left intentionally?”
“Of course. Dragons are not omniscient beings. How could I know what happened in the past simply because I came to this place? The afterimage I saw was left there for someone to see.”
I was the owner of this shelter.
If so, there was only one possible target.
Me.
“Were there any other afterimages? Were there no others left intentionally?”
“There were not. Magic that imprints a particular image in a specific location like this is not easy. It is impressive enough that someone left an afterimage to this degree.”
If she had a message to leave, why had she not used a note instead of such a troublesome method?
On the off chance, I searched every corner of the shelter, but nothing turned up.
“Judging by the atmosphere, I do not believe it was your master. Who was it?”
“Enough. You do not need to know.”
“It seems you have a curious relationship.”
For a little dragon, he was unnecessarily sharp.
“Hmm. By the way, I do not believe this is the time for you to leisurely concern yourself with a woman’s affairs.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our Red Clan has finally arrived in Kalia in full.”
As Leviar said, it seemed I would have to set aside my thoughts of Diorin for now.
I had come face-to-face with the most important matter that had brought me to Kalia.
The only dragons I had truly experienced were Rosie and Leviar, but through those two, I had been able to understand the dragon race to some extent.
First, they liked playing pranks.
Even young dragons had lived for centuries, yet if compared to humans, their mental age did not exceed ten.
That did not mean adult dragons matured dramatically, either.
According to Rosie, even an Ancient-grade dragon nearing ten thousand years of age was not much different.
There was a high chance it was an innate racial trait of dragons.
Second, they secretly admired the appearance of humans.
Their pride in dragon magic was boundless, but they seemed to prefer living in human forms over their true bodies.
In particular, they most preferred to polymorph into human children.
Rosie had changed her appearance several times, and without exception, she had taken the form of a pretty young girl.
‘She never denied that preference herself.’
Leviar was no different.
When I first saw him, he had taken the form of a melancholy boy, and even after turning into a puppy, he had repeatedly begged to polymorph back into a boy.
And these traits did not seem limited to Hatchlings.
After all, the one who leisurely walked into my shelter was also a teenage girl.
“Hello!”
Her playful greeting made her long red hair sway.
The girl in a white dress trimmed with lace looked just like Rosie.
Perhaps emboldened by the arrival of one of his kin, Leviar wagged his tail before immediately transforming into a human boy.
Then he stood pressed close beside her.
“I told you to stay a puppy unless I gave you permission.”
“Come on! That cannot be right. The situation has changed now. Have you not noticed?”
He argued like that, but he still looked timid.
Despite his words, he seemed frightened. He backed away and hid behind his kin.
At that, the girl knocked him on the head.
“Leviar. Are you speaking respectfully to a human?”
“Th-that is not it.”
WHACK!
In the end, Leviar was hit once more.
“What do you mean, it is not?”
“It was a mistake. A mistake! How could I possibly use honorific speech with a mere human?”
But her eyes were still suspicious.
“Then say it properly to that human again.”
Leviar flinched and began clearing his throat.
He looked as though he were about to threaten me.
Wanting to see what he would do, I remained silent.
I merely sharpened my gaze and met his eyes.
“Uh…….”
Leviar’s pupils shook for a moment, and in the end, he avoided my gaze.
WHACK!
He was hit once again.
“You bastard. You’re disgracing the Red Clan all by yourself.”
“No! I was really going to say it properly.”
“I’ll kill you later.”
After threatening Leviar, she took one step toward me.
For a moment, our gazes met.
Because she was a dragon, I could not judge the full extent of her abilities merely by raising my qi sense.
Her atmosphere felt similar to Devrias, whom I had faced before.
Of course, I would only know for certain after actually fighting her.
“Since we’ve met like this, I should introduce myself, right? I’m Frelia. As you guessed, I’m a Red Dragon.”
I only gave a faint smile and nodded.
“What? You’re not going to introduce yourself? Are we playing a game of intimidation?”
“Your name matters less to me than why you came alone.”
In truth, I had thought they would all come at once.
Nearly ten dragon nests had appeared in Kalia, at least among those that had been discovered.
“Wow, you really are a funny human. Are you saying you’re disappointed that I came alone?”
“Rather than disappointed, let’s say my prediction was wrong.”
“Either way, you’re impressive. No wonder Leviar is scared stiff. But did you really kill Devrias?”
There was no reason to deny it.
“Yes.”
“Then what about the others? You could not have caught Devrias alone. If you tell me while I’m asking nicely, I promise I’ll give you the most comfortable death possible.”
“You first.”
“Huh?”
“You haven’t answered my question yet.”
Frelia burst into peals of laughter.
“That’s absurd! Still, you’re entertaining, so I’ll answer you. The rest of the clan is waiting for their turn right now.”
“Their turn?”
“It would not be fun if we all appeared at once. They’re probably all thinking about how they should surprise you.”
It seemed I had understood dragons correctly after all.
Young dragons and adult dragons were equally incapable of acting their age.
In any case, if they intended to appear one by one, I would need to change my methods accordingly.
It might not be a bad idea to properly have some fun with this.
“Then it’s your turn now. You will tell me every person who contributed even the tiniest bit to killing Devrias.”
“There was no one.”
I answered without delay.
“I did it alone.”
“You need to be seriously scolded.”
Frelia immediately brought her hands together and created a Fireball.
Scorching heat filled the space.
It was only the size of a soccer ball, but a spell’s destructive power was not always proportional to its size.
That small ball of fire contained enough concentrated mana to blow away not only my shelter, but the entire surrounding area.
Of course, she did not intend to kill me immediately.
She believed that others besides me had helped kill Devrias.
Moreover, there were other dragons waiting behind Frelia for their turns.
Considering that as well, Frelia likely intended to kill me only after playing with me for much longer.
“Speak quickly. If you do not answer, you will really be scolded.”
I snorted.
The sight naturally made me laugh.
Even compared to Rosie, who had the same taste for feminine forms, Frelia did not seem particularly mature.
“Are you laughing?”
I imbued Holy Sword Bastian with mana.
Bastian resonated as powerful energy condensed within it.
Frelia’s eyebrows rose slightly.
She had sensed that something was wrong.
SWISH!
I immediately launched the Holy Sword.
Frelia would not detonate the Fireball right away, but I could not permit her to play around with something like that inside my shelter.
The Holy Sword flew while holding the utmost cold.
The power I had drawn upon was the Yeti’s Core.
It was perfectly suited to facing a Red Dragon, whose specialty was fire attacks.
KRAAASH!
When the Holy Sword lodged in the fireball, Frelia tightly bit her lip.
The reaction between powerful fire and ice had unfolded differently from what she expected.
HISSSSS!!
There was no longer anything in Frelia’s hands.
Complete annihilation.
SWISH!
When the Holy Sword returned to my hand, only a slight residual warmth remained on it.
“Do you believe me now? That there was no one besides me.”
My revenge against Devrias had been seven years ago.
In that time, I had crossed another threshold.
‘It looks like she’s flustered.’
But Leviar, who had been hiding behind her, was even more shocked.
He could not close his gaping mouth.
Perhaps he had even let out a sigh of relief.
Despite Frelia’s coercion, he had not yet spoken rudely to me.
“You’re quite good, human!”
She was trying hard to feign composure.
Ignoring her words, I shouted at Leviar behind her.
“I’ll give you a chance. Return to your original form.”
“……Pardon?”
“A puppy suits you better than a boy.”
How good would his judgment be?
When I raised one corner of my mouth slightly, he hurriedly cast Polymorph.
“Woof!”
He immediately curled his tail up.
“Excellent.”
I smiled with satisfaction, while Frelia shouted in a clear voice.
“Leviar. You’re dead.”
“Th-that is, I need to survive for now!”
“What? Are you saying you think I’ll lose to a mere human?”
An accurate assessment of the situation.
He was a Hatchling with a promising future.
“Did you say your name was Frelia?”
“Why do you ask my name?!”
“You don’t need to pressure Leviar like that.”
“What?”
“Because you’ll end up in the same situation anyway.”
I raised the Holy Sword.
SWISH!
Then Sword Qi flew forth without delay.
Frelia could not even react properly.
The Barrier she hastily created shattered at once, and her long red hair was cleanly cut away.
She could only stare blankly at me with a stunned expression.
Soon, there would be two puppies in my shelter.