We live in the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Fallen
“Kid. To turn your back on me… you must be itching for death, eh?”
I felt a palpable pressure from behind me. But I was not in the wrong. The one I needed to face right now was not the person behind me, but Sefina, who was precious to me.
“Sefina, put your fist down. You’re making a mistake. You gave your favorite gauntlets to Grandpa so you could gain options other than relying on your fists, didn’t you? If that’s the case, you can’t just fight because the other person wants to fight, can you?”
“But there are times when we have to fight, aren’t there? Remember Lady Nereilaisha’s situation?”
“No, the situation back then and now is different.”
It was true that just a few days ago, we had fought in the northern mountainous region of the Yorttenitos Kingdom. But that was unavoidable for self-defense. If Revalia hadn’t counterattacked at every opportunity, we would have been killed meaninglessly.
However, this time was different.
The monstrous figure that continued to exert pressure behind my back.
While I felt uneasy about having my back turned, I also felt a sense of certainty.
After all, even though I was receiving pressure, it didn’t carry the same strong killing intent as his words suggested, right?
“This person just wants to die after a battle. That’s why he’s looking for an opponent worthy of his end. He will fight anything that comes at him, be it a magic beast or us. But conversely, I don’t think he will fight if we don’t approach him.”
“What a selfish assertion, kid!”
A low, intimidating voice echoed from behind me. However, I ignored it and continued to face Sefina.
“He’s someone who gathers and mourns the beasts that were killed, isn’t he? So, he’s not a bad person. Why would such a person want to die? Isn’t what we should do not to give him the death he desires, but to dispel the heart that wishes for death?”
If Ruiseine or Madrine were here, I’m sure they would extend a helping hand. If that’s the case, we, as his family, should also follow the sentiments of those two shrine maidens.
At my words, Sefina, who had been crouching low, straightened up.
“…Thank you, Elnea-kun. I’m happy to hear you say that.”
“Sefina?”
I felt a sense of unease that Sefina hadn’t resisted my opinion at all. Perhaps Sefina’s heart was also wavering? But she lacked that final push to make a decision. I provided it.
As if affirming my thoughts, Sefina spoke.
“I sincerely regret the recklessness of my initial attack. But thanks to that initial attack, I immediately understood the darkness he carries. However, I couldn’t do anything about it. As I said earlier, I have seen people who wanted to die before. And I abandoned them without being able to help. Therefore, this time too, I had no choice but to abandon someone who wanted to die.”
Hey, don’t move forward with the story on your own, I could hear the voice behind me, but Sefina continued.
“That’s why I wanted a different answer. Elnea-kun showed me the right path. Well, it’s not resolved yet, but if Elnea-kun said it, I know he will definitely achieve it. So, I’m glad. After all, I can grow more by being with Elnea-kun and the others than by being alone.”
“You were still hung up on Argilthal’s words, weren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
I returned Sefina’s wry smile with a smile of my own.
And then, I finally turned around to face the person behind me.
“So, we will no longer fight you. What will you do now?”
Sefina, her fighting spirit calmed, questioned the mysterious figure. The mysterious figure then stomped his foot in annoyance.
“Hmph, you brats are talking as you please! Whether you lose your will to fight or not, it’s none of my concern. If you offer no resistance, I will vanquish you and become the ruler of this forest!”
“Ah, speaking of which?”
As if unfazed by the mysterious figure’s outburst, I clapped my hands.
“Why do you know that this forest, or rather, the forbidden territory, is our land? Moreover, the fact that Teruru-chan overlooked you entering the forbidden territory means you are not a bad person, right?”
Taken aback and flustered, the mysterious figure’s stomping faltered.
“Elnea-kun is right. In that case, if someone entered this land with someone’s permission, they would be our guest, wouldn’t they?”
“That’s right. So, we can’t fight with our guest, can we?”
“Then, we must entertain our guest, shouldn’t we?”
“But before that. We need to properly mourn the beasts that were killed.”
“Nyan will help too, nyan.”
“Alright, let’s all do it!”
“Let’s do it, let’s do it.”
Nimiah, in her small form, flew off to check from the sky if there were any other carcasses. We then began to re-stack the carcasses of the beasts that had been moved from the pile to investigate the situation.
“…Hmph! You lot!!”
Suddenly, the mysterious figure let out an angry roar. In his rage, he slammed his war hammer onto the ground. A shockwave emanated, and the forest shook.
“To ignore me, you have quite the nerve!”
The mysterious figure directed his uncontrolled rage at us mercilessly. But it wouldn’t work on us.
“After all, Lady Nereilaisha’s true killing intent, as an Ancient Dragon Species, was more terrifying, wasn’t it?”
“Sefina. Speaking of which, Asher-san’s anger is more terrifying.”
“Come to think of it? But Asher-sama only gets angry at Elnea-kun.”
“Because he’s a man!”
“I said, stop ignoring me!!”
Elnea and Sefina finally reacted.
“As I said before, we have no intention of fighting someone who wants to die.”
“Since Elnea-kun, the head of the household, has decided, there is no one left in this land who will fight you. Besides, even if you pressure us, it won’t work. Because, in the end, you’re just a dragon.”
“Well, having the same intensity as these dragons is quite amazing though?”
“But when I’m with Elnea-kun, other dragons seem cute.”
“Mistral is even more so!”
“I’ll tell him later?”
“No, no! I’ll do anything, just stop that, Sefina-sama.”
“Fufufu. I have your word now.”
“Damn! A trap.”
“It was you, Elnea-kun, who set the trap and fell into it yourself.”
“Y-you…!”
With Elnea and Sefina engrossed in our conversation, the mysterious figure’s rage finally wavered. Seizing this opportunity, I made a request.
“Now, you help too. After all, we don’t know the custom of piling up beasts for mourning, so we can’t proceed further without you teaching us?”
“Kgh…”
Seemingly resigned to the fact that we had no intention of fighting, the mysterious figure let down his clenched war hammer in vain. It seemed our plan to wear down the opponent’s will to fight through our nonsensical chatter had succeeded. We communicated our intentions well this time.
“We… Ah, it’s hard to say. In our custom, we burn the deceased into ashes and return them to the earth.”
“Instead of burying them?”
“Yes. We live in hard, rocky mountains. In such land, even if you dig a hole, it will just be refilled with stones and rocks. Wouldn’t that be pitiful for the deceased?”
“As I thought, you are a good person. Not many people can think of the deceased even after their passing.”
For humankind, the clergy would continue to think of them, but it’s rare for other races without religious beliefs. Besides, what race is this person? Human? Nimiah and Oz didn’t mention anything, though?
“Ah, Oz?”
“Did you forget about me until now!?”
“It’s just your imagination.”
“Don’t lie.”
Oz was also helping. While his forked tail brushed off the dirt from the beast carcasses, he glared at me. Beside Oz, Ares-chan was also diligently helping. So cute.
“There are no more carcasses in the forest, nyan.”
Nimiah returned and landed on my head.
“In that case, following this person’s custom… Um, what is your name?”
“Luludodo.”
“Thank you, Luludodo-san. On behalf of those living in the forbidden territory, I’d like to express our gratitude. We are…”
“I know. The brat is Elnea, the little girl is Sefina. The small dragon is Nimiah, the tiny magic beast over there is Oz, and the spirit little girl is Ares.”
“Oh, so you did know about us?”
“No! You were talking about it so much!”
“Ah, so that’s how it is!”
Luludodo-san sighed deeply, shoulders slumping at my foolish reaction.
“What a letdown. A formidable warrior riding an Ancient Dragon Species and able to read the breath of the world. I had hoped these individuals might be worthy of my final moments…”
“Speaking of which, why couldn’t we sense your presence? And why did you know about the forbidden territory and us? What was that technique you used to block Sefina’s attack? Why are you wearing a beast’s hide like Momo-chan? Is that corpse in your hand indeed from the magic beast that was rampaging around here? And what is your race, anyway!?”
“Hmph, what a noisy brat! And what are you calling me ‘old man’ for!”
Huh? Is that not right? I looked at Sefina, who also seemed surprised. Although he was short, his deep voice and speech pattern made me assume he was elderly. Sefina’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I also thought you were a furry, dirty old man.”
“W-what a sharp tongue!”
Luludodo-san, beyond exasperation, looked utterly dismayed.
“But you’re hiding your face.”
“That’s right. To get angry about speculation when you’re hiding your appearance, isn’t that selfish?”
“Damn it. Fine, fine. I’ll go along with your words. Let me show you. My appearance, which is said to be a beautiful jewel!”
With that, Luludodo-san forcefully wiped off the head of the gray beast he was wearing.
“Ngh!!”
And we were speechless.
He was an old man. Undoubtedly, a furry old man! Bushy, dark red eyebrows. A beard around his mouth that looked painful to the touch. Long, disheveled hair. Behind that shagginess hid a deeply chiseled face. Furthermore, he was short, yet unusually muscular, and overall, he was indeed an old man. Just where was the beauty…
“Nyan. Mountain Race, nyan.”
“Mountain Race?”
“I couldn’t tell because of the rhino magic beast’s hide, nyan. But he’s a Mountain Race, nyan.”
“Hou hou, so that’s the race?”
“Nyan.”
It seemed the magic beast hide he was wearing had interfered with Nimiah and Oz’s ability to discern races. But Mountain Race is a race I’ve never heard of. According to Nimiah’s explanation, even adult Mountain Races are smaller in stature than human children. However, they are said to have tremendous strength, with children and women alike being muscular and able to lift large rocks with ease. Seeing Luludodo-san’s powerful physique, Elnea and Sefina’s expressions confirmed Nimiah’s explanation.
“Their movements are slow, but their strength is said to be comparable to that of dragons, nyan.”
“Amazing!”
“Hmph, it’s embarrassing to hear all sorts of things said beside me! Here, the carcasses have been gathered. Let’s set them on fire soon.”
“And how will you start the fire?”
No, logically, the procedure would be to start a fire. But setting fire to a pile of beast carcasses is an extremely difficult task. After all, the blood and flesh are not yet dry, so unless an immense amount of heat is applied, the entire pile of carcasses will not burn. Luludodo-san also showed a slightly troubled expression, but he didn’t stop.
“There’s no other way but to burn them slowly.”
“So that’s how it is. In that case, would you leave it to me?”
“Are you going to use sorcery? But you can’t start a fire with sorcery, can you?”
“Well, you see?”
“Did you call?”
Ares-chan, who had been helping, or rather, playing and getting in Oz’s way, ran over.
“Hou hou. So, the true identity of this spirit is a fire spirit.”
“No, that’s not it. But Ares-chan can do it, right?”
“Leave it to me, leave it to me.”
Saying so, Ares-chan summoned the fire spirit and made a request.
“Purifying flame. Burn, burn?”
“Leave it to me!”
“Leave it to me!”
*Fwoosh*, several fireballs appeared in the depths of the forest. The bright red fireballs slowly descended onto the piles of carcasses and began to quietly burn the remains of the beasts.
“Spirit flames won’t spread to the forest and can also purify corruption.”
“A human who uses spirit arts?”
“No, I didn’t command the spirits. I just asked Ares-chan.”
And then, Ares-chan, the Spirit Tree Spirit, asked the lower-ranking Fire Spirits to light the fire.
“Hmm. As I heard, you are an interesting brat and your companions.”
“Who told you that!?”
In front of the flames of mourning, we tilted our heads at Luludodo-san’s words.
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