136 – Bottom 2
“It’s a dragon…”
Looking at the back of Bali walking ahead, Aren was lost in thought.
‘How many hundred years ago was the last dragon discovered?’
Dragon, the apex of the ecosystem pyramid.
Hundreds of years have passed since they disappeared, and humans hardly remember them.
“… suddenly a dragon.”
As Aren muttered, Bali spoke to him about how he had heard it from such a distance.
“Do you know how the dragon disappeared?”
“No, I’m not interested, is it true that they disappeared in the first place? Dragons have a lifespan of over thousands of years, but aren’t they just not appearing in front of humans?”
In fact, the cycles of dragon appearances ranged from tens to hundreds of years.
Some people thought dragons were extinct because they hadn’t been discovered recently, but Aren didn’t think so.
‘Who made it extinct? Just being the strongest.’
While Aren thought so, Bali said.
“Dragon is extinct.”
“Huh? You said earlier that a dragon is sleeping on this floor?”
“okay.”
“…Did sleeping mean you were dead?”
“no.”
“Are you kidding me? Are you running away? Huh?”
“Quack.”
After that, Bali quietly moved on.
‘Should I just run away?’
From noble mtl dot com
He thought about it for a while, but Aren immediately gave up.
‘Since you don’t know how to retaliate later, if you just look at the situation and it gets worse…’
Then a man’s voice came from behind.
“Ah! Mr. Wu, I can’t see well.”
“Are you okay, Gray?”
“……”
Aren turned his head and looked at the two men following him.
“Why are you guys following me? If you came back from the dead, you should know that your life is a waste, right?”
Chris frowned at Aren’s words.
“Then run away? Prince Vali threatens to kill you if he runs away?”
“I heard you’re going to Britannia? You said you’re going around the battlefield there? Why? Did your life suddenly become precious?”
“……”
Chris and Gray frowned, but silently followed Aren.
“Ehh, what kind of high school student is this? If I had known this was going to happen, I should have gotten a teleport scroll from Frey noona.”
“… Prey Exent?”
Hearing Aren’s muttering, Chris opened his mouth again.
“You know the Archmage?”
“My older sister is a bit of a celebrity, heh… Come to think of it, who are you guys really?”
Aren turned his head again to look at Chris.
“Why are you guys using the same sword as Carol?”
“Carl? Who is that?”
Gray turned to ask Chris and she shook her head.
“Our sword is the sword of the sword demon, Abel Hearts-sama.”
“Abel Hearts? Ah, that’s right.”
Aren was convinced and turned his head again.
In response, Gray’s expression crumpled.
“Hey, who is the one who uses the same sword as us?”
“Yes, there is such a guy.”
“Tsk, well, where do you see our juniors?”
Gray gave up listening to Aren’s answer and told Chris, but Aren, who listened to his words, laughed.
“Phehehe, junior?”
“What dude. Why are you laughing?”
Gray asked displeasedly, and Aren looked him up and down.
“How old are you?”
“Me? I’m 17. What are you going to do?”
Gray said with his eyes widened, but Aren shook his head and turned his gaze back to Vali.
“Well, it’s true that you’re pretty good at it.”
“Is this bastard having a surprise victory once? Try again?”
“It’s funny, you guys did the ambush and I played with you all by myself.”
As Aren flicked his hands as if to try, the expressions on the two men’s faces grew increasingly displeased.
Either that or not, Aren continued to speak calmly.
“And I laughed because you said something funny.”
“What am I?”
“Carl is your junior? You seem less than half as good as Carol, but isn’t your bluff too much?”
At this point, Chris asked again with his eyes shining.
“Who is Carol?”
“There’s a guy who uses the same sword as you guys, hmm… If it’s at your level, I think I’ll be able to stick with Carol for a bit.”
“… I’ve been calling you by name from a while ago. Is he very young?”
“We are the same age.”
“Are you the same age?”
When the two of them made dumb faces at Aren’s words, Aren pointed to Bali as if it was not a big deal and said.
“He over there is the same age as us? Is that that surprising?”
“……”
“……”
At Aren’s words, the two realized their position.
‘… the same age as us…’
‘… It’s wide.’
The world felt wide.
After hard training, they thought they were quite confident in their skills, but right in front of them there were two people who were much stronger than themselves.
“You said you were an Iggent noble, right?”
Chris asked, and Aren looked her in the eye as the shore glowed.
“… why?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t ask with a strange thought, I was just curious about where that Carol was.”
Only then did Aren turn his head again and speak calmly.
“I’m the heir to the Marquis of Valesia in Iggent.”
“Valesia…”
As if to remember Aren’s words, the two of them muttered his name and moved on.
And after some time…
“It’s all here.”
“……”
“……”
A huge cavity came out.
And a huge creature hanging in the middle of it.
“… are you really a dragon?”
A huge blue dragon lay in the center of the cavity.
***
“found!”
“… that’s strange.”
Einhart spoke brightly and pointed at the traces of people, but Tail’s expression wrinkled.
“Why do you have sword scars?”
“That’s it, until you swung a sword?”
“… Shut up you bastard.”
“I’m a prince?”
Tail ignored Einhart’s words and asked the family knight.
“How many are there?”
“Judging by the traces, it is estimated that there are four of them.”
“Are there traces of Aren?”
“there is.”
“… ha.”
Lucy, who came down as Tail sighed, approached him and said.
“There aren’t too many bloodstains, though. It doesn’t look like anyone died.”
“That’s not the problem. If the humans who entered here are the people of Gia Reid, we have to leave right now.”
“So, what about Aren?”
“Of course I’ll take it.”
Tail turned his head again and asked Einhart.
“Can you feel the gift?”
“Yeah, I know roughly where it is.”
“Lead ahead.”
“Yeah, but first of all, I’m a member of the royal family, so I’m treated a little, right?”
“Walk quickly.”
“sh*t…”
Einheart licked his lips and quietly moved on.
Looking at him, Lucy said.
“… You really do look like Aren, don’t you?”
“Don’t get close, the fool gets it.”
“Am I from the royal family?”
***
Aren, Chris, and Gray looked at the dragon’s corpse with dazed expressions.
“… are you mummified?”
“Yes, it seems that he has been dead for quite some time.”
When Bali quietly approached Aren’s question and answered, Aren drew his sword.
seuleung
“Hey man, don’t come any closer.”
“I brought you here, but you’re doing too much.”
“I still don’t know what your purpose is, so why do you trust me and let me approach you?”
Vali shrugged and started walking again.
“Come this way.”
“Why? Is there something there too?”
“Yes, that’s why I brought you.”
At his words, Aren planted his sword again and followed him.
jerk jerk jerk
jerk jerk jerk
“… Why are you guys following me?”
“Do you like us?”
“don’t mind.”
“……”
Gray and Chris followed behind Aren.
“I’ll tell you in advance, but I also have eyes behind me? The moment I pull out the sword, you guys will die from me?”
“You’re laughing. Since I can’t move with Prince Maple Vali, it would be disgraceful to threaten him now, right?”
“What?”
As Aren glared at Gray, he heard Bali’s voice again.
“Aren Deepus, this way.”
“Tsk.”
Aren turned his head again and glared at the place where Bali was, to be exact, at something wrapped around a dragon.
“… egg!?”
“okay.”
Vali smiled broadly and looked at the dragon’s egg.
“It’s a dragon egg.”
“Oh!… Um…? It’s sealed.”
“okay.”
Aren watched the dragon’s egg by the shore.
“…… Strange.”
“What do you mean?”
When asked as if he was curious about Bali, Aren moved and approached Bali.
“…? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t come close to me?”
“Because I can see your purpose. There must be a reason why you didn’t kill me.”
“… Ho-oh?”
Bali glared at him as if he was having fun, but Aren ignored him and looked closely at the dragon’s egg.
Now, Aren was showing interest in Al enough to lightly hand over Bali.
“…… I don’t think it’s a barrier?”
“Okay, what do you see in your eyes?”
“I see a space, a completely different space.”
Aren relaxed on the beach for a while and rubbed his eyes.
“Wow, I’m tired.”
“Can you solve the magic?”
“If you can’t solve it, you’re going to kill me, right? I have to force it.”
“Heuk, you’re surprisingly easy-going.”
Bali said lightly as if she liked it.
“Become my subordinate too.”
“Do you know how many times I’ve received that invitation? I’ve received it from our country’s princess, from the empire’s princess, and from a strange woman named Elsa in a criminal organization.”
“All women, what’s the secret?”
“face.”
“Cheukkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.”
“……”
Why are you laughing so sincerely?
I’m serious too.
cuggit
Aren frowned and started using the shore again to observe the eggs.
Vali, who had been staring at Aren, suddenly said boldly.
“Then how are your friends?”
“… uh?”
“It means to be friends.”
What do you mean all of a sudden?
Aren was staring at him in bewilderment, but Bali held out his hand as if it didn’t matter.
“I don’t want to kill you. I want to be on good terms with you if possible. So, what about friends?”
“… Sincerity?”
“Are you serious?”
Aren thought again.
There are no normal people among the royal family.
But his voice is strangely appealing.
‘friend…’
Friend, that’s a wonderful word.
A word that feels especially attractive to Aren, who had few friends.
‘… But the opponent is the imperial family… doesn’t it matter?’
I already had a friend among the imperial family.
Aren smiled brightly and held his hand.
“Yes friend! Let’s get along well in the future!”
“Chuck, yes, it’s a strange feeling to change your attitude so much.”
Vali said, then turned her head to look at Gray and Chris.
“Why don’t you guys come over here too? Let’s talk together.”
“… What are you talking about?”
When Chris asked cautiously, Vali raised both hands as if to reassure him.
“Don’t worry, I don’t want to kill you guys if possible, so let’s come over and talk.”
“… All right.”
At Bali’s words, Chris and Gray eventually moved and entered the dragon’s arms.