Chapter 27 – Picking Up a Dragon

Picking Up a Dragon

A girl lay collapsed in the cave.

Covered in blood and bruises, it wouldn’t have been surprising if her life had ended right there. She was barely hanging on, her body stitched together with thread and needle like a rag doll.

“Damn it… Phelion…”

She was barely clinging to life. Her insides were completely crushed, a pulpy mess.

Why had it come to this?
She had cooperated with the Demon King’s army, but not actively. The number of people she had directly killed was so few she could count them on one hand. Even fewer knew of her cooperation with the Demon King’s army.

Yet, she was captured by the Empire, waiting for the day she would be ‘processed’.

She was betrayed by those she thought were her kind, those she trusted and relied upon.
Until the day before, she had been drinking and sharing secrets with him, never imagining he would lead her to death.

The place her father, the Dragon King, had promised to give her information about her heritage turned out to be a suspicious clearing.

She sensed something was off when the one who had summoned her wasn’t there, but by then it was too late. She tried to escape, but couldn’t. Her wings were sliced by a holy sword, inflicting wounds that could never heal, and her limbs were cruelly chopped off, separating them from her torso.

After being brutally broken, she was captured by the Imperial army and thrown into a dungeon with a collar around her neck that sealed her strength.

While waiting for death, she could gather various pieces of news with her unique senses. Half of the Demon King’s subordinates were dead, or the Demon King would soon die. The most unbelievable rumor was that the Hero had died, and chaos would ensue. It was surely nonsense.

But for some reason, the guards gradually decreased, and the Imperial Palace became noisy, and there were days when no guards were seen at all.

When a week passed without any guards, she thought she would never get such an opportunity again and made her escape.

Of course, the guards who came after she left the palace sounded the alarm, and within less than 24 hours, a hunter had found her.

The renowned dragon hunter Kendrick. His spear tore her face apart, and her insides completely melted away. She tried to fight back, but the difference in strength was too clear.

A dying, sealed dragon. Kendrick, the most powerful among the dragon hunters who made their living capturing dragons.
She couldn’t reveal her true form, but such a miserable defeat at the hands of a human should not have been possible.

She had no proper weapons while on the run. It was because she was wearing a collar that sealed her power. If only some bastard hadn’t sold off her weakness. If only her wings hadn’t been broken by the Hero, none of this would have happened.

Regret is pointless once it’s too late.

She had barely managed to shake off her pursuer by sacrificing her tail.
The place she fled to was a cave at the edge of Mt. Muak.

She didn’t have enough strength to maintain her dragon form, which was fortunate in a way. Her polymorphed form was small and inconspicuous. She planned to recover her strength in this unnoticed place and then seek out the bastard who had betrayed her.

It was a time of excruciating endurance. If she sensed any presence, she would tremble through the day, fearing discovery.

It was a presence like any other day, which she naturally assumed to be an animal passing by. But this one didn’t leave after a few minutes.

An hour passed. An hour in which her heart was consumed by fear.

Could it be that the dragon hunter had already tracked her down?

As the footsteps drew closer, her heartbeat intensified. If discovered, she would die, but there was nowhere to flee.
Before long, the footsteps were right in front of her. Her fate would be decided just around the corner.

And then a man appeared.

His face was a mass of ugly scars.
At a closer look, he seemed handsome, but the severe scars made it hard to think so. Dark circles hung heavily under his eyes, which looked as if he had been chasing her for days without sleep.

However, the strength he radiated was feeble.
Unusually so for a dragon hunter.

The dissonance between his fierce appearance and weak strength sharpened her focus, and the contours of the suspicious figure became clear.

It was a face she could never forget.
That bastard.

* * *

Dragons have always ruled the skies.
Called the masters of the sky, they had the continents in their grasp, powerful enough to place the world beneath their feet as objects of fear and awe.
Even after losing thrice in the Dragon-Human Wars and conceding the title of the strongest race to the demons, dragons, who once firmly held the title of the mightiest, had become rare to find.

Until I was transferred, there were many dragons in the Central Continent who had made quite the name for themselves. So why is it difficult to find such dragons now?

Well, as usual, the main culprit behind such historical events is mostly the Empire.

Led by the previous Emperor, they sincerely sought to exterminate dragons. At least, to completely eradicate them from the Central Continent.

They killed so many dragons that the blood of those caught by dragon hunters could have formed rivers and floated boats.

She could not escape that aftermath either.

Her body, chopped to pieces and awaiting death, began to stitch itself back together with the power of the Demon King. As her body was restored, the girl once called the Dragon King’s daughter became a patchwork of herself, and thus she came to be known as the monstrous dragon, as I understand it.

Having been abandoned by humans and joining the demon king’s army, she and I, who were scorned as a monstrous dragon, cooperated with the demon king’s army. She was one of the few friends I had, along with Nicola.
She was the friend I sold out being swayed by Troka’s words to side with the humans.

It doesn’t make sense to interact again after doing such a thing.

Still, to enter the Dragon Kingdom, the cooperation of the dragon race is essential. As far as I know, there is no one else among the dragons but her.

She is the only one who might possibly cooperate with me.
It’s like grasping at straws, but if it succeeds, the benefits will be tremendous. I can only hope she’s inside here.

The cave was deeper and darker than I thought.

As I went further inside, the smell of blood became stronger. Whatever has been staying here must have been seriously injured.

The piercing scent of iron, along with a smell stung the nose. The oddly pungent smell of antiseptic pricked my nose.

It was as if the smell of formalin used to preserve corpses was telling me the identity of what lies within.

The moaning sounds grew louder as I approached the dark end of the cave.

The smell became more intense. Breaths that were not heard before now slightly rang in my ears. Most likely, if I turn around that corner, she will be there.

I slowly moved my steps and grabbed the corner. And when I peeked over, there was a broken flower.
Dark gray hair with reddish-brown pupils.

Such a horrible state.

That was my first thought upon seeing her.

Half of her face was gone. To be precise, it was torn off. One horn was left only at the base, and the other was half-broken with a hole in it.
One wing was cut off just as I last saw her, and the abdomen and tail were covered with scabs and bruises. Even the tail was cut off more than half.

To hide in such a small cave, she naturally had to polymorph. That’s why I thought it looked even worse. Her human form is quite small. At best, she’s the size of a middle school student who just started.

“Gele.”

She looked momentarily startled and then furrowed her brow as hard as she could.

“Phelion…, how did you, no. You, shut up.”

I tried calling her by her nickname as I used to, to form a sense of intimacy. Pretending as if I hadn’t betrayed her was a difficult task.
Yeah. Well, is that to be expected?
After sweeping my face with my hand, I opened my mouth again.

“So, Valkvogel, you’ve been having a tough time lately? Your body doesn’t seem to be in good shape.”

The wounds would have killed a human dozens of times over. Dragons are known for their strong physical abilities, but now she looked like a small girl.

She lightly ignored my words and looked at me intently. After scanning my whole body for a few seconds, she spoke again.

“You, your mind seems to be quite broken. Did your lover die or something? You really look like a mess.”

Even on the brink of death, is she still a dragon? The Dragon Eye, capable of discerning the emotions of all things, seems to be usable even with just one eye.
Hiding my scratched nerve with a forced smile, I exaggeratedly spread my arms.

“Crazy people live the longest, you know! Making it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-lived person is one of the things on my bucket list, so I’m working on it.”

“…I want to kill you right now, so cut the crap. Get to the point and then get lost.”

Gele, showing a fierceness not usually seen, bared her fangs in a threat. Straight to the point, huh… That’s intense.

But in this situation, who else would be crazy enough to join me? After all, there aren’t many who would stab you in the back and then propose cooperation nonchalantly.

However, I have thick skin.

“Let’s travel together. Cooperate with me.”

And then silence.

The silence was broken by her, her face contorted with rage.

“Are you asking to be killed? You can’t possibly have lost your mind already. Have you gone mad?”

Mad, yes. That seems about right. Coming here to meet a past connection just to deliver a letter is something only a lunatic would do.

The hero’s companions became a party out of necessity, due to mutual interests. The swordsman and the archer, especially those two, belong to races that despise humanity itself.

The swordsman is a beastman, the archer an elf. The Dragon Kingdom and the World Tree, where they live, also have an unwelcoming atmosphere towards humans.

Especially the Dragon Kingdom, where you need the sponsorship of a dragon or the recognition of at least ten beastmen. Of course, I’m an outsider, and I only know one beastman. And just one dragon. There’s no way around it.

“If you cooperate, I’ll set you free.”

It’s an uncomfortable alliance for everyone, but there’s no other way. If not for her, there’s no way to deliver the letter to the Dragon Kingdom. Going as part of the empire’s delegation would take over five years just to prepare, so that’s out of the question.

“You really want to die, don’t you?”

Gele threatened with a hiss, scratching at her throat. She swung her arms wildly, trying to beat me, but unfortunately for her, her short arms only cut through the air.

She is a dragon. A noble race that values contracts. Traitors are never forgiven. And she possesses the thickest dragon blood, evident by her ashen hair.
And I am the man who shattered a contract with her.

Murderous intent swirled in her eyes as she looked at me.

It’s a lot to unpack, and I don’t enjoy it, but there is no other way.

I pricked my fingertip with the dagger I had in my pocket. A few drops of blood fell to the ground. Unperturbed, I approached Gele.
A collar with a small black and yellow pattern. I smeared the blood along the solid line there,

“It’s going to hurt a bit. You should have accepted the contract when I offered you better terms. Right, Baer Foso Lüdiger?”

I recited her true name.

Then the collar emitted light and spewed out formless golden chains. The chains wrapped around her entire body without missing a spot, and one strand also tied to my hand.

“Eugh?!”

Gele swallowed a pained groan, the process evidently causing her pain.

Eventually, the chains lost their light and disappeared. Now, the collar’s solid line was swirling with golden light. The contract was established.

A dragon’s true name holds a peculiar power. Perhaps because it’s closely related to contracts, a dragon’s true name can be used in endless ways.

What she wore was a collar created to seal and control the power of a dragon. Merely by wearing it, most of the dragon’s powers were constrained by this sinister artifact imbued with sinister engineering. The materials used were dragon bones and hide, a perverse piece of art from a former emperor.

Even the wearer cannot remove it; it is truly a cursed item.
The downsides are that one must know the target’s true name, and once a master is registered, it cannot be changed.

“Haah… Haah… How did you… find out my true name?”

You blabbed it yourself when you were dead drunk. Saying something like ‘I can trust you’ or whatever.
Seems like you don’t remember now.

“I can’t reveal that secret, and let’s just forget all that happened between us before. Thanks to this collar, we’ll be sticking together for a while, but once I’ve finished all the tasks as a form of atonement for that day’s events, I’ll grant you any wish you want.”

“I will… surely kill you one day.”

“Then we have an agreement.”

Being resented, it’s been a while. I actually feel more at ease. I guess I’m used to this kind of treatment.

“Do your best.”

With this, the acquisition of Valkvogel is complete.
As long as the collar is intact, there will be no unexpected attacks. Safety first.

Now, let’s think again about where to go.

The Holy Imperial Court related to the power of the goddess, the saintess.
The Tower of Magic, where magicians can analyze the magic on the letters.

Who should I visit first?

The Holy Imperial Court is the perfect place to resolve my immediate questions. I can find out why the goddess’s power has settled on these letters.

If I meet the mage, I might get detailed information. The Tower of Magic is full of eccentric geniuses, a cut above the riffraff wandering in the wild. There’s a high chance of obtaining information that even Aliana could never uncover.

Excluding the letter from Master, the other two letters had their sequence numbers written on them. It seems right to follow the order.

As I was pondering where to go, Gele approached limping and, with a delicate hand, grabbed the hem of my shirt, fixing her gaze on my face.

“I’ll make sure to kill you as painfully as possible.”

“Ah, killing painfully is a bit difficult since there’s already a reservation for that.”

Unfortunately, there’s already someone who has reserved that. A certain noble is looking forward to executing the sentence personally.

It’s a situation of being obsessed over by women. Enjoying luxuries that are beyond my station.

If I go to the Holy Imperial Court, I could certainly obtain a lot of information. Unless they have nothing to do with this will.
But taking a dragon that has escaped from the empire to the Holy Imperial Court, which is closely associated with the empire, would be no different from waving a knife in front of the police and asking to be caught.
So going to the Holy Imperial Court right now is out of the question. Let’s head to the Tower of Magic first and find a way to disguise this thing.

I feel a bit sorry for the Emperor, but considering all I’ve done for him, he surely won’t kill me just for spiriting away a single dragon. And since he doesn’t know I went to Aliana first, I’m safe for now.

My destination is decided. There’s nothing left but to move forward.

Aeon, the master of the New Moon Tower.
I’ll head towards her.
If I gather all the information I can from the tower, I should be able to obtain something worthwhile at the Holy Imperial Court later.

Going to the woman who thought of the hero as nothing more than a convenient battery.
She was the one who couldn’t believe in his death until the very end. What state is she in now? Is she still in denial about his death?

As always, I’ll only know once I get there.

Now, stepping out of the cave. I glance back, wondering if Gele might have gone somewhere else. Surprisingly, she was gone.

“Hmph.”

With a startled heart, I scanned the surroundings. Then, I heard a cough nearby. Turning towards the sound and looking down, Gele spoke.

“I’m first. I don’t care about any prior claims.”

Gele doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of my clothes.
…Maybe I should have brought her along later.

“I’ll throw off this damn collar and kill you.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

I patted Gele’s head lightly. A murderous intent filled her eyes as she looked at me. I slowly removed my hand from her head and moved away quickly. She glared at me fiercely but maintained a certain distance as she followed.

The collar really does its job. Its effectiveness is undeniable.

As I walked up the hillside, I suddenly felt blood rising in my throat.
However, with onlookers present, I swallowed it back down instead of spitting it out.

The taste of blood was bitter and gritty.