Chapter 37
Episode 37: The Dragon
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I've heard that there are monsters that are addicted to particularly shiny jewels, but looking at them now, they all seem to be fascinated by them.
Did they use this place as a hideout to hide the jewels?
You guys, now that I see you, you're a millionaire!
It was so dark that it was difficult to grasp in detail, but from a rough glance, this place seemed to be very large.
And the jewel mountain was crammed to the end of the invisible wall.
If these were all jewels, Popo and Griffin would be richer than my father.
"Wow…"
How does it feel to be buried in a jewel mountain?
I decided to forget my dignity as a human being for a moment.
When else would I ever slide on a jewel hill!
"Hey, you guys are amazing! Cool! You're the best!"
We were playing like children for a long time, we couldn't help but feel the texture of the jewels.
After sliding down the most curved part as if riding a sled, I found a particularly large jewel right in front of my feet.
What's that? A jewel I don't know?
It looked bigger than my fist.
In addition, even in this darkness, it was shining with golden light that was bright enough to be seen clearly.
It was close to a sphere, but there was something unusual about the center…….
It was then that the golden jewel slowly began to float in the air.
No, it would have been correct to say that the buried gem hill began to rise.
As the hill rose higher and higher, countless jewels cascaded down.
Only the golden jewel was rising.
It took me a long time to realize that it was the eye, not a gem, and that it was the eyes of the top monster that I had never met or imagined meeting.
I think it's right to say that when a person faces a phenomenon that deviates from their common sense, they stand still when they are afraid of something they can't resist or refuse.
I remembered a booklet I read for reference before leaving Romagna.
Unlike the intelligent, arrogant, and deified images encountered in the media of my previous life, in this world, they were close to being the top predators of the monster world, endangered by the stigma of Satan's minions.
It was said the last time it appeared in the North was a dozen years ago.….
It did, but…
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The rain, which had stopped for a while, began to pour again.
As they passed through the border area, the deepest part of the frost forest, the more tunnels dug by the gnomes[1] and spider webs spread by arachne[2] intertwined and hindered the expedition.
The dreary cry of the frost wolf from all directions was a bonus.
"Sir."
Isaac stopped and looked back at his companions following him.
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There were only six men in all, including himself, Ivan, and Gallar.
These guys are reliable, trustworthy and able to survive inside the border zone, which is the most dangerous zone.
Endymion, of course, was the exception.
Isaac couldn't understand why his timid squire would inevitably catch up, but he decided to let it go.
If anything happens, Gallar will take care of it. Because they were brothers.
"Are you serious? The crazy woman's words alone……."
It meant a lack of clues.
In the first place, everything was illogical.
It was unreliable from the fact that the poacher alone escaped the boundary area safely.
The half-mad poacher claimed that the raccoon monster ate up all her friends and that Griffin threw her to the spot where she was found.
If it had been that far, Isaac would have concluded that it was also nonsense and immediately disposed of it as customary.
If only she hadn't talked about seeing a blonde witch in Rom's cave.
Among the monsters of the frost forest, there was a being who deceived humans by causing hallucinations of handsome men and women.
As a trained paladin, it was always something to keep in mind, and Isaac had never fallen for such a trick.
Even so, his eyes suddenly turned around at the word "blonde" and I came all the way here.
It was funny to himself who was desperate for even such a small possibility, but there was no other option.
"Your squire is right. Iz, think again now. Even if what the poacher said is true, the possibility that it's your wife……."
"If you're going to keep talking, you can go back now."
"Fuck, this shit is for real…."
Ivan threw his swear words at him until even his mates, who were accustomed to the harsh sound, frowned, but he did not stop.
"……Whoa, fuck. Why did you ask us to come together?"
"What do you want to hear?"
"This fu………."
"I can't believe the people outside this zone right now."
The most trustworthy paladins exchanged glances with shocked faces.
What the heck is that bastard who always believes in himself like a shattered character is talking about?
After all, even for that bastard, the lack of sleep seems difficult to bear.
Isaac hurried his steps again toward the cave of Rom, which looked very steep.
He didn't even know what he was doing, clinging to blind hope.
If Rudbeckia had come all the way in here in the first place, it would be impossible to be alive by now.….
—Can the monsters understand people?
The next morning, when the first night was messed up, the question she asked, nibbling at the stew bowl, came in his head at this moment.
It wasn't like she was trying to infer anything from it. She was just as stupefied as possessed.
What was she thinking that morning?
Why did she look so surprised when I asked her to visit the temple?
What did she think when she made a bouquet of flowers with her skinny fern-like hands and collected the flowers she had made for me?
"I should have accepted it……."
"What? What kind of bullshit are you talking about?"
I should've accepted it then. I should have accepted the flowers that she offered with a big smile. I should've just accepted it instead of criticizing her for messing up her hands.….
"Hey, Iz, stop for a second. I really don't feel good right now"
Still, she kissed me on the cheek.
Like the wife did to her husband, like my mother did to my father……. For a moment, I felt like my head was turning white.
Maybe it was foreshadowing?
"Ivan, stop……."
"You guys stay put. Iz, you know what Rom's cave is like these days. Oh, shit, if your wife is really in that cave, then by now……."
Ivan looked like he was trying to get those words out of his mouth
Will he be able to handle she her body, face only the pieces that have been eaten by the demons, and be fine….
"…………AHHHHHHH!"
There was a sudden echo.
It was an unimaginably clear echo in this place.
In an instant, silence came.
It was a meaningful moment, when Ivan, who was speaking, Isaac, who was looking back with his teeth clenched, and the rest of the men were all shocked in unison.
He couldn't tell who opened his mouth first.
It was probably Gallar.
The moment he tried to speak again for the first time in a long time, he was blocked by an overwhelming roar that shook the world and the earth.
[KRAAAAAAAAA—]
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"Ahhhhhhh"!
I shouldn't have screamed.
No matter how frightened it was, I should not have screamed.
I couldn't have looked pretty in the eyes of the landlord on the subject of being noisy and dared to touch the nose hair of the sleeping landlord while playing freely.
The landlord, the endangered top monster, naturally responded to my scream with a terrifying roar.
"Kraaaaaaa!"
The sky seemed to be shaking.
The jewel mountains rocked and swayed, and the jewels bounced in all directions like pebbles.
It was surprising that the cave did not crumble down like this.
For a moment, I completely lost my mind.
It was only when I felt poor Popo and Griffin clinging to me with those huge sizes that I came to my senses a little bit.
"I-I'm sorry, please spare us! I didn't know you were here! I just ran away and somehow I came here! We didn't steal your jewels! We'll go back quietly!"
The dragon, who made a random shower as it was gibberish, bent solemnly for a moment.
Earlier, I thought it might be Wyvern[3], but Wyvern couldn't be that big.
The eyes were green like other creatures, and it couldn't be that bright golden.
"Grrrrrr…."
"P-Please let it slide…… Ahhh!"
My struggling body jerked into the air.
A chick stuck in the claws of an eagle and a chick stuck in the claws of a dragon. God, I'm going to kill you.…!
Are you trying to eat me like this?
No, I can't be killed in such a vain way! Help me, Isaac!
"Po, po……po, po!"
"Po-Popo! Run away!"
My eyes fluttered in the wind as my body shook violently.
Popo, restless as it flapped it's arms, jumped and bit the dragon's ankle who was holding me.
I'm touched, but run away first, idiot!
A whistle sounded over my head.
Griffin was spinning in the air trying to peck the dragon by the neck.
Of course, the dragon, who took the top position in the food chain of the monster world, did not budge.
No, it didn't even look at them at all. There's no point in having a balance like this.
"Grrrrrrrrr."
A huge snout came close to my face.
Its huge nostrils, indigo scales, and ghastly gleaming golden eyes were a vicious monster itself.
There was a hot, smoky breath.
"I-I'm sorry…."
"Krrrr…… keung, keung."
It was then that the dragon, who seemed to sniff me for a long time, suddenly put me down.
As if it had never done so, it calmly put me on the pile of jewels and just stared at me.
Does it understand me like other monsters…? Or does it just mean that it's annoying, so get out of here quickly?
I crept up on my feet and pretended to walk.
The mysterious dragon was still watching me.
At last, I was trying to jump to the side where I came in earlier, but it moved one leg and blocked me!
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[1] a legendary dwarfish creature supposed to guard the earth's treasures underground.
[2] Arachne are humanoid monsters with spider-like abilities and attributes, they appear with mottled flesh and double irised eyes. Their poisonous bite can turn humans into arachne. Once turned, arachne can mate and produce offspring. Because of their rarity, there is little lore on them or on how to kill them.
Read this if you want to know more about this monster:
In Greek mythology , Arachne (pronounced uh-RAK-nee) was a peasant girl who became an expert spinner and weaver of cloth. No human could spin or weave as well as Arachne, or produce finer cloth. She became famous throughout Greece for her singular talent.
Arachne grew arrogant about her skill, boasting that she was better than Athena (pronounced uh-THEE-nuh), the goddess of wisdom, who invented spinning and weaving. At first, Athena laughed off Arachne's claims. Then many people began to believe them and stayed away from Athena's temples and from festivals held in her honor. Athena decided she had to teach the boastful girl a lesson.
Disguised as an old woman, the goddess came to earth and challenged Arachne to a weaving contest. Athena wove scenes portraying the power of the gods and the fate of humans who dared to challenge them into her cloth. Arachne's tapestry contained scenes of the romantic misadventures of the gods, a subject which Athena felt made the gods look foolish. Arachne's work was equal to Athena's, and the goddess was impressed by its quality. However, Arachne could not resist boasting that her weaving surpassed that of Athena.
At that moment, the goddess revealed her true identity. She tore apart Arachne's weaving and beat the girl with the shuttle from her weaving loom. In despair, Arachne took a rope and hung herself. Out of pity, Athena changed the rope into a web and turned Arachne into a spider, an animal known for its spinning and weaving skills. Today the class of animals to which spiders belong is called Arachnida (pronounced uh-RAK-nid-uh), after the girl who could weave so well.
Lesson learnt from this story: Never be arrogant, be down to earth, even if you are at the top, you should always know how to bow down and be humble.
[3] a winged two-legged dragon with a barbed tail.
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