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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“What do you think will happen?”
I asked the Heretic Inquisitor, Zeronia, who was kneeling, but he kept his mouth tightly shut and bowed his head deeply.
It seemed to mean that he wouldn’t tell me any information, but in fact, I didn’t ask expecting an answer either.
It was simply a way to refresh my mind in the sense of organizing my thoughts.
“The dragonkin have strong pride, so they won’t respond to my demands. That’s natural.”
They were probably thinking about how to rescue the dragonkin without even considering granting my request.
After all, you’re not supposed to give in to the demands of terrorists.
I sat on the chair Zeronia had been using.
I uncorked the jar of chocolate cookies on his desk and popped one into my mouth.
He seemed to eat them when he lost concentration or lacked sugar during work, and they were crispy and delicious, probably because they were high-quality.
“Hmm.”
Only the sound of crunching cookies echoed in the room. Eventually, one of the agents next to Zeronia sobbed and pleaded.
“P-Please spare us.”
The moment he heard that, Zeronia abruptly raised his bowed head and rebuked the agent.
“How dare a dragonkin beg for his life so shamefully! If it’s death, accept it bravely! The dragons are watching over us!”
“Ah, may the breath of the dragons blow upon us…”
The priest also added a word, closing his eyes and beginning to pray. Thinking they were saying useless things, I ate another cookie and replied.
“I have no intention of killing you. You won’t get hurt any further either. As I said earlier, I only want one thing: humans are turning into dragonkin, and I’m looking for the reason from you.”
“…”
Zeronia slightly raised his eyes as if trying to discern my sincerity.
“You’re saying humans are turning into dragonkin?”
Now that he seemed to have the will to have a conversation, I took the cookie jar and sat down in front of them.
“Yeah, including my sister. Among the National Border Guards, two of them are changing as well. When I told them that, your side mocked and provoked us.”
When I pointed to the two dragonkin who had been beaten by me at the Dragon’s Boundary, they averted their gazes in embarrassment.
Zeronia glared at the two as if to reprimand them and sighed with a mixture of various emotions.
“But we truly know nothing. We’ve never even heard of a disease where humans turn into dragonkin.”
“Really?”
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed they were genuinely aggrieved, but I couldn’t just let it go and return empty-handed.
They might not know, but other dragonkin might.
Suddenly, the wind blew heavily from outside, and a faint commotion brushed past my ears.
Not only me but also Zeronia seemed to have noticed, as he kept his mouth tightly shut, trying not to show it, but it caught my eye.
“Looks like they’re here.”
I slowly stood up, threw the empty cookie jar on the floor, went back to the chair and sat down, then opened the book I had taken out earlier and put my feet up on the desk.
“Hmm.”
It seemed to be written in the language of the dragonkin, so I didn’t understand it at all and just closed the book.
He had been sitting in this position under the pretext of guarding the Dragon’s Boundary, but I could somewhat understand Zeronia’s feelings of being bored with the same routine every day.
Perhaps wondering why I was sitting still even though I noticed the ambush, Zeronia couldn’t hold back and opened his torn mouth.
“Why aren’t you responding? If you’re thinking of resolving this through conversation after being arrested, you’d better give up, human. You will be executed on the spot.”
“I know that much, but…”
I lay almost horizontally on the chair and blankly stared at the ceiling light.
“I wonder if they can make it this far.”
The Heretic Inquisitors and agents guarding the various outposts of the Dragon’s Boundary felt their sunken hearts returning to their places.
The moment they heard the voice of the hostage-taker from the Dragon Horn Outpost, the inquisitors at each outpost were already thinking about how to safely rescue the hostages and kill the bastard.
They heard his demand for information, but they had no intention of complying with the request of a mere human.
Of course, they were heading towards the Dragon Horn Outpost to subdue him.
But they had no choice but to step back without even getting close.
Like corn scattered in a cornfield, numerous traps densely surrounded the vicinity of the Dragon Horn Outpost.
They were genuinely curious about how he could install such traps in such a short time.
As a result, the dragonkin couldn’t even approach the Dragon Horn Outpost.
“We must go even if we have to accept casualties! We don’t know what that bastard will do to Inquisitor Zeronia.”
The largest dragonkin shouted, stabbing the ground with his halberd. Those who had raised their voices saying it was right until they entered the trap field now responded with silence.
Among them, an inquisitor wearing glasses crossed his arms and offered his opinion.
“The emergency communication device is connected to the Havelock Forward Base anyway. The High Inquisitor is probably on his way, so for now, it’s best to wait…”
“What kind of nonsense is that! If we show the High Inquisitor that we’re helpless against a mere human, do you think he can entrust us with the front line of the Dragon’s Boundary?”
“Hmm…”
The large dragonkin continued to raise his voice.
“Before he arrives, we need to resolve the situation and report it. It’s not about leaving it to the High Inquisitor to handle!”
“You’re right.”
As other inquisitors stepped forward in agreement, their voices grew louder.
“Perhaps due to lack of time, the traps pose a high risk of injury but not to the extent of endangering lives. Let’s push forward even if we have to accept casualties.”
That way, the blame wouldn’t fall on them, but only Zeronia would be labeled as an incompetent inquisitor.
Everyone believed they were thinking the same thing, although they didn’t say it out loud.
In fact, they didn’t know that the inquisitor who had raised his voice the loudest had a different thought in mind.
Keyalmirec.
He was an inquisitor with outstanding combat abilities, and he tried to ignore the cold sweat running down his back.
It was done.
Somehow, he had made these fools charge into the Dragon Horn Outpost. Admiring his own leadership in delivering a sort of speech, Keyalmirec felt a thrilling sensation throughout his body.
‘That human must be killed.’
Before the High Inquisitor arrived, he had to be torn apart and killed.
Otherwise, there was a risk of his tail being stepped on.
‘These stupid humans, they can’t handle a single thing properly.’
Keyalmirec cursed the Tudogs’ incompetence with a mouthful of swear words and tried to calm his anger.
If his involvement in this incident was revealed, he would surely be handed over to the Heretic Judges for trial.
Then, there was a high possibility that it would be discovered that he had kidnapped dragonkin and handed them over to the Gladiators, or that he had falsified records claiming they had tried to trespass.
Anyway, there was no problem.
‘I just need to tear that human bastard apart and kill him.’
It wasn’t strange at all to execute him on the spot. Rather, it would be more strange not to execute him.
More force was applied to the halberd he was holding, and Keyalmirec took the lead and headed towards the Dragon Horn Outpost.
***
‘How did this party end up like this?’
Eris, who had entered the land of dragons, smiled awkwardly as she glanced at the companions following behind her.
Hatsim, a dwarf warrior whose height only reached Eris’ waist but whose beard seemed to touch the ground.
Jaguia, a beastman with smooth black skin and cat-like eyes that seemed to have a crescent moon reflected in them, purring.
Even to the humans guarding the Dragon’s Boundary, the combination of an elf, a dwarf, and a beastman seemed quite refreshing, as their gazes were fixed on them despite the urgent situation.
“A forest like this would be suitable for elves. We met at the right time.”
When Hatsim spoke with a hearty laugh, Jaguia, who was next to him, frowned.
“Shut up for a bit.”
“Oh my, the crazy one won’t even let me say something good is good.”
“Sigh.”
Whether it was the dwarf Hatsim or the beastman Jaguia.
Their meeting was quite peculiar, but anyway, the three of them had come to know that they shared the same goal of solving the mystery of their precious ones turning into dragonkin and decided to travel together.
Eris’ head started to ache a bit from the way the two of them spoke, but she had no choice but to keep moving forward.
‘Daniel.’
The guard captain guarding the Dragon’s Boundary had told her.
A male student with the surname McLean had broken through the fence and entered the land of dragons for the sake of his sister.
The moment he crossed over, there was nothing the National Border Guards could do but fidget and pray for him.
‘To think Daniel came here with the same goal as me.’
Eris smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking that they must have some kind of connection, and tried to quicken her pace.
“…”
Eris, sensitive to the scent of the forest, abruptly stopped.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Is it the dragonkin?”
Hatsim and Jaguia asked Eris, but she slowly closed her eyes and opened them again.
A pattern had appeared in her eyes.
The ability given to her by Artemis, the goddess of the moon, hunting, and chastity.
“There are so many traps…”
Eris couldn’t help but be surprised to see the countless traps laid out. If there were this many, it meant the dragonkin had set them up, and she wondered if they were this serious about defense.
‘Is Daniel okay?’
Although there were none that were life-threatening, as they seemed to be for capture, there were still a large number of them, and if he got caught in even one, it would be the end. Eris started to worry.
“There are a lot of traps, so everyone, follow closely behind me.”
While avoiding the traps, Eris could only wish for Daniel’s safety.
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