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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The next day, the tribal exchange finally began.
Over thirty tribes participated. I hadn’t seen so many demons gathered in one place since the Human-Demon War.
Thankfully, the Dragonkin village was built to accommodate dragons, so the buildings were large enough to house the massive crowd. If the exchange had been held in an imp village, where the average height was 150cm, it would have been a logistical nightmare.
The exchange began with a ceremony. The tribal chiefs ascended the platform and recited a declaration of peaceful intentions, promising to enjoy the festivities without causing any trouble. It felt like a school festival.
After the opening ceremony, everyone dispersed to enjoy the prepared activities.
As expected of a village inhabited by dragons, masters of magic, the level of technology on display was astounding, almost anachronistic for a medieval setting.
Any researcher from the magic towers would faint at the sight of the technology here, especially the artificial spirit technology, which was still in its experimental stages in the towers, but here, it was not only fully functional but also mass-produced.
As I stared at the artificial spirits flying through the air in amazement, Ozma chided me,
“Patrasche, pay attention.”
Since there were so many people here, I was using my alias, Patrasche, instead of my real name, Kaldrash.
It was being used so often now that I was starting to consider legally changing my name. It had a certain spy-movie charm, like a codename.
The preliminary rounds of the martial arts tournament Ozma was participating in wouldn’t begin until 3 PM, so we had plenty of time.
We decided to explore the village and try out some of the attractions.
The most popular attraction was dragon riding.
It was a program where you could ride on the back of a Dragonkin in their true form. The thrill of almost falling off, combined with the exhilarating speed, made it a crowd favorite.
Imps, with their childlike enthusiasm, were playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who would ride first.
While I was interested in trying it myself, the line was so long that I would probably have to spend the entire morning waiting. I reluctantly gave up on the idea.
Other popular attractions included a pseudo-drop tower, where you freefell from the sky using wind magic without any safety harnesses, and an incredibly long roller coaster that offered a panoramic view of the Dragon Mountain range.
They were all thrill rides, likely to induce cardiac arrest in the elderly or the faint of heart.
Isn’t this supposed to be a tribal exchange?
It felt more like a field trip to an amusement park.
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Since all the interesting attractions had long lines, we opted for something less crowded.
The archery range.
You shot arrows at targets, and your score earned you prizes. The higher the score, the more valuable the prize.
The grand prize for a perfect score was a jeweled bracelet made with gemstones from Dragon Mountain. Considering that the second-place prize was a teddy bear, it was clearly a bait-and-switch tactic.
There was no way the second-place prize was even remotely comparable in value.
As we entered the building, an attendant, who had been manning the booth alone, stood up and asked,
“Would you like to try your hand at archery?”
I nodded and paid the three silver coins entry fee.
Despite its potential appeal, the archery range was relatively empty due to the exorbitant price.
It was a consequence of the Dragonkin’s distorted sense of economic value. Since everyone in the village was wealthy, they didn’t realize that three silver coins was a significant amount of money for ordinary people.
One silver coin was equivalent to about ten thousand won. Few would be willing to spend thirty thousand won just for a bit of archery practice.
I handed the bow and arrows to Ozma.
She looked at me, puzzled.
“You want me to do it?”
“We’re here, might as well try it.”
Ozma, seeing the logic in my words, nodded and took the bow.
Having received knightly training from Vanessa, a Sword Master, she was surprisingly proficient with a bow.
Thwang!
The arrow flew through the air and struck the nine-point ring on the target a hundred meters away.
Impressive accuracy. She could probably get a high score.
“Too bad.”
Ozma, having hit the ten-point ring twice, the nine-point ring five times, and the eight-point ring three times, clicked her tongue in disappointment and set down the bow.
But her total score of 89 was enough to earn her the teddy bear.
“Congratulations.”
The attendant, who had been watching with bated breath, handed her a large teddy bear.
Ozma looked at the teddy bear with surprise, then her face lit up, seemingly pleased with its soft texture.
I pulled out my coin purse and asked,
“Would you like to try, Camilla?”
Camilla, who had been standing silently behind us, shook her head.
“I’ve never used a bow before.”
“Alright.”
I wasn’t going to force her. I paid the attendant.
“Ten shots.”
“That’s plenty.”
I aimed at the target and fired the arrows in rapid succession.
Thwang!
The arrows flew a hundred meters and struck the bullseye, quivering slightly.
Ozma’s eyes widened in surprise.
Well, hitting the bullseye without even aiming properly was bound to elicit such a reaction.
I had, of course, used wind magic to guide the arrows.
The attendant didn’t seem to notice my trickery, so I continued cheating shamelessly.
As a result,
“A… a perfect score.”
All ten arrows were in the bullseye, earning me the grand prize: the jeweled bracelet.
Whoever owned this place must be feeling rather annoyed right now, having lost such a valuable prize while gallivanting around and leaving a lowly attendant in charge.
Well, not my problem.
I examined the bracelet.
It was a high-level artifact. It would automatically cast a protective spell and activate a healing spell if the wearer was in danger.
Imbuing a single artifact with multiple spells was incredibly difficult. Such items were called High Artifacts.
Stormbringer, the sword I had melted down, had been one such item, but its ego had been too annoying. I now regretted not examining its enchantments more closely.
I looked at Ozma, who was awkwardly holding the teddy bear. She looked uncomfortable.
I offered her the bracelet.
“Trade you for the teddy bear.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Ozma looked at me in surprise, and I explained calmly,
“It’s not a particularly useful artifact for me. It would be more beneficial to you, a frontline fighter. But I can’t just give it to you for free.”
Ozma looked at the teddy bear, then at the bracelet in my hand.
“Hmm… fine, Cabbas.”
She had apparently named the teddy bear in the short time she had been holding it. She gave it one last hug, then handed it to me.
I gave her the bracelet, and Ozma nodded in satisfaction.
While she liked the teddy bear, the artifact, which was essentially an extra life, was much more valuable to her, a warrior striving for strength.
Without hesitation, I handed the teddy bear to Camilla.
Camilla looked at me, surprised, and I shrugged, saying casually,
“A gift.”
She looked back and forth between me and the teddy bear, then smiled and nodded.
“I’ll treasure this teddy bear… as if it were you, Master Kaldrash.”
Her words made me blush, and I couldn’t look her in the eye for the rest of our time at the archery range.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have done that.
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