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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I had to duck slightly as I entered, so I lowered my back and went inside. Then, I quietly surveyed the Inquisitors and whispered,
“They really hate me.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that from the beginning?”
“Ah…”
As soon as we crossed over, the Inquisitors were practically radiating killing intent, as if they wanted to kill us on the spot.
Not only Sen, who was sensitive to killing intent, but even Eve, who wasn’t on the front lines, could feel how warmly they were welcoming us.
In particular, an Inquisitor named Zeronia, who had been taken hostage by me at the outpost before, was glaring at us directly.
I thought they would guide us immediately, but they just stood there, silently glaring at us as if they were trying to intimidate us. It felt a bit ridiculous.
I figured I should remind them of old memories.
“Both of you, get behind me.”
Sen quickly came behind me and grabbed my clothes, but Eve, with visibly shaking eyes, said,
“D-Do we really need to make things worse between us? We should try to get along a little…”
“These kinds of people need to be treated the same way. We are representatives of the Kingdom of Fresia. If we bow our heads from the start, they’ll keep their chins up until the end.”
“Ah, I shouldn’t have come.”
Eve, completely deflated, trudged behind me. I smiled and answered her.
“That’s why I came here.”
Because the dragon-kin would be the most difficult.
“……!”
As I took a step forward, Zeronia and the other dragon-kin frowned.
“Guide us.”
I deliberately radiated a strong killing intent and gestured with my chin towards Zeronia. He and the other dragon-kin couldn’t back down, even if it was just out of pride.
“Shall we do it like last time? Do you want to be taken hostage again and call for the Dragon Priestess?”
“You…!
“Shut up and guide us. Your cardinals are waiting anyway, aren’t they?”
This was different from before.
Unlike when I illegally crossed over alone, I was now here representing the Kingdom of Fresia.
Rather, the fact that a mere Inquisitor was ignoring me was a situation that shouldn’t be overlooked.
“…Follow me.”
In the end, the dragon-kin who had been in a battle of wills with me lowered their tails first and turned around. I was annoyed that they were being a bother, so I added one more thing.
“If you’re going to lower your head, do it early. Don’t be obnoxious when you don’t even have the guts.”
“……!”
“You bastard!”
They immediately turned around and gripped their halberds tightly. As expected, they were the most prideful species on the continent, so they easily fell for such provocations.
“What, you want to try?”
As I slowly pretended to draw my sword, placing my hand on the hilt at my waist, the Inquisitors swallowed hard and took a step back.
They were already afraid of me, who had entered alone and taken an outpost hostage.
In the end, when I gestured again with my chin to hurry up, they gritted their teeth but had no choice but to turn around.
“Sometimes, Daniel, you seem like a real thug.”
I could hear Eve chuckling behind me.
The place the dragon-kin guided us to was beyond the outpost, a command center that could be called Havelock Outpost.
I had been here once before, but the difference was that there were a few more checkpoints in between.
‘It seems that being breached by me was quite a shock.’
The Inquisitors, who could be called the first shield protecting the forefront of the dragon-kin, and their outposts were breached by a single human.
It must have been a nightmare for them.
Fortunately, by letting me go, they were able to treat the situation as if it never happened, so it didn’t become a rumor.
But for the dragon-kin, it must have been a time to look back on themselves.
“It’s very thorough.”
Sen, who was good at intelligence and assassination, seemed to have realized that it would be quite difficult to try to infiltrate this place.
“To actually see the command tower of the dragon-kin. This seems a bit rare.”
“Human, notes are forbidden.”
Eve was about to write something down in her notebook, but one of the dragon-kin immediately warned her.
While putting her notebook away with disappointment, Eve started to observe her surroundings with wide eyes.
“Is something different?”
Sen asked curiously from the side, and Eve smiled kindly and began to explain what she had noticed, like a professor.
“First of all, the passageways are generally large. Not just the main gate, but also the windows over there. I think it’s because dragon-kin are a bit bigger than humans on average.”
“I see.”
“Yes, and because they have tails, the ground is smoothly packed. I heard that dragon-kin’s tails are sensitive, so maybe that’s why.”
Their tails were definitely sensitive.
In my past life, when I received Kurika’s power and became a wolf beast-kin, I remembered May grabbing my tail, and it gave me goosebumps.
It felt good in a subtle way, but also sensitive.
Anyway, it would have been dangerous if I had kept getting grabbed like that.
“Stop the chatter.”
One of the Inquisitors snapped, annoyed that Eve was talking about dragon-kin just by looking around for a bit.
Eve immediately apologized, but Sen pouted and crossed her arms.
Anyway, I thought that if we waited at Havelock Outpost this time, either the Dragon Priestess or a Cardinal would come.
But a high-ranking official, who could be considered the person in charge of the outpost, came out and took us beyond the outpost building.
“This is also unique, isn’t it?”
I nodded in agreement with Eve’s words.
There were traces of artificial construction in the wide-open field. It didn’t seem to be made for the dragon-kin.
But I could tell why they brought us here by the shadow cast in the sky.
“Be careful of the wind.”
The high-ranking official warned us gruffly.
As if by magic, a strong wind blew. And what landed on the ground from the sky was the ruler of the sky, now that the dragon was absent.
“A wyvern?”
“I-I’ve never seen one before!”
“Wow!”
The wyvern, snorting, glanced at our reactions, which were probably very familiar to it, and immediately turned its head away.
Eve was, of course, and even Sen looked a little excited as she looked at the wyvern.
“Get on, we’re going to the Dragon’s Rest.”
The high-ranking official told us how to board and the precautions.
It looked dangerous, but it had a proper saddle, and there was a rope to tie around our waists to the wyvern, so there was no worry of falling off.
“I-Is this really okay?”
“Enjoy it.”
“No, how can I enjoy this?!”
Eve, who had been trembling since she heard that she had to ride a wyvern, kept fussing and eventually clung to my arm.
‘Sen has a point to be jealous.’
It should be soft, but the pressure I felt made me think that Eve’s chest was a kind of weapon.
“But can’t we just warp there?”
Sen’s question was very sharp. When the Dragon Priestess came to Havelock Outpost to meet Eris and the others, she came by warp.
“We are envoys. They want to show off that they have this kind of thing.”
“…It’s getting childish.”
“They say diplomacy is originally childish.”
Well, Elise would take care of that part. I’m more suited to swinging a sword and killing than negotiating.
“Let’s go.”
With the rider’s calm declaration, the wyvern spread its wings and soared into the sky like a reverse meteor.
The fact that it could accelerate like this from the start showed the dignity of the wyvern.
“The acceleration is amazing!”
“Kyaaa!”
“I can’t hear you because of the wind!”
As soon as we took off, Eve clung to my hand even more, and Sen reached out her hand, saying it was fun.
I felt my hair fluttering and my cheeks being pushed by the wind, and I wondered if we should have been given something like a metal helmet.
But then, when I saw the rider in front of me, I had to change my mind.
Perhaps because he was a rider, his hair was cut short, and his skin was mixed with hard scales, so he was completely unshaken.
It wasn’t that they didn’t give us helmets on purpose, but that they didn’t need them, so they didn’t even think about it.
Or maybe they just weren’t considerate.
Actually, that wasn’t the problem.
“Eve! My arm is really numb! I think the blood isn’t circulating!”
“Danieeel! Hold me! I’m going to fly away!”
“Look at this! My hand has turned white!”
I thought my hand might get cut off because Eve was holding on so tightly, but it was worth it to endure that.
If we had gone by carriage, it would have taken several days, but we were able to arrive in less than a few hours.
“Ugh, I think I’m going to throw up.”
Eve, who got off the wyvern, had a pale face and muttered that she felt nauseous.
“Please massage my hand.”
“Is this some kind of assassination using a beauty trap?”
“…It’s similar.”
Sen massaged my right hand, which had turned white from lack of blood circulation.
To be honest, if it had been anyone else, they would have wanted to be buried in that softness even if it meant losing the use of their hand.
People were waiting for us again.
This time, it was dragon-kin wearing the attire of high-ranking officials, above the Inquisitors, lined up, and a man in a black priestly robe was standing in the center.
It was Cardinal Theosander, who had escorted the Dragon Priestess at the time.
With an angular face, a sturdy build, and broad shoulders.
He had a body more suited to a warrior than a cardinal.
But the most notable thing about him was his presence.
In fact, presence is not something that can be seen clearly, nor can it be described in words.
Nevertheless, when you see that man, I think everyone will have the same thought.
He was a person who was prepared to annihilate the enemy with the determination to not even spare his own life.
He was a true warrior who would draw his sword against the enemy at any moment and willingly embrace death for the dragon.
And in a way, he was just a fanatic.
“Come, the elders are waiting.”
Cardinal Theosander turned around as soon as we got off the wyvern. It was an action that showed he just wanted us to follow without any further words.
“Are dragon-kin always like this?”
Sen was starting to get annoyed by their consistent attitude, and Eve also had a shadow on her face.
I wasn’t very pleased either, but I knew that I had to endure this kind of treatment to meet the dragon.
So, I followed the cardinal.
The place called the Dragon’s Rest was the heartland of the dragon-kin’s land. It was the capital if compared to a kingdom.
But we wouldn’t have a chance to go out into the dragon-kin’s land. They wouldn’t let humans like us go outside freely.
“It’s called the Dragon’s Rest, but it’s unique.”
“Right. I’ve never been here before, but it’s similar to Batian’s cathedral, yet different.”
As I said before, the dragon-kin basically have a theocratic government. The problem was that their god was alive.
In conclusion, it could be seen as a king reigning with absolute power, but the reason why it was called theocracy was because the dragon Shakarim was asleep.
In the end, it was just a visible god, but since it didn’t answer, it was the same as the elders or the Dragon Priestess discussing and voting to divine its intentions.
There were dragon statues everywhere, doorknobs shaped like claws, and signposts that looked like horns. It felt similar to the cathedral, but also distinctly different.
It was a place that felt like a giant dragon was curled up.
‘They named it well.’
So we were on our way to the people called elders, but a girl standing at the end of the hallway stopped us.
A red-haired girl with two horns, her skin as white as flour, and a body that looked like it would collapse if pushed even slightly, but her eyes held a heavy conviction.
The one who was most surprised was, of course, Cardinal Theosander.
“Y-Your Holiness, the Dragon Priestess! Why have you come out!”
He was startled and ran to Dragon Priestess Jane. He stretched out both hands to try to block us from seeing her, but.
The Dragon Priestess slapped Theosander’s cheek and shouted.
“Why didn’t you tell me that the oracle vote was held! Is it even possible that an oracle was held without my knowledge, the Dragon Priestess?”
She was about half his size, so it didn’t look like it would hurt, but Theosander, with a half-broken face, was sweating and trying to make excuses.
“T-That’s, actually…”
But it didn’t matter to us.
Sen leaned slightly towards me and whispered.
“That was satisfying.”
Eve, who seemed to have heard it too, added a word.
“I want to hug that girl.”
I nodded as well.
“Can’t she hit him one more time?”
Did she hear me?
Theosander, who made an absurd excuse, got hit once more.
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