The 5000-year-old Herbivorous Dragon

Chapter 36 – A whip for the corpse

The fortunate thing was that Rēko’s movement was too quick. Surely the silver dragon wasn’t able to process eating Rēko’s fist, so he shouldn’t have felt significant fear. This way his trauma shouldn’t deepen any further.

Now then, the problem starts from here on.

“Evil Dragon Lord, how should we proceed with this dragon? If I may be so bold, I have an excellent suggestion.”

“Uh huh, for now let’s hear it Rēko. Though I’ll dismiss it, no doubt.”

“―― Let’s start off with crucifixion…”

“Nah, never mind, I don’t want to hear it after all.”

I crouched on the ground, plugging my ears. Ariante pilfered an iron chain from the nearby windmill and silently restrained the dragon.

“Oi, Kin girl. Could you feel around for that spirit demon’s presence? Is he still attached to this dragon?”

“What are you saying. The Evil Dragon Lord has already defeated that thing.”

“The problem is, what Rēvendia had defeated was apparently only a part of him. This dragon had also been possessed till just a while ago, what about now?”

I knew exactly why Rēko became a little sullen. That was because, someone said I failed to bring an enemy down. Even so, for the time being she gave the dragon a sidelong glance and started examining him.

“… It’s small, but I sense a presence of different nature. He’s probably still inside.”

“Still, we’ve no idea whether it’s his main body or one of his forms. Quite a nuisance he is. What do we do, Rēvendia? Should we start with disposing of this dragon?”

“Why are you turning to me for such a cruel decision?”

Dejected, I walked up to the dragon. I tried poking his leg, but he didn’t transfer to me conveniently like he did before. As I could expect, it seemed he had learned something.

“Ah right, Lady Saintess. Can’t you do something about him? Like some clever way to expel that spirit demon.”

I had turned back and called out to the cowardly Lady Saintess, who was examining the situation from way back. She came up to us timidly and created a whirling ball of water in between her hands.

“This is the repelling demons water, which is protecting the town―― should try it out and pour it on him? He just might run away.”

“Ooh, quite a reliable thing. Then, go ahead.”

Splash, she dropped the ball of water on the dragon’s face. Just like a fish which had washed up ashore, the restrained dragon’s body started vigorously writhing. He was clearly suffering. If this continued, the silver dragon would breathe his last breath way before the spirit demon was brought out.

“There are times like this when we pour water on our students, who have fallen in the middle of training…”

In contrast to me, who was seeking help in a panic, for some reason Ariante was deeply moved. Her seeing this and not really having any sense of impending crisis was scary. When I had looked up to the sky with grief, Raiotto’s face came to my mind. I think he still should be hanging on… just barely.

Then Rēko exclaimed “Continue… One hit is not enough. Throw a waterfall on him,” with a countenance befitting a complete fiend.

Furthermore, Lady Saintess, who respected Rēko, gave a simple-minded bow and intended to follow the order through.

“You can’t! Erm… we can’t have this dragon dying just yet. Because he has utility value, or… because he’s a poor thing… yea, all sorts of things…”

Since I hadn’t really thought up of a useful reason a bead of sweat began to form.

“Besides, when we think about it, driving out the spirit demon would just repeat the same thing. Wouldn’t it be better here to watch his state temporarily?”

Rēko clapped her hands with sparkling eyes.

“Indeed, as expected of the Evil Dragon Lord. Hey water demon, stop shooting water at him. Didn’t you hear the Evil Dragon Lord’s words?”

“Eh? The Evil Dragon Lord has spoken? I didn’t hear anything though―― Ah, so that’s what it is! I didn’t hear it, but Lady Rēko was able to hear the genuine Evil Dragon Lord’s voice! As expected!”

Because Lady Saintess thought of me as a lizard (fact), she showed an absurd response. Struck by that, Rēko faced me with a face full of wonder.

“Ah, has the Evil Dragon Lord said that directly to my heart…? What an honour…”

Ariante had an expression like a rock. I could surmise her plan of wanting to completely avoid partaking in this conversation. I also didn’t have any particular reaction, but I definitely decided to separate Rēko and Lady Saintess at the early stages. Whether these two meshed together well or not, I felt it could only go in an unfavourable direction.

“Rēvendia, if we aren’t going to kill this dragon, I’ve a proposal.”

Seeing an opportunity, Ariante raised her hand. I nodded my head without hesitation, asking her “What is it?”

“Since it’s a spirit demon, which on top of not having substance can also use many forms freely, it’d be hard to deal with him using simple strength. Instead, we should gather enough sealing tools or experts in that field. Therefore, I’m thinking of briefly returning to Peryudōna and bringing back a few people I know.”

“Oh, that sounds great. I also agree to that.”

Actually, I had no idea whether it was an excellent plan or not, but if it was true nobody would die, anything was fine.

“Thanks for the approval. Well then, I leave the task of monitoring this dragon to you, so that the spirit demon doesn’t run away. It should be fine if we trap him inside the Saintess’ barrier. In the unlikely event that some other demon comes along, just leave it to the kin girl.”

“Please hurry up. I can’t help being worried.”

“You don’t need to. With my horse, I’ll make it there by dusk.”

It was already into early afternoon. Different from how we took almost two days to come here, Ariante’s horse had to surely be excellent.

When Ariante blew her whistle, a single chestnut coloured horse dashed out from between the town’s buildings, splashing the mud with his hooves. With a pure white mane, he had way too much style for a horse. So much so, that I wondered whether he wasn’t a horse type demon.

The horse came up to us, and as if trying to ascertain the situation, he surveyed the surroundings.

And then――

He had a double take when he saw me. Almost as if he was saying “Is that for real?”

These were most likely the eyes of an adult, like one who noticed a child mixed in amid the battlefield. It was a gaze questioning the reality―― why exactly did a common lizard get lost here?

I responded with a complacent smile, reminiscent of an elder. I wanted to ask the same thing.