Ep 56. This Is Growing Pleasantly Out Of Hand. (5)

  A golden su illumihe forest as Ilias desded by the giant ke’s northern edge. When all her passengers were safely on ground, the youngling shrunk to her usual humanoid appearance, gripping her grumbling stomach.

  “…I’m hungry.”

  “You’ve been flying for hours, after all. Here!”

  Light rummaged through one of the baggage as she produced a piece of dried meat from within for her sister. It wasn’t enough, but it’d do until they settled down to camp or otherwise.

  While the dragon powerlessly chewed on the food, others were studying the surrounding ndscape. One particur stream was stretg northwards from the ke, leading deeper into the forests.

  Patriarrowed his eyes as he noticed the liness of the riverbank leading upwards. Strangely enough, he could see a pebbled path, g aation whatsoever; it was clearly a manmade road.

  “Looks like we’re at the right pce. Just up this stream should be where we’re looking for. We walk the rest of the way, shouldn’t be far from here.”

  When the enforcer beed to others, Serenis simply nodded as she began to walk wordlessly along the trail. Ilias was dragging herself along, with Light pushing the red dragon from behind with what strength she had.

  Meanwhile, Karas observantly studied the surroundings as the group made their the stream. Despite the decades it’d been since his st stay within a forest enviro, old habits were slowly creeping back as he she air.

  ‘How nostalgic. Though, something smells rotten. As if…’

  “Ew, is that fish?”

  Patrick’s disgusted ent made everyone look to the side. A giant fish, almost the size of an adult male, was rotting by the riverbank. Smaller animals and is were beginning to feast on its remains.

  Karas narrowed his eyes as he tried to make out what the fish exactly was. Despite its bloody underbelly, the head remained intact for the professor to dis its species.

  “…A rivergill?”

  Patrick curiously turo Karas, raising a brow at the ent.

  “That’s a rivergill? Isn’t it too big? I thought those were supposed to be the size of your fingers.”

  Upon the enforcer’s questioning response, Karas took a brief moment to realize it portuime to fulfill his role. Although everyone could hear him fine, he specifically turowards Serenis and Light as he spoke.

  “Sihis is a workshop, let’s go over some forest habitat that us mages. As Patrick just mentioned, rivergills often grow no bigger than the size of an adult’s finger – but in fact, this is due to the numerous predators that seek them for food. Whe in an ideal enviro, rivergills have been firmed to grow indefinitely.”

  Ilias gnced over to the fish as they walked by its carcass. Right now, the only thing she could think of was finding another one of that size aing it.

  “…Are they good?”

  However, the professor shook his head.

  “Rivergills are known to have a very peculiar taste. As they grow older and rger, their growth in size rehem impossible to live on small amounts of fish and is – they iend to e clumps of dirt whole, digesting what nutrient there is and expelling pos they don’t need. So, to answer your question…”

  The professor took a momentary pause as he looked towards the starving dragon.

  “Bigger rivergills tend to taste like dirt.”

  “…Oh.”

  Light burst into ughter at the red dragon’s evident disappoi. She then looked towards her professor, pointing at the river beside them.

  “Do they still get hunted when they grow so big though?”

  “Larger rivergills are often captured by human hunters, not predators. Although their taste isn’t anything remarkable, their nature-friendly diet make their livers good pos in alchemy practices. A rivergill’s liver is, in fact, a primary ingredient in recovery cos, as well as various medie.”

  “So, that big one died to a huoo?”

  “As for that one in specific, while I ot say for certain, it isn’t too likely. A hunter should’ve skinned and procured their remains instead of abandoning the carcass like that.”

  “Eh? Then what killed it?”

  “…Good question.”

  The professor shook his head. He shrugged, and looked towards the darkenihs of the forest ahead of them.

  “I don’t know.”

  ? ? ?

  “Is this the pce we’re looking for?”

  “Looks like it? I mean, look at the size of that tree. I ’t evehe top from here!”

  As Light and Ilias versed, their gaze slowly rose upwards to see the t height of the giant oak tree in the clearing. It was taller than any building they’d seen, its bark seemingly joined by roots of multiple different trees.

  Meanwhile, Patrick’s eyes drifted from the two chatting sisters, then to the tree, then to the wooden that shared the clearing with it. A definitive maructure, and if memory served true, Archmage Otoka Lairaff’s home.

  ‘Guess I’ll try talking to him first. Wonder if he’d remember me though…’

  But just as Patrick approached the wooden door to give it a few knocks, a series of metallic thudding noises drowned out the enforcer’s knog. The noise grew louder and louder, and the door soon swung open, revealing a silvery figure within.

  Her neck bones shrieked iallic screeches as she stretched, expression filled with annoyance.

  “What’s with all the damn noise? What do you want?”

  “…Uh…”

  ‘I don’t know who you are, but you’re louder than any of us here.’

  Patrikly stared at the grey figure that had suddenly appeared before him. The only thing he knew was that this woman wasn’t the old archmage he was looking for.

  Meanwhile, Ilias ged at the sight. She pulled on her right cheek until it ached in paiing go once she’d firmed that it wasn’t a dream.

  Light frowned as she watched Ilias torture herself.

  “Ilias? What’s wrong?”

  The silvery figure darted her gaze as a familiar name slipped out of the half girl. Only then did she spot the red dragon in the party, mirr the disbelief in their eyes.

  Finally, Serenis poked her head from behind Patrick to spot the familiar dragon at the door.

  “Oh. Hello, Raizel.”

  ?

  The metal dragon blinked and rubbed her eyes several times. But no matter how many times her vision darkened aurhe dragonlord remaianding iaring quizzically at the youngling before her.

  “…Lord? What’re you doing with humans?”

  “We’re searg for a human by the name of Otoka Lairaff. Though, I could ask you the same – this isn’t your , is it?”

  “…No. But some weird human dragged me here.”

  Slowly, Ilias’ mouth opened up as she looked at her friend, her eyes still muddled with disbelief.

  “Really? The great Raizel was dragged here by a human? Sounds like a pre-tty bad joke to me.”

  A g noise of metal rang out from Raizel as she gripped her hands into a fist. She was grinning – and not in a pleasant way.

  “Ilias, I will literally bury you.”

  “Pft, as if you !...Actually maybe you , I’m starving right now…”

  “If you want some fish, there’s one by the river.”

  “Oh, that was you? The professor said that fish tastes like dirt though…and it was already rotting.”

  “That’s the point.”

  “Wait, what do you mean?! You wanted me to eat dirt?!”

  Light, Karas and Patrick backed off as they watched the dragons bicker. The half girl looked towards her professor and the groaning enforcer, pointing at the three by the door.

  “Professor, do you have some sort on mag? Weren’t dragons supposed to be rare?”

  “I believe Serenis is the mag. And we just happen to be apanying said mag.”

  “Yeah…what he said.”

  The three simply waited for the dragons to finish their fighting. However, when another pair of footsteps rustled from behind, and the group turo see two others approag the clearing.

  A strange woman was apanied by an elderly mage, holding a basket of small fish to her side. She widened her eyes in surprise at the ued party.

  “Oh, my. It seems we have even muests, Mr. Lairaff. Dragons too!”

  The old man beside her groaned in internal pain. His small paradise was turning into a dragon’s ir, and he wasn’t liking a single part of it.

  “My dy, I…don’t believe we aodate so many guests…”

  Transtion: please kick them out.

  However, the old man’s unspoken wishes went unheard as the woman replied to him.

  “Please, don’t worry, we’ll find a way. It’s been all too long since we’ve had so many guests.”

  Patrick’s eyes were focused on the elderly mage: he could reize the man as the archmage they were looking for. To boot, the woman apanying him had just called the mage by their st name, firming his identity.

  Oher hand, Karas immediately narrowed his eyes at the blonde woman. She may not have seemed particurly remarkable to others, but the professor could vaguely see the simirity between her and the old scriptures he’d read time and time again.

  No sane forest inhabitant would walk the depths of the woods in a robed attire like that. Or wear jewelry on their ears. Or be barefoot.

  When the woman noticed the professaze, a benevolent smile curved her lips as she came to a stop before the feathered individual.

  “ I help you, lifeless one?”

  ‘Lifeless one?’

  The professhe ent. Dwelling on it wasly ideal with so many others around – and it only went to show who this woman was.

  “…Deity Aldrid, yes?”

  “Oh?”

  The woman’s eyes briefly fell on Patrid Light, then back towards Karas. An amused expression began to appear on her face.

  “Aren’t you an iing thing? A lifeless one whhe deity of life.”

  “…”

  Karas lowered his stance, his gaze sharpening into a gre. He hadn’t expected the deity to single him out as ‘lifeless,’ but if that was grounds for her to not be fond of his presehen that could only mean trouble.

  Even the dragons’ bickering died down as they began to take notice of the twers that had appeared. When everyone fell silent, Aldrid slowly began to raise her hands.

  Rapid calcutions coursed through the professor’s mind as he braced himself.

  ‘I wasn’t expeg to we’d find the deity this easily…if she attacks, then-‘

  But instead of attag, the woman only cpped her raised hands together, beaming in joy.

  “Looks like we’ll need a much bigger table tonight! Please, e on in.”