Ep 137. I Did? (5)

  Crash!

  “…”

  “Screeeee!”

  “……”

  “Over here! Arrows!”

  “…Mnghh…”

  Stirring awake, Light rubbed her eyes whilst her ears twitched to the i noises. Distant yells and curses were eg throughout the , some of which didn’t sound all that far away.

  As the half girl arose, Ilias also slowly opened her eyes, feeling the weight oail suddenly disappear. The youngling shook herself awake, looking around in a daze.

  “Light…? What’s wrong?”

  “…Do you hear that?”

  “Mm?”

  As Ilias also turowards the dire of the he red dragon began to pick up on rather familiar sounds. People were shouting, metals were g – and inhuman things were screeg.

  “Oh…that’s new. You don’t hear those things often in cities. Then again, I guess we’re not really in a city…”

  “People are fighting, right? Shouldn’t we go help?”

  “Mm…they’re fighting, yeah. But they probably don’t need our help. We still go see what’s going on though!”

  “Huh?”

  While the half girl blinked in fusion, Ilias briskly rose to her feet, stretg the soreness away from her body. After grabbing hold of her sister’s hand, the youngling pulled Light along as usual.

  “! The early wyrm gets the bird!”

  “…Isn’t that backwards?”

  “Huh? Uh…don’t think so?”

  Worm. Wyrm. Close enough.

  Probably.

  ? ? ?

  “Sheesh, piss off! Whatever did I do to you pests?!”

  “You do reek of blood, child.”

  “I ’t do anything about that! Besides, I’m made of iron, that’s how I usually smell anyways!”

  “…Fair point.”

  Serenis sat upon a snow-covered boulder by the caverrance, the horde surrounding Raizel with an amused look. Her m visit had turned out to be quite the eaining show.

  Wolves and bears of all shapes and sizes had gathered ht in front of the youngling’s temporary ir, banding together to drive away the f that had iheir territory – and hopefully steal away the source of the bloody st that their invader reeked of. The dragonlord eve sorry for the family of bears that seemed to have lost their homes ht.

  Unfortunately, the beasts’ cws and fangs posed little threat against the yawnial dragon. While their attacks failed to even chip away Raizel’s skin, every retaliating strike sent another beast to oblivion.

  ‘…Such is the w of the wild.’

  Eventually, the ing few began to realize how hopeless it was to challehe metal dragon before them. With fear spreading like wildfire amongst the horde, it wasn’t long until the first few wolves began to flee. The rest were quick to follow thereafter.

  Raizel snorted in a mix of annoyand triumph. She scraped her bloodied foot against the snow, pig up one of the wolves she’d killed.

  “Ugh, talk about a wake-up call. I’m not even hungry right now…Lord, do you want these?”

  “Let’s bring them down. I’m sure Chell’s vilgers would make better use of them than us.”

  As Raizel began to gather the dead animals, Serenis briefly spared a gowards the trampled snow. Trails of animal footprints led downhill, attesting to all the beasts that had fled the se.

  “…”

  For a moment, Serenis wondered if it was worth following them.

  Chell was just down the snowy hillside – if the horde of beasts had decided to attack the small settlement instead, then givetlement’s ckluster defe could be a source of danger.

  And, above all, one of the beasts had been carrying a strange, ing level of mana.

  ‘…But they’re just animals. And Ilias is down there anyhow.’

  A meager beast couldn’t hope to defeat a grown dragon. It’d be a miracle if the beasts could evehrough the barricade of Asarda’s warriors.

  …Right?

  ? ? ?

  “What the…where did all these wolves e from?! Even bears are in the mix!”

  “The feast must’ve drawn them ht. Good riddance, winter’s just around the er anyhow! Quick, prepare the arrows!”

  Chell’s warriors busily moved about, waking each other to supply the settlement’s rear entrah ons. A volley of arrows rained from above, shooting down the beasts that were raking their cws at the sealed gates.

  But as the horde’s number dwindled, a snarling bck bear stepped forth amidst the wolves. Its body was as rge as the rear gate itself, and even on all fours the beast stood taller than Asarda’s most aplished warriors.

  With thudding steps, the bear then charged forth to throw itself onto the gate.

  “Keep firing! Stop her!”

  “The arrows aren’t getting through!”

  Crash!

  Ign the volley of arrows buried in its hide, the bear smmed into the gate, knog it down with a single charge. A bellowing roar echoed throughout the settlement’s premise, and the archers grit their teeth as the beast eheir stronghold. Several children yelped in terror and fled from the viity, while more soldiers rushed to the rear gate to take their pce.

  “Don’t let her in any further!”

  “Grahh!”

  Several warriors surrouhe giant bear, brandishing their clubs and axes against the snarli. Others busily hahe smaller beasts that began p in through the broken gate, hag and shooting without cease.

  …Meanwhile, a pair of guests casually approached the se. While one hid behind the other, the other’s eyes were sparkling in awe and i.

  “Woah, Light, look! The bear’s almost as big as our ! Are all bears that big around here?”

  “…Ilias, I don’t think that’s important right now…”

  “Hmm…”

  Ilias watched the warriors a few moments longer. It was sidered bad mao interrupt someone else’s hunt amongst dragons, and she sidered applying the same rule in this instance.

  But when the snarling bear’s forearm violently smashed into a heaving warrior to knock him out cold, the red dragoedly cluded that this wasn’t a mere ‘hunt’ for the Asardans.

  “…Looks like you’re right. Time to earn our breakfast!”

  As soon as Ilias finished her sentehe youngling unched herself towards the snarli.

  Not long afterwards, the people’s perception of Ilias would ge from ‘strong ss’ to ‘literal monster.’

  ? ? ?

  Chell’s warriors bnkly stared from a distance. Fmes bzed past their eyes, and fresh blood spilt onto the snow beh their feet.

  Bone-g sounds caused a few of them to twist their expressions in disgust. Even those that had initially been cheering for the purple-haired ss had died down from the one-sided battle; in fact, what they were seeing wasn’t so much a battle, but closer to a predator hunting prey.

  Finally, one of them warriors hesitantly approached the half girl at their side, clearing his throat before prompting her.

  “Ahem. Light…was it?”

  “Huh? I help you?”

  “Does your…friend…do this often?”

  “You mean Ilias? What about her?”

  “Breathe fire, I mean.”

  “…Uh…”

  As far as Light was ed, a red dragohing fire erfectly natural. In fact, most people would agree that there was nothing to be surprised about.

  But as far as the Asardans were ed, Ilias was just a peculiar-looking half. A peculiar-looking half that had horns, two wings, a tail, inexplicable strength and…apparently an infmmable throat.

  So, instead of expining the entire cept ons to the warrior, Light opted for a much, much simpler expnation: ohat wasn’t necessarily true.

  “She’s, um…oh, you know how Aymeia summon fire? Ilias is the same.”

  “Aha, as expected of Lady Aymeia’s retainers! So all of you breathe fire!”

  “Uh…sure.”

  Was she lying? Yes.

  Was she worried about being found out? Not really.

  Before their weird versation could proceed any further, the bear colpsed onto the ground with a loud thud. Sptters of snow put out the embers bzing on its hide, leaving a motionless, smoki in the middle of Chell.

  “There! Easy-peasy!”

  After defeating her rgest foe, Ilias then turowards the hordes of smaller beasts that were still flooding the gate. She audibly growled while faking a vicious expression, f the wolves to slowly retreat in fear.

  When the youngling loudly stomped her foot onto the snow, the wolves yelped in unison, fleeing out the broken gates.

  As the attag horde left their settlement, Chell’s warriors began to loosen in tension. Ma out triumphant battle cries, rejoig in the hunt’s successful oute.

  But Light alone remained alert, narrowing her eyes over the fallen bear. Even when Ilias turowards her to celebrate victory, the half girl didn’t eveer her sister’s voice.

  Instead, Light’s eyes were fixed ohin bck strand poking out of the bear’s fallen corpse.

  ‘…What is that?’

  The bck strand wriggled left and right, its length stretg further and further as the whole piece slithered out of the bear’s smoking body. Its figure then trickled down into the snow beh, burying away into the depths of white.

  Soon after, a thin trail of rippling snow raced across Chell’s floors in silence – straight towards an oblivious boy that had been watg the fight from afar.

  “Wait, look out…!”

  “…?”

  As Light called out in desperation, the boy momentarily gowards the shouting half girl.

  But before she could get another word out, the snow beh the boy’s feet exploded upwards to reveal a long, pitch-bck creature. Standing just at about a grown man’s height, it was too big for a worm, and too thin for a snake – but it was heless alive, screeg through its open, gaping mouth.

  The boy immediately fell backwards, trembling in fear of the screeg creature. The boy ched his eyes shut, fearing the worst as the bck strand luowards him.

  But before the creature’s gaping maw would reach the boy, a sudden warmth instead enveloped his figure.

  When he opened his eyes after a few seds, the bck creature was being held by a bzing grip around its throat, wriggling helplessly in the air. Strands e hair danced about the bze surrounding them while the figure’s ed voice called out to the boy behind her.

  “Are you alright?”

  “…Um…um…uhm…”

  At first, the boy didn’t know what to be scared of more – a giant bck tapeworm, or walls of fire that had encased him whole.

  But when his eyes met the figure’s worried gaze, a surge of relief washed the boy’s worries away.

  These fmes weren’t going to hurt him. Ever.