by Aneko Yusagi
“I’m busy thinking about how to get Gaelion to return to his usual self. Just keep an eye on our surroundings, Sadeena.”
“Will do!”
Rat broke her silence and jumped in on the conversation.
“If you want to save Gaelion, I think making him throw up the core might work. It would be best to do it as soon as possible too.”
“I would imagine so.”
“You’ll probably just have to hold him down by force and stick your hand down his throat. Normally you would use a special tool to keep him from biting your hand off, but . . .”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t underestimate my defense rating.”
“Yeah, I guess we don’t need to worry about that with you, Count.”
“Hey, Rat, can’t we use medicine to sedate Gaelion?” I asked.
Rat held up a syringe full of some drug and showed it to me.
“This is a really strong anesthetic. It’s strong enough to knock out even a dragon for a bit.”
“I see. I’ll be counting on you then.”
Gaelion’s level was slowly rising. His stats got a boost from the adjustments on my shield too. And now, he was even leeching stats from Filo. It would be like fighting a dragon version of Filo. I was just lucky that I had Raphtalia and Ren there with me. If nothing else, we had plenty of firepower.
“We should talk strategy before anything else. Rat, it’s probably a good idea to weaken Gaelion a bit, right?”
“Yeah. If possible.”
“Alright. Sadeena, when we find Gaelion, your job is to weaken him up a bit. After that, Raphtalia and Ren can use their skills to pin him down.”
“What about me?” asked Wyndia.
She was trembling.
“You can’t fight, can you?” I asked her.
“I can! If Gaelion might end up getting hurt, then I should be the one to do it! Things could get dangerous, otherwise.”
She sure had a strong sense of responsibility.
“Even if that’s true, what can you do?”
“Now, now. Little Wyndia is quite the magic user. Right?”
“Yeah!”
Oh? I guess she could be our resident sorceress then.
“Not to mention, she can use the Way of the Dragon Vein,” Sadeena added.
“What?!”
Did she just say Way of the Dragon Vein?!
“What kind of magic is that?! I want details!” I shouted.
“Hmm . . . It’s magic that you use by borrowing power from things around you. I guess you could say it’s magic that borrows power from the Dragon Vein. Learning it makes it easier to use cooperative magic and counter-magic.”
Ost had used a similar type of magic, now that I thought about it. I’d just assumed that she was using her own power, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“You’ll understand what kind of magic it is later, so let’s focus on coming up with a plan right now.”
“Fine. I’m going to consider you part of our offense,” I told Wyndia.
Alright, that should be enough to put up a good fight. In fact, I was even a bit worried that Raphtalia and Ren might end up killing Gaelion.
Several hours passed, and we arrived at the town in the east. The morning sun was just starting to rise. Filo was a quick runner, but Gaelion sure could fly fast. On another note, dark clouds seemed to be gathering over the mountains near the village.
“Oh! It’s the Saint!”
“You mean it’s the Shield Hero!”
The villagers noticed us and started making their way over. Wyndia grabbed some sheets and . . . hid under them, for some reason.
Facing the villagers probably wouldn’t be comfortable for Ren either, so I told him to stay hidden in the carriage. He seemed okay with coming out, but it wasn’t hard to imagine things getting messy if he did. Although, to be completely honest, a lot of it had been the villagers’ own fault. They had no right blaming Ren if they couldn’t even be bothered to get rid of the dragon corpse before it ended up causing problems.
“We heard a dragon howling this morning. All of the villagers came outside to see what was going on, and the mountains already looked like that.”
“I see. I saw a dragon fleeing toward this direction and followed it here,” I said.
“Hooray!” shouted the villagers in unison.
I didn’t tell them it was my dragon. I had a reputation to keep, after all. The others seemed to realize that and kept their mouths shut.
“Alright, Filo. You’ve done enough. You, Atla, and Raph-chan, stay here and rest.”
“But Master . . .”
“We don’t have far to go. Gaelion should be just over there. Don’t push yourself, Filo.”
“But . . . I want to go too.”
“No. If you push yourself, it’s only going to make things worse. You’re already near your limit. I’m not going to take you any further.”
“B . . . buuuut!”
Filo started whining. What could I do to calm her down? The way things were, she would probably just end up following us without permission. If I used my portal to send her to Zeltoble or something, there’s no way she would be able to make it back here in time, but . . . hmm.
“Little Filo, you realize that little Naofumi is just thinking of your well-being, right?”
Sadeena started trying to persuade Filo to back down.
“But I—”
“We’re all worried about you, little Filo. You understand that, right?”
“But . . . buuut . . .”
Filo felt helpless. She covered her face with her hands and began to cry. I’d never seen Filo like this before. The way she was crying now was different than the way she cried when she was put on display in Kizuna’s world. It showed just how powerless she felt now.
“Filo, wait for us here. I promise we’ll put a stop to whatever it is hurting you!”
Melty chimed in to help convince Filo. That must have done the trick, because Filo slumped down compliantly.
“Just stay here and relax. We’ll go take care of this and be back in a flash,” I told her.
“Rafu!”
“I’ll stay here with you,” Atla told Filo.
“Sounds good. Atla and Raph-chan, I’m leaving Filo up to you two.”
“You can count on us!”
Atla and Raph-chan both responded confidently.
“Alright. Let’s go bring that knock-and-run prankster back.”
The rest of us walked off toward the mountains covered in dark clouds.
Chapter Seven: Plagued Earth
“I’m pretty sure it was somewhere around here. Ren, do you remember?”
“Umm, yeah . . .”
As we climbed up the mountain, it was clear that the surrounding ecosystem was still in a state of disarray. The land appeared contaminated, and it was obvious that there was some kind of magical disturbance. I never imagined that we would end up back here. Wyndia looked back toward the village and glared with hate in her eyes. What in the world had happened to her?
The last time we’d been here, Filo had just plowed through any monsters that stood in our path. We hardly had to fight at all. But this time was different. Fighting off monsters was taking up a lot of our time, and they just kept coming too.
“I call upon the power of the Earth to come to me and take form. Earth Vein! Lend me your power!”
“Dark Fire Palette!”
When Wyndia finished her incantation, black flames sprang forth and engulfed the monsters in front of us. Her magic seemed slightly different than the magic Ost had used, but something about it did feel similar. I guess this was the Way of the Dragon Vein.
“That sure is strange magic,” I said.
“Yeah. I was never taught the more difficult spells, but they all borrow power from our surroundings,” Wyndia replied.
“I see.”
“Father could use much more difficult spells.”
I wondered if her father had been some
kind of wizard or something.
“Let’s see if we can get you using some spells that are slightly more difficult,” said Sadeena.
She began twirling her harpoon around. She turned toward a different monster that had just appeared and pulled out a flask that she had bought at the village down below.
“I, Sadeena, draw forth the power of this holy water that it may manifest itself. Dragon Vein! Vanquish the enemies before me!”
“Saint Aqua Blast!”
Sadeena used an incantation similar to Wyndia’s and called forth a glowing mass of water that smashed into the monster and killed it.
“Do you understand? Borrowing power from your surroundings means that sometimes there will be compatibility issues. When that’s the case, consider using the items that you have on hand.”
Sadeena handed the flask to Wyndia.
“That has holy water in it, so it works really well against the monsters here. But the effects will weaken if you overuse it, so be careful.”
“Oh . . . okay.”
“That . . . was really impressive,” Melty mumbled.
She was staring in awe, not sure what to make of the unfamiliar magic.
“Oh, I might have you help cast some cooperative magic, little Melty.”
“Huh?!”
I’m pretty sure Melty had taught Filo how to cast cooperative magic, so she could probably pull it off.
“Don’t worry, little Melty. You’ve got more than enough potential. It even shows in the color of your hair. I’m counting on you!”
“No, no, no, no!”
Melty was refusing like her life depended on it. I guess the magic really was difficult to use. Sadeena and Filo made it look easy, but they were probably just abnormal. Wait a second. What did the color of someone’s hair have to do with their potential to use magic?
“You’ll make a perfect match! You can do it, little Melty!”
“Ugh . . .”
Melty’s level wasn’t very high though. Sadeena probably shouldn’t expect too much of her.
“Let’s prepare for it, just in case. Come, we’ll talk it over as we move along,” Sadeena said.
They continued talking as we made our way up the mountain. Before long, we came to the spot where we’d found the corpse of the dragon zombie. It had taken us three whole hours to get there. The land was completely and utterly barren. To think that the area would still be contaminated . . .
“. . .”
Ren stared silently at the plot of land. This was where he’d left the corpse of the dragon he slayed. I guess you could say he was staring his own mistake in the face.
“Ren, keep your cool.”
“I know . . . I decided to take responsibility for my mistakes. I’m prepared to live with what I’ve done. That’s why I’m fighting.”
Wyndia was glaring at Ren . . . I think. Her expression seemed to be a complex mix of emotions. I couldn’t tell if she was upset, sad, or if she had just given up caring. Whatever it was, it was safe to assume that she had some kind of personal connection to Ren’s issues.
“I wonder where Gaelion is,” I mumbled.
“Over there, probably.”
Wyndia pointed to a recess deep in the mountains. As if in response, a black haze began gathering in that direction.
“Oh my! That sure looks dangerous,” said Sadeena.
“I guess we have no choice but to go check it out,” I replied.
I looked over at Wyndia.
“You know how to get over there?”
“Yeah. This way.”
Was Wyndia from around here or something? Maybe she’d been from a hidden village of dragon-worshipping demi-humans that was wiped out by an epidemic after Ren killed the dragon. Then she got caught and ended up a slave, or something like that. And that magic she was using earlier was unique to the secret village. Raphtalia’s story wasn’t all that different, so it was possible.
“There!”
We’d been walking for another two hours or so. Wyndia looked back at us and pointed ahead. Of course, that two hours included time spent fighting monsters. Filo didn’t have much time left, so having to waste it clearing out monsters pissed me off.
Gaelion was lying on the ground in front of the entrance to a cave. Was he asleep? He was absolutely motionless. We stayed hidden in the shadows as we approached. Our plan was to get close and then trap Gaelion in my Shield Prison. Then we would close in on him, and just as the prison disappeared, we would hit him with our magic to weaken him. After that, Rat would knock him out with her anesthetic. If that didn’t work, Raphtalia and Ren would restrain him, and once he was anesthetized, I would take the core back. And that would be the end of it. Assuming things went as planned, anyway.
Shield Prison had a range of five meters. Gaelion was still around twenty meters away. We had to get closer. I used status magic to check his level. He was level 55. That meant he had already stolen 20 levels from Filo. And he was still doing it. He wasn’t going to stop.
“Gyaaoooo!”
Gaelion suddenly awoke and disappeared into the cave.
“Damn it!”
I guess we’d failed. Then again, closing in on the cave would be a lot easier now. Once there, I kept my back against the wall of the cave and peeked inside. Gaelion was looking all around the cave, as if he were searching for something.
“I wonder what he’s doing.”
“He’s probably searching for his treasure. Treasure that the villagers stole,” Wyndia replied.
“It must be some unfinished business of the spirit in the core that commandeered Gaelion’s body,” said Rat.
“All because I . . . killed . . .” Ren mumbled.
Wyndia started yelling at him.
“Stop brooding already! It’s annoying! Get over it, like the Shield Hero said!”
“Yeah, I know I need to. But . . .”
“Oh my god! Hurry up! Let’s go!”
Wyndia dragged him into the cave. She did have a point. Taking action would be better than standing around brooding indecisively.
“Alright, let’s go,” I said.
We began to approach Gaelion.
“Gyaaooooo!”
Gaelion roared, and some kind of black sludge began oozing out all over his body.
Throb!
My shield throbbed when Gaelion roared. What the hell?! Nothing like that had happened before when he roared.
“Mr. Naofumi . . .”
“Rafu!”
I heard voices behind us. I turned around to see Filo dragging Atla and Raph-chan toward us. Her eyes were glazed over.
“Atla?! What are you doing all the way up here?!”
Fohl called out to Atla in surprise when he saw her.
“What the hell are you three doing here?” I asked.
“Shortly after you all left, Filo suddenly began writhing in pain. We tried to get things back under control, but it wasn’t working. Then she took off running.”
“Rafu! Rafu rafu!”
Raph-chan was smacking Filo on the head and trying her best to bring her to her senses, but Filo was in a stupor. She showed no sign of responding.
“Every now and then, Filo would come to her senses and start to turn back. But whenever she did, some kind of power would come flowing toward her and draw her back this way. Then she would end up like this again,” Atla explained.
“What about all of the monsters you must have encountered on the way here?”
“They kept their distance, almost as if they were trying to avoid us. We didn’t have to fight at all.”
Damn it. I guess Filo did have the dragon zombie core circulating throughout her whole body. Maybe that was why I couldn’t use my portal in an area with this level of corruption. Shit. I should have sent Filo back to our village before we came up here.
My shield was doing some kind of weird throbbing thing, Gaelion was right in front of us, and now Filo had shown up here in a weakened state. What the hell was I supposed to do?!
<
br /> “Ugh . . .”
“Filo, do you recognize me?” I asked her.
“M . . . Mas . . . ter . . . Mel-chan . . .”
“Yeah, it’s us. We’ve got this. You need to get out of here. You can’t be here right now. Who knows what could happen.”
“Filo!” Melty called out.
“Ugh . . . I’m . . . scared. Something inside of me . . . ugh . . . Stop . . . uuuughhh!”
Filo grabbed her chest and started writhing in pain. And then, just like Gaelion, black sludge began to ooze out of her body.
“Whoa!”
“Ahh!”
“Rafu?!”
Atla and Raph-chan lost their hold on Filo and were sent flying. The black sludge engulfed Filo and began rapidly creeping toward Gaelion.
“Hurry up and stop that sludge!”
Clearly, something really bad was about to happen. Bad for us and bad for Filo too.
“B . . . but Filo is inside of there!”
“She’s right!”
Raphtalia and Ren were hesitant to act. Deep down, I felt the same. If we attacked the sludge, we might end up harming Filo. Was there nothing we could do to stop it?
“Sadeena! Can you paralyze it with your lightning magic?”
“I’ll give it a try!”
Sadeena quickly began to cast a spell and pointed her harpoon at the sludge engulfing Filo.
“Zweite Thunderbolt!”
Sadeena’s magic landed a direct hit on the sludge engulfing Filo. But the sludge simply jiggled a bit and kept on moving. Sadeena took out the flask filled with holy water and began to cast another spell. She must have been using the Way of the Dragon Vein this time.
“I, Sadeena, call forth the power of this holy water to manifest itself. Dragon Vein! Vanquish the enemies before me!”
“Saint Aqua Blast!”
Sadeena spun her magic into the water to form a mass in the palm of her hand. It went flying and smashed right into the sludge.
“—!”
Oh! That one seemed to have an effect!
“Just as I expected. That thing is derived from some kind of curse. Normal attacks aren’t going to be effective against it,” she said.
“What should we do?” I asked.
“Well, little Filo is the host, and without a host . . .” Sadeena replied.
“No way . . .” whispered Melty.