Chapter 10
“Hmm... Yaaawn...”
I quietly woke up and sat up in my polymorphed form.
Judging by how noisy it was outside, something seemed to be going on today.
I carefully rubbed my eyes and slowly started walking.
“What could be making all that noise...?”
This was the snowy wilderness of northern Karts, a domain of monsters and wild animals also known as a hellscape beyond human reach.
Humans only came here now and then to gather materials or hunt monsters, so the commotion probably wasn’t coming from them.
I dispelled my polymorph and slowly stepped across the snow, looking around.
It was a gloomy day with a little fog, but a dragon’s eyes were far sharper than a human’s, letting me see clearly through it.
‘...Thermal vision.’
With the help of magic, I could look around with a kind of vision commonly known in modern times as a thermal imaging scope.
Since I wasn’t from this world but had lived in the modern era, I was probably more imaginative than anyone else.
And with that imagination combined with Mircania’s exceptional intelligence and magical talent, I could use magic even more efficiently and effectively than the original Mircania.
‘...There’s nothing in sight nearby right now, so it’s probably somewhere in the forest a little farther away.’
Rumble—!
As I slowly crossed the snowy field and neared the lake, I spread my wings and looked toward the forest at the sound that rang out once more.
‘Hmm...’
“Krrraah!”
“Grrrr...”
Wondering what all the commotion was about, I lowered my head and looked closely. It seemed there was a small territorial dispute going on in the forest.
One side looked like Lizardmen, and the other... Werewolves?
Well, neither side was exactly weak, and if they were fighting over territory, there wasn’t much reason for me to intervene.
To be honest...
If I went over there, I could wipe them all out in no time.
But then those monsters would be in the middle of a territorial dispute, only to have their lives pointlessly snuffed out by a dragon who suddenly barged in. They’d surely find that absurd.
So, as a tiny act of mercy, I decided to simply watch their territorial dispute.
Another way to look at it was that I got to watch a small-scale war simulator for free. What was there to dislike?
‘Yaaawn...’
Still, unlike what I’d imagined, they weren’t fighting all that savagely. They kept hesitating, and it looked pretty boring.
‘Can’t you just get on with the fight...? I guess monsters aren’t completely lacking in intelligence, after all...’
In the game, I’d casually fire off a spell whenever they got in my way, but here, they weren’t just scraps of data.
I felt a little guilty about killing them myself, but simply watching them was boring too.
How should I put it? It was so dull that I was yawning like this, yet I had no intention of interfering. It was quite the contradiction.
“Over there! Hurry and follow me!”
“We’ll be fine if we can just get out of the forest!”
‘...Hm?’
“Grrrr!”
The moment I heard people’s voices from the left and saw the Lizardmen turn their attention toward the humans, I quietly stood up.
“Hey, man! Lizardmen! Do you still have enough strength to fight?”
“Damn it... Run! We have to make it out to the open snowfield and fight them there. What else can we do?”
A familiar voice, a face covered in a bushy beard, and a massive build.
They were the very people I’d seen at the guild two days ago, so I kept a close eye on them.
After all, my role was the Guardian Dragon of the North.
Though I rarely showed myself,
I wasn’t the sort to simply ignore what was happening right before my eyes.
And keeping monster waves headed for human settlements at bay was part of my role, too. It wasn’t as if I was afraid of a few monsters.
‘The distance... About seven hundred meters?’
Flap—
I spread my wings and quietly started flying toward them.
Clang—!
“I managed to fend them off for now! I don’t know how many more are coming, but grab this and let’s get out of here!”
“Damn, I thought we’d finally found a chunk of crystal for the first time in ages, but of course we’d run into bad luck!”
Had they trespassed on the Lizardmen’s territory while gathering crystals?
Their conversation didn’t explain everything, but judging by the circumstances, they’d probably gone into the forest to explore.
And Lizardmen were cunning; they seemed to have a habit of waiting until their prey tried to leave their territory before attacking.
Otherwise, there’d be no explaining why they were keeping an eye behind them while having a standoff with the Werewolves.
But I’m a dragon, aren’t I?
What could a mere Lizardman possibly do to me?
“Grrrr...”
“Th-this is insane... Why is there a dragon here...?”
Step—
I quietly touched down and began walking forward, one step at a time.
“Hey, man, do you think we’re... going to make it out alive?”
‘...Should I play a little prank on them?’
I quietly pretended not to care as I passed in front of them, then shifted my gaze down and to the left, toward the two standing beside my foreleg.
“...I think it’s looking at us.”
“Could you... do something for us, Mr. Dragon?”
Of course, I had absolutely no intention of harming the humans, so I quietly passed them and looked toward the Lizardmen.
“Grrrr...”
“Krrraah!”
They swung their weapons and bared their claws, as if trying to threaten me, but... Well.
I didn’t feel threatened at all, nor did I have any instinctive sense that I was in danger. They were simply insignificant.
“Looks like it’s not interested in us.”
“Then we’re lucky! Let’s get out of here!”
I watched the two of them run away, then looked at the Lizardmen as they ignored me and started chasing after them.
It seemed they’d assumed that since I’d let the humans go, I’d let them go too.
‘Hmm... If I leave them alone, they’ll get caught, won’t they?’
Decision made. I had no choice but to kill the Lizardmen.
“Th-these guys are chasing us! Damn it...!”
“Run! Our best bet is to make it to the village somehow... We’ll just have to fend them off one more...?”
Crack— Crunch—
I drove the armored tip of my tail straight through the heart of the Lizardman that had chased after them fastest, its sharp claws spread wide as it swung at them.
[Go back.]
“Y-you mean us, right, man?”
“I-I think so... don’t you?”
After they stared blankly at me in response to my telepathic message, they quickly ran off. I watched them go, then turned around.
“Grr...”
“Grrr... Krrraah?”
I merely turned my body slightly and watched the Lizardmen, claws raised and on high alert, then quietly drew in a breath.
If there had only been one or two, perhaps, but I didn’t want to waste time carefully killing the dozen or so Lizardmen one at a time.
[...If you’d just behaved yourselves, it wouldn’t have come to this.]
Fwoooosh—!
I quietly gathered cold in my mouth and breathed it out in front of me, almost as lightly as a sigh. It soon became intensely freezing air and froze the Lizardmen in an instant.
To me, it was no more than a tiny breath, but that breath became a dragon’s breath, freezing and solidifying everything in front of my eyes.
‘...Since I froze them all at once, it probably didn’t hurt much.’
My role was to protect humans by keeping away anything that threatened them, not to be a destroyer that disrupted the natural order and upset the balance.
So even now, all I’d done was leave them a warning by freezing six or seven Lizardmen for an instant with a very weak breath.
It was a warning: if they threatened humans and caused trouble in this territory again, I wouldn’t stand by.
Crack—
“Krrraah! Grrk!”
I slowly stepped on one frozen Lizardman and crushed it with a low growl, then simply watched as the remaining Lizardmen, who’d been on guard against me, all fled at once.
‘Haa... What a hassle. Still, killing all those monsters over something like this would be a problem in its own right...’
Thinking this was enough, I quietly started walking back to my lair.
Splash—
Of course, I first dipped the tip of my tail in the lake and rinsed it off, since I’d just pierced a Lizardman with it.
I absolutely can’t stand the fishy smell.
‘...About two days left? Etiquette and the like should be easy enough to cram for, and... there’s not much else to think about, right?’
The idea of a dragon interviewing for a tutor position at the Kalinix Grand Ducal House might seem ridiculous to anyone who heard it, but...
If I succeeded, my chances of surviving safely would improve, even if only a little.