Chapter 42
After drinking enough Black Drake blood to fill its belly, Whid curled up and dozed off, perhaps overcome by post-meal drowsiness.
Whid tried somehow to fight off sleep, but apparently driving away the sandman was too difficult, and before long it drifted off, snoring softly.
Neighhh.
Silaphe sat down beside Whid.
Silaphe had secretly followed Jade all the way here.
Silaphe had also been curious about the underground cavern.
-Are we going to strip off all the scales and bones today?
“Yeah. I froze it whole because I didn't have a subspace bag, but things are different now. It's all money, so I should process and preserve every bit of it now. Bones, claws, teeth, sinews. From what I can see, there's nothing to throw away.”
-The more money, the better.
Spirits didn't need money, but Jade did.
Of course, the gold and jewels Jade had brought back after raiding Big Crow's nest were substantial, but there was still no harm in having more money.
It would help him travel around the continent in comfort later, too.
“All right, shall we get started?”
Sseuseuseuk!
No sooner had Jade made up his mind than dozens of sylphs appeared in midair.
And among them, Silairon, a high-grade wind spirit, revealed itself.
Jade had summoned a large number of spirits to process the Black Drake.
-All right! Everyone, get to work! Let's finish this quickly!
-Our little ones will help too.
The sight of so many wind spirits made Silestin straighten his shoulders.
Silestin intended to take command himself.
But Elestra, apparently not entirely convinced, drew on Jade's mana and summoned undines.
The wind spirits would surely handle the processing on their own, but Elestra called the undines in case blood or innards made a mess of the floor.
Papapat!
Following the sylphs, the undines appeared and moved in perfect unison under Elestra's command.
As if they would not allow even a single drop of blood to fall to the floor.
Clack, clack, clack!
Watching the spirits work together perfectly without tiring or making mistakes, Jade nodded unconsciously.
Their movements fit together perfectly, like turning gears, and he could not help admiring them.
Meanwhile, the scales went into one pile, the bones another, and everything began to be neatly stacked in its own area.
“Once I feel confident, I should properly explore the Great Forest too.”
-How much strength do you think you'll need before you feel confident?
“Wouldn't I need to be able to summon all four of you at once, at the very least? At that level, I might not be able to guarantee victory, but I think I could at least put up a proper fight. An Ancient Dragon would be too much, but you said a Worm-class should be possible.”
-Hmm.
Silestin stroked his chin.
If there were four supreme-grade spirits, one for each of the four elements, they could more than hold their own against a Worm-class dragon.
Victory was not assured, but escaping with his life would not be difficult.
With that much power, even a dragon might grow angry, but it would not be able to rush in recklessly.
-I see it a little differently.
Elestra joined the conversation.
She spoke with a meaningful expression.
“How so?”
-If we properly draw out the strength of all four of us, I think we could take down a Worm-class without too much trouble. You have spirit armor, Jade. Most magic won't work because of your elemental resistance. But if there's one problem, it's dragon words.
“Hmm.”
Jade's expression darkened.
Alongside its breath, dragon words were a dragon's most powerful weapon.
Dragon words were a power wielded only by dragons, and to humans they were no different from divine power, so Jade's face hardened.
-Dragon words are definitely threatening. Unless someone has mental defenses as strong as a dragon's, they are difficult to withstand.
-But it's not impossible. Dragon words aren't absolute, either.
-That's right! There have been humans who endured them!
“There are humans who endured them?”
Jade looked slightly surprised.
He could hardly believe that there were humans who had endured dragon words, which sounded terrifying even by description.
-There are exceptional beings. Even dragons cannot treat saints or saintesses loved by the gods recklessly. Dragons may be the administrators of the mortal realm, but they are not gods.
“Hmm.”
Jade's gaze deepened.
He was thinking about something.
Sseuseuseuk!
In the meantime, the spirits finished all their work.
They had literally butchered the Black Drake in an instant.
Then they lined up neatly in front of Jade.
With eyes that seemed to await praise.
-We finished cleaning the little guy!
“Ah.”
Jade, lost in thought, suddenly came to his senses.
Then he met the eyes of each spirit, all looking up at him brightly and eagerly like children waiting for a reward.
“Good work, everyone.”
At Jade's praise, the sylphs and undines danced in delight.
Silaphe maintained its dignity as an intermediate spirit, but the corners of its mouth nearly reached its ears.
“I'll give you an hour of free time. So go play to your hearts' content.”
Whoosh!
A commotion broke out over the unexpected reward.
Every spirit flew around the underground cavern in delight.
Then they soon came to their senses, rushed over to greet Jade, and went outside.
They had been given free time, so they wanted to make full use of it.
-Jade really is kind.
-Especially since chances like this are rare for the lower-grade spirits.
-It's not impossible for them to come to the mortal realm on their own, but several conditions have to align for that to happen.
Silestin and Elestra chuckled at the sight of the spirits scattering in every direction in an instant.
But they knew the lower-grade spirits' feelings well, so they did not scold them.
Even after contracting with a spirit mage, they generally had to fight or work, so the two knew how precious free time was.
“I haven't been able to give you free time like this often because I've been going back and forth between the Kingdom of Arhan and the Kingdom of Polstein.”
-Even so, don't do it too often. You'll spoil the kids.
“How could they get spoiled? They're all good kids. They work so well, too.”
Jade said this as he put the neatly sorted scales, bones, sinews, and so on into his subspace bag.
He understood what Silestin was worried about, but it seemed like needless concern to him.
-Are we leaving this place for good now?
“No. I'll come back from time to time. In a way, this is practically my first home. I've grown quite attached to it.”
-That's right. So many things happened here.
Elestra looked wistful.
Elestra did not want to abandon this place, since she had made so many memories here.
“We'll come again later, so don't look like that.”
-It's not as if we're going far. It's practically right next door.
Silestin poured cold water on Elestra's sentimentality.
He thought she was getting overly sentimental about a place they could easily return to.
-You always have to say something.
-Hmph! You're the one being too sentimental! We've even scattered Black Drake nose hairs around, so what are you worried about? Unless something of a similar caliber comes along, nothing will even come near this place for years.
-I know that too, but shouldn't you give me a little time to bask in the memories?
-Jade! Let's go quickly! We've finished everything we came here to do!
Silestin urged Jade on, letting Elestra's words go in one ear and out the other.
At that, Jade let out a quiet chuckle and picked up still-sleeping Whid.
Kyuung?
Perhaps sensing Jade's touch even in its sleep, Whid nestled naturally into Jade's arms.
It settled against Jade's chest as if returning to its rightful place.
“You seem to be getting heavier.”
-You're at the age when you grow fastest. Come to think of it, you haven't enlarged yourself lately.
“I haven't had a reason to. Who sends a baby to war?”
-True.
Silestin nodded.
Barring a knight's sword aura, no one could even scratch Whid's scales, but it still made no sense to send a hatchling not yet fourteen months old to war.
Regardless of its abilities, that would still be wrong.
“We've packed everything we need, so let's head back. The head maid will probably take care of the shopping, but we should still stock up on household goods we'll need right away.”
-It's shopping, it's shopping!
“You saw what Baden Village was like, right? Don't get your hopes up too high.”
After leaving the underground cavern, Jade climbed onto Silaphe.
Soon, carrying Jade, Silaphe soared into the cloudless, clear sky.
“Wooooow!”
“That's incredible!”
The people of Keterus Village could not help applauding as a five-meter-high rampart shot up in an instant.
They all cried out in amazement at the miracle they had only heard about.
In particular, parents whose children served as village guards secretly wiped at the corners of their eyes.
They had lived each day anxiously behind a shabby wooden palisade, and now it seemed they could finally relax a little.
“Long live the lord! Long live the lord!”
“Everyone, shout it together! Long live the lord!”
“Thank you, my lord!”
Following the village chief's lead, the villagers shouted in response.
Some shouted until their throats were raw.
The people of Keterus Village looked deeply moved.
There had recently been rumors that the lord was visiting villages bordering the Great Forest and building ramparts with earth spirits, but no one had taken them at face value.
They had assumed that, even if he was a noble of commoner birth, he would build ramparts in only a few villages as examples.
But when Jade himself appeared and built a rampart that had until then existed only as a rumor, some villagers' eyes filled with tears.
“If you need any other help, tell Alfredo.”
“Oh, no! This is more than enough, my lord. Thank you so much!”
“How are the crops? From the look of things, you mainly farm dry fields, don't you? In terraces, I mean.”
“That's right. There are a lot of mountains around here, after all, and water isn't plentiful, so most people farm dry fields.”
The village chief naturally took the lead in showing him around.
He had sensed that Jade wanted to look around the village.
Besides, it couldn't hurt to grow closer to the lord, so the village chief did his best to be helpful.
-This seems like the most barren village we've seen so far!
-There really is quite a difference from village to village.
The two spirits perched on Jade's shoulders chattered.
They had been listening to every word of the village chief's explanation as well.
“What about the well?”
“There is enough for the villagers' needs. We have to go a little way outside the village, but there is a small river as well.”
“That sounds like water is barely sufficient.”
“With the crops taken into account, it is barely enough.”
The village chief watched Jade cautiously.
He found it difficult to ask anything more of Jade, who had already built the rampart.
Besides, he was not accustomed to asking favors of the lord.
“There is plenty of groundwater, though.”
“Pardon?”
“This village isn't short on water. Undine.”
As he walked, listening to the village chief's explanation, Jade summoned an undine.
Then he immediately drew up the groundwater.
He had made a well in a suitable spot beside the road.
Gush, gush, gush!
The groundwater drawn up by the undine shot high into the sky for a moment.
But that happened only at first; soon the groundwater rose just about a meter above the ground.
“Ah!”
“Since I'm here, I'll make a few. Take me to the places you think need them most, and I'll make wells there.”
“Thank you, my lord!”
The village chief's face brightened when Jade said he would make wells too; the rampart alone had already filled him with gratitude.
He had been wondering whether to bring it up.
Jade had told him to speak freely, but unlike the village chief, who was merely a commoner, Jade was a marquess, a rank second only to a duke.
In fact, it was absurd that he was even meeting Jade alone without a single attendant.
‘Hmm, that's strange. Are there just a lot of talented people around here?’
Jade's primary reason for making the ramparts was to ensure the villages' safety, but that was not the only reason he was visiting each village personally.
He also wanted to inspect the state of his territory firsthand and check on a few other things.
-There was one in Baden Village too!