Chapter 44
#44. Water Dragon?
"Oooooooh!!"
"Haaaaaap!!"
Inside Winterwald Hot-Spring Resort's ambitious new attraction, the fire-heated sauna.
Amid the murderous heat of over 80 degrees Celsius,
Cedric and Walter were letting out thunderous battle cries.
Count Rian endured stoically, his lips pressed tightly shut.
The three men's faces had grown so flushed that they looked ready to burst, but not one of them tried to flee.
Drip. Drip.
Sweat poured down like rain.
It had reached the point where even towels and clothing could no longer hold it back.
"Ngh……! This is a trial bestowed by my lord…! I cannot yield to heat of this magnitude!!"
Cedric, commander of the First Knight Order, gritted his teeth and squeezed aura out of his core.
A knight's true training began when his aura reserves had been exhausted.
There was only one thing in Cedric's mind: a blind loyalty that demanded he live up to his lord's expectations.
"Haha! Sir Cedric! Are you all right? This old man is still going strong!"
Walter, the one-eyed guild master, also widened his remaining eye and drew up his aura.
The problem was Count Rian, a civil official who was neither a knight nor an adventurer.
"Ghk……! I-I can't breathe……! Hah, hah……!"
Count Rian, who could not control aura, was enduring through sheer willpower alone.
Even as tears and snot streamed down his face and his pupils began to lose focus, he still refused to collapse.
‘I, the man responsible for Winterwald's trade…… If I collapse in a mere sauna…… I won't be able to face my lord and Her Highness the Grand Duchess!!’
It had already been four hours since the three men entered the fire-heated sauna.
The merchants watching the spectacle through the glass window were horrified.
"Weren't those men already inside when I went in earlier? You mean they still haven't come out?"
"They're going to kill themselves at this rate!"
A Southern adventurer cracking eggs in the cool lounge clicked his tongue.
"Northerners really aren't normal…… If you recklessly imitate something like that, you won't live out your natural lifespan."
"Exactly…… Even if you did reach Gold rank, how could you beat Northerners?"
"...... I never said I would lose."
"Oh…… That's my big brother. Then I'll cheer for you from outside!!"
Rick, who had been sucking down banana milk, was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Gale and dragged toward the fire-heated sauna.
It was then.
Rattle!
The three men staggered out amid a cloud of white steam.
"Hah…… Hah……!"
Rick and Gale moved to support them when they saw how unsteady their steps were, as though they might collapse at any moment.
Whoooosh!
A chilly aura burst from Cedric's entire body.
"Th-this is……?"
Cedric's voice trembled faintly as he stared down at his own hands.
He had thought he had already squeezed out every last drop of aura.
Yet an aura sharper than before was pouring out uncontrollably.
It was the result of circulating his aura without pause amid the suffocating heat.
The impurities that had accumulated layer upon layer in his body over decades and his blocked aura channels had been blasted open by the fire-heated sauna training.
"Ooooooh……! M-my aura feels as though it has returned to my younger days!!"
Walter also clenched his fist with an excited expression.
They were not the only ones.
Count Rian, who had been far removed from martial prowess.
It was the moment he survived the brink of death and inhaled the refreshing air.
‘...No! What is this….’
His chronic shoulder stiffness and headaches had vanished without a trace.
Even his skin was glowing.
The fuel for the fire-heated sauna was none other than solar mana stones.
The sauna heated with them placed no strain on the body, yet cleanly removed only old fatigue and waste products!
Thud!
Cedric dropped to his knees with tears glistening in his eyes.
"Sob! My lord! To think you even considered this old man's health……! I, Cedric, shall remain loyal even in death, even as my bones turn to dust!"
"Sir Cedric……! You were right! I must return to the guild at once and tell the adventurers about this training method!!"
"Long live His Highness the Grand Duke!!"
The three middle-aged and elderly men sobbed in each other's arms before the fire-heated sauna, sheep-head towels on their heads.
The eggs slipped from the Southern adventurers' hands as they stared blankly at the scene.
"B-Big brother. Could everything they're saying really be true?!"
"...Let's get inside before the other guys come flooding in. The Northerners keep getting ahead of us, and we can't just stand around watching forever."
The fire-heated sauna was certain to become Winterwald's adventurers' new holy ground.
***
"Those men are unbelievable. They're all sweating as though they're trying to die…… It's a wonder they haven't collapsed."
Krok, wearing green shorts and holding a scrubbing towel in one hand, approached Kylan's side and held out some banana milk.
After hearing the report, Kylan shook his head, dumbfounded.
"We should put up some kind of notice. It would be troublesome if someone imitated them and collapsed."
"I strongly recommend rehydration. I will sell lots of banana milk."
Krok, who had been growing more perceptive lately, bowed deeply with his enormous frame and left.
"I won't disturb you. Enjoy your time…… Your Highness."
"Heh heh. I keep telling you, he's more perceptive than a human."
Now, there was no one left to interrupt Kylan's rest.
He carefully slid open the door to the private room with the outdoor bath.
"Eleanor. Have you been waiting long?"
Fantastic moonlight and the artificial sun's light shattered and scattered through the steam.
And in the very center of it all,
Eleanor sat wearing a white robe, a shy smile on her face.
"No, Your Highness. I only just arrived myself."
Perhaps it was because of the hot spring water.
Eleanor's cheeks were flushed red.
The sight of her damp platinum-blond hair clinging to her pale nape shook even Kylan, the Ghost of the Battlefield, out of his composure.
‘Haaah…… I live because of Eleanor. I really do.’
How many approval documents had he stamped to win this vacation?
Kylan slowly stepped into the bath.
The warm hot-spring water soothed the fatigue from his exhausted body.
"Come here. I brought the banana milk you like."
"Hehe, thank you, Your Highness."
Eleanor splashed her way toward Kylan's arms.
The distance between them narrowed until their breaths brushed against each other.
Kylan carefully brushed Eleanor's wet hair behind her ear and slowly lowered his head toward her red lips.
At last, the long-awaited moment had arrived.
Rrrrrumble—!!
"……!"
The entire resort grounds began to tremble faintly.
Kylan quickly looked around.
"Your Highness……? Was that an earthquake just now?"
"I felt it, too."
Eleanor also looked around in surprise.
It was not merely the trembling.
The hot spring's water level was gradually dropping.
"The hot-spring water is draining away somewhere!"
Kylan's brow furrowed sharply.
The mood was utterly ruined.
This was no longer a situation where they could leisurely kiss.
‘Why does something have to happen every time... and why does it always happen at a time like this?’
Kylan clicked his tongue irritably.
"Aaaah!!"
"A dragon!!"
"A-A water dragon has appeared!! Somebody save us!!"
A series of screams erupted from the men's bath.
"Your Highness! We must evacuate the citizens first!"
Eleanor hurriedly rose and neatly fastened her wet robe.
But Kylan made no move to stand. He merely narrowed his eyes and remained seated.
‘A water dragon…? There was no way it could be here.’
According to the original setting, water dragons were a species that normally lived along the southern coast.
There was no way a creature that loved warm, humid climates would build its nest in the North, where snowstorms raged all year round.
"Your Highness……?"
"It's nothing. Let's go see what happened."
The two quickly changed clothes and headed toward the men's bath.
The scene was complete pandemonium.
Merchants wearing nothing but towels around their lower bodies sprinted toward the exit with terrified faces.
The knights who had been enjoying their vacation retrieved the weapons they'd left behind and hurried toward the scene one after another.
"Everyone, calm down! Don't provoke it!!"
"A d-dragon……! A r-real dragon……!"
Perhaps it was because they were facing a dragon they had only ever heard about in legends.
The knights' legs trembled under the pressure of its overwhelming presence.
Meanwhile,
Kylan stared at the creature without moving an inch.
‘……What is this?’
Something felt off.
The areas where the intricate pattern unique to dragon scales should have been visible looked somehow smudged.
Its snout was oddly plump, too.
[Gwoooooo! G-graaagh!]
There was not so much as a trace of the dignity unique to dragons in its roar.
Most decisively,
Kylan could not sense the enormous magical power that a legendary race ought to radiate from the creature.
"Gasp…! My lord!!"
Cedric, who had been facing off against the dragon, spotted Kylan and shouted urgently.
"We will handle this! Please flee with Her Highness the Grand Duchess!!"
Cedric and Sir Walter confronted the dragon with an aura of uncanny composure.
Kylan pressed his fingers against his throbbing temples.
"Go gather the knights and adventurers. Eleanor and I are enough to handle this."
"B-but…… Your Highness. I have no doubt that you're the strongest man on the continent, but…… our opponent is a dragon!!"
While Cedric hesitated, the creature opened its mouth wide.
Kuaaaaaaaah!!
A blast of water erupted.
"Graaagh!"
Sez, the deputy commander of the First Knight Order, who was guarding the front with his shield, was swept away helplessly by a single blast of water and slammed into the wall.
The other knights were knocked away as well.
Yet every one of them was completely unharmed despite taking a dragon's attack head-on.
"Mere insects……! How dare you trespass upon this one's domain without knowing your place……!"
The intimidating roar echoed in every direction.
Then,
"Everyone, stand back."
Kylan stepped forward, pushing past his retainers.
‘…Whatever it is, I can't let it rampage any longer.’
Shing.
He slowly raised Frost Fang.
Wooooong—!
A cold aura began to ripple along the blade.
Whoooooosh!
An aura of absolute zero that seemed capable of freezing the entire hot-spring resort solid.
"G-grrk……?!"
The dragon flinched.
The water dragon's eyes met Kylan's gaze head-on.
"Hic!"
The next moment,
Gushhh—!!
The enormous watery body formed a fierce whirlpool and was sucked frantically into the drain opening at the bottom of the hot spring.
"……"
"……"
The knights and retainers left alone in the men's bath stared blankly down at the drain opening.
"The dragon……"
"……ran away?"
The knights muttered in bewilderment.
Cedric, too, could only blink blankly.
***
"Your Highness! It appears that no one suffered any serious injuries!"
"That is truly a relief, Your Highness."
Walter and Count Rian, who had been scrambling to clean up the scene, approached while gasping for breath.
"B-but a dragon…… How such a legendary monster appeared in Winterwald, I cannot fathom at all."
"It may descend again later. We should gather the knights and form a pursuit party at once……!"
The retainers urgently poured out their opinions.
But Kylan gave no answer.
He merely surveyed the place the creature had swept through with an impassive gaze.
‘……As I thought.’
The banana-milk bottles stacked in rows in one corner of the lounge were all empty, their lids left open as they rolled across the floor.
The baskets of baked eggs piled beside them like a mountain had suffered the same fate.
The contents were nowhere to be seen, leaving only brittle, dried shells scattered chaotically across the floor.
"M-my goods……! Sob, sob! I bought them with great difficulty to sell in the village on the next market day……!"
A merchant who had turned back halfway through his evacuation collapsed while clutching an empty bottle and wailed.
"Your Highness!"
Cedric called out to Kylan as he tightened his grip on his sword hilt.
"I will form a pursuit party and chase it at once! If it suddenly attacks a village, the damage will be severe!"
Kylan coldly smiled as he kicked aside an empty banana-milk bottle rolling at his feet.
"No. It's fine. There's no need."
Cedric looked puzzled, but Kylan gave no further orders and slowly slid Frost Fang back into its sheath.
‘If it's the creature I think it is, there's no need to chase it right now.’
Its destination was obvious, after all.