25 Celebration at Kyte Village

Akai, Captain Halido, and the squad of dragonslayers that was brought over came back into Kyte Village at night.

Nera rushed over to Akai and the others thinking that they were all adventurers.

"Akai! Are you alright!?" Nera screamed as she went over to check if he had any wounds. She was worried whether the monster that created the green gas she saw may have hurt him.

"I'm fine, Nera," Akai said with a smile.

Nera smiled back and gave Akai a big hug.

Captain Halido and the other dragonslayers watched. Halido smiled and quietly commented to himself, "What a lovely couple."

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Later that night, the villagers set up a feast for their victory. They were eating meals that a king would eat. The dragonslayers drank barrels of beer. Miura quietly ate some chicken legs. Akai was being praised by the other dragonslayers including the captain.

Nera helped bring out some food.

One of the villagers came up to Nera and said, "Do you really think that we should be serving these men?"

"Of course. I saw what that monster could do from outside the forest. They risked their lives. They deserve to be treated like heroes."

"I overheard them. They're dragonslayers. The monster they hunted was a dragon."

"You must have heard wrong. Why would Akai be affiliated with dragonslayers?"

"I don't know."

"You probably misheard them. They're adventurers. I wouldn't be surprised if they hunted some dragons from the stories that Akai has told, but either way, they helped protect this village. The least we can do is offer them a full belly."

The villager looked nervous and walked away carrying wooden plates and cups.

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Nera walked closer to Akai as he was laughing with his friends.

Akai saw Nera and smiled.

"Hey, Nera. I love what your village made for us. I'm so grateful for everything that this village has done."

Akai got up from his chair and bowed.

Nera embarrased said, "It was no problem. You all risked your lives, and yet you all returned unharmed. You must all be great warriors."

The other dragonslayers laughed. Captain Halido said, "These guys? Great warriors? I think I saw some chickens that can fight better than them."

One of the dragonslayers drunkenly said, "Hey. I-I think we can fight much harder than a chicken, boss." He burped.

"Akai, I was a little worried when you left. We thought you left us," Captain Halido said.

"Oh. I didn't want to worry anybody. I just wanted to... see how strong my sword was. So, I decided to hunt some monsters. I went all the way over the Mt. Geolith to find some strong monsters to try out my sword," Akai said trying not to hide what he did.

"You're sword? Was it that red sword you had? Where is it now?" one of the dragonslayers asked.

"I... I lost it. An ice troll jumped me and my sword fell somewhere."

"Aww. It was such a cool sword, too. The blacksmith did a really good job making it. I only saw a glimpse of it as you walked, and I could tell that it was something far beyond our weapons."

"Yeah, I know. Miura even enchanted it for me like the rest of my armor. It would grow flames."

"I don't believe you. A flaming red sword. That's something that you got off of some legend or something," another said.

Nera smiled as she enjoyed watching the adventurers having a fun time.

"Akai, can you tell me about the monster you killed? I want to know about what happened."

Akai paused knowing that dragons were considered sacred at Kyte village and replied, "Oh. It was nothing. Just a creature."

"Oh, don't be so modest, Akai. It doesn't look good on you especially while you're wearing all of that dragon scale armor," one of the drunk dragonslayers said.

Nera's eyes widened.

"Dragon scale armor?" she asked. She had no idea how dragon scale armor looked like until now. It looked much more refined than the other pieces of armor that the others wore.

Miura looked towards Akai and Nera. She got herself up from the table.

The drunk dragonslayer continued, "It was a giant forest dragon. Bigger than any I've ever seen."

Nera's heart froze. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You...you killed a dragon?"

Another dragonslayer replied, "Yes, we did. All thanks to Akai's plan. He found the dragon near this forest. We wouldn't have known about it otherwise."

Akai realized what was said. The other villagers began to quiet down and listen. He began to sweat.

Especially, since most if not all of the villagers knew that he was a dragon, himself.

Nera still couldn't believe it.

"It was quite an expensive plan, but I think it was worth the price. We had to use our entire supply of manufactured poison gas. We laid down barrels around the dragon. And if it wasn't for Akai's distraction, those walking trees probably would have seen us setting everything up," a dragonslayer said as he drank another cup of beer.

Upon hearing this, Nera began walking away silently.

"Nera," Akai said as he raised his hands towards her. As he did so, Miura appeared from the shadows and said to Akai, "You knew this was inevitable." Akai started to walk towards her.

The other dragonslayers went back to their drinks as though nothing had happened and continued to have fun.

Captain Halido drank another cup and watched Akai. He noticed that what they said must have hurt the girl, but didn't want to get involved.

Akai put his hand on her shoulder, and she started to run away.

"Nera," Akai said.

As Nera ran away, Akai was about to run, too, but Miura interrupted. "What did you expect by killing something that they worship? She won't forgive you. She never will."

Akai began to run towards Nera and Miura summoned crows to follow him.

Nera ran faster and Akai ran to chase her.

"Wait. Stop, Nera. I can explain," he said.

Nera ran on open fields as Akai followed while crows around him.

The crows continued to speak to Akai in Miura's voice.

"She's not important. What you're doing is far more important than the opinion of one village."

Nera ran further and further away. She didn't want to look back at Akai. Somebody that she believed to be some kind of hero.

"Stop following me! You're just a monster!"

Upon hearing this, Akai's eyes widened and he began to slow down. A monster, he thought.

The crows continued, "If you really want to save her, the best thing you can do is leave. You're not a monster. You're a hero. You're the only one who can save the world. She'll live because you prevented that ancient dragon from going mad and destroying Kyte village."

Akai started to slow down to a halt as he watched Nera run further and further away into the night. His breath started to go away. He coughed and some blood spit out onto his hands.

"Blood!?" Akai said to himself in surprise.

"You breathed in some of the poison gas. You'll be fine if you relax," the crows said in Miura's voice.

The stars shined brightly as the crows surrounded him. The fields' plants were dying away.

Akai looked up towards the sky. "I'm sick of saying it. Always saying one line. I've said it so much more recently than ever before. But I'll have to say it, again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Nera," Akai said.

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Nera ran further and further away into the night. She didn't want to believe that Akai was such a kind dragon and yet he kills them, as well. She looked back and didn't see Akai anywhere. She stopped to a halt and went down to her knees.

Nera began sobbing and wiped away her tears. She got herself up wiping away the dirt and tears. For the whole night, she continued to walk forward with her head down sniffling, hoping that it was just a bad dream. As she walked, she noticed the weather becoming colder and colder. The ground started to show snow. She shivered and looked up from the ground. She was nearing Mt. Geolith.

"How long have I been walking?" she asked herself expecting no answer to come to her.

As she walked closer to the mountain, she shivered.

"What am I doing here? I should just go back. I'm sure Akai must be worried."

She paused and asked herself, "Why should I care about Akai? He's just a murderer. He killed one of his own kind and for what?"

She shook her head. "No. No. There has to be some reason. Akai..."

As she walked, she tripped over a pile of snow. She picked herself up and looked to where she tripped.

"Stupid pile of snow," she said as she slapped the snow away hitting her hand against something hard.

"Ow. Must be some kind of rock," she said, but as she looked closer, it was something metal. Something was shining from the snow.

She wiped away the snow to reveal the hilt of a blade. She wiped away more of the snow and found a red sword stuck to the ground. The blade was shining red.

"This... This must be Akai's red sword that they were talking about."

She pulled the sword out of the snow and tried to hold it. It was heavy yet it looked slender. The sword wasn't chipped or damaged at all. It was still shining red.

"Wow. It is beautiful. I don't know much about swords, but this is like a piece of art," she said to herself.

As she looked at the blade, she heard some howling sounds.

She looked behind her and noticed a lone dire wolf. It growled at Nera. She instinctively moved back in fear.

"Nice dog. Nice dog," she said as she tried to calm it.

The wolf bared it's teeth and moved closer to Nera.

In a single second, the wolf charged at Nera. She screamed and closed her eyes while the wolf jumped on top of her. However, Nera didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes and saw the dire wolf stabbed between the heart. The red sword pierced through the wolf as if it was nothing. The blood dripped onto her arms. The beast died in an instant.

She began to tear up. Tears flowed on her face while the direwolf's blood covered her body and face.

She pushed the wolf to the side and took the sword cleanly out of it's body.

"Is this what it feels to kill something?," Nera said as her hands were shaking.

She couldn't let go of the sword. Her hands were glued to it as her mind was in shock.

"Is this what Akai feels every time he killed a monster?" she asked herself.

"This feeling... I..." Nera's entire world was destroyed in an instant. Kyte village never had any trouble with monsters, and now she had just killed one.

She looked around at every corner. Every shadow. Everywhere she looked, there might be some kind of monster. Eyes glowed as they peered from the darkness. The only illumination was the bright moon and clear skies filled with stars. And even that wasn't enough to illuminate the shadows.

"I have to get back to the village," she said as she ran off still holding tightly the red sword.

As she ran, she thought that the outside world is full of fearsome creatures and that Akai must have had an explanation for what he was doing. "That's right. Akai's a dragon. He must have had a good reason for hunting another dragon. I have to know," she said as she ran off clutching the sword in her hands, "I have to bring back Akai's sword, at least. He would need it far more than me."

She ran back with new determination trying not to falter from the fear of the outside world. Her face glowed with resolve and she took off towards the Kyte village.