Chapter 158 - 158. I Can't Stand Stuffiness! (2)

"Chief! Thanks to you, the calf was born safely!"

"Haha, that's very fortunate."

"The medicine the chief gave me seems to have worked. I thought it would be dangerous because I was old, but... I feel much healthier and stronger than before. Chief, what kind of medicine did you use?"

"...Well, it must have been a potion to increase vitality."

The blonde-haired young man who was called the village chief smiled shyly as he said that.

The name of the village chief is Thomas.

The name of the blacksmith who made the sword for Zeto was Daedroth.

Losing a cow in this small town with few cows was literally a huge loss of labor.

It was Daedroth, the gold dragon, who had enough wealth to turn a small village into a city covered in money... Even if he lost just one cow, buying enough cows to overflow was one way to do it. It wasn't what I wanted.

Daedroth knew very well that if his wealth had much influence on the town, he would lose interest in the pastime he was enjoying.

But even for him, he had to make a difficult choice this time around.

As the village headman, he could not sit idly by in the face of the village's crisis.

The birth was imminent, and he, who had no particular medical knowledge about livestock, had to make a decision in the face of the risk of losing both the cow and the calf.

'Live and live and pour the elixir on a cow...'

Anyway, thanks to her, the birth ended safely, and I was able to see the cute calf.

'The old cow is healthy...'

This wouldn't have had a huge impact.

'I should avoid using the elixir every time, but I'll have to visit the warehouse sooner or later.'

I used to call it a warehouse, but it was referring to the 'nest' that I had built as a gold dragon.

It was around the time when he was thinking that it would not be a bad idea to keep a few bottles in consideration of such an emergency situation as the elixir he had in his possession had run out because he had a history of giving out elixirs to 'Zetto' recently.

The Daedroth, who has been looking around the village for a while, is called by someone.

"Chief."

Deidros had memorized all the voices of the few villagers, so he could tell that he was not a villager just by his voice.

But it was a familiar voice.

He turned around at the voice calling for the village chief.

Soon, the eyes of Daedroth contain the image of the person who called him.

An oriental man with a white bandage covering his eyes.

Even though he wouldn't be able to see, of course, the bandaged man waved his hand calmly, as if he knew exactly where he was.

It was 'Zeto' who was his close friend and also his biggest interest lately.

"Zetto, long time no see? Next to..."

As soon as he saw Zeto's face, the corners of his mouth went up.

It was Jeto who used to visit him alone each time, but this time he had a companion.

A woman with curly red hair.

It was the first face I had ever seen.

"...Can we be lovers?"

At Dei de Los's question, Jetto scratches his head and laughs.

"Haha, let's just say that."

"..."

Judging by the fact that her face turned red at his sly reply, I didn't think they were lovers.

"Let's go ahead and talk."

Deedros, who had a little bit of anticipation for today's Zeto, wondering what else he had brought, led them straight to his mansion.

***

The scales were so hard that they were incomparable to most metals that covered the whole body.

Wings that make a huge body that can easily jump over a house soar into the air at once.

Sharp teeth and claws, and a tail that blocks the approach of strangers are also intimidating.

The truly scary thing about them is their vast amount of mana, which most humans can't even touch.

And their unique magic system that can be used thanks to a complex mana circuit that is different from other races.

Being born at the top of the ecosystem, the supreme being and truly the strongest creature... A dragon.

They had enough power to easily rule the world if they united, but unfortunately, they had never put the whole world under their control in this long history.

Dragons are a race with very strong personalities.

What each of them wants, the goal they want to pursue is different, so they do not gather their strength. I don't even want to do that.

Perhaps it was God's trick to achieve balance, but dragons don't like their own kind very much.

Perhaps it is instinctive to be wary of fellow beings, beings of the same class who are much more threatening than insignificant humans.

At least, those who have scales of the same color are on the lesser side.

Unlike wyverns, which have a similar appearance, dragons are not classified as monsters.

The reason is that they possess outstanding intellect that even humans, let alone ordinary monsters, cannot easily reach.

There was a magic called polymorph that could transform into a human even if it looked quite far from a human.

They take human form and step into the world of humans.

Such an act was a kind of 'play' for long-lived dragons.

Thanks to that, there were dragons with various stories in this world.

There are dragons that live quietly in harmony with nature, from dragons with blue scales that are secluded near waterside such as the sea or riverside to dragons with green scales similar to well-grown grass that claim to be guardians of the forest.

There were also some dragons paying attention to the human world.

This was the case with the greedy gold dragon that collected all kinds of goods and treasures, and the white dragon, also known as the heretic of the dragon world, who was deeply impressed by the will of Heneris and gained divine power by serving Heneris for a long time.

They had to be seen as being on the side of getting along with humans quite well.

On the other hand, there was also a ferocious black-scaled dragon that single-handedly destroyed a country by hating humans and seeking only destruction.

The color of the scales of each different dragon used to indicate their steadfast tendencies.

There were many parts that were deeply related to emotions such as greed, anger, and faith.

Then, a question arises here.

What was this red dragon chasing after that it did such an absurd thing?

Deedros, who brought Jeto and Yuri into the mansion, was in a state of panic.

After slowly explaining the situation, the sphere they held out contained the soul of an unknown red dragon.

"Where did you get this...?"

Deedros, who was observing the sphere on the table, asked.

"In the 'labyrinth' at the academy."

"There is a lot of talk about Innocence Academy's labyrinth... It's a living dungeon, but it's actually an artificial dungeon created by the sage who founded the academy."

"Really...?!"

Surprised by the explanation of Daedroth, who had lived longer than the wise man Oberth, Yuri covered his mouth.

Even at first, it was an ordinary blond young man with a clean impression, who did not believe at all that Daedroth was a dragon, but after seeing the inside of his luxurious mansion, Yuri seemed to have some confidence in the word dragon.

"I see."

Of course, Jeto already knew this, so he wasn't that surprised.

"First of all, the dragon is certain. This wild aura... Must be a red dragon."

"I thought you were lying..."

After Yuri's murmur, Daedroth picks up the sphere.

It was to grasp the internal structure of the sphere more closely.

"Obran can be seen as a tool for storing mana and an armament of wizards that helps cast more powerful magic. But it is not suitable as a vessel that can contain the dragon's soul."

"Then, is there a vessel that can contain the dragon's soul?"

Deedros paused for a moment at Zeto's question, then put the sphere down, took a sip of the iced drink, and opened his mouth.

"...No, I should say that there is no such vessel. Even if there is something that can withstand the blows of a dragon, it is very rare... There is no way to do that with an ordinary orb. At least as far as I know."

"Then what happened to this dragon..."

"..."

At their question, Deidros put down his glass and closed his eyes.

"That guy...Yes, he's been sealed."

Deedros, who was looking down at the orb placed on the table in a pitiful way, paused and said that.

"A seal?"

Jeto and Yuri asked again.

That's because it wasn't common to have a dragon's seal.

If you subdue a vicious dragon, you subdue it. What kind of seal do you mean?

Moreover, the fact that it was an object found in a labyrinth also played a role.

Isn't the sealed dragon dangerous just by listening to it?

'Why did I go through such an ordeal... And why does this guy's soul go into 'something like this'...'

Deidros had to close his eyes again.

For the sake of the status and honor of all dragons in the world, he had no choice but to spew outright lies.