Various Circumstances (6)

The Demon Dragon’s visit occurred at an unexpected time.

“I didn’t expect… you to come from such an early dawn.”

When I checked the time, it was not even 5:00 AM. The moment I opened my eyes because someone woke me up and met eyes with the Demon Dragon, I wondered if I was still dreaming.

That was the extent of my thoughts.

I stood up in a disheveled state and was in the middle of changing my clothes in front of the Demon Dragon. Since she was a dragon and a higher lifeform, she had a gaze that seemed entirely uninterested, so I just changed my clothes recklessly, and the Demon Dragon spoke to me.

“I think this every time, but humans are quite bold, molting in front of me.”

“It is not molting. I just changed my clothes. But do you have some urgent business?”

“I was bored. And it is my nature to handle promises quickly.”

“Ah, I see. Then…. let us go for now.”

Then, just as I stood up and was about to leave the room, it happened. The Demon Dragon looked at the bottle of alcohol on the table, which I had brought to have a drink last night but simply fell asleep before touching, and asked.

“What kind of alcohol is this? It feels like something I’ve never seen before.”

“….Are you interested in alcohol as well?”

“I am interested in all the food of the world. Living a life close to eternity leads one to experience all sorts of things. Among them, alcohol is far and away the finest food.”

At the words of the Demon Dragon, who treated alcohol as food, I casually spoke.

“Would you like to try some?”

“Fine.”

At those words, she immediately opened the bottle and drank it straight from the bottle; after a few gulps, she looked at me with wide eyes.

“Kheu, what is this alcohol?”

“I was going to tell you that it is quite a strong drink…”

“It is strong, and excellent. The taste, the scent, and the swallowing are clean with no aftertaste, and the subtle flavor remaining in the mouth is quite good.”

The Demon Dragon drank from the bottle again; after neatly emptying the entire bottle to the point I wondered if it was okay to drink that well, she slammed the bottle down on the table with a ‘clack’ and a “Keua!”

“It seems you liked it quite a bit?”

“Where did you obtain this alcohol?”

She seemed to like it considerably, and after pondering for a moment what to do, I spoke.

“Our domain also brews alcohol separately. We ‘distill’ regular aged liquor to make a high-proof spirit. And we use oak barrels to infuse scent and flavor while aging it for a long time. That is a masterpiece aged for 45 years by human standards.”

“Impressive. It is surprising that it can be aged for such a long time, but it is even more surprising that it was made in this domain. Did you use time acceleration to age it?”

“….For now, yes. With the help of Hare, the Demon Dragon’s disciple, we engraved a 100x time acceleration magic on the aging warehouse. Even now, one warehouse building is aging various types of alcohol at 100x acceleration.”

“Oho… But have you only been feeding me strange food?”

“I have nothing to say if you call those things strange… but didn’t you come to help me because you were satisfied?”

“Correct. It was a fair trade.”

Then, as the Demon Dragon walked behind me, I was thinking it was fascinating how her skin color didn’t change at all despite drinking a bottle so quickly; Demina, who discovered me leaving the Lord’s Castle and approached, was startled and bowed her head to greet the Demon Dragon.

“I behold the presence of Lady Karhenis!”

The Demon Dragon only gave a slight nod, but she did not give any sign of disapproval toward Demina standing beside and following us. Afterward, when we arrived at the Magic Tower, which was the original purpose, the ammunition crates piled like a mountain didn’t look very pleasant, but since it was work, I pointed to them first and spoke to the Demon Dragon.

“I thought you would come slowly, so I only moved the items first, and it looks a bit unsightly.”

“It is fine. By a dragon’s aesthetic standards, everything in the world is similar.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but one thing was certain. I wondered if this Demon Dragon had the mindset of an old person who had become enlightened about the world.

At any rate, after glancing over the ammunition crates I had prepared, she instantly created a massive magic circle; even the beastkin sensitive to such sensations, along with everyone in the domain, woke up despite the early dawn and could be seen running toward the Magic Tower.

I thought there was no nuisance like this, but she soon pulled one ammunition crate, examined it here and there, and asked.

“It is crude, but you have engraved quite a good idea into it.”

“Is that so…?”

“Indeed. No particular supplementation will be necessary. Since I think I know the purpose, it just needs to be an item befitting that…”

It was a bit of a shame, but I nodded and said I was satisfied with that, and hearing my words, the Demon Dragon soon stomped her foot once with a ‘thump.’ Then, light began to pour out from all the ammunition crates instantly, and watching that, I thought I understood why people made such a fuss about dragons as I conveyed my gratitude.

“I am simply grateful that you made the difficult journey here.”

“My interest has been piqued. Moreover, it seems there is a fellow in this tower who thinks peculiar thoughts; would it be alright to take a look?”

“I would consider it a favor if you gave him advice instead.”

“Keuk-keuk, it seems you think of nothing but using me.”

“I thought you were favorable, and to be honest, my principle is to use people when that is the case. Otherwise, when would I receive the help of the great Demon Dragon?”

“Huum, huum, you are a human who knows a thing or two.”

With a pleased expression, I followed the Demon Dragon as she climbed the tower; every time the Demon Dragon lightly tapped the walls of the tower, strange patterns began to be engraved inside the tower.

Even though I was a fellow who didn’t know the first thing about magic, I could tell just by looking that she was doing something great; seeing Hare and Richard running breathlessly while feeling the flow of strong mana through the tower window, I asked the Demon Dragon.

“What are you doing for us?”

“I am installing a Mana Concentration Circle so that mana can gather well. If you store mana stones here, you can increase the recovery efficiency. Consider it a diversion.”

Then, arriving at Richard’s workshop at the top of the tower, the Demon Dragon examined the complex magic circles engraved on various types of iron plates and touched them one by one.

I wondered what on earth she was doing, but to be honest, as someone who didn’t know magic, I couldn’t interfere and remained silent; the Demon Dragon, who had finished looking around the entire interior, saw Hare and Richard who had just come up the tower and began to ask questions.

“Was it the human over there who thought of a synergistic effect with such clumsy magic circles?”

“Th-Th-Th-Th-The!”

Richard stuttered violently; thinking that everything else about that friend was good but that was the problem, I spoke instead.

“He is a person who has a habit of stuttering when he is nervous. It seems he became too nervous because the great Demon Dragon is before his eyes. So, how about waiting a bit calmly?”

“Then why do you, you fellow, have not a single sign of nervousness while looking at me?”

“Because I trust you, Lady Karhenis.”

“You trust me?”

I nodded and spoke.

“Because I thought that whether I fear you or not is the same since you are someone who could crush me to death with a single finger, and also, I could tell from those eyes full of curiosity that you have no intention of harming me.”

“Ahahaha!! Truly a pleasant human. How long has it been since I’ve seen such a madman?”

I wanted to tell her that calling me a madman was rude, but I didn’t think she would forgive that much verbal audacity. So I said.

“Could one do such things without being mad?”

“Correct. The world always changes little by little by the hands of crazy people. I am looking forward to it. The wind of change…. no, I am looking forward to seeing how far the wind that has already begun to blow will change the world. Human who will soothe my boredom, I shall give you one piece of advice…”

“What is it?”

“Beware of God. That is the only thing you must be most careful of.”

I was curious about what that meant, but I couldn’t ask right away. Soon, the Demon Dragon reached out her hand toward Richard and emitted mana; as that mana touched his body, Richard, who was shivering from tension, began to calm down and then started to speak without stuttering a single word.

“My name is Richard van Drin. I never imagined in my dreams that I would behold the great and glorious Lady Karhenis like this!!”

“Is that so? Then I shall ask. Was it you, you fellow, who came up with all of this?”

“Half of it is correct.”

“Half?”

Richard looked at me and said.

“The basic foundation was conceived by the Lord here, and I simply had limits with just giving advice, manufacturing, and experimenting with various possibilities.”

“Is that humility?”

“It is the truth. I am merely the one who manufactures what the Lord has devised.”

“I see. He says so, is it true?”

“I cannot use magic. However, I can come up with peculiar ideas. I only spoke of them, and it was Richard who realized them. So it is a matter that can be called his achievement.”

“Interesting. In the end, it is like an achievement the two of you met and accomplished. It was a good idea. However, knowledge that stays ahead of its time can sometimes cause one to lose too many things. They say that too much is as bad as too little… so you must be wary.”

Was the target of that caution ‘God’?

Or was it just a warning not to spread advanced knowledge too much?

I couldn’t know the exact meaning, but one thing was certain. The Demon Dragon was trying to help me. Afterward, the Demon Dragon gave advice to Hare and Richard while talking about various things, and I had to leave that place and go down the tower to prepare a gift for the Demon Dragon.

It was an unexpected harvest, but I felt like I was being extorted for no reason.

‘Is this better than letting it go to waste by being stingy?’

Moreover, the alcohol I was going to give to the Demon Dragon was ‘Royal Rum.’ Since I had no more business dealing with the Imperial Family, I intended to toss it to the Demon Dragon.

I couldn’t know how satisfied she would be, but since the characteristics of each alcohol were distinct, I didn’t think she would dislike this either.

Thus, a small wind of change began to blow in the domain.

While many fishermen and the people of Rad City watched the shipyard site being created through Construction, the Whale Beastkin could be seen bringing a huge amount of wood soaked in seawater as a gift; Ulde, who was at the front, came out of the water and gave a polite greeting.

“It has been a long time, Divine Messenger.”

“Stop that talk, and what is all that?”

“It is Steel Wood that has been submerged under the sea for a long time.”

“Steel… Wood?”

“It is a hard wood that does not float in water, but the interesting thing is that if you soak it in water like this and then dry it in the sun, it gains the property of floating in water. And they say its hardness is like steel, so it was a wood that was popular long ago.”

“Where do you get that from?”

“I am in the middle of picking it up from under the sea.”

“…Is such a thing just thrown away?”

“It is not that, but it is wood that has been soaked in seawater for at least several hundred years, and since it seemed no one was using it, I tried bringing it.”

While I couldn’t imagine that wood from hundreds of years ago could be used normally, Ulde gestured and began to place one large log onto the shipyard site.

It was a quite large log, but it looked blackish and didn’t look normal at first glance. So while I was staring at it blankly, a fisherman with shipbuilding skills cautiously approached and asked me a question.

“My Lord, if I may be so bold… I have a bit of shipbuilding skill, and I wish to examine this wood now.”

“Well, I won’t stop you from looking for now, but is it usable?”

“If the words of the Whale Beastkin are true, I believe it is a great item instead.”

“Why is that?”

“The characteristic of Steel Wood lies in the iron component the wood absorbed as it grew; if it is soaked in seawater for a long time, it corrodes and is emitted to the outside. Stories say that the longer that period is, the more it can be utilized as good wood.”

“….He said it has been hundreds of years?”

“That is why I wish to examine it.”

When I gave permission, the fisherman approached the wood, took out a plane, and began to shave the surface of the wood. Then, as he cleared away the blackish outer surface, pale-looking flesh was revealed inside, and the grain was quite plausible. After examining it here and there and even putting a clean piece in his mouth, the fisherman looked at me and spoke.

“The characteristic of Steel Wood is that it holds the properties of iron. It is general to think its strength will weaken because all the iron has leaked out, but I know that this Steel Wood gains ‘Iron’ attribute mana and becomes hard. Looking at it now… almost all the iron has leaked out, and I consider the quality to be ‘Exquisite.’”

It meant it was an item above the highest grade. So I looked at Ulde and spoke.

“Ulde, will you go around the sea and pick up every single thing like this?”

I judged it was not comparable to something like pearls, and at those words of mine, Ulde said he would gladly do so. I didn’t know how much there would be, but I thought I could relieve one concern with this.

I felt like I could start operating the shipyard in earnest.