175 — Without You (7)

“What? What did that human just say? Drin?”

“I think he said ‘shut up’, right?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Heheh, puff… Oh, my stomach hurts…”

The two dragons began laughing maniacally. To sum up the scene in one word, it was the laugh that comes when you can’t comprehend that an insect dares to say ‘shut up’.

It was truly an unbearable sight. I genuinely wanted to kill them on the spot.

First, I had to stop the black-haired dragon, who was staggering in front of me.

“Why are you taking that from them? Don’t kneel.”

“……”

She looked at me.

“I don’t know how things were before, but I’m here now. You might have been outnumbered and lost if you were alone, but not anymore. More importantly, I’m on your side. I want you to know that.”

“My side?”

“Yeah. Your side.”

The Black Dragon stared blankly at me. Her gaze still lacked emotion, but the cold, murderous intent she had after I mentioned her mother was no longer there.

Well, that’s enough for now.

I stood in front of her.

Then I cast a spell on the Black Dragons. Honestly, these guys were nothing.

Extreme Explosion.

A powerful burst of mana exploded in front of them.

Boom!

The lingering energy from the explosion blurred my vision. The dragons, startled by the power, flew up into the sky with shocked expressions.

“How can a mere human…!”

“Die!”

Despite mocking me the whole time, they seemed to realize the magic I used wasn’t ordinary. They teamed up and fired their breath attacks at me.

Of course, it didn’t matter if they both used their breath attacks.

I used Plasma Break against their breath. This spell is most effective when dealing with dragons.

Boom!

Their breath attacks were consumed by Plasma Break. The powerful particles absorbed the breath, then exploded. The force of the explosion attacked the two dragons.

I transferred the incantation for Plasma Break to my fingers.

Then I snapped my fingers.

Each time I snapped, Plasma Break kept activating. It finally reached their bodies, causing another massive explosion.

Boom!

Their bodies and wings were engulfed in flames from the explosion.

“Wh-what is this! You! You are…!”

“Me?”

“A mere human should just crawl and die!”

Even as their wings burned, they attacked me again.

I simply snapped my fingers again, and Plasma Break easily absorbed their breath attacks, creating another large explosion.

“Sorry, but my mana level exceeds Class 9. That means you guys are no threat to me. You can confirm it with your elders if you want.”

I snapped my fingers again.

Boom!

Another explosion occurred from the dragons’ bodies.

“Graaaah!”

They shrieked.

So I snapped my fingers again.

Another explosion.

Realizing that they were going to burn to death if this continued, they started to panic.

I snapped my fingers repeatedly.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions erupted from all directions, and the chain of blasts sent the dragons flying far into the sky.

They’re really nothing.

It’s always the weak ones that love to torment those even weaker than them for fun.

I approached the black-haired dragon, who had been quietly watching the whole thing.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded.

She nodded instead of answering, but her expression still didn’t change much.

Pat pat.

Without thinking, I brushed the dust off her clothes.

“Don’t touch me!”

Of course, she reacted harshly.

“Then you do it. You’ve got a lot of dirt on you.”

I shrugged and removed my hand. The dragon glanced down at her clothes, then half-heartedly dusted them before abruptly turning and walking back into the lair.

Naturally, I followed her inside.

She went to the exact spot where she’d been curled up and was about to sit again.

As expected, I stuck close to her.

Even I could admit I was a bit like a parasite at this point.

Well, it is what it is.

I have a few questions.

Questions need answers. Of course, hearing the truth about her mother – that incident – might be difficult right now.

So that’s not my main concern right now.

“Do those guys come often?”

“They come sometimes. They used to come every day.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

She nodded as if it was no big deal, but she had endured that for such a long time.

Even though she spoke about it like it was someone else’s problem, it bothered me even more.

I don’t know why.

But it really bothers me.

“More than that, thanks for answering me again. The other day, I really didn’t mean to ask it like that. I won’t ask again, so please stop ignoring me.”

“……”

No answer, but she didn’t say no either.

Is this silence a yes?

“I told you, I’m on your side, right? As long as I’m living in this lair, I’m on your side. If they come again, I’ll help you fight them.”

“My side…”

“Hmm?”

“I never had that.”

“That?”

“Only my Mother. I never had anyone on my side! Not a single dragon listened to me. Not even the Elder! So I have no one. I’m alone.”

“No, I mean, I’m on your side.”

The dragon started staring at me quietly. I couldn’t tell what was in her eyes. She looked indifferent.

Then she just sat down, hugging her knees to her chest.

I guess she hasn’t lived a life where she’d easily believe someone is on her side just because they helped her once, so I’ll let it go for now.

“Anyway, I have a few more questions.”

Thankfully, she didn’t ignore me this time. She lifted her head slightly to look at me. It seemed helping her hadn’t been entirely in vain.

At least the side of her that threw away the jokbal was gone. The fact that she was looking straight at me made that clear.

“So, uh…wouldn’t it have been better to turn back into a dragon and fight them? I was shocked when they pinned you down while you were polymorphed.”

“What are you talking about? We made a bet, remember? You’re the one who told me to stay in this form for a month!”

She shouted at me, as if she found it even more absurd.

Her voice was full of frustration.

Of course, we did make that bet, but I didn’t think she’d take it that seriously.

I thought bringing up her mother too soon had completely ruined our relationship, but I guess that wasn’t the case.

So, she’s sticking to what we agreed on.

“Right? My bad. You’re right. Haha. So, are you going to sleep in that form?”

“In this world, sleep is the best. You don’t know that? Fool.”

The dragon said that and tried to curl up to sleep. I grabbed her slender wrist and led her to the corner of the lair.

Drag, drag.

Surprised, she let herself be dragged along for a moment, but then snapped out of it and smacked my arm away.

But by then, we had already reached my little corner of the lair.

I pulled a mirror out of my backpack.

Then I handed it to her.

“Huh?”

The dragon looked at me as if to ask what this was. Naturally, there were no mirrors in this lair.

“Looking at those dragons earlier and every other dragon I’ve seen so far, I think you’re quite beautiful, even in your dragon form. Of course, you’re also beautiful in this human form. Have you ever seen yourself?”

“Huh?”

She still looked like she didn’t understand what I was saying, but she glanced down at the mirror in her hand.

She must have seen her own face.

“My Mother showed me once.”

“Really? So…how about now?”

“It’s my face.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty face.”

The dragon stared at me again, but this time, it wasn’t a murderous glare like before.

“But what about now? That pretty face of yours is all dirty from those guys earlier. So, look in the mirror and clean it off. I’m sure you’d hate it if I did it for you, so you do it yourself.”

“Pretty face?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

She stared into the mirror again. I handed her a damp towel.

“Wipe the dirt off with this. Actually, like this.”

Seeing her struggling, I took the towel back and wiped her face for her.

“So, were you going to tell me not to touch you?”

Her eyebrows shot up, and she seemed like she was going to react the same way, so I beat her to the punch.

“I didn’t touch you, did I? Isn’t it fine as long as I don’t touch you?”

Hehe, she seemed speechless from me beating her to the punch, and her cheeks puffed up.

She looked shocked that I had read her so easily.

“Anyway, it’s a bit late to ask this, but what’s your name? Oh, I’m Ellison, by the way. You can just call me El.”

“I didn’t ask for that. You’re just you. You are you! And I’d like you to leave soon.”

“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? But at least try to remember it. You might call my name someday.”

“That day will never come. What are you talking about?”

The dragon shook her head and, still holding the mirror, walked back to her usual sleeping spot.

Of course, I already knew her name, but we had never formally introduced ourselves.

If she didn’t tell me her name herself, I couldn’t truly say I knew it.

But as she turned her back on me again, I thought to myself, ‘She still won’t even give me her name.’

Then she stopped walking.

And in a barely audible voice, she murmured softly.

“I’m Rurin.”

With that one statement, she walked back and lay down again.