by Aneko Yusagi
“The core is here! Without this, he’ll be nothing!”
The core was floating there in midair and shining brightly.
“Leave it to me!” Raphtalia shouted.
“It’s in your hands, Raphtalia! It would seem you’re the only one here that can defeat this dragon-shaped black mass of emotion!” Atla replied.
Raphtalia must have already been preparing to attack, because her katana was glowing brightly. With the demon dragon core exposed, the Wrath Dragon opened his mouth fearfully when he saw Raphtalia. He turned his back to her and prepared to flee toward the sky.
“You’re not getting away!” she shouted.
“Air Strike Shield! Second Shield! Dritte Shield!”
I summoned my shields to form steps. Raphtalia dashed up the steps and sliced at the Wrath Dragon.
“Instant Blade! Mist!”
“Gyaaaaaa!”
Still in midflight, the Wrath Dragon was split clean in two. He let out a nightmarish shriek and his body fell back down to the ground. It was as if Raphtalia’s blade had created a blast of air that sliced the dragon’s body right in half.
“Father . . . Forgive me. I will dwell on the past no more,” Wyndia whispered.
“. . .”
Wyndia pressed her hands together and cried. Gaelion looked on silently from behind. Seeing his daughter grow up was probably making him feel emotional.
Chapter Ten: Purification
Raphtalia landed back on the ground, shook the sludge from her blade, and sheathed her katana.
“You’re the MVP today, Atla,” I said.
Her training had been limited to sparring with me and Raphtalia, and yet she had managed to pull off a performance like this. She got a passing mark, for sure. On the other hand . . . I looked over at Fohl. To think that I had expected so much more from him when I purchased the two of them.
“Wh . . . what are you looking at me like that for?! Damn it! Atla! I swear I’m going to get stronger! You just watch!” Fohl shouted.
“Please do try,” Atla replied.
She gave her brother a word of encouragement, but it was clear she had little interest in whether or not he was actually motivated.
“Umm, thank you, Atla,” said Raphtalia.
“Everything I did was for Mr. Naofumi.”
It was exactly the kind of response I’d come to expect from Atla.
Thank goodness. I guess that took care of this mess. Well, I still needed to have a talk with Gaelion later.
“Kwa?”
Gaelion flew over to Wyndia and started licking her face. Had he returned to normal? Or was daddy putting on an act?
“Gaelion, are you okay?” Wyndia asked.
“Kwa!”
“Give me back what you stole!”
Filo stood up and started shouting at Gaelion.
“Settle down, Filo. You still haven’t fully recovered,” said Melty.
She tried to calm Filo down.
“Kwa!”
Gaelion glared back at Filo for a brief moment, but then looked over at the Wrath Dragon.
“I think he says what you’re looking for is over there,” said Wyndia.
“Is this tiny baby dragon really Gaelion?” asked Raphtalia.
“Yes. He pushed himself too hard and ended up like this, I think.”
“Give me back my experience points!”
Now Filo was shouting at the liquified corpse of the Wrath Dragon. She’d had a real streak of bad luck lately. It felt like her luck had been on the decline ever since around the time we went to Kizuna’s world. They made a freak show out of her there. Motoyasu latched on to her after that. Then he stole her carriage. And now she had leveled down after being forced to become a sacrificial offering to the Demon Dragon. Maybe I should treat her to a really good meal.
“Now then, all that’s left . . .”
I looked at the demon dragon core stone that Atla had pointed out. Without a doubt, that core is what had been the driving force of the Wrath Dragon. That thing had been in my shield and in Raphtalia’s katana too. Absorbing it back into my shield would be dangerous, but just leaving it lying around would be even more dangerous. I would just have to store it away somewhere very carefully. I could use it as an armor core stone or something.
Filo was still shouting at the Wrath Dragon’s corpse when it suddenly turned into a black light, which then made its way back into my shield. Some of the light also enveloped Filo and then disappeared. Once most of it seemed to have finished returning to my shield, I suddenly heard an extremely unpleasant voice.
“There will always be rage in your heart. I will retreat . . . this time.”
I guess we might not have completely defeated it. I’d just have to hope that there was no next time. I’d do my absolute best to avoid relying on the Shield of Wrath from now on. It was a beast of a shield, powered up beyond belief. If I used it again, it was likely that I would finally lose myself to it.
“Kwa!”
Gaelion jumped up onto my shoulder playfully and began frisking about.
“Heeeey! Master is supposed to play with me!” Filo shouted.
“I don’t have time to play with pets right now! Let’s go home already.”
“Buuut . . .”
“How do you feel, anyway, Filo?”
“My body feels better. But Gaelion didn’t return very much of what he stoooole.”
I checked her status. She was level 41 now. That was quite the drop. Gaelion, on the other hand, was level 60 now, despite having fled from the curse of the Demon Dragon, without looking back. Their levels had basically been swapped.
“Give it back!” Filo shouted.
“Kwa!”
Gaelion jumped off of my shoulder. He and Filo began fiercely glaring at each other.
“Kwa! Kwa kwa!”
“I think Gaelion says he has no idea what you’re talking about. He says he’s the Shield Hero’s favorite,” said Wyndia.
“Boo!”
Gaelion made the opening attack. He slapped Filo on the cheek with his tiny tail and laughed.
“Give it back! Give it back! Give it back!”
“Kwa! Kwa! Kwa!”
“Rafu?”
Gaelion and Filo started exchanging blows. Raph-chan stood between them with a look of disgust on her face. This had all been Gaelion’s fault to begin with, and he didn’t seem to feel bad about it at all. In that case . . .
“Now, now, then. We’ll just give Gaelion back to Filo, body and all. Maybe she can get some of her experience back if she eats him,” I said.
I grabbed Gaelion, forced Filo to turn into her filolial queen form, and then pried her mouth open and stuffed Gaelion in.
“Kwaaa?!”
“Stop that!”
“What are you thinking, Naofumi?!”
Wyndia and Melty interfered.
“Boo! Stop trying to make me eat weird things, Master!”
“But you love eating. Eating a dragon might make you feel better.”
“Noo! Dragons are yuuucky!”
So the little glutton was complaining, was she? She needed a more balanced diet.
“Filo, stop being a picky eater.”
“Nooo!”
“That’s not the problem here! Think about what you’re saying, Naofumi!” Melty shouted.
“Mr. Naofumi, let’s not encourage Filo to pick up any strange eating habits,” said Raphtalia.
“Yuuucky!”
“Stop trying to make Filo do weird things!” Melty exclaimed.
She hugged Filo and then started glaring at Wyndia.
“This mess is all that thing’s fault! We should get rid of him!” she said.
“He’s back to normal now!” Wyndia replied.
Oh, jeez. What a hassle. I needed an escape from reality. I hugged Raph-chan and started petting her showily in front of Filo and Gaelion.
“Boo!”
“Kwaaaa!”
Filo and Gaelion glared at Raph-chan with envy in their eyes, but tha
t wasn’t my problem.
“What are you trying to do?!” Raphtalia snapped.
“They’re both causing trouble! Raph-chan is well-mannered, cute, and unselfish. She’s the best!”
“Rafu!”
Raph-chan waved her hand at Raphtalia. For some reason, Raphtalia looked at Raph-chan with the same look in her eyes that Filo had.
“You know, I feel sorry for you, Naofumi,” said Ren.
Frankly, this was all his fault, when it came down to it.
“You bastard. You better not try to say this was all some quest triggered by leaving that dragon’s corpse to rot. That would just piss off everyone that got tangled up in this mess.”
“I . . . I wouldn’t!”
Ren shook his head back and forth violently. But I really could imagine him saying that. That it was a quest with a rare boss encounter and defeating that boss would get you an epic weapon . . . Something like that.
“Anyway, we’re going home!” I shouted.
“Things sure are always exciting with you around, little Naofumi!”
Sadeena cackled. This kind of thing was nothing to joke about. Sheesh.
“Filo, let’s go home.”
“Okay!”
“Kwa!”
Gaelion crawled between my legs.
“I can’t walk with you there! Get out of the way!”
“Kwaaaa!”
Gaelion started glowing brightly and then suddenly grew to the size he had been before swallowing the demon dragon core. No, he was a bit bigger. Around four meters long. With me already on his back, he used his tail and arms to grab on to Wyndia, Sadeena, Rat, and Atla, and then took flight. Just before lifting off, Raph-chan jumped on to his head and was hanging on to his horns.
“Wha?! Boooo!”
Filo cried out with disappointment in her voice.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
Raphtalia looked awestruck. I didn’t know what to say either! I had no idea he could transform.
“Kwa!”
“Boo!”
Gaelion flapped his wings loudly and flew up into the air.
“Big sis! Sword lady! We have to hurry and go after them! Carrying Master is my job!”
Filo wasn’t going to let Gaelion win. She took off running in an attempt to get the remaining party members to hurry up.
“You look comfortable up there. It reminds me of riding Ethnobalt’s boat in the other world,” said Raphtalia.
“A . . . Atla!”
Fohl had a look of urgency on his face. But without a carriage, I’m sure there was no way he would be able to catch up with us.
“You never get a break, do you, Mr. Iwatani?” asked Eclair while looking up at us.
“Jeez . . . This little guy sure is pushy,” said Rat.
“Rat, did you know that dragons could transform like this?” I asked her.
“I’ve read about it happening on very rare occasions, but I’ve never heard of a case surpassing what filolial variants can do.”
From up in the air above, I looked down at the area below us. I noticed that the dark color of corruption had faded away from the land.
“Did you notice it too, Count? Gaelion was sucking up the corruption from the surrounding area while he was running amok. This seems to be the result,” Rat said.
So that was what happened. I wondered if this area would finally become truly peaceful. It occurred to me that I could probably use Portal Shield now. I gave it a try.
“Portal Shield!”
Nice. It seemed usable, as far as I could tell. A little warning message popped up to let me know that if I registered this location, it would teleport me to the ground. I chose to continue with the teleport and focused my awareness on the surrounding area. Raphtalia and the others were out of range. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to leave them behind.
“Leave Master here!”
Oh? Filo was running after us in a mad dash below. She seemed faster than she should have been after having lost so many levels. I checked her status again just to make sure. Huh? Her stats that had been reduced by the curse were back to their normal values. Ah, no wonder! That’s why she didn’t seem to be weakened that much.
But why was Filo the only one that had the effects of the curse removed? Maybe the Demon Dragon had leeched away the remnants of the powerful All Sacrifice Aura. That had been the source of the curse, so the consequences would have gotten sucked away with it. I was super jealous. That meant that Filo was no longer cursed. If she leveled back up, she would be faster and more powerful than before. All’s well that ends well, I guess.
“Kwa!”
“Gaelion, you’re on your way to becoming a fine dragon. Keep it up, and someday you’ll be as great as my father was.”
“Your father is hiding in plain sight, you know.”
“What are you talking about? My father . . . is dead.”
Wyndia brushed me off. She didn’t believe me.
I had Gaelion put us down near the eastern village. I teleported everyone back to the village from there. I guess there’s no need to mention that the eastern village residents were thrilled that the mountain had returned to its initial state of beauty.
“You sure are something, Shield Hero!”
That’s what they said. I sure had fooled them. But to be honest, from what Wyndia and Gaelion had said, the villagers only got what they deserved. I thought a lot less of the eastern village residents now.
“Master rides on my back!” Filo shouted.
“Kwaaa!”
The heated battle between Filo and Gaelion resumed as soon as we got back to the village. Gaelion had transformed back into his baby form again.
“Oh, whatever. It makes no difference who I ride.”
“It does too!”
Filo sure was stubborn. I sighed.
“Whatever. Play time goes to you for the next few days, so settle down.”
“Yaaaay! But Master is supposed to—”
“You’re going to lose your play time if you keep pushing the issue.”
“Kwa . . .”
“You’re the one that caused that mess, so you’re grounded. But I might let you join me and Filo for some extra play time if I’m not busy, so behave yourself.”
Gaelion tottered off to Wyndia and started crying.
“Kwaaa!”
“Why are you nice to that bird, but you bully Gaelion?” Wyndia snapped.
“Is it that hard to understand? He has to be punished.”
“Well, Mr. Naofumi does have a point. That was no small incident,” said Raphtalia.
“Rafu!”
Raphtalia and Raph-chan both nodded in unison.
Sob . . .
Gaelion was hanging on to Wyndia and crying, but I saw him steal a glance at me. It reminded me of a bully feigning tears whenever a parent showed up. That just pissed me off.
“That attitude just got you in more trouble.”
“Kwaaaa . . .”
Now he was crying for real.
“Ha! That’s what you geeeet!”
“Filo!”
Melty and I both shouted at Filo together. She looked away and started singing. Sheesh . . . This one acted just like a little brat too.
“Anyway, Filo, your curse is gone now, so I want you to get out there and level.”
“Okaaay! I’ll go with Mel-chan and we’ll level together! Then you can play with me, Master!”
I had no idea why she was dragging Melty into this, but she sure seemed excited. Oh? Melty didn’t look too enthusiastic.
Melty spoke up. “Listen, Filo. I don’t have time for that. I have a ton of work I have to take care of back at the town that Eclair is running.”
“Buuut, Mel-chan! You were just saying you were too weak and wanted to level uuuup!”
“I didn’t mean right this instant!”
“But, Mel-chan! When the townspeople were being lazy and said they’d do something the next day, you got mad at theeeem! You said, ‘If you can do it
tomorrow, then you can do it now!’”
“I have other things to do!”
“Buuuut, Mel-chan! Before, you said, ‘You’ll never get anywhere in life if you don’t do the things you want to do just because you’re busy!’”
Oh, boy. Filo was in her but-but-but mode. When she got like this, the back-and-forth would just go on and on until she either got her way or the other person just refused to respond anymore. Still, who knew when Filo would get another chance to level if she didn’t go now.
I looked at the assistant that had come to fetch Melty and motioned him over with my eyes. We talked quietly so that Melty couldn’t hear us. The assistant was worried about Melty’s level being so low too. She was a hard worker, so her magic proficiency was far ahead of her level. But regardless of that, many of the higher-ups wanted her to raise her level before she was put in charge of running the country. Really, the fact that a child was spending so much time on public affairs probably wasn’t a good thing either.
“Rafu!”
Raph-chan called out from on top of Filo’s head. She stood up on her hind legs and slapped her hand against her chest, as if to say, “Leave it to me!”
“Alright then. Knowing you’ll be there is reassuring, Raph-chan,” I said.
“What’s so reassuring about that?” Raphtalia snapped.
I was sad to see Raph-chan go, but Melty and Filo should be fine if she went with them. I was sure she would make it more enjoyable anyway. It was time for Melty and Filo to realize just how cute Raph-chan was.
“Eclair.”
“What is it, Mr. Iwatani?”
“You’ve been relying on Melty too much. Melty is going out to level now. You’re the town governor, so I’m ordering you to take care of your own busywork while she’s gone.”
“M . . . Mr. Iwatani?!”
“I don’t want to hear any complaints from you either, Ren. Melty has been taking care of all of the tasks that Eclair has been putting off.”
“F . . . fine. But I can help her out a little bit, right?”
I guess if he really wanted to help, that was fine.
“Mr. Naofumi, what are you trying to do?” asked Raphtalia.
“This is a good chance to address the issue of Melty doing all of Eclair’s work for her,” I replied.
Raphtalia sighed.
“Well, it’s true that Melty is working much too hard for her age,” she said.
