The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 233
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 233
“We’ll find out where from now on. The scale is about three hundred.”
“Ugh.”
Jurlene, who looked horrified, looked around at the group and frowned.
“You’re going to catch three hundred gremlins with this number of people? Are you crazy, Dragon Knight? That’s war-level… Ah.”
Jurlene’s gaze reached the small black dragon resting its chin on Rita’s shoulder. She quickly understood.
“Yes, if it’s the Black Dragon, it would be possible.”
Rita didn’t plan to ask Gid for help with the meal problem this time, but she didn’t bother to correct that misunderstanding.
‘Seeing it directly would be faster to understand.’
She intended to show them on this occasion that her military power wasn’t just the black dragon, rather than explaining it with words.
‘That way, when battle breaks out, my opinions will carry more weight.’
It would be troublesome to be seen as just someone who tamed a black dragon, a powerless target to protect. Especially since she had already come as a seriously injured person and only showed herself being sick and recovering.
‘It’s dangerous because if I intervene like this and my story remains in the founding myth, history might change…’
She had thought about that problem while resting.
She had already left a strong impression on the founding ancestors with the title ‘Dragon Knight’, so she worried about what would happen if the myth changed.
‘The founding myth that Minewg and I know doesn’t mention anything like a Dragon Knight riding a black dragon.’
She had found some solution to this problem by thoroughly examining the myths recorded with the artificial spirit and the remaining historical records.
‘I don’t know if it will work as intended. But since I can’t avoid intervening, I can only hope the prepared solution works well.’
Lillieta, who came out to the clearing in front of the cave, stretched forward the arm around which the black dragon had wrapped its tail.
“Gid.”
The dragon, understanding her intention, soared up and was enveloped in black energy.
Soon, from within the subsiding smoke, the form of a black dragon as huge as a hill was revealed. People who witnessed the majestic and eerie true form of the dragon after a long time flinched and froze in surprise.
The black dragon lowered its front paw with flattened spines in front of those people. Rita, who climbed onto it, gestured to the people.
“Get on.”
“…Pardon?”
“Us? The Black Dragon?”
“Is that really okay…?”
People turned pale or were shocked, and Jurlene looked tearful.
“If we do such a thing, won’t we get stabbed to death? Before, he got angry even when I just tried to touch him!”
Certainly, convincing Gid in his monster state and explaining the operation wasn’t easy. But she managed it somehow.
‘To show that the prince is recognized by the black dragon, I’ll have to carry him someday anyway. Even in the myth, there’s talk of the founding emperor fighting while riding the black dragon.’
So she was treating this as practice for carrying people when it wasn’t an urgent situation.
It hadn’t been long since he ate her magical power, and since Gid had been just resting without exerting much strength, the monster’s appetite had also weakened.
‘I won’t make him fight today, so it’s fine. I’ll feed him as soon as I get the magic stones.’
Rita was extremely tense inside, but outwardly opened her mouth with a completely calm expression.
“I’ve asked the black dragon, so it’s possible. It would take quite a while to walk there, so we need to fly. That’s why I limited the accompanying people to six.”
Even with her explanation, people hesitated. Perhaps it was natural since they had seen the trouble that occurred when Rupert climbed onto the black dragon without permission.
“It’s fine since I’m here.”
Rita declared again and deliberately looked at Elision. The prince, whose eyes met hers, squeezed his eyes shut and then stepped forward.
“Then, excuse me.”
“Your Highness, I should go first instead—”
Sion was faster than the startled Captain of the Guard who tried to intervene. He touched the dragon’s front paw, which was entangled with spear-like spines, with trembling hands.
-Groooh.
The black dragon let out a sigh-like cry and turned its head sharply, but didn’t raise its spines. Rita silently patted his index finger.
The prince, who observed the dragon’s reaction, breathed a sigh of relief and climbed onto the black dragon’s palm. The Captain of the Guard hurriedly followed, and seeing them board safely, the remaining people also carefully climbed onto the dragon’s palm.
The elderly priest Dorin received help from the Captain of the Guard, and the mage Allen, who couldn’t climb up properly and was struggling, was lifted up by the Captain of the Self-Defense Force like picking up a kitten.
Including Lillieta, there were seven people, but the giant dragon’s palm was spacious. There was enough room for everyone to sit.
“Everyone sit down. We’re going to fly now.”
Rita confirmed that people were crouching and sitting awkwardly on the dragon’s spines that felt like scales, then grabbed Gid’s index finger, leaned against it, and whispered.
“Let’s go, Gid. You already know where we need to go, right?”
The location of the gremlin nest that the artificial spirit had tracked using Ash Ruin Era technology. The black dragon, who had heard the explanation from Rita, nodded slightly and spread its wings.
A gale-like wind arose, the snow-covered ground grew distant, and the blue sky suddenly came close. Sounds of people gasping or quietly exclaiming in admiration at the scenery visible through the gaps between the dragon’s pillar-like fingers could be heard.
The black dragon flew unhesitatingly across the sky above the Black Forest. Though it was a noisy flight, the monsters of the Black Forest instinctively sensed the power of the named-class monster and were busy hiding or fleeing.
Before long, an alien landscape became visible below.
A place where flat, round things were densely gathered instead of tree branches. The black dragon descended toward that distinctive location that was distinguishable at a glance.
“Mushroom Swamp?”
Jurlene, who knew more about the Black Forest than anyone else present, recognized the landscape and continued in surprise.
“There’s a gremlin nest there? No wonder, if it’s there, even Mentor couldn’t know, but wait, Dragon Knight! Do you know what kind of place that is? That’s a place you can’t touch even if you know about it!”
“I know, I saw it in a revelation.”
Minewg had released avatars and utilized vision assistance, range measurement, and night vision functions to their limits to investigate terrain features and create a three-dimensional map. So she already knew roughly.
[Fact: That revelation is the work of the mythical, great, and cutting-edge Mystic Great New Grace.]
[Consideration: All possible capabilities had to be mobilized to achieve the high-difficulty requirements of a user who doesn’t know the limits of artificial spirits well. As a result, thanks to this ‘revelation production project’, little Minewg was able to perform a self-upgrade.]
[Correction: Little Minewg seems to have grown about a span through accomplishing this task.]
Minewg, who had been activated in advance, chattered. Rita praised the artificial spirit in her mind.
‘I didn’t know it was such a difficult request… To develop functions on your own and accomplish it, you were really amazing, our Minewg. Oli would be proud if she knew.’
[Impression: Little Minewg is very proud. Please imagine the appearance of a cute child shrugging shoulders and lifting chin.]
At those words, Rita couldn’t help but imagine it. A child with silver hair like Silver Grace’s sacred relic, neatly tied with butterfly hair clips, proudly lifting their chin.
‘What kind of imagination right before the operation… I shouldn’t let my guard down just because the kid is excited.’
She shook her head slightly and focused on the scene.
The black dragon, which had landed in the forest slightly away from the ‘Mushroom Swamp’, crushing all the trees, lowered its front paw to let people down. Once everyone got off, the dragon, which had shrunk again, clung to Rita’s shoulder.
Meanwhile, Jurlene was holding onto Sion and explaining what kind of place the Mushroom Swamp was.
“You saw those pitch-black mushrooms that grew as big as trees, right? Those are all poisonous mushrooms. Poisonous mushrooms that pour spores like heavy snow under their caps, spores that melt not only flesh but bones just by touching them!”
“The mushroom caps drop deadly poison spores?”
“Yes! Do you know why that place is a swamp? The deadly poison spores keep falling and accumulating, melting even the bedrock below the ground into a mushy state, turning it into a swamp! So the swamp itself is all poison too!”
“…!”
“Weak humans can’t even breathe near there, let alone set foot in it! Gremlins are monsters originally strong against poison, so if they grew up tough in the Black Forest, they might be able to survive there! But humans must not even approach! Even I, an elf, can’t endure it, and most monsters can’t withstand that deadly poison either!”
Jurlene, who had poured out explanations without taking a breath, shrugged her shoulders. The faces of people who heard her explanation became serious.
In front of them, Rita calmly opened her mouth.
“Because it’s such a place, the gremlins that made their nest there were able to prosper without any interference and collect an enormous amount of treasure.”
She declared while drawing out a revolver engraved with butterfly patterns.
“And according to the revelation, I will now secure that treasure.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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