Chapter 225 – Travel (9)

Maybe it was then.
The night I got into contact with Caroline, who blushed while using polite words.
Trapped in a mass of gently shape-shifting flesh, pressing down on her nose and mouth.
At that moment when I gave myself up to a faint sense of relief as the smell of flesh filled my nasal passages.

“Listen carefully, you idiot… “You can’t run away anywhere.”

He stroked his head with a hand filled with divine power and whispered.

“Because today is a dangerous day… “If we break up tomorrow, you’ll have to be prepared the next time you meet.”

With a lewd and shameful expression on his face, he lightly pinched my cheek as he coveted my breasts.

“Back then, you were acting like a pervert. “I will accept everything.”

So, the sight of her touching her lower abdomen while telling her to come back.

— You should also quit smoking starting today.

The last thing I said when we parted ways.

“No.”
“Aaaaah!”
“Louis… ?”

I, who was lying dazed by the countless information that suddenly came to mind, pushed past Terra and Nova at the same time and got up from the bed.

“When I finish my work, I will return to Parencia.”

The two people who made eye contact with me, who had made a decisive decision, were unable to protest.

***

Next day.
After leaving Saddam and joining the dragon waiting in the nearby forest, we set out to find Sacreir.
After a long time, the sky was filled with hazy rain clouds.
I rode on the dragon’s back, wearing the robe I bought in the village, and took a quick peek at the map Terra was holding.
There was a red dot very close by on the map where all my footsteps were recorded.

“I can’t see in front of me. Shouldn’t I go down and check!?”
“Or you can make the rain go away.”
“Thank you, but I don’t think that’s necessary. “The location is right here.”
“Huh?”

Terra put away her map and stretched one hand toward the sky.
Then, the light seen from the carriage slowly began to gather and form a huge pillar.

“Lewis, when you went to Sacré before, did you see the sky there?”
“Sky… ?”

I don’t remember very well.
When I was led by Lehel’s hand and entered the dragon’s nest.
It was certainly bright inside with the light reflecting off the countless treasures, but was there a sky above?

“I don’t think so… No way?”
“That’s right, the coordinates you moved to were definitely those mountains, but they didn’t show the exact altitude.”

Terra was confident because the magic barrier was not visible and my location had never been detected with the naked eye by a telegraph wire.
The last of the four great secret places of the empire, the Sacre Dragon’s Nest, must be sleeping at the bottom of that mountain.

“I don’t know the entrance, so I’ll have to drill it myself. No, if it were as I expected, the entrance itself would not have been built in the first place.”
“I’m serious… ?”
“Don’t worry, I will control my strength. Nova, we’ll go in as soon as the hole opens, so get ready!”
“Okay.”

As soon as she said those words, the pillar of light in her hand broke through the clouds and disappeared to the ground.
And then, with a blinding flash, a storm came and blew away the rain clouds without a trace.
The road to the dragon’s nest was finally revealed.
However, before I had time to check its distant interior, I fell flat on my stomach as the dragon folded its wings and descended.

Rumbling——!!

Soil weakened by rain.
Because the hole in the slope was about to collapse into a landslide, we had to enter quickly against the headwind.
She lowered her head as much as she could and wrapped her arms around Terra’s waist, who sat in front of her, causing countless rocks and dirt to bounce around her.
I must have used a defensive spell! She also heard a sharp sound.
Our vision was completely dark, and even the faint light coming from behind disappeared, and we ran through the ground at a high speed.
If Terra’s calculations are wrong, as soon as the ground in front of her collapses, she will be crushed and buried in silt that cannot weigh her.

Bang!! Kwaang!!

Perhaps thinking that the distance was not enough, she cast her magic to penetrate further in front of her.
I also tightly grasped the handle of the holy sword tied to her waist.
At the moment I was worried that it might pass through the continent’s mantle.

Kwaaang——!!

The sound of something exploding was heard at the end of Terra’s beam of light, and my vision became brighter.

***

Above her head, sparkling ores shatter and flutter, and beneath her feet, gold and silver treasures pile up like mountains.
The most striking thing among them was the carcass of a pure white dragon lying in the middle of a golden sea.
As soon as the dragon landed, I headed there to find Lehel.
A familiar silver hair was found in the nest provided under the huge keel.

Lehel is surrounded by fairy thread with her eyes closed.
As she tried to reach out for her, Nova stopped her.

“Nothing good comes from touching it carelessly. Because the magic might be broken.”
“How long has it been like this?”
“Until the magical power necessary for reincarnation is gathered. “It will probably take decades.”

I can’t stop her because she chose it herself.
Rather, I had to be satisfied with being able to at least see her face.
Terra handed me a package she had received from the village the other day.
When I unpacked it, there was an old, torn, and stained hat folded all over.

“They said an academy student picked it up. “I think it was probably dropped during the battle.”
“… Thank you.”

I took it and carefully placed it by Lehel’s bedside.
She was smiling vaguely inside the cradle, as if she was dreaming.
The purpose of coming to Sacreur was achieved, but it was not like leaving immediately.
While Nova introduced the dragon to its new home, Terra began wandering around and inspecting her nest.

“There are signs of wear here and there, so I think some repair work is needed.”
“How did the empire manage this place?”
“It is highly likely that the coordinates were specified and moved back and forth using movement magic. In order to move such a large volume of goods on a regular basis, there is no way to use ordinary magic… “I guess I’ll have to ask the gourmet chef.”

The opinion was that it would have used magic similar to the warp gate developed by Megrez Magic Tower.

“If we want a dragon to live here, we need to open an entrance anyway, and we need to prepare a defense to avoid being discovered by adventurers…”
“There’s surprisingly a lot to do.”
“Huh. Lewis If you said you were going to stay here, you would take it slow…”

I don’t intend to do that.
Terra looked at me and when my decision became firm, she clicked her tongue and started to go even deeper.
It was full of ankle-deep piles of gold coins and there were sharp weapons scattered throughout, so it was quite a dangerous terrain.

“How far do you want to go?”
“Well, this place is pretty spacious.”

Even though the dragon had moved far enough away that her body was out of sight, she continued to move forward.
When I was worried about Nova and looked behind her from time to time, Terra suddenly stopped her steps.

“Hey, Louis.”
“Huh?”
“Did you enjoy your trip?”

A question suddenly posed to her as she lifted her robe and took a deep breath.
She asked me again, as I didn’t know the English answer.

“You’ve been traveling around quite a bit since returning from the Holy Kingdom. Hel’zeb, Lake Senrir, Greenwood Forest… “There were also Dyphnea and Thessalon, right?”
“Well, I ended up going here and there by chance.”
“There were a lot of dots on the map. So how was it? “It was a fun journey, right?”
“What… In my own way.”
“Okay? I’m glad.”

What is fortunate?
Terra threw her hands in the air.
The beautiful magic spread and formed a small curtain.

〈 Inherent Mado: Refraction phase ⌜屈折單phase⌟〉

A strange feeling of being detached from the world.

“Actually, there was something I had to say to you after this trip.”
“What?”

Inside, Terra spoke with a sad expression.

“When I return to Farencia, I plan to hold Eris’ funeral.”

***

“The decision was made after consulting with Nova and others. “We can’t keep her there like this.”
“Yes.”

I know.
That is why they requested the vacant land behind Bayou Pavilion from the King as compensation after the war.
When her war was over and her peace came, I planned to send her away to be buried in her cold cellar.
However, there was a reason why the women who had been together for several weeks never mentioned Eris’s name.

“I kept hesitating because of your oath. Maybe it’s broken at this moment. 〈Refraction 〉 is absolutely not a barrier to keep the oath.”
“…”

As Terra said, magic like this is not important.
If I cannot truly deny her death, her vow will be shattered.
Didn’t her heart tighten and feel painful just thinking about Eris?
I closed my eyes and placed my hand on my chest.

“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”

One of the three sacred weapons has been destroyed, leaving a portion of his soul empty, while the other is maintained by the holy sword worn at his waist.
However, the remaining belief, which had been shining faintly from the beginning, was not properly identified.

It was strange.
If the oath was broken, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.
Because there must have been a blow to the body.

“It will be fine.”
“Really?”
“That’s right. Why not have a funeral? As soon as I get back to Parencia.”

Actually, it doesn’t really matter if the oath is broken now.
My power may be slightly weakened, but what does that mean when the continent has found peace?
All you have to do is prepare your mind slowly.

“It was something I had to do at some point.”

On accepting her death.
I decided not to look any further.