The 5000-year-old Herbivorous Dragon

Well anyway, I am already used to flying.

One of the concerns is that Rēko might start a weird quarrel, but I am not really worried about that either.

Looking back on Rēko’s behavior so far; even though it was quite terrible, she never crosses the line. In other words, she never actually harmed any innocent people.

She did throw the Saintess into the festival venue back then, but no significant damage was done, so it’s okay to cross that out.

The people also think that it was just “some girl that is agitated because she slipped”, so it is really out of the list.

I think that sudden enormous magical power expansion could exhaust Rēko’s essence.

「Rēko, listen. Even if the god gets angry and attacks us, don’t fight back, okay? Just focus on defense. Well, if we managed to greet him properly, there won’t be any unnecessary fights.」

「Roger.」

It will probably be safe if I give strict orders like this.

My eyes squinted by the bright sun as I brainstorm what I should say as a greeting.

For a while, our altitude kept rising.

「…Nothing came out.」

「Did he escape like that water demon?」

「No, no. We’re not hostile this time.」

The whale that protected the sea is friendly to us. The god who is his superior (?) may also be friendly.

「Maybe he is a shy person. Or maybe he doesn’t want to be seen too much. Maybe people’s gratitude will go down if he show up so easily.」

「Fuh. He only amounts to that degree even if he is a god. Even though Evil Dragon-sama generously exposed his appearance to the public, there is still no sign that people’s gratitude is going down. This is the difference in status…」 𝗳𝔯𝙚e𝒘e𝚋𝘯𝚘ν𝙚l.𝑐o𝙢

「People’s gratitude of me isn’t going down because it’s virtually zero in the first place.」

We flew around the fluffy cloud for a while, but there is still no sign of anything. Rēko started sniffing around, but her facial expression doesn’t seem to particularly change.

「Doesn’t seem like he wants to meet us. Let’s go back.」

「That bastard. Even Evil Dragon-sama shows himself to me that time.」

「It can’t be helped as we don’t have an appointment. The examiner did say that he is in middle of a ritual, so maybe that has something to do with this.」

I started soothing Rēko;who is getting angry and swelling her cheeks, as we lower our altitude.

「But Evil Dragon-sama, don’t you think it’s strange? There is too little sign for a mighty existence that protects a country. Even if he is down on the ground for some reason, there should be still some traces of magical power in the sky where he should be.」

「Is that so?」

I don’t really understand magical power traces and such.

「Yes. Though it is just a trivial problem for Evil Dragon-sama.」

「Well, there is probably some situation we don’t know about. Ah, it is a god in the sky, so maybe it’s just hiding in the clouds.」

「Hiding in the clouds…?」

「Sorry. It doesn’t have any deep meaning. It is just a little pun, so don’t try to read too much into it.」

[1. TL Note: Hiding in the cloud = 雲隠れ (Kumogakure)= Disappearance]

We gradually approach the ground.

It seems like we saved a lot of time travelling by air compared to going through the land route to the capital even though it took a bit of time to ascend.

It is supposed to take a whole day, but it looks like we will arrive soo—no, wait.

「Well then Rēko. Let’s stay overnight in a nearby village before entering the capital. There is no need to hurry.」

If we arrived at the capital too quickly, they may get suspicious on how quickly we moved from the examination facility.

Besides, after crossing the sea at tremendous speed, and flying in the sky after leaving the examination facility, my physical strength is exhausted. It is going to be a little tough to go on without a break. I’ll try to recover my strength by having the villagers share their delicious vegetables.

「I see. Well then, how about that village over there? It looks like a reasonable sized village to plunder.」

「Why are you so premised on plundering?」

My confidence of how I can really believe in Rēko shook a bit. I want to believe that she doesn’t really mean it.

Even if we didn’t count the jewel we received from Sheina, we still have some money left, which should be enough to stay overnight at an inn and rest.

「The entertainer did say that the festival makes it so busy that we won’t be entertained in the village, but well, there should be at least one vacant room in the inn.」

We landed near the small village that we saw from the sky.

The village is a few hours away from the capital. It is probably one of the rural areas that provide vegetables to the capital with its spacious field.

「Fufu, I think we can get delicious vegetables in this village. And Rēko, don’t make big noisy remarks okay?」

「Of course. I have never made a remarks that didn’t suit Evil Dragon-sama.」

「Is that so. Is that so.」

I gave up and walked to the village with Rēko on my back.

It is a defenseless village with no fences nor moats. This alone clearly shows the thinness of monster threat in this country.

And of course no one prevented us from entering the village. We entered the village smoothly and started to search for the villager.

Oh, I saw an old lady tending the field.

「Ah, Oii, Oba-san! I am a traveller, and is there an inn in this village? The capital is near, but we are tired!」

The moment I called for her, the old lady turned her body and glanced this way, before screaming in a loud voice that didn’t match her old body.

「Everyone! Everyone, over here! Gold ba-travellers have come! Over here! Over here!」

All of the villagers rushed out of their homes at once, going through the doors of the private houses that were lined up. I got surprised and stood up for caution, and Rēko silently put her hands on her dagger.

「Hyahha! You must be a big deal of a traveller if you can enter the country during the festival! I’ll you stay in my house this time!」

「Idiot! A ragged house like yours wouldn’t be able to entertain travelers! Our house is so much better!」

「Ehehehehe! Please, take your time!」

All of the villagers have their eyes fixed on us.

I ran away with my tail between my legs. However, the strangely fast villagers quickly caught up and surrounded us.

「Do you want me to get rid of them?」

「Don’t. It doesn’t looks like they were enemies.」

However, the villagers gradually inched closer to me while saying stuff like “Please stay at my home!” and “There is food in my home!”. It doesn’t feel like they are hostile to us, but it feels like something close to it.

But—at least we were welcomed.

Or rather, too welcomed.

「Ah, umm. Is it okay if we stay?」

「Of course!」

The villagers get closer all at once while rubbing their hands, it makes me crouched down in fear.

What’s wrong with these people? It’s rare to see a talking dragon (lizard) like me, but it looks like they don’t care.

「Then, is there an inn where we can stay for a night with just one small silver coin? With meals, if possible.」

When I left Peryudōna, Ariante taught me about the prices for accommodation and food. If we gave out a small silver coin, we should be able to stay at a good inn.

The villagers’ faces changed immediately.

「Small silver coins…? Even though you are a big shot…?」

「Ah. If you look closely, he’s not a dragon. It’s that you know, he can enter the country not because he’s rich, but probably because he is a rare species or something.」

「I see, I see. All right, go back everyone.」

The wave of people left like a tide going down. Then I turned around.

「Um. So, can we stay overnight?」

「My apologies. Our village is currently purifying ourselves for the great festival in this country. We refrain from paying attention to profane thing like business.」

「You can tell a lie so easily you people.」

All of the villagers suddenly have graceful expressions. As all of them nodded their heads.

Rēko activates clairvoyance without permission and stares at the village.

「I see. During the festival, the country will be in a state of semi-isolation, and the economy will go stagnant. To make up with that, there seems to be activities of hoisting money from travelers that is allowed to enter the country.」

「So this is the reason as to why the examiner did not recommend visiting the country at this time.」

It is probably similar to this everywhere.

We also don;t have much more money, and we will probably have to pay in advance.

「Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s go to the capital tomorrow after resting in a camp.」

「Acknowledged.」

And then, when we are about to go away from the village.

「—Wait, you guys. Did you say you were going to the capital?」

A voice called to us.

When I look back, there is a big man wearing silver armor covering his whole body. With a cloak spread on his back, and a helmet hiding his face. Only the mouth part is open for conversation.

「Yeah, that’s right.」

「Then it’s convenient. I also have business in the capital, but I was driven back by the gatekeeper and stranded in this village. You guys should accompany me to get in.」

「Wait, just who you think you are talking to? How could we know you are not lying when this is the first time we met?」

Rēko rings her teeth and warns the man. I am worried since there is killing intent mixed in that warning.

I try to calm Rēko with my front legs.

「Um, why don’t you have a permit when you have something to do at the capital? They should have talked about it at the examination facilities, right?」

「I didn’t know that such a piece of paper was important. It’s a shame to go and get it now. So take me to the capital without saying anything.」

「But…」 𝐟𝓇ℯ𝒆we𝒃𝘯𝒐νe𝑙.co𝚖

If we bring in such a strange person without permission, I don;t know what kind of problem will happen.

I decided to politely decline.

「I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you are lying. It may take some time, but if you also get the permi—」

「Of course, I will pay you reward.」

When the big man flicked his cloak, a large amount of gold nuggets rolled down from it.

The moment they heard the falling sound, the villager who was leaving came back here with a dash.

「Great luck! Is that gold nuggets!?」

「Umu. This is the money for this person’s rent. I already took care of everything. Good luck.」

「Hyahha!」

As soon as the big man said that, the villager carried me up and brought me to the village while laughing.

「Wait! We didn’t say we agree!」

「Don’t hesitate! It’s a service from that big man!」

「No! I can’t accept such conditional money!」

However, in this unreasonable situation, Rēko, who would normally make a fuss, remained unexpectedly quiet.

While straddling my back, staring at the big man in armor.

「Rēko? Please say something… I don’t mind it if you fly away at worst.」

「Evil Dragon-sama.」

Rēko is always serious, but her tone of voice sounded more serious than ever.

While being shaken by the villager, I nervously responded.

「…What is it?」

「Than man in armor—We can’t underestimate him. He is very strong.」

This is the first time that Rēko get so vigilant of others.