The 5000-year-old Herbivorous Dragon

“Translator: Anargya” 𝒇𝐫ℯ𝑒𝒘ℯ𝑏n𝑜ѵ𝐞l.c𝗼𝗺

“Editor: GhostApe”

「This is…」

Guided by the Cardinal to the basement of the Cathedral, I lost my words.

The dungeon where Yoro-san is imprisoned has been completely destroyed with the jail blown away.

The Cardinal’s monocle shined as he traced the burn marks left on the wall with his finger.

「This is it. The protection magic cast on this dungeon is the strongest of its kind, but it doesn’t seem to help. I cannot let such a powerful demon go unchecked— so can you call him back here as soon as possible?」

「Wait a minute, it’s true that I was acting with Yoro-san, but I am not exactly with him.」

「What? Is that true?」

「Un, I just happened to know him on the way. He said he wanted to fight the Kami-sama here, so I am just trying my best to keep him quiet so he won’t be as disturbing as possible.」

That much is the truth.

However, I hid how we are the responsible people for passing such a dangerous person through the capital’s inspection. I’ll follow up properly later, so this little charade should be fine.

「—Well, it should be okay. Yoro-san isn’t that ferocious of a demon, and Kami-sama also said to just leave Yoro-san alone.」

「God did? Did He know that demon?」

「Un. So, Yoro-san is the previous Demon King— The one that you yourself called Thunder Armor Ragan. He is a reincarnated demon. You didn’t believe it at all though.」

The Cardinal took a deep breath after hearing that Yoro-san is undoubtedly the previous Demon King.

「So that was true… There are many demons who call themselves the rebirth of the Demon King, so I thought that it was just that kind of thing. 」

Rēko’s eyes glowed blue as she examined the destruction of the prison.

「I tried to follow his signs, but it’s strange. The magical power of that armor covers the entirety of this country, I can’t pinpoint his exact location.」

「Covers the entire country?」

The Cardinal added a follow up to me who couldn’t imagine the situation.

「According to the observatory’s report, thunderclouds with strong magical power are occurring in various parts of this country. Especially at the sea. The thunderclouds are forming as if surrounding our entire country, which is an island country. Not only is it all ships cannot set sail, communication outside the country is also cut off.」

「That is Yoro-san’s doing?」

「It makes sense if Ragan, the incarnation of lighting strikes, did it. I don’t want to doubt the word of the God to 『Leave him alone』, but the situation won’t be good if we did.」

Did Yoro-san take hard measures because he knows that the duel with Kami-sama is unlikely to happen?

The Cardinal continued his words while pondering.

「Of course, as long as God resides in this country, this country will not be destroyed. Even God is the one who defeated the previous Demon King in the past. There is no need to worry—」

「You shouldn’t be too optimistic.」

Rēko interrupted his words.

She is closing her palm and opening it several times, as if evoking the memories of battle.

「I have only fought that armor once, but he is quite strong. It is to the extent that it would not be surprising if I, the kin of Evil Dragon-sama, lost. And your god, who I met before, clearly did not reach his level.」

「Eh? Did you mean when he possessed Ria a while ago?」

「Yes. Maybe he did not reveal his entire strength because he is possessing the Shrine Maiden, but even with that in mind, he is still not powerful enough. It might be true that he once defeated that armor, but maybe he is considerably weakened now because it is the dormant period of the volcano?」

「Ah, about that.」

Regarding the matter of dormancy, Kami-sama said that he had it covered up with the church people so no uproar would happen.

The Cardinal’s face doesn’t look surprised at all. He almost looks like he is ready for it.

「So our God is— sleeping?」

「Yes. And we were told that his successor as god will be Evil Dragon-sama. Now switch the religious object of this church to Evil Dragon-sama and change the national name of this country to Sacred Evil Dragon-sama Empire.」

「Rēko, that matter has been put on hold, right? We have to continue our journey.」

「Come to think of it, that’s right.」

Upon hearing this story, the Cardinal leaned against the wall, sighed lightly while pinching his eyebrows. He seems a little worried, but he doesn’t look like he is skeptical about what I said.

If he understood the situation, I have a choice to consult honestly. 𝘧r𝗲𝑒𝔀𝘦𝙗𝓃oν𝑒l.𝐜𝗼m

「That’s why, why don’t you try to persuade Kami-sama yourself? There may be no way to stop the volcano from going dormant, but you can have a talk on who will be the successor?」

「We cannot succeed as God.」

I can understand the feelings of the Cardinal who answered instantly.

Normally, it would just be a change of leadership. However, an object of faith isn’t something that is easy to replace.

「But there is nothing we can do with the volcano going dormant… maybe just a substitute until the next time Kami-sama wakes up?」

「God and this country which is a volcanic island are one being. That means volcanic activity depends on God’s will. So it should be impossible for God to sleep because the volcano is going dormant.」

「Wait, are you saying that… 」my eyes blinked multiple times in surprise. The Cardinal slowly nodded in response.

「Our God is going to sleep on his own will. However, if He hasn’t gone to sleep completely yet, he could easily reverse the situation.」

「But that Kami-sama doesn’t seem like that, you know? It is true that his words and actions were a bit ungodly though.」

At least it doesn’t seem like he is deciding to go sleep in order to waive away responsibility.

I don’t think he is lying when he said it is unavoidable because the volcano is going dormant.

「Ah, there is no lie in the words that “God” told you. However, there are people who can speak very eloquently.」

「…?」

I don’t understand what you mean.

The Cardinal apologized. 「I apologize for the roundabout wording.」 he said, before continuing.

「Shrine maiden “Ria” doesn’t actually exist. That is someone who refuses to fight and trying to sleep— God’s other personality, mimicking a powerless girl.」