Chapter 84 – A Forest Dragon and a Barrier Breakdown

Author’s Note: The title contains a spoiler.

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Once Blue had finished her steak and recovered some energy, the two of us took to the skies for our maiden flight around the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. We’re also going to visit her home, so that she can say goodbye to her family before we leave. Maria wanted to tag along, but Blue asked her to “At least for the first time, please let it be just me and Master.”, so we were only accompanied by Tamo-san (apparently, it doesn’t count).

“As I thought, it’s totally different from flying on my own.”

I mumbled while riding on Blue’s back.

Flying with Nosferatu is different from flying with a mount, since I have to keep paying attention to it while using its ‘Flight’ skill, so, all in all, It’s a little tiring. Well, I’m essentially focusing on a body part that I don’t normally have, so it’s only natural that it would be somewhat burdensome…

On that topic, Blue’s back is surprisingly steady. Even though the level of her ‘Flight’ skill is lower than mine, perhaps because her race specializes in it, her flying is very smooth and elegant. It might be due to her unique skill, ‘Zero Gravity’, but there’s virtually no acceleration, even when she does a sharp turn. It feels nice and relaxing.

“Eh? You can fly, Master?”

“Oh, Blue hasn’t seen it? I can fly with this cloak.”

I explained, while manipulating Nosferatu’s shape to demonstrate. Now that I think about it, we barely had any contact with her, back when she still went by Tenri, so it’s only natural that she wouldn’t know.

“Master really is unbelievable… But Master, now that I’m here, please don’t use that cloak any more and just tell me when you want to fly, okay?”

“I’ll think about it.”

I’m Shindou Jin, a man who doesn’t go with the flow, and just says “Yes”. Pleased to meet you.

“Hey! You were supposed to promise me there!”

“But, this cloak is really convenient…”

“Grrrrr! One day I’ll make you say I’m better than that stupid cloth! Just watch me!”

It must be because of her pride as a mount, right? That she’s getting so fired up with a sense of rivalry against Nosferatu. Well, Sky Dragons stand out quite a lot, so they aren’t really suited for moving around covertly. Plus, Nosferatu’s ‘Flight’ skill level is higher, so it’s just faster…. 

While having such a conversation, we flew a full circle around the Hidden Area.

Afterwards, Blue visited her family’s home to say her goodbyes. Obviously, I didn’t go with her. After another half-an-hour or so, she came back out, looking slightly teary-eyed.

“For now, I properly apologized to them. They told me that, even though I’ve been tamed and we won’t be able to see each other again, it’s fine as long as I’m still alive. Thinking about it now, I really was blessed… Jeez, what a moronic thing I’ve done…”

Even without me asking, Blue gave me a rough account, with a wry smile on her face.

“…Thank you Master. For giving me this chance before we left the Hidden Area.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m kind to my subordinates.”

“Is that so? Guess I’ll just take your word for it.”

Oh? Look at you, making cheeky comments already. Unfortunately, while I did say that ‘I’m kind to my subordinates’, it would probably be more accurate to say that I’m just really possessive about the things I own. Still, I do care for them as a result.

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Having finished our first flight together, we headed towards the Chieftain’s Mansion. While the two of us were flying about, the other members have been making preparations for us leaving the Hidden Area. Last night we had already decided to leave around noon today, and while this whole duel malarkey has altered our plans a little, there isn’t really any good enough reason for us to stay any longer, so, as planned, we’ll be leaving the Hidden Area after lunch.

Mio and Sera went to fetch the dragon newt cooking apprentices whom we’ll be taking with us. We haven’t had any more unpleasantries after the duel, so we will be taking 3 of them. Sakura, Dora and Maria on the other hand, returned to the Chieftain’s Mansion to pack up the things we left in the room that we borrowed.

“Alright, we’ve arrived.”

“Oh? Thank you.”

I got down from Blue who had landed in front of the Chieftain’s Mansion.

“Welcome back, Jin-sama.”

“Ah, I’m back, Maria.”

(ED: In Japanese, you respond to ‘Okaerinasaimase’ (Welcome home) with ‘Tadaima’ (I’m back). There isn’t really a good substitute for this in English)

I greeted Maria who was waiting for us in front of the mansion. Once I got off her back, Blue turned back into her (totally naked) human form, causing the saddle she was wearing to fall down to the ground noisily.

“We should probably take it off before you transform, huh?”

“Yes…”

Blue never wore a saddle before, so it’s only reasonable that she would forget about it, but, seeing as it is a high quality item according to Alta, we should probably handle it with more care in the future.

I headed inside the mansion with Maria and Blue following closely behind me. The moment we entered I could smell the delicious scent of curry. Mio must be making lunch. As a side note, Japanese curry rice uses a curry spice blend that’s mostly popular in Japan, so if an Indian person were to see it, they probably wouldn’t even consider it curry. Anyway, thanks to the fact that the Chamber of Advanced Commerce’s influence has spread like wildfire, it seems like they were able to acquire quite a variety of spices…

“I’m back~”

“Ah, Master, welcome back. We’re having curry for lunch! I’m also making enough to leave for the tamed dragon newts who are staying behind.”

I could hear Mio’s voice all the way from the entrance, leading me to where she was cooking. She’s currently stirring a stupidly huge pot of curry. Then again, she will probably need quite a lot to feed so many dragon newts.

“By the way, based on what I’ve heard, the reason why curry tastes better after being left overnight is because some of the ingredients slightly decompose, so it’s not just a case of the tastes mingling better to make it more delicious. But still, I’m not having any more food poisoning cases on my watch, so I won’t allow that to happen! You have until the end of the day to eat it!”

Given how she once caused several people to die from food poisoning (or something similar) with her home-made mayonnaise, it seems like leaving food out for a long time has become somewhat of a taboo for Mio. I feel like she’s overreacting a bit, but still… As a side note, it seems that the stomachs of dragon newts don’t really get upset by ingredients that have gone slightly off. Well, they’re monsters at the end of the day.

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Some time after that, as we were enjoying some curry together with the dragon newt cooking apprentices, Blue and Mikazuki, an uninvited guest showed up, barely making it in time to catch us before we left.

“Duel me one more time!!!”

The one known as Stupid Bug was here, and as if it were only natural, the branch family members followed one step behind him. They seemed to be the same group as earlier today.

“You, …what selfish thing are you even saying at this point?”

The Chieftain, who was eating together with us, asked while staring at Stupid Bug with cold eyes. Apparently, he got interested in curry, as he accepted when I offered, and ended up joining us for lunch. Still, while he certainly seemed to enjoy his meal, he wasn’t drooling, or stuffing himself with food, like all the other dragon newts. As expected of the Chieftain. …Perhaps I’ve been underestimating the Dragon Newts too much.

Also, Stupid Bug’s face is wrapped in some kind of bandages, and it seems like he can’t speak properly. It would seem that the potions they had on hand in the Hidden Area couldn’t heal him completely.

“There’s no way I could have lost to the likes of a human. It’s obvious that you must have used some cowardly tricks. Still, I will look the other way, so accept another duel with me. This time I will start in my dragon form, so don’t even think you’ll be able to cheat again!”

“Akatsuki, you…”

Along with the false charge of ‘using cowardly tricks’, he’s also blaming his loss on him being in his human form, despite being the one who chose to stay in it in the first place. As expected, even the Chieftain couldn’t help but sound astounded.

Then, from among the branch family members, who hadn’t said anything until now, an elderly woman stepped forth.

“Chieftain, If you don’t listen to Akatsuki’s demands, then, this time as well, Hisui will step down from being a chieftain candidate. Would that be alright with you?”

“That’s right, as my aunt just said, if you want Hisui to be the next chieftain, then you’ll listen to my demands.”

If Hisui steps down, then there won’t be any more chieftain candidates left in the Hidden Area. …They’re using the exact same threat they used yesterday. How uncreative. Not that it matters, but it seems that the elderly woman is Stupid Bug’s aunt.

“Do you think you can just bring that out whenever you want?”

“While that’s certainly true, we’ve finally got a good bargaining chip, so it would be a waste to not use it, don’t you think? Also, there’s no helping being a little indulgent with Akatsuki since he’s family.”

“Hmpf….”

The Chieftain replied in dissatisfaction, but the old woman’s expression didn’t bulge one bit. It seems like even though she knows she’s saying some unreasonable things, she doesn’t intend to back down at all. Since Stupid Bug acts like that all the time, I guess it’s only natural for the branch family members behind him to do so as well.

“With the last time’s duel we left it all to Akatsuki, but it seems that the human pulled some cowardly trick, so we’re left with no other choice but to use our strongest bargaining chip again.”

“Sorry I caused you trouble, Aunt.”

“It’s fine, Akatsuki. I also have no intention of letting humans trample all over our Hidden Area.”

“Hmpf, you two…”

The Chieftain replied in vexation, while Stupid Bug kept grinning as if he had just won a great victory. He must be thinking he has already won.

Blue’s branch family wasn’t actually that bad as it turned out, but this branch family seems to be worthless in more ways than one. I guess that’s that then. They decided to waste the final chance I gave them, so I don’t have any reason to hold back any more.

*clap*

“If Hisui had somehow already lost her right to be a chieftain candidate, then her value as this ‘strongest bargaining chip’ would also disappear, right?”

I muttered to myself as I stepped in between the old woman and the Chieftain. It might have sounded like I was asking someone, but I was actually just talking to myself.

“Human, what are you talking about? Don’t get in the way of our conver-”

“Hisui, come!”

“Yeees.” (ED: She speaks really slowly, like she’s in no rush whatsoever)

The old woman started saying something, but I ignored her and called out to the chieftain candidate Hisui who was standing behind her along with the other branch family members, making her come forward while responding in a lazy manner.

“Hisui? What are you doing?”

“Eeeh? Master called me so I’m going to hiiim.”

“Wha-!?”

Hisui’s answer caused all the branch family members to become speechless. Naturally, the ‘Master’ she mentioned is me.

Simply put, I have already tamed Hisui a while ago. More specifically, she was among the first 4 people I tamed with meat skewers, after they saw Mikazuki get tamed, and couldn’t hold themselves back any more.

“Hisui, don’t tell me you’ve been tamed by this human!?”

“W-what!?”

The old woman and Stupid Bug shouted out in surprise. The other branch family members also started raising a commotion.

“That’s riiight.”

“W-why didn’t you tell us!? If you’ve been tamed, then we can’t use your position as a chieftain candidate as a bargaining chip any more!”

Wouldn’t you know? Rather than her relatives, the old woman and Stupid bug, it’s actually her master, the person who tamed her, who can influence Hisui’s actions. 

“Because you didn’t ask meee.”

Hisui uttered a template response of a child who can’t act on their own accord. She doesn’t seem suited to be the next chieftain at all, but she would work splendidly as a puppet for the branch family, to let them hold all the power. Combined with the fact that Stupid Bug used to be Dora’s fiance at one point, this branch family starts to look really power hungry all of a sudden.

Not that it matters any more, mind you. Stupid Bug’s engagement with Dora had already been cancelled, and they no longer hold any sway over Hisui, so all of their plans of coming to power have basically been thwarted at this point.

Oh yeah, I still have to properly declare it to the Chieftain.

“Chieftain, the fifth dragon newt we’ll be taking outside of the Hidden Area is Hisui… No, let’s rename her. Your new name is ‘Leaf’.”

“Yeees. I got iiit.”

This is Hisui’s, who is now called Leaf, status. Though it is a little late.

Name: Leaf
LV3
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Race: Dragon Newt (Forest Dragon)
Skill: <Draconic Magic LV1> <Cultivation LV5> <Flight LV3> <Guardian of Greenery LV-> 
Title: Jin’s Monster Follower

<Guardian of Greenery [Forest Pump]>
While within a forest, grants a large boost to status. Also grants effects equivalent to those of  ‘HP Auto-Recovery’ and ‘MP Auto-Recovery’ skills at LV5.

(ED: Yep, she’s a hippie dragon newt all right. Also, ‘hisui’ means ‘jade green’)

Compared to other dragon newts, her level is certainly low considering her age, so she must have led a pretty sheltered life. She certainly would have been a decorative chieftain. However, her unique skill is rather strong, so if she had been raised properly, she would have become pretty ridiculous.

“Ah, Tenri-chan is here tooo.”

“It’s ‘Blue’ now. Pleased to meet you again, Leaf.”

“Please take care of meee. Um, Blue-chan.”

Leaf greeted Blue, when she noticed her standing behind me. She does seem pretty empty-headed, doesn’t she?

“T-there’s no way I will allow this! Chieftain, you say something too. If it’s left like this, then we won’t have any chieftain candidates left. No, something like taming a chieftain candidate shouldn’t have been allowed in the first place! Release the taming on Hisui!”

“What the heck…?”

The old woman started panicking, but I’m not going to release the taming without receiving something of equal value. Well, even if there was compensation, I still wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel like it…

The Chieftain, on the other hand, was simply shocked by the revelation. It’s not just the withdrawal of a single chieftain candidate any more. It has now come to the point where all the chieftain candidates have been disqualified.

“So, you weren’t just aiming for Tenri… Then, when did you tame Hisui?”

“At the very beginning, when we were first handing out meat skewers. Still, I wasn’t expecting it to end up like this at the time. Anyhow, considering all that, wouldn’t it be fine to just select new chieftain candidates at this point?“

“…So that’s how it is. You’re trying to get me, to get us to break the rules.”

I asked him, reiterating what I had already suggested to him once before. It seems that the Chieftain, who has surprisingly keen intuition, has also realized what I was trying to do.

“Pretty much. Well, it’s not like I really intended to take it this far. Since Akatsuki and the branch family members kept being annoying, I mostly did it to shut them up.”

“It seems that I’m also partially responsible for this, seeing as I did nothing to stop them…”

“Kyun~! Supervisor’s responsibility~!”

It helps that he understood the gist of what I was trying to say.

“What are you saying!? This isn’t the time to be having such a carefree conversation! If we don’t force them to release the taming, the entire Hidden Area might be destroyed!”

“It won’t be destroyed. If we bend the rules a little, and select new chieftain candidates, then that should suffice.”

“Chieftain! Are you going to break the rules yourself!?”

The Chieftain seemed to have already resigned himself, but the old woman refused to back down. I suppose if it’s done this way, she’ll go all the way back to only having a third chieftain candidate on her side. She must be desperate to somehow remove the taming from Hisui and restore her previous status.

“Do we have any other choice? If we don’t break the rules we won’t have another chieftain. We have to do it, whether we like it or not.”

“No we don’t! We can just kill these humans! Wouldn’t that be much safer!?”

“That’s right! We have been lenient up till now, so they’re taking advantage of us. Now that it’s come to this, we must kill the humans and reclaim the Hidden Area!”

The old woman and Stupid Bug started saying some dangerous things. Seeing how he was Dora’s family, even if only for a moment, I hadn’t killed Stupid Bug until now, despite having recognized his as an enemy, but if this situation were to turn into a battle, I will no longer be able to guarantee his life. Or, more like, I will kill him myself if it comes to that.

“Stop spouting nonsense! Don’t you understand!? If we were to fight these people, we would also be fighting our tamed brethren!”

“T-there’s no way such a thing could be true. Even though they’re tamed, if it were to become a battle, surely they would join us…”

“As I thought, you don’t understand. Taming is not such a lenient thing. Do not be mistaken, they would join Jin-dono.”

“N-no way…”

Looks like the old woman has finally realized the full extent of the situation they have found themselves in. The horror of having close to a hundred dragon newts of the Hidden Area turn against their kin, not to mention that Hisui, the one she wanted to become the next chieftain, was also among them. Also, does the Chieftain know some details about taming? His reaction was obviously different, but…

“On top of that, just one of them was enough to easily defeat the dragon that even the best of our warriors couldn’t match. You say they only managed it because it was weakened, but even if that were the case, what would happen if several such people were to turn into our enemies along with the tamed dragon newts? It would obviously result in the destruction of the Hidden Area.”

Of course, if we were to actually fight, the Hidden Area would be destroyed. It’s the only possible outcome.

“W-were they that strong…? No, if I think about how easily they defeated Akatsuki, it doesn’t sound like an exaggeration…”

“Aunt! What are you acting weak for! If we gather all the dragon newts in the Hidden Area, sure, there will be some losses, but we’ll surely kill these humans! In the end, it will be our victory!”

“T-that is…”

Stupid Bug said something unreasonable again. As expected, the old woman became speechless after hearing his plan of fighting us by sacrificing his allies.

“Haah~, the situation just keeps getting worse because of you. As Jin-dono said, it truly has become troublesome. I don’t think I can cover for you any longer, Akatsuki.” 

The Chieftain said after a deep sigh. While we were the ones directly targeted by Stupid Bug, it was probably the Chieftain, who was stuck between us and him, trying to do something about it, who had the hardest time. Do you need some stomach medicine?

“…Does Chieftain have no intention of fighting with those humans?”

“Naturally. I’d rather break the rules than fight Jin-dono.”

The Chieftain answered the old woman’s question.

“Don’t screw with me… You’re going to just ignore this human throwing mud at my face again and again… How can I allow such a thing to happen…”

Stupid Bug’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was glaring at me with a terrifying expression on his face. He was completely livid.

“Akatsuki, let’s return for now and think up another plan. No good will come from us staying here.”

“Enough of this… If the Chieftain is going to break the rules so that he doesn’t have to fight the humans, then I will also break them in order to fight them…”

Ignoring the old woman’s words, Stupid Bug turned into his dragon form. Since the Chieftain’s Mansion is pretty large, there is enough space for him to move around inside, but Golden Dragons are relatively large to begin with, so it is just barely…

“Akatsuki, Stop!”

“Please stop, Akatsuki!”

“I will at least make sure to kill you! Die, Human!”

Despite the Chieftain and the old woman’s attempts to stop him, he swung his arm, which was now incomparably heavier than in his human form, trying to kill me.

“…”

-slash-

Maria, who had silently stepped in front of me, cut off his arm with a single motion. How careless. I think Stupid Bug really ought to learn more from his past mistakes. Ah, I guess he did kind of learn not to use ‘Draconic Magic’, since it would be nullified by Sera. Good job, good job (in monotone).

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!”

Having had his entire arm suddenly severed, Stupid Bug’s scream echoes throughout the Chieftain’s Mansion.

“Akatsuki!”

Seeing him like that, the old woman screamed.

“Since he attacked me with clear killing intent, I’ve reached the limit of my patience. I will kill Akatsuki. Chieftain, Leaf, do you have any problem with that?”

At first, I stopped myself from killing him, even though he was hostile towards us, because he was Dora’s relative. The second time, I did it because it would be bad for our ability to do sightseeing in the Hidden Area. But three times is the limit. ‘Even Buddha will get angry if you slap his face three times’. (ED: A Japanese proverb) Now I’m no Buddha, but I’m still not going to put up with this any longer.

During the duel, killing was prohibited, so I only gave him severe injuries, but now it seems he’s full of killing intent, so I’ve got no reason to hold back any more. After this, we’ll be leaving the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area for good anyway, so there’s no problem if we make a bit of a mess before we leave. Just to be sure I still checked with his superior, the Chieftain, and his relative, Leaf, but as you might expect, I’m still going to kill him regardless of what they say.

“While I can’t say I’m okay with it… …As I said, I don’t think I can cover for him any longer…”

“It’s fiiine. More importantly, please give me some of that delicious smelling foood.”

While the Chieftain seemed reluctant, Leaf answered as if it had nothing to do with her. Mio passes her a serving of curry rice. She’s already been tamed, so there’s no problem with us giving her food. Still, It seems Leaf has completely no interest in Stupid Bug. Perhaps, did they not get along, despite being from the same branch family?

“Damn you, Human! Damn you!”

Even while in agony, Stupid Bug kept spitting curses at me. I drew Soul Blade – Incomplete [Tangerine] and pointed it at him.

“Guh…!”

I didn’t even have to use a skill, as the sheer pressure was enough to make him shrink away. This guy really is gorgeous when you look at him. Well, even if I say gorgeous, it’s more like that gaudy sparkling look that hurts the eyes, that overnight millionaires tend to go for… 

“Shit!”

Saying that, Stupid Bug turned around and ran away. Eh? Now you’re going to run? Seriously?

After all this posturing, and glaring at me with eyes that want to curse me to death, all you do is run away? ……That’s kind of boring, really. Well, enough of this already, let’s just kill him and be done with it.

 “I won’t let you go any further than this! You’ll definitely kill Akatsuki, won’t you!?”

Just when I was about to chase after Stupid Bug, the old woman stood in my way after taking her dragon form, in order to block the passage. Oh, it seems like she’s a Golden Dragon, the same as Akatsuki. It hurts my eyes. (ED: The joke here is, that he reacted in the same way to seeing Akatsuki’s dragon form for the first time, though I might have worded it slightly differently)

Nevertheless, why is this old woman willing to go so far for Stupid Bug’s sake?

A: It is very rare for family members to share a dragon form. When it does happen, there seems to be a tendency to favour them more than necessary.

In fact, almost all the dragon newts in the Hidden Area have different dragon forms, and the ones that do share a dragon form, aren’t usually related. So, basically, she just couldn’t help spoiling him, since he happened to be born into the same family. Yep, that’s not really enough of a reason. There’s no point reconsidering.

“Chieftain, would it be fine if I cut this old woman down?”

“That would not be good. This person is the current head of one of the branch families. If you kill her, it would become quite troublesome, wouldn’t it? Well, if you kill Akatsuki it will still be troublesome, but… ”

“I see. Then, I guess I’ll stop for now.”

As you might expect, I won’t kill an old woman just for standing in my way, even if she did come with Stupid Bug to bother be before. Plus, there are many ways of getting around her anyway… Of course, if I really were in a hurry, I would just cut though (figuratively and literally speaking).

Now then, let’s see where is that stupid bug heading? I checked his position on the map so I could chase after him.

“…Ah, Chieftain, is this really okay?”

“Is what okay?”

“Akatsuki seems to be headed towards one of the Dragon’s Gates, specifically, the Gate of the Sheep.”

“What!? Is that true!?”

“Yeah.”

When I looked at the map, I saw him flying towards it.

“What is that fool trying to do now!? Does he intend to leave the Hidden Area!? Anyway, I must chase after him. Move out of the way!”

“I won’t move! I won’t let you follow Akatsuki!”

The old woman stubbornly kept trying to protect Stupid Bug, but if you’re going to go that far, then you should have raised him properly to begin with. Raising him to be selfish, and then trying to protect him after he causes problems is not exactly what you’d call good parenting.

“You’re in the way.”

-punch-

“Gufuu…..”

The old woman Golden Dragon collapsed on the spot. Since it sounded like it would be annoying if I killed her, I used ‘Estimation’ to knock her out with a stomach punch. Now that she’s down, a gap for us to pass though has opened, so I guess you could say it did the trick.

“Master who punched an old woman in the stomach without hesitation is scary…”

“If you had ordered me, I would have eliminated her for you…”

“Maria-chan who says that without hesitation is scary…”

“Well, she was in the way. Anyway, let’s go”

“Ah, wait for me!”

I ignored Mio’s comments and advanced down the hallway. As a side note, the remaining branch family members became frozen in shock at the sight of the old women being defeated, but it seemed like they weren’t anyone important, so I just let them be.

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We gave chase to Stupid Bug, Sera and I riding on Blue, Maria on Mikazuki, and Sakura and Mio on Leaf. If you’re wondering why Sera is riding on Blue, it’s because ‘Zero Gravity’ can ignore her weight. Dora, the Chieftain, and several of his guards were flying alongside us by themselves.

“Though it would have been faster if I had used Nosferatu…”

“After going through all that and becoming your mount, if you are still going to use it while in the Hidden Area, I will cry!”

At first, I was going to just fly after Stupid Bug myself, but Blue made a desperate expression, so I had no choice but to ride on her instead. Even though Nosferatu would have been faster…

“You’re already being teased by Master… It would be best if you got used to it quickly.”

Sera gave her some advice (?), while smiling wryly.

“Eh, this is normal!? I… became the mount of an absurd person didn’t I…?”

“Since Blue doesn’t seem to like it, should I use Leaf as my mount instead? Ah, Mikazuki might also be good.”

“I don’t dislike it! That’s why, use me, okay!? Definitely!”

She’s kinda cute when she tries to cosy up to you like that, after you give her a cold shoulder. Oops, as I was busy admiring Blue, we arrived at the Gate of the Sheep before I noticed.

-Boom! Crumble Crumble-

Suddenly we heard a loud noise and saw the Gate of the Sheep begin to fall apart, so when we got close to it, we stopped in mid-air to see what was going on. What the hell just happened?

A: Akatsuki tried to exit through the Dragon’s Gate, but the gatekeepers stopped him. Annoyed by this, Akatsuki used his ‘Draconic Magic’, firing his breath at the gatekeepers and the Dragon’s Gate.

Are the gatekeepers and the Dragon’s Gate safe?

A: The gatekeepers’ lives are not in danger. Akatsuki’s breath attack was relatively weak. However, the Dragon’s Gate took some damage, and has completely stopped functioning.

“Ah…… This is going to be troublesome.”

“What!? What happened!?”

“It looks like Akatsuki has destroyed the Dragon’s Gate.”

“What!!!?”

The Chieftain asked a question and I was kind enough to politely answer it.

“And with that, he also took down a section of the barrier protecting the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. There’s no way to fix it, so what are you going to do now?”

“H-how do you even know about that!? …No, It’s too late to ask that now. You’re right, If the Dragon’s Gate is destroyed, one of the 12 sections of the barrier corresponding to it will also stop working.”

Basically, the Dragon’s Gates double as relays, each one supporting a section of the barrier. Of course, it’s the dungeon core that actually generates the barrier, however, if the core were to deploy it directly, it would have had to be on a much smaller scale than it is now. Therefore, by setting up the 12 Dragon’s Gates in a circle around the dungeon core and having them act as relays, it was possible to create a barrier over a much bigger area.

Then, what happens if a Dragon’s Gate gets destroyed? Naturally, the barrier sections supported by it would also stop functioning. It might not be visible to the naked eye, but looking at the map it’s obvious that the barrier near the Gate of the Sheep has already gone down. That aside, for the Chieftain to be surprised to hear what I said, is what happens when a Dragon’s Gate is broken, not public information in the Hidden Area?

A: Only the Chieftain and other influential people of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area know about it. As for the rest, they are simply bound by a rule saying “Do not damage the Dragon’s Gates”.

So, they just made a rule like that, without actually explaining what it’s there for. Incidentally, I have known about it ever since I became the dungeon master.

Oops, Stupid Bug has just crawled out from under the rubble. Ah, it looks like he noticed us as well.

“Y-you bastard, why are you here!?”

“Akatsuki, you! What have you done!!!!”

The Chieftain roared at Stupid Bug, but I could see no regret or remorse from that damn pest.

“Shut up! They blocked my path! It was only right that I did it! My plan was to go through the Dragon’s Gate and then destroy it from the other side anyway!”

I see. So that’s why he went for the Gate of the Sheep. If he were to escape out of the Hidden Area and then destroy the Dragon’s Gate behind him, we wouldn’t have been able to follow. And him choosing the gate that we entered through was also harassment on his part, by means of preventing us from returning to where we originally came from.

“Well, whatever. The humans won’t be able to return home either way. Kuhuhu, it serves you right!”

Sorry. We have ‘Portal’, so we can go back whenever we want. Even so, that stupid bug doesn’t seem to understand what he’s done at all.

“Akatsuki, what a foolish thing you have done… The barrier that protects the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area will disappear…”

The Chieftain said as if giving up.

“The barrier will disappear…? What do you mean by that!? No, it doesn’t matter. Wait, since you can’t use this Dragon’s Gate, you might use the other ones! Ah, and don’t follow me, or I’ll kill this guy!” 

Saying so, he dragged one of the unconscious gatekeepers out of the rubble. In short, I guess you could call him a hostage. Also, calling this guy a stupid bug is too lenient. I will call him a damn maggot instead.

“So you’ve fallen that far, Akatsuki… And to think we once called you our brethren…”

“Leaf, your family seems pretty terrible, all things considered.”

“I wouldn’t knooow, Blue-chan. I don’t talk to them that ofteeen.”

Looks like despite living in the Hidden Area, Leaf just wasn’t much of a people person.

“It doesn’t matter what you say! I have no use for a Hidden Area that disrespects me!”

With those words, the damn maggot flapped his wings to fly away.

A: An attack is incoming.

But at that very moment, Alta notified me of an attack coming our way. This is, …a dragon’s breath?

“Maria! Cast ‘Barrier Magic’ to protect everyone! Sakura, cast ‘Aqua Curtain’!”

“Yes!” x2

“‘Summon’!”

I hurriedly instructed Maria and Sakura to defend us, before using the ‘Summon’ spell. A curtain of water and a barrier appeared around us, while the two gatekeepers were transferred to where I was standing. Between you and me, these two were also tamed by me, so I was initially planning to summon them, and then use that momentary confusion to kill the damn maggot before he escapes.

“Eh?”

Immediately after that, and just as the damn maggot raised his voice in surprise, the entire area we were in got engulfed by the incoming dragon’s breath.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!”

Naturally, neither Maria’s ‘Barrier Magic’, nor Sakura’s ‘Aqua Curtain’ covered the damn maggot with its area of effect, leaving him with nothing but a dying scream, once he took a direct hit from it.

That was close. The two gatekeepers were almost burned to death by that. I can’t let a dragon kill the dragon newts I had just tamed. Eh, what about us? I guess we might have taken some minor damage If it had hit us.

“A-agaga…” (ED: No idea if it’s supposed to mean anything)

Oh? That damn maggot, who I thought was already dead, seemed to still be alive. But it looked like he was about to lose consciousness, as he flew unsteadily through the air… He’s one tenacious pest, I’ll give him that. Since he was going to be in the way, flying around like that, I sent a ‘Flying Slash’ his way and cut him in two.

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Author’s Note: Akatsuki finally leaves the stage. Also, this is how Jin treats things he no longer has any interest in.