Master!


　I heard that voice at the very moment I was about to fly off to the village of Merte.

　I looked over from the saddle of Clow Solas and saw Miroslav rushing over to me in a panic.

　His hair was shaggy and his clothes were shabby, not like Miroslav, who cared about his appearance. It seems that as soon as he jumped up from his bunk, he went straight to me.

　It's not like he came to say good morning to me. I got out of the saddle with that thought in my head.


"I'm sorry, sir, I'm in a hurry to...


　Miroslav is breathing on his shoulder with a zealous gasp. If you look closely, you can see a large tool bag in his hand.

　I'm not sure if the item I asked for - the antidote to the mixture of my blood - is already ready.

　When I asked that question, Miroslav nodded his head.


I'm sure it will improve the effectiveness and not harm the human body. It's far from perfect, but at least it's more useful than the Union's antidote.

How much time do you have left to check?


　It hasn't even been a day since I ordered Miroslav to improve the antidote. From what he just said, it sounds like he's only completed a minimal safety check, but it's still early.

　In order to verify the efficacy of the antidote, a poisoned patient is essential.

　Normally, these things are experimented on small animals like rats and other small animals little by little, and humans are the last ones to taste it--


I myself have tested it with the poison. I'm sure of it.


　The red-haired sorcerer who blurts out the most outrageous things without hesitation.

　It seems that the reason I was sleeping like a dead man was not because of fatigue after an all-nighter, but because of the human experiment I had performed on myself.

　I can't help but raise my eyebrows.


''.........No one asked you to go that far.

The situation is the situation. We can't just take our time getting rid of the rats, can we?


　Miroslav giggles and smiles mischievously. After hearing those words, the dark circles under my eyes look terribly painful.

　As if he noticed my gaze, Miroslav gave a small shake of his head to tell me not to worry about it.

　And then he repeats the words, "More importantly.


''Alliance (Master). There is no doubt that the blood of the Alliance (Master) will have a great effect on the human body. Depending on how you use it, I believe it can be a powerful trump card against the deadly poison that Luna told me about. However, please be careful not to give it to others. The blood of a master is too powerful.

'Too powerful?　What do you mean?

Think of it as a powerful drug. If you use it on a weak and sick person, it could be detrimental to your health. And on a deadly level.

Hmm... Is that so?

That's true. That's right, and it could also activate the demon that's nesting inside the patient. It is said that the blood of the dragon cures all illnesses, but it does not necessarily mean that it will actually eliminate the disease for the sake of convenience. Please do not forget this.

Okay.


　Miroslav warned me with a serious expression, and I nodded my head obediently.　

　According to Miroslav, if you mix it with an antidote or a restorative, you could specialize its effects, but if you were to make such fine adjustments, you would never make it in time in a day or two.

　As for this batch, Miroslav bypassed the adjustment procedure and confirmed the safety of the product with his own body.

　What Miroslav has in his hands is the result of such a life-threatening effort.

　I accepted it gratefully and became a dragon again.


Please take care of yourself, Master. I will be waiting for your safe return.


　Miroslav hanging his head deeply.

　I can't help but feel a sense of discomfort at the sight of Miroslav being so polite to me.

　I've been living under the same roof for nearly half a month now, so I'm not going to get embarrassed, but it will take a while for this sense of discomfort to completely disappear.

　With that in mind, I finally gave additional orders to Miroslav.


'You too. And no more human experimentation. Is that clear?

Oh yes, I know the drill!


　Miroslav smiled happily, as if he could sense our inner thoughts. His heartless endings were also bouncing.

　I ordered Klau Solas to surface to escape his gaze.




　Incidentally, I've notified the main authorities in Ishka about me heading to Merte as well as reporting the deadly poisoning.

　So when I saw the sight of Klau Solas leaving to the south, "The dragon knight has escaped from Ishka! I didn't have to worry about people thinking that I was going to be a problem.

　Some of the residents who didn't know much about it might misunderstand, but well, it wouldn't be a big deal.

　Some in the Ishqa government were reluctant to let me leave Ishqa at this time of year, but I convinced them that that was the case, and that I would be bringing helpers for the defense of the city - Lars, Ilaria, and Priest Sela - to help me.



　And so I left Ishka, and I was able to arrive in Merte much earlier than I had planned without any trouble.

　The time savings was the result of the hard work of Klau Solas. Probably for the meal of the Sailor priest. It seems that he liked the food of the ancient cattlemen.


　The state of the village from the sky is the same as the other day. It doesn't look like they were attacked by a demon, or had a dispute with another village over the profit sharing of the Orcs I gave away, or anything like that.

　However, the small number of villagers on the street was worrisome. I can feel the same atmosphere as when I visited before.

　I set down my claw solas in front of the village with a vague sense of unease.


　I realized I wasn't imagining it when I heard the familiar voices of children in the distance.


　The three little kids I had reunited with - Ain, Zwei, and Dora - were crying all over their faces, crumpled up and crying.

　At first, I was quick to wonder what had happened to the Sailor priest, and my whole body was a total hair.

　What flashed through my mind was the cruel face of someone who had been poisoned by death.

　But, fortunately, I should say, Priest Sailor Priest hadn't been poisoned by the deadly poison.


　--The one who had been poisoned by the deadly poison was Ilia, the daughter of the Sailor priest.



◆◆◆



　There is a phantom beast called the aquatic horse.

　Known as kelpies, these phantasmagorical beasts, as their name suggests, take the form of horses and haunt the waterside.

　It has a mane of grass, a fish tail, and numerous fins on its body and four legs. It is said that the kelpie can run on the surface of a river as it does on the ground and swim in the water as it does with fish, and once it is submerged it can be active for hours without holding its breath.


　Furthermore, the Kelpie had the ability to shapeshift and turn into an ordinary horse.

　The reason why they have such an ability is to trick humans into riding them on their backs. An aquatic horse's back is sticky, and once on its back, it cannot descend on its own.

　Once the horse is on its back, it is unable to descend on its own, and it will drown its prey by crawling deep into the water. Afterwards, the horse would take time to chew its entire body.

　In other words, the kelpie is a man-eating monster beast (man-eater).

　It is said that they do not eat liver, but even if this were true, it wouldn't be of any comfort to the people who were eaten.



　The kelpie is such a monster, but as it is called a phantom beast, it doesn't often show itself to humans.

　It's only once every ten years that a rumor of a sighting of the kelpie goes viral. That's the extent of their appearance.

　The reason why a magical beast that is supposed to be that rare appeared in Melte at this time of the year must be due to the influence of Titys' anomaly.



　It was the children who first discovered the Kelpies.

　That day, Ein and the others were picking up nuts in the forest on the outskirts of the village when they noticed a pony slowly walking up to them.

　Wild horses are timid and cautious and rarely come out of the woods. In fact, they would never approach a human being on their own.

　But even the oldest horse, Ein, was only ten or so years old. It would be unfair to ask them to notice the unnaturalness of the situation.

　Ayn and the others naturally wanted to take their horses home with them. The horses would make the farm work easier and they could sell them at a higher price - they didn't have such a plan in mind, but more simply, they thought that they would be praised by the Sailor priest.


　Later, Ein and Zwei are forcibly carried to the River Kale by the Kelpies, who reveal their true nature. Dora, alone and unharmed, ran back to the village in tears and told Ilaria and Lars, who had just visited the church, what had happened.

　To be exact, Dora was too weak to explain, but the two realized what was going on and decided that something was wrong with the two people who weren't there (Ein and Zwei) and rushed to the scene. It must be the intuition of those who have eaten for many years as adventurers.

　So Ilaria and the others rushed to the Kale River, following the Kelpie's remaining footprints, and rescued Ein and the others, who were about to sink into the water, and killed the Kelpie as well.



　It would have been a happy ending, but after this day, Ilaria's health deteriorated rapidly.

　The antidote and Priestess Sailor's recovery magic could provide temporary relief, but her condition would soon return.

　The kelpie has the power to curse, and it can also curse those who have avenged themselves. The priest learns of this and tries to break the curse, but it doesn't work either.

　In the meantime, some of the villagers began to complain of the same symptoms as Ilaria. All of them were bathed in the water of the Kale River for some reason or another.

　That's when I arrived at the village.