11-Episode 10: Sage, exterminating pests




 I had come to a village a short distance away from the territory where the mansion is located.
 It's a small village with seven or eight houses.
 I heard that it is a citizen of the Stark territory, but autonomy is left to the people of the village.

 There is a request for help from the territory, and that's why I came on behalf of Luxor.

 I entered the village and looked for the chief's house.
 I find an old man with a child and a young man arguing.
 The former seems to be the village chief.
 The young man seems to be an adventurer.
 He covered his upper body with armor and had a disc-shaped spur on his leather shoes.
 He is a spear.

"Child...?

 The young man looked at me and narrowed his eyes.
 Then he smiles a frivolous smile.
 The village chief also noticed and turned his head towards me.
 A younger girl clings to the village chief's sleeve behind him.
 She was staring at me with a kitten.

 I lowered my head politely.

''I'm from the neighboring Stark territory. I'm Lasser Singh Stark.

Oh...! You're Mr. Luxor's son.

 The village chief's face instantly broke into a smile.
 He came toward me with a flurry of steps and shook my hand.

You've come a long way. And..... Father--what happened to Mr. Luxor?

I'm sorry, but my father can't come.

What did you say?

 The village chief jumped up, as if his heart would jump out of his chest as it was.

 His voice echoed through the village behind him.
 Hearing the voice, the door of the closed dwelling opened.
 A child was looking at us, but his mother, who looked flustered, closed it.

 Like this village chief and the girl who is clinging to her, they are all [villagers].
 Probably, the community is formed and lived in by only [villagers].

 A village with only [villagers].

 That village had been under attack by the flying dragon--the wyvern--for several days.
 It seems that the damage has already been done, with three livestock and one death.
 The village, which is so poor that it is obvious at first glance, has no reward to give to the guild anywhere.
 The representative of the troubled village asked the lord, Luxol, for help.

My father can't get out of bed right now because of his back pain, so I've come in his place.

 It may sound like a lie, but it's true.

 Ever since my son beat me, Luxor has been working out like a light bulb.
 He slammed a challenge to me every day, and I beat him every time.
 But it seems that my body is finally getting rattled because I've been working too hard for my age.

I'm going to ask you something. What do you do for a living, Lacelle-kun?

[Villagers].

"What the hell...

 The village chief's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

 The young man laughed as he replaced the chief.

''Hahahahahahaha! What is it? One little kid who called for help and then showed up? And [villagers]? Geehahahahahaha! This is a masterpiece. How the hell are you going to beat the wyvern?

 His face deforms and the man laughs and rolls over.
 Then he approaches the village chief, who slumps his shoulders.
 He popped him on the back and whispered devilishly.

'So? What do you think, Mr. Mayor? Did you know that already? It's a reality. I'll help you out if you give me what I need, without being stubborn.

 He made an "0" with his finger so that the village chief could see it.
 He was asking for money.

 Who the hell is this guy?

Who's that, Uncle?

Me? I'm on the side of justice.

Justice?

I was just passing by the village. I asked you about it and you said you were having trouble with the wyvern. That's why your brother(s) are trying to help the people in the village.

So why is your grandfather in trouble?

 Then the adventurer tapped me on the shoulder.
 With the corners of his mouth twisted up, he whispered softly like a child being put to sleep.

''Slaying demonic beasts is a dangerous job. As expected, it's not free.''

I'm a man of justice.

'Even the righteous can't fight a monster beast if they can't eat. They need money.

 He answered the child's question plainly.

 The man spun around like a comedian and looked back in a grand manner.
 He looked at the old man, whose shoulders were still slumped and his face was still pale.

Come on, old man. How much do you want to pay me?

I won't give you any money...

What?

Like this. I'm asking you. Save our village from the wyvern.

 The old man kneels down and gets down on his knees.

 With his pride surrendered, the village chief pleaded with him.
 For that once-in-a-lifetime action, the man was cold-hearted.
 He kicked the old man in the leg. He pulled more mud on him.

 Then the girl who had been clinging to the village chief leaps in front of the man.

'What is it, missy?'

This is...

 I held out a bunch of beautiful wild flowers.
 White, yellow and blue flowers bloomed in the palm of the little girl's hand.

'I don't have any money, but.... I'll give you this.

 The girl complained in tears.

 The man's face clouded over.
 The next moment, he turned and smiled a gentle, sunny smile.

'Thank you, sweetheart.'

 The man plucks a flower.

 He accepted it.
 The girl must have thought so.
 The girl smiled, just like a flower.

 However, the man drops all the flowers on the ground with a pop.

 He also kicked it in the foot with his ring-beating boot.
 Stems snapped and petals scattered.
 The pretty colors were caked in mud.

'Oh, oh...'

 The girl panicked as she lost track of what had happened.
 Her face was pale and she had tears in her eyes.

'Idiot, you little shit! You can't make my stomach growl with flowers!

 The man hits the girl even harder.

 Pacin!

 There was a sharp sound.
 The man's fist strike was blocked by a small child's hand.

'Uncle (sic), that's about as far as you'll go,'

You little...

 Men push and pull.
 But I didn't freak out.
 My muscles were completely overwhelmed and controlled by the man in front of me.

'Let go, you little shit!

 The man finally grabbed the gain.
 With his other hand, he swings his spear.

 I step back with the girl.

"You little brat, you lick it!

You're the one doing the licking, Uncle. Helping people in need is what justice is all about.

Shut up! ....Oh! That's enough! You are such a pain in the ass! I'll kill everyone in this village!

 Then the man raised his spear.

 Loudly, he shouted.

'Come! Wyvern!

 A moment later, a large shadow hid the sun.
 All at once, they looked up at the sky.
 The one there was a flying dragon - a wyvern.

 Disastrous bat wings.
 It wiggled its neck, longer than a horse.
 The air trembled as he raised his sharp neigh of a horse.

 The man turns his raised spear.
 Then the wyvern spun around in a circle to match the movement of the spear.
 It looks as if the man is controlling it.

 No.......... He is operating it.

 The magic of the [Scholar (Professor)] - [Demon Wizard (Tamer)].
 The man is probably a demon wielder.
 And.........

"Uncle, he's a dragon knight.

Yeah. You're well aware of that, kid. But you can't apologize to me now. We've decided to kill them all.

I'm not going to tell you. A dragon knight is a person of quite high status that can become a dragon knight. Why are you doing this when you're not in need of money?

Isn't it obvious? Stress relief?

 Huh?

"I got beheaded from the Order five days ago. That's why. So I was enjoying killing [villagers] who were living like maggots.

Do you think you're allowed to do that?

What the hell are you getting so mad about, you little f*cker? What do you think? Most of the people living in this village are [villagers]. Even if these guys are here, they're not doing any good. They're vermin. We've got to get rid of those vermin, hahahahahahaha!

 The man's vulgar voice roared through the village.

 All the while, the wyvern slowly circled.
 Gradually, it began to lose altitude.

''The sight of the [villagers] running away from the dragon was quite a masterpiece, man.

You never told me that.

Shut up. I'll show you right here, right now. I'll show you the way the [villagers] are running away! Do it, Wyvern!

 The Dragon Knight raised his spear again.
 The wyvern swung around.
 It opened the jaw gate and swooped down.

 It cut through the air and roared.

 The village chief quickly defended the girl as soon as he could.

 Baku!

 Fresh blood splashed out.
 The one who was bathed in it was none other than the former dragon knight.

''Eh? Ah...?

 The man stared blankly, unaware of what had happened.
 He stared at his own body, which was slowly turning into vermillion, in a daze.
 Eventually, he tried to check his hand.
 But his hand never appeared.
 On the contrary, the entire spear is gone.

 Instead, it was spitting out red blood with a thud.

''Gyaaahhhh!

 This time, he let out a vile scream.
 A puddle of blood took his foot off the ground and the man fell bare.
 He bashed and flailed as if drowning in his own blood.

 The dragon knight was missing from his elbow.

 Blood poured from the wound as if he had tipped a bucket.

''Blood! Blood...... Ka, recovery! Recovery!

 He tried to get the recovery potion out of his tool bag.
 But when it spilled out of his hand, the recovery potion in the bottle fell to the ground.
 Easily, the bottle shatters and mixes with the blood on the ground.

 The adventurer rants some more.

 It was me who appeared before them.

'I knew my uncle was a dragon knight,'

What did you say?

He told me everything.

 I pointed to the sky.
 The one there was the example wyvern.
 I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.

 The last time I saw that wyvern was just a few hours ago.
 He was found waiting in the woods.
 It was immediately obvious that it was a dragon kept by a dragon knight.
 It was because there was a mark of a ring beat where a human straddled it.

 I asked 【Scholar(Professor)】 about the situation with 【Beast Language Deciphering】.
 After that, I used [Demon Wizard (Tamer)] and made it mine.

 I wave my hand lightly.
 The wyvern began to turn as the dragon knight showed me.
 The flying dragon had already become mine.
 I had followed the former Lord's instructions earlier because I had ordered it to act like that.

''You're a good dragon. I like that you're not twisted like your uncle is.''

"Oh, my dragon.... You've taken over the wyvern. Who the hell are you?

"Lacelle Singh Stark. [Villager]. Hates vermin like uncles, you know?

 I gave a quick wave.
 Once again, the wyvern begins to swoop down.
 It opened its jaw gate wide.
 Its mouth was tinged with crimson light, and it turned its sights towards the former Lord.

''Hii! Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

 The adventurer stands up.
 He starts running in the opposite direction of the village, spattering blood.
 The wyvern chases after him.

'You love it, Uncle. A human being on the run? He said it was a masterpiece. Then you should try it for yourself. How silly that would be.

No! I died...

 Instantly, the adventurer was engulfed in red fire.
 The screams, the decapitated voices, were all swallowed up.
 Even the armor was dissolved in a flash, and the dragon knight disappeared.


 ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆


'Thank you, Lacelle boy. And I'm sorry to be suspicious.

 The village chief apologizes flatly.
 Not that I mind, but I accept his apology.

'About that reward...'

 The village chief's face clouded over.

 Then I turn my back to him.
 I crouch down and turn my attention to the flowers on the ground.
 The flowers were trampled by the dragon knight and scattered without a trace.

 I rescued it and activated my magic.

 [Recovery]

 The petals scattered and the broken stems of the flowers returned to their original shape.
 After a while, they had regained their beautiful appearance.
 The flowers were connected together to make a wreath.
 I used to make them a lot when I was in the orphanage.
 It's a standard gift for children.

 I place the wreath on the girl's head.

 The girl's face lights up with pride.

"Thank you, big brother.

 She had a nice smile on her face, like a real flower had opened up.
 I patted the girl's head.
 Like Luxor stroking his son's head.

 Eventually I put the one remaining flower in my breast pocket.

No compensation.

'What? Are you sure?

I've had enough.

 I tapped the flower I held in my chest.

 Then I left the village.

'Brother! See you soon!

 The girl shouted that, and kept waving her hands until I disappeared into the horizon.