Chapter 155

The Elder in the Mist

Jeanne had become an offering to the dragon. Once the pure maiden was put into the carriage, great quantities of wine followed. The plan was to get the dragon drunk so that we could attack it.

“Make the dragon drunk and then hunt it down. This myth seems to exist in every world.”

For instance, there was a great eight-headed snake in Japanese folklore that was also defeated in a similar way.

And a two-headed dragon in Britain was slain after becoming drunk as well.

There were a number of similar stories in this world. So I suppose dragons were weak to alcohol everywhere.

Upon hearing this, Jeanne exclaimed,

“How pitiful to have to be weakened and die by such a disgusting drink.”

She spat. As always, she was not at all fond of wine.

“Well, every world has those who want to drown their sorrows. I can only imagine what kind of stress a dragon might feel.”

Though, I had no idea why I was suddenly feeling sympathetic towards the dragon.

After traveling through the forest for a while, we came out into a clearing.

While the sky dragon apparently lived in the mountains, it would rest its wings in this clearing before and after attacking the village.

And so if we left Jeanne and the wine here, the dragon would surely appear.

Indeed, there were bones of large mammals scattered all around. It was exactly the kind of place that you would expect a dragon to come to.

And while I felt a little uncomfortable at the thought of leaving Jeanne all alone in such a place, I knew that it would not come if we stayed. But I exchanged a few words with Jeanne before leaving.

“As I said before, do not resist when the dragon arrives, but escape in the southeast direction.”

“I know. I’ll be reunited with you as soon as possible.”

“That’s a good girl.”

I said, but she looked like she wanted more. And so I patted her on the head.

Her pleased expression reminded me of a large dog. Still, I was not wholly convinced that she would follow my orders when the dragon really did arrive.

But I didn’t have any alternatives in this matter.

And so I took Toshizou and moved to the southeast.

Toshizou seemed to have the same misgivings, as he asked me on the way,

“In spite of appearances, that girl is quick to get into fights. I would not be surprised if she started fighting before we arrived.”

“I’ve taken that into account. Ideally, I would want her to flee so that we can attack it while it chases her. But I don’t mind fighting by the spring where Jeanne is waiting either.”

“I suppose it’s because our victory is assured either way. Very good, master.”

“No, I wouldn’t go that far.”

In fact, I had never even fought a dragon. I had fought a number of wyverns, but this would be different. There were no dragons in the world that I had originally lived in.

“I heard that there were dragons in the world that you came from, Toshizou.”

“Apparently, yes. My grandfather and grandmother often went to a dragon shrine. But I’ve never seen one of them myself.”

“I see. They must be rare in every world then.”

I said, and then I spotted a tree stump up ahead. I thought it would be a good place to rest, but there was only one. And since Toshizou was old, I wanted to give it to him, but he became angry and told me to not treat him like an old man.

And then he continued.

“You are my master and a Demon King. So you sit here. I will prepare a seat for myself.”

He said, and then something flashed near his waist. Then the tree next to the stump fell over. He had cut down the huge tree and sheathed his sword again in a split second.

He showed no signs of wanting to show off as he sat down and then drank water from his bamboo flask. It appeared to be alcohol.

It was quite hardy of him to drink right before a battle with a dragon. He was like a dragon himself, I thought. And then I drank some of the water that the villagers had given me.

We sat there and waited for Jeanne’s signal. I had told her to crush the talisman I had given to her when the dragon appeared.

I had made this talisman myself, and it would glow up when destroyed.

“You are very crafty, master.”

Toshizou said. Well, it was something that any old sorcerer could make.

And so the two of us waited silently, but the time would not come.

As I started to wonder why it was taking so long, I realized that the atmosphere around us had suddenly changed.

We were surrounded in mist. I could not see anything that was more than a few meters in front of us.

“This is bad. We may not be able to reunite with Jeanne.”

“But the dragon won’t be able to find us either.”

“That’s true.”

Still, why was there mist all of a sudden? There had been no signs of it a moment ago.

I tried to ask Toshizou about it, but could not.

Because he had suddenly disappeared.

Was this an apparition?

I shouted his name, and heard his voice from afar. ‘Nature calls.’

I was relieved for a moment, but it did not last long.

Someone was coming from up ahead. Of course, it wasn’t Toshizou. It was someone else.

I touched the longsword hanging on my belt. This could be an enemy ambush.

However, I did not feel that I would need it.

While the person who came out of the mist was a master with the sword, I did not sense any hostility.

As I wondered at this, the stranger addressed me.

He had the voice of an old man, but there was an odd amount of vitality in it.

The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King