Chapter 57

Chapter 57. "What the Dead Feel Toward the Dying." 17

It was foul breath.

It was breath saturated with the stench of something rotting.

Because of that, I reflexively raised my hand to cover my face and lifted my head.

In the blue dawn sky, I saw two red stars I had never seen before.

When did stars like that appear above the yard of our house?

The fact that such an absurd thought came to mind was probably because I was somewhat flustered.

At that moment, I heard the quiet(?) breathing of something enormous, and I realized that those stars were the eyes of some living creature.

Oh, my God!

“Grrrrrr.”

In my bewilderment, I blurted out the words Rene and I had always practiced for guests.

“Welcome.”

The moment I said that, a dizzying thought flashed through my mind.

What did I just say?!

At that, it held its breath and quietly looked down at me from ten meck above my head.

After a moment of still silence, it suddenly raised its head.

How large did it have to be for me to hear the sound of the wind?

The sun had not risen yet, so I craned my neck as far as I could.

What I saw was the black silhouette of something like a small mountain—even though it was still over forty meck tall—with some strange structure hanging from it.

A moment later, I saw the silhouette of something like a huge tower standing at the front of the mountain, and I hurriedly covered my ears.

That was because it suddenly threw its head as far back toward the sky as it could—though I could barely even see it—and roared.

“ROOOOOOOOAR!!”

RATTLE, RATTLE… TIK?! CRACK!

SHATTER! SMASH! CLANG?! CRASH!!

The windows?! This cannot be!

I hurriedly leaned my head out and looked at the side of the house, where I saw the glass windows shattering miserably.

Oh, God.

Rene will be sad. She was so happy when we installed those windows.

I lifted my head and looked up at him.

I wanted to shout something at him, but even I did not have the power to oppose such a monster.

If my guess was correct, this creature was the strongest creature on the surface, acknowledged by both himself and others.

Moreover, perhaps because his abilities remained the same even after death, the Fear he released made my legs tremble, and I could not even speak properly.

Mm, if Exel or that guy saw this, they would probably clutch their stomachs and laugh.

More importantly, the fact that this had happened meant Aruma had failed.

No, more importantly, the morning sun had not risen yet…

Damn it! In any case, what stood before me was unmistakably a dragon.

First, I needed to think about how to deal with this situation.

Thinking that, I nodded and looked around.

The tremendous noise had shattered the windows and sent shards of glass flying everywhere, but none of the people inside the house came running out while shouting about what the sound was.

Because of the Fear, they were probably wrapped in their bedsheets, trembling with faces like they had been struck by lightning in their sleep.

Of course, Rene was an exception to that.

Because right now, she was standing beside me in her sleepwear, craning her head up and looking above us.

When did she come down?

I lowered my head and looked at Rene.

At that, Rene looked up at him with her mouth slightly open, then slowly moved her lips.

“Please stop. Our house will be destroyed.”

In that instant, the sound of his roar, which had been echoing high in the distant sky, gradually faded and then stopped at some point.

Then his enormous neck came down through the dawn air once more.

Just as before, he stopped his head ten meck above us and looked down at us.

After looking at me and Rene for a while, his eyes soon narrowed, and he closed his mouth and “spoke.”

-Are you giving me an order, elf?

This… was not him speaking. The voice came from every direction. It was a strange feeling.

A voice that came from every direction, not from a single source.

He was probably vibrating the surrounding air and “creating” speech.

I knew that very well because I had heard it a few times before.

His tone resembled the voice of an old man, but the firmness and power contained in that aged tone formed an extremely bizarre harmony that could be found nowhere else.

I turned my head and looked at Rene.

She looked at the broken windows with a sorrowful face, then turned her head again and opened her mouth.

“That was not my intention. But what…”

Rene stopped speaking midway.

At that, his head, floating in the air, seemed to tilt slightly to the side, and his voice came.

-But? No, enough. I have no business with you. I will state my purpose. Listen.

Rene turned her head and looked at me. I gave her a slight nod, then looked up at him.

“We will listen.”

-Elf woman. And human man. Bring me the one who awakened me.

“Yes?”

After saying that, I closed my mouth with a startled expression, while Rene looked at me with a slightly bitter smile.

And thankfully, he quietly ignored me in that state.

So I turned around with a bitter expression, only to turn back to the front again.

That was because Luna, Narsh, and Kal were slowly walking toward us from behind.

A short while later, escorted by the deathly pale Kal, Narsh voluntarily came to stand in front of us.

Luna stood beside me, glanced up at him, and boldly crossed her arms in front of him, looking at the back of Narsh’s head with a sour expression.

I looked at Luna’s profile for a moment, then had to turn my head again.

Because he had spoken to Narsh.

He lowered his head even farther and looked at Narsh, and Narsh’s disheveled hair fluttered beautifully in his foul breath.

-Was it you? The one who took my heart without permission?

After hearing his words, Kal was about to step forward and say something, but Narsh quickly grabbed the hem of his clothes and pulled him back.

Kal had to take a step backward to keep his balance.

Surprised by her unexpected action, Kal turned his head and looked at Narsh.

Narsh smiled softly at Kal, then looked up at the dragon.

In that state, she took one deep breath, lowered both hands neatly in front of her, and bowed her head slowly in a modest posture.

“I am sorry.”

At her words, he widened the eyes he had narrowed, then opened his mouth directly and shouted with a massive voice.

-Shut up! Because of you, I had to drag this dead body and rise again! What do you intend to do about this? An undead dragon! Is such a thing even acceptable?!

Since he opened his mouth to speak, a tremendous gale rushed toward us.

Thanks to that, I stretched out both arms and grabbed the shoulders of Rene and Luna, who were being pushed back because of their light bodies.

Kal hurried forward and supported Narsh from behind as she hunched over, covering her face with her hands against the breath blasting toward her.

A short while later, when I looked up with confused eyes, he drew in another breath and continued speaking calmly.

-Were you surprised? Even so, since I have risen again in a dead body, I wanted to at least say that much to the one who awakened me.

What? Either way, he still seemed dangerous.

As I had that thought and steadied the two elf ladies covering their ears on either side of me, Rene held both hands over her ears, frowned, and gave me a slight smile.

I looked at her with concern.

“Are you all right, Rene? Can you hear me?”

At that, Rene made a bitter expression and nodded.

“My ears hurt. They will be fine soon. Do not worry.”

When I shifted my gaze, Luna was also bent at the waist, nodding with the same expression.

I turned my head away from them and glanced at Narsh, who was standing ahead with her back against Kal’s chest, covering her ears with a dazed face.

Then I looked up at the dragon, whose face I still could not properly see because it was dawn.

“I am a human named Han Reed Kalmarion. I am the owner of this inn. There is something I would dare to ask you. Would you answer me?”

He stared down at me, then lifted his head, looked around once, and opened his mouth.

-Interesting. I know an inn to be a place that provides human travelers with somewhere to rest. Yet is this not a forest?

I smiled softly and answered him.

For some reason, this kind of conversation felt interesting.

To think I was chatting with the strongest creature on the surface.

“Yes. We mainly run this inn for friendly monsters, or for mad adventurers and travelers who enter this forest rather than humans. So business is not exactly good.”

-Is that so? That is amusing. But is that the only reason? I would like to hear the answer to that question from the elf woman there.

His tone was much like a conversation a kind neighborhood old man out for an early morning walk might have with young people passing by. He was even speaking with curiosity in his words.

Rene, who had been pointed out by him, slowly lowered the hands covering her ears and opened her mouth.

“In order to live together with my husband, I had to choose this place, where they were not present.”

-Humans cause trouble wherever one goes. But a human husband? That is unexpected. Are you not an elf? I know your kind hates humans.

At his words, Rene glanced at me, then smiled and lifted her head as she said,

“However, there are those who are not like that. Not all humans were bad.”

After Rene finished speaking, he said nothing for a while.

He seemed to be thinking about something.

Then, when I approached Narsh, who was being supported by Kal in front of us, to check on her condition, he spoke.

-Is that so? That differs from what I think. Very well. And you, human. Did you not say there was something you wished to ask?

I quickly lifted my head and looked at him.

Now that the sun was slowly rising, the outline of his body was beginning to show to some extent, but the surroundings were still quite dim, so I could not see the details of his appearance.

The sun would have to rise a little more.

After looking at him for a moment, I carefully and cautiously asked what I had been thinking.

“Yes. How did you rise? From what we heard, if what had been lost was returned by the time the morning sun rose, you would not rise.”

-Those fools misunderstood. Whether what was taken was returned or not, I was bound to raise my body again. Then I would personally search for what I had lost.

However, perhaps because those fools thought I would not rise if what was lost was returned, they spared me the trouble of searching like this.

Therefore, human woman, as the owner whose possession you stole, I have the right to be angry with you. What do you think?