Chapter 60

Chapter 60. What I Received from Her, What I Gave to Her (2)

“Ghack?!”

“With a throat that inhaled that much dust, what else would happen when beer flowed down it?”

Those were Exel’s words, thrown at Jeff, who was grimacing with a beer mug in his hand.

Then Exel grabbed a handful of cookies, tossed them into his mouth, crunched them up, swallowed them, and drank his beer.

However, although he was not as bad as Jeff, he was also grimacing in the same way.

I brought the teacup in my hand to my lips for a moment, then placed it back on the table.

“Now, shall we hear what happened?”

At my words, Exel, who had been pouring the rest of his beer into his mouth, looked at Jeff, and Jeff waved his hand with a fed-up expression.

At that sight, Exel swallowed the beer in his mouth, roughly wiped the corners of his mouth with his hand, and said,

“Mm, well, I am not entirely sure what happened either. As for what did happen…”

According to him, they had first arrived at the hill in the north and, following Jeff’s guidance, waited for us beside the rock where the Dragon Heart had originally been embedded.

And Exel’s impression after seeing that rock was this:

“It was half-buried in the ground. They called it a rock, but its appearance was exactly like someone had smeared mud over a dragon’s head.”

After a long while, Kan and his clan arrived, and Exel and Jeff joined them.

As for the harmonious atmosphere that formed between those different races, borrowing Jeff’s words, it went like this:

“Those lizards saw that we had dug up the dirt covering that head and came charging at me as though they were going to eat me.

The one called Kan, the chieftain of those Lizard Men, and Exel stopped them, so we were able to avoid a fight. But the whole time we were together, those bastards glared at me as though they were going to kill me.

Well, I knew digging up someone else’s grave was wrong, but being hated like that does not feel very good.”

They spent time like that, and around the time the full moon rose overhead, Aruma came running out of the forest with foam at his mouth.

Apparently, he handed the Dragon Heart he had brought to Kan, then collapsed on the spot. Exel gave this assessment of him:

“The moment he burst out of the forest, he ran toward us. But in all my life, I have never seen anything run that fast. I am sorry to say this to Miss Tarsis, but it was not even comparable to an elf or a horse.”

At his words, all of us turned our gazes toward Luna, who was quietly chewing on cookies.

Luna swallowed the cookie in her mouth, raised one finger, and said expressionlessly,

“You heard him, right? There are no side effects. He is merely extremely fatigued.”

“What did you make and feed him?”

Luna, who had picked up a cookie, put it in her mouth, and was picking up another one, looked at Exel and gave a slight nod.

Exel stroked his chin a little and looked at her closely.

With a cookie in her mouth, Luna raised a finger and pointed upward as she said,

“Mm, mm-mmm… Mm, let me say that again. It is true. In addition, the fact that Uncle Jimant still has not woken up in his room despite the dragon having just come and gone could also be called my work.”

Luna tried to speak with the cookie in her mouth, then confirmed that this was not a proper way to hold a conversation. She spat the cookie onto her palm and continued speaking.

At her words, Kal and I opened our mouths wide and stared blankly, while Exel clicked his tongue.

Jeff seemed to lack even the strength to be surprised and was drooping limply, while Narsh was only blinking, so unfortunately, they could not participate in this reaction with us.

At that moment, Rene asked Luna the question everyone wanted to ask.

“Then did you mix medicine into that liquor yesterday?”

“I added a Rosemary-style tranquilizer. It is more reliable than a sleeping pill. He probably will not wake up until lunchtime no matter what happens. If he heard something for no reason, he would make a fuss about helping while lifting his axe.

If that happened, it would be troublesome for me. Uncle has to return safely and tell Mother that I am safe, no matter what. They say knowledge is power, but ignorance is bliss. Is this not when that phrase is used?”

We clicked our tongues once again, and Luna shrugged, then began eating her cookie.

Crunch, crunch.

Ahem. The story was interrupted for a moment, but continuing from there:

In any case, Kan and the others apparently cheered when they saw the heart Aruma had brought.

While Jeff wore a bitter expression at the sight, they hurriedly inserted the heart back into his forehead and noisily began covering the ground they had dug up.

At that moment, the heart they had attached to his forehead suddenly emitted light, and he slowly began to raise his body.

The startled Lizard Men hurriedly fled, but Exel and Jeff could not get away in time, so they were buried under the heap of dirt that fell(?) as the dragon stood up.

That was why, after digging their way out of it, they were covered in dirt and dust like this now.

Here, Luna showed interest and asked Exel,

“But how did you get out from under the dirt?”

Exel, who was sitting on top of a barrel, looked down at Luna for a moment, then twisted at the waist and lifted the gun blade that had been leaning behind the barrel.

“I fired this and made a hole to come out. Once we had gotten out partway, the Huria who came after hearing that the heart had been found, along with the Lizard Men who had escaped first, ran over and dug us out.”

“Hehe. Is that so? I thought this from the first time I saw it, but that thing looks very interesting.”

At Luna’s words, Exel grinned and stood it back behind the beer barrel.

When I glanced to the side, Kal was holding his chin and looking closely at Exel’s gun blade.

There are only two of those in this world, so of course he would be interested.

I turned my head and looked at Exel.

“Is that the whole story?”

“No. When we came out of the dirt again, the thing that had buried us alive was standing still in place. Looking at the moon, that is. I do not know how to describe it, but its first appearance was quite magnificent.

But it felt unpleasant. Because it had risen again in a dead body. In any case, after some time passed and the moon completely set near dawn, it finally lowered its head. Then what it said was this.”

“Who awakened me?”

It was a single sentence from Jeff, who had been silent for a while.

We turned our heads toward him, but he simply waved his hand a few times with a grin, then slumped again.

He must have been very tired.

Exel looked at him for a moment, then continued speaking.

“In response to its words, the Lizard Men and Huria pointed to Narsh and this place. Then it scolded them a little for failing to protect it properly, moved its body, and headed here.

That is why that guy and I ran here in such a hurry. But when we arrived, this was the result. Now, explain. What happened here?”

“No, before that, let me ask one thing. Why are you calling him ‘it’?”

At my question, Exel looked at me closely for a moment. When I merely showed a curious expression, he simply smiled faintly, crossed his arms, and spoke leisurely.

“Because it is dead. What is dead should meekly return to the earth like something dead. But if it rises again, I do not think I can call it by a term used for the living.

That is why I roughly use the term ‘it,’ a word used to refer to some object. Because originally, it should not be moving. Do you understand?

If you still do not understand, ask Miss Tarsis. And while you are at it, I would appreciate it if you told us what you need to say quickly. I need to hear it, go home, and sleep.”

Hm. That is an interesting philosophy.

I smiled softly at him and told him what “it” had said, appropriately mixing in my own thoughts here and there.

As a result, we were able to see Jeff come back to life(?) full of energy.

When I finished the story, Jeff, who had returned to his senses, looked up at the ceiling with a refreshed expression and laughed loudly.

When everything “it” had said was put together, the conclusion was that life was something one made for oneself. That was the answer Jeff had wanted from Narsh.

Of course, Narsh had not given that answer herself, but apparently, that alone was enough to make Jeff happy.

“Puhahahahahaha~!”

“You bastard. What is so funny?! And if you are going to laugh, laugh properly. What kind of laugh is ‘puhaha’?”

Kal’s words spoke for how we all felt.

At that, Jeff slowly stopped laughing, glanced around at us, scratched the back of his head apologetically, and lowered his head.

Then he raised his head again, looked at Narsh, and made a bitter expression.

“Lady Narsh. What a shame. You could have made your own life.”

Perhaps she had now strengthened her heart, because at his words, Narsh merely smiled brightly.

Behind her, Exel, wearing a thoughtful expression for a moment, emptied his teacup in one gulp and nodded.

“That means it is now heading toward Serpiz, which is nothing but sand. We do not know why. But what does it intend to do there while dragging that body along?”

After hearing his words, I turned my head and looked at Rene. That was the start, and soon, every gaze of the people gathered here was directed toward her.

However, perhaps that made her somewhat uncomfortable, because Rene smiled brightly and made each of us turn our gazes elsewhere.

“I do not know.”

That was a lie.

I continued looking at Rene.

She was answering Luna, who was asking something beside her, with a gentle smile, but when I stared at her, she smiled softly at me.

I also answered her smile with a small one of my own, but strange thoughts kept flooding through my mind.

Why is she lying?