Chapter CLV - The Dragon Slayer (part 1)

The next day, Fran's group decided to take a day off.

That pay could cover their daily output for two weeks, so they thought they needed a day off to spend the money. But I'm still up for a mission, so I decided to take one for myself.

I need to rack up a ton of money so I can buy a house. That way I won't have to cook in someone else's kitchen. Plus I can design my own bathroom, as well as making a smart house system using magic stuff.

My own modern hot and cold shower… my own fridge and kitchen…

Ohh… all the things I can think of after buying a house…

I do need quite a lot more until I can buy a good house, which is somewhere around twenty thousand Jules or more. And if I teamed with Fran all the time, that won't be an issue at all since I can continue joining the high ranking missions all the time.

That day, I decided to take on a Blue ranked mission just by myself. But just when I was walking to the Office, something happened.

A kid, with tears welling up heavily on his cheeks, suddenly walked to me.

From his clothes, he looks like he came from the slums. Must be one of the poor kids living there.

"Hey there. Are you okay? Are you lost?"

I kneeled down to face the kid, but he shook his head.

"M-My father… he got kidnapped… Hiks… And the kidnapper said… to come and get you…"

Immediately, I had a bad feeling.

Normally people don't come after me, because I'm pretty good at hiding myself behind others. And if they are actually coming for me, and even used this method…

They are an enemy.

"Okay, then. Show me the way."

The kid turned around and ran back. I followed him into the slums. As I walk in the slums, I can see some people here that look like they are in bad shape.

Some of them are sick, some of them are hungry. None of them looked bulked or fat, their bones can be seen sticking on their skins.

I quickly felt bad about buying a house. Maybe I should help them instead?

The kid kept on running, and finally stopped at a small ugly house. The walls are thin, and some even had holes on them. The kid went up the wooden stairs and opened the unlocked door. But by the time he was inside, I quickly felt a heavy pressure coming from inside the house.

I immediately moved in with the kid when the explosion occurred.

BOOOMMM!!!!

The explosion startled everyone in the slums area, and even got heard to the western main road. Everyone around the houses quickly moved to help out, but they had no idea how to help.

A shadow suddenly came out from the flames. It looked like an egg to any normal person. The shadow egg slowly collapses, showing the chickens inside.

I stood up after freeing myself from the shadow egg and looked at the house. A flame like this will end up burning the other houses.

I lifted my hand and the flames on the house slowly moved towards the palm of my hands. The flames slowly fall into the palm until the house is now clear of flames.

I clenched my fist that was holding the flames, and the flame dissipated into air. I turned to face the kid again.

"Are you okay?"

"Hiks… Dad…"

Dad?

That's weird. I didn't sense anything inside when we came here. Only that sudden pressure that triggers the explosion.

Must be a remote detonation. Could it be a device? Or a triggerable trap?

"He… the kidnapper… wanted me to give you this."

The kid then gave me a folded paper. I took it from his hands and opened it. 

My eyes turned wide from reading the content.

"Thank you kid. I will go find your dad."

I said while patting his head with a smile. The kid nodded at me, and I turned away to leave him. I opened my wings and flew away, surprising everyone in the area.

The paper was a mission scroll, stating all the details to a mission.

A Yellow ranked mission.

I know exactly who is doing this…

And I don't like where this is going.

I flew to the area designated on the scroll. It is in the forest far to the west, right at the foot of a mountainous area. Pretty far, but thanks to my flight, reaching it was no more than ten minutes.

The mission was… Lindworms.

Basically they are two legged dragons, with no wings and snake-like body. One could say that they are a type of dragon that is not a dragon, a similar case to Wyverns. It can't shoot out flames, but it moves fairly fast. It usually lives inside the ground, like in a cave. Their known terminology is 'Earth-Dragons', despite them simply being an overgrown legged snake. 

The sightings say that the cave has been opened and the Lindworms are coming out.

But, my issue is not with the Lindworms.

I need to meet… with the perpetrator.

Thanks to my flying, I arrived in no time at all at the location. The forest was dense and large, but the person was saving me time. He is purposely emitting his powerful energy, on the north side from where I stopped my flight. 

It is… quite powerful.

I landed rather far from his position, and I began a calm walk there. Once I arrived in this open field, a voice finally spoke out.

"Took you long enough."

The guy said as he blew out the smoke from his cigarette, and my expression tensed as I studied him.

I knew him for quite a while back then, and he looked nothing like before. He had grown a quite large amount of beard and moustache on his chin and under his nose. His body looks more built now, replacing his previous cranky thin body with muscles popping all over his clothes. Though it doesn't look much from the outside, it does show quite a bit from his clothes. 

His opened sleeves showed his arms that seemed to be covered in plenty of scars. Some are even looking rather new, as if just taken off from a bandage.

The bags under his eyes showed me that he didn't get enough sleep. His eyes looked tired, but they were glaring at me boringly while purposely emitting the heavy pressure.

And finally, the unbearable hatred that is emitting from his eyes as he stares at me.

He is wearing his usual adventurer clothes on the inside, but wearing a long black robe on the outside that looks so much like it was made out of a dragon's skin. Large teeth are decorating his shoulders, and I am guessing those are dragon teeth as well.

He threw away his cigarette and stood up from the giant tree stump he was sitting on. A single sword was sheathed on his hip, and he placed his left hand on the handle.

As he studied me, I opened my mouth and asked him a question.

"Don't you think this method is a bit too much just to call me…? 

… Cane?"

The guy then formed a grin on one side of his mouth while his eyes opened wide.

"Well, don't you think this felt nostalgic!? It's a throwback, the two of us trying to solve a mission to hunt down dragons, once again! Don't tell me you aren't excited?"

Technically, they are Lindworms. Not sure why the terminology they used is 'Earth Dragons', but they are definitely not dragons.

But seeing the light in his eyes, I can tell. It's the same light I saw when I was looking at a reflection of myself back at the beach…

Insanity.

"... I heard about what happened… I'm sorry."

Hearing that coming out of my mouth, Cane did not reply for a while. The air turned really silent and eerie, as if something was already going wrong.

But then, he grinned.

"Oh…? Sorry? Now, you feel sorry? 

Where were you when we buried them, hmm? Well technically there's no burial ceremony. Because you see, their bodies couldn't even be recognized… anymore. 

They didn't even get a proper burial ceremony! Why would you feel sorry!?"

I quickly became silent, because he suddenly barked. The silent air was then replaced by his shouts, causing the air to get even tenser.

He lowered his body and pointed both of his eyes with two of his fingers on the same hand.

"I was watching… the whole-fucking-time when the dragons ripped Gen in half! Or maybe when Brian tried to be a hero and protect Selina from the fire blaze!!

Silica was much luckier. The dragon ignored her, and she managed to kill the dragon that killed Brian and Selina. The two of us could have made it alive if only..."

He stopped his speech and looked down with wide eyes.

"... If only I was the one to push her out of the way when the fire blaze came."

A single tear fell from his right eye as he recalled what happened. 

I see... So that's how they all died…