Chapter 93

〈 Episode 93 〉Unexpected Guest

Baaang—!!!

It wasn’t just Asha and Georg who felt threatened by the roar; a sharp bell rang loudly throughout the village.

‘Everyone…!’

Asha could feel hundreds of Orcs rushing out from around her. The two were soon able to meet up with the other Orcs.

“Georg, what the hell is going on? What’s that howling?”

Georg shook his head at the question from a flustered Orc.

“I don’t know the details either, I came straight out from sparring. But it doesn’t seem like a normal situation. Let’s go quickly.”

“Right!”

They made eye contact and nodded, then quickly ran in the direction of the sound.

Asha and the Orcs soon encountered the culprit that had thrown the village into a state of emergency. She was dumbfounded to see something the size of an airplane flapping its wings and floating in the air. But even if Asha was seeing it for the first time in this world, she couldn’t not know what it was.

“A, a Dragon…?”

The Dragon was so huge that even though it should have been sunny, one side of the village was darkened by its shadow. But the Dragon’s size was only a secondary issue. Asha was overwhelmed by the incredible Mana that the being in front of her possessed.

‘W, what can I possibly do against such a being?’

She had thought that she was spending meaningful time since coming to the village, but the encounter with the Dragon made her efforts seem futile.

“U, ugh…”

A small hand grabbed Asha’s hand as she struggled to not succumb to fear. Lucia, who had approached unnoticed, grabbed Asha’s hand from the opposite side of Georg and frowned. Lucia was calculating the odds of winning against the thing floating in the sky.

‘I don’t know if I can win… but if I can just knock it to the ground, it won’t be difficult.’

Asha was about to fall to her knees, crushed by the Dragon’s presence, but Lucia became a support and held her up.

The space around Lucia, who was already preparing for battle, distorted and made her figure waver. The Dragon also stared directly at Lucia, not at the many burly Orcs gathered beneath it.

Khaaaaaa–!!

“Augh!”

“Kuh…”

Once again, sound waves and Mana swirled and struck Asha’s entire body. Having faced the Dragon’s roar at close range, she could barely stand. Not only Asha, but other Orcs also staggered or their faces hardened. Only Lucia and Georg among them looked at the Dragon without any change. The Dragon, who seemed strangely satisfied with the reactions around it, said.

“Orcs, I have something to tell you, so, kehk!”

The Dragon, who had been shouting in a majestic voice, suddenly lowered its head with a scream that lacked any dignity. No, it wasn’t just lowering its head, but its long neck was bent unnaturally in one place as if it had been hit with a flick on the forehead.

Losing its balance, the Dragon struggled to flap its wings to stay afloat. Asha didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but the Dragon in front of her suddenly looked pitiful.

“Little brother, stop with the nonsense. I was wondering what you were doing…”

At the familiar voice, Asha’s head turned towards the Dragon, or rather, higher above it. There was something that looked like a dot on top of the Dragon’s neck, which was the size of an airplane. Asha realized who that person was.

“Sister Eva!”

“Ahaha! Asha, it’s been a long time!”

Eva, who was on top of the Dragon’s neck, greeted Asha and then jumped off the Dragon. It looked truly precarious, but no one here was worried about her. And of course, Eva landed on the ground without a scratch. She scolded Max after landing.

“Little brother, come here quickly. We’re all going to be seeing each other’s faces from now on, are you going to act like this?”

The Dragon muttered something at Eva’s words, then briefly mumbled and transformed into the figure of a human boy in a bright light. The Dragon, with his short, neatly trimmed blue hair, couldn’t hide his awkwardness in front of the crowd as he introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you. I am Maximilianus… please call me Max.”

“This is Max, who has become my little brother this time.”

The Orcs and Asha still couldn’t keep up with the situation. While everyone was unable to keep up with the rapidly changing situation, Walter came running in full armor.

“What’s all this commotion? And where did the Dragon that was here a moment ago go?!”

Asha could feel a powerful aftermath emanating from Walter’s house in the distance. Her master seemed to have come fully prepared to intercept the Dragon. Georg, unable to hide his absurdity, asked Eva.

“Eva, what the hell have you been doing after leaving the village?”

“I went to the end of the north of this world once! I met my little brother there and came here.”

“So this Dragon named Max is going to stay here now?”

“Hmm… maybe?”

Walter sighed heavily at Eva, who was tilting her head, and then struck Eva’s back. Eva, who couldn’t avoid it, shouted.

“Ah, old man, why are you hitting me!”

“Ah, you! You turn the whole neighborhood upside down and then say that! If you have anything in your head, think before you act!”

“Ah, ack! Ah, it hurts!”

A burly old Orc over six feet tall hitting a slender woman was a scene of seemingly brutal violence, but everyone was looking at Eva with subtle eyes.

“Hmph…”

Lucia also released her strength and canceled her battle stance as the situation seemed to be settling down. She had been more worried about how to protect Asha while fighting the Dragon. Eva, who had been constantly hit on the back by Walter, seemed to feel wronged for being the only one getting hit, and struck Max’s head.

Thwack-!

“Ah, that hurts, sister!”

“Isn’t it all because you were doing stupid things!”

“N, no… the Dragon’s dignity…”

“Dignity my foot!”

“Ugh! Ack!”

As the situation became more and more chaotic, even the Chief came to this place. Rudolph, the Chief of the Heidelberg village, pushed through the murmuring Orcs and stepped forward.

“Welcome, Dragon. Ahem… I am Rudolph, the Chief of Heidelberg. What brings you here?”

The Chief, who barely suppressed a laugh as he watched the Dragon covering his head with both hands to block Eva’s fists, asked Max. Max, who had been cowering under Eva’s glare, looked relieved when someone who could communicate appeared.

“Ah, Chief Rudolph. I am Maximilianus. Please call me Max. The thing is, would it be alright if I stayed here for a while with Sister Eva? I am sorry for making a commotion because I was a little excited.”

Max politely asked the Chief, avoiding Eva’s gaze that seemed to be asking if that was just a little excited. The Chief also received the words with a soft expression as the Dragon spoke politely.

“It would be difficult to stay here in Dragon form, but it would be no problem if you are in human form. You can stay wherever you want. Welcome to the Heidelberg village, Max.”

The Chief extended his hand, and Max grabbed it and shook it. Max nodded repeatedly at the treatment of Chief Rudolph, who could be called a civilized person.

‘There was a sensible person among the Orcs! As expected, sister is a bit…’

“Little brother~ What are you thinking about…?”

“Uheok!”

Max was horrified by Eva, who had snuck up behind him and whispered. The sight of Max rubbing his arms as if he had goosebumps was truly pitiful as his appearance was just that of a young boy of about ten years old.

Soon, Eva dragged Max away like a dog on a dog days. Max desperately sent a look to the Chief, whom he had been talking to until just now, asking for help, but the Chief nonchalantly turned his head away from Max as if nothing had happened. In fact, he had treated him a little better because he was a Dragon, but Max was an unwelcome guest to the Chief as well.

“S, someone, heulp!”

Max disappeared somewhere with Eva without even being able to scream. As the shocking encounter ended, Lucia made eye contact with Asha and shrugged. With this, the commotion was brought to an end only after all the Orc warriors in the village had been mobilized, not to mention Walter and the Chief.