Chapter 59: Dragon Demon Tribe

The journey to Dragon Mountain was quite smooth.

Since the Azure Triple Star incident, we hadn’t encountered any bandits on the road, but we did frequently get attacked by magical beasts instead.

Doom Land was a place rich in Mana, and influenced by it, quite a few ferocious beasts had evolved in threatening ways.

Those magical beasts became experience points that helped Ozma become accustomed to using magic in real combat.

Thanks to that, Ozma’s magic skills felt like they’d shot up dramatically over the past few days.

Judging by how she was doing now, it seemed like she could reach the 3rd Tier very soon.

It could truly be described as innate talent.

Why was such a talented individual only learning swordsmanship?

Anyway, the journey towards Dragon Mountain had now entered its fourth day.

Waking up early in the morning, I washed up quickly by the river, returned to the base camp, and started packing up the tent I had used for sleeping last night.

Just as I was folding the tent poles that supported it and putting the canopy into my backpack, Ozma crawled out of the tent on the opposite side.

“…Water.”

Ozma said that while scratching her messy hair.

I flicked my finger because I couldn’t be bothered to hand it to her directly.

Then, the water bottle flew on the wind and landed right in Ozma’s grasp.

Ozma, who naturally opened the lid and gulped down the contents, seemed to have finally come to her senses, wiping the wet corners of her mouth with her forearm as she asked.

‘You seem to have woken up early today.’

‘Yes, well. The dawn air is nice, so I thought I’d meditate.’

‘Why do you do that thing called meditation?’

‘Meditating makes all distracting thoughts disappear and clears the mind. It’s also a process of expelling old Mana and taking in new Mana.’

I learned this from my Master too, but doing this improves the condition of my virtual Mana core.

It’s like adding engine oil to a car, I guess.

Perhaps sensing my words piqued her interest, Ozma stealthily approached me.

She frowned, perhaps because she was awkwardly trying to imitate my posture sitting on the rock and couldn’t quite manage it.

‘How do you do this pose?’

Seeing Ozma fidgeting restlessly, possibly finding the cross-legged position uncomfortable, I gave a slight smile and corrected her posture.

Ozma, now looking more comfortable, began to assume the cross-legged position with a relaxed expression. I stood behind her and explained how to meditate.

‘First, close your eyes and use the proper breathing technique I taught you.’

Ozma nodded, then closed her eyes and began breathing in a different way than usual.

Koooooooh-

This is the secret breathing technique of our school, passed down solely through one successor.

Technically, I shouldn’t reveal it without my Master’s permission, but this is the only breathing technique I know, so I couldn’t help it.

The presence or absence of a breathing technique makes a significant difference in operating magic.

In that regard, our school’s breathing technique was very effective at optimizing Mana efficiency.

It was so good that a novice who had only started learning magic just two weeks ago could freely cast basic spells.

I checked that the Mana flowing through her body was circulating properly and then waited patiently beside her.

Normally, I would be doing my own thing, but since Ozma was meditating for the first time today, she might make a mistake, so I was watching over her.

Isn’t this much better than closing the barn door after the horse has bolted?

Ozma, who had been sitting still, meditating with her legs crossed, finally opened her eyes.

She stared at my face with a dazed look, then asked as if something suddenly occurred to her.

‘How much time has passed?’

‘About 15 minutes have passed.’

‘Amazing. It feels like I just closed my eyes for a moment.’

‘That’s the real charm of meditation.’

Often, for the person meditating, it feels like less than a minute has passed, but in reality, over 30 minutes have flown by.

This is because, in a state of high concentration, the flow of time feels immensely accelerated.

Anyway, while she was meditating, Camilla, who was on cooking duty today, came out of her tent and prepared a simple breakfast, so I didn’t intend to wait any longer.

I went to Ozma, who had finished meditating, told her to go wash up, and then ate the breakfast Camilla had made.

This morning’s meal was mushroom stew with edible mushrooms gathered from the wild.

It had gotten quite cold due to winter, and eating the hot stew warmed me up right to my core.

As I was blowing on the steaming mushroom stew to cool it, Ozma returned, shaking her wet hair.

Since leaving her hair wet in this cold weather could cause her to catch a cold, I used Fire Bird Wind Moon to dry her hair.

Even though it was clearly a magic developed for offense, Fire Bird Wind Moon seems to be used for all sorts of miscellaneous things.

It’s convenient and nice, but I feel a sense of self-loathing, somehow.

Perhaps because her hair was mostly dry from the warm breeze of Fire Bird Wind Moon, Ozma ate the mushroom stew Camilla handed her, with a towel still on her head.

‘This is delicious.’

With just one word, Ozma acknowledged Camilla’s cooking skills and scraped her bowl clean, leaving not a single drop of stew behind.

After finishing the meal, we also folded the tent the women had used and prepared to leave again.

‘How much further do we have to go now?’

Ozma, hearing my question as I put on my backpack, pointed towards the now considerably close Dragon Mountain and said.

‘If we walk diligently this morning, we should reach the entrance of Dragon Mountain around lunchtime today. It’s not particularly difficult from there.’

‘I see.’

We mounted the horses we had tied to a nearby tree.

Perhaps they had rested sufficiently overnight, the horses were in good condition.

Seeing the sheen in their coats, it seemed their condition hadn’t deteriorated yet.

I thought of Junggonara, whom I’d left at the Demon King’s Castle, and Goldrun on the Eastern Front, but this horse wasn’t too bad to ride either.

I stroked the horse’s grey mane once, then climbed into the saddle.

Dragon Mountain is just ahead now.

Perhaps it was worth being diligent since morning, but we were able to reach the entrance of Dragon Mountain before noon, just as Ozma had said.

The weather, which had been quite cold due to winter, became warm and cozy like a boiler had been turned on as we approached the volcano.

This was due to the geothermal heat rising from beneath the ground.

According to Camilla, the specialty of Dragon Mountain was its sulfur hot springs, so it seemed like it would be good to take a dip and sweat it all out when I had the time.

Perhaps because we weren’t the only ones invited to this meeting, the area around the mountain was bustling with Demonfolk I hadn’t seen before.

Since I was the only Human here, I put on the dog-shaped mask I had prepared beforehand to avoid revealing my identity.

Their unique body odor could easily be dealt with using a fabric deodorizer.

‘Hey, isn’t that Ozma-nim?’

As our party arrived at the Dragon Mountain entrance, those who could sniff out power like ghosts approached to greet us.

Most of them were opportunists eager to curry favor with the Demon King.

The current Demon King, Nero, not only had the support of all the Four Heavenly Kings but was also recognized as the Demon King by most tribal chiefs, so his influence was considerable.

Naturally, that radiance extended to his family as well.

Ozma, perhaps displeased with the guys in front of her, pursed her lips and waved her hand dismissively.

It was a clear dismissal, so the guys who had approached with smiles turned away, clicking their tongues.

Well, I expected as much from the start.

Ozma, with her upright personality, wasn’t the type to accept favors or bribes.

Since it seemed we just needed to follow the procession of other Demonfolk from here, we dismounted and began climbing the mountain.

Leading the long procession climbing the mountain ridge was a Demonfolk who looked like a Dragoon Knight, likely a Dragonfolk in human disguise.

After walking for about an hour, we finally entered a massive settlement.

Unlike human cities lined with neat, square buildings, the Dragonfolk settlement was overflowing with personality in a good way, and chaotic in a bad way.

No two buildings were the same; each seemed to have been heavily infused with the owner’s personality or taste.

It was quite a fascinating sight, and as I was spacing out, admiring the settlement’s buildings, a muscular giant suddenly appeared before us.

‘Ozma! Long time no see!’

Seeing the man greet her in a friendly voice, Ozma’s face turned pale, making her gag.

But whether she reacted that way or not, the Dragonfolk, who had sky-blue hair grown wild like a lion’s mane, smiled brightly and extended his right hand.

‘You came to fight me again this time, right? As the chief of the Dragonfolk, I welcome our esteemed guest!’

Hearing that, I realized something.

‘No way…?’

Ozma then replied, rubbing the bridge of her nose as if weary.

‘It’s exactly what you’re thinking. This guy is the current chief of the Dragonfolk, Gabriel, or Gab the Heavenly Demon Dragon for short.’

‘Gyahaha, nice to meet ya.’

Gab said that while welcoming us with a friendly smile.