Dragon’s Gorge

,Alright, then, take us to Dragon’s Gorge, Nidra.”

At my words, Nidra nodded shyly.

Deep in the mountains. It was just a landscape that looked like part of an ordinary mountain range.

She led us to what looked like a path blocked by rocks.

,Huh? Isn’t that just a dead end?”

Nidra raised her hand and began to inscribe something in the air. A complex and geometric dragon-shaped pattern.

The moment the last stroke was drawn.

Wuuuung-

Space cried out. The rocky cliff landscape before our eyes rippled and twisted like a wave.

A semi-transparent purple barrier rippled, opening a passage before us.

,Wow…! Nidra! That’s amazing! Haru-ssi, look at this!”

Darkness jumped up and down like a child, marveling.

,Ehehe… Th-this much is nothing. Any dragon could do this…”

At that sight, Nidra’s cheeks flushed peach.

Her voice was barely audible, but her shoulders were puffed up.

She seemed happy to be praised. Cute little thing.

I stepped into the barrier.

It was a completely different world from the outside.

The sky shone emerald green, and crystal-clear waterfalls cascaded down everywhere.

In the sky above, giant shadows flew leisurely. They were dragons of all colors.

,Amazing. This is the first time I’ve seen so many dragons living together.”

Elise said with a voice mixed with admiration.

On the ground, a city like an ancient ruin was formed.

Those who looked like elves strolled through the forest, those who resembled dwarves hammered in the smithy, and children who looked like beast-people frolicked.

But from all of them, an overwhelming magical power was felt, different from humans or other demi-humans.

,All polymorphed dragons.’

Transforming into the appearance of various races according to their tastes and living. It was a game for dragons who lived for thousands of years.

Of course, the game that should have originally spread across the continent was limited to Dragon’s Gorge because of Aris.

The gazes of the passing dragons held blatant wariness. Especially the gazes fixed on me were extremely sharp.

The leader of the Hero Party. That fact alone made me an unwelcome guest here.

That’s when it happened.

Thud. Thud.

An old man, accompanied by dozens of guards, walked towards us. He was a dignified human elder with a long white beard, but the magical power emanating from him was greater than even the ancient dragons flying in the sky earlier. He must be the elder of the dragon tribe.

The moment his gaze touched my face, a fleeting shock passed by.

,…Hero Haru. You’re alive.”

The elder’s voice was as barren as dry bark.

,Thanks to you, I’m doing well, Elder-nim.”

When I nodded lightly, the elder’s expression hardened coldly. The guards behind him simultaneously drew their weapons or began to raise their magical power. The air was taut.

,I cannot welcome a companion of the Golden Dragon Aris. You should know what that crazy dragon is doing to our race. Quietly submit to confinement.”

The tone was calm, but the hostility contained within could not be hidden.

At his gesture, the dragons guarding him surrounded us all at once.

With the elder’s shout, powerful magical power erupted like a storm from his body.

The guards no longer maintained their polymorphs. The pointed ears of the elves turned into dragon horns, and the dwarves’ sturdy bodies began to be covered in scales.

Their eyes all turned into the long pupils of reptiles.

Keureureu-

A touch-and-go situation where dozens of dragons were about to reveal their true forms.

The tension reached its peak.

,Hoe-eh!! Dragons are violent after all!!”

Darkness hid behind me, terrified, and Akaoni adjusted his iron club. Elise silently placed her hand on her sword hilt.

A touch-and-go situation.

It was then.

,Dad!”

Nidra, who was standing next to me, shouted and ran towards the elder.

The elder’s dignified face crumbled into a blank expression for a moment.

The surrounding dragons also froze in place, halfway through their polymorphs.

The sight of elves with horns half-grown and dwarves with scales only half-covered was comical.

,Ni, Nidra? Why are you outside the cave…?”

Nidra tightly grabbed the elder’s sleeve and pointed alternately at me and Darkness.

,These people aren’t bad! They bring me delicious things and fun books to my cave every day… They’re my first friends!”

The elder’s eyebrows twitched at the word “friends.”

His gaze turned to Darkness. Darkness, utterly terrified, stammered in a trembling voice.

,W-we’re not bad people! I-I’m the Demon King, but…!”

Why are you revealing that you’re the Demon King there?

The self-introduction as the Demon King could have further stimulated the elder’s wariness, but he looked at his daughter’s face once, then at us, and let out a deep sigh.

,…I thank you for taking my daughter out of that dark cave.”

The elder’s voice softened considerably. He looked at the small Demon King’s insignia on Nidra’s chest and asked.

,What is this?”

,Ah! This is a diplomat’s badge that Darkness gave me! I’m not unemployed anymore, Dad!”

Nidra proudly puffed out her chest.

,…Even a job?”

A complex and subtle emotion flashed across the elder’s face.

His thousands-of-years-old shut-in daughter had made friends and even gotten a job. It must be a moment of mixed emotions as a father.

The wariness was visibly crumbling.

Now is the time.

I took a step forward and opened my mouth.

,Elder-nim. I’ll get straight to the point. Our Demon King’s army will soon set out to unify the continent.”

,What…?”

,An era will come when demons and humans all live together. And we have come to ask the dragon race for neutrality.”

The elder’s face hardened again. The dragons behind him began to stir.

Darkness trembled beside me and stepped forward.

,I, I’m… Darkness…”

,Elder-nim also knows, right? Aris Goldenheart. The fact that she is currently hunting her own kind.”

The elder’s expression sank coldly.

,That crazy Golden Dragon… She’s already dug out the hearts of twenty of her own kind. She’s running wild, saying she’ll open the gate to another dimension to revive her lover… that is, you.”

,I will stop Aris.”

At my proposal, the elder’s eyes narrowed.

,In return, I ask that you remain neutral in the war between the Demon King’s army and the humans.”

,…You? You can really stop her?”

,Of course.”

I answered confidently.

Well, honestly, wouldn’t she stop if I told her to?

There’s no need to say that fact. Negotiations are more advantageous when you make the other party uneasy.

The elder stared at me as if to see through me for a long time. Finally, he opened his mouth.

,…Alright. If you stop that crazy Golden Dragon’s rampage, the dragon race swears that it will not interfere in the war between your Demon King’s army and the human empire at all.”

The negotiation was established.

I said as if I had been waiting.

,Then I trust that you will spare no support to deal with Aris. It’s too much for our strength alone.”

,…What do you need.”

,Open the dragon race’s treasure vault. I need to take some materials necessary to create a decisive weapon against the Great Golden Dragon.”

The elder’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at my brazen request, but he eventually nodded.

A little later, we were standing in front of the dragon race’s treasure vault. A dragon was guarding the door, which seemed to have been carved out of an entire mountain.

,I received permission from the elder-nim, but… taking too much is a bit…”

The treasure keeper dragon made a troubled expression as he watched the treasures being endlessly sucked into my inventory.

,You don’t know how scary Aris is. This isn’t for us. It’s the minimum investment for the peace of you and the entire dragon race.”

I swept up ‘magical power amplification artifacts’, ‘dragon horns’, and ‘dozens of scrolls with ancient magic sealed within’.

,What if we fail here? Aris will surely hunt more of her own kind. It will be too late to regret it then. So, support us generously.”

At my eloquence, the treasure keeper eventually nodded.

,…I understand. Please stop that crazy dragon.”

,Alright, take this too, and take that too. Darkness, Nidra! If you see anything you like, take it all!”

,Wow! This jewel is so pretty!”

,Th-this book is a limited first edition of the romance novel I used to read in the cave!”

When we came out of the treasure vault, my inventory was practically about to explode.

,Haru-ssi! Amazing! I can eat well for 100 years with this!”

Darkness looked up at me with sparkling eyes. Nidra also had a proud expression, having gotten what she wanted.

Only Elise quietly approached me and whispered.

,Isn’t this almost extortion rather than negotiation? My conscience is a little…”

,It’s okay. They’re dragons. They originally have a lot. They won’t even notice if we take a little.”

I patted Elise on the shoulder and said.

,Besides, this is a fair price. We brought a shut-in daughter back into society and even arranged a job for her. And we’re going to solve the troublesome Aris problem, so we should get this much.”

I looked at the mountain of spoils with satisfaction.

,Alright, then, let’s start preparing to welcome Aris in earnest.”

***

A few days later.

A secluded forest with a distant view of Dragon’s Gorge.

It was a peaceful afternoon with warm sunlight breaking through the leaves.

Nidra was lying asleep on the lawn, receiving that sunlight with her whole body, completely oblivious to the world.

The way she curled up and breathed softly made her look like a completely harmless creature.

Of course, it’s an act.

,Do you really think this will work?”

Darkness, who was hiding behind the bushes with me, whispered in an anxious voice.

,She’s so blatantly saying ‘Please catch me,’ do you think the Golden Dragon will fall for it?”

,The tortoise and the hare had a race. Why did the hare lose? Because he fell asleep? No. Because the tortoise took out the hare’s liver while he was sleeping. That’s how the world is.”

,Huh? The fairy tale suddenly became a horror story?”

,There’s no way she’ll just pass by such a defenseless and delicious-looking prey. She’ll come aiming for her heart, one hundred percent.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than.

The sky flashed.

A golden flash tore through the clouds and plunged towards the ground.

The surrounding mana screamed and fluctuated. The density of the air changed. An overwhelming presence.

All the sounds of the forest stopped.

Aris Goldenheart descended before us, her golden hair fluttering.

Her golden eyes gleamed like a beast that had found its prey. Her gaze was fixed on the sleeping Nidra without a moment’s hesitation.

,Nineteen so far.”

Aris muttered eerily.

,Now for the twentieth.”

The moment Aris reached out her hand.

,Hieeek!”

Nidra, who had been sleeping, opened her eyes wide and screamed. At the same time, layers of semi-transparent purple barriers unfolded around her body.

Kwaang-!

Aris’s golden magical power sphere collided with the barrier and exploded. However, Nidra’s barrier was firm and without a single scratch.

,Hoo.”

Aris narrowed her eyes as if she was interested.

,Her barrier magic is quite something. She seems to have inherited her father’s talent.”

She smiled confidently and eerily.

,Alright. Let’s see how long you can last.”

The space around Aris tore open, and black leather-bound grimoires floated up.

Necronomicon. Grimoire. Erebus.

The ancient forbidden books opened their pages on their own and spewed out an evil aura. Golden magic circles spread in layers across the sky and the ground, shaking the atmosphere.

Nidra’s face turned white as a sheet.

It was then.

,That’s enough.”

I walked out of the bushes leisurely.

,Long time no see, Aris.”

Aris’s shoulders flinched and stiffened as she was preparing an attack spell.

She slowly, very slowly, turned her head.

The moment her golden eyes met mine, they shook violently as if she couldn’t believe it.

,Is, is that you?”

Her voice was trembling slightly.

,Haru. Is it really my Haru, is that really you?”

Thud. Thud.

The summoned grimoires fell to the ground powerlessly.

Aris ran towards me.

Her gait was staggering like a person wandering in a dream.

And suddenly.

She hugged me tightly, as if she would break my body. Her slender shoulders were trembling slightly.

Aris buried her face in my shoulder and remained silent for a long time.

She just breathed heavily, confirming my existence again and again.

,Where have you been? It’s been two years. I’ve been searching for two years.”

I hesitated for a moment and patted her back.

,It’s a long story. I fell into a dimensional rift and had a bit of a hard time.”

As I briefly explained the situation, Aris examined every corner of my face and let out a sigh of relief.

,Really, it’s not a dream.”

The voice that finally came out was soaked with moisture.

,I met you in my dreams every night. But when morning came, you disappeared like smoke. All that remained in this hand was emptiness.”

She slowly pulled away and cupped my face with both hands.

Her golden eyes captured me. Longing, joy, and relief swirled within her eyes.

,I found you. Finally. My only treasure that I wanted to retrieve even if I had to bet everything.”

,You’re exaggerating a bit.”

I muttered awkwardly.

,You wouldn’t know. How brilliant the five years I spent with you were in my life of over two thousand years. How pitch-black the two years I lost you were.”

Aris gently stroked my cheek.

,But it’s okay now. It’s all okay now. Because you’ve returned.”

She finally smiled brightly. It was a dazzling smile that seemed to have gathered all the light in the world, but it looked somewhat precarious.

Then Darkness butted in without any tact.

,Hello, Aris-nim! I’m, uh, the Demon King Darkness! Did you perhaps write a paper called ‘Considerations on the Variability of Mana Flow’! I gained a great understanding of mana control after reading that paper!”

At the sight of Darkness unable to control her fan spirit, Aris briefly took her gaze away from me and turned to her.

,Hmm… Demon King? A new Demon King?”

,That’s… I’m currently indebted to the Demon King’s army.”

,The hero is with the Demon King?”

She was puzzled at first, but she soon shook her head.

,It doesn’t matter. It’s enough that you’re alive.”

She didn’t care about world peace or the war with the demons from the beginning. She only joined the Hero Party because of me.

Darkness approached Aris with sparkling eyes.

,I respect you as a scholar! Please shake my hand once!”

,Hehe, sure.”

,If you have time, I’d like to discuss the hypothesis on the mana reversal phenomenon!”

,You know a thing or two. Little Demon King.”

The two of them began to have a heated conversation about magic theory for a while.

I took the opportunity to bring up the main point.

,Aris, I have a favor to ask. Please stop hunting dragons now.”

At my words, Aris nodded as if it were natural.

,Of course. Now that you’ve returned, there’s no need to do that anymore.”

She readily agreed.

Everything seemed to be resolving smoothly.

In the friendly atmosphere, I let out a sigh of relief.

,Then, let’s go back together now. To our nest.”

Aris said, holding my hand tightly.

Huh?

,From now on, you will live with me. Do you know how worried I was? I must keep you by my side so that such a thing never happens again.”

A chilling light of obsession flickered in her golden eyes.

,No, that’s a bit…”

As I trailed off, Aris’s expression instantly filled with sadness.

,Are you rejecting me again? Even if I live for another two thousand years, I won’t find someone I love as much as you.”

Her eyes trembled as if she would shed tears at any moment.

,The last time you rejected my confession, that pained expression on your face. That despair in the face of the insurmountable wall of the difference in lifespan still hurts my heart.”

No, I wasn’t that pained.

I muttered inwardly, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

,But.”

Aris’s expression changed to a bright one as if it were a lie.

,That problem has been solved now!”

She spread out her other hand. Twenty heart-shaped jewels emitting a radiant light floated above her palm.

They throbbed as if they were alive.

,Originally, these are dragon hearts collected to break the dimensional wall. We can use these to extend your lifespan.”

Her voice was infinitely gentle.

,Now, nothing can separate us. We will be together forever. A perfect happy ending.”

,Wait a minute, Aris. Something’s a little strange.”

,What’s strange?”

Aris tilted her head with an innocent expression.

,Your place is by my side. Isn’t it natural that a dragon’s treasure is in a dragon’s nest?”

Possessiveness blazed like a flame in her golden eyes.

Aris took another step closer to me.

,I will never, never let you go again.”