episode_0096

“Collector.”

Looking down at her own face reflected in the glass, she said that to a large man.

The face of the man who answered his call by turning around had an unknown look. This is not a metaphor; his face was truly unrecognizable.

Previously, it had the shape of a human face, but now what was visible inside the hood was a bizarre appearance that looked as if it were a black hole where the universe was swirling.

The old man who had called him out quietly closed his eyes as he looked at the image that could have made some people feel disgusted.

“Collector, everything went according to your plan. So, did you get what you wanted in the end?”

Impale’s words were thorny. He, Conductor Impale, ultimately drove The One, who could be said to be his boss, to death.

Although he knew that The One would eventually be defeated by Northmund and cease to exist, he ultimately did not tell the story to his boss according to the Collector’s wishes.

The conductor once called faith was truly faithful in his loyalty. No, he was faithful.

But in the end, that too is just the past tense. In fact, it was as if he had driven his boss to death.

Impale, just hearing the name doesn’t give the impression that he’s very strong, but this conductor was actually one of the most powerful people within the Ring Bridge.

The fact that he made Impale do something that went against his faith and only ended up with this kind of reaction showed that the man who embraced this universe sitting in front of him was really amazing.

“I don’t know if it’s a little early, but I think we need to do some proper activities from now on. ”

“What? Are you saying that what you have done so far has not been active?”

“Well, actually, I didn’t really tell you, but that’s it anyway. That’s how you know.”

After hearing the Collector’s words, Impale frowned slightly.

There may have been some frustration, such as the absurdity of not being able to understand the meaning of the collector’s words, but it was not only that, it was a very complex facial expression that was a mixture of many things.

As if reading those emotions, the Collector snaps his fingers at him.

“I guess I still don’t have enough resolve, Hugue. There is no need for you to worry about The One’s death. Isn’t it because the old man wasn’t serious in the first place?”

“… Even so, wouldn’t it be difficult to say that it didn’t happen because of my silence?”

“Have you never seen the power of Northmund? Did you really think that you would have to gather up the power of those Conductors to become an opponent? If you thought that way, that was the only thing you could do anyway.”

Even after hearing the Collector’s words, which he couldn’t tell whether they were comforting him or outright criticizing him, Impale only frowned and did not express any particular objection in words.

However, upon hearing the Collector’s next words, he could no longer remain calm and expressed his anger.

“If I were to find a reason for that foolish death, it would be me. That’s because I passed along the story to Northmund through the GDO guys.”

“… In the end, it was you.”

“I told you, the church will collapse anyway. From the beginning, the denomination was too generous.”

The Collector, who casually dismissed Impale’s angry appearance as if it had nothing to do with it, only continued his words.

His attitude of treating Conductor Impale as if he exists or not only incites even more anger.

Finally, just as Impale’s anger is about to explode, the Collector opens his mouth before him.

“Don’t worry, my plan is already almost complete. And that will be the hardest step.”

“What on earth are you going to do? The religion has already been destroyed! How many conductors are left now? It means that the last attack on the school failed!”

“No matter how powerful the religion is, it is useless. This last step won’t change even if there are these guys. Wouldn’t it be better for it to live and breathe within me like it does now?”

The Collector continues speaking while twirling his amulet with his finger.

Looking at that scene, Impale trembled. I don’t know what tricks this person used, but he absorbed all the power of the remaining forces of the Ring Bridge through this amulet.

If we were to guess roughly, would this person be stronger than The Won? That thought passed through my mind for a moment.

“The final step of the plan is to defeat Northmund in the final battle.”

“You? Even if I personally understand that you are strong, I don’t think you will be able to defeat Northmund.”

“Oh, of course the last opponent is not me.”

The Collector grinned. This is because the nebula-like fog cloud created a smiling expression on the face embracing the spinning universe.

Impale, who was faced with a cartoon-like situation, almost fell into a panic for a moment due to momentary confusion as to why Lee Ja was making such a positive expression.

Therefore, I took a deep breath and tried to continue speaking.

“If not you, then who… .”

“Didn’t you already know this? Of course it’s Alexstras.”

“… What, what!”

“Why but. Northmund’s plan would also end with dealing with that great evil. At least Northmund must have read Wittgen’s writings. Then isn’t it so obvious.”

While saying that, Impale rummaged through his arms and took out a book.

There was a name written on the cover of the old, faded book that looked like something you’d find in a corner of a crumbling old bookstore, but it passed so quickly that Conductor Impale couldn’t read it.

“It’s an interesting customs novel. No, it is no different from a prophetic book in the form of a novel. It deals with a story about the near future, not long from now. Now that I think about it, it seems like this woman named Wittgen had some talent as a writer. The writing style was written in such a way that it was fun to read for people of all ages and genders, without being boring or boring. I also read it thoroughly more than ten times.”

The Collector said as he turned the pages of the book he was holding in one hand.

The appearance of the cover did not seem modern, but listening to the words of the man in front of Impale, the contents seemed to be different.

The collector said it was a genre novel, but it seemed to contain content that went beyond a specific era or topic.

” Northmund, who reads this article, has only one choice to make. It’s quite cryptically hidden, but in Northmund, this wouldn’t be a big deal. That’s probably why he’s acting like that now.”

“Are you saying that it contains a solution to the current situation? How to reconstruct a dying world?”

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal.”

The Collector stands up and makes a growling noise. Although his face was not visible, he looked somewhat relaxed.

At the same time, even the atmosphere he gives off changes.

The atmosphere was not one of the dominance that Impale had seen so far. However, it didn’t look like he was being chased somewhere.

It was a look that could only be created by someone whose goal was literally right in front of them.

But if he doesn’t tell you, there’s nothing more to do.

Therefore, Impale expressed his guess and tried to confirm the Collector’s goal.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but it looks like a solution will come from Northmund confronting the demon archduke. So, are you trying to take advantage of that loophole and steal Northmund’s solution?”

“… .”

There was no answer to Impale’s story. However, the sight of the Collector standing with his back turned to him made even that assumption no longer possible.

Then, he stared at the book in his hand for a moment and then put it back in his arms.

“After reading this book, I have a resolution…”

“What is that.”

“What this book talks about is truly an opportunity that only comes once in a billion years. That’s why I can’t give up on it so easily.”

Then the Collector slowly walks out of the room.

Impale, who was really annoyed by him always calling her whatever he wants and talking about things he doesn’t understand before leaving, begins to mutter to himself again.

“I will tell you the name of the book and then leave. Anyway, he seems like an annoying guy.”

Impale muttered that in a voice as if he were angry.

*

“Umm.”

I looked out the window and tore a piece of bread and threw it into my mouth.

The place I am staying now is a small village not far from Caranescu City, where the fierce battle took place.

The bread had become hard over a long period of time, probably because the owner of the house had left it in the house and fled, so I tried to chew it, but even that was not possible.

It may seem a little strange for me to say this to a Dragonian, but after all, a dragon’s body is extremely uncomfortable in everyday life.

Not only did they have to be careful of all sorts of things around them due to the sharp scales covering their entire bodies, but this long tail also caused a lot of trouble.

This is because there were many cases where if you turned your body without thinking, the person behind you would get slapped, hit, or be thrown away screaming.

If you count them one by one, it’s a tail that put quite a few people in the hospital.

And, because of their sharp teeth, they can’t even chew their food finely.

Sharp teeth can be efficient for biting and tearing meat, but like human teeth, they are uncomfortable for biting and crushing something into a paste to swallow it.

According to the setting, it is said that raw meat is the staple food in Yongin, but since they already live surrounded by this modern civilized society, they did not want to eat raw meat to follow the setting.

You can’t go back to living that kind of life once you’ve already tasted the amazing taste of properly cooked food.

Because of these and other circumstances, I spent much more time polymorphing into a human form than in the physical state of a dragon.

When I first played Polymorph, I felt like I was wearing a stuffy doll mask, so I couldn’t last long, but now I’m more familiar with the human body than my original body.

so that.

“I’m back, Professor.”

I hear the door slowly open and a long-haired woman with dragon horns similar to mine enters the room I am in, carrying an armful of clothes in her arms.

Because the dragon’s body is much larger than that of a polymorphed human, the biggest problem was that when the transformation was released, all of the clothes on the body would be torn off.

As I entered the battle against the enemies in Caranescu City and returned to my dragon form, I was practically naked.

So I sent Yoon Sia to find suitable clothes for me to wear.

… Actually, I tried to go there myself, but she insisted that she stay here and rest, so I just left it that way.

I was a little worried that she might know my body size.

“… You got it right. Have I ever told you my clothes size?”

“Hehe.”

Fortunately, I don’t think I ever had to wear baggy pants or oversized dress shirts.

Or rather, how does this child know my size? Was it just a blind eye?

When I looked at the clothes I brought, there were several styles but they were all the same size, so I guess I really knew the size.

I looked at her with questioning eyes, but she just smiled slyly.

It didn’t look good to ask any questions, so I decided to just stop.

“I will change my clothes. Why don’t you leave first?”

“Ah, yes. Sorry.”

She quickly leaves the room with a somewhat regretful expression on her face.

A small thud is heard as the door closes.

Perhaps this was her original personality that had been hidden by her poverty, but I felt as if she was gradually becoming more sly. With a small sigh, I picked up my clothes and began to cast a simple polymorph.

‘hmm.’

Normally, I preferred stereo-style suits that were stuffy.

Because he wore a well-cut suit for every job, he even received advertising offers from suit manufacturers. Of course, I rejected them all.

However, what she brought was not a suit, but rather a somewhat casual shirt and pants.

There were several types, but the styles were similar.

“It’s been a long time since I wore this style.”

Was this her intention? I felt a little embarrassed, but since this was not the time to cover up cold or hot food, I put my hand inside the casual indie fashion top and pulled down the hem.

It’s an ordinary man-to-man, but now it feels a bit awkward.

“Are you all dressed?”

As I was killing time after changing all my clothes, I heard her voice from outside the room, the door slowly opened, and her face was revealed through the gap in the door.

And then our eyes met.

When she saw me standing in an awkward mood and with an awkward style, she suddenly slapped her palm! We meet.

“Wow! It suits you really well! As expected, I put a lot of thought into choosing the right price!”

“Why not just bring a regular dress shirt? To me, this is a bit… .”

“Of course, the professor suits that kind of formal style, but it’s been a while since I’ve changed my style! how is it? Isn’t this okay too? Do you like it?”

He flinched and held on to the doorknob that was wide open, and clicked his tongue lightly as he looked at her.

It was an unfamiliar feeling. In fact, for me, it was much better to just grab a great sword and go into battle with monsters than to be in this situation.

Of course, to some extent, I am grateful that others solve my problems.

Well, it seemed like an ordinary day.

At the very least, it felt as if the enormous struggle that had taken place a few hours ago had been completely erased.

I don’t know if the method of erasing was forced, or if I truly acted like this out of a sense of liberation, but at least for this moment, I can say that I am literally returning to normality.

Anyway, I’m so tired right now, so either of those won’t really matter.

Either way, the story that unfolds without tension remains the same as today’s story.

Then, the girl in front of me, who I was now looking at, suddenly changed her expression again, as if she remembered something, and started talking about something else.

“Oh, right. I stopped by the shops in town and picked up some food. Have dinner, Professor.”

“… I’m tired and want to rest.”

“Well, you should still eat! You used a lot of energy in today’s battle, so you must eat!”

“Isn’t it okay to skip it for about a day? I’m tired so I’m going to sleep.”

“No!”

When the issues that were going back and forth in the conversation eventually became blurred and the story ended roughly,

I sighed and sat down at the table facing her.