First Reunion (9)

The bug search continued the next day.

Similarly, while searching for bugs in divided groups…

Finally, I found a clue.

“This place is a bit suspicious.”

“Why is it?”

“Termites are fundamentally bugs. That’s why they like dirt.”

The entrance to an underground pub that reeked distinctly of dirt.

In truth, places like this were common in the back alleys of Alecia.

Moreover, this area had terrain where water didn’t drain well.

Considering that floods frequently occurred, washing the dirt in, it wasn’t particularly strange.

However…

“There’s a suspicious smell.”

“A real smell?”

“Yes, there’s that smell, but this place is definitely it.”

Woong!!

I summoned Undine.

Due to a lack of Magic and the lingering discomfort about Lady’s problem, I hadn’t called Undine until now, but her help was truly needed.

“Did you call, Helix-nim?”

“Hello, Undine. Can you protect Camille again today?”

“Yes, of course!”

Undine smiled brightly, then glanced at Camille with a cold gaze.

She deliberately added a word.

“If it’s Helix-nim’s request.”

“Hey, I know it’s annoying, but could you try not to make it so obvious you dislike it?”

“Hmm? Me?”

Another subtle war of nerves ensued.

I had a rough idea why Undine was acting this way.

She probably saw Camille as a rival in love to her master, Lady.

Though her master couldn’t even show her face.

“Undine, we’re really going into a dangerous place this time, so please be especially careful.”

“Yes, Helix-nim.”

“Then, let’s go in.”

Ttaak!!

As I snapped my fingers, our forms slowly blended in with our surroundings.

‘Camouflage.’

Magic that blends oneself into the surroundings.

However, its drawback was its unnecessarily high Magic consumption.

On top of that, casting it on both Camille and me doubled the consumption.

Considering the Magic needed to maintain Undine as well…

It was a somewhat burdensome consumption for me, a young Dragon.

‘I’ll just have to take a quick look and leave.’

Well, in truly dangerous situations, there were many countermeasures.

First, there was the Breath, the Dragon’s symbol and ultimate move.

And if worse came to worst…

‘Wife chance, perhaps.’

There was also a way to ask Undine to summon Lady here.

Of course, summoning her here would be beyond my current Magic capacity…

But it would be possible if she consumed her own Magic and came here herself.

‘Let’s save that as a last resort.’

I wasn’t mentally prepared to meet her yet.

“Let’s go, Camille.”

“Okay.”

“From now on, no talking. We’ll only communicate with hand signals.”

With that, I took Camille’s hand and slowly descended into the underground pub.

The musty dust mixed with the sweet smell of fermented alcohol made my head spin.

Camille’s expression wasn’t good either, as the smell clearly wasn’t to her liking.

‘This way.’

Camille nodded at my gesture.

Even if I was capable, Camille’s stealth ability was also extraordinary.

Indeed, as a Saint, she had been trained in every step she took.

In the temple, not making unnecessary noise was fundamental.

Therefore, walking without making footsteps was no trouble for her.

‘Is it because it’s still daytime that they’re not open for business?’

The owner was nowhere to be seen, and the shop was empty.

I continued to look around for anything suspicious.

Camille seemed uneasy in this place, gripping my hand even tighter.

‘She’s much more anxious than usual today.’

Camille was not originally a timid woman.

If she had been timid, she wouldn’t have even thought of stabbing me to death in the first place.

I still vividly remembered that time.

Her resolute attitude, stabbing me to death without a moment’s hesitation when Vivian arrived.

‘Perhaps it’s because she has to fight unfamiliar monsters.’

Pushing aside the small doubt in my mind, I looked around again.

‘Is that it?’

A small side door was visible.

Opening it carelessly might make a sound, but…

Nevertheless, I bravely pushed the door open with a creak.

‘No reaction.’

What was revealed when the door opened was an even mustier underground smell.

And an old staircase leading further down.

‘This might make a sound if I’m not careful.’

But I had no intention of hesitating.

I gently pulled Camille’s hand, signaling her to come.

But Camille squeezed my hand tightly, as if she didn’t want to go any further.

When our eyes met, her gaze clearly showed she truly didn’t want to go.

What should I do? Should I send her back now?

I conveyed my words to Camille by only moving my lips.

‘Do. you. want. to. go. back?’

Nod.

‘I. will. keep. looking.’

Dori-dori.

Camille shook her head vigorously, as if she didn’t want that either.

Having no choice, I took the lead and descended the stairs first.

Camille followed me from a distance behind, with an anxious gaze.

‘Is this the very bottom?’

After descending for a long time, we reached the bottom.

It was too dark to see clearly ahead, but…

Still, I was a Dragon.

Ordinary darkness was no great obstacle for me.

‘There’s a corridor.’

As my vision somewhat adjusted to the darkness, I could grasp the general layout.

A corridor stretching straight ahead.

And I faintly sensed something further beyond its end.

Hmm, it might truly be dangerous beyond this point.

I moved my lips one last time to ask Camille her intention.

‘Do. you. want. to. go. back?’

At that, Camille bit her lip tightly and pondered…

Then shook her head vigorously, as if her hair would fly.

‘Even. if. I. stop. you. you’ll. still. do. it. right?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then. I’ll. go. too.’

Camille then added a word.

‘I. don’t. like. being. a. coward.’

‘I. am. not. a. coward.’

Camille’s resolve was firmer than I expected.

At that, I squeezed her hand tightly.

‘Thank. you.’

Camille didn’t reply.

But her lips were subtly curved upwards, as if she was pleased.

‘Let’s go.’

‘Okay.’

Camille and I strode purposefully towards the end of the corridor.

As we approached the end, an increasingly repulsive fishy smell and a sour, acidic odor wafted towards us.

The latter was probably the smell emitted by the bugs.

Then what could the former be?

Just imagining it made my stomach churn with a terrible feeling.

‘Camille.’

‘Hm?’

‘Cover your mouth.’

As Camille covered her mouth to prevent any sound, I creaked open the corridor door.

“…!!”

“Ha.”

It was a gigantic nest.

Huge, grotesque, even eerie egg sacs clustered together, clinging tightly to the walls of the enormous room.

Of course, that much would be somewhat bearable, but…

“Kieeeek…!”

Some larvae had already hatched and were being fed round, dumpling-like masses by adult Termites.

And…

I knew well the true nature of those dumplings.

‘Human flesh.’

The streets of Alecia were overflowing with nameless vagrants.

Besides that street, vagrants were abundant in various facilities and other places.

If you added the slums, there would be an endless supply of food.

Those Termites were kidnapping them and feeding them to their larvae.

“Ah…”

Camille trembled… then couldn’t hold it in and vomited stomach acid.

Well, I guess it couldn’t be helped.

Even I would probably go half-mad if I saw something like this for the first time.

“Kieeeek?!”

“Kiiik..!!”

Amusingly, these guys made cries similar to mine.

Perhaps reacting to Camille’s sound, they turned their gaze towards us.

Ah, if this is the case, we won’t be leaving peacefully.

Woong!!

Returning to my Dragon form, I gathered all the surrounding Magic with all my might.

When killing bugs, fire is indeed the best.

Kwaaaaang!!!

A fully charged Breath was unleashed towards their egg sacs.

Like a demonic rampage, it furiously swept through the surroundings, turning everything to ash.

“Kieeeek!!”

“Kieeeek!!”

The creatures shrieked in agony from the unexpected fire bath, letting out horrific screams as if the underground itself would collapse.

Before long, the entire area had transformed into a fiery hell of death.

“Helix…! I’m scared…!”

Camille, trembling, hugged me tightly in my young Dragon form.

Don’t worry.

Because the fear those creatures feel towards us is greater than the fear Camille is feeling right now.

Kung! Kuwoong!!

Just then, a thumping sound, as if an elephant was charging, echoed from the opposite end of the corridor.

“So there was a rat…!!”

A voice like scraping metal.

It was a hideous monster, as if it had crawled out from the magma of hell.

A gigantic Termite, covered in crimson bodily fluids.

Its appearance was like a stag beetle transformed through a horrific experiment.

It began to charge at me, thrusting its massive horn forward.

“Tch.”

Woong!!

Camille wasn’t in her right mind, so I probably needed to return to human form first.

I hastily used Polymorph to return to human form.

Gripping Tia’s sword, which I had entrusted to Camille, I charged at the creature.

“Die!!”

“Kwaaak!!”

The creature shrieked and thrashed wildly, stomping its feet as its leg was severed.

As expected, a sword made using the World Tree’s sap really does seem to be effective against these creatures.

Gaining confidence, I lunged at the creature once more.

“Two hits!”

“Kwaaak!! You… you rat-like bastard!!”

The creature’s throat gurgled, then it began spewing dirty green acid all around.

Of course, it was a sluggish attack anyway.

It wouldn’t affect me, but…

“Camille!! Defensive spell!!”

“U-uh!!”

Chwiiik!!

Fortunately, Camille came to her senses, albeit belatedly.

Camille, using her specialty, a divine spell, formed a defensive barrier.

But she couldn’t use it for long.

Because she was still a child and didn’t have much Magic.

The Termite seemed to notice that, and now began charging at Camille instead of me.

“Kuwaaaaah!! Die!!”

“Camille!!”

“Kyaaak!!”

I threw myself forward, barely managing to prevent Camille’s body from being torn to shreds.

But my Magic was slowly running out.

Partly because I had just unleashed my Breath, but also…

‘Maintaining Undine consumes too much Magic.’

But even so, unsummoning Undine wasn’t easy.

What if Camille got hurt because of a mistake?

I was in this situation because of my stubbornness…

That, at least, had to be avoided.

‘What should I really do? Should I call Lady?’

However, calling Lady wasn’t the only way.

If Camille could just pull herself together a little…

There was one thing left I could try.

“Huh?”

Just then, water droplets bubbled around Camille…

And began to take the form of a girl.

“Helix-nim!!”

“Yo, Undine.”

” ‘Yo’ isn’t appropriate, is it? Isn’t this extremely dangerous right now?!”

“Well, as you can see…”

“I’ll call Lady right away. Please wait a moment!!”

Call Lady?

Right now?

That’s a bit problematic.

“No, Undine. Don’t call her.”

“Huh? What do you mean…? This is a crisis situation right now?!”

“It’s dangerous, yes. But my Dragon’s pride won’t allow me to call Lady for a mere creature like this.”

Undine stared blankly at me, as if looking at a madman.

“Do you even have a plan?”

“Yeah, for now.”

I hadn’t dragged Camille here for no reason.

No, perhaps the Termite extermination was merely a pretext.

In truth, I had another real objective.

“Undine, do you remember when I took the form of an Ice Dragon?”

“An Ice Dragon…? Ah, yes, I remember!!”

Ice Dragon.

Well, there isn’t a special name for it.

However, during my previous life, when I was with Lady…

I once urgently borrowed spirit Magic from her, a water spirit.

But perhaps her unique qualities had influenced me.

Even my appearance had transformed into that of ice.

“It’s strong, isn’t it? And beautiful… that form.”

“Yes, you remember.”

“Yes, because it’s practically the fruit of Lady and Helix-nim’s love.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds a bit strange.”

Anyway, the Ice Dragon was like that.

And…

I believed Camille could also perform a similar miracle.

After all, she was a Saint chosen by God.

For the sake of future battles against even more powerful Termites, she needed to learn how to wield this power.

Otherwise…

She would only be a hindrance.

“Camille can do that too.”

“Where are you looking, you lizard bastard!!”

Kwaaang!!

Just then, the Termite interrupted from the middle, and I hastily threw myself aside.

Tch, what a bug bastard, can’t even read the room.

Rolling on the floor, I continued speaking.

“She can do it. Definitely.”

“No, it’s impossible.”

Undine glanced coldly down at Camille, then…

Shook her head.

“Although Lady made a grave mistake towards Helix-nim… her feelings for Helix-nim are as vast as the ocean.”

“…”

“On the other hand, what could a timid woman like that possibly do?”

“Undine.”

“A Saint? She was just lucky enough to be chosen, wasn’t she? Placing her on the same level as Lady is an insult to Lady herself.”

Undine’s utterly scathing assessment.

And at that moment…

Camille, who had been cowering and trembling on the floor, flinched.

“…”

“Camille…?”

And then, Camille’s eyes met mine.

Her two blue eyes trembled violently with indignation and self-reproach.

I had thought she was too distracted by the Termite to hear, but…

In fact, she had been listening to at least some of our conversation.