“Then why don’t you die? ─ You’re being too foolish. Why not seek strength from the beginning? Once you’re strong, you’ll be feared even when you leave this place, no? Like me.”
“But, Father. Knowing what sort of powerful beings there are in the world is very important too. It’s the same with you, isn’t it, Father? Aren’t the Frost Giants strong? If you went against them without knowing anything─”
“─I’m not afraid of those Frost Giants.”
“F-forgive me, Father.”
As he glared at Hejinmal, who had his head plastered to the ground, Olasird’arc rounded his shoulders powerlessly.
“That’s enough. I command you to complete your task. Then, I will kick you out after a month. You can live as you please from then on.”
3
“Haa~”
Hejinmal was currently in a tunnel which led to the Royal Capital. He sighed, the way his father had.
“I’m not good at fighting…”
“Not being good” did not cover the whole of it. In all honesty, he was so weak that if he went up against his younger brothers, he might end up losing to them. Thus, he was uneasy, which resulted in him muttering to himself.
“The enemy… hopefully they’ll be scared of the way I look and run away.”
Hejinmal inhaled forcefully, sucking up his protruding gut. Then he splayed his claws and opened his maw. That way, he would look more like a proper Dragon.
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
Hejinmal gingerly removed the glasses on his nose. They were not a magic item, but if they broke, there would be no replacements for them. Thus, he had to treat them with care.
“Haaa… Dragonscale makes for strong armor… but all I can do is pray the Dwarves aren’t savages…”
But what if they were?
No, that was almost certain to be the case. That was because Dwarven libraries were the source of much information about Draconic materials.
Hejinmal forced himself to stop trembling.
He knew all the Quagoa in the Royal Capital were watching him. If possible, he would have preferred to fight in a deeper tunnel, where he would not have an audience. However, if that was the case, the Quagoa would not be able to see him do battle, so his father had forbidden it.
Father had told him to investigate the enemy to the best of his ability, and take them as servants if possible. But this was not a sign of friendship. Instead, it was an order to display his strength and dominate the weak as one of the strong.
Therefore, defeat equaled death. He would die if he was defeated in battle. Even if he survived a defeat, the Quagoa would lose their respect for Father. That would displease him, and then Hejinmal would be killed by his father anyway.
Then, how about fleeing right away? After all, he would be exiled in a month, no matter what he did.
It was a good idea, but he needed a month to prepare for it.
Hejinmal expelled his breath.
The supercooled suspire froze an entire wall into an expanse of solid white.
“Good! My breath is normal, and its power is consistent with my age.”
This was one of a Dragon’s trump cards ─ Dragon breath. Frost Dragons possessed freezing breath, and its power grew with age. Hejinmal’s breath was quite well developed, and it was more reliable than his own physical strength.
“…Still.”
Dragon breath was a frightening thing. Anyone who knew even a little about Dragons was aware of that. After all, this was a fundamental ability of all Dragons.
In fact, the Dwarven libraries had said just that. There was no way the Dwarves coming this way would not be prepared for it.
Hejinmal sank further into despair.
Although Father had already said so, if he could really use magic or whatnot, things would surely be different─
“I’m just a sacrificial pawn.”
His brothers faithfully obeyed his father in a very Draconic way. The fact that he had not given this task to them but to Hejinmal was a sign that he did not care if the hikkikomori of his family died off.
He did not resent his fate.
If he had not encountered books, if he had not known the satisfaction of seeking knowledge, he would not be what he was today. There was no point regretting that now.
Suddenly, Hejinmal’s nose twitched.
He turned his ear to listen, and picked up multiple footsteps approaching from within the tunnel.
Those were not the sounds of Quagoa feet, because they were clearly wearing shoes.
Are those Dwarves?! There’s only a few of them, which means… They’re very confident of victory with just those numbers? Or are they an advanced scouting party? So if I defeat them the job’s done and there’ll be no problem if I go back?
Strictly speaking, he would have fulfilled his orders even if he only defeated that scouting party. The question now was whether an excuse like that would be accepted.
Illuminated by glowing stones, four silhouettes ─ though he could not be sure as they were still far away ─ emerged from the cavern.
Are the smaller three Dwarves? Then what’s that larger one? Even the Dwarven subraces shouldn’t be that big. Then, did the Dwarves beg that bigger shape for help, much like the Quagoa did with Father?
Whether or not the Dwarves had requested its help, he had to be wary of the bigger shape.
Still, while it was a large silhouette, it was still much smaller than a Dragon.
Should I strike first with my breath? Hejinmal immediately discarded that notion.
No. I should ask them what they want and try to complete this task through negotiation.
Regular Dragons would immediately launch into a fight. However, Hejinmal had no confidence in himself and did not want this encounter to end in tragedy. Therefore, he sought a way to safely resolve the situation.
Finally, his keen Draconic vision ─ although Hejinmal’s was somewhat subpar for his kind ─ finally verified that the one walking at the head of the group was not a Dwarf.
Haven’t I read about them in a book before? Isn’t that one of the Dark Elves, who live in the depths of the forests?
It was impossible for one to be here.
However, that one’s far too short, compared to the Dark Elves in the books. Could it be a child between a Dark Elf and a Dwarf? Or is it just a Dark Elf child?
As Hejinmal pondered these things and many others, he shifted his gaze to the huge shadow behind the Dark Elf, and then his eyes went wide.
Haaah?! Isn’t that an Elder Lich?! What is it doing here? This is bad. They’re immune to freezing breath, and they can cast [Fireballs].
Fire was the weakness of Frost Dragons. In other words, his most powerful attack was useless against this Elder Lich, and his opponent could grievously wound him.
And… What’s that? It looks like a really expensive robe…
Dragons had a keen nose for treasure. They could roughly sniff out the value of any item, no matter how valuable. Right now, his nose was telling him that the Elder Lich before him was wearing an unimaginably expensive set of spellcaster’s robes.
…No, at a closer look, it’s the same way with the clothes of the Dark Elf walking ahead of them. I’ve never seen something as valuable as that before…
Hejinmal was a hikkikomori, so the only thing he could value was the Dwarven libraries. Thus, his nose for valuable treasure might have lost its keenness. It might have been a natural ability, but it would still atrophy if it was not used. However, he did not think that was the case.