The 5000-year-old Herbivorous Dragon

There is no such thing as a brave man in this world, but there are enough pettenists to sweep and throw it away.

I'm one of them.

"Dragon exorcism? It's cheap. I've crusaded powerful dragons more than ten times before. You were meant to be aboard a big ship. Of course you won't pay for it."

In one of my words, the little country village liquor store boiled in cheer.

It is a total choro potato.

The chilly frigid title of an adventurer on a journey of demonic crusades for the world - has been easily believed so far.

There are few who possess magic. In a peripheral land like this village, many end their lives without ever seeing magic.

Even a second-class adventurer like me would treat you almost like a god if you showed him even a little fire magic.

"Thank you. But that doesn't mean you did that and didn't pay anything...... On the dawn of the crusade against that dragon, I will certainly mention the village and thank you."

At the table at the tavern, an old white eyebrow sitting in front of me bows his head.

Look, this is what I expected, too.

Country is thick in love. If you show such blatant goodwill, you will not bother to propose the corresponding consideration without this one demanding it.

"That's a... embarrassing story, but it would help me a lot too if you could say that. We need something to get ahead of us to continue this journey."

"Yes, as long as we can support Lord Brave's journey."

It is the norm to lie as much as a great deal to deceive people, but every time I am called 'brave man' I almost erupt.

While I laugh and squeeze my mouth, I turn the story to business.

"So can you tell us a little more about that dragon? Has anyone in this actually witnessed it?

Then several men raised their hands as they gathered in the tavern.

They are all fit and fit, and their clothes and shoes are sturdy knitted in leather. Ten, eighty-nine, they will be woodcutters and hunters who work in the mountains.

"I'm a woodcutter, but when I saw him in the back of the mountain, I thought my heart would really stop... I've never seen him like that before."

"I'm a hunter, too, but I didn't feel like shooting a bow at that one. You can't fight such a big fat ass."

What each begins to talk about is their experience of terror when they encounter that dragon. Everyone just says, "I got my whole life in nine deaths then," and I hold myself.

"I see. Gentlemen, come on. It must have been horrible. By the way, I'd like to ask you - did anyone in this actually get attacked by that dragon?

The villagers looked at each other and then eventually shook their heads in pieces.

"Yeah, I'm not in this. But there are so many guys out there who didn't come back as soon as they got in the back of the mountain. That dragon must have eaten you."

"Really? It's... I'm sorry for your loss."

Pretend to meditate and pray before I gather more sightings.

"Then you have to stop that dragon as soon as possible. Does anyone know what the exact form looks like?

"Oh. Ola has seen it. Koyama Minato's body is growing two strange horns. The scales were black, but the eyes were pale."

"Hmm. Is it black scale on the giant, plus the pale eye? That's... that sounds pretty clumsy to me. Those with black body colors among dragons tend to have many dark attributes that are strong and dangerous."

Villagers.

but it is such a lie 800. It has nothing to do with strength and body color.

On the contrary, I was horrified inside and that this scam was going to work.

"But don't worry. It is this me who has also beaten such a powerful dragon. Let us definitely bring peace back to you all. We will crusade further into the mountains, so stay away from the mountains until I return."

When I rose from my seat at the tavern, the applause and cheer that just broke happened.

Correspondingly, I make it look like I've decided to die, but this is already a complete act.

I don't have any anxiety about the Dragon Crusade.

The basis of fraud is prior information gathering.

I had almost finished my investigation before I came to this village, and I was almost convinced by this interview right now.

The identity of the dragon is - that it is just a kind of wolf lizard, called a Tisan Catali lizard.

――――――――――――――――――――……

An ancient lizard that is extremely long-lived but has a small number of individuals and is already considered extinct.

That is the Tysan Catali lizard.

Few materials exist. Ecology is almost riddled with mystery, but its greatest biological characteristic is' pseudomorphism to dragons'. By having a horrible appearance, he is protecting himself from the outside enemy -.

Katari Lizard's "Katari" means "deceit". It is the naming of this lizard ecology, which falsifies its identity, as it were.

"Hehe. I can't believe the lizard is foiled with dragon repellent."

I giggle all by myself as I walk down the mountain path, but of course I'm not just lucky to get down and gush.

It is only through hard work that we can grasp any luck.

Even this time it was quite a struggle in the back. Rumors were heard that the village on the border was troubled by the arrival of the dragon, making sure that the actual damage was no big deal, and fishing around for the inheritance and weather that would pass on to the land.

Then, in the historical literature of a kingdom - I found an example where a great magician once visited the village to 'exorcise the dragon'.

The result, however, was said to have been a shoulder mark of withdrawal by the Great Mage when he decided 'This is just a lizard'.

Judging from various other literature, he made the assumption that the lizard living in this mountain was a Tysan Catali lizard.

An interview as early as this indicated that "there are in the past those who did not come back into the mountains", but mountains are inherently dangerous places. Even veteran woodcuts and hunters can usually happen, such as shipwrecks.

Mostly, at a time when the villagers were safely running off to the village even when they encountered that dragon, they could be assessed as not being in that much danger.

It is my modus operandi as a con artist to crusade demons and dangerous creatures that aren't that strong and to be welcomed by acting like a big job.

"Sure... there were a lot of sightings around the cave in the back of the mountain"

Relying on the map of the mountain you have drawn, you walk down a roadless path.

It shouldn't have been that hard to find because it was so giant that the more you walked, the more you sounded.

When I get to the frequent sightings, I mow down the surrounding grass and set aside the load, taking a standby position on the spot.

The dagger you have pruned is a dagger with jewels. Not so good as a weapon, but because it looks good, it is useful as a tool for fraud production.

So I waited for a while, roaming dry bread.

Shizu.

The sound of rocking the ground rang from a short distance, and birds flew simultaneously from among the trees.

Are you out?

Quickly reload my luggage, and I'll lay low and run through the woods.

It didn't take that long to find the Lord of Sound. Instead, within just a dozen seconds of starting to run, the giant looked beyond the trees.

- Sharp claw teeth, a disastrous black horn. A dragon with pale eyes.

Breathtaking by accident.

Speaking of not being pressured, I lie.

It looks like a dragon, but that's just a lizard. No matter how much I told myself that, it was certainly incredibly powerful for Russia.

Even I know a lot about demons. I can't help but be afraid of all those amateur villagers.

- Calm down.

It's not like I'm going to slaughter anything right now. Any opponent, the investigation is crucial first. It is that giant even if it is not a dragon. If you stay alert, you may see painful eyes.

The first priority should be to grasp the evidence as to whether that is really a "Tisan Catali lizard". In case it's a real dragon, I won't be able to go home alive.

I don't feel any magic, but high-ranking demons like dragons sometimes hide their presence.

At this time, the easiest way to discern animals and demons is to observe whether they eat or not.

Demons, including dragons, basically live with magic as food. Attacking humans is to convert that fear into magic and eat it, not directly nourishing the flesh.

I mean, it's impossible for wild demons to eat themselves without any need.

"Whether or not he eats regular bait..."

Hide among the trees and follow the giant secretly.

If the prey begins to be eaten over hunting, etc., the animal will be confirmed at that point.

- If you think so.

"... yeah?

As I had hoped, the Tisan Catalilizard started eating right in front of me.

But it wasn't a carnivore that spanned the hunt, as I would associate it from appearance.

He approached the tree, stretched high, and devoured the leaves as he narrowed his eyes happily.

"... herbivore?

I couldn't find any material on food properties, so there could certainly be lines like that. But I thought it was carnivorous because of its appearance. Especially when it comes to carnivores.

No, wait.

If you make aggressive moves in hunting and such poorly, you'll find that you're not actually as strong as a dragon. The edibility of herbivory may be strategically rational for survival in terms of not exposing its true strength.

Anyway, it was confirmed that that wasn't a dragon at the point of eating.

I'll keep observing.

The dragon moves to the next tree after eating some leaves. They don't mean eating it up in one place, and they can peek at the high level of intelligence around thinking about the persistence of the bait farm.

"Do you want to finish with one shot?"

It is troublesome when intelligent opponents turn to flee.

It was the poison arrow that I took out of my luggage. Both arrows and poison are specially made for counterdemons and boast too much power if you're just a lizard opponent.

But it's a reasonably expensive substitute.

You can't take it off and lose it, so you have to choose a definitive and spectacular place to shoot.

I climb mountain slopes and explore sniper points.

And that's where I came up with it.

That lizard still seems to live in a nearby cave, according to the villagers' information. Then it's best to lurk near the entrance and shoot when you get back.

Move just near the cave.

Inside the cave, sniping may be removed due to dark conditions. The area near the entrance is also covered with trees and there are many shields.

That's where I picked the sniper point, right above the cave entrance.

The cave opens its mouth firmly to the cliff wall. In other words, if you stay on that cliff, you'll be in a position to drop an arrow straight on the back of the returning dragon.

He carried a bow and arrow on the cliff and wore grass as a camouflage. As an iron rule when using poison arrows, detoxification tablets should also be chewed on the back teeth.

All you have to do is wait for the prey to return.

"Are you here?"

Shinshin Shin, the lizard still comes back with huge footsteps.

I also feel like you look satisfied that you just ate the bait.

- Don't feel bad.

Eventually the giant tries to dive into the cave. I rode myself out of the cliff and straight down. Position the bow and squeeze the strings. Set your aim, and all you have to do is take your finger off the arrow...

At that time.

"Humph..."

I heard someone mumble a song. It is the tone of a nursery rhyme that has been transmitted for quite some time.

Stupid, I think.

I strictly told the villagers not to go into the mountains. Where the hell does anyone sing nursery rhymes and such in the back of a mountain like this?

Straight down.

The singing was clearly echoing from the mouth of the lizard who was about to shoot me right now.

"Become...?

I shook my bow forcefully and missed my aim.

The arrow, which was about to be released on the lizard's back, flies through the woods in the direction of the day after tomorrow.

but its forceful way of shaking was not good.

The poisoned arrow plundered the fingertips of the bow-wielding left arm.

"Shit."

The dizziness comes in an instant. Chew off the emergency poison that was planted in your mouth, but this effect is not immediate.

Distorted vision. A sense of equilibrium is lost.

Around.

I felt my upper body riding out of the cliff swallowed by gravity as it was.

―――――――――――――――……

"So, are you okay? Lord! Hold on! You can't die!

In a cloudy consciousness, I heard the old man's squeamish voice.

My last memory is interrupted where I fell off a cliff with a dumb failure.

But I guess it helped that people's voices do.

I mean, I had people carry me to where I was rolling with self-destruction. It is the worst kind of lapse. More so than that. I didn't expect you to have such a hesitation before prey.

I notice. The bedding felt strange.

Not cloth or cotton. This is...

"Dead, grass...?

"Oh! You're awake!

A little.

The moment I opened my eyes, those lizards were peeling their fangs in front of me.

"Whoa, whoa!?

"Khaaaaaa!?

I screamed unexpectedly, and the lizard screamed as if I had been caught up in it.

"Oh, I'm sorry to surprise you. But I'm not scared of dragons or anything. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"Oh...?

Are you still poisoned, your body shows little sign of movement. The fact that he didn't die probably meant that the poison was wiped out in time, but it's not a poison that's easy enough to fully recover immediately.

"Uh, you. Can you talk...?

"Yeah. People used to keep me when I looked like this. That's when you can talk."

It's not uncommon for a dragon to talk. But I wasn't expecting lizards to solve human language, which was just a fiction.

Even though I'm confused, I look back at the last minute.

"Me, I think I fell off a cliff, but you didn't die...?

"Oh, you just happened to fall on my back. My scales are quite soft. It hurt a lot, but I'm glad there's a street directly underneath. If you die, it's tough."

By chance, not.

I was ambushing this lizard through the bottom.

"I'm going to carry you to the foot of the mountain if your lord wants... is it okay to move it?

"No, give me a break. Sleep a little and you'll be able to move."

If I get rocked badly right now, the poison is going to turn extra. I want to rest here and wait for the poison to work.

"Yeah, okay. Take a break. Yeah."

As the lizard said, I lay in the dead grass.

The lizard's face, which looked horrible until just now, now feels completely soft. Probably because of the poison and distorted vision.

It's been a few hours.

"... are you alive?

"Alive."

"Oh good. I'm sorry to interrupt."

In the meantime, many times lizards have spoken to me in surprise. He seems so worried about his condition. He is a coward with a vicious looking habit.

"Aren't you hungry? There's fruit nearby, so I'll get it."

"Food is good...... but do you have any water?

I was unusually thirsty from earlier.

Perhaps the body craves moisture to metabolize the poison.

And all of a sudden, a lizard pointed at me with those giant nails.

However, in such a way as to put your palms up.

"There's a beautiful spring water in the back of the cave, but I don't have the tools to draw it. I'll try to carry it as gently as possible, so will you get on my hands?

I got a little lost.

but thirst is intolerable, slightly and ridden by lizard hands.

I can tell as soon as I touch it. The sharp, seemingly dangerous giant claw was an almost uncut catfish.

At the transported water field, I sipped the spring water as I crawled. Turning the lizard around with his vision, which is getting a little better, he still stands up with an anxious face.

"Don't worry about me. Much better now. I'll be home in a little sleep."

"Oh, I wonder. Good."

Lizard laughs as he stroked his chest down relieved. I've never known lizards to laugh either.

I wipe my mouth wet in water with my arms,

"... sorry"

"That's okay. When we're in trouble, it's not about each other."

Lizard said frankly.

To that overly clappy phrase, I get a look close to losing my laughter.

Then a while later, my body was gradually recovering.

Enough to return to the village, albeit insufficiently.

"Thank you for your help."

"Also, are you leaving already? Still fluttering? Better get some rest..."

"No, I'm fine"

"Shall I walk you to the foot?

I don't want it.

The villagers may request reinforcements from another adventurer when they return late. Plus, I'm worried about the luggage I left on the cliff. If a bear takes away an expensive item that is packed, I will have trouble.

"Oh well... But be careful."

I get a voice from a lizard on my back, and I walk out of the cave slowly.

I don't look back.

I don't even think I deserve to look back.

- When we're in trouble, it's not about each other.

I retrieved my baggage and went down the mountain, rebelling the lizard's voice over and over in my heart.

This was the day I made the worst mistake of my Petenmaster life.