Make Dark Fantasy Great Again

Chapter 266 "..." "..." "..." A sudden silence descended upon the elves' camp. Even the elf servants who had been busily moving about while glancing at the situation from nearby stopped their hands for a moment. Because the human's reaction to the Nad'ga's approach had been so impressive. That expression. That scream. That movement. It was far too dramatic to be a reaction to contact with a beautiful being. Then what could it be? The elves could not easily deduce the meaning of that reaction. That behavior was, at first glance, a clear expression of rejection, but— There's no way he could feel rejection toward a Nad'ga, who is an incarnation of beauty, right? -Why is Risir acting like that? -It can't be because he feels disgust. "Risir— are you really that shy?" Finally, Ratsil approached and whispered. Risir had been showing strange reactions from his first encounter with the Nad'ga. Ratsil thought this man was unable to compose himself due to the beauty of the Nad'ga he was seeing for the first time. Though one might forget due to his extraordinary abilities, wasn't he still a young man in his prime? It wouldn't be strange at all for him to retain youthful bashfulness. In fact, some women produced pleased smiles at the fresh side of that gentle young man. Not only the elf servants, but even the Nad'ga's followers. In the midst of this, there was only one person whose expression had hardened stiffly. "..." The Nad'ga Hera. She felt a strange sense of discord from the man. That atmosphere. As if he felt instinctive disgust toward her? "Ah, I'm, I'm sorry...! I was so flustered that I—" Then the man spoke. An awkward smile. Embarrassed laughter. His face was growing hot with bewilderment. It was like the perfect example of a shy young man. That appearance, combined with his gentle looks, drew smiles from many women. "..." Hera's intuition was still sending signals that something was amiss. However, Hera's reason dismissed it as needless worry. Guardian Karoer. Star of the Garden Lunadien. Even they were under the influence of the 'Blessing', so how could a mere human be free from it? "I'm sorry. Was I too casual?" The Nad'ga regarded the human's reaction as an expression of 'shyness.' Just as he intended. Risir inwardly sighed with relief. It would be a shocking fact for the women who had been producing pleased smiles at his pure side to notice. In truth, he was using the mysteries of the Killer Spirit's Assassination Sword Techniques to act the part of a shy young man. All to induce carelessness. The discrepancy between himself and those around him regarding the Nad'ga's appearance. Risir at first thought the problem lay with himself. If everyone else could feel the Nad'ga's beauty but he alone could not, wouldn't that be his own problem? But- Being with that Nad'ga changed his thinking. 'As I thought. Something feels off. This situation, and that Nad'ga's atmosphere too. For now, it would be best to... handle this as naturally as possible.' The Nad'ga seemed accustomed to her position. Should it be called the position of a beauty? A beauty is forgiven for whatever actions she takes. The Nad'ga, accustomed to such treatment, had reached the point of revealing even unsavory signs that should not be displayed, without restraint. That was what stimulated Risir's intuition, which was not affected by the 'Blessing.' Unlike Hera, who trusted the 'Blessing' and ignored her own intuition, Risir entrusted himself to his intuition. He acts more aggressively to break down her guard. If what his intuition suggested was true, there would be nothing good about earning her wariness. "Ah, no! Rather, it was I who was too informal. I was just worried that one of Lady Hera's people might have gotten hurt-" He had distanced himself from the Nad'ga not because he felt rejection. It was because he was shy. Likewise, approaching the dragon slave was not because he felt goodwill. It was to make a good impression on the Nad'ga! Risir recalled a noble youth he had once seen. The way he acted indifferent toward a certain Young Lady while actually craving her attention! "Aha. So that's why—" Hera nodded as if everything finally made sense. As expected. A mere human couldn't be free from the influence of the 'Blessing.' Hera actively accepted Risir's renewed demeanor. Thus, she became absorbed in her position as a beautiful being. Risir played along with her rhythm. "Are you hurt anywhere? We can't have anything that would worry Lady Hera." He spoke to the slave as if to make a good impression on Hera. To that girl who was a dragon. "..." The girl scowled fiercely like a threatening beast. "Ugh—" The many elves watching from behind turned their heads in disgust. When the girl scowled, her dragon features became more pronounced. Sharp eyes. Scaled skin. "..." Risir, though unwilling, likewise acted out a disgusted reaction. Something like the determination of 'I hate dragons, but I have no choice if I want to make a good impression on the Nad'ga!' being conveyed? "Oh my, you're injured." Risir pointed at the girl's arm as if pointing at filth. Her body, clothed in rags, was covered with traces of large and small injuries. "If left as is, the wounds could worsen and even fester. Let me treat them for you." At most fourteen or so? That was Risir's impression from looking at the girl's appearance. He was unconsciously treating the girl like a young child. "I don't need it!" "...!" However, that strongly rejecting appearance. The force that made even her youthful looks pale in comparison nearly pushed Risir backward. 'Indeed, a dragon is still a dragon...!' Risir forcibly suppressed his instinct to admire. He produced an annoyed expression. "That's not for you to decide. Keep in mind that if you can't even control your own body, the one who will have to endure the trouble is your master, Lady Hera." "That's none of my business!" "You're unreasonable." Risir shook his head and looked at Hera. "Lady Hera. I want to treat this child. Would you please give me your permission?" It was the appearance of a man desperate to show off his abilities in front of a woman. Hera smiled with satisfaction at that foolish sight. "She's just a slave. You don't need to care that much. But... it wouldn't be proper to refuse such kindness either." Please go ahead. Hera said with an indifferent gesture. That action of giving just enough 'leeway' showed how skilled she was at handling humans. The Nad'ga thought it worked out well. She had been curious about how the human had gained the elves' recognition anyway. She thought, perhaps there might be one more useful slave. *** Afterward, Risir moved to his tent with the dragon. That tent, which seemed rather spacious for an individual to monopolize for camping purposes, was a privilege provided only to a few in the group, including Lunadien and Karoer. "..." The dragon looked around the interior of the tent and then regarded Risir with a strange gaze. It was an expression of bewilderment at how a mere human was receiving such treatment among a group of elves. "!!!" Of course, the moment Risir approached, that curiosity was instantly overlaid with hostility. When Risir took a step closer, she backed away to the very edge of the tent. "Just try coming closer. I'll snap your neck right then and there." "In that state?" Risir pointed at the girl. She was bound by magical chains that restrained her from neck to hands tied behind her back to legs. They suppressed not only movement but also her power as a dragon. Right now she was nothing more than an ordinary girl. "..." Grinding. The girl ground her teeth in frustration. "You think that monster bitch will give you any attention for doing that?! Or what, do you want to become one of that monster bitch's many slaves?!" "Do you hate her that much?" "Of course! If I could just burn that bitch, I'd gladly offer my soul!" "You must really not want to be treated, huh? To the point of selling out the name of someone you hate so much." "Don't talk about treatment! You're just doing things you don't mean to try to get that monster bitch's attention, aren't you?! Acting like you're bestowing some kind of favor!" Then the girl's expression became completely distorted. She recalled how the man had shown disgust toward her along with the elves before. "Obviously, you're probably the pathetic type who can't even hold a woman's hand unless you lick boots like that!!! Am I wrong?!" That emotion was as immature as her appearance. The girl who had resolved never to show weakness in front of the Nad'ga immediately showed her weak side as soon as the Nad'ga was truly gone. The girl's face was soon covered in tears. "You think I'll go along with something that benefits that monster bitch? You'd better wake up! Go ahead, keep trying! The moment you get close to me, I'll bite my tongue off. If the slave you borrowed to fix dies, that woman would really like that, wouldn't she? Huh?" "..." "So, so, so, why don't you just give up?! You, you hate it anyway, don't you?! Touching me!" How did she interpret Risir's stillness? The girl produced a defiant smile while panting. Look! Look!!! The girl moved forward and thrust her face at him. In her mind, it was an action meant to make the other party recoil in horror. The girl's resistance didn't stop there. She exerted all her strength to spread the tail and wings she had been hiding. Quite a majestic dragon aspect showed itself, impressive compared to her youthful appearance. "..." The girl smiled with a look that was both pleased and somehow bitter. She thought the man was showing the reaction she intended. He had widened his eyes. It was a familiar reaction to the girl. So familiar that she could even predict the man's next actions. The surprise would be brief. Soon he would feel extreme disgust and frown. Before they knew it, the distance between them had become close enough to reach out and touch. "Look! Look at me!!! Why?! You said you'd treat me, didn't you?! Try it once! Go ahead and touch me all you want!" Suddenly, the man's hand moved. "...!" Tight! A learned behavior. The girl sensed the man's violence and squeezed her eyes shut. It was the moment she hunched her body to prepare for the coming shock. "Oh..." An exclamation of unknown meaning was heard. "Eek...!!!" Then came contact of unknown meaning. The girl reopened her eyes in surprise. The man was touching her horns with a fascinated expression. "What, what, what are you doing?!" The girl shouted with still labored breathing. She shook off the man's touch. She retreated from the man while hiding her horns. "Ah, I'm sorry." The man belatedly panicked and raised both hands. "Somehow, I got carried away by the momentum and without realizing it—" "..." Labored breathing. Trembling eyes. The girl stared quietly at the man. She was so flustered that she had even forgotten to harbor wariness and hostility toward him. Perhaps that's why the man's appearance looked quite different to her eyes than before. It was strange. She couldn't feel disgust in the man's gaze looking at her. Not only that, she could even feel goodwill in that gaze. Something so truthful that she dared not doubt it— "You, what are you—" The man carefully chose his words. What should he say to break down her guard? "By any chance, do you think I'm the only one who's a bit strange?" "What?" "The idea that Nad'ga are beautiful and dragons are disgusting." "..." The girl blinked. *** "Ah, thank goodness." Risir let out a deep sigh. He expressed relief with his entire body, including his expression. "As I thought, I wasn't the strange one...!" The discrepancy in thinking surrounding the Nad'ga. Risir, who had been feeling confusion and anxiety from that discrepancy, approached the dragon as an attempt to resolve that confusion. To the dragon, who could be called the greatest victim of the thought discrepancy. It was because of the hope that she might know the answer to all of this. The approach method that Risir carefully chose produced the best results. The girl completely empathized with Risir's confusion and began to pour out her indignation. Through her, Risir was able to hear the full story of the incident. "The Nad'ga. Those hideous monsters cursed us dragons!!! They stole our status!!!" The Nad'ga. They were not actually incarnations of beauty or anything like that. Born with abilities and natures that threaten the world's harmony, they were apostles of chaos who sought to wield them without restraint. Their purpose had remained unchanged from then until now: to reign as rulers of the world by leveraging their abilities. Dragons were the greatest opposing and checking force against such Nad'ga, taking the lead in trying to destroy the relics that could be called the source of their power. "So... the Nad'ga, no longer able to endure the dragons' pressure, used all the power of their relics with the intention of mutual destruction to curse the dragons." "Yes! Because of that, we dragons..." The dragons, who had styled themselves as guardians of harmony, felt great disillusionment at the world's hatred. They chose lives of seclusion, turning their backs on the world, or entered long slumbers. The Nad'ga's curse led to the collapse of most dragon forces. Thus, reaching the present day, the pride that had bound dragons together completely vanished. They abandoned their identity as dragons and chose new paths that served only themselves. The Nad'ga, thought to have left their curse and gone extinct. This was why the survivor 'Hera' could brazenly reveal herself to the world. She had known. That the current generation of dragons would prioritize their own lives over 'revenge.' However, the 'dragonkin' girl— Alenza was different. She, a distant descendant of dragons, could not just watch as the Nad'ga took away the status that dragons had lost. "And so, while carrying out your revenge alone, you were captured by Hera and her followers." "You believe what I'm saying...?" Alenza, who had been pouring out her emotions, had been looking at Risir with wonder at some point. His listening attitude was simply unbelievable to her. "Yes. As someone not affected by that curse, I have no choice but to believe Alenza's words." "...Why?" "What?" "Why doesn't the curse work on you...?" "...That's a bit complicated to explain. For now—" Risir looked at the chains of power restraining Alenza's body. 'How do I undo this?' It was the moment Risir was about to carefully interfere with the chains of power. "Ah, dangerous—!" This was why the Nad'ga could readily hand over her slave to a human she'd just met. Those chains of power fiercely entangled themselves around anyone who dared to interfere with them. Thus, following the dragon, they intended to 'subjugate' the human as well— And then they simply vanished. "What, what? What happened?" Alenza looked down at her body in disbelief for a moment. "...!" She jumped up from her position in surprise. "No, no!!!" "What's wrong?" "Hera, that monster will notice!" *** "...!" Standing up suddenly. "L-Lady Hera!?" At the same time. The Nad'ga, who had been resting while being attended by her followers, quickly rose from her position. 'As I thought, something was strange...!' Hera felt that her power restraining the dragon had been destroyed by some force. That became a signal, amplifying all the doubts and suspicions she had been trying to deny. It wasn't a mistake after all. The sense of discord she had felt from that inferior race. That uneasiness! She didn't know how he did it, but he was free from the influence of the 'Blessing.' Recognizing that fact, Hera reflected on the actions that human had shown. 'That inferior race!!! Was he deceiving me with the intention of stealing the dragon!?' Hera hurriedly led her followers out of the tent. It was a luxury tent that the elves had willingly provided to her. 'Foolish inferior race! Did he think he'd have nothing to fear with the elves backing him?' A sneer appeared on the Nad'ga's face, wet with rage. A rebellion by an inferior race backed by the elves' trust. It was utterly ridiculous. Relationships with elves. Trust. Popularity. Such trivial values held no power over her. She took something out from within her robes. That thing, which looked like an egg laid by a giant platinum bird, was a 'Shell.' It was a Nad'ga relic. The power contained in that relic was capable of corrupting the very principles of the world. Of course. With most Nad'ga extinct and the race's power greatly diminished, it was a miracle that could not be performed now. However, she could still exercise lighter divine authorities that fell far short of such miracles. 'Risir...' Hera thought of that inferior race. Destroying the elves' trust that he wielded as a weapon was an extremely simple matter for Hera. Crack- Cracks appeared in the 'Shell.' The relic containing the power of the god the Nad'ga served exercised its divine authority. It altered the thinking of all elves existing in the nearby camp. Now, in their minds, the man named 'Risir' was no longer human. (E/N: Ah, what a fool. Risir is not human to begin with. Risir is Risir) Just as the status of dragons and Nad'ga had been reversed. In fact, if Hera had her way, she would have wanted to deny Risir's existence more thoroughly. By making them perceive him as a demon, for instance. "Ugh...!" However. Exercising the 'Shell's' divine authority came with an enormous price. Hera felt that she had already suffered massive damage to her Status just from the divine authority she had exercised. To endure this level of sacrifice just to eliminate one inferior race. It was something absolutely unacceptable as a Nad'ga. 'A mere inferior race denying the blessing...!' However, that inferior race was special. The human Risir, free from the blessing. The human Risir, trusted by many elves. She couldn't guarantee what would happen if he joined hands with the dragon. Hera believed without doubt that her sacrifice—that judgment—was correct. "Lady Karoer!" "Hm?" Hera ignored the guards watching the entrance and barged into Karoer's tent. She immediately asked Karoer to assemble the elves of the camp. It was the moment when her status as a Nad'ga shone. Karoer readily assembled the elves despite her sudden visit and request. In that gathering of all the elves, Hera raised doubts about Risir's identity. That he was not actually human. That he was something wearing the mask of a human! Thus she tainted Risir's existence with suspicion and doubt. Now all that remained was to incite the elves. The rigid elves would never tolerate one who hid his identity and deceived them. "Ah, as expected, my prediction was right! Risir wasn't human after all!" "Well, when you think about it, that's only natural." "We had vaguely noticed it too." "...?" The elves' reactions were somehow strange. (E/N: I knew it! Risir is Risir!)