Chapter 16 : The Dragon’s Gaze

Lester was very displeased with this whole affair.

‘I thought there wouldn’t be any trouble in a fcking small kingdom and a fcking small village.’

He was a mercenary from the Genol Empire. In contrast to the Runan Kingdom, it was the largest country on the continent. But unfortunately, the two countries were situated right next to each other. Because of this, the Runan Kingdom was often compared to the Genol Empire.

Lester also compared everything to the Genol Empire from the moment he arrived in the Runan Kingdom. He built up his self-esteem by belittling Runan’s culture.

The reason he, who loved the Genol Empire and himself so much, came to Estel Village, the most remote part of the Runan Kingdom, was simple. The conditions that Estel Village offered were good.

Higher pay compared to other villages preparing for the red moon.

The village’s facilities were surprisingly decent.

And even the fact that it was located in a forest where anything could happen in the middle of the night.

Truly, everything was perfect for Lester.

So Lester headed for Estel with four other mercenaries from the same empire who had been working with him for a long time. Along the way, they warmed up by carrying out various requests on the way to the Craystist estate.

In the process, he caused several ‘unfortunate incidents,’ but he was able to smooth things over by threatening the victims or intentionally failing the requests. You just had to be careful about becoming a criminal in the empire; you didn’t have to worry about that in this remote kingdom.

When he finally arrived in Estel Village and began carrying out the request, he started to become irritable in many ways.

‘Jonan, that f*cker.’

The village’s young hunter interfered with him every time. Starting with the story that Jonan had lured the red bear close to the village while drunk, he even prevented Lester from taking the village maiden.

Lester was even angrier because he was confident that he could treat her better than before. Even if “better treatment” meant not using violence.

But there were too many eyes watching to deal with Jonan directly. He was a hunter who was well-regarded in the village, and Jonan’s combat skills were impressive.

In addition, the eyes of the other mercenaries who had come to carry out the request, aside from Lester’s gang, were very annoying. Until now, they had received requests individually, so it was possible to cover up incidents, but with other mercenaries around, it was nearly impossible.

So, while carrying out the request and trying to suppress his anger, something happened.

“Boss, something’s strange.”

The red moon rose, but the demons did not attack. They didn’t even show up. Lester was initially happy that he could get some honey. But that was only for a moment. Lester was about to explode from the close guard duty that lasted nearly a week. It wasn’t just Lester. Other mercenaries also had significant dissatisfaction with the village chief’s decision. Some even openly protested.

But Lester began to explode in a different direction.

He needed to get something out of this.

He couldn’t take a woman, and he couldn’t hunt red demons to obtain by-products. It was a very frustrating situation for him, especially since he had come all this way after being pushed out of competition with other mercenaries in the Genol Empire.

Eventually, he wandered around the village hall to steal the village’s secret funds or treasures.

Then he received completely unexpected information. And the person who provided the information was Jonan, whom he considered an enemy.

“Boss, but is that really true? A sacred beast?”

Sacred beasts. As very sacred and noble creatures, everything that came from their bodies was sold at a high price.

‘The dragon that guy was talking about must be like that.’

Jonan said that a sacred beast called a dragon had caused the storm that occurred during the red moon. A sacred beast capable of controlling such a storm could surely be sold at a high price to wizards.

“It must be true. Sh*t, if it’s fake, it doesn’t make sense that that guy survived the red bear.”

“Gasp, gasp… then, is it really a sacred beast? Sacred beasts are friendly to people…!”

The phoenixes and unicorns that appeared in stories were all sacred beasts that were friendly to humans. Of course, there were people who suffered because of mistakes, but they all suffered due to carelessness, Lester thought. From the beginning, if sacred beasts were attacked, they would just run away or disappear; there had never been a case where they attacked humans.

“Yeah, you b*stards. So we have to move quickly. If we’re not careful, those guys will notice.”

‘Somehow I knew it from the time they mobilized all the people to find a kid.’

He had mobilized so many people to find the kid before he could provoke the sacred beast. In Lester’s mind, there was no thought of ‘rescuing the child before the red demons found him.’ Once he knew about the existence of the dragon, everything that had happened before seemed futile.

“We’re here!”

“…Was this place originally like this?”

Finally, they ran and ran and arrived at the cliff they had been to before. But Lester noticed that the cliff had changed.

“Boss, what does that matter? It must look different because we came when it was getting dark before! Let’s identify the location of the sacred beast first!”

“…That’s right.”

The gang began to look around the cliff. They tried to find traces of the sacred beast rather than its direct appearance.

For example, like a phoenix’s feather or a unicorn’s tail hair.

“Boss! Here!”

Then, one of the gang members called Lester. When he hurried over, the member was pointing to the opposite cliff.

“Boss, isn’t that… a claw mark?”

What he pointed to was a mark that penetrated the middle of the cliff. The long, hollow mark looked like a huge creature, like a dragon, had scratched it with its claws.

“You b*stard.”

“Ow! Why are you hitting me!”

“Sh*t, do you think there’s a claw mark that big? Huh? Even a dragon would have a hard time making that.”

But the problem was that its size was longer and bigger than he had thought. Even a grown dragon would have to scratch it while moving up and down.

“Do you not want to work? I’ll lower the f*cking by-product ratio.”

“Ah… it looks real…”

“If it looks real, we’re already dead, you idiot, tsk. So open your eyes properly and look again…”

“B, Boss…”

Lester turned his head irritably at the voice of another mercenary calling him.

“Hey, if you point to something strange, you’re dead… Where are you looking?”

“……………………”

The mercenary was just looking up at the sky without saying a word. In his eyes, there were conflicting emotions of awe and fear.

Come to think of it, it was dark around.

“…?”

Even the other mercenary next to him was looking at the sky. His trembling pants were getting wet.

“What the hell did you see… th…”

And Lester faced it. Two blue eyes looking down at him from the sky. He faced the gaze of an overwhelming being head-on.

“Ah, ah.”

The being with blue eyes had an appearance that could be called noble. The head looking at them was fixed, but its long body, spreading like the waves of the sea, was constantly cutting through the sky from side to side.

This was the dragon.

And it was a very huge being. It was fortunate that this being was a sacred beast. If it were a being that attacked them, there would be nothing to say even if they were already dead.

Lester, perhaps because he was relieved, ended up making a complacent choice.

“…Go to the end of the cliff and prepare to attack.”

“…Yes?”

“Sht, go and prepare to kill that bstard. Don’t you see that size? How much do you think it will be worth if we sell it? Huh? Becoming a quasi-aristocrat is an instant, you idiot!!”

And the mercenaries who followed Lester also made a complacent choice. They slowly moved to the side of the cliff to avoid provoking the dragon. The huge pupils were watching them, but they were so excited that they forgot about it.

‘Sh*t, it’s just a big turtle. If I catch it, it’s a life reversal.’

And above all, the desire for revenge on Jonan, that b*stard, was driving Lester’s heart.

So the gang all held weapons and waited for that being to come down.

‘Come to think of it, how is that guy flying in the sky?’

Dragons and phoenixes have wings. But this dragon did not have visible wings. In fact, it was closer to a snake with legs.

‘…That’s not important.’

And finally, the dragon slowly descended to the cliff. It placed its two feet on the cliff and dipped its lower part into the sea. Lester admired its length once, and once again at the by-products that would come from something that size.

At the same time as he noticed that the dragon’s claws had landed on the cliff, Lester shouted.

“Sh*t, attack!”

And the attack of Lester’s gang began. Each of them aimed for the dragon’s head with bows, spears, and swords in an instant. And it failed.

Clang-!

“…Huh?”

The sword was deflected. At the same time, the repulsive force transmitted through the sword was sent through Lester’s whole body.

“Ugh!!”

It was like hitting steel. No, even steel would feel softer than this; the skin of this sacred beast was incredibly hard.

And the dragon, which had been suddenly attacked by the gang… had no reaction.

It really didn’t react at all.

It was just watching them. Even as the blade of the sword aimed for its neck, even as the arrow flew toward its eyes, it only focused its gaze on them.

“Sh, sh*t…”

I wish it would run away. No, I wish it would counterattack because it’s a sacred beast. That thought dominated Lester’s mind.

But this being did not.

Just as God watches his believers, just as the Demon King observes the demons, this being was just looking down at them. It was an attitude that only a transcendent being could have.

‘This was not a sacred beast.’

A sacred beast? This could not be named as such a trivial being. Sacred beasts are neither as lofty nor as indifferent as this being. Even if they are curious about humans, they don’t show that kind of attitude.

“Boss…”

The mercenary who was thrusting the spear next to him called Lester. The mercenary’s voice was hoarse even though he had hardly spoken so far. And he began to say strange things in a hoarse voice.

“I feel hostility…”

“…?”

“The trees, the ground, are hostile to us… The seawater is struggling to swallow us…”

The sound barely heard between the chattering teeth was very absurd. In short, wasn’t nature hostile to them?

‘That can’t be possible…’

“……………………Gasp.”

Lester felt it. He felt thousands of hostilities from below, behind, to the side, and above. His head seemed to go crazy with hostility that far exceeded human thought. He wondered if a mere human was worthy of receiving this much hostility. What the hell had he done to make nature, which had embraced him so far, turn against him?

In the end, Lester went crazy.

“Ugh, ahhhhh!!”

Lester gouged out his two eyes and rushed at the dragon. And until then, the dragon was still.

It was just watching them quietly.