Chapter 21 : A Dragon’s Blessing

“Dragooon!!”

Rachel, the smallest in stature yet with an enormous presence among the villagers, ran towards me. She was smiling more brightly than before, so it seemed like something good had happened.

[You’ve come.]

“I greet the great Dragon God.”

“I, I greet the great Dragon God······.”

Following the village chief’s greeting, unfamiliar faces hesitantly bowed their heads. Rachel also bowed her head deeply and then began to look around busily. Jonan looked troubled, wondering whether he should stop his tomboy daughter or leave her be.

I signaled that it was okay and immediately started a conversation with the village chief.

[Did you get it?]

“Ah, yes.”

The village chief opened the mouth of the cloth bag that the resident next to him was holding. Inside were the two swords, a bow, and a string that I had requested. The village chief placed them one by one on the altar.

[Good swords.]

“The village blacksmith showed his skill.”

The man who was holding the cloth bag next to him greeted me with a stiff gesture.

Even I, who am ignorant of traditional weapons, could tell that the quality of the swords was quite good. No, honestly, it looked much better compared to the rusty swords I had seen in museums.

In addition, the bow also exuded a luxurious feel, as if something had been applied to the outside.

But there was something that was more admirable than the two weapons, and that was the string. The string, lifted by psychokinesis, was thin, but various patterns and colors were harmoniously combined. In particular, because it was specially made to be dedicated to me, the blue color dominated the atmosphere of the string. In short, I liked it.

“My wife and Jonan’s wife, Sophie, made it together.”

Sophie?

I turned my head, and there was Sophie’s husband, smiling awkwardly. Rachel stopped when she heard Sophie’s name and looked at me and the village chief alternately. But after that, Sophie’s name did not come up again, so she started looking around again.

While talking to the village chief, I also used psychokinesis to lift Rachel and guide her so that she wouldn’t go near the cliff. But Rachel thought it was some kind of play, giggled, and ran towards the cliff instead.

Eventually, when the conversation with the village chief was over, Rachel was asleep in Jonan’s arms.

“In other words, the rain that fell over the past week was really given by the Dragon God······.”

[That’s right.]

“Oh······.”

“The village chief’s words were true······!”

[The land appealed for thirst and the river wanted to be full. Above all, your concerns reached this place, so I rained with my will.]

It’s a lie. I just did it because I wanted to do it for them. I had never heard the words of the land and the river.

But the residents were so impressed with my heart that they covered their mouths with their hands, and it was a mess. Some of them were sturdy men, but they cried like babies.

It’s not like Rachel cried that much, but I don’t know why the crying of the men was so loud.

“Thank you, Dragon God. Thanks to you, our farmers, who were suffering from drought, were relieved.”

As soon as the village chief’s words were finished, a man of similar age to Gaiser, the hunting captain, came forward with a sniffle. And behind him, several men stood in a line, wiping away tears as well.

“I am Dren. On behalf of the farmers of Estel Village, I would like to express my gratitude······ sniff!”

[·········Yes.]

“Sniff, sniff.”

Of course, I also know how important water is in farming. So I could sympathize with how great their joy and relief were. ······But it was a little burdensome. I don’t know if they came to thank me or to say goodbye; the audience was a sea of tears.

In the end, I called the village chief to get out of this topic quickly.

[Chief.]

“Dragon God, speak.”

[The tears shed by the residents of Estel are enough to make a rain cloud again. Go back to the village and calm them down.]

Go away quickly because I’m burdened, the village chief understood immediately.

“Yes, I understand. Dragon God, do you want anything?”

[I don’t.]

“I understand. Then the next meeting······.”

[·········Come when you have something you truly desire.]

Fortunately, the village chief seemed to have found the hidden meaning in my words. It doesn’t matter when, but don’t come if you can help it.

The village chief was just happy that I responded, and he quickly thanked me and prepared to leave.

Then, the sleeping Rachel mumbled.

“Dragon······ What about me······?”

When can I come?

At Rachel’s question, I hesitated for a moment and lifted her with psychokinesis so that she could clearly hear. Rachel, who was half asleep, rubbed her eyes and looked at me.

[Come whenever you want. I will welcome you.]

“·········Yes!”

Rachel smiled brightly, dangling in the air. After that, I put Rachel in Jonan’s arms, and I ended today’s meeting by entering the sea with the offerings in front of them.

It was a better meeting than I thought.

Especially, it was burdensome, but I felt my heart tickle when I saw the farmers thanking me. This feeling of being helpful to them made my heart feel very rich.

But I don’t have to keep doing this until all the residents of Estel realize it, right?

• ·····Please, I hope you come next time after persuading all the residents.

“Dragon! I’m here!”

On a warm afternoon, Rachel, who had passed through the forest to avoid the sunlight, appeared on the cliff with a bright smile.

[······You’ve come.]

“Ehehe.”

Rachel took something out of the basket she had brought before and held out her hand towards me. Then, ah, she remembered something and hurriedly went up to the altar and put down what was in her palm.

“It’s an offering! Please accept it!”

[······Okay.]

I familiarly lifted the snack that Rachel had put down and threw it into my mouth. It was too small to taste anything.

Rather, I didn’t ask for this, but it seemed that the village chief or the residents had said something to Rachel.

Like, “Bring a snack before you meet the Dragon God.”

“Dragon! I gave you a snack······ show me the sea!”

[······Rachel.]

“Yes!”

Otherwise, there’s no way this clever little girl would make such a request.

[Did you forget that I’ve already shown it twenty times?]

And that every day for the past 20 days.

I shouldn’t have told her to come whenever she wanted. How can she come here every day since that day? What, are they not doing education or anything here? It’s also questionable how a five-year-old can cross that forest every day. Is there really something there?

But Rachel persistently changed the time and asked me to show her the sea. I couldn’t go back on my word.

In the end, I was looking for a way to finish Rachel’s request as quickly as possible and rather play other games.

“Oh, it’s a bubble! Hello again!”

Bubbling.

The lump of water I’ve been carrying around lately to increase my responsiveness was also one of those methods. Remembering that children were crazy about balloons, I showed them various animal shapes with a lump of water.

“Dragon! Make a whale!”

Rachel liked whales the most among the many animals. I thought she liked turtles more, but it seems that the huge size of the whale I saw a few days ago made her fall for it.

And surprisingly, this play worked well for me in terms of responsiveness training.

It continued from playing with balloons, and as I quickly changed the animals like a puppet show, my responsiveness naturally increased.

It feels like balancing childcare and work. ······I’m not Rachel’s parent, though.

[Rachel.]

“Yes, Dragon!”

[Do the residents say anything?]

On the other hand, Rachel wasn’t just coming to play. No, it was right to come to play, but sometimes she brought the village chief’s words. In fact, I was looking for a way to steadily hear about the village’s movements, but the village chief took the lead and tried to contact me through Rachel. Thanks to that, I could hear about the village without the village chief having to come.

I wondered if I had given Rachel a difficult task, but she herself never showed any signs of boredom.

“Uh······ ah, come to think of it, he said something difficult!”

Right, it’s difficult.

[What is it, I’m curious.]

“Uh······ so······.”

The village chief’s words could not be solved with the vocabulary of a five-year-old, and Rachel struggled for a few minutes, squeezing her head. Then, she remembered something and rummaged through her basket.

“I don’t know, but he told me to give you this!”

[The village chief has a plan. Okay, let’s see.]

What Rachel took out was a letter. It was a letter sealed with red wax that might be used in the Middle Ages. When I opened the envelope with the seal, a letter came out. Rachel gave me the letter and then squeezed her head again, trying to remember the village chief’s words.

[This content······.]

And the contents of that letter were quite shocking.

[What does it say.]

Because I couldn’t read it. Some squiggly letters were breakdancing, and I couldn’t understand what they meant. If there was even a picture, I could roughly understand the atmosphere, but the author of the letter was not considerate of illiteracy.

Then, Rachel exclaimed.

“Ah, I remembered!”

[Hmm?]

“So······ Cray something! And Sir Knight! And a visit to the village, and he said he would visit soon!”

[Cray something······ Craystist?]

“Ah, that’s right! How did you know, Dragon?”

Wait, if Rachel’s words are correct, this is quite a serious matter. I’m even wondering why the village chief didn’t come right away.

On closer inspection, there was also a seal on the wax that sealed the letter.

If you interpret Rachel’s words, it would be the Craystist family, a knight, and a visit to the village, these three things.

A knight of the Craystist family visits the village. In other words, the current ruler of this land could notice me.