Chapter 8 : The Dragon’s Mind

“No, no… Jonan, do you know what you’re saying?”
The captain grabbed his head and asked Jonan in a bewildered tone.
But Jonan had the eyes of a person who had already made up his mind.

“Look, Jonan.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“You’re bringing up a difficult topic at a difficult time.”
“I’m sorry. But it was urgent.”
“I suppose so. Whether the dragon finds us or the villagers find the dragon, something will happen eventually. I understand a hundred times what you mean.”

But, unlike his words of understanding, the village chief’s complexion wasn’t very good.

“But the situation is difficult right now. Jonan, you know that too.”
“……”
“The merchants say it’s hardly raining anywhere in the kingdom. Not only is the nearest village suffering, but even our village is starting to feel the effects.”
“That’s right.”
“And the Red Moon will rise soon. Animals are disappearing from the forest, and red monsters are increasing.”

Jonan knew more about the red monsters than the village chief.
Therefore, he understood very well how serious the red monster problem was for the village.

“So the village’s finances are shaking because we’re hiring mercenaries who are increasing in price to guard the village. But even those mercenaries aren’t doing their jobs properly.”

Jonan thought of the mercenaries who had caused him to be in danger— all three of them.
They were crazy bastards who boasted without ever having properly fought red monsters.

“And in that situation, you want us to serve a dragon? Jonan, it’s impossible.”
“Jonan, I know your daughter and you were helped. But when I think of the dragon’s appearance you described… it sounds just like a monster.”
“Yes, the captain is right. If word gets out the wrong way, it could even reach the capital and the Holy Kingdom!”

The moment the rumor reaches the capital, an expeditionary force will be formed instantly, and many strong people will gather to capture the dragon.
Regardless of the outcome of the battle between the expeditionary force and the dragon, the village that followed the dragon would be burdened with the disgrace of being associated with a monster.
Even if it was related to the Holy Kingdom, they could all be judged as heretics and punished.

That scenario played out in Jonan’s mind.

‘…Was I too hasty?’
The elation of a noble being saving his family.
Jonan felt the reason that had been swept away by that emotion gradually returning.

‘Following the dragon will definitely be helpful. That’s for sure. But for that… the timing for the village is bad.’

“Jonan.”
“…Yes, Chief.”
“But don’t regret saying it. You spoke well.”
“That’s right. There’s a big difference between knowing in advance and preparing for something, and encountering it suddenly. But there’s a problem with following the dragon.”
“I don’t disbelieve or deny what you said. It’s just that we need time. Time to solve the problems one by one.”
“……I understand. I think I was too hasty. I’m sorry.”
“No. You were trying to help the village. Now, let’s see. The dragon was… well, it was friendly to you, you said?”
“At least it wasn’t hostile. It didn’t ask for anything either.”
“Then it’s unlikely to come to the village for the time being?”
“That’s likely.”

There were many stories that dragons liked gold or beautiful women, but the dragon Jonan encountered didn’t seem to fit that description.
It didn’t particularly want anything, and it didn’t show any signs of it.

“Good. Then let’s put this story aside for a while. Let’s deal with the red monsters first.”
“Chief, then about the dragon…”
“Keep it a secret. It could cause unnecessary confusion and provoke the dragon.”
“Captain, it would be better to change the patrol route altogether.”
“That’s right…”

The village elder opened the door and went outside with the two.
The cool air and sunlight warmed their bodies.

“By the way, Jonan, you speak better than I thought?”
“Come to think of it, that’s right. Have you been talking like that on purpose all this time?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Never mind, just take good care of Sophie. She’s been crying and making a fuss since last night.”
“Did she? Sophie, that child still hasn’t gotten rid of the habit of crying and following Jonan since she was a child.”
“Please stop talking about my childhood…”

Jonan, caught up in the two old men’s reminiscences, missed his wife waiting at home.

Red Moon, red aura, and red monsters.
“The numbers are increasing.”

In the forest, and in the sea.

The number of red dots was increasing with each passing day.
Even if you don’t bother them, they will return at dawn when the red-glowing moon sets.
But until then, they become beings that sacrifice their whole bodies to kill their enemies.

“Then I think I’ll need a new ability…”

The only ability I can use now is psychokinesis.
But it’s difficult to deal with a large number of enemies with psychokinesis.

I’ve never dealt with a large number of people before.
All of them were one-on-one battles.
Of course, it was only the other party’s blood, but I wasn’t hurt at all.

Anyway, if I fight with psychokinesis, I may be able to win, but it will take a long time.
It’s like moving beans with chopsticks.
In other words, I need a spoon.

“A wide-area attack that a dragon can use…”

For a dragon, it’s easy.
Just breathe out bad breath, as if you were breathing, and you can burn your enemies with fire breath.
Depending on the variation, there might even be a creature that spews blizzards or poisonous gas.

But dragons can’t use breath.

“In the first place, is it even possible to shoot fire from your mouth?”
It’s fortunate if you don’t get burns on your neck.
Is it normal to have such a crazy body structure?

I slowly floated in the air and pondered about the next ability.

“Dragon, wide-area attack…”

Then, at a glance, I saw the dark clouds of the Dark Sea far away.
It was a terrifying storm that shot strong winds and heavy rain with lightning every moment.

“Storm.”
Sounds good, doesn’t it?

It’s an ability a blue dragon would use, and if used properly, it’s a very suitable ability for a wide-area attack.
It’s not even a normal range, and if you put your mind to it, you could cover the sea like the storm of that dark sea.

The problem is how to create and control the storm.
Surprisingly, something similar was possible right away.

Whoosh…

Part of the seawater moved around and hit the cliff like an artificial wave.
The amount was much greater than the amount moved by psychokinesis when I killed the red whale last time.

“Did I grow by using psychokinesis often?”

Just like you level up by gaining experience points when you fight often in a game, just as your muscles develop when you keep using them,
it seemed to be evidence that the concentration—or rather the mind—which is the basis for using psychokinesis, had grown a step further than before.

But it was close to impossible to create a storm with psychokinesis.

It’s not something you can do with a clear head.

“Then I’ll just have to not be clear-headed.”

I exhaled quietly.
What I’m about to do now is an area I’ve never tried before.
Can I even imagine the feeling of my body not being my body?

What I’m trying to do now is such a thing.

A change in thinking.

“I am a dragon. And a dragon is a transcendent being, a being with a mind that far surpasses that of humans.”

I closed my eyes and recited the definition of a dragon.
Then I felt a certain emotion wriggling in a corner of my head.

The dragon’s mind.

It is another mind that I acquired after becoming a blue dragon.

Unlike the human mind that I had since I was a human, the dragon’s mind—designed only to fit this body—thought and acted differently from humans.

It sounds grand, but in reality, it’s better to think of it as another mask rather than a second personality.

It’s like being a keyboard warrior on the internet but shrinking as soon as you go outside.
Since the dragon’s mind acts like a dragon, it’s good to think of it as the keyboard warrior.

The human mind is slightly out of sync with this body, so it’s good to think of it as a shrinking mind.

After a while, I felt my mind changing.
It was good to feel the confidence overflowing.
It was a transformation into a keyboard warrior.

At the same time, the surrounding environment began to change.

“If I knew it would work this well, I would have done it sooner.”

I moved my body and examined the waters that responded to my mind.
The feeling that everything in the seawater was clearly imprinted in my head.

“The dragon has been in charge of the weather since ancient times, and water occupies a large part of the weather.”

I closed my eyes and thought of the many weathers that unfold every day.

Rainy days, days with lots of dark clouds, days with strong winds, days with lightning, days with storms, days with blizzards, etc…

“So all the water in the world must follow me.”

Bubble bubble bubble.

The seawater began to wriggle, creating splashes.
At the same time, all the senses of my whole body stood up, and there was an illusion that the world was changing.

But I left my body as the dragon’s mind did.

My two feet grabbed the reef and began to lift my huge body above the surface.

The scales and fur spewed out the seawater they had absorbed, revealing their majestic and beautiful bodies.

At the same time, the flow of the waves that were raging around began to change and surround me.

I liked the attitude of the seawater trying to support me as the center of the waves.
Not only that, but I also began to feel the water hiding around me.

The water that rises through the roots of the trees that make up the forest, the groundwater that the ground below holds, the water vapor that makes up the sky.

Everything that makes up water was responding to me, the center of this place.