Chapter 361 – Conference Under the Night Sky

Conference Under the Night Sky

「Ow, ow, ow…」

「Hikaru, are you okay?」

「I-I’m gonna use healing magic!」

「No, I’m fine. Thank you.」

Hikaru stood up with Lavia’s help. His body was covered in dust. Just now, from the top of the mountain, he used his revolver to fire four shots of Lavia’s fire magic.

A tremendous chill ran down Hikaru’s spine. As he was rolling down the mountain top, the Evil Drakon’s roar sent shockwaves that pushed Hikaru and sent him tumbling down the bare mountain. Lavia and Paula, who were just waiting for him on the mountainside, caught him. If not for them, he would’ve tumbled all the way down.

「Man… Not even a scratch on the thing.」

Perhaps it would’ve a different story if Hikaru’s Snipe skill activated. Unfortunately the Evil Drakon seemed to have noticed him before the first attack even landed. It was evident from the fact that it stood up right after the first shot too.

There was a considerable distance between Hikaru’s position and the evil drakon—about five hundred meters. Although the spell lost power, he was still able to hit his target because of his maxed-out Throwing stat.

「H-Hikaru-sama. What happened to that?」

「It broke.」

A section of the revolver’s barrel had been twisted. It was the reason why he could only fire four shots instead of six.

「Anyway, let’s retreat for now.」

Flying dragons were gathering in the sky. Hikaru decided to leave the mountain for the time being.

It took them ten days to arrive here from Dream Maker. They avoided engaging in any sort of combat, and when Hikaru found creatures that had promising meat, he killed them in one shot with his Stealth. They packed as much ready-to-eat food as possible in the Dimension Dragon Box, but balanced nutrition was important. They had already considered replenishing their supply somewhere before they even departed.

Fortunately, they had no problem with meat consumption as Hikaru could tell if a living creature was contaminated with his maxed-out Mana Detection. For fruits, they picked those they knew for sure were safe to eat.

All three of them had improved in their hang-gliding. When at first they could only travel thirty kilometers a day, now they could go over two hundred a day.

The distance they traveled indicated that the continent was a thousand kilometers in length from Dream Maker to the northern tip. Assuming it was the same from Dream Maker all the way south, then the whole continent was only two thousand kilometers in length from tip to tip, less than half the size of the continent where they came from.

However, with hang gliders as their only means of transportation, it was exhausting.

「How is it?」Lavia asked.

「Hmm… Yeah, it’s no good. It’s busted.」

The revolver showed no signs of getting fixed.

Hikaru and the girls hid themselves in a place with large boulders. Just ten minutes ago, flying dragons were making a lot of noise in the skies, but now it was quiet.

They drank some tea that Paula brewed. Fortunately they had unlimited supply of clean water from the Spirit Magic gems.

「That miasma’s bad for the body, right?」

「Probably. The ground around the Evil Drakon was black. I bet if you fall over and land on your hands, you’ll get burned.」

「Yikes…」

「Even Lavia-chan’s long-range magic doesn’t work. Does this mean there’s nothing we can do?!」

The girls were understandably dejected. They traveled all day every day to the point of exhaustion, not able to have a satisfying meal or a bath. Then again, that’s what it’s like to be an adventurer.

Hikaru peered beyond the large boulders. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the land.

「We’ll try again tomorrow.」Hikaru said.

「The drakon will probably still be on guard tomorrow…」

「I think so too. But since it can’t see us at all, it doesn’t know who the attacker is. Also, the miasma is thinning due to its roar.」

Hikaru took a sip of hot tea. It trickled down his throat and down to his stomach. He found himself feeling cold. The temperature was a little lower up north, but that wasn’t the reason he felt chilly.

That roar… I would’ve been in serious danger if it hit me.

An indiscriminate attack in all directions—the biggest weakness of Stealth. He had to turn back because of the revolver breaking. But if it didn’t and he fired all six shots, he would’ve been hit by the roar and blown off the mountain, even from that distance.

Damn monster…

If we let the opportunity slide tomorrow, things might get difficult later, Hikaru thought as he watched the bonfire.

Lavia and Paula were sleeping in their sleeping bags—ones that had no zipper, only buttons.

It was cold here in the north, the temperature at night almost freezing. Extinguishing the fire would be life-threatening. Still they had to keep it alive, even it meant the smoke that went out of range of Hikaru’s Stealth would betray their location.

But it didn’t seem like they had to be extra careful. The flying dragons had not returned. Hikaru would notice first if there were monsters nearby.

What do I do? Sure, the miasma’s gotten thinner, but the ground’s still thick with it. I don’t think shoes will protect me from it. Can I kill the drakon with Assassination if I get close enough? It’s worth a shot.

Hikaru stared at his wakizashi’s sheath. The tremendous magical power that the magic sword held projected a dragon pattern on the scabbard made from the wood of a Sacred Tree of Everlasting Darkness.

The wakizashi was effective against the Gray Noble Drakon. It should be able to strike a blow against the Evil Drakon as well.

But even with Assassination, I couldn’t kill it with just the wakizashi.

In the end, it was the last bullet from the revolver that killed it—the bullet loaded with evil magic. Since he couldn’t defeat the Gray Noble Drakon in one strike, it was appropriate to assume that killing the Evil Drakon in one strike would be difficult as well.

I have three points available on my Soul Board… Since my Throwing is already maxed at 10, should I bump my Strength from 3 to 6? No, there’s no guarantee that’s enough to kill it for certain. If I failed to slay the drakon, I would have to worry about the next attack.

The revolver was nearing its limit. He wasn’t even sure if it could stand another shot.

Evil magic worked on the Gray Noble Drakon. Maybe because that drakon was a holy one. Does that mean holy magic will work on the Evil Drakon? But there’s only Healing and Support magic under the Holy stat…

In games, there are spells that deal damage to the Undead, but such magic don’t exist here. Purification magic might work, but how effective it would be is unknown. Especially since the Evil Drakon wasn’t really an Undead in the first place.

Ah, damn it. I have too little information. I wish Drake was here.

Thin clouds blanketed the sky, hiding the stars. The glutton—the Young White Drakon—had not come back after returning to his hometown. Hikaru even had a feeling he wasn’t coming back.

What do I do? The only thing I can do is use my Soul Board. I wonder if there’s any other strategy…

「What the?!」Hikaru gasped.「Lavia, Paula…?」

Lavia put her hand on Hikaru’s right arm, and Paula put her hand on his left arm.

「There’s your bad habit again.」Lavia said.

「What?」

「You worry about everything by yourself. You have two beautiful girls here with you, but you don’t consult them on something as important as this.」

「Lavia…」

「H-Hikaru-sama! My whole being is yours! You might not like it, but if you tell me to go, I’ll go and slay the drakon on my own! Wh-Who knows? Maybe I can kill it!」

「Paula…」

Hikaru thought they were asleep, but it seemed they were just pretending to sleep while watching him. He felt a mix of happiness and embarrassment.

「But Lavia…」

「Not buts.」

Lavia sat down close to Hikaru.「I didn’t come here to be a burden. I came with you to defeat the Evil Drakon.」She watched the fire, her arms wrapped around her knees and her chin resting on them.

「M-Me too!」

Paula tried to sit beside Hikaru as Lavia did, but instead put a little distance between them. Sitting on her soles, she turned her body at an angle to face Hikaru.

「If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.」

「Well, I’m not going to ask you to go on a suicide mission by yourself. Wait, do I look like someone who’d do that?」

「It was just a figure of speech… You’re too nice. I’m sure you’re thinking of a plan that doesn’t involve me and Lavia-chan getting hurt. Even if that means putting yourself in danger.」

「I, uhh…」

She hit the mark. Hikaru’s plans always made sure that the girls stayed safe from harm. His thought process had become so natural that he didn’t even realize it until someone pointed it out. He couldn’t blame them if they thought he didn’t have faith in them.

「I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.」

「I know. So let’s figure this out together, okay?」Lavia looked at Hikaru.

Hikaru breathed a long sigh. Not a heavy one, but a sigh that made his heart feel lighter.

「Thank you.」

The three spent the whole night discussing. As the night sky slowly began to brighten, they came to a conclusion.

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