A Lie – Part 02
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Translator: Kell
The sun was setting in the snowy forest. With no light to illuminate the surroundings, it was difficult to see. It was just dark enough that Secrecy could remove his eyepatch, allowing him to see through the woods as if it were daytime.
“I wish I couldn’t see,” Secrecy said. “I’d rather be told we were dead than see this.”
From the depths of the darkness, they appeared, their figures far more grotesque than birds with fangs or bats the size of a horse.
A centipede-like snake monster with about ten pairs of human arms and legs. A swarm of fanged frogs, their entire bodies covered with eyeballs. A two-headed stag with bladed horns.
Just the sight of them almost made them give up on life.
“Well, this is something,” Gouda said. “H-How many more are there?”
“Countless. You’re shaking, Dragon Slayer King. Why don’t you hide behind Heath?”
“It’s just the cold. A little physical activity should warm me up!”
The first thing that lunged at them was the snake monster with human arms and legs. The priest’s strings cut off two pairs of its arms in the blink of an eye. Gouda grabbed the creature as it let out an otherworldly shriek, squirming, and mercilessly cut its head off.
“One down!”
“I can see how you managed to kill a dragon.”
“Ssh. Not in front of Heath.”
Heath was a baby dragon that recognized Gouda as its master after the man killed a dragon. He still had complicated feelings about it.
After killing the snake, Gouda engaged the two-headed deer. Suddenly, pain jolted in his leg, and he screamed, losing his balance.
“What is it?!”
“Where’d this frog come from?!”
A swarm of frogs with fangs and eyeballs drifted under the fresh snow to close the distance to Gouda. He cut down the frog that had bitten his leg, but another one came charging at him.
“Gouda! In front of you!”
“I can’t see everything, okay?!”
Gouda bent down and thrust his sword into the heart of the two-headed deer that rushed at him, swinging its bladed antlers around.
“You’re not the only one who can sense things, Priest.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s the Dragon Slayer King for you.”
Secrecy descended from the tree tops to the ground. His tough strings coiled around the deer’s neck and severed its flesh and bones. With its head missing, the deer pranced about, spilling blood everywhere, before finally collapsing into the snow. He swung his scythe and strings, and frog flesh and blood splattered all around, staining the white snow with the creatures’ sinister green blood.
Gouda let out a long breath. “I guess the prelude has only just begun. My hands are finally warming up.”
“Looks like the ground’s hard now. Makes it easier to move.”
They were only trying to act tough. Both men were already nearing their physical limits. They had no idea if they could hold until Zero arrived. Did she even know where Heath landed?
“Father… I have something to tell you.”
“Stay back, Lily. You’re only a liability right now.”
Silently Lily ducked behind Heath.
The roar of a wild beast shook the night-shrouded forest. Gouda and Secrecy readied themselves, staring into the darkness with their backs to each other.
“What’s going on?” Gouda asked. “Why aren’t they attacking?”
“I don’t know. They seem to be wary of something.”
A beast’s roar echoed in the woods once more. It sounded like a cry of pain and death throes at the same time.
The monsters that had surrounded them retreated like a wave, leaving behind a chilling silence.
Then came a different sound, the sound of two legs crunching on snow. It was too big to belong to a human. A wind blew, bringing the sickening smell of blood to their noses.
“Finally. I made it.” From the depths of the darkness, a black figure slowly appeared. “You’re not dead, are you? I can’t believe you brought all these with you.”
His body was covered in blood and mud to the point where you could not tell the original color of his hair. Guts were entangled on his sword. It was undoubtedly a monster, one so vicious that any ordinary person would have crumbled on the spot and begun saying their prayers.
Yet relief washed over them.
Gouda burst into laughter, holding his sides. Secrecy and the monster—Zero’s mercenary—exchanged glances, puzzled.
“Was I too late?” Mercenary asked.
“Anyone would start laughing if a monster like you appeared in this dire situation,” Secrecy replied, then turned to the rat Beastfallen. “Lily. You knew he was coming, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?!”
Still hiding behind Heath, Lily let her ears sag. “Because you told me to stay back. You said I was a liability. I tried to tell you.”
After exchanging a few quick greetings, we brought the priest’s party to town, where we were met by Orlux, Captain of Knox Cathedral’s Noble Guards, with a stupid look on his face.
“Wow… I can’t believe a dragon actually appeared.”
The first words that came out of his mouth were so normal that it made me despise him a little less.
While we were glaring at each other earlier, a pale Barcel came running to us with word from the Director that a dragon was going to crash.
“I heard that the dragon in Black Dragon Island returned to its long sleep,” Orlux said dryly, but we could not ignore the notice. After all, we knew that the dragon did not actually go back to sleep, and we were acquainted with the people riding it.
After learning about the situation in detail and where the dragon would crash, I grabbed what I could and raced to the woods, and somehow made it just in time.
I had no idea why the Director told us about the priests’ predicament, but I thought about commending him later.
“I told you,” I said. “The dragon woke up and the Dragon Slayer King defeated it. Now he’s riding it around.”
“This might sound strange coming from me,” Gouda said, walking behind us while pulling on the dragon’s reins, “but you can’t expect anyone to just believe that without question.” He shook his head, wearing the usual frown.
Still has a soft spot for Church officials, I see.
“Half of the world is in ruins,” I said. “Stags with bladed horns roam the woods. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of dragons were flying about. The Captain of the Noble Guards is just too thickheaded.” I put on a scowl.
“Mercenary!” Gemma came running toward us. “Thank goodness you made it—” She stopped dead in her tracks, cringing at the sight of me covered in blood and dirt. “Th-That’s not your blood, is it?”
“I look just like the Black Beast of Death, right?” I replied offhandedly.
Gemma nodded gravely. “I’m getting this urge to kill you,” she said with a straight face. She eyed the three guests that had arrived on the back of the dragon. “The Dragon Slayer King, the adjudicator from Dea Ignis, and a rat Beastfallen. I believe Commander Eudwright said you were headed to the Lutra Cathedral.”
The priest frowned, dazzled by the lights in town. “Are you serious?” There was irritation in his tone as he covered both eyes with his leather belt. “We informed Lutra Cathedral of the situation, stopped in Wenias, and then immediately flew north. Why? Because we couldn’t get in touch with you.”
Get in touch? How?
“Oh, the Witch Letter!” I clapped my hands together.
The Witch Letter was a handy pair of parchment; whatever you wrote on one appeared on the other. I’m pretty sure I gave it to Zero.
“Oh, I forgot about that,” Zero said nonchalantly.
I couldn’t believe what I just heard. “So you haven’t been in touch with the kid at all during the journey?!”
“We sent the Librarian of the Forbidden Library, who possesses the same ability as Thousand-Eyes. With her, the lass will know about our situation without us notifying her. There was no need to use the letter.”
“You could’ve at least—”
“What is done is done.” Zero turned to the priest. “The dragon’s mobility would have been invaluable to Wenias. Did something serious happen that warranted your coming to us?”
The priest was appalled at Zero’s unconcerned look. “We came to tell you that there is no one at the Altar. There’s no need to send a rescue team, so we were going to ask you to return. But the demons and monsters slowed us down significantly.”
I grimaced. “You just wasted your time. We heard about that last night.”
This time Gouda and the priest frowned.
“Did you learn about the Church’s beginnings too?” the priest asked.
We nodded silently. Suddenly the priest struck my head with his staff.
“What the hell was that for?!”
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