Chapter 51

8 EYES AND BONES Her eyes snapped open. Huh? I’m…not dead…? But Eyes was supposed to be dead. The green person’s sword should have decapitated her. A body casting Newt magic is more fragile and weaker than that of a dragon. No way Eyes could have survived. Huh? My wounds are…healed? When Eyes looked down, her body, which had been covered in wounds, was now clean and beautiful. Eyes’s claws were still mangled, but the cuts on her fingertips and the hole in her wing was gone, and even her busted eye and the wound in her neck had healed. …Was it a dream? More like a nightmare. A green person suddenly appeared in the nest, beat Eyes to a pulp, and tried to kill her. In the end, Eyes was cornered, with a sword swinging down on her… The green one was a fearsome person. Ah, just recalling it now made Eyes’s heart pound. To Eyes’s embarrassment, she’d actually dreamed of casting Newt. The first time she’d ever dreamed such a ludicrous thing. But upon waking, Eyes realized a dream was all it had been. No way that green person was real. “Hmm. She seems to have woken up.” “Yeep!” Hearing the voice, Eyes yelped and stiffened. He was there… Right in front of Eyes! The green person! That was no dream! “Are you cold? Are you hungry? Would you like some water?” The green person crouched right in front of the fear-frozen Eyes and gently wrapped Eyes in the fur he’d been wearing before. Then he offered Eyes lukewarm water and what appeared to be food. Eyes looked confused, eyes darting between the food and the green person. Eyes was at a loss. “You’re not going to eat?” With those words, Eyes dug into the food. Perhaps Eyes thought she would be killed if she didn’t do as she was told. “…” Eating while being glared at by the green person, it took Eyes a second to realize how good the food tasted. Eyes gobbled everything up. She must have been hungry. It wouldn’t be enough for a dragon, but it was enough for Eyes’s smaller Newt-induced body. …But why? Eyes had questions. Why was this green person giving food to someone he’d been trying to kill? Is it possible that they haven’t figured me out…? Maybe the Newt magic really was working after all. Perhaps that sword swing earlier hadn’t been meant for Eyes at all. Maybe Eyes had fainted in fear. But the person wasn’t actually trying to kill her. Just as Eyes was thinking that, the green person sat down in front of Eyes and spoke with a confident look on his face. “Worry not. I will slay the dragon.” Repeating himself, as if to show he wanted to start over again from that point. The same words Eyes heard before she had fainted… Eyes shivered all over. “When the dragon bares its claws, I’ll snap them off. When the dragon bares its fangs, I’ll smash its nose in. When the dragon breathes fire, I’ll get behind it and slice its wings off.” The green person described, in gruesome detail, how he planned to slay the dragon. If this happens, then I’ll do this. Or if the dragon does this, then I’ll do this. Finally… I’ll chop off its head. Indulging in deluded war fantasies is a common pastime among young people who don’t know their place in the world. Anyone who’s ever seen a dragon would likely scoff at such big talk. Even Eyes would have scoffed if a tiny person said something like that. Bring it on, Eyes would say, and then Eyes would tear them apart with her claws, crunch them between her jaws, and burn them to ashes with her fire breath. But those words had come from the mouth of the green person. Eyes had to admit that the green person could not be taken lightly. In the battle just before…all of that had actually happened. When Eyes bared her claws, the green person snapped them off. When Eyes lashed out with her fangs, the green person punched her nose in. When Eyes breathed fire, the green person got behind her and punctured her wing. This was no laughing matter. What the green person was threatening to do, he had already done. Even if Eyes mixed up her fighting style, no doubt the green person would be able to keep up. “I’ll behead it this time, for sure.” The green person glowered at Eyes. The threat before the initial blow. If Eyes could not escape, then the same thing would play out again. Eyes could still vividly remember the terror of the moment her throat was slashed. But why all this…? Is it possible, after all? He hasn’t noticed I’m me? The moment Eyes had this thought, the green person bared his fangs and spoke. “I won’t let the dragon get away this time. I’ll hunt it down and kill it, I swear.” No! He knows! Eyes began to tremble in spite of herself. The green person’s words were filled with strong will. Eyes was already dead, and it had been easy for the green person. Yes, Eyes was cornered! The green person could do it. He could do it easily enough. Even if Eyes fled to her old home on the other continent, this green person would surely chase after her. Eyes had no idea why the green person was so fixated… Ah, but Eyes did have some idea, actually. When her friend Bones died, Eyes was overcome with grief and rage and went on a bit of a killing spree. Even though Eyes was never really all that chummy with any other dragons. But to people, who are pack animals, Eyes’s revenge seemed only natural. Eyes saw people as expendable, puny beings that died at the drop of a hat. And yet they formed strong bonds between themselves. But why not kill me right away…? Eyes was confused, her mind jumbled. The green person probably knew that Eyes was the dragon he’d fought earlier. No doubt he knew that Eyes had used Newt to take on the form of a small person. Otherwise, there would be no need to declare that he was going to kill the dragon with such sincere, murderous intent. Why…? Why…? Eyes did not know why she hadn’t been killed already. But one thing was certain… Eyes would be killed sooner or later. Eyes’s survival instinct was still working to find some way out of this. I have to do something… I don’t want to die… In order to survive, Eyes had to get the green person to go away somehow. But the green person seemed hell-bent on killing Eyes. Eyes had to sweet-talk the person somehow and get him to spare Eyes’s life. But how…? Eyes could barely handle a people conversation. How was Eyes supposed to beg for her life? Eyes didn’t even know why she’d been spared! Dragons were highly intelligent. And fortunately for her, Eyes had that friend named Bones, who’d helped her learn people speech. Eyes could talk a little, but couldn’t handle a complex conversation. Persuading anyone in people speech seemed impossible. Eyes had to try. But if Eyes failed… The green person’s menacing words would become reality. If Eyes so much as slightly offended him… Can’t do it… Eyes couldn’t fight, couldn’t flee, couldn’t effectively beg for mercy. At this point, all Eyes could do was hang her head and tremble. Please, please spare my life, and if you are unaware of my true identity, then please let me leave this place quickly before you figure it out…! As Eyes was praying in silence, the green person spoke. “Just so you know, I’ve killed a dragon before. I will do the same to this one.” “…!” Maybe the green person knew everything after all, and his plan was to torment Eyes before killing her! Perhaps he knew the arcane method by which Eyes could look like this. Perhaps he wanted to enjoy the dragon’s cowering fear for as long as possible. Bones had told Eyes once that there were people who acted like that. Hearing this, Eyes had decided to try playing with her food. Eyes tormented some deer they were having for lunch before killing them, and it was a lot of fun. Recalling this now, Eyes trembled with fear. Eyes had no option of prolonging her life. Death was inevitable. After all, Eyes had never let any prey she was toying with escape. But then, suddenly, in the back of Eyes’s mind, the green person’s words lit a spark. Come to think of it, he’d said the same thing before Eyes fainted. “…Before?” Fear made her throat tremble, but perhaps because Eyes was now a person, Eyes found it easier to speak people words. Eyes felt an intense, chilling gaze fall on her. Eyes glanced at the green person. Perhaps it was because Eyes had become smaller, or perhaps because Eyes had become a person by the power of Newt… but the green person’s face looked terrifying to Eyes, like that of a legendary evil dragon. But Eyes didn’t think she’d said anything that would upset the green person…? “Yeah, that’s right. I’ve killed a dragon before.” The green person’s fangs glittered. For a moment, Eyes wondered if he’d killed it and eaten it with those very fangs, but no, that couldn’t be the case. It must have been with the sword on his back. “H-how?” Hearing this, the green person exchanged glances with the small person beside him. The little person responded by nodding vigorously. …Does this one know? Perhaps Eyes’s true identity had been sniffed out a while ago and the green person really was trying to kill her. Death is scary. All dragons are afraid of it. In all their long life, they never think of death. The knowledge that sudden death was upon its doorstep would make any dragon cower in fear. Was this the person who killed Bones…? Eyes’s desire to know won out. Or perhaps it was imminent death that gave her this desire to know. If she was going to die, she wanted to at least die after finding out. “It was at the Remium Plateau.” And then the green person began to speak. He cleared his throat and changed his tone and voice just a little. “At that time, I participated in the battle as the vanguard of the orc army. I was the number one spearman. Although any orc present would no doubt claim they were number one. That’s how fierce that battle was. Just surviving it was a point of pride in itself.” Actually, Eyes didn’t know this, but at the battle of the Remium Plateau, no orc present would boast of being the number one spearman. Anyone who was actually there would know who charged into the enemy camp first, who was the real spearman of the battle, and who was the first to take the head of a major enemy. The only orcs who might claim to have been the first to spear an enemy are those who weren’t even there. Or, perhaps, this orc here, who was. “We had the upper hand. In the blink of an eye, we crushed the human forces and marched toward the royal flag we could see in the distance. The first man to appear was the Knight of Mercy, Geilid Beckle.” “The Knight of Mercy was famous for taking no prisoners, you know?! He’s a cold-blooded murderer who’ll slaughter any enemy that appears before his eyes, no matter who they are! I’m sure as a demon you already know this, but he’s killed countless warriors, you know?!” said Zell. “Right. He was as fearsome as they come. But his horse wasn’t. When I unleashed my war cry, his horse got spooked and reared. That rogue, he actually used that as a chance to attack me from above! But I raised my sword and blocked it!” “Wh-what happened then, Boss?!” “I cut him in two.” “Of course you did! Your armor’s top-notch, Boss, but it’s your sword that really does the business! Cut him in two right at the belt, did ya?!” “I think you’re mistaken.” “Huh?” “I cut him vertically.” “Wow!” Eyes, hearing this tale, was confused. Huh… I thought this would be a story about Bones, but it doesn’t seem to be. In fact, there was no mention of dragons at all. It was all about petty people conflict. “What about…dragons?” “Hold on, hold on! Cool your jets! We’re talking the battle of the Remium Plateau, here! It started with a clash between orcs and humans! Lots of famous humans appear in this story, so listen closely, will ya? You have to tell a story in order! In ORDER! Honestly, don’t you know anything?!” “???” Eyes did not understand the story at all. But either way, it was not for Eyes to stop the conversation.