Chapter 55

The delicious smell of the female filled Bash’s nostrils. But odd. Under the sweet scent was another, something dangerous, something that sent a chill down the spine. “Hmm?” As Bash tried to push her down, he noticed something. The woman appeared to be bigger than before. Just a moment ago, she was only about the height of Bash’s chin, but for some reason, it now felt like she was the same height as Bash. “Relax.” “Hmm?” He tried to push her down, but she wouldn’t move. Instead, she continued to grow bigger… And bigger… Her beautiful face gradually became sharper from the nose down, and her soft body grew scales all over. The jagged teeth in her mouth elongated, like blades. “Not the season for eggs. They won’t hatch. A warm environment is needed for laying eggs and raising young. It is the female’s job to find a good environment.” The woman’s voice changed, became the rasping growl of a wild animal. A growl from the most ferocious creature of all. A growl that makes all other species flee in terror. “Wh-whoa…!” In his peripheral vision, Bash saw Zell retreat, until they were pressed against the wall of the cave. Bash also looked up in horror. He was embracing…a gigantic reptile. A dragon. “What?!” His sword was gone. He’d left it lying where the woman had just been. “Damn! It was a trap all along!” At the same time, all of Bash’s questions became clear. Although he’d smelled dragon blood, what he’d found in the cave was a woman. Of course. It was the dragon in disguise. Thinking back, he would have noticed if a woman had been about when he’d been fighting against the dragon. After all, a woman was what he’d come here to find. The woman’s face showed no expression when Bash bragged about his heroism and history of dragon slaying. Of course. No dragon would cheer to hear of the slaying of one of their own. The dragon must have been seething with anger all along. Moreover, the woman accepted his proposal without pause, even though there was no reason for her to do so. Why? All for this moment. Bash had heard that dragons were smart… But to pull off a ruse like this, all to kill Bash…? The dragon disguised itself as a woman and waited to get Bash in a moment of vulnerability… “Dammit!” The dragon had a firm hold of Bash. The tip of its tail was wrapped around his legs, preventing him from moving an inch. No matter how powerful Bash might have been, the most powerful of the orcs, he couldn’t defeat a dragon with physical strength alone. The dragon’s huge fangs came closer and closer to Bash’s face. “This is it…!” Bash prepared himself for death. He was cornered. He’d been caught with his pants down. But the dragon really had been two steps ahead. The dragon had deceived Bash by taking the form of a woman. “…Is this the end?” But the ambush had happened inside the cave. It was risky for the dragon, too. If Bash had caught on to its true identity and slashed the dragon with its sword, Bash would have won. The dragon, too, was walking on thin ice. In order to prevent their true identity from being revealed, the dragon had done their best to hide their anger. Bash could easily have noticed. It had been a close call. So Bash had no choice but to admit defeat. “…?” The dragon’s tongue licked Bash’s face. The barbs on its tongue scratched Bash’s cheek roughly. But the fangs never penetrated Bash, and the flames never scorched him. The beast-like yet somewhat sweet scent stimulated Bash’s nostrils. “Grrrr…” Instead, the dragon rubbed its nose against Bash’s face while making a slightly higher-pitched crooning noise that wasn’t quite a growl. Bash’s lips opened, and blood flowed. If Bash had been weaker, the dragon would have stripped the flesh off his face, probably killing him instantly. But this attack was not as strong as the sharp claws, the piercing fangs, or the searing breath. Perhaps the dragon wanted revenge before Bash died. To watch him tremble in fear. “I will return come mating season. Until then, I will prepare a suitable environment.” Amid the growling, so menacing that a bugbear would have molted in fear to hear it, the voice was saying something. But Bash was too terrified to make any sense of it. Then the dragon released him. The tail uncurled from around him, and Bash was free. Bash immediately tried to put some distance between them, looking for a chance to dash over to his sword. But by that time, the dragon was rotating its large body. “Protect your honor.” The dragon took off. Despite its large size, its steps were light and agile, and it moved with all the regality of the continent’s strongest creature. A huge tremor shook the cavern. The dragon took flight. Bash and Zell were left looking utterly confused. Outside the cave was a vast blue sky. Apart from the occasional soft breeze, all was still. The dragon was visible for a moment, then disappeared over the horizon. There was no sign of them coming back. “…What just happened?” It was Bash who spoke. He wasn’t really expecting Zell to explain. But he had to voice his shock at the bizarre events that had just transpired. “Ah, well… Hmm. Let’s see, Boss. I think I’ve heard a legend about dragons being able to transform into other races. When the dragon realized it couldn’t defeat you, Boss, it quickly transformed into another species to fool you, and thus managed to escape.” Zell’s opinion was almost the same as Bash’s. “But why did it let me go?” “I think the dragon…resonated with what you were saying, Boss? Like it seemed to get quite fixed on the concept of honor that you were mentioning. Before it ran off, I think it said something about protecting honor. Maybe you managed to win the dragon’s respect, as an honorable warrior. I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but…that’s what I think?” “I see. So dragons are also creatures that value honor.” The dragon had seemed unimpressed by Bash’s bragging. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t listening. “…” Still, no one could say for sure. The beautiful woman was gone. The dragon was gone. All that was left were bleak mountains and blue skies. Bash did not get a wife. He did not get the honor that comes from slaying a dragon. Those were the facts. “Gah…” Bash sighed heavily. The relief of having survived the dragon’s attack was now all but gone. He was overcome with a sense of futility. He’d traveled to the far north, deep in the mountains surrounded by snow and ice, climbed up the mountain, fought a dragon, and, not realizing she’d pulled a fast one on him, tried to woo a demon woman, only for her to turn out to be the dragon, who then fled. Bash got nothing. He had achieved nothing. Even Bash knew when it was a lost cause. His whole body felt heavy. “Boss…what are we going to do now…?” “Now…?” Actually, Bash wanted to know, himself. He’d come this far with good intentions, on good intel. He’d gone through the human town, the elf territory… He’d met dwarves, beastkin, succubi, demons. To the edge to the world. There was nowhere else to look. “I have no choice but to return home.” “I… I see, Boss. Right. The dragon won’t be coming back anytime soon. We’d better go back and report this to the demons. Hearing that, Bash thought. If he returned to the Gije Fort… What chance did he have of wooing a demon woman? Sequence had said that Bash could do what he wanted with any survivors from the dragon extermination squad. But there weren’t any survivors. Bash hadn’t explored every corner of the cave, but… That dragon was smart. It wouldn’t have missed anyone. A cunning lizard. It could disguise itself as another race and fool people. If there were other survivors, the dragon would never have let them go, or if it had kept them alive intentionally, there wouldn’t be much left of them. Sequence had only given permission for Bash to have his daughter or her demon subordinates. This meant that Bash would have to go back to the Gije Fort and try picking up demon girls from scratch. How would that work? Considering Bash’s past experiences and the famous haughty temperament of the demon women? “No. I don’t think a demon woman would want to marry an orc like me.” “So what should we do, Boss? Should we go to the ogre country or somewhere? Or maybe go back to where the beastkin are? You’re not going to go for the lizardmen or the harpies, are you?” “Hmm…” Bash thought. Where…? Where should he go? Since leaving the orc country, he’d traveled to various countries, met many women, and been rejected over and over again. Where could he go to make his wish come true? Bash had no idea. Orcs were not a race of thinkers. What did people do in situations like this on the battlefields of the past? Bash tried to recall… But he couldn’t think of any similar situations. In the past, when one battle was over, Bash just moved on to the next battle. When Bash didn’t know what to do, someone else would think about it and give him orders. There was never a time when Bash was alone and didn’t know what to do next. Ah, but no, Bash thought. There were times when he’d thought and acted on his own. It wasn’t a battlefield, but… Yes, at the time, Bash had a guideline. After deep thought, Bash came to a conclusion. “Let’s go back to the human country.” When Bash left the orc country, he’d headed first for Krassel, with the intention of marrying a human. Why? Because a human had seemed like the very best option. If so, he should go back there. Bash had learned many things during his travels. In the human country, he’d learned about the differing views on love held by other races. In the elf country, he’d learned how to propose. In the dwarf country, he’d learned how to pick up girls, and in the beastkin country, he’d learned the importance of clothing and proper dating. A battle is an accumulation of previous experiences. Just as some of the tactics useful against elves were also applicable to beastkin, the things Bash had learned so far would surely prove effective in battles against other races. In that case, maybe it would be a good idea to try going for a human woman one more time. At the very least, his chances seemed better there than with a demon. “We’ve come this far…but you’re right, Boss. That might be better. I’m sure there’s a human outpost to the southeast. It might be a good idea to head there first.” And so they’d decided on a direction. “All right, then. Let’s go.” “Okay, Boss!” Once the thinking was over, they wasted no further time. Bash and Zell exchanged a nod, and then they started down the mountain.