77. Interlude 3
Time rewinds a little.
“Eibira, this place is incredible—thicker mana than anywhere else!”
Adra said, drawing mana from the dragon vein.
“Adra, be careful not to overdraw. Don’t get carried away—this mana’s too intense…”
Eibira chided him.
The dragons had reached a place known to the world’s inhabitants as the Spirit King’s Mound. The central nexus where all dragon veins converged.
The terrain was a plateau, steep cliffs, thick mana, and crisp air saturating the space. Yet, due to a certain barrier called the Spirit King’s Sanctuary, no beasts or monsters roamed here—though a forest existed, open grasslands stretched wide, and flowers bloomed in profusion. The barrier didn’t affect dragons.
Below the western cliff lay a lake.
Adra and Eibira decided to stay at the Spirit King’s Mound for a while.
◇
Years passed.
Adra and Eibira began, sometime in the past, to feel unwell—both physically and mentally. Something was wrong. Movements grew sluggish. Irritation built up, even impulses to destroy. They felt it.
Yet, pride as dragons and their inherent strength kept them from full frenzy. They managed to restrain themselves.
But as young dragons, neither could understand what caused this. No one to talk to, no answers—just days passing, one after another.
◇
One day, they noticed a small settlement along the lakeshore below the cliff.
The settlement had formed from poor people from distant lands and wounded adventurers fleeing elsewhere. Unable to survive in other towns, they’d gathered here in this remote spot, helping each other barely scrape by.
They’d fled here because they blamed the world—countries, really—for their failures, and couldn’t survive anywhere else.
Even the grand temple with its wide altar was beyond belief. Not that it ever was. Not anymore.
It probably started with something small. Still, when things don’t work, they just don’t work.
This place was known as the “Outcast Settlement,” a last refuge for those who’d failed elsewhere, ironically famous for its mutual aid.
A place where you only came after failing everywhere else—and then, only because you had no choice but to help each other survive.
When Adra and Iberia found the settlement, they saw it as a chance to pass the time. They approached the locals.
The settlement housed people of many races.
Adra and Iberia treated the injured and sick. First, a hunter who’d been wounded and couldn’t move, found at the edge of the settlement. The hunter had given up, convinced he’d be dead by the time the dragon showed up. But then, suddenly, the dragon cast a healing spell. The wound closed. The hunter stared. No words passed between them. He couldn’t read the expression—but he knew, somehow, that the dragon wasn’t coming to attack.
After that, the hunter began bringing food to the same spot, leaving it as an offering.
Later, a woman in the settlement suffered a terrible injury. In this place, a serious wound meant death.
The hunter rushed to his usual offering spot. Fortunately, the dragon was there. He gestured and pointed, making it clear he needed help. He managed to get the dragon to come back with him to the settlement.
And the woman survived. Full recovery. Her life was saved.
Since that moment, the villagers, after their initial shock, came to believe the two dragons—neither attacking nor harming anyone, and even healing the woman—were divine protectors.
The villagers began offering food harvested from the fields and meat from their hunts as sacrifices. The dragons, though they accepted only small portions, seemed genuinely pleased with these gifts, which they couldn’t obtain themselves.
◇
“O God Satias, honored by our ancestors, lend strength to Adra and Iberia.”
Adra and Iberia grew weaker each day, their bodies frail, their prayers to the god growing more desperate.
One day, a young man from the dragon people—recently arrived in the settlement and coincidentally present—overheard them praying while bringing offerings. He understood their words.
After that, the villagers began worshiping God Satias alongside the dragons.
The young dragon person became their interpreter.
Later, when he heard Adra and Iberia speak of journeying to the capital of the Hainzworth Kingdom, he quietly resolved to follow them.
Meanwhile, former adventurers who knew the capital was protected by a barrier made a plan: they would dismantle the barrier so their guardian dragons could enter unharmed.
As time passed, Adra’s condition worsened. His mind clouded, his temper frayed. Iberia worried, but knew no remedy.
Finally, Adra lost control—his mind fractured—and snapped at Iberia over a petty quarrel, then flew south without a word. Iberia, too shaken to reason, simply watched him go.
Iberia, though less affected than Adra, barely retained her sanity. One day, she sensed a powerful presence to the west and resolved to head in that direction to seek help. Thus, she too left the Spirit Hills.
After the dragons vanished, the villagers who believed the dragons had headed toward the capital decided, with resolve in their hearts, to follow them to the capital as well.
◇
This is Filidia’s white administrative chamber. Firumia, as usual, was conducting her routine world check.
A beep echoed, and a red alert message flashed on part of the screen.
“Eh? What…?”
Firumia stared at the screen.
— Miasma anomaly detected. Increase in monsters detected.
— Monster count exceeds threshold. Location: Forest near Heinzberg.
“What’s going on?! Why now?!” Firumia panicked. The footage of the previous collapse flashed through her mind.
For now, she had to send a divine oracle to the miko in the capital! Firumia hurried to prepare.
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