第９００堀：動き出す時 (Part1)
**Chapter 900: The Time to Move**
**Side: Zargis**
“……Hmm. I don’t quite get it. Or rather, to be honest, I find it hard to believe.”
“I thought you might say that.”
I could only respond with a slumped posture. We had finished the dinner prepared by Lord Gaul and had moved on to explaining the various circumstances, but… well, it’s Weed we’re talking about. How on earth was I supposed to explain it in a way that would be believable?
On top of that, there was the matter of visitors from another continent. Who would believe such a thing based on words alone? That was exactly why Princess Schael had tried to keep the conversation brief and leave as soon as possible, but…
“Lord Gaul, I understand why you’d say that, but these are things that are actually happening. Both the situation with Weed and the existence of the other continent.”
Well, as Princess Lowell said, facts are facts. We had no choice but to be honest, even if it wasn't sinking in. Of course, we weren’t just relying on words and documents…
“My sister is right, Lord Gaul. As proof, we have brought these colorful books, visual recordings, and various artifacts for you to see.”
As Princess Schael said, we had brought plenty of items to demonstrate Weed’s technological prowess, but…
“……Hmm. I see. I admit that I have never seen such things in my life. However, that does not make the absurd claim that there is a continent across the sea, and that people are actually traveling from there, any more believable…”
Even so, Lord Gaul was still tilting his head, looking as if he couldn’t believe a word of it. I truly understood the difficulty of trying to explain things to someone whose civilization was on a completely different level. Yuki used to do this kind of incredibly difficult and tedious work with us all the time. It’s far more troublesome than just fighting and forcing someone to submit, isn’t it?
…No, no. A paragon of intellect like myself shouldn't be thinking about resorting to force. That would be sinking to the level of Leia’s muscle-brained antics. Yes, stay calm. I am an intellectual. I must not resort to violence.
Hm? Wait a moment. As I thought this, I suddenly noticed something strange about Lord Gaul’s words.
“Wait a moment. Lord Gaul, are you saying you don’t know what lies beyond the sea?”
“Hm? That is naturally the case. Once you head out to sea, there is nowhere to rest your wings. The water is too salty to drink. And to top it off, if you dare to approach the surface to catch food, giant monsters attack you. You wouldn’t have enough lives to spare. Ah, I was young back then, so I ignored the warnings of my elders and went out to sea, only to have a terrible time. Hahaha!”
Oh, this is valuable information. It was surprising to hear that even dragons find it difficult to venture out to sea, but when you think about it, it makes sense. No one would willingly go where they cannot resupply food and water. Still, to think there are monsters in the sea that even a dragon would call "giant"... but that’s not relevant right now. I need to explain the situation with Weed.
“Well, I may be a stubborn old man who knows nothing of the world, but I can tell that you are not lying. What you are saying is likely the truth.”
Oh, he’s surprisingly reasonable.
“I understand why Lady Lowell, Lady Schael, and the rest of you are struggling to explain this. It is only natural; very few would believe such an absurd story upon hearing it for the first time.”
“Yes, that is true. However…”
“Still, you feel you cannot afford *not* to explain it. Because the world has already progressed that far.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Honestly, the world has changed so drastically in the last few years that even I find it hard to believe.
“Even I find it hard to believe sometimes. After all, I am a member of the Demon race, the natural enemy of humanity. And yet, here I am, standing side-by-side with these people before you, Lord Gaul.”
“Indeed. When I first met Lady Miyabi, I could never have imagined… no, wait, I did. The Hero said so.”
“The Hero?”
“Yes. He said that one day, humans and demons would join hands to build a peaceful world.”
“““……”””
That’s right. Queen Miyabi must have said it. The Hero, who was Queen Miyabi’s partner, had said that a day would come when everyone would join hands. It makes sense, considering that the Hero was also Japanese. He knew that day would come. Or perhaps, he simply believed in the people of this world.
“It seems that by shutting ourselves away on this mountain peak, we have failed to keep up with the trends of the world. Indeed, for the past few hundred years, almost no one has left the village.”
“Oh, so some people *do* leave the village after all.”
“Yes. Dragons are often viewed as dangerous, after all. So, once every thirty years, we have those who take on the duty of observing the outside world to gather information. We live on this mountain peak specifically to avoid unnecessary contact with people and to prevent ourselves from getting caught up in trouble.”
“I suppose living in such a cliffside location would certainly keep the trouble to a minimum.”
“Well, I don’t think that was a bad decision. While some fear dragons, it is obvious that those in power would desire our strength.”
Indeed, there are surely those who would seek to claim a dragon’s power for themselves. Living in a place like this to avoid such people was not a wrong decision. But naturally, it would leave them out of the loop regarding information. As I was thinking this, I suddenly remembered something.
“Come to think of it, didn’t you mention earlier that there are other Dragonkin besides your group?”
That’s right. He had mentioned other Dragonkin, other dragons.
“Ah, yes. I hadn’t gotten to that yet. As Lady Riel and Lady Kaya mentioned earlier, there are dragons who desire to own castles or demand sacrifices. There were those who did not wish to live quietly as we do, but instead chose to wield their power.”
“*Were*? Ah, come to think of it, I see Wyverns occasionally, but I’ve never actually heard of anyone hunting wild dragons.”
“And I’ve never actually heard of dragons demanding castles or sacrifices.”
“Those are just fairy tales, right?”
As Mauve and the others said, in this day and age, one doesn’t even hear rumors of the evil dragons that Riel and Kaya spoke of. I wondered why such fairy tales existed, and Lord Gaul provided the answer. Such dragons *did* exist in the past.
“The dragons that appear in those fairy tales… when I was young and had left the village, they actually existed. There were those who descended upon human settlements and attacked people as dragons. And all of them were defeated by the Hero, bringing peace to the world.”
“Wha—!? So the origin of those fairy tales was actually Queen Miyabi and the Hero!? That’s amazing!!”
“……That is indeed amazing. They were doing things like that? And so, the stories of those evil dragons have remained to this day?”
“That is exactly it. The image of dragons being wicked and cruel has become deeply rooted.”
“It’s true, I’ve never heard a story about a ‘good’ dragon.”
Indeed. I’ve never heard of a good dragon, either.