Chapter 26: The Arrogant Beast

After taking a moment to collect my thoughts and clear away the cognitive dissonance clouding my mind, I turned to Thrall and asked.

“Let’s start with introductions. I’m Owen.”

“……I’m Thrall.”

“Right. Thrall. Nice to meet you.”

When I held out my hand, Thrall’s eyes widened in surprise as he slowly reached out.

“Ah…… Yes.”

And then, obediently, he grasped my hand.

‘……This definitely isn’t the Thrall I knew.’

Long ago, a fool of a commander who was always a headache to our side once tried to persuade Thrall by meeting him face to face.

The result was a bloodbath.

But now, what was this innocent look, awkwardly holding my hand?

This was all so hard to comprehend.

It was just a handshake, but Thrall looked inexplicably happy, rubbing the hand I had touched with a silly smile on his face.

The cognitive dissonance threatened to give me another headache, but I forced myself to bear it and asked.

“Thrall. I want to ask just in case. If you have nowhere else to go, would you come with me?”

“……With you, Owen?”

“Yes. In fact, I came here to get you.”

At that, Thrall looked startled.

“Are you the one the Lord arranged for?”

“……What?”

Now what was he talking about?

I stared at him in surprise, and Thrall gave me a puzzled look.

“Uh, am I wrong? I just had a good feeling, so I figured that must be it.”

If he’s talking about the Lord here, it could only mean the Dragon Lord.

But that guy arranged things?

Arranged what?

“……Thrall. Just to be sure, can you answer me honestly?”

“Ah, yes. If it’s something I can answer.”

“Hmm. Do you remember where you were being held right now?”

“Huh? Was I being held somewhere?”

Well, this is hopeless.

I decided to give up on getting any useful information from Thrall.

But one thing was certain.

‘The World Tree knows the culprit.’

From the moment it pointed to the Heavenly Palace as the culprit’s location, I’d had my suspicions, and now I was nearly convinced.

They must have communicated directly as well.

The World Tree is the Mother of the Earth, and she possesses a clear intellect capable of protecting herself.

There’s no way the World Tree would let a dragon inside her without good reason.

She would know exactly what might happen if she did.

But the fact that it happened anyway meant that the dragon who locked Thrall inside must have gotten the World Tree’s permission.

The World Tree and the dragon are accomplices in this case.

And with that realization, my list of suspects narrowed down to just one.

‘The Dragon Lord.’

He’s one of the few who can communicate with the World Tree, and who can use dimensional magic.

Combine that with what Thrall just said, and the answer’s clear.

At this point, he’s not just a suspect—he’s practically the culprit.

But right now, that wasn’t as important as Thrall.

“I doubt I’m who the Dragon Lord arranged. But since we’ve met like this, I suppose it’s fate.”

“……The Lord always warned me to be most wary of fate.”

That guy always manages to say something perfectly reasonable in the most pointless places.

“If fate offers you a path that benefits you, it’s not something to fear—it’s something to welcome.”

I held my hand out to Thrall.

“And I can protect you.”

“……You’ll protect me?”

“I know your situation. There were young dragons chasing after you.”

Thrall’s face noticeably darkened.

“……So you know what kind of position I’m in, then.”

“Mm.”

Not exactly, but being called a traitor even by the young dragons, I could imagine how the Elder Dragons must treat him.

Which made it all the more confusing.

‘Even if it’s the Lord’s will, protecting a young dragon is supposed to be their duty. Why?’

History books about dragons always describe them as obsessively protective of their young.

Some dragons that left the Heavenly Palace to prevent the world’s destruction stayed by the young dragons’ side, guarding and caring for them twenty-four hours a day.

When I followed Ryuk to the Heavenly Palace, I saw Elder Dragons looking after the young ones with terrifying devotion.

It didn’t matter if they were their own offspring or not.

From a human’s perspective, it was sheer madness.

But now, why was Thrall being treated so differently, even though he was a young dragon too?

Something about the dragons I knew just didn’t add up.

“If you’re not the one the Lord arranged, just leave me alone. You’ll only bring trouble upon yourself by getting involved with someone like me.”

With the hand I’d been holding out, I balled it into a fist and knocked Thrall on the crown of his head.

Smack!

A hard sound rang out like two rocks colliding.

“Why, why did you hit me all of a sudden?!”

Thrall clutched his head and whimpered—it must’ve hurt a lot. I forced down the cognitive dissonance creeping back up.

“A kid like you shouldn’t be worrying about things like that.”

If this Thrall and the one I knew were truly the same person, there must be a reason he ended up so broken.

I had no desire to face that terrifying demon dragon again, so I steeled myself as I spoke.

“In the first place, whether the Lord arranged it or not doesn’t matter to me. I was looking for you anyway.”

“For me? Why?”

“If you need a reason, it’s because protecting you is to my benefit, and I already told the young dragons of the Heavenly Palace I’d bring you to them.”

At my words, Thrall’s eyes grew wide.

“You-you’re really taking me to the Heavenly Palace?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“……Haha.”

Thrall’s expression grew noticeably gloomy.

“No, there’s no problem. Well, I’ve at least had a taste of the outside air, so I guess I can’t ask for more.”

I curled my fist again and rapped him on the head.

“Ouch?! Wh-what was that for this time?”

“You’re not listening. I told you already, protecting you is to my benefit. Why are you whining as if you’re about to die?”

“But you just said you’re taking me to the Heavenly Palace!”

“So?”

“If I go back now, I’ll be executed!”

“Did you think I’d take you back without knowing that?”

Thrall looked at me with dazed eyes.

Seeing that innocent look, I felt ashamed for having been so wary all this time.

‘What am I doing, acting like this in front of a kid.’

I patted and mussed Thrall’s hair as I spoke.

“I intend to get a definite promise from the Lord that you won’t be harmed. If things go on like this, there’ll be a clash with the dragons eventually. Better to get it over with quickly than let things build up.”

Still, Thrall looked worried.

“How’s a lowly human supposed to face all those Elder Dragons? Are you out of your mind?”

“I’ve always been of sound mind.”

Well, sometimes I hear voices and see things, but it doesn’t interfere with daily life, so I’d say I’m fine.

“And that’s not your concern. You should be more worried about learning how to live and adapt outside the Heavenly Palace. Isn’t that so, Elf King?”

The Elf King, who’d been listening quietly beside us, chuckled softly.

“Such worries are meaningless for a being of greatness.”

“Hahaha, greatness, huh? Seems too generous a title for ones who can’t even protect a child.”

As Thrall’s expression grew more and more amusing, I decided to move on.

“Thrall, I’ll soon be leaving for the Heavenly Palace. And there, I’ll get permission from the Lord to take responsibility for you. If things go as planned, you’ll be staying by my side from now on.”

Thrall fell silent, but in his eyes I saw a lingering glimmer of hope.

“Truly…….”

Thrall’s voice trembled.

“You really think you can get me out of there?”

I answered in a deliberately forceful tone.

“Even if you say you don’t want to leave, I’ll take you out anyway.”

Tears welled in Thrall’s eyes, but he quickly wiped them away with his arm and regained his composure.

“Alright. Hell, if I’m going to die either way, I might as well risk it and die trying.”

He seemed to have let his true feelings slip, but I didn’t bother to point it out.

“There’s no other option anyway. I’ll follow you, Owen.”

I grasped the hand Thrall offered me and replied.

“You can look forward to it.”

“Are you really leaving right now?”

“There’s no time to waste.”

As soon as we’d composed ourselves, I left the Elf Kingdom with Thrall, heading for the Heavenly Palace as directed by the World Tree.

Since the Elf King Ellesion himself had come to see us off, all the elves nearby kept their distance, watching from afar.

“So, Whatever you know, you said there’s a high chance the dragons might go berserk. And that you have to persuade them. If they’re still able to communicate, that means we don’t know what might happen if we take too long.”

The problem is, I still have no idea what kind of ‘berserk’ state the World Tree was talking about.

Is it a magical frenzy? A physiological one? Or……something else entirely?

Either way, I just don’t have enough information. In the end, the only way to find out more is to go to the Heavenly Palace myself.

Taking responsibility for Thrall’s safety was almost a bonus at this point.

“Hmm, understood. If there’s another chance, we’ll meet again.”

I nodded in reply.

“As long as we share a common enemy, we’ll meet again soon.”

“……Haha. That’s true.”

The Elf King smiled wryly, catching my meaning, and extended his hand.

“You’ll have to meet the dragons of the Heavenly Palace, so at least let the journey there be a comfortable one. Until you leave the Great Forest, nothing will threaten you.”

“……The Elf King’s blessing, huh? Not bad.”

At least the journey would be peaceful.

The Vismark mountain range is a vast range to the north of the Ellesion Great Forest, known for being snow-covered all year round.

It’s a region where the cold never lets up, so proper winter gear is essential to survive.

But pressed for time, I didn’t bother packing anything.

“God of the Sun, grant me fire.”

Instead, I made full use of the Sun God’s Blessing.

Thankfully, the gods I contracted with aren’t stingy about letting me use prayers for non-combat purposes.

Of course, it’s not like there’s no price.

Maybe the Sun God got annoyed at me for using his blessing for trivial things; when I asked him to set my sword aflame, he set my hand on fire instead.

But since staying warm was more important, I just used my hand as kindling.

After seeing that, even the Sun God seemed exasperated, and finally lit my blade as I’d asked.

‘……You really are something else.’

For reference, Thrall says that dragons aren’t affected by the cold.

At times like this, I really cursed the frailty of my human body, but there was nothing to be done, so I let it go.

Soon, my charred hand healed, and before long, the Vismark Snow Mountain loomed before us.

“The Heavenly Palace should be somewhere around there.”

I gazed at the tallest peak in the range.

Thrall followed my gaze and tilted his head.

“I don’t see anything?”

“……I heard you can’t use magic, but can’t you even sense mana?”

“No.”

“……Ah.”

So he’s mana-insensitive.

I’d heard from Ryuk that some people have a rare constitution where they can’t sense mana at all.

But I never expected it to appear in a dragon.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I can’t see it either.”

“……Huh? Then how are you so sure it’s there?”

“Hmm.”

After spending time with Ryuk, you get a feel for how magic flows and operates just from experience…….

“It’s hard to explain. It’s not a matter of talent or perception—it’s just experience. You have to be able to sense mana for it to make sense, so no matter how many times I explain, you probably won’t get it.”

‘……Tsk. I suppose there’s nothing I can do, then.’

Thrall shrugged.

Still, judging by the stiffness in his movements, he seemed quite tense at the thought of approaching the Heavenly Palace.

I patted his shoulder.

“Stick close to me. I’m about to call the dragons.”

“……Huh? You’re going to call them?”

Nodding at Thrall’s question, I prayed.

“Storm God, lend me your wind.”

The Blessing of the Storm God and a gentle breeze gathered around me.

I took a deep breath and shouted.

“Dragons holed up in the Heavenly Palace!”

Whoosh!

The breeze swirling around me carried my voice across the entire mountain range.

“I’ve got the traitor you’re looking for!”

My voice echoed from every peak.

“I’ve come to negotiate with your Lord, so open the gate while I’m asking nicely!”

It didn’t take long before the sky roared.

[Lowly human, do you have no fear, coming here like this? Leave the traitor behind and begone!]

A telepathy spell, coming from a distance without showing their face.

Even if they can’t leave the Heavenly Palace, this is how they respond?

‘Arrogant beasts. They treat people no differently now than in my past life.’

With a smirk, I replied.

“I warned you, didn’t I?”

A flash of light, and the Holy Sword appeared in my hand.