Ch. 147 What Now
I look up and jump up in a straight line.
I could see a herd of hyenas migrating in the distance. It’s the first time I’ve flown so high.
The weight of my body was starting to take toll and my ascension speed gradually slowed down.
Not yet, I can still fly up.
After finally coming to a stop in the air I looked over my surroundings. Most of what I saw was just sand. No ships or other islands could be seen on the ocean. Even if there were just migratory birds would give me a little hope, but nothing.
Is there seriously no other city around besides that walled city. Should I try looking around a little more?
I flap my wings but I don’t rise in altitude. Looks like my momentum from jumping has already disappeared, and it looks like I cant rise anymore with the strength of my wings alone. Not only did I fly all the way to my limit but I also managed to break my posture.
I need to recover, this is actually a pretty risky situation. When I thrust my center of gravity to the left to fix myself, my body turned over. Due to my impatience it backfired, this is dangerous. I was awkwardly falling while flailing my limbs around.
After magnificently crashing down on my shoulder raising a sand cloud, I slowly rose. It was a good thing I had [[Fall Resistance]].
Without that, it may have been the end of me.
While I was falling I happen to catch a glimpse of that one soldier captain who had attacked me before in the distance.
What was his name….bald? Dutz? It looked like it straddled a three headed camel with something. I was uneasy as to whether he would be able to escape safely after the horse ran away, but it seems my worry was unneeded. I think that camel was pretty slow but…I think that bald man will be able to make it alright.
“pefu?”
「What, was there something?」
With the thought in my head sent with [[Telepathy]] I shook my head. This is troubling. If we don’t find another city soon I will have to send Nina back to that walled city.
Nina was watching over mine and the ball rabbits conversation with uneasiness. I better explain the situation to Nina. I need to tell her about my [[Dragon Scale Powder]], and about the plan to find a good place for her since I can’t stay together for a long time. I also need to raise my skill level, I should explain this with [[Human Transformation]].
Lets see, the amount of time I could spend as a human is…..
[[Irushia]]
Race: Evil Plague Dragon
State: Normal
Lv: 44/75
HP: 302/344
MP: 237/237
Alright, 237 seconds….that’s almost four minutes.
The conversation will be smoother than before, and that should be enough. Although, I’d like to at least leave around 50 MP. Also, if I’m not able to explain everything in time, I can just have the ball rabbit be the translator like always. I can just ask it to use [[Telepathy]] from the start but I also want to talk to people occasionally.
“gurua”
I give a low growl to get Nina’s and the ball rabbits attention. After making eye contact with Nina I use [[Human Transformation]].
As before, my whole body heats up and compresses to human size. At first I almost fainted due to the heat and pain but now I’m used to it. I hope the duration and my appearance is better. I can still only call myself half lizardman and half human.
Nina guessing that I wanted to talk to her, looked over to the ball rabbit and made a firm expression before going in front of me. No, you don’t need that much resolution to face me….You can at least trust me a bit more.
“I have miasma, Nina being here will poison. We can’t be toge
ther for long. Need to find somewhere to put you, but this place unfamiliar. If this continues, I will have to go to that city you were before.” (Irushia)
“…….” (Nina)
“You have somewhere? I know that place bad, but we may have to go to the wall city.” (Irushia)
This is a similar question I’ve asked before. When I asked last time I was told that there was no place to go, but I need to reconfirm it. If I tell her the situation how it is and show that there are no other options there is a chance that a place she was silent about before will come out.
Even returning to that walled city won’t be possible right away. If we continue to travel with no destination then we will have to leave you in the desert or the [[Dragon Scale Powder]] curse will kill you. I need to take her somewhere before then.
After hearing my words, Nina’s ears hang down and her head slowly follows suit……If only there was more time to spend searching, but we are running short on options.
Me and Nina were not saying anything to each other, just standing face to face. Since my MP will run out at this rate I need to say something.
“….Body will fall ill with curse, should have said earlier.” (Irushia)
It was confirmed with the ball rabbit that after sometime an abnormal status will appear on their body. When the ball rabbit was coughing, the status was still normal.
“Pefu!”
The ball rabbit suddenly cried out. Nina looked towards the ball rabbit and after looking it in its eyes started gently stroking the ball rabbits head. Nina then makes a small nod and turns to me. I wonder what he said with [[Telepathy]].
“…..along the coast, where we went straight before, there is a small port city closer than Haranae.” (Nina)
The direction is opposite to the walled city. So that walled city was called Haranae? I saw that name show up a lot on the status of those soldiers.
A port city huh…..
Perhaps Nina and the other beastmen were brought to this continent by ship and it’s likely that they were on their way to Haranae by carriage from there. If so, even if we go to that port town, Nina’s treatment won’t be too great….
“Umm, uhh the port city is close, and my body is still fine, So I can….move slowly….” (Nina)
Slowly?
Has the speed so far been a burden on her? I tried to keep it steady as much as possible.
“…Returning to that port city….I will be caught again…so until then…I’d like to travel slowly with Mr. Dragon, I won’t be a burden will I…? (Nina)
“….Umm, yeah, we can do that” (Irushia)
“Th-Thank you very much nya!” (Nina)
I back up a few steps and release [[Human Transformation]] before Nina finished talking. My body expands and returns to its original dragon form. After changing back I quickly turn my back towards Nina and the ball rabbit.
I suddenly released [[Human Transformation]] not because of a lack of MP, it was still at about half. It was because I didn’t want them see the tears coming out of my eyes. Although I turned back into a dragon, the tears didn’t stop.
Is there anything else I could do instead of delivering Nina to the port city or Haranae? Whether it’s the port city or Haranae, Nina’s treatment there will be the same. That fat man who was kicking Nina and her fellow beastmen out of the carriage and laughing as they became monsters food is still fresh in my mind.
I won’t even be able to stick around to see what becomes of Nina after separating. Even if she were to enter the port city, there is a possibility that she will be killed anyway. If it’s going to be like that, then is there any meaning to what I’m doing?
I fought the huge centipede by risking my life, and looking at the result, did I just help that fat man?
“….Mr. Dragon?”
Nina asked me a question behind me, but I couldn’t look back.