Chapter 246
246 – Secret Plan
Once they’ve all fled beyond the range of my [Presence Perception], I lower my chin to the ground and stick out my tongue . Aro crawls out . She falls off my tongue, rolling across the ground .
As a result of my saliva, her body has patches of dissolved flesh all over it . It seems her body’s got a weakness to water . I’d like to wash my mouth out, to be honest…
“Guoh”I call out, and Aro staggers to her feet and turns to face me . I glare in the direction those guys fled, then look back at her .
I’m going over there, so I want you to hide while I’m gone . That’s what I’m trying to convey .
She seems to understand my intention, but looks down in apprehension .
I don’t have enough information about the other village . I don’t want to provoke them, but even though I didn’t know, I drove the manticore in their direction . I want to move with cautiously, and I’m anxious about leaving Aro so close to human habitation .
However, if I leave things as they are, the manticore’s victims will increase . I need to deal with it as soon as possible .
My original purpose in coming here was to exterminate the manticore . Now that I know where it is, I want to end this while I can .
I look back in the direction those guys went . In that direction, there should be another Lithovar village, as well as the manticore .I’d like to go into the village and hear what they know, but it seems on this side they attack the dragon-god . I can’t carelessly stroll in as a dragon .
Which is why I’ll have to use [Humanisation Technique] . I’ve got [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv6] now, so I can maintain [Humanisation Technique] for almost an hour . To hear what they have to say, that should be plenty .
I’ll pretend to be a traveller and use [Humanisation Technique] to ask about clues that could lead me to the manticore also disguised as a human .
In the village of the dragon-god faith, the manticore transformed into a human and used the village to recuperate . This village might kind to outsiders too .
Plus, if I’m in a human form, I might be able to get close to the manticore . If the manticore sees me approaching as a dragon, it’ll run away immediately, but I might be able to bait it closer in a human form . In that opening, I’ll deal a critical injury to its foot, then finish it off . The third time’s a charm; this time I’ll destroy it .
However, I’ll need to enter the village naked… But that can’t be helped . I’ll say I was attacked by monsters while washing myself .
Aro has been staring at me, but suddenly she looks towards where the other village should be . Looking back at me, she gives me a small nod .
“…Pa, ah… please…”
Her mouth opens and closes . Talking must be hard, because after she speaking she starts coughing violently . Earthen flesh-dust flies out of her mouth . Her throat must not be smooth enough for her to talk . That looked painful for her .
I could hardly make anything out, but I got the feeling that she was asking me to help the village .
“Guoh”
I let out a single cry, then separate from Aro .
…I’d thought that Aro was from the dragon-god faithful village and so thought of this village as an enemy, but I guess I was wrong about that . Well, even if they’re hostile, they must still be relatives, I suppose . From a child’s perspective, they might not look all that different .
I’m worried that Aro might get found, so I turn my head to look back a couple times . She’s sitting in the shade of a tree, but noticing me she stands back up and waves with both arms… She’ll be fine, right?
Searching around vigilantly with [Presence Perception], I head towards the anti-dragon-god village . I can hear the sound of a river in the distance, so I head towards it . When there’s a water source nearby, the chance of finding a settlement increases .
Pushing aside trees, I come across a river wide enough for me to bathe in . On the other bank, I can see a pile of torn clothes and an abandoned tub missing its bottom . There’s no mistake, a village has to be nearby . That’s another point in support of my theory .
I spot a bridge nearby, but I can jump this distance easily enough .
I’m getting close to where I can cross over to the laundry . I need to focus .
As I’m preparing to cross the river, my reflection in the water’s surface catches my attention . A doubt suddenly arises in my mind . My plan was to bait out the manticore with [Humanisation Technique], but thinking about it properly, I get the feeling the manticore only eats women, and children at that .
The person I first saved from it was a girl, so is Aro . With [Humanisation Technique] I become an adult, and a male too . I want to get it to let its guard down even more than when I first met it, but… No, wait a sec . I might not be able to do anything about my physique, but my gender might be doable .
Rather than an unfamiliar man, it should be harder to be cautious of a woman . For the villagers too, this way might be better .
I check my partner’s face .
“Gaa?”
The ouroboros species explanation went like this:
【[Ouroboros]: Rank A】
【Contrary to the logic of this world, a dragon that knows eternity . It does not age . 】
【A hermaphroditic double-headed dragon . Its very existence is a symbol of eternity and taboo . 】
【Infringing on the divine, it wields wields magic that blasphemes life . 】
【Both its HP and MP are bottomless . An expert at recovery magic . 】
Right, a 『hermaphroditic』double-headed dragon . Normally, that would mean having both male and female reproductive capability . However, for a double-headed dragon to have that property…
That’s why I thought it likely that my partner is the female type . When she speaks with [Mutual Understanding] she uses a masculine tone, but I suspect that’s just her picking up on my speech patterns . Until now, I hadn’t thought about it much because it didn’t seem important, but there’s value in figuring it out now .
If this goes well, our success rate in both manticore subjugation and in the anti-dragon-god village intelligence gathering should jump up .
