Chapter 131 - Egg (1)

"Whew..."

A girl entered a hideout near the Pallatio marquisate and sat down with a leisurely sigh. Someone soon approached her.

"You're back, Yuna."

"Yep."

The man was Hidan.

"Is your assignment going well?"

"I'm watching Alexion on Lord Silver Moon's orders, but from what I've seen, I don't think he's going to try anything shady anymore."

Yuna, the golden-haired girl, stretched both legs out straight as though exercising while seated, then turned Hidan's question back on him.

"What about you?"

"For now, I'm carrying out Lord Red Moon's orders."

"You must be busy."

"I'm simply doing what needs to be done."

Yuna nodded with a thoughtful hum, then smiled.

"So, when's our meeting?"

"Meeting?"

"Yes. Lord Silver Moon told me to attend this meeting and report on the territory."

"... Are you that excited?"

"Of course!"

Yuna's face lit up, as though she could hardly wait.

"I get to attend a meeting of the higher-ups! And I'll get to see Lord Red Moon and Lord Violet Moon, too! I've missed them—it's been so long since I saw them. Besides, I want to see what their meetings are like!"

Her voice brimmed with energy. Hidan, on the other hand, wore a rather peculiar expression as he listened.

"What they're like, huh..."

"What's wrong?"

At Yuna's puzzled question, Hidan seemed to deliberate for a moment.

"... No, well... It's nothing. Just... How should I put it? Never mind."

He decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Huh? Why stop halfway through!?"

"... You'll understand when you attend one yourself."

Recalling the meetings he had witnessed, Hidan decided to preserve Yuna's illusions a little longer.

####

Exactly half a year had passed since Alon stopped Duke Comalon.

By now, his mana poisoning had improved enormously, allowing him to use magic as he once had. Yet despite being fit enough to head for the border, he had not set out.

More precisely, he couldn't.

"I look forward to working with you!"

"Likewise."

"You're too kind! Oh, and this is a gift."

"... A gift?"

"Yes. A statue carved by an artisan from the Pombasi territory."

"... I'll gladly accept it."

The reason was the throng of visitors who had recently descended on the marquis.

Alon watched the caravan leader of Sorigireum leave, bowing at a right angle, then looked at the intricately carved cat statue the man had given him and sighed softly.

"Evan."

"Yes, my lord?"

"How many are left now?"

"Congratulations, my lord. Your schedule is completely clear after this."

"That's a relief."

Alon nodded a couple of times and leaned back in his chair.

Only a month after telling Duke Xenonia that he would welcome his help, Alon found himself with an auction-house venture that was all but a success.

Of course, success was not a word to use lightly. A business could be doing well, only to hit an unforeseen obstacle and fall apart.

Having worked at more than a few shitty little startups in his former world, Alon knew that better than anyone. It was also why he was so cautious about business.

Yet even he was beginning to think that this would not only recoup his investment, but establish itself as a successful business. He had gained too much over the past month for it to fail.

... Though rather than winning those things through his own efforts, they had mostly come knocking at his door.

"Still, the business is a success, my lord."

"You think so?"

"Yes. Five territories have agreed to consign their finest specialties to our auctions. That's guaranteed to bring caravans here. And we've signed plenty of other agreements, too."

"But all we've done is secure their participation, haven't we?"

"Hmm... True, but that means we've assembled the necessary foundations remarkably quickly. I'd say we have everything we need to become a center of tourism and trade."

Alon nodded at Evan's words. His thoughts were much the same.

As he reviewed the documents once more, a sudden question occurred to him.

"Evan."

"What is it, my lord?"

"I've been too busy to think about it until now, but why have so many caravan leaders and neighboring territories flocked here?"

Of course, Alon knew Duke Xenonia had pulled some strings. Even so, wasn't it strange that so many nobles and caravans were coming of their own accord?

"... My lord."

"What is it?"

"I think this from time to time, but you seem to underestimate yourself more than you realize."

"Do... I?"

"Yes. Isn't it obvious that most of those nobles came to establish ties with you? Some of them even belong to the aristocratic and royalist factions."

Only then did Alon let out a quiet "Ah."

"... So they're bribes to get into my good graces, something like that?"

"Most likely. Or perhaps they're subtle signals that they'd like to join the Sword Faction."

"... I see."

"Don't tell me you didn't know?"

"... Hmm."

It would be more accurate to say he hadn't been conscious of that aspect, rather than that he hadn't known.

When Alon chose not to answer, Evan's expression grew peculiar.

"We've been together a long time, but sometimes you still amaze me, my lord."

"How so?"

"... You seem to be doing something, yet in reality, you seem to be doing nothing at all."

"That's why I'm working right now, isn't it?"

"... I don't mean that... How should I put it? It's like you don't pay much attention to what's going on around you... No, that isn't quite it either..."

As Evan pondered how to explain it, his eyes widened as though something else had occurred to him.

"Actually, I meant to tell you earlier. A letter arrived from Rine."

"A letter?"

"Yes. I believe it's a reply to the one you sent her."

"Now that you mention it..."

He had indeed contacted Rine a month ago about the Shadow Dragon's Egg.

Originally, he had intended to visit her and ask in person once his mana had fully recovered. However, a recent change in the egg had prompted him to send a letter first, as an urgent measure.

"Here it is."

The subject had changed in an instant.

Taking the letter Evan handed him, Alon looked at the Shadow Dragon's Egg. It had grown a little larger, and as of last month, it had stopped absorbing his mana.

That was why he had sent the letter.

He unfolded it and began to read.

The letter opened with a casual greeting. The middle described what she had been doing lately, followed by an account of recent events in Lartania.

"Hmm..."

The next page was much the same.

So was the page after that.

"...?"

Looking bewildered, Alon finally checked how many pages there were.

"... Twelve pages?"

"Wow, that's quite a lot. I did think the envelope looked a little thick."

A full twelve pages of letter paper.

A twinge of guilt stirred in Alon's heart.

'I... think I barely managed to fill a single page.'

... Since he had intended to visit her anyway, he decided to buy Rine a small gift to take with him.

In any case, he continued reading, and only after turning through roughly five pages did he find information about the Shadow Dragon's Egg.

Once he had finished the entire letter, he looked at the egg.

'This could be dangerous.'

The letter contained many explanations, but they could be distilled into roughly three points.

1. Information about the Shadow Dragon's Egg was extremely limited.

2. Within those limits, the Shadow Dragon's Egg was literally an egg containing a dormant Shadow Dragon. According to ancient records, under certain circumstances, it could attain power rivaling a dragon's.

3. However, if it was exposed to human blood while still an egg during the ritual, it had to be cast into Pamilon, the sea beyond the continent, and destroyed without exception.

'... Because a Shadow Dragon exposed to blood is born far stronger than an ordinary one, but is overwhelmingly likely to be driven mad by its power and become extremely violent... Is that it? You can tell whether it's been exposed to blood by its eye color. If the newly hatched Shadow Dragon's eyes are red instead of blue, it's already mad.'

Alon looked back and forth between the letter and the egg.

'Then isn't this rather dangerous?'

He had kept feeding the Shadow Dragon's Egg mana because he believed it hadn't absorbed any blood. After all, it had been quite far from the mage's corpse.

But if the ritual itself had to be free of blood, that changed things. As Alon recalled, the spirit's egg he possessed had been exposed to the dead mage's blood during Theon's ritual.

And so...

"... Hmm."

Despite his expressionless face, Alon gazed at the egg with considerable concern and began to ponder.

'... Should I throw it away?'

####

That night, after Alon fell asleep without reaching a decision about the egg...

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

The egg, which had never stirred before, began to tremble faintly, and its shell started breaking apart.

More precisely, the shell wasn't breaking apart. The black fragments falling away turned into black slime and were sucked back into the egg.

Rather than an ordinary hatching, it looked as though the egg's entire shape was changing.

Soon, with a crunching noise, what emerged was...

[─────!]

A monster with glowing red eyes and drool streaming from its mouth.

True to the name "Shadow Dragon's Egg," it bore some resemblance to a dragon. Yet its appearance was far too hideous and grotesque to call it one.

The black thing moved like insubstantial mist, constantly transforming its body. Even its vaguely dragon-shaped head was no exception.

Its dozens of eyes, packed tightly over its black head, swiveled.

Surveying its surroundings with those menacing eyes, it climbed down from its perch. At the same time, an instinct to destroy surged wildly through its mind.

Unlike an ordinary Shadow Dragon, it could grow stronger by absorbing its enemies' flesh and blood. Though only just born, this Death Shadow Dragon already craved destruction and slaughter.

Yet despite the endless destructive urges welling up in its mind, the Death Shadow Dragon set them aside and moved toward Alon—the one who had supplied enough mana to bring it into the world.

Its body turned to mist in an instant, swallowing even the blue moonlight as it flew through the window into the sky.

Descending into Alon's bedroom moments later, it approached him where he lay in bed, dripping black saliva that was absorbed as it fell.

Naturally, it meant to kill him.

Even after taking in blood and becoming a Death Shadow Dragon, its essential nature as a Shadow Dragon remained unchanged. It was still bound to some extent by the person who had given it mana.

Thus, before growing larger, it intended to kill Alon, who could become an obstacle. It had no other reason to seek him out.

The Death Shadow Dragon approached Alon to finish its task at once and opened its mouth.

Its jaws stretched impossibly wide for a creature only the size of a large dog. Its mouth grew as though it could devour the entire room, encompassing the whole area where Alon lay in an instant.

Just as those enormous jaws were about to close...

CLICK!

The Death Shadow Dragon's mouth stopped, as though time itself had frozen.

At the same moment, it involuntarily closed its gaping jaws and began trembling like a leaf, rooted to the spot.

The reason was an eye.

A black eye that swiveled to stare at the Death Shadow Dragon as it bared its maw at Alon.