Chapter 217 - The Best Guide (2)

RRRUMBLE-

It was a bizarre vibration.

A continuous vibration that seemed like it would stop but never did.

At that vibration, which lasted far too long to be called an earthquake, the man sitting there like a corpse quietly began to open his closed eyes.

"...... In the end, it has come to this."

It was a dark space where not a single speck of light entered.

However, Frausen was rising naturally, as if he could see ahead.

"Sarnus."

Frausen's world was one that had already lost its light.

However, he could catch a glimpse of the dragon's world through the fragment embedded in his heart, and now, in Frausen's closed left eye, the image of Sarnus gradually taking the form of a dragon, along with Vlad trying to escape from him, was surfacing.

"So you have ultimately broken the pact with me and swallowed the dragon fragment."

Frausen, who had been watching the sight with a stiff expression, quietly began to smile.

The deepening presence of the oldest dragon and the remnant of the most perfect dragon trying to flee from it.

Frausen was almost left feeling empty at how everything moved exactly as he had predicted in the past.

"Without even knowing that it is poison."

Having finished his last words, Frausen quietly rose from his seat and stood before the door leading to the corridor.

Since the oldest dragon had finally swallowed the imperial family's fragment, it was now his turn to move.

"It really was right of me to keep you alive. Sarnus."

Even though nothing but darkness welcomed Frausen when he threw the door open, he simply stepped onto the shadows covering the floor without any hesitation.

Because he was forgetting so many things even while walking this path, he now had to bring an end to the matters he had sown.

* * *

TSSSSS-

With the sound of a match burning, the dark tunnel was illuminated.

In the tunnel, so narrow and deep that their shoulders had to touch, the party was finally able to recognize each other and began to let out sighs of relief.

"What is all this? Why did a hole appear?"

"I don't know either. If you, a mage, don't know."

"Damn it. I almost pissed myself!"

Radu, who had fallen for quite a while, shook his head as if he didn't even want to recall the memory.

However, unlike that terrible sensation of floating, they were completely fine without any injuries, and the reason was probably due to the small mole that was still glowing.

SQUEAK-!

The gazes of the party, having finally regained their senses, naturally began to focus on Vlad.

More accurately, toward the glowing mole sitting on top of Vlad's head.

"What's with that rat?"

"It's not a rat, it's a mole. A mole."

"If it's a mole, why is it glowing? Does it think it's a firefly?"

The party began to murmur slightly while looking at the bizarrely shaped mole, but the creature itself began to shrug its shoulders as if thinking they were praising it.

At that sight of it seemingly receiving praise, Nibelun unconsciously handed it a piece of bread from his pocket.

"...... You're dropping breadcrumbs. You brat."

Vlad, whose consciousness had just returned, looked up at the mole munching away on top of his head and frowned heavily.

However, the reason he couldn't put the creature down despite such a nuisance was because he could easily predict what would have happened to them if not for this hole.

"But where do we go?"

"We should ask the guy who dug it, of course."

There was only one path, but the wide-open tunnel extended in both front and back directions.

Not knowing which one to choose, Vlad raised his finger and bluntly poked the mole's side.

"Where do we go now. Punk."

SQUEAK-!

The mole, which had straightened its posture as if startled by Vlad's firm poke, soon raised its short arm and began to point somewhere.

It was a completely pitch-black tunnel, but the direction the creature pointed was toward the mountain they had tried to flee to earlier, which was also the place where the Luga tribe who escaped the city had headed.

"Let's go."

Having decided on the direction to proceed, Vlad briefly raised his head to look at the entrance they had fallen through.

The ground high above, shining like a hole pierced through a black curtain.

Thinking of the Dragonblood Duke who would be standing there, Vlad forced himself to turn his head away and started walking in the direction the mole pointed.

'I'm sorry for making you flee in my place. Quijano.'

["...... It's fine."]

Unlike his complicated feelings, the mole's tunnel simply stretched out straight.

Finding comfort in the fact that there was a path he could walk down without thinking, Vlad quietly offered words of gratitude to Quijano, who had taken his place.

* * *

The place where the party first poked their heads out after escaping the tunnel was where the mountain they had seen earlier was located.

It was a mountain not far from the city of Namarca, and it was also a place where they could still spot the pitch-black forces of Dragulia gathered far away.

"You survived."

Vlad was able to meet the Luga tribe's godmother, who had been waiting for him there.

Despite the risk of her location being exposed, she was burning a small campfire to create smoke, her forehead damp with sweat as if she had been performing mysteries until just moments ago.

"It's an earth spirit. I didn't expect this one to come out."

The godmother's eyes lit up with wonder as she looked at the mole perched on top of Vlad's head.

"Did you summon it, Godmother?"

"I did summon something...... but I didn't know an earth spirit would pop out either."

It was a mystery because it couldn't be explained, and magic because it couldn't be predicted.

Although it was definitely a mystery performed by the Luga tribe's godmother, she marveled at the mole on top of Vlad's head as if it wasn't the result she had expected.

"It seems there must have been some connection between you two. Originally, commanding a being of this caliber requires a great deal of preparation, after all."

It was a vague guess, but her words were correct.

The glowing mole that had traveled down the mountain range starting from the North, going all the way from Dobrechiti to this place.

The reason it was able to descend all the way here from such a far place in a single breath was likely not only because of the mystery the godmother cast but also the possibility of the World Tree embedded in the Dragon Slaying Sword, coupled with its connection to Vlad.

SQUEAK-?

Amidst the brief silence that followed their conversation, the mole cried out, as if asking what it should do next.

Hearing that sound, Vlad looked around and opened his mouth.

"...... How many are there in total."

"Roughly around 300 people."

"Do you have a place to go?"

Vlad scratched his cheek as he looked at the Luga tribe refugees huddled closely together.

However, in response to Vlad asking if they had a place to go, the godmother simply shook her head without a word.

"This is all the sin of losing our homeland. Unless it's a land where we have put down roots, where would anyone welcome us."

Beastmen, ostracized by the church for wielding mysteries and driven out by people for looking different.

Their history was indeed a history of wandering, and although they had managed to rest their rears for a brief while in a rootless land like Namarca, they ended up losing even those messy alleys once again due to the visit of the dragons.

"Still, let's get out of here for now. If we move north, there should be a way."

Vlad couldn't help but feel a significant sense of responsibility as he looked at the Luga tribe, who had lost their home because of him.

Knowing that they still had to get out of here first, Vlad looked up at the mole on top of his head.

"I want to go as far north as possible."

SQUEAK-?

"Is there any place where we could take all these people?"

At Vlad's words, the glowing mole began to tap its feet as if deep in thought.

Vlad wasn't entirely pleased with that sight playing out on top of his head, but since this creature was the only one that could provide a path, he had no choice but to suppress his rising irritation.

"...... Think fast."

At Vlad's chilly urging, the mole, seemingly finally remembering something, rolled down from his head and stood in front of the tunnel it had dug.

SQUEAK SQUEAK-!

Swinging its two short arms as if gesturing to go this way.

Watching the mole's small yet intense movements, Vlad and the Luga tribe's godmother exchanged glances.

* * *

The window visible on the side was wide, and the room was warm with shining sunlight.

Following the light, Joseph paid close attention to the ornaments visible in the room as he quietly lifted the teacup in front of him.

"You seem to be very interested in the elves' style."

The room Joseph was looking around was entirely filled with ornaments related to elves.

The elven ornaments, which looked extraordinary at a glance, possessed such antique elegance that one felt they could fetch a hefty sum if put up for auction right now.

"There was a time like that in the past. I tried to cater to their whims as much as possible, you see."

Setting down the teacup he had been holding along with those words, the Count of Vitskaya smiled faintly at Joseph, who was in front of him.

Perhaps because he had drunk the tea deeply, the tea stains on his white beard were pitch-black., the tea stains on his white beard were pitch-black.

"It was a time when the goods the elves sent were the local specialties of my territory and its lifeline. Of course, it's completely ruined now."

Tanobo, a city that was once the center of the elven trade but had now fallen into total ruin.

The Count of Vitskaya, the master of that place, seemed bitter about the memories of the past as he licked his lips with his tongue and continued speaking.

"Those elves arbitrarily cut off trade, and the Dragonblood Duke pushed all the suspicion regarding Absilon onto us, so how could even someone like me have the means to endure?"

The Count of Vitskaya, who had been pouring out his lamentations about himself, briefly began to gauge Joseph's reaction.

It was a ridiculous sight for him, a count, to be walking on eggshells around a man who had been kicked out of his family, but this was not a situation to nitpick over such things.

"Still, seeing as there are people extending a helping hand right on time like this, it seems there isn't a law saying a person has to just die."

"Is that so."

Because the man named Joseph sitting in front of him right now was a messenger directly sent by pitch-black darkness.

With all the support sent by the Dragonblood Duke completely cut off now, the Count of Vitskaya well knew that their help was absolutely necessary to secure the survival of his territory and fully monopolize the resource known as elves.

"Whether it's the World Tree or whatever, you may take everything you want from the elves' land. During that time, I will spare no support, including the land for you all to stay on and the provisions."

"......"

Joseph, who had been listening to the count's words, quietly began to stare at him without a word.

Whether the effect of the tea he had just drank was starting to kick in, the count's two eyes were beginning to shine increasingly black.

At the count's gaze, which hid absolutely none of his desires, Joseph began to nod his head as if he understood.

"Understood."

By nature, darkness approaches when a person is in the darkest of places.

When one could not possibly escape on their own yet had no one to help them, the very thing that quietly approached and covered their eyes was darkness.

"Your firm will, Count. I will make sure to convey it."

Because of that, people would have no choice but to take their hands.

Because they approached in the most difficult times and handed them exactly what they wanted.

Like the Baron of Moshiam, who had tried to save the life of his young son; like himself, who would soon die.

The hand of Lamashtu, extending exactly what they desired at just the right time, was no different from a powerful temptation that anyone would find hard to brush off.

"Thank you! If this matter works out well, I will treat you generously, too."

Looking at the Count of Vitskaya nodding and repeatedly expressing his thanks, Joseph began to reach out again for the teacup he had set down.

The taste of the tea, which was as bitter and fishy as its pitch-black color, was still hard for Joseph to get used to, but it couldn't be helped because the dark fragrance contained within that tea was necessary.

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"Hmm?"

However, Joseph's reaching hand failed to reach the teacup.

It was because he halted his reaching hand at the vibration of the building that had subtly begun to ring.

"An earthquake?"

Tanobo, the city in Vitskaya County that normally never experienced a single earthquake.

However, today of all days, a vibration strong enough for everyone in the city to feel was starting from beneath the ground.

That vibration, which began along with piles of dirt suddenly bursting upward as if someone was digging from underground, had started from the far south and was currently extending all the way to Aushrina, where the elves' forest was located.