Chapter 65: Fangs and the Village Chief

“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to hand those children over.”

“I refuse.”

The village chief rejected Orvier’s demand without a moment’s hesitation.

“And why exactly are you after students from the Noble Academy?”

“You really think I’d answer that?”

“Heh heh… quite right. In that case, I’ll simply capture you and make you tell me.”

The village chief moved first.

Despite his bent back and frail appearance, he exploded into motion with unbelievable speed. Every unnecessary movement had been stripped away, leaving only pure efficiency. Keeping his body low, he skimmed across the ground like a hunting beast closing in on its prey.

To Orvier, it must have looked as though the old man had simply vanished from sight.

“Wha—!!”

Startled, Orvier reacted on pure instinct.

She swung her arm outward, and a blazing ring of fire erupted around her, engulfing everything nearby in scorching flames.

It wasn’t a carefully planned spell.

It was raw reflex.

Fortunately for her, that reflex was the correct one.

The village chief had already sensed the danger and retreated a short distance, patting his chest with exaggerated relief.

“Whew… That was close. I nearly ended up as roasted old man.”

“So you really are dangerous.” Orvier narrowed her eyes. “I only blinked for an instant, and somehow you were right in front of me without a single sound or warning. Just who are you?”

“Haven’t you already answered your own question?” the old man chuckled. “Just an ordinary old fellow.”

“Then why don’t you act like one and hurry up and die already!”

“I’d rather not. I plan on living another hundred years, after all.”

Still joking, the village chief stepped forward again.

Orvier immediately answered with another barrage of fire magic, timing her attack to intercept the old man’s advance.

But halfway through—

The chief accelerated even further.

(Damn this old fossil!! He changed my timing!)

Before Orvier could adjust, the old man’s fist slammed directly into her abdomen.

The impact forced every bit of air from her lungs.

“Ghk—!”

Her vision blurred.

Refusing to black out, Orvier bit down hard on her own tongue, the sharp pain keeping her conscious. In the same instant, she seized the village chief’s arm and twisted it violently, attempting to break the joint.

But the old man merely jumped.

Using the momentum of the throw itself, he spun through the air in a complete rotation, allowing his entire body to follow the twist. What should have been a devastating counterattack instead became a perfectly controlled escape.

“What!?”

“You’re skilled,” the chief remarked calmly, “but you’re still lacking experience.”

Before Orvier could even blink…

Three strikes landed almost simultaneously.

One to the leg.

One to the torso.

One to the neck.

“Gah!”

“Go to sleep for a while.”

“I refuse!!”

“Hm?”

The instant those words left his mouth—

Orvier detonated another wave of fire.

This time she didn’t care if she was caught in it herself.

Flames consumed everything around them.

The village chief reacted just a fraction too slowly, suffering burns across part of his body before leaping back out of the inferno.

Fortunately, the injuries were superficial.

He quickly widened the distance between them.

“Haa… haa…” Orvier panted, smoke rising from her scorched body. “You’re a monster…”

“You aren’t too shabby yourself.”

Though burns covered nearly every inch of her body, Orvier glared stubbornly at the old man.

Then—

Without anyone noticing when she’d arrived—

A silver-haired girl was suddenly standing quietly beside Orvier.

The adorable young girl slowly opened her mouth.

“…Orvier…”

“Y-Your Majesty, the Dragon King!?”

“The Dragon King…?”

The village chief’s eyes flew wide open.

The girl’s sleepy gaze shifted toward him.

“…Is… that man… bullying you…?”

“Huh? N-No! It’s not like that at all!”

“…Anyone… who bullies… Orvier… I don’t like… You… I won’t forgive…”

“!?”

The girl slowly turned toward the village chief.

Though her expression remained drowsy and almost emotionless…

Pure, unmistakable killing intent rested within her eyes.

The village chief immediately became vigilant.

“Hm!?”

It didn’t matter.

His caution accomplished absolutely nothing.

Without warning—

His right arm vanished.

There was no flash.

No slash.

No visible attack whatsoever.

It simply disappeared, as though some invisible monster had bitten it clean off.

A torrent of blood erupted from the severed shoulder, pouring onto the ground in thick crimson streams.

At exactly the same time…

The girl slowly chewed something inside her mouth.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Then she swallowed.

“…Hard…”

“…Doesn’t taste good…”

“…But… it’s nutritious…”

“I see.”

Despite having lost an arm, the village chief remained remarkably composed.

“I don’t know how you managed it… but you’ve apparently released one of the Dragon King’s Fangs from beneath the royal capital.”

“Hmph!”

He flexed the muscles around the wound.

The muscles compressed so violently that they forcibly sealed the torn blood vessels, stopping the bleeding through sheer physical control.

“It seems… I’ll have to get serious.”

“…A mere human…”

“…Actually thinks…”

“…getting serious…”

“…will accomplish anything…?”

“Maintaining a spirit of challenge is the secret to a long life.”

The old man inhaled deeply.

“Suu…”

Then exhaled.

“Fuuu…”

The next instant—

He disappeared.

Or rather, he moved so quickly that it created the illusion of disappearance.

He hadn’t stepped into her blind spot.

Nor had he used teleportation.

Every muscle and tendon in his body compressed to their absolute limits before releasing all at once, generating explosive acceleration beyond ordinary human capability.

“Hmph!!”

“…Hm?”

As he shot past her—

His arm swung.

The strike barely grazed the girl’s cheek.

A tiny cut appeared.

A single bead of blood trickled down her pale face.

“…It hurts…”

“Impossible!!” Orvier cried in disbelief. “Even with Her Majesty’s power not yet fully restored, the Dragon King’s body is as hard as orichalcum! And you managed to wound her… with your bare hand!?”

“Everything has an appropriate way to be cut,” the village chief answered matter-of-factly. “Vegetables have their way. Humans have theirs. Dragons have theirs. Though I was aiming to take her head… it seems she saw through it.”

The girl quietly wiped her cheek with a fingertip.

Bright red blood stained her finger.

She stared at it silently.

Then whispered…

“…It hurts…”

“Your Majesty?”

“…I’ve had enough…”

“…I’m going home…”

“Y-Your Majesty!?”

Turning her back on the village chief, the girl began walking away.

“…Orvier…”

“…Take the noble children hostage…”

“…Freeing the Kingdom’s sealed… Claw…”

“…can wait…”

“…Let’s recover… the rest of my body… first…”

“Your Majesty!! Please stop revealing our entire plan in front of the enemy!!”

“…Mm…”

“…Sorry…”

She looked back over her shoulder.

Her sleepy eyes settled upon the village chief.

“…You…”

“…Become stronger…”

“…Then…”

“…I’ll eat you…”

“What an honor.”

The old man smiled.

“Oh, that’s right.”

He called out before she could leave.

“Would you tell me your name?”

The girl paused.

“…I still…”

“…don’t know my name…”

“…But…”

“…I am…”

“…the Dragon King…”

“I see.”

The village chief nodded gently.

“Sorry for stopping you.”

With that…

The girl who called herself the Dragon King departed, taking Orvier with her.

The village chief made no attempt to pursue them.

◇ ◆ ◇

The village chief explained everything that had happened.

I was honestly stunned.

The silver-haired girl who had been enthusiastically stuffing herself with the food I’d cooked at Tsurugi Hachi…

Had actually cornered the village chief.

Just then, Eve tilted her head curiously.

“Grandpa, Grandpa! Why didn’t you chase after them?”

“Because that little lass was stronger than I was.” The old man shrugged as though it were obvious. “If I’d pursued them, I’d have been the one killed.”

“Ehh? Then why did Dragon King-chan run away?”

“She simply didn’t like getting hurt.”

He chuckled softly.

“That girl possesses overwhelming power… but in the end, she’s still just a child.”

A child…

Now that he mentioned it…

The girl had certainly carried an eerie, inhuman presence.

Yet when she’d been happily devouring my cooking earlier…

Her expression had unquestionably belonged to an ordinary child.

“Village Chief…” I asked cautiously. “What exactly is the Dragon King?”

“An ancient being sealed away in ages long past.”

The old man folded his arms.

“They say the First Hero shattered its body and sealed the pieces across the world. One of those pieces had been imprisoned beneath the royal capital’s temple… though it seems someone released it without anyone noticing.”

“Do you think Larsa knows about this?”

“I doubt it.”

The village chief shook his head.

“If she knew, she’d have come running to consult me before anyone else.”

“I see.”

Raphiel stepped forward.

“All right… it’s finished.”

A warm divine radiance enveloped the village chief.

She invoked a miracle of healing.

The effect was immediate.

From the severed shoulder…

Bone burst outward with a sickening crackling sound.

Muscles rapidly wrapped themselves around the growing skeleton.

Skin spread across it moments later.

Within seconds…

His missing arm had completely regenerated.

That was…

Honestly kind of horrifying to watch.

“I’ve restored everything,” Raphiel said after examining him carefully. “However, you’ve lost quite a bit of blood and are mildly anemic.”

She looked toward me.

“Eight, could you cook something for him?”

“R-Right.”

“Oh!”

A familiar cheerful voice interrupted.

“In that case, Eight-kun, I’d love some stir-fried liver and garlic chives.”

“That’s actually a good idea. Liver is excellent for anemia, and we happen to have some dragon liver, so…”

“…Huh?”

The voice sounded strangely familiar.

I turned around.

Standing there—

A rifle casually resting across his shoulder—

Was Hijiri.

Wait.

Since when had he been standing there!?