Chapter 136: A Terrifying Miasma

That particular area still hung heavy with lingering miasma.

We had set up a barrier to prevent it from leaking outside, and had repeatedly cultivated holy water over the corpse in an attempt to purify it. Perhaps as a result of these efforts, the oppressive haze seemed somewhat thinner than before, though it still clung stubbornly to the air.

Lying there was the enormous corpse of Fafnir. The part that had exploded and blown away earlier had been limited to his back and a few surrounding areas—roughly seventy percent of his body remained intact.

Because the creature had continuously spewed miasma, we had dealt with it in that fragmented manner for the time being. I could have absorbed the entire body into the garden, which would have instantly eliminated the miasma—but that would have made it impossible to recover the materials, so I opted against it.

“I’ve cultivated a large supply of high-quality holy water separately,” I said, as I began pulling out the carefully stored bottles. With this amount, we should be able to purify the corpse completely.

“Do we just throw it in?”

“Yeah. Keep tossing it in.”

“Got it… although it might be faster if I kick it.”

Sena promptly used her foot to kick the fruits containing the holy water. They shot past the barrier and struck Fafnir’s massive body with a satisfying thud.

Normally, the barrier is designed to block attacks from the outside while allowing movements from within. In this case, it had been reversed, allowing us to strike the corpse from the inside.

Once the holy water began spilling inside, the miasma slowly started corroding the shell, releasing more liquid automatically.

“Let’s keep at it,” I said.

“This looks like it’s going to take forever…”

“Y-Yeah, you’re not kidding.”

To speed things up, I brought Milk and Pippi from the Second Home Garden.

“Meow?”

“Pip?”

“I need you two to kick these fruits toward the dragon’s corpse. Understand?”

“Meow!”

“Pippi!”

Both of them were quick to catch on, which made the process much smoother. With their help, we continued pouring and kicking the holy water until the internal barrier was nearly a pool of shimmering liquid, and the once-overwhelming miasma had completely dissipated. Stepping inside, the air no longer felt suffocating.

“Phew… now we can finally take this back,” I said.

“…But… do you think anyone would even buy this?”

“Who would we even sell it to?”

“If we took it to the Adventurer’s Guild, that could turn into a huge mess…”

Everyone seemed worried, but I wasn’t concerned at all. I had a reliable merchant acquaintance who could handle it.

“I’ll ask Lilcarlia-san. She even bought the red dragon’s previous remains from me before,” I explained. Back then, she had even taken care of the disassembly, which had been a huge help.

“…That Popit is still such a mystery,” I muttered, flying toward the Second Home Garden with Fafnir’s corpse. Bringing this behemoth to the First Home Garden would have been an absolute disaster.

“Thanks for your help, Milk and Pippi.”

“Meow!”

“Pippi!”

“We’ll figure out what to do with this body later, so for now, just leave it here.”

“Meow meow!”

“Pippip!”

The next day, I brought Lilcarlia-san to the Second Home Garden to show her Fafnir’s corpse.

“Uh… so, I was hoping you might be able to buy it off me again,” I said.

“W-Wh-What… what on earth is this!?” Lilcarlia screamed, falling backward in shock. What the—?

“F-Fafnir… is this really the Fafnir!?”

“Well, I’m not too familiar with it myself, but Sarassa-san said it was,” I replied.

“But… what about the miasma? Fafnir is basically a walking miasma bomb; even in death, the haze shouldn’t just disappear…”

“Oh, we repeatedly poured holy water over it to purify it,” I explained.

Even so, Lilcarlia-san’s knowledge of Fafnir was impressive.

“Can Fafnir’s miasma really be purified…? Once it spreads across the land, it lingers for decades, even centuries. And you completely eliminated the miasma from the body itself…?”

It hadn’t been easy. Even with Milk and Pippi’s help, it probably took about an hour to finish the purification.

“Y-Yeah… this does match Fafnir’s characteristics…”

“So… do you think you could buy it? Ideally, we’d also like you to handle the disassembly,” I asked.

“W-Wait a moment… I’m… honestly, I’m so confused I can’t give an answer right now,” Lilcarlia said, her words tripping over themselves in utter bewilderment.

Even if she were to purchase it, pricing it was nearly impossible.

“Fafnir materials aren’t something you can just obtain. As I said, purifying it is basically impossible,” she continued. The fact that this corpse existed without emitting any miasma at all was, in itself, an anomaly. Naturally, such a thing would never appear on the market.

“I see…” I said thoughtfully.

“Fafnir is a terrifying creature, but most of its power comes from its miasma. Its physical strength alone isn’t extraordinary, so as dragon materials, it’s probably just average. That said, since its body doesn’t decay even from its own miasma, it may possess some unusual property unlike other dragons.”

Depending on that unique trait, its value could increase dramatically.

“Regardless, it’s extremely rare, so some wealthy collector might want it just for their collection,” Lilcarlia added.