Chapter 24: Arc 2 – Chapter 10: Truth and Lies

Let’s turn back time for a bit…

 

I was about to get ready to pummel the dragon-wolf once again, but a familiar sensation stopped me by surprise.

 

[My King]

 

A very familiar feeling of someone talking to me in my head… that’s what kept me from stepping forward. At the same time I heard the deep rough bestial voice, the Wyrmwolf King that moved in front of me in an unsteady manner laid down on all fours and bowed its head.

 

[It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve been sent by Lord Father to stand with you and aid you in your travels.]

 

… huh? Lord Father? Wha? …

 

[You must be confused, yes? My Lord Father should be more familiar to you as the Earth Dragon God, Grougaran.]

 

The Earth Dragon God! Did the old king, Nabolros, let him know when he finally went to his eternal rest or something? Hey wait… if he was sent by the Earth Dragon God… why the hell did he try to kill me?

 

“…Are you telling the truth?”

[Of course]

“Then why did you fight me?”

[Because I wont serve someone not strong. Lord Father may have told me to aid you, our King, but I told him only if you’re worthy of it. He agreed.]

 

Dragon pride… figures…

 

“Why do you keep calling me king?”

[? Isn’t it because you are? I sense the Brand of the Dragon King within you. With it, you are Dragonkind’s rightful King.]

 

Oh right… King Nabolros did say something like that…

 

“Hmm… one last question. Why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to find me?”

[That’s two]

“…fine. Two.”

[Lord Father told me to head northeast to find you. I rested near some mountains when I smelled something good. I followed it and found some humans and beastkins that ran here. I could no longer find the way out so to pass the time, I ruled over the creatures here.]

“…so… you followed a scent… got lost… gave up… and decided to become the boss here…”

[Grr… I did NOT get lost NOR give up! The pathway I entered before became blocked. I could have easily broke my way out through the walls if I wanted to. But the good smell was somewhere in here so I ruled over the creatures so they can find it for me. They found it but… it was just a weird hairy ball.]

 

Jeez... touchy touchy... Wait... weird hairy ball? Sounds like a Monster Lure that Ellen showed me. Why I think so is because that’s the first impression I got when she showed it to me. This guy also said he was lured in by it as well, so there can be no doubt.

 

[It tasted terrible so I got mad that it wasted my time. But I found this place felt really nice, so I decided to stay.]

 

Oi oi, doesn’t that mean you just forgot all about me? Sigh… nevermind… he’ll probably just blow it off again.

 

“So what are you planning to do now?”

[Go with you of course. Lord Father said you’ll help me learn more about the world and that it would be fun. I don’t really care, but as long as I get to enjoy good eats or great fights, then I’m satisfied.]

“… I don’t have a choice in this, do I…”

[Nope]

 

So he’s forcing himself on me… great… aren’t I supposed to be the king here?

 

[Now that I’ve come to accept you as King, you must now mark my soul so that I would be able to sense you and speak with you anytime. You only need to place your hand on my head.]

 

I did as he said and placed my hand on his forehead when he lowered his head. I felt a surge of warmth travel through my arm and the emblem of a winged dragon appeared on the back of my hand as it glowed in an amber color. It lasted only for a moment.

 

[It is done. Now you only need to give me my name.]

“Your father never gave you one?”

[No. He told me that I would only be named by the King I must serve. Through that, the bond would be forged and I would become one among your teeth and claws.]

 

A name huh… to be honest; I’m not really confident in my naming sense. After all, I made Roaring Calamity and I gave it its name in the heat of the moment when I thought about all the anime and mangas I read back then. I only realized how embarrassing it was after the naming process of Artifact Creation was complete.

If I think about it though, World Breaker is no different, and it was made way back then when the gods fought.

 

Back to the matter at hand... Hmm… a name huh… whenever I see him, all I could think about is that wolf who devoured the father of the gods in Norse Myth, and I’m tempted to use it but… the gods here are mostly the good guys, so I don’t feel right naming him after a god-eating beast… but I guess, I could change it up a bit.

 

“…I’ve decided. I’ll call you Fenril.”

[Ooh. Fenril. What does the name mean?]

“What do you mean?”

[For us Dragons, our names that would be given would contain meaning and in turn give us power. For example, your name My King, to us Dragons would mean, Child of Hope or Hopebringer.]

 

Eh? I thought my name was just my parents showing their love to me, but apparently there’s another meaning to it.

Hmm… I guess I could just make something up since I have absolutely no idea… he wouldn’t figure it out would he? Let’s just put our faith into Origin of Words.

 

“… Unshaken will! …I guess?”

[Ooooh! Unshaken will! A good meaning for a strong name! I like it! Thank you, My king.]

 

I heard a thumping sound behind him and saw he was happily beating the ground with his tail. Heh… he’s almost like a happy puppy.

Suddenly, he started glowing with a silver mist rising from his body. He did say that the name would give him power, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check his stats again.

 

[Status]

 

Skills / Bonuses / Blessings / Curses

 

 

I was right, the status window does change depending on whether something is threatening me. Also... the hell… he just gained a title… and it’s even based on the meaning of the name I made up. He even comes with the Shapeshifting skill, so maybe it’s another racial ability of Dragons? It also seems that magic resistance and the ability to destroy magic is innate to dragons, so perhaps I might have the same abilities? [Status] never worked on me even when I used a mirror, so I'm still in the dark about my abilites. Lastly, he could have killed me! The Howling Cannon's description says it all! Oh wait, it uses mana, so does it count as magic? Seriously, when I meet the gods, I gotta ask how the hell does this system work… and for everything else in this world for that matter.

 

[My King, shall we move forth?]

 

Stirred from my thoughts, I took a look at him as I couldn’t help but think there was something else off about his Status.

 

“I have a few more questions before we leave… how old are you? And when did you set off to find me?”

[Based on the number of days I’ve been here, I am currently four years old, I believe. I set off on Lord Father’s instructions two years ago.]

 

The fuck!? He’s really even more of a brat than I am! Also, does this mean he’s been loitering around here for 2 years!? How the hell did the adventurers survive!?

 

“Wait a minute… are you saying you came here two years ago? And you’ve been loitering around ever since?”

[No, you’re only half right. I set off two years ago and arrived close to here over a year ago. That was when I sensed the good smell and found myself here.]

“So you’ve been here for a year… how did you deal with the adventurers? How come you only showed yourself now?”

[Huh? Adventurers? You mean the ones who come here to hunt the monsters? Why would I care about a bunch of puny humans and beastkins and what they do? I simply let the monsters here do as they please while I took a nap in the deepest part of this place. Today was different though since I sensed your arrival, My King.]

 

Damn… I should’ve known better… either it’s my dumb luck or trouble is simply attracted to me… well, I should be glad it wasn’t a dark god’s agent though.

 

“Sigh… anyways, now that that’s out of the way. Can you simply call me Camus instead of “My King”?”

[I refuse]

“Right… “Unbowed” and all that crap… Hm?”

 

Now that I’m free to relax my thoughts, I noticed some bodies of Savage Oaks littered in some places. Right, I feel bad that it’s my fault that Ellen and her team couldn’t finish their Job, so I decided to bring the requested materials for her.

 

[Are you perhaps interested in those tree monsters, My King?]

“They’re called Savage Oaks, and yes I’m interested in them. Why do you ask?”

[The former ruler of this place was a big a tree monster… I mean Savage Oak. I can lead you to it if you want?]

 

A big one, eh? That’s good then. If I can get a big one, I won’t need to collect from a lot of small ones. Though I call them small, they’re actually the size of trees with trunks thick enough for two or three people to hug entirely with their arms. Still, in this case, bigger is better, right?

 

“Alright, lead on then…”

 

…

 

...

 

“… and now, I’m here.”<Camus>

 

“…”

 

I was sitting in a camp surrounded by the adventurer party leaders, including Ellen. I explained most of the events that happened while they were preparing for the big subjugation. I showed them Fenril and told them I beat him into submission. I explained it in a way that I was easily able to communicate with him since we’re both reptilians, and that he woke up from hibernation and started hunting. I didn’t bother mentioning I’m a dragon or the King part since I know it’ll be a hassle and they’ll mostly think I’m crazy. Even I know about the common sense about dragons in this world and even if they’ll believe me, they’ll either just end up acting awkwardly around me or start fearing me, which is something I’d like to avoid.

Besides, if I told them and they started making fun of me, Fenril would have just made it into a bigger mess. However, I didn’t hide my strength and the fact I subdued the Great Savage Oak –which I thought was just an oversized version of the Savage Oak– seems to have made a bigger impact on my credibility since it’s a creature most of these adventurers have actually faced off against.

 

After the story, they all had looks of shock and amazement and they started to cheer… except for Ellen.

 

“Damn! I can’t believe I’ve been huntin’ around here while that beastie was around!”

“I know right? Whoulda thought that somethin’ like that was sleepin’ around here for a year! A freakin year!”

“I guess that’s one good thing it was part dragon then… those things will only attack strong prey.”

“Gah! Hearing that just upsets me though! That means we aren’t as tough as we thought we are… I guess Ellen’s team really are that amazing, huh?”

“The best part is… we didn’t have to waste our damn time tryin’ to fight somethin’ we ain’t gonna win against! And this booze is fuckin’ amazin’!”

 

The party leaders voiced their opinions here and there. I also gave them what’s left of my Dragon Spirit Brandy to help lighten their mood. Only Ellen seems to be peeved about something…

 

“… can I talk to you, Camus? …in private?”<Ellen>

 

*Gulp*

 

I swallowed hard as Ellen cam up to me from the side as she asked me in a half-smiling half-annoyed face. I stopped Fenril who looked as if he was about to get up, as Ellen and I went off to the side of the camp. I also couldn’t help but turn even tenser as I heard one of the dwarf leaders mutter something embarrassing.

 

“*glug* *glug* *gulp*… aah! This stuff sure hits tha spot! By the way, is it true that Ellen’s settled for that scalekin? Those two seem quite intimate.”

“Who knows? Even if they are, I say that scalekin… what’s he called? Camus?… Yeah, I say he’s pretty much screwed, literally so… I mean, poor Mak’s retired early when he tried a night with that girl.”

“Nah, I doubt it. Since he beat the Wyrmwolf thing into submission, who’s to say he couldn’t beat Ellen into submission as well, eh? Gahahaha! Hey, who wants to make a bet on who ends up getting roughed up?”

 

I couldn’t hear the rest as we moved across the camp. We went into the woods and soon, we entered a clearing where I saw the rest of Ellen’s party camped along with Glenn who was waving enthusiastically.

 

“Now that we’re here… speak, Camus.”<Ellen>

“Uh… what do you – “

“Glenn told us everything, so you don’t have to hide it. You’re one of the Dragon race, aren’t you Camus?”<Ellen>

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Glenn did? Although I didn’t ask him to hide it, but didn’t he know he’ll be thought of as an idiot for saying it? I mean, I learned all about the Dragons’ reputation from Glenn, so I was surprised he was the one who told them about me.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Glenn, but he just bowed down looking like a little kid who’s committed a mistake. I simply shrugged and smiled wryly as I responded.

 

“Well, if Glenn already explained then what more would you all like to know?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”<Ellen>

“If I did, wouldn’t you have all simply thought that I was crazy? I mean I’m surprised you believed Glenn, but you know about a dragon’s reputation, right?”

 

Dragons have changed since the time of my dad. Apparently, except for the High Dragon races, most of them became a mass of instinct, pride, selfishness, and anger as time passed with each new generation of mixing in with other creatures. Now combine all that with a magic immune wall of muscle that’s covered in stuff that can only be pierced by one of the rarest metals and can fire off elemental attacks, then it stands to reason why our kind isn’t popular. Simply put, most of them devolved into beasts as the Dragon Gods could no longer rein them in. Free will and all that crap… Also, when I said that part about believing Glenn, Angela seems to have coughed a bit.

 

“But… But still! I mean, don’t you trust us?”

“… to be honest, I do want to Ellen, but realistically, I just met you all a few days ago. I now know I can trust you all as adventurers and friends since you did come back for me, but of course at the time I didn’t know all of you well enough if you’d take what I’d say seriously. Even Glenn scoffed at it the first time.”

“But you… I just… I… I… I’m sorry… I just need to cool off for a bit…”

 

Ellen stomped away deeper into the woods with a look that appears to me as a mix with confusion and anxiety. Uh oh… somehow I feel like I’ve seen this sort of situation somewhere before.

 

“Sorry guys… I’ll go after her.”<Camus>

“Haha… it’s ok Camus. We know… She was just really worried about you, like the rest of us. Being burdened as a leader, she just can’t be careless with her feelings and had to hold most of it in with reason and logic.”<Dustin>

“Honestly, it just feels really weird. The way you talk and act... For a scalekin, you somehow feel more like one of us, so I guess we can leave Ellen with you.”<Angela>

“Oi, he’s a dragon, remember?”<Lawrence>

“Oops. Sorry.”<Angela>

 

I nodded showing that I didn’t mind it, and left going after Ellen. After saving them, the party really softened up to me.

 

As I went further in, I soon caught up with her and saw her smashing some poor deer monsters, probably to relieve her stress.

 

“Ellen.”

“… Look, Camus, I was wrong there, but could you give me a bit of time to – ”

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“W-What do you mean? You were correct in your thinking, so there’s nothing –”

“Even if I was right, I still should have told you and everyone… even if you’d think I was crazy. By not telling you, I was denying your feelings.”

“M-M-My feelings!? W-What do you?”

“…Sorry, I’m bad at this, so I might have used the wrong word. Point is, I should have told you regardless of how everyone would have treated me. Trust or not, it was the right thing to do, since I like you.”

“Camus… w-wait, l-like me!?”

 

Whoops. Looks like I got a tad too forward. In the past, I’d cringe at the thought of expressing my feelings towards a girl I’d like, and I’d even make fun of guys who get overemotional when confessing, but now I realize just how difficult this is. I didn’t want things to get awkward, so I decided the straight arrow approach, no matter how corny it is.

 

“Yes, Ellen, I like you. The reason I stared at you back then was because I was stunned by you. When I saw you got hurt by Fenril, the Wyrmwolf, I got angry… so angry, that I had to drive you and your team out since I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from destroying everything when I fought him.”

 

I’m really thankful that I somehow got bolder in my new life. I’ll chalk it up to the personality change for now, but I’m really being honest here.

 

“…”

 

She was silent and it looked to me like she was lost in thought. She then started pacing all over while mumbling something incoherent. She even jumped a few times and started shaking her hands every now and then. I started sweating at the strange scene, but I patiently waited.

 

*clap*

 

Hm? She stopped as she clapped her hands. She then turned towards and approached me.

 

“Camus… um… could you do me a favor?”

“? Sure, what do you need?”

“Could you… get big… and… …”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear the last part.”

 

The first part sounded... misleading... but second part was really incoherent, to the point I couldn’t hear it even with enhanced hearing. I also got really tense as my imagination started running wild.

 

“Geez! Just turn big already!”

 

So that's what she meant...without a second thought, I grew to my maximum size.

 

“! … I didn’t get to see it clearly back then, but you really can turn big.”

“You’re still a bit taller, but you could say I’m larger.”

 

She grumbled when I said that. Oops. I hope I didn’t ruin her mood.

 

“… about before… I know it may sound strange… but…could you… hug me again?... from behind?”

 

!!!

Hot damn! Things seem to be going in a good direction! At least I hope it is… it would be a serious blow to my emotional health if things get messed up here.

 

“… alright.”

 

I took Ellen in my arms and hugged her from behind as she requested. I held onto her waist being careful to avoid the dangerous areas since I really don’t wanna mess it up. I may have gotten bolder, but I’m not at a carnivorous level yet, so please pardon me for not being aggressive.

 

With her hair on my face, all I could think of was that she smells really good… Either I’m weird or she’s wearing perfume, which I highly doubt. She’s also warm and while she has muscles and tough skin, it felt nice and firm in my touch. I resisted the urge to squeeze her, but I couldn’t stop my tail from thumping on the ground like Fenril earlier. Only this time, my tail is gouging out the earth in my excitement.

 

“So this is what it feels like…”<Ellen>

 

She took the words right out of my mouth. I was about to let go, but she somehow held on to my arms. Wait… could this mean?

 

“Camus… someone like me wouldn’t normally get to experience something like this… but you made this wish come true for me. Thank you.”

 

She held the side of my snout gently with her hand and brought my face closer to her cheek until they touched.

 

“I’m honestly not sure if this will work out, but you’re really more like a regular person than the dragons or scalekins I’ve seen and heard… but if you weren’t you, I’ll most definitely not be able to experience this feeling of being held by strong arms from behind. So if you don’t mind someone like me…”

 

Gaaaaaaah! There it iiiiiiis! My heart is doing freakin internal backflips and somersaults when she said this. Keep calm, Camus. Keep Calm! Smooth as a rock, smooth as a… wait that ain’t smooth… bah! Whatever…

 

“… I’m the one who should be saying that. After the many rejections… I’m not really confident in myself anymore.”<Camus>

“Hmhm… they simply don’t know the real you. After all, it can’t be helped you look like that, right? I’m almost the same, only… the reason I’ve always been rejected is because I always end up hurting the men I’ve been with… that’s why, if I think about doing the same to you…”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. After all, us dragons are made of tougher stuff.”

 

I said it with a smile, but I felt Ellen’s grip tighten a bit when I said that. Did I say something wrong?

 

“… can we stay like this for a bit longer?”<Ellen>

 

I can’t shake the feeling that something’s up, but we took our time as I enjoyed the sensation of her in my arms for a little while longer.

 

…

 

“Oi oi, so did ya guys do it?”<Lawrence>

“They were in there for a long time you imbecile, so it should be obvious. Also, it’s rude to ask that! Have you no shame?”<Angela>

“Congratulations you two. I wish you both the best of luck.”<Dustin>

“Gregor is glad for occasion. Now we drink!”

“…congrats.”<Alma>

“Awawawa! Doing it with a scalekin! I-I mean, Dragon! This is… this is indecent! *pant* *pant*”<Silvi>

“Wow! To think you’ve won the heart of Ms. Ellen! Congratulations sir Camus!”<Glenn>

 

As we arrived, everyone started cheering for us as they obviously misunderstood. Also, Silvi was that kind of chick? I’d be having an awkward boner if my body was a human’s right now, but I got Ellen, so that’s that.

 

“Knock it off you two!”<Ellen>

 

Ellen proceeded to bonk Angela and Lawrence on the head, as she looked red, most likely in embarrassment. I simply smiled and brought out whatever liquor I had left. I’m out of the Dragon Spirit Brandy, but I’m not out of good booze yet.

We all talked and had a great time as I told them about my adventures with Glenn. The fun lasted a while, but eventually we packed up and got ready to head on home.

Fenril wanted to stay for while longer since he said he needed to secure his treasures. This surprised me, but then he’s a dragon, so I didn’t think much of it and allowed him.

I couldn’t fit the body of the Great Savage Oak into my ring on top of my stuff already in it, so it had to be stripped down with the help of the adventurers. Everyone got some profit off of it along with my booze, so it wasn’t a loss for anyone since we all went home with smiles.

 

…

 

…

 

Back in Orgo, the town was in an uproar when they heard of a powerful Monster Lord amassing a Monster Wave. The fear of such an event was ingrained into everyone, so it couldn’t be helped that the town was in a panic.

However, just as the town was in the middle of its preparations, news soon arrived of the subjugation of the Monster Lord. Cheers and celebration soon spread out to the people even if the news mentioned it was done singlehandedly by a scalekin. To the people here who were used to mixed and different races, it didn’t matter who or what you are; to be able to stop a Monster Wave, is a feat worthy to be praised as a hero.

 

But not everyone was happy for the news… the undercurrents of the town were stirred, and at the head of them was Bremv Pullac, the current Town Governor.

 

“Argh! Just why! Why! Why does this thing insist on making things harder for me!? It’s bad enough it has the support of Kholdrum, but now with this new achievement, Kholdrum has the right to defend him now!”

 

And still by his side was the mysterious stranger who helped him pull the strings.

 

“Once again, relax Gov. Or you’ll lose more years and hair if you keep at it.”

“How are you still so calm!? It doesn’t matter how we set up the trap anymore! Something that’s able to fight against a Monster Lord singlehandedly is beyond any of what the adventurers here are capable of! I don’t think even Bolgruk is a threat to this thing anymore!”

“It’s true that Bolgruk may be biting more than he can chew this time, but it doesn’t mean all our cards have been revealed.”

“What do you mean?”

“What they took out was probably the beast we lured there a year ago. It looked formidable back then, but if they beat it so easily, that simply means it didn’t adapt well with the new environment of the Labyrinth and actually grew weaker. You know how outside monsters and Nests need a matching type of monster, right?”

“True.”

“Then that explains that. But we still have two even more powerful monsters waiting in different Nests, so we’re still in the clear. I’ve confirmed them myself since I decided to pay them a visit, and they’re growing quite nicely. Our objectives haven’t changed, and we even have a good opportunity to send the scalekin out on a Request since he’ll be well known throughout the town. No one would be surprised if he received a direct commission from the Town Governor after all.”

“Ooh! You’re right!”

“See? The one we really need to worry about is your rival Kholdrum… and the only other man who can challenge your authority... Gren Worrick, the Gold rank Guild Head.”

 

Bremv sneered with eyes full of hate at the mention of the name. He didn’t even react much at the mention of Kholdrum, but Gren Worrick was a man he completely loathed.

 

“Hmph. That old bastard… someday, he’ll regret pissing me off. You still have a hold on that bastard, right?”

“Of course. I guarantee that he won’t cause us trouble as long as we don’t step out of line. At the same time, I already made sure he remembers that we have his little treasure, so if he makes any suspicious movements, he would lose it… permanently.”

 

Bremv formed his face into a disgusting grin as he started laughing in a maniacal manner. The stranger simply left Bremv to his fun as he walked away whistling an odd tune… his eyes, mere slits for pupils, and glowing a sinister yellow.

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