Chapter 6

Baberi grinned and jabbed Kure in the side with her left elbow.

“Turn into your dragon form right now. Then all those humans will be so terrified that they’ll drop everything they’re carrying and run away.”

Then they could take all the food and medicine the villagers left behind.

It was practically a perfect plan.

“What do you think? Even you have to admit that’s a genius idea, right?”

It wasn’t as though she was asking him to tear off his perfectly healthy skin and sell it.

Baberi naturally assumed Kure would like the idea.

But Kure’s expression was far from pleased.

“Regardless of the fact that you’re a thug, I don’t like that method.”

His firm refusal immediately irritated Baberi.

“You don’t like this, you don’t like that. If we’re allies, shouldn’t you at least cooperate with me?”

As Baberi grew angry, Kure let out a long sigh.

“Do you know how much magic it takes to change my appearance?”

Changing forms repeatedly throughout the day was difficult, but under normal circumstances, it wasn’t impossible because his body could recover its magic on its own.

But things were different now.

“I already used a lot of magic in the gorge, so I don’t have much left. And I can’t replenish my magic because of a certain someone.”

Kure pointed a finger at the hole in his chest.

“……”

Baberi had thought it was a good idea.

Now she was thoroughly annoyed.

But this time, she couldn’t completely blame Kure.

After all, she was the one who had put a hole in his chest.

“Still, if you want me to transform, then offer me a large quantity of magic stones.”

Kure said that he could probably do it once if she did.

Baberi became annoyed when his expression seemed strangely smug.

A large quantity of magic stones?

She didn’t even have enough money to buy a loaf of bread. Where was she supposed to get money for magic stones?

Baberi began to wonder if this alliance was really going to be as useful as she had expected.

They had no money, and Kure couldn’t even transform into his dragon form.

What exactly can this flashy-looking Kure actually do?

While she wondered whether she should continue maintaining their alliance, they arrived at the apothecary.

“Excuse me. I know you look busy, but I’m trying to get some medicine.”

Baberi carefully approached the apothecary.

Food was one thing, but she absolutely needed medicine, so she had to try something, whether it worked or not.

“Oh, goodness! Busy? Not at all! It’s fine!”

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the shopkeeper was apparently a merchant down to his very bones.

Even though he had been packing his belongings in preparation to flee, he didn’t chase away a customer who had walked in. Instead, he smiled.

“I don’t recognize you. Are you travelers? What kind of medicine do you need?”

When Baberi told him she needed medicine to cure paralysis poison, he said he happened to have something good and pulled a bottle out of a drawer.

“This one is extremely effective. It’s a medicine I can confidently recommend.”

“It is a little pricey, though…”

The shopkeeper muttered as he cautiously held up three fingers.

“Thirty gold?”

“Ma’am. Surely you’re joking.”

So he meant 300 gold.

Damn it. What kind of medicine costs that much?

Baberi suddenly wanted to grab Glock, the bastard who had poisoned her right arm with paralysis poison, by the collar.

But she didn’t let it show. Instead, she put on a sly smile.

“It must be a very good medicine, then. Give it to me.”

“Oh, thank you!”

The shopkeeper beamed and thanked her.

But instead of handing over the medicine, he stared at Baberi.

“I said to give it to me.”

“You need to pay first.”

He was still smiling, but his tone had become noticeably more rigid than before.

Baberi laughed loudly as though she had just heard something amusing.

This time, however, the shopkeeper’s smile disappeared.

“……You don’t have any money?”

“If you don’t, then there’s no deal.”

He immediately put the bottle of medicine back into his bundle.

Baberi grabbed his wrist.

Her right hand had moved on instinct because she was in such a hurry, and the hand gripping his wrist trembled.

“Could you put it on credit?”

The shopkeeper silently pointed at a piece of paper hanging beside a picture of a young man.

[NO CREDIT]

“Just this once. My arm hurts so badly I feel like I’m going to die. You can see how much I’m trembling, right?”

Baberi pleaded with the shopkeeper with a pitiful expression.

Then she lightly kicked Kure.

Do something with that pretty face of yours. Charm him somehow.

She communicated the message with her eyes.

Whether Kure understood her or not, he simply frowned and glared at Baberi.

He really is completely useless.

Maybe I should just dissolve this alliance.

Baberi clicked her tongue and smiled at the shopkeeper.

“I won’t ask you to do it for nothing.”

“And what are you going to do if not for nothing?”

She had blurted that out without thinking.

Now she had to figure out what she could actually offer.

Keeping her smile in place, Baberi rolled her eyes.

There was only one thing she was particularly good at.

“I’ll kill a dragon for you.”

The dragon who had been quietly listening widened his eyes in surprise.

“What are you talking about?”

Kure grabbed Baberi by the shoulder.

“Just stay quiet.”

Baberi pushed his hand away and stared brightly at the shopkeeper.

“Everyone is fleeing because of the dragon, right? There’s no need for that. I’ll take care of it.”

The shopkeeper let out an extremely long sigh.

“Ma’am, do I look like an idiot?”

Of course it would be great if someone could defeat the dragon for them.

But who could possibly defeat a dragon, and how?

“Are you some kind of Dragon Slayer?”

“You’re pretty perceptive. That’s right. I’m a Dragon Slayer.”

Baberi pointed at herself.

The shopkeeper was so dumbfounded that he let out a hollow laugh.

“This customer is really saying anything now. Unless you’re a Rangs, how could you possibly be one?”

He waved his hand as though shooing away a bug.

Baberi became frustrated and repeatedly thumped her chest.

“I am a Rangs. Baberi Rangs. The Dragon Slayer who defeated the dragon that appeared on the Almeria Continent for the first time in a hundred years!”

“Stop talking nonsense and leave. I’m busy!”

The shopkeeper tried to force Baberi out as she stubbornly insisted that he believe her.

“Why won’t you believe me?!”

Baberi struck her chest in frustration.

She had spent her entire life living as a criminal simply because she was a Rangs.

And now, she was in trouble because she couldn’t prove that she was a Rangs.

She couldn’t exactly fire a ballista to prove it.

Baberi frowned as she felt the tingling sensation in her arm.

“Father.”

At that moment, a young man emerged from the back of the apothecary.

He looked so much like the shopkeeper in his younger days that Baberi wondered if she was seeing the shopkeeper himself.

“Why haven’t you finished packing yet? We need to leave soon.”

“Jacob! You came at just the right time!”

The shopkeeper’s face brightened when he saw his son.

He groaned and pointed at Baberi.

“Get this customer out of here. She keeps saying she’s a Dragon Slayer and all sorts of troublesome things. I think she’s one of those impostors people have been talking about.”

As he said, after the Dragon Slayer’s whereabouts became unknown, people pretending to be her had been running rampant throughout the Kingdom of Tiris.

There wasn’t a single person in Tiris who didn’t know about Baberi’s achievement of defeating the dragon.

However, very few people actually knew what Baberi looked like.

The fraudsters took advantage of that.

I’m Baberi Rangs.

As long as they showed off some impressive swordsmanship and said those words, most people would immediately believe them.

People would treat the hero who defeated the dragon to drinks and meals.

But the next morning, the impostors would disappear like ghosts, taking the village’s valuables with them.

The apothecary owner was certain this woman was one of those fraudsters.

“She practically reeks of a con artist.”

Naive people might be fooled, but he wasn’t going to fall for it.

He had confidence in his judgment.

“This is my son. He actually fought alongside the real Dragon Slayer during the extermination expedition. Actually!”

The shopkeeper smugly snorted, clearly pleased that Baberi had chosen the wrong place to try her scam.

However, something seemed strange about Jacob, who was standing beside him.

He stared intently at Baberi’s face.

Then his mouth fell open.

“Lady Baberi!”

Jacob shouted loudly.

The apothecary owner’s eyes widened.

Baberi also soon recognized him.

“You……”

What was his name again?

She had definitely seen him throughout the entire extermination expedition, and she was even happy to see him again.

But his name didn’t immediately come to mind, so Baberi hesitated.

She vaguely remembered that his father had just called him by his name, but she couldn’t remember that either.

“Jacob, is this beggar really that Baberi Rangs?”

The apothecary owner asked in astonishment.

“Father! How can you call her a beggar?!”

Jacob looked horrified and scolded his father.

The apothecary owner slapped his own mouth and nervously watched Baberi’s reaction.

Jacob.

Right.

That was his name.

Only then did Baberi remember.

She smiled and repeatedly slapped Jacob on the shoulder.

“Jacob! It’s nice to see you here. It’s been two years, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, but Lady Baberi, ow, ugh!”

Apparently, her slaps were a little too forceful, because Jacob scrunched up his nose in pain.

“I’m sorry to ask this of someone I haven’t seen in two years, but could you lend me some money? I promise I’ll pay you back.”

Someday.

Baberi swallowed the last part and asked Jacob,

“My arm is practically falling off right now, but I don’t have any money to buy medicine.”

Baberi put on a pitiful expression and rolled up her sleeve.

Her right arm was revealed, covered in bruises.

Jacob looked back and forth between her face and the bottle of medicine in his father’s hand.

Then he snatched the medicine from his father and handed it to Baberi.

“Just take it.”

“……Are you sure?”

“I owe my life to you, Lady Baberi. It’s nowhere near enough to repay what you did for me, but……”

Baberi glanced at the apothecary owner.

She expected him to get angry at his son and demand to know what he was doing.

But the shopkeeper’s reaction was unexpected.

“I’m sorry I failed to recognize the person who saved my son’s life.”

The owner’s attitude suddenly changed.

The man who had treated Baberi like a con artist now firmly grasped her hand and repeatedly bowed.

“It’s thanks to you that my son returned alive and well. Please, accept the medicine.”

“So you’re giving it to me for free?”

What incredible luck!

With a satisfied expression, Baberi quickly swallowed the medicine without even any water, before the father and son could change their minds.

“But Lady Baberi, how did you get injured so badly?”

Jacob asked worriedly as he handed her some water.

Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he exclaimed,

“Don’t tell me you’ve already been to the gorge!”

Baberi was startled by his sudden shout.

She wondered why he was so excited that he was practically huffing and puffing.

“I did just come from there. How did you know?”

“I knew it!”

Jacob didn’t answer her question.

He was too overwhelmed with emotion to properly hear anything she said.

“It really is you, Lady Baberi! I was wondering how you got injured like that, but you encountered the dragon!”

Only then did Baberi realize that he had seriously misunderstood the situation.

Technically, it wasn’t wrong to say that she had been brought to Pony Gorge because of the dragon.

She just hadn’t gone there of her own free will.

“Did you finally cut off that evil bastard’s head this time?”

Kure, who had just been called an “evil bastard,” became visibly displeased and glared at Jacob.

This human was talking so carelessly without even realizing that the very dragon he was insulting was standing right in front of him.

Kure’s hands were itching to cut off this human’s breath instead.

“Of course.”

But Baberi began playing along with Jacob.

Ignoring the tall, silver-haired man standing beside her, she smiled.

“This time, I definitely finished that bastard off.”

This liar is at it again……

Kure, who was very much alive, glared at Baberi as she spread yet another false rumor about him.