Chapter 7

Jacob asked several times if it was really true, then let out a cheer.

He immediately ran off to tell everyone the news.

“Is she really the Dragon Slayer?”

“Couldn’t she be an impostor?”

At first, the villagers were skeptical and didn’t know whether to believe it. Things had been especially chaotic because of all the fraudsters pretending to be Baberi.

“I thought there was no way it could be true when Jacob told me. It’s an honor to see you again.”

But when another member of the extermination expedition confirmed her identity, no one had any doubts left.

The villagers unpacked their belongings and threw a feast.

Baberi thoroughly enjoyed the warm welcome she was receiving for the first time since returning to Tiris.

“There are people pretending to be me?”

Baberi, who had been tearing into a piece of meat, became furious when she heard about the fake Baberis.

“Where have you been all this time that you didn’t hear anything about them?”

Jacob asked in surprise when he learned that she didn’t even know about the impostors.

“Were you perhaps in Rondar?”

Where was Rondar again?

Baberi’s confusion was written all over her face.

“The port city in the south.”

When Jacob explained, Baberi gradually began to remember something.

“Is that the place with the incredibly stingy lord?”

She had heard that there was a place that had stubbornly refused to send the people and food needed for the extermination expedition.

Because of that, the expedition had been delayed in leaving for Madni.

“That’s right. The stingy lord.”

“Why was the place blockaded?”

Had the lord rebelled because the king had ordered him to spend money?

Baberi became interested at the possibility.

The enemy of her enemy was her ally.

And if the stingy lord happened to be a wealthy man, all the better.

“Do you remember the second extermination expedition, centered around the mercenaries who were sent to Madni just before our main expedition?”

At Jacob’s question, Baberi searched her memory.

She vaguely remembered there being such a group.

“Apparently, the Lord of Rondar had hired mercenaries and sent them as well, but it seems there was a problem settling their wages.”

As expected from a man famous for being stingy, he apparently had tried to save money in every possible way.

Baberi wondered whether he would make a suitable ally.

Still, a stingy lord seemed better than a penniless dragon.

Or maybe not.

“The mercenaries killed the lord.”

“Damn……”

Baberi lamented upon hearing that the man she had considered making an ally of was already dead.

Her plan had fallen apart.

“Fortunately, the lord’s son, Rob, happened to be away from Rondar at the time, so he escaped unharmed.”

However, because the mercenaries had seized the castle and blockaded the city, he couldn’t return.

As Jacob explained this, Baberi’s thoughts became complicated.

The enemy of my enemy is my ally.

Then what does that make the enemy of my enemy’s enemy?

“I heard he’s still quite young. It’s a shame. Apparently, he asked the king to lend him troops so that he could retake Rondar, but……”

“……The king is pretending not to know?”

Jacob shrugged, saying he didn’t know the details.

But one thing was certain: the king wasn’t actively helping Rondar.

If the king had helped, Rondar would have been retaken long ago.

The mercenaries would have been executed.

“There are even rumors that the king is secretly siding with the mercenaries.”

Jacob lowered his voice as he spoke.

Baberi found it difficult to believe.

“Why would the king side with those people?”

“Perhaps he’s taking revenge because the Lord of Rondar caused trouble and refused to cooperate during the extermination effort.”

When Baberi thought about it, it did make sense.

He refused when the king told him to send his son to the extermination expedition.

Then he refused when he was told to provide food.

The Lord of Rondar had certainly caused King Glock no end of trouble.

From Glock’s perspective, then, the enemy of his enemy—the mercenaries—had effectively become his allies.

“You didn’t even know Rondar had been blockaded. Where on earth have you been?”

Jacob asked.

“Somewhere far away.”

Baberi didn’t bother explaining, figuring he wouldn’t understand anyway.

Explaining everything that had happened would take far too long.

Besides, after filling herself with meat and alcohol for the first time in ages, she was sleepy.

The next day, Baberi left Tosen Village.

“What are you going to do now?”

Kure asked.

Unlike Baberi, whose complexion had improved after eating and sleeping well, Kure looked gloomy.

He had remained silent throughout the entire feast, apparently displeased by everyone talking about how he had been defeated and killed.

“Let’s go to Rondar.”

“What are we going to a city that’s been blockaded for?”

Baberi shook the medicine bottle with a grin.

“They said they were grateful after I saved their family, didn’t they? They even gave me such expensive medicine for free.”

She wondered what Rob was doing now.

He had lost his father to the mercenaries and had his castle taken from him.

He was probably furious.

At the mercenaries and at the king.

“I realized that people are incredibly willing to repay someone when it involves their family.”

The apothecary owner in Tosen Village had certainly proven that.

Despite his sign saying NO CREDIT, he had ended up giving her everything she needed with heartfelt gratitude.

“So I’ll kill the mercenaries for his son and take back his castle. Then I’ll tell him I’ll become his family.”

The boy had suddenly lost his father, so he was probably lonely.

Baberi didn’t know how old the lord’s son was, but she thought her plan had a very high chance of succeeding.

“It’s called the ‘Let’s Become His Older Sister’ Operation.”

She had even come up with the operation’s name while eating breakfast.

It was a flawless plan.

Baberi was overflowing with confidence.

“That is the most ridiculous operation I’ve ever heard.”

Kure, whose expression had been sour since yesterday, casually muttered.

“Do you really think he’ll cry with joy just because you tell him you’ll be his older sister?”

“He might.”

Baberi’s mood immediately soured when her carefully thought-out plan was criticized.

“Unless the boy has completely lost his mind from loneliness, he won’t.”

Kure mocked Baberi, asking whether she really wanted to become the older sister of such a man.

“Even a ten-year-old child could come up with a better idea.”

“Oh, really? Then what brilliant idea do you have?”

Baberi growled at the smug Kure.

He had treated the plan she had worked so hard to come up with like garbage.

Whatever he said next, Baberi was already prepared to sneer at him.

“First, offer me enough magic stones. Then I’ll kill the mercenaries, the lord’s son, or whoever else needs killing.”

Kure spoke confidently.

Baberi had waited to hear what he would suggest, but now she snorted.

Magic stones aren’t exactly weeds.

Where am I supposed to find enough of those in the middle of a forest?

“Try thinking of something realistic.”

Baberi sarcastically criticized him for coming up with such an unrealistic suggestion.

The two glared at each other, sparks practically flying from their eyes.

Their feelings were beginning to get hurt, and neither of them was willing to back down even an inch.

“I’m far more realistic than you, who wants to become the older sister of some guy whose face you don’t even know.”

“Who are you calling ‘you’? You’re my subject! Can’t you call me Your Majesty?”

“Can someone without a single penny really be called a king?”

“You don’t have any either!”

Baberi shouted in disbelief.

Even she had to admit that calling herself a king with no money sounded ridiculous.

That only made her feel more defensive, so she raised her voice.

“I’ve only just become king! I can start gathering money from now on.”

Baberi stubbornly insisted.

Kure snorted.

“Are you going to keep lying like you did yesterday to get free food and alcohol? That doesn’t make you a king. It makes you a beggar.”

The word beggar made Baberi’s stomach boil.

She raised her right fist toward Kure.

The medicine had helped somewhat, and her arm was in better condition now.

“You seem to have forgotten something. That lie could become the truth. Watch what you say before I really kill you.”

It was a serious threat.

But Kure still seemed to regard her as a joke.

“How? You can’t even use that impressive ballista of yours.”

Baberi clenched her teeth.

The veins in her neck stood out with anger.

She had done nothing but struggle and stumble around in front of him, so apparently Kure had started looking down on her.

Baberi deliberately gathered power into her right arm.

“What are you doing?”

Kure sensed something ominous and took a step backward.

His eyes focused on Baberi’s right arm, which was beginning to glow faintly.

“Since you still don’t seem convinced that I’m your king, I’m going to show you.”

Baberi grinned as she spoke.

But there was absolutely nothing amusing about what she was feeling inside.

Her arm rapidly began to tingle.

Then came a sharp pain, as though she were being stabbed with a knife.

As I thought, this is still too much.

Baberi was about to give up.

But then her right arm began glowing brighter and brighter.

“You’re really going to do this?”

Kure stared at Baberi in disbelief.

Baberi was now the one becoming flustered.

She had only intended to establish their hierarchy.

She had never actually intended to kill him.

But her arm had slipped beyond her control and was now aiming straight at Kure’s head.

“……!”

Before a ballista could fire from her fingertips, Baberi hurriedly grabbed her right wrist with her left hand and forced it downward.

“……”

It didn’t produce anything close to its proper power, but it was still strong enough to blast a large hole into the ground at Kure’s feet.

Baberi swallowed hard.

The fact that Kure wasn’t immediately angry and was simply standing there silently was even more frightening.

Only the sound of the wind moving through the trees could be heard.

Then—

Crack.

An ominous sound came from Kure.

“What the f—?!”

Baberi raised her head to check on Kure, then immediately cursed and ran without even looking back.

Kure’s body was changing.

In particular, his right arm was being covered in white scales before growing abnormally large, completely out of proportion with the rest of his body.

“You said you didn’t have enough magic to transform into a dragon!”

Baberi shouted as she fled into the forest.

Behind her, she heard Kure’s heavy footsteps pounding after her.

She ran until she was practically choking on her own breath, but the sound kept getting closer.

“I really screwed up. I really screwed up.”

Baberi grew increasingly desperate.

Because she had forcibly used the ballista just moments ago, her right arm was completely useless.

She couldn’t defend herself.

She couldn’t attack first, either.

Baberi slipped behind a large tree and hid herself.

As the footsteps approached, she held her breath.

Swish, swish.

The sound of the wind brushing through the leaves was eerie.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Baberi’s cheek.

“Baberi Rangs.”

Kure was right behind her.

Baberi could feel the murderous intent radiating from him.

Rustle.

She heard him step on the ground and begin moving around the right side of the tree.

Baberi cautiously shifted her body toward the left.

“AAAAAAAH!”

Then she suddenly locked eyes with Kure and screamed.

His right arm had completely transformed into a dragon’s arm.

“Alliance! We’re allies, remember?!”

Baberi shouted as she quickly ducked.

The tree trunk where her head had been was caught in his hand and crushed.

The tree, thicker than a person’s waist, was reduced to something like a toothpick in his grip.

“You said you’d never kill me! Are you seriously trying to send me to the afterlife?!”

Baberi shrieked.

“You’ve already tried to kill me twice! Twice!”

And that was after the horrible oatmeal incident, too.

At that, a spark of awareness returned to Kure’s eyes, which had been completely consumed by rage.

“……That was an accident.”

“Mine was an accident too!”

“No. You were trying to kill me. You took the ballista that put a hole in my chest and tried to use it against me again?”

Kure was furious, having clearly seen the attack aimed at his head.

Baberi raised her left arm in surrender.

“It wasn’t my intention! My body wasn’t listening to me!”

Baberi desperately pointed at her right arm, which was emitting white steam, as she tried to explain herself.

“You lie every time you open your mouth!”

Apparently, that only made things worse.

Kure accused her of treating him like an idiot.

“You don’t have even the slightest bit of honesty! You always just say whatever comes into your—!”

Kure suddenly stopped speaking.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

Then he collapsed face-first onto the dirt.

The arm that had fallen beside him rapidly shrank and returned to its original size.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Baberi cautiously poked his head with the tip of her foot.

“Hey. Hey, Lord Kure!”

Did he collapse because he got too angry all of a sudden?

Can dragons get high blood pressure too?