Filled with Pride in Pursuit of Fame
"This is terrible..."
One of the hired adventurers in a village near our destination muttered to himself.
No
It was the remains of what used to be a village, to be precise.
"The smell is terrible."
Aritote covered her mouth with a cloth.
There is a peculiar pungent odor in the surrounding area.
Spreading out before my eyes is a mountain of rotting corpses.
All of them with their feet and hands perfectly aligned
They look as if they have fallen straight down, standing upright.
"Olasha, what kind of situation is this?"
I listened to the groans of Boldoi's soldiers as if they were about to vomit.
"Well, it's probably the snake dragon."
Amid all this, Olasha remains calm.
"It's the characteristic way of killing of the snake dragon. It wraps itself around its adversary, swallows it whole from the head, and spits it out just when it's surely dead, especially since it's not hungry."
Olasha lightly kicks a corpse coated in yellow liquid.
The rotten corpse collapses
Among them, a few bodies
They still had their metal armor.
"Captain Zalmbald"
"W-what is it?"
Even the client, the nobleman who is in charge of the whole thing, seems to be horrified by this sight.
"It's nothing, but if you are the captain, don't hesitate and act now. Are these soldiers from Azura?"
"Y-yeah... that's right. This emblem is definitely Azura."
"Then they must have been in a hurry to gain merit. They must have provoked unnecessary anger by attacking in small numbers."
They then fled to this village and the civilians were also caught up in it.
And those who got caught up in it were not happy.
"The rotting corpse has completely cooled down, and it's starting to dry out. It's probably been three days."
"Did it go back to its nest?"
I wonder what if?
Olasha's expression is calm as usual.
But... is he angry?
"This is the worst outcome. We won't make it in time."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at the bodies. They're all adults."
"So what? ...Damn it! That's what this is about!"
No children
If they ran away from the settlement, they would've met us by the time we got here.
"Why only children?"
The blood drains from Aritote's face.
Same goes for soldiers and other adventurers.
"The snake dragon is laying eggs."
The reason why snake dragons are subdued is because of their ecology.
Although the body temperature is low, the eggs are incubated at high temperatures.
How do they do it?
They lay their eggs inside the bodies of the creatures they capture alive.
And children have higher body temperatures than adults.
"Olasha, can you do something about this?"
"It's possible, but I won't be able to do it alone."
He turned back to the captain
"That's right. Captain, will you do it? You too! Adventurers!"
The soldiers are hesitant
But
"…Let's do it"
Someone said that
"…That’s right!"
Someone agreed
"I can’t bear to let that snake dragon do whatever it wants!"
"There may be some miraculous survivors!"
"Let's go!"
"What if it's a snake dragon? We're adventurers!"
"Adventurers risk their lives every day!"
"The same goes for us soldiers!"
A chain of determination formed.
"I'll discuss the strategy while heading to the nest. Captain, I'll leave you in charge, okay?"
"Hmm... wouldn't it be better if you were?"
"It's impossible, since I'll be fighting on the front line."
"…I understand"
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