Before embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. These are the words of Confucius.
But in the book I read only that phrase was written; His intention was not revealed. So what did Confucius really mean? The importance of resolution? Or how self-destructive and dangerous it was to choose revenge? For me, in the 21st century, there was no way to know, so I chose to interpret it in the way that moved me the most. Yes, Confucius knew that when you are going to hit someone, you have to be prepared to get hit too.
But I guess I didn't know.
I stared at the girl who had attacked me personally since the first meeting. She was looking into the air dazed.
«Those words... what do they mean? I don't understand it...» There were no difficult words, so what I didn't understand was the situation, not my words. Well, maybe not? «I have a mother!» The girl glared at me while screaming.
I briefly responded: «Do you have it?».
«I mean, she passed away, but...» The girl shuddered and interrupted herself. To be honest, I was a little surprised too. I never thought I would answer yes to that question.
However, there was no problem. «Of course. I nodded as if I already knew. Didn't he have a mother? And? The same thing happened with Bjorn Yandel, who grew up without a mother. Furthermore, due to the characteristics of the dragon tribe, this boy was only young in appearance. She was probably older than me in real life, which meant there was no reason to stop punishing her for that preemptive strike.
«W-but how... did you know...?»
«It shows».
«Se... note?»
«Yeah. If you received a proper education at home you wouldn't tell those lies».
When I responded as if that were obvious, the girl gritted her teeth. Although cursing parents as an insult did not exist in this world, one could not help but be sensitive to issues related to family.
Or was she wrong?
«Excuse yourself, barbarian! Lie? I haven't lied!» The girl, who had recovered mentally to some extent, burst into anger when she was accused of telling a lie.
For some reason that chilled a corner of my heart as soon as I heard it. To think that he denied it so vehemently. That's how sincere she was when she called me super ugly. It would have hurt Bjorn Yandel, but it wasn't a problem either. A K-Barbarian always returned things tenfold. That's how I was.
«You don't even realize you lied, huh?». I looked at the girl with compassionate eyes. «How sad, to think that you don't have a father either-«.
«I have! I have a father! Damn crazy!» The girl cut me off with a scream. Here I stopped provoking her. This should be enough for him to realize that messing with a barbarian could get him into big trouble. Furthermore, this was the homeland of the dragon people.
Wait, but why does the old man remain silent?
Only realizing the feeling of alienation then, did I turn around. Then I saw the old dragon watching me amused. «Incredible».
Hey?
«I have never seen anyone make Miss Penitaseauros so angry».
To say that, she was too emotional a child. Even right now he was huffing and looking at me, except I was focused on something else.
Miss?
The old man added an honorific to the name. That meant that this girl's status within the dragon tribe was considerable.
«Wait, this is the shaman?»
The dragon shaman was a position similar to that of the only barbarian shaman. In short, the Blessing could only be realized by her.
«Oh, didn't you know that?»
How was I supposed to know?
When I turned slowly, the boy looked at me with even more aggressive eyes. «That? Do you want to apologize now?» There was an obvious look of contempt on his lips.
After contemplating it for a while, I decided to continue with that attitude. «Boy, why should I apologize?».
«...Don't you want to record the Blessing?».
That was true, but even a shaman was below the Dragon Lord, the boss. If he gave the go-ahead, this boy would have no choice but to record the Blessing for me.
«That will be decided by the greater dragon».
The boy smiled satisfied at those words. «Oh, you mean my father?».
I froze with half a laugh. Was she the daughter of the dragon lord? The tribe's shaman and the daughter of the ancient elder dragon: Indeed, I could not have a higher status, but the option to apologize was erased from my mind. That was not typical of barbarians. More than anything, if I apologized, I'd just be admitting that I was super ugly.
«...What are you looking at?»
»Nothing»? Am I not looking at anything?»
After the boy's shocking identity revelation, she and I engaged in a war of nerves in awkward silence. After a long time had passed like this, the eldest arranged a reconciliation. «It seems to be enough».
No, it was right to see this as a reprimand.
«Bjorn Yandel, your previous comments to the shaman were very rude. The place where you are is the temple in which our spirit lives. Even if you are a barbarian, you must show respect». The old woman pointed out my mistakes calmly and logically, and then turned her gaze to the girl, who was laughing to herself. «I say the same about you, miss».
«...Me too?»
«Bjorn Yandel is the guest of the greater dragon and the savior of our tribe. It was disrespectful to criticize his appearance at the first meeting».
«But I didn't lie!»
«There are times when one must remain silent. Even if it's the truth».
The girl lowered her head dejectedly. However, he did not feel any satisfaction.
What is this? An indirect insult?
Shut up, even if it was the truth? That meant she agreed that I was super ugly, yet it was wrong to say it out loud.
«There's a meeting I have to attend, so». Soon, the old man abandoned me and my aching bones.
It was uncomfortable to stand, so I fell to the ground. That's how the suffocating silence began.
It was the boy who spoke first. «Tell me».
«What?»
«I heard you were an explorer. Any interesting stories?»
«...Why should I tell you?».
The boy looked at me annoyed at my question. «Words have power. And I have the ability to feel the nature of that power».
«I do not understand».
«Ugh, I need to get used to your wavelength so I can record the Blessing for you later or not. That's probably why my father sent you here earlier».
It was the first time I had heard of words carrying wavelengths, but there was something else that caught my attention. «You talk as if a decision has already been made».
«If it was a rejection, they wouldn't have brought you to this room».
«So what are they discussing there?».
«I don't know. I guess they thought they would seem too easy otherwise».
Somehow, I thought that might actually be the case.
«Anyway, then say something. You have to keep talking so I can read your wavelengths. This way it will be less heavy for your body during the process».
I couldn't get used to this logical attitude because it differed from her first impression, but I obediently followed her. «Something you're especially curious about?»
«Why you became an explorer».
«You say strange things. We are born warriors. If we don't fight, we die».
«You mean you didn't have a choice because of taxes?»
Well, to put it another way. «Our conditions are not as great as yours.»
«Oh, I see...»
The dragon tribe did not pay taxes. This was because they made a great contribution to the war thousands of years ago. On the other hand, the other races struggled to pay taxes every day.
«I've heard that you can borrow money on a racial level. Isn't this the case with the barbarians?».
I smiled bitterly at the genuine curiosity behind his question. «Yes, it's not for us».
The dwarves got a tax cut when they became blacksmiths. Beast people and fairies had financial leisure when they helped in the agricultural and livestock work of the Gnome Tree. The palace granted interest-free loans to explorers until their second year in the trade so that they would not suffer death from taxes. But the barbarians? Well, they had awesome weapons to begin with.
Once I become chief of the tribe I will start by gathering donations and fixing everything.
Objectively, the barbarians were the most backward. Improvements were needed in many areas. But I think my expression wasn't that good.
«...Enough of this, now tell me about it». The boy changed the subject first.
«What?»
«I heard you fought with uncle-no, the dragon hunter?»
Oh, that. That was my only point of contact with the boy, so I dramatized a little what happened at that moment and told him. It wasn't much, I just removed the parts that could be disadvantageous to me: how we got the essence of the ogre, things that could make her suspect that we were evil spirits, etc. It was an interesting story even without it.
«Riol Warb Dwalkie... It's a name I think I'll remember for a long time».
Like everyone who heard this story, the boy focused more during the part about Dwalkie. This kind of reaction made me feel proud inside, because I felt like he was also being recognized by others.
«The sword... That's how you got it. You really are ignorant. Anyway, what after? What happened next?»
When the story about the dragon slayer ended, I naturally brought up the part about finding a new teammate. Here I heard something quite interesting.
«Did you know? My sister could have joined that team».
It sounded like she was talking about the two-year teammate contract Mr. Dragon proposed. «What kind of person is your sister?»
«She is kind. But she's so busy I don't see her often».
No, I'm asking how strong she is, not her personality.
I was always a little curious about it, so I moved to ask a few more questions, but in the end I couldn't. The door opened just in time. «I heard you fought, but you seem to get along well». Mr. Dragon came in and smiled when he saw us chatting. Thanks to that, I found out one thing: the old woman didn't tell him what I told her before. If he had found out about homeschooling, he wouldn't have been able to make that face.
«So, is the result already there?».
«That's it».
Wow, you could have started with that.
«How has it gone?»
«We have decided to grant your request.»
«I see.» I nodded and looked at the boy. I realized I could have hit the nail on the head. The result was already there, but having a one-hour meeting was out of pure pride.
Is that why they asked such strange questions?
When those reasonable doubts arose, Mr. Dragon muttered in a low voice: «However, there is a condition».
«Condition?»
«It was confirmed through the Church of Reatlas that you have received the oracle. One day, you will probably meet Regal Vagos, the dragon hunter».
«Okay, get to the point.»
«If you can kill him when that time comes, bring me his heart».
«...Heart? Why do you need that?» Since it was a weighted condition, I decided to ask the reason first.
The answer came from the boy. «It's my fault. When that event happened, I was the one who cursed Uncle.»
«Damn...»
A curse that turned Regal Vagos into a dragon, but not a member of the dragon tribe, was the reason why his use of the Dragon Speech was restricted and he couldn't even properly use the Dragon Slayer sword that he stole by betraying to his own people.
«Wait, wasn't it a curse left by the previous elder dragon?».
«That's how the public knows it. But in truth, it was my daughter who put that curse».
«...I see.» I felt like I was hearing the secret history of the dragon tribe, but that wasn't important now. «So what does the heart have to do with the curse?»
«As a price for casting the curse, my time is frozen. I have become unable to leave this temple for the rest of my life».
«Do you mean you can go back to normal if you have his heart?».
The boy didn't answer my question. Mr. Dragon just muttered sadly: «At least, that's what we believe».
Suddenly I asked myself. Maybe that's why he proposed providing me with a teammate for two years, so that she could follow me everywhere and, once the dragon slayer appeared, kill him and bring the heart to his daughter.
So how old is he?
At first I assumed he was a few years older than me, but now that I see him I don't believe it, since the previous older dragon died over thirty years ago.
Well, his words and actions still don't match his age... but having lived only in the temple, that makes sense.
«So what are you going to do?»
«Okay. If I kill the dragon hunter, I'll be sure to take out his heart and bring it to you».
«Then it's done.»
It wasn't a particularly difficult condition, so I skipped further negotiations and accepted the offer. Now was the time to receive advance payment of the reward. «So when will it be possible to record the Blessing?».
«You can do it tonight if you want». The boy answered my question. «But first I must ask you this. What kind of Blessing do you want to receive? I need to know so I can prepare».
«What are the Blessings?» I asked just to confirm, judging that there might be a difference regarding the game.
«Don't you know? I thought you asked just because».
«Just know one for sure».
«Really? So I guess I have to explain the rest». The boy looked annoyed, but still explained each one in detail. Listening to it, there was no significant difference with the game.
«The first is the Blessing of the Earth Dragon».
When recorded, additional stats obtained from an essence increased by 20%. The Earth Dragon Blessing had good synergy with me, as the default stats were important to me. In reality, there were no options here with bad synergy.
«The second is the Blessing of the Volcano Dragon».
If the first was Statistics, this was a type that increased the performance of all Skills. In my memory, it was around 30%. If I chose this, the size of my Gigantization would grow even more and the performance of Iron Skin and Swing would also increase greatly.
«Lastly, there is the Blessing of the Sea Dragon».
Unlike the other Blessings, this was the only one in which a fixed value increased. The effect was +100 soul power. Considering that soul power increased by 10 every time you leveled up to level 5, you would get an idea of how high that number was. If he chose this, the duration of Gigantization would rise several times at once. Until I ate a few more core essences, I wouldn't run out of MP.
«Well, here ends the explanation. So what will you choose?»
Which of the three would you choose? The boy even kindly offered me more time to think, but I firmly refused. «I will choose this». I already had something in mind.