Foreigner’s Mistake - Book 9: Chapter 214: Demonic Dragon ~ 29

Book 9: Chapter 214: Demonic Dragon ~ 29

「We’re about to enter the middle sea.」

　At the sound of Leia’s voice, which was somewhat filled with tension, Satoru, who had been slumped over on the bed, roused himself from his slumber. He bravely turned his feet to the pilot’s seat.

　There was indeed a huge lake spread out below them. It was so large that even at a quick glance one could not see the shore beyond. It is called the “Middle Sea,” and it seems to be a huge lake.

　And then there was a huge stratovolcano-shaped mountain.

「Is that the Sacred Mountain Nevis?」

「Indeed. That is a huge lake called the Middle Sea, and that is an island in it.」

　”Ohh,” Satoru amazed. It seems to be the same stratovolcano shape as Mt. Fuji, which Satoru is familiar with, and Yamato is currently sailing about three miles above it. The top of the mountain is higher than that.

「…… It’s huge. Much higher than Mt. Fuji.」

「Mt. Fuji?

「It’s the highest mountain in the country where I’m from. It’s 3,776 meters high.」

「That’s just under 3 miles, or more accurately, 2 miles, 130 majors, and a bit.」

　Satoru turned around at the sound of a voice from behind him. It was Solor who raised her voice. He almost wondered how Solor knew the difference between meters and the size of Mt. Fuji, but the answer came quickly.

「I see, Solor is slowly filling in her knowledge of my world, too.」

　Satoru lends Solor his cell phone, albeit a little bit a day. Solor is using the built-in dictionary on his cell phone as the main source of Japanese language and knowledge. She must have gotten the altitude of Mt. Fuji there

　Satoru turns his head forward and looks at the huge white mountain that surrounds the summit. It is a huge island in the Middle Sea. The word “island” is a mouthful, but its radius must be 50 miles or so.

「Roughly twice as much, if you look at it that way.」

　It is probably 7,000 meters above sea level. The Dragon’s Back, where Leia was, is a mountain range, and the scale of the veins there is probably larger, but the simple height here is probably greater.

「It is said to be 5 miles high. The radius of the crater is exactly one mile, and its height is five times」

「7150 meters, I think?.」

「Yes, that is right. Also, the radius of the mountain body is said to be exactly 50 miles. The distance of one mile, which still remains today, was taken from the size of the crater of this mountain.

「Wow.」

　Solor’s voice made Satoru groan in admiration. With a single peak and a stratovolcano of such mysterious size, it is not surprising that ancient people revered it as a mountain where gods dwelled. Mt. Fuji is also well known in Japan, and a similar stratovolcano, the Etna volcano in Italy, has left many anecdotes related to belief in Greek mythology.

　He is not sure if it is still alive as a volcano, but it is a magnificent mountain that deserves to be called a Sacred Mountain. It is not hard to understand why the size of its crater was taken as a unit of length.

「So, where is Feather Dragon-san?」

「It is said that he is on that mountain. There have been cases of people approaching it by airship even in the days of the Ancient Magical Kingdom. ……」

　Leia narrowed her eyes and Satoru frowned. The reason is that they recognized countless flying beings in their path. There were dinosaur-like flying creatures, flying dragons, and huge birds of prey.

「They were attacked by one of those things, right」

「That’s what I mean. By the way, the Middle Sea is no different.」

　Satoru glanced down at the sea. The distance makes it difficult to see, but you can certainly see a large serpent-like creature bobbing on the surface of the water.

「……So how do you go to see the Holy Dragon?」

「There are several caves on the north side of the Middle Sea, and it is said that you can reach the Sacred Mountain through these caves.」

　Isolde, who was standing next to Satoru before he knew it, muttered.

　The Holy Sword Clan also had information about the Holy Dragon Feather Dragon and the Sacred Mountain Nevis. However, Isolde added that it was forbidden to interact with Feather Dragon as a legacy of the first generation of heroes and that at least the clan had no contact with the Holy Dragon.

「There is also a record that a certain group of people who asked about the Holy Dragon took a wrong turn on their way home and ended up in a crater. In other words, it is possible to go there from the crater. And it is probably closer from the crater, but」

「So there is a high risk of being attacked by such a beast?」

「That’s right. This area is bare nature. There is no sign of people or elves. It is a paradise for monsters and beasts.」

　It is said that Nevis does not allow the intervention of any of the four cultural groups that live in the area: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Aquatic races. It is also said that only the beasts and primitive beast-like creatures, which are classified as demon races but are still classified as monsters, live in the pyramid of the food chain.

　There is no story that the Holy Dragon Feather Dragon has ever attacked a person. However, it has a history of trampling down fools who did not respect propriety and reason.

　In the early days of the Ancient Magical Kingdom, there was a country that planned to eliminate the Holy Dragon by building a large fleet of ships, believing that it was nothing more than a large, somewhat intelligent lizard, but the fleet was destroyed by the roar (breath) of the Holy Dragon that suddenly appeared from the crater after it was overwhelmed by attacks from beasts and monsters.

『Do not think of ruling this land in the name of the state』

　The Holy Dragon is said to have uttered a cry of rage that echoed throughout the neighboring nations.

　The king of the country, angered by the destruction of the fleet, was about to send out more troops when the king died suddenly of unknown causes, and his relatives also died madly one after another. Realizing the folly of opposing the Holy Dragon, a powerful nobleman of that country pleaded with a small force to break through the cave and calm his anger. The Holy Dragon accepted the plea on the condition of non-intervention by the cultural life of the area and is said to have also told them that no more than 10 people should challenge the cave, and that he would answer one question for each person who made it through.

「They’ve done a terrible thing for the small human race, even though they had gained some strength, to mess with an entity that had existed since the moment the Earth Mother Goddess became the Mother Earth. But even so, they were brushed off with a single roar. …… Has there been any request for the Holy Sword Clan to defeat it?」」

「I heard that this has happened several times in the past, but as I mentioned earlier, the legacy of the first hero forbade contact with the Holy Dragon. So we have rejected all of them.」

　Funn, Satoru growled and turned his gaze forward. The flying beasts and monsters are still only looking at us from a distance. Are they looking at the intruder?

　Yamato is not armed at all. Even though it has high quality steel by Vance and is given by Satoru’s magic power, it will break someday if it keeps being beaten one-sidedly.

「U……Urraaaaahhhhhhh!!」

　Satoru cowered in surprise at the loud voice coming from the cabin. The owner of the voice was Minerva.

「W-What’s with you, Minerva, doing that all of a sudden?

「Minerva told them to stay away from us. Minerva wonders if they heard her.」

　Minerva looked at Satoru for a moment and then gave a small laugh. Minerva is, after all, the Lord of the Flying Dragons. It is true that the voice of the beasts is unique.

「What’s the situation out there?

「They’re just watching from a distance.」

　The moment Minerva’s voice rang out, Leia saw that the beasts and monsters were all shaking in unison. Whether or not it reached them as sound, there is no doubt that Minerva intentions were conveyed.

「At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be any sign that they will attack us.」

　Solor is using her sorcery to check outside of visual range. If the need arises, it is her role to use short-range 【Transfer】 to get out of Yamato and fight.

「Solor continues to be vigilant. Leia, keep heading for the crater.」

「……Understood」

　Leia returned cautiously. Perhaps Yamato is already in the territory of the beasts who live here. It is impossible to know when they will turn their fangs on them. Although the effects of the new art would make Yamato immune to half-hearted attacks, they could still see some of the beasts here and there that were large enough to damage Yamato.

「I mean, are we going to break in through the crater?」

「The closer we get, the better.」

「What about the Yamato?」

　Even if the Yamato is made of iron, which is not so easily damaged, it would be no good if it is attacked relentlessly while they were away. The home that was built with great effort, and he can’t let it be destroyed so easily.

「I’ll make a coffin out of stone to cover it.」

「Oh, that’s a good idea.」

　Leia agreed with Satoru, who presented his idea. If the stone coffin was made with Satoru’s magic power and carefully 【Hardened】, there was no danger of it being destroyed by beasts or monsters.

　As usual, the monsters and beasts flying in the sky only surrounded Yamato from a distance. There was no sign of an attack, and Yamato was slowly approaching the Sacred Mountain.

　It is a crater, but it is not spewing fire. As a volcano, it has probably not functioned for thousands of years. Because of the high altitude, there was snow on the ground around the summit. At 7,000 meters above sea level, the temperature was definitely below freezing.

　They had not yet prepared equipment for a harsh winter, but at Leia’s suggestion, she put a 【Heat Source】 spell in a magic stone and distributed it to everyone. At least as long as they had these magic stones, they would not feel the cold so much and would not have to worry about freezing to death. Satoru was impressed by the convenience of this art, but Rico and Isolde told him that although it may seem like a small trick, it is in fact a difficult one, and that there is no one who can 【Grant】 this art using modern sorcery technology. They rely on items from the Ancient Magical Kingdom that have been excavated from labyrinths and other places.

　For now, they no longer had to worry about freezing to death or being cold, but they prepared for winter as much as they could. It was refreshing to see Rico in long pants, as she always had part of her leg exposed.

　Satoru had never been bothered by the heat or cold even without the 【Heat Source】 items, so he only needed his usual thick leather cloak. In addition, he packs his own backpack with items for the night camp and for searching the labyrinth.

「Milord」

「Hm?」

　Isolde, who was the first one to put on her equipment, was sending a sharp look at him. Her equipment is almost the same as usual. She doesn’t want to be hampered in any way by her heavy clothing.

「It may go without saying, but are you taking Liz-dono, Minerva-dono, and Rico-dono with us?」

　Isolde raised her voice so that even the three of them could hear her clearly.

　It is true that there are four differently skilled people in Satoru, Leia, Solor, and Isolde, and Minerva is also quite strong. But Rico and Liz are only common worldly beings. And the place they are going to challenge is a dangerous place where the return rate is said to be around 20% even with the best of the best.

　Implicitly, Isolde condemns taking them. In particular, Liz is a complete drag, simply put. There is no way they are going to conquer the Sacred Mountain as if it were a picnic.

　Despite the harsh Isolde’s words, Satoru is not offended. He think someone should have that point of view.

「I don’t want to be left out now. I know it’s dangerous.」

「It was Minerva’s fault that stopped by here in the first place, wasn’t it? Minerva doesn’t think there’s any way Minerva wouldn’t go.」

「This ship is going to be covered with stone coffins, and it’s going to be hard to be alone on this ship.」

　Rico, Minerva, and Liz, in that order, raised their voices.

　To be honest, Satoru had intended to let Liz stay at the ship. Rico can evade even if she is not a fighter, and she has excellent sensing ability, so she will not be an extreme hindrance.

　But Liz was different.

　But Liz is right, if Satoru cover the Yamato with a stone coffin, Liz will be ninety-nine percent safe, but it will be tough to wait alone for her friends who will take up the challenge.

「…… Well, we’ll have to take them with us.」

「Besides, Feather Dragon will answer that question one person at a time. If there are more of us, so much the better.」

　Isolde nodded, biting her lower lip in a somewhat disgruntled manner, at Leia’s words following Satoru’s reply.

「…… Understood」

　From Isolde’s point of view, she probably feels a sense of rejection at the thought of taking along a being who cannot fight. However, if Satoru, the Lord in charge of this group, is so inclined, it is only logical to put aside one’s own dissatisfaction and follow his lead. They just have to give it their all on top of that.

「Isolde」

「Ha!」

　However, even so, Satoru still remind Isolde, who did not hide her dissatisfaction.

「You understand your role, don’t you?」

「Ha. My role is to protect everyone.」

「Right. But not me, Leia, and Solor. We can handle ourselves. Protect the rest.」

　Isolde nodded. This is what goes without saying. As for Isolde, she is not happy. But she is prepared to suppress it and swallow it. She simply cannot hide her dissatisfaction.

「You have a tendency to stick out on your own when it comes to anything. You’re supposed to protect them, don’t get it wrong.」

「Ha!」

　Isolde replied condescendingly and shortly. A small laugh rose from the side.

「I never thought I would hear such a line from Satoru’s mouth.」

「I agree.」

　Leia agreed with Rico’s mutterings. Having traveled together with Satoru for a long time, these two knew very well his boorish behavior. Leia, in particular, knows how much she has had to clean up his mess. It’s just like you said.

「Shut it, you guys」

　Satoru himself does not think so, so his rebuttal was kept to a minimum.

　There is no sign of heaviness among the magical slaves, even though they are about to conquer the Sacred Mountain, which is one of the most difficult in the world.

　Isolde felt again that she was now in the midst of this group of exceptional people.

　Isolde did not realize that she was putting herself on the shelf.