Chapter 5: CH 5

Final Abode

“Haah. That was delicious… it was my first time eating such tasty meal.”

The silver-grey haired elder gazed into the distance with enraptured eyes as he drank his third cup of green tea.

He seemed to like the green tea as well.

“That’s good to hear. I live here alone, so I’m glad I met someone I could talk to after such a long time.”

“Alone? I see that this is a village, though… No, it’s strange for a village to be in the innermost part of the Demon Forest.”

“Hehe, I was experimenting with my skill, and something resembling a village came out of it.”

When I laughed in embarrassment, Grandpa’s smile grew stiff.

“Who are you? You may look like a human being, but human beings cannot erect such a powerful barrier, moreover, it should be impossible for humans to come to the deepest part of the Demon Forest in the first place.”

“I am a normal human being. The barrier was set up by this house, and as for I got here… I was here before I noticed…”

Maybe it was because I was feeling buoyant that I had someone to talk to after such a long time.

Grandpa Dragon also lived for a long time, and he seemed like a nice guy, so I found myself telling him all about my situation.

“—… So, I took the easy way out by expanding my land in order to get out of the forest because of my lack of combat-related abilities, and as a result, a village was created in the process.”

“You… No, I understand. If you want to leave this forest, I can take you with me.”

Yaaay!! I can escape from the forest!!

“However… I believe you will be happier living here.”

“Eh?”

“The humans I know are irrepressibly greedy. Your skill is something that anyone would like to have at their disposal, it’s a dangerous ability to have.”

What? Is it really such a desirable skill?

“Hmm… I see that you have no sense of crisis at all. I was just looking for my final abode to settle in. If you let me live here and feed me good food every day, how about I take you to the town from time to time? It would be much safer than living in the there permanently.”

“I’d be glad to!!”

After this, I responded quickly. “Think a little before you reply. That’s why I said you don’t have any sense of crisis.” And then the lecturing started.

I mean, I can live here, go to the town and even form a family, you know!? When I told him that I didn’t see anything but positives, he looked at me with a puzzled look on his face and then hugged me with a smile that was too wonderful.

“By the way, you called it a final abode…. do you mean you don’t have much longer to live…?”

“Indeed. I have lived for way too long. I have lived too long. I have another two to three hundred years to live, at most. Well, living that long has been enough for me.”

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Grandpa Dragon. His name is Richmond.

His name sounds like that of a wealthy person, but he really was rich.

He was a dragon, so his hobby was to collect shiny things (Is he a crow!?). He seemed to have collected a lot of gold and silver treasures and stored them in his infinite storage called Inventory, and almost gave them to me as living expenses, but I refused with all my might.

Rich people are scary.

“Why do you refuse? Don’t people love these things?”

“No, there’s nothing to spend the money on.”

“We are a family now. Don’t be shy.”

“Ah~… Then, can I ask you to buy me something when we go to the town?”

“Of course.”

So, we talked to that point. Richmond apparently likes to be relied on.

“But your house is full of mysterious magic tools.”

“Is that so?”

I tilted my head because I didn’t know what this world was like yet.

“Mhm. This kettle, or whatever you called it, magic tools that automatically boil water, are worth around 50 gold coins.”

That may be so.

But the fields in the village grow bigger day by day, so I don’t have time to read books in the library.

I feel like I’m weeding and watering all day long.

“If you’re speaking of watering the fields, why don’t you do it with magic?”

“I can’t use any magic. I don’t have any talent for it.”

“Your skill is way too one-sided… Well, that’s okay. I’ll do the watering of the fields. I’ll help you with the weeding, too. Make some time to study.”

“Richmond~! Thank you.”

I was so happy that I hugged him, he smelled nice.

Dragons in this world apparently smell good.

From the next day, Richmond took care of the fields together with me. Richmond’s magic was truly useful.

He would float a mass of water over all the fields and orchards in the village and make droplets fall from it like rain. So the watering, which had taken so long, was over in no time at all.

“Magic really is convenient, isn’t it~”

I asked him to teach me about magic while weeding.

“Isn’t it? Humans can’t use magic of such degree, but they can make blades out of water and send them flying.”

“Heeh. Is there such a thing as fire and other elemental magic, then?”

“Mhm. The basic types are fire, water, wind, earth, light, and darkness. There is also non-attribute magic, but there are almost no human beings who can use this type of magic.”

“The non-attribute magic must be the Inventory that you have used and spells like Teleportation, right? Why are there so few humans who can use it?”

“Simply because it consumes a lot of Mana.”

“I see. By the way, how much is the average human being’s Mana if you quantify it?”

“I would say… about 50 at the most. By the way, a dragon’s is around 10,000.”

The amount of my Mana was outrageous!!

“Then, what about you, Richmond?”

“I’m at around 600,000.”

This dragon is a cheater!!

“What are you? A Dragon King or something?”

“Wahahaha! That was a long time ago.”

He really was a King!?