Don’t Run Away My Lord

7 – A Dragon Hunting Dragons (3)

“Huh? What’s that?”

Baphelt, who saw that, grabbed his bow and whispered quietly.

Several torches were lined up and moving on top of that hill over there.

“What the hell are those bastards doing, holding torches and wandering around like they’re going to kill me?”

Baphelt squinted his eyes and looked over there.

“Hmm… If it were daytime, we might be able to see, but it’s too dark to tell.”

“I’ll check it out.”

“You won’t be able to see anything. Don’t go out. Just stay here. It doesn’t seem to concern us anyway.”

There was no need to venture outside the thicket.

Dragons possessed the ability to clearly identify objects on the ground even from high altitudes.

Thanks to the polymorph, which maintained a certain level of visual acuity in a single body, I could figure out what those things were.

“Humans. There are about ten of them, all armed. They’re dressed similar to the mercenaries we encountered earlier, right?”

Barfelt, who had been slightly amused, soon realized what they were.

“Ah, it’s them.”

“Them?”

“Hyung-nim mentioned them. Mercenaries.”

Barfelt scratched his chin stubble and grumbled gruffly.

“Those bastards… They’re running around here with their eyes wide open, trying to catch a dragon.”

“Why are they so obsessed with dragons?”

“Obviously because of this.”

Barfelt made a circular shape with his index and thumb, mimicking the shape of a coin.

“Because of the damn dragon, who wouldn’t mind smearing that bone all over and eating it, Toosenya has spent an enormous amount of money and has commissioned nearby mercenaries and demon hunters. They’re asking for the dragon to be captured.”

“Hunting dragons…? Is that even possible…?”

“It’s madness. But where in the human world isn’t there something that can’t be done with money? They’ve all gone crazy and flocked here with their eyes rolling. If we continue traveling, we’ll probably run into those guys quite often.”

As our conversation came to an end, Liana, who had been waiting, suddenly interjected.

“Shepherd, show me your hand.”

“Oh, no! I don’t want to!”

“I will perform a sacred healing on you.”

At that moment, Bafelt suddenly straightened up and showed a tense expression.

“Um… Excuse me… Are you… the Holy Maiden?”

His tone changed completely as Bafelt nervously asked, shuffling his feet.

“I used to be the Holy Maiden, but not anymore.”

“Not anymore…? What do you mean by that?”

“Just give me your hand for now.”

Liana pointed at Bafelt’s left hand, which was wrapped in bandages.

Hesitant, Bafelt cautiously extended his left hand to her.

As she unwrapped the filthy bandages, a terrible wound was revealed.

The space between Bafelt’s index finger and thumb was almost completely severed, hanging loosely.

“Oh my. It looks really painful.”

Bafelt chuckled at my words.

“To be honest, it still hurts like hell. I haven’t taken any medicine, so I just wrapped it up to prevent it from falling off.”

Some people just don’t have any sense of self-preservation…

“Hmm… It’s a very severe wound. If left unattended for a little longer, it might require amputation.”

“Well… I’ve been living as a wanderer…”

Bafelt smiled casually, and Liana looked at him with a determined face.

“It might hurt a little, but bear with it.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Rihanna tightly clenched the throbbing part of her thumb, pressing it against her index finger.

And then, the pent-up dark red blood poured out.

“Ouch…!”

Surprisingly, Baphelt bit his lip and swallowed his groan with superhuman patience.

“Yaap!”

With Rihanna’s lively and childish energy contrasting the suffering patient, a golden light burst forth from her hand.

The light passed through Baphelt’s hand, rippling up to his elbow, gradually calming his pain-distorted face.

“That’s enough.”

Rihanna released Baphelt’s hand, and upon seeing it, we were left speechless.

“Unbelievable…”

Baphelt’s hand had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

Of course, there were scars where the connection had been made, but still, his thumb was intact and moved at Baphelt’s will.

“Oh, my god… This is…”

Baphelt held his hand in front of his eyes in disbelief, making a fist and opening it.

“So this is what they call divine healing… Ridiculous… Thank you, Saintess.”

“I’m not a saintess. Anyway, from now on, be careful not to get hurt.”

Is this what they call divine healing…?

It’s unbelievably powerful.

I’ve heard that this power is borrowed from the goddess believed to have created this world.

A woman who heals humans with the power of God.

Riana, who was smiling brightly, asked.

“You said you were expelled and driven out of the church? Why do you have such amazing skills?”

“It’s not that impressive. It’s just how it feels to be a saint.”

Blushing at the compliment, Riana scratched her cheek with her finger and smiled bashfully.

“Well, the truth is, I was expelled because I developed too quickly.”

“What…? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Riana said with a puzzled expression, unable to understand herself.

“Until I first entered the Sacred University, it wasn’t like this… But by the time I graduated, it became ‘like this.'”

Baphelt looked at Riana’s chest and turned his gaze away, coughing awkwardly.

“A devout cleric who should strive with a pure and whole heart, but instead incites lascivious and perverse delusions in those who see her.”

“Oh… um… I guess the church is a very conservative place…”

Baphelt closed his mouth tightly after those words and looked up at the moon for no apparent reason.

“Yeah, it’s really… a closed-minded place… How can I improve my natural body…”

So, it wasn’t her fault, but those around her judged and expelled her as they pleased.

Is this what they call a licentious saint?

Baphelt, who had been looking over there strangely as the atmosphere became weird, frowned and staggered to his feet.

“Those bastards, they’re still not leaving and what are they doing over there…?”

Turning around, Baphelt saw that the mercenaries he had seen earlier were still standing on the hill holding torches.

From the way the torches were flickering, it seemed like something was going on…

“Hey, Hyung. See that? What do you think those guys are up to?”

“Just a moment… Hm… Why are they doing that…?”

To get a closer look, I leaned forward, and Bafelt tapped me on the shoulder impatiently.

“If you see something, just tell me! What are they doing?”

“Well… It looks like they’re… grilling meat?”

“What? Grilling meat? Are they crazy? Are they having a feast up there or something?”

As Bafelt cursed, he snapped his fingers as if he understood.

“Oh, I see. So they’re using that method?”

“What method?”

“In my opinion, those mercenaries are grilling meat to lure the dragon with the smell.”

“But dragons usually prefer fresh meat. I don’t think that method would be effective.”

Bafelt stared at me intently and asked, “How do you know that dragons mainly eat fresh meat?”

“This person is quite interested in monsters, so…”

Liana interjected hastily, defending me in my place.

Upon hearing that, Bafelt chuckled as if he understood.

“So, Hyung is also a ‘monster enthusiast’? Those guys who have an unusually large amount of money?”

“Well… something like that…?”

“I see. So, you guys were on your way to Rosence?”

“Rosence?”

“Yeah, Rosence. There’s a Demon’s Den there, you know. With a Lurtsjog head and Red Dragon appearances. We’re going to see that?”

I couldn’t understand a word of what he was babbling about.

What is a Demon’s Den and what is a Lurtsjog? And on top of that, a Red Dragon?

Liana, seemingly in a similar situation, just looked at Bafeld with a bewildered expression.

Whether we understood or not, Bafeld kept talking.

“There’s an inn there, the holy ground for demon enthusiasts across the continent. You can see demons and all sorts of things.”

“Well… um… as for going there…”

“hahahaha. No need to hide it. There’s nothing shameful about liking demons. Of course, I’ve heard stories of some perverted lunatics who turn the demon’s skin inside out and play demon dress-up… or capture demons with a human-like figure and use them as s*xual tools… Damn it…”

“Ugh…”

Liana clutched her chest and retched, feeling sick.

“Oh my, I’m sorry, Lady Saint. Did I say something inappropriate?”

“Ugh… yes… I’ve never heard anything like that in my life. Beating demons…? Goodness… Goddess help us…”

“It’s not just about beating demons, sometimes it’s the other way around, or they turn each other’s skin or masks inside out and… uh…”

“Eveveveveve!!”

Liana covered her ears and made a strange noise, stopping Bafeld’s words.

Intercourse between demons and humans… There really are some strange things in the world.

Come to think of it, from a human’s perspective, dragons are also demons.

“Do you become a mutant when you mix with demons?”

“I don’t know. Have you guys tried it? Catch a pretty demon and let me know later, without getting stabbed. They say you can even die from anal fissures.”

“Eek! Stop it, you guys!”

Liana shouted with a screech.

In response, Nawa and Baphelt burst into laughter at the same time.

Meanwhile, dark clouds descending from the north covered the moon in the night sky.

As the moonlight was blocked by the clouds, the hilly area was instantly engulfed in pitch-black darkness.

Against this black backdrop, mercenaries appeared as bright as fireflies, only illuminated by torches.

“If dragons really like what Hyung said, those little ones will probably barbecue meat all night and then leave.”

Most likely.

Dragons don’t eat much compared to their size.

After one hunt, they can go without food for quite a long time without any major issues.

Considering that they recently attacked Baphelt’s flock of sheep, they might show up at the smell of a bowed head…

Oh, what is that…?