I’m Not an Earthworm, I’m an Earth Dragon

I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep peacefully.

It might have been the headache from using far more magic than usual, or the face of that guy who had suddenly shown up and asked me to be his companion.

I didn’t like how calm he was even with a blade at his neck. I didn’t like his confident face, as if he was sure he was different.

He didn’t seem to have any other intentions, but a madman with that much guts surely had something else up his sleeve. There’s no way he just wanted to be companions.

I couldn’t fall asleep even after eating something tasty or exercising, so I got out of bed, annoyed. I guess I’m not going to sleep right now.

I grabbed a piece of jerky that I had failed to make and went out of the cave.

If I had to name one of the few good things about this cruel and heartless world, it would be the night sky. A red moon orbiting a blue moon. And the Milky Way intersecting in a cross, with occasional shooting stars.

Looking at the night sky reminds me of my deceased mother.

When I was young, I once asked my mother to go outside and count the stars with me when I couldn’t sleep. My mother always looked troubled, but she would take me out and lie down in the field to count the stars.

One star for the name of the father I imagined, one star for the apology to my original parents, one star for the love of my mother who warmly embraced me.

As I named them, I would fall asleep.

After taking off my fur pelt and placing it beside me, I lay down in the clearing where my mother’s house used to be and counted the stars. When I do this, I feel like my mother will come from somewhere and scold me, asking what I’m doing here.

But that won’t happen. Because she’s gone. The only trace of my mother is the remaining necklace.

I took off the necklace and held it up to the night sky for no reason. The starlight and moonlight warped through the large crystal, shining quite beautifully.

…I’m doing things I don’t usually do today. But it’s okay for just one day.

I chewed on the jerky and reminisced about old memories. It tasted terrible, but maybe because I seasoned it with memories, it wasn’t inedible.

“…I’ll come again next time, Mom. Someday. I’ll definitely cut off that bastard’s head and leave it here, so please watch over me.”

I’m getting sleepy. I yawned widely, bid farewell to my mother, and slowly moved back to my dwelling.

I didn’t forget to scratch the ground with my tail to erase my footprints, and after returning, I was able to sleep really well for the first time in a long time.

But a good night’s sleep is a luxury in the wild. I woke up startled by the human vibrations I felt in my dreams. Even in my half-asleep state, I put my horn directly on the ground and found that there were only two vibrations, the same as yesterday.

…No, it was exactly the same as yesterday. Even the rhythm of the footsteps. I warned them I would kill them if they came, but they came anyway.

Then I have to kill them. I felt even more of a sense of crisis as I felt them circling around as if trying to find my dwelling. At least I had never been caught by humans before.

Let alone wild animals.

I washed my face with dirt to wake up and prepared the greatsword in advance. I was going to throw the sword as soon as I saw them. If they were blockheads who came even after being warned, I had to kill them.

I sharpened the blade specially and infused it with magic, so that even if they blocked it with a barrier, it would cut through.

After making all the preparations, I carefully approached the source of the vibration. Soon, I began to hear something.

“Are you sure she is here? I don’t see anything. Did you get the wrong idea?”

“…I don’t know either. I saw her around here, so I thought she might be around here somewhere.”

“Hey. Is that what you’re supposed to say? You said she was here so confidently, and now you say you don’t know? What am I supposed to say?”

“Damn it. Why are you being like this when you dragged me here in the first place? A half-dragon, you said? Did you think it would be that easy to find a dragon’s nest?”

“Well… but still. You’re a great mage. You act like you know everything in the world, but you don’t know that?”

“I may not know everything in the world, but I know a lot more than your pitiful and timid knowledge. In the first place, dragons are the plenipotentiaries of the gods. You’re the weird one for trying to mess with the child of such a being.”

Who knows who might be ambushed, but I wondered if these guys were really trying to find me, seeing them chatting so leisurely.

…Maybe it’s okay to let them live? It might be okay to let those idiots wander around.

If I let them wander like that, they’ll go back on their own. No, but still…

“Ah, I found it. She was on top of the tree?”

What am I hesitating for when I already have blood on my hands? Thanks to that, the guys found me. Did I watch too closely? It was pointless to hide, so I came down from above.

“I… I told you clearly. If you come back, I’ll kill you. Don’t you take my words seriously?”

To replenish my lost venom, I superimposed my father’s face on those guys’ faces. Then, the killing intent that had disappeared rose again.

“You’re probably the only one in the world who can act so nonchalantly in front of a half-dragon.”

The mage babbled something again and deployed a thick barrier. This one also seemed too much to cut with the greatsword. If I could just deal with that damn mage…

“It’s okay, lower the barrier, Akash. We didn’t come here to fight. I brought you a present. I’ll leave it here. Right… here.”

“Hahaha, poor me. I followed an idiot and ended up suffering like this.”

The black-haired one walked forward, placed a bag on the ground, and politely stepped back again. Is it a trap? It’s possible. Humans have done similar things before.

…But, considering yesterday’s attitude, maybe not. I carefully pointed the tip of my sword at the guys and approached the bag.

And then I flipped it open so that the contents would come out. I wouldn’t die from a mediocre bomb or poison. But what came out was a completely unexpected item.

“…Bread?”

“I asked around the village to find out what you like. It’s what the villagers think you like… but I hope you like it.”

It was the packaging from the bakery I often visit. Was it poisoned? I picked it up and sniffed it, but there was nothing strange that I could notice immediately. No, but I still can’t trust it.

“…How can I trust you and eat this?”

Mediocre poison doesn’t work, but even I couldn’t easily overcome a serious one. I’ve been hit before by a poison that had a strong effect without any strange smell or taste.

“Then give me any of the bread there. If there’s poison, I won’t be fine.”

I didn’t like doing what the guy wanted, but it was better than being poisoned, so I rolled the one I was holding to the guy’s feet.

The guy dusted off the dirt, peeled off the wrapper, and started eating.

Seeing him munching without any tension, as if he was enjoying the taste, made me feel like an idiot for maintaining my tension.

“…See? There’s no problem. The cream is delicious too. But you should eat it quickly. This kind of thing usually goes bad quickly.”

Who doesn’t know that? As soon as I confirmed that there was no problem, I immediately picked it up and ate it.

It’s delicious. But on the other hand, there was still an awkwardness. In fact, I wondered if it was coated with something that was harmless to humans but extremely poisonous to half-dragons like me.

But looking at that deflated face, it didn’t seem like there was such a thing.

There were only six, so it didn’t take long for only the wrappers to be scattered on the ground. From the middle, I just stuck my sword in the ground and gobbled it up.

Of course, I was still paying enough attention to kill them instantly if they did anything stupid.

Even when I wiped my mouth and drew my greatsword again to point at them, they didn’t show any particular reaction. The mage was chattering annoyingly, but the most annoying grimoire was folded and held by the black-haired one.

It seems that the white-haired one has to obey the black-haired one’s words no matter what.

“Was it good? I hope so. My name is Myungho. Jin Myungho. So, can you tell me your name? It’s a bit awkward to keep calling you ‘you’.”

Myungho. Jin Myungho. It was a very Korean name, so it didn’t seem like a name from this world. Well, maybe there is such a name.

I don’t know. I don’t need to care about that.

…Still, I might be able to tell him a part of my name. My mother told me not to tell anyone my true name, but I think that much is okay.

If I receive something, I give back as much. I don’t like being indebted. That’s my principle.

“…Altera.”

“Altera… Altera. It’s a pretty name. So…”

“Shut up. I didn’t tell you because I wanted a compliment. I already paid for the bread. And I still have no intention of becoming your companion or anything. Just disappear.”

“You’re not saying you’ll kill us if we come back again?”

Does he have a talent for making me feel bad again just when I’m starting to think a little better of him? I conveyed my intentions directly to the face of the guy I thought was getting a little better.

“That’s because I realized it’s not worth it. Come or don’t come. But if you’re going to come… it would be better to bring something worth talking about like now. Now, get lost.”

It was much more comfortable than going down and having a tiring battle of nerves. So, if I could periodically receive bread like this, it would be quite a pleasant thing.

At least until these guys head somewhere else.

I watched their backs, vowing to suck them dry until then.