CH 126

Chapter 126 – Glasses boy takes the opportunity to register a gift before being carried by a dragon

“Krav, leave those personal matters for later.” Horse stated.

The draconic man, who had been holding my head while staring at me through the foggy lenses of the goggles, returned to his senses after Horse called him out.

He had blue eyes, vertical pupils, and short hair that was almost white.

He seems to be near his mid-twenties, but he might be older or younger than that depending on how draconic people age.

His physique is similar to Chace’s, so he is someone of medium build and is somewhat tall.

And his Gift is Wind Resistance. It’s a Gift that makes him not be much affected by strong winds… It’s a bit of a hard-to-understand effect, but I registered it anyways.

“Oh, right. Sorry for suddenly doing that, kid.” The draconic man told me.

There was no need for him to apologize.

After all, I was staring at his goggles, just like he was looking at my glasses.

I don’t know the material used to make them, but their lenses are thick, and they had some sort of animal skin and vines attached to the lens.

And it was designed in a way to seal the area around the eyeballs, so as to protect them from dust and the like.

Unlike glasses, they seem to be fixed in place with a leather band tied to the back of the head, as opposed to simply hanging around the ears.

I suppose they’re made like that in order to stop them from slipping in case one made a sudden violent move.

Though coming to think of it, my glasses don’t have any issues with sudden violent moves.

It’s possible that they might be fixed in place magically instead of physically.

Therefore, even if I make a sudden violent move, the glasses will barely move from their place, and they don’t fly off from my head if I face unexpected contact either.

This is something I realized while talking to Cherry at the village.

She told me that, unlike her previous glasses, these don’t come off or slip out of place even if she moved around a lot.

Her words made me remember that she was wearing those glasses when she suffered the carriage accident.

At that time, Cherry had been moved in such a violent way, that she ended up being trapped under the carriage… Or rather, she was thrown out of the carriage and fell below it.

It seems like the impact must be at least at this kind of level if it is going to throw my glasses off my face.

If I think more about it, back when I was not used to wearing glasses myself, I often hit the glasses with the string of the bow while shooting arrows.

I didn’t know anything about ordinary glasses at the time, so I didn’t think too much about it, but… If one thinks about it normally, glasses are simply something you put on your ear. They would easily fly away or shift considerably after being hit by a bow string.

Not to mention the times Lisse punched me.

It really wouldn’t have been strange for the glasses to slip off my face when those incidents happened, but they have always remained on my face.

Therefore, it’s possible that they’re kept in place magically, perhaps by an effect similar to Cherry’s binding magic circles.

******

Well, putting aside the situation with the glasses…

The draconic man stepped away from me, moved to Horse’s side, then stared at us.

“My name is Kravaeroshutens. You may call me Krav.” He stated.

It was an extremely unusual name that I would definitely be unable to remember from hearing it just once.

He must have been born in a place that is really far from here, one that has a naming culture that is completely different from ours.

“For the past few years, I have been working as courier around the areas of Nastiara, Belgirat and Kairon.

“I don’t care if it’s an upfront request or a secret request. As long as I’m paid, I can carry anything.

“That’s why I was called today to carry you all.” Krav told us.

Oh, I see. So he is someone who doesn’t ask for the details before taking the job. A not-so-honest courier who either violates the law or acts slightly out of its bounds.

Well, I suppose this is the perfect kind of person for the job of transporting assassin trainees.

“Let me confirm your request, Horse.

“I shall take those kids to ‘that place’, right?” Krav asked Horse.

“Yes. And as you already know how those things work, I don’t think I need to say anything else.” Horse replied.

“Of course. I fly with pride in my work. I’m not gonna fall from the sky or drop my carriage. I’m a first-class courier. I’m not gonna fail, not with this guy’s help.” As Krav said that, he patted the dark dragon’s wings with his hand.

… This dragon is a bit smaller than what I had imagined a dragon to be like, but it’s still a dragon anyways, isn’t it?

I’ve seen them flying far away before, but I never thought I’d have the chance to see one from up close.

Mmmm… Dragons are cool too. As cool as beetles.

“The fee always has to be paid in advance for someone requesting my services.

“Also, if the luggage is lost due to carelessness, I’ll take no responsibility.

“I’m just carrying it around. I don’t care for the contents of the luggage or the reason why I’m carrying it.” Krav stated next.

“Sure, that’s not a problem.” Horse replied.

… That choice of words gives me a bad feeling… If the luggage is lost due to carelessness?

“Aren’t you having a bad feeling…?” Cherry whispered.

“I am. A really bad feeling.” Lisse whispered back.

“Hey! Hey, taboo child! Listen to this! We’re gonna be riding a dragon!” Chace exclaimed.

“It’s amazing! It’s amazing, brat! Brat!” Florentine exclaimed.

Both Chace and Florentine seemed to be innocently excited about this.

I’m not sure if they understood the meaning of Krav’s words, but I guess it’s nice that they can have fun like that.

… To think we’re gonna be carried around by a dragon like luggage, with the courier being someone who doesn’t really cares if we fall off or not…

I’m very worried about how he is going to carry us.

He won’t carry us in a way that will actively push us towards falling, will he?

“That’s all that I had to say. I’ve already been paid the fee for six people anyways.” Krav stated.

Mmm? Six people?

Me, Chace, Cherry, Florentine, Lisse, Horse and Sorichika. That’s seven people.

… Ah, right.

“Six people, excluding me.” Horse stated.

It made sense. Horse is the one in charge of the assassins’ village, so he can’t leave it for long.

“All right. The deal is now sealed.

“Hey, kids, wait a moment. I’m gonna prepare the things to start carrying you.” Krav told us.

Immediately after Krav said those words, Chace exclaimed, “Popz! May I touch the dragon!?”

Both Chace and Florentine, who seemed to already be having a lot of fun, started approaching the dragon, and seemed to be about to touch it.

A dragon does look amazing alright, but I think they should be a bit more cautious. I’m not sure how it will react if they approach it carelessly.

“At least call me ‘uncle’ instead…

“Anyways, you may, but be careful. If he refuses, I won’t be able to carry you, so… Listen to me…” Krav sighed.

Chace and Florentine didn’t seem to have heard neither the first nor second half of what Krav said. They seemed to have only heard the ‘you may’ part and immediately rushed to the dragon, as if they couldn’t wait to touch it.

… I was a bit worried about it, but the dragon remained silent as they touched it.

Amazing. Is it because the dragon is used to people? Or is it perhaps because of a contract, like what the Demon Beast Tamer gift can create?

Either way, seemingly lured by the excitement of Chace and Florentine, both Cherry and Lisse also approached the dragon.

Well, we most likely won’t have a chance to touch a dragon again, so I guess they want to make use of it.

But I don’t really care about it. I made up my mind about wanting a cat, after all.

… Wait, no, hold on. I should go too.

******

Perhaps judging that it would not be caused any harm, the dragon closed its eyes and lowered its head, letting people touch its horns and scales as they pleased.

I don’t know if he’s just used to it or if he is quite patient, but he does seem to be very intelligent regardless.

… Which is quite convenient for me.

I’m behind Chace and the others, watching them touch the dragon.

I think I can manage it with this many people.

I’m ready.

Now I just need to wait for my chance…

“Hey, somebody help me.” Krav said.

Now!

Everyone had their attention diverted, so I quickly approached the dragon and stroked its head with both of my hands.

At that night, taking advantage of the sleeping cat, I practiced this for quite a while.

This, was the result of that night of practice.

Glasses activated.

Lens read.

Glasses canceled.

By repeating this process over and over again, I was able to complete these three steps in a single second.

This was the method to register the Gift of a Demon Beast in a very short amount of time.

That was the conclusion I came to when trying to figure out what would be the ideal way to use Forced Information Disclosure on the other party without being found out.

The first thing I realized, was that I needed to do the whole process quickly.

Especially when handling Demon Beasts. I’ll need to take advantage of them in the middle of a battle, so… The quicker my method is, the safer I’ll be while registering their Gift.

Ideally, I’d like to make the process even faster than this, but this seems to be my current limit.

By pretending to stroke the dragon’s head, I was able to set up Forced Information Disclosure while in everyone’s blind spots.

“Oh? You were interested in that too?” Krav commented as he saw me stroke the dragon’s head.

The registration was completed in a very short amount of time, so nobody noticed it.

Even the dragon itself didn’t realize it.

In that one moment where everyone averted their eyes, I registered the Gift of the dragon.

******

However, the only thing I could do, was to register it.

I don’t know what the Storm Dragon gift does. I had to register it without using Appraisal Eye.

Even after practice, it still took me four seconds to complete the whole process of using Forced Information Disclosure and Appraisal Eye. It’s impossible to do this here without being found out.

There’s no way Krav would miss it if I did something to his dragon for this long, at the very minimum.

So, essentially, I increased the number of Gifts I have registered, but I do not know what it does.

… Well, I won’t die if I try it out later, right? It should be safe to use it, right? I won’t self-destruct or anything, right?

******

Krav tied everyone’s torso with a rope, then tied it to the dragon’s legs.

This is our lifeline.

Then, we were made to sit side by side on top of a long wooden board instead of on chairs.

Each end of the board was also tied to the dragon with ropes.

After that, Krav covered us with a lot of heavy fabric. It was so much fabric that it even blocked our view.

“I can’t see it like that, popz!” Chace exclaimed.

“Let us see the flight!” Florentine exclaimed.

“Say uncle at least!” Krav exclaimed back, “Anyways, the wind is quite strong in the skies, so if you don’t protect yourself from the wind like this, you’ll lose your body heat, faint, and fall off the railings!

“Also, it’s part of the job to not show you where I’m carrying you!”

So it’s both a safety measure to protect us against the wind, and also a tool to hinder our visibility.

“Cheer up. See you all later.” Horse called out to us.

Immediately after that, I was struck by the feeling of floating.

“Well, time to begin this comfortable air trip! Doesn’t it have a nice view?

“Oops, you can’t see anything!” Krav laughed out loud.

“Don’t tease us like that, old man!” Chace exclaimed.

“It’s amazing! Flying on a dragon is amazing! I can only thank the dragon for letting me fly like that! There is definitely nothing to thank the money-grubber draconic man for!” Florentine exclaimed.

Krav continued laughing, “I can’t hear you at all due to the sound of the wind, but I’ll beat you two up later, blue-haired and grey-haired kids!”

… It doesn’t seem like he can’t hear us.

And thus, we were taken to a different land by a dragon.