176 To the Swamp, Part 14 - The True Dragon in the Swamp

I'm dreaming.

Killed the dog. Because he asked me to kill him. But to whom?

I'm dreaming.

I thrust my friend. 'Cause I had to pop it. But why?

Dreaming, dreaming.

I stuck the blade out of the back of a runaway man many times. Take the steeple off purpose. What the hell, why was that?

I can't think of it. It always seems to be foggy in my head. Even though I have to think of it. Since when has it taken such a long time?

"It's Aldrius."

I hear voices. This is my voice.

"You know what? That Lolicon bastard, he cared for me. How many times have you tried to get your hands on me when I was asleep? I always thought of it that time though. I wouldn't have hesitated to kill that little xxx guy if he'd even gotten his hands on me once."

Was I? I don't remember that.

"And yet if he did, he'd hold me down with a curse... and he couldn't even want to, and he'd make me bear it. But he's dead, and I'm free now!

Freedom. From what?

"From everything! Now it's gone, but remember. That no one can give me orders anymore. Because I..."

What? I can't hear you very well. What the hell are you shouting at?

"Ha!... what was that dream??

Alphilis wakes up. A place I'd never even seen if I woke up. The waterfall pours water over many steps, and it pours from all directions into the place where the alphilis is located. Alphilis anchored his body by aquatic plants, sleeping just where it was separated by stone. Water was flowing again like a waterfall from the foot of Alphilis' sleeping place, and Alphilis seemed to be sleeping just around the middle belly of a staged waterfall. To avoid drowning, only the head is properly put out on the ground and put to sleep. Be polite.

Natural grass was also laid on the pillow, and the water was as warm as it could be. It's like I fell asleep taking a bath. Surrounded by lush green trees, the air is refreshing. Clear weather, no clouds. The head is also strangely neat. It was a feeling I'd forgotten about here for a while.

"Uh-huh, I was in the swamp, wasn't I? So the snake ate me... so this is heaven? Well, the clothes haven't even come ~. Ha ha, well, finally dead or me"

"Wake up, daughter."

I can speak up. Then a much bigger creature gave his head out of the place he thought was under the waterfall. At first I thought it was a snake, but there was an upside-down hairy horn on my head, my body was amazingly covered in blue scales, and its appearance was clearly not a snake.

"Uh, I see a weird creature. This is where heaven is."

"That's a lot of greetings with weird creatures, my daughter. My name is Sarpent. This is still one of the dragons."

"Heh, it's a true dragon. A true dragon that should only have a few in the world doesn't just show up in front of me so wheezy. What, a dream? Go to sleep. Go to sleep."

Alphilis fell asleep again at the place and began to sleep. Surpent to be shocked to see how it goes.

"Why don't you wait, daughter? Gwen's guy entrusts a part of himself to his crazy daughter, too. Is he crazy, too?

"That, you know Gwen? Naturally, it's my dream. Good night ~"

"Hey, I told you to wait, my daughter. I don't know... did I treat you wrong?

Sarpent begins to worry. The way it looked was a little funny, so Alphilis decided to listen.

"Then why am I sleeping bare in a place like this, should I be explained?... bare?

"Um, I put my clothes on and they get wet, so I took them off. Don't worry, it's properly washed and folded."

"Thank you very much for your kindness... no!

Alphilis grabbed one of the stones around it and threw it at the Serpent. That hits the periphery of the temple beautifully.

"Gu!? Daughter, do what?

"That's our line. Ah! What do you think the maiden is naked for?

"You know what! Mostly dragons should be interested in human nakedness..."

"Shut up. Shut up! You can't be my daughter-in-law anymore, wow!

"What a daughter--"

I couldn't even talk properly because Alphilis started sniffing around, and for now, Serpent was Alphilis' clothing - even so, Alphilis was a good fit when he was asleep, almost identical to his underwear - and I brought it and encouraged him to wear it. And when Alphilis wears his clothes, he leads him to the height where he and his head fit.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves again. My name is Sarpent. One of the true dragons who lives in this swamp."

"My name is Alphilis. Sorry I disturbed you earlier."

"Um, I'm the one who brought you here in a forceful way. You can't be confused but confused because you were deluded by seductive magic and brought in in your mouth. Not after all that magic. I felt it even far away."

"Why did you bring me here?

"That's the real question."

Sarpent nodded.

"Actually, Fairtoose contacted me. I have a seriously ill daughter, so she asked me to help her. I was somewhat surprised because that's Gwen's smelling daughter."

"Gwen's?

"Mm-hmm. He, me and another true dragon named Sky Dragon Maia are childhood friendly. Gwen is the oldest, but we're best friends. I haven't seen him in a while, but still don't meet him together every 50 years. It was what smelled like that Gwen, so I accidentally stopped moving. You may just be surprised, but there were others, and you couldn't speak up there, but you left then. But it was Gwen who was able to talk like this."

"Back then."

I remember when I was traveling on a swamp man's boat. I felt that Alphilis was seen by a giant organism at that time, but apparently it wasn't a mistake. If it's true dragon, I can also be convinced that I missed it somewhere. The atmosphere was similar to Gwendorf's.

"That's a small hand. Why does Alphilis have Gwen's fangs?

"When I was on my journey, I got a goodbye."

"Well... I didn't know Gwen would do that. Can I ask you something more?

"Fine."

Alphilis spoke in detail of his greeting with Gwendorf. About Aldrius, about playing well over Gwen's head, about going with Aldrius to apologize by pulling a piece of scales. Sarpent was surprised by the story and listened with his eyes round.

"Hmm. Alphilis is a lot of people."

"Really? Well, Gwen is sweet. Maybe it was just sweet."

"It might be special. Anyway, he used to be called the 'Destroyer Dragon', and even a clan of True Dragons were billed rioters. We used to come near each other in fear, except for childhood. That is now the head of the True Dragon. If it changes, it changes."

"Heh - that's surprising. But it's so great, what's Gwen?

Now Alphilis rounds his eyes.

"Well, the 'new generation' is better. All the true dragons of the old generation have already fallen asleep. Is that why Gwen didn't keep someone's kid?

"Mm-hmm. Speaking of which, it's like I was warming up an egg... and I thought it was weird for a male."

"I guess so. The head of True Dragon sees the birth of a new life and it is his job to become a named parent. It's safe to be the parent dragon again. Even true dragons are defenseless because they drain a lot of power shortly after giving birth."

But, Dad, there's a dragon.

"The birth of a true dragon is a big event, Alphilis. We can't move a few years after childbirth. That's why Gwen warms the eggs."

"I see. Speaking of which, I wish I'd let you hold my eggs too."

"That's... okay"

The serpent clouded the words a little, but it just occurred to me what it meant for Alphilis.

"So, what does Fairtoose do to Serpent?

"Oh, he and I were kind enough. He asked me to do something about it because there's nothing I can do about it. She's a strange daughter, so she told me not to let her die. That's why I brought you here. This is the land I keep purifying. The mud in the swamp is bound to pass through here once. I'm cleaning up the mud that's flowing in there, and then I'm going to flow to other lands. I thought using the water here would weaken the contamination of the alphilis. The point is, I'm the water keeper."

"Heh. You didn't know that."

Speaking of which, Aerial once boasted that the water in the prairie was very clean. It meant that there would be a lot of fairies so the purifying action would be strong, but from what I heard about Uti, the water spirits hardly seemed to be in the prairie. If so, it would be the purification of water if there were a sarpent. Alphilis serpented his honest inspiration and gratitude.

"It's lower here compared to the surroundings. It's not just the water that gathers, it's also easy to call in heavy objects, that is, things like bad air, negative emotions and so on. If this place doesn't work, a place like Central Street would be a rougher place."

"Really?

"Um, the water source in the Middle Plains is the snowmelting water of Pilebos, but this is the water source around the central street. Further east, the group of nations looks like water from the Rockheir Snowfield. Well, I've known since I started living here, too."

"So without Serpent, Central Street shouldn't do it... thanks, Serpent!

"What's sudden?

"Yeah, I honestly appreciate it. I've never known such a favour where I didn't know it."

"Mmm. Well, that's what I like to do... but I don't feel bad."

Sarpent also ate his face at first, but he seemed to like being thanked himself. Though it seems a bit illuminating.

"Well, how are you feeling?

"Sounds totally good already! How could I have been so upset...?

When Alphilis looked at his arm, the curse that had eroded his entire arm was completely smaller. I'm back in the state I was just starting my journey.

"Well. Anyway, all the evil that was leaking out of that Aldrius and the seal they had imposed was flushed. Perhaps it was bad that the curse was forced to cover it. From now on, you're going to get along well with that curse."

"Oh. But maybe there was nothing I could do."

"Well, I don't have professional knowledge either. That Aldrius and the others have left nothing to do?

The Sarpent question is particularly so. But Alphilis is only told in his will to "go to the eastern city of Begrad and visit a man named Hausen". I had no idea what that meant.

"Um, I've been told to visit a place called Grad for once."

"Begrad, Begrad... well, that could be a good means"

"You know something?

Alphilis sees how Sarpent is doing and asks.

"No, I just expected it. If you go, you'll see."

"What the fuck, asshole!

"You know what? More than that, isn't it time to go back? You've been sleeping all day, haven't you?

"What, really?!?

Alphilis was surprised by the unexpected passage of time. I didn't think you slept all day. She thought that later that night was dawn.

"Mm-hmm. The Fairtoose guy said it would be good if he fell at the swamp exit, so let's send him that far. Get on my back. From here, you'll be at dawn."

"Even though the sun is still high..."

"Don't lick the breadth of the swamp. Even if this is the shortest distance, it's 100 kilometers of land. If humans walk normally, it will take a month for them to follow a zig-zag path. I can get to the exit in a day, so I want you to thank me."

"Is that true, too? I'm sorry, Wagamama, say it. You saved my life."

"I don't mind. If Gwen's a little girl, I'll have to do something."

Alphilis laughed a little as Sarpent said it with a slight glimmer. But when I tried to walk to Sarpent, my legs stopped.

"What's up?

"I... I hurt Miranda to say terrible things to everyone or to give them to you. Would you forgive me...?

The alphilis drips. After seeing how it went, I thought for a moment what was wrong with the Sarpent as well, but if I can't take Alphilis here, it's not something that I figured out what Fairtoose would look like.

"Hmm, that's a tough problem."

"Hey, what do you think I should do? How can you forgive me?

"Don't ask me. Isn't that why we should ask them?

"Huh?"

Alphilis is a kyoton.

"Hi. You're trying too hard to come up with an answer on your own. You just have to ask him that. Sometimes it might not be acceptable as a result, but it might not be, right? It doesn't even start when you're alone."

"Something's optimistic."

"But it's true. How much fun things will just get less interesting if you think about them when your feelings sink, and vice versa, even when it's not fun at all, it'll be fun if you do it with the comfort of rising to heaven"

"I wonder?

"If so."

Alphilis put his arms together and thought it through a bit, but eventually he seemed convinced.

"All right, then let's do that! Thank you, Serpent."

"Well, more than anything I could do to help. Then get on my back."

"Here?"

"No, I don't care what you think there's a head"

"What? This is the best place to ride!

"Gu... well, my brother has been this daughter's opponent for years..."

And as soon as Sarpent tried to get Alphilis on board and move, I heard a sad cry somewhere.

"Quououo on"

"What's that?

"Rouge..."

The moment I heard that cry, Sarpent's eyes clouded with sadness.

"Sorry, Alphilis. Can I make a little stop?

You have no right to disagree with me.

"Uhm."

That's how Sarpent put the alphilis over his head and tried to leave the spot. At that moment, Sarpent glimpses further downstream than where Alphilis slept. The water in the place was cloudy in pitch black.

"(I didn't have to be noticed until the end... but in fact, the second stage from the top of the 5th Falls was where Alphilis slept. The following three steps completely discolored the water because of the curse that leaks out of the alphilis. I used to sleep and change one step at a time... but what the hell was going on with all this curse stuck in just one human being?

A man like Aldrius with a lid on such a curse is a big deal, but this girl who can wrap all that up is a big deal again. I don't know if it's a good thing, but I also know Gwendorf, Fairtoose cares. I wonder who this girl is. Well, it's none of my business, and true dragons are usually forbidden to involve humans. Gwen's brother didn't know the chief himself was going to break it, I'll ask him next time I see him) "

Alphilis couldn't help but notice that Sarpent thought such a thing in his heart.

Continued