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Chapter 135: Homecoming I

I found myself in darkness.

Are my eyes open or are they closed?

Have I woken up from a dream or am I still in one?

Actually, what is a dream?

「………………」

Gathering my scattered thoughts, I collected myself. As I focused, feeling returned to my arms and legs in the darkness. Then breathing. Followed by the awareness of which way gravity was pulling me.

I was lying on a cold stone floor.

As my eyes slowly adjusted, I saw lines of bells all around me. I was in the catacombs beneath Rossian.

After a few moments of stunned silence, I remembered Maria and looked around for her.

「Phew」

She was right next to me.

She was sleeping with my hand in hers. For some reason, she was also hugging Agathion.

『Team member Souya, if you\'re awake, please help. If this goes on, there\'s a chance this unit could sustain damage. Agh, what great strength』

「Open up, I want to see what\'s inside. There\'s a dwarf in there, am I right?」

『Stop it, indeed. Stop it, indeed』

I heard Yukikaze and someone else speaking.

There was a female elf sitting on top of the statue of Lord Blue-Scale. She was fiddling with Yukikaze\'s mini-pod.

「Excuse me, can I have my lantern back please? It\'s something that\'s very important to me」

I wanted to stop her, but my body was still numb and I couldn\'t quite stand up. Sitting up was the most I could manage.

「Oh, you’re awake, I see」

The young lady looked down at me as though she was looking at trash.

Her long ears peeked out from her blonde short bob, which glistened in the darkness. Her features were doll-like and her skin was as white as snow. She was wearing a good-quality dress and a warm-looking fur cloak over it.

She seems like a young lady from a well-to-do family, but she\'s wearing a katana, so she\'s likely an adventurer.

She looks like an elf, has the beauty of an elf, but for some reason, something feels amiss. Huh.........hmm? A katana? Now that I\'ve taken a closer look, it looks really familiar. It\'s the katana that baldy possessed, or rather, had stolen from him.

「By any chance, are you Lord White-Scale?」

「That\'s right. You\'re surprisingly sharp」

Even an idiot could have figured it out given you have a one-of-a-kind weapon on you.

「I received a report that there\'s a breach in the barrier. When I rushed north, I found no problems with it. I also heard that you were bound for Rossian, so I thought I\'d better stop by and check on you, and sure enough, things turned out as I thought they would」

The elf that was Lord White-Scale pointed to the large bell.

The large bell that was held in the arms of the stone statue of a dragon. I saw the same thing in Neomia. Though the Lord Blue-Scale there was the real thing.

「These bells were ceremonial bells meant to send the souls of travelers back to their homes」

Were?

「They were created by Lord Blue-Scale out of pity for the adventurers from distant lands. However, the wishes of people can twist the nature of things. After the death of Lord Blue-Scale, people started ringing the bells as a means of entering the realm of dreams. In order to see once more the Rossian of old, family members who have passed away, or homelands they are unable to return to………such are the futile and pitiable wishes of people」

「Eh………then what about the Neomia I was in?」

「It’s merely someone\'s dream」

Are you telling me that it was all a dream?

「No, hang on a minute!」

I had just noticed what I was wearing. A top hat, a vest, and a dragon blood cloak with clasps. Neomia\'s traditional adventuring garb. And in my pocket, the fangs of a demonic monster.

For good measure, the candlestick that I had been promised was sitting right next to the katana and sword that had tumbled to the ground beside me.

「These clothes were given to me in Neomia. I also have with me two other items that I obtained there. No, it\'s three, I suppose. If it was a dream, how is it possible for me to possess the things I got in it?」

「It\'s quite simple actually. In this world, aren\'t there dreams that have wills of their own and can communicate with others? Things as small as clothes and objects are nothing in comparison」

「Dreams that can communicate with others……」

No way……

「I\'m talking about the beings you all worship as gods. They are the culmination of people\'s wishes, thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, teachings, stories, and words, but in essence, they\'re no more than dreams. And if dreams exist, then it stands to reason that nightmares do as well. For example, the man-beast who broke one of my wings」

「Which reminds me……」

I broke out in a cold sweat and looked around. There was………………………………no sign of Barfuru.

My hand went to my chest in relief.

A development like the ones seen in horror movies isn’t going to happen, I guess.

「Lord White-Scale, the Barfuru inside the dream I was in……whose nightmare was he?」

I\'m still trying to wrap my head around this whole mess.

The smell of blood that still lingers in my nostrils is too strong for it all to be a dream. The field of snow, the white wolves, the frozen castle, the vampires, the goddess of the moon of misfortune, the curse of the Lycans, the battle with the demonic monster.

The king I saw at the end.

「Isn\'t the answer to that obvious?」

Lord White-Scale patted the statue of Lord Blue-Scale.

A dragon\'s dream?

That\'s Lord Blue-Scale\'s dream?

The knight who killed its family is no doubt a nightmare in the eyes of that dragon. But in that case, why did it create Neomia? What about the vampires and the Endguard? Where is the real Lord Blue-Scale right now?

At the height of my confusion, my brain started thinking of other things in order to escape from reality, and I couldn\'t help but put into words a thought that had flashed across my mind.

「Is that stone statue really a stone statue?」

「Fufu………what do you think?」

Lord White-Scale gave me a surprisingly carefree smile.

That smile despite her condescending gaze really caught me off guard. Even though I knew her true form, my heart still skipped a beat.

I tried asking one more question.

「Umm, what about the real Neomia?」

「If you want to know the answer to that, see it with your own eyes, adventurer」

「I suppose you\'re right」

Exploring the unknown is what adventurers do.

But I wonder, why am I working as an adventurer again?

「I\'ll tell you this much. In Neomia, there were the warriors known as the Endguard. There were the vampires that they had sealed away. There was a beautiful girl who was married off from Rossian. There was a wise king who loved her, though fleetingly. There was the body of a sleeping dragon, the long winter it had summoned, and the sin of violating a taboo out of human weakness.

As well as the warriors who fell valiantly against Elysium\'s army.

And the white wolves.

In the end, though everything was buried under the snow, all of that was there in that land. It may be a dream, but it is no illusion. There were the thoughts and history of those people. Even though all of that has been forgotten, it is still no delusion. And even if it is, I don\'t want you to feel sad about it. People\'s thoughts and feelings are things that die out like flames, yet there is a beauty in them akin to flowers in full bloom. Beautiful things have the right to be loved」

Lord White-Scale tossed Yukikaze to me.

I caught the mini-pod and hooked it to my belt.

「Even I don\'t know every detail of the truth. Still, bodies are meant to return to the earth and souls are meant to return to their homeland. In that, there’s no difference between people and dragons. You should return home too. You have a home to go back to, don\'t you? It’s only the dead who are able to live in darkness after all」

「I do have one. A home to return to」

As well as people waiting for me.

The man who was born out of a nightmare had been unable to return home, but I can.

「Unnhhh~」

Maria woke up.

But perhaps she was still sleepy, as she hugged me and started to go back to sleep.

「Hey, wake up. Time to go home」

「I had the strangest dream」

「Hmm?」

「I had a dream where I had a very voluptuous figure and you came to my rescue, Souya」

「It\'s a good dream then, isn\'t it?」

Is that the kind of figure you envision as your ideal?

Just as I was thinking of rubbing her back, the warmth pulled away from me.

「Nuhhh!」

Maria stretched. I took another look at the magic sword she had been hugging.

Perhaps I had put it through too much abuse this time, but its blade is chipped all over.

Zamonglass\' sword and the katana are probably in a similar condition. They\'ll need to be repaired.

The main purpose of a tool is to be used by its owner. That\'s all there is to them. But even though I know that in my head, I suppose it\'s very typical of a Japanese to hold the belief that tools have souls, feelings, and feel affection for their owners.

Even if it was all a dream, the intentions of those involved were real.

In that case, were the two women I met back then a dream I had created or were they just a delusion? It’s only human to yearn for what we’ve lost. That doesn\'t change even if we become beasts.

Well, there isn\'t much of a difference between humans and beasts, I suppose.

「Souya, who\'s that?」

Maria pointed at Lord White-Scale.

「Hey, it\'s rude to point your finger at others」

「You\'re the brat who stepped on my head, aren\'t you?」

As I thought, she held a grudge.

「?」

Having no idea of what she was talking about, Maria had a question mark above her head.

Sensing the dangers, I changed the subject.

「Lord White-Scale, you\'ve got the katana the wrong way round. The edge should be facing up」

「Hmm? But I won\'t be able to pull it out quickly that way, isn\'t it?」

Alright, I got her to take the bait.

The numbness in my body had faded, so I stood up and hung the katana at my hip. With the blade facing up.

「If the curved edge of the katana is not turned upwards, it will get damaged. In essence, katanas are weapons that require you to use both hands. The instant you draw it out, return it to the scabbard」

With my left hand holding the mouth of the scabbard, I placed my right hand loosely on the hilt. I slowed my breathing, then stopped it entirely. One moment of relaxation………………then an explosion of power.

As soon as I began to draw the katana, I flipped the scabbard over and aligned the katana’s curved edge with my drawing motion.

From silence, a crisp sound rang out.

It seemed almost as if space itself had slid out of alignment along the path of the blade. After unleashing the slash, I turned the blade back around, pressed my thumb against its back, and quietly slid it back into the scabbard.

Even after the katana had clicked back into place, I stayed on my toes.

What I had obtained in Neomia was not just the clothes, fangs, and candlestick. I had also acquired the experience that came from mortal combat and the skill honed through blood and sacrifice. These were things that could only be gained by overcoming certain death.

「It\'s something like this」

「W, whoaaa. If it\'s something of that level, even I can………Ugnhh!」

Lord White-Scale tried to draw the katana in one motion, but she didn\'t extend her arm enough and it got caught.

This is something that people who aren’t used to katanas, or even swords, often do.

「Pfff」

Maria laughed at her.

「You brat! How dare you!」

Lord White-Scale was so angry that her white skin had turned bright red.

I\'ve thought this for a while now, but she\'s a little immature, isn\'t she?

The scene of Lord White-Scale chasing Maria about while waving the drawn katana is heartwarming, but it\'s also very terrifying!

「What the heck is going on here?」

「I really wish I had an answer for you」

I answered Otou-san, who had just shown up.

「Oh, that\'s right. I almost forgot」

Otou-san tapped me on the cheek a few times with a silver stake.

It\'s cold. What the heck was that for?

「Does it feel hot? Does it hurt?」

「Not particularly」

「Guess you\'re not infected then. That\'s a relief. So, did you eliminate the source of the vampires? ………And where\'s Barfuru-dono?」

「Oh」

My hesitation was short-lived.

What I had to do was no different from usual.

「He exchanged mortal blows with the king of the vampires. It was a noble end」

This is the greatest irony I can imagine.

「I see, he must have fought valiantly」

「Yeah, that thing was so persistent and kept on reviving, so it was quite a tough battle」

「………You alright? Are you feeling fatigued or anything?」

「I\'m tired, but I should have enough left in me for one more fight. Otou-san, can I ask you one question?」

「What?」

Lord White-Scale had caught Maria and was pinching her cheeks.

Good, looks like blood isn\'t going to be spilled.

「The vampire attack that decimated the Knight Order. Did you look into that?」

「That\'s one thing that baffles me. The bodies buried near their headquarters had wounds similar to those made by the claws and fangs of beasts. That’s most likely the work of vampires. Thinking that I should investigate some more, I tried searching further away from the city and found more buried bodies. These ones were killed by swords and spears」

「Are they all bodies of knights of Elysium?」

「There\'s no doubt about it. There weren\'t any belongings on the bodies that were further away, but it\'s obvious from the way their bodies were built」

「………………Thank you very much. If you\'ll excuse me, I\'ll head back first」

「That\'s fine, but what\'s the matter?」

「No, something came up that I have to go take care of. Maria!」

When I called her, she slipped out of Lord White-Scale\'s grasp and came over to me.

「What is it? Are we going home already?」

「Yeah, we\'re going back to Lemuria. But we\'ll need to make a quick stop somewhere」

I\'ve got to set things right first.

I never once used “he” to refer to Lord White-Scale, now did I? Also, for the “Lord” used to address all the dragons, the Japanese term used there is one used exclusively for male nobles, so it’s not me who’s purposely misleading you. And I’m pretty sure that this is a shot at the trope that all dragons turn out to be beautiful women. Even if they have male titles and are pervy. XD

Yes, it’s the legendary “it’s all a dream” plot device! However, dreams aren’t simple things in this world, are they? Even the gods are but mere dreams… But when dreams walk the world, what is truly real, and what is nothing more than delusion? Hehe, Lord White-Scale’s revelations are quite important, of course.

So, all’s well that ends well? It’s never that simple, is it? What is it that Souya has to set right? Stay tuned, we’re on the home stretch!