Chapter 156: Dragon Scales

Ch. 156 Dragon Scales

“…. . How is it nya~…. . ”

Nina asks me, seemingly out of breath. When I heard it I looked away from Nina and back to the vulture.

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Race: Harenae Condor

State：Bloodshed (small)

Lv：7/15

HP: 7/22

MP: 8/14

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Oh, she was finally able to restore 4 HP with [[Rest]] on the vulture. Even Though it had been 1 or 2 just a short time ago, this is a great achievement. Most of the symptoms of bloodshed have also been alleviated. Although it may not be very useful during battle, it should at least be possible to cure minor injuries.

“Gua!”

“Pefu!”

「Progress made to lessen wound」

“I-I did it…. Nina was able to learn magic…. ”

Nina falls flat down. The ball rabbit leaped forward and caught Nina. Seems she was tired since her MP was almost drained.

So it’s up to here. Although it’s only enough to cure minor injuries, there may be some use for it in port city. If we keep practicing from now on I’m sure it will grow.

I undid the bindings on the vultures and released them. I felt guilty letting it go like this, but it wasn’t meant to be a meal in the first place.

“pihya?”

“pihyaa?”

“pihya, pyahya!” “pi, pihyaa!”

The two vultures faced each other and cried out, seems like they came to the conclusion that they could escape and did so. The two flew into the sky and ran away while flapping their wings. The ball rabbit looked up at the birds a little regretfully.

“Hinya…. ”

Nina groans in pain as she is resting on the ball rabbit. When I heard it I had a bad feeling. I hope this is just because she exhausted her mana.

Nina weakly raises her arm and uses her palm to cover her mouth.

“keho, keho!”

A cough appeared.

This was still good. A cough should be the initial symptom of a disease. Like this the status abnormality won’t appear as well. If it starts getting worse, I could use [[Roll]] to move quickly.

Or at least it was supposed to be…. Nina’s hands had red splashes on them.

Its blood.

Nina looks at the palm of her hand and slowly turns her face towards me.

“…. sorry, this is…. ”

Before she could say it, her eyes closed. The weight of the symptoms is clearly different from that of the ball rabbits. In the early stages you won’t get worse at the initial stage of coughing. But is it different depending on monster or humans?

I quickly check Nina’s status.

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[Nina Nifa]

Race: Felis Huma

State: curse (small)

Lv: 8/60

HP: 19/27

MP: 5/24

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Looks like she already has an abnormal state. Why? Is it because she doesn’t have much MP her curse resistance dropped? Or is it because the ball rabbits curse resistance was originally stronger?

Was it a mistake to think that the conditions would be the same for everyone? Damn…this was a blunder. Certainly there were some signs if I think about it. Sometimes she would unnecessarily say sorry, or I sometimes look to see her have a strange face. In the first place, the grace period is abnormally long. I had thought that [[Dragon Scales]] may have had little effect, or that Nina’s tolerance was strong, I was thinking of how easy going we were, but that wasn’t the case.

Nina had been hiding her initial symptoms all this time. She acted so as not to rouse suspicion of her worsening condition as much as possible, and probably muzzled her coughs. Maybe because she knew that I would take her to the city as soon as I saw her showing any signs of sickness. Nina was certainly not prepared to go to that city yet.

If it’s like this, there is a little I’m having trouble understanding. I thought that [[Dragon Scales]] only took effect after a certain amount of days before it begins to take effect, so Nina shouldn’t have had to hide before then. There’s also the fact that the highly perceptive ball rabbit did not notice Nina was hiding her symptoms.

I turn my eyes to the ball rabbit. The ball rabbit awkwardly looked away.

Ball rabbit, you…. told Nina about [[Dragon Scales]] before me. I knew that when you were using [[Telepathy]] without me telling you too was related to the progress of the disease symptoms.

「I am…. sorry」

The ball rabbit shrinks in size, as if trying to hide.

What were you thinking!

If we don’t make it in time Nina will die!

Well there’s no use being angry right now. I guess it was like this since Nina had asked it too. Its out of line to place the blame on the ball rabbit. Since its already like this, I must use [[Roll]] and send Nina to the port city as soon as possible.

“Exist…. . ”

Huh?

What is it ball rabbit, what was she trying to say?

「Port city…. does not exist. To keep going farther and farther, a distant land was used. The city is in another direction…. . 」

…. what does this mean?

「Nina, planned to pass away…. out here. It couldn’t be helped no matter where she went. Although there was a limit, she liked being together, that’s why…. 」

Tell me that in the first place instead of lying!

“Guuoo!”

When I roared the ball rabbit shuddered and folded its ears down further.

You should have at least told me…. .

…Even if I was told would I be able to do anything?

I don’t know anything at all about Nina’s circumstances and how she’s lived. I don’t know what it was like to be a slave in Harenae.

When I had said that I could only take Nina to a village, it must have been cruel in Nina’s perspective. But I couldn’t prepare any other options. If I were human I could have done something else, but I’m a dragon.

“Guuuu…. ”

Nina of course was going to say that the port city was closer as her symptoms worsened. It was obvious that I would panic and head to town as fast as I could. All the while she quietly, intended to die in the desert.

…I wonder if I will be able to make it back to Harenae if I keep rolling at full power. There may be hope as it is completely unknown just how long the symptoms have progressed after appearing as a status abnormality. Though, I am only relying on uncertainties.

I guess, it is about time to consult Laplace after all this time. I did not want to use it as much as possible since I was uncertain on its effective range of events or whether it could even be trusted. It does seem dangerous but…. I suppose now’s a good a time as ever.

I don’t think that Nina wants to go to Harenae or any place with people in the first place however. I wonder what I should do.