CH 226

When I stepped out of Ragune’s house, I found that it was not the dragon people’s village I had imagined, but rather a small town.

The houses were lined up from the slope of the mountain to the foot of the mountain, creating a three-dimensional townscape with a great difference in elevation.

There were many ropes running from the slope to the foot of the mountain, and occasionally people would use pulleys to pass through the ropes at high speed and descend to the foot of the mountain.

Tauro and his group were overwhelmed by the sight.

Ragune’s house was located a short distance away, overlooking all of this, on a hillside where you could look up at the houses on the slope and down at the houses at the foot of the mountain.

If you look closely, you can see that the city is surrounded by walls.

As Tauro and the others were overwhelmed by the scenery of the Dragon People’s village, what appeared to be the captain of the Dragon People’s garrison approached Tauro and the others.

Then he turned his gaze toward Ankh.

“Are you Tauro-dono?”

he asked.

“Huh? It’s not me! Tauro, our leader, is over here.”

Ankh pointed at Tauro.

Everyone, including the captain of the garrison, looked at the boy beside Ankh, in amazement.

“I’m Tauro. Nice to meet you.”

Tauro politely greeted all the guards who had gathered there.

“Ah, I’m sorry for mistaking my benefactor! Come on, I’ll guide you to the chief, so please follow me.”

The dragon tribe man who seemed to be the captain of the garrison led tauro’s party.

Tauro and the others followed him obediently.

“…These garrison guys are pretty tough, huh?”

Ankh whispered into Tauro’s ear while breaking into a cold sweat.

“You’re right, they’re all pretty amazing guys.”

Tauro nodded at Ankh’s words.

Even in “presence detection,” I can feel the pressure I feel from first-class adventurers from the dragon people in the garrison.

The captain’s presence is even greater than that.

I honestly don’t want to make an enemy of him.

“ Speaking of which, Ragune. What was that training your brother was talking about earlier?”

I asked Ragune to change the mood.

The guards who were walking around with her reacted with a jerk.

What is it? Did they hear something bad?

Tauro tensed for a moment.

“ Ah, it is the tradition of our people to have a period of training from the age of 12 to about 18 years old. The training is very severe, especially the training to develop resistance to various abnormalities, which is like torture…. It lasts as long as six years, so everyone has wanted to die at least once…”

Ah…! So kill me! That’s what you’ve been saying…

“Oh, but it also sounded paranoid to me…”

Tauro recalled that when they first met, she said something like, “You want my body!”

“That was no delusion! Before I came to the village of Dansas, someone who approached me under the guise of kindness actually said that under the terms of a business deal. That’s why I was a little distrustful of people back then!”

Ragune blushed, embarrassed by the memory.

That’s right….

Tauro smiled wryly and tried to change the subject.

“Then, Ragune’s resistance to various types of abnormalities…”

“That’s right, it’s something I acquired through this training. We, the dragon people, sometimes gain abilities other than our inherent skills by slipping through the lines of death. So even those who do not have combat skills can gain them through training… Ah, but I’m sure there’s no precedent for this in humans, so I think it’s probably something unique to the dragon people. So you’d better not imitate them.”

Ha-ha-ha…, Kill me! I don’t want to go through training under the line of death to the point where they are always saying, “Kill me!”

Tauro thought that the training of the dragon tribe was only possible because of their unique physical abilities, especially their endurance.

First of all, wouldn’t they have a mental breakdown after being forced to do it for six years?

That’s probably why the dragon people’s toughness is different from that of humans.

“I won’t imitate you…. I don’t want to be invited.”

Tauro answered with a smile, and Aeris, perhaps imagining this, nodded broadly beside him.

The garrison captain led the way up the hill, and when they reached the top, they came upon a large mansion.

Behind us was a slope, so the mansion was halfway down the slope.

In front of the mansion,  a particularly large dragon tribe man with a powerful presence was waiting for Tauro and his group with several other dragon tribe members lined up behind him.

“… Tauro-dono, isn’t it? It is my first time meeting you. My name is Ryuga, and I am the chief of the Dragon People. This is my wife, Oryo. The rest are my men. You have saved the lives of many of my people, thank you.”

I don’t know if he learned of this from the garrison earlier, but the chief, Ryuga, looked at me without hesitation and said hello, expressing his gratitude.

“No, Ragune has already helped me as a companion, as a friend. So, you don’t have to thank me. I am sorry for disturbing you with my sudden visit.”

Tauro bowed his head and apologized.

“No, no, no, I was hoping to meet you at least once, and you are more than welcome! Now, please come into my home.”

Chief Ryuga then invited Tauro and the others into the chief’s home.