CH 56

The Tengu Joined Us!

“Yes! The dragon is dead!”

From behind me, the voices of the Tengus rose with cheers.

In the meantime, I rushed towards Iria immediately.

“Iria. Are you alright?”

“Yes! It’s because you distracted it, Sir Joshua! It was not as tough as I expected.”

“Ah, uh… Well, I suppose it just shows how hard the horn of a Kijin really is.”

The skin of a fire dragon was very thick, but the bones were even stronger, and were similar to steel.

And yet she had cut through it so cleanly…

A chill ran down my spine as I looked at the beheaded black dragon.

It would have surely taken two or three hundred of the Knights Order to do the same work.

And many of them would have died in the process.

“In any case, I’m glad that we were able to kill it quickly… And the Tengu seem very happy as well.”

There would be no more casualties.

However, even I had trouble imagining that the Demon King had several dragons like this one.

The mountain offered us a great view of the scene below.

And I could see the west road as it stretched to the north south.

With this place as a base, he must have wanted to position a powerful black dragon here in preparation for a battle with the human armies.

Well, I wasn’t sure to what extent the Undead could be controlled, so it was all speculation.

At the same time, I didn’t know how much of an Undead corpse we would be able to use.

Melk asked me,

“Can we eat this thing?”

“I think you would suffer worse than a stomach ache if you did… But perhaps the claws and bones could be of use…”

Dragon bones and claws were very durable, and were sometimes used as materials for human armor and shields.

However, as it was rare to even encounter a dragon, such things were rarely seen in the market.

In fact, some royal families kept them as treasures.

Furthermore, while this one did not have them, some types of dragons had scales, which were also highly valuable.

Such scales and bones were even stronger than steel.

Though, I wasn’t sure who would ever get an opportunity to compare or put it to the test. Still, that meant it would be stronger than Armor Boar scales and black demon iron as well.

And yet, it was lighter than iron.

But what about Kijin horns…? Well, the results showed that Iria’s horn had been the best.

“Perhaps the skin can be salvaged as well, but the flesh should be burned right away. We don’t want it to rot. It should be carved up at once. Besides, it might attract other monsters… Would you allow us to take care of it, Asuha?”

Asuha nodded silently.

And none of the other Tengus objected to this.

And so immediately sent the black dragon to my Magic Workshop.

Then began the process of taking it apart.

First, I incinerated the body with fire. This left only the skin and bones… Or that was the plan, but there was something else that remained which was unfamiliar to me.

It was a crystal that looked like a ruby in color.

“…Is this a magic stone?”

If I remember correctly, red magic stones helped increase the magic energy of the fire attribute.

However, I had never seen a magic stone that was so big and so vibrantly red.

Then Iria asked me,

“Magic stone? Like the stone you acquired before, when killing the Devil Snake?”

“Aye, I think so. However, this time it is not healing magic, but for fire magic. Maybe we can use magic like Barnish did.”

I answered Iria while looking at the stone.

Mette and Melka also looked at it with glimmering eyes.

“Melk wants it.”

“No, it’s my turn! You already got the magic stone staff, Melk.”

“Melk wants to shoot explosive fire and look amazing while fighting.”

“But I want to be able to use magic too!”

As the two argued, I turned to Asuha.

“Asuha. We defeated the dragon. However, the Demon King Army will continue to come… Would you not consider…joining our alliance?”

“…Alliance?”

Asuha repeated in a quiet voice.

“The Fendel Alliance… Demihumans uniting to save their homeland. We can help you rebuild this village and craft tools and weapons. We will even offer you some food supplies. And in exchange, we ask that you lend us your power… With your help, we will be able to detect enemy attacks from the sky.”

However, Asuha fell silent.

She was usually silent and expressionless, but right now, she seemed to agonize over my words.

And then the Tengu who guided us here began to try and persuade her.

“Young chief. You have seen their village, have you not? Should the enemy attack us again, we will need the kind of weapons and tools that they have. While it is important to honor your late father’s wishes… Please…make a decision.”

He urged Asuha to decide.

And then Asuha nodded her head.

“We would be honored…uh…”

“Joshua. And thank you, Asuha.”

I then offered her my hand.

Asuha took it and squeezed tightly.