Chapter 56

State of Emergency

“Three days!? We won’t even be able to form a decent hunting party in that amount of time! Is there no way to delay it!?”

The manager screamed after hearing the priest’s words.

It was not possible to gather the strongest Adventurers in the surrounding cities in just three days.

However, the priest replied in a quiet voice.

“According to this myth, the dragon grew in three days ‘after’ it was discovered. Perhaps if we found it at an earlier stage than in the book, we will have more time. …However, if the Blue Dragon of Delight is this mythical dragon, then it will not make any difference if it is 3 days or 1 year. No amount of human power will be enough to destroy it.”

“…Then how did they deal with the monster in the myth? If there are records, then someone must have survived?”

The manager said as he looked at the book.

In this world, they seriously debated about myths as if they had actually happened.

It was hard to imagine people at my old city office discussing ways they might defeat a dragon.

“In the myth, there is an ‘Emissery’ with the power of God that appears and defeats the dragon. …But the letters have faded, and so I can not read about how it was done.”

“…Indeed, if there was someone who was as powerful as God, it would be possible. The problem is, no such person exists in this world.”

The manager said as he thought about it.

However, there was really only one thing to do.

If it could destroy a continent in three days, there was no point in trying to run.

And there was no way we could kill it.

In that case, the only thing left to do was to pray to God.

That’s what I was thinking…but then the manager suddenly looked up with a bright expression as he shouted.

“…No. I know why the Blue Dragon of Delight appeared! It’s different from the myth!”

“What?”

“Yes. It was 30 years ago now. The great church in the royal capital had gathered together 3,000 priests for a ritual. Now, wasn’t it a ritual to activate something 30 years later?”

“…Do you mean the spirit summoning? If that had succeeded, the divine spirit would have been summoned about 2 weeks ago. But clearly it was a failure. No such spirit has been summoned.”

Two weeks ago…that’s about the same day that I arrived.

Yes, it was possible that the dragon appeared at around the same time.

You could stay hidden in a forest of that size for 2 weeks.

“Is it possible the failure of the summoning resulted in the dragon appearing?”

“I don’t think so. A mythical dragon would not appear with only 3,000 priests calling it. Besides, I was there. Those runes could have only summoned a humanoid and nothing else.”

“I see. I was thinking that maybe this dragon was weaker than the mythological one. Since it had been summoned by just 3,000. But if it is a humanoid…”

“A weaker dragon would not be able to darken the sky. …Now, you must excuse me.”

The priest said as he got up from his chair.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“To the church. I must pray.”

The priest said as he left the room.

There was something oddly powerful about the way he moved in spite of his frame.

The manager watched him leave and then muttered.

“So there is nothing we can do but pray now…”

“Can we even trust that priest? Hardly anyone truly understands the mythical dragon or what the great church did. Why would such a man be in a small city like this?”

One of the young guild workers asked.

Indeed, this priest wouldn’t have a very high position within the church.

It seemed a little premature to just believe everything he said.

Or so I thought.

However… The manager replied gravely.

“Father Shtyle used to be the second most powerful in the great church of the capital. We treat him like a normal priest because that is what he wants, but he is actually the most important man in the city.”

Some gloomy faces in the room nodded at this.

Those who had lived here long already knew.

“…By the way, why did Father Shtyle come to this village?”

“It was a revelation, I am told. …I do not know what it said, but it must have caused quite an uproar in the church back then. After all, it happened right after the spirit summoning.”

…Things were a lot more complicated than I thought.

However, it did seem like we could not ignore what the priest said.

As I considered this…the dragon suddenly appeared in front of one of my slimes.

—It was bigger than when I last saw it in the forest.

Of course, I hadn’t actually measured it.

But it was so much bigger that I could tell.

“How big was the dragon from the myth?”

The manager seemed surprised at my question, but he answered.

“It the drawing in Father Shtyle’s book is accurate, it could cover the sky. Even when it was growing, it was as big as a cloud.”

Yes, it had looked very big in the book.

“…In that case, we might still have a chance. The dragon I saw is still much smaller than the mythological dragon.”

“‘Still’ you say…so it is getting bigger?”

“It is. If my detection ability is not wrong.”

I said as I used Thoughtography to show that the dragon had become larger.

Most living things don’t show their true power until they were fully grown.

No matter how vicious a shark is, it is just food for bigger fish when they are young.

If the Blue Dragon of Delight is the same dragon from the myth, it would be very young.

So there might be a chance that we could win.

In fact, the dragon had yet to destroy any villages. All it’s done was knock down some trees and boulders.

That was hardly anything for a dragon that was supposed to destroy a continent in 3 days.

It did nothing when we left the forest.

“…There is no time to lose. We must gather what men we can in a hurry. Thank you for the information. …Yad, send word to our neighbors and gather what you can. And do it quickly!”

“Understood!”

Please consider rating/reviewing the series if you enjoy it. I think it’s going to catch up to the manga very soon?