Chapter 49 (1/2)

Chapter 49

Translator: Luk2048

Editor: Ghost Ape

The ‘nearby’ was according to her standards . When I asked in detail, it turned out to be a whole five days, considering my slowpoke self .

“Should we fly?”

“No . ”

I firmly insisted on walking . One can only gain from journey when one treads resolutely on the ground―― at least, that was what I told her .

However, walking for five days straight was honestly hard . The food running out was also a source of unease . When I was starting to visibly slow down with my shoulders drooping low, riding on my back Rēko peered in my face .

“What would you like, Evil Dragon Lord? Ah… I see . ”

“Stop forcibly discerning something when I didn’t say anything . ”

“I am a failure as kin to bother the Evil Dragon Lord with earning that petty sum of money . As expected, I should be the one to go and promptly fetch the gold . ”

“Aah but… there are demons in the goldmine so it can be dangerous… well… as long as it’s you, I think it’ll be fine…”

“No need for worry . I will make sure to restrain myself to not blow up the goldmine . ”

“That kind of inconceivable worry was slightly outside the scope of my imagination . ”

“Then off I go . ”

Not giving me any time to restrain her, Rēko grew wings and flew away in the blink of an eye . I immediately became uneasy . Even these plains weren’t a completely safe zone . I had no idea when a demon would appear . If I was in the original size I might be able to bluff my way through, but I was in my mini-size after drinking the medicine .

But Rēko returned startlingly fast .

“Oh, what happened? You forgot something?”

“No, I went and had a look . ”

“Eh? Already?”

“With the wings I received from the Evil Dragon Lord, this kind of distance doesn’t take longer than a flash . And so, about the goldmine’s demons―― seems like they’re quite a capable bunch . ”

I opened my eyes wide . I never suspected demons able to make Rēko call them capable could appear so soon .

“When I arrived at the goldmine, it turned out that each and every one of them has withdrawn . A fairly competent pack they are, to have sensed my bloodthirst early on and ascertained the difference in our power . ”

“Yeah, I should have expected that . ”

“More importantly, Evil Dragon Lord . The demons are relatively inconsequential, because a larger problem has sprung forth . It is not something we can ignore . ”

Rēko lightly sat in seiza on the ground and rectified her posture .

“What is it out of the blue?”

“Thinking it through carefully, even if we found a goldmine, it’s not like the gold ingots are just lying around . Breaking apart the ground randomly, I have found some rocks with leftover gold stuck to it, but they weren’t ready to be sold off like that at all . ”

“Ah, now that you mention it, unless one properly smelts the ores, they’re nothing but rocks . ”

“For the time being, to make up for the smelting furnace I have spouted flames on the goldmine, turning it into a sea of fire, but it seems thinking the gold will float up was too optimistic of me…”

“Probably the goldmine looks like h.e.l.l now . ”

When I composed myself and looked at the horizon, shrouded in mist far away, I saw a mountain glowing red, erupting like a volcano . That had to be the goldmine .

“Therefore, let us sell the whole mountain to the humans . ”

“Even though there are no demons, I wonder whether we’ll be able to sell a mountain which is in the middle of a natural disaster . Will that flame disappear if we leave it be?”

“In about three days . ”

“It’d be nice if the mountain doesn’t turn into plains during that time . ”

The goldmine wasn’t our property in the first place, so whether we’d be able to sell it or not was a problem, but for now it looked like we didn’t have to continue walking towards that mountain anymore .

“Well then, let’s search for some town . Rēko, lead the way please . ”

“Understood . The nearest town would be over there . ”

What Rēko pointed her finger at was the direction of the burning brightly mountain .

“Hahaha, that’s a good one Rēko . There must be something closer, right?”

“No, there’s no other town unless we cross that mountain range . If we were to give it up and search for another city, we’d have to briefly retrace our steps and―― move the opposite way, towards out starting point, the town of adventurers Peryudōna . ”

“Isn’t the path a bit too steep all of a sudden?”

“That’s because on the other side of that mountain range is another country . The country borders generally tend to be made of mountains or rivers, as to obstruct people from entering . ”

“Umm… I don’t like that the road is so shoddy, but maybe thanks to that my infamy won’t spread too much…”