NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20
He appeared alone, but his intimidation filled the cave.
He smiled nonchalantly, but he was undoubtedly thinking of how to kill us.
The only thing I had seen of Den’s skills was the moment he turned a scarecrow to dust in an instant.
Even Solche and Alium deemed him dangerous enough to decide to escape from Tholis immediately.
“Den!”
“Is that Den?”
I had certainly spoken with Aila about Den previously.
However, Aila’s reaction now gave a strong impression that she was seeing him for the first time.
“You’re not Den. Who are you?”
Since Aila was the only one who had fought the real Den, everyone else remained silent.
In response to Aila’s question, Den smiled widely, his face filled with a grin.
“My name is Den. Well, a fake one.”
“What does that… mean?”
Den, who was speaking incomprehensibly, was looking up at the cave ceiling.
“If you’re a fake, then…”
“You’re smarter than I thought. I only said I was a fake.”
The fake Den directed his sword at Riki and replied with a laugh.
“Did you clone Den?”
“Right. I’m a replica of Den.”
“But you look quite different.”
“Cloning can result in variations like me if done repeatedly.”
The Latnia Empire had a vast territory and a large population, but it lacked talented individuals.
While the small Kingdom of Tholis produced numerous sword mages, Latnia had only managed to produce one low-level sword master.
Of course, even a low-level sword master was certainly an exceptional individual.
A sword master capable of easily facing off against an entire platoon alone.
However, due to their limited numbers, it was impossible to train many of them.
So they likely chose to clone their skilled individuals.
“Human cloning is still incomplete.”
“Yeah. That’s why something like me appears. I’m Den, but I’m completely different from Den.”
He pulled out a mask from his coat and put it on.
“I hate my face that looks like Den.”
“Let’s get this over with quickly, I’m busy.”
The opponent had already drawn their weapon, but Aila was unarmed.
“You mean to face me without a weapon?”
“Isn’t it true that you’re not the real Den?”
“Wow~ you’re somewhat interesting.”
Aila softly whispered something to Riki.
Knowing that a duel was about to take place, we stepped back a considerable distance.
“Haah!”
With a shout, the sound of an animal’s cry echoed loudly through the cave.
An intangible energy began to rise around Aila.
The energy thickened and soon filled the surroundings like fog.
Boom!
With a loud noise, Den was sent flying into the wall.
“Ugh!”
Den’s previously relaxed expression twisted slightly.
As the thick fog lifted, Aila’s appearance was revealed, starkly different from usual.
Her size had tripled, and she had transformed into a complete animal form with long, sharp claws and talons.
“What is that?”
“Captain’s battle mode.”
“Wasn’t swordsmanship her specialty?”
“She studied swordsmanship separately, but fighting is a natural ability for her.”
As Den regained his composure and gripped his sword, he began to walk slowly.
Seizing the opportunity, Aila delivered a punch to Den.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing resonated, and Den’s sword began to move.
Though slow, it flowed smoothly in its path.
While Aila blocked Den’s sword several times with her hands, she swiftly kicked Den away.
“That was a close one~”
“Can you see this? I’ve surpassed Den’s original skills!”
The fake Den muttered to himself and pulled out a small sword from somewhere.
“Hey, fake. Want me to tell you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“The swordsmanship you use is widely known as the Latnia Empire’s swordsmanship. We’ve adapted it.”
Upon hearing Aila’s words, the fake Den seemed quite surprised.
Latnia’s swordsmanship was said to be created by a figure known as the Knights King long ago.
It is said that the king widely spread it to preserve the excellent swordsmanship for generations.
“Variations don’t only happen from cloning.”
Before I knew it, Aila had returned to human form, holding a sword.
“If we’re in the same human form, that gives me an advantage!”
“Is that so?”
Aila matched her movements to the fake Den’s, blocking all attacks.
“You claim to be a variation but use the same swordsmanship? Is that honest?”
“My swordsmanship had to have surpassed him!”
“It certainly has surpassed him. But we’ve been studying it to the death!”
When Solche taught Jema swordsmanship, he had directly taught the swordsmanship of the Latnia Empire.
It was undoubtedly excellent swordsmanship.
However, all the techniques that had been adapted from there were developed in Roran.
“Have you ever tried reversing your sword path?”
“Who would do something like that?”
“We would.”
Aila held her sword in reverse grip and began to display a peculiar swordsmanship.
It appeared quite odd even to my untrained eyes.
“Do you think such a clumsy technique would work!”
Without a word, Aila continued to swing her sword.
Once, twice, thrice…
On the thirteenth swing, a white light burst forth from her sword.
“Ugh! What is this!”
The fake Den’s eyes widened in astonishment, seemingly lost in thought.
Aila’s sword had deeply pierced the fake Den’s shoulder.
“Reversed…”
“Of course, it was all done by my master, not us.”
“Master?”
The fake Den’s shoulder bled profusely, pooling onto the ground.
Thud.
Lying in his own pool of blood, Den was coughing it up.
“Goodbye. You won’t be going far. Cough! There, Dragon! I always wanted to kill you, but I’m sad I can’t…”
At the fake Den’s words, everyone’s gaze turned towards me.
“Ririan. You were a dragon?”
“Wasn’t I a lizard?”
Even Jema had a rather surprised expression. But the most shocked was me, the person in question.
I had always thought of myself as a lizard.
“I think there’s going to be quite a commotion when we go back.”
“Do we have to run again?”
“Run? Why do that? It’s a big occasion!”
We left the fake Den behind and exited the cave.
As we stepped outside, dawn was breaking.
“This is the Roran territory from here.”
Though we were still in the forest, just the fact that we had left Latnia’s territory made me feel much better.
“No need for disguises now.”
Jema removed the cloak he was wearing, comfortably revealing his wings and tail.
“Riki, return to your original form. What kind of animal are you?”
“I’m human!”
I had thought he would have taken some transformation potion like Solche or Alium.
“What is Roran like? Can I go there?”
Catherine halted her steps, looking down at the ground as she hesitated.
“Roran doesn’t show discrimination like Latnia.”
“So there is still some discrimination, then.”
“It’s not completely eradicated. However, not everyone looks positively on discrimination.”
Encouraged by Aila’s words, Catherine began to walk with renewed determination.
Since the cave was quite high up, we could see the sprawling forest below as we descended.
“There’s some smoke rising over there.”
“Probably the forest’s inhabitants.”
We couldn’t know what kind of races the forest’s inhabitants were since it hadn’t been explained to us.
There were many things I wanted to ask, but the way ahead was still long.
As we came down the mountain, several paths awaited us.
“Let’s head to Olive first.”
Aila pointed towards a path connecting to the forest.
“Is the city named Olive?”
“No, there’s an olive tree that’s thousands of years old over there. Large villages are around it.”
Though we had left the territory of the Latnia Empire, we could not dismiss the possibility of them sending spies.
For safety, we headed towards Olive, where the closest village was located.
The first impression of the Roran Empire felt somewhat like a countryside village.
Comparing it to the developed cities of Latnia, the only village I had seen so far was Olive.
Seeing houses built using logs was very refreshing.
The thousands-of-years-old olive tree was not as towering as I expected.
It stood approximately 4 to 5 meters tall but had branches spreading out widely.
Beneath the canopy formed by those branches, the village market was set up.
The market was bustling with various food items displayed for sale.
The breeze beneath the olive tree was quite refreshing.
“The air here is…”
“Delicious!”
It was surreal when Jema and I expressed the same sentiment simultaneously.
“I’m glad I brought you here first.”
“Was that why you deliberately brought me here?”
“Yeah. The mana here is a bit special thanks to that tree.”
Experiencing air that tasted good was something I’ve never felt before.
“Let’s spend today under this tree.”
“Is that alright?”
“Of course! Let’s each enjoy some free time, then we can gather here in the evening.”
“Um…”
Jema called out to Aila, who was about to move.
“Why are you taking Ririan with you?”
“Oh, I need to confirm something.”
“Then I want to go too.”
Riki and Catherine separated, saying they would look around on their own.
I snuggled against Aila as we explored around the olive tree.
The forest inhabitants, as they were called, included a variety of races from beastmen to elves and orcs.
In particular, the orcs looked quite different from what I had imagined.
With dark green skin and a somewhat rough appearance, they lacked the distinct protruding tusks.
Instead, when they opened their mouths, there were sharp teeth inside that conveyed a formidable presence.
The elves were not much different from normal humans.
However, they were usually taller and often possessed excellent appearances.
One particularly noticeable figure was a muscular female elf.
Aila took me to a wooden house.
Knocking on the door, we entered, and the interior was small and dim.
“Who are you?”
“I’m a disciple of Rendol.”
“Oh. How is Rendol?”
“Doing well.”
Aila chatted amicably with the person in the darkness.
“Is that child in your arms yours?”
“I’m not married; how could I have a child…?”
“You can have one even without being married.”
At the person’s words, Aila cleared her throat loudly and changed the subject.
“Could you take a look at this child’s race?”
“Based on appearance, it’s a demon race…”
A pale white arm emerged from the darkness, gently taking me from Aila.
As the white hand examined me like on a medical examination table.
“It’s a dragon. Where did you get such a precious thing?”
“I found it. On the street?”
“Yes, I found it.”
Adding Jema’s testimony, the pale hand returned me to Aila’s embrace.
“The value is ten million gold.”
“What kind of appraisal costs ten million gold? Make it a thousand gold.”
“Very well.”
Aila took out a few gold coins from her wallet and placed them on the table as she left.
“It is indeed a dragon.”
“What’s so special about dragons?”
“You can meet the Demon King.”