IMTDIK 82

Episode 82. Outing

The high autumn sky and the colorful autumn leaves… They wouldn’t last much longer. Soon, they would fall and form a blanket on the ground. It was late autumn.

‘It’s beautiful.’

Valdrova always looked down from the sky, but now she was looking up. It felt new. Maybe that was why—she couldn’t take another step. Becoming part of this scene felt so special to her.

‘Outing…’

This was not a trip to fight monsters. This time, she was going out just to enjoy herself. It was a small thing, but her heart was beating fast with excitement.

‘What if I make a mistake? I shouldn’t mess up…’

Thinking that, she took a deep breath and finally began to walk.

‘I wonder what the village Ferda made looks like?’

After staying hidden for hundreds of years, this was Valdrova’s first time seeing a village. And the village was being built right under Valdrova Castle.

‘This… is a village?’

In her memory, houses were made of stone, dirt, and wood. But now? There were only tents. People were gathered around them, working.

‘It got worse… a lot worse.’

Valdrova felt sad. Ruri had said it was once a rich place. Was that a lie to make her feel better?

“Hey, who are you?”

While she was staring blankly, someone walked over and spoke to her. Valdrova turned her head in surprise. It was a man in his 30s, looking rough and strong. Valdrova felt overwhelmed.

‘A human… talked to me.’

It was because of her fear of people. Except for Ferda, no human had ever come up and spoken to her like this. Time felt frozen for a moment.

‘What should I say? Should I run away?’

“Why aren’t you talking? Did you take a vow of silence or something?”

Vow of silence? She didn’t know what that was, but Valdrova just nodded. The man accepted her answer easily.

“Oh, I see. You must be a knight who swore a vow to Alte. Trying to get a knight title at Valdrova Castle?”

She shook her head.

“No? Then maybe you’re a noble turned adventurer… But you came too early. The village is still under construction. We need to build houses fast, or winter will be hard.”

The man clicked his tongue in frustration.

Valdrova pointed at the tents. Aren’t those houses?

“Huh? No way! Those are just temporary tents. Not real houses!”

Oh, so they weren’t houses. Valdrova scratched her head, embarrassed.

“You don’t know much about the world, huh? Well, it happens. Those are just tents. What we need now are big tents for everyone to stay warm in winter, with fire and heat. Real homes.”

“……”

“They say they sent a notice to the Empire for help, but no one is coming. You know why?”

She shook her head.

“Because no one wants to come this far out. Even inside the walls, life is hard. Outside is even worse. Young people today are scared. No courage at all.”

“……”

“So, tell me. Are you strong?”

Strength… That’s all she had. She was the dragon known as the Aspect of Flame and Strength. Valdrova nodded shyly.

“Great! We need strong people like you. I’m the team leader of this project. If you don’t have other plans, want to help us? We need to finish before winter.”

He offered her a job. Even though she looked like a knight or adventurer, he didn’t hesitate. They needed people.

Valdrova looked around. People were living in those cold tents. Even with thick clothes, they were shivering.

‘It must be really cold.’
‘If they sleep in those tents, it’ll be even colder.’
‘Then… what can I do for them?’

After thinking, Valdrova nodded.

“What? You really want to help?”

She nodded again.

“Wow…” The man looked surprised, as if she were some strange person. He had asked other adventurers before, but no one ever said yes. Who wants to do hard labor?

“Okay, I’ll tell the officer. My name is Hansson. Just call me boss… Ah, right, you took a vow of silence. I’ll give you a tag later. Use it to call me if needed.”

She nodded.

“Before we start working… How about taking off that armor?”

“?”

Armor? This? Valdrova pointed to her helmet.

“Yes, that armor.”

Clang! She quickly shook her head.

“You can’t work wearing that?”

She shook her head harder.

“Come on, you’re not hiding your face just to look cool, right?”

She nodded.

“Wow, so you won’t even show your face and you’re silent. Mysterious one, huh?”

Hansson gave up trying. Clothes didn’t matter anyway. What they needed was strength. He walked with her to where the logs were.

“See all these logs? Take them over to the man sawing wood. Easy, right?”

She nodded.

“Alright. Let’s start. We’ll lift one each and put it on the cart. One, two, and… hup!”

Something was wrong. He lifted, but felt no weight. Hansson looked and saw the log floating. Valdrova was holding it. With one hand. Like it was nothing.

She looked at him through her helmet.

“Where should I put this?”

“Uh, over there is fine…” He started calling her politely now. Valdrova moved and placed the log. She held it by the end and walked like it was easy. Even strong people couldn’t do that.

“Is it not heavy?”

She nodded. Not heavy.

“Can you carry two?”

She nodded and lifted two logs with one hand.

“How many… Can you carry?”

“?” She tilted her head. She didn’t know. But she found out. She lifted one more. Then another. She lifted ten logs total. Enough to fill two carts by herself.

“……”

Hansson stared with his mouth open. He wasn’t the only one surprised.

“What is that?”
“She’s carrying all that alone?”

Everyone nearby stopped working to watch. Valdrova got nervous from all the attention and put the logs down. Hansson quickly shouted at the workers,

“What are you looking at?! Get back to work!”

He ordered them back to their jobs. Then he turned to Valdrova and tried to calm her down.

“Don’t worry, Knight. If anyone stares at you again, I’ll fix their heads myself!”

He even made chopping sounds with his hands. To Hansson, Valdrova was a priceless, top-tier worker.

After being comforted, Valdrova went back to work again. Even if he didn’t say much, she was going to help again.

‘Because we need to build the houses quickly.’

She wanted to help them sleep in a warm house before the cold air of the north came down. She wanted them to sleep peacefully, without worry—at least while sleeping. That was the best thing she could do with her simple thinking.

“That’s it for today. Thank you for your hard work, Sir Knight!”

Valdrova looked up at the sun like the team leader did. The sun was leaning toward the west. She thought there was still time left and was about to start working again, but Hansson stopped her.

“Oh no, that’s enough. The sun is going down, isn’t it? When it sets, we sleep and get ready for tomorrow. Everyone’s tired, right?”

Oh, I see. Valdrova nodded.

Hansson walked toward the place where the workers were gathering. They were returning their tokens and receiving today’s payment. Hansson also submitted Valdrova’s token and got her share of the money. While bringing the pouch of money, he grumbled.

“Damn them! You did the work that four people were supposed to do for a week, but they won’t give us fifteen people’s pay. They’re only giving ten! Isn’t that dirty?”

Valdrova didn’t understand well. So she just nodded.

“Those people at the top are the problem. That regent, Ferda or whatever, he must have ordered it that way! He’s young but acts so cheap and petty…”

Hansson suddenly shut his mouth. He felt a gaze from the shadow of the helmet looking at him.

“Oh! Sorry about that. You’re a knight, and I shouldn’t insult a noble, right? Please understand. I’m just a middle-aged man with nothing to show, just complaining.”

“……”

“If I could, I’d give you my own money too. But for now, please take this. And later, I’ll introduce you to someone who can help you a lot in the adventurer world. How about that?”

If Valdrova knew more about the adventurer business, she would’ve known that was a useless offer. But she didn’t understand what he was saying. So, she just nodded again.

“Haha! You really are generous! Here you go.”

Hansson handed her a heavy pouch. The jingling sound inside was familiar to her ears.

‘It sounds like the gold coins I stacked in my treasure room.’

It was just like the sound she heard when she touched her gold with her claw. Valdrova accepted the pouch.

“By the way, Sir Knight, this is your first time here, right? Do you have a place to stay? If not, I can get you a bench or something…”

Living like a human was fun, but she couldn’t stay here. Valdrova shook her head and pointed toward a lonely mountain. Then she quickly changed direction and pointed the other way.

“Are you planning to leave for good?”

Hansson looked confused. When Valdrova shook her head, his expression brightened.

“Oh, you’re just staying somewhere else! I see. If you want to help with the construction again, come anytime. Having someone like you really helps a lot!”

Valdrova couldn’t say anything and just kept nodding. She turned to leave quickly.

“Sir Knight?”

“?”

“You said you were going home. Where are you going?”

Valdrova’s steps were heading toward the lonely mountain. Oops. That’s not the way. Feeling awkward, Valdrova turned her steps toward the direction she had pointed earlier.

Seeing that, Hanson burst out laughing.

“Get home safe! Don’t run into any monsters!”

After saying goodbye, she left the village.

When the village was no longer in sight, Valdrova took a big turn and headed to her lair. It only took three seconds to get back. She pushed open the big iron door and entered her own space. Then she lay down. Still wearing her armor, she looked up at the black ceiling.

‘What was that?’

It was a strange day. The whole day flew by like an arrow. She wasn’t tired, but she also didn’t know what exactly happened. She just kept moving, and people kept admiring her.

‘Did I… help them?’

That alone made her heart feel full and strange.

Valdrova opened the pouch lying on her chest. Ten coins for one worker. She got a total of 100 coins, enough for ten workers. She stacked them neatly and looked at them.

Money given by humans.

‘They gave this to me to say thank you.’
They were thankful.
‘They said “see you tomorrow.”’

In her mind, their faces were clearly drawn. Not faces full of fear, but smiling brightly.

‘Humans want me.’

She didn’t know how to express the emotion that filled her chest. The joy that made her feel like her heart would explode—she just wanted to share it with someone.

“Ruri…”

The first one she thought of was the kind-hearted girl who had served her for a long time.

“…I can’t tell her.”

Valdrova covered her mouth by reflex. Ruri was loyal but also the scariest when angry. She would scold her for forgetting the dignity of a dragon. If she told her, they would both just suffer. So, it had to stay a secret. She needed someone else to share this feeling with.

“Then… Ferda?”

A kind man. She always wanted something to talk about with him. This was a good topic. Her heart tickled. She couldn’t help but smile, and her body moved on its own. She wanted Ferda to know this feeling.

‘No, not yet.’

Valdrova held the coin pouch tightly. She wanted to tell Ferda, but not now. This village was built by Ferda’s will. She wanted to save these coins and give them to Ferda as a surprise gift. Someday, when the village becomes great, she would say, I helped build this village. I did it with my own hands. I’m not just a creature of destruction.

She wanted to see the expression on Ferda’s face. She wanted to hear what kind of praise he would give. So, she decided to keep it a secret.

Still, the feeling in her chest was too much to hold in. It escaped her lips before she could stop it.

“Ferda…”

Valdrova softly said his name.

“I… was helpful to Ferda.”

That was the first step Valdrova took. The start of a small change.