RBV 153

Chapter 153

“Gaaah!”

Thud!

I screamed as I diligently plowed the field.

Ugh, this is annoying.

Why was the ground so full of rocks?

Haaah…

After working hard with the plow, picking out rocks and throwing them aside, sweat poured down me like rain.

My legs were trembling, and my head felt like it was spinning in circles. Even my breathing had become labored.

There probably isn’t a dragon with less stamina than me.

I should have started exercising in advance.

I wonder if anyone knows that even dragons can suffer from a lack of exercise?

“She really was an awful person.”

I leaned against the plow, which I had stuck into the ground, and muttered quietly.

As I stood there doing nothing, I remembered the moment just before I parted ways with that dragon named Purple yesterday.

“What’s the favor you want me to do…?”

“Oh, it’s simple. You just need to obtain everything on this list.”

She handed me a piece of paper.

I looked over the list and frowned.

They were all things whose names I was hearing for the first time, but if I actually tried to obtain them, they didn’t seem particularly impossible to acquire.

“Is this all I have to get?”

“Yes, just these things. However!”

She smiled.

“Under one condition: you must not use your dragon abilities.”

“What?”

“And you must accomplish everything yourself. You cannot use magic, threaten someone to obtain something, or frighten someone with magic.”

My shoulders stiffened.

That was a condition I hadn’t expected.

When I blinked in confusion, she smiled.

“If it’s too difficult, you can give up at any time and become my companion.”

“…I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

If this was the only way, what choice did I have but to see it through?

“Really? Then call my name after you’ve finished everything. I’ll appear before you.”

“Okay.”

“You’re doing this for the sake of humans, aren’t you?”

Just before she disappeared, Purple asked me one final question.

I looked puzzled but slowly nodded.

“I used to do that too.”

She said,

“But we didn’t know what it meant to part ways. We didn’t know that when the end came, when the final moment arrived, I would be the only one left in this world.”

“…”

“Getting involved with humans isn’t something I would recommend.”

“…That’s not something you need to worry about, Senior.”

I gave Purple a brief answer before turning around.

When I looked back again, she was already gone.

I snapped out of my brief reverie and let out a deep sigh.

Then I took out the list she had given me again.

It had been crumpled up and unfolded several times, yet there wasn’t a single wrinkle on the paper.

She had obviously put some kind of magic on it.

<– Fresh Cheonghwa radishes grown in soil with a pH of 5.6–5.8, harvested at 6 a.m., immediately after receiving the morning dew. 500.

1 ton of blue iron from Tian Maple.
Mirror of Verdure.
Unripe and fully ripened fruits of the pure-white Gran Purus.
A dragon’s orb.
Tears of a snow leopard living in the Red Mine.>

My anger flared up again, and I crumpled the paper in my fist with a loud crrunch.

This wasn’t merely difficult.

It was ridiculously difficult.

I didn’t even properly know what most of these things were, so I was starting to worry that I would have to search through every book in existence just to find information about them.

No. At least I can learn about them by doing this.

I couldn’t throw away five hundred years.

No one was going to live for five hundred years.

That was precisely why I didn’t want to waste this precious time.

It was time that would only ever exist once in this world.

“Um, excuse me…”

While I was working hard at plowing the field, several servants who had been hovering nearby cautiously approached me.

Laurent had also recently clung to me, insisting that he would do this for me, so I had sent him off to work on something else.

“Miss.”

“Hmm?”

“If you need to do this kind of difficult work, we can do it for you.”

“No. I’ll do it.”

I have to do it.

“Were you worried about me? Thank you.”

When I smiled sweetly, the maid’s face immediately turned bright red.

She fidgeted with her fingers in embarrassment, then murmured,

“Even so… the field is so large. It seems too difficult for you to do it alone.”

Of course the field had to be large.

I had to plant five hundred strange radishes, after all.

And if I wanted to plant another hundred in case some of them were damaged, this field would barely be enough.

“I have to do it myself. That’s the deal.”

I wiped the sweat streaming down the back of my hand and began plowing again.

“Th-then… would it be all right if we at least helped pick out some of the rocks…?”

Seeing them fidget nervously with such worried expressions made me feel rather uncomfortable.

Do I look like I’m bullying them?

I was already disliked by everyone, and the thought of losing even more points here made my heart ache.

“I have to do this part myself…”

Since I had no idea how far that dragon considered something to count as outside assistance, it seemed best to personally handle everything required for growing the crops.

“Then… would it be okay if we cleared away the rocks you’ve thrown outside and brought you some food and water?”

“Oh, yes. I think that would be fine.”

Only after I nodded did the servants finally relax.

Were they worried about getting fired?

Well, I supposed they might be frightened if their family head was doing manual labor while they stood around doing nothing.

This is why being an employer is so difficult.

Leaving the now-busy servants behind, I gripped the plow again and diligently began preparing the soil.

What even is a pH of 5.6 to 5.8…?

I had heard that there was a magical tool for measuring acidity.

“Ugh… I can’t do this anymore.”

Even after the maids who had been clearing the rocks brought me water and some light food, I worked for another hour or so.

And that was my limit.

My arms and legs were trembling so badly that I genuinely couldn’t move even one step.

Can I not use magic to heal this, either?

She really was planning to tell me the truth, right?

I just hoped she wasn’t deliberately tormenting me.

Though even if she was, I still had no choice but to accept her proposal in the end.

I tried to walk on legs that trembled like those of a newborn fawn, but suddenly my body tilted sharply.

“Ah!”

I’m falling.

Just as I squeezed my eyes shut, an arm reached out and caught me firmly.

“Dad?”

“…Not quite.”

I opened my eyes wide and looked up.

“…Uncle Kruno?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, why does it feel like it’s been so long since I’ve seen you?”

All the strength drained from my body, and a weak smile escaped me.

When I tilted my head back, a crease appeared between Uncle Kruno’s brows.

“…The kids aren’t here today?”

“They are. They’re doing well. They even had a litter.”

Kruno Etam spoke calmly.

Then, when I gave him a faint smile, he effortlessly scooped me up into his arms.

“I-I can walk!”

“Really?”

Kruno Etam asked teasingly.

“Hmm. Actually, no.”

I shrugged and simply leaned against him.

“Wow, when did you get this strong? You’re carrying me.”

I had no idea where the physically inept man who couldn’t even keep up with me when running had gone.

“I had to change a little too.”

He spoke as he slowly walked forward.

Even beneath his faint smile, I could see how relaxed he was.

I blinked quietly before reaching out and wrapping my arms around my uncle’s neck.

“What trouble are you getting yourself into this time, you little troublemaker?”

“I’m not getting into trouble. Uncle always says I’m making trouble whenever I do anything.”

“…Sure you aren’t.”

At his snorting response, I puffed out my lips.

That’s mean.

“Is this another thing you have to shoulder all by yourself?”

There was concern rather than mockery in his low voice.

I quietly looked at him before pressing my lips together.

“It’s not like that.”

“Seems like it is.”

“Ugh, you really don’t believe anything I say, do you? I don’t like you, Uncle.”

“If being hated means I can help you, then I’d rather be hated.”

My eyes widened at Uncle Kruno’s words.

The corners of my lips softened.

There are so many people who care about me. That’s why I want to work hard too.

“Is it dangerous?”

“Not at all. It’s just annoying.”

“You can’t rely on anyone?”

“Yeah. I’m not allowed to rely on anyone. Otherwise, I would’ve run straight to you and Dad and asked you to help me.”

I raised my voice and exaggerated my expression, making Kruno Etam chuckle.

“I understand.”

Before I knew it, we had arrived at the door.

Uncle sat me down on the bed, then reached out and firmly patted the top of my head.

“If you need help, tell me anytime. You’re always walking such a dangerous and precarious path.”

“Yes.”

“And yet you recklessly try to do everything alone.”

“Stop nagging.”

I covered my ears, and Uncle frowned.

“Don’t work today. Get some rest.”

“Okaaay.”

“Oh, right. Uncle, do you happen to know anything about Tian Maple’s blue iron, the Mirror of Verdure, the pure-white Gran Purus, or the snow leopards living in the Red Mine?”

Uncle Kruno’s expression sharpened slightly as he listened.

He had been about to leave, but he turned back toward me.