Riot Grasper

It hurts, it hurts. My eyes hurt.

I hadn't realized that clearly refusing someone's offer would have such a positive effect on msy eyesight.

「Don't stare so hard. It's impossible, of course.」

Rei, whose accompaniment I refused, gaze at me with piercing eyes. I think there's a hole in me now.

「What the hell?」

There's no such thing as too many reasons.

In the first place, I have no intention of going to the Suven Empire now. It's none of my business what Lim and the others are up to. I'm not going to go with them.

And the fact that Rei is a prisoner. I hope that she will serve her time maturely.

After all, how many lives would we need if we so easily trusted our former enemies? I'm not sure why I should have to constantly watch my back to travel with her.

As I went on and on with my reasons, Rei fell completely silent.

….. Did I do something a little bad?

「You're free to go or not. I won't force you to go. But if it's necessary, I'll make it possible for you to release the girl.」

「King…. are you serious?」

What's going on here? Is he thinking of seeing how Toggle's Lord would react? She is his sister, after all.

「Um, I'm also….」

Ren's thin voice echoed in vain, and Ili-san took over the flow of the conversation.

「You said you don't trust her, but don't you already have a trusting relationship with that woman, Seiji-san?」

「Yeah, which part is……?」

How can I trust or rely on someone who won't even let me call them by name?

「It's not easy to intervene in a match to save a life in danger.」

「Oh, that was…. something…」

Illi smiles bewitchingly and lightly caresses my cheek.

「It's good. Very.」

Her jade-green eyes are piercing right through my heart. What should I do? I think I'm going to feel really weird. Or rather, it feels really good. And Old Worm's eyes are super scary.

「You also helped Seiji during the match, didn't you?」

….. Were you watching?

Even though it was hidden behind the flames of the explosion, she was able to witness me being pushed away by her magic.

「That was just paying back a debt.」

The target shifts to Rei, but she doesn't lose her nonchalant response.

「I see. I'm not sure if it's because I'm an elf, but I don't feel any ill will toward Seiji-san from you. If anything…」

「….. Hey, elf nee-chan」

「Yes? How may I help you?」

「There used to be an elven village in the woods near my hometown, but those people basically never came out of the woods. Why are you here? I don't like your attitude that you can see into other people's hearts like that.」

「I'm sorry you're upset. It's not that elves can read other people's minds. You can read other people's emotions through their words and gestures, can't you? Elves are just a little more sensitive to those things.」

What is the scary atmosphere?

Rei is unfriendly by default, but Illi is kind of scary even though she's smiling.

「I ran away from the elf village for the simple reason that I was bored.」

「Hmm. You're a curious elf. It looks like the king likes you alot.」

「Well? I don't know. I'm sure that's a part of me that's fascinated by Hardin-sama.」

Huh?

「Foo…. oh, oh, oh!」(TL: These are dramatic noises of pain made by Old Worm)

I feel like Illi just made a really important statement, but her expression is still the same. Though, Old Worm is now looking rather depressed. And the King is just smiling in a somewhat amused way.

I just want to go back to the inn and have some food. Really, that's all I want.

「–Ugh. I'm finally free.」

Why did Rei go at Illi like that?

In the end, we ended up talking about not planning to move from King's Landing right now, but it took way too much time.

「No. The hungrier I get, the better tonight's feast will be…」

「Wait」

As soon as I left the arena, I was stopped, this time by a wild woman's voice.

No…. I know. I can easily imagine who they are. If I were in their shoes, I would not let me go until i heard what they had to say.

But hey, I'm tired. Maybe I'll repair the armor or something tomorrow.

「Thanks. I've managed to get my arm back to normal.」

「Looks like it.」

Belga nods as he stares at my left arm.

「It looks like… I have something to ask.」

「……」

I'm not good with this kind of silent atmosphere.

「By the way, where did Garib-san go?」

「I don't know either. I haven't seen him since after the match.」

Seriously… where did that guy go? It's not like he's somewhere getting ready for a blackout or anything?

「…… If you want to talk, I'll listen at my inn. I'm already reaching the limits of my hunger. Just don't run amok at the inn, okay? 」

「I know. I'm not going to be that stupid.」

Apparently, he'll follow me quietly. If Garib was accompanying her, it would be contradicting to take him to the inn, but if it's just Belga alone, then I don't think there will be any problems.

–It was strange that we're walking side by side like this. We were literally trying to kill each other earlier.

Passerby's on the street occasionally looked at me. They may have been spectators in the arena, but they don't dare to come to talk to me.

By the way, my mind is in full operation to decide what to do with the skills I took from Belga.

Name: Seiji Agatsuma

Race: Human

Age: 18

Occupation: Adventurer (Rank C)

Special: Thief's Divine Eyes

Skills:

There were two skills that I successfully took away from Belga in that match.

Elder Dragon's Outer Scales and Fire Magic

All ten skill slots have been filled, so the next time I get a new skill, I will have to discard one of them.

Or rather, I'm getting more proficient at Vitality Enhancement. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Hmm, I'm upping my swordsmanship a bit? I'm glad.

But as for the Elder Dragon's Outer Shell, it's a skill exclusive to Dragonewts, so it's something I can't help but have. I'm not sure what the point would be in giving it to Rook or Kuroko, who are monsters, and I don't know of any other Dragonewts.

I don't need much in the way of Fire Magic either, but I can say that this one is reusable.

While I was thinking about all of that, we finally arrived at the inn.

It won't be too late to decide what to do in the end, after we hear what Belga has to say as well.

「Welcome home. Seiji-san. Ah….」

Stella-san greeted me warmly when she was my face, but stopped when she recognized Belga next to me.

She probably can't help but feel a little defensive after all.

「It's okay. I'm just going to talk with him. If you could bring me some food, I'm sure we can have a rather peaceful dialogue.」

「Oh! Yes! Uran did a great job making this today, so please take your time and enjoy it. And I'll be treating you today, so eat as much as you like!」

「I understand. Then I'll ask you treat me without reservation today.」

Since the guild will pay for the request, it would be awkward to ask for a separate thank you, but it's best not to be shy in these situations.

With Stella-san on her way to the kitchen, I sat down at an empty seat in the cafeteria.

「Why don't you sit down too? The food here is good.」

Belga pretends to think for a while, but eventually he sits down in front of me.

「I'm sorry, but I'm not giving you mine, okay? You'll have to ask for your own.」

Now that I'm at the peak of my hunger, I'm not going to give away even a piece of meat to anyone else.

「Of course. I have enough money.」

With all the food quickly laid out on the table, there was nothing to stop me anymore.

What's this, what's this!

Raw meat? is it raw meat?

The meat dish, presented on a plate in its pink, ravising form, seems raw. The meat seems to have been cut into small pieces and kneaded with chopped onions and herbs. Formed into a circle, it looked like a hamburger, but not cooked. Nestled into the base of the lightly reddish meat was an egg yolk. When the yolk was crushed, a thick liquid seemed to stick to the raw meat, making it even more viscous.

Take a bite, eat.

Uhh…. oh.

What is this? It's super good!

Humans are animals, too. It may be that we instinctively feel pleasure in eating raw meet.

I can't detect any meat odor at all, just the delicious taste stimulating my taste buds along with the rich yellow yolk.

It's no longer a pleasant feeling. It's not worth swallowing and sending to my stomach.

I even had an illusion that it would become my flesh and blood.

「Stella-san. This is so good!」

I unconsciously called out to her as she was serving, and she smiled and explained about the food as if she was being complimented.

「The meat used in that dish is the meat of a monster called the Raging Ox. Well, certain parts of it can be eaten raw, but it's not very good for eating raw because it's full of sinew.」

Eh…. but it had a melt-in-your-mouth texture?

「We carefully remove the sinews and then cut it into small pieces to make it easier to eat. It takes time to prepare the meat, but it tastes very good, according to Uran.」

So it's a gem that took a lot of time and effort. It's really good for my stomach.

「Can I have another of these, please?」

「Yes. I understand. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's had a bad experience. The meat on your plate is also Raging Ox, but this part is said to be lightly cooked so that the fat becomes sweet and wraps around the entire meat. Drizzle some gravy made from the meat juice– 」

Zudon! (TL: No clue)

I thrust my fork into the meat, almost onomatopoeic.

I'm in the middle of an explanation, but it's an emergency.

「What are you doing? I told you, didn't I? I asked you to take care of yourself…」

「….. I want the same thing as him.」

Stella, who was observing the exchange between me and Belga, let out a giggle.

It must have been strange to be see someone having such a childish fight with someone who they previously fought to the death with. (TL: Belga tried to steal some I believe)

「Yes, I'll get it right away. I thought Belga-san was a scarier person but…. you're a surprisingly good eater.」

With those words, she left.

A gourmet, right?

I wonder if he should be described using such a cute word. He bit my left arm off during a match after all.

The sumptuous feast, consisting of mostly meat dishes, continued, and Belga, who had devoured as much food as I had, even started drinking.

「Should you be drinking that much? Are you okay?」

「No problem. More importantly, I'd like to talk about something serious soon.」

「That's fine. I have a full stomach.」

Listening to Belga's voice, I tipped my glass full of wine made from fermented grapes, a specialty of the region,

By the way, I never get drunk thanks to my resistance skills.

Sweet. Delicious. And great with meat.

「–What have you done to me?」

….. That's a straightforward question.

「Well, I wonder. I don't see the need to answer honestly.」

「Then let me change the question. Can you undo my powers? If I had to guess, I'd say you can interfere with your opponent's abilities.」

When you can no longer use your scales or fire magic, it's natural to suspect something is wrong. The only possible cause, of course, is me.

「Temporarily blocks the opponents ability. Disables the ability. There are many possibilities, aren't there?」

「….. I'm not going to ask you how you did it. I don't even think you would tell me honestly. I just want to know if you can undo it.」

I see.

The skill Elder Dragon's Outer Scales cannot be effectively used. It's worth reusing fire magic, but it's not a problem to return it.

But what about a straightforward return?

I understand that I interrupted the fight and that's what caused it to heat up. But Belga was also at fault for trying to kill Rei in the first place. After that, the fight to the death was mutual, so there's no point in arguing about who was at fault.

I'm not going to say that my left arm hurts now either.

So there is no need to think positively about making restitution, because the fault is both of ours.

「I don't think I need to answer about that either.」

「Well, of course.」

Belga, who had downed the highly concentrated spirits in one gulp, fell silent as he stared into the void.

「….. Why were you hired by Garib?」

Why would a Dragonewt with such great strength be working for a merchant?

「I've only recently become acquainted with Garib. Originally, I was traveling with a certain someone. We got separated.」

「Is that person also a…. Dragonewt?」

「Yes, she was. I was having a hard time finding her when I met Garib. In exchange for helping me find her, we would work together.」

Oh… so that's why he was asking Garib if there was any new information at that time.

No wonder he didn't have the attitude of a hired-gun. They were working together.

「You haven't found her yet, have you?」

「I'm pretty sure they were here in Rayshil. I don't know where they went though.」

My impression of him is quite different from the my initial one. He seems to be quite the hard worker.

「Is it okay if I ask her name?」

Belga is the first Dragonewt I've met though, so I won't know anything.

「Shania…. Shania Blaze.」

Hmm, I'll keep that in mind, just in case.

After that, several pieces of information spilled out of Belga's mouth about this Shania person.

Apparently, this person. It seems that she was quite selfish, or rather, free-spirited, and gave Belga a hard time.

「Totally, I stop focusing after a whilke.」

She's drinking more and more, and it looks like she's starting to get drunk.

「What was your purpose in traveling with this Shania person?」

Not answering the question immediately, Belga reached for the liquor bottle again.

「….. I've answered most of your questions. Now it's your turn.」

With a thud, a leather bag was placed on the table, it's metallic sound echoing with a jingle.

Perhaps it's money that's inside. The sound of platinum, gold, silver, and copper coins rubbing against each other is slightly different, but unfortunately I don't have the skill to tell the amount without checking the contents.

「What is this?」

「It's all the money I have on me. If it's not enough, I promise to pay leter.」

I know what she's trying to do. He's trying to get me to give back his power- his skills – in exchange for all of his money. I haven't even specified if they can be given back or not yet.

After all this time, I feel like I could have made a lot of money if I was a very bad person.

「Honestly, I'm not that hard up for money.」

I really want it. I want it all. You can never have too much money.

But I think there is something different about accepting money in exchange for the return of skills. If you are going to have even the slightest involvement with my skills, I need to find out who you are.

「Well… I'm sorry. Merchants like Garib seem to be all about money. Forgive me if I offended you.」

The leather bag containing the coins is withdrawn. If you've been working with merchants for a while it's not hard to see how you might have come to that conclusion.

Belga picked up the few remaining bottles of liquor and poured them down his throat in one go.

「–Thank you for your patience.」

Stella was very capable of bringing me a refill just as the bottle was empty, but even she could make a mistake.

「There….」

I caught my foot on a luggage bag on the floor.

The rather large bag is not mine. Then there is only one owner.

Something gurgled out of the fallen bag.

「Sorry, sorry.」

….. What? Huh?

Hold on.

The object that Stella picked up and handed over to it's owner, Belga.

It has a faint glow to it, giving warmth to the luster of the silvery white, as clear as fresh snow. The color tone can only be described as simply white, yet it is so beautiful that the eye is naturally attracted to it.

It looks like a giant fang, but its features match those of the "legendary metal" described in a book I read in the library of Merveille.

It was in the book with beautiful illustrations. not even sure if it was a mineral.

「What's that?」

I managed to get my words out, suppressing a voice that was almost trembling.

「This is like a good luck charm. I brought it with me when I left my village. In the past, dragons with great power would fade into bones after death. But in very rare cases, their traits seem to change.」

Belga quietly placed the object in his hand on the table.

「A piece of bone is surrounded by this pale light. We call it phosphorite, for it will never decay and will shine forever.」

Dragon bones that never decay. It certainly seems to work well as a talisman.

「This is the hardest part of the fang…. You can't do this!」

Apparently, he noticed the gleeful look in my eyes, like a child who has found a treasure.

I think it's important to find out who people are. But I think there are things that are more important.

「Oh, it hurts. My left arm hurts a lot. It's kind of hard to move. What if it hinders me from fighting in the future? It would be very helpful if I had some kind of good luck charm…」

Am I going to say my left arm hurts now? Did someone say something like that?

「What's with your eyes? Don't stare so hard.」

Kill with your eyes. Kill with your eyes.

I said it twice because it's important.

A distressed Belga dropped the contents of the new bottle of liquor into his stomach in an instant, perhaps to make up his mind.

「Guh… No, but…. understood.」

The phosphorus dragon crystal rolled over to me. It was slightly warm to the touch.

「Instead of that… please… power, Shania-sama–」

–With that, Belga sank down.

It seems that his drinking has exceeded his tolerance. I never said a word about returning the skill if you give me the thing.

Well… I think I've learned a little bit about the humanity of the Dragonewt that's being crushed in front of me from the exchanges so far. She's not the type to sneak around behind the scenes.

「….. I hope you're back to normal when you wake up.」

I got up from my seat and turned to walk to the cavalry barn. I told Stella I was going to check on Rook.

There's something I want to try once.

–There is a rather large space in front of the cavalry barn, which is convenient for sword training.

Even if there is a strange scream, they will think it is just a cavalry beast making noise.

「So….」

Inhale deeply and slowly.

Imagine. Transform every cell in your body.

Your skin will become hard dragon scales. With claws that are sharp and long, and teeth that can bite through steel.

「Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!」(TL: There were more in the translation)

……

Still nothing, huh?

As a human, I don't seem to be able to handle this skill. I knew it, but I really wanted to do it, so I had no choice.

However, it would be too embarrassing if someone saw me at such a scene.

「I was right to choose a secluded place in the middle of the night…. Rook!」

From behind the wall of the cavalry barn, Rook is quietly watching me.

「Kuu」

「Stop it! Don't give me that cold stare like you're looking at something pitiful.」

As I writhe in agony, I hear the sound of wind howling from above.

Is this….?

After a while, a large raven-like demon wrapped in black feathers swooped down to my shoulder.

「Kua?」

「What? Did you just hear what I said too? Don't be like that. So, you're back again, this time much earlier, what's wrong?」

「Quah! Gah, quah!」

「…… Is that true?」

「Quah!」

「I'm not doubting you. Just…」

What should I do, I guess.

According to the information that Kuroko brought back, Lim has left the city of Grania.

Destination — the Toggle region.

Do you want to go to…. that way at this time?

「Gah! Quah!」

「Hmm? Well, I guess I'm a little overprotective. But–」

If I meditate, I can remember clearly. The image of the girl who promised to have another adventure with me.

「It's rather fun to have someone to worry about… isn't it?」