I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 109
CHAPTER 109
“……?”
Pendrade looked at me with a face that showed no recognition of who she was.
“Don’t you know? If I hadn’t been involved with evil gods, I would have never known.”
I muttered softly.
“I’ve always felt a little strange about her…”
If my guess was correct, evil gods were gods associated with eternal life.
So, surely, to gain a lifespan that could last at least as long as the gods.
Many followers must have followed evil gods.
How did the Lord erase her so cleanly?
‘Since he’s done it once, it was easy.’
That’s why I thought that if he erased her like that, he could also erase evil gods.
I slowly closed and opened my eyes.
“I don’t know who she is, but she seems like a god with tremendous power. Would you even ask that god for help?”
“It’s difficult.”
I shook my head.
“She’s been forgotten for too long… Even if her power is weak, it’s not that weak.”
But it’s been that long.
Surely, she would lend decisive power when it mattered.
There wouldn’t be anyone else in this world who hated the Lord as much as she did.
“Well, I did other things too.”
I said, flipping my hair back.
“I grew the Upper Crescent Moon and made contact with various races.”
Under the protection of the Lord, many lived without a care.
But some were dissatisfied with the Lord.
“I also had separate information networks.”
Thanks to that, if there was anything to find out, they could come straight to me.
Comfortable, very comfortable.
“And above all, I made a lot of money, didn’t I?”
“Money?”
Everything else made sense, but Pendrade tilted his head as if the last part didn’t make sense.
“Money is the most important thing.”
I joined my index finger and thumb to make a circle.
“This is something that’s universally accepted wherever you go, right? And didn’t evil gods and titans join hands?”
“Is that so?”
“Then you need an army to face them.”
And the army was a monster that devoured money.
With many people eating and sleeping, weapons, armor, horses, and so on.
“Even with it, it’s still not enough.”
Leaning back against the chair’s backrest, I sighed.
Only then did Pendrade seem to understand.
“Anyway, I’m here. If I return to my original form and sweep everything away…”
“You should face the White Dragon who sided with the evil gods.”
A dragon should fight a dragon.
Isn’t that right?
Pendrade seemed to have some dissatisfaction with my words as he frowned.
“If you’re going to face a dragon, you have your disciple too.”
What? I frowned too.
What is this guy talking about, considering I’ve lived for 2,000 years?
“Hey! Are you telling that kid to fight a dragon?”
“…Huh?”
“No, that doesn’t seem quite right.”
Even Ringo, who was listening to our conversation from behind, chimed in discreetly.
“To be honest, he’s old enough to handle it too…”
“What are you talking about?”
I looked at Ringo and Pendrade with a bewildered expression.
No, I’m even more bewildered. Really.
“Didn’t you notice how fluffy he is?”
“……?”
Question marks hovered over the heads of the elf and the dragon.
Regardless, I continued speaking.
“And he’s subtly fragile. Even when he was little, he was always whining and crying, so I had to nurse him every day.”
What the hell happened at that damn temple?
He was crying and whimpering every day.
And they want a dragon to face such a kid?
“Hey, hey… That thin and frail disciple of yours dismantled the slave mark that was placed on me in just a few minutes.”
Remember? The slave mark that dragon carved.
Ringo extended the arm with the long-gone slave mark.
“Oh, of course I know. My kid is so smart.”
“……?”
“……??”
“My kid is a bit of a genius compared to his age.”
If you tell him one thing, he’ll know ten or even a hundred.
I thought it was just magic, but it’s everything else too.
Thanks to that, young Duke Marcus is now active as a knight, not a magician.
And not just any knight, but one of the top five knights in the empire!
‘Plus, with magic, honestly, he’s the top, isn’t he, the top of the empire.’
I smiled proudly.
As I said that, the expressions of the elf and the dragon seemed to sour.
“Frankly, I’m the youngest…”
And the long-lived elf grumbled.
“Right.”
Pendrade, with a face saying let’s give up, sighed as he tied his long hair.
“I didn’t just waste money at the auction.”
“Then?”
“I heard some good news. It’s about the World Tree’s fruit.”
What?
I brightened up. Even Ringo perked up his big ears.
Could that thing move…?
I thought it didn’t when I was an elf.
“The fruit of the World Tree is really important information.”
“Yes, for five years, all I managed to get were just a few leaves…”
I narrowed my eyes.
For the past five years, I’ve been preparing various things, but my health was the most precarious.
No matter what I ate, I was going nowhere.
The most effective thing was the product of the World Tree.
Can I get it?
Fortunately, the Emperor intervened and provided a few leaves.
Ringo had also found a few leaves stored as treasures in a halfling village and exchanged them for wheat fields.
It was only a small amount, but just that had greatly improved my health.
‘Damn half-high elves.…’
I swallowed back tears and urged Pendrade.
“So, what’s next? Tell me quickly.”
“Do you guys know Lake Viretten?”
Me and Ringo nodded simultaneously.
Lake Viretten was famous.
More precisely, the ruined mansion of Lake Viretten was famous nationwide.
“That’s where ghosts come out, right.”
Ringo gulped down his saliva.
His face was already turning pale with fear.
With such courage, how did he propose to Leta?
“It’s famous!”
Ringo quickly added, understanding the meaning of my gaze.
“They say you die just by entering that mansion.”
A very long time ago.
In the mansion of Lake Viretten lived a truly noble family.
The family was harmonious, and the master was thought to be benevolent.
The servants sincerely respected such an employer.
But one day.
On a night when the rain poured fiercely.
Knock, knock, knock.
On that night when even the moonlight faded away, someone knocked on the door.
“I am a passing merchant. I’ve lost my way… Please help…”
On the mountain next to the mansion, there was a path leading to another country.
So, on dark days or in the dead of night, people would lose their way.
Thinking this person was the same, the owner kindly opened the door.
But this time, it wasn’t like that.
That person, that person!
“It was a wanted group of murderers!!!”
“Aaah!”
Next to me, the dragon, who was listening to Ringo’s story while swallowing his saliva, suddenly screamed.
It’s too loud.
“So?”
I urged Ringo for the next story.
“Are the owners of that house and the servants all dead, so they’re staying in the mansion?”
“No?”
Ringo shook his head.
“I heard that one night, while everyone was asleep, the murderer called his comrades.”
“Yeah, so?”
“The owner was a swordmaster. So they were all wiped out.”
“……?”
“But it seems the murderer felt unjustly killed, so ghosts appear every night.”
With a creepy face, Ringo extended both hands.
“Every night, every night, they hear footsteps…”
“So the owners moved out, and the people who moved in afterward were scared and ran away, and that’s how the mansion became abandoned?”
Whether I said it or not, when I coldly summarized, Ringo pursed his lips.
“Yeah.”
“What… cowards.”
“Y-Yeah!”
Pendrade exclaimed enthusiastically.
“It’s not scary at all!”
“You, your legs…”
“My, my legs what?”
“…Never mind.”
Dragons have their pride too, so I should pretend not to see it.
“But how come there’s a fruit of the World Tree in that abandoned mansion?”
“Uh, as far as I heard.”
Unable to control his trembling legs, Pendrade, who had sat down on the floor, continued speaking.
“It seems the owner of that house attended inter-species meetings a long time ago.”
“That’s a long time ago.”
In the human realm, various species gathered and held meetings, albeit a long time ago.
But it’s been ages since they fell apart.
“But I heard from the Dragon Lord that even high elves attended the last meeting?”
“If that’s the case…”
“Yeah.”
Pendrade nodded.
“The high elves shared some of the World Tree’s products at that last meeting.”
“……!!”
My eyes widened. Unbelievable!
“The leaves we obtained from the halfling village last time were probably from there too.”
“Ugh, ugh.”
“Just in case, I went to the abandoned mansion to check. Sure enough, there was a sacred energy flowing from the mansion.”
“Why didn’t you bring it back!”
You should’ve brought it back while you were there!
As I shouted, Pendrade shouted back.
“It’s scary, it’s scary!! Hush! They’re ghosts! Magic doesn’t work on ghosts!!”
Now, trembling even more, Pendrade began to stammer.
“And you heard it too. They’re murderers! Ahh, I’m really scared….”
Is this the strongest creature in the human world, a dragon…?
For a moment, I looked silently at Pendrade.
But.
“Ahh….”
I could hear someone groaning nearby.
When I turned my head, I saw Ringo trembling too.
“I’m scared, it’s ghosts!”
“And they’re ghost murderers! Ahhh.”
I grabbed the corners of my robe on both sides and sighed, hitting my forehead.
“Hey, get ready.”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Tying my hair into one, I spoke up.
“We’re going ghost hunting.”
I’ll show them my exorcism skills.
And a few hours later…
Boom!!
The mansion was fiercely engulfed in flames.
That’s what you call exorcism (physical).