The Second Dragonoid's Tale

Chapter 34: Doldrums

Days after F/N's departure, there was no word from him, much to the worry of others. Still, time moves forward, and it was eventually time to send off delegates to the Beast Kingdom. Of those being sent to the Beast Kingdom, Benimaru would be leading hobgoblins who worked in management roles with Rigur acting as the mediator between them.

When it was time for Rimuru to give a speech for their departure, though there were cheers at the end of it, there was an underlying worry that Benimaru and Rimuru wordlessly shared. Placing their faith he'd come back, everyone returned to work, preparing for the delegation from the Beast Kingdom to arrive. Shuna trained the cooks in presentation. Vesta taught etiquette to the attending Hobgoblins. All the rest were making the city as clean and welcoming as possible.

The moment came when the important members waited at the border of the city and saw carriages drawn by tigers pull up. One of the doors opened, and stepping out was a woman with black and gold hair, carrying a staff.

"It is nice to meet you, Lord of the Jura Forest," She introduced herself, "I am one of Carrion's Three Beastketeers, Albis."

"It's a pleasure-" Rimuru was then cut off by the sounds of a carriage door being kicked open.

"A mere slime rules the forest?" A less developed woman with long white hair stepped out, "Who do you think you're fooling?!"

"Suphia," Albis commented back, "That is no way to act, or do you mean to sully Lord Carrion's name?"

"Shut your trap, I don't take orders from you," Suphia argued back before looking at the slime, "And where's the so-called Dragonoid, is he too scared to say hi?"

"Actually, he's away at the moment," Rimuru said. "I don't know when he'll be back, but you're more than welcome to wait here."

Suphia laughed, "Away? What, you don't know where he ran off to? Sounds like he ran away. And is that a human?" She eyed Cruz but didn't get a chance to continue.

Shion stepped forward, grabbing the hilt of Hercules' Edge, "The only thing that's come out of your mouth so far is disrespect. I won't let that continue a moment longer."

"Oh, you want to do something about it?" Suphia egged Shion on, wanting to fight. "Or is that big sword for show?"

***

Deep in Dragon's Peak, a gentle storm dotted the area with rain and dark clouds. Laid on the ground was the body of a young man missing his left arm, sword broken beside him as a Red Dragon Lord, scales scared and one eye destroyed, lumbered nearby as it watched him carefully. The mud that began to form from the rain softened the damaged mountain-scape. The ground made colder and unwelcoming to F/N as he stared into the sky, waiting, thinking, hoping.

I can't develop the skill no matter what it seems. Fire no longer affects me... But I still failed. Despite my father's words appearing in my head, I can't help this feeling.

Slowly and quietly, the dragon began to back away. "Where do you think you're going?" F/N's dejected voice whispered in the air, freezing the dragon as he stood. "You're not leaving alive."

The two stood still, staring at each other. The dragon had lost interest in trying to kill him days ago, but F/N's constant refusal to yield or move on made him an annoyance that needed dealing with, or else suffer death from inaction. So the dragon, not completely mindless like the lesser of its kind, did not move nor attack when the Dragonoid began his approach, aiming for its other eyes with half of the broken sword in hand.

F/N stopped right before him, the two stared at each other. And the broken sword was dropped once more to the ground. He reached out with his remaining hand, placing it on the dragon's head and quoted his father's story. The light rain covered the sound of the words spoken quietly.