296 – Secret of the Dragon-God

Bella faces me with her eyes closed.

『Dragon-god, about what you said earlier…』

Before that, there’s something I want to talk about.
It might get a bit long, and you might start wondering what I’m going on about.
But I’d like you to listen to the end, without asking Nagrom for instructions.

『…….』

A look of confusion appears on her face.

“What is it, Bella? What’s wrong?”

Nagrom draws closer to her, but she just panics, unsure of what to do.
Ignoring him, I continue to speak towards her.

I am an entirely different dragon from the previous dragon-god.
I simply happened to meet and be supported by the Lithovars.
But there are some things I know about the previous dragon-god.
Probably… Your onee-chan, Hibi, didn’t know until she took the role of miko.

You see, the previous dragon-god wasn’t clever enough to think something like proposing a settlement with the manticore.
It definitely wasn’t cold-hearted like you say it was.
It was a carefree dragon that was happy to be worshipped while it hunted abysses.

Bella’s face pales.
Bella had yet to become a miko, so as I’d thought, it looks like she didn’t know about this.
There’s a storehouse that only the miko household can enter, so I’d thought they must have a fair bit to hide… It looks like I was right.

The one who made the proposal to offer sacrifices to the manticore to prevent it from rampaging wasn’t the dragon-god.
Probably, it was the miko of nine years ago.
Hibi would have still been too young I think, so her predecessor.
It would have been the method that she she judged was the best way to keep casualties to a minimum.

It was probably the best she could do, but… The problem lies in the fact that that she thought that even if she were to declare it as miko, not everyone would obey.
If there was even one person who refused to go, it would all fall apart.
It wouldn’t be possible to get someone’s consent to be sacrificed after another person refused.

That is why she said that it was the dragon-god’s command.
No, the mikos have been listening to the dragon-god and managing the village for generations, so… Probably she would have already been interpreting the dragon-god’s words to give them more dignity and made sure that the traditions were strictly followed.
There’s no way the dragon-god, an amphis, could have the wisdom to manage the village.

So… I told you that all at once, but did your [Telepathy] pick it all up?

“Th-there’s no way… That can’t be true… Because, then…”

Bella has already opened her eyes, her mouth flapping open and closed… From her reaction, I can assume she has something in mind.
That more support for my theory.

“…Bella?”

Nagrom calls out, and she sways and collapses on the spot.

“Bella-sama, be strong!”

The two men drop their spears and leap in front to support her.

“Bella-sama, pull yourself together! Bella-sama!”

“A, aa…aaa… S-someone… Water…”

“I’ll bring it right away!”

It seems losing her composure was inevitable.
She was just told that the worship of the dragon-god was just a political tool by none other than the dragon-god in question.

What’s more, is that this makes it clear that the conflict up to now has been a complete farce.
The offering up of sacrifices was something the anti-dragon-gods did too.
The problem was that the target of their worship, the dragon-god, had apparently proposed it without any resistance, so they lost their faith in it.
Now that she knows that the dragon-god couldn’t have given instructions like that, the main reason for the conflict is gone.

“N-Nagrom-sama… Umm, there are some things I need to tell you…”

Bella starts to talk to Nagrom, her breathing ragged.

“D-don’t say it out loud! Don’t go causing needless chaos!”

After a moment’s silence, she closes her eyes again and chants.
It looks like she’s started explaining to him through [Telepathy].

“Th-that… I can’t possibly believe that! It’s utter nonsense! Don’t be deceived!”

Rather than not believing it, it looks like he just doesn’t want to talk about it.

“…Everyone, please listen.”

“St-stop! You cannot possibly want to invite chaos at this time of emergency.
Right? So that there are no misunderstandings, what you say should go through me.
Which is why…”

“It seems this is only known to those who become miko, as it is passed down orally.
I didn’t know personally, but I had some idea of it…”

“S-st-stop!”

Nagrom grabs at Bella.
He grips her head with one hand, and wrangles her neck with the other.

“Ge-geho…”

The two men who were supporting her hurry to pull him off.
He releases his hand, and Bella collapses on the spot.

“Please calm down, Nagrom-sama!”

“Y-you’re telling me to calm down!? After I heard such a ridiculous story?! Bella too… Would anyone really believe such a huge lie!? How much must that dragon make fools of us before it is satisfied!”

Nagrom shouts, and Bella rises to her feet.

“…A-anyway, I have to tell you all this…”

“Stop, I’m telling you to stop!”

Yelling, Nagrom shakes off the two men and kicks Bella flying.
He then raises above Bella.

Right away, I stretch out with my tail to flick him away, but upon seeing my movement, his lips distort into a smile.
No way… Does he want to make the situation murky by proclaiming that the dragon-god attacked? I hesitate and slow my tail down.

Before he can complete the punch, his back is pierced by a spear.

He pitches forwards and uses his hand to support himself against the ground.
Though it pierced his side, it went in pretty deep.
A huge amount of blood is spreading onto the ground.

The face of the man holding the spear is ghastly pale.

“Ooo, ooooooooh!”

Nagrom roars like a wild beast as he clutches the ground.
He puts a huge amount of force into his fingers, scratching grooves into the ground.
It looks like he understands that if he were to writhe, the spear would move around and damage his insides, so he’s trying his best to avoid convulsing in pain.

“H-hey! It’s deep!”
“S-top the bleeding, quickly…”
“Idiot! Don’t pull it out carelessly!”

Umm, partner… Do you mind using [High Rest]…? I get your reluctance, though.

“Gaah”

She cries, and Bella is covered in a gentle light.
It looked like her consciousness was hazy after being strangled and kicked away, but after being bathed in the light of [High Rest], the colour returns to her face.

“Th-thank you…”

Bella replies with clear confusion… Umm, it might be best to help old man Nagrom too.