Dragonlord

Ep 153. Confessions of the Historian: Bygone Days

Confessions of the Historian are non-continuous pseudo chapters that feature a timeframe far removed from the main story. They will not affect the main story’s update schedule, and will instead be uploaded at random intervals alongside them.

 

Ep 153. Confessions of the Historian: Bygone Days

 

I’ve long lost count of your rebirth. You are the only human soul to have led so many lives.

Only in this moment will you recall your true self. Once reborn, you will lose your memories again, and live out another meaningless few decades before returning to me.

For what reason do you continue this foolish cycle?

Your precious family has long left your side – there is nothing for you that remains on this star.

Tell me. For what reason do you cling to this empty new world?

 

✧   ✧   ✧

The forager trudged along the strange-colored forests.

The rumors had promised him an endless expanse of the rarest of herbs. But so far, he’d found nothing but a single mandrake in his little adventure; besides that was a seemingly endless array of crimson-leaved trees and pink grass, both of which were strange, but unfortunately of little practical use.

And, to make matters worse…

“…I’m lost, aren’t I?”

When he turned his head, an endless expanse of pink grass laid before him, decorated by the fallen blood-colored leaves. Towering above him were enormous trees that said leaves once belonged to, blocking out most light from above.

In fact, he could hardly tell if it was day or night anymore. For all he knew, the little amount of light that was seeping in may very well be glimmers of distant stars, not sunlight.

“I can’t go back empty-handed again…going a little deeper couldn’t hurt.”

‘If worse comes to past, I’ll make camp somewhere and spend the night out. It doesn’t seem like any demons are in the area, anyways…I can’t have gone THAT far.’

The forest he’d ventured into was one of the few remaining regions that no demon tribe had claimed as their domain; not yet, anyways.

And after just a few more minutes, the forager’s eyes narrowed at the sight of a peculiar glimmer.

“Wait, is that…?”

The further he went, the more he grew certain – in the distance was a large clearing, with what seemed like a mountain of glittering objects.

“Finally!”

What else could it be but rarities and treasure?

The forager dashed across the forest pathway, racing towards the distant lights. His heart raced in anticipation, excited to relish in his new discovery.

However, his steps gradually slowed down – very, VERY gradually, as he realized what the source of the glimmer was.

And when he realized he shouldn’t have approached so hastily, it was far too late.

“………”

The mountain of glimmering objects was, in fact, a singular object.

Actually, it wasn’t even an object. Objects don’t breathe.

Within the small clearing was an enormous dragon, curled up in a peaceful slumber. Their brilliant white scales lightly shone beneath the night sky, each scale glimmering like a piece of jewelry.

Of course, he couldn’t take any of it home.

‘Hells, I’d be lucky if I can take my own life back home…what on earth is a dragon doing here?! This isn’t their domain!’

The forager slowly took a step back. He was already too close to the sleeping dragon – merely a handful of steps away – and waking it was the last thing he wanted to.

Somehow, the crunching of leaves beneath his feet seemed a thousand times louder than they had been on his way here.

‘Alright, this is fine…they’re fast asleep. I can just…sneak out quietly…and never come back.’

The forager soon turned his back, walking away in as much silence as he could muster.

…Until his trembling legs tripped over an unremarkable piece of stone.

“WH-“

A loud thud followed as the forager fell face-first onto the ground, the contents of his leather satchel sprawling across the forest floors. He immediately rubbed his nose in pain, though the first thing he did was to check if the dragon had awoken.

Thankfully, they were still sound asleep.

‘Thank the First…’

He briefly scanned the ground for the belongings he’d dropped – though they were hardly visible under the night sky.

Kicking his tongue, the forager immediately abandoned the items, focusing on making his way out of the clearing.

‘Nothing I can’t acquire again. Survival comes first…’

With the looming danger sleeping behind him, the forager’s mind completely overlooked what his belongings even were. He simply had no mental capacity to worry about his items.

That is, until he stepped on what felt like a soft clump of root.

“…?”

“K-“

In the split seconds that followed, a million thoughts passed the forager’s head.

‘…What did I just step on? Wait, what did I even have on me again?’

A bottle of water.

A handheld shovel.

Patches of dried grass.

Two small rolls of cloth.

Some emergency medicine.

A few krahka leaves.

Vernos oil.

And a mandrake he’d found earlier today.

Mandrake.

Mandrake…

‘…Oh, for heaven’s sake.’

As most would know, mandrakes had a tendency to ‘scream’ upon being uprooted – which was actually a misconception.

Being plants, mandrakes felt no pain or misery to scream from; instead, their ‘screams’ were just a peculiar way of releasing mana. Upon being uprooted, the change in environment causes mandrakes to lose their mana-storing qualities, causing a huge release of mana that appear as screams. Once exhausted of the mana they had stored within, the roots would then fall silent.

But to preserve a mandrake’s medicinal qualities as well as to prevent their screams, foragers would often resort to bathing the roots with various oils, then wrapping them in a layer of leather beforehand. This allowed the mandrakes to keep larger amounts of mana trapped within them, prolonging their shelf time and significantly increasing their quality.

…Of course, stepping on them would do away with any leather wrapping.

And scrape the oil away.

“KEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”

“…”

When the forager turned his head, a new glimmer greeted his gaze.

A giant sapphire eye was now wide-open, staring at the cause of their peaceful slumber’s interruption.

“…I could not possibly be more screwed.”

✧   ✧   ✧

 

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The forager only exchanged silent blinks with the awoken dragon.

But once the uncomfortable blinks continued from seconds to minutes, he playfully pointed towards the clearing’s exit, letting out a nervous laughter.

“Um…haha…good…evening?”

“…”

“My apologies. I was…just on my way to leave, you see.”

“…”

“…If you wouldn’t mind, I’ll…be on my way now…”

The forager turned away from the dragon, briskly making his way towards the clearing’s exit. For a split second, he actually thought that the dragon would not care enough to bother with a single human.

…Until a wall of glimmering scales snaked around in front of him, blocking his exit.

“Where do you think you’re going, human?”

“…Home?”

Snorting, the dragon pulled their arm inwards, scraping the helpless forager towards them. The dragon lazily yawned as they lifted the forager above their head, positioning to drop them into their open maw.

“W, wait, wait, wait, wait! Are you sure about eating me, dragon?! I, I uh, I dig dirt for a living, you see! I, I won’t taste that good!”

“…I’ve no mind to eat you myself, but I can’t afford to have you go blabbing about my sanctuary to other humans.”

“I swear I’ll never tell anyone!”

“Of course you won’t. You’ll be dead.”

“…Fair point.”

Conceding to the dragon’s rather undisputable logic, the forager sealed their eyes, internally resigning to their fate. They’d hastily chased after a false rumor, so perhaps they deserved no less.

But just as the dragon was about to drop him between his jaws, they let out a loud grunt, twisting their backs in pain.

“…Ugh. This again…”

“…?”

The forager’s mind once again began to process a million thoughts, bolstered by the panic before their imminent death. Their eyes hurriedly scanned the dragon’s fidgeting body part, as well as their posture and the clear discomfort in their eyes.

Then, in a desperate attempt, shouted into the clearing once more.

“I, if you put me down, I can fix it!”

“…? You? A human?”

“Indeed! I uh, I may not look it, but I’m quite the promising healer! It’s your back, is it not?”

“…”

The dragon returned no answer to the forager’s frantic hunch.

However, the dragon’s eyes betrayed a hint of truth – and that was all he needed.

“Wasn’t like that before, was it? Feels rigid, like frail wood that’s on the verge of snapping…that’s why you’re cautious about moving it much, yes?”

“…Hm.”

After an arduous minute of pondering, the dragon set the human down unto the ground beside them. They then lowered their head, sapphire gaze staring into the forager’s tiny gold eyes.

“And you can fix it, you say?”

“O, of course!”

The dragon rolled their eyes. They snorted in a mix of hope and derision, though soon they looked away, returning to their slumbering position. Even their eyes soon closed back.

Then, in a rumbling voice, made their final say.

“…Very well. Should you truly succeed, I will spare your life.”

 

✧   ✧   ✧

 

“…And that’s how I met your mother, Eden. Fun, huh?”

“Wham?”

“Your mother was a horrible patient at first. She was trying to be all scary and menacing…it took us weeks to get her to even listen to me properly. I remember she refused to even get up and stretch for five minutes. Now you both do every morning!”

Eden listened to her father’s story with a puzzled gaze, sitting in the comfort of her mother’s embrace. The tiny girl was picking up some words here and there, but she was still much too young to understand the story in full.

Meanwhile, Serenis was glaring at her partner with pursed lips, squeezing the baby tight in her arms.

“Do not listen to him, Eden. No such event ever took place.”

“Wha…you don’t remember? Not even when you accompanied me to the village?”

“…”

“I remember it like yesterday! You were so cute back then, clueless and all. I remember you thinking the plate was a part of the food, and-“

Before her husband could continue regaling their daughter in her shameful past, Serenis grabbed Adam by the back of his head, pulling his head towards her.

His words were quickly silenced when the dragonlord’s lips clasped above his.

And by the time they parted, Adam’s thoughts had long left him.

“You were saying?”

“…Nothing. Never mind.”

“Mama! Me too! Me too!”

As Serenis doted on her baby daughter, a comforting warmth soon spread across Adam’s dazed expression. The days he’d spent as a lone forager seemed so distant now.

This was his family; this was where he belonged, and he’d never choose to be anywhere else but by their side.

With what little time he had as a human man, he’d happily use it all on treasuring his dear family.

‘Even if time does us apart…’

Adam beamed a warm smile at his doting partner.

Even if time did them apart, he’d nonetheless be near her.

As long as the star wished so, he’d remain at her side.

And he’d nurture her to the best of his abilities, just as he always have.

 

✧   ✧   ✧

 

A vow, you say.

A blind faith that the dead will once again require your presence…a vow that binds you to this empty world…

Then, if you were able, would you go change the past?

…

…

…No? How come?

Because there’s nothing to change?

…

I see.

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