Chapter 246

246 – Secret Plan

Once they’ve all fled beyond the range of my [Presence Perception], I lower my chin to the ground and stick out my tongue . Aro crawls out . She falls off my tongue, rolling across the ground .

As a result of my saliva, her body has patches of dissolved flesh all over it . It seems her body’s got a weakness to water . I’d like to wash my mouth out, to be honest…

“Guoh”

I call out, and Aro staggers to her feet and turns to face me . I glare in the direction those guys fled, then look back at her .

I’m going over there, so I want you to hide while I’m gone . That’s what I’m trying to convey .

She seems to understand my intention, but looks down in apprehension .

I don’t have enough information about the other village . I don’t want to provoke them, but even though I didn’t know, I drove the manticore in their direction . I want to move with cautiously, and I’m anxious about leaving Aro so close to human habitation .

However, if I leave things as they are, the manticore’s victims will increase . I need to deal with it as soon as possible .

My original purpose in coming here was to exterminate the manticore . Now that I know where it is, I want to end this while I can .

I look back in the direction those guys went . In that direction, there should be another Lithovar village, as well as the manticore .

I’d like to go into the village and hear what they know, but it seems on this side they attack the dragon-god . I can’t carelessly stroll in as a dragon .

Which is why I’ll have to use [Humanisation Technique] . I’ve got [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv6] now, so I can maintain [Humanisation Technique] for almost an hour . To hear what they have to say, that should be plenty .

I’ll pretend to be a traveller and use [Humanisation Technique] to ask about clues that could lead me to the manticore also disguised as a human .

In the village of the dragon-god faith, the manticore transformed into a human and used the village to recuperate . This village might kind to outsiders too .

Plus, if I’m in a human form, I might be able to get close to the manticore . If the manticore sees me approaching as a dragon, it’ll run away immediately, but I might be able to bait it closer in a human form . In that opening, I’ll deal a critical injury to its foot, then finish it off . The third time’s a charm; this time I’ll destroy it .

However, I’ll need to enter the village naked… But that can’t be helped . I’ll say I was attacked by monsters while washing myself .

Aro has been staring at me, but suddenly she looks towards where the other village should be . Looking back at me, she gives me a small nod .

“…Pa, ah… please…”

Her mouth opens and closes . Talking must be hard, because after she speaking she starts coughing violently . Earthen flesh-dust flies out of her mouth . Her throat must not be smooth enough for her to talk . That looked painful for her .

I could hardly make anything out, but I got the feeling that she was asking me to help the village .

“Guoh”

I let out a single cry, then separate from Aro .

…I’d thought that Aro was from the dragon-god faithful village and so thought of this village as an enemy, but I guess I was wrong about that . Well, even if they’re hostile, they must still be relatives, I suppose . From a child’s perspective, they might not look all that different .

I’m worried that Aro might get found, so I turn my head to look back a couple times . She’s sitting in the shade of a tree, but noticing me she stands back up and waves with both arms… She’ll be fine, right?

Searching around vigilantly with [Presence Perception], I head towards the anti-dragon-god village . I can hear the sound of a river in the distance, so I head towards it . When there’s a water source nearby, the chance of finding a settlement increases .

Pushing aside trees, I come across a river wide enough for me to bathe in . On the other bank, I can see a pile of torn clothes and an abandoned tub missing its bottom . There’s no mistake, a village has to be nearby . That’s another point in support of my theory .

I spot a bridge nearby, but I can jump this distance easily enough .

I’m getting close to where I can cross over to the laundry . I need to focus .

As I’m preparing to cross the river, my reflection in the water’s surface catches my attention . A doubt suddenly arises in my mind . My plan was to bait out the manticore with [Humanisation Technique], but thinking about it properly, I get the feeling the manticore only eats women, and children at that .

The person I first saved from it was a girl, so is Aro . With [Humanisation Technique] I become an adult, and a male too . I want to get it to let its guard down even more than when I first met it, but… No, wait a sec . I might not be able to do anything about my physique, but my gender might be doable .

Rather than an unfamiliar man, it should be harder to be cautious of a woman . For the villagers too, this way might be better .

I check my partner’s face .

“Gaa?”

The ouroboros species explanation went like this:

【[Ouroboros]: Rank A】

【Contrary to the logic of this world, a dragon that knows eternity . It does not age . 】

【A hermaphroditic double-headed dragon . Its very existence is a symbol of eternity and taboo . 】

【Infringing on the divine, it wields wields magic that blasphemes life . 】

【Both its HP and MP are bottomless . An expert at recovery magic . 】

Right, a 『hermaphroditic』double-headed dragon . Normally, that would mean having both male and female reproductive capability . However, for a double-headed dragon to have that property…

That’s why I thought it likely that my partner is the female type . When she speaks with [Mutual Understanding] she uses a masculine tone, but I suspect that’s just her picking up on my speech patterns . Until now, I hadn’t thought about it much because it didn’t seem important, but there’s value in figuring it out now .

If this goes well, our success rate in both manticore subjugation and in the anti-dragon-god village intelligence gathering should jump up .