The Bastard’s Way of Life of the Returning Swordsman

Episode 37

Guardian Dragon’s Lair (2)

“her… … !”

As soon as Theo opened the iron door and entered, he involuntarily exclaimed.

A huge joint that could accommodate hundreds of people.

A pile of gold and silver treasures.

Stand taller than that along the wall.

All the golden light seen through the cracks in the door seemed to be reflected from these.

But.

What really surprised Theo was the ‘dragon’ sleeping face down in the middle of the joint.

Tough brown skin like tree roots.

Dark blue scales shining beautifully, as if transported from the depths of the sea.

A gigantic body measuring several tens of meters.

And even wings large enough to cover it.

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Long since extinct, the ancient dragons, which were said to only be seen in ancient torches, were right there.

What’s even more surprising is that the ancient dragon is breathing.

‘This wasn’t just a hatchling’s lair… … ! It was actually an ancient dragon’s nest.’

An ancient dragon’s nest that is said to have tremendous value enough to feed dozens of generations just by finding it.

It was the same size and it was clear that he was on the level of a ‘dragon king’.

The moment when Theo opened his eyes to a truth he never thought of.

Flash!

The dragon, who thought it was asleep, opened its eyes.

Theo’s surprised look was reflected in the golden pupils that shimmered like jewels.

「You are the ＜Chosen＞ who visited this place after a long time.」

Theo came to his senses at the sound of the voice in his head and slowly opened his mouth.

“you are… … !”

“My name is Lodbroke.”

The ancient dragon, which revealed its name, began to slowly rise in size.

Cuckoo… … !

Just that alone made the cavity tremble wildly, and stone dust rained down from the sky.

“You, Ragnar, are the masters of this winter mountain range, which you call ＜Guardian Dragon＞.”

“… … !”

Theo was more surprised by his revealed identity than by the size of Lodbrok, who felt huge just by standing up.

guardian dragon.

The existence that Ragnar’s ancestor, ‘Sigurd’, made a contract with before he first established a family in the north.

And… … He was also his lover.

There was a legend that the second head of the household was a ‘half-dragon man’ who came from between Sigurd and Lodbrok.

The reason why Ragnar claimed that ‘dragon’s blood’ was mixed in their blood.

“Meet your ancestor… … !”

Theo hurriedly got down on one knee and tried to say hello.

“Well? ancestor?”

Indeed, Rodbroke’s reaction was that he didn’t understand why.

So, it was Theo who was rather suspicious.

“Isn’t the guardian dragon the mother of ‘Free Drafe’, the second generation of our ancestor’s companion?”

“who? I? That motherfucker’s mother?”

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Lodbroke’s head tilts to the side.

「Pahahahahaha! Right. That’s how it happened. It must be that that idiot did a trick.”

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Lodbroke suddenly burst into laughter.

The cave roared with echoes.

But Theo couldn’t help but laugh.

The same goes for the negative tone towards the second head of the household, Freedrape.

For some reason, he felt that the common sense he had known so far was being threatened.

“It’s Sigurd’s child. Would you like to tell me what traditions are passed down about me in the outside world?”

Theo pondered for a moment before opening his mouth cautiously.

And.

Fisik!

After hearing the whole story, Lodbroke let out a sneer.

“Also. That stupid bastard was making a mess to gain his legitimacy.”

Theo was a little at a loss as to how to deal with such accusations against his ancestors.

“Please tell me one thing. Although I am clearly born with the sex characteristics of a female among males and females, I have never defined myself as a specific gender. The responsibility I had to shoulder was too great to care about such things.”

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Lodbroke held his head high.

It was so full of dignity.

「It is true that Sigurd and I called each other “companion,” but that was only a sign of respect for our partner or the contractor with whom we exchanged souls. There was no such emotional exchange between him and me.”

There seemed to be longing in her voice, somehow reminiscent of the past.

“And.”

The corners of Rodbroke’s eyes drew a slight arc.

「To begin with, I am a dragon and he is a human. How can mating be possible if the species is different and even the perception of the opposite sex is different?”

Theo smiled bitterly and nodded.

In fact, that was also true.

Just as humans cannot tell the difference between Lodbrok’s beauty and beauty when they see it.

The human appearance reflected in Lodbroke’s gaze would be there as well.

“However, Sigurd’s ugly son always wanted to use me. That’s why I got sick of it and left you, Ragnar.”

Theo scratched his cheek with a frown on his face.

“Then, the fact that we have dragon blood mixed in is a kind of propaganda.”

“no. Not necessarily. I was sharing ‘dragon’s blood’ with Sigurd.”

“ah.”

“Sigurd, who was not like a human, went through several improvements there. Perhaps the unique body that you Ragnar were born with is a mutation that manifested there.”

Theo nodded, saying that he now understands the relationship between succession and succession.

I thought I could understand why Free Drafe’s propaganda worked.

“Then, I think this is enough for a light greeting, so I will begin my duty as a guardian dragon to the chosen one.”

selector.

Theo could see that it was a word referring to a person who was ‘chosen’ from the remains of the Great Dragon.

「From now on, I, Lodbrok, will give you the opportunity to ask a total of three questions to the selectors who have passed the ‘trial’ according to the original covenant.”

Theo’s ears perked up.

“Are you willing to answer any of my questions?”

“Is that your first question?”

“… … no. Please wait a moment.”

It’s the same with luck of mating yourself.

Theo wondered if Lodbroke might have a playful personality contrary to his dignified appearance.

‘Calm down. This is an opportunity that will never come again.’

From the circumstances, it was clear that Lodbroke knew the secret about the various events he was going through.

If so, I had to organize the questions as much as possible to find out as much information as possible.

Theo quickly cleared his mind before slowly opening his mouth.

“Then let me ask you the first question.”

“Let me tell you.”

“Why are you here?”

It is known to the family that Lodbrok missed Sigurd, the founder, after he closed his eyes, and returned to the bosom of nature in the same way.

But in fact, she was nesting in a remote place like this where few people visit.

And that too, while keeping it a secret from the rest of the world.

That meant she had a good reason for hiding herself for the past thousand years.

“Are you trying to find out as much hidden background information as possible by asking fundamental questions? That’s a good question.”

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Lodbroke continued with a light laugh.

But.

Soon, her expression changed to solemnity.

“Because of ＜The Nameless Lord＞.”

“The Nameless Monarch… … ?”

Theo felt a strange, spontaneous chill run down his spine.

Even though it’s obviously a name I’ve never heard of before.

「It is a “monster” that exists at the far end of the world beyond the sea. I’ve been staying here for the past thousand years with a mission to protect the world from him. The Winter Mountains are just an outpost for that.”

There were only two emotions from Lodbrok.

anger.

And… … fear.

‘Is there anyone in the world that the Guardian Dragon fears? This dragon who was the dragon king a thousand years ago?’

Theo couldn’t understand the situation at all.

Who the hell is ＜nameless lord＞… … ?

Could it be the great demon king of the demon realm that we have only heard about, or the ＜star＞ that fell from the sky?

However, Theo had to forcefully shut down the question that had risen to the bottom of his chin.

Because I can’t ask any other questions here.

So, keeping my curiosity in my heart, I asked the following question.

“… … Let me ask you a second question. What is a relic of the Great Dragon?”

「The Ancient Dragon, Fafnir, split his soul into 31 pieces to protect you humans from the ＜nameless lord＞.”

“… … !”

came out again

The name of the existence called ＜nameless lord＞.

“You have three of them. Soon there will be four.”

Theo’s eyes widened.

‘Have three things? Not two?’

Theo touched Drake’s blade and the moonlight sword with his hands.

In addition to this, he said that there was another relic of the ancient dragon he had already obtained.

‘… … It’s me.’

It was easy to figure out what it was.

return.

An unrealistic phenomenon that dates back over ten years.

If that wasn’t the power caused by the remains of the ancient dragon, what else could it be?

But there were also doubts.

‘In the relic of the ancient dragon, there was always a dragon that guarded the relic. But wasn’t there such a thing in the ‘regression’ I went through?’

“This is the final question.”

“Why me?”

“Your question is too broad. Narrow your scope.”

“Why was I ‘chosen’?”

“Ah, was that a question? Why didn’t you come out?”

food-

A mischievous laugh escaped from between Lodbroke’s lips.

“I think I should ask a question on the contrary. Why do you talk as if only you were ‘specially’ chosen?”

“What do you mean… … !”

“The original oath was not made to favor someone. The answers to these three questions end here.”

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Lodbroke pursed his lips.

He seemed like he would never answer any questions.

thump thump-

Meanwhile, Theo was beating hard on his chest.

‘I’m not the only one who was chosen as an artifact.’

In fact, it was a very natural thing if you look at it.

Eddo, Kirsondo, and Black Dragondo. Everyone knew information about the artifact and was trying to collect it.

So even if there were people among them who were already using the artifact, it wasn’t strange at all.

‘Maybe they’re seeing the same messages as I am, or maybe they’ve gone through a regression?’

Theo suddenly thought of that, but soon shook his head.

‘Nope. Artifacts each have different abilities. Just like Drake is a dungeon and Griffin is a moonlight sword. Maybe it was the ability of that artifact that I regressed.’

However, this was just speculation, so I couldn’t be sure what was certain.

‘Then what happens when you collect all 31 artifacts? Could the Great Dragon be resurrected?’

Then why was this arrangement installed?

‘To kill the ＜nameless lord＞? To nurture such talented people?’

The question bit the tail of the tail.

“You have a troubled face.”

“Actually, it is.”

“This is also one of the hardships you have to endure. Too much information only limits the selector’s ability to decide what to do next.”

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Lodbroke seemed wary of something.

So Theo didn’t force himself to ask any more questions.

Still, the question of whether he was a nameless monarch or a selector of multiple people remained.

Still, he was satisfied with just getting a clue as to what exactly the artifact of the Taechoryong was and why he was going through this.

‘You’ll find out more as you continue to collect other artifacts. Even if you sit on the seat of power, you will eventually find out the facts.’

「Still, I like this selector because it seems like the connection is clear. If it were the guys from before, they would have been busy making a fuss about what kind of Seon dialogue this is.”

Theo nodded.

Certainly, the Ragnar he knew, no matter how much he was a guardian dragon, if there was something he didn’t like, he would have been a jerk.

「Okay, now that all the quests are over, it’s time to get your reward.」

Rodbroke shouted as he spread his wings wide.

[Congratulations! You have successfully completed Tutorial Quest #15.]

[Rating: A+]

[You have a chance to obtain the ‘Relic of the Ancient Dragon’ as a reward.]

“As you can see, this nest is full of treasures that I have traveled all over the world in past lifetimes. give me one of these What do you want?」

Theo clenched his fists.

reward.

It was a word that made my ears pop every time I heard it.

How much more valuable would it be if it was a treasure given directly by the family’s guardian dragon?

“jewel? Even if you sell only one of them, you could easily buy a large city. magic book? will be a strong force for you How is the elixir? It will take you to a higher level. There is also an emergency. It’s something that will put you on top of everyone in the near future.”

Theo looked up at the high library, the mountain of gold and silver that lay around Lodbrok.

「How about arms? You Ragnar are the ones who prove yourselves with swords, so it couldn’t be any better.”

Jewels, magical books, elixirs, secrets, weapons… … .

In the meantime, all the treasures that made the world cry were here.

“Just say anything. I’ll give it to you.”

The attitude of being able to listen to anything you want.

There was no temptation from the devil.

‘This is why Black Snow was able to choose Amon here.’

He did not know that perhaps the rumored ‘hatchling’s den’ was intentional manipulation of information by Heukseol.

Information manipulation to hide the existence of the Guardian Dragon.

It must have been their intention to take this fruit only for themselves.

‘Then what should I choose?’

Theo wondered if he would choose Amon too, but then shook his head.

He actually doesn’t know the exact details about Amon.

What if it is poisonous to growth?

There will be nothing more disastrous than that.

However, even if it is not Amon, there will be many items that will be of great help to Theo’s growth right now.

I had to find those things.

“yes. I can’t help but worry If so, feel free to roam the nest until you make a decision. Call me when it’s decided.”

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Lodbroke tried to be considerate of him.

Theo was in a position where he could not accept the invitation of Lodbroke.

Even at this time, the flowering ceremony will be in full swing.

Being away for too long could arouse suspicion from the examiners.

‘Then what should I choose… … ?’

At that moment, Theo suddenly had an idea.

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Lodbroke apparently said that ‘all’ the treasures in the world were here.

He said he would give it anything.

then.

Wouldn’t it be possible to treasure ‘other than common sense’?

Theo looked up and stared into Lodbroke’s eyes.

“Oh, have you decided?”

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Lodbroke’s eyes twinkled with curiosity.

“Can I really get any treasure I want?”

“Of course. All the words the dragon utters are bound by the spirit of speech. ‘Cause you can never tell a lie Of course, I won’t be able to give you anything that isn’t in this nest, but other than that, I can give you anything.”

“Then there is only one thing I want.”

“yes. What is it?」

Theo said, staring at his reflection in her golden eyes.

“I would like to have a roadblock.”

“… … Well?”

For a moment, Lodbroke blinked his eyes, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

Theo said one more time with an expressionless face.

“I told you I wanted a treasure called Lodbroke.”

“… … !”