TAPGB - Chapter 101
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
Trap. Plod. trudge.
Even though Arya treated him once, Odell was unable to walk on his own and had to rely on her.
They had no choice but to walk for a while in close contact, but no conversation took place between them.
It was better than forcing a conversation, but it wasn't very comfortable either.
'Let's take a rest over there and then let's go.'
There was a small cave lake where Arya pointed.
Odell slowly sat down, supported by Arya.
"Ugh-!'
After moving around for over an hour without much effort, his stamina deteriorated faster than usual, and the throbbing in his ankles was severe.
However, Odell was more concerned about Arya than himself.
'Would you like to put a wet towel on your ankle?'
It must have been difficult to support him. due to the height difference between him and her, but even though she was drenched in sweat, Arya did not utter a single complaint.
Odell looked at Arya for a moment and shook his head.
'No, I'm fine. Let's leave as soon as you recover.'
'Me? Not you?'
'Because it's probably going to be harder for you than it is for me.'
Arya, who had not expected to receive consideration from Odell, blinked and then nodded.
She quenched her thirst in the cave lake for a moment, washed off the sweat, and awkwardly took a seat next to Odel.
The slightly distant locations indicated the distance from each other.
Arya wiped her damp face with a handkerchief and glanced at Odel.
It was quite awkward because he, who was always setting up trivial things like a hamster on guard, seemed to have let down his guard for the first time.
Actually, she approached Odell rather than Leon.
The first time Arya saw the two people was in a village near the forest.
At that time, in the middle of the village, knights were exploiting a grandmother who lived alone with her young grandson by charging exorbitantly high taxes.
Even though everyone knew it was absurd, no one came forward, and in the end, all they could do was watch the two people being dragged away like slaves because they couldn't pay their taxes.
It was Odell who stepped forward at that time. He stood in front of the knights and refuted their profiteering point by point, and the knights, who were speechless, resorted to violence.
Afterwards, Leon discovered that Odell was being hit and intervened, but both suffered serious injuries.
Odell was clearly not as powerful as knights and had a weaker constitution than average. Nevertheless, Arya was fascinated by Odell's golden eyes and did not back down.
That was the reason why Arya stayed by Leon's side despite Odell's strong opposition.
She thought that if she became closer to his older brother, Leon, she would naturally be able to resolve any misunderstandings with Odell.
'Should we go now if we're all rested?'
Arya, who was fiddling with her fingers awkwardly, nodded awkwardly and supported Odell.
She didn't know if it was her mood, but she felt more comfortable in the silence than before. Arya, who thought it was an opportunity, opened her mouth after much thought.
'Why do you hate me so much?'
Odell stopped and looked at Arya with wide eyes. For a moment, Arya realized that her own voice was sharp.
'I'm not trying to argue. I just...'
'...I never hated you.'
Arya was momentarily dumbfounded by Odell's words.
What kind of bullshit is this?
'You hate me so much. You stared at me whenever you got the chance.'
'Oh, um, that's....'
Odell was confused and chose his words. Soon he was holding his head and groaning.
'... If you don't like it, just say you don't like it. I just hate people who lie.'
For some reason. Arya felt sad. He seemed to be trying to make excuses for his behavior because he disliked her.
Once again.
Didn't Odell hate her for just a day or two?
'I think there's some misunderstanding... It's not that I hate you, it's that I'm wary of you.'"
'Isn't that what it is?"
'Well, how should I explain this?'
Actually, this wasn't the first time he had a colleague.
Arya was the third colleague to join. That means there were two more people in front.
'But, there's no one there now.'
'It's because everyone was trying to trick my brother and get away with it.'
At first, like Arya, they approached him by saying that they agreed with his Ideology.
However, the first person escaped at night with the money he had saved to recruit people and cover travel expenses.
The second man approached with intent and accused the knights of Leon as a subversive plotting treason.
At that time, he had a hard time running away from the knights.
'My brother says we've been unlucky so far, but since we've been through similar situations not once, but twice, we can't help but be wary of people who suddenly approach us.'
Only then did Arya understand Odell's particularly high wariness.
'But this time, I have no choice but to believe my brother's eyes.'
Odell chuckled and looked at Arya. Arya then realized that Odell's laugh was quite different from Leon's.
'So you're saying I'm a trustworthy person?'
'You took the risk of coming down into the pit to heal and help me. A person with a plan wouldn't do such a hassle.'
'...'
'I'm sorry, Arya. Have I been too harsh all this time?'
Arya couldn't look Odell in the eyes as she felt her fingertips tingling.
'Okay, that's enough! Now what?'
Arya snapped out of embarrassment, but Odell, who thought his apology had been rejected, froze and agonized over how to relieve her anger.
While the two were in a dream, a harsh wind blew from somewhere.
Odell and Arya looked at each other.
'It must be the exit!'
'It seems it came sooner than I thought.'
Thinking they had found an exit, the two hurriedly headed to a place where the wind was blowing.
But what greeted them was not bright sunlight and birdsong.
'Hmph!'
It was a red shape large enough to fill a huge cave.
Arya and Odell froze as they felt the hairs on their entire bodies standing up.
'..... Dragon?'
Shhh, shhh
The source of the wind was the dragon's snort.
They knew that dragons lived somewhere in the world, but they never dreamed that they would see them with their own eyes.
Odell looked at Arya who was mesmerized, held her hand tightly, and whispered.
'Let's go like this.'
'Uh, uhm...'
It was dangerous to be here without knowing whether the dragons were friendly to humans.
The moment they are about to leave...
The dragon was sleeping with his eyes closed. It was so huge that his head was bigger than Arya and Odell combined.
Huuuuung-
Aria and Odel's hair flew back due to the dragon's snort.
Grrrrrrrr...
A low cry was heard.
Goosebumps running down their backs, the two stopped once again.
The dragon's closed eyes opened, revealing dark green eyes.
'Abominable human...'
The voice dripping with dragon fear made their spines tingle.
'It seems like your life wasn't a waste of money for you to follow me all the way here.'
'Now, wait a minute! You're mistaken! We just got lost......!'
'Noisy!'
Krrrrrrrrrrrrrr
It was a cry that shook the cave. The exposed teeth were very sharp.
'I will end this right here today!'
Flames flew out from inside the dragon's mouth. Arya, sensing the danger, took Odell and hid behind the cave wall. She then unfolded the best magic circle she could.
Quaaaaang-!
They felt burning heat, and a huge firestorm swirled around the place where they were just a second ago.
Odell looked blankly at Arya desperately covering him and the flames visible beyond.
No matter how much she protected his entire body with a magic circle, she couldn't stop the heat. At that time when he was worried whether he should run away like this.....
Push..
The flames died out faster than expected. Arya and Odell looked at each other in confusion, and after a while, they peeked their heads out.
The dragon was bleeding and suffering.
'Now. Let's run away during this gap.'
Arya, looking for an opening, pulled Odell's arm. But for some reason, Odell couldn't take his eyes off the dragon.
'Wait a minute, Arya.'
'We were lucky a little while ago! If we don't run away like this, we'll all die!'
"That dragon. I think it's hurt.'
Arya frowned.
'So, you want to help now?'
'I think it has to be that way.'
'Are you out of your mind now!! Who almost killed us!'
'But, Arya. Look closely over there.'
Odell pointed to the dragon. Only bright red scales were visible.
'I didn't notice it at first because its scales were red, but its entire body was stained with blood.'
Upon closer inspection, the surface of the scales was mottled. The dark red blood had stuck to the bright red scales and looked like a pattern.
That amount of blood means that the dragon has been seriously injured. Besides, didn't it definitely say that a little while ago?
'You followed me all the way here.'
'Arya, you stay here. I'll go and come back."
'What? Hey! Odell!'
Before Arta could catch him, Odell limped towards the dragon.
The dragon, who was vomiting enough blood to form a puddle, barely raised his bulging eyes.
'Human......!'
'Now, wait a minute. I am not the man you know.'
Odell put his hands up in a nonthreatening manner.
'The ground suddenly collapsed and we entered this cave. That's why my legs aren't working right now.'
Odell pointed to his limping leg. Only then did the dragon realize that it wasn't the humans who were chasing him.
Nevertheless, the hatred toward humans did not disappear.
'So what should I do? Am I supposed to be considerate of you?'
'That's not it. I just want to help Dragon...'
The dragon's eyes widened. But soon he showed his teeth and became wary.
'What a useless thing! I'd rather die like this than get your help! Get out of my sight right now...! Cough! Cough!'
After screaming for a while, the dragon started to cough up blood.
Odell panicked and approached him on limping legs.
'Go away!'
Odell didn't care even though the dragon glared at him with eyes as big as Odell's upper body. His gaze was focused solely on the dragon's body.
Oh my God..
Looking closer, the dragon's wounds were even more serious. Spears that had not yet been removed were stuck here and there, and there were places where blood was pouring out as the wounds had not healed.
'You need treatment right away!'
'Can't you hear me telling you to get off?!'
'I know for sure that you're hurt, so how can I leave you!'
On the contrary, the dragon was embarrassed to see Odell getting angry. Odell began examining the dragon's wounds in earnest.
'Arya! Come and help! The wound is serious!'
When Odell called Arya, she was hiding behind the wall and looking unappealing.
'I have herbs in my bag! Bring that to me!'
Ha, she doesn't know if this is really true.
In the end, Arya had no choice but to follow Odell's words.
The dragon couldn't believe that these little guys, who were less than a bite away from the dragon, were talking around him, offering to heal him.
'Khahahal Dragon Heart is now mine! Immortality is right before your eyes!"
'Catch the dragon! The Lord will give you a lot of money!'
'Kill! Kill the dragon!'
They were completely different from the humans who chased him just three days ago.
The dragon's green eyes shook slightly as it looked at the two humans.
'Perhaps, Dragon...... Are you hurt badly?'
'You guys made me look like this and you're still talking about it!'
'How many times do we say this is our first meeting? My name is Odell. My house is about an hour away from here.'
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