Aquilo first sucked the pipe with her pink lips and blew out white smoke, before lifting her index finger.
Did she mean for him to come closer? The vigilant Theodore approached cautiously, and Aquilo waved her fingers with a whimsical smile. He reflexively lowered his posture, but his senses didn’t warn him this time.
Jjejejeok.
The air suddenly froze and turned into the shape of a chair.
“This…!” Theodore turned to Aquilo with astonished eyes, causing her to laugh and raise her pipe. The ability to dominate the natural world itself, a power only given to a dragon, was just demonstrated.
“Sit there. It is a bit cool for humans, but isn’t it better than standing?”
“Thank you.”
He quickly sat down on the ice chair. It was a little chilly, but the magic power in Theodore’s body immediately shook off the cold. As a 6th Circle magician, his body wasn’t ordinary anymore. However, Aquilo just stared at him and casually threw him a question. “Boy, who on earth are you running away from?”
“…Huh?” Theodore’s eyes widened at the words.
“It was around three days after you arrived on my island…? Some idiots touched my ward. There was no way it was a punitive expedition… So, I went out and checked.”
“Yes.”
“Do you call it a ghost ship? Yes, those guys were riding on it.”
‘Ghost ship,’ Theodore’s face distorted at those words. Land people dismissed it as superstition, while sailors just thought of it as an unlucky vision. However, in reality, it was neither. A ghost ship was an undead formed from the souls and ship of a wreckage.
‘The last record of its appearance was more than 100 years ago…’
It was hard to obtain the materials because it required a purely maintained wrecked ship, and the creation process was extremely difficult. For that reason, it was a type of black magic found only in the magic tower’s records. Yet a ghost ship was being used to pursue Theodore…? Maybe the ‘Charlotte’s Necklace’ he acquired was very significant to the Orcus Company, or the forces behind the company.
Theodore barely managed to reply in an indifferent manner, “So, what did you do?”
“What do you think I did? I killed them.”
Theodore was at a loss for words and gulped. Aquilo’s white skin turned red as she recalled the bloody memories of that day.
“In the beginning, someone tried to negotiate with me. So, I grabbed him and killed him. First I twisted his limbs, pulled out his eyeballs, and then pierced his ears so that he would be quiet.”
“……”
“When he tried to run away, I grabbed him and cut his legs off. Then he surrendered. He dared to act so freely? These bastards dared to sprinkle black magic in my domain? I chopped him up and fed him to the sharks.”
‘Creepy.’ Goosebumps emerged all over Theodore’s body as he stared at those blissful eyes.
He couldn’t even feel happy that his trackers were wiped out. The person in front of him was the incarnation of violence, an executioner and slaughterer. He would rather fight against the warlocks, since dealing with a sea dragon was literally suicide.
Then Aquilo’s eyes turned to him, “I heard your name from that bastard.”
Those guys didn’t help him even while dying. Theodore couldn’t help cursing the Orcus warlocks. It was Theodore who had attracted the ghost ship to Aquilo’s domain. Whether it was deliberate or not, a dragon wasn’t the type of person to be mindful of this.
As expected, there was a glint in Aquilo’s eyes.
“So, I tried to kill you because I was annoyed…”
Was it coming? Theodore’s calves were completely ready to move. He would be in the palm of her hand, but he needed to try and live as much as possible. However, his determination was meaningless as Aquilo just smiled.
“You smell.”
“…Huh?”
“Your smell, smell.” She giggled and glanced at Theodore with delighted eyes. It was a seductive gaze which made his heart sink. “A fresh young girl.”
“…?” Theodore cocked his head at the words.
“An innocent high elf.”
“…!!”
“Finally… the hateful smell of the red clan.”
Aquilo’s tongue swept across her lower lips. She looked like a snake before its prey, so Theodore got a vague chill. As Theodore was confused by the unknown mood, Aquilo leaned her upper body toward him. And…
Huuu~ She blew smoke out of the pipe and into his face.
“Ack!” Theo reacted too late. He hurriedly stopped breathing in, but it was inevitable that he inhaled some smoke. His senses were silent, and Aquilo just looked at him as she waited for his reaction.
Shortly after that…
Ping!
A wave of dizziness swept over him. Theodore looked between Aquilo and the pipe she was holding with trembling eyes. Then Aquilo lifted the white pipe at his unspoken question.
“This? It is just a drug. From my standpoint, it is just like drinking alcohol… but for you, it is a type of stimulus?”
It was as she said. Theodore soon felt his body turning hot like a fireball. No, it wasn’t a fever. Due to its effect, his nervous system was a mess. He tried to get up from the chair, but his arms and legs were caught by the ice chair.
“Don’t be so nervous. You will soon be pleased.”
Aquilo put down her pipe and slowly got up from the chair. Then the cloak decorated with gold flowed down to the ground.
“…Heok!”
Theodore’s eyes reflexively widened before he closed them. The body which had been covered by the long cloak was revealed under the bright light. Thus far, it was okay. He was a little nervous, but he was old enough not to be overcome by the sight of a woman’s underwear. However, Aquilo’s attire was more than that.
“So naive.”
Even the sound of her laughter made him dizzy. Theodore kept his eyes closed, but he could hear Aquilo’s footsteps. Her white and bare feet stepped on the damp ground, as a tail covered in blue scales extended behind her. There was a shark fin-like protrusion on the long snake-like tail.
The white legs which the tail stretched from… and above it…
‘Damn!’
He desperately tried to shake off the sight, but his attempts were in vain. Before Theodore could calm himself, Aquilo’s footsteps stopped in front of his chair.
“I would like to take something away from them,” Aquilo whispered and sat on Theodore’s lap without any hesitation.
Flinch.
Oddly, he couldn’t even move a finger. He gulped as he felt the weight and soft texture of her thighs. Was this fearsome stimulation really because of the effect of the drug?
“Hey, aren’t you curious?” Like a female praying mantis during breeding season, Aquilo asked Theodore coyly, “If I take away your virginity here, what faces would those females make? Will they be angry? Or will they resent you? Ahh, either way, it is fine.”
“…Why…?”
“I told you. I’m…”
It felt too good as she bit Theodore’s ear gently.
As a shiver went down his spine, his hand couldn’t help going up to her chest. The movement was so natural that it was like he had done this many times, despite actually being unfamiliar with it. Apart from the paralysis of his body, Theodore had no experience with this, so he couldn’t resist.
Aquilo overpowered him in an instant and finally reached out her fingers. Theodore suppressed a gasp as he grasped the destination of her fingers and groaned,“T-There…”
“Don’t worry. Just leave it to me.”
“No…”
“Yes,” Aquilo whispered in a mischievous voice. Then the moment her fingers were about to reach its destination…
Slap!
There was a sound, and Aquilo’s fingers were thrown back.
“…Eh?”
The immobile Theodore couldn’t stop her fingers, but Aquilo’s stunned gaze soon found the source.
[No!]
A small brown-skinned girl with wheat coloured hair was staring at her from Theodore’s belly.
“…E-Elemental?”
[Deo no want you! Bad hands!]
“You can express your emotions? You, are you an ancient elemental?”
As Aquila became distracted by Mitra, Theodore realized that his body had recovered from the paralysis. He was puzzled about how such a strong drug was removed in a short period of time, but Theodore quickly found his answer.
‘The bud of the world tree!’
The bud growing from Mitra’s hair was from the seed of the world tree, a tree which had the ability to cleanse the world of hazardous substances.
It was no wonder that the detoxifying ability worked on Theodore who was in contract with Mitra, the elemental who used to be Mother Earth. If he had summoned Mitra from the beginning, he wouldn’t have been paralyzed by the drug.
However, he didn’t have time to waste on such regrets.
Snap.
“Eh?!” Aquilo was confused when her shoulders were abruptly grabbed by Theodore. There was no need to answer her unspoken question. Theodore faced Aquilo’s fluorescent eyes while ignoring the texture underneath his hand.
“I don’t intend to intervene in your display of affection, but I don’t want to be in this relationship with you.”
Aquilo stared into his eyes before laughing. “Even when your body is reacting like this?”
“…You are attractive.”
“But you still don’t want to?”
“Yes.”
Theodore had no idea what Aquilo felt at the decisive rejection. However, there wasn’t an unpleasant expression on her face, so he could think about it later. Aquilo looked at him strangely before laughing and getting down from his lap.
Then she clicked her tongue and said, “Well, okay. I don’t want to hurt my pride by forcing you.”
Theodore felt deeply relieved and sad, two contradictory emotions, as he watched Aquilo return to her chair.
He was able to stand up to her in the end, but hiding behind his calm face was a desperate emotion. If Mitra had delayed even a little bit, this might be carved as a black mark in Theodore’s history.
The moment he was trying to get rid of his tension…
“…What, another bastard?”
Aquilo’s angry voice resonated through the cave.
* * *
“Ah… Why is the Sea God Festival on the day when I have to patrol?”
“Who isn’t annoyed? Dammit.”
On the outskirts of the Pirate Archipelago, two pirates were patrolling on the first day of the Sea God Festival. It was a miracle time which occurred once a year, when pirates could freely enjoy alcohol and women at will. However, they couldn’t enjoy it because they had to waste time patrolling.
A red-hooded pirate muttered, “Do you want to boast about your conquests again?”
The blue-hooded pirate replied with a sigh, “Of course. Wouldn’t you?”
“Ha, shit!”
They were afraid of their boss’ harsh axe, so they couldn’t disobey. Yet they couldn’t bear it, so they looked at the sea in the distance. The two pirates smoked the tobacco they had sneaked out and complained about their misfortune.
They didn’t know that this would be the end of their lives. The waves moved in a strange way, and ‘something’ emerged, destroying the heads of the two pirates.
Kung!
There was a huge noise, but this outlying area wasn’t popular except for patrols.
Grrrr…
There was a growling sound, and a bizarre-looking monster appeared.
It had six fins, five tails which rippled through the water, and limbs which grew on thick and tough skin, like those of land creatures. In spite of the dark night sky, its eyes emitted a faint light, like those of deep-sea creatures.
However, that wouldn’t be the case from now on.
Creak, creak…
After coming from sea to the land, the creature reconstructed its characteristics and form to suit the environment. The unnecessary fins and tails were removed, while the skin turned into a thick leather. Horns sprouted from its head, and its luminous eyes pierced through the darkness.
-…It stinks.
The creature’s mouth looked like gills, and a low frequency voice which humans couldn’t hear emerged.
–This… the smell of a dragon…
The eyes of the monster accurately captured the center of the Pirate Archipelago, where the festival was being held. To be exact, it pinpointed the location of the cave on the outer parts of the Sea God Festival.
The reason he had come to the sea from a distant land was because he smelled a delicious dragon.
Chwaaaak!
Six wings sprouted from its back. The wings of a wyvern, gryphon, and several other creatures were stored in it since flying was a convenient way to travel. In the form of a monster which didn’t exist anywhere else in the material world, the grimoire of sin that ate life landed.
This was the moment when the usurper of creatures, Pride, appeared again.
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