Strange Dragon – 112

Chapter 112 – Following the Chimera’s Traces

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Hippolius and I followed after Pii, who had a higher tracing ability than we had expected.

‘Here.’
“Thank you, Pii.”
“Pii-pii.”

Pii hopped, then flattened itself on the ground a little, and jiggled.
And then it would hop again.
Apparently, when it was flat, it was searching for traces.
Hippolius was also busily sniffing around and trying to help.

“Pii!”

Pii squeaked and hopped away.
As it was searching for the Chimera, it was slower than usual.

Eventually, Hippolius said,

‘Theodore. Look, look.’
“What is it, Hippolius?”
‘Erased presence!’

Hippolius said while snorting loudly.
So it was trying to do what I had taught it earlier.
However, it was not erasing it at all.

“Oh, that’s amazing.”
“Kyuo.”
“But, you haven’t disappeared yet.”
“Kyuo…”
“Well, it’s not something that can be done easily. It took me years.”
‘Theodore too?’
“Yes.”

I started carrying the luggage for an Adventurers party when I was ten years old.
And I was not able to erase my presence until I was around thirteen.
Until then, while the rest of the party was fighting monsters, I had to hide somewhere while shaking.

Even though I was desperate to stay alive, it had still taken three years.

“And so it cannot be helped if it takes you some time, Hippolius.”
‘Oh.’

And then we continued to follow after Pii quietly.

‘Look, look. Erased presence.’
“Hmm. You still haven’t.”
‘Oh…’

This repeated every few minutes while we walked.

Three hours passed, and we were quite far away from the base.
We were in the opposite direction as Ije’s village and the false demon bear’s nest.

‘Ah, yummy grass!’

Hippolius said as it started to eat.

“Still, the trees are impressive too.”

We were currently walking in a dense forest.

‘Close!’

Pii suddenly said as it hopped around.

“…Is that so? I still don’t sense anything.”
‘Over there!’

Pii used its body to point in a certain direction.
I looked and saw a cliff.
And in the cliffside was a hole. It was a cave.

“In that cave?”
‘Probably!’

Pii sounded pretty confident.

“Hmm. The cave entrance is pretty big.”

Big enough for a large Chimera to fit in.

“Alright. Hippolius and Pii. Let’s go quietly.”
‘Okay.’
“Pii!”

Pii immediately erased its presence.

“…Amazing.”
“Kyuo…”

Hippolius tried as well, but it seemed to be difficult.

“Hippolius. You just have to try to make as little sound as possible.”
‘Okay!’

And so we carefully and slowly made our way forward.
Pii erased its presence and didn’t make any sound at all.
However, it was hard for Hippolius to be completely silent.
Still, Hippolius did its best to be quiet.

‘Hippolius should become small?’
“That is one way…but we might need to fight.”
‘That’s true!’
“If it turns out to be too dangerous, I’ll have to pick up Pii and jump onto your back.”
‘Okay. Hippolius will run.’
“I’m counting on you.”

We whispered quietly to each other.
Pii continued to check for traces.

Once there was only about thirty meters between us and the entrance, Pii began to shake.

‘Traces of something else here!’
“Something else? Not the Chimera?”
‘Yes. Something stronger! They fought.’
“So it fought the Chimera here.”
‘Bleeding a lot!’

Something that could make the Chimera bleed that much.
It would have to be very powerful.

Just then I detected its presence.
“Both of you, stop.”
“…”
“…”

Hippolius and Pii stopped silently.
All three of his inside of the grass.
While Hippolius was large, it did its best to curl up.

The strong monster was approaching.
And it was from above. In other words, the sky.

(That’s…a flying dragon.)

While they were powerful, they were no Chimeras.
And this dragon had a large boar in its mouth.
It landed in front of the cave and went inside.

‘Enemy? Attack it?’
“That won’t be necessary.”
‘Okay.’

If we wanted to kill it, then having Hippolius shoot its magic into the cave would probably be the easiest way.
But I didn’t think we needed to.

Because that dragon was an acquaintance of mine that I had met in the old continent.

“Hippolius. Pii. You don’t have to hide.”
‘Why?’
“Pii?”
“I know that dragon. We will be able to talk.”
‘Okay.’
‘Leave it to you.’

All at once, both of them relaxed.

“The only problem is that the Chimera might still be around here.”
‘What to do?’
“Hippolius. You keept watch.”
‘Okay.’
“Pii. Do the Chimera traces continue into the cave?”
‘They do.’
“I see. Then you ride on my shoulder.”
‘Okay!’

The tracking was over for now.
And so I had Pii ride on my shoulder, so that it would be easier to escape if we were in danger.

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