Strange Dragon – 113

Chapter 113 – The Cave Inhabitant

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We slowly made our way to the cave. And while we were quiet, we didn’t hide our presence too much as we walked.
This was so that we could alert the cave inhabitant of our presence, without startling them.

We then stood in front of the entrance.
It was dark inside, and the passage slanted upwards.
Additionally, it appeared to turn to the right.
And so we could not see farther inside.

But as I was about to raise my voice towards the cave, something suddenly jumped out.
I quickly moved out of the way.
And a golden creature passed me.
Had I not been so quick, I would have likely been badly injured.

—Whooosh…

As its charge had been so fast, a great gust of wind blew in its wake.

“Buoooooo!”

And then it roared angrily.

“Now, calm down. We are not here to fight you.”

It was about half a meter in length.
Fast, but very small.
A board with golden hair.

While small, it was still no ordinary boar. It was a demon boar.
And quite different from the demon boars I had known on the old continent.

However, it was clear just a child.
A piglet.

“Boooooooooo!”

It was desperately trying to look bigger as it roared.
Perhaps it was trying to protect something that was inside of the cave.

“It is clearly no Chimera…”
“Boo-booooo!”

Kelly made mistakes too.
No, she had repeatedly said that she was not sure about it.
So she wasn’t exactly wrong.
It just meant that this boar had hair that was similar to a Chimera on the old continent.
As it was a new type, Kelly would be overjoyed.

However, right now, I just wanted to make it calm down.

“We are not here to harm you.”
“Boo-boooo!”
“We aren’t enemies. We will do you no harm.”

I repeated the words slowly.
This was the first step of taming. Trying to communicate.

And as the skill was in effect, the demon boar did not try to run away.
However, it continued to glare at me with suspicion.

I could not rush through it.
It was important to be calm and take your time.

“I…”
“Graaaaau! Gau-gau-gau!”

As I was trying to tame the boar, the dragon from earlier flew out of the cave.
And then it rubbed its head against me.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Grau!”

The dragon said that it had been well.

We had met around twelve years ago.
That was two years before we defeated the Demon King.

And we were on the second step when it came to taming.
In other words, it would cooperate in exchange for something of equal value.
We were headed to a fortress that was surrounded by a poisonous swamp, and it had carried us on its back.
As we were not on the third step, in other words, it was not my familiar, I had not given it a name.

“What are you doing all of the way out here?”
“Grau.”
“Came together? With who?”
“Grau-gau?”

The dragon’s explanation was not easy to understand.
As it was not a familiar, we did not communicate with human language.

“Grau-grau!”
“In any case, you want me to follow. I’ll understand if I see.”
“Grau!”

The dragon tugged on my clothes and tried to pull me towards the cave.
Apparently, there was something that it wanted me to see.

However, the boar then blocked the path.
“Booo!”
It did not want me to go inside.

“Grau.”
“Boo-boo!”
“Grau-grau.”

The dragon managed to persuade the boar, and I was permitted to enter the cave.

“Bu-boo-boo!”
“Very well. Hippolius, you wait out here.”

The boar did not trust us completely.
And since Hippolius was clearly very strong, it wanted Hippolius to stay outside.

‘Hippolius go too!’
“I’ll be fine, so don’t worry about me.”
“Kyuo…”
“Just wait for a short while.”
‘…Okay. Be careful.’
“Yes. Thank you.”

And so as Hippolius waited outside, I went into the cave with Pii.
The dragon led the way, and the young boar followed from behind, all the while glaring at us.

As we continued through the dark cave for some time, a large boar that was lying on the ground came into view.
It was about ten meters in size.
I could not tell for sure, due to it being dark, but it appeared to be injured.

And next to it, there was a human lying on the ground.
I could not see their face either.

“Could I turn on a light?”
“Grau.”

As the dragon said that I could, I took out a lamp from my magic back.
It was a magic tool that I had been using for a long time.

“Huh? Why are you here?”
“…Ah, Mr. Theo. Hehe. We finally meet again.”

It was my friend, and leader of the party that defeated the Demon King.
The Hero.

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