Paintbrush Summoner – 58

Chapter 58 – Dragon Nest

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“By the way, this…floor boss? I think that is what it is. It is very strong.”

Menew started to say while they were cleaning up the campsite. They had been folding the tents and there was a light atmosphere.

“How…strong is it?”

“Hmm… It’s just a hunch. But I think it would be more dangerous than a hundred of the wyverns from yesterday.”

“You should have said this sooner!”

This was not the kind of thing to bring up as if you were talking about the weather.

“So, which direction?”

“There.”

Sety expanded Scouting in the direction that Menew pointed in. But she did not sense anything.

“I think Scouting won’t be able to reach it yet. After all, it has gone through the floor…”

“What!?”

“The presence…it is below. Because of that, I don’t know the real position of the stairs.”

What should we do? Menew asked the other three. He would not stop them if they wished to return. Even he could sense that it would be dangerous, so perhaps they should wait with the dryad above.

Of course, Menew himself had no intention of giving up.

There was always a way, and he did not think the enemy was too strong for him.

“What kind of question is that? We’re going to the bottom floor, aren’t we?”

“As far as I am aware, there was nothing like that in this dungeon before. It smells like treasure.”

“I will be careful so that I don’t die!”

Ralph said with exasperation, Sety licked her lips, and Totto made a determined fist.

(I could do it alone. There would be no problem, but…)

There was something very comforting about having others with you. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Then let’s go!”

As if to hide how happy he was, he started to walk in the lead. Sety continued to use Scouting behind him, but did not sense anything.

“…It’s getting quite eerie.”

They knew there was a spawner there. But they could not sense anything on the floor.

“It must be its territory.”

“That is likely. But I still can’t sense it…”

After they had walked a little farther, Menew suddenly stopped.

He put a finger to his lips to signal to the others to be quiet. And then he slowly pointed up ahead.

There was a hole in the wall. And the floor beyond it was broken. They could see this, even though it was still far away. It must be a very large hole.

“Damn it. I thought it was a rule that dungeons can’t be broken.”

Sety shuddered with a tense smile.

Dungeons were structures made of highly condensed magic energy. They did not break, that was why there were buildings and monsters inside. It was a box that protected monsters.

However, if it was breaking like this, it was not fulfilling its role as a dungeon. Perhaps the monster who had made the hole, was somehow making up for the loss of energy from the hole then.

While trying to hide their presence as much as possible, they approached the hole. And then almost raised their voices in alarm. Mainly, Sety.

After all, the hole was filled with gold and treasures. Everything from ornaments encrusted with large jewels to coins. They sparkled brilliantly.

They then moved away slowly again. And Sety said,

“There is no doubt about it. This is a dragon’s nest.”

“How can you be sure that it’s a dragon?”

Menew asked, and Sety explained it to him.

How dragons tended to gather gold and precious stones. How they were like a mass of magic energy. And how this explained how the dungeon still functioned in spite of the wall and floor being destroyed.

“What should we do? Can dragons talk?”

Perhaps it would let them pass through.

“They are incredibly intelligent, but they also look down on humans. Only the eccentric ones even bother to learn human speech. After all, dragons are more of a ‘phenomenon’ than a living creature. Getting to the bottom floor is going to be very difficult.”

Sety shrugged her shoulders.
Menew crossed his arms and considered it for some time. Then he slapped his knee.

“Alright. I will go alone then. And the rest of you can come down when I call you.”

“What kind of conclusion is that, idiot.”

Sety said with exasperation. But Menew was serious.

“Sety. Can you fight a dragon and win?”

“…No.”

“I don’t think Ralph and Totto can either. But I can.”

After all, if he did not have the sword skills or magic to win, then he merely had to create them.

Menew’s silent stare overwhelmed Sety, and so she turned to the other two for help. But they accepted it as if this was normal.

“…So you’re not lying then.”

If he wasn’t lying, then perhaps he was just delusional. However, after spending a few days with him, she understood that he was not stupid.

Sety sighed and nodded.

“Well, I’ll go then. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Menew.”

Ralph stopped him.

“What?”

“Can we watch?”

Menew looked surprised at first. But then he chuckled.

“Sure. But it’s dangerous, so watch from above.”

“Got it.”

And then Menew jumped into the hole with the treasure.

He landed noisily. Ralph and Totto looked serious, while Sety looked in with a curious expression.

Menew descended from the mountain of treasure awkwardly. Then there was a shake that even the others could feel. It was the sounds of feet.

“Hey. Are you the dragon?”

Menew asked happily.

The creature was as tall as a three-story building. Its head was as large as the giant troll’s, but it had four legs and a tail, making it three times larger overall.

It had skin like green rock, and had moss growing on it, as well as trees. Its wings shone with fireflies, but were currently folded down.

The dragon answered Menew with a roar.

“You should answer with words. Or you look dumb.”

He said provocatively.

“You can talk, right? Humans have been down here many times, and these treasures were made by humans. Surely you are not that stupid?”

The dragon glared at Menew, but then gave up.

“What do you want?”

“So you can talk. Well, I want to pass through here. But I suppose you won’t make it so easy?”

“Indeed. I have no reason to allow you to pass. This is my house, not some passage.”

Menew thought that the dragon sounded like Ralph, and he chuckled.

“Why do you laugh?”

“You remind me of a friend. Now then… I shall make you obey me. Either by force or by your own choice. You can choose.”

Menew declared as he raised his staff.

“I normally would not want to do this, but I heard you were more of a phenomenon than a living creature. In that case, it would be too troublesome to defeat you. I don’t mean to make you a servant or anything. You can be our friend.”

“You continue to mock me, human.”

The dragon then unleashed green spores from its mouth.

It poured down to the floor, causing the green plants that were covering it to die.

Menew saw it as a challenge, and he laughed while rushing forward.

“I am Summoner Menew. If I win, then you’ll join us as a friend.”

He dashed until he was right in front of the dragon, and then jumped up and landed on its back.

And while he grasped the rough surface of its neck with one hand, it was still unstable, and the dragon was moving wildly. Any ordinary person would have been shaken off and killed. But Menew was on the dragon like it was nothing.

He then waved his staff, and drew several green magic circles. And then vines rose up and wrapped around the dragon.
They grew along its rock-like skin, covering its mouth and binding it securely.

“Do you want to be friends now?”

“…”

“I see. Well, we must fix what was broken then.”

The vines flashed, and the dragon’s eyes widened in surprise.

Menew created brown magic circles below. And like this, he took the energy from the dragon and used it to repair the holes with earth magic.

“I’m not used to doing this, so it uses extra energy. But let me know if you changed your mind.”

By the time the dragon stopped moving around wildly, the large hole in the wall was completely closed up.
But while it used more magic energy, it was not Menew’s energy that was being depleted. As he was merely taking it from the dragon and converting it.

“…Do you want to continue?”

Menew removed the vines from the dragon’s mouth, and then the dragon turned to him with an exasperated look.

“You. Do you understand what you have done?”

“Uhh, tunnel construction work and wall repair?”

“Fool! If I am gone, the balance will be broken!”

“What do you mean?”

The dragon had completely lost the will and energy to fight. And so it folded its legs and lay down.

“Listen. We dragons are phenomena. We must exist, in the same way that it rains. In the same way that the wind blows. What happens when that is gone? Can you imagine a world without wind?”

“That…would be very bad?”

“You took too much! One tenth all at once! How ridiculous! …Fine, I will join you!”

“Thank you!”

Menew had only listened to the last part.

The dragon’s expression had been terribly similar to Ralph. But only Totto and Sety would know that.

Menew then descended from the dragon and took away the vines. The dragon then raised its head and began to chant.

Lights appeared in the air. The chamber was filled with sparkling particles.

“I hereby declare Summoner Menew as master, and swear to go to the ends of the earth if he calls. As long as the winds blow, I will rush through the land and sky. …Now, choose the name to bind me.”

“Uh, but I’m quite bad with names.”

Menew answered, not caring about ruining the atmosphere.

“Just choose a name that is easy to use.”

“Uh, well, um… Ah…forest…mountain…! Waldung! What about Waldung?”

The dragon seemed to laugh. Perhaps it liked the name. The contract is made.”

The lights then went into the dragon and faded.

Waldung’s face lowered towards Menew. It was so big that it could eat Menew with one bite. But strangely, he did not feel afraid.

He raised his hand and touched the dragon’s nose. It was warm.

“Thank you. I look forward to working with you, Waldung.”

“Mmm. …So, you wish to pass through here?”

“Yes. I have friends. May I call them?”

“Yes. I shall carry them.”

Waldung then looked up at the other three. Suddenly, a wind enveloped them and slowly brought them down.

Totto looked excited, while Setty was salivating over the treasure. Ralph alone had a serious expression.

“You did too much.”

“But it agreed to be friends. Yes, this dragon is now called Waldung!”

Menew introduced it. Totto was looking at and reaching out his hand as if he wanted to touch it.

“I’ve never seen a dragon before!”

“Wal. Would you mind if I took just a little bit of this treasure here? You’re not going to use it, after all.”

Sety was already negotiating. The entire floor was covered in mountains of treasure.

As Totto touched the dragon’s head, it looked at Sety with exasperation.
Surely she could be a little less casual towards a dragon. Yet everyone here seemed to have little respect towards it. Still, it was true that having a little less treasure would not hurt it. After all, it was only collecting it out of habit.

“I do not mind. You will find the next staircase behind the door over there. …Menew. You were lucky that I was merciful. But I cannot be compared to the one below.”

“Waldung. What do you think this is, on my shoulder?”

“Mm…”

Waldung squinted and its eyes met those of Stan, who was perched on Menew’s shoulder.

Without a doubt, it was a servant of the gods. And so Waldung understood then.

“You sure know a lot, Waldung. I wish you could teach me.”

“You can speak to me in your mind. Your eyes are my eyes. And so your words will reach me.”

“That is an invasion of privacy…”

“Then I will also teach you to block it.”

And so after Sety had taken as much treasure as she wanted, which was not that much, as she had to be able to carry it later, Menew and the others went through the door.

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