It was like déjà vu when Lars woke up in the once-forest now-desert outside the crawler"s cave as the first thing he saw was a gaping maw full of teeth and dripping with saliva…He could feel the warm drafts of air waft over his body and throw up clouds of dust around him as the fresh minty breath of Frenoshreth, Overlord of the Northern Reaches, filled his lungs.
And as he regained his senses, Lars couldn"t help but choke and gag slightly as he linked the idea of chewing of fresh spearmint gum with the dragon"s saliva… That was not a pleasant thought, not at all.
"Ah, you"re awake. About time, it"s been almost half an hour, do you know how much of a waste of time it"s been waiting for you? I could have finished twenty elks in that much time! Don"t you know that irregular meals are terrible for a lady"s digestive system? I could even get gastritis from delaying my meals for you! It"ll be days before my gastric plays down!"
Lars was bombarded with the booming complaints of the pink dragon as he got to his feet. He mused as to how a Semi-divine being could have gastric problems while checking his condition – everything was fine.
"Ah, wait! Luca…!" Eyes widening and breath catching in his throat, Lars cast his gaze around frantically for Luca"s body, only to see her settled nicely on a pile of humongous leaves.
He let out a sigh of relief and felt incredibly thankful. He had no idea where they came from but from their gargantuan size, they were obviously plucked by Frenoshreth.
However, something else quickly caught his attention - around them were also the remains of dozens of crawlers, each one mauled through in varying places by a smooth round hole, clearly formed by a dragon"s claw cleaving cleanly through their bodies.
Lars was shocked at Frenoshreth"s magnanimity – why had she protected him and Luca? And even provided a nice bed for her sleeping body?
He turned upwards to the dragon who was mumbling to herself about being hungry and how she wished some fresh meat would drop by, and how the crawlers were just disgusting rotten bags of melted flesh.
"Erm… Lady Frenoshreth…"
"Ah! Don"t call me lady! I"m still young, just a little over 20 years old! Frenoshreth is fine, or even Freno for short!" Frenoshreth – Freno – smiled from ear to ear, eyes curling up into a happy face which, to Lars surprise, was actually very cute… For a mountainous dragon.
Blinking in discomfort at the scene of a cute dragon and disbelief at the blatant lie, Lars still complied and bowed in grat.i.tude to his unexpected benefactor.
"Thank you, Freno. But… Why did you help us?"
Lars looked around him at the mutilated bodies of crawlers lying in a ring around them, then back at the pink dragon who looked extremely pleased with herself right now. Then the dragon abruptly settled her expression, erasing the smug look from her face and instead replacing it with a look of haughtiness and the dignity of an Overlord while looking away slightly from Lars.
"Huh? What, what do you mean? I didn"t do anything… Tell me, what did I do?" Freno glanced at him from the corner of her eye and spoke in mock dignity, causing Lars to sweat at the clear attempt at fis.h.i.+ng for compliments.
Gritting his teeth, Lars swore internally but resolved himself to go all the way with this. After all, she had indeed saved their lives and it wouldn"t do well to offend someone who dared to contend with beings like the Sun Lord even at their full power…
Revisiting his lessons in b.u.t.tering people up or etiquette, Lars formulated his words carefully and continued.
"Didn"t do anything…? How can that be! O great benefactor Freno, with your great abilities and sagacity you surely must have felt the fluctuations of power – which is why you came to this place. And out of the broadness of your heart of gold, you deigned yourself to a.s.sist us humble humans who do not even deserve a moment of your time – even to the detriment of your poor stomach and harming yourself! How great a crime it is for us to have brought trouble to you, o wondrous saviour, oh how it pains our hearts!"
Lars put on his best show, an anguished look marring his expression while he teetered on his feet, almost falling to his knees in his distress at causing harm to their precious saviour. He clutched both hands to his chest over his heart and even managed to eke out a one-eyed tear that glistened as it ran down his cheek.
And even as he spoke, he felt his own stomach rumble and churn in disgust at his own words, his gooseb.u.mps rising at his own words…
Hearing him wax eloquent with cringe-inducing speech, even Frenoshreth was embarra.s.sed, managing to blush and turn her already pink scales an even deeper shade of pink.
However, her eyes sparkled as the corners of her lips began to rise in a smug smile despite her trying to keep a straight-lace att.i.tude.
"Ahem, erm… Oh, t-that"s too much… There"s no way I did all that, I-I was just being a good neighbour, that"s all… Come on, this is too embarra.s.sing to hear…" she coughed in embarra.s.sment and turned away, causing Lars to let out a sigh of relief as it seemed he wouldn"t need to continue.
But then the pink dragon"s eyes suddenly darted back to gaze at Lars once more as she thickened her skin and spoke words that caused Lars" skin to crawl and the back of his neck to p.r.i.c.kle with the tingling of awkwardness.
"…B-but, do t-tell me more… What else did I, who did nothing, do…?"
Lars cried on the inside as he pressed on in his cultivation of esoteric Path of Shoe-s.h.i.+ning and Flattery.
* * * * *
After several puke-inducing minutes of suffocating apple-polis.h.i.+ng, a bizarre scene occurred.
Lars was holding his ears and performing squats in front of Frenoshreth who had a cross look.
It turned out that she had sensed a disturbing aura, but despite shearing through the winds and knocking up a storm of sand and soil, she was still not quick enough to catch it. The aura had already been snuffed out by the time she reached.
Irritated but deciding that Lars was definitely suspicious, she decided to stand guard over him until he regained consciousness.
Lars then concocted an explanation about encountering a great creature of darkness in the Crawler"s Cave before him. This creature had used a soul attack on him in an attempt to possess his body which led to a battle of wills, one which he had eventually prevailed in.
Facing sure defeat and possible annihilation, the creature quickly fled with a mystical technique that allowed it to disappear into thin air. Lars had wanted to give chase, but the battle had taken a great toll on him, hence his falling unconscious.
Hearing his story, Frenoshreth narrowed her eyes in an angry frown, causing Lars" heart to race as he prepared himself for the worst. However, her next words made him relax once more.
"Dastardly Aerol and his sp.a.w.ns of distortion! Another one of his dens of disgusting darkness right here in my territory! No wonder my population growth rate has dropped while the economy around here is in a recession!!! They"re annoying, all so annoying! And none of them taste good either! Curse you, Aerol!!! You hear me!?! Curse you!!!"
Frenoshreth roared in frustration, raising her great neck to curse at the heavens as she finished with a bellowing cry.
As for Luca"s comfy bed of leaves and Lars being punished like a kindergartener…
"How can a lady be allowed to lie on the dirty ground!!! You should be decapitated for such a crime!!! Hmmph!!!"
Lars could only grumble silently as he swore to pay this annoying dragon back someday…