Chapter 2 – The Deep Dragon
“So, these guys know how to deal with it.”
Orphen crossed his arms, facing a tree from the road, five men were dangling with their
hands tied. Next to them was a carriage, it seemed they were preparing to make camp, but
due to an unexpected event everything was a mess. Cleo stood behind him, she said
profoundly:
“This is really cruel——”
She was referring to the attackers who were hung up. Orphen responded, never looking
back.
“There’s no need to take pity on them when they attacked us with weapons. Besides, you
were the first person who started hacking at them when they came charging, weren’t you?”
“I did not hack……I merely didn’t think I could swing a sword so fast.”
Cleo remembered the previous event, it sent a chill down her spine. Orphen reluctantly said:
“Relax, everything’s fine now.”
Then, Cleo relaxed her shoulders. She had replaced her soiled pants, putting on a new shirt
and pair of jeans. The shirt was a deep tan colour, it was Majic’s, she was worried about
splattered blood, so she looked back and forth several times.
“After all, they had a bunch of short sticks and knives, it was hard enough.”
“Come on, with proper training you could have easily taken them all out.”
Orphen said, trying to relax the upset Cleo.
“You don’t get it, Orphen. You aren’t the one who can’t use magic, I mean look at the
damage you caused.”
She pointed into the forest. There was a large number of trees which were uprooted,
scorched earth was visible for several meters in numerous directions. Orphen deliberately
didn’t look at it, he said:
“I was trying to protect you.”
“That sounds like a hypocritical lie to me.”
Cleo was angry now, she put some distance between her and Orphen. Then, she
approached the sword on the ground——it was covered in blood, she turned around and
said:
“Don’t you think you should clean the blood off the sword?”
Orphen replied:
“People are responsible for their own things.”
“But……I’m not good with blood.”
“You used the sword so obviously there’s blood on it, it’s not a big deal.”
“Well girls aren’t used to this sort of thing, Orphen.”
“Then please don’t use a sword next time.”
He was getting fed up with her whining.
“Older people can’t always forgive the misgivings committed by the young, deal with it.”
“That’s something my father would have said.”
“Stop moving that mouth of yours……”
Orphen said with his eyes half open. He looked at the five individuals that were hung up.
They were all pa.s.sing out——they had been strung up for too long.
Cleo still didn’t touch the sword, there was nothing else to do but continue talking.
“Your dad……did he say something like that before he died?”
“You only die once, make your last words meaningful——though he actually said that after
getting the doctors diagnosis.”
Cleo threw him a flirtatious look, then she began to move towards the blood stained sword.
It was very wonderful, he was very happy. He was so comfortable that this dead feeling to
last forever.
Safety! ——No cold! ——No heat! ——No hunger! ——No loan shark! ——Thinking about
those things, to live a life without the good things was unbearable.
So……he cried for some time, until finally he realized one thing.
“This isn’t the most common thing in the world……it isn’t……”
When he thought of this, it made him infinitely sad. Dortin wiped the crystal ashtray with a
soft cloth, he had a sudden chill, then wrapped his collar around him.
His type of “people” are about one hundred and thirty centimetres tall——they live only on
the southern part of the island called Masmaturia. Their traditional outfit consists of wrapping
themselves in fur and cloaks. This peculiar one wore thick gla.s.ses, and was seventeen
years old. Because of his physical stature, one wouldn’t be able to tell his age.
Dortin looked around the room, it was neat and tidy, it was a reception room. He didn’t know
why this place was geographically isolated, but the room’s furnishings looked very ordinary.
Dortin sighed, he had finished rubbing the ashtray and put it back on the table.
“Brother…...you never clean anything when you are finished.”
“What did you say?”
His brother turned and looked at him.
“Dortin, let me explain something to you.”
“Okay.”
Dortin impatiently responded.
“I am the Masmaturian Bulldog, how can I engage in such inferior work?”
He held up on finger, then pushed it against Dortin’s head.
“Brother……think about it more calmly.”
“Calmly?”
Out of all the people in the world——to claim that Vulcan could be calm would be to debate
whether the world was flat or round.
“Try and act like you can get me to clean this place again and I’ll drown you in soy sauce!”
Vulcan shouted as he clenched his fist. Dortin’s eyes began to swell, he went back to
cleaning the place——but the ashtray had seemly disappeared.
“Strange……”
Dortin looked around, obviously puzzled.
(What is it this time……?)
He gave up looking and began to clean the cigar box, rubbing it gently. It was then that he
noticed a young man standing next to him.
“Hey.”
The man greeted them with a smile. He was wearing a wrinkled shirt, his coat had a badge
on it and looked military. There was a sword hanging by his waist, it was nothing like the one
Vulcan had.
“Ah, h.e.l.lo, Sarua.”
Vulcan suddenly spoke in a respectful tone.
The man took a quick glance around the room, checking if anything was missing. He looked
at Dortin, he couldn’t see the ashtray. He ignored it for now, then said:
“Your information was correct, Vulcan……we caught some sorcerer kid.”
“Ah, I see.”
After listening to his brother’s answer, Dortin thought about Majic.
(Poor guy, I hope they don’t hurt him.)
Vulcan looked at Dortin, he eyes narrowed in on him like a snake ensnares his prey, with a
flattering voice he said:
“What about the black sorcerer? You know, the one with the dragon pendant from the Tower
of Fang……”
“Other people are responsible for his capture. Although I haven’t received a report yet, there
should be no problem. Five men were sent, all of them able bodied. He should receive quite
the surprise.”
Sarua shrugged, he then put a hand on his chin and send on to say:
“Since the information you provided proved to be true, the boss wants to reward you, but
you’ll have to wait until after dinner——he wants that sorcerer kid to suffer first.”
He smiled.
“You do know that we and the boss hate sorcerers?”
“No——I didn’t know.”
Dortin answered, Vulcan was bewildered. He didn’t expect Dortin to be listening to their
conversation.
Sarua laughed.
“It’s got to do with the terms of man——and our n.o.ble religious teachings, you don’t need to
know any more than that. This is for your own good, and you’ll stay here and clean in the
meantime.”
Sarua then left the reception room. His soles dragging on the floor, then not long after the
sound of his footsteps were gone——Dortin slowly said:
“Only five people were sent, I don’t think that’ll be enough to take out the loan shark.”
“…………”
Vulcan ignored him.
“I don’t care…...if anything goes wrong you’ll get the blame anyway. It’s divine retribution.”
“Ah, do you think they’ll accept an apology?”
Vulcan said with a shaky voice. Dortin coldly replied.
“Probably not……and if they do what I think they’ll do to that sorcerer kid then what do you
think they’ll do to us?”
“Ah......”
Vulcan became aware of the severity of their situation. He struggled to groan, a chill went up
his back, he reluctantly said:
“We……e-escape, but how?”
“This village is in the middle of the forest, we can’t escape. We don’t know the way out!”
Dortin sighed, he looked at the walls of the reception room, one of the paintings on the wall
was a map of the surrounding villages.
The vast warrior towns of “the forest of Fenrir”. There is a red dot in the centre, these are the
“great heart” villages.
“This is the place, this is where Majic was taken.”
It is a dark night——
Orphen said, his face hidden in the gra.s.s. Cleo was clutching his shoulders from behind, she
was wearing a dress and a long sleeved jacket. Although it looked very warm, it was better
than wearing a shirt in the forest.
She is standing behind him, looking into the forest.
“You may be right——after all I don’t think those guys were lying, you did light a fire
underneath them.”
“Got any other snarky remarks?”
Orphen asked. Cleo replied in a silly voice:
“No. Though, even if worst comes to worst, even if the world is your enemy, I will always be
by your side.”
“You mean you’ll be by my side for your pocket money.”
Ignoring Cleo’s protests, Orphen closed his eyes and listened to his surroundings. In
addition to Cleo’s breathing, the forest was silent——of course it was impossible for a forest
to be totally silent, especially at night. Insects……beasts and footsteps. The sound of
moving leaves. Then he heard it, the sounds of a village, as well as the sound of water.
Now——according to Orphen’s feelings——it was only a few hours away.
Orphen opened his eyes. The stars lit up his field of vision——the tall forest stretched
onward. Although there was possibly some guards nearby, he estimated that there was
probably someone or something stalking them. After a while, they finally reached the village.
Orphen took the time to get a good look. There was houses, no horses whatsoever, only a
pigsty and a small animal hut. The houses seemed pretty simple, most of them were
probably warehouses or small huts converted into housing. In the centre of the village there
was a big house, it seemed that’s where the head honcho lived. This big house acted as a
church, it had a large steeple on top——the symbol of Kimurakku Church.
“The Dragon……!”
Orphen whispered.
The symbol of the Fenrir Forest——a sold black giant wolf, it stood there solemnly in front of
him. It shined brightly in the starlight, normally it would be as black as night itself.
“This is trouble.”
Orphen said, behind him Cleo asked:
“Why?”
Orphen pointed at the wolf statue on top of the steeple.
“That is a statue of the deep dragon……that tells us that they have a strong faith in it.”
“Dragon faith? I remember hearing something about that before.”
Cleo pondered for a moment. Orphen sighed, putting his hand on Cleo’s head, then he said:
“I see that you don’t understand……these people, they see sorcerers as some type of devils
and hunt them down whenever they see them.”
Cleo thought for moment longer.
“So you mean those five guys back there were of this faith? You know, calling you the devil
isn’t that far from the truth.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about——they have Majic, there’s no telling what they’ll——”
He thought about Cleo for a moment, if they caught either of them they would probably be
tortured or worse——death.
This opened up a wound in Orphen’s heart. He might not have much time to rescue Majic.
Besides, it may already be too late.
(d.a.m.n it......)
“Hopefully they’ll think he’s just some idiot who got lost in the forest, I’m going to teach him a
lesion when he gets back.”
“Last time you made him do a thousand squats, he was miserable and you made him cry.”
“He was crying while doing the squats, you fed him some peaches when I wasn’t looking.”
“I did no such thing.”
Cleo said, then she asked:
“But, Orphen……why do members of the Dragon Faith hate sorcerers?”
“…………”
Overlooking the village, Orphen silently watched children play. In a low voice he said:
“That’s just how things are, and didn’t you hear what I said before?”
“Ah……in ancient times, the power of magic was stolen from the G.o.ds, right?”
“Yeah……”
In ancient times——according to the records found by the Dragon Race, thousands of years
ago, during the reign of the kingdom of the G.o.ds, there was a universal force called “magic”
on the continent of the giants. Six races rose up and stole this power from the G.o.ds. They
are the world’s most dangerous mammals——the Deep Dragon race, the Fairy Dragon race,
the Mist Dragon race, the Red Dragon race, the Wheeled Dragon race, and lastly, the War
Dragon race.
“To escape the wrath of the G.o.ds, the six races fled to this continent……Kiesaruhima.
However, people were sent by the G.o.ds to deliver their punishment for stealing the magic. A
great battle ensued, and afterwards the Dragon Race chose this place as their habitat. Then
our human ancestors arrived on the continent, which dates back three hundred years
ago……”
“Humans acquired magic from the Dragon Race, right? I think you mentioned that before.”
“Yes, the humans and the Dragon race inbred with one another and thus we have the magic
users we call sorcerers today.”
He gestured towards the statue.
“Those of the Dragon Faith believe this to be disrespectful behaviour. In fact, in the past,
sorcerers were hunted in Alenhatan. This is only one example of the hatred towards us,
remember the Killing Doll too.”
“So it’s not about the usage of magic, it’s about those who are descended from the Dragon
Race?”
“I guess you could say that, but there’s many underlying reasons for their actions.”
“Maybe their jealous.”
Cleo said. This made Orphen smile, then it disappeared quickly.
“From the beginning, this continent has been dominated by the Dragon Race.”
Cleo pouted.
“I still don’t understand why the Dragon Faith hate sorcerers.”
“Who cares anyway, even I’m not sure.”
Upon hearing this, Cleo slumped her shoulders.
It was currently night——in this summer forest, the temperature was very hot. An intense
wave of moisture flew through the forest, quaking all the leaves in its wake.
——Orphen looked into Cleo’s eyes with impunity, both of them moved forward into the
night.
From the trees outside the village, to the nearest livestock shed——none of those areas
were lit up, they sneaked into the village along the road from the garbage dump.
Cleo wore dark clothes——she wore a dark purple jacket, her sword quietly wrapped around
her chest. She thought that this sort of jacket was important, after all it had a coat of arms
which was very similar to her families.
Orphen quickly moved through the road, advancing into the depths of the village. Although
he didn’t know where they were hiding Majic, he knew the best place to start looking was at
the heart of the village.
In the centre of the village there was a few domed buildings——they have chimneys, it
seemed they were some sort of factories. He thought that it was suspicious that these
buildings were built beside a church, captives were probably not kept in a factory. Torture in
a place of worship would be out of place, so that leaves either the bas.e.m.e.nt or the tower,
one of two of the places is where Majic should be.
They stopped in the shade of a hut, Orphen said to himself:
“We are in real trouble——it doesn’t look like there’s anyone on watch, I’d normally use
magic to open the front entrance but this time it’s different.”
“……Can’t you just steal the keys off a guard?”
Cleo whispered, she was also hiding in the shadows. Orphen shook his head.
“Getting in there should be simple——but we don’t want to make any noise. I’m going to
have to shout in order to open the lock using magic.”
After listening to Orphen, Cleo clenched her fist.
“Okay, that leave us with one choice. You cause a fire with your magic and we’ll charge in
and rescue Majic during the confusion.”
“You moron——there’s no way we’ll be able to get in and out without getting caught.”
“I was joking, besides it’s better than nothing.”
“That would wake up the whole village, there’s a high chance we’d get burned alive trying to
escape.”
“……If we need a distraction to get inside then the fire idea is the best option.”
“Fine, but we’ll need a big enough distraction to cause the most confusion.”
“Well, I don’t know……”
Cleo put a finger to her mouth.
“Orphen……you could get naked, a laughing mad man running around the village is sure to
get their attention.”
“Oh, forget it.”
“Since the whole village is asleep you’ll need a nose ring, that should wake them up.”
“……Why can’t you be serious for a moment? We have to rescue Majic.”
Orphen sighed.
“Come on, let’s get a move on.”
They marched to the depths of the village, at this point——
Whoosh——
A large volume of compressed air flew by them——
Thud!
In the centre of the village, a huge pillar of fire shot into the sky.
“What the——!”
Orphen was speechless, he covered his face with his hand——behind him Cleo screamed.
The blast of wind blew dust everywhere, it whacked the nearby huts creating lots of noise.
The pillar of fire never disappeared, in the centre of the village——the chimneys were
burning, the village slowly lit up.
(I’m sure of it——that wasn’t a gas explosion……)
“This is a magical fire……”
Orphen instinctively shouted out loud. The village was now abuzz with activity, people ran
out of their houses to look at the pillar of fire. However, none of them were bothered by
Orphen and Cleo.
“Magic? Do you think Majic did this?”
Cleo asked, Orphen retorted:
“Heck, if that guy can use this level of magic then I don’t have anything to teach him.”
“……Huh?”
“This is……this isn’t human magic!”
Orphen shouted.
“What the h.e.l.l? Could it be that doll?”
Cleo cried, she readied her sword——Orphen stopped her, and said:
“Stop. Do you have any idea what’ll happen?”
“Come on, stop treating me like a child.”
Cleo complained. Right now, Orphen wanted to give him a thump on the head.
“Take a look.”
He pointed towards the pillar of fire. The bright flame was disappearing——then it went out,
and the village went dark once again. In the darkness of the night, a vague shadow
appeared.
There it was——hundreds of meters from the village centre stood a giant figure. The
moonlight was raining down upon it, it was clear as day, it was——a giant wolf.
“The Deep Dragon——Fenrir!”
Orphen trembled as he called out its name. He had heard about the legend of the Deep
Dragon, but seeing it in the flesh made a chill run down his spine.
“The Deep Dragon is one of the most powerful races!”
Orphen shouted as he stared at the large figure. The giant wolf was covered in dark hair, if
there was no moon tonight it would be surrounded by total darkness.
He wanted to explain to Cleo just how dangerous the Deep Dragon was, however, he knew
that there wasn’t enough time and that she wouldn’t understand.
Orphen was about to grab Cleo by the shoulders. She took a step towards the giant wolf, a
mischievous grin appeared on her face.
“Run!”
“………Huh?”
Everyone in the village was now setting their sights upon the giant wolf. However, no one
noticed Orphen and Cleo, there were too preoccupied by the appearance of the Deep
Dragon.
Orphen stared into Cleo’s eyes.
“I left signs in the forest, can you make your way back to the carriage on your own?”
“What? But——”
“Get to the carriage and alert the authorities. Explain the situation to them and wait for me,
understand?”
“A-Alright, but Orphen——”
“Just go! I will try to rescue Majic, I’ll meet up with you later!”
“But——”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Orphen angrily waved his arm. Cleo looked unhappy, she started to retreat towards the
forest. While walking back she thought about the situation.
“Orphen.”
She didn’t forget to leave before getting in the last word.
“Next time it’ll be me who will be commanding you.”
“I’m getting sick of this!”
Standing there, Orphen was sickened.
(Even if I am just a human, it’s going to be very difficult to save lives——)
Orphen was holding his dragon pendant in his hands, he made a gesture which looked like
he was praying. To who exactly, no one knows.
(Majic, that moron——and I thought taking care of Cleo was enough.)
He ran to the centre of the village without much trouble, he knew that’s where Majic was
being held.
Meanwhile, the Dragon stood there motionlessly. It looked as if it was looking at
something——Orphen noted this, it was looking at the tower.
(He may be dead.)
Orphen though as he made his way through the commotion in the village.
The village was no longer dark, lit torches were everywhere. He listened closely, it appeared
the appearance of the Deep Dragon didn’t cause ma.s.s panic among the villagers.
(This is hardly surprising, the Dragon is their patron saint……or at least they think so.)
Then——he heard a voice.
“…Is…that…right…?”
“…………?”
Orphen stopped, he began to wonder. Was that a voice in his ears——
(What was that?)
He stood in the shadow of a hut. It couldn’t have been one of the villagers. He looked along
the road, he could see villagers out with torches, they hadn’t noticed him. In fact, all of their
attention was focused on the giant wolf.
(You won’t find the answer here……)
Orphen smacked his lips, continuing to run ahead. The villagers were all moving towards the
Dragon, people were all around him. It seemed that rescuing Majic was nearly impossible at
this point.
(That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’ve done so much damage already——I’ve got to get you back.)
He heard a voice.
“It has only just begun.”
This time he heard it clearly.
(——So I’m not delusional!)
Except it wasn’t a voice——there was no vibrations in the air, no sound. It was a message
communicated directly to his brain……
(Is this the magic of the Deep Dragon?)
Deep Dragon magic——it’s almost the same as the human’s white magic, the only
difference is that it can also effect things which aren’t alive. For example, trees, soil, air,
water and so on.
Orphen started to panic.
When using human magic you need to use your voice as a medium. However, Orphen
wasn’t even within range of the Dragon. Even so, he was still affected by its physic
message.
(Why has the Deep Dragon chosen to appear in this village?)
According to legends, the Deep Dragon has been a guardian of the forest of Fenrir for a long
time. Supposedly it aims to rid all humans who enter or live in the forest, within a minute it
can destroy a village completely. However, nothing is happening, it’s standing still.
(This——is this really the patron saint of the village?)
He repeated the question in his mind, he then turned the corner and suddenly——
“Who are you!?”
That voice made Orphen stop in his tracks. He looked back, a tall man was standing there.
The man was holding a torch in his right hand, in his left hand there was a mace. The bright
torch lit up his face, he was bearded and middle-aged.
Behind the man was two other men, the first was most likely another villager or an attendant.
The second was different——he was armed, wore a military jacket, and had a smile on his
face. He looked to be in his twenties or possibly thirties.
The man holding the mace spoke again, his voice rough yet crisp.
“Who are you? Are you one of the villagers?”
“……Me? I——”
Orphen was ready to say something, but it seemed the men were ready to act——the man
with the mace whacked it off the ground.
Meanwhile, the man pulled a black iron object out and put it into his left hand. Orphen
jumped backwards, the black object made a loud noise.
“A pistol!”
Orphen screamed. Because it was night time, the bullet missed.
“Great, first a Dragon now a pistol——didn’t the royal family ban that sort of thing?”
Orphen muttered, the armed man smiled——the lower half of his face covered by his beard,
his eyes fixed on Orphen.
“Human laws are useless in our forest! We are the Dragons messengers, the heart. I’m their
leader, Makudogaru.”
Orphen knew the second shot would probably him, he had to act first.
“Sword of light——”
“He’s a sorcerer!”
Makudogaru cried, as more men approached his location. Orphen decided to continue
casting the spell.
“Whom I do——”
He clearly intended to cast the spell——but suddenly the incantation was hampered.
“Ahhh——!?”
Orphen felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, he didn’t know when someone stabbed him with a
knife. If his arms weren’t raised for the incantation, the knife would have stabbed him in the
neck.
He groaned out aloud as the knife was removed.
Bang! The sound of a shot rang out, but it missed. Orphen couldn’t hold back the pain
caused by the knife, he lowered his shoulders, ready to cast the spell again——
Then, suddenly someone else attacked him——they took their torch and swung it at him,
Orphen was unable to avoid it.
“d.a.m.n it——”
Orphen yelled as he fell to the ground. The attendant stepped towards him with murderous
intent. Orphen knew he had to make a move right away, he lunged towards him and struck
him in the chest. Then chanted:
“I let thou flow, angel"s breath”
Suddenly, the air around the men began to swirl. Its pressure intensified and flung the men
towards one another, Makudogaru received a direct hit.
(This is it——I’ve got to——rescue Majic——)
At that time——
(What……?)
Orphen was stunned, he couldn’t move. Right in front of him was the giant wolf, the Deep
Dragon.
“Ohhh……”
He heard Makudogaru exclaim behind him.
“My Lord, the Holy Spirit!”
Orphen repeated what Makudogaru said.
The Dragon……it was watching them.
The Deep Dragon——legends call it the silent Dragon warrior. Its residence lies within the
forest of Fenrir, foolish humans from around the continent came here trying to beat the
strongest warrior. Even the King and Queen fear its destructive power, naturally they sent an
army to deal with this threat.
It was foolish of them to think that they could win, none of them made it back alive.
Taking a closer look at the black wolf, he could feel its overwhelming power. It had quiet,
beautiful, green eyes, they were staring right at him. It was probably just a glance, but it was
enough to make a human turn into dust.
It was the continent’s most beautiful beast, the Deep Dragon, Fenrir.
Under the moonlight it’s dark coat gave off a magnificent sight,
“Why……do you look at me?”
“Aren’t you a human? Your kind always wants things.”
(…………?)
It seemed the Dragon didn’t understand what Orphen said, or that Orphen didn’t understand
what the Dragon was saying.
“You protect your own things, yet you want to borrow my power?”
(No——!)
Orphen clenched his fist, ready for anything.
Then, as if darkness was descending upon him——silence.