Chapter 14

Mirien, huh.

I knew it. She had been subtly keeping an eye on me. The elf scout of the party I joined…

Her gaze on me and the caution in her eyes were obvious to my senses.

So yeah, I kinda expected she might confront me when we were alone…

“But pulling out a dagger right off the bat? Didn’t see that coming.”

Though the others are still in the nearby tents, without hesitation, she pointed a dagger at me.

Of course, I wasn’t really fazed. To Yujin, that puny dagger was nothing more than a child’s toy.

That’s why I didn’t subdue her earlier even though I realized she was going for the dagger in her coat. Who gets worked up over a kid swinging a toy sword?

So I just let her press the blade against my neck. As a bonus, I dragged her into an isolated spot so the rest of the party wouldn’t witness her threatening me.

This way, no one but the two of us will know what happened between Yujin and Mirien.

Inside the perfect sealed space created by “Dragon Language,” I decided to turn the tables and put some pressure on Mirien – partly as retaliation for her threat, partly as a little “Prank.”

“Tell me who I am. You know the answer, don’t you?”

One of the dragon’s powers: Fear (Fear).

When a dragon reveals its true self, all living beings around it fall into terror just by recognizing its presence, losing their rational thinking.

Indeed, Mirien’s body trembled like a leaf, her complexion turning ghostly pale.

Tears streamed down from her wide eyes, foam started bubbling from her mouth, and she looked about to faint.

Even in this state, she tried to answer Yujin’s question despite herself.

“You, you, you are…”

“Yeah? What am I?”

As if compelled to answer the voice of some distant entity, she struggled to force out the words.

“You… are…!”

Her eyes began to roll back. It seemed a shock reaction was imminent.

“Oops, maybe I went a bit too far?”

At that point, Yujin withdrew the Fear. The oppressive mana dissipated, and the suffocating pressure vanished.

“…Cough! Hack! Huff!”

Finally freed from the crushing sensation, Mirien began gasping for air while coughing violently.

After struggling for a while, she looked up at Yujin with labored breathing.

Looking straight at her, Yujin grinned and said:

“My apologies. My Prank got a little out of hand. But… since Mirien-san also drew a blade on me, shall we call it even?”

“…”

Mirien stared at him with trembling eyes before bowing her head deeply. She seemed to have lost the courage to look at him directly.

Watching her for a moment, Yujin knelt down, matched her eye level, and gently lifted her chin with one hand.

“Before that though, Mirien-san…”

Forcing her to meet his eyes, he asked:

“Will you tell me who I am?”

“Huh…!”

“Haha, just kidding. Guess I scared you too much.”

Seeing Mirien’s deathly pale face, Yujin chuckled apologetically, raising his other hand to place a finger over his lips.

“But you shouldn’t show such fear in front of others, right? Let’s keep today’s incident our little secret.”

“…”

“Understood?”

Shaking violently, Mirien nodded. Seeing this, Yujin smiled warmly and nodded back.

“Good job. Now, let’s resume the watch.”

With that, Yujin snapped his fingers.

Poof!

The dark space disappeared, returning them to the party’s campsite.

Yujin sat down on the folding chair near the bonfire. After hesitating for a while, Mirien eventually rose shakily and sat next to him.

For the remaining watch time, they didn’t exchange a single word. Of course, it was only between Yujin and Mirien that there was silence.

『Seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it? There was no need to pressure her so harshly.』

Tiamat spoke to Yujin. Unlike other Transcendents who viewed mortals as insignificant, she possessed a compassionate nature and thought Yujin went too far.

“Is that so?”

『Likely this girl will never forget this incident. Even though you controlled your Fear emission, the power of a dragon isn’t something trivial. This girl will probably carry this trauma for life.』

“Hmm…”

Yujin glanced sideways briefly. When his gaze reached her, Mirien flinched and drooped her long ears.

Her eyes unmistakably showed sheer terror. She was clearly trying hard to suppress her shaking body.

『That shows she has a strong spirit, though. While most mortals struck by full-force Fear either go insane or die from shock, she’s holding on thanks to your restraint.』

“I see.”

『…Is that all?』

“It was her who drew the blade first.”

To Yujin, this whole situation was practically a joke, yet she had genuinely threatened him.

She had acted as if she would slit his throat at any moment after muttering nonsense while pressing the blade against his neck. Whether she was serious or not, the fact remains that she initiated the conflict.

Unless Yujin harbored ill intentions or caused harm to the party – which he didn’t – her actions stemmed purely from her personal suspicion towards him.

Therefore, she must bear the consequences. That’s only natural.

『…』

“Tiamat-sama might think I’m being petty for a Transcendent. But I have no personal grudge against Mirien-san.”

This was sincere. Yujin hadn’t felt anything particular toward Mirien even when she drew her blade.

『You do this even without personal feelings?』

“Yes. That’s why I stopped at scaring her.”

Though Tiamat’s question seemed unrelated to his response, it was indeed a clear answer.

Yujin continued.

“Tiamat-sama, intimidating those who threaten you is merely a form of affection. If someone truly harbors malice, they’d rip out your teeth so you can’t bite back, and break both your legs so you can’t stand.”

『I understand that, but your actions aren’t exactly merciful…』

“Tiamat-sama, I’m not claiming my act of stopping at intimidation is merciful. I just want you to understand how infinitely weak and cowardly mortals are.”

『…』

“Tiamat-sama, showing mercy to someone who rashly acted against you isn’t appropriate. Mercy prevents these weak and cowardly beings from learning from their mistakes.”

『…What you mean is…』

“If I had shown mercy to her and she faced the same situation again, would she expect mercy again from another powerful being? How could she possibly know what evil that being might harbor against her?”

『…』

“It might sound like a stretch, but my thoughts remain unchanged. She acted rashly and must pay the price to understand her mistake. Mortals are weak and cowardly, and they learn through making mistakes. Only then can they survive longer.”

Saying this, Yujin gave a bitter smile and added,

“And as I said before, I have no personal feelings toward Mirien-san. This was just my way of warning her not to put herself in unnecessary danger through rash actions in the future.”

『…I see.』

“Ahaha, though it was partly due to my playful mood. Still, as Tiamat-sama said, she seems to have a strong spirit. I believe she’ll recover soon.”

Upon hearing Yujin’s words, Tiamat reflected briefly. She realized that indiscriminately bestowing mercy upon the weak wasn’t always beneficial.

In this aspect, Yujin surpassed Tiamat in insight. Probably because he himself had once been mortal, he understood these aspects better.

Being inherently powerful, it was difficult for Tiamat to grasp this realization until now.

After a short while, Mirien, who seemed extremely uncomfortable, stood up.

“Well, um… since it’s about time, I’ll…!”

She forced out the words with a trembling voice before retreating into the tent.

Since it was Yujin’s turn next for watch duty, he simply waited quietly in his seat.

As he waited…

“Mm… Good work, Yujin-san.”

“Hehe, welcome. Hans-san.”

The porter Hans came out and greeted him. Then he asked curiously:

“So, what happened between you and Mirien-san? She seemed quite uneasy…”

“Hmm, we just passed some time with a few scary stories.”

“Ah… I see. Didn’t expect Mirien-san to get so unsettled by mere scary tales.”

Hans scratched his head while glancing at the tent. He didn’t seem suspicious.

“Would you like one too, Hans-san?”

“Uh… No thanks. Something tells me Yujin-san’s scary stories might be too much for me.”

“Hehe, what a shame.”

With that, their conversation ended, and they took up watch duty.

How much time passed?

Soon, the sun began to rise slowly.

And then…

“Let’s get moving!”

Thus, their journey through the Maze resumed.