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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: A Taste of Dragon Scale
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“Carry it around with you, and no evil or impure things will be able to harm you. Especially since I'm an evil dragon, I can block just about any ordinary evil.”
In other words, it warded off evil with evil.
It meant the evil protected by Evil Dragon Ater would block the interference from those grotesque things slyly eyeing Nibelria.
‘Of course, that protection is only temporary.’
Evil Dragon Ater wasn't entirely sure just how much his own evil could fend off those grotesque entities.
Those grotesque things were even targeting the supreme evil dragon himself.
Right now, too.
But he could protect her from the malice of things ‘mutated’ by them.
“If carrying it around feels like a hassle, you could grind it into powder and swallow it. The problem is, it's tough to grind.”
For all its appearance, it was still a dragon's scale.
Even from a hatchling less than half a year old, it boasted tremendous hardness—comparable to diamond, or perhaps even tougher.
“There are side effects, though.”
At those words, Armifera's eyes narrowed slightly.
“Side effects? I didn't hear about that.”
She hadn't heard it in the earlier conversation between Armifera and the evil dragon.
The evil dragon shrugged it off nonchalantly, nestling his chin more comfortably against Armifera's arm.
“You'll just feel depressed for a few days and struggle to control your anger. Evil tends to amplify negative human emotions, after all.”
“What if you just carry the scale?”
“It's milder than ingesting it. The dragon's body naturally refines the malevolent energy to some extent.”
“Hmm...”
Armifera glanced at Muniel.
Muniel shrugged and held out her hand. Armifera passed the evil dragon's scale to her.
“We should show it to the Great Witch first.”
“The Great Witch should know how to handle my scale well. Even the Great Spirit of the Forest has returned...”
“Grandma.”
Nibelria had slipped in front of Muniel at some point and pointed squarely at the scale.
Then she cupped her hands and held them out.
“Give it to me.”
“Why? Curious?”
“Yeah.”
Muniel held out the scale, cautioning her to handle it gently.
The black scale, about the size of a coin, settled into the child's palm.
It gleamed with an oily luster, resembling a master craftsman's polished obsidian sculpture.
The dark red blood from where it had been embedded in flesh had already dried, and the bits of flesh had withered to dust.
Lick—
“Ah.”
Muniel let out a startled noise.
Nibelria had licked the scale like it was a lollipop.
It happened so fast that everyone present froze in shock.
Even the mighty evil dragon's jaw dropped wide enough to hit the floor.
“......”
The child's chubby cheeks worked furiously at first, then slowed to a halt.
Nibelria's blue eyes met Muniel's blue eyes.
“...Is it tasty?”
Muniel asked in a bewildered tone.
“......”
Instead of answering, Nibelria bowed her head.
“Blech.”
And then she vomited.
“For all the souls and fleeting moments of my countless ancestors swirling in my mind, that regressed kid is a first for me.”
Nibelria, certified extraordinary even by Evil Dragon Ater, never again declared she wanted to eat lizard after that day.
“It's not tasty! So not tasty!”
The fishy, repulsive taste—nothing like her memories—had her bursting into tears.
“Bad evil dragon! Liar! Waaah!”
“It's okay, miss...”
“It's not okay! I feel like throwing up again!”
“Want some water? Come here...”
Arep handled the whining Nibelria with practiced ease.
He gave her water to drink, patted her back to bring up a burp, and fetched the candies and chocolate from the Magic Tower Lord to freshen her mouth.
Watching this, Armifera remarked,
“Nini really picked a good man, huh?”
“Arep is... sniff... Nini's mate...”
Even with a candy in her mouth and tears in her eyes, Nibelria insisted Arep was hers.
Arep swelled with pride.
Still, seeing how she spat it out as so fishy, grinding it into powder for ingestion seemed impractical.
They decided to pass the scale to the Great Witch for now.
“She might come up with a method I haven't thought of.”
Evil Dragon Ater stretched languidly like a cat.
“You're an evil dragon, but you don't know how to use your own body?”
Armifera shot him a distrustful look.
The evil dragon scoffed.
“To think I'm hearing this from a human who can't see even an inch ahead. Even the mighty evil dragon is fading away.”
A few days later.
Exactly one week after Nibelria stopped proclaiming lizards were delicious.
The Great Witch sent a box to the Dayamor mansion.
Inside were several lumps of black honey-like substance.
Refined honey candies made from Evil Dragon Ater's scales.
“Hmm...”
Muniel read the letter, then held it to a lit candle. It turned to black ash in an instant, piling up around the candlestick.
“The Great Witch, as expected.”
Evil Dragon Ater, dressed in a pristine white ribboned dress he had picked out himself, sat in the opposite chair.
“No, did the Great Spirit of the Forest help too?”
Muniel smiled brightly.
“Now I just need to bless them, right?”
“No worries about side effects.”
A blessing from the Great Spirit and the Saintess on top.
It might end up far more potent than even the evil dragon had anticipated.
“Saintess.”
The evil dragon asked.
“Do you know what that is?”
“I have a rough idea.”
“...And how to get rid of it?”
“I do, but there's no justification for it right now.”
The Saintess, who replied that she would simply watch, traced the holy sign in the air.
With a prayer to the great god whose name could not be uttered, radiant light fell like snow onto the honey lumps.
“I have a question too.”
Muniel, checking the number of well-infused honey lumps, turned to the evil dragon.
“Aren't evil dragons and saintesses natural enemies?”
“My inherited memories say as much.”
Yet the evil dragon sat at the same table as the Saintess.
And not only that.
From the moment he hatched, the evil dragon had lingered around the Dayamor mansion, brimming with holy energy.
A family truly beloved by the gods should be anathema to an evil dragon.
Armifera had read as much in history books from the mercenary lands.
“But my instincts find this place comforting.”
The evil dragon's tail swished contentedly.
“So what exactly is wrong?”
His clear, dark eyes fixed intently on the Saintess.
The wrinkles around the Saintess's eyes crinkled in amusement.
“You already know the answer.”
“We're probably thinking the same thing.”
“Yes.”
The grotesque had ultimately mutated even the ‘truth’.
“Maybe I'm not an ‘evil dragon’ at all.”
“What about the curse on the Magic Tower Lord?”
“If my memories were altered by the grotesque, then it wasn't me who cursed the Magic Tower Lord, but...”
“The grotesque?”
“A murky, eerie intruder—like blood diffusing in water—that arbitrarily mutates what exists.”
“An intruder...”
Not wrong.
‘In fact, the most accurate description.’
There were quite a few honey lumps in the box.
Over twenty by rough count. Finely ground dragon scales mixed into honey, formed into neat spheres around red berries.
The Saintess popped one into her mouth and savored it slowly.
“A bit bitter for the kids?”
“Medicine's always like that.”
The evil dragon let out a cheeky peep, suggesting they give the big ones to the regressed one.
“Eeeeng...”
Nibelria popped the largest honey lump into her mouth and scrunched up her face fiercely.
Her features bunched together into an utterly ugly expression.
Solles and Arep didn't look much different.
“Bitter...”
“Told you not to be greedy for the big one.”
“Mom, can I spit it out?”
“It's medicine—eat it all.”
“Hiiing!”
Seletrina coaxed the reluctant Nibelria while popping a black honey lump into her own mouth and chewing.
She grimaced too.
“It is bitter.”
But rolling it around to dissolve in saliva neutralized the bitterness with the honey's sweetness.
And the final tart burst from the red berry cleared the cloying aftertaste.
The children adapted after rolling them around and soon played with wooden blocks, faces relaxed as they sucked on the candies.
Thus, the Dayamor family consumed the dragon scale honey lumps prophylactically.
Nibelria grew curious about who had eaten them.
“Did you eat one too, Dether?”
“No.”
Dether replied while helping her prepare for kindergarten.
“Aww.”
Nibelria pouted in disappointment.
“You're Nini's subordinate too. And family.”
“Oh my.”
Dether smiled happily.
“That's more than enough for me.”
“It's super bitter 'cause it's medicine, but good for you.”
“Then our young miss and young master should eat plenty.”
I'm an adult, and healthy enough.
Dether finished preparations by adjusting the ribbon in Nibelria's hair.
As they headed to the entrance for the carriage, Solles came into view.
“Nini, off to kindergarten?”
“Yeah.”
“Have a good day.”
“You study hard too, bro. Got it?”
“Haha, sure.”
They shared a light hug to bond, when a familiar meow sounded from somewhere.
Nibelria's eyes sharpened.
“I hear a sneaky sound!”
Armifera stood where the noise came from.
In one hand, she held a small cage containing a kitten.
“That sneaky, naughty...!”
“Whoa, Nini!”
Solles hurriedly grabbed his sister as she lunged for the cat.
“What's gotten into her all of a sudden?”
Even Armifera startled and quickly hid the cage behind her.
“......”
Only Evil Dragon Ater, transformed into a kitten, sighed deeply as if to say, ‘I knew this would happen.’
