The Foreigner on the Periphery

"What on earth is going on?!"

The staff working at Raymond's mansion stared up at the sky in sheer terror.

Thick, dark clouds blanketed the surroundings, making it difficult to see even a few meters ahead. It was impossible to tell what was happening high above them.

Ever since the roof had been blown away by a terrifying roar moments ago, the only things visible within the thunderclouds were the occasional, glaring flashes of blue lightning.

The employees desperately wanted to flee, but a barrier blocked them; there was no way out.

As they shivered in fear, covered in dust and powdered stone...

Plop!

"...Huh?!"

Something struck their heads.

Black rain began to fall. At the same time, an atrocious stench engulfed the area.

The people soon realized the true nature of the liquid, which had only looked black in the shadow of the storm clouds.

"B-blood! It's blood!"

Splat!

Splat, splat!

A rain of blood was pouring from the sky.

The onlookers turned stark white. Drowning in terror, they looked at each other as if pleading for someone to do something, but there were no answers.

After all, they were all trapped here.

"Blargh!"

Taylor, who was exclusively in charge of Raymond's wardrobe when the dragon used Polymorph, vomited. He was a dwarf known for having a cast-iron stomach.

The stench carried by the Blood Rain was extraordinary. Unlike the ordinary smell of blood, it possessed a nauseating quality that churned the stomach. Even a dull-sensed orc clawed at the ground, spilling tears and snot, while the elves, with their sensitive noses, had already fainted.

They had no way of knowing that the rain falling on them was the fresh blood of a dragon, teeming with raw vitality and Magic.

*

"Grrr... Raaagh!"

Sprinting across the dragon's back, Minjun finally reached the tail. The shadowy appendage extending from his lower half gripped a Dagger and meticulously carved a line all the way down.

He turned his head to look at the path he had just run. A gleaming, bloody trail marked where the scales had been split apart. The blood spurting from it was currently raining down onto the ground below.

'What a waste.'

As Minjun thought this, the dragon's scream battered his ears.

"Raaaargh! Kaaargh!"

Raymond continued to thrash wildly. Minjun focused on his eyes. It was slightly different from his panicked flailing earlier. The hostility aimed at Minjun on his back had vanished, leaving only pain instead of hatred.

The Frying Pan, currently transformed into a Dagger, confirmed it.

=He has been completely brainwashed.=

Minjun immediately shouted.

"Stay still!"

He froze.

Raymond Wong immediately ceased all movement.

"..."

Despite having his lower jaw blown off and his back sliced open, the Ancient Dragon held himself with eerie calm. Then, with clear eyes, he looked at Minjun as if waiting for his next command.

He was completely docile even while bleeding profusely. He looked as though he couldn't feel any pain.

Minjun was confident he didn't need to test various ridiculous suggestions on him. That posture was proof enough.

Right then, Kentius asked with great difficulty.

"Is it over?"

Minjun nodded.

"Yeah."

Hearing the answer, Kentius's eyes closed and his head slumped.

He then began to plummet straight down.

Startled by the falling figure, Minjun reached out his arm. A black whip shot out from his fingertips. It spread out like a spiderweb and wrapped around the tricolor dragon. Thanks to this, Kentius dangled in midair, caught as if in a tangled hammock.

Minjun clicked his tongue.

"He was already past his limit."

Having taken multiple direct hits from lightning, he should have blacked out long ago, but every time he neared that point, Minjun had driven a 'suggestion' into his mind using mental waves.

That he couldn't pass out now.

That he could still hold on.

That he needed to stall for more time and draw the Ancient Dragon's attention.

When Minjun assured him he could do it, Kentius believed it without a shadow of a doubt. Thus, he had moved beyond his physical limits until, like a snapped string, he finally lost consciousness.

'Was it some kind of Berserk state?'

It seemed he needed more experiments to find out exactly how far the Frying Pan's abilities could be applied.

'First, treatment.'

Kentius was an issue, but Raymond also couldn't be allowed to show his face to others with a shattered lower jaw.

This Ancient Dragon couldn't be killed. Not only was he needed to find the Lord's killer, but unlike Changcheon, Raymond hadn't yet committed a crime worthy of death by dragon standards.

Minjun didn't want to make an enemy of the entire Dragon Race on this planet.

"Raymond, keep the barrier up and let in only the one person I specify."

The Ancient Dragon did exactly as he was told.

=It has been a while since we last met.=

Avoiding the gazes of others, an alien broke through the black clouds. Floating in midair, he bowed deeply.

"Good job getting here. I heard you hid in a plane's cargo hold?"

=I am merely joyful to be of service.=

The priest, Yumtus, who had reached Hong Kong via a different route from the rest of the group, smiled, sincerely meaning it.

=Ah, this is...=

The cleric who served Minjun looked back and forth between the unconscious young dragon and the old dragon waiting with a split-open back.

He tilted his head and seemed to interpret the scene in line with his own philosophy.

In a religious sense, that is.

=Are you in the middle of making an offering?=

Minjun shook his head.

He had no intention of doing anything bizarre here in the style of the Dreamland Church. Though, admittedly, it was a scene Yumtus could easily misunderstand as such.

"Heal these guys up. You stocked up on Divine Power in advance, right?"

=Yes, just as you ordered.=

He radiated Divine Power. First, he awakened the collapsed, exhausted Kentius. The robust vitality unique to dragons was stimulated by the Divine Power, revitalizing the tricolor dragon's body.

"Ughhh...!"

Barely a few minutes after passing out, Kentius jolted back awake. Next, it was time to heal Raymond.

'Brings back memories.'

The Ancient Dragon stared only at Minjun with tranquil eyes, even with his jaw missing.

In the past, whenever a sensitive time like mating season arrived, males would fight among themselves, blowing off jaws or biting off tails. Yet, even as they viciously tore at each other, the moment their master approached, they would cease all action and become gentle beasts just like this. Even with cracked skulls exposing brain membranes, dangling wings, and entirely scorched scales, they would act as docile as if they felt no pain whatsoever...

"Can you do it?"

Yumtus examined the wound and spoke.

"His jaw is heavily damaged, but it occupies a small portion relative to his overall body mass, so it's fine. The key to recovery is the dragon's vitality anyway. His life force itself isn't severely impaired, so there is no need to worry."

He then looked at the dragon's back and marveled.

The state of the incision there was so clean that if one simply pulled the separated muscles back together, the cut marks would vanish without a trace.

Despite lacking expertise in dragon anatomy, Yumtus could tell this was incredible workmanship. The priest sensed a master craftsman's touch in the sliced flesh.

Seeing him not only reduce a dragon to this state but also command it like a servant, Yumtus felt his faith and reverence for the avatar deepen once again.

Flash!

Once Raymond was completely healed, Minjun spoke.

"From now on, do exactly as I say."

The Ancient Dragon docilely nodded.

With vacant eyes.

*

Appearing before the staff in perfect condition, Raymond cleaned up his scattered body parts and blood, then publicly declared that the incident was an accident caused by "a catalyst going berserk during a Magic experiment." It was an excuse no one would believe, but there was also no one who dared to question it.

Watching this from behind, Kentius suddenly felt a sense of incongruity.

Calmly observing the sensation wriggling in his mind, the dragon soon realized what it was.

'Come to think of it, where did Leo go?'

The dragon he had considered a friend before realizing he was crazy was nowhere to be seen. That dragon, who was also Raymond's son.

If he had been inside the barrier with them, he would have shown himself during the fight. It was far too massive a disturbance to ignore.

Even if Leo had been outside the barrier, he should have returned here by now. The barrier was huge enough to be seen from anywhere in Hong Kong. He would have come back, if only to find out why his father had created such a thing right after receiving guests.

And yet, he was still missing...

'Did he leave via Teleport right after meeting me earlier? Abroad, at that? If it was just before the barrier went up, he could have moved. But what was in such a hurry...'

After ordering the restoration of the mansion, Raymond moved to an undisclosed location with the visitors.

After informing Jenkinson that he was safe, Minjun began interrogating Raymond. Since they didn't need to draw attention, both dragons had shifted into their human forms.

Minjun took charge of the questions, and Kentius raised no objections. In the tense atmosphere, Kentius forgot his doubts about Leo's whereabouts.

"..."

The air instantly grew heavy. The prisoner asked the most important question first. The reason they had accepted the invitation despite suspecting an ulterior motive. The suspicion that had to be resolved.

"Did you kill the Dragon Lord?"

Kentius felt as if his chest would burst. Amidst soaring expectations, he glared at the Ancient Dragon.

Raymond slowly moved his lips.

The answer that spilled from his mouth was...

"No, I did not kill him."

"Liar!"

It sounded like both a scream and a roar. With his expectations shattered to pieces, Kentius seethed.

"How dare you... Who do you think you're lying to! You killed the Lord. Otherwise, there is no way to explain why that artifact disappeared!"

He thought he had been right on the verge of obtaining a Dragon Heart; having those hopes betrayed, he was in no mood to accept the answer quietly.

He continuously spat curses, tearing into the Ancient Dragon. Minjun decided he needed to calm the kid down.

"Give up your vain hopes and confess to us right this instant...!"

Minjun interjected bluntly.

"Kentius, he's not lying."

"Ah, is that so? Then you didn't kill him, Raymond."

His voice grew perfectly calm in an instant. As if he hadn't just been throwing a tantrum, Kentius returned to a tranquil expression and quietly sat back down.

After bringing such mental peace to the young dragon, Minjun continued the interrogation.

"Then do you know who killed him?"

The Ancient Dragon answered with an innocent expression.

"I do not know."

Now Minjun himself felt a surge of irritation and disappointment.

"Then why did you try to steal the Lord's legacy?"

"Because I suspected an artifact of the Ancient Race was inside it."

At least that wasn't a lie.

However...

"I'm guessing your story about wanting to buy it back because you regretted selling it was a lie, then."

The Ancient Dragon confirmed Minjun's deduction without twitching a single eyebrow.

"Naturally, it was a lie."

"Why did you try to get it back? Did you tamper with the artifact and want to destroy the evidence?"

"No, it was nothing like that. I had truly forgotten such a thing was even in my vault until the Lord asked for it that night."

Then why on earth?

The Ancient Dragon gave the answer.

"Because the day before he died, I witnessed the Lord casting a spell on that artifact."

"...What spell?"

"It was Magic that reacts to dragon blood."

"You mean a spell to find dragons?"

It was the same Magic Jenkinson had used in the past to find Jang Tae-jun.

A spell impossible to use unless one was a creature with dragon blood flowing in their veins.

"It was a more refined version of that spell. It responds exclusively to the children who inherited the Lord's blood, permits only them to use the item, and to aid in that process... it was a spell designed to search for and pinpoint the locations of his children."

Minjun's expression shifted slightly.

Thump! Thump!

His heart began to pound a little harder.

A spell to find the Lord's children?

Fundamentally... it was a spell that only the Dragon Lord himself could construct.

Other dragons who shared his blood could cast similar spells, but among his children on Earth, the eldest was Kentius, who wasn't even a hundred years old yet. He wasn't at a level where he could meddle with high-tier spells that operated on a genetic level.

Trying to track down and bring in another child from another dimension would make persuading them difficult, and obtaining Committee approval would take a very long time, making this the most realistic method.

"Why did you need the artifact with that spell on it?"

"Because I suspect the Lord has a hidden child."

"...!"

With a sharp gaze, Minjun pressed him to continue.

"Explain in detail."

But the words he offered next were something Minjun hadn't predicted at all.

"A long time ago, the Lord told me that he was looking for a way to avoid death."

"...?!"

"It is a tremendous tragedy for noble beings like dragons to wither away upon reaching the limits of their lifespan. Naturally, it is a research subject worth paying attention to."

Reminiscing about the past, the Ancient Dragon spilled his secret.

"Nevertheless, the reason I was startled when I heard those words was that I, too, was searching for that very method. I was quite seriously dedicated to it, investing a great deal of money and time."

Being the Dragon Lord's close friend meant that Raymond was also an incredibly old dragon.

"However, I didn't let on. I subtly pried, asking him what kind of methods his research involved."

"Why? Was there a reason to hide the fact that you were researching the same thing?"

"Because the partners I allied with for my research... were individuals I couldn't easily tell others about. Especially not the Lord."

Just as Minjun was about to dig deeper into that detail, Raymond's next words made him listen closely.

"The Lord told me it was a secret. He was utterly unwilling to tell me. So, I shared this fact with my partners. Upon hearing this, they... suspected the Lord was conducting similar research using the exact same methods as us. Without interacting with them, perhaps doing it entirely alone. It wasn't a coincidence, but rather an inevitable conclusion. They were absolutely certain of it. That there was only one way for a long-lived race like dragons to overcome the limits of their lifespan."

"What is it?"

The Ancient Dragon spoke calmly.

"To prepare a physical body as genetically identical to oneself as possible to avoid rejection, and then to transfer one's soul into that body."

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