CH 24

Chapter 24: Feeding the red dragon!

Translator : yuzu

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Ludding watched as that formerly weak and defenseless girl rushed out with a huge sword. Faster than the pigman hunter could move, she swung the sword, severing her opponent’s head in one go.

Blood splattered on the ground. The girl unleashed a war cry, ending the living nightmare that Ludding had been experiencing for such a long time.

Eve had killed those two pigmen hunters, easily.

During this period of time they were separated, exactly had happened to Eve…?

Ludding was stunned for a while. When he regained his senses, he stumbled over to Eve’s side and stared at the two corpses on the ground. After a while, he spoke, “Are you really Eve…?”

“Yup, I’ve awakened a new Gift.”

Luya lied without batting an eye. “I used to be weak and powerless, but after we separated, I tried some stuff out and awakened my Gift for magic. My body grew stronger along with it.”

“Indeed, there are very few people in Asdra with that kind of power. Nobody can predict what kind of changes would happen to a special child like you after awakening a Gift…”

Ludding sighed. He didn’t doubt Luya’s words at all. He knew that those types of exceptional people were different from everyone else, and they could easily get a place in the Empire’s Special Forces department.

But Ludding was puzzled. “Why did you use a sword to attack the other monster, rather than magic? I think that’s dangerous, and risky for you…”

“Because you can’t eat burnt meat.”

Luya earnestly explained to Ludding, “Pigmen are essentially just pigs, so can you make them into something tasty, Uncle Ludding?”

“…”

Ludding was stunned when he heard Luya’s words. He stared at the beheaded pigman corpse for a long time, and then reluctantly shook his head.

“That… even though pig people have pig heads, their body structure is basically the same as humans. It’s a bit like cannibalism, so it feels wrong…”

“That’s true, it is disgusting.”

Luya looked at the decapitated corpse. With the pig head removed, it was basically the same as an ordinary person, so it would be hard to stomach. Aside from its hands and feet, which were four-toed hooves, the other body structures were identical to a human’s. If you ate it, it would feel a lot like eating a person.

Psychological obstacles were so hard to overcome!

“Then can you see if you can make the head into something?”

Luya pointed at the dead pig head on the ground. If they really had no choice, pig head meat was edible. Pig ears, pig tongue, and pig neck meat were technically all delicacies.

“This… Even if you say that, it’s still a pigman head… no one’s ever eaten anything like that… well, fine, I’ll try it.”

Ludding nodded reluctantly, and then shuddered as he put the pig’s head into his bag. Then he followed Luya into the power plant.

They quickly found the machine. Luya detached the condensing unit from the power generator, and then threw it in her bag.

“Let’s go to the clothing store to grab a change of clothes, and then we can leave.”

Luya felt like it was about time to give Ludding a vaccination1. As he gradually relaxed, she told him about the red dragon.

“Actually the person who saved me isn’t human. You may want to prepare yourself, but he’s a good person and won’t hurt you.”

“Not human?”

Ludding froze for a moment. “What do you mean…?”

“He’s a dragon2.” Luya blushed in embarrassment, and answered mysteriously.

“When you see him in a bit, don’t be too scared, no matter what.”

…

However, when he saw that huge red dragon, Ludding finally realized that Luya wasn’t joking. In the middle of the ruined town, there really was a dragon waiting for them.

How was it possible not to be scared?! It was a dragon!!

Ludding was so frightened he nearly peed and fainted on the spot. Then he watched Luya walk up to the dragon, stroking the dragon’s neck affectionately.

“Farus, I found a friend from my old team who used to take care of me. I swear he’s a really nice guy, so can we bring him along?”

“…”

That red dragon seemed very close with Luya, and it was very patient with her.

After she had brought Ludding here, it narrowed its oppressive amber-colored pupils. It was hard to tell what it was thinking, and it seemed to be examining the newcomer.

“Are you sure? I can feel the fear in this human.” The red dragon looked at his little girl and spoke.

Truthfully, he didn’t care if there was another human… as long as they didn’t fear or resist him. However, Ludding’s reaction was a little disappointing. Sure enough, there wasn’t another human being who could match up to his little girl.

“It’s because Uncle Ludding doesn’t know how gentle you are, Farus. It’s natural for humans to fear the unknown. Is it okay if he lives with us?”

Luya’s eyes brimmed with expectations, and the red dragon found it difficult to refuse. Underneath the dragon’s stare, Ludding didn’t dare move. He didn’t know how Luya communicated with the red dragon at all, and he hardly had the courage to breath.

Luya walked to Ludding’s side and spoke to him encouragingly, “Don’t worry, Farus doesn’t eat humans. If it weren’t for him, I would have been dead long ago. He saved my life. So if you want to live, just listen to me…”

“Okay…”

Ludding closed his eyes. If he stayed behind, he’d still die. Even though he was afraid, he decided to believe in Luya. He nodded and said, “Please take me with you.”

…

The dragon’s lair.

Luya changed into a new outfit.

Her original clothes were nearly worn out. The shop she had visited still had a lot of new clothes, so after dressing herself, she looked a lot cuter. Before, she had been a beggar that was too embarrassing to look at, but now she transformed into Village Girl A.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any dog food in the town. Most of the food in the grocery store was emptied out by the rat monsters, and the food in the pet store was also completely gone. The only things left were some seasonings that the monsters weren’t interested in.

Even though most of them had passed the expiration date, it was better than nothing. Luya took back everything that she could, and then installed the electric generator and lightbulbs in the dragon’s lair. She kept working until the sun was about to go down, when she finally had time to go look for her cook.

“Uncle Ludding, is dinner ready?”

“It’ll be a bit longer. The pigmen have a strong stench, and it took me a while to get rid of the odor. It’ll probably be another half an hour.”

After agonizing between steaming or roasting the meat, Ludding ultimately chose to go with braised pork knuckles3 in sauce.

Yeah… When he finally admitted to Luya that he might not be able to make anything good out of the head, that girl immediately chopped off the pig’s hoof, and then said to him, “This part is also different from a human’s, so can we eat this?”

“…I’ll try my best.”

Well, what else could he say? At least it was better than the other parts…

Most of the seasonings had just reached their expiration date. It took them a lot of effort to find a bottle of soy sauce with a three-year use-by date. Although it had already expired, Ludding smelled it and found that it hadn’t gone bad. It should still be okay to use it.

However, their luck was very good, and they found a package of vacuum-packed soybeans. After planting them again, they could ferment their own soy sauce.

Ludding finally understood why Luya wanted to bring him along. He had assumed that this place would be entirely barren. However, he was surprised to find water, lights, and even a huge plot of farmland where the dragon lived. It was everything a human needed to survive.

Luya told him that the red dragon had saved her.

At the monster’s market, the red dragon had purchased her with two magic stones, brought her here, given her food, and taken care of her for the entire time.

All of these things sounded incredible to Ludding. Dragons were one of the strongest creatures, and even monsters were afraid of them. Why was it so friendly to humans?

He didn’t dare ask, and he didn’t even dare wonder about it. They had already saved his life.

It wasn’t necessary to stick one’s nose in everything. Even if there were parts he didn’t understand, it was better to leave some questions unanswered.

Oh, his braised pork knuckle was almost ready.

Incidentally, Ludding had done a really good job with this dish. The aroma floated far away, and even the dragon was lured out of its nest. It stared at the pig’s knuckle in the pot.

Ludding felt an enormous amount of pressure, and he couldn’t help but pull on Luya and whisper into her ear, “Maybe you should take this to the dragon. I’m afraid it’ll eat us when it’s hungry…”

“What are you talking about? Why would the dragon eat us just because it’s hungry?”

Luya self-righteously shot down Ludding’s notion, grabbed a pork knuckle right in front of him, and then started gnawing on it.

“This is delicious!”

“This pig’s knuckle is stewed in oil, but it’s not greasy. It’s crispy and tender, and the rich broth has a faint sweetness to it. The heat control is perfect, and there’s isn’t even the slightest stench of the pigmen at all. It’s so delicious I think I might choke!”

He was a chef worthy of being a chef, and his cooking was so many times better than her own food! Rescuing him was absolutely the right choice.

Luya provided commentary for Ludding’s cooking like a real gourmet, and Ludding smiled awkwardly as Luya praised him like this.

“Honestly, I’m just glad you like what I make, Eve.”

As the Shiba Inu heard Luya’s review, its formerly disinterested and drooping ears slowly perked up. It stared straight at the pot of braised pork, and it swallowed subconsciously.

But Luya didn’t seem to notice this, and she offhandedly commented that dogs couldn’t eat braised meat. She gave a piece of pork knuckle to Ludding, and then brought the entire pot in front of the red dragon.

“Say aahh~”

She softly encouraged the red dragon to open his mouth. Amidst the dog’s shocked eyes, she poured the entire remainder of the pot into the red dragon’s mouth.

“Tasty?”

As the red dragon chewed, Luya couldn’t help but to ask expectantly.

“A dense flavor. A very novel experience.” The red dragon replied.

“He said he liked it!”

Luya conveyed the red dragon’s response to Ludding, who couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Really? That’s great… I like cooking, and I’m glad I can satisfy a dragon.”

He smiled reluctantly, and then became a little sad again.

How was Matthew doing? Was he still alive?

He knew that he didn’t have the strength to save Matthew, and he also didn’t want to expose Luya to danger. Saving him was impossible. The human ranches were heavily guarded, and he didn’t even want to remember how he had managed to escape that time. Somehow, he had gotten out with his life hanging by a thread.

This child finally found a brighter place, so she shouldn’t be involved with those horrible things anymore.

In this post-apocalyptic world, it was important to live as best as one could.

But just as Ludding told himself to forget about this, two days later, a dangerous visitor arrived at the dragon’s lair.

It was another dragon. Tiamat the Magic Dragon tore through the bright sky, bringing along thunder and torrential rain, as she slowly descended onto the red dragon’s domain.

Author’s notes :

Do you want another update tonight? Should I return part of the fertilizer that everyone gave me, or should I pay it off all in one go after the clip?

In the red dragon’s current eyes:

Heroine = cute and clingy little milk cat, be careful sweetie

Ludding = the fat old cat that my little cat brought home

Crown Prince Dog = unlikable dog

Translator’s notes :

Vaccination : This is a literal translation, and I couldn’t think of a good way to localize it. The idea is to ease Ludding in before breaking the big news. He’s a dragon (是龙) : I’m not totally sure if there’s some kind of subtext here where “dragon” can be interpreted is something else. My translation is literal. In some circumstances, dragon’s are used to refer to imperial things (the dragon is the sign of the Chinese emperor), so perhaps the vagueness comes from there. Braised pork knuckles (红焖猪手) : Also known as “stewed pork leg”. I couldn’t find a wikipedia page, but here is the baike page (Chinese wikipedia), which has some pictures.

Somehow I feel like Luya’s SAN stat broke somewhere…