The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 23

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – Episode 23

The Dragon Born of Night

Nox looked flustered.

Yoo Seong-woo asked,

“You said a dragon’s horn is a magical organ. Is that why you’re cutting it off?”

“Yeah. It looks unstable, and it’s better to cut it off to prevent it from going berserk. That way, even if it does, there won’t be much damage.”

“Oh, that’s a convincing argument I can’t refuse. But are dragon horns expensive?”

“Filthy expensive. I heard a dragon appeared here before. Wasn’t it sold?”

“No. All they did was tear off a few scales back then. And it’s unclear where those are now.”

Nox, who had been watching the two of them start talking about her as they pleased, grasped the context of the conversation.

Realizing it was a terrifying story about cutting off her horns, she blinked and waved her hands towards the ceiling, saying,

“Ah, no. Not the horns. I can control it, I can control it. Not the horns.”

“She says she can control it?”

“Well, once it’s cut off, it takes decades to grow back… Then let’s postpone cutting off the horns for now.”

*Not* that he wouldn’t cut them off, but that he would postpone it.

Nox felt relieved at his words.

The immediate crisis of having her horns cut off was averted.

“Then let me ask you something else. I am the savior who rescued you. The place where I found you was in the basement of the Undead Castle. Why were you captured there and having your magic extracted?”

“……The basement of the castle, undead?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh…!”

Nox groaned, holding her temples with both hands to recall her memories in response to Yoo Seong-woo’s question.

“……I don’t remember anything. All I vaguely remember is being captured by someone.”

“Do you know what you are?”

“……A young and delicate dragon?”

“I’m cutting off the horns.”

Yoo Seong-woo drew his Ilseong [his sword].

Then Nox waved her hands again and corrected herself.

“I, I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

“It seems like saying you don’t remember anything was a lie. I’m cutting off the horns.”

“It’s true! All I remember is being captured and my identity! I mean, I am……”

Nox seemed reluctant to reveal what kind of dragon she was.

Not all dragons are the same.

Dragons, which are divided into several categories depending on their origin, have their roots determined by their birth.

The pure white dragon born from the essence of the snow mountain is cynical and expresses little emotion.

The Red Dragon, born in a volcano and unable to control its own heat, is very passionate and has a warlike nature.

Such traits also appear on the outside, so if the polymorphed appearance of a human has icy and translucent white hair, it is White.

If it is crimson like a flame, it is classified as Red.

So, what kind of dragon is Nox, with her black-purple hair and purple eyes like the night sky?

Yoo Seong-woo guessed that she was either a ‘Black’ dragon with poison attributes or an ‘Onyx’ with mineral properties, but what came out of Nox’s mouth was beyond his expectations.

“I was born in the darkness. Far away, born in the deep night, the Night Dragon.”

“Hmm.”

Yoo Ji-woo tilted her head at Yoo Seong-woo’s subtle reaction.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve never heard of a Night Dragon. Originally, the characteristics of each race of dragon can be divided by color, but it’s not Black or Onyx, but Night, so I don’t know its characteristics.”

“Why don’t you just ask her directly? Nox, what can you do?”

At Yoo Ji-woo’s words, Nox blinked as if she didn’t know anything.

Yoo Seong-woo sighed and told her.

“It’s the same principle as breathing for these kids, so they can’t explain it properly. There’s no comparison group at all.”

“That means……”

“Analyzing the strong has always been the task of the weak. What do those who are strong from birth know about themselves? We’ll have to find out little by little in the future. What on earth does the Diver Center teach?”

“……At least they don’t teach that.”

“They deserve to fail. The problem with cramming education. That.”

Yoo Seong-woo clicked his tongue and thought about what to do next.

The immediate fire was put out.

The Bullyeoseong [a monster], which had been promoted to Level 1, had been captured…….

But there was no certainty that the same thing as Bullyeoseong wouldn’t happen elsewhere.

“I thought I could hear something from this kid. There’s no useful information. Since she’s useless, should I just cut off her horns and sell them……”

Yoo Seong-woo muttered absentmindedly.

Then Nox jumped up from her seat and waved her arms, begging him to stop, saying,

“Come to think of it, I vaguely, vaguely remember something……”

“Tell me.”

“……Before being captured and trapped under the Undead Castle, I was definitely not alone. I was forcibly captured by someone.”

“You’re stating the obvious. Where in the world is there a voluntary kidnapping?”

“No, that’s not it! What’s certain at that time is that it wasn’t the undead who captured me. There’s no way I could be captured by those corpses.”

“You’re talking shamelessly even though you were captured and lost your memory.”

Nox couldn’t refute Yoo Seong-woo’s words and collapsed again.

Then she muttered in a weak voice.

“Mom. Mom. I miss Mom…… I don’t like it here……”

“I don’t like it either, you little rascal. I thought I could come home and live comfortably……”

Yoo Ji-woo, who had been watching on Nox’s right side, approached and sat on the bed.

Then she stroked Nox’s hair with a kind touch and said.

“My brother is saying some harsh things, but don’t hate him too much. He rescued you from the basement of the castle, and my brother defeated the Elder Lich who was exploiting your magic.”

“……Really?”

“Yes. At first, he was going to kill you right away, but he changed his mind and brought you here, so I hope you don’t think of him as a bad person.”

Originally, family members should be the ones to criticize their own.

Nox, not understanding the meaning of Yoo Ji-woo’s words, thought she was comforting her and shed tears as she looked at Yoo Ji-woo.

“Eing, sister……”

“Yes, yes.”

Nox clung to Yoo Ji-woo and rubbed her face against her.

Then, a loud rumbling sound came from Nox’s stomach.

At that sound, Yoo Seong-woo picked up the chicken he had placed on the table and shook it in front of Nox’s eyes, saying,

“Have you ever eaten something called chicken?”

“……No, but I know it smells very good.”

“Eat it.”

Yoo Seong-woo put a beautifully fried golden chicken leg in Nox’s mouth.

Nox raised her body and took a bite of the chicken leg with both hands.

Then, she widened her eyes and crunched the bones as well.

Yoo Seong-woo wondered for a moment if he had ordered boneless chicken.

Seeing her chew with strong teeth without even knowing there were bones, he realized that even though she looked cute, a dragon was still a dragon.

Did she savor the taste?

As he was watching her curiously, Nox said.

“I, I’ve never eaten anything like this before…… It melts in my mouth, and it’s on a different level from the meat of those pathetic monsters……”

“Ah, that’s called chicken.”

“Why is your tone like that, oppa [older brother]?”

That’s just how it is.

Yoo Seong-woo lightly ignored Yoo Ji-woo’s teasing and gave Nox another piece.

Nox readily accepted it and ate a whole chicken.

It was unknown where a whole chicken went into her small body.

He decided to accept it roughly as ‘because she’s a dragon’.

Nox had a satisfied look on her face after eating a whole chicken.

She looked like she had melted away somewhere.

“I need to order more. And if I’m going to take her around, I need to buy her some clothes……”

“I’ve already contacted my sister to buy clothes, but how are you going to hide her identity?”

“That’s the biggest problem. Looking at her now, her polymorph isn’t perfect, and she’s not good at hiding her dragon aura.”

Others might not know, but Nox was clumsy at hiding her aura to Yoo Seong-woo, who was sensitive to energy.

Leaving aside the horns, it would be a matter of time before she was exposed as a dragon if she didn’t hide her aura.

“Can you do it? Hide your horns and suppress your aura.”

“Even if you suddenly tell me to do that……”

“I guess I have no choice but to cut off the horns……”

And the conclusion always came to one thing.

If he cut off the horns, he wouldn’t have to hide his aura.

Nox, who had been patting her stomach, shook her head in horror at Yoo Seong-woo’s words.

“I, I’ll try! I’ll try my best!”

With those words, Nox squeezed her eyes shut and struggled to control her aura.

She had only been extracted for a long time, but as a dragon, she was recovering quickly from the extraction machine, so the amount was considerable.

“Ugh…!”

Nox looked quite tired.

Trying to forcibly control the natural power that had always been with her was quite difficult.

However, although there were differences between dragons, a dragon was a dragon.

As a creature that was the progenitor of magic and a race called closer to God than any other creature, she showed her genius.

Soon, the horns that had been rising on Nox’s temples disappeared as if melting into the air, and the dragon’s aura also decreased considerably.

The thick tail that had been sticking out also disappeared.

“Oh.”

“I, is this enough……?”

Nox asked, looking exhausted.

Yoo Seong-woo nodded as if satisfied.

At this point, she wouldn’t be exposed as a dragon anywhere.

Her appearance was quite outstanding, to the point where she didn’t feel human, but a hat and mask would be enough to cover her.

And he ordered additional chicken, and soon Seo Yeon-jeong entered the hotel room.

“Ah, sister! Why are you so late?”

“I’m sorry, CEO. I was late because the military units and divers were withdrawing and the road was blocked.”

“Then it can’t be helped. Well, it must be very chaotic. More than that, did you buy what I asked you to buy?”

“I bought it. Children’s clothes, what’s that all of a sudden……”

Seo Yeon-jeong was talking to Yoo Ji-woo and walking through the hallway, but the moment she entered the bedroom, she stopped moving.

Until now, she had been handling the aftermath of Meteor Industries as the acting CEO and even bought children’s clothes according to the CEO’s orders, but suddenly an unrealistically cute girl appeared in front of her.

Although the world had changed into a world where you couldn’t trust anything, the sight in front of her was an even greater illusion.

Moreover, she was naked.

Seo Yeon-jeong pondered for a moment on how to express this, and after much deliberation, she opened her mouth.

“……Where did you kidnap her from? If you return her willingly now, I won’t even report it.”

“……Sister?”

“Ah, this.”

Yoo Seong-woo, seeing Seo Yeon-jeong’s reaction, reached out and lightly chopped Nox on the forehead.

“Kyak!”

Nox, who had been hit without knowing why, looked at Yoo Seong-woo with a wronged expression.

Then he said with a confident face.

“You have to hit a dragon sometimes.”