I’m Not an Earthworm, I’m an Earth Dragon

It’s possible for food to be delicious even with more vegetables than meat. They called it soup, but it was closer to a broth. The broth was clear and not viscous.

The taste made me instinctively want to mix it with rice. I even considered asking Myungho, but from what I overheard, this village didn’t seem to have enough to spare.

They said they couldn’t even go to the nearby city because they were being harassed by that slime. So, to soothe my disappointment, I ate everything, not leaving a single bit, but I still felt like something was missing.

…Iron, or something like that. I don’t need to eat it every day, but now, not eating it made me feel empty. So, without a word, I got up from my seat and went outside.

Even though they’ve already seen it, they looked at me like they’d witnessed something shocking when I ate iron, so I didn’t want to show it to others if I could help it.

I headed to a place where there weren’t many people, then concentrated magic on my horn to look for a suitable iron ore. Fortunately, there was a decent one, so I pulled it from the ground and took a bite.

The taste of iron ore while watching the sun slowly set… there was none. It doesn’t taste like anything. I just eat it because I really need it.

I don’t know how strong my teeth are, but seeing how easily I chew this, I don’t think I need to find out.

…When I was little, my mother used to say, “Your bones are made of metal, so eat metal,” and I used to wonder if she was feeling unwell.

But it was true. It turned out later that I needed iron for things other than my bones. So, I started eating one a day, and it gradually became a habit.

“Altera, why did you suddenly go out without a word… Ah. That’s… right. You went out to eat iron…”

Oh, no. I was planning to lean against the fence, watch the sunset, and leisurely chew on iron. Myungho caught me. But he wasn’t looking at me like I was a monster, like he did the first time.

“…Is it edible? It doesn’t look like it would taste good. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I was just curious… so I asked.”

“It doesn’t taste good. I don’t mean it’s bad. It just tastes like water, nothing at all.”

He asked politely, and I wasn’t so bad as to refuse him harshly, so I told him the truth.

“I see… Then… what is that iron used for? On your fingernails or toenails? Or your teeth…?”

“Bones. Scales. Things like that. The reason I said I don’t like water is because of this. I can swim, but I sink. And… when my body isn’t in good condition, it can rust when it touches water.”

It’s not that common for it to rust, though. When I threw myself into the river to survive, I suffered for a week.

“Ah, I see. So that’s why you were like that in the river back then… I understand. I’ll be careful from now on.”

Well, there are some facts I haven’t told them, but it’ll be fine. When I get wet, I can’t use magic, can’t sense anything, and there’s one more thing my body uses iron for.

I don’t plan on telling them either way.

Without saying anything, I took another bite of the ore. As Myungho watched me continue to munch, making crunching sounds, he told me not to be too late and then gave me space.

I ended up getting caught. It was pointless to avoid the spot, but it wasn’t meaningless since I didn’t show it to the villagers.

I finished eating the ore while watching the sun setting beyond the meadow and returned to the village chief’s house.

When I got back, everyone was gathered around the acting village chief, listening to a story. There was no way for me to understand even if I listened, so I naturally sat next to Myungho.

I stretched, grabbing one elbow and pulling, and curled my feet. Soon, Myungho opened his mouth.

“You don’t need to worry about the monsters. We’ve defeated things that were worse than them. Even if they attack in groups, we have ways to deal with them. More importantly, could you tell us about… the ghost?”

A ghost? Well, I’ve seen Dalokos, infinitely regenerating slimes, and all sorts of monster tags… it wouldn’t be strange if there was one.

“Ah, yes. As you may have heard from rumors, there was once a prosperous kingdom in the Zikreu Mountains. But for some reason, not even an ant was left alive, and they all disappeared overnight. The elder of the well at the village entrance said he went there himself… but don’t trust him too much. He’s not in his right mind, he was fine when he was younger…”

“I see… Yuna, Akash. Let’s go tomorrow. It seems like that person knows something. Thank you for telling us.”

“We are more grateful, but how do you plan to cross that canyon?”

Myungho glanced at me and then answered the village chief, saying that the answer was right here.

The acting village chief looked at me, nodded as if he finally understood, and stepped back.

More than that, I want to know how wide that canyon is.

“Myungho, how wide is that canyon?”

If it’s too wide, it’ll be troublesome. It’s not a problem with my ability. However, if the rocks collapse because they can’t withstand their own weight, there’s nothing I can do about it.

The range I can reinforce isn’t that wide. Myungho heard my question and tapped his head as if recalling something, then quickly answered.

“…Roughly 1.5 times the width of that river…? That’s what the adventurers and people say. I won’t know until we actually go… but don’t worry too much. There’s a broken bridge that used to cross the canyon. If you use your ability there, you should be able to cross easily.”

I’ll find out when I go. I’ll worry about that then. I rummaged through my bag, took out the vocabulary book, and handed it to Myungho.

“Let’s continue what we were doing yesterday.”

“Oh, what we were doing yesterday?”

“Ohoho, I wonder what you were doing yesterday. I’m so curious that I can’t help but look!”

The mage grinned mischievously at us. It would have been unpleasant even if it were a woman, but it felt twice as bad since it was a man.

“…It’s studying, so keep the nonsense to a minimum, Akash. Alright. I’ll teach you enough so that it won’t hinder tomorrow’s activities. Yuna, Akash. Would you mind playing teacher for a bit?”

“Alright. But don’t push your work onto us. I’m just going to check if the pronunciation is correct.”

“Then I’ll just be an observer, moderately.”

Hmm. There are more teachers than last night.

Thinking that I could learn the language faster, Myungho opened the book, pointed to a word, and told me its meaning.

“This is… family.”

“Fa…mily.”

– – – –

“…Hoo. He’s not just out of his mind, he’s practically a wild animal. How does a shriveled old man with no muscles have so much strength?”

“Still, from what I hear, he was once a silver-ranked adventurer. I guess even a rotten fish is still a fish… though, is it right to say that about a person?”

Elder Sam’s condition was so poor that we could barely have a conversation after applying the brush.

Even that was just that we had calmed down enough to sit and talk, not that we had gained any real information.

He only used nonsensical, rambling words, like ‘a bored nostril.’ It didn’t even seem like he understood what I was saying in the first place.

“…What on earth did he see in that city to become like this?”

“Shall I make a guess? He encountered a wraith and his mind was shattered by fear. And his mind was so weak that he couldn’t resist that fear.”

“…Are we going to be okay?”

If a silver-ranker could fall into madness like that, then we weren’t safe either, right? When I asked Akash that, he chuckled and replied.

“One has the blessing of a goddess, one has the mental fortitude to become a gold-ranker on their own, one is a half-dragon, and the other is… the result of obsession. A mere wraith is not even in the same league to mess with us.”

His confident words made me feel a little relieved. I was already a bit nervous about having to cross the mountain range.

“Even if it’s others… you’ll be fine. I’ll watch over you.”

Altera looked straight at me and said she would protect me. So, she meant that she would keep her translator from breaking, She’d keep it safe. I know that’s what she meant.

Still, people tend to interpret things in a way that makes them feel good, so I wondered if she might have feelings for me.

“…Okay. Yeah, thanks. Ahem, everyone. Let’s start getting tense. We’re entering the Zikreu Mountains now.”

It’s just the beginning, but still, I could already feel that the air and everything was different. It felt more hostile, and I could feel a sense of pressure.

There was a faint mist in front of us, which made me feel strangely uneasy.

The slope was still gentle, but according to the villagers, it would become drastically steep and treacherous at some point.

And above all, monsters were appearing all the time…

“…Myungho, tell everyone. From afar, a pack of wolves or something is approaching.”

They’re charging at us.