READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 14
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Mirien, was it?
Yujin knew that she, an elf and the scout of the party he had joined, was subtly concerned about him.
His senses picked up on her gaze directed at him, which openly revealed her wariness.
So he somewhat expected that she might interrogate him when they were alone, but…
“I didn’t think you’d pull a knife on me out of nowhere!”
Even with their companions still in the tent behind them, she pointed a dagger at him without a hint of hesitation.
Of course, he wasn’t particularly flustered. To Yujin, that dagger was nothing more than a child’s toy-level weapon.
When she reached for the dagger in her hand, the reason he didn’t subdue her immediately was that who would overreact to a child swinging a toy around?
So he willingly offered his neck to her blade. Additionally, to prevent the other party members from witnessing her threatening him, he lured her into a more secluded space.
This way, whatever happened between Yujin and Mirien would remain a secret, known only to the two of them.
Trapped in the perfect soundproof room created with the ‘Dragon Language,’ he decided to apply a bit of pressure on Mirien in return for her threat, adding a splash of ‘prank’ for good measure.
“Why don’t you tell me who I am? You already know the answer, right?”
One of the dragon’s powers, Fear.
When a dragon, the apex of all beings, reveals its existence, any creature in the vicinity becomes paralyzed by fear merely from recognizing that presence, losing all rationality and cognitive ability.
In fact, Mirien’s body trembled like a frail reed as she experienced Fear, transforming her complexion from pale to ghostly.
Tears streamed down her face, and froth began to form at her mouth as she looked like she would faint at any moment.
Even amidst that chaos, she opened her mouth as if trying to answer Yujin’s question.
“Y-you, you, you…!”
“Yes. What am I?”
It was as if she felt compelled to squeeze out an answer to what seemed like a distant entity’s question.
“Y-you… are…!”
She started rolling her eyes back, about to slip into shock.
“Oops, maybe I went a bit too far?”
At that point, Yujin withdrew the Fear. The magical pressure that had weighed down on her dissipated.
“…Cough! Hm! Huh!”
Finally freed from the suffocating pressure, Mirien began to cough as she took gasping breaths.
After sitting there coughing for a while, she looked up at Yujin, breathing heavily.
Seeing her like that, Yujin grinned and said,
“I’m sorry. That prank might have been a bit much. But… since you pointed a knife at me, should we call it even?”
“……”
Mirien looked at him with trembling eyes but soon lowered her head, seemingly lacking the courage to meet his gaze any longer.
Yujin looked down at her for a moment before kneeling to match her eye level and gently lifting her chin with one hand.
“…!”
“Mirien, but before that…”
As he forced her to meet his eyes, he looked straight into her quivering gaze and asked.
“Can you tell me who I am?”
“Hik…!”
“Hahaha, just kidding. I guess I scared you too much.”
Yujin quickly smiled apologetically at the now pallid Mirien and raised his other hand, putting a finger to his lips.
“But you shouldn’t show such a side of yourself in front of others, okay? Let’s keep today’s events a secret between us.”
“……”
“Got it?”
Shivering, Mirien nodded. Yujin smiled warmly and nodded back.
“Well done. Now, let’s get back to our watch.”
With that, Yujin snapped his fingers.
Bang!
Suddenly, the dark space they were in vanished, returning them to the campsite.
Yujin got up and sat in a folding chair near the campfire.
Mirien sat there for a while, trembling, before mustering the courage to sit beside him.
During the remainder of their watch, the two shared not a single word. Of course, it was only a lack of conversation between Yujin and Mirien.
『That felt a bit excessive. You didn’t need to pressure her so hard.』
Tiamat spoke to Yujin. Unlike other Transcendents who viewed mortals as mere insects, she seemed to think Yujin had gone a bit far.
‘Is that so?’
『That girl will definitely not forget this experience. You seem to have managed your Fear, but the power of a dragon is no trivial matter. She’ll carry this trauma for life.』
‘Hmm…’
Yujin glanced to the side. As his gaze landed on Mirien, she flinched and drooped her long ears.
Her eyes were undeniably filled with fear. It was clear she was desperately trying to suppress her trembling body.
『That’s proof she has a strong will. Certainly, your control played a big part, but typically, mortals hit by full-force Fear tend to go mad with terror or die from shock.』
‘I see.’
『…Is that all?』
‘Either way, she was the one who came at me with a knife.’
For Yujin, it was a situation akin to a prank, but she had truly threatened him.
She pointed a knife at his throat, acting as if she’d cut him at any moment. Regardless of her intent, the fact remained that she brought this upon herself.
Unless Yujin had malicious intent against this party or genuinely intended harm—which he did not—she had simply threatened him out of her own personal sense of caution.
In that case, she needed to pay the price. It was only natural.
『……』
‘Tiamat, you might think I’m lacking in nobility for how I treated her, but I bear no personal feelings toward Mirien.’
That was the truth. Yujin felt nothing toward Mirien when she pointed the knife at him.
『You mean to say, even without personal feelings, you did that?』
‘Yes. That’s why I ended it with merely scaring her.’
『……』
It was an answer that didn’t quite fit Tiamat’s question, yet it stood as a clear response.
Yujin continued,
‘Tiamat, to threaten someone who threatens you is merely a playful reaction. If someone truly had malicious intent, they wouldn’t just threaten but would go as far as pulling out their teeth so they couldn’t bite back, or breaking their legs so they couldn’t stand.’
『I know that… but your actions can’t be called merciful…』
‘Tiamat, if I stopped at merely threatening her, I wouldn’t call that mercy. I just hope you understand that mortals are inherently weak and cowardly.’
『……』
‘Of course, I could have shown her a modicum of Transcendent dignity and then granted her mercy. But mortals shouldn’t shift the consequence of their rash actions onto the mercy of the strong. Mercy allows them to make mistakes without learning from them.’
『That implies…』
‘What if I showed her mercy, and then the same situation occurred again? Would she seek mercy from the strong once more? How can one know what malice a strong adversary holds against someone who dares to oppose them?’
『……』
‘It may sound like an overly complex argument, but my thoughts remain unchanged. She acted rashly, and should understand her mistake by facing the consequences. Mortals are weak and cowardly; they need to learn through their mistakes to survive.’
Saying this, Yujin bitterly smiled and continued.
‘And, as I mentioned earlier, I hold no personal feelings toward Mirien. So I merely provided a warning against unnecessary risks by my own decision.’
『…I see.』
‘Haha, I might have gone a bit overboard because of my mischievous nature, though. Still, as you said, Tiamat, she seems strong-willed and likely will recover soon enough.’
In response to Yujin’s words, Tiamat took a moment to reflect. She realized that blindly showing mercy to the weak isn’t always a good thing.
In this aspect, Yujin seemed to have a deeper understanding than Tiamat. Perhaps it was because he had once been a mortal himself.
Understanding a lesson that was hard for Tiamat, born as a being of strength, to grasp, she finally achieved this realization today.
After a short while, Mirien, seemingly uncomfortable in her chair, stood up.
“W-Well then… I suppose it’s time for me to go!”
With a quivering voice, she spoke with effort and entered the tent.
Having to stand watch until the next shift, Yujin simply sat there and waited.
As he waited…
“Um… Thank you for your hard work, Yujin.”
“Haha, welcome back. Hans!”
Hans, the porter, came out to greet him. Meanwhile, he asked,
“By the way, did something happen with Mirien? She looked a bit anxious…”
“Well, I might have scared her a bit with a scary story to pass the time.”
“Ah… I see. I didn’t think a scary story would make Mirien that anxious.”
Hans scratched his head as he glanced back at the tent, seemingly not suspecting anything.
“Want me to tell you a scary story too?”
“Um… No, I’m good. I feel like you’d tell an extremely scary one.”
“Haha, that’s too bad.”
Wrapping up that conversation, the two settled into their watch.
How much time passed like this…
Eventually, the sun began to rise slowly.
And.
“It’s time to get going!”
Once again, the journey into the Maze resumed.
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