Chapter 205 - From Meditating To Eating (2/2)

“I’M LEAVING THEN. SEE YOU LATER.”

With a word of goodbye, the dragon flew high into the sky. Loren muttered to himself as he watched the dragon fly away in the direction of what was probably Judie’s castle.

“That dragon was a female, isn’t it?”

There was no way he could tell the gender of a dragon from its voice or gestures. He had a feeling that the voice was a little thin and high-pitched, but not enough to distinguish between male and female or young and old. He guessed it was a female based on its words.

“She said something about eggs.”

“Eggs… I’m hungry. Everything in my belly is on fire.”

It seemed that Gula wasn’t able to eat the <

>, but got her Evil God’s power burned by it instead, and her stomach was in a bad state. Smoke was still coming out of her mouth, making Loren wonder if there was still something smoldering in there. He was also worried if she would be okay with a burning stomach.

“First of all… Should we sleep? It’s night.”

“You’re right. Then, Gula, please dig another hole.”

“Ugh… Making me do stuff on my empty is bullying, you know.”

“Have some baguette and ham then.”

“We still have them?!”

Lapis cheerfully dug out said food from their luggage and handed it to Gula, who was starting to panic. Loren watched them while idly thinking that even the Evil God of Gluttony would get tired of certain food.

Gula was able to stop Lapis somehow. Still muttering complaints, she used her power against the mountain surface and dug out another cave big enough for three people to sleep in. However, it took her more time to complete the cave than before their encounter with the dragon. Apparently, the Ancient Dragon’s breath had done more damage to Gula’s powers than expected.

“We have to keep guard.”

“Right. Lapis-chan and I will take care of that, so you just sleep.”

“It’s unlikely that the Dark Elf will return, but I’ll set up a magic barrier just in case she does.  You fought the Ancient Dragon with your human body, so you should rest.”

If you thought about it, fighting an ordinary dragon was a rare event, an event difficult enough that could annihilate an unlucky adventurer. But Loren, despite not meaning to, had gone right beyond that and fought a top-ranked amongst dragons, an Ancient Dragon.

Thinking again that he had experienced something extraordinary, Loren finally began to feel the fatigue that had built up in his overworked body and he felt extremely sleepy. With somewhat unsteady steps, Loren went into the cave Gula had just dug and leaned his greatsword against its wall. The moment he crammed into the sleeping bag Lapis had set out, he could barely move his head anymore. He let the drowsiness take over and drifted to sleep.

When Loren woke up, it was the morning of the next day. The sun was high in the sky, and Lapis shook him awake. He hadn’t woken up once during the night, and had fallen into such a deep sleep that he didn’t even dream.

Loren didn’t know how Lapis and Gula had been keeping guard while he was unconscious, but judging from Lapis’ relaxed face as she made a fire and prepared breakfast and Gula’s occasional glances at their surroundings while watching her working, it seemed that nothing had happened since the dragon left.

“Good morning, Loren. Did you sleep well?”

Lapis asked. She seemed to have made a simple stove by piling up the broken stones scattered around them. She lit some kind of viscous substance that she had taken out of her luggage and put a small pot on the fire to cook something.

“Breakfast will be ready soon. We’ll have beans and salted meat stew this morning. It’s a little plain, but we have no choice.”

“I don’t think it’ll be enough at all.”

Gula complained, and Lapis silently offered her a long, thick baguette. Even Loren had to wonder where the hell she got it from, but Gula, who had received the baguette without saying a word, suddenly took a bite of the plain, filling-less baguette and began to chew. Loren wondered if she had gotten used to it or she had given up after being played with the same trick over and over again.

Lapis had served Loren some stew from the pot. It was a very simple dish of different types of beans, sliced salted meat and herbs stewed together, but when he scooped some into his mouth with a wooden spoon, it tasted soothing. He wondered if it was the quality of the ingredients or Lapis’ skill. Loren took his time to savor it, chewing slowly.

Lapis took her own serving, then handed Gula the pot with the rest of the stew. As Gula took the pot and poured its contents directly into her mouth, Loren and Lapis felt their appetites diminish somewhat, but they continued to eat their breakfast at a somewhat-leisurely pace.