Chapters Chapter 293: Desdemona in Fox Valley (2) (1/2)
In an isolated forest of Northern Ishtar...
“Hmm...”
The ancient Black Dragon, Desdemona, got ready to create a composite of the criminal. Even if the face was known, the identity of the person wasn’t known, so it was unavoidable that she would have to take the trouble of looking for him, but Desdemona didn’t care. She was a dragon. All she had was time, and her time flowed over. Napping was something that dragons did in years, and looking for a single human was only a small part of her life.
“I’ll catch them no matter what… argh…!”
Desdemona ground her teeth.
“Whew…”
It was then.
“Today’s a bit tiring…”
A bush rustled and a man in loose clothing appeared. Looking at the A-frame carrier and the axe on his back, it was obvious he was a woodcutter.
“Hey.”
Desdemona needed to investigate anyway, so she spoke towards the woodcutter.
“Yes?”
“You, come here.”
“...?”
“Aren’t you coming?”
Flinch! The woodcutter trembled. He didn’t know what this cute little girl was doing deep inside of this forest, but the fear she gave off was not to be taken lightly.
“Ah, yes!”
The pale woodcutter moved frantically even though the girl was speaking rudely. His instincts were warning him that this girl was a fearsome being.
“You.”
“Yes…”
“Do you know this guy?”
Desdemona thrusted a piece of parchment in front of the woodcutter’s nose.
“Mm!”
“Do you or not?”
“I-I…”
“You do know?”
As the woodcutter hesitated, Desdemona urged him to speak with expectant eyes.
“I don’t.”
The woodcutter tilted his head as if he didn’t know anything.
“You don’t?”
“No…”
“Why don’t you know!?”
“...!”
“Look again, closely!”
“I-It’s…”
“Do you wanna die?”
“N-No!”
“Look again.”
“Okay…”
“Look closely.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The woodcutter looked even more closely at the composite on Desdemona’s orders.
“So? Do you remember…”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you sure you looked closely? Hm?”
“I-I really don’t know!”
“That’s strange…”
Desdemona looked at him with narrowed snake-like eyes. It was because she thought the woodcutter knew the criminal but was pretending like he didn’t.
“I really don’t know!”
The woodcutter spoke defensively, like he was wronged.
“Really?”
“Can I tell you the truth?”
“Hm? The truth?”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead.”
“That’s… if I’m being honest.. this picture… I can’t tell what it is at all.”
“R-really?”
“Even my five year old daughter could draw better… I-I apologize…”
The woodcutter lowered his head.
“Y-you really can’t tell?”
“I really can’t.”
“Hm?”
Desdemona tilted her head and snatched away the criminal’s composite from the woodcutter’s hand.
“It looks good no matter how much I look at it.”
“...”
“You’re saying this is bad?”
“...”
“You, are you lying…?”
It was then.
“Argh!”
The woodcutter expressed his anger for the first time.
“Look at this!”
“Hm?”
“Is this a person? The circle is the face, the dots are the eyes, and the long thing is the nose?”
“...”
“Please give people something that they can recognize, okay?”
There was nothing wrong with what the woodcutter said. Like what he said, the composite that Desdemona drew looked like something a young child had drawn. Actually, there was a reason why Desdemona’s drawing abilities were messy. Even though dragons were a species that were near perfect, there were things they couldn’t do. For example: architecture, sculpting, art, and music, etc.. They were weak in fields related to art. They captured dwarves to build their lairs or sirens to perform their songs.
“I-Is that so?”
“Sheesh! Look at your drawing again and ask!”
The woodcutter was scolding the ancient level Black Dragon.
“T-then what should I do?”
Desdemona was taken aback.
If it was true that her drawing abilities were bad, even though she tried her best, then she would have a hard time catching the criminal.
“Do you know what they were wearing?”
“Of course!”
Desdemona answered the woodcutter’s question confidently.
Dragons were beings that didn’t forget anything.
She could remember the ancient Black Dragon ‘Emilia’ being born from an egg thousands of years ago clearly, so remembering the face of a criminal was nothing.
“Then how about looking for a skilled artist?”
“A-artist?”
“Yes.”
The woodcutter nodded firmly.
“That’ll be more helpful for you to find the person you’re looking for…”
“Shit!”
“...!”
“Why didn’t I think of that before? Stupid Desdemona!”
Desdemona punched herself in the head.
“Hey.”
Then, she spoke as she looked back at the woodcutter.
“Yes?”
“You’re a nice guy, right?”
“...”
“For teaching me this amazing tip.”
“...?”
The woodcutter was speechless for a moment.
He had only taught her something that even a monkey would’ve known, but her reaction was extreme.
“I must give you a reward.”
“Pardon?”
“What would be fitting…”