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

“Who is the lady beside you? May I ask?”

The fellow with a needlessly bright smile and white teeth was looking at me. He had hair the color of ripe wheat, a broad physique, and skin as white as his teeth.

To put it bluntly, he looked like the captain of a football team from a visual medium. Someone who looked annoyingly superior.

Myungho seemed to avoid answering as if it were troublesome. But the fellow was still smiling and waiting. Can’t he just ignore him and go? He’s a hero, you know.

“She doesn’t speak the language. And she’s a member of my party. Are you trying to add another wife, Soleo? Your first wife will be saddened.”

“Don’t worry about that. I slept with her a week ago. And my first wife gets along well with the others, so she’ll be happy rather than sad if I add another wife!”

Despite Myungho’s barbed words, the fellow responded in a very positive tone. Myungho openly showed his disgust, but the fellow just smiled broadly.

“She doesn’t speak the language… and she’s a member of your party? Hmm, that is certainly troublesome. But with your abilities, you can communicate with her. Just once, please convey my intentions to her.”

“…Sigh, Altera. That fellow named Soleo over there asked if you would become his wife, what do you think?”

He asked me to be his wife? I slammed my tail on the ground in displeasure. The ground cracked, but I couldn’t just stand there after hearing such a blunder.

“Tell him that if he says that again, I’ll cut his handsome face in half.”

Or should I tear off his skin? It would be interesting to see if he can still smile in front of everyone after that. He looks like he’s decorated with all sorts of flashy things. Usually, guys who put on such a show without any substance are all weaklings.

“…Um, yeah. Soleo, she says she’ll kill you. What do you think? Based on her recent actions, it seems she really doesn’t like you.”

“My third wife was an assassin who tried to kill me. This is nothing. But… yes. Since she dislikes it, it would be rude to continue pursuing her. As a gentleman before a knight, I shall step back. I’ve also found out the lady’s name. Altera… was it?”

Why is he talking so much? Should I just cut him in half right here? The more I looked at him, the more I disliked him.

“Sigh. When did you… Yes, now that you know, please leave. Altera seems to be in a very bad mood right now. You might be able to handle it… but this city won’t.”

“Oh, is that so? There are many strong individuals among my wives, but none who could overturn a city. This is even more intriguing!”

Myungho grabbed my shoulder to stop me from jumping out, and then we left the scene together. The annoying fellow didn’t follow us any further.

What is he? Myungho seemed to know who he was. Moreover, that guy seemed quite comfortable with Myungho.

“Who is that guy?”

I didn’t have to wait. I asked Myungho who he was, and he let out a deep sigh and gave a rather shocking answer.

“…The Sun Hero, someone who’s 100 times more of a hero than I am. Before I was exiled with Akash, I only saw him once. His abilities and character are much better than mine. Except for the fact that he’s a huge womanizer.”

What kind of abilities does he have? When I asked, an absurd answer came back.

“He can manipulate sunlight to a small extent. He can wrap it around his sword or shoot it out. Honestly, even you wouldn’t be able to block it. It cuts through steel like butter.”

Then Myungho said that unlike him, he was a hero sufficient to be everyone’s guardian. I wondered why he said ‘unlike him,’ but I quickly realized.

This guy is a bit… weak for a hero. And his abilities aren’t that great either.

It wasn’t strange for him to feel inferior.

“…But why were you exiled? You’re a hero, even if you’re a little weak.”

A power that manipulates the mind should be useful in many places. And even if not, it’s a good ability to have. Why?

The answer was simple.

“They don’t need me. There are already many warlocks in the court who can manipulate the mind… and most importantly, what they needed was a hero with immense power like Soleo.”

Then he briefly told me about the place he was summoned to. It was originally a gloomy place that made a living from a bountiful catch, with a suspicious number of warlocks, but one day a giant beast suddenly appeared in the sea.

“No matter the size, it destroyed any ship that set sail, and it shot down airships with water cannons, completely isolating the place. They summoned a hero to overcome this difficult situation, but unfortunately, the one who was summoned… was me.”

Then how did he get out? Did he swim across?

“…So did you swim across the sea? Or did you write to a sea creature to become your mount?”

“Ah. The sea and sky routes were blocked, but I could still teleport. So when they regularly traded with the land, I teleported with the goods.”

His treatment is pretty harsh for a hero. A hero treated like cargo. From what I heard, it seems like he was really abandoned because he was unnecessary…

Well. Thanks to Myungho being weak, I can move around comfortably like this. I decided to think positively.

“Don’t be too sad. You met me because you’re weak, right? And I was able to come out into the world because you’re weak. Let’s think positively. If you think negatively, it’s endless.”

Knowing that if you look at the bad, you’ll only see the bad endlessly, I tried to steer the conversation to a positive note. He seemed to come out of it a little, and his expression brightened a bit.

“That’s right…? Well, I don’t have to deal with my homeland anymore. And I can just travel around as I please… It’s a good thing.”

That’s right. And by the way, I lightly growled towards the thing that had been following us for a while.

Then, realizing it had been discovered, the follower revealed itself from the darkness.

A girl who looked like what Akash might have looked like if she were a girl approached us with her hands behind her back, taking small, quick steps.

“So what I said was true? A real half-dragon! Even old me, and how come everything was true for once?”

“…Um, excuse me. Who are you? Have we met before?”

“Huh? Ah, this is the first time we’ve met in this body, right, right. I forgot. Ahem. The greatest blessing that the heavens have bestowed upon the earth, the unprecedented genius, Akash… well, to be precise, it’s a bit different, but from your perspective, it’s the same.”

– – – –

That girl is Akash?

No, I mean. It’s not that I don’t understand. I already knew that there were multiple Akashes. But this is a bit… unexpected.

“Did you not know that there would be a me like this later? There’s no way that I wouldn’t have told you. Well, if it were me, I might not have said anything. Hmm, strange!”

‘Akash’ tried to poke Altera’s tail as if she were having the time of her life, but when Altera slammed her tail on the ground, she raised both hands above her head and stepped back.

“She’s just like you said, like a wild animal! Hmm… right. I almost forgot again! This young body makes so many mistakes. Sorry for following you secretly like this! I just wanted to try it.”

It was such an Akash-like reason that I accepted it. This is definitely Akash.

“…What is that thing?”

“It’s Akash. No, not the Akash who transformed. The Akash who’s resting at the inn is still there. But this girl is also Akash. I know, it’s confusing. It is for me too.”

Altera seemed to have overloaded her brain, looking back and forth between me and Akash.

“Well, my identity is not important. Anyway! The reason I came is… I have a proposal!”

“A proposal?”

If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t be worried, but it’s Akash’s proposal. No, it is actually someone else… it’s complicated.

“Yes. I’m not happy that Dalokos’s core is rotting like that. If I process it a bit, I can make a very nice invisibility cloak. My teacher won’t let me touch such high-quality materials yet because I’m young. I’d like you to give me a chance to process it!”

“…Isn’t that a request, not a proposal?”

She seemed a bit clumsy, maybe because she was young, more so than the Akash in our party. Above all, there was no glint of malice or madness in her eyes.

“Ah, right. If you let me process it, I’ll give you the invisibility cloak for free. It’s a great offer, right? I’m giving you something worth 10 gold coins for free!”

It was definitely a large sum of money.

But the other party was Altera. Altera, who carries around enough money to consider 10 gold coins as nothing.

“Altera. This little Akash here wants to tinker with the Dalokos core you have, what do you think?”

“The spider’s core? What does she want to use it for?”

“She says she’ll make you an invisibility cloak. Well, don’t trust her too much. She may look innocent, but she’s still Akash.”

“Hey! I can hear you!?”

Altera looked up as if in thought for a moment, then met Akash’s eyes and answered.

“…Alright. But, I have a condition. If you break it, I’ll break your wrist.”

“She says she’ll kill you if you fail. Are you okay with that?”

That wasn’t exactly what she said, but since it was Akash, I couldn’t trust her, so I distorted the content a bit.

“Hmph, who do you think I am! The great mage, Akash! That’s nothing!”

Akash shouted confidently and beckoned us to follow her into the alley.

Should I just go along with it once?