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

The next day, I breathed in the fresh air and suddenly started climbing the mountain. The reason was absurd. It was because Altera had declared that she would subdue the bandits.

She said it was the least she could do for the slaves.

Her intentions were good, but since I had to make those slaves formally make a request and help her take it, I ended up following her from early in the morning.

“…There, I think it’s that way. The smell… it’s familiar. A-are you really helping me without asking for anything in return…? I’m sorry to the person helping me… but, I’m sorry… I can’t believe it…”

Surprisingly, Altera was helping free of charge. There are times like that. Cases where the clients are so poor that they make a request without offering any reward, relying on a really slim hope.

Of course, no one with common sense would do that. It’s a request that only consumes. However, Altera was the type of person to whom common sense did not apply.

“Don’t worry. Altera is already satisfied just by gaining fame. Right? Altera.”

“Yeah. Well… I wanted to subdue that giant monster? But… it seemed like it would take a long time. But since this kid here knows the location of the hideout from when there were bandits. Well, it’s less exciting than a giant monster, but still, a long journey starts with a small step.”

It was a little funny to see her trying not to admit it, even though she could just say she wanted to help. It was also a little cute.

“I see, you can say that much. Didn’t you say you were captured by those bandits? Altera wants you to be safe. That’s why she’s helping.”

“Hey! I told you not to say that!”

Did I say something wrong? I’m not criticizing her for having a bad personality, and I’m just letting her know that the motive for helping is good.

It seemed like she didn’t know yet that these small details were much more helpful in becoming famous.

“Altera, you said you wanted to be famous, right? Then it’s faster to do good deeds than to hunt giant monsters. A gold-ranked adventurer who helps the poor and a gold-ranked adventurer who only hunts monsters. Which one would you be more interested in?”

“That’s… ugh, it’s like I’m doing it to get praised…!”

Altera said in a quiet voice, her face slightly red. The way she turned her head slightly as if being praised was embarrassing was somewhat touching.

Maybe she’s the type who’s weak to praise?

“Do you think it’s embarrassing to be praised?”

“Just… be quiet. Damn it, what is this kid staring at! The way!”

As Altera got embarrassed and shouted, the girl who had been standing still was startled and started moving her feet. Even so, the way she looked back enviously was pitiful.

I want to help people like this whenever I see them… but if I start helping, there’s no end.

I had no intention of settling down and taking care of them. That’s why I deliberately hid some of my abilities and escaped from the kingdom.

“I… I might not understand, but you two seem to get along well. We’re almost there. When I last saw it, there was no one else captured besides us… I don’t know what it’s like now.”

In other words, if Altera moved a finger and swept everyone away, even innocent people who might be there could be swept away.

If there were any, that is.

Altera assumed her usual troubled posture and concentrated, then strongly hit the ground several times with her tail, and said that she would have to get a little closer to know, and stood up again.

“At least leave some evidence, Altera! Otherwise, they might not believe you again because it’s inconvenient!”

Then what, I have to wait. Honestly, she’s strongest when she’s running wild alone. I just have to wait here with this girl until Altera comes back.

Soon, Altera’s figure became blurry, and not long after, something shook and all the birds flew up at once.

“Wh-what’s going on?! The ground just…”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Altera is just doing her job. We just have to wait here until it’s over.”

As the rumbling and screaming were heard, the beastman child began to tremble.

…It’s a bit strange to keep calling her a child or a kid. I spoke to the child to relieve some tension and calm her down.”…Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your name yet. If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?”

The girl, who was trembling so much that she had tucked her tail between her legs, stopped trembling when I asked her name and answered obediently.

“M-my name is Marie… I was told… that it was named after my grandmother… My mother said… she had been thinking about it… since I was in her womb… sob.”

“Ah, I see…”

I succeeded in relieving the tension, but it seems that I unintentionally touched a sad memory. I was struggling because I had some experience in comforting people who were depressed, but not children who were depressed, when I felt a cold sensation.

I immediately drew my sword and blocked in the direction of the coldness.

As the sound of iron clashing was heard, Marie trembled again and rolled her eyes to figure out what was going on.

There was nothing to figure out, it was just a bandit. He was so good at hiding his presence that I didn’t even notice him until he got close.

“Damn…”

Perhaps because of his condition, he seemed to be disturbed at the crucial moment. His right side was tattered as if it had been roughly bitten by something.

I lightly pushed him away, protected Marie, and held my sword again. I felt a sense of incongruity, and it turned out that it wasn’t the longsword I always used, but the sword I brought from the mold kingdom.

…Wouldn’t it be worth checking what kind of ability it has? Is it just the appearance? Or is there another effect?

If it helps, great. If not, oh well. I swung the sword with that kind of mindset.

Perhaps he was only good at surprise attacks, but as soon as we started exchanging blows, I was able to overwhelm him easily. The fact that his body wasn’t in good shape in the first place also played a part.

An unexpected event occurred when I lightly slashed his chest.

The blade cracked and a fissure appeared, and something flowed out of the bandit and was sucked into the crack of the sword.

And the bandit fell. Vainly. I checked to see if he fell due to excessive bleeding or something else, but that wasn’t the case.

Even in that state, his chest was still rising and falling as if he was still breathing, and bright red blood was still flowing out.

As if something important had been taken out.

“…I-is he, d-dead? Are we safe now…?”

The blade was glowing ominously in purple. At first glance, it looked like a human eye, but on second thought, it was just emitting a bright purple light.

“It… seems so.”

Just in case, I kept an eye on the surroundings, but nothing else appeared. Marie was clinging to me like a baby bird clinging to its mother and had no intention of letting go.

That was until Altera appeared with someone’s forearm. Perhaps it was quite a shocking sight for the girl, she fainted as soon as she saw the forearm with muscles and bones showing.

“…Sorry. This was all that was left. Oh, that! We can take that!”

Altera held out the forearm awkwardly, but soon discovered the fallen bandit and immediately threw away the forearm and carried the bandit.

“Uh, Altera. Wait a minute, he’s still alive… but you don’t seem to care, never mind. Nothing. Be careful not to get your cloak wet, I’ll carry Marie.”

The sword’s ability… I need to investigate a little more.

– – – –

I told him not to praise me, but Myungho didn’t stop praising me. To be honest, I’m happy. But it’s annoying because it feels like he’s teasing me.

But I’m happy that I’m being acknowledged, but it’s embarrassing because he’s praising me so openly…!

“I told you to stop last night…!”

“Now try doing as I told you.”

“…No, I can’t. Don’t do it!”

“You’re a fast learner. I stumbled on the pronunciation a few times myself. Excellent, at this rate, you might not need my interpretation soon?”

Please stop… please.

I hate it, but I like it, so I can’t tell him to stop. It’s becoming a headache.

I crunched on the iron ore I had picked out yesterday and endured the teasing disguised as praise. I’m putting up with it because it’s Myungho, if it were someone else, I would have punched them already.

In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore and shouted.

“Stop it!”

“Ahaha, alright. Sorry for teasing you. It was a bit fun. Then wait here for a moment, I’ll go wake up Yuna and Akash.”

…Didn’t I just speak with perfect pronunciation? He stubbornly pretended not to notice, which made me four times more resentful. Praise me for doing so well, not just randomly.

We decided to leave today, but since I didn’t have much to prepare, I leisurely ate the iron I was eating and suddenly looked at my necklace.

It’s just the beginning… but I’ll meet that bastard soon.

When I’m like this, I think about throwing away revenge and just living happily, but when I look at the necklace, I can’t bring myself to do that.

At least until I break that bastard’s proud horn and shove it into his eye sockets, I can’t just go around happily.

Yes.

I refocused my slightly loosened mind and reminded myself of the reason I came into this world.

Revenge. That’s all.

“Oh, Altera? Are you ready? Then let’s pack up and go. Akash and Yuna were already awake.”

Come to think of it, even if the purpose is revenge, the process doesn’t have to be serious.

Mother would forgive me if I enjoyed it a little. With that thought, I packed my things.