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

To understand the capabilities of this sword, I temporarily gave my original sword to Yuna until I figured it out, and I only used this sword until I arrived at the Aidehi Marsh.

And so far, I hadn’t figured out anything at all. Even when I channeled mana into it, no sword aura or anything similar came out, and even when I tried talking to the sword, it didn’t respond.

It was just a sword that glowed ominously. That was it…

The corpse had definitely said something earlier. It had asked what was going on. It seemed like the others hadn’t heard anything, but I had heard it clearly.

And that voice was similar to the voice of the bandit I had cut down with this sword. It was slightly distorted, but if I thought about it, it was definitely the same voice.

Akash and Yuna kept saying something, but I was too busy staring at the sword in my hand to hear them. Just as Altera had said, the sword from which something had escaped no longer glowed.

And the corpse with something dwelling in it had suddenly risen. I had felt something touch the sword as I was lowering it, but could it be that something had escaped and settled in the corpse when it touched it?

It seemed that the something was indeed a soul. But the problem was that I still didn’t know the conditions. What were the conditions for taking a soul, and what were the conditions for putting it back?

“…That’s right. The crack is gone too. I don’t know how you did it either…”

Akash, intrigued by the change, was looking at the sword again, having lost interest before.

“So, it’s not just about extracting and trapping souls, but also about releasing them? Then… hmm. Hey, Captain. Do you have any idea how you did that just now? Or, in the first place, is there any intelligence left?”

It was a good question, so I answered that I had no idea at all. I knew that something had happened when the sword touched something, but it wasn’t like the sword had only touched something once or twice.

If the condition for injecting a soul was simply touching, then souls should have seeped in when I was cutting down the bandits on the way here.

“I have no idea at all… It seems like there might be intelligence… I heard a voice, at least.”

Since I don’t know much about this sort of thing, it would be better to get help from Akash, who is an expert. Akash seemed to be racking his brain, hitting his head quite hard, but in the end, he couldn’t come up with a clear answer either.

“Ah, damn it. I don’t know! What good is intelligence if you don’t know the conditions? I thought we were finally making progress…!”

Seeing him tearing at his hair and going berserk, it seems even Akash doesn’t know. Yuna approached, seemingly unconcerned about my sword, and said with a displeased expression.

“…If what Akash says is true, Myungho, you’ve just ruined someone else’s business. Even if it wasn’t intentional. What are you going to do if the owner shows up and demands an explanation?”

Surprisingly, corpse wax isn’t illegal. Of course, you’d be treated like a weirdo just for going near a shop that sells it, but unless it’s a place with a huge religious influence, they don’t really stop you from selling it.

Of course, they do stop you from digging up someone’s corpse from a grave to do that, but honestly, is there any way to know if this corpse wax was taken from a grave or from a bandit?

“…We should ask if it was taken from someone’s grave or if it’s a legitimately obtained corpse before deciding. If it was obtained legally… well. We can compensate them, I guess…?”

Yuna did a dry face wash and scolded me, telling me not to do anything rash this time, and Altera plucked the last remaining scale, threw it on the ground, and then kicked the corpse back into the puddle.

…So, everywhere a sword is stuck, there’s something like that. It made this great swamp feel like a giant cemetery.

I don’t feel good at all. I felt an ominous feeling, like a centipede was crawling up my spine.

“Akash, stop tearing at your hair. Let’s get going now. Yuna, sorry for suddenly acting out. Altera? It’s not really my place to interfere, but I’d appreciate it if you could move human corpses with your hands instead of your feet. It’s just a request, so you can ignore it if you want.”

“…Hah, yeah. Would my work be so easy… Hey, tell the worm to bleed on the key again. Let’s get a general direction and go.”

Altera bristled at the word “worm” and growled at Akash, but Akash didn’t seem to have any energy left to spare for her.

“Calm down, calm down, Altera. Would you mind bleeding on the key for a moment? Akash says he’ll figure out the way, oh, and you want him to apologize for calling you a worm…? Um… Akash. Altera wants you to apologize.”

“What did I do wrong? A dragon is a creature that rightfully belongs to the sky. There’s no way something that belongs to the earth could be a dragon. Know your place, earthworm.”

…In the end, only after ordering Akash’s mark to apologize did Altera finally shed blood onto the ingot-like key.

The ingot, having received the dragon’s blood, opened itself wide, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful night sky that was always a bit eerie to behold. The star clusters, reminiscent of a galaxy, floated about before intensely pointing in one direction and then closing again.

“…Looks like it’s that way. Let’s go. Everyone, I’m sure you don’t want to stay here for long, right?”

After waking the group from their captivated state by the mesmerizing scenery, they headed in the direction the star clusters had just indicated.

– – – –

It’s awful. That was my immediate impression as soon as I bit into the swamp monster’s meat. No matter how much spice is added, the earthy taste embedded deep within the meat wouldn’t disappear.

I eat dirt just fine, so why can’t I eat meat that tastes like dirt? No, actually, I don’t particularly enjoy eating dirt either. It seems like my palate has become more refined, or perhaps I’ve become more sensitive to the unpleasant odors in food.

I was even seriously starting to think that I might starve to death someday if I couldn’t eat without that chef. If it were the old me, I would have gobbled this down, saying it was delicious, right?

“…This has a weird taste. Was it called a swamp monster…? Is it supposed to taste like this?”

“Huh? It was originally full of poison and not meant to be eaten, but I made it edible. Are you complaining? Just eat what you’re given. All swamp creatures taste similar. They’re all soaked in dirt and water, so they taste like garbage. If you hate it that much, go dig up a corpse and eat that instead.”

“No, I’ll politely decline that. Anyway, does that mean I’ll have to keep eating this tasteless stuff for the time being…”

Good heavens. Am I really supposed to eat this garbage as food? I was momentarily dejected by the despairing observation, but then I pictured a hopeful future, thinking there must be at least one thing that tastes good.

Surely, not all of these beasts can taste bad, right? I closed my eyes tightly again and took a big bite.

To make matters worse, the meat’s color was a mix of green and blue, which was making me lose my appetite. And on top of that, it vaguely resembled the monster’s original appearance.

Its jaw was as long as its body, and when I cut open its stomach, undigested animals came pouring out. Plus, it had so many legs, it was just visually repulsive.

It was the first time I had seen something so purely hideous that it sent shivers down my spine the moment I laid eyes on it. The smell was also foul.

“…It’s awful…”

“Sorry, Akash says we have to eat this kind of thing at least until we reach the ruins.”

“I… I think it’s delicious. The tangy flavor is almost addictive.”

“That’s why you elves are like that. Your taste buds are ruined, so your traditional foods are like that. What was it? Caterpillar pie? Are you seriously making something like that?”

“Apologize! Caterpillars raised on mint have such a refreshing taste!”

“That’s the problem. Why does a warm dish like pie need a refreshing taste? You’d have to be crazy not to know that it’s not a flavor suitable for a warm dish.”

Still, with all the commotion, it was somewhat edible. Watching Myungho trying to mediate between Yuna and Akash, who were growling at each other as if they were about to fight, made me realize that this party wouldn’t have worked without him.

Still, I couldn’t eat any more. After sucking out the flesh, I tossed the exoskeleton into the swamp monster’s old pit.

Then, I took a handful of dirt and rinsed my mouth. Surprisingly, the dirt tasted better.

Should I start eating rocks instead of living things? As I was seriously contemplating such things, I sensed a strange vibration.

A vibration like something was being dug up from afar. To be specific… a vibration like digging the ground with something sharp.

It seemed like someone was digging something over there. Since I was done eating and was bored, I decided to go see what they were digging.

Myungho followed me, asking where I was going, but it was clear to me that he was tired of mediating between those two and was running away with me.

“Someone is digging the ground with something sharp over there, so I’m going to go see who it is. Do you want to come with me?”

“Someone is digging the ground… Okay. Let’s go together. If they are grave robbers, we need to check if the corpse is a legal or illegal one. Wait a minute, Altera! I’m not as fast as you because my feet sink!”

He’s lighter than me, and his feet sink into the ground? For some reason, I got annoyed and turned back to grab his arm and pull him.

“You’re light, and your feet sink. Humans are so flimsy. Spread your surface area as much as possible when you walk. If you can’t do it, watch me and follow.”

I can do it. Myungho watched me walk and tried his best to walk like me. But he still stepped heel-first and sank.

Unable to bear the frustration, I grabbed him and started pulling him along, as if telling him to just follow. Only then did he seem to finally grasp the knack of it.

He complained, “You didn’t have to drag me,” but it was the fault of the slow learner.

As we approached the source of the strange vibration, it seemed to sense us and headed straight toward us. It was blurry, so I couldn’t be sure, but it was just one person.

However, what appeared in the forest was not just one person.

It was one person, yes. But behind her, dozens, hundreds of swords floated, that’s all.

Red hair and bright yellow eyes like mine. She wore clean white clothes, so clean it was hard to believe she had walked through the swamp that dirtied everything.

The woman, who seemed isolated from the world, soon opened her mouth and asked me,

“I was curious who had dug up my things, so I came out, and it was you?”