Chapter 88: Dragon God and Seven Stars (Patreon)

Rudeus felt his body gradually filling with magic power.

The lingering discomfort from before quickly faded away.

Dragon God Orsted...

stared at Rudeus in shock and asked, confused, "How exactly did you pull that off?"

Rudeus laughed. "It's simple. You just need to understand..."

the most basic laws governing how matter in this world works, and then learn to manipulate them.

"Do that, and you too can accomplish something that looks this miraculous."

Hearing this...

for some reason, Dragon God Orsted felt like he'd just been looked down on.

But when he thought about how quickly the other man had come to wield such overwhelming power...

he had to admit he himself still fell quite a bit short.

Feeling the magic power in his body rapidly filling to the brim...

Dragon God Orsted quickly said, "That's enough — it's already full."

Rudeus nodded and laughed. "Already full, is it? Good, that'll do."

"Whenever you run low again, come find me. I've got more than enough magic power to spare."

Dragon God Orsted replied, "Understood."

Rudeus laughed. "Good. Then let's not waste any more time."

"Let's set off now — find a carriage or an ox cart."

"When we do, we'll trouble Lord Dragon God to act as our driver."

Since he'd already tipped his hand against Hitogami...

he figured he might as well boost the physical strength of Eris and Ghislaine as well, the two of them.

Dragon God Orsted saw no reason to object. "Fine."

Ghislaine asked, puzzled, "Boost our physical strength??"

Rudeus nodded and laughed. "I'll explain the details once we're in the carriage."

Hearing this, Ghislaine nodded along, thoroughly curious.

As for Nanahoshi Shizuka...

seeing Rudeus act so mysterious about it, she couldn't help but feel puzzled. "Senior Rudeus."

"Could I ask — this method you mentioned for strengthening the body..."

"Haha, you want to know too?"

"Mm..."

Seeing Nanahoshi Shizuka nod,

Rudeus laughed. "Sure. Once we're in the carriage, I'll explain it to all three of you together."

Nanahoshi Shizuka smiled with anticipation and nodded. "Okay."

And so, under Rudeus's orders,

the Butler — who had been taught a harsh lesson the day before —

obediently prepared a sturdy, powerful ox for pulling the cart.

So that the ox pulling the cart wouldn't be affected by Dragon God Orsted's curse,

before they set off,

Rudeus, drawing on the Dragon God's protective blessing,

crafted a fully enclosed, two-wheeled carriage with special properties.

After all, with his ability to manipulate matter at the atomic level,

he never needed to worry about energy loss at all —

conjuring whatever material he wanted straight out of thin air was no trouble whatsoever.

In the end,

once the custom-built two-wheeled cart had been mounted onto the ox's back,

Dragon God Orsted took his seat at the front,

gripping the ox's rein steady in one hand,

and holding a special whip in the other, gently urging the beast forward.

Meanwhile, Nanahoshi Shizuka, Eris, and Ghislaine

followed after Rudeus

into the fully enclosed, completely soundproof cabin of the cart.

They pulled the door shut...

and outside, not a single sound from within could be heard.

Still...

as someone who had lived for who-knew-how-many years, Dragon God Orsted

had no interest whatsoever in secretly eavesdropping on other people's private business.

But what he hadn't expected was this.

Before long,

Nanahoshi Shizuka, who had gone into the cart earlier,

suddenly —

came walking straight back out, her face flushed bright red.

She sat down on the other side of the driver's bench,

her whole body trembling faintly, saying nothing at all.

This little scene

did stir up a bit of curiosity in Dragon God Orsted.

While cracking the whip to keep the sturdy ox moving,

he turned his head,

and asked her curiously, "What's wrong??"

"Is that body-strengthening method of Rudeus's really such a hassle?"

Hearing Dragon God Orsted's question,

Nanahoshi Shizuka took a deep breath.

Only then did she pat her burning cheeks,

and, somewhat bashfully, explain to him, "Actually..."

"in a way, yeah — it really is a huge hassle!!!!"

"Oh..."

Sensing there was more to the story than that,

but seeing that Nanahoshi Shizuka didn't want to go into it,

Dragon God Orsted simply nodded and didn't press further.

But having asked only halfway before dropping the subject,

he'd left Nanahoshi Shizuka — whose pent-up feelings were desperate for release —

stewing there, thoroughly choked up.

After taking another deep breath,

Nanahoshi Shizuka said quietly, "He said — he said..."

Dragon God Orsted

turned to her, confused. "You don't have to say it if you don't want to."

That line nearly made Nanahoshi Shizuka choke on her own frustration.

It broke through whatever bashfulness had been holding her back,

and she blurted out, "Senior Rudeus said he wants me to become part of the family!!!"

Dragon God Orsted nodded, puzzled. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Nanahoshi Shizuka said, displeased, "How is that good? I already have a boyfriend back home."

Dragon God Orsted asked, "Have you already given him everything?"

Nanahoshi Shizuka shook her head. "No, not that..."

"It's just — it's just that we have a good relationship, and he takes good care of me."

Dragon God Orsted asked, "Doesn't Rudeus take good care of you too?"

Nanahoshi Shizuka shook her head. "That's not the same thing."

"Besides, my boyfriend's actually a pretty great guy."

Dragon God Orsted asked, "As impressive as Rudeus?"

Nanahoshi Shizuka shook her head. "That... no, he's really not."

Dragon God Orsted asked, curious, "Then what's the reason you can't give him up??"

Hearing that question,

Nanahoshi Shizuka froze for a moment. "Well — actually he, that is, actually he..."

She racked her brain,

trying hard to find some way her boyfriend beat Rudeus.

But the more she compared them,

the more Nanahoshi Shizuka realized that in absolutely every respect,

Senior Rudeus simply came out ahead!!!

Sure, he was overbearing...

but somehow, unexpectedly, he made her feel a real sense of security.