Chapter 22

This is the second story of the day.

※Please continue to be cautious if you are eating.

Afterwards, the flying dragon, having eaten its fill of prey in the nest, began to warm its eggs.

From the narrow gap secured amidst the pile of excrement (and the ventilation hole), Node watched the dragon intently.

Even if a researcher from the capital would weep with joy at the sight, for Node, it was an observation for survival.

There is no doubt that he is still in a dangerous situation, but at the same time, he has infiltrated the place where the eggs are most vulnerable.

Excluding the unbearable stench, it might even be the best place to wait for an opportunity.

Observing the dragon up close from his hiding place was far from a pleasant pastime.

Not only was there no room to make a sound, but the dragon also moved very little.

The dragon, while warming the eggs, hardly moved except for the occasional shift.

(How boring...)

There was nothing to do in the pile of excrement.

Node endured the overwhelming stench, which had begun to numb his nose.

(……!)

Suddenly, the dragon moved more than just a shift.

What is it?

Node froze in the next instant.

The dragon, now standing, was approaching Node.

Thud, thud,

With each step, the intense vibrations reached Node's location.

What! Has he been spotted?

Sweat burst out all over Node's body.

His body temperature rose, and the blood drained from his face.

(Should I fight, even if it's a desperate move... Damn, this can't be happening!)

He had a sword at his waist, but he didn't think drawing it would be enough to defeat the dragon.

What happened? Perhaps their eyes met.

Node trembled. He couldn't tell if it was from the dragon's footsteps or from fear.

The dragon's form gradually drew closer.

Even in the dim darkness, the scales were visible up close.

(Is this the end... Sister, I'm sorry. Father, Mother...!)

Node prayed to the god he believed in, then resigned himself, and in his heart, he recalled the names of his sister Hannah, followed by his father, mother, and other family members.

The dragon came as close as possible to Node's field of vision. Whether it would crush him or devour him, Node's despair deepened as he imagined his end.

(……?)

Suddenly, the dragon changed direction.

What happened? What is going on?

Question marks filled Node's mind.

And then,

The sound of splashing and the impact alerted Node to what had happened.

(It's... excretion...)

Node felt drained.

Being covered in excrement and then doused with fresh excrement was the ultimate humiliation, but Node felt no anger at all.

He was overwhelmed with relief at having survived.

§

After that, the dragon showed no significant movement.

It curled up, cradling its eggs lovingly, and continued to warm them with its body heat.

Occasionally, it shifted or moved its tail, but its basic posture remained unchanged.

And how much time had passed?

Node sensed that the dragon had started to move again.

From the small space amidst the excrement, he observed the dragon.

The dragon's movements, causing vibrations throughout the cave, indicated it was heading somewhere.

It soon disappeared from Node's view, but he noticed the sound gradually fading away.

(– Is it going hunting!)

Without a clock or much light, it was hard to gauge time in the cave.

Still, Node realized that about a day or so had passed.

The dragon's footsteps gradually faded, and then...

The sound of flapping wings reached Node's ears.

(This is the last chance!!)

The dragon's flight speed was fast.

Based on prior information, his experience in the snow mountain, and the recent crisis, Node estimated he had less than an hour.

The area beyond the base, whether forest, plain, or something else, was where the prey would be.

The key was to return before the dragon did.

Dragons are intelligent.

Even if the smell is masked by excrement, the dragon would immediately notice the missing eggs.

If that happened, the dragon would rampage through the snow mountain in search of the culprit.

To prevent the dragon from returning, Node carefully and quickly prepared to leave.

Crawling out of the pile of excrement, Node, with his dirty body, equipped himself with the gear from the tool bag at his waist.

It resembled a baby carrier.

It was a device prepared in advance to hold the egg.

Quickly securing one of the eggs, Node attached it over his armor.

The weight of the egg, heavier than it looked, pressed down on him.

(Heavy... Is it made of iron or something!?)

The egg was more like the heavy minerals he had previously collected, such as ice crystals.

Carrying such a heavy load, Node left the dragon's nest.

§

As he approached the nest, the wind grew stronger.

To avoid slipping and breaking the egg, Node cautiously and quickly made his way out of the cave, only to be greeted by a strong snowstorm.

"It's a blizzard!"

The weather in the snow mountain had completely deteriorated.

The sky was dark, covered by heavy snow clouds, and the fast-moving clouds stretched to the horizon.

The blizzard showed no signs of stopping, but there was no time to waste.

If this were a regular mission, he would wait in the cave until the weather improved, but if he did that, the dragon would return.

If the dragon found him in the nest, Node's fate would be sealed.

Returning to the excrement was not an option.

It was not a matter of emotion but of physical limitations.

Fortunately, Node had successfully escaped the danger, but it had probably been close to a day.

During that time, he had hardly rested.

He had remained motionless amidst the stench, sharing the same space as the dragon, both physically and mentally exhausted, and without food.

Even if it were a warm season, it would be different, but in the harsh winter of the snow mountain, if he did not move to a place where he could rest and eat now, he would likely collapse on the way down, even if the weather improved.

Node immediately took action.

Fortunately, he could still move his hands and feet while carrying the egg, thanks to the equipment.

Node quickly washed his dirty hands in the snow, grabbed the disguised rope he had prepared, and kicked off the mountain slope, heading down the cliff.

Supporting his weight, which was increased by the egg, he used the rope to slide down the cliff quickly.

Kicking off the cliff, he gradually let the rope slide, descending more quickly than if he had grabbed the cliff directly.

Despite the speed, the harsh conditions made the descent frustratingly slow.

Finally, reaching the middle of the cliff, Node grabbed the backpack he had hidden there and threw it down to the bottom.

It contained food and other necessities, which he would need later, but he judged it impossible to carry the heavy backpack along with the egg.

Node descended the cliff again using the rope.

The wind weakened, allowing him to descend more quickly.

However, by the time he reached the bottom, a considerable amount of time had passed.

Grabbing the buried backpack, Node opened it in the blizzard.

He found snowshoes.

Equipping them on his feet, which were covered in frozen dragon excrement, Node, carrying the heavy egg and the backpack, bravely set off down the snow mountain.

§

(Damn... Even with snowshoes, my feet sink into the snow!)

Node's internal clock told him that a considerable amount of time had passed.

Without prior preparation, he would still be clinging to the cliff, but even with preparation, his progress was slower than expected.

If this continued, he would inevitably be discovered by the dragon.

Node worried about this.

(What a series of misfortunes... Is there anything I can do?)

The blizzard might delay the dragon's hunting or make it return later.

However, this was only a hopeful assumption, and it was equally possible that the dragon would return sooner.

The time left before the dragon noticed the situation was short.

He needed to decide what to do in that time.

The best option was to reach the base.

There was a disguised campsite at the base, and he could use the supplies he had brought to recover his strength.

After that, he could wait for a time when the dragon was less likely to find him and move to the rendezvous point with the carriage.

The problem was how to reach the base. With the heavy snow, even with the walking sticks he had prepared, his pace was slow.

On foot, it would take a full day to reach the base.

The next best option was to take a rest somewhere.

Fortunately, he had prepared tools in the backpack.

By digging into the snow and creating a snow cave, he could minimize the wind's impact. He had food, so he could rest.

The problem with this option was that he couldn't move.

When the blizzard stopped, movement would be easier, but he would also be more likely to be discovered by the dragon.

To avoid this, he would have to wait until the dragon gave up on the eggs, but it was unknown how long the dragon would search.

His current location was not far from the dragon's nest.

Even if he reached the base, the dragon, searching for its young, would likely fly around the nest area.

If the dragon searched for a week, Node's return would be hopeless.

The food in the backpack would last only three days.

In a snow-covered area, hunting for food was impossible.

(If I could move a bit further, the chances would increase... No, it's the same problem!)

The issue was the means of movement.

He needed to get away from the dragon's nest.

He could either spend time at the base or move as far as possible and take shelter in a snow cave.

The further he moved from the nest, the less likely he would be discovered, so he needed a method of movement.

(Movement... Movement... Movement... That's it!)

Marching through the blizzard, Node was pulling out memories from his mind.

He couldn't check the contents of the leather notebook in the blizzard.

But he remembered something he had heard before.

'Skiing'

It was called that.

The technique, used in northern countries, involved attaching long boards to the feet, similar to snowshoes.

Like snowshoes, it prevented the feet from sinking into the snow, but the boards allowed for sliding on the snow, making it possible to move quickly down slopes.

The northern part of the Hamil Kingdom was snow-covered.

Thus, such tools were studied by the northern knights, as he had heard from his father and brother in the Felis family.

(This is it...! Yes, this method will work!)

It was like a sled.

With this, he could slide down the slope and significantly reduce the time.

Fortunately, he had snowshoes, so attaching the boards to the shoes would be easy.

(Alright, then I need to make the ski boards... Materials... Materials...)

Node thought it was a good idea, but he immediately faced another problem.

He had no materials.

The area was covered in snow, and there were no fallen branches or anything.

How could he make boards in this situation?

Node felt a brief moment of hope, followed by a brief moment of despair.

How could he not notice such a simple problem?

Node mocked himself.

Under normal circumstances, he would have noticed it, but he must be extremely tired.

After all, he had spent a full day in the dragon's nest, and before that, he had been climbing and setting up ropes.

His body temperature had also dropped.

He hadn't eaten or rested, and there was the blizzard.

The cold wind quickly drained the heat from objects, freezing them.

This included the equipment Node was wearing.

(I've been having trouble walking because the dragon's excrement has frozen.)

The dragon's excrement, which had covered him when he infiltrated the nest, had frozen. Every time he moved, the frozen excrement on his armor scattered in the wind.

(Damn, my coat is completely frozen, it's like a board now.)

Especially the coat, which had protected him from the dragon's excrement, had absorbed water over the day and become as hard as a board, losing its flexibility.

It had become as solid as a board, changing its properties.

(……!)

Again, a brilliant idea came to Node.

§

Node was in a rattling carriage.

After escaping from the dragon's nest, Node hurriedly boiled water in a magic stone stove.

He used the hot water to thaw his coat, split it in half, and soaked it thoroughly. When exposed to the freezing blizzard, it quickly froze.

With the snowshoes, Node quickly attached the makeshift ski boards and, carrying the egg, slid down the slope.

Fortunately, the blizzard weakened, and visibility improved slightly.

The long and difficult ascent of the snow mountain's slope became a quick descent.

Skiing was impressive; Node could control his movements using walking sticks and turn as needed.

He was prepared to use his sword to brake if he collided with the mountain wall or to protect the egg, but it wasn't necessary.

Node quickly learned to control his movements by shifting his weight, and his speed increased from a walking pace to faster than running.

Just as Node slid down to the base of the mountain, the dragon's roar echoed through the snow mountain.

The intensity was such that the snow mountain seemed to collapse, and the avalanche, carrying ice spirits and snow giants, reached the forest at the base, crushing the trees.

The campsite was far enough away, and Node had already reached it, so he was safe.

If he had continued to move on foot or taken shelter in the snow, it would have been a disaster.

After that, the dragon searched for the egg thief for a week.

It didn't fly constantly but clearly flew around the snow mountain for reasons other than hunting.

Node took a warm meal and rest at the campsite but couldn't take a bath, only wiping his body and armor.

Still, the smell improved significantly (in Node's opinion).

After that, Node left the snow mountain area, ignoring the dragon's usual behavior.

He paid money in a nearby town and boarded a carriage to the capital.

He could hire the carriage exclusively by paying a large sum, which he disliked but was necessary to return the egg quickly.

Node, swaying in the carriage, looked at the dragon's egg he was carrying carefully.

It had taken him over a month to obtain this egg.

The harsh winter in the snow mountain was dangerous, and unexpected situations arose, but overcoming them made Node feel he had grown.

To obtain this dragon's egg, he had gathered information, prepared various tools, and used them.

The expenses were considerable, but the return was more than sufficient.

Node examined the egg again.

In the dim light of the dragon's nest and the blizzard, he hadn't seen its appearance clearly.

It was more gray than black, a dark gray.

The surface was smooth but not slippery.

However, it was quite heavy, so Node used the baby carrier to secure it against the swaying of the carriage.

"Well, what a hassle this egg has been."

Node recalled his recent life after escaping from the dragon's nest.

He had successfully evaded the dragon's search, but his life at the campsite, though well-supplied, was uncomfortable due to a mistake.

It was about how to store the dragon's egg. Node had planned and prepared well for stealing the egg but hadn't considered how to store the heavy egg.

Uncharacteristically, he had failed in his preparation and had to use the baby carrier to secure the egg.

He had to carry it on his body to protect it from other animals or monsters.

He was careful not to roll over or crush the egg while sleeping.

After confirming that the dragon had given up, he moved to a nearby town, still carrying the egg.

He boarded a carriage in the town and was now on his way to the capital, still carrying the dragon's egg.

But the hardship would soon be over.

Upon returning to the capital, he would sell the dragon's egg to the Iron Dragon Knights and use the money to pay off the Felis family's debt.

The debt would not be fully paid, which was terrifying.

Node was more afraid of the 'interest' monster than the dragon.

"The weight will be gone soon, and I'll miss it a little...!"

He said this half-jokingly, looking at the surface of the egg.

There, Node couldn't believe his eyes.

"A crack...!?"

Did he drop it somewhere or hit it with something?

The dragon's egg was expensive, but only if it was in good condition.

If it rotted, it would be worthless, and even if it was a live egg, a crack could lead to a price reduction.

The egg in front of Node was his last hope.

Yes, there were still four eggs left in the dragon's nest, but Node had no intention of returning to the nest of an enraged dragon.

"Damn, can I reinforce it somehow!?"

Node tried to reduce the damage to the egg. However, the only supplies he had were in the backpack.

There was nothing useful in his memory.

"Just a little more to the capital...!"

Again, Node was shocked.

A crack on the dark gray surface of the egg was