Because the Poison Dragon had previously made its lair in this region, the toxic miasma seeping from its body had severely polluted both the air and the local water sources.
For this reason, the people of the surrounding villages were forced to pool their money together and commission the Adventurers' Guild to send capable adventurers to drive out the Poison Dragon.
"Village Chief, do you really think the adventurers the Guild sends can handle a Poison Dragon?
Our village's water supply has already run dry. The rivers and wells are poisoned—there's no way to irrigate the fields. If this continues, we won't be able to survive much longer!"
"That's right, Chief. Maybe we've gone too far this time. Lord Baron already provided more than enough gold to support us—so why did we lie about the difficulty of the request?
Not only have we offended the Adventurers' Guild, but this will also delay the day the Poison Dragon is finally defeated."
Within the village, two young men looked resentfully at the elderly village chief before them.
Among the nearby settlements, theirs was the largest, so the responsibility of submitting the commission to the Guild had fallen to them. As for falsifying the difficulty, that had been the old chief's idea.
"Fools! That Poison Dragon is still a dragon. Even if it's a subspecies, it is a genuine member of the dragon race.
Whether or not the Guild even has adventurers capable of slaying it, I cannot say—but such adventurers must be exceedingly rare.
And with the little money we scraped together, how could we possibly afford their fee?
That is why I acted as I did—it was for the sake of our village. If the Poison Dragon cannot be dealt with, we will have no choice but to relocate. And moving the entire village will cost a fortune. If we don't save up funds in advance, how will our people survive the hardship after relocation?"
An old man in a village is like a hidden treasure.
Hearing the chief's reasoning, the two young men finally looked as though they understood. But at that very moment, another voice cut into their conversation.
"I see. Retaining enough funds before taking action—such foresight is rare indeed for the leader of a village.
But while you've secured the safety of your villagers, tell me—have you considered what will happen to those adventurers who accepted your request under false pretenses?
Believing they would be fighting a five-meter-long poisonous drake, only to find themselves against a subspecies Poison Dragon over fifteen meters in length—what outcome could there be, other than certain death?
All because of your selfishness.
Are the lives of your villagers considered human lives, while the lives of those adventurers are not?"
At first, Yojuro had thought the surrounding villages had lied about the quest's difficulty simply because they were short on money. He might love wealth, but he still had his own bottom line. His original purpose here had only been to report that the Poison Dragon had already been slain.
But after overhearing the earlier conversation, Yojuro was anything but pleased.
So the villages hadn't lied because they couldn't pay—they just didn't believe adventurers could slay the Poison Dragon. They had issued the request merely as a formality to placate the local lord, while secretly preparing to relocate the entire village.
If it hadn't been him who took on this request—if his strength hadn't been enough—then Minami Yojuro himself might have ended up as just another meal for the Poison Dragon!
"And who are you supposed to be? What right do you have to meddle in our village's affairs? Isn't that the nature of adventurers to begin with? Besides, it's not like we forced anyone to accept our commission."
Seeing Yojuro and Minami Yojuro's companion, Yosuke, appear at the entrance of the village, the two young men who had just been speaking to the chief immediately showed annoyance. They strode forward, intending to drive the pair away and keep them from interfering.
But however quickly the two youths charged in, that was exactly how quickly they were sent flying back.
Against such small fry, Yojuro didn't even need to get serious. With nothing more than a casual sweep of his hand, a gust of force blasted the two burly young men off their feet. Their bodies were flung like discarded trash and crashed to the ground, where they lay groaning and unable to rise.
"Who exactly are you, sir? I do not recall our village ever bearing you any grudge."
The old chief had watched Yojuro fling aside two of his strongest villagers with one hand. Clearly, this was no man to provoke lightly. Yet he still couldn't understand why Yojuro was interfering. By all logic, if this stranger bore their village a grudge, the chief should have known him. After all, Yojuro's face was far too handsome to forget.
And beside this stunningly handsome man stood a companion with the appearance of a half-beast. Such a striking contrast—the pair would draw eyes anywhere they went.
"I don't usually like sticking my nose into others' affairs. But the issue here is that I happen to be the very adventurer you were mocking as a gullible fool.
I came here thinking the target was just a giant lizard, only to find out it was a dragon. Now you tell me—do you really think this matter has nothing to do with me?"
Hearing Yojuro's words, the chief's face darkened. Never had he expected such terrible luck—that they would let slip their true intentions right in front of the man who had borne the danger.
"Ch-Chief, look… that Poison Dragon… it's really been killed!"
One of the two young men Yojuro had knocked down struggled to his feet, only to notice the massive corpse being dragged behind Yojuro. Staring wide-eyed, he realized it was none other than the Poison Dragon that had tormented their village for so long.
Just as the chief had said earlier, the Poison Dragon was a subspecies dragon, more than fifteen meters long—already an adult. It was a being ordinary humans couldn't possibly face head-on.
To slay such a monster, one would normally need either a perfectly equipped team of elite adventurers, or a unit of trained soldiers. Yet these two men had killed the beast by themselves and hauled its corpse here as if it were nothing.
"So… you are adventurers after all. Thank you, both of you, for slaying the Poison Dragon and removing this blight from our village and the neighboring ones.
As for the reward, we can discuss the details further. And regarding the deception… please, grant us a chance to explain and offer our apologies."
Hearing the youth's exclamation, the chief hurried over to see for himself. Gazing at the Poison Dragon's bisected corpse, his face first filled with shock, then quickly shifted as he bowed deeply to Yojuro and Yosuke.
Anyone capable of killing a Poison Dragon and then dragging its multi-ton corpse such a distance was no ordinary man. The chief, pragmatic and flexible, immediately abandoned his earlier stance and treated the two with utmost respect.
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