Chapter 012: Stronger bonds
The tortoise’s carcass was both large and heavy. No matter whether we pushed or pulled, getting it back to the village was an arduous task. In fact, the men that had come to look for us proved insufficient. Even with the help of the entire male population of the village and a few horses, it took a long time to lug it back. When we arrived, morning had already come.
All the ladies, Mohr included, had been anticipating our arrival. When we showed up with the tortoise in tow, they erupted into a loud cheer.
‘It’s a dragon, a dragon!’, they chanted excitedly.
Both the men and the women worked together to break the tortoise down. Mohr, who had been absentmindedly watching the disturbing process, walked over with the help of her staff.
「To think you took it down all by yourself…」, she said. 「So? What do you want in exchange for such a creature?」
「Ah, I want a toilet and a well. Will that thing be enough to pay for it?」
「More than enough. You can drown the area in wells and toilets with the money you’ll receive for selling it. Do you not know the value of a dragon?」
「Wait… isn’t that a tortoise…? Is it really a dragon, like Aruna said?」
「What a silly question! Look at that dragon we’re disassembling — does a tortoise have teeth? It spewed fireballs at you, didn’t it? I’d like to see a tortoise that can do that!」
She was right — it did have sharp fangs. If it really was a dragon, though… that would mean that I had killed a legendary creature.
It simply felt surreal.
「Once we break it down, Dias, we’ll return most of it to you. The value of its parts is simply too high, and you still won’t get your money’s worth even if we cleaned out the entire village. But we can offer the following: disassembly of the dragon, the construction of a toilet and a well, the provision of food and herbal medicine, as well as a yurt for its storage. We’ll take some of its hide, its shell and a few of its claws… oh, that’s right. If you trust us with the parts, we’ll sell them to a travelling merchant on your behalf, and he’ll probably take some interest in you. You want to get to know the merchant, don’t you?」
She paused.
「As for Aruna’s dowry… I’m sure her parents will be overjoyed to receive even a single tooth.」
「Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute! I trust your judgment about the goods and the merchant, but what’s this about dowry!?」
「Now that you’ve gone and done this, you have to get married even if you don’t want to. If we don’t form strong bonds with a person who slayed a dragon, we won’t be able to sleep at night out of fear. Also, thanks to your tremendous dragon-slaying masculinity, the single ladies in the village are all pining after you. It doesn’t have to be Aruna. But I know that men from the Kingdom only take one bride… which is why I believe Aruna to be the person for you. If you, who have slain a dragon, choose not to marry her… it will put us in a tight spot.」
「I… I understand where you’re coming from. But must we marry? Can’t we just be engaged, or something…?」
「Engagement, eh? I’m afraid we monsterfolk do not have such habits. We simply marry — though you get to choose when you wish to do so. That is fine, yes?」
And thus, my marriage was decided. Unfortunately so. Looking at the lustful glances from the ladies, there seemed to be no way out of it now.
To be honest, I was okay with Aruna. She was pretty, adept at housework and liked me back. That’s right, I thought… it wasn’t so bad. I was already thirty-five — an age where one should be married, and if not, get married quickly.
Hold on. How old was Aruna?
Seeing that Mohr had disappeared somewhere to prepare for a celebration, my marriage and the dowry, I decided to ask one of the men.
「Hey… I’m sorry to bother you while you’re working, but do you know how old Aruna is?」
「Mm? Ah… it’s you, the dragon-slaying gentleman. Aruna’s fifteen this year. She went and found a fine man like you the moment she became of age! That’s amazing, you know?」
He asked if that was all I wanted to know, then left, leaving me standing there in silence. I knew she was young, but fifteen? Thirty-five and fifteen — we could be father and daughter! On top of that, the law stated that eighteen was the minimum age to marry.
I had three years until she turned eighteen. That’s plenty of time, I thought. I could remain engaged for these three years, use the time to develop my fiefdom, and become a good baron. After all, I had to become a man deserving of not only marriage with Aruna, but deserving of a family as well.
I was prepared, and I knew what I needed to do… probably. I was ready to show my resolve through my actions.
As a baron, and as a man.
For starters, there was a dragon-slaying celebration and wedding waiting for me. I had no clue what the latter would be like, but I assumed that it would be a noisy ceremony befitting of the monsterfolk.
A battle with a dragon, lugging said dragon back to the village through the night and a monsterfolk-style wedding thereafter…
It was quite the schedule for a thirty-five year old man, but I had to stay strong.
Also… Aruna would be part of my family once we were married. But would she be one of my people? I mean, even while engaged…
One of my people, or not?
I had no idea.
—
[Chapter 1 Result]
Population: 【0】 → 【1】
Dias slayed 93 【Black Ghees】.
Dias slayed the 【Earth Dragon】, earning the title of ‘Dragon-Slayer’.
Dias obtained raw materials from the 【Earth Dragon】.
Dias pawned the Black Ghees and the raw materials for 20【Yurts】.
Dias pawned the Black Ghees and the raw materials for 2 weeks’ worth of 【Dried meat and dried yams (for two people)】.
Dias pawned the raw materials for 5 jars of 【Medicinal herbs】.
Dias pawned the raw materials for a 【Well】, a 【Toilet】 and a 【Storage yurt】.
Dias improved 【Friendly relations】 with the monsterfolk through marriage.
Dias married 【Aruna】, though preferring to refer to it as an ‘engagement’.
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