Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei
“Who’s there?”
These words were spoken in a clear voice. Even the pronunciation was perfect.
It seemed that the language here was the same as on the other islands.
“Come out. If you don’t reveal yourself…”
“…”
Lukas clicked his tongue inwardly before revealing himself.
The eyes of the rest of the Dragonmen group widened in surprise, but their auras changed in an instant. They all glared at Lukas with killing intent in their eyes.
“Krrr…”
It was at that moment that the smaller Dragonman who had called Lukas out growled at them. It looked like a leader exerting his dominance over his subordinates. The Dragonmen all flinched and lowered their heads.
The Dragonman then turned back to Lukas before chuckling.
“I was wondering if it was a spy from another group. But it turns out it’s just another small fry from Dragon God Island.”
“…”
“Although, I’ve never seen one in so deep before.”
Crack-
As he said that, the Dragonman’s claws began to grow at an alarming rate. Black blood visibly dripped from those elongated claws.
This meant that those claws were strong and sharp enough to pierce the Ancient Dragon’s tough scales. Something which even the swords crafted by some of the greatest blacksmiths were unable to do.
Realising that the Dragonman was preparing for battle, Lukas decided to clear up the misunderstanding.
“I’m not from Dragon God Island.”
“If you’re going to say nonsense like that, why don’t you take that stupid robe off first.”
Lukas didn’t take off the robe. Instead, he simply lowered the hood.
A human face was not something common in the Heavenly Realm.
The Dragonman went silent when he saw the unfamiliar face before finally opening his mouth.
“What a weird-looking guy.”
“…”
“So what? Why have you come here?”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Someone?”
“Right. A young girl that looks like me.”
“…young girl? Do you mean a female that’s not fully grown?”
That was an extreme way to put it, but Lukas nodded since he couldn’t find a better way to describe it.
“Right.”
“…”
The Dragonman went silent again for a while as if he was thinking about something. Those around him were also silent as they waited for his response. It seemed that his earlier thought was correct, this smaller Dragonman was the leader of this group.
After a short while, the Dragonman muttered in a low voice.
“I think I might have heard some reports that a group had picked up an unfamiliar creature not long ago. It seems that it is under their protection for now.”
“..under their protection?”
“From what I recall, it was badly hurt.”
Badly hurt? Sedi?
Lukas was a bit skeptical at first, but considering the direction, the light beam from the ring had pointed to, and the fact that there was an Absolute somewhere on this land, it wasn’t absolutely impossible.
“Of course, it might not be the young female you are looking for, but… Why do you look so surprised.”
“You are different from what Dragon God Island described to me.”
They were willing to rescue and protect an unfamiliar being that had been seriously injured.
Such behaviour was impossible without morality.
The Dragonman chuckled cynically when he heard those words.
“Since you managed to come here, I’m assuming you entered this place from Temple Island. Did those fools call us savage barbarians?”
“…”
“There is life and civilisation here. Can you really trust the words of cowards who only observe from afar? The words of those who know nothing about this island?”
It certainly wasn’t good to wholeheartedly trust the words of one side.
At that moment, Lukas spotted a few Dragonmen carrying corpses not far away from him. They appeared to be those who had died during the fight against the Ancient Dragon.
Did they respect their dead? If that was the case, then it would truly be as the man said, they weren’t as barbaric as they were said to be.
But shortly after thinking this, Lukas was made witness to a shocking sight.
Crunch, crunch.
“…!”
One of the Dragonmen began eating one of the corpses. If it were the corpse of the Ancient Dragon, he wouldn’t have been surprised. It wasn’t strange for those who lived in a land where even firewood to make a fire was a rare commodity to eat raw meat.
However, what they were eating were the corpses of other Dragonmen. Those who had fought valiantly beside them not so long ago.
They were devouring their own species.
“Are you okay with that?”
Lukas pointed towards the incident in question while he turned to look at the leader of the group.
The Dragonman tilted his head to the side as he looked over.
“Is there something wrong?”
“They’re eating your own kind.”
The Dragonman’s expression became strange as though he couldn’t understand what Lukas was saying.
“Our own kind? Isn’t that just a corpse?”
“That doesn’t change the fact that they were fighting the Ancient Dragon with you just a moment ago…”
“That was when they were alive. Now that they are dead, they have become nothing but piles of meat.”
“…”
“I don’t understand the problem. Are you saying that we should just throw away such precious meat?”
As he said that, the Dragonman approached a nearby corpse and poked at it with his claw.
“Look here. Dragonman meat is softer and easier to digest than that of an Ancient Dragon. It’s especially good for feeding younglings who have relatively weak stomachs. All of the Dragonmen that are being eaten now are those without family. It is a rule that all the corpses collected should be given to their families, especially their young.”
“Once they get them, what would they do with them?”
The Dragonman looked at Lukas like he had asked a very foolish question, but he answered nonetheless.
“Eat them.”
It was at that moment that Lukas finally realised why those on Dragon God Island considered these people to be savages.
(TL: What do you guys think? Are they savages for eating their dead? Or are they just making use of limited resources?
I’m curious about your opinions on this one.)