Overgeared

The Tower of Wisdom had existed for over a thousand years. It was the only home of the tower members and the last bastion of humanity. It had to be absolutely safe. It was necessary for the barriers to not only be unable to be observed with physical force and magic, but also by mysteries like powers and divinity.

The tower members were especially wary of dragons. Many of the multiple barriers they installed around the tower were responsible for blocking Dragon Words. In the first place, the tower was the target of dragons. There was no means to stop the dragons’ magic and Dragon Words, so they made it so their existence itself couldn’t be established.

Therefore, it was a huge shock. A hatchling was hanging around near the tower? How did a hatchling find the tower? The tower members were quick to detect that the hatchling wasn’t ordinary and were wary. They were mindful of the possibility that an old dragon had used Polymorph. Yet the reality was…

“Heeek!”

“……?”

“Grrruk…”

“……”

It wasn’t enough to crawl around like a bug and scream. In the end, her mouth foamed up and she fainted. Embarrassment crossed the faces of the tower members who were nervous and wary of her. They knew that Grid was hiding a hatchling, but they didn’t know the characteristics of the hatchling, so they couldn’t associate it with Nefelina.

Biban’s confusion was the greatest. “I expected it to be no ordinary hatchling, but this is beyond my imagination. Her madness has reached the peak.”

A hatchling fainted? Even if she was a crazy hatchling, this was firmly crazy. He got goosebumps from the moment he saw the obsidian-like black scales. Biban felt the temperament of the insane dragon from the passed out hatchling in front of him. It was very reasonable and high quality reasoning, even if he thought about it himself.

“We must kill her now.” Biban was drawing his sword with conviction when Jessica poked his side.

“It is the hatchling from Reinhardt.”

“……”

Among the tower members, only Hayate and Jessica saw through Nefelina’s identity. It was strange for Hayate not to know and Jessica noticed it by combining the current situation with the strange feeling she felt when she visited Reinhardt. The unusual thing was that Biban didn’t notice it despite him visiting Reinhardt several times.

“Is there a secret between us…?” Biban’s expression was bitter as he muttered like it was absurd. His eyes as he looked at Grid were sad.

‘Has Biban never met Nefelina?’

Even if they had met, Biban would’ve forgotten. It was using the excuse that the situation at the time wasn’t good. Grid didn’t care if Biban was sad or not. He had completely adapted to Biban’s tendency to be slow to grasp something and to easily forget due to indifference to the matters around him. He treated the elderly who had dementia with a sense of support.

“Nefelina.” Grid carefully shook Nefelina’s shoulder. A child who was supposed to be in Reinhardt suddenly came and fainted, so he was concerned in many ways. He ruled out the possibility that Reinhardt might’ve been attacked. A message would’ve come already if this had happened.

‘Did she run away from home? Is it puberty?’

Someone who still had a long way to go to become an adult? Grid found it improbable but he still seriously suspected it. Wasn’t it said that a dragon realized the principles of the world from the moment they hatched from the egg? It wasn’t unusual for puberty to come quickly. He thought it was plausible because puberty was caused by emotional problems separate from the level of knowledge. Lauel’s existence was proof.

“G-Grid…” A nostalgic smell—Nefelina’s eyes trembled slightly as she slowly regained consciousness in Grid’s arms. “I… no, perhaps more dragons have no sense of kinship…”

“Yes… that’s right.”

In the past, Grid had treated Nefelina with great caution. There was something like trauma about a dragon’s power, so he supported her as if serving her in a temple. However, this changed as time passed. Behind the change was Nefelina’s favorability. The more time Nefelina spent with Grid, the more she liked him and relied on him. Grid also cared for her in the same way and the two of them gradually became friends. Irene was pleased because it seemed like a father-daughter relationship.

Irene’s role was also great. Nefelina followed her, who was kind and warm. Irene’s presence played a big role in Nefelina’s ability to learn human emotions and empathize with humans.

In any case, Grid was no longer uncomfortable with Nefelina. His attitude was extremely friendly as he stroked her head while she still looked confused.

Nefelina buried her head deeper into Grid’s chest like she liked the touch and continued to speak with difficulty, “It’s fine. I won’t dislike you or be afraid of you, even if you are a savage who slaughtered my people and put their bones and scales on your body…”

“……”

Grid belatedly noticed why Nefelina had passed out and he closed his mouth.

***

“Can we keep that child alive?”

At the round table…

All the tower members except for Grid were gathered. It was to discuss the treatment of the hatchling, who was traveling around the tower with the memphis even at this moment. The tower member felt that the situation was unrealistic. A hatchling was playing in their sanctuary where they had been fighting dragons for a thousand years…

The foundation of the tower felt shaky.

Strong rejection and confusion pushed the composure of some of the tower members to the extreme.

Jessica spoke cautiously, “Nefelina is the apostle of the 10th Seat, Grid. He is clearly our ally.”

The giant brothers nodded.

“Besides, the 10th Seat has proven earlier that we can communicate with dragons. From our point of view, there is no reason or justification to antagonize that hatchling. Rather, it is better to gain a firm ally and plan for the future together.”

The 8th Seat, Abellio, expressed concern, “A human god tends to be a target of heaven and it is difficult to live forever. Moreover, the 10th Seat is preparing for a battle against Baal. Doesn’t everyone here know that Baal’s strength is comparable to an old dragon? If the 10th Seat is defeated by Baal, loses his divinity, and perishes one day… Nefelina will no longer be an apostle of the 10th Seat. The means of coercing her will be gone.”

The 5th Seat, Jurene, agreed, “Right. She will stab us in the back one day. We can’t let her run wild in the tower just because we don’t have justification to kill Nefelina right away. What if she remembers the structure of the tower and makes a way to neutralize the tower’s barriers once she becomes an adult dragon? Do you want to keep moving? The structure of all the towers is the same, so won’t we eventually be captured wherever we flee?”

Opinions were largely divided into two. Jessica, Betty, Radwolf, and Fronzaltz had the opinion to trust Nefelina and let her go free. Meanwhile, Abellio, Ken, and Jurene had the opinion that Nefelina couldn’t be ignored. It was a separate issue from the liking they had for Grid. It was because the tower’s existence was at stake.

“……”

The eyes of the tower members all focused on Biban. It was to ask for his opinion since he had been silent throughout the meeting. Biban opened his mouth with a bewildered expression, “Is there a way to erase memories without killing Nefelina?”

“It is possible if we use Yatan’s essence. There is Betty here who can use Yatan’s essence better than anyone else and Jessica and Radwolf have the ability to help her.”

“By the way, Grid is a tower member, right? From now on, he will be free to come and go from the future. Will he tell the apostles to keep it a secret every time?”

“Isn’t it strange to give Grid’s apostles the freedom to come and go from the tower? The tower has been our home for a thousand years and it will continue to be so.”

“What if Grid doesn’t come to the tower often because he is uncomfortable?”

“That… it is unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. In the first place, the 10th Seat is an honorary position. He doesn’t have the responsibilities of the tower members, so he doesn’t have the obligation to come and go from the tower.”

“Um… Didn’t you say that Nefelina is the daughter of the insane dragon? I know that Baal and Yatan’s essence were deeply involved in the reason why the insane dragon went crazy… using Yatan’s essence on the daughter as well is a bit… I wonder if it is too cruel.”

“……”

The tower members couldn’t refute it. Jessica clenched her fists at Biban. It was to support Biban, who rarely spoke the correct words.

Biban expressed his thoughts, “Putting everything else aside… won’t Grid be hurt the most if we hurt Nefelina? I don’t like that.”

“……”

It was up to here. It was 5 to 3. The meeting lost its meaning since Biban added strength to the opinion that they should trust Nefelina and leave her alone. Furthermore, the tower members all felt great liking toward Grid. Abellio, Ken, and Jurene realized that harming Nefelina would hurt Grid and they were no longer stubborn about it.

Hayate, who had been silent the whole time, smiled. “Our unity seems stronger thanks to the 10th Seat.

“Cough…”

The tower members were embarrassed and coughed. From as little as hundreds of years to as long as a thousand years—the tower members had been together for a very long time. They didn’t always get along, even if their purpose was the same. They had spent many years together and had many fights.

Yet today they agreed on an important issue. They even put emotions ahead of reason. Still, was this really the right thing to do?

Hayate reassured the anxious tower members, “I will prepare the minimum of safeguards for this matter. Don’t worry too much about it.”

***

‘It looks like a lot of fun. Since when did she become so close to Noe?’

He could hear Nefelina’s laughter as she ran with Noe from the corridor beyond the door. Noe intermittently screamed and cried, but… Grid ignored it. At this point, shouldn’t Noe overcome his dragon phobia? He already learned how to work hard from Betty.

Putting aside the commotion outside, Grid’s hands were moving diligently. He was in the process of carving a pattern on the cool white sword pommel.

A sword entirely made using Cranbel’s arm—it was an impressive divine sword with a delicate blade that emitted a subtle luster. It was an appearance that anyone would recognize as a treasured sword of the world, but there were no structurally special parts apart from the fact that it was hard to distinguish between the blade and the handle.

Grid didn’t use any special techniques in the production. His focus was purely on creating an ‘ideal sword.’ The material itself was so excellent that he was worried any shortcuts would become poison. Nevertheless, the reason why it took a month to make was the special nature of the material.

Cranbel’s arm—it was the ultimate material in theory, so the smelting difficulty was extremely high. Grid had to work hard alone without the help of Randy and the God Hands. Besides, Grid made full use of Cranbel’s arm. He used an entire arm for only one sword.

From the stage of starting a fire, flesh and blood were sacrificed. The bones and nails were repeatedly smelted and tempered until they became as transparent as glass. He was worried that the cold at dawn and the warmth of the day would have a small effect on the temperature, so he paid attention to the time of the day.

The small scales were also removed, smelted, and tempered separately. He devoted his heart even to the material to be used for making the guard and handle. The same was true when tanning the leather to wrap around the handle. It was bound to take a long time.

Knock knock.

Then a knock was heard. Grid identified the visitor just on this. It was thanks to his transcendent senses that reached the highest level and were forged like a treasured sword after writing 18 epics.

“I’m sorry. You must be busy.”

“It’s fine. If you had called, I would’ve gone straight to you. Hayate, why did you come here yourself?”

Hayate immediately brought up the topic, “I think I should put a ban on Nefelina.”

“Ah…” Grid immediately noticed the reason. They seemed uncomfortable that Nefelina was in the tower. It didn’t make sense to bring a hatchling to the den of the dragon-fighting tower members.

“If you say a ban…”

“I want to seal today’s memories. It is inherently very difficult to intervene in a dragon’s thoughts, but Nefelina is your apostle. I think it is possible. I will help.”

Hayate spoke calmly, but his voice spread clearly down the hallway. It clearly dug into the ears of Nefelina, who was stiff due to Hayate’s visit. She barely shook off her fear and hurriedly opened the door to enter the room. “I-I don’t want to! I…! I’ve never spent time with Grid! Definitely! I will remember it without forgetting!”

Nefelina’s voice trembled. It was due to fear. She trembled and even had tears in her eyes. She was facing the Dragon Slayer. It was a fear that was hard to bear from the perspective of a hatchling. Nevertheless, she spoke clearly so Hayate looked at her with admiration.

Nefelina misunderstood the meaning of Hayate’s smile and was terrified. “H-Hik! A-Are you going to kill me?”

“Nefelina…”

Grid got up from his seat and held Nefelina’s shoulder. He waited for her to calm down before explaining the situation. Then Nefelina made an unexpected remark. “It is simple. If… it will never happen, but if Grid dies, I won’t disclose the position of the tower. I will swear using Dragon Words and the tower members will be relieved.”

“Dragon Words…” Hayate’s expression became bitter. It was because he knew that hatchlings couldn’t use Dragon Words. His heart grew even heavier when he realized how young Nefelina was. ‘It has only been a few years since she was born. It is a pity I have to impose such harsh standards on her.’ In the end, he had no choice but to put a ban on her.

It happened the moment when Hayate made a decision and Grid’s heart sank heavily when he read the signs…

“I won’t do any harm to the Tower of Wisdom or its members. This oath will be valid until the day I die.”

Nefelina’s vow became words to be obeyed. The shackles of Dragon Words tied around her tightly. It was a miracle that combined the experience of having already succeeded in triggering Dragon Words, her identity as Grid’s apostle, and her earnest desire to be with Grid. The main point was that the tower wasn’t hostile to her and didn’t interfere with her will.

“Huh?” A brilliant light flashed in Hayate’s eyes.

The tower members, who were watching the situation from outside the door, were astonished.

“A genius dragon…!”

Biban’s pure admiration made Nefelina shrug. Those who had put away their burdens were delighted and only Noe showed a sullen reaction. Noe hated Nefelina so much that his stomach ached when he saw her doing well.

At the same time…

“Ohh…! Ohhh!”

The remnants of the three churches, who refused to serve the Overgeared God and scattered across the continent, burst into tears. It was because a beautiful angel descended with the light and gave them a holy sword.