After I became able to understand human language, the meaning of walking in the forest changed a little.
It wasn't just the footsteps and smells of animals.
If I heard the sound of trees being cut in the distance, I could even make out what the villagers were talking about. Even if a yell came from the direction of the field, I could tell whether it was a fight or a shout for work.
It was convenient.
That was why I felt the inconvenience of not being able to tell them anything even more than before.
The only thing that came out of my throat was a dragon's cry, as usual.
“Val!”
Lina’s voice came from the village.
When I peeked out from the edge of the forest, I saw Lina standing at the side of the field with a basket, waving.
I lifted my head.
"See, he does know after all!"
"Maybe he just remembers the name."
Dario, who was repairing a fence nearby, answered.
"He replied to me the other day."
"He just growled."
"Then you call him."
"Why me?"
"Just do it."
Dario looked at me with a troubled expression.
"…Val."
"Guru."
I answered right back, on purpose.
Lina smiled proudly.
"See!"
Dario stared at me, then returned to work on the fence with a look I couldn't read.
“It’s a coincidence.”
He was a stubborn one.
I snorted and left the place.
The hind leg that had been injured by the trap had gotten much better over the course of several mornings. It still hurt when I ran, but it didn't bother me when I walked normally. The wound on my side had healed to the point where the skin beneath the scales itched.
That was why I had been expanding the range of my walks around the village a little lately.
It wasn't as if anyone had asked me to do it.
It would be safer for me too if I checked whether anything like a Horned Wolf was approaching.
That was what I told myself.
As I turned north from the village, I picked up the smell of someone I didn’t know.
I stopped.
They were different from the villagers.
The smell of iron and oil mixed with sweat and leather.
More than one.
When I turned my nose upwind, a voice reached me this time.
“The fence isn’t fixed yet.”
A man.
I went deep into the grove.
There were two people on the other side of the low bushes.
One had a short sword at his waist, and the other had a bow on his back. A traveller walking along the highway would have kept to the road, but these two had purposely gone up the slope overlooking the village.
"There are no guards that look like guards."
"What about hunters?"
"There are several. But as long as we have enough men, it won't be a problem."
Both of them kept their eyes on the village.
The field.
The houses.
The livestock pen.
The fence.
They checked each in order.
They weren't simply looking.
"What about food?"
"It seems they killed a Tusk Boar. There's some meat left. There's livestock too."
"Not bad."
I kept my belly on the ground and listened carefully.
"What do we tell the boss?"
"That the fence is broken now. We'll have enough men in three days."
"At night?"
"Get close while it's dark and go in before it gets light. It's easier when they're asleep."
They were bandits, plain and simple.
They hadn't done anything yet.
However, I knew more than enough about what they were planning to do.
"What about anyone who resists?"
"Kill them. If we can take the young ones, we take them."
The man laughed.
My claws dug into the soil.
Heat was born deep in my chest.
It wasn't the kind for breathing out.
I was simply angry.
If it was just these two, I might be able to attack right here.
Kill one from behind and catch up with the other before he could run away.
I thought that, and stopped myself immediately.
These two were scouts.
If they didn't go back, their companions would notice something was wrong.
To begin with, I didn't know how many were in the main force. Even if I defeated these two, the people who would attack the village wouldn't disappear.
What was needed wasn't killing these two.
It was telling the village.
The two of them stood up.
"Right, let's go back."
"Yeah."
The men went back the way they had come.
I didn't follow them.
I waited until the smell and footsteps were far enough away before heading out onto the slope.
The problem started here.
"Three days from now, bandits will come before dawn."
Even though I meant to say that,
“Gururu…”
that was the only thing that came out.
It was the same no matter how many times I tried.
I investigated the place where the bandits had been standing.
There were footprints left in the soft soil. I could also see the signs that the two of them had stayed there for a long time.
If I brought Dario here, he would at least be able to tell that someone suspicious had been around.
The question was when they would attack.
I scratched the soil with the claws of my front leg.
I lined up three lines.
Next to them, I tried to draw a big circle.
…What did it look like?
I couldn't tell even looking at it myself.
I thought I was drawing the sun, but what I ended up with was a distorted shape that looked like a potato.
It would be unreasonable to show them this and ask them to understand "before dawn, three days from now."
In that case, I had no choice but to convey what I could first.
I hurried to the village.
When I returned near the fence, Dario was still working.
He noticed me.
“What?”
I stopped outside the fence.
"Guru."
"If you want food, tell Lina."
No.
I turned my head towards the forest.
I went forward a few steps.
I looked back.
Dario didn't move.
I returned once more, this time tapping the ground in front of him before heading towards the forest.
“…Do you mean follow me?”
"Guru."
Dario’s face changed.
He picked up his bow.
"All right. Let's go."
He understood.
I went into the forest first.
Dario started picking up traces along the way without me guiding him.
"It's people."
Before we approached the slope, he found some trampled grass.
"Two of them… no, are these the same footprints?"
He crouched down and touched the ground.
"Not from the village."
I didn't know how he could tell that much.
However, someone who had lived as a hunter must be able to see something.
When the two of us arrived at the place where the men had been watching the village, Dario's expression became grim.
"They went out of their way to come to this spot?"
The village was visible.
From here, you could check the condition of the fence and the livestock pen.
Dario was silent for a while.
"It's not a place for travellers to rest."
"Guru."
"Did you see them?"
I turned my head in the direction the two of them had left.
Dario looked there too.
"They went that way?"
"Guru."
"…It really seems like you're communicating."
I understand.
So please try a little harder.
I moved to the spot I had drawn with my claws earlier.
Three lines.
A distorted circle.
Dario crouched down.
"Did you do this?"
"Guru."
"Three?"
That's it.
I tapped the three lines one by one with my front leg.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Three…?"
That’s right.
Next, I tapped the distorted circle.
Dario tilted his head.
"What is this?"
It’s the sun.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn't look like the sun.
I looked at the sky.
I tapped the circle on the ground.
I looked at the sky again.
"The sky?"
It’s a shame.
I added lines around the circle with my claw.
“…The sun?”
I snorted vigorously.
"Guru!"
Dario narrowed his eyes.
"Three. Sun… three days?"
He had it.
I tapped the three lines in order again.
"In three days?"
"Guru!"
Dario stood up.
The suspicion did not disappear from his face.
Still, he wasn’t laughing.
"Are you trying to tell me something will happen in three days?"
It was enough to convey that.
I looked at the village.
Next, I looked in the direction the bandits had left.
Dario moved his gaze the same way.
"…I'm going back."
This time he started walking first.
Upon returning to the village, Dario immediately called for the village chief.
I stayed outside the fence.
"There are marks where two people came in on the north side."
The grey-haired village chief's expression changed.
"Not someone from the village?"
"No. They stopped for a long time on a slope overlooking the village. It's not a place you'd leave the road to enter."
"What were they doing?"
"I don't know that much."
Dario looked at me.
"Val found them."
The eyes of the people around us focused on me.
"The dragon did?"
"He took me there. And that's not all."
Dario chose his words carefully.
"He drew three lines on the ground, and something that looked like the sun."
"What is that supposed to be?"
"I think he meant to say three days from now."
There was a commotion.
"Come on, surely not…"
"It's a dragon, you know?"
"Would it even understand that much?"
"It's not as if I fully believe it either."
Dario interrupted in a strong tone.
"But it's true that people were hiding and watching the village. Even if three days from now turns out to be wrong, there's no harm in being cautious."
The village chief did not nod immediately.
He was thinking.
He eventually opened his mouth.
"Don't go into the forest alone. Make sure at least two people go outside together. We'll also increase the number of watchmen at night."
The surrounding men nodded.
"Keep livestock as close to the houses as possible at night. Repair the fence quickly."
As I watched the village become busy, I felt a little relieved.
I couldn't tell them everything.
Before dawn.
The number of men they would gather.
It was impossible to get that far.
But it was much better than sleeping without knowing anything.
"Val."
Lina was watching me from the other side of the fence.
"Are bad people coming?"
I couldn't answer.
Still, this time I didn't just growl; I looked at Lina and then nodded silently.
The girl's expression stiffened.
It seemed the meaning had been conveyed.
I looked around the village.
A fence under repair.
A lean field.
A livestock pen.
The people who lived here.
With a Tusk Boar or a Horned Wolf, it was understandable that hunger brought them near the village.
It was to eat.
However, those two were different.
Knowing that the villagers would be in trouble, they would steal food, kill those who resisted, and even take people away with them.
I'll protect you because you're human.
It’s a monster, so I’ll drive it away.
It seemed that such a division wasn't enough.
I looked at Lina on the other side of the fence.
This village wasn't mine.
I wasn't a resident, nor had I been asked to protect it.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to sit back and watch those men trample it.
I set my front legs on the ground and looked in the direction the bandits had left.
If they came here, it didn't necessarily mean I could just chase them away this time.
It seemed like I needed to be prepared for that.
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