Chapter 156: Dragon Scales
“… . . How is it nya~… . . ”
Nina asks me, seemingly out of breath . When I heard it I looked away from Nina and back to the vulture .
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Race: Harenae Condor
State:Bloodshed (small)
Lv:7/15
HP: 7/22
MP: 8/14
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Oh, she was finally able to restore 4 HP with [[Rest]] on the vulture . Even Though it had been 1 or 2 just a short time ago, this is a great achievement . Most of the symptoms of bloodshed have also been alleviated . Although it may not be very useful during battle, it should at least be possible to cure minor injuries .
“Gua!”
“Pefu!”
「Progress made to lessen wound」
“I-I did it… . Nina was able to learn magic… . ”
Nina falls flat down . The ball rabbit leaped forward and caught Nina . Seems she was tired since her MP was almost drained .
So it’s up to here . Although it’s only enough to cure minor injuries, there may be some use for it in port city . If we keep practicing from now on I’m sure it will grow .
I undid the bindings on the vultures and released them . I felt guilty letting it go like this, but it wasn’t meant to be a meal in the first place .
“pihya?”
“pihyaa?”
“pihya, pyahya!” “pi, pihyaa!”
The two vultures faced each other and cried out, seems like they came to the conclusion that they could escape and did so . The two flew into the sky and ran away while flapping their wings . The ball rabbit looked up at the birds a little regretfully .
“Hinya… . ”
Nina groans in pain as she is resting on the ball rabbit . When I heard it I had a bad feeling . I hope this is just because she exhausted her mana .
Nina weakly raises her arm and uses her palm to cover her mouth .
“keho, keho!”
A cough appeared .
This was still good . A cough should be the initial symptom of a disease . Like this the status abnormality won’t appear as well . If it starts getting worse, I could use [[Roll]] to move quickly .
Or at least it was supposed to be… . Nina’s hands had red splashes on them .
Its blood .
Nina looks at the palm of her hand and slowly turns her face towards me .
“… . sorry, this is… . ”
Before she could say it, her eyes closed . The weight of the symptoms is clearly different from that of the ball rabbits . In the early stages you won’t get worse at the initial stage of coughing . But is it different depending on monster or humans?
I quickly check Nina’s status .
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[Nina Nifa]
Race: Felis Huma
State: curse (small)
Lv: 8/60
HP: 19/27
MP: 5/24
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Looks like she already has an abnormal state . Why? Is it because she doesn’t have much MP her curse resistance dropped? Or is it because the ball rabbits curse resistance was originally stronger?
Was it a mistake to think that the conditions would be the same for everyone? Damn…this was a blunder . Certainly there were some signs if I think about it . Sometimes she would unnecessarily say sorry, or I sometimes look to see her have a strange face . In the first place, the grace period is abnormally long . I had thought that [[Dragon Scales]] may have had little effect, or that Nina’s tolerance was strong, I was thinking of how easy going we were, but that wasn’t the case .
Nina had been hiding her initial symptoms all this time . She acted so as not to rouse suspicion of her worsening condition as much as possible, and probably muzzled her coughs . Maybe because she knew that I would take her to the city as soon as I saw her showing any signs of sickness . Nina was certainly not prepared to go to that city yet .
If it’s like this, there is a little I’m having trouble understanding . I thought that [[Dragon Scales]] only took effect after a certain amount of days before it begins to take effect, so Nina shouldn’t have had to hide before then . There’s also the fact that the highly perceptive ball rabbit did not notice Nina was hiding her symptoms .
I turn my eyes to the ball rabbit . The ball rabbit awkwardly looked away .
Ball rabbit, you… . told Nina about [[Dragon Scales]] before me . I knew that when you were using [[Telepathy]] without me telling you too was related to the progress of the disease symptoms .
「I am… . sorry」
The ball rabbit shrinks in size, as if trying to hide .
What were you thinking!
If we don’t make it in time Nina will die!
Well there’s no use being angry right now . I guess it was like this since Nina had asked it too . Its out of line to place the blame on the ball rabbit . Since its already like this, I must use [[Roll]] and send Nina to the port city as soon as possible .
“Exist… . . ”
Huh?
What is it ball rabbit, what was she trying to say?
「Port city… . does not exist . To keep going farther and farther, a distant land was used . The city is in another direction… . . 」
… . what does this mean?
「Nina, planned to pass away… . out here . It couldn’t be helped no matter where she went . Although there was a limit, she liked being together, that’s why… . 」
Tell me that in the first place instead of lying!
“Guuoo!”
When I roared the ball rabbit shuddered and folded its ears down further .
You should have at least told me… . .
…Even if I was told would I be able to do anything?
I don’t know anything at all about Nina’s circumstances and how she’s lived . I don’t know what it was like to be a slave in Harenae .
When I had said that I could only take Nina to a village, it must have been cruel in Nina’s perspective . But I couldn’t prepare any other options . If I were human I could have done something else, but I’m a dragon .
“Guuuu… . ”
Nina of course was going to say that the port city was closer as her symptoms worsened . It was obvious that I would panic and head to town as fast as I could . All the while she quietly, intended to die in the desert .
…I wonder if I will be able to make it back to Harenae if I keep rolling at full power . There may be hope as it is completely unknown just how long the symptoms have progressed after appearing as a status abnormality . Though, I am only relying on uncertainties .
I guess, it is about time to consult Laplace after all this time . I did not want to use it as much as possible since I was uncertain on its effective range of events or whether it could even be trusted . It does seem dangerous but… . I suppose now’s a good a time as ever .
I don’t think that Nina wants to go to Harenae or any place with people in the first place however . I wonder what I should do .