“They really are dogs!”
Li Xiuman, who was stopped outside the city wall, pointed at the row of fierce-looking wolves before him and said.
The corner of the city guard's mouth twitched.
“Respected Adventurer, we can still tell the difference between wolves and dogs.”
“If these wolves enter the city and suddenly lose control, it will cause very serious consequences.”
Li Xiuman shook his head.
“These are dogs!”
“Sit!”
All the wolves sat down obediently.
“Stand up!”
They all stood up again.
“Roll over!”
They all rolled over.
“Stick out your tongues!”
They all stuck out their tongues.
“...”
The wolf pack was still stopped outside the city.
“Be good, I'll be out in a bit.”
Patting the wolves on their heads, Li Xiuman entered the city alone.
This city, named Blue Steel City, was located on the line Li Xiuman had drawn on his map.
Just in case the Crystal Hero's grave was here, Li Xiuman decided to go in and check.
Having traveled by sled over the past few days, he had passed through several cities, but none of them showed any trace of a grave.
Upon entering the city, Li Xiuman went straight to the Adventurer's Association, just like he had in the previous cities.
He slammed ten gold coins heavily onto the counter, giving the receptionist a fright.
“Dear customer...”
“The notice board, for one year.”
Li Xiuman pointed at the notice board and said, “Post this.”
“Despicable red dragon Orfen Rory Gould: Fraud! Vanity! Absolute rock bottom! Exposing the mess behind the dragon's treasure! Pictures included, truth revealed!”
Seeing the notice, the receptionist's eyes lit up.
“The legends were actually true! You're that legendary Cloaked Exposer of the Red Dragon!”
“The cloaked figure rumored to post notices about the red dragon Orfen Rory Gould in city after city!”
As soon as the receptionist said this, gazes swept over from all around.
“It's that cloaked man with the tragic past from the rumors!”
“It was a night over ten years ago when the evil red dragon Orfen destroyed his village.”
“The young cloaked man was hidden in a cellar, watching his village get destroyed.”
“Afterward, he survived alone and honed his skills, determined to slay the dragon!”
“He's been training to this day, collecting all kinds of dark dirt on the red dragon Orfen to expose him!”
“So it was him!”
“Now that you mention it, I remember! It really is him!”
“To think he had such a past.”
“Persisting for over a decade... what admirable willpower.”
“...”
Li Xiuman froze.
What the hell? What 'over ten years ago'? What 'village destroyed'?
How did such a ridiculous rumor start?
“Alas, the red dragon probably stole something precious from him too for him to persist to this day,” someone sighed, speaking as if they had guessed something.
Don't make wild guesses!
“The only thing that could keep someone going this long is probably that.”
“Yeah, it can only be that.”
“If it's that, then it all makes sense.”
“Is it really that? How pitiful... Red Dragon Orfen truly is despicable.”
Listening to the increasingly absurd whispers around him, Li Xiuman thought: What on earth is 'that'?!
“Love is truly a thing that...”
Without even waiting for the notice to be fully posted, Li Xiuman turned and left the Adventurer's Association without a word.
If he listened any longer, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going on a killing spree.
“Truly swift and decisive, just like the rumors say.”
“To defeat the red dragon and avenge his losses, he never stops moving, always striving and pressing forward.”
“Word is that ever since his village was slaughtered, he has slept with one eye open.”
“That, too, is for love.”
“His childhood sweetheart was probably carried off by the red dragon Orfen, right?”
“Really?”
“How could it be fake?”
“...”
How rumors are born.
After quickly searching around and confirming that the grave of that scammer Crystal Hero wasn't here, Li Xiuman didn't want to stay in this lousy city any longer.
That red dragon really clashed with his luck.
He had tried to disgust it, but he ended up getting disgusted himself.
Was this what they called harming others without benefiting oneself?
He continued traveling by day, and by night, he lay tucked in a pile of furry wolves while learning magic.
Eventually, he reached the next city along the line.
Upon entering the city, when he arrived at the Adventurer's Association to post his notice:
“You're that legendary Cloaked Exposer of the Red Dragon!”
“It's the legendary masked man!”
“Supposedly, over ten years ago, the evil dragon Orfen kidnapped his fiancée and slaughtered his village!”
“Ever since then, he embarked on a journey of pursuit and vengeance!”
“...”
In the next small city:
“It's the cloaked man!”
“I heard his father was a dragon-slaying hero who was retaliated against by a dragon in his later years.”
“The village was completely slaughtered, and his father hid him in a cellar, allowing him to escape.”
“The dragon knew of his existence, so it kidnapped his fiancée to lure him into a trap.”
“Perhaps this is the cycle of fate. From his dying father's hands, he took up the dragon-slaying sword.”
“Since then, he has trained along the way, pursuing the tracks of the red dragon Orfen and exposing its secrets.”
“The red dragon cursed him, and he, in turn, shall curse the red dragon.”
“This is the entanglement between his dragon-slaying family and dragons across generations, ever since the moment they bathed in dragon blood.”
Leaving the Adventurer's Association, Li Xiuman gazed up at the dark clouds in the sky and the continuous snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Perhaps this is fate.
The curse and entanglement between our family and dragons across generations is ultimately inevitable after all.
Red dragon Orfen, I will avenge my father and everyone else! With this dragon-slaying sword, I shall renew the curse and entanglement between us once more!
Don't just accept a setting because it sounds cool!
This is completely someone else's rumor!
For the rest of the day, Li Xiuman kept babbling about dragon-slaying, curses, family, and fate.
Holding Crystal Orchid, he repeatedly declared:
“Is this the dragon-slaying sword passed down to me by my father?”
“Your brilliance shines brightly, Dragon-Slaying Sword.”
“Heh, are you also thirsting to drink the evil dragon's blood once more? What a greedy fellow you are, Dragon-Slaying Sword.”
Crystal Orchid: “...”
With an attitude like that, he clearly didn't care that Crystal Orchid was actually a single-edged blade.
And just like that, his mood brightened.
Indeed, as long as rumors sounded cool, they could actually be quite pleasant.
His cheerful mood lasted right up until the next city, where he heard a new rumor: “His fiancée was entranced by the red dragon's power, abandoned him, and left with the dragon. Unwilling to accept this, the cloaked man has pursued them ever since.”
Furious, he decided he had to put a stop to these absurd rumors.
How could the last descendant of a dragon-slaying lineage tolerate being slandered like this?
After dragging the rumor-monger into an alley and beating them up, he thoroughly brainwashed them with his story about dragon-slaying lineages, inheritances, curses, dragon-slaying swords, and eternal entanglements.
Only then did he leave the city satisfied.
“Next stop... let me see...”
“Dawn City? What a huge city!”
“Its size isn't much different from White Crystal City!”
“I hope the Crystal Hero's grave is in there.”
Rate on N.U.
