Shadows Gather

What on earth was that just now?

Sian wore a bewildered expression.

But it was impossible to ask the spirit, who had already disappeared, again.

Sian reluctantly turned her head toward Theodore, who was engrossed in playing with Undine.

“Theo, have you gotten a little closer to Undine?”

“Yes!”

Theodore, who had been splashing water with Undine, smiled brightly at Sian.

Seeing that he was already soaked in water, she was glad that she had changed him into water-playing clothes in advance.

“Now that you’ve contracted, you’ll be able to summon Undine anywhere from now on.”

“Can I summon her every day then?”

“Well, do so if it doesn’t tire you out.”

“Yes!”

Theodore, who had received Sian’s permission, was delighted and answered loudly.

He wanted to meet the friend he had made for the first time every day, so it was a good thing.

Theodore smiled brightly at Undine again.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yes, I’m happy!”

“Hehe.”

“Because Undine is the first friend I’ve made.”

“……Huh?”

Sian felt something strange looking at Theodore, who was smiling brightly as he spoke.

Even if it was understandable that the still young Theodore recognized the spirit as a friend, first friend?

Wasn’t Leon Theodore’s first friend?

Sian asked, puzzled.

“Leon is also your friend, isn’t he?”

“Oh…….”

At Sian’s remark, Theodore rolled his eyes.

In fact, Theodore had never thought of Leon as a friend.

He was so annoying that he wanted to kick him out, so how could he consider such a child a friend?

Theodore hesitated and couldn’t answer easily.

“That’s…….”

“……?”

Sian couldn’t understand why Theodore was doing that.

Then she suddenly realized that Leon and Undine were in different categories.

Undine was a spirit, and Leon was a person, wasn’t he?

So it was possible that Theodore had spoken by distinguishing them.

No, it must be for that reason.

Sian thought inwardly and nodded her head.

“Undine is your first spirit friend.
Isn’t that right?”

“Ah, yes.
That’s right.”

Theodore, who had been sweating profusely, answered with an awkward face.

Anyone could tell that Theodore’s appearance was suspicious, but Sian didn’t notice.

She was just pleased that she had cleared up the misunderstanding herself and smiled.

More time passed after Theodore summoned the spirit.

Theodore summoned Undine every day and didn’t leave her side for a moment.

At this rate, it seemed that he would be able to summon a spirit one rank higher in a fairly short period of time.

What would be good to summon after the water spirit?

Theodore’s main spirits were naturally the water spirits that he summoned even up to the spirit king, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t contract with spirits of other attributes.

He had contracted with most of the other attribute spirits up to the intermediate and high ranks.

Sian decided to bring forward what Theodore would do in the original story this time as well.

‘That way, Theo won’t have a hard time after going down the mountain.’

Theodore in the original story went down the mountain without any measures and had a very hard time.

It was like starting from level 1 without receiving any equipment in a game.

Moreover, Theodore in the original story was even sick from the aftereffects of the experiment.

In that sense, the current Theodore was different from the original.

Of course, the trials that followed to make him a hero would be the same as in the original story, but if she prepared even a little, it would be much easier than in the original story.

That was all Sian wanted.

‘When Theo goes down the mountain…….’

Children grow up quickly.

Theodore would also grow up quickly and soon go down the mountain.
In order to live a blessed life as the protagonist.

“……!”

But as she thought that, the inside of her chest throbbed.

Sian widened her eyes at the sudden pain.

Why is this happening?

Was there something wrong with her body?

Sian raised her hand and placed it on her chest without realizing it.

She had never felt pain while living as a dragon all this time.

‘Is it because I thought about parting with Theo?’

Parting with Theodore was a natural thing.

The reason she had brought him, the protagonist, and decided to take care of him was because she didn’t want to die doing evil deeds like in the original story.

More than anything, in order for Theodore to live happily like in the original story, she had to let him go when the time came.

‘But…….’

Maybe a different future was possible.

Sian had that thought as soon as she felt the pain in her chest.

The original story had already been twisted from the beginning due to her possession.

Wouldn’t it be better for Theodore to continue taking care of him without sending him away?

If she kept protecting him so that he wouldn’t feel any pain…….

‘What was I just thinking, Seo Ji-han?’

Sian flinched at the thought she had had.

To keep taking care of Theodore even after he grows up.

She was just putting on a good show, but wasn’t that just restricting Theodore’s life as she pleased?

She wasn’t openly abusing him, but what she was doing was no different from Drake in the original story.

‘I have to be careful.’

Dragons were creatures with strong obsessions.

Once they were obsessed with something, whether it was an object or a person, they became obsessed with getting it.

Drake was also a person with a great obsession unique to dragons.

At one time, he was obsessed with jewels and waged private wars against humans and dwarves, and he was obsessed with a princess who was said to be a great beauty and destroyed a kingdom.

He was a person who would fight even God to get what he wanted.

She thought she was maintaining her personality after possessing the body, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

If she became obsessed with Theodore like Drake, then it would be truly irreversible.

Sian calmed herself by reminding herself of her role in her head.

All she had to do was take care of Theodore until he grew up and let him go when the time came.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“……Sian-nim!”

“Ah.”

Sian was startled by the sudden voice and turned to the side.

Carli was looking at Sian with a puzzled expression.

“What on earth were you thinking so deeply about?”

“Ah…… it’s nothing.”

“……?”

Carli still sent a suspicious gaze.

She had rarely seen Sian so absorbed in thought that she couldn’t sense the presence of others.

However, Sian turned away from Carli’s gaze and turned her head.

“Hmm, but what’s going on?”

“That’s…….”

Carli knew that Sian had awkwardly changed the subject, but she couldn’t push it any further.

She had more important things to say than that.

Carli soon opened her mouth again with a serious face.

“The movements of humans these days are unusual.”

“Huh?”

Sian frowned and looked at Carli.

Thinking it was another troublesome matter, Sian’s face was wrinkled to the fullest.

“Did the lord send soldiers?”

“No.
It’s not soldiers this time.”

“Not soldiers?”

“Yes.”

Sian tilted her head with a frown.

For some reason, the lord had been sending soldiers to find traces of the villagers, but that had stopped recently.

Not many people would come to this mountain full of terrible rumors without fear.

Unless they received orders from the lord, like the soldiers.

“There has been a noticeable increase in the number of humans coming to hunt monsters at the foot of the mountain.

Moreover, there are more and more guys who are openly trying to explore the inside of the mountain.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

As Carli nodded with a serious face, Sian finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

The name ‘Mountain of Death’ was naturally not given by Sian.

It was a name that the people of Outchamber arbitrarily attached out of fear of the dragon.

The dragon’s notoriety was that terrible.

In particular, people living near the mountain were sometimes threatened with survival.

This was because the monsters that gathered due to the mana often harmed the people living below the mountain.

Moreover, Sian couldn’t stop it all.

The existence of the monsters rather served as a bulwark for the races living in the mountains, preventing the intrusion of dangerous people.

Then, as the people around the mountain gathered money and began hiring mercenaries, foreigners often came and hunted the monsters below the mountain.

It was a win-win for the mercenaries as they received rewards for catching the monsters and could also obtain materials left by the monsters.

Still, that was only to the extent of catching the monsters that had come down from the mountain.

Mercenaries didn’t value their lives, so they didn’t come into the mountains.
At least that had been the case since Sian had possessed the body.

“It’s not mercenaries hired by people from nearby villages, is it?”

“There seem to be mercenaries as well…… but it seems that adventurers are more prevalent.”

“Adventurers?”

The barren land of Outchamber was home to far more monsters and far more dungeons than Inchamber.

That’s why Theodore was able to become a transcendent in such a short period of time in the original story.

As such, there were many adventurers in Outchamber.

Unlike mercenaries who knew the value of their lives and only worked as much as they were paid, adventurers were generally nosy.

Whenever they came, the number of headaches always increased.

“Yeah, it’s about time for crazy guys to be swarming.
The number of monsters has increased since spring as well.”

“But…… as I said, the numbers are unusual.”

“They’re flocking in that much?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…….”

Judging from how worried Carli was, it seemed like it wasn’t a normal matter.

It seemed that the dragon’s notoriety was starting to lose its effect.

Sian sighed.