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Early NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 5 Part 3
🕑 Added 2025-01-19 16:03:19 +0000 UTCFull title: People Made Fun of Me For Being Jobless but Its Not Bad at All
Note: This part has not been TLCed yet, and might slightly differ from the public version. If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.
Translator: Airis
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With Honemin's guidance, they arrived at the mountain path of the rocky mountain.
It was unclear whether it was artificially created, but according to Honemin, the mountain path was spirally connected to the summit.
“If you climb this mountain path to the end, you will reach the summit. And the White Dragon usually lives at the top, so be careful.”
“That's fine, but... why is there so much fog? You can hardly see anything.”
“This white fog is also produced by the White Dragon. Anyone with ‘Magic Detection’ may be able to tell right away, but the true nature of this fog is remnants of magical power.”
“Remnants...?”
“Y-You're right! I can sense magic from this fog...!?”
Hanzo exclaimed in surprise at Honemin's words, and Reito followed her example and activated his ‘Magic Detection’. Indeed, Reito could sense magic from the white fog surrounding the entire rocky mountain. Moreover, perhaps because he was enveloped in magic, he could not sense the magic of other living things, not even the magic of the person standing next to him.
“This white fog is the remnants of the magic that is released from the White Dragon's body when it is sleeping. So, to put it another way, while the white fog is present, the White Dragon is asleep.”
“Asleep?”
“Dragons basically sleep unless they are searching for food or sensing an intruder on their territory. Experts said that they are constantly resting their bodies to avoid wasting energy.”
“Wow... they are like a shut-in…”
“That doesn't sound very dignified... but on the other hand, as long as this white fog is spreading, we're safe.”
Since the white fog was drifting around the rocky mountain, the White Dragon at the top was also probably dormant. As long as they didn't make any rash moves, they could reach the top safely. However, they couldn't let their guard down, considering that if they used magic even once while traveling along the mountain path, they might be noticed by the White Dragon.
“Watch your step. If you lose your footing, it's all over.”
“Whoa... Doesn't the road seem to be getting narrower and narrower?”
“I'm at my limit…”
At first, the road to the top was wide, but it gradually narrowed as they got closer to the top. By the time they reached the halfway point, it was narrow enough that it was difficult for the Giant to move. An hour had already passed since they started moving, and Mina's condition was gradually worsening.
“Uuh... U-san…”
“She's having another nightmare... We're almost there.”
“This is bad. The poison is progressing faster than expected. We have to hurry…”
“Damn, if only I could use magic…”
“Don't be impatient.”
Reito slammed his fist against the rock wall in frustration, and Gonzo grabbed his shoulder to calm him down. However, there was no guarantee that Mina's body would hold up by the time they reached the top, so Reito looked up to the sky. Honemin said that they were halfway there to the top, but the top was obscured by fog, so impossible to confirm.
“If the visibility was a little better, we could use space magic to move all the way there…”
“Calm down. Didn't you hear that we can't use magic here?”
“Patience is the key, that it is.”
“That's right. Let's focus on moving forward now.”
“...No, it doesn't seem like that's possible.”
While everyone was trying to calm Reito down, Dain, who was leading the way, stopped, his face pale, and everyone, questioning his words, looked ahead and opened their eyes wide.
“What the…”
“There's...no path?!”
“I didn't expect that. It seems to have collapsed. There was definitely a path when I climbed it before, but...I guess it must have collapsed naturally.”
The mountain path was cut off midway, and there was no path, as if a cliff had collapsed. If it was about seven or eight meters, with Reito's “Leap”, he would be able to jump over it even if he was carrying a human. But because of the white fog, he could only see what was four or five meters ahead, and he couldn't even see if there was a path beyond the cliff collapse.
“W-What are we going to do? We can't go any further.”
“We have no choice but to turn back.”
“But we've come this far, haven't we?”
“Even so, we can't go any further…”
As the road collapsed, it was impossible to move on. There might have been a way, but there's no way they could fight the strongest monsters, the dragon, while carrying an injured person. However, Mina's condition had already worsened, and there's little chance of her surviving if they turn back now.
“...Let's go.”
“Let's go where?…”
“Honemin, you said that if we use magic, the White Dragon will wake up, right?”
“Yes.”
“If we fight, do we have a chance of winning?”
“No. Only a hero can defeat it.”
“Even if we have the holy sword?”
“Eh!?”
Everyone was shocked by Reito's words, and Honemin pretended to think about what he said, then shook her head in silence.
“Are you planning to use Excalibur? It's impossible, you need qualifications to use that holy sword. And you can't use its power unless you have a very valuable magic stone fitted into it.”
“But what if I can use it? Are you sure we have no chance of winning?”
“I don't know... Well, if you can really use the holy sword, there might be a chance of winning.”
“That's good enough for me.”
After hearing Honemin's story, Reito looked up at the sky, then turned his eyes to Mina on his back and told everyone the plan he had come up with.
~
“Okay, let's go!”
“I'm glad you're fired up, but how are you going to climb up this steep cliff?”
With their plan decided, Reito and the others prepared to use magic from here on, and made a plan considering the battle with the White Dragon. But before that, everyone had to move to the top of the mountain.
“Step back a bit... ‘Ice Block’!!”
“Whoaaaaa?”
Reito held out his palm and created a disk of ice, making sure that the ice block moved according to his will.
However, creating ice large enough for everyone to ride on, and then moving slowly with everyone on board at a speed that didn't throw them off, was more mentally draining than expected, so they must hurry as much as possible.
“Everyone, get on this!! Be careful not to slip!!”
“I can't believe I'm going to be riding on Reito's ice again…”
“Aaaah... It's so high”
“Don't be scared now, that I don’t.”
“Oh, it's surprisingly cool and comfortable.”
“Aah!!”
Shizune and the others got on the ice, and one of them almost fell on the way. But Reito followed behind, and they rose towards the top of the mountain. It wouldn't take long to reach the top, but something strange happened to the surrounding scenery.
“Hey, hey! Hasn't the fog thinned out?”
“Now that you mention it, that's true…”
“I told you so. This fog is the remnants of the magic power being generated by the dormant White Dragon... which means it has woken up too.”
“Really?! That's way too early!”
“...I sensed an incredibly large being, that I do.”
Even though they hadn't even reached the top of the mountain yet, the White Dragon at the top seemed to have already sensed the magic power Reito had created, and woken up. If possible, Reito wanted to reach the resting spot that Honemin mentioned before the dragon noticed him, but there's no point in regretting it now.
“Everyone! Let's move according to plan!”
“I know.”
“It'll be fine, that it will!”
“You can count on me.”
“D-Damn it... I'll do it!”
“Aren't you the only one who's acting a bit desperate?”
“Don't worry, I'm the type who'll do anything if I'm cornered!”
While they were talking, the ice block finally reached the top of the mountain, and Reito and the others landed on it.
They could have continued riding on the ice, but running would have been quicker, and it would have been too dangerous for everyone to gather in one place.
The moment Reito and the others reached the top of the mountain, the white fog that had been surrounding the rocky mountain gradually disappeared, and the top of the rocky mountain was soon revealed.
“WOOOOOOOOOOAHHHHH...!!”
A gigantic creature appeared, shaking off the fog.
