The Wrong Hero

Chapter 18 - Dragon Mountain Adventure

They were making good time as they traveled to the eastern village. As they traveled, they switched out who rode out on a filolial to hunt. Dante was still a little uneasy, but he admitted it was better than doing nothing. The day passed quickly, with Dante making more progress on the fire tome with Rifana's help. With any luck, he'd get to understanding the spell soon. Once he figured out one spell, he'd switch over to the support book to study on his own.

Late morning of the next day, they arrived at the village. It was about what Dante expected: a village near the base of a mountain. Of course, with no dragon corpse polluting the air, the place was fairly lively.

With a small amount of searching, they found a path up the mountain. A few of the villagers they checked with had asked what they were going to do.

"I'm here to solve the dragon problem." Is what Dante told them. Of course, he and they had different views on what that meant. They gave him directions on where to go.

They were part way up the mountain before Dante had his kids pull the carriages over. Everyone gathered around between the carriages.

"Okay, here's the plan." Dante said. "I don't really know his personality, so it's best not to seem too aggressive. I'll go up the mountain myself, maybe one other person with me. Everyone else will stay here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Raphtalia asked. "That's sounds really dangerous."

Dante nodded. "Maybe a little, but I think you all should be able to handle anything that comes along."

"I meant for you."

"I know." Dante smirked. "I have a good amount of skills and shields. I'm confident I can take whatever this dragon can throw at me until he hears me out."

From what Dante remembered, Gaelion wasn't actually aggressive. He remembered the dragon was referred to as the weakest dragon emperor multiple times. Ren and his party were able to fight him in between the second and third wave. It was hard to guess when exactly, but Dante figured Ren was around level 50 or so at the time. With his current level and power up methods, Dante was sure he'd hold out just fine.

"Who will go with you?" Eclair asked.

"I will!" Dio raised her hand.

"Absolutely not." Dante shot that idea down immediately. "Dragons and filolials are enemies."

"I-I'll behave! I promise!" She looked up him with pleading eyes.

"I'm sure you would, but I'm still not taking you." Dante patted her head, calming her slightly. "Gaelion doesn't know me. I have some knowledge of him, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be happy with a stranger and a filolial showing up to his home."

He probably wouldn't be happy with just a stranger, but he'd get over it.

"I'll be taking Sadeena with me." Dante said. "The two of us should be able to handle Gaelion if he wants to fight."

Sadeena pulled Dante close by the hip and held her harpoon up. "Don't worry, I'll keep little Dante safe~."

While her level wasn't quite as high as it was before, she was still more than capable of fighting. Naofumi's group handled themselves well enough, and that Gaelion was an undead and supposedly stronger, if memory served.

"I'll signal you on how it goes." Dante told them. The filolials' monster seals were still useful for that. "But first, I'm going to bathe in that small lake over there."

That earned several looks of confusion, plus a few noises indicating as much.

"I smell like a filolial. I don't mind it, but I feel like a dragon would."