Chapter 26: Redemption?
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While Gobuchiki and others followed Alguis, Aeden and Völun were busy arguing over who's bed the goblin's sleeping in tonight.

"Why mine anyway? What about yours?!" Völun exclaimed.

"My bed was too small for the three of them to fit in. Yours was enough. Is that even a question?"

 "But...!"

"Or what? We should use Mister Alguis's bed instead?"

Völun couldn't argue further and sighed.

"Okay, fine! You win this time!"

Aeden and Völun left the scene while they continued their bickering inside the house.

With nothing else to do, Reika decided to sleep inside, since it was already late. When Reika turned around, she noticed that Veylir was staring at her intently.

"What are you doing?"

"Uhh... Nothing?"

She was weirded out by her behavior, but she simply shrugged it off and went inside together.

When Reika opened the door that leads to their room, she saw Soru in his bed, sleeping soundly.

"He's already asleep."

As she sat on her bed, Reika remembered the giant crystal that Soru brought after he came back from the forest.

Hmm. I wonder why he had that large crystal in the first place...

Curious about the crystal, Reika searched the room. However, she didn't find the crystal at all.

"Doesn't seem like it was here either..."

Veylir noticed Reika's unusual behavior but wasn't surprised by it. She knew that Reika was searching for the crystal. 

While she was distracted earlier, I secretly went inside this room and hid the crystal on my spatial-type ability, <Spatial Storage>.

Luckily, I managed to come back in time, or else she'd catch me and ask a ton of questions!

Unable to find the crystal, Reika gave up and sighed.

"Nevermind. I'll just ask him tomorrow about it..."

Veylir quietly observed Reika while she was busy preparing her bed. After she was done with her preparations, she sat on her bed.

"Master Reika."

Reika heard it and turned around, facing Veylir while wondering.

 "Hm?"

 Veylir lowers her head slowly.

 "Do you resent me?"

Reika's eyes widened upon hearing her question. 

"..."

Without getting any response from her, Veylir stared at her with a serious look. 

"I know I did a lot of heinous acts, not just on you but also on all of those who suffered because of my actions..."

Reika didn't utter any words and only listened in silence.

"Being a Calamity Dragon, I witnessed the destruction of towns, cities, and the fall of nations. Just like any other settlement, what happened to that particular village was... nothing to me. I simply acted without a care in the world."

"To tell you the truth, I have no regrets about what I did in that village. My actions are based on my beliefs and decisions, and they are logical from my perspective."

Reika twitched her eyebrow and suddenly raised her hand without saying a word. She was planning to tighten the collar on Veylir's neck, but she immediately repressed that idea of hers and sighed. She clenched her hands and slowly placed them back on her lap.

"Why bother asking me? Of course I have a slight resentment toward you, especially for what you did to those people."

"Then why don't you—"

"But! It doesn't mean that I will hurt you as revenge for what you did. Violence isn't always the answer for everthing."

I learned from my mistakes in what I did to Soru back then...

"I'm pretty certain you have a plausible explanation behind your actions, so you better tell me your side."

Veylir began to explain why her rampage on the Signas Village occurred. The dragon told her everything, while Reika remained silent as she listened to her.

After Veylir told her everything, Reika didn't respond right away. She lowered her head and pondered for a moment.

Basically, just because Soru killed those monsters along the way as a form of self-defense, it led to her sudden rampage...

Then... that means he... we are responsible for the destruction of the village!?

"I-I see..."

"Do you intend to punish me now?"

Suddenly, Reika raised one of her eyebrows.

"Ehhh? I already told you I wouldn't do such a thing!"

"B-Besides, look at you now! You already suffered enough all because of your actions. Now, you're just a soul without a body!"

Veylir widened her eyes and lowered her head. Meanwhile, Reika was trying to sort out her thoughts, trying to dismiss the idea that they were somewhat responsible for her actions.

"You see, it is our difference in perspective why we do our actions. You deem humans as lesser beings, similar to what humans perceive and judge insects as an insignificant being that is easily squashed while exerting just a fraction of a force."

Reika looked directly at Veylir, whom she saw lowering her head.

"What? You're feeling guilty now?"

"No. There is just this uneasiness that I'm feeling right now..."

Seeing that Veylir looked troubled, Reika sighed and tried to comfort the dragon.

"Why not... try to change your perspective?"

Veylir lifts her head up.

"Change... my perspective?"

"Yes! Try to coexist with humans, interact with them, and relate to them. That way, your perspective towards them will change, slowly but surely."

"Is that so...? I rarely interact with humans before, and empathizing with them is close to impossible."

"But not that impossible, right?"

"I guess? I don't even know."

"Unless you try, dummy."

Veylir twitched upon hearing her rude remark.

"As a member of a proud Draconic Race, being called an "idiot" was indeed humiliating, especially from a human like you, but I will let it slide..."

Reika chuckled in front of her.

"Hahaha! Then don't hesitate on such an obvious response..."

Reika laid down on her bed.

"Tomorrow, I will introduce you to the village people. Try to interact with them."

"Introduce? What if they will hate me after they find out my identity?"

"I know that. That's why I'll tell them that you are just some random familiar I caught and tamed. In that way, they will be less suspicious of you and treat you right after they know that you are a familiar of one of their guests."

"Mhm. That might be a good idea."

Reika yawned as her eyelids began to grow heavy. She suddenly remembers the luminite that Veylir and Soru bought, but she couldn't speak straight due to her body wanting to rest.

"And remember... don't... mess it up... zzzz..."

Reika couldn't finish her sentence and fell asleep without noticing.

She's already asleep?!

Veylir smiled while staring at her.

"I want to enter that crystal right away, but I changed my mind..."

Not wanting to disturb her sleep, Veylir sighed and curled up beside her.

"Maybe now's not the time."

Veylir closed her eyelids slowly. Although sleeping was unecessary, the dragon simply did it to have a peace of mind.

"I hope there'll be no problems tomorrow..."

...

The night passed by, and morning came. However, Veylir didn't anticipate today's situation at all. The thing that she's been trying to avoid happened.

"Mhm, there is a problem..."

The dragon simply sighed while she was peeking through the window, observing the village people, including Silas himself, having an argument with Alguis.

"Sir Alguis, goblins are known to pillage villages and slaughter adventurers! With them around, my people would feel unsafe!"

"I understand your concerns, but I can assure you that they're more harmless than you thought they weren't," Alguis told him.

Soru, who woke up due to the noise coming from the mouths of the village people, was seen standing beside Alguis. The three goblins could also be seen hiding behind his legs.

"But sir! What if they're pretending to be friendly but then rob us later without our notice?" One of the village people said.

"A-And they're just acting friendly, but once they manage to lower our guards around them, they'll proceed to call their reinforcements that must be hiding somewhere around and pillage this settlement!?" The other village man exclaimed.

"Yeah! Goblins are known as scheming demons on the adventurers! They're vile and vicious monsters!" The other one exclaimed also.

Despite the commotion, Soru didn't care less about the situation. The situation he actually cares about now is his stomach grumbling from hunger.

I want to eat breakfast...

Meanwhile, Gobuchiki was peeking constantly at the village people, along with the other two goblins. But the intense gaze from the village people made them shiver, and he tried to avoid them once again by hiding behind his legs.

"I just want to drink water from a well because I was thirsty, but I didn't expect it'd turn out this way..." Gobuchiki murmured.

All of a sudden, Aeden stepped up from the crowd and confronted the village people.

"How dare you question Sir Alguis' verdict? In the first place, it is not you people who made this settlement, it is us who built it. He has the right to decide on whose going to stay on this settlement!"

The crowd fell silent for a moment. Seconds later, they began to murmur and whisper at each other.

Suddenly, one of them raised their hand. The crowd noticed his presence, and he slowly lowered his hand and began to speak his thoughts.

"But... He built this settlement in order to make amends with us, because he is the one responsible for bringing those assassins and burning our houses, right? It means we also have rights to this settlement."

"T-That's right! It's true that we are just living here and taking benefits from the houses you've built. But as settlers of this settlement, we are also worried for our safety," the other one said.

"It may sound disrespectful to you, Sir Alguis, that we doubted your words despite giving us your assurance, but please consider our concerns!" A village woman exclaimed.

The crowd's noise rose further. Silas desperately tried to calm the village people, but they wouldn't listen to him at all.

"Ahem!"

All of them went silent and immediately shifted their attention to Alguis.

"I swear upon my name that I, Alguis Fellad, can assure you that these goblins are innocent and harmless monsters..."

Hearing Alguis' words, Gobuchiki's eyes were filled with tears.

"Mister Alguis...!"

"And! If any one of them, or other goblins beside them, decides to disturb the peace of this settlement, I will take full responsibility and handle them by myself with force!"

The goblins jolted and trembled in fear upon hearing Alguis' words.

"Eek! Mister Alguis...!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke behind them.

"No, I will be the one who will take the responsibility."

Alguis was surprised and immediately looked behind him. He saw Reika standing with a serious look on her face.

"Miss Reika...!"

Veylir was surprised when she saw Reika standing outside. She looked back inside the room, only to find an empty bed and an open door.

What!? I didn't notice her leaving at all!

Alguis moved his body and gave Reika some space to confront the troubled crowds. The crowds also noticed her presence and quietly observed. All their eyes were looking toward her.

"Mister Alguis shouldn't be the one responsible, due to the fact that he just simply allowed them to stay here yesterday. The one who should be responsible would be the one who brought them here in the first place."

The villagers were baffled and began to murmur with each other.

"I thought that Mister Alguis was the one who brought those monsters here, but he's not...?"

"Then if he isn't the one who brought them, then that means...!"

As the crowd was busy chattering, Reika's heart began to beat fast. But seconds later, she managed to calm herself down and breathe slowly.

"A-Ahem!"

The crowd went silent and looked at her.

"These three goblins were saved from those Rabid Wolves they encountered at the forest. They pleaded to stay here because they forgot their way back to their village. Mister Alguis  simply allowed them to stay here for a time being." 

Reika looked behind her and saw Veylir at the window.

"Veylir, come here."

Veylir was surprised by her actions.

D-Don't tell me, this is that moment..!?

Unable to defy her order, Veylir revealed herself and went to the crowds slowly. The crowds noticed her small and cute appearance. All of them had one thought in their minds.

SO CUTEEE!!

"Er..."

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my familiar and companion, Ve—"

Reika remembered that Veylir's identity must stay hidden from them. On the other side, the crowd was puzzled as to why Reika hadn't finished her sentence.

Ve...?

"Uhm... I didn't name her yet."

You definitely said something!

"Ahem! Anyways, this familiar of mine was the one responsible for bringing them here, and since I was her master, that responsibility will fall upon me. So if you have any concerns about them, feel free to come on me."

Gobuchiki heard Reika's speech and was moved.

"I thought she was a scary human, but I guess I was wrong about her!"

The villagers began to murmur with each other once again.

"If Miss Reika's familiar was the one who brought them here, maybe she could manage to prevent them from their sinister plans."

"Hey guys, are you forgetting something? Mister Soru is with us! Since he could subdue a dragon, mere goblins wouldn't pose a threat to him!"

"Hey, that's right! I forgot he's here, protecting us in case something dangerous happens is such an easy feat for him!"

Assuming that Soru would protect them from dangers, all of them agreed to each other and nodded. Silas saw that the villagers had finally accepted the agreement. He faced the crowd and spoke up.

"Since we all agreed on this arrangement, the threat of goblins has been settled."

"N-No, this isn't over yet..."

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