I Became a Crazy Swordsmanship Instructor in the Game - Chapter 71:

Demonic Dragon Nagev.

She was a Blue Dragon born two thousand years ago, who couldn’t resist her curiosity, and tried to observe the demon world. She was captured by one of the Archduke Demon, and became subjected to various experiments, and then brainwashed.

If she were an adult dragon, she might have ended her life before that happened, but at that time, she was still a young being who hadn’t yet left her parents’ embrace.

Over the course of hundreds of years, torture and physical experiments completely shattered the mind of the young hatchling, and instead of being a Blue Dragon, she was reborn as ‘Demonic Dragon’. Using her immense power to kill the mages and elders who experimented on her, she was reborn as a Archduke Demon.

Of course, to Philip, she was just one of the bosses that passed by like a monthly event, but to the people of this world, she was nothing short of a source of fear.

‘It’s only difficult to make the necessary preparations, but once you do it, it’s not that hard. Elseyus said he stabbed her back once? I think I know why Demonic Dragon was weakened in the game.’

She was a very clichéd boss.

“If my body were complete, you’d be nothing…”

She left lines like that and was then defeated as a typical villain.

Philip, who had a strong interest in world-building, tried to collect as much information as possible in the game, so he knew almost everything about her.

Her body was weakened by someone, and even that alone was a challenge for Philip.

‘Elseyus. You saved the world once.’

He sent a respectful gaze to the evil spirit in front of him.

In the game, you could keep challenging even if you died, but Elseyus was the one who succeeded in reaching her weaknesses on the first attempt.

“… Didn’t I tell you before? The demon warlocks and liches of the underworld chose a way to corrupt the Dragon Heart, you see. That method used only one of the scales on her body which was closest to the Dragon Heart as a catalyst imbued with extreme sorcery and dark magic.”

As Philip continued to explain, Privia stared at him, expressing doubt.

“Is that even possible? Just one scale corrupts the Dragon Heart?”

“No. It’s not just one scale. Because of that one scale, all the mana flowing through Nagev’s body was transformed into that of the demon realm. Think of the scale as a kind of filter. It’s like the opposite of turning undrinkable water into drinking water, you see.”

“…?”

Feeling the explanation was insufficient, Philip paused for a moment to find a suitable analogy. It wasn’t because Privia was dumb; she had just never heard the word ‘filter’ before.

“Let’s think of the Dragon Heart as a massive lake. Pouring a cartload of manure into that lake wouldn’t make the lake emit a foul smell, would it? If left alone, it would decompose and disappear on its own. But if you were to do it every day, a cartload at a time, for a hundred years?”

“… Right. That could work if done that way. Actually, that might be the only way. Unless the dragon willingly embraced corruption and accepted sorcery.”

After finishing her pondering, Privia suddenly narrowed her eyes.

“And you… no.”

Philip met her gaze and trembled slightly. If she hadn’t misunderstood Philip and attacked him a few times before, things might have been awkward right now.

Of course, it was possible because Privia was a dragon with a sense of honor.

“This is why it’s better to be upfront. So, is there anything that will change? Even if it really was a weakness, if we couldn’t do anything about it ourselves, the mage used us and our brethren as mere test subjects. Isn’t that as good as betrayal?”

“Well… so, what I mean is…”

Philip cautiously interjected as he considered Elseyus’ rebuttal.

“The power of the elves might have been slightly weaker than the Sage Areola’s expectations….”

“What did you say?”

Seeing the clouds returning to the briefly cleared sky, Privia became annoyed.

“Ah, just shut it, will you?”

“….”

Philip hastily supplemented his explanation.

“To be precise, we can say that Areola, the so-called ‘Great Sage,’ only managed to figure out that much. He didn’t know what countermeasures were in place for the weakness. And, Your Excellency Elseyus, you were partially successful.”

“Partially successful? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I mean, you did manage to land a meaningful blow. Perhaps that blow still hasn’t fully healed up to now.”

“I see. Since that child is originally a dragon, she’s not a complete demon and is free from the ‘oath.’ She could have acted on this land whenever she wanted. However, she hasn’t revealed herself until now. Perhaps we might not know everything….”

Listening to all these discussions, the demon Elseyus wore a serious expression, and deeply contemplated something.

Perhaps he didn’t know whether he should let go of his desires and ascend.

With such anticipation, Philip waited for Elseyus to speak up.

“… So what are you saying? Am I supposed to understand him? One Spirit King and one Aura Master put their lives on the line. They exposed the weakness which was actually unassailable with a single strike.”

Philip lowered his head in response to his question.

“No, there’s no need for that. There’s only one thing I want to say.”

Philip spoke and chuckled.

“Why did you get hit by a dragon but act like that towards a human?”

* * *

Returning to the place where Castler Morrela had fallen into enlightenment, Philip was soon greeted by Lua.

“Oh, Instructor! Instructor!”

Lua quickly approached, wrapping her arm around one of Philip’s arms and noticing that there seemed to be something like a pouch in his other hand.

“What’s that? Did you pick some fruits or something?”

“Well, no, this is…”

Holding Elseyus’ evil spirit in his hand, Philip kept it as far away from Lua’s body as possible.

“It’s better not to be curious about this. It’s quite filthy.”

Lua nodded and then turned her gaze to Privia this time. Privia had a rather tired and weary expression.

“Is something wrong with Mage Sister? Are you feeling unwell?”

Privia replied with a weary smile.

“… Just a bit tired, that’s all.”

“And that spirit? The one named Elseyus? Anyway, what happened to that ghost?”

Janice asked a question.

“It’s all resolved, so you don’t need to worry.”

To be exact, there was a spirit inside the pouch held by Philip, but he didn’t explain that far. He gazed at the Castler Morrela who was still lost in the rapturous experience of enlightenment and then opened his mouth.

“Since you might be a hindrance here, it’s best for you to return to the village for now. Janice, what are you planning to do?”

Janice responded as if it were obvious.

“I’ll take care of my Big Sis and Big Brother.”

“Really? Then it’s better if you come with me and prepare some clothes or food. Come this way.”

Seeing Janice’s reaction, Lady Cynthia spoke with an impressed expression.

“Oh, how admirable you are, young lady. Ah, that merchant girl seemed unwell, so I sent her back to the village.”

“I see.”

For some reason, Lisriel wasn’t in sight. After nodding to Lady Cynthia, Philip, along with Janice and Lua, returned to the Elven village.

The Elven village was in turmoil.

“Something must have gone wrong on the outskirts.”

Instead of watchtowers or castle walls, a few archers were stationed high up in trees in the village. Several armed elves were making demands from Sentinel Urcil.

“We need to send out scouts to check. If there’s a problem in the outer forest, it’s likely that outsiders caused it.”

In response to the scouts’ request, Urcil nodded, looking bewildered.

“No, that can’t be…? They wouldn’t do something like that. You’re misunderstanding.”

The attitude of the other elves was firm. Although Urcil was the leader of a scouting unit, she was still a young elf in elven society and couldn’t force their actions.

“But we still have a duty to fulfill. If you don’t give orders, we’ll have to go out and check ourselves.”

“Let’s wait a little longer. If something really happened, it might only lead to the sacrifice of one scouting unit. Ah, here they are.”

Upon spotting the returning group, Urcil’s face brightened momentarily, then she realized that the numbers weren’t matching and her expression hardened again.

“And the others…?”

In response to her question, Privia spoke with an irritated tone.

“It’s none of your business. Just step aside.”

“Yes? Oh, yes. I apologize.”

Clearly anxious, Urcil quickly stepped aside and gestured for the others to do the same. Privia let out a small sigh and lightly nudged Philip’s side with her toe.

“Why are you like this?”

“Lift me up a bit. Since I strained my body without any rest, my eyes keep closing.”

When she straightforwardly asked for help, Philip was slightly surprised and replied.

“Do you not have any intention of hiding it anymore?”

“What’s the point of hiding something from someone who knows enough? I’ll rest for a moment, then we can talk later.”

Following her request, Philip lifted Privia onto his back. As his hand touched her hip, she flinched momentarily before resting her chin on his shoulder, letting everything go.

‘She must have reached the limit of her mental strength spewing so many abuses with a sickly body.’

Thinking of the dignity she displayed as she reduced Elseyus to dust, Philip let out a bitter laugh.

In the not-so-distant future, when the “oath” pledging that the dragon would not interfere in the war between demons and humans, becomes void, Privia might become one of the most powerful allies.

“First, I should let her rest a bit.”

For his own sake in the future, it was necessary for her to recover. If they got closer and built some gratitude, she might listen to him when he asked for favors, despite pretending otherwise – she was a dragon who would likely comply.

“I should finish the elixir first.”

If he were to return to the academy, that seemed like the first thing to do.

Philip carried her into the room used as their lodging. Inside the room, Lisriel was already asleep, and even snored loudly.

“Rumble… Grrrr….”

Despite sleeping with her mouth wide open due to her ill health, Lisriel still looked quite beautiful. Just her snoring was a bit intense. Nevertheless, Privia came down from Philip’s back as if it were nothing and climbed onto the bed.

Then, lying down next to Lisriel, she covered Lisriel’s mouth with her hand and closed her eyes to sleep.

“Heh… Hmm….”

Lisriel began to move her limbs as if she were having a dream of being immersed in water. Watching this, Philip held onto Janice and Lua’s shoulders.

“Let’s move along.”

Janice raised an eyebrow.

“Is it okay to leave them like that?”

Without saying anything, Philip searched for his backpack to gather the necessary items for Castler and Cynthia.