At the ntion of the Sky-Mountain Dragon, Frieren instantly stopped caring about the damp, chilly weather and insisted on setting up camp near the village.
"The last ti I saw a Sky-Mountain Dragon, humans couldn't even use [Flight Magic]. We could only look up from the ground and admire its form."
"Now that we have the chance, we absolutely have to take a look."
As she spoke, she enthusiastically gave Shane a full lecture on the Sky-Mountain Dragon.
The excitent in her eyes was hardly any less than when she discovered a mimic chest.
Shane sighed helplessly and began setting up camp. To avoid getting drenched in the middle of the night, the two of them returned to the rock they had used to shelter from the rain earlier.
To be honest, Shane was also quite curious about such a legendary creature.
The Sky-Mountain Dragon was a nearly eternal being, enormous in size, with an entire mountain range resting on its back—hence its na. Unlike other dragons, it had a gentle temperant and disliked conflict, spending its entire life soaring through the skies.
It wandered endlessly, never stopping. Very few people ever managed to witness it. And when it did descend to the ground, it ant it was about to die.
A creature this mysterious—it was no wonder Frieren was interested.
Night fell.
After the rain, the mountain forest echoed with the overlapping croaks of frogs.
Shane and Frieren sat by the campfire, chatting about the Sky-Mountain Dragon.
Suddenly, Shane frowned and looked toward the village in the distance. It seed like so villagers were quietly slipping out of their hos in the middle of the night.
Then sothing even more puzzling happened—one after another, villagers erged from their houses, walking in the darkness, heading up the mountain.
The eerie scene instantly reminded Shane of the ghost incident they had dealt with before.
'Don't tell … again?'
Frieren reacted quickly. Grabbing Shane, she flew into the air and began to follow them.
The villagers looked as if they were asleep, eyes closed, swaying as they walked toward a small clearing in the forest. Then they lined up and lay down on the grass.
Before long, the sound of snoring filled the air.
"?"
Shane was confused.
Instead of sleeping at ho, they gathered in the forest to sleep together? What kind of strange custom was this?
Weren't they cold?
Then sothing even stranger happened. The sleeping villagers seed to fall into nightmares. Many began to groan softly, and so even muttered strange things in their sleep.
"It seems… sothing is making them have nightmares."
As she spoke, Frieren descended slightly, though she still kept a safe distance.
"See those footprints on the ground? Sothing is there—it's invisible, right beside the villagers."
Following her gaze, Shane finally noticed that around the villagers, on the slightly muddy ground, there were many scattered footprints.
But they weren't human.
They resembled the tracks of a large feline. And even though nothing could be seen nearby, the footprints kept appearing, as if their owner was constantly circling the villagers.
"Are there monsters that can turn invisible?" Shane asked.
Frieren shook her head.
"I've never heard of demons that can use [Invisibility Magic], but among magical beasts, there's one called a Dream-Eating Tapir. They're born with the ability to turn invisible."
"These creatures feed on human nightmares. They don't harm humans."
"Don't harm them? Then what's happening now…" Shane frowned.
Frieren looked just as puzzled. "This is the first ti I've seen sothing like this too."
"So what should we do?"
"There's nothing we can do. When a Dream-Eating Tapir is feeding on soone's nightmares, you can't wake them up. If you do, it can damage their soul. In severe cases, they might beco brainless."
"…Alright."
The two quietly descended behind a nearby tree and waited for the tapir to finish its al.
No one knew how much ti passed—long enough that even Frieren was about to fall asleep.
Finally, the villagers lying on the ground began to get up again, forming a line as they returned to the village.
anwhile, the invisible footprints started heading deeper into the forest.
Shane quickly nudged Frieren awake, and the two of them gave chase.
After winding through the forest and using [Tracking Magic], they finally followed the footprints to a nest.
The Dream-Eating Tapir returned to its nest and canceled its invisibility.
Shane almost burst out laughing.
The tapir looked like a pink "elephant-nosed pig," and inside the nest were three tiny baby versions of the sa creature. A whole family of adorable pink fluff—nothing like a fearso magical beast.
Hm?
Wait!
"Frieren, look at the nest—those 'stones' around it… don't they look like dwarven helts?"
At Shane's words, Frieren took a closer look and indeed found seven or eight dwarf helts being used as makeshift barriers around the nest.
"What do we do? Should we go take them?" Shane asked eagerly.
"Wait… at least until they fall asleep. I don't want to fight an invisible magical beast…"
Frieren seed to recall so unpleasant past experience, her expression turning reluctant.
Shane could only wait patiently.
Half an hour later.
After all their fussing around, the cubs finally fell asleep in their mother's arms.
Shane and Frieren exchanged a glance. Quietly, they crept to the edge of the nest, carefully taking the helts without making a sound.
Their luck was good. The tapir family slept soundly, completely unaware.
Holding the last helt, Shane slowly backed away.
Crack.
In the silent nest, the sound of a twig snapping suddenly echoed.
Frieren instantly tensed up.
Shane was so scared he didn't even dare breathe. He stood still for a while, and seeing no reaction from the tapir, he cautiously lifted his foot again and continued walking toward Frieren.
But just as he moved, he saw Frieren suddenly turn and rise into the air with [Flight Magic].
"?!"
Shane froze in shock.
Then, a warm, damp breath brushed against the back of his neck.
He didn't need to turn around to know—the tapir had woken up!
Without hesitation, he activated [Sprint] and bolted forward!
Behind him ca an angry roar.
Shane didn't have ti to wonder whether it sounded more like a pig or a cat. He just ran for his life, hoping to escape its range.
Inside, he cursed Frieren for abandoning him.
What a heartless elf!
"Ow—!"
Shane yelped, jumping a full ter into the air.
The tapir had bitten him hard on the butt. Shocked and furious, he clutched his rear and ran even faster.
When a person is pushed to the limit, they really can do anything!
He sprinted with everything he had, feeling like his soul couldn't keep up with his body!
Finally, after running who knew how long, the sounds of pursuit gradually faded…
He collapsed onto the ground, coughing violently, as if his lungs were about to co out.
Only then did Frieren slowly float down from the sky.
"How could you abandon your teammate!!"
Shane shouted angrily.
Frieren awkwardly averted her gaze. "…Mothers with young are very protective. You have to let it vent its anger. Otherwise, it might cause trouble for the nearby villagers."
"!!"
And you actually have the nerve to say that???
Shane felt deeply wronged. He had been used as a sacrificial decoy to calm the tapir.
"So what do we do now? Drive the Dream-Eating Tapir away?"
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