[Tensura] I Was a Doctor, But Reincarnated as a Dragon? Chapter 32 32: Slime

Shizu's perspective.

I headed to Blue Moon and first t with Mr. Heinz, who had sent the letter, exchanging light greetings with him. Mr. Heinz had grown wrinkles and a few strands of white hair had appeared, but the sharpness in his eyes had not faded in the slightest.

"It's been a while. I'm glad to see you're doing well."

"You seem to be doing well too, Mr. Heinz."

As we chatted, a man entered the room. It was Heinz's son, Hughes. He possessed the sa keen eyes as his father, and a scar I had never seen before marked his right eye. I rembered joining him on several monster extermination campaigns; each ti, he had supported with great skill. Now, he had stepped down from the front lines as an adventurer to take his father's place as the Guild Master.

Having watched Hughes grow since he was a baby, I found myself thinking that this might be how a parent feels while watching their child mature.

Hughes's eyes widened in surprise when he saw . His reaction was so amusing that I instinctively covered my mouth and let out a small laugh.

"...Heh."

After a mont, Hughes regained his composure and sat on the sofa beside Mr. Heinz. He began to tell everything that had happened, along with the information he had gathered from the adventurers.

After hearing that Veldora had vanished, Hughes had carried out an independent investigation with the help of his close associate, Baron Belyad. He had commissioned a three-person adventurer party—consisting of a B-rank Thief, Fighter, and Sorcerer—to investigate the cave.

Normally, investigating that cave would require at least a B rank. Considering the cave's guardian and its master, it wouldn't have been strange to hire A-rank adventurers. The reason he had entrusted the job to this specific party was their exceptional survival rate and their talent for intelligence gathering.

With a thief skilled at confusing enemies, a sorcerer adept at movent magic, and a fighter to protect them both, Hughes judged that they would be far more effective at gathering information than at combat. Thus, he gave them the mission.

Two days ago, the trio reported that they had confird Veldora's disappearance. They had spent about a week investigating the surrounding area but found no trace of any being. What troubled them most was that the Tempest Serpent was gone, and the dense magicules within the cave had dropped sharply.

The Tempest Serpent's estimated rank was A-, making it the strongest monster in that cave. It was a creature that Hughes himself likely could not defeat, and because it possessed magic-sense and heat-source detection, the chances of the mission's success had been low from the start.

Listening to Hughes, I felt that sothing significant was indeed happening in that land. A monster capable of defeating the Tempest Serpent would be nothing short of a disaster for this country. This only made more determined to uncover the truth. Hughes inford that the three adventurers would be searching the forest around the cave the next day and asked to join them while pretending to be an ordinary adventurer. He begged , if possible, not to reveal my true identity.

"Knowing their personalities, they'll just keep begging you for help if they find out who you are, so please, don't let them know!"

Leaving behind Hughes's earnest plea, I bowed my head and left the room.

The next morning, I found the three unassuming adventurers exactly where Hughes said they would be.

Hughes asked to act like a normal adventurer, but will cautious adventurers really accept so easily...?

With that thought, I put on a mask to hide my face and approached them.

"Excuse , but would it be all right if I accompanied you—"

"Sure!!"

Before I could even finish my sentence, the female adventurer with the staff gave an imdiate, enthusiastic affirmative. Suddenly, I was overco by a strange sense of dread.

...No, wait. Is it really okay for to go with these kids...?

***

Vertis's perspective.

The sky fortress, Laputa, existed high above the world. Floating roughly 5,000 ters above the surface, I ruled over my city in the empty skies where no ordinary living thing could survive. Originally, the city was kept aloft by floating devices installed across the terrain, powered by an artificial sun I had created myself.

Using the magicules I received from Veldanava, combined with my own imnse reserves, I was able to create a literal artificial star. This sun provided the necessary power for both the devices and the city.

Of course, calling it "ruling" was a stretch; in truth, there wasn't much for to do. Most of the monsters in this fortress were wanderers who had lost their hos, eccentrics, or those seeking protection. Since many of them were enormous, they typically lived in a dormant state, appearing as small spheres. While in this form, they could still communicate, but they could not exert their full power. In exchange, their reduced size allowed them to coexist without issue. When battle broke out, they would return to their original forms, so survival was never a problem.

There were advantages to this as well. In their dormant state, they leaked no aura, allowing them to evade the eyes of others or detection magic.

Naturally, so among them possessed the ability of humanization, allowing them to take human form at will.

However, from my perspective, so took far too extre asures to grow stronger. The most prominent examples were the monsters who replaced parts of their bodies with machinery. No matter how much this was a world where only the strong survived, I could not understand why anyone would modify their own flesh just to gain power.

So modified an arm, so a leg, and so had replaced half their bodies with machines. Most of these individuals were weak, which was why they had been cast out from their original packs.

Since it was their own choice, I had no right to stop them, but I certainly did not view it favorably.

Lost in these thoughts, I gazed down at the surface through the enormous screen before .

After sensing Veldora's disappearance, I had spent the last month observing the changes in the Great Forest of Jura from the skies.

Still, why didn't Veldora go on a rampage? Even if he were trapped in the Infinite Prison, if he were a dragon of the draconic lineage capable of interfering with the material world, the surroundings wouldn't be this pristine...

I had already sent a subordinate to inspect the site of Veldora's seal, but the area was unnaturally clean, with no signs of chaos or battle.

At that mont, Pro, my assistant and reliable adviser, offered her opinion.

"He may have made so kind of deal, or perhaps he was coaxed by a clever story."

Coaxed, huh... Well, it wasn't impossible. He was a fellow who spent his ti alone in a void, and given his personality, it wouldn't be strange for him to be deceived. But Veldora was still a True Dragon. I found it hard to believe he would hand himself over so easily to an inferior being.

Then again, Veldora's personality, as Velzard had described it... yes, definitely...

[My little brother is certainly knowledgeable in so areas, but his fundantal nature is the problem. He doesn't really like thinking. He's the type to just run wild however he pleases. To put it simply, he's a cute but pitiful idiot of a brother, I suppose.]

He had a tendency to puff up the mont he was praised, but he possessed a personality that was impossible to hate, which was why Velzard showed such concern for him.

Regardless, it was Veldora's choice, so I had no intention of interfering.

"Master, how do you wish to proceed?"

"First, scour the depths of the Great Forest of Jura and check for any settlents that have suddenly expanded. If you find any, keep them under surveillance. With Veldora's magicule count, his energy won't be exhausted that easily."

"However, the opponent may not be bound by the common sense of this world."

Not bound by common sense? In other words, there was a high probability the opponent was an otherworlder. If it were a newly born Unique Monster, it wouldn't be strange for it to possess a sense of self.

"No. If Veldora was removed from the Infinite Prison along with the prison itself, I suspect the culprit possesses a specific Unique Skill. It would be impossible for a newly born entity to obtain a skill of that caliber—especially within that cave."

"But a human couldn't possibly break Veldora's seal..."

Pro nodded in agreent.

"Precisely. Therefore, the answer is clear. It is highly likely they are a case similar to yours, Master."

Similar to ... Ah, the pattern where an otherworlder is reincarnated as a monster. Veldanava once told that if a will is strong enough, mories can be engraved into the soul. But to think there was soone else who crossed into another world by soul alone. If that were the case, it wouldn't be strange for them to possess the technology or skill to capture Veldora.

Not strange, perhaps, but the probability was extrely low.

"Hmm... A reincarnator like , then. Interesting. They would have to be at least a mid-tier monster or higher... The world is about to get chaotic."

As I spoke, I steeled my resolve. I was not the person I used to be. I brought death to those who opposed ; I broke the wings of the angelic host that descended upon us during the Great Tenma War, and I erased the human nation that dared declare war on from the map. I had learned, through bitter experience, the necessity of being kind to allies but utterly rciless to enemies.

It was then that the soul of Arang appeared before , sent by none other than my other self in Ingrasia.

Since I had already given him the na Wolpung, I had no choice but to construct a new body for him.

Using a Cerberus-type monster as a base and mixing in my own power and personal tastes, the result was quite bizarre.

There was no trace of Arang's original form. He now walked on two legs, possessing a wolf's face adorned with several yellow horns. Identical wolf heads were attached to his shoulders like living armor. His black fur had vanished, replaced by pure white armor that covered his entire body, giving him the appearance of a knight. A golden mane flowed down to his waist, and he was one-eyed.

Furthermore, his personality had shifted; unlike in his previous life, he had beco serious and cautious in all matters. I suspected this evolution was influenced by my own nature. Through Arang's mories, I discovered that the identity of the monster who killed him was different from what I had expected.

According to my subordinate's report, the one who killed Arang was a sli—a jiggly, blue-bodied creature.

At first, I thought it was a joke. But after reviewing the report and Arang's mories, I accepted the reality. It seed he had already taken four dwarves from Dwargon as companions and his influence was growing rapidly.

Just then, a massive, anguished scream rang out, loud enough to reach even my fortress in the sky.