After a simple answer in discord, in contrast to the anti-Ryujin village, the other village shall now be called “Ryujin village” for simplicity’s sake.

And, from this chapter onwards, I decided to follow the manga translation and re-translate〖Human Transformation Art〗 to〖Human Transformation〗which makes it easier for those who read the manga and moved to the novel to adjust.

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“I’ll hang a rope for you to climb on! Hurry!”

As Tatarc grabs a rope, I start thinking.

…… I’m stumped, I don’t know what to do here.
If we just run away like this, then my plan to pretend as a sacrifice was all for nothing.

I don’t know how the Manticore will react when it finds out that its stockpile of food is empty, and I also don’t know how the anti-Ryujin village will respond to this.
Worse case scenario would be that the Manticore goes wild from starvation and attacks the anti-Ryujin village out of desperation.

“W-What good will it do if we escape?! This won’t change anything! The Manticore will just demand for more children to be sacrificed instead!”

The senpai-looking girl yells at Tatarc.
In response, Tatarc shakes his head.

“This village is already done for. The Manticore keeps demanding more sacrifice than what the village can handle. If it continues like this, it won’t take 2 years before all women and children in this village are gone for good.”

“B-But, that’s…… even so… we can’t just leave them like this…”

“Nagrom-sama ordered everyone to stay silent about it. But, he was actually planning on waging war against the other village and steal all their women and children for the Manticore.”

That old man was bad news after all!
Even if you had no other choice left, to stoop that low is just…

“…… Regardless, the return of the Dragon God is more of the reason why the Manticore moved back to this village. As long as the Dragon God remains there, you’ll definitely be safe. That’s why this village is done for!”

“…………”

The children remain silent.
Well, of course they’d be shocked. If they do as he says, then they’d be leaving their village, their family, and their home to wreckage.

So far, the Manticore has only been targeting children, who knows what it’ll do if it starts ignoring its preference and begins devouring the other villagers as well.
Should they escape and leave their village in devastation? Or, stay behind and wait until their village runs out of children and women?
Either choice will leave a bad taste in their mouth.

“…… T-Tatarc-san, will you come with us to the other village as well?”

One of the girls asked.
Tatarc went silent for a few seconds then responded.

“The other day, I tried to abandon that village and chose to settle here. They accepted me and gave me this position to guard the sacrifices in exchange for telling them everything about the status of the other village……”

Tatarc said in a heavy tone.

“The Dragon God is a being that would even call for a merciless judgment if it is for the sake of the village. I’m sure… that if I go to their village now, after I’ve abandoned it, I will definitely be burned alive directly by the Dragon’s breath to make an example.”

…… Burned to death by the Dragon’s breath, I certainly didn’t expect their Dragon God to have such a ruthless side.

Then, once again, unpleasant stares get shot at Partner.
Some of them looked like they’re about to cry and there were others who showed a face of despair. And, a few among them, turned pale.

W-Wait a minute!
I would never do such a thing!

I’m a different dragon!
Heck, there was even a three-headed camel back in the desert, so there are surely other two-headed dragons out there!
And, I’ve only looked at myself on a water’s reflection!

“Ga, ga ~a……”

Partner flinches and takes a step back.
Hey, watch yourself, you’re showing your dragon traits.

“I will stay here and try to reason out to Nagrom-sama and settle a compromise with the other village. Their meeting mostly likely has something to do with the sacrifices. When they find out that the sacrifices have escaped, Nagrom-sama will have limited options left.”

A compromise… huh.
If you do that and they listen to you, then it’s fine, but the feud of the two villages is deeper than you think, is there even a chance for a peace talk?

“…… However, even if I successfully persuade Nagrom-sama, he can still easily kill me if he suddenly changes his mind. And, if the other village rejects the peace talk entirely, they’ll slaughter this village before the Manticore does.”

If rejected, you’ll all be massacred?! Why bother the risk?!
Regardless, won’t Tatarc still die in the end?!

Even though you came here to save these children, don’t make that “I’ll be fine” face.
Will these girls stay and extend the duration of their village?
Or, will they run away and shorten it instead?
They keep getting bombarded with these nasty decisions. Not to mention, Tatarc also went out of his way just to save everyone even if it meant his own demise, so, whichever these girls choose, they still won’t like the result.

…… Hm?
Wait just a minute, do I see a chance here?

Since I’m technically standing as their Dragon God, won’t this mean I can perhaps convince the Ryujin village myself?
The Dragon God was also the one who ordered the shrine maiden to strike a deal with the Manticore, and even Tatarc thinks that the Dragon God will burn him alive if he ever returns.
If they believe that what the Dragon God wills is right, then I, who they see as their Dragon God for the moment, have absolute dominion over them.

In other words, if I instruct them, not by my human voice, but as their Dragon God, they’ll no doubt obey me without defiance.
With the Manticore away, we may even be able to settle that compromise with Nagrom too.

…… But, the risk is still high.
Even if I manage to move the Ryujin village for a peace talk with the anti-Ryujin village, if Nagrom himself refuses, there won’t be a peace talk at all.
Worse case, the Manticore escapes again, and war ensues on both villages.

Maybe I shouldn’t…… think that far ahead so negatively?
If I go to the peace talk route now, a single slip-up will end this village.
It’ll be fine, as long as I stay as their Dragon God, there will definitely be another chance for a peace talk.
I won’t turn this into another life-threatening situation.

Also…… I noticed something while pretending to be their Dragon God.
I feel like I’m always getting caught up in some plot, or something……

“…… Hey, old man. Close the hole and go back to your guard duty”

Partner finally said something.

“H-Huh? Hey, wait… your rope……!”

“Tonight’s sacrifice will be me. You saw nothin’ here and you will put that rock back in that hole. And, as for that child-nappin' monster… I’ll blast it away for ya”

Partner said with a thumbsup.

A heavy exhaled breath came out from the girls.
It seems like they’re slowly starting to understand why I came here.

“T-There’s no way you can do that…… you’ve never seen the Manticore yourself, so don’t act all tough! That thing’s in a level us humans can never reach! Just hurry up and climb already! Climb up and save yourselves! The shrine maiden’s intuition is terrifyingly accurate! If you don’t run away soon, she’ll find out about this escape plan any minute now!”

Few seconds passed and Tatarc didn’t feel anything budge from the rope.
Not knowing why, Tatarc immediately looks around the cave and sees the girls not moving an inch.

“Anyone…… please…… if you don’t run away now, the Manticore will arrive soon, and Nagrom-sama will be finished preparing for war. But, as long as that ruthless Dragon God remains, this village has no chance of winning. It will only lead to needless deaths. So please, this isn’t just for your sakes, but for the village as well……”

The senpai-looking girl takes a stand and turns to all of the girls.
Everyone else looked confused at first, but then, they nodded at each other.

Eventually, everyone gave off a determined look on their face and looked at Partner.
Partner gave a slight smile and nodded as well.

“We won’t run away. We’ll stay right here.”

“B-But, why…… at this rate, you’ll be caught up in the war and-……”

“It’s because I believe in the Drago-… no… I believe in oneesan! That’s why I’ll stay right here!”

The senpai-looking girl said with a serious face.
Tatarc couldn’t believe what he just heard and stepped back in disbelief.