A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 178: Standoff (2)
“...Please wait.”
“...?”
“It’s too reckless to charge in alone right now.”
The Death Knight, who had drawn her spear and was about to step forward on her own, tilted her head slightly when Whitney grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“...Excuse me?”
“This isn’t a situation that should concern you negatively.”
With a slight frown, she asked again, this time more pointedly.
“One obstacle to remove another. Isn’t that advantageous to you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m an obstacle. And that dragon, radiating bloodlust from afar, is also an obstacle. Am I wrong?”
Whitney furrowed his brows as if he genuinely couldn’t understand her logic.
“This isn’t the time for word games, but I’m pretty sure I never called you an obstacle.”
“...”
“I simply said you were being rash. Yes, the pressure coming from over there is intense, but it’s still too early to assume we’ve been discovered.”
The Death Knight held her tongue and listened as Whitney explained further.
“If we’d actually been found, we’d already be under attack. A dragon wouldn’t bother hovering at a distance if it knew exactly where we were.”
“...Hmm.”
“It probably sensed something suspicious but couldn’t pinpoint us because of Ember’s magic. It’s testing the waters. If we take the bait, we’re done.”
His reasoning was sound. Dragons—unless newly born—were inherently prideful beings. It would be out of character for such a creature to merely lurk and glare at a few humans from afar. Most likely, it had sensed something amiss but wasn’t sure, thanks to Ember’s flawless concealment.
“...Even so, being discovered is only a matter of time.”
The Death Knight, who had nodded in understanding, frowned again and began to move forward once more.
“If not now, then later. But when it does discover us, their alert level will skyrocket. Can we maintain our original plan in such a state?”
“Well...”
“That presence—there’s only one. If we take it down here and now, we’ll raise our chances of succeeding.”
Whitney said nothing. The logic was harsh, but valid.
“Just one thing—how do you plan on fighting a dragon? You’re not seriously thinking of piercing its scales with that spear, are you?”
After a moment of hesitation, Whitney asked this with genuine concern, which only deepened the frown on her face.
“...Of course not. Even a Sword Saint couldn’t do that. Maybe a long-lost Dragon Slayer of the ancient age could, but not me.”
“Then why do something so reckless?”
Finally losing his patience, Whitney asked directly.
“Are you... actually worried about me?”
“...Well, yes.”
“...Why?”
The Death Knight's question was blunt, and Whitney rubbed the back of his neck as he answered.
“You joined this operation. That makes you an ally, doesn’t it?”
“...”
“Or do black mages have a rule against caring about comrades?”
At that, the Death Knight stared silently at Whitney for a long moment—then let out a dry, almost disbelieving laugh.
“Ha... haha...”
And just as suddenly, her expression snapped back into a cold, sharp mask.
“...Disgusting.”
“...?”
The voice was quiet—so much so that Whitney wasn’t sure he’d even heard it right.
“...I have a method. One that will work. Even against a dragon.”
“Seriously?”
Whitney’s eyes lit up with interest at her sudden seriousness.
“This is a dragon’s nesting ground. So there are bound to be those who have died here—dragons who lived out their long lives or fell in battle.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“I’ll raise them as undead. If I do, we can win.”
“...Oh. That actually makes—wait, what?”
Whitney, who had just nodded in agreement, froze in place.
“You’re going to raise dragons from the dead?”
“It’s not impossible. If it once had life, I can bind it.”
“That’s not what I’m questioning.”
Whitney’s tone turned grave.
“If you do that, the dragons will go berserk. It’s one thing to assassinate silently, but such a flashy stunt will bring every dragon in the region down on us.”
“Of course they’ll notice. And when they do, I’ll have my army of undead dragons to fight them. It will buy us time.”
“And what exactly is the point of that?”
The Death Knight looked at him as if he were missing the obvious.
“It would give you enough time to reach the Demon King’s Awakening Relic.”
“...”
“Isn’t that your real goal?”
Whitney flinched slightly.
The Death Knight, catching that reaction, gave a cold, knowing smile and leaned in close.
“So I’m begging you... don’t pretend to be kind.”
“...”
“And even if you were, that wouldn’t justify stopping me.”
Though her face was masked, the fury radiating from her was unmistakable.
“If someone like me—a villain—volunteers to be the bait, you should be grateful. You can’t refuse this offer.”
This time, Whitney had no rebuttal.
Not only because she was now emanating a pressure nearly equal to the dragon’s, but also because her reasoning was too sound, too complete.
“So stay back. I’m going to—”
Whitney said nothing.
“...!?”
Instead, he reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her from stepping forward.
“...Why are you doing this?”
Now she looked genuinely confused, not angry.
“I don’t know. I just... I feel like I shouldn’t let you go. Even though there’s no real reason for me to feel responsible for you.”
“Are you being serious?”
Whitney’s ambiguous answer made her grimace in revulsion.
“Or are you getting that so-called pity again? That’s revolting.”
“...”
“Let go, or I’ll put this spear through your skull.”
Even her threats, thick with killing intent, didn’t make Whitney loosen his grip. Instead, he spoke quietly.
“Haven’t we... met before?”
“...What?”
“I don’t know why, but... I get the feeling we have.”
That caught her completely off guard.
“There’s no way... That’s not...”
She bit her lip, then muttered in a suddenly solemn voice.
“Do you know why I’m like this?”
“...?”
“If we had known each other... she’d be the version of me that exists in this timeline... Right?”
Her voice was low, almost unintelligible, but her unease was evident.
“...Just realized something. There’s one more reason.”
Whitney, who had simply been observing her reaction, whispered again.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“...What?”
She blinked and quickly looked around, eyes scanning their surroundings.
“It’s certainly oppressive... but there’s no hostility.”
“...What?”
“That dragon. For whatever reason, it has no intention of attacking us.”
Only then did the Death Knight understand. The aura from the distance was strong enough to make her skin crawl—but there was no killing intent.
— Srrrk...
Realizing this, she slowly lowered her spear and stepped back.
“...Um. I kept quiet because I felt like I’d mess things up if I said anything.”
“Shh.”
“O-okay.”
Ember, who had been curled up the whole time, tried to speak up but immediately fell silent and ducked behind Whitney when he raised a finger to his lips.
— Goooo...
And then, just briefly, a massive snowstorm swept across their vision.
“...Whoa.”
“...!”
“Eek!”
As a colossal eye appeared within the storm, the entire group gasped in shock.
“...That’s a dragon.”
“...Been a while since I saw one up close.”
The dragon’s eye was nearly the size of a full-grown tree. Which meant that it had intentionally lowered its body and was peering directly at them.
Had it risen to its full height, its sheer scale would have overwhelmed them.
“...Aaugh.”
Ember, now back in her shut-in default mode, whimpered again—only to be silenced by Whitney’s hand, then went limp.
“...”
Silence descended between the massive dragon and the group.
“...My offer still stands.”
“...”
“It might not be showing hostility now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t if it identifies us. If that happens—ugh?”
In the middle of her sentence, Whitney silenced her by covering her mouth and turned his gaze toward the eye in the storm.
— CRACKLE...!
And at that very moment, something changed.
— GOOOOO...
“...!?”
The eye vanished, and the storm surged, blanketing the entire mountain slope they were standing on.
“Damn. Were we discovered!?”
“No... it’s not an attack.”
“Then what is this?!”
The wind threw Whitney «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» off balance and loosened his grip on her mouth, giving the Death Knight a chance to speak.
“See? If we’d just gone with my plan—”
But her voice trailed off before she could finish.
“...?”
Whitney. Ember. All three of them fell into stunned silence.
— Step. Step...
Because through the whiteout, they heard... footsteps. Human ones.
— Step, step, step...
Time passed—an unbearable eternity.
“...Huh?”
At last, the figure emerged from the storm.
And for the first time, the Death Knight looked truly shaken.
“...?”
A girl stood before them.
Completely naked—though covered in silver-white scales. White hair. Pale eyes. Her face expressionless as she looked at them.
“Welcome to Snowstorm Hill.”
Her voice was surprisingly clear and refreshing, which only deepened their disbelief.
“Sir Whitney.”
Even putting aside how she’d seen through Ember’s “perfect concealment,” the fact that she somehow knew Whitney’s name was the real shock.
“Your father is waiting for you.”
