A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 181: The Nest (3)

"What... What is that...?"

A girl, noticing the acrid smoke rising in ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the distance, muttered in sudden confusion.

"...Smoke?"

"Yes, it's smoke."

And the same went for Ember and Whitney.

"B-But... why is there smoke rising?"

"Maybe they're cooking a large amount of food?"

"Y-You think so?"

The two exchanged dazed thoughts with blank expressions, but deep down, they both knew that couldn’t possibly explain what they were seeing.

The smoke billowing enough to blanket the sky was far beyond the scale of a simple campfire.

"...Could it be that they're hunting some kind of giant?"

"That's actually possible..."

"Don’t talk nonsense."

The two continued to speculate, but then the Death Knight cut in abruptly.

"First of all, dragons don’t hunt for survival. Do you think dragons are some kind of primitive tribe? They’re a race that can survive by simply absorbing mana from the atmosphere."

"...But maybe they wanted a special meal."

"Second, the giants have long since been extinct. It's true that they once lived in the snowy mountains, but they lost the war with the dragons and were wiped out ages ago."

Whitney and Ember, scratching their heads at her rebuttal, quietly glanced sideways at the girl.

"Do you know what’s going on?"

Eventually, Whitney took the lead and cautiously posed the question to the girl. She had been staring blankly ahead for some time before slowly opening her mouth.

"...There are no real rules in the snowy mountains."

"Excuse me?"

"No matter if one is the Dragon Lord, we fundamentally respect each individual dragon. We're far too powerful to be governed as a collective."

Though it sounded like sudden racial glorification, Whitney and his companions had experienced enough of this in a short time to nod along with vague agreement.

"But... there is one. One taboo that every single one of us must follow."

"...And that is?"

The next thing the girl said froze everyone’s expression.

"Not to light a fire."

If what she said was true, then someone had broken the dragons’ one and only taboo.

"There shouldn’t be a fire of this magnitude in the first place. That area is where the nest is..."

"Why is lighting a fire a taboo? Aren’t dragon breaths made of fire?"

"...That’s a common misconception. Dragons don’t actually breathe fire. Sometimes they expel condensed mana in a way that looks like a belch—people mistook it for an attack technique."

Ember asked the question, oblivious to the tension, but the Death Knight immediately answered.

"Wait, how do you know so much about dragons?"

"......That’s not important."

"No, that's not the point. So what’s going on?"

Looking suspiciously at the Death Knight for a moment, Ember quickly turned back to the girl and asked again with a worried tone.

"......."

But the girl simply stared ahead in silence.

It might have looked like she was ignoring them, but judging from her expression, that clearly wasn’t the case.

"......What is this..."

Even dragons, when faced with something utterly unthinkable, could have their thoughts grind to a halt.

And the girl, staring forward blankly with a vacant look, was proof of that.

—Crack...

How much time had passed?

Suddenly, a pair of wings burst out from the girl's back.

"Whoa, a flying dragon!"

"...Aren’t dragons supposed to fly anyway?"

"Ah, are they?"

As she kicked off the ground and took to the sky at incredible speed, flying forward, Whitney and Ember stared up with their mouths hanging open, trading another silly comment.

"This is not the time for stupid chit-chat."

That was when the Death Knight jumped into their conversation again, her expression twisting into a deep scowl.

"There’s no presence."

"...What?"

"That’s supposed to be the dragons’ ‘nest,’ right?"

"Right?"

"But there’s not a single presence I can feel. Not a trace of life..."

She mumbled, seemingly unable to make sense of it, then twitched her brow and corrected herself.

"...No, I can sense it faintly. But not nearly enough to believe dragons are gathered there."

The atmosphere, already tense, became even more chilling.

"Whatever’s going on up ahead, Whitney... if that’s true, then our plan..."

"Shh. It might actually be better this way."

"Huh?"

"I don’t know what happened, but it’s certainly preferable to dealing with dragons fiercely guarding the artifact."

Whitney comforted the anxious Ember as she muttered in dread.

"Y-Yeah, that’s true, but... aren’t you worried?"

"Worried about what?"

Hearing that, Whitney tilted his head slightly before his expression hardened.

"...Just now, that dragon girl. Didn't she mention something about her father?"

And then, a few moments later—

"......."

"...Huh?"

Whitney’s face contorted into something dark and twisted.

"Let’s follow the dragon."

"What? But..."

"We don’t know what’s happening up there. Instead of moving blindly, gathering intel comes first."

"But... this is our perfect chance..."

Ember began to protest at his savage-sounding tone, but her voice was quickly silenced by a single word from Whitney, sharp and cold as a blade.

"Answer."

"...Y-Yes, sir."

With that, consensus among the group was established—though one among them clearly had a different thought.

"......."

That was the Death Knight, quietly biting her lip as she watched Whitney’s group move ahead.

‘So, that’s really the reason they came here...’

Her eyes darkened to black in an instant.

‘In that case... I’ll carry out my plan as well...’

At the same time, her hand reached toward her spear's handle—but it trembled faintly and slipped off the grip.

‘...But still...’

Her gaze turned again to Whitney, who was, as ever, walking with Ember held in front of him like a shield.

***

"Hey, excuse me."

"...Yes?"

"No, don’t respond—just listen."

As I walked forward, using Ember as my meat shield, I tilted my head at the voice coming from ahead, but still lent an ear.

"Doesn’t this all seem a little strange to you?"

Ember whispered seriously.

‘It definitely is strange.’

Of course. We’re deep in the snowy mountains, dragon territory, and that massive plume of smoke is rising? If that’s not strange, what is?

"I mean the Death Knight. Don’t you think she’s a bit... suspicious?"

But contrary to my expectation, Ember wasn’t talking about the smoke. She was referring to the Death Knight, who had been silently trailing us from behind.

"She just happened to show up right when we were heading into the mountains without telling anyone. That’s way too much of a coincidence. And I don’t believe in coincidences."

"......."

"Whatever method she used, I’m sure she knew our plan in advance."

That’s it?

Of course I’d already figured that out.

In fact, even the Death Knight herself probably knows that we’re suspicious of her.

"But if that’s true, then the story gets even weirder."

"...?"

"If she really did figure out our plan somehow, then why didn’t she report it to the Shadow Union?"

Hearing that, I fell into thought, slowly nodding.

‘That... is a little odd, now that I think about it...’

Even with factional strife, the Shadow Union’s upper echelons would never ignore a chance at the Demon King's resurrection. For her to act solo, without even reporting it?

Maybe she was trying to build favor with the leadership by taking initiative?

But... something about that doesn’t feel quite right.

‘She seemed genuinely serious earlier...’

When the polymorphed dragon appeared, she was ready to sacrifice herself to let us escape.

If her goal had been political maneuvering for the Shadow Union, that kind of reckless move made no sense.

Could she just have been acting on impulse?

That’s not convincing either.

She might be a bit dense, but the Death Knight is a veteran who's fought the Holy Nation countless times.

If she wanted to monitor us safely, she could’ve brought a whole squad of executives with her. She knows that.

‘I really don’t get her...’

Also, faint though it was, I could feel it—because I’m a white mage.

Her black mana had been fluctuating all this time—rising and falling, over and over again.

Maybe that was why Ember spoke up too. She probably sensed a similar bloodlust.

But that’s exactly what’s strange.

If she’d just kept killing intent toward us the whole time, we could’ve guessed her motive.

Instead, her energy rises and falls erratically... like she’s hesitating.

‘I’ve never dealt with someone this unreadable...’

Facing Lady Meredia was easier.

Sure, she was terrifying at first, but at least her killing intent was consistent. That gave me something to work with.

But the woman walking slowly behind us now—I have no idea how to approach her...

"...Kuh!"

"...Eek!"

Just then, as I rubbed my chin and picked up my pace, a scream rang out from both behind and in front of me. I spun around with wide eyes.

"......."

Behind us, the Death Knight had collapsed face-first onto the ground.

"H-Hiiiieek!"

Hearing the sound from her side, Ember overreacted in fear and shrieked, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to be anything serious.

"...She just tripped."

"...?"

"Don’t worry about it."

As expected, the Death Knight muttered lowly as she struggled to rise from where she'd fallen.

"You okay?"

I cautiously stepped toward her and offered a hand.

"...I said don’t worry about it!"

She growled and smacked my hand away.

"Hah..."

Only then did I realize her actual condition.

‘...Mana depletion? Does that happen to black mages too?’

Mana depletion—when a mage runs out of usable mana from overusing spells or incantations.

It might sound trivial, but in combat, it's one of the most critical conditions imaginable.

"You’ll have to ride on my back."

"D-Don’t."

"But if you don’t, we can’t keep going."

Right now, she's the only one among us capable of fighting.

"Don’t do it!"

"...Haha."

So, despite her protests, I carried her on my back to conserve her stamina.

‘...Heavier than I thought.’

The regret hit me the moment I lifted her, though I kept that to myself. It wasn’t important.

"Uh, hey! This is no time for playing around!"

We had a much bigger problem right ahead of us.

"What are you talking abou—"

"...Huh?"

From the direction Ember was pointing at, far up ahead—

—Fwoooosh...

A massive inferno had engulfed the dragons’ nest, burning it to the ground.