Around the time where the sun is about to set, the girl finally woke up. She shook her head a little bit before she rubbed her eyes. She sighed in relief when she saw me and when she noticed that we are not somewhere dangerous.
"So we survive the dragon's detection?" She asked as she keeps her body a little bit on a stretch.
"Yeah, and the dragon is dead," I said.
"Huh? How come? Are you the one who killed it?"
Due to that, I retell her all of the things that happened after she passed out and how the participant killers fought with the dragon until to the point where the dragon has given me his inheritance and will. I even showed her the dragon's curse in my arm. She touched it a bit and was surprised.
"This is the first time I have seen a dragon curse. I have read it in books and some tomes but never seen it personally. This is the first time I have come in close contact with someone who is unlucky enough to get it!" She was totally fascinated by the tattoo.
"And that was all about it, also, I retrieved the holoballs that those Participant Killers has. They are too much for me so we will have to divide them. Although we are not too familiar with each other, I will be giving this to you as a token of apology since it's been a few days since you have not hunted any monsters."
"Nah, no worries, but I will accept this token of apology to you. I also needed the points so I will not be stingy. Besides, I doubt my companions will be looking for me anymore since they are also a bunch of selfish magicians."
"Eh? Those girls are not one of your loyal friends or something?" I was surprised.
"No, they are not one of my friends. They just took me in since they lack the damage dealer in their group and I happened to be a damage dealer type of magic user so I was recruited. It was also a sudden one so I am not really acquainted with them."
I was just stunned to hear that. And I thought she was one of the girls and she was a companion. In the end, she was just a temporary companion. I can't really see any good thing about that.
"Now that I think about it, we have not introduced ourselves, aren't we?" She smiled.
"Oh, that is right." I nodded.
"I am Maple, they usually call me the Hidden Weapon Magician but you can call me Maple instead."
"Okay, I am Kazuma. You can call me whatever you fancy and I am not really a good magician. I just came here to get myself a good practice since I am just starting out."
"You are really an abnormal one aren't you?" She glanced at me and rubbed her chin.
"Huh?"
"Because most of the things you do are all abnormal and your luck seems also abnormal. Somehow, I have gotten used to it but now, I am once again amazed by your luck. You have gotten a blessing of a dragon without doing much."
"This is not a blessing, this is a frigging curse."
"You just don't know much about it but it was clearly given to you as a precaution for the daughter thingie by the dragon. If we removed that kind of instance, this is just a blessing, allowing you to borrow the power of the dragon for a limited amount of time!"
"Nah, whatever. Anyways, I am about to go and search that daughter of the dragon. Letting her all alone in the wild is not something I wanted to happen. I don't want the curse to activate even though I am not doing anything to her," I said.
"Hmm, valid point. I will come along."
"Eh?" I looked at her.
"A dragon's nest is basically a small treasure trove. If you are visiting one, then I will be sure to tag along!"
…
In the end, she followed behind and we searched for the place. I summoned Yuri and Yuto beside me to guard us from random beasts while looking for the place of the nest.
After a few while, I arrived on the mountain that was said to be the place where the dragon built his nest. Although it was located above the mountain, it was not really meant to be climbed outside. According to the memory that the dragon has given to me, this nest of his was stationed to be accessible by humans since his daughter is in human form.
There was a cave not too far from a grove. After locating the grove, I saw the cave immediately. Before I can get inside the cave though, Maple stopped me and made me look into something.
"Kazuma. Looks like we are not the one who is currently here. Someone has noticed this place!"
"What?"
"Yeah, we are not the only people here. The tracks are fresh since it is still a bit muddy. Looks like we need to hurry if you don't want the daughter to be taken by other guys. I suggest that we need to hurry up and catch up to these guys. We can't let them get to the dragon child!"
I nodded in approval. The safety of the dragon's daughter is now in my hands. If we messed up in the rescue, I will be doomed by this curse so I will instead rescue this girl. Bad timing as always.
With the help of the memory of the dragon, I managed to get the proper layout of the place without properly exploring the place. Due to that, I am now very proficient in choosing the best ways to reach the nest above.
"Follow me!" I said and quickly run towards the cave.
Maple followed me inside the cave. We can tell that the whole place has been cleared by monsters and from the wound types of the monsters, it was clear that the monsters here are killed by a magic-user of ice since there is a freezing ice on a dragon beast monster.
This is not good. For the first time, I am getting goosebumps on what was about to happen. Looks like I will be in for a tough battle...