Chapter 67 Strongest Sage, Learns the Cause of Decline

 

《Uwah. This is terrible....》

Looking closer, I see how awful Dark Dragon Iris's wings have become.

《It really is. I haven't been able to fly for 5000 years already....》

5000 years eh.
That much time has passed since my reincarnation huh.

"What happened to make your wings turn this bad? I don't think these could become like this unless something like a large Ether Fusion Reactor without safety devices had a meltdown."

Most of Iris's wings have been destroyed. Only the wingtips are left unhurt.
I could understand the physical damage. Something like a large-scale explosion-type magic should be able to destroy the entire surface of the wings.

However, you can't use that to magically damage those wings.
Dragon's wings are inherently very strong magically. Normally their magic circuit won't be broken unless the wings are cut off.
Yet, they got shredded this bad....

《...I think that's exactly what happened.》

《It did for real?》

《One of human kingdoms created an Ether Fusion Reactor that was 50 times bigger than the ones that existed when Gaias-san was alive....》

《And it went into a meltdown?》

《Yes...》

Sometimes, idiotic experiments were conducted in the past era.
One of them even resulted in a complete wipe out of a town.
Well, I personally understand the urge to test interesting magic myself, so I'm not going to pursue on that front.

However, it's a different story when it involves Ether Fusion Reactors without safety devices.
Even a simple mistake in controlling it would result in a magical disaster at a scope incomparable to some random stupid experiment.

《Those wounds are plausible if it's because of Ether Fusion Reactor's meltdown.... Don't tell me, was that the cause of civilization decline?》

《It seemed like Ether Fusion Reactors were exploding left and right, and all civilized countries were destroyed....》

I was bothered by how much civilization had declined even though I should have been reincarnated in the future, so it seems the old civilization destroyed themselves.
The fact that there are still humans surviving in this era might be the silver lining here.

《And so, could you cure these wings....?》

《Impossible.》

《Even Gaias-san can't do it!?》

《The past me should be able to, but my crest is the Fourth Crest now. I can't restore magic circuit back to its perfect state. ...Well, I should be able to at least make them fly.》

Healing magic should be good enough if it was a normal wound, but dragon's wings are special.
Since you need production-type magic in order to completely repair the magic circuit, it's impossible for me now, while Ruli isn't skilled enough yet.

《...Also, can't you speak in human language? The people over there seem like they don't get what's going on.》

I said that and looked toward Alma and Ruli.
Even though I already told them that they could get closer now, they're still far away from us even now.

"...Oh right, we were talking in dragon language. The two over there.... It can't be, are they Mathias-san's friends?"

"It talked!?"

"Uwaaaaaittalkeeeeeed!"

Alma and Ruli who saw Dark Dragon Iris suddenly speaking raised their voices in surprise.
I put my hands on Iris's wings while looking at them.

"Well, close enough. For now, I'll connect the circuit that supplies mana to 『Dragon's Breath』 with the path on the wing's circuits that are still alive. You should be able to fly then."

"P-please!"

After getting Iris's affirmation, I spread my mana into Iris's wings, connect the broken magic circuits that can be connected toward the wings' path.
It isn't enough to restore them to their original state, but it should be enough to carry us.

"...Alright, you're good to go now. Try to fly a little."

"Y-yes!"

Dark Dragon Iris pours its mana into its wings.
Then the dragon's body rose into the sky without a sound.

"How is it?"

"I'm flying! Mobility for combat.... doesn't seem possible...."

"Well, with how torn-out your wings were, there was no way to do a fine adjustment on them. Once Ruli gets better at augment magic, I'll have her restore them for real. Well, it should take 20 years at the longest."

"20 years is it! I'm looking forward to it already!"

Iris hadn't flown for 5000 years.
20 years are nothing.

"T-the dragon obeyed Mathi-kun..."

"Mathi-kun's amazing...."

"...Oy, you two! We've finished our talk, let's go and beat those demons now!"

"Un! We're coming!"

"I-I got it!"

I called out to the two who were still looking from a distance.
They should have realized that it's fine after seeing Dark Dragon Iris talking in human language and obeying me.
They're coming here albeit looking a bit hesitant still.

"...Eh? We're going now? 20 years would pass in a blink of an eye anyway, once my wings are cured...."

"That's a dragon's sense of time! The king would have been succeeded in 20 years time for humans!"

"I-I'm sorry! I understand! Please get on!"

Iris descended on the ground and lowered itself to make it easier for us to climb.
After some more convos, we got on Iris's back.
The preparation for the surprise attack is perfect now--.

"Still, Mathias-san making friends with humans huh.... I wonder if there will be another disaster coming...."

....Maybe I really should kill this dragon after all.















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