Survival Story of a Sword King - Chapter 8

It was obviously a dragon, just as he had always pictured them to be.

So, Ryu Han-bin didn’t even think about activating the search function to confirm his thoughts.

[Race: Wyvern. Lv. 27]

When he turned on the guidelines later, it clearly appeared as a Wyvern.

“You’re not a real dragon?” Ryu asked in a confused tone.

The monster squatted like a scolded cat. What Ryu had mistaken as a dragon was, in fact, a wyvern.

“A Dragon has four legs and wings on its shoulders, and is very big… I have wings on my forelimbs, and I am small… … I’m obviously a Wyvern. Why did you have such a misunderstanding…?” the wyvern asked back.

However, Ryu Han-bin was in a situation where he could have misunderstood. When a large dinosaur-like monster appeared with wings, it was usually a dragon. Who would think of it as a Wyvern?

“No, this isn’t what matters now!”, Shaking his head, Ryu Han-bin glared.

“Whether you are Dragon or Wyvern, aren’t you just trying to kill me?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s because you are the devil in this world…”

“Devil?”, Han-bin frowned and asked back.

Then it suddenly flipped its attitude.

“No, you’re a hero in this world, hehehehe.”

The Wyvern was stretching his eyes with a swollen face, rolling his huge eyeballs. It looked cute in some way, but it was not cute at all because of its humungous size. Anyway, it was clear that he was no longer a threat.

“So, it turns out I’m talking to a big winged lizard who can talk like a human being?” Ryu Han-bin pondered for a while, realizing that he had fallen into another world which was all sorts of strange and unknown. Common sense in the usual manner didn’t apply to this world.

In any case, the wyvern was the first “talking partner” he met after falling into this world and staying alone for more than 20 years.

It was a great opportunity to get information. For now, Ryu Han-bin holstered his sword and started talking in a cordial manner.

“What are you? Why did you try to kill me as soon as you saw me?”

* * *

Its name was Effir, a young Wyvern who had turned 18 this year.

“18 years old? Are you really that young? I thought you had lived for hundreds of years.”

Effir looked at Ryu Han-bin as if he had made such an absurd claim.

“I am not a Dragon. How do I live for hundreds of years?”

Wyverns looked like dragons, but they didn’t have a particularly long lifespan. In terms of age, they were just like humans.

“Oh, since you’re from another world, you don’t even know that much.”

“Anyway, keep explaining.” Ryu told him.

As they talked, Effir and Ryu moved towards a den which Effir had lived in. It was Effir’s nest. Since Ryu had hurt him, he asked to go home and apply for medicine on his wounds. To be honest, Ryu was also curious about where Wyvern lived.

Effir whimpered as he dabbed the potion on his scaly face.

“Ouch! Ah, what a waste. There are only a few healing potions left.”

Watching a monster measuring more than 10 meters, carefully handle a small bottle less than 10 centimeters with its huge front claws, Ryu Han-bin stuck his tongue in sheer amazement.

“You’re surprisingly handy, aren’t you?” he threw in a jolly compliment.

Watching Effir, he realized that It was not just the front foot which he was using. It was Effir’s front limbs, which were both used as hands and wings. It was a commendable feat to be so nimble.

Naturally, he should only be able to move his thumb and index finger, but he was avidly nimble in using his entire limb and fingers.

“I practiced a lot. This was also in the training curriculum…”

“Training?” Ryu grew curious.

Effir was originally a special unit of the Xrad Kingdom, who ruled this region, and was the Wyvern of the Flying Dragon Knights. If a flying dragon knight was injured, he had to provide first aid, so it seemed that he was also trained to handle human tools.

“Of course, there weren’t two Wyverns that could move their front feet like me, fufu.”, Effir seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting.

In the meantime, Effir pretended to be angry, but Ryu Han-bin didn’t care. There was something more that was bothering him.

“Xrad Kingdom? Not the Grelleut Kingdom?”

Why was it different from the information given in the guideline.

“Grelleut Kingdom? It has been 15 years since the country collapsed.”

It wasn’t even Baron Garrain anymore.

“When the Kingdom of Grelleut was destroyed, Baron Garrain was destroyed as well.”

“…”

Ryu Han-bin lost his speech. It felt like his back was getting cool. It’s not just an error. This information was not even updated in the guidelines.

It was fortunate that he met this Effir in advance because if he met the locals right away, he would have been caught.

“I’d be in trouble if I trusted the guidelines.”

In a hurry, Ryu Han-bin urged to continue the story.

“So, what then?”

“Eh, like other friends, I have been serving the Flying Dragon Knights ever since I came out from the egg…”

* * *

Effir was an excellent Wyvern. His physical ability was particularly superior to other Wyverns, and his intelligence was particularly high as well. So, even within the Flying Dragon Knights, he was treated specially.

“I ate only expensive cows and pigs, and lived in the dragon section, which was the highest quality.”

“The dragon section?”

“If a horse lives in a stable, a dragon lives in the dragon section.”

“Oh, I see.”

Anyway, those good times ended three years ago, when the 3rd Prince of the Xrad Kingdom visited the Flying Dragon Knights.

“Well, that stupid Prince said he wanted to fly on a Wyvern too. He didn’t even know how hard the Flying Dragon Knights were trained.”

The knights who were struggling to find a suitable wyvern, chose the clever Effir – The best dragon knight, who had the best riding skills, drove Effir, and carried the Prince behind him.

Effir trembled.

“This insane Prince felt it wouldn’t be enough for a decent ride, so he stood up and raised his arms! Do you say that you are the king of the world or what?”

There was a reason why you shouldn’t do what you are told not to do. Eventually, the Prince fell straight from the Wyvern’s back.

It is seriously dangerous just to fall from horse-riding, but this was dragon-riding, high up in the sky. Effir tried to snatch him, but was a step late.

“Well, he died instantly.”

The kingdom turned upside down. The Dragon Knight was beheaded, and Effir was also put to death.

“Fortunately, a few Flying Dragon Knights who loved me let me escape secretly.”

After breaking the chain, he risked his life and flew, avoiding the kingdom’s pursuit, he hid himself in this place, deep in the Satt Forest. Because it was a remote area out of humans’ reach, the Xrad Kingdom’s pursuit did not reach this place.

“By the way, it seems that this forest was a place where people from another world often hunted.”

One of the other world’s people appeared and looked at Effir, shouting and attacking.

-Wow! Wyvern Level 21? The experience should be good.

He was quite strong. If it had been an ordinary Wyvern, he would have had its neck. However, Effir was highly trained in various tactics against humans under the Flying Dragon Knights, which is why he didn’t lose.

“Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult opponent.”

He managed to suppress him but didn’t kill him.

“The murder of civilians is the shame of a soldier…”

Effir still thought and behaved as he was trained under the code of the Flying Dragon Knights. He still remained an honorable soldier. So, he just scared him off and kicked him out of the forest.

“Then, this bad guy gathered other hunters and came to subdue me again.”

He almost died then. He barely defeated them and had to struggle for days. After that event, every time people from the other world appeared, he killed them. He realized that his life was in danger if they were spared.

“I’ve also gotten pretty strong, and the level of those people was never very high. So, I thought this time would be the same… Honestly, this is the first time I met such a strong person like you.”

At the end of the conversation, Effir began to glance at Ryu Han-bin.

“Hey, I’ve told you everything?”

Ryu Han-bin nodded and said, “I still have a lot of questions, but I have to ask…”

Then he asked with a serious expression.

“How did you realize that your opponents were from the other world?”

* * *

The guidelines said that there was no apparent difference between Earthlings and Latnains, so if he was careful with his behavior, he could hide his identity. However, Effir spoke as if he was convinced of the identity of people from the other world.

“I didn’t recognize them as people from another world from the beginning.” he said.

It was after he killed them, Effir recognized the identity of his opponents.

“Because people from other world do not leave a body behind when they die.”

Unlike the Latnains, Earthlings’ body vanished as soon as they died. The reason had not yet been revealed, but it was common knowledge on the Latna Continent now.

“The hunters he had brought to kill me, as his colleague were Latnains, so all their dead bodies remained, while his vanished.”

The mortals who appeared later also disappeared when they died so that he could identify them from that one fact itself.

“In the first place, the deep part of the Satt Forest is not as good as the risk, so humans don’t come in here.”

Those brought by the guy from the other world he first met, were the last Latnains Effir saw.

“After that, all the humans I met were only people from another world.”

So, when he discovered Ryu Han-bin, he thought he was from another world. It had always been like that.

Ryu Han-bin was relieved.

“Is it just circumstantial evidence…?”

But he checked it further just in case.

“Is there any way to determine people from another world without killing them?”

“There was no such trick when I was a Flying Dragon Knight. I don’t know how it is these days.”

“I see.” Ryu Han-bin shut his mouth for a while and cleared her head.

Meanwhile, Effir carefully put the half-used healing potion back to one side of the cave. Besides potion bottles, miscellaneous items were piled up in the cave—human weapons, armor, backpacks, and clothes.

Suddenly Ryu Han-bin asked, “That’s the goods taken from the otherworldly people?”

“Yeah. These are equipment for other world’s people, and equipment for hunters of the Xrad kingdom.”

Ryu Han-bin had heard that dragon races such as Wyvern, Drakes, and Hydra, which were subspecies of the Dragons, also instinctively collected treasure.

“Would you like to take some?” Effir asked, looking at him.

All Ryu Han-bin had right now was only a pair of furry shorts and a large bony knife. He was no different from a beggar. Those items would be really useful, indeed.

“Can I do that?”

“You spared my life. It will be a waste to let you leave the like this, right?”

Ryu Han-bin shed his eyes. Where was this guy going to slip away?

“But I haven’t told you that I will let you go?”

He could just kill Effir and take everything with him. Indeed, Effir turned pale.

“You want to kill me? Even though I’m cooperative and friendly?”

“Sigh…”He laughed.

That Wyvern really had a lot of facial expressions. In a sense, it was amazing to express a variety of emotions with a lizard-like face.

“What should I do to this guy?” he wondered.

The Latna Continent was said to be hostile to people from another world.

And this Wyvern knew what Ryu Han-bin was.

“If I think about the future, I will have to definitely kill it.”

It was not without reason.

Didn’t it kill every Earthling who had just fallen into this world?

But he didn’t want to kill Effir.

“How long has it been since I have spoken with someone or had a friend…”

He forgot that conversation was such a joyful and humane act. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed companionship and healthy conversations. What’s more, Effir was pretty good at speaking.

It was not easy to stab a friendly opponent with a knife.

Ryu Han-bin pondered for a moment.

‘I don’t think he killed the Earthlings because he was vicious.’

‘He was just trying to protect himself.’

And he needs to avoid humans as much as he can, right? There was not much possibility of Effir revealing Ryu Han-bin’s identity to others.

So, Ryu came to a conclusion.

“I’ll let you live.”

“Really?” Effir’s expression brightened.

Ryu Han-bin frowned and continued.

“But once a murderous Wyvern story comes to my ears, then there is no forgiveness!”

Effir lowered his head in submission and said, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

As a friendly gesture, Effir gave in his suggestions, “Then, take whatever you need! Would you like some styling? You wouldn’t know this neighborhood’s fashion if you’re from another world, would you? If you don’t want to look awkward in the eyes of others, you need to dress up to the latest trends…”

Ryu Han-bin was truly impressed.

“Wow, you really have a lot of vocabulary, huh?”

He understood why the Flying Dragon Knights loved Effir so much. He was unbelievably good and clever for a monster.

“If he weren’t a Wanted Wyvern, it would be nice to go around for a while and get some help.”

At least he would be much more useful than a broken guideline.

Just in case, Ryu asked.

“Can’t you ever transform into a human being?”

In cartoons, dragons quickly transformed into humans. Effir was confused and shook his front feet.

“If I could turn into a human, I would not even live in a forest like this. I’ll just go and live in a convenient city.”

“Is that so?”

Well, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a Wyvern transform into a human in a cartoon. After abandoning his lingering thoughts, Ryu Han-bin began to pack things in moderation.

In the first place, there were many useful things because it was all hunters’ equipment. Backpack, armor, clothes, weapons. All were more precious than gold and silver treasures to him now.

First, he changed his clothes.

Thanks to Effir, he now knew how to dress naturally.

“Oh, you’re so big that your clothes don’t fit. I’ll have to rip the arm off the top. But you’re still a good match. You don’t need that big knife, do you?”

After changing all the way from head to toe, he looked quite like a local of Latna Continent.

“Now, no one will suspect that you are from another world.”

Leaving Effir’s promise behind, Ryu Han-bin went out of the cave.

As he departed, the large Wyvern saw him off, waving his wings on his forefoot.

“Goodbye! Friend”