Actually, Ilulu hadn't fully processed what was happening yet, but she certainly understood the words "go to work."
"Go to work?"
How did getting captured suddenly lead to having to work?
What about all that talk of harmony and friendship?
"The townsfolk are currently without homes, so we need a temporary shelter large enough for everyone to spend the night in."
Sleeping out in the open fields was very unsafe.
While dragons might not have that concept, Ilulu, who had enjoyed playing with human children when she was young, actually understood this to some degree.
Because she once had a human friend who nearly died after being bitten by a poisonous insect while lying on a lawn.
"But..."
Ilulu tugged at the collar around her neck. "I can't use any of my strength right now."
"I'll go over there with Ilulu first. Lainer, Tifa, you two organize the scout team and the townspeople. Keep everyone calm."
Theresa patted Tifa's shoulder, signaling for her to be put down.
"But..."
What about your condition?
Tifa didn't voice the rest, especially with Ilulu still present.
"Don't worry. I'm not that fragile. I haven't fully recovered, but I'm not so weak that I can't walk."
Theresa's candid remarks took Tifa and Lainer by surprise. They hadn't expected her to be so unconcerned about Ilulu's presence.
But then, Tifa smiled. It was precisely this kind of Theresa who could become the leader of Schicksal, worthy of every Valkyrie's loyalty.
"I understand."
Tifa didn't raise any further objections. She bent down to help Theresa gently back to the ground.
After that, Tifa and Lainer each focused on their tasks.
Compared to Lainer, the townspeople held much more respect and trust for Tifa.
From their perspective, Tifa was with Theresa, and as a subordinate of the Bishop Theresa, she was naturally someone the faithful should revere.
Therefore, it was more fitting for Tifa to guide them.
Theresa had no intention of hiding the fact that Ilulu was a dragon.
When the townspeople learned a dragon was going to carve out a temporary shelter for them, they were startled at first, but then followed with even more devout praise.
Yes, the Lord guides and shelters the ignorant lambs.
As the omniscient, omnipotent Supreme God, it was only natural that an evil dragon, chastised by God's emissary, would turn over a new leaf.
As for those who might resent the dragon enough for their faith to waver… well, such people simply didn't exist.
Thanks to the priest and Schicksal's efforts, no casualties had occurred among the townsfolk.
Though weary, once they thought of this as a trial from the Lord, they held no complaints. Instead, they believed they were undergoing a noble test.
The refugees who had fled from other cities originally held negative feelings toward Ilulu.
But during this time, they had been receiving aid at the church, constantly immersed in an atmosphere of faith.
Even though they hadn't believed in gods before, witnessing this faithful town emerge completely unscathed shook them profoundly.
'Was it truly because I held no faith in my heart that I was abandoned by God and attacked by that evil dragon?'
They couldn't help but think this.
If the town they had lived in had been a faithful one, would their loved ones have been safe like here? Would the evil dragon have even protected them?
Compared to the villagers, the scout team couldn't accept Ilulu's presence so quickly. But since it was Theresa herself who gave the order, they held no complaints.
Aside from a few biologists who were very curious about the differences between dragons and other creatures, there was almost no discussion about Ilulu.
They could barely figure out their own survival, with an uncertain future ahead—why waste time discussing a dragon?
Once everyone had started moving, Theresa led Ilulu to a spot near the foot of a hill by the stream.
"Ilulu, can you turn into your dragon form and dig a cave here?"
Theresa asked, having slightly loosened the restraints.
"I can, but won't humans get sick living in a cave?"
Ilulu scratched her head with a claw.
"Going back to the town isn't an option. Compared to staying out in the open, a cave is a much better shelter."
"Can't go back… is it because of Eaton?"
Only then did Ilulu remember her kinsman, pinned to the ground when she had flown overhead earlier.
"Yes. He destroyed the city, so I had to punish him."
Theresa said softly, "I'm sorry, but it was my duty."
"Huh? Why are you apologizing to me?"
Ilulu was taken aback.
"What? Because he's your kin, right? Even though he attacked first, the fact that I hurt your kind and made you sad is true. So I apologize."
Theresa hadn't expected that question and looked equally puzzled.
"Ah… you're apologizing because you thought I was sad."
Though she didn't really feel sad inside, Ilulu felt oddly pleased by Theresa's words, even though she knew she shouldn't feel that way.
To shake off this useless emotion, Ilulu hurriedly explained, "I'm not sad… Even though we're kin, our relationship wasn't that great."
Theresa understood immediately. It was like ancient clans—while everyone shared the same bloodline and familial ties, it didn't mean they were one big harmonious family.
Instead, there was plenty of friction and clashes.
The larger the clan, the more those clashes and indifference grew. Sometimes, relations within the clan were even worse than with outsiders.
"I see… it's like that."
Theresa nodded, but a tenderness that didn't match her youthful appearance flickered in her eyes.
"Wh-why are you looking at me like that?! It's not something worth pitying!"
Ilulu couldn't bear that gaze and quickly looked away, putting on a displeased expression.
"It's nothing. In any case, I'll leave the next part to you, Ilulu."
Theresa loosened the Oath of Judah's restraints a bit more.
Feeling magic flood her body, Ilulu didn't waste words. She used magic to revert to her true form.
The cross, which had only been the size of a child's neck, grew along with Ilulu, now as thick as an adult's arm, yet still fitting snugly around her dragon neck.
The feeling of restraint still bothered Ilulu, but she knew her current position. With one dragon's breath, she blasted a large hole into the hillside.
For a dragon, destroying a mountain was simple, and digging a cave was just as easy.
Skillfully employing this ability, Ilulu followed Theresa's directions, using her breath to shape the interior of the cave while casting magic to harden the walls, preventing a collapse.
With the convenience of magic, the two finished a cave suitable for short-term living in less than half an hour.
"This cave is so small. Can people really live here?"
Ilulu, however, wasn't very satisfied.
"It's more than enough for humans."
Theresa nodded. After Ilulu returned to human form, she asked a question: "Ilulu, do you know anything about demons?"
She had already sent out quite a few clones to scout the situation across the world, but in the end, time was too short.
There were many places where simply having enough hands wasn't enough.
"Demons?"
Ilulu tilted her head, not sure why the question had come up so suddenly, but she didn't have much reason to hide it either.
"I know a fair bit about demons. After all, they sometimes collaborate with the Chaos Faction. But what exactly does Theresa want to know about them?"
"Back on the mountain—when you attacked the ground, Ilulu—you must have sensed something odd in the air, right?"
Though she knew Ilulu was certainly aware of the other world, Theresa spoke vaguely. "Originally, we planned to slip away quietly, but one of our members said they had been possessed by a demon at the time and did something to draw attention."
"Oh… you mean that flow of magical energy back then…"
Mentioning this made Ilulu a bit awkward. After all, she'd breathed a mouthful of fire back then and then just crashed.
"I don't think demons are all that powerful… At least, I've never seen a strong one. And I'm pretty sure the magical flow back then didn't feel like a demon's."
Truth be told, Ilulu hadn't paid close attention at the time—they were more or less in a standoff then. But distinguishing it afterward wasn't difficult.
After thinking it over carefully, Ilulu arrived at an answer that even puzzled herself. "Rather than a demon… it actually felt more like a dragon?"
Distinguishing magical flows wasn't all that hard. Different races that used magic stored it in different organs and in different ways, resulting in vastly different flows.
For example, a demon's magic core was usually in their horns, a dragon's in their heart, while gods didn't have one specific organ. Humans were actually similar to gods in that regard.
So, judging by the flow, if it wasn't a demon or a dragon, then it had to be a god or a human.
Of course, the magic organ was the core for storing magic, but that didn't mean magic only flowed within that organ.
Here, Ilulu looked at Theresa, her expression growing increasingly puzzled.
"Do you have a dragon in your group? Dragons can't be possessed by demons."
These days, thanks to the contract between the Lord of Hell and the God of the Bible, demons had become about as common as stray dogs on the roadside.
Unable to appear in their true forms, they could only manifest on earth by possessing human bodies. Ilulu had never given them a second thought.
"Everyone in our group is an ordinary person. None of them can use magic, so judging by magical flow alone wouldn't be accurate."
This explanation actually helped Theresa understand where the 'key's' operating principle came from—it must have been from dragons like Tohru and the others.
"Can't use magic?"
Then where did that magical flow come from?
Confusion filled Ilulu's eyes.
She didn't press further. "Do you want to find the demon that possessed your subordinate? You might as well give up. That move you used earlier completely erased the magical energy. A demon's possession requires magic to maintain its state."
Theresa knew that, of course. "But… if a member of the team has been targeted, I'm worried they might be in danger… If possible, I'd like to know if there's any way to immediately identify someone who's been possessed by a demon…"
"Demons are experts at concealing their presence. If they don't intentionally reveal themselves, it's almost impossible to detect them."
Ilulu didn't have any solutions either, but Theresa's attitude struck her as novel. "You're so strong. You shouldn't have to worry about demons coming after you."
"Hmm… but I'm the leader of the team. I have a duty to protect everyone."
"Why bother with something so troublesome?"
Ilulu couldn't understand. "If someone can't keep up with the group, doesn't that mean they're not suited for it? Getting rid of them would be best for everyone."
"That might be the dragon way, but humans are different."
"From what I know of humans, they aren't much different from dragons."
"Maybe so… but I don't want my team to be like that."
Theresa shook her head, then looked at Ilulu. "Aside from possession, do demons have any other means of interfering in this world?"
She didn't say anything like, 'What if you were the one being eliminated? How would you feel?' Because Ilulu simply couldn't relate to that.
For a young dragon whose power already surpassed that of many adult dragons, the word 'elimination' held no meaning for her.
"..."
Ilulu's gaze grew even stranger as she looked at Theresa.
"Even though we often have dealings with demons, Theresa, you should know more about them than I do. After all…"
She glanced at the cross on the white-haired girl's back.
This was clearly a follower of the God of the Bible.
Even though Ilulu wasn't particularly interested in the skirmishes between humans and demons, she knew that followers of the God of the Bible often performed exorcisms.
Logically, they should be very familiar with demons.
After all, to exorcise a demon, you had to know its true name. Ilulu certainly couldn't remember all those names.
"...I'm not in charge of exorcising demons."
Theresa wasn't lying.
"I suppose that's true. Using someone like Theresa for exorcisms would be a waste."
Ilulu quickly accepted this explanation with a turn of her head. After all, she didn't pay attention to the affairs between demons and humans either.
It wasn't strange that Theresa, who was even stronger than her, wouldn't bother with such trivial matters.
"What do you mean, 'using Theresa'? You make me sound like some kind of tool."
Theresa flicked Ilulu's forehead. The strength of a MANTIS warrior was never weaker than that of a dragon, let alone a dragon whose magic was currently sealed.
Though Theresa didn't use much force, the flick still gave Ilulu a jolting, wake-up-call sensation.
"Ow!"
Ilulu clutched her slightly reddened forehead, not understanding why the other had suddenly gotten upset.
She hadn't said anything strange, had she? In fact, she'd even praised her strength. Shouldn't she be happy?
"Huh? Did that really hurt?"
Theresa was surprised the other's tolerance was so low. She hadn't used much force at all.
A dragon with sealed magic was more fragile than she'd imagined.
Theresa gently moved Ilulu's hand away from her forehead. As Ilulu compliantly lowered her hand, Theresa brushed aside her bangs.
There was a fairly noticeable red mark there. Though for a dragon, such pain was only temporary and would fade in a minute or two, Theresa still felt a little responsible.
After a moment's thought, she bent down slightly.
"Hoo… hoo…"
Soft, cool breaths brushed over Ilulu's forehead. The stinging spot, cooled by the gentle breeze, suddenly didn't hurt as much anymore.
Ilulu, who had initially been startled by Theresa's closeness, froze in place.
This gesture… she felt like she'd seen it before.
It was what her human friend's mother had done when her friend fell and scraped herself.
The old Ilulu couldn't understand such behavior, but now she was starting to grasp why humans did it.
This gesture… was it really this comforting?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.