Whether You Call Me a Guardian Dragon or Not, I’m Going to Sleep

T/N: You know what, you may read the previous chapter again. There are still some parts left out after 'I'll read some more and then tell you.'

But if you have already read up to 'What's important now is not some rat gods, but rescuing Maybelle's mother,' then it's done.

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Rescuing Maybelle's mother was not particularly difficult.

Honestly, if it were difficult, that would be a problem. But no matter. We had already roughly pinpointed the location through dowsing, and now that we were this close, we could locate her exact position through spiritual means.

The rat beastmen we encountered, I simply suppressed their minds, lightly skimmed their thoughts, and manipulated their perception so that they wouldn't recognize me and Maybelle, allowing them to continue with their work.

I was a bit concerned about freely manipulating the rat beastmen's minds, but... well, there was no other choice. I just had to make a slight adjustment to their perception.

And so, without any interference, me and Maybelle headed towards the location where Maybelle's mother was being held.

"Is Mom really here...?"

Maybelle continued to ask anxiously.

It was an gloomy and desolate prison. It was understandable that she would be uneasy about her mother being held in such a place.

So, I reassured Maybelle as we proceeded.

"Let's hurry. We need to get your mother out of this place as soon as possible."

"Okay!"

And when we arrived at the location...

"It's a dead end."

"I see."

Unlike other prisons, this space was completely walled off, with only a small hole at the bottom.

And inside, there was a soul that seemed to be Maybelle's mother.

"There's no entrance, is this really the right place?"

"Yes, that's correct."

I could clearly sense the presence of the soul beyond the wall, so there was no doubt about it.

"But... there's no way to get into this room."

"Hmm, looking at the slightly different material of this wall compared to the others, it seems they built a new wall to imprison her here."

The room was completely sealed off. Except for one section of the wall, which had a slightly different composition.

Apparently, they had constructed a new wall to turn this former prison space into a secure confinement.

"Why would they do something like that?"

"Who knows. It seems excessive to go to such lengths to imprison her, but... perhaps there was a situation that necessitated such measures?"

"What do you mean? A situation that required imprisoning her like this?"

"For example... if they needed to extract certain information from your mother and had to ensure she couldn't escape, even if she had become weakened. Regular bars might not have been enough to hold her."

Even in a weakened state, someone like her probably couldn't have broken out of regular prison bars. But you never know.

There are even children who can wield large hammers with their tiny bodies.

"Perhaps they thought that walling her in like this would prevent her from escaping."

The rat beastmen we encountered on the way here didn't seem to know the full details about Maybelle's mother either.

They were simply following orders to push food through the small gap at the bottom of the wall and record any responses.

They thought they were doing work for the sake of the rat beastmen, but...

"Then, shall I try to break down this wall?"

"With your strength and that hammer, it might be possible. But if you do that, the debris could end up harming your mother inside, so don't start swinging the hammer."

We came to rescue her, so it would be bad if she got hurt by the debris.

So...

"In a case like this..."

I raised my index finger and placed it against the wall.

"This is how you do it."

I drew a large circle on the wall with my finger, and as I pull it away, the section I had outlined was cleanly sliced off.

I made sure the detached fragments fell outside the room, not inside. Good.

"Neat, isn't it?"

"Neat? No, it's not! Normal people can't do that kind of thing!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

Right, in this era, the use of magic hasn't been fully developed yet. No wonder they can't do something like this.

But if you get the hang of using magic, there's nothing you can't do. Humans are still mostly just using scrolls for now.

With the right techniques, magic can be an all-purpose tool capable of any task.

"Anyway, I've made an entrance now. Let's go in."

And so, me and Maybelle entered the room.

"Mom...?"

The cramped and desolate room. A lone slime was rolling around in the corner, a pitiful sight.

In the corner, a gray-haired rat beastman lay on the floor, in a state of complete disrepair.

"Mom!!!"

Maybelle quickly approached the rat beastman and embraced her.

A faint breath. A weak life force. A life like a candle in the wind.

"Calm down. At least she is still alive."

"B-But..."

"If you hug her forcefully in this weakened state, what will happen?"

At my words, Maybelle's movements hesitated. I understand her feelings, but still.

So,

"Just wait a moment."

I summoned magic to envelop Maybelle's mother.

Her physical condition was truly in shambles. The muscles in her limbs were tattered.

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Moreover, it seemed she had not been eating properly, as she was malnourished and extremely weakened.

Hmm... truly, a life hanging by a thread.

"Let's see..."

First, I used magic to restore her weakened body, repair her damaged muscles, and revive her faint soul.

Even in a half-dead state, it would be clean and fresh as new in no time! Calling it "new" is a bit strange, but..

Anyway, she's healthy now.

"I-Is it finished?"

"Yes. The physical recovery is complete, so now I'll awaken her consciousness."

And so, I revived the consciousness of Maybelle's mother, Ella.

Ella's tightly closed eyelids slowly began to move.

And then,

"Mom...?"

"Maybelle...?"

The eyes of the two met.

"Ah, Mom..."

"Dear God..."

Maybelle embraced her mother, burying her face in her embrace, and Ella slowly began to stroke Maybelle's head, sobbing.

"Dear God... why did you send this child to me...?"

Hm?

"I am not afraid to die myself... but I wanted to protect this child... why... why did you let this child die..."

Ah, I see. She is mistakenly thinking she has died.

It seems she believes not only she herself, but also her daughter Maybelle, have died.

"Ah, Mom?"

"Say nothing... poor thing... how much you must have suffered... I wanted to protect you so badly... even if we had to part, I wanted you to grow up safely..."

"No, Mom? Why are you saying that after we've reunited after 10 years?! I'm not dead! Not dead!"

When Maybelle shouted like a scream, Ella's gaze slowly began to clear, as if she had regained her senses.

"Huh...? I'm not dead...?"

"No! I'm not dead! I'm not dead!"

"......."

Realizing what she had said, Ella,

"Ah, that... forget it..."

covered her reddened face with both hands.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Maybelle's mother did not lift her face for a long time. She must have been extremely embarrassed.

Maybelle herself was also feeling embarrassed.

"A touching reunion of mother and daughter, but let's move to another location for now."

Honestly, it doesn't matter if we stay here, but she'll be embarrassed for hours if left as is.

For now, I've suppressed the minds of all the rat beastmen inside the building, but if new ones come in from outside, the story will be different.

Well, I can subdue them too, but to have a calm conversation, we should move to another place.

"Another location?"

"Yes. Let's see... first, I'll restore this wall..."

I lifted the removed wall section and firmly reattached it, slightly melting the rock surface with heat to bind it together.

"There. This way, no one will be able to know the situation inside."

"Maybelle? Who is this person exactly..."

"I'll explain later. For now, just know that this is the person who is helping me."

At Maybelle's words, Ella nodded slightly.

Hmm. Looking at her, Ella also seems quite young. Is it a characteristic of beastmen? They look more like sisters than mother and daughter.

Ah, no. I don't have time for unnecessary thoughts. Let's move to another place.

Let's see... the inn where we were staying would be a good place.

I snapped my fingers lightly, and the dark space instantly transformed into the inn room.

"Th-this is?!"

Ella, who was experiencing spatial movement for the first time, had a very flustered expression, but Maybelle, who had already experienced it several times, calmly began to console her mother.

"It's okay. The person just used magic to move us to another place."

"Spatial movement? That's not magic, it's a miracle..."

Ella finally had the chance to examine my appearance, and after looking me over, she said,

"Could it be, the Dragon's Priestess...?"

"Un. You're quick-witted."

At this point, anyone would have noticed what I was doing.

"Anyone who experiences the miracle of spatial movement would notice, especially a young girl with large horns using such a miracle."

"I see, that makes sense."

I wonder if I should seal that magic to hide my identity. But that would be a hassle.

"Just what kind of situation led the Dragon's Priestess to come to your aid?"

"Yes, I wonder how it came to this..."

It was just a series of coincidences, but it feels as if someone had prepared for this to happen.

"I would like to allow you and your daughter to have the conversation you couldn't have in 10 years, but let's leave that for later."

I looked at Ella and said,

"I have a rough understanding of what the rat beastmen are trying to do, about creating a new gods, but just in case, could you tell me everything you know?"

I also want to know why they are targeting Maybelle, and why Ella herself was imprisoned in that cell.