Chapter 237: Why are you so skilled?
Ignoring Dandelion's mournful tone, Lynn pressed on, "Keep going. Was it big?"
"It was as long as three horses combined, not as wide at the withers as a horse, but much fatter, and its color was as gray as sand."
A rough outline immediately formed in the Witcher's mind.
"So, a green dragon then."
Dandelion nodded like a pecking chick. "Exactly! It suddenly swooped down and attacked a flock of sheep. The shepherds all fled. It killed a dozen sheep, ate four of them, and then flew off."
Lynn asked, "Flew off... Is that all?"
The bard grinned.
"Of course not. The next morning, it returned, this time closer to the city. It swooped down and attacked the washerwomen by the river."
"My friend, they scattered in terror! I've never seen anything so amusing in my life. The dragon circled over Holopole twice, then flew off to attack the sheep again in a nearby pasture."
"You know, the day before, no one even believed the shepherds. But once everyone saw the dragon, no one doubted that dragons were merely creatures of legend anymore."
"The mayor started mobilizing the city militia and the Adventurers' Guild, but before he could even organize his men, the common folk took matters into their own hands and resolved the issue."
Unbeknownst to them, a crowd of listeners had gathered around the two.
The captain and several halberdiers guarding the roadblock also huddled close, curiously listening to the commotion.
They were Kaedwen soldiers, not Holopolians.
Though they knew their king had already passed with a retinue earlier, they were genuinely unaware of what had happened in Holopole.
Furthermore, entertainment in those days was truly scarce, and human nature dictates a love for spectacle.
Naturally, they all gathered.
Seeing his audience suddenly swell, Dandelion showed no shyness; instead, he grew even more delighted by the attention.
"Do you know how they dealt with that dragon?"
"Actually, it was nothing special, just a very common method. A shoemaker named Kozoyed came up with a plan to kill that reptile."
"They slaughtered a sheep, stuffed its belly with buttercup, belladonna, hemlock, sulfur, and shoemaker's resin."
"To be safe, the local apothecary took it upon himself to add two quarts of boiled potion, and then had the priests of the Temple of Kreve bless this offering."
"Then they tied the sheep to a stake and put it among the flock."
"Honestly, no one believed the dragon would choose this stinking, dead sheep out of a thousand, but the result defied all expectations."
"All the other sheep lived perfectly fine, but this one, along with the stake, was swallowed whole."
Lynn frowned, telling him,
"Don't always stop at the crucial moment. What then? Continue, Bard."
Dandelion coughed.
"Of course I'll continue, I wouldn't stop at a crucial moment. Listen closely: Not long after—about the time it takes a skilled man to unlace a woman's corset—the dragon began to roar, smoke spewing from both its mouth and its rear."
"Next, it rolled, tried to fly away but fell, and then stopped moving. Two men volunteered to go and check if it was still breathing."
"These two were the local gravedigger and the village idiot. The idiot's mother was the mad daughter of a lumberjack, who got pregnant by a group of halberdiers passing through Holopole during the Tracasi Rebellion."
Lynn asked, bewildered, "Tracasi? Who's that? Don't tell me useless things, Dandelion."
Dandelion raised his hands, an expression of defeat on his face from Lynn's rebuke.
"Lynn, you're just like my other Witcher friend, utterly boring. I'm merely adding a little color to grim facts. Alright, alright, don't glare at me, I'll continue."
"Where was I? Oh, right. A gravedigger and a reckless idiot went to check, and then... uh, then we built them a small but extremely beautiful tomb."
"Oh, good." Borch, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "That means the dragon is still alive."
"Precisely," Dandelion replied cheerfully. "It's still alive, but too weak to swallow the gravedigger and the idiot. It only drank their blood, then flew away... though with great difficulty, which worried everyone."
"Every time the dragon flapped, it would roar and crash, then take off again. Sometimes it could only crawl forward, dragging its hind legs, with the braver folk following not far behind, keeping it in sight."
Lynn could picture the scene: In truth, both the Witcher world and the Naruto world are classic examples of high-offense, low-defense settings.
No need to even mention Witchers.
Even those who haven't read the novels or played the games will immediately think of pitchforks.
Let's just talk about higher vampires.
Take Regis, for example.
Although he is now a "Bloodless" higher vampire, he wasn't always like that.
The reason he became bloodless was because he "died" once.
He had tried to get some blood in a village, but his ambush went awry; he narrowly missed a girl heading to a well and instead crashed at full speed into the wellhead.
The villagers, awakened by the commotion, pierced Regis—who was temporarily immobilized by dirt, stones, and debris—with wooden stakes, and even chopped off his head...
Even higher vampires' bodies aren't so tough as to ignore blades.
As for dragons, it's the same.
Their regeneration abilities are indeed powerful; as long as they don't sustain fatal injuries on the spot, they can usually recover.
But a dragon's defense isn't as exaggerated as some people imagine. Concentrated arrow fire and dense spear thrusts will still harm them.
As for large bolts fired from ballistas, even dragons dare not ignore them.
The "brave folk" Dandelion mentioned were likely waiting for the poison to fully take effect, and once the dragon was incapacitated, they would swarm it, dispatching it with scythes and hammers.
"You'll never guess what happened next," Dandelion said, drawing out the suspense again.
Lynn rested his left hand on his right elbow, his right hand clenched into a fist, gently tapping his cheek in thought.
"You already said the dragon is still alive, which means those brave people didn't succeed, and it eventually escaped."
"Let me guess..."
"That dragon is now hiding somewhere, enduring the effects of the poison through its sheer constitution."
"And the reason this bridge is blocked is because it's the only way to reach the dragon's hiding place. Am I right, Bard?"
....
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