S-Rank Adventurer Betrayed by His Fiancée in the Hero’s Party Sets Off on a Journey to Heal His Broken Heart ~The Strongest Betrayed Adventurer Ends Up Forming a Harem Party~ - Chapter 48: Dragonkind

Chapter 48: Dragonkind

It’s been a while, so here’s a quick recap of the last chapter:

Before visiting the benefactor who had gifted Abel his magic sword, the group made a stop at a port near Estena in search of a souvenir.

Their target: the A-Rank magical beast, the Kraken.

Despite the creature lurking beneath the waves, Raynare—the airborne Progenitor—engaged it with swift aerial maneuvers and razor-sharp thread attacks. She easily overwhelmed it and sealed the deal with a blast of magic.

Then, out of nowhere, a whale-type monster—the Fortress Whale—crashed the party.

Abel responded with casual dominance, cleaving the massive beast clean in two with a single swing of his blade.

The result? Kraken legs and bonus whale meat. A perfect souvenir set.

Meanwhile, back in the royal capital…

Millia, frustrated by her string of failures, began blaming everyone around her—especially Abel—and started scheming to win him back.

The Hero, Yuto, continued to crack under the weight of his curses and his growing sense of inadequacy.

Crushed by stress, he spiraled into a violent rage, focusing all his hatred on Abel.

Dark intentions continued to stir—slowly but surely—around Abel.

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[Side: The Betrayed Adventurer]

Dragons—also known as Dragonkind—stand at the very top of the magical beast hierarchy.

Most magical beasts are believed to have evolved from ordinary animals, gradually gaining magical energy over time.

But dragons are different.

They were born with magic.

From the very beginning, they ruled as kings.

Their scales are harder than steel.

Their massive bodies can crush mountains.

Their magic, woven from ancient wisdom, feels like a miracle.

And their breath alone can wipe entire nations off the map.

They are destruction made flesh—pure, overwhelming force.

Their mere presence is a symbol of absolute power.

・　・　・　・　・

“Did I get that right? That’s what dragons are like, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and there’s that classic saying—‘Don’t mess with dragons.’”

“That about sums it up.”

Frey’s answer pretty much nailed it. That’s the general idea when people talk about dragons—Dragonkind as a whole.

Sure, there are differences between species and individuals,

But if you remember just that much, you’ll be fine.

Like Maria said, adventurers hear that warning so often it gets carved into their bones.

“Dragons are S-Class threats. That means they’re basically untouchable—so don’t engage.”

“Not that it matters much. It’s not like you see them every day, so the warning feels kind of useless.”

“We’ve seen one before. From a distance. But even that was enough to make every instinct in our bodies scream ‘danger,’ so we backed off.”

“Smart choice.”

Dragons are absurdly powerful by default.

They can live for thousands of years.

Their abilities vary from one to another.

Some can even speak human languages.

And as a species, their innate magical power is downright terrifying.

Even a young dragon ranks as high A-Class.

Which means you’d need multiple people on Elmie’s level just to bring one down.

So yeah—avoiding them is always the best move.

Keep your distance…

Don’t engage…

Right…

“…Hey, just wondering—why are you two clinging to both my arms?”

“Oh? You don’t like it?”

“Should I press in a little tighter? Like this~?”

I had just remembered how ridiculously close the twins were…

But somehow, the moment passed without question.

Neither of them made any move to let go.

And just a bit away, I was pretty sure I could feel Elmie’s eyes boring into us, practically glowing with envy…

“Ray’s got some serious firepower when it comes to making a move, you know? We’ve gotta stay on the offensive too.”

“Ray… you mean Raynare? You’re already close enough to be calling her by a nickname…?”

“I’m not, personally. But she taught me a really cool magic technique yesterday~”

“Well, we both like the same guy, don’t we? We get along, and it kinda feels like we’re sisters now. So we have to stay friendly, right?”

Sisters, huh…

Wait—why does my back suddenly feel way heavier!?

“Ah, so this is jealousy. She feels threatened. Honestly, this kind of stuff can be annoying—but also kinda cute, right?”

“Raynare! Quit showing up out of nowhere! If I’m not paying attention, I can’t even sense you when you sneak up using that mist-form thing!”

This had happened more times than I could count—

Raynare’s signature surprise hugs, using her mist transformation to get close without being noticed.

And now she was practically on my back again.

Please stop clinging like that—you’re throwing off my balance…

And those are definitely pressing against me…!!

“What do you mean ‘annoying’? When the guy you like is flirting with other girls, don’t you want to tease him a little?”

“I get that, yeah… But guys are just like that. And a great woman knows how to make even that part of him fall for her… Anyway, Abel. You’re the one leading—are you sure your benefactor lives somewhere like this?”

Still clinging to me, Raynare casually joined the conversation with Frey—

Then, without skipping a beat, turned to me and asked her question.

Right now, we were walking up a sloping path on the opposite side of Estena from where we hunted the Kraken yesterday.

It led westward, toward a sharp, narrow cape that jutted out into the sea.

We were taking a leisurely stroll along that road, chatting about dragons and other things along the way.

“Yeah, the person who gave me this—The Azure Ice Sword, Granchario—lives around here.”

I gently patted the blue magic sword sheathed at my left hip.

“A sword that controls water and ice… It had some serious mana output too.”

“Right. Out of all my swords, this one’s the most balanced—strong and easy to use.”

The other magic swords were… let’s say quirky. Some were just plain hard to handle.

Granchario was the second of the four swords I obtained—

I got it about nine months after I split from Millia.

Before that, I had already picked up Breathslate to compensate for my lack of speed.

So when I acquired Granchario, which added high offensive power and all-around utility,

My combat capabilities jumped significantly.

It’s also the sword I’ve spent over two years fighting with.

There’s a lot of history between us.

“The cape ahead is sharp—almost like a blade itself. And right at the tip of that ‘blade’ is a small house. That’s where she lives—the old lady who’s… well, something else.”

“Wait, she lives out there and gave you a magic sword? She doesn’t sound like just some random grandma…”

“Exactly. She didn’t own the sword, exactly… But yeah—she’s not normal. You’ll want to brace yourselves. We should be seeing her house any moment now, but… huh?”

We’d been walking for a while since leaving town.

If my memory was right, we should’ve been close by now—

And that’s when we saw it.

A strange, almost surreal sight.

The trees were covered in frost.

Not just the trees—

The grass, the soil, the entire landscape was dusted in white.

Each step we took made a crunching sound, like walking through snow.

It was as if the entire world had turned silver.

“…What is this?”

“This is supposed to be a tropical resort area, isn’t it? Frost shouldn’t even exist here…”

“But… it’s kind of pretty?”

It looked completely different from how I remembered it—

But still, I figured it was nothing to worry about.

I kept walking, brushing off the frost as I went, and the others eventually followed.

Even Elmie, who’d been holding back with suspicion, began to move forward.

The twins, who had been clinging to me until just a moment ago, finally gave me a bit of breathing room.

The farther we went, the thicker the frost became.

Soon the plants were encased in ice, and long icicles hung from the branches like decorations from some frozen festival.

“This ice… Estena… and everything you said earlier… Wait—don’t tell me this ‘old lady’ is—”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Raynare seemed to have picked up on it, but I just smiled and kept walking.

Eventually, the frost-covered trees gave way to an open clearing—

And there it was.

“Wow… it really is a house. But…”

“It’s even more frozen than everything we passed on the way…”

What stood before us looked like a cozy log cabin.

Under normal circumstances, it might have had a warm, rustic charm—

But now, thick icicles clung to the roof, and the entire structure shimmered with a mystical chill.

“Alright now… where’s she hiding—?”

The entrance was around the far side, facing the very tip of the cape.

I walked around the cabin, just like I’d done so many times before—

“There she is.”

An old woman sat there in a rocking chair.

Her pale blue hair was so light, it almost looked silver.

She rocked gently as she read a newspaper, gazing out toward the ocean.

She was short, with the wrinkles that came from age,

But there was nothing fragile about her.

Her presence was sharp—immense.

You could tell at a glance that she was someone to be reckoned with.

Then, slowly, her eyes turned to us.

“Well, if it isn’t young Abel. Been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Hey, Granny Crim. Thought I’d drop by and show my face.”

She was the one who had given me my magic sword—my benefactor.

Her piercing gaze briefly flicked to Elmie and the others—

And then, suddenly, a spark of amusement lit up her face.

“My, my, you’ve brought guests? And here I thought you were always showing up alone. This is a rare sight!”

“What’s the big deal? They’re friends. Some of them are even mentors.”

“Oho, one of those mentors, is it? Then why don’t you go ahead and introduce this old lady properly?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Everyone, this is the woman who—”

I turned to introduce her—Granny Crim—

But I didn’t even get the chance.

“Abel…!! This woman… she’s…!”

“She’s human, right…?”

“Something’s off—she’s s-s-scary…!”

Except for Raynare, the other three had gone pale—

Their bodies trembling just enough to notice if you looked closely.

Was it the cold?

No.

Definitely not.

“…Granny Crim. I noticed it as soon as we got here, but you’re kind of leaking magic everywhere. Elmie and the girls are getting overwhelmed.”

“Oh dear, my apologies. I’ve gotten old, you know? This body doesn’t listen the way it used to.”

Granny Crim gave a small shake of her head—

And then—

““”—!?”””

In an instant, all the frost and ice coating the area shattered into fine mist and disappeared.

At the same time, the three girls gasped—like they’d just broken the surface after nearly drowning.

“Hah…!? H-Hah… haah… What… what was that…?”

“The ice… it just broke. And the air feels lighter now…”

“That pressure was insane… What is she? I couldn’t even speak…”

So it had been Granny Crim’s magic aura affecting them.

All the frost we saw—that had been her doing, too.

And the terrifying part?

It hadn’t even been intentional.

That overwhelming pressure was just the residual effect of her magical presence—like an aftershock from a single breath.

Seriously, this is why—

“Of course. You were getting hit by the aura of a top-tier Dragon. For A-Ranks, resisting that kind of pressure is impossible.”

—Yeah. Dragons really are on a whole different level.

“H-Huh…?”

“Wait, what did you just say, Ray…?”

“I said she’s Dragonkind. Though even I didn’t expect her to be this powerful. Abel, a little warning next time before tossing them in front of a living legend?”

“I figured telling them ahead of time would just make them nervous. Sorry about that—guess I should do a proper introduction now.”

My plan had been to let them meet her as a person first—then explain who she really was.

Raynare had probably already figured it out.

Makes sense. They’ve both been around for a long time.

“Abel…?”

“Right, right—this is the one who gave me my magic sword, the Azure Ice Sword, Granchario.

Granny Crim—full name, Crimshario the Clear Blue Dragon. She’s lived for thousands of years and is known as an Elder Dragon—one of the strongest of her kind.”

“Bah, I’m just a retired old lady now. You girls can call me Crim if you’d like. Didn’t mean to scare you. Want some candy to make up for it?”

The so-called Elder Dragon—a living legend feared as the embodiment of destruction and raw power—

Let out a warm, grandmotherly laugh, smiling kindly as if none of that applied to her in the slightest.