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Regressor's Ancient Travel Guide

章 1: Prologue: A Glimpse Into the Future

A man of savage stature, gazed upon the scenery of a harsh desert. Despite the searing heat, he stood unwavering, clad in the leathers of unknown monsters bound to him.

The man of large stature glanced over his scarred shoulder, three women were sitting on the sandy ground, while four barbarians stood guard around them.

..Seeing such a fantasy-like scenery again and again, the man was reminded of the days when he woke up in this world. Where day and night he had spent in solitude, until he had finally encountered a human—in the form of a baby he picked up.

But that was long ago, and a story that might have been for another time.

"..Excuse this foolish sister, so I must ask.. Why are we resting in the middle of sunrise in the desert region?"

He heard a feminine voice coming from behind him. It came from a black-haired woman of asian descent, dressed in non-combative garments. However, despite her firm words, her eyes were downcast to the sand ground and were trembling under the insurmountable pressure coming from the burly man.

"You, no disturb father!"

One of the male barbarians with red hair interjected the woman, but the man of large stature commanded him, "Think before you speak, Boris."

With his words, the barbarian with red hair named 'Boris,' turned silent.

"It's the second law in the territory of the Brown Dragon, the time period where he rests and everything shall turn silent. If you want to live a long life and not die, I don't recommend disturbing his slumber and resting quietly within the parameters."

From the mouth of the savage-looking man, very fluent common tongue flowed out, surprising the woman, just as it had when she first met the man.. And through that surprise, she could momentarily ignore the intimidating pressure from the man and face him.

—Ash-colored eyes met hers, alongside the sense that he existed on a different plane than her, unable to properly construct imagery on his face without getting a headache.

Once the man with ash-colored eyes saw the terror flashing in her eyes, he sighed with a hint of sadness.

"Chief! Problem coming!"

A hurried barbarian interrupted and called out to the ashen-eyed man, pushing aside the black haired woman without discretion and pointing to the south.

"...An uninvited guest has arrived, I see."

The ashen-eyed man said, walking ahead as the barbarians formed a protective circle around the three women, who fearfully swallowed their saliva.

A sandstorm had formed in the south, and within it, a terrifyingly large shadow was approaching near their position with haste.

The three women tried to narrow their eyes in an attempt to see through the sandstorm and identify the shadow, however, they couldn't tell what it was.

The ashen-eyed man narrowed his eyes and spoke to the women, "I have good and bad news. Which one do you three want to hear first?"

"This elder sister w-wishes to hear the bad news first," one of the girls stammered before the others could speak, and as another girl wanted to add her own words, a massive voice echoed through the desert.

『Mortals who don't know their place from the outside.』

『Explain your presence, or beg for your lives. If the answer you give does not satisfy me.. Then I shall paint this desert with your innards.』

Like a whisper that was too loud, the reverberating voice echoed from every direction. And while the barbarians tensed up, the girl who had spoken earlier, felt fear suffocate her throat. Her limbs lost strength and she fell to the sandy ground, tears coagulating in her foggy eyes.

The sandstorm parted like Moses Sea, and the creature revealed itself from the ground.

"Ah.."

The rest of the women collapsed in fear, and Boris, the red-haired barbarian who referred to the ashen-eyed man with 'father,' began to tremble and hold his stone spear near.

A ferocious brown-colored dragon stood before them.

With scales that were terrifyingly sharp, it had two purple, bead-shaped eyes on the sides, glaring at them from a close enough range that it made them feel as small as ants.

In regards to the terrifying enemy in front of them, the rest of the barbarians started to smile and laugh cheerfully at the incoming battle, preparing for a fight with this colossal dragon.

For the women who began to pee from fear, they could see that this dragon was beyond "large."

Its eyes were large enough to fit all of them in. Its body stretched out of sight to the end of the desert, more immense than they could imagine.

It was large enough to flatten out mountains, drying out oceans and reaching the moon.

"Oh.. ah.."

The black-haired woman in the center of the barbarian encirclement tried to speak, though all that she managed to squeeze out were onomatopoeic sounds.

Like cubes of ice in front of the sun, their very bodies felt like melting at the sight and pressure, unable to move and simply trembling like cats thrown into water..

..A small wind storm formed when the dragon blinked its eyes.

..An earthquake spread when it stood up straight.

Nature trembled simply because of its presence, and almost everyone had the following thoughts in their minds:

That this was the day they were going to die.

That there was no escape.

"F-father, please run while we fend—"

A slow voice interrupted Boris's trembling voice.

"Calm down."

A calm voice, as if he was just going on a walk and faced a mischievous dog trying to bite his leg.

The ashen-eyed man stepped forward, drawing the attention of the brown Dragon to him.

『...Deus.』

The dragon fell silent after uttering out a name.

"You asked for the bad news, right? Well, it's that you may soon be stained in a lot of unwashable blood." The ashen-eyed man continued in his footsteps, seemingly addressing the courageous woman who had spoken earlier.

"The good news is that we might not even need to fight. Since I do not wish to fight against an old comrade, right, Brown Dragon?"