Mystic Codes

Although there was plenty to take from the dragon, only a few parts were truly precious.

After all, the organs responsible for storing and circulating mana in its body could hardly grow in the hundreds or thousands like its scales.

By comparison, its outer scales were tough, but there were so many of them that, with enough time to remove them, they could cover every roof in the village.

Of course, probably no one would actually do that. Roofing a house with dragon scales sounded outrageously badass, but they were so hard that even driving nails through them would be difficult. In the end, it would probably be an extremely expensive project with astonishingly difficult construction.

Besides, when the wind blew, the whole roof might start directing the airflow. It was hard to say whether that would make the house sturdier or send it flying away with the wind. Still, if they killed enough dragons in the future, perhaps they really could build a "moving castle" that traveled with the wind.

In the end, the materials yielded only three Mystic Codes.

A sword made from its beak, a necklace made from the essence of its heart, and a cloak made from its wing membrane, scales, and eye.

"The first two are pretty normal, but isn't there something a little off about setting such a huge eyeball into the cloak?"

Frieren couldn't help speaking up as she looked at the cloak, whose eyeball even moved.

"It's way too creepy."

"That eyeball is the core of the cloak."

Lorenzo spoke with a perfectly straight face.

"It can enhance the wearer's ability to sense mana and provide an extra field of vision. Even an enemy approaching from behind would have a hard time avoiding its gaze. It also has extremely strong wind-element resistance."

After all, it was made entirely from dragon scales and wing membrane. It would have been hard for it not to have wind-element resistance.

"But anyone who wore that outside would definitely be taken for an evil mage."

It was a gray-black cloak with a rotating eyeball on its back that even blinked occasionally. It hardly looked like a respectable magical item, and it made one suspect that looking into its eye for too long would suck in one's soul and trap it there forever.

"What do the other two do?"

In the end, Frieren decided not to argue with Lorenzo about the cloak. She just hoped he wouldn't wear it in front of her.

Lorenzo first picked up the sword made from the Windwing Dragon's beak.

"This sword retains the Windwing Dragon's ability to cut through airflow with its beak."

He gripped the hilt and casually swung it forward.

The blade didn't actually touch anything, but a nearly transparent blade of wind flew from its tip and left a cut in a wooden stake several meters away.

"With an ordinary slash, it automatically releases a wind blade. Its power varies with distance, but it should be enough to deal with ordinary monsters."

"Of course, that's not its true ability."

Lorenzo held the sword horizontally in front of him.

"Pour enough mana into it, and it can whip up all the surrounding air and release a large tornado forward."

Frieren glanced at the sword, then at the village around them.

Large quantities of dragon meat that had yet to dry completely hung beneath the eaves. Nearby stood newly repaired houses, and farther away was the wooden wall that had been put back up...

"Of course I'm not going to use it here."

Lorenzo could tell at a glance what Frieren was thinking. As he spoke, he put down the sword and took out the necklace.

"This necklace has a very simple use."

A translucent cyan crystal hung from a silver chain, with a few thin currents of air slowly circling its center.

"It lets people fly without using flight magic."

The necklace's core came from the essence of the Windwing Dragon's heart, the part responsible for storing and channeling mana. After all, Windwing Dragons didn't stay aloft for long periods through their wings alone. Their hearts also sent mana throughout their bodies, allowing them to manipulate the surrounding air currents and lift their enormous bodies.

Lorenzo had preserved that property.

The wearer only needed to put a little mana into the crystal, and the necklace would create an upward current of air around their body.

"It doesn't seem very useful."

"Not everyone can fight while flying like you, and still find time to make scathing comments about their companion's flying posture."

Lorenzo spoke to Frieren.

"What are you going to do with the remaining scales and bones?"

"Sell them to cover our travel expenses."

Lorenzo answered.

The Windwing Dragon was enormous. Even after the villagers had taken the meat, which made up the largest share, the remaining materials were still astonishingly plentiful.

It wasn't practical to carry everything around with them indefinitely, and they had no other real use for it. The best parts had already been used up, and although the rest could still be made into weapons and armor, it wasn't worth spending more time on.

"Speaking of which, are these things worth much?"

"Probably. Parts from a dragon can't be cheap, however you look at it."

"You've never sold anything like this before?"

Lorenzo asked Frieren.

"I have, but the other party paid me half what they should have. After that, Himmel and the others never let me trade with merchants alone again."

Paying her half the price—what a shady merchant. Come to think of it, weren't beings like elves and fairies supposed to have a reputation for being shrewd? How had Frieren ended up such an easy mark?

"Now that the Mystic Codes are finished, we should get ready to leave."

Lorenzo stretched as he spoke to Frieren. He had spent several days in a row sitting at the table and working on the materials. Even though he had relied on Magecraft for most of the work, his shoulders were still a little stiff. At a time like this, he really missed True Magic like Zanze's, which let her control her hair at will.

"Aren't you going to change that cloak some more?"

Frieren asked.

"No."

Lorenzo answered without hesitation.

"More changes won't make it look any more normal."

Of course he knew that such a huge eyeball was an eyesore. He had considered adding a cover over it during the crafting process, but later discovered that a cover would interfere with its sensing ability.

He had also tried using fabric to soften the area around the eyeball, but the result looked even more like some evil god's sacred relic surrounded by flowers.

It was better as it had been originally. At least it just looked creepy.

"Then hurry up and put it away. I don't want to see it anymore."

Frieren spoke.

The eye on the cloak immediately turned toward her.

Frieren turned away as well, as though she could pretend it didn't exist for the moment as long as she couldn't see it.

"Let's set out tomorrow."

The next day, after finally managing to wake the sleepy Frieren, the two set out on their journey once more, with the villagers seeing them off.

"By the way, how far is it from here to the Holy City?"

After they had walked for a while, Lorenzo asked Frieren, who was studying the map as she walked.

"About ten-odd days' journey, I think."