Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 147: Removing the Obstacle

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A few days passed while I waited for the Protagonist to return.

In the meantime, other than basic calisthenics, making full use of the time spent with the ancient and wise Dragon Tribe, I had them teach me various things, including both stories that most likely could never be useful to me in a practical sense as well as general knowledge about primarily magic.

Because dragons were supposedly one of the heaviest magic-centered species, with even their most basic biology being intertwined with mana, most of their teachings were centered around, and of course, I wouldn't deny more information on that.

Naturally, without the ability to produce mana inherently through the beating of their heart, which dragons were said to possess four of, and due to my inability to perceive mana in any capacity, there wasn't a whole lot I could do with this new information.

However, even if I couldn't make use of it right now, it would undoubtedly come in handy later down the line.

For now, I felt like I had already gained more than enough from this Contract, and if I was right about the Demon King being the Antagonist, which I couldn't imagine was a mistake, then everything else didn't matter.

Checking through the scope of the White Death from the mountain terrace every day for the Protagonist party's return, eventually, I spotted them.

"Alright... Not long now."

Hopefully, what I've done was enough to get the ball to start rolling.

❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖

By the time the Protagonist and the others had returned, it was already evening.

Following a quick greeting at our reunion, I was internally relieved to see that Ryoko's temper from the other day was nowhere to be seen.

The Tribe swiftly set-up another sort of banquet, and after dinner, the Elder that was Ryoko's father brought her somewhere for a private conversation. Observing from a distance as they disappeared deeper into the cave, I could only hope it went well.

In the morning, I was reassured to see her cheerful.

At the same time, her father gave me a subtle nod and a thumbs-up with a smile.

'I take it it's gone well... Good.'

Of course, I wasn't the only one who noticed the unusual mirth hidden within the dragon girl's actions, and whenever the Protagonist asked her if something good happened, she seemed about to reply full of glee when her father interrupted, responding in his daughter's stead.

"I have made the decision to visit the human city together with my daughter."

"Oh! In that case, maybe I can show you around--"

"No."

"Oh, uhm... Okay."

"Mm. We shall depart today, as a dragon's promise is sacred, and I hope I shall not have to warn you that disturbing our precious family bonding time together will result in a dearly unpleasant consequence for you. You may stay here until our return."

"Don't worry about something like that! I wouldn't want to interrupt you guys together, so have a nice time! Uh, when will you be back...?"

Faced with that question, the Elder held his chin and pondered for a while.

"―A week."

Eventually, that was his answer, and immediately after that, the two of them left.

Just like that, the biggest obstacle was officially out of the way.

❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖

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Following the Elder's announcement that he would be leaving with his daughter for a week, the other members of the Tribe also seemed to become curious of the outside world.

Part of that was no doubt thanks to my own efforts of hyping things up out there to intrigue them, but I didn't expect all of them to leave.

It seemed that seeing one family pair go on a bonding trip sparked a desire for all the others to do the same, and before I knew it, the only people remaining in this cave of the Dragon Tribe's were myself and the Protagonist's party.

It wasn't at all what I expected, but... it certainly wasn't an unwelcome advancement.

Now, I had exactly one week with no looming threat of the Dragon Girl to assassinate the Protagonist.

The most vital thing now was to isolate him, but from the very first moment that was something I felt was impossible.

Not a single moment passed without one of the three girls plastered by his side, not when he was eating, not when he was sleeping, and even when he was pissing or shitting there would be that dog Cassie standing guard nearby to protect him.

'The bastard is like a president with all this security...'

Ordinarily, I would have liked to simply wait until the Protagonist travels back to the city and snipe him again then, just like I tried to last time, but that would only happen after the Elder returns, and in that case, then wouldn't the dragon girl just go along with him again? It would be impossible unless she was out of the picture like right now.

Fortunately, although it was only a week, it was still a guaranteed week of freedom.

A week should be more than enough time...

"...Yet it's still tough..."

One day in, I failed to find an opportunity, and ended up merely observing the whole time.

Now, it was the middle of the night, and although this would normally be prime time for such an activity, it was actually arguably the worst.

Wherever the Protagonist slept, Cassie was always right by his side, and sometimes quite literally on top of him, with the other two girls likewise never more than an arm's length away.

It was never difficult to just draw the Black Wisp and shoot, but I knew it wouldn't work due to those overprotective, crazy animalistic senses.

In the end, in order to take a breather and alleviate the frustration, I went outside to sit on the stone terrace, gazing up at the moon like usual.

At some point, suddenly noticing something move out of the corner of my eye, I span my head to find someone.

"Katya?"

"..."

Her silver hair faintly glowing beneath the moonlight, a silent cat appeared before me.