"But you never know," I added. "There are always some guys who like to poop in front of their nests..."
"That's terrible!" Annie raised her voice, interrupting me.
I shrugged and didn't dwell on the topic. I just quickly let the wind I was holding loosen, allowing the stench that was hitting me to dissipate along the outer edge of the line.
I've heard from classmates who often go on adventures outside the academy about some survival tips in the wild. One of them is that the excrement of large animals is very effective at driving away small wild beasts or monsters.
Although doing so may occasionally attract some beasts that have never felt fear, or even dare to challenge the local lord or defend their territory, it is almost always effective unless the effects of the excrement itself gradually diminish over time.
Among those large animals, dragon dung is considered extremely effective, even possessing the precious properties of a special medium in alchemy. In addition, its production is low, and in some city-states, it sells for a price almost equivalent to that of gold.
I was initially puzzled by this, but now, after experiencing it firsthand, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.
Forget about driving away monsters, what's in front of us is already cooled excrement, and its stench can spread over a huge area. Anyone who smells it with the wind will be scared away.
I wasn't paying attention and was thinking of taking a deep breath, but that breath almost killed me. I quickly let the wind dissipate and took several more breaths of fresh air before I finally felt some relief from the tightness in my chest.
Should we... continue moving forward?
Anne seemed to have also smelled that unpleasant odor. Even though I could only hear her voice, I could tell from it that she was trembling slightly and trying to suppress her nausea.
I was a little reluctant, but for the safety of our subsequent trip, what I did next was necessary. In fact, it was for this purpose that I agreed to take a slightly longer route to the outside.
I nodded slightly, not looking at the expressions of the people behind me: "We must obtain some of the dragon's excrement. This is not only to avoid wild beasts on our way, but also to analyze the specific type and physical condition of the dragon guarding this [Dragon Graveyard]."
The only sound that reached their ears was the clatter of hooves as the prancing horse moved, and one could imagine that the girl behind them looked rather embarrassed in an instant.
However, she ultimately did not voice her objection.
Soon, after calming the somewhat restless Pegasus several times and guiding it toward the direction from which the stench was coming, we finally approached a small mound.
—Yes, a small mound.
It's hard to imagine just how enormous that dragon, capable of excreting such a massive amount of feces, must be. But one thing is certain: it must be even larger than the dragon I dealt with using unorthodox methods at the Sacred Tree Barrier.
I didn't even realize until I got close that this mound, almost completely obscuring the surrounding trees, was the dragon dung we were looking for. I foolishly thought it was a natural landform and was about to have Pegasus take a detour. It was only thanks to the experienced Miyuki calling me back that we were able to discover the true nature of this "mound."
"Not necessarily."
Miyuki's calm tone interrupted my reverie: "Although the sheer volume of these excrements is frightening, there are some differences in the overall color distribution and remnants of this mound. It is clearly an excrement site that accumulated little by little over a long period of time, and it is not necessarily the work of the same dragon. Because their diets are obviously different."
I tilted my head: "How so?"
After a brief pause, Miyuki extended her sheathed longsword, inserted it into the dung heap, and picked up a small clump of it. Incidentally, before inserting it into the dung heap, a thick layer of frost had already formed on the outside of the sheath. Clearly, even the usually indifferent ice queen swordswoman would find it difficult to maintain her composure under such circumstances.
She showed me the clump of dung, then picked up another clump from above. Apart from startling the Pegasus beneath me, which stumbled back several steps, she did almost nothing.
"Just tell me the truth." With Hikari's help, I finally managed to calm Pegasus down, and gave a helpless wry smile.
Shen Xue shrugged, shook off the ice with his sword, and repeated the action several times before sheathing his clean sword: "To put it simply, the dragon below is herbivorous, and its droppings are mostly indigestible things like grass, bark, and leaves. The one above, which is the one we are most likely to encounter, is carnivorous, and its excrement often contains the skeletons of large animals, perhaps some ferocious beast living nearby."
Anne, who had been listening quietly, suddenly shivered: "That joke isn't funny at all."
Miyuki said, "I never tell jokes."
“That’s not much different from our initial plan,” I said, “except that the threat level of the dragon currently guarding the [Dragon Graveyard] should be increased by two levels.”
Annie shook her head frantically: "Don't even mention moving up two levels, even if you adjust it down a lot, it's still a dragon! There's absolutely no way we can deal with it with just the people here! Let's act quickly before they find out!"
As she spoke, she gently squeezed the horse's belly, skillfully urging it forward.
I couldn't help but marvel.
It seems like only yesterday that this girl suddenly fell into the garden without knowing anything, but now she seems to have been reborn. She can easily master even horseback riding, which would take ordinary people a long time to learn. It is truly amazing how a change in environment can change a person so much.
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