TDAA Ch 14

Why did I do that? I shouldn’t have said such a thing….

Siol, sitting with his knees drawn up in front of the fireplace, pretending to read a book, mumbled with a gloomy face.

I told Burdril not to call me “Master,” but then I went to Eorzen and begged him to take me as his subordinate. What kind of contradictory behavior is this? The alias “Death Alchemist” won’t just bypass the Blue Dragon.

Siol believed that as long as the infamous title of Death Alchemist followed him, someday everyone would find out his true identity. Therefore, he couldn’t stop being afraid, and he couldn’t imagine the future carelessly. It felt like if his identity were revealed, his everyday life would shatter like a new glass garden.

The only difference was that this time, it might hurt even more because it was a space he had created himself.

Someday, eventually. Eventually….

But for some reason, he would sometimes completely forget these thoughts when he was in front of Eorzen….

Perhaps the Blue Dragon had such a magical power. Enchanting people. As he looked into the righteous eyes of the Blue Dragon, all his wicked thoughts would disappear, and it felt as if there were no obstacles blocking his way. Maybe it was a mirror perfectly reflecting his desires.

The selfish desire to not take responsibility for anything. The selfish desire that the Blue Dragon, this great being, might bear his burden for him.

But such a thing couldn’t be possible, could it?

Siol sighed deeply, blaming himself for revealing his foolish desires and making such an absurd promise a moment ago.

The most foolish thing of all was that he had made the promise while still considering a slim possibility. Even while being mesmerized by the Blue Dragon, he seemed to have thought that it wasn’t possible ‘now,’ so he had added the condition ‘when I grow up.’ He clung to the faint hope that maybe when this body grew, he might be able to somehow resolve all the things the Death Alchemist had done.

How foolish.

Even as he blamed himself, Siol couldn’t help but hold onto that faint hope.

Perhaps, even if he undid everything, he might still be rejected, deemed unacceptable as the Death Alchemist. But even so, he couldn’t give up and do nothing.

In the end, Siol decided to gladly accept this painful hope.

It was his duty to clean up the devastation caused by the Death Alchemist as much as possible. Spreading alchemy in the Beastmen’s land and providing prosthetic limbs to those who had lost them were also part of that. What he wanted to do was the same as in the past, but now a ray of hope had sprung up. Because he had mustered the courage to ask, he might even have the chance to become the Blue Dragon’s alchemist someday.

Even if it turned out to be a false hope later, he had nothing to lose.

Siol took a quiet breath and stared at the book.

“The idiot is coming, Captain.”

“At this late hour.”

At the slightly blunt exchange announcing the visitor, Siol turned his head towards the window and saw a flickering orange light approaching from the distant darkness.

Seeing Ryufen scratching the back of his head as he went to greet the visitor, Siol looked up, and Eorzen beckoned him. Siol obediently went and sat beside him.

As he sat there, bathed in Eorzen’s somehow softer gaze, the sound of arguing came from the door. After a few sounds of what seemed like blows, Ryufen let out an annoyed, “Ugh.” Though he couldn’t hear clearly, it didn’t sound like the other person was backing down either.

A little while later, Ryufen brought in a man whose thin frame was covered by a cloak. The man was pale and haggard, walking unsteadily as if he might collapse at any moment. Even though Ryufen was a wolf and the other man was a humanized beastman, Siol could tell at a glance that they resembled each other.

So this man is Muriel.

He had expected a more rambunctious and unruly wolf, given his reputation for being a troublemaker and a free spirit, but he was completely different from what Siol had imagined.

As Siol hesitantly tried to greet him, Muriel moved first. He rushed to Siol, knelt down, clasped his hands together, and bowed his head.

“Sizool-nim. You made my brother’s leg, didn’t you? Thank you very much.”

He lifted his head, met Siol’s eyes, and continued.

“If my brother had lost his leg forever because of me, I wouldn’t have been able to bear it. It’s the same as saving my life.”

He was a polite and considerate wolf. Since all the wolves Siol had met so far had been similar to Ryufen, he had thought such a personality was characteristic of the wolf species. Surprised, Siol looked back and forth between Ryufen and Muriel, then shook his head with an “Ah.”

“I only did what I could.”

“Doing what you can, even when it’s not your duty, is a remarkable thing.”

It seemed Muriel had firmly decided to treat Siol as a great benefactor simply because he had made Ryufen’s leg. Siol was at a loss as to how to respond, as he had never dealt with such a person before. He looked up at Eorzen as if asking for help.

Then Eorzen intervened.

“Sizool is shy, so don’t cling to him too much.”

At those words, Siol shrank, his cheeks flushed. He hadn’t wanted that fact to be revealed….

“More importantly, there must be a reason for your visit at this hour.”

“Yes, I apologize for the late hour. I’ve only just arrived.”

After Ryufen had rescued Muriel from the transport column, losing his own limbs in the process, Muriel had been left behind with some knights. Ryufen had returned to the city on the fastest bird among them for swift treatment, so it couldn’t be helped.

Due to his naturally weak constitution, Muriel couldn’t even dream of running back to Eorzen’s city on his own. He’d finally managed to arrive now, having slowly traveled in a horse-drawn carriage, originally meant for humans.

“I heard something while I was being transported to the human lands, and I felt I had to inform you.”

“Tell me.”

“Captain, there’s news that an adversary of the king has appeared in the human lands.”

“An… adversary of the king?”

“Yes. A successor to the throne, thought to be dead, has appeared and started a rebellion.”

It was indeed shocking information, enough to warrant climbing the treacherous mountain at this late hour. Eorzen fell into thought for a moment.

“Wait, a successor to the throne? Does that mean Aspard is alive?”

“No. The former king is definitely dead. The one who is alive is his successor.”

“…Aspard’s… child.”

Ryufen said in a dazed voice.

Siol had thought the human and beastmen lands weren’t on very good terms, but seeing that Ryufen knew the former king’s name, it seemed that wasn’t the case. They might have even been close.

As Siol rolled his eyes, wondering what was going on, Eorzen tapped his fingers on the table and spoke.

“The former king was quite a prominent king. Perhaps many lords have joined the rebellion.”

Siol desperately tried to recall the history book he had read recently. The former king and the current king were brothers. While their father was still alive, the former king had been the strong contender for the throne, and thus the current king, despite having the right to succession, hadn’t even been considered a successor. However, when the former king died with his child less than five years after ascending to the throne, the current king, the only remaining royal blood relative, had inherited the throne.

“That’s right. From the moment he ascended to the throne, the king has been suspected of murdering the former king. They couldn’t properly investigate because he was the only royal blood relative left-”

“I understand now. The reason the kidnappers went all the way to Marvellon to kidnap their own kind, the involvement of someone like the Death Alchemist’s disciple in protecting the transport column, and the reason they tried to take all the rabbits from Ephania.”

Muriel, who was hearing about Ephania for the first time, also widened his eyes as if realizing something upon hearing Eorzen’s words.

“It seems the rebels are doing quite well.”

“Yes, the human king intends to fill his lacking troops with beastmen.”

“The human land and Ephania are quite far apart; if they’re mobilizing even the rabbits of Ephania, the situation must be quite dire.”

Siol also nodded.

Nathaniel had been so obsessed with the position of court alchemist that he had even tried to kill Siol. He’d found it strange that Nathaniel would equip a slave trader’s carriage with something like a fortress defense system, but if it was the king’s order, it made sense. From the beginning, the carriage hadn’t belonged to an ordinary slave trader’s group, but rather to those dispatched to procure slaves under the king’s command.

Even if rabbits were considered weak, that was only relative to other beastmen; they possessed strength incomparable to humans. Even if the rabbits refused to fight, there was a drug that could force them into a frenzy and make them violent. For the king, a city inhabited solely by rabbits would have seemed like an easy hunting ground to obtain quite a useful weapon.

If they hadn’t discovered the encampment at the right time and dispatched Ryufen, everything might have gone according to the king’s plan. But now that they knew, the story was different.

“Now that they’ve made the first move against us, the civil war is no longer just a civil war.”

As Muriel declared fiercely, Eorzen smiled, his eyes darkly shadowed. It was an incredibly beautiful smile.

Siol was unconsciously captivated by the intense smile he was seeing for the first time, but it was a smile whose meaning was quite familiar to those under Eorzen. That refreshing smile, filled with the joy of finally finding the right path, hid the faint scent of blood beneath its surface.

“We can finally kill the king.”

“Shall I prepare the knights for immediate dispatch?”

An excited Ryufen chimed in as if he’d been waiting, but Eorzen glanced at Siol sitting beside him and shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“Why? If we kill the current king right now and give the throne to Aspard’s child, everything will be resolved.”

“Because humans are the kind who won’t fully acknowledge someone as king without going through bothersome procedures. If we handle it that way, there will be rumors forever that beastmen are arbitrarily replacing the human king. The king would be treated as a puppet. You wouldn’t want Aspard’s child to be treated that way, would you?”

Of course, he didn’t want that. Ryufen, recalling past experiences where dealings with humans always came with troublesome conditions, simply backed down. He was disappointed that he couldn’t act rashly, but he couldn’t be stubborn about such a significant issue.

Then Muriel bowed politely and said,

“You are right, Captain.”

“In that case, we’ll need information first…. Muriel.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“I need you.”

“Yes. I’ll contact El Gram and inform them that I’m returning to Eorzen-nim.”

Originally, Muriel belonged to this city, but due to various circumstances, he had transferred his affiliation to El Gram, an allied city. It wasn’t a formal transfer of allegiance, so if Eorzen wished, he could easily return. It would be a shame for the lord of El Gram, who had benefited from Muriel’s competence, but even he would surely be pleased if he heard the details of this matter.

After all, the lords of the allied cities were all those who had suffered in various ways at the hands of the human king.

“Muriel, I grant you the right to select ten from the Knights. Consult with Ryufen and form a team. You understand what needs to be done?”

“I will do my best to gather the necessary information.”

“Most importantly, we need to know what kind of person the king’s adversary is.”

Humans were a race with such diverse tendencies that it was difficult to predict their course of action without proper understanding. The current king, too, hadn’t been so hostile towards the beastmen when he first became king, but at some point, he had suddenly begun waging wars of aggression.

Even if humans installed a new king, if they had a similar disposition to the original king, there would be no reason to help dethrone the current king and welcome the new one.

Muriel, who had grasped the meaning contained within the brief words, answered seriously,

“I will definitely find out.”

Muriel, who had been kneeling the whole time, rose from his seat and bowed his head to Eorzen, then to Siol. At the gentle and warm light in his eyes, Siol shyly bowed his head in return. Muriel smiled as if pleased, then left without even greeting Ryufen. It seemed he considered his business concluded, having received his assignment.

He was somehow like the wind….

“Ugh, that idiot really…. You’re giving him ten men?”

“This isn’t a matter involving just one or two territories. Ten might not even be enough.”

“Do you think he can handle ten subordinates?”

“…So, choose carefully.”

Siol tilted his head at Ryufen, who was irritably scratching the back of his head.

“He seemed very competent, why?”

“Hey, don’t be fooled. Do you know how petty he is? He still remembers when I stole his candy when he was five.”

“Well… that could have been a traumatic event.”

“It’s more than that. When he was ten, I was busy and forgot about our picnic plans once, and he still brings it up!”

“Hmm… he must have been very disappointed…?”

It was an anecdote that didn’t fit the image of the Muriel Siol had just met, but he defended him nonetheless. Comparing the dignified man with the unreliable Ryufen, Siol felt more inclined to trust Muriel.

At his suspicious gaze, Ryufen thumped his chest in frustration. He turned around, showing his back, clearly expressing his hurt feelings, but Siol just shrugged and looked up at Eorzen. He was watching the two with amusement, then said,

“Muriel has a tendency to… favor those he likes. It’s natural that you wouldn’t know, since he favors you.”

“Exactly! Did you see him ignore me earlier? He was all polite and respectful to you, but he kicks me and insults me. If he wasn’t so frail, I would never let him get away with it. I can’t even hit him properly because I feel like he’ll die if I do.”

Ryufen shouted, only turning his head, his body remaining in the same position.

Favoritism and discrimination are intertwined concepts. If someone is favored, others are bound to feel discriminated against. Especially if someone who is usually polite and respectful to others is violent and cold towards a family member like himself, it wasn’t difficult to understand Ryufen’s feelings of disappointment and loss.

However-

“The reason Muriel favors me is because I made Ryufen’s leg.”

“So what?”

Ryufen retorted as if asking what the problem was.

“That means he likes me because I was good to Ryufen.”

“…Is… that right?”

“Ugh. You’re so clueless, that’s why Muriel dislikes Ryufen. No one would like someone just because they were nice to someone they hate. They like you because you were nice to someone they like.”

“…So, does he hate me or like me?”

At the back-and-forth of “hate” and “like”, Ryufen asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion. Watching him, Siol felt that getting involved in their sibling relationship any further was a waste of time. Hadn’t Muriel tried to approach Ryufen sincerely? But since the other party was such a clueless idiot, it was clear that Muriel, with his seemingly delicate personality, simply didn’t want to deal with him seriously.

It was natural that the relationship between the overly sensitive Muriel and the overly obtuse Ryufen wasn’t very good.

Even if Siol explained that Muriel didn’t hate Ryufen, that he actually liked him, the foolish Ryufen would probably just grin and say, “You’re only saying this because you like me, right?” Siol could foresee a future where Muriel would only get angrier.

“…Forget it. There’s no point in saying anything more to the idiot Ryufen. By the way, Eorzen-nim, what did you mean earlier when you said – we can finally kill the king?”

It sounded as if he hadn’t been able to kill the king before, but now that the king’s adversary – the successor – had appeared, he could. If Eorzen were human, someone concerned with royal bloodlines, it would be understandable, but Eorzen was a beastman, a Blue Dragon. He wasn’t in a position to be concerned about the bloodline of a king of a warring nation.

When he voiced his lingering question, Eorzen stared at Siol for a moment as if he didn’t understand, then groaned, “Ah.”

“Sizool. Come to think of it, you’ve never lived in a ‘city.’”

“Huh? Isn’t this a city?”

For Siol, who had lived alone in a cabin or an isolated laboratory since arriving in this world, this city was the first civilized city he had encountered. He vividly remembered his surprise at the enormous scale of the city when he looked down from the window. What did Eorzen mean?

As Siol stared wide-eyed, Ryufen poked his head between Eorzen and Siol, grinning, “You’re the idiot, Sizool. Not knowing what a city is. Huh?”

“…Ryufen. Act your age.”

“…Yes.”

Ryufen, finally reprimanded, slid down his body and sprawled on the floor like a carpet. Seeing him more childish and foolish than usual, Siol realized it was all because of Muriel. It was rather endearing that he became childish upon meeting his family.

Siol shook his head and chuckled, then turned his gaze back to Eorzen, who began to speak.

“In ancient times, they called a place a village or a city depending on the size of the population. But now, only places with protective barriers are called cities. Because only protective barriers can perfectly protect a dwelling from monsters.”

“Then this isn’t a city?”

“This land doesn’t have a protective barrier, but…”

Eorzen seemed to hesitate for a moment, then leaned closer to Siol and whispered,

“I’m here.”

His words meant that the presence of the Blue Dragon itself corresponded to the protective barrier, a requirement for a ‘city.’ A being who, by his very existence, was called a city.

Having suffered from monsters even back on Earth, Siol understood what that meant. At the same time, he felt the emotions of the beastmen who flocked to this city and the reverence they must feel towards the Blue Dragon.

At Siol’s respectful gaze, Eorzen chuckled, straightened up, and stroked Siol’s head as he continued,

“That’s why this land, even without a formal protective barrier, is called a city. Anyway, a city needs a special being to maintain its protective barrier. We call them ‘Lords,’ and humans call them ‘Lords’ as well. We are born with that destiny and ascend to the position of Lord. However, human lords are appointed by the king.”

“What if there’s no king?”

“That’s the problem. There has never been a time when the royal bloodline has been severed, so no one knows. However-”

Eorzen’s eyes seemed to be recalling the past.

“A long time ago, a human lord plotted a rebellion. He killed all of the royal family, but he spared one – a newborn baby. It must have been arrogance, thinking the country was his and that a baby could do nothing.

That baby grew up in the royal palace, becoming a servant doing the most menial tasks, and the lord who led the rebellion became king, seizing all power. But after a few years, when one of the other lords died, everyone realized something.

The one who became the new king through rebellion lacked the ability and authority to appoint lords who could maintain the protective barrier.”

There was no way the people would follow a king who couldn’t protect the country. Even the countries on Earth had collapsed one by one in such a way.

“The false king tried to kill the servant. Saying that because someone with the former king’s blood remained, the authority wouldn’t transfer to him. But think about it, Sizool. If the former king’s child died, would the authority to appoint new lords truly be transferred to the false king? What if it simply disappeared? Even if the king’s hypothesis were correct, what if one of the past kings had an illegitimate child? What if the authority to appoint lords shifted to that unknown illegitimate child?”

“That would be… a very dangerous choice.”

“Yes. Everyone thought so. There was a certainty that if the one born with the destiny to be king were returned to his rightful place, he would be able to appoint new lords. That certainty felt much safer than the possibility the false king was suggesting.”

“I would have done the same.”

As Siol nodded in agreement, Eorzen continued,

“In the end, the usurper, about to kill the servant with his sword, was stabbed in the heart by his own knight, and the servant who had been doing the most menial tasks in the palace became king… That’s the story.”

As a true historical event, not a fairy tale, the royal family had proven the power of their bloodline. That was why the current king could maintain his reign without concern, even though he was suspected of murdering his predecessor.

“Before, killing the king would have resulted in the annihilation of humans, so I couldn’t kill him.”

But now, with the appearance of another member of the royal bloodline, the entire situation had been overturned.

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

Liar. Swindler. Creator of a horrific glass garden. Schemer. Intriguer.

However, the human king.

Siol couldn’t imagine his death.

The king was an absolute being.

Even when he didn’t understand things like the authority to appoint lords. He had fully experienced the king’s wealth, his hundreds and thousands of soldiers, his absolute power while staying at the research institute. Even when he thought that his stay at the institute and the items filling it were merely compensation for his dealings with the king, he couldn’t help but feel the king’s power. Anyone would, seeing the disciplined manner of those who visited the institute at the king’s command.

The great alchemist who collaborated with that absolute being. That was Siol.

Therefore, when he was separated from the king’s side, he couldn’t help but feel that he had lost everything. Because all the power he possessed had been granted to him by relying on the king.

He had never once imagined the king’s death. No, to be precise, he couldn’t imagine it. Even while harboring terrible anger towards the king who had deceived him and spread the infamous name of Death Alchemist, Siol couldn’t bring himself to hope that he could oppose the king. The king’s existence felt like an insurmountable, towering wall.

But when Eorzen mentioned the king’s death, a terrible rage began to well up in his heart, along with the certainty that the Blue Dragon could surely do it. A malice he hadn’t known existed within him shook him violently.

“Are you… going to kill the human king?”

“If necessary.”

At Eorzen’s low reply, Siol unconsciously spat out the words,

“I… hope the king dies.”

At those cold, angry words, even Ryufen, who had been sprawled on the floor like a carpet, was startled and sat up. Siol, as if he had lost his soul, looked dazed, his lips moving as if trying to say something more. Whether it was a curse or another expression of rage, it was impossible to tell.

“I want to kill him.”

The man who had confined Siol to the glass garden while Siol’s soul was lost, wandering, seeking direction.

Dejected, having fallen into this world, Siol had intended to live quietly in his cabin until he died.

If only he hadn’t treated the man who said he was injured while hunting, if only he hadn’t fallen for his smooth talk, if only….

Siol flinched and came to his senses at the sudden warmth against his cheek. Eorzen had cupped his left cheek and brought his face closer. His deep blue pupils, narrowed into slits, were staring at Siol.

“The king will die.”

“But you said you’d kill him if necessary. Then if it’s not necessary…”

“I will kill the king for you, Sizool.”

“Huh?”

Looking into Siol’s vacant eyes, Eorzen whispered once more,

“I will tear him apart and kill him right before your eyes.”

“…Yes.”

Siol replied as if mesmerized.

Looking into those sincere eyes, Siol felt something different from usual.

Something similar to salvation, joy, happiness, yet strangely twisted. As he tried to sort out his tangled thoughts to discern its true nature, Ryufen rested his chin on Siol’s thigh and said,

“I’ll crunch him up too.”

He bared his threatening teeth, and his mouth seemed large enough to crush a human skull in one bite. Siol giggled and nodded.

There was no reason not to be pleased with such flattery.

He leaned his head against the hand on his cheek and nuzzled slightly, and Eorzen gently stroked his cheek with his thumb.

“Thank you. But – I was a bit strange just now. You… don’t have to kill him if you don’t need to.”

Eorzen, the lord of this city and the captain of the Death Corps, must have various circumstances. Among them might be a need to use the human king as a bargaining chip instead of killing him. Siol had momentarily been blinded by rage and made unreasonable demands.

Siol spoke, trying to hide his rising embarrassment.

“No, the king’s death is certain. It’s just a matter of how he will die.”

“How… will he die?”

“Yes. If the new claimant to the throne is useful, I was just going to hand him over. Since the presumed dead successor of the former king has appeared, it would be a good picture if he beheaded his uncle, the kingslayer and usurper, and reclaimed the throne.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“Besides, it wouldn’t look good for me to get deeply involved in another country’s affairs.”

Every word was true. Eorzen, despite the countless beastmen killed and injured due to the human king, was considering the reputation of the human nation. Siol looked at Eorzen with respect.

Siol felt even more ashamed of himself for emotionally begging for the king’s death just moments ago.

And Ryufen, watching the scene, was dumbfounded by Eorzen’s blatant lie.

The moment Eorzen had answered “if necessary,” Ryufen recalled the conversation they had before Siol came to the castle. At that time, Eorzen and Ryufen were fed up with the human king’s invasive actions.

Humans were invading the beastmen’s lands, but the beastmen weren’t uniting at all, and three or four cities had already been taken. Refugees flocked to Eorzen’s city, creating chaos, due to the humans wielding unidentified weapons, killing and driving out beastmen.

“It’s so frustrating that I can’t just kill that stupid king!”

Ryufen, worn out from paperwork that didn’t suit him, grumbled, and Eorzen clicked his tongue.

“What can we do? We can’t annihilate an entire race.”

“Then how about destroying a few human cities near the royal capital? That way, they’ll be busy with recovery and won’t invade as much.”

“Only the king and a few lords want war. We shouldn’t take the lives of innocent commoners.”

“Then what should we do?”

“It will take time, but I have a method in mind.”

Eorzen continued coldly,

“If the current king has a child, I’m thinking of kidnapping it. If we raise it preciously in the castle and have it produce offspring, this kind of thing will never happen again.”

Since they were stuck with a king they couldn’t kill because he was the only remaining member of the royal bloodline, Eorzen was saying he would secretly increase the bloodline. Ryufen stared blankly at Eorzen, speechless. He thought to himself that the Blue Dragon must be incredibly stressed to say such a thing.

Perhaps that plan was behind the words “if necessary.” Now that another heir had appeared, he would make that child the king, imprison the current king in the castle’s dungeons, and make him produce offspring. That was the plan.

But now, Eorzen was easily overturning that long-held plan, and even acting as if such a plan had never existed.

“Above all, if this successor is following the same path as the former king, shouldn’t we respect him?”

Eorzen’s gaze shifted to Ryufen. Ryufen groaned, “Ah,” and nodded.

“You’re right. If he’s Aspard’s successor, he definitely won’t do what the current king is doing. Aspard wanted to increase interaction with beastmen. He said the human nation was too closed off….”

“However, this is a golden opportunity to reclaim what was lost.”

The king, who had even killed his own brother to seize the throne, wouldn’t step down easily. Naturally, troops would be concentrated in the center, and the number of troops on the outskirts of the country would decrease. The newly emerged heir to the throne was threatening enough for the king to personally go out to kidnap slave soldiers, so the troop movements were likely significant.

“Ryufen, go and investigate.”

Eorzen carefully lifted the now-dozing Siol into his lap, patted him, and gave the order. Ryufen, who had excitedly jumped up at the instruction, hesitated and tilted his head.

“Go and… investigate what?”

“You idiot. We need to decide which city to liberate first. You need to investigate related matters.”

“But I’m in charge of combat! The Captain always decided these things. If information was needed, you’d send someone else. Come to think of it, you’ve been making me do everything lately… why are you pushing everything onto me?”

Ryufen stomped his feet and complained, seeming increasingly frustrated as he spoke.

But Eorzen’s reaction was strange. It was as if he had just realized that he’d been pushing everything onto Ryufen recently. Seeing that reaction, even Ryufen, who had thought Eorzen was deliberately tormenting him, calmed down.

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. What was I thinking, giving you such tasks?”

“Exactly. How can I do such things?”

“…Then, when dawn breaks tomorrow, send a few suitable knights from the order.”

Hearing this, Ryufen narrowed his eyes and said,

“This is really strange. Captain, you always handled these matters personally.”

“Do you not want to work?”

“No, it’s not that…”

At Ryufen’s continued questioning, Eorzen also became flustered.

“Captain, how long has it been since you left the castle?”

It was a well-known fact among the city’s inhabitants that the Blue Dragon enjoyed going out. He enjoyed taking his human form, looking around his city, then flying far away to swim in the clear sky and look down at the land, and traveling to distant lands to see new sights. Ryufen, especially, having served him for a long time, knew that Eorzen would leave every two or three days to spend time at distant volcanoes or the sea.

But recently, Eorzen had been staying only in the castle.

“Now that I think about it, it’s suspicious. Don’t tell me you’ve become lazy because your soulmate’s star has appeared?”

“Lazy… I’m doing what needs to be done.”

“You haven’t decided to slack off, thinking you’ll meet your soulmate even without trying, just because their star has appeared, have you?”

Ryufen circled Eorzen anxiously.

“Even if your soulmate’s star has appeared, there’s no way you’ll meet them if you just stay in the castle. It’s not like that many beastmen can visit this castle. Moreover, they might even be human, so if you stay here, there’s no chance at all.”

“When the star of destiny rises, you are bound to meet no matter what.”

“Even if you’re cooped up in the castle like this?”

Ryufen, his suspicions ignited, seemed unwilling to believe anything Eorzen said. The pressure was palpable in his gaze, as if he were looking at a pathetic son who wouldn’t leave the house.

But the star of destiny was an absolute causality. Even if Eorzen were imprisoned in this castle’s dungeon, unable to leave, as long as the star of destiny had risen, he was bound to meet his soulmate.

“If I couldn’t meet my soulmate because I was cooped up in the castle, I would be anxious. The fact that I’m so at ease right now means I’m heading in the right direction, Ryufen.”

“But how can you meet them if you’re just stuck in the castle like this?”

“I’m not moving, but the circumstances around me are. Look. A new heir to the throne has appeared. Perhaps I’ll meet my soulmate while dealing with that situation.”

Only then did Ryufen look somewhat convinced, and he cautiously joked,

“What if, Captain… you’re just a really dense dragon… and you’ve already met them but don’t realize it? What if it’s that little kid over there?”

“That’s harsh, Ryufen.”

“B-But it could be true!”

“No matter how dense I am, I wouldn’t not know after seeing them for months. If such a foolish dragon existed, it would be recorded in history books.”

Eorzen clicked his tongue.

It was true that he cherished Siol, but that was different from romantic love. He wanted to care for the child so he wouldn’t tremble in fear, and he wanted to watch over him so he could grow up well. He didn’t have any feelings of wanting to confine Siol as his soulmate.

Moreover, he remembered the man he had been with on the day he went berserk.

The slender waist, the smooth feel of his skin, and even the taste of his tongue.

The joy of the moment they became one, the warm and comforting sense of fulfillment he felt while holding the unconscious man. Even after the man disappeared, that feeling didn’t completely vanish, remaining in a corner of Eorzen’s heart, protecting him.

Yes. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he hadn’t lost his soulmate.

Even now, he felt as if his soulmate was right beside him.

That peaceful feeling seemed to guarantee their future reunion. If he were in a situation where he would never see his soulmate again, his sensitive dragon senses wouldn’t be so relaxed. This time, he had been lost in the embrace, too preoccupied to think of anything else, but he was sure that the next time they met, he would bite down on his soulmate’s nape and never let go.

“I have a strong feeling that we’ll meet again. That’s why I’m waiting.”

At his confident smile, Ryufen reluctantly nodded.

“Hypothetically, Captain.”

“Hmm?”

“What if… it’s me?”

Eorzen picked up a thick book from the nightstand and threw it at Ryufen’s head. Ryufen, hit directly in the head by the corner of the book, screamed.

“Ow! You could have just said no!”

“Be quiet.”

Ryufen grumbled, turning his gaze away from Eorzen, who was glaring at him with contempt.

Can’t even take a joke? Really petty.