TDAA Ch 17

Asios, who calmly confessed everything, looked at Siol as if seeking an answer.

I wondered why Ryufen was alone in the city when he said he was on patrol with all the other knights, but it seemed he’d deliberately made an excuse to stay behind. I thought he was excluded from patrol duty because he was the son of the city’s chieftain.

“You don’t have to repay me.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m repaying a favor to Lord Eorzen. So, if you have anything to repay, please repay Lord Eorzen.”

“Then I’ll have too much to repay the Captain….”

“There’s no helping it. You’re a dragon who spreads favors everywhere, after all.”

When Sizool said that with a small smile, Asios nodded.

“That’s right. When I was entrusted to the Knights… I was about Sizool’s age, and honestly, it wasn’t beneficial for the Captain to take me in. The city was taken by humans, and the chieftain by human hands. I was just a refugee, but the Captain, saying he knew my father, made me look like a symbol of the alliance.”

“Wow….”

“Of course, the training was excruciatingly difficult, but honestly, if I hadn’t gone through that hardship, it would have been even harder.”

“Me too. If Lord Eorzen hadn’t taken care of me, it would have been really difficult.”

Because the blue dragon took care of him when he collapsed, because he held and patted his back when he was crying, he was able to survive.

Siol, who came to this world because life wasn’t enjoyable, always lived with melancholy even in this world. Nathaniel’s betrayal, which came when he was living a life that wasn’t enjoyable but wasn’t painful, was enough to push him back to death.

If he had been left alone in the cabin, he might have dwelled on Nathaniel’s betrayal over and over and eventually given up on life.

Because the blue dragon had picked him up, he could think and think fiercely and finally reach this point.

“Let’s stop praising Lord Eorzen here and tell me about the city. Where did you fix it?”

As Siol’s body warmed up a bit, he walked towards the stone railing of the spire and asked. Asios came over and pointed at the village with his hand.

“Over there, almost completely repaired, is what used to be called Music Street. Next to it are the stables… Though there are no horses. Next to the well down there is the winery. Our city was once famous for its wine. Very delicious grapes grow nearby. And the building that’s almost repaired over there is the dance hall…”

Somehow, the order of repairs seemed a bit strange. The immediate livelihood was a distant prospect, so what was with Music Street, and what were stables without horses? Usually, in this kind of situation, shouldn’t they fix places essential for survival first, like the mill, bakery, or lodgings? Siol tilted his head, then suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he scanned the repaired places.

He felt like he’d seen the shapes before him somewhere.

Scattered, ambiguous fragments connected in his mind. The moment Siol finally took in the whole city and discovered a strange regularity in the form of the city under repair, something that looked like part of a magic or ritual circle—

“Sizool. Why are you here?”

Eorzen suddenly appeared behind him and pulled him close.

“Your body has gotten cold. I clearly told you not to wander around-”

A cool voice burrowed stickily into his ear.

The man, who was pressing his palm on Siol’s stomach and pulling him close from behind, growled and nibbled on his earlobe. The voice, flowing right next to his ear, resonated within him. The cold voice felt like it was piercing his brain, making his head foggy and his legs weak. Siol leaned his whole weight against the man behind him and tried to lift his head to look at Eorzen. But just before he could, Eorzen’s palm slid up his body, making Siol let out a gasp and pull his chin in.

Asios was frozen, sitting on the floor right in front of them. When Siol looked at him, Eorzen’s hand reached out from behind and grabbed Siol’s chin, pulling his head up sharply. Their faces were so close that their noses almost touched, and Eorzen’s eyes, which met his, shone bright blue.

“It seems you’ve forgotten in the meantime.”

In his somewhat hazy vision, only the blue dragon’s eyes shone like stars. The sharp, honed blue pupils within those icy, blue eyes seemed to constrict Siol. Held fast from head to toe, he faced the violently fluctuating soul of the dragon.

A gigantic dragon’s form was looking down at Siol. He had curled and bent his enormous body, which seemed at least a hundred times bigger than Siol’s, to bring his face close. He was thrashing his tail wildly, stirring up the surroundings, yet not letting a single pebble fly towards Siol. He had enclosed Siol within the circle of his coiled body. Enduring the dragon’s gaze in that space, seemingly cut off from the outside world — it felt as if that was the only task given to Siol.

A moment, seemingly eternal, where they stood still, their gazes locked. In that moment, when Siol twitched his right hand—

Siol came to his senses at the feeling of Eorzen’s warm hand stroking his cheek.

A chill he hadn’t felt before swept over him. A whirlwind, spiraling up the spire, penetrated Siol’s cardigan, grazing his skin before disappearing. Siol flinched and unconsciously clung closer to Eorzen.

“A… Achoo!”

“…What if you catch a cold?”

He sighed softly and turned Siol around so that he was facing him.

Eorzen reached out beyond the spire, and a thick coat flew from somewhere and landed in his hand. With the same cold expression, Eorzen slipped the coat onto Siol’s arms and buttoned each of the dragon scale buttons. After that, he proceeded to wrap Siol in earmuffs, a fur hat, and a scarf, all of which were ornate, decorated with jewels.

Eorzen paid no attention to Siol’s bewilderment at having become a giant ball of fur. He bent down in front of Siol, knelt on one knee, and took off his boots and socks. Siol, who suddenly found himself standing with his bare feet resting on Eorzen’s knee, panicked and tried to step back, but his wrist was caught before he could.

“Lord Eorzen, I’ll, I’ll do it!”

Siol cried out in surprise. He couldn’t let a dragon do this for him. Making a dragon act like a servant, it was unthinkable.

Despite Siol’s vehement protests, Eorzen simply pulled his hand and placed it on his shoulder.

“…Stay still.”

At that low voice, Siol couldn’t possibly argue any further.

But still, he couldn’t be at ease with a being like the blue dragon kneeling on one knee in front of him. No matter how egalitarian the Beastkin lands were compared to the human world, it seemed unlikely that this kind of behavior would be tolerated. What if someone saw them?

Siol, restless and fidgeting, realized he’d forgotten someone and turned to look at Asios, but he was still sitting on the floor. Not only that, but he was trembling with his fists clenched and his head bowed. As if facing something frightening and enduring it.

What on earth was going on?

As Siol was about to call out to him, Eorzen suddenly grabbed his ankle and ran his hand up his calf. His hand grazed the back of his knee and went higher. The sensation of his nimble hand gliding over his skin instantly pierced through his calf, thigh, spine, and up to the nape of his neck.

“Eek!”

Siol let out a strange scream and turned to Eorzen, but his expression was still cold.

A blue dragon stroking his leg with a blank expression, it was a truly incongruous sight. The time, the place, even the act itself, everything didn’t suit Eorzen.

Siol asked pleadingly, his face almost tearful.

“Wh, why are you putting your hand there?”

“…….”

“Lord Eorzen…? Could you… please… remove your hand…?”

He hesitated and made a cautious suggestion. Eorzen’s hand slid down from the back of his knee to his calf and then grabbed his ankle again. Throughout this process, Siol had to clench his teeth to avoid making a sound.

“Stay still.”

“Yes…”

Siol couldn’t do anything but obey those words.

Then, when Eorzen reached out his hand again, thick socks and fur boots flew from somewhere, and Eorzen put them on Siol. Siol, who had to patiently entrust his left foot, and then his right foot, to Eorzen, finally regained the freedom of both legs and breathed a sigh of relief. He was exhausted even though he hadn’t done anything but entrust his body to Eorzen.

Still, he felt much better. At least he was now free from the strange situation of having the blue dragon kneeling before him.

“Asios. If you have anything to say in your defense, say it.”

However, Eorzen wasn’t finished yet. As soon as he stood up, he approached Asios and questioned him with a growl. As if he had done something wrong.

But whatever that wrongdoing was, it didn’t seem to have anything to do with him, no matter how much he thought about it. But Asios hadn’t done anything, had he? On the contrary, they had been amicably sharing stories about repaying favors to Lord Eorzen until just a moment ago.

And Eorzen wasn’t the kind of person to rashly accuse other beastkin. There must have been some misunderstanding.

If there was a misunderstanding, they needed to resolve it. This wasn’t the right way to go about it.

Asios had been trembling without getting up from his spot, and when Eorzen approached, he clenched his fists so tightly that his veins bulged. It seemed like an overreaction to Eorzen merely taking a few steps closer, but Siol stepped between them.

It was better to have a calm conversation and clear up the misunderstanding than to accuse someone who was trembling—.

“Lord Eorzen, Asios is trembling.”

At that, Eorzen’s face suddenly turned pale. Frozen in place, Eorzen stared at Siol with his eyes flickering violently.

“Right now, in front of me—”

That was when it happened.

With a booming sound, the spire shook. The sound came repeatedly, drawing closer, until finally, it struck the stone railing fiercely. Ryufen, who had climbed up the spire in an instant, shook his whole body once and then dropped inside.

“Captain! What’s going on? Why are you so angry?”

“I’m… angry?”

“You’re incredibly angry right now.”

Ryufen said with a bewildered expression. Then Eorzen seemed a bit flustered. He looked as if he hadn’t even realized he was angry.

Eorzen could understand why Ryufen had climbed the spire. He had been spreading his dragon aura, which he usually concealed, suppressing his surroundings. Since it was affecting not only the spire but also the city, Ryufen, who was closest to Eorzen, had come to check what was happening.

Committing such an act without even realizing it. He furrowed one eyebrow and completely withdrew his dragon aura.

Siol hadn’t felt anything from beginning to end, but Asios, who had been on the verge of being crushed by the pressure until now, exhaled and jumped up from his spot. His expression, filled with confusion and bewilderment from not understanding the situation, was clear.

A strange atmosphere lingered among the four. Ryufen had a bothered and troubled look, as if unsure where to begin making sense of the situation, and Siol and Asios couldn’t understand why this had happened. It was as if they had simply been playing and then suddenly been hit on the back of the head.

As silence lingered, Eorzen suddenly scooped Siol up into his arms and, as if preemptively striking, accused Ryufen.

“…This guy brought Sizool here, wearing only a cardigan, and was playing around.”

“What?!”

Ryufen’s fur bristled like a cat’s as he burst out. Now that he mentioned it, Siol was wearing clothes he hadn’t seen before. Eorzen had said he was visiting other allied cities, so they must have been clothes he acquired there. It seemed Eorzen had hurriedly dressed him. Though they seemed a bit extravagant for that.

Asios’s wide, innocent eyes, as if he didn’t understand what was wrong, fueled Ryufen’s fiery rage.

“Asios, are you crazy? Even when he was properly bundled up in a coat at the castle, that kid would shiver and say he was cold as soon as he stepped outside! And you hit him, saying he was cold just because you nuzzled his stomach?! What were you going to do if he caught a cold and collapsed, bringing him here in that state?”

“Huh?”

“His manifested form is tiny, and his fur is all fluffy and baby-like, so he shrinks back even when it snows. I mean, when it snows, you should be rolling around and playing in the snow, what kind of wolf sits by the fireplace? What about birds? Do birds huddle by the fireplace with a blanket like old men when it snows?”

“N, no! Birds play outside when it snows too…”

“Yes! That’s normal!”

If he were in human form, he would have been pointing fingers. Siol, suddenly deemed abnormal, shut his mouth tight and glared at him.

Ryufen, even in wolf form, was clearly furious, rampaging and nudging Asios’s chest with his nose.

“Look, who would think he’s a fifteen-year-old wolf? Even when I bring him meat every morning, noon, and night, he eats only a bird’s portion and puts down his fork, saying he’s full. He’s so small and skinny, but he doesn’t even try to grow properly! And if you force him to eat more, he gets indigestion and stays in bed for days…! That’s why I even started studying cooking because of him…!”

“That’s unbelievable…”

“You exposed such a frail kid to the cold wind here, so how could the Captain not be angry?! Huh?”

The longer Ryufen spoke, the redder Siol’s face became with shame. He thought he wasn’t that weak, but listening to Ryufen, he felt like a sickly child who could collapse and die at any moment.

At first, he had been floating in magic water for over ten years before coming out, so it was natural for his body to be a little weak. He thought he had become much healthier while living in Eorzen’s castle, but listening to Ryufen, it felt like he had merely gone from being near-death to being able to walk.

“How weak must he be for the Captain to carry him around all the time?!”

Was that also contributing to Ryufen’s assessment? Still held in Eorzen’s arms, Siol reflected on his past self, who would trot over and obediently be held whenever Eorzen reached out. I shouldn’t let him hold me anymore, he resolved, yet made no attempt to get down from Eorzen’s arms.

Siol wanted to stop Ryufen, who was continuing to lecture on how frail and weak he was. He looked up at Eorzen, hoping for help, but he was nodding seriously at Ryufen’s words.

There was no hope here either.

In the end, Asios, who had been subjected to the harsh treatment despite having done nothing wrong, sincerely apologized to Siol.

“I’m sorry, Lord Sizool. I didn’t know you were so frail…”

“…No, I’m not that weak…”

“Don’t believe him, Asios. He can’t even jump from the third floor, yet he says he’s not weak.”

“How can an ordinary person jump from the third floor…!”

Siol growled in retort, but Ryufen scoffed, and Asios made a face that seemed to say, “Oh dear.”

Common sense simply didn’t work with beastkin.

Eorzen slowly patted Siol’s back, which was trembling with anger, trying to comfort him, but Siol felt even angrier for some reason and bit Eorzen’s trapezius muscle hard. He used to be surprised, but now he didn’t even flinch, as if it didn’t even tickle….

“Then, Lord Sizool, you wouldn’t be able to climb the spire up and down by yourself.”

Asios’s tone, which seemed genuinely sympathetic, was tinged with concern.

Wondering what he meant, Siol unconsciously scanned the spire with his eyes and soon realized what Asios was talking about. Surprisingly, the spire had no stairs.

Earlier, when Ryufen had climbed the spire wall with his claws, Siol had thought it was a very Ryufen-like way to climb, but was it actually just a beastkin-like way?

“Facilities used by ordinary people are well-equipped with things like stairs, but military facilities like this often don’t have them. After all, those who can’t even climb this much aren’t qualified to be soldiers or knights.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. There are even places in this city that you can’t enter without wings.”

Places you can’t enter without wings. It was indeed a city that had been ruled by a winged chieftain. The position of chieftain wasn’t hereditary, he had heard, but despite that, only winged beastkin, not other kinds, became chieftains – what kind of rule determined that?

Siol felt a strange curiosity rising within him.

Moreover, the existence of the tower itself was strange. The Tower of Survival, at first glance, looked like a giant radish stuck in the ground. A smooth, white tower decorated with transparent crystal at the top, with no entrance or exit. The fact that only winged beastkin could go there meant there must be an entrance somewhere at the top. But even if one entered, only pitch-black darkness would fill the enormous tower without a single window.

“Are you curious?”

“Yes. The Tower of Survival… can no one but the chieftain enter?”

“Others can enter with the chieftain’s permission. I’ve been inside a few times when I was young.”

If he asked to enter the tower after giving back the chieftain’s necklace, would the chieftain allow him?

Siol stared intently at the white tower, his heart pounding with anticipation.

And at that moment, he gasped and unconsciously clung to Eorzen’s shoulder.

“Sizool? What’s wrong?”

“N, nothing… Right now… it feels like the tower is… pulsating…”

Siol answered absentmindedly.

It was a strange sensation. Like a part of his insides that had never felt sensation suddenly throbbing, like when he first felt his now-familiar tail or ears, like the tingling sensation of a wisdom tooth he usually didn’t even know was there—.

But when he looked again, it felt like an illusion. That huge, white tower couldn’t possibly pulsate, could it?

No matter how he looked at it, it was just cold, inorganic matter.

“No, I must have seen wrong.”

Siol shook his head and spoke again.

“Anyway, then I can’t be a soldier or a knight. Because I’ll never be able to climb up and down by myself.”

“Right. If someone left you here, you wouldn’t even be able to get home alone, would you?”

Ryufen, who had joined in, chuckled.

“Who would leave me here?”

“Well, someone might.”

No matter how much he thought about it, the only beastkin likely to do such a thing to him was Ryufen.

So, could those words be a declaration of war, warning him to be careful because he might do such a thing someday?

Siol stared intently at Ryufen with eyes full of suspicion and distrust, but he simply looked back with a truly innocent expression, tilting his head and saying, “Huh?” An innocent expression on a foolish wolf! That somehow irritated Siol even more.

But looking at Asios, who was still looking at him with sympathetic eyes, and Eorzen, who was patting his back, he knew that getting angry here would only result in being coddled.

“Don’t worry, Sizool. If that happens, I’ll definitely come get you.”

“…Just prevent Ryufen from doing that…”

“Okay, okay.”

Like this. Sighing at the indulgent Eorzen, he simply leaned against him, and deflated laughter could be heard from all around.

It was really strange. Why did this life of being treated like a child feel so happy? It was a blow to his pride, but not only Eorzen, but even that annoying Ryufen, were part of this happy time he was currently immersed in.

Siol, savoring this strange happiness with his whole being, laughed and then twitched his ticklish nose.

“A… Aaachoo!”

“Oh dear…. We should go back to the lodging and have some warm tea, Sizool.”

Eorzen whispered, pulling Siol’s hat down further. The temperature had been cold to begin with, but as the sun set, a biting wind began to blow. In a city built in the middle of a plain like this, the chilly wind would inevitably penetrate even inside the walls, so for a beastkin like Siol, who was very sensitive to the cold, there was always the risk of colds and pneumonia.

Eorzen, who had tightened Siol’s scarf, now bundled in fur and still threatened by a cold, stepped onto the railing and ordered Ryufen.

“Ryufen, you go and take care of the supplies outside the city.”

“…Huh? Why are the supplies outside the city?”

“I was a bit busy earlier, so I threw them there for a while.”

“Huh? What was the Captain so busy with…”

“Go.”

With a firm command, Eorzen delegated the cleanup of his discarded supplies to Ryufen and jumped down from the spire.

Siol, held in his arms, couldn’t help but chuckle as he peeked over Eorzen’s shoulder at Ryufen complaining to the innocent Asios. Eorzen probably hadn’t bothered Ryufen specifically to improve Siol’s mood, but it felt good.

The feeling of falling should have been terrifying, yet, somehow, being in Eorzen’s arms, Siol felt no sense of danger. Held within those strong arms, he felt a sense of being perfectly safe and protected.

Had he ever felt this safe in his entire life? Both on Earth and in this world, he had always lived chased by fear. Unlike on Earth, he had never been chased by anything or faced monsters in this world. Yet, he always woke up from nightmares and couldn’t escape the illusionary delusion that a monster might be lurking around the corner of the hallway.

But now… at this moment, Siol felt perfectly at ease. Ironically, in the arms of the blue dragon, the being who was perhaps the most dangerous and fearsome to him.

Strangely, the blue dragon’s eyes, looking at the small wolf who had so completely entrusted himself, were filled with a ferocious and violent glint. He stared as if he wanted to chew up and swallow the creature before him, even licking his lips. The blue dragon, gazing as if he would bite the skin revealed through the gaps in the scarf at any moment, lowered his head as if to act on the thought.

‘Gentle…’

Eorzen’s focus blurred momentarily before returning. Eorzen buried his face in the nape of Siol’s neck and inhaled deeply before releasing his breath. Siol’s shoulders flinched as if tickled. He gently tucked Siol’s exposed neck back into his clothes and held him close.

Surprisingly, he seemed unaware of the look in his own eyes just a few seconds prior.

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

“Finally…!”

The man murmured in a voice filled with ecstasy.

The space, which had been filled with pitch-black darkness, was now faintly illuminated by the gloomy purple stones, allowing him to distinguish his surroundings.

It had been more than fifteen days since he started struggling, holding this completely unresponsive stone.

He knew he wasn’t very skilled at handling such objects. Despite learning from the most proficient person in this field, his skills hadn’t improved much.

Still, his efforts weren’t entirely in vain. Although he hadn’t completely obtained it, he had succeeded in splitting the string connected to its original owner in two and taking one half. In a way, it might be better this way, as it could reduce the risk by half.

“Now all that’s left is to wait… Right?”

He whispered, his palm resting on the stone, as if speaking to a precious friend.

“Now, just a little longer, and the plan will be complete.”

The man tapped his staff on the floor, and ripples spread, revealing an image above it. It showed the city gates, the spire, the barracks, the walls, and finally, it found what he was looking for.

A beautiful man leaping across rooftops as if flying.

That beautiful dragon was the most crucial card in the man’s plan.

The one and only dragon without a mate. The master of the blood-red wolf. The one who became chieftain himself. Numerous epithets pointed to him, but the most famous name everyone called him was Eorzen, the blue dragon.

He had endlessly pondered what measures he should take to lure him to this city, but he had crawled into the trap on his own. The little bird he had accidentally sent away had lured him here.

“But… that kid is bothersome.”

The man tilted his head and glanced at the small child nestled in the blue dragon’s arms. An ordinary beastkin child who didn’t even know how to hide his ears. If there was anything special about him—.

“Something like that was in the Master’s cabin? As an experimental subject? That gentle man would never do something like human experimentation…”

He was a man who had been horrified just by seeing the recipe for the “Last Breath.”

There was no way that man would have kidnapped a beastkin child and secretly conducted human experiments.

If he were capable of such a thing, Nathaniel would never have killed him. Rather, he would have embraced him as a valuable colleague and invited him to join this grand plan.

“Master, Master…. Could it be that you were raising another disciple in secret…?”

Nathaniel, the sole disciple of the Alchemist of Death, asked in a singsong voice, addressing his master, who no longer existed in this world.