TDAA Ch 3
by soapa“It’s time to eat!”
It was a sudden intrusion. Siol, half-asleep, tried to get up. The keyword here is “tried,” as to Ryufen, it looked more like a slight flinch. After tapping his front paw on the floor for about five seconds, Ryufen decided to just carry Siol out.
Siol was dangled in Ryufen’s grasp and transported to the garden.
A full-blown barbecue party was already underway in the garden. Glowing charcoal, a whole pig roasting over it, mountains of meat skewered on sticks. Two plates of thinly sliced, marinated meat for stir-frying. Three plates of thick-cut meat prepared for grilling on an iron plate. Piles of small, plucked and gutted birds. A plate containing only specific internal organs. And thick deer leg bones with meat still attached.
Simply put, it was a barbecue consisting entirely of meat.
Siol blinked sleepily and asked in a daze, “What…is this?”
“You should eat too. I woke up early and prepared a whole lot.”
Ryufen sliced the roast pig with his front claw and plopped a piece of glistening belly meat onto Siol’s plate.
“Do you think days where we can eat meat for breakfast are common? This kind of luxury is only possible when the Captain isn’t around. He prefers to eat lightly in the morning.”
Siol was dumbfounded after hearing the disgruntled remark.
That’s because Eorzen’s usual breakfast consisted of a piece of steak, a salad, and savory bread filled with meat. Such a meal could hardly be described as light.
For Siol, a light breakfast would be a glass of juice and a salad, a cup of coffee and a slice of toast, an apple and some green juice. How could a meal including something as heavy as steak be considered light?
However, seeing Ryufen shove half the roast pig into his mouth and chew heartily, Siol reluctantly came to understand. He was a wolf, a giant wolf at that. One couldn’t force the lightness of an omnivorous human onto a carnivore.
Siol hesitantly picked up a fork and poked the meat. Oil seeped out.
Seriously, barbecue for breakfast?
“Eat up. I’m going to play with you a lot today, so you need to eat plenty.”
Perhaps it was because he had just woken up, but his mouth felt dry and he had no appetite. However, there was no way to resist Ryufen’s insistence.
Siol closed his eyes and put the meat in his mouth. Unexpectedly, it was delicious. The fat was savory, the meat tender and fragrant. As a Suin, with his sharply developed teeth, he tore the meat apart and swallowed it, a sigh of satisfaction escaping him involuntarily.
“Delicious, right? Eat a lot, a lot.”
Ryufen, looking pleased, watched Siol chew the meat with wide eyes and refilled his plate. Siol felt a bit of aversion to the grilled intestines, but as a ‘Suin,’ he ate those deliciously too. He crunched on the small bird bones and all, finding it quite tasty.
Chewing on foods he would never have eaten as a human, Siol realized he had truly become a Suin.
After finishing that magnificent breakfast, Siol, overstuffed, intended to take a short nap. However, Ryufen wouldn’t allow it. After roughly pushing aside the remnants of breakfast, he stretched and, baring his teeth with a growl, began chasing Siol.
“If I catch you, I’ll tell the Captain to transform!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“It means I’ll ask him to transform and carry you around the sky!”
“No way!”
Siol’s face paled, and he shouted. He hid behind trees and rocks, but the giant wolf would saunter into view, jaws agape. Siol dodged him, practically crawling on the ground.
He crawled under low trees, circled large trunks, and dashed through bushes. The wolf, like a mischievous villain, chuckled and leisurely pursued him. He jumped over low trees, strode around large trunks, and trampled the bushes with ease. It felt like running away from a giant.
Siol ran and ran until he was cornered against a stone wall, panting. He had put up a good fight. Even though he had secretly taken breaks here and there, he had been running and walking for thirty minutes, which was quite impressive. He probably hadn’t run this much even when escaping the laboratory. After all, the crumbling laboratory had been ablaze, and the floor was littered with broken stones and furniture, making it impossible to run freely.
“Run some more!”
“What kind of wolf acts…like a villain?!”
Ryufen grinned at Siol’s panting protest. Sharp fangs protruded as the wolf smiled.
“Being a villain isn’t so bad. I’ve always been drawn to villains in stories.”
He seemed to enjoy the current situation as he growled menacingly, taking slow steps forward. His narrowed eyes were dangerous. Siol felt a sense of crisis, thinking that if caught this time, he might not just be nibbled on the head but actually chewed up like candy. Usually, Eorzen would be home to stop him, but now it was just him and Ryufen in the house.
Siol, sizing up the situation, hopped onto the wall. He hadn’t expected to clear it in one jump, but he did.
Siol started running across the lawn again. Ryufen seemed a little surprised. He glanced at the wall, then at Siol’s height.
“You’re small but you run pretty well.”
“I’m not small!”
Siol yelled from afar and started climbing a tree.
“Hey, wait, that’s dangerous!”
Siol ignored him, gripping the branches and carefully placing his feet on the bark. He was nimble, incomparably more so than as a human. Reaching the top seemed easy. While climbing, Ryufen rushed over and tried to grab Siol, but he managed to climb to a higher branch just in time.
“No, I said it’s dangerous. Come down, now!”
Siol ignored him again. Climbing a little higher, the surrounding scenery came into view. The castle was already on a mountain, but climbing this tall tree gave him a panoramic view of the city. The sight of the sprawling city was always breathtaking. Above all, the Suin filling the city looked incredibly free….
Whoosh-
“Ah…!”
Siol stumbled, losing his balance in a sudden gust of wind.
At that moment, Ryufen leaped from the ground. One jump wasn’t enough to reach Siol, but he used the wind to propel himself higher in a second jump. Precariously balancing on a thin branch, Ryufen grabbed Siol by the scruff of his neck.
Siol, without thinking, punched Ryufen, who had jumped to save him. Then, shocked and embarrassed by his own actions, he froze.
Ryufen jumped down to the ground with Siol in his mouth and gently released him. Siol, frozen until then, flinched as if doused with cold water and hesitantly tried to apologize to Ryufen.
“You little rascal! That’s it! That’s how a wolf should be!”
He would have apologized, if Ryufen hadn’t started enthusiastically ruffling his hair with his front paw. Seeing Ryufen’s joyful grin, Siol was bewildered.
“…Huh?”
“You can’t be a wolf if you just run away. Good job!”
“But, what does that….”
“Alright. As a reward, shall I take you down there? You wanted to go down there, didn’t you?”
“Ryufen!”
“Hmm?”
“I’m…sorry…. I’m sorry.”
Ryufen looked at Siol, who was apologizing with a confused expression, with an incomprehensible gaze.
“It’s normal to hit and get hit while playing, what’s the big deal? That’s not very wolf-like, you dummy.”
“You’re saying…I shouldn’t apologize?”
“Why apologize for something like this? It happens when we play.”
Ryufen shrugged and patted Siol’s shoulder proudly.
“…Ugh.”
Siol stood there blankly, then suddenly bent over with a wave of nausea.
“Hmm…. Yeah. It’s normal to throw up while playing too.”
Ryufen subtly looked away and nodded.
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
After vomiting up his entire breakfast, Siol vowed never to eat barbecue again in the morning. If that wasn’t possible, he decided to at least avoid childish games like tag right after eating.
However, none of that was up to Siol.
“You’re hungry again since you threw up everything, right? Eat up. I’ll be back after running some errands.”
“But I just threw up, how can I….”
Siol, dumbfounded, couldn’t properly voice his protest about how he could possibly eat. A waiter approaching from behind Ryufen brought a whole roasted bird and slammed it down in front of Siol. They were sitting at an outdoor table of a restaurant adjacent to the square, and the giant bird, much larger than a chicken or duck, looked about the size of Siol’s torso. The waiter pulled a small knife from his waist and slit open the bird’s belly. Inside, there was another, smaller bird. And inside that one, yet another. Finally, when he cut open the smallest bird, three or four boiled eggs tumbled out.
“…….”
“You have to eat it all. If you can’t finish it, you’ll have to take it with you and finish it for dinner.”
Was there some requirement that wolves had to be gluttons?
Siol looked back at Ryufen with a face that seemed to have a lot to say, but Ryufen completely ignored him and disappeared into the distance with a shopping basket in his mouth.
On the table remained a monstrous amount of meat dishes, enough for ten human Siols. Siol missed Eorzen. At least if Eorzen were there, Ryufen wouldn’t be so forceful about making him eat….
Turning his gaze away from the meat towards the outside of the restaurant, Siol’s eyes met those of a small wolf pup. The pup, who had been playing in the square, had approached at some point and was drooling, clutching a ball.
“…What’s your name?”
“Edot.”
“Hmm…. Are you hungry by any chance?”
The wolf pup nodded vigorously.
“Yummy…!”
Little Edot exclaimed, almost whimpering. He ate with gusto. Siol hadn’t felt like eating at all because of the vomiting incident earlier, but watching Edot eat started to bring his appetite back little by little.
Siol placed a large piece of meat on Edot’s plate and took a small one for himself.
Edot looked back at Siol with a surprised expression.
“Is that all you’re going to eat?”
“My stomach isn’t feeling too well.”
“Still, is that all you’re eating?”
He looked utterly shocked.
“I thought you were a wolf, but are you a dog?”
“No…. I think I’m probably a wolf….”
Having become a wolf just a few days ago and never having transformed, Siol was a little unsure. The only evidence of his being a Suin were his ears and tail, but now he wondered if he might actually be a dog.
“My mom said wolves have to eat a lot.”
“I can’t eat a lot….”
“If you don’t eat a lot, you’ll become a dog.”
“So…am I going to become a dog?”
As Siol asked, rolling his eyes, Edot made another shocked expression.
“No! If you’re a dog, humans will take you away!”
“What?”
Edot leaned closer to Siol and whispered in a low voice.
“Dogs obey humans well. So, humans kidnap them when they’re young, raise them, and make them work their whole lives. You’re still young, so….”
Edot jumped up from his seat, picked up the meat from the platter with his fork, and dumped it all onto Siol’s plate.
“Hyung, eat a lot, quickly. You might still be a wolf. Or even if you’ve become a dog, maybe if you eat a lot, you’ll turn back into a wolf. I ate a lot at home. So I don’t want to eat anymore!”
Siol, who had only intended to play along with the interesting story, was flustered by Edot’s firm resolve. Was it even possible for a wolf to become a dog? Species were a classification for animals at birth, not a characteristic that changed afterward. Siol had been a human and become a wolf, but that was a truly rare case.
It was probably just a scare tactic, like telling children they’ll be taken away by a tiger if they misbehave.
“No, Edot. I can’t eat all this by myself anyway, so please eat some with me.”
At his request, Edot seemed to waver slightly. He had resolved himself a moment ago, but the meat he had eaten earlier was indeed delicious.
Siol pleaded earnestly with those wavering eyes.
“Ryufen…my guardian, I mean, he seems worried I’ll become a dog. That’s probably why he ordered so much food. He’ll definitely be mad if I don’t eat it all. But no matter how hard I try, I don’t think I can eat all of this. I’ll try not to become a dog in the future, so please just help me this once. Okay?”
“…Will you really try?”
Edot narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Of course. Look, I’m eating this.”
Siol picked up a piece of meat with his fork, inwardly amused. Edot watched sternly as Siol chewed and swallowed the meat. Then, after a moment of contemplation, he sighed.
“I’m only helping you this time. You really have to eat a lot from now on, okay?”
Siol, finding the little boy, who was probably around five or six years old, shaking his head cutely, quickly nodded with an innocent face as Edot glanced at him. Children acting grown-up were always adorable.
When Nathaniel first arrived at the laboratory, he thought he was a responsible adult, so it was a joy just to watch him. Then, as he began learning alchemy, he realized there were things he couldn’t do alone, so he learned to ask for help. He’d run away crying while studying, sometimes even running away from home altogether. He’d also get scolded for trying to create dangerous things….
Thinking up to that point, Siol suddenly felt a lump in his throat and put down his fork.
“Hyung? What’s wrong?”
“No…. I suddenly lost my appetite….”
“No way, you promised.”
He couldn’t hurt the child in front of him because of that other child.
Under Edot’s watchful eye, Siol chewed the meat. He truly had lost his appetite, but strangely, his body welcomed the meat. As his sharp teeth crushed and chewed, he felt the taste regardless of his uneasy mind.
Edot, acting as if he were a policeman, continued to monitor Siol while also helping him clear the dishes.
Just as the two of them were almost finished with the plates on the table, the waiter brought a large platter and placed it directly on top of the empty dishes. It was piled with just as much food as they had just consumed.
Siol, dumbfounded, looked back, and the waiter shrugged.
“Ryufen ordered it before he left. Our two young ones, it would be a big problem if you became dogs, so please eat everything.”
Siol’s eyes widened at the serious tone.
Could the rumor that wolves become dogs if they don’t eat enough be true? Was it not just a threat to make little Edot eat his food, but common sense in this world? He didn’t think the waiter would say such a thing otherwise.
What if Ryufen had tried so hard to feed him to prevent him from turning into a dog?
Siol’s face paled as he stared at the platter.
“Edot, do you know how much you have to eat to not become a dog?”
“Hmm…. I don’t know. Mom just said I have to eat a lot. A lot.”
Actually, Siol didn’t care whether he was a wolf or a dog. Species didn’t matter anymore after he stopped being human. The problem was the part about dogs being obedient to humans. When he lived on Earth, many people owned dogs. There was a time when dogs were beloved companions, but when Siol was on Earth, most people kept them as hunting dogs. Dogs loved humans, were loyal to them, and did their best to follow their commands, but in the end, they were often left in the most dangerous situations. Injured dogs were sometimes abandoned because the scarce healing potions couldn’t be used on them.
He didn’t think the humans of this world would be any different. Even if he became a dog and came to love humans, he would just be a Suin dog to them. No matter how much he loved them, he would only end up hurt in the end. The deep-seated distrust of humans made Siol recoil.
No, let’s think rationally.
It didn’t make sense that a Suin born as a wolf would become a dog depending on how much they ate. However, it also didn’t make sense for a human to become a Suin, and yet that had happened, so he couldn’t dismiss the illogical outright. Humans transformed into dragons, wolves, birds…. And come to think of it, many of the alchemical tools Siol had made were illogical as well. Wasn’t alchemy itself a study that defied common sense? Some marine creatures changed sex from male to female if the females disappeared. Couldn’t the wolves of this world be similar, remaining wolves or becoming dogs depending on their food intake?
Siol hadn’t reached a conclusion yet, but he decided to eat a lot of meat for now.
Maybe, just maybe….
It was then, after he had barely managed to finish the platter, that Siol, his stomach full of meat to the point of immobility, saw little Edot looking like he was just getting started.
“Hyung, let’s play!”
“…Now?”
“Yeah, we ate, so now we have to play! Let’s transform and play tag. Okay?”
With that, Edot jumped up and transformed into a small gray wolf. He was still too cute to be called a wolf, but his teeth and claws were formidable. The little wolf placed his paws on Siol’s knee, who was sitting on the chair, and pawed impatiently.
“No…. Sorry, I don’t know how to transform….”
“You can’t transform?”
“No. I’ve never done it before….”
Edot looked completely bewildered.
“My mom said if you can’t transform by the time you’re five, you’re stupid!”
After saying that, Edot covered his own mouth with his paw in surprise, then shook his head.
“Don’t mind what my mom says, she’s mean sometimes. It’s okay if you can’t do it for a while, until you grow up.”
Siol smiled softly and stroked the cute head, touched by the mature way Edot comforted him. The fluffy fur felt soft between his fingers.
“Thank you.”
Edot grinned at the thanks, then climbed onto Siol’s lap. He was a bit too big for Siol’s lap, but he ignored that, circled around looking for a spot, and somehow managed to curl up and sit. Siol carefully supported the large furry lump so it wouldn’t slide off.
“But why can’t you do it? Didn’t anyone teach you?”
“No, I’ve never learned. Will you teach me?”
“Should I? Hmm…. But I don’t really know how to do it. I just think, ‘I have to transform,’ and then I transform.”
“I see. I’ll practice like that.”
“Yeah, it won’t take long. You seem really smart, hyung.”
“Do I look that way?”
“Yeah.”
Siol looked at little Edot, sitting quietly on his lap with sparkling eyes, and found himself confessing.
“Actually, I know alchemy.”
“Alchemy? The thing humans do…?”
“Yes. Until recently, I was on the human side. In an alchemist’s cottage….”
However, he couldn’t tell everything. Confessing a partially hidden truth, Siol gauged Edot’s reaction.
“So you can’t transform because you were captured by humans. My uncle was captured once too.”
Edot continued, his face darkening.
“My uncle was a hunter. One day, he went far away looking for game and saw an injured human. He felt sorry for him, so he shared some herbs and bandaged him. Later, when he went back, there was a dead rabbit hanging from a branch. He thought it might be a thank-you gift, so he went there, but it wasn’t a gift… it was a trap.”
“A trap?”
“My uncle lost his left foot there. There was some kind of… land…mine? Something that explodes. An alchemist made it. Still, I was so glad he came back alive. It was fortunate that it didn’t affect his life too much, even though he’s missing a foot.”
Siol’s face went pale.
The landmine was something Siol had made and provided at the King’s request. The King had asked him to create something suitable because monsters were invading from the north and they couldn’t handle it, so he had sent something that could be buried in the ground and explode when a monster stepped on it. That thing had taken a foot from the little wolf sitting on his lap’s uncle.
And that thing, even though Siol had stopped producing it, was still active in this world.
Even after all the things Siol had made were used up, the skills he had passed on to Nathaniel would remain. Those skills were the source that allowed humans, alchemists, to create weapons of war.
Oh my god. That’s right.
The Death Alchemist was dead, but the legacy he left behind still existed in this world, causing harm.
“Hyung? What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Edot licked Siol’s cheek worriedly.
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
Later, dragged back to the castle by Ryufen, Siol left Ryufen, who had started preparing dinner again, and went out to the garden alone, squatting in a shadowy corner. He needed time to think.
“I…don’t know what to do….”
He was already struggling to compose himself, and now the realization that his past deeds were as overwhelming as a tidal wave hit him.
Even at this moment, the weapons of war he had created would be used to harm Suin. That wasn’t his intention. He hadn’t made them with that intention, and he hadn’t imagined they would be used in such a way.
But he couldn’t just leave them to be used indiscriminately.
This was like an original sin that he had to take full responsibility for.
He had run away from Earth.
He had found happiness in the place he escaped to. No, he had found a way not to be unhappy. He didn’t need to be happy, he just wanted to avoid unhappiness. As long as nothing bad happened, it was okay not to be happy.
That’s why he had willingly lived in the strange glass garden created by the King, in that perfectly controlled environment.
He shouldn’t have.
Siol felt a sense of responsibility.
What was happening now was far beyond what he could handle alone.
How many had died, how many had been injured and crippled? How many Suin had been deprived of their lives, and how much of that was his responsibility?
“Ugh….”
As he was being crushed by the pain, Eorzen picked him up.
Siol wasn’t surprised by the sudden warmth or the feeling of being lifted. He knew somehow, the moment he was touched. That it was Eorzen.
Eorzen licked the eyelids of Siol, who was sobbing with tears streaming down his face.
“Your eyes will get sore like this, Sizool.”
“…Eorzen.”
He firmly took Siol’s hand, which he had raised to wipe his tears, and licked them away instead.
“I….”
Siol looked into Eorzen’s listening eyes.
“Will I turn into a dog?”
How many sins have I committed?
Eorzen looked stunned.
“If a wolf eats too little… they become a dog….”
It might be shameless to say this after being involved in the deaths of so many Suin, to the point of being called the Death Alchemist, but he wanted to undo it all.
But there was no one he could even talk to about these feelings.
“I don’t want to become a dog, Eorzen….”
“Who told you such a thing?”
“I heard it in the village. Ryufen always scolds me for eating too little….”
Siol swallowed his tears and rubbed his face against Eorzen’s chest.
Suddenly, he felt nauseous. Siol covered his mouth with his hand and struggled to get down from Eorzen’s arms. But Eorzen firmly held onto him and wouldn’t let go.
“Eo, Eorzen, please put me down. I, I’m going to…!”
“Stay still, Sizool. It’s dangerous.”
At that command, Siol involuntarily stopped struggling. He felt the heart-gripping curse. Siol glared at Eorzen resentfully, then, unable to bear it any longer, vomited everything he had eaten right there in Eorzen’s arms.
Eorzen continued to hold Siol without a word as he retched and emptied his stomach, then gasped for breath. Even though Siol must have been dirty and smelled awful, Eorzen showed no sign of it, simply cleaning it up with a flick of his chin and a bit of magic. Then he checked Siol’s face to see if he was in pain and brushed away the hair clinging to his temples.
He carried Siol to a room inside the castle. Ryufen, startled, tried to follow but was driven back by a fierce glare, leaving only Siol and Eorzen in the room. He undressed Siol, wiped his body with a wet towel, dressed him in fresh clothes, tucked him into bed, and patted his chest.
“Sizool. I’ll give Ryufen a good scolding. You only need to eat as much as you want. You won’t become a dog, so don’t force yourself to eat like that again.”
Eorzen whispered softly, stroking Siol’s cheek. His touch was gentle and warm. Human warmth seeped into his heart.
Siol decided to stop being afraid of that hand.
Eorzen’s hand, the hand of this beautiful blue dragon, had only done what was right.
The Death Alchemist, Siol, deserved to die.
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
Siol couldn’t get out of bed for several days after that.
He couldn’t even drink water for a day and a half because he would vomit it back up. The doctor said it seemed like severe indigestion, but there wasn’t any medicine for such symptoms in the Suin lands. This was mainly because it was very rare for Suin to suffer from indigestion.
Having no other choice, Siol simply endured it by fasting until he felt better, and then started supplementing his strength with small sips of honey water. He felt a bit humiliated that he had to be helped by Ryufen or Eorzen even to go to the bathroom, but there was nothing else he could do.
“I’m fine now.”
Siol mumbled insistently.
However, his flushed face and sweat-drenched appearance were far from convincing.
“I need to go check on the things I brought from the cottage… I can’t relax completely.”
Ryufen, standing behind him, hung his head.
He had been dejected for the past few days. It was natural, since the reason Siol had gotten such severe indigestion was his “Eat, eat” pressure. Ryufen, a wolf who had never experienced stomach problems in his life, had no concept that eating too much could be a problem. He had simply thought that eating a lot would make you grow a lot, and eating less would make you grow less, so he had tried to help the small Siol grow bigger by feeding him a lot. He hadn’t meant any harm.
Siol understood that and didn’t blame him, but Eorzen seemed to think differently. As he had said he would, he scolded Ryufen severely and didn’t trust him on the same issue afterward.
“Ryufen, you must not feed him anything until the doctor gives permission.”
“Yes. I absolutely will not feed him.”
“You must not even think that something like juice might be okay.”
“Yes. I really won’t feed him anything at all.”
“No, you have to give him water and honey.”
“Yes. I’ll only give him water and honey.”
Eorzen watched Ryufen’s obedient replies and then sighed lightly. He couldn’t trust him completely, but time was running out. He wasn’t just an ordinary Suin, but the leader of the knights protecting this city and the leader of a secret organization formed to assassinate enemy leaders.
Eorzen placed his hands on Siol’s shoulders and said, “Ryufen is unreliable, so you have to be careful too. Even if you’re hungry, bear with it a little longer.”
“Yes, I’ll have a proper meal once I’m better, so don’t worry.”
Since those words became a command and constricted Siol’s heart, he had no choice but to obey. If he had to choose between appetite and survival, he would choose survival no matter what.
“Alright.”
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Eorzen stroked Siol’s hair and left the room.
Left alone in the room, Ryufen sighed dramatically and slumped to the floor. Then, like a lazybones, he crawled to Siol’s bed and started whining.
“I’m not saying I didn’t do anything wrong, but isn’t Eorzen being too much? I mean, I did wrong…. But he keeps telling me not to feed you. Once or twice is enough for me to understand. It’s not like I’m going to force-feed you. Especially not when you’re sick and pale? No matter how much I value eating, I’m not that bad. Right?”
Siol chuckled at the furry wolf’s indignant rambling.
“…Yeah. Laugh, go ahead and laugh. You can laugh. It’s all my fault, what can I do?”
Ryufen turned away, deeply offended. Siol found that amusing too, giggling and reaching out to rub the back of Ryufen’s head. The stiff fur caught between his fingers.
“Actually, it was my first time eating that much, so I didn’t know I’d get this sick.”
“…That was your first time eating that much?”
“Yes, when I was young, food was scarce, and… when I grew up, I didn’t really enjoy eating.”
“How did that alchemist raise you?!”
Ryufen exclaimed, getting up. The giant wolf sat up, towering over Siol, who was perched on the bed. As Siol shifted back slightly due to the sheer size of Ryufen, the wolf mistook it as an invitation and climbed onto the bed. Siol was now trapped between the wall and the giant wolf.
Ryufen casually nuzzled up to Siol, lay down, and looked expectant, waiting for the story.
“Well…. I didn’t starve or anything.”
“Actually, what you ate then was nothing. A growing wolf eats two or three times what you ate.”
That might be true for wolves, but it didn’t apply to Siol, who had grown up as a human.
But since he couldn’t clear up this misunderstanding or tell a string of lies, Siol just laughed awkwardly.
“You’re weak, Sizool.”
“Yes….”
“Weak! And you have no potential to get stronger! How are you going to survive in this era with such a weak body that can’t even eat that much? I guess you’ll have to keep living in this castle.”
“Huh?”
“Fighting is an everyday occurrence out there. If you get caught up in it, you’ll probably break a bone or two. But we can’t leave someone who’s already entered the castle like that. I’ll talk to Eorzen and have you stay here. I’m sure he’ll agree.”
Stay in the Blue Dragon’s castle?
Siol pondered the meaning in a daze. He had never imagined a day when he would leave this castle. He hadn’t planned on staying permanently, but he had unconsciously assumed his current life would continue.
Realizing that, Siol blushed deeply. The Death Alchemist, who had contributed to the deaths of countless Suin, had thought he would naturally live in the castle of the Blue Dragon, who was practically the king of the Suin. Wasn’t that incredibly shameless?
“Th, th, that would be too shameless, wouldn’t it?”
“It would be shameless if you just lazed around doing nothing, but it’s okay if you do something. I’m doing most of it anyway…. You could wait on Eorzen.”
“Huh?”
“Like holding his coat when he arrives, making his bed in the morning, pouring his water during meals…. Things like that.”
“Me?”
Ryufen nodded calmly at Siol, who asked back in a daze.
“We can try it later.”
Later?
Caught off guard by the imminent situation, Siol took a deep breath, feeling nervous.
Logically, he should refuse.
The more time he spent in contact with Eorzen, the more frequently his life would be threatened. That would be even more true if he became a servant. Siol trembled, imagining himself losing his life for failing to carry out Eorzen’s simple commands.
But if he refused, wouldn’t they think he was ungrateful?
“…I’m nervous.”
“Don’t worry, Eorzen is soft on children. He won’t scold you even if you make a mistake.”
“Still… I’m nervous.”
Could he do it without dying? Siol took deep breaths, trying to calm his pounding heart.
So, when Eorzen returned after finishing his work, he was met with Siol holding out both hands. Eorzen stared silently at Siol, who nervously extended his hands further, and after a moment of thought, rummaged through his bag and pulled out a book, placing it on Siol’s hands.
“Ah….”
“I thought you might be curious, so I brought some history books. How did you know?”
Siol quietly received the book and hugged it blankly. He rolled his eyes and then opened his mouth.
“I will… read it gratefully….”
Eorzen tilted his head at the strange reaction, and at that moment, Ryufen, who had been watching Siol with a pounding heart, burst into boisterous laughter.
“Ahahaha…! cough… No, that’s not it, Eorzen. Ahahaha! Sizool was trying to take your coat, Eorzen. chuckle….”
“My coat? Why?”
“I told him since Sizool is so weak, he should just stay in the castle from now on. So I suggested he could wait on you, Eorzen.”
“…I’m not so lazy as to ask a child to wait on me.”
Eorzen replied firmly and glared at Ryufen, who flinched and pretended to look away.
Siol was holding the book tightly, looking dejected. Eorzen sat in front of him, met his gaze, reached out, and stroked his cheek, whispering, “Focus on recovering for now. If you still want to stay in the castle after that, you can. But you don’t need to start working already when you’re still so small. Besides, aren’t you sick right now?”
“…I can stay?”
“Of course. Stay as long as you like.”
Siol felt strangely comforted by the casual tone. It felt as if Eorzen had told him, not Sizool, but Siol, that he could stay. It was probably just his imagination, though.
Siol smiled bashfully, still holding the book, and nodded.