TDAA Ch 30

“To think he’d stoop so low….”

Just as Muriel was about to protest the unpleasant expression, Ladie raised a hand, stopping their conversation.

“You, you said your name was Muriel.”

“That is correct, Your Highness the Princess.”

“Mana stones are primarily used in alchemy. My uncle used alchemy to slaughter countless beastmen, yet you don’t seem to harbor any ill feelings about that? I fail to understand how you can offer mana stones as a gift.”

At that question, Muriel blinked as if choosing his words for a moment, then spoke with a soft smile.

“Alchemy is merely a skill. Doesn’t it produce vastly different results depending on how it’s used? Just as you cannot hate a blacksmith because your kin was struck down by a sword, you cannot hate an alchemist because your kin died by an alchemical tool.”

“…And that’s why you offer mana stones.”

“It is merely a gift.”

If he accepted that box, he could provide Master Siol with a better environment. Since he was a brilliant alchemist, he would surely produce even better results in a better environment.

But for some reason, Ladie felt uneasy about the gold and jewels before her. It would have been the same even without Lord Meric’s comment. Didn’t the boxes, which looked like ‘offerings’ prepared for an alchemist, seem as though they were meant to go to Master Siol?

As Muriel watched Ladie, who was lost in thought for a moment, he realized that now was the right time to reveal the one truth he had been instructed to deliver by the Blue Dragon.

“I understand that it must be difficult to trust me. In that case, I shall tell you something you will have no choice but to trust. Your Highness, do you know of the Demon King? I am sure legends of him remain in the human lands as well. The story that the one known as the Demon King annihilates those who spread lies about dragons.”

The atmosphere in the hall grew strangely tense. It seemed everyone, from Ladie on the highest seat to the dogs standing guard around the hall, knew the story.

“It is impossible not to know, as there was one in this land who was annihilated by the Demon King’s hand. What of it?”

“I will now tell you one truth about the Blue Dragon. If these words are false, I will be hunted down by the Demon King and killed.”

“What does a truth about the dragon have to do with anything right now…”

“The Blue Dragon’s mate is currently in the human lands, Your Highness.”

“…What did you say?”

Ladie asked again, unconsciously gripping the armrest. She couldn’t even point out the rudeness of him daring to cut her off, her eyes wide as countless thoughts raced through her mind. When she turned to look at Meric, he too was staring with wide eyes.

A dragon’s mate would be a precious and beloved being to the dragon, but to humans, it was no different from a disaster. If the dragon’s mate had good memories of the land, they might receive some blessings. But if the opposite were true, a terrible disaster would befall them. And aren’t humans creatures who are more likely to hold onto bad memories than good ones?

What if the dragon’s mate had no bad memories, but someone accidentally hurt them?

Dragons were known to be gentle beings, but if someone were to harm their mate, they would become unspeakably ferocious. They were the kind of beings who would find the culprit and punish them, even if it meant gathering testimony from all the spirits.

If one had to classify the fact that a dragon’s mate was in the human lands as either good or bad news, it was closer to bad news. But the Blue Dragon’s envoy before her did not seem to be trying to deliver such bad news.

Muriel looked up at the wavering eyes of Ladie and Lord Meric and said politely.

“The Blue Dragon’s mate is currently in the human lands, Your Highness the Princess. Therefore, the Blue Dragon will absolutely not invade the human lands.”

“…Does that mean the Blue Dragon’s mate is human?”

“This is as much of the truth as I can tell you.”

Since it was a truth spoken with his life on the line before the name of the Demon King, Ladie could not press him to say more.

“…The dragon’s mate is in this land…. Very well, I shall accept your gift.”

“Your Highness the Princess.”

“That’s enough, Lord Meric. They are requesting a visit politely, sending an envoy and even a gift, so I will accept. Whether I accept it or not, the dragon will come to this land anyway.”

There was no being in this land who could stop a dragon’s steps. Especially if it was a dragon searching for its mate.

Lord Meric looked as if he wanted to say something, but he could only acquiesce.

“You are… correct.”

“However.”

Ladie turned her head toward Muriel, her voice low.

“There is something you must promise me, Muriel.”

A dragon is a being that follows its mate. Therefore, the fact that the Blue Dragon was lending its power to her side meant that its mate also disapproved of the current king. Even if that weren’t the case, one could at least predict that the mate wished for Ladie to become queen. The statement that he was in no hurry meant that the dragon’s mate was in a safe place ‘for now’.

“I do not know why the Blue Dragon has not returned to the land of the beastmen with its mate, but in exchange for permitting their stay, I will not allow any retaliation against my people should any accident occur.”

“We will not seek revenge on Your Highness’s people without your permission. We will send a formal letter in accordance with diplomatic procedures.”

“And one more thing.”

Now that things had come to this, it was better to address any potential weaknesses later.

Ladie was about to mention that there was a man in this fiefdom known as the Alchemist of Death, but that he too was a victim who had suffered under the king.

“You certainly said earlier that you cannot hate an alchemist just because your kin died by an alchemical tool.”

“I did, but…”

“In that case…”

But just then, the hall doors burst open and one of Ladie’s knights, Eorzen, entered. Ladie frowned at the breach of etiquette, while at the same time, she couldn’t help but show her puzzlement.

Eorzen was a dog who was normally more sensitive to etiquette than anyone. As the leader of the squad that led the large dogs, he was the type to be even stricter with himself in order to keep his knights in line. He was not someone who would ever do such a thing unless it was a matter of great importance.

As all eyes fell on him, Eorzen walked up to Ladie, knelt before her, and bowed his head.

“I apologize for the intrusion. It is a matter concerning Your Highness the Princess’s ‘guest’.”

“What is it?”

“Ordinarily, this matter should have gone through the Captain and the Lord to reach Your Highness, but…”

“It’s alright, tell me.”

At that, Eorzen stood up and approached Ladie’s side. He leaned in and whispered, so Ladie leaned in as well.

“Your Highness, it seems Master Siol and that man know each other.”

“……”

“According to Luber, Master Siol saw that man in the plaza earlier and hid himself, looking as if he were about to faint from fear. He later came to me and said that he did not want his presence here to be discovered.”

“…I understand. You may step back for now.”

At her command, Eorzen bowed his head in acknowledgment and stepped aside.

Ladie realized that all the clues in the current situation pointed to one possibility.

The Blue Dragon’s envoy, who had come with a gift that seemed prepared for Master Siol, and the blatant gesture of offering his power to her side. She had thought it all didn’t fit the situation, but what if the one the Blue Dragon wanted to help wasn’t her, but Master Siol?

“It seems we need to talk for a while longer.”

“In that case…?”

Ladie concealed her expression with a smile and waved her hand lightly.

“Stay in this fiefdom for the time being. We shall speak again later. Of course, as you are a guest who has brought a precious gift, I will treat you accordingly.”

“Thank you. I will await Your Highness’s summons.”

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

After meeting with Eorzen, Siol returned to his lab and immersed himself in his research to scatter his anxious feelings. As Siol sat at his desk, crossed his arms, and began to stare at the firewood, Luber watched him with curious eyes. However, Luber’s thread-thin concentration quickly dissipated, and soon he began to roll his eyes, then started rolling his whole body on the carpet.

“…Luber. If you’re going to be noisy, get out.”

“Huh? I was being quiet!”

“Your moving around is really distracting. If you’re not going to sit still, you can go out and play.”

At the polite suggestion, which was intended to mean ‘get lost unless you’re going to be as quiet as a statue,’ Luber seemed to ponder for a moment. No matter how lazy and fun-loving a dog he was, it seemed his conscience pricked him a little at the thought of going out to play, defying Ladie’s order to guard Siol.

“I’m not planning on going anywhere else today, so don’t worry and go on, Luber. You can just bring back my dinner later. Right?”

“…Okay. Then I’ll go on a long hunt. I’ll come back with a magnificent meal worthy of a long hunt!”

“Alright. Go hunt something very delicious.”

“Yes!”

When he played along with the strange hunting game and responded plausibly, Luber left excitedly. Only then did Siol let out a deep sigh, looking around the now-quiet lab.

He had resolved to solve the firewood problem one way or another, but it was not an easy task. He could request that the firewood be changed to a material that burned better, but that was highly inefficient. Depending on how one defined ‘burns well,’ it could just end up as firewood that burned quickly but didn’t give off heat. For an alchemist to perform transmutation, or rather, a transaction, more perfectly, he needed to explain to the world in more detail what he wanted.

At the same time, the request couldn’t be overly complicated, and he had to be able to offer a suitable tribute for the content of the transaction. Otherwise, the world would take a portion of the wood to be changed as tribute.

“Oh, dear…”

Siol groaned softly, recalling the rabbit who used to complain that transmutation was too difficult. Budril, while thrilled with the alchemy he had newly learned, couldn’t hide his frustration at the transmutations that didn’t go as planned and the excessive tributes. Back then, Siol had simply watched the clumsy little alchemist with an amused smile.

Of course, transmutation is a difficult form of alchemy. But it was also a simple form of alchemy that only required one to take the time to understand the characteristics of the object and accurately envision the characteristics of the desired result. The difficult part was the process of understanding the object’s characteristics. And that was an ability that could be cultivated through training.

Siol placed both types of firewood he had brought from the hall on his desk and wrote down their characteristics in detail on a piece of paper.

The fragrant wood was very hard and heavy. Since it was originally intended for furniture making, not firewood, it was cut like a plank, with a beautiful grain and no knots. It was only natural, as it was said to be the wood used to make furniture for nobles.

It was of a texture that would make a sturdy piece of furniture, like a desk or a bookshelf, that would last a hundred years.

And the wood that was originally dried for firewood was less sturdy and looked like an ordinary piece of firewood.

When Siol took out and examined the firewood that was originally in his lab, he found that it too was furniture-grade wood. However, it seemed to be of slightly better quality than the one he brought from the hall. It seemed that in this world, classes were divided from birth, and since the lord’s mansion was where the highest-ranking person in the fiefdom resided, the best things came in. Perhaps even better quality wood was being used as firewood in the room where Ladie resided.

As Siol was struggling to test the strength, flammability, etc. of the wood, a small creature stealthily approached his desk.

“…Hello, little one.”

Siol cautiously extended a finger and greeted the harvest mouse, who was hiding behind a cup and looking at him. At that, the harvest mouse tilted its head and slowly approached his finger.

The harvest mouse, which had seemed somewhat wary of him when they first met, had let down its guard a little after they had spent some time together. A strange sense of intimacy connected the two of them, having seen each other every day and shared food.

The harvest mouse placed its small paw on Siol’s finger and glanced at him. Siol moved his fingertip slightly and gently scratched under the harvest mouse’s chin. The harvest mouse seemed startled by the touch at first, but soon closed its eyes and began to enjoy it.

It was then. The sound of stomping from outside the room grew closer.

“Master Siol!”

The door burst open and Ladie rushed in. She ran in with a flushed face and, without any warning, slammed her hand on Siol’s desk and asked.

“Are you the Blue Dragon’s mate?”

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

Returning to her room, Ladie first ordered a servant to bring a bottle of wine and sat in front of the fireplace, lost in thought.

It seemed Siol had been living in the land of the beastmen since that day. And in the form of a wolf.

It had been quite a long time. Enough time for Ladie to come to Lord Meric’s fiefdom, become the master of the dogs, and establish herself to some extent. What had Siol gone through in the land of the beastmen during that time?

Siol looked pained as he left the land of the beastmen. Considering Siol’s determined expression as he forced his unwilling steps away, and the prosthetic leg of the giant wolf she had seen before, it was clear that Siol had used alchemy to help people in the land of the beastmen. Because only Siol could create such a prosthetic.

It was astonishing. Who on earth could have made that timid person reveal his abilities in an environment full of those who hated him? What on earth had happened?

And the Blue Dragon’s envoy had brought expensive jewels and mana stones that Siol would like, calling them a gift.

It wasn’t strange that the Blue Dragon had officially announced that he would support her. As the highest-ranking species among the beastmen, he was a being respected by the beastmen for his existence alone, the head of an alliance that encompassed over a dozen beastmen cities, and a wall that protected the human lands from them. Getting rid of the rampaging human king and establishing a new one was something the Blue Dragon must have longed for as well.

However, the moment she heard that the Blue Dragon’s mate was here in the human lands, she had recalled a clue that could link all the elements she had been finding strange into a single possibility. The thought, which perhaps should be called a suspicion rather than a possibility, would not leave Ladie’s mind.

Ladie filled a wine glass with the wine the servant had brought, stared at it blankly, and then drank it in one gulp.

She was the woman who would be queen. It was her destiny to drive her uncle from the palace, inherit the throne, and bring peace to this land. That destiny was followed by numerous suspicions. She had to trust the lords while at the same time always being wary and suspicious of them.

But with Siol, she didn’t want to be like that with Siol.

On the day she was moved to the alchemy lab after losing her limbs, she was simply waiting for her death. To her, who had thought that even if she survived, a miserable life of being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life awaited her, Siol had made her limbs.

What Siol had made for her that day was not simply limbs. It was hope, a possibility.

And after that, Siol had forcibly dragged her out of bed and made her walk in the garden. The bright light of the sun she faced as she was dragged out stumbling, the feel of the damp earth, the gentle breeze. All of it became the source that helped her stand up again.

There were many things, like resenting Siol, getting hurt while failing to escape, or being tormented by being unable to say anything as she watched the deceived Siol, but to her, Siol was a companion who had endured that time with her.

She didn’t want to suspect Siol. At least not like this.

Ladie shot up from her seat and ran out of the room. She ran down the stairs in a single bound, her destination the lab in the basement.

“Master Siol!”

Siol, who was sitting at his work desk playing with a small mouse, turned to Ladie with wide eyes. Ladie ignored the mouse that quickly ran away, approached Siol, and slammed her hand on the desk, interrogating him.

“Are you the Blue Dragon’s mate?”

“…What?”

Siol, dumbfounded by the sudden interrogation, asked back.

“Master Siol, were you running away from the Blue Dragon that day?”

“No, I… What? What are you, what are you suddenly talking about?”

He was so flustered that a proper sentence wouldn’t even come out of his mouth.

What had Muriel told her to make her think such a ridiculous thing?

“Please tell me the truth. I won’t be angry even if Master Siol is the Blue Dragon’s mate.”

“No… It’s not true, Ladie. How could I… be such a, such a…!”

“The Blue Dragon sent an envoy. A weak wolf named Muriel. The gift he sent was gold, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and mana stones. It’s like… it’s like a gift sent to Master Siol.”

“Muriel, he knows I’m here?”

“He knows that the Blue Dragon’s mate is in the human lands.”

Looking into the confused eyes, Siol felt a little relieved.

Had it been about two weeks since he left the land of the beastmen? The things that happened there were happy and, at the same time, painful memories for Siol. It was a little embarrassing, and also sad.

So he had wanted to keep it hidden unless it became a situation where he had to tell. But in the end, the moment came when he had to talk about that time.

Siol let out a deep sigh, led Ladie to the fireplace, and sat down in an armchair himself.

“Ladie, let me tell you this first. I’m not the Blue Dragon’s mate.”

“But…”

“I died that day.”

“…Excuse me? What does that mean…. What?”

Ladie had a face that showed she couldn’t understand. Siol let out a laugh and a sigh at the same time and sank deep into his chair.

“About 10 years ago, I was living alone in the forest. I happened to meet the king, and he asked me to help him… to gather strength to protect humans from monsters with alchemy. But I was so scared to go outside back then. So… I made a homunculus, you know, a fake body. That fake body is the me you know, Ladie.”

“A fake body… you say…”

“After I died that day, my soul returned to its original body, but for some reason, I had become a beastman kid who looked to be only about 10 years old. And a dragon was searching my cabin.”

It would be better not to mention the curse. Siol tried not to be conscious of the dragon’s curse that was making its presence known on his chest even at this moment and continued his story.

“The Blue Dragon thought I had been kidnapped by an alchemist. So he took me to his city, and I… at first, I was scared and confused about what was happening. In the midst of that, what you said kept running through my mind. Ladie, you said it.”

“That I had to know, the world…”

“Right. So I tried to find out. This world was completely different from what I had known until now.”

At his regretful tone, Ladie let out a low groan. Siol was silent for a moment, then spoke as if changing the subject.

“There was a rabbit there who was trying to fight against alchemy without knowing it. It was a bit of a burden at first, but somehow we ended up making prosthetic arms and legs for beastmen who were injured because of alchemy. I taught him alchemy too.”

“I saw. You made a prosthetic leg for a large wolf, didn’t you? I knew at first glance that Master Siol had made it.”

“You saw Ryufen. Ryufen is the wolf who took care of me… he lost his leg because of Nathaniel. That was the first prosthetic I made in the land of the beastmen.”

On the day Ryufen lost his leg, Siol revealed for the first time in the land of the beastmen that he could use alchemy. He still remembered the feelings of that day, when regret and anger were greater than fear, the feelings of the day he decided he would do what he could for the one who cared for him.

“Nathaniel kidnapped beastmen, made potions that made them go berserk, and put collars on their necks to control them, and it was all to get his hands on the Blue Dragon. It was to lure the Blue Dragon to Marsiga, make the Blue Dragon go berserk, and feed the Blue Dragon a love potion to make him put on the collar himself. He said it was to carry on the will of his mother, the witch.”

“Wait a minute, Master Siol. Nathaniel was the son of the Witch of the North?”

“Yes, he said the Witch of the North wanted to become the Blue Dragon’s mate. So, in place of his dead mother…”

“No, that’s not it, the Witch of the North had only one son, and he was known to have died with the witch! And if he were alive… he would be over fifty by now.”

“…What?”

Siol unknowingly held his breath and froze.

Nathaniel had said that he lived in the forest with only his grandmother and was sent to the lab to learn alchemy by the king’s order. When they first met, he was only 10 years old. The little boy had fiddled with his fingers and begged Siol to teach him alchemy….

If Nathaniel was fifty now, then Nathaniel’s age at that time was around forty. It meant that he had deliberately transformed into the form of a child to win Siol’s favor.

“What, what on earth…. What nonsense…!”

My goodness. To think that he had uncovered everything about Nathaniel, and yet there was still something to be surprised about.

“…No, let’s stop talking about Nathaniel. I’ve already excommunicated him, so he’s not my student anymore…”

It wasn’t that he was truly okay, but rather that he just didn’t seem to want to continue the confusion right now. Ladie nodded obediently. She, too, had spent her childhood with the young Nathaniel, so the fact that he was the son of the Witch of the North was shocking, but it was nothing compared to Siol’s shock.

Siol sighed, shook his head, and opened his mouth again.

“Anyway, after somehow stopping that conspiracy, I ran away. The reason I ran away was…”

How should he explain this? There was no expression that could encompass all the sadness, anguish, and sense of responsibility he had felt at that time.

Siol, briefly retracing his emotions from when he left the Blue Dragon, spoke impulsively.

“They say a dragon can instinctively recognize its mate, Ladie. But I…”

Siol didn’t know how to express the complex, churning feelings in his heart, or how much he should say.

“I spent quite a long time with the Blue Dragon, but he kept searching for his mate.”

“……”

“Even when I was right beside him, he kept leaving to find his mate. So I’m… not it.”

Siol unknowingly clenched his teeth and pressed down on his left hand with his right.

“It’s true that I, I like the Blue Dragon. He saved me, and he showed me a new world. So it’s only natural that I would come to like him. Besides, the Blue Dragon is cool, handsome, and such an amazing dragon…”

His voice, muttering the confession calmly as if in a daze, sounded as if he were crying.

“Ladie, actually, I also… wish I were the Blue Dragon’s mate.”

Ladie had said that Muriel told her the Blue Dragon’s mate was in this land. So the Blue Dragon’s mate was in the human lands. The Blue Dragon’s mate, who until now had seemed like some imaginary person, suddenly felt like a real, existing individual.

And the moment Siol felt that sensation, he realized that his resolve—the belief that he could endure even the Blue Dragon’s mate as long as he could stay by the dragon’s side—was all a lie. The mere presence of a real, existing mate for the Blue Dragon was tearing Siol’s heart apart.

“I also… wish I were the Blue Dragon’s precious person…”

Ladie listened to that low cry, utterly dumbfounded.