TDAA Ch 52

For a few days, such a routine continued.

After eating breakfast and resting for a bit, Siol would look through his research notes and mull over this and that, and then around the afternoon, Eorzen would visit. Siol would then invite him into his room, and they would discuss and research the tool to trap Nathaniel’s shadow while eating snacks, or they would have a meal together, or they would sit and rest in front of the fireplace.

One day, they ditched Ryufen and went on a picnic next to the protective barrier again. Ryufen, knowing they had ditched him on purpose, overexerted himself trying to follow and collapsed in the middle of the road. Surprised, Siol told Eorzen, and after they carried Ryufen far away from the protective barrier, he woke up groaning and started reciting past events in front of Siol again, asking how he could do such a thing to him. Siol was only released after promising several times that he would never do it again.

Eorzen, who had been watching the scene with disapproval, later told Siol that Ryufen had only pretended to collapse. Could Ryufen really have gone that far?

Anyway, after that, they had to take Ryufen and Luber with them wherever they went. Ryufen treated Luber like a subordinate, saying, “This is a precaution for when you try to run off to a place I can’t go.” Siol thought it was a bit much since he had already promised not to do it again, but since Luber seemed pleased, he just let it be.

In fact, the sight of a large, golden-furred dog trotting after a huge wolf was quite cute.

“See you again tomorrow, then.”

“Yes.”

After shyly answering Eorzen’s affectionate farewell, Siol rushed to his desk as soon as the door closed. He opened a drawer of his work desk, fumbled deep inside, and pulled out a wooden box.

Siol carefully placed it on the desk and pricked his thumb on the needle of the lock, proving his ownership with his blood. Although it looked like a shabby box on the outside, it was an alchemical tool that Siol had put his heart and soul into creating. He had to prove his identity with blood every time he opened it, and just in case the box itself was stolen, he had also made a matching compass. So he could find it even if it was stolen.

“The thirteenth one…”

It was for carefully storing the rings he received from Eorzen.

Siol carefully placed the new ring he received today into an empty slot and chuckled deviously, “Ehehehe.” The strange Eorzen loved to commemorate everything. Because we enjoyed the festival together, because we went on a picnic together, because we admired the beautiful lake together, because we made progress in our joint research, he would offer a new ring each time.

He must have a serious misunderstanding about what it means to commemorate something, but Siol didn’t bother to correct that misunderstanding. It was far more profitable for him to let Eorzen remain mistaken.

He felt a little guilty, as if he were swindling Eorzen, but he could make up for that later by taking a slightly smaller salary when he went to work under Eorzen. As long as he could keep growing this commemorative collection, he was willing to tell any number of lies.

Still, it would be a bit much to receive too many, so maybe he should tell the truth when he gets to about twenty. No, thirty… no, forty…

Just as Siol was continuously increasing the number of rings he wanted for his collection out of reluctance, it happened.

“Huuuh… huuh…”

Letting out a sound that was half scream, half groan, Luber crawled into the room in his dog form. Luber staggered over and collapsed at Siol’s feet. His eyes were half-closed, and he seemed to be out of his mind with exhaustion. Luber made a whimpering sound and rubbed his cheek against the top of Siol’s foot.

“I’m… gonna die, Master Siol…”

“Was it that hard?”

“I’m telling you, I’m gonna die…”

The territory’s biggest superstar was nowhere to be seen; only a single, scruffy stray dog remained.

Siol chuckled and stroked Luber’s messy fur thoroughly, then closed the box again and hid it deep inside the desk drawer.

“It feels like just yesterday you were running away saying you hated training, only to be dragged off by Eriard. You’re very brave to endure Ryufen’s training, Luber.”

“……”

Luber remained silent and averted his gaze. Siol asked, bewildered.

“You did come back after finishing all the training, right?”

“……”

“Luber!”

“…Half of it.”

“…You ran away in the middle?”

“He made me keep running even when I felt like I was really going to throw up, and he hit me, and he’d just swiftly dodge my attacks and laugh at me! It was so hard. But Titi said that because Master Siol is so weak, the therianthrope next to him has to get strong to protect him…”

Then Luber suddenly burst out, shouting emotionally.

“Everything adults say is a lie! Cute my butt! Titi is just big and strong, and that’s it! He’s not cute or lovable at all! Isn’t that right, Master Siol?”

“Well, you’re right about that, but…”

“Everyone’s a liar… sob…”

Luber tattled on every single mean thing Ryufen had done to him to Siol. Siol nodded along to every word, listening to his story. Luber, as if his anger still hadn’t subsided, continued his complaints, half-crying and half-whining, and eventually fell asleep with his snout resting on Siol’s boot.

His foot felt heavy. Siol gently stroked the head of the equally cute and heavy Luber and let out a small smile.

He didn’t know what Ryufen had whispered… no, actually, he thought he knew, but it seemed Luber had believed that nonsense and endured the training until this hour, then ran away when he thought he would die if he did any more. It was a little pathetic, but as a comrade who had also run away from Ryufen, Siol decided to understand Luber’s feelings. Besides, even though he didn’t make it to the end, it seemed he had tried his best.

Siol bent down and, grunting with effort, lifted Luber’s large body. He managed to lift Luber’s torso, but his rear and feet dragged along the carpet. Still, it would be better to move him to the dog bed by the fireplace so he could sleep there, rather than letting him sleep in the cold.

After grunting and groaning to move Luber to his bed, his back ached a little. Siol stretched wide, then washed up and crawled into bed.

What should I do tomorrow? Should I suggest we go to the cabin on the mountain behind the estate?

Siol fell asleep with an excited heart.

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

However, the promise of “see you again tomorrow” could not be kept.

Ladie, who had left to bestow protective barriers on other territories, returned to the Meric territory after a fortnight.

At dawn, the rough sound of a horse galloping shook the earth. Awakened by the noise, Siol staggered to the window and peeked outside to see Ladie dismounting her horse.

But something about Ladie’s condition seemed a bit off. Ladie, who should have returned triumphant after proving the greatness of her bloodline to numerous lords and receiving their renewed pledges of loyalty, looked somewhat anxious. Something had clearly happened in the meantime. Siol quickly threw on a thick cardigan and ran outside.

Ladie, who was talking with Lord Meric, brightened up when she saw Siol.

“Master Siol!”

“Yes, Ladie. What’s wrong? Did the magic ring break or something?”

“It’s not that… no, this isn’t something to discuss here. Let’s go to Lord Meric’s office together.”

Ladie, Siol, and Lord Meric headed for the lord’s office on the second floor. They were walking up the stairs, discussing how they should call for Eorzen as well, though it was rude at such a late hour, but Eorzen was already awake and waiting at the top of the stairs. Perhaps because he had just woken up, a hint of irritation was visible on his face.

Eorzen nodded his head to greet Ladie and Lord Meric, then placed the thick blanket he was holding over Siol’s shoulders. Siol’s body, chilled from going outside in just his pajamas and a cardigan, was enveloped in the warm blanket.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Eorzen smiled affectionately and gently brushed Siol’s cheek. Siol reflexively rubbed the spot Eorzen had touched with his palm, only to realize there was a pillow mark there and his cheeks flushed bright red. Wondering if he had perhaps drooled in his sleep, he furtively touched the corner of his mouth with his hand. Fortunately, there were no signs of drool, but Eorzen saw the whole thing and chuckled.

Siol shot Eorzen a glare and followed after Ladie. When Ladie sat in the lord’s chair and activated the ring’s power, the magic circle, having feasted greedily on mana, activated and transported the group to the secret room that had been Siol’s laboratory. The place was now a perfect sealed chamber, with even the hole that was once a door now completely repaired.

Perhaps because Ladie, who had already been authenticated once, was sitting in the chair, it didn’t ask for another authentication this time.

Ladie skillfully manipulated the hologram. Seeing her operate it so smoothly despite not knowing the ancient language, it was clear she had memorized what every button did by pressing each one and testing all the variables. It showed just how hard she must have studied and researched.

After a short wait, a large hologram, one he had never seen before, appeared. It was a map of the continent. The map displayed not only the territories in human lands but also the cities in the therianthrope lands. It seemed to indicate the location of the Tower of Survival.

“Ladie, what happened? Last time, it was definitely…”

“The authority the control room grants seems to increase in proportion to the number of territories one possesses. After I completed the authentication in a new territory yesterday, I was suddenly able to access much more information.”

It seemed that in ancient times, the sheer size of one’s territory signified power. Just as Siol was about to get lost in thought, Ladie pointed at the map.

“More importantly, look at the markings on the map. In every territory where I have proven my eligibility, mana is flowing towards the royal capital. The mana is probably being drained from all the other territories where I haven’t yet proven my eligibility as well.”

What could be done in the control room was on a different level from what an ordinary human mage could do. The sorcery of the control room didn’t cast temporary magic, like strengthening the horses in the stables or using the central hall to quickly recover people’s stamina, but rather created lasting changes. If such things were possible in this small territory, the things that could be done in the place called the ‘royal capital’ would be even more incredible. Among them, what could the king possibly want to do?

They had to find out the identity of the powerful sorcery that could be cast by gathering mana from the entire human lands. That would be the reason the king murdered his own brother, and at the same time, the reason for continuing this war.

“Sir Eorzen, we need to find a building with a sun in the royal capital. The control room can only handle buildings with a sun, so if we investigate the buildings with a sun, we might be able to guess what he’s scheming.”

“I’ll send Asios immediately.”

Eorzen accepted Siol’s words without a second thought and was about to send a mana bird. However, Ladie stopped him.

“No, please listen a bit more before you decide.”

When Ladie manipulated the hologram a few more times, colors appeared on the circles indicating the locations of the Towers of Survival. The Towers of Survival in the human lands were mostly red, with only a few being purple. Since the Meric territory was purple, Siol naturally understood that purple represented Ladie.

“Wait, this is absurd! Why are the therianthrope lands…?”

Not only Siol’s, but even Eorzen’s expression changed.

The therianthrope lands did not have a separate king. This was because the chieftain was the master of the city. The therianthrope cities each functioned as city-states, and while there might be more respected chieftains or leaders of alliances, they did not serve a separate king.

Therefore, the color of each tower should have been different, yet about half of them were already stained red.

With the color of the king who was staining most of the human lands.

It was then. One of the cities that had been dark green slowly blinked and then transformed into red.

Everyone inside the control room could understand what that phenomenon meant.

“…The king is in the therianthrope lands right now.”

The man who had ascended to the throne, even taking his own brother’s life, was now in the therianthrope lands. He was extending his reach to the Towers of Survival in the therianthrope lands, as if taking over the human lands was merely a step in the process of achieving his goal.

Siol recalled a conversation he had with Nathaniel not long ago.

“We talked about it last time. That the king’s goal isn’t just the throne, and that there’s a separate purpose for causing all this commotion.”

“So the reason he’s causing a commotion to draw our eyes this way was to hide his own movements.”

Ladie clicked her tongue and continued.

“The reason he’s leaving me alone is probably for that purpose as well.”

When Siol turned to look at her in surprise, she shrugged.

“Why the look? Did you think I wouldn’t know? That man could have crushed me with one hand, yet he dragged his feet the whole time. He discarded the surrounding lords one by one, as if giving me assignments. Several times, even knowing I was picking them up. I’d always thought it was strange, but to think that was the reason.”

On the day the lord under the king’s command had suddenly requested help, Ladie had thought it strange, but she had pushed Lord Meric aside and agreed to go to battle.

The lord who requested help had honestly confessed everything under Ladie’s questioning, but strangely, the lords had no idea why they had been ousted. They had been kicked out so suddenly that they had no power to protect their cities, and so, despite thinking there was a high probability of being refused, the lord had asked Ladie for help, and in return for her aid, had willingly sworn allegiance to her.

As this happened repeatedly over time, Ladie couldn’t help but realize that the king was toying with her. But despite that, she diligently gathered up the abandoned territories. It was fine if he thought of her as a toy. She would gather the discarded pieces, put them in order, and become his true adversary.

With such thoughts, Ladie had endured each day and arrived at the present.

Therefore, her pride wasn’t hurt in the slightest upon hearing that he was causing a commotion and keeping her alive just to hide what he was trying to do. Hadn’t she lived too fiercely to be wounded by something like that?

Ladie smiled brightly.

“Thanks to that man letting me live, I have truly become his one and only adversary.”

Only after coming to the control room did Ladie realize that until now, she hadn’t even been on the stage.

That man had been playing chess all by himself. He had been moving the chess pieces around his niece, who was struggling on the chessboard, controlling the situation as he pleased.

Until now, that is.

To get to the secret room, the control room that no one knew about, someone with immense magical power had to activate the magic circle on the chair that tradition dictated only a lord could sit on. Even if one succeeded in activating the magic circle, if someone of the king’s bloodline wasn’t present, the authentication would fail and it would self-destruct. The place where Ladie stood now was a miracle, created by a terrible overlap of coincidence after coincidence.

The king must have casually dangled the bait in front of Ladie’s eyes, thinking that even if he gave her territories, he wouldn’t lose the control room, but Ladie had truly gained the power to take it from him.

“I will make sure he pays the price.”

Ladie declared with a grin. Her expression was much clearer now that she had let out the anxiety she had been hiding.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Siol nodded in response.

He felt as if he could finally see the king’s true nature. He had been running forward, thinking that he had to stop the king, that he had to uncover the truth stained with lies. Following Ladie, he had repaired the knights’ equipment, solved the firewood problem, thwarted Nathaniel’s plot to make the dogs go berserk, and discovered the identity of the suns and the existence of the control room. Even while accomplishing quite a lot, for some reason Siol never felt like he was getting closer to the king.

He just felt like a vague target, a mirage he wasn’t sure he could ever reach.

But now, it was different.

Why on earth did the king spread false rumors?

Why on earth did the king lie to him and ask him to make alchemical tools?

What on earth is the king’s objective?

He felt as if he had grasped the loose ends of all those questions.

“Ladie, you are in a position like a god in this territory right now. You have the power to control the lives of the territory’s people with a single finger. If you were to increase the amount of mana the tower takes from the people to its maximum limit, this territory would be filled with death in less than a day.”

“I would never do such a thing!”

“Of course, I know. I’m just saying that the power in your hands is that dangerous of a kind. But what about your father? Did he also have such power?”

Siol asked, unhesitatingly digging into the wound Ladie had buried deep in her heart. Siol’s eyes were gleaming strangely. Something like pain or sorrow swirled within them.

The story Siol was about to tell was a sharp blade that would hurt not only Ladie and Lord Meric but his own heart as well. But it was also a story that had to be properly told and moved past at least once. The king had been moving toward a certain goal for a long time, and the former king’s death was the first step toward that goal.

After a moment of silence, Lord Meric spoke first.

“I doubt he had it. If such a power existed, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known, Your Highness.”

Lord Meric, who had been the former king’s childhood friend, declared to Siol, and to Ladie, in a tone that was somewhat arrogant but full of conviction. Ladie, who had been frozen for a moment, also sighed lowly and agreed.

“That’s right. I don’t think my father would have had this kind of power.”

“I heard there was a rebellion in the human lands once.”

“That’s a very old story.”

“Yes, at that time, everyone in the royal bloodline died except for one newborn baby. The knowledge about the control room must have been lost then.”

Originally, information about the control room would have been secretly passed down from the king to his successor. They probably never imagined a situation where the king and the successor would die at the same time. Thus, the information was lost, and the newborn baby, the only remaining royal blood, grew up to be a king who could do nothing but appoint lords. Since the very existence of the control room had not been passed down, there was nothing he could do.

“The royal family became unable to do anything despite having authority over all the cities. Several generations passed, and your father became king. Still knowing nothing. And then, I don’t know how yet, but the current king got his hands on the knowledge of the past.”

“…That man was never interested in the throne.”

With trembling eyes, Ladie continued.

“I saw him joking with my father about it once. He told my father that since he, the eldest son, had yielded the throne, my father should support him so he could live comfortably until he died… But for someone who said such things, that man didn’t seem to have much attachment to life. That’s why when my father died, and that man appeared before me as I was dying and said everything was the monsters’ doing, I had no choice but to believe him. I believed that the madness in his eyes was the fury of losing a younger brother, the pain of losing a family, the same as mine.”

And so, Ladie left for the death alchemist’s laboratory as she was told.

The man there is an ignorant fool and an idiot, but he’s excellent at making weapons of mass destruction. Coax him well and make him create more weapons. And with those weapons, let’s annihilate our enemy, the monsters. You can do it, right?

The man had whispered, putting his niece, whose wounds had not yet healed, into a carriage. Ladie, not knowing what was hidden behind that crazed smile, simply nodded her head, driven by thoughts of revenge.

“The king was like that when I first met him, too. He said life was futile, and he didn’t know why he should bother trying to live a life that would end in death anyway…”

At the time, Siol too had been engulfed in such melancholy. That might have been why he felt a sense of kinship with the man who had suddenly appeared, and why they had grown close.

Thinking that far, Siol furrowed his brow.

“Yes, that man was always afraid of death. Then one day, he suddenly changed. Maybe, in the ancient knowledge…”

“There’s a way to overcome death?”

“What? No, I wasn’t thinking that far, just that he probably learned a way to extend his lifespan a bit… A way to overcome death? No, there’s no way such a thing exists. They say sorcery is an equal exchange, but it’s not actually like that. Value isn’t really determined by a number, but is assessed differently at different times by the world’s subjectivity… so, to ask for something that goes against the rules set by the world, you’d need an enormous price… an enormous…”

A way to overcome death, there’s no way such a thing could exist. Even dragons, called the regulators of the world, have a lifespan and fade away when their time comes, so how could there possibly be a way to overcome death?

Siol, who had been rambling on and on, expressing his bewilderment, suddenly froze, his eyes fixed on the map Ladie had displayed.

An enormous price.

A person’s life force and their mana were different concepts, but they overlapped to some extent. If a person loses all their mana, they die. And beings with vast amounts of mana generally lived longer than those without.

Yes, it was the same principle by which dragons were a long-lived species.

The king was gathering an immense amount of mana from each territory.

“Siol.”

Eorzen, who had been watching the situation from a step back, approached Siol and took his hand. At his warmth, Siol felt his anxiety rapidly subside. It was as if the confusion and fear filling his head were swept down to his feet and absorbed into the earth.

“Do you remember the story I told you last time? The one about why the ancient people were destroyed.”

“I remember. Why is that relevant now…”

“At that time, I said they wished to rule this land, but that was merely a process. Their ultimate goal was closer to wanting to become gods.”

“…What? What did you just say…”

Knowing full well that the reason Siol couldn’t finish his sentence wasn’t because he hadn’t heard but because he was bewildered, Eorzen repeated himself. His gaze flickered towards Ladie, who didn’t understand the conversation at all, then returned to Siol.

“The ancient people tried to become gods and were destroyed at the hands of the Demon King. And what the king is trying to do now does not seem to be any different.”

This time, not only Siol, but Ladie and Lord Meric also understood the meaning of Eorzen’s words. Astonishment spread among the three of them.

“What is that… ridiculous…”

Siol first spat out a denial.

Becoming a god? How could he possibly harbor such an absurd ideal?

No, thinking about it, it seemed plausible for the ancient people. He had said they were beings who lived in mana before the continent existed, so they must have been different from humans. Perhaps they possessed power akin to demigods, and maybe with just a little more effort, they could have become gods.

But what about humans? Humans were beings who clung to the towers left by the ancient people to avoid monsters, who could only manage their lives after gathering their strength together. On Earth, where there were no towers, everyone had been heading towards ruin. Although no one dared to say it out loud, it was believed that in a hundred years, all resources would be depleted, and people would either be torn to shreds and killed by monsters or starve to death from lack of food.

Unlike Siol, who was aghast at the king’s preposterous dream, Ladie and Lord Meric were unable to even open their mouths, seized by a more realistic horror and fear.

It was because of the name, Demon King.

To humans, the Demon King was a real and present horror, a disaster that appeared whenever it was about to be forgotten, closer to a catastrophe caused by a natural phenomenon.

In truth, dragons were beings you could reason with, as long as you were careful about matters related to their mates. You could guess what to be mindful of, what points might be offensive. If there were those in the human lands who had abused a dragon’s mate, you only had to offer up those involved. A dragon’s wrath did not spread without reason.

The Demon King, on the other hand, was a calamity whose end could not be predicted once it started to move.

If what the king was doing was the same as what had led to the destruction of the ancient people in the past, it meant that humanity, too, might be destroyed by the Demon King’s hand.

“According to the dragon’s lore-.”

Eorzen began, then said, “Oh my,” and wrapped his arm around Siol’s waist, holding him up. The posture was almost like he was supporting him. Then, while patting Siol’s back to calm him down as he jumped in surprise at the sudden action in front of everyone, Eorzen spoke. Of course, the patting, far from calming him, only heightened Siol’s bewilderment.

“Siol, your legs are trembling. You must be tired.”

“…Am I?”

Far from being tired, his adrenaline was pumping from hearing such a shocking story. He knew how base it was to have such curiosity in a serious situation like this, but he couldn’t bear his curiosity about the Demon King, about the ancient people.

The alchemist’s, no, the scholar’s, curiosity reared its head. He could stay up all night listening.

With sparkling eyes, Siol glanced at Ladie and Lord Meric, then awkwardly feigned sleepiness and nodded. He didn’t know what Eorzen was up to, but since Eorzen said so, he decided to play along.

“Yes, I do feel a little… tired…”

Perhaps Eorzen had blurted out the story impulsively, but upon thinking about it, he realized it might have been a story from a secret book of the dragon clan that shouldn’t be shared carelessly with outsiders. So maybe he was using his closest friend as an excuse, Siol thought.

“Just as I thought. Then how about we continue this conversation tomorrow? I don’t think this is a conversation to be had standing up at this early hour of the morning.”

“Uh… that… should we…?”

Siol, who was furiously trying to figure out Eorzen’s true intentions, failed to notice, but Ladie immediately realized he was talking about her. About Ladie, the only one sitting in a chair in this room.

The blue dragon was now asking if this was a story that required waking someone from their sleep in the dead of night to have them stand and listen. If you’re so curious about the dragon’s lore, then tone it down. The blue dragon’s pointed remark was not something to be said after bringing up the prelude to humanity’s destruction.

“…Tomorrow morning… no, let’s talk again after lunch.”

However, Ladie was well aware that to a dragon worried about his mate, the destruction of humanity was likely just an uninteresting affair of others. She tried to schedule it for the morning but pushed the time back further under Eorzen’s sharp gaze.

Upon manipulating the chair’s sorcery to return to the lord’s office, Eorzen, as if he had been waiting, swiftly lifted Siol into his arms and left without even a farewell. Siol, having lost the freedom of his two feet, could only look back and forth between Eorzen and Ladie in bewilderment, leaving an awkward smile and a “good night” just before the door closed.

“…Your Highness, I think…”

“Enough. I already know. Yes, Lord Meric’s guess was correct.”

“…It seems Master Siol doesn’t know. Shouldn’t we tell him?”

“No.”

Ladie clutched her head as if it were a headache.

The reason he spoke so vaguely was out of consciousness of the Demon King. The story about the blue dragon and Siol was true, so there was no need to fear the Demon King, but after hearing that the human lands might be attacked by the Demon King, even mentioning it felt uncomfortable.

“The blue dragon seems to want to keep it a secret, so please keep your mouth shut. Seeing as he appeared with a ridiculous reason like… amnesia, it seems he’s enjoying the current situation.”

“But Master Siol…”

“Master Siol will be fine.”

She had once bluntly asked him if he was the dragon’s mate, and had even given him a hint not long ago. She didn’t know why he was so convinced he wasn’t the dragon’s mate, but this issue was already out of her hands. She had even said she would wash her hands of the matter, so Siol couldn’t say otherwise later.

There was no telling what would happen if she exposed what a dragon wanted to hide. Siol did say he liked the blue dragon, so wouldn’t it be okay? No, it would definitely be okay. In the first place, dragons weren’t creatures that could harm their mates.

It was a known rule not to meddle in other people’s love lives.

Especially if it was a dragon’s.

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

“Please, Sir Eorzen.”

Siol begged and begged the entire time Eorzen tucked him into the sheets, covered him with the blanket again, and fluffed his pillow to make it comfortable. Seeing that Eorzen suggested talking tomorrow, it didn’t seem to be a secret story, and his curiosity became uncontrollable again.

“Siol. It’s late.”

“I’m so curious I don’t think I can sleep. What on earth happened?”

“You’ll be tired tomorrow if you don’t sleep.”

“The bed’s all cold, too. I can’t sleep until it warms up anyway.”

Eyes that looked as if they were seeing a problem child gazed at Siol.

He couldn’t stand being so curious about what exactly happened according to the dragon’s lore. When Siol didn’t give up and kept pestering even while lying in bed, Eorzen finally sighed.

“Then I have no choice.”

“Yes!”

“I will warm you up.”

With that, Eorzen took off his outer coat and dropped it onto the floor beside the bed. Eorzen, clad in a thin single layer of clothing, pushed Siol aside and slipped under the covers.

“Wha-what?”

“You’ll warm up in no time.”

Siol instantly tumbled into Eorzen’s embrace. Eorzen’s chest was right before his eyes. It wasn’t bare, but its form was clear through the single layer of clothing. Surprised, Siol tried to create some distance, but Eorzen’s arm slid under his head and pulled his back closer. Because of this, Siol ended up in a position where his cheek was pressed against Eorzen’s chest.

Siol flailed, trying to back away, but quickly surrendered to Eorzen’s patting, relaxed his body, and lay down. Let’s at least try to talk. Siol pushed against Eorzen’s upper body with his palms to create a slight distance between them and pleaded.

“No, Sir Eorzen, I didn’t mean warm me up like this…!”

“Tomorrow. I will tell you everything tomorrow, so please sleep for now.”

His body was certainly getting warmer fast. Especially his face. If all this was a ploy to raise Siol’s body temperature, it was very effective. In fact, he was worried that his overly rising heat would be noticed and arouse strange suspicions.

The distance between them was only as thick as Siol’s palm. And that was only their upper bodies; at some point, one of Eorzen’s legs had slipped between Siol’s. They were just entangled, nothing more, but, . Thinking that far, Siol bit his lip, wondering what a shameless imagination this was.

Of course it’s nothing more. It’s not like Eorzen is in a rampage right now!

His heart, inside the barely separated chest, was beating far too quickly. His mind, too, began to run wild on its own. If you came into my bed to put me to sleep, you have failed completely, Sir Eorzen. Of course, you’re strange right now, so it can’t be helped, but…!

Then, when Eorzen’s other arm pulled Siol in for a hug and pressed gently on the back of his head, he couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes shut. Siol did his best not to gasp for air.

“…Haa. Are you truly that unable to sleep?”

“Yes. I’m so curious my heart is pounding.”

Siol quickly shifted the blame for his pounding heart to his curiosity about the ancient people. He didn’t know if Eorzen had noticed his heart beating violently or not, but he was so conscious of it that he couldn’t help but make an excuse.

“Then I’ll tell you just a little. After that, you must really sleep. Siol, you get tired all day if you don’t sleep properly.”

Even though the story about the ancient people he had so longed to hear had begun, Siol couldn’t focus on it at all. Because he was being held in Eorzen’s arms, Eorzen’s voice was delivered like a whisper to his ear. Clinging only to the vibration of his voice, the warm body heat, and the feel of the arm holding his back tightly, he squeezed his eyes shut and threw his body into the depths of fatigue.

Finally, Siol drifted off to sleep, and the only obstacle separating the two, Siol’s hand, dropped limply. Eorzen pulled that hand, kissed its back, and then placed it on his own body, making it seem as if Siol were hugging him. He closed his eyes in satisfaction.

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

According to the dragon’s lore, the ancient people were originally beings without physical bodies. It was closer to say that they had never once felt the need for a body. They were perfect as they were, content to live, having built their own society within the mana. Then one day, a dragon descended upon their world.

The dragon became the continent. The ancient people, encountering a tangible being for the first time, created bodies to set foot on that land. Having a body also meant having many restrictions.

The stones that pricked the soles of their feet, the oxygen needed to breathe, the certain amount of energy that had to be digested every day.

The ancient people willingly chose the feel of grass tickling the soles of their feet, the fragrant scent of flowers, and the various tastes of food.

Even though they had gained physical bodies, they did not lose their power to handle mana. Life was easy. Their society gradually drifted in a stimulating direction, towards things like lust, debauchery, and pleasure.

The society of the ancient people, so full of indulgence, froze as if cold water had been thrown on it, triggered by a certain event.

It was the death of an ancient one. Only then did the ancient people realize that death, which did not exist for a spiritual entity, existed for a physical body.

They tried to go back, but it was already too late. They had remained in physical bodies for too long. These bodies were already completely one with their souls. They could not be separated until death.

When you die, what happens after that?

Terrified, the ancient people wandered, searching for a way to become spiritual entities again. And one of them hypothesized that by absorbing the earth’s mana with the towers and concentrating it in the royal capital, one might be able to become a being that transcends the physical body if they were to accept it.

“So were the ancient people originally gods when they were spiritual entities?”

Ryufen asked as he licked the cookie crumbs off Siol’s chin. Belatedly, Siol’s cheeks flushed bright red and he pushed Ryufen’s face away, but Ryufen didn’t budge an inch and ate the remaining crumbs. Siol scrubbed his face with his sleeve and complained irritably.

“Ah, I told you not to do that!”

“Then eat without spilling!”

“I just spilled a little cookie… you can just brush it off, so don’t lick me.”

“What can I do about you being so clumsy!”

“Then why don’t you try licking what’s on Sir Eorzen’s lips!”

Frustrated by the continuous back-and-forth, Siol pointed at Eorzen and shouted. In protest that Ryufen was only doing this to him because he couldn’t do it to the other, Ryufen made a slightly reluctant face and then grudgingly shuffled over to Eorzen. It was as if he was sticking his head into the dragon’s maw just to prove he hadn’t done something he couldn’t do.

In the end, Ryufen got slapped on the cheek by Eorzen, flew into the wall, and lay sprawled on the floor with a shriek. Watching Eorzen glare at Ryufen with cold eyes, Siol let out a deep sigh.

He couldn’t understand why Ryufen had to be so stubborn when he could have just not done it.

When he was Sizool, his body was small, so he had no choice but to accept what Ryufen did, but now he had an adult’s body. And not a fledgling adult who had just turned 20, but a real adult who had aged quite a bit.

There’s a limit to treating me like a child…

Complaining inwardly, Siol wiped his damp cheek again and met Ladie’s blank expression. The thought that he had shown an unsightly side of himself to Ladie, who was like a niece if not a daughter, made his cheeks burn again.

Regardless, Ryufen nonchalantly returned to his seat and stabbed a grape with his claw, popping it into his mouth.

The table where Eorzen, Siol, Ladie, and Ryufen were now gathered was filled with warm tea, cookies, pies, cakes, biscuits with jam, cream, and cheese. It was all food that Ryufen had asked the chef to prepare. The chef and Ryufen were said to have been quite close in the past. Back when the chef wasn’t yet the head chef, Ryufen supposedly helped him by eating all the food he cooked so that none of it went to waste. From Siol’s perspective, it just seemed like Ryufen wanted to eat until he burst…

Ryufen put cream and jam on a thick biscuit, ate it in one bite, and then poked Eorzen in the side.

“Huh? Weren’t they originally gods?”

“…One could see it that way.”

Eorzen replied, sounding annoyed.

“Then if the king is following the exact path the ancient people took, does that mean he could become a god if this plan succeeds?”

Ladie asked Eorzen, trying her best to ignore the commotion before her. Eorzen answered her question seriously as well.

“Someday, perhaps it might be possible.”

“‘Someday, perhaps’?”

“A human’s body is too weak to withstand the sorcery of the ancient people, and the core part of that sorcery was lost at the hands of the Demon King. For now, it’s impossible.”

“For now… you say?”

At the ominous opening, Ladie was pressing anxiously when suddenly a cracking sound broke the serious atmosphere. Ryufen, who had been crushing a rock candy with his front paw, shrugged his shoulders at the gazes that gathered on him. His nonchalant expression seemed to say, “What do you want from me?” He crushed the rock candy into small pieces, sprinkled it over a warm milk tea, and then slid it over to Siol.

Siol, who found himself holding a cup of milk tea he hadn’t asked for, froze for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh and apologized on his behalf.

“…Sorry, Ladie. Ryufen keeps…”

“No… it’s alright…”

Even as she said that, Ladie had a rather dumbfounded expression.

Siol gestured with his chin for Ryufen to apologize to Ladie. Ryufen, who had no sense for these things whatsoever, made a new cup of milk tea in a new teacup and slid it towards Ladie. Of course, it was a sweet milk tea with crushed rock candy sprinkled on top. It seemed he thought the atmosphere had soured because he had only made milk tea for Siol.

Oh dear. This would be fine if it were just the therianthropes, but what is this with Ladie here? Ryufen was really something else. The wolf who acted with such gravitas when he stepped forward as the blue dragon’s guardian and the vice-commander of the knight order somehow became this clueless only when it came to serving food. No, rather than clueless, it seemed he thought that feeding others took precedence over anything else.

As Siol washed his dry face in embarrassment, Ladie let out a low laugh. Ladie took the milk tea she was given, took a sip, and smiled gently.

“Master Siol, what you said about doing well was really true.”

Siol, who didn’t understand what she meant for a moment, soon recalled the contents of the notes they had exchanged when he was at Eorzen’s castle. Although Siol had said several times that he was doing well, Ladie hadn’t believed him and had sent several notes telling him to come to her side if he was having a hard time.

“See? I kept telling you.”

“Yes. I believe you completely now. And I also understand why you got along so well with that troublemaker Luber.”

“Well…”

Siol stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Ryufen. Compared to Ryufen, Luber was just a cute, mischievous puppy. Even though he had stopped talking, everyone would have known what he meant, but Ryufen didn’t care and stuffed a biscuit with cheese on it into Siol’s mouth.

Since it was put in his mouth, he chewed it, but this constant behavior was not only embarrassing but also very distracting.

In the end, Siol grabbed Ryufen and spoke in an almost pleading tone.

“Ryufen, please stop. We’re in the middle of a serious conversation. I’ll eat the snacks myself, so…!”

“What serious conversation? It’s just that the human king is doing something stupid and we need to stop him. Why is the story so long? He’s making the towers his. Our princess here will take back the towers in the human lands, and the commander will go to the therianthrope lands to stop him from taking any more. Isn’t that all there is to it? You should come with us. I made sure to feed you well and fatten you up, but why do you look like this again? Just being taller isn’t everything. You’re so skinny I can’t even look at you. Goodness, I’ll have to take you with me and feed you again.”

“No… that is what the story is about, but still, that’s not it.”

“What do you mean, not it?”

Ryufen snorted and scoffed at Siol.

“Princess, am I wrong? You can expand your territory here in the human lands, and we’ll go to the therianthrope lands and take down that king bastard.”

“Ryufen, please stop…”

“It’s true. In the end, it’s a game of taking territory. The one who gets their hands on more towers faster than that bastard wins, and the most crucial part is getting our hands on the royal capital where the mana gathers. Whether he’s throwing a fit trying to become a god or whatever, what’s most important is taking away what he values most.”

Despite Siol’s attempts to stop him, Ryufen continued to speak nonchalantly while looking at Ladie.

Siol wanted to summon Muriel to this spot right now. If he were here, Ryufen wouldn’t be spouting such nonsense.

Of course, Ryufen’s words were surprisingly on point. Ryufen had a power to simplify complex problems. To put it nicely, you could say he had an exceptional talent for discerning the importance of a situation, but to put it badly, you could also say he didn’t think about the consequences. If Muriel or Eorzen hadn’t cleaned up the messes Ryufen made in that manner, he might have had three or four enemies by now.

Siol sighed deeply, pressed Ryufen’s snout shut, and then explained the part Ladie had been curious about earlier.

“It’s impossible for now, but it might be possible someday, Ladie. At dawn, when we were talking about the knowledge of the past, you asked, Ladie. If there was a way to overcome death.”

Ryufen shook his head free. Siol stuffed a butter cookie into his mouth to stop him from talking and continued.

“I hadn’t thought of it before you mentioned it then, but yes. Yes, I think there is. That man has clearly figured out a way to gather mana and live an infinite life, an eternal life. That’s why he was no longer afraid of death, and to one day transcend death and become a god, he’s now even gone to the therianthrope lands to gather mana.”

A heavy silence settled over the table.

The king was trying to use the mana of the people on this continent to extend his own life. To think that the cause of all the terrible things that had happened so far was merely the desire to achieve eternal life. Would it have felt a little better if it had been a desire to achieve some great feat?

“…I will take the royal capital as soon as possible.”

Ladie, who had been lost in thought while rubbing her teacup with her thumb, declared.

“Since the mana is gathering in the royal capital, that man will eventually have to return to the royal capital to achieve his goal. I will take the royal capital before that.”

“Yes, the king still doesn’t know what’s happening in this land, so now is our chance.”