TDAA Ch 67
by soapa“Then what is it?”
Ryufen asked as he pushed the dining room door open with his butt. He was dragging in a sizzling plate of rhinoceros steak the size of his own body.
Siol replied, looking at the huge chunk of meat with a weary face.
“It’s just that my stomach is weak, so I can’t digest a lot of food. I just can’t eat for a few days, and I might feel nauseous, or dizzy, or break out in a cold sweat, or get a headache, but it’s nothing much….”
Siol, who had been rattling off the list, shut his mouth when he saw the shocked gazes directed at him.
It seemed that explaining the symptoms had only brought about more alarm. Not only Ladie and Budril, but even Eorzen’s expression was not good.
Eorzen, his face pale, said.
“Please eat only as much as you can, Siol.”
“I was going to do that even if you didn’t say anything….”
Siol felt that his health evaluation among the dragon and wolves had just dropped another notch.
Still, this was better than being force-fed like with Ryufen and then being sick in bed for days. Managing his condition was important now, as he had to go see the king in a few days.
Afterward, they talked about various things while eating. Mostly, the conversation was an introduction to Arteum, the new room prepared for Siol, famously delicious foods, and fun things to enjoy in other nearby cities. It seemed Ladie and Budril were afraid that Siol would leave with the dragon soon.
Siol, who had rolled up the new dish and salad Eorzen served him and swallowed it, said.
“Um, actually. Father’s cooking is more delicious than Ryufen’s.”
“Is that so?”
Budril beamed, and Ryufen, chewing his meat, twitched his lips in dissatisfaction.
“Yes. Back then, Ryufen was being so insistent, so I just said that.”
“I’m truly happy to hear you correct that. If there’s anything you want to eat, please tell me anytime.”
“…But, Father. Why are you using honorifics with me?”
Siol, who grew up in a city in Korea, had never been spoken to with honorifics by an adult until he grew up. When he was working as an alchemist and a guide, he was sometimes treated with respect by older people due to his position, but family wasn’t supposed to be like that, was it?
He had actually wanted to ask for a while now, but he couldn’t, thinking that perhaps Budril didn’t welcome him.
But today’s Budril felt like he genuinely liked him….
“Are my honorifics uncomfortable for you? It’s just… I’ve never used informal language in my life….”
“Budril, the child says he doesn’t like it, so don’t be stubborn.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
At Ladie’s words, a tense Budril looked at Siol and opened his mouth.
“…Siol.”
“Yes.”
“E-eat… a lot….”
It was a very awkward way of speaking. Siol smiled softly and nodded, saying, “Okay.”
To be honest, at first, he hadn’t been entirely happy about Ladie and Budril’s dinner invitation. He had never once experienced a family in his life, and had only vaguely guessed what it might be like from books or the lives of those around him.
So while he vaguely wanted it, he was also afraid.
They’re happy now because I’m a child they’ve just found, but what if one day they become disappointed in me… what if they regret finding me? It was a bad habit of Siol’s for his imagination to run in a negative direction.
He hated that about himself too, but he couldn’t help it. For Siol, fear was a pair that inevitably came with anticipation.
“Mother, Father, you eat a lot too.”
When Siol said that, the two of them beamed with flushed faces.
“In moderation. Only as much as you can eat.”
Eorzen emphasized once more from the side with a firm face. Siol giggled and poked his salad with a fork.
When he had confessed such feelings to Eorzen yesterday, he had tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand and said.
‘Siol, I think you’re misunderstanding something. In this relationship, the decision-maker is not them, but you. They are the ones who should be afraid of you. If they were to hurt you even a little, I would take you and leave.’
And then he had declared that he would make sure they never saw his face again.
Siol had just laughed it off. Just like when he had to teach Asios how to make a prosthetic leg after kicking him out of the lab, Eorzen always took his side.
But seeing Ladie and Budril’s reactions, it seemed that what he said might have been true. No, the relationship probably wasn’t that extreme, but it was clear that at least those two were also feeling emotions similar to Siol’s.
Ladie and Budril, just like him, felt awkward in this relationship, yet were at a loss, wanting to get closer to the other, and at the same time, were feeling afraid that they wouldn’t do a good job.
“By the way, for the Blue Dragon to know so well… does that mean the child suffered from an upset stomach over there?”
When Budril pointed this out sharply, Ryufen, who was eating on the floor, flinched.
He didn’t miss Siol’s gaze flicking towards Ryufen before returning.
“Ryufen.”
“…No, back then, I didn’t know he was so weak. And it was really just one time.”
“To feed a child until he gets sick, that’s….”
“Let’s not pick on me when you would have done the same thing today if I hadn’t, brother-in-law.”
At those words, Budril pursed his lips but kept his mouth shut.
This time, Ladie asked Siol.
“You said you’re waiting for the day the king occupies another city? What are you planning to do until then?”
“I need to make a few things in preparation for that day. Until the preparations are done, I’m just going to rest in my room. And have meals together as a family like this.”
“I see. Right…. I understand.”
Siol completely missed the sight of Ladie nodding and exchanging a look with Budril.
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
Asios, having received the shadow compass from Ladie, left the Meric territory immediately. Some useless baggage was added in the process, but fortunately, it wasn’t too much of a hindrance.
They had departed in the early morning, and by the time it was lunch, the movement of the shadow compass finally changed. It meant the destination was nearby. As there happened to be a very suspicious forest nearby, the group headed towards it. A patch of purple bushes nestled within an ordinary forest. Inside, hundreds of monsters were coiled up, waiting to greet Asios’s party.
“Don’t back down, you idiot!”
“I-I’m not backing down!”
Luber, who had taken a step back, lunged forward and struck a monster with his shield. The monster, its neck half-torn, died, but there was no time to rest. Luber clenched his teeth and swung his sword and shield.
After Siol left him behind, Luber had had many regrets. It was the moment his life motto of working just enough within the limits of what he could do while being doted on changed. With that mindset, you couldn’t keep up with someone who was moving forward.
He didn’t want to experience being left behind again.
“There aren’t many left. You guys keep it up too!”
A man who had transformed into a bear grabbed a nearby tree trunk, and with a roar, began to rip it out and swing it. It was tremendous power. Every time the large tree swung through the air, monsters flew through the air with it.
By the time Asios, in his transformed state, had scratched the ground some thirty times with the sharp talons of a giant bird and the hooves of a giant deer were soaked in blood, the battle was finally over.
“No time to rest. Let’s go.”
Asios returned to his human form and ran, gauging the direction by turning the shadow compass this way and that.
After running for about ten minutes into the purple bushes, dealing with the occasional monster that appeared, a strange lake emerged.
Trees had grown with their branches intertwined, completely covering the area above the lake. It was an abnormal sight. It wouldn’t be strange if it were a small pond, but the lake was too wide for that. It was clearly camouflaged to be invisible from the outside.
There was almost no sunlight, and in the damp, murky air, there was a smell like incense.
“Here! There’s an altar over here!”
Luber, who had been diligently scanning the surroundings to do his part, shouted. The witch’s altar was hidden among the bushes. As they cleared the bushes away, the shadow in the shadow compass violently threw itself towards it.
“Can I break it, Asios?”
Asios was about to answer Luber when the bear, who had approached the lake, suddenly screamed, “Aaargh!” The other knights besides the bear were also looking in that direction with pale faces.
Asios, wondering what was wrong, approached and his face soon hardened as well.
“How many… Nanthaniels are there?”
“Well, five…? Ten…?”
The inside of the lake was full of waterweeds, and whenever the surface of the water rippled in the wind, the waterweeds swayed with it. And among them, Nanthaniel was swaying as well.
“Get them all out.”
The sight of the Nanthaniels with their eyes closed looked so vividly human that it invoked a strange sense of horror, as if they would all open their eyes at any moment. As the knights hesitated without realizing it, Luber stepped forward.
“I’ll go. I’m not scared of stuff like that!”
Luber didn’t hesitate and jumped into the water, pulling out a nearby Nanthaniel. It was a very brave act. In truth, the land of humans hadn’t suffered much damage from the witch, so there was little fear, but the beastkin who didn’t know this were impressed and looked at Luber in a new light.
Nanthaniel, sprawled out like a corpse, neither opened his eyes nor moved.
“Get to work, you guys.”
At the sharp command, the knights also began to move.
“Hurry!!”
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
Exactly twenty-seven bodies.
It was more than expected. Besides the ones hidden in the bushes, there were also some in the mud at the bottom. They were so cleverly hidden that if the leopard hadn’t kicked the bottom while trying to come up to the surface and stepped on one, they would never have been found.
Anxious that there might be a Nathaniel they couldn’t find, Asios eventually proposed cutting down all the aquatic plants in the lake and combing through the mud at the bottom, just in case. The knights, knowing this was related to the blue dragon and his mate, willingly accepted, and in the end, they found six more Nathaniels.
“…They don’t burn well. My back nearly broke from chopping wood.”
They burned all the bodies of Nathaniel they found. Witches were the kind of people you never knew what strange spell they might use to stab you in the back. Leaving even a small piece behind could lead to it multiplying and resurrecting, so turning them into charcoal was the only way to feel safe.
The knights, who already held a grudge against witches, meticulously stomped on the remaining bones, grinding them to dust.
“Let’s destroy the altar too!”
“Yeah, let’s destroy it! Let’s grind it to powder!”
“His skill at running away was no joke. Then he just suddenly died. Can’t be helped. Let’s at least stomp the altar to bits!”
The knights, who had shouted excitedly, looked back at Asios. Asios shook his head with a slight smile before giving them a nod to proceed.
He watched from a short distance as the altar was smashed to pieces with a loud clatter. This was to check if any retaliatory spell would be activated or if a curse would spread when the altar was destroyed.
As the altar crumbled, the shadow compass’s reaction died down. It was losing its destination.
Soon, Nathaniel’s name would be completely erased.
“Asios.”
Luber, who hadn’t dared to join the giant beasts in smashing the altar and had been standing by Asios’s side, suddenly called out to him.
“Asios, look. This is strange.”
“What is?”
“The shadow is trying to go somewhere else.”
“What?”
Checking the shadow compass again, Asios’s expression hardened. The shadow, which had been settled on the ground just moments ago, was once again rushing toward a new direction.
Just then, the beastmen, having completely pulverized the altar, were returning to Asios.
“Wow, that was refreshing.”
“Phew. That was tough!”
“What was that thing made of that it was so hard to break? I had a hard time grinding it to powder.”
“Asios, let’s go home now!”
“Yeah, let’s go! We have to go back and tell them we destroyed everything, that they don’t need to worry anymore!”
The beastmen, having completed their mission, shouted excitedly, but Asios remained stiff, gritting his teeth.
“Brothers, I think we’ll have to go home later.”
“What? Why? Is there a secret mission?”
“Wait, what’s wrong with that thing? Why… does it look like it’s trying to go somewhere again?”
“We destroyed the altar. We burned all of Nathaniel’s bodies too. Is it broken?”
“There’s no way something Sir Siol made would be broken!!”
The leopard swung his prosthetic arm and smacked the back of the snake who had suggested it might be broken. The snake was about to retaliate but looked at the leopard’s prosthetic arm and sighed, shaking his head.
The beastmen with prosthetic arms and legs were all fanatics of Siol. It was especially severe for those who had gone from being knights to civilians and then returned to being knights thanks to their prosthetics. Criticizing something Siol made in front of them was as good as asking for a fight. One couldn’t really fight back telling them to knock it off, as they understood the feelings of those who had become unable to run or hold a weapon ever again, only to regain the ability to move freely.
Of course, Asios knew that the one who made the shadow compass was Budril, not Siol, but he didn’t bother to point out the truth. That wasn’t what was important right now.
“There are more altars.”
For the shadow to point in another direction meant that there was another altar drawing it in. It had been pointing toward this place until the altar here was not completely destroyed, and once it was, it began heading for the second destination.
“This wasn’t the end? Wait, then how many more are there?”
“I don’t know. What’s important, brothers, is that we have to destroy all of them, no matter how many there are.”
The beastmen silently began to prepare to leave again.
“Luber, what are you doing?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t know; it was a scolding for just standing there blankly. But Luber walked blankly to where the altar had been, plopped down, and began to frantically brush away the debris on the ground.
“This, I’ve seen it before.”
The altar the beasts had destroyed was in the shape of a round stone table placed on a wide, flat rock, and thanks to them destroying it all, the ground underneath was exposed. And on one side of that ground, a triangle was drawn. Not in the middle, but off to one side.
“You’ve seen it before? Where?”
“In Master Siol’s laboratory.”
Luber picked up a piece of black charcoal and began to draw lines over the triangle.
“He said this was the original shape. But he also said that people who handle sorcery sometimes use this as a substitute for numbers.”
It was an unfamiliar shape to Asios, but it was a pentagram.
“This is the top point, so it’s number 1. Since it’s a star shape with five points, there are probably four more altars besides this one.”
“…Well done, Luber. Looks like you didn’t just play around in Master Siol’s laboratory.”
As Asios pressed down on Luber’s head and started to stroke it generously, the other beastmen also came over, patting Luber’s head and back in praise. Luber groaned in pain but grinned and rejoiced.
He had been making a fuss about showing something on this mission, and he ended up showing something after all. And it was in the area of information, something completely unexpected.
But there was no more time to be joyful.
“Brothers, he says there are four more. Let’s hurry.”
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
“Umm….”
As soon as Siol woke up, without even opening his eyes, he reached for the nightstand beside the bed. After fumbling a few times, the object his hand finally grasped was a pouch.
“Siol.”
“Ah…!”
Eorzen pulled Siol into his arms. Eorzen gently stroked Siol’s back and whispered in a languid voice.
“You should sleep more.”
“Just let me check this….”
“There’s nothing urgent.”
Saying that, Eorzen climbed on top of Siol’s body. Shifting half his weight onto him, the dragon began to shower kisses on his cheek, nose, and lips.
“If it’s not urgent, you should be giving that time to me. Hm?”
“No, it’ll just take a moment… Nngh…!”
Eorzen moved downwards. The path he took, kissing slowly from the tip of the chin to the neck, and then to the collarbone, was already full of marks from the previous night. Marks made by sucking or biting. Siol didn’t dislike Eorzen leaving marks, and Eorzen took Siol’s silence as permission to mark his territory as he pleased.
Trying his best to ignore the sensation of his collarbone being gently nibbled, Siol struggled to put his hand inside the pouch.
Eorzen bit down hard on Siol’s neck.
“Ah…!”
Groaning, Siol dropped the pouch and flinched. A ticklish, chilling sensation, like walking a dangerous path, was shooting up from around his waist.
“Ngh, wait…, just a moment….”
“How long is a moment?”
“Uh…. Five minutes…?”
Eorzen bit his neck hard again. Siol let out a pained sound and quickly changed his words.
“Ngh…! One minute, I’ll check it in one minute!”
“Very well. One minute.”
Eorzen nodded, picked up the pouch, and handed it to Siol, while he himself moved further down. His hands undoing the buttons were swift.
Didn’t you say you’d give me one minute? Feeling wronged, Siol tried to push Eorzen’s shoulder away, but with their difference in size, it was impossible.
“Where did my one minute go?”
“It’s been exactly 10 seconds, Siol.”
“What did you say?”
“For one minute, I won’t do anything but undress you, so get your business done.”
Why doesn’t he realize that the act of undressing itself isn’t ‘doing nothing’?
Siol felt extremely wronged, but he quickly checked inside the pouch. A note from Ladie had arrived.
[Master Siol, did you know that there wasn’t just one altar? Asios said he destroyed five of them. What happened was….]
Just then, Eorzen snatched the note Siol was reading and the pouch, and threw them under the bed.
I was reading the important part! But before Siol could utter a word of complaint, Eorzen began to kiss him deeply. It was doubtful that a minute had really passed. However, his resolve to properly complain once the kiss was over shattered the moment he met Eorzen’s eyes.
Eyes wet with heat were fixedly entangling Siol, as if wanting to delve inside him right away.
Eorzen was a coward. He surely knew that when he made such a distorted expression, as if he couldn’t hold back, Siol was utterly unable to push him away.
“…I don’t want to do it sitting up.”
“Alright. Then on our sides this time.”
At the roundabout words of consent, Eorzen smiled, his face still contorted.
What’s this about on our sides now, Siol thought, but he still stretched out both his arms and hugged Eorzen’s neck tightly.
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
In the end, it was well into the afternoon before he could properly read Ladie’s note.
Asios had destroyed five altars, and it was Luber who had figured out there were five. Luber, that Luber, had provided the information from things he’d overheard while lazing around in Siol’s laboratory. Siol suspected he might have misread the name. Luber did that? It’s commendable, but is it really true?
In any case, it was safe to say the threat of Nathaniel was now gone. The one remaining danger was the shadow inside the shadow compass, which Siol planned to ask the deliveryman to completely get rid of.
“Siol, it would be good to put on another shawl.”
Siol obediently draped the shawl Eorzen placed on his shoulders.
The wolf’s mansion was a bit cold. Even with the windows closed tightly, cold air seeped into the room. Seeing as the walls themselves were on the thin side, it seemed less a lack of skill and more that the wolves simply didn’t feel the cold much.
After the shawl came warm black tea. Sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, Siol was surrounded by a warm blanket, a shawl, and black tea. Eorzen sat next to him, and if Siol showed even the slightest sign of discomfort, he would bring a new blanket, add logs to the fireplace, make fresh tea, or massage Siol’s stiff body.
Siol narrowed his eyes and glared at Eorzen.
“Not there, just the calves.”
Siol pointed out to Eorzen, the owner of the hand that was slyly moving up to his thigh.
“But your thighs must be quite sore.”
“…To think you knew this would happen and still.”
Even at his expression of shock-tinged surprise, Eorzen merely smiled gently.
Siol, looking like he had a lot to say, mumbled with his mouth before finally letting out just one sentence.
“I don’t like it on our sides either.”
“I understand.”
“You understand?”
Contrary to his expectation, the response was too compliant.
There’s no way he doesn’t know we’re talking about last night, so he’s letting it go this easily? After being so persistent and tenacious?
Eorzen nonchalantly brushed off that suspicious gaze and began to massage Siol’s thigh muscles. Siol flinched, then felt unjustly wronged by the utterly platonic touch. Eorzen was the one who had been dying to do something lewd, but now it felt like he was the only one thinking about it.
No, it’s not that I want to do something lewd right now, it’s just that he’s so different between night and day….
It wasn’t that he disliked it, but because he didn’t dislike it, it was a problem. A future of being dragged around by Eorzen was clearly laid out before him. Thinking only of the emotional part was all good, but the nights… the nights were so exhausting….
“Siol, do you really have no intention of breaking the curse?”
“…I’m not going to.”
Siol retorted, glaring at Eorzen reflexively.
He had an ominous premonition that if he became healthier, he would have to spend nights that were just as long in proportion to his improved health.
“That’s a shame.”
But contrary to his expectations, Eorzen was just releasing the muscles in Siol’s thigh with an expression that didn’t hide his pity. With a very platonic touch.
Considering that touch, which held not a single ulterior motive, perhaps his suspicion was a bit excessive….
Siol quietly changed the subject.
“Anyway, we can completely stop worrying about the Nathaniel problem now. Nathaniel is dead, the shadow is trapped in the compass, they said all his clones were burned, and Nathaniel’s main body was killed too.”
“He was a truly persistent and tenacious son of a bitch.”
Siol burst out into chuckles.
“Why are you swearing so politely?”
Eorzen shrugged and turned Siol’s body to start massaging the other thigh.
“Now, once we catch and kill the king, it will all really be over.”
“You’re calling the king just ‘the king’ again?”
“…To be honest, I hate Nathaniel more than the king, Siol.”
“Uh… why?”
“That bastard was the one who told me your location.”
Not understanding what he meant, Siol tilted his head for a moment before letting out a soft, “Ah.” It was about the day they first met. The blue dragon had said he found Siol’s location after hearing information spread by Nathaniel.
“That’s really okay.”
“Still, I will regret that for the rest of my life.”
“But dragons live for a very long time.”
“Yes. For a very long time.”
Siol, who had been half-lying on the sofa, sat up, held Eorzen’s cheeks in his hands, and met his gaze.
“I don’t like that.”
Then he changed his words.
“No, I hate it more when you pretend to be okay. But I also don’t like seeing you so dejected….”
“……”
“Alright. Then we’ll go with it not being okay. But it will be okay once you kill the king for me. How about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm… I guess that doesn’t make it okay for you. Then you’ll have to make mana stones for me for the rest of your life. How about that?”
Eorzen, with a face that showed no understanding, asked back dumbly.
“Are you telling me to pay you back with my body?”
“That’s right. Pay me back with your body for the rest of your life.”
“That’s… a proposal I quite like.”
At a strange premonition, Siol flinched.
“…Your tone just now… was somewhat suspicious.”
“Whatever do you mean.”
Siol couldn’t think of how to interrogate the denying Eorzen, so he just stared at him suspiciously. Eorzen, who must have felt that subtle gaze, was just smiling gently.
It’s daytime right now, so surely not, right?
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
For the past three days, Siol and Eorzen had spent their time in their room, except for meals. They made a few alchemy tools and talked about how they would live in the future. Surprisingly, Eorzen’s vision for the future had no plans for his city at all; it was filled entirely with things about how he would go on trips and do fun things with Siol.
“You can’t be that irresponsible!”
At the near-horrified criticism, Eorzen let out a low laugh.
“The city’s administration will be fine even without me. I can just put a suitable subordinate… no, Muriel, in charge.”
“I think Muriel would do a good job, but that’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
“Oh my, what if monsters flock to the city? I heard it’s fine for now, but….”
Eorzen shrugged and continued.
“Siol, dragons have the power to chase away monsters, and a dragon’s scale can serve as a vessel to contain a dragon’s power.”
“I heard about that.”
He touched his neck, plucked off a single scale, and held it out to Siol.
This brightly glowing blue scale wasn’t just beautiful; it was a precious commodity that was a compression of enormous power. The people living on this land, and even the deliveryman, loved dragon scales.
“So, I can just stop by the city about once a year and leave a new scale.”
“…Just once a year?”
Siol stared blankly at Eorzen’s scale in his hand before speaking.
“Then you could maintain dozens of cities all by yourself, Sir Eorzen. That’s amazing!”
“Hmm. It would be possible, but after a few dozen years, I’d end up looking like I’ve been plucked bare. To last a year, I’d have to use fresh scales, not shed ones.”
“Ahaha! You’re right. Then that won’t do.”
Siol burst out laughing at his words.
He didn’t want to even imagine the sight of a blue dragon with holes all over its body from having dozens of scales plucked off every year.
After a good laugh, Siol fell into deep thought for a moment, then leaned toward Eorzen and asked.
“Then, for about a month out of the year, shall we hole up somewhere, just the two of us?”
“Hole up, you say?”
“Yes. You said it before. That if a dragon and a dragon fell in love, they would end up holed up in some cave. If it’s for about a month, I can do that for you.”
Eorzen wore a blank expression.
He never imagined that his words about a dragon’s possessiveness would come back to him like this. In fact, he had thought that it might have given Siol a sense of aversion. Because, being told that their possessiveness was so extreme they would even act so as not to displease their mate would not be a particularly pleasant thing for a non-dragon to hear.
“But I don’t like damp and humid places, so I don’t want more than a month.”
“The place doesn’t necessarily have to be a cave.”
Eorzen explained urgently.
“Anywhere is fine, as long as we can be alone. As long as we can be just the two of us, without meeting anyone.”
“So you’re saying it would be okay to just build a cabin in a secluded place and stay there?”
“Of course. As long as we can be alone, anywhere is fine. The cave was merely a figure of speech.”
“What? I thought we absolutely had to go to a cave.”
Siol burst out laughing.
How could he not have known that it was a figure of speech? He thought dragons must like dark, damp places. Since they were reptiles, after all.
“Can I do alchemy research when we’re alone?”
“Of course.”
“Then three months is fine too.”
At that, Eorzen smiled brightly, lowered his head, and kissed him. His face was so beautiful it was dazzling.
Siol inwardly thought that Eorzen really wasn’t greedy at all. Siol wasn’t someone who enjoyed wandering around in the first place, and when he was engrossed in research, what were three months? He was a person who had once not even stepped out into the garden for half a year. He also wasn’t the type to feel particularly lonely just because he couldn’t meet other people.
Though his newfound family did weigh on his mind a little….
As if sensing that Siol’s thoughts had drifted, Eorzen grabbed his chin. Thanks to that, the thought of his family that had briefly surfaced in Siol’s mind flew away. Siol stared blankly up at Eorzen, who was radiant with joy.
Ah, how can this man be so pretty? On top of that, thinking that this dragon was his own made him feel more beautiful with each passing day. If things continued like this, the day might really come when they go into a cave and hole up.
“Siol….”
Their gazes, filled with heat, clashed hotly.
It was night, the time when Eorzen, who acted like a gentleman during the day, would transform into a completely different person.
Eorzen held Siol’s waist tightly and pulled his shoulders. Siol’s head tilted slightly, and just as their lips, tilted in opposite directions, were about to explore the other’s mouth—
“Siol, let’s go out!!”
Bang! The wolf who came barging in with a clatter was Ryufen. He pushed the door open with his body and shouted excitedly.
Siol, startled, found himself sitting about three steps away from Eorzen. He didn’t even know he could move that fast. With the hair on his entire body standing on end, Siol awkwardly stood up from his spot.
“Wh-where are we going at this time of night?”
Siol’s movements were clearly strange, but Ryufen was too excited to notice at all. He chuckled, “Ehehehe,” and turned stylishly to point outside.
“Outside! Ehehehehe. Do you have any idea how hard your brother-in-law and I prepared for today? Let’s go, let’s go!”
“No, what on earth did you prepare?”
“What do you mean, what? It’s your welcome party! Huh? Sir Commander, why do you have that expression?”
Eorzen stood up from his seat, annoyed. He looked like he wanted to grind Ryufen to dust right then and there.
“…Never mind.”
He clicked his tongue, glared at Ryufen, and then gentlemanly wrapped an arm around Siol’s shoulders.
Ryufen made a suspicious face, but Eorzen pretended not to notice. He couldn’t let Siol become fidgety because of this clueless wolf.
Eorzen was a dragon who was uninhibited with physical affection in front of anyone, but Siol was different. Siol was extremely shy about being seen by others doing anything more than holding hands or hugging.
Nevertheless, there were times when Siol’s wishes had to be ignored. Namely, when a rival approached. In order to boldly eliminate a rival who dared to approach Siol without knowing their place, it was necessary to usually act gentlemanly in accordance with Siol’s wishes.
Eorzen reached out and wiped Siol’s moist lips with his thumb. Siol’s cheeks turned red.
“Shall we go, Siol.”
“Yes…. Ah, just a moment!”
Siol, who had started to walk, ran back to the bed and picked up his pouch. Siol hurriedly wrote a reply to Ladie, sent it, and then shoved the pouch into his breast pocket. He had asked her to contact him immediately if she learned of the king’s next location.
“Hurry up, hurry! What’s taking you so long?”
In the meantime, Ryufen had excitedly run to the door by himself and was now rushing them, asking why they weren’t coming out. Ryufen, who poked his head through the doorway, looked at Eorzen coming with Siol with a displeased expression for a moment, then said in a swaggering, boastful tone like a ruffian.
“It’s a welcome party for Siol, but—well, I guess the Commander can tag along if he wants.”
Eorzen said nothing and just shook his head, following behind with Siol.
Feeling awkward on Ryufen’s behalf, Siol whispered softly.
“…I really don’t know why he’s like that.”
He said it simply because he was embarrassed and ashamed of the fussy Ryufen.
Ever since finding out Siol was his nephew, Ryufen had been openly disapproving of Eorzen. Ryufen’s claim was that while Eorzen was a magnificent dragon and a powerful leader, he was too bad at romance to be marrying his nephew.
What could he do about his disapproval? Siol found it absurd, but for some reason, it was difficult to speak strongly to Ryufen. When Siol subtly chided him to stop, Ryufen would get incredibly upset, saying,
‘You don’t even know I’m doing all this for you…!!’
In the end, Eorzen, seeing Siol’s predicament, told him to just leave it be.
He said that no matter what Ryufen did, he wouldn’t get hurt at all.
Siol felt needlessly sorry and held Eorzen’s hand tightly.
“I said hurry up!”
⋆୨🔮୧⋆
Upon leaving the mansion, the first to greet him were the knights guarding the main gate, who each handed him a flower. The small, faintly glowing flowers shone beautifully in the darkness. Because Ryufen was pulling at his clothes, Siol couldn’t even greet them properly.
“No time for that. If you greet everyone one by one, we won’t get to do anything tonight.”
Siol was completely flustered because of the overly hasty Ryufen. He received flowers and wasn’t even allowed to say thank you? He was about to argue that it was too much, when an incredible sight unfolded before his eyes.
It was definitely night, but the outside of the mansion was brightly lit. The small flowers he held in his hand were decorated on the buildings along the street, twinkling and shining.
“Wow… this is amazing. What on earth are these flowers?”
“Brother-in-law asked me what you liked at the festival in Meric territory, so I told him how you stared in a daze when they started lighting fires at night, and he went and got them. He said he dug them up from a colony over that mountain.”
“…They’re beautiful.”
At the festival in Meric territory, how beautiful had the flames that colored the dark night orange seemed. As long as the flames danced, it felt as if the festival, and their date, would never end. It had felt like walking through eternity.
But a similar scene was unfolding before him now.
The only difference was that flowers were glowing instead of flames. How many flowers could they have picked?
Siol stared blankly in admiration before being led by Ryufen again and starting to walk down the road.
“Let’s go! First, we just have to walk straight down this main road. This road goes all the way around the outskirts of the city.”
Ryufen said excitedly, wagging his tail back and forth.
Siol nodded absentmindedly, then lost himself in thought upon seeing the large bonfire blazing beyond Ryufen. In a bold display, the wolves had lit a huge bonfire in the middle of the main road and were roasting a whole pig. As Siol passed by, they offered him meat on a skewer without him even asking. Siol took two, was about to give one to Eorzen and one to Ryufen, but then saw Ryufen already chewing with his mouth full of meat and just ate it himself. It was delicious.
Glancing at the atmosphere, he saw that while it was a festival, the nature of it being a welcome party was stronger, as the stalls were giving out food without taking money.
The scenes were similar to human ones, yet subtly different. As Siol walked, holding Eorzen’s hand and looking around blankly, someone suddenly approached from the side. It was a small wolf pup. The little wolf, who had manifested into its wolf form, trotted over and offered Siol a flower it was holding in its mouth. When Siol took it, the child said with a nervous look.
“Welcome, young master.”
“Uh… Huh? Oh, thank you….”
“Well…, the adults told me to do it, but….”
The child was honest. The child, who had been fidgeting while glancing around, suddenly rushed at Siol and licked his cheek.
“Regardless of that, I like you, young master. Maybe later, you and I—GACK!”
The child was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and flung away. The one who did it was, of course, Eorzen. He glared at the kid rolling on the ground, not hiding his displeased expression. The wolves watching from the sidelines burst out laughing.
As the child cried out in frustration, “I was just trying to play!” another wolf comforted him while laughing. Siol was very concerned about them, but he couldn’t see any more because Eorzen subtly pulled his hand to start walking, and Ryufen was also nudging his back with his nose.
That was the beginning.
“Welcome, young master!”
A wolf who was grilling meat on an iron plate threw a flower and greeted him. As soon as Siol looked that way, another greeting flew from another direction. Flowers rained down on Siol. The wolves who met Siol’s eyes either placed flowers in his arms or sprinkled them over his head. Wolves with gentle eyes said hello to Siol and passed by. The small greetings, offered so as not to startle or burden Siol, piled up one by one, filling his arms.
After a little while, Siol was holding a full armful of flowers. The flowers that Siol couldn’t hold properly fell to the ground with a patter. Siol looked back with a regretful expression. But behind him, a path of flowers stretched out. It glowed like a trail, as if to mark the path Siol had walked.
Siol once again stared at the sight in a daze, before being urged by Ryufen and starting to walk again.
“This is strange. Why go to such lengths for me…. Why do you all treat me so…. Why?”
Siol asked Ryufen, walking slowly while buried in glowing flowers.