TEB Ch 83

*** 

About half a day before the major incident, Renard, who had met the sisters in the basement, a space designed to be more comfortable but still felt like a prison, finally realized their true purpose.

“……” 

Upon hearing their story, Renard’s first thought was, “This has nothing to do with me.” He still had no interest in humans outside of Liev, and the same went for other perfect beings, like dragons. If they didn’t make an effort to interact with humans, there must have been a reason. The same applied to Mahatra. It was foolish and pointless for anyone to try persuading him otherwise.

However, Margret didn’t give up. She clung to Renard, pleading with him to help them secure just one meeting where they could make their appeal in person. She was on the verge of tears, as if this was their last hope. Even for Renard, it wasn’t easy to simply say “no” to her face.

Renard was also worried about Liev’s reaction. Liev had a tendency to nag him, saying there was no need to speak so coldly. Responding harshly wasn’t a good idea, especially since the girl in front of him appeared to be a patient with little time left to live. The clear shadow of death emanating from someone whose days were numbered pushed Renard to imagine the kind of nagging Liev would unleash.

“Hmm…”

A few weeks ago when Renard heard that Liev would unnecessarily treat sick animals without receiving proper compensation, he complained to Liev and grumbled. Why are you doing such pointless things? You could just enjoy yourself without lifting a finger, so why create more work for yourself? When he started nagging him, the answer he got back was clear. 

“I don’t like ignoring children who need me just because it’s not my job when I can easily help them.”

Since when did he start calling these furry animals “children”? Renard could feel his blood boiling, but he couldn’t argue with Liev if he wanted to do it. And when he thought about it more, he realized that Liev had many beings that he cared about, but Renard was the only one who slept beside him and shared pleasant things together. After realizing this, Renard’s mood improved slightly.

“Sigh, I like him more, so I can’t help it.”

Renard let out a long sigh like Liev usually did as he finally made up his mind to help the sisters. Renard was also annoyed by the constant gazes directed towards him ever since stepping foot into the castle. If Lindgren was going to claim this as his territory, he should have managed it properly and prevented any other dragons from setting foot there. Instead, he was just being irritating.

Thus, Renard put into action this intuitive yet reckless plan to provoke Lindgren to the point of exploding his patience(?).

After a brief moment of reminiscing, Renard snapped back to reality and looked at Liev with a smug expression, ignoring the stares of Lindgren and the sisters, He looked directed at Liev. With a confident expression, he gave a look that seemed to say, “Didn’t I do well?” Liev momentarily furrowed his eyebrows in bewilderment, as if to ask, “What’s so great about that?” But before he could speak, Lindgren stomped his massive paw on the ground, causing a tremor and drawing everyone’s attention.

[“How dare you mock me!”]

The vibrations spread like a herd of beasts stampeding from afar, making everyone’s bodies tremble. While others squeezed their eyes shut and braced themselves, Renard alone stood with his arms crossed and spoke indifferently.

“It’s not that I mocked you, it’s that you neglected it. If you’re going to wash your hands of it, leave it alone as if it doesn’t concern you. You don’t want to take responsibility and didn’t even mark it as your territory. Isn’t it strange to be bothered by other dragons roaming around?”

Renard was the only one who could make such outrageous yet direct remarks to an obviously furious ancient dragon. Although technically not wrong, it was still shocking to everyone.

While everyone else was still in shock, Margret, who had been paralyzed by the dragon’s intimidating presence, finally managed to speak.

“Please, I beg of you…! Just this once, if you help me, I’ll do anything I can!”

Renard found it ridiculous that she said she would do anything when she was so scared that she couldn’t even raise her head properly. No matter what she did, there was no way she could satisfy the level of what a dragon wanted. Dragons knew what they wanted. It wasn’t something that could be bought with treasure that would be considered valuable to humans. Even the lord of this castle didn’t have the power to offer a feast of tens or hundreds of livestock as delicacies. What kind of confidence did she have? Even Lindgren felt that the earnest attitude was laughable in the same way. 

[……] 

But Lindgren said nothing and simply looked down at her sisters. Finally, Margret, with her eyes tightly shut, clung to her sister, trembling as if she were ready to die on the spot. Having fulfilled his role of provoking Lindgren, Renard just watched them with a look that said he wished it would all be over soon.

*** 

“Hey, I saw it again! Renard stepping up to help others.” 

“We really weren’t expecting it, how did he do such a noble thing?” 

“……” 

After everything was resolved, the group, with nothing left to do but leave, began to openly praise Renard, as if they were praising a naughty child who had finally done something good. Although they always complained about his uncooperative nature, they might have been half hoping to change him through praise and compliments, while the other half just wanted to tease him. However, Renard didn’t seem affected by any of it.

“Did I do well?” 

It seemed as if all that Renard only cared about was Liev’s opinion, completely treating the rest of the group like air and focusing solely on Liev, proving that he hadn’t changed at all from the Renard they had known for a long time.

Liev felt a complex, inexplicable mix of emotions. The fact that Renard had taken the initiative to help the weak and that he sought confirmation of his good deeds from Liev first was evidence that Renard had grown. It was good that Renard was developing the social skills necessary to live among humans. After all, Liev couldn’t take care of him forever.

“You did well.” 

In the end, Liev, feeling slightly awkward, ruffled Renard’s hair a bit before smoothing it down again. Renard suddenly dove into Liev’s arms as if trying to fit into them. Lindgren, who had been watching the people leave in his human form, frowned in astonishment at the sight of Renard rubbing against Liev like a dog or cat showing affection to its guardian. Renard, feeling Lindgren’s gaze, naturally glared back as if to say, ‘What are you looking at?’

Just a moment ago, Lindgren had seemed ready to destroy the entire castle, but now he appeared to have calmed down and regained his composure. Although there had been some commotion with Renard, thankfully the incident seemed to have resolved. Margret, who had been at the center of the incident still seemed confused and afraid, but at least her older sister, Dahlia, appeared calm. When Renard’s gaze passed Lindgren and landed on Dahlia, she smiled shyly and spoke.

“Well, thank you so much. I wonder if I’ll be able to repay this favor while I’m still alive.” 

Then, Margret chimed in with a tearful voice. 

“I can repay it! I’ll do it!” 

It was a very confident statement, but in the end, it ended with sobs. When Renard turned his head, as if he wasn’t interested, everyone except Dahlia, Lindgren, and his new disciple burst into laughter.

“Looks like this turned out well, doesn’t it?”

Liev breathed a quiet sigh of relief to himself.

I didn’t expect things to resolve like this.

When it came to children throwing tantrums, there seemed to be no countermeasure. In the end, they couldn’t solve the problem immediately, but the sisters seemed satisfied to have found some hope.