“Wake up. It’s morning.”
At the low murmur of Adrian Heather’s voice, Mikhail Luce Inehart opened his eyes. As soon as he sat up, he squinted hard against the bright light hitting his eyes. Ugh, is it morning already? The prince rose to his feet, rubbing his scrunched eyelids with his palm.
“…Why?”
Mikhail’s lips parted. His voice came out in a deep, groggy tone. He had slept like the dead all night without waking once.
“Why didn’t you wake me? We agreed to take turns keeping watch.”
“I stayed up, and then I just couldn’t fall asleep. It’s fine.”
The prince gave a curt nod at Adrian’s reply, his expression sullen. He’d slept well, sure—but changing the plan without saying anything didn’t sit right with him. He turned toward the campfire that had burned through the night and opened his mouth.
“Still, the fire didn’t go out—”
Mikhail’s words cut off mid-sentence. Just as Adrian had expected. The prince kept his gaze fixed on the campfire while slowly reaching for his waist. He patted his belt with a thud—but nothing was there. Frowning, he moved his hand around, and that’s when it hit him: the sword he always carried was no longer with him.
“…What is that.”
Mikhail gestured subtly with his chin toward Adrian, who was already up and looking in his direction.
Curled up in the middle of the burning campfire was a crimson creature, its body tucked in tight. It blinked its jet-black eyes slowly, staring straight back at the prince who was watching it.
“Why is that here?”
“‘That’? Show some respect. It’s a Salamander.”
Adrian promptly corrected the prince’s rude phrasing. Mikhail scowled, his expression clearly saying, Is that really the issue right now?
“Why is there a Salamander here? It looks small… Is it a hatchling?”
“Seems like it.”
The prince stared at Adrian, who answered nonchalantly. It was clear he already knew the Salamander had settled in. Well, if he’d kept watch all night, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed it.
“…When did you notice it? You should’ve woken me the moment you saw it!”
“Not long ago.”
The Gold Dragon shrugged his shoulders lightly in response to the prince’s overreaction.
“Salamanders aren’t dangerous to humans. In fact, they’re spirits that actually like people.”
And, as the Salamander couldn’t speak human language, Adrian stepped in to offer an explanation on its behalf. Fffsh—the baby Salamander huddled in the fire let out a tiny flame in response.
Mikhail ran a frustrated hand through his hair, mussing up his silver locks into a tangled mess. Gritting his teeth, he stared at the Salamander and muttered,
“Keeping watch means you wake your partner if something happens. Got it? You’re not just supposed to sit there and stare like an idiot.”
“…”
Adrian gave the prince a crooked smirk and stared right back at him. It was like trying to lecture the strongest being in existence about what it meant to take a watch shift. He’d let the prince sleep peacefully all night, and this was the thanks he got. The Gold Dragon simply nodded in acknowledgment.
“…Next time, I’ll be sure to wake you.”
Mikhail didn’t seem entirely convinced by that promise. He watched Adrian a moment longer before shifting his gaze back to the Salamander.
The prince picked up a long stick they’d gathered for kindling the night before, holding it like a makeshift sword. With it, he lightly tapped the Salamander’s body. The creature wriggled, clearly annoyed by the disturbance.
“Hey.”
Mikhail still held on to a shred of hope that the Salamander—being a spirit, not just some beast—might understand him.
“Where’s your family? Take us to them, now.”
Fffssh—
The Salamander responded by spewing a burst of fire at the stick poking it. Fwoosh! The tip of the stick caught fire, and the flames slowly began creeping up toward the prince’s hand. Watching the blaze climb, Mikhail tossed the stick back into the campfire.
“Just give it a bit. The wood’s all going to burn up soon anyway, and it’ll go back to wherever it came from.”
Adrian stood with his arms crossed, speaking to both of them. Mikhail nodded as he stretched. The prince went through his usual light morning stretches to get his body moving. That’s when a thought crossed his mind. He glanced over at Adrian, who remained by the fire, watching over the Salamander.
“This is about something else.”
Adrian stared intently into the campfire, seemingly not bored in the slightest. The prince turned toward him and asked a question.
“How did you know the gate to the Academy would open yesterday?”
Ah—The Gold Dragon nodded, as if the prince had asked something worth bringing up.
“Every time the Merlein leaves turn red, that gate appears the next day.”
“Merlein?”
“Mm… Just a second.”
Adrian raised his index finger to signal Mikhail to wait, then stood and casually walked alone into the brush. Soon after, he returned with a single stalk of grass plucked from the undergrowth. That’s how abundantly the Merlein plant grew in this forest.
“This is it.”
The prince eyed the plant in Adrian’s hand closely. The Gold Dragon held it out, silently inviting him to take a better look. Mikhail took the Merlein and muttered to himself.
“But… it’s already turned red.”
“Yeah. There’s a patch of Merlein over there, and they’ve all been red for a while now. Even yesterday, when I saw them here, they were already like that.”
Hmm. Mikhail tilted his head thoughtfully at Adrian’s words.
“Then I guess that theory doesn’t hold up in this place?”
“If the gate doesn’t show up today, then yeah, I’d say it doesn’t. And even if it does appear somewhere in this forest, there’s a good chance we won’t be able to find it.”
“That’s the worst-case scenario.”
“Yeah. Definitely not a great situation.”
Adrian nodded in agreement with the prince’s assessment. Mikhail studied his face. For someone in a tight spot, Adrian looked far too composed. The prince had noticed this yesterday as well, but he’d been too flustered to think on it for long. Now, stranded in some unknown forest, Adrian’s calm demeanor struck him as… odd.
“…”
As Mikhail silently stared at him, Adrian raised a brow as if to ask, What’s with that look?
“Why do you look so unfazed?”
“What?”
“I mean, just yesterday you were a student at the Academy. Now you’re lost in some nameless forest, and you look totally fine.”
“Do I? My head’s actually a mess right now.”
Adrian replied with a wide grin. Even with that answer, the prince didn’t drop his suspicious gaze.
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Then what, did you expect me to break down crying or something? ‘We’re gonna die in this forest! We’ll never make it back to the Academy! Boo-hoo!’ Like that?”
“…Forget it.”
Adrian grabbed Mikhail’s arm while delivering his exaggerated line. Sensing the sarcasm, the prince brushed him off with a shove.
Sharp bastard. The Gold Dragon kept smiling as he watched the prince.
Just then—
A rustling sound came from the side.
“Huh?”
Mikhail pointed toward the spot where the campfire had been. The flames were dying out, having gone unfed. On top of the blackened ashes, the Salamander slowly rose to its feet. As it stood, it shook the ash from its body with a disgruntled twitch.
Salamanders were fire spirits known for loving warmth. This one would likely go looking for another warm place—and in doing so, might lead them to the part of this mysterious mountain where its kind lived. Mikhail could only hope that among them was the Salamander that had taken his sword.
He spoke.
“It’s moving.”
At his words, the Salamander twisted its body sharply and shot a resentful glance at the humans watching it. But then, it slowly began crawling into the underbrush, one step at a time.
“…Let’s follow it. Just pack the essentials.”
Adrian nodded, agreeing with the prince’s judgment. Finding the gate was likely going to take some time anyway. Their connection to the Academy was now that Salamander.
The two of them hurried back to where the fire had been and grabbed the uniform jackets they’d taken off. Not that they had much to pack. Fortunately, the baby Salamander was moving slowly enough that they were able to catch up with it by jogging into the brush.
