Ordinas. The moment Kyle uttered that word, the dragon’s gaze sharpened.
“……If you’re asking whether I remember, well. Of course I haven’t forgotten.”
It wasn’t really a question about whether he remembered or not. Still, Adrian gave a deliberately vague answer and shrugged indifferently, as if he didn’t care.
“Why do you ask?”
His sharp eyes now turned to Kyle across from him. The reptilian slits of his pupils stood out menacingly.
But even if his voice faltered under pressure, Kyle wasn’t the type to back down from saying what he wanted to say. Steeling himself, he revealed the reason he had been wandering around this area.
“I’m continuing my research on Ordinas.”
So what? Adrian’s apathetic gaze urged Kyle to go on.
“If Ordinas is planning humanity’s destruction… then we need to find another way. Right now, I’m exploring areas where monster appearances are relatively sparse and trying to understand why.”
“…….”
“I’ve heard that the reason Rustavaran’s founding king, Carlo, became a Sword Master—and why Prince Mikhail was able to obtain the sword of Fellen Deeps—was ultimately due to your intervention.”
Tap. Tap. Adrian’s index finger, resting on the table, began to rhythmically drum against the surface. At the very least, the boy had guts. Hmm. Adrian considered Kyle’s line of reasoning for a moment, the way a teacher might when fielding a foolish question from a student. The intent behind Kyle’s words was beginning to come into focus.
“So basically, you’re asking what kind of relationship I have with Ordinas? If I’m letting monsters rampage across the continent because I want to wipe out all of humanity?”
Kyle’s face turned pale. He shook his head frantically and spoke in a panicked voice.
“That’s absolutely not what I—”
Adrian cut him off with a snort, the corners of his lips curling into a smirk.
“Do I look like I have that much free time?”
“…….”
It was almost as if the sound of Kyle’s eyes shifting could be heard. His tense expression slowly softened. With a deep sigh of relief, he murmured,
“Thank goodness…”
What’s with that relieved look? Adrian stared at Kyle with a sullen expression.
“What is?”
“I just mean… you’re not as heartless as I feared.”
“Even though I’m doing nothing while monsters run wild across the continent?”
“Yes.” Kyle nodded without hesitation.
Maybe it was because he’d heard stories of dragons lending a hand to humans before. Or maybe, for some reason, he could sense an underlying benevolence behind the dragon’s indifference.
“…….”
The dragon silently stared at Kyle, then shrugged and turned his head away. Whatever misunderstanding the boy had gotten into, Adrian didn’t care.
Outside the lair’s bright window, creatures frolicked, oblivious to the fact that the continent was on the brink of ruin as monsters rampaged across it. Adrian’s indifferent expression hadn’t changed in the slightest.
He watched them for a while, then finally opened his mouth.
“He still hasn’t reached the level of a Sword Master?”
Kyle slowly turned his gaze toward Adrian, who had asked the question.
“……Who are you asking about?”
“Mikhail, of course. Who else would I ask you about?”
Mikhail again.
Come to think of it, even when he’d brought him to this lair, the dragon had been curious about Mikhail’s situation. Strange. Kyle narrowed his eyes, trying to read the dragon’s expression, but Adrian’s face was as unreadable as ever.
Seeing that Adrian was waiting expectantly for an answer, Kyle finally forced himself to speak.
“No, not yet. I mean, becoming a Sword Master at Prince Mikhail’s age is practically unheard of… With the current state of the world, I think he’s feeling the pressure and becoming impatient.”
“He’s impatient?”
The dragon’s low voice followed almost immediately. Kyle tilted his head ever so slightly in response to it.
Just as I thought… The hypothesis he had initially dismissed as mere overthinking was starting to gain weight.
“You act like you don’t care… but yes, he is impatient. Even on those grueling deployments, he doesn’t skip a single day of personal training. I heard he’s also been consulting with multiple court magicians. As you know, the most effective way to deal with monsters is to infuse one’s sword with aura—but apparently, he’s struggling to control that aura with precision. He has plenty of mana, but he lacks finesse in his fine motor control.”
“……Still like that, is he.” Adrian nodded and murmured to himself. Mikhail’s bloodline made it inevitable. No matter how much effort one put in, there was no changing the lineage they were born with.
“So you already knew.” Kyle gave a faint smile in response to Adrian’s muttering.
“Well, we shared the same room.” Adrian added that firmly, as if it explained everything.
But it felt like a stretch—to think a dragon would show interest in a single human just because they’d once shared a room. Yet Kyle could sense that even Adrian himself hadn’t quite grasped why he cared. So he said nothing and simply nodded.
Adrian continued staring out the window for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Your arm… it’s alright now?”
At the clear voice of the dragon, Kyle instinctively turned toward the window, half-expecting to see something outside. His eyes widened.
“Pardon? Ah—yes. It’s fine now.”
He gave a puzzled look at the sudden question, but answered obediently.
Scrape. Upon hearing the reply, the dragon rose from the table and pushed back his chair.
“Huh?”
Kyle looked up at Adrian in confusion at the unexpected movement.
“Then.” The dragon muttered softly and extended his hand forward.
Ah, this scene felt familiar.
“It’s time for you to go back.”
Once again, Adrian gave no room for rebuttal. With those words, snap, he flicked his fingers. Kyle, still seated at the table, vanished through spatial teleportation. Judging by the mana expended, it was an absurdly costly dismissal spell.
Blink. Kyle’s eyes closed and opened again.
“……Thank you……” He muttered weakly, blinking rapidly.
Wait—where was he now? Deep in a forest. He fished around in his pouch, pulling out a map and compass.
What a bizarre encounter. He’d have to record every detail as soon as he got back to his lodgings. Kyle, true scholar to the bone, wouldn’t let even a moment like this go undocumented.
***
The place the dragon appeared next was a battlefield, lined with makeshift barracks.
So confident when he made that vow, too. With a disgruntled expression, Adrian crossed his arms and brushed off the residual mana particles clinging to him after the teleport.
After his conversation with Kyle, he’d grown a bit curious about Mikhail’s condition. That curiosity had led him here without delay. It was a completely impulsive decision, but a dragon had more than enough power to follow through on impulse.
It was the dead of night, when all the humans were fast asleep, and silence had settled over the camp.
Adrian approached one of the tents—the one where Mikhail slept—and brushed the flap aside as if it were his own. He stepped in naturally.
Ugh. The dragon grimaced the moment he entered.
The inside reeked of burning herbs—a distinctive scent. Adrian wrinkled his nose and waved his hand in an attempt to disperse the smoke. But the tent was already thick with it, and his effort made little difference.
He immediately recognized the source of the scent. It was the incense he’d once given Mikhail back in Basamiel.
Striding deeper into the tent, Adrian approached the makeshift nightstand beside the cot. There, he found the incense still burning—Mikhail had apparently lit a whole stick, letting it burn through the night.
It should’ve lost its effect by now. Adrian cast a glance at the bed beside it.
Just like back at the Basamiel dormitory, Mikhail was sound asleep, completely still, his breathing quiet and even. At the head of the bed, his sword had been carefully placed.
Even with this god awful stench, the boy could still sleep? Impressive.
Chiik—! Adrian reached out and pinched the end of the incense stick between his thumb and forefinger.
As the fire touched his skin, the faint scent of burning flesh rose. But for a dragon, that was less than a mosquito bite would be to a human. He healed the burn instantly with a minor healing spell.
“……The mixture’s all wrong.”
Who the hell made this? Adrian clicked his tongue in irritation.
And that’s when it happened.
Behind him, the bedding rustled.
As he slowly turned, a sharp metallic clang rang out.
“Who’s there?”
The voice was low and threatening.
Adrian didn’t even flinch. He lazily flicked his gaze toward the sword now pointed at his neck.
It was a weapon the dragon knew well—the sword of Fellen Deeps.
