“Yeah? So they haven’t gotten far enough to start training demonic beasts yet.”
Whether the thing flying toward the base was a demonic beast or not, Adrian’s course of action remained unchanged. He stood with one knee bent, arms crossed, looking completely uninterested. The boy who had been glaring at Adrian from the front slowly turned pale in sheer horror.
“……What is that……?”
In the boy’s muttered words was a clear sense of disbelief at the situation unfolding before him.
Seeing that expression, Adrian’s lips—until now nonchalant—curled slightly in annoyance. He had hoped the matter would resolve itself without his involvement, but that rising sense of inevitability began creeping in.
Why does he look so shocked? This was a battlefield against demonic beasts. Wasn’t this a familiar sight?
The sound of rushed footsteps—those who had come running at the sound of the earlier whistle—came to a halt. Understandable, really. The enormous shadow of the beast, its massive wings beating the air, now loomed not only over their heads but half the entire base.
Adrian narrowed his eyes and swiftly scanned the camp. Thanks to the mana-infused golden eyes of a dragon, he could see far beyond the limits of an ordinary human. Upon confirming that at least a basic defensive shield was active at the center of the base, he finally spoke.
“You gonna just keep standing there?”
At the crisp voice of the man, who was most likely a thief, the boy’s trembling halted.
The boy had already been paralyzed with fear by the looming shadow of the steadily growing beast. It was a natural reaction in the face of imminent danger—his mind had frozen, shutting down all thought processes.
But at the calm tone of Adrian’s voice, the boy managed to snap out of it and exhaled the breath he’d been holding. He quickly turned his head. Only then did the man with the beautiful golden hair standing in front of him enter his field of vision.
“Y-yes? No. I mean, yes. No—wait…”
The boy stammered through his response, tripping over his own words.
Tsk. Adrian let out a quiet grunt, unsatisfied with the answer. It was dangerous to remain here. As a dragon, he had resolved to show mercy to young lifeforms whenever possible. He decided to help out by giving the answer the boy should have provided earlier.
“First, get inside the shield.”
“……The shield?”
“Get your head on straight. Even if it’s just a temporary camp, didn’t they teach you anything during training?”
Of course, he had no intention of spoon-feeding him everything. With a sharp tone, Adrian prodded the boy, who was circling the obvious answer without grasping it.
What? The shield… The boy brought a hand to his lips, as though trying to dig through his memory. Then, a few seconds later, he lifted his head as if he’d finally remembered something.
“Ah!”
And just like that, his eyes met Adrian’s. Adrian gave a slight nod, confirming that the boy’s guess was correct.
Right. They said there was a shield around the middle area for emergencies like this.
Then, just as Adrian and the boy were facing each other, a sharp screech sliced through the air between them.
SKREEEEEEE!
The beast overhead let out a thunderous roar.
Standing in the space between the barracks, the boy clenched his lips tight. That kind of sound meant the creature was closing in fast.
First things first… it’s dangerous here.
Concluding that they needed to get somewhere safe, the boy turned toward the others who had been loitering around and shouted urgently.
“Guys! Where are you all?!”
There were many children younger than him present. Once the real fight with the beast broke out, their safety would be the last thing on anyone’s mind. He had to gather them now, while he could. One of the younger kids, who had only just barely peeked their head out, muttered quietly, “The others… I think they went to tidy up the other barracks earlier…”
“Got it. Let’s go get them! Right now!”
The boy grabbed the child’s arm gently but firmly. However, just as he was about to take off, he froze mid-step. That was when he remembered—the man with the sword, the mysterious figure standing behind him, was Mikhail Luce Inehart’s subordinate.
He turned his head quickly and looked at Adrian.
“……”
The man still stood in the same spot, wearing a strange, unfitting smile for the tense situation. When their eyes met, he even jerked his chin, as if to say, Well? What are you waiting for?
Even though the danger was just as real for him, he looked strangely calm.
And yet, the fact that he knew about the shield—something only internal personnel would be aware of—suggested he probably wasn’t some random suspicious figure. The boy quickly sorted through the situation and muttered under his breath.
“……I’ll ask about the sword later.”
With that, the boy quickly turned his head away.
The man gave no response. He simply tilted his head slightly, watching the boy’s back as he ran off.
***
WHOOSH—! FWHUMP—!
The wingbeats of the demonic beast sounded as though they were flapping right overhead. The silhouette they had seen in the sky earlier had seemed like just one, but now it felt like there could be more.
Not that it made any difference to Adrian. To him, demonic beasts were never a problem. He still stood exactly where he had parted ways with the boy, unmoving.
“…….”
Through a dragon’s eyes, he could clearly see the boy far in the distance, running around in a frantic search for the other children.
Adrian let out a thoughtful hum and crossed his arms again.
The boy being so distracted by such trivial matters when a beast could swoop into the camp at any moment was irritating. That young human had no real ability to protect others. All his desperate efforts would do was end up feeding the beast. And once fed, it would rampage even more. A vivid image flashed through Adrian’s mind—of a beast opening its gaping, black maw and devouring children in a single gulp.
“…….”
The boy didn’t stop. He seemed truly determined to find the child and even began shouting names loudly.
So damn persistent over nothing. Adrian’s refined lips twisted in displeasure. That persistence was starting to get on his nerves. But if he started being generous over every little thing, the dragon might end up spending most of his life trying to save every living creature on the continent.
If he dies like that… then that’s just the boy’s fate.
Adrian slowly pulled his gaze away from the boy he had been watching intently. Just as he turned his body to walk in the opposite direction—
SCREECH—! THUMP. The tents where the boy had gone fluttered wildly, then collapsed with a crash.
Standing with his back still turned, Adrian ran a rough hand through his hair, as if to shake off a nagging thought.
Then he heard it—the steady clatter of metal armor swaying in rhythm.
Adrian stepped back slightly, letting his presence fade into the darkness. Only his luminous golden eyes remained fixed on the source of the noise.
Knights in armor moved in formation. Judging by the identical insignia engraved on their armor, they were likely a small but official order. From a distance, the boy looked barely half their height in comparison.
“Excuse me! Have you seen a little girl about this tall?!”
The boy grabbed at the cloak of a passing knight and asked urgently. The camp, dangerous as it was due to the demonic beasts, still offered high wages for young workers. And because children of similar ages ended up doing menial labor together, they naturally grew close, even in a short time.
“……Why are you kids still out here?! Get inside the shield, now!”
The knight yanked his cloak free from the boy’s grip and snapped at him sharply.
He’s not wrong.
Adrian nodded several times in silent agreement from within the shadows. If the children stayed here, they would be caught up in the battle and lose their lives for nothing. But despite the knight’s cold response, the boy stood firm and spoke again.
“There’s still one more child—my sister—I haven’t seen her yet—!”
“This isn’t the time to worry about others! Get inside, now!”
From the knight’s perspective, that was the best advice he could give. With those final words, he turned and rejoined the formation of his fellow knights.
Once the knight order marched off, all that remained were the boy and the younger child he’d been searching with. The little one tugged at the boy’s sleeve a few times, then looked up at him with tearful eyes.
“Hyung, what do we do now……?”
Though only a few years older, the boy bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. The knights clearly had their hands full with the impending battle against the beasts. Asking them to help find a single child was, in their eyes, far too trivial a request.
“Still haven’t found her……”
In front of the now-quiet barracks, cleared out by the evacuation, the boy muttered softly.
He had two options—give up on his sister and flee, or risk his life and keep searching the tents. While he stood paralyzed, unsure which to choose, the wind gently brushed past his nose.
Huh? A soft breeze—far too out of place for this tense battlefield—tickled his face. Startled, the boy, who had been staring at the ground, snapped his head up.
Someone was walking toward him with steady strides.
“I knew this was gonna happen.”
A sigh laced the voice—a voice that sounded strangely familiar.
