IPDT 15

“Illy.”

“Yeah.”

I sat down as if he hadn’t just woken up. Yul, looking at me, let out a low voice.

“…I want to leave.”

“Huh? You want to go for a walk?”

Yul shook his head. Then where does he want to go? I pondered for a moment, then asked about the one thing that came to mind.

“Do you want to leave the elf village?”

This time, he nodded his head. Meaning that was the right answer.

Hmm… this is trouble. Very troublesome. Frowning, I tapped the back of Yul’s hand. To be precise, it was the hand that had been torn from gripping the arrowhead.

“But Yul, your wound hasn’t healed yet. It’s better to stay here until it’s all better.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Yul.”

“I want to leave, Illy. Please.”

Yul tightly gripped my hand that had been tapping his. Then, he rested his head on it. A faint trembling was felt through the back of my hand. Uh, huh.

“Yul, th- ah, alright. In that case…”

This isn’t right…? In my head, I was firmly thinking, ‘Absolutely not!’ but what came out of my mouth was idiotic. Yul, who had been resting his head on my hand, lifted it. I was reflected in his black eyes, more beautiful than jewels. I had a dumbfounded, dazed expression on my face.

“…I’ll talk to Lauren first, at least.”

To think I was a dragon this weak to visual things… No. This was all because Yul was too beautiful. Because it was a dragon of my caliber, it ended here; if Yul set his mind to seducing someone, a hundred out of a hundred would fall for him.

Phew. I sighed and got up from my seat. I have to go to Lauren quickly. If I sat in front of Yul any longer, I felt like I would want to give him anything and everything.

“…Yul?”

But Yul was holding my hand and wouldn’t let go. When I tried to slyly pull it away, his grip tightened. Uh… I need to go see Lauren.

“Yul, you have to let go of my hand for me to go and come back.”

“Don’t meet him.”

“Who? Lauren?”

Yul nodded his head. He said he didn’t like Lauren, and it seemed he really, really didn’t. But unfortunately, this was one request I couldn’t grant.

“The thing is, I need to get some herbs to treat your wound, so that’s a bit difficult. It can get dangerous if the wound gets infected.”

Yul’s eyes widened. It seems he hadn’t thought of this. In any case, Yul is a human who can’t do without my care. My shoulders straightened with pride.

“…Go together.”

“To Lauren’s?”

Yul gave a small nod. Hmm, it was obvious the village elves would hate Yul, so I was trying to avoid taking him outside if possible… But if we’re just going to Lauren, it should be fine. Besides, we’re telling them we’re leaving the elf village, so the elves won’t send any more malicious glares. I concluded it would be better to go out together.

“Alright. Let’s go together, Yul.”

Yul stood up, still holding my hand.

Lauren was in the village warehouse. He seemed to be counting the quantity of goods stockpiled in the warehouse. Of course, the fact that Lauren was working was none of my business.

I approached Lauren in a single bound.

“Lauren!”

“Balancer.”

Lauren looked at me with his warm blue eyes, then lifted his head. Yul and Lauren’s gazes met head-on.

“And the Balancer’s human is with you as well.”

“…”

Yul did not answer. He just glared at Lauren with wary eyes. I stepped in front of Yul, blocking him.

“Yeah. I thought I should say goodbye to you, so we came together.”

“Goodbye, you say?”

“We’re leaving the elf village today.”

“If it is because of the small disturbance that occurred in the village, you do not have to.”

Oh, he could think that. But unfortunately, it’s not for such a kind reason. I corrected Lauren’s assumption.

“No, it’s not because of something like that. I didn’t even think about it. I’ve confirmed there are no fissures in your village, so I’m just trying to go to the dwarf village.”

“Is that so.”

I completely left out the part about ‘because Yul wanted to go.’ Ahem. As I let out a needless cough, Lauren smiled faintly.

“Oh right, Lauren, could I ask you for a favor before I go?”

“Yes. Anything.”

“Yul’s wound hasn’t healed completely yet. So I need some herbs.”

“I see.”

Lauren didn’t argue and obediently brought out some herbs. Then, he filled a rather large pouch with herbs and gave it to me. I took the pouch he handed me and tied it to my waist. Having this many medicinal herbs to treat Yul felt quite reassuring.

“Balancer.”

“Hm?”

As I was smiling in satisfaction, Lauren leaned his body toward me. What is he trying to say? As I was wondering, he spoke softly, as if whispering in my ear.

“The Balancer’s human is twisted somewhere. It may be fine now since he is with the Balancer, but someday, he will walk down the wrong path.”

“Lauren, what are you say…”

Before the rest of the words, ‘do you know what you just did?’ could come out, someone snatched my shoulder and pulled. Huh? Drawn by the familiar touch, my back came to rest fully against Yul’s chest.

“Yul?”

“…Let’s go.”

Yul’s face was anxious. Why does he look like that? Is there something urgent? But instead of saying anything unnecessary to Yul, I shot a cold glare at Lauren.

“I never gave you permission to say such presumptuous things.”

“I apologize.”

Lauren bowed his head in apology. I felt annoyed. If he was going to apologize right away like this, why did he say such a thing? I wanted to give Lauren a severe punishment right away, but I was in a hurry to leave. Besides, Yul kept acting anxious, and it was bothering me. Phew. A small sigh escaped.

“There won’t be a second time. Yul, let’s go.”

After giving my warning, I spun around and left the warehouse. I knew the way to the elf village’s exit even without Lauren’s guidance. I took Yul’s hand and we left the village.