IPDT 37

The Margrave responded to my muttering. With a hand as hard as stone, the Margrave carefully swept the wall on which a dragon was painted. There, a picture was drawn of a dragon with a golden body, spreading its massive wings and creating wind.

I rolled my eyes and looked at the next picture. A dragon spreading its wings majestically in a lightning-filled sky, a dragon causing an earthquake by stomping its foot, a dragon breathing volcano-like fire from its mouth. My great appearance was well drawn, but…

“So what does this mean?”

Hearing my question, the Margrave lifted his head as if it were amusing.

“It is only natural that a guide cannot recognize it. Can you recognize it, Sir Hero?”

“No.”

“Ah, since it is an old mural, it is only natural that you do not know!”

The Margrave’s change in attitude was very swift, unlike his rock-like palm.

“Ahem, ahem! This mural signifies the location of the dragon’s nest. Do you see this picture here? This signifies the ice wall of the north.”

The Margrave, who had gone deeper into the cave, pointed to a picture. I could see something like ice and a dragon curled up asleep in the middle of it.

“The ice wall of the north is said to be a land eternally frozen, where no living creature can survive. That is why the ancient humans thought the dragon’s nest would be here. And that hypothesis is still valid. Many adventurers have set foot there to make the hypothesis a reality, but none have ever returned alive.”

The Margrave’s eyes, which had been scanning the mural, turned to Yul.

“But you are different, Sir Hero.”

“…The dragon’s nest is there.”

Yul narrowed his eyes. It was a face that didn’t believe the hypothesis that the dragon’s nest was at the northern ice wall.

Well, Yul was a human who lived in my lair. He would know well that my nest isn’t there. My lair was located in a deep forest where humans couldn’t set foot, a place with plenty of sunlight.

“Yes, the dragon’s nest will surely exist in the northern mountain range.”

But whether he couldn’t read our expressions, the Margrave continued speaking very confidently.

“Now that the destination has been decided, you will be leaving soon. If you give me an approximate date of when you will leave, I will prepare provisions.”

“Hmm…”

I was thinking of leaving as soon as Bibiana found evidence of Igor’s misconduct. How long would it take? Since she found the person Igor ate in one day, a week should be enough to find proof of his wrongdoing, right?

“We will leave within a week.”

“Guide.”

As soon as my words ended, a gloomy voice was heard. When I looked back, Igor was getting closer to me. Yul gripped the hilt of his sword.

“Leaving? When?”

“Igor, what kind of ill-mannered way of speaking is that!”

At the Margrave’s roar, Igor stopped walking. Igor’s turbid eyes rolled to look at the Margrave. There was no human emotion in the eyes that looked at his own father. Igor was just quietly assessing the Margrave. Whether he could kill him or not.

“…”

Igor, having finished his assessment, staggered backward. It seemed he had judged that he couldn’t kill the Margrave yet. Yul did not let go of his sword hilt even though Igor had retreated.

“Hah, I apologize. Please forgive his rudeness.”

The Margrave seemed to have misunderstood why Yul had grasped his sword. Yul, who was looking down at the Margrave with indifferent eyes, let go of his sword as if annoyed.

“No, not yet…”

Igor, his eyes darting about nervously, muttered something. But it overlapped with the Margrave’s voice, so I couldn’t hear it properly. Hmm, should I ask Igor what he said?

“If your business is done, we’re leaving.”

Yul pulled on my hood. It was a sign to come out. I quickly exited the cave and grabbed onto Yul. Even though I only lightly held his hand, Yul didn’t shake me off.

“Yul, did you just say ‘we’?”

“…”

Tap. Yul shook off my hand and started walking ahead. But I didn’t feel bad. Rather, I started to feel subtly excited and happy. It was because I could feel Yul’s emotions, albeit faintly, through my heart. Yul was clearly embarrassed about having said ‘we’.

“Fleabag, Yul said ‘we’ today!”

As I burst through the door with a slam and shouted, Fleabag, who was enjoying the sunlight on the bed, answered with a reluctant face.

“Ah, yes.”

“Aren’t you surprised? I said he said ‘we’!”

“I am more surprised that you like Mr. Kwon Yul this much, my lord…”

I plopped down next to Fleabag. Fleabag’s body bounced up and down with the rebound of the bed.

“You’re the strange one. How can you not like Yul? He’s so pretty and just looking at him makes you happy.”

“…Anyway, yes, I am the strange one.”

Fleabag answered with a face that showed no empathy at all. I was about to nag a few words but decided against it, and caught the small mouse, placing it in my hand.

“Fleabag, listen seriously. At this point, don’t you think Yul thinks well of me? It seems like I can reveal that I am ‘Dragon Ilyas’ now, right?”

“With all due respect, I believe it is still premature.”

“Why?”

Fleabag opened its mouth with a strict and solemn face.

“Did Mr. Kwon Yul smile at you, my lord, when he said ‘we’?”

“Umm, no.”

“Did he cry, saying he was sorry?”

“Why would Yul cry?”

When I asked with wide eyes, Fleabag quickly shook its head.

“The crying was just a figure of speech. Anyway, what did Mr. Kwon Yul, who said ‘we’, do to you, my lord?”

“When he said ‘we’, I held his hand. Then Yul got embarrassed, shook it off, and left.”

“He shook it off and left? Your attention is too much for such an insolent human! My lord, since Mr. Kwon Yul seems to be living just fine on his own, let’s leave him be and go back to our lair…!”

“I told you, I’m not going back to the lair.”

I pressed Fleabag’s mouth shut with my finger. Fleabag, who had been jumping up and down, wrinkled its nose with a face full of dissatisfaction.

“Anyway, you’re saying I shouldn’t tell him yet because Yul doesn’t like me like he used to, right?”

“…Something like that.”

Fleabag, having barely calmed its excitement, said grumpily. I placed Fleabag on my lap and let out a deep sigh.

“I wish Yul would like me soon.”

“My lord…”

“I want to see his smiling face like before.”

Even when I suspected Yul was going through puberty, we became close quickly, but I couldn’t understand why it was so difficult and arduous now. Sighs kept escaping me.

It was upsetting that the distance between Yul and me felt like it was closing but never did. But I am a dragon who lives for a very, very long time, and Yul is a human who lives for a fleeting moment, so it was only natural for me to give in. Besides, I am not a dragon who dwells on trivial things.

“Yul!”

The next morning, I ran into Yul and greeted him with a happy smile. As I waved my hand cheerfully, Yul’s expression crumpled strangely. Then, without even greeting me back, he turned and walked away.

“Huh…?”

Is something wrong? That day, I thought it was nothing and let it go. But the next day too.

“Yul?”

And the day after that.

“Yul.”

And the day after that.

“Yul…”

Yul was avoiding me. I plopped down on a garden bench and hung my head low.

“…Did I do something wrong?”

I retraced my memories, but there was nothing I had done that was particularly wrong. Yul had been avoiding me ever since he said ‘we’, but at that time, I was just happy and hadn’t done anything wrong. So why on earth is he avoiding me? I clutched my head and groaned, then sighed.

“Yul is a problem, and Bibiana is a problem too.”

It had been 6 days since I told the Margrave we would leave within a week. That meant that Bibiana had been searching for Igor’s wrongdoing for 6 days. To be precise, 6 days and 12 hours had passed. Was a week too short a period? What if Bibiana can’t find it within the time limit?

“…I’m not an intellectual being with this many worries.”

I let out a deep breath and kicked a pebble with the tip of my foot. The pebble, which had been rolling, went under someone’s foot. Who is it? I lifted my eyes.

“Guide, so you were here!”

It was a man I didn’t know. Looking closely, the clothes he was wearing were those of a servant working in the Margrave’s domain.

“Were you looking for me?”

“Yes. And Sir Igor asked me to deliver this to you, Guide.”

“Oh, this is…”

The servant held something out to me. Seeing it, I widened my eyes.

“It’s trash.”

“It is a letter!”

“This is a letter?”

For a letter, the paper was crumpled. As if it were a failed letter that had been wadded up.

“Ahem, Sir Igor did fold it in a peculiar way, but this is definitely a letter. Please try unfolding it.”

A letter from Igor. There would be no harm in looking at it. I held out my hand to the servant. The servant placed the trash-like letter in my hand and stepped back.

Rustle, rustle.

I carefully unfolded the messily crumpled paper so that it wouldn’t tear. I could see that the ink had bled on the paper, which was cracked like dry land. It seemed that this really was a letter, just as the servant had said. I tried to read the letter slowly. No, I tried to read it.

“I can’t read it.”

However, Igor’s letter was so terrible that I couldn’t make it out. The sloppily written script looked more like a drawing than letters. There was even a real drawing in the middle part. It seemed his intelligence was also regressing as he got closer to becoming a monster.

“Um, let’s meet in the garden tonight?”

This was the only part I could read. I suppose I should be glad that the most important part was clearly visible.

“Hmm…”

Since Bibiana might be late, it would be better to meet with Igor before then, right? Yes, let’s meet Igor first to get information and leave the cleanup to Bibiana.

“Tell Igor I said okay.”

“I understand.”

The servant bowed his head and disappeared. I looked at the letter, which was a mess with black ink, and then created a fire at my fingertips. The paper instantly burned black and turned to ash. I neatly brushed the ash off my clothes and got up from my seat.

Late at night, I left Fleabag in the room and went out to the garden. However, Igor, who had asked to meet me, was nowhere to be seen.