Dragonlord

Ep 190. Get Used To It. (2)

Ep 190. Get Used To It. (2)

“Serenis. We’ve finished separating the tributes by type; Xerun has been of great help moving them.”

“…Mm.”

As the dragonlord returned alone from the short trip to Ilias’ nest, Karas gestured over to the sorted piles outside the frozen hollows.

For a brief moment, Serenis entertained the thought of whether Xerun had made Karas say the last bit – but the dragonlord only threw a curt glance towards the gold dragon.

‘…I suppose he’s suffered enough to receive credit.’

Once Serenis returned her attention to Karas with a curious grin, the professor momentarily frowned before continuing the explanation.

“Anyhow…from the left, they’re silvers, golds, gems…we’ve set aside a few for Eline to use, as per your request. And then there were weaponry, tools, medicine, clothing...and, surprisingly, documents. Xerun’s briefly checked their contents, but they seemed to be letters that were directed for various dragons in the past, so we didn’t delve too deep in them.”

To be precise, Xerun actively stopped the academic from trying to decipher them. Any ancient document was priceless treasure to Karas, letters or otherwise.

Meanwhile, the dragonlord frowned at the small stack of rolled papers and small, sealed wooden cases.

“…At this point, they’re letters for the dead. You may as well have read them, Xerun.”

“Some were. Some weren’t. I thought it’d be best that the dragonlord look through them herself.”

“…Some weren’t?”

“No. Some were directed to you.”

“…”

‘…I received letters?’

Serenis didn’t recall a single instance where she’d received a letter from her kin, humans or otherwise. In fact, she could hardly recall reading a document of any sort in the past era.

Shrugging, Serenis walked over to the stack of documents, skimming through just the top few.

“…Oh.”

A small sigh followed afterwards as Serenis’ eyes darted over the letters’ print.

She then gently placed them back down. She quietly stared at the pile of documents for a while longer.

And finally, the dragonlord turned to Xerun with an appreciative nod.

“…I suppose I’ll take these myself. Thank you.”

“Not a problem. You were planning to leave for a human city afterwards, were you not?”

“I was. Although…I’ve been meaning to speak with you before leaving.”

“If it’s about the tributes, I’ll be making sure that they’re stored safely elsewhere – likely in one of the empty nests. You needn’t worry.”

“Actually, that can wait. I meant to speak to you about something else.”

“…?”

Xerun’s expression visibly contorted in confusion.

A rather ominous pause followed thereafter – though it was only ominous for Xerun, in all fairness. Serenis was just hesitating to speak it out loud because she was afraid he wouldn’t like what she was about to say.

Alas, that wasn’t going to stop her.

“Come with us to Partivine.”

“…Weh?”

Xerun’s face soon turned into the most dumbfounded expression Serenis had seen him wear.

Unfortunately, it only lasted a second or two.

“Why would I accompany you to a human city…? I understand you have relations there, but I’ve none myself. If you’re looking for others to serve you in the meantime, just take Raizel and Ilias with you again.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

‘…Those two are nothing but trouble here anyways.’

Unfortunately, the gold dragon’s inner voice went completely unheard.

“That did happen to be the case thus far, but…Eline was rather adamant on keeping Raizel at home this time. In fact, the others are still struggling to keep her tied down as we speak. Which is why I’ve returned on my own.”

“Then take Ilias with you.”

“About that…Bruton and Aether were looking to keep Ilias here for a while. They’ve told me that they cannot handle Raizel without Ilias being present.”

“Well, that…”

‘…Actually makes a lot of sense.’

After clenching his eyes in evident frustration, Xerun began to stammer in a rushed, lowered voice.”

“T, there are…there are better candidates still. I’ve no interest in seeing a human city myself, but plenty of the younger brood would be happy to follow you.”

“Well, I’ve matters to tend to in Partivine. I expect that Karas and Light will be returning to their homes as well.”

“…So?”

“Someone ought to keep Eline and Theolus safe.”

“…Eline knows plenty of other dragons.”

“Yes, but most are ill or unwell. You are not.”

“…”

“Besides, Theolus will be with her. It’d be far better to entrust a hatchling to an elder than a youngling like Ilias or Raizel.”

That was, in fact, the first time Serenis properly recognized Xerun as an elder instead of a child.

And apparently, that was all she needed to do to persuade the gold dragon.

“Well, if that’s the case, then…I do suppose it’d be an elder’s responsibility to keep the young ones safe…”

Serenis let out a low snicker as she watched a sheepish smile form across Xerun’s lips.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then. We’ll leave at sunrise.”

“…”

After another minute of contemplation, Xerun let out a small sigh – which was quite pointless with the low laughter that was mixed in.

“Very well. I’ll see to it that someone else stores the tributes elsewhere.”

With newfound confidence, Xerun briskly turned to find someone else to take the task during his leave.

But just moments before the gold dragon would take off, Serenis made a quiet mutter under her breath.

“…Eline was right. You are quite predictable.”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“…”

The smile on Xerun’s lips was still refusing to fade; he clearly hadn’t heard what she’d said specifically.

Although, Karas was warily eyeing the dragonlord, so he probably did.

Not that it was going to change Serenis’ answer.

“…No. Not at all.”

✧   ✧   ✧

For a certain enforcer in Partivine, it was just another typical morning.

Though, truth be told, ‘typical’ had lost all meaning the past month or so. There was a huge incident involving literal deities and the collapse of their largest teaching institution…and then an inexplicable roar that rang through the night…and then a professor, their student, and a dragon going completely missing out of the blue…the enforcement sector undergoing huge changes…

Picking up the pieces after all those events have been their entire job the past month.

Patrick lifted his wrist slightly, staring at the gem that was attached to his bracelet.

“Huh. Surprised I didn’t just up and die from overwork yet…maybe this thing really does work.”

“You know what they say. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

“…”

Patrick threw a narrow gaze towards his coworker at the other end of HIS couch, snacking on HIS food, inside the comforts of HIS house.

“…That’s not gonna justify you almost killing me, Iris.”

“You’re still on about that? I told you, I was only pretending back then.”

“That’s also not gonna justify you being here all the time.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like anyone else is around. You get lonely too, don’t you?”

“I don’t know about lonely, but I am getting annoyed how my expenses doubled this past month.”

“And you got a big raise, because…?”

“…”

A lot of things had changed the past month, but if Patrick were to select the most annoying – or, most prominent one – it’d be that his coworker had become his boss.

After the incident at the Magic Institute, the enforcement sector’s previous representative had immediately stepped down – of their own volition perhaps, but mostly from all the external pressure they were receiving.

And replacing their former rep was Patrick’s esteemed, skillful, and hella annoying coworker, Iris Alpid.

Who did actually give him a raise, as per wished.

“…Fine.”

Soon enough, Patrick got up from the couch, donning his cloak back on. He made his way towards the door, which seemed to catch his friend by surprise.

“Wait, where’re you going? We’re off today.”

“Yes, but judging from how much you’re eating, we’re not gonna have anything to eat by tomorrow.”

“Oh. Well, if you’re going out shopping…see if they have those honeyed chips at Korn’s Dinery?”

“…”

‘That is a deity. That is a deity. That is a deity.’

As Patrick repeated his internal mantra to rein himself back from smacking his coworker, he opened the door to leave.

Though, much to his dismay, he was not greeted by the city of Partivine bathing in brilliant sunlight.

Instead, what awaited him at the door was a black…well, just black.

And a tiny bit of sunlight that was seeping through the small gaps above.

“…The hell?”

It wasn’t that it was nighttime. There weren’t any stars or lights or…anything. All he could see was just a big, spiky surface of black.

When Iris noticed her friend’s confusion, she looked towards the door with a curious gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dunno. Think a giant black slime might’ve spawned in the front yard…”

“Patrick. Look up.”

Hearing a rather familiar voice, the blue-haired enforcer slowly looked up to see what was above the black blob of…well, whatever this was.

And above the black blob was a winged silhouette, grinning down at their sibling’s appearance.

“…Serenis? What the hell is this?”

“A gift.”

“A black blob?”

“No. It’s treasure.”

“…”

Patrick pursed his lips at the answer. He didn’t even register Iris getting up to join him at the door.

Instead, his mind was occupied with a single thought.

‘For the love of gods, please don’t tell me you sold Lady Aldrid.’