I thought I’d barely made it through the worst of it—but the situation refused to ease.
Not long after, a man I’d never seen before came to the tent and tried to escort us to meet the Rebels’ leader.
I refused the meeting, like a suspect insisting on staying silent until their lawyer arrived.
I’d managed to deal with Noance somehow, but this meeting was on an entirely different level. The leader of the Rebels was not someone an ordinary human could afford to face lightly.
So I decided to wait for the dragon-specialist negotiator who was supposed to arrive soon... but the problem was that Morpha was nowhere to be found even after an entire night had passed.
“Where do you think Morpha is?”
“I’m not sure. I can feel them nearby, but... it’s strange.”
“Damn it, why are they so late? You said you could tell where they were no matter where you were.”
“I can sense my own position, so they should have reached the area. This seems to be a problem with the space itself. Mana is flowing constantly.”
I sat cross-legged, my legs trembling as I chewed at my nails in mounting anxiety.
I could feel the presence of nearly a hundred humans nearby just from their signs—and I could sense the monsters that had been brought over from the black market as well.
The numbers were far beyond what a normal site could accommodate. I’d hoped that wasn’t the case, but it seemed this place was under concealment magic.
Well, if they had a mage powerful enough to move an entire building, concealment magic would be nothing special.
“So no matter how long we wait, Morpha won’t be able to find us.”
“Possibly.”
“Ah... what do we do....”
Scratching my head in frustration, I summoned Rami from my inner pocket, where she was snoring softly.
I asked her to deliver our location to Morpha, but Rami had never been inside Morpha’s pocket before. With no other choice, I sent her back to Kallen for now.
If Morpha couldn’t find us immediately, I could only hope they’d return to the main base as soon as possible.
After taking every step I could think of, I took a slow, deep breath. Waiting indefinitely for a negotiator who might never arrive wasn’t an option—whether it ended well or badly, I would have to face the Rebels’ leader myself.
That was when Varen, as usual, spoke in a light tone.
“Ceryl, if you want, we can leave this place.”
I widened my eyes and turned to him. Varen was watching me with his chin propped on his hand.
“...You’re right.”
The realization came with a belated sigh.
To me, Varen was eternally my kid—the one I had to protect and cherish.
At the same time, he was a final weapon capable of wiping out an entire city.
In my mind, Varen’s identity sat at two extreme ends, and because of that, I hadn’t immediately thought of the last-resort option.
“How would we get out of here? There are guards right outside the tent.”
“There are many ways. I could return to my true form, or suppress them with mana.”
“If you change back, won’t a lot of people die?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“Preferably.”
“You’re demanding.”
Chatting idly with Varen loosened the tension. Seeing my face relax, Varen smiled in satisfaction.
We settled on a plan to escape using Varen’s mana. As long as we didn’t kill any Rebels, I firmly believed Morpha would somehow clean up the aftermath.
But things never go the way you want them to. Just before we put the plan into action, I sensed people approaching from afar.
If it had been one or two, I would’ve assumed they were guards—but this was the sound of more than ten sets of footsteps. More importantly, Varen’s wariness spiked sharply, which meant Noance was probably among them.
“Tch. Looks like we’re already too late.”
“It’s not too late. We can suppress them all with mana and then—”
“Someone who shouldn’t be coming is on their way.”
After ignoring the leader’s summons all day, it was finally time for them to step in personally.
Resigned, I stood up. I’d shouted and nearly come to blows with Noance, but at the very least, I wanted to leave a decent first impression on the Rebels’ leader.
I brushed the dirt from my clothes, folded my hands neatly, and faced the tent entrance. Varen followed my lead and stood as well.
The sound of footsteps grew closer, and soon the cloth covering the entrance was lifted.
The first to enter was a middle-aged woman with an unremarkable appearance—very much in line with how she’d been described in the original story.
Recognizing the Rebels’ leader at a glance, I gave her a small bow. This time, Varen didn’t follow my example.
“That’s fine. You can lift your head.”
At her gentle voice, I looked up with a welcoming smile, doing my best to project trust and goodwill.
There were about ten people with her. Noance was among them, as was a massive swordsman.
But the one who truly caught my eye wasn’t the leader, nor Noance.
It was an unexpected figure—someone I’d thought I’d never see again for the rest of my life.
The man with gray hair shattered my carefully maintained business smile into pieces.
“...Theo?!”
“It’s been a while, Ceryl.”
It was Theo Cardo—the man I’d left behind in the burning tower the day Zed kidnapped me.
I’d never once thought he might still be alive, let alone that I’d run into him here.
I gaped at him like I’d seen a ghost, my eyes, nose, and mouth all stretching wide. I thought I was done being shocked—but my hands started trembling anyway.
Seeing my reaction, Theo let out a dry chuckle.
“You look surprised that I’m alive.”
“Y-you... how....”
“If you have fire and metal, making a blade is trivial for an alchemist.”
My mouth hung open uselessly, words refusing to come. A scene I’d long buried resurfaced in my mind.
Theo collapsed on the floor, his hands and feet bound, dragon fire rolling right up to his face. Unsure whether he’d burn to death or suffocate first, I’d tossed him a single key.
You still have to pay before you leave. Here—payment for the antidote information. You like equivalent exchange, right?
W-wait! Wait, Ceryl! Please, save me! Don’t leave me behind!
Theo’s desperate screams rang in my ears like tinnitus.
Damn it—so that key I’d thrown him as a final act of spite had ended up saving his life.
An alchemist—I’d thought he just turned rocks into gold. Who the hell would’ve guessed he could do something like that?
The situation was already stacked against me, and now this headache had been added on top. My mind, thrown into chaos by the unexpected turn, couldn’t even come up with an improvised response.
I froze, my face drained of color. Watching me closely, Varen sighed and stepped forward.
His broad shoulders and solid back blocking my view felt unbelievably reassuring.
“Are you the leader of the Rebels.”
“Yes. I’m Adeline Cross. Since you wouldn’t come to meet me, I decided to come myself.”
“Good to meet you. I am Varen Dravergh. I’ve come as a representative of the dragons.”
Reassuring my ass.
Varen’s unsanctioned introduction finally pushed me into total ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) collapse. If I could, I would’ve liked to tear my hair out by the handful.
Instead, I lightly tapped his back with a trembling hand. My problem child turned to me with a perfectly calm face.
“H-hey, Dragon Boy... what the hell are you doing....”
“Ceryl, don’t use nicknames right now. This is an important meeting.”
You little—! Aaaagh!!
I screamed internally and squeezed my eyes shut.
Varen had once explained the contract tied to his heart, but even so, I still avoided saying his name in front of others.
This was a world where Ordin could be poisoned to death even inside supposedly impregnable Belzena. I couldn’t rule out the possibility of Varen being captured and having his heart stolen.
That was why I’d been so careful never to reveal his name to humans. And yet here he was, proudly introducing himself without a clue.
As I stood there, utterly wrecked, Varen turned back and continued speaking with the leader. I no longer had the strength to stop him.
“Adeline, I came to join hands with you. Will you kill King Laskar with me.”
Varen cut straight to the point, extending his hand as if offering a handshake.
Adeline quietly alternated her gaze between Varen and his outstretched hand. Then the corner of her mouth curved upward.
“Ahaha, my. I didn’t expect a Dravergh to be this proactive.”
“No reason to waste time.”
“Don’t rush. There are many issues we need to settle first.”
Adeline smiled gently. I swallowed hard, my throat dry with tension. I was the only one who knew better than to be fooled by that kindly face.
She wasn’t a master swordsman, nor a powerful mage—yet this middle-aged woman stood at the head of the Rebels. That alone meant she was anything but ordinary.
“What issues.”
“Trust, first and foremost. Wouldn’t you agree?”
With a soft smile, Adeline shifted her gaze to me. Her eyes, lined with fine wrinkles, looked almost benevolent.
“I like orchids—but Cain does not cultivate poisonous seedlings.”
Adeline and Cain. She spoke the names casually, as if referring to a friend—but they were one and the same.
As the surname Cross suggested, she was a person with a split personality.
