I spread the map on the cave floor. The red dot lit up at the edge of the forest.
The march in the east, where there were no Dragon Hunters, made fast progress. We’d taken a wide detour, but we were getting closer to our destination more quickly than when we tried to cut straight across the woods.
It was the right call to skirt the outskirts instead of pushing through the forest’s center swarming with dangerous humans.
Leobin’s sacrifice burned in my gut, but at least the dragon had stayed out of the hunters’ sights.
Now all we had to do was pass the Silvern Plateau to the north. The border defense corps dispatched from the capital had a camp there, but they would be better than the hunters.
According to Kallen, the north was cold. We needed to prepare properly.
I dug through the Spirit’s pack and pulled out every piece of clothing and cloth inside. I doubled up anything close to my size on the top, and I patched the pants with extra cloth.
Without thread and needle, I had to ask Rami for help.
A Noak could manipulate the shadow it stored in its body at will. It wasn’t lethal, but it had offensive use, and it was also handy for joining things together.
“Rami, are you busy?”
“Hyuung... hi, hyuung....”
Rami was savoring a legged worm she’d ferried in from the jungle. When I told her not to put live ones in her pocket, she’d neatly thwack-thwack stunned it and brought it back that way.
Every time I saw it, it was a disgusting eating show, but the way it stretched like jelly looked like its own delicacy. More than anything, the way she {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} clutched the worm in both hands like a treasure was very cute.
“Ahem, I’ll pick something to eat. You two have a talk!”
As usual, Kallen stepped out saying she’d find ingredients for dinner. A stalwart escort monster guarded her side.
And Varen, who hadn’t managed to come near me all day, hovered on his feet. In a cave that was cramped to begin with, a big body fidgeting back and forth scattered my concentration.
I ignored him to the end and finally said one thing.
“Hey, sit down. You’re scrambling my head.”
“Okay.”
Varen dropped straight to the floor. The way he kept sneaking glances said he had something to say.
I didn’t give him a single look. Normally I would have asked if he had something to say first, but for training’s sake I decided to forget the gentle guardian role for a while.
After hemming and hawing for a long time, Varen finally mustered the courage to speak.
“Um... Ceryl, I have something to say.”
“I don’t.”
“...But I do.”
When I cut him off like a blade, Varen wilted and sulked. His tail wasn’t out, but if it had been, it would have drooped.
While I cobbled together clumsy winter wear from what we had, I thought of Varen’s tail for a moment.
When he’s in a good mood it sways; when he’s low it hangs. If something displeases him, it thwacks the ground.
Cute.
For a second my mood lifted, but I shook my head and wiped away the affectionate thought.
“Um... Ceryl, listen to me.”
I kept up the wall of indifference, but Varen scooted closer on his butt.
Even if I didn’t listen, he cleared his throat like he had something to say anyway.
No doubt he’d grovel that he was wrong. If he flattened himself and begged he’d never mount again, I was prepared to let it slide once.
With a markedly serious air, Varen pulled something from his pocket. He rustled a piece of paper open in his hands.
“Ahem, hello, Ceryl. Today is a good day.”
“...What?”
“Did you not sleep well? I wanted you to have good dreams. It pains my heart to see your gaunt face.”
It was a tone that could not have come from Varen. The longer the recitation went, the worse my expression got.
“Your eyes like night mist and your smile warmer than the spring breeze—”
“Stop.”
“......”
“That won’t work on me.”
So he stuck to Kallen and had a secret talk for once. Looked like an adolescent girl had passed along some useless technique.
Cringe lines like that might work on Varen, but they don’t work on an adult like me.
Unable to finish the letter he’d prepared with such ambition, Varen clamped his mouth shut. The paper shook in his hand and crumpled.
“Good grief. So that’s what all the whispering was.”
“I’ll kill her.”
Then he rumbled low.
I wondered who the murderous intent was for—Varen rolled his eyes white and stared out of the cave.
“The orange-haired human. I’ll kill her.”
“...For fuck’s sake, you brat!”
I balled up the top in my hands and threw it. I aimed for his forehead, but he snatched it without effort.
“You did wrong, so why are you taking it out on Kallen?”
“She lied to me. She said this would make your anger go away.”
Come to think of it, it had gotten pretty dark outside and Kallen hadn’t come back.
So she was trying to set up a reconciliation spot for me and Varen.
“I won’t let it go. Humans really can’t be trusted.”
A deep sigh leaked up from my belly at Varen’s words.
Ugh, fuck. He really tries everything.
***
Even with mental preparation, the northern cold was no joke. I wore the winter clothes I’d worked so hard to make, but the chill still knifed into my bones.
Rami moved house from the outer pocket to the inner pocket of my coat. Even pressed close to my body heat, she shook like a leaf. She didn’t eat worms and didn’t show her nose.
Ella also seemed unaccustomed to the cold climate and struggled. Her soft whickering had turned into phwe-choo—sneezes.
The only one used to the cold was Kallen. She strode ahead, sturdy, while the rest of us lagged.
“Ceryl, over there looks sunny. Let’s warm up.”
“Y-yeah... g-good....”
The one who was most sensitive to the cold was me, in fact. Ceryl’s thin body didn’t have a single layer of fat.
Even standing still, my whole body trembled and my mouth froze so I couldn’t articulate.
Kallen ran off, delighted, saying she’d gather firewood. And Varen looked at me with worry.
“Ceryl, are you very cold.”
“D-don’t... talk to me....”
I wasn’t still angry. I just had to conserve the strength even to speak.
Reptiles are ectotherms. I’d thought of him as a giant reptile that couldn’t regulate his own body temperature, but he defied my expectations.
The garment Varen had made was a white silk, thin enough that skin tone showed through. Even so, he didn’t feel the cold.
Then again, it would be funny if a dragon who could turn the world into a sea of fire felt cold.
“If you’re too cold, shall I hold you.”
“G-get lost... you’re damn... cold....”
“Exasperating. I can’t set a fire to the woods either.”
The problem was he couldn’t share the dragon’s heat. He carried a furnace inside, but like a reptile his skin was cool.
Even the growth-pain fevers that ran hot at night had settled. Maybe because we were in a cold region, a mild warmth was all.
Thanks to that Varen could spend comfortable nights, but somehow I felt the lack.
I’d thought he was a mobile industrial heater. Just big, and utterly useless.
At the sunlit spot, we found Kallen had arrived first and piled kindling neatly.
“F-fi... fire... light it....”
Varen slid his hand into the gathered sticks without delay. Then he blew a puff of breath.
In an instant the campfire whooshed to life. We huddled around the small flame.
I thawed my frozen hands and feet by holding them close. Rami, who had been shaking in my pocket the whole time, finally peeked out.
Ella paced the perimeter and warmed herself. I was relieved her sneezing had quieted.
“D-don’t keep it... going too long, snf, we move soon.”
“Can’t we stay here a while? Ceryl, you’re having a hard time.”
I wanted that, badly. But I shook my head at the acrid smoke rising from the fire.
We hadn’t lit a single fire the whole time we’d traveled through the forest. We hadn’t needed the warmth, and it left traces in too many ways.
The Silvern Plateau was cold terrain with heavy snow. Even though Kallen had been selective, the wood was full of moisture. Wet wood made a lot of smoke.
Smoke like this could be seen at a glance from far away. After all the hiding we’d done, we couldn’t reach the end just to advertise a dragon’s presence.
Kallen kneaded her tired feet and pouted.
“Dragon Hunters must feel the cold too. Wouldn’t it be hard for them to chase us?”
“Y-you never... know, better safe... ah-choo! th-than sorry.”
“Ugh, your cold seems worse. I’ll brew you Somora tea.”
Kallen dug in her pack and took out Somora herb. It was good for colds.
All through the journey Kallen had collected herbs and healthful fruits. Now, for any symptom, she had something appropriate to pull out.
And each worked surprisingly well. A walking pharmacy, basically.
A dented kettle went over the fire. It wobbled off center and Varen steadied it. He stuck his hand right into the hot flame; a dragon’s clothes didn’t burn.
Holding the kettle without a word, Varen glanced around. Then he scowled, annoyed.
“You need more clothes, right? I’ll get some.”
“N-no. Don’t... go roaming... around.”
I snuffled a long run of snot. The cold stuffed my nose so badly my tongue felt cut in half.
I did not like the cute way of speaking that slipped out of my mouth against my will.
Varen stared at me. Seeing me shiver, he took off the robe he was wearing and handed it over.
The silk looked like it had not even a speck of insulation. But I wasn’t in a position to be picky; I grabbed it fast.
Even so, once I wrapped it and wore it like a muffler, the blade-thin chill stabbing my neck dulled.
“A fire this small won’t cut the cold. I’ll burn the forest.”
“H-hey... don’t. Don’t burn the... thatch to get rid of maggots— ah-choo!”
“Why catch maggots.”
He cocked his head at the proverb.
By the fire, Kallen clapped her hands.
“When you store meat wrong, it goes bad and maggots appear. You worked so hard to hunt it, it’d be a waste to throw it out.”
“So it means eat it before it spoils.”
“It means cook it before it spoils. Right, Ceryl?”
I didn’t want to join a conversation at that level.
Uh-huh, you’re right. I gave a vague nod.
Meanwhile the tea in the kettle finished boiling. Varen handed the whole thing over.
It seemed he didn’t know humans, unlike dragons, could get burned.
Kallen found a brass cup for me. Brass conducts heat quickly, so the rolling boil came through as is.
But my hands were so frozen it just felt warm. Sniffling, I blew on the steaming surface and sipped.
The effect was clearly good; the moment I drank, warmth spread through my gut. Before it cooled I shot it and got right to my feet.
“Snf, I can live now. Let’s move.”
“Already?”
“Don’t whine. Up. Nothing good about being seen.”
One cup of herb tea loosened my frozen mouth.
I scuffed out the traces where we’d made the fire. I scooped cold soil and scattered it to keep any warm cinders from lingering.
To set the course, I pulled the compass from my pocket. But Varen was staring fixedly at one point in the forest.
“That way. I feel the Dravergh’s presence.”
Ah—my whole body shivered.
They said Varen would feel it when we neared the Eterna Nest. We’d truly reached our destination now.
