Not grasping my meaning, Ordin wore a benevolent smile.
"Your greeting is late. What is the name of the benefactor who saved my son?"
Ah. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even introduced myself properly.
I swapped out the eyes that had been blazing with betrayal for something polite, dipped my head, and offered a bow.
"Nice to meet you. I’m Ceryl Aylos."
I turned, motioning for Kallen and Margon to introduce themselves as well.
But the air felt wrong.
The cavern’s atmosphere sank cold. The dragons encircling us began to stir.
The hushed voices landed clean in my ears.
"Aylos, you say? That Aylos?"
"But I heard every Aylos was dead."
What is that supposed to mean.
I glanced around, confused, and saw Margon’s face had gone bloodless.
He seemed like the only one who could explain this, so I widened my eyes at him and tilted my head.
"What’s wrong? Is there a problem?"
"Sir Ceryl, why... how could you...."
"Huh? What did I do?"
Just then, one of the murmuring dragons thundered like a lightning strike.
"If you’re really Aylos, how dare you come here of all places!"
"Varen was bait to draw us out! Ordin, kill that human at once!"
Dozens of dragons began to exude raw bloodlust at the same time.
The three already-shaken humans had the breath knocked out of them. We could do nothing but tremble.
Humans inside a dragons’ lair. We were prey before predators.
"Silence."
Ordin raised a hand and spoke a single word.
The din that had thrummed through the cavern vanished at once.
"Hah... h-hah...."
I clutched my chest, venting the breath that had been stopped.
I’d been cooing over Varen as my baby this whole time. Now, all at once, the reality of what dragons were hit bone-deep.
I lifted my white face and looked up at Ordin.
His deep blue eyes were drilling through me.
"...Y-Your Highness...."
Ordin—the only thing here I thought I could rely on—said nothing.
His gaze held no warmth at all. That alone made the terror of death feel one step closer.
"So you truly are Aylos."
"..."
"Do you know what your ancestors did to us?"
How would I know that.
Aylos never appeared in the original. All I knew was a trivial knack for reading wind direction.
A ruined house with a paltry gift—that was the only information I had.
My head wasn’t working, my tongue felt stiff. I couldn’t speak.
All I could do was shake my head, sincerely.
"So you aren’t lying."
At that emotionless voice, I nodded hard.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tears pattered down. It was a plea to let me live.
Ordin let out a short sigh and looked over his people.
"Whatever he is, he’s the human who brought my son back. He’s a guest formally clothed by Varen, so you will show respect."
Grumbling soaked with displeasure started up again.
I groped at the clothes I was wearing like a drowning man reaching for a rope.
When Varen had torn my clothes to shreds, I’d been mad enough to want to hit him. Right now, I had never been more grateful.
"Tch... then what of the other humans!"
"They’re clearly Aylos’s underlings! They must be killed!"
The instant I narrowly kept my own neck, the arrows of fury swung toward the rest.
I spun around and saw Kallen and Margon, frozen white and trembling.
"Deal with the remaining humans as you see fit."
So much for mercy—Ordin had none for ordinary humans.
I moved on instinct and blocked the two of them with my body, spreading my arms and shouting at Ordin.
"They’re guilty of nothing! They only followed me!"
"Hmm...."
"If you’re going to kill them, then kill me first!"
It wasn’t about lofty duty or responsibility.
I was gambling on a vague hope: as Varen’s benefactor, they wouldn’t lay a hand on me.
Silence fell for a beat. The only sound was the ragged breathing of three humans.
"Guide the humans."
Ordin gave that final order and turned away without a trace of reluctance.
Without a footfall, he walked toward the depths of the cavern.
***
Led by discourteous dragons, we were taken into a reception suite.
A wide sitting room held soft sofas and a large dining table, with several bedrooms attached.
By anyone’s eye, it was a space fitted to human habits of living.
But for all the high-end furniture, there were no signs of use. Ancient dust lay thick and gray.
Kallen cleared her throat and spoke.
"Ugh, dust. It’s like nobody’s cleaned in a hundred years."
According to the Spirit, in the distant past the human king and the dragon royals had come and gone between courts.
But when the current kingship under King Laskar began, the two races broke with each other.
It had been a hundred-odd years since the Laskar house took the throne, so she was being figurative—but Kallen’s remark was fairly sharp.
I let out a weary sigh and looked around the space. Old, but warm and cozy.
We’d been healed by a dragon’s power, but all three humans were spent. None of us could rest with an easy mind.
Then, without a knock, the suite door opened.
By reflex I flung an arm out, pushing the other two behind me.
"Hmph. To think we’re setting food out for humans."
With a curt dragon at the lead, carts laden with dishes rolled in one after another. They filled the big table until a lavish spread lay before us.
Without a word of explanation, the dragon set down the food and left the parlor.
In the closed room, the smell alone made our mouths water. A sudden pain tugged at my abdomen.
"Do we... do we eat this...?"
"Sss, who knows what sssort of trick the dragons... sss, put in the food...."
Kallen asked, and Margon answered with a swallow.
Kallen and I had wandered the forest for over a month, surviving on stew.
Margon had been a hostage; he hadn’t eaten well either.
At the sight of real food for the first time in ages, the hunger rose until it hurt.
But none of us dared reach out first.
"Skree! Skree, skree!!"
Rami got up on the table before anyone else.
Since I’d ended up wearing dragon clothes, Rami had been riding in Kallen’s inner pocket.
When we fell into Jed’s trap, we lost the Spirit’s pack—and with it, Rami’s pantry—so that tiny body had gone hungry all day.
Rami bounded across the broad tabletop. First she shoved a purple grape into her mouth and stained herself purple.
Then a red cherry, and then, greedily, a yellow orange.
"Sk-, skree... skreee...."
The palm-long lizard was tearing through every fruit piled in the big bowl.
She looked liable to give herself a stomachache, but nothing about the food itself seemed off.
Thanks to Rami unintentionally serving as our royal taster, we took our seats.
Neat forks and knives had been laid out, but those were luxuries; we shoveled food in with our hands.
A tongue that hadn’t tasted fine food in a month prickled with bliss.
"Hhk... u-hkk...."
Kallen ate in tears, the flavor moved her so much.
Margon gripped food in both hands yet still rolled his fierce eyes, hunting his next prey.
After that combative meal, we sagged limp, spent. Even with the dust, the dining chairs were quite comfortable.
Full bellies, relaxed bodies—sleepiness crept in, naturally.
A short nap right now would be perfect, I was thinking when—
"You must have been very hungry."
...These dragons really °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° can’t stand to see me rest.
I sprang to my feet at Ordin’s entrance. Kallen and Margon rose too, tense.
But the King of Dravergh had business only with me.
"Aylos, let’s speak for a moment."
"Yes. I have something to tell you as well."
The two of them sent me worried looks, but I patted Kallen’s shoulder to say I’d be fine and stepped out of the parlor.
Even after calling me out alone, Ordin said nothing.
He simply walked a few paces ahead, out of the cavern.
Following him out, I faced the full moon head-on.
I’d always thought the moon in this world rose especially large and low, but up here it felt close enough to touch.
Ordin sat on a flat rock, admiring it. I shuffled over and sat at his side.
By day, the sun had felt like it would burn me to cinders; by night, a just-right cool breeze was blowing.
"Aylos, tell me how my son has been."
Of course that was what Ordin most wanted to know.
I steadied myself once and began the heavy story.
I chose nothing but the facts—nothing more, nothing less—and told him what had been done to Varen.
Ordin didn’t move; he only listened.
When the story ended, he gave a plain, single line.
"Are they all dead."
"Most of the subordinates are dead, but I don’t know whether the one who gave the orders is alive."
Varen’s wildfire in the forest would have killed most of the Dragon Hunters.
But Jed’s whereabouts were unknown. He hadn’t been in the tower to begin with; I couldn’t rule out that he was still alive.
It was unfortunate news for a dragon, yet strangely, Ordin smiled.
"Good. It means a chance remains for my son’s revenge."
At that, Jed’s face flashed across my mind.
Imagining that unlucky mug in Ordin’s hands—ground to powder with not even the bones left—put me in a fine mood.
