How Will You Live?

Several days later.

In the new fairy settlement, Kikori slowly opened his eyes.

“Where… am I?”

“You finally woke up.”

“Orphe, I… What happened after that?”

“Shut up. Apologize first.”

“Huh? S-Sorry.”

Kikori apologized without understanding the situation at all, then sat up.

He was inside some house.

It resembled Orphe’s house, where Kikori had been laid down before.

Floating in midair, Orphe let out a deep sigh and answered, “This is the fairy settlement.”

“You mean the one you built where you moved before, right?”

“Right. We carried you here with magic.”

“Thanks. That really saved me.”

“Mm.”

Kikori looked away from Orphe, who nodded, and touched his own body to check it.

There was nothing wrong. Honestly, he felt as though he had been in a pretty dangerous state, but…

“Did you heal me, Orphe?”

“I borrowed the other fairies’ strength too. So? Does anything feel strange?”

“No, probably not… I think.”

Orphe stared closely into Kikori’s face… and eventually snorted.

“Then fine.”

“Yeah, you really saved me. Thank you.”

“I heard that already.”

“Even so.”

Orphe looked somewhat embarrassed… but eventually called his name quietly. “Kikori.”

“You. What are you going to do from now on?”

“What am I going to do…? About what?”

“Everything. You’ve completely come over to this side, haven’t you? How are you going to live?”

“How…? Same as always, right?”

“…Try bringing out your scales for a second.”

“Huh? Here.”

With a rush, armor and a helmet covered Kikori’s entire body, and Orphe let out a deep sigh.

“What human brings them out just because someone tells him to bring out his scales, idiot!? Your common sense has come way over to this side, hasn’t it!? How are you going to live the same as always like that!? Idiot, idiot!”

“D-Do you really have to go that far!?”

“Be aware of yourself, stupid dragon! If you team up with other humans like that, they’ll find out instantly!”

“Ah… But Orphe, you’ll stay with me, right?”

Orphe froze completely at those words… but immediately muttered, “I’m not human.”

“That’s exactly why.”

“Huh?”

“Because you’re not human, Orphe, you’ll understand me too, right?”

“I… suppose?”

“Then that’s enough.”

Orphe returned a smile to Kikori as he smiled, but… a question mark floated in her mind.

Something felt off. And yet, it also felt the same as always.

“Kikori.”

“Mm?”

“Once you can move for now, shall we go back? To that town.”

“Yeah, we probably need to report all sorts of things…”

As Kikori stood up, he suddenly noticed something placed in the corner of the room.

It was a rather large mana stone, the one the fairies had brought back that day.

“Ah, that? It’s the Great Wyvern’s mana stone. It should make good evidence, shouldn’t it?”

“Yeah… it should.”

The shining Great Wyvern mana stone.

Orphe did not miss the sound of Kikori’s throat gulping as he looked at it.

And what that meant as well. In that place, only Orphe understood it accurately.