Neighborhood Visitor (4)

I had nothing more to say.

Was this what Rurin always meant when she said I was hers? I just realized it.

Being each other’s.

I am Rurin’s, and Rurin is mine. This dragon is saying something like what a married couple would say.

But I didn’t feel like denying it. Rather, I kept thinking about it for a long time.

Because the resonance of those words wasn’t bad.

“Is that so…”

“That’s right! When I first met you, didn’t you say that you would be mine? Why did you forget? I will never forget those words, even in death.”

“When we first met? All I remember is you trying to kill me.”

“I don’t remember that. Did you dream that?”

It was as if she had no memory of inconvenient facts. Rurin sounded like a politician at a hearing, then turned her head away.

“I don’t know! Don’t look at me! I’m not here!”

Rurin was lying on my lap. She turned her body, lay on her side, and covered her eyes with her hands, facing my stomach.

So only her cheek was exposed.

So I poked her cheek. Her soft cheek dented under my finger.

Then she moved her hands slightly, opened her eyes, and glanced at me without turning her head.

“So as soon as you saw me, you were like, ‘Die, human’…”

“Nooooooo!”

When I mentioned that faint memory, Rurin covered her eyes and ears again and buried her head in my stomach.

“What are you doing? You said you didn’t remember?”

“Uuuuuuugh!”

Rurin finally stood up abruptly. Then she stood on the throne, stomped her feet, and shouted.

“I was a fool back then! Trying to kill you. You’re my everything, trying to kill you is suicide! Uuuugh! Erase it! I’ll erase that memory from your mind.”

“Idiot. Even if you use mind-wipe, my mana is higher than yours, so it won’t work.”

“Huuuuuuh.”

“Don’t make such a resentful face. You brought it on yourself. Anyway, let’s move again.”

By now, it should be quiet in front of the main hall.

So we can now move towards the real target.

“If we go outside, there’s a small tower right in front? Let’s teleport to the middle floor of that tower.”

“Got it. I hate it here now. Because you talked about old times!”

Rurin, sounding like a husband of 40 years complaining about poor side dishes, stomped and kicked the door.

It was a huge door.

A door proportional to the height of the main hall.

The kind of door that attacking soldiers during a siege would desperately try to break with a battering ram.

The soldiers standing in front of it were flung away, and I immediately hugged Rurin.

“That tower over there!”

“Got it!”

Rurin answered, and then darkness, followed by dizziness, and then white light passed before my body touched the ground.

That means the teleportation was complete.

We were standing inside an empty tower. Ordinary people don’t know that only beings like dragons can use teleportation magic.

But this is a place where wizards gather. And not just one or two, but many.

I deliberately chose the middle floor to avoid unnecessary commotion if they recognized a dragon.

The Wizard’s Tower, a place I visited a few times when I was in the palace before.

As far as I know, at this time, all the wizards usually gather in the head wizard’s room at the top.

It seems that tradition hasn’t changed, so I climbed to the top floor with Rurin.

“It’s a boring magic circle.”

Rurin bluntly said.

When we reached the top, about six wizards were chanting spells around the outer edge of a bluish glowing magic circle.

Court wizards are an elite path, only available to wizards of at least 5th-class.

Among them, the head wizard is usually a wizard who has reached at least 7th-class. My target was that 7th-class wizard.

Finding out where the Emperor is very difficult.

The Emperor moves around the Palace, and his quarters are not fixed. Unless you have at least the power of a court wizard, you can’t know where he is in the Palace.

Along with the Imperial Guard, there are the court wizards.

Only those two groups can stay within the Palace.

And among them, Medlinne, a 7th-class wizard and countess, was the right person to tell me where the Emperor was.

The place where Medlinne is, is this Wizard’s Tower in the Palace.

All the wizards looked over when Rurin suddenly called the magic circle boring.

And among them was Medlinne, who had been watching the experiment arrogantly with her legs crossed.

She saw my face and her mouth dropped open in shock. It was a face like she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

Then she sprang from her chair, rushed to me, and knelt.

“E-Ellison!”

She knelt before me with a pale face.

Being one of the few humans who know my mana, she started showing reverence, forgetting that her subordinates were watching.

“Yes, it’s been a while?”

For wizards, class is the ultimate standard that determines status. No other words are necessary.

After the current Emperor ascended, she was the first wizard to be given the title of countess. Normally very proud and arrogant, her behavior surprised the surrounding wizards, who started murmuring.

“What are you doing? This person is…!”

“Shh!”

I shook my head strongly to stop Medlinne’s actions. She seemed to understand, nodded with a puzzled look, and stood up, clearing her throat.

“That’s it for today. I have something to discuss with a guest, so everyone leave!”

Questions spread across the wizards’ faces.

As far as they knew, she never showed such deference to anyone below a duke, so it made sense for them to be puzzled.

But the head wizard’s orders are absolute. The wizards left hurriedly.

In the end, only Medlinne and I were left. And Rurin, who was fiddling with the magic circle.

“What brings you here? If you had sent word, I would have come immediately.”

I can’t say I like her, but she is very polite. As long as she doesn’t repeat past mistakes, I have no intention of blaming her further. So I spoke in a gentle tone.

“I’m here to see the Emperor, so I’d like a little help.”

“Y-You mean His Majesty?”

“Yes, His Majesty.”

“Excuse me, but if it’s you, Ellison, you could request an audience and see His Majesty anytime…”

Medlinne nodded slightly without changing her posture. She looked puzzled.

“Of course, but I’d like to meet him secretly.”

“Oh…!”

“Can you just find out where the Emperor is now? I hate things getting noisy, so I plan to meet him quietly and leave.”

“Is that so…? I can find out where he is quickly. I have many connections in the Palace!”

“Really? That’s good.”

“Y-yes! If you take me in, I will dedicate myself…”

“Hold on, hold on. I’m a retired chef, remember? Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Aren’t you coming back to the world again?”

Medlinne asked with a regretful expression.

“Absolutely not. Besides, after causing trouble once, you want to be my subordinate again?”

“That… Ellison, that is…”

Medlinne flinched with a pale face, not knowing what to do.

It reminds me of the time when she was directly under my command.

When I was the commander of the Monster Coalition.

It no longer has any meaning now.

“Anyway, I’m asking you to do this. It’s a minor matter, so handle it quietly.”

“I understand. I’ll take care of it right away.”

Medlinne stood up with a face full of regret.

“Go ahead. I’ll be on the roof.”

“Yes, yes!”

Medlinne descended the tower quickly. After watching her, I moved to the roof of the tower with Rurin.

This was where I stayed during my active days in the Palace. So it was very familiar. Although many things have changed.

When we reached the roof, a strong wind was blowing gently. It wasn’t very high, but I could still see the other palaces well.

Once we find out where the Emperor is among those many palaces, moving there will be quick.

“Oh, it’s refreshing.”

Rurin’s hair was blowing wildly. So were her clothes.

When the wind hit her beautiful face, she squinted. It was funny to see her looking down from the roof with her eyes barely open.

I naturally stood next to her. Then Rurin asked, as if recalling old memories.

“How long are you staying here? Like before, for a long time?”

Of course, the answer is no.

“Of course not. I’ll just convey what I need and return quickly. Though it might take a while to get back to the lair.”

“Well, I don’t mind. If you say go, even hell is fine. Eek!”

While she was talking, the wind changed direction. Rurin’s long hair stuck to her face. It stuck to her lips too, making her look quite ridiculous.

“Ptuh, ptuh! My hair is attacking me, bad hair!”

“Silly, in this case, it’s the wind that’s attacking you. Well, not really attacking, but.”

“Hehehe.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re touching my face.”

I was fixing Rurin’s long hair, which was all tangled and hanging in front of her face, and she liked it.

She seemed happy.

She’s such a fool. Does she usually get happy over something like this?

“Rurin….”

The majestic Palace scenery and Rurin’s lines. As if enchanted, I held Rurin’s chin.

“You?”

Rurin tilted her head slightly, her chin held by me. She looked puzzled.

“Well… close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

Feeling sentimental, I moved closer to Rurin. She closed her eyes without much question when I asked.

“Uh, um….”

But just then, a voice came from the side.

Startled by Medlinne’s voice, I let go of Rurin’s chin and stepped back.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Then I cleared my throat and looked at Medlinne.

“You’re here?”

“Yes! I found out where His Majesty is!”

Medlinne answered with a bright face, either out of joy for completing her task or because she was a wizard far from romance and couldn’t read the mood at all. She looked like she was seeking praise.

“So, where is the Emperor?”

“Right now, he is with Lady Frera. She is the 14th concubine.”

“The 14th? Where is that?”

It has increased a lot. I asked in admiration, and Medlinne pointed to a place with her finger.

It’s not far. Of course, physical distance doesn’t matter anyway.

What’s important is whether it can be identified by sight.

“Rurin, let’s go. Huh?”

I turned to Rurin, knowing the location. But Rurin still had her eyes closed. She was looking at me with her eyes closed and motionless.

“Hey, Rurin! Open your eyes. Your eyes!”

Then Rurin opened her eyes. She looked around and got irritated.

“What! Nothing has changed! Why!”

“Well, yeah?”

“Your old colleague said that if someone tells you to close your eyes, it’s best to stay still. So I did! Was that a lie? Ugh, I won’t let it slide.”

She started getting angry for no reason, but I let her be. Then I urged her to teleport.

Medlinne knows Rurin’s true identity. During the Dragon War, there were circumstances that inevitably revealed it. Of course, she wouldn’t even think of leaking that secret.

A wizard of Medlinne’s level is not unaware that revealing it would mean death.