Episode 122

That morning. After spending the night wide awake, I finally concluded that this couldn’t go on.

The Elder’s subtle mention of a troublesome issue started to bother me.

I wondered what kind of troublesome issue could arise from the coming-of-age ceremony, but these are dragons. Why hadn’t I considered that they could come up with some absurd nonsense?

It’s not an excuse to go see Rurin.

It’s because I genuinely think there’s something going on. That’s why.

So I ran to Elena’s clinic. My target was Sereina. Going to the Sanctuary without her would be a journey of more than a month, which is impossible from the start.

“Mr. El! Are you alright? Did you come because you’re sick? You don’t look well!”

Elena, who was sweeping the front yard, approached me in surprise.

“I’m fine. Where’s Sereina?”

“She’s sleeping inside.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Huh? Yes?”

Passing by Elena, I entered the clinic and began waking the red-haired woman curled up and sleeping. I’m very used to waking dragons.

“Sereina, wake up! It’s an emergency!”

“Ugh?”

“What’s with the ‘ugh’?”

“You’re the one causing the fuss… Mmnh.”

Sereina, seemingly awake, mumbled a reply and then turned over.

“If you don’t get up, you’ll regret it forever.”

“Oh, why! What kind of threat is that! What are you planning to make me regret forever!”

“There’s something like that. Anyway, it’s good that you’re up.”

“Hah, this is absurd. Ridiculous. Mmnh!”

Sereina shook her head and stretched. At least she gets up in the morning, unlike Rurin. Maybe that’s the result of living a few hundred years longer. I could feel Elena, who had followed me, watching in surprise, but there’s no time to explain.

“You know the Black Dragons’ Sanctuary, right?”

“Of course I know.”

“Let’s go.”

“What?”

“You’re doing this just because you haven’t seen her for one day? And from the morning? Morning is for sleeping! How can you ignore the natural order of this world and…”

“There’s a reason for it. Let’s go, it’s urgent. You can use teleportation and come back to sleep again, right? You haven’t forgotten the favor of saving your life, have you?”

“Ugh. Fine. Who am I to refuse? You’d kill me if I did. I don’t want to die, so I’ll go. But you…”

Sereina got up from the bed while fixing her hair, and suddenly started laughing as she looked at me.

“Why are you laughing?”

When I glared at her, she quickly covered her mouth. But her eyes were still smiling.

“Do you realize how desperate you are? It’s a good thing the Black one didn’t see this. My goodness.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You guys are interesting. Well, fine, I’m curious to see what happens when you meet her in this state.”

“You’re saying weird things, do you want to be punished, Red Dragon?”

“No, no! It’s always threats with you. This is really sad. Elena, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Huh? Yes, yes!”

Leaving a bewildered Elena behind, Sereina grabbed my arm and linked hers with it.

“Hahaha, fools.”

She spouted some nonsense and then teleported.

The place we arrived at wasn’t the Sanctuary.

Ahead, numerous sheer cliffs continued, and there were huge artificial structures, and a sanctuary connected by canyons.

But it’s still quite a distance away.

“Did you forget that I’m a Red Dragon? I can’t go any further.”

“Oh, is that so. Well, thanks for bringing me this far.”

“I thought about sightseeing, but then I realized my body rejects even approaching the Black Dragons’ Sanctuary. Tell me the story when you come back.”

Sereina chuckled and disappeared from the spot.

“You’re here?”

After subduing the dragon that went wild upon seeing a human walking proudly into the Sanctuary and locating the Elder, he greeted me with a smile. He had an expression that said he expected me to come, making me think I might have fallen into another trap.

No. It doesn’t matter.

Meeting Rurin as soon as possible and hearing why she pouted and disappeared is my top priority. That’s the only way I can sleep peacefully.

“Yes, I’m here. Everything else is fine, but I’d like you to guide me to Rurin first.”

“Rurin is in the Sanctuary now. She’ll come out tomorrow. Interrupting that would be like disrupting the coming-of-age ceremony, and you’re not planning on that, are you?”

Tch.

If he puts it like that, there’s no way around it. She’s already gone in.

“Then, could you explain what you meant by that troublesome matter? What exactly is it?”

The Elder’s body began to glow.

The light from using polymorph. Soon, the Elder’s body shrank and appeared in human form before me.

“The next elder, you see, is most likely to come from our clan.”

“Our clan, you say?”

“There are factions, or clans, among Black Dragons too. Rurin naturally belongs to the Medidana clan I am part of.”

That’s obvious. It’s hard to find an organization without factions. It’s only natural that Rurin is part of the Elder’s clan.

When I nodded, the Elder continued speaking.

“And thanks to you uncovering the scheme of Diehegma and his grandson Nies’s faction, the power dynamics have changed again. Even though my daughter caused an incident and lost power, it has become likely that the next elder will come from our Medidana clan.”

“Isn’t that a good thing for you, Elder? Surely you don’t think Rurin is suitable to be an elder?”

Rurin as an elder. Could there be a dragon less suited to be an elder?

“Not that, but Rurin is the only young one in our clan. The others died in the war, and Rurin’s mother got caught up in an unrelated incident and died, but there are many elders in the clan who think we shouldn’t pass it on to another clan…”

This is getting too long. I just need to hear the conclusion. So what is this troublesome matter?

“I see. So what’s the conclusion?”

“The conclusion is obvious. If you marry Rurin, you instantly become a strong candidate for the elder of the Black Dragons.”

“……”

“After the coming-of-age ceremony, there will be a line of suitors.”

This is really infuriating.

I usually prefer peaceful resolutions, but this is getting hard to tolerate.

“I can’t accept that.”

“The one who said there’s no marriage?”

“Didn’t I explain about that? If it comes to that, I’ll just take Rurin and leave.”

“Is it something to resolve destructively? Doesn’t Rurin have the right to receive a normal blessing and get married?”

“You, Elder!”

My voice rose momentarily. But I soon closed my mouth. Talking about Rurin’s marriage, especially with another dragon, made my blood pressure spike.

But the Elder’s words are true. Going out like this won’t do any good. Rurin deserves to live a blessed life.

That’s true. If I kill them all and take Rurin, it will only lead to another tragedy.

“And the other Dragons ignoring you and proposing is because they see your relationship with Rurin as a human and Dragon relationship, meaning they believe the human will die first. That’s the problem. They see your relationship as a dalliance. True marriage should be with a Dragon, and that’s something that will come up because no matter how strong you are, you’re still human.”

“That’s not necessarily true, though.”

“The story of the Dragon Heart?”

The Elder began to smile faintly, as if he already knew.

“Yes.”

“I was thinking of using that to calm the young ones who are agitated, but can you concretely persuade them? That you are an equal to Dragons and that marrying Rurin means having heirs to continue the clan?”

“I think I can.”

Regarding that point, I’ve been thinking about it since the moment I decided to live in this world with Rurin.

Pride as a human? That doesn’t matter. If I can give that up and let Rurin live without any unnecessary gossip and live blessedly with me, then so be it.

“I’ll persuade them. Whatever.”

“Really?”

The Elder started smiling brightly, as if he had been hoping I would come and do this.

This ancient dragon is really a sly old fox. I don’t know if that metaphor fits a dragon, but anyway, that’s his personality.

“In fact, you don’t need to persuade everyone. While leading the Dragons is the Elder’s job, decisions about things like clan marriages are managed by the oldest Dragon among the Black Dragons, Matriarch Saryn. You just need to persuade her.”

The Elder’s mother is still alive? Being called the oldest among the Black Dragons, she must be an exceptionally long-lived being. The oldest ancient dragon among the Black Dragons.

No, I can persuade anyone who comes. I have the right card for it.

A card that will make these foolish dragons who try to get close to Rurin shut up and even make the ancient dragons like it.

It’s not originally my own power but something obtained from another being, so I don’t like it, but for Rurin’s sake, what does it matter?

“Well, my mother and I are only 800 years apart. Anyway, don’t think of her as an old human just because she’s the oldest. She’s still in good health.”

Good grief. These dragon species…

“I understand.”

I nodded.

The huge structures of the Black Dragon Sanctuary. One of them is the entrance to the Sanctuary.

And one is the lair of the oldest Black Dragon, Medidana Saryn.

I entered there with the Elder.

It’s surprising that such a vast space is inside a cliff, and it’s amazing that the oldest dragon seems 1.2 times bigger than the Elder.

An existence that has lived that long. I showed the proper courtesy due to a being who has spent such sublime time, bowing deeply.

“Are you the child of that human? I’ve heard a lot of rumors.”

Are all the dragons around us also ancient dragons?

With that thought, I nodded.

“I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard, but I think it’s likely referring to me, Matriarch Saryn.”

“Blessings upon all living things. Therefore, I wish blessings upon you too, child of a human.”

Saryn flapped her wings once in response to my greeting. The low tone, devoid of the typical arrogance of dragons, is unique.

It feels like a resonance that has transcended everything. That’s what it feels like.

Even the other ancient dragons, including the Elder, didn’t utter a single word.

“I am indeed a human child, but my name is El, Matriarch Saryn. And the reason I came here is to make it clear that I want to formally marry Rurin someday, even if it might take some time.”