Without You (11)

To Rurin, the lair.

From what I’ve observed, Rurin almost equates the lair with her mother.

She regards living in the lair as being in her mother’s embrace, and simply sleeping in that embrace is her greatest happiness.

“A leak means the lair is damaged, right? This has never happened before…!”

“That could be the case. But calm down. I’ll check it out for you.”

Though she’s a dragon, she’s still just a hatchling, with no experience of the world.

Everything she knows about the world comes from what she heard from her mother.

Since then, she’s only stayed in the lair.

If she knows anything more, it’s this lair and the constant torment from her fellow dragons.

So she just stood there, confused and on the verge of tears. I looked around on her behalf.

She had just said it herself: the lair had never leaked before. But now it was.

In that case, I had a guess.

The two Black Dragons who visited the lair before – they were the ones who rampaged at the top of this mountain.

Considering the dirt that was falling from the ceiling, the cause of the leak must be there.

Other dragons may have done the same thing in the past, and even the sturdiest lair would eventually suffer damage if that keeps happening.

Considering that possibility, I ran to the spot where those dragons had rampaged.

Swoooosh!

The rain was pouring even harder.

My guess was right. I found the cause quickly.

“Rurin! Over here.”

I gestured, and she came running. She knelt down beside me, mirroring my position.

“Look here. Because of those guys, and maybe from past damage too, the ground above the lair’s ceiling has caved in. The ceiling is cracked in parts, but it’s only leaking water because the dirt is covering it…”

“No! I hate this! It’s the only thing my Mother left me. The only thing she left when she abandoned me… Why?!”

Her face turned pale, and she trembled.

Despite all the torment and being crushed, despite hearing demands to kneel, she had never shown any expression. But now, with the lair on the verge of collapsing, tears welled up in her eyes.

The falling rain.

It soaked her hair completely, and water streamed down her face.

But somehow, I could distinguish between the cold raindrops and the warm tears brimming in her eyes.

It’s still okay.

It’s actually a relief that we found out before those guys came back to cause more destruction. After confirming that, I spoke close to Rurin’s ear.

“Calm down, Rurin. It’s still okay.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s very precious, isn’t it?”

“It’s precious. More than anything. It’s the only thing my Mother left me. So…so….”

“I understand.”

“You don’t know. Everyone insults me, torments me, but the only reason I could bear it was because I had this lair my Mother left me. So…so….”

“Yes, yes. I may not know the pain you’ve endured. But there’s one thing I do know.”

“One thing you know…?”

Rurin looked at me through her tears. I nodded, then spoke with conviction.

“It’s precious to you, so let’s protect it. Let’s protect it together. So stop crying, you fool.”

“Is that…really true?”

“Yes. I’m on your side.”

I reached out and wiped her tears, even though in this rain, the gesture didn’t mean much. But I wiped them anyway.

Before the cold raindrops mixed in, I could feel the warmth on my fingers.

“So don’t cry. Crying in the rain, isn’t that too pitiful?”

“Don’t touch me!”

“You use my stomach as a pillow, but I can’t wipe your tears?”

“That’s because it’s a pillow. Right now, it’s your hand!”

“What a strange standard. If you don’t want me touching you, stop tearing up.”

“……”

Rurin clamped her mouth shut. The anger that had been rising from the thought of fixing the lair was subsiding.

“Can you really fix it? Will it stop leaking?”

“Yes. Let’s fix it right now.”

“…Then I’ll forgive you for calling me a fool earlier.”

“And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t cry anymore.”

“Fine. I won’t cry.”

Rurin said confidently and wiped her own tears.

Her determination blooming from that pitiful state was beautiful.

Why?

The more time I spend with her, the more I want to watch over her, to protect her. Why?

Anyway, we started the work. The rain kept falling, and we continued silently.

First, we had to dig out all the dirt in the damaged part of the lair.

Rurin and I continued the task together in silence.

Even though the rain kept robbing us of our body heat, we persisted in our work, and in the midst of it, Rurin finally broke the silence.

“But why are you helping me protect this?”

“Huh?”

“Everyone insults my Mother. They say she’s a disgrace to our Clan. They all point fingers at me, saying I’m something that should never have been born, that I’m dirty. So why? Why are you helping me take care of my Mother’s lair?”

“Didn’t I just tell you?”

Rurin tilted her head, as if to ask what I meant.

“Because I’m on your side.”

“My side…?”

“Since I’m on your side, I’m naturally on your mother’s side too. I don’t care what your mom did. We’ve already eaten together, slept near each other, and spent time together… Although maybe you don’t feel the same way. But regardless, what do I care about the opinions of people who don’t know us? Even if the truth is that your mother was a bad person, I’ve decided to be on your side, so I’m on her side too. So I’ll fight with you.”

“That’s strange. I’m supposed to be alone…”

“What are you talking about? You’re not alone right now, are you? We’ve been living together.”

Rurin stayed silent after that, and I simply continued our work.

Soon, the damaged part of the lair came into view. Thankfully, it wasn’t too extensive. It was definitely fixable.

“Rurin, can you find me a rock about this size?”

“A rock?”

“Yes.”

After remaining silent, Rurin nodded at my words and started moving around to find the rock.

“This size?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect.”

Rurin immediately lifted the rock.

She’s strong for her size.

Then she came back with a rock about the size of three of her faces.

I lifted the rock. It was basalt, just the kind I needed.

I placed the rock over the damaged part of the lair.

Then I used an eighth-class flame spell, a fire hot enough to melt anything, to burn the rock.

The heat, hotter than lava, caused the rock to liquefy.

At that moment, I cast a freezing spell, and as I let the molten rock cool in the rain, steam began to rise from the stone.

The melted rock solidified as it bonded to the damaged area.

When rocks erupt from a volcano and land on the ground, they solidify like this. I was using the same principle.

I continued applying the same technique, reinforcing various parts of the lair with the rocks.

I patched the cracks by melting the rocks, but this wasn’t a perfect fix. It would be best to melt some metal over it and cover it with dirt.

“If we get a dwarf to properly repair it later, we won’t have to worry about it breaking again.”

“……”

“What’s wrong? Are you impressed?”

“Uh, um… No, that’s not it!”

She almost admitted it, but then denied it.

“Anyway, the emergency fix is done. Let’s head back down. It’s cold out here in the rain.”

She nodded.

Rurin, who had been staring at me blankly, nodded again and followed closely behind.

She couldn’t hide her worry, as she kept stopping and looking back the entire way down.

That rainy day.

She was the one who brought up her mother first. But her attitude remained the same, so I didn’t want to risk ruining the fragile bond we’d built.

Of course, the task the Lord gave me is important. So I’m waiting for the right moment, but I plan to approach it slowly.

So I’ll wait.

And life with Rurin slowly began to take root deep within me. Ever since I arrived in this world, I’ve been alone too.

I had subordinates and I wasn’t without friends, but there was no one I could truly open up to.

She, too, was a lonely existence in this world.

I, too, am someone who came to this world alone.

Perhaps that’s why Rurin didn’t feel like a stranger to me.

Time passed quickly.

On good days, I used our bets as an excuse to drag Rurin outside. It wasn’t much, but just doing something was important.

There’s a big difference between just sitting around and taking even a simple walk outside to explore nature.

Before long, Rurin stopped bothering to argue and just let herself be dragged outside. That’s a secret even she hasn’t realized yet.

“This is delicious. Let’s pick them all.”

“Is that so? If you say so, then let’s pick them!”

When we found some sweet-tasting fruit, Rurin and I raced to pick them as if it were a competition.

It wasn’t just fruit. There were also many wild herbs with flavors we could eat.

During the war, when my soldiers and I were isolated in the mountains for over a month, we learned through experience what we could eat and what we couldn’t as we foraged for survival.

So I’m confident when it comes to botany. This wasn’t knowledge I learned from books but from life-or-death situations, so it’s not easily forgotten.

The thin wild herb in front of me has a savory flavor.

Mixed with the fruit we picked earlier, it would make a great ingredient for wild pasta.

The yellow fruit has a firm flesh once you peel the skin.

It has a tomato-like texture and an almond-like flavor, so if I sautéed it with the wild herbs and added a bit of garlic, it’d make a decent meal.

“Come over here.”

“Where are you going? Give me that! I’m hungry!”

“If you want to eat, follow me.”

“Stay right there!”

I ran off with the cooked pasta. Not to start some game of chase.

It’s not like we were at the beach or anything.

If you keep going this way, there’s a cliff. The cliff is made of towering rock formations, and below it, a river flows through a valley, stretching out into a plain far in the distance. The view is incredible.

Sitting at the top of the cliff, eating pasta? That’s a vibe, right?

“Here, take this. We didn’t bring any plates, so let’s split it. Sit here.”

“I’m hungry. I’m hungry.”

“Didn’t you used to not eat anything and just sleep most of the time? Then only hunt when you were too tired to sleep?”

“That’s true. But lately, things have been weird. It’s all your fault!”

And there was one other thing that had changed.

She stopped calling me “you bastard” and just called me “you”. Although, she still called me “you bastard” when she was angry.

“Really? You’ve changed because of me? That’s a good thing.”

“That means you’re my subordinate in charge of cooking! Hand it over! Quickly, quickly!”

She lunged for the pot, so I reached out and blocked her with my hand, causing her arms to flail around wildly.

“More importantly, how’s the view?”

“The view? A view’s just a view. I’ve seen the same scenery so many times flying through the sky.”

“I guess that’s true. But you’ve never eaten a meal here before, have you? Take your time and enjoy the view. This is called a picnic.”

“I’m going to eat!”

But Rurin didn’t care about picnics or the view. She was focused solely on the pot, and she inhaled all the pasta in one go.

“Hey, how can you just eat all of mine too in one bite?!”

Chomp chomp chomp.

The dragon kept chewing, pretending not to hear me.

“Spit it out. Open your mouth! Spit out my share! Dragon!”

“Shut up! Stop bothering me!”

This has been our routine lately.

She still hasn’t smiled.

She doesn’t laugh.

But…

Whether it’s the Lord’s task, or sympathy for Rurin, beyond all of that…

I simply enjoyed this.