#180: Without You (12) — The Archmage's Restaurant

She woke up. The ceiling of the lair greeted Rurin. It was the same unchanging scenery.

However, the feeling on her head was different. It wasn’t the pillow she’d been using lately.

It wasn’t a pillow, but a hard floor.

The lair wasn’t designed with the thought that someone would sleep here in human form.

It’s comfortable when a large body curls up to sleep. That’s how the lair is built.

So, it’s a bit uncomfortable to sleep in human form. But recently, it had become strangely comfortable. The reason was simple: she had a pillow.

“You! Why is the pillow moving?”

Rurin jumped up. She looked around, but the pillow was gone.

“Where did it go?”

She muttered to herself into the air. Of course, there was no reply.

Rurin stood still, blinking.

She tilted her head slightly, with a faint “whoosh.”

She kept tilting her head, circling the lair. But it wasn’t there. It wasn’t inside the lair.

“Where did a pillow go…?”

It’s not here.

Unknowingly, Rurin stepped out of the lair. She headed to the top of the mountain, above the lair.

But it wasn’t there.

Only the wind greeted her with a whoosh.

Rurin looked around as she descended the mountain. She even stopped by the cliff where they often ate.

The pillow wasn’t at the place where they had fun picking fruit, either.

Frustration was building, but she kept walking. There was no pillow by the lake, either.

The pillow wasn’t at the fishing spot, either.

She looked around the lake.

She looked around at the cliff as well.

She wandered around all the places she’d been with El, looking everywhere, but saw no sign of it.

Frustrated, Rurin reverted to her dragon form. It had been a while since she did so. Then, she took off.

She gazed at the meaningless landscape.

There were many dragons nearby, so she could sense strong mana from several directions. She couldn’t tell which one was El’s.

Rurin wasn’t yet able to discern the unique flow of El’s mana in that much detail.

In the end, she returned to the lair.

As she landed, Rurin unconsciously reverted to her human form.

Rurin’s natural form was as a dragon. That’s what should have felt most comfortable.

In that form, with her black hair flowing behind her, she ran into the lair. Her long hair fluttered because she was running fast.

She looked around.

Back in the lair, Rurin looked around once more.

But it wasn’t there.

It wasn’t there.

Not here, not here, not here.

The pillow was gone.

Rurin’s frustration kept growing. She didn’t know why she was so annoyed, but the irritation kept building inside her.

A surge of anger welled up from deep within her. She felt suffocated and had to take deep breaths.

Then, she shook her head wildly.

It’s just that the pillow was gone.

It’s not that big of a deal.

“Yes, it’s gone.”

The pillow had disappeared without a word, and now sleeping would be uncomfortable.

Yeah, that’s all – just uncomfortable.

Rurin nodded, thinking that.

But if she returned to her dragon form, that discomfort would disappear. Without realizing the flaw in her logic, Rurin began biting her nails.

She sat down on the floor. Then she stood up again.

She repeated this over and over, and time just passed. A deep emptiness and a sense of loss crept over her.

It felt like when she lost her mother.

No.

In the end, she got up again and circled the lair.

Wrapped in a sense of unease, she went outside and wandered around the same spots again.

She rushed back into the lair and slumped down again, her shoulders drooping even more.

She realized she was hungry, but surprisingly, she had no appetite at all.

Even though this would normally be the time she’d be demanding food.

“This is so frustrating. If I see him, I’ll definitely make him pay.”

She muttered again without realizing it.

“Rurin!”

Just then, she heard a voice from outside the lair. Someone was calling her name. Rurin jumped in surprise and ran outside.

That pillow – how dare it call her name after disappearing like that!

She told herself this shouldn’t be happening, but her face had already brightened.

But…

What was in front of Rurin was not a pillow. It wasn’t a human.

“Bring that human scum here. That guy, they say he has the Heart of a Lord or something. The Elder told us not to touch him, but we can’t let it go. My wing still hurts from the burn!”

“That’s right. This time we’ve got a stronger force, a much stronger force. Heheh…”

Four Black Dragons.

New faces flew in from the sky.

Reinforcements.

The dragons who came for revenge were laughing. Rurin’s face, which had brightened, darkened in an instant.

It felt as if the recent past had been a dream.

In the end, she felt like she had returned to her grim reality.

“One day, he just appeared out of nowhere.”

“He said, ‘I’m on your side’.”

“He was an annoying human who kept bothering me, always making me think about him.”

“Liar…! Liar! He said he was on your side…”

“What’s with that gloomy face, huh? Having a face like that just proves you’re a disgrace, a disgrace.”

A dragon approached and tried to stomp on Rurin again. Rurin didn’t move a muscle.

She just didn’t feel like doing anything.

Because of that, the only thing coming toward her was the dragon’s massive foot.

Boom-!

Pain jolted through her bones, and Rurin winced.

How stupid. Sleep is really the best. Rurin suddenly felt like sleeping, so she closed her eyes while pinned under the dragon’s foot.

“Do dragon feet taste good too? Like pig’s feet?”

Just then.

That familiar voice rang out.

In the lair, it was far enough away to mistake, but this time, there was no mistake. It was definitely a familiar voice.

Rurin’s drowsiness vanished in an instant. At the same time, the overwhelming sense of loss disappeared, and she felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

Rurin didn’t know why she felt that way, but it was undeniable.

“You’ve shown up, human!”

The dumb-looking dragons shouted in unison.

“Didn’t your elder tell you not to mess with me?”

“Shut up!”

The dragon breathed fire.

Boom-!

These guys are a hassle. Villainous types like them never change. Is this some kind of ancient tradition?

I detonated all their breath attacks in midair. Four dragons weren’t a problem at all.

Not that I could kill them, though.

Starting a war with the entire Black Dragon clan right now would be out of the question.

I even met with the elder today and asked them to keep these guys in line.

But they just couldn’t wait.

Boom-!

The mana I spread caused a chain of explosions in front of the dragons.

The dragons, whose breath attacks were nullified in one blow, opened their mouths wide again in shock.

I sent a blast straight into those wide-open mouths. An explosion followed.

Then, I used Plasma Break again, turning their bodies into flaming chunks.

The breath attack flying toward me again was snapped away with my fingers, exploding in the air.

The dragons were caught in the flames, writhing like freshly caught fish, thrashing wildly as they flew up into the sky.

Boom-!

“You little—! Agh, it’s hot!”

“Hey, this isn’t what we signed up for!”

“Graaah!”

“Stop, stop it! It’s burning! You filthy human!”

Boom-!

I ignored their pleas and made another explosion. The dragon’s left wing, which had been open, was now burning even more fiercely.

“Damn it, retreat! Retreat!”

The dragons, their bodies ablaze, fled in search of water.

I’d already told them to keep these fools in check, so they wouldn’t dare to mess with me again. The Black Dragon clan wasn’t looking for a fight with me right now.

They were already dealing with another problem – their relations with the Red Dragons had gotten tense.

“Are you okay? Did they try to threaten you about the lair again?”

I helped Rurin up. I was expecting her usual response: “Don’t touch me!” – but that didn’t happen.

She just stared at me quietly.

“You lousy pillow…”

“Huh?”

“Nothing!”

Rurin spun around and stormed back into the lair as usual. Today, though, her reaction was colder than usual.

“What’s this?”

“It’s alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

I’m frying uba meat. You can’t have beer without fried food. Since I don’t have Palenque, I can’t make chicken, so it’s uba meat instead.

I cut the uba tenderloin into long strips, coat them in batter, and fry them. It’s more like sweet and sour pork this way.

It’s good with a sprinkle of salt. Of course, the batter is a bit weak, so it doesn’t quite have the classic sweet and sour pork look.

Summoning the beer took up most of my attention. There are strict limits to summoning after all.

“Try eating the fried meat and then drink some beer.”

Rurin looked at me, then at the beer. She followed my lead and drank it.

“Oh, it’s refreshing!”

“Right?”

Rurin looked satisfied and kept drinking the beer. I joined her, and soon, it turned into a drinking party.

“How about this? Since you handle beer well, I wonder if you’ll do well with soju?”

I pulled out my secret weapon: soju. I set it down in front of Rurin, who stared at it curiously.

“It’s green. This one.”

“Oh, that’s just the bottle’s color. The liquid inside is clear. Cheers.”

I poured the soju into Rurin’s cup.

“Is this water?”

Rurin drank the soju without much hesitation, then her face crinkled slightly.

“Ugh, it’s bitter.”

“Is it?”

Maybe beer is okay, but is soju too strong for her?

“But it tastes good.”

“Huh?”

Bitter, but tasty?

Rurin began alternating between soju and beer. Her face got redder and redder.

In the end, she was swaying and completely drunk.

What kind of dragon gets drunk like this?

I’ve heard that many dragons love alcohol. Even the Dragon Lord was a drinker.

Naturally, they’re supposed to have a high tolerance for alcohol.

But this one… She’s completely knocked out from the soju. She’s definitely not in her right mind.

It seems like beer is her limit.

“Hey, Rurin?”

“You…”

“Huh?”

“You’re a pillow! Pillow! Pillow!”

Unexpectedly, she hugged me tightly and started rubbing my stomach. She told me not to touch her, but now she’s the one hugging me?

“You stupid pillow! Why did you suddenly disappear before? Do you know how angry I was? I was sooo mad! Do you even know how much?”

She started repeating herself like a middle-aged drunk.

But hidden among her repetitive rambling was something important. She’s talking about when I left because of the elder? She didn’t show it, but was she really that upset?

“Were you really that mad?”

“Yeah, I was mad! So mad! If you’re going to be my pillow…! You can’t just disappear like that again, okay? Answer me! Pillow!”

“Alright, alright. I get it. But you’re way too drunk. Stop rubbing my stomach and lie down.”

“No way. I want to drink more. This feels good…! Being with you makes me feel good.”

Once again, Rurin let slip something important.

“Really?”

When I asked to confirm, she started to gag.

“Uuueeegh!”

I couldn’t tell whether her drunken ramblings were sincere or if she was completely out of her mind.