Long-Awaited Desire (5)

If the Elder is over 5,000 years old, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to know the dead dragon.

From his expression, it seems like their relationship wasn’t a good one.

Of course, that’s not the issue now.

The Elder, after hearing the words “Greek City”, kept his stiff expression and suddenly changed the subject.

“I don’t know why you need time to think, but it would be best not to try any foolish tricks. However, we Red Dragons are generous. So, we will give you two days. Think carefully and make the right decision. It would be good for the little one too, don’t you think? Of course, you, we, and the little one cannot use magic in the sanctum of the sacred ground, so there’s no way for you to escape as you said. It would be best to just accept the gold and sell the orb.”

The change in subject was a half-hearted threat that I couldn’t ignore.

Unable to hold back, I stomped my foot and covered Rurin’s eyes and mouth, as she was letting out small sounds of frustration beside me.

Rurin’s small face was completely covered by my hands.

Finally, she calmed down and stopped fidgeting. At least I had bought some time.

The threat was annoying, but I had gotten what I wanted.

I already knew what the Elder meant by the sanctum. Not the entire sacred ground was a sanctum, but within it, there was a special area called the sanctum.

The problem is that mana doesn’t accumulate well in this area.

It’s like when I went to the modern world, where the amount of mana in the air was almost nonexistent, and it took a long time to recover mana. Here, mana is almost nonexistent, and due to a remarkable barrier, even the accumulated mana can’t be used.

It’s not really frightening. If I can’t use magic, it means the dragons can’t either.

Moreover, they can’t act recklessly in the sanctum. After all, it’s their own sacred space.

If they were to do anything, it wouldn’t be underground, but in this very place we’re standing.

Maybe they’re not doing anything for now because they know that if I teleport out, it’ll be hard to get their hands on the orb.

They probably need some time to prepare while keeping us trapped in the sanctum.

The reason I asked for time to think was to seek certainty about their goal of acquiring the orb and to confirm that they were the ones behind the incident with Rurin’s mother.

In the current situation, 80 percent of my instincts tell me that they are the perpetrators, but I still need that last 20 percent.

My ultimate goal is to make the Black Dragons admit in front of Rurin that her mother was falsely accused and that they treated her as a disgrace to their clan.

Of course, making the Red Dragons pay for their actions is also important.

That price will never be light.

They too seem to need time.

Since I also needed time, we were led to the sanctum underground by the Elder of the Red Dragons.

The sanctum has a space that resembles a giant lair.

“My dear! Ugh, I’m so angry, angry, angry, angry!”

As soon as we entered the lair, Rurin erupted like a volcano, as if magma was being poured out.

Luckily, it had been delayed until now.

“Just hold on a little longer. You’ve held it in so far, right?”

“If you weren’t here, I would’ve already knocked that Elder’s head off!”

“Yes, yes, you’ve held it well.”

“I’m hungry now that I’m angry!”

Rurin sat down with a pout, still holding tightly onto my arm.

Earlier, she was gripping my arm so tightly that it nearly bruised, but now she’s holding it very lightly, almost ready to let go. It seems like she doesn’t intend to let go.

It’s probably because I told her not to let go of my hand and to stay close.

That’s probably why it won’t fall off, like gum stuck to the floor in this vast lair.

Seeing this, memories of the past come flooding back.

A space similar to where we are now. The time when I suggested a bet to narrow the distance between me and Rurin, who used to sleep far away in that vast lair.

Thinking about the distance between Rurin and me now, it’s just a nostalgic memory.

I stroked Rurin’s cheek, who was rubbing her stomach with a face that showed she was both angry and hungry, and asked,

“Are you hungry?”

Rurin nodded so violently that her hair flew around.

“I’m only feeling like this because I’m forcing myself to hold back.”

“If you’re hungry, why not summon something?”

“Oh! Something sweet would be great! You said that when I’m angry, I should eat something sweet.”

Rurin said, swallowing her saliva with a pleading look on her face.

As I was about to use summoning magic to fulfill her request, I suddenly realized something.

“Oh, right.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t use summoning magic. This is the sanctum.”

“Whhhhat?”

Rurin immediately dropped her head and sat down. Even then, she still held onto my arm.

She raised one hand as she sat down. Her hand slipped down due to sitting, and now we were holding hands instead of her wrist.

“Just hang in there. There’s something important.”

“Something important?”

I took out a modern item from my pouch. Rurin took it with one free hand, raised it to the ceiling, then lowered it to the floor, examining it with a puzzled expression.

“What is this thing? It looks weird.”

“This is a great device to listen to the Red Dragons’ greed. It’s from where I used to live. I’m going to use it for eavesdropping.”

“Eavesdropping?”

“I saw the Elder and High Dragons entering the sanctum earlier. They were probably going to where the sacred relics are stored, somewhere nearby. I attached an eavesdropping device to the Elder’s body earlier. I prepared this back at the restaurant.”

“Oh. I don’t really know what it is, but I understand.”

Rurin stared at the eavesdropping device with a bewildered expression. She looked like she had no idea what it was.

“It’s simple. It’s going to let us hear what the Elder says from now on.”

“Ohh? This thing?”

Even if they find this on their bodies, they won’t be able to figure out what it is.

It’s an Earth item. A very technologically advanced item from modern times.

So, I sat down next to Rurin and adjusted the frequency.

Rurin stared at the eavesdropping device, then casually rested her head on my shoulder.

“Hmm. Are they still moving? I can hear flapping, but no voices yet.”

“Can you hear the Red Dragons’ voices from there?”

“Exactly. Hehe. Let’s wait a little longer.”

“I see. The items from where you used to live are full of interesting things. Among them, the best was this thing called a photo. I wanted to take a lot of photos with you.”

“Photos?”

She nodded.

Rurin raised her arm with an excited face, causing my right hand, which she was holding tightly, to rise as well.

“That’s a good one! It captures your image, so I can keep looking at it. If I’m ever apart from you, I can look at it to feel better. Of course, I can’t be apart for more than a day!”

“Well, it’s not impossible to get a camera, so I’ll give you one later. You can take as many photos as you want.”

“Really? Your face! Face, face, face! I’ll take pictures of your face. Hehe.”

“What’s the point of taking so many pictures of just my face? We should take them together.”

“No. Last time, I wanted to see a bit more, but the wall guy blocked me, so I failed. But when you’re sleeping, it’s not easy for me to be up, so…”

“Huh? The wall? Failure?”

What’s that supposed to mean?

“Ah, I-I didn’t say anything!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you want to see my face, you can do that right now. We’ve got time left. Go ahead, observe.”

If it’s Rurin’s wish.

I brought my face close to hers. Then, Rurin’s eyes scanned my face.

“Ugh… A-ah, no. If we’re this close…”

Then she quickly lowered her head.

Why is her face turning red? Just from being close? She never acted like this before.

“Just like before, it’s better to observe when you’re sleeping! Hehe.”

As expected, she started whining again, saying something I couldn’t understand. Then, a moment later, she suddenly lifted her head and brought her free hand toward my face.

“Will it be the same if you close your eyes? Ugh. Close your eyes!”

“What are you doing?”

Ssshhh!

It was then.

The eavesdropping device suddenly made a loud noise.

Rurin, who was trying to make me close my eyes, and I, who was trying to avoid it, froze and focused on the eavesdropping device.

“By the way, do you think that guy will listen quietly?”

The voice coming from the device.

This voice is one I’ve never heard before. It’s probably one of the High Dragons beside the Elder.

“We showed him that much gold, but his eyes didn’t even waver. What an annoying human.”

He definitely saw through my gaze.

Rurin stared at the eavesdropping device with a curious face, while the Red Dragons’ conversation continued.

“Annoying human! Shouldn’t we have just dealt with him right then and there?”

“I’ve assembled an elite force, so it wouldn’t be difficult, but they have teleportation. It’d be problematic if he escapes with the orb.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“We weren’t fully prepared. We’ll summon him tomorrow and finish this.”

“Good. Now that we’ve confirmed the Dragon orb, our long-held desire will finally be fulfilled.”

“Exactly! For our world. The world where only the Red Dragons stand at the top! We will destroy all the Gold Dragons and Black Dragons and create a world ruled by our race. Everything should have been accomplished in the last war!”

“Thanks to that, we can finally use the original method we’ve worked so long for. It’s better to finish everything in one strike rather than take the long way around. Sure, the war was ruined by that human, but we should thank him for bringing the orb to us.”

“As a reward, I’m planning to kill him in one swift blow.”

“That seems a bit too generous, don’t you think?”

“The little one beside him, that’s the daughter of the one who gave us the Black Dragon’s orb.”

“Yes. She’s surprisingly tough, so it was hard to kill her, but I’ll send that little one to her mother tomorrow.”

“Those are trivial matters. The truly important thing is the plan after that.”

The conversation continued.

Their simulation.

The more they spoke, the more Rurin’s face drained of color. In that moment, Rurin’s enemy was confirmed.

The monster who killed Rurin’s mother.

That monster was none other than the Elder of the Red Dragons.

The next day.

Rurin was sleeping with swollen eyes.

She was clinging closely to me.

The one she had been harboring vengeance for had finally appeared, and the anger was overwhelming. However, I stopped Rurin for the time being.

If I were to kill them all right now, I would only become a mass murderer.

Other dragons knew about the Red Dragons’ greed.

For the scenario where the Black Dragons would apologize for treating Rurin’s mother as a disgrace.

I couldn’t act hastily right now.

It’s not yet my time.

Until then, I have to stay in sync with Rurin.

However, I didn’t expect their greed to go this far.

I thought they only wanted to do something with the Dragon orb.

Looking back, all the conflicts between dragons that have occurred so far were orchestrated by the Red Dragons.

Even the Gold Dragons, who produced the Dragon Lord, had their strength significantly weakened over thousands of years, all of which is ultimately related to the Red Dragons.

The fact that they stole the Black Dragon’s orb from Rurin’s mother, realizing that they lacked the orb, and then resorted to starting a dragon war as a backup plan.

Rurin’s unfortunate childhood was ultimately the result of that greed.