Dragonlord

Ep 172. Get To Work. (1)

Ep 172. Get To Work. (1)

Light, Ilias, and Karas awkwardly sat around the dining table, with Theolus curled up on top of the table itself. Light wore a thin smile as she pet the hatchling’s head with one finger, watching him squirm and play with her hand.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never been in your house before.”

“Oh yeah…you two never came to the valley before, huh? It was always me going to Partivine.”

“Ahem…in all fairness, the Dragon’s Valley is considered one of the most dangerous areas that one could possibly travel to.”

Karas glanced around the cozy atmosphere of the red dragon’s nest, noting its stone structure.

The entrance was on the side of a steep cliff – an unimaginable location for those who couldn’t fly. But contrary to the dungeon-like cavern Karas had been expecting, the innards had turned out to be rather comforting: the stone walls and floor were smoothly shaved, and while spacious, the structure was nowhere near as giant as Karas had imagined it would be.

Even the interior was filled with all sorts of furniture that one could find in a person’s home. Tables, chairs, lamps and beds…and while he’d only seen a glimpse, Karas could swear he saw a sink and cooking utensils in the kitchen.

“…Though, perhaps the rumors were in exaggeration.”

“Yeah, it seems so nice here! No wonder Serenis kept saying people used to live with dragons.”

“Haha, what were you two expecting?”

Even as Ilias laughed at her own question, Karas and Light turned to the youngling with a stern look on their faces.

“A giant cavern.”

“Skeletons as furniture.”

“Dragons roaming about in their proper forms.”

“And lots of treasure.”

“…”

Ilias’ smile soon faded away as she realized how serious the two were. Even the youngling took a moment to glance around her home, making sure none of that were present.

“…Come on, that’s just from those picture books they show children! You guys don’t seriously believe them, do you?”

“What else would we believe in? Most people don’t have dragons around to tell them what their nests look like.”

“I mean, I guess we had you around often…but you never told us about what your house actually looked like. When you kept coming to Partivine, I thought it was because your home was…um…”

As Light trailed off, Ilias rolled her eyes, shrugging at the two on the table. The misunderstanding clearly wasn’t a small one.

“So all this time…you two thought I was running away from home because I lived in a dungeon?”

“Yes.”

“…Kind of?”

Another awkward silence befell the dining room as Ilias struggled to process what her image must’ve been to these two.

Apparently, friendly visits were being perceived as being a runaway.

‘I mean, I guess it’s kind of true…it gets boring here…’

As Ilias stewed on the misunderstanding’s implications, Light hurriedly looked to the red dragon, changing the subject once again.

“So, uh…oh yeah! Ilias, that was your parents earlier, right? Do you know where they went?”

“Well…”

Ilias uncomfortably squirmed in her seat, her eyes glancing towards the door every so often. She seemed desperate to jump out this very moment.

“You see, the other elders have been a bit…upset.”

“Upset? What for?”

“Because…you know, well…”

Ilias pursed her lips, pondering how to best phrase her answer to Light’s question.

“They’re not too comfortable having a human in the valley…they were already a bit upset about Eline staying here. And I think they were blaming it on Lord Serenis.”

Both Light and Karas widened their eyes with surprise. Karas especially seemed to doubt the very premise of the youngling’s words.

“…But how can that be? Eline’s been nursing the dragons back to health, no? I can’t imagine anyone would be upset to have a skilled herbalist treat their families.”

“Yeah…and that kept them quiet for a while. But when I got home with Raizel, everyone was shocked at how horrible her state was. I had to tell them what happened, and…well…”

“…They found a second reason to dislike Serenis.”

“…Yep.”

It certainly hadn’t helped that their lord was constantly breaking the kin’s unspoken law of seclusion. It didn’t help when Raizel and Ilias were traveling with her, and it definitely didn’t help when it resulted in Raizel brushing with death.

Light groaned at the youngling’s story. Her finger continued to tap against her head as she mulled over the situation.

“So you’re saying the old dragons are angry because Serenis isn’t holed up at home like them? Isn’t that kind of…trashy?”

“Well…living in seclusion is a big part of their life, so…they just don’t like outsiders in general. Us going to them, or them coming to us.”

“…Isn’t that kind of racist? What’s so good about living like that?”

“As the elders would say, it’s…’the tradition.’”

“That’s a stupid tradition.”

“Right? It’s practically a law around here.”

Despite the two girls’ agreement on how stupid the kin’s unspoken law was, the reality was that Serenis had broken it with Raizel in tow = and it’d resulted in the youngling becoming severely hurt.

And while the two conversed, Karas emptily looked towards the corner of the living area.

At this point, he was the only one that was remembering that there was, in fact, another outsider here with them.

“Speaking of outsiders…”

“…”

Ilias followed Karas’ gaze – as did Light and Theolus soon after.

And in the corner, they could see an odd black-haired girl, fidgeting in unease with her eyes glued to the floor.

Sighing, Ilias shook her head in dismay.

“Was trying to pretend she wasn’t here.”

“Oh…I think she was trying to do that too.”

“…Ilias, Light. That’s not nice.”

Even as the three spoke of her, Aymeia’s eyes failed to meet theirs. She remained still and silent, akin to a prisoner being held by their captives.

Finally, Ilias addressed her directly, making it impossible for the former deity to remain silent.

“Why the heck did you come here anyways? I thought Asarda was your home?”

“…I…don’t think…I’m welcome there anymore.”

“And you thought you’d be welcome here??”

“…”

Instead of an answer, Aymeia only let out a tiny whimper.

Clearing his throat, Karas chimed in to defend what dignity that was left of the former deity.

“Well, Serenis was in a hurry to bring Raizel home. Aymeia just…happened to get caught up.”

“…Riiight.. ‘Caught up.’”

Ilias shook her head in dismay.

Truth be told, Ilias was still angry at Aymeia for what they’d done to Raizel. Their lack of intent helped little in face of what’s happened to her friend.

But after the short conversation Serenis had had with her, Ilias was reluctant to press the matter any further.

So instead, the red dragon only let out an audible groan.

“Well…I’m sure Eline will be done soon. We can see what Raizel has to say then.”

“…”

While her lips continued to remain sealed, Aymeia did return a few nods this time.

Theolus alone remained oblivious to what was going on, glancing between the four that were gathered around. They all looked somewhat unhappy to him, but for all he knew, they were all hungry.

And, in fact, the four were all thinking along the same line of thought.

‘If Raizel decides not to forgive her, then…’

Well, too bad.