Chapter 127 - You naughty…

“Ah, was that disappointing? That’s the only interesting fact about me, really. I’m different from my younger sister in many ways,” Enzo scratched his head again, as if sheepish.

Freya’s gaze, which had been as stiff as a stick, loosened slightly. I wasn’t sure why.

She suddenly glanced at me.

What is it? Don’t suddenly act like you’re paying attention to me. It doesn’t suit you.

“I see. If you’re her brother, then last time…”.

“A completely different person. A bit foolish and kind-hearted, that’s how different I am!”

As if muttering to himself, he looked at me with a slightly understanding face.

I pretended to stick out my tongue.

“Well, I’ll go inside first. I have a lot to do.”

“You naughty… my lady, shall we go in too? I’ll escort you.”

“Oh, I’m…”

“Didn’t you say you have to go and talk to them in person no matter what? You don’t joke around, right? So, let me accompany you.”

What was there for him to accompany? Maybe he was just trying to cheer her up.

The strange and ridiculous duo that ended up sticking to me, followed me slowly.

The picture was a bit strange.

The glittering lights of the banquet hall were gently and warmly shining on everyone inside.

An ordinary and simple night.

Ivan and Camu also came to show their faces for a change, but the others didn’t come up.

I was beginning to feel sorry for my little dragon and my husband.

They’d been through so much…

* * *

The dragon’s neck looked like it was about to collapse.

When I carefully stroked its swaying iridescent scales with my palm, a groan rang out.

“It feels too hot. The dragon’s skin was cold, how did it get like this…?”

“It’s a sign that it’s almost over, so don’t worry too much.”

My husband was struggling to put the cold mermaid close to the beak of the bird of the dragon.

Mermaids weren’t monster food, and would disappear when killed, so they must be brought back half-alive.

However, when I was around usually, they always brought back demon prey that was already killed, so I didn’t have to worry about it.

It was simply a consideration of the inevitable part of the food chain for demons, so I was fine with it.

“If it ends, then it means the dragon will grow safely, right?”

“That’s what they say if it succeeds in shedding its skin.”

“Shedding skin? You mean like shedding scales?”

“Well, yes, but someone needs to help. Usually, another dragon helps with shedding, but this guy only has us, so it’s hard to say. They naturally can’t do it with humans since they’re sensitive, and refuse unless they fully trust them.”

“What happens if they refuse to shed?”

“Well….”

Izek turned to me to answer, but was interrupted by the dragon who, with its eyelids half-raised in excitement, suddenly bit its muzzle.

More specifically, it bit at Izek’s gauntleted arm, which was resting on the mermaid!

I was caught in fear and awe.

Izek looked back at the dragon, which was trying to bite off his left arm, and lifted his right hand like a lid and ruthlessly hit its nose without mercy.

The dragon, which had been blinking its eyelids rapidly in agony, finally let go of Izek’s arm and shook its head.

“Damn it, you got drool on me. I taught you to differentiate between food and humans.”

For some reason I couldn’t figure out, the dragon showed its displeasure by blowing air through its nose, but didn’t attack Izek.

As I watched with my mouth hanging open, Izek, who was irritably rubbing his drool-covered arm on the mermaid, finally looked at me again.

“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea. This happens all the time.”

“…It seems like the two of you have become close.”

“Close? With this thing? Don’t be ridiculous. I just tolerate this shameless brat because he knows that if it attacks me, our food supply will be cut off.”

What in the world?

It didn’t seem like that was the reason at all.

A little while later, the sound of our dragon happily munching on its meal could be heard.

Izek approached me, stroking his arm, and sat down next to me.

The pile of jewels behind him sparkled and illuminated his silver hair with iridescent colors.

“If it keeps refusing to shed its skin, it’ll eventually suffocate and die. That’s what the leader was worried about. Even if he trusted you completely, it’ll be useless if someone else touched him. What if it keeps refusing?”

“Then, what if I do it alone…?”

“You can’t do it alone. Shedding skin takes a lot of strength, and it’s dangerous. Even if it succeeds, the shed skin will remain for a while. Normally, the dragon would eat it, but if it transforms, it could get wrapped up and suffocate to death.”

“Oh…”

“Troublesome in many ways.”

“Yeah, really.”

“Don’t worry too much, I’m trying to find the best way possible. Maybe those two could help, they seem to have gotten closer.”

We tilted our heads and looked at the two.

Popo, who had been grumbling and shaking its body towards the stern Griffin, suddenly turned its head, no, its body towards us, scattering multicolored gemstones.

“Well, the griffin can fly, so it can hold onto the skin and fly in the air…”

“That’s true. Or maybe Popori can grab and pull it down, it’s really heavy.”

“That sounds good too.”

The dragon, who had no idea that we were worrying about him as if it were our own problem, looked at Popo and growled while eyeing it.

It seemed to dislike its gemstones being played with by someone else.

“Do you always bring food to it yourself?”

“It’s not just me, we all take turns. We try to avoid anyone entering alone when you’re not around. This guy is too unpredictable, and those two minions keep playing pranks when we’re not here. Haa, if I don’t keep watching, they’ll try to challenge it openly…”

“Oh, what kind of pranks?”

“Why are you curious about that? Do you want to follow along as their friend?”

Do I look like a kid?

I was about to get angry, but I decided to be patient.

It wasn’t because that terrifying scene from earlier came to mind.

“I was just curious if it had anything to do with the incident where Camu fell from the sky.”

“That was caused by that man first grabbing onto that bird’s tail. More importantly, what has our Gonfalonier been up to these days? I still haven’t had a chance to catch up.”