A Lie – Part 04
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Translator: Kell
“He has been flying on the back of a dragon for a whole day and night, surrounded by dangerous monsters, turned away by the Captain of the Noble Guards, only to find that all his effort was for nothing,” Zero said. “I am impressed an ordinary human lasted this long. I have a little more respect now for the Dragon Slayer King.”
“I’m not sure you can call a man with a dragon an ordinary human,” I said.
After dragging Gouda into the carriage, wiping him down, and dressing him in comfortable clothes, his pale face looked a lot better.
“Is the King okay? He’s not going to die?” Lily asked, pacing restlessly around Gouda.
I grabbed her and sat her down on a pile of cloth. “You get some rest too. And eat some bread.”
I pulled a loaf of bread out of the bag and tossed it to her. She caught it with her small hands and immediately bit into it.
I, on the other hand, had taken a bath in hot water and had Zero dry me off. Gone was the Black Beast of Death.
While Gemma went to gather food for the dragon, the creature followed her, as if saying it would decide what it would eat itself.
“But why are you here too?” Zero asked. “You met your parents at Lutra Cathedral, did you not?”
“I did.” Lily nodded. “I told them that Lord Torres would give them jobs if they went to Wenias. But Heath can’t carry a lot of people, so I went ahead of them.”
“Then you should have stayed in Wenias and waited for your parents to arrive. You knew that coming north would be dangerous.”
“I-I shouldn’t have come here?” Lily looked stunned, her mouth full of bread.
“That is not what I am saying. I was simply surprised that the priest allowed you to come.”
“He didn’t.”
“Really?” I asked.
Lily nodded. “Father said no. But I wanted to come, so I asked Heath to take me with them. I told him I’d be waiting at the top of the tallest tree so he could pick me up when it was time to leave.”
She made her one hand into the shape of a dragon’s claw and held up a finger with the other. From her hands’ movements, it seemed that the dragon swooped down from the skies, grabbed Lily from atop a tree, and flew directly north without asking the priest.
“Was he mad?”
“He was so mad.”
“Of course he was.”
I was suddenly reminded of how Lily had followed us from Lutra. She was a stubborn girl who insisted on coming with us no matter how many times I said no.
“He almost turned me away, but the king took my side. He said I could talk to Heath, and I have a lot of friends, so I’d be useful. But I wasn’t.” She hung her head low.
The further north you went, the more creepy the monsters were.
Without the ability to control rats, Lily was nothing more than a small, slightly cute ball of fur. She did have a secret weapon—whoever she bit would go down with a disease, which would not probably work against monsters.
“Cheer up, Rat,” Zero said. “Apparently people have a better chance of survival when they have someone to protect by their side. The priest, especially, puts his life on the line when fighting. With you by his side, he will be more careful. In any case, I am glad to see you. I am sure Mercenary feels the same.”
“Not at all,” I replied.
Lily puffed up her cheeks and threw all kinds of things that were lying around at me. “Stupid! Meanie! I hate you!”
“Stop it, both of you. You cannot have fun without me.”
“Please stop throwing things when I’m right here sleeping,” Gouda said weakly. We all turned to him.
I peered into his face. “Oh, you’re awake.”
“Back off,” he said. “You stink.”
Well, well… He was doing a lot better than I thought.
Slowly he lifted his body up and drank the wine that Zero offered in one gulp. “How long was I out?”
“Not that long,” Zero said. “The Captain went out to find food for the dragon and she has not yet returned.”
“I thought I’d slept for three days and three nights straight, but I guess that rarely happens.”
“Shall I put you to sleep with my Magic?”
“I’ll pass. The way that Orlux guy was acting, he might chop off Heath’s head while I’m sleeping.”
“It’s possible,” we said, laughing briefly, when we heard footsteps approaching the carriage.
Barcel pushed up the canvas and peered inside. “Um, a dragon was stalking the Captain just now. Is that a new kind of harassment?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It won’t eat the Captain. So what’s going on with the list of demons?”
Barcel waved a sheaf of papers. “As you can see, we could almost make a book with it. I thought I’d show it to the Lady Witch first before sending it to the transcriber.”
“A wise decision, Attendant. Let me see it right away.”
Barcel handed Zero the papers, then regarded Gouda. “Oh, you must be the Dragon Slayer King. You’re younger than I thought.”
“And who are you?”
“Apologies for the late introduction. My name is Barcel, Captain Gemma’s attendant. For the time being, at least.”
“Did you mess up and got fired or something?”
Barcel gave a dry laugh. “A fine man, I see. You don’t mince your words. Who’s the little one?”
“Lily,” the rat Beastfallen said.
“I see,” Barcel muttered. “The rat Beastfallen that accompanied Dea Ignis south. I was expecting someone a little more vicious-looking.”
“Is she not adorable?” Zero said. “I love sleeping with her in my arms.”
“That sounds nice.”
It was just a casual remark on Barcel’s part, but Lily gave a start and scuttled around behind me.
“Wait, what? Did I say something wrong?”
“You probably smelled funny,” I said. “So, how’s the Director doing?”
“He’s taking a break. Writing continuously exhausted him. He said, ‘I have just discovered that it is harder to write than to read.’ I was going to take him to the carriage, but I heard someone else was here, so I wasn’t sure what to do.”
He probably meant Gouda. As a matter of fact, it was impossible for me, Zero, Gouda, Lily, and the Director to all stay inside the carriage.
“Why don’t you just let the Director sleep in the tent? He’s still a demon. He doesn’t need to be guarded that heavily.”
“The Director can recognize the names of demons, so we do not have to worry about him being attacked by one,” Zero said. “But if humans or animals that had gone berserk attacked, he would not stand a chance.”
“The Knights Templar will guard him,” Barcel said. “Even Captain Orlux admitted that the Director’s ability is useful in protecting the town.”
“Very well. We will go with Mercenary’s suggestion,” Zero agreed.
“In that case, I’ll have to take you to his tent,” Barcel said.
“Me?” Zero stopped flipping through the papers.
“He said he wanted to talk to you about something.”
“I see. Lead the way, then.” She turned to me. “Mercenary, can you handle things here? I feel a little anxious with only the exhausted Dragon Slayer King, and Rat, who do not have any rats to command.”
“Just be back for dinner.”
“Of course. The food you make will always take precedence over everything else.”
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)