Saffron clearly felt the sensation of his insides twisting. His gut knotted as anger slowly rose within him.
It wasn’t because Viretta had insulted or belittled him. Strangely enough, there was no sign of her looking down on him at all.
It wasn’t that she was looking down on him.
Viretta didn’t despise Saffron, nor did she harbor any pity for him.
She simply passed by like soone who was indifferent.
It wasn’t just Viretta; everyone else too, regardless of how much Saffron spat out venom or grumbled, remained untouched, unaffected by his words.
“Doesn’t seem like it’s going to work, so you’ll just stay stuck at the bottom, blaming the top… Is that fine? Well, I suppose, whatever, right?”
She tilted her head as though asking why he couldn’t understand such a simple thing.
Saffron’s hand trembled in shock, feeling like his brain was about to split apart.
It was an experience he had never considered before, and the sense of humiliation filled him.
“You—what, do you think you were born under so bad conditions?”
“Saffron, you really do revere , don’t you? What do you think I was born with, besides dlit’s lineage?”
He was stumped by her question.
Co to think of it, Viretta was born with just one thing—her family.
Unlike the all-around Iola, she was just an ordinary person with average beauty, intellect, and strength.
Although they had only spent a short ti together, he was sure he was smarter and stronger than her.
“I’m glad that soone with such enviable talents admires . I don’t complain about what I don’t have, though.”
Saffron, who had subtly looked down on Viretta with the belief that he was better because he was born into a better family, felt a sharp pain, as if he had been deeply wounded.
“...”
She was right. No matter how much soone lacking what he had cried out, Viretta and the others would only find it laughable. Wasn’t he doing the sa thing?
If Viretta dlit really was better than him in anything, it was only her wealth, and yet, he had acted as though sothing was cruelly taken from him, directing anger toward her.
He imagined how Viretta, Iola, and other people in higher positions must have thought of him.
Just considering their feelings twisted his insides in a way that was hard to describe.
Not contempt, but indifference and subtle amusent.
Would he just let himself feel these emotions?
His feelings of defeat morphed into anger, and a spark ignited in his previously languid heart.
“If you really don’t want to leave with us, then we can part ways here. It’s your choice, after all. We’ll just find a new butcher.”
At the sa ti, a strange feeling toward Viretta dlit rose inside him.
This person, after stirring up so much trouble, was trying to take him along without a hint of annoyance.
Her point of highlighting it wasn’t because she was angry but because she was telling him that if he was going to complain, he could leave.
She was kind and affectionate, yet fiercely self-centered, a trait that caught Saffron’s attention.
It wasn’t that he felt indebted to her, nor could he disregard the pang in his heart.
Suppressing the sharp, confusing feeling, Saffron lowered his head.
“...No. Thank you, Viretta.”
Viretta, who understood his response imdiately, smiled brightly.
“Call
Viretta. You’re going to be a free person, right?”
“I’ll do that when I beco a free person.”
Let’s hunt the dragon.
No matter how arduous or nearly impossible it seems, let’s follow Viretta.
If staying at the bottom only makes him a plaything for those above, then it’s better to go along.
Hunt the dragon, beco a free person, and one day, press down Viretta dlit’s proud nose.
If he gave up just because it would take ti, she would go on without even acknowledging him, without rembering him.
The sharp, refreshing anger rose within Saffron.
For the first ti in a long while, a clean smile appeared on his face.
“When that ti cos, I’ll slap you in the face.”
“I look forward to it. But just so you know, I don’t give in to that level of complaints.”
Viretta confidently laughed and pulled Saffron’s hand toward her.
A skilled swordsman and magician.
A butcher to disassemble dragons, and a wide road to move their corpses.
And the helpers who would assist them.
Everything was ready.
“It’s really ti to go hunt the dragon.”
Chapter 7
Viretta, who had borrowed the blackboard, stood confidently in front of it.
“From now on, I will begin the second dragon hunting strategy eting.”
Although they had gathered several helpers, the main team consisted of five: Viretta, Iola, Ranken, Moslin, and Saffron.
However, there were six chairs at the table. Next to Moslin, the innkeeper Roberto sat, glued to his side.
The eyes of the four people at the table focused on Moslin and Roberto.
“If I’m not mistaken, it seems like one person is extra.”
“Right. Does Saffron really need to be here? His role is just to do the butchering afterward. All he does is complain.”
Moslin casually pointed at Saffron. Viretta emphasized his na by writing it large on the blackboard.
“His ability to proactively prepare for various crises is a virtue that neither Iola nor I possess.”
Saffron, sitting with a sullen expression, faintly reddened his ears.
“Tch... To think you’re trying to win favor, knowing how slaves are susceptible to complints. It’s truly impressive how you’ll do anything for your goals.”
“Hah, don’t be so impressed. I’ll do even more than this to achieve my goals.”
Viretta, never missing a chance to boast, flushed with pleasure. Ranken opened his mouth in disbelief.
“Viretta, wasn’t that supposed to be a complint?”
“Well, anything I take positively counts as a complint.”
“People usually call that crazy.”
“What are you saying? No one would go hunting dragons with such a body if they weren’t crazy.”
“To beco a great scholar, one has to be obsessed with sothing. That’s true for anything, really. Viretta, you’re set to beco a great figure.”
Saffron sneered, while Iola brightly defended Viretta. Ranken leaned on the round table, half-slouched, grumbling.
“Is this so kind of collective monologue? Everyone is just talking about what they want.”
In front, Viretta and Iola were having a conversation that was off-track, and next to them, Roberto and Moslin were talking in sickeningly sweet tones like, ‘We’re one, you know??.’
As soon as the eting began, a collective monologue ensued.
For a mont, when he looked away, Roberto, reunited with Moslin, tried to stay as close to her as possible.
He had given a hint earlier, but since he had arranged the room and the eting, he couldn’t exactly give another hint. It was precious to have an inn at this ti.
By the way, how is it that so people can go from breaking up to holding a grudge for twenty years, while others experience such a rapid developnt in just one night?
Ranken, with his handso face but no experience in relationships, rested his chin on his hand and stared at Moslin.
The sight of two much older people sticking together like youths was a bit irritating, and sowhat uncomfortable.
He wasn’t trying to judge looks, but Moslin was about his mother’s age.
Watching a woman of that age in a romantic relationship was honestly uncomfortable.
If that romance was the kind of “giggle, darling” story that youth have, it was really, truly unbearable.
Thinking of Moslin as his mother made him feel even more uncomfortable.
Before things got more serious, Ranken quickly got up and scribbled on the blackboard.
“What are we going to do now?”
“We’ve gathered the personnel and the funds.”
“I know. But there’s no solid plan. The most important thing is how we’ll hunt the dragon.”
Gathering money and people ant nothing if the plan wasn’t solid.
No one calls sothing like “go kill all the tigers in the mountain” a real plan. It’s just an order.
“Right. Today’s eting is about discussing how to deal with dragons and deciding on our hunting thods.”
“Hm, dealing with dragons... Has anyone here ever encountered one?”
The eting room fell silent, as still as a dead mouse.
Even Roberto, who had been cozying up with Moslin, realized the shift and quieted down. A few seconds passed in silence.
“Well, if it’s a corpse.”
“If it’s sothing flying from far away.”
Saffron and Moslin broke the silence and spoke. Moslin, with her feet on the table, crossed her arms.
“Dragons are often written about, but they’re not creatures you see often. If there were many beasts of that size, it’d be troubleso for them to exist together.”
“Moslin, with your age, you’ve never seen a dragon?”
“Don’t call it age.”
Moslin shot a glare at Iola and rested her arms on the chair back.
“Anyway, dragons aren’t creatures you easily see. Not many people intentionally go where dragons are.”
“Normal people can’t do that.”
“Right, people like you reckless fools can. As for , I’ve only seen them flying from afar. The whole rcenary group packed up and fled.”
“...Are they really that scary?”
Hearing that even Moslin, a top-tier expert, fled, made the prospect of facing a dragon truly terrifying.
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