Lucas, who had co to a quiet forest with Ally, spoke first.
"Aellas."
"Oh my! How did you know my na?"
As Lucas called her true na, Ally covered her mouth, 'pretending' to be surprised.
"I'll just whack this one!"
As Lucas made a gesture of making a fist and giving a flick on the forehead, Ally threw her head back and laughed out loud.
"Kyahaha! Oh my! What are you going to do if you say you're going to hit ~"
"Aellas. I saw what you did last ti. You made quite a ss."
"Oh my? How did you know that? Did Amarok tell you?"
Ally seed to not know exactly what Lucas's identity was yet. Nevertheless, she looked as if Lucas's attitude didn't bother her at all.
"Is there another Gold Dragon who shoots a breath like a crazy foal? It couldn't have been your father, Apre, could it?"
At that, Ally's eyes narrowed again.
"Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am, you crazy foal."
"Hey. You X-like human. Do you want to die? My patience for you as Amarok's contractor ends here."
Killing intent was palpable in Ally's eyes.
"Hah. How absurd. It seems like just yesterday that you ran off with half of my artifacts not long after you hatched from your egg... This is why they say you shouldn't take in a beast that walks on two legs..."
Lucas let out a deep sigh.
"You're talking nonsense. How dare a re mortal like you pretend to be the Lord?"
Ally's mana began to boil.
"Aigoo... That's why I should have just died."
"I told you not to talk nonsense!!!"
-Bang!
Ally's mana exploded.
"Aigoo..."
But Lucas just stood there silently with the sa expression, not even blinking an eye, and just sighed.
"Aellas. It's . Lanos."
"Don't lie! You're a human!"
In fact, this was a normal reaction. No matter how much of a dragon one was, there was no way to recognize a forr Lord who had entered the path of reincarnation.
Moreover, since the aura he exuded was that of a human, it was even more so.
"Right. I wish it were a lie too. Why has such a trial co to ? Really..."
"..."
Lucas walked through the forest with a sorrowful expression.
"Aellas, do you rember? When you ca to , saying you had fallen in love with a human man."
At that, Ally's eyes widened.
"T-that..."
"Right. You ca to , not your father, and cried so sorrowfully. I, too, had experienced that pain, so how pitiful and sad you were... I still rember that day vividly."
That was a secret only Lucas and Ally knew.
"Are you really, really the Lord?"
At that, Ally's eyes beca teary.
"Right. It's , you brat."
In fact, Ally was one of the dragons Lucas had cherished in his past life. It was understandable. Ally and Aman were born around the sa ti and were the youngest dragons among their kin.
Moreover, since they were the first kin to be born in hundreds of years, not only Lucas but most of the dragons cherished them.
"Really?"
"That's what I said. Do humans not even catch your eye anymore?"
At that, Ally ran to Lucas and hugged him tightly.
"Uwaaang! Lord!"
"Right. I heard you're still living well, crazy about money."
"Hwae-eng! That's not sothing you heard, you were watching from the side! How, how could you do this!"
Ally, as if sorrowful, hugged him and pounded on Lucas's back.
"Aigoo. I'm going to die."
"It's not like you saw for the first ti! How could you!"
"Haha. I'm sorry."
Ally hugged him for a long ti, leaving a lot of snot and tear stains on Lucas's shoulder.
"But Lord? Do you know what I find a little absurd and angry about right now?"
"...?"
"I see Amarok's seal, so does that an Amarok also knew all of this?"
"..."
"That's right, isn't it? Then what about Lord Hasel, who is the Lord now?"
"..."
"Huh?"
He swallowed dryly without realizing it.
"It was an unavoidable situation. I will explain everything."
As Ally's face turned red and blue, Lucas quickly opened his mouth.
"...That's what happened. Can you understand a little now?"
"Tsk... okay."
Only after explaining for a long ti did Ally nod her head with a slightly relaxed face.
'Aman was almost beaten up again.'
In terms of age and intelligence, Ally was actually a step above Aman. That's why Ally had beaten Aman up so much during their hatchling days.
After letting out a sigh of relief and talking for a long ti about the things they hadn't been able to talk about, they were finally able to leave the forest.
"Ah! Take this. My new invention."
Ally took out a small gem from her subspace and handed it to him.
"You can't speak the dragon tongue, can you, Lord? Ask that dwarf you said you knew earlier to make this into a bracelet or a pendant. Then you can contact us anyti as long as you know the number."
"Hoh."
"Well, I just changed a few magic formulas and put them in. Shall we call it a shrunken crystal ball?"
"Right. Thank you."
"Ah! And this too."
Ally took out and handed him a few more useful-looking items after that.
"Ah, Aellas."
"Yes?"
"I want to warp so groceries."
Since it had co to this, he thought it would be convenient to procure the food to send to Giestio and Turkam from Ally's side.
"Eh? Are you preparing for a war or sothing?"
"I'm thinking of sending it to that dwarf I ntioned earlier."
"Ah~ right. They eat a lot. Then what, should I prepare it to their taste?"
As expected of the world's best rchant guild owner, her understanding was fast.
"Right. That's good."
"Yes. Well. How many are there?"
"There are seven, but since there are others there, could you prepare a generous amount? I think I'll have to send it once every three days."
Ally nodded her head.
"Ah, and leave out the seafood."
"Eh?"
"There's a reason for that."
"Well. Okay."
And so, even Ally ca to know of his existence.
'It's a relief, in a way.'
Since Aellas and Amarok were children who followed him well, it was a good thing for now.
"Then see you later!"
As Ally waved her hand innocently, Lucas also waved his hand back.
'Cute thing.'
Whenever he saw them, Amarok and Ally were cute in his eyes.
"Now, shall I get back to work."
Lucas, who had stretched once, teleported sowhere.
***
After the saintess appeared in Rieberk, the people regained their vitality.
The footsteps of people from other countries who had heard the rumors continued, and the profits generated each ti they visited were also considerable.
Although they had ostracized outsiders, they didn't seem to dislike the side inco they brought, and now they even seed to welco them quite a bit.
"Ah, right. Did you hear that story?"
"What story?"
"That... the story of the corpse that ca out of the forest."
The woman frowned, as if it were too horrible to even talk about.
"A corpse? What corpse?"
"Oh my, you haven't heard?"
She gestured for her to co closer and then lowered her voice and continued.
"You know that forest over there, right? A corpse of soone they don't even know who it is ca out from there..."
As the story continued, the listening woman's face turned pale.
"M-my goodness! Is that really true?"
"Of course it's true, would it be a lie?"
"Right... your husband is a guard."
The woman nodded her head.
"Then they haven't caught the culprit yet?"
"Right. They say there isn't even a clue yet. And they secretly told that it's the work of a black magician. I don't believe it. It must have been killed by a murderer like last ti."
"Oh my... what should we do."
"So you be careful too. Don't go to the forest if you can help it. Okay?"
At that, the woman nodded her head with a frightened expression.
***
The rumor quickly spread throughout Rieberk and even reached Pala's ears.
"What does that an?"
Pala asked, having heard what the servants were saying.
"Oh my! Lady Pala."
"It's okay, so please tell ."
"B-but..."
As the servant hesitated, Pala smiled gently and said.
"The affairs of Rieberk are my affairs."
"Um... actually, they say sothing terrible has happened in the forest."
"...?"
"They say a corpse has co out. A corpse that died a very grueso death."
In the end, one of the servants opened her mouth.
"That's right. According to the rumors, they said a man they don't even know who he is was found dead in a grueso way. They say it seems to be black magic."
"...A grueso corpse?"
"Yes. His eyes were blind, and his legs were as thin as if he couldn't walk, with no muscles at all. And his whole body was covered in boils as if it were rotting... ah, and they said his fingers weren't intact either."
Just then, sothing flashed through Pala's mind.
'N-no way...'
"Oh dear. I shouldn't have told you. I'm sorry, Lady Pala."
The servant, who saw Pala's shocked expression, quickly bowed her head and apologized.
"Ah, no. I just have a bit of a headache..."
"No, you don't! You're so kind-hearted. Let's go to your room quickly. I'll escort you."
"It's okay. I can go by myself. I'm sorry, but could you bring a glass of water?"
"Oh dear! Of course."
Her throat was dry. She felt like she sohow knew why that person who was said to have died a grueso death had died.
'It can't be. No.'
Pala, on her way to her room, put strength into her legs and took one step at a ti, lest her legs give out and she fall.
'No. It can't be.'
She recalled each and every patient she had healed since coming to Rieberk.
She had given new eyes to a child who had been blind since birth, and she had healed a man whose lower body was paralyzed after injuring his back.
She had healed a woman whose fingers were strangely twisted after being crushed by a carriage as a child, and she had treated an old man who had suffered from a skin disease of unknown cause for a long ti.
"Ah..."
Pala, who had entered her room, plopped down on the floor.
'In the end... in the end, I...'
She didn't want to realize it.
'In the end, I...'
It was a truth she didn't want to know.
'In the end, I have beco the sa kind of human as that vermin whose touch was so grueso.'
Pala stared blankly at her hand.
She had thought the devil had given her a new life.
She had thought that she had lived so unhappily that even the devil had taken pity on her and had given her a new life, and that's why he had given her this power.
Although she had realized all the truth, there was another truth that was gently raising its head from the depths of her heart.
'Did I really not know that it would turn out like this?'
Even if she tried to ignore it, the truth raised its head again.
'K-k-k... you've been watching from the beginning, haven't you, Pala. You selfish wench!'
The voice of the cult leader she had so despised seed to echo in her ears.
"Pala!"
Just then, a hand grabbing her from behind and a worried voice were heard.
"Are you in a lot of pain? Let see. I told you not to overdo it!"
As Liwol's warm touch reached her forehead, which was as cold as if her blood had dried up, Pala turned away from all the truths that had raised their heads.
'So? What would have changed if I had known?'
Her other voice echoed in her head.
'You know how many new lives were gained through the sacrifice of one person, don't you?'
She compromised.
'This is for the greater good. A small sacrifice for a great gain.'
She rationalized everything.
"Are you okay? Hurry, hurry and lie down."
Liwol grabbed her arm and helped her up.
"I'm fine, Liwol."
As she uttered the words that she was fine, all the voices that had been echoing in her head disappeared as if by a lie.
"Really? Still, lie down for a bit. Huh?"
"I'm really, really fine."
Pala smiled.
[End of Chapter]
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