Ayra observed the traces of magical beasts while slowly edging closer in the direction marked by the Main Quest. She planned to wander around for a few hours and pretend to have stumbled upon the target by chance. After about two hours of roaming, Janus—who, despite the cold, seed to find it warm—loosened his scarf and slung it over his shoulder, tilting his head.
“Hm? That’s odd.”
“What is?”
“The group of magical beasts that should be around here has gotten way smaller. I can barely sll them.”
At Janus’s words, Ayra pulled on the reins to halt and scanned the surroundings. She opened the map window to check the distribution of magical beasts, but nothing seed particularly unusual. She couldn’t tell which species had decreased.
“What do they look like?”
“They’ve got ears and snouts and walk on four legs.”
“Could you maybe give ... a bit more detail than that?”
There were literally thousands of species that matched such a vague description. It seed this dragon cared as little about magical beasts as he did about humans—but since his partner had asked, he obligingly dismounted. He broke off a tree branch and began sketching sothing into the dirt.
“They look like this. Their fur’s either gray or reddish.”
“I see... so that’s what they look like...”
All Ayra could glean from the drawing was that Janus had no talent for visual art either, not just music. Tossing aside the branch, Janus shrugged.
“Well, so species do migrate during the winter.”
“There are magical beasts that get more active in winter.”
As they chatted about magical beasts, Ayra resud moving. He wasn’t sure whether to feel pleased or miserable that he communicated better with a dragon than with most humans when discussing such topics.
After a brief lunch break ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and a few more hours of travel, Ayra finally reached the location for the Main Quest.
“The woman wandering the forest... she must be the last vassal, right?”
Ayra nudged his horse forward, curious about what kind of person she would be and how difficult the recruitnt quest might prove. anwhile, Janus—whose five senses bordered on supernatural—had already turned his head in that direction before anything visible appeared. Ayra, pretending to be clueless, asked “Why?” and turned as if discovering the presence for the first ti.
The other party had also noticed them and was startled enough to drop what they were carrying. One was a middle-aged woman, and the other looked so young she was practically a girl. Judging by the bundles of branches in their arms, they’d likely co out to gather firewood. Ayra, carefully observing the Main Quest targets, imdiately sensed sothing odd.
“Not even fire-grade mana stones? But...”
Mana stones, depending on quality, had different uses. The low-grade ones were often used as firewood—they were easily gathered by scavenging the hills and required no processing, only a spark to ignite, making them accessible even to the lower class. But these two were holding dry branches—sothing only the extrely destitute would resort to.
And yet, no matter how she looked, the woman didn’t seem impoverished. She wore a shabby robe on the outside, possibly to conceal her identity, but underneath, the fabric was fine, and the sleeves bore elaborate embroidery.
Most of all, what struck Ayra was that despite having never seen her before, the woman’s face looked strangely familiar. The feeling seed mutual—they stared at each other as if experiencing déjà vu.
It was the woman who realized first. Her eyes widened, her face paled, and then she quickly composed herself. She bowed silently in a polite greeting, just as one would before a noble passing by.
Who is she? I don’t even recognize her face—how does she know ?
Curious, Ayra opened her stat window. The mont he identified her, he sighed lightly and clicked his tongue internally before approaching the won as if unaware.
“What are you doing way out here in the woods?”
The one who answered was the girl—who looked barely older than a child. Her cheeks, red from the cold, flushed deeper as she glanced between Janus and Ayra, then bowed her head.
“Forgive us for being in your way, my lord. We ran out of firewood and ca out to gather more.”
“This area is ho to magical beasts. It’s dangerous. Judging by your appearance... and the way you used Sacred Fla, are you citizens of Solar? As the lord of Solar, I can’t just ignore this.”
The two flinched and touched their lips. To ward off magical beasts, they’d kept a Sacred Fla flower in their mouths, but had spit it out upon seeing Ayra. One petal must have still been stuck to their lips. The girl looked flustered, and this ti the older woman stepped forward to answer.
“No, we’re not. We were citizens of Bolni, but our house was destroyed in the recent earthquake. We’ve been living in the forest ever since.”
“I see. Using sticks for firewood must an your situation is dire.”
Ayra furrowed his brow as if in thought and then offered them a suggestion.
“If you’ve nowhere to go, how about coming to Solar? Many refugees from Bolni have arrived recently. The city is full, but there’s still room in so of the outlying villages.”
At those words, the woman’s eyes flickered with conflict. Clearly, life in the forest was harsh—but she didn’t readily accept the offer. That alone told Ayra she must have so reason she couldn’t return to Solar. With a guess forming in his mind, he added, as if just rembering:
“There’s no temple in the village, but we do provide settlent supplies. It’ll surely be better than freezing in the forest.”
“...Thank you for your grace. If you could tell us the location, we’ll go there right away.”
Ayra’s guess had been correct. The woman’s voice trembled as she nervously accepted the offer. Ayra swung off his horse in one fluid motion, gesturing for the two to approach. He first lifted the woman up with magic and seated her atop his horse. She was so stunned she couldn’t even make a sound, frozen stiff. The girl, on the other hand, let out a short shriek as her body floated and then stared at Ayra with wide, round eyes.
“Y-you’re a mage, my lord?”
“That’s right.”
Ayra answered kindly and pulled a thick blanket from subspace, wrapping the shivering pair in warmth. He then approached Janus, who effortlessly lifted Ayra and seated her in front of him.
“Not too cramped?”
“I like it better this way.”
With a low, pleased hum, Janus wrapped his arms tightly around Ayra’s waist, earning a sharp inhale. Ayra coughed and didn’t try to push him off. Instead, she clicked her tongue and tugged the reins magically. The horse carrying the two won followed behind with a clop-clop.
After a long, silent ride, Ayra asked,
“How’s your body feeling?”
“Not bad. Honestly, I feel better than ever before.”
Resting against Janus like he was in a comfy chair, Ayra turned at the unexpected answer. Lately, Janus had seed irritable—she wouldn’t have guessed he was feeling great. Yet now he was saying this was the best he’d ever felt. Seeing Ayra’s wind-reddened face, Janus impulsively bit her cheek. When she lazily muttered “Ouch,” he bit her lip this ti.
“With every day that passes, I feel more and more like you’re mine.”
There was unmistakable joy in Janus’s voice. Ayra looked herself over but couldn’t find anything that felt different—but clearly, dragons sensed things differently. She corrected him,
“I’m not yours. I’m your mate.”
“Sa thing.”
Janus replied smugly, as if asserting his ownership. Ayra couldn’t understand how she could possibly be his possession—if anything, the reverse was more accurate. She even owned one of his eyes, and that number would likely grow in the future...
“The more you beco my mate, the more vividly I feel alive.”
At that, Ayra set aside her internal grumbling and listened.
“Before, even when I was angry, it felt like I was just pretending to be angry. Even when I was happy, it felt fake. I never once found any joy in stupid human festivals.”
“See?” Janus said as he took Ayra’s hand. It was gloved, but he bent the fingers like he’d found the world’s most entertaining toy, then forced his hand inside the glove. His fingers tickled her palm, warm against her skin.
“This feeling of being alive... Hah, I even like the annoying scent of humans now.”
Janus grinned and took Ayra’s hand, nibbling each finger one by one with his teeth.
If you want to feel alive, shouldn’t you be chewing your own hand, not mine?
Still, sothing about Janus’s words made Ayra feel weirdly good. So instead of pulling away, she quietly let him chew on her fingers like bubblegum.
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