chapter 21

Continuation: However this one includes love talk. Before a storm and all that.

We didn’t manage to meet up with the other three until a while later.

Entering a nearby cafe, the six of us take a seat. So there’s places like a family-restaurant in this world too.

“Vito-chan, you’re so cute!!”

“Ariade chose it for me”

“She has good sense. Won’t you go shopping with me sometime?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

Chiffon’s group went around shopping as well, and they excitedly talked about it.

Me? Obviously someone like me who knows nothing about the current fas.h.i.+on trends can’t keep up the conversation. Something about yellow being in-season and lemon face packs being good for your beauty,wait, are lemon face packs really good? I remember hearing that the vitamin c actually doesn’t permeate your skin I’ve never done it before and I’ve never really cared for my skin so i dunno.

They also talked about how that one fortune teller is pretty accurate, or how this one store has a handsome store clerk, something that you might hear from a bunch of female high-schoolers or gossiping office ladies. From there the topic s.h.i.+fted into their favorite love stories and gossip, and i could not keep with with it anymore. Since I can’t remember having a boyfriend in my past life, I probably never had one. Theres nothing wrong with a lonely life.

“Big sis, i heard that someone a.s.signed to the 3rd knight squad is going out with someone from the squadron, is that true?”

“Are you talking about Irene? Well, you’re not wrong, but. they haven’t quite gotten together despite their feelings being mutual. Just watching them gets annoying”

And even worse, they’ve completely forgotten about lance-san and Stephano-san, and are now talking up a storm.

Lance-san leaves his seat silently, and forces Stephano-san to stand.

“Stephan, this isn’t a story we can hear.”

‘Read the atmosphere’ was written on his face.

“I got it, I got it. Don’t glare so much.”

Stephano-san stood up as well, and the two of them took up a different table. After seeing this, I joined in on the conversation.

“Is this about Stephano-san? . He did. He kept putting his hand around my waist whenever he got the chance.”

What did you say?!

“But it’s all right. I made sure to pinch the back of his hand every time.”

Well done, Madeline. I wish i could have seen it.

“How about you, Chiffon?”

“Stephano-san is really cool, just as i thought! And he’s so nice.”

Chiffon, that is definitely a facade. A facade made for hunting. Dont be deceived! Even though I yell as such in my mind, I can’t say it. Even though the object of her affections is ‘that’, if you look at chiffon’s face you can tell she’s in love. And she definitely won’t like it if the person she likes is bashed, so theres nothing I can do but keep my silence.

“Hey hey, how about you two? Don’t you have someone you like? LIke someone who’s caught your eye!”

“Eh?”

“Hah?”

Not expecting to be asked that of all things, Ariade and I let out a surprised yelp. Someone that’s caught my attention? As in ‘Like’? As in ‘love’? Theres plenty of people I ‘like’ but sadly it seems i don’t feel ‘love’ towards humans because I am a dragon. The feeling of hunger seems to overpower any potentials feelings I may have.

To me, humans are valuable food that I need to survive, but at the same time they are also my friends. This strange relations.h.i.+p can only be achieved because while I am a dragon, I also have the memories of a human. If you asked me if I feel guilty eating humans, well yes, I do feel a little guilty. And even if i find my friends, like Ariade or Madeline, to look appetizing, im too scared of losing them so I won’t eat them.

Well~, the captain is an exception. That person can’t be helped.

Well I am a selfish being! Is what I sometimes declare defiantly to myself.

Either way, I haven’t experience ‘love’ before, I don’t know how to reply to Chiffon’s question.

” I have no intrest in men.”

“Eh-? Is that so? Okay, what about you, Vito-chan?”

Being stared at with sparkling, expectant eyes, I choked on my words.

“You worked for the 4th knights dormitory for a while, right? Didn’t anyone catch your eye there? Uh, yknow, like Lance-san!”

“No, probably not.”

I did think they were handsome, but not as a member of the opposite s.e.x, but objectively. Instead there was the desire to eat, as a predator. In a appet.i.te-kind of way.

That was all there was.

“Even though you were gifted that hair-ornament?”

Why did you bring that up, Ariade. You seem to be happy for some reason. I can’t understand what you’re thinking at all.

“Eh!? Really!?!”

” I got one for you too.”

When I hand them the two matching hair ornaments, they seem openly disappointed. Why.

“Youre no fun at all. speaking of which, did you get close with Lutoria-san?”

How did you reach that topic?! Love stories are scary! These girls always want to partner you with someone! I want to know how these girl’s minds work!

I floundered with my words and turned to Madeline instead.

“W-what about you, Madeline? Do you have someone you like?”

“I do. A boyfriend.”

WWHATTT!?

A shocking confession. Ariade was surprised by it too. Well she hadn’t mentioned anything like that so I see, she has someone For some reason I feel like a parent who discovered their daughter has a boyfriend.

“He’s from the 1st knights division, and he kind of activates my maternal instincts? He makes me feel like I want to protect him. But my brother-in-law opposes our relations.h.i.+p I’ll introduce you to him next time!”

Madeline talks about him while blus.h.i.+ng brightly. She’s speaking of him so fondly that I feel embarra.s.sed for her. I see, so thats what people look like when they fall in love too cute.

Just stop and imagine for a moment. If madeline looked up at you cutely with a bright red face and said “I, I like you!” what would happen? Any man would fall for her immediately. I would fall for her immediately.

“Our brother-in-law really loves you after all-”

“He’s too much. He comes to bother us whenever my boyfriend and I are alone together. I’m sick of it. I wish he’d just get a girlfriend and get over it already.”

A sister-complex, huh. I get it, I understand that feeling wait, that means. So my older brother was a pervert after all. I did want to return to being human, but I’d rather not have a perverted brother.

“Oh, that’s right, what about our step-brother? His face is pretty good, he’s actually quite popular. Well, that is, as long as you can endure his personality.”

So why do you keep offering people to me! Why do you keep trying to pair me up!

We exited the cafe planning on going back to the castle, but Ariade had a store she wanted to go to by any means, which resulted in the still energetic Chiffon, Ariade, and Stephano-san going off on their own. They said theyd be right back, but a girls shopping spree tends to be very long. I just hope theyll be back before it gets dark.

Meanwhile, Lance-san and I were taking a break from the crowd at a nearby park. Im not very good with large crowds, because they tend to make me dizzy.

Come to think of it, its unusual for both of you to have vacation on the same day.

All of the Fourth Knights corps is on a holiday today.

Ah, so thats how it is.

I remember stumbling across something of a day off for the knights. I think I ended up having some tea with the vice-captain, because I couldnt do any cleaning with all the Knights were hanging around the dorms? So he carefully chose the day off to go to the castle town and hit on girls, huh.

The captain is on vacation too. If I remember correctly, he should be in the castle town with the vice-captain for some errands. Want to go see him?

Is that so? . But, Im fine. Ill probably be a nuisance.

I wonder what the errand is. Maybe shopping? I havent been to the dorm since then. To be accurate, its more like I dont have time to visit since theres quite a ways away to go from my room to the dorms. Not being able to eat Na.s.saus food is very regrettable.

That reminds me, I wonder how the vice-captains daughter is doing. I havent seen her since that time, but she didnt collapse or anything, right? Im worried. Ill ask the vice-captain the next time I see him.

Speak of the devil. Vito-san, look in front of you.

Prompted by Lance-san, I looked forward to see a person seated by a fountain lavishly decorated with statues similar to that of the Venus de Milo.

Who is that?

Its the captain.

No way, saying such a lie again. Its unlikely hed appear at such good timing, hes not Stephano-san you know. But they have that bright green hair, and my appetizing-sensor is reacting. I doubted what I saw and strained my eyes but it was, without a doubt, the captain. Since he wasnt wearing his usual uniform and his hairstyle was different, I doubted it was actually him.

It looks like hes waiting for the vice-captain.

You can tell?

This park is a popular meeting spot.

So its like the statue of Hachiko.Thats right, cell phones dont exist in this world so meeting places inevitably become somewhere like this park with the flashy fountain. I dont care if its a pseudo-cell phone, someone please make one. If I ask Ariade, she probably can make one, right? Well the idea is still in the making, so its something to look forward to in the future. Yeah.

Why dont you go talk to him? You havent seen him lately, right?

Thats true, but I didnt particularly wanted to see him. There was something that was caught in the back of my mind ever since i left the dorms but after realizing that I could still talk to the Knights normally, my stopped worrying about such trivial things. Rather, I end up panicking thinking that my ident.i.ty was revealed every single time we meet. Since his intuition is really sharp, even the slightest slip of the tongue is really dangerous. But since Lance-san mentioned it, I kind of want to meet him now too.

Just for a bit then. Ill be right back.

Lance-san saw me off with a smile.

Making him wait alone is a bit much, i decided to come back quickly.

When I neared the figure, it definitely was the Captain after all.

Captain, what a coincidence.

Its a ponytail today. What is this hes too cute.

Perhaps braiding it was too troublesome. With his hair in a ponytail he looks even more ladylike. The fact that he has no chest and a kind-of low voice barely manages to identify him as a male. I saw something good today. Yep, Ill make sure to burn the image into my mind.

The captain stared at my appearance, and then held his hair bashfully.

Matching?

I-I didnt choose these clothes with that intention! P-Please dont misunderstand! If I said such a thing I would definitely be called a tsundere, so I obediently nodded.

Looks like it.

Im not cute at all. Too frank.

With a excuse me I took a seat on the edge of the fountain next to him. Since its close to the water, its nice and cool.

Shopping?

Something like that. What about you, captain?

Kind of like preparation for the next mission, i guess. Since it will probably take a few days.

Prep for a trip, huh. If they go by Fire drake the trip would be just one flight, but I hear they are going by foot. Apparently its a three to four day trip. A round-trip takes about a week. As it will be quite a distance to walk, they need to prepare accordingly. If Im not mistaken, Lance-san said he was going as well. But that person is very reliable, so hes probably already prepared beforehand.

Youre talking about the meeting with the foreign emissary from Tiruzoto, correct? I heard about it from the vice-captain. I heard you were specifically requested.

Apparently so.

Its my fault. Because I took such actions, Im inconveniencing him. If I didnt do such a thing, he may have not been specifically requested.

Why do humans get manipulated so easily by rumors? Believing in things that and are incredibly ambiguous, much less confirmed, is a thing I cannot understand. Well, I do get influenced by rumors too. But if you ask me if I seriously believe in them, I dont. I only want to believe in the things I see with my very own eyes.

But that rumor

Yeah, just a rumor. But even it its true it would be good, i think.

I dont understand whats good about this at all.

As long as there is a connection to that dragon, even if its a rumor, I dont mind. No, even if there is no connection, I dont mind.

Do you not want a contract?

Why?

The captain tilts his head as if he was asked something extremely strange.

Because you could become the hero of this country? Isnt that a great honor?

I often hear such things. Thing like if I got contracted or If i could make a contract and how wonderful it would be. About how they would be able to save the country, and their epic tale and name would be pa.s.sed down for centuries. Everyone yearns for it. Its impossible not to yearn for it.

Honor, huh. It might be honorable, yes.

But, the captain continued.

Rather than it being a matter of honor, dont the rumors rise is because everyone sincerely hopes that this country wins?

If the legendary dragon that led them to victory during the great war is now on their side, anyone would feel confident in their victory and feel hope for the future. The contractors identify doesnt matter. There probably are people thinking about honor and such. But what they truly wish for is their countrys victory so they may live in peace. That is their genuine, only wish is that what youre trying to say?

are you are you really going?

What meaning is there in going?

I will go.

Even though its probably. a trap?

I believe in LeBlanche. But, if something does happen, please take care of the Fire Drakes in the dragon stables. Because they seem to like Vito.

As always his eyes are hidden, his thoughts unreadable. I cant understand the underlying meaning to his words.

Youre handing off all the work to me.

You can say that, too.

Dont laugh.

Thinking realistically, theres more than 100 fire drakes in the dragon stables you know. Its impossible to take care of all of them. I think the captain was joking, but he handed off all this work onto me in an almost refres.h.i.+ng manner that I seriously cant tell if it really was a joke or not. Isnt this situation advantageous to you no matter which way the ball falls?

. even though you might not come back?

I wont die. I still have things I want to do. But theres no telling what will happen, right?

I dislike things like that.

Its too ambiguous. I feel like hes hiding something with these vague words.

My head feels like its going to explode from all the things I dont know and cant understand.

Arent you taking your life too lightly?

No such thing.

Then how are you able to sit there calmly considering? Even during the subjugation, if the Earth Dragon didnt come and help you could have died, you know. Not only that, you could have been devoured by that man-eating dragon. I even heard that a great war might occur soon!!

I spoke in rapid-fire like I was panicking, voice rising. Even I though it was strange.

The captain speaks in a firmer tone than usual.

. Vito, I am a Knight. My existence, to protect country. I cant decline a mission because of a personal reason like I dont want to die. Someone has to go. That someone is us. We cant run from that.

Unable to look at his face, I kept my eyes downward and tightly gripped my hand into a fist.

Theres been many times where I nearly died. My Fire Drake, a victim of one of those times. If I tell you Im not scared I would be lying. But if I back out now for such a reason, it feels like Im negating all thats happened so far. I dont like it.

I dont I cant understand.

I didnt want to know.

I am a idiot. A huge idiot. For what purpose does a knight exist? Its to protect the country, obviously. Its their job. Its surely true for all the other knights as well. There is no exception, the will of one individual like me is just selfish.

But here I am, whining like a child just because I cant understand their reasoning, being an inconvenience. What a horribly rude being I am.

A gentle voice calls out to me, who is still hanging my head.

sorry.

Why are you apologizing?

I should be the one apologizing. The captain did nothing wrong, I was just basically taking it out on you. Im the worst. I wonder whats making me so emotional.

Vito.

The captains thin hand brushes against chestnut bangs of my hanging head.

For the first time, I shook off that hand.

Sorry. I said too much. Since Chiffon and the others are waiting, Ill take my leave.

I heard my name being called behind me but I turned on my heel like I was escaping, and quickly left that place.

Im sure that my face right now looks terrible. Its so distorted that it cant be publicly seen.

How can he be so rational while knowing that theres a very real possibility he might die, that he might not come back?

If it was me, I would have ran away. But thats because Im an outsider. To this country, to this continent, to this very world.

But the captain is different. He was born in this country, and brought up with it.

I am different. I know I know that.

.. I know. I really know.

There is no way I could intervene with the captain’s feelings. There is no way I could interject.

This is the way he has probably lived thus far. He probably has experienced near-death experiences before too.He has probably seen death many times, too. He probably made his decision based on his own will this time as well. But I didnt want to acknowledge it.

Why. For what reason?I cant understand my own feelings.

As long as the captain is still alive i should be fine.

The reason is because I want to eat him. Only that.

Therefore I dont want him to die, or going to dangerous places. Like the aforementioned meeting with the emissary I have a sense of premonition and I dont want him to go.

But theres no way I could say that. I have no right to say such a thing.

Im no different, after all, I’m trying to kill the captain too.