TTDBK31

Chapter 31

“Let go, you unlucky lizard.”

“No.”

“When you didn’t want to teach me anything, you made it super obvious—so why won’t you let me go now?”

When Baberi yanked her arm, Kur was weakly dragged toward her. His movements fluttered like paper—unnatural, fragile.

Baberi tugged again. Maybe the first time he had just been off guard—so she pulled a little harder this time.

Kur slid forward and collapsed helplessly to the floor. The continued lack of magic power, combined with mental strain, had finally caught up to him.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Unaware of this, Baberi could only stare in surprise. Then she finally noticed his pale face.

“Hey.”

“Don’t go.”

Kur, panting heavily, still refused to release her sleeve.

“If you really have to go, then go to the one who makes pies or the one who holds his breath. That guy—that guy…”

That guy must never be allowed.

Kur clenched his teeth hard.

Baberi crouched down to meet his eyes. His gaze was half-unfocused.

“You haven’t been whining about magic stones lately, so I thought you were finally doing better. Don’t try to act tough—just lie down.”

“Don’t go.”

“I said I get it.”

When Baberi gently pushed his head aside, Kur slumped over and fell asleep. Even as he breathed unevenly, he didn’t let go of her sleeve.

“You…”

Baberi moved her lips as she looked down at him.

“You’re really hopeless, you know that?”

For a dragon to look so pitifully limp—it was an embarrassing sight. Even the sleeve he barely managed to hold could have easily been pried off if she tried.

“If you’re struggling, you should’ve said so sooner instead of bottling it up till you’re half-dead.”

Kur silently glared at her. His reproachful eyes made Baberi awkward.

She knew why, of course. Back when they had stolen the coalition army’s magic stones, Kur had warned her:

“With this much, I could transform into a dragon once. But that’s it. Afterward, I might end up with even less magic than before.”

Baberi hadn’t believed him. In her judgment, there had been plenty of magic stones. She thought he was exaggerating.

Sure enough, when he came back, he didn’t seem to suffer much. He wasn’t bedridden or anything.

But one day, he asked when she’d get him more stones. He must’ve held out for as long as he could before he couldn’t endure it anymore.

And she had scolded him at the time:

“Stop gulping down those expensive stones, will you?”

If only he’d said then that he’d really reached his limit—

“Who only says something once? You should’ve at least said it twice.”

Baberi sighed. Watching him sweating cold made her feel strangely guilty for not believing him before.

“Alright, I won’t treat you like some money-guzzling pig anymore. So next time, speak up right away.”

Normally, he would’ve snapped back at that with his snake-like glare, but now he only blinked weakly. He really was exhausted.

Baberi, still crouching, sat cross-legged beside him and gently pried his trembling hand off her clothes, laying it comfortably down.

“Tch.”

Watching him like that made her feel even sadder, so she gave his forehead a light smack—loud but not painful.

“I was wondering why you’d been so unusually cranky lately.”

When he’s flying around full of energy, she worries he’ll seek revenge; when he’s this feeble, she worries in a different way.

“What kind of troublesome dragon are you, seriously?”

She muttered it, and Kur’s expression darkened.

“It’s not because of the lack of magic. It’s because I hate that guy.”

“Hate him enough to faint over it?”

Kur didn’t answer—just blinked. Baberi figured he was embarrassed about collapsing and making excuses.

“Then tell me, why do you hate Mark so much?”

“That guy threatens me.”

Kur bit his lip.

From his expression… he was serious.

So it wasn’t just an excuse. But that only made Baberi more confused.

“A dragon, being threatened by that weakling?”

She couldn’t picture it. Maybe once, when Kur feared being found out by the suspicious Mark—that she could understand. But not now.

“Even if Mark is a magician, there’s nothing he can actually do to you.”

No matter how great a magician, he couldn’t leave even a scratch on Kur. And Mark didn’t seem particularly impressive anyway, given how the Tiris magicians dismissed him.

“That’s not what I mean. I know perfectly well I could snap his neck if I wanted to.”

Kur sighed. Now that he was lying down, his breathing was steadier.

“Then what?”

“…”

“What are you worried about?”

Baberi teased lightly. Kur gave her a sidelong glare.

“Why is it that when I tell you to stop talking, you chatter endlessly, but when I ask you to speak, you go silent?”

She rhythmically tapped his forehead with both hands. It wasn’t painful, but clearly annoying, judging from his frown.

“Because Her Majesty plays favorites.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

“So I figured… maybe that guy could threaten my position.”

Kur’s voice was sincere, but Baberi only grew more puzzled.

She couldn’t recall ever favoring Mark.

My position? What position? she wondered. Surely he doesn’t mean rank…?

“You make it sound like you were really attached to being second-in-command.”

“…”

“That’s your spot, and no one’s taking it. End of story.”

Well—except for Medo, who’d once dared to refuse it, so maybe his was shakier.

Baberi murmured to herself.

The tension in Kur’s forehead eased slightly.

“No one’s threatening your place, so stop scaring me like that. I still need to sweet-talk him into doing errands.”

“…”

“Answer me, Number Two.”

“No promises.”

Kur huffed and closed his eyes again.

* * *

How could she lure Mark in?

Baberi pondered it, but the problem solved itself unexpectedly soon.

“I’ll serve you as my king.”

She hadn’t even done anything, and a few days later, Mark himself volunteered to become her vassal. To Baberi, who’d been running out of ideas, it was a blessing.

“Are you really going to accept that guy? Think again.”

Kur hated it—predictably.

“I agree with Lord Kur,” said Medo, joining in unexpectedly. “Wouldn’t it be wise to reconsider, Your Majesty?”

He said Mark’s intentions felt suspicious.

“He’s the one who came all the way here to persuade Your Majesty to surrender. It’s hard to believe he’d just change sides so easily.”

But Baberi accepted Mark anyway—because she urgently needed funds to buy magic stones.

That’s when a new problem arose.

Londar had long imported magic stones through trade with Martu. But after the lord of Londar died, trade stopped entirely.

To restart it, they tried reaching out—but Vaslui refused.

“I hear peace has returned to Londar. Congratulations. Though I do wonder whether it’s true peace.”

Kur read the letter from Vaslui aloud in an even tone. As he went on, Medo’s eyes grew wide in outrage.

“Do you know who now commands the Dragonaus Knights? He’s a shameless man who has robbed even his own lord blind.”

That’s a lie! Medo wanted to shout—but held it in until Kur finished reading.

“If you’re aware of this and still wish to deal with him, then I’m sorry, but I can’t trust Londar.”

Kur glanced at Medo mid-reading. The man looked about ready to collapse from anger.

“That’s the end of the letter,” Kur said flatly.

There were a few more lines slandering Medo, but Kur spared him that much.

“So, you were once a knight of Martu?” Baberi asked, resting her chin on one hand.

“And you stole potatoes from them?”

“I did not!”

Medo burst out, unable to contain himself.

“I swear, Your Majesty, I never stole anything—especially not potatoes!”

“But you said yourself once that you did.”

“That was… back then I just—!”

He cursed his past self for speaking so carelessly.

Baberi folded her arms, deep in thought.

“So, this idiot stole potatoes, and now the lord of Martu’s furious. What do we do?”

“Please believe me, Your Majesty. I didn’t steal anything. Why would I steal potatoes, of all things?”

Medo protested desperately. Baberi only shrugged, unimpressed.

“Honestly, that’s not the important part. The problem is, now we can’t buy magic stones.”

Mark, who had been watching quietly, stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, I can open trade with Babana.”

“Babana?”

Baberi thought for a moment. The name sounded familiar—but faintly.

“It’s a city just beneath the Lophen Bridge, which connects the continents of Annapol and Almeria,” Mark explained.

Like Londar, it didn’t have its own magic stone mines. But it was positioned between Annapol’s royal capital, Yasco, and the Great Forest—making it a major trading hub.

“They should have some surplus stones—expensive, but obtainable.”

Though Londar had never traded with them due to poor relations, things might change with new leadership.

Since Mark offered to handle it, Baberi told him to go ahead.

“In the meantime, please use these.”

Mark placed a wooden box on the table. Inside were several magic stones.

“Perfect. That’s one less thing to worry about.”

Baberi smiled and gave Kur a light tap on the hand.

Kur, thrilled by the long-missed scent of magic stones, still didn’t thank Mark. The stones made him uneasy.

There was nothing strange about their scent, nothing that suggested tampering—yet that was precisely what felt off.

He could normally detect magic stones from a long distance away, but he hadn’t sensed these even when they were right in front of him.

There was some kind of device on that box.

“So you had these all along and just didn’t mention it?”