Chapter : 20
‘…Special leave?!’
Wait a second, that’s a trap…!
At first glance, “special leave” sounded like a very cool mission.
But no matter how clever her sister was, there was no way she could fool the captain of the Black Lake Squad.
‘Leave means… just resting!’
Sensing the wicked trick, Lulu clenched her fists and charged at her sister.
“Nuuuuh! I don’t want special leave! Lulu can do cool things too. Give me a mission!”
But.
“Lulu. The coolest thing in the world is not bothering others. Now, go read your storybook.”
“Nuuuuh! I won’t! I won’t!”
Sadly, little Lulu couldn’t break free, no matter how much she shook her body in protest, against the princess’s grip.
In the end, Lulu was carried by the scruff of her neck and sent off to the basement.
“Hyuung…”
She opened the storybook reluctantly, but her eyes wouldn’t focus on the words.
Closing it again, Lulu slumped in disappointment.
“Jewel, Jewel. I think Sis still thinks Lulu can’t do anything.”
Why would the princess think that? You breathe fire and soar through the skies—a great dragon!
“That’s because, Jewel, when you were asleep I might’ve… burned up a book or two.”
To deny the potential of a great young warrior just for burning a single book is unjust.
Indeed, Jewel was the only one on Lulu’s side.
“Jewel, I love you! Hoooop!”
With teary eyes, Lulu hugged Jewel tightly, showering him with affection. Jewel let out a scream.
Of course, only Lulu could hear the desperate voice—vanishing into the air like the wind.
Ah, young warrior! Why must you constantly test me so? A waterfall of snot, drool-soaked blankets!
“Hoooop! Kiss kiss!”
S-stop that…
Whirr, whirr, whirr.
Just then.
Lulu turned her head toward an unexpected sound.
A mouse doll, sitting quietly in the corner of the room, was dancing.
“…Huh? A dance battle? Spin, spin!”
Lulu shook her hips happily to match the doll’s rhythm—until she froze.
‘…If the mouse doll is moving, that means the squad is sending a signal?’
“Th-the Black Lake Squad!”
Yes.
Her friends had sensed a threat.
“R-Rian. Where’s Rian?”
She peeked her head through the door, but no one answered. It seemed everyone had gone elsewhere.
Then there was no helping it.
“Th-the Black Lake Squad Captain will deploy alone!”
Even in an emergency, the hero pose was essential!
Suppressing her bouncing steps, Lulu struck a perfect pose of gripping a sword and dashed out at full speed.
The Black Lake was the only open space in the fenced-off forest.
Because the lake connected directly to the woods.
Count Delton, who wanted to save manpower as much as possible, didn’t bother guarding the Black Lake. Thanks to that, it became the one place where the little dragon could meet her friends.
“Guys—!”
Arriving near the lake, Lulu shouted.
Across the wide water, children waved their hands.
“Lulu! Something big is happening!”
“Huh?”
“We need to talk, but… how do we cross the lake? Oh no, I didn’t think about that part!”
Max, the group’s leader in action, shouted nervously, pacing in frustration.
Though she couldn’t see clearly, the other kids were the same—whispering nervously or biting their nails.
‘What’s going on?’
First, Lulu had to confirm whether she could use her powers.
“Hey! Are there any grown-ups around besides you?”
“No! No adults! Don’t worry!”
“Then Lulu will fly over!”
Take flight, young warrior!
Now, Jewel adjusted the mana on his own without even being asked.
With a pop, white wings sprouted from Lulu’s back—
“Whoa! She really has wings!”
“Of course! Lulu is a dragon who breathes fire and flies!”
The children clapped and cheered.
‘…To Sis, I’m just a troublemaker. But to my friends, I’m a cool dragon?!’
Flutter, flutter.
Her wings flapped rapidly like a dragonfly’s as she soared across the lake.
Upon landing—
“As expected, Lulu, you’re amazing!”
“And?!”
“So cool, Lulu!”
“Only cool?!”
“Your white wings are adorable!”
A shower of praise poured over her.
“Thanks! Ah!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Now’s not the time for compliments! Why did you call me here?!”
Having gotten all the compliments she wanted, Lulu snapped back to her senses.
The excited children also sobered up.
“This is serious! Lulu, some knights arrived at the entrance of Shadowm Village.”
“Yeah. I overheard the adults whispering—they said it looks like the Royal Knights.”
“Th-the Royal… Knights?”
Lulu’s heart plummeted.
She didn’t know the details, but her sister had warned her that anyone outside the residents of Shadowm coming here was bad news.
Because… they were villains!
‘I-I knew I’d have to face villains someday, but…’
She hadn’t even learned a new ultimate move yet.
Though her body stiffened with fear, Lulu gathered her courage and nodded.
“Mm. Thanks for telling me, guys!”
“No problem. Anyway, we should go back. The adults told us to stay in the orphanage, so we snuck out.”
To sneak out just to warn Lulu and Rian…
…How brave!
“As Captain, I won’t forget this.”
“Tell the leader we said hi. See you later!”
With a bittersweet smile, Lulu waved her hands hard at the departing children.
She was about to leave again when—
“…Huh?”
One friend still remained.
While the others had long gone from the lake, a single boy stood alone, as if lost.
‘Wait… did we even have a friend like that?’
Dark blond hair like woven moonlight.
A pale, porcelain face, with hazy, circling blue eyes staring blankly.
And, for some reason, the boy smelled nice.
Sweet and fresh, like grass after rain.
All scents Lulu loved.
‘…Sniff sniff.’
Her eyes narrowed.
‘He… can talk, right?’
Feeling suddenly uneasy, Lulu fidgeted with her hands, unable to speak first.
But then she remembered—
Lulu. As Captain, you must take care of every friend.
She had to be brave.
So, with determined eyebrows, she stepped closer—
“You should go too. Didn’t you say you snuck out?”
“You’re a dragon, aren’t you?”
The boy finally spoke.
But it was a strange question.
“Wh-why would you even ask…?”
“Because I didn’t know who the dragon was. But when you spread your wings just now, I knew.”
“…My wings?”
Narrowing her eyes, Lulu stepped back.
This boy… wasn’t part of the Black Lake Squad.
Meanwhile, in the Tower of the Shadow Forest.
“Lulu’s probably in the basement. The tower looks safe too…”
Angela arrived with Velix and Rian.
Rian, who had been in the forest, had called them to ask if a mushroom he found was edible.
After a long argument over whether it could be eaten or not, the three finally agreed not to eat it.
After arriving at the tower, they went their separate ways for their tasks.
As Angela stuffed dried jerky into her backpack, she froze.
She couldn’t explain it, but something felt wrong.
After a year of always watching for intruders from the forest’s edge, even the slightest disturbance caught her attention.
It was probably nothing.
But when she went up to the rooftop of the tower to check, her instincts shattered into pieces.
“…Oh no.”
At the entrance of the forest, the Royal Knights had arrived.
Running back down the stairs, she shouted for Lulu.
“Lulu!”
Normally, the child would pop out with perked twin-tails at such a call.
But the tower was disturbingly silent.
‘This troublemaker always disappears when you call her.’
Angela bit her lip hard, then quickly handed an artifact to Rian.
Even if she’d vanished, Lulu had to be somewhere near the tower.
She’d scared Angela countless times before, only to turn up in some unexpected spot.
“Rian, it’s an emergency. The Royal Knights are at the forest’s entrance. Use this tracking artifact to find Lulu.”
“Huh? Oh, y-yes!”
Angela was in such a hurry she disappeared immediately after giving the order.
“I think the princess once taught me how to use this…”
Rian turned the artifact around inside the tower.
The tracking artifact was basically a compass that pointed to the target.
“No reaction here? Hm. Lulu, where did you go?”
Like someone under a spell, Rian wandered around—holding the device up to the sky, then pressing it into the dirt.
But.
“There’s no reaction at all…?”
