Chapter 115 ….
“Hm?”
Johan suddenly turned around. The horse he was riding neighed sharply and came to a halt.
The other heroes following behind approached him and asked,
“What’s wrong, Johan?”
Tilting his head, Johan replied,
“It’s nothing. I just have a strange feeling.”
“Hahaha, what’s strange about it after we’ve slain the evil dragon!”
Bursting into loud laughter, one of the heroes gave Johan’s shoulder a few hearty pats.
“Right?”
Johan nodded lightly in agreement.
Just as the situation seemed about to settle—
“But that dragon… wasn’t it a bit strange for an evil dragon?”
Someone sidled up close to Johan and whispered. It was the voice of a somewhat youthful boy.
At that voice, Johan turned his head, noticed the red eyes staring straight through him, and quickly bowed.
“Your Highness, First Prince!”
Armion smiled faintly.
“Strange, isn’t it? Father repeatedly warned us that the dragon was extremely vicious and that we should be careful, but instead of being vicious, it was quite gentle.”
Armion was right.
Rather than resisting and attacking the subjugation force, the evil dragon had looked almost as if it had accepted death.
Of course, just before its final breath, it had curled its body and attacked the subjugation force—
But perhaps because it had already suffered many wounds, no one had received a fatal injury from the dragon’s assault.
It was truly a complete victory for the subjugation force.
After confirming the dragon’s death, the exhausted troops exited the cave—
Leaving behind all the broken and shattered swords from the battle.
First Prince Armion had not stood at the front to attack the dragon.
He had simply remained quietly in the rear like a spectator who came only to witness the scene, and after the subjugation ended, he merely smiled and told everyone they had worked hard.
Some people had whispered, ‘Why exactly did His Highness the First Prince come along?’ but they were soon silenced by imperial knights.
Whether they whispered or not, Armion added not a single word about the dragon subjugation.
And now—
“You all think it was strange too, don’t you?”
It was the first thing First Prince Armion had said the entire time.
Johan tapped the scabbard with his finger for a moment as if thinking, then spoke.
“It was certainly gentler than expected. But it wasn’t entirely docile. Didn’t it lash out violently just before its final breath? If we hadn’t cut off its life immediately, the monsters in the area would have swarmed and overwhelmed the subjugation force.”
“What creature can calmly close its eyes at the end of its life? Even a transcendent being like a dragon is no different.”
Johan said nothing further.
He couldn’t grasp what the First Prince wanted from him.
What is the prince trying to say? That we shouldn’t have killed the dragon?
Or… does this young and naive prince actually believe what the dragon said before it died?
If that were really the case—
So First Prince Armion isn’t imperial material after all. The Second Prince, who frequents Ferdinand, might be better suited for the throne.
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
“…!”
“What are you thinking right now?”
Armion asked with a bright smile. His pale face was tinted red by the blazing torchlight.
The First Prince was only about fifteen.
Yet what was this overwhelming pressure?
For a moment, Johan couldn’t move at all.
Only after some time passed could Johan finally move again.
“No need to be so tense.”
After Armion casually patted his shoulder, Johan regained control of his body.
Still shaken by the immense pressure he had never experienced before, Johan could not speak carelessly and simply looked at Armion.
“I was merely curious… that the subjugation force defeated the dragon so easily.”
With that, Armion urged his horse forward and left Johan’s side.
The First Prince returned to where the imperial knights were gathered.
Even after Armion left, Johan remained standing there motionless—
Until another member of the subjugation force cautiously approached and asked what had happened.
And just as Johan was about to move—
Did it really die?
A thread of doubt quietly sprouted in his heart.
Johan glanced sideways at First Prince Armion.
Does he know something?
Could the reason the dragon had been so docile be… that it wasn’t truly dead?
Was it calm because it wasn’t something humans could kill in the first place?
The small seed of doubt rapidly swelled and swallowed Johan whole.
For a brief moment, he felt as if some presence was encouraging his suspicion—but the thought quickly faded.
Johan turned his head.
“Hey, about the broken swords… did we leave them all in the lair?”
“The broken swords? Yeah, we dumped them all in the cave… why?”
Johan looked toward the snowy mountain where the dragon’s lair had been.
“It’s nothing, just…”
For an instant, a dark glimmer flickered in his eyes.
“I think we should go back and retrieve them. We shouldn’t just leave trash lying around…”
Suddenly?
The other heroes stared at Johan in disbelief.
Johan paid them no mind.
“Why do I feel so uneasy?”
[Isn’t it because Ezekiel died?]
“I’ve felt bad since a month ago. Not that—something just feels ominous… whoa!”
“Here, eat this.”
Remart handed over a steaming cup. I took it with both hands.
“Thank you, Remart.”
“It’s hot, so drink slowly. Don’t burn the roof of your mouth gulping it down.”
Speaking in a surprisingly mature tone, Remart plopped down beside me and X.
We had finished setting up camp in Courtney’s “relatively safe zone.”
The knights skillfully pitched tents, lit a campfire, set up an iron pot, and began boiling soup.
Beside it, a kettle had been placed to brew tea.
I honestly wondered how they even carried the pot all the way here…
[You think they hauled it on their backs? They probably got it from a village.]
Ah, that makes sense.
While quietly watching the bubbling soup, I spoke to X in my mind.
‘By the way, what do dragons eat?’
[Why are you asking me that?]
‘Then should I ask Remart?’
[That’s not what I meant… hmm, I don’t know. Ezekiel lived for thousands of years without eating anything, but that brat might need to eat.]
Taking advantage of the moment when the knights weren’t paying attention to us, I carefully opened my bag.
“Qyu?”
The baby dragon, lying in the most comfortable position inside the bag, looked up at me and smiled brightly when the flap opened.
I reached in and gently stroked its brow.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Kkyung?”
“Do you know how to eat soup?”
“Qyu?”
“Warm tea…?”
But no matter what I said, the baby dragon only tilted its head in confusion.
In the end, I gave up trying to communicate, rubbed its round head a few times, closed the bag, and hugged it again.
“Sigh, what should I do? What am I supposed to feed it? Should I give it raw meat?”
“Maybe I should have it try hunting?”
“Hmm, maybe rabbit meat… ah, I should’ve asked Ezekiel about this.”
He asked me to take care of it but didn’t tell me how to raise it at all!
Just then, Edith approached us carrying bowls in both hands.
“My lady… Your Highness… please have some of this. It will warm you up…”
I quickly accepted the bowl of soup.
“Mmm, thanks, Edith!”
“Thank you.”
Holding the bowl, I hesitated for a moment and then looked at Remart.
“Remart!”
“…Yeah.”
By now, Remart could more or less guess what I wanted to say without me explaining. He set down his bowl and opened the bag.
The baby dragon, still curled up resting, lifted its head to look at us.
“Ng?”
“Baby, want to try this?”
Before the other knights could see what was inside the bag, I slipped in a spoonful of well-cooled soup.
And just as the baby dragon showed interest—
“Commander! The subjugation force is returning to the lair!”
A knight who had gone to scout the surroundings came running back urgently.
We turned toward him in shock.
The subjugation force was coming back?
Why… of all times… right when we were eating?
