Chapter 82
Geru spoke in his usual stiff and stuttering way.
“Me… leave… your… mother… medicine…”
Cecile gasped in shock.
“So when you left home even though Mother begged you not to, it was actually because you were looking for medicine to cure her?”
Nod, nod!
Between father and daughter, the conversation flowed so naturally.
But—
“…?”
Everyone else was confused.
Geru hadn’t even spoken in full sentences.
Is this mind reading?
How does she understand him?
Usually, he got by with broken words. But right now, he wasn’t even finishing them. Still, Cecile understood as if she could hear his thoughts.
“Against… because… anyway…”
“Mother tried to stop you because she thought she would die anyway, right? That’s why she begged you to stay, to spend her last moments together as a family?”
“Chance… small… still, I… go…”
“But you couldn’t give up, right? You wanted to save her no matter what, so you held onto that tiny hope and left, even while crying inside?”
Nod, nod!
“Then what about the letters?”
“Herbs… valley… monsters… lost…”
“You were searching for herbs when your whole group got stranded in a deep valley, right? And while being chased by monsters, you couldn’t return for a very long time?”
“Letters… company…”
“And the letters Mother sent never reached you. They just piled up in the merchant company branch office instead!”
“So… regret… by your side…”
“And because of that regret, because you failed to save her, you stopped traveling after her funeral, didn’t you? You gave up wandering outside and instead applied for work at the headquarters!”
Nod, nod!
“So you chose the treasury department to stay by your only family—your daughter’s side!”
Tears filled Cecile’s eyes, and she quickly wiped them away.
“All the misunderstandings… they’re all gone now!”
“Ce… cile!”
In truth, part of the problem had been Cecile herself. Once she misunderstood something, she became stuck in that thought and couldn’t see anything else.
Ariella muttered inwardly.
If only she had just listened from the beginning. He barely had to say a few words, and she understood anyway. This could’ve been solved long ago.
Father and daughter, overwhelmed with emotion, hugged tightly.
Even death could not break the bond of blood.
But—
“…”
“…”
The others who couldn’t follow their rapid conversation simply stood there in silence, staring blankly.
A few days later.
Geru fully recovered and returned to work.
Some worried it was too early, but his will was strong, and Richmond declared him to be in perfect condition.
When Ariella worried about his mental state, Richmond reassured her.
“Do you think the mind of an undead who has already overcome the shock of his own death would collapse over something this small?”
Cecile also rested for a few days, then returned to her workshop.
For her, working on magical tools was the best way to calm her heart.
Ariella visited her atelier—partly to check on her, partly to help with her projects.
“Welcome!”
The two women sat side by side and began their work.
And of course, work went better with light conversation.
Ariella spoke casually.
“You know, family really is different.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a rumor in the castle that I’m good at understanding Geru’s speech. But even so, I can’t match you. You’re practically reading his mind.”
For people who weren’t used to Geru, understanding him was almost impossible. His words broke off, syllables repeated, and sentences hung incomplete.
By that measure, Cecile’s ability was like a superpower.
“Actually, you’re amazing, Ariella. You’re not even family, and you still understand him.”
Ariella laughed, thinking of court life.
“I just learned to understand people whose words always lag behind their hearts. But you’re something else. I find you more surprising.”
Cecile shrugged.
“It’s nothing special. I’m just used to it. I used to work with Father in the shop, after all. Now, even one syllable is enough for me to guess what he means—”
“Wait a second.”
Ariella frowned.
“After he died, you two didn’t work together anymore, right?”
“Of course. I meant back when he was alive.”
Cecile’s words made Ariella pause.
Geru had been a zombie for most of the time since his return. They had hardly worked together at all.
So—
“Wait, are you saying… Geru already talked like that before he died? That stuttering way of speaking?”
“That’s right. Father always stuttered, even when he was alive.”
Ariella was left speechless.
Everyone had assumed Geru’s broken speech was a side effect of becoming undead.
But it wasn’t. He had always spoken that way.
“But speaking well is an important skill for a merchant.”
“Which means his other strengths were great enough to make up for it. He was so good that juniors begged him to form a new trading company for them.”
“…”
News about Geru spread quickly.
It was a fresh shock that swept across the Demon King’s Domain.
“Late again, Chad.”
“Ah! Golden Dragon, you’re here?”
Page boy Chad was cleaning the grand hall of Ludwig’s castle.
The visitor was the young hatchling dragon.
The Gold Dragon looked around inside.
“Huh? All the things that were here are gone! My future treasures!”
Even after Ariella’s stern lectures, he still thought about moving things into his “hoard.”
The last time he saw this place, the hall had been used as a warehouse. Like the reception room, it had lost its true purpose for decades.
“All that junk? The head butler told us to move it. Said it wasn’t needed.”
Gruve, the kobold butler, had decided to restore the hall to its original use as a banquet hall.
After hosting Delrak’s envoys, he knew such events would only happen more often.
So he made sure the place was cleaned and ready. Ariella had praised his foresight.
“You saw the new warehouse outside the castle, right? We moved everything there. It was a huge job.”
Thanks to slime adhesives, construction had been fast.
“Really? So that’s where it is.”
The hatchling’s eyes sparkled, and Chad felt uneasy.
If the dragon tried stealing things again, Gruve would definitely chase him through the halls in fury.
“Late again, Chad.”
“…Yes?”
“I brought you something delicious. A good leader should always care for his followers. Ariella said so.”
On the dragon’s back was a white bundle tied neatly. Someone else must have wrapped it, since the dragon’s short claws couldn’t have.
“What is it?”
“Sweet things.”
He had “borrowed” desserts from the kitchen.
Chef Laubo and his assistants were still busy baking mountains of pastries to send to the Fairy Forest.
When the dragon demanded just a little, Laubo could not refuse.
“You want me to eat snacks?”
Chad hesitated.
“I don’t have time for that right now.”
“That’s why you’re always late. You never have time.”
“That’s… a little harsh.”
The boy pointed to the thick layer of dust in the hall.
“Today there’s really a lot to do. I have to sweep all of this.”
But the hatchling dismissed his worries.
“Hmph! A few flaps of my wings will clean this whole place in seconds!”
Chad shook his head.
At least when it came to cleaning, he knew better than a dragon.
“If you blow the dust like that, it’ll just scatter everywhere. Maybe you’ve never swept a floor before, but—”
The dragon interrupted proudly.
“Just watch me!”
He spread his wings wide and lifted off the ground.
Flap! Flap!
Instead of soaring higher, he stayed in one place.
Then he blasted wind forward, and as Chad expected, a dust storm filled the hall.
Chad coughed hard, covering his mouth and nose.
“Cough! Cough! See? I told you this would happen!”
But then—
The dragon gave a sharp command.
“Gather!”
For a moment, Chad thought the order was directed at him.
Gather? But it was just the two of them here.
And then—
Ssshhhhhh!
Chad’s jaw dropped open in shock.
Something incredible was happening.
The swirling storm of dust began to move—
Not scattering everywhere, but gathering neatly into a single pile.
