Chapter 09
“Miss, um… have you heard that rumor?”
This time, Sir Hern was riding in the carriage with us as well. He was the knight who had picked me up yesterday.
“What rumor?”
For the record, we were currently playing Old Maid.
Ah—damn it, I drew the joker!
“They say the Holy Sword is in a dragon’s possession.”
For a split second, I almost dropped my cards.
The Holy Sword? Why does that thing have it?! Oh—yes! I passed the joker!
“Why would it be there?”
Kiel, who had just drawn the joker from my hand, looked subtly displeased.
Ha! Is this finally my chance to win?!
The Holy Sword briefly crossed my mind… and then left just as quickly. Winning the game was more important than some sword.
“Long ago, after Alena used the Holy Sword, it became embedded in the ground. No one could pull it out.”
Hmm… this one? Or that one?
After agonizing over it, I drew a card from Sir Hern’s hand.
“I won!”
I slapped my cards down triumphantly.
Finally…! Out of thirty-one rounds, I had finally won a game of Old Maid and raised my arms in victory. Now I could actually focus on the conversation.
“So? No one could pull it out, but a dragon did?”
“Huh? No. Dragons are huge—if one came out of there, it’d cause chaos.”
Ah. They don’t know.
That guy can transform into human form.
I quietly listened as Sir Hern continued.
“They say someone didn’t pull out the Holy Sword at all. Instead, they dug up the ground it was stuck in, loaded it onto a cart, and offered it to the dragon.”
I choked on my water and started coughing.
No—this is what people mean by thinking outside the box?! Digging up the ground itself?! That’s insane.
“If I had the Holy Sword, I’d like to take a look at it. It’s the blade Lady Alena once wielded, and it must have special abilities…”
Its abilities? He’d be sorely disappointed if he found out. It’s not that useful.
The Holy Sword never properly explained its powers. It claimed it had thousands of abilities and that listing them was too much trouble. Whenever I tried to ask, it pretended to be asleep, so eventually I gave up.
The most useless ability I know of? It can detect trash within a 300-meter radius.
Why does it have that ability? Because it’s a Holy Sword, and it wants its owner to do good deeds, apparently. I was completely dumbfounded when I heard that.
It also has a flash function on the blade.
When I asked why, it said it was so you could see better when fighting at night.
I pointed out that wouldn’t that just reveal your location—and it threatened to sing at me in retaliation.
There’s also an ability that shows how “bad” people within 100 meters are. It’s not entirely useless, but it’s not all that helpful either.
The most decent ability is self-healing and healing others, plus the blade never gets bloodstained so you don’t need to clean it.
Sure, it might have better abilities, but the Holy Sword only ever told me about a handful of them. It sure hides a lot from its owner.
“Ah, we’ve arrived. Please disembark.”
At Sir Hern’s words, I stopped thinking.
I hopped down from the carriage, grabbed Kiel’s hand, and followed Sir Hern. It was a familiar sight—nothing seemed to have changed.
But walking in a single-file line like this made me feel like a chick following its mother. A very large chick, admittedly.
“Dragon-nim! We brought gold and silver! H-here!”
Because I was still a child and too short, I couldn’t see the dragon at all. I bounced on my toes, but it was useless.
“Sir Hern. Sir Hern.”
“Yes, Miss?”
“Give me a shoulder ride!”
I tugged on his clothes, pleading. He hesitated for a moment, then lifted me up. It wasn’t exactly a shoulder ride, but my view was much better.
Earlier, all I’d seen were people’s legs.
Oh. Ventus looked bigger than before. Considering how much time had passed, that was natural—but still unfamiliar.
—Do you think I’m a fool? You come here to kill me, yet you laugh. Ridiculous.
Oh… we came to kill you?
That’s… bad.
Grasping the situation, I spoke to Sir Hern.
“Sir Hern. Tell the knights not to fight.”
“…Pardon?”
“I have a plan.”
He looked at me skeptically. Understandable—why would he trust a child? This felt like a cop listening to a toddler’s testimony.
Swallowing nervously, I watched his head tilt. Then he quietly relayed my words to the ducal knights.
As a result, only the mercenaries charged at the dragon—or fled in fear.
Ah. Those two bastards were among them.
—What are you all? You’re not attacking?
With the mercenaries gone, the view cleared. I stepped down from Sir Hern’s arms and strode toward the dragon.
Then, silently mouthing the words, I spoke:
Long. Time. No. See. Ven. Tus.
Dragons don’t tell others their names. When I once asked why, Ventus said it made him sound more mysterious or something.
Very middle-school-syndrome of him.
He probably wasn’t serious. Probably.
—You… only that child may approach me. Everyone else, leave.
“What?! The young lady is not a sacrifice!”
Sir Hern shouted.
Wow. Sir Hern… I’m touched!
Despite the heavy atmosphere, I winked at him.
—I never said she was a sacrifice. I merely need to confirm something. I’ll return her with all limbs intact.
Could you not phrase it like that?!
“See you later, everyone! Bye! Ah—Kiel oppa! Don’t worry, I’ll come back in perfect health!”
…He didn’t deny it.
Satisfied, I moved closer to Ventus.
“Why don’t you use illusion magic? Make it look sealed.”
At my suggestion, Ventus cast a spell. They probably couldn’t see us anymore from the outside.
I burst into laughter watching the knights panic.
So cute.
—How do you know me?
“Because I’m Alena.”
“Prove it.”
Ventus said as he transformed into human form.
After a moment of thought, I decided to recount his embarrassing past.
“When was it… during a festival? You saw boiled octopus and cried because it was gross. And when you breathed fire, afterward you went up to people asking if they were dragon-blooded, snarling like a rabid dog, causing a scene, and I had to clean it up. Oh—and you didn’t understand currency and got ripped off. The first time we went to the market together, you grabbed things without paying and got accused of stealing. And then—”
“Stop! STOOOOP!”
Ventus’s face turned bright red as he yelled and clamped a hand over my mouth.
I grinned.
Teasing him is way too fun.
“What? You said prove it. Want me to continue? You—”
“Stop! It’s proven! That’s enough!”
His face was basically a tomato.
He looked like he might cry.
I stopped teasing and took a good look at him. He really hadn’t changed—still a young, handsome man.
“But could you change into a kid form? My neck hurts.”
“How did you get even smaller? You were tiny to begin with.”
Ventus pressed a hand down on my head.
This dragon bastard?!
I’m already annoyed that I shrank again!
“Let go! You oversized giraffe!”
I swung at him, but my arms were too short to reach.
How humiliating!
When I glared at him, he shrugged.
“Back when you went to a festival with me, you saw a really pretty lady and you—”
“H-HEY! Don’t say it!”
“‘I don’t know why such a beautiful face is burdened with sorrow. Allow me to ease your worries—shall we spend this night together?’ You said that, got rejected, and then—”
“I won’t tease you about your height anymore, so stop!”
Ventus screeched.
Dragons love gold—and apparently, beautiful women too. And for some reason, he always spouted cringey novel-worthy lines back then.
This is revenge!
“Seriously! That was ages ago! I’m not like that anymore!”
He buried his face in his hands.
I smiled victoriously, even though I had to look up at him.
Back in Korea, I hated being short. I jumped rope, did stretching exercises, drank tons of milk—
And now I’m short again. It’s unfair!
“Anyway, I heard something weird. Is the Holy Sword here?”
“Yes. Please take it. I feel like I’m going to die.”
“Did it tell you to pick up trash and do good deeds too…?”
“If you know, then please take it…”
Ventus looked genuinely miserable.
Apparently, the Holy Sword had tortured him in my absence.
I felt bad for him.
…No, actually, seeing him suffer made me kind of happy.
Still, I never imagined the Holy Sword would say that kind of thing even to a dragon. It’s got guts. Well—no, it’s not a person, it’s a sword.
“Why don’t you just give it to someone else?”
“It refuses! It says you’re its only owner!”
Me?
Don’t tell me I have to take it again?
A bad feeling crept in. Ventus stared at me with pleading eyes. I subtly looked away.
Sorry. Actually, not that sorry—but I refuse.
—Huh?! Ventus! Ventus! I can feel Alena’s presence! What’s going on? Is Alena here?!
The timing was awful.
I frowned—then noticed something strange.
I couldn’t see the Holy Sword anywhere. Only piles of gold.
“…Is it buried?”
“Yeah. It was too loud, so I buried it. But it’s telepathic, so it didn’t help.”
“…Can I bite the gold once?”
Completely random—but I really didn’t want to focus on the Holy Sword.
I’d always wanted to bite gold, but I worried about leaving teeth marks.
If I’d known I was going to die, I would’ve bitten it as much as I wanted!
“…You’re already gearing up to bite it, aren’t you? Fine. Just once. It’s mine.”
I opened my mouth wide and bit into a golden crown studded with jewels.
Ah… so this is what gold tastes like?
Just as I was about to bite it again, Ventus snapped:
“I said once.”
“…Tch. You’re so mean!”
“So why did you really come? You had a reason, didn’t you?”
“Oh! Why did you suddenly demand more gold? Isn’t that a contract violation?”
I finally remembered why I’d come here—while still staring longingly at the gold.
As I reached out, Ventus stepped in front of me, blocking my view.
Too cruel! My precious babies!
“They’re not yours.”
“Gasp. Did I say that out loud?”
“It’s all over your face.”
He chuckled.
We’d known each other for a long time. With our contract, we could even sense each other’s emotions.
“The contract was with you. We had an alliance, sure—but only as long as you lived.”
“That’s true.”
I already knew. My death had rendered our contract meaningless.
“But there has to be a reason, right? You wouldn’t ask for more gold without one.”
He blinked, then laughed.
I stared at him like he was… well, a dragon.
“Aren’t you trusting me too much?”
“We could feel each other’s emotions when we made the contract. At least I know you’re not a bad guy.”
“One day, while I was away, my gold disappeared. And today, I figured out who did it.”
“…The two who ran away earlier.”
Ah.
Those idiots really were brain-empty.
Who in their right mind illegally squats in a dragon’s lair and steals treasure?!
—Hey! Ventus! I’m still here! Let me out! I can feel Alena’s presence! If you don’t, I’ll sing all night so you can’t sleep! When the morning comes—
Ventus told me to wait and went to dig up the Holy Sword.
Even after all this time, I could tell—the Holy Sword was still perfectly tone-deaf and rhythm-blind.
It was a miracle Ventus hadn’t developed insomnia.
I actually started to pity him.
He’d lived with that thing for ages… and now I might have to take it again.
—Huh? Alena? Why are you so small…?
I stared in disbelief.
Hey. Did you two plan this?
Why are both of you pointing out that I got shorter?!
