Chapter 8

Baberi cautiously approached Kure and turned his limp body over.

Their eyes met.

Kure was staring at her wide-eyed.

“Did you die with your eyes open?”

“……I used up the last bit of magic remaining inside my body.”

Kure’s eyes reproached Baberi.

They seemed to say, This is all because of you.

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Baberi let out a sigh of relief without noticing his accusing gaze.

At least she had avoided being torn apart by a dragon rampaging in anger.

“Did you just say it’s a good thing that I used up all the magic I had been saving?”

Kure expressed his anger in a voice that was barely audible as he lay limp on the ground.

Was it like I told you to do that? You did it yourself.

Baberi snorted inwardly.

Still, now that she had cooled down a little, she realized she needed to deal with the situation.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant it’s fortunate that neither of us got hurt.”

Baberi dragged out her words as she made excuses.

Then she held out a hand to Kure.

“Don’t just lie there. Get up.”

But Kure merely glared at Baberi without taking her hand.

“I can’t get up right now.”

“Why?”

“I told you I’m out of magic.”

Baberi blinked at his irritated tone.

What does running out of magic have to do with standing up?

“Don’t tell me you can’t even stand without magic?”

“I can’t move a single finger.”

Baberi’s mouth fell open.

She had a feeling something almost as troublesome as being torn apart was about to happen.

“Then when can you get up?”

“Normally, my magic recovers when I rest.”

“Can’t be helped, then. Let’s rest here for a little while before we go.”

Kure looked at Baberi coldly.

“I said normally. I can’t recover.”

“Why?!”

“I believe I already told you. Who was it that put a hole in my chest?”

Baberi squeezed her eyes shut and screamed inwardly.

Who can I blame for this situation?

She had become careless because her arm seemed to be doing a little better.

And, to begin with, she was the one who had put a gaping hole in his chest.

It was all because of Baberi Rangs.

Her fault.

“So does that mean I have to drag you all the way to Rondar?”

Her right arm was already acting up again, and now she had to drag this enormous man with her?

It was hardship upon hardship.

Baberi naturally let out a sigh.

“If you don’t want to, bring me magic stones.”

Kure said primly that he would walk there himself if she did.

He can’t even move a finger while lying helplessly on the ground, yet he still has enough energy to talk.

Baberi found his lofty expression irritating.

“Lord Kure, listen. How am I supposed to find magic stones in a forest like this?”

Baberi lost her temper and grabbed Kure by the collar with her left hand.

“Do you think magic stones just pop out if you dig anywhere you want? You arrogant White Dragon!”

“I merely stated a possible solution.”

“You’re saying something impossible, and that’s why I’m complaining!”

Kure didn’t answer.

He simply swayed helplessly as Baberi dragged him around.

Then, suddenly, he began sniffing.

“Why are you sniffing like a dog? Don’t tell me running out of magic made you lose your intelligence too……”

“Magic stones are approaching.”

Kure said something that made no sense.

A magic stone was simply a special stone containing magic.

It had no legs.

How could it possibly be approaching them?

What kind of bizarre thing is he talking about?

Then—

Rustle.

They heard the sound of someone moving behind them.

Baberi instinctively turned around to see what had made the noise.

“Don’t tell me a magic stone is actually walking toward us?”

Naturally, that wasn’t what happened.

The source of the footsteps was a person.

They were obviously bandits.

Even if she squinted, there was no mistaking it—around a dozen bandits were approaching, surrounding them.

“There’s a magic stone over there.”

Kure pointed with his eyes toward a mage standing several steps away.

A magic stone glowing red was embedded in the staff he was holding.

“You want me to get that for you?”

Baberi pointed toward the magic stone and looked at Kure.

Kure blinked.

“You’re quite lucky to encounter us in a forest like this……”

The bandits began speaking in sinister voices, trying to intimidate them like proper villains.

But Baberi barely listened.

Instead, she examined their stances and weapons.

They didn’t look particularly strong.

Except for the one carrying the magic stone, they didn’t even seem worthy of being called third-rate.

“One, two…… ten in total.”

There were still a lot of them.

Baberi didn’t have a weapon either.

On top of that, her right arm was unusable.

And now Kure wanted her to fight them and steal the magic stone?

“I don’t know whether I formed an alliance and gained a subject, or whether I gained a master.”

Wasn’t this normally something a subject was supposed to do for their king?

Baberi couldn’t shake the feeling that their positions had been completely reversed.

But what could she do?

She had no choice.

Baberi began the fight with the bandit who charged at her.

Glok’s knights were usually like this.

They would state their names, ask for their opponent’s name, and then challenge them one by one.

They wanted to show off their fairness and nobility.

“You don’t feel even a little ashamed about ganging up on one person?”

These bandits had no such sense of honor.

They recklessly rushed at Baberi all at once.

In desperation, Baberi threw dirt into the eyes of the bandit charging toward her.

“AAAGH!”

The bandit, suddenly unable to see, shouted in confusion.

Baberi didn’t miss the opportunity.

She snatched the sword from him.

It was awkward to swing with her left arm, but she had no other choice.

“What kind of woman is she?!”

The bandits began murmuring when Baberi quickly knocked three of them down.

“If you don’t want to get beaten up any more, hand over that magic stone.”

Baberi beckoned toward the mage.

The mage swung his staff, conjured a ball of fire with magic, and launched it at her.

“You’d better hand it over while I’m asking nicely!”

Baberi put on a bluffing attitude, but she only barely managed to dodge the fireball.

Her movements were becoming slower because of her injuries.

“Kill the man first!”

The mage shouted at the bandits.

Judging by the fact that he was giving orders, he seemed to be the leader of the bandits.

“Don’t just stand there! Dodge, idiot!”

Kure shouted in desperation despite knowing that he couldn’t move.

Kure lay there with a pitiful expression, blinking his eyes.

Two bandits tried to attack Kure.

Baberi hurriedly tried to stop them, but she was too late.

“No, wait!”

One of the bandits’ swords came down directly toward Kure’s neck.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

There was no way that was the sound of a sword hitting human skin.

It was the exact same sound Baberi remembered from two years ago—

the sound of soldiers’ swords shattering like glass when they attacked the dragon.

Oh, right.

He’s a dragon.

Only then did Baberi realize she had been worrying for nothing.

When Kure was in human form, his skin felt no different from an ordinary human’s when touched.

But when struck with sufficient force, it became harder than anything else.

“Human swords are still as weak as they were back then.”

Kure mocked the bandit, who stood there hesitating in shock as he stared at his shattered sword.

“You sure are full of yourself for someone lying on the ground.”

Baberi cursed at Kure as he looked up at her with his prim expression.

For some reason, his long, thick eyelashes were especially irritating today.

“What the hell are these things?”

The terrified bandits began slowly backing away.

Baberi didn’t let them escape.

She grabbed one of Kure’s legs and used the centrifugal force to swing him at the bandits.

“What are you doing? Don’t use my body as a weapon.”

Kure complained with a grimace as he became dizzy.

This time, Baberi used his body to block a bandit’s attack.

“Don’t use me as a shield either.”

Every time their weapons collided with Kure, the bandits’ weapons were rendered useless.

Kure was actually a pretty good weapon.

There was just one problem.

“He’s heavy!”

There was no way she could chase down the bandits who had already fled while carrying a weapon like this.

Baberi gave up on the fleeing bandits and approached the unconscious mage.

The magic stone attached to his staff was smaller than her pinky fingernail.

All this trouble for something this tiny.

Baberi silently lamented her misfortune.

Then Kure called out to her.

“Put it in my mouth.”

“Now I have to feed you too?”

Baberi muttered that there really was no bigger master than him.

Still, she put the magic stone into his mouth.

Kure rolled the magic stone around on his tongue as though he were sucking on a piece of candy.

Then he swallowed it.

“It’s garbage. There are so many impurities that it doesn’t even qualify as D-rank.”

Kure frowned as he slowly stood up.

“At this level, it’s barely enough for me to walk. Running would be difficult.”

Baberi let out a hollow laugh at his small sigh.

“Well, look at His Highness the Noble Prince.”

Baberi mocked him.

Kure pretended not to hear and turned his head away.

“This should be enough to get me to Rondar. Prepare some higher-quality magic stones next time.”

Should I punch him?

Baberi seriously considered it.

But if she punched a body capable of shattering swords like glass, there was no way her own hand would remain intact.

Besides, the moment the fight ended, all the tension seemed to leave her body, and an overwhelming fatigue washed over her.

It was completely different from before, when a fight of this scale wouldn’t even have left her out of breath.

“It’s starting again. Again.”

She had spent two years raising Yoo Chaeyoung’s body, only for her own body, now that she had returned to it after two years, to start causing trouble.

Baberi was sick and tired of it.

“Hey. Let’s make one promise. For both our sakes.”

Baberi instinctively tried to raise her pinky.

But the sharp, tingling pain made her stop.

Putting aside her complicated feelings, she reluctantly held out her left pinky toward Kure.

“No matter how angry I get, I won’t use the ballista. So you don’t do anything that leaves you unable to move because you’ve run out of magic either.”

Baberi said seriously that cleaning up the aftermath was unbelievably troublesome.

Kure glanced between her finger and her face, then obediently hooked his pinky around hers.

“And never cook again.”

“I won’t even if you tell me to.”

“Good.”

The two of them hooked their pinkies and silently stared at each other for about three seconds.

How long will this promise actually last?

Baberi’s heart was filled with distrust.

Having somehow avoided another crisis that might have broken their alliance, the two continued toward Rondar.

But there was something they needed to figure out first.

How were they supposed to enter Rondar, which was supposedly under a strict blockade?

Surprisingly, that problem was solved quite easily.

“They said it was blockaded, but the gates are wide open.”

There were guards at the city gate.

However, they only asked basic questions such as the travelers’ names, where they were from, and the purpose of their visit before letting them through.

Baberi and Kure went to the back of the long line, and their turn came surprisingly quickly.

“I’m Margaret from Tosen Village. I fled here after hearing that a dragon had recently appeared in Pony Gorge. This is Kure, my younger brother.”

Baberi recited the story she had thought up while waiting in line.

The guard, looking exhausted, let Baberi and Kure through without even properly checking her face.

“I’ve lived much longer than you.”

Kure spoke up, apparently unhappy with being assigned the role of her younger brother.

“What, a hundred years longer than me? Fine. Next time, I’ll say you’re my grandfather and I’m your granddaughter.”

Baberi casually ignored him.

Kure looked as though he wanted to say something, but he held himself back and turned away.

“Baberi.”

“Call me Your Majesty.”

“There’s a familiar face on a wanted poster over there.”

“A wanted poster?”

Kure pointed toward one side of the city wall.

Among the wanted posters plastered all over it, there really was a very familiar face.

“What is this?!”

Baberi recognized the face even from a distance and immediately ran toward the wanted poster.