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Chapter 12
The spider-like figure crawled through the window while Elshunain stood frozen.
“…Hrk.”
She clamped her hands over her mouth, suppressing the scream that was about to burst out. Instinctively, her eyes dropped to the bracelet Killian had given her.
She had to call Killian! Just as that thought struck her—
A familiar voice echoed out.
“Ah, I thought I was gonna die. That was exhausting.”
“…?”
The voice continued.
“What are you doing? All this trouble, and for who? You’re just standing there staring blankly.”
The man’s voice, full of exhaustion, was far too familiar to Elshunain.
“Oh, wow. Look at you. You’re ignoring your comrade who’s barely dragging himself here after all this time? This is why spirits have no manners. Tsk tsk. You’ve eaten up every bit of courtesy, haven’t you?”
The sarcastic tone, the sharp words—
His annoying presence was so familiar, her face involuntarily scrunched up like a smashed potato.
“……”
“…What. Why.”
“Ashray?”
“Yeah.”
The man, wringing out his rain-soaked silver hair, looked at her with a sulky expression.
“Why’re you calling me like that? Getting attached now? Happy to see me after all this time?”
“……”
“…Why are you looking at me like that? You look like you’re about to—AACK!”
Thwack!
Elshunain’s foot landed squarely on his shin with a satisfying smack.
“Why the hell would you make an entrance like that?”
She stood with her hands on her hips, chin lifted defiantly.
“What do you mean ‘like that’? What? Was it too protagonist-like?”
“Protagonist, my ass.”
Still the same self-absorbed personality.
Typical dragon.
“You’re such a narcissist.”
“What the hell is this narcissism thing? Every time you see me, it’s narcissism this, narcissism that.”
Ashray sat in a squat, rubbing his shin with a sulky look.
He was pretending to be hurt, but of course it didn’t hurt. His body was covered in scales that couldn’t even be scratched by a mithril sword.
“It’s a real thing, and not a good one.”
“Hmph.”
When he looked unconvinced, Elshunain shook her hands dismissively.
Then, Ashray cautiously got to his feet, sneaking glances at her. His silvery eyes shimmered strangely under the moonlight.
He muttered:
“…What the?”
“What?”
“You’re supposed to be fading away, on the verge of disappearing. But you look… fine.”
His eyes scanned her fingertips and toes. Spirits started fading from those areas first, so he must’ve been checking.
Elshunain tried to ignore the concern and relief in his eyes and replied nonchalantly:
“What do you mean fine? My heart nearly dropped just now because of you.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?!”
She considered grabbing his ears to explain it step by step but gave up quickly.
What was the point? He never took responsibility for anything. That word didn’t even exist in his vocabulary.
Self-centered, narcissistic, foul-mouthed, totally oblivious—what a nasty half-dragon.
‘…Though sometimes he can be a little softhearted.’
Maybe because he’s a half-blood.
He occasionally did things that weren’t very dragon-like.
‘That must be why he helped with my plan.’
Ashray was the number one contributor to the plan to revive Arwen.
Without him, the plan might never have even started. The book of the previous Dragon Lord he gave her had been crucial.
He had helped her in the original story, too.
He was just following the set path.
“Hmph. When you tore that scroll, I thought something urgent was happening. Like…”
Ashray wrung out his heavy gray robe and continued.
“Maybe your life was in danger.”
Then he paused, scratching his cheek with a finger.
“Ah, or maybe not. Judging from the situation, looks like Killian kidnapped you or something. Is it serious right now?”
“Kidnapped? Killian would never do something so awful!”
Elshunain defended Killian, forcibly erasing the threats he had made earlier from her mind.
“Hmmm.”
Ashray studied her expression and, as if realizing something, shook his head.
“You haven’t changed a bit. Neither has he.”
Then he let out a scoff and pushed his wet hair back.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
True to a half-dragon, he had the kind of striking looks that made anyone turn their head—but with his ghost-like, rain-drenched hair and his ragged appearance, he looked more ridiculous than impressive.
“You’ve gotten even uglier since I last saw you.”
“….”
Ashray, mid-hair-flip, froze like a broken robot. Then he subtly lowered his hand and touched his face, as if in disbelief.
Elshunain, watching with pity, shrugged.
“Why do you look like this? You hate being dirty. Why not just use a cleaning spell?”
She pointed at the puddle forming on the floor, and Ashray sighed deeply.
“Do you know how many layers of barriers your precious Killian put around here? On the surface, you can’t tell—but if I use magic inside, he’ll come running with his eyes blazing.”
He looked disgusted.
‘Wait. So that means no magic inside here at all?’
That could mess with her plan. Hmm…
Ah, maybe it didn’t matter.
“Here, use this at least.”
She handed him the towel the maid had left. Ashray awkwardly started drying himself.
Some time later, they sat across from each other, finally a bit calmer.
* * *
“So… you want me to pretend to be you?”
“Yep.”
Elshunain whispered secretly to Ashray after calming Mikhail—who had come running at Killian’s command—and sending him back outside.
“…But do we really have to talk while hiding behind the curtain?”
Crammed awkwardly behind it, Ashray grumbled.
Elshunain sat near the window, pretending to look outside as she muttered,
“Killian could show up at any time.”
“…You mean the bracelet?”
“Oh? How’d you know?”
Ashray sighed deeply.
“Don’t even have to ask. That guy probably just tossed it at you and said, ‘Call me if anything happens,’ right?”
“….”
Yep. A long-time comrade indeed. He knew Killian just as well as she did.
“You can only use it once per day.”
“Huh?”
Only once?
“That’s right.”
Ashray responded as if reading her dumbfounded face.
“I made it, after all.”
“Eh?!”
Ashray made it?
Elshunain looked down at the bracelet neatly fastened to her wrist, confused. Wait… was that part of the original story?
“Why did you make it?”
“……Hm.”
She expected a quick answer, but instead, he fell silent behind the curtain.
As she waited, growing impatient, just about to ask again—
“Does it matter why?”
He clearly dodged the question.
“What matters more is that Killian’s already used his one call for today.”
The curtain rustled, and a head of silver threads poked out.
“And if I stay close, I can sense presences easily. So there’s no risk of getting caught.”
Ashray, now much cleaner, plopped down in front of her.
With one leg crossed over the other and an arm lazily resting on the table, he said:
“So. Explain in more detail. You want me to pretend to be you?”
“Mm~”
She propped her chin on her clasped hands and stared at his smug face. He raised an eyebrow.
Elshunain tilted her head at the same angle and spoke with equal smugness.
“There’s something important I need to do. That knight I kicked out earlier? His name’s Mikhail. He’s like my shadow…”
“You want me to kill him ‘cause he’s annoying?”
“…No. I want you to polymorph into me. It’s a natural dragon ability, not magic.”
Such a violent guy.
Killian and Ashray both.
Tsk.
“What for?”
“I can’t shake him every time I go out. And I’m also a bit worried about Killian.”
“…You want me to trick Killian, too?”
“W-well… yeah.”
“You really think I can pull that off?”
Ashray frowned, waving his hand as if the idea were ridiculous.
“I don’t bet on losing odds. You know that. If I get caught, I’m the one who dies.”
Yikes. If he puts it like that…
Elshunain smiled sweetly.
“But you can do it, can’t you, Silver Magician?”
Perk.
“They say you’re practically a legend. Everyone praises you. Every magician respects you. The great Silver Magician Ashray~?”
Perk, perk, perk.
She clearly saw his ears twitch at the words “legend,” “respect,” and “Silver Magician.”
She grinned inwardly and continued.
“Someone like you can easily fool Killian. Right?”
Finally, a crisp answer came.
“Of course!”
“Right?”
“Yeah!”
“Then you’ll help me, right? It’s easier than sipping tea for someone like you.”
Ashray’s narcissism was annoying—but useful. Especially since, even if only half, he was still a dragon.
‘And dragons don’t break promises.’
Which meant she had to be careful what she said. But his self-obsessed personality always got in the way. Sure enough, Ashray lifted his nose proudly and declared:
“Of course. Say the word. I’ll do anything.”
The moment he said what she wanted, Elshunain erased all emotion from her face. Okay. Success.
“Hehe. In that case, there’s one more thing I’d like you to help me with. I need a little something…”
She made an “O” with her thumb and forefinger and smirked.
She meant money.
“……”
Ashray’s face briefly flashed with realization—but it was already too late.
