Henry wondered how long it had been since he st hunted for his own food. During the entirety of his stay in the Lavan’s territory, he was treated like a king, or even better, a god. He didn’t need to lift a finger or open his mouth. Food would be served to him. It wasn’t just the food. It was everything. If he needed something, he only needed to ask; no matter who he asked, he would get what he wanted. At times, he wondered how things would turn out if he exploited their devotion and adherence. The notion crossed his mind countless times, but again and again, he would suppress these evil notions.

  However, new notions had taken root in his mind, and the growth was over in abundance. He had to take his mind off these new notions, or else he felt like he would go mad.

  “You don’t have to accompany me, you know?” said Kierra, who was walking alongside Henry in the middle of the forest on the borders of Ulrum.

  “Oh, you don’t need to mind me. I’m just tagging along at my own convenience,” Henry responded with a smile that didn’t seem too warm. It wasn’t cold. It just wasn’t… genuine.

  “...You said you’re here to hunt.”

  “I am.”

  “Then, why are you just walking alongside me at my pace?” Kierra questioned. “Surely this is not the pace you use when you go hunting, right?”

  “There’s no established pace for a hunt. One hunts at its own leisure and pace, as long as one knows what is needed for a hunt.”

  Kierra looked at Henry dubiously. “Right… make sense.”

  “Really?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  Kierra sighed. “Why don’t you tell me what’s truly going on? You looked very… out of it. Distracted, I would say. Something’s bothering you.”

  “Nothing’s bothering me. It’s just… something I have to think about.”

  “That’s called bothering. If you have no intention of telling me, then please don’t be near me. I will not have a big brooding baby of a dragon walking beside me for no apparent reason.”

  “I’m not brooding, and I’m certainly no baby.”

  “Sounds exactly like what a baby would say.”

  “A baby can’t speak.”

  “This one can.”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. I’m troubled, alright?”

  “I know that much.”

  “It’s about Sarynn.”

  Kierra stared bnkly. “...Who?”

  Henry returned the stare. “Are you serious right now? Sarynn. The one with the long bluish hair.”

  “Oh, that one. The Azure Serpent. How did you manage to seduce the Azure Serpent anyway?”

  “That’s not important right now. What’s important is… she’s pregnant.”

  Kierra frowned. “...Who’s the father?” she asked.

  “Are you trying to gauge the extent of my fury?”

  “It’s a valid question. You’re a dragon. She’s a Wyrm. She may be a retive of dragons, but you two are still different species. It should not be possible.”

  “Really? The Lavan certainly didn’t think so.” Henry recalled Iluna’s reaction when he told her the news. She was beaming with joy and showered him with waves of good wishes. She didn’t express any doubt as to the validity of Sarynn’s pregnancy.

  “A Dragon can impregnate other species, but it isn’t possible without the right preparations. It is a long and arduous procedure.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I read. A lot. It is impossible for one to be impregnated by a dragon so offhandedly. Therefore, it’s only right for me to question the identity of the father.”

  “I doubt there’s another Wyrm lurking within the Lavan’s territory, much less one lurking in a bedroom.”

  “Well, you’re right about that. Still, this is very… bizarre.”

  “Could it be that whatever you have read, it was wrong?”

  “Could be, but it hasn’t been wrong about anything so far.”

  “There’s always a first.”

  Kierra chuckled. “So, is this what has kept you so occupied all this while?”

  “This is my first. I never had a child before. What about you? Have you had a child before?”

  “No, I haven’t. I am still a maiden.”

  It was Henry’s turn to stare dubiously at Kierra. “You’re still a maiden?”

  “Why the doubt? Is it so surprising a nigh-unparalleled beauty such as I have kept herself pure for her whole life?”

  Henry smiled wryly. “I’m not doubting you. I know for a fact that you are no maiden.”

  Kierra stopped and turned to face Henry directly. “Are you calling me a liar?”

  “As a matter of fact, I am. I don’t know how I can tell. I just can, and I can tell that you are no maiden. And that’s not a bad thing. Or a good thing. It’s just… is. Or was your first experience non-consensual?”

  “Are you asking me if I was raped?”

  “That’s precisely what I’m asking, but I was trying to be… gentle about it.”

  Kierra snorted. “No, I wasn’t raped.”

  “Ah, but you are no maiden, no?”

  “...”

  “...Why do you deny it? Was it unpleasant?”

  Kierra huffed and turned away. “It wasn’t unpleasant.” She continued moving.

  Henry followed behind. “Then, why the denial?”

  “Is it that important for you to know?”

  “It isn’t, but you have made me very curious.”

  “We’re talking about you.”

  “Yes, but now we’re talking about you. To be honest, it is helping. I feel so… free now. Thank you. Anyway, what’s your story?”

  “None of your business,” Kierra said and quickened her pace.

  “Oh, come on. Is it an embarrassing one?”

  “Yes, very.”

  “Oh? How embarrassing?”

  “Embarrassing enough that if you keep asking, I might just bst your face with my spells.”

  Henry raised his hands. “Whoa, okay. It’s that embarrassing, huh?”

  Kierra snorted once more and continued on her path.

  “I never got to ask, where are you going?”

  “To the pce where I stashed my possessions.”

  “You have a secret stash spot?”

  “I have many.”

  “Why do you have so many?”

  “For situations such as these. I’m well aware of how the world treats my kind. I am prepared to run or hide. To do that, I would need enough supplies and also the right tools.”

  “Why are you going to your hideout now? Are you pnning on leaving?”

  “Quite the contrary, actually. I have decided to stay, or at least make it a long-term residence.”

  “What makes you decide that?”

  “The people here aren’t friendly, but they aren’t hostile either. Even if they intend to become my enemy, they won’t pretend to be my friend first, only to stab me in the back ter. I won’t have to look over my shoulders at every turn. These are good people. Besides, I have you. There’s nowhere else in the world I would rather be right now. The safest pce is right beside you.”

  “I’m gd to hear that. So, you mind telling me your story?”

  “No.”

  “Alright.” Henry shrugged. “How much further?”

  “It’s just ahead, and shouldn’t you be hunting?”

  “I found something more therapeutic.”

  Kierra rolled her eyes but made no retort.

  They eventually came to the foot of a small hill with slopes that were much too deep for anyone to climb. The trees here were sparse but the vegetation was dense.

  “Where’s your hideout?” Henry asked. He looked around but saw nothing that would arouse his interest.

  Kierra approached a pnt with flowers in full bloom. She yanked the entire pnt out of the soil and stuck her arm into where the pnt had rooted. She fumbled around for a while and pulled out a sack. After she had taken the sack, she pced the pnt back. Instead of crooking, the pnt remained upright as if it hadn’t been yanked off its roots.

  “Is that some kind of a special pnt?”

  “It is,” Kierra answered while patting the dirt and sand off the sack.

  “Is that all? Doesn’t seem like there’s much. It’s certainly no food or water. What do you have in there?”

  “Books and papers. And some gold.”

  “Books? What kind?”

  “The kind that contains all my research and notes.”

  “And the papers?”

  “Identification.”

  “Oh, those kinds of papers… Wait, does all your stash contain your notes and research?”

  “Not all of them.”

  “Aren’t you worried that someone might accidentally find it?”

  “Do I think someone would find it? Yes. Am I worried? No. Well, I got what I wanted. I’ll be returning. What about you?”

  “...Do you want me to accompany you back?”

  “I can use the convenience.”

  “I’m hurt. Is that all you think of me?”

  Before Kierra could retort, there was a commotion nearby that instantly drew their attention.

  Henry widened his eyes. “I smell blood. There’s trouble.”

  “Then, you'd better hurry.”

  “You’re not coming?”

  “We’re not in Ulrum, Henry. I shouldn’t be announcing my presence to anyone we passed by.”

  “Fair enough,” Henry said and rushed towards the commotion. The scent of blood became stronger as he closed in. There was a foul stench in the air, the stench of wet fur.

  Cngour of metal rang in the air. There was a sharp scream, followed immediately by silence.

  Henry reached the source of the commotion. He found a wolf, thrice the size of normal wolves, and its body was tangled with bck tendrils. The giant wolf was surrounded by what appeared to be fully-armoured soldiers. He recognised the insignias on the soldiers’ armour. They belonged to the Argon Kingdom. From the look of the worn and rugged state of the soldiers’ armour, they must be survivors who had escaped the turmoil of the kingdom and stumbled upon here.

  But the soldiers weren’t what caught Henry’s attention. It was the wolf. He recognised those bck tendrils, the same ones the Syers had on them.

  “Oh, god… It’s spreading.”

  The soldiers were working hard to kill the wolf, but they were getting nowhere. In fact, they were only getting themselves killed. They seemed to have no clue how to deal with the wolf. They only had swords and shields. None of them had a spear or a bow. They could only swipe their swords. These soldiers weren’t seasoned. They weren’t greenhorns either. They were just… soldiers.

  Eventually, one of them decided to run, and that was when the formation fell apart. The wolf lunged at the remaining soldiers. A swipe from its rge paw immediately took the lives of three soldiers. There were four of them left, not counting the one who ran away. The four of them were contempting running away, but neither of them made the first move. They were all wary of each other and even more wary of the world, which looked ready to lunge once more.

  Henry was conflicted. Or rather, he knew not his next course of action. He didn’t know if he should help the soldiers or just let them die. These were soldiers of the Argon Kingdom. Even if Argon Kingdom was no more, they were still once soldiers of that nation. Given the nation’s the reputations, Henry didn’t trust these soldiers. Word would spread about his existence if he let them live and go on with their lives, a man who was stronge enough to take down these corrupted beasts with ease. Their tattle would surely attract unwanted attention. Though it might not mean much and everything was just his paranoia, Henry didn’t want to risk it. These soldiers were not worth saving.

  Just as Henry arrived at this decision, something emerged from shadows of the growth of vegetation. Henry didn’t even noticed the presence of another pary until it showed itself as he was too focused on the wolf and the soldiers. It was a bear, rger than even the already gigantic wolf. Much like the wolf, it was covered and tangled in bck tendrils. The bear caught the wolf with both of its fore limbs and crushed the wolf in its grasp before throwing the wolf carcass to the ground and proceeding to gnawing on it.

  “Oh… shit. This is not good.” This was no time to be hesitating. The situation had become dire.

  Henry rushed out of his cover and charged straight at the bear.

  The bear had barely registered Henry’s presence before its head was lopped off its neck. Instead of colpsing to the ground, the headless bear staggered towards Henry while filing its paws around.

  Henry finished the bear off with his Firebreath, turning it into ashes and cinders. “Fucking hell… it’s really spreading…”

  “W-who are you?” asked one of the soldiers.

  Henry gnced at the soldiers. “You should be running.”