Chapter 189

Disaster Turns into Peace (2)

The day after her first report, it was clear that Phoebe's body was gradually shrinking when compared to her morning size.

'Phoebe is returning to her original state.'

It was said that it would take a week, but even that wait was not easy.

Rumors spread that a dragon lived in front of the Silence Tower, and spectators flocked from all over.

There was no distinction in types.

Adventurers pretending to pass by, nobles visiting to see useless items they had no interest in, commoners risking their lives for a lifetime of drinking stories, and curious children.

Phoebe refused the idea of setting up a no-access magic barrier.

- If you make it so strict, it seems like I'm in danger...

"That does seem likely."

Her size grew, and her appearance became threatening, but deep down, she was an innocent child.

Respecting her wishes, they left her alone, and Phoebe ignored anyone who approached.

Even without any sanctions, ordinary people just briefly glanced before returning home, so no worrisome situations occurred.

'Can't I do something for her?'

Although she claimed to be fine, Reed couldn't help but feel uneasy.

She had been prepared to sacrifice herself for Rosaria and chose to suffer.

However, there seemed to be nothing they could do for her immediately.

The place where they had imprisoned Astrophe could no longer be used and was buried, and they didn't want her to be alone there.

Phoebe really enjoyed guarding the tower's side.

'But if I make a doghouse for her...'

It would look ridiculous, and she would only get ridiculed.

As he was thinking about what to do for her, Phoebe spoke up.

-Tower Master...

"Hm?"

Phoebe stammered, seemingly embarrassed.

-I think I'm getting hungry...

"Are you?"

- Uh... With this body, I'll undoubtedly have to eat a lot... Won't that cause trouble?

"It might."

-Really???

"No, I meant don't worry about it."

He accidentally let his true feelings slip.

Fortunately, Phoebe didn't hear it properly, and they could brush it off.

'In fact, just one meal would be enormous.'

When Phoebe was human, the amount of food she ate in one meal was equivalent to what three people would eat in a day.

When she first came to the Silence Tower, there was a conspiracy that Reed, the tower master, was trying to collapse the tower by taking out 10% of the budget for food expenses.

Although it was a joke, there were quite a few people who actually believed it.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

Anyway, since she had become a dragon, she would need food for three dragons.

Roughly calculating based on her size, she needed a day's worth of food for the tower.

And that was just for one meal.

'There's no problem, but...'

Something felt missing.

What she really enjoyed was eating.

"Sis, are you hungry?"

-Yeah... I think my stomach is growling.

"It sounds like your stomach is sinking!"

-With this body, could I sink in the ocean?

Phoebe and Rosaria laughed while joking around.

Then, as if something came to mind, Rosaria exclaimed, "Ah!"

"I wish you could really eat a lot, sis."

-Why is that?

"There's so much I want to eat! I can eat a lot of cake, a lot of snacks, isn't that right? It would be so happy."

Reed suddenly had a brilliant idea thanks to Rosaria's words.

"Rosaria."

"Huh?"

Reed grabbed Rosaria's shoulder and praised her.

"Thanks to you, I came up with a great idea."

"Is it because of Rosaria?"

"Yes."

"Ahem!"

Rosaria felt proud because she was credited.

Reed asked her, just in case.

"Phoebe."

-Yes?

"Do you have any preferences?"

-Preferences? Um... I eat everything well, except for a few things I don't like. Oh, are you talking about something else?

"No, that's what I meant."

Phoebe blinked.

She couldn't understand the intention behind the question.

-Why do you ask?

"We're going to have a festival centered around you."

-A festival...?

As the leaders responsible for each country, many were particularly concerned about safety.

Such concerns were for the stiff-minded adults, not the children.

"Mom, it's a dragon! An evil dragon!"

The atmosphere turned cold in an instant with the blunt words.

The child's mother covered his mouth and repeatedly apologized.

"Kid, you shouldn't say that carelessly! I'm sorry. He's still a thoughtless child..."

The queen, who adored her rude son without any discipline, turned serious and apologized to Phoebe.

Seeing her apologize, Phoebe blinked once.

It wasn't easy to show a smile in the form of a dragon, so that was her way of showing that it was alright.

However, most people felt that it was a gesture to let it go just once, so even talking about it was difficult.

-Tower Master...

Phoebe sent a message to Reed.

Even in the message, her trembling voice felt disheartened.

"Why do you feel down?"

-Should I just close my eyes and pretend to sleep?

"Why? It's not your fault."

-Um...

"You can be confident. I'll see what I can do."

Feeling that there was some truth in Reed's words, Phoebe tried to become more confident.

No matter how many times she spoke like a speech that she was not dangerous, trust did not seem to open so easily.

What could she do to ease the vigilance in the eyes looking at Phoebe?

The answer to that question was thrown by Rosaria.

Rosaria, who was mixed with her peers, looked up at Phoebe with the children.

"Wow, a dragon!"

"Cool, right? She's our sister!"

"A dragon is your sister?"

"Yes!"

In Rosaria's brief explanation, the children seemed to think that she was definitely amazing, looking at her with eyes of admiration.

"I even slid down her tail like a slide!"

"Wow, that sounds fun."

"Have you touched the tail when you slid down?"

"Of course!"

Rosaria nodded her head at the children's questions.

"Do you want to touch?"

Then the children hesitated for a moment.

"But mom said it's dangerous."

"They say dragons are evil."

"It's not dangerous! And it's not evil!"

Rosaria seemed determined and took the children's hands and stepped forward.

As someone stepped forward in the circle, attention naturally focused.

"Oh my!"

"Isn't that little child the young lady of the Adeleheights family?"

The frightened adults began to whisper, holding their breath.

The children who followed her hesitantly, but as the big dragon's head approached, they started to get scared.

"Now, you can touch, right?"

Rosaria placed the sobbing child's hand on Phoebe's cheek.

The fear of the giant being disappeared through that touch.

"Right?"

"Look, look, it's not scary!"

The child, who had been cautiously touching with one hand, began to touch without hesitation.

The children who were watching from a little distance behind asked the child.

"Is it okay?"

"Yeah! It's like a lizard!"

"I want to touch it too."

Thanks to Rosaria's boldness, the children gradually let go of their guard towards Phoebe and approached her.

Soon, they began to touch her as if she was a big, friendly dog rather than a scary dragon.

"It seems like it's not really dangerous, huh?"

"That's right. She's staying still even when the children touch her like that..."

"Mom, I want to touch it too."

"Well, shall we go together with mom?"

"Yes!"

As the children closed the distance, the adults naturally closed the gap with Phoebe as well.

However, instead of touching her boldly, they examined Phoebe's body as if looking at a well-made piece of art.

While the nobles were admiring her, the attendants who accompanied them busily set up the equipment for the festival in the open space.

The main day of the festival was tomorrow.

The eve of the festival was held in a commoner style with street vendors and festival-goers.

There were some who said it was a lowly commoner's way, but in their world, it was an exotic festival, so they participated despite the inconvenience.

It was also an opportunity to get to know each other while experiencing the hard-to-reach foreign foods in a simple way.

That's why the festival focused on food and entertainment, which could showcase their kingdoms.

"Oh, the Black Dragon is drooling!"

"Hey! No matter what, you shouldn't be rude!"

Phoebe swallowed her saliva and watched them.