Ep 132. I Am Not Your Mother. (4)

Ep 132. I Am Not Your Mother. (4)

Ep 132. I Am Not Your Mother. (4)

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously, slaver??”

“...Yes.”

After making sure that no soldiers remained to disturb them, the others had taken shelter within Telberk for the night. Karas alone stood outside upon its ramparts, indulging in the cool night air as he stared into the distant stars.

It would’ve been nicer if there wasn’t a spirit yapping away at his ears.

“This is ridiculous. You can’t just add terms to our agreement!”

“I did not. I proposed a new one, and you agreed to it.”

“...I did not AGREE to your stupid proposal. I simply listened.”

“Would you like to decline then? Just say the word.”

“...”

Once, Felicir too had belonged to society as a regular human member. In fact, having been a court mage of his country, he’d been a rather prominent figure.

During this role, the Reaper had seen a myriad of personalities. From honest to deceitful, kind to malicious, he’d developed his own ways of addressing each of them.

But to this day, the personality he found most difficult to deal with was those who knew exactly what they wanted – and exactly what he wanted.

Under such circumstances, there was nothing to dispute, nothing to bargain. Each party’s wishes were bluntly out on the table, and both sides knew that neither could refuse.

Hence his unease right now.

“...Slaver, what you’re seeking to do is beyond insane. You’re literally trying to revive a dead person.”

“You’ve been complaining all night, but I’ve yet to hear you say that it’s impossible.”

“...”

“As I’ve said, feel free to decline. I’m perfectly content with leaving Aymeia in her crazed state. I’m sure Serenis would also be eager to return to Partivine as well; she could leave Aymeia in the dragonkin’s care, and find out about the other deities through Felicis or Aldrid.”

“...You’re not even certain if you can restore her. You’re merely claiming that you can.”

“So will you give up on her?”

“...No.”

“Then stop making pointless conjectures.”

Had Felicir still been alive, Karas would have been sentenced to death at least five times over for his insolence.

Unfortunately, no such thing was ever going to happen, and their dispute had to continue.

“I won’t ask for much, Felicir. I only need a single answer from you.”

“...You think I’d allow you to overthrow the concept of death? Me, the Reaper?”

“Will you give up on Aymeia then?”

“...Fine. Fine, I get it.”

Karas snorted, nodding at the Reaper’s reluctant compliance. He then rummaged his pockets, producing a rather unremarkable set of wooden ring and necklace.

“Just like how you can’t give up on Aymeia, there are things I cannot give up on as well.”

He’d done every possible research he could on his own. He’d then proceeded to study the dragonlord’s case directly, though the research had yielded nothing of note.

‘...Should even this fail...then I will forfeit our reunion for good.’

This would be the last research he would conduct.

And it would be last attempt he makes in his lifelong goal.

✧ ✧ ✧

When Serenis arose in the morning, the first thing she noted was...the fact that she’d actually gotten a good night’s sleep. It was a rather rare occurrence throughout her recent ventures.

The second thing she noted was the fact that Light was already awake, sitting beside her sister’s bed while chewing on a piece of dried meat.

“...Light?”

“Oh, are you awake? Good morning.”

Even though there were ample rooms within the keep, only Karas had elected on using a separate room. And both younglings had never awoke last night, sleeping through to this very moment.

“Are you hungry? I found some food in the kitchen here, want some?”

“...I’m alright. There are matters I must tend to still.”

“Huh? Like what?”

“...Well...destroying the shells, for one...”

“Shells?”

Initially, Serenis’ goals in venturing to Telberk had been to discover Aymeia’s whereabouts, as well as how the empire had gotten hold of Kelador’s shell.

The former had been accomplished as soon as Light had discovered Aymeia within the keep; as for the latter, Karas had kindly informed the dragonlord during yesterday’s talk that her assailant was the source of the empire’s antimagic arms. But even though they’d been thrown away into an endless void, Serenis couldn’t help but worry about the weapons that had already been provided so widely.

That is, until Light mentioned a rather peculiar phenomenon.

“You mean those bronze-like metals, right? The ones that the soldiers had?”

“They’re not quite bronze, but that would be correct, yes.”

“Don’t worry. They disappeared.”

“Rrrgh....”

“...Child, stop that.”

Without turning her head, Serenis stared at the growling youngling from the corners of her eyes.

Raizel was glaring at the orange-haired girl with a furious scowl. She was practically stuck to Serenis’ arm, and she showed no signs of letting go anytime soon.

And she’d been this way ever since Aymeia had accidentally referred to Serenis as ‘mother’ earlier.

“...Tch.”

“...”

Of course, Raizel’s odd behavior didn’t go unnoticed; it wasn’t like she was Serenis’ actual child, either. But everyone was taking it for what it was at this point.

Finally, Karas spared a brief glance towards the steel dragon, noting her clearly adamant will to never part with her lord again.

“...Alright, seems like Raizel will be staying with Serenis then. Now, as for you two...”

Karas’ gaze soon fell upon Ilias and Light. The red dragon immediately turned to face her little sister, who was staring back with worry-filled eyes.

“Light. Do you wanna go home?”

“...I’ll go where you go.”

“Mm...well...”

The half girl didn’t want to part with either her sister or her teacher; anyone could tell that much. Even if Ilias were to decide to return home with Light, the youngling could already see just how much her sister would ruminate about leaving her teacher out in the middle of nowhere.

And, in the millionth chance that something were to happen to Karas...

‘...Actually, let’s not think about that.’

Instead, Ilias beamed back at the half girl, rubbing her head between her twitching ears.

“Let’s stay together then! We’ve never been to Asarda, after all. Wouldn’t want to miss out when everyone’s off doing interesting things, right?”

Sighing in relief, Light nodded in agreement to the red dragon. And as the final two made their decision to stay, Karas cleared his throat to make his next announcement.

“It seems everyone’s keen on staying. Very well.”

‘Not surprised at all...nope, not surprised at all.’

‘Slaver, you’re sweating.’

‘Felicir, shut up.’

‘...’

“...Where next then? I trust you have a destination in mind?”

The professor’s eyes locked with Serenis midair. He quickly nodded in response to her question, gesturing towards outside.

“Although our main goal will be to awaken Aymeia’s memories, there’s no telling what or how long it may take – but we could do worse than to introduce her to her own people again. I plan to take her to the nearest Asardan settlement from here, and inform them of Lavnore’s death in the process.”

Light likewise looked towards the window. But from here, and even from what she’d seen yesterday, Telberk was surrounded by nothing but lifeless plains and a handful of mountains along their edge.

“...Nearest settlement? Is that far away?”

“Not exactly, no. It’s quite close in distance. Though, the Hayle Range separates Asarda from the rest of Astellion, which is the mountain range you see to the west; we’d have to cross it if we were traveling by foot. But...”

Karas spared a brief glance towards the others – specifically towards Serenis, Raizel, and Ilias.

“...As we can simply fly over the mountains, it shouldn’t be a problem. And the nearest Asardan settlement is just beyond the range.”

“Mmk...will we be okay though? We don’t need to prepare anything?”

“It’s quite cold, so I’d advise to dress warm...but that advice is probably lost on most of us.”

Once again, Karas spared a glance towards the dragons – as well as Aymeia.

Not a single one of them seemed to be bothered by the prospect of cold. And Ilias happily wrapped her tail around her little sister, patting the half girl on her head.

“Don’t worry! You can stick with me, Light. You won’t be cold at all!”

Karas nodded in approval. He could handle a bit of cold himself; he could also use magic if need be.

“If we were making travel plans in leisure, I’d also advise bringing food and money, but...we’ll have to make do for now. I’m sure we can find ways to procure what we need in Asarda as well.”

“? We have those though.”

As Karas looked towards his student with a quizzical gaze, Light casually pointed at the door with her thumb.

“I already ate from the kitchen here. There wasn’t anything fancy, but...there’s a lot?”

“...You did?”

“Yep. And if you go downstairs, there’s a bunch of chests with gold.”

“...”

As a teacher, Karas knew that he shouldn’t be praising a student for stealing food or treasures. In fact, he was considering reprimanding Light for suggesting it – and he would’ve if his mind was at peace.

Unfortunately, it was not.

‘Slaver, that’s low. You stole the emperor’s jewelry too. You’re the bigger thief here.’

‘Felicir, shut up.’

‘Besides, the dead have no right to anything. All they leave behind is for the living to take.’

‘...’

For once, Karas was internally agreeing with the Reaper. At least in this instance.

But then again, he’d never admit it out loud.