CH 8

Lathyrus, who escaped the village that had been oppressing her for a long time, arrived with Lisianthus at a certain beach.

At dawn, when the sun had not yet risen, the black dragon landed on the white sandy beach with no people around. When Lathyrus staggered from her feet and turned around, he was back in his human form.

“Thank you…for helping…”

“It was a fun experience for me too.”

“…”

“It’s pretty interesting to see how far human hatred goes when it’s at its peak.”

He said it was interesting, but his face was full of annoyance.

“I hope you live well by yourself, little one.”

Lathyrus knew it too. The man helped her leave the village, but it didn’t mean that they would be together in the future.

He may have been a little sympathetic. In fact, it didn’t matter what the reason was.

Lathyrus didn’t want to miss the man.

“But, where are you going to leave your companion?”

Lisianthus, who was about to leave at any moment, asked with a puzzled expression.

“Companion?”

He had reached out to her so far, so whatever his intentions were, Lathyrus felt grateful and special to Lisianthius. However, that did not mean that Lisianthus felt the same to her.

However, there was no way Lathyrus, who was lame and not yet an adult, could live in the world alone. Knowing this, she had never even thought of running away from Madame Margot.

“If you leave me now, I will keep calling you, Lisianthus.”

“Wait-“

“From day to night, I will keep calling you without a break.”

Lisianthus’s face now filled with an overly annoyed look.

“Little girl.”

He spoke in a voice that seemed friendly at first glance. However, as he approached and lowered his back to meet her eye level, words that were not at all friendly came out of his mouth.

“Do you know why I helped you?”

“Well, that’s because I’m your companion…”

“Because you are pitiful.”

“…”

“Just as you humans feel pity when you see a small, fragile beast hurt, I felt pity for you.”

“…”

“A pretty cute and kind person struggled among the less cute humans, so I gave her a life she could choose to live by herself…”

“…”

“If you keep being rude, you won’t be able to live it.”

But Lathyrus couldn’t give up.

“If it were me…”

Lathyrus, who grabbed Lisianthus’s hand again, continued to speak, trying not to shake her voice.

“I will continue to take responsibility from the moment I save that poor animal.”

“…”

“Until I’m an adult and I can live alone…”

In the end, what Lathyrus wanted to say was simple.

To protect her until she becomes an adult who can live alone.

At the bold yet blatant request, Lisianthus couldn’t hide his laughter. The only thing Lathyrus could push was the fact that she was his companion.

“Are you going to let it starve to death alone?”

“…Kid. The fact that you are a dragon’s ‘companion’ is not a weapon. That is your greatest weakness.”

Lisianthius began to speak as if he were reading his fairy tale.

“A long time ago, one day, a god suddenly declared to the dragons who wanted to become the same god of heaven.”

“…”

“When the time comes, we will have companions, and then the game of dragons to become god will begin.”

The story Lisianthus told her was a story that did not appear in any myth.

The rules of this game for dragons to become gods were simple.

First, taking the heart of another dragon companion to make them stronger.

Second, a dragon that has lost a companion slowly dies.

Third, the dragon who protects his companion until the end and survives becomes a god.

It was simple to understand, but the situation in real life was not so simple.

More than anything…

“Run away from me and live as if you are not a dragon’s companion.”

“…”

“Because that’s how you can live long.”

Lisianthus had no intention of protecting his young companion, Lathyrus.

Lathyrus thought. Was it really possible to leave Lisianthus and live by pretending not to be the dragon’s companion?

However, just because she pretended to be unrelated to the Lisianthus didn’t guarantee that the other dragons wouldn’t notice. However, if she stays with Lisianthus, other dragons will easily notice that she was his companion. In addition, Lisianthus seemed to have no intention of protecting himself, so it was even more problematic.

He had already saved her several times, but he was too unstable for her to continue clinging to his favor.

For a fleeting moment, Lathyrus hesitated and thought.

‘Should I leave Lisianthus? If I do…’

｢Lath-｣

At that moment, Lathyrus remembered a conversation she had with her older sister Erica a long time ago.

“Thomas is chasing after you to play, so why do you avoid him every time?”

“He’s too big and scary!”

“Sometimes, the person you think is the most terrifying and fearful can be the most reliable person on your side.”

“Thomas didn’t like playing because I was small at first!”

“You were the one who hated him the first time you met.”

It was as if Erica’s voice could be heard clearly in her ears like she had just heard it yesterday.

“Even such an existence can become my most reliable pillar.”

‘Maybe the existence my sister spoke of…’

Is it okay to follow the words of her older sister, who died after believing in that existence? Actually, she was suspicious. But as far as Lathyrus knows, Erica has never said anything wrong, except for dragons.

Lathyrus held Lisianthus’s hand tightly. They were hands engraved with the words of companionship.

“If I die by another dragon, Lisianthus will die too. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

“Death comes at a different time, but one day it will come, so why should I be afraid of it?”

“Do dragons also die naturally?”

“Someday.”

“Will Lisianthus die too?”

“Yes.”

“But that time is not now.”

“Kid. Trying to convince me will be your imagination. I don’t care when I die.”

Lisianthus stared intently at Lathyrus. He wondered what this little kid was going to say, but she looked very upset about the situation.

“Then…”

However, it was after listening to Lathyrus’s next words that Lisianthus’ expression changed.

“I will make you want to live.”

~pls read only at pinkmuffintl~

At this time, the sun, which had begun to rise slowly, seemed to illuminate Lathyrus. Lisianthus had the illusion that someone else was overlapping the red-tinted girl. It was because this stocky kid in front of him was babbling quite a bit like a woman he once knew.

“I’ll make sure you don’t want to die because it’s fun to live.”

“…”

“So, risk your life to protect me.”

The fact that she said all kinds of sweet things because she wanted to live was just nonsense to protect her humble life.

“Wow, what a shameless little girl…”

As he took a step back, limping two steps forward, Lathyrus hugged Lisianthus’ waist tightly as if she’d never let go.

As Lisianthus said, it was the first time she had acted so shamelessly, so Lathyrus’s face was red with embarrassment. But she chose that path because she knew that she would be left with nothing if she stepped down from there.

“Ah… From now on, call me Lathy, Lisian.”

“…Lisian? Kid, you’re crazy.”

“If you don’t like it, can I call you Lisi?”

“That’s crazier.”

Lathyrus felt a little relieved as his voice mixed with sighs didn’t seem to have any intention of throwing herself away coldly, so she smiled a little. Of course, Lisianthus did not laugh until the end.

~*~

Lathyrus said she had been cleaning and fetching water under Madame Margot, but she had little other social experience. She also said that she only talked to forests and animals, so she didn’t know how to get along with other people as she didn’t even have friends in the village.

But she still knew one concept for sure.

That’s right, money.

The truth was that they needed money to live in the world.

“Lisian has no money?”

Lathyrus asked a wild question to Lisianthus, who was about to camp on a cliff near the shore.

It wasn’t unusual for a dragon to sleep outdoors, but the human Lathyrus was an exception. Not just once or twice, but every day, she couldn’t sleep outside.

“I am not human like you.”

“I know. But I am human.”

“Ha…really…”

Lisianthus sighed. It was already the second sigh she heard.

“Do you want me to steal someone’s house?”

He asked sarcastically, but Lathyrus shook her head. Knowing that it was an unavoidable situation, she was planning to camp with Lisianthus today anyway.

“I have to sleep here today.”

Lisianthus observed the little kid already seated and crouching with a bewildered look.

“No way… I’m not mean enough to leave you while you’re sleeping…”

She even showed a pitiful face. It didn’t seem to have been planned cleverly, but it was a pretty effective way to sway the opponent in many ways.

“Don’t worry, when I open and close my eyes, you won’t be able to abandon me…”

“You talk a lot. Shut up and go to sleep.”

“Yes, sleep well, Lisian…”

“…Lisian…”

In his heart, he wanted to shake the little girl who called him by the most disgusting nickname in the world, but he managed to clench his fist.

He was not the same dragon, and she’s not just a little girl. Behaving irrationally at the words of an immature child was an act that wasn’t like him for he had lived for a very long time. And, it wasn’t too bad for such a troublesome thing to happen in his long years of boredom. After all, this annoying work would be over soon.

In fact, there was a rule not to tell Lathyrus about the dragons’ game to become gods.

First, taking the heart of another dragon’s companion makes them stronger.

Second, if they can’t take the heart of another dragon’s companion, their own companion will die.

Third, dragons that have lost their companions gradually die themselves.

Fourth, the dragon who protects his companion until the end and survives becomes a god.

Fifth, this rule applies to all existing dragons.

If Lisianthus does not kill another dragon companion within 14 days after the Lathyrus awakens as his companion, Lathyrus will die conversely.

And dragons that have lost their companions gradually die within one year.

He just needs a little patience with this annoying little girl and it will be over in no time. Then he will be able to return to where he was originally supposed to be. Lathyrus’s death would be tragic, but it would not bring him much sorrow. He was a person who could pretend to be ignorant of a sad death for the sake of rest.

When the noisy little girl fell asleep and night came, a comfortable stillness came to him. This stillness, as if it had been there a long time, reminded Lisianthus of a familiar place.

A grave in the woods that was always quiet except when this damn little girl came…

Lisianthus closed his eyes, recalling the scent similar to the air that was breathed there.

‘I have to go where you are.’

Whether it’s the grave where the body is buried, or the world where the soul goes after death.

Anywhere.