CH 9

“Ah-choo!”

Lisianthus, resting under the shade of a tree, frowned at the dripping saliva on his face. Unable to wipe it off with his hands, he wiped it with his collar, and stared silently at Lathyrus.

No matter how warm the weather was, the night air at sunset was bound to be cold. Lathyrus, who was approaching Lisianthus as soon as she woke up in the morning, unintentionally spat on his face and froze in shock.

“That, that…”

Lisianthus was annoyed now.

Since they were connected as companions, the child’s voice calling him sounded so loud that he couldn’t turn a blind eye and reached out because she was pitiful. However, it was still unpleasant to get spit on his face.

“Sorry…”

“…”

…Even so, he was not an evil dragon enough to harm a child who made a mistake without malice. She’ll eventually die anyway if he lets it go.

“Tsk.”

Lathyrus, who was relieved of tension only when he withdrew his angry gaze, approached Lisianthus again and sat with her knee bent right next to him.

“By the way, Lisian.”

“Don’t call me that. It’s not a nickname you’re going to call.”

“Of course, Lisi.”

“…Don’t call me that either.”

“Anyways, Lisian. Listen to me.”

Lathyrus, who seemed to be easily scared but had a rather bold side, had not broken the stubbornness of calling him with a nickname despite Lisianthus’ warning. Lisianthus, who was too bothered to even point it out, gave up changing the nickname she called him.

“We have to make money.”

“Money?”

A short false laugh came out. Lisianthus’ pride was undermined by the words of a scared yet bold human child.

“Are you asking me to dwell on the trivial concept of money made by humans?”

“That’s not it…”

As the blade stood in Lisianthus’ tone, Lathyrus twisted her fingers and murmured with a small voice.

“Say it right.”

He hated listening to the child’s murmur. When Lisianthus cooly responded, Lathyrus tried to raise her head and said in a clear voice.

“I’m a human being.”

“Really?”

“For a day or two, achoo!”

“…”

“At the bar, you can sleep outside…achoo!”

“…”

“In winter, I’ll freeze to death…achoo!”

Was it on purpose?

“Even if it’s not three meals a day, you should eat at least one meal a day…”

“…”

“And, have at least one coat for the winter, achoo!”

This innocent human kid wasn’t acting on purpose, but the timing was amazing enough to make him suspicious. As she sneezed at the end of every word, he felt as if he had become a merciless dragon after letting a human child sleep outside.

There was no need to feel guilty about this little girl who didn’t need a coat because she’d die before winter anyway.

He was doing quite a good thing by giving freedom to a human kid who would have been abused by the same humans if he had left her alone…

“Lisian can’t do anything, so I will work hard to make money.”

“I really don’t have to do anything, right?”

“Ah, that…”

“You can’t say two words with one mouth, kid.” (tl/n: meaning she can’t change her words)

“But you can help a little bit.”

“Why should I help?”

“That…eh! Achoo!”

“…This clever little girl.”

Lisian decided to correct his thoughts on this kid. This damn kid, maybe she’s not naive, she’s clever.

“Where are you going?”

Lathyrus’s eyes widened when Lisianthus, who had been leaning on the side of the tree as if he didn’t mind dying at any time, got up.

“I’m tired of the constant babbling, so you have to be patient.”

“Are you going to leave me?”

Lathyrus quickly grabbed Lisianthus’ collar.

“Would you mind letting go?”

Lisianthius waved her wrist lightly, telling her to let go. There was still distrust and anxiety in Lathyrus’s eyes, but that stubbornness did not last long.

“Are you coming back?”

Despite Lathyrus’s earnest question, Lisianthus walked to the edge of the cliff without looking back.

“I’ll keep calling until you come back!”

When Lathyrus, who had reached her peak of anxiety, shouted intimidatingly, only then did Lisianthus look back. His silent exhalation contained sighs.

Could she have been too presumptuous? It was when Lathyrus, who was tense, swallowed her dry saliva thatLisianthus opened his mouth.

“Call only in an emergency.”

Lathyrus’s expression brightened at the irritable warning that was filled with annoyance.

With it or not, Lisianthus quickly transformed and flew into the sky. In the blink of an eye, he flew away and became a black dot. Lathyrus’s face, staring at the back of Lisianthus, who was getting farther away, sunk lower and lower from her brightened expression.

The cool wind blew and the grass flapped with each other and made a calm sound. Numerous grasses and trees were whispering with each other.

It’s a dragon! Dragon’s companion!

Nature recognized the dragon, who was the owner of the land, and chatted loudly. Lathyrus approached the tree, which was the loudest of them all, and talked to it.

“Hey, can you help me?”

The tree remained silent for a moment. It was not sure if she called for it because the tree didn’t know about Lathyrus’s ability. 

Lathyrus said clearly again, lightly hitting the trunk of the tree.

“It’s true that I called you.”

~*~

While Lathyrus was conversing with the plants, Lisianthus, after a quick flight, set foot in a lush forest. It was a familiar place to both Lathyrus and Lisianthus.

Especially for Lisianthus.

The hand that had unconsciously stretched out over the tomb surrounded by beautiful flowers stopped when he heard a voice he had not heard for a long time.

｢Please treat humans beautifully.｣

The hand that caressed a single flower,

｢Like you were thinking of me.｣

The straight gaze that looked…

“…”

It was when he was about to sink into the past that was already over again.

“I will make you want to live.”

The present reached out to him, who had been immersed in the deep waters of the past.

“I’ll make sure you don’t want to die because living is fun.”

That damn little girl’s voice…

｢We’ve been together too long.｣

It wasn’t that he wanted to live up to the kid’s words or have fun, but he was still curious about how the kid would behave in the future.

“I’m going to try to treat humans like you said.”

He’ll be back anyway.

Lisianthus said goodbye for a while.

~*~

It was as if she had been freed just by running away from the traps there were for her. There were many things she had not done yet, and there were many things she wanted to do in the future. So Lathyrus didn’t want to die.

‘Lisianthus kept me alive because of the promise I made to him.’

~pls read only at pinkmuffintl~

She had to keep that promise to give him fun. Otherwise, he will let her be killed by another dragon. Even worse, he could have killed Lathyrus himself.

Lathyrus thanked Lisianthus, and she didn’t hate him. The fact that he was surprisingly generous whenever he was cocky made it clear that he didn’t treat humans as worms as she thought he would.

But she was still afraid. The reason Lathyrus was deliberately more violent towards him was because she felt that he had to have fun with her. But she didn’t know what to do to make him have fun.

So it was more difficult. She didn’t know how long the dragons fight for each other’s companions would last, but until then, she must never let him go.

But she didn’t know what to do to make sure he didn’t leave or kill himself…

‘Let’s make money first.’

Even considering both the distant future and the present, what was urgently needed right now was money. Fortunately, a small flower blooming on the cliff gave Lathyrus a great piece of advice. And Lathyrus decided to take the advice of the flower.

“Thank you so much. When Lisian comes back later…”

When it was about time to say thanks to the flower for giving her advice, the gentle wind suddenly became strong.

It was a familiar feeling now.

Lathyrus stood up when she saw the black dragon flying in the distance. As Lisianthus drew nearer, the gust of wind grew stronger, and by the time she covered her eyes with her arm, the wind stopped. As she slowly removed the arm that was protecting her eyes, Lisianthus, who returned to his human form, was standing right in front of her.

Seeing his dry expression mixed with a spoonful of annoyance made her hesitate. But Lathyrus quickly smiled and ran to him.

Of course, she approached him and stopped awkwardly.

“You’re back!”

“Because I promised.”

He raised the corners of his mouth up and shrugged his shoulders.

“Unlike humans, I don’t lie.”

Fortunately, Lisianthus didn’t seem to have any intention of abandoning her yet.

“Oh right.”

“…What?”

“Didn’t the little girl say she was going to think of a way to make money?”

As a child, there was no way she could come up with such a method. Now, Lisianthus’ question was very much intended to tease Lathyrus. But knowing that, Lathyrus smiled brightly and nodded her head.

“Yes!”

Lisianthus put on a rather surprised expression at the unexpectedly strong answer.

“I will sell flowers!”

Lathyrus said proudly.

“Where are you going to grow flowers?”

“After all, flowers bloom in nature. Lisianthus is fast, so if you go and collect flowers…”

“What about wrapping paper or vases?”

“Uh…that…”

“Are there any other carts that can carry many flowers?”

“You can make it!”

“In what way?”

“That’s right. Lisian…”

Lisianthus’ expression worsened at once.

“How are you going to move that cart?”

“That’s also Lisian’s job…”

“This clever kid, really…”

It seemed difficult no matter what she did to get help from Lisianthus. In the end, Lathyrus gave an answer after much consideration.

“I got an idea!”

“What is it this time?”

“I’ll steal a cart!”

“…”

Lisianthus shook his head silently.

He thought she was a good child.