Yesterday was a day filled with an incredible array of events.
To summarize briefly:
The Princess, who had been kidnapped and imprisoned, returned after brainwashing the Demon King, leading to the Demon King’s asylum request, which was dismissed as nonsense and resulted in their imprisonment.
That was roughly the gist of it.
As a result of my relentless insistence, Void was charged with the murder of royalty, yet simultaneously, her asylum application would now be considered favorably.
All of this stemmed from the dragons’ severe overconfidence.
It was an overconfidence born from their immense pride, the belief that they could resolve anything themselves.
Rising, I clucked my tongue and shook my head a couple of times.
Then, from beside me, a soft chuckle reached my ears.
“Mino, what are you doing?”
It was Mom, rubbing her eyes, her hair disheveled.
Truly, every time I see her, I’m struck by how beautiful Mom is.
“Mom, you’re so pretty!”
“Really? Isn’t it just because I’m the only woman Mino has ever truly seen?”
“No! Mom is much prettier than the Elders!”
Mom was 1,200 years old, so comparing her to those grandmothers felt a bit strange, but they were the only beautiful dragons I had ever seen.
From my perspective, it was the ultimate compliment.
Mom, perhaps understanding my sincerity, beamed brightly and genuinely delighted in my words.
“Thank you~”
“Hehe.”
I wished I could stay nestled in Mom’s arms all day.
Yet, I knew full well that I couldn’t; after all, I was a respectable adult of thirty.
I had heard that dragons consume a vast amount of magic when conceiving and giving birth to a child.
And Mom, having given birth to someone as strange as me, must have endured so much.
I opened the status window to check Mom’s stats, but as expected, she hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Therefore, I needed to let her rest.
“Mom! I’m going to go see Void today! I don’t think she ate yesterday.”
“…Are you going to that child again?”
“Yes!”
Mom’s expression clouded over for a moment.
“…Alright, since she seems to be fond of my daughter.”
“Haa… To think someone has appeared whom you like more than your own mother.”
She then mumbled to herself before weakly lying back down on the bed.
“Go on. Mom’s tired~”
Having driven a nail into Mom’s heart with my terrible actions yesterday, her words now pierced me like a dagger.
There was no helping it.
Though it was something I wouldn’t normally do, Mom was struggling, so I had to resort to my last option.
“M-Mino loves Mom the most in the whole world!”
“U-Uh?!”
“I wuv you!!”
Saying so, I formed a heart with my hands and ‘threw’ it to Mom.
My face felt hot and flushed.
‘Endure it, Han Mino (TL Note: Mino’s full name, used here for self-admonishment), this is your karma for being such an unfilial child.’
“Kyaaa~~~”
Mom, regaining her energy, waved her hand at me.
“Then, then Mom is the best, right?!”
“Yesh!”
“Good~ Have fun, my daughter!”
“Yesh!”
With Mom’s permission secured,
no one in this castle could stop me any longer.
This was the taste of power.
After all, Dad lives and dies by Mom’s word, except when it comes to work.
To be such a devoted lover yet still clearly distinguish between public and private matters was truly admirable.
In any case, I began scurrying down the enormous castle corridor.
Running always made me feel good.
Perhaps it was because I had so futilely lost my legs in my previous life, but I found myself strangely compelled to run.
“Run, my two legs!”
“Shoooooom!”
“-Oh my, how adorable.”
“-Kya~”
“-Your Royal Highness~!”
“-Wow.”
Everyone sounded as if they were dying of delight.
“Run, run!”
****
The underground dungeon.
Inside the cold iron bars, Void savored a piece of stale bread and cold soup on a bed of straw, as if it were a delicious meal.
Then, someone slowly tramped into the dungeon.
“…This soup here, it’s tasty.”
“It seems you couldn’t even eat properly in the Demon Realm.
How pitiful, a poor young thing.”
“W-What are you saying?!”
Despite her efforts to compliment him upon seeing his face, Hader, standing before her, looked at Void with pity and provoked her.
Of course, Hader wasn’t trying to provoke her; he was merely expressing his genuine impression.
‘O-Oh, I complimented him because I was grateful for yesterday, but he’s just picking a fight…’
Void’s face flushed crimson as she gulped down the soup in one go.
“Are you very hungry?”
“I don’t know!”
What exactly was that feeling Void had experienced yesterday?
The more she thought about it, the hotter Void’s face grew.
“Haa… I should have just stayed in the Demon Realm.”
“Don’t go back.”
Hader said so in a low voice.
“Because you are a precious existence to me.”
‘Where do you think you’re going to run off to, my toy?’
“I will be on your side.”
‘Until you become a citizen.
After that, let’s have a proper brawl.’
Though the words held entirely different meanings, Void, upon hearing them, had already buried her head in the straw and showed no intention of looking up.
‘What is this, what is this, what is this, what is this, what is this, what is this?’
Thinking thus, Void’s face turned as red as the leftover bread that had burst in her hand moments ago.
Hader’s impression upon seeing this was:
‘As expected, she’s interesting.’
It was very short, yet profound.
****
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
“Shoooooom.”
Perhaps it was because my body had become younger, but if I didn’t say ‘shoooom’ while running, something felt missing.
Not saying it made me feel more uneasy than I expected, so I decided to just keep doing it.
‘Mino, do you need to poop?’
‘N-No.’
‘Then why are you running around as if you’re anxious?’
I had even heard remarks like that yesterday.
To hear such a thing from Mom, despite being thirty years old, was quite shocking.
Thus, if I was going to run around nervously like a child who needed to relieve themselves, I might as well just say ‘shoooom’.
‘…This was less embarrassing, after all.’
As I continued running, in any case,
“Shoooooom… *Cough*!!”
I collided with someone’s knee.
“Oh dear, Your Royal Highness.
Are you alright?”
“Uwaaa…”
It was Nameless Grandpa.
Void had told me his name last time.
It was Ha… Ha-something or other.
“I-I’m f-fine!”
“That’s good then.”
‘That was a lie, it hurt like hell.’
“-Trickle.”
“…Huh?”
“Oops.”
Blood trickled down from my nose.
‘D-Did I get hit a little too hard?’
As bewilderment washed over me,
“*Sniffle*.”
“…Your Royal Highness?”
“*Waaah!*”
Tears erupted.
‘Damn this body; I’m too young to hold back tears.’
“I-Immediately, a healing spell.”
“…*Sniff*.”
“-*Whoosh!*”
As a green light enveloped my nose, the bleeding stopped instantly.
‘My nose, it’s not crushed, is it?
No, it can’t be; I don’t want my favorite appearance to be ruined!’
“M-My nose, is it not crushed?”
“Hmm, it’s crushed alright.”
“…Huh?”
“Really?!”
“N-No, it can’t be?!”
A wave of despair instantly engulfed me.
‘Damn it, a Princess who’s ugly!
My marriage prospects are ruined.
I won’t even be able to get affection from the Elder grandmothers and grandfathers now!’
“W-What do I do…”
“*Pfft*.”
“……Huh?”
“Just kidding.”
“?”
“It was a lie, Your Royal Highness.”
‘This crazy old man?’
“I hate you, Grandpa!!!”
“Watch your step on the stairs.”
“Yes!!”
“Good girl.”
“I still hate you!!”
Expressing my full resentment towards the grandpa, I descended into the dungeon.
****
‘Our Royal Highness is simply too cute.’
‘It’s no wonder Void kidnapped her.’
‘When teased, she puffs up her soft-looking cheeks and cries, which is incredibly adorable.’
‘Void probably teased her quite a bit too; if they actually live together, there’ll likely be many interesting things happening.’
‘…Perhaps I should prepare a jester’s outfit.’
‘As long as Void isn’t sentenced to death in her trial, she can certainly seek asylum here.’
Lost in such thoughts, he ascended the stairs with light steps.
Emerging from the dark, cold underground, he ascended back to the sun-drenched surface, where he spread his wings wide, basking in the warm sunlight.
“Elder!!!”
“What is it?”
From a distance, a soldier with whom he was quite friendly came running towards him.
“*Gasp, gasp*.”
“So, has something amusing happened?”
“N-No! It’s serious! You were just playing around, weren’t you?”
“Indeed.”
He didn’t bother to make excuses.
The fact that he dumped all his responsibilities on Anuket Mizuumi and went off to play was already well-known throughout the castle.
“Th-The Hero and the Grand Mage’s disciple have requested asylum!!”
“…What?”
His expression involuntarily crumpled.
“Th-They suddenly appeared before the guards at the castle gate this morning, requesting a-asylum.”
He couldn’t quite make out what the soldier was saying.
“The King and the other Elders are currently in a meeting, so you are the only one available to deal with them!”
“The Hero has become even stronger! What on earth did those filthy humans do?”
“I’m telling you, they definitely used some dirty trick!”
Feeling his anger rise to the top of his head, he glared at the soldier.
He trembled with a sense of betrayal.
He looked at the soldier with an expression that screamed, ‘How could you lie to me?’, yet the soldier impudently continued to pull his arm, urging him to hurry.
“…I had trusted you.”
“Pardon?”
“I had trusted you, yet how could you tell a falsehood to me? You, to me?”
“This is no time for jokes!!”
“Isn’t this quite amusing?
Let us make haste!”
He decided to scold him for lying later.
‘Those brats, the Hero and the Grand Mage’s disciple?’
‘They should have come to fetch me earlier.’
Feeling his heart pound, he quickly made his way to the castle’s main gate.
****
“Step back at once!!!”
The dragons were fiercely wary of them, pushing them back outside the castle gate.
Wielding spears and swords.
“H-Hero, let’s retreat for now.”
“Y-Yes!”
It was madness to confront so many dragons.
Even the Mage, who claimed dragons had weakened, was acting like this, proving it was true.
“Allow us to meet the King!!”
“You humans are shameless! What trickery is this?”
The Mage diligently explained the situation, but the dragons responded as if to say, ‘How could we possibly believe such nonsense from you?’
“…You said they would definitely accept us.”
“I-I thought so too, but this is beyond my imagination.”
Just then.
“-*CRASH!!!!*”
Before their eyes, an enormous black dragon revealed itself.
“M-Mineral Dragon?!”
The Mage’s eyes widened in astonishment.
‘I-Is he that amazing?
All dragons are like that anyway, aren’t they?’
Amidst the bewildering situation, the dragon became enveloped in resplendent mana, and its form began to shift.
“-*Flap*.”
With black wings, gleaming horns, and a white suit, a rather handsome man smiled and greeted them.
“My apologies.
Her Royal Highness was kidnapped recently, so the children are a bit sensitive, you see.”
It was a smile that seemed to regard them as mere insects.
“Enter.
You know what will happen if you try anything foolish, don’t you?
Though I doubt you even could.”
The very embodiment of the dragon I had imagined had just descended to the ground.
“L-Let’s go in for now.”
“Y-Yes!”
At least for now, it seemed asylum was possible.
