One hour ago. After the Duke hurriedly left saying he needed to prepare for the Dragon’s visit, Jake couldn’t shake off his anxiety and paced around the room.
‘I was planning to rescue the hostage first before Klad came…. At this rate, the plan will fall apart.’
At the very least, he needed to know Neria’s whereabouts to make it easier to persuade Klad to move together with him. But the Duke wouldn’t easily tell even his son Ellen where Neria was until he had Klad in his hands. Not because he didn’t trust his son, but because if he carelessly let that slip and the Dragon happened to overhear it, all his plans would be ruined.
He needed to rescue Neria before Klad made a covenant, but Neria’s location could only be known after Klad made the covenant—it was a complicated situation. Even the chicken-or-egg question wouldn’t be this complicated. Haah….
‘Is there no other way?’
First, he needed to steal Klad away from the Duke’s clutches.
Klad wouldn’t easily trust someone who was part of the group that kidnapped his dear friend, but since that wasn’t a problem he could solve right now, he had to give up on it.
If he bought time to find the hostage and moved together with Klad, an opportunity to save everyone would arise. It was only because he was worried about the hostage’s life that he couldn’t move easily—if it was Klad, he would be able to easily find out Neria’s location.
‘The only place in the capital where a hostage can be hidden from the Dragon’s eyes is the Duke’s castle with the Dragon’s magic installed. If Klad’s magic can’t search inside the castle, I just need to search through the entire castle to find her. Or when the Duke is away, I could target the study and bedroom….’
Knock knock.
“Lord Ellen, the Duke is looking for you.”
“I’ll be ready right away.”
Time had already passed this much. In the end, he couldn’t make any preparations until meeting Klad from the past. Still, he couldn’t not go find the Duke either.
According to the Duke, Klad had already attempted to attack the Duke’s castle several times, and seemed to have reached the conclusion that he couldn’t rescue both his dear friend the Green Dragon and his daughter while keeping them alive.
For Klad to walk into the Duke’s castle on his own two feet meant he had come with resolve.
Resolve strong enough to immediately agree even if a covenant was demanded.
‘I need to interfere before the Duke advances the situation.’
Jake clutched his heart racing rapidly from tension and started walking.
“Where is Father?”
“He’s in his room.”
The Duke’s room…. It was the safest place in this Duke’s castle. Even if Dragon Klad ran wild, he could receive a certain degree of safety protection, and above all, he could avoid showing the sight of negotiating with a Dragon to others.
Seeing that there was no report of a guest in the room, the Duke must have secretly brought Klad into the castle. Well, of course—the rumor that he had succeeded in hunting and captured two Dragons would be far more glorious than the fact that he had kidnapped a Dragon family and threatened them to lure out another Dragon.
‘This works out better.’
If there were many people advising the Duke or viewing Jake’s actions suspiciously, it would become difficult to steal Klad away.
However, if things stayed as they were now, what Jake needed to do became simple.
Deceive the Duke.
‘I can do that much.’
The corridor that would normally be bustling with servants at this time was completely empty. Not only hiding Klad tightly in the room, but even emptying the corridor. It was clear how much the Duke wanted to hide Klad’s identity.
Still, being invited to the negotiation place with the Dragon meant the Duke acknowledged him. If so, he could do it.
Deceive the Duke and steal Klad away. Reaffirming his goal once more, Jake stood in front of the Duke’s room door.
Knock knock—
“Father. It’s Ellen.”
“Come in.”
When he opened the door and entered, the Duke, who had been sitting on a splendid chair enjoying tea and refreshments, welcomed Jake. And opposite him, the Duke’s guest was standing.
None other than… Klad from 750 years ago.
“……Klad?”
It was strange. From the moment he saw Klad’s back, the heart he had barely calmed down began to beat like crazy.
From nervousness? From worry about what was to come?
No, no. This was fear. Fear that he would be crushed to death by the enormous aura Dragon Klad was emitting.
At the suffocating sensation of his throat being squeezed, Jake unconsciously took a step back.
Thud.
But his back hit the closed door that was completely blocked. There was nowhere to run.
When Klad turned around after hearing Jake muttering, the fear grew even greater. In the past, Klad hadn’t hesitated to pour out murderous intent toward those West bastards. He was only enduring this much because his dear friend and his daughter were captured—otherwise, he would have blown up the entire castle long ago.
“You’re finally here, Ellen. Now, come over here quickly.”
The Duke greeted Jake calmly, as if unaffected by the pouring murderous intent.
‘If I show weakness here, all my efforts until now will be in vain.’
The Duke wasn’t someone who would understand and overlook his son trembling in fear just because the opponent was a Dragon. He could only gain trust by showing the appearance of overcoming this fear and standing up.
Jake lifted his head slightly and spoke as confidently as possible.
“Thank you for inviting me, Father.”
His voice was trembling, but this much was a pass.
The Duke was very proud, and Klad stared at Jake with a distorted face, raising his eyebrows. An expression that was extremely dissatisfied yet puzzled.
Jake was curious about the meaning of that expression, but ignored it. Now wasn’t the time to assign meaning to each of past Klad’s actions.
‘It’s not Klad. This person is not the Klad I know.’
Jake repeated it to himself several times as if brainwashing himself. If he didn’t do that, it seemed difficult to maintain composure at the fact that the face that was always affectionate was looking at him with murderous intent.
Jake pretended to appraise Klad while quickly checking his condition. Klad’s arms were fitted with an artifact made of thick metal.
‘A mana control artifact?’
Jake’s father enjoyed capturing and imprisoning those who defied him, and among them were swordsmen and mages skilled in handling mana. When they were locked in prison, they always had to wear artifacts like the one Klad had.
He didn’t think such a crude artifact could control even a Dragon’s mana. The Duke probably knew that fact too. He had clearly put on something ineffective just to show off that he had the Dragon in his grasp. Incidentally, he was probably trying to crush Klad’s pride. It was unpleasant treatment in many ways.
“Is this person the Dragon Father mentioned?”
“That’s right. I’d like to check his true form right away, but… I must endure.”
Whether displeased at being treated like an artwork pleasant to admire, Klad’s aura became a bit more fierce. Regardless, unlike Jake, the Duke was calm as if he couldn’t feel the murderous intent at all.
“We’re too small to handle two adult Dragons. Tsk. So we must wait. Do you understand my words, Ellen?”
“Yes.”
The Duke’s words that they couldn’t handle two Dragons so they’d wait for the two to become one was no different from saying he’d kill one of them. At the blatantly nerve-grating words, Klad glared at the Duke with eyes burning with rage.
“State what you want, West.”
Klad’s voice was filled with deep anger Jake had never heard in his life.
Jake eventually couldn’t endure and staggered. If not for the protection magic, he might have fainted already.
“Don’t test a Dragon’s patience. Do you think Dragons care about relationships like family or friends? I only came because it’s disgusting to see a creature who’s a Dragon being swayed by humans, but if you displease me one more time, I’ll tear you apart along with this castle.”
Jake, who knew the fact that Klad cherished his friend enough to make an unreasonable covenant, didn’t consider that threat sincere.
“Uuuum….”
But the Duke’s opinion seemed different. The Duke, who had been imposing, closed his mouth for a moment as if bothered by what was just said.
The Dragon’s nature known to humans wasn’t much different from what Klad had said, so he probably thought that if he carelessly displeased the other party, a breath attack would be unleashed.
Then there was only one choice the Duke could make in this situation. Before the Dragon couldn’t endure and exploded in anger, quickly achieve the original purpose.
The Duke would mention the covenant, saying he’d release Neria. Making a covenant that he ‘cannot attack the bloodline of the House of Duke West’ was only to secure his own safety, and since it wasn’t the kind of covenant that could bind the other party, he was cleverly planning to deceive Klad, saying wouldn’t they both be safe.
And Klad, while knowing how unreasonable that covenant was, would let himself be deceived by the Duke.
He had to stop it.
“What I want is….”
“Father.”
Jake cut off the Duke’s words and stepped forward in front of the Duke. Standing with his back to Klad who had been confronting the Duke, it looked as if he was protecting Klad from the Duke.
Cold sweat ran down his spine at the piercing gaze stabbing his back, but he pretended not to notice. And he spoke in the most confident voice he could muster.
“I want to have this Dragon.”
