“…A dragon?”
The Duke found Jake’s reaction puzzling.
He was grateful that his son, who had been running around like a scoundrel, had come to his senses after seeing a dragon, but he didn’t know he had been this interested in dragons.
“What do you plan to do with a dragon?”
“I want to show the world that I can tame a dragon better than anyone else.”
“…Oho.”
“Won’t you entrust it to me, Father?”
Jake tried to make his gaze appear to burn with desire.
I’m interested in dragons. After seeing the Green Dragon recently, I’ve come to harbor the ambition of raising a dragon. As the heir to the House of Duke West, I won’t hesitate to fully unfold my ambitions.
He put strength in his eyes to appear as if he was thinking such thoughts and waited for the Duke’s reaction.
“Hmm.”
The Duke hesitated for a moment, but Jake noticed that it wasn’t wavering but rather deliberation.
“I permit it.”
As expected.
The Duke of this generation staked his life on the achievement of being ‘the Duke who raised a perfect heir’ above all else. For him, rather than gaining the glory of having tamed a dragon, he wanted to gain the glory of ‘having raised an heir brave and wise enough to tame a dragon.’
Others might not understand. However, the clearer the purpose, the more one wouldn’t hesitate to take actions others couldn’t understand for its sake—that was the characteristic of the West family bloodline.
“I’ll give you one week, Ellen. If you cannot accomplish what you desire within one week, you won’t get a second chance.”
“I understand.”
“Good, then the oath…”
“Father.”
Jake interrupted the Duke’s words once more and spoke in the most arrogant tone he knew.
“I said I would ‘tame’ it.”
Arrogant words that he could make even a dragon his own without something like an oath. At those words, the Duke forgot about being wary of the dragon and burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha, yes. That’s right. Good, Ellen. Very good!”
If his son’s changed attitude after meeting the dragon continued, it was a reaction as if he would bring him all the dragons in the world.
“Is there anything you need to make the dragon yours, Ellen? Tell me anything.”
“If I cannot even accomplish what I desire on my own and must receive Father’s help, it would be better not to start at all.”
“Yes, that’s how it should be. That’s what makes you a West!”
Crack.
He heard the sound of Klad grinding his teeth from behind.
Klad was an affectionate dragon who wouldn’t hesitate to be bound by an oath to save his friend, but he wasn’t thoughtless. If he provoked him further here, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to endure it and would twist the Duke’s neck.
Jake glanced at Klad and quickly continued speaking.
“However, it seems it will take some time to carry out our plan, so would you wait on the treatment of the other dragon until I’ve finished everything I’ve set as my goal?”
“Good! But I won’t be able to wait long. I look forward to it, Ellen.”
Jake left the Duke, who burst into hearty laughter, behind and came out into the corridor with Klad.
Thud.
“Haaa…”
It was fortunate the Duke had cleared the corridor. Otherwise, within a few minutes, it would have been reported to the Duke that Ellen West had collapsed as soon as he left the Duke’s room.
He didn’t know how many times he had collapsed on the floor since coming to this place.
“It will be difficult to even talk if we don’t leave this place. Let’s hurry, Klad.”
“……”
Surprisingly, Klad followed Jake without a single complaint. Even the murderous intent that had been constricting his breath until just moments ago had disappeared, making movement much easier.
It probably wasn’t gratitude for saving him from the Duke’s clutches. To Klad, this situation must feel like he had escaped from the Duke’s hands only to be thrown into the hands of worse trash.
The reason Klad, who could crush him with a single finger if he wanted to, wasn’t doing so was probably because he could sense his friend’s magic from him.
Before going to see the Duke, Jake had asked the Green Dragon Nordin to hide Klad’s magic emanating from the protective magic. If this world’s Klad felt his own magic from a human he was seeing for the first time, it was obvious he would be suspicious and wary.
However, Nordin explained that even dragons couldn’t completely erase the traces of another, and even if he covered Klad’s magic with his own, as long as the opponent was a dragon, they would see through it. Instead, saying temporary deception was possible, he covered his magic over the protective magic.
Thanks to that, Jake came to emit Nordin’s magic from his entire body. A human empty inside wrapped in dragon magic on the outside—it would be quite an incongruous sight, but because of this, Klad would be mistaken. That the West heir before his eyes had formed some kind of relationship with his friend.
‘I’m glad I took precautions in advance. Thanks to that, things will be easier.’
Though it would be difficult to completely persuade Klad, for the time being, he could at least propose that Klad wait without making an oath with the Duke. If he somehow brought Klad to his friend and proved he was an ally, they could join forces to rescue Nordin and his daughter.
“This is my room. Let’s talk for a moment…”
Bang—!
The moment he returned to the room and closed the door, Klad grabbed Jake’s shoulder and shoved him against the wall.
He felt simultaneous pain as if his back and shoulder would shatter.
“Huk…! Kuk, w-wait… It’s a misunder…”
“How did you know my name?”
“…!”
Jake, who had been about to ask for a chance to resolve the misunderstanding through conversation, widened his eyes at the unexpected question.
Come to think of it, he had no memory of being introduced to Klad.
‘What if the Duke heard me call Klad’s name?’
Rather than the fact that Klad was misunderstanding him, worry that the plan might go awry came first.
That would have been terrible.
Seeing Klad’s reaction, it seemed he hadn’t told the Duke his name either, but wasn’t it too suspicious to know the name of a dragon he’d never even met? Though he had pretended not to know anything and let it go, if the Duke found Jake suspicious, he might be preparing to dig into things while pretending to hand over the dragon obediently.
‘I made a mistake.’
In a situation where tension and fear were mixed, trying to act in a way that didn’t suit him… No, this wasn’t the time to make excuses. Fortunately, he had only called Klad’s name once in front of the Duke. Even that was a murmur, so he might not have heard it. He might not have thought it was a dragon’s name.
However, since he couldn’t feel at ease trusting only uncertain speculation, he had to move as quickly as possible.
“Kl-ad… Right now, first…”
“Ellen West. I’ve seen you before.”
Jake’s gaze looking at Klad wavered.
He didn’t want to hear Klad’s voice calling him by another name.
“Did you think a dragon would come rushing in without any plan, impatient with the thought of saving his friend? How much do you look down on dragons?”
The low voice descended quietly and pierced Jake’s ear.
Klad hadn’t followed him obediently because he felt his friend’s magic. He just wanted to create a situation where they were alone.
So he could break Jake’s neck whenever he wanted.
At the fear that pierced through the protective magic and flooded in, Jake forgot that he had to persuade Klad and move quickly, and turned pale, trembling. Klad watched that sight with cold eyes.
Before coming here, he had dug up all information related to the House of Duke West. It was difficult to see the Duke bastard directly since he was holed up in the ducal castle and wouldn’t come out, but it was easy to meet that son who escaped from the castle every other day.
Klad had met the heir Ellen West before.
So he could tell. This human before his eyes was not that Ellen West bastard.
“What’s your identity?”
“Kkeuk, huk… weak…”
When Jake suffered as if dying, only then remembering that humans were a fragile species that broke easily, Klad released the strength in his hand.
“…Keuk, cough…”
Whether this bastard was among the weak even among humans, he collapsed in agony even at an insignificant shock. However, with what guts, though terrified, he struggled to continue the conversation without giving up.
“Oath… The Duke is plan…ning to make… an oath.”
Though it wasn’t unexpected, when the word oath popped out of a West bastard’s mouth, he felt worse than he imagined.
“So? Are you planning to spout nonsense about making an oath with you rather than with that bastard?”
Jake looked up at Klad while exhaling ragged breaths.
I’m not an enemy. I know your friend too, and I came here to help you. Let’s rescue the dragon and his daughter together and escape from this place.
There were many things he had to say, but perhaps because he was terrified, those words wouldn’t come out.
Instead, Jake conveyed the words he truly wanted to say to Klad.
“Don’t make… something like an oath, Klad.”
“……”
Even if this world’s Klad didn’t make an oath, the oath the real Klad made wouldn’t disappear. The Klad before his eyes was merely a fragment in memory. He understood well that he wasn’t a real dragon.
But… even so, he couldn’t just stand by and watch Klad before his eyes choose a painful path.
He wanted to protect Klad.
“I’ll help you even without making such an oath.”
“What scheme is this?”
“There’s no scheme. I don’t have a reason like ‘I must help’ either.”
“Then?”
Jake barely got up, and with his bloodshot eyes, faced Klad directly.
And answered.
“Because I want to.”
In that moment, Jake’s blue eyes were shining more brightly than ever.
