Chapter 30

Finally, the stopper sealing the jar's mouth was opened.

"..."

Jet's lips moved. At that moment, the softly glowing letters on the surface began to shine brilliantly.

For some reason, at that moment, Kinaine could read the letters that hadn't seemed visible from a distance.

It was a strange sensation. He could naturally understand the unfamiliar characters that belonged to no country as if he had always known them.

This jar... no, this magical tool had been created by a previous dragon named Maira.

<This genius magical tool was made by Lord Maira!>

...Since it stated this right from the start, it was impossible not to know.

The previous dragon Maira had made this magical tool so that anyone, not just dragons, could use it. Thanks to this, if one knew the spells written on the jar, they could seal magical beasts inside or release them again.

Kinaine felt doubtful.

'...But how am I understanding this?'

Looking at the other bride candidates, they were all either tense or excited, but no one showed confusion like him. It seemed he was indeed the only one who understood those letters.

Kinaine turned his head again to stare at the jar Jet was holding.

Though no one, not even himself, knew it, glowing letters were being inscribed in Kinaine's black eyes.

Kinaine continued reading.

'Four magical beasts are sealed here. Their names are...'

At that moment, black smoke rose from the jar's mouth. The smoke split into four streams and quickly scattered in different directions.

"Let's go!"

Just as the glowing letters disappeared from Kinaine's eyes, someone shouted. The surroundings became busy as several people moved at once. Since this test allowed help from guards, the guards the bride candidates had brought were moving together.

However, unlike the others, Kinaine stood rooted to the spot for a long while.

"Ugh..."

It was due to inexplicable dizziness.

Kinaine held his forehead and waited for the dizziness to pass.

'This again.'

Since he had frequently experienced such dizziness or nosebleeds recently, Kinaine didn't think much of it.

Hasan's body, which he had unwillingly come to possess, had long been worn down from using black magic. Black magic was a power that harmed not only others but also oneself.

Previously, Kinaine had thought Hasan became increasingly pale and gloomy because he rarely went outside and stayed cooped up in the palace, but now he realized it had all been because of black magic.

Though this body was holding up somewhat now because Kinaine had worked hard to build up physical strength and muscle, the internal damage was unavoidable.

When Kinaine came to his senses after the dizziness that felt as long as a day passed, there was already no one around.

"Ah, I'm late!"

Jet, standing on the dais, was giving him a look that said 'what are you doing there alone?'

Kinaine awkwardly approached the dais.

The wooden box that had been full of weapons was practically empty. The few remaining weapons all showed signs of age and looked shabby. It was understandable why others hadn't taken them.

Well, nothing could be done about it.

Who could he blame but himself for being late?

"Can I take all these remaining ones?"

"Yes. Since no one else will take them anyway."

"..."

Kinaine swallowed his bitterness while gathering the weapons. He acquired a wooden bow with a string that looked about to break, a quiver of arrows, a dagger with a loose blade, and a small shield that looked somewhat usable among these.

As Kinaine was gathering the weapons, Jet's voice came from above.

"Where is your guard? Surely they came with you?"

"Ah..."

To enter the dragon's palace, one absolutely needed at least one servant and one guard. Kinaine too had met the minimum requirements with one servant and one guard. The problem was that the guard hadn't shown his face since the first day.

When Kinaine couldn't answer and just smiled awkwardly, Jet clicked his tongue.

"Though Lord Asad gave an absurd... no, rather aggressive test, he allowed guards to participate for the bride candidates' safety. Lord Nine should use a guard too. Even the weakest magical beast would be difficult for bride candidates to handle."

Especially humans.

Jet swallowed those words, thinking they sounded too discriminatory.

But wasn't it true?

Spirits could handle energy specialized to each tribe. The horned tribe had fire, the scaled tribe had water, the tailed tribe had plants. Though they had lost their power due to the previous dragon's anger, the winged tribe had been able to handle wind.

However, humans were beings without any abilities or special characteristics. Moreover, being an omega, they wouldn't be familiar with combat either.

"Yes, thank you."

Kinaine answered. However, he showed no sign of intending to accept the advice and call his guard. Just seeing him equipping all the remaining weapons himself showed that this human intended to catch magical beasts alone.

What could he be thinking?

Jet observed Kinaine carefully.

Though he was quite perceptive, he couldn't read any emotions from Kinaine, which was strange. Surprisingly, the human showed no anger about being victimized by the dragon's unreasonable orders, nor fear or tension about suddenly having to face magical beasts.

How could that be?

If he hadn't personally seen Kinaine's dying state, he would have believed nothing had happened to him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Ahem, it's nothing."

Jet realized he had been staring too intently at the human and turned his head away in embarrassment. All he had discovered from looking was that this human wore too much makeup.

'This isn't to Lord Asad's taste either.'

With his sensitive nose, Asad naturally disliked the smell of powder too. Of course, even without makeup, this human would have no chance of pleasing Asad.

"...Anyway, if you find yourself in a dangerous situation, don't hesitate to break the orb."

It wasn't out of concern for this human. Rather, Jet hoped they would be eliminated quickly since their continued presence would surely make Asad uncomfortable. He just wanted to avoid the sacrilege of a bride candidate being torn apart by magical beasts within the dragon's palace.

"Yes. Thank you for your concern."

It's not concern!

Jet grumbled inwardly but outwardly nodded dignifiedly.

After finishing his equipment, Kinaine asked Jet:

"Where is the nearest body of water? Something the size of a river or lake?"

Though he didn't know why they were asking, Jet answered readily.

"Hmm, if you go straight behind that palace over there, you'll come to a forest with a large lake in the middle. That should be the closest."

"Thank you."

Jet watched Kinaine walk in the direction he had indicated. His leisurely pace didn't look like someone who had started late.

Had they already given up on the test? Well, that would make sense. If you can't win anyway, it might be better to give up quickly.

Jet clicked his tongue again.

'Come to think of it, though they definitely couldn't even get up before, how do they look so fine now?'

Was it really fake illness as Lord Asad had said?

Seeing how completely fine they looked, even Jet couldn't help but think so.

It must have been a ploy to try to gain Lord Asad's sympathy, but how unfortunate. They really don't know Lord Asad at all.

"Tsk tsk, our Lord Asad is a cruel dragon who doesn't even know what sympathy is."

"What did you say about me?"

"Heok!"

At the voice that appeared without warning, Jet jumped his own height.

"L-Lord Asad! How long have you been there?"

"For a while."

Asad was suddenly standing right beside him. If he had approached normally, Jet couldn't have missed it.

"Did you conceal yourself with magic?"

Though Asad didn't answer, Jet knew he had guessed correctly.

"Why would you go that far..."

Asad lightly ignored Jet's question and said only what he wanted to say.

"That one, are they trying to catch magical beasts alone?"

"Surely they wouldn't? They probably think they can't do it anyway and are going somewhere comfortable to rest."

However, unlike before, Jet's words lacked conviction. It was because he had been wrong before when speaking with such certainty.

'...Right? Surely they won't try to take on magical beasts alone. Not if they're not a fool.'