Chapter 38

"This is shit..."

A soft curse escaped his red lips. Then his long white fingers came together and snapped with a sharp sound.

The result of this simple action was anything but simple.

Splat!

With a sound like a giant water balloon bursting, the magical beast shattered into pieces.

The magical beast's remains, torn into thousands of pieces, scattered like powder.

"Hmm."

Even that soon vanished without a trace at the dragon's slight gesture.

Having finished cleaning up, Asad jumped down from the tree.

Landing lightly on the ground, he approached the fallen human.

Boom!

Red fireworks burst in the sky behind the dragon's back. Though the sound was loud enough to demand attention, his golden eyes never left the human.

"What an unbearable sight."

Though they had survived thanks to his intervention, that was all.

Their original appearance, which had been somewhat decently arranged, could no longer be found. The human's blood-covered body was worse than rags. Only occasional faint groans indicated they were still alive.

"..."

Asad looked down at the human blankly.

Earlier, Asad had resolved to make the human regret not running away and staying here. This was only the beginning. This human would experience much more pain than this in the future.

Because that was what he wanted.

This wasn't strange at all. The gods loved dragons so much that they made everything possible according to dragons' wishes.

The only strange thing in this situation was... Asad's own heart.

He had certainly seen what he had wished for. Yet why wasn't it enjoyable at all?

"Well, it wasn't fun."

Thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be because of the human's reactions falling short of expectations.

Because the human didn't cry and run away.

Because they didn't beg others for help, making his borrowing the guard's appearance pointless.

Because the human acted as if they didn't know despair until the end.

That's why he wasn't feeling particularly pleased.

Asad lightly stepped on the fallen human's shoulder. The human showed no reaction, as if they couldn't feel pain.

"You'd better be more entertaining. If you want to live longer, that is."

* * *

"Wh-what!"

Jet, who had been enjoying a rare moment of leisure, dropped his teacup in shock.

"Who are you!"

"Who else?"

"L-Lord Asad?"

Though startled by the unfamiliar face at first, Jet soon realized only the dragon could appear so suddenly inside the dragon's palace and lowered his guard as he approached.

"No, why are you in that form? And what is that?"

Jet asked curiously.

The dragon's appearance as a winged tribe boy was strange enough, but what floated in the air bothered him more.

'A corpse... it must be a corpse?'

That blood-covered thing could only be seen as a violently killed corpse. Though Jet felt nauseous enough to want to vomit up the tea he had just drunk, he endured. If he didn't, he might become that corpse himself.

'Though Lord Asad is eccentric, he didn't have a hobby of carrying around corpses. Could he have developed a new hobby?'

Jet's suspicion was reasonable because Asad acted much more strangely than previous dragons.

Just then, Asad's body was enveloped in light. When the light disappeared, he had returned to his handsome form with silver hair.

"Can't you tell by looking? It's a bride candidate."

"Well, that's... What?!"

Only then did Jet look carefully at the blood-covered figure he had thought was a corpse. He had deliberately avoided looking because it made him feel sick, but looking closely now, he could see black hair.

There was only one bride candidate with black hair.

Jet's face turned pale.

"D-did you kill them?!"

"I didn't kill them. Rather, I saved them when they were about to die from the magical beast."

It was true that he had worked to prevent them from dying by the magical beast. Of course, what they had suffered before nearly dying was also because of him.

Barely listening to Asad's words, Jet pulled Kinaine down from the air and laid them on the sofa.

"Their condition is very bad. We need to treat them quickly. Lord Asad, your magic..."

Dragon magic could quickly heal even severe wounds.

However, Asad, who actually needed to move, just stood with his arms crossed in silence. The meaning of this action was clear.

"...Lord Asad."

After a moment of silence, Jet spoke.

"I definitely gave them an orb, I wonder why they didn't use it?"

Though it took the form of a question, his expression showed he had already concluded internally that it was Asad's doing.

Whether Jet misunderstood or not, Asad shrugged.

"Who knows. Maybe they were too stupid to think of using it."

"..."

"Anyway, I'm not in the mood to heal the human right now. And since this is my space, send them back to their assigned palace."

Jet knew that old palace would not be good at all for recovering from injuries. Asad knew this too and was still ordering them sent there.

Similarly, no matter how long they stayed here, the dragon who hated humans would never use magic to heal them.

"Ah, and they caught the 10-point magical beast."

"What?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"N-no, not at all."

Jet quickly answered before the dragon could become irritated.

"Then they're in first place."

If they had caught the highest-scoring 10-point magical beast, first place was already determined. Even catching all the remaining magical beasts wouldn't exceed 10 points.

"Let's say that."

Though a human had taken first place in the selection test, the dragon nodded without seeming particularly resistant.

'Of course. Since you arranged it yourself.'

Though Jet hadn't seen it directly, he could guess how things had played out.

How could a human defeat a magical beast alone with only poor weapons? It would be impossible unless the dragon had intervened.

The dragon had no intention of either eliminating them and expelling them from the dragon's palace, or killing them quickly.

'You plan to keep tormenting them like this. Until they're nearly dead...'

Jet looked down at the human who looked no different from a corpse. How long had it been since they entered the dragon's palace, yet this was already the second time he had seen them battered like this. Their condition now was much worse than when they had been made to kneel outside for days.

It would probably get even worse from now on.

This human had probably come here seeking gold and treasures, but all they would end up getting was terrible pain.

'If only they had never met in the first place.'

But what meaning could his sympathy have?

Of course, he could try persuading the dragon again to heal the human using his authority as the closest aide, but he wasn't attached enough to the human to risk the dragon's anger.

Jet called servants and ordered them to move the human to their assigned palace.

"Move the bride candidate."

The summoned servants were shocked at the human's miserable state but, seeing the dragon standing behind them, carried out the order while trying to act normal.

Unexpectedly, Asad didn't leave but followed them to the human's palace.

"L-Lord Nine!"

Upon returning to the separate palace, the winged tribe servant rushed out in shock.

"Wh-what happened? Why is Lord Nine...?"

The servant who had been demanding answers fell silent with a start upon meeting Asad's eyes behind them.

Asad indifferently shifted his gaze to examine the palace.

Though he had assigned this place to the human himself, this was his first time seeing it directly.

'It's cramped.'

It was so small it was embarrassing to call it a palace.

Though it seemed somewhat tidied up, inadequate aspects like the worn floor and broken windows caught his eye.

Jet also couldn't hide his surprise at seeing the palace interior for the first time. Had such a shabby space existed in the dragon's territory? His nose twitching at the moldy smell, Jet tried to maintain a serious expression as he asked:

"They were severely injured during the first test... where can we lay them down?"

"Th-there's a bed on the second floor!"

When they laid them on the bed, the sheets became soaked with blood.

"Lord Asad. May I call a doctor to tend to the bride candidate?"

Jet asked. If the dragon wished it, the human would be abandoned here without even a doctor.

The winged tribe servant seemed to know this too, looking desperately at Asad.

Asad answered with an indifferent expression unbefitting someone holding a person's life in their hands.

"Call one. They need to stay alive."

Though Jet thought dying now might be mercy for the human, he judged his own thoughts meaningless and followed the instruction.

Soon after, a scaled tribe doctor appeared with a flustered face.

"This is my first time examining a human..."

"Do what you can."

At Jet's words, the doctor diagnosed the human while secretly glancing at the dragon standing behind.

'My, it's remarkable they're still alive.'

Their energy channels were extremely weak. It looked like they were forcibly holding onto a dying life.

'With injuries this deep, it's natural. Tsk tsk...'

"The injuries are deep and will require surgery. They must be in severe pain, so I'll prescribe painkillers first."

"Um...!"

The winged tribe servant, who had been hesitating at the doctor's words, finally spoke up.

"I don't think you should do that. Actually... they already took painkillers this morning."

"What did they take?"

At the doctor's question, the winged tribe servant hesitated before bringing out a small bottle from somewhere. The doctor's eyes widened as he examined the medicine inside.

"This is..."