Chapter 132

The smile that had lingered on Shinsurial's lips slowly disappeared.

"...I thought Lord Asad had no intention of taking a human as your bride."

"Of course, I still dislike humans. But before being a human, he is the winged tribe's bride candidate."

"..."

"Isn't it the winner of the selection who becomes my bride, regardless of who it is?"

Asad said. Therefore, the selection wasn't over yet, and he needed to go find the bride candidate.

It was an excuse to himself rather than to Shinsurial.

Becoming full-grown was certainly what he had wanted. A mere human couldn't possibly be more important than becoming full-grown. Yet Asad was deliberately choosing to take the slower path when he could go faster. All because a mere human wasn't by his side.

He wasn't unaware that he was acting in a way he himself couldn't understand. But even so, he couldn't give up.

Nine needed to be by his side.

"...That human isn't qualified to participate in the selection. Not only did he voluntarily give up his bride candidate qualification, but as I told you, he's a black mage who massacred his own kind. Have you forgotten?"

Asad smirked.

"Well, did he say he was giving up? I don't remember. As you know, my memory comes and goes."

"..."

"And I don't care whether he killed a hundred humans or a thousand."

If the human had simpered, "Lord Asad, I like seeing humans die and want to kill ten a day," he would have laughed and gladly let him do so.

If Asad was angry, it was because the human hadn't said such things.

If he had wanted more jewels, Asad would have given them; if he had asked for all humans to be killed, Asad would have killed them.

But he had run away as if he wanted nothing from him.

The moment he recalled the absence of someone who should naturally be by his side, Asad felt the demonic energy within him stirring again, despite his uncharacteristic efforts to stay calm.

Violent fantasies flickered before his eyes.

'Not now.'

Asad shook his head.

'Not now.'

The moment a dark light swirled in his golden eyes, there was a cracking sound and the thick smell of blood spread. Shinsurial let out a painful scream.

"Is that all you have to say?"

Asad, who had severed Shinsurial's right arm in an instant, moved his magical energy to cut off the other arm as well. Despite the other being someone who could be called his benefactor, his attitude was emotionless and merciless, as if cutting branches from a tree.

Shinsurial, who had a stronger obsession with dragons than anyone, surely already knew that dragons were such beings by nature. So rather than trying to gain sympathy with old stories, Shinsurial brought up something else.

"I heard that human's eyes were blinded by demonic energy..."

Indeed, the movement of magical energy, which had been ferocious as if about to dismember him, stopped. Shinsurial continued, swallowing his groans.

"If I die, that human will never be able to see again."

"Well, if you die, won't another purification ability user emerge? When a great spirit dies, another great spirit is born, right?"

Shinsurial made a small sound that could have been either a groan or a laugh.

"This isn't a great spirit's ability. This power is something I honed over a very long time. For my old friend, Lady Maira."

Maira. Asad thought the name was quite familiar. Meanwhile, Shinsurial's faint muttering continued.

"Lady Maira was the most perfect dragon. She just made a small mistake. The mistake of taking the wrong mate. ...I'm helping Lord Asad avoid experiencing the same thing."

Asad had little interest in Shinsurial's story. However, if Shinsurial wasn't lying, he would have to keep him alive, though it was annoying.

By the time Shinsurial regained his purification ability, the human would also be back by his side. He had no intention of letting him live as a blind person forever. The disposal of this self-willed madman could wait until after the human's eyes were healed.

Having made his decision, Asad left the bedroom, leaving the groaning Shinsurial behind.

Outside the bedroom stood Targan. Despite hearing the screams from inside, Targan showed no particular reaction. At least not outwardly.

"Confine and watch him. Make sure he doesn't do anything foolish."

"Yes, Lord Asad."

Targan bowed deeply.

"I apologize. I didn't think he would dare attack Lord Asad."

All spirits cannot attack dragons. Targan must have let his guard down because he believed this, as did Asad himself.

"Shinsurial didn't attack me but acted under the pretext of helping me, and whatever tool he used wasn't harmful, so it wasn't considered an attack. Anyway, that's not what's important."

As Asad pointed his finger into the air, a white light formed a shape.

"Have you ever seen a ring that looks like this?"

Targan carefully examined the image of the ring Asad had created. It was a plain silver ring without any special features.

"...I'm not sure. Is it an important item?"

"Probably."

Asad furrowed his brow.

He remembered the voice he had heard in his dream again. He could have ignored it and departed for the human realm, but an instinctive feeling that he shouldn't do so stopped his steps.

It was certainly not an ordinary dream.

"I'm sure I've seen that ring somewhere..."

Asad wasn't particularly good at remembering people, let alone accessories. Yet the familiar feeling in his mind suggested he had definitely seen such a thing recently.

Though he thought such an item couldn't possibly be there, he first searched his treasure vault. But there was no particular gain. All the rings in the treasure vault had brilliant jewels embedded in them. There was no plain silver ring without any jewels.

Then where on earth had he seen it?

Asad pressed his brow firmly. As time passed, he grew increasingly anxious and uneasy. Asad didn't know whether it was because he couldn't find the ring, or because the time to fetch the human kept being delayed.

Wouldn't it be better to just go to the human realm first and bring the human back?

What if something happened to the human while I was gone? I can look for the ring afterward.

Yes, that's what I should do.

Just as Asad was about to head for the bridge to the human realm, trying to shake off his lingering attachment to the ring.

A familiar face appeared at the end of the corridor.

It was Jet, hurrying somewhere.

Asad was going to ignore him and continue on his way.

But suddenly he had a strange feeling. To confirm this feeling, Asad moved in front of Jet.

"Gasp! You startled me!"

Surprised by Asad's sudden appearance, Jet nearly fell backward.

"Lord Asad! I heard from Targan that you had awakened and was looking for you. Are you alright?"

Having last seen Asad in his condition, Jet seemed especially worried and examined him from all angles to check for any abnormalities.

"Phew, fortunately no black scales are visible. It seems Lord Shinsurial's measures were helpful after all."

Asad stared at Jet without much response. Uncomfortable with the dragon's attention, which had always looked at him as if he were an object, Jet awkwardly rolled his eyes.

"Um, have you heard? The winner of the selection has been determined. They say Biche discovered and solved the cause of the disease circulating among the scaled tribe, which is quite remarkable, isn't it?"

"As you said before, I will prepare the wedding ceremony well so that Lord Asad doesn't have to worry about anything."

Jet quickly added, seemingly recalling what Asad had said previously.

'Don't bother me with things like the selection. When the bride is decided, prepare the wedding ceremony or whatever on your own.'

'But it's your only wedding ceremony, are you really sure?'

'As I've said many times, I don't care who becomes my bride. As long as they bear an heir, that's all. So handle everything yourself and just don't bother me.'

This should have satisfied Asad, Jet thought.

But Asad was still looking at him with an inscrutable expression.

Finally, unable to contain his fear, Jet asked.

"Lord Asad, why are you staring at me like that?"

"Stay still."

"..."

One second felt like an hour. Jet realized that receiving a dragon's attention was truly an unwelcome thing. Especially a dragon's eyes, which were difficult for someone with ordinary mental strength to face comfortably.

'That human is certainly not ordinary.'

Jet inwardly shook his head, newly recalling the human who had spoken his mind before such a dragon. Black mage or whatever, he truly had extraordinary courage.

Asad, who had been lost in thought while leaving Jet frozen, finally noticed where the uneasy feeling he had been experiencing originated from.

"The ring."

"What?"

"The ring I gave you, where did you put it?"

"A ring to me? From you, Lord Asad?"

Confused at first, Jet soon recalled what ring Asad was talking about.

"Do you mean that old ring you told me to throw away? The plain, old silver ring?"

The more he spoke, the more certain it became. Asad pressed Jet.

"Yes, where did you put it?"

"Well... you told me to throw it away, so I did."

"What?"

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Jet swallowed hard and answered.

"You called it trash. I threw it away that day."

Asad's face contorted like a demon's.

"Who called it trash?"

Jet couldn't answer, with all the hair on his body standing on end.

'He said so himself!'

Leaving Jet, who was barely suppressing his desire to flee in fear, Asad pressed his brow as if trying to contain his anger.

"Then."

"Yes?"

"Where can I find it?"

"Probably... the garbage dump...?"

"So where is that?!"

Under the sharp energy Asad was emitting, Jet, terrified, barely managed to explain the location of the garbage dump. Asad turned his back without listening further. Jet quickly called out to the departing Asad.

"Lord Asad, surely you're not going to look for that ring? Since it went to the garbage dump, it's probably turned to ashes by now!"

"..."

"Lord Asad! Are you listening?"

But Asad had already disappeared without answering.