Chapter 3

Nain was a bit taken aback when he returned from the Academy after a long time and saw shadows cast over everyone's faces. Their skin was completely dull, and their eyes were hazy and unfocused from lack of sleep.

With tired faces, they asked Nain, 'You didn't hear the voice?' and Nain nodded. It seemed she had gone easy on him since he was still a student. Or maybe she had forgotten about him since he was at the Academy. ...Anyway, Cheche was a merciful dragon.

'Should I go?'

'...Would you do that?'

No one tried to stop him. They all had dark circles under their eyes from suffering so much. Having returned to the imperial palace after a long time with his Academy graduation approaching, Nain ended up setting out to appease Cheche without even a moment's rest.

Separate from the annoyance, visiting Cheche wasn't entirely unpleasant. Though the journey was a bit arduous, once he actually faced Cheche, it was enjoyable.

In Cheche's lair, there were not only historic treasures but also pure and powerful magic stones that ordinary mages couldn't even glimpse. The treasure vault was as massive and splendid as the imperial one. Like all dragons, she had a habit of hoarding all sorts of treasures and ornaments. She couldn't resist anything that sparkled.

'I wonder what she'll give me today...'

Perhaps thinking of him as a pet human, Cheche would feed Nain until his belly was full whenever she saw him. Not only that, she would casually toss him precious artifacts as if they were common toys. If one were to mention that young Nain, not knowing any better, had played marbles with artifacts valuable enough to buy an entire ancient castle, that would say it all.

'If she's so bored to death, why doesn't she just come down to live in the village?'

Then he could visit her more often. But Cheche was appalled at the idea, saying it would look strange for a great transcendent being to live mixed among human villages. A dragon should properly live in high and treacherous places to maintain appearances. It was typical of a dragon who would be nothing without pretense.

It took a full half-day of walking to reach Cheche's lair even after arriving in the nearby province. Moreover, the path was treacherous, and teleportation magic couldn't even be used. After all, there was no one on this continent who could dare set coordinates within her domain and easily travel there by magic.

Humans of the distant past feared the existence of dragons. It was a time when war was rampant. Creatures that lived in treacherous rocky mountains or under the sea and could use powerful magic were unknown beings that humans hadn't conquered. Kings repeatedly made futile attempts to send soldiers to dragon lairs at all times to kill these transcendent beings. This was why Cheche was disgusted by anyone carrying a sword.

Because of that, not bringing even a single guard knight was one of the mistakes Nain made that day.

He was passing through a deserted alley alone. A black shadow writhed and crawled, reaching Nain's feet. The air vibrated minutely, and before he could notice, his ankle was grabbed by the shadow.

"...?"

He looked down at his feet in surprise. The large black hole that had opened was simply empty. Nain's arms flailed wildly in the air. At the same time, his body tilted.

'Ah.'

Nain was the only one among the royal family who couldn't properly handle magical power. Unlike other royals, he couldn't even sense the mana that was said to exist everywhere, and therefore had no ability to deal with such situations. That's why people sometimes called Nain a mutation of the royal family.

The ground beneath his feet gave way instantly. Tragically, even while falling, Nain had no idea what this hole was. Since it happened to be a path with no passersby, no one witnessed him disappearing.

Along with the sensation of his body being sucked into darkness, Nain lost consciousness.

* * *

His consciousness returned and faded repeatedly several times. Each time he opened his eyes, he had the illusion that the scenery had changed. Sometimes it looked like a pitch-black space, and sometimes he would see faint clusters of light in the distance before falling back asleep. He couldn't properly tell where on earth this place was.

He felt dazed all day as if fog had settled in his mind. He had no strength in his body at all, and all the air seemed to be pressing down on him tightly. Unable to properly distinguish objects, Nain realized that both his body and this place were not normal.

'This is bad.'

Even with all his effort, he couldn't move, and Nain instinctively knew it would be difficult to figure out this situation alone. At the end of his sense of crisis was only futility.

'Am I going to die like this?'

So futilely? Without achieving anything, really nothing at all...

To not lose even his increasingly dulling senses, Nain constantly thought and turned his mind whenever consciousness returned. He didn't stop thinking for even a moment. Yet he kept becoming dazed like someone who had inhaled a stupefying drug.

How much time had passed? With the feeling of someone touching him, Nain's eyelids twitched. The world he saw through half-opened eyes was completely hazy, like scenery reflected in a puddle on a cloudy day. And in the middle of that scenery, a gray shadow stood.

<...found.>

An incomprehensible language. It was the first sound.

'Who is it?'

Nain blinked several times.

Shadow. Fog. The man who appeared as a blurry silhouette that could be compared to such words was entirely colorless from head to toe.

Nain desperately reached out toward the man, squeezing out all the strength in his body. Or rather, he tried to, but unfortunately, all he managed was a slight twitch of his fingertips.

The man approached and sat beside him. Rough-textured fingers slowly brushed his cheek. At the ticklish sensation, Nain involuntarily flinched. The fingers that traced down his jawline finally reached his neck. He lightly wrapped both hands around Nain's neck.

At that moment, Nain desperately reached out toward the man, squeezing out all the strength in his body. And he barely managed to grab the man's sleeve. With his strengthless hand, that was all he could do. He had no strength to pull the sleeve hard or express something through gestures.

"..."

Please save me. Nain moved his lips though no sound came out. Then he felt the man's hands on his neck twitch. The fingers wrapped around his neck slowly pulled away. The body heat that had been clinging to his skin disappeared, making that spot feel even colder. Nain wanted to scream, thinking the man might leave like this, but his throat was already parched dry and couldn't produce any sound.

Fortunately, the man didn't abandon Nain. Instead, he slid his hands under Nain's torso as he lay there and sat him up in one motion. The strength he had barely squeezed out loosened, and the hand that had been gripping his sleeve also fell powerlessly to the floor.

The man supported the back of Nain's neck. And warmth rushed between his defenseless lips at once. Lukewarm water flowed in, moistening his parched throat. Nain frantically drank the water that trickled in little by little. He felt like he might live a bit. The warmth pulled away and pressed back repeatedly several times.

On the corner of his mouth, on his cheek, and again on his lips. They were very light bird kisses, like a bird pecking. The man even licked up the tears pooled at Nain's eyes without missing a single drop, as if they were water in a desert. The unhesitating actions, as if natural, flowed smoothly like water. Relief. Nain, whose entire mind was occupied with the thought that he had survived, didn't even feel that something was strange at that moment. He just weakly leaned against the warmth.

Nain, who had been blankly dazed, belatedly met the silver-gray eyes hidden in the fog.

"...!"

The eyes revealed as the black fog lifted were beautiful. The deep silver irises mysteriously rippled, as if the Milky Way had been planted in those pupils.

Long eyelashes and the silver eyes hidden beneath them, fierce and sharp eye shape, dark eyebrows... When looked at separately, they were clearly visible, but each time he shifted his gaze, he felt strangely unable to perceive them properly. Oddly, the overall shape of the face didn't properly register in his eyes.

'...Ah.'

Could this be a dream?

As if confirming Nain's thoughts, the scenery seemed to gradually approach closer. He felt like he would be swallowed by the blurry landscape. The world writhed. The ground and sky mixed as if swirling. In that brief moment, Nain despaired once again.

The man, who had been staring at him, chuckled.

<The journey is long. Sleep a bit.>

What are you saying?

The shadow-like man's palm covered Nain's eyes. As soon as his vision was blocked, his mind became hazy. It was just like... magic.

Nain's eyelids fluttered a few times before completely closing. A thin breath escaped as his head drooped heavily. With the final sensation of his limp body being lifted and draped somewhere, Nain closed his eyes.

Once again, his consciousness went dark.