Chapter 9

It was Kinaine's composed voice that snapped Kor out of his daze.

"When does the selection begin?"

"Huh? Ah... in a week."

"That's not long. We should prepare quickly."

"..."

"What do I need to prepare for the selection?"

Kor found himself becoming calm along with his companion's composure.

Indeed, a strange human. Come to think of it, this human hadn't changed expression even when he had threatened him. Normal humans would have been trembling.

Was he bold, or just good at hiding his emotions?

Either way, Kor thought he would have shown a similar reaction even if he had been shown a treasure vault full of gold.

"...First, a loyal servant. When the selection begins, bride candidates stay in the dragon's castle until the selection ends. You'll need a servant who will tend to your appearance, keep track of the situation around you, and be on your side at any time."

Though servants would be provided at the dragon's castle, they wouldn't be as loyal as one of their own kind.

"And?"

"You'll also need a guard. There have been bride candidates who lost their lives during the selection."

What was the easiest way to win a competition? It was to eliminate the competition.

"You'll need clothes and ornaments too. Maintaining appearance is important. That's also why you need a skilled servant. You can't let other candidates overshadow you."

Kor sighed.

"But... I have nothing I can give you."

There had never been a bride candidate in history who entered without servants, guards, or ornaments - just their bare self. It wouldn't be strange for the dragon to become angry, thinking they were being deceived.

It felt like facing the truth he had been forcibly ignoring until now.

"...I knew I was being unreasonable. Having been banished for 400 years, it was arrogant to think I could make a human into the dragon's bride."

The golden castle turned to ruins felt just like himself. Both had lost their past glory and become beings that existed in name only.

"That's enough."

"..."

"Go back if you want to. Though that won't be possible until the gate opens again in seven years."

"I'm not going back."

Kinaine answered without hesitation.

He couldn't go back in the first place. In seven years, he would no longer be of this world.

Of course, he wouldn't have gone back even if he could right now.

"Didn't we make a promise before coming here? That I would become the dragon's bride."

He had something he needed to do here.

"I have no intention of giving up, so Lord Kor shouldn't give up either."

"...You want to become the dragon's bride to break the black magic, don't you?"

Kinaine wasn't surprised. He knew he had given many hints.

"Yes. I'm going to break the petrification cast on Jinaks."

Having stayed in the human realm for a long time, Kor also knew about the atrocities committed by the black mage. However, he didn't know that the human before him was the one who had cast the black magic.

Kinaine had no intention of revealing everything. Kor had said they held the selection to prevent evil people from becoming the dragon's mate. If he learned he was the black mage, Kor would never put him forward as a bride candidate.

"It seems you must have a reason you can't give up either, Lord Kor."

"Yes. The tribe whose member is chosen as the dragon's bride receives the dragon's blessing. The winged tribe needs the dragon's blessing to regain its former honor."

Kor added with a sigh.

"But there's no way."

"Why is there no way?"

"What?"

"A servant, guard, and ornaments. We just need these three things?"

Kor nodded dazedly. Having those would at least qualify one to participate in the selection.

But the problem was that he didn't even have the ability to prepare those...

As if reading his mind, Kinaine said:

"Alright. I'll try to obtain those things."

* * *

Sisel, the central city of Solem.

Wearing a robe, Kinaine entered an elaborate building.

As soon as he stepped in, the smell of alcohol and strong perfume assaulted his nose. When he unconsciously frowned, a tall man nearby giggled.

"What's this, first time at the Gold Pot?"

On the man's head were ears of some animal, either dog or wolf.

'So this is the tailed tribe.'

Having received an explanation from Kor beforehand, he could recognize them easily.

It wasn't just the man. There were those with horns like the gatekeeper, and others with scales on their faces and necks.

The wonder at their appearances different from humans was short-lived. Kinaine realized that spirits were more similar to humans than he had thought.

"From your appearance, you don't look like you have money. Are you here looking for work?"

This was proof of that.

The man lingered around Kinaine, slowly swishing his tail. He twitched his nose.

"Sniff. You, you have quite a nice smell."

Since Kinaine was perfectly controlling his pheromones, he must have been talking about his natural scent.

The tailed tribe man tilted his head, seemingly puzzled himself.

"I can't sense any pheromones though, strange? You're a beta, right?"

"Go away."

"Ah, wait!"

However, the tailed tribe man wouldn't stop pestering Kinaine, following him around. It reminded him of the street animals that used to appear and follow him around when he was young.

Kinaine had always had a constitution that animals strangely followed well. Even ill-tempered horses that wouldn't listen to anyone, and stray dogs would become docile before Kinaine, surprising his friends.

'Are the tailed tribe closer to animals?'

Though the question occurred to him, there was nowhere to find an answer.

"Want to go upstairs with me? I usually don't do betas, but you seem okay."

When Kinaine ignored him, the tailed tribe man blocked his path. He reeked of strong alcohol.

Indeed. Even in this, they were exactly like humans except for appearance.

Even this place was the same.

Kinaine's gaze took in the lavishly decorated interior.

This place, the 'Gold Pot,' was the largest entertainment establishment in Solem. The intimidatingly luxurious interior and the pretentious customers in expensive clothes were similar to what Kinaine knew. Only the fact that the customers were spirits rather than humans was different.

"Hmm? Come upstairs with me. Someone like you came here to make money, right? I can give you that, you know? How much were you thinking? I'll give you double what you had in mind!"

Kinaine lightly avoided the tailed tribe man who was trying to naturally put an arm around his shoulders.

"Double isn't enough."

"What? You're quite greedy!"

"Yes. So..."

"Well, that's not bad either. How about triple then?"

Though he had told him to go away, the tailed tribe man seemed to like that aspect and clung even closer.

"Never mind."

"Here, I'll give you this too."

The tailed tribe man pulled out a small glass bottle and waved it demonstratively in front of him. The transparent liquid sloshed with his movements.

"What's this?"

"One drop of this and even a wooden block would writhe in pleasure. Aren't you curious? It's a new product, and I'll let you try it for free specially... hmm?"

Kinaine swallowed a sigh.

"Not interested."

"What? Then how much do you want? Hey! Where are you going! Don't go!"

Avoiding the clingy tailed tribe man, Kinaine strode down the stairs. Of course, the tailed tribe man followed behind.

"I said don't go... waagh!"

The man, drunk and descending the steep stairs, ended up falling flat.

Thanks to that, Kinaine could move alone without dealing with the drunk.

As he went underground, noisy sounds pierced his ears.

"Hahaha! I won!"

"This is cheating!"

"One more round!"

The basement of the Gold Pot was a gambling den.

To obtain a servant, guard, and ornaments, one thing was needed.

Money.

Though he wasn't particularly fond of gambling, this was the only way to get enough money to prepare everything within three days.

Though there were many games in the gambling den, Kinaine had already decided what to do and walked forward without hesitation.

"Damn it! If only I'd gotten this one right!"

"You can try again, sir."

"I have nothing left to bet!"

He stopped in front of a game board where someone had just lost and was lamenting.

"Then would you like to bet, sir?"

The employee running the game asked Kinaine with a smile.

"Yes, I'll bet."

In an instant, all eyes turned to Kinaine. The Gold Pot was a place where wealthy people came to spend money, and no one else was wearing worn clothes like Kinaine.

He looks like he has nothing, what could he possibly bet?

The employee thought the same, but being thoroughly trained, it didn't show on his face.

"How much would you like to bet?"

Kinaine pulled out a small pouch from his chest.

The observers' eyes widened. The pouch was full of gold tokens, the currency of Solem.

No way, did this guy sell everything he owned to come here?

Even the employee couldn't properly hide his expression this time and blinked rapidly.

"Uh... how much of this?"

Kinaine answered.

"All of it."