Chapter 101

"Lord Asad, are... are you alright?"

"Can't you tell by looking?"

Asad replied irritably. But with his entire body red as a tomato, he wasn't even half as intimidating as usual. Though his manner of speaking suggested he had definitely returned to normal... Jet and Targan's gazes suddenly fixed on one spot. Asad was holding something in his arms.

"Look away."

"What?"

Asad didn't repeat himself. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from before them.

Jet and Targan exchanged glances at Asad's sudden disappearance without saying where he was going.

"...He seems to be back to normal?"

"It seems so."

Just then, Asad appeared before their eyes again. His skin was no longer red, but he was still completely naked. Walking proudly before them in that state, Asad tilted his head askew.

"Did you see?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked if you saw. His naked body."

Jet and Targan had been with Asad since he became this generation's dragon. That was unmistakably the face of someone who had decided to pluck out their eyes the moment they answered that they had seen.

The two spirits answered simultaneously.

"No."

"We didn't see."

It wasn't a lie—they really hadn't seen. Though they had seen Asad holding someone in his arms, the person had been half-submerged in water and mostly hidden by Asad's large frame.

However, one thing bothered Jet. He thought he had glimpsed black hair... but no, it couldn't be. That human couldn't be here.

"Well, fine. If you didn't see."

After saying this, Asad was enveloped in white light as if about to go somewhere again.

"No, you can't leave like this!"

Before the magic could complete, Jet quickly grabbed Asad's arm. Asad frowned and shook off the arm. His furrowed brow was fierce with displeasure.

"Why are you touching me so casually? Do you want to die?"

"Lord Asad, where are you trying to go? There are many matters that need to be resolved."

"..."

Though Asad looked at Jet irritably, he soon seemed to acknowledge the reason in his words and stood there with his arms crossed. When the light surrounding Asad's body disappeared, Jet stepped back in relief.

"First, I'm glad you're safe. We were truly worried you might not return this time."

"I was lucky."

No, was it really luck? Asad suddenly recalled those black eyes looking at him.

No, he's just a human. What could he have done? He would have died just from approaching the demonic energy. He probably hid somewhere and only appeared after Asad had returned to his original form.

Though something felt unsatisfactory about this explanation, having no other way to explain it, this was what Asad thought.

"We thought this would truly be the spirit realm's destruction, but thankfully not. Seeing that nothing happened even as time passed, the leaders must have guessed your demonization had stopped. I'll contact the dragon palace servants who requested protection in their territories."

"Fine."

Asad nodded. Now that they knew the dragon was well and no calamity would befall them, it was time for everyone to return to their normal routines.

"But... the timing of the demonization seemed too early. You had just received purification from Lord Shinsurial, so surely it wasn't time for demonic energy to go berserk yet."

"I find that strange too. What happened before I became demonized?"

"Don't you remember? At that time, Lord Asad, you had given Lord Nine the punishment of dancing."

"I remember that."

He suddenly felt regretful about not seeing the dance. But on the other hand, it was for the best. Somehow the thought of everyone watching Kinaine dance made him feel unpleasant. Indeed, given how things turned out, it was much better that no one had seen it.

"Lord Nine was seeking a sword to perform a sword dance, and Lady Prim's gift spirit beast transformed into a sword. Right after that, you became demonized, Lord Asad."

"Was there something about that spirit beast?"

"I'll look into it. Is the spirit beast still alive?"

"I don't know. You know memories are hazy after becoming a magical beast. Well, given the chaos, it probably ran away even if it survived."

"Then we should find the spirit beast first."

Jet swallowed a sigh at the increasing workload.

"I'll look into that and report back. Meanwhile, Lord Asad, please focus on taking a mate."

They couldn't continue this precarious tightrope walk forever. Especially not with the peace of the spirit realm at stake.

"You need to become full-grown and stabilize as soon as possible. Have you not found any bride candidates to your liking yet?"

As for brides to his liking, he could barely remember any of their faces.

Ah, except for one.

Asad recalled the black-haired human. He had left him lying on the bed—was he awake by now?

"Not particularly. We should discuss the details with the leaders. Now I'll..."

"Why do you keep trying to go somewhere?"

Suddenly seeming to realize something, Jet approached as if to stop Asad but then gasped and stepped back.

"W-wait a moment. Lord Asad, if your demonization has ended, won't your rut begin? Is it alright for you to be here like this?"

Jet couldn't hide his fear. Until now, every time Asad entered rut, he had caused bloodshed. Especially the rut that came after demonization—perhaps due to instability, even suppressants didn't work. So usually he would either confine himself somewhere or hunt magical beasts until the rut ended.

But why was he still here? As Jet wondered in confusion, the answer came.

"The rut ended long ago."

"What? What do you mean?"

Jet knew what Asad's condition was like after rut ended, having seen it many times. His current state looked too good for someone whose rut had ended.

"Why are you lying? You never used to lie."

"Why would I lie about something like that to you?"

Jet's eyes widened.

"You really finished your rut? But you look too well."

And there's no blood splattered anywhere, Jet swallowed the words.

"I resolved it differently this time."

Different method? Wasn't an omega the only way to resolve rut? But there couldn't be any omegas remaining in the dragon palace...

Suddenly Jet recalled the someone Asad had been holding in his arms.

That someone had black hair.

"Could it be Lord Nine?"

Asad merely shrugged. Jet couldn't mistake that as anything but confirmation.

That human was here? And had even coupled with Asad during rut?

Jet's expression darkened. Seeing this, Asad narrowed his eyes.

"Why such a sour face? Are you that unhappy I finished my rut well?"

"That's not it, Lord Asad. I was just thinking about how everyone will react to a human becoming the dragon's bride."

"Why would a human become my bride?"

"Well, you had relations during rut. Didn't you want an omega who could bear children as your bride?"

An alpha during rut had an extremely high chance of impregnating an omega. Especially for a dominant alpha, it went without saying.

"Ah, about that."

Asad snorted.

"Don't you remember? I've been taking medicine since before."

"Medicine? What... No way! You were really taking that?"

"As opposed to fake taking it? Anyway, there won't be any pregnancy. Do you think I would take a human as my bride?"

Previously, he would have answered absolutely not. But seeing Asad's recent behavior, it was difficult to use the word "absolutely."

'Fortunate or unfortunate, Lord Asad seems completely unaware that he's acting strangely.'

If so, there was no reason to make trouble. Jet felt no need to point out Asad's unusual attitude toward Kinaine and make him realize what he shouldn't.

Given Asad's personality, he might grow tired of the human and drive him away first if things continued this way.

That's what Jet thought.

"By the way, humans only live about 100 years, right?"

Until Asad spoke his next words.

"Isn't that too short?"

"...Didn't you say before that it was long? It doesn't seem like such an important matter. Rather..."

Jet tried to change the subject, but Asad seemed already fixated on this topic.

"What are you saying? 100 years isn't long. And that one seems particularly weak, so he might only live about 90 years."

"..."

"90 years..."

Asad grew even more serious at his own words.

"I'll have to look for a solution to this. Ah, how troublesome."

Who says "troublesome" while smiling like that?

Jet wanted to ask. Didn't you say until recently that you hoped humans would die quickly? If it's so troublesome, couldn't you just leave it be?

But fortunately, before Jet could fail to hold back these words, Asad vanished from sight again.