Chapter 16

Kor looked with displeasure at the boy who had interrupted him. However, the boy's gaze was fixed not on Kor but on the pouch of gold tokens he held. His face was like that of someone dying of thirst seeing water. Desperately yearning.

The boy extended his hand.

"W-we saved you, so give us our share!"

"What?"

"I mean give us the payment for that omega's life. If it weren't for us, he would have been dragged away by that tailed tribe guy, right?"

The boy asserted confidently. But contrary to his tone, his trembling gaze was clearly visible.

The twin girl standing beside him carefully pulled at his clothes.

"Rahu..."

"Ramu, look at those gold tokens. With that much, we could live without worry for months!"

Rahu's eyes were full of fierce determination. He quickly grabbed a wooden broom handle that had been propped against the wall and brandished it threateningly in the air.

"If, if you don't give it to us, we'll take it by force!"

"Hah."

Kor, who had been watching Rahu's actions, sighed.

"Huh?"

Rahu made a confused sound. A wind had blown through the room, sending the broom he had been holding flying backward.

"Wh-what!"

"What a disgrace to our tribe."

"H-how did you do that!"

"Don't tell me the winged tribe hasn't even learned wind techniques? To think there are such inadequate ones."

Kor clicked his tongue. Even if they weren't as proficient as himself, the leader, shouldn't anyone from the winged tribe be able to handle wind at least a little? Yet the twins before him were acting as if they had never seen wind techniques before.

"Wind techniques? This is wind techniques?"

Rahu muttered blankly.

Just then, Ramu blocked Rahu's path.

"Ramu!"

"Stay still, Rahu."

The girl's large eyes trembled like a candle flame in the wind as she looked at Kor.

"I thought it might be... Could you be... Lord Kor, the leader of the winged tribe?"

"You know me?"

"You're that Lord Kor?"

As the twins seemed to recognize him, Kor straightened his chest and nodded.

"Yes, that's right. I am Kor, leader of the winged tribe."

What Kor expected was a welcome for their returned leader. However...

"Because of you, you!"

"Rahu!"

Rahu charged forward with a shout. Though Ramu pulled him back by his clothes before he could reach Kor, the anger he had just shown was no ordinary matter.

Rahu's purple eyes blazed like flames.

"Because of you, the winged tribe was annihilated!"

"What?"

...What was this all about?

Kinaine could only watch the twins and Kor awkwardly, unable to even think of intervening.

"What are you talking about? Annihilated..."

"Do you really not know?"

Rahu's voice trembled.

"How could you not know what happens when the dragon becomes angry?"

"..."

"That day, those whose wings burned in the dragon's flames died in agony. Some were lucky enough to survive, but they ended up worse than dead."

His face was plastered with resentment and anger as he looked at Kor.

"See?"

Rahu turned around demonstratively. A pair of wings hung limply from the boy's shoulders.

Looking closely, it became clear. What had seemed like black wings were actually traces of contamination. Whether mold or stains, something covered the wings so completely that their original color couldn't be determined.

It wasn't just Rahu. His twin Ramu's wings were in the same condition.

"The winged tribe can no longer spread their wings. We can't fly anymore."

Only then did Kor realize why there had been no one in their territory in the canyon. The winged tribe could no longer climb up to their canyon home that reached as high as the clouds.

"The few who survived live as parasites in other tribes' lands. Begging every day! Do you understand now?"

"Rahu, calm down."

Ramu placed her hand on Rahu's shoulder. However, her hand was trembling as well.

Ramu looked at Kor.

"Lord Kor, you wouldn't have known because you were banished immediately. What happened to the winged tribe after 'that day.'"

400 years ago.

Kor had chosen a beautiful winged tribe omega as a bride candidate for the previous dragon.

Captivated by her beautiful appearance and gestures, the previous dragon had accepted her as his mate.

'My beloved mate. Speak your wish.'

Though it seemed like miraculous power to others, the gods who had gifted magic to dragons had placed certain restrictions to prevent this power from destroying the world's balance.

However, the gods placed no restrictions on just one thing - the first magic used by a dragon who had reached maturity.

Therefore, a dragon's first magic was more powerful than any other magic. It could turn the sun into the moon, resurrect the dead, and turn back time.

And dragons always used this first magic to grant their mate's wish.

The previous dragon was no different. The dragon asked for his beloved mate's wish.

That was where the tragedy began.

'Great Dragon, my wish is for Lord Kor to fall in love with me.'

What the mate wanted from the dragon was none other than Kor's love.

The winged tribe omega had long harbored unrequited love for her leader. However, the great spirit's attention had been focused solely on caring for his tribe. Hiding her unreturned feelings, she had participated in the dragon's bride selection. But when she heard the dragon's words that he would grant any wish, she ended up revealing her true feelings.

Of course, that wish was not granted. Instead, it only aroused the dragon's terrible anger.

The dragon tried to kill Kor, but at the pleading of the three tribal leaders, settled for banishing him to the human realm. For Kor, it was a punishment worse than execution. However, the dragon's anger didn't subside with just that. The winged tribe members turned to black ashes in the dragon's flames, and the survivors could never again spread their proud wings. Such was the fearsome power of dragon magic.

"That... I didn't know."

Kor's lips trembled finely at the shocking story.

"I didn't know..."

No. Had he really not known? Wasn't it just that he hadn't wanted to think about it?

How could he not know, seeing the collapsed canyon and the old, broken castle? He had simply wanted to pretend not to know and looked away.

"Since you've returned, it seems your punishment period has ended. The surviving winged tribe members all live scattered about. Even that's not many, since spirits who have lost their territory find it hard to survive."

Ramu bit her lip. She seemed to be remembering difficult times.

"But now that Lord Kor has returned, everything will be alright now. Right?"

Seeing the hope in Ramu's eyes, Kor didn't dare answer.

Kor himself knew how absurd what he was planning now was.

Making a human a bride candidate. Never once had a dragon taken a human as a mate. Moreover, to make matters worse, from what he had heard since returning to the spirit realm, this generation's dragon particularly hated humans.

Yet he had no choice but to cling to this hope. To return to Solem, to restore his honor and revive his tribe.

However, when he realized he wasn't the only one clinging to this lifeline, it felt as if a massive mountain was pressing down on him.

"Lord Kor."

Just then, a clear voice rang out. Kor looked with trembling eyes at the one who had called him.

"Please tell us everything will be alright."

The gaze was surprisingly firm. How could a mere human have such eyes?

He truly was a strange one. Not a dominant omega, not particularly beautiful, not exceptionally strong.

To think a great spirit who had lived a thousand years would receive comfort from a mere human.

"Yes."

After a moment more of silence, Kor's lips opened. Now his voice didn't waver at all. As if that human's unreasonable confidence had somehow transferred to him.

"Everything will be alright. All of it."

The twins seemed to have been waiting for those words.

Both Rahu, who had been breathing angry breaths, and Ramu, who had been quietly suppressing her emotions, instantly contorted their faces and burst into tears.

Though the touching atmosphere lasted only briefly, as they soon became confused again after hearing the whole story.

"What?!"

"A human?!"

* * *

The spirit realm, Solem, was divided into five main regions.

The east where the scaled tribe lived, the west where the horned tribe lived, the south where the tailed tribe lived. The northern canyon where the winged tribe had lived, and in the center of Solem stood the dragon's palace.

"Come on, hurry up with the preparations! You there, move those feet faster!"

The dragon's palace was particularly noisy today. Following the urging voices, the servants were moving busily without a moment's rest.

"You know how important today is. Don't let your guard down!"

"Yes!"

Only after confirming that everything was running properly did Jet, the dragon's faithful servant, finally catch his breath. His drooping tail seemed to show how busy his day had been.

However, it was too early to feel relieved. The biggest problem remained.

"Lord Jet, Lord Asad still hasn't come out!"