Chapter 56

"You..."

The bitterness was so intense that his tongue stung, making him wonder what it was made of. Fortunately, the pill dissolved like liquid as soon as it touched his tongue, making it not too difficult to swallow.

Gulp, as soon as his Adam's apple moved, the dragon reached out and forcefully opened Kinaine's mouth with brute strength.

Suddenly, Kinaine thought he had seen something similar a long time ago. When the dog they kept in the palace was chewing on something, a maid would rush over and open its mouth just like this...

As he was absentmindedly recalling the past, cold fingers suddenly entered his mouth. The fingers swept over his palate, tongue, and under the tongue, then withdrew as quickly as they had entered.

"This is no ordinary madness. Did you really eat it?"

"Didn't you give it to me to eat?"

He couldn't understand why the dragon was showing a surprised expression after telling him to eat it.

The dragon looked at him as if measuring something.

"...You're not afraid of dying?"

"I am afraid."

"..."

"But there are things I'm even more afraid of."

Though he thought he wanted to die and find peace, it wasn't that death itself wasn't frightening.

How could eating poison not be scary? Though he pretended to be nonchalant on the outside, he was actually scared inside.

However, this fear was nothing compared to the fear that he might fail to restore Jinaks. While he could blame other sins on Hasan, what happened to Jinaks was clearly caused by his own anger.

How could he spare his one life after turning countless people in that city into stone?

"What is it? What are you afraid of?"

"If I tell you, won't you use it to torment me?"

"I suppose I would?"

"That's why I won't tell you. And this time, I'm the one who should be getting an answer. As promised, I ate the poison, so please tell me. Why do you hate humans?"

The dragon tilted his head.

"I said I might feel like telling you, not that I would tell you."

I knew it would be like this. I had a feeling he would do this from the moment he spoke ambiguously. Still, I had hoped. I was desperate enough to try even though I knew the chances were low.

Kinaine tried not to get angry. Yet, a hot sensation kept rising from within him. Just as he felt his heart sink at the uncontrollable sensation, he soon realized that this wasn't the evil energy of black magic. It seemed the effects of the poison he had just eaten were starting to spread.

"You're not angry?"

"I'm not."

"Why?"

Why? Because if I get angry, black magic might burst out uncontrollably and I don't know what it might do.

Because I don't want to commit such a thing ever again, I've been suppressing and cutting down my emotions to the point where I don't even know what emotions I should feel. There was no need to explain such complicated circumstances.

Since it had come to this, he might as well try to score points with the dragon.

"Just because. Maybe it's because you're handsome."

No one dislikes being complimented on their looks. If the dragon wouldn't tell him why he hated humans, he had no choice but to try to build goodwill like this.

"..."

Asad blinked at Kinaine's words.

Was the compliment too obvious? Well, with a face like that, he must have heard it once every second since birth. Though spirits generally all seemed to have outstanding appearances, the dragon's looks were on a different level.

However, he couldn't think of any other compliments besides appearance. No matter what, he couldn't praise his personality, could he...

Meanwhile, the poison's effects were rapidly growing stronger. Cold sweat trickled down Kinaine's forehead. It didn't take long for his body, which he had just managed to sit up, to collapse back onto the bed.

Watching this scene, Asad finally opened his mouth.

"...Well, if you want to hear it that badly, shall I tell you?"

***

Half a day earlier. When Kinaine had not yet regained consciousness.

Asad was in the underwater city, the domain of the scaled tribe.

The scaled tribe's underwater city, nestled in the deep blue sea, always shone with a mysterious light. It was the light emanating from the transparent dome-shaped barrier that enveloped the entire city.

This barrier was created to protect the domain from external threats and could distinguish those who were not of the scaled tribe. There was only one being who could freely enter and exit this barrier without being a member of the tribe.

"Lord Asad. You've arrived."

The scaled tribe members who had been waiting after receiving notice approached. Though they all had faces that couldn't hide their tension, their attitudes were extremely polite.

"This way, please. Lord Shinsurial is waiting."

Asad followed them with a disinterested face.

He was soon guided to the castle where Shinsurial, the leader of the scaled tribe, was.

In a room lavishly decorated with seashells, pearls, and corals, Shinsurial was waiting for the dragon.

"You've come early, Lord Asad, when it hasn't been half a year yet. Has something happened?"

Shinsurial was a handsome man with blue hair flowing down to his waist. His heterochromatic eyes, in particular, shone with an enigmatic color like seashells, giving a mysterious impression.

"Come this way."

Shinsurial readily stood up and offered the best chair he had been sitting on. Asad sat down naturally in that chair and answered.

"Nothing special. The selection has been temporarily suspended, so I'm just here to receive purification in advance while I have the time."

"The selection was suspended not long after it started... Why?"

Shinsurial's voice was very clear and had a musical quality that was pleasant to hear. But Asad frowned as if annoyed by the probing questions. Seeing this, Shinsurial asked again.

"Is Biche alright?"

"Who's Biche?"

"The child who might become your mate."

"Ah, you mean the scaled tribe candidate."

"Wouldn't it be better to at least remember her name?"

If Jet had heard this, he would have shown fervent support saying, "As expected of Lord Shinsurial!" But unfortunately, he wasn't here.

"Don't worry. I heard she safely passed the test thanks to the strong guards you provided. She came in third among the scaled tribe."

For the scaled tribe, the weakest in combat among the four races, to rank third in magical beast hunting could be considered a good performance.

"Who came in first?"

"The winged tribe."

Originally, the test subjects of the selection were secret, but the leaders of each race had grasped the content to some extent. This was because their tribe members also lived in the dragon palace.

However, Shinsurial seemed surprised, as if he hadn't yet heard that the winged tribe came in first.

"I'm surprised it wasn't the horned tribe. Combat would have been the most advantageous category for them."

The horned tribe was the strongest among the four races and was born with excellent combat instincts. It seemed natural for Prim, the horned tribe bride candidate, to take first place in the first test.

"Moreover, he's not even a winged tribe member, but a human."

Shinsurial brushed back his softly shimmering blue hair as he approached Asad.

"Could this human's existence be the reason you sought me out early, Lord Asad?"

As the topic of humans came up, Asad showed signs of discomfort.

Shinsurial was the one who knew Asad better than anyone else. After all, it was Shinsurial who had saved Asad when he had transformed into a magical beast after experiencing terrible things in the human realm in the past.

Shinsurial was the only being who knew in detail that Asad had been miserably abused in the human realm. He didn't want to talk about what had happened with the human bride candidate to someone like him.

"Stop chattering and just do the purification."

Shinsurial blinked slowly. His face, which exuded a mysterious beauty, showed no negative emotions towards the dragon's rudeness.

"Yes, as the great dragon wishes."

As Asad extended his hand, Shinsurial took it in both of his hands and closed his eyes gently. Soon, a warm and sacred light that was visible to the eye covered Asad like a veil.

However, the feeling Asad experienced was the opposite of the energy felt from that light. Rather, it was closer to the unpleasant sensation of bugs crawling all over his body.

Asad frowned at the feeling of something freely rummaging through his mind.

"You mustn't resist my power, Lord Asad."

At Shinsurial's calm voice, Asad unknowingly dissipated the energy he had raised.

"Ugh, it feels awful, your power..."

"Of course you would feel that way. Anyone would find the feeling of having their mind searched unpleasant. But please bear with it for a moment. I must first find the evil energy accumulated in your body and mind to perform the purification."

Asad knew this even without explanation. It was what Shinsurial said every time he performed the purification.

Even though it was something he experienced once every six months, he couldn't get used to it. He had to use all his strength just to suppress the urge to kill Shinsurial right then and there.