"Lord!!!"

"...You bastard!"

Lucas, who had been resting in his room, became furious at the sight of Aman who had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"If you weren't going to come looking for me, you should have at least released the restriction!"

"Please listen to me... ugh! Ack! Ek!"

Aman, who was about to say something at the sight of Lucas reaching out his hand.

But he couldn't finish his words due to the successive bursts of magic.

"Ugh... Lord, I didn't mean to do that."

In fact, there was no need to even think about avoiding the magic that the human Lucas had shot.

But if he could appease Lucas's anger even a little, this much pain was nothing.

"You didn't mean to do that? Do you know where we ended up?"

"..."

Lucas also knew well that it was no use beating up Aman.

"Raskan! We ended up in the middle of the Raskan desert! And why did you come only now! You should have come after I was dead. Huh?"

"R-Raskan?"

At the sight of Aman's face, the moment he had fallen into the middle of the Raskan desert began to flash through his mind like a panorama.

And with that, Lucas's anger gauge was also rising.

"You damn blue lizard bastard! This is dereliction of duty! And I asked you why you came only now."

Lucas, who was stabbing Aman's conscience with a large needle.

"The seal of the contract has faded. And just in case, I had already released the mana restriction. Look at the emblem. Isn't it still faint?"

"What? How could such a thing happen? No, even if it did, it's a problem. Then you should have run on your feet and found me!"

As Lucas mercilessly stabbed his conscience, Aman was completely dejected.

"What would you have done if I had died there? What would you have done!"

"...L-Lord."

Aman also didn't know how anxious he had been since Lucas had disappeared.

Lucas, whether he knew Aman's heart or not, was not willing to listen to even a small excuse.

"I don't even want to see you!"

"Lord!!!"

At Lucas's words that he didn't even want to see him, Aman was on the verge of tears, almost looking like he was about to die.

"What did you do right! Huh!? What did you do right!!!"

Lucas, who was pointing his finger at the pouting Aman.

"Lord... you don't know anything! How much I've been looking for you!"

"A-are you crying!? Right. Cry! Cry!"

"I'm not crying! I... sob...! Why am I crying! I hate you too, Lord! I hate you!"

"This bastard has gone crazy...!"

"I hate you!"

Aman, who had disappeared in an instant.

Lucas, who was staring blankly at the spot where he had disappeared, was at a loss for words.

"...Ha, he must be crazy."

Aman's behavior was like that of a child who had been scolded by his parents and had become sulky.

Lucas was often at a loss for words at Aman's character, which he had never heard of or seen before.

But as Aman left with tears in his eyes, a corner of his heart began to feel uneasy.

Even when he had caused a major accident that had twisted space-time in the past, that blue lizard had maintained a shameless attitude.

What did he say then... 'Keep dangerous things out of the reach of children.' Was that it?

From then on, he could roughly see what kind of sprout Aman was.

But the attitude he showed today seemed very sad and unfair.

'Ha... how annoying. And the seal of the contract has faded?'

Lucas's expression became serious as he released the polymorph and looked at the emblem on the back of his hand for a moment.

'It was real. Can such a thing happen?'

Lucas, who had been thinking for a long time, lay down on the bed as if his head was hurting.

"When I meet him next time, I should at least listen to what he has to say. This is not a common occurrence..."

Aman's teary eyes kept coming to mind.

***

Aman, who had returned to the academy, was very upset.

He was so sad that tears were welling up in his eyes.

"Sob! The Lord doesn't know my heart! He doesn't know at all!"

Aman, who was throwing the pile of documents on his office desk here and there, had his lips pouted.

Since Lucas and the children had disappeared, Aman had not neglected to look for them for a single moment.

He had asked for help from the faculty, the mages of the Mage Tower, and even his father, Hasel.

But no matter how much he searched, it was difficult to find even a single hair of Lucas.

It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, no, like looking for a different grain of sand on a white sandy beach!

But Lucas had said he didn't even want to see him and had not allowed him to make a single excuse.

This was the first time he had been so sad in his 700 years of dragon life.

And this accident was not something he had intended!

And the contract he had made in case of an accident had not even exerted its power, so it was not just a little sad.

Of course, since it had happened at the academy, he could not say that he, as the head of the school, had no responsibility at all, but it was not as if he had intentionally thrown Lucas into the middle of Raskan.

"I! I went to Raskan too!!!"

He had definitely searched Raskan thoroughly.

But even there, he could not find any trace of Lucas or the other group.

"Why is that? Who did that?"

Aman, who had been muttering with his mouth out for a long time, turned around in surprise at the voice coming from behind him.

"Allie?"

"No, why is that?"

Allie, who saw that Aman's eyes were red, turned Aman's body around and began to question him.

"...It's nothing."

Allie, who had spent most of her hatchling years with Aman, was pathologically fond of Aman.

"It's not a face that says it's nothing. The last time you made this face... was when the manticore you were raising ran away from home."

"..."

"When that manticore ran away from home, chasing another male. You had this expression then. What is it this time? Were you raising something without my knowledge?"

"...No."

"If it's not that, then explain why you're in this state."

The reaction Allie showed was clear anger.

When the manticore Aman was raising had run away from home, Allie had searched the entire mountain as if she were catching a mouse and had found the manticore.

To make him pay the price for betraying Aman.

But when she found out that the reason the manticore had run away from home was because of a male, instead of killing the female manticore that had run away, she had caught the male manticore as well and had brought it to Aman's lair.

But Aman had sent those two manticores back.

Saying that it was okay if it wasn't because it didn't like him.

"I need to know what it is to help you. Don't make that face and tell me."

The reason Allie had searched all those forests and had found the manticore was for one reason only. Because he was upset.

"Tell me. Amarok."

Allie, who was calling Aman's real name. Aman, who met her firm gaze, wanted to confess everything right away.

But he couldn't do that. One of the promises he had made with Lucas was 'not to tell anyone about his existence'.

And he had also said not to give any small hints.

"It's really nothing..."

"I'll blow this whole place up."

Allie's eyes shone fiercely, and her magic began to boil around her.

"Allie. Don't do that."

As Aman gently took Allie's hand, the boiling magic subsided a little.

"So tell me. I can't stand it when you're upset. You know that, right?"

"I know. But I can handle this much on my own."

"What can you handle on your own? You didn't even come out of your lair until I found the manticore and brought it to you. You could have just gone out and found it!"

"...It might have left because it didn't like me."

"Ha..."

Allie let out a deep sigh at Aman's answer.

When the manticore had run away from home, Aman had not thought of looking for it.

And of course, if he had set his mind to it, he could have found it.

But Aman had been so worried that the manticore he cherished might have left because it didn't like him that he couldn't even do that.

"You're so frustrating. So who do you think doesn't like you this time?"

"It's not like that."

"You're going to come out like this, is that it?"

"Just let it go this once. I'll take care of everything. Huh?"

If he showed any more dejection here, he didn't know what Allie would do.

For now, the best thing to do was to appease her as calmly as possible.

"...Right. I understand."

"Thank you."

"But promise me one thing."

"...?"

"That you'll come to me anytime you need my help."

"Of course."

She shook her head at the sight of Aman nodding and answering.

In Allie's standards, Aman was a dragon that required a lot of care. A dragon that she couldn't take her eyes off for a single moment.

That's why Allie had started her excursion, following Aman when he had started his.

But Aman had always run away, saying that it felt like Allie was watching him.

So the next best thing she had chosen was to be the head of a trading company.

For Aman, who was crazy about gems and artifacts more than she, a gold dragon, was, she had become the head of the world's largest trading company and had collected rare artifacts that were scattered all over the world.

And since she could somehow create a connection with him and hear news from time to time, there was no better position than this.

"Alright. By the way, did you find the humans who had disappeared last time?"

"Ah, yes. I found them."

"Where?"

"Citata."

Allie's eyes widened at the mention of the place where she was staying from Aman's mouth.

"Huh? Citata? Who?"

"The son and daughter of the Rodrigo County."

"I'm at a loss for words. And you didn't tell me?"

"...I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me your expression is like this because of them, is it?"

"N-no."

Allie's eyes narrowed at the sight of Aman's quick answer.

"It's true!"

This is a big problem. Allie knew everything about Aman. Especially the expression he made when he was lying.

"...I understand for now. Don't forget the promise you made with me. Amarok."

"Yes..."

Only after Allie had left did Aman let out a big breath.

When Allie was questioning him, he was so nervous that it was more than when he was with his father.

But the real worry was from now on.

Lucas was in Citata, where Allie had been pouring her efforts for several years.

And since she would have known that what he had said just now was a lie, Allie would surely try to find out something.

"Haa... this is a big problem."

***

The mercenary guild members were out of their minds with the lavish food and luxurious alcohol served at the county estate.

"Khuk... captain... do you remember that time?"

"...When?"

The men, whose tongues were so slurred, were constantly talking without even knowing what they were saying.

"You know... when I had just started losing my hair..."

"What are you talking about... your hair has been falling out since you were fourteen..."

-Thwack!

Pirkan, who had roughly put down his glass at the captain's words, opened his eyes wide.

"T-this! Huh? Are you crying now...?"

"Khuk...! It was just as much as other people lose then! But! Why! Now I don't even have a single one!!!"

Pirkan was crying his eyes out, sad about his bald spot that had been revealed at a young age.

The people who were watching him were so flustered that they were wandering around and awkwardly trying to comfort him.

"Hey... Pirkan. Why are you crying. Huh? Don't cry and try this tomato."

"I don't want it! I said I don't want it!"

As Pirkan, who had roughly pushed away the captain's hand that was carefully offering a tomato, left the restaurant, the members stared blankly at the door.

"Oh my, this is a big problem..."

"No, so why did the captain have to say something like that."

They were looking at the door with a worried expression for a moment, but the members were getting drunk again and were becoming limp.

"Hey... where is this...?"

The captain turned his head at the sound coming from next to him, and there was Skir, who was completely drunk.

Skir had passed out not long after he had started drinking again at the county estate.

He had been making such a scene that he had even thought it was a relief when he had passed out.

"Go to sleep."

"Where is this... ugh!!"

The captain, before Skir's scene could begin, finally knocked him out by hitting the back of his neck.

"You're not getting any more alcohol from now on."

(End of Chapter)