The appearance of monsters in the northern part of the empire happened around that time.
“Monsters appeared?”
Elaine, enjoying an afternoon tea with Sergey, glanced at the newspaper he was reading and instantly grew serious.
The special edition paper reported that a previously peaceful and quiet countryside in the north had suddenly been swarmed by monsters.
‘In my previous life, there were no monsters that appeared, except when I was sacrificed…’
Elaine was very nervous about something that had never happened in her previous life.
If something different happened in her previous life, it must have been caused by her own regression.
The newspaper article, which included an illustration of people being chased by a vicious, giant monster, ended with the content,
“The Imperial Family and the Vatican remain at odds over deploying the Paladins.”
“If the Paladins can’t go, shouldn’t we send the Imperial Knights?”
“Ordinary knights can also deal with monsters, but they are less effective than the Paladins. If you have divine power, you can attack monsters much more effectively.”
“Then why doesn’t the Vatican send the Paladins?”
“I guess that’s because the casualties weren’t that great. The place where the monsters appeared was so rural.”
“Even if the casualties aren’t that great, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any damage! The people living there are probably afraid, not knowing when they’ll die…”
Elaine was growing anxious, as if that were her own problem.
However, Sergey didn’t really care about humans dying. Rather, he was glad that there would be a lot of magic cores to harvest from that monster hunt.
“Don’t worry too much, Elaine. The Imperial family will take care of it.”
“But this is urgent. Judging from the article, it feels like both the imperial family and the Vatican are just hesitating and doing nothing.”
“Well, that’s true. Moving armies costs money, and there’s not much to gain by sending knights to such a remote area.”
Elaine was sickened by the calculations of the powerful.
To them, each human life is just a number, but to those whose lives are at stake, the decisions of those in power can be either salvation or despair.
And Elaine goes to Kalgore Cave with the logic that ‘if you can buy time with one person’s life, it’s cheap.’ It was a ‘cheap’ life that was taken away.
“Would you like another cup of tea?”
“Y-Yes, sure. But excuse me for a moment—I’ll be right back.”
“Okay. Come back quickly.”
Serge answered lightly, thinking Elaine was going to the bathroom.
However, Elaine, who had just returned to her room, hurriedly called Rabes.
‘Rekuro Rabes!’
Because of that, Sergey, who was trying to sit with his legs crossed elegantly, suddenly transformed into a dragon and teleported to Elaine’s room.
[What, what’s going on!]
“Rabes! I’ll make one wish.”
[What? Suddenly?]
“I think something big happened because of me.”
Elaine said, her hands shaking.
“A swarm of monsters has appeared in the northern countryside of the empire.”
[Why did that happen because of you?]
“This never happened in my previous life.”
Elaine imagined the people, hiding in fear in that desolate, forgotten countryside.
She felt guilty, thinking that someone else’s suffering might be the price for her own happiness in that second chance at life.
Although she originally intended to save her second wish for Sergey, it felt more meaningful to use it for the impoverished people in the north, who were suffering from an event that wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Rabes, this is my second wish. Please defeat the swarm of monsters and save the people there.”
[No, why do you think this is your responsibility?]
“It’s happening because of me. If those people die because of the monsters, I’ll be tormented by guilt.”
[hah…….]
Rabes felt a headache coming on because of Elaine, who never used her wishes for herself. Yet she was now pleading, her eyes brimming with tears.
[You don’t need to use a wish for that. I was planning to kill them anyway.]
“Huh? Really?”
[What is my food?]
“It’s the Monster’s magic core!”
[Exactly. Now, go drink your tea. I even told them to bake plenty of madeleines for you.]
“Yes…?”
Rabes, who had been talking without thinking, suddenly covered his mouth.
Because he had been sitting in the form of Sergey until just now, he had forgotten that he was now in the form of Rabes.
“How did you know I was drinking tea? No, more than that… Rabes told me to make a lot of madeleines?”
[Ah, that’s….]
He was sweating profusely.
Every time that happened, Rabes wanted to confess that his human form was Sergey, but he held back for the sake of Elaine, who wanted to have a relationship with a human.
Rabes, who had been thinking furiously, spoke more brazenly on purpose.
[You smell like tea. And the whole mansion has been smelling like madeleines baking. I just made a guess. There’s no way I told anyone to make them.]
“Do I smell?”
Elaine raised her arm and sniffed.
[I’m a dragon. All my senses are far superior to those of humans.]
“Ah, I see.”
Watching her nod as if she had realized something, Rabes thought it was fortunate that Elaine was so naive.
After reassuring Elaine and sending her back to the tea room, Rabes returned to his original position before Elaine arrived and transformed into Sergey.
“If I keep doing this, I’ll make a big mistake someday, really…”
As he was shaking his head and sighing, Elaine came in.
Sergey greeted her with a relaxed smile, as if he had never been flustered before. Thinking about how difficult it must be to please a contractor who only cares about others.
* * *
“That’s strange. Why did a swarm of monsters suddenly appear….”
The next morning, Hubert muttered as he helped Sergey get ready.
“We’ll know when we get there. It’s a good thing for us anyway. We need to stock up on strength anyway, and the prey just showed up on their own.”
“It’s not that you’re leaving because prey has appeared, but because Miss Elaine asked ‘Rabes’ to stop the monster, Isn’t it?
“That’s it. What are you arguing about?”
Sergey grumbled, turning his head away to avoid being caught with his cheeks turning red.
It was true that monsters tended to inhabit remote areas, but it was unnatural for them to suddenly come out in droves like that.
Moreover, since this had never happened before the regression, there must have been a specific cause for that incident.
However, Hubert had no idea what could possibly cause the monsters to move in groups. That said, he wasn’t worried.
If Sergey—or rather, Rabes—was involved, the monster swarm would be dealt with in no time.
“By the way, what’s going on with the other dragon?”
“It seems like he’s saving his strength too. He’s going to have to use a lot of force soon.”
“Could it be that you’ll run into him in the north?”
“That guy has circumstances that prevent him from leaving the capital, so he probably won’t.”
“Well, that’s fortunate.”
Hubert was curious about the identity of the other dragon, but he didn’t bother asking because he thought it would only scare him if he found out in advance.
Because it was something he would find out when the time came, whether he wanted to or not.
“Anyway, Master, don’t eat it all by yourself. Bring a lot. We need food too.”
“I know, I know! How long are you going to worry about that?”
A few months ago, while hunting, Rabes ate all the magic cores of the monsters all by himself. Hubert hadn’t let him forget it since.
“I’ll decide when to stop depending on how many cores you bring back this time.”
“You damn bastard. If it weren’t for Elaine, you guys would—!”
“Dead? I’m well aware. That’s why we’re treating Miss Elaine with the utmost care. So, you’d better fulfill your responsibilities too.”
Sergey couldn’t say anything else to the smiling Hubert, so he just gritted his teeth and opened the window.
“Fine, I’m going!”
Then he stepped on the windowsill, jumped into the air, and transformed into Rabes.
Rabes flapped his wings once, glared at Hubert, snorted, and quickly disappeared.
“Thanks to Miss Elaine, I can finally talk back to that dragon. Life is really fun. Haha!”
Hubert, who was watching Rabes’s back, laughed heartily and closed the window.
And just as time seemed to pass peacefully, an urgent letter came flying in front of Elaine at noon that day.
[…I’ve thought about what you said many times. No matter how much I’ve prepared for you, if what you truly want is to leave the Newt family, then granting that wish would be my way of apologizing for everything.
If you sincerely want to remove the name Newt from yours, even if it means becoming a commoner, then come to the Imperial Family Registry Office by 2 PM today. I’ll erase your name from the Newt family records.
This is your one and only chance. If you don’t respond, I will assume you are coming home.
– Lark Newt.]
Elaine read the letter with Hubert and Emily by her side, her face twisting with disbelief.
“He sent this at noon and expects me to be there by 2 PM? This is just his way of saying he won’t do it!”
The clock was already showing 12:30 PM.
* * *
