“I highly appreciate the faithful and noble attitude you have shown as a servant of God over the past decade, and I appoint you as an apostle to save the empire…”
On top of Elaine’s head, who was kneeling in the middle of an old and small dormitory room, an edict from the emperor fell in an indifferent voice.
She stared blankly at the envoy, then asked with trembling lips.
“You mean…because I’ve been good and faithful…So I was chosen as a sacrifice…?”
The envoy and the priests of the temple could not answer her questions, but Lorina, who had personally recommended her, smiled brightly and spat out words full of malice.
“You should be honored, Saint Elaine. Since you are more excellent and faithful than anyone else, you have been given such an honor. Of course, we will remember your sacrifice for a long time.”
Elaine burst out laughing as if it were absurd.
“After hating me so much, you finally got what you wanted, Lorina.”
“Oh, that’s not what I meant. Count Newt and Lark are also happy about this. How fortunate is it that the saintess can finally help the family?”
Lorina’s red-painted lips curled in unbearable joy.
It was a situation that would make anyone angry, but Elaine did not have the strength to disobey the emperor’s orders.
She had no parents, and she had entered the temple as if she had been abandoned by the bloodline Count Newt.
Elaine laughed and was despondent, but the envoy did not let Elaine’s situation go long. When he nodded, the imperial knights grabbed Elaine by the arms and pulled her up, and immediately dragged her to the carriage heading to the Kalgore Cave where the dragon was staying.
At the entrance of the temple where the carriage was standing, spectators flocked to see the saintess who was to be sacrificed to the carriage.
“Ah, they said they were offering a virgin as a sacrifice, but that looks too old.”
“Is she a virgin?”
Elaine was disgusted by the onlookers who showed low curiosity even to those who were going to die without sin.
She was grateful to the knights who hurriedly put her on the Carriage while ignoring their stares.
As soon as she was put on the carriage, Elaine’s eyes turned to one side.
It was because Newt, who had been pretending not to know about Elaine’s situation after entering Elaine into the temple, was also among the crowds gathered around the carriage heading to Kalgore Cave.
“uncle! L’Arch!”
Elaine called them outside, clinging to the window that locked.
As they turned their attention to Elaine’s cry and approached, Elaine held out the slightest hope that this might be Lorina’s own trick, that her uncle and L’Arch might have rushed to save me.
But Count Newt was angry
“Elaine, you ugly thing! You have to show the spirit of the Newt family who is loyal to the imperial family and loves the people of the empire, what are you doing now! Don’t look so pitiful!”
“uncle…?”
Elaine opened her eyes wide and looked at the man she called uncle, but he turned away mercilessly and headed for the imperial envoy.
Then, he asked them not to forget that Elaine was none other than a member of the ‘Newt family’, and that the Newt family was sacrificing.
Elaine joined the Newt family at the age of seven, but this was the first time her uncle recognized her as a ‘member of Newt’.
‘It was a name that could be recognized only after death.…’
Desperate at Count Newt’s actions, Elaine looked at her older cousin L’Arch, the only one in the Newt family who hadn’t bothered her.
“L’Arch…”
L’Arch glanced back at her.
But the dry, arrogant look in his eyes made Elaine realize that her hopes were in vain.
He came slowly and said a small word.
“It’s not bad that you’re being used like this.”
A light smile close to ridicule and that one word ended it.
He immediately turned to Count Newt’s call.
“L’Arch!”
Elaine called him a few more times, but he didn’t look back. Elaine’s grip on the carriage window loosened.
‘I thought L’Arch would save me…’
Well, isn’t it an opportunity for herself, who was called ‘the stain of the Newt family’, to die while raising the family’s honor?
There was no way that Count Newt and L’Arch would miss this opportunity.
‘It was just reaffirming what I already knew, so it was nothing to be sad about, but my eyes grew hot.’
“We will be leaving soon!”
The knights prepared to depart by clearing the crowds around them, and Count Newt, who was watching them, whispered to his son.
“L’Arch.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Lorina has used her head quite well, and if the Holy Knights return, they will be able to make the dragon retreat. Perhaps the dragon that received the jewels and offerings would go away on its own. In addition, we can get rid of that useless girl.”
L’Arch nodded lightly at Count Newt’s cold words.
“When the evil dragon retreats, we’ll make sure to emphasize that a member of our family was the sacrifice. You and Lorina are to attend every gathering to which you are invited, and let it be known how much we suffered in this sacrifice.”
“Suffered…”
A subtle smile formed on L’Arch’s lips.
“Alright.”
There was a rattling sound and the carriage moved slowly.
L’Arch looked back at the carriage, but he couldn’t see Elaine anymore.
‘Yeah, this isn’t bad. It’s better than seeing Elaine stolen from me by another man…’
L’Arch clenched his fists as he thought to himself, and the carriage gradually increased its speed and quickly escaped everyone’s sight.
When the carriage completely left the front of the temple, no one was left to think of the situation of the saint who was chosen as a sacrifice just because she was weak and had no place to lean on.
And a few hours later, Elaine, the sacrifice, faces the evil dragon Rabes.
* * *
The inside of the cave was silent.
Elaine couldn’t help but stare at the gigantic dragon while trembling.
“What…?”
Elaine felt a chill run down her spine at the sight of the dragon’s enormous head, which seemed to be right in front of her, even though it was a considerable distance away.
However, the dragon, which seemed like it would show its teeth wildly at any moment, was watching her with a tilt of its head as if it were rather interesting.
[You’re not trying to pretend you don’t know me, are you?]
“That…, I know you Rabes. I learned it from history books…”
[History book?]
Elaine only nodded at Rabes’ question, which seemed to be somewhat bewildered. She couldn’t figure out what the hell the dragon was looking for.
Labes snorted again, creating a dry, hot wind, then thought for a moment, then asked again.
[You released my seal, don’t you remember?]
“A seal?”
[Your blood and tears were on the egg I was sealed in. That was the condition for releasing the seal.]
“An egg?”
[Yes, an egg! because a dragon’s soul returns to egg form when it’s sealed.]
Elaine blinked again.
She wondered if she’d passed out from being so scared that she was now dreaming. She’d never touched an egg before, let alone a dragon’s egg.
“I’m really sorry, but I’ve never broken lord Rabes’s seal…”
In this situation, it would have been easy enough to actively appeal that she had released Rabes’s seal, but Elaine, who always experienced only the worst, did not have the guts to lie against the dragon.
Fortunately, however, the dragon side knew for sure.
[It must have been a long time ago in human time, so I don’t know if you forgot. But I’m sure you’re the one who woke me up. Otherwise, the contractor’s mark on your forehead would not be visible to me.]
“A contractor’s mark?”
Elaine lifted her eyes to her forehead, but there was no way she could see her forehead.
[That mark is visible only to dragons and monsters. Humans cannot see.]
in any case, Elaine is now slowly understanding the situation.
‘So, without my knowledge, I have awakened a disaster that will destroy the empire.…?’
Her eyes widened.
And there was one more word that bothered her.
“Well, you said earlier that I was a contractor…what contract are you talking about?”
[I told you that you released my seal. The person who releases the dragon’s seal naturally becomes the dragon’s contractor. The dragon does not forget a favor.]
“Then what will happen?”
[Ha… Don’t humans these days know that? You can wish me three wishes. I can only be free from this contract if I accept all of them or you die while enjoying your natural life.]
“What…?”
Hearing that dragons grant three wishes, Elaine was convinced.
‘It’s clear I’m dreaming. I must have passed out soon after being put on the carriage.’
Once she realized that, she felt a little braver. In a dream, a dragon bite wouldn’t hurt as much.
[So, Human Contractor, say your first wish.]
“I can make any wish, is it possible?”
[Anything related to yourself is possible. Although there are some restrictions.]
Rabes said quite affectionately.
But Elaine had never thought of a wish she could make to a dragon before.
To have some extra potatoes to eat at dinner, or to buy a pair of underwear with a little more money this month, are too ugly wishes to ask a dragon.
In any case, Elaine decided to take responsibility for what she had done first.
“That, then…Please don’t destroy the empire.”
[What?]
At the dragon’s displeased voice, dry saliva went down Elaine’s throat.
* * *
