The old man looked up at Jill’s shout.

“Damn it, it’s been so long since I smelled something this good that I ended up being lured in… how underhanded!”
“You’re the one who snuck in to steal food!”

The old man nimbly dodged Seig’s arm but fell over when Camilla kicked over the chair he was sitting on.

Jill immediately sprang at him, but the old man sat up and spoke in a quiet voice.

“Is Barry Saber still alive?”

“Eh?” Jill paused.  Barry Saber.  That was her grandfather’s name.  Her hesitant “What?” delayed her reaction.  The old man took advantage of that opening to evade Jill by rolling across the floor.  He then threw the spoon he was holding at the wall.  The light from the ceiling faintly flickered out, and in the pitch-black darkness, laughter rang out.

“Hyaa hya hya hya, as if I’d get caught!  This is my territory!”
“Wha- where’d he go?  Get the lights!”
“Still, I’ll at least thank you for the tasty meal.  —Now is around when visitors come to the flower field.”

By the time Camilla lit a candelabrum, they were the only ones remaining in the kitchen.

“…So he got away?  That old man is seriously tough.”
“Yeah… Traps and mind games really throw me off balance once they start getting used.”
“Who is Barry Saber?”

Hades asks as he pulled the spoon out of the wall.  The lights instantly came back on.  The old man had apparently interrupted the flow of magical power with the spoon.  That was quite the deft trick.

“My grandfather.  He was the previous head of the Saber Family.  He has already passed away though… I wonder if they knew each other…?”
“Could he have just said it to stop Captain’s movements?”

That was possible, but it didn’t feel like that was all.  “Mnm…”  Jill pressed a finger to the space between her eyebrows.

“I guess we really do have to catch him at least once… He said something interesting too.”
“Yeah, ‘Now is around when visitors come to the flower field.’  Think it might be the First Empress?”

“Hey, Hades!  Come outside!”

The voice of the Dragon God resounded as he came down from above.  Hades’ eyes narrowed at the panic in it.

“What’s going on?  Has the goddess finally decided to show herself?”
“No.  There’s a dragon.  Someone is riding it.  —They might be planning to land here.  Just hurry up and go or they will get away.”

“Jill-chan, what happened?”
“Rave-sama says we need to go outside.  A dragon with someone riding it seems to be coming.”

Now is around when visitors come to the flower field.

Camilla and Seig hardened their expressions and started for the door with their weapons in hand.  Jill looked up and Hades nodded in return before also leaving the kitchen.  Rave flew alongside him.

“Who’s riding the dragon?”
“I don’t know.  The dragon won’t answer me.”
“Won’t answer you?  A dragon?”

Within the dim hallway lit by only the bare minimum of light, Hades’ voice grew low and tense.

“Yeah, it’s like it can’t hear me at all.  I didn’t sense it either.  I only noticed it because I was outside and happened to see it.  — There’s something strange about that dragon.”

Whoever was riding such a dragon was no ordinary person either.

Camilla, who had been leading the way, opened the front door.  As they stepped outside, Seig, who had gone out first, gripped the hilt of his great sword and stared straight ahead.  Jill moved slightly in front of Hades.  The wind from the dragon’s descent had pressed the flower field before them into a circular depression.

With a rushing sound, white flower petals were swept up and scattered by the night wind and the dragon’s wingbeats.

There was almost no light near the abandoned Dragon Consort’s Palace.  The only illumination came from the torchlight by the entrance where Jill and the others stood.  Within the night, it blazed brightly over the flower field.

A tall figure leapt down from the landed dragon and stepped into the flower field.  They were immediately noticed.

“—Oh my, this is quite the unexpected greeting party.  I was under the impression that the Dragon Consort’s Palace remained unused… Have I been set up?”

Jill recognized that smile, illuminated by the lantern attached to the dragon’s saddle.  In the previous future, he had both pressured Kratos using his younger sister’s death as leverage and claimed the right of succession to the throne of the Rave Empire.  Just recently, he had arranged for dragon-controlling flutes to be made in Laica, did his best to incite a rebellion, and then disappeared.

He did not possess much magical power.  There weren’t any rumors of him possessing exceptional martial skill either.  In the previous future, he had been little more than a figurehead carried along by others before quietly exiting the stage at some point.  Even now, with his rebellion in Laica having failed and his dragon-controlling flutes no longer be usable, he had accomplished nothing.

Yet, there was something unsettling about him.  He gave the impression of never missing the moment when fortune was about to turn in his favor.

“Ah!”  Rave cried out.  The dragon took flight and vanished into the night.

“Your Majesty the Dragon Emperor, along with Her Highness the Dragon Consort, if I am not mistaken?”

He addressed them without sparing a glance for the dragon that had flown away.  He spoke politely, but the question carried an air of certainty.  Hades didn’t answer.  Camilla responded instead.

“And who might you be?”
“My, my, how rude of me.  I am Maynard Theos Rave.”

Maynard stepped forward into the area illuminated by the fire, placed a hand on his chest, and knelt where he stood.  Perhaps because of his androgynous features along with his slender build, the gesture was graceful and beautiful.

“This isn’t going quite as planned, but being granted the opportunity to meet the Dragon Emperor and his consort is the highest honor.  On this occasion, I have been entrusted by the Kingdom of Kratos with the position of goodwill ambassador and have come here in that capacity.”
“A goodwill ambassador?  You?”
“Here you are.  This is my letter of appointment, please confirm it.”

Produced from inside his clothing and presented with a smooth, unhesitating motion was a document commonly seen in the Kingdom of Kratos.

The signature read— Faelis De Kratos.

“During my studies abroad, I was granted an audience with the Princess, and she expressed the wish that I serve as a bridge between our two nations.  Though I speak presumptuously, I too am one who bears a place, however humble, among the Rave imperial family.  For the peace of my homeland, I wish to devote my utmost efforts.”

His elegant words and beautiful voice both felt artificial, as though they belonged on a stage.

“If I may be permitted, I would very much like to see the faces of my dear family again as well.”

Only one thing that stood apart amidst all his theatrics.  His blue eyes, hidden behind his pale golden fringe, gleamed with purpose.

T/N: Might have been a blue dragon.  Those were claimed by the goddess.

---

Read more than 10 posts ahead and support Faux on Patreon for only $2~

<Previous Chapter

Next Chapter>