Chapter 117
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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117.
"...Roselita, Roselita!"
Through the haze of consciousness, a familiar voice reached me.
I expected my eyelids to feel heavy, yet they opened with surprising ease.
As my vision adjusted with a few drowsy blinks, an almost surreal landscape filled my sight.
'...How beautiful.'
Cassian's face, etched with worry, appeared even more striking than usual—perhaps because Gaia had been lavishing endless praise upon his beauty.
And the scenery beyond him was breathtakingly gorgeous.
A gentle breeze, flowers of every hue, a modest stream flowing from a spring that caught the light like liquid crystal.
Above us, branches and leaves formed a natural archway, filtering the sunlight into dappled shade.
Without thinking, I found myself asking:
"...Are we perhaps dead?"
Is this heaven?
Did Gaia send us here in one blow because I was too much of a nuisance?
Then she should have shown some annoyance.
"No, but if it were up to me and Ian, we'd be headed to hell instead of heaven."
After all, we're demons by trade.
At my words, Cassian's face twisted in displeasure.
"Don't say things like that, Roselita."
Yet seeing him relax, I couldn't help but smile mischievously.
This was dangerous.
Teasing him was becoming increasingly entertaining.
I was beginning to understand why my superior had so enjoyed provoking reactions from him.
As I tried to sit up properly, Cassian carefully steadied me.
"Hmm, but where exactly are we?"
Looking around once my mind had cleared, I confirmed my initial impression was no illusion—the place was filled with beautiful things.
Even the most brilliant gardener would struggle to create something like this after years of planning.
Despite the perfect harmony of everything, the natural beauty that emanated from it was of a kind no human could craft.
"I'm not entirely certain, but it seems to be somewhere near the Abandoned Mine."
Cassian said this while pointing to a wall barely visible between the trees.
"That appears to be the entrance."
"...But I don't see a door or anything that looks like a cave?"
"It seems to have some kind of magic on it. Wouldn't you be able to open it, Roselita?"
Since you hold the key?
To an ordinary person like me, it looked like nothing more than a plain wall, but I decided to trust Cassian's magical perception as a master.
Besides, since this place was sent by Gaia, I had an inexplicable confidence that it meant me no harm.
'I suppose it's rather trusting of me to rely so heavily on a dragon I've only just met.'
Yet neither Flare Dragon nor Gaia has ever done me harm.
If anything, they've only resolved my curiosities.
I followed Cassian as he escorted me protectively to the door, but nothing changed.
"What should I do?"
I don't even possess mana.
"Place your hand on it."
I felt Cassian's pulse quicken slightly at his own words.
It seemed he'd drawn up his aura, ready to flee the moment something went wrong.
Reassured by such dependability, I placed my hand against the wall without hesitation.
Creak—
The next instant, the wall truly began to move.
"I feel like the protagonist of a legend."
Though I wasn't the one who chanted any incantation to open the door.
Simultaneously, the adjacent wall shimmered with magical effects, transforming into a wooden-framed glass window.
"Wow...."
From the moment I called Cassian beautiful, I sensed our aesthetic sensibilities aligned somewhat.
The landscape beyond the door resembled a café nestled beautifully within a forest.
The moment I stepped inside, the aroma of coffee washed over me so vividly that I truly grasped dragons were transcendent beings.
With such thoughts, I entered, and perfectly timed—
A scroll left by Gaia appeared before my eyes.
Following that, the Flare Dragon Lair Ownership Scroll unfurled, and text was added below.
The feeling differed from the Flare Dragon Lair.
Back then, I'd decided because signing there would resolve my practical suffering.
But now....
'It feels like she's given me a space where I can truly rest.'
Beyond the counter, a grinder rotated with gentle wooden friction, a pan roasting beans moved of its own accord, and a glass pot caught the dripping coffee.
Despite the absence of people, rather than feeling frightened or eerie, I felt only the joy of being invited to a fairy's café.
It was truly a tender gift, like from a loving mother.
Of course, my own mother must be living peacefully with Father in the Salice Barony.
"Will you accept it?"
"Of course."
"Even though access is restricted here?"
"You really do see people as nothing but materialists."
Though I realized, gazing at his face brimming with anticipation, that his words carried meaning beyond that.
I did wonder if it was appropriate to refer to a person as a "thing."
But I supposed it was simply a dragon's manner of speech.
Even after I signed casually, Cassian naturally remained at my side rather than being banished anywhere.
"...I must say, today I'm actually feeling a bit grateful toward my parents."
Cassian pulled me into a tight embrace, his expression happy yet carrying a subtle hint of awkwardness.
I understood why he said such things, but I simply laughed as I always did.
And for good reason.
'These days, I'm feeling a bit ambiguous about it myself.'
Whether I simply found it beautiful.
I thought that if Gaia had been present, she would surely have burst into laughter.
*
Cassian and I shared coffee together and thoroughly explored the garden in front of the café that Gaia had created.
After all, one cannot enjoy a landscape untouched by human footsteps at just any time.
After savoring that moment of leisure, I identified where this place was and ventured beyond the café onto the path ahead.
After walking for quite some time, we were finally able to complete the map that Maribel had left unfinished.
When I drew lines over the Abandoned Mine, the emerging shape left me momentarily speechless.
"...It looks like a dragon curled up in sleep."
"Yes."
The image of Gaia, in such a peaceful and protective form over this land, kept coming to mind.
Perhaps she was watching over us from beside, waving an empty pipe, though invisible to our eyes.
"It would be rather troublesome to develop into a tourist attraction."
"Your situation will be quite different from when you had your own Lair, which would indeed be bothersome."
"Still, wouldn't Your Majesty help somewhat?"
After all, it's a place filled with memories of the Late Empress.
Of course, contrary to my true feelings, I harbored no expectations whatsoever.
Cassian seemed to feel the same way, shrugging his shoulders.
It was a gesture meaning to trust those worthy of trust.
"The Temple will surely make a fuss, so you'll probably withdraw."
"Since you dislike troublesome matters."
Though there's no need to get involved directly.
For some reason, I felt it would be better to use this as an excuse to confront the Temple once.
The more experiences I accumulated, the more convinced I became that the Temple was hiding something.
Moreover, this bore the form of a dragon.
'Our dragon enthusiast will surely cooperate, won't they?'
As I smiled with that thought, Cassian seemed to have guessed my intentions and drew a wry smile in agreement.
"Are we turning the Temple inside out this time?"
"Of course. While we're at it, I'd like to see the Temple's Document Archive that they were so carefully hiding last time."
Wesley had whispered to me that all the Temple's truly dirty secrets lay there.
Given as much, I was certain that Wesley—a dragon enthusiast and ascetic saint—would absolutely cooperate.
*
Part of me wanted to dash to the Capital City immediately and declare war on the Temple, but I decided to focus more on what needed to be done right now.
Instead, I sent Wesley a map of the Abandoned Mine via carrier pigeon—something that would undoubtedly interest him.
Imagining how the saint would thoroughly ransack the Temple in our absence made this journey all the more enjoyable.
"We're finally taking the lead now."
The final destination of our leisurely Liarden journey was right before us.
Following Maribel's recommendation, the Liarden Territory we'd toured was vibrant with a resilient vitality despite the Jamoti Family's lack of meticulous care, keeping my spirits high throughout.
Finding areas for improvement wasn't difficult either, and discovering the Abandoned Mine—Gaia's former lair—made it all the more satisfying.
Even after acquiring this dukedom, the Jamoti Family hadn't relocated the estate's location.
As a result, unlike in the Capital City, the old Liarden Duke's Residence remained standing.
Though the Jamoti Family had supposedly neglected the Duke's Residence entirely, allowing time to weather it, its appearance beyond the carriage window suggested otherwise.
"Who could have maintained it?"
"I'm not sure."
We had decided to continue our charade as a married couple until we crossed into the Clupea Borderland, just in case.
So we decided against visiting the Duke's Residence immediately.
Since we were here to investigate, drawing unnecessary attention would serve no purpose.
As we arrived at our reserved lodging, Cassian descended first as usual and extended his arm to me.
"The pavement could use some maintenance."
"Indeed."
I nodded at Cassian's cautious whisper and took his arm as I descended.
True to its status as an inn in a large town, a bellhop greeted us and promptly began gathering our luggage.
Escorted by Cassian, I entered the lodging.
"Welcome-, wh-?!"
The Old Gentleman greeting us in the entrance hall wore a startled expression before crying out in disbelief.
"...Young Master?!"
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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