A small herb lay on the snow that had melted into a mess.
It was the place where Eve was captured by Dais and threatened.
Lily approached the place and picked up the herb.
'Why on earth did Eve save this?'
And... Where did it disappear to?
Dead, probably not.
Whether human or beast, it was a rule to leave a corpse behind when dying.
Like the parents who left first and the dead wolves.
'So she must be alive.'
Lily clutched the herb tightly.
"Eve..."
She called Eve's name as if talking to herself.
Hee hee hee!
Just then, the sound of a horse neighing was heard from somewhere.
Lily turned her head.
A horse was standing not far away.
It felt as if it was telling her to come closer, so Lily approached where the horse was.
'It's the first time I've seen a horse in person.'
Lily slowly reached out and stroked the horse. The horse accepted Lily's touch without resistance.
The horse let out a pleasant cry and started moving somewhere.
It stared blankly. It glanced at Lily as if asking what she was talking about.
'Are you telling me to follow you?'
Lily hesitated and followed the horse.
After walking for quite a while, an isolated house on the verge of collapse came into view.
The horse leading Lily came to a sudden stop.
Then, it stared intently at the house as if it had finished its work.
It felt like it were telling her to make sure she went in.
Lily, who had been looking back and forth between the isolated house and the horse, cautiously went inside.
A man with his upper body wrapped tightly in bandages was lying there.
Confused, Lily looked around. Clothes covered in blood were scattered on one side.
It was the same clothes as the man who had grabbed and threatened Eve.
'Why is this man here...?'
Lily looked at the man warily.
However, judging by the amount of blood on the bandage, it looked like the injury had been sustained for quite some time.
'Is it just someone who looks alike?'
Lily softened the tension she had built up.
"...Is anyone there?"
Just then, the man, Kyle, who sensed a presence, slowly rose to his feet.
Lily, startled as if she hadn't expected the man to wake up, froze in place.
Kyle slowly opened his eyes. He saw Lily through his blurry vision.
"As expected, it's you."
Kyle continued speaking with difficulty. He spoke as he coughed up what appeared to be a wound that hadn't healed yet.
"Thank you for your help. My condition is such that I cannot even stand up properly to greet you. I am sorry."
He trailed off, as if feeling ashamed.
It was an attitude on a completely different level from Dais, the man who had threatened Eve.
'Did Eve heal this person?'
So that's why I had this...
Lily looked back and forth between the herbs in her hand and Kyle.
When there was no reply, Kyle hesitated and spoke.
"...Did I perhaps offend you?"
A dejected voice rang out. Lily lifted her gaze from the herbs and looked at Kyle.
He answered while stammering.
"Ah, since you didn't say a word..."
"..."
"Ah. I know. I know how shameless it is to offer a belated greeting. However, it hasn't been long since I regained my voice, so..."
Kyle rambled on with incoherent words.
The way he fidgeted was just like a puppy watching its owner's reaction.
Lily, who was about to pull her lips away without realizing it, paused.
Although he was currently lying injured, this person was human. The human who attacked the North, their own territory, without reason, and who attacked her and Eve.
'But...'
Lily lowered her gaze. Her eyes fell on the herb in her hand. Eve must have known that he was human, too. The fact that she had treated him despite that meant there must have been a reason. Lily clenched her fist tightly. The herb crumpled limply in her hand.
'...Eve will come back.'
Eve simply disappeared. Otherwise, she wouldn't have vanished like a bubble.
'Let's treat this man only until Eve returns.'
Lily, having finished thinking, slowly began to speak.
"...Don’t worry, it’s not like that. And I’m not the one who saved you."
Lily answered in a slightly stiff voice. Even if it was because of Eve, it was certainly not a good idea to deal with humans who had invaded the North.
"Is, is that so?"
Kyle answered awkwardly.
"I'm sorry. I did hear the voice, but I don't remember it clearly."
His face was flushed bright red, as if embarrassed.
"I only remember her calling me Dad..."
Kyle muttered to himself.
"What?"
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
When Lily asked back, Kyle quickly shook his head. Then, as if he had twisted, he stiffened his body and groaned.
Pfft. Lily clicked her tongue.
She couldn't understand why Eve had saved a man like this. Lily approached Kyle.
First, it seemed like she needed to change the blood-stained bandage.
***
17. Truth
She paused as she was busily flipping through the documents.
The sensation of the water touching the skin was unusual.
Reina reached out her hand into the air. Triaina appeared with a blue light.
Reina held Triaina in her hand.
Then, he aimed Triaina at the place where she felt an unfamiliar energy.
Thump. Thump. The vibrations ringing across the surface of the water grew louder and louder. The current surged violently. With a tense expression, Reina tightened her grip on Triaina.
Something was approaching this place.
It was then.
Quang!
The door shattered with a loud noise. The Triaina she was holding was caught in the explosion and tumbled to the floor.
The person who broke down the door was the leader of the South, the Red Dragon.
Behind the Red Dragon, mermaids were seen sprawled helplessly.
The mermaids who had barely survived were lying face down on the floor, trembling.
"What on earth are you doing!"
Reina shouted in a shocked voice.
"Say it."
However, the dragon spoke with a stiff face, as if he could not hear Reina.
"Tell me everything you see."
Killing intent surged in the dragon's red eyes.
The leader of the South, the Red Dragon, whom she faced for the first time, appeared to have lost his reason.
"What do you mean by that all of a sudden?"
"My companion has disappeared."
Reina paused at the words that followed.
"Your... companion?"
Reina asked back in confusion.
A dragon's companion? It was a story I had never heard before.
"Right. My one and only partner suddenly disappeared."
He answered, barely holding onto his remaining sanity.
"I heard that mermaids can see the truth. So tell me."
Suppressing the surging heat, he opened his mouth once again.
"Where is my partner now?"
The dragon looked down at Reina and said.
Reina was speechless for a moment.
To think that after turning her castle into a wasteland, all he asks is the whereabouts of her partner.
Why on earth are you asking me that in the first place?
The terrified faces of the mermaids came into Reina's questioning vision.
It was a look that pleaded, 'Please, do something about that dragon.'
Reina bit her lip.
She wanted to point out the dragon's rudeness. But if she did, everyone in the East might burn to death.
"...All right."
Reina, who had reluctantly nodded, opened her eyes of truth.
To find a dragon's mate.
'Uh?'
Confusion settled on Reina's face.
She couldn't see anything.
Companion, or anything similar.
That's ridiculous. Reina opened her eyes of truth again.
However, no matter how many times she looked at it, the result was the same.
There was no dragon companion.
It meant that it did not exist in this world.
Reina's eyes trembled slightly.
Nothing is visible. If I were to convey this message...
'You never know what that dragon might do.'
Reina's eyes captured the trembling mermaids. They were shouting to their leader to save them.
As Reina's face clouded over, the dragon's expression hardened even more.
It felt like the anxiety inside her heart was growing uncontrollably.
"Say it."
He asked in a suppressed voice.
"Speak up right now."
Reina remained silent despite the dragon's urging. There was only one thing that could be read from her expression.
"..."
It felt as if the hope he had held onto until the very end snapped.
Uncontrollable, intense heat began to blow.
Starting with that, the castle began to shake with a rumbling, loud vibration.
The mermaids lying face down could not hold back and let out a scream.
At this rate, not only the castle but also all the seawater in the east would dry up.
Reina squeezed her eyes shut.
'I have to find a way to get out of this, somehow.'
Reina opened her eyes to the truth once again.
Even something very small related to a dragon's companion was fine.
She concentrated her mind as if clinging on with a desperate heart.
As if God had granted his wish, a faint figure of someone appeared.
It was a woman with silver hair. And her name was...
Reina shouted urgently.
“Lily, Lily!”
She looked at the dragon and hurriedly continued speaking.
"Lily, isn't the companion you are looking for a wolf named Lily?"
"..."
The dragon's eyes, which had become cloudy, regained their original color.
'That's it.'
His companion's name was Lily!
Reina, clinging to a thread of hope, paused as she was about to open her lips.
'But why is he coming to me looking for a woman who is perfectly alive?'
Confusion flashed across Reina's face, but with the crackling sound of the castle walls splitting, the thought vanished.
"The woman is alive. She is currently in the North."
"..."
"It is true. If you go north now, you will be able to meet that woman. She is..."
Reina confessed everything she had seen in the Eye of Truth.
“It’s with humans.”
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