TTDBK 07

Episode 07

Jacob asked several times if it was really true, then let out a cheer. Without delay, he ran off to spread the news to the others.

“A real Dragon Slayer, is it?”

“Not just some fraud?”

The villagers were skeptical at first, having lived too long under the shadow of impostors’ crimes.

“When I first heard it from Jacob, I could hardly believe it myself. To meet you again is an honor.”

But when another veteran of the subjugation force came forward to testify, no one doubted her any longer.

The villagers unpacked their belongings and prepared a feast. It was the first true welcome Baberi had received since returning to Tiris, and she reveled in it.

“There are people impersonating me?”

Tearing into a hunk of meat, Baberi’s expression darkened at the mention of impostors using her name.

“And where have you been that you never even heard of it?”

Jacob was astonished that she hadn’t known.

“Could it be you were in Rhondar?”

Rhondar… the name rang faintly, but Barberry couldn’t immediately place it. Her puzzlement showed plainly on her face.

“The port city to the south,” Jacob prompted.

At that, something surfaced in her memory.

“Isn’t that the place with the miserly lord?”

She remembered hearing about a certain lord who refused to provide men or provisions for the subjugation force. Their departure for Madni had been delayed because of it.

“That’s right. The stingy lord.”

“So why is the city under blockade?”

Had he raised a rebellion when the king forced him to open his coffers? The thought intrigued her. The enemy of her enemy was a potential ally. And if that miserly lord was also wealthy, so much the better.

“Do you recall the second expedition—mainly mercenaries—that set out for Madni just before our own?”

Jacob’s question drew a hazy memory. Yes, there had been such a group.

“The Lord of Rhondar had hired mercenaries to send along. But it seems things soured over their pay.”

True to his reputation, the man had been miserly in all things. Baberi wondered whether he was the sort she could win to her side. Better a tightfisted noble than penniless mercenaries… perhaps. Perhaps not.

“The mercenaries killed him.”

“Damn it…”

So much for her potential ally. The man she had hoped to recruit was already dead.

“Fortunately, his son Rob escaped the massacre—he happened to be away from Rhondar at the time.”

But because the mercenaries had seized the castle and sealed the city, he could not return. Jacob’s account made Baberi frown in thought.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But then… what is the enemy of my enemy’s enemy?

“He’s said to be very young. It’s a pity. I heard he even petitioned the king for troops to reclaim Rhondar…”

“And the king ignored him?”

Jacob shrugged, uncertain of the details. But clearly the king had offered no meaningful aid.

If the king had intervened, Rhondar would have been retaken long ago, the mercenaries executed.

“Some even whisper that His Majesty secretly favors the mercenaries.”

Jacob lowered his voice. Baberi found it hard to believe.

“Why would the king side with scum like them?”

“Well, the Lord of Rhondar defied him during the subjugation. Maybe it’s revenge.”

Hearing it put that way, Baberi found it convincing.

The king had ordered the man to send his son. He refused. Ordered him to supply grain. He refused.

Yes, the Lord of Rhondar had been a constant thorn in King Glock’s side.

From the king’s point of view, the enemy (the Lord) of his enemy (the mercenaries) had indeed become an ally.

“And all this happened while you knew nothing. Where were you, Lady Baberi?” Jacob pressed.

“Far away.”

She brushed the question off. Explaining her whereabouts would take too long. Besides, she was drowsy from the rare indulgence of plentiful meat and wine.

The next morning, Baberi left Tossen Village.

“So what’s your plan now?”

Kur asked. Unlike Baberi—who looked refreshed after good food and rest—his face was clouded. He had been silent through the entire feast, clearly brooding over the talk of her supposed death.

“Let’s go to Rhondar.”

“To a city under blockade? For what?”

Baberi shook a vial of medicine with a sly grin.

“Remember how the apothecary thanked me for saving his family? He even gave me this expensive remedy for free.”

What of Rob, the boy who had lost his father and his castle to mercenaries? Surely his rage against both the mercenaries and the king must be immense.

“I’ve realized something—when it comes to family, people will go to incredible lengths to repay a debt.”

Like that apothecary, who had insisted she take this and that with genuine gratitude.

“So I’ll kill the mercenaries for him, help him reclaim his castle… and then tell him I’ll be his family.”

The boy must be lonely after losing his father so suddenly.

She had no idea how old he was, but in her eyes the plan was foolproof.

“I’ll call it Operation: Become His Big Sister.”

She even thought of the name over breakfast, proud of her perfect strategy.

“What nonsense.”

Kur’s expression darkened further. He had been sour since yesterday, and now his words cut cold.

“You think he’ll burst into tears of joy just because you offer to be his sister?”

“He might!”

Baberi’s confidence faltered under his scorn, her mood souring.

“Unless the boy’s so deranged with loneliness, he won’t fall for it.”

He sneered. “Is that truly the kind of man’s sister you want to become?”

“Even a ten-year-old would come up with a better plan.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s your brilliant idea then?”

Baberi snarled, ready to mock whatever he said.

Kur smirked. “Bring me enough mana stones, and I’ll kill the mercenaries and the noble brat for you.”

Baberi barked a laugh. As if mana stones grew like weeds in the forest.

“Try being realistic for once.”

They glared at each other, sparks crackling between them.

“I’m far more realistic than you, trying to become some stranger’s sister.”

“You dare call me ‘you’? Show respect to your sovereign!”

“Can you still call yourself a sovereign when you haven’t a single coin?”

“Neither do you!”

Baberi shouted, her pride stung. Even she admitted the title of penniless king sounded ridiculous. That only made her more defensive.

“I’ve only just become king! I’ll gather wealth from now on.”

Kur snorted. “By lying your way to free drinks and meals like yesterday? That makes you a beggar, not a king.”

The word beggar boiled her blood. She raised her right fist.

“I’ll remind you—it might not be a lie much longer. Watch your tongue before I make it true.”

It was a serious threat, but Kur only laughed at her.

“With your vaunted ballista you can’t even use?”

Baberi clenched her teeth, veins rising in her neck. He was mocking her because she had been weak too long.

She channeled power into her right arm, determined to show him.

“What are you doing?”

Kur sensed danger and stepped back, eyes narrowing at the faint glow in her arm.

“Since you won’t acknowledge me as king, I’ll prove it.”

She grinned, though inside she was panicking. Pain lanced through her arm like knives, and she knew she was overreaching.

Still, the glow intensified.

“You can’t be serious—”

Kur’s eyes widened in disbelief.

But Baberi hadn’t meant to actually kill him. She only wanted to assert dominance. Yet her arm moved beyond her control, aiming at his head.

“…!”

She caught her own wrist with her left hand at the last moment, forcing it down.

Even so, the half-released blast carved a gaping hole in the earth at Kur’s feet.

Baberi swallowed hard. He said nothing, which made the silence all the more terrifying.

Only the whisper of wind in the trees filled the air—until a sickening crack sounded from him.

“You little—!”

Baberi looked up, cursed, and bolted.

Kur’s body was changing. White scales spread over his arm, which swelled grotesquely out of proportion.

“You said you couldn’t transform without enough mana!”

She fled into the woods, heart hammering as the ground shook with his pursuit. The sounds drew nearer and nearer.

“I’ve really done it this time!”

Her right arm hung useless after forcing the ballista. She couldn’t attack or defend. She ducked behind a massive tree, holding her breath.

The footsteps drew close.

Leaves rustled, wind hissed through branches. Cold sweat ran down her cheek.

“Barberry Langs.”

His voice was right behind her. She felt his killing intent.

Crunch.

He stepped, circling to the right of the tree. She edged left—

“AAAHH!”

They locked eyes. His arm had fully become a dragon’s.

“We’re allies! Allies, remember?!”

She ducked as his massive hand crushed through the trunk where her head had been. The tree, thicker than a man’s waist, crumbled like kindling.

“You swore you’d never kill me, and now you’re trying to send me to the grave?!”

“That’s the second time, Baberi. The second time you’ve tried to kill me!”

The dreadful stew had been the first.

At that, something flickered in his furious eyes.

“…That was an accident.”

“This was, too!”

“No. You tried to fire the same ballista that once pierced my chest—at me again.”

He had seen her aim at his head. His rage deepened.

Baberi raised her left hand in surrender.

“It wasn’t me! My body wouldn’t listen!”

She pointed desperately to her smoking right arm.

“You always lie! Every word from your mouth is—”

But mid-tirade, Kur abruptly stopped. He sucked in a breath, then collapsed face-first to the dirt.

His swollen arm shrank rapidly back to normal size.

“What the—what’s happening?”

Baberi nudged his head with her toe.

“Hey. Hey, Lord Kur!”

Had he simply collapsed from rage? Could dragons suffer from high blood pressure?