“The church’s forces were decimated but...that doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to lie low.”
“Yeah, since now they’re reinforced by an army of apostles.”
“Still, even if Ehit proved his strength, faith in him is wavering. According to Badd, people in the other nations are starting to doubt the church...and some have even ousted the priests.”
“I guess if the apostles start a purge now, the people will stop believing in Ehit completely. They’ll be ruled by fear instead of faith. But wait, does Ehit really care that much about people worshiping him?”
“Maybe he just wants to see if our struggle will entertain him?”
“He did say the decisive battle was a letdown. I wouldn’t put it past him to... Sorry, there’s no point in idle speculation.”
They had no way of knowing Ehit’s true motives, so ruminating on them wouldn’t get them anywhere. All that mattered was that they’d been given some reprieve, and they needed to use that time to learn as much as they could from the Dragon Kingdom’s archives as possible.
The three of them smiled wanly at each other. They then decided that it would be best to leave Miledi alone and hope that the tranquil garden brought her some peace of mind. However, as they turned to leave, someone came barreling down from the other side of the hallway.
“Whoa, Van-chan?!”
“Miledi, sorry, but can you hide me for a sec?!”
Miledi stared at him in surprise as he half-slid his way over to her and dove right into the garden, his indigo-blue yukata completely disheveled. He then ducked under Miledi’s feet and hid in the space below the porch.
At a distance, it looked like he was burying his face into her crotch. Miledi squealed in surprise, and Oscar primed his glasses to blow Vandre to pieces. However, before he could fire off his murderous beam, Meiru smacked the back of his head and Naiz tripped him with a leg sweep. As a result, Oscar fired his beam straight into the ground, opening two holes in the wood.
A second later, another set of footsteps pattered down the hallway from the same direction Vandre had come.
“Well hello there, Miledi-san! What are you doing here?”
“Oh, Nieshika-san.”
A woman who looked to be in her midthirties with pale violet hair and eyes, as well as a lapis-blue kimono, walked over to Miledi. Her name was Nieshika Schnee...and she was the wife of Grice Schnee, the owner of this mansion.
“Umm, I was just admiring your garden,” Miledi said.
“Why, that’s wonderful. Be sure to tell the gardener how much you like it as well. It will make him very happy. Anyway, relaxing is important.”
Nieshika sat down next to Miledi and smiled warmly at her.
“Umm...”
“He he he...” Nieshika laughed and started patting Miledi on the head. Miledi was at a loss for how to respond to Nieshika’s head pats, which was a rarity for her.
“That yukata really suits you. Would you like me to do up your hair later? I found a hairpin that would be perfect for you. You’re a very refined lady, so I think a more mature haori would also work well.”
“I-It’s fine. I’m happy with the clothes you gave me already.”
“Oh, Miledi-san, there’s no need to be so formal with me. You’ll make this old woman sad.”
“You’re not that old...”
“After you live three hundred years, you can’t exactly call yourself young anymore.”
Miledi felt like a child whenever she was around Nieshika...and it wasn’t just her either, as Oscar and the others felt the same way. They were taking advantage of her hospitality, and she belonged to one of the most important noble families in the Dragon Kingdom, but it was her personality more than anything that made them feel like they just couldn’t say no to her.
Honestly though, it wasn’t just her either, as they felt this way around pretty much all of the dragonmen When they’d first arrived in the Dragon Kingdom, most of the Liberators and Andikan citizens had been a little scared of the dragonmen. They had grown up hearing stories about how evil they all were, after all. But after spending some time here, they’d come to realize how kind, tolerant, and open-minded the dragonmen were. There was also something about the dragonmen that simply made people respect them.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on your alone time.”
“It’s fine, I was just spacing out because I had nothing to do.”
“Really? Still, I’m sorry for droning on. When you get to my age, it’s hard to stop yourself.”
With a smile, Nieshika suddenly raised her hand and... “Hngh!”
“Bwah!”
...drove her fist through the floor, grabbing Vandre and hauling him up.
“Eeeeeek!” Miledi shouted, surprised and more than a little scared.
“How could you be so cruel, Van? Why would you run from your grandmother?”
“I-I wasn’t running...” Vandre muttered weakly. Nieshika was holding him by the collar, and only half of his body was above the floorboards. He turned to Miledi, pleading for help with his eyes.
“Look at someone when they’re talking to you!”
“O-Okay. Sorry.”
Vandre, who was normally a haughty ball of arrogance, was as meek as a kitten before Nieshika. It was such a rare and precious sight that Miledi didn’t have any desire to help him. She did her best to avoid meeting Vandre’s gaze and simply shot covert glances at him instead. The trio in the hallway was also sneaking surreptitious glances at Vandre.
“Sheesh, all I did was offer to clean your ears out for you.”
“But I’m too old for...”
“There’s no need to be shy, Van. Let your grandmother pamper you.”
Nieshika hauled Vandre the rest of the way up and hugged him. And as she patted his head, he let out a strange noise. Being in Nieshika’s embrace was so comfortable that he almost let himself surrender, but then he saw Miledi grinning at him from the corner of his eye.