Everyone awkwardly turned to the Dragon King, who was still fast asleep by Jill’s feet.
Finn gave a strained smile. “I’ll send a letter with details about the precise location.”
Camila poked at her salad with a fork. “If we’re up against the Arks and Prince Gerald, I wonder if the troops will be mobilized.”
“We don’t have any concrete proof yet, and these are just rumors. I’d imagine a small group of trusted scouts will be sent to search the area.”
“The Dragon Emperor will use her,” Rolf said. “That apprentice. What was the lass’s name again? Millay?”
Jill tried to reach for the bread in the basket in the middle of the table, but she immediately froze when she heard Millay’s name. Zeke took the bread that the Dragon Consort was after.
“You’re right,” Camila said as she turned to the old man, chair and all. “I heard she’s strong, but can she take on such an important mission? She’s a lady-in-waiting-in-training, isn’t she?”
“Hmph, training or not, all the women in the imperial castle are possible candidates for the Dragon Emperor’s empress, ain’t they?” Rolf replied. As the air in the room turned icy, Rolf kept his eyes on the paper and gruffly went on, “If the lass claims to be good at magic, this mission’ll be the perfect opportunity to test her skills. And if she produces good results here, she’ll be even more favored to become the future empress and— Hmmgh!”
“Geezer, have some bread,” Zeke said. “It’s really good.”
“Um, Jill?” Camila said gingerly. “This fruit was super delicious! Why don’t you have a bite?”
“Let’s investigate this village,” Jill said.
Everyone in the room froze. Rolf, who had his face stuffed with bread, was freed from this torture and coughed to catch his breath.
“We can notify the imperial castle after that,” Jill continued.
“Wh-What troublesome thing are you saying, lass?!” Rolf cried. “You whippersnapper, your role is to—”
“You geezer, this is your fault!” Zeke interrupted.
“That’s right!” Camila added. “You had to go and run your stupid mouth! Um, Jill, this might be a trap, remember?”
“Are there any issues if I go and investigate?” Jill asked icily, silencing the room.
“Er…” Finn said awkwardly. “Then, I…will tell everyone our plans.”
“Please do.”
“Apologize to her, Grandpa! Do something!” Camila screeched.
“Yeah, and now we gotta fly on dragons more than usual!” Zeke yelled.
Rolf frowned as the two knights cornered him, and he pointed to a small bag that hung behind Jill’s backrest. “The Dragon Emperor gave ye those leather gloves, didn’t he? Ain’t that good enough?” he asked.
“What are you suddenly on about?” Jill asked.
“I’m talkin’ about the Dragon Emperor’s crest on those gloves. It’s incredibly rare, can’t be given to others so easily, and above all, it’s unheard of for the Dragon Emperor to personally embroider that for ye. Don’t ye know that?”
Jill widened her eyes and turned to the gloves peeking out from her bag. “I-Is this insignia that precious?!”
“Well, it’s rumored that the Dragon Emperor’s crest most closely resembles the divine crest that Dragon God Rave brought from the sacred land. And that Dragon Emperor is extremely vigilant, as ye know. I’m shocked that he dared to show that symbol to others, even his Dragon Consort.”
“Huh…” Camila mused. “But it’s not like it has any sort of function—ow! What gives, you violent bear?”
“Stop needlessly competing with His Majesty and making this conversation more complicated,” Zeke scolded.
“Hmph, ignorant nitwits,” Rolf started. “Listen…”
Jill, Camila, and Zeke gave an awkward gasp as they realized it all too late. Rolf launched into his long spiel.
“Indeed, while the divine crest might be replicated by humans, they cannot draw out its true power, ye see,” Rolf prattled on. “First, if ye don’t have enough magical energy, the crest won’t function magically. But truth be told, neither Dragon God Rave’s crest nor Goddess Kratos’s crest has remained in this world. In other words, no one really knows its precise shape.
“If ye pay close attention, with every generation, the shape changes ever so slightly. But if both deities have manifested through their vessels, is it not curious that their precise shape is still unknown? Some theories state that only gods can portray the precise shape. Some have theorized that human eyes can’t see the crest, and some believe that the crest was fractured when the deities left the sacred land and roamed our soil, never to be seen whole by humans. There’re no end to these theories, but ye see, my theory is that both Rave and Kratos have their reasons for hidin’ their crests from human eyes— Hey! I’m not done ’ere!”
“All right, Grandpa, let’s get you to bed,” Camila said. “I’ll be sure to listen to your terribly long rambling.”
“That geezer really loves to talk on and on…” Zeke said.
He watched Camila drag the old man away as he stacked the remaining plates. He grabbed the bag containing Raw and Hadis Bear by his feet and slung it across his shoulder.
“We’re gonna go investigate, right?” Zeke asked.
“Do you think I’m being childish?” Jill inquired.
Raw, shaken awake from being slung, blearily poked his face out of the bag.
Zeke scratched his cheek and said, “Nah, it’s fine, I think. Besides, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about Prince Gerald’s whereabouts.”
“Rawr?” Raw asked. He blinked his large, golden eyes curiously, perplexed by the conversation as Zeke violently tousled the king’s head.
“Even if dragons don’t wanna fly in that area, I’m sure we can figure something out with Li’l Raw on our side,” Zeke said. “Right?”
“Rar?!”
“Right. Raw, I’m counting on you!” Jill said.
The Dragon King glanced between Zeke and Jill before he trembled and hid back inside his sack. Truly, this Dragon King was a handful. Zeke and Jill looked at each other and chuckled.