“Mnhh... Besmirch...honor... Execution... Gah!”
I shot upright to find myself, somehow, in the middle of town. I also found that the townspeople who were passing by were all giving me pretty odd looks, and when I glanced around to figure out what exactly was going on...
“Huh? Wait, why am I riding you, Fel?”
Somehow, I’d ended up on Fel’s back. Gon was nearby, with Dora-chan and Sui riding on top of him.
“Weren’t we in the king’s palace a moment ago? Oooh, I get it—that was all just a dream, right?”
Fel heaved a sigh at my bewildered babbling. 《Of course it was not,》 he said. 《We did indeed visit the palace. You simply passed out. Pathetically.》
“Oh, put a sock in it!” I snapped. “Wait. I passed out...? Agh, that’s right! You two ran your mouths at the actual king!”
I’d told them time and time again to be good and keep quiet, and what had Fel and Gon done in the end? Acted like a couple of pompous, stuck-up jerks who were doing the king a favor by sparing him their time!
《Hmph! I may have agreed to play along with your request, but not to allow him to waste as much of my time as he pleased,》 Fel said.
《Indeed, indeed! And frankly, my liege, there really was no particular reason for us to act obliged to a single measly king,》 Gon added.
“Wh-Wh-Whyyy?! Why are you two like this?! Why do you look down on literally everyone?!” I wailed.
Who talks to a king with an attitude like that?! I’m not saying they should’ve sucked up to him, but they could’ve at least kept quiet until it was over!
《I am a mighty fenrir. It is only natural for me to look down upon those who are weaker than myself—in other words, everyone,》 Fel said, making it sound like it was ridiculous that he had to explain something so obvious.
《I object to the implication that no one is mightier than Fel, but it’s true that the strong have no reason to obey the weak. That simply isn’t the way of this world,》 said Gon, who also sounded like he thought that was just common sense. 《And the mightiest beings in said world are, of course, us: the ancient dragons. It would be truly laughable for the ruler of a mere nation to think he could give me orders.》
“Agggh, you two, I swear!” I wailed. Dora-chan and Sui were one thing, but clearly, bringing Fel and Gon to the palace had been a terrible mistake.
Ugggh... Well, no point in beating myself up over it. What’s done is done, and now I have to focus on what comes next. I don’t know how we ended up making our way from the palace to the middle of the city, but one way or another, this works out perfectly for my next move.
“All right, everyone,” I said. “No time to waste! We’re fleeing the capital before they try to lock us up for insulting the king!”
Fel sighed. 《What in the name of decency are you talking about now?》
《My liege...》 Gon muttered, sounding just as exasperated as Fel did.
“Oh, like you two have any right to give me that lip! It’s your lousy attitudes that got us into this mess! Do you not realize that being my familiar means that any crimes you commit end up on my record?!” I shouted. I was so upset with Fel and Gon’s attitude that I grabbed a clump of Fel’s fur without even realizing what I was doing.
《Hey! Unhand me! Do not pull that!》 Fel yelped.
“This is all! Your! Fault!”
《Did you not hear me? Stop pulling my fur at once!》
“I’ll tear your precious fur out strand by strand if I have to!”
《Do your worst! The only fur that your meager strength could dislodge from my pelt are the oldest hairs that have practically been shed already!》
“Oh, it’s on now!” I shouted. I was so pissed that I actually tried to follow through, giving Fel’s fur the biggest yank I could manage.
《Hm? How strange. I think I felt a breeze,》 Fel said, glancing mockingly in my direction.
“Agggh, damn it all!” I growled as I pulled harder than ever...to no effect. Fel barely even seemed to notice. This is the worst!
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