Chapter 20

The construction of Kaito’s restaurant was coming along nicely. When it was ready, he planned to move out of his current location—which, granted, was only just next door. But there was one thing that weighed on him. “Hmm…” Specifically, the fact that this would mean leaving the home of the headman, whose hospitality he had been enjoying ever since he arrived. When that happened, there would be the question of what to do about Lilia. For some reason, it seemed he and Lilia were betrothed. What will I do when I build a new place to live? Should he bring Lilia with him? But that would be as good as declaring they were going to get married. Recently, they had been going everywhere together, and it was true he enjoyed it and felt quite comfortable with her. But am I really ready to get married? Hmm… I kind of am, but then again, I’m kind of not…? “Lord Kaito!” Suddenly, Lilia came flying into the pizza parlor, startling Kaito out of his ruminations. “Y-y-yes?” “Hans has been hurt!” “Wha—?!” What, did he fall down again? He’s such a klutz. “He went into the forest to cut wood and ran into a dragon!” “Wait, what?!” Kaito and Lilia baked one of Hans’s beloved apple pies, then went over to the woodcutter’s house. “Hans, are you all right?!” When they opened the door, however, there was Hans, looking the same as always. “Honored Hero!” he exclaimed, jumping up from the sofa. Kaito had thought Hans might be bedridden, but he seemed every bit as energetic as usual. There were some scratches on his face and hands, but not much more. “So, uh…I heard you ran into a dragon.” “Ooh, what have you got in your basket?” “N-nothing important. What about that dragon?” “What’d you bring?” Hans’s eyes were fixed on the basket. The way they were glowing was a little bit scary. “Are you hurt, or—?” “What’s in there?” Hans wouldn’t let it go. The basket was the only thing he was interested in. This isn’t getting us anywhere. “…We brought you an apple pie to help you recover!” Drool. “…Yeah, yeah. I know. I guess we’d better start by eating it.” Kaito sliced up the pie and put it on some plates, and Hans begin pouring honey on it with gusto. “Ha-ha-ha! Delicious, delicious… Sweet, rich apples and crunchy pie…” “Well, I’m glad you like it, anyway.” Kaito waited patiently for Hans to finish, the woodcutter’s mouth messy with honey. “Ahhh… Now, that was good!” “So anyway, Hans. Tell me about what happened when you met this dragon.” “Of course! I went into the forest as usual to cut some wood.” “Like, deep into the forest?” “No, not far.” So about the same place where Kaito and Lilia had found the thunderbird. Surprisingly close to town, then. “Then suddenly, I heard an earth-shaking thuuuuuud, and there was a dragon next to me!” “……” “Gosh, dragons sure are big, aren’t they?! I panicked.” “Makes sense.” If Kaito had run into a bear in the woods, he would have panicked. And a dragon was considerably more threatening than a bear. “I wanted to run away, but my feet were frozen. I decided to roll away instead, but there was a slope, and I slid down it…” “Ah, so that’s how you got hurt?” “Yes. But thankfully, the village wasn’t far from where I stopped rolling, and I was able to escape.” “I’m glad to hear it…” Hans seemed to have the worst luck. “So what happens now that a dragon has been sighted near the village?” “Hmmmmmm. Well, for starters, everyone will be on the alert, carrying their pots.” “Pots?” “You strike it with a solid object, and it makes a noise. They say dragons hate that.” “So, bear bells, basically…? Does that really work on dragons?” “No idea!” “Uh…huh.” It was just as Kaito had thought: These people had no real plan for dealing with the dragon. If it would just go back home to the mountains, that would be all well and good, but if it decided to pay the village a visit instead, there would be trouble. “Okay. I’ll talk to Queen Eleonora and see if I can get her to lend us some soldiers.” “Soldiers?” “From Queen Eleonora?!” Hans and Lilia looked at Kaito in astonishment. “Right. I want the military here to protect us on the off chance that the dragon comes to the village and starts attacking people.” “Sure, but the soldiers of our country aren’t very strong!” “Right! I don’t think they would be much help!” Hans’s and Lilia’s pronouncements were not very heartening. “Well, uh, okay. But I still think it’s got to be better than nothing. Lilia, can you take me to the castle in our cart?” “……” The two of them departed Hans’s house; Lilia walked along silently. “Lilia? Is something wrong?” “…You said you were going to Queen Eleonora.” “Huh? Sure. She’s the big kahuna around here, right? It’s the quickest way to get what we want.” “You know I can use a bow!!” “Whoa, whoa. I’m not going to make you—or let you—do anything that dangerous. Let’s leave this to the professionals, all right?” Even if it sounded like they might not be very good professionals. “Are you sure you don’t really just want to see Queen Eleonora?” “Hmm? Did you say something?” “Nothing!” Lilia brought out the cart, pouting all the while. When they explained what was happening to the guard at the castle gate, he let them right in. Okay, so maybe security wasn’t the tightest around here. When they were brought to Eleonora’s room, they found Belinda with her. “Miss Belinda, I haven’t seen you for a while.” “Goodness, Lord Kaito. Fancy meeting you here. Is something the matter?” Behind Belinda, Eleonora was desperately pressing a finger to her lips in a shushing motion. There seemed to be something she wanted to keep secret, but what could it…? Oh. “Are you here to deliver a pizza? …What am I saying? Of course you’re not. Queen Eleonora hasn’t shown any interest in pizza.” “Huh?” Kaito looked at Eleonora in surprise. She was pressing the finger to her lips harder than ever now; it looked like she might start hissing Ssssshhh! at any minute. No way. Has she actually been pretending to Belinda that she doesn’t like pizza? What an obnoxious queen! “You’re right. I’m certainly not here to deliver a pizza.” This at last brought a look of relief to Eleonora’s face. “A dragon has appeared near the village, and I’m here to request soldiers to help us.” “I see… So it’s that time, is it…?” Neither she nor Eleonora seemed very surprised. They looked almost as if they were used to this. “What should we do, Belinda?” “Well, let’s see. I suppose we should keep an eye on the situation. Let’s start by sending two soldiers. Dispatching too many at once would only upset people.” “All right. I’ll have two soldiers head over. If they travel by horse, they should be there soon.” “Thank you very much!” I knew talking to the queen would be the quickest way… Deeply relieved, Kaito returned to the back gate. “Huh?” When he arrived, though, he looked around in confusion at finding Lilia and the cart gone. “What…what happened to Lilia?” He tried asking the guard, but the man only got a distressed look on his face. “Er, she said she was going ahead back because she had something to do. I’m afraid we don’t have a carriage ready for you, Lord Kaito…” “……” Kaito had a bad feeling about this. “I’m sorry—please take me to the village! Hurry!” Rattling along in the black carriage, Kaito was beside himself. The moment he got back to the mansion, he searched all around the house. “Liliaaaaaaaa!!” But she wasn’t in her room. Kaito dashed back downstairs and into the kitchen. “Lord Kaito, what in the world is wrong?” asked a surprised Fiona, who was doing some cooking. “Um, you don’t happen to know where Lilia is, do you?” “Lilia? She went out earlier. She had her bow with her.” “What…?” Her bow?! He thought back to what she had said not long ago. ——You know I can use a bow!!—— No… “Lilia!!” Kaito raced back out of the house. If Lilia was planning to slay the dragon or drive it away, she would have headed for the forest. Kaito ran down the path to the woods at breakneck pace. “Liliaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!” He shouted at the top of his lungs as he went, until he began hacking and coughing. His throat was dry, he had trouble breathing, and his heart felt like it might give out at any time. Finally, he came to a stop. “Oh…” When he looked around, Kaito realized he was smack in the middle of the forest. Without Lilia and her knowledge of the area. Without even a weapon. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no.” Was this a double misfortune? Am I in more trouble than Lilia now? All was quiet in the woods, and sunlight streamed through the trees pleasantly. But a dragon could show up anytime. Fear set Kaito’s heart racing. That was when he heard a rustling in the underbrush. “Eeeek!!” When he turned to look, though, Lilia was standing there, bow in hand. “L-Lilia!!” “Lord Kaito, what are you doing h—? Oops.” When Lilia let her concentration lapse, her hand slipped off her bowstring, and her arrow went flying. “AAAAHHHHH!” The arrow grazed Kaito’s cheek as it rocketed by before burying itself with a thud in a nearby tree. “Lord Kaito! I’m so sorry!” Lilia rushed over to Kaito, who had fallen down from the shock. “I’m so sorry! I should have paid more attention!” “Oh, you…” Kaito gently reached out to Lilia. His hand brushed her smooth, pale cheek. She’s unbelievably dense and clumsy and stupid, and I can’t take my eyes off her for a second. But she means an awful lot to me. So much that I ran straight into a dragon-infested forest without so much as a weapon just to help her. Kaito finally recognized his own feelings. “So it’s me who’s the bigger idiot…” The thought brought a smile to his face. “Lord Kaito?” Lilia was looking at him, worried. “Lilia, I know it’s a ways off, but eventually, I’m going to have my own pizza parlor.” “…I know.” “Will you run it with me?” “What…?” Lilia’s green eyes went wide, then filled with tears. “Are you saying…?” “Yeah. I want to marry you.” Lilia was shaking, overcome with emotion. “That makes me so happy…” “I’ll work hard to get those flowers I’m supposed to give you. Bluebells and whitebells, right?” “Yes…” Lilia nodded through her tears. “So, listen… Don’t do anything this crazy ever again, okay?” “All right.” Lilia smiled. “How about we go home? If we actually find that dragon, it won’t be pretty.” At just that moment, though, screams and the sound of people beating metal pots came from the direction of the village. Kaito and Lilia looked at each other, then rushed off toward their home.