The dragon unfurled its wings and lifted off into the sky. It sent off a gust of wind that flattened some of the buildings below it. Thick clouds of dust rose all around.
“What the—?! Where’d this dragon come from?!” Groh screamed, backing away.
“It must’ve been summoned with an enchanted object! What kinda nut job would let it loose in the middle of the city?!” Magus shouted, staggering back with him.
Charlotte blanched and turned to Gosetsu and Roo. “Oh no! What should we do, Gosetsu...?!”
“Ah, we shall simply sit back and watch.” Gosetsu was oddly cheerful in the face of this chaos.
“Yup, that’s the way to go,” Roo said casually, looking up at the sky.
Cecil was standing on the dragon’s shoulder. Looking down at Charlotte, he shouted, “All I wanted was to be with the one I love! What’s so bad about that?!”
“You want to know what’s so bad?”
“Huh?!” Cecil gasped and spun around. He locked eyes with Allen, who was standing on a partly crumbled roof. A hint of confusion flickered in Cecil’s eyes. Of course, he had no idea who Allen was. But for Allen, Cecil was the archenemy, the one he had sworn to bring down. And now, this was his moment. Allen kicked against the roof, leaping into the air.
“If I had to name one reason...your methods were bad!”
“Gwrrr?!”
“Gyahhh?!”
Allen put everything he had into his fist and thwacked the side of the dragon’s face. One blow was enough. The dragon toppled over, crushing the buildings underneath, and Cecil helplessly went down with it.
♢
And so, in the alley in the Maerd District, the matter was settled for the time being.
Eluka rummaged around in the rubble, picking up the pieces of the shattered crystal ball that Cecil had used to summon the dragon. Illuminating it with magic light, she closely examined the fragments. “Whoa, this is like, a major treasure from Neils Kingdom. They trapped the black dragon that wreaked havoc there in ancient times. Pretty sure he’s not supposed to just whip it out like that.”
“He must have been carrying it around as a last resort. My my, what foolish measures some stoop to.” Gosetsu chuckled, then glanced at the dragon next to her. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“G-Gwrr...” the dragon whimpered in response. Perhaps from the shock of Allen’s punch, or cowering in fear under the Infernal Capybara’s glare, the dragon had made itself appear as small as possible, curled up in a tight ball. It didn’t seem likely to go on a rampage anytime soon.
“Phew, step one is done,” Allen observed.
“Ugh...!” Cecil and Cordelia were held captive now. They were both miserably dirty, tied round and round with ropes as if they had been assailed by burglars. When the dragon fell, they had both been knocked unconscious by the impact and they’d just woken up a few minutes ago. Allen had already revealed the secret to their ghost trick.
Cecil glowered at Allen. “Who would’ve thought a man like you was in cahoots with Charlotte.”
“Ah, does it surprise you?”
“Hah... I’d say so.” The corner of Cecil’s lips twisted into a mocking sneer, and he leered at Charlotte. “Never thought that shameless hussy next to you would have enough charm or skill to con a man. I only saw her as a useless peasant.”
“Hmm. I see you haven’t learned how to keep your mouth shut.” Allen cracked his knuckles threateningly.
“Prince Cecil,” Charlotte cut in. She looked straight at the prince and slowly opened her mouth. “I used to be scared of you. Not just you. The Evans family, the parties in the royal castle—everything frightened me.” She uttered every word thoughtfully, recalling the painful memories from those days. But then her face softened into a smile. “But I’m not scared at all anymore. Because now...I have a big family—family I never imagined I could have.”
“Charlotte...” Allen murmured, lowering his fists. She had settled her fight with her own words. Cecil widened his eyes, taken aback.
Charlotte turned to Cordelia and gave a little bow. “I didn’t know that you two wanted to be together. I’m sorry I got in the way.”
“Charlotte! If only you weren’t there, I—!” Cordelia spat in rage, but then she gasped when she noticed Natalia a little distance away. “Natalia?! What are you doing here...?!”
“Yes...?” Natalia, who had been helping to clear up the rubble, turned to her mother moodily.
Cordelia was startled to find Natalia here, of all places, when she should have been at the Athena School of Magic. After a few moments, tears came to Cordelia’s eyes, and she cried out, “Help me, Natalia! Call the local soldiers!”
“Tch...”
That sound and Natalia’s scowl were enough to stop Cordelia’s crocodile tears. “What...?”
Natalia stomped up to her mother and looked down at her, crossing her arms. “That idiot next to you seems to be the mastermind, but you were an accomplice in his plot. You should atone for your crimes. I refuse to help you,” she snapped coldly.
“Wha—are you really...Natalia...?! That child would never defy me!”
“You really don’t know when to shut up, do you? Do you have a piece of cloth I can use, Groh? Let’s gag her and leave her here in the dirt.”
“Uh, I feel like you’re turning into a mini Dark Overlord...” Groh muttered in concern as he watched Natalia expertly put a gag in Cordelia’s mouth.
Meanwhile, the sky was steadily paling. Soon, the action-packed night would come to an end, and a new day would begin.
Eluka trotted over to Allen and slapped his shoulder. “Good work, bro. Guess we can call it case closed?”
“No way. Nothing’s closed yet.” Sure, they had taken their revenge for the most part, but there was more to take care of. “We have to do everything we can to expose their wicked schemes and prove Charlotte’s innocence to the whole world. It’s not ‘mission accomplished’ until Charlotte’s free.”
Cecil humphed. He snickered derisively at Allen. “I don’t know what cards you’re planning to play, but I’ll quash your move with all the powers under my thumb in Neils Kingdom. And I won’t stop there—it’s a fact that you injured a member of the royal family. As soon as I get home, I’m going to charge you and Charlotte. If you think you’ll get away with this without a scratch, think again.”
“Hah, what a pathetic attempt at a threat.”
“What...?!”
Allen pointed straight at Cecil’s face. The first rays of sunlight were illuminating the horizon. Allen stood tall with the sunrise on his back and, with a big grin, he declared war. “Anyone who knows me will tell you that whenever someone attacks me, I fight back till the very end—that’s just the way I am. I’ll hunt you two down to the ends of the earth and make sure your lives are a living hell. You can look forward to that.”
Cecil went pale, realizing that Allen was dead serious.
“Allen...” Charlotte held her hands together over her chest. She looked a little relieved to hear Allen swat away Cecil’s threat.
Allen knew they would be up against an entire kingdom next—a big fight if there ever was one. It might take time, but he was determined. “I made a promise. I swore that I’d make Charlotte the happiest person in the world. So—”
He was about to declare, “So I won’t let anyone get in the way,” but a frivolous, carefree voice rang out in the tense air.
“Oh, there you are, Master Allen! I’ve been lookin’ for you!”
Someone was pattering over to him—needless to say, it was Dorothea.
“Why now?! We’re a bit busy!” It didn’t seem like he could just ignore her, so Allen reluctantly turned around. “What do you want, Dorothea? You better make it quick—”
“Here, take this. I just finished up my manuscript. And here’s my new book baby, fresh off the press!”
“How does that even work?!” He was so startled that he forgot his snark. The book that she shoved into his hands had a solid, proper binding, not a slapdash, last-minute creation. Plus, it was thick. As he’d feared, the cover art depicted a wizard with half-white, half-black hair and a young girl with golden locks standing together.
“So...you wrote about us again...?” Allen grumbled.
“’Course. You told me I could,” Dorothea said breezily.
“I didn’t get a chance to burn the manuscript...” His shoulders slumped dejectedly. Even more of their love story would be circulated around the world now. “Anyway, can you hang on to it for now, Charlotte?”
“S-Sure...I-I wonder what’s in it this time...” Charlotte took the book from Allen. Though she was blushing, curiosity got the better of her, and she flipped it open. Her face went bright red and steam rose from her head with a poof.