Chapter 1191: 178. A Compromise

"That’s more like it. Resorting to violence without even thinking things through is really..."

Muen’s expression stiffened.

"Huh? Wait, what Miss Dragon means is... after saying all that, you still intend to use a somewhat rough method in the end?"

"It will only be just a tiny bit rough."

"This..."

"What? I’m already not slaughtering the city, and you still have objections?" Hamreign suddenly opened her eyes, a trace of amusement appearing in her golden pupils.

"..."

Muen felt as though he had been played.

Originally, after roughly figuring out the situation in New Tars, he had wanted to persuade Miss Dragon to use a somewhat "gentler" method. Because to this city and the people within it, whether it was the survivors from eight hundred years ago, the calamity, or the Evil God hidden in the shadows, all of them were far too terrifying.

Who would have thought that Miss Dragon would immediately say she wanted to "slaughter the city"?

Perhaps she truly had never intended to do so, but she had definitely said it on purpose.

Because she knew that if she directly said she intended to be a little "rough," Muen would certainly try to stop her. He knew her temper and feared that she might cause some severe consequences that would not look particularly good.

But if she first threw out "slaughter the city"...

Then Muen would feel that being slightly rough was not entirely unacceptable.

People always preferred compromise.

"Miss Dragon... when did you become so cunning?" Muen did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Do you think you are the only one capable of playing humanity’s cunning tricks? Before, I simply could not be bothered to argue with you."

"...I have never used any cunning tricks on Miss Dragon." Muen hurriedly swore to the heavens. "Heaven and earth can bear witness to that, the sun and moon can make it clear..."

"Enough nonsense."

Hamreign snorted coldly, interrupting Muen’s complete and utter bullshit.

"Uh... that isn’t nonsense. I have to defend myself with at least a few words, or my bad reputation will soon become ‘famous throughout the world.’" Muen smiled bitterly.

"That is why humans are troublesome. What is there to care about in something like reputation?"

She stood up directly.

"I’m going."

"Wait."

Muen called out to stop her.

"What else?"

"Can we make an agreement?"

"An agreement?" On her blurred face, her slender brows rose slightly.

"Don’t... make it too cruel."

Under the gaze of those golden pupils, Muen slowly extended his hand.

"If the people here truly are innocent, then please, Miss Dragon... be a little gentler."

"Gentler? Heh... How fussy."

As though she had heard a word she hated, Hamreign’s aura seemed to suddenly grow several degrees colder again.

But she still lightly shook Muen’s hand.

"If we encounter any more problems, I will not hold back. I hope you will not come and be a complete fool again."

"Of course."

Muen breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Being a fool once or twice is enough. If I do it too often... I might truly become stupid."

Hamreign snorted coldly again without commenting.

She pushed open the window.

"They killed the evil dragon! They killed the evil dragon!"

The play was actually still continuing. It had even progressed to an interactive segment. Under the staff’s arrangements, one child after another transformed into "heroes," fought against the "evil dragon," and finally defeated the "evil dragon," winning the cheers of countless spectators.

It seemed that from top to bottom, from adults to children, this play had already become deeply rooted in everyone’s hearts.

The image of the evil dragon had also become deeply rooted in their hearts.

Watching this scene, for some reason, Muen vaguely felt an ominous premonition in his heart, but he could not explain where it came from.

As for Hamreign...

She did not even glance at it. She completely disdained all of that. But just before she was about to leave, Muen suddenly called out to her again.

"What is it now?" Hamreign grew impatient. She felt that this human was sometimes truly extremely troublesome.

"It’s nothing. It’s just..."

Muen looked toward the center of the plaza. After hesitating for quite a while, he still voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind since earlier.

"About the story being performed in this play, can I ask..."

"You mean the part where I was cold, heartless, despicable, and shameless? That was true." As though Hamreign had long been prepared, she blurted it out immediately.

"..."

Muen froze, then hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no, no. That isn’t what I was asking. No matter what, I would not so easily believe an enemy speaking badly about my companion."

"Hm?" This time, it was Hamreign’s turn to pause slightly.

"What I wanted to ask about was the earlier part..."

Muen paused.

"The dragon in the story lost something important in a disaster, lost her family and friends, and even lost her place to belong. Was that true?"

"..."

Hamreign turned around and stared directly at Muen.

Her slender brows furrowed slightly. Although her face remained blurred, a trace of confusion could still be seen.

Once again, she could not understand this human.

He had watched that play...

But was that truly the important part of the play?

"Are you pitying me?"

"No. I was only asking. I..."

Muen thought about it, then barely forced out a smile.

"Forget it. I was being offensive. Miss Dragon can just treat it as me speaking too much."

It was another question asked on a sudden impulse.

There was no reason behind it, nor was there any rationality.

Just like that invitation at the bonfire banquet before.

For some reason, whenever he faced Miss Dragon, he would always act on such sudden impulses...

Or rather, his brain would suddenly short-circuit.

Was it because he had exhausted himself mentally too much recently, to the point that even his brain had begun malfunctioning?

Or...

Was it because he sensed some kind of contradiction within Miss Dragon?

That contradiction made him unable to resist trying to explore it...

"Just some old nonsense from a thousand years ago. What is there worth bringing up?"

Hamreign’s blurred face still revealed no expression. Only her disdainful sneer could be heard.

"Or do you think I would still care about those things from the past? Human... you are far too ridiculous."

"...I was being presumptuous."

This time, Muen admitted his mistake very readily.

"Stay here properly."

Hamreign did not pursue the matter any further. After traveling together for so long, she had already grown accustomed to this human’s brain suddenly "short-circuiting" at any moment. No matter what strange thing he did, she would no longer feel the slightest surprise.

As for punishment...

It was useless anyway, and she could not be bothered to act anymore.

He was merely a human. She did not care about him at all, so naturally, she would not take any of his little tricks seriously either.

WHOOSH.

A strong wind poured into the café through the window, causing Muen to instinctively narrow his eyes.

By the time his vision recovered, that fiery-red figure had naturally already disappeared.

Even from far away, Muen could sense the vast magical aura in the sky. The first thing Miss Dragon intended to do was naturally seal this place.

Although she was extraordinarily powerful herself, Muen had to admit that when it came to dealing with Pollution, Miss Dragon was terrifyingly cautious and steady.

She was even steadier than a weakling like him.

So steady that it was almost like...

TAP TAP.

Muen lightly tapped the tabletop twice and laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Why think so much about it?"

That was Miss Dragon.

A calamity, the strongest creature beneath the sky, the Dragon of Death and Doom who had lived for more than a thousand years.

No matter what her past was like, was it really the place of a yellow-haired brat whose age was not even a fraction of hers to worry about her?

He was simply looking for trouble where there was none. No wonder Miss Dragon disliked him so much.

"Then next, I should do something that won’t make her dislike me quite as much."

Muen stretched lazily. The muscles throughout his body loosened, and his joints cracked sharply.

Although Miss Dragon had told him to stay here properly...

How could he possibly truly remain here and idle?

Although he was only an accessory clinging to someone powerful, he was still an accessory with ideals.

At the very least...

"As your companion, I can’t let you be the only one playing the villain."

Muen swept his gaze around the café, his eyes once again landing on the owner from earlier.

There were only a few people inside. The owner was leisurely wiping a coffee cup while humming a little tune, completely unprepared for the danger approaching him.

Seeing this, the corner of Muen’s mouth crooked upward, revealing the standard sinister smile of a yellow-haired villain.