Chapter 1292: 50. Scenery

Human progress... impressive?

Muen looked at the deep-purple bed, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help twitching.

If the sages of past generations knew that the symbol of the human progress they had worked so hard to advance had somehow become an erotic bed—and one meant for restraint play, no less—who knew what they would think.

They'd probably be delighted...

Delighted enough to jump straight out of their graves.

"I think judging the level of development from a single room or a single bed is still far too one-sided. You should appreciate this city from several different perspectives."

To prevent Miss Dragon from investigating the mysteries of that bed any further, Muen hurriedly pulled her out onto the balcony.

Just as Muen had expected beforehand, the view from this inn was indeed excellent.

Directly across from the balcony stretched the magnificent Glein River.

Muen was fairly familiar with this river as well, a river that carried the weighty history of the entire city of Belrand.

It flowed calmly past them, while the gradually rising morning sun scattered brilliant ripples of light across its surface, only for those reflections to be swallowed by the drifting mist.

At this end of the river lay the bustling street.

As the sun climbed higher, the number of pedestrians gradually increased. Shops on both sides had already begun calling out to customers, while newspaper boys slipped between carriages and pedestrians, shouting the day's headlines.

Muen listened carefully.

There was nothing about Muen Campbell.

Good.

It seemed that no matter how explosive a piece of news was, as time passed, it would eventually become worthless.

Of course, that was assuming nobody detonated it all over again.

"Miss Dragon, what do you think? Belrand is pretty nice, isn't it?"

With that thought, Muen relaxed a little more.

He spread his arms as though trying to embrace this city he had not actually been away from for very long.

Mm.

As long as he didn't think about one tiny little problem, returning to his home turf really did feel good.

At the very least, he didn't have to worry about some Evil God believer, terrorist, or lunatic suddenly jumping out from nowhere and causing trouble.

"It is nice."

Hamreign nodded lightly.

What Muen wanted to show her was the scenery.

What she cared about more, however, was the population, culture, and many, many other things here.

For hundreds of years, she had wandered along the edges of the human world.

For hundreds of years, she had never truly stopped to carefully observe humanity's world.

Now that she looked closely, she discovered that whether it was the small city from before or this enormous city called Belrand, both had almost exceeded her expectations.

Humans truly were stubborn creatures.

A thousand years ago, they had suffered such a catastrophe that civilization had nearly been severed completely.

Yet after merely a thousand years, it was as though every wound had already healed.

This land, once reduced to desolation, had once again erupted with unimaginable vitality.

Although it still could not compare to a thousand years ago, it nevertheless made her feel...

That perhaps her persistence over these thousand years had not been in vain.

"I told you before, didn't I?"

Muen spoke softly.

"How could everything Miss Dragon has done possibly have been meaningless? Perhaps you truly failed to save Tars. Perhaps because of that, you've blamed yourself and suffered terribly. But over these past centuries, over this thousand years, without even realizing it, you've already saved who knows how many Tarses."

"Look, Miss Dragon. Tars was certainly beautiful, certainly something worth cherishing, but isn't the city before us even more prosperous than Tars was?"

Hamreign fell slightly silent.

Indeed.

This place was more prosperous.

She could say that with certainty.

Although the beauty of Tars had indeed far surpassed this city, she could already see, at a glance, shadows hidden in certain corners of Belrand.

But that was simply the darkness that inevitably accompanied such an enormous population.

So if one judged purely by prosperity, even two Tarses could not compare to this Belrand.

"Belrand, Saint Blancfazesiya, the Holy City. There are many cities like these across this continent. For them to develop so peacefully, without being eroded by Pollution, I think that surely has something to do with all the work Miss Dragon has done over these many years."

"Even on a peaceful morning like this, when the people of this city wake up and can greet the warm sun, when they can eat a piece of sweet bread, some part of that must be thanks to you, Miss Dragon."

A dragon called a calamity wandered through the world and brought destruction.

But what she destroyed was not nations or cities.

It was calamity itself.

"You shouldn't be called the Dragon of Death and Doom, nor should you be called a calamity."

Muen looked out over the city and spoke with solemn sincerity.

"You are the true protector of this mortal world...

"And the gentlest, best dragon in this entire world."

Thump.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

A strange, incomprehensible, indescribable flutter.

Hamreign's heart suddenly began beating faster.

She turned her head toward Muen and stared at his profile, which looked unusually clean and beautiful in the faint morning light.

At this moment, this human, this man she regarded as her eternal companion, did not seem to realize what kind of thing he had just said.

He seemed to regard it as nothing more than ordinary praise.

He even seemed embarrassed by having praised her so directly, because he hurriedly raised a hand and began pointing out the names of the streets and districts around them.

For example, at the end of the street beneath them was the famous Dancers' Square.

Every evening, dancers from all over performed there, hoping to catch the attention of the major theaters and become famous overnight.

Or the clean and orderly district on the other side of the river.

It had once been home to many nobles, but after an incident left more than half of it vacant, the restrictions on residency were simply abolished, and the properties were resold to ordinary wealthy people.

Part of the Empire's military budget had even been raised through those sales.

Farther beyond that district was the famous Queen's Avenue.

It ran through the central heart of the city and also connected to—

"Ahem."

At this point, Muen coughed twice, his expression becoming somewhat unnatural.

Whatever lay at the end of that street apparently was not a particularly good place for him to discuss, so he did not continue in that direction.

Instead, his attention returned to this side of the city, and he began talking about the Lower District.

Gangs, smuggling, shootouts, chaotic battles...

And a certain unnamed Dark Emperor who had somehow made all of it much more harmonious.

In short, Muen talked about many things.

He really did know the city extremely well, and his explanations were vivid and entertaining.

Even someone completely unfamiliar with Belrand would have been drawn in by his words and made to appreciate the city's charm.

Yet at this moment, for some reason, Hamreign, the listener, had no desire whatsoever to admire any of the scenery he was describing.

Her gaze seemed nailed to his profile by some strange force, unable to move away.

The pounding in her chest sounded like war drums.

That restlessness that had refused to disappear before became even stronger.

And under the influence of countless factors she could not understand, she suddenly took one step closer to him.

The distance between them abruptly narrowed.

"Miss Dragon?"

Muen had been talking for quite a while without receiving the slightest response.

He turned his head curiously.

"Are you listening?"

"I-I am."

Hamreign abruptly snapped back to herself.

Relying on strength far beyond Muen's, before his gaze could fully return to her, she sharply turned her head and looked into the distance.

"Hm?"

Muen did not notice Hamreign's gaze.

Nor did he notice anything strange about her.

Although he felt an odd gust of wind as he turned his head, he paid no attention to it.

After all, strong winds beside a river were perfectly normal.

But...

Was it his imagination?

Why did it feel like Miss Dragon was a little closer to him than before?

And why did her cheeks look slightly flushed?

"What's wrong?"

Hamreign turned her head back.

Her expression was perfectly calm, as though she had merely just returned from being deeply immersed in admiring the scenery.

There was no blush on her face at all, only the warm hue cast across her cheek by the sunlight.

"N-Nothing."

Muen waved his hand.

As expected, it had just been his imagination.

After all, they weren't flirting or talking about love right now.

They were only looking at scenery.

Suddenly blushing for no reason would make absolutely no sense.

"Did Miss Dragon understand what I was trying to tell you?"

"Mm."

She lightly brushed her hair aside.

"I did."

"That's great. Then I hope you won't have those discouraging thoughts again like before. You need to understand that all the effort you've put in, all the work you've done, all the pain and despair you've endured, definitely weren't meaningless."

Muen smiled.

"I stopped thinking that way a long time ago."

Hamreign's golden eyes flickered.

At last, her gaze could fall directly upon Muen without wavering.

"I have a companion traveling beside me now. Why would I fear pain anymore?"

"...That's good."

Muen froze for a moment, then continued smiling.

"Then I won't stay with you for now. I still have to go scout things out. If there aren't any problems, afterward I'll definitely invite you to my home very formally...

"As a companion."

"Mm."

Hamreign also inexplicably paused for a moment before nodding.

"I'll also look forward to it with great anticipation...

"As a companion."

"See you later."

"See you later."

The two said goodbye.

Muen turned and left.

But before leaving, while Miss Dragon turned back to continue admiring the scenery, he suddenly reached toward a corner of the balcony and pressed down.

An utterly ordinary wooden panel suddenly tilted inward, revealing a pitch-black passage behind it.

"There really is a back exit?"

The corner of Muen's mouth twitched.

He no longer even knew how to describe this inn.

Still, he did not pay much attention to it.

He and Miss Dragon weren't doing anything shameful that couldn't be seen by others.

What possible use could something like this have?

He might as well pretend it didn't exist.

Muen casually pushed the wooden panel back into place and left the inn.

For him, unless something unexpected happened, what he was about to face next...

Would be the real hard battle.

Muen left.

Hamreign, however, remained on the balcony.

She gazed over the city's scenery, her fiery-red hair constantly stirred by the river wind.

Yet not a single trace of that scenery was reflected in her golden eyes.

She had clearly come here to travel through a human city.

But without realizing it, what occupied her heart was no longer the culture or liveliness around her.

It was the restlessness and fluttering she could not understand.

Just now, he had been looking at the scenery.

But she had not been looking at the scenery.

Or perhaps...

She had been looking at scenery after all.

It was simply that the scenery she had been looking at was him.

That made no sense.

"Companion, companion, companion. We should be eternal companions. That has already been confirmed."

Hamreign placed a hand over her chest.

"But why am I becoming less and less able to feel calm because of that answer?"

No one could answer her.

She could only search for the answer herself.

Suddenly.

A scene was finally reflected in her golden eyes.

The crowds passing through the streets below entered her vision.

But it was not because the scenery was particularly beautiful.

It was because a familiar figure had appeared among the crowd, moving around suspiciously.

Her gaze followed that figure as he went farther and farther away.

She thought for a moment.

Then her figure flashed.

And she disappeared from where she stood.