Not in hell?
Where else could she go if not hell? Eighty percent of humans ended up in hell after death. Of the rest, some went to heaven, some went to the Hall of Valor, some became wandering ghosts, some turned into creatures that were neither human nor ghost, and some became low-level vampires.
Others did not even get the chance to become undead. They were refined by wild necromancers.
And then there was a small number of outstanding, powerful humans. Those who were powerful enough went to the divine realm to become lesser gods or divine soldiers.
The clergy, knights, and monks of the various temples utterly despised wild necromancers. Whenever they caught one, they purified them.
Because wild necromancers caused chaos and harmed people everywhere, necromancers who cooperated with hell were not very welcome in the human world either. They were even hated.
The various temples had problems with their attitudes as well. They were prejudiced against necromancers. Even knowing that some necromancers merely cooperated with hell, the temple clergy still disliked them.
It was a matter of faith.
The fact that they did not immediately come to blows was already good enough. Living together harmoniously was impossible.
"If she wasn't in hell, where could she have gone? Could she have faked her death and escaped, or been rescued by some powerful passing mage? She only owed me 132 gold coins. There was no need to go that far. Even if she faked her death and ran away back then to avoid repaying her debt, two thousand years have passed. She should have reported to hell by now."
"Based on what you've told me, I don't think this sister is that kind of person. She was willing to cast a Forbidden Spell beyond her rank to protect the people of a town, which shows that she had a good nature.
"When I said she wasn't in hell, I meant... could this beautiful sister have gone to heaven?"
"Heaven?"
"Yes." Lucia nodded. "Think about it. Back then, during the Beast Tide, this beautiful sister used her own life to protect hundreds of people in a town. Regardless of whether she ultimately managed to protect that town, the fact that she died fighting to protect its people is undeniable.
"Wouldn't it be possible for someone like that to be guided to heaven by angels after death?"
Lance fell silent.
That possibility did exist. Angels liked humans who were kind, powerful, and possessed a shining quality.
Sophia, who had been able to cast a Forbidden Spell beyond her rank, might have been taken to heaven by the angels to become one herself. Or they might have arranged for her to be reincarnated into a wealthy family.
She had such a good afterlife?
There was nothing he could do. He had not yet established connections in heaven, so he had no channel through which to search for information about Sophia.
He would never get his 132 gold coins back.
"Bless you. Whether you stayed in heaven as an apprentice angel or were reincarnated into some wealthy family in the human world, I bless you. I hope you aren't as poor and unfortunate as you were when I met you.
"And lending you money doesn't mean I liked you. Besides love, there is another kind of feeling in this world called friendship."
Lance raised a dragon claw and took Sophia's portrait down from the wall. If she was not in hell, that meant they would never have a chance to meet again.
He might as well burn it. That way, seeing it would not remind him that she was a short-lived deadbeat.
"Lance, y-you-you're going to burn this sister's portrait?"
Lucia saw a cluster of flames appear on the dragon's claw.
He clearly intended to burn the portrait in his claw.
"Mm. Otherwise, keeping her hanging in my study will just make me think of her as a short-lived deadbeat who never repaid her debt."
"..."
How could he describe his former best friend that way?
"Wouldn't burning it be a little bad? Keep it. When you see it in the future, you can remember the time when you became human and went to play in the human world.
"Most importantly, I heard that when humans who went to heaven reincarnate as humans, the gods let them be reborn into wealthy families.
"Lance, you're a dragon and can live for a very, very long time. Maybe the next time you turn human and visit the human world, you'll happen to meet someone who looks exactly like this sister in some kingdom, some town, or some prosperous imperial capital. That person might be this sister's reincarnation. Then you'll still have a chance to get your money back."
The flame at the tip of the evil dragon Lance's claw went out. He felt that the little dragon had a point.
In the future, he still had to take the little dragon to the human world and let her see its prosperity—and the treachery of the human heart.
Staying on Black Dragon Island all the time would do nothing for the little dragon's growth.
Appropriate exposure to the human world would benefit her future.
Even if she wanted to become an evil dragon someday, she should become one with taste.
As for Sophia, if she was lucky, he might really run into her reincarnation.
He would keep the portrait for now.
Lance hung the portrait back on the wall.
"Lance, there are so many portraits on the wall. Which one has you in it?"
"None of them."
"You've never been in a portrait with a former friend?"
"No. I was the one who painted their portraits. Whenever I made a new group of friends, I painted a portrait of each of them. Over time, it became a habit."
"Are the people—or nonhuman beings—in those portraits on the wall still alive?"
"My human friends are definitely all dead. My dwarf friends, beastfolk friends, and elf friends... I'd guess most of them are dead too."
"..."
Lucia glanced at the portraits hanging on the wall. A thought suddenly surfaced in her mind: she absolutely could not let the evil dragon paint her portrait in the future!
The dwarves, beastfolk, elves, and even nonhuman beings who had been painted by the evil dragon were all dead.
It was ominous.
The evil dragon's portraits were filled with an ominous quality.
"Speaking of portraits, I suddenly had an idea. Little dragon, would you like to leave a portrait of yourself as a young dragon for your future self? If you do, I can paint one for you tomorrow. I've already thought of the background.
"At sunset tomorrow, you can lean against Tortoise, with the sea and the afterglow of the setting sun behind you. Just imagining it, I already feel like it will become a World Famous Painting."
"!!!"
What was she afraid of? It had come true!
She had only just thought about it, and the evil dragon had already decided to paint her portrait. If she were really a little dragon, she would not have minded.
But she was human! What if the evil dragon's portraits really possessed some ominous power? She might die suddenly before making it back to the imperial capital. Just look at the fate of that beautiful sister in the portrait—she had encountered the Beast Tide and simply died.
"No, no, no, no. I don't want to leave my future self a portrait of what I looked like as a child. I think that to become an excellent evil dragon, you first have to remain mysterious.
"Yes, remain mysterious. So I don't want to leave behind a portrait of myself, just like you, Lance. You've never left a portrait of yourself in the human world."
"I see. What a pity."
Lance thought that using the sea and the afterglow of the setting sun as the background really would have been wonderful.
The little dragon he had picked up did not want him to paint her, and he could not force her.
For an evil dragon, remaining mysterious really was beneficial.
Should he paint a portrait of Tortoise tomorrow instead? Come to think of it, he had raised Tortoise for so long, yet he had never painted a portrait of it.
"Lance, were you looking at portraits of your former friends tonight just to collect debts?"
"I also wanted to summon my old powerful enemies up here and scare them a little."
Before you continue