Miss Black Dragon Refuses to Be a Mount

Likaro told Ailolin about her enemies and the revenge she planned to exact in the future.

Although Ailolin felt that living burdened by hatred was not a good thing, when she put herself in Likaro's shoes, she knew she would do the same.

The destruction of the knight order was a knot in Likaro's heart. If Likaro's hatred could not be dispelled, she would never be able to untie that knot.

After learning all this, Ailolin made her choice.

She wanted to help Likaro carry out her revenge.

"Little Black Dragon, do you really plan to help me?"

Likaro wanted to say that this had nothing to do with Ailolin. All she needed to do was be her good friend and give her a shoulder to lean on when it mattered.

But Ailolin was incredibly stubborn. Once she made up her mind, she would not change it easily.

She had to stay by Likaro's side. Otherwise, with the hatred weighing on her for so long and the immense mental pressure, Likaro could easily fall into the abyss.

"Thank you..."

Likaro could not find any other words. Right now, all she felt toward Ailolin was boundless gratitude.

"Tell me who you want revenge on first."

"Mm."

Likaro remembered that group of people clearly. There were refugees she had once rescued, a lord of the Lumbart Kingdom, and several private knight orders.

They were all the main culprits behind the destruction of the knight order.

"Are you planning to rebuild the knight order now?"

"Yes..."

In truth, Likaro knew the process would take a long time, because accumulating enough strength could not be done in just a day or two.

This was her only option. Her strength alone was not enough to stand against so many enemies.

Likaro was still wanted, after all, and more than one person was hunting her down. The bounty on her head was five hundred gold coins, enough to draw plenty of bounty hunters.

But Ailolin had another idea. She did not want Likaro to keep exhausting herself over rebuilding the knight order.

The tragedy had masterminds behind it. Likaro did not need to kill every single one of them; those ordinary soldiers had merely followed orders as well.

Ailolin believed she and Likaro could assassinate the enemies most burdened with sin. As long as they eliminated every mastermind and everyone whose hands were stained with innocent blood, there was no need to wipe out an entire lord's army or every member of several knight orders.

Assassination meant they would not need to recruit people and rebuild the knight order. The fewer people involved, the better. Ailolin also thought that if she acted alongside Likaro, she could look after her.

The plan was somewhat reasonable, and Likaro found herself tempted.

"Little Black Dragon... have you ever killed anyone?"

To the former Likaro, killing was completely unacceptable. She had believed taking another person's life was far too cruel.

But after experiencing so much, her mindset had begun to change. Perhaps killing no longer carried much of a psychological burden for her now.

Of course, the people she wanted to kill were not innocent.

"I've never killed anyone," Ailolin answered truthfully.

"..."

Likaro fell silent. Just as she had guessed, Little Black Dragon's hands had never been stained with another person's blood.

Ailolin knew what Likaro was thinking. In truth, she was not as kind as Likaro imagined, like some saintly maiden.

If someone stood in her way or hurt someone important to her, then when killing became necessary, she would not hesitate.

After being reincarnated in this other world for so many years, Ailolin had long abandoned part of the mindset she had brought from Earth.

This other world was far more chaotic than Earth. Most regions had no reason or order to speak of, and nations with backward administration simply could not maintain proper order.

Therefore, strength was the only hard truth. The strong could easily take the lives of the weak without feeling any psychological burden.

In such circumstances, if Ailolin pretended to be a saint and avoided all fighting and killing, she would pay the price for it sooner or later.

So although Ailolin had never killed anyone, and perhaps her first time would weigh on her, she had long prepared herself mentally.

Likaro was her good friend, and this friendship was precious to her. The people she would kill in the future were her good friend's enemies, so naturally Ailolin would not hesitate.

Besides, if not for them, Likaro would never have become like this.

It was nearly noon. Ailolin felt the weather growing hot, so she prepared to go downstairs and buy two iced drinks.

The food in this other world was not as underdeveloped as she had imagined. In fact, because of the diversity of species, there were even more varieties than on Earth.

"Wait!"

Just as Ailolin was about to head for the door, Likaro hurriedly called out to her.

"What is it?"

Ailolin looked at Likaro in confusion.

Likaro walked to the door, then crouched down and traced through the air a few times with her hand. A circular magic formation promptly appeared on the floor.

"What is this?" Ailolin asked in surprise.

"Explosive Trap."

As Likaro dispelled the formation, she explained the trap's function to Ailolin.

It turned out that, just in case, Likaro had secretly drawn on the magic within her body to set up this defensive trap after she and Ailolin entered the room.

It was meant as a backup plan. Once Likaro felt the time was right, she would use magic to forcefully shove Ailolin's body and slam her into the trap.

Then... boom!

But Likaro's dagger had been unable to break through Ailolin's defenses, so she realized that even an Explosive Trap would probably be useless.

This was inside a tavern, after all. If the Explosive Trap had been activated, the tavern owner might have been the one crying hardest.

After hearing Likaro's explanation, Ailolin could not help feeling a little frightened. She had nearly been blown up just now.

But honestly, could Likaro's magic really seriously hurt her?

"When did you learn magic?"

"Xiya taught me. She said my Magic Spring Constitution shouldn't go to waste..."

"I see."

Ailolin had nearly forgotten about Likaro's special constitution. With a Magic Spring, the magic power within her body was practically inexhaustible. Not learning magic would truly be a waste of talent.

Ailolin was unbearably envious. If she had even a tenth of Likaro's magic power, she would not be in such a miserable state.

At the very least, Likaro's horse could have been saved before.

Now that she had a human form, would it be better to buy a staff if she wanted to cast spells?

Ailolin recalled what Vidian had said back then. Vidian had mentioned several ways to increase one's maximum magic power.

Suddenly, Ailolin thought of something. She glanced at Likaro before her cheeks began to flush.

No, no. Even if that method could increase magic capacity most efficiently, I won't do it.

Likaro was her good friend. How could she possibly do that sort of thing with a good friend?

For Ailolin and Likaro, both of them had to hide their identities.

One had an incomplete transformation, while the other was wanted.

Fortunately, the cities of the Lumbart Kingdom did not conduct particularly strict inspections. That was why Ailolin and Likaro could still eat peacefully at a tavern in the city.

The two of them were tucked away in a quiet corner of the tavern. The table before them was piled with all kinds of delicious food, obviously worth a considerable sum.

Thinking of Likaro gnawing on hard bread before, Ailolin felt heartbroken. So she generously ordered an entire table of food, both to celebrate their reunion and to fill Likaro's stomach.

Likaro calmly ate the food on the table, but she also had a question she wanted to ask Ailolin.

"Little Black Dragon, my horse died. What did you do with it?"

"Uh..." The moment Likaro's horse was mentioned, Ailolin felt deeply guilty. "I dug a hole and buried it."

"There were a lot of coins in the saddlebags on its back. Did you know?"

"I did. I put them all in my backpack."

"..."

When Likaro fell silent, Ailolin immediately realized her mistake. "Sorry, I know that was stealing. I'll return every coin to you when we get back to the room."

"No." Likaro shook her head. "Since Little Black Dragon has decided to help me, we're on the same side now. There's no need to distinguish things so clearly."

"Alright, then."

Ailolin thought that was fine too.

So she decided to combine her money with Likaro's. As long as both of them agreed, they could use it whenever needed.

"Are you not planning to be a knight anymore?" Ailolin added several pieces of ice to her juice.

"I am, but..." Likaro's expression darkened slightly. "I don't want to be who I used to be. Now, I only want to protect the people important to me. Whether anyone else lives or dies has nothing to do with me."

Likaro could still remember the oath she had sworn on the day she became a knight.

But honestly, very few people truly upheld a knight's oath. It had basically become nothing more than a formality.

And now, Likaro had decided to abandon the vows she once made.

Ailolin listened to her and felt a little upset inside.

Sigh, it seems Likaro really has changed too much because of what happened to the knight order.

Since meeting Likaro again, Ailolin had never seen her smile.

Most of the time, Likaro wore no expression at all, and she had become very quiet.

She was completely different from how she had been as a child.

Ailolin resolved to change her.

"I'm really sorry about stealing the horse... Let's buy another horse later."

"I don't blame you, and don't buy one yet."

"Why?"

"I don't want to be a knight for now."

"..."

If that was Likaro's true wish, Ailolin respected it.

Actually, she thought this was not bad either. Compared to close combat, mages were relatively less likely to get injured.

All kinds of barriers and movement spells could improve their safety.

Ailolin decided that when she and Likaro went to assassinate their enemies in the future, she would take the role of the frontline shield in close combat.

After all, her hide was thick, and she was not afraid of blades. If necessary, she could even transform back into her true form and crush their enemies.

"Oh, right." Likaro remembered something. "After we eat, I want to send a letter."

Ailolin instantly understood. It was probably one of the letters Likaro had lost twice before, likely meant for her parents.

"Is it safe to send a letter directly? Could the contents leak?"

Although human nations had postal services, Ailolin always felt they were unreliable.

"It's safe. I'll send it through the Mage Association. They use nontraditional methods."

"I see... By the way, is the badge on your chest from the Mage Association?"

"Mm. It's only a certification used to prove one's identity."

"I see."

"Do you want to get certified too?"

"No, no."

Ailolin felt that with the tiny amount of magic power in her body, she had better not go looking to embarrass herself.

She began focusing on the food in front of her. As a dragon, even if she ate everything on the table, she would not feel full—but she had to make sure Likaro ate her fill first.