Dragon Tooth Youth

Tiadam's loud burp and nonsensical remark destroyed the atmosphere Oyana had painstakingly created in less than a moment.

"Lord... please don't mind this boy..." Oyana tried to salvage the mood. "He used to be a thief, without the slightest education or taste. Please..."

"No—" Yetara stopped Oyana. "The opinions offered by such a lively, hot-blooded young man are quite constructive. I like them very much. He... has flavor..."

Yetara set down the red wine in his hand and carefully examined every part of Tiadam: his resolute face, his strong physique, and beneath that light stubble... pulsing veins. Looking at such a young man, Yetara felt as if the blood beneath his pale skin had come back to life. A lock of golden hair fell onto the pork chop.

He licked his lips, swallowed, and said, "My friend, I believe that besides business, there are other things... we can discuss..."

"Such as?" Tiadam's tone carried some disdain.

"Many things... many things... Though you are an insignificant person from the slums, I would not consider you utterly beneath contempt..." Yetara's aristocratic manner was proud and arrogant, like a brightly colored slug. "As long as you are willing, I shall be merciful..."

"I'm not willing—" Tiadam said bluntly, without the slightest tact. "My self-important lord, if you truly had mercy... Canfor would not have any slums!"

"Then there is no need for us to talk—" Yetara's smile froze, and his hazy gaze signaled for his servants to see them out.

"My lord..."

Oyana still wanted to make an attempt, but Lord Yetara no longer wished to indulge her.

"Miss Oyana, we are friends. I feel at ease doing business with you, but my goodwill and trust have limits. Do not trample on them again..." Yetara rose and returned to his room. His broad bathrobe glimmered gray-orange beneath the dim lights, while his deathly pale skin was as cold as winter snow, setting off the faint red glow in his eyes to perfection.

"The master has spoken. Please leave, both of you..." The maid who had been refined and courteous a moment ago became fierce in the blink of an eye. The tone in her voice could swallow a person whole, chew them to pieces, then spit them out. Meanwhile, another attendant lifted the two-meter-long train beneath the lord's robe and followed him away.

"Just as I thought... I shouldn't have taken you there..." Oyana said while sitting in her magic shop. "Yetara is naturally suspicious and eccentric. Nothing good will come of provoking him..." Oyana continued drawing on the hookah in her hand.

"If that's the case, why did you take me to the lord's house? Weren't you afraid of causing trouble?" Tiadam reclined sideways on the scrolls in Oyana's inner room, with the short sword at his waist pinned beneath him as a seat.

"I had no choice. I didn't dare meet the lord alone either. That guy is a pervert. If I stayed in a room with him, who knew... he might eat me..."

"So you brought me along because you wanted me to be your bodyguard?"

"Of course~" Oyana said, licking the tip of her lips. "Who told you to carry the Hero's bloodline..." As she spoke, Oyana gave him a meaningful smile.

"It's him! It's him! Yes, it's him! The bloodline of the Hero! Ah~ Hero... Hero... no matter how much time passes... no matter how many generations go by~ I will never forget your magnificence..." In the dark inner chamber, Canfor's lord, Yetara, danced gracefully while wrapped in a long skirt. His crimson eyes gave off an eerie light, scarlet yarn clung to the carpet, and his crystal shoes were filled with burnt-yellow liquid.

"Pure—fiery—your blood is more fragrant and mellow than the finest wine, your bones harder than the most precious gems. Ah~ Hero, do you know how long I have waited for you? Do you know how long I have endured this wretched existence to witness your rebirth... Your blood~ your blood~ When will I once again taste your blood..." Yetara's voice began to tremble, and several orange-red tears flowed down his pale face. "How pitiful~ how tragic~ The Hero's bloodline has actually fallen into those lowly slums. Oh~ what misfortune, what sorrow~ Is there anything more unfortunate in this world?"

"Hmph—my lord..." The maid stood outside the inner chamber and spoke softly. "Is there anything you need us to do?"

"Ah~ so you are still here..." Yetara twisted his limbs as he crawled toward the maid. "Does that even need to be said? Of course, bring the Hero back from that filthy place. I will never allow the Hero's bloodline to be tainted..."

"YES—my master"

The maid knelt on the floor and replied softly before sinking into the shadows.

"Ding ding ding—" The brass bell Oyana had placed outside the door rang again. It seemed another customer had come to her shop to pick out accessories.

"Yalila, go open the door—" Oyana said slowly as she smoked her hookah.

"Okay~" Yalila answered out of habit, then headed toward the magic circle leading to the shop.

Only after Yalila entered the magic circle did Tiadam touch the cup beside the table. "Um... Yalila's matter still isn't settled, right..."

Oyana said, "Bandit boy, what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing... nothing..." Tiadam stammered. "It's just... your shop is usually pretty busy, and Yalila was injured before... She definitely needs a man to do some work now... Well, I'm young and strong, Witch... do you want me to come help out at your shop..."

"Hehe—" Oyana took a drag from the hookah and spoke in the tone of someone with experience. "Hey, boy, are you trying to court my daughter?"

"Pfft—" Tiadam spat out the water he had just drunk. "Misunderstanding! It's a misunderstanding! I never thought that! We're business partners, it's only for profit! Just for profit!"

"Oh? Is that so~" Oyana leaned gently toward Tiadam. The scent of roses rushed into his nostrils, while the hookah's fragrance, like ripe mangoes, concealed the smell of sweat on her body.

"Though I'm twice your age... my heart is still young... You should know... I am more suitable for you than Yalila is... boy..." Oyana quietly lowered her clothes by an inch. "I can teach you many things... things Yalila does not know..."

Thump thump thump— Tiadam's heart pounded wildly.

"Ah—" Yalila's scream stopped Oyana's next move. Tiadam shoved Oyana away with one hand and rushed toward the magic circle.

"Mm~ I suppose you passed..." Oyana pulled her clothes back up, and the magic circle hidden within the hookah gradually disappeared.

"If that boy had hugged me just now, then by now... not even ashes would be left of him..." Oyana muttered to herself. "Stupid girl... I truly hope you won't follow my old path..."

Outside the shop, Tiadam had just emerged from the magic circle when someone immediately restrained him with weapons. A chain forged from dragon sinew wrapped around his left foot, a one-handed shield made of dragon hide pressed against his spine, and a butterfly knife forged from dragon teeth rested against his throat.

"Hey—friend, this isn't your first time killing someone, is it..." Tiadam's Adam's apple trembled slightly. "You've judged this distance remarkably well. Even a bandit like me, who makes a living through robbery, could not be this precise. Are you an assassin sent by the lord?"

"No—" The youth's voice was low, and the dragon tooth ornaments on his body clinked without pause.

"Then... there is no need for you to kill me..." Tiadam said slowly. "We... have no grievance... no enmity..."

"I never intended to kill you in the first place," the Dragon Tooth youth replied.

"Then you can let me go..." Tiadam said with an awkward smile. "Let's just call it no fight, no friendship..."

"What do you mean, no fight, no friendship?!" Yalila, bound on the ground, shouted. "This is the guy who cut off the fingers on my right hand yesterday! I will never let him go!"

"Mm... friend... although you are young... bullying girls is never a good habit..."

"I didn't bully her! The men of the Dragon Tooth Clan do not bully women!" the youth retorted.

"Then why does she say you cut off all five of her fingers?" Tiadam twisted his neck.

"Her... her hand is completely unharmed..." The youth's face immediately turned red. "I never did anything like that!"

"You liar!" Yalila's voice was shrill. "Teacher Oyana used a healing scroll worth two Kralimayas to restore my fingers! You damned, filthy liar!"

"I... I'm not a liar!"

The moment the Dragon Tooth youth was distracted, Tiadam flipped over and kicked him in the waist. The youth yanked the chain tight and lunged at him, stabbing toward Tiadam's vital points with a short blade.

With a flash of firelight, Tiadam used the youth's own dragon-sinew chain to bind him.

"Hey—friend, if you hadn't ambushed me, my skills would not be inferior to yours—" Tiadam looked heroic, completely reversing his earlier disadvantage.

"Then... let's try it..." Though the Dragon Tooth youth was usually quiet, his eyes were now filled with fighting spirit. "You are the first outsider who has dared to challenge me..."

"Hoho—an interesting fellow..."

"Tiadam—kill this little bastard! If you don't kill him, don't ever come looking for me again! From now on, we are through!" Yalila continued chattering from where she lay on the ground.