Just to Be Safe

His bloodline contained the factor of the white dragon. In the legends of Britain, both the white dragon and the red dragon stood at the pinnacle of dragon kind.

The red dragon symbolized a majestic, sacred king.

The white dragon symbolized a sinister, contemptible foreign race.

Both ranked among the [divine beasts] within the "Phantasmal Species."

In the human world, nonhuman races other than primates (humans) that possessed mysterious powers were known as Phantasmal Species.

These included beastlike creatures such as pegasi, chimeras, and sphinxes. Of course, they also included incubi, fairies, and nymphs, whose appearances resembled those of primates.

Phantasmal Species had three ranks, from lowest to highest: [Demon beast], [Phantom beast], and [divine beast].

Yet [dragon kind] was often singled out as an additional rank.

This was actually due to the unique nature of dragon kind: dragons existed across all three ranks.

And without exception, dragons were the strongest within each rank.

That was why people would often describe a Phantasmal Species as belonging to a certain rank and being comparable to dragons of that rank in some respects.

The strength of the pressure exerted by "dragon might" also varied with a dragon's rank.

Sub-dragon kind (demon beasts) had the weakest dragon might.

True dragon kind (phantom beasts) had more stable dragon might because of the purity of their bloodlines.

Certain true dragons possessed additional mystery from being mythologized, making them dragons of the [divine beast] rank. Their "dragon might" was far more terrifying than that of the other two.

Suppose he had died after falling off the cliff back then. Even if his dragon heart had not yet fully developed and could not emit dragon might...

After his death, the magical energy in his flesh and blood would have spilled out on its own, carrying the white dragon's aura with it and producing some of the effects of dragon might.

An ordinary wild animal could never have withstood such powerful dragon might to drag his corpse away, tear it apart, and devour it.

It would have been far more likely to flee in terror.

Then what if it had been a Phantasmal Species?

The Age of Gods had waned almost to nothing in England. It was virtually impossible for Phantasmal Species to survive there unless they consumed large numbers of wild animals imbued with magical energy and other mixed-blood beasts.

But the magical energy in England's atmosphere had already thinned to the point of being nearly imperceptible.

Only if some unknown hidden realm or ancient ruin from the Age of Gods existed, and wild animals accidentally wandered into it and were corrupted by its magical energy, could Phantasmal Species have found a source of food.

So this possibility existed, but it was also very slim.

That left only one final possibility-

Third, you didn't die. Someone saved you, or you got caught in a tree, recovered for a while, and then ran off.

First, assuming someone saved you, that "person" could never have been an ordinary commoner. They would have had to be some unknown powerful figure.

For example, it could have been a certain lecherous Dream Mage, or a certain Purple-Haired Old Woman deep in a Demon Realm...

Uh, no, a certain beautiful purple-haired girl deep in a Demon Realm. Yes.

As for why it couldn't have been a commoner, see the first possibility-the most ridiculous one.

But whether someone saved you or you ran off, both would mean one thing: you didn't die. You survived.

To his father, that made him an unpredictable factor with the potential to prove fatal.

If he had truly escaped on his own, concealed his identity, and settled down to an ordinary life, that would have been fine.

The problem lay in the possibility that he had been "saved by an unknown powerful figure."

His talent would have been considered exceptional by anyone.

Whether it was his bloodline, a blend of primate and dragon kind, or his jewel-class Mystic Eyes, both would make him powerful in the future-and his allegiance would remain uncertain.

So whether his father was searching for him to bring him back to the Royal Court or to kill him outright, the goal was the same: to correct or eliminate an unpredictable factor under his rule.

That was why Sovell had been using a false name ever since leaving Orkney.

His promise to support his New King, as well as his desire to set his father back on the right path, had kept Sovell going until now.

He had finished his milk without noticing. Sovell returned the cup to the counter and booked a room.

Looking around the hall, now deserted because of the late hour, Sovell sighed, then accepted his room key and a candle for light.

"Hey, barkeep."

Just as he was about to step onto the stairs, Sovell turned and called out to the bartender.

Clink-

A sound like metal striking metal rang out again from somewhere.

The bartender responded as respectfully as ever:

"Yes, sir? Is there anything else you... need?"

The bartender's eyes went vacant, though his gaze remained fixed on Sovell.

At the other end of that gaze, Sovell's pupils had become perfect hexagons, shining with a blood-red light like rubies!

"I'm sorry. It's rare to find a bartender as dedicated as you, but just to be safe, I'll have to put you through a little trouble."

As Sovell spoke, his fingers kept moving through the air, his fingertips glowing with the same faint, blood-red light.

At the same time, countless tiny motes of light, almost invisible to the naked eye, dispersed from the bartender's head.

Five minutes later, Sovell turned and headed upstairs.

Snap~

The snap of fingers came from upstairs, and clarity returned to the bartender's eyes.

Click~

Sovell inserted the key into the lock, opened his door, and set the candlestick on the small table beside the bed.

In the candle's faint glow, Sovell's pupils changed from the hexagons of his Mystic Eyes to the vertical slits of dragon kind.

That helped him see more clearly in the dark.

Sovell had not harmed the bartender. He had merely used a minor function of the Mystic Eyes of Submergence to erase his appearance from the bartender's memory.

If his human magecraft image had still been intact, he would not have needed to go to such trouble. He could simply have used Disguise Magecraft to alter his appearance before entering town.

Just as he had when meeting King Lot in Orkney City.

But he could no longer use magecraft, even if that was only temporary.

To keep as few people as possible from knowing or discussing his appearance, he had no choice but to resort to this.

I must have lost my mind. I finally got Merlin to come over for once, and I actually forgot to ask him to disguise me.

Come to think of it, I'll get to see Lia tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in a manor more than ten kilometers from the tavern, a girl as lovely as a lily lay in bed, murmuring to herself as well:

"Sovell should reach town tomorrow, right?"

The dark clouds obscuring the bright moon parted, and moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating the girl's golden hair.

Something seemed to have happened at the River Severn today. Sovell's all right, isn't he...?

The girl's thoughts grew increasingly tangled. She caught a lock of her golden hair in her right hand and twisted it restlessly.

At that moment, the girl still had no idea that the white dragon boy she was worrying about was the very source of the incident at the River Severn.