Horace could only give a couple of awkward chuckles, embarrassed by what he heard. "Ahem... well... the capable do more work."
He finally understood. When his big brother had thumped his chest and said she was doing "great" and had "plenty of free time," that had been entirely based on his beastlike insensitivity.
The Dragon Girl was hardly living comfortably. She had clearly fallen into a paperwork hell more mentally draining than combat, and it looked as though she had been stuck there for quite some time.
Well, it seemed he really did deserve some of the blame... After all, he had been the one to "bind" the Dragon Girl with his Great Runes, then leave her with his big brother.
"The capable do more work..." Froesanks grew even angrier.
"I'd rather go fight flying dragons! Lord Horace, you must take me away this time! I never want to go back to that 'document cave'! I'd even go back to Liurnia and keep helping you look after the children!"
Horace hurried to soothe her. "All right, all right, I'll take you with me. I promise. We came intending to bring you back anyway." Marika had hinted at it before, too.
Only then did Froesanks calm down a little, though her grip did not loosen at all. She continued pulling Horace along, heading somewhere increasingly secluded until they gradually entered a stretch of tunnels.
"Where are we going?" Horace surveyed the dim surroundings.
He checked their direction, vaguely recalling that this seemed to be the Sealed Tunnel leading to... the Divine Tower of West Altus?
"Somewhere nice. I go there 'often.'" Froesanks did not look back, her steps light.
What surprised Horace even more was that the Pages roaming deep in the tunnels showed no intention of attacking them. They even