"Dad!"
"Why did you let a noble kid like him stay? What if he brings trouble to our family?"
"All right, all right, Sara, don't talk like that. Back in the forest, I nearly hurt him with an arrow. I was in the wrong first. Besides, you should treat our guests with respect." Karen gently rubbed Sara's head with his rough hand.
"Ugh, this is so annoying! More of the same nagging!"
"Helping other people is one thing, but he's a noble! Nobles are all greedy bastards who devour people without even spitting out the bones... our village has already suffered so much under their exploitation."
"I still don't understand, Dad! Why would you take in a noble when you don't even know where he came from? What if... what if he..."
Looking at the agitated Sara, Karen spoke earnestly.
"Sara, even if he's a noble, he's still just a child about your age."
After a fierce argument with her father, Sara finally turned and stormed off.
Luo Ge hadn't expected to run into this sort of family drama just by staying the night.
It left him feeling a little awkward, too.
Perhaps sensing Luo Ge's displeasure, the Red Dragon hatchling that had been hiding in his backpack suddenly darted out.
He began licking Luo Ge's cheek.
"Cut it out..."
Luo Ge didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Beside him, Karen looked utterly astonished.
"A lizard monster?"
"No!"
"It looks so much like a Red Dragon."
Noticing Karen's astonished tone, Luo Ge said noncommittally, "No need to say it looks like one. He is a Red Dragon!"
"A Red Dragon? Oh, no!"
"You're joking! How could it be a Red Dragon? Surely it's a lizard monster that looks like one?"
Karen muttered to himself.
"He's a genuine Red Dragon, and a hatchling at that. Want to touch his face? It feels pretty nice." Luo Ge narrowed his eyes slightly.
"C-can I really?"
Karen asked nervously.
Luo Ge glanced at the Red Dragon hatchling. Seeing no reaction from him, he said, "Sure... look, he hasn't said anything. There definitely won't be a problem!"
"..."
The baby Red Dragon.
When Karen came closer and tried to touch him, the baby Red Dragon took offense, and the little flame he spat out nearly burned Karen.
Apart from Luo Ge, he didn't seem to like physical contact with anyone else.
"F-fire. He breathed fire."
"Wait, this really does seem to be... an actual juvenile Red Dragon. I encountered them a few times when I passed through the Red Dragon Mountains in my younger days!"
"But how could something like this be possible?! There are almost no records anywhere in the world of anyone successfully taming a Red Dragon." Karen was filled with shock.
Red Dragons.
Proud by nature, they were highly intelligent monsters that lived in groups in the Red Dragon Mountains and attacked whenever humans approached.
For humans, capturing a Red Dragon was extraordinarily difficult, practically impossible.
Even if one was captured, a Red Dragon would not submit to humans, but would starve itself to death instead.
Thus, throughout human history, no one had ever managed to tame a monster like a Red Dragon.
Yet this little Red Dragon was circling Luo Ge, acting affectionate and cute.
Honestly, Karen found the sight inconceivable. He couldn't understand how Luo Ge had done it at all.
Had he not seen it with his own eyes.
He would never have believed, even under pain of death... that someone could tame a dangerous monster at the top of the food chain like a Red Dragon, much less make him look even gentler and more obedient than a pet dog.
He was actually keeping a Red Dragon as a pet?
Although Karen had already known Luo Ge was a noble with an extraordinary background...
He hadn't expected Luo Ge's family to be the sort that could afford to raise Red Dragons, even taming them as pets.
Just what sort of family background did it take to keep a Red Dragon as a pet?
Surely even Asura's royal family could do no better?
At that moment, Karen was profoundly shaken by Luo Ge's identity.
That night.
With Karen's warm hospitality, Luo Ge temporarily settled into their home.
After eating dinner with the family, he was about to return to his room alone, lie down, and blow out the oil lamp to rest.
There was a creak.
Someone pushed open the door from outside.
Sara had come in.
Her face plainly said she didn't want to be there.
"Did you... need something?"
Luo Ge got up.
Sara walked in carrying clean bedding and said stiffly, "My dad told me to bring you clean bedding. But... a pampered young noble like you probably isn't used to staying in a shabby place out in the countryside like ours."
"But nobody here is going to spoil a young noble like you."
"A young noble like you must be playing that little game where you travel incognito and experience commoners' lives, right?"
Despite her complaints, she still laid out Luo Ge's bedding for him.
"Thanks."
Luo Ge thanked her instinctively. It was only a casual courtesy, but Sara immediately grew awkward. "I... I don't need your thanks! If Dad hadn't insisted I come, I wouldn't be doing this sort of thing for some young noble."
"Hmph, what a pain!"
After a pause, she added, "And... once you've had your fun here, hurry up and leave! Don't bring trouble to our village."
"Okay."
"..."
Sara had thought a young noble like Luo Ge would at least argue back a little, but no matter what she said, his expression remained calm.
It felt like punching cotton, leaving Sara thoroughly frustrated.
After tidying up Luo Ge's room, she left without another word.
Actually, even without their making a point of saying anything, Luo Ge hadn't intended to stay here long.
He planned to rest here for the night, then go to a nearby town early the next morning to buy a horse and set off for the Fittoa Territory farther north.
When he woke up.
The sun was already high.
Normally, a disciplined man like him would never sleep in, but his nerves had been taut for so long.
After suddenly relaxing.
Even he couldn't help sleeping a little longer.
Breakfast had been left on the table. It was just some simple roast meat, and it seemed to have been there for quite a while, since it had already gone cold.
"Did... Sara come by earlier?"
Luo Ge murmured to himself, recalling the little girl from last night.
He first warmed the food with fire magic, then ate before leaving the room alone.
He had intended to leave without saying goodbye.
But he suddenly noticed Karen and Sara in the living room, their faces full of worry, looking as though something utterly terrible had happened.
A lifeless gloom hung over the room.
Karen had his head lowered, and Sara's eyes were red, as though she had only just finished crying.