Definitely Much Easier
Rune listened silently to Jed's venting, offering his own form of comfort until the dwarf had let it all out.
Once the complaints finally wound down, Rune spoke in a soothing tone.
“I'll let you meet Heungmi and Baekya later. Perdikion-hyung's there too, so you can say hello.”
- Neh... I suppose so...
Jed looked utterly deflated, a pitiful sight that was equal parts pathetic and sympathetic.
“Cheer up. If a dungeon run comes up, I might even allow it.”
Though that's unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Fortunately, Jed's mental recovery was remarkably quick.
The moment he saw Heungmi's eyes sparkle with surprise, his mood lifted right away.
“Wow! This little pearl bead is really you, Uncle Jed?”
- Indeed it is, Lady Heungmi! You've grown so much? Two tails—how impressive!
“Hehe. Yeah! Heungmi got stronger! And I'm super close with Amelia-unnie, the Blue Dragon hatchling!”
- Oh ho. A hatchling, eh? Does that make her my Lady Amelia? Just the name sounds utterly beautiful!
“Yeah! She's got this super pretty mermaid form! Last time, she tried on the clothes the dwarf uncles gave her, and she looked so pretty!”
- Ooooh! A lovely mermaid lady! Aish, just seeing her would be a feast for the eyes. I'm dying of curiosity!
The two hit it off as well as ever.
But Perdikion's reaction was lukewarm at best.
He accepted the greeting politely enough, but the moment he heard about Jed turning himself into a weapon, his gaze screamed, What kind of freak is this guy?
“Little brother. So you're saying he chose to become an ego weapon just to stay by your side?”
“Yeah.”
“...You okay with that? That's not loyalty anymore. That's straight-up madness.”
They were talking a short distance away, so Heungmi and Jed couldn't overhear.
The fire dragon boy crossed his arms with a stiff expression, shaking his head in half-disgust.
Rune nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. But what can we do?”
Perdikion whipped around to face him.
His little brother seemed oddly calm even in this situation.
“Doesn't that strike you as weird? A perfectly healthy guy turns himself into an object?”
From Rune's perspective, it was already done.
Jed had even cremated his original body—there was no undoing it, no other options to consider. Best to just let it be and observe.
“It's weird, sure. But it's in the past now. And more than anything, it was his choice.”
Perdikion thought to himself.
Only someone as smart-yet-angelically pure as my little brother would tolerate such bizarre ideas and the freakish execution to back them up.
“Little brother, you don't get it. That's the kind of thinking only mad wizards come up with.”
Mad was a moniker often slapped on the mages of the Magic Tower.
It expressed outright insanity—a term originally reserved for monsters.
In other words, the ones whose heads have gone completely off the rails.
Some got called psychos too, but they all shared one trait: none were remotely normal.
Madness, lunacy—it was all the same.
“Those mad wizards, those mad magicians—they were all raving lunatics. Leave 'em alone thinking it's no big deal, and next thing you know, they show up as full-blown maniacs.”
Listening to Perdikion's explanation, laced with disgust, felt strangely vivid.
The on-site realism was uncanny, as if he'd witnessed it firsthand.
“Hyung, you sound like you've actually seen mages up close.”
“......”
Perdikion's face crumpled, confirming it.
Rune's eyes sparkled.
He has. He totally has.
He stared intently at Perdikion, who realized his slip and slyly averted his gaze.
Rune tossed out the question casually.
“So, what was the mad magician you saw like?”
“You don't need to know. It's not a story for a kid like you.”
Perdikion's words made sense, of course.
But Rune, who'd seen plenty of the truly deranged even in his past life, wasn't one to be shocked or scarred by a mere "mad" label.
No need to force it out of him. I've got other ways.
Rune let out an exaggerated sigh of regret, then smoothly changed the subject.
“Too bad. If it's from actual experience, I'd love to hear it straight from my most trusted hyung. You'd know exactly how to deal with those types, right?”
“......!”
The red-haired hatchling flinched hard—a solid bite.
Rune smirked inwardly.
“But if hyung insists... I won't ask now. Jed's dying to tell me how he became an ego weapon anyway. Might explain it himself, especially since a mage helped. Or maybe Christina will.”
“Khmm! Hold on, little brother.”
Perdikion grabbed Rune to stop him.
Christina might spill it fifty-fifty—she fretted over hatchling safety but showered gifts freely.
The real issue was Jed.
That blabbermouth would gleefully spill everything if Rune so much as asked.
Honestly, Perdikion hated the idea of Rune taking Jed's word as gospel just because he was a vassal.
He didn't like Jed's mindset one bit.
Weapons were tools. Yet this guy sacrificed his life to become one?
Jed had his reasons, sure, but to Perdikion, it still looked utterly bizarre.
“......Fine. I'll tell you. Better you hear it from someone reliable.”
Perdikion finally relented.
Rune flashed an innocent smile and expressed his thanks.
“Thanks! Hyung really is the best. Nothing beats info straight from someone who's been there.”
Perfect. Hooked him good.
Perdikion tsked, then opened his mouth with clear reluctance.
“This is so you don't get bad info from the others. Especially that one.”
The fire dragon boy's eyes locked onto the battle axe in the Dullahan's hand, where it chattered away with Heungmi.
Jed shivered inexplicably, glancing around, but couldn't pinpoint the source.
Perdikion tore his gaze away and spoke.
“Lune. You know what mages are like?”
“Roughly.”
Like the sorcerers from my past life who dabbled in a bit of Taoism.
Drawing from Christina's knowledge, Rune recalled famed shamans, exorcists, and Taoists from his previous life and nodded.
“All sorts of races have the talent for it. If dragons are the source that produce and spread this world's core attributes, then mages are the ones who use that power.”
In Christina's terms, it was like producers and consumers.
Producers—like dragons, celestials, and demons—who generated specific attributes simply by existing and breathing.
Consumers who shaped and expended that power to suit their needs.
Perdikion continued.
“Most stick to researching methods or formulas for using it. But every now and then, some absolute nutjobs pop up with twisted ideas.”
“Like what?”
Perdikion's eyebrows twitched with obvious reluctance as he spat it out.
“The ones who overreach into life creation. The worst I ever saw? Chimera makers.”
“......”
“Those are the real demons. They'd hunt their own kin for parts—not to mention dragons. It's historical fact that mages scavenged dragon corpses during the Heaven-Demon War and Dragon-Demon War.”
At the thought of such unspeakable acts—even between fellow humans—Rune felt the scales on his nape bristling.
Perdikion's raw disgust was palpable as he went on.
“Jed's ego sword research is cut from the same cloth. Especially demon swords—they require a living soul. Casually researching and using that method in private? That's mad mage territory.”
Hearing it laid out like that, Rune finally understood the depth of Perdikion's revulsion.
It wasn't just the creepiness of Jed's method.
It was the casual mindset of treating lives as mere ingredients—something no words could easily brush off.
He's growing up nicely.
It even gave Rune a strange sense of looking at a junior.
He chuckled inwardly.
In another hundred, two hundred years, Perdikion would be a proper Adult Dragon.
But Rune had a feeling he'd still seem this pure even then.
“Lune, why are you laughing?”
“Nothing. Just... hyung always seems like he'll stay the same.”
It was simple truth, but Perdikion cleared his throat with an oddly complex expression.
He mumbled a quiet “Thanks,” stared into empty space for a moment, then turned back to Rune.
“Your essence may be darkness, but you've got the courage and loyalty every fire clan member should have. I hold you in high regard for that, little brother.”
The fire clan boy concluded in a deeply serious tone.
“Keep standing by me as my brother of fire from here on out.”
Never thought I'd hear Perdikion say something so cheesy.
It could be the incense box's lingering effect, but timing-wise, sharing his True Name seemed the more likely culprit.
Feeling Perdikion's sincerity, Rune smiled softly.
“Of course. Thanks for seeing me that way, hyung.”
Perdikion, Amelia, Christina. Even Baekya and Heungmi, Jed and the Dullahan. This life's been full of good people.
Forming bonds with the right sort was a blessing in itself.
After so many harsh encounters in his past life, these fateful connections hit even harder.
“So, about that, Lune.”
“Yeah?”
Why's he hesitating like this? Not like him.
The answer came in his next words.
“How about we drop the polymorph sometimes and hang out in our true forms? More relaxed that way.”
True forms?
Truth be told, the polymorph bracelets were just for convenience and power control—practical benefits.
The hatchling form was far more comfortable anyway.
I've been holding back mostly because Heungmi gets too clingy. But with Perdikion around, maybe it's fine.
Rune glanced at Heungmi a short distance away, then nodded.
“Should be okay.”
“......!”
Perdikion's eyes widened, his mouth even dropping open a bit.
But he quickly schooled his expression and nodded.
“No take-backs.”
“? Sure.”
Why the oath?
He was trying his best not to show it, but the faint twitch of his lips and the subtle shrug of his shoulders were plain as day.
Perdikion caught Rune's puzzled look and gave a warm smile.
In truth, Perdikion had always sensed Rune holding back, hiding his true self.
He restrained how he expressed himself, never lied, but never fully opened up either.
For such a little brother to reveal a bit more felt good—good enough to make him want to pump his fist in joy.