The Scent of the Forest
Transparent golden honey rippled like a heat haze before dissolving into the recovery water.
“Here.”
“……”
Rand stared at the cup, his stomach churning with nausea.
Normally, he would have started the day drowning in self-pity and destructive regret, filling the emptiness with his familiars.
He would have sought comfort in the warmth of animals instead.
Yet now…
Why… does this child stir such longing in me?
It was faint.
But unmistakable—the auras of fire and water, and the power of the forest, lingered in the darkness.
The subtle forest scent reminded him of his long-lost parents and wife.
Then the reality of having lost them all crashed back in.
A dull ache throbbed.
The emotions he had tried so hard to kill pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
With weary eyes, Rand gazed at Rune through the pain and thought.
When was the last time someone had prepared food for him?
He had been about to furrow his brow when his hand reached out and took the warm wooden cup filled with honey water.
Christina’s words suddenly came to mind.
She had spoken of the young Black Dragon hatchling under her guardianship, who enjoyed making recovery dishes and sharing meals with others.
That had once been his own daily life.
The black-haired boy stood with arms crossed, watching Rand expectantly.
Slurp.
Gulp, gulp.
“It’s… good.”
A long breath slowly escaped him.
His parched throat was soothed, and his mood eased slightly.
Meanwhile, Rune felt relieved that the exhausted and haggard Rand had accepted the honey water so readily.
Rune took the empty cup and waited a moment before asking,
“Feeling a bit better?”
“……Yeah.”
Rand’s breathing seemed noticeably easier now.
Rune nodded and said,
“If you’re still struggling, you don’t have to force yourself to eat breakfast. I just hoped you’d join us if possible—there’s an important discussion ahead.”
“An important…… discussion?”
Still looking pained, Rand sat up on the bed.
Rune turned to Dullahan, who was neatly arranging the empty bottles.
“Jed, Dullahan. Sorry, but could you let them know we’ll be down a little late for the meal? I’ll talk with Rand and then head down.”
— Yep! I’ll go on ahead and get acquainted with everyone first. Let’s go, Sir Dullahan!
Clank!
Dullahan silently nodded his black helm and left the room with Jed.
Once they were alone, Rune told Rand about how he had restored the water supply the night before.
Rand’s expression shifted subtly at times, and he frowned.
“I see…… The power of the Dark clan was indeed the most effective against demons. But to think a mere hatchling could wield seals of other attributes and possess darkness that devours demonic energy……”
Rand gave him a peculiar look.
Rune shrugged and pulled up a small chair to sit in front of him.
“I was able to secure the water thanks to the Orb of Water. I have a hobby of collecting precious treasures, you see.”
Rand’s lips curved into a faint smile at the satisfied tone.
“Quite the opposite of me.”
Rand spoke lazily, gently swirling the cup of honey water.
But Rune tilted his head slightly, a question on his lips.
“Really?”
“Hey, little Dark clan kid.”
With his free hand, Rand rubbed his forehead and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“If even Lady Christina calls you a clever child, then you can tell just by looking at me. I have nothing left—look at what I’ve become.”
“Jenuar Mille.”
“!”
The hand holding the cup froze.
Rand’s eyes hardened as he stared at Rune.
“A man who once possessed something as precious as the Elf Princess saying that? I understand your circumstances have changed. But this isn’t who you truly are, is it?”
“How childish. I thought you at least knew when to speak and when to stay silent.”
His dry, leaf-green eyes issued a warning.
Don’t dig any deeper.
Rune gazed at him quietly for a moment before speaking.
“It seems like you don’t know what to do after losing something so great. Like you no longer have the courage to hold onto anything.”
“What do you know to say such things?”
At Rand’s sharp retort, Rune continued calmly.
“Actually, not long ago, I experienced the death of my subordinate, Jed.”
“……”
“When he died, I was in a sleep period. Later, I only visited his grave and the place where he drew his last breath to pay my respects. I also received his will and the belongings he left behind……”
Rand’s eyes grew distant.
Recalling the moments he had truly lived through, Rune sank into the emotions of that time as well.
“The feeling of remaining in a world where the one I was connected to had vanished…… It was like a thread that had been tied between us had been severed. So I can imagine, at least a little, what it must have been like for you when you lost your family—those you loved most.”
Rand and Rune sat in silence together.
Though it was the same silence, the feelings it evoked in each were different.
Rune was the first to speak again.
“All that alcohol, all the warmth of countless animals—none of it could fill what was lost. The life you chose with Jenuar Mille was more precious to you than your life as a dragon. Since you lost that, what meaning could anything else hold?”
Each word Rune spoke shook Rand’s mind and heart.
He tried to convince himself the pain was only from drinking too much.
But tears had already welled in Rand’s eyes.
“Don’t pretend to understand, young hatchling.”
“You’re right—I am young. Then tell me, Rand. Does it hurt any less to lose someone precious just because you’re young?”
The question from the black-haired child before him was pure.
And it shamed Rand.
He had been shouting that his own emotions and the pain in his rotten heart mattered more than anyone else’s experience of loss.
Even to a hatchling far younger than himself.
“I’m sorry. That was just the drunken ramblings of a drunkard. I…… I’ll apologize for it.”
Plop.
A tear fell from Rand’s bowed head and struck the wooden floor.
Rune was right. Neither youth nor the might of an adult dragon determined the weight of sorrow.
Though it shamed him, those were the words he had most wanted to hear.
“Just a moment……”
“……”
The young hatchling had spoken calmly—that through his own experience of loss, he could at least imagine a little of what Rand felt.
Because it was the comfort of a child who could express pure emotion rather than adult courtesy or advice.
The feelings he had tried to understand and move past with his mind now overflowed again as tears.
Rune watched Rand begin to sob, shoulders shaking, then gently patted his shoulder and the back of his neck.
After a long while, Rand lifted his head.
Rune took out the handkerchief Christina had given him and handed it over.
“You’ve seen quite the pathetic sight from this kid.”
Wiping his eyes with the handkerchief, Rand let out a weak chuckle, as if all strength had left him.
Rune replied,
“There’s no such thing as a pathetic way to mourn.”
“……Is that so.”
His voice was thick with emotion.
Seeing Rand steady his breathing, Rune gathered the scattered tissues from the table.
He felt a twinge of sympathy for the man who had never learned how to let someone go.
He was driven out of the Elf Kingdom without even time to collect himself, lost his qualifications as a dragon, and had everything crash down on him all at once. That’s what broke him.
Rune roughly sketched out Rand’s situation in his mind.
Countless days of crying until his tears ran dry.
At some point, Rand must have grown too exhausted from the pain and given up.
What he had clung to, no matter what happened, was the single promise to protect his wife’s family—even if it meant handing over the Seal of the Forest.
Reaching that thought, Rune felt an inexplicable discomfort.
The Elf King is seriously strange. I understand losing his daughter, but to drive a man all the way out into the desert like this……
He wondered if the elves had cast Rand out because of the situation with the demons.
But if Rand had been left to deteriorate this badly, that was a different matter.
The fact that no one had even checked on Rand’s condition, that they had simply cut him off and stopped caring—that didn’t sit right with him.
I’ve got something to check with Belianus.
Hidden from Rand’s view, Rune’s red eyes darkened.
The real Rand quietly wiped his face with the handkerchief and tissues.
When Rune created a few ice cubes for him, Rand accepted them and offered a faint, genuine smile.
“You have a good sense for handling mana. Is it Lady Christina’s teaching?”
“Maybe. She’s been arranging opportunities for me to learn since I was little.”
Though it’s really because I trained these senses in my previous life.
Agreeing with Rand’s words, Rune naturally shifted the topic.
“Christina takes good care of me. Come to think of it, you mentioned meeting her often too.”
“Lady Christina did comfort me as well. Now that I think about it, why was that? I never cried so openly in front of her before.”
You did cry, though.
Of course, he didn’t say that aloud.
When Rune simply tilted his head slightly to match the mood, Rand reached his own conclusion.
“Perhaps because she doesn’t carry the scent of the forest.”
“The scent of the forest?”
“Yes. For some reason, I smelled the forest on you, even though you’re of the Dark clan.”
Rune thought for a moment before offering a hypothesis.
“……It might be because of the medicine Lize gave me.”
At the time, Rune hadn’t only used the medicinal effects of the pill.
He had also drawn on Lize’s power within the medicine to absorb the strength contained in the mandragora.
“Hmm…… I heard the story from Lady Christina, but medicine fulfills its role once digested. The forest power within it should fade with time as well.”
That would be true if I hadn’t consciously used the medicine’s power.
But at the time, Rune had appeared to be a young hatchling who could barely use his powers properly.
Naturally, no one would believe he had consciously absorbed and retained the forest energy.
In the end, this was the best explanation Rune could offer as an alternative.
“It might just be a coincidence.”
“Lucky, I suppose……”
“Yeah. Because I wanted to live.”
Suddenly, Rand recalled what he had heard about Rune.
Christina had told him how surprised she was when Rune hatched from an egg that should never have survived.
It was almost mystical how such a small child had sprouted life from an egg no one believed would hatch.
Because he was a hatchling whose instinct for life was stronger than anyone else’s…… perhaps.
A miraculous life born with nothing but a pure, singular desire.
Rand gazed quietly at Rune, then nodded.
***
When Rune and Rand came down to the dining hall, the atmosphere was quite pleasant.
— And so! Lord Rune looked at me with eyes full of trust and said, ‘Become my subordinate, Jed. How could I not keep someone as valuable as you by my side?’
“Oh? How impressive. A dragon accepting a dwarf as a subordinate.”
— Heh heh, it was Lord Rune who recognized my true worth, wasn’t it? Thanks to that, I had quite the trouble soothing the many artisans who wanted to claim me and the tender-hearted ladies who admired me!
Having overheard the conversation by chance, Rune was dumbfounded.
He’s actually believing that?
No matter how he looked at it, the story was filled with nothing but pure, high-grade lies.
And the dwarf’s exaggerations were only growing more outrageous by the minute.