Ten More Hits and a Dragon
"That's enough, Rita."
Given who her targets were, even Duke Randert had frozen up for a moment, flustered. But they were standing in a temple, of all places, where quiet reverence was expected. He understood perfectly well what had the boy riled up, still, he couldn't just keep watching.
"You think making that pitiful face is going to make me go easy on you? I'm not that soft!"
"Rita!"
Her voice rang out so loud it completely buried the Duke's. Only when he raised his voice again did Rita whirl around in a panic.
"Oh! My lord!"
Late as it was, she gathered her skirt in both hands and bowed with proper formality.
"Bayul is safe and sound, so stop hauling innocent people around for no reason."
"...Yes, my lord."
She had plenty she wanted to say, but she hardly dared talk back to the lord of the territory. Shooting a sidelong glance at the Death brothers, Rita answered meekly.
"Rita."
Just then, a welcome voice reached her ears.
"Young master? Bayul!"
Rita, who had been sulking like a scolded child, broke into a radiant smile and dashed over to Bayul. It was a complete transformation from how she'd just treated the Death brothers—night and day. The way she looked him up and down, left and right, said her worry had been anything but small.
"I told you to wait at the mansion. Why did you come here? It's not like you'd be anything but uncomfortable."
"I was so anxious not knowing whether you were all right that I couldn't just sit still. Please let me stay at the Academy too. Pretty please?"
"Father's here as well, so we'll be heading to the mansion tonight. Don't worry—just go back and wait for me."
"No! I refuse to stay with Bar and Amon, I mean it!"
Clearly deeply sulky with the two demons, Rita began digging in her heels. When she got like this, coaxing was the only answer.
"Fine. Then will you wait at the Water Garden? You always said you loved how pretty it was there. I'll come get you once I'm done with my business."
"Yes! I'll do that!"
Rita had been with Bayul since the day she was born, and only at his side did she truly feel at ease. Perhaps you'd call it finding her reason to keep going. Spending her life making Bayul comfortable was, to Rita, both dream and wish.
"Then I'll see you at dinner, my lord!"
Delighted at being allowed to stay at the Academy, Rita headed out of the temple with a much lighter step. Not, of course, that she forgot to toss a huffy little 'hmph!' at the Death brothers on her way out.
"Master......"
"Miss Rita......"
"Aw, come on, I said I was sorry, didn't I? Can't you just, uh, cancel the firing?"
Watching the three demons trail after her with shoulders slumped in dejection, Duke Randert found himself utterly unable to process what he was witnessing.
"Bayul, Rita doesn't know, does she?"
Aidan sidled up and asked. At first he'd simply stared in bewilderment, but now laughter kept escaping him.
After all, it was a sight no amount of gold could buy.
Three demons of the Demon Realm, utterly unable to stand up for themselves against a sixteen-year-old girl, being pushed around at every turn—it was a rare scene none of them would soon forget.
And Death was hardly just any demon, was he?
He was, in fact, the very master of this temple they all stood in. Watching the Commander-in-Chief of the Demon Realm—someone capable of going toe-to-toe with dragons—get bullied(?) by Rita filled the onlookers with a strange, delicious catharsis.
"I never got the chance to tell her. And I don't think telling her would be a good idea anyway."
"I'd say keep it that way forever. A show this good deserves repeat viewings. It's absolutely fresh!"
"Wait—you're not sending them back?"
"Huh?"
"You're keeping them around? Because I hate it."
Eli's dislike of demons stemmed from the fact that he himself was a dragon. Digging deeper, it seemed to have something to do with his birth father, Ranos—but this was hardly the moment to pry into that.
"Death is here as a servant because of Rita's cooking. After tasting her food, he insisted the cuisine of the Demon Realm was so terrible he couldn't stomach it anymore, so he even brought Bar along, who's a chef, to learn from her."
"Oh, that's why Bar calls Rita 'Master'? Well, her food IS incredible. I'll grant that!"
"All three of them are such gluttons and love her cooking so much that they can't defy Rita. If she told them to die, they'd probably play dead on the spot."
"It's that bad?"
"Yep. He's got a knack for cleaning, too, so he's even won Rita's trust with that."
Granted, he did it with demonic power—but the fact remained that when it came to cleaning, Death was frighteningly good.
"And you're certain there are no other reasons?"
From the banter among the friends, the Duke had pieced together a fair picture of things. Bayul was his son, so he wouldn't be lying—but taking all of this at face value was, frankly, absurd.
"Yes, Father. That's truly all of it. Nothing you're worried about is going to happen, so please don't fret."
That Death bore no hostility had been known since Hamilton. But back then, they hadn't known his true identity. No matter how kindly Bayul explained it, the Duke needed a bit more time to accept it.
"Very well, for now. I'll learn in time, watching them."
Truthfully, right now he had no spare attention for dragons or demons either. The attempt on the Crown Prince's life had to be investigated, and quickly.
An imperial edict had already arrived, granting Duke Randert full authority over the matter. Now that his son's life had been confirmed, the full story of the incident demanded a thorough inquiry.
"I'll go pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince. You lot would do well to spend the time catching up."
Beyond thanking Quinn for bringing him back to life, he had yet to convey anything. He wanted to grant the boy whatever he wished—but given the Duke's position, there was an order to what needed settling first.
"You and I will speak later."
Passing that message to Quinn, Duke Randert looked upon Bayul once more. Seeing him standing healthy before his very eyes filled him anew with pride.
What would have become of him, had he lost Bayul?
He likely would never have lived in his right mind again. He had already sent his wife and Bayil ahead of him. That such a terrible thing had not happened a second time was a mercy beyond words.
"Tonight, then, we eat Rita's cooking for the first time in far too long. Bayul—see you shortly."
Leaving those tender words behind, Duke Randert hurried off to meet the Crown Prince, the Full Moon Knight Order falling in behind him in perfect formation.
"We've got quite a lot to talk about too, don't we?"
Only Bayul and his friends were left standing in the corridor. Aidan suddenly leapt up and locked Quinn in a headlock.
"Hey! Let go!"
The attack had come without warning, leaving Quinn no chance to dodge. He struggled to break free, but the strength of a Knight Department student like Aidan was nothing to scoff at. Small he might be, but the boy was overflowing with grit and power enough not to lose to anyone.
"Let go while I'm asking nicely."
"Not a chance!"
Despite Quinn's warning, Aidan didn't stop. Tightening his grip, he dragged Quinn off toward Priest Wagner's office.
"First, we start with a beating!"
The moment the office door closed, the thrashing began. As if enacting a long-nursed revenge, Aidan and Eli rained blows on Quinn's back without mercy.
"You little—! That hurts, I said!"
"Guys, that's enough!"
Bayul worried the boy had only just come back to life and might break again if this went on. So he tried desperately to stop them—but he was outnumbered. With Logan joining in as well, Quinn was fearsomely outnumbered and pummeled.
"Bayul, stay out of this! This guy needs a beating to come to his senses!"
"You pulled that stunt without so much as consulting us? Do it again, and next time I'll kill you with my own two hands!"
"There wasn't a single word about us in that letter—nothing but Bayul, Bayul, Bayul! So take ten more hits!"
"You bastards! You're not even human, either of you!"
The force of the blows dwindled sharply. Seizing the opening, Quinn broke free of the pile and shouted.
"Oh, and what am I, then—a merman or a human? What kind of nonsense is that!"
"Oh, so now he's raising a hand to us, is he? Hm?"
Aidan, who had been lunging at Quinn, abruptly crumpled to the floor. And somehow, both his eyes had filled to the brim with tears.
Bayul and the others were no different, the rims of their own eyes reddening. As they gazed at Quinn with bloodshot eyes, their gazes were steeped in a profound relief.
They had thought they'd never see him again. Clutching Quinn's body as they waited for the Eye of the Ocean, they had begged and pleaded, again and again, for just a little more time. The fruit of those prayers stood before them now—and still, it didn't feel real.
Quinn, straightening his tousled hair and clothes, found himself unable to speak easily at the sight of them. Their feelings had come through loud and clear. But what words he should answer them with, he simply couldn't find.
There was nothing to say but thanks.
"...Thank you."
"What? Speak up, I can't hear you."
"...I said thank you."
"You died, came back to life, and now your throat's clogged? Why are you so quiet?"
At Aidan's teasing, the veins stood out on Quinn's forehead, plain for all to see.
"I see resurrection doesn't change a person's temperament."
"I think it's your ears that are clogged, not my throat. Here—let me clear them out for you, nice and refreshing?"
As it happened, there was a vase full of water in the office. Quinn curled one corner of his mouth into a wicked smirk, and the water came slithering out in a smooth stream.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down!"
"You're not actually planning to attack us with that, are you?"
"Well now... what did you think I was going to do with it?"
The sharp ribbon of water weaved and swayed, threatening the friends this way and that.
"Quinn, how about we put that away and talk?"
Bayul tried to reason with him, his face full of good-natured smiles, but Quinn only kept grinning, holding the standoff.
"Oh, right—Quinn! You haven't heard, have you?"
"......?"
"You were lying there dead, so you don't know anything. There's some enormous, explosive news. Want to hear it?"
"Not interested."
"Oh, but you will... You'll be so shocked you'll put that water away all on your own."
"...What is it?"
Aidan had finally baited the hook successfully.
"Aidan, don't tell me...?"
Since he had more than an inkling, Bayul looked at him—and Aidan pointed a finger straight at Eli.
"That bastard! Turns out he's not human at all—he's a DRAGON!"
"...A dragon?"
But Quinn's reaction was nothing like what they'd expected. Instead of gasping or goggling at the word 'dragon,' he tilted his head, as if something didn't quite add up.
"You don't know what a dragon is?"
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
"I'm serious! Not just him—the Chairman too, all of them are dragons! They've been fooling us this whole time!"
"Ah, so that's it......"
At last, the suspicion Quinn had harbored toward Rayegar in the moments before his death fell neatly into place. He had privately guessed the man wasn't human—and if he was a dragon, everything fit.
"By the look of him, the Red clan, I take it?"
Quinn looked Eli up and down with apparent interest.
"What the... why aren't you surprised? Did you already know Rai was a dragon?"
"No, I didn't."
"Then why?"
"It suits him."
"What? Suits him how?"
"Extremely, tremendously well. Looking at him now—his face, his whole vibe—it's pure dragon."
"What is WRONG with this guy? Is that the reaction I'd get too if I died and came back?"
Aidan asked Bayul in exasperation, but as someone who had himself died and come back, Bayul couldn't sympathize. He still thought of Eli the dragon as a friend, but it wasn't as though the revelation hadn't shocked him.
"So—how old are you, anyway?"
"...Huh?"
"Rai, I asked how old you are. Even if you're a hatchling, you've got to be pretty old, right?"
A strike straight at the unguarded heart. Caught by Quinn's sneak attack(?), Eli was abruptly struck dumb.
"Hey. Answer."
"Why'd you suddenly clamp your mouth shut? Cat got your tongue? You're not past a hundred or something, are you?"
Aidan grabbed him by the collar and rattled him back and forth trying to pry out an answer, but for some reason Eli chose silence. Which was how even the friends who'd had no interest whatsoever began to get curious too.