Stay Away from Kailo (1)
“Crazy bastard. Seriously.”
Valon said it to Kailo.
He’d lost count of how many times the words had left his mouth.
But Vivian agreed with him completely—a hundred times over.
Kailo would never know how badly she’d been startled when he hooked himself to that grappling line, climbed onto the dragon, and took off into the sky. That he’d even planned something like that was beyond her understanding.
And yet he’d done it anyway… and slain the dragon.
Predicting his actions had always been difficult. In a situation that had been nothing short of a dragon’s ambush—one for which no one had been prepared—he had flipped the entire field and brought the beast down.
Now Kailo was being carried along slumped over a horse, consciousness gone, sunk deep into sleep. Nothing looked broken, but he seemed utterly spent. The bandage wrapped around his forehead looked dirtier and more filthy than before.
“…”
Vivian wanted to stop being childish and change that bandage for him. Honestly, she wanted to stay at his side and nurse him herself. That was how deep the gratitude ran for the man who had saved her in a moment of absolute crisis.
But she didn’t even have the luxury to change a bandage right now.
Eight wagons alone had been set ablaze by the dragon’s fire. The spoils of war, and every resource needed for treatment, had burned with them. Even Vivian herself had been unable to tend the wound on her arm properly, making do with a scrap of torn cloth as a temporary dressing.
If they had simply let the dragon go, this expedition would have been a catastrophic loss. All their hardships reduced to ash by a single breath of dragonfire.
But by slaying it, Kailo had secured a reward far greater than the damage. Dragons were not easily killed, and their byproducts fetched whatever price the seller named.
Had Kailo been a man of Loktana, lavish rewards would have poured down on him without end for such a feat. Because of the tangled web of their relationship, however, Vivian could neither reward him freely nor leave him alone.
Vivian, Burgor, and a handful of other knights were already on the road home. The sheer exceptional nature of a dragon’s appearance had rewritten most of their plans. The remaining forces would haul the carcass ashore; the wounded—and people like Vivian—would return ahead of them.
Burgor stared at Kailo for a long time before speaking, almost as if exhaling a sigh.
“…I’ve never heard of anyone earning a dragon’s cord at fifteen.”
Coleman murmured in agreement.
“…Indeed. The Allen family… has produced a monster that’s hard to deny.”
“If the war had dragged on, would we have had to fight something like him?”
Vivian kept her eyes on Kailo, still limp across the horse. They were right. Living so close to him, she had failed to fully grasp it—but the achievements Kailo was stacking up were things she had never even heard of.
From now on, in every official setting, he would wear that blue cord as proof he had slain a dragon. A boy who had not even reached adulthood, walking around with the very emblem knights dreamed of.
Some would call it luck. Others would claim he’d only managed it with help, trying to diminish him. But Vivian knew the truth.
This dragon—he had taken it alone.
He had hunted it with far more courage and daring than anyone else.
“…Nngh.”
As she watched him, Kailo let out a low groan, as if some part of his body hurt. The sound strangely pricked at her guilt.
Over the past ten days, if she had treated him a little less awkwardly and looked after him a little more carefully, would things have been better? Every time she faced danger, he risked his life to protect her… and she could do nothing of the kind in return.
Vivian clenched her teeth and urged her horse up beside him. She laid a hand lightly on his sleeping back and whispered,
“…Just hold on a little longer. We’re almost there.”
Rondore Castle came into view.
To enter the castle, they first had to push through the crowds of Loktana. The townsfolk who pressed forward to see Vivian’s party reacted in every possible way. Some clapped and called out that they had done well. Others cheered her name. And many of them simply sneered at the sight of Kailo collapsed in the saddle.
“Look at that cripple! Came back all busted up, didn’t he!”
“Lord Ras has delivered his judgment!”
In the past, their mockery would have been music to her ears. Now she found it anything but pleasant. It sat on her chest like a stone.
Every time, Vivian was forced to feel anew just how much of a stranger Kailo was in this land—and how deeply he was hated. She felt, again, that he was as much an outcast as she was.
She had never changed his bandage. Never brought him a single meal. She found herself thoroughly disgusting.
Without quite realizing it, the thought settled in her: at the very least, she ought to look after him. As a fellow outcast, she should repay some small measure of the grace he had shown her.
Vivian tightened the reins and urged her horse faster. She wanted to get free of the jeers, enter Rondore Castle, and take care of Kailo.
“Kailo. Wake up.”
She shook his back, patting him lightly. After a few more groans, he blinked his eyes open. The moment he came to, the abuse pouring down on him hit him full force, and a complicated expression crossed his face. Still half-asleep, he made no effort to control it.
Seeing that look, Vivian felt a strange, faint ache in her chest.
Before long she rode through the gates. Figures were waiting to greet her as she entered in her filthy state—and foremost among them was her uncle.
A presence she had completely forgotten stepped forward.
“Vivian. It’s been a while, my niece.”
A massive frame. A heavy, mature face. Red hair. Thick arms. A deep, low voice. The lord of Neramport approached her, radiating pressure with every step.
“I heard you went out on the expedition. Nothing dangerous, I hope?”
There was not a trace of anger over being made to wait at the castle. Caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, Vivian parted her lips, then simply nodded.
“Yes, Uncle.”
She went on,
“I’m sorry for making you wait. When the entire army marched out, I couldn’t very well stay behind.”
“…You’ve changed a little. You speak so gently now.”
“…The head of House Rondore shouldn’t stammer.”
Robert Rondore gave a soft laugh.
“The head of House Rondore… Yes. Of course. Well, I had plenty of time to wait. Don’t trouble yourself over it. If the head of the house tells a vassal to wait, then wait I must.”
“Setting aside the relationship of lord and vassal—I apologize as your niece.”
“I accept it. It’s all right.”
The conversation flowed smoothly enough, yet Vivian could feel an unnameable undercurrent of tension. Whether it was only her imagination or a real contest of wills, she could not tell.
Robert Rondore’s eyes shifted to Kailo.
“…Kailo Allen.”
Kailo met Robert’s gaze without so much as a flicker. From horseback he looked steadily down at the man.
Robert was about to speak when Vivian cut in. Kailo looked far too exhausted.
“Uncle, we’ve only just returned from a long expedition. For now, let’s leave it here… I’d like to wash up and speak again when we have time.”
“…Ah, look at me. You’re right, of course.”
Robert accepted her words, then inclined his head toward her.
“Then I’ll see you later, Vivian. You’ve done well.”
“…Yes.”
Robert’s party withdrew, and the retainers of Rondore Castle came flooding out. Vivian was immediately swamped with conversation. Lady Linne fretted over her, clicking her tongue. She clearly disapproved of Vivian’s boyish attire.
“Really, Lady Vivian… A young lady looking like this…”
“I only rode with my knights the way my father used to.”
“I know. I’m proud of you, truly… but a woman should still be womanly if she hopes for love later—”
“It was only a few days. And… I’ve made some new friends as well…”
Vivian answered while thinking of Kailo’s unit. Lady Linne only looked more shocked.
“…New friends? You can’t mean those boy soldiers. Absolutely not! How can the lord of Loktana associate with such lowborn children…!”
“It’s fine, Master. And for a moment—”
Vivian meant to end the conversation and go look after Kailo. She turned to Lady Linne.
“Master, please bring me a few fresh bandages as well.”
“Pardon? Lady Vivian, your arm—!”
“Not for me…”
She turned, searching for Kailo. She knew that if anyone was going to look after him—still alone—it would have to be her. He had been weighing on her mind this whole time, leaving her restless. The bandage on his head, the new wounds…
She spotted his black hair and started toward him.
“Kai—”
“Lord Kailo!”
What she saw next froze her in place.
Someone had stepped in and done exactly what she had been about to do. It was Rona, her own maid.
“Honestly, letting the bandage get this filthy…”
“…I know.”
Having stayed close to Vivian, the maids were not complete strangers to Kailo either. And now, perhaps because of his injuries, Rona was being especially warm.
“Come this way quickly. I’ll change it for you.”
—Tak!
Rona urgently caught hold of Kailo’s arm.
Vivian’s eyes took in every detail. She could not look away from Rona’s hand closed around his arm.
Kailo looked at Rona and answered with a crooked little smile.
“…Finally. Someone’s looking after me.”
At that smile, Vivian felt her heart squeeze strangely tight. She could not tell where this bizarre irritation came from. But it was more fierce and explosive than she expected, and the words left her mouth before she knew it.
“…Rona.”
The voice that slipped out was far colder than she had intended. Even the surrounding maids flinched, certain they had done something wrong.
“…Who told you to look after Kailo Allen?”
When Vivian spoke so frostily, the air around them went rigid.
“Ah… I…”
Rona hesitated, then bowed her head deeply and stepped back.
An atmosphere that might have hung between sworn enemies settled over the space. Left standing alone, Kailo simply looked at Vivian. Injured, exhausted, filthy—he just stood there.
He let out a short, incredulous laugh and shook his head.
“…That’s too much. Really.”
With that, he turned and headed for his quarters.
Vivian remained rooted where she was, trying to sort through the chaos of her own feelings.
…She could not understand at all why she had just done that.
It would have been fine if Rona had tended him. She herself could simply have gone back and rested. Yet some strange irritation had stopped her from doing so.