“The Evil Dragon isn’t dead yet? Then how did you return safely?”
Sodlan voiced his question.
In the legends of the Human Race, the Evil Dragon had always been an unpardonable existence; whenever someone presumed to challenge her, one of them was certain to die.
But Sorn had returned, which should have meant he successfully defeated the Evil Dragon.
Yet he said the Evil Dragon wasn’t dead… what was going on?
Could it be that the Evil Dragon was soft-hearted and didn’t want to fight Sorn?
That didn’t seem realistic.
“Sorn, you defeated the Evil Dragon, right.”
“Father, I am not sure…”
Sodlan’s gaze became sharp.
He frowned slightly and repeated the phrase he had just said, emphasizing it.
“You defeated the Evil Dragon… right.”
“……”
Sorn seemed to understand the meaning behind his father Sodlan’s words.
He wanted Sorn to announce to the outside world that the Human Sword Saint, Sorn, had already defeated the Evil Dragon.
But if this was found out later, wouldn’t the reputation of the Human Sword Saint be ruined?
“……”
“Just do as I say. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
Having said that, Sodlan took a sip of the wine in his glass and began to eat.
Since his father had put it that way, it was hard for Sorn to refuse.
Since his father said he didn’t need to worry about other matters, he must have a way to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.
What he needed to do was ensure no accidents happened and maintain his own image.
***
Time soon reached evening.
The Bernas family had all been invited to the Palace to enjoy a dinner of national celebration.
Upon arriving at the Palace, Sorn only wanted to sit properly and eat his meal quietly before leaving quickly.
Because of the questionable nature of the Evil Dragon incident, he felt restless every single moment.
“Come, let us invite our Human Sword Saint, Sorn Bernas, to the stage to speak.”
The King sat upon his magnificent throne, holding a red wine glass in his hand, savoring it slowly.
Upon seeing this, the guards at his side stepped back to both sides, leaving the center stage to the Human Sword Saint, Sorn Bernas.
Sodlan patted Sorn on the shoulder and whispered: “The King wants you to speak on stage. Go on, don’t be afraid.”
One truly did not dare to disobey the King’s command.
To hide his embarrassment, Sorn forced himself to maintain the aura of a Human Sword Saint and slowly walked onto the stage.
On the stage, Sorn raised the Holy Sword in his hand and gave a brief speech.
“I used this very Holy Sword to defeat the Evil Dragon!”
“Woahhh!!!”
“The Human Sword Saint is so handsome! I really want to marry him!”
A burst of applause and cheers erupted below the stage.
Sorn raised his right hand and continued his speech.
“I used this very hand to defeat the Evil Dragon!”
There was yet another round of applause and cheers.
With just those two sentences, Sorn hurriedly left the stage.
In any case, as long as he could fool these people, it was enough.
It was impossible for them to actually go and verify the truth of his dragon-slaying, nor was it likely they would doubt the capability of the Human Sword Saint.
***
After the event, Sorn returned home exhausted.
Although eating a meal wasn’t physical labor, the tension had been very real.
During the night, Sote and Sodlan both fell asleep.
Only Sorn remained anxious until very late before washing up and going to bed.
Sorn had a habit of sleeping naked; he would take off all his clothes every time before getting into bed.
In bed, he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
He looked at the moon outside the window, trying to brainwash himself into thinking that this matter would just pass like this.
As long as no one mentioned it, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
But the appearance of the Evil Dragon still lingered in Sorn’s mind, refusing to go away.
Right at this moment, Sorn felt a surge of dry heat coming from his heart.
This feeling was faint at first, but it quickly spread to his entire body.
Sorn thought this was just an illusion caused by being too anxious, until…
As he looked at the moon, his eyes began to blur, and a sharp, intense pain radiated from his heart once more.
Sorn could only clutch his chest and curl up under the quilt, hoping this would alleviate it.
But the sensation grew heavier and heavier.
The pain made him desperately want to scream out, but he was worried about waking his father and younger brother.
Gradually, the dry heat began to concentrate on his head and his tailbone.
Because Sorn could not withstand such powerful energy, his consciousness gradually became blurred, and he finally fainted.
Time passed quickly.
The moon slowly sank, and the small bundle under the covers also shrank by more than half.
In the latter half of the night, Sorn’s consciousness gradually recovered.
When he opened his eyes, the discomfort on his body had completely vanished, replaced by a strange sense of weakness.
Moreover, his throat was very dry.
“What… happened to me just now?”
Curled into a ball, Sorn was somewhat bewildered.
Why would I suddenly feel like I was sick for no reason?
Or was it just an illusion caused by anxiety?
But the dry throat wasn’t an illusion; it was real.
Sorn rubbed his eyes, pushed aside the quilt, and stepped off the bed to put on his slippers.
Strange, why did the slippers get bigger?
Also, why did his head feel so heavy?
Never mind, drinking water was more important.
Sorn walked out the door, a small dragon tail swaying back and forth behind him.
Coming outside the bedroom, gulp, gulp, gulp…
After several large gulps of water, he felt much better.
Returning to the bed, he took off his slippers and got into bed…
Hmm? Why did the bed get higher too? Whatever.
Lying on the bed, he comfortably rolled around a few times, then grabbed both sides of the pillow, buried his head into it, and gave it a good rub.
“Yii yii~”
“Ying ying ying~”
Hmm?
Sorn was confused.
Why would I make such a strange sound? And I even felt… very comfortable?
His pupils dilated as he stared blankly at the pillow beneath him.
It was a pillow, all right.
Sorn raised his head and looked out the window.
The moon was gone, obscured.
It was obscured by his long hair.
Hmm?
He instinctively brushed the hair to the side and saw the moon, though the moon had descended quite a bit, with only half of it remaining.
The moon was still the moon, the pillow was still the pillow, the bed was still the bed, and the quilt was still the quilt.
Everything was normal.
Continue sleeping.
Just as he lay down again and closed his eyes, Sorn seemed to realize something and opened them once more.
At this moment, his one purple and one red pupil were dilated enormously, trembling slightly, and his mind instantly cleared.
Something’s not right?!
I don’t have hair that long! Whose hair is that?
But there was no one else in the room.
Who else could it be but himself?
To investigate, Sorn got out of bed and turned on the lamp, which was driven by a small amount of stored Magic Power.
In an instant, light illuminated the entire room.
Sorn only felt that the house had grown quite a bit larger.
This couldn’t still be an illusion, right?
Why am I having such a strange dream? When will I wake up?
Walking to the door of the room, Sorn only then noticed that the doorknob had also become higher.
When he reached out his hand, preparing to open the door and go outside to wake up from the dream, he finally discovered the abnormality.
A tender, smooth, and somewhat thin little hand rested on the doorknob.
Hmm?
Sorn was confused once again.
Is this… my hand?
A Sword Saint who practiced swordsmanship year-round couldn’t possibly have such a hand.
This hand clearly belonged to a child.
What a strange dream…
Going back to sleep!