“Wah, wah, wah!”
The Sword Spirit continued to cry.
‘If she keeps crying, I’m doomed!’
Zhu Qiu panicked.
Her father was still in the next room.
If he woke up now, how would she explain this?
“Stop crying!”
Zhu Qiu poked her head into the covers, trying to pull the Sword Spirit out to cover her mouth before explaining.
“Mmph, mmph… Wah, wah, wah!”
But the Sword Spirit broke free instantly and cried even louder.
Now, the neighbors might even wake up!
In the next room, Sodlan had recovered most of his energy after resting for so long.
He was already able to take care of himself like a normal person.
He had woken up because he felt anxious about the house being demolished.
‘Where on earth is that crying coming from? Is someone trying to keep me from sleeping?’
Sodlan got out of bed and pushed the door open to investigate.
On the other side, Zhu Qiu became even more frantic when she heard the sound of Sodlan’s footsteps.
‘I’m done for! Father was definitely woken up by the crying. He’s definitely coming to check my room next.’
“Sword Spirit, stop crying! Mommy likes you. I like you!”
Having no other choice, Zhu Qiu could only say those words.
She only hoped the Sword Spirit would stop; if she continued, the secret would truly be out.
“Sniffle… Really? Mommy likes me?”
“Of course, Mommy likes you the most. My little baby, don’t cry, don’t cry.”
Zhu Qiu caringly wiped the tears from the corners of the Sword Spirit’s eyes.
“Mmph… I like Mommy, too.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the Sword Spirit vanished.
At the same time, Sodlan pushed the door open and asked in confusion, “Did you hear a strange noise? Like a little girl crying?”
Zhu Qiu, whose head was covered by the blanket, pretended to poke her head out.
She rubbed her eyes, acting as if she had just been sleeping.
“No, I didn’t hear anything. Maybe you had a nightmare.”
Sodlan closed the door and left.
Zhu Qiu let out a long breath.
‘Phew… That was close. I almost got caught.’
But then again, what was wrong with the Sword Spirit?
Was she sick?
Had her head gotten so hot that she started talking nonsense? Zhu Qiu had no idea.
She decided not to worry about it.
It wasn’t dawn yet, so she went back to sleep.
She slept until 9:00 AM.
The Sword Spirit poked her head out again and sat by the pillow with a flushed face.
“Get up!”
The fast-asleep Zhu Qiu scratched her face, rolled over, and continued to sleep.
“Get up!”
Zhu Qiu remained unmoved.
The Sword Spirit didn’t care anymore; she was determined to wake this lazy bug up.
She pressed her mouth against Zhu Qiu’s ear and took a deep breath.
“GET! UP!”
“Whoa!”
Startled by the stimulus, Zhu Qiu jumped up in a reflexive response and rolled off the bed.
“Ouch!”
She climbed back up while clutching her sore backside, demanding angrily, “Sword Spirit, what are you doing? Don’t you know I hate being disturbed while I’m sleeping?”
At the same time, the Sword Spirit appeared very angry.
She crossed her arms over her chest and questioned her back,
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
“Say what? I’ll say that I want to sleep now and don’t want to be disturbed.”
Hearing such a perfunctory answer, the Sword Spirit’s face turned bright red.
“It… it’s about what happened after you finished drawing the Magic Circle today!”
“After that?”
Zhu Qiu scratched her head and thought for a moment before it clicked.
“You mean the part where you kept crying? I wanted to ask you about that, too. Why did you keep calling me ‘Mommy’ and making me say I liked you? You wouldn’t stop crying until I did. You almost got me caught by my father.”
The Sword Spirit’s face grew redder and redder, as if it might explode at any moment.
“I was just dazed… and then it ended up like that. It’s all because of your Magic Power! You need to apologize to me!”
‘Huh?’
Zhu Qiu felt as if new knowledge was entering her brain.
‘So that was it.’
“I’m sorry, Sword Spirit. I’ll definitely ask for your opinion next time.”
She didn’t hesitate and apologized decisively.
“Hmph! Only because I, this Sword Spirit, am magnanimous… I… I forgive you.”
Since Zhu Qiu had apologized sincerely, the Sword Spirit had no reason to refuse.
After all, they were true companions.
“But, Sword Spirit, there must be another reason you woke me up, right?”
Zhu Qiu voiced her suspicion.
“Of course! This Sword Spirit is the most reliable. I just wanted to remind you that today is the third day. The King could come to demolish the house at any time. You had better stay completely alert.”
“I know. Thanks, Sword Spirit.”
“Hmph!”
Sure enough, in the next second, Zhu Qiu heard the sound of the front door being opened outside.
“Sword Spirit, did you hear that? It sounds like someone is here. Go back and hide for a bit.”
“Okay. You be careful, too.”
The Sword Spirit left.
Sodlan heard the commotion and quickly got out of bed, dressed, and walked out the door.
At the main entrance stood Dinksway, who was wrapped tightly in a robe, along with a group of elite troops from the Royal Legion he led.
Sodlan had already guessed that these people were here to demolish his home.
He didn’t say anything, choosing instead to accept it calmly.
“Sodlan, you should know why we are here today, right?”
Dinksway began.
“I know. I’ll go wake my son now, and then we’ll leave the Human Race.”
“No, no, no,” Dinksway quickly shook his right index finger in refusal.
“That is only one of our goals. I have a much more important reason for being here.”
“What other reason could there be? You’re already tearing down my house. What else do you want?”
Sodlan was puzzled.
“Besides demolishing the house, we also want to… capture the Dragon.”
“Capture the Dragon? You’re joking. I don’t have a Dragon here. What does catching a Dragon have to do with my family?”
“Sodlan, your family actually does have a Dragon,” Dinksway said, deliberately slowing his tone.
“You’re joking. I’ve lived this long and haven’t even seen the shadow of a real Dragon. Where would a Dragon come from?”
“This Dragon is, of course, related to your filial son. According to my observations over the past few days, your son has indeed raised a Dragon, and she hasn’t let you know about it.”
Dinksway’s words left Sodlan even more confused.
He knew his son better than anyone.
It was impossible for her to raise a Dragon.
After all, she had made killing the Evil Dragon her goal.
How could she make such a decision that betrayed her ancestors?
“Why should I believe you?”
“Why? Because of this.”
At that moment, Zhu Qiu had just finished dressing and wanted to see what was happening outside.
As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw not only Dinksway and the Royal Legion…