The dragon-person young man Ain, son of the elder, spoke.
“Mr. Douglas, I like stories written by human authors. Since I was a child, I’ve reread some of the stories my father had many, many times—and that’s why I’ve always wanted to write something like this myself.”
“Oh, uh, really?”
I felt a bit overwhelmed by Ain’s enthusiasm. Biner had described Ain as even more infatuated with humans than she was, but this must be what she meant.
Ain continued.
“But with fiction, no matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t turn out right. It doesn’t reach my ideals at all. I wonder if it’s because I’ve only lived in this village; maybe my experience is too limited. But when I heard your story, Mr. Douglas, I thought, ‘This is it!’ I want to write a story with you, Mr. Douglas, as the protagonist!”
“Well, I don’t mind, but…”
“Really! All right!”
Ain triumphantly threw a fist in the air, clearly overjoyed.
Even though I said I didn’t mind, I wondered who would want to read a story about an old adventurer like me as the protagonist…?
However, someone spoke up and agreed with Ain.
“Well said, Ain. You have a good eye for people. — Very well. If that’s the case, I will provide my full cooperation as supervisor.”
“Ah, you are…!”
“I am Seraphina, Douglas’s loyal attendant and one of his great wives. I also hold the title of the Sixth Princess of the Wentworth Kingdom, but that’s a trivial detail, so you can forget it.”
“Oh, oh…!”
“Ain, let us create a wonderful story together, praising the Hero Douglas.”
“Yes! I’m counting on you, Seraphina!”
*GASP.*
Seraphina and Ain, hitting it off, shook hands firmly.
What in the world was going on?
Furthermore—
“If that’s the case, Miina can’t just stay silent, nya. If I leave it to Seraphina alone, I don’t know what kind of distorted story she’ll create, nya.”
“Ah, then me too. I have a lot to say about Douglas~. Mostly about what happens in bed, though.”
“In b-bed— I know, that’s the saying about heroes and their appetites! Please, do tell us about those things too! It’ll add depth to the story rather than just telling pretty tales!”
Further hitting it off, Miina and Elen also jumped in to offer their supervisory cooperation.
*Sigh.* Do whatever you want.
And don’t underestimate the depth of a story.
However, there’s one thing I must say.
“Ain, I need to tell you something important. Please keep this firmly in mind.”
“Y-yes. What is it, Mr. Douglas?”
As I spoke with a serious expression, Ain gulped.
I continued.
“It’s fine to hear stories from my wives, but if you take advantage of the situation to lay hands on them, I will kill you. Do you understand?”
“Ah… Yes. Absolutely. I will never do that. So please don’t kill me…”
Seeing my face, Ain trembled violently.
Biner, watching beside him, gave a wry smile at his reaction.
And so, Ain came along, and our group grew even larger.
As the rain poured down, within the range of Seraphina’s “Rain Guard” magic—which created a spherical space about three meters in radius around the caster, preventing rain from entering—eight men and women were gathered.
There was me, my three wives, Tifereth and Biner, Ain, and Liese.
Lombardia wouldn’t be counted since it was in axe form.
Thinking about where we’d sleep for the night, I wandered aimlessly through the village when Liese approached me.
“Mr. Douglas. Forgive my rudeness, but may I ask you something?”
“What is it, Liese?”
“Why did you kill the dragon-people? When you said you took two lives, it didn’t seem to fit with your character. Perhaps adventurers are like that, but still…”
“…”
That was quite a difficult question.
How should I answer—
Beside me, as I hesitated, Tifereth crossed her arms, looking uncharacteristically thoughtful.
She seemed to be trying to recall something—but putting that aside for now.
“Liese, you mean that taking a life through violence isn’t right, don’t you? That violent solutions, like what the dragon-people of this village used, should have been rejected?”
“…Yes. I understand that if the enemy is an evil monster, like goblins or orcs, with whom we can’t coexist due to their cruelty. But I don’t think the dragon-people are like that.”
“Indeed. I think so too.”
“Then, why…?”
Liese gazed at me with her beautiful brown eyes.
She didn’t seem to be blaming me, but rather trying to clear up some lingering doubt within herself.
I pursed my lips and replied to Liese.
“There was an element of going with the flow, but—at its root, the answer is that I did it because I wanted to.”
“You wanted to, Mr. Douglas…?”
“Yes. I don’t believe I did the right thing. There was no other solution I could find, and if I left them be, many more humans would have been killed. I didn’t want that, so I killed them.”
“…”
Liese fell silent.
Taking someone’s life by one’s own will must be something far removed from the life of a scholar like Liese.
Moreover, Liese recently lost her dear brother.
Perhaps her grief makes her reflect on taking a life.
But fundamentally, even among humans, people do kill each other.
For instance, if attacked by bandits, prioritizing self-preservation is necessary.
The issue becomes the rightness of killing someone for something beyond “defending oneself from an immediate grave danger”—
I asked Liese.
“Do you think what I did was unforgivable?”
“No… But I don’t know. I don’t know if it was a good thing.”
“Neither do I. But I did it, and I will carry that burden for the rest of my life. Though I’ll probably forget about it at some point. I have to cheat a little to keep going.”
When I said that, Liese chuckled slightly, finding my phrasing amusing.
Then, with a faint smile, she said to me.
“But… you’re in a tough position, aren’t you, Mr. Douglas? Whereas I haven’t made any decisions like that.”
“It’s just that this kind of fate happened to come my way. It’s best not to have to make such decisions.”
I gently patted Liese’s head.
The scholar girl blushed and looked down.
Then, Tifereth, standing beside me, clapped her hands.
“—I remember! That’s right, Liese! I heard that name somewhere. Ahh, I feel so much better now that I remember.”
“Hm? What is it, Tifereth? What about Liese?”
Tifereth, who had been deep in thought, was nodding vigorously.
She seemed to have recalled something—
Tifereth spoke with a light tone.
“You see, I was wondering where I’d heard the name Liese before, but I couldn’t remember. But now I finally do. — Hey, scholar girl. Wasn’t your older brother perhaps a captain in the Magic Corps?”
“Eh…?” Y-yes, he was… How did you know…?”
The rain poured down heavily.
It was a blessing that saved the dragon-people’s village, but at this moment, it sounded like an ominous omen.
Tifereth clasped her hands together in front of Liese.
And in a casual tone, she said.
“Well, I’m sorry. I probably killed that brother of yours.”
