Chapter 42: 41. A Restless Night
Just walking out of the training grounds, Fisher saw many subhumans by the roadside watching them. The sounds from Raphael’s battle were too loud, inevitably attracting the surrounding townspeople to come and check it out.
As a result, when they saw that it was a neatly dressed human gentleman, they seemed to dodge and leave, except for one insectoid female who was still standing by the mainland, and behind her, a little head peeked through the window looking at Fisher and the others with compound eyes.
It turned out she lived here.
Fisher smiled and said to the woman, “I’m sorry for the disturbance, we’ll leave right away.”
The insectoid female waved her hand and spoke in halting Nali, “It’s… it’s okay.”
“You can speak Nali?”
It seemed that Feilon’s efforts in teaching these subhumans the language were beginning to show results; at least many subhumans who originally didn’t understand human language could now speak a little.
“It was the City Lord who asked someone to teach us.”
“Seems like he’s a good man.”
“Yes, yes, and he has adopted dozens of… children, treating us very well.”
Fisher’s gaze flickered for a moment, and then he smiled, flipping his hat backward in front of him to bid farewell to the insectoid female. Raphael, who had just caught up, was curiously examining the living conditions of these subhumans.
In the courtyard, there were many devices she had never seen in her tribe, like water faucets and swings.
“By the way, how is your Nali coming along?”
“Not bad.”
Fisher turned his head in some surprise, as Raphael had answered in Nali. It had only been over ten days, and she had already learned quite a few short Nali phrases. Although her accent was still a bit strange, she rarely came to ask him; he had only marked some points of interest in the books using Draconic.
Seeing Fisher’s expression, Raphael immediately smiled, almost putting her hands on her hips.
After waiting for a long time without receiving a compliment from Fisher, she recalled how he had looked so grumpy when he had praised her before.
As expected, it was the same this time; he quickly withdrew his gaze and seemed to casually compliment her, “You’ve done well, keep it up.”
Hateful humans!
As Raphael quietly cursed him while following behind, Fisher suddenly stopped moving, wordlessly reaching out to grab Raphael’s hand and pulling her into the shade of a nearby tree.
Under the moonlight’s shadow, Raphael and Fisher’s gazes gradually met, focusing on a blue-clad soldier in the distance, directing other soldiers who were loading something onto a carriage.
The items were cylindrical metal cans, not very large and seemingly light, about a few dozen centimeters long, easily held by one person. They carefully placed those items onto the carriage, and then two soldiers sat inside while one went to the front to drive.
Raphael’s eyesight was much better than Fisher’s; she could see what was happening but had no idea what the soldiers were doing. Turning to Fisher for an answer, she found he had no reaction, just leaning against the tree observing the situation.
After the carriage left towards the outer city, Fisher finally pulled Raphael out from the shadows.
“What were they doing?”
“I don’t know either.” Fisher stared at the carriage as it grew further away, then continued on the path to Feilon’s residence. “Let’s go back.”
Raphael opened her mouth and then walked alongside Fisher towards Feilon’s residence.
“Fisher, I just feel that something is strange here. I don’t really like it.”
“Oh?” Tonight, Raphael was full of surprises; this was already the fourth time she had said something shocking. “I thought you would like it… what’s the reason?”
“I… I don’t know. I just don’t like it.”
Raphael thought for a long time, originally wanting to say something that would impress Fisher, but she couldn’t organize her thoughts into words.
“I just feel… something is off.”
Fisher glanced at her and said, “Since you have an idea, observe and think more. Keep going until you are proven wrong by the facts.”
Back at the residence, Fisher borrowed Feilon’s bathroom, which had several rooms, so he also let Raphael wash up. In the end, Ral stubbornly refused to go, saying she had told the other children she would only borrow it for a while, and if she went to bathe, she couldn’t play anymore.
It was unclear how Ral managed to get her hands on it despite the language barrier, but she was eventually justly punished by Raphael, crying as she was carried into the bathroom by Mill.
After washing up, it seemed that Feilon and Nana had finished their tasks and returned. Nana was feeding a little goblin child with a spoon.
“Is it over, Mr. Fisher? It seems you won again this time. Surviving the dragon race’s attack shows you’re also a master of magic. So, have you thought about how to deepen your feelings with her this time?”
Fisher sat down, tapping his fingers on the table, “I plan to go all out.”
Feilon, hidden behind his gas mask, showed a bit of surprise before laughing, “Well, I heard that the dragon race only feels desire for suitable tail partners, so you should be careful not to hurt yourself. That said, I think your previous suggestion was feasible.”
“Which suggestion do you mean?”
Last night, he had discussed many things in Feilon’s laboratory, merely engaging in a pure academic exchange where Fisher had offered some hypotheses.
“You said that since despair can produce the conditions for the soul to oscillate, then this feeling can also be created by stimulating the human brain.”
Fisher was silent for a moment, not following up on his words, merely shaking his head and saying, “But determining the brain regions that produce the same reaction is too difficult; it’s better to give up on that idea.”
Feilon nodded with a smile, then stood up, “Right, let’s leave it here for today. I still have to go entertain those little ones. Mr. Fisher, you should rest early too. Good night.”
“Good night.”
Feilon and Nana left the living room, leaving Fisher alone at the table, lost in thought.
Fisher’s fingers kept tapping on the table, and thoughts gradually intertwined in his mind. In the living room, you could still hear Ral making noise in the bathroom, but with Fisher’s gentle tapping, the atmosphere felt eerily silent.
“Tap.”
Fisher’s fingers suddenly stopped, and the magical circuits on the back of his hand lit up like tree branches.
“Heh.”
“Ral, stop snatching other people’s toys!”
Raphael stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the little dragon Ral sitting on the ground with her lips pouted, grabbing her ear with her claws, speaking one word at a time.
“Ral borrowed it to play! I told them so.”
“Nana told me you ran off with their toys after taking them, and you say it’s a loan!”
“Ral said it was borrowed before running away!”
“Why run if you borrowed it?”
“They didn’t agree to let Ral borrow it, so Ral ran.”
“…”
Raphael opened her mouth speechlessly, then reached out and firmly twisted her ear, making her frown as she quickly ran behind Mill.
“Sister Mill, boohoo, Lady Raphael hit me!”
“Ral, really, stop being so naughty. Let’s go to bed.”
Mill hugged Ral, brushing her head and smiling helplessly; Fashir and Keshil were nearby making faces at the crying Ral, making her less willing to lift her head from Mill’s embrace.
This girl…
Raphael suddenly recalled Fisher’s words and hesitated for a moment before walking over to Ral’s side, saying seriously, “You mustn’t run around; always stay where Mill and the others can see you, understand?”
“Okay, I understand.”
“Alright, go to sleep now.”
Raphael instructed Mill and the others to go upstairs to sleep, and she followed them upstairs. As soon as she closed their room door, the moment the corridor fell silent, her body stiffened slightly.
Wait, didn’t Fisher say he would punish her tonight?
Raphael shook her tail, slowly walking to her own room door. She reached for the doorknob but couldn’t bring herself to turn it.
After an unknown amount of time, Fisher, who had been reading inside, saw the door open, and the red-scaled dragon girl with cherry-colored skin turned her gaze slightly, her tail swaying in front of her as she slowly entered the room.
“I… I’m ready…”
Not saying anything else, just confirming she was ready.
Fisher nodded, silently closing the book in his hands.
“Well, tonight…”
Before he could say more, he felt the bed beside him lightly shake as Raphael sat down beside him.
“What… what are we doing tonight?”
Her eyes were nearly bulging, her tail swaying behind her, the smile on her face was incredibly stiff, and the scales on her sides fluttered while releasing wisps of steam. But most adorable was when Fisher’s gaze fell upon her, that part of the scales gradually lay flat under his gaze, transforming from an armored appearance to a soft form.
“I’ve wanted to study this for a while, why do your scales change like this?”
Fisher curiously stretched out his hand to lightly touch the still partially transformed scales, but unexpectedly, that touch made her shiver as if shocked, causing all her remaining scales to fall flat instantly while she shrank back several centimeters, her face turning a deeper shade of pink.
“W-what is this?”
Raphael wanted to make up a random excuse, be it a cold, just finishing a battle, or feeling unwell, but…
No, wait, isn’t tonight the punishment time? So, saying a bit of truth shouldn’t be too bad… right?
She slightly opened her mouth, taking several breaths without managing to utter a word, in panic, she looked down, her eyes meeting Fisher’s calm gaze, and she then saw his eyes, like a spring, radiating ripples.
Because at this moment, in his gaze, Raphael’s face flushed, her emerald eyes seemed to glisten, radiating a captivating warmth and fragrance.
He suddenly recalled many people’s warnings.
The dragon race only feels desire for suitable tail partners.
So that’s how it is.
In that instant, when his thoughts electrified, Fisher’s expression turned serious, and he gently grasped the young girl’s face before suddenly pulling her closer in the midst of her frightened and flustered gaze.
In the next moment, their lips met.
Raphael’s body trembled violently, then softened like water, her tail wildly slapping the soft bed sheets.
Scales and tail do not lie, and the heart being fervently touched does not lie either; they repeatedly emphasized the affection towards this human, just as Raphael had always been unwilling to admit.
Even if he is human, I…
The flame that seemed to have been suppressed for a long time was now surging and burning, igniting Raphael’s movements like molten lava; her mind was filled only with his presence, endlessly approaching him.
Thus, she also naturally forgot that this house had poor sound insulation.
(End of this chapter)
