Dragonlord

Ep 209. You’re Not From This Time, Are You? (2)

Ep 209. You’re Not From This Time, Are You? (2)

“Well?”

“…He’s just tired, Serenis.”

“But that can’t be. We’ve hardly made any way.”

“Yeah, about that…he’s a horse. Not a dragon.”

“…”

The two siblings stood side by side beside the stopped carriage. Both their eyes were locked onto the exhausted steed: even a predator’s menacing glare could no longer fuel their legs.

Though, Serenis was still trying to process how it could be tired after just one night of running.

“Just give him a few hours. Iris is asleep anyways, so this works out. There’s plenty of farms around, so I’ll try and find some feed for him in the meantime.”

As Serenis seemingly continued to wrestle with the aspect of beasts needing rest so quickly, Patrick redid his small elven disguise over his ears before turning towards one of the scattered households, hoping to find something for the steed.  He admittedly didn’t have any Karian currency in his possession, but he did have plenty of raw gold the dragonlord had brought back from their trip to the valley.

But before Patrick could make his way over first, a little elven girl half his height approached the mage from the fields, carrying with her an assortment of colorful flowers in her hands.

“Excuse me! Would you like to buy some flowers?”

“Huh? Uh, flowers?...Sorry, but I’m good. I think they’d end up dead in a day or two.”

“Are you sure? They’re really healthy! They’ll grow well wherever!”

“Well, it’s more ‘I don’t really have a place to put them’ kinda deal…”

“…Aww…okay.”

At Patrick’s continued refusal, the girl soon lowered her makeshift bouquet with a pouting expression.  She then seemed to leave at first, but a small trip of the leg sent the elf falling right onto the ground – along with the batch of flowers in her arms that wildly scattered about.

“Hey, woah! Are you okay?”

“…Owww…I, I’m okay. Could you just help me pick up my flowers back?”

“Sure. Here.”

A few seconds of effort was all it took for Patrick to pick up the scattered flowers to hand back to the elven girl.

And when he did, a faint smile returned to the girl’s lips as she eagerly took them into her hands again, picking up every last bit that the mage held in his arms.

“Thank you…sorry about that!”

“It’s alright, nothing to be sorry about. You sure you’re okay?”

“Mhm! I’ll be fine. Thank you, mister!”

For a while after, Patrick watched the girl walk away into the wheat fields. As her figure disappeared in the array of crops taller than her height, only then did Patrick turn back towards Serenis – who had since put away her horns and tail to mimic her brother’s elven disguise.

A relieved sigh escaped the mage’s lips as she shrugged at his younger sibling.

“Well, good thing she seemed okay. If we come back here on the way back, maybe we can buy some flowers then.”

“…You didn’t buy any?”

“No?”

For a moment, Serenis’ quizzical gaze lingered in the air.

The dragonlord then raised one wrist, tapping at it for Patrick to see.

“…Patrick.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

While Patrick was confused at first, he soon noticed that Serenis’ gaze was pointing towards his own wrist – which he quickly lifted to check.

Nothing.

‘…Wait, nothing? That’s not right…’

It wasn’t like Patrick was fond of expensive watches or the like – but for the past while, his wrist had never been empty. A gem-attached bracelet from his sibling had always occupied it, even during his sleep.

In a sense, it was more valuable than any watch. Despite its lackluster appearance, it was a quite literally a divine relic handcrafted by the deity of life.

…Not that the thief knew what she was stealing.

“Where did – wait, did that girl take it earlier?!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice until now. I thought your entire work comprised of catching petty thieves.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t TELL me until now! You could’ve told me earlier!”

“…I honestly thought you gave it to her as payment.”

“Who would exchange a divine relic for some flowers?!”

“I thought you did, but I was wrong. My apologies.”

“…”

As per usual, conversing with his sibling wasn’t the easiest task of the day.

But right now, his missing bracelet was far too concerning for Patrick to even care about his sibling’s underhanded comments.

“Ugh. That brat’s messing with the wrong person. Give me a minute, I can track her down.”

“…I believe I’ll take your advice and tell you early this time. She’s right over there.”

As Serenis specifically pointed to one of the scattered households within the wheat fields, Patrick gave his usual, questioning stare.

“How are you tracking her? Mana?”

“She doesn’t possess nearly enough mana to be distinguishable. But I can sense your bracelet’s divinity.”

“…Huh. That’s…surprisingly convenient.”

✧   ✧   ✧

“Selene! Apologize!”

“…Sowwy…”

As the elven girl only gave a curt nod to her mother’s insistence, her head was quickly pressed down much further by force.

And while pressing down her daughter’s head down, the mother likewise lowered her head over and over in an apologetic gesture.

“I’m so sorry! I should’ve been watching her better. I hope you can forgive her…”

At first, Patrick had stood with a stern expression.

After having worked his entire life going after criminals, even petty thieves were an eyesore to the former enforcer. If this had happened back in Partivine, he wouldn’t have hesitated to report the incident to the enforcement sector to have the thief arrested and punished, regardless of their background.

But given how they were currently using a stolen carriage themselves – combined with the mother’s continued apology – Patrick found it difficult to maintain a strong position, eventually giving in with a long sigh.

“…It’s fine. But don’t do it again, okay?”

“…”

“SELENE!”

“…I won’t do it again…”

While Patrick was bringing out a formal apology from the thief, Serenis busied herself with studying the insides of the barn house.

From the outside, things had seemed perfectly fine. It was large, beautifully built, and seemingly well-maintained, even in the dragonlord’s eyes.

But in contrast, the insides were…eerily empty.

She could hardly see any furniture. No tables, no seats, not even wood for their dusty fireplace. And there certainly weren’t any decorative items like frames and tapestries, either.

After noticing the dragonlord’s studious eyes, the mother turned towards Serenis – still with her apologetic expression.

“…I’m sorry, it’s quite barren inside, isn’t it? We had to sell away almost everything we had. I’d bring out some tea, but…I’m afraid we don’t have any anymore.”

Both Serenis and Patrick narrowed their eyes at the explanation. And soon enough, the mage curiously spoke up to address the matter.

“…Excuse me for asking, but…why? Are you redoing the interior or something?”

“Um, no. We’ve just been…struggling. Everyone has around here. A soldier clad in black recently came insisting people to join the army, and a lot of the men went to join afterwards.”

“…Still, with farms this large, I don’t see how you could really be struggling. You still have plenty of crops to sell, don’t you?”

“…We haven’t really been making any coin. Senon collects our crops for free during wartime. We only have one other trade route to the east, but a monster recently began attacking merchants, so…we haven’t had any trades in a long while. And when we don’t have enough coin, tax collectors take away items instead.”

“…That’s the stupidest system I’ve ever-“

Before Patrick could complete his sentence, Serenis swiftly covered her sibling’s mouth with one hand. Lest he give away that they weren’t elves.

“Excuse his language. He’s a little rattled, still.”

“O, of course! It’s fine. Um, I’m sorry again about what Selene did. We…really don’t have much to compensate with, but, um…oh, maybe you two would like a reading?...”

“A reading?”

Curious, Serenis looked to her older sibling as she lowered her hand from his mouth to see if he’d know what a reading was. But Patrick only shrugged back at the dragonlord, wondering much the same as her before addressing the elf directly.

“By reading, do you mean the thing that shamans do?”

“Mhm. I learned the practice from my father when I was younger. He says it’s based on astrology, but…it’s really just for fun. Still, if you’re interested, I can give you two a free reading.”

“Meh…I’m fine. I’ve already done it before, actually.”

But when Patrick turned his head towards Serenis, she was clearly on the opposite end of the interest spectrum – he’d never seen her eyes sparkle with so much interest before.

“Astrology…so you read fates based on stars?”

“That’s what people say it’s based on, but really, it’s just reading a hand of cards you draw from a deck depicting the Twelve…here, go ahead and give it a try!”

“Yeah, try, try! Mom’s really good!”

Following her daughter’s cheer-like remark, the elf produced a thin deck of twelve cards from her pockets, spreading them thin before offering them to Serenis.

“This is a general reading, so you’re going to be picking out three cards – one for your past, one for present, and one for future. Once you’re done picking them all, you can flip them over to show me.”

“…”

When Serenis once again looked to Patrick for confirmation, he gave her another shrug, pointing at the cards being offered.

“…The astrology part really got you, huh? Go ahead. It doesn’t take long.”

After a firm nod, Serenis turned back towards the offered cards, doing as instructed to pick out three in order before flipping them face-up.

And sure enough, drawn on the cards were crude depictions of the present divinities – which she could actually recognize at first glance.

“Ahaha, I wish we had a table to do this. Let’s see. In order, you’ve picked…the Reaper, the Historian, and…Mother Earth. That’s a very unusual draw! You don’t usually see life and death in the same hand, especially not in reverse order.”

Grinning, the elf then began to pick out the cards back from Serenis, taking the first card to explain its meaning.

“So, your first draw was the Reaper. This one represents your past. As you know, the Reaper presides over death – but it doesn’t mean anything bad in this case. This would mean that you’ve gone through a very impactful event before, one that would’ve been as impactful as dying. Something that changed you completely as an individual. And it’s saying that you should always keep the event close to heart moving forward to prevent such things from happening again.”

The dragonlord’s eyes visibly widened at the explanation being given. It was the astrology that had hooked her interest, but the elf’s explanation of her draw was even more compelling.

And from Patrick’s perspective, it was quite unusual – and funny – to see his usually indifferent sibling marvelling with so much interest in something.

“And your next draw was Historian. This one pertains to the present. It’s not usually a card people draw that often…unlike the other deities, the Historian isn’t known to preside over any particular realm. This would mean that you’re currently facing troubles with something that you’re doing, likely because of a past event that’s come back to haunt you. In your case, it could be the same one that the Reaper was pointing to. It could be hindering with your work, goals, or something else…and your efforts might prove to be fruitless in the end. I’d urge you to rethink any goal you’ve been struggling towards, and maybe try approaching it from a different perspective.”

This time, Serenis’ expression grew noticeably solemn – grim, even. But nevertheless, the elf took back the final card, this time answering in a brighter tone than before.

“And lastly, you drew Mother Earth for your future. The present’s draw wasn’t the best one, but the life card for your future would mean that you’ll find peace and stability in the future. With the previous two in mind, if you err on the side of caution and approach your goals carefully, you’ll be able to achieve what you want most.”

When the elf finally looked up from her deck of cards, she saw Serenis staring at the cards in her hand – almost in a mermerized-like state, seemingly lost in the reading that was just given. Even Patrick was mildly alarmed by how still his sibling was, making him step closer to give a light shake.

“…Uh, you do remember she said it’s just for fun, right? Readings aren’t something you should trust in 100%.”

“…”

Thankfully, Serenis did turn her head towards Patrick – but when she only gave him a shaken stare instead of an actual response, the mage rolled his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh.

‘Who’s rattled now?’