Lance seemed to have caught some strange illness.

His condition fluctuated between better and worse, and sometimes, Mira would adjust her attitude toward Lance based on how he seemed in the morning.

When he became unusually affectionate, she would deliberately keep her distance.

She returned all the books related to dragons and never asked Xingxing to bring any similar books again.

More often, she hid in the corners of the tower to meditate and practice magic.

She never asked the origami spirit for its name. The little paper figure seemed to sense that the relationship between Mira and Lance had become strange. It took her to a certain floor of the tower.

It was a spacious and quiet space. The origami spirit told Mira that it was a good place for her to practice magic alone.

He informed her that she could set a spell as a key to enter this space, and once she completed this ritual, this floor of the tower would belong entirely to her.

Mira guessed whose suggestion this was. It seemed Lance had given up on hiding his identity as the master of the tower.

Once he acknowledged that identity, many things became more complicated.

Recently, Mira had been thinking about moving.

She didn’t want to think about it. But she was starting to feel that she couldn’t stay here any longer.

A lot of clues were pointing toward an answer that would leave her unsure of how to respond. She didn’t know whether she should investigate it. But how could she investigate? Mira didn’t know. It was just a guess, after all. Her imagination had connected several suspicious details, forming a hypothesis.

She emphasized it to herself several times in her mind. Yet that uneasy feeling didn’t go away.

She was doubting Lance. Even though Mira didn’t want to admit it, she was doubting Lance.

But he was so kind to her.

Mira couldn’t help but feel frustrated with herself. Because of this, she had been feeling down for a while now.

After another day of practice, Mira lay flat in the vast emptiness.

She had exhausted all her magical power, hoping that fatigue would prevent her from thinking too much about strange questions.

The medium, having absorbed the warmth of its owner's prolonged grip, now resembled an ancient jade stone in the dim light of this world. Mira held it up to the light, carefully observing this medium she had been using for a few months.

It was a dragon scale. From a real dragon.

How did Lance take it out? He reached into the blanket and fumbled around for a while, and then this dragon scale appeared.

She tried not to let herself think about the possibility that Lance was the evil dragon. But some of his traits were beginning to overlap with those of a dragon.

What he was going through now mirrored the stories of dragons and princesses.

When Mira went down the mountain to buy supplies, she also overheard the people in the town talking about the large shadow seen in the clouds, especially during the late night and early morning hours.

The townsfolk said it was a dragon stretching its body.

The magic dragon had returned. Or rather, the magic dragon had never left his tower; for some reason, he couldn't be the magic dragon.

Mira speculated that perhaps, before she arrived at the tower, a caster named "Lance" had come to challenge the dragon, only to be killed by its dragon flame.

But this caster had also severely wounded the magic dragon, forcing it to take human form in order to deceive Mira into helping him.

Mira shook her head. This was too strange.

The story of the dragon and the princess was something she should write. Mira quickly dismissed the thought.

If she were to write it, it should be about a dragon and a mage, or perhaps a rich man and a mage.

Mira sighed.

She propped herself up and sat up.

She couldn’t just run up to Lance and ask him, "Are you the magic dragon?" She needed to observe for a little longer.

The strange questions couldn’t change the fact that people get hungry, so Mira decided to return to the base of the tower to eat first, then think more seriously about other things.

Lance didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic today.

When Mira came out of her small world, he was fiddling with a withered plant.

Mira recognized it as one of the endangered plants he had been growing on one of the tower’s floors.

These plants contained magic, which made them natural mediums. As the number of human mages increased, these magical plants became objects of competition.

These plants existed quietly, until one day, an explorer discovered them and published the information in a mage newspaper at the magic hub. Soon, the followers who never explored for themselves took the news and searched for these magical plants. Within no time, they became rarer and rarer until they vanished.

Lance had a world specifically for collecting these endangered plants.

Mira couldn’t help but think, dragons were creatures with collecting habits. She wondered if collecting endangered plants was one of them.

“What’s wrong with it?” Mira asked, watching from a distance for a while before giving in to her curiosity and walking up to examine the plant in front of Lance.

Lance looked up at her. His face still appeared pale, but when he spoke, some energy seemed to return to his voice.

“It’s not adapting well to the pot,” Lance gently dug the plant out of the soil and moved it to another pot.

“It needs a different environment to grow,” Lance said, looking up. Mira’s eyes, sparkling, were right in front of him. He turned his gaze away and finished speaking, “The space in the tower has lost its connection to the real world. Only in nature can it continue to grow.”

Mira nodded, though she only half understood.

She watched Lance’s movements as he moved the plants from one pot to another.

“Where will they be moved to?” she asked.

“To the swamp. They like humid places,” Lance answered.

He stood up, and Mira followed, but the familiar fragrance appeared again.

Mira cautiously looked at Lance. His expression showed no change, and his eyes were still focused on the pot he was holding.

“Do you want to come with me?” Lance asked Mira. She looked at the dust on the leaves—small and faint—admiring the delicate and intricate veins of the plant, yet she dared not meet his gaze, afraid to intensify the oddity.

He had already tried the third approach, but the result was mediocre.

He had even considered the feasibility of a fourth approach. But in reality, that was because the book he had been reading was called Dragons and Succubi.

If it were Dragons and Elves or Dragons and Dwarfs, the content would have been swapped to something more appetizing, like elves or dwarfs.

Today, Lance felt his condition was better.

He thought, Mira had only responded to him after staying by his side for a while. If he controlled this pace, he could last until the meeting ended.

He stood still, waiting for her answer.

Mira declined his invitation to go with him.

But then, she reconsidered. This would be a good opportunity to observe Lance. Maybe she could discover things she couldn’t see within the tower. She quickly changed her mind.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“I’ll go too.”

Lance wasn’t surprised by her sudden change of mind.

Mira was just like that. During a brief moment of free time, she must have thought of many other things.

“Is there a swamp nearby?” Mira asked Lance.

Actually, in the few months since arriving at the tower, the farthest she had gone was to Ghillian Town, and the place she visited the most was the Hero Town at the foot of the mountain.

“Hmm.” Lance thought for a moment. The tower was located in the mountains, and there were no rivers above ground in the area. The villagers drew water by drilling wells.

The swamp was on the other side of the mountains.

“It’s quite a distance,” he answered truthfully.

“Will we stay outside overnight?” Mira asked softly. Her previous memory of sharing a room with Lance hadn’t been pleasant. Although nothing had happened between them, Mira had felt afraid.

Lance turned his head and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“We can just teleport there,” he said.

Mira wondered if constantly thinking about strange things had dulled her mind. She had been thinking that if Lance were the magic dragon, she could simply ride the dragon to the swamp.

But on the other hand, if Lance were the magic dragon, was it a bad person’s thought to consider the convenience it brought?

She fell silent. In fact, she had always been borrowing the magic dragon’s bad reputation.

“Mira,” Lance called her, “Is there anything else you need to prepare?”

He looked down at the plants in the empty pot, but his mind didn’t seem to be on them.

“No,” Mira answered.

She stood by Lance’s side.

He lowered his eyes, focused on the plant in front of him.

A magic dragon wouldn’t care about handling flowers and plants, would they?

The daily life of a magic dragon should be about causing harm, eating, and sleeping, right?

Mira watched Lance. He didn’t appear very old.

The blue dragon cast a spell and opened a portal to the swamp.

Mira followed behind him, stepping into the blue curtain.

The surrounding air immediately became damp, mixed with an indescribable scent. It was like the fermentation of grass roots soaked in water for too long, producing a sour odor, but with an added astringency that made it more than just sour.

Although it wasn’t evening, the sky above the swamp was filled with various flying insects, and the buzzing of mosquitoes and flies sent chills down one’s spine.

Mira, used to living in the high tower without the disturbance of insects, was startled by the dense dark clouds overhead as she suddenly found herself in the swamp. It triggered some unpleasant memories.

Mira leaned closer to Lance.

The blue dragon was in a special physiological state, and Mira already had a strong presence in his perception. When she moved closer to him, Lance’s steps faltered for a moment.

He looked up, his gaze landing on the buzzing mosquitoes.

These tiny creatures were the boldest in nature. No matter what they encountered, they dared to approach and disturb it.

Lance squinted, and the pressure of a dragon, a force of nature, was released with his intent, charging toward the mosquitoes flitting about in the air.

For a brief moment, the space seemed to stiffen. The thin wings of the mosquitoes forgot how to flutter, and the brief pause caused irreversible consequences. It was like a rainstorm, and the mosquitoes, once flying freely, suddenly dropped from the air with a loud crash.

This was definitely the most terrifying sight Mira had seen recently.

She instinctively shrank closer to Lance. But she quickly realized that this abnormal phenomenon could only be caused by them, the unexpected visitors in the swamp.

She hadn’t cast any spells. Mira glanced secretly at Lance. It must have been him.

But she hadn’t seen any movements from him or heard him uttering any incantations. Moreover, she had no idea what spell could make mosquitoes fall from the air like rain.

Lance was quite satisfied with the effect of the dragon’s pressure.

He couldn’t kill all the mosquitoes, as that would disrupt the natural balance, but he had temporarily rendered them incapable of flying. The animals that relied on these insects would now have an easy dinner without needing to hunt.

Although he wasn’t like the black dragon who enjoyed using his pressure to oppress other races, occasionally, the power of a dragon’s presence could have strange uses.

“We’re planting these in what kind of place?” Mira asked Lance.

Now, she was starting to doubt whether her guesses had been nothing more than figments of her imagination. The rumors about magical dragons being evil were widespread, but if all he did was summon a rain of mosquitoes, that surely couldn’t be considered evil, right?

Evil madness didn’t seem to fit with Lance at all.

“This place should work,” Lance said, surveying the area. The water was suitable, and the mud beneath gave a perfect sinking sensation without being too soft or rotten.

The plants in his hands were suited for this environment, where their inherent magic could reach its full potential.

As a medium, it might not be the most ideal choice, but when it came to purifying the swamp's stagnation, there was nothing more suitable.

Lance crouched down, tying his long hair behind his head with magic.

Mira’s gaze followed his actions, fixed on his hair. It was a dark blue, almost black, which struck her as odd. No matter how many times she saw it, it was strange to think that someone like Lance, with blue hair, could exist in this world.

He must be a very special being.

The blue dragon was very careful. The endangered plant in the pot required a delicate transplant, and Lance needed to ensure its success. He dug a pit of the right depth, cautious not to damage the plant’s fragile roots with any other tools, and adjusted its position with his hands.

As the plant’s roots connected with the swamp mud, Mira felt a peculiar magical fluctuation emanating from Lance’s hands. To be precise, it came from the plant itself.

She was drawn to this natural energy, and unconsciously reached out to touch the leaves. Lance turned his head, his gaze softening. Without the need for words, he could feel that Mira had sensed the world in his eyes.

The tiny magical particles, invisible to the eye, existed in the breath of the swamp, the plants, and their own breathing. Bit by bit, they merged, creating the scene before them.

Mira’s expression of wonder was unreserved, and Lance understood that she had seen his world.

A romantic world that couldn’t be shared with others.

They crouched by the plant, on the muddy ground of the swamp, their shoes covered in dirt, the air around them not foul but certainly not pleasant.

This wasn’t a romantic place, yet there was something overlooked in it.

“Do you do this often?” Mira asked.

“No,” Lance raised his head, his expression turning nostalgic. Before the energy core malfunctioned, he spent most of his time in the high tower studying other types of natural magic. While he often approached nature, he mostly stayed in the small worlds that made up the tower. He rarely used teleportation magic to visit the outside world.

Mira had given him some inspiration.

Lance felt a sudden urge to prove to Mira that his life was interesting. It was as though he was in a hurry to show her that he wasn’t as dull as she might think.

He looked down at the mud on his hands. The smell of the swamp’s rotten mud was far from pleasant. For a girl, especially one like Mira, who cared about her appearance, it must have been too strange.

Lance lowered his head, feeling as if something was off in his direction.

Mira noticed his sudden sense of melancholy. His gaze lingered on his hands, and he slowly retracted his fingers, hiding the muddy marks.

“When I was little, I envied other children who could play in the mud,” Mira quietly told Lance. “It’s strange, isn’t it? I’ve never played with mud.”

Mira’s words made her feel rather amused. Why was she telling Lance such a thing? It wasn’t anything to be proud of.

But Lance’s actions stopped. He turned his head as if waiting for her to say more.

“You know I grew up in the magic hub,” Mira naturally continued, as he had hoped, telling him the story of her past.

Her life was dull compared to most. At least compared to Lance, hers must have been extremely boring.

“I grew up in the welfare center of the magic hub. Children like me had to wear the same uniform every day and live according to a strict schedule, always under the watchful eyes of caretakers.”

Mira felt that the reason her thoughts were as lively as they were now was probably because, at that time, her body mechanically followed the schedule while her mind wandered with strange ideas.

“Our toys were handed down from generation to generation. The doll I received had four or five patches, and I had to take good care of it.” Mira made a strange expression, as if recalling that time was a kind of torture for her. “I had to feed it. Feeding a rag doll was especially odd.”

“I had to take good care of it, because after I left, it might stay with the next child.”

“Later, other children arrived at the welfare center. The daughter of a wizard couple. Her parents had passed away, and she was temporarily placed here. She was the only one who had seen the world outside the magic hub. She didn’t like the dolls the teachers gave her. She said rolling on the wet grass with her puppy was the most fun thing to do.”

“The magic hub doesn’t have rain. The magic barrier above blocks the rain, and there is very little green grass. Alchemy tech destroys the environment.”

“I really envied her for having a puppy, and playing with it. She said she liked to build castles with mud.”

Mira didn’t remember the girl’s appearance or name, but her presence left a deep mark on her childhood.

“She was adopted later. The adoptive parents liked children like her, not the little puppets from the magic hub.”

“You’re not a puppet,” Lance said, gazing at her. He reached out, wanting to touch Mira’s face, but hesitated due to the mud on his fingers.

Mira grabbed his hand and placed it on her cheek.

Lance’s pupils unconsciously dilated.

He wanted to tell Mira that dragons loved rolling in volcanic ash. The still-warm air clings to their scales, something that could be deadly to humans, but for dragons, it was a comforting sensation.

“So dirty, Lance,” Mira said, looking at him with distaste but smiling brightly.

It wasn’t real distaste. Lance knew humans didn’t express their feelings directly. Instead, they used more indirect methods.

Now, with the mood just right, Mira gradually stopped smiling and met Lance’s gaze.

That question had been bothering her for several days. With Mira’s personality, being able to hold off from seeking an answer for so long was already quite difficult.

“Are you a magical dragon?” She mustered up the courage to finally ask the question that had been on her mind.

At such a close distance, Mira could clearly see all of Lance’s expressions.

He had beautiful features, a mysterious background, and just as many strange thoughts as her. They were both good spellcasters.

Now, she wanted to try to understand him more.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me recently?” Lance didn’t answer directly.

“You have to answer my question first. Look me in the eyes and answer,” Mira said, not easily swayed by him changing the topic.

Such behavior was a sign of guilt.

Lance, however, smiled. There was a dirty handprint on her cheek, one he had left behind.

“So dirty,” Lance whispered. “Magical dragons don’t like you like this.”

Mira pouted.

“I’m not,” she heard Lance’s reply. His voice was as beautiful as his appearance.

“I’m not a magical dragon,” he repeated.

“I’m the master of the tower, but not a magical dragon.”

He said it again.

“Do you need to be sure again?”

“I’m afraid you’re a magical dragon,” Mira felt all her strength drain with his answer. He had answered three times, and her heart beat three times with each reply.

She realized that her curiosity was just an excuse. She was afraid that Lance was a magical dragon, that he carried the weight of many lives.

Her mind had already started crafting various stories. Before hearing Lance’s answer, she had already written the tragic ending to their story in her mind.

She even felt sad for the fictional sad endings, crying under the blanket for several nights.

But now, it was clear that all of that had been her wild imagination.

Mira smiled.

“Then can you sing me a song?” His voice was so beautiful, but she had never understood the songs he sang.

“The last one,” Mira reminded him.

Lance recalled the previous incident. The special physiological state had caused him to do some strange things in front of the human girl.

“No.”

That song was only sung by dragons when courting. Mira didn’t understand the dragon language, but the words weren’t pleasant.

The previous time, he had been out of his mind. This time, it wouldn’t happen.

“Lance!”

“No.”

“Lance!”

“No.”

“Lance!”

He sighed.

“Let’s change the song.”