Torrens, a kingdom of prosperity. Vendors lined the road as they advertised the products they had for sale in loud voices, urging those that pass by them in a friendly and inviting manner.

The laughter of children can be heard as they played together out of sight.

Wolves, brave men and women who wield sword and magic in order to reclaim lost lands and explore the unknown walked around with their heads held high and their chests puffed out as they proudly strutted along the busy streets.

In the city bustling with business, a dragon and a hero of humanity walked along the streets side-by-side.

"Humans... so many humans."

Ysamogruas muttered to herself as she looked around nervously.

"..."

Suddenly stopping, she stared intently at a wolf girl with Thornan ears.

"You know her?"

Yasuo asks, noticing that she had been staring at a Thornan woman.

Not responding to Yasuo at all, Ysamogruas only tore her gaze away from the wolf and continued walking.

Yasuo could only smile wryly as he followed.

"Hey. You don't actually know where you're going, do you?"

"..."

She suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Seeing her stop made Yasuo think that she was embarrassed and he laughed lightly.

"Exactly. So let me lead."

"..."

Yasuo could only feel awkward as Ysamogruas didn't say anything at all. Wanting to show the beauty of the city to her, he had to give her a better impression.

But how could he possibly impress a dragon?

Just as he was thinking this, his nose had suddenly been hit by a strong, overpowering smell.

sniff sniff

Ysamogruas's gaze had immediately become sharp, turning her gaze at the source.

He follows suit.

"Ah. Would you like to try some?"

He said in a cheerful tone as he laughed.

Picking up the scent of roasted meat, Ysamogruas frowned defiantly, despite showing interest.

"Our noble temple requires no sustenance at the moment." She says without breaking her expression.

With a calm face, she coolly turned her gaze away from the food stall.

Alas... her wings fluttered and twitched ever so slightly as the end of her tail wrapped around her ankle.

"..."

Yasuo smiled, trying his best to stifle a laugh.

"Wait here, Ysah."

He was unsure if she frowned because he called her Ysah or because he went to buy food anyway.

Ysamogruas tapped her foot impatiently with furrowed brows. Her displeasure would seem clear to anyone if it wasn't for the fact that her tail excitedly whipped the floor in rhythm with her tapping.

The frown on her face was nothing more than her own defiant attitude towards the human named Yasuo.

Yasuo returns holding two sticks of skewered meat.

Seeing this, her eyes narrowed and she scowled at him.

"We... W-We cannot be bought, knave..." Despite her intimidating glare however, he could sense her waver just from the tone of her voice.

It seems that she doesn't possess the power to overcome such temptations.

"You think I'm trying to bribe you?" Yasuo says, pretending to be offended.

"No such thing!" He laughs, "Earlier in the forest... my armor was certainly broken, but I didn't have any traces of wounds on me. Was that your doing?"

Hearing him ask if she healed him, Ysamogruas only turned her head away with folded arms, not saying a word.

Yasuo smiled seeing that, taking her reaction as an affirmation.

"Then... this may not be much, but at least let me express my thanks."

"We do only what our Queen and the young mistress ask."

Perhaps irritated... or embarrassed, Ysamogruas didn't like to dwell on the matter as she informed him that she had done so simply because her queen had wished it to be done.

If you want to thank someone, thank the queen. Is what he gleamed from what she was saying.

"Now now..."

Yasuo smiled wryly.

"You can at least accept this much, right?" He says as he presents the skewered meat to her.

"..."

She glares at the kebab with clenched teeth.

Her tail still wrapped tightly around her ankles.

Thinking that he shouldn't irritate her any further, Yasuo shrugs.

"Oh well. More for me, I guess?"

"Hold it!" Thump

She voices out.

Her tail had loudly slapped the ground.

By the time she noticed what she had done, it was far too late.

With a cramped face, she extends her hand and takes the kebab,

"We shall... accept this gift in place of the queen..."

Yasuo smiles seeing this, barely able to stifle a smile.

"Here you are."

"...Mmuh."

She groans softly at her own weakness as her eyebrows knit together.

And without making any noise, devoured the meat.

After a few seconds, she makes a doubtful face before staring at the stick, surprised that there was no more.

Yasuo said nothing, finding her attempts to seem inconspicuous quite humorous.

Feeling her glancing at his kebab from the corner of her eyes, he wordlessly extended the stick to her with a smile.

Her eyes widened for a second as she looked straight at him, and then at the kebab, and then back to him again.

"We... your treasures are your own. We have consumed our share." She said with narrowed, disapproving eyes, clearly declining the offer.

Despite showing such a calm expression without any ripples or trace of emotion, her tail was being quite expressive.

Once again, her own body had betrayed her.

This time, her tail had wrapped tightly around the wrist of her free hand.

"It's just food, Ysah. Don't worry about it. I could always buy more."

He said calmly and patiently.

A small, almost unnoticeable breath of relief was released from Ysamogruas's mouth as her hand moved.

"..."

Having a tense expression for some reason, she slowly reached out.

For some reason, Yasuo had the urge to bully her and move the stick away the second her hand neared... but he didn't.

Handing it over obediently, he smiled amiably at the dragon before him whose expression cramped for one reason or another.

Taking hold of the stick, she stared intently at it.

This time, she took a single small bite, learning her lesson from her previous stick.

Despite eating slowly however, she still thought that the food had disappeared much too quickly.

She frowned with a pondering expression, knit eyebrows and all.

Yasuo took out a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her.

"Well, what do you think? Is it your first time having human food?"

Not knowing what the piece of cloth was for, she simply held it after taking it from him, only sparing it a momentary glimpse before turning her attention back to him.

"Mm... small. Just like humans. Delicious, too. Just like humans."

She said with a blank expression.

As she was speaking, Yasuo had taken the handkerchief back and was wiping the sides of her mouth when she suddenly said something outrageous.

Oh right, dragons are carnivores. He thought to himself.

He stared at her with widened eyes after hearing so, his hand still holding on to the handkerchief, sticking to her cheek.

"..."

"..."

Silence.

"...We jest."

She muttered with the same unmotivated voice and expressionless face, but there was a hint of victory to it, as if she had done something she was proud of.

Her tail was repeatedly slapping against the ground, doing the laughing for its... less expressive counterpart.

With him frozen in the same posture, his stomach had suddenly growled.

It wasn't particularly loud. With the number of people currently walking along the streets, it was even stranger that she had heard it.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

But it is the truth that she did hear it as her expression immediately tensed up.

"Ahahahahahaha!"

It was his turn to laugh.

She on the other hand, was clearly in a sort of panic.

Her eyes swam before landing on the sticks held in each of her hands.

Seeing the look of horror on her face, he couldn't help but feel a little bad. Despite the fact that he thought she was overreacting.

"We... We apologize for taking your sustenance."

She looked down, sullen.

A sudden urge had risen within him once again. The thought of bullying a dragon really stirred at his heart.

But he fought against it.

Not yet, he thought to himself.

We're not that close.

He smiled and shrugged it off, continuing to clean the oil and barbecue sauce stuck to her face.

As the both of them were roughly the same height standing at 185cm, he felt strangely comfortable, not needing to look up or down.

"You need to clean up after yourself, Ysah. You're a lady, after all." He muttered without thinking.

I'm a dragon. She wanted to say, but his relationship with her master was ambiguous to her. The queen herself was quite the enigma and Ysamogruas would take care not to offend her acquaintances.

Yasuo inspected Ysamogruas.

As if he just thought about it,

"Is your cloak made of magic?"

Curious as to how it had vanished when she turned into a dragon and returned when she took a humanoid form, he asked.

"Impressive." She said simply as she lifted her arm as if to show him,

"This was woven by our queen. Our true form stretches the thread, turning it into a barrier of mana. It is impressive, yes?"

Suddenly turning talkative, Ysamogruas's tone became lively. Yasuo found her strangely out of character.

She must be quite impressive to be so well-liked by this taciturn dragon. He thought to himself.

His personal impression of Kuukona was good, but he had to be wary.

This was his first glimpse on the being known as Kuukona.

Realizing that she had said too much, Ysamogruas quieted down immediately.

Yasuo could only smile wryly.

"Oh... I'm curious about that kid, too."

He murmured with two fingers on his chin.

"..." Ysamogruas said nothing, only staring at him with the same expressionless face.

"Aria, was it? Well... her mom's certainly pretty."

He says in deep thought.

Ysamogruas's expression changed, but not enough for him to notice.

A slight scowl that immediately disappeared in a fraction of a second.

Yasuo then waves his hand with a smile, "Ah well... I guess the forest unexpectedly has a few beauties. I mean, just look at you."

He said, smiling amiably.

"?" Ysamogruas's head only tilted slightly.

Yasuo's smile was unperturbed as he continued,

"Well... anyway, about Aria. Does she uh... have any friends her age? She needs them, don't you think?"

Ysamogruas nodded, "The servants of the queen heed the young mistress's whims."

Yasuo shook his head, "I mean any human friends." He says with a bit of a strained smile.

Ysamogruas turned her eyes to the side.

"..."

Silence.

"..."

"..."

"...Not that we know of."

Finally speaking, her gaze returned to him and she met his eyes.

Yasuo scratched the back of his head.

"Alright... I know a perfect gift for them, then. Well, we've been standing here for too long, I think. We still have more to see."

He says lightly with a laugh as he rounded his shoulders.

"As you wish."

She replied, only nodding.

Walking behind him, she gazed at the sticks in her hand.

"...We accept your offering."

She muttered to herself.

"Didja say somethin'?"

He asks as he turns around.

She shook her head, pretending it was nothing. Her face had perfectly remained calm. Though "calm" would be saying too much about her tail.

Oookay. He says as he turns away from her tail to face her.

"Say, Ysah. Do you want to come with me to the castle?"

"...Why?"

She asks with a tilted head and furrowed brows, obviously apprehensive.

He shook his head, seeing her like that.

"I have a good idea for a gift. It's for Kuu. If it's alright with you, I'd also like for you to be my friend. Why don't we talk about it with my boss together?"

He smiles, a hand behind his neck.

The sight of him winking at her had left a deep impression on Ysamogruas for some reason. One that she had no idea what to make of.

After a few seconds of silence, she blinks only once, before...

"...We shall allow it."

----------------------

A month after Yasuo had met with the inhabitants of the forest...

"What is that?!"

A wolf yelled at the top of his lungs as he pointed at the sky.

Turning their gaze at the wolf's hysteric scream, the surrounding townspeople immediately recognized what he was pointing at.

Their mouths gaped as they stared at it fly over them, wide-eyed.

A natural calamity.

The embodiment of bad omens.

Ceaseless destruction wrought by these creatures of destruction.

"Dragon!!"

The lively market immediately prepared themselves, alarmed.

Wolves prepared themselves for battle, while pedestrians hurried indoors and merchants closed up shop.

Bracing for what comes next...

...

But nothing happened.

The dragon had simply flown over them, leaving the wolves with mixed reactions of sighs of relief and wondering expressions.

...

Landing on the stone floor, Ysamogruas felt strangely comfortable as she bent down.

The courtyard was empty without a soul in sight.

A little ways away from where she had landed was a large building, reminiscent of a castle.

"Thankie, Ysah!"

An energetic voice rang out as short arms seemed to be embracing the top of her head.

Ariadne made a small "Hup!" noise as she jumped down happily.

"...You mustn't run, young mistress."

Ysamogruas mimicked Kuukona, calmly reminding Ariadne to be careful with what seemed to be a blank expression.

Aria in turn mimicked Kuukona as well, placing her hand on her cheek and pretended to contemplate, "Ysah sounds like Kukoh." She said plainly as she looked up at the tall woman with a small smile.

She stuck out her tongue innocently and grasped Ysamogruas's hand.

Ysamogruas feigned calmness and nodded coolly, "Let us go. We mustn't tarry, young mistress."

Ariadne nodded cheerfully despite not completely understanding what Ysamogruas said.

"Mustn't!" She parroted.

"Lady Ysa... Ysamo... Lady Ysah and her daughter have arrived!"

The knights wearing shiny armor saluted the dragon that had the appearance of a young woman and let her pass without any fuss.

Ysamogruas corrected neither of the mistakes in the knight's statements and only nodded her head in acknowledgement with a stone mask as they passed by.

"Ehehe." Ariadne giggled as she passed by the knight, finding his stutter amusing.

It was only in their passing did the two knights breathed out a sigh of relief.

They didn't dare to comment about Ariadne's white hair as they stood at attention.

"See you later, mister helmets!"

Ariadne called out to them.

Hearing this, the two knights turned to each other.

By the time they had turned to look at Ariadne, she had already marched out of sight, dragging Ysamogruas with her.

Greeting them in the hallway was Yasuo with a smile on his face.

"Yo!" He voices out.

"...Yo?"

Ysamogruas responded to the strange greeting.

"Yo!"

Ariadne on the other hand raised her hand energetically.

Ysamogruas looked around.

"None of your concubines are here today?"

She states bluntly.

"Concu...? Ah no-- you misunderstand. I don't have a girlfriend." He says unhurriedly.

"Girl...friend?"

Ysamogruas parroted as she turned her eyes to the side.

Ariadne seemed to pout as she heard this.

"Hey...! Aria's a girl!"

Her eyebrows knit as she glared cutely at Yasuo.

She seems to have misunderstood Yasuo.

"That's not what it means, Aria. I know you're a girl. That is to say... I'm not in a relationship with anyone. I'm not married." He says, awkwardly scratching his head.

"But you said we were friends..."

Ariadne muttered as she looked down with a sad expression.

Seeing this, Ysamogruas's eye twitched and she glared at Yasuo with narrowed eyes.

"..."

"Ahahaha..." Yasuo could only laugh awkwardly. "But you are my friend, kiddo." He said with a worried smile. Ysamogruas's glare hit him with great pressure.

Ariadne looked up at him with sad eyes. "Aria's a girl, y'know! And she's your friend, y'know! That means she's your girl friend, y'know!" She protested, once again mimicking Kuukona as she crossed her arms.

At this point, the meaning had completely changed. Yasuo laughed out loud as he ruffled her hair.

"Ahahahaha! Yes, yes. Aria's my girlfriend."

He says with a resigned sigh.

Immediately after hearing him, her eyes lit up.

"That's right!"

A wide smile on her little face.

Their conversation soon became animated as Ysamogruas observed the two of them speak, her hand still holding Ariadne's.

Yasuo walked along with them as they headed for Ariadne's class room.

Ariadne naturally held his hand.

He shrugged with only his shoulders, grasping her hand back.

"Anyway. C'mon kid. You're two hours early for class, eh? You that excited?"

"Excited!"

"Alright then! You're gonna make lots of friends here, kiddo!"

"Aria told you already, her name is Aria, okke?"

"Right, right."

Ysamogruas kept silent as she looked forward.

The hall was wide, but empty. Only the voices of the black haired young man and the white haired little girl resounded.

She had an odd feeling in her heart. The feeling of being left out had made her have a sense of loneliness, but she said nothing, merely watching the two converse.

They contrasted quite well.

For some reason, Yasuo and Ysamogruas's eyes met.

He smiled at her, while she merely turned away.

Yasuo laughed in his heart and continued entertaining Ariadne as she happily asked questions about school.

Their conversation could hardly be called deep. Most of it had no meaning at all, but what Yasuo could discern from their little talk is that Kuukona had knowledge about etiquette concerning tableware, as Ariadne also had this trait.

Eventually, a young woman sporting a ponytail met with them. The moment she saw the trio holding hands, her face cramped.

"Ah... Lord Suo. So the purpose of the scholarship in Saint Saiah... I see, I see... for your daughter, I suppose?"

She asked with a stiff smile.

Seeing as the ponytail girl had tears in her eyes, Yasuo had a wondering expression.

"No, Lili. This is uh... the only daughter of our kingdom's new ally." He said mysteriously.

During the past month, Kuukona had been signing treaties concerning peace between the forest and the kingdom.

The almighty being known as Queen Kuukona had been recognized as the matriarch of the magical forest and the true hero Yasuo had been mediating between her and the kingdom.

Hearing this, the woman called Lili's eyes widened as she bowed towards Ariadne, realizing that she was in the presence of royalty... of a sort.

"?"

Ariadne had a wondering expression, neither knowing nor caring about her current position.

"Ah! Could it be... Princess Ariadne?" Liliana's eyes widened, finding herself foolish. She should have recognized her by her hair.

So... not your daughter.

She sighed weakly as she muttered. "Oh good..."

Hearing her mumble,

"Ya say somethin'?"

Yasuo asked, a little curious.

"Nope."

She shook her head.

"Who's that?" Ariadne asked, pointing at Liliana.

Yasuo held her finger and gently let it down as he lightly reprimanded, "Pointing at people isn't nice, Aria." He smiled wryly.

"That's Liliana. She's gonna teach you lots of stuff, so be good and listen to her lessons, okay?"

Ariadne tilted her head to the side,

"Okke~" she responded energetically.

"Oh! Oh! Yasoh, what's that, what's that?" Soon enough, her attention was taken away by something else. Yasuo turned to look at Liliana for a second. He nodded at her to excuse himself and she could only nod in return.

Yasuo followed Ariadne as she willfully looked at everything.

Liliana turned to look at Ysamogruas.

The dragon didn't seem interested and quietly stared into space as she watched over Ariadne silently.

Ariadne had already let go of Ysamogruas's hand and was excitedly asking Yasuo about something.

Liliana nervously walked towards her. She felt that with her appearance of a cool beauty, she'd be intimidating enough, but her wings, horns and tail had made her practically unapproachable.

"Erm... my lady?"

Ysamogruas's gaze turned to look at Liliana.

Speak. Her eyes seemed to say.

"Ah... r-right. I'm going to be instructing p-princess Ariadne starting today. My name is Liliana Pendl. Pleased to meet you!"

Despite biting her tongue, Liliana recovered shortly and curtsied.

Ysamogruas seemed pleased for some reason.

She looked over Liliana, making the latter uncomfortable, her scrutinizing gaze seemed to pierce right into the young woman.

"Our noble appellation be Ysamogruas."

She said simply, introducing herself with only her name.

Liliana now knew that the woman before her was a dragon that could bring great calamity and she grew even more nervous.

Her taciturn personality had terrified Liliana. Did I offend her in any way? She thought to herself.

Yasuo was the only one that noticed Ysamogruas's tail tightly wrapped around her own ankle.

"Unexpectedly shy, huh."

He muttered with a small smile as Ariadne hanged from his stretched out arm.

Liliana thought that she was being brushed aside, but the truth was that Ysamogruas had simply choked on her own words and forgot to say more.

She should learn to at least soften her expression. Yasuo thought as he stared at Ysamogruas, her countenance as icy as ever.