Lulu reached forward and poked Lindyss’ stomach, causing the cursed elf to fall over with Vur. “So? He was pretty big; how’d you not notice him?”

Lindyss sighed as she dropped Vur onto the ground and raised her head. “It was him, alright?” she asked while pointing at Vur. “He’s the handsome dragon you’re looking for.”

Lulu tilted her head to the side and blinked. She nudged Vur with her claw a few times, causing his body to rise and fall. Without a word, she straightened her head and turned her gaze onto Lindyss. Her reptilian eyes blinked. Silence filled the space between her and the cursed elf. Seconds passed. Lulu blinked again. She used her claw to nudge Vur like he was a dead fish while maintaining eye contact with Lindyss, but the elf kept her mouth shut.

E and Stella exchanged glances with each other. “Do you know who she is?” E asked Stella while gesturing towards Lindyss with his chin.

Stella’s face scrunched up until her eyes were crossed. She ground her teeth together before shaking her head, causing her hair to whip E’s face. “I don’t! I know her, but I don’t!” Stella said as she squatted on E’s shoulder and clutched her head, tugging on her hair. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she looked at E with wet eyes. “Why can’t I remember?” She bit her lower lip and hung her head. “My chest, it hurts….”

Before E could respond, the fairy sobbed and disintegrated headfirst like a pile of sand blown away by the wind. Her body turned into motes of purple light, which flowed into Vur, causing the tattoo on his chest to flash. Lulu flinched at the sudden disturbance and lowered her head, bringing her snout closer to Vur. She sniffed him twice before furrowing her brow. Her head tilted to the right and then to the left before she sniffed him again. This time, her eyes widened as she reared her head back and said, “He smells like a dragon!”

Lindyss nodded.

“Was it really him?” Lulu asked. “Really? Really?” She whipped her head towards E. “You saw the dragon, right? Was it him?”

“Yeah,” E said and scratched his head. He pointed at Erin. “She polymorphed him, and then he polymorphed himself…?”

“Huh?” Lulu asked and stared at Erin. “You polymorphed a dragon into a human? Didn’t you learn your lesson last time when you turned Leo into a goat?”

“No,” Erin said and shook her head. “You misunderstood. I polymorphed him into a squirrel, and then he polymorphed himself into a dragon.”

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Lulu blinked at Erin. “But he’s a human now,” she said and pointed at Vur’s unconscious body.

“That’s right,” Erin said. “When the caster runs out of mana, the polymorph is undone. I thought you knew that.”

“Right, but he’s a human now,” Lulu said again. “If he was a dragon to start with, why did he become a human when he turned unconscious?”

“But he wasn’t a dragon to start with?” Erin asked and furrowed her brow. “Are you that dense from staying home and never exploring the world? This is why you should go outside more often, to understand what people are saying when they’re talking to you.”

“No, I’m not dense, and it’s not because of my lifestyle!” Lulu wrinkled her nose and tilted her head towards the sky to look down on Erin. “Look, he smells like a dragon. You know what they say: if it has the aura of a dragon, smells like a dragon, and sleeps like a dragon, then it’s a dragon.”

“Are you blind, lady?” Erin asked and placed her hands on her hips. “Look at him. He’s a human! If it looks like a human, snores like a human, and has the class of a human, then it’s a human!”

Lindyss stared at the sparks flying between Erin’s and Lulu’s gazes. She sighed and hung her head. “Can I just turn him in for my quest reward?” she asked and draped Vur over her shoulder again while standing. “You can talk to him all you want at your mother’s place. Besides, you said you were looking for the person who caused the volcanic eruption. It was him.”

“Wait!” E said and raised his hands. “You can’t take Vur away. He has a coronation ceremony he has to attend in a few weeks’ time. How am I supposed to coronate him if he’s not there?”

“A few weeks? That’s plenty of time,” Lindyss said. “I’ll bring him back by then.”

“No,” E said and shook his head. “My intuition is telling me to prevent you from taking him to the holy dragons. And my intuition is never wrong.” He stood up, took in a deep breath, and snapped his fingers. Dozens of armor sets materialized in the air behind him, and metal hands shot out of the ground, grabbing Lindyss by her ankles.

“Do you really want to fight me?” Lindyss asked, narrowing her eyes at the dwarf. Inwardly, she cursed Erin for expending so much of her mana.

“To ensure my peaceful and lazy future, I’ll even fight gods,” E said, sticking his chest out. It was a shame he was only as tall as Lindyss’ waist or he would’ve looked much more valiant.

Lindyss glared at the dwarf before sighing. “Alright,” she said. “For now, I’ll leave him be, but I’m coming with him to this kingdom of yours.”

E nodded. “That’s fine,” he said as the armor sets dispersed. The metal hands dissolved into motes of blue light. “As long as Vur stays with me.”

“I can come too, right?” Lulu asked, lowering her head to try to meet E’s gaze. The dwarf couldn’t even reach her lower lip.

E furrowed his brow. “You know the dwarves hate dragons, right?”

“What about him?” Lulu asked, pointing at Vur.

E coughed. “He’s special. Special people get privileges.”

“Well, as his future mate, I should get privileges too, right?” Lulu asked with a smile.

“Excuse me?” Lindyss asked and nearly fell over. But Lulu ignored her and continued to stare at E.

“Vur’s married,” E said.

“Well, that’s fine. I just have to chase her away and claim him for myself,” Lulu said with a nod. “That’s how dragons do it.”

Lindyss’ expression darkened. Sorry, Tafel. It looks like you have a tough future ahead.