Monsters Wag Their Tails Only at Me Chapter 160

He turned at my voice with startled eyes. I imdiately grabbed both of Margon’s shoulders and busily checked his body.

“Ah, Ceryl. Why on earth—”

“Any wounds? Are you hurt? Did sothing dangerous happen?”

“Dangerous? I’m fine, so calm down.”

Margon backed away as if bewildered and freed himself from my hands.

I finally let out a ragged breath and looked around. I had clearly heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air and assud an enemy had appeared.

What stood in the clearing with Margon, though, was Kallen Rossein, her face flushed red.

It wasn’t an unusual sight to see the two of them together, but it was nothing like what I had suspected.

“What were you two doing?”

Would there be any reason to be swinging swords with only Margon and Kallen together? At least by my logic, I couldn’t picture such a scene.

Kallen fidgeted with her hands behind her back and mumbled. Margon stepped forward first and laughed heartily.

“Ahaha! I was stiff, so I was practicing swordplay after a long ti! Uahaha!”

“Y-yes! I was just watching Margon practice! Just watching!”

Their answers felt suspicious. I narrowed my eyes and glanced between them, then shifted my gaze to Varen Dravergh.

Varen only shrugged his shoulders as if it had nothing to do with him.

I pressed a hand to my pounding chest and let out a deep breath. Sweat beaded on my brow and I wiped it away.

Kallen’s and Margon’s safety had always unnaturally occupied my thoughts; ntioning Leobin earlier had left more on edge than usual.

After the short run my fatigue hit all at once. I waved my tired hand and said to Margon,

“Margon, I need to ask you sothing. About Leobin.”

At the ntion of his close friend, Margon’s face stiffened. Kallen, who had been standing with her hands clasped behind her back, turned away and retreated without showing her back.

“W-well, talk then. I have things to do!”

She bolted away before I could grab her, and her sudden flight seed certainly suspicious. It looked like she was hiding sothing, but there was no ti to pay attention to Kallen.

“This is going to be a long story.”

Margon, speaking in a hoarse voice, flopped down on the ground. His shaggy-bearded face was already damp.

***

Margon, Varen Dravergh, and I sat around a small campfire far from the tents. The twigs scattered in the forest caught fla quickly even with the dragon’s small puff of breath.

The three of our faces were painted orange by the firelight. I dislike repeating what I’d already asked, but I asked the question again.

“Margon, think carefully. You said you lived with the Aylos for years.”

“The lodging where I stayed was far from the main hall. If it weren’t for you, Ceryl, I could count on one hand the tis I t anyone from the House of Aylos.”

“Among those few etings, was there anyone morable? Or did anyone from the kingdom co and go?”

“If they were that high-ranking, I wouldn’t have t them at all.”

Margon furrowed his brow as if frustrated with himself, so his words seed true.

I buried my face in my palms and sighed deeply. Margon stared into the blazing fire and said,

“The one who cast the magic on Leobin—I do not know their na. However...”

Margon trailed off and glanced at .

“When Leobin was offered that magic, he said he had spent the whole night talking with you, Ceryl.”

A sense of powerlessness washed over again at Margon’s words. I had tried to find a role for myself, but each attempt felt like it collapsed.

If the original Ceryl had been sitting here instead of , perhaps he would have spat out useful information. I bit my lip in despair and kept my eyes down.

Varen Dravergh, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke.

“If we go back to the forest and exhu the yellow-haired man’s corpse, we might learn more.”

“What? Absolutely not.”

I shook my head firmly. The thought of digging up Leobin’s body made want to shout in anger—what right did we have to disturb his rest?

Varen snorted as if he had expected my reaction.

“Then we’ll have to go look for answers ourselves. I don’t want that horrific curse to beco the king’s weapon either.”

I agreed with that wholeheartedly.

Since I opened my eyes in this world in the body of Ceryl Aylos, I had constantly suspected the true nature of the House of Aylos. But I had never gone to investigate.

There had always been life-or-death ergencies, and seeking the truth was pushed down the priority list every ti.

More than that... I simply didn’t want to. Without a proper reason, I felt an inexplicable aversion.

It felt as if the instinct lodged in Ceryl’s body resisted with all its might.

Proving my suspicion, even the idea of visiting the House of Aylos made my hands tremble. Even in the absence of any threat and with pleasant weather.

I crossed my arms to hide my shaking hands. Margon stared at the campfire with an unusually serious face.

“I thought it was just a spell to prevent betrayal of Ceryl. But... I was shortsighted. If that were the true purpose, they would have cast it on all the household servants.”

Margon’s face twisted in pain.

He bore great guilt that his closest friend had been used in experints.

“Damn it. If I’d known, I should have stopped him sohow. Who’d have thought a fellow who’d never even set foot in the palace would be used as the king’s test subject...”

I looked at Margon and moved closer to pat his shoulder. His broad shoulder—too large for my hand—shuddered as he sobbed like a child.

I patted Margon’s back for a long ti, but Varen Dravergh showed no reaction.

When I looked at him in puzzlent, he sat quietly, lost in thought.

“Varen, what are you thinking about?”

“My thoughts about you.”

“......”

I couldn’t respond to that out of place remark and turned my gaze away.

But what ca from Varen’s mouth wasn’t what I had expected.

“Why did he use the na Ceryl Aylos?”

Varen, who had been staring at the fire, turned to face . The flas seed to flicker inside his blue eyes.

“My mother told : Aylos was the family that first hunted dragons, but a hundred years ago they were wiped out by the king.”

“...Continue.”

“A hundred years ago the king feared the House of Aylos would beco a power greater than himself. So he tracked down their descendants for a hundred years and killed them all.”

His words brought to mind what Ordin had let slip earlier.

‘Yes. The last descendant of Aylos died a hundred years ago. For humans that’s more than enough ti for a bloodline to end.’

That remark had been when we first arrived in Beljena. Preparing for the coming war was the priority then, so I had let Ordin’s words pass.

Now the puzzle pieces seed to fit together. There was still a long way to complete the picture, but at least I could see which pieces were missing.

“King Laskar knew Ceryl Aylos.”

“Yes. And Ceryl did not hide his family na.”

Varen and I t each other’s eyes in the dark air. The sa question occurred to both of us and we looked at each other with hardened faces.

If the king had been obsessive enough to hunt down descendants to extinction, one would expect the na Aylos to be concealed. Yet Ceryl had openly used the na at the Fifth Managent Facility.

Why? What truth about Ceryl was I unaware of?

If the order to exterminate the House of Aylos was a matter of previous reigns, had the situation changed once King Laskar took power?

If not, then what on earth...

“Um... sorry to interrupt, but it’s late.”

Margon spoke in a tired voice, breaking the chain of thoughts. When I looked up, the full moon hung in the night sky.

Another frantic day had passed. I wanted to collapse from accumulated fatigue and mounting mysteries, but I couldn’t.

I gave Margon a weary smile.

“Good work, Margon. Go on in now.”

“Won’t you co along, Ceryl?”

“I’ll manage. Don’t worry.”

If I went into the n’s communal tent, the dragon beside would stay awake with his eyes open. Rather than letting him watch sleep with blue light in the dark, I chose to keep him company through the night.

Margon grumbled, getting to his feet.

“I left {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} your bed ready, Ceryl. Co in anyti and sleep comfortably.”

“Okay, got it. Thanks.”

Margon deliberately emphasized the word ‘comfortably’ toward Varen as if scolding him for making the Ceryl uncomfortable.

Naturally, Varen—oblivious to human social cues—only stared at the campfire with an indifferent expression.