Arc | Chapter. 75: Ceylon & Malz (Patreon)

Chapter. 75: Ceylon & Malz

Ceylon quickly explained the deal with the Grand Duke she had made, though the mention of a Grand Duke alarmed me ever so slightly before she explained that nothing bad happened⁠— the Grand Duke Alderman, had bought all of the everlasting ice and even agreed to insane distribution conditions, which was slightly weird to me.

I couldn’t help but wonder if there were any ulterior motives, unless the man had discovered a market for the ice that I didn’t think of before⁠— that certainly could prove to be interesting. Though that remained to be seen.

The main thing was; one-thousand-four-hundred mythril. Which essentially elevated the family’s status a lot higher than expected⁠— well not like it was a worry with the Dragon of Water around. However, I was relieved that things had gone along great.

Ceylon then turned to me.

“So then, what’s the deal with the dragon cult?”

I blinked, suddenly remembering what she wanted, but still felt confusion. “Dragon cult?”

“You have all of the dragons under you now, even though you aren’t even a dragon⁠—”

“She is part dragon,” Faral, of all people, corrected Ceylon. “She consumed the flesh of the Dragon of Frost and now bears draconic blood within her being.”

Ceylon blinked. “You ate the Dragon of Frost?”

“A piece of him I guess?” I awkwardly shifted. “It was just a bite really…”

Ceylon blinked in disbelief, unsure if she was hearing things right, finally after a moment she asked:

“Was it at least cooked…?”

“No,” I answered before closing my eyes and sighing. “It tasted like shit.”

“Right…” Ceylon was thrown off for a second before shaking her head. “So, ignoring that, you have the dragons under you now⁠— what lead to that.”

“Well it’s simple really.” I shook my head, meanwhile what I was about to say seemed to interest Regis, Malz, and even Faral. “I realized that killing the Dragon of Frost was quite a huge mistake, regardless of what he had done to me. So I decided that, even though Malz and other dragons had helped during the battle, it was best to get the situation under control myself.”

“You mean…”

I nodded. “I wanted full control to ensure nothing I disagreed with happened, or some vendetta or anything though…” I trailed off. “The Dragon of Nature might attempt something.”

Ceylon raised her brow. “The Dragon of Nature? Why would they?”

Hearing her question, I couldn’t help but pause. There was a lot for Ceylon to hear, wasn’t there. A sigh left me.

“Tl;dr version is: Faral tried to kill me, she became my servant as punishment so the Dragon of Nature got angry. The Dragon of Water tried to kill me and injured me quite badly so he became a slave. Dragon of Frost plotted to poison me and used forbidden magic to try to kill me so I killed him.”

Ceylon worked her jaw hearing what I just said⁠. “What?”

“That’s the best summary I can give. There were various reasons as to why this happened but I don’t think I was exactly at fault with any of them.” I shook my head. “Well perhaps making Faral angry was my fault, but the rest not really.” A sigh left me as Faral looked the other way.

However, what I said didn’t seem to make sense to Ceylon as she just shook her head.

“So you’re telling me you gained the animosity of almost half of the dragons in the span of three days.”

“Well the Dragon of Frost seemed to hate me as soon as I arrived, but yeah.” I shrugged. “Not like I was doing it on purpose.”

“Right..” Ceylon sighed. “I’m still very confused.”

“Well we can deal with that later,” I said with finality. “For now it’s best to return to your family’s residence, and make the Dragon of Water uphold his deal⁠— he will be helping your father establish family businesses.”

Ceylon flinched for a moment before shaking her head. “Why am I not surprised there is a dragon with expertise in business.”

This time the Dragon of Water spoke. “It was a secret for the most part, but yes I’m more than happy to assist your family.”

“That is because you cannot refuse.” I rolled my eyes at him before turning to Ceylon.

I saw her, my companion, she was wearing rather formal clothes that could even be said to be manly. Her attire resembled that of a normal business man ⁠— for this world ⁠—  and her hair was neatly arranged. It was nice. I smiled looking at Ceylon, it had been sometime since I last saw her. It made me happy.

I extended my hand towards her.

“Anyway, let's return?”

She paused but nodded lightly smiling at me, and a moment later as everyone gathered we disappeared from the alley.

* * * * *

Ceylon was happy that Arc was back, but as soon as they entered the mansion Arc took the Dragon of Water directly to her father which⁠— based on the little she had heard seemed nice enough, meanwhile Faral was instructed to indulge Ceylon’s mother, Arsha, in whichever questions she had.

So that just left her alone with Regis’karr and Malz, the Dragon of Shadows, at least that was what Ceylon thought.

“I need to gather my thoughts once more, I shall go rest.”

With those words, Regis’karr took his leave and Ceylon was left alone with a stranger she had never met. However, out of all the dragons perhaps she felt most at ease with her. So that was a good thing, she guessed? That said she really wasn’t sure if she should talk with Malz or just let her be.

“Ceylon, I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind,” the Dragon of Shadows gently requested.

Ceylon blinked. “Right, sure let’s talk outside…”

With those words she turned around and opened the front door, stepping out along with Malz. She closed it and when she turned, she saw the Dragon of Shadows sitting at the entrance steps of the residence.

What even was happening?

For some reason, Ceylon couldn’t help but think that a figure of Regis’karr’s caliber should at least act more dignified, but she didn’t comment on it and instead sat next to her.

“What questions did you want to ask?”

“How did you meet Arc?”

Ceylon smiled to herself. “She saved my life in the Dark Forest⁠, that’s how I met her and started my journey with her.”

“So right after she left training…” Malz said, shaking her head. “What do you think of Arc?”

“What do you mean?” Ceylon raised her brow in confusion.

“Like her personality.” Malz bitterly smiled. “You know, I really like Arc, she can be quite considerate at times even if she’s eccentric, not only that but she’s quite amazing and incredibly talented in magic. She’s the most talented hero to ever exist, isn’t that amazing?”

“The most… talented?” Hearing that Ceylon felt a shock for a moment. “How do you know that?”

“Out of all the dragons I know the most about heroes, and not a single hero that I know of has a lower time in the tutorial. One could say talent is determined by how fast they cleared the hero training or tutorial, and Arc is the fastest,” the Dragon of Shadows explained. “But I want to know more about her, even though I am admittedly close with her all things considered, the way she looks at you is just…”

Malz shook her head, giving Ceylon a small glance.

“Right, I do seem to matter a lot to Arc.” Ceylon hugged her knees. “To answer your question, I find Arc to be… emotionally unavailable for lack of a better term. She seems almost muted, most of her reactions are annoyance or negative aside from glimpses of happiness seen with art or with food. I can’t help but feel that she’s struggling mentally?”

“It’s not uncommon for heroes to have a screw loose I guess.” Malz shrugged. “Though Arc is very rational, in fact she doesn’t seem to have any logical fallacies from what I’ve noticed. She’s just impulsive.”

“She is.” Ceylon sighed. “It’s a bit worrisome sometimes I think.”

“Well, yeah…” Malz agreed.

And then there was some silence. However, Ceylon no longer felt as awkward with the Dragon of Shadows as before, and she was even surprised Arc mattered that much to Malz as well. So, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Why do you care so much about Arc? How did you two get acquainted?”

Malz chuckled. “I challenged her to a fight and she almost killed me.”

Ceylon processed the statement, then simply decided to let whatever questions she had in her mind go. A sigh left her.

“Curious I see?” Malz asked, raising her brow. “I heard she killed the Hero of Shadows and wanted to see her capabilities for myself.”

In the end she got an answer without even asking…

Ceylon slowly nodded.  “What about my other question?”

“She complimented my outfit.” Malz smiled before laughing to herself. “Well that is part of why I like her, but it’s simply because she isn’t like other people that love battling, she seems to want more than just that⁠— and also because she’s just that amazing. I mean, like I said, she’s the most talented hero and it shows.”

The Dragon of Shadows looked into the distance, nowhere in particular as she continued.

“I find it mesmerizing to see her battle, and I find her to be overall someone I wish to get to know more, that is all.” She smiled. “Arc reminds me a bit of someone that I met a long ago.”

“Who is that?” Ceylon raised her brow now more curious than ever.

“That, I’m not willing to answer just yet.” Malz grinned before leaning back, resting against the floor. “Ceylon, you're very weak.”

The wind blew, and there was silence before she answered. It was… the truth.

“I am…”

“Doesn’t that worry you?” The dragon asked.

“I, sometimes I guess?” Ceylon awkwardly shifted. “I try to be useful in the ways I can, and that’s about it. I’m a noble so I don’t need to be strong…”

“But, by being Arc’s friend and companion that requirement changes. The Hero of Flames came after you, and even though it is commendable you stalled him long enough for us to arrive, it’s a matter of fact that you were helpless,” Malz said simply.

This time, hearing what she had just been told Ceylon crossed her arms. “Even if I was A Tier, or even S Tier I’d still be quite doomed to fight the Hero of Flames.”

“That’s not the point.”

There was another silence, Malz took a breath to explain as she looked at the azure sky.

“It is simply about the fact that if someone weaker, say an A Tier threatened you, you might still die. If Arc isn’t around, who will save you?”

Ceylon hesitated before remembering the deal Arc and Regis’karr had made. That had to be enough, right?

“Regis’karr is supposed to protect me…” She breathed.

“Well, ignoring however I feel about him, matter of fact is there will come a time where you’re alone in a dangerous situation,” Malz said casually. “That’s what I’m trying to get at Ceylon, you’re not just weak but helpless in certain situations.”

“Right…” Ceylon shrunk. “It’s not a big deal… Arc is⁠—”

“I think Arc would probably be relieved that you can protect yourself if she isn’t available. Of course, I cannot really force you or anything.” Malz shook her head, still on the ground. “However, I don’t want to imagine how Arc would react if something happened to you.”

Those words made her remember things; it made Ceylon remember how Arc had reacted in regards to the injury she had suffered. And then, as Malz had said… if the injury was worse what would happen? Ceylon didn’t want to imagine that.

So in the end, she had to be stronger…

“So, it’s like that…” Ceylon sighed.

“It is, but I can help you.” Malz finally rose up and stood upright. “It’s the least I could do⁠—”

“And who gave you permission to do that?” a familiar voice interrupted.

A chilly gust of wind passed through the air and Malz tensed before turning.

“Well, now that you are here you can give me permission.” She chuckled. “That or Ceylon can give me permission.”

Arc frowned in response, which made Malz lightly flinch something that Ceylon found weird. However, before she could further think about things, Arc turned to her instead.

“Is this something you want?”

“I…” Ceylon hesitated. “I think I do, even though I’m scared… But I want to be able to protect myself now, at least against a common bandit…”

“I see, that’s good.” Arc nodded, relaxing. “Then, you can go with Malz to get some levels.”

“Right, about that.” Malz piped up. “How should I go about finding things to kill?”

Ceylon thought for a moment but Arc simply smiled.

“Just go to the Adventurer’s Guild with Ceylon, I’m sure you’ll find something.”

Malz blinked. “Sure I can do that.” With those words, she stood up before turning to Ceylon. “Let’s go then, I’ll make sure to protect you properly. If anyone tries anything I’ll make sure they end up dead.”

Arc nodded approvingly, meanwhile Ceylon blinked.

“But the adventurer’s guild is…”

“It will be fine,” Arc said from behind. “Trust in Malz.”

Ceylon nodded apprehensively.

You say to trust her, but there are so many things that can go wrong…

She suppressed a sigh as she took Malz’s hand.

In the end, she just had to hope that nothing would go wrong.