I woke up because of the bright light, even though the room should’ve been dark until Hannah came because the curtains weren’t drawn.

  “Noth home.”


  I was inside the tent. I tried to move, and something started to squirm beside me.

  “Awishthair,” when I whispered that, the squirming lump beside me got up energetically.

  “Everyone is-! The Hollows are-! The Chibi-!” He shouted, so I replied, “Aai.”


  Then, I was immediately hugged.

  “Chibi!”


  “Awishthair, shquishh.”


  “Hey, you’re awake? Hey, Alistair! Chibi’s gonna faint!”


  “.…… -ishthair.”


  Alistair quickly let me go. The person who spoke was him.

  “Barth.”


  “.…… You remembered it. Whatever. If you’re up, then come eat.”


  “.…… Oh, your eyes are shining. Alistair, if you’re okay with it then take her to the river to wash her face.”


  “Ok.”


  The tent was low, which was fine with me, but Alistair had to crawl out. I still felt sluggish. Alistair rotated his shoulders and clicked them in an unchildish-like way.

  “Chibi, no, Lei, do you feel tired too?”


  “Ai.”


  I shivered when I recalled what had happened yesterday. The Hollows had nearly got to me. Alistair and I would have been killed had I not activated the barrier box. I knew why they relied on the barrier box, and I could also understand how strong the hunters were since they had fought off the Hollows even though they couldn’t make a barrier.

  I want to go wash my face at the river, but there was something I had to do first.

  “Kyyee.”


  I had to have a showdown with this dragon. I stood firmly with my legs set apart in front of him. The dragon gently pressed the edge of his mouth onto me. He didn’t want to let me go to the toilet alone.

  “What? You want to wee? You can do over there.”


  I glared at Bart.

  “Oh, ah, sorry. Him, huh? Hey, you. It’s fine. I’m here, ain’t I? It’s safe, so let her go alone.”


  “Kyyyee,” the dragon puffed at Bart’s words. ‘Why should I listen to a human?’ It was probably saying.

  Alistair smiled wryly beside him and reached for the dragon’s nose, “I’ll follow her half-way. This is fine, right?” He said, and the dragon moved out of the way as if to say, ‘Fine then’. And I was finally able to go to the toilet properly because Alistair was with me.

  “Chibi.”


  “Awishthair.”


  “Sup, Lei. I’m Mill. I made some soup this morning.”


  “Miww, thhanwsh.”


  The men had already eaten and the only portions left were for Alistair and me.

  “Mill, thanks. It’s rare for you to make soup in the morning.”


  “Because I always make simple food in the mornings. But you two fainted yesterday. I wanted you guys to have your fill of nutrients. Here!”


  When Alistair thanked the person named Mill, he laughed shyly. His brown eyes were gentle. To me, they were all adults, but they were younger than father.

  The spoon stopped.

  “Come on Lei. Drink.” Alistair saw this and urged.

  “Aai.”


  In the meantime, small and big people were roughly packing up the tents and putting them onto the luggage dragon. There were five Rug Dragons for riding and two for luggage. The luggage was rearranged and set up so that I could sit in it perfectly.

  When the big person picked me up and put me into the luggage that was shaped like a chair, a band was crossed loosely on me. It was like a seatbelt. Then, he stood back and nodded in satisfaction. It seemed like he approved. It was somewhat comfortable having my body fixed in one place.

  “I’m Kyaro. This big guy’s Clyde,” the small one did the introductions.

  “Awishthair. Shmaww man Wyaro. Bwig man Cwyde.”


  “Don’t call me small! You’re smaller than me, aren’t you!” Kyaro, who promptly retorted, had pretty green eyes. Clyde patted Kyaro’s shoulders.

  ”You trying to comfort me? Hah!?”


  Bart spoke as if this was a regular occurrence, “Let’s go. We’ll proceed slowly while watching Chibi. We’ll try not to stop at any other towns before we get to Lentforce. We’ve been living it high lately.”


  Bart grinned.

  “We’ll be using this barrier box,” he looked at me as he said.

  “This is for your transportation and living costs. I received the payment in advance.”


  “Just be honest and say we’re going to take care of her,” Kyaro said in shock. The others laughed as they watched. I nodded firmly and looked back.