Revenge is a sweet and subtle thing. If I'm to take revenge, I won't be satisfied until I have personally destroyed everything they have ever loved.

However, all I feel for my current family is apathy. Investing so much effort into something I have absolutely no interest in is the height of inefficiency.

It'd be more inefficient than trying to play Liszt on the piano with a flaccid penis.

"More trouble than it's worth?" Noelle's voice trembled.

"Yes. So why don't we focus on the things that are actually important, such as saving my life, or ensuring that me joining the Guild does not invite more trouble?"

"You-"

"Anyway, can you handle this task?" I turned to Arteria.

"You bet I can." She scoffed.

"Perfect. Well then, everyone, I'll see you after my surgery." I looked at Neia. "Shall we?"

"Sure."

She closed her eyes and started glowing with a faint crimson hue, which suddenly brightened so much that I had to close my eyes.

When the light vanished, I sensed a change in the air and felt an aura oppressing me.

Hmm, no, it wasn't oppression. It was more like 'heaviness'. Interesting.

I opened my eyes and found a huge white Dragon standing in Neia's place. Towering over 20 metres, the Dragon's crimson eyes looked down at me with a gaze full of majesty.

｢Get on.｣ Neia's voice resounded inside my head.

"Telepathy?"

I see, looks like the Dragons of this World haven't evolved a voice box capable of human speech.

Azell and Noelle heeded her words and gently picked me up. Neia laid flat on the ground to allow them to move me to her back. They slowly placed me upon her back and got off.

For a moment I was worried about falling off as they hadn't secured me with anything, but it vanished as mana started moving in the air.

The next moment magical formations appeared around me. Some of them were there to keep me in my place while others were to protect me from the wind et cetera.

"Impressive."

Even for a Dragon, her invocation speed was fast while the execution of the spells was impeccable.

｢Thank you. Are you ready?｣

"I'm always ready."

It's not every day that one gets a chance to ride a Dragon. It's another story that I'm so battered up I'm on the verge of losing my consciousness.

"Oh wait." I stopped her before she could take off.

｢What?｣

"Azell, Noelle and the others. I forgot to say this before, but if you respect me and my choices, do not, under any circumstances, ask them about who they work for."

"…" Noelle's eyes swam around.

See? Just as I expected.

"Also, cut off their tongues right at the beginning so that they can't reveal to you the identity of their employers."

I'm sure that the hunters would try to threaten them with the name of my family. I doubt it would scare them, but it sure would make their promises irrelevant.

"You're nasty." Arteria shook her head with a sigh.

"Of course, you're free to refuse my demands. But if you do, you'll have to live with the guilt of not respecting the wishes of a dying boy."

"…That's unfair." Noelle's eyes drooped.

"It's for the good of all of us. Please."

"Argh, fine!"

Hmm, seems like their frankly disturbing emotional attachment does have some benefits.

"Thanks. We can go now, Ms. Neia."

｢I'm taking off.｣ With that, Neia flapped her wings.

As dust arose in our surroundings, we lifted off from the ground and flew in the direction of the supposed city at Supersonic speeds.

That wasn't an exaggeration; we were literally travelling faster than the speed of sound, as evident by the shockwaves produced by our travel.

"Nice."

I tilted my head a bit to look below me, and saw a vast forest spanning beyond the horizon.

However, we were travelling too fast for me to actually make a sense of what the forest was.

Looks like I also need to do something about my kinetic vision. So much to do, so little time.

Poor me.

｢We'll be arriving shortly.｣ Neia said through telepathy.

"Okay."

I also wanted to reply through telepathy, but that would require me to use Mana so yea, maybe next time.

For now, let's look forward to my new life.

Assuming I survive my surgery, of course.

❄️ ❄️ ❄️

After Neia left with Samur, a short silence descended upon this group of one man and three women.

"That sure was one hell of a boy." Arteria broke it.

"That he is." Vafferan, the woman with blue hairs and blue eyes, said. "Where did you even find him?"

"Azell found him. I only met him later." Noelle replied.

"Weren't you two supposed to be together?"

"Well, in the middle of our journey, he suddenly went off somewhere, saying that he sensed something."

"He was being attacked by wolves." Azell said. "He had been left to die by these hunters."

"And the hunters had been hired by his family." Arteria nodded.

The boy sure had a shitty family.

"I'm worried…" Noelle murmured to herself.

"About what? Neia is with him, so he'll be alright. By tomorrow he'll be as good as new." Vafferan said.

"Mm, you're right." Noelle smiled slightly. "But I still can't help it."

"Just what did he do to make you that attached to him?"

Arteria still couldn't figure how the ruthless Noelle had become so close to a boy she met hours ago.

"I don't know." Noelle shook her head. "What I do know is that he saved my life by risking his own, and I must repay that favour."

"How did he do that?" Vafferan tilted her head.

How did a pipsqueak save the life of the mighty Noelle?

"That's the point! I don't know- ah! Azell, tell me, what happened back then!"

"To be honest, I don't know for sure either." He sighed. "What do you know?"

"I remember Samur attacking the Minotaur with-"

"Wait, a Minotaur!? Wasn't this supposed to be a safe mission!?" Vafferan exclaimed while Arteria nodded.

"Well, some things happened." Noelle shook her head in derision. "Anyway, as I was saying, Samur attacked the Minotaur with an ice spear which broke the Minotaur's axe. A piece of that axe flew towards me and should have impaled me but the next moment, it was lying at my feet and Samur was in that condition."

"Actually, that blade had stabbed you." Azell revealed.