Lindyss sighed as she wrapped her blanket around herself tighter. Everything around her was white, and a shivering fairy with damp hair was clinging to her neck. Lindyss kicked her foot against the black surface beneath her. “How many times do I have to tell you not to fly through clouds!?”

Grimmy snorted. “You can tell me as many times as you want, but if it gets too hot when I’m flying, I’m going to dip into the clouds to cool off. You knew what you signed up for when you wanted to tag along.”

“Who wanted to tag along, damnit,” Lindyss said, pulling the blanket around herself tighter. She sneezed and sniffled a few times before wiping her nose against the fabric covering her shoulder. “I was perfectly happy sunbathing on a beach until you came along and whisked me away for no good reason.”

“Eh, when you put it that way, you make me seem like I’m the bad guy,” Grimmy said. “I’m the one carrying you across two oceans like some kind of cheap transportation. You’re not even paying me.”

“I didn’t want you to carry me,” Lindyss said, narrowing her eyes. “We’ve been flying for over a day now. I haven’t eaten or slept or used the bathroom. What kind of transportation won’t stop to let someone use the bathroom?”

“What, you want me to just float atop the ocean or something?” Grimmy asked. “Dragons aren’t great at hovering, you know. Circling around at high altitudes is much easier.”

Lindyss sighed. “Forget it. Just hurry up and fly.”

Grimmy clicked his tongue. “Someone’s grouchy.”

“I have every right to be grouchy. Why are we even going to check out this devil summoning? What is a devil anyway?”

“A devil’s a being from another dimension,” Grimmy said, rolling his eyes up to look at Lindyss. “They don’t have conventional forms, and the rules governing their abilities are different from ours. Back when I lived in the southern continent, a group of people tried to get rid of all the dragons using devils. Long story short, those pesky people failed and everyone died, rendering the whole continent uninhabitable. Then—”

“I remember you mentioning you destroyed the southern continent,” Lindyss said, lowering her head to meet Grimmy’s gaze.

“Did I?” Grimmy asked. “Let’s ignore the minor details, alright? Anyways, it’s not like I exterminated everyone. Clearly, someone must’ve escaped to the western continent. How else would knowledge of devil summoning appear?”

“You think the person summoning devils is trying to get rid of the dragons again?” Lindyss asked. “It makes sense why’d you want to investigate.”

“Yup,” Grimmy said. “Who knows, it might even be someone I’m familiar with.”

“You get along with people other than me?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow.

Grimmy snorted. “What, you thought you were the first person I experimented on?”

“I’m not?”

“No, but you’re the only one that I like,” Grimmy said. “All the other people swore to get revenge on me for some reason. Sheesh, after all I did for them too. Well, not like it matters—thousands of years have passed since then, so they’re all probably dead.”

“I told you he’s evil,” Erin whispered from Lindyss’ neck. “It’s not too late to jump off and hide in the ocean.”

“No, no,” Grimmy said. “It’s far too late even if you do that. No matter where you go, I’ll know where you are thanks to those souls planted inside of you.”

Lindyss frowned. “…Really?”

“How do you think I found you to take with me?” Grimmy asked, raising his brow.

“That’s … kind of creepy,” Lindyss said. “No, that’s seriously creepy.” She paused. “Does that mean you were just ignoring me for all those years before I found Vur and met you again?”

Grimmy scratched his snout. “Eh…, dragons are very busy individuals, you know?”

Lindyss sighed. “Sure. If you say so.”

“I wouldn’t ignore you for years,” Erin said with a pout.

“Please do.”

Erin snorted. “Maybe it really is too late for you to be a good person anymore.”

***

Mary sat with her arms and legs crossed, her cheeks bulging outwards like a chipmunk’s as she glared at Tafel. Tafel smiled at the pouting empress. “Glaring at me won’t change the fact that you lost.”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone as wishy-washy as you,” Mary said, the tension in her face relaxing. She turned her head away and closed her eyes, her chin tilting towards the ceiling. “This round doesn’t count. We agreed that only Apollonia could spectate as a judge. Outsiders interfered.”

“You should’ve said something when Tafel and Alice came into the room,” Vur said. “By not saying anything, you agreed to let them spectate. Besides, even if they hadn’t come, I would’ve won anyway.”

“You wouldn’t’ve,” Mary said, still refusing to meet Vur’s eyes. “It doesn’t count.”

“Sore loser,” Vur said and clicked his tongue. “Where’s your honor?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, cheater,” Mary said, opening her eyes and pointing at Vur. “You made your wife distract me because you knew I was going to win. Where’s your honor? I refuse to step down as empress under these conditions.”

Tafel nudged Vur’s side. “You want her to step down because it’d be bad if you beat up the empress since you’re a dragon, right? That’s what Alice said, at least.”

Vur nodded. “I don’t like how she hurt you.”

Tafel sighed. “You know how I told you I have someone I want to beat?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And how you shouldn’t interfere and beat them for me because it’d be unsatisfying for me?”

“Mm.”

“Well, she’s the same,” Tafel said and pointed at Mary. “I want to get stronger and beat her with my own strength. Yeah, sure, she beat me pretty badly, but that’s not something you should get mad over.”

Vur tilted his head. “I shouldn’t get mad when someone hits you?”

“Hmm.” Tafel scratched her head. “No, that’s not right. You should, but when someone beats me this badly, you should let me take revenge for myself unless I want you to help.”

“But how do I know if you want me to help?” Vur asked. “You were unconscious.”

Tafel bit her lower lip. “Um, you just should…?”

Vur sighed and lowered his head, staring at the rose tattoo on his chest. It flashed with a purple light as Stella’s voice rang out, “I told you so.”

Vur furrowed his brow and placed his hands on Tafel’s shoulders. “You’re really confusing sometimes.”

Tafel’s face turned red. “Well, sorry,” she said, emphasizing the last syllable. “But you understand my feelings, right?”

“Right. You want to beat her yourself.”

“That’s impossible,” Mary said as she leaned forward and grabbed a slice of dried mango. “Someone who can’t fully dedicate themselves to their craft has no chance winning against me.”

“Hey,” Tafel said, furrowing her brow as she broke away from Vur. “I train hard every day. Who says I have no dedication?”

Mary shook her head. “Your efforts will always be half of mine. You can’t decide whether you want to be a magician or a swordsman. That’s why you fail at being both.”

Tafel let out a long breath through her nose, clenching her hands. “I might fail at being a swordsman and a magician, but at least I can run a kingdom properly.”

“Wow, how childish,” Alice said from off to the side, her voice dry.

The tips of Tafel’s ears turned red, but she pretended as if she hadn’t heard the guild master.

“What do you mean?” Mary asked, her eyes narrowing. “Are you trying to say I’m running my empire improperly?”

“That’s right. Your people hate you,” Tafel said. “You’re a terrible ruler.”

“When you can’t hurt her with fists, you’ll hurt her with words, huh?” Alice asked. “Is that what you meant by beating her?”

“My people love me,” Mary said as she stood up, placing her hands on her hips. She talked through gritted teeth due to the mango slice hanging out of her mouth. “Look at all the taxes I’ve collected.”

“Pardon me for interrupting,” Apollonia said, lowering her head, “but people most certainly do not enjoy being taxed.”

Mary tilted her head as she slurped up the mango and swallowed. “Why not? The richer an empire is, the happier its people. The more taxes I collect, the richer the empire becomes. To make people happy, I simply have to raise taxes. Whenever people complain about something, I can raise their taxes to make them happier.”

Tafel’s expression disappeared off her face as she poked Vur’s side. “Maybe you should force her to step down.”

Vur knit his brow. “I don’t know,” he said and rubbed his chin. “What she’s saying makes a lot of sense to me.”