“I…thought, after seeing him, seeing the hundred Heroes. They were all…children.”
“…Children?”
“They came to play, a fun game. For them, killing kobolds, killing monsters. All just a game.”
While saying this, Sheto realized it.
All hatred must have disappeared when he killed him.
He had felt an emptiness, at the idea of harboring a grudge, of feeling hatred towards the wild and violent acts of thoughtless children.
“Kobolds are just enemies, pawns, experience points. Even if I hate, it’s the same. They don’t, think we have hearts.”
Had they been seen as equal, they might have been scared of retribution, or felt regret.
However, the Heroes had all looked confused. As if they were stunned by how unfair this was.
“Why should I…hate such people?”
“Ah…”
Sheto chuckled weakly and shook the shoulder of the speechless dragon.
“To then, I’m experience points. That’s all. So…not hate.”
“…You don’t hate?”
“Yes. I, hunt Heroes. That is all.”
Not kill, but hunt.
That was probably the only thing he could do.
“I, will win this battle. And then, make a forest, where kobolds are not killed.”
It was not to get revenge, but to put an end to sadness.
“And so, I, will do anything. Even if called a coward. Will hunt, all Heroes and the Demon King.”
He swore, and then drained his cup.
Fi was looking up at him now. And in his eyes, there was an emotion that Sheto could not read.
“What?”
“You…are strong, huh?”
“Not at all. I, a weak monster. Without Salia’s blessings, I, would be dead.”
“No…you’re…”
The small dragon said no more. He just took a sip from the cup.
“Good?”
“…Yeah.”
“I see.”
A mild strawberry wine. It was sweetened with a little honey.
Sheto poured some more.
“Drink. And then rest.”
“…Yes.”
‘Well, I should be going soon. I hear that dragons aren’t the best drinkers, so be careful.’
Sheto raised his cup with silent gratitude.
In the darkness of the night, Fi watched as the kobold slept quietly next to him.
His chest hurt, as he recalled Sheto’s words.
‘Kobolds are just enemies, pawns, experience points. Even if I hate, it’s the same. They don’t, think we have hearts.’
In the end, he hadn’t known anything. About this world, about the position of Heroes.
‘A memento. Of the one that…I loved. She was supposed to, have.’
What had Fi done that day…
It was supposed to be a game. An act to save the world. He had believed it without a doubt. He thought back on all of the acts of violence he had committed.
And then the truth about him, that he saw while living together.
‘You gathered a lot. It must have been hard.’
His face after Fi had shown him the basket of nuts.
‘Still, you should get up, when I tell you to.’
The serious face of an instructor.
‘Don’t argue! We’re going down the mountain, now!’
The gruff voice when he was worried.
The real kobold had been so different from what he had imagined.
“I…”
And then the thing he had avoided seeing, now appeared clearly.
‘I, will win this battle. And then, make a forest, where kobolds are not killed.’
The wish and promise made at the end of suffering.
“Hunting…Heroes, huh?”
He abandoned anger, and only hunted the Heroes to accomplish his purpose.
There had been no hesitation in his expression.
Fi recalled the time in the burning fortress. How Sheto had resisted with everything in him.
Dodging the attack and disappearing into the flames. When he met Sheto again after that, he was nearly unrecognizable.
“What have…I done…”
His chest hurt from the regret that welled up within.
As if to escape from it, he got out of bed and was about to walk outside.
“What is it, Fi?”
“!?”
The sleepy voice called from behind.
“No-nothing. I just…woke up.”
“…Maybe, you’re not used to the drink. Sorry.”
“Uh…yeah…”
“Feel sick? Head hurt?”
The voice was deep and gentle.
“I-I said that I’m fine! I’m completely fine!”
“I see… Then, should get some rest…”
The kobold fell back to sleep.
Fi stepped outside.
The grove of coniferous trees was brighter than expected. The moonlight poured through the gaps in the trees and brightened the world just a little.
The young dragon looked up at the sky.
He had learned a lot. But more questions were also rising to the surface.
What it was that he did.
What he must do now.
His hand suddenly went to the smartphone, and then dropped limply.
He knew what the dragon god would likely say if asked.
‘Do whatever it is you want to do.’
“But what am I supposed to do if I don’t know…”
There was no one to hear him.
Fi could do nothing, but stand there under the moonlight, as the emotions consumed him.