The child grumbled about the pain in his pinched cheeks, but stubbornly refused in the end.

The way he was so willful and stubborn was so much like Spinel.

While I was struggling, wondering if he might be Spinel’s sibling, the previously empty wall suddenly opened, and Spinel popped out.

“Ravenne!”

“Spinel?”

Spinel hurried in and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing?”

“Well… He said he’d tell me where Legias is if I played with him, but he won’t talk.”

“So?”

“So, well, I’m playing with him…”

The child’s gaze was piercing.

“First, let go of him.”

“But I haven’t heard where Legias is yet.”

At my words, Spinel sighed and replied.

“Isn’t he right here?”

“What is?”

“That dragon is Legias.”

The strength left my hands that were holding the child’s cheeks.

Didn’t she say Old Man Legias?

“Huh?”

While I stared blankly at Spinel, the dragon quickly slipped away from me and ran to hide behind Spinel. Spinel looked at the child and added an explanation.

“To be exact, he’s one of many clones.”

“Clones?”

“Yes. The old man is in a long rest period now. So his clones are guarding the nest instead.”

I felt bad saying this, but the dragon before me seemed too young and insignificant to be guarding the nest.

“This particular clone loves pranks and keeps asking everyone he meets to play with him.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the young dragon, who was apparently Legias’ clone, tugged on Spinel’s pants and asked.

“Long time no see, Spinel.”

“What do you mean long time?”

Unlike Legias, who clung to her affectionately, Spinel’s response was extremely cold.

“You left as if you’d never come back. Have you been well? You seem weaker.”

“……”

At those words, Spinel looked at Legias with an annoyed expression.

The young dragon, smiling brightly, didn’t seem to realize that what he said could be taken badly.

“No matter how weak I am, I still have the strength to poke the old man’s eyes out.”

At the somewhat threatening voice, Legias got scared and took a step back to hide behind me again.

What a cheeky little thing.

“Are there other clones besides him?”

“Yes. There are countless rooms in the nest, and each room is guarded by a different clone. You’re lucky you were summoned to this room. The others wouldn’t have been so lenient.”

“By not lenient, you mean…”

“You’d probably be dead.”

Her calm tone sent a chill down my spine.

While I unknowingly rubbed my arms, Spinel looked at Legias who was hiding behind me and asked.

“Old man, do you know where Royden is?”

“Royden? He came by recently. Why? Do you want to play with him too, Spinel?”

Perhaps because he heard a familiar name, Legias’s face brightened up, as if he hadn’t been scared before.

“Not really to play…”

“Yes, I want to play with him. So could you tell me where he is?”

Fearing that he might stubbornly refuse again, I quickly interrupted Spinel and nodded.

“I don’t know where he is.”

But despite my efforts, the child answered with a bright face that he didn’t know. Watching his oblivious smile, I became curious about the personality of the real Legias.

Unable to hide my disappointment, I sighed, and Legias, who had been quietly watching me, flapped his wings and did a somersault.

With a brief sparkle, a small black piece of paper floated in the air.

“What is this?”

“It’s something Royden left behind when he came by. I don’t know where he is, but I thought it might help.”

The piece of paper he showed me looked like it had been rolling around in a bag for days.

I wondered if it had been left behind rather than discarded, and I grabbed the floating paper.

“There’s no writing on it.”

It was just a piece of paper with a luxurious texture and black color, nothing special.

I thought it might just be trash, but then I remembered seeing something similar a long time ago.

“Ahhh!”

“Why are you suddenly shouting?”

“I know where he went!”

A few months ago, I visited a casino dreaming of being kicked out by Ilion. That day, an uncle who was giving me advice handed me a card, saying it was an invitation to a secret auction, and it looked similar to this.

“Really? Then there’s nothing more to see here.”

After explaining the paper to Spinel, she left through the exit without looking back.

Is this the coolness between dragons? She could at least say thank you…

When I thanked Legias on behalf of Spinel, he tugged on my collar and held me back.

“Hey, human.”

“Huh?”

“Will you come to visit again?”

“Well…”

Visiting here twice might be difficult. Spinel didn’t seem to like this place very much.

When I trailed off without answering, Legias seemed to understand and nodded, making another request.

“Then, could you tell Spinel I’m sorry?”

“Huh?”

“Tell her I’m sorry for not being able to help back then.”

Could he be talking about when Spinel lived here?

“By ‘back then,’ do you mean when Spinel was young?”

Legias nodded at my question.

“Why don’t you apologize directly?”

“I was going to, but Spinel is too scary. She even said she’d poke my eyes out earlier.”

The child shouted, his eyes welling up with tears. They say each clone has a different personality; perhaps this young dragon was made solely from the original’s gentle heart.

“Did you call me here just to say that?”

Legias nodded in response to my question.

I see. It seemed too lucky to be a coincidence.

“I wanted Spinel to come here. When I asked you to play hide and seek, it was just so I could keep you here. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Maybe it was because I’d met Spinel, but Legias honestly confessed why he had kept me there.

Come to think of it, the child never said anything about being dangerous. He merely said he wouldn’t show me the way out.

I felt a bit sheepish.

“Okay, I’ll tell her for you. And if I have time, I’ll come visit again.”

Legias beamed and flapped his wings.

“Yeah. Come visit again, human. Let’s play together.”

***

Following Spinel outside, I relayed Legias’s message to her.

“He said he’s sorry.”

“For what?”

Spinel looked at me as if she didn’t understand.

“Legias said he’s sorry for not helping you.”

After hearing my words, Spinel scratched her neck and muttered.

“What’s the old man got to be sorry about?”

She grumbled, saying it was unnecessary talk.

However, it didn’t seem like she particularly disliked Legias’s apology, as Spinel’s expression wasn’t unpleasant.

“Can I ask what happened?”

I cautiously asked, hoping it wouldn’t be rude, and Spinel began to speak as if it wasn’t something she needed to hide.

“As you know, I couldn’t do much when I was young. So I was often bullied.”

Spinel spoke with a calm expression, as though being bullied was just a matter of course.

“Apparently, the old man vaguely knew about it. But he couldn’t cause trouble with other dragons just to protect me.”

Was that why Legias apologized to Spinel? When I looked at her with a sympathetic expression, Spinel continued, saying there was no need for that look.

“So he asked another dragon for help.”

“Oh, was it Ceras?”

I asked, recalling the story of her escaping with Ceras.

“No. The old man asked Royden for help, not Ceras.”

Royden was the dragon we were looking for.

“They were close from long ago. He would come to visit often. But unfortunately, Ceras accompanied him that day.”

“Why?”

“She said she was curious about the red dragon’s habitat. She promised to behave, but as soon as she stepped into the habitat, she caused a commotion. Her temper was fiery.”

Spinel shook her head as she spoke, but a smile crept onto her lips.

It seemed that Ilion’s mother was quite different from Ilion, especially in her impulsive nature.

“Are you heading back home?”

While listening to Spinel’s story, I realized we were already outside the cave.

“Yes. I should take a look at the invitation.”

I replied, waving the black paper, and Spinel smiled knowingly. Sensing what that ominous smile meant, I nodded in resignation.

“Please don’t drool too much.”