Chapter 73 (1/2)

Grimmy lay on the ground with his belly on the floor, staring at the door to the temple. Tafel hugged Floofykins as she paced around in front of Lindyss on the steps. Paul had purified his robe and cleaned up the mess he made earlier, but he was still sitting on the floor since his legs wouldn’t stop trembling.

“U-uhm.” Paul squeaked. “Wasn’t there a pact made a long time ago forbidding dragons from entering the capital?”

“Hah?” Grimmy asked as he squinted his eyes at Paul.

“I’m sorry!” Paul squealed as he covered his head with his arms and curled up into a ball.

Lindyss scratched her head. “Yeah, there was something like that wasn’t there?” she said as she rummaged through her bag. “I think I still have it somewhere here…”

“What?” Tafel asked as she stopped pacing and looked up. “Why would you have that?”

“Because I wrote it?” Lindyss asked as she raised an eyebrow. She pulled a rolled up piece of laminated paper out of her bag. “Why else? And it’s just a copy so it doesn’t matter if you burn it.” She turned towards Grimmy who shut his mouth and swallowed the flames on his tongue.

“Let me see that,” Grimmy said as he held out his claw. Lindyss placed it on his palm.

Grimmy scanned the document and nodded. “There’s no issue with me being here then,” Grimmy said and grinned towards Paul who was still hiding his head. “It clearly says, ‘Dragons will not invade any human establishment that has a scion of the royal family’.”

Paul’s shoulders were hunched over as he peaked up at Grimmy’s face. “But the prin-“

“Dragons. Plural. I am a singular dragon,” Grimmy said as he passed the document back to Lindyss. “I see no issues with my presence in the area.” He blinked and stared at Lindyss. “You knew.”

Lindyss smiled. “Of course. I wrote it.”

“What other loopholes did you include?” Grimmy asked as he reached for the paper again.

“Those are for me to abuse,” Lindyss said as she stuck out her tongue and incinerated the paper before Grimmy could grab it, “and—for the sake of the human race—for you to never find out.”

The door to the temple creaked and Tafel stiffened. A few moments passed with no other noise and she exhaled while looking down at Floofykins who tried to bite her nose. “Why is this so nerve-wracking?” she asked as she held Floofykins in front of her face. She sighed. “I’d rather fight three reapers at the same time.” Floofykins tilted her head and squirmed in her grip.

Tafel frowned and turned to Lindyss. “Is she not imprinted?” Tafel asked as she parted the fur on Floofykins forehead.

“No,” Lindyss said and offered Floofykins a piece of roast pork. “Snuffles is a male, so he has no instincts whatsoever to imprint his offspring and her mother didn’t have an imprint.”

“Somehow that feels wrong,” Tafel said as she looked down.

“Well, phoenixes never existed on this continent until 800 years ago. They came at the same time as the humans from Fuselage,” Lindyss said and looked up at the sky. “They were as arrogant as dragons and vied for the top spot in the ecosystem. So, the dragons wiped out the phoenixes, but spared their eggs, effectively leaving their race as strong as wyverns.” Lindyss sighed and shook her head. “A lot of dragons died during those hunts.”