43 『Midnight Moonlight』 (2/2)

”You remind me of someone precious, someone I had a chance with, but never took.” He lifted one hand up and stared at the back of it. The magic lamps lighting the room starting to dim.

Ninya blinked hearing the words he decided to share. Who could she have possibly reminded him of? He was a Dragon, right? She took in a quick deep breath, before slowly exhaling, moving onto her back as well. ”Want to talk about her?”

”She had her hair a bit longer than yours, she had green eyes... Wore mens clothing, though I'm sure for a different reason than you.” Vertum snickered as he noted her own friends didn't know who or what she really was. She had to have been really skilled at hiding this kind of thing, or they knew and didn't let her know they knew... Or everyone knew except for Lukrut, probably for good reason of course.

”Ah... She was as pale as me?”

”Yup,” Vertum snickered quietly, ”She was rather famous too. A warrior in the field and an actress in a theater of sorts,” he dumbed it down a bit so that it fit a medieval world view.

”An actress?” Ninya found herself snorting at the idea of herself being an actress. She was capable of fooling her friends into thinking she was a man, so technically, she was one.

Vertum could see she came to that realization rather quickly as her eyes dimmed slightly as it was becoming slowly darker in the room.

”Why didn't you take a chance...?”

”I was afraid I was going to destroy her career at the time,” Vertum was practically treating this as therapy. Finally having someone to talk about this since his arrival, as that demon friend wasn't around.

”Oooh...” Ninya's brows jumped slightly before resting, creasing slightly together. ”I'm... I'm sure you could have worked something out, the two of you...” She smiled sympathetically, knowing he was speaking of this girl in past tense, so she was sure she was no longer of the world.

”That was what I was thinking too, up until a couple weeks ago.” His eyelids drooped, closing slightly, remembering how he had showed up in this world with the guild's City and NPCs.

Ninya could see that even though he probably had Enri, the girl he came with, he wasn't happy. Even with all the times he grinned, smiled and seemed outgoing earlier in the day, she could see it. ”I... I'm not really sure what else to say.”

”Sometimes it's best to just listen,” Vertum shrugged lightly as he looked over at the humble Adventurer, hard to believe that she had chosen a lucrative occupation with her personality. ”I enjoy your boyish charm though,” he let out a teasing tone as he let his eyes finally close.

She blinked seeing his breathing calm down and his eyes begin to move under the lids. He had fallen asleep near instantly with his head turned towards her. He must've been exhausted, but it was hard to tell up until they came into this room... That was the only thing she didn't see.

”Hey... Vertum-dono?” She reached over, lightly touching his shoulder.

His eyes immediately shot open, focusing in on her, ”Yeah?”

She blinked, ”What kind of dragon are you?”

Vertum pursed his lips as she had woken him up in order to ask such a mundane question. ”Mirage,” he replied before letting his eyes slowly close again.

”I.. Never heard of a Mirage Dragon,” she wasn't quite sure what to make of the name he gave.

”We're reclusive and prefer indirect confrontation,” he yawned as he finally let his eyes close again, not wanting to open them up even if she were to keep him up.

”Indirect?”

”My Dragon breath attack will attack and destroy your brain, force you to attack your friendlies or flee from me,” Vertum responded as to elaborate what he could do by just breathing on her the wrong way.

”Wow...” That was one thing she wasn't expecting at all.

”And my bite puts you into a coma,” Vertum's hand slithered over towards hers, grabbing her wrist and jokingly bringing it toward his mouth.

”Wha--!” Ninya pulled her hand from his hand, finding that he was hardly using a grip. ”That wasn't funny,” she tried not to laugh at herself nervously, hiding her hand under her side now. ”You... Weren't serious were you?”

Vertum was already asleep again, not responding to the question that she inquired about, but there was a small trace of a smile across his lips.