He, Who Was All Alone
It was a rare sight to see Richmond embarrassed, and I felt somewhat privileged.
Later that day, when I was taking a walk in the village with young Richmond, he was surrounded by high-pitched squeals by everyone from aunts to young girls, single and married alike.
I think he must have been told a lot of times that he was handsome and wonderful because he is such a good-looking guy, but thinking that he seemed embarrassed like that by a normal looking woman like me made me feel kind of happy and touched my heart.
“Kanade, the village has expanded a little.”
“That’s true, isn’t it? I thought there were about 100 houses built, but there could be as many as 150… If the village expands, the houses are also built in their evolved version, not the initial type… Oh, by the way, where did that magnificent house you brought from the town go?”
I was surprised when I went to bed and woke up to find it gone.
“Hm? Ahh, that thing… I dumped it in the forest.”
“Eh!?”
“The people of the slums don’t have very good memories of that building. I put it near the entrance to the forest and warded it off so that no monsters could inhabit it. It will serve as a refuge for the lucky ones who wander into the forest.”
That’s not throwing it away, it’s building a shelter…
“I’m thinking of making rounds more often, though.”
“Richmond, why are you so kindhearted?”
This person is always doing things for others.
He said that he used to be a King, so I guess it’s ingrained in him to live for the people.
“Kindhearted…?”
“Yes. I mean, you are always trying to be there for someone else. You didn’t force the abused children to tell you about their pasts, but you love them as your grandchildren, and gave them education so that they would have a better future. You even supervised Leo, who seemed to be at wits’ end when he first came to here… and before we knew it, he was smiling again.”
It was also Richmond who said he wanted to help people in the slums.
“The kindhearted one is you, Kanade.”
“Huh?”
I’m just doing what you guys tell me to, though?
“I am here today because you accepted me as a member of your family. If it weren’t for you, I would be dead by now.”
“You would be dead by now…?”
As I was stunned by his words, Richmond pulled me by the hand, saying, “Come with me,” and made me sit on a bench he had placed at the edge of the village
This bench had been made by Vermont for me to rest on.
“I was chased out of the Dragon country.”
“Mhm…”
Richmond sat down next to me and slowly began to explain why he had come here.
“Once upon a time, Dragons were a species on the verge of extinction because of their small numbers. The reason for their dwindling numbers is their own nature… We don’t like to stay in herds and love to live as we please. We do not know where to find each other, so we were unable to fight together. Moreover, many of us look down on people as a lower species and do not mingle with other species. This resulted in us being endangered species.”
“And that is why you created a country, to increase the number of Dragons, right?”
“That’s right. I thought that if I created a country, I would be able to gather my friends and some of them could become mates. And so, in a few hundred years, the Dragons multiplied in numbers.”
I wonder if Richmond had a wife and children…
I thought so as I looked at his beautiful profile.
He is such a wonderful man. Of course, he had a wife and children.
I don’t know why my throat tightened, and I felt like I was suffocating when I thought about it.
“I was a powerful dragon. So as the King, I was recognized by everyone, and I thought I had done my best for my people.”
“Even as a layman, I can tell that you must have been a excellent King, Richmond.”
When I told him this, Richmond looked at me kindly and smiled.
However, it was a somewhat lonely smile…
“Dragons live by the law of the jungle.”
He is probably referring to their original nature.
Even though he created a country, their underlying nature remained the same.
“As I grew older and less powerful, more and more young Dragons began to advise me to step down as the King… The Dragons who had supported me retired, and before I knew it, I was surrounded by people who thought I was in their way.”
“That can’t be…”
Richmond can’t be a hindrance!
How can someone who is so concerned for everyone else’s well-being be in the way!?
“I was called an old senile Dragon that wasn’t needed in the country anymore… after being chased out, I escaped to this Demon Forest. I had no willpower to live anymore…”
“Then, when we first met, you were preparing for your death…?”
“… I had lived long enough.”
That can’t be… don’t say something so sad…
“What about your family? I’m sure your family wanted you to live!”
However, Richmond shook his head at my words.
“I have no family.”
“Eh?”
“You know, I have more magic power than most Dragons. If another Dragon wanted to produce a child with me, they wouldn’t be able to withstand my magic power and die.”