Don’t Run Away My Lord

37 – The Unexpected Territory (1)

After walking for a while, a black puddle appeared on the ground ahead.

“Oh? Erka, there it is again. I’m sure I got rid of it.”

Kaita looked at me with a meaningful expression.

It was as if she were saying, ‘I thought you were a great magician, but you can’t even properly undo a spell…’

Although I had definitely gotten rid of the dimensional gate, since it reappeared like that, I had nothing to say.

“Do we have to get rid of it again this time?”

Liana asked, and after thinking for a moment, I shook my head.

“No. Let’s leave that one and move on with the sustenance magic.”

“Why?”

“Just… because it’s a bit annoying when other humans come in and disturb the dog.”

Understanding my words, Rihanna smiled mischievously and wrapped her arms around my waist, looking up at me.

“Lord Erga, you’re really a great person.”

“Yeah. Thanks. But could you let go? It’s a bit awkward because I’m not wearing any clothes.”

“hehehe… right…”

Rihanna awkwardly chuckled and stepped back.

In the process, it felt like Rihanna’s hand brushed against my genitals, but maybe it was just my imagination.

* * * * *

Finally, I was able to step outside of the tower.

“Yeeeaaahhhhh!”

Keita screamed, spreading her arms wide and jumping around.

“We’re outside! We finally made it outside!”

Looking back, the tower we had exited was still standing tall, just as it had been.

The tower, basking in the warm sunlight, shimmered white, and the warning sign on the outer wall about the aggressive dog was also visible.

Honestly, I still don’t really understand.

Why did that tower appear here? What is the exact mechanism behind its operation? And why did the person who entered that tower create something like this?

Everything is full of questions.

But the important thing is that we all safely escaped from the tower.

Even though we didn’t find the artifact commissioned by Count Gorda, what does it matter?

What matters is that Liana and I are safe.

And that strange magician too.

“Ahahahaha! I love it! The sunlight is so warm! It’s definitely a perfect spring day!”

“That’s right. It really feels like spring… right…?”

Liana, who was playing the tambourine for Kaita, faltered at the end of her sentence, looking flustered.

Liana turned to me with wide eyes, as if she had been shocked, and I could sense that something was wrong.

“Oh… Lord Erga…”

Liana, who was looking around, pointed to a certain place.

It was a place where the tower had fallen, and there were remnants of destroyed houses, with colorful wildflowers blooming there.

“What is this…? Lord Erga… it was definitely…”

“Clearly, when we entered here, it was early winter.”

There was only one answer to this phenomenon.

Not only the space inside the tower, but even time itself had been distorted.

No wonder. I wondered why the soldiers who were supposed to be waiting for us weren’t visible.

So, the problem here is how many springs it has been since we entered the tower.

“Liana, do you know when the Magic Union was established?”

“The Magic Union? Maybe…”

Liana’s face instantly turned pale as she tried to answer.

She trembled and couldn’t say a word.

“Hey, Miss Kaita, come over here.”

“What? Why?”

“Excuse me, but what year were you born?”

Upon hearing Kaita’s response, Liana staggered and sank down, unable to speak.

“Uh? Liana, why are you like this!”

Kaita rushed over and tried to lift Liana up.

But Liana was so heavy that Kaita could only stammer and couldn’t properly support her.

“Kaita… I have something to tell you…”

Liana struggled to open her mouth.

“After you went up to the tower, how many years have passed…”

This time, Kaita screamed and sank down.

* * * * *

While waiting for the two women to calm down, I lit the candles I had gathered from here and there.

No matter how much time had passed, even if it had been five hundred years since Kaita went up to the tower, it wasn’t a significant reason to skip a meal.

At least, that’s what I thought.

“But Eurga is a dragon… Five hundred years for Eurga and humans are completely different, you know…”

“But does that mean you’ll starve yourself? You still have to eat, right?”

“That’s a valid point.”

Feeling hungry, Liana stood up and came to my side.

“Shall I do it?”

“No no. No. Just sit. I’ll do it this time.”

Knowing the terrible taste of Rianna’s stew, Keita vehemently refused.

If she were to taste that stew, Keita might become a complete idiot with a second shock.

Although she already seemed like an idiot.

Sitting against the ruins of the building, Keita stared blankly into the air, mumbling something.

I couldn’t understand which dialect it was from.

Or maybe it was some meaningless magic spell.

“Keita… Please snap out of it…”

Rianna cautiously waved her hand in front of Keita’s face.

“Be careful, Rianna. Don’t provoke me for no reason.”

“But should we just leave it like this?”

“If I provoke her unnecessarily, she might end up memorizing some random magic spell and blow this place up.”

“Hiiik?!”

Rianna jumped in surprise and moved away from Keita.

She looked at Keita, holding a pot in her hand.

“For now, let’s eat and walk towards the marquisate. Since there’s no conversation, it seems like we’ll have to walk for a while.”

“Eruga… What if we also spend five hundred years here…?”

“What can we do? Then we’ll just start anew with five hundred years having passed.”

“Hmm… As I mentioned, five hundred years for dragons and humans…”

She laughed as she poured stew into the bowl.

“What’s the use of that, Rianna.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s already been five hundred years, there’s no turning back. And neither you nor I have brought anything from the world five hundred years ago, right?”

I am a dragon, so it’s natural, and Rianna is an orphan with no family or place to stay.

Honestly, even if five hundred years have passed, I didn’t feel any regret.

To our kind, five hundred years is a short time, so they must still be looking for me.

Of course, I’m not sure if Kaita has become a thousand-year-old person from the past.

A thousand years is a long time even for me, a human’s distant past.

“And we have gold coins in our bag, right? As long as we have that, there won’t be any problems.”

“Well… that’s true… even if the currency has changed, the value of gold won’t change…”

Rianna’s expression brightened a little as she received the stew.

“Kaita-nim… um… would you like to have some stew…?”

“Isn’t that funny?”

“Well… what’s wrong…?”

Rianna suddenly stepped back a little from Kaita, who was making a normal sound.

“Even though a thousand years have passed, I’m still hungry. Even though I’m a person from a thousand years ago, eating and pooping are still the same.”

“Oh, yes… hahahaha… here… the stew…”

We sat down and ate the stew in silence.

Stew that we had grown tired of during the journey from the Verabche Kingdom to the Tarda Kingdom.

Whenever Rianna camped, she always made stew, and she was quite embarrassed because she couldn’t adapt to the taste.

So today, I held the ladle myself, and the taste was surprisingly good.

“It’s delicious, Lord Erga. You seem to have talent.”

“Thank you, Miss Kaita. Are you alright?”

Kaita didn’t answer my question and made a strange sound.

“Is this… made from ingredients aged for a thousand years? Or is it made from ingredients that have crossed a thousand years of aging?”

What is she talking about…

“Lord Erga… Isn’t it the same thing in the end?”

“That’s true… Quiet down. Don’t provoke unnecessarily.”

“Yes… I’m scared to death…”

Kaita, who was casually looking down at the stew, slowly started eating with a spoon.

She devoured three bowls of stew like that.

* * * * *

We walked across the gentle plains on a mild spring day towards the Viscount’s estate.

I asked Kaita to use support magic or teleportation magic, but she shook her head.

“I can’t go that far… I don’t have that level of skill yet.”

“Then can we keep moving short distances repeatedly?”

“Then we might end up dead. It would be better if Lord Erga transformed into a dragon and carried us…”

“That’s not possible.”

“Then we’ll have to walk.”

The magic I asked Kaita for is a considerably high-level magic that goes beyond the range of magic that a Black Dragon can use.

Simply having strong mana control and casting high-dimensional magic are completely different.

To put it simply, it’s like the difference between having a tremendous amount of power to seize control and using a mediocre strength to employ various techniques.

So we just walked forward blindly.

There was no other way besides walking.

“How long do you think it will take?”

“Well, considering the time we spent riding before, we’ll probably arrive around midnight.”

“In that case, it might be better to continue and see how long it takes. We might as well camp one more time.”

“That could be a good idea. It’s better this way. Let’s just go without worrying too much.”

In some ways, the straightforward Rianna seemed to have already let go of her feelings and spoke cheerfully.

On the other hand, Kata still had a perplexed look on her face, deep in contemplation about the passage of a thousand years.

I wonder if magicians are naturally unstable in their mental state.

They spend their lives researching and studying, so it’s possible that they’re slowly going mad.

* * * * *

Due to Kata’s deteriorating stamina, we couldn’t reach the Viscount’s Manor even after the sun had set.

We found a suitable spot and prepared for camping.

I was a little worried because the surroundings were exposed, but luckily, Kata set up alarm magic around the campsite.

We made a boring stew, ate, chatted for a while (only Rianna and I), and then laid out our sleeping bags, ready for bed.

“Since we’ve set up the alarm magic, there’s no need for a night watch. Everyone should get a good night’s sleep.”

Kata was already crouched inside her sleeping bag, ready for rest.

Rianna, who looked at her with a touch of sadness, turned to me.

“Let’s go inside too, Eruga-sama.”

And with a teasing expression, she licked her lips.