300 years ago, the noble family Proyten, founded by the ‘Dragon Hunter’ Wesley Proyten, made history.
Originally a treasure hunter, he discovered the lair of a dragon after decades of exploration.
The news of finding their traces—of a mythical race, the dragon, said to have existed since ancient times—was enough to shock countless people.
At that time, the impact was immense, which is why Proyten is still referred to as the Dragon Hunting family and holds the reverence of many.
Despite the considerable time that has elapsed since the first discovery, humanity has yet to commercialize dragon skin, hasn’t found a mana configuration stronger than dragon bones, and hasn’t fully unraveled the mystery of the Dragon Heart.
So, the shock of that time is something modern people can hardly imagine.
And now, Proyten is once again fixated on the Dragon Heart.
The reason is still unknown…
But one certain fact is that Proyten has resumed ‘Dragon Hunting’.
Moreover, the ‘low-grade’ Dragon Hearts that Proyten sold off through backdoor dealings are spreading to quite a few places.
And perhaps, Luke may be related to them.
“…Is that all the information you’ve gathered so far?”
“Yeah.”
Yerna placed her phone in the middle of the table and slightly pushed it towards Dayton after rotating it halfway.
A message was revealed inside.
‘It seems they were still doing background checks.’
Dayton groaned as he pressed his forehead.
But why is the message coming now?
Wasn’t it supposed to wait until after the trip?
There was nothing he could do about it since it had already arrived.
“Ha.”
Dayton sighed and began to read the message.
———–
“Did you hide a research facility in a place like this?”
“It’s no wonder it took so long to find. What on earth…?”
The place where they had arrived while conducting background research on Proyten was a hidden underground research facility nestled in a remote area of Rienne Forest.
However, it had now become almost a ruin, and there was little hope of salvaging anything significant from the facility.
“I don’t even know when it was last cleaned.”
“But that means this place has the most to recover, doesn’t it?”
“That might be true.”
The research facility, destroyed by an ‘unexpected event’, had information indicating that it had seen the most active research up until recently.
Could it be that no further cleanup had occurred due to whatever incident happened? Fortunately, the facility’s equipment was well-preserved without destruction or retrieval. But…
“It seems a wide-area information deletion has occurred.”
He couldn’t understand the situation. What on earth happened here?
Karina… No, Yerna’s request was becoming more complicated than initially thought.
Proyten must have done something with the Dragon Heart.
However, the information regarding what they did had completely vanished.
It was a bizarre situation where it was unclear when someone had started noticing the investigation, and all key personnel connected to Proyten—down to every low-level employee—had met their end.
Could there really have been something that required such serious cover-up?
“It feels unsettling…”
“Ah, I found something.”
“Bring it over.”
A small document was handed to the man, severely damaged, making it impossible to decipher everything, but key phrases could still be read.
“Year 1017—Month 3—Day 3. Dragon Heart transplant—”
“Hm, it seems I found something.”
Currently being 1022, this material was…
“…From 5 years ago?”
“It seems that something happened 5 years ago. The damage is severe, so I think we’ll need to look further for more information.”
—The experiment in question will be a ——–jump aimed at —-.
—–The third subject’s—- most stable—– unnecessary.
—–Procedure—- sample—-
Well, this might be considered a significant find.
“See if there’s more of this kind of stuff and look a little further.”
“Yes, understood.”
After deploying personnel, he tucked the document into his inner pocket.
Then, one of the men standing guard with a cane asked.
“But isn’t this a bit strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“Looking at everything so far, Proyten doesn’t seem like the type to be that careless with information leaking out. Why leave this information behind? They deleted it all.”
———
“I can’t allow even a little harm to come to me.”
He mumbled while blowing smoke out of the window.
When he turned his head, he saw a massive man pressing down on another man, holding the latter’s head to the floor.
The expression was one of sheer terror.
“Lately, there have been a lot of rats crawling around. I warned you. Take care of your things.”
Step by step, the man approached and squatted down in a slouched posture, locking eyes with the man as he blew out smoke.
“Was the warning insufficient? What’s your complaint? Even 5 years ago, and up until recent events. What is the meaning of this?”
With a look that showed complete confusion, he suddenly raised his voice as if realizing something.
“Ah, do I look like an easy target?”
“No, no!”
Was that a satisfying answer? The man laughed and spoke again.
“Proyten, this is something you did on your own, understand?”
He had no choice but to nod.
The man extended his right hand, displaying a red ruby ring on his index finger.
“Then, swear on this.”
The stone of the ring was as red as blood.
As if it could swallow him whole…
He felt cold sweat running down.
…gulp.
Barely swallowing, he managed to speak.
“I-I swear.”
“Good.”
Only then did he stand up with a satisfied expression and head towards the door.
“Please take care of things moving forward, Proyten. I feel like our relationship has finally become ‘solid’.”
Bang, closing the door behind him, the man dusted off his hands and swept back his disheveled hair, then spoke to the secretary who approached him.
“Nobles only listen when you’re this direct, don’t you think? Is it really that hard to just ask them to bring back a bit of Dragon Heart?”
“…”
But there was no response in return.
The man, smiling awkwardly, kneaded the slender neck of the female secretary.
The man’s red ring shone once again next to the secretary’s unchanged expression.
“Hm, hmm… So what’s the next schedule?”
“Yes, next is a meeting with Dylan.”
“Oh, that friend. It’s been a while. I heard he’s been well since going to Beriton?”
As he spoke, the man’s hand gradually moved down to more suggestive areas, but the secretary still asked with an expressionless face.
“Should I ask?”
“No, it’s fine. This isn’t a command. I should’ve left a little more leeway.”
He had lost interest.
————
“Oh, I didn’t expect to find something like this. Look here, the name of this purple flower is Jinise, a flower that symbolizes faith and hope. This plant is excellent at purifying the air. However, it struggles to survive if not in humid regions.”
“Huh, so that’s why it’s so humid and hot here.”
“Indeed, it certainly is the prettiest place, but…”
Luke’s explanation continued ‘again’.
It truly was educational, but Shirud and Mary couldn’t fully focus on Luke’s words at that moment.
The children slumped like they were exhausted.
They could barely stand.
And it’s no wonder, for exploring the botanical garden with Luke was quite the labor for the kids.
Shirud was already trembling in his legs, while Mary was physically fine, but felt like she would melt away in the greenhouse’s heat.
The heat and humidity combined were deadly for Mary, whose hair was already frizzy.
“Hm, this won’t do.”
Realizing that continuing would reach the limits of the children, Luke began to look around for a place to rest and soon noticed an elf man tending to plants nearby.
Luke immediately approached him.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Do you happen to have a place where the kids can rest? These two are really struggling.”
Pointing thumb back at the children, he noticed the nearly lifeless looks on their faces and nodded.
“It is indeed quite hot here, huh? Haha, then let me show you to a cooler place.”
——–
Thus, they arrived at a greenhouse with a slightly cooler atmosphere.
More of a resting area with seating than a place full of plants.
“You can sit over there and take a break.”
At the man’s suggestion, Mary and Shirud immediately dropped onto the laid-out mat and sighed with relief.
“Ah, this feels great.”
“Phew, I thought I might die from the heat.”
“It seems it was quite hot; I’m sorry for dragging you around.”
Just as Luke was apologizing with a regretful expression, Shirud was rubbing his ankles while Mary was tugging at her clothing near her chest to let some air through.
However, Luke appeared completely relaxed, without a drop of sweat.
“…”
Shirud and Mary couldn’t bring themselves to say “We’re fine.”
Because they truly weren’t fine.
Despite the heat, Luke appeared unfazed.
What kind of child was Luke made of, Shirud and Mary wondered.
Leaving the kids behind, Luke lightly scanned his surroundings.
There weren’t many plants, but this made it easier to find commonalities.
“These are plants that can be seen in the autumn.”
“You know your stuff. I saw you explaining various things about plants to the kids earlier. You must have a keen interest in botany!”
“Haha. Something like that. But I only know the basics.”
Even Luke didn’t know much about plants that weren’t medicinal or those grown by Renie.
Yet, such knowledge alone was far too expansive for a young child to have. The man thought it was a good sight to see the child being humble.
“But this place is amazing. So many plants I’ve never seen before. By the way, do you work here?”
“Yeah, I’m researching plants here at the facility.”
“Hmm, that means you probably know most of the plants here.”
“Well, something like that.”
“Is that so? Then you’re quite impressive.”
Luke lightly stroked his chin in thought and gazed at the man.
Noticing that the child seemed to have something further to ask, the man bent slightly to inquire.
“Do you have something else you’d like to ask me?”
“There’s a flower I’m looking for. Could you tell me about it if you know?”
Ah, is that what it was?
A child showing this much interest in plants was quite a rare occurrence, creating a rather pleasant sensation in the man.
Seeing the child’s eyes sparkling with curiosity, he replied in a soft and cheerful voice.
“Sure thing. What is it?”
“Is there ‘Demi-light’ in this botanical garden?”
Demi-light, known as the Eye of God, is the name of a mana flower.
It is said that only two blooms grow at the highest point of the mountain, making it a mysterious mana flower.
Of course, modern Demi-light doesn’t grow that way, but it was still a sufficiently rare flower.
It remained a flower that was highly sensitive to changes in its environment and was kept secret from the general public.
However, aside from that, it wasn’t particularly beautiful, and some even found it disgusting as it resembled an eye.
The man asked in a puzzled voice.
“Do you want to see Demi-light? Why?”
“The honey from Demi-light is said to be the tears of the gods, but I’ve heard it became impossible to harvest the honey in modern times. I want to personally uncover the reason behind that. That’s why I want to confirm it with my own eyes.”
The child spoke as if it were a long-held promise.
‘Ah, the tail is wagging.’
Shirud was able to clearly see the tail wagging beneath Luke’s skirt.
It was such a clear display of ‘interest’. It seemed that Luke was indeed unfazed at all.
“Hm….”
Regarding the honey from Demi-light, knowing that research was ongoing to obtain it and that he could later utter that he too wished to study it indicates not just an interest in plants, but a passion for botany as a whole.
However, regrettably, Demi-light could only be viewed in research facilities inaccessible to civilians.
Still, it wouldn’t be impossible to extend some mercy to a child who might become a future scholar someday.
“Hm, in that case, I suppose I can show you. However, if we’re going to see Demi-light, we’ll have to climb up a mountain, is that alright?”
“Of course! Hey, Shirud, Mary, how do you feel about it?”
At that, Mary and Shirud gasped.
“What? I don’t want to go!”
“I don’t want to climb a mountain either…”
“…It would be a very rare experience, you know?”
“I absolutely refuse! Climbing in this weather? I’ll die!”
“I agree.”
When Mary exceptionally expressed a strong refusal, Luke was taken aback.
That they would dislike it this much…
It seemed there was no choice but to see Demi-light alone…
At that moment, a blue spirit hopped up before Luke, waving its body.
-Feeling lonely? I’m here, Luke!
“Yeah, Py. I guess having you around makes it not lonely.”
Saying that with a smile, the man thought to himself.
‘It seems he was really looking forward to seeing Demi-light. He’s even humming.’
Honest children are truly cute, aren’t they?
Except when they’re crying.
