Translator: Luk2048

That moment felt like an eternity . I excessively struggled to get over this predicament and the world turned into slow motion, appearing like a revolving lantern .

First thing I spotted was the figure of Rēko brandis.h.i.+ng a dagger and throwing herself upon the Saintess . It was an unavoidable future the moment Lady Saintess made the mistake .

In response to that, I tried to shout “You mustn’t kill her!” Nevertheless, amidst the slowly flowing time my body’s movements couldn’t keep up . That was a no-brainer . Despite my senses becoming sharp, it wasn’t like my body became able to move faster .

However, Lady Saintess also displayed an unexpectedly fine play . She probably had a cowardly disposition by nature . From the start she appeared to be wary of us, so her escape was fast . Screaming, she hurled the basket and the scattered vegetable sc.r.a.ps blocked Rēko’s vision .

Naturally, Rēko wasn’t perturbed by some vegetables . When the dagger flashed, just the created wind pressure alone shredded all of them into little pieces . Yet, there was no Lady Saintess’ figure beyond the cut up vegetable sc.r.a.ps .

She vanished?

No, that wasn’t right . When I focused my eyes, I saw the long blue hair fluttering around the corner at the end of the hallway .

She just simply ran away . At any rate, she had fast legs .

“Y-You can’t kill her!”

At last my voice caught up . Because I was hurrying and faltered in the middle,

my scream turned into an order in a normal tone . Rēko, who even now was intent on chasing her, said “Why is that?” with a serious face, while still tightly grasping her dagger .

While breathing out a sigh of relief because I made it in time, I said,

“Don’t ‘why’ me . You can’t just thoughtlessly hurt people . Once something happened, there would be no turning back . ”

“However, she served the Evil Dragon Lord a meal akin to trash――”

“And that’s fine . Being really strong means not getting mad at trivial things . Besides, I like vegetables . ”

I ate the lying on the floor cut into little pieces vegetables . They were pretty spoiled, so it wasn’t like I really wanted to eat them, but unless I did that, Rēko’s wrath wouldn’t subside .

“E-Evil Dragon Lord . To eat like that… I will gather them at once, please wait a while . ”

“Aah, never mind that . More importantly, Rēko, I’d like for you to have the character of a strong person . ”

“The character of a strong… person?”

“That’s right . You are my― Evil Dragon Rēvendia’s kin . These claws aren’t something to be swung lightly at every minor trouble . That’s why, until you possess sufficient self-awareness, I forbid you from using strength without my permission . Ah, but protecting yourself is an exception . You can also fight when there’s no other option, but even then, killing is not allowed . ”

That’s right . I should have ordered

ordered this from the start . With this, Rēko should avoid needless battles . It’s a brilliant idea, despite being mine .

I nodded in self-satisfaction and raised my gaze from the floor, while saying “Did you understand?”

Thereupon I saw a figure of Rēko, depressed beyond my imagination . She sat on the floor in seiza with her head drooped low, the light in her eyes completely extinguished . The lack of vigour, as if her soul could leave her body at any time .

“R-Rēko? What’s wrong? You don’t have to be so depressed . It’s okay to just be careful from now on . ”

Accompanied by the almost visible cloud of gloom over her, Rēko responded with her head lowered,

“Is that so… I wasn’t adequate enough as the Evil Dragon Lord’s kin, was I…?”

“No, that’s not true . I didn’t mean that . ”

“Your kind concern is not necessary . ”

I thought it was a brilliant idea, but unexpectedly the sense of guilt is terrible . This child, she appears simple but is quite troublesome .

“Rēko, I really am glad that you became my kin . ”

Rēko kept quiet with her head hanging low .

“You’re still young, I think its fine to grow from now on . ”

Rēko still was dejected .

“That’s why, unless you cheer up, I also won’t be able to…”

Thereupon, Rēko suddenly straightened her back with a cracking noise .

“That won’t do . I see, the kin’s energy also has some effect on the head, namely the Evil Dragon Lord . It won’t

It won’t do for my inexperienced self to drag the Evil Dragon Lord down any more . At the very least, I have to possess a firm spirit . ”

“Yeah… That wasn’t what I really meant . What should I say…”

If possible I really wanted to follow-up somehow, but now I had to chase after Lady Saintess and solve the misunderstanding . After all, she was almost killed, so it wouldn’t be weird if she was finally attempting to escape from town .

“Rēko, I’ve something to take care of, you just keep still and――”

No, if I left her to sit quietly when she’s feeling down, she might just brood even more .

“You also can go for a walk through the town . It seems there are a lot of children in this area, so there might be someone you could play with . Understanding human customs and habits is also a valuable learning experience . ”

“I understand . As you wish, I’ll carry out my walk resolutely . ”

“I didn’t mean it with that sort of obligatory feeling…”

The tension has subsided completely . When I took a step forward in pursuit of Lady Saintess, I faced Rēko once more, along with some last words of encouragement .

“Even if you’d lose your power as kin, I’d never come to hate you . Before thinking of you as kin, I consider you an important comrade . ”

Rēko stared blankly . Since she was called a comrade by me, the head, it might take her a while to understand it . Then

. Then I inquired suddenly .

“By the way, Rēko, what would you’ve thought if my strength disappeared?”

“That’s obvious . ”

She responded immediately .  It’d be nice if she’d get along with me, despite me being a powerless, worthless dragon―― As I was thinking that, what reached my ears was…

“There’s no way Evil Dragon Lord could lose his power . ”

Yep, I’ve thought it was going to be like that . I started trudging through the hallway with my back hunched more than usual .

After meeting with Lady Saintess, I’m probably going to have to comfort Rēko all over again, but who’s going to comfort me? After all, I’m trying so hard . I want to cry .

It happened along with these thoughts, when I neared the corner Lady Saintess disappeared behind . A splash sound came from my foot, along with a cold sensation . When I looked at the floor, there was a fairly big puddle of water in the wooden hallway .

Maybe someone has spilled it? But the amount was as if someone would have dumped a whole water bowl . If that was it, wouldn’t there be a lot of noise, which I’d have noticed?

All of a sudden, the water puddle reflected Lady Saintess’ face .

Startled I turned back, but n.o.body was there . Which meant that Lady Saintess was literally in “the water puddle”――

“Y-Y-You fell for it! Eiyaa―!”

Plop . This time the sound was much louder than when I stepped into it . My whole body was dragged deep under the water .