"You’re still that strong, just like back then. Completely different from other Humans—so many of us together and we still couldn’t do a thing to you..."

Lar moved quickly with Fisher toward an extremely Hidden part of the mountain range. She wasn’t strolling at all; the whole way she was darting at high speed across dense forest and sheer cliffs. Just from how familiar and agile she looked, it was clear she’d walked this path more times than she could count. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Of course, they weren’t just walking in silence; it was like back in the carriage when they first talked. Only now, the questions that idiot Lar asked were no longer so childish and so ridiculous they made people want to laugh and cry.

"What I’m curious about is why you people locked onto me in the first place."

In fact, when Fisher had entered the town earlier, he’d already noticed that he would unconsciously exert pressure on any existence that wasn’t at Mythical Rank. This was something the newly ascended Mythical Rank Fisher couldn’t control at all. Back in the Holy Land, he’d felt that most of those of the Mythical Species, even the Angel Leaders at Nineteen Ranks, were actually pretty gentle most of the time.

So he concluded that those at Mythical Rank must have some way to lower their own sense of presence, to keep themselves from being so conspicuous and oppressive.

He’d tried a few things during this period—like deliberately reining in his movements, becoming quiet and taciturn—but judging from how Ingrid had repeatedly tried to use body language to remind him and failed, it seemed all of that was completely useless.

In that case, it became very strange that this group of demi-human soldiers would fix their eyes on him.

Lar was leaping quickly ahead, yet she turned back to look at Fisher with obvious puzzlement and said,

"Ah, it’s because we often ambush the Fake Court offensives when they try to push forward, so whenever we see strangers we usually detain them first... Of course, other than you, there wouldn’t really be any lost passersby around here anyway. And your clothes and gear are a bit different from before, plus it’s been so long, so I didn’t recognize you right away."

Her answer was a bit beside the point, but Fisher had already realized that the Lar in front of him had absolutely no idea he was at Mythical Rank, and simply thought he was still just "very strong."

That was a little odd...

Fisher didn’t press further; he just continued to follow Lar, whose tail was swaying slightly in front of him.

Her tail was shorter and thinner than Rafael’s, but Fisher had always felt that the tails of the Dragon-man Species, just like the steam and scales on other parts of their bodies, could reflect their emotions to some degree—and that they themselves sometimes weren’t even aware of it.

They were moving very fast. In less than a quarter of an hour, they stopped before a strange, naturally hollowed-out cave. But the surroundings were still empty and lifeless; it clearly wasn’t the forward command center where Rafael was directing the front lines.

Lar stopped, then turned around to Fisher and said,

"Fisher, wait here for a bit, all right? I’m sorry, I can’t bring you to Rafael and the front-line command right now. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that now... actually, since a long time ago, many of our comrades who have fought and bled here have held prejudices against Humans from the Western Continent. That isn’t something Rafael can decide on his own. I don’t want to cause trouble for Rafael, and I don’t want your reunion after all these years to be full of gunpowder and tension..."

"I understand. Thank you, Lar."

Her gaze dodged a little, but compared to letting Rafael say these things later, she clearly preferred to play the "bad guy" herself.

Fortunately, Fisher had already prepared himself for this before he came.

So at this moment, he only nodded to show he understood.

Lar looked back at Fisher with gratitude, then suddenly tossed the dagger in her hand toward him in the distance. Under his puzzled gaze, she turned her back, about to leave, and her voice came again,

"Trim that long hair and stubble of yours, if you want. Though I don’t think Rafael would care either way..."

"Because, you’re still the same as before."

With that, she braced a hand on the nearby cliff, sprang up, and leapt toward the denser forest farther away. She disappeared from Fisher’s sight very quickly; he had no idea where she’d gone.

"Hah, that Dragon-man. Fine, I’ll forgive her earlier rudeness for now. Still, it’s rare, you know—by their reckoning, you’ve been gone for more than five years... How long did that journey with them across the South Continent last, back then?"

"...Not very long."

"Really? That is strange. I used to think those Dragon Songs recorded in the wastelands were fake. I once read about a black male Dragon-man who fell in love at first sight with a female Dragon-man of his own kind. He went to all sorts of lengths to attract the attention of that yellow Dragon-man woman, and finally married her. The whole process took less than two months. And the truly tragic part was that after that black Dragon-man married his wife, she fell ill and died..."

Holding the dagger, Fisher walked into the cave, while Emhardt, standing on his shoulder, sighed and said,

"It’s hard to imagine: after his wife’s death, he began to inscribe his wife’s ’Dragon Song’ on a wall, and kept writing until the day he died. He wrote more than two hundred songs; the entire wall was covered. Dragon Song... it’s a language that’s obscure and difficult to read, said to be the voice of the soul. As long as you can sing it, you can feel the emotions contained within. It’s just a pity the Fermat Baha Dragon Court has been gone for so long—no one writes them anymore. I’ve only ever seen them in ancient ruins."