Simon, struggling to focus his blurry vision, only now realized that if he had just pushed his head up earlier to see their faces instead of their clothes, he would’ve recognized them sooner or later.

Because even with an odd case of amnesia, one would still recognize these two.

Golden hair that shimmered on its own even in a dark room, eyes that didn’t seem to bother calculating a person’s worth, and a presence strong enough to make even a CEO like him falter.

This guy—

The dragon lord.

Simon found himself gawking at the two standing side by side at his bedside.

Next to the lord was a face that had appeared all over Eryndra for so long it was impossible not to recognize him: the rumored partner.

He had much longer hair than in the posters and videos Simon kept seeing everywhere, but that person had to be the dragon lord’s aide.

Normally, their presence wouldn’t have been a problem. Unfortunately for him, both of them were staring at him with terrifying intensity.

Then, as if to break the spell that’d taken over the room, Riley Hale suddenly spoke.

"This would be the Dragon Lord Kael Dravaryn, and I’m his aide, Riley Hale Dravaryn. And if you’re wondering, you’re currently at the MBE for several reasons."

That came out of nowhere.

"What?! The MBE?"

The dragon lord’s confirmed partner nodded slowly. "Yes. And from what we’ve learned in the days that you’ve been out cold, you’re Mr. Simon Mercer."

He even knew his name!

"Y-yes. Yes, I am," Simon said with a mix of disbelief and hesitance since he wasn’t sure what was happening.

"Of course... But Mr. Mercer, if you’d please humor us..."

"We’d just like to know how a human like you suddenly morphed into a mature red dragon in the middle of the day, only to attack the MBE soon after?" Riley finally asked.

He wore a businesslike smile that was remarkably calm, sounding purely inquisitive rather than accusatory, but Simon still felt like he’d been doused with water anyway.

"!"

"I’m sorry, what?!" Simon felt like he couldn’t have possibly heard that right.

"It’s just as you heard. See, the reason why you’re here today is because a few days ago, an unregistered dragon, who’d initially been noted as a full-fledged human, ended up breathing fire at the entrance of the Ministry."

"!!!"

There were so many things to unpack in that one statement.

Unregistered dragon?

Breathing fire?

And of all places, at the Ministry?!

"N-no, that can’t be. A dragon? How could I—" Simon had both hands on his head by now, trying to process the preposterous news.

But then, just as it sounded entirely impossible, bits and pieces of what’d happened were coming back. His eyes widened, and he sat momentarily stunned.

"No, I—I might have really turned into one."

The attack.

He realized then that he’d only managed to survive because he’d been transforming into something he couldn’t explain.

"The last thing I remember was being at home and getting attacked. I’d been holing myself up because I’ve been experiencing changes in my body that I couldn’t explain..."

"And now you’re telling me that I turned into an actual fire-breathing dragon?"

Simon watched as the dragon lord’s aide took a moment to look at the golden dragon before turning back to him.

"Yes. Now, whether that’s unfortunate or fortunate is another thing."

"...?"

What the hell.

Mercer thought about how that could possibly be fortunate, but didn’t get far in his thoughts because the intimidating aide spoke again.

"But if you’re willing to work with us, then we can try to help you understand what’s happened to you."

"Huh? Help me?"

"Yes, Mr. Mercer. We’re interested in helping you."

"...Unless you can confidently say, without a shadow of a doubt, that there’s nothing absurd about the fact that someone who’d been living as a human for long enough suddenly turned into a dragon."

"Then if that were the case, we’d also be fine with simply proceeding with the trial without prying further."

"!!!"

Obviously, he, too, was extremely concerned.

At this rate, who wouldn’t be?

Living his life already feeling like he’d lost half of it, only to suddenly turn into a dragon, wasn’t something anyone would feel confident about.

It was just that he had absolutely no idea how to explain his life or whether they would even believe him.

Because even if he wanted to cooperate with all his being, just how was he going to do that when all he could give was a big fat "I don’t know."

Simon’s head throbbed in distress.

But unbeknownst to the red dragon, someone in the room had quite a bit of experience in that department.

In truth, if he wanted help—or simply someone who could understand him—what better choice than Eryndra’s original anomaly?

Then again, trapped inside a room with these two right after being told he’d committed criminal acts, what else could he do?

Even if they asked for his innards or all his wealth, wouldn’t he have to agree?

But who would’ve thought they would simply ask him for another name?

"Mr. Mercer... by any chance, is there another name you go by?"

"Huh?"

Another name?

No?

Why would he go by another name?

Simon’s brows furrowed as he thought about that. He had never really needed to hide behind a different name like some criminal, so why—

But he didn’t get to finish that because the aide who had been looking at him like an interesting test subject suddenly said, "Maybe I should rephrase the question..."

"How long have you known your name to be Simon Mercer?"

"Oh, and even better... just who told you that you’re Simon Mercer?"

"!!!"

The patient who definitely knew himself to be the very Simon Mercer in question felt like he’d been jolted by an extremely strong bolt of lightning.

The way the words zapped his brain felt like he was about to go insane.

Because come to think of it... he saw it on the hospital wristband.

Just a name and a file that came with it when he personally asked about his identity.

Then he simply told himself that he was Simon Mercer.