Chapter 83: Masters of Manipulation

After they left the city teeming with magical creatures, the countryside returned to normal—something he hadn’t expected, but which was also inevitable.

The carriage moved slowly along the road.

The wooden wheels creaked every time they rolled over a rock or an uneven patch of dirt. On both sides, vast fields and small clusters of trees stretched as far as the eye could see.

Noir was lying on the roof of the carriage. His black wings lay flat against his body as the wind caressed his scales.

It felt nice.

Much nicer than being cooped up inside the carriage. The young black dragon narrowed his eyes as he gazed up at the sky. The clouds drifted slowly overhead.

"Now that’s the life..."

He didn’t have to worry about anything. And, for the moment, there wasn’t any complicated situation that might force him to make strange decisions.

He was traveling.

Noir let out a long sigh. After everything that had happened over the past few weeks, this peace of mind was quite pleasant.

Ever since he’d left the cave and the magical valley, his life had been surprisingly hectic. First, he’d woken up in a completely unfamiliar world.

Then he’d had to learn to survive.

After that came the monsters: the goblins, the Magic Valley, Uki, Arlene, the bandits, and the Magic City. And finally, a little demon princess who’d decided to steal his tail.

Noir opened his eyes.

’When I think about it that way... my life has gotten pretty strange.’

A small weight settled on his back. The golden sphere had just landed between his wings.

Noir turned his head slightly.

"Are you also thinking about how strange our life has become?"

The sphere remained motionless.

"I see. You don’t want to admit it."

The golden sphere rose slowly, flashing several times.

"I figured as much."

Arlene’s voice reached him from inside the carriage.

"Stop talking to yourself!"

The young dragon remained silent for a few seconds; then he looked at the golden sphere, and it began to spin slowly.

Noir looked back into the carriage, taking in the scenery just as the half-human had; everything was too peaceful to let himself be disturbed, and he spoke just loud enough for Arlene to hear.

"That’s exactly what someone who can’t hear her would say."

Arlene let out a deep sigh.

"I’m going to ignore you."

"Good decision."

The carriage continued on its way.

Noir rested his head on his front legs once more.

Calm returned. For a few minutes, no one said a word. Then, a small figure appeared beside him.

The young black dragon opened one eye. The demon princess had poked her head out of one of the windows, and her reddish eyes were gazing curiously at the landscape.

Noir looked at her for several seconds.

She looked back at him.

The silence lingered.

Finally, Noir spoke.

"What’s going on?"

The girl pointed to the sky.

"Can you fly?"

Noir raised an eyebrow; it was pretty obvious that he could fly. Why was she asking him that now?

"Didn’t you see me yesterday?"

The little girl nodded as she grabbed his tail.

"Yes."

"Then you know I can."

The girl fell silent and lowered her head, as if the answer wasn’t what she’d expected.

Noir narrowed his eyes; he sensed something was going on and asked again.

"What do you want?"

She pointed at the sky again; her reddish eyes shone brightly.

"I want to fly!"

The young black dragon looked around. The golden orb floated peacefully above his head, and he said in a dry tone:

"That’s impossible."

The little girl tilted her head slightly, clearly discouraged, and made a cute pout.

"Why?"

The young dragon flapped his wings naturally before holding them still and replied as gently as possible.

"Because you don’t have these."

The little girl looked down at her arms, then back at Noir.

"But you do."

The young dragon remained silent; he didn’t like where this conversation was going, and a grimace crossed his face.

Then, the little girl opened her eyes a little wider.

"Can you take me?"

"No." Noir’s reply was immediate and curt; the mere idea of letting someone ride him was a resounding no! That went against his very instincts.

The girl blinked.

"Why?"

"Because I’m a dragon." Noir fell silent, then added, "...That should be explanation enough."

The girl didn’t seem to understand.

Arlene began to laugh from inside the carriage.

Noir turned his head, glaring at her, and said with a growl, "What are you laughing at?"

"At you." Arlene, despite the slight tremor in her body and mindful of who she was speaking to, continued, "That’s not an explanation."

"I know." The young dragon narrowed his eyes and thought irritably:

’I’m becoming more and more convinced that traveling with humans was a mistake.’

Well... Arlene wasn’t exactly human, and the little girl was a demon; Uki was a wolf he knew nothing about; and the golden sphere... that was still a mystery. But that didn’t change anything.

The little demon continued to stare intently at him, searching for her target.

Noir could clearly sense her gaze, which made him uncomfortable, and he realized just how terrifying children could be. They were masters of manipulation! But he was an adult—well, he had been in his past life, though that wasn’t the point.

So the young dragon tried with all his might to ignore the girl’s intense gaze. Then, over his shoulder, he finally looked back at her; he couldn’t take it anymore:

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you’re waiting for me to change my mind."

The little girl tilted her head innocently, still holding onto his tail.

"Are you going to change your mind?"

"Ugh... No, I’m not going to change my mind, so give up."

She kept looking at him; this time, with tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. It was the height of manipulation.

’How terrifying!’

Noir looked away; he wasn’t going to fall for manipulation of that caliber. He was a young dragon who kept his word.

Five seconds passed... then ten; the young dragon felt the little demon princess’s face drawing closer to him. Or maybe it was just his imagination.

And finally, fifteen seconds passed.

"Are you going to keep doing that?"

The girl didn’t answer; this time, a tear of sadness slowly rolled down her cheeks before falling dramatically onto the roof of the carriage.

Noir let out a growl.

"This is manipulation."

Arlene laughed again, this time much louder, which woke Uki, who had been fast asleep.

"You don’t even know what that word means!"

"Of course I do!" Noir growled, indignant.

Arlene rolled her eyes, unable to believe what she was hearing: "Noir is a girl."

"Exactly! She’s even more dangerous." Noir pointed at her with a claw, just like they do to a criminal who robbed a candy store. "Don’t be fooled by her appearance. Children are masters of manipulation."

The demon princess blinked, confused, but her extremely innocent expression didn’t fade in the slightest.

Arlene was stunned; she blinked several times and asked in disbelief:

"Are you accusing a little girl of being a master manipulator? I know you’re a dragon and I’m really scared of you, but isn’t that going a bit too far?"

Noir remained completely serious and said in a grave tone:

"You may not see it, but believe me: they’re masters of manipulation. Look, she’s already stolen my tail. All through the power of manipulation!"

The demon princess looked down. One of her hands was still holding the tip of his black tail.

Noir let out a deep sigh.

"See?"

Arlene fell silent and nodded.

"Well... you’re right about that."

"Thanks."

The girl hugged the tail.

Noir stood motionless.

"But it’s still my tail."

She didn’t answer, but she clutched her tail much tighter, with no intention whatsoever of giving in, and said to Noir:

"I’m not going to give it to you."

Noir looked at the golden sphere; he was about to lose his mind. Now, to be as honest as possible, he deeply regrets having helped this demon girl.

"Do you see what I have to put up with?"

The sphere began to spin, clearly relishing the misfortune of his very kind best friend.

"Exactly."

Arlene tapped lightly on one of the carriage walls.

"Don’t agree with the sphere!"

"It’s on my side."

"Because you’re just as strange as she is!"

Noir flashed a wide smile that revealed all his sharp, shark-like teeth:

"That’s because we’re best friends!"

The golden sphere slowly descended until it was right in front of his face; little by little, it began to produce various particles, revealing all the adventures he’d had before meeting Arlene.

The young dragon smiled, somewhat relieved; he’d expected the golden orb to show some of his embarrassing moments, but that wasn’t the case. It seemed she really liked the words he’d said.

"See? We’re a team."

Arlene shook her head, resigned.

"This is going to be a very long trip."

"Just four or five months."

Arlene looked at her from the driver’s seat.

"That’s a long time."

Noir yawned.

"For you."

Arlene spun around quickly:

"What’s that supposed to mean?"