The door swung wide open. I stepped into the room, showing a sign of reluctance. Unlike the grim atmosphere of the corridor, Aty's room was filled with a warm and gentle ambiance. Candles were placed on both sides of the door, and in the middle of the room, a huge chandelier swayed in the breeze.
In front of me was a human-sized sofa. It was so polished that it looked out of place in the otherwise old-feeling room, as if it had been specially prepared for us. In front of the sofa was a massive bed, the size of a swimming pool. In the middle of that bed, Aty was lying down.
Aty was buried in cushions and blankets, her body wrapped in her silk-like black hair. Her hair was so long it reached her toes, and it spread out in all directions, giving the illusion that she was floating on water.
She glanced over us, then looked back at Deorgon and spoke.
"So. These humans taught you a skill?"
"Yes. This man taught me the human method of sexual intercourse."
"Who's the woman next to him? Is she his wife?"
Deorgon glanced at AA and asked.
"Your wife?"
"No."
AA answered with a scowl. It seemed she would rather die than be called my wife. Deorgon frowned and said.
"I saw her crying underneath you, so then she just has feelings for you....."
"No, that's! That was!"
Just as AA was about to raise her voice, Aty raised her hand. AA's mouth suddenly clamped shut, and she struggled to speak forcibly. She even tried to force her mouth open, but it seemed it wouldn't budge. Aty looked back at Deorgon and said.
"Enough. It just means your relationship is good enough to have sexual intercourse, right? Human romantic relationships are complicated, it gives me a headache to hear about them. And shouting hurts my ears."
"Indeed. My wise wife."
"Then can you leave for a moment? I want to talk with them."
"Understood. Then, for the sake of dragon sexual intercourse....."
When Aty's eyes widened and she growled, Deorgon stopped his 'dragon sexual intercourse' joke and hastily disappeared. Contrary to his appearance, it seemed Deorgon was unexpectedly whipped. As Deorgon vanished like the wind, only an uncomfortable air remained in his place. AA, seemingly having given up on trying to open her mouth, just kept her lips tightly sealed and glared at Aty.
As soon as Deorgon disappeared, Aty's facial expression softened, and she looked at us. Unlike Deorgon, she was a dragon who understood the ways of civilization. She wore a pure white one-piece dress that contrasted with her black hair. Seeing the plunging neckline of the dress and the short skirt that revealed her thighs, I could tell she knew what was hot.
She had her black hair entwined over her legs, creating the illusion that she was wearing fishnets. When she saw us standing there awkwardly, she pointed to the sofa and spoke.
"Have a seat, children. There's no need to be afraid. My husband is a bit of a..... difficult type, so you must have had a hard time."
"Mph. Mph."
Aty was a very kind female dragon. I felt sorry towards her, as I had made the mistake of judging an entire race based on one individual, Deorgon. Listening to her gentle tone, I was able to take a moment to reflect on my own racial prejudices. AA wanted to say something, but with her mouth sealed, she could only nod her head. Aty said to AA.
"If you promise not to scream, I'll release you."
"Mph! Mph!"
AA hastily nodded her head. If she wasn't released, she would have to live as a mute hero, so she seemed desperate. Aty once again drew a horizontal line in the empty air, and AA opened her mouth, letting out an exclamation.
"Hah..."
"Right. How is the situation outside these days? I've been asleep for so long, I want to know how much the human world has changed. The humans are doing well, I hope?"
"Yes. We're getting by, so-so."
Aty heard my answer and scanned my face. With eyes as if searching for a missing son, Aty looked me over thoroughly and said.
"You're not just a human, you're a half-elf. You also smell of those children who live in the forest."
"Ah, yes. I am Peta Lusius, the heir of the Peta Family."
"Ah, the Peta Family, I know of them. When the elves sent an emissary to me, the leader was of the Peta Family. Peta Arius. That was the name of the elf who came to me then. How many generations above you is he, I wonder?"
Being a bastard who didn't even know his own family tree, there was no way I could answer that. Since my father was Peta Sirius, even with a rough guess, he had to be at least my grandfather's generation.
"I've lived the life of a priest since I was young, so I don't know much about the people of my family."
"A priest? When you have such a filthy smell?"
At those words, AA almost laughed inadvertently before clamping her mouth shut. Her lips quivered, her face looking like she was dying to laugh. I, too, almost broke at that last remark but regained my composure.
"F-Filthy smell, you say?"
"The smell of blood. The smell of blood from having killed many people. You've killed demi-humans, killed a demon, killed beastfolk, and you've killed a lot of people, too."
It seemed the 'smell' Aty was sensing was a somewhat abstract concept. AA wore a slightly horrified expression as Aty reeled off my history. And she was even more surprised that I didn't deny it, asking me.
"S-Sir Priest, is it true? How could you....."
"It just happened that way."
I evaded the answer. Thinking about it, trying to explain it forthrightly seemed like it would be a net negative. Aty spoke.
"So, the beastfolk are still doing well, right? When the beastfolk chieftain came to greet me, he gave me this as a gift."
Aty took out a small necklace from beside the bed. It was a necklace woven from animal bones. Aty shook the necklace, which looked like a voodoo-esque artifact, and spoke.
"Isn't it a really interesting ornament? If you happen to meet the chieftain of the beastfolk tribe, please tell him that I still remember the promise, along with the gift."
"The promise, you mean?"
"Yes. The promise."
"W-What kind of promise was it, by any chance....."
"I can't say."
Aty said so with a smile. And for some reason, a chill ran down my spine at her words. She can't say? Aty seemed to find my reaction strange. She tilted her head and added.
"Because I promised not to. Dragons keep their promises. So. The beastfolk are doing well, right?"
"Yes. They're... doing well."
I didn't know what the promise was, but I said the beastfolk were doing fine for now. Aty spoke.
"That's a relief. But I wonder why they haven't visited. There's plenty of time. If the beastfolk haven't forgotten the promise, they'll come find me again."
Considering the perception of beastfolk and demi-humans in the Northern Region is completely fucked, I doubted the beastfolk would ever come looking for her here. I thought I'd have to ask Elsi about that promise later. It was bothering me too much.
Aty still seemed to have many questions. She tapped her fingers on her knee, searching for things to ask. She asked me again.
"What about the mermaids? Living in this mountain range, they're children I've never once seen. Surely they haven't gone extinct in the meantime, have they?"
"The mermaids are also doing perfectly fine. They are a very gentle race that lives peacefully, singing in the sea."
AA, who had a track record of almost getting fucked by that mermaid, stared at me with a dumbfounded look. I ignored her gaze. By my standards, mermaids were a fucking peaceful, cute race with a great feel.
Aty laughed pleasantly at my words and said.
"Yes. I really want to see them. I've never left this mountain range, so I've never seen a mermaid."
"Can't you just go out for a little while?"
Considering Deorgon went to and from the Northern Grand Duke's castle in an instant, I thought Aty could do it too. But Aty shook her head. Her slight frown was even cuter. When she shook her head, her voluminous breasts swayed slightly from side to side like waves.
"It's not that simple of a problem."
If it was a complicated problem, I didn't want to hear any more about it. When I nodded, Aty didn't seem to want to explain further. Deorgon opened the room door slightly, poked his head in, and asked.
"Can we have dragon sexual intercourse now, Aty?"
"Please, Deorgon. Just shut up until I tell you to come out."
"The great time is running out."
"Please! Shut up! Are you going to keep embarrassing me in front of our guests?"
Aty screamed, her face flushed bright red. I was getting curious as to what this 'dragon sexual intercourse' Deorgon was talking about even was. Is it different from just sex? What exactly is different? At Aty's shout, Deorgon closed the door again.
"S-So, what exactly is this dragon sexual intercourse....."
".....It refers to sexual intercourse during the fertile period. The Dragon God determines the fertile period for us dragons. Because it would be a dilemma if our numbers grew too large. It didn't originally have a name, but Deorgon alone calls it that. Really, I don't care if he does it by himself, but doing it in front of others is so embarrassing."
It seemed the god wasn't as much of a fucking idiot as I thought. From Deorgon's words, I thought sex itself was forbidden, but that wasn't the case. Deorgon was just the fucking idiot.
"Then..... what should I ask now...."
Aty was twirling her hair like a spool of thread, pondering her question. I sat there without complaint, as I was finding this Q&A with Aty more interesting than I expected. AA also seemed quite interested, listening to the old stories. After a moment of thought, Aty asked.
"Right. What happened to our Evangeline?"
"E-Ex-Excuse me, who?"
I couldn't help but be flustered. I never expected to hear Evangeline's name here. The woman who first opened the gate to the demon world and summoned demons to this land. The woman connected to the Demon King, who used every means at her disposal to try and annihilate the humans.
"Evangeline. My cute disciple. She learned magic from me 8,000 years ago. She was such a cute child."
"You know Evangeline?"
But to Aty, it was clear her perception of Evangeline was just that of a very cute aspiring mage. I couldn't help but exchange glances with AA. This was a jackpot. It was an opportunity to find out detailed personal information about who Evangeline was.
"Yes. She brazenly came to my lair and called out to me. 'Lady Dragon. Lady Dragon. Please teach me magic. I want to make the world peaceful.'"
"Evangeline said that?"
"You call her so familiarly. Don't tell me Evangeline is still alive? As a human, she couldn't have lived that long."
Aty called Evangeline a human. Both AA and I couldn't help but exchange glances again. I gave AA a look. Judging by the nuance in how Aty called Evangeline, it was clear her favorability towards her was quite high. In a situation like this, I didn't want to be the one to tell the truth. AA took the lead and spoke.
"Evangeline is currently a person of grave danger, accused of summoning the Demon King to this land and trying to annihilate all humans."
"Would you say that again?"
Aty blinked her large eyes and looked at AA.