“Inspired by Harbarth. I know that? I used to hate you.”

“Looking at you saying that, you think it’s a little different now?”

“Well… … .”

I do not know.

I’ve always hated you

I’ve been enduring those emotions as the driving force until now.

Even though Tia met Harbart, it was strange that she didn’t feel as much emotion as she thought.

Of course, the emotion itself is felt.

However, it was closer to annoyance than hatred or anger.

“Looks like he was right.”

Oz said that you can’t even know your feelings unless you talk to them.

Tia had to admit that she was right.

“That guy? Who is that guy? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? There’s no way a dragon can date.”

“What did you mean by that? You should date a young guy while he’s still young. When I was young, I met a siren swimming in the sea, and it was hot enough to boil up to the boundary sea… … ”

“… … I don’t want to hear about the crazy sexual desire of the old generation.”

The sirens he was talking about were equivalent to monsters. They are monsters that cannot even communicate with words.

It’s not even pretty.

Contrary to the tradition that came down, they dazzled people with their songs and looked pretty, but their true appearance was ugly.

“What use is age in love?”

“It’s a matter of race, not age! No, age is also a problem… … .”

crazy

This old dragon must have some screws missing from its head.

Tia wanted to distance herself from Harbart in a different way than before.

“Since when?”

“Well? What do you mean?”

“When did you start coming up on land?”

As far as Tia knew, Harbart had cut off ties with humans until now and was shutting himself in the ＜Borderline Sea＞.

I couldn’t handle the pain of loss due to the difference in lifespan.

“As I said before, it’s been 300 years. I mean this time But in my lifetime, well… … .”

Harbart put the oar down for a moment and started counting something with his fingers. It was probably the time when he came up on land.

“I hated loneliness.”

“That is what we all do.”

“That’s why I didn’t like the person who was by my side leaving.”

“Isn’t that why you’re stuck in the boundary sea?”

“yes.”

Harbart nodded and affirmed Tia’s words.

“But he was also lonely. I can’t stand the loneliness, so I come ashore from time to time.”

“Then, when the person next to you leaves, you shut yourself in because of your wounds?”

“That’s it.”

“What kind of foolish thing is that?”

“But isn’t everything in the world like that? There are times when you want to eat fish that you couldn’t eat today because it was fishy.”

“What crazy analogy is that?”

“A parable about foolishness.”

The more Tia talked, the more she couldn’t fathom the existence of Harbart.

strange old man I can’t catch up Sometimes in the form of a wise man who seems to have transcended world affairs, and other times in the form of a madman who is not worthy of his age.

It felt like there was no clear form.

Like flowing water, like the deep sea, you can’t guess what’s inside.

“Hmm. Yes, a long-awaited friend is here, so I have to show you something fun.”

“Why am I your friend? Don’t sneakily try to eat your friend. The age difference between me and you is over 2000.”

“where… … Where was it? I think I put it near here… … .”

“Can’t you hear with the back of your ears? Are you hard of hearing? Did a diver come?”

Harbart started rummaging around the small boat as if he didn’t care if Tia shouted or not.

As if he had finally found what he was looking for, Harbart smiled and showed Tia a glass bottle.

“Here you are.”

“… … what is that?”

Tia hesitated as she looked at the glass bottle, which gave off unusual energy at a glance. It’s a dangerous thing.

There is something in the bottle that she feels is dangerous.

“The Sea of Boundaries.”

“What… … ? How did you contain that?!”

＜The Sea of Boundaries＞ is not a simple sea. It was the coldest place in the world, a place where all the cold in the world gathered and pooled.

Even Tia couldn’t withstand the cold that gathered for more than 30 minutes.

The only one who can survive inside is Harbart, who was familiar with the cold since he was born.

It is the sea that freezes even magic.

Something like a glass bottle would have shattered right away, or it would have reacted with moisture in the air at the point of contact and started creating huge ice floes.

“It’s a bottle made from my scales.”

“This crazy inspiration now even hurts himself. What the hell are you trying to do with it in the first place?”

“What are you doing? That’s how you do it.”

Harbart opened the cap of the bottle and then began pouring the contents over the sea.

“Ahhhhh?! You madman! What are you doing?!”

Tia shouted with sincerity, forgetting that Harbart was much older than herself.

Even if it’s just one bottle, it’s ＜The Sea of Boundaries＞. If you pour out something like that, the ecosystem of the surrounding sea will be destroyed.

“What are you so upset about? I know more about the boundary sea than anyone else.”

“uh… … wait a minute this… … .”

The place where the ＜Sea of Boundaries＞ landed.

At the very moment when the ice surged up like crazy and even the ferry went up on the drift ice.

Space is warped.

“Teleport? No, a space fairy tale? You can go that way to the borderline sea where even space freezes?”

“Who am I?”

Harbart chuckled and closed the lid of the vial.

“I am the dragon who has lived in the borderline sea for thousands of years. Of course you can use magic like this.”

“her… … .”

Tia had no choice but to admit it.

No matter how strong she is, she can’t overcome the years.

Having lived on the fringe for at least 500 years, she never thought of using spatial magic to reach the ＜Borderline Sea＞. didn’t even

It would have been more comfortable to use the body rather than forcefully using magic.

“Wow… … .”

Tia spat birth as if she was surprised at the sight she was seeing for the first time in her life.

Harbart’s magic, which leaped over space in an instant up to ＜The Sea of Boundaries＞, was amazing, but I saw a more amazing sight than that.

“Isn’t this the boundary sea?”

“If in doubt, would you like to go in?”

“It’s okay because it’s cold.”

Tia looked straight at the black sea water as if she was trying to freeze time. Even touching it would freeze it.

Tia, who had been staring at the sea with an awkward expression for a while, soon turned her head and looked up at the thing that made her exclaim.

“It’s a great ice castle.”

Drift ice that floated in the middle of the ＜Border Sea＞. Above it stood a large and splendid ice castle.

“Did old Harbart make it? Or did you let them make it?”

Ice does not generally exist in ＜The Sea of Boundaries＞.

This is because both the moisture in the air and the water that flowed into it all bounced off when they touched the ＜Borderline Sea＞.

But things are different.

Items spilled by someone float on the sea, get cold, and come into contact with moisture in the air.

As ice accumulates around it, it is gradually reborn as drift ice.

Harbart was spending his days regularly clearing away the large-grown ice as if it were his mission.

However, it is drift ice that has grown to this extent. It was clear that Phil had been left alone.

“both.”

“… … If it’s both, then it must be someone else who built the ice castle.”

Tia thought it would be impossible to build such a beautiful castle when she thought of Harbart’s aesthetic sense, who fell in love with a monster like a siren.

“Are there other crazy people besides you who have come all the way here?”

“There was an abandoned child.”

“children?”

Harbart muttered as if recalling the past. As usual, he was clearing the drift ice floating in the ＜Borderline Sea＞.

But one day

A cradle encased in ice floated away.

It was amazing.

From which sea did it come from? The child floated all the way to the ＜Borderline Sea＞, relying on only one small cradle.

Harbarth took the child from the cradle before he had time to think of anything else.

“It was strange that he was a child who did not get cold. Even though he was a human, he was familiar with the cold to the point of being similar to me.”

“A unique property?”

“It’s the first form I’ve ever seen, but… … . Probably.”

There was a being in the world who had a special power from birth.

There could be many reasons, but most of them were mutations.

The bloodline of the Helios Empire is like that and the bloodline of the Heros family is like that.

If the subsequent ‘blood’ itself harbors dysentery. As blood mixes over generations, its strength also changes.

That kind of deterioration becomes something like Stasia.

“The child I picked up has already been living in this harsh environment for over 20 years as if nothing happened.”

Harbart said proudly. Tia couldn’t help but think that it was embarrassing.

He is stepping on the same train again.

By taking a child, you become involved in the world, and by the time that child dies, you will be hurt again.

Jinsun endured the breakup, and Tia endured it while remembering her purpose.

But Harbart couldn’t stand it. In over 2000 years of my life, I have never been able to withstand the pain of loss.

Even though he struggles with the pain, he keeps repeating it.

It was foolish.

“This castle was created by him to pass the time. It’s a building with a strange appearance, perhaps because it’s never been in direct contact with the world… … .”

“… … I wonder if the strange thing is the aesthetic sense of inspiration.”

Tia didn’t say much about Harbart’s attitude.

It’s something you choose.

If you know you can’t stand it but decide to reap it, there’s no reason to interfere with that decision.

“I was happy to have this child. Just being with someone is a good thing.”

“… … .”

“It came just fine. Tiamat. take this kid Aren’t you an adult when you’re over 20? If you become an adult, you should start to become independent soon.”

“What? Whoever wants it… … .”

“I will die soon.”

Harbart looked at Tia with those clear blue eyes.

It was the pupil of a person who was close to death, similar to Jinseon.

“Of course, it will be good for about 50 years from now. Still, humans can live longer than that.”

The pain of loss hurts the closer the relationship is. Harbart felt that fact keenly during his more than 2000 years of life.

He didn’t want his child to feel that kind of pain.

So, I tried to ease the pain of the scars that would happen someday by increasing the distance little by little.

“Tiamat, I’m sorry.”

Harbart did not forget that he had stabbed a dagger in Tia’s heart 500 years ago.

can you forget He knows better than anyone else how painful loneliness can be.

Unlike Tia, who had the truth and purpose to endure, he had no choice but to suffer.

That’s why I can’t forget what he said back then.

“I said something bad to you and your family.”

Harbart knew the conditions under which Spina was born.

But I didn’t tell Tia. Aren’t you a child who ran for one purpose?

You may do anything for that purpose.

Harbart was afraid of that.

Tia can either kill herself or hunt another dragon. Of course, the target could have been himself.

He was afraid that his old relationship would be broken again.

No, above all else… … .

“I was jealous of you.”

I was just envious of having a family in the true sense of the word that I could spend nearly a lifetime with.

“I am a cowardly dragon. It is a dragon that can ignore the wishes of others and even grasp weaknesses for the sake of my own desires.”

Harbart laughed.

“When I first met you. You were like a walking natural disaster spreading heat everywhere.”

“that’s… … .”

“Your sister will be like that by now, right? Families do look alike.”

She didn’t even know she was dissipating heat.

The reason it didn’t lead to a big trouble was because she traveled all over the world to find a way to hatch Spina.

After decades like that, Tia was able to control her heat naturally.

“But you don’t want your brother to wander around the world aimlessly like you did in the past.”

Harbart knelt down on one knee and met Tia’s gaze.

He spoke with sincerity, not lies, from an equal height.

“My child will be able to solve your brother’s problems. I already told you, so you can take me to Schientia, where you rule, and tell him about the world.”

“I knew… … ?”

“Didn’t you tell me?”

Harbart said with a grin like a grumpy old man.

“I am a cowardly dragon.”

Being able to grasp the opponent’s weaknesses for the sake of one’s own greed.

He had already figured out what Tia’s purpose was for a long time. So, Harbart set a condition.

To take her child out of the cold ice castle.

Actively took advantage of this opportunity.

“ha… … .”

Tia sighed as she saw Harbart acting so forcefully.

It’s this guy and that guy, and it’s hard to figure out the exact intentions.

Just as there is no eternal evil, there is no eternal good. Harbart is such a being.

By apologizing, he created a gap in Tia’s heart, and as soon as the gap opened, he actively stabbed him.

I can only say that it is evil.

“… … What’s your name?”

“Chuck. I knew you wouldn’t be so far away.”

“It’s okay, my name!”

Tia screamed in annoyance. Harbart prevented the very thing that would become Tia’s regret.

If he refused his request just because he was related to Harbart, he might have regretted it forever.

That’s why Harbart blocked Tia from saying anything else, such as conditions such as weakness.

Harbart said with a wicked smile.

“Prina Lumen.”

“… … You gave him a proper name for an inspiration.”

“At first, I wanted to give it a cool name like Gjallarhorn, but when I sneaked into the human village and asked, he got angry. what the.”

“Putting aside the pronunciation, it’s not something you would attach to a girl… … .”

A horn announcing the start of war.

Tia was serious at Harbart’s words that he intended to use such a meaning.

However, Harbart rather went against the enemy.

“Isn’t it wonderful!”

“taste… … It’s not a name for a girl, though.”

Tiamat is about 500 years old.

As a dragon, he was still going through a period of stormy rage.

Because she was like that, I couldn’t readily say that Harbart’s words weren’t cool.

“There, you two. How long are you going to stay like that in front of someone else’s house? Shouldn’t you introduce me first before you talk like that?”

It was a time when Tia and Harbart’s children were constantly arguing. There was someone who got in between them.

It was a cold woman with blue hair and purple eyes, dressed like a witch.

[SSR Ice Castle Witch]

prina lumens

“Don’t act like a child, come in now. Shouldn’t we eat before we do anything?”

Even in front of the existence of a dragon, she boldly shouted.