Evan D. Sherden, Manipulated Scenarios (6)

Arisha was training with her rapier alone in the training camp, sweat glistening on her forehead. Previously, she had mastered the Wind Rapier weapon skill in dungeons, and after many years, it had developed into the Storm Rapier. It was faster and more intense. Countless flashes of the blade dazzled one’s eyes, making it impossible to tell which was real.

“Arisha, why don’t we have dinner tonight?”

The intense wind stopped at a word from Evan. Arisha created a breeze to wipe off her sweat.

“We eat together every day, don’t we? At the knights’ restaurant.”

“Only the two of us this time.”

Having dinner together meant a date. At that, Arisha felt that the time had come. And it was suggesting another fact, but…Arisha didn’t bother to say anything but nodded sharply in case Evan changed his mind.

“Okay, it’s just two of us. I don’t want Serena butting herself between us…”

“There will neither be Dione nor Ray. I’ve booked a whole restaurant.”

“Yes, I got it. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Arisha nodded with a satisfied look. Their conversation was extremely secretive, and Diona was the only one who heard it. Still, she was already watching it very calmly because she had been taught manners by Belois recently. Except for the fact that she was dressed as a bunny girl, she was truly a perfect maid.

“Let’s go out in two hours.”

“I’d like to go make some arrangements.”

“Sure, go ahead if you like.”

She seemed to be trying to enjoy the atmosphere. Evan left with a smile, Arisha’s shining eyes followed him.

“Two hours, two hours, right? From now on, somehow…!”

Looking back, Evan could see Arisha charging straight into the bathhouse. They didn’t have to go to the Brotherhood Bathhouse because they used the ‘bathroom crystal’ from the Dragon’s Heart to expand the bathhouse and change the baths attached to the Astray headquarters into hot springs.

‘If I knew this would happen, I didn’t have to set up a headquarters next to the Brotherhood Bathhouse.’

Of course, except for that, the location was good, so there would be no need to relocate the headquarters. Evan headed to his room, thinking that he should install a vending machine with coffee and milk in the headquarters’ lobby next time. Having decided to go on a date, he was going to dress up.

“Evan Oppa!”

“What, what?”

But at that very moment, Serena visited him. Evan shrank at the thought that she might’ve just heard the date he and Arisha made. Serena grabbed and pulled him by one arm as if it didn’t matter at all.

“Egg. Our egg!”

“It’s not our egg. I know what you want to say first. What about the egg?”

“This way, this way!”

It must have been urgent since her thinking skills were lower than usual. Evan calmed down Serena, who was pulling at him and headed to her room.

“Diona is standing by here.”

“I can’t believe you made a date with a woman and headed straight to another woman’s room.”

“Shhh.”

Serena’s room was pink all over, including the wallpaper, curtains, and even the bedsheets. With her pink eyes and hair, Serena appeared to be part of the room.

“Are you looking at me like that because you want to kiss me, Oppa?”

“No, I’m not…”

“Smack.”

The excuse was useless. Serena would kiss him boisterously on purpose and lead him inside, holding Evan’s hand. Even the bed was pink.

“No, Ray, wait…”

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not that. It’s here.”

Evan realized what that meant when he saw where she pointed; the dragon’s egg was placed on the bed. Compared to the first time he had brought it, the egg was sitting on a soft blanket, shaking and moving around by itself.

“At first, I was taking care of it between the hot crystals, as you said.”

“Yes.”

“At some point, he wanted my arms. I instinctively noticed it with the power of the tamer.”

“Ha, well, there’s a possibility.”

A Tamer accelerated their pet’s growth and made it stronger just by their existence. It was all thanks to Serena’s ability that Ruby, who should be just an elite slime, was able to create flames to stop a Kraken…no, maybe it wasn’t only an elite.

‘And what’s more, Serena’s aptitude was so great that even the Demon tribe wanted it. It wouldn’t be surprising that the Dragon Egg would react to it.’

Evan also handed over the Dragon egg in the first place because he believed that she would be able to hatch it.

“I did believe it, but it’s not realistic…”

“I know how you feel. I was absent-minded for a while. But I should show my Oppa…”

Serena’s shy smile made Evan feel like the egg was the fruit of their love. It was lamentable for the dead dragon to hear it. However, Evan didn’t need to care for the dead. He was staring blankly at the dragon egg, which was shaking periodically. There was a strange power at the moment when life was about to be born. Nevertheless, it was the birth of a dragon.

“Ah.”

At that moment, a crack formed on the egg. Serena inadvertently grabbed Evan’s hand and gave him a strong push. Evan couldn’t breathe properly and focused on what was happening before him. The crack gradually widened, and then a bigger crack appeared. A red light was leaking from between the cracks, along with intense heat.

“It’s hatching.”

“… it is.”

Right after the crackling sound…the egg split in two, and a small dragon toddled out of it.

[Que.]

“Que!”

“Oh, oh, oh…!”

Originally in the games, babies would make that que sound regardless of race. If he combined his palms, the baby was small enough to climb on top of it. It was covered with shiny scales, with a small head and two bright eyes! The eyes seemed to move between Evan and Serena and were soon fixed on Serena. It recognized his mother! The birth mother was already dead!

[Kyuuu.]

“Waaaaaa.”

With a small cry, he snapped into Serena’s arms. Serena stroked him with an innocent exclamation and screamed.

“The scales are cold and soft!”

[Kyuuu. Kyuuu.]

“But I think the scales are a little cold and soft. Is it because he is still young?”

The scales and skin of the just-born dragon were red mixed with some cream. Yes, it was pink if he had to say it. Evan shook his head ignoring such an idea… It was probably because the baby was still young.

“I need to feed him. What do dragons eat, Oppa?”

“A Dragon doesn’t have to eat anything. Once they are classified as such, they can live with only mana.”

[Kyuuu!]

As if to deny Evan’s words, the baby dragon cried, saying he was hungry. Serena was embarrassed, and then she put her hands around her breast…

“Stop!”

“Hmm.”

[Kyuuu!]

Serena clicked her tongue and searched her arms for something else to eat, but then the dragon jumped out of her arms and suddenly bit Evan’s hand. Evan soon realized what he was doing.

“You are sucking my mana…?”

“Your mana? Wouldn’t that kill him?”

“Ray, what the hell do you think I am?”

But Serena’s words weren’t wrong at all. He only sucked Evan’s Mana for a few seconds, but his eyes suddenly turned around and fell to the ground.

“He isn’t dead, is he?”

“It’s not that, but I think he fainted because your mana is so strong.”

Evan tried to avoid Serena’s stare as he made the baby dragon faint with his monstrous mana.

“Just you wait, I won’t let you down, my Wing-worm.”

“Let’s change that for now. Reduce it to a more plausible name.”

“Um…Nari?”

“With a little more strength.”

“Then Gnar!”

“Okay, let’s use that one.”

Interestingly, a quite plausible name was created. Evan put the fainted Gnar in Serena’s arms and stood up. It was a very mysterious experience, but that was it. He had to get ready to go out.

“Oh, Ray, you already know this, but you have to keep him hidden as much as you can.”

“Yes, I’ll work hard to raise him. Until people can recognize our Gnar…!”

“Don’t talk like you’re raising our secret baby!”

* * *

“Arisha, here you are.”

“Ah!”

That evening, as promised, Evan met Arisha on the street. Although they had been together every day, since they usually wore training clothes or ceremonial clothes, it was somewhat awkward to meet in casual clothes.

“Evan!”

“You look pretty, Arisha.”

The pure white dress wrapped around her slender body made her look like a fairy. She also gave off an enchanting ambiance with the big sash around her waist.

“Really? Thank you, Evan. You look so cool.”

On the other hand, Evan had released all of the artifacts except for Rose’s Vine ring, so, considering his attraction level, it would be less than usual. Still, he decided not to view such trivial matters now. Arisha was just thrilled that Evan had taken off some artifacts and valued practicality for her by bringing out nice clothes instead.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Evan naturally escorted her to the restaurant. Those who witnessed the two’s date were admiring their beautiful appearance as if they had walked out of a portrait.

“Welcome, I’ve been waiting.”

In the dungeon city of Sherden, there were many rich people, but strictly speaking, the ranking among the rich was clearly divided. Moreover, many pure-blood aristocrats were stubborn that they couldn’t eat at the same place as explorers who were just rich and had shallow eating habits. Hence, several top restaurants in Sherden were only truly available to aristocrats that had accumulated overwhelming wealth. They went to such a restaurant.

“But I can’t believe you rented a whole place like this for a day…how much did it cost, Evan?”

“It’s better not knowing…”

Evan smiled mischievously and called a waiter over to order a drink. Soup and food came out in order. Indeed, it was a great taste that satisfied their reputation.

“Cheers.”

“Well, now I realize I’m an adult.”

The atmosphere was pretty good. It was a time when they could focus on each other. Just being able to spend time alone with Evan, who was loved by many other women, Arisha felt that he cared about her.

“So, what the hell are you trying to talk about?”

“Haha…did I get caught?”

Yes, it was the reason for his defeat that he paid too much attention. Evan felt Arisha’s gaze on him and chose his words carefully.

“No, I’m sure you’re aware. I’m preparing something these days.”

“Yes, you’re doing something with the Marquis, the Brotherhood Corporation, and the Temple, right? I have a rough idea of that.”

“As expected, you’re quick to notice.”

Evan continued with a bitter smile.

“I wanted to apologize, so I prepared the date. You are my fiancée, and you’re the deputy head of Astray, and I’ve only done things my way.”

“Hmm, I see. But Evan, if you feel like you’ve deliberately taken me away from this, would that be my delusion?”

“…No, it’s not a delusion.”

“Then okay. The future that I don’t know… It’s related to me betraying you, right?

Arisha quickly concluded. Arisha, Evan’s fiancée, was able to play as much as she wanted to in this scenario, but Evan didn’t assign her role on purpose. That was because this scenario was centered on Save. In other words, Evan didn’t want Arisha to meet Save. It was just that.

“I can’t say there’s no relationship, but…I just did it because I was a little nervous. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t want to do it.”

“Evan, I’ve been thinking since that day. Why did I betray you, Evan? There’s no reason for that, but I’ve been thinking about it by force, narrowing possibilities one by one….”

Arisha’s blue eyes glistened as she gazed at Evan.

“You know, maybe…is it because of a man?”

“…”

“That’s right.”

Evan stopped breathing for a moment because of Arisha’s absurdly intelligent guess. In response, Arisha realized that she had the right answer. Shortly after that, she smiled.

“That’s what it was. I can’t believe it. How stupid was I in the future?”

“No, you’re always as wise as ever. It’s just…”

Evan’s story in the game was reluctant to even talk about. When Evan shut his mouth there, Arisha held out her hand and smiled.

“Anyway, I’m relieved. For that reason, I will never betray you. But Evan, you’re still going to be nervous, right?”

“That’s not your fault, Arisha. Like I said before, it’s just a vague sense of anxiety that can’t be helped…”

“So.”

Arisha reached out and grabbed Evan’s hand. Her blue eyes were glowing with a sense of importance.

“I’ll try tonight until Evan is relieved.”

Evan had no choice but to nod his head blankly at her words. He felt like he couldn’t match her allure.