I hurriedly spoke to Zavilia as I watched Zoil sinking his head into the ground.
"Hey, Zavilia, are you sure it's okay for you to return to the capital with me? Zavilia came to this mountain because he wants to be king, right? I don't want to interfere with what Zavilia wants to do." (Fia)
I visited this mountain because I wanted to meet Zavilia, but I was relieved to see him in good health.
I might have thought that he was lonely and came to pick him up, but I had no intention of disturbing Zavilia at all.
"I was at my limit being apart from Fia. When I think I want to meet you, you come to me. Now I have no choice but to get back together." (Zavilia)
"Oh dear……" (Fia)
Zavilia and I heard words that affirmed my desire to be with her, and I was so happy that I cried out.
If Zavilia also wanted to be with me, then maybe it's okay for us to go home together... and my thoughts turned 180 degrees.
Zavilia continued speaking as if to provoke me.
"Also, I've completed most of the things I needed to do here. I found out that dragons tend to flock together, and the same goes for dragons of different types. By spending time together, I've bonded with the dragons here. Now, as long as I call, they will come wherever they can hear my voice." (Zavilia)
"That's amazing! But..." (Fia)
At a loss for words, I glanced at the horn on Zavilia's head, wondering how to explain it.
I thought there was only one problem left.
Zavilia noticed my gaze, seemed to understand that I was concerned, and deftly touched me the corner with his front paw.
"Ah, it's okay that I still have one horn. I didn't want to look like I had three horns, I just wanted to have the power to protect Fia." (Zavilia)
"That’s certainly what happened, but…" (Fia)
I was starting to worry if that's really the case.
However, Zavilia continued speaking as if it was nothing.
"I'm just doing what I want to do, so Fia doesn't have to worry about it. In the first place, even though I've controlled so many dragons, I can only grow one horn because I was able to protect and subdue so many dragons. I guess I was wrong when I thought that three horns would be the proof of a dragon king. Maybe there are other conditions for horns to grow. Either way, it doesn't matter because it's just a matter of appearance." (Zavilia)
After saying that, Zavilia spread one of his wings.
"Fia, let's go home together." (Zavilia)
Seeing Zavilia said his word without hesitation, I felt happy because I thought he also wanted to be with me.
I almost instinctively held out my hand, but when I felt the despondent gaze of the dragons surrounding me, my expression tightened.
That's right, there was still a problem.
As I noticed when I looked around yesterday, Zavilia was a good king.
If such a king were to be taken away, the dragons would definitely be disappointed.
"Well, Zavilia, of course I'm happy, but won't the dragons feel lonely?" (Fia)
I timidly asked the question while looking at the many dragons surrounding me with dejected looks.
Zavilia answered while looking around at the gathered dragons.
"Hmm, but we can't bring all the dragons to the capital." (Zavilia)
"What?" (Fia)
The moment I heard Zavilia's proposal, I turned pale as I pictured him returning to the capital with the black dragon in the lead and so many dragons following him that they filled the sky.
"No, I'm sure it won't work! Everyone will think that I came with the dragon to attack and destroy the royal capital! In fact, I'm not the Demon King!!" (Fia)
"I see, since a black dragon was following you, I don't think it's wrong to call you the Demon King." (Zavilia)
I'm sure I glared at Zavilia, who seemed amused.
"Of course, it's definitely a mistake! I don't have black hair and black eyes, and even though I look like this, I'm a good knight." (Fia)
Zavilia waved his tail with a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm, a good knight. It was fun watching from the sidelines, but now that I'll be on your side, I guess I'm going to have a hard time too." (Zavilia)
Zavilia let out a deliberate sigh, and I couldn't help but reply.
"Well, Zavilia! I'm a full-fledged knight, so I can take care of myself. Moreover, I'm an excellent knight who can sometimes play the role of a saint." (Fia)
"Yeah, I think that's exactly the problem. A knight should be a knight, but it's a strange story for anyone to hear that they can also be saints with an ultra-rare job. And now Fia is being rubbed by all the dragons......Oh, come to think of it, the dragons are more obsessed with Fia than me. I have grown a horn and becoming a dragon king, but they follow Fia more than me, is Fia a dragon king?" (Zavilia)
When I said that, Zavilia purposely glanced at my head.
It's like checking to see if I had horn.
I hurriedly retorted, holding my head with both hands.
"Th-three-horned dragon king? Zavilia, what are you talking about? If horns grow from my head, then isn't that's a demon!!" (Fia)
"I see. So the person Fia was afraid of was herself?...That's a deep story." (Zavilia)
Zavilia's expression looked serious, but I realized that she was definitely amused, so I denied it outright.
"No, it's extremely shallow! And I'm not a black-haired demon, but a red-haired knight!" (Fia)
Zavilia heard my words and nodded as if in affirmation.
"That’s right, even if Fia grows horns or black wings on her head, you are definitely a saint. And no matter what color the demon's hair is or whether he has horns, since he is a demon, he is also my enemy." (Zavilia)
Zavilia's words were very reassuring, but there was a mistake, so I'll correct it.
Zavilia had always been smart, but he spent so much time holed up in the mountains that he didn't know the common sense that even I knew.
"Zavilia, all demons have black hair, black eyes, and horns. Isn't it that what Bird Imitator all about?"
Zavilia looked like she was thinking about something for a moment, then obediently agreed with my words.
"……I agree" (Zavilia)
Then, Zavilia raised his head high, looked around at the gathered dragons, and casually opened his mouth.
"Then I'll leave the mountain." (Zavilia)
The dragons suddenly stiffened.
Zavilia gave a reassuring smile to the dragons.
"That said, I will come back to this mountain from time to time, so you can stay or go back to your own lairs. I want you to consider where you live. There are several dragons within earshot of my voice, and there are several dragons within earshot of those dragons, and so on. Zoil, please adjust everyone's territory." (Zavilia)
The dragons looked depressed, but after listening to Zavilia's words, they seemed excited to have been given a new role and made happy voices.
Seeing this, I was impressed that Zavilia was a truly admirable king, as he was able to raise the morale of the dragons with just a few words.
Then, the king looked back at me with a thoughtful expression and glanced at me.
"Zavilia, what’s wrong?" (Fia)
When I asked, Zavilia shrugged his shoulders.
"No, no matter what kind of future I imagine, I can only imagine that Fia is in more danger than me. In that case, it is Fia that the dragon should protect, not me. Should I motivate the dragons to protect Fia?" (Zavilia)
Zavilia said this with a very serious expression, and I started to panic.
"Well, the dragons don't even know me very well, so you can't ask them to do such a difficult thing!" (Fia)
"What Fia said makes sense, but I've always had concerns about the relationship between monsters and humans." (Zavilia)
"Huh, why is that?" (Fia)
When I looked up in surprise, wondering what my clever Zavilia was concerned about, she had a thoughtful expression on her face.
"It's a contract of servitude where a monster and a human have a master-servant relationship, but it's basically begging for their life. Even when they're on the brink of being killed, it's a contract where the monster accepts to obey the person because it's better than dying. But... It was a little different in my case." (Zavilia)
"Huh?" (Fia)
"Perhaps it was because I had just been saved during the servitude contract, but I felt strongly that I wanted to be by Fia’s side and benefit from her power. At the same time, I also wanted to be a force to protect Fia." (Zavilia)
Indeed, when I first met Zavilia, he was on the verge of death.
For such a strong monster, it was easy to imagine that he must have had a strong desire to live.
Also, since Zavilia cared about his friends, he probably wanted to help me.
——When I thought about it, even back then, Zavilia told me about the familiar contract.
"As a result, the synchronization after the contract was perfect. The lives and magical powers of each other are connected, and thoughts and emotions flow from Fia." (Zavilia)
Listening to Zavilia's story, I remembered having a similar conversation.
"Now that I think about it, Captain Quentin also said that Zavilia and I are in surprisingly good sync with each other. Maybe it's because Zavilia is a higher-ranking monster that we have such a strong connection?" (Fia)
"I think that's one of the reasons, but in addition, I think the monster's emotions at the time of the contract also come into play. In other words, 'The strength of the monster's desire to be enslaved to the contract owner' and 'Monster's level', I think it's determined by these two things." (Zavilia)
"……that's it" (Fia)
In other words, if Zavilia had reluctantly signed on, he would have had only a small connection with me.
"So, a 'familiar contract' is a long-term contract that lasts a lifetime, so you can't sign it with someone, but I thought it would be interesting to try a 'method of leveraging expectations' that doesn't even meet a contract." (Zavilia)
I asked Zavilia about his proposal.
"Expectations?" (Fia)
"Yes, once the dragons realize how amazing Fia can do, they will work hard even without a contract, hoping that if they protect Fia, they will benefit from this power. Contracts with people. It seemed to be effective against the last familiar, so I thought it might be possible against the natural monsters here as well." (Zavilia)
"Well, I thought of something interesting." (Fia)
Come to think of it, when I went to the "Starry Forest" to explore the black dragon, the familiars of the Fourth Monster Tamer Brigade were with me, but after fighting together with me, I remembered that they followed me more than the contract owner.
I wondered if I was trying to create a situation similar to that time.
"Is that why you're going to show us how great I am?" (Fia)
However, it was quite a challenge to show the dragons, which were a higher class of monsters, that they were as awesome as you could see at first glance.
And yet, just as I thought about doing something amazing to get protection from the dragons, I suddenly came back to my senses.
Oh, that's not true.
Following Zavilia's words, I was thinking of having them protect me from the dragons, but in the first place it was Zavilia that the dragons wanted to protect, not me.
Rather, since I was in the position of kidnapping the king, Zavilia, I think I should show them what I could do for Zavilia and reassured the dragons.
I thought to myself, but... there's not much I could do for Zavilia.
If that's the case, I should at least make Zavilia understood how much I cared about him and gave him a peace of mind.
I looked around at the dragons and bowed my head towards them.
Then, I said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Hello, I'm Fia Ruud! I'll be taking care of everyone's precious Zavilia. Zavilia is a dear friend, so I may never be able to... but I will be careful not to put him in too much danger." (Fia)
Actually, I wanted to declare that I would protect Zavilia from everything, but I wondered how? If someone asked me, "How?" I'll have a hard time answering, so I only promised what I thought I could do. (Fia)
As I was clasping my hands together and desperately trying to emphasize something, I heard Zavilia's laughing voice.
"...She really is a lovely saint." (Zavilia)