Chapter 159 - Red Scales and a Naive Woman
When Jonas finished the eastern liquor in his glass, the red-haired woman quietly placed a fresh bottle in front of him. He thanked her and made a bit of polite conversation.
"Rossetti-dono, do you often encounter monsters in your daily life?"
"Yes, if you count seeing them as materials. I rarely see them alive, though... Oh, I did visit a slime farm the other day."
"I understand it's located outside the royal capital. What did you think of the slime farm?"
"There were so many different kinds of slimes. I found it very fascinating."
The woman's voice was filled with genuine delight as she spoke about slimes. There wasn't the slightest trace of unease or aversion in her clear green eyes.
There was a living half-monster right in front of her, too, yet she didn't seem afraid of him.
"Rossetti-dono, you seem to have quite an interest in monsters... Lord Guido, would you mind?"
"...No, go ahead."
After obtaining Guido's permission, Jonas turned to Dahlia with a question, partly to confirm something.
"Would you like to see my Blighted arm?"
"Are you sure? Um, weren’t you told to keep it a secret?"
"Not particularly. Everyone close to me already knows. Sir Volf has seen it as well."
Jonas took off his jacket, rolled up the right sleeve of his shirt, and removed the reddish-bronze bracelet.
With the bracelet that interfered with recognition removed, the red scales covering his right arm from top to bottom were exposed.
Across the table, Dahlia stared intently at his arm. He had rolled his sleeve up to just above his elbow, but all she did was widen her eyes. She neither backed away nor screamed.
Her composure was so unexpected that Jonas found himself almost disappointed.
Volf, sitting beside her, seemed far more restless.
"...The color and shape are similar to those of a Fire Dragon."
Jonas was a little surprised by the woman's accurate observation.
"Rossetti-dono, have you ever seen a Fire Dragon?"
"No, only in illustrated books. But if we're talking about scales, there's one set into the underside of this bracelet..."
Dahlia removed the gold bracelet from her left wrist and pointed to the red stone embedded on its underside.
The magic flowing through it resonated with something in Jonas's right arm. He studied it with interest.
"That one seems to have come from a larger specimen. This one was still a juvenile."
"You defeated a Fire Dragon?"
"It was already on the verge of death, and I just happened to land the finishing blow. Lord Guido was the one who rendered it immobile. All I did was cut off its head."
"Even so, both of you are amazing!"
The woman's eyes sparkled as she spoke, and Jonas found himself feeling strangely unsettled.
Beside her, Volf's eyes were shining even brighter, which gave Jonas a slight sense of foreboding.
"Brother, this is the first I've heard of it, but do the two of you hold the title of 'Dragon Slayer'?"
"No. We simply happened upon a dragon that was on the verge of death. A member of the royal family had been present until just before the final blow, so it wouldn't have been right for us to claim the title in their place, would it? We decided to keep quiet about it."
"I see..."
"Um, I won't tell anyone else, I promise."
"I'd appreciate that."
Volf sounded disappointed, while the woman spoke with concern.
Guido deftly deflected the conversation, but it was obvious that he was pleased by the look of admiration in his younger brother's eyes.
"Where would be the closest place to find a Fire Dragon?"
"I hear small ones occasionally come to the southern islands, but apparently, they avoid people."
Guido lowered his voice slightly as he addressed Volf, who looked ready to set off hunting one immediately.
"Would it be possible to obtain Fire Dragon scales at an auction?"
"They come up for auction once or twice a year, so you can get them if you're determined. However, the scales are collected from around their nests rather than obtained by fighting the dragons themselves, so their internal mana is apparently weaker. Are you looking for them as crafting materials?"
"Yes. Dahlia wants to make a bracelet identical to the one she’s wearing now, so we’re looking for the materials."
The gold gleaming on her slender, pale wrist looked quite expensive.
With defensive enchantments that robust, it would probably cost thirty-five gold coins, perhaps a little more.
Volf seemed to have put in quite an effort, but was he planning to make another bracelet to match it?
Or would the woman, being a magical toolmaker herself, make a matching pair and give one to him?
He could simply add a colored gemstone to the outside of the bracelet while he was at it—
As Jonas entertained these unnecessary thoughts, Guido turned to him.
"What do you think, Jonas?"
"It's about the size of a child, but would these scales do? Half of my body is still human, so I don't know whether they're suitable as materials. I could give you a few."
"No, thank you. It would hurt to pull them off your arm."
She was quite different from those haughty noblewomen.
Seeing the woman's face already contorted with concern, Jonas couldn't resist the urge to tease her a little.
"Don't worry. My sense of pain is dulled."
Jonas ripped off about six scales.
Since they grew a little deep beneath the skin, there was no way to remove them without tearing the flesh. Blood trickled down his arm.
But just as he had said, he felt almost no pain. It was as though the injury had happened to someone else.
Still indulging his mischievous impulse, he stirred up the mana within his body and deliberately narrowed the red-black pupil of his right eye into a vertical slit.
Then he held out the red scales he had plucked to Dahlia.
"Here you are."
"Wha—"
The woman's eyes widened, and she froze in place. Jonas thought, Just as I expected.
Even all her talk, Blighted people and humans with scales were frightening creatures, after all.
Most women either screamed or, even if they managed to suppress their screams, found some excuse to flee his presence.
And the next time they met him, they would look at him as though he were a monster.
"Why would you suddenly rip them off so violently?! That must hurt...!"
Jonas instinctively responded in his natural voice, caught off guard by the woman's unexpected scolding.
"Well, I mean... Why, you ask...?"
"You could at least have taken some gently from the edges, or removed them one at a time... Ripping off a whole bunch at once like that..."
Why was this woman the one on the verge of tears? Jonas couldn't make sense of it.
To make matters worse, Volf was looking at him with concern as well.
Wasn't the whole reason you started learning how to fight from me so that you could protect this woman?
This is exactly when you should be on high alert because of my slit pupils and fluctuating mana!
Jonas was painfully aware of how inadequately he had educated his student.
"There's no pain, so please don't worry. I apologize for the unsightly appearance, but if you'd like them, please use these."
Dahlia bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry for losing my composure... Thank you very much."
She had accepted the scales, at least, but her green gaze remained fixed on the arm he had plucked them from.
The spot where the scales had been was left with a gaping gap, and blood was slowly welling up through it.
"Um, you're bleeding..."
"It'll stop soon."
"No, I really do think that counts as an injury... And if your sleeve brushes against it before it heals, it'll get dirty."
The woman took a handkerchief from her small bag, walked around the table, and approached him.
Then, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, she took hold of his scaled arm and began wrapping the handkerchief around the bleeding area.
Until that very moment, it had never even crossed Jonas's mind that Dahlia might touch him.
Feeling her warm fingers close around his arm, he could only stare at her in stunned silence.
The handkerchief wrapped around his arm was so white that it almost hurt his eyes.
The pupils he had deliberately narrowed into vertical slits smoothly returned to their usual round shape.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that... Thank you so much."
A faint red stain was gradually spreading across the knot of the handkerchief. Seeing it, the woman furrowed her brows with deep concern, her face crumpling as though she were about to cry, before hastily composing herself again.
What a busy woman she was.
"It's nothing. The scales will grow back in no time."
"Master Jonas, are you really all right?"
Even Volf asked him, his golden eyes clouded with concern.
Honestly, why were these two so excessively worried about him?
For that matter, he was Guido's attendant and bodyguard. He wasn't supposed to be someone who caused a fuss over a single injury.
After that, it took considerably longer than he had expected to refuse the two of them insisting on disinfectant, bandages, potions, and a doctor.
Beside him, Guido casually nibbled on some dried seafood, pretending not to notice anything while laughing with his eyes. It irritated Jonas to no end.
・・・・・・・
After the standing party ended, Dahlia prepared to head home, and Volf offered to escort her.
The red-haired woman and the black-haired man walked from the garden toward the main residence.
The two of them were walking away, laughing together, and they looked quite well suited to each other.
Beside Jonas, Guido watched them go with a faint smile on his face as well.
"Well, shall we compare our assessments before the next guest arrives? In my estimation, she's 'white.' What do you think, Jonas?"
"'Pure white.' You could even go so far as to call her 'red.'"
"May I hear your reasoning?"
"She came alone without an attendant. She didn't even notice I was in the room until partway through our meeting, and she remained unaware of me even when I stood diagonally behind her. She didn't fall for your smooth talk, and even after you told her she might become an inconvenience, she ate the tea and sweets without a hint of suspicion. Though, I suppose that bracelet of hers might have something to do with it."
"Indeed. She certainly had a healthy appetite."
Guido chuckled.
Jonas had to agree. Among the nobility, it was rare to see a young woman polish off two cakes in front of a man or bite into dried seafood without hesitation.
It had been rather refreshing.
However, he decided not to mention this to Volf.
"Even when I deliberately changed her plate faster than usual, she didn't react. She didn't even notice the knife I slipped between us. Nor did she respond to the sound of a sword being partially drawn behind her. I wondered if she couldn't hear, but she clearly heard me say that your dinner portions should be reduced. The only conclusion I can reach is that she has no sense of caution when it comes to things like that."
Jonas had deliberately changed her plate at an unusually quick pace and placed a knife between them to test her reflexes. An assassin or someone trained in combat would react instinctively, no matter how well they disguised themselves.
But that woman had merely looked at him as though she were watching a magic trick.
"I was startled when you changed the plate. I nearly stood up myself."
"I was more startled by you, stuffing your face with sweets and dried seafood while claiming your waistline has been getting out of hand lately."
Guido offered no answer, merely smiling.
Jonas was serious about recommending that Guido cut back on his dinner portions tonight, but his friend would probably just laugh it off again.
He could only hope the day would never come when he had to put real effort into training the man.
"She was affected by Lord Volf's intimidation to a certain extent. But she showed no wariness when she saw my arm or when I disturbed my mana. Taking everything into account, she's a woman who poses no threat to Lord Volf or this household. But she's far too naive to be useful for attaching a leash to someone, no matter whose side you want her on."
Jonas had investigated the background of the woman named Dahlia Rossetti, and he hadn't found even a speck of dirt.
She was reasonably capable, but not conspicuously so. Apart from the broken engagement, there had been no real trouble in her past.
And yet, since meeting Volf, she had undergone a sudden transformation: her merchant company had abruptly become an official supplier to the Monster Subjugation Division, and she had been appointed as its adviser.
Neither Guido nor Jonas could quite comprehend how much she had changed in just over three months.
They had thoroughly investigated every possible danger, checking whether she had connections to any noble house and even whether she might have been replaced by someone else.
Today's meeting had been the final confirmation.
Jonas had received a fair amount of training, allowing him to estimate an opponent's strength in broad terms. He could also tell whether someone had fought before or received that kind of training.
But with that woman, the question of strength was beside the point.
She was nervous, but not wary. To be honest, her physical reflexes were rather poor, too.
She had no sense of danger whatsoever and showed no fear of him, despite his being half-monster.
And yet, she had been rendered unable to move by Volf's intimidation, so it wasn't as though she were incapable of feeling fear.
Jonas had no idea whether ordinary commoner women were usually like that, but as far as he could tell, Dahlia herself was the one who was too naive—and therefore dangerous.
He even felt a little sympathy for Volf, who had spent the entire time anxiously watching over her.
"I've judged her to be someone worthy of our trust, and I'd like to support her as someone close to Volf. I believe I can report this to Father without any issues. What do you think?"
"I agree. She's an ordinary young woman from the common classes who knows nothing of noble etiquette... No, perhaps 'ordinary' isn't quite the right word."
"She's a kind young woman with quite a bit of courage."
"That she is. I certainly never expected her to wrap a handkerchief around my arm."
Jonas gave a wry smile at the white handkerchief still wrapped around his arm.
Even when the cold, hard scales had pressed against her fingertips, that woman hadn't shown the slightest hesitation.
As she was leaving, she had carefully wrapped his bloodstained scales in another light blue handkerchief, treating it like a precious treasure.
Seeing his own scales being carried so gently between her white fingertips had struck him as profoundly strange.
"...I never expected you to obediently let someone touch that right arm of yours."
"What brought this on all of a sudden, Guido?"
The conversation had taken such an abrupt forty-five-degree turn that Jonas stared at his friend's profile.
At some point, Guido had shifted his gaze from the two figures who had disappeared from view to the pond in the garden.
The wind briefly traced intricate patterns across the surface of the water before it quietly settled back into stillness.
"I'd like to grant you whatever you desire, Yonas. But in her case, I'd ask you to refrain."
The seriousness in his voice left Jonas utterly exasperated.
His doting on his younger brother had reached terminal levels. What on earth was he worried about?
They had known each other for a long time. Guido knew Jonas's tastes in women well enough, and they were nothing like the woman they had just seen.
"She's not my type. I did think she looked like the sort of woman whose blood would be sweet, but I have no desire to eat a flower."
He replied with a hint of sarcasm, even as his friend continued to look away.
Besides, there was another reason Jonas had no intention of getting any closer to her.
"She's a flower my student is determined to protect. I'll simply watch her bloom from a distance."
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