Minjun knew that when two people of different species fell in love, complications were bound to arise. He himself had been keeping his relationship going through one mishap after another. But listening to them, it sounded as though, in this world, the very act of loving someone of another species was a problem—and a major obstacle.

It wasn't as if this were a dog and a human. Dragons and humans were both intelligent beings. Was it really so strange for them to fall in love? Dragons often hid their identities and lived among humans, elves, and other peoples during their games, didn't they?

'Then there shouldn't be anything strange about Sia and me, should there?'

Sia and Rokan had never explained the matter in detail, so Minjun had assumed there was nothing particularly strange about their relationship. But the others' reactions were beginning to make him uneasy.

"What do you mean, it would be hard to stay together normally even if the dragon's identity was discovered?"

"Exactly what I said. No one of another species, humans included, can possibly share true love with a dragon."

Rangs, the fox beastfolk who had teased Kutun, began to explain in a fairly calm voice. "Before their identity is discovered, a dragon might play the part of an ordinary human lover. But dragons absolutely hate having their identities exposed during a game. Once that happens, they end the game and return to their lairs, lover or no lover."

"Your girlfriend was human in her previous life, so things might be a little different," Kutun said, looking at Minjun with sympathy. "But that doesn't change the fact that you can't love each other the way an ordinary couple can. As far as I know, a dragon must enter into a pact for other dragons to recognize someone as their mate. And only two dragons can make that pact."

Without it, Kutun added, they might be able to have a casual relationship, but they could never take it any further.

After thinking for a moment, Minjun asked, grasping at straws. "Even if we don't make that pact, couldn't we still live together without any problems?"

Kutun wanted to give him the answer he hoped for, but he couldn't. "Perhaps—assuming there are no other dragons in your world besides your girlfriend. We don't know enough about the society of the Great Ones to say for certain."

Minjun's expression darkened sharply. If they might be all right without other dragons around, didn't that mean they wouldn't be all right if there were others?

'What are the chances there are dragons on Earth besides Sia and Rokan?'

From what he'd just heard, dragons went to great lengths to keep their identities secret during their games, so finding them wouldn't be easy.

'I don't know how many there are, but there's a good chance some have already settled there.'

Minjun thought of Lia Black, who had tried to seduce him recently. The SSS-rank hunter had suddenly flown in from America saying she wanted to meet him, then made an unusually blatant attempt to seduce him. Given everything that had happened, he thought there was a good chance she was a dragon. And if she was, there could easily be others.

*'If that theory is right, and the other dragons have already found out about us...'

He ran through every possibility that could follow, his face growing darker by the moment. If the others were right, the dragons could interfere with his relationship with Sia at any time. Worse, she might already have been condemned by other dragons.

Unfortunately, most of his suspicions were correct.

Though Minjun said nothing, the grave look on his face gave Rangs, Kutun, and most of the others some idea of what he was thinking.

'This must be tearing him up.'

Rangs watched him with genuine sympathy. It was hardly news Minjun wanted to hear sober, so he quickly drained a glass of liquor from the table.

"Actually, there's one more thing I should tell you, though I'd advise you not to hear it."

"No. Please tell me."

"... Are you sure you won't regret hearing it?"

"Yes."

The damage was already done. Minjun figured one more piece of shocking news couldn't make much difference. But he was completely wrong.

"You and your girlfriend won't be able to have a child."

"W-what do you..."

Granted, it was something he could have guessed from everything he'd heard. But suspecting it and hearing someone say it aloud were two entirely different things.

"You're different species. How could you reproduce? Under no circumstances will you and your girlfriend have a child."

Maybe he should have said he didn't want to hear it after all. Minjun's breathing grew ragged.

"... Minjun, are you all right?"

"See? You shouldn't have said anything."

"Even if you had to tell him, you could've waited. Why say it now?"

"He asked me first! Better to get the bad news over with. He'd have found out eventually."

"You started it by bringing up that nonsense about a normal relationship!"

As the mood rapidly soured, Rangs and Kutun began arguing. Minjun waved a hand and told them he was fine, though his face said otherwise.

He knew. The solution to all of this was simple. If he became the dragon he'd set out to become, both the problem of having children and the matter of gaining the other dragons' acceptance would be resolved. He'd worked himself to the bone for that very reason and made remarkable progress in a short time.

Even so, he couldn't help feeling awful.

"I'm going out for some air."

"Of course. Elysium's night sky is beautiful, so take your time looking at it. Come back whenever you've cleared your head. We'll be drinking until dawn!"

Kutun spoke heartily to dispel the awkwardness, and Rangs gave Minjun a quiet pat on the shoulder. But Minjun was in no state to appreciate their kindness. He left the tavern with a vacant expression. Inside, talk of Minjun continued for some time.

* * *

Right after leaving the tavern, I sat on a wooden bench a little way off and looked up at the night sky. Kutun was right: it was beautiful. But my mind was too tangled for it to move me.

"Sia came to find me knowing all of this..."

She'd spent two thousand years studying dimensional travel magic to reach Earth, even though she knew our relationship wouldn't be welcomed by her own kind. All for me.

I felt grateful to Sia, but also a painful tenderness that left me choked up. How terrified would she be when she heard I'd been pulled into a gate? Imagining her bursting into tears made my chest feel tighter still.

"How the hell am I supposed to get back?"

There was that imposing dragon statue in the middle of this mysterious city called Elysium. It couldn't have drawn me here for no reason. Fine, I understood that much.

'It could at least have asked me before dragging me here.'

Sighing heavily, I gazed at Bellium's statue in the distance. Even from this far away, its shape was clear beneath the bright full moon. It was too late tonight, but I needed to investigate it first thing tomorrow. For now, there was nothing I could do but calm my racing heart.

I took out my phone out of habit. As if to prove I was in another dimension, it showed no network signal. Not that I'd taken it out to contact anyone. I opened my gallery and slowly looked through the photos I'd taken with Sia, hoping the sight of her might ease my troubled mind, if only a little.

Oh, while I had it out, I should take a picture of the night sky. When I got back to Earth and saw Sia again, I could tell her I'd photographed the sky over the world where she'd lived.

After taking the picture, I was looking at Sia's photos again when I sensed someone nearby. I turned to find Estelle, her hands laden with food.

"Minjun, may I sit beside you?"

"Of course. But what brings you here...?"

"I didn't want you to get lost. And you seemed upset earlier... I thought sitting with you and listening might help, even a little."

Her thoughtfulness made me feel a bit better.

"And I thought we could eat together while we're at it. You didn't seem to eat much earlier, so you must be hungry. Here."

Estelle handed me the basket hanging from her arm. Inside were sausages, bread, and an assortment of skewers.

"Thank you."

"We should be thanking you. I shudder to think how many people we might have lost if it weren't for you."

"It was nothing."

"Nothing? You did something incredible."

Grinning easily, Estelle took a bite from a skewer she held in her other hand.

"I can't begin to imagine how much is on your mind, but eat first and think later. Just let your mind rest for now. How does that sound?"

Estelle smiled as she chewed. I followed her lead, picking out the most appetizing skewer and taking a bite.

But as I ate and stared into space, just as she'd suggested, something strange suddenly occurred to me.

"Estelle, don't elves normally... avoid meat?"

Sia had told me elves considered eating meat taboo and ate only plants. Yet Estelle's skewer held an assortment of meats.

"Oh, this? You're right. Elves are traditionally vegetarian. I used to be, too, but then I happened to try a bite of meat, and it was so delicious."

"Then the other elves..."

"The moment they caught me eating it, they were horrified and dragged me before the elder. I could easily have received a much harsher punishment, but luckily, it ended with only my exile. After wandering for a while, I settled here in Elysium."

She spoke matter-of-factly, but how much must she have suffered? Come to think of it, Bellium had founded Elysium for exiles. I'd assumed Estelle was born here, but now I knew her story.

Hearing it was oddly comforting, yet it also made my heart ache to wonder what hidden pain the other cheerful-looking residents carried. Estelle and the others began to remind me of Sia: people set apart for being different and not understood, or their descendants. Thinking of them that way made me feel a little closer to them.

When she finished, Estelle seemed unwilling to let the mood grow even heavier. In a bright voice, she said Elysium felt more like home to her now, smiled, and casually took another bite of her skewer.

"By the way, Minjun, what were you doing just now? It looked like you were handling some curious little object."

"Oh, this?"

I took my phone from my pocket and showed her. "It's called a smartphone. They're common in my world..."

I gave her a brief explanation as I showed her the screen.

"That's amazing. I can't sense any mana from it, but you can contact people, watch videos, and do... so many other things. All with this tiny object."

"That's right. Oh, it can take pictures, too. Let me show you."

I opened the gallery and showed her a photo of Sia and me.

"Is this your girlfriend?"

"Yes. She's gorgeous, isn't she?"

"Gorgeous doesn't begin to cover it."

Her praise made me want to show off Sia even more. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe I just felt like it because I was upset.

"Oh, there's a picture in the case, too."

I showed Estelle an instant photo of Sia and me that I'd tucked into the case. She studied the unfamiliar object with fascination.

"The way you two look at each other—you can practically see the love in your eyes."

"Of course. We can't live without each other. That's why I have to get home somehow."

Seeing Sia's picture and talking about her only made me more determined to return to Earth.

"Is there... really no way?"

"I don't think it'll be easy. As you said earlier when you told us about your girlfriend, even a dragon at the pinnacle of magic needed two thousand years to master dimensional travel magic well enough to use it freely."

I'd asked just in case, but it wasn't the answer I'd hoped for. Seeing my face fall, Estelle tried to cheer me up.

"Still, if there's anything we can do to help, we'll do our best! You're our guest and our hero!"

"I appreciate you saying that."

The battle seemed to have earned me a good reputation with the people here.

"Then could you help me find out more about that statue tomorrow?"

I had a feeling learning about it might lead me to an answer.

"Of course! I'll speak to Adil. Adil looks after the statue."

Estelle answered without a moment's hesitation. "And Adil is a historian who knows Elysium's history inside out, so I'm sure that will help you, too."

"That's good news."

"But Minjun, may I ask why you want to investigate the statue?"

Having finished one skewer, Estelle picked another from the basket as she asked.

"I think learning about it might give me a clue to getting home. I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel like the statue and I are connected somehow. I don't know why, or what the connection is."

"What makes you think that?"

Fair enough. I could see why Estelle wouldn't understand. The city's founder was a dragon, I could use some dragon power, and my girlfriend was a dragon. Those facts alone weren't much reason to think I had a connection to the statue.

"You saw it during the battle, didn't you? That long, thin strand of something like aura connecting me to the statue."

Estelle tilted her head, looking confused. "Aura?"

"Yes. During the fight with the wyverns. Didn't you see it? It was thin, but its color shimmered. I thought it would stand out."

"... Was there something like that? I didn't see it."