After Lin Ling wandered around the Demon King's Castle for a few laps, she finally felt like her face wasn't burning as much anymore.
Though it was only "not as much."
If one looked closely, the rims of her ears were still slightly red.
At the thought of how she had actually finished her entire breakfast under Ivelia's feeding, steam began to furiously rise from the top of Lin Ling's head like boiling water.
“Calm down, Lin Ling. You've seen all kinds of crazy things. This was just a normal breakfast.”
“It was just the Demon King feeding you a few bites.”
“Maybe this kind of thing is perfectly normal in another world.”
She tried to convince herself as she walked.
But by the end of it, she fell into silence.
Normal, my foot!
Whose idea of a normal breakfast involves the Demon King feeding them by hand?!
Lin Ling covered her face and squatted down in the corridor for a while.
A passing demon soldier glanced at her.
Then, he naturally walked right around her.
After all, it wasn't particularly rare for their Miss Saintess to enter this kind of state from time to time.
Meanwhile, in the meeting room.
Furni was already slumped over the table, looking like she was about to fade from a blue dragon into a black-and-white one.
From early morning, she had intended to wait for Lin Ling in a cool, imposing pose.
After all, today was her first official private conversation with the “little Hero.”
As Camillaya's guardian dragon, she had to salvage some of her image after being beaten and sent scrambling all over the floor yesterday.
So at first, she sat in the main seat.
Her gaze was deep, and her fingers gently tapped the table.
She looked like a mysterious, powerful figure who had everything under control.
But before she could maintain this pose for long, she began to feel sleepy.
A little while later, her neck started to feel a bit sore.
A little while after that, she simply rested her head on her arms.
In the end, the great guardian dragon of Camillaya slumped over the table in a semi-dragonized state.
Her tail hung over the edge of the chair, and her dragon horns weren't fully retracted.
She looked like a blue, dragon-shaped dish that had somehow ended up on the meeting table.
“What is taking those two so long~”
Furni groaned weakly, slumped over the table.
“All my dignity is about to evaporate.”
Just then, the door to the meeting room was pushed open.
Lin Ling poked her head in from outside.
And then, she saw Furni.
Furni also happened to look up and saw Lin Ling.
Their eyes met in that very instant.
Lin Ling: “...”
Furni: “...”
Lin Ling stared at Furni, who was slumped on the table in her semi-dragonized state.
Furni stared at Lin Ling, who was still holding the doorknob.
Neither of their expressions looked very good.
Lin Ling slowly looked down at her hand, which was still gripping the doorknob.
Then, with absolute decisiveness, she slammed the door shut.
Bang.
Inside the meeting room, Furni instantly understood what Lin Ling meant.
This was a do-over.
Good, very good.
Furni practically bounced off the table.
She swiftly retracted her tail and dragon horns, tidied her hair, straightened her crooked bishop robes, and lunged straight into the main seat to sit properly.
She folded her hands and straightened her spine.
It was as if the person who had just been slumped over the table like a dragon-shaped pancake didn't exist at all.
A few seconds later, the meeting room door was pushed open again.
Lin Ling walked in.
What she saw was Furni sitting upright in the main seat.
Furni looked at her with a serious expression, as if she had been waiting there for a long time.
“Ah, haha.”
Lin Ling scratched her head.
“Bishop Furni, I heard you were looking for me?”
A very natural smile appeared on her face.
It was as if she was pretending the incident just now had never happened.
Like hell she was!
How could she possibly pretend she hadn't seen a lazy dragon girl slumped all over the meeting table?!
That image was already permanently seared into Miss Saintess's brain.
In fact, if Phelan were here, he would have definitely recorded it in all seriousness as ‘The Moment the Guardian Dragon of Camillaya Lost Her Dignity.’
On the surface, however, Lin Ling still did her best to maintain a poker face.
Furni cleared her throat.
“Ahem, let's get down to business first.”
“I asked you here because there are a few things I wanted to confirm.”
She put on a serious front.
She was probably trying to salvage her image as a bishop and a guardian dragon.
Seeing her turn serious, Lin Ling also gradually set aside her lingering awkwardness.
“Please, go ahead.”
Furni looked at Lin Ling.
Her golden slit pupils stared quietly at her.
The air in the meeting room seemed to grow tense along with her gaze.
But in the very next second, Furni herself cracked.
“Don't worry.”
She scratched her cheek and let out a somewhat casual smile.
“I just wanted to confirm your current thoughts on this world.”
“No need to make such a scary face.”
But Lin Ling, sitting opposite her, did not mirror her smile.
Her expression remained serious, and her eyes burned as she looked at Furni.
“Miss Furni.”
“From what I've seen of this world... I think it's terrible.”
Hearing Lin Ling say the world was terrible, Furni also withdrew her smile.
“Oh?”
She did not interrupt Lin Ling.
Lin Ling looked down at her hands.
She thought of how the demons had to endure the erosion of magic every single day.
She thought of how the people of Camillaya suffered unspeakably under the royal power struggles.
This world was vast, yet everything she had witnessed felt like the world was exposing its bloody, open wounds to her.
“The human nobles treat commoners as tools.”
“And the people at the top only care about ore, military power, and the throne.”
...
Lin Ling raised her head, looking Furni straight in the eyes.
“So, I think this world is terrible.”
Furni did not smile again.
She sat upright in the main seat, her golden slit pupils locking onto Lin Ling's eyes.
“And what about you?”
Furni asked.
“What do you want to do?”
At this moment, the atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became incredibly heavy.
Even the air felt thick and viscous.
If Lin Ling said the wrong thing, the dragon who had just been slumped over the table might truly reveal the terrifying side of a guardian dragon.
Lin Ling felt the pressure too.
But she did not look away.
“I want to change it.”
She said.
“Since I was summoned here as a Hero...”
“Then... I want to turn this world into the way I want it to be.”
Lin Ling looked straight into Furni's eyes as she spoke these words.
Because she had seen it.
She had seen the starving demons and the children who were hurt.
She had seen people who could have helped each other but were forced into hostility by those at the top.
That was why she wanted to make a change.
Furni watched her, her golden eyes seemingly testing the sincerity of the person before her.
Then, as if she had finally heard the answer she wanted, Furni slowly let go of her serious expression.
A slight smile returned to the corners of her mouth.
“I see. Well, the meeting is over.”
Lin Ling blinked in surprise.
“Eh? You're already done asking?”
Furni let out a yawn.
“Pretty much. After all, I'm not very good at long-winded speeches. That kind of thing is usually left to Karl.”
Having said that, she walked toward the meeting room door on her own.
As she pushed the door open, Furni paused.
Then, with her back turned to Lin Ling, she spoke with a hint of admiration in her voice.
“I hope you can really do it, little Hero.”
Rate on N.U.
