I Raised A Black Dragon

Kyle could utter no excuse for his superior’s comment. Everything he had been investigating at the annex of the Bureau of Investigation and Security in Lendia had not yet been reported to the Secretary and Deputy Minister.

Since it was a publicly known fact that the Minister of Defense and Adrian Rossinell were quite close, Kyle deemed it was an inevitable choice to deal with them carefully. 

“Show me that my trust in you is right. Go down to Central Edman for a while.” The Minister gave a firm order.

“But Minister, the cases in charge are still…”

“The Noviscosha case and the Lendia Security Force case have to be taken over. I’ve compiled and reported all the records about Yulem and Eleonora Asil.” The Minister closed his eyes tiredly and gave his final command, “Don’t come back to the capital, for the time being, Sir Leonard.”

As soon as the Minister left his seat, Kyle fired fiercely at Penelope. “What do you think I mean when I say it’s confidential? Penelope, where do you sell all the information I’ve given to you so far-”

“I swear it was not me, Captain!” Penelope hastily excused, whose face was extremely pale. “That’s what I thought was strange, but I was just going to ask the Captain later…” 

“…Get it. The recording chip I gave you.” Kyle didn’t say much and ordered Penelope coldly. Penelope rushed to her office immediately, and within minutes she appeared with a much paler complexion than before.

“Captain… Apparently, I saved a copy of the video, and locked the original in a safe but…”

It was obvious; there was no need for them to check. The chip was stolen. Kyle pressed his fingers on his throbbing temple, listening to Penelope as she stuttered to recite the names of those who had been in and out of her office for the few prior days. There were only a few who had entered her office that the investigators use together…

“Oh, recently the Minister of Magic has been away for a while, and after that, Lollinne Birch has come to hand in his signature….”

“Say that again.”

“What? Ah, a statement by Lollin’s own author-“

“No!” Kyle interrupted her words irritably, tempted to grab Penelope by the collar of her uniform. Meanwhile, Penelope blinked blankly, confused and oblivious. 

Her superior’s violet eyes were gleaming familiarly. It was like discovering valuable evidence that they had missed.

“Who went there?”

*

“What are you doing?”

Flip. Whoosh. Thud. Adrian, who was playing with something as tiny as a nail on his palm, bouncing it into the air, looked to his side leisurely.

“You’re here, Ellie?”

“…Oh.” 

Today was the seventh day of her unpleasant magic class with Adrian. Noah took her hat off, threw it on the table, and buried herself on the sofa. Kyle was probably getting ready to leave for Noviscosha by now, she thought.  

It was only yesterday that the Investigation Security Bureau annex confirmed the identity of the scraps of metal, and judging from his absence in Eleonora’s mansion this morning, there seemed to be a lot of work he had to complete before his departure.

Adrian glanced at Noah’s side, clicking his tongue. “Where else did you leave the dragon alone? I told you we’re going to have a training session with the both of you to prevent mental unity.”

“He wanted to play, so I left him in the Imperial Garden for a while.”

“Is today’s target a garden? It’s the place where the Empress Dowager of the preceding generation cherished, so if he breaks it down, it’ll sting her eyes.”

“I’ve already crossed the river that I can’t return from the moment Mu broke the tallest tower in the Imperial Palace.”

“…Ellie, you just don’t want to take classes, do you?”

“That’s right.” 

Noah couldn’t even deny it. It was hard to slip through Adrian’s eyes. Of course, he, a human being, and Muell, a dragon, meant he couldn’t inflict a scratch on the child. But, she still couldn’t ease her worries. 

When he noticed her vigilance, Adrian shrugged his shoulders. “I know you don’t believe me, but you can’t avoid it forever. If you don’t learn how to do it from me within this week, you’ll have to live with a time bomb the whole week.”

“Why. Where are you going, too?”

“A business trip.”

“Oh…”

“But I don’t want you to think that you can have a lot of fun. You’re supposed to start your volunteer work next week.”

It was a golden opportunity for Noah if Adrian were to vacate the Imperial Palace. While he was away, she could search the lab and his study secretly. Besides, it’s only volunteer work. I can just skip it.

“You are going to record each time you’ve done your service faithfully. You’d better not think of slacking.”

It’s a record. It can be forged. 

Noah came to a simple conclusion and rose from her seat. “Wait. I’ll bring Mu.”

“I’ll give you ten minutes.”

“Don’t give me orders. I might never come back.”

Of course, Noah had no intention of returning at least today. She then left the office with his back against Adrian. As she was crossing the middle of the Imperial Palace in search of Muell, she encountered someone, who tapped on her temper as much as Adrian Rossinell.

Noah clenched her teeth and smiled brightly at the person in front of her. “…Lenia.”