Inside a certain tavern in Camelot.
With a wave of his hand, Merlin had a table full of food served to Ian and Mélusine.
"Eat whatever you like, don't be polite with me."
"I wouldn't dare eat this so casually."
Mélusine looked at the food on the table.
Although she was petite, it didn't mean her mind was small as well.
"You're asking me how I appeared in Britain?"
"Is this a question I absolutely must answer?"
"Of course, it is necessary."
Merlin said with a smile.
"The identity of every Knight of the Round Table should be clear, shouldn't it?"
"Just like Ian-kyō."
"He was a colleague from the village where the King used to live."
"A clear background will help you be better accepted, won't it?"
"But I haven't even said I want to become a Knight of the Round Table—"
Mélusine replied, somewhat dissatisfied.
"Are you trying to investigate my background?"
"But..."
"It's not something I can't talk about."
Mélusine rested her chin on her hand.
"I came from across the sea."
"The people there prefer to call me 'Lancelot'."
"But I myself prefer the name 'Mélusine'—"
"You're not deceiving us, are you?"
Merlin asked.
"Is there any need to deceive you?"
Mélusine asked in return.
"The facts are as they are. If you don't believe me in the first place, there's no need to ask."
"The facts may indeed be so," Merlin picked up the wine before him.
"But memory can be biased."
"Mélusine, could you be a little more specific?"
"..."
Mélusine frowned.
Although she was a bit annoyed by Merlin's questioning, out of basic courtesy, she still made a token effort to recall.
"I found a high cliff on the other side of the sea."
"Using that as a starting point, I spread my wings and crossed the entire ocean."
"I landed in a forest, and then I met this guy."
"After that, I came to Camelot."
"Oh right, I also saw a rainbow while crossing the sea."
"Is that enough?"
Mélusine glared at Merlin.
"Is that detailed enough now?"
"But Mélusine, don't you find it strange?"
"Why do only you have wings?"
"Everyone else doesn't have such things, do they—"
"..."
Merlin's single sentence silenced Mélusine.
She had indeed never thought about this question.
"How should I know?!"
"Go ask them, the ones without wings!"
"And speaking of which, isn't this guy also..."
Mélusine was just about to use Ian beside her as proof that "having wings is a normal thing," when she suddenly realized a problem.
He...
He didn't seem right to begin with.
To be able to take the five-hit combo from her Arondight without a scratch, wasn't that the mark of a monster in itself?
Wait.
In that case, was she a monster too?
Suddenly understanding, Mélusine began to panic.
"It seems you have completely understood—"
Merlin put down his wine cup.
"Those with wings are not necessarily good things."
"And what is perceived as correct does not represent the truth."
"Mélusine, you—"
Before Merlin could finish his sentence, he was sent flying, crashing headfirst into the tavern wall.
And the "culprit" was none other than Ian.
"I really shouldn't have listened to another word from you."
Hot air was emanating from his mouth.
If the fight with Mélusine could be described as excitement;
Then he, right now, was undoubtedly the very picture of fury.
"Bringing someone over just to spout a bunch of nonsense."
"How utterly absurd..."
"I've decided."
"The next time I see you do this, no, the next time you dare open your mouth like this in front of me, I'll throw you in the river and let you talk to the fish."
"Mélusine, let's go."
Before the petite swordswoman could react, she was slung over Ian's shoulder.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone in the tavern, Ian walked out, carrying the struggling Mélusine.
"You idiot, put me down!"
"Is there something wrong with your brain?"
Mélusine used every insult she could think of to attack Ian, but found she could not escape at all.
This guy had a physique and strength that completely suppressed her, and he was also invulnerable to blades and spears.
But—
Mélusine soon stopped struggling.
Because she realized this dragon was very angry right now.
"Ian, you..."
"You are not a monster."
"Mélusine, you are not a monster."
Ian repeated these words.
His body temperature was clearly rising, something Mélusine, who was skilled in using frost, could feel at once.
"You... are you angry for me?"
"Mm."
Ian nodded.
"That guy is always spouting nonsense."
"You just have a pair of wings more than a normal person, and you can also fly and stop abruptly in the air, and you know how to create afterimages, and you know how to control frost, that's all."
"What's the difference between that and a normal person?"
"..."
Mélusine was further convinced that Ian's thought process was different from that of a normal person.
"That's already very different from a normal person..."
"But—" slung over his shoulder, Mélusine looked back at Ian.
"You bastard, you're this loyal?"
"He didn't say a single word about you, yet you got so angry for my sake..."
"Because Mélusine is an opponent I acknowledge."
"Eh?" Mélusine was a little touched.
But this feeling lasted for less than a second.
Because Ian's next sentence was:
"Just thinking about fighting you gets my whole body excited."
"It lets me..."
"No, you can't!" Mélusine's legs began to swing.
"I will never fight you again in my life!"
"That's a humiliation!"
"Then are we friends?" Ian suddenly asked.
"..."
Mélusine was silent for a moment, then answered in a small voice:
"We are."
"How could we not be..."
"I've never had a friend before."
At the same time—
An old man ascended a mountain peak in Britain.
However, he did not appear weakened or out of breath from such a climb.
It was Vortigern, another dragon lurking in Britain.
He should have launched his attack long ago, killing his elder brother, King Uther.
If history had followed its original course—
But now, everything was different.
Ever since that time he obtained an unimaginable power, Vortigern discovered he had something more important to do.
At the foot of the peak was an abyss.
But Vortigern saw something in that abyss.
"The seed of the 'Tree'—"
"So, you have already fallen here?"