Little Pink Starfish

‘Not a magical beast.’

Yanu mulled over this as he fiddled with the safflower, crushing it between his fingers until a juice as red as blood flowed out. The biggest difference between a magical beast and other living species is whether their body consists of physical matter. Humans and animals leave behind decaying corpses when they die, but magical beasts don’t. Once dead, they leave behind nothing but a magic stone. Their remains seep deep into the earth.

Before long, Eira arrived at the same conclusion through a similar line of logic.

“Mm, it’s probably not a magical beast. So far, my hair or blood hasn’t evaporated.”

A hybrid? Eira muttered something unintelligible again as he sank into deeper thought. Yanu suddenly wondered—if Eira became a magical beast, would he be pleased or despair? Likely the former. Would a day come when he would make Eira into a magical beast?

A dragon can revive their dead mate only once.

All dragons know this. Countless dragons have brought their mates back to life, as remembered through the memories of the dead dragons. The swallowed mate is digested and broken down inside the dragon and then reborn. But they can never be the same again, and the ending is rarely good. Such things usually happen when things take a dark turn—when the mate dies due to the dragon’s mistake, or when the mate, overwhelmed with hatred, takes their own life.

Yanu imagined an end between himself and Eira. If Eira were to grow weary of life, or die in an accident, he would consume him without leaving behind even a bone, a scrap of flesh, or a single drop of blood. In doing so, he instinctively knew that he and Eira would be tied together forever—even after death, they would go to the same place.

Yanu’s red eyes narrowed in thought. That imagined time felt both joyous and strangely hollow.

Anyway, that would be far in the future… Yanu soon erased that strange thought from his mind.

“This is troublesome. I’ve got a backlog of lordly audiences.”

Eira groaned, slumping over his desk. His spirit, trying its hardest to be cute and cheer him up, showed off every bit of charm it could muster. But when its eyes met Yanu’s, its tiny black bean-like eyes narrowed. When Yanu flicked it lightly with a finger, it flattened like a stepped-on bun and quickly dove into Eira’s body.

“Still can’t use magic?”

“It’s unstable.”

Lying flat on the desk with his cheek pressed against it, Eira raised a hand and snapped his fingers. With a crack, the faint outline of his body sharpened through illusion magic, but then fizzled and returned to its vague form.

“Just a bit more, and I think I’ll get the knack for it. Maybe a few more days?”

Eira answered while gazing affectionately at the small magical beasts sleeping soundly on the floor. At that, Yanu felt a violent urge to trample them and snuff out their lives. And he didn’t even feel the need to suppress the impulse.

“I’ll go throw them out.”

“You’re not going to kill them, are you?”

Had he read his thoughts? Yanu glanced over to see the hazy human shape crossing its legs and speaking.

“You don’t need to read minds to know that much.”

It was probably true. Over the past ten years, Yanu had come to understand that Eira didn’t read minds unless necessary. Partly to protect his own psyche, and partly because, as a seasoned Lord, he didn’t need to read minds to figure people out.

“Do you feel sorry for them?”

Yanu smiled, lightly tapping the unconscious magical beasts with his toes. Lately, he had been capable of feeling something like jealousy.

Compared to humans, dragons’ emotions were simple and shallow. It was only after reading Eira’s mind and way of thinking that Yanu began to grasp that comparison. Even so, as time passed, he gradually learned Eira’s emotions.

As a result, he sometimes grew envious of Eira’s cherished vassals—and more so, the magical beasts he studied. For some reason, magical beasts irked him more than humans. Most magical beasts lacked true intelligence or reason, and Eira had no reason to grow attached to one. Still, Yanu couldn’t help it. Perhaps it was because magical beasts and dragons were fundamentally of the same kind.

“They’re a rare species. I haven’t finished studying them yet. I want to observe them again later.”

Rustling gently, Eira coaxed him. As he reached out with a “here,” Yanu instinctively held out his hand. A small pouch of magic stones dropped into his palm. With a short grunt, he cracked one open and chewed it up. He sensed that Eira was quietly pleased.

Unlike humans or animals, dragons could digest almost anything. Their powerful jaws could crush even the toughest magic stones, and their innards could break down and absorb anything. Yanu himself didn’t think much of it, but Eira seemed thrilled whenever his lover ate things no human could.

When Yanu absentmindedly munched on a bag of magic stones or swallowed discarded clothes and random junk Eira had worn or used, Eira would be delighted, saying it made him seem less human.

This is real ASMR mukbang, he once said, for reasons Yanu couldn’t comprehend, and even went so far as to splurge on a gift—a bag of jewels. Though reluctant, Yanu complied just because Eira was so happy over something so trivial. Besides, it wasn’t hard, and the jewels were surprisingly flavourful.

Anyway, Eira usually had a reason when handing him something to eat. He believed Yanu felt better after eating. Yanu didn’t mind this misunderstanding. He did enjoy tasty things. One reason he didn’t slaughter humans or destroy civilizations at will was because of gourmet food. Non-human species can’t refine metals or make steamed buns.

“Alright. I won’t kill them.”

After promising Eira, Yanu stuffed the slowly waking magical beasts back into the sack. He didn’t like the thought of a single magical beast roaming near his domain.

He slung the sack over his shoulder, opened the window, and leapt straight out. Snow whirled upward at his landing. With a single bound, he vaulted over the castle walls. He headed in the opposite direction of the city—to the sheer, snow-covered mountains behind the lord’s castle.

With a body always brimming with heat like molten lava, the snow and cold winter wind were always welcome to him. Without pause, he sprinted beyond his territory. What was once half the size of Solar had grown many times larger as he absorbed the magic stones of other dragons—now it took a long while to traverse. Yanu crossed ridge after razor-sharp mountain ridge until he finally reached land that wasn’t his.

From the sack on his back, the fully awakened magical beasts let out angry howls.

“Let’s see…”

Looking around, his eyes caught a large magical beast. Without hesitation, he threw the sack in that direction. Thud, it landed in the snow, and the small magical beasts wriggled out. But what they were greeted with upon emerging were sharp, enormous claws.

Yanu whistled as the large beast shredded the smaller ones to pieces. As long as he wasn’t the one to kill them, didn’t it count? Once the small beasts were dead, he pounced on the big one that had dared to loiter near his domain. After ending its breath, he tossed the remaining magic stone into his mouth.

He licked the blood off his fingers—it was sweet. The magical beast’s blood evaporated from his tongue, leaving behind a sharp scent.

I wonder if Eira will notice, since he can read minds. That spirit sometimes tattled with too much detail to Eira. But if Eira found out about this… wouldn’t that be fun too?

Yanu still couldn’t forget the day they truly fought. It was a memory he relished just as much as the first time he read Eira’s mind. Ever since, he’d been waiting for another chance—but unless Eira set aside time himself, such moments rarely came…

Since he was already near the borders of his land, Yanu swept through the surrounding magical beasts in one go. Instead of eating the magic stones, he packed them into a sack. About once a month, he hunted magical beasts to contribute to Eira’s personal funds. Magical beasts respawned after being caught, so regular hunting was necessary.

When he returned carrying the heavy sack of stones, it was already past midnight. Soldiers were standing guard on the castle walls, but they didn’t notice the red figure leaping over in a single bound like the wind.

Returning to the bedroom with the cool winter wind still clinging to him, he saw Eira wasn’t there. He set the sack down and paused to think.

The lab? The study? Or maybe he’s sleepwalking again?

His question was soon answered. In the quiet castle, where everyone was asleep, a man’s scream suddenly rang out loudly. Hearing the scream, Yanu instantly changed direction.

Upon arrival, a man was foaming at the mouth, collapsed on the floor. The steward and administrator, who had been working overtime, arrived to find Yanu thoroughly searching the area. While the two confirmed the identity of the unconscious man, Yanu spotted Eira wandering nearby.

“Ah.”

Seeing the unconscious man’s face, Gretel let out a brief sound and flinched. Ginas sighed, pressing his brow as a headache came on.

“Sir Ginas, what should we do? Of all times, the Lord witnessed it…”

“Let’s just send him back and pretend we don’t know.”

“Shall we…”

The experienced steward and administrator, seasoned from ten years of various incidents, smoothly conspired. Meanwhile, Yanu called out to Eira. Even while sleepwalking, Eira sometimes responded to speech.

“Eira, stop wandering around and come down.”

At these words, Ginas furrowed his brow and turned to Yanu. No matter how he looked, there was nowhere in that corridor for someone to be “up.”