The sunlight glinted off the snow, so bright it was almost blinding.
By noon, Andrew had already returned from the adventurer guild with a task in hand.
The process? What process could there be? It’s just picking something suitable out of a pile of tasks. Without Christina by his side, everything went smoothly. It seemed she really had been blacklisted by the adventurer hall.
"Upsides and downsides, I suppose. But overall, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."
"Rebuilding a reputation isn’t easy, but is finding an obedient dragon easy?"
"At least rebuilding a reputation is possible. It just takes a bit of effort and time. In a small place , there’s nothing I can’t accomplish. But finding an obedient dragon?"
"Haha, that’s absolutely impossible. Scour the entire continent and you won’t find one. Dragons are never obedient, especially not to a Blood Elf."
"Speaking of which, I still don’t understand how a dragon could grow up to be like her. Didn’t her parents teach her how to be a proper dragon?"
"Who knows? If you pick something up, do you bother figuring out who dropped it? Hahaha."
Raising an eyebrow, Andrew extended his hand and gently pushed open the door to his home.
"You’re finally back!" Before Andrew could react, Christina had already darted over, throwing herself into his arms with a tight hug.
Uh... thank goodness she was in her human form. If she were in her dragon form, they’d be done for.
Sunlight slanted in through the window.
Andrew sat in the room, silently eating his lunch. Across from him, Christina was staring at him with an entranced smile.
She had been since he came through the door.
"I was afraid I might mess it up, so I went to Lady Lida for advice. I even borrowed the plates and cutlery from her. I thought you might not be used to metal utensils. I heard elves usually use wooden ones."
"Actually, elves sometimes use metal too. It’s the dwarves who prefer wood. Probably because they’re so sick of seeing metal all the time from forging."
"Aren’t you going to eat too?"
Christina continued staring at Andrew, grinning nonstop, her gaze...
Uh, Andrew was starting to feel a little uneasy. Was she planning to fatten him up and eat him after he was full? Whoa... that thought was a bit terrifying. Could it be that she’d been feigning ignorance all this time just to... fatten him up like in those fairy tales about wicked witches?
Once the idea crossed his mind, Andrew suddenly found the beef on his plate less appetizing and started feeling a tad anxious.
"I’m full." Andrew silently laid down his knife and fork, picking up a napkin to wipe his mouth.
"But you’ve barely eaten. I made so much."
"I’m really full. Elves don’t eat a lot to begin with. What, are you trying to make me burst?"
"Alright then..." Christina pouted, furrowing her brows with a tinge of disappointment. But after a moment, she was smiling again, her eyes continuing to lock onto Andrew.
Andrew was starting to feel his scalp tingle under her unrelenting gaze.
After all, she was a dragon... Who wouldn’t feel uneasy being stared down by a dragon?
Uh... maybe Gray wouldn’t care, since he doesn’t have a scalp.
"Ahem!" Andrew cleared his throat twice and softly asked, "Mind telling me why you’re in such a good mood?"
At his question, Christina blinked in surprise, her smile faltering for a moment. After some thought, she replied, "Because you’re back."
"Yeah, your return is the happy thing."
"Are you feeling unwell? I can use healing magic, let me help—"
"No! No! I’m fine, really. Just choked a bit." Taking a couple of breaths, Andrew focused his gaze on Christina, who was still smiling like a fool, and asked, "So, can you tell me why my return makes you... this happy?"
As she stared at Andrew, Christina’s smile gradually dimmed and was replaced by a trace of melancholy. After a long silence, she forced another weak smile, lowering her head as she murmured, "I just feel happy whenever you’re back."
"Were you afraid I wouldn’t come back?"
Christina hesitated, dazed, and then nodded faintly.
Christina gazed at Andrew with round, expectant eyes but didn’t answer.
"Alright, I get it." Taking a deep breath, Andrew softly asked, "You used to have members in your mercenary group, didn’t you? Did they all leave this way?"
"Yeah." Christina nodded, biting her lip and stammering, "They all said they had something to do, then left... and never came back. So I was really scared that the Guard Commander told you about my past, and you wouldn’t come back either. If that happened, I’d be alone again."
How pathetic could this dragon be?
Andrew couldn’t help feeling exasperated.
But then again, for ordinary humans, the choice to leave was obvious. Why become a mercenary? For money, of course. Who does it for dreams? Following Christina, they couldn’t even get a task, so where would the money come from?
Locking eyes with Christina for a long moment, Andrew finally said softly, "I won’t leave, at least not now. The Guard Commander indeed told me everything about you, but I don’t see any issues."
"Really?" Christina’s eyes widened in astonishment.
"Of course. Have I ever lied to you?"
"Well then, there you go." Andrew raised an eyebrow slightly, spreading his hands.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" Christina seemed ready to leap across the table at him again. Alarmed, Andrew shot his hands up to stop her.
Watching Andrew, Christina’s eyes sparkled with emotion, tears welling up within them.