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“On three,” Stella said and raised a pointed stick. “One. Two. Three!” She jabbed the stick down, right onto Vur’s snot bubble. With a splat, it popped open and landed on the ground. Vur’s nostrils twitched, and he sniffled a few times. Moments later, a massive sneeze rang out, and Stella tumbled over despite floating in the air.
Vur’s right eye creaked open, and his golden irises shifted to-and-fro. “Tafel’s here?” Vur asked and yawned before wiping at his nose with the back of his front paw. He picked out his eye boogers and blinked a few times. “Prika?” he asked upon noticing the massive red dragon sleeping next to him. “Where’s everyone else? How long was I asleep?”
Stella righted herself and flew towards Vur’s face. “You were asleep for about a month, maybe more. None of us really kept track since time doesn’t matter too much.” She nodded. “Anyway, you said to wake you up when Tafel came, but I woke you up earlier even though she’s not here. There’s something you have to solve, Vur.”
Vur yawned again and stretched his front paws, nearly destroying a few buildings that had been erected in front of him. He frowned and sat up, resting on his haunches. His head swiveled back and forth, viewing the city that had been built around him. “I thought I fell asleep in an open field. Did Prika move me and my statue?” Before Stella could respond, Vur nudged Prika’s shoulder with his paw, partially lifting her torso off the ground.
“Wuh?” Prika groaned and took in a long sip, sucking in part of the drool leaking from her lips. She wiped at the corner of her mouth with her paw. “Vur? Good morning.” She yawned and rolled over onto her back, stretching out her limbs in all directions. Her tail extended and dipped into the lake, and she let out a short yelp, flinging water through the air as she brought her tail up. She curled up into a ball and let herself fall onto her side, hugging her hindlegs with her front paws. “You’re finally awake. Does that mean Tafel’s here? Can we go home? I have to beat up Sung.”
Vur blinked. Stella cleared her throat. “We told her the situation,” she said and nodded. “And I said there’s something you have to solve!”
Vur blinked again. “What?”
Stella pointed, and Vur’s gaze followed her finger. At a temple, there were dozens of white-skinned people forming a neat line. They didn’t wear much, only a few pieces of cloth to cover their loins. Their bodies were covered with injuries, and native men were forcing them to march towards Vur, keeping them in line with stone spears. Vur blinked. “I have to heal these people too? I thought I cured everyone already.”
“No,” Stella said and shook her head. “Don’t you recognize those people? They’re from the same nation as the ones that tried to attack you with the horses and armor, remember? They totally look the same.”
Vur furrowed his brow. “I was attacked?” he asked and scratched his head.
Stella’s face turned expressionless. “It wasn’t even that long ago,” she said. “You had just started flying around. A bunch of knights charged at you. Deedee stopped them with a wall of earth. Does any of this ring a bell?”
“Nope.”
Stella sighed. “Well, maybe it just wasn’t important enough for you to remember,” she said and shook her head. “However, I remember it like it happened yesterday. Anyways, according to the spirit animals, these people come from across the ocean. Do you know what that means? There’s another landmass you can explore, and Tafel’s likely to be on it! Oh, and your subjects expect you to do something to those attackers.”
Vur rubbed his chin. These people attacked his people. Wait, when did he get new people? All he did was leave statues behind. “My subjects?”
“Yep,” Stella said. “They created roads between all the statues you left, and they’re the ones that built this city around you while you slept. They treat you like a god: they leave gifts for you; they dance for you; they sing for you; they bleed themselves for you; and they pray to you every day.” She nodded. “Everyone’s been giving them buffs, including those spirit animals you ate. Even Zilphy enchanted their weapons, and we all know how stingy she is with her mana.”
“I’m not stingy! I’m frugal!”
Stella cleared her throat. “So, that being said, these people are your followers now. They’ve gotten really strong too with all the spirit animals and elementals chipping in. I bet ten of them can beat Alice in a fight if they work together.” Her eyes glistened, and she clasped her hands in front of her chest. “Can we keep them? Let’s bring them back with us when we go home.”
Vur rubbed his eyes with his paws again before letting out another yawn. “Let’s find Tafel first before deciding on that,” he said. “If Sung’s portal can teleport all of them, I don’t mind.” He narrowed his eyes at the captives of war, who were being forced even closer to him. “As for these people….” He tilted his head. “What do I do with them?”
“I know!” Prika said, her eyes lighting up. “You can force them into writing romance novels for me to read. I bet they know stories I’ve never heard before since this is a whole different world. You’re not going to do anything with them, right? Why not give them to me?”
“If you want them,” Vur said and shrugged. “I just need one of them to tell me how to get to that other landmass. According to the plan, I should stay put after making a mess, but Tafel’s taking a really long time. I think it’ll be faster if we find her ourselves.”
A cute rabbit’s head popped out of Vur’s snout, and he crossed his eyes to look at it. The rabbit waved its paws up and down before tilting its head to the side.
“You want me to bring my subjects too?” Vur frowned. “Dragons don’t carry random people.”
The rabbit wiggled its ears.
Vur narrowed his eyes. “I guess I could do that.” He nodded after a bit. “Yeah, sure, that works.”
“Are you talking to food?” Prika asked, raising an eyebrow.
Vur blinked at the rabbit before looking at Prika. “That was weird. For a second, I thought it wasn’t food.”