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Danielle stared at the ground with a blank expression. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. Keith, however, looked relieved. There was a brilliant smile on his face, and the rushing wind caused his hair to flutter. “It feels good to be alive, doesn’t it?” he asked, turning his head to look at his companion.
Danielle shifted her gaze onto Keith. She was hugging what looked like a pillar with her arms and legs. Although she was being held by Ramon, how could she trust him not to drop her? Even though she was an SSS-ranked adventurer, she was still human. She’d die upon falling from such a terrifying height. “Can you please, shut up?”
Keith, who was being held in Ramon’s other paw, rolled his eyes. “You weren’t tortured previously,” he said. “After having coming this close to death”—he raised his hand and spread his thumb and index finger apart by an inch—“I have a newfound appreciation for life. Shouldn’t I say what’s on my mind when I want to? Who knows when I’ll suddenly lose that ability? Tomorrow, I might not even be alive, so I might as well live today to the fullest.”
Danielle didn’t respond. Upon seeing her pale face, Keith raised an eyebrow. “Are you airsick?”
“What the hell is airsick?” Danielle asked, glaring at Keith.
“You know,” Keith said, gesturing with his arms. “You got seasick while riding on the boat. If you’re feeling the same way while riding on a dragon, we can’t call that seasick, right? It’s airsick.” He paused and furrowed his brow. “Unless the dragon is swimming at sea.”
Danielle shifted her head from the right side of the toe she was holding onto to the left side, effectively blocking Keith from her view. She didn’t want to see his face, much less talk to him at the moment. How could this be called riding a dragon? This was called being caught by a dragon. There was a difference between sitting on a horse’s back and being dragged on the ground by a rope attached to a horse.
“Are you sick?” Ramon asked and raised his left paw up to his face. He stared at Danielle, who was now upside down. “Do you need me to heal you?”
“I need you to not drop me,” Danielle said. After a brief consideration, she added the word, “Please.”
“Don’t worry,” Ramon said, his eyes lighting up. “I have very strong claws. See?” He flipped his leg around so that Danielle was right side up. Then, he opened and closed his paw, causing Danielle to scream.
“Don’t frighten her like that,” Gloria said, causing Ramon to roll his eyes and Danielle to exhale a sigh of relief. However, the cursed dragons next words caused Danielle’s expression to darken. “If you scare her too much, she’ll pee on you.”
“If she does, then I’ll drop her,” Ramon said and snorted, making sure to speak loudly and clearly for Danielle to hear. He looked at the other human he was holding. “Why isn’t this one scared of falling?” Ramon opened his right paw. Unlike Danielle, Keith wasn’t hugging onto one of the dragon’s toes, and upon losing the base he was standing on, he plummeted to the ground. Ramon blinked and swooped down, causing Danielle to scream once more. With a stretch of his front leg, Ramon caught the falling human and flew back up to Gloria’s flying height.
“Hey, hey,” Keith said and stuck his arm out from between Ramon’s toes. He waved at the holy dragon’s face. “Can you be more careful when holding me?”
Ramon tilted his head. Why were the reactions between the two humans so different? “Do humans have different personalities?” he asked and rolled his eyes up to look at Kozabokget.
“Of course, we have different personalities,” Keith said. “Why wouldn’t we?”
“Why would you?” Ramon asked. “Rabbits don’t have different personalities.”
“What?” Keith frowned. “That doesn’t sound right.”
“No, it’s true,” Ramon said. “All rabbits react the same way when I bite their tails off.”
Keith’s eye twitched. “Why are you biting the tails off of rabbits?”
Ramon tilted his head again. “Because they’re round and fuzzy?”
“How is that a reason?” Keith shook his head. “Alright, well, humans have different personalities, and”—he looked at Gloria—“so do dragons. Now that you know that, maybe you’ll treat humans better in the future?”
Ramon snorted. “I don’t treat humans poorly,” he said. “Before, I was just checking to see if you were alive.”
“Did you forget why you humans came to this land?” Kozabokget asked, leaning over Ramon’s head to look at Keith. “You wanted to hunt a dragon. How can you ask a dragon to treat humans nicely in the future?”
A sheepish smile appeared on Keith’s face. “Well, some humans don’t hunt dragons,” he said. “So, maybe, don’t let this be your first impression of humans?” He shrugged and glanced to his left, but he couldn’t see Danielle’s face. He cleared his throat and looked back up at Ramon. “Anyway, where are you taking us?”
“We’re going to take you—”
“Don’t,” Kozabokget said, interrupting Ramon. “Humans are tricky. These two might have a way to communicate with the other humans from far away. If you tell them your plans, then the other humans might find out and ruin everything.”
Meanwhile, back at the palace, Gren received another message from the air beside her. Kal turned his head and looked at his mate. “What’re you listening to?” he asked and leaned over. There was a faint whisper, but he couldn’t decipher any words.
“It’s nothing much,” Gren said. “Kozabokget said humans landed on the continent. Ramon and Gloria are heading over to observe them.”
“Is that safe?” Kal asked, raising an eyebrow. “Should we watch over them?”
“They’ll be fine,” Gren said and shook her head. “It’s good for them to learn on their own every once in a while. If they get into any real danger, Kozabokget will let me know.” A sigh escaped from the cursed dragon’s mouth. “If only Ramon would show as much enthusiasm for his studies though.”