The Sea of Life.
"Ian—"
"Ian—"
Tiamat's calls echoed across the surface of the sea.
Waking up, she discovered that the son she had so painstakingly raised had left her.
It hadn't been a dream.
He had truly crossed time and space, flying away from the Sea of Life.
"ROOOAAR—!!!"
Tiamat let out a furious roar.
The once perfectly calm Sea of Life began to churn violently.
"I will find you!"
"You are MINE!"
"NO ONE can take you from my side!"
Tiamat's roars gradually turned into a sorrowful wail.
It was a sound that would fill anyone who heard it with immense sadness.
Meanwhile..
In a forest in Britain.
Artoria was staring, dumbfounded, at the scene before her.
She had originally brought Ian here to chop firewood.
But now—
The axe had been cast aside.
In its place was a far more efficient method.
Dust floated past Artoria's eyes; it was soil that had fallen from the roots.
The boy, shouldering the tree, looked at her without expression.
"Is this alright?"
"Artoria."
"Eh, this..."
Looking at the tree that Ian had torn out by the roots, Artoria patted her own cheeks.
"Y-Yes, that's fine."
"Good."
CRASH.
Ian threw the uprooted tree to the ground, where it landed with a deafening thud.
"Is there anything else to do?"
"..."
"Could you break it into smaller pieces?" Artoria asked cautiously.
"No problem."
CRACK—
CRACK—
The sound of splintering wood followed.
Completely forgoing the use of an axe, Ian showed Artoria what it meant to break wood with one's bare hands.
The wood, which had once seemed so impossibly tough, was now incredibly fragile in his hands.
A task that should have taken an hour would now probably be done in just over ten minutes, wouldn't it?
"I didn't realize you were so strong—"
Suddenly finding herself with nothing to do, Artoria clasped her hands behind her back.
"Is it from training?"
"No."
"I've always been this way."
Ian said, all while continuing his work.
But suddenly, as if he had realized something, he stopped.
He turned back to look at Artoria and asked:
"Being like this... does it seem strange?"
"Like I can't fit in with the rest of you."
"Eh?"
She hadn't expected Ian to ask such a thing at all.
But looking into his incredibly pure eyes, Artoria hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"A little bit, yes."
"After all—"
The young woman glanced at the tree that Ian had torn out with his bare hands, now lying on the ground, and couldn't help but feel a little awkward.
"Normal people... don't do this."
What Artoria didn't expect was that the moment she finished speaking, Ian lifted her up.
To be precise, he had grabbed her under her arms, on her left and right, and hoisted her into the air.
"Then, Artoria, tell me what to do."
"What must I do to be like all of you?"
"..."
Meeting Ian's gaze, Artoria felt her heart begin to race.
"Y-You don't have to do anything!"
"Don't have to do anything?"
"That's right!"
Artoria nodded.
"Why should you have to force yourself to do anything?"
"Everyone is different. Doing what you want to do, that's what's right, isn't it?"
"Otherwise, wouldn't everyone be exactly the same?"
"..."
Listening to Artoria's words, Ian's gaze slowly drifted downwards, finally settling on her chest, which could only be described as 'cute'.
"Do what I want to do—"
"Not that!"
Instantly realizing what Ian meant, Artoria pushed away his approaching head.
"I only made an exception and allowed it that one time to save you."
"The bite mark you left is still there!"
"So it's absolutely not allowed!"
"Is that so..."
Ian's eyes grew a little downcast.
He really did want to do it.
But realizing Artoria was unwilling, he held himself back.
"Don't be like that..."
Sensing his obvious dejection, Artoria started to feel guilty.
"While that's not okay, other things could be considered."
"Other things?"
"Mm, for example, besides this... this special hobby, there must be other things you want to do, right?"
The moment Artoria said this, she felt something pressing against her stomach.
That familiar warmth, that familiar shape.
She knew what it was.
"No!"
Artoria began to struggle.
"Why is your mind filled with only these things!"
"Isn't there anything else?"
"I don't know."
Ian shook his head.
But his eyes never left Artoria.
"The moment I see you, I get this urge."
"It seems..."
"I've troubled you."
"I should say 'sorry,' right?"
So polite, yet at the same time, his mind was full of absurd things.
Artoria couldn't for the life of her understand how these two traits could be mixed together in the same person.
He was like a gentlemanly beast, displaying its instincts.
"Forget it..."
"I can see you're not doing it on purpose."
Artoria glanced at the logs that Ian had already processed.
That was supposed to be her job.
"Let's just say that... what happened just now was a reward for all the work you've done today."
"But!"
"You stop right now!"
Can he really stop?
Even as she said it, Artoria had no confidence at all.
She could feel that his way of thinking was completely different from her own.
Right now...
He was already holding her like this.
Could he really stop just because she said so?
What if, in a moment, he just pushed down with both hands...
Wouldn't she just...
A storm raged in the young woman's mind.
However, things did not develop as Artoria had feared.
Ian quickly put Artoria down.
He continued with his previous work until he had torn the entire tree into usable firewood.
"Is this alright?"
"Mm... that should be enough."
"So, where are we going next?"
"Let's go home."
"This is enough firewood to last a long time."
Everything seemed remarkably calm.
So much so that Artoria had the mistaken impression that she had just satisfied Ian somehow.
She wanted to say something, but nothing would come out.
She remained silent all the way back to the village entrance.
Artoria noticed the villagers were all gathered together, discussing something.
And her own brother, Kay, was among them.
"Brother Kay—"
"What's going on?"
"Oh, it's a rather ominous prophecy."
"A prophecy?"
"Mm."
Kay nodded.
"A new king is about to appear."