After passing the first checkpoint in the southwestern territory four days later, Ryuu ended up staking out in the forest near the mansion. The place was pretty empty, having only a few guards outside. According to the info Ryuu had received, there weren't any inside.
'The prince is trying to hide.'
As he should, given his foolish endeavor.
But he didn't let go of security entirely. The prince hired a personal guard after dismissing the royal guards. One guard to replace fifty. So the organization recorded the guard to be stronger than fifty guards combined.
'That's an obvious exaggeration, but who knows? There's a dragon egg involved after all. Anything could happen.'
Considering there were still about 26 days left until the deadline, Ryuu chose to take the safe route and be as cautious as possible.
Well, at least it was the initial plan. After lurking around the forest and spying for two days, Ryuu was contemplating his choices.
It wasn't that the plan wasn't working. The problem was of a different kind.
The world of KS was diverse in every sense of the word. From people to animals, terrains to lifestyles, there were countless variations. Talking about forests alone, the Yinistia continent had over two hundred areas comprising small to large-sized forests and groves. Each with at least one unique feature. Some were filled with deathly poisonous plants, and some had monsters. There was one in the north known for being haunted, while many were too dangerous and yet to be explored.
This small woodland Ryuu was holed up in was not of that kind; likely on the opposite end of the scale. Other than being too dense for a forest with only fifty acres in area, there were no other dangers.
But this density had attracted some annoying creatures here. Such as the royal family, who built a castle at the edge of the forest. And the cotton fairies swarming around him.
At least there weren't mosquitoes.
Ryuu wished it were mosquitoes instead; at least he'd be able to get rid of them then. But that wasn't the case for these creatures. On top of being harmless, they were just too adorable. The latter, that is. Ryuu would probably kill whoever lived in the mansion for a potion manual.
The multicolored cotton fairies followed him around the place, no matter where he went. The largest one was three inches, and the rest fluctuated between one to two inches in size. So they weren't too noticeable on their own, but hard to ignore when in a group. The cotton-like creatures were known for being intelligent. Despite being unable to talk, they had an innate ability to assess other creatures. Some were even capable of gauging a person's strength and personality and thus didn't interact with humans easily.
So, being the center of their attention was probably a once-in-a-lifetime incident. Most people would consider it an honor.
Ryuu wasn't most people. He was an assassin on a mission who didn't want to be under even one gaze, let alone so many of them. He wasn't soft enough to happily welcome these creatures into his circle, nor harsh enough to scare them away. So the last two days had been an endless cycle of him waving away cottons from his line of sight as he went about his daily schedule.
To add to his dismay, his observation for these two days was not fruitful. He'd been taking advantage of the density to observe the castle from outside, but there wasn't much to gather other than the prince's daily routine. The guard followed the prince around most of the time, but nothing about the guard was discernible from a distance. Their whole body was covered in a dark cloak much like Ryuu',s and their movements left no gaps. Ryuu wouldn't be surprised if the guard was an assassin as well.
But that wasn't possible. All the assassins on this continent were under the same organization. This was to avoid random conflicts. Some worked independently, and some whose identities weren't clear even to the organization, such as Aoi's. But in the end, they were all part of GREY.
GREY held an account of all tasks to avoid mix-ups. That's why, even if the other person was currently the enemy, as long as he was an assassin, Ryuu would have been informed beforehand due to the severity of the mission.
Anyhow, because Ryuu couldn't figure out the guard's strength, he couldn't take a step. Otherwise, he would have snuck inside the castle by now.
If he had to wait another few days like this, he would be driven to craze by the swarm of cottons, and later he'd be killed by a dragon because he failed to meet the deadline.
He shuddered just from the thought of it. 'Why do I have the worst luck? Just how long do I wait?'
Fortunately or unfortunately, luck shone upon him that very evening. The prince, along with his guard, left the castle for some business, and they didn't seem to have taken the egg along.
This wasn't just speculation. Moving around with a dragon egg wasn't an easy feat. Looking aside from the size of it, the unborn child emitted an aura that attracted many troubles.
'I guess he didn't fall that low on the idiocy scale.'
Hoping for the best, Ryuu sneaked into the castle.
Just as he had known, there was no one inside. Not a guard, maid, or cook. 'How is the prince even getting by? Overworked employees or whatever, royalty is still royalty.'
Due to the lack of personnel, the castle was dusty and covered in spiderwebs, as if left unattended for over a year. Only the rooms in use were in livable condition. Following these traces, Ryuu located the dragon egg soon enough.
The room was cleaner than the rest, as if it were cleaned regularly. At the center of the room, a round, dark blue object was placed on a heap of cushions.
'How do I carry it?' It was quite a long way to the destination. If he took it just like that, it was sure to draw in trouble no matter how careful he was. The cotton fairies already circling around it were proof of that.
'Should I put it in the inventory?'
[Living beings cannot be stored inside the inventory.]
'Is it possible to shrink it?'
[You do not have the resources for that.]
'Give me a good idea then!'
[. . .]
After considering the odds, Ryuu finally approached the egg, deciding the think about the rest later.
But since when did his plans go well?
Before he could pick it up, something flew by his nose, grazing the mask and the robe. If he hadn't moved back by reflex, it would have gone right through his head. 'Damn it!'
"Who are you? How did you get in?"
'How is that a valid question? There was literally no one to stop me.'
The prince ran forward while shouting, the person who threw the knife right behind, ready to throw another.
'I know I'm not supposed to harm him unless the situation is dire, but isn't it dire enough?'
[Do not look for excuses to kill the crown prince.]
'I'm not! It's just— Ryuu's argument came to a halt the moment his eyes landed on the guard, who had been hidden behind the robe thus far. The robe only managed to hide him from the side. From the front, Ryuu finally got to see he face of the mystery guard.
Taking advantage of his distraction, the prince made his way to the egg and took it in his arms.
The three stood opposite one another, as if unsure of what to do next, frozen in time.
Ryuu was very surprised to find his game friend from the past at this place, but didn't give in to impulse as his job required him to maintain utmost secrecy. On the other hand, the prince didn't waver from his act of hugging the dragon egg to destruction.
Ryuu was the first to speak up after regaining his composure. "Your Highness, I don't know what you were thinking, nor do I want to know. But the egg needs to be returned to its rightful place. Otherwise, no one in this part of the continent would survive."
[Please do not speak in one breath.]
He spoke calmly, albeit without any proper explanation, as they should know that much. But the system seemed to have a problem with everything he did.
"What do you know?" The prince said, accusingly. Emotions were clear on his face. "I'd rather die than give it up? Dying by a dragon's hand would be an honor!"
'Dragons have hands? I thought they had claws or forelegs?'
[You don't need to nitpick about every detail.]
'You think so? YOU?'
[. . .]
"Like I said, I know nothing except that you cannot keep the egg in either case," Ryuu said flatly. "Die if you will, but why take the whole country with you?"
"If there's no kingdom, there's nothing to rule."
'What kind of logic is that? You'll be dead anyway!'
Ryuu wanted to tell the 25-year-old child that it didn't work like that, but decided against it. 'Arguing with him will be a waste of time.'
He understood that the royalty had it pretty bad, but was that even a real problem? People joked around about how the king had to tie his firstborn down to the throne. They had this unhealthy desire to escape their bloodline. The crown prince, Askr, was standing as proof of it.
If people could joke about it, how can it be considered a real problem? Like, first-world problems were not pitiable.
But whatever the case, this was something too extreme. "K- Mr guard, you should understand what I mean, right?" Ryuu turned to him for opinion, or rather, support. "This is a self-destructive act. It can't go like this."
It didn't seem like Ryuu's words reached his ears. He remained as he was, as if none of it was his concern.
Ryuu was 98% sure about the guard's identity. He had met the guy in the game countless times. There was no doubt, appearance-wise.
But now wasn't the time for a reunion.
'They'd better raise my pay.' Ryuu didn't have the patience to deal with this bizarre situation. He didn't know how to without shedding blood.
But he didn't want to hurt his friend, who was protecting the target, either. The target who would rather get killed by a dragon than take the throne.
'There's a deadline to be met for God's sake!'
'At this rate, the continent would be destroyed way before Kyros loses his temper!'
[Circumstances have brought a change to the threshold.
Updating.]
Ryuu turned his attention to the screen.
[Kyros is about to lose a key act because of the dragon race. If left unattended, the dragon race would meet an end at his hands. Your survival might be compromised.]
Ryuu frowned. 'What are you saying in the middle of what? I thought I was saving the kingdom?'
'And when was my survival not compromised? You think I don't know that?'
The system ignored his complaints.
[Mission: Reshape past relations and find a way to save everyone. Your secrets needn't be yours alone when humanity is in danger.]
Ryuu stared at the screen for a while, trying to make sense of it until it finally clicked.
'Wait. Are you telling me to reveal my identity?'
[If necessary, yes.]
'Just how severe is the case that I have to jeopardize my safety for it?'
Ryuu weighed his odds before approaching the guard in swift motion, landing right in front of him, and pulling down his mask before he was attacked.
There was a good chance he wouldn't be recognized, but an equal chance that he would. After all, although it wasn't the same character, he looked the same, minus the hair and eye color.
'Though I doubt he pays attention to how people look.'
And the system told him to, so it was worth a shot. If it backfired, he could always find a disguise.
"Kai," Ryuu called out.
The other person was staring at him more intently than a few minutes back, as if trying to decide whether to kill or not.
"You might not remember me, or recognize me, but now's not the time to stare me down," Ryuu said, whatever came to his mind.
'Please don't backfire. Please don't fail.' Ryuu began to pray inwardly.
The dark eyes looking down at him shook for a moment so short that Ryuu didn't notice. "You…Ryuu?"
An unknown kind of weight lifted off his chest after hearing the low voice, and he smiled instinctively.
This was the only person in the whole of KS who knew him by this name other than the system. "Thank goodness! I thought you wouldn't remember me." He pulled up his mask. "Help out an old friend, ok? I can't fulfill my mission otherwise. I know I shouldn't bother with your tasks, but if this goes on, everyone will be doomed."
"Because of the dragon?"
"Yeah." Ryuu wasn't counting on Kai's help, but his indifference. If he just looked the other way, Ryuu could find a way to snatch the egg and leave. So his next words were unexpected.
"Hand over the egg to him." Kai raised his sword towards the prince. Ryuu didn't expect him to turn against his employer so fast. Askr backed away.
"I won't." Askr didn't seem shocked by the betrayal. Kai was about to attack, but Ryuu stepped in.
"Your Highness, you can't keep a dragon," he remarked. "You probably think that by raising a dragon you can escape from your duty. But even if you insist on that, the dragon might just kill you as soon as it hatches."
"You're just assuming things!" Askr retorted.
"Denying it doesn't change the fact that it's possible. We can't let you risk the whole kingdom for your speculation." Pause, "Maybe I can find you a different way to escape."
For a moment, the prince seemed to have believed him, "You say you can, but what can you really do? I—"
"I can most definitely kill you." His next words threw everyone off guard. A dead silence fell onto the room for a moment before Ryuu coughed and added, "I can make it seem like you're dead."
[. . .]
Despite being taken aback, the prince inquired back. "Can you really? Would you do that for me?"
'No, I'll do it for the mission.'
"If—" But the words didn't find their end, interrupted by a cracking sound. All three eyes shifted to the blue object.
'Oh no…'
"That's unexpected." Ryuu agreed with Kai's words.
However, the one closest to the object—slash that—lifeform, was quietly looking at it as though all else had vanished. Like they weren't talking about his survival a moment ago.
Ryuu had seen a similar gaze somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.
A small paw broke out of the shell. Ryuu tried to go forward, fearing the worst, but Kai stopped him. One by one, all four paws broke out of the shell, followed by the tail, and at last, the head. The blue shards dropped to the ground, and a blue creature emerged from within, still in the arms of its thief.
'Forget faking death. He's already dead.' Ryuu was worried. A tiny bit about Askr's safety, but mostly about what would happen with the mission and how he was supposed to get it done now.
But the person in question didn't show any rash movements and stood calmly, with the newborn in hand, looking at it with fascination.
Ryuu was about to jump in, but was stopped again. "Wait."
The dragon flew up, shrugging off the remaining shards.
'It can fly so soon?'
The dragon looked down at the prince, as if analyzing him. Askr also didn't look away. The two stared at each other like that for a while before the blue reptile flew down and settled onto the other's head.
And that's it. There was no freaking out. No attacking. It was, in a sense, comical, if anything. The hatchling used the closest thing to a nest, the prince's head, to sit down instead of the arranged roll-proof bed.
"What just happened?" The prince finally spoke up after a few minutes of dumbfounded silence.
'Is it what I think it is?'
Imprinting was common for many creatures. Taking the first animal or person they saw as their guardian and following them around was perhaps a genetic habit for them.
However, it was very rare for intelligent creatures, almost impossible for dragons, but it wasn't out of the question. Choosing a human as their guardian, though? Ryuu wasn't sure.
He wouldn't have jumped to that conclusion if the screen hadn't appeared again.
[You have witnessed a dragon's first moments of life.]
[A rare phenomenon has happened.]
The prince just had half of his wish fulfilled. Whether the young dragon had accepted him as a guardian or a plaything, he would still be under its protection.
But this didn't solve Ryuu's or the kingdom's problem in the slightest.
[However, the problem is yet to be solved. But it hasn't gone out of hand.
Quest: Figure out a way to pacify the situation.
Good luck.]
Ryuu wanted to break the screen that liked to speak the obvious in times of crisis.
Alas, that wasn't possible.