Then, Astrophe laughed softly and said.

-You pretend to be naive, but you know what you need to know, girl. That's right, absolute rule is all about suppressing conflicts through fear.

Astrophe looked at Rosaria and asked.

-Isn't that the ultimate peace you want?

At Astrophe's question, Rosaria closed her eyes and tilted her head.

Rosaria opened her eyes wide and said to Astrophe.

"I don't know."

-Why don't you know?

"Because I'm 11 years old. And I'm a fool!"

-Is that something to be proud of?

"I get angry when Yuria teases me for being a fool. But that's who I am!"

She has ambitions, but she doesn't deny herself.

Saying so, Rosaria unwrapped the sandwich and showed it to him.

"I don't know what a truly happy world is like, but I want to create a world like this sandwich!"

-A world like a sandwich?

"You see, you can't eat a sandwich separately. If you eat the bread alone, your mouth gets dry. If you eat lettuce separately, it's tasteless. If you eat ham separately, it's very salty! But when they all come together, they become a delicious sandwich!"

-A world like a sandwich...

Astrophe could understand what she meant by a sandwich-like world.

But would everyone be happy when such a world comes?

Isn't the happiness of this continent to control everything under absolute power and rule?

Astrophe was curious.

What kind of world was the sandwich-like world she talked about?

He felt that he could quench his thirst only if he tasted it a little.

-The moment has come when I have to change my mind for the first and last time.

Astrophe dropped his head next to Rosaria and said.

-Can I take back the sandwich you said you'd give me?

"Mister, you said it wouldn't even fill your stomach?"

-Even if my body is this big, I can at least taste it.

"Rosaria wanted to eat it all by myself..."

Rosaria hid the sandwich in her arms with a playful smile.

Then, as if reluctantly, she unwrapped the sandwich and handed it to Astrophe, who was standing in front of her.

The huge tongue, bigger than Rosaria's body, wrapped around the small sandwich.

Astrophe closed his eyes and tasted the sandwich, rolling it on his tongue.

-A world like a sandwich...

Astrophe felt like he could understand what that world would be like.

-It's a shame I can't see it with my own eyes.

"Why can't you?"

-Because when that time comes, I won't be here.

"That's not true! You can live a long life and see it together!"

-Do you want me to live?

"Of course! If you die, someone will definitely be sad."

At those words, Astrophe's face hardened.

Feeling the cold atmosphere, Rosaria looked up at him.

-Someone would be sad... There's no one left like that now.

People who would be sad.

If there were any, it would have been his brothers.

But they were all killed by Roderick, so there was no one left.

Astrophe was alone.

His last fate was to be a subject of research for other magicians in a blocked space.

Rosaria could feel Astrophe's loneliness. The emotion was so heartbreaking that she became solemn as well.

And with a determined, energetic gaze, she looked up at him and shouted.

"I'll be sad for you!"

-You're serious?

"Yes! If you die, I'll be sad for you. So you have to live a long life!"

-Hahahaha! You're a funny child. Everyone hated me, but you're willing to be sad for me. What kind of comedy is this?

After a burst of laughter, Rosaria looked up at Astrophe with a sheepish expression.

-Thank you. It's an honor to have someone cry for me.

"Hmph! I won't do it again."

Even if he wanted it again, that day wouldn't come.

Astrophe knew that fact.

Death is an inevitable fate. It's not something that can be changed or resisted because it is an absolute destiny.

***

* * *

Dream big tl dot com

***

The middle-aged man felt as if he was dreaming, even with his eyes open.

The moment unfolding before him right now

His broken house.

The messy floor.

And the unidentified boy standing in the middle of it all.

That boy was the one who had made his house like this.

The middle-aged man looked up at the boy as he crouched down, and the boy looked down at him.

"What on earth is going on? Who are you to do such a thing in my house?"

When he asked, the boy chuckled.

"Roderick Astheria. Or is 'Shadow' more familiar to you?"

"Shadow? That nickname is... Don't tell me, from the Academy...!!"

There was only one classmate he called that.

"Do you get it now?"

"But you... You should have been dead!"

"Is that important? It's important that I'm alive and seeing you now."

Roderick smiled.

Seeing that smile, the middle-aged man felt uncomfortable.

"I heard you committed suicide while studying dragons... So that was just a cover. You had already let your soul inhabit a completed body?"

"There's no need to talk about it now. That's not important anyway."

"Then what is important?"

Roderick raised his hand and scratched his cheek.

His hand, with white scales and sharp nails, couldn't be called a human hand.

"They say personal emotions disappear when you become a dragon. You become a rational being with a single purpose, right?"

"So what?"

"But my personal emotions didn't disappear. The first thing that boiled up was the suppressed desire for revenge."

"Do you still remember that time?"

The middle-aged man looked up at Roderick, surprised.

Roderick's expression became distorted as if the memory of that time was revived.

"So you want me to apologize?"

The middle-aged man asked Roderick.

"No. You should have apologized a long time ago."

"So... this is revenge."

At that, the middle-aged man's face lost its confusion.

Now that he heard it was all for revenge, he calmed down.

"It's truly pathetic."

At the middle-aged man's words, Roderick's eyebrows twitched.

"What?"

"Although I did torment you, I also helped you as a fellow magician and classmate. I provided whatever you needed for your research. What did you do for me in return? Did you ever come to me and talk about that day?"

"Back then, you treated me like an insect! I remember it clearly with my own eyes!"

"Did I? I never looked down on you even once. I didn't admire you either, I just treated you as a fellow classmate. But you didn't think so. In the end, you hid your true feelings and only now, after so much time has passed, do you explode like this? It's truly pathetic. I thought you had grown up, but just like your body, you were an immature child."

"Shut up."

"Show me your face."

The middle-aged man's gaze changed.

Roderick's expression distorted.

"This is the look of contempt for you."

Crack-.

The floor shattered, and the walls cracked.

Soon, the middle-aged man's face broke too.

Snap!

With an exploding sound, only a bloodstain remained where the middle-aged man had been sitting.

It didn't even take 0.1 seconds for his body to disappear.

"...Damn."

Roderick belatedly realized he had made a mistake.

Originally, he planned to use the man's wife and son for revenge.

He intended to make the man beg for mercy, but unknowingly killed him in one blow.

There was nothing he could do since not even a single piece of flesh was left to use necromancy.

Roderick's face changed to emotionless in an instant.

His burning emotions turned into an ice-cold state.

"There's nothing I can do."

Roderick pointed at a part of the mansion that had not yet collapsed.

The cracks spread like spiderwebs, and the room collapsed in an instant.

A faint scream buried in the rubble.

Roderick's childhood revenge ended there.

'But why did I come here in the first place?'

Roderick thought about the starting point of this revenge play.

And he realized he was doing this to find the last remaining dragon.

'Where is the Green Dragon, Astrophe?'

He had tried to gather information to find his whereabouts, and in the process, past events had come to mind.

Roderick had thought, 'Might as well get it all out while I'm at it,' and acted on his thoughts.

'It didn't go as planned, but it's refreshing.'

Roderick thought so.

He didn't doubt that he had a completely different nature from the rational dragons.

Roderick completely destroyed the broken mansion.

After turning the mansion into ruins in one breath, Roderick disappeared without a trace.

***

Silence Tower, in front of the office.

While working as a secretary, Phoebe received an unexpected call.

-Imperial Communication Officer, Ivan Hux.

"Silence Tower, Deputy Tower Master Phoebe Astheria Roton. What can I do for you?"

Phoebe asked with her usual drawn-out voice.

-The officer would like to have a video call, is that possible?

"Tower Master is not here right now. If you could tell me who is requesting the call, I can pass it on..."

-It's not for the Tower Master. It's a request for the Deputy Tower Master.

"For me?"

Did a high-ranking officer have a reason to call her?

Phoebe tilted her head in confusion and replied.

"Yes. I can take the call now. Would you connect it, please?"

-Understood. Please excuse the noise during the call, as the line is quite difficult to connect.

Phoebe checked her appearance once more and waited for the video call to connect.

Shortly after, the call connected, and Phoebe's face lit up brightly.

-Phoebe.

"Gorgon, what brings you to call like this?"

The one who requested to talk to her was her younger brother, Gorgon.

Phoebe smiled naturally, but Gorgon spoke with a blank expression.

-I heard about Astrophe from the Tower Master.

"..."

Phoebe's excitement faded.

-Isn't it our fate that one of the three of us has to become a dragon?

"Did you call me just to talk about that?"

-Yes. What do you want to do?

"I..."

She couldn't answer.

She couldn't expose her desire to escape.

After a long silence, Gorgon said.

-I'll do it.

Phoebe shouted in panic.

"No! You can't! You mustn't!"

-Why not?

"Because if you do, the empire's forces will become too powerful. There's no doubt there will be problems!"

-My blood of the Golden Dragon won't pose a threat to anyone. I plan to leave the empire when I become a dragon.

"What? What do you mean..."

-I made a promise to the emperor. If Saul or I become a dragon, we won't be restrained. At least then, the situation you're worried about won't happen.

Gorgon offered a solution to the reason for Phoebe's objection, but Phoebe didn't accept it.

She vigorously shook her head like a child.

"I hate that even more!"

-Isn't it a good thing, considering the empire is weakening?

"I don't care about the empire! I just can't stand the thought of you becoming a dragon!"

Phoebe couldn't help but reveal her true feelings.

Gorgon knew her true feelings from the start.

He had known about Phoebe's love for her family for a long time.

"I can't bear to see you or Saul leave so sadly! You both deserve to live happily there. You should get married, have children, and have that right."

-That's not my happiness, and it's not Saul's either.

"Don't you know how precious family is? Even if you don't think so now, there will undoubtedly be partners for Saul and Gorgon. So..."

-Then!

Phoebe was startled and leaned back as Gorgon suddenly shouted.

His expression, which had been emotionless no matter what he said, was now distorted.

-Why do you worry about our future but not think about your own?!