“So you have a complicated relationship with your father? I mean… “daddy issues”?” — Grynoth asked.

“Daddy issues?! I hate him! He's a jerk who thinks it's okay to impose his own ideals on his kids! I have to make a career, earn a house, promote the family name, and give birth to grandchildren, and this and that... and not once did it dawn on him that maybe, just Maybe they have their own hopes and dreams! And his political views are a mess. He sees immigrants as crude barbarians, women as nothing more than accessories for men, and he's about to sign a petition to have us ready our guns to wage the war on you guys! "Their brute strength will make them excellent serfs and their magical knowledge will serve us well as engines of progress." We've worked so hard to ban slavery once and for all and he wants it all back! I despise him.”

I was already afraid that I said too much, but Grisha only laughed.

“Whoah. he's got a real general's attitude, I see! Well, I suppose we'll all be running for our lives when he comes for our heads!”

“Tell me about it. The dude decided to have some fun on his anniversary.”

Suddenly, Grynoth grew dark, took another puff, and said:

“And mine threw me out on the streets when I was still a hatchling.”

“Wait, for real!?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I don't remember why he did it, but I think it's easy to guess: He probably just wanted to get laid. And the son was just an… extra. And then when he realized how much trouble it was to raise someone, he just decided to get rid of him.”

“How… how dare he… wait a minute, what about the laws? What were the child protection organizations doing in the meantime? Or whatever you guys have?”

“What are you even talking about, human?” — Grynoth laughed bitterly, "Have you forgotten that we're stuck in the Middle Ages?”

‘Do they have the same lawlessness as modern dystopian literature...?’

“I mean…”

“We have always needed to restore justice and stand up for ourselves. Even now, our kingdom is infinitely far from solving such problems, because they are so insignificant to it.”

“I… It’s so horrible! I didn't know…”

I noticed that I had just made an absolute clown of myself. After all, I am unbelievably far removed from their civilization and how it works.

“Eh, it's no big deal. You're new here, so it's hard to blame you. But as you can see, I'm still alive and in one piece, so it's not all bad.”

I didn't even notice how it was already nightfall and my eyes were starting to slip, and we were still sitting cuddled up in the corner.

I suddenly felt like a kid, about five years younger, and the strange thing was that, despite how much it used to piss me off when people treated me like one, I didn't mind it one bit. I was even happy that this green giant had decided to take care of me, just like that, without asking for anything in return: he didn't owe me anything, and yet he'd decided to take me in... even though I knew it wasn't true, I allowed myself to fell into delusion, fantasizing that all dragonkin were so benevolent. How could I not believe in a miracle after all that had happened?

“...I wondered if I had done the right thing in choosing my own path over the one that was imposed on me. After all, if I had stayed at home, I could probably have become someone who would have helped other people on purpose…”

“Why is it so important to you?” — Grynoth asked suddenly.

“Why not though... I'm a nobleman, after all, it's our duty to help people weaker than us.”

“Do your laws have that rule or something?

“What about yours? Do you guys have it in your laws that elders must take care of the younger ones regardless of their race?”

Grynoth grinned.

“Wha?”

He stood up for a second to throw away his prehistoric cigar then went right back to his seat.

“You know, I wish our nobility had that kind of self-awareness.”

After a pause, he continued:

“Do you want to? Without any rules or principles?:

‘There are those weird questions again…’

“Yes. No.”

“There you go with your weird answers again.”

“But how else can I answer?... If I could magically solve all our problems at once, I'd love to do it. But to go into all the intricacies and get the proper education?... I'm not ready to devote my life to that.”

“Well, then why do you bother?”

Pausing he continued:

“The kind of help you're referring to is real hard work... also one that is both dangerous and thankless. There's nothing wrong with wanting a simpler, more ordinary life. Who you are born as should not determine your path in life. So if the road of adventure calls to you, so be it... with a few conditions. But we'll discuss them tomorrow.”

“Say, Gry…”

It took me a little courage to ask that question... although after not dying I guess I would have the courage for most ordinary things now.

“Just… hypothetically… would you travel with me?”

“Aiming for the top, hmm? - he smiled.

“Well, Yeah! What kind of adventurer am I if I don't set big goals for myself?”

“Well, I respect that... but ambition alone won't convince me that easily.”

“...uh...clue?”

“Well, isn't it obvious? Prove yourself. Prove to me that you're not a mama's boy and can take care of yourself. I'll teach you a few tricks and then we'll see if you can put them into practice.”

“You think I came all this way being a mama's boy?”

“No, but when you have such a very convenient partner like me around, you'll probably find it hard to resist the temptation of taking most of your burdens on me. But if you earn my respect, I'll go with you to the ends of the world.”

“In that case, let that be my goal for the near future. I'll prove to you that we humans are also capable of standing up for ourselves. I'll die, but I'll prove it. Prove… it. Prove…”

As I my fatigue finally caught up to me, I didn’t finish the sentence

In my sleep, I remembered how I had thought of myself, king of the mountain, this morning when I had climbed that unfortunate hill. I felt funny: only now I realized how actually miserable I had been then, and how happy I felt now. So much so that if this creature decided to roast and eat me now, I probably wouldn't even mind.

I hope that doesn't happen, though. After all, my new adventure is about to begin, and I'm curious to see where it takes me. What are the other dragonkin really like? Are they benevolent people, or are they barbarians? Or benevolent barbarians? Are they even a thing? Whatever it is, I need to discover that.

With these thoughts in mind, I fell into a deep slumber.