The Sea of Life.
"Ian—" "Ian—"
Tiamat's calls echoed across the surface of the black ocean. Waking from her slumber, she discovered that the son she had painstakingly raised had simply vanished. So, it hadn't been a dream. He had truly crossed time and space, flying away from the Sea of Life.
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
Tiamat bellowed. The once perfectly calm Sea of Life began to churn violently.
"I will find you!" "You are MINE!" "No one can take you away from me!"
Tiamat's roars gradually softened into a mournful wail, a sound so sorrowful it would break the heart of anyone who heard it.
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, replaced by a much more efficient method.
Dust floated past Artoria's eyes, kicked up from the soil that had been torn from the ground. The boy, with a massive tree hoisted on his shoulder, looked at her with a blank expression.
"Is this okay?" he asked. "Artoria."
"Ah, this is..." Looking at the tree that Ian had ripped out of the ground, roots and all, Artoria patted her own cheeks. "Y-Yes, that's fine." "Good."
CRASH. Ian tossed the uprooted tree onto the ground, where it landed with a thunderous noise. "Is there anything else I need to do?" "..." "Can you... break it into smaller pieces?" Artoria asked cautiously. "No problem."
CRACK—CRACK—
The sound of splintering wood filled the air. Having completely abandoned the axe, Ian gave Artoria a live demonstration of what it meant to snap logs with one's bare hands. The wood, which always seemed so tough and resilient, was now incredibly fragile in his grasp. A task that would normally take her an hour would now probably take him just over ten minutes.
"I didn't realize you were so strong—" Suddenly finding herself with nothing to do, Artoria stood with her hands behind her back. "Did you train to get this way?" "No."
"I've always been like this," Ian said as he worked. But then he suddenly seemed to realize something and stopped. He turned to look at Artoria and asked, "Does this... make me look strange? Like I won't be able to fit in with you all."
"Eh?" Artoria hadn't expected him to ask such a question. But looking into his incredibly pure eyes, she hesitated for a moment before nodding. "A little bit, yes." "After all—" The girl glanced at the tree that Ian had uprooted, now lying on the ground, and couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. "Normal people don't do this."
What Artoria didn't expect was that, as soon as she said this, Ian would lift her up. To be precise, he had grabbed her under both arms and hoisted her into the air. "Then tell me what to do, Artoria."
"What do I have to do to be like you?" "..." Meeting Ian's gaze, Artoria felt her heart begin to race. "Y-You don't have to do anything!" "I don't?" "That's right!" Artoria nodded firmly. "Why should you force yourself to do anything? Everyone is different. You should just do what you want to do, right? Otherwise, wouldn't everyone be exactly the same?"
"..." Listening to Artoria's words, Ian's gaze slowly drifted downward, 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 his approaching head away. "The only reason I made an exception before was to save you! The bite mark you left is still there! So, absolutely not!"
"I see..." A look of disappointment clouded Ian's eyes. He really did want to do it. But realizing that Artoria was against it, he held himself back.
"Don't look so sad..." Sensing his obvious dejection, Artoria felt a pang of guilt. "While that is off-limits, we can consider other things." "Other things?" "Yes, for example... besides this... 'special hobby' of yours, surely there are other things you want to do, right?"
As soon as Artoria finished speaking, she felt something pressing against her stomach. That familiar warmth, that familiar shape. She knew what it was. "NO!" Artoria protested, squirming. "Why is your mind only filled with these things?! Isn't there anything else?!"
"I don't know," Ian said, shaking his head. But his eyes never left Artoria. "As soon as I see you, I get this urge. It seems... I've caused you trouble."
"I should say 'sorry,' right?"
He was so polite, yet at the same time, his head was filled with such absurd thoughts. Artoria simply could not understand how these two traits could coexist in the same person at the same time. He was like a gentlemanly beast, displaying all of his primal instincts.
"Never mind..." "It's clear you're not doing it on purpose." Artoria glanced at the wood that Ian had already processed. That was supposed to have been her job. "Let's just say... that impulse earlier was your reward for all the work you did today. BUT!" she added sternly. "You will 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. Now that he had a firm grip on her like this, could he really stop just because she said so? What if, in the next moment, he just pushed down with both hands... then wouldn't she...
A storm of thoughts raged in the girl's mind. However, things did not develop as Artoria feared. Ian soon set her down gently. He continued with his work, not stopping until the entire tree had been torn into usable firewood.
"Is this okay?" "Yes... that's about right." "So, where do we go next?" "Let's go home," she said. "This is more than enough firewood for a long time."
Everything was so calm. So much so that Artoria had the bizarre feeling that she had somehow satisfied Ian just now. She wanted to say something, but no words came out.
They walked in silence all the way back to the entrance of the village. There, Artoria saw that the villagers were all gathered together, discussing something. Her brother, Kay, was among them.
"Brother Kay—" "What's going on?" "Oh, it's a rather ominous prophecy." "A prophecy?" "Yes." Kay nodded. "A new king is about to appear."