novelraw Chapter 52: Retribution
Chapter 52: Retribution
Two steeds neighed wildly as the carriage thundered through the city under the night sky, racing past countless onlookers who poked their heads out in shock or curiosity, gazing toward the inner city. Fischer leaned against the carriage wall, calmly watching the distant city gate.
There, the iron gate had been lowered, blocking their path out of the city.
Raphaëlle sat beside him. The others in the carriage had already regained consciousness, but having been knocked out by those zombie Minotaurs earlier, they were still groggy—especially Larr, who was shouting about going back for revenge but got restrained by Fassil before she could even step out of the carriage.
“Raphaëlle, come here. Take this.”
Fischer pressed a hand to his abdomen and pulled out the Fermabah Royal Spellbook from his coat. His staff was completely drained of magic, and he didn’t have the strength left to engrave another spell. The only way was to use Raphaëlle’s magic circuit to jointly inscribe a spell strong enough to blast through the gate.
“Fischer, I don’t know how to inscribe spells.”
Raphaëlle bit her lip and glanced down. The area where Fischer sat was soaked with blood from his wounds. His face was deathly pale, yet he said nothing—just stared at her seriously.
“I’ll teach you. Just grab any book from inside.”
Raphaëlle nodded, went into the carriage, and randomly grabbed a thinner book from his bookshelf. Fischer had no time to prepare magical materials, so she’d have to use her own blood.
He guided her trembling claw to press against one of his wounds, then held her hand firmly, using her sharp claws as a carving tool and the book as the medium. As her claw touched his wounded body, Raphaëlle noticed all the gaping holes in his suit, each oozing blood. Feeling his pain, her hand began to tremble more.
“Focus, Raphaëlle.”
Fischer’s voice was steady, though quieter than before.
“…Mm.”
She forced herself not to look at his injuries, not to feel heartache, and instead lowered her gaze to the book.
“The difficulty with inscribing Dragonkin Magic is the unstable Collapse phenomenon that occurs during the process. You need to continuously channel mana to stabilize the entire sigil…”
Just like when he had taught Renée, Fischer gently guided Raphaëlle’s claw to etch sharp lines into the book, his voice low and calm.
“Don’t tense up. Let your mana flow naturally.”
Dragonkin had far rougher magic circuits than humans. With Raphaëlle’s mana fueling the process, this sigil reacted even more violently than Fischer’s first time. The lines lit up like a lantern, forming rapidly. But the book began to heat up—as if it couldn’t withstand the spell’s power.
Seeing that the book was about to ignite, Fischer told her to throw it. Raphaëlle didn’t hesitate. She hurled the book at the gate.
Midair, the book collapsed into a singularity, causing ripples in the air. Then, like before, a surge of intense heat erupted toward the tightly sealed gate. When the flames subsided, the gate was completely gone—burned so thoroughly even the surrounding arch was scorched black.
“Wait, someone’s escaping the city!”
“It’s a carriage! Captain, should we stop them?!”
“Stop your ***! Didn’t you see that explosion? Anyone eager to die can go right ahead. Something went down at the city lord’s manor. Anyone with guts, follow me to the city lord’s office…”
“Captain, are you saying—”
“Shut it!”
Amid the chaos in the city, Fischer gripped the reins tightly and drove the carriage through the smoke, out into the wilds beyond. The open plains were cold and quiet under the night. Only when they had ridden far from Fieron City did he glance back at the city burning in the darkness.
So much had happened tonight—but at least, for now, they were safe.
“Ugh…”
Just as that thought passed through his mind, the searing pain and exhaustion hit him like a wave. His hand slipped from the reins, and he slumped toward the edge of the carriage—only to be caught just in time by Raphaëlle.
She wrapped her arms around him. As soon as her scales touched him, they flattened and softened, making her embrace gentle enough that it wouldn’t hurt him.
“F-Fischer?”
She looked down and saw that his eyes were closed. He had lost consciousness, now quietly resting against her chest.
His face, usually sharp and fair, was now pallid with a bit of stubble from the southern journey. Peaceful, like a defenseless child.
As she gazed at his sleeping face, Raphaëlle’s cheeks turned crimson. She found him adorable like this—so different from his grumpy expression during the day.
Yeah…
His nose, ears, and lips were adorable too…
Holding him tighter, Raphaëlle’s tail swayed back and forth. If only he could be this cute during the day too…
“How is Lord Fischer doing?”
Mir peeked out of the carriage, clearly still worried. But what she saw was Raphaëlle gently playing with Fischer’s black hair as she cradled him.
Raphaëlle froze. Embarrassed, she nearly tossed Fischer out of reflex—only to realize they were still in the moving carriage. Thank goodness she stopped herself. Under Mir’s stare, she hesitated for a long moment before shyly hugging Fischer even tighter.
“H-He’s injured. Right, I remember there are white bandages in his room for treating wounds. Mir, can you grab them for me?”
But Mir didn’t answer. She just stared at Raphaëlle in disbelief.
“Lady… Lady Raphaëlle…”
“Wha—?”
Raphaëlle blinked and looked down at herself. Her scales were completely flat, her tail was twitching non-stop. Mir, being a Tailmate, immediately recognized her state.
That night, the sounds coming from the room were quiet. They had assumed Fischer was doing experiments—or it was Nana and Fieron. But Mir had already suspected something between Raphaëlle and Fischer. Larr and the others were still too young to understand, but Mir, as the only other adult, couldn’t ignore it.
“Mir, please… just go get the bandages. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Ah—y-yes, right away…”
Mir rushed back into the carriage. After briefly explaining the situation to the others, she came back out with bandages.
Raphaëlle gently laid Fischer flat, then began removing his clothes. When she noticed Mir staring at Fischer’s body, she suddenly felt… a little annoyed.
Wait, no! I’m treating wounds! Focus!
She carefully wrapped the bandages around Fischer’s torso, layer by layer. Once she confirmed there were no other injuries, she breathed a sigh of relief—only to see Mir still blushing and staring at Fischer.
“Mir!”
“Ah—he’s… strong…! N-no, I mean—uh…”
Mir’s eyes spun like pinwheels. She frantically waved her hands and turned away from Raphaëlle’s increasingly stern glare.
The plains wind was freezing. Worried Fischer might get cold, Raphaëlle forced herself to push past her embarrassment and hugged him again, letting him feel the warmth of a Dragonkin.
She clumsily leaned down to check his breathing—steady and calm. She relaxed, her tail finally stilling.
Mir, watching them, spoke with concern.
“Lady Raphaëlle, he’s human. He’s not like us Dragonkin. They don’t have Tailmates. Right now, we’re the only ones around him in the South Continent. But what about when he goes back? There’ll be other human females—wearing fancy dresses and holding fans…”
Raphaëlle looked at the plain, dirtied clothing Fischer had given her. Her arm bore beautiful, smooth scales—but humans didn’t have scales…
“Humans look down on us. Even if Fischer is different, once he returns to his… tribe—no, his community, the other humans will judge you. And eventually, so will he.”
Raphaëlle said nothing. She just stared at Fischer’s face for a long time. Then, with quiet determination, she said,
“I won’t let him look down on me. I’m Raphaëlle. One day, I’ll stand tall beside him, and tell every demi-human and every human—he is my Tailmate.”
Her voice was calm, but confidence radiated from within. Seeing her like this, Mir’s worries vanished.
Yes… she’s Lady Raphaëlle. Of course she could be trusted.
“I understand. I’ll go check on Larr and the others. She keeps saying her head hurts and wants to eat the bread in Fischer’s room…”
Mir opened the carriage door and went inside, leaving just Raphaëlle and Fischer out front.
She looked down at the sleeping Fischer in her arms. Thinking about how he had teased her earlier, she retaliated by poking his cheek—just enough to squish it. Then she became curious about his Adam’s apple and gave it a gentle touch. Thankfully, she didn’t press down. Then she ran her fingers through his hair again—loving the texture.
No matter what, she couldn’t get enough.
Wait—what am I doing?!
This is just like that childish Larr!
Raphaëlle’s face turned bright red. She scolded herself—she was an adult! A mature Dragonkin who had gone through the Tailmate Ceremony!
She blushed for a long while, then looked around. The carriage door was shut, and no one else was around. Only then did she tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, lean down softly—and kiss Fischer on the corner of his lips.
Steam trailed from the carriage wheels, just like the steam of Raphaëlle’s scattered shyness.
No one saw it anyway… A little cuddling and touching wasn’t so bad.
Let it be… her way of getting back at him—for teasing her so much before.