Oh god…

Henry groaned in his head upon regaining his consciousness. The first thing he did was recall the memories prior to his fade to unconsciousness. However, only pain and aches greeted his head.

God fucking dammit!

It felt akin to having his brain being compressed as he tried to recall. He also tried getting up but managed only a stir. His body felt heavier than before and his eyes were refusing to open. His joints creaked as nudged his limbs. He felt sore beneath as he had laid on a rough and solid surface for who knew how many hours. 

“It’s waking up!”

Someone shouted but Henry did not recognise the voice. It was a woman’s voice but it certainly wasn’t the princess’ voice.

“Keep in formation.”

There was another voice, also a woman’s. When Henry strained his hearing, he heard the voices of many women, most in faint mutterings and whispers.

“Just keep the Princess safe. We do not want a repeat of the kidnapping.”

Princess? Kidnapping?

Henry recalled. He was here to save the Princess of the Kivu Tribe from a terrible fate. He rose to his feet in an instant upon the recollection. His eyes were only half-opened then and his view was still a blur. He was fully awake now but his body still feel as heavy as it had. In addition, his world was whirling gently and he was barely able to stand upright. Also, he felt warm. He was a cold-blooded creature but now, he felt warm. Too warm, in fact. 

A fever? Am I having a fever?

It certainly felt like a fever to Henry. His body felt heavy. He was groggy. And he was way warmer than usual.

“It’s doing something!”

The shout came again and it hurt Henry’s ears.

“Is it going to attack us?”

“Regardless, stand your ground!”

This shout was louder than the ones before.

“Wait, don’t hurt him!” 

And this was the Princess’ voice.

Henry finally opened his eyes wide after shaking his head lightly, trying to shake the dizziness off but to no avail. The sight he was witnessing was an odd and confusing one, to say the least. 

He was still in the cave and he was still right where he fainted. Before him, stood a small group of women dressed in a variety of Japanese-style robes with either a Yari or a Katana in hand. The women all had the ears and tails of a fox and the number of their tails varied between individuals. The colours of their hair and tails were either pink, white, or purple, and only these three but different shades.

The Kivu Tribe?

Henry ventured a silent guess as he gawked absentmindedly at them. There was no male among the Kivus. Either males were a rare gender for the Kivu or they didn’t have males at all, Henry surmised.

The Kivus were standing at least fifty feet away from Henry. They were all looking at him with vigilance and dubiety. Their weapons were also trained on him.

Didn’t I save your Princess? What’s with the hostility?

Henry remembered swallowing the Demon’s Heart, Core, or whatever it was. He remembered passing out from the surge of power and strength. He gathered his appearance might have drastically changed to a very Demonic fashion but when he touched his face and looked at his forelimbs, nothing appeared to have changed aside from his claws and horns being slightly bigger than before. Other than that, he didn’t feel any different. Not counting his fever, of course. 

Disregarding my changes, how did they know where the Princess is? Did the Princess call for them somehow?

A Kivu with short pinkish white hair approached him with her sword sheathed in its scabbard. Her steps were light and cautious. Though she was unwavering in her stride, her gaze was shivering.

She’s afraid. Of me? But why?

“The Princess said you understand our tongue, is that true?” the Kivu asked.

Henry nodded. 

“You speak our tongue too?”

“I do,” Henry answered.

The Kivus gasped in shock and disbelief. Even in a fantasy world, a talking Dragon was still something to be surprised about. It was ironic considering they weren’t exactly humans themselves.

“You saved our Princess. I understand that but I have to be truthful now. Was saving the Princess your primary intention and was she just an afterthought of some personal reason?”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Why does that matter?”

It should have been a simple question in the form of a retort but the Kivus, excluding the one in front of Henry and the Princess, all took a step back away from him.

“It matters greatly,” the short-haired Kivu said.

Henry didn’t need to ask how it matters. He actually didn’t need to ask why either. He already knew the nature of such questions. The Kivus wanted to know the alignment of his morality, tendency, and disposition, and vice-versa. 

“So, which is it?”

Unlike the others, this Kivu hid her fears well despite being just as afraid as the others. Henry found it amusing. He didn’t know if it was because of the fever, he felt like messing with her but he managed to refrain himself from doing that.

“The latter,” Henry answered.

It didn’t seem like the answer they were hoping for as scowls could be seen on their faces.

“I see…” the Kivu muttered. “Regardless, I suppose our gratitude is in order. You did save the Princess. Thank you, Lord Henry.” She bowed and so did the others.

“Thank you, Lord Henry,” they all uttered in unison.

It was easy for Henry to figure out how they knew his name but he couldn’t understand why was he being labelled a Lord. But since it didn’t bother him that much, he didn’t ask.

What did bother him was the Princess, who was looking at him with a face of adoration and reverence. She was on her knees with her hands clasped together into a ball. She looked like a maiden experiencing first-hand romance for the first time.

Lady, I’m a Dragon. A beast, a monster, you know?

“Lord Henry, is there something you desire as compensation?” asked the Kivu at the vanguard.

“I have a question that I need to be answered.”

“Ask away, Lord Henry.”

“How are you all here? Did you already know where the Princess is?”

“We didn’t until you killed her captor, Lord Henry. The accursed captor had cast some sort of spell that prevented us from tracking the Princess down. We rushed here as fast as we could when we were able to sense the Princess’ whereabouts."

I see.

"Do you have any other requests, Lord Henry?”

“Just one,” came Henry’s quick answer. “Leave me in peace and leave me out of your political quarrels.” As much as he was craving people interaction, the baggage that came with it just wasn’t worth it. He had seen enough and read enough fiction to know what this would lead to if he kept associating himself with them.

The Kivu with the short hair was confused at first but after a few seconds. She smiled faintly and regrettably and nodded in understanding. “If that’s your wish, the Kivus will adhere to it.”

“Wait!” shouted the Princess as she came trotting up. The others were trying to stop her but she was surprisingly artful and nimble, avoiding all those who tried to grab her.

“Princess, you can’t!” the short-haired Kivu stepped into the Princess’ way.

“Why can’t I?”

“This creature might be dangerous!”

“He’s not, Vira!” the Princess baulked. “He saved me.”

“Not out of the kindness of its heart, Princess. This monster burned down the forest!” the short-haired Kivu named Vira blurted out.

Oh… Oops?

“And who’s to say that this monster won’t—” Vira caught herself just before she could spill her heart out completely. Realising what she had said, she turned her head slowly to Henry like a rusty cogwheel. “F-forgive me, Lord Henry. I didn’t mean to—”

“I don’t care,” Henry said with his eyes rolled. “Your opinion of me does not matter. Just make sure you adhere to my wish and there shall be no enmity between us.”

“Of course, Lord Henry.”

“Lord Henry!” the Princess exclaimed cheerfully and somehow slipped past Vira’s notice. She was already right in front of Henry before anyone knew it.

“What is it, little one?” Henry asked, trying to sound as aloof and disdainful as possible.

The Princess’ height barely reached Henry’s shoulder even considering he was quadrupedal, but that didn’t stop the Princess from throwing herself at one of his limbs, wrapping her arms tightly around it.

“Princess!” the guards uttered in terror and astonishment. They all had faces that said they wanted to just pry the Princess off of Henry but they were too wary of him and feared that the Princess might be harmed in the process.

Henry’s reaction was not that different from the guards. He flinched but not too much as he was afraid of hurting the Princess. “Little one… what are you doing?” he asked.

“Rinea,” the Princess said. “My name’s Rinea. Just call me Rinea.”

 “No,” Henry said, prying the Princess off of him with a single claw but she wrapped her arms around that claw instead. “Let go, you little rascal.”

“No,” she retorted, giggling.

“Why?” Henry demanded with a voice that he purposely made it sound deep and intimidating.

“I like you, Lord Henry.” 

Henry swore that he heard a shriek and a scream from among the guards.

“Thanks for saving me,” the Princess said as she rubbed her face against his claw.

“Princess, don’t do that! It’s dirty!” Vira cried. 

“Henry isn’t dirty,” she huffed.

“Princess… please cease this puerile act of yours,” Vira implored. 

Henry looked at Vira pitifully. “Are Kivu Princesses always so genteel or is it just her?”

“Princess Rinea is a peculiar child,” Vira said with an awkward smile.

She’s a weird kid, that’s what you’re trying to say.

Eventually, the Princess finally let go of Henry but not before giving him a light kiss on his claw. She then scuttled back into Vira’s sight like a child who just succeeded in her prank. All of the guards, Vira included, looked on in absolute stupefaction. But ultimately, not one of them said a single word of it as if they were refusing to acknowledge what just happened before them.

Without any further fuss, the Kivus took their leave of the cave and left Henry to his own devices. The Princess looked reluctant to part with Henry as she was dragged away. Henry was relieved that the Princess did not just outright express her desire to stay with him. However, she did mention she would come to visit him sometime in the future, which greatly worried both Henry and the other Kivus.

Do they know where I live or is the Princess just making a promise without proper thought?

Henry hoped it was the latter as the former was already giving him a headache just from the thought of it.

It was only after Vira and her small platoon had stepped out of the cave, Henry realised there was a small army of Kivus waiting outside as their cheers of relief and triumph echoed into the cave. There must have been at least a hundred of them judging from the sheer volume of cheers.

Thankfully, the Kivus didn’t linger. They were gone in no time at all. This was still a very dangerous part of the forest as a whole even with the haggard man dead. A concerning thing he heard from the Kivus outside was them shouting about returning to this place to cleanse it of Demonic presence for good.

Looks like I can’t stay here… It’s a shame. This could have been a great abode.

Still, with those Kivus gone, Henry was finally able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Though he was still feeling quite feverish, he did feel a lot better now after the Kivus left, especially the Princess.

Welp, time to go home, I suppose. But… how do I go back again?

And Henry was already beset with another quandary just right after the end of one.