The bandits were only a small group of five to ten people, the young and spirited trainees instantly overpowered them.

So in the end, they were turned into the nearest town for a bounty of fifty copper coins. After splitting them up, the amount was even smaller. Ciel dispiritedly pocketed the small amount of coins into his ring. It was so little, but money was money.

Sigh, it's hard being poor.

(Jadiel: The gambling halls you scammed money from are crying right now.)

…

"This is Sylvania plains?"

Ciel's expectations of the plains instantly crashed as he looked at the uneven landscape from the edge of the cliff the caravan had settled down on.

'It's called plains, but what's with those blotches of forests here and there?'

Verdalite patted Ciel's head.

"It was found and named by Azar's ancestors. Don't mention their horrible naming taste in front of him." As he moved his hand away, Ciel felt his nose become wet. Looking up, he realized water was falling from the sky.

"Wow, the sky is crying!"

So that was what the pitter-pattering sounds came from when he was inside the tower.

Verdalite turned to look at him weirdly when he heard his words.

"You've never seen rain before?"

'Rain?'

Ciel looked up again.

Crystal clear water droplets fell from the sky, and a feeling of novelty washed over him as he once again realized that he was reborn.

Looking back to find the man still staring at him, he snorted.

"Of course I've seen rain before." Just not rain this clear.

"Sure. Now get inside. You'll catch a cold if you stay out for too long."

Verdalite easily picked Ciel up and put him inside the carriage next to Erin, only for Ciel to poke his head out again a minute later.

"Do you want to get wet?" Verdalite's black pupils had expanded vertically into diamond shape commonly seen in reptiles as the downpour continued to drench him.

Ciel grinned cheekily.

"I like this kind of rain. If you want, we can switch places."

Verdalite eyed Ciel's small stature, not noticing Ciel's choice of words. But Erin felt as if he had been shocked. Copying Ciel's actions, he leaned outside, staring straight up at the sky.

For some reason, the pouring rain had become a lot more pleasing to the eye.

The road on the plains was very wide, so the carriage Azar was driving easily fell back right next to Ciel's carriage. Not a single hair on his head was touched by the rain as he held an elegant umbrella above his head. His straight silky hair that only reached his ears wasn't even ruffled from the wind the storm had started whipping around.

If he was in his old world, Ciel would have wanted to take a picture. Beautiful people also counted as scenery in his mind.

"Wait, if you two are back here, who's leading the entourage?"

Lilian and Cedric were sitting in the carriage Azar was driving—that meant everyone substantial were in the back.

(Trainees: No, seriously, why are we here?)

Lilian smiled, "It's fine. Elder Azar left a small snow guide to lead the others. Ciel, not long ago, you were a patient, you shouldn't get wet and catch a cold."

Ciel was reluctant, in the tower, he could sense the seasons changing through temperature, and to prevent any accidental encounters with his former family, he'd never gone out of the tower through the underground entrance except when he was escaping. As a result, this was the first time he'd seen rain in this world.

"I'm a peak apprentice mage, I won't catch a cold that easily."

Lilian's kind face turned a 180, "You still dare try using your mage rank as an excuse?"

Remembering the last time he had tried that, Ciel quickly shook his head. His anemia still hadn't been cured yet, and he had to drink Lilian's homemade supplements everyday.

Tsk.

Unable to win the argument, Ciel shrank back into the carriage. Erin looked at his pouting face and tried to distract him.

"Broth–Ciel, you can still watch the rain from the inside. And look, don't those dark rain clouds look like dragons?"

His intentions were kind, however, Ciel's mana senses didn't extend far enough to reach the sky. Ciel merely nodded, pretending that he could see them.

"They do look like dragons."

In the front, Verdalite scoffed, "They don't look like dragons. They are dragons. Those guys in my clan love flying in the rain."

'Ah?'

Question marks sprouted from the top of Ciel's head.

"Your clan?"

"Didn't I tell you? Sylvania plains is close to Ganhar mountains. That's the reptilian tribal grounds. I told you we were visiting relatives, didn't I?"

"So you two were dragons." Ciel didn't have that big of a reaction. Although many stories in his past world depicted dragons as majestic, rare creatures, in Aeon, dragons were in the same category as any eve out there.

Verdalite laughed, "No no, I'm the dragon, Azar is a fox. The Sylvania plains is the canine's tribal territory. Hm, why're you two staring at me like that?"

Ciel: "..."

Erin: "..."

If Ciel had to guess which of the duo were a fox or a dragon, he would have chosen Verdalite as the fox and Azar as the dragon. Verdalite definitely had a more frivolous air attributed to foxes compared to the cold Azar.

He poked Erin.

-It's like their imagined personalities were switched.-

Erin nodded in agreement.

"So what's your original form, Doctor?" Ciel turned curiously to Lilian, who smiled.

"Not telling you."

"Tch. I'll just ask Lanae later." If she didn't tell him, he would coax Erin into asking her. Lanae had always had a weak spot for Erin.

All of a sudden, the carriage stopped. Ciel looked to the front to see a trainee running hastily towards them in the rain. He had been one of the noble boys talking with Cedric back at the village.

He stopped right in front of Azar, who asked calmly.

"What is it, Remir?"

Remir looked mildly flattered that the aloof man had remembered his name, but he didn't get distracted from his original goal and stuttered out:

"Dra-dragons! They've stopped right in front of the convoy!"

Before Ciel could speak, Verdalite responded faster.

"What do they want?"

"Elder, we mean no harm."

Another voice entered the conversation. Ciel whipped his head around to examine the newcomers. He hadn't sensed anything at all when they had appeared.

The teenager who spoke was followed by two more younger children around Ciel's age, a boy and a girl. The teenager was respectful, but the two behind him were already fidgety and looking around with disdain at the beaten down caravan.

Verdalite frowned upon seeing them.

"What is the patriarch's child doing out here?"

The teenager didn't answer his question.

"With your sources, you should already know what's happening. That's why you're here, right? Although… We didn't expect you to have brought people with you."

He took a not-so-subtle glance at the caravan around him.

"I don't need to explain myself to you. You can leave now, I'll go back in a few days."

Facing someone from his clan, the usual carefree Verdalite appeared strangely hostile.

'Ooh, is there gonna be a fight?'

Sensing Ciel's excitement, Erin could only helplessly press Ciel's head down.

-Don't cause trouble-

Contrary to Ciel's anticipation of a fight, the dragon eve trio left peacefully and quietly. They didn't show up even after the caravan returned the children to the village and prepared to go back.

.

The next village they dropped the kids off at was full of wary adult eves, whose caution didn't decrease even after Azar revealed fluffy fox ears and tails. Their treatment was the complete opposite of the coastal village's warm welcome.

"Were the coastal village like this at first?" Packing up the tents, Ciel glanced back at the entrance of the village. They had camped outside after the rescued children were whisked inside the settlement without having time to say goodbye.

It was like they were the kidnappers instead of the people who helped their children back home.

Erin shook his head.

"At that time, everyone was a eve. Now more than half of us are humans. Maybe they'll be more friendly if only us eves had approached them first."

'Eh, but technically, I'm also not human?'

Ciel oh'd as he lifted a bag with a deflated tent together with Erin. But as the duo walked towards the line of caravans, Ciel abruptly stopped Erin behind a tree.

Erin tilted his head, "?"

Ciel put his finger to his lips, silently shushing the confused winged snake.

In front of them were a pair of trainees, but that wasn't all, Ciel could also vaguely sense one more presence hiding high in the large tree across him and Erin.

As the wind blew a few leaves out of the way, Ciel could see a hint of white-blue hair. As a bigger gust of wind blew the tree's leafy branches out of the way, Azar was revealed sitting elegantly on a branch. However, his expression was anything but elegant.

He looked like he was about to beat someone up.

'Haha, this is gonna be a good show to watch~'

Ciel gleefully listened in to the conversation that had potentially pissed the cold fox off.

"We escorted their children safely back home, who do they think they are to treat us like this?"

"And those leaders too, giving us nothing to do here but to stay in the carriage and fight bandits. We're not hired mercenaries!"

"Hmph, they're also eves like those dirty village b*stards. What can we expect?"

"His highness the crown prince personally placed us here alongside Norama's heir to show his trust in us. I don't think he let us stay here to be belittled like this! Even if we're not firstborns, we're still authentic blue-blooded nobles!"

"Instead of this cold treatment, they should be bowing in gratitude to us who saved their children!"

"They're merely a group of dirty beasts pretending to be human—"

—slam!

A chill ran down the two trainees' backs as they stiffly turned their heads behind them.

'Screw the good show I wanted to watch. Did he just say Erin's a dirty beast pretending to be human?'

Ciel felt a strange rush of irritation he hadn't felt in a long time run through his veins as he slowly appeared from behind the tree with his head lowered.

"Ah, so it was our little supervisor. You surprised us there." The trainee who had last spoken grinned in relief when he saw Ciel.

Lifting his head up, Ciel gave a childlike smile. A soft, milky voice spilled out from his lips.

"Sorry, but can you please repeat the last sentence you said? I didn't hear it clearly."

"Hm? I just said the obvious. Eves are dirty beasts prete—"

Before he finished his sentence, an object almost uncatchable by the naked eye cut through space straight towards him like an arrow piercing through frigid air at lightning speed.

The clearing fell silent. The trainee raised a trembling hand to touch his neck to feel a warm and sticky wetness. Raising his hand up, he could see his bright red blood.

"Ah ah ah—cough cough!"

Feeling that his lungs were like a blocked faucet, the trainee couldn't utter another sound other than coughs as he clutched his bleeding throat desperately. His companion quickly backed away as he fell to his knees with his head down.

Behind him, a bloodied jack of hearts could be seen lying on the grass.

Ciel walked leisurely behind him, not paying the other trainee any attention as he circled back to the bleeding trainee's front.

Wiping his metallic card with a piece of cloth from his small satchel, Ciel sighed pityingly.

"Such a good card. It's a shame it got dirtied with your blood."

Lifting up the bloody piece of cloth, he pretended to be surprised.

"Eh? It's red?"

Dropping the cloth secretly in his space ring, he took out some bandages and skillfully wrapped the trainee's wound with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to check if your blood was really blue like you said."

His face was still as innocent as ever, but in the eyes of the trainee, he was simply the devil.

The trainee shivered as Ciel's pale fingers brushed against his neck, wanting to cry.

'F*ck. Don't think I can't see the killing intent in your eyes just because they're blocked by a strip of cloth!'

Ciel paid his feelings no mind as he gently asked.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat what you said again? I was in such a hurry that I interrupted you."

This time, the trainee really cried.

Mini Theater:

Ciel: I can take care of myself! I know how to behave!

Lilian: What about that time on your first mission when you blacked out from too much blood loss?

Erin: What about that time when we were kidnapped and you ended up in a wheelchair?

Cedric: …*Disbelieving eyes*

The already unreliable Ciel: ….What's important is the present, and the future! Not the past!

Present Ciel with bloody hands in front of a crying trainee: Uhhh, this time was an accident! Really. OvO