Savior

"I'll buy them both."

A young sounding man slowly walked up to the two people. His calm words were like a slap in the face for the angry customer, causing the customer to freeze in his tracks.

The young man's steps were strangely dignified, even though his body was similarly dressed in black. Connie turned to look at him with a pleased smile.

"That will be eighty-five million Cons, sir." Connie changed his tone instantly when he spoke to the younger customer.

The way Connie's demeanor flipped faster than a light switch made Ria and Fallios glance at each other in speechlessness. They had completely forgotten the mess they made in the grass at this point.

"For obvious reasons, I cannot bring forth that amount of money at once. Can you give me two months?" The young man asked in a professional manner.

Connie immediately agreed and started to discuss the terms of their agreement with him, completely forgetting about the angry customer who was left standing alone awkwardly, trapped in the middle of the two.

After the two of them were still talking after three minutes, the angry customer- true to his name, angrily stormed out of the pet shop in embarrassment.

Ria and Fallios gave each other a look. Although this new customer looked nicer than the previous, they still hadn't properly assessed this man.

Fallios took the initiative to stand up and slowly walk over to the young man after his conversation with Connie came to an end.

For obvious reasons, Connie had to stay and watch the young man to make sure he didn't try to steal Fallios or Ria.

"I'll stay out their and watch all of you from the window. Don't worry, I'll keep the door unlocked." Connie said as he exited the room and stood at the barred window.

The young man dressed in black stiffly stood rooted in place, not sure what to do as Fallios sniffed his legs and circled around him.

Ria leisurely started to approach after Fallios, as the ice around her was starting to melt and get her wet.

[He's pretty young] Fallios said. He wasn't young to the point where Fallios could be his father, but he certainly could be old enough to be his youngest brother, if he had one.

[Really? He looks like he's never seen an animal in his life] Ria snorted in laughter and slowly looked up at the young man. Since becoming a tortoise, it became a habit to do things at her own pace.

[I mean, I'm a dragon and you're.. somehow special] He defended. It wasn't every day you got to buy a dragon, after all.

[True] Ria said, taking no offense of his weird evalutaion of her. Her treatment here clued her in to how special she was in the eyes of the workers.

Ria didn't actually have many memories of how she hatched or the subsequent days after, but she knew she was reincarnated at that time and she also just died, so she didn't think much of her blurry memories. Shock was a powerful force, after all.

Fallios nudged the back of the young man's leg, making his legs inadvertently buckle. "Woah!" He said, trying to regain his balance, but Fallios wouldn't let that happen, forcefully bending the back of his knee this time and making the young man kneel down.

By this time, Ria was already in front of the young man and could see a part of his face. Because he was facing away from the window, Connie couldn't see it, but she could.

The young man had light blond hair and baby blue eyes, and his face didn't look Asian at all. Thankfully, his head was still covered by the hood.

He stared at Ria with nervous eyes as she observed the young man from head to toe. She turned to speak to Fallios after studying his face for a few seconds.

[I don't think he's from this place] Ria said with certainty. Fallios walked around the young man and stared at his face. Instantly, his eyes widened in understanding.

[Definitely not. But what is a young man like this doing buying two expensive creatures?] Fallios mumbled. Ria would've shrugged if she could.

[Perhaps he's a noble or something? It seems likely with the type of time period we're in] She guessed.

[I think you're right. This kid looks like he's been pampered since he was a baby. But he does feel like..] Fallios couldn't pinpoint the feeling this young man's aura was giving him. It almost felt like the feeling his parents gave him..

[Like he's killed people before?] Ria finished for Fallios. His eyes widened and he slightly nodded.

[Yeah] It was exactly was it felt like. He recognized this feeling because he felt it with his dragon parents too.

The both of them looked at the young man in a different way. Their conversation only took a few seconds, so their sudden shift startled the young man.

"I won't hurt you." The young man whispered, stretching his hand out slowly to pet Ria.

Fortunately for him, Ria nor Fallios were actually scared of him, so she let him pet the top of her head.

She slightly squinted in pleasure as he pet her. It was one of the many spots on her body she couldn't reach, so being scratched felt nice to her.

The young man smiled warmly and spoke. "My name is Arlitos Carrin, the first son of the current Emperor of Astava, and I am seventeen years old." He introduced in a whisper, placing his other hand across his chest.

It was obvious the introduction was more for Fallios, the dragon, rather than her, but she didn't mind since it was understandable.

Ria raised her head and nodded slightly. Thankfully, she knew the basic language of this place enough to know what he just said was his name, though she didn't know what the last part meant.

Then, she did something neither of the other two could expect. Her throat slightly bulged for a moment before spraying a light jet of icy cold water right up Arlitos's sleeve.

"Ah!" Arlitos jolted and drew back his hand in shock. Cold water dripped out of his sleeve and onto the grass below.

Fallios's mouth fell open in shock. His raised his arm and smacked Ria on the top of her head. [Why did you do that?!]

[Hehe, a greeting] Ria laughed mischievously and swayed her short tail.

[Ah] Fallios was too shocked by her actions to speak. Her reply made his claws itch to hit her again.

Arlitos shook his head and smiled helplessly as he watched the interaction between the two. "Will you allow me to pet you too?" He asked as he turned to look at Fallios.

Fallios tilted his head and looked at Ria.

[What is he asking?] Fallios asked. Since he had been speaking to his parents using spirit speech, which didn't require any linguistic skills to understand and was never around humans, it was hard to understand the sudden shift.

[He wants to pet you] Ria replied. It was a common sentence she frequently heard in the main pet shop, so she understood what Arlitos was asking.

[I guess I don't mind] Fallios shrugged as he walked closer to Arlitos and nudged his hand with his nose.

"Oh, it's an honor." Arlitos jokingly said as he happily got to pet two very expensive animals. Thankfully, it was the end of the year, which was scheduled in the Summer for the Empire, so he didn't have to worry about not having enough annual budget for the Empire.

Plus, they already saved a lot since their Empire is already fully developed. Still, Arlitos's heart bled when he thought of the money he had lost.

His parents would understand.. right?

Right? (T-T)