I Raised A Black Dragon

“Lady, are you alright?”

Noah straightened her back and pushed away the arm of the man who tried to help her. She couldn’t say anything out of frustration lest she is discovered. She walked toward Muell, who had been trapped in the midst of an old couple.

“Oh, mom’s here. Goodbye, red-eyed angel!” The old woman bid farewell,  patting the child’s head gently.

If their situation wasn’t serious, Noah would laugh at the bizarre nickname. She asked Muell, turning her back against the old couple who were waving their hands at them. “Did you look for him? Was he really nowhere?”

“No, I’ve been everywhere to the second floor.” Muell pouted, shaking his head.

“Crazy… Where the hell did this man go?” Noah hissed. If Kyle’s disappearance was not Lenia’s doing, the suspects narrow down. The culprit behind Eleonora’s death, who had been following us from Sorrent. Did he take Kyle, and not me?

“…No.” 

It was absurd if the murderer was after Kyle, and even if he was, the man could not have been taken away without a commotion. It was more likely that Kyle had noticed him first and went after him.

Furthermore, Lenia knew he was missing. When Noah caught a glimpse of her eyes, they were anxious and afraid. It was evident that someone after her was on the same ship. Was it the same person who Kyle chased? 

Noah rammed her brain to link the pieces together, and soon reached a conclusion: Eleonora Asil’s murderer is preying on Lenia Valtalere, too.

But she couldn’t figure out why. Have Kyle figured it out? Noah carried Muell on her arms and hastened her pace. They returned inside and stood in front of the elevator. She planned to wait in their room until nightfall, and start to act when every passenger was already in their rooms. 

Ting. The bell rang to announce the arrival of the elevator. She quickly opened the iron door and entered the elevator. And when her fingers reached out to push a button, she froze. 

There were four buttons.

Noah’s eyes widened in shock; she was too surprised to even breathe. Chills crawled on her spine and goosebumps covered her skin.

When Noah had wondered the first time she set foot in the elevator whether the buttons were pure gold, there were only three at that time — for the fifth, fourth, and third floors. Now, there was a silver button under the gold ones.

That’s for the first floor… it leads to the mana operating room.

Then, she remembered what the elevator assistant had said.

“This central elevator is not connected to the mana operating room. For safety reasons, we only run from the third to fifth floors.”

Her mind went blank, but a few seconds later, Lenia’s trembling voice echoed in her mind. 

“Remember. There is a way down, but you cannot come back up that way.”

“This is crazy…” Noah cursed under her breath. Soon, she realized there was no assistant inside. She clenched her trembling hand into a fist and then pressed the button for the fourth floor. The gold button was thrust inwards. 

She hesitated for a few seconds, as if having an internal crisis, but eventually pressed the silver button. The silver button was also thrust inwards.

It’s working. 

The elevator began to move with a soft rumbling sound. Noah could taste blood on her lips, but she couldn’t calm down. As soon as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, she opened the door and ran out. 

“Ha…”

Until yesterday, it was definitely an elevator that would not descend all the way down to the mana operating room. How come it suddenly changed? Noah visualized the possible scenario which had occurred when she was asleep.

Kyle would have stopped by the captain’s office first to send a signal to the Battuanu branch. Afterwards, he saw a strange man, who was probably the same person after Lenia Valtalere.

Then, having the same feeling as in the train to Central Edman, he arrived at the same conclusion as Noah: the same terrorists on the train, the murderer of Eleonora Asil, or his men, were also targeting Lenia Valtalere.

He then may have begun to be suspicious of the ship. He could have possibly noticed that someone had casted a spell on the elevator, and checked it on his own, or he may have chased someone, or followed them to the operating room. 

And he hadn’t found his way up yet.

“There is only one way up, only the emergency exit used by the crew.”

Perhaps he had found it, but couldn’t climb his way up.

Noah groped for the small pocket hanging on her waist. It was a small bag containing the things she deemed useful in case of an emergency. She took the shapeshifting key out of the pouch, gripping it tightly

Finally, she concluded. There was only one most likely reason why Kyle couldn’t return upstairs. It was blocked. 

If someone who could break through the blocked passage would not go down to him, Kyle would not be able to return.