The Charm of a Marshal

Marshal laughed as he looked at Cal, who could barely contain himself.

"I see you've got a puppy, but he's trembling with fear."

Liam didn't have time to stop Cal, who swooped down on the marshal with lightning speed and grabbed him by the shirt. The marshal didn't twitch. He was still smiling and said:

"At last you've come up, I was beginning to think you'll never make up your mind. Calm down. I was only joking to piss you off."

After these words, Cal slowly came to his senses and unclasped his hands. The marshal corrected his crumpled clothes and suddenly, removed the false identity of Cal, who continued to assume the appearance of Leon Duval for conspiracy purposes.

"Curious," said the marshal thoughtfully, "so that's your type?" He turned to Liam.

"What do you mean," said Liam, as if he didn't understand, and sat down again to examine the scrolls.

The marshal studied Cal for a moment, then smiled and moved away from him.

"There is a library," he returned to his conversation with the Head of the Academy, "my men reported they'd picked up its trail on an expedition. Contrary to expectation, it was on the ground."

"On the ground? Could there be no mistake?" Liam looked up.

"Yes, and besides, the Ancient Spirit is after her. There's something there..." said the marshal dreamily. "I'd be in this chase myself if the lost Dai-Kun Medallion were there."

"What?" came Cal's voice when he heard about his dragon.

"You don't know?" Marshall was surprised. He slumped back in his chair, paused theatrically, and then continued:

"Dai-Kun fought alone for many years, helping the Overlord. After proving his strength, courage, and loyalty, he received a gift from the Overlord, a medallion that could turn a dragon into a human-like the Overlord and all of us."

Cal opened his mouth in amazement. At once many thoughts raced through his mind. He tried to imagine the Legion as human, what would he be like? Meanwhile, the marshal continued his story.

"When he became human, what do you think was the first thing Dai-Kun said?" The man asked in an intriguing voice.

"He confessed his love to the Overlord," Liam said quietly, ahead of his puzzled apprentice.

"Exactly! Dai-Kun had loved his maker for many years and had resisted the emergence of new dragons, wanting to be the only one. Only when he was transformed into a man of extraordinary beauty did he have the courage to confess. The Overlord was shocked."

"The Overlord had forbidden him to speak such words, Liam clarified.

"Yes," the marshal interrupted, but we know how it ended. Come on, Liam, are you going to tell me, or shall I continue?"

"Go on."

"Yes," he said. "He was already dreaming of retiring. There was an Academy in the Aether, but the lake was just a body of water back then. There were thousands of capable defenders and creators studying at the Academy. The mechanism was started, and the gears were turning.

The Overlord found a suitable planet to live on and secluded himself there with Dai-Kun. He could not get the dragon to take his usual form and simply avoided him. The unfortunate dragon wandered around the planet, then returned and settled near the Overlord's house.

He began to prepare food for the Overlord and bring it in, leaving it on the doorstep. The Overlord ignored all attempts. Dai-Kun planted flowers of unprecedented beauty outside his house, mined precious stones, and composed songs and poems for him. The further he went, the more he behaved like a mad fool and annoyed the Overlord."

"Don't forget to make it clear that these are just rumors," Liam reminded him quietly.

"Ok, but it sounds beautiful! The Overlord did carry out his plan, though, and, with a little Dai-Kun blood, creating a population of dragons that succeeded him at the frontier. Thus came the first famous dragons, and then the second and third."

Liam interrupted the story, clarifying:

"The new dragons, though strong, were not as powerful as Dai-Kun, as the Overlord soon became convinced. One by one his creations began to die at the hands of the enemy. Mourning them, he could not allow the brave creatures to disappear and then he came up with..."

"The lake of Rebirth," Cal muttered, realizing the scale and power of the Overlord.

"True," the marshal confirmed, "everyone thinks that Dai-Kun died in battle after thousands of years of faithful service, but the dragon in human form lived for many more years on the Overlord's planet.

He watched as his deity created a replacement for him, as he pined for his creations after their death, as he was drawn to the human world and found no place in his heart for Dai-Kun. After this, Dai-Kun decided to die.

He set out for the frontiers and bravely went to meet his doom. Eyewitnesses who saw him die left handwritten memories that the Overlord wept over his body for three days and three nights. Then he removed the medallion and hid it in his library."

"If only he could return it," Liam continued the story," he might have told Dai-Kun that his feelings were mutual."

Cal looked dumbfounded at the Head.

"What?!"

"Yes," Liam sighed. "The Overlord couldn't respond to Dai-Kun's feelings because he didn't belong to himself."

"How's that?" Cal didn't understand.

"How do you imagine this picture?" The marshal spoke to him. "The Overlord created our universe and single-handedly supported the existence of life in a multitude of worlds. He couldn't go on vacation and have a personal life."

"He couldn't at the time," Liam said thoughtfully," but after the Dai-Kun died, the Overlord made every effort to step aside. He lives with the expectation that Dai-Kun will return."

"Oh..." said Cal, pressing his fist to his lips.

"He can't take Legion away from you," Liam said, "because, after the rebirth, you are his rightful owner. Only if you set the dragon free can you let the Overlord summon him back."

Cal was silent. There was too much on his mind.

"Why do you want the medallion?" Liam asked the marshal, keeping his familiar tone alive.

"Who knows..." The marshal avoided answering and stroked Liam's ankle with his bare foot. Liam twitched and sat back, Cal rolling his eyes.

As the conversation dragged on and it was time for dinner, all three headed into the dining room. There, a flavorful and rich selection of dishes awaited them, satisfying the most demanding of tastes.

After eating, Liam felt drowsy and asked to rest. Cal couldn't believe it, but he obediently let the Head and Marshal go. He went out into the courtyard and found the Legion asleep under a sprawling maple tree.

The servants wandered silently past, ignoring the beast. Cal envied the dragons - they did not need to eat. The Overlord had only given his creatures sharp teeth and claws to frighten others. They could use them in combat, but not to eat.

For all the time Legion lived with him, he did not worry about his diet. The source for the growth of reborn dragons, as well as those just born, was the energy around them. If the host was strong, the dragon grew faster. The Legion grew quickly. Cal crouched beside it and leaned his back against its warm body.

The midday sun warmed the ground and the air. A light breeze rustled in the tree's crown. Cal thought of the Overlord. "Why is so ridiculous? Is it possible to be so careless in love, to lose someone you love so foolish," Cal wondered. But then he remembered himself as a young man when he lost Liam, and his heart ached. He didn't notice the marshal looking for him.

The man ran out of the palace and, seeing a pretty picture nearby, headed straight there.

"Well, hello, beloved apprentice," the marshal said, "will you keep me company while the Head sleeps?"

Cal jumped to his feet and took a defensive stance. It was evident that he did not trust his new acquaintance. "It could very well be that he wants to kill me to get Liam," he thought.

"You need not fear me, though I have fond feelings for Liam, he will never reciprocate me," the marshal reassured him.

Cal didn't know how to respond to the marshal's frank confession. He did not know how to behave in his presence but mentally agreed that it was better to serve under his command.

"Well, if you don't want to go anywhere, let's sit here."

The marshal just flopped down on the lawn in his nice clothes and patted the ground with his palm, showing Cal to sit down. The student obeyed. He stared at the handsome man. Up close he was even hotter, it seemed that no one could refuse such a man.

His languid and dangerous gaze lingered like a sea abyss, and every word made the seductive lips move... Cal shook his head to dispel the stupefaction. The opponent was good. It was hard for Liam to resist..."Oh!" Cal noticed a small mole under his right eye, making Pittsu's appearance even more piquant.

"Have you seen enough?" The marshal asked the embarrassed Cal in a kindly manner, "Nothing, I'm used to it," he smiled and looked away.

"How should I address you?" started an awkward conversation with Cal.

"Well, let's see, I'm four hundred and thirty-one years old now, and I'm a Marshal of the Union Army..." he was enjoying the effect produced, "how about just Pittsu?"

Cal swallowed. Four hundred years old? He'd thought of himself as an adult before, having lived through enough in the world, but here… "Just Pittsu? No way! It'd kill my tongue if I said that," the apprentice thought. He said aloud:

"Marshal Pittsu, how long have you known Liam?"

"Uh, not very long, since he was brought to the Academy."

Cal was still jealous. While he was pining after Liam, this man was hitting on him at the Academy. Is that how it is?

"Now let me ask you, how far have you come?" The marshal decided to take the bull by the horns, and pinned Cal against the wall with his question.

"Um...well...yeah, we live together."

"I see, but he's not tagged yet, as I noticed."

"A tag?" Cal didn't understand.

"I'm not even sure whether to tell you or not. I'm not one to help my rivals..." The marshal looked dreamily at the passing clouds.

"Well, don't!" Cal snapped mentally. But the marshal wasn't holding back.

"The mark binds two people at all levels. The less powerful one becomes on the same level as the more powerful one, and it's also analogous to a normal marriage, so how's that interesting yet?"

"I've never heard of it before..." Cal admitted honestly. "How can I do it?"

"Ask Liam."

"Does he know about it?"

"Yes," the marshal brought his flawless face closer to Cal. "Attention, question, why isn't he wearing your badge yet?"

That seemed to be the marshal's insidious plan: to make Cal worry and think too much.

Cal was silent, digesting what he'd heard. At the same time as the coldness squeezed his heart, hope came. He convinced himself that Liam wasn't hiding anything. He was just in no hurry to tell. There was still so much he hadn't told Cal about this world.

Cal stroked Legion with one hand and kept his gaze on the little purple flower lost in the dense grass. If flowers knew how to be embarrassed, this tiny one would be the most embarrassed by the man's gaze.

"So this is the famous Dai-Kun?" The marshal stroked the dark red dragon's side as well. Legion woke up from the attention and looked sleepily at the men sitting beside him.

"It's all right," Cal patted him on the back, "did you sleep well?"

"Fine," the dragon muttered in Cal's head, "who's that?"

"This is Marshal Pittsu. He's graciously hosting us as guests."

"What do I care?" Still, the dragon grumbled, unhappy with his sudden awakening, turning his tail toward the humans.

"You're not in the mood? Then get some more sleep." Cal showed him to the crumpled grass where Legion had just been resting.

"It's amazing! He communicates with you through his thoughts, am I right?" The marshal spoke with glowing eyes.

"Yes, sometimes it's hard to keep him quiet," he said, watching fondly as Legion re-nestled, now facing his Master, "He's been talking since he was in the egg.

"You probably think that's a common thing, don't you?" the man asked.

"I hadn't thought about it," he admitted.

"It's a unique ability of the First Dragon, you're very lucky indeed," the marshal said, stretching his legs forward and resting his arms behind him.

"I wanted to impress the Head," said Cal, remembering for some reason.

"And you did, for he has a weakness for bright students," the marshal laughed.

"We've known each other since we were young," he said, bragging.

"You do?" The man asked, "What was Liam like at that time?"