"Mommy! I want to go to the market to sell the fish I just caught!" shouted the twelve-year-old boy, smiling happily at his mother, who was lighting a fire to cook.

Without waiting for an answer, the boy hurriedly left before his mother forbade him. This time, he would escape Mother's tutelage. Because, as long as he lived, he had never been to the market and seen the outside world. So far, the play area is just a small hut and a lake.

"DRAMON! GET BACK!"

Draco took a deep breath. Again, he was caught. Inevitably, the boy turned to Mother. "What else is there, Mom?" he asked lazily.

"You forgot to wear this!" Saffia wrapped her own white knitted scarf around Dramon's neck.

"I don't want to! Why do I always have to wear a scarf, Mom?! I'm hot!"

"Don't protest too much! All of this is for your safety too! Understand?!"

Dramon sighed in annoyance. "Why is Mother concerned with safety issues?! Is this a magic scarf so it can protect me from harm?!"

"Don't be disobedient, Dramon! One day you will surely understand why Mother was forced to treat you like this! Where's your catch? Give it to Mother!"

"I don't want to!" Sprightly, Dramon hid the fish behind his back. "I'll sell it to the market!"

"NO! I do not allow you! Quick, give it to me!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Dramon snapped. "I WILL STILL GO, EVEN MOM FORBID ME! I JUST WANT TO FIND A FRIEND! AM I WRONG?!" Dramon was crying hysterically.

"OF COURSE! BECAUSE NO ONE WOULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU! BECAUSE YOU ARE A—" Saffia kept her mouth tightly shut. 

'Geez! What am I saying?'

"What?" Dramon frowned in surprise.

"That's enough. Mother is lazy to argue with you every day! Here! Let Mother sell your fish so we can eat quickly!" Saffia immediately snatched a net containing several small fish and walked away.

"Wait! You haven't answered my question yet! Why are you silent?! Do you want to swear at me again!" Dramon shouted angrily. However, the two did not dare to chase after the mother.

'I'm sorry, Honey if I'm too hard on you.'

‡‡‡

"Did you manage to find that kid?! I don't want any failures!" Roxy, who was sitting on the throne, glared at the commander-in-chief.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty… I couldn't find the child, even though other soldiers and I have traveled worldwide." Morwen knelt before the new king of the kingdom of Xirna.

"Stupid! So, what's the use of me letting you live?!"

Roxy attacks Morwen. Black flames shot from his hands and hit Morwen. The fire blazed so fiercely that it devoured Morwen's body. As a result, the bearded man groaned in pain as the eternal flames burned his entire body.

"P-please stop it, Master!"

"YOU DESERVE TO DIE! BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS FAIL TO BRING THAT CHILD TO ME! DID YOU FORGET?! THAT CHILD IS THE ONLY KEY TO CONTROLLING THAT WHITE DRAGON SWORD! BECAUSE OF YOU, I FAILED TO CONTROL THE WORLD!"

"I-I promise I'll find the kid within a week!"

"Alright!" Roxy reabsorbed the flames using his palm.

Morwen gasped with a rumbling chest. His whole body was blistered and hot.

"I WILL GIVE YOU ONE MORE DEAL! IF YOU FAIL, I WILL KILL YOU!"

Morwen nodded. "Alright, Your Majesty."

‡‡‡

"Look! Why are you wearing a scarf in the heat?" sneered at the children Dramon's age burst out laughing.

"Geez, freak kid!"

"Go away! You smell fishy!"

Dramon only looked down deeply when walking in the middle of a crowd passing by in the market. He didn't expect the impression he first saw of the outside world to be so terrible.

Dramon didn't know where his mother had gone. As a result of him secretly following Saffia from afar, Dramon lost track of his mother.

'Is this what you said, Mom? That no one would want to be friends with me? It turned out that all this time, I smelled fishy. I didn't even realize it at all. I feel so sorry for mom. During this time, the mother must have been tormented because she had to smell my body every day, but you were reluctant to complain.'

"Hey, Smelly Child! Where are you going, huh?! This is the territory where we play!" Six boys, aged twelve, surrounded Dramon to stop him.

"I-I just want to pass it," Dramon replied, scared.

"You must pay! Your scarf looks great! Give it to me, quick!" Gregor, the gang leader, extended his hand toward Dramon.

Dramon shook his head quickly as he gripped the scarf around his neck tightly, anticipating them taking it by force. "N-no, because this scarf was woven by my mother."

"You dare refuse my request! Don't you know who I am?! I am a descendant of the Tegira clan, the strongest group of tiger demons in this world! Quick, hold him!" Gregor ordered his friends, standing behind Dramon, to hold the white scarf boy's hands.

Two of Gregor's men immediately carried out his orders.

"Let me go! What are you guys going to do?!" Dramon thrashed as hard as he could. However, Dramon was powerless to escape from the clutches of Gregor's two powerful friends. In fact, their fingernails pierced Dramon's skin so that his strength was mysteriously drained. It looks like they are absorbing the power through the hooves.

Gregor laughed evilly. "This is the result if you dare to go against me, Stinky Child! Give me that scarf!" The boy immediately pulled the scarf from Dramon's neck. As a result, all parts of the boy's neck were visible.

"Scale?!" Gregor gaped wide. "It turns out you… you're a demon too?! But what stealth are you?!"

Dramon shook his head. "I-I'm not stealth. I'm only human. I don't even know what scales are on my neck."

"Do not lie! You must be a nearly extinct demon from a rare clan, right?! Because I have never seen scales like yours!" Gregor accused.

"RUN! RUN!" 

The market was in chaos because everyone was running frantically to save themselves.

Dramon, Gregor, and their friends were almost trampled by the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Gregor interrupted a man who was shouting.

"XIRNA KINGDOM CHILDREN COME TO FIGHT KALASTAR VILLAGE! HURRY UP, YOU MUST RUN! DON'T LET YOU BE KILLED BY THAT RUDE WARRIOR! BECAUSE THEY ONLY TAKE CARE OF KIDS YOUR AGE!"

A second later, a group of men with long beards and wearing armor came galloping fiercely toward them.

"Come on! We're running away!" Gregor ran screaming, leaving his friends to escape.

Dramon also ran to follow Gregor and his friends, though he didn't know what was happening. However, unfortunately, Gregor splashed oil on Dramon so that the boy fell.

"You must Die! Because you don't deserve to live! You're disgusting!" Gregor laughed for a moment, then rushed to run away when the soldiers were getting closer.

"PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ME!" Dramon tried to get up quickly, but the boy fell repeatedly. "Ouch! My feet!" The boy holds his sprained leg.

"HEY, BOY! DO NOT RUN AWAY!"

Dramon's eyesight was perfect. It turned out that the soldiers were increasingly coming to reach it. Dramon's heart wanted to stop when the man who led the cavalry twirled his shiny sword and slashed at everything around him.

'Mother! HELP ME! I'M SCARED!' Dramon screamed in fear in his heart. The boy could not cry as if his mouth suddenly went mute. Even Dramon forgot to breathe due to the panic that ambushed him like a war troop.

A mysterious young girl in a red dress grabbed Dramon's hand, then carried him flying before the soldiers of darkness caught Dramon.

"ATTACK THEM!" shouted Morwen to his men.

The whole army aimed at the young girl and shot thousands of arrows. Thousands of children darted quickly to attack the red girl. Even though the girl tried her best to dodge their attacks, hundreds of arrows pierced her body.

"Argh!"

"Are you okay?! You're hurt?!"

"Shut up! You already know I'm hurt. Why are you still asking? Are you okay?!"

Dramon was silent, afraid. He never communicates with anyone other than his mother. Dramon has been very afraid of talking to strangers for most of his life.