Farewell Home

　Lasse stared at the rotten wood with a look of sadness on his face.

'I'll remember my days with you.

It happened so fast, after all. Buh-hing!

　The unicorn chuckles merrily.

'Clunk, clunk, because the moment you open the door, it rattles!

　The unicorn, looking genuinely amused, talked about that time.
　Yes, the wreckage in front of me was that of the shack where Lasse lived.
　That stormy day, as Lasse and his dragons were heading to a neighboring town that night, the shack had been fatally damaged by a fierce windstorm.
　Trent and his friends formed a wall to protect the shack, but even so, they were not as large as the dragons, and the shack was cut short by the impact of Lasse's yank on the door handle to open it.

　Lasse was holding a funeral for the shack to escape reality.

It's time to come back to reality, Lord.

　The dragon admonishes Lasse in a jaded tone.

What's broken is inevitable. What's broken is done.

　He's right. What's broken can't be reversed.
　That's why his words made so much sense.

　Even Lasse knew that.
　What's broken can't be helped.
　Rebuilding it anew would be a constructive way of looking at it.
　But still, he had a nagging feeling.
　Looking at the custom-made saddle on the dragon's back.

　His saddle is custom-made.
　It has seats for up to 15 passengers, a cargo hold for the cargo, and enough brackets and hardware to withstand the dragon's movement in the air.
　The materials are made of rare and expensive components that would cost a few mansions, let alone an ordinary house.

　At first glance, it seems to be a necessary expense for business prosperity, but this is the proof of the bitter memory of an amateur businessman who was framed by craftsmen and merchants in the name of initial investment.
　Originally, Lasse had intended to run a carefree transportation business of putting people on the back of a dragon, but he had fallen for the sweet notion that he could carry more customers and cargo, which led to an unexpected expense.
　I was naïve to think that the materials the merchants gave me with the promise of a lower first boarding fee would be cheaper than I expected.
　The merchants saw the usefulness of Lasse's proposal of air transport before anyone else, and they had a reason to stop, lest he would one day decide he had earned enough and quit the transportation business.
　The first of them is this too expensive business tool.
　And they will continue to sell expensive products to catch Lasse off guard.
　I'll do Lasse a favor and give him what he wants.
　A true merchant is only as good as his word when he reads what his customers really want and sells them the next best thing.

　So now Lasse was in need of money.

"Well, my office and home is bankrupt. What should I do?

　On his knees, with his hands on the earth, it looked as if he was on his knees to an unseen fate.
　To put it bluntly, I was not good at managing money.

I'm going to ask you to go to the carpenter master's place and get an estimate.　We will then use the proceeds from the sale of the dragons to pay for the construction of a new home.

Yes.

　Accepting Lamia's pragmatic proposal, Lasse headed to his master's house.

　.

"Oh goodness!　I don't care if you get paid on time!　Pay me what you have as soon as it's ready!

Yeah.... Okay, yeah, right...

　When Lasse comes to consult on the new building, he is surprised by the unexpectedly favorable terms offered by his master.

You shouldn't be surprised. We know how much your dragons make. And you are the benefactors of your son's daughter-in-law. We owe you a debt of gratitude!

　Rightly so, compassion does not do one any good. I owed a debt of gratitude to my master.
　He immediately offered Lasse a deal at a certain time, thinking he could repay the favor.
　He was right, of course, that he trusted Lasse's money.

I'll make the blueprints, then you can tell me what you want for your new house!　

　And so the plans for Lasse's new home were made.

　.

While Lasse was consulting with the new house, a new kind of disturbance had arrived in Dexys town.

I've found it. The Dragon Carriage of the People".

Yeah, he's the only one who could use a dragon for that kind of thing.

　The voices of a hooded man and woman.

"This is where that man, 'The King of the Thousand Beasts,' Lasse-Themer, is!

　A new storm looms over Lasse!