Chapter 48: What on Earth Are You Blushing For?

What Linden wanted to do with her...
And keeping it a secret from Victoria...
Something not quite suitable for a young dragon...
No matter how she looked at it, Hilona figured it could only be that kind of intimate, blushing kind of activity.
After all, it was definitely not suitable for young dragons.
Was she about to step into the adult world just like that? Weren't things progressing a little too fast?
Hilona lowered her head shyly, and asked with embarrassment:
"Linden, shouldn't we first go hunting together, groom each other's feathers a bit, and stand together by the lakeside watching the sunset slowly sink behind the mountains..."
"Haven't we already done all those things? Except for the last one, it seems."
Linden frowned, not understanding why she suddenly brought these up.
Still, he responded to them one by one:
"When we go hunting, you fly ahead to scout for prey like cattle or sheep. Once you find them and let me know, I approach the area and shoot with a bow. Don't we work together quite well?"
"I've groomed your feathers for you too, and occasionally plucked a few out. I figured once I gathered enough, I could make a feather fan. Besides, I don't have feathers, so you don't need to groom me."
Hearing his words, Hilona reflected and realized it was indeed true.
In the month or so they had spent together, she and Linden seemed to have done pretty much everything ordinary couples could do.
If not for the threat of the red dragon, this truly would have been the life she yearned for.
Peaceful and quiet, planting crops, watering flowers, and hunting with the one she liked every day, spending a fulfilling daytime together, and then sleeping side by side at night.
Occasionally watching Linden carve wood and tinker with novel contraptions.
For a dragon's life, there could be no greater happiness than this.
Thinking along these lines, since all the groundwork had already been laid, progressing to the final step felt entirely natural.
Hilona buried her head deep into her wings, and mumbled softly:
"Linden, I want to find somewhere a bit quieter..."
"Somewhere quiet? That works too. It's nice not being disturbed by other things."
"And also... could you hold me...?"
Linden listened to the butterfly dragon's voice getting quieter and quieter, until it sounded almost like a mosquito buzzing, feeling quite puzzled inside.
What on earth are you being so shy for?
When riding on Victoria's back, didn't he hold her frequently without her ever shrinking back in embarrassment?
Though he thought this, he still stepped forward, picked Hilona up in his usual manner, and then shouldered the backpack resting on the ground.
She wasn't particularly heavy and was a breeze to lift. If it were Victoria wanting to be carried by him like this, he would simply tell the young dragon to go play somewhere else.
"Keep today's outing a secret from Victoria, don't let her find out. She's the type who, seeing someone else do something, immediately wants to try it herself," Linden cautioned.
"Mm, I understand..."
Hilona replied softly, full of shyness.
    
Feeling somewhat puzzled, Linden had a vague sense that the explosive bird was operating on a completely different wavelength from him.
After stepping out of the shelter, she reminded him that Victoria had gone to the right, so they were better off heading left.
Linden didn't dwell on it. While bracing her body with his left arm, he fished the map out of his backpack with great difficulty using his right hand, checking the markers he had made.
Based on the distribution of nearby tribes, it would be best later on to build a railway line connecting all the various groups.
Information transmission, mutual support, and resource transportation would all become vastly more time-saving and effortless.
Before that, however, they needed to make an on-site trip to plan the route and scout out the terrain.
Otherwise, after finishing the construction, a slope that looked gentle enough might turn the minecart into a roller coaster the moment someone sat in it.
Of course, Linden's immediate goal was to first locate a nearby mineral source and build a railway to facilitate travel, saving commuting time.
As for connecting to the tribes, negotiations would still have to come first.
He placed his first target on the burrowing dragon tribe situated four kilometers away.
Hilona had previously mentioned to him that this species of dragon possessed a rather honest and gentle temperament, with very little aggressive desire.
Upon reaching his first red-cross marker point, Linden set the cradled Hilona down on the ground.
"Let's do it here. I'll clear away the bushes and undergrowth first."
Hilona looked around and found that this was indeed a secluded spot, completely devoid of noise.
Tall maples grew in a cluster, their dark green leaves already showing a tendency to turn red, heralding the approaching footsteps of autumn.
Standing at the current elevation and looking down, the lake could still be seen not far away.
She suddenly conceived an unfulfilled request:
"Linden, how about we slow down for a bit and wait until dusk before we get down to business... The orange light washing over the sparkling water surface will be breathtakingly beautiful.
Besides, that moment only lasts for a short while each day... and it doesn't happen every single day."
"We can watch it after we finish working, it won't interfere with anything."
Linden pulled all sorts of miniature blocks from his backpack and tossed them onto the ground one by one to restore them to their full size.
He was planning to use the crafting table shortly to synthesize rails and a minecart.
Hilona looked at the dazzling array of items scattered on the ground, feeling quite perplexed.
Why did they even need tools?
She asked with lingering doubt:
"Linden, is there something I need to do to cooperate...?"
"Just stay over there for a moment, I can handle it all by myself."
"Ah? How can you do it all by yourself?"
Hilona's eyes widened.
"Ah? I'll just use my hands to do it, obviously."
Linden's eyes widened in reciprocal confusion.
Then, he raised the newly crafted iron hoe and iron pickaxe.
    
"It's not like this is my first or second time doing this, why are you so surprised?"
"..."
The butterfly dragon silently averted her gaze, and then naturally lowered her head, staring intently at the ground as if there was gold hidden there.
Linden's confusion deepened, unable to figure out why she was suddenly exhibiting ostrich-like behavior.
"What did you think I brought you out here to do?"
"N-nothing... I misunderstood..."
A half-red, half-green maple leaf drifted down and landed squarely on top of Linden's head.
He picked it up, examined it in his hand, pondered for a few seconds, and felt his brain experience a tiny explosion.
Good grief, even interspecies romance?
No wait, I haven't even made the minecart yet, and you're already driving it?
Hilona, looking all cyan and innocent on the outside, I never expected you to harbor so much yellow in your inner thoughts...
Linden's mouth twitched. Watching her head practically burying itself into the dirt, he ultimately chose not to resort to sarcasm.
If he pushed her too far and she flew away, who was going to be his minecart test pilot?
After assembling a railway track roughly thirty meters long, Linden called out to Hilona, who was still deep in contemplation over the meaning of dragon life:
"Stop daydreaming, it's your turn to contribute."
"Sigh..."
The butterfly dragon flew over looking utterly dejected.
"What do you want me to do?"
"It's nothing strenuous. Just sit inside this minecart. If the cart looks like it's about to flip or runs into any other accidents up ahead, just fly straight up."
"Oh."
Hilona acknowledged.
That didn't sound particularly dangerous.
Until she took her seat in the minecart, and a powerful shove from behind made the rapidly accelerating speed feel somewhat wrong.
"Does the speed seem a little..."
"There's a 'gentle little slope' coming up ahead, I'm not sure if I'll fly off when I ride over it..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Hilona's startled shriek rang out from the front:
"Linden, are you even human?!"
...
Not far away, a pair of eyes hidden in the shadows silently watched the human and the dragon.
"So much fun..."