The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] Chapter 441: The Ones Left Behind

The golden dragoness didn’t waste a single moment.

The earliest opportunity she found, she quietly disappeared into obscurity.

Naturally, like anyone attempting something covert, Cirila had to take painstaking measures to conceal her actual destination. They couldn’t afford to grow complacent about security simply because an unsettling calm had settled over the continent.

If anything, that silence before the storm only made Riley even more convinced that someone, somewhere, was already busying themselves with something even more dangerous.

Fortunately, that same uncertainty gripping Eryndra also came with one rather unexpected advantage.

People became much easier to convince.

Tasks that would’ve normally been met with raised brows and immediate refusals were now being accepted with surprisingly little resistance, simply because everyone understood that extraordinary circumstances demanded equally extraordinary measures.

That wasn’t just true for Mr. Winston, whom Riley was currently attempting to recruit for a rather questionable assignment.

It was equally true for everyone else he quietly needed to be booted out of the MBE before anyone realized what was actually happening.

Okay.

Admittedly, the way he’d phrased it made the whole thing sound considerably worse than what he actually had in mind.

Even his own father had given him a strange look before asking what exactly he meant by "booting everyone out."

Riley had no choice but to clarify immediately.

"I’m not planning a wartime layoff, Dad," he said with a sigh. "I’m planning some sort of... covert evacuation."

One where the evacuees couldn’t even know they were being evacuated because doing so was, quite literally, for everyone’s safety.

Admittedly, that sounded much better, yet his father still regarded him with the sort of knowing look that silently demanded a more thorough explanation.

"If we’re going to use the MBE as bait," Riley continued, "then I can’t exactly leave everyone here without them even realizing they’re sitting inside a sinking ship, can I?"

"But telling them wouldn’t do us any good either. Not only would we risk information leaking, but realistically speaking, I don’t think they’d survive here even if we turned headquarters into an even sturdier fortress and surrounded it with every precaution we could think of."

If the Wyvern Queen realized she’d been played, there was honestly no telling what she’d do to anyone unfortunate enough to still be wandering around headquarters.

More importantly, allowing her access to people Riley genuinely cared about was simply inviting disaster.

He knew himself well enough to admit that if one of his loved ones ended up in her hands, he’d almost certainly trade places without a second thought.

He couldn’t honestly say the same for someone whose name he didn’t even know. But if anyone got hold of his brother or even Orien...

Then he’d truly be backed into a corner.

And yet, simply ensuring the safety of those he cared about felt incredibly scummy. And thankfully, he didn’t feel like he’d sunk that low just yet.

So while they still had time, wouldn’t it be better to quietly move everyone somewhere else first?

"And how exactly are you planning on doing that, son?"

"Well..." Riley scratched the side of his face. "I’ve actually already started."

That immediately caught Lawrence Hale’s attention.

"I’ve been doing it in tranches," he explained. "Different teams are being dispatched for relief work, intelligence gathering, logistical assistance, and support assignments related to the upcoming conflict between the elves and the merfolk.

"As long as people leave gradually for legitimate reasons, nobody’s going to question why the headquarters is slowly becoming less crowded. Especially when I’m making sure they don’t all leave at the same time.

"As for the last batch of people to be dispatched... The schedule they’ve been given says that their current posts would be filled by the returning staff. What they don’t know is that those earlier units have already been quietly redirected to Silvara while in the middle of their current missions, so by the end of it, everyone will have been moved as far away from headquarters as possible."

Surprisingly, the plan had progressed far more smoothly than he’d expected.

Whenever possible, personnel had been assigned to locations closer to their hometowns, and volunteers had practically lined up before Riley even had the chance to ask. Given everything happening across the continent, countless people wanted nothing more than an excuse to check on their families while carrying out legitimate assignments.

That part had honestly been easier than expected.

Ironically...

The ones giving Riley the greatest headache weren’t the adults.

They were the little ones who barely reached his waist.

See, the children were absolutely inconsolable.

And that was putting it mildly. Judging by the sheer volume of the protests, anyone walking past would’ve assumed they needed to call Child Protective Services for some sort of magical child abuse.

Riley, however, would’ve liked to respectfully disagree.

He was the one in desperate need of help here.

__

As expected, the children didn’t like a single word coming out of Riley’s mouth the moment he told them they had to leave because it was part of the plan.

"It won’t be for very long," Riley reassured them. "And besides, where you’re going is actually a rather interesting place. I think you’ll like it especially since you didn’t get to explore it much before."

Silence.

Two pairs of little eyes stared back at him. And as bright as they were, they immediately saw through him.

Led by one particularly suspicious golden dragonling, Orien narrowed his eyes, puffed out his tiny chest, and pointed accusingly at Riley.

"You’re trying to distract us."

"...Am I?"

"Yes!" Orien huffed. "First you say it won’t be for long, then you say where we’re going is interesting." His eyes narrowed even further. "You’re trying to drive us away to safety while you get to stay and do all the interesting things!"

Beside him, Liam immediately gasped.

"!"

The little boy turned to Riley with a look of dawning betrayal before vigorously nodding in agreement with the golden dragonling, tiny arms crossing over his chest as though he’d independently reached the exact same conclusion.

Riley almost wanted to scream.

Actually, if he’d been given a choice, he would’ve gladly gone with them and waited for this whole nightmare to blow over.

He wouldn’t have minded figuring out how to find sustenance for the magical beings or coming up with increasingly creative ways to keep his very human father fed in the middle of an apocalypse. Maybe he’d even have to invent equally creative ways to take a proper bath despite being able to use magic, simply because drawing attention to their hideout with his unique mana would’ve been a terrible idea.

His hypothetical problems sounded ridiculous, sure.

But that was exactly the point.

He would’ve happily dealt with every single one of them if it meant avoiding all these so-called

Unfortunately, that wasn’t how his life was meant to go, so all he could do was smile through the complaints.

Thankfully, he’d already predicted how this conversation might go.

Kael’s proposed solution had simply been to put the two little runts into a sack and personally carry them all the way to the black dragon crypt.

Riley vetoed that plan immediately. For one, it sounded completely insane. And for another, who knew what kind of antics they’d try to pull while escaping if they were forced to stay there against their will?

Instead, he’d come up with something he hoped would actually work.

Patiently, he explained that they weren’t being sent away because they were useless, nor were they being hidden because nobody trusted them.

Then he crouched until he was eye level with the two children.

"It’s because I have a special mission just for you."

That immediately caught their attention.

Their ears practically perked up.

"Hmph!" Orien huffed. "Then you should’ve started with that, Auntie!"

Right. They were in the middle of a war but he definitely could’ve started with that.

Suppressing the urge to rub his face in distress, Riley asked, "Do you both agree that Renee and Lawrence Hale need to be protected?"

The children immediately looked at one another before nodding without the slightest hesitation.

To them, the answer had been so obvious that they couldn’t even understand why the black dragon had bothered asking in the first place.

Riley smiled.

"Then if your uncle and I both have to fight..."

He tilted his head.

"...who’s going to protect them?"

That simple question finally made the two younglings pause.

"I was really worried when I realized that," Riley admitted, making an exaggerated gesture as though illustrating just how enormous the problem had seemed to him. "Out of everything that’s happening, making sure everyone’s safe is the most important thing to me. If someone else could’ve done my job, I would’ve stayed behind with them instead."

His smile softened into something a little more helpless.

"Because I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate without being able to guarantee their state."

The children listened quietly.

"But then," Riley continued, "I remembered something."

He looked from Orien to Liam.

"You two are more than capable of protecting people."

He looked at them proudly.

As unconventional as it was, between the lot of them and his own father, even Orien’s little foot would probably come out stronger.

That was simply the reality they all had to accept. Riley wasn’t saying it just to flatter them or stroke their egos into agreeing with him. If anything, he was merely acknowledging a rather unfortunate truth.

"You’ve already proven that. So I thought... maybe I could ask the two of you to take on the most important mission of all."

The room fell quiet.

Small breaths could be heard as the children processed every word with extreme seriousness.

For one hopeful moment, Riley thought he’d finally managed to convince them.

Then he remembered exactly who he was negotiating with.

"..."