A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 179: The Nest

“Huh?”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Whitney who reacted first to the girl’s words that had just dropped like a bomb—it was Ember, her eyes wide open.

“Whitney’s father...?”

She repeated the words slowly, dazedly chewing on them, then turned her head toward Whitney, her expression blank.

“Huh? That’s strange...”

“...?”

“There shouldn’t be anything I don’t know in the setting...”

This was Ember, after all—someone who had played not only the original game but every DLC, and had devoured the official lore books and even the most obscure theory posts on user forums.

So yes—she was aware that Whitney’s father had been sent off on a secret mission.

But to think the place he’d been dispatched to was this—the territory of dragons?

That had never come up anywhere. And if it had been mentioned, even in passing, there was no way someone like her would’ve forgotten it.

“Um... Whitney.”

“...Yes?”

“Did you maybe collaborate with the dragons to lock your father up here?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then... don’t tell me...”

With her face filled with confusion, Ember tilted her head and began throwing questions Whitney’s way, trying to come to some reasonable conclusion.

“...Did you bury your father here?”

“......”

“Eek. N-never mind. I was just kidding.”

The moment Whitney’s gaze turned deadly cold, Ember quickly averted her eyes and muttered her own conclusion to herself.

So he really did bury him here... I knew it. That comment he made back at the mansion to his sister—it was foreshadowing...

“......”

Wait a minute. But how do the dragons even know that? Could they really be working together? In that case... were they acting this whole time?

As Ember’s misunderstanding began spiraling out of control—

...‘Father’?

Whitney, meanwhile, was sinking into his own troubled thoughts.

To be honest... things have always been a little awkward with Father.

Sure, compared to the “parents” from his past life, his current ones were vastly better people—both as individuals and as guardians.

His past-life parents had, quite literally, just given birth to him. They hadn’t done anything a parent should do—hell, not even what a human being should do.

So yes, Whitney Ringaarden was deeply attached to his current parents.

But that didn’t mean they shared the kind of idealized familial bond that others might imagine.

Whitney’s personality and disposition hadn’t changed much between lifetimes.

Which meant interacting with others had always been difficult—and that included his family.

His mother, at least, had passed down her narrow eyes to him and cared for both Whitney and Cecil equally, so they had more interactions.

That might’ve been the first time Whitney had ever truly connected with another person.

But Cecil was a given, and as for his father—well, there wasn’t much to boast about there either.

The man had always shown a bit more affection for Cecil than for Whitney, and that favoritism had only grown after Countess Ringaarden’s death.

Still, that was light-years better than his previous life, so Whitney never voiced a complaint.

Even so, deep down, he’d always known—his father preferred his little sister over him.

And so, their relationship had grown... ambiguous.

Just like any teenage son who goes silent when alone with his father, Whitney—who had gone through puberty twice—never knew what to say when facing his dad.

Maybe if friends were nearby, or even Lady Meredia, things would be different.

But right now, the people beside him were neither his comrades nor his fiancée—they were Ember, who was barely recovering from retching, and the third-in-command of the Black Mage Alliance: the Death Knight.

As companions for a reunion after nearly a year {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} apart, this was the worst possible company.

“You may not have heard me clearly.”

“...Ah.”

“Your father is waiting for you in ‘The Nest,’ Whitney Ringaarden.”

Just as Whitney glanced around with a sigh, struggling to process the situation, the girl standing before him furrowed her brow and spoke again.

“...The Nest?”

“Do I need to explain? It refers to the communal dwelling of dragons.”

“B-but... don’t dragons hate living in groups? I thought they only gather under extraordinary circumstances...”

Startled by yet another unfamiliar term, Ember muttered nervously. The girl, though frowning deeper, answered kindly.

“Our concept of ‘communal living’ differs from yours.”

“Ah, um. Sorry, but—what exactly does that mean?”

“Humans are social animals. We are an individualistic species. A Nest, as a communal structure, only forms in times of species-level crisis.”

The girl continued, her tone cooling, her expression visibly annoyed.

“Traditionally, we gathered in the Nest once every hundred years to report to the Dragon Lord and hold meetings. But recently, that interval has shrunk to just ten years.”

Though it was just a frown, a wave of dragon fear radiated from her, causing a stinging sensation to crawl across Whitney and the others’ skin.

Even in her frail-looking girl form, she was still very much a dragon.

“It’s an unpleasant experience. Seeing those vicious, foul-tempered bastards every decade. There were a lot of fights in the beginning.”

“Won’t we be in danger if we go there...?”

“You needn’t worry. Ever since the Dragon Lord issued a decree, it’s calmed down a bit.”

Her words, so distant from human sensibilities, didn’t seem to invite any suspicion.

“...W-Whitney.”

“...?”

“Are we sure that person is really a dragon? I mean, maybe she’s just a really powerful human...”

Actually, there was one person who was suspicious—Ember, peeking out from behind Whitney, giving the girl a full once-over.

“You call it polymorph in your language, I believe. Regardless, I am showing you the utmost respect right now.”

“...Is that so?”

Letting out a frosty sigh, the girl gave a look that said Do I really have to explain even this?

“Yes. A superior lifeform such as myself is lowering herself to take the form of your inferior species, even using honorifics.”

“......”

“If you humans have any sense of decency, you should carve this moment into your hearts and be eternally grateful.”

It was an astoundingly arrogant statement—but even the Death Knight didn’t object.

Everyone could instinctively sense that, for a dragon, even this level of behavior was the most “polite” she could muster.

“...No, that’s not really the point here. Um, based on what you said earlier—”

“Y-yeah! That’s not the important part!”

Whitney tried to steer the conversation back to the main issue, but was abruptly cut off by Ember raising her voice behind him.

“C-could you... please put on some clothes?!”

“...What?”

“I-I just... I don’t know where to look! At the very least, could you cover yourself a bit...?”

The girl slowly looked down at herself.

Though in the form of a delicate young girl, and with some scales showing, she was nonetheless entirely naked.

“You want me to wear human clothing?”

But after staring at herself for a moment, she turned to Ember with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

“...Did I offend you somehow?”

“That goes beyond offense—it’s an insult. If the Nest weren’t currently convened, I might’ve frozen you alive.”

For a moment, Ember wondered if all dragons were just exhibitionists. But then again, it made sense—why would they normally wear clothes like humans?

Still, as a former modern-day human, she remembered that saying—When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Steeling herself, Ember spoke again despite the risk.

“B-but... Whitney’s here, too...”

Honestly, it wasn’t her pride but her nerves—Whitney’s unwavering gaze on the girl that had her flustered.

“...Are you implying that male is lusting after me?”

With those chilling words, everyone’s eyes slowly turned to Whitney.

“Haha, no. Not at all.”

“Good. Then there’s no issue. I’ve heard humans tend to lust after all sorts of things, but fortunately, I won’t need to teach him his place.”

Ember sighed in relief at Whitney’s reply, unaware of one crucial detail:

Whitney had completely shut his eyes some time ago—not just squinted. Fully closed.

...I’m gonna lose it.

No matter how devoted he was to Meredia, Whitney was still a man.

And this was the only way to suppress... certain instincts.

“Anyway, that’s not the point.”

Thankful that no one had noticed his shut eyes, Whitney finally managed to steer the conversation back.

“You mentioned earlier that the dragon communal Nest only forms during species-level crises.”

“...Yes.”

“And yet you just said my father is waiting in the Nest. That would imply that the Nest is currently active...”

The girl let out another cold sigh and nodded.

“There’s nothing to hide.”

Then came a long, heavy silence.

“All of us, including the Dragon Lord, see the current situation not as a species-level crisis, but a world-level one.”

Her voice echoed cold and sharp through the snowy mountains.

“Because not long ago, the Dragon Lord made a prophecy.”

“......”

“That the Demon King—whose bloodline had ended—will be reborn, and the world will fall into chaos.”

Whitney and Ember had managed to keep calm until now, but that final revelation made both their gazes tremble slightly.

“That day... is today.”

“...!”

“Today, the Demon King will be reborn.”

The fact that the dragons knew everything wasn’t part of the plan.

“...Shit, who is it?”

“...Yeah. Who the hell is it?”

***

Meanwhile, deep within the snow-covered mountains, inside a glimmering ice cave:

“So... the time has finally come.”

A man strolled calmly, hands behind his back, through a chamber adorned with crystalline ice like glass art.

“From here on... the path of fate begins.”

“The story of Demon King and Hero always carries two outcomes...”

“......”

“Destruction—or peace.”

He stopped and turned to face the cave’s far end.

There, slumbering within a colossal block of ice—so large the girl from earlier seemed insignificant in comparison—was a dragon with eyes closed.

“...Wouldn’t you agree, Dragon Lord?”