The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL]-Chapter 339: Safety Over Convenience

Feet up, butt down, shades on.

That was Riley Hale Dravaryn, moments before his ears twitched as he floated around lazily.

Frankly, he hadn’t noticed anything amiss at first. With his concentration shot and drowsiness threatening to take him out, Riley might have missed it entirely if not for a waterpark guest suddenly exclaiming, "What?! Are you saying that for the price of this drink, we can’t even have Glacites?!"

"Am I supposed to stay under this heat with melting ice? You realize that even convenience stores sell them, right?"

The voice was loud enough to carry over the lazy river’s gentle splashing.

Riley cracked one eye open.

At the pool bar, a manager and a waiter stood in front of a man who was clearly in the middle of making it everyone’s problem.

"I am very sorry, sir," the manager said, bowing slightly. "But the park doesn’t use magical apparatus in our operations. Unfortunately, that means we don’t serve food and drinks with Glacites."

The waiter nodded along, looking apologetic enough to qualify for hazard pay.

"That’s ridiculous," the man snapped. "Even homes use basic magical artifacts these days. You’re telling me the best waterpark in Eryndra can’t even chill a drink properly?"

"I understand how that sounds," the manager replied quickly. "It’s not that the stakeholders didn’t want to provide such amenities. We did try. But according to the tests conducted prior to construction, the results were inconsistent. So, in consideration for everyone’s safety, management chose to forgo the use of magical artifacts to ensure reliability and consistency."

The man scoffed loudly. "I’m hearing a lot of words, but aren’t all those just another way to say that this place is cheap?"

"No, sir," the manager said, bowing again. "I was simply pointing out how management elected to prioritize safety, considering the building restrictions."

By then, more people had started to glance over. Some slowed down. Others openly stared. A few even nodded in agreement with the manager.

The man finally seemed to realize that he was no longer the main character in his own tantrum.

"Tch," he muttered, grabbing his drink. "What a scam."

He stormed off, huffing and puffing, still muttering under his breath as he disappeared into the crowd with a glass he shouldn’t even have taken with him.

"..."

"..."

But contrary to that man’s anger, one ex-mortal nearly fell off his inflatable tube.

Riley had scrambled to sit up just as a small wave rolled through, and the sudden shift almost sent him tipping right into the water.

Kael reacted on instinct. He reached out and practically lifted his twig by the arm before Riley ended up becoming the first dragon to drown in a pool.

It was, unfortunately, very noticeable.

Several guests turned to look.

Riley coughed a bit, having swallowed a mouthful of water anyway, and tried to pretend this was all part of the experience. It didn’t help that he was now standing there, dripping, with Kael’s hand still firmly gripping him.

At that moment, he couldn’t even concentrate on the washboard abs of his husband standing right in front of him. His heart was hammering far too fast for that.

"What’s wrong with you?" Kael asked. His eyes were darker due to the potion, but his expression was the same one he always wore whenever Riley did something that made zero sense to him.

"I’ll explain later," Riley said, still clearing his throat. "But for now, we have to get to the pool bar. So walk with me."

Kael blinked once.

Despite having a rebellious streak, Kael Dravaryn was actually a pretty obedient husband, and so he followed behind his twig, who suddenly began showing signs of insanity as he approached the bar to order.

__

Riley leaned against the pool bar like a perfectly normal guest who was here to enjoy a perfectly normal drink.

Which he was.

Mostly.

Kael stood beside him, arms loosely crossed, watching with mild confusion as his twig, who had just finished ordering, rolled his shoulders like he was trying to work out a knot that definitely didn’t exist moments ago.

"What’s wrong with them? Your shoulders were fine earlier," the golden dragon pointed out.

Riley froze for half a second, then forced a laugh. "They’re fine. I just, uh, suddenly noticed they’re stiff."

Kael frowned at him. "If they are stiff, you should say so. I would fix it."

"It’s okay, honey, I got this..." muttered the newlywed black dragon as he tried to keep it together.

"Here’s your drink, sir."

The server set a tall, colorful drink in front of Riley, complete with fruit slices and an umbrella that looked far too cheerful for his current mental state.

"Thank you," Riley said quickly, flashing a polite smile.

Then, as if it had just occurred to him, he added, "Oh, I heard there’s a spa here? I didn’t really get to read the brochure, and I left my phone back in our room, so I can’t remember which spa is which."

The server paused. The very same one who had just been verbally berated earlier. As one could expect, he couldn’t help but flinch and only visibly relaxed at Riley’s polite tone.

"Yes, sir. We actually have two spa facilities you can choose from."

"Oh, I knew it! That’s great," Riley said. "This is probably a long shot, but do any of them have those massage artifacts? I happened to try it once somewhere else, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask because that really did the trick for me."

The server let out a small sigh. Not annoyed. Just tired.

Another magic-related question.

But this time, instead of getting berated, it was as if the customer realized the question was too much.

"Oh, if there aren’t any, that’s fine too," Riley added quickly. "I actually brought something similar with me, so I could just use that while getting another service. In reality, I was hoping to compare what I just purchased with a professional one, but I could just do that next time!"

The server blinked, surprised. "Ah. Normally, that would be fine, sir. And I believe, other hotels and resorts under our company offer those services. But we really can’t recommend using magical devices within the park’s premises. At least in this particular park."

The allegedly relaxing ex-mortal tilted his head. "Oh? Why is that?"

The server hesitated, then lowered his voice slightly, as if this was not exactly brochure material.

"Something like a zoning thing, sir. I’m not particularly sure about all the details, but from what I know..."

"It’s been like that since before construction even started. There were tests done, and the results were inconsistent. Some of the land here reacts badly to active magical devices."

"Oh, not in a sense that there would be outbursts, it’s more like the artifacts would malfunction or refuse to work at all." The server quickly added.

"Whoa! Really? No wonder they thought it would be best not to use artifacts! I was wondering why the pools were using pumps instead of those custom magical apparatus!"

"Yes! Even I thought the same. What if the slides don’t have enough water because the artifacts refuse to work, right?"

"Right! I wouldn’t want to experience that." Riley agreed with the server, and Kael was surprised to hear even more talk.

"There were also rumors that magical beings didn’t like the area, which is part of why the company managed to secure the plot. That’s understandable too, because it’s less of a problem for humans, aside from giving up a few conveniences. At least this way, we’re not dependent on beings from other races for maintenance and the like."

Riley blinked. "Huh. That’s actually pretty smart and reassuring."

"It is," the server agreed. "Unusual, but safer this way."

"That’s a shame," Riley said, genuinely. "But I get it. It’s kind of cool that the whole waterpark runs on regular technology."

He took a long sip of his drink, then promptly downed the rest of it like he was hydrating for an emergency.

Kael watched him with a raised brow.

Riley set the empty glass down and left a tip on the counter. Not just a tip. A very large one.

The dragon lord glanced at it, then at his mate. Wasn’t that the same person who said they didn’t need to bring money to pay because it would all be charged to the room using those flimsy bracelets they were wearing?

So just what was he doing now?

They turned to leave. Riley was still rolling his shoulders like something was bothering him.

Kael was just about to comment on that when someone hurried up behind them.

It was the server.

"Sir," he said quietly, "if you really want to use your own magical device, I suggest asking the front desk to direct you to the designated sites."

Riley paused.

The server leaned in just a little more. "But personally, the locations they give might not produce the best results. If you want my advice, you should go closer to the areas the staff prefer."

Riley’s eyes lit up.

"Wow, can you tell me about them?" he asked, smiling.

Bingo.