Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
VOLUME 2 CHAPTER 26: Dragon-san Invites His Best Friend
Lava POV:
There were many signs.
The traces of magical energy I could feel from Elvie when we were attacked by the Earthworm.
After that, there was that thing that my Senpai said during the dragon meeting. Moreover, it was something that was also relevant to Aru in a way ---- the fact that I seemed to have met this energy somewhere before.
The dragons began to learn more and more about humans thanks to the information I was giving them, but for some strange reason they already knew about the Signos Academy.
It was as if they were getting information from somewhere.
And…… ------
「The monster that attacked El-kun when he was young did not show up again after that. There were magic crystals scattered all around El-kun and Marca, so the conclusion was that someone from the scouting corps must have defeated the monster. Which is strange, since the scouting corps is not trained for battle. And the Spirit Eater is not something which can be defeated by someone who"s not properly trained. But what if there was something else?」
It is said that the inability to use magic was a small price to pay for getting out alive from an encounter like that.
However, no matter how miraculous that might have looked, I had hard time believing that a normal human would be able to defeat the Spirit Eater.
But it could be possible if the Spirit Eater fought with something much more powerful than itself…… Dragon, for example.
「Five years ago, one of my Senpais came to this region. And form here, the Tisse region is just a day"s worth of journey on foot. You are the one who helped him, aren"t you?」
「…… It is our duty to kill monsters and demons. It is also a chance for us to interact with humans, if the opportunity presents itself.」
Senpai answered in his usual, elegant voice, and then he projected an image that everyone could see.
It was the image of my dragon senpai standing above the small Elvie and looking down on him.
Senpai"s real body was truly scary, I must say.
It looked just like a silkworm, only it was about two times as big as my dragon form.
His body was covered in glamorous gold scales.
People were usually screaming and running away when they saw me. In his case, however, they would probably outright faint on the spot.
***
Elvie"s Forgotten Past:
Still, even having senpai in front of him, Elvie ignored him completely and rushed to Marca"s side, shaking her arms and trying to wake her up.
「Marca! Marca! Wake up! Please open your eyes!」
"It won"t happen. This child"s magical core was severely damaged. Soon, all of her life functions will cease. She needs immediate help."
The voice echoes inside of the mind of the astonished Elvie, who finally noticed the dragon that stood before him. Initially he shook with fear, but almost immediately cried out to him:
「Please, help my sister! Save Marca! I"ll do anything!」
I could see that senpai was rather confused at that moment.
"Little lad, why do you want me to save her?"
「Marca is my little sister! And it is a brother"s duty to protect his sister! So I don"t care what happens to me!」
Hearing Elvie"s words, waves of heat began to spread across senpai"s chest.
"Compensation will be necessary."
「I will do whatever it takes to compensate! I"m ready for anything!」
Elvie begged senpai while crying and shaking in desperation, and senpai answered with embarra.s.sment.
"Suggestion. For returning the life functions of this child to normal, accept me into you. Become my eyes. Become my ears."
「Become your eyes and ears?」
"Do you accept? Or do you not?"
「I don"t care! As long as Marca is safe, I couldn"t care less!」
I felt as though senpai"s heart was moved by the adamant resolve of this small human child.
Was he surprised? Was he puzzled?
Aah, this is ------
"Agreed. In the name of "The One Who Becomes One With the Wilderness" I declare that the contract is now forged."
The scene ended as soon as senpai"s magic essence soaked into Elvie, and as I returned to reality I could feel my head hurting just a little bit.
「Senpai, why did you come into contact with human child?」
「…… I didn"t expected them to be so vulnerable.」
Umm, so in other words, you didn"t expect that the process would use up all of the mana in the area? Is that it?
It was something that was truly difficult for me to understand, much thanks to the fact that Senpai"s expression remained the same this whole time.
When a dragon comes into contact with someone and enters a contract with that person, its establishment uses all of the mana in the vicinity.
Oh well, Elvie seems to be fine, so I guess that senpai deserves at the very least some amount of praise.
「El-senpai. I was protecting Marca all this time, as well……」
Aru mutters that while his cheeks become bright red.
Then senpai looks at Elvie and says.
「Honestly, I doubted this child"s intentions. So I wanted to save the other one just to see his reaction. There was always a possibility that I would be able to understand human emotions better that way. So I decided to learn. Learn through this child"s five senses, observing his behavior and emotions. And for more accurate results, I sealed away the part of his memories that included me.」
In order to understand how emotions work, he decided to observe a human child.
But was observing really the only thing……?
However, senpai speaking the fluent dialect of the western continent, he seemed much more human than before.
「However, something quite inexplainable occurred during my observation. The child"s emotion began to influence my own self. Eliminating the cause was the most advisable course of action, but I needed to do that without exposing my own existence, as it would endanger my observation. But even if I was to suspend my observation, without me the children were vulnerable and would die as a result. This anxiety continued on.」
「Wait, senpai, so, Elvie"s emotion began to influence you?」
After a moment of silence, senpai admitted with embarra.s.sment.
「I was all alone and I began to cry because of that.」
I involuntarily let out a deep sigh.
「If you were in my place, what would you have done? What was the cause?」
In other words, this question was very hard to answer.
「Senpai, when you cry or see someone crying, the most common course of action is to comfort someone or be comforted by others.」
「Comfort?」
「Having your head patted, being hugged or having someone tell you that everything is going to be alright. And what"s the most important, is the fact that you were worried about Elvie and Marca dying, so you kept on watching over them.」
Senpai remained silent after hearing that.
But I already understood how was he feeling.
Because I used to be the same.
I remember that I took a human form without a minute"s hesitation.
He probably just wanted to get to know Elvie better.
「If you just observe, soon it is not going to be enough. Senpai. You wanted to cease the contract. To look with your own eyes. To listen with your own ears. But if you did, Elvie would remember everything and he would be able to use magic again. By that, you would be able to appear before him.」
「Would this child really recognize me?」
「That depends. You would have end up having a hard time at first, but that"s how humans build their relationships with others: by overcoming adversities together.」
「Then, what should I do?」
Senpai asked for advice, and I advised him from the bottom of my heart.
「It"s simple, really. It is something that I did myself, so I would know. You begin with asking: could you become my friend?」
I could hear Nectar laughing slightly in the distance, while Senpai stood silent.
「Incomprehensible.」
「It may very well be, Uncle Wilderness, but it is also a lot of fun!」
Aru says to Senpai, and his eyes become as round as saucers in response.
「Now, that being said, what do you say to help me turn Kyle into a demon, instead of returning back inside of Elvie?」
「Fail to, see the point.」
It seems that Senpai was still not quite convinced.
I felt as though we were at an impa.s.se, but then Nectar b.u.t.ted in.
「There is much sense in this, oh Dragon of the Wilderness.」
「Please elaborate.」
「You should know that this boy is Kyle"s descendant, and he is his great grandfather. If he dies because of him, he is bound to feel devastated. But if he finds out that you helped him to extend his life, he is sure to be grateful to you. We"ll just play along.」
I think that at this moment both Kyle and I had rather sour expressions on our faces.
I couldn"t quite hear what Nectar was saying to senpai, but I could easily imagine.
…… Oh Nectar, while senpai was still confused you brought the family circ.u.mstances to the table. That"s so cool, what a power move! Thank you so very much!
As expected, the idea that he could get along with Elvie seemed to be enough to convince senpai.
「"Born from Lava and Incarnation of the Night", thank you for your kind words.」
「Y, yeah. So let"s do this! Of course, senpai, you"re required to put in some effort as well!」
「Sure.」
Senpai nodded his head and then let out a tremendous roar.
「I, "The One Who Becomes One With Wilderness" approve of turning this spirit into demon-familiar!」
The air shook. For the third time this day.
「Mikoto-chan, it is alright to release Kyle now!」
「Wait! My heart isn"t ready yet!」
As soon as Kyle shouted that, he was expelled from Mikoto"s body, and we all so how his thin and transparent apparition fell onto the ground.
Then, together with Aru we surround Kyle, who was about to disappear, and next he is enveloped in a swirling vortex of magic.
We channel parts of our own magical power into him, since our magic was ideal for this kind of operation.
Then, we add in magic from the atmosphere itself, and soon enough surprised Kyle was surrounded by the storm of raging raw magic.
Next, dragons started to move.
"There is no need for him to be recognized by us."
"Still, he shall have our blessing."
"Keep the magic circulation safe."
"And thus a new demon-familiar is born!"
As each and every dragon says his blessing, the new waves of magical power are being sent into Kyle, further adding to the vortex of magic inside of him.
Ah! This is --……
The concentration of magic keeps on getting denser and denser, shifting into a physical object. Soon enough, it turns into what looks like a huge egg.
The sh.e.l.l began to break with a soft sound that could not be heard for normal ears.
After the sh.e.l.l broke, what was sitting there was the appearance of Kyle, looking exactly like the day when we have met for the first time.
But, for some reason he was holding his head with both of his hands.
「…… What the h.e.l.l is this, this magical power? I feel stuffed, in more ways than one.」
「Umm, since the other dragons also cooperated in creating you, probably you are full of knowledge how to maintain and repair the leylines. There should also be an array of magical techniques, so you can choose the ones that suit you best. Congratulations, Kyle! It seems like you are going to be a splendid demon!」
While I continue to speak, Kyle walks out of the remains of his sh.e.l.l. He looks into the sky.
「Not that I could help it. Being a normal demon would be more than enough in my book……」
「If you did turn into that, you would only be fixated on fighting with other demons.」
「…… No, after some thought, this form may be good.」
While I was thinking, Kyle let out a dry laugh and looked in the direction of Nectar.
Apparently, he was feeling exactly the same.
In an instant, each and every one of the people present swarms over Kyle.
"Kyle! I thought that we might never see each other again------!!!"
「I"m so glad to see you again!!!」
「Ah, not fair! Mother! Father! I want in, too! 」
Looking at this whole situation, Kyle couldn"t help it but laugh where he stood.
Then, Nectar suddenly rose his face.
"….Hmm, your magic seems to be a lot stronger than it was in the past. Hey, Kyle, did you perhaps use shred of Lava and Aru"s magical energy to create your new magical core? So how about a short test? Try to fire a few spells, see how it goes!"
「Why you, even at times like this……」
Kyle glanced over us while letting out a deep sigh.
「…… I didn"t think it would be quite like this, but I"m glad that I could see you again.」
「Of course!」
We all smiled as we answered.