Dragon's Contract

I've mentioned this before, but a contract between dragons is something like swearing brotherhood.

In other words, it's an extremely delicate and sensitive affair.

Looking at it from Terra's side and mine, it was practically as if I were taking him in under my wing.

Of course, the loyalty he'd shown so far was solid, our relationship was easygoing, and he was already bringing me financial benefits.

There was absolutely nothing bad about forming a contract.

"I-is this truly real, Lady Goldy…?"

"What's with that reaction? Don't tell me you don't want to contract with me."

"Not at all! I am truly, utterly delighted!… I-I simply thought I might have misheard…."

Yeah. Terra seemed pretty thrilled about it too.

From his perspective, this wasn't just a good deal—it was more like a goddess herself had deigned to speak to him.

"You do understand that you'll be subordinate to me, right?"

"All the more an honor!"

"Hah…."

Watching Terra bounce around like a little kid, practically vibrating with joy, I headed for the empty lot near the house.

For reference, I'd handed the Slayer's head over to Ansusa.

He'd said there was something he wanted to test.

I had no idea what kind of test, but… well, he said he needed it.

I hadn't planned on killing the guy right away anyway, so I lent him out for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a bit.

He was going to manage my territory in my place from now on—might as well build up some goodwill.

Which meant Ansusa would be my direct subordinate administrator… so was that a duke?

No, the land was way too small for a duke.

Then a count? A viscount?

Hmm… I'd have to think that over later.

Getting complicated for no reason.

Thud—

"This looks about right. No people around."

I glanced back at the little guy trotting after me, then drew in a deep breath.

A contract was an extremely delicate operation.

And, of course, it cost a lot of money.

Well—I'd already shaken the Association down for the cash, so that part wasn't a problem.

"You already know all this, but I'll go over it formally."

I spoke as I summoned a magic circle into the empty air.

"A contract is sealed through mutual trust. In exchange for coming under me, I gain the duty to protect you."

"Yes, ma'am."

"In exchange for holding your soul, I'll let you use a portion of my power."

Terra nodded.

Truthfully, he almost certainly already knew all of this.

For a dragon, contracts were something you understood by instinct.

"And you'll gain a chance to raise your rank—but of course, that part is on you. All I can offer is instruction."

As I kept speaking, the magic circle linked into itself, growing more and more complex.

A contract was, quite literally, a subordination carved into the world itself—so the magic had no choice but to be mind-bendingly intricate.

Maybe that was why the humans of my previous world used to take pieces of this magic circle and use them as decorations at weddings.

Something about tangled lines that could never come apart.

Humans loved attaching meaning to things, so they probably used it that way. At least, that was my guess.

Ironically enough, a dragon's contract could actually be broken at any time.

Shff—

With the magic circle floating above my left hand, I dropped to one knee and met Terra's eyes.

Then, with my right hand, I gently took his.

"Does the contracted party agree to the following terms?"

"Yes, ma'am."

The magic circle slowly peeled free of my left hand.

The lines connecting us at the midpoint between me and Terra took on the form of a colossal dragon.

The primordial being called Dragon—the one with three horns.

Put simply, that dragon was standing witness to the contract.

The existence that watched over every contract ever made.

Flash!—

Under his gaze, the contract proceeded.

A soft light burst between our joined hands, and thin, thread-like strands spilled out and began to weave together.

They grew into a greater and greater skein of thread.

And when it had fully swollen—

I spoke as if declaring it to the primordial dragon itself.

His wings seemed to fold around the two of us—

Shff—

—and then he dissolved into mana and was drawn into our skein of thread.

At that, I closed my eyes and focused my mind.

Thud—

Countless spaces linked together by tiny threads serving as bridges.

I walked along them until I stood before a sealed veil.

Beyond it lay Terra's mind.

It was something of a tradition for a contractor to visit the contracted party's mind at least once.

Thud—

I took one more step and entered.

"Whoa…."

It looked like some kind of cave.

Unlike an ordinary cave, though, gems were packed into every surface.

"Exactly an Earth Dragon's style."

"Huh? Lady Goldy?"

Terra spotted me from the side and came over.

"What is this place?"

"What do you think? It's inside your mind. You live thinking about this kind of thing?"

"…Th-that's a little embarrassing."

"From now on we can meet here remotely too, so call me if something comes up. Ah—mana cost is pretty steep, so only for big emergencies."

I should buy him a phone at least.

Just in case he needed to reach me day-to-day.

…Or not.

Would he just spend the whole time gaming on it…?

"Understood!"

Depending on his mood, the embedded gems would dim or blaze with light.

"Can I take this as wanting to live stuffed into a cozy den packed full of everything you love?"

"That doesn't seem wrong. However, I also wish to raise my rank…."

"Rank is entirely up to you from here on out."

Incidentally, in here his horn was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠properly attached.

That meant he still had a strong will regarding that horn.

"Th-there's one thing I'm curious about."

"What?"

"If this is my mind… does that mean I could also visit Lady Goldy's?"

"Ah, that?"

I paused for a moment at that.

Inside my mind, huh….

"It's possible. But I won't let you in."

"…That's rather unfair. You've seen my bare face and everything."

"Hey—are you talking back right now? Starting this during the contract itself—"

"—is what you almost said, Lady Goldy."

Where the hell did he even learn a line like that.

Maybe I really should start limiting his computer time….

Anyway.

"There's nothing good waiting in my mind. You'd be lucky if something catastrophic didn't happen."

"Pardon?"

"There's just… stuff. Stuff."

My mind.

Not exactly in a state fit to show anyone.

"Well, we've seen this place. Time to head out."

"You're leaving already?"

"It's just rocks and gems. Not like I can take any of them with me."

Terra tilted his head at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that, then bolted off to one side.

He came back with a gem the size of a fist.

"Couldn't you store it in Lady Goldy's mind?"

"In my mind?"

"Yes. It's a gift from me."

"Heh…."

What a surprisingly thoughtful thing to say.

Tap—

I took the gem and ruffled Terra's hair.

"Alright. I'll go drop this off—you head back to reality and wait."

With that, I turned and walked back out along the bridges of woven thread.

Then I let out a long breath and stepped into my own mind.

"Ah! Lady Goldy, you've returned!"

"…How long was I gone?"

"About two seconds?"

"I see. No—things just ran a little long on the inside."

Terra tilted his head at that, but—

"If Lady Goldy says so, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then that must be the case."

—he accepted it almost immediately.

He was starting to learn that questioning me never led anywhere good.

Crrrk—

The skein of thread that had been twisted together between us burst apart.

Strands seeped into each of our bodies—sharing power, duty, and life itself.

"That finishes the contract. Nothing special, right?"

"It was a rare and precious experience."

"Hmm. Well, good. If you want to raise your rank, put in the work from here on."

With that, I snapped my fingers.

A golden target appeared.

"Let's test whether it worked. Use Body Enhancement. Gold attribute."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Terra settled into a stance and clenched his fist.

Then he drew up his mana—

—and activated Gold-attribute Body Enhancement on his own.

"Success!"

"So it is. Still needs more practice, though."

By my standards, that Body Enhancement barely cost fifty to a hundred thousand won?

That was about the scale of it.

Well—it wasn't his native power, so it was fair enough for a first try.

"Hit it."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Tap—

KABOOM!—

A small but unmistakably golden burst of force.

Good. That part was working fine.

And next….

"Now then—shall we look for a way to fix your horn?"

"My horn, you say…? I'm not sure it can be repaired…."

"That's why we're going to look. Hmm… Zehar might know something… ah, wait."

Zehar had force-fed Terra something before.

"Hey—that nasty guy force-fed you something. What was that again?"

"Nasty…?"

"Zehar. I'm talking about Zehar."

"Ah… if it's that one…."

Between the two of us digging through our memories, Terra was the first to speak.

"Deathstone…?"

"Ah! Right—Deathstone!"

That insane bastard Zehar.

In a way, he really was something else.

"Why do you ask…?"

"Deathstone is a rock with the effect of neutralizing things into sand. And you're an Earth Dragon, aren't you?"

"That is correct…?"

"If you extract just the unique mana sealed inside the stone, you should be able to use it once, right? Instantly turning the cross-section of the horn into sand should be possible, shouldn't it?"

Granted, it was that rare a stone.

I'd wondered why he'd go out of his way to make something so precious and feed it to Terra….

He'd planned this from the start?

"If we use it well, we might be able to reattach the horn."

"I-is that so?"

Great. Let's go do it right now.

And it'd be nice to have someone who could help with this part, wouldn't it?

Riiing—

"Hello?"

"Hey, Juseon. Got a minute?"

"What is it…?"

"I think I'm going to need some help from your party members."

Time to get that steampunk operating table ready, right?