Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Dragon's Compelled Service
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No idea how Rachel had set the basic parameters, but when I woke up in the morning, Lepid was delirious, feverish with some embellished lies woven in.
He'd groan with feverish heat, then mutter pleas as if dreaming of Rachel: "Sister, stop it. Sister... no, Lady Sister."
[Lepid - Naive Reveler Unaware of the World]
Main Traits: [Arrogance (S-)] [Magic (A)] [Draconic Illness (C)] [Frailty (D)]
Hidden Traits: [Agriculture (S)] [Grafting (S)]
Sealed Traits: [Dragon (SSS)]
Just in case, I checked with the user's eyes, and sure enough, the Dragon trait was sealed. Since it was the first time I'd seen that entry, it probably wasn't a common type.
On top of that, Frailty was attached. Rachel must have really ground him down.
I sighed and pulled a potion from my sub-space, shoving it into Lepid's mouth.
"Where'd you sell your Heal or Recovery spells?"
"Ah, right."
After downing the potion and finally getting his eyes to focus, Lepid's words made my temper flare, something bubbling up inside.
Right my ass, you dumb dragon.
If I let this thing loose in the human world like this, wouldn't he get used and discarded by someone, starving or dying on the roadside?
Then that reckless Rachel, forgetting her own hand in it, might go brainless and chew out either the humans who exploited Lepid or me, the root cause.
I pondered for a moment, then slowly lifted the corner of my mouth.
"After teleporting us, what're you planning to do?"
Lepid, who had healed his body a bit with the surge of energy from the potion, looked down at his hands with a strange expression, then shifted only his eyes toward me.
"Well, judging by sister's temperament, she'll leave me alone for at least a hundred years, so before then, I figured I'd mingle with humans or Ain races and unseal myself."
"You look weaker than the average person at a glance. Wouldn't it be lucky if you didn't get into an accident before adapting anywhere?"
At my words, Lepid's complexion worsened a bit. Even he probably knew he wasn't the trustworthy type.
"Still, no choice. Since sister's the lord, even if I went to other kin, they'd sooner mock me than unseal this. A seal like this, I can break on my own given time."
"That's exactly it—do you even get that time? You could end up joining some shady group, get dragged around, and ruin your... no, dragon life."
I smiled very kindly as I voiced concerns for Lepid, and at my demeanor, Zero stealthily edged away with a weird look on his face.
"I-is that so?"
"Of course, the choice is yours. But if you want, instead of charging in bare-handed, I could help you get some time to unseal while doing minor chores in a safe place."
Lepid didn't answer right away, but his eyes flickered with interest, so I added more.
"Of course, as a great dragon, you wouldn't accept my kindness without compensation. If you just give me a little help..."
At "great dragon," Lepid snorted proudly, puffing up with a confident, arrogant shrug.
"Dragons never forget, of course. If we receive something rightfully, we must return it. Name your price, human."
Jackpot.
Dragons can't lie, right?
I suppressed my rising grin and pulled the codex from my sub-space, handing it over with an indifferent gesture.
"Nothing much. Just fill this with a variety of spells. Like Magic Missile or Force Shield, or Blizzard or Fire Storm. Or Resurrection."
Lepid nodded at Magic Missile and Force Shield like it was no big deal, but his face gradually stiffened at the later ones.
"Wait... wait, wait. Th-those... you can't store more than one of those in a codex. It's not infinite. Plus, in a human body, storing high-class spells means no teleportation magic."
At his words, I made an "ah" face and pulled out several massive mana stones from my sub-space.
"Mana should be plenty with these."
"No! You had these and kept quiet when I ran out of mana yesterday and had to return here, human?"
I couldn't help but mock Lepid's betrayed expression.
Of course I wouldn't give them to the guy who nearly killed me. "Naive reveler unaware of the world" fits him perfectly.
"So, can you or can't you, dragon?"
With his Dragon trait sealed, storing high-tier magic in the codex probably wasn't easy.
But with Arrogance attached, those words "I can't" wouldn't come out of his mouth.
"...Resurrection's out, at least. No human body can cast that without backlash."
"Then Recovery."
"That much..."
Of course, I knew Resurrection was impossible. Even in Innocent Saga, it was a rare special event skill, unobtainable normally.
You ask for the strong stuff first, get denied, then concede to lesser—it makes them grateful.
"More Shields than Force Shield if possible, and can you set these so our party takes no damage?"
"That doable, human?"
I kept grilling Lepid, who sighed in relief, and began filling the codex page by page.
* * *
No light show in reality, but to my eyes, the codex gleamed like it'd been reinforced to +12 even without it.
Just how many priceless high-tier spells that money couldn't buy were packed in here?
I wanted to plaster every page with top-class magic, but with Lepid's face growing haggard even as he absorbed mana stones to recover, and since these weren't for display or collection but actual use—needing utility spells too—I had no choice.
Still, with plenty of gold-unbuyable spells loaded, it should hold up once, excluding dragon-tier stuff.
"...My head feels like it'll shatter, guts twisting, and even sitting, the world's spinning."
"You'll be fine. Sleep it off, eat well, and you'll recover quick."
"Really...? Well, lying down now, it does feel a bit better."
I left Lepid, who'd served his purpose, fiddled with the codex, then opened my mouth again, my face unable to hide the grin anymore.
"Then, one more thing? Random Teleport scroll. You owe me this since you used up the one I didn't want to waste. Right?"
At my words, Lepid groaned louder in exaggerated agony, so I quietly pulled a potion vial from sub-space and uncorked it.
"No matter how you look at it, that dragon's getting squeezed dry, senior..."
"One day or two."
"What...? Doesn't look pitiful to me."
Whatever they muttered behind me didn't reach my ears.
I grabbed the shoulder of Lepid, who groaned and slyly turned his back to me, laid him flat, then squatted beside him and shook the vial.
"Come on, drink this. See, I'm a human who cares about your dragon body."
"Just... just dump me in this wasteland and go..."
"What nonsense. Just one more, I said. And dump you? You have to teleport us, Lepid."
"You vi-virtuous witch..."
A dragon ailment sufferer who gathered monsters to play boss is calling me names? No gamer as upright as me.
"Shut it and sit up. Drink."
Thanks to the Frailty trait, even my strength made Lepid's body flop around.
In the end, Lepid was forcibly sat up, drank the potion, and with his briefly recovered body, hurriedly imprinted one more teleport scroll.
"That Valbus guy fled pretty far, or used concealment—can't go there right now anyway. So I'll send you where you said. It'll be risky for reverse-tracking."
Thanks to coming here via Valbus's ruins, a mana trail lingered.
Reverse-trace the flow to pinpoint where the horses were originally tied, he said. I nodded.
At my nod, Lepid began calculating coordinates to teleport us before the backlash from overconsuming mana stones and potions hit, and I sipped tea beside him before speaking.
"Good. Then you stay here, recover, take the letter I wrote, and head to Labes. Sign here first."
I slipped the contract under the letter to hide it and held it out to Lepid, busy with coordinates.
"Hm, this?"
"You provide me some labor, I provide you room and board."
"Ah, got it."
I've said it over and over: read contracts before signing.
Not because Lepid's an idiot. Why would a dragon act so sloppy and dubious?
'When the body's strong, the brain takes a break.'
It's because he's a dragon. Squirt a breath, roar, and everyone grovels—no need for smarts.
Especially an arrogant one unaware of the world and afflicted with dragon ailment.
Thanks to that, I get free dragon labor for just room and board.
'Win-win.'
Ideally, I'd drag him along to recharge the codex nonstop, but it might slow Luna and Kane's growth, so regrettably, off he goes.
'Oh, right.'
Gotta squeeze every last drop.
I pulled out the milky-white egg from the Deficient Dungeon—one that showed no reaction to Kane's aura, soaking in water, singeing by fire, or even threatening him to sleep holding it.
Not hard-shelled; squishy like a snake egg, but surprisingly durable.
"Found the coordinates. What's that?"
"What do you think this is?"
Lepid stared at the egg unblinking, extended a hand, and I placed the head-sized egg on it.
"First time seeing such a perfect homunculus egg."
"That's a homunculus?"
"Homunculus... aren't those the monsters from that dungeon, young master?"
Luna, who'd kept distance from Lepid, now sidled up whispering curiously. I nodded.
"With this quality, probably meant as his next body. And it already has someone's bloodline info... you smeared blood on it?"
Blood? I slowly recalled, and Luna whispered.
"When Kane came up from mid-layer to upper, he suddenly got caught in a mob hunt..."
Oh yeah, the slightly humiliating incident.
"If hatched now, it'd birth a physically perfect homunculus, but..."
He touched the egg with a faintly regretful look, then handed it back.
"No soul. Good only for body-swapping. Seems that's its original purpose."
Not a spare life, then. More like memory transfer. A hot potato, ultimately.
"Still, keep smearing blood from the first bloodline donor consistently, who knows."
"So, what's it for?"
"Stack enough dignity—like a dragon's—and you can use it as an avatar. Of course, that requires time to absorb as bloodline builds."
Kane times two in emergencies?
Intrigued, I asked Lepid.
"How long?"
"With current bloodline? At least 10,000 years?"
Ugh.
I shoved the homunculus egg back into sub-space. The more Kane's blood, the shorter the time, but so what?
Even reduced to 1/1000th—10 years—by then, Kane's avatar would start at level 1, prime body or not.
Plus, for body-swapping, Kane'd need to know consciousness transfer, and control two bodies simultaneously?
'Pointless, really.'
I just shook my head, asking him to teleport us already.