Chapter 290: Legacy (3)
Chapter 290: Legacy (3)
"Ack."
I quickly caught the fainting Iris before she hit the ground.
"…Is it really that shocking?"
"Of course, of course! You might not know this, Yandel, but both Nana and Iris have been stuck at a plateau for a very long time. Receiving a gift like this in that situation… it’s enough to make anyone lose their mind with joy!"
"Huh."
With complicated feelings, I looked down at Iris. Even while unconscious, she was clutching Fafnir’s grimoire—or rather, the bundle of papers that hadn't even been bound yet—with a death grip.
I suppose. She might look like a baby, but she isn't actually one.
Sure, she falls into a deep sleep the moment she sits in a rocking chair, and she cheers up instantly if you just give her a lift!
But Iris is still someone who has spent most of her life looking toward a single goal: the realm of the Archmage.
Ever since spirit magic was banned, she had devoted herself to reaching the pinnacle of magic, both to restore the past glory of her kin who had switched to elemental magic and to see the end of her own path as a mage.
Even if she couldn't reach it herself, she cherished her disciple, believing that Elisha could become an Archmage through elemental magic.
It was that same devotion that led her to become a slave; she had been caught trying to attach a spirit—the most reliable bodyguard—to Elisha after hearing the news that her disciple had almost died.
Despite everything, she was still someone who looked upward.
It wasn't unreasonable for her to react this way upon receiving the culmination of a dragon's magical knowledge.
I tucked the bundle of papers securely into my inventory so they wouldn't get lost. Then, I handed the limp Iris over to Elisha.
Elisha, taking Iris onto her back, whispered in a soft voice.
"…Thank you, dear."
"Hey, now. I only handed it over for translation because I wouldn't understand a word of it even if I read it myself."
"Still. It’s true that it will be a huge help to Master, isn't it?"
"Hmm. If you put it that way. In exchange, how about you do me a favor later?"
"Just what kind of strange thing are you planning to make me do…?"
I gave a sly grin to Elisha, who was trembling slightly as she sensed something ominous.
"I'll tell you later. After this whole business is over."
"This business… right. Once we gather what we need here, we have to head to the Imperial Palace."
"Exactly. I think we'll be fine, but we should keep ourselves in top condition just in case."
*
After that, I continued farming the laboratory. Thanks to the glimpse I’d had into Fafnir’s memories, it wasn't particularly difficult or time-consuming.
First, I set aside the necessary items from the various rare materials and samples Fafnir had collected.
He must have consumed a significant amount while creating my body, yet so much still remained.
Fafnir’s lair wasn't famous for being a treasure trove for nothing.
Even the gold coins sitting in my inventory right now were likely money Fafnir had left behind.
…And this massive sum is just what was left over after he finished buying materials?
Shaking my head with a mix of admiration and exasperation, I packed several experimental magical tools into my inventory.
Most were outdated models that had naturally become obsolete over time… but some possessed unique capabilities found nowhere else, having been personally crafted or modified by Fafnir.
As a bonus, I also took the chimera research records, which were written in a journal format.
I wasn't sure how much help they would be, but if I gave them to Fay, she’d find a way to make use of them.
Once I had efficiently gathered everything I needed, the only things left were the three hatchling corpses.
I didn't have the technology or knowledge to process the other parts right now, so I couldn't touch them, but there was one exception.
"Let's eat the Dragon Hearts before we go. Fortunately, my 'big brothers' corpses are perfectly preserved, so we just need to take them out."
"Master? Even if you call them your brothers, using such blunt phrasing is a bit…"
"It's fine, it's fine. I just asked them if they had any complaints, and they didn't say a word. I have their permission, so there's no problem."
"……."
Carla gave me a look of utter disbelief, but I stood my ground.
In the first place, he didn't incinerate the bodies or bury them in a sunny spot; he kept them in a corner of the lab under preservation magic.
Knowing that I would eventually come to this laboratory?
This was as good as leaving them for me on purpose. And if not, well, whatever.
Shrugging my shoulders, I pulled one of the hatchlings out of its coffin.
Now that I looked at it, the coffin itself was heavy, but the corpse wasn't that bad. It was small enough to be held in both arms.
The preservation was so perfect that it looked like it might spring back to life at any moment… though, of course, it wouldn't actually wake up.
My mouth felt a bit dry, so I swallowed hard before examining the corpse.
Perhaps because the Dragon Heart was a vital organ, it was protected by several layers of scales, bone, and muscle.
It would be impossible to neatly pluck out just the Dragon Heart. …I guess I have no choice. I’ll have to cut it open a bit.
However, even if it was just a hatchling, a dragon was still a dragon; my mediocre magic couldn't pierce the scales.
On the other hand, using powerful magic would be too large-scale and might blow the whole thing away. At times like this, I felt a bit envious of a knight’s Aura.
Well, now that I had the Mana Affinity trait, I could probably manage somehow… but there was no need to struggle.
"Professor Iona. Could you use your Blood Manipulation Technique to make a blade about the size of my finger?"
"Will this do?"
"Perfect."
Because I had Iona, who could go toe-to-toe with that knight!
Using the blood-red knife Iona created, I was able to cut through the scales and bone to cleanly extract the Dragon Heart.
Afterward, I sealed the incision and put the body back into the coffin and then into my inventory.
With that, I had taken everything worth taking from Fafnir’s lair.
By the way, the inventory. I took it for granted because of my memories of the game H&A, but thinking about it realistically, it was an excessively convenient function.
But for Fafnir, who had absorbed and reinterpreted the magic of the Dragon Council—the ones who supposedly created space—it must have been possible somehow.
If Iris mastered the grimoire Fafnir left behind, would she be able to do something similar?
The thought of Iris pulling a rocking chair out of thin air with a triumphant expression made me chuckle involuntarily.
Giggling, I patted the back of Iris, who was still being carried by Elisha.
"Iris. Wake up."
"Mmmgh…"
"I said wake up."
"Mueh…?"
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Iris woke up and looked around with a dazed expression. Then, she spoke in a slightly dejected voice.
"Master."
"Yeah?"
"I was having a wonderful dream."
"Should I have let you keep sleeping?"
"No, it is not that. However, in my dream, I saw the culmination of all the magic left behind by the dragon race. And I held it in these very hands. …To think it was but a dream."
"???"
Did her memory vanish when she fainted?
Iris opened and closed her hands with a look of utter despair. Was she doing 'jam-jam' or something?
Elisha, who had been listening quietly while carrying Iris, suddenly whipped her head away. Judging by the way her shoulders were shaking, she was desperately holding back laughter.
Of course, I didn't feel the need to hold back, so I let out a loud cackle. At that, Iris pouted and grumbled.
"Master. No matter how far-fetched the story may be, there is no need to laugh like that."
"A document compiling the magic of a hundred Ancient Dragons?"
"I know. Such a thing only exists in dreams anyway—"
"Ah, you mean this?"
The moment I pulled Fafnir’s grimoire out of my inventory, Iris froze as if someone had hit a pause button.
Her twitching hands were stuck in an awkward position, so I had to manually pry her fingers open before tucking the grimoire back into her grasp.
"Don't faint this time."
"I-I understand…!"
Iris managed a stiff nod.
Only after confirming that Elisha was slowly setting Iris down did I take a slow look around.
Good. Nothing to interfere. Feeling the sensation of the small, bead-like objects in my hand, I spoke.
"Carla, Elisha, and Iris will eat the Dragon Hearts."
"Eh?"
Iris, who had finally regained her mobility, froze up again. Elisha, standing next to her, let out a sigh.
Carla raised her hand with a puzzled expression, clearly having assumed I would be the one to eat them.
"Um… Master? Since there are three, I understand giving them to others, but why aren't you taking any for yourself?"
"They won't have much of an effect on me."
I had already gained a lot from eating a fragment of a Dragon Heart, and through system rewards, my Magic stat had already reached 27.
Eating a hatchling’s Dragon Heart now wouldn't bring about any dramatic changes.
"But it’ll be different for you guys."
Since Carla had mastered the Lintblum Breathing Technique, she might gain something from the Dragon Heart, just as I had.
Elisha had only recently reached the rank of Intermediate Magician, so it would help supplement her somewhat lacking mana.
In Iris’s case, along with Fafnir’s grimoire, it might provide the spark needed to break through her long-standing plateau.
Once I finished explaining, Iona shot her hand up. No, she went beyond just raising her hand and started hopping up and down as she asked.
"What about me? What about me? Yandel, are you seriously discriminating against Professor Iona?!"
"Of course not. But what can I do when there aren't enough? Instead, Professor Iona, you can just suck my blood, right?"
"Heh?"
"Since my mana will become more concentrated when I use Dragonification, won't the amount you absorb increase as well? How about me instead of a Dragon Heart?"
"……."
Perhaps that last line was quite romantic in vampire terms, because Iona turned beet red and started stammering incoherently.
Watching her, Carla shouted with a look of sudden realization.
"Master! Please swap my Dragon Heart for Master as well!"
"No. You're not even a vampire, so what are you going to do by sucking my blood?"
"Hmph…"
Carla’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
