Chapter 85
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Lady with Red Eyes (2)
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Five minutes later.
"Good. We're almost done now."
Before finally wrapping up the provisional entry screening, I glanced down at the notepad where I'd jotted my final brief notes.
- Name: Mnatsil Teranas Driosa Diaka Brunoamatir Viedkalifa.
- Age: 1,291 years.
- Purpose of entry: To entrust the egg to Central Officer Nathan Kell.
Concise, yet somehow utterly mismatched.
"..."
In all my life, I'd never seen such a bizarre entry document.
"Is this really your full name? There's no more space to write it."
"It's a nickname. The original is at least twice as long."
"I'll just go with Mnatsil, then."
This was the trouble with long-lived races.
Everything was needlessly drawn out. Names, titles—all of it.
'Come to think of it, the Auditory Officer's real name is eleven characters long too.'
And a four-digit age was a first for me as well.
"1,291 years old... You're serious?"
This was older than our kingdom.
Mnatsil beamed as she replied.
"To be precise, it's the time I've spent awake. I don't count the years I sleep."
Meaning she was even older than that figure.
"..."
I decided not to dwell on it too deeply.
It would just give me a headache.
No, the entry purpose being me was absurd enough from the start.
But this was just a provisional screening anyway. It was too late to nitpick every detail.
Once I'd made up my mind to accept her, this was mere formality.
"Then, one last question."
I shrugged and pointed to the egg behind her.
"When is your egg expected to hatch?"
The most important question.
Mnatsil had come here to protect that egg.
Conversely, once it hatched, all bets were off.
'That's why I need the exact timing.'
If this dragged on for years, we'd be in serious trouble.
My father had always said the world's deals were battles of deception.
Mnatsil answered promptly.
"Soon."
"Meaning exactly when?"
I frowned and pressed her, but she continued at her leisure.
"No one knows. Until the child inside decides to break free, all we can do is wait."
- Scratch.
Without hesitation, I drew a red line across the document.
"Irresponsible and vague response. Uncooperative attitude during questioning. Entry de-"
"Hey, that's too much! Even I, the mother, truly don't know!"
The redhead made a tearful face as she cried out.
"For dragons, the time of birth is something they decide for themselves!"
"So if it doesn't want to come out, it won't?"
"In theory, yes."
"What's the usual maximum holdout time?"
"From what I recall... a Frost Dragon egg took about thirty-five years to hatch?"
I shot to my feet and headed straight for the door.
"I'll fetch a hammer. Wait here."
"Aaaah, no no no! It was a joke—a joke! It's been over thirty years since I started incubating it, so it really will hatch soon! At the absolute longest, sixty days! I swear it!"
"For real? Two months max?"
"Yes, yes! I swear on my draconic pride!"
If the panicked Mnatsil hadn't grabbed my hem, I might've made dragon egg fry right then.
After a few more back-and-forths like that, the provisional screening finally concluded.
"Good. No more questions."
"So... it's all done?"
"Yes."
I nodded and murmured softly.
"Welcome to the Crossroad Kingdom. You are now officially a refugee."
"Huaa... Humans do this every day... How ruthless..."
Only then did Mnatsil stretch languidly and flop back onto the bed.
I watched her with a complicated expression.
'The real trouble starts now.'
From this moment, Mnatsil and her egg were the Immigration Control Office's responsibility.
But we couldn't announce it.
If word got out a dragon was here, it would draw the eyes of the entire world.
Covetous hunters for the egg would surely appear.
And that wasn't all. Considering a dragon's symbolism, even the Crossroad Kingdom wouldn't be safe.
Dragon slayers. Or dragon tamers.
'The kingdom's retainers won't pass up a chance to boost our fame and international image.'
What to do?
'I need to forge her an identity.'
The best option.
In her current human form, a new identity would mean no one would recognize her.
But that wasn't within the Immigration Control Office's authority.
Plus, forging identities was a crime—one of the major offenses we were supposed to catch during screenings.
'Then how...'
Meanwhile, Mnatsil propped her chin on her hand, watching my pensive face with interest.
"But it's fascinating."
"What's that?"
"Just as my friends said. I truly can't sense any mana from you."
Ah, that.
"As I mentioned, my body holds no energies whatsoever. Aside from this... Talent Manifestation, that is."
A body that could speak every language but wield not even the slightest mana or power.
That was me.
But Mnatsil shook her head.
"No... that's not it. It's slightly different."
"Pardon?"
"Come closer and let me see your arm."
She sat up again. The blanket I'd barely managed to drape over her slipped away, baring her embarrassing figure once more.
I quickly averted my eyes and extended my arm. Her warm hand brushed my forearm.
"Hoo... Quite soft skin for a man. Yet calluses on your fingertips... Hands that would win women's hearts."
"That's sexual harassment."
"Consider it a compliment."
I suppressed the urge to yank my arm back.
- Flinch.
Suddenly, she pressed near my vein and jolted.
"Less empty and more..."
She muttered something, then looked up at me.
"You're made of black. Do you know that?"
"...Erzena mentioned something similar once."
I remembered.
It was back during the pilgrimage group.
"She said it was like an incredibly cold night sky. Black to the point of utter void."
A pitch-black hole that didn't fit into the world's grand painting.
A sharp way to put it, but nothing more apt.
"That girl has sharp eyes. Though it seems you don't know why."
"Pardon?"
"If you were simply mana-incompatible, all I'd sense from you is emptiness. Without a source of life, you'd be no different from a corpse. Yet I feel chill and warmth together, void and fullness at once."
She reached out and placed her hand on my chest.
"It's all jumbled in here like chaos itself."
"..."
What was this supposed to mean?
"W-what does that signify? I have nothing inside me."
Mnatsil smiled faintly, contradicting everything I knew.
"Then the opposite should hold true. If you were truly empty, your body would greedily suck in ambient energies to fill the gap."
"But you're packed full. That's why there's no room left for mana or other powers. It's like being so seamless that it looks like a hole instead."
"No, rather... It's overflowing enough to share with others and still have plenty left."
I was at a loss.
This was entirely new.
Something crammed full inside me?
"...What are you trying to say?"
"This isn't something that occurs naturally."
"Pardon?"
"Not even the wildest coincidence could produce it. It's as if someone planted it there outright."
She added at last.
"Perhaps 'Talent Manifestation' wasn't simply bestowed on you at random after all."
A hammer blow of shock crashed over my mind.
'Come to think of it, no one's ever explained why I became a Talent Manifestor or what criteria selected me.'
This was the first time.
Mnatsil was the first to explain my existence and this power so concretely.
- Grab.
I seized her hand and asked.
"S-so... I have some kind of power too?"
"Hmm... Too stable to call it a power, too faint to call it an ability..."
"What the hell is it? What do I have?!"
"This is as far as my wisdom can pierce. But fret not."
This time, Mnatsil gripped my hand in turn.
She pulled me toward her.
"Let's uncover it together. Shouldn't we make meaningful use of the time you've bought me? I'll gladly join your journey."
Her blazing eyes fixed on me steadily.
For a moment, this woman looked different.
"Well? Worth protecting my egg now, wouldn't you say?"
Confidence radiated from her face.
Only then did I truly remember anew that Mnatsil was a dragon.
The embodiment of wisdom and experience amassed over endless ages stood before me.
Sly as a serpent, with words that crept in subtly.
Even if her draconic might was spent, Mnatsil was unmistakably a dragon.
An ancient race far surpassing humanity.
"...Ha."
To resist her faded yet piercing charisma, I barely managed to change the subject.
"F-first off, how about some clothes?"
"Huh? Clothes?"
"There's nowhere safe to look. Miss Hanna! Some garments, please!"
I called for Hanna without waiting for a reply.
Moments later, she flung open the door and brought a few items.
"These are all the clothes the princess and Erzena aren't wearing right now."
- Rustle.
Mnatsil tilted her head at the clothes dumped before her.
"Why clothes all of a sudden...? I'm fine like this."
"Soon, an investigation team will head to the western volcanic region. When that happens, folks will learn you didn't die—you went missing."
The volcano's master had vanished.
That implied she was out there somewhere, weakened but alive.
Searchers would surely come.
"Rumors of a beautiful woman wandering naked at a time like that? Bound to draw eyes."
"I'll dress immediately."
Fortunately, Mnatsil didn't mind the pivot and began slipping into clothes.
She chose a deep crimson long dress.
She spun once.
"Hmm. How do I look?"
Hanna, standing behind her, gaped.
"Wow..."
Clothed, she felt entirely different.
More captivating than naked, even.
The hue matching her red eyes and hair draped over her.
Like passionate fire incarnate, the woman smiled before me.
I nodded as well.
"Not bad at all."
A mature beauty.
What phrase could suit her better?
Though an aged dragon, no trace of time's wear showed anywhere.
Her aura set her apart from ordinary folk.
Elegance seeped from her speech, her looks, even that brief twirl.
"Hmm..."
Passing her off as a mere refugee would seem odder now.
Then, a solid idea flashed through my mind.
"Noblewoman."
"Yes?"
"For your cover identity... how about a lady from a fallen house?"
Lady Mnatsil of a fallen noble house.
It fit reasonably well.
Her nest destroyed, left alone in the world.
At once a mother and long-time ruler of the volcano.
'It suits her better than any word.'
And the name worked fine.
True, it was her draconic name outright, but plenty of people shared names with greats or celebrities.
Claim her house symbolized dragons, and no issues.
"Fallen... It suits me perfectly."
She smiled bitterly.
But soon, she turned her gaze to her egg and murmured.
"Though 'fallen' also means it can rise again."
"As long as there's an heir, it hasn't truly collapsed."
"Excellent! From now on, I'm Lady Mnatsil. I'll savor this diversion with that name for whatever time remains. And this place shall be my new nest."
Diversion.
A dragon's game to soothe the tedium of millennia.
Hiding their true draconic nature to live as other races for decades.
I quietly clenched my fist.
'Perfect. Cover identity settled.'
The remaining issue was making it official.
As I'd said, the Immigration Control Office lacked authority here.
That was when it happened.
- Bang bang bang!
Someone pounded fiercely on the front door.
"Central Officer! If you're inside, please open up!"
I opened the door to a familiar face.
"Agent R?"
The agent dispatched south saw me and exhaled in relief.
"Ah, you're safe! Thank goodness. I have urgent business."
I mirrored his relief.
"Talk about perfect timing! As expected of Intelligence Division!"
"...Pardon?"
Come to think of it, there was a department for forgeries and espionage.
Intelligence Division.
- Grab.
I seized his arm. No escaping now.
"Come in, quick. I have important business for you."
We've got one job to do together.