Growth (4): The Final Lesson
Dante shared the story of his childhood. It was the first time he'd ever told it to anyone. Kracto was a bug tamer, and a non-human at that. So Dante could speak without any burden.
"The mother who gave birth to me... she was a bug tamer."
"…"
Kracto held his breath, listening intently to Dante's tale. It was shocking and horrifying. Touching and heartbreaking...
"She killed the mother to kill the child in her womb. But the mother's symbiotic bugs kept the child alive until the end..."
"That's how it was."
"…How truly horrific. Can humans be such cruel creatures?"
Lizardmen were oviparous. They hatched from eggs, so the very concept of killing a mother to kill her child was incomprehensible. But Kracto was a bug tamer. He understood Dante's story—and empathized with it.
"I'm certain of it. Your mother must have been an incredible bug tamer."
"…Who knows. She died at the hands of nobodies, so maybe she was just average."
Kracto shook his head vigorously.
"If she'd been born in Bangkatoria, she'd have become a grand archmage commanding all sorts of rare insects. But this is Cortkus, isn't it?"
"…"
"The best bugs you can control here... probably just something like venomous spiders."
Kracto's guess was spot on. Dante's mother had never aimed to collect powerful insects and become the ultimate mage. She was just... a regular woman who'd been disowned by her family for her creepy habits and lived happily day by day in the forest with her bug friends.
"No ordinary bug tamer could gather so many exceptional symbiotic bugs."
"That good, huh?"
Kracto examined the symbiotic bugs inside Dante's body and was stunned. They were top-tier, even by Bangkatoria standards—hard to find anywhere. And they'd bred well, multiplying in great numbers. With that many symbiotic bugs... he could dominate every rare insect in Cortkus.
Kracto gazed at the boy before him. Dante Aision. Just a 10-year-old kid now—but in 20 years, he could shake the world as a great bug tamer. No, he would. With that talent and inheritance, it was inevitable.
What a shame.
Kracto truly pitied the child. If only he'd been born a lizardman... not in cursed Cortkus, but in Bangkatoria, brimming with primal life force. He'd have surely gone down in history as a legendary bug tamer...
But no—he'd been born human, raised in Cortkus. Destined to tame mere centipedes and mosquitoes...
Still, Kracto shook his head.
This must be fate, too.
Originally, the boy might never have been born at all. Thanks to his brilliant bug tamer mother, Dante Aision had made it to 10 years old. And that was just the start. Adopted by noble parents, he lacked for nothing. Surrounded by his parents' and siblings' love, he lived happy days.
Yes. This, too—was Dante Aision's fate.
Kracto felt like he'd hit a brick wall.
...I have no idea what to teach him anymore.
Dante wasn't a lizardman. This wasn't Bangkatoria. That simple fact hit Kracto with chilling clarity. This wasn't just teaching some novice human a few tricks for a pile of gold and leaving. He'd thought it would be easy. But it felt impossibly hard.
...Suddenly, Kracto felt exhausted.
"Teacher?"
His human disciple called out. The more he learned about the boy, the more affection he felt for this lovable student.
Kracto smiled. "Alright! That's it for today. We'll pick up next time!"
"Sure~"
After sending Dante home, Kracto rolled alone in the cold mud pit. To think things over.
Eight years...
That was the contract term for his pay. But after teaching Dante directly... eight years might not even be necessary.
I miss Bangkatoria.
Two months into the lessons, Kracto longed for his homeland.
While Lennon and Elena were away on the New Continent, Dante grew by leaps and bounds under Kracto's guidance.
"That's it for today! Good work, student Dante!"
"You too, teacher."
Two years had passed since their first lesson. Kracto and Dante had grown comfortable with each other. Kracto lounged in the lake all day, emerging for a mud pack only at sunset...
...But it wasn't laziness. Cortkus was just too harsh for a lizardman. Imagine a human spending two years in a sweltering, rain-soaked jungle every day. Even going mad would be forgivable.
The climates of Cortkus and Bangkatoria differed that drastically.
Kracto was still a kind, excellent teacher, but...
"Hoo..."
Watching the lizardman trudge gloomily into the lake, Dante felt... sorry for him.
"Teacher."
Dante sat on a nearby rock.
"Hm? You still here?"
"Yeah. Just had a question."
"Haha! Questions are always welcome! What's on your mind, student Dante?!"
Dante looked at the submerged lizardman.
"Don't you want to go back home, teacher?"
"…"
Not a lesson topic, then. Kracto dove a bit deeper.
"Well... yeah, I do. Cortkus really ain't fit for living."
"Humans do just fine."
"Right. Let me correct: ain't fit for lizardmen."
Humans and lizardmen made great trade partners but had never gone to war. Why? Mutual disgust for each other's lands... No one wanted to invade a place they hated that much, so they allied and traded vigorously instead.
"Will you go back?"
"…"
Kracto swallowed his answer. Deep down... he'd love to return home right now. But.
"You're only 12. I signed a contract to watch over you till you're grown."
Kracto was bound by the deal—with Dante's parents.
"I can just write a letter."
"…"
"How to put it... Lately, it feels like you've lost your drive."
"…"
"I want lessons from you, teacher. Not to make you suffer."
Kracto let out a hollow chuckle. Was it that obvious...?
"Fair enough. I have no drive to teach you anymore."
"Then I'll write the letter and—"
"It ain't the crappy Cortkus weather."
"…?"
"It's you, Dante Aision."
Might as well lay it all out. Kracto decided to be blunt.
"I don't know what more to teach you."
"…What?"
"You learn too damn fast. Or... nah, it's my limits as a mage."
Kracto felt two things at once. First, Dante absorbed knowledge at an insane speed—one lesson led to ten insights on his own, jumping ahead before he could even teach. Second, his own inadequacies. He lacked absolute knowledge of humans and Cortkus. Inevitable for a lizardman. Dante knew local bugs and habits far better—he'd observed them since childhood.
If Dante lived in Bangkatoria as a lizardman, there'd be mountains left to teach. But... this was Cortkus.
That was why Kracto's motivation had hit rock bottom. Endure torture-weather to teach a kid who already knew everything? For six more years?
"It's not that you don't want to teach—it's that there's nothing left?"
"Exactly. In this shithole Cortkus, I got no clue what to teach."
"I'm serious—wouldn't it be better if you went home?"
"…"
Kracto fell silent. He wanted to go home. God, he wanted to. But ditching after two years because "he's taught"? That felt wrong! A teacher had responsibilities!
"I'm serious too."
So Kracto asked,
"Why not study in Bangkatoria?"
Dante shook his head with a smile.
"I want to be a great bug tamer, sure. But not enough to leave the land where my family lives."
Someday, he'd cross to Bangkatoria. But not now. He was only 12. He couldn't abandon his siblings for the new continent. Dante wasn't the type to stake his life solely on bug magic.
"Yeah... figures."
Kracto smiled understandingly.
"Humans call Bangkatoria a hellhole."
"Might be better for me? No mosquitoes or leeches biting."
"Still tough. Humans hate the heat and humidity."
Teacher and student smiled at each other. Both thinking the same: These smiles won't last much longer.
"I'll wrack my brain to the end. If it's hopeless, I'll head home."
"Tell me anytime. I hate seeing you down, teacher."
With everything out in the open, no need to drag it out. Dante planned to write his parents.
A few days passed.
"Hey—! Student Dante—!"
"…Teacher?"
But Kracto came to Dante first. It was a cool, dry day. Perfect for humans' evening strolls—but torture for a lizardman.
Dante cried out in surprise. "Why'd you come all the way here?! Back to the lake, quick!"
Kracto grinned. "Nah. Got something important to give you."
"…Something important?"
They headed into the forest. A dark, deserted woods lit only by fireflies...
There, Kracto said,
"This is your final lesson, student Dante."
"Teacher..."
"Pass it, and I'll recognize you as a true bug tamer."
Kracto spread his arms wide, looking to the sky. Countless holes opened on them—and hundreds of bugs began crawling out.
"Ah...!"
It was astonishing, awe-inspiring. Dante watched, entranced, as the lizardman bug tamer unleashed his magic.
The last bug emerged from Kracto's chest. A cute one resembling a honeybee.
"This bug is a variant red honeybee called the Noon Fairy."
"Honeybee...?"
"It used to live on real honey. But it learned to handle mana, so now it survives on that alone. A unique breed."
Dante nodded. Plants and animals wielding mana was common here.
"But it's famous for its Red Sleep venom."
"A venomous bug?"
"Yep. Infamous even in Bangkatoria."
Kracto explained: "One sting dizzies you. Two, and you fall asleep. Three... and you die."
"…"
"Final lesson, student Dante. Make it your servant—without getting stung."
Dante hesitated on how to react. Tame a bee without a sting? This was... too easy. Did it have some special resistance to bug magic?
"Remember unique magic?"
"Of course, teacher."
Dante awakened his symbiotic bugs. Their unique mana reached the red honeybee.
......
And that was it. The honeybee memorized Dante's mana.
"Come here."
Bzzz! The tiny honeybee—smaller than a knuckle—landed atop Dante's head.
Now, the red honeybee was his.
"Excellent. You're a bug tamer now."
As Kracto spoke, Dante laughed hollowly. Teacher, this is Bug Taming 101. Why test basic control now?
But Kracto saw through him.
"Using and commanding bugs—that's all a bug tamer does."
"…"
"What matters is which bugs you command."
Dante nodded, etching his teacher's final words into memory.
Kracto extended a hand with a smile. "That red honeybee's your graduation gift, student Dante."
"Teacher."
"You were the best student. Dante."
Kracto staggered toward the lake. After that day, Dante never received another lesson from him.
It was graduation.