Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Dragon
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How did things end up like this?
Why was Veronica clinging to me and begging?
"You're really not a girl?"
[No, I'm not.]
"Don't lie. With that face, you're telling me you're not a girl?"
Veronica had apparently memorized my bare face perfectly from that one brief glimpse and began pointing out details one by one.
"Your eyelashes are long, your skin is pale—how could you not be a girl?"
[There are guys with long eyelashes and pale faces too, Dean.]
"Sure, probably. But not you."
[I'm not doing it.]
"Why not?"
[I have no reason to.]
"You do."
[I don't.]
"You do."
[What is it?]
"My heart tells me so."
Veronica placed a hand on her chest and lifted her head proudly as she said it.
...Is that supposed to be an argument?
Did she maybe hit her head hard on the way over?
"I'm serious. If there's anyone optimized for cross-dressing, it's you. I guarantee it."
[I boldly refuse.]
"Hmph."
Veronica whipped her head away, executing a very obvious sulk.
...But come to think of it, shouldn't I be the one sulking?
"I want a little sister."
[What am I supposed to do about that?]
"My mom and dad are gone, so I can't make one myself."
...Veronica had cut off my escape route perfectly by saying it first.
[Dean, even if I cross-dressed, it'd be a little brother, not a little sister.]
Think about it.
Even if, hypothetically, absolutely not but just if I did cross-dress...
It would be a cross-dressing little brother, never a little sister.
"Hmm..."
Veronica scratched her chin for a moment, then tilted her head with a serious expression.
"Is that so?"
[Yes.]
"Tch... What a shame."
[And having a little sister from a student who's like your great-great-grandkid is a bit much, don't you think?]
By age alone, Veronica was old enough to be called grandma without issue.
Wishing for a little sister at that age... wasn't that a bit shameless no matter how you looked at it?
"You little... You sure know how to say things that rub me the wrong way."
...Which basically meant it was true.
She wasn't even denying it.
"Whatever. Wipe the blood off your hand. Why'd you smash an innocent mirror?"
[It was an accident.]
"I clearly saw your fist fly at it."
...She saw that, huh.
But it really was an accident.
I had only meant to punch my reflection in the mirror, not smash the mirror itself...
But 【Shard of Rage】 reacted, and my power exploded momentarily.
[So, what brings you here?]
"Why? If I tell you, will you be my little sister?"
I roughly washed my hands with some water and decided to ignore Veronica's words.
'...Wait, come to think of it.'
My gaze drifted unconsciously to the translucent orb on my hand.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Mask of Dreams】
Rank: Legendary
The boundary between reality and dreams collapses.
All truths become lies, and all lies become truths.
Unique Skills:
: 【Illusion Form】
Covers the user in an illusory form.
: 【Illusory Creation】
Recreates objects within a certain range as illusions.
What you see may be reality—or it may not be.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Illusion Form】, one of the unique skills of the 【Mask of Dreams】.
An illusion that changes the user's appearance.
...Which means, if I use this, I could look like a real girl on the outside, right?
'......'
I glanced at Veronica.
Did she know about the 【Mask of Dreams】's power?
If she didn't... I absolutely couldn't let her find out... This was a matter of my dignity.
"I just... came to check something real quick."
Veronica muttered that and began poking around the dorm rooms without hesitation.
[Dean, this is breaking and entering.]
"Technically, this is my house too."
Is that right?
Everything in the cradle belonged to Veronica...
Was I the one trespassing instead?
"Is it here?"
Then, she slipped straight into the room I used most.
I followed with a displeased expression, and Veronica stood in front of the tank with the mini Leviathan.
"Hello?"
Veronica waved and greeted it.
For some reason, the mini Leviathan in the tank had its head buried in the corner, not moving an inch.
Of course, from the mini Leviathan's perspective, it was a stranger... so a random dragon shoving its face in to say hi...
I'd probably ignore it too.
"Why isn't it reacting?"
Veronica turned to ask me, and right then...
- Splash.
...The mini Leviathan in the tank vanished completely.
"What? Where'd it go?"
[Why'd you scare it, Dean?]
"I just said hi..."
[I taught it to ignore strangers.]
"So it's your fault?"
[Actually, I learned it from someone too.]
"From who?"
[From you, Dean.]
"...."
The corners of Veronica's smiling mouth twitched.
I instinctively sensed her anger and quickly shifted my gaze to the tank.
Why had Leviathan hidden?
Did dragons not get along with each other?
"Sigh..."
Veronica sighed and flopped onto my bed.
[Why Leviathan?]
"...Its name is Leviathan?"
[Yes.]
Veronica heard my answer and said nothing more, just lay back on the blanket.
"Do you know the history of dragons?"
[Dragon history?]
I had no idea.
I hadn't even been interested to begin with.
Dragon history wasn't mentioned in 'Aka Catastrophe' either.
"Yeah... Of course you wouldn't. It's been centuries since all dragons died, and I'm the only one left worth calling a dragon."
[N- No way?]
"All dragons are dead. Murdered."
...The conversation suddenly grew heavy.
My fingertips twitched, but I couldn't bring myself to ask.
"And then, the little dragon you're carrying around appeared."
Veronica pointed at the mini Leviathan's tank with her finger.
"At first, I wondered. Maybe it wasn't a dragon, but some other race. If it was a real dragon... 'that guy' never would've let it slip away."
[That guy?]
Veronica didn't answer.
Instead, she bolted upright and walked back to the tank.
"But... it is a dragon... Yeah... It really is."
She carefully reached out and stroked the surface of the tank.
The water rippled gently, and the shadow inside shifted subtly.
"Take good care of it. Dragons get lonely easily."
With that, Veronica left the room.
I stood there blankly for a moment.
...Is that it?
She just came to check on Leviathan?
Head full of question marks, I followed after her.
[You're not taking it?]
"Why would I?"
[It's a dragon.]
"So?"
[An eternal dragon. I'm human, so I'll die someday.]
"...That's why I'm leaving it with you."
Veronica didn't look at me.
She just reached out to the broken mirror in the living room corner, restoring the shattered pieces.
"I live eternally, but that means I miss out on a lot."
"...."
"Nothing stays by my side, and even what did eventually leaves."
Even living eternity, everything around you doesn't.
The price of infinite time is repeatedly sending finite bonds away.
"Dragons fear being left alone the most. Time passes... people all leave, but they're still there."
The broken mirror reformed along the flow of mana.
The fleeting cracks filled, scattered shards interlocking back into place.
"A life that's a blink to dragons... remains eternal to them."
I just stood quietly.
I said nothing.
"But... it's not so bad."
What could a human like me, who'll die someday, say to an eternal dragon?
"Thanks to living eternity, I can remember that blink."
"......"
"I can remember times everyone else forgot, all by myself."
Veronica gazed into the mirror as she tightly bound her hair.
She swept it back into a ponytail.
"So stay by its side at least. If you die too, it won't be just me remembering."
[Is that the issue?]
After thousands of years, being the only one who remembers me bothers her?
So she's entrusting Leviathan to me?
That's... the problem?
My budding emotions deflated instantly.
"I'm kidding."
...Yeah, it was a joke after all.
But the jovial atmosphere didn't return.
"With you around, that kid Leviathan can live in the 'now' too."
[I see.]
"So cross-dress."
[Huh?]
"The mood got too heavy just now."
[Who made it that way?]
I was an idiot for taking her seriously even briefly.
Veronica grinned at me like that...
"See ya~"
And with that, she slipped out of my dorm.
I stood there blankly.
'What the?'
She makes the mood this heavy, then leaves with a "See ya"?
It would've been less bewildering if she'd left without a word.
I sighed, grabbed a can of food, and headed to my room.
"You're back, human."
The mini Leviathan, now visible again, greeted me leisurely from the tank.
[Why'd you hide earlier?]
"Hide? Such rude words, human."
The mini Leviathan straightened its fins and crossed its arms.
"I merely... went looking for something briefly."
[Oh, really?]
Went looking for something in the empty abyss?
Digging through the sand on the bottom?
[You almost made it awkward to death for me.]
Thanks to you, I had to face a weird atmosphere alone with Veronica.
How dare you abandon me and hide.
[No dinner for you today.]
"...I don't think that's my fault, human."
The mini Leviathan raised one fin indignantly in protest, but I ignored it.
[You shouldn't have left me alone at least.]
"That woman rubs me the wrong way too, human."
[What's wrong with the Dean?]
"You're wary of her too, aren't you, human."
[What are you talking about?]
What did it mean?
I actually like the Dean.
She says weird stuff sometimes, but nothing problematic.
"...."
"...."
...Wait, thinking again, it wasn't sometimes—it was often.
Today alone, she'd brought up cross-dressing dozens of times, it felt like.
[I'll let it slide once.]
"Letting it slide sounds odd, human."
[Fine, no mercy.]
"...On second thought, mercy isn't bad, human."
The mini Leviathan straightened its head proudly, putting on a needlessly triumphant face.
[But why are you the one granting mercy?]
"Heh... Who knows. Must be my dignity, human."
Then the mini Leviathan smirked slyly... and dropped an ominous line.
"More importantly, human, that 'cross-dressing' the woman mentioned..."
[Don't bring that up.]
"You'd suit you."
[I said don't.]
"With your long eyelashes and pale skin..."
[Shut up.]
"Such strong denial. That's proof it's true."
I picked up the can I'd left by the tank.
"Human."
[What.]
"Let's negotiate."
[Rejected.]
"Don't be like that, human."
[The moment you ditched me to hide, negotiations ended.]
"I didn't hide—I went looking."
[For what?]
"......"
As the mini Leviathan clammed up, I opened the can and picked up a spoon.
"Wait! Stop, human!"
[10 seconds.]
"I—"
[Time's up.]
"...Huh?"
Seizing the mini Leviathan's panic, I shoveled in a spoonful.
"Eek...!!"
The mini Leviathan raged...
Pshh!
"?"
Pshh! Pshh!
Water jets from the tank blasted my mask like a squirt gun.
[What are you doing?]
"...Now's the time!"
Then... tentacles of water shot out from the tank and snatched the can from my hand.
"Heh..."
The mini Leviathan smugly shoved the entire can into its mouth.
And then...
Crunch. Crunch.
It chewed up the rest of the can too.
[That's metal.]
"A dragon's stomach accepts all, human."
[Is it tasty?]
"Not really."
[Then why eat it?]
"This is the taste of victory."
...I see.
Dumbfounded for a moment, I just watched the mini Leviathan crunch through the can...