Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: West
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After crossing the teleport gate...
I opened my eyes, which I'd squeezed shut against a faint sense of dissonance, and scanned my surroundings.
"You've arrived safely. I am none other than Archduke Ignatus, heir of the sun. I am the one who invited you here."
"......Huh?"
And then I spotted her. Not a majestic red dragon exuding dignity, but a little redheaded kid rolling around on the floor.
"Archduke Ignatus?"
This one?
I blinked and stared at the creature plastered flat to the floor.
Vivid crimson hair like roaring flames. Clothes made of some unknown material, but they looked expensive anyway.
Long horns sprouting from either side of her head, interwoven with smaller ones in a way that evoked a crown.
Her tail swishing near her hips was covered in dense red scales and seemed pretty intimidating... but overall, she was chubby, her silhouette more round than sharp, making her utterly adorable.
Unmistakable draconic features. But wasn't Archduke Ignatus supposed to be an entity as ancient as the empire's history?
For such a being—a person, no, a dragon—to roll around on the floor greeting guests in the form of a little kid?
I was momentarily dumbfounded, but perhaps this was just her usual state, nothing special to the people of the magic tower.
Meikin let out a deep sigh and hoisted up Ignatus, who had practically merged with the floor.
"Master. No matter how tired you are, you can't greet guests lying down."
"Ugh... But even climbing onto a chair is getting tedious."
"Then you should have at least had one of the other disciples do it."
"B-but I dismissed everyone else and opened the gate myself. That's fine, isn't it?"
"That part was good, but next time, please sit in a chair at least."
Meikin shook her head and planted Ignatus in a nearby chair.
Even seated, she slumped limply and whispered toward Karen.
"Karen, Karen. Is there some custom in the west where you greet guests in the most comfortable position possible?"
"No, there's no such thing. You were surprised yourself and put Archduke Ignatus in the chair, weren't you?"
"Then she's just super lazy?"
"Probably. Or maybe there's some other circumstance. At least it doesn't feel like she's looking down on us or anything..."
As we murmured, Ignatus, who was practically lounging across the chair, spoke up.
"Sorry about this in front of our guests. But it's unavoidable."
"Eek. She must have overheard."
"My hearing's quite good, despite appearances."
With that, Ignatus slowly lifted her head. Thanks to that, I could finally get a good look at her full form, which I'd missed while she was sprawled out.
Just sitting in an ordinary chair, her short stature meant her feet didn't touch the ground. But her flowing hair was long enough to brush the floor.
Between the bangs Meikin quickly tidied, her features emerged—beautiful like a statue... no, like something not of this world.
A girl on the cusp of womanhood, her face holding the full allure of both, not some middling charm.
But what truly held my gaze was something else.
I'd thought her hair was a vivid red, but her eyes went beyond that.
Ruby, flame, real red—words for saturated crimson shades flashed through my mind.
Yet none could fully capture Ignatus's irises.
Slitted pupils like a reptile's stared straight at me, then curved in satisfaction.
"They say the current head of House Zahav has awakened his bloodline ability to near-ancestral levels... It must be true."
"You can tell just by looking?"
"It's not the bloodline ability itself I see. I simply sense the nature and purity of the mana within you."
"I see. How do I stack up to other Zahavs?"
"Compared to other Zahavs?"
Ignatus drawled in a drowsy posture, as if she might nod off any second.
"At least among those I've seen in the last 500 years, you're incomparable. Compared to those before... Purely in terms of purity, like Shamesh. Ah, the founder of Zahav. Similar to Shamesh, but your mana capacity is a bit lacking compared to the other descendants."
"My mana capacity... is lacking?"
To escape that mad alchemist, I'd consumed elixirs of tremendous potency, and afterward, to suppress side effects from all sorts of human experiments, I'd gulped down more indiscriminately.
After smashing the black mage branch in Calypso Territory and crushing the assassins' guild, I'd devoured every elixir that suited me or my comrades perfectly, except those earmarked for them.
I'd even bought elixirs from informants, brokers, and sometimes mercenaries.
I barely knew how to handle mana, but I'd once suffered internal injuries from it tangling up because I had so damn much.
And now I'm told my mana capacity is low.
From the perspective of someone with a dragon heart that generates infinite mana, it might seem small, but she specifically compared me to other Zahavs.
I blinked in disbelief, and Ignatus giggled, waving it off.
"Don't take it too hard on your pride. You seem young still, and the younger you are, the less mana you've accumulated, naturally."
"I... suppose so."
In other words, the Zahavs from the founder up to 500 years ago were straight-up monsters.
I didn't really feel it personally, but as Jevella had told me, the Zahav bloodline had indeed degenerated.
...And Ignatus couldn't distinguish me from a real Zahav.
Well, if you asked me the difference between sun and flame, I'd barely know beyond scale and temperature.
A twinge of disappointment rose, and Ignatus tilted her head, adding,
"Hmm. Looking closer, you feel a bit different from other Zahavs..."
"...!"
"Well, after so much time, even descendants change a little."
She really couldn't tell just by glancing.
For a dragon, who should be more sensitive to mana than anyone, to react like this meant it was impossible to distinguish with ordinary methods.
Deeper, more expert probing might reveal it, but if things escalated to that suspicion, I'd be exposed no matter what.
Should I be glad or not...?
I sighed inwardly.
"Yaaawn..."
Suddenly, Ignatus gaped wide and yawned. Sharp, inhuman teeth peeked out, and a tiny flame popped into existence before vanishing.
Now upgraded from sleepy kid—thanks to Meikin—to dressed-up kid, she spoke sheepishly.
"Sorry for the poor hospitality from the start. Embarrassing as it is, my condition isn't great right now."
"Eh, I don't mind. Come to think of it, I've been speaking casually to a stranger myself."
"What? You know it's rude for a Zahav to use informal speech with strangers...?"
"...?"
What the hell is a Zahav, anyway?
It was a topic I'd mulled over repeatedly lately, so I was getting a sense. Time to channel some Zahav-ness.
"Dragons aren't people, so it's fine, right?"
"P-Patriarch?!"
Karen, who'd been silent to avoid interrupting, yanked my sleeve in horror.
Meikin gaped in shock too... but Ignatus just nodded as if it all made sense now.
"Ah, Zahavs are Zahavs, no matter the era."
"......"
What the hell is a real Zahav...?
As I chuckled wryly, Ignatus spoke in her languid voice.
"Anyway, thanks for understanding. Now, let's get to the point and confirm the contract details."
"Sure."
At my response, she traced the air with a tiny finger. Vast mana surged at the simple motion, cracking the space vertically along its path.
Craaaack—
A massive crate emerged from the rift. At her gesture, the lid popped open, revealing gleaming gold within.
"The promised one million gold. Feel free to count it if you like."
"Nah, who'd count that mountain? Here, I trust the word of the honorable Archduke Ignatus."
"...The current Zahav knows how to sweet-talk. Are you after this body too? Sorry, give up. Unlike Zahavs, I'm not interested in pointless breeding."
"Were you more mature before, by any chance?"
"Hmm? I've always been like this. Well, my horns and tail got a bit thicker."
"Ugh, your self-assessment..."
A height that could compete with Karen's. And an even more pitiful chest. I sighed.
"Anyway, confirmed you can pay the million gold. What I need is my... semen, for making a powerful dragonkin weapon, right? How much?"
"Enough to fill this vial."
She sliced open space again and pulled out a small glass bottle.
Fill this up...? A lot, but doable.
"Oh, and one more condition."
"What?"
"Sorry, but there are no whores around here. The west is a battlefield, the magic tower a forward base. Everyone here is my disciple or follower. Even if it's necessary, I can't let them be ruined by Zahav hands."
"...No, I wasn't planning anything like that."
As I started to say I'd handle it alone, her plump tail writhed and presented something coiled around its tip.
"Use this instead. A masturbation aid I crafted with utmost care."
Semitransparent material. Cylindrical, soft-looking yet strangely firm, with a small hole at one end.
...This is a total onahole.
Held in that swishing tail, indecent thoughts flooded my mind.
Never thought I'd see one of these in a fantasy world.
As I just chuckled, her boasting continued.
"Don't worry. Temperature maintenance magic, 69 vibration patterns, and a touch of illusion magic. Never tested it, but it should be quite usable."
"R-right..."
Better than hand, anyway. As I reached for her custom magic tool—
—————!!
A ferocious presence from outside. Even indoors, the deafening roar rang in my ears, snapping me into combat stance as my senses sharpened reflexively.
And I wasn't the only one. Ignatus, slouched till now, bolted upright.
"Of all times, during guests. How rude."
She sighed and strode to the window with uncharacteristic straightness.
Clunk.
She flung it open and hurled herself out.
"Huh?"
I rushed to the window in alarm.
Fwoooosh!
Dazzling light erupted, filling the view beyond with a colossal red dragon.
"Oh."
I clenched my fist at the majestic form I'd expected.
Squish.
The onahole Ignatus made compressed under my grip.
...Talk about a mood killer.