The Dragon's Hidden Treasure
Arthur stood on the podium, listening to the headmaster's congratulatory speech after winning the Academy Tournament.
“It is an exceedingly rare occurrence for a first-year to claim victory in the Academy Tournament. It signifies that a new talent has once again emerged in our academy……”
Whether on Earth or in this other world, it seemed to be an ironclad rule that headmasters loved to ramble on endlessly. The headmaster had been delivering his lecture for well over thirty minutes now.
When you considered that not only the academy students but also knights and scouts from other territories were present, it was downright insane behavior.
‘When the hell is this going to end?’
By the time Arthur had thought that for the umpteenth time, the headmaster—who had announced he would only speak for five more minutes—finally wrapped up after another twenty. The audience applauded the end of the tedious speech and congratulated the champion, Arthur. Or perhaps they were simply grateful that the boring ordeal was finally over.
“To Arthur, the winner of the Academy Tournament, we will be awarding several prizes. Three million cash, an academy letter of recommendation, the right to select one item from the academy’s treasure vault, private one-on-one lessons with Sir Gawain of the Knight Department, and more.”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the winner received every privilege the academy could offer. The cash prize wasn’t particularly large, but for a commoner like Arthur, it was a fortune. Enough money to spend lavishly throughout her entire time at the academy and still have plenty left over.
Simply winning the Academy Tournament was enough to open the doors to most organizations or territories. Add in the letter of recommendation, and Arthur had essentially obtained a free pass to go wherever she wanted.
“─That concludes the award ceremony. Thank you so much to all our distinguished guests who came to watch.”
The moment the headmaster finished speaking, people began rushing toward Arthur. Among them was Kyle.
“Huff… haaa……”
“You okay?”
“Y-yeah.”
Arthur, who had barely managed to escape the swarm of scouts targeting her, smiled brightly at Kyle standing beside her. Even running around sweating like this would probably become a fond memory in the distant future. A memory from her energetic teenage years—of running around sweating with a boy……
‘I don’t smell bad… do I?’
As a Knight Department student, it felt a bit late to be embarrassed about sweating, but after recently confirming her feelings again, Arthur couldn’t help it. They did say a maiden’s heart was as fickle as a reed, after all.
Things she had done naturally before realizing her feelings now made her feel shy. Arthur carefully wiped away her sweat, then lifted her clothes to discreetly sniff herself. When she realized she didn’t smell at all, she quietly edged a little farther away from Kyle.
“They’re persistent.”
At that moment, Kyle spotted the scouts still chasing them. Without hesitation, he scooped Arthur up into his arms.
“Kyaa—!”
Arthur let out a short scream as his hands gripped her shoulder and thigh, but she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and looked up at him. Kyle, having heard her shriek, glanced down with an amused smirk.
“What? Did your polymorph wear off? Doesn’t look like it from what I can see of your chest.”
“……Shut up.”
“Right. Let’s get out of here first.”
Kyle chuckled softly as he swiftly carried her away. The scouts were quick on their feet, but they were nowhere near fast enough to catch up to a Master like Kyle.
“Hey, where’d they go!?”
“They definitely came this way……”
Leaving the confused voices searching for the pair who had vanished in an instant, Kyle left the academy entirely and headed straight for his mansion. He figured that since it was his private property, no one would dare intrude.
The moment they arrived at the mansion, Kyle set Arthur down and spoke.
“So─ we still have something to talk about, don’t we?”
“Huh? Oh… right. We agreed to split the prizes in half.”
“Let’s see, the prizes were……”
Arthur recalled the promise she had made with Kyle. If she won, they would split all the prizes exactly in half. There was just one problem.
The tournament rewards were all things that were awkward to divide in half. The only thing that could be split was the cash prize, but even that was basically pocket change to a noble like Kyle. A tiny sum that would feel wrong to take from a commoner like Arthur.
“Um, Kyle?”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“You can take all the prize money and rewards. I’ll still have plenty left over……”
Fortunately, Arthur wasn’t the type of cheapskate who would cling desperately to that small amount of money. She was kind-hearted enough to say that since she had only won thanks to Kyle, every privilege she received belonged to him.
Kyle ruffled Arthur’s hair with a grin, treating her like an adorable little sister.
“Hey, how could I do that? I’ll just take one thing.”
“Just one?”
“Yeah. The item from the academy treasure vault.”
“If that’s what you want, sure.”
Kyle had no idea what treasures were inside the academy’s vault or which one would be most beneficial to take. But that didn’t matter. There was someone who knew better than anyone─someone who knew so well that they would probably rush over right now to give him advice on what to pick.
─Knock knock.
“Young master, you have a visitor.”
See? They were already so impatient they had come in person.
“The Dragon Orb! It has to be the Dragon Orb!”
The moment Sera entered the mansion, she shouted those words at Arthur. Arthur, who had no idea what she was talking about, scratched her cheek and asked back.
“Um… what’s a Dragon Orb?”
“One of the prizes! Out of everything you can get from the academy treasure vault, you absolutely have to choose that one!”
“How do you even know something like that exists……?”
The academy treasure vault was a place that only opened a few times a year. It wasn’t even the imperial treasury—just a school storage room—yet it contained all sorts of questionable items that made you wonder why they were there. That was also why the vault had been robbed multiple times.
There was no way Sera, who had only just enrolled, could possibly know what was inside. Not unless someone had told her.
“Th-the headmaster told me……”
“Oh, really?”
Fortunately, Sera had already accomplished the feat of becoming a Dragon Hunter and had built a connection with the headmaster, so her claim that he had informed her carried quite a bit of credibility. Enough for the clueless Arthur to believe her without question.
Kyle, who knew the full story, watched from behind with a quiet chuckle.
‘Shut it.’
‘Got it.’
After exchanging a quick glance with Sera, Kyle shrugged and asked her about the other options.
“What if it’s not there?”
“……Well, that’s true. If it’s not, then next would be the Golden Apple, the Grimoire of Einherjar, the Sky Sword V─.”
“Hey, hold on.”
“Hm? What?”
“Did the headmaster tell you about those too? That seems a little strange……”
Sera realized she had slipped up and let out a few careful coughs. If the headmaster had recommended something, there was no need to consider the possibility that it might not be there. Yet Sera was listing out alternative items as if they might or might not exist.
It was as if she had never been inside the vault but somehow knew exactly what was in it.
“R-right! He told me about those too!”
“Really…?”
“Y-yeah, he did!”
Arthur still looked somewhat suspicious, but she decided it wasn’t something to worry about right now. Doubting Sera wouldn’t benefit her in any way.
“Hey, Sera. But I’m the one who’s taking that item. Recommend something that would be useful for me instead.”
“What? You’re already a Master. What more could you possibly need?”
“A sword would be nice. Something like a magic sword that flies back to my hand even if I throw it away.”
“Just enchant a regular sword……”
‘……Huh?’
It was only then that Arthur realized how strangely close Sera and Kyle seemed. Sera was someone so different in both name and appearance that you could easily believe she came from an entirely different continent. The only connection she should have had with Kyle was meeting at the academy.
Yet here they were, showing a side of themselves that even Arthur—who spent far more time with Kyle—had never seen. They were acting as familiar as if they had been friends for over a decade.
‘It’s like they’re childhood friends……’
Since that was impossible, Arthur simply brushed it off as her own misunderstanding.
The next day.
Arthur went to see the headmaster and told him she wanted to enter the treasure vault. The headmaster, who hadn’t expected such a request so soon, looked slightly surprised but guided her there himself.
Arthur stepped into the treasure vault, which was sealed by a powerful barrier that only a Master-level mage could open. After thinking for only a short while, she picked up an item and walked back out.
“Arthur, are you really sure about that one?”
“Yes. I’ll go with this.”
“Hmmm… Well, it is the student’s choice.”
What Arthur had chosen was a small orb glowing with a red light. After confirming it wasn’t cursed, the headmaster handed it over and returned to his office.
Arthur returned to Kyle’s mansion with the red orb and found Sera and Kyle waiting for her.
“Was it there?”
“Yeah, here it is.”
“O-ohhh─ so this is……”
Sera let out a gasp of admiration as she stared at the brilliantly sparkling red orb. Arthur still had no idea what it was, but when she was told to pour her Aura into it, she did so.
The moment she did, the orb reacted and began shooting out streams of red light.
“W-wait, what?”
The Dragon Orb was responding. The magic sealed inside it was activating. This orb, which reacted only to draconic energy, was a treasure vault left behind by a dragon that had lived for thousands of years.
Even Sera had no idea what items might be inside this treasure vault that not even players had ever opened.
“Now then… what could be inside…….”
The moment she opened the treasure vault with an expectant heart, a single egg tumbled out.
Everyone who saw it froze in shock.
“……Huh?”
“An egg?”
Inside the treasure vault that a dragon had hidden away so carefully… was a single egg.