Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: 15. Mayatrei (2)
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“Jaaaamiiiieeee!!!”
The knights grunted as they held back Sears, who was trying to hurl herself off the cliff.
She screamed at them to let go while reaching toward the deep valley below.
“My son! My son fell down there! Let me go! Hurry! Hurry!!”
“Madam! Please calm down!”
“Let me go!!”
Jack grimaced as he gazed down at the valley.
The current was ferocious. Falling into that made survival all but impossible.
But telling Sears that would only make things worse, so he did his best to reassure her.
“I’ve sent out the soldiers. We’ll search all the way downstream, so please wait.”
“My son! My son Jamie!!”
“Madam……”
Sears was sobbing so hard she looked like she might faint at any moment.
Sara clung to her mother’s skirt, bawling her eyes out.
“J-Jamie.”
Riki couldn’t accept what had happened.
His mind went completely blank. Panic had set in.
Anna, blind as she was, couldn’t see what was going on, but the sounds alone told her something terrible had happened to Jamie.
She tightly gripped her dazed brother’s arm.
“It’s…… all my fault.”
Sears collapsed to the ground, mumbling words that could have been tears or rain streaming down her face.
“If I hadn’t gone. If I’d just stayed home, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all my fault. My fault. My fault……”
“Madam……”
Jack had no words to comfort her.
The raging waters showed no sign of slowing, and the thick rain pouring from the sky showed no mercy.
He’d told her they’d search, but pushing in these conditions would only cost more lives.
Yet giving up might provoke the Welton Count in ways he didn’t want to imagine. This incident alone could cost the entire escort their heads.
“It’s my fault. All of it. We never should have come. We should have stayed home. I did this to Jamie……”
Someone approached Sears as she stared at the ground, repeating the same words like a parrot.
Jack looked up to see who it was.
“Sir Ras.”
It was Ras, the holy enforcer of the Pyro Church.
He knelt on one knee beside her and spoke.
“He’ll be fine, Madam.”
Sears turned her head toward him.
Her beautiful face was a mess of rainwater and tears.
“Jamie won’t die from a fall like that.”
“……Is that true?”
“I’m not just saying it to give you hope.”
Ras’s expression was utterly serious.
Jack couldn’t understand why Ras would say something so baseless. Offering hope was one thing, but reality was another. There was no good answer here.
He knew Jamie had incredible magical talent.
But the boy was only seven. No matter how gifted, getting swept into that torrent meant survival was impossible.
Ras thought differently.
“Jamie wouldn’t have fallen in the first place, but something must have happened.”
“What? What happened?”
“Not sure, but maybe a force that sealed his magic.”
“Then even a great mage would be in danger, right?”
Ras turned to Jack at his pointed remark.
Jack continued.
“He fell without his magic. Can’t guarantee he’s alive, but he’s definitely in danger.”
“……Captain.”
Jack realized his slip too late and bowed to Sears in apology.
“S-Sorry. I got carried away with the nonsense.”
Sears glared at him fiercely before turning back to Ras.
“So our Jamie’s alive?”
“The captain’s not entirely wrong. But I believe his odds are good. Jamie’s skill surpasses most adult mages. If he regains his magic, surviving won’t be hard.”
Sears’s expression softened a bit at Ras’s confident tone. The worry didn’t vanish, though. Possibility was one thing; the valley’s rapids hadn’t weakened.
“So I’ll go check.”
Ras stood and said as much.
He adjusted his sword and eyed the cliff.
“I can survive down there.”
“A-Are you sure?”
“It could be dangerous even for you.”
Sears and Jack voiced their concern.
They hadn’t doubted his skill since learning he was a holy enforcer, but natural disasters overwhelmed human strength.
“Three hours. I’ll be back in exactly three.”
Ignoring their worries, Ras gathered holy power around him.
“Brother.”
Riki called out anxiously.
Ras flashed a grin and dove off the cliff.
Jack rushed to the edge and peered down. Ras, now a mere speck, vanished into the valley’s rapids.
The rain began to intensify.
Drip… Drip…
The sound of falling water echoed.
Jamie struggled to lift his heavy eyelids.
Where am I?
Nothing but darkness.
Only the chill dampness in his eyes.
He shook his head to clear his mind. His whole body swayed with the motion.
Floating in midair?
His feet dangled freely.
He kicked around to feel for anything nearby, but touched nothing.
He tried his hands. Chains rattled, confirming his arms were bound.
Handcuffs.
Likely hanging from the ceiling.
And this place… probably.
Humid air, dripping water, echoing sounds.
A cave, most likely.
No light at all meant it was deep.
Damn it. What the hell happened?
Jamie recalled the last voice he’d heard.
[Who are you?]
[You.]
[Are you a dragon?]
The mana burn was definitely that voice’s doing.
He’d tried casting spells nonstop, but nothing worked. The mana burn persisted here too.
Mistook me for a dragon.
He could guess why.
It must have sensed dragon-level potential in him. Nothing else explained the mistake.
Then—
Footsteps.
From not far away.
Jamie closed his eyes, pretending to be unconscious again.
The steps grew louder, approaching close, but he kept his eyes shut.
“……”
No words.
It thought he was still out.
Moments later, footsteps receded.
No intent to wake me forcibly, then.
Jamie sighed in relief and opened his eyes.
“Playing possum after all, huh?”
A thin, clear voice came from behind.
Like jade beads rolling—beautiful, but irrelevant now.
It was a trap!
He’d thought it left, but it was all bait.
Jamie pegged the owner as having rotten tastes.
“Thought faking it longer would change anything?”
Fair point.
Stalling bought time, nothing more.
People outside were surely searching desperately for him.
He needed to escape ASAP.
“……Why did you kidnap me?”
Mistaken for a dragon, sure, but specifics?
The voice replied.
“You. A dragon?”
“……You saw me, so you know I’m not.”
“True. Knew the instant I saw you. But it doesn’t add up. How does a non-dragon have that potential? And the form of your mana.”
The tone deepened.
“The way you gather mana is strikingly like a dragon’s.”
Mana breathing was humans mimicking dragons.
Dragons were built for mana from birth; humans weren’t.
Hence, mana breathing to ape them, even slightly.
“But human mana breathing is half-baked. Not a mana-born race, so it’s just mimicry. Yet you?”
Jamie made a face.
Who’d have thought full-body breathing would backfire like this?
Sticking to the Linmel method would’ve avoided this, but he’d advanced it to the ultimate form.
Never imagined it mirrored dragons.
How lizards get their mana is their problem.
In his Diablo Volpir days, dragons were mere reptiles wary of him.
Now he studied new things, but back then, lesser beings got no attention.
The 12 Gods were enough trouble; why bother with weaklings?
“It doesn’t make sense. No human, even with high mana affinity, reaches your level. Elf hybrid maybe?”
Chatty one.
He’d pegged it as grave from the mental voice, but opposite.
“No.”
“Not even a hybrid? Well, even high elves don’t feel dragon-like.”
“What keeps ‘not making sense’? You’re seeing it.”
Jamie rattled his small body in irritation at the constant denial.
“Look at this kid. Captured, yet so brazen?”
“You keep downplaying my ability. More importantly, who are you?”
“Thought human kids lisped. You speak perfectly?”
Not just human kids, but whatever. The voice held biases.
Not his concern.
“Can we talk after you free me?”
“Nope.”
“……Without magic, I’m just a helpless kid. No threat.”
“Watching you squirm is fun, so no. And even with magic, your situation stays the same.”
The amused tone grated.
Jamie scowled.
“That face is funny too.”
Playful personality.
Calling him “human,” the casual arrogance.
The pouring rain and wind. Thunder and lightning threatening the carriage. Intentional mana burn.
And Jack’s earlier tale.
Jamie addressed the voice.
“Are you a dragon?”
Not certain, but this range named after dragon Mayatrei, a blue dragon.
Control over weather-scale water. Arrogant dismissal of non-dragons.
Personality fits blue dragons perfectly.
Nothing else fit.
“……”
No answer.
“Right?”
As Jamie pressed, confident—
“Ugh!”
Darkness lifted, blinding light stabbing his eyes.
After a moment, vision cleared.
Jamie blinked away the haze and looked around.
A cave, as expected.
He shook his head and faced forward. Someone stood there, arms crossed.
A woman with striking long blue hair down to her legs. Her “clothes” were rags, barely modest.
She spoke.
“I’m Mayatrei. A dragon, like you said.”
“……Why would a dragon kidnap another dragon?”
“Simple—”
Mayatrei’s pupils slit vertically.
“To kill you.”
Killing intent swept the cave.