The Dragon's Gaze
Of course, Rai was there. I carefully stepped toward him, and he crawled toward me in a low, prone posture.
Our eyes met the boss monster's before we could touch.
“Human.”
“Ah, hello?”
“How dare a mere human do such a thing.”
“I do have a name, you know. It's Jeanie Crowell……”
I forced an awkward smile and attempted both a greeting and an introduction. If nothing else, I wanted to buy myself even one more second of life.
But the heartless dragon approached in silence and slowly extended her pure white fingertips toward me.
Rai growled and immediately lunged for her hand.
Wait.
Rai froze mid-leap, teeth bared, like a statue.
I understood at once. The gold dragon had used a powerful Dragon Word. Without so much as glancing at Rai, she had subdued him with a single command—thoroughly.
Got it. If I fought a dragon, Rai would lose.
“Ugh.”
Watching the hand draw closer, I swallowed a groan and squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't even have the courage to dodge.
When I clenched them tight, a cold touch brushed my forehead. A sharp, tingling energy seeped into my mind, rummaging freely. A violent headache rattled through my skull again and again.
But that was all. Nothing else happened.
“Strange.”
At the muttered word, I cautiously opened my eyes. She touched my forehead again, then, frustrated, placed her palm on the crown of my head. Finally she grabbed my face with both hands and forced me to look straight at her.
Why are you doing this?
With my face trapped, I could only blink in confusion. I had no idea what this dragon was trying to do.
“You……”
“Yes?”
“No matter how I look at you, you're human.”
As you can see, I am.
“Then why can't I read your memories?”
So that was what she had been attempting. Memory reading was supposed to be extremely advanced magic. Why had it failed?
“My magic doesn't work! What exactly are you?”
“……I'm just an ordinary human passing through?”
“If my magic fails, it means you're either the same race as me, or……”
“Mom! I brought the sword!”
Was she about to call me a dragon?
“Magi! Where did you pick up this strange human?”
“Huh? From the human castle.”
“She's not ordinary!”
“That's true. Even Tokka's Globe couldn't evaluate Jeanie. It said neither good nor evil! Isn't that amazing?”
Hey, being stared at like some rare specimen by dragons felt deeply unsettling.
“Human, you…… know some kind of secret.”
“Eh……?”
“A secret of the world that even dragons shouldn't know. If you're not a dragon, there's only one answer. A god-level being has placed a restriction on your memories.”
At first the words meant nothing, but then one fact clicked into place: I remembered my past life. Come to think of it, I really wasn't an ordinary human. If the dragon was right, some kind of restriction had been placed on me—an act only a god could perform.
“If it's that, there is one thing that applies.”
“What is it?”
“You said even memory-reading magic doesn't work? I can't talk about it either. It's always been that way. It's locked inside me so no one else can know.”
Past life and reincarnation. It seemed like an insignificant fact, yet I could never speak of it in detail or write it down. Some unknown force blocked me. I could unconsciously say words related to my past life, but the moment I tried to explain that I remembered it or that I had been reincarnated, the words simply refused to form.
“I'm not sure exactly, but…… there does seem to be a power preventing me from speaking about it carelessly. To me it doesn't feel very important.”
Thanks to the dragon, I now knew for certain: this world's god was paying attention to me. Whether that god liked me, hated me, or didn't care at all, I couldn't tell. Given how thoroughly my life kept twisting, though, dislike seemed more likely.
“There's no doubt. God-level intervention.”
I'd badmouthed the gods quite a bit.
“Then I suppose I shouldn't kill you.”
Thank you so——wait, no!
So you really were going to kill me! Damn dragons. Treating human lives like flies. Hah, spit.
Resentment boiled inside me, but I wasn't brave enough to show it. I was simply a young woman of this era who wanted to keep breathing a little longer.
“You must be useful for something. I don't know what the gods are thinking…… but I won't do anything troublesome that interferes with their plans.”
So she was letting me live. Could I relax now?
Master!
Right—Rai. I glanced down. He was still frozen solid, like someone who had seen Medusa.
My body won't move!
“Of all things, you had to bring that back. Magi, you really……”
“Uung? Did I do something wrong?”
“……Why have you started acting so cute lately? It's true our Magi is adorable, but to blatantly fawn like that……”
“Mother!”
The word slipped out before I could stop it. Everyone froze. I had no idea what to call her, and if anyone realized I was the one who had trained Magi to act cute, I would be ground into paste by dragon fangs—divine attention or not.
“What? Mother?”
“W-well, since you're here! Wouldn't you like to hear about Magi? I could talk all day about how excellent he is.”
“……Oh my, really?”
To survive, I played the one card we shared: her foolish son, Magikos.
Magi had mastered first-class and second-class magic through theory alone, then devoured third-class in two weeks. Proof that a dragon born of dragons was still a dragon.
“Hmm, is that so…… How is Magi doing? Is he keeping up with the lessons?”
She was hooked. I launched into an enthusiastic performance.
“Of course! I should start with how he mastered first-class in just two days! It was incredible. As expected of a great and majestic dragon!”
“R-right? I always knew our Magi was smart! He just doesn't study, that's all.”
No parent in any race disliked praise for their child.
“Exactly! He's a genius.”
And I was a human who was strong toward the strong, strong toward the weak, and weak toward dragons—because race could never be transcended. If anyone wanted to throw stones at me for being servile, they had better be ready to throw them at dragons too.
***
Time flew. Before I knew it, the two months I had promised Magi were almost over.
What I had intended as casual time-killing lessons had turned serious once the dragon mother began observing. I taught with everything I had—purely to stay alive. The result was that I was now on the verge of escape, showered with extravagant hospitality from both mother and son.
“Farewell, human.”
“Jeanie! Are you really leaving?”
Of course. Meeting you was awful—let's never see each other again. I wanted to say it, but I had made a promise. In twenty years I would have to return.
I forced a reluctant expression and took Magi's hand.
“I have to go. I'll miss you, Magi.”
I was good at saying things I didn't mean. There was no guilt, so no need to wet my lips.
“Then can't you stay and play a little longer?”
“I want to, but people will be worried.”
“Should I bring them here? Your parents, your academy friends—everyone……!”
“You know that's not possible, right?”
“Hing!”
“We promised. You said you'd send me back.”
Two months was more than enough time for people to have held my funeral. Being captured by a dragon and returning alive belonged in fairy tales, not reality. If I were a princess, someone might have come to rescue me, but I was only the daughter of a minor baron. I couldn't even hope for that.
Come to think of it, I'd faced far too many brushes with death. Maybe I really did have a stubborn life.
“Then I'll teleport you to the city……”
“No! Absolutely not.”
Don't underestimate Warp Sickness. My condition was terminal; even the words “movement magic” made my spine crawl with revulsion.
“But walking out of the forest will take ages.”
“It's fine. I have Rai.”
That's right!
Over the past two months my situation had changed in several ways. One of them was Rai, who now possessed a twelve-stage transformation ability. Because I was lazy, he had naturally acquired a mount function as well.
“What if I miss you, Jeanie?”
“Let's meet in dreams.”
“Ehng!”
You have no tact! It was awful meeting you—let's never see each other again!
For a second I thought I had spoken aloud, but it was Rai. As expected of my spirit, his thoughts were far too similar to mine. He boldly voiced what I couldn't, and Magi immediately seized him by the fur between his ears.
“What! This wolf pup!”
Tsk tsk tsk.
Rai's eyes rolled back from the force of the grip.
“Give back the Dragon Heart I gave you!”
A dragon giving something and then taking it back is petty! Go bald!
“You don't even know gratitude!”
If you gave it, it's done!
I was beginning to wonder if their endless biting and tussling was simply their own strange way of showing affection. They never seemed to tire of it.
And since my spirit was currently mauling someone else's precious son, I had no choice but to glance nervously at the dragon mother's face.