The Compass That Points to Longing
“……Haha, those kids really get along well.”
“They really do.”
“And they’re full of energy, aren’t they?”
“Well, it ate a Dragon Heart despite being a spirit. Of course it’s bursting with vitality.”
Adelaide, a wyrm-class dragon well over five thousand years old, declared that among all the foolish things Magi had done, the absolute worst was feeding a precious Dragon Heart to a metal spirit.
She frequently gave me meaningful looks about the matter, but I felt deeply wronged.
Hey! If it was that valuable, you shouldn’t have left it with your idiot son! That’s like handing fish to a cat!
If there had been any way to regurgitate it, she would have taken it back for sure. But by then it had already become part of Rai’s bones and flesh.
Rai was a spirit, but that part was very real.
The Dragon Heart had melted completely inside Rai, dyeing every inch of its body from the tip of its head to the tip of its toes in a brilliant, dazzling golden light.
Adelaide would occasionally rub the corners of her eyes while looking at the sleek, glossy Rai.
Almost as if holding back tears.
“We really must be going now! Rai, that’s enough.”
[Ugh! Let’s settle this next time!]
“That makes it four hundred and twenty-three wins, so I win!”
[That’s four hundred and twenty-four losses!]
“No it isn’t!”
Adelaide and I grabbed the two idiots by the scruffs of their necks as they tried to clash again and expertly pulled them apart.
“Human, I am grateful that you taught my son Magi magic.”
“Oh my, it was nothing.”
I was just trying to survive.
“However, if you spread that fact among humans……”
“I won’t! Absolutely not! I swear on Rai’s life I won’t!”
[Huh? Me?]
“Good. Since I consider you a clever human, I will trust you. And since you have clearly done me a small favor, I shall give you a gift before you leave.”
A gift!
The word “gift” immediately caught my full attention. I had heard that when dragons repaid a favor, they did so on an entirely different scale.
Enough treasure to last ten generations without running out, the ultimate divine sword forged from a dragon’s claw, or armor made from dragon hide that was lighter than a feather yet harder than mithril.
Of course, since the only favor was giving Magi some extra lessons, I didn’t expect anything too outrageous.
“You will need this to leave the forest. To a human, it is a vast place.”
As always, Adelaide’s face was icy as she tossed me a round object whose purpose I couldn’t immediately guess.
I barely managed to snatch it out of the air before it hit the ground.
“What did you give her, Mom?”
“A compass.”
Huh? That’s it?
“Thank you, but… this compass only has a needle. There are no directional markings?”
Wasn’t a compass supposed to show north, south, east, and west by default?
I might be terrible with directions, but even I knew that much.
“It is no ordinary compass. It is Lubao’s Compass.”
Now that I heard the name, I understood.
They had clearly sacrificed yet another creature to create this dragon magic tool.
Just like Tokka’s Globe, it seemed dragons regarded the lives of other races as no more valuable than insects.
Are we just magical ingredients to you?!
“Do you know of the ancient mythical beast called Lubao?”
“Of course.”
“What?”
“No, I meant of course I’m hearing it for the first time.”
“It is a type of bird that went extinct long ago. They say it could hear itself being called from anywhere. It was especially sensitive to calls from the heart, which is why lovers would share a pair of Lubao birds. This is a magical compass containing the soul of one such Lubao.”
In other words, in this world without cell phones or even pagers, it had been an incredibly useful creature.
Staring at the compass, I seriously considered whether I should hold a memorial service for it.
“The reason there are no directional markings is because this does not guide you to a place. It guides you to a person.”
“A person……”
The compass looked quite old.
It was a faded green all over, and a single golden needle pointed toward my right.
When I looked in that direction, Magi was standing there.
“It has the power to lead its owner to the one who misses them the most, who is closest to them.”
“The one who misses them… does that mean someone who longs for me?”
“Yes. Dragons are included as well, of course.”
I walked toward Magi in the direction the needle pointed.
Even when I turned my body or looked in other directions, the needle accurately followed only Magi.
“It wasn’t originally meant to be made this way, but the refinement process had a slight failure. Now it only reacts to longing.”
“How fascinating.”
“Still, it will lead you to someone who wants to see you, so it should be more than enough to help you leave the forest.
If you follow where the needle points, you will eventually find a human who knows you.”
Someone who misses me, huh……
I couldn’t immediately think of anyone from the way I had lived my life.
Maybe my parents in this world?
They always wrote letters saying they missed me. So if I followed the needle, would it lead me out of this vast forest and straight to them?
Or would it take me to the academy first?
“You can’t tell who it is?”
“No. Think of it as leading you to the closest acquaintance. You may meet someone you haven’t seen in a long time and feel glad to see them.”
“Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”
Lubao’s Compass. It was a subtle item that seemed both good and not quite at the same time.
“But right now it’s only pointing at Magi?”
“Stroke the compass together with Magi. Magi, touch it.”
At Adelaide’s words, Magi placed his hand on top of the compass I was holding.
The needle spun wildly several times before settling on a completely different direction.
It seemed to have found someone else who knew me and missed me.
“Who could it be?”
“You’ll find out when you go.”
I gave a small nod.
At first I had thought it would have been better to just give me a map, but since I couldn’t read one anyway and would have gotten lost, this actually seemed better.
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my way while trying to leave the forest.
I was already curious who I would end up meeting.
“Human, then let us meet again in twenty years.”
“Yes! Twenty years from today!”
“Magi really is so innocent. You made such a foolish promise? With that much time in between, you would die after seeing each other only two or three times.”
“……Hahaha!”
“Well, it’s fine. It will be good for Magi’s emotional education. One matures when a cherished pet dies.”
Could you please treat me like a person?
Maybe it was meaningless since she fundamentally looked down on humans.
“It will also be an opportunity for him to learn that humans die quickly.”
“Mom! I want to do that thing to Jeanie. That thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, the thing where you give treasure to humans!”
“Ah, that. This is how it’s done. Mother will demonstrate, so watch carefully and copy me later.”
I wish they would just let me leave already. I’m not some educational animal. This is unpleasant.
“Human, congratulations on surviving the dragon’s lair.”
“It is pretty impressive, isn’t it?”
“You may take as many jewels as you can carry in one go from the jewel vault over there.”
“……Jewels!”
Forget what I just thought! Being a lab rat is totally worth it!
“You may fill both hands, or stuff them inside your clothes. It is our gift to you.”
I knew this one!
I had read it in a fairy tale long ago. Was it the dragon’s test?
In that story, the human swallowed jewels, tore his clothes to wrap them, and mages even levitated them with magic, but they couldn’t maintain their mana until they left and ended up with nothing. The moral was that if you refused the jewels, the moved dragon would fill a magic bag with them.
“Since you are a Spirit Master, you may use your spirits as well.”
“……You won’t regret it?”
“Of course not. A dragon never goes back on its word.”
“You really won’t get angry no matter how much I take, Lady Adelaide?”
“Do you think we are stingy? Take as much as you can carry.”
At Adelaide’s solemn confirmation, I broke into a sly smile.
Adelaide had no idea that Rai’s basic ability was “absorption.”
Of course she wouldn’t! The only thing she had ever seen was Rai spitting out special alloys. She didn’t know what a metal spirit was truly capable of!
“Let’s go! Rai.”
[Sluuuuurp.]
Rai licked its lips with relish.
Jeanie Crowell, heading out! And returning rich!