The Contract
“… Mmm….”
The sunlight was so bright I had to open my eyes.
Morning already?
No — if the light was punching straight through the curtains, it might already be midday.
I felt the familiar morning urge and pushed myself up from the bed. If I stayed put any longer, I was fairly certain I was going to have an accident under the covers.
“… Huh?”
The blanket draped over me was not the one I usually used. My old blanket had never been anything special, but the one in my hands now…
Why does this feel so rough?
The moment I grabbed it, a jolt of wrongness ran through me. And the instant that wrongness registered, my vision cleared and the room around me came into focus.
Not the fluorescent-lit ceiling I always saw — a ceiling of wood. Not the wallpaper I always saw — walls of the same wood as the ceiling. And not the mattress I always sank into at night, but a strangely firm bed.
… A dream?
It was too unreal. So I reached a conclusion.
Ah… this is a dream.
In that case, I really ought to wake up soon. Or else I was going to wet the bed at my age.
With that thought, I tried desperately to force my eyes open.
“…?”
But the harder I tried, the sharper the scenery around me became.
“What the….”
A lucid dream?
I had no memory of ever having one this vivid. Then again, maybe I had and simply never remembered.
… Except…
My reason kept insisting this was a dream — but one single sensation kept arguing that it was real.
The very urge that had woken me in the first place.
… Hold it…
I was not going to wet the bed at my age. Dream or not, I decided I would tough it out somehow.
Damn it… I can’t hold it.
Of course that resolve didn’t last. Controlling a bodily function was simply that hard.
Bathroom… bathroom…
If this was a lucid dream my own mind had built, a bathroom ought to appear. Thinking that, I opened the door of the room I was in.
… Bang!
The door was oddly stiff, so I had to force it after turning the knob — I decided not to dwell on that detail.
Ugh… even the little things are this detailed.
The first thing I saw when I stepped out was a hallway overlooking a lower floor. And that lower floor looked exactly like…
A medieval tavern? Yeah. That’s the vibe.
It was a scene you would never see in real life — the kind that only showed up in games or anime.
So where’s the bathroom… Ah. Over there, looks like.
I spotted what had to be the restrooms. There were male and female symbols, so bathrooms they almost certainly were. I went down the stairs to the first floor and made use of one.
A short while later…
“Not a flush toilet, huh. It’s been a long time since I’ve used one like this….”
I had only ever seen them in the countryside as a kid. Even out in the country, I hadn’t come across one once I was older. Still, after finishing and washing my hands, I felt considerably better as I stepped back out.
The one mercy was that nothing felt unpleasant down there afterward. Up to that point, all I could think was how fortunate it was that nothing from the dream would carry over into reality.
“Anyway… how did I end up dreaming something like this?”
I started to sit down on a chair in what looked like a dining room — or a tavern — on the first floor. I would have, if the chairs and tables hadn’t been filthy.
Has this place been abandoned for a long time?
I blew across the tabletop, and dust billowed up.
“Cough…! Cough…! Damn it….”
I had done it to myself, but it was still a spectacularly stupid move. Dream or not, the place clearly needed airing out, so I opened the door that seemed to be the entrance — and…
“… What.”
I found myself face-to-face with a colossal wall.
It wasn’t right up against the door; there was a fair distance between us. Even so, it was so enormous that for a split second I thought it was blocking the doorway itself.
“Whoa….”
So this was what travelers felt when they went looking for natural scenery. Struck by the sheer grandeur of it, I walked forward in a daze.
Thud…!
Something massive crashed down right in front of me. Something bigger than an ordinary truck. The impact sent a stone flying from the ground and straight into my face.
… Huh?
Caught off guard by the rock, I froze for a moment.
Because it hurt.
If this were a dream, I shouldn’t be feeling pain, should I?
The thought landed — and…
“……”
I realized I had already clamped my mouth shut and was backing away.
Why?
The idea that this was a dream vanished in an instant, and the conviction that it was real took its place. Fear rose with it. I still hadn’t properly identified what had just fallen in front of me, but every instinct screamed that I needed to put distance between myself and it right now.
“… Sa….”
“?!”
A voice came from the thing that had fallen.
“Save….”
A person? Was someone trapped underneath?
“Save me….”
No — the sound wasn’t coming from below. Only then did the full shape of the massive thing in front of me register.
This is…
“You there….”
Skin of reptilian scales. A lizard’s head. Wings on its back.
“Can’t you… hear my voice…?”
A dragon.
That was the first word the appearance called to mind.
“Please… I’ll do anything….”
And that dragon was…
“Please… save me….”
… begging me for its life.
“……”
It was so sudden I could barely think straight. Save it? Could I even save a dragon? And even if I could…
If a dragon like that turns on me, I’m one bite, aren’t I?
The thought flashed through my head. But only for a moment.
“… What do I need to do?”
I decided to try saving it. It was intelligent enough to notice me and speak — I would just have to hope it didn’t betray me. And if it did…
I’ll deal with that when it happens.
It was an irresponsible way of thinking, but the dragon’s life was visibly fading — time was too short for deeper deliberation.
And so…
“You’ll… save me…?”
“I said I would! Just tell me what I have to do!”
I believe that was the moment our fates changed.
“… The contract is complete.”
“… Mmm?”
The instant the dragon finished saying the contract was complete, I found myself lying on the same bed I had been on only a few minutes earlier.
Wait — had it only been a few minutes?
Why does it look so dark outside?
Thinking that, I sat up.
“… Hmm?”
Something felt off. Hadn’t the blanket I’d been under earlier been rougher than this? The bed still wasn’t mattress-quality, but it seemed softer than before. The wood of the floor, ceiling, and walls looked the same, though.
Click.
“You’re awake, Master?”
As I was looking around, a maid with hair that shone like gold stepped into the room — and called me Master.
“… You….”
I felt as though I already knew who she was.
“… Are you the dragon I saw just a little while ago?”
“Just a little while ago? Ah — yes. I’m the dragon who was granted a new life thanks to you, Master.”
I decided not to worry about a dragon taking human form. It wasn’t as if stories like that were rare. But a dragon as a maid…
“More importantly — I’m your Master?”
“Yes. That was the contract.”
Master would save her life, and in return she would do anything for him.
“Which is why, in exchange for surviving on your mana, I intend to devote my body and soul to you, Master.”
“… Mana?”
From context, I could roughly guess what she meant, but…
“I have mana?”
“Yes. Even someone who had none in another world gains mana the moment they transmigrate here.”
“……”
The moment they transmigrate to this world…
So this impossible situation really was reality? And the fact that she knew all this meant…
“That makes it sound like there are a lot of other transmigrators besides me….”
“Not an enormous number. I’ve only ever heard of them — you’re the first one I’ve actually met, Master.”
I see. So I wasn’t the only person in a situation like this. That took a little of the sting out of it.
“Just out of curiosity — how did you know I was a transmigrator?”
“Because your status window has ‘Transmigrator’ written right on it?”
“?”
“?”
Status window?
The moment the thought formed, a status window — the kind that had long since gone out of fashion — floated up in front of my eyes.
Name
—
Job
Innkeeper
Titles
Dragon's Master
Innkeeper of the Forbidden Inn
Master of the Dragon Vein
Transmigrator
Traits
Dragon's Contract
Skills
Inn Management
“Yes. That.”
As the window appeared, the dragon smiled as if she were proud of me.
… Judging by the circumstances, the titles Dragon’s Master and Master of the Dragon Vein, along with the trait Dragon’s Contract, had come from forming a contract with the dragon. Transmigrator was the title I’d gained by coming to this world…
“Innkeeper… don’t tell me this inn is my ability?”
“Most likely. While you’re inside this inn, Master, your mana recovers remarkably quickly.”
Thanks to that, she had expected to spend several years nursing me back to health — yet I had woken after only a few hours.
“… A few hours?”
“Yes.”
“It’s only been a few hours since I contracted with you and passed out?”
“In this case, you should say you only passed out for a few hours. Even a great mage would struggle to muster enough mana to fully restore a dying dragon, you know?”
Was that so? I didn’t know the first thing about mana, so if a dragon said it, it was probably true.
Which left one last thing that bothered me…
“Why is the name field blank?”
“Do you remember your name?”
“Well….”
I started to say it — and closed my mouth.
Ah. So it was that kind of pattern.
“Your name was erased during the transmigration process. That’s how it works for people from other worlds, apparently. If anything, it’s for the best.”
“For the best?”
For a moment I forgot she was a dragon and glared at her. I looked away soon enough, though. She didn’t hold it against me; she simply explained, step by step.
“I understand why you’re uneasy. But it really is a good thing. In this world, a name is something extremely important.”
For example, receiving a name from a god and evolving?
“In that sense, having your name erased is fortunate.”
“… Is that so?”
Her words seemed to declare that, with my name gone, returning to my original world was impossible… but all I could do was nod, as if I understood.