The Dragon's Bargain
“I know you’re watching, so come out already.”
A thick, sweet citrus scent brushed past my nose the moment the words left my mouth.
Even with the eyes that let me see souls through Reaper, her form remained invisible. Yet I was certain Lee Se-rin was right here.
Knowing that, I pressed on.
“Shirogane is mine. I’ll handle Yashiro cleanly and hand it over afterward—how about we call it even with that?”
The three of them looked baffled by my sudden proposal. Then Shirogane Hanabi’s expression hardened as she glared into empty air.
…Impressive. She actually noticed.
Even I only realized Se-rin was present once that citrus perfume she currently favored drifted over. Hanabi had no idea about the scent, yet she still pinned down the woman’s existence—staring at empty space as if she could see her.
Looks like her power isn’t lacking. Her “eyes” are just sharp in a different direction from mine.
I’d ask her later how she managed it. First, the deal.
“Aww, I already half-devoured it, and now you’re trying to snatch it away? How shameless of you, my husband.”
With a soft thump, she was suddenly in front of me, plopping onto my thigh like it was the most natural chair in the world and nestling straight into my arms.
As if it were the most obvious thing, she peeled Shiz’s spirit arms from around my neck and wrapped her own there instead. The subtle force pressing her body flush against mine looked exactly like a child flaunting what belonged to her.
“Sniff… haaah, aah… It’s been so long… I love this smell so much…”
No—watching this, she was less a child and more a full-blown pervert. A severe case.
Completely ignoring the stunned stares around us, she buried her nose in my nape and started inhaling and exhaling like a madwoman. As her body gradually heated up, I scowled hard; everyone else’s reactions weren’t far behind.
The one funny part was Shirogane Hanabi darting over to cover Tohru’s eyes.
“…That’s enough. Seriously.”
“No way. Do you know how lonely I’ve been? The cruelest torture in the world is watching and being able to do nothing—did you know that? This is just fair payment for all the effort I put into sitting still and watching.”
Bullshit. The word nearly slipped out.
Effort, my ass. She dumped every job on her subordinates and even had the maids handle final approval on the documents that were supposedly her responsibility. Anyone listening would think she worked around the clock.
All she actually did was peep for twenty-four hours straight to feed her own pleasure. A pervert talking like that was pure comedy.
Fuck…
Of course, if I pushed her away while listing every point, she’d just cling harder, claiming she loved the long-awaited banter. Pointless.
Wasting energy would only tire me out, so I decided to leave her alone until she was satisfied. There was no medicine that worked on a pervert who got more excited the rougher I resisted.
From ancient times, the answer to attention-seekers was thorough indifference. Hoping the moment would end sooner, I simply closed my eyes.
“Snnniiiff… haaah. Charge complete.”
Smack!
She planted a final kiss on my cheek and pulled back a little. I scrubbed my face roughly, like wiping off something filthy.
Se-rin watched even that with affectionate eyes, but I knew the gaze wasn’t person-to-person—it was the look you give a pet.
“So, your answer?”
“I’d love to say no, of course!! But it looks fun, so I’ll go with OK!”
Her tone had turned oddly light and bright. I’d sensed a hint of it during the earlier clinginess, but the exchange just now confirmed it. In that brief span she’d switched personalities again.
Looks like she’d gotten bored of the “always-acting-like-an-adult-but-occasionally-spoiled-big-sister” role she’d been pushing.
Must be nice being so carefree.
Not that I ever wanted to copy her.
I was the type who couldn’t understand the act of mimicking someone else’s personality. More precisely, I’d become that type.
Ever since ending up like this, I couldn’t even immerse myself in dramas or movies easily. My everyday life was already nonstop sci-fi chaos—why bother hunting down fantasy?
Killing yourself to play someone else in the middle of that mess left you with nothing. I simply couldn’t grasp why anyone would do something so inefficient.
If money were on the line I might force a smile, but it wouldn’t fix my temper.
So whenever I looked back on the past, the cognitive dissonance about myself was ridiculous.
I thought and acted this way now, but the old me had been the textbook “reads-the-room” guy drawn straight out of a picture book.
I’d take the lead on annoying tasks myself, never use them as leverage for favors, and even keep it secret so no one knew who’d done it. I’d blend into conversations without edges, stay friendly enough with everyone, and fit in anywhere.
But underneath all that, I knew there were dozens, thousands, maybe more of the things I wanted to say, do, and have. Of course I knew—I was the one living it.
Every single day of swallowing words, killing them inside, and killing them again. Utterly miserable days.
Calling it “sociable” was generous. Looked at plainly, I was just a hopeless sucker. A sucker.
Worse, back then I’d believed doing those things was perfectly natural, and finishing them safely had genuinely made me proud.
The pure peak of self-satisfaction with zero reward.
Honestly, every time those memories surfaced I wanted to crack my past self’s skull open with a clean slap. If that didn’t wake him up, I’d keep beating him until it did.
I knew myself best. The old me had an instinct to look somewhere far away and dodge until the problem was right in front of his face.
But the current me was different. If necessary I’d step up first, but anything that didn’t benefit me got discarded without mercy. Once I learned that killing myself only made things harder for me, I started doing whatever the hell I felt like.
If I was going to get cursed either way, at least doing it my way and getting cursed felt less unfair. That was the logic.
People were nothing but walking contradictions and trash. They said lotuses bloomed in the mud, but there were far too few lotuses to fill the entire swamp.
And plenty of bastards choked the sprouts before they could even flower, leaving them to rot.
I had to build the place I lived with my own hands.
The old sentiment of clinging wherever and just getting through the moment, versus the present me who ignored the annoying stuff and pushed only my own agenda—the gap was so wide it made me recoil.
The direction of “just getting by” was the same; the process was completely different.
“…That’s what she says. What do you think, Acting Head?”
After a long silence, Shirogane Hanabi finally wore a bitter smile and shook her head. Even she seemed to realize there was no way out.
The moment Lee Se-rin appeared in person, the game was already over.
If Hanabi had wanted the initiative here, she should have jumped me the second she had a choice and forced a deal with my life as collateral.
That would’ve been a little scary, sure. In the end I’d counterattack or get badly burned by Se-rin and end up with even worse terms, but still.
In a way, she’d made the wisest choice.
She kept the basic structure intact and made sure no one in the union lost their jobs.
The only change was that I now sat above Shirogane—where Yashiro had once been the peak. And since I planned to throw my personal requests around freely, the old leisurely pace was gone for good.
I wasn’t the type to waste manpower. If efficiency showed, I worked them hard; once I’d extracted enough, I left them alone and added support until they could produce even higher efficiency.
After that it was infinite repetition. If the carrot-and-stick cycle stopped working, you checked whether the stick was dull or the carrots were short.
Ah, of course the surface president wouldn’t change. Once everything was finished, the places under Yashiro would simply shift under the Dragonia Group.
I’d said I was taking it, but Se-rin had already done the groundwork as major shareholder. Still, the real power would be in my hands.
She’d declared it herself, so she wouldn’t flip her words later.
Once the structure’s solid, I can just dump the rest on Comet and that woman. They’ll run it fine.
As a Tuner, Comet suited a workshop full of metal dust far better than a blood-soaked battlefield.
Being a machine, she didn’t tire easily. With a self she couldn’t do infinite twenty-four-hour labor, but if we ground nanomachines and manpower into a clear structure first, even if Comet stepped away later the gap would be more than filled.
No—I’d make sure it turned out that way.
“The basic system won’t change much, but there’ll be extra support based on results beyond that. Work out the rest with that woman yourself.”
“…What should I call you now? Boss? Or Chairman?”
She accepted it so easily it felt unsettling. Didn’t she care about everything she’d built?
Or maybe she’d already half-given up.
That earlier answer about family being the most precious hadn’t been empty resignation—it had come from the heart.
She’d also figured that me taking over Shirogane was better than staying under Yashiro, which was why she was taking this stance.
For deciding the future of a company that always appeared when describing a nation, it was far too light and fast. This wasn’t roasting beans over lightning—was this even right?
Even if I grumbled, I didn’t think a mind once set would change, so I just ignored it. That was the answer.
“The chairman’s over there, not me. I’m going to be the figurehead president. A rotten, evil corporation that does nothing yet meddles like crazy in internal affairs—better brace yourself.”
“Ufufu… You joke well. With a benefactor like you above us, any failure would be the subordinates’ fault. So I’ll have to work myself to the bone. Once my husband recovers, I’ll dive straight into work.”
Her words carried absolute trust that I would definitely save her husband, Shirogane Ichiro. No—she was proceeding on the premise that I would save him, which was pretty funny.
Even with reverence for Lee Se-rin underneath, I still couldn’t understand what about me she was betting on.
“…Enough. Just enough.”
Unable to read her thoughts, I waved a hand dismissively. When I turned my head to shake off Hanabi’s gaze, Se-rin naturally grabbed my face and twisted it back the other way.
“…I’m jealous. Do you like that woman that much? I’m right here—why only look at other women? Do you prefer married ones? Is this an affair? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?”
So this time it was the clingy personality.
This was probably closest to her true nature. Of course right now it was still “acting,” so she wore the expression of a lovely lover throwing a tantrum.
Annoying and bothersome either way. If I had to choose, the current version that snickered inside while testing me was worse.
This kind of fake probing only dirtied my mood.
Thud.
“Mmph…”
“You’re noisy, so shut up.”
I grabbed her face and shoved. She let herself be pushed back with a half-hearted show of resistance. The fact that a woman who normally licked my palm and teased me instead of budging was obediently complying proved she was conscious of other eyes.
“…You’re quite different from the impression I’d heard.”
While I worked the stiffness out of my forcibly twisted neck, Hanabi’s voice came from the side. Looking over, I saw Rui and Tohru nodding vigorously in agreement.
Especially Rui—she was glaring so hard with mana in her eyes I half-expected lasers to shoot out.
Guess the current scene looked pretty bizarre. I thought so too.
On the official stage this woman always showed the cold, sharp, perfect career-woman face.
If you searched, you’d probably find a fair number of followers who trailed after her even without her lifting a finger.
Having fan clubs when she wasn’t even a celebrity was a bit funny, but with that face she’d outshine any idol standing next to her.
It was the appearance I considered most ideal, so maybe that was natural.
“Not quite on our level, but I’m glad you’ll clearly become a very loving couple.”
The words sounded lonely and cold, with a hidden barb that basically said I want to flirty-couple too, so hurry up and save my husband.
“…Hmm~ I can’t just let that slide. If you knew how hot things are between me and my husband, you wouldn’t say that.”
“Is that so…?”
See? Just like I’d felt earlier, she was carefully choosing words while trying to mount a subtle power play.
Was this what they called business acumen? Her skill at cleverly goading the other party to get what she wanted was no joke. No matter how you looked at it, she was a sly old snake of a woman.
“My husband and I do it every day… Wah!?”
Before Se-rin could run wild in another direction and spit out something weird, I grabbed her by the scruff and lifted.
Thanks to Battle King my height now pushed past 180 toward 190, so with more than forty centimeters of difference she dangled like a cat held by the nape when I hoisted her up.
“Aah…”
The one who let out a disappointed sigh at the sudden cut-off was Rui. Her expression looked exactly like someone who’d been about to hear something she shouldn’t and got interrupted mid-way.
Seeing the faint blush on her cheeks from whatever she’d imagined made my stomach turn. Seriously, the things people think of.
“No time.”
“…I’ll form a special unit right away.”
She called it a special unit, but the only ones who currently knew Ichiro’s condition and could serve as fighting power were members of the S-rank guild Hot Hammer.
“Tell them to gather outside. We’re going in one shot.”
With that I headed out. I remembered the entire path here, so there was no trouble.
The immediate goal was one thing only.
Free Shirogane Ichiro’s soul, which was being held by something on the front lines. That alone would send the soul back along the connected path into his body.
Next, strike first before Yashiro noticed the anomaly and tried something.
There was far too much defense to set up beforehand. I had to prepare for possible ambushes and also consider them trying a last-ditch self-destruct.
Maybe it was just my prejudice, but the image of “Japan = self-destruct when things go wrong” stuck with me. Since they were a family half-steeped in assassination, they might have poison capsules in their molars or something.
In this insane world where almost anything healed as long as you didn’t die, they might use poisons that melted or rotted the contact point on touch. That was why self-destruct came to mind.
If the body was blown to pieces, recovery took longer, and past a certain point even skilled people died faster than they healed.
Conversely, they might wait for the right moment, drag the gathered people along as company, and detonate bombs planted in their bodies.
I was assuming the absolute worst. The enemy was assassins. I had no idea what dirty methods they’d use, so I’d set up matching dirty defenses.
It was going to be mine soon anyway—wouldn’t a little remodeling be fine?
“Hey.”
“I’ve already bought up everything from the surrounding land to the buildings. There’s nothing in this area that doesn’t belong to Dragonia.”
Se-rin answered with a smile, having perfectly read my mind.
The smug curl of her lips as she looked at me was so cute my hand rose on its own. Since I couldn’t just bite her to death, I settled for smacking her on the head.
Whack!
The smile vanished; Se-rin pouted and grumbled.
“…Your passionate expressions of love are nice, husband, but sometimes I’d like gentle praise.”
“It doesn’t even hurt you.”
“Have you ever heard of emotional wounds?”
What the hell did that have to do with me? You were the one who said even those wounds were fine as long as it was fun.
I didn’t bother hiding the thought, and Se-rin half-lidded her eyes, pouted harder, and sighed.
“At least carry me bridal-style instead of like luggage.”
With that she twisted free of my hand with weird movements, leaped into the air, and latched onto my neck.
Of course I didn’t oblige.
“…”
Annoyed, she puffed her cheeks full of air and thrashed around with my neck as the center. She was acting worse than a little kid. This personality was seriously the worst.
My neck started to hurt, so I pretended to give her the bridal carry and then tossed her aside.
“You bastard!”
Thud!
She kicked my shin in revenge, and my body spun through the air like I’d been hit by a truck. Thanks to Battle King I regained balance mid-air and stretched my shadow like a hand to land safely. In that short time cold sweat poured down like crazy. Getting more tense than actual combat? Insane…
“…Uh, um… Are you okay?”
The place I’d landed happened to be right where the Shirogane siblings had just come out.
“…No.”
I spat out a rough sound and staggered to my feet. My leg throbbed. Not just hurt—it hurt like hell.
The pain that dragged curses out of me was worse than having my soul clawed at while fully conscious.
And beyond that, it was mortifying. Please, I begged, just all of you disappear.
I couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of trick turned a simple attack into this. At my current knowledge and level, reproducing it—hell, even countering it—was impossible.
Rui and Tohru, who’d instantly sharpened their senses thinking someone had attacked me, broke into cold sweat the moment they realized the culprit was Se-rin.
Clack!
Once again reminded of the absurdity I still couldn’t reach, I looked at Se-rin standing in front of me. She puffed her cheeks full of air, made a “I’m mad” face, and still held out her hands toward me.
It felt exactly like she was giving me one last chance.
“…Fucking hell.”
Since I’d need her power to ride Kallion and fly anyway, I obediently took her into my arms.
“Ehehe.”
The cheap little laugh whispering by my ear felt like she was flaunting that she was the final winner. For the first time in a while, murderous intent toward a god surged up hard.
…What a goddamn world.