Homeward
Frach had grown even stronger after absorbing the magic swords.
On top of her existing abilities, she could now wield Blood Magic as well.
Blood Magic was exactly what it sounded like—the power to freely manipulate blood.
It had once been the unique magic of the Vampire Lord Labandre del Brund, the man who had once been called the Crimson Lord and struck terror across the land.
Which meant a magic sword could now reproduce the power of a Vampire Lord.
As Frach grew stronger, I, her contractor, was naturally rising into the ranks of the inhuman myself.
This opens up a lot of options.
[…….]
You've been awfully quiet. Aren't you happy you got stronger as a weapon?
[I am glad. Glad, yes—but this is not the power I desired!]
You said you wanted Polymorph, right? You want to turn into a human that badly?
[Indeed. A scabbard is not uncomfortable, yet this body wishes to look upon the world from the same eye level as my Contractor!]
I could just walk around with Frach drawn from her scabbard, of course.
But there was no way I could casually stroll about carrying a sinister jet-black blade etched with blood-red runes.
Inside a village, the guards would grab me by the shoulder and drag me off without a second thought.
If I wanted to grant Frach's wish without trouble, I needed the Polymorph ability.
This was our first wild magic sword. You can't expect to be full after the first spoonful. Wait long enough and we'll run into another one eventually.
[Ugh! Telling me to wait until then is far too cruel!]
Sorry, but if I want to put the Compassionate Light Dragon's mind at ease, I have to take Rene back to the nest.
The point of this journey was never to hunt magic swords. It was to go home.
Even if I generously conceded the point, I could abandon the hometown trip and go looking for magic swords right now without any real problem.
Rene's situation was different. The Compassionate Light Dragon might already be fretting herself sick; I had to get her daughter home.
So no matter how much Frach threw a tantrum, the magic-sword adventure would have to wait.
For now, just be happy with Blood Magic, okay?
[Understood…….]
Frach's reluctant acceptance drew a wry smile from me.
Had she really wanted to become human that badly?
As a consolation prize, I decided I would at least get her a new scabbard once we reached the next town.
"By the way, what do you plan to do now?"
"Right. Waiting in the forest until Rene returns to her original form wouldn't be a bad idea, but……."
Flying all the way to my hometown while Rene was still in dragon form wasn't a terrible option either.
We were already drawing close to the Light Dragon's territory; even if a dragon appeared in the sky, no one would be too shocked.
With Lin and Rewen already with us, there was no reason to delay any longer.
"Let's fly straight to Briant. Everyone okay with that?"
"I'm fine with it!"
"I will follow my master's decision."
"Before that—Rene, you'll have to fly again. You up for it?"
"No problem at all. I rested plenty while you were gone, Bern!"
"Great. Then let's go."
Rene crouched low against the ground.
I vaulted up onto her back in one leap.
Lin followed right after, carrying Rewen, and the whole party was aboard.
"We've got Rewen with us, so fly safe, all right?"
"Don't worry!"
With that bright reply, Rene began to beat her wings.
Unlike before, she moved them slowly and carefully as she rose into the sky.
Then she set course for the northern snowy mountains beyond the horizon.
Bern's hometown—Briant.
I was curious what the village that had given birth to my favorite character would look like.
Briant sat at the foot of the largest snowy mountain range.
Unlike the distinctive cities of Front or Lebron, it was an utterly ordinary farming village.
The irony was that its main crop was coconuts—hardly ordinary at all.
How palm trees managed to grow when icy winds blew down from the snowy peaks was anyone's guess.
Seeing a novel setting become reality left me a little speechless.
"Long flight. You did well."
"This much is nothing!"
The distance from Lebron to Briant was considerable.
Reaching the intermediate village alone would have required two or three days of camping, and from there to Briant another three or four days.
Thanks to Rene, we had skipped every last step of that process.
"We'll wait here until Rene's dragon form wears off, then head in."
A dragon suddenly landing in the middle of a village would cause chaos.
We touched down at some ruins a fair distance from Briant and settled in to wait.
I sat on a nearby pile of rubble and started a conversation.
"Come to think of it, Rene—there's something I've always been curious about. Mind telling me now?"
"What is it?"
"What happened when you were kidnapped. The first time we met, it felt too sensitive to press, but you can talk about it now, right?"
I already knew demons had put humans up to it.
But judging by the power Rene had shown me so far, she was nowhere near the level that ordinary humans could abduct.
Yet she had been captured helplessly, and even had her horn broken.
They must have used some special method.
I wanted every scrap of information I could get for the day I eventually fought the demons. Better to prepare in advance.
"I can't explain it in detail either. It happened in an instant. But I'll tell you everything I saw and felt."
In the heavy atmosphere, Rene closed her eyes.
Then she opened her mouth and began.
"It happened about three days after Mother left. I had been hunting in the forest like always and returned to the nest."
She had been lighting a fire to roast a wild boar when she sensed an unfamiliar presence.
"People sometimes came to offer tribute to Mother, so I didn't act right away—I just stayed on guard. I told them Mother wasn't home and to come back later."
"But their real target was you."
"Yes. Even when I told them to leave, they just smirked and looked suspicious. I was about to force them out more firmly when—"
From behind the scattered group, a figure in a robe had manifested a violet magic circle.
Rene, suddenly on edge, had charged straight at the mage, but the others had blocked her completely.
The moment the spell finished, she was hit by dizziness and weakness so strong her body swayed.
Then pitch-black chains wrapped around her, and her own shadow swallowed her whole.
"It felt like being trapped inside a monster's belly. I thrashed with everything I had, but when I opened my eyes again, a curse was on my wings and a chain with a nullification seal was around my neck."
"I see."
One name immediately came to mind after hearing Rene's story.
The man who had betrayed humanity and entered the Demon King's service—Nameless.
True to the name, he was a mage who had erased even his own name and identity.
Even in Monopolizing the Strongest in the Academy, he never got much spotlight.
All that was known was that he had been betrayed by the person he loved, expelled from the Magic Tower, and fallen into darkness.
The only mage in the world who could use the shadow attribute, right?
The ability was rare enough that Rene's account had instantly brought Nameless to mind.
A Demon King Army executive who would later die by Bern's hand in the original story.
I had already shattered the fundamental plot, so I had no idea how things would go between me and Nameless from here.
We might never meet at all.
Still, as an enemy tied to Bern, I had a strong feeling a fight was inevitable.
"I heard you out. And I'm sorry for dredging up a memory that wasn't pleasant."
"It's all right. As terrible as the experience was, it became the reason I could meet you like this, Bern. That's enough for me!"
Rene had already returned to human form.
She hopped over like a rabbit and gently leaned against my left shoulder.
"Hehe…!"
The coquettish little laugh and bright smile came free of charge.
Not to be outdone, Lin plastered herself against my empty right arm.
Lips slightly pouted in clear dissatisfaction, she whispered quietly.
"Master, this is sudden, but I request a reward for bringing you the magic sword."
"Something specific you want?"
"I would like permission to cling to you like this for the rest of the day."
"Uh… is that really enough?"
"Of course."
I now had flowers on both arms.
Watching us, Rewen smiled meaningfully and kept wiggling his eyebrows.
He looked ready to clear out and give us some private time.
Even so, outdoor play still felt a bit early, so I stood up.
"Rene's back to normal, so let's head into Briant."
More importantly, I inevitably had to introduce Lin and Rene to my parents.
I could hardly bring them home reeking of night flowers and looking thoroughly mussed.
I needed them neat and clean so they would make a good impression and my parents would accept them more easily.
With that thought, the moment we reached Briant I strode straight to the Khulam house, threw open the door, and announced myself with full confidence.
"Father, Mother. Your son, Bern Khulam, has returned!"
Crash—! Thud—!
What greeted me was not my parents' welcome, but a racket from the upper floor.
Sounds of stumbling and colliding echoed down.
After a brief silence, hurried footsteps came racing downstairs.
"Ahem…!"
"W-welcome home!"
Disheveled clothes, flushed red faces, ragged breathing, and the scent of sweat brushing past my nose.
The decisive kiss mark on my father's neck told me everything I needed to know.
I carefully backed away the way I had come.
"I'll come back in two hours."
"“B-Bern?!”"
I couldn't interrupt the sibling-creation ritual.
I decided to give the two of them their character-customization time.