A Mage's Desperate Cry
Poor little sister. Only you are allowed to turn the ducal residence upside down with every kind of tantrum. It is something only you can do in this entire world.
He sat up abruptly and spoke.
“A grand duke’s heir is a grand duke’s heir no matter where he is.”
“Lord Morris…?”
“Neither I nor the servants below can gossip about him. Keep that in mind.”
Morris left without even brushing the fallen leaves from his back. Dot stared after him with her mouth agape, then bit her lower lip until it bled.
What a coward! It is his own fault he could not become a knight because of his incompetence, yet he runs away just because a little idle talk might turn into gossip?
‘In any case…! That man is worth less than a withered leaf. Fine, just as you said, a grand duke’s heir is a grand duke’s heir. Once I reclaim my place as the beloved daughter of the duke…’
Human relationships no longer bent to her will as they once had, and her irritation flared.
‘You useless, troublesome second son will soon be cast aside. When that time comes, it will be too late to regret not becoming a knight!’
Though Dot harbored resentment, she tried to treat Morris kindly on the surface. With the grand duke’s heir growing increasingly difficult to meet, she had no reason to turn on him as well.
It was a season in which those who had once walked the same path as her were gradually drifting away and beginning to harbor different thoughts.
With Lucius’s help, Pay arrived once more at the highland from before.
“It is quiet here again today…”
“Dispel.”
“Whoa!”
Whoosh!
The moment Lucius cast the dispelling spell, an enormous change occurred. A tremendous wind whipped around them, loud enough to make their ears ring. Lucius, who had once again deployed a Windy Shield, scolded her.
“Pay, do you have no learning ability at all? When you reach a high elevation, your body is prone to change, so using stabilizing magic is basic.”
“Y-you are right.”
Pay pressed a hand to her startled chest.
How strange. She could maintain Morgana’s calm demeanor in front of others, yet it never worked with Lucius.
“If you have come to your senses, try riding Momo by yourself.”
“Yes!”
Lucius had told her to ride alone, yet when Pay showed no fear or reluctance and simply climbed on, he felt oddly flustered.
‘What kind of person is this fearless?’
Though he had told her to ride alone, worry made him ask again.
“Will you be all right?”
“Yes. Moitetta Banus, um… Shall we try walking slowly down there first?”
Nod, nod.
When Pay called Momo by his true name and spoke to him gently, the drakan happily bobbed his head up and down. The spot where Pay sat swayed along with the motion.
“Heehee.”
“Behave yourself! If you drop Pay from your back, you will see what happens.”
The drakan honestly wanted to rebel against the dragon who was noisier than a duck.
How many years had it been since he was forcibly made a subordinate?
Thanks to the comfortable years spent eating the feed provided by the Magic Tower’s breeding facility and the kind treatment Pay had given him, his rebellious spirit had grown steadily.
Moreover, the master displayed an astonishingly humble attitude in front of Pay.
Now that things had come to this, should he carry Pay far away on his back? To the edge of the Tiser Continent? Or to a quiet island beyond the sea?
‘How dare this creature—’
Yet the drakan’s treacherous impulse was immediately sensed by Lucius, as was natural for a dragon.
Since the drakan was a subspecies of dragon, there was no helping it. It was not magic, but instinct. What could be done?
Enraged, Lucius flew over with flight magic and kicked the drakan’s side without mercy.
Even in human form, a dragon was still a dragon.
Bang!
When the drakan, returned to his true form, staggered from the impact, a startled Pay scolded Lucius.
“Lord Lucius, that is too much. You told him not to drop me, yet how could you torment our Momo like that?”
“What?”
“That is enough. Our Moitetta Banus, are you all right?”
“Kueee!”
The drakan’s somewhat pitiful exaggeration echoed loudly across the highland grass. Pay reached out with a gloved hand and gently stroked his smooth back to soothe him.
“There, there. You must feel very wronged. Will you walk slowly up there for me? You were hurt today, so I will not ask you to fly high. First, turn left… Yes! Well done.”
As he listened quietly, Pay’s stream of praise poured out endlessly.
“And go around that tree without touching it, then head down below. That is right, that is right! As expected of our Momo.”
“……”
Lucius was so dumbfounded that his mouth fell open.
Pay, you are a drakan rider! Yet instead of thinking about soaring into the sky with him, you are treating that creature like a baby or a puppy?
There was no need to teach walking to Momo, the oldest drakan among them!
Still, he could not bring himself to say what he was thinking.
Momo, being a seasoned old drakan, would enjoy the situation, but Pay was a patient among patients who could not even ride a horse alone.
Though being unable to ride a horse did not make one a patient, that was how Lucius saw it.
Yes… Well, do whatever you want to your heart’s content.
‘Damn it. I wanted to turn her into a 9th-circle mage quickly so we could duel, but this is clumsy and that is immature. Why are humans such fragile creatures?’
Regardless of what Lucius thought, Pay was busy handling Momo in her own way.
After practicing her own version of “drakan agility” on the highland, she had gained considerable confidence. Next time she had the chance, she thought she could slowly practice kicking off and taking flight from lower ground.
After enduring nearly three hours on Momo’s back, she expressed her gratitude with flushed cheeks.
“Thank you, Lucius!”
“For what.”
“The Momo you lent me is truly a gentle and obedient drakan. He hardly causes any trouble! I looked it up in a book, and most drakans have terrible personalities.”
Lucius’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
“What did the book say?”
“Well, they are extremely greedy and will cause an uproar trying to betray their master at the slightest opportunity. If locked in a cage, they supposedly ram the ceiling with their heads to escape.”
“Ah… I see. Betrayal, you say. That sounds serious.”
“That is why in the ancient empire, they used to bind drakans with mana chains.”
“Truly terrifying. It would be troublesome if a mere drakan dreamed of escaping and rammed through the Magic Tower’s ceiling with its head, would it not?”
“Of course.”
Thud, thud.
Every time the dragon spoke, his sturdy palm struck the drakan’s shoulder blade—still in his true form and not yet returned to a fluffy chick—with each word.
To Pay’s eyes it looked like mere patting, but because mana was secretly infused, Momo was in agony.
Honestly, the mana chains used in ancient times seemed more humane than Lucius’s dreadful threats!
“Kueeeek! (I will not betray you!)”
“Hm? Somehow I cannot understand what Momo is saying.”
When Momo shouted so that only his original master, Lucius, could understand, Pay tilted her head.
“You must be tired from practicing too much. You will probably be fine after a good night’s sleep.”
Lucius spoke with a wicked smile.
“Probably. I am not worried.”
“Shall we head back soon? And unlike other drakans, Momo is safe. There is no way he would betray you and run away or anything like that.”
Pay looked at him with trusting eyes.
“Because Momo is kind?”
“Rather than kind… Even a drakan who cannot speak has at least a minimum level of intelligence. He knows he has to read the room if he wants to survive. The biggest reason is that I am his original master.”
Lucius smiled brightly with only the corners of his mouth while his eyes remained cold as he looked at Momo.
The one suffering in the middle was the drakan who had become the topic of conversation.
“Kueee… Kueeeek… (Please… just answer that you understand…)”
“Yes!”
“Kueee…! (Master!)”
“Hey, return to your original form.”
‘Original form! This is my original form!’
The drakan shed bloody tears inwardly, but had no choice but to revert to his fluffy chick form and nestle into Pay’s arms.
Now that Lucius had broken the seal and been partially revived, the only sanctuary for this human’s master would be the warm embrace of his female owner.
Lucius and the short training session with Momo had eased some of the tension Pay felt ahead of her request.
Her water magic was already exceeding the 6th circle—an insane speed. However, her other elemental magic was not progressing as well.
At least the second strongest was earth, followed by wind, with fire being the weakest.
‘Hmm… Will this work?’
The harvest festival season hosted by the imperial palace was slowly approaching.
According to the crown prince’s request, she had to cause an explosion using fire magic without being noticed. Would that even be possible?
She could naturally use the 1st-circle Fire Arrow, but since it flew from the caster’s hand, it was easy to be detected and would lead to disqualification.
The 3rd-circle Flare Burst was perfect for designating the explosion point… but Pay still struggled to even cast 2nd-circle fire magic.
‘What should I do?’
She only needed to attach fire to the explosives the crown prince had prepared, yet that was not easy.
As long as no one saw her, it would be fine, and since the crown prince’s side would conduct the investigation, any traces of magic could be erased by them.
But she could not boldly use a Fire Arrow that flew from her hand and declare, “Here, I am the culprit. Please arrest me.”
While Pay was lost in thought, Lucius handed her a scroll one day.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
“Oh… This is?”
What Lucius handed her was a perfectly completed Fire Explosion scroll containing a 7th-circle spell.
The ability to cast 7th-circle magic and the ability to inscribe 7th-circle magic onto a scroll were worlds apart. Moreover, this was a high-quality item that would cleanly dissolve and disappear after use.
It was no exaggeration to say it was perfectly tailored for Pay’s request.
Lucius, feeling proud, wore what he believed was the most dashing smile in the world.
‘Hah, at this point she should finally realize what kind of existence I am. She may not know other things, but she reads books diligently. The ability to create scrolls! That is something only high-ranking mages among mages can do. Yes, exactly.’
Pay’s mouth fell open as she recognized the scroll as genuine.
“Goodness… Lucius!”
“Hm.”
Just as the dragon was puffing up with pride, an absurd remark reached his ears.
“As expected, Lucius is amazing. You must be acquainted with a mage capable of creating such an item? I am truly moved!”
“…What?”
Lucius was mortified, yet from Pay’s perspective it was only natural.
‘She cannot even imagine that I made this!’
He had entered the Magic Tower as a 7th-circle mage, and to inscribe 7th-circle magic onto a scroll, one needed at least 8th-circle or higher.
That was common sense in the world of magic.
Officially, Lucius was a 7th-circle master.
Naturally, Pay could never dream that he had created it.
‘Damn it. Why is Pay so slow to catch on? By now she should have realized. Just as she said, subjugating that violent drakan and making others obey—that is something only a dragon, a race far superior to anyone in this world, can do!’