The Ending the Ring Revealed

The place Max brought me to was a building at the mouth of the upscale district. Guards watched the street right beside it in plain sight, and still the place did business under the name of a tavern.

"This is it. Nobles, and anyone else with money to burn, come through here all the time. That's why, on an evening like this, the food is something else entirely. The cover charge is a whole gold coin. Dear as that is, the gambling inside goes beyond anything you could imagine. At noon it's a colosseum; at night, a gambling den. Word has it the Second Prince shows his face here often..."

I stepped inside with Max, and a lavish tavern opened around me. The antique design looked expensive to anyone with eyes — clearly the work of someone who knew how to spend.

I jerked my chin. Max went to the bartender, said something, and came back.

"Er, Lady Croa. They say the membership fee is five gold coins...."

Without a word, I made a show of rummaging through my clothes and opened my Sub-space. I closed a fist around a handful of gold and held it out to him.

"Get that changed, and bring a pouch to hold the coins. Don't even think about skimming."

I let a little of my presence show as I looked at him. He flinched and nodded.

Every coin I carried was an antique from two hundred years ago, and perhaps because of that, there was far more gold than I had expected. Max returned with four pouches of it, and I flicked a single coin back to him.

"Just listen to me, and don't make yourself a nuisance. Then how pleasant would that be? Don't you think?"

"Aigoo, of course. Lady Croa is always right. Shall I also look into finding a servant to help with the household?"

"One word and you catch on. Gather people to manage my house, and find a cook while you're at it. I'll be amusing myself here, so if something comes up, say so. Don't come fetching me over every little thing."

"Of course. I'll have a word with the waiter. Follow the guide, look around a little, and enjoy yourself."

Money made everything easy. I had taken him for a stiff ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sort, a man who had rolled through the back alleys, but he fell in line more smoothly than I had expected. So this is the power of money.

I handed Max an entire pouch of gold. If it ran out, I could always make magical goods to sell, or peel off a scale and sell that. This was a test of sorts — to see just how far he could be trusted.

When his talk with the waiter ended, Max bowed and left the tavern. One of the patrons who had been sitting rose, lowered his head to me, and greeted me.

"Welcome. I will guide you."

"Fine. Good."

Strangers, a strange place, and still my heart was at ease. Because I was strong? Because I had money? Perhaps both. The personality I had thought timid had, it seemed, only been a lack of confidence.

The guide led me into a splendid room. It held nothing but a single table and two chairs, and a moment later it let out a shuddering sound as the whole chamber began to vibrate, as if it were moving.

"We sincerely welcome you to the Secret Garden. This is a private room that travels underground — an elevator, if you will. A mana stone moves the entire chamber. And here is a mask. A robe like yours should pose no trouble, but for guests who find it uncomfortable to keep the hood raised, we provide masks."

Absurd. An elevator.

The mask he offered me wore the face of a sheep. Goat horns and a sheep's mask — they would suit each other well.

"Turn around. Until I say I'm done."

The guide turned. It was my face, and far too precious to show anyone else. Later, alone at home before a mirror, I was certain I would smile in satisfaction. I hated to hide it, but I put the mask on and drew the hood back. A light stir of mana shaped a mirror, and the mask and the horns suited each other remarkably well.

"Turn back."

A beautiful voice spilled out. With the hood's perception-disrupting magic gone, my true voice came through. Whether the awe was genuine or not, the guide let out a brief gasp, then cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Khrm. My apologies. Your voice is extraordinary — the most beautiful sound I have heard in all my life. And the horns as well, truly.... I have never seen a curve so lovely."

I wanted to tell him I had customized it myself. Pride that my character was being praised tangled with the uncanny sense that the one being praised was me, and I felt the need to change the subject.

"Spare me the useless talk. When do we arrive?"

He caught my mood and bowed his head.

"It should take about one minute more. They say the dwarves built it very deep underground, on a noble's commission. It was meant as a place to hide in secret from any enemy's intrusion, but a descendant of that house turned it into a splendid garden."

The guide recited the history of the Secret Garden lightly. He must have given the same account often to first-time visitors; brief as it was, it drew me in more than I had expected.

A short while later the room stopped, and the door opened on its own. Beyond it lay a vast fountain and crowds of people moving about with bright, lively energy. Many wore the horns of beastfolk; others had the ears of elves. They shared one thing: every one of them was dressed in splendid cloth and jewels. A few wore robes as well, but the rings on their fingers advertised their wealth, and laughter never ceased at tables that looked ruinously expensive.

Seeing everyone else walking about like that, I slipped a hand into my clothes, pretended to search a pocket, and drew a ring from the Sub-space to put it on. By the game's setting, it was the Sacred Relic of the Nameless God — a name that no longer held. Equip it there, and every skill, every cooldown, every measure of speed more than doubled. A dragon's knowledge had taught me its true name.

Even so, a blue gem the god of time himself had made was set in a band of gold, and it looked undeniably fine. The moment I slipped it on, the world changed.

I was in clothes that clung to every line of me, a leg hooked around a pole as I spun, around and around.

Where the pole met my lower body, the impact came with a lewd sensation, and a moan slipped from my mouth. I danced on the pole, and the pole grew wet with sticky fluid.

"Take it off! Take it off!"

"Hurry up and strip, you stupid bitch!"

"You'd die of pleasure if it went in! Don't pull off — strip!"

I didn't get angry at their words. I only thrust my hips out, lewd and eager, and swayed them from side to side. I was happy. The cruder their talk became, the more my cunt burned like mad. My lower belly sank a little, a buoyant heat rising with it, and I opened my mouth to speak to them.

And what I saw was the same world as before. The sound of the great fountain throwing water brought me back to myself. The guide had said nothing. The ring had shown me the future.

But that can't be. Me, hearing men say things like that...

"Huh?"

"Is something the matter?"

"N-no. It's nothing."

I was wet between my legs. I knew it the instant I started walking after the guide — not a slow seep, but all at once, just as I had felt in the vision. The ring was supposed to work only on humans. So what had I, a dragon, just seen?

I walked without letting it show. Around me, more than one beastfolk voice rose in admiration of my horns.

"This is where the card games are held..."

While I followed the guide, countless visions came. They showed me nothing but men. I fawned on a wealthy man and gave him my body, or became a whore and sold myself, then carried the money back to a man. They were always looking down at me, and I was always flattened beneath them. The problem was that, doing it, I was far too happy — proud of myself, even.

Disgusted, I tried to pull the ring off. It wouldn't come. It had been a mistake to put it on so carelessly, certain a sacred relic made for humans would have no hold on me. I still felt the rift between flesh and soul, and because my soul was human, the relic seemed to have chosen me completely. Worse, a dragon's body is one with the soul, so each time the feeling came, the pleasure lingered and tormented me without end.

"...And that concludes the explanation. Are you all right?"

I had been stopping often as we walked, so he was asking.

"The explanation's finished, then?"

"Yes. I hope you have a pleasant time. Should you wish to ask anything, go to someone who isn't wearing a mask. All of them are our staff."

I tossed the guide a gold coin, sat, and forced my body to settle. I stared at the ring and tried to think of a spell to release it, but putting to use knowledge I had never actually learned was no easy thing.

I had been sitting a long while when a group approached me. Three of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them — cat mask, lion mask, deer mask — came up without hesitation.

"Looking for something to enjoy? How about joining us?"

No visions rose from them. The deer mask was admiring my horns, and on his own head I could see horns that had grown very short and small.

"What are you playing?"

"Not only the horns — the voice is beautiful, too. A dice game. A simple trial of luck, without a shred of cheating or mind games. The stakes are rather high, though. Ten gold coins at a minimum, all at once."

I had thought money was no object, but the price was insane. Ten, as a minimum. Even so, the promise of a pure game of luck tempted me. A dragon's body tries to read everything about the other party in an instant, so mind games simply don't work.

They led me to a place where many people were already seated. Among them, only one showed me a vision: the dealer, wearing no mask, dropping dice into a golden cup and turning it. I had seen his face in the game, even in the illustrations. Silver hair, crimson eyes — a beautiful youth to anyone who looked. The protagonist's rival.

Ethan Mauter.

In the vision I was held in his arms. At his softly spoken command I took up a knife, and I was not the only one. All around us, countless people followed him with blind devotion. The instant he gestured, they began to kill one another. I stabbed the throat of the deer mask ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beside me. The body felt somewhat different from the one I had now, but it was strong, and it was fast. In the end, when I was the last one left, he spoke to me.

In a dazed haze I lifted the knife and drove it into my own heart. As my body cooled, a chill sensation called my mind back, and the vision vanished.

I looked at the seat beside me. There was the deer mask — the same one who had been going cold in the vision. Only then did I begin to understand.