The sharp tip of the dagger split the skin and pushed slowly through my palm.
"Hssss…"
It had been a while since I'd held a grip like this; the feel of it was unfamiliar.
A dull ache spread from where Nidhogg's Fang had punched cleanly through, but I didn't hesitate and shoved it in a little deeper.
I was testing the toxicity of my newly acquired authority, Dragon Blood.
Dragon Blood meant my blood now carried Minerva's lethal venom in full.
Minerva had once told me Nidhogg's venom was fairly potent in its own right, but that nothing compared to hers.
…And yet that same venom had worked even on a Seven Calamity like her.
[! Nidhogg's Fang has gained a new power! ]
"This actually works…?"
I'd barely finished muttering in a dazed voice when someone cleared their throat—ahem, ahem.
When I looked down at my feet, something rose out of the shadow with a soft whoosh.
It was Minerva.
Halfway out of the shadow, she leaned naturally against my knee with her arms folded.
Even watching it happen, I couldn't help flinching the moment her body touched mine.
"See? Aren't you glad you listened to me, my dear?"
She rested both crossed arms just above my knee, then tilted her head sideways to lay it on them and gave me a wide grin.
"That's enough now—you can pull it out. Watching a blade pierce your body makes my heart ache."
She nuzzled her arm once as she spoke.
"And will or no will on its part… seeing that thing pressed closer to your body than me makes me jealous."
I pulled Nidhogg's Fang out at her words.
She immediately reached out, grabbed the wrist of my wounded hand, and pulled it toward her.
I watched her in silence, wondering what she was up to.
"…"
"See? Already healed."
Sure enough, the hole that had gone clean through my palm had already sealed up.
She tapped the spot over my heart. "Proof your heart is pumping dragon's blood without pause. Healing of this level is laughable to dragons like us."
She wiped my blood off with her finger and licked it clean with a giggle.
"It's got a sharp little kick to it."
"…"
I stared at her for a long moment, then slowly raised my hand.
I flicked her on the forehead, hard enough to make a sharp snap.
"Ack?!"
Minerva let out a startled noise and rubbed her forehead.
"Wh-what was that for, my dear?"
"Punishment for ditching me and running off alone yesterday."
She sat there looking innocent and amused, like she had no idea what I was talking about, and I couldn't help responding in a sullen voice.
…Yesterday had genuinely been a no-win situation.
Cornered by all five of them and grilled about what else I was hiding and what on earth "the soul's karma" was supposed to mean, there was no way I could give a proper answer.
To do that, I'd have had to explain karma—a concept unknown in this world—and in the process they might catch on that this world is actually a game.
There was no way I could say it.
…So I'd tried to vaguely steer the conversation toward something like "anyone who kills a Seven Calamity gets hit with a massive curse, those caught by it can't escape death, but I can avoid it." Not a chance.
The kids pressed me relentlessly, and with Jin Ye-seul able to tell truth from lie, I had to sweat through every answer.
At one point, Sbeungali cackled that this was what I got and told me to swallow it like medicine—so for the first time in a while, I crushed his presence until he screamed.
…In the end, Lee Ye-eun, her face cold, looked steadily at me and said, "Ji-hyeok must be exhausted right now, so let's pick a proper day and have this conversation later," and everyone else agreed.
Maybe that's why—even though the kids had originally been planning to head straight back to the Academy, they were still staying with me in World Tree territory today.
"Haaah…"
Worry about what was coming pulled a deep sigh out of me before I knew it.
That was when I heard Minerva take a small, sharp breath.
She'd been resting against me with her arms folded, but now she carefully gripped my knees and looked up at me with an anxious expression.
"Wh-what are you saying…? When did I ever—no… how could I ever abandon you and run off alone? Even from you, how could you say something like that to me…"
"…huh?"
I was momentarily thrown by how much more downcast she looked than I'd expected.
Her eyes were trembling as she looked at me.
Her reaction was so completely unexpected that I blurted out an excuse before I could stop myself.
"Oh—no. No, I'm sorry. Minerva, I was just teasing. I'm sorry."
At my words, Minerva stared at me with a blank look for a moment.
Then, as if she'd known it all along, she broke into a wide grin and burst out laughing.
"Wh-what—I nearly fell for it! Of course you'd never say something like that to me. Why on earth would I ever abandon you and leave on my own?"
Her hand clenched tightly around my collar, trembling ever so slightly.
I was wondering whether what I'd said really warranted that kind of shock when a faint murmur came from somewhere.
…Once is enough for that kind of experience.
I looked up reflexively at the whisper—but Minerva was the one tilting her head, looking puzzled.
"…Hm? Did you just say something, my dear?"
"Uh… no. I thought I heard something too, but I couldn't make it out."
"Hmm… ah, never mind."
Still muttering as if she found it odd, Minerva had at some point let go of my trousers.
Then, as though trying to paper over the awkwardness, she cleared her throat and looked at me.
"In my own defense, for the moment—I really had hit my mana limit back then. As you know, I'd been manifesting on my own mana alone for several days, and on top of that I'd poured more into you to wake you up."
I nodded at her words.
It wasn't just her—Han Su-yeong, Jin Ye-seul, Lee Ye-eun, Lee Yu-na, and even Choi Hyun-woo had wrung out every drop of their mana to pour into me. I remembered it clearly.
"Well… honestly, even if I'd still had mana, I think I would've made myself scarce."
"Hm?"
"Your companions aren't exactly fond of me, you see."
Minerva said it as though it were nothing.
"I've never been welcomed anywhere to begin with, so I had no expectations… honestly, the strange thing would be expecting that kind of treatment after we'd risked our lives fighting each other."
"Minerva."
"I don't need any pointless comfort, my dear."
Before I could say anything more, she stretched lazily and let out a soft snort of laughter.
"You alone are already more than enough. I'm afraid that if I try to fit anything else in beside you, I might end up losing even you."
"…"
The bluntness of her affection was almost too much to handle, and I shut my mouth in spite of myself.
I could feel the heat in my cheeks—no mirror needed to know my face had gone red.
Minerva watched me with quiet delight, chuckling, then spoke again in a leisurely tone.
"The conversation has wandered. So—my dear, if you don't mind, could you let me see that for a moment?"
"…Here."
I quietly handed her Nidhogg's Fang, and she took it, beginning to examine it with a sharp eye.
It wasn't long before she let out a sigh, as if to say, ah, that explains it.
"I see. I'd been wondering—Nidhogg's tooth or no, the wound it gave me was strange. Now it makes sense."
"What do you mean, Minerva?"
"My dear."
She gave Nidhogg's Fang a little wave.
"Did you happen to take Margo's and Sbeungali's lives with this?"
She was right.
I'd driven Nidhogg's Fang through Margo's tongue and deep into his mouth, and I'd used it as an arrowhead with Sbeungali, sinking it through the center of his head.
When I nodded, she pressed a finger to her lips and murmured.
"There are only two ways to deal a fatal wound to a Seven Calamity—strike their weak point, or attack with another Seven Calamity's power. And you've used this dagger to take two Seven Calamities' lives—and to deal me a fatal blow on top of that."
"Ah—don't tell me."
"Yes, exactly as you're thinking, my dear."
She passed Nidhogg's Fang back to me.
"Whether by chance or by fate… this dagger has soaked up three Seven Calamities' power, with this Minerva's venom on top of it. You could fairly call it an anti-Seven-Calamity weapon. Even an ordinary person could land a fatal blow on us with it."
She pressed it firmly into my hand, then glanced behind her.
"Hm."
With just that single sound, she silently melted back into the shadow.
The moment she was gone, a knock came at the door.
"Yes—it's open."
At my reply, whoever was outside said "excuse me" and opened the door.
I rose before she'd even fully entered and bowed politely, and she bowed back.
"I heard you'd been seriously injured, but you look better than I expected. That's a relief."
Evangelline Loengreen fidgeted with the hat she had on as she spoke.
"It's been a while."
The fact that I could turn into a dragon wasn't something we could shrug off.
So Han Su-yeong and the others had decided to keep it hidden, and to the Ten Powerhouses who'd come at my request, we'd told a lie—that I'd been gravely wounded and had left ahead for treatment.
Once things had settled down somewhat, I'd told them I'd come pay my respects and thank them properly, but Lee Myung-jun and Laura Hartmann had replied that they had urgent matters to attend to, and the thought was enough.
As for Evangelline Loengreen, sitting across from me now—she'd sent word early in the morning saying she couldn't very well drag a seriously wounded man around, so she'd come to me. And the moment afternoon rolled around, here she was.
"Just to check—you're not some kind of prophet, are you?"
Evangelline opened with a deliberately serious expression the moment she sat down.
"Why? Want me to read your fortune, Miss Evangelline?"
"Hmm. I don't think I can pay you, though. I'm broke these days."
She laughed and launched into an oddly grounded story about how she'd drained even her savings account to buy experimental materials.
And just like that, the two of us slipped into idle chatter.
"…Anyway, Ivan, was it? That kid's a real genius too. He's your friend, right?"
"Yeah, a really good friend."
"He's a good kid, I'll give him that. But honestly, I shrink a little every time I see him. He's so grown-up. And he's handsome, and his personality's good, and on top of that he's the head of a noble family! How is the world this unfair!"
I laughed and added, "Why? Want me to introduce you properly? Ivan honestly wouldn't be a step down anywhere. Like you said, he's seriously handsome."
"You trying to get me arrested? One future criminal is enough—Laura's got that covered."
Evangelline picked up her teacup with a chuckle.
"Besides, my type's more like… someone you kind of want to take care of. Hardworking, devoted, a little fragile-looking. Like they might collapse any second but keep stubbornly soldiering through their work with this real sense of responsibility… a bit of a decadent vibe? Yeah. A guy like a puppy that got caught in the rain."
"Hmm…"
I nodded, not really sure how to respond, and she sipped her tea with a soft slurp.
"Not that there's any point telling you any of this."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't tell me you're seriously asking?"
Han Su-yeong, Jin Ye-seul, Lee Yu-na, and… mm.
She'd been counting off the names of people around me on her fingers when she suddenly clapped her hands loudly.
"Ah, right! Almost forgot. I came here to drop these off too."
"Things to drop off?"
"You know, the thing your World Tree clan head asked me for."
She pulled several potions out of her coat and lined them up on the table.
Pointing at them in turn, she said, "This one makes you younger. This one does the opposite, makes you older. This one changes your sex."
"…"
For a moment, I was lost for words.
"The green one here's the neutralizer. They'd wear off on their own in about a day, but drink this and you'll snap back right away."
"…What on earth are these for?"
When I finally managed to push the question out, she pressed a finger to her lips with deliberate intent and tilted her head.
It was a good thing she was the one doing it and not me—if I'd done it, it would've been horrifying.
"Hmm, who knows? Your clan head sort of slipped it into the order…"
She gave me a playful, smiling look.
"And I thought it'd be fun to watch you squirm."
"You've got a weird personality."
"Hahaha, I get that a lot. Laura's always calling me an oddball and shaking with rage about it. So cute when she does."
Evangelline laughed out loud, then looked at me with a knowing gaze.
"So—what's the real reason you wanted to see me? Don't tell me… you actually just wanted to say thanks?"
"Right."
I nodded.
"You've probably already guessed, but… Milited's children were deeply involved in that incident the other day. And they're devoted followers of the Seven Calamity sealed in the Baltic Sea."
At my words, the playful look on her face turned serious.
"Only three of them are left now. We killed the lich in combat."
"…We caught the vampire. Alice has her under strict guard now."
I nodded at that.
"Then the only one left is the dragon."
At my words, she swore in pronunciation so refined it almost curled at the edges.
Fluent enough for educational broadcasting, in a voice that slid cleanly into the ear.
She rattled off a few well-known phrases—the kind even I, who barely knew English, recognized—then let out a startled "Oh!" and hurriedly covered her mouth.
"Sorry."
I raised a hand to wave off the apology.
"Anyway—their objective is to resurrect the Seven Calamity sealed in the Baltic Sea, the one whose location Professor Alice pinpointed before. And we've also worked out that breaking a Seven Calamity's seal takes four Great Alchemists, or mana entities of equivalent caliber."
"Great alchemists, hm…"
"Professor Alice, for example, or you, Miss Evangelline. Or Miss Jin Ye-jeong would qualify too."
She froze for a beat, then nodded slowly.
"…I'd better stick close to the others for a while. I'll pass it on to Ye-jeong and Alice."
"Yes. Please."
When the conversation had wound to a close, she let out a long sigh.
I took it as my opening, pulled a single black scale from my pocket, and slid it forward.
"What's this?"
"Something I wanted to ask you about personally."
Evangelline picked up the scale and examined it briefly, then turned wide eyes on me.
"…Wh-where on earth did you get this?"
"You recognize it?"
"How could I not?! If I couldn't recognize this, I might as well throw out my standing and rank as an alchemist on the spot! This—this is…!"
Her hands trembled as she turned the scale over, and she began muttering rapidly.
"Good lord, this is unmistakably a dragon's scale—and from a first shedding, no less! And from a precious black dragon, of all things! Are there still dragons of this caliber left? As far as I know, black dragons devour their own scales the moment they shed, so only twice in recorded history has one ever come to market…! And the arrangement, the hardness, the mana density… I've never seen anything like it! The perfect catalyst. The kind of money you'd have to pour out to get hold of one of these…"
"Miss Evangelline?"
It took me calling her name several times before she finally came back to herself.
She swallowed audibly, set the scale carefully down on the table, and looked at me.
"S-so—what exactly is this favor…?"
I spoke to her as she kept stealing sidelong glances at the scale, unable to look away.
"Could you use that scale to make an artifact for me?"
"…huh?"
Evangelline paused, then answered in a mumble that didn't quite fit her usual confidence.
"S-something of this caliber is a little outside what I want to touch… I'd have to scrape it with Osei Evans's dragon-slaying sword, Balmoong, just to work with it. And honestly, I haven't made many artifacts with materials this fine, so I might fail…"
"You don't need to worry about that."
With that, I showed her the pouch where I kept the rest of my scales.
She was clearly out of words by now and just stared at me blankly.
"Counting one for me, I need at least eleven. Can you do it? Once you say yes, I'll fill you in on the details."
After waiting a moment, I added, "Anything left over afterward—you're welcome to do whatever you like with it, Miss Evangelline."
"…"
Evangelline just opened and closed her mouth wordlessly.
A short while later, she said quietly, "…Hey—if you ever decide to take on a mage to work under you in the future, will you let me know first?"
So I can be the first to apply.
She murmured it in a daze.
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