Ch.22Chapter 22: Small and Warm Everyday Life (1)

“You’re back.”

After fully savoring the lingering sensation of the spatial transfer spell—which, despite the sudden disorientation in my vision, didn’t place any particular burden on my body—

I turned my head toward the wall clock to check the current time.

7 AM.

“…An hour has passed.”

That was how long it took from when I opened the door and headed to the Director’s office, entered through the spatial transfer spell the Director cast, and had our various conversations.

“I thought I’d just receive some appropriate words of praise and be done, but I gained quite a lot.”

It was a fairly productive time that I could evaluate positively—not too long, not too short—during which I heard what needed to be heard and even received a precious gift.

“…I forgot to ask about the ancestor’s hair color.”

I soon realized that after my audience with Director Belpheus, I had failed to ask the personal question I had wanted to.

“A mistake.”

I lightly tapped my forehead with my open left palm—the one not holding the gift from the Director—finishing my reflection on the error.

“Well. Even if not right now, the day will come when I’ll hear about it.”

Because right now, there were more important things to learn than the secret of my ancestor’s hair color.

Having organized my thoughts, I raised the black-tinged bastard sword in my right hand to eye level and examined it carefully.

“He definitely called this the dragon sword Fafnir.”

Fafnir is the name of a dragon.

In the history spanning more than a thousand years, what being has caused the greatest harm to humanity?

Many would unhesitatingly point to the demon gods, the perpetrators who brought the darkest age to humanity.

The demon gods, who drew power from the negative yet intense emotions of humans they worshipped, corrupted countless humans and made them their minions, attempting to turn this land into their own utopia—they left immeasurable deep scars on humanity.

Among these demon gods, there’s still debate among historians about which one caused the most damage to humanity.

However, excluding such evil god-like beings as demon gods, if asked to name a single entity that instilled the greatest fear in humanity, there is one that everyone would point to without hesitation:

A certain red dragon that bears the same name as the bastard sword now gripped in my right hand—one that is now dead and can only be confirmed in historical records.

“Come to think of it, this sword’s name doesn’t seem to match its overall black color.”

I smiled wryly at how the sword’s characteristics didn’t match well with its namesake’s original owner, and recalled that red dragon who gave this sword its name.

The Red Tyrant Fafnir.

As the epithet “Tyrant” easily reveals, he possessed such strength that he was considered a mutant even among his own kind.

He was notorious for his overwhelming power and, inversely proportional to it, his brutish and violent temperament.

After settling there, he spread his infamy by destroying human villages one by one, not far from his habitat in what is now called the Dragon Claw Mountains—named after the marks left by his claws that remain on the mountain peaks to this day.

There were attempts to subjugate him, but human strength was too feeble to stop a dragon with unprecedented, transcendent power.

Emboldened by the absence of any being that could stand against him, the dragon mercilessly destroyed any human territory he considered even slightly close to his habitat.

The destruction that began with demolishing villages soon escalated to shattering cities.

Unable to ignore this, the administrative and financial powers of the allied major cities mobilized dragon hunters, but when Fafnir confirmed that he could not be eliminated even by their efforts, the dragon began to demonstrate his violence against nations that could only be established by such cities banding together. Despite possessing a higher mental system than humans, he was merely intoxicated by the peripheral pleasure that destruction brought.

“And then there was the time he reduced a kingdom’s capital to ashes.”

Humans didn’t just feel unconditional fear toward Fafnir’s overwhelming violence.

Once, a group of adventurers hired by a kingdom to eliminate Fafnir attempted to finish him off when the destruction-blinded dragon showed no signs of returning to his lair after leaving it.

They invaded his lair hidden in the deepest part of the Dragon Claw Mountains, looted his most treasured possessions, and installed a mana bomb in a corner of the lair—one with enough firepower to blow the entire lair to pieces when triggered by Fafnir’s return—before calmly departing.

The kingdom that hired the adventurers cheered at this feat demonstrating humanity’s resilience, eagerly awaiting Fafnir’s return to his lair after his excessive destructive activities.

And on the fateful day…

When Fafnir, satisfied with his destruction and ready to fall into a long sleep, entered his lair, his massive presence triggered…

A mana explosion so enormous that it was observed from numerous locations, creating a vortex at the heart of the Dragon Claw Mountains.

The kingdom rejoiced.

They celebrated that the tyrant who had oppressed and tormented those weaker than himself, relying solely on his own strength, had finally been reduced to ashes.

A festival immediately broke out.

The kingdom’s people genuinely rejoiced at the disappearance of the tyrannical being that had instilled overwhelming fear in them.

But it didn’t take long for them to realize that this was their delusion.

When they faced Fafnir, who was still intact except for being slightly singed, breathing a massive fiery breath that covered the entire capital of the kingdom.

It took just one night for the great kingdom that had tried to turn the dragon to ashes to be reduced to ashes itself.

“That’s about when my ancestor’s name appears in the records.”

People who witnessed the capital of a kingdom that had prospered throughout a long history being reduced to ashes despaired.

It was despair born from the resignation that there seemed to be no being left who could punish such an overwhelmingly powerful tyrant.

But light enters when it’s darkest.

The great hero appeared suddenly when people had lost hope and were living each day in despair.

Though having the body of a frail girl, she single-handedly invaded the tyrant’s habitat with just an old iron sword, and without any notable battle, the girl revealed herself before the people holding the severed head of the dragon she had slain.

The records of the great hero Lumen Ranos, who shone brightest during humanity’s darkest period later known as the Demon God Advent Era, began from this moment.

“It’s curious.”

Having recalled all the lore related to the dragon that shared the sword’s name, I compared the dragon known in the lore with this sword.

“Why did my ancestor name this sword after the dragon she defeated?”

As I felt earlier, this sword had many differences from the characteristics of the red dragon Fafnir, making it seem ill-suited to be named after it.

Above all, the most significant difference was the near-ink-like color that subtly emanated from the sword itself.

“Even if just the scabbard were red, it would have matched better.”

That’s how much such idle thoughts crossed my mind.

“Well. Let’s end the appreciation here.”

I should stop thinking about the sword with no clear history and the swordsmanship that somehow traced a plausible trajectory due to a moment of realization during yesterday’s fierce battle.

Having organized my thoughts, I carefully placed Fafnir on a display case on the wall of the room that could hold swords, then hurried to prepare to leave the room to take care of today’s tasks.

“It’s 7 o’clock, so there’s someone I need to wake up.”

I couldn’t help but smile gently as I recalled Sizz’s bright smile when she thanked me for my promise to wake her up, which I had made as midnight approached.

“…I should go quickly.”

With a modest wish to start the second day of our reconciliation by waking Sizz and then having breakfast together while chatting about various things, I opened my door to go to the room where Sizz was sleeping.

Creeeeak

Listening to the sound of the hinges moving smoothly as the doorknob turned, I stepped out into the hallway.

“…Let’s go.”

To wake up the sleepyhead young lady.

I continued my steps leisurely toward my destination, Sizz’s room.

It was a morning when the birds chirping through the corridor windows sounded particularly sweet.

#

At this time, Sizz was known for being a heavy sleeper in the mornings. On days when she had morning classes at the Cradle, getting up and going to class was often more challenging than attending the class itself.

Today would be the same… no, it would be no less difficult than other days, if not more so.

Although natural healing had occurred, the fatigue accumulated from yesterday’s fierce battle with Mein, who had twisted the time axis to target her life, would be somewhat burdensome for her who had just taken her first steps as a great hero.

‘It’s no wonder, considering she suddenly fought a real battle with Mein that she might have faced years later.’

As I organized my thoughts and slowly moved my steps, one thought occurred to me:

“…Today, she probably won’t wake up even if I knock on the door?”

Perhaps, waking Sizz, who would likely be sleeping with an oblivious expression on her bed, might be challenging even if several people, including myself, joined forces.

Ah, but I might be able to wake her up more easily.

Strangely, while Sizz would never wake up when others tried to rouse her from sleep, she would mysteriously awaken from her slumber whenever I entered her room or revealed my presence nearby to wake her.

As I slowly moved toward the room where Sizz was sleeping, I recalled one by one the incidents that occurred when I woke Sizz at this time, which now seemed like memories from quite long ago.

Female classmates and friends who tried to help Sizz, who struggled to get up due to her heavy morning sleep, would visit her room but end up in futile failure. Just as they were about to give up in frustration…

Hearing my footsteps outside, she would immediately rise from her bed, and those girls would look alternately at Sizz’s door and me with astonished gazes.

Ignoring such gazes, just as I was about to place my hand on the doorknob to open the door, I would hear the sound of a bolt being locked, followed by a clamorous noise.

Not long after, Sizz would emerge from the door looking as neat as usual, smiling brightly—this was how our morning routine began.

Such ordinary daily life could have been slightly different due to Mein’s attack yesterday.

“…I wonder if today I’ll be able to enter the room and see Sizz sleeping.”

Come to think of it, except for a few times right after living at the Cradle, I had no memory of seeing Sizz sleeping soundly on her bed.

This was because she would wake up from her sleep the moment she sensed my presence, causing me to fail repeatedly.

“…I think I’ll be able to see it.”

A sight not much different from when we were young, when we would sneak out to our secret hideaway away from the servants’ eyes, and she would fall asleep from exhaustion after playing for hours, unaware of the passing time.

A gentle curve formed on my lips again as I recalled Sizz’s image—sleeping with a happy expression, unaware of the world, nodding off with her head resting on my shoulder.

After a long time.

Defenseless in sleep.

Sizz’s happy expression up close…

Slap!

“Get a grip, you madman.”

I lightly slapped both my cheeks to regain my mental composure, which I had nearly lost as happiness I hadn’t felt for a long time suddenly surged.

“…This is no time to walk slowly.”

Walking leisurely was making me indulge in such pointless fantasies.

I reproached myself and increased my pace to the point where my footsteps made no sound.

It was effective.

I could quickly organize thoughts I shouldn’t dare to harbor, except for the idea that I needed to hurry and wake Sizz.

Relieved that I didn’t need to slap my cheeks until they turned red, my eyes caught sight of my destination.

The entrance to her room, where Sizz, whom I needed to wake now, would be sleeping…

“G-Good morning, Cal.”

I saw Sizz standing in front of me.

Though she looked slightly disheveled as if she had just woken up, her sparkling blue eyes showed no signs of fatigue.

…How did you wake up so quickly?