Ch.96Chapter 96 – The Heart’s Request

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in another strange space.

Like before, it was a dark void with fragmented scenes floating around.

“Hello.”

Hearing a voice from behind, I quickly turned around.

There stood the woman I had seen before.

Through her hood, I could see white hair and blue eyes.

She was the one who claimed to be my heart.

“Hello?”

As I greeted her awkwardly, a slight smile appeared on her face.

But that expression quickly changed to one of concern.

“You’ve drawn on too much power again.”

“You know about that?”

“Of course I do.”

The woman took one step toward me.

*THUD*

‘What was that?’

It was just one step.

Yet it carried the weight and pressure of a mountain moving.

“Judging by how clear my consciousness is, you must have used far too much power.”

The woman spoke quietly.

Apparently, my current situation was the price for overusing the red lightning.

“Don’t you have questions for me?”

At her words, I nodded slightly.

I did have things I wanted to ask.

I just hadn’t expected to get the chance.

“Are you a dragon?”

“Yes.”

An immediate answer.

“More precisely, I’m like a fragment of that dragon’s consciousness. I can’t really call myself a dragon.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, I am dead, after all.”

The woman took another step toward me.

“I was defeated and killed. My heart was split and divided, and my final consciousness was shattered and scattered.”

“So you’re just a fragment.”

“Yes. Normally, I would have simply disappeared. Without ever waking up like this.”

The woman reached out her hand as she spoke.

“Without ever being able to talk with you like this.”

She touched my face with that hand.

After a moment, she withdrew her hand and spoke again.

“I have one favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to complete my mission.”

She was looking at me with serious eyes.

“What mission?”

“Meet the Lord.”

“Lord?”

“The Dragon Lord. The leader of our kind who has guarded the boundary since ancient times.”

Looking at her again, I almost stepped back in surprise.

Her blue eyes were glowing.

No, they were burning.

“Following the guidance of the star-gazing priestess as the Lord instructed, find the traces of the noble god.”

*THUD*

“The gap in the boundary. Go to our homeland.”

*THUD*

“I’ll leave the way to get there in your mind.”

“Wait—”

I was about to protest against her deciding things on her own.

But before I could, light from her hand illuminated my head.

And I felt as if a great deal of information was being engraved in my mind.

My head started to hurt.

I felt nauseous.

My consciousness began to fade…

“Huh!”

When I came to my senses again, I was lying on the floor.

Whatever she had done to me must have been the problem; I had apparently passed out.

As I lay there looking up, I saw her looking down at me.

“It’s been properly engraved. You’ll be able to go there when you’re prepared and truly recall it.”

“What if I don’t go?”

“Then I would have misjudged you.”

She said quietly with a smile.

Then she reached out her hand.

I took it and stood up.

“The Lord’s order was simply to send someone like you, with a soul from another world, to him. I don’t know why, but he won’t harm you.”

“How can you guarantee that?”

“Because he told me that wasn’t his intention.”

Judging by her expression, she must have received quite a scolding at that time, as her eyes momentarily lost their light.

“Then what am I supposed to do when I get there?”

“The Lord will know.”

She answered, immediately returning to her normal self.

I wanted to ask what would happen if this Lord had no plan at all, but looking at the atmosphere, I held back.

“I’m sorry for pushing this on you so suddenly. Unfortunately, there’s not much time left, so I had to do what needed to be done.”

“You’re quite forceful.”

“I’m not in a position to be considerate. After all, I’m just a fragment that could disappear at any moment.”

She spoke quietly.

“Go to my homeland. And if possible, don’t come back here again.”

She said with a slightly bitter smile.

“Why shouldn’t I come back?”

“Coming here means you’ve pushed yourself too hard, remember?”

She pointed at my heart again.

I think I understand what she means.

“Your body can’t handle a dragon’s power. If you use it too often or for too long, you’ll eventually lose your life.”

“I know.”

“Then please be careful when using it.”

She moved away from me again.

“This is as far as we go this time. Please grant my request.”

At that moment, her body began to be enveloped in light.

Thinking she was about to disappear, I reached out my hand, only to find it also beginning to be surrounded by light.

“What’s your name?”

At my hastily asked question, she smiled.

“Fia.”

Behind her, who was turning into light, the form of a huge white dragon appeared.

“I am a fragment of the one once called Fia, the White Dragon.”

That was definitely the name the dragon had mentioned.

“Survive Yuto.”

Yuto.

That was the name the dragon had declared when it swore to kill me at the end.

While I was recalling that name, light completely enveloped her body.

From within the light, only her voice could be heard.

“Let’s meet a bit later next time.”

With those words, both she and I were surrounded by light.

+

“Where am I…?”

“Oh, you’re awake!”

I heard Haven’s voice.

Looking around, it was an unfamiliar space, but somehow I felt I knew where we were.

“Is this… the magic tower?”

“Yes.”

Sera put down a towel as she spoke, apparently having been nursing me.

Behind her, I could see my helmet placed on the floor.

“You collapsed after coughing up blood, so we hurriedly returned to the magic tower and rented a room.”

“They accommodated us like that?”

I didn’t think the magic tower would go that far.

At that moment, Christina approached and spoke.

“Lady Beatrice arranged it personally.”

“Speaking of which, where is she?”

“Here.”

Looking toward the voice, I saw Beatrice with a gloomy expression sitting quite far from me.

When our eyes met, she raised one hand and opened her mouth.

“The great me has arrived.”

“Why do you look so miserable?”

“Because I couldn’t smoke.”

To think she’d look so dejected over something so trivial—it’s almost heartbreaking.

“Come on, it’s too much not letting me smoke, especially after I saved your life.”

“Who lets someone smoke with a patient present? Go outside if you want to smoke.”

“The magic tower prohibits smoking except in designated areas. I can’t smoke secretly anywhere but here.”

This is a ridiculous conversation. Why would she try to smoke in a non-smoking area in the first place?

It’s so absurd I’m at a loss for words.

Still, I should find out what I need to know.

“How much time has passed?”

“About 7 hours. The nun and Seraphina were told to take care of you while we rested, so we just finished resting a moment ago.”

Haven answered.

“We need to report the dragon’s appearance to the guild, so we were about to leave. I just came to check on your condition before going, and you happened to open your eyes.”

“Right, that’s true.”

A dragon had appeared.

It was practically a disaster here.

As Haven said, we needed to report this news to the guild and other places.

“Let’s go together, my body is…”

I tried to get up as I spoke.

For a moment, I almost lost my balance.

I managed to support myself with my arms to avoid falling.

“You should rest. We’ll report to the guild.”

Haven said, laying me back down.

“We survived thanks to you, so it’s only right that we handle annoying tasks like reporting. Rest.”

“Thank you.”

I was secretly relieved.

It was fortunate to avoid the somewhat unseemly sight of me withdrawing right after getting up.

As I was inwardly sighing with relief, I could tell Haven was watching me.

“What is it?”

“Well, um.”

He hesitated for a moment.

After seemingly deliberating internally, he came closer and spoke to me.

“That lightning… can you not explain it?”

It seems my use of the power in our desperate situation had been noticed by Haven’s party.

I considered passing it off as magic, but judging by his reaction, he already suspected it wasn’t.

“I’m sorry, but please keep it a secret.”

Haven stared at me for a moment.

Then he quietly spoke.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you.”

“Honestly, if it weren’t for you, we might have died to that dragon.”

Haven spoke gently.

“If it weren’t for your group, we would all be dead. We owe you our lives.”

“Helping each other is only natural.”

At my words, Haven stared at me blankly for a moment, then smiled.

“Yes, helping each other is natural.”

Haven stood up.

“Next time, let us help you. I don’t know how much help we can be to you, but still.”

“Yes, I’ll be counting on you then.”

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

With that, Haven went outside.

As he was leaving naturally, he suddenly turned back to look at me.

“Of course, I’ll keep that lightning strictly confidential.”

With those words, he left.

‘Well, I suppose there’s not much I can do about it being discovered.’

Of course, since it’s a power related to dragons, it’s right to keep it hidden in a situation where a dragon has appeared, as it could cause unnecessary anxiety.

Though I doubt many people would immediately recognize it as a dragon-related power.

“We should head back too.”

“Let’s just sleep here tonight. It’s dark outside.”

Beatrice said, tapping the window.

“Let’s enjoy the magic tower’s beds. Everyone’s tired.”

Honestly, I welcomed the idea of staying here.

I was still having trouble controlling my body, and Sera and Christina must be very tired too.

They probably hadn’t rested at all while nursing me.

“Are you two okay with that?”

“Honestly, I’m too exhausted. If we can just sleep here…”

At Christina’s words, I nodded.

“Well then.”

As Beatrice clapped her hands, three plush-looking beds suddenly appeared in mid-air.

I was worried the room would be too crowded, but somehow the room had already expanded.

The beds flew toward the corners of the room, positioned with plenty of space between them.

“We can’t rent multiple rooms, so unfortunately we’ll all have to sleep in the same room. I’ll keep a good eye on the helmet.”

“And I’ll keep a good eye on Beatrice to make sure she doesn’t smoke in her sleep.”

I took a meaningless jab at Beatrice, who was grinning mischievously.

Christina and Sera smiled tiredly at the two of us and headed toward the beds in opposite corners.

When Beatrice clapped her hands once more, partitions appeared to hide each person from view.

“Good night, everyone.”

“Good night.”

*Snap*

As a snapping sound came from Beatrice’s direction, the slightly bright room suddenly darkened.

Soon after, regular breathing sounds began, suggesting everyone had fallen asleep quickly.

‘I’m tired.’

Drowsiness began to overtake me.

Even though I had essentially just been sleeping, I was still fatigued.

Without resisting the drowsiness, I went to bed.

+

*Thud*

“What’s this?”

Just as I was about to open my eyes, something fell on my face.

I quickly got up to check—it was a letter.

The envelope was green with elaborate inscriptions on it.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Beatrice, who had been sleeping in the opposite corner, got up rubbing her eyes.

Not bothering with her messy hair, she reached out her hand, and the letter I was holding flew out of my grasp toward her.

She immediately opened the letter and checked its contents.

“It’s from the Master. He wants us to come see him soon.”

“Really?”

There was no reason for Lucian to suddenly call for me.

Actually, there was one.

“Must be about the dragon.”

“That’s probably it.”

Beatrice yawned once, then continued speaking.

“He’ll probably ask what kind of dragon it was, which direction it came from, what its purpose might have been, things like that.”

“I was too busy trying to survive to figure out its purpose.”

“That’s true.”

Beatrice got up from her bed.

It was the first time I’d seen her get up at once—she usually never gets up on the first try when woken.

“What’s with that look?”

“Seeing you actually get out of bed at this hour, I thought the end of the world might be approaching.”

“Hey, I can at least prioritize important matters.”

Beatrice responded with slight irritation.

I got up from my place as I watched her.

“Should we wake Sera and Christina too?”

“The letter says to bring as many people who were there as possible, so we should wake everyone.”

Beatrice said as she started gathering her outer clothes, and I began putting on my armor.

I had just finished dressing and was about to put on my helmet when:

“What’s this?”

Beatrice, who had somehow approached me, was staring at me intently.

“Your helmet—did you suddenly get more white hair?”

“What?”

Just as I was about to ask if she was serious, she snatched something from my head.

After a brief stinging pain, I looked at Beatrice’s hand and indeed saw white hairs that had been plucked out.

And quite a few of them.

“You’re quite skilled. How did you pluck so many?”

“Um, should I tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Feeling slightly anxious, I asked, and Beatrice replied with a serious look.

“I just plucked them all out with the black hair.”

“Are you trying to make me bald?”

Looking again, there were quite a few black hairs mixed in as well.

I thought she had neatly plucked only the white hairs, but this…

“But do this many appear overnight?”

“You nearly died and came back to life, so that’s probably why.”

I didn’t think it was a big issue.

It wouldn’t be visible once I put on my helmet anyway.

“That’s strange. They shouldn’t increase this much in just one night.”

“You barely notice when I wake up. You probably just didn’t see them before.”

Beatrice silently rose from her seat.

She was still looking at me with unconvinced eyes.

Under that gaze, I put on my helmet and fastened the lock.

+

After walking through maze-like corridors, we eventually arrived at the conference room we had visited before.

Opening the door, we found Lucian standing there.

“I apologize for calling you so suddenly. You must be tired from your journey.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine.”

Lucian guided us to our seats, and following his lead, we sat at the table facing each other.

After a moment, Lucian began his questioning.

I answered as best I could within the limits of what I knew.

When the questioning ended, Lucian bowed his head briefly.

Soon he sighed once and looked at Beatrice.

“First of all, I’ll overlook the fact that you attacked a dragon.”

“Isn’t that obvious? I wasn’t just going to die without a fight.”

As Beatrice grumbled, I saw Lucian smile slightly.

“In return, I’ll have to use you a bit.”

Beatrice raised an eyebrow slightly as she looked at Lucian, who ignored her gaze.

“So, why did you call us here?”

Was it simply to hear about the dragon, or was there something else?

When I asked this, Lucian answered with a bitter smile.

“I wanted to get more accurate information for the magic tower. A mage who was a field researcher near the scene rushed back to report, but he only watched from a distance, while you fought directly, didn’t you? I thought you might know more.”

That field researcher mage—he managed to escape quite well.

I gathered that the reason for calling us now was to obtain as much information as possible.

Lucian looked down at the floor for a moment.

He seemed to be organizing his thoughts.

“Master, so the magic tower isn’t getting involved after all?”

“That’s right.”

An immediate answer.

Sera and Christina looked at each other in surprise, while I quietly looked at Lucian.

‘If the magic tower doesn’t help…’

That means they’ll have to fight the dragon with human power alone.

Well, there might be mages who participate even without the magic tower’s involvement, but…

“If the dragon reaches the capital, everything will be destroyed.”

“I know.”

“And yet, the magic tower will just stand by?”

At my words, Lucian nodded.

His expression was dark.

“The majority of Masters argued that we shouldn’t get involved due to the taboo.”

That damned taboo.

Soon Lucian sighed and spoke.

“Violet and I argued that even if there’s a taboo against provoking dragons, we can’t adhere to it when our survival is threatened.”

“And they still refused?”

“They even threatened to label us as heretics.”

Lucian said with a sigh.

“Despite our political differences, I didn’t expect them to bring those into a situation like this.”

“So, the magic tower won’t intervene at all.”

At my words, Lucian nodded.

Then he shook his head.

“Yes, but also no?”

“You understand well?”

What does this mean?

Lucian silently looked at Beatrice.

“Huh? Why me?”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to step up.”

“Why me specifically?”

Beatrice asked as if annoyed.

“Who would dare criticize a mad dog that the Masters themselves can’t control freely?”

“Wait, am I going to be expelled from the magic tower for this? Is that okay?”

“Don’t worry. You won’t be expelled. You know well that expulsion is impossible if two or more Masters oppose it.”

Two or more.

Violet and Lucian—if these two oppose it together, nothing can be done.

I didn’t expect to witness the ugliness of connections here.

“I’d like to send at least one or two people for support to resolve the situation, but the Purple Tower and Green Tower don’t have any suitable talents to send. Asam is strictly a researcher, not a fighter.”

“So, me?”

“At least the strongest mage that Violet and I can mobilize, the best force the Green Tower can deploy, is you.”

Beatrice seemed lost in thought for a moment.

“It’s not like I particularly want to fight that thing again.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lucian bowed his head slightly.

Seeing this, Beatrice quietly closed her eyes.

Various calculations seemed to be going through her mind.

“Fine. It’s your request, after all. I’m probably already marked by the dragon anyway. But you owe me one.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Beatrice smiled slightly at Lucian’s gratitude.

“But why go this far? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to just ignore it too?”

Beatrice asked.

Lucian answered with a smile.

“Magic is knowledge, technique, and power.”

“That’s true.”

“What meaning is there in power that stands idle in a crisis like this?”

Is this Lucian’s principle?

He was speaking quite idealistically.

Beatrice smiled as if she liked what he said.

“By the way, the kingdom wouldn’t have requested support only from the magic tower; they must have asked others too, right?”

“Of course. The Guild, the Church, the Association, and the Union would have been contacted as well. Their representatives are scheduled to meet for a strategy meeting.”

Indeed, for a matter like this, they would call upon every organization they could.

Lucian took out a letter from his chest.

“This is an invitation from the royal family. Take it with you. You are my proxy.”

Beatrice nodded and took the letter.

“Where will the meeting be held?”

“At the royal palace.”

“When?”

Lucian quietly opened his mouth.

“Tomorrow.”

Beatrice nodded.

Then Lucian looked at me.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like you all to participate as well.”

“Why?”

“According to my sources, the royal family is looking for parties who witnessed the event, wanting more detailed information.”

That would be us and Haven’s party.

“They’ll probably want to hear about the dragon at the meeting. Will you attend?”

“Just to speak?”

“There will likely be some reward given separately later.”

If there’s a reward…

Testifying isn’t difficult anyway.

Surely they wouldn’t withhold payment?

“We’ll go.”

I accepted Lucian’s proposal.

At that moment, I felt a flash of light from the window and looked over.

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

‘Something flashed.’

Thinking it might be my imagination, I looked at the window.

‘Where is it?’

I searched for the source of the light for a while, but couldn’t find anything that might have caused it.

“Ahem!”

Suddenly hearing someone clear their throat, I turned to see Lucian looking at us.

It seems I must have been mistaken just now.

“Well then, I entrust tomorrow’s meeting to you.”

I nodded at Lucian’s words.