Ch. 101
“Why! You let Ogre in! Ogre is a sentient being too!”
Rai’s fifth body was an Ogre, and that was only because Magi begged to include it.
“Ugh, but Ogre is a monster, right? Dwarves are demi-humans.”
“It’s all the same! They’re both food anyway!”
“Such dragon-like thinking…”
“Let’s add a dwarf! Huh? Ogre or dwarf, they’re both living beings. Ogre is sentient too! It’s got a brain. The brain is tasty…”
I’d better pretend I didn’t hear that last part.
From the perspective of the ultimate predator, the dragon, dwarves and ogres were just the same prey. That’s one way to be fair, I guess.
“Magi, if you really like me, you have to see things from my perspective. I’m a human, you know?”
“So?”
“Ogres eat humans, but dwarves don’t. Dwarves are friends of humans. Get it? It’s not just because dwarves are intelligent that I don’t like eating them. It’s because dwarves and humans have a bond.”
“Hmmm…”
“How about it? Does that make sense now?”
“A little.”
“Then let’s pick something else. You’re nice, Magi. Remember the Toka’s Orb?”
Compared to when I was first captured by Magi, both my body and mind were much more at ease.
After spending over a month together, I had grown attached. I was also now certain that Magi wouldn’t eat me.
Magi had grown more interested in me than Rai with each passing day, and now liked me so much it was almost a problem.
To think I tamed a dragon just by making sure it was fed, patting its head a few times, and sleeping next to it. Such an easy dragon to tame.
The charm that could conquer even a dragon! I could probably rule the continent at this rate.
“Okay! Then I’ll think of something else. Something that doesn’t have any bond with humans!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Among humans, I like Geenie the best!”
“Oh my… I like you the best out of all dragons too.”
Though, Magi is the only dragon I know.
With a slightly insincere smile, I accepted Magi’s embrace as it clung tightly to my waist.
As I hugged back, Magi looked up at me with a beaming smile.
In my arms, with that angelic face I’d tailored to my own taste, it looked at nothing but me, happy as could be.
‘This guy’s grown on me. It’s actually pretty cute.’
Suddenly, our dragon has changed!
It used to feel like living in Magi’s lair was like sleeping with a wild beast, but if that beast becomes your pet, the story changes.
These days, instead of just trying to survive, I’d decided to become friends with a dragon…
[ Tch. ]
Even though I’d decided to befriend a dragon, there was one who was loudly displeased with it—my little shadow, my spirit. Rai.
That jealous brat who couldn’t stand to see me treat anyone else well.
[ Ugh, I can’t even watch this. It’s making my eyes hurt. ]
A huge wolf, slapping its big tail on the ground and spitting in disgust at my and Magi’s display of affection.
Who could it be but Rai, who finally escaped the snake’s body after ten years?
With thick, golden fur that looked like the finest pelt, and golden eyes that shone sharp as cut gems, Rai embodied both the ferocity and sharpness of a true beast.
Unlike my original plan, with a body the size of a cow, it was a stretch to pretend it was a dog, but it was certainly an impressive sight.
“Come here. Rai, I’ll hug you too.”
[ No thanks. Like I’d ever be jealous of something like that. ]
“If you don’t come now, you won’t get another chance.”
Even though its appearance had changed, Rai was still Rai.
Its pupils wavered anxiously for a moment, but it couldn’t hold out for long, and soon rushed over to bury itself in my arms.
Since I wasn’t usually a very affectionate master, Rai couldn’t refuse this rare chance.
When it was a snake, its head fit in my palm. Now, even wrapping both arms around its whole body, I could barely fit its head in my embrace.
I never realized wolves were this big. Or that they were this satisfying to pet.
I stroked Rai’s golden fur and Magi’s golden hair at the same time.
“Alright. That’s enough for today. How about we go play outside?”
[ Sounds good! ]
“Yeah!”
[ What? You just stay here and mind the house! Don’t try to tag along, stupid dragon! ]
“…I’m not stupid!”
[ Dragons should stay in their lair! ]
“Look who’s talking! Go back to the spirit realm!”
Ugh, they’re at it again.
[ Stupid yellow lizard! Stay out of things between me and Master! ]
“You’re the one butting in!”
Rai bared its teeth and growled like a wild beast, and Magi didn’t back down, radiating a murderous aura and glaring with predator’s eyes.
A dragon’s killing intent, the kind at the top of the food chain, was enough to make my heart race even when it wasn’t aimed at me.
How did Rai stand up to that without flinching?
That one’s not normal, for sure.
[ I’ll settle this right now! Come at me! ]
“Stupid spirit of scrap metal!”
Magi’s eyes glinted like a dragon’s, and as soft skin began to sprout golden scales, it signaled the start of the battle.
“Stop it!”
I, caught between two fierce enemies, rubbed my arms against the goosebumps and quickly stopped them before they actually tore into each other.
Whenever they fought, something always got broken, and sometimes that thing was me.
“I told you both not to fight!”
“It’s not my fault! You saw it, Geenie! This scrap heap started it!”
[ Not true, Master! That clueless lizard butted in! ]
“I’ll kill you!”
“Sigh.”
I couldn’t help but sigh.
Once upon a time, Magi used to like Rai enough to always keep him by his side. Now, that was a thing of the past.
They’d become arch-enemies overnight.
[ How dare you! Stupid yellow lizard! ]
“What! You ugly thing!”
[ Grrraaa! ]
I quickly retreated to avoid their fight.
Who could have guessed there’d come a day when those two would actually talk to each other? I used to worry they’d never communicate, but now they just bicker all the time.
I almost preferred the days when they didn’t talk.
The trouble started when Rai got a wolf’s body.
That’s also why Rai’s fur was so dazzlingly golden.
If Rai took another form, it might be another color, but as a wolf, it was always gold.
It was because of one of the jewels used as material for the wolf body.
It had a huge impact on Rai.
At the time, I was distracted by Toka’s Orb and didn’t give it much thought—a peculiar golden jewel Magi brought.
‘Who knew it was a dragon heart… and from a Gold Dragon, no less.’
Dragon Heart.
It was literally the heart of a dragon, and everything to a dragon.
Humans leave their names when they die, tigers leave their skins, and dragons, their Dragon Heart.
A dragon’s corpse never rots; right before dying, it gathers all its remaining power to create a single crystal.
A dragon turns into a small jewel in death.
That’s a dragon heart, and it holds so much power it’s laughable to even call it a jewel.
As the dragon’s final legacy, it is the sea of mana itself.
A human could never use it up in their lifetime; it held such a vast amount of mana that if you put it in a sword, it could shoot out light like a beam, and if set in a wizard’s staff, you could rain meteors down as if it were nothing… A legendary magic material, but so rare that even having one as a material was ridiculous.
It’s so precious and holy, you wouldn’t even put it in an emperor’s crown. What more can I say?
And that’s what Rai absorbed whole, so perhaps because it was a Gold Dragon’s, Rai turned gold and could even talk to Magi.
Of course, that was a side effect. The real benefit was that Rai could now use power without draining my mana.
That was thanks to the dragon heart’s innate magic.
Rai now had a vast amount of mana. I was jealous.
In all the history of the continent, I doubt there’s ever been a spirit mage who got a dragon heart and even fed it to a spirit.
It just happened by accident… What a waste.
The more I thought about it, the more it stung.
It almost made me sick.
Rai said absorbing it was a one-way thing—he couldn’t spit it back out. Creating it is a dragon’s privilege.
If only they could be mass-produced, I’d want one too!
“Geenie is mine!”
[ What are you talking about! Master has always belonged to me! ]
“What are you saying, both of you? I belong to myself.”
Since I didn’t take sides, they glared at each other again and started tumbling and biting all over again.
[ Just die already! ]
“You die!”
[ I’m a spirit, I can’t die! ]
“I’m going to live ten thousand years!”
They were so evenly matched that their fights always dragged on, and they never got tired of fighting over me.
I wish I was popular with humans instead of a spirit and a giant reptile.
“Go back to the spirit realm, you evil spirit!”
[ What! Who are you calling evil! You’re the wicked dragon who even kidnapped Master because you wanted her! ]
No matter how much those two bickered, it never ended.
Since Rai ate the dragon heart, his defense was practically cheating, and unless Magi returned to her true form, her attack power was significantly weakened.
I did wonder who’d win if they fought for real, but curiosity isn’t worth dying for.
I had no intention of being the shrimp caught in a whale fight.
“Take that back right now! I’m a good dragon—Toka’s Orb said so!”
[ Ha! I guess all the good dragons must be extinct! ]
“How dare you insult dragons!”
[ Oh, I’m so scared. Sorry! Boo-hoo! ]
Honestly, what a pair of idiots.