Ch. 102
“Both of you, stop! This is your last warning.”
“Geenie, but, he started it!”
[Master! This stupid yellow lizard—]
“No excuses. If you keep fighting, nobody’s going anywhere.”
Magi, who’d been gnawing on Rai’s wolf ears, looked like he was about to burst into tears and rushed over to cling to my leg.
Magi had learned very well that I was weak to cute things. A true master of acting.
“I don’t want that! Take me too!”
[Ugh, acting cute when you’re just a reptile!]
“Rai! I told you not to tease Magi! You acted cute too when you were a snake!”
[I’m cute no matter what I do, thank you very much!]
Wow, that’s some confidence. Maybe he takes after his master.
“Anyway, both of you! If you don’t get along, the picnic is canceled.”
Their possessiveness toward me only seemed to grow the more they competed.
You’d think it would die down if there wasn’t a rival, but since they both had someone to challenge, the rivalry just kept burning.
Rai was always like this, but maybe because Magi was a bit younger, he clung to me like he was obsessed with a favorite toy, poking at Rai’s sensitive spots on purpose.
“Picnic!”
[Picnic!]
“Yes, picnic.”
Rai flicked his ears, still damp from Magi’s bite, and wagged his bushy tail.
Ever since becoming a wolf, his emotional expressions had grown even more obvious.
“If you behave, I’ll teach you about human picnics today.”
I bent down to pick up the ‘Class 3 Magic Theory’ book Magi had dropped on the floor, acting as if I were granting a favor.
“Ooh! What’s that?”
“It’s when you pack a bunch of delicious food and go somewhere sunny. Then you spread out a cloth and eat together.”
“I don’t get it. What’s fun about that?”
“You’ll see when you try.”
At least this time, you’re not eating me.
By now, Magi should understand that, but the hardest thing about training him was teaching him not to eat humans.
He’d had a hard time with the idea that killing was fine, but eating wasn’t allowed.
“Then go pack a lunch, Magi.”
“Okay!”
[Yes, ma’am!]
Hey, Rai. Why are you heading for Magi’s treasure stash so naturally?
You two just finished fighting…
Shameless. Just like someone I know.
* * *
Magi’s lair was littered with rare items, but one in particular stood out: the infinite pouch.
It was enchanted with subspace magic, so you could stuff an unlimited number of things inside. No matter how much you put in, it always weighed about the same as a single potato.
‘Would he give it to me if I asked?’
So many tempting things.
I finally understood why humans risked their lives to rob a dragon’s lair.
I’d already snuck away with more than a few treasures, but I wanted this one too.
Clueless Magi was the perfect nutrition… no, treasure supplier for Geenie Crowell.
“Geenie! Will this work as a picnic mat?”
I was drooling over the infinite pouch when Magi brought over a garish carpet he’d found in a corner of the treasure room.
“A carpet? Isn’t it too thick? Plus, it’s for indoors, not outdoors.”
“It’s enchanted with Clean magic, so it never gets dirty.”
“That’s perfect! Yeah, let’s use that.”
A carpet with Clean magic! Dragons are surprisingly practical.
“This carpet has other functions, too.”
Magi said as he stuffed the carpet into the pouch.
The palm-sized pouch opened wide enough for a person to crawl through, its inside shimmering like the night sky.
Anything you put in fit, no matter the size.
Human mages could make infinite pouches, but they were nothing like this.
If you could fit even a small room inside, you’d be lucky, and the weight didn’t change, so carrying it around was nearly impossible. It just shrunk the volume, that’s all.
“Really? Clean magic seems impressive enough.”
“That’s just extra. The real function is that it’s a flying carpet!”
“Uh… Those really exist? I thought they were only in fairy tales.”
Well, nothing’s surprising in this world anymore.
“But it’s uncomfortable. Flying with my wings is much easier. It’s a useless feature.”
“That’s because you’re a dragon…”
“Anyway, it’ll be perfect as a picnic mat! My mom’s always giving me useless stuff.”
So this is what it means to be born with a silver spoon!
The things Magi didn’t care for were all amazing by human standards.
I fastened the pouch to my hip, scheming how to convince him to give it to me.
Inside were all kinds of monster meat Magi packed for lunch, monster pieces, gems Rai brought, and jerky I’d packed myself.
“I think we have everything. Ready to go?”
“Yeah!”
“Where are we going?”
“To the picnic… Wait, who are you?”
That cheerful “Yeah!” had to be Magi.
Rai was off to the side, looking clueless with wide eyes.
So who just asked, in that chilly voice, where we were going from right behind me?
I craned my neck and quickly sidestepped.
Because there, standing with arms folded and glaring at me with narrow eyes, was a blond woman I hadn’t noticed in the treasure room.
She must’ve used teleportation magic to appear without a trace.
She looked young, maybe around my age, but her pointed ears said elf…
“Huh? Mom!”
“…Magi, are you really my son, Magicos?”
Danger.
[Danger!]
Apparently, Rai agreed.
I was so shocked, my heart felt like it stopped, my thoughts froze, and my whole body went cold.
“Why are you in human form?”
“Geenie likes it.”
“Geenie? That human? When I told you to take another form, you never listened.”
“It just feels wrong when you tell me, Mom.”
How am I supposed to stay calm?
Magi’s mom. In other words, a proper “Gold Dragon” had appeared.
A boss monster.
Is this the end for me? I couldn’t see any way out.
Even though she wasn’t in dragon form, she radiated enough pressure and intimidation to crush me.
“So, why are you here, Mom? I was about to go out with Geenie.”
“I came to check on you. You’ve been so quiet lately…”
Ma’am, I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that, but it’s all a misunderstanding.
I never tried to mold your son to my taste, never secretly pocketed treasures, and I definitely never thought he was so dumb I could kill him if I tried— Ah! Somebody hide me! Where’s a snake hole when you need one?
Rai, what have you been doing, not even digging a hole for me!
This cave is so huge but there’s nowhere to hide. Hopeless.
“Oh! Geenie’s been teaching me magic lately.”
“Oh? A human teaching magic?”
“Yeah!”
“To a dragon?”
“Yeah!”
“And she’s not even a mage… but a spirit mage, it seems.”
Stab! Stab! Stab! Each word was a sharp dagger sinking into my heart.
When she narrowed her fierce golden eyes, it felt like my heart shrank that small.
I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t move a finger.
So this is what it feels like to be cornered prey… not a feeling I ever wanted to know.
“Yeah! Geenie’s the top of the academy’s spirit studies department!”
There’s only one student, so I’m both last and top! I didn’t lie!
“Fine, let’s go with that.”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
Magi was, as always, clueless about the situation.
“Why is a human here? Is she a dragon hunter or something…?”
“No!”
“Human, I wasn’t talking to you.”
No! I’m innocent! I shook my head frantically, too stiff to speak.
She smiled beautifully, but it just sent chills down my spine.
Her golden hair was so radiant, it looked spun from real gold, straight and flowing to her ankles, not moving an inch, as if she were painted into reality.
Ugh… I can almost see flowers blooming behind her—a death flower!
“You mean Geenie? I kidnapped her.”
“Oh my! Magi, you did? Yourself?”
“Ahem!”
Are you bragging about a crime?!
“And I went to two human empires and stole a bunch of gems and mithril! Pretty good, right?”
“My goodness! My Magi can already do that? You’re amazing. I’m so proud!”
Right, dragons.
“But I’m a little sad, you know. You could’ve just asked Mom for it.”
“I’m grown up now, so I have to provide for myself.”
“My Magi…! Such a good son. When did you grow up so much…”
“And now I can use all the Class 3 spells! Geenie said I’m a genius! A magic genius! Though even the most annoying person in the world calls me a genius!”
“All the way to Class 3? Wonderful, Magi! I knew you’d make it someday!”
She hugged Magi tight, tears welling up at his mere mastery of Class 3 magic, while I, listening to Magi’s unnecessary confessions, was starting to think about my last will.
First, I wanted to say sorry to my parents for bringing me into this world. To Rovenin, I wanted to leave a curse. (T/N: HAHAHA. Poor Rovenin.)
May your descendants be bald forever! Damn the Fedri family!
At least if I died, I’d get to see my mom again. Though, in a different world, maybe the afterlife is different? Then again, even if I died now, I’d still get there before Mom…
“Mom, you should go home! I’m going out with Geenie now!”
“Magi, aren’t you making swords anymore?”
“I still make swords! I recently found an amazing material and created something incredible!”
“I’d love to see it. If it’s something you made, it must be a masterpiece. Won’t you show it to Mom?”
“Okay! Wait right here.”
Idiot!
Where are you going! Don’t leave me here! Come back!
Magi ran out of the room with a bright smile, not realizing this was a trick to get rid of him.
Leaving me alone with his mother.