Ch. 240
Becoming a Guardian was a big decision, and I was the one who brought it up first.
I’d been waiting for Ash to ask me that favor all along.
But there was no sign of it, so I decided to force the issue myself. And yet, unexpectedly, I was firmly rejected.
I assumed the reason I was turned down was purely because of this meddling bastard.
Glaring at that unpleasant red hair and grinding my teeth was basically a reflex at this point.
“It’s because you’re crazy!”
“Who are you blaming, you thief.”
“……Thief, who!”
“You.”
“No, I’m not? Stop calling me a thief. It’s unpleasant.”
“Thief.”
I kicked him with all my might, and as expected, missed. Every time my attack failed, all I felt was a deeper sense of powerlessness.
Rovenin was half a head taller than Ash, and when he looked down at me with his eyes half-lidded, it really did feel like he was looking down on me in every sense.
“Hey, you! You insensitive bastard! I’m not! I only swallowed it for a second, and you’re still clinging to it! That damn sword! I’ll give it back! Just wait! I’ll restore it exactly as it was… no, even better!”
It was embarrassing that none of my attacks landed, so I balled my fists and bared my teeth to hide the feeling.
I’m a person who can live just fine without the law, so who are you calling a thief!
I didn’t steal it. I just neutralized something that was a direct threat to me. That’s pure self-defense.
It’s ridiculous to complain your weapon was stolen when it was destroyed in a fight.
And besides, this is nowhere near theft, because I fully intend to return it someday.
I can live with being called a murderer, but I refuse to be called a thief.
[I don’t understand you, Master… Isn’t murder worse…?]
[I won’t deny I killed the slave traders, but I hate being accused of stealing when I didn’t!]
[But at this point you kind of are a thief? You deliberately absorbed someone else’s property right in front of them.]
[You’re really hitting the mark today, huh?]
[Am I?]
[Have I been too lenient with you?]
I was pretty sure I’d seen a poop scoop in the public restroom at the inn. Would people have a hard time using it if it were metal?
That scoop that looks like a ladle……
[Eek! Filthy and cruel!]
“But Geenie, I have a question.”
“Yeah?”
“How did you get rid of the sword? The whip moved on its own… what is that? And the way it wrapped around the sword and made it disappear—am I remembering that right? It didn’t look like ordinary Spirit Magic.”
Ash had sharp eyes. As he spoke, he noticed Rai neatly wrapped around my waist again, narrowed his brows, and showed a complicated expression.
“When did that… I’m sure I threw it far away earlier.”
“He came back to his master on his own. Didn’t you see?”
“……Not at all.”
A body made of metal doesn’t have a heartbeat. Since he isn’t truly alive, Rai is very hard to detect.
Even so, Rovenin’s radar seemed to pick up everything.
“Okay, Ash, I guess I can tell you. This whip is actually….”
[Huh? You’re going to tell him? Rovenin, your natural enemy, is here too.]
[That’s exactly why I’m showing him. To demonstrate what happens when someone waves metal at me.]
To live skillfully, you need to know when to hide your abilities and when to flaunt them.
I’d already shown I had this ability by erasing Tenebra, so giving them a proper look at it now was a clear warning.
I lifted Rai, who was pretending to be a whip, with a light flick.
He immediately began to coil around my arm and move like a living snake.
Most people would be startled if something they’d thought was an inanimate object suddenly started slithering and flicking a red tongue, but Ash only widened his eyes a little, and Rovenin stayed perfectly expressionless.
Expressionless types are no fun at all. Should I show him more until he cracks?
“Ash, maybe you’ll recognize this form better.”
I dropped Rai, who was wrapped around my arm, onto my palm and then down to the floor.
Rai melted like flowing water, and the moment he touched the ground, he transformed into a large dog.
With the dynamic vision those two had, they definitely saw the exact moment of transformation.
[Ta-da!]
(T/N : Finally!!! )
“……Rai?”
“It’s not alive.”
Ash patted Rai’s head as if in a daze, confirming he was the same Rai he knew, and Rovenin gave the shortest possible assessment.
He was still indifferent.
They didn’t seem all that impressed.
“You’re the first ones to see Rai’s transformation function. Shouldn’t you be a bit more amazed?”
“……I am. It’s impressive. I thought he wasn’t an ordinary beast. Something that smart, with a body tougher than any weapon, could hardly be just a beast.”
“That’s what you used to erase Tenebra. Is it a metal Chimera?”
“Unexpected. So you do think. Half right.”
After lightly teasing Rovenin, I gestured for Rai to come stand beside me.
When I brushed the spot Ash had patted, Rai wagged his tail like a real puppy and looked delighted.
“Even though he looks like this furry beast, he’s pure metal. The fur is more like gold-thread weaving. He’s not a Chimera. Don’t lump Rai in with something as foul as that.”
Chimera were among the forbidden arts rooted in Black magic.
They were created by combining the living with the dead, and since the process always ended in death, you needed a separate, impure soul to move the corpse. They were basically a type of zombie.
“You asked me before, didn’t you? What is Rai really?”
“I did. I didn’t know he had a transformation function. He isn’t a monster, and he doesn’t feel like a Chimera… so I wondered if he might be a Spirit. But that shouldn’t be possible.”
Thanks to his experience with me, Ash’s reasoning was far closer to the truth than Rovenin’s.
It was practically the right answer, which was a problem, because I’d never intended to tell him.
I couldn’t believe he guessed it.
I’d only meant to reveal a bit, since I was tired of hiding Rai, but I’d planned to keep the fact that he was a Spirit to myself.
I wanted to hide the existence of spirits outside the four elements as much as possible.
Startled, I hurriedly threw out an excuse.
“Hmm, I can’t explain in detail… Let’s just say he’s a gift from a Dragon.”
“Dragon……!”
“So I can’t tell you more. Don’t dig into it.”
[Huh? Since when am I Magi’s gift!]
[Magi donated the Dragon Heart, didn’t he? And it’d take half a day to explain what you really are.]
Dragons make convenient excuses anywhere.
Rai could transform freely without drawing on my Mana, and thanks to the Dragon Heart’s influence, he had a golden hue no matter what he turned into.
Functionally speaking, it wasn’t entirely wrong to call him a Dragon’s gift.
“Do you have any Dragon friends? I do.”
I’m far too modest, considering how much I have to brag about. I made sure to show off in front of Rovenin in particular, to hammer home that I wasn’t someone to mess with.
“Do I still look like a thief? Huh? I know Dragons. Why would I need to steal a sword? If you go to a Dragon’s Lair, there are mountains of them…….”
“Where is the Dragon?”
This bastard wasn’t jealous—he just zeroed in on exactly what he wanted.
And when did he get so close to me again?
I flinched, but since there was no killing intent, I only frowned. Ash promptly pulled me backwards like a dog on a leash.
“Young master!”
Ash seemed busy restraining both my rampages and Rovenin’s grabby hands.
Having two ticking time bombs in the same place was enough to give any normal person a breakdown.
[Perfect way to torment Ash! Rovenin and Master in one spot.]
“Answer. Where is the Dragon? How can I meet it? What kind of being is it……?”
“What do you mean, what kind? It’s as unlucky as you.”
“I want to meet it.”
“What? I didn’t know you were this eager to die.”
“Where do I go? Where is the Lair…….”
“Geenie! Don’t tell him!”
Rovenin’s voice was the most lively and driven I’d ever heard it.
I was seeing Rovenin’s eyes sparkle for the first time in my life. It was offensive.
“I overlooked something because you survived the Dragon’s grasp, even if your abilities may have been blown out of proportion.”
“……Is that supposed to be an insult?”
“It’s a compliment.”
“It’s an insult if it feels bad.”
As expected, there was no way he was genuinely praising me. Even now, he was letting murderous intent seep out just because I wouldn’t reveal the Lair’s location. At least pretend to ask nicely before you get to the threats.
With this much killing intent, Lox would probably faint on the spot.
“Tell me. Where is the Lair.”
“What are you going to do if you find it?”
“Dragons are the strongest beings bestowed by God. If I could cross swords with one, I’d gladly die.”
“……Ah. Well. Of course.”
If I had to pinpoint the decisive difference between Rovenin and me, it would be that I’m slightly insane, while he’s fully gone.
I still have enough sense to understand that my life is precious. He seems so obsessed with strength that he doesn’t care what happens to him.
By the way, this bastard clearly thought I was weak.
He didn’t seem interested in fighting me at all anymore. I was the one who backed off from a fight I couldn’t win, but I still felt insulted.
‘Huh? Wait, this could work out beautifully. If I send him to Magi, Magi will kill him for sure…… but if I’m unlucky, Adelaide will cut me into thirty-two pieces for leaking the Lair’s location.’
Magi’s mother, the Gold Dragon Adelaide, was unusually overprotective compared to other Dragons, and that was entirely because her son was lacking in some critical areas.
It’s not every day you see a Dragon with a brain hand over its inherited Dragon Heart after being tamed by humans it kidnapped instead of killing them.
Of course, Adelaide was far scarier than Rovenin. He’d be nothing more than lunch to her. I’d rate him a bit higher than a snack, at best.
“No! Don’t tell him! He’ll die!”
Ash yelled like he was peering directly into my conflicted heart, and with that, my answer was decided. Unfortunately.
“The Lair’s location is a secret.”
“Phew…….”
“Absolutely?”
“Absolutely. I can’t tell you. Glare all you want, it still won’t work.”
I smiled brightly as the killing intent focused on me sharpened further.
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