Chapter 34 – Life and Magic (6)

Life and Magic (6)

Valkvogel awoke when Troka and Aeon were meeting.

Teleportation that interferes with the magical power existing in the body. For dragons, who are born with inherently strong magical power, teleportation is a dangerous act.
The burden of moving vast amounts of magical power at once is physically taxing, causing considerable strain. That is why dragons do not learn movement-related magic. With strong wings at their disposal, there is no need to learn magic that entails the risk of death.
What would typically require nearly a week to recover from, the blood of the Dragon King flowing through Valkvogel’s veins significantly shortened that time.

“…Where is this?”

A towel was placed on her forehead. The bed was soft.
Looking around, it seemed that she was not near the border, at least.

“Phelion….”

For some reason, that name slipped out.

If it weren’t for the collar, she would have found some way to kill him. Merely harboring murderous intent, she was powerless to do anything.

But the opportunity would come someday.

There is no such thing as absolute in this world. There will come a time when she can drive a blade through that detestable neck. She must grow stronger for when that moment comes. Power is needed to seize that goal when the opportunity arises.

The room was quite beautiful. Not comparable to her own castle, of course.
Of course, that beautiful castle had been dismantled by the empire, so she would never see it again.

Therefore, she would destroy the empire that destroyed their castle.
…After killing Phelion.
And… heal her body too.
She would also take revenge on the Demon King’s army that abandoned her.
Ah, and she must tear apart the heroes and dragon hunters too.

…First, she had to somehow remove the collar.

The plan was theoretically flawless.
Remove the collar and tear off that detestable face. The rest would follow suit.

The thought of Phelion begging for his life already made her feel a bit better.

Conversely, for some reason, she continued to feel a throbbing sensation near their heart. It was because of the damn collar. She needed to get closer to Phelion as soon as possible to ease the pain. Where had he gone?

The pain wasn’t too severe, which meant he couldn’t be too far away. It would lessen as they got closer.

She got up from the bed. Her feet didn’t touch the floor. The severity of the injury had shrunken her to human form.
In truth, there was no difference in size when they were healthy.
But that’s what she thought.

As she lifted her face, the hide on her cheek sagged powerlessly. There was no way to get new hide now, so she carefully shaped it with her small hands. Then she began to sew it tip of her nail as a needle.

The fix was quick.

The leg area felt a bit loose, but since this place didn’t seem too dangerous, she decided to ignore it.

The urgent matter at hand wasn’t that.

“…I need to find him.”

Let’s move. The pain wasn’t severe, but there was an unsettling feeling.
It wasn’t anxiety due to Troka’s absence. She simply wished for the pain to disappear. Perhaps.

Having finished preparing, she was about to leave the room when.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

An elderly wizard opened the door and appeared.

Long ears peeking out slightly from between white hair, a common old human face. Robes often worn by wizards. At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary human wizard.

His appearance evoked no other impression than that of a very common human.

“…”

Yet, there was something suspicious in the air. An aura too foreign for a human who had learned magic. It was almost like the atmosphere of a demon.

Despite being ignored, the old wizard chuckled with a good-natured laugh and patted Valkvogel’s head.
Perhaps he saw her as a child; there seemed to be no malice.

“It seems the aftereffects of the teleportation magic are still lingering. You must recover soon…”

He slipped his hands under Valkvogel’s armpits and lifted her. Then he headed straight for the bed.

“Please lie down.”

After laying her on the bed, he began to prepare tea from a nearby table. It didn’t smell particularly good. In fact, a revolting sensation rose from deep within.

“Here, drink it up.”

What he offered was a tea strongly brewed with dragon grass.
Ordinary dragon grass wouldn’t stir any emotions, but when boiled in hot water for a long time, it becomes detrimental to dragons. It could shatter her already compromised physical abilities.
Do humans keep and drink such things?

After all, that man…

She left the tea cup by the window. There was no need to drink poison willingly.
The old wizard looked at the tea cup distantly. Perhaps not drinking was the right choice. His face didn’t look good.

“It would be more comfortable if you drank…”

The way he trailed off was suspicious. As if he knew her identity and was deliberately trying to feed her dragon grass.

The more she observed, the more suspicious the figure became. No matter how she looked at it, He was dubious. Surely it couldn’t be her.
She wouldn’t disguise herself as a man. With her personality, to dress as a man…

Hmm, no, it couldn’t be.

The wizard, who had been looking at the tea cup for a while, eventually averted his gaze.
However, his eyes remained fixed on Valkvogel.

“Well, if that’s the case, you should eat something to recover your strength quickly.”

He walked over and opened a cupboard, where square objects were tightly packed and wrapped in paper. Judging by the smell, it was undoubtedly some kind of meat.

The old wizard took one out and tore open the packaging with a skewer he had brought from somewhere.

As expected, it was meat. It looked quite appetizing on the outside and probably was in reality too.
If the eater wasn’t a dragon.

Her face naturally scrunched up. A significant amount of poison, it seemed to contain dragon grass. Whether it was a small enough amount not to be noticed or filled inside the meat, she knew they shouldn’t eat it.

Even wounded and with her power bound by a collar, she could still feel it. It was instinct, after all.

She carelessly tossed aside the skewer and reached out with a hand holding meat. It was raw, dripping with blood.

“Cooking?”

“It seemed you’d prefer it raw, given your appearance.”

Eyeing the hand suspiciously, she noticed an oddly wrinkle-free area. It was so pale, almost identical to the skin color of the high nobility. Ah, those ears peeking out from the white hair, the peculiarly straightforward nature. And then, the skewer that had suddenly appeared.

Could it really be?

“Will you reveal yourself? How long do you plan to keep up this old man’s charade, Nerati?”

She decided to take a guess. There was no harm in trying.
At that, the old mage’s face turned expressionless for a moment, then forced a look of ignorance.

“Hmm? Who is Nerati? Was there another companion here besides you two?”

Nerati’s smirk was unmistakable.
Valkvogel was certain. He is that person.

“…I don’t think you’re in the position to be roaming about. And disguised as a man.”

The remnants of the Demon King’s army were busy cleaning up.
The half-destroyed Demon Castle, the monsters out of control, and the Minions who had risen in rebellion. The current subordinates, less than ten in number, had no time to be frolicking about.

But, as always, there were those who did nothing but frolic.

Valkvogel’s gaze turned disgusted before she forcefully jammed a skewer into their throat, tearing it out. The sound of flesh ripping accompanied the revelation of that face.
Dark blue hair, a thin cloth covering the whole body.
Ears too long for the size of the face, beautiful appearance, and matching movements.
It was the Illusionary Princess, Nerati.

“What the hell. How did you know? I went to the trouble of using my power after such a long time. Is it still too much to fool a dragon’s eyes~”

She answered with a sardonic tone, wiping the blood off her face.
Her face and movements were those of a beautiful elf, but her torso was that of an old, decrepit man. The unbalanced appearance created a bizarre atmosphere.

“…Your ears, they’re showing.”

In truth, what she had noticed before the wrinkle-free hands were the protruding ears. She hadn’t even used her dragon’s eyes.
Humans typically don’t have ears that large. The first odd detail had been the ears as well.

“Oh my… how embarrassing…”

And then she thrust a skewer into the torso. Crunch, squelch. The sound of bones breaking and rejoining, as the beautiful torso flaunted its form.

“This feels disgusting.”

The tone was cold.

“So, why are you here?”

The question was half genuine, half a dismissal.

Nerati smiled lightly, forming skewers from her fingertips. The skewers looked sharper than ever.

“Disposal of a traitor. And while I’m at it, planning to take you back as well. We’re short on hands, you see.”

Valkvogel also tried to transform her arm to match.
But it didn’t change properly. It was an awkward and ambiguous size. Clearly, it was because of the collar.

Despite this, Valkvogel had no intention of relenting in her combat stance. She had a grudge to settle with others, though not as much as Phelion.

“…Was it you who abandoned me when I was being overpowered by the hero? I never liked you from the start. Starting with that weird piece of cloth.”

She was the one who had ignored Valkvogel’s call for support.

She was irritated seeing Flan getting too close with someone else and she wanted to eliminate them first. After Valkvogel disappeared, he went as far as to betray his own and sided with the humans. It was her mistake, but that wasn’t the most important thing right now.

“Dressed in rags, you sure talk big. Flan…, no, Phelion, you must be living comfortably now that you’re stuck to him?”

That one sentence was the end of the conversation.

She changed her stance and leaped, thrusting her transformed fingers into the bed and sweeping across the floor as if to throw everything aside.
At the same time, spikes erupted from Nerati’s body, filling the room.

The battle began.

* * *

“Troka is dead, you moron, and that’s that.” After that satisfying remark, Aeon was buried in a pile of papers, scribbling something. Completely ignoring me.

What is she doing, really?

The letter is still unopened. Is the stimulus still not enough? Or is it her nature not to regret anything? Whatever it is, I’d rather not use the last resort.

– Crunch, bang!

What’s happening upstairs?
Ever since that guy went into the pile of papers, there have been sounds of explosions and destruction coming from above.

It can’t be Valkvogel fighting. No matter how much of a dragon she is, she can’t fight properly with that collar on. Even if the blood of the Dragon King flows through her, in the end, she’s still a dragon. Well, she’s a dragon, so she must be alive.

The pile of papers surrounding Aeon seems to be protected by magic, rejecting any intrusion from outsiders. Nothing is ever easy, huh.

In the meantime, I should properly check the letters I’ve collected. I’ve been gathering information, but I haven’t had the time to deduce anything.
If I leave the room hastily, I might not be able to return.

I took out the letters I had tucked away. That’s when I remembered the parts I hadn’t been able to organize before.