144 – Dragon’s Heart (3)
Dante spoke to me in that uncertain space, as if there was fog or something like a cloud was clinging to it.
– Don’t forget to fulfill your deal.
-You who took over my body, that’s the only reason I’m helping you like this.
Fiercely and resolutely.
“… ….”
So I answered. Something, perhaps, would have spoken back.
I couldn’t quite remember.
First of all, we must have said something, and through that, the conversation between me and Dante could have been properly established.
-Oh, of course I know that.
The moment I finished speaking, Dante nodded without any hesitation.
-I’m still trying to understand that you feel affectionately for the princess. So what, aren’t you saying you can’t kill the emperor?
“… ….”
-Then there is only one thing left.
And the next moment, Dante’s pupils began to burn fiercely.
Anger and resentment. A sense of purpose that has lasted a lifetime and has not yet been lost.
What Dante wanted, of course, I had no choice but to know best.
-The common denominator between you and me. The final turning point to understand each other…….
-Of course you know what that is, right?
Soon Dante let out his voice and I nodded once again.
I know.
The only thing left for Dante is revenge. This guy just wanted revenge.
That may not be a tenacity that I can stop.
So, I accept it to some extent.
It was a fulfillment of a wish.
I remembered the image of a man.
Reflecting on Dante’s expression.
-The final turning point where we can understand each other.
Yes, I really couldn’t help but sympathize with this.
Dante and I probably have the same thoughts about that man.
“──Duke Blake.”
At that moment, I expressed our common denominator through my voice.
It was at that exact moment that Dante turned her body as if he had been waiting.
-If you know, it’s okay.
Finally, he left a few more words.
-I promise.
One.
-After you kill that ghost that should have died and disappeared a long time ago, you can use my body however you want.
Two.
– …… In the first place, I was only allowed to remain as a thought.
And, three.
“… ….”
Dante made eye contact with me for a moment and then disappeared, as if he had nothing more to see.
I was dragging the black lizard, which had already shrunk to a tiny body, to the other side of consciousness.
*****
“… ….”
I slowly opened my eyes. I woke up from the world of unconsciousness and quickly returned to reality.
Have I become a dragon now?
Suddenly, Tsumei’s words about dragons growing horns and wings came to mind.
I tried to lift my stiff arm and touch my forehead and the top of my head.
“…… ?”
It was only then that I realized.
A feeling of weight.
It wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t typical either.
I blinked and looked down.
“Mmm.”
“… ….”
“Umm… ….”
Of course, there I was, lying down. Did I lose consciousness for a moment?
My body was laid down neatly on the sofa.
And now this was the important part, there was a woman who was clinging to my chest like glutinous rice cake and muttering as if she was in some trouble.
If you only look at her appearance, our dean could be called a girl.
She didn’t seem to notice that I was awake yet. I’m not sure, but-.
If I had noticed that in the first place, there would have been no reason for me to still put my ear to my chest when I woke up.
After a short thought, I gently touched Tsumei’s shoulder with my numb fingertips.
‘Tap’.
“Hiyak?!”
And Tsumei let out a strange scream at such a light touch.
I was even more shocked and ended up flinching my outstretched hand.
“…… No, Dean. “What are you doing there?”
Still, I somehow managed to regain her composure and ask her that question, and then Tsumei jerks her head up and makes eye contact with her.
It seems like he really didn’t know I was awake.
“…… You?”
She called me with a strange expression on her face. So, when she nodded, Tsumei, who had been dazed for just three seconds, strangely placed her hand on my chest again.
…… Why again?
“Dean?”
“…… “Just wait a moment.”
I was about to ask him why he had an unusual interest in s*xual harassment, but I was silenced by a serious and calm restraint that was quite contrary to the act(?).
Of course, whether I did it or not, Tsumei climbed on top of me and moved her mana around.
‘Is there something wrong?’
Of course, I really didn’t think Tsumei would wake up to student s*xual harassment again. There must be a reason, and most likely it has to do with the heart.
That’s why I waited patiently, and soon Tsumei also relaxed her expression and let out a slightly labored breath.
“…… “It’s strange, really.”
And the first thing I said was a word that made me a weird person.
First of all, what she was looking at as she spoke was clearly me.
It was a bit absurd, so I was about to ask why he was acting like this.
“Your heart stopped just a moment ago.”
Tsumei’s brief and shocking explanation that followed immediately struck me.
I could only blink.
“…… Yes?”
I mutter to myself.
Who said their heart stopped?
‘…… I?’
I groped near my heart in despair. To be honest, I was a little scared, but I was glad that my heart was still beating.
For me, I couldn’t help but feel shaken.
I immediately thought. Was being a dragon really that dangerous?
Or was it an attempt with such a high probability of failure? Do.
I looked at Tsumei with a look of betrayal, and although it wasn’t new, Tsumei frowned with an expression of displeasure, as if reading my mind.
“Isn’t becoming a dragon human such a dangerous task? “It wouldn’t be difficult for me.”
“Oh, is that so?”
And when he said that, I also scratched the back of my head sheepishly.
Well, Tsumei wouldn’t put me in danger on purpose.
‘But then why did my heart stop…? … ?’
However, there were no questions.
The conclusion is that my heart stopped for a moment.
‘Hmm.’
You said it’s not dangerous?
“So, it’s strange.”
Around that time, Tsumei clicked her tongue and said that.
It was definitely not dangerous. That’s for sure.
“It was going smoothly at first. “The heart has awakened well, and perhaps some of Bahamut’s remaining thoughts have also awakened.”
“Would you?”
“…… “Somewhere along the way, it became impossible for me to observe inside you.”
Tsumei responded to my question with a bitter expression on her face.
Soon she was gently twisting her hair with her fingers.
Muttering at the same time.
“At that time, it seemed like something white light flashed… ….”
As if there was such a strange thing going on, Tsumei awkwardly squinted one of her eyes and asked me a question.
“Have you ever seen a black guy? “Why, after you lost consciousness.”
And the black guy here is probably referring to the evil dragon Bahamut.
In reality, the dragon I saw was so completely black that the expression ‘black’ could not help but be appropriate.
“If you’re talking about the evil dragon, I’ve already seen it… ….”
At that point, I recalled the sight of Bahamut’s body collapsing in such a terrible way.
It wasn’t just that he fell down, it was the scene right before he fell after being hit by a punch from a small human boy.
I burst into a new exclamation within myself.
‘It was truly spectacular, that was.’
Yes, no matter how much lightning there is, it is true.
The dragon was almost crushed by a human’s fist.
Despite having a very grandiose name, ‘Evil Dragon’, it was defeated without even a single counterattack or response of any kind.
If that had happened in reality, wouldn’t it be an achievement worthy of being recorded in history?
‘Hmm.’
I soon naturally shook off those meaningless delusions and began to think about why Dante could do such a thing.
If I had to guess, I think it might be because the battlefield was a space close to the world of my subconscious, that is, the world of images.
Because it was a space in my heart, Dante was able to come out, and because of that, Dante was able to beat up the dragon. Isn’t that a pretty reasonable guess?
It was certainly plausible, so I shook my head.
And finally, I think of one thought that will put an end to all the speculation.
‘Actually, I think the reason my heart stopped was because of those two guys.’
It was just a guess that suddenly occurred to me, but there was no other guess with more basis than this.
I was half sure.
My heart must have stopped for a moment because a dragon and a human were fighting inside me.
For example, it is as if a blind bolt of lightning happened to flow into the heart.
‘…… Dante, that guy too.’
I frowned and at the same time internally lamented. How can it be that he really knows but doesn’t know?
It goes without saying, but it was aimed at Dante.
I was thankful until a little while ago because I received help, but now I feel a bit suspicious.
Maybe my putting myself in danger wasn’t all that he intended?
‘Oh.’
I thought to myself as I rubbed my chin.
It’s him, so it’s worth it, right?
No matter what, he doesn’t look very kindly on me because I don’t follow his will.
At some point, they may take advantage of the opportunity and try to water me.
With the thought that it would be better to pay more attention from now on, I looked up at Tsumei, who was still struggling in a different direction than me.
She also seems to notice my gaze and pauses lightly.
Before she could say anything more, I struck first.
“Anyway, it’s okay now, right? The heart is beating properly. “How is it that the procedure went well?”
Questions asked one after another. Tsumei was confused and said, ‘Huh?’ And then she nodded her head a couple of times.
“Yeah, that’s right. Well, I checked and there was nothing unusual, and both hearts were fine. “Yongin-hwa also went well.”
After explaining it like that, she paused for a moment and touched the corner of her mouth with a very confused look, as if there was just one thing that was bothering her.
“…… What’s strange is that I still can’t look inside you. Actually, this means that as long as you have the Heart of Bahamut, I can try to connect to some extent? “If there are any residual thoughts, that must also be confirmed.”
Soon Tsumei took one look at me, and then began to look intently at my upper body, where I had first taken off my clothes to check for her heart.
But again, it felt very strange because the gaze was scanning all over the place.
Is it fortunate that there are no gazes, eyes, or signs that evoke erotic feelings like some kind of magic sword?
I waited resignedly, and before long, Tsu Mei was licking her lips as if she didn’t understand at all.
“I can’t see it either. “If I do this, I can’t confirm.”
“…… Is that so?”
In response to Tsumei’s words, I gave such a vague reply in an unfamiliar voice.
There was something awkward about it, but fortunately Tsumei didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay. It’s nothing bad, but I’m a little worried. You’re really okay, right? Are you hearing a voice coming from inside or something like that?”
She only asked that question with a look of concern.
It seems like the evil dragon’s remaining thoughts are bothering me.
However, I couldn’t carelessly bring up the topic of some sort of ranking arrangement(?) That is probably happening inside me right now.
Try to blurt out something like, ‘Actually, there is another Dante inside me.’ Will I be treated more like a double personality?
This is a problem that is several times more difficult to explain than other problems, so I decided to just take the stance that there was no problem.
“I think it’s okay? “There is nothing that feels particularly different.”
So, he did say something like that, but when you think about it, it’s not even fair to say he made it up.
There was nothing wrong with me now, to the point where even I was surprised.
I wonder if Yonginhwa was such a dull procedure.
Now that I see it, there were no changes in its appearance like horns or wings.
Just in case, I stroked the area around the shoulders and wing bones, as well as the forehead and top of the head, but as expected, there was no foreign body sensation.
Because of this, I looked at Tsumei again as if questioning how this happened.
Tsumei frowns slightly at that.
An expression as if asking, ‘What are you doing?’
But I also had my own reasons.
Should I say I was a little disappointed?
From noble mtl dot com
Now I have to confess, in fact, I had very low expectations of wings, let alone horns.
The reason is nothing special, I just want to fly in the sky at least once?
“But how disappointed I must have been because I didn’t have wings. Ha, how on earth did this happen?”
I pretended to look upset and looked at Tsumei. The fact that he keeps pointing over Tsumei’s shoulder with his eyes is a bonus.
And Tsumei’s expression in response to my contrarian attitude was quite something to see.
Tsumei erased the light from her eyes, as if she was tired of my reaction, which I thought was quite novel.
Tsumei pursed her lips as if contemplating what to say, then she looked at me and sighed.
“Yeah, I didn’t know you were looking forward to wings for such a trivial reason. Whatever the reason, let’s just say it’s fortunate that she woke up safely without her lingering thoughts catching her.”
I silently nodded my head as she continued to say that. Anyway, there is no doubt that I woke up without any problems.
Of course, I didn’t bother to say that I almost caught her ankle due to my thoughts.
No matter what the process is, isn’t it important that I succeeded in suppressing the will of the evil dragon with all my strength(?)?
I decided to just rationalize it that way.
Tsumei’s words continued again.
“…… Well, next are the wings. Of course, just because you successfully tolerate it doesn’t mean it grows wings right away. “I guess it’s okay to think that the more you get used to the dragon’s energy, the faster the rate of change will be.”
It was such an explanation that I couldn’t help but be disappointed as I was looking forward to the ability to fly.
I openly showed that I was dissatisfied, but Tsumei seemed to have gotten used to it after experiencing it two or three times and just did her job without paying any attention.
“Let’s see. “It was probably here somewhere.”
So, I put my hand over the small opening of the sub-space and waved it around. Like looking for something.
I couldn’t guess what Tsumei was looking for, so I just had to wait with my head tilted.
“Ah, I found it.”
Moreover, the waiting time did not last long.
It was soon possible to confirm its identity.
A glass bottle the size of a finger and an equally tiny cork.
An unidentified silver-grey liquid contained in just such a glass bottle.
“…… “Is it a potion?”
“Yes.”
I asked, and Tsumei answered immediately and indifferently.
Potion. That form of drug was not that rare in this world.
However, this potion in front of me was not a commonly seen color. Although it was named silver gray for convenience, the strangely shimmering purple color amplified the mysterious effect.
After staring blankly at the liquid that kept shaking in the glass bottle for a moment, I glanced at Tsumei again and spoke to her.
“So, where are you using this?”
“Are you giving it to me to use?”
Of course, this time too, the answer was immediate.
“Come on, take a few with you.”
Tsumei handed over the potion, saying it was no big deal, and then placed four or five more potions of the same type on my hand, which had taken the potion without any hesitation.
Then he started to explain to me, who was just blinking and confused.
“No matter how much I like you, it looks a little strange when a normal child suddenly starts walking around with horns and wings. “With just this potion, you won’t be able to see anything like that for a week.”
Furthermore, it is said that this potion was developed decades ago in a laboratory in the basement of the Academy.
It is said that it was voluntarily made and gifted to Tsumei by her researchers, but it was of no use to her as she could hide and take out her horns and wings at will anyway.
“Still, I put it in subspace out of consideration for their sincerity, but I never thought the day would come when I would use it like this. Since it was mass-produced, there are hundreds more, so don’t worry, you can use it sparingly. “If you fall, come find me.”
The words were pouring out without me having time to reply.
Soon, Tsumei waved her hand and closed the space again.
“Actually, let’s get to the point now, Dante.”
Once again, she spat out her words, and I just kept making eye contact to show that I was listening.
But, speaking of Tsumei’s words.
“First of all, it is best to avoid contact with divine power as much as possible. “You have now become a dragon for about 20% of the time.”
In fact, it was full of things that were a bit ambiguous to say that they were all important.
Does it feel like just listening is enough, or not listening is enough?
“Of course, it doesn’t matter if Beatrice uses divine power directly to heal you, but be careful when meeting other priests. “If possible, don’t make Beatrice angry.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Even if it seems okay now, you have to be especially careful because you never know when Bahamut will try to dig into you. I don’t know what it is, but if you feel creepy, call me right away. Uh?”
“…… “Yes, of course.”
She roughly nodded and answered, but surprisingly, Tsumei’s words showed no signs of stopping.
Don’t look at gold, don’t kidnap a girl, lie down for a sigh of relief and don’t wake up for ten years, etc.
After that, she gave me warnings from many different perspectives, but the most outrageous one was the warning, ‘Don’t eat the academy building just because you’re hungry.’
I was staring at this, wondering what kind of nonsense this was, and soon a supplementary explanation followed.
So, she had no choice but to double down on the fact that there was a reasonable reason for it. Some dragons have that habit or something?
I wondered how on earth a creature could swallow concrete past its throat.
When she secretly retorted that no matter how much I could resemble a dragon’s power by 20%, my body itself wasn’t human in the first place, Tsumei, who made a sheepish expression and said, ‘Oh, that’s true,’ is also Tsume.
Maybe it was because I was getting older, but in addition to feeling old, I seemed to have a bit of a come-and-go side.
“…… “There are many other things you need to be careful about, but it will take a while to talk about them all, so I’ll leave it at this for now.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Hmm, then should I tell the kids to come in soon?”
After giving me a mechanically stiff answer, Tsumei got up and walked towards the entrance of the dean’s office.
In the meantime, I picked up the top I had taken off again.
‘But in the end, to what extent can I bring out this ability without Flügel?’
Just thinking about such a small question, I was thinking that I should experiment with the maximum output later.
“…… What?!”
Wudangtangtang!!
Tsumei’s bewildered voice suddenly burst out, and a sound as if something was falling apart, layer after layer, was heard over her shoulder.
…… What?
“Ouch… ….”
The moment I turned my head with a little guessing, I was able to see.
In other words, it was actually an expected sight.
‘Woodang Tangtang’, is there any other sound whose identity is as obvious as this?
Of course, there were three people there, no, to be exact, two people and a magic sword.
‘No, what is it? Really.’
For me, it was something that made me laugh out loud in many ways.
It seems like the composition has been reversed in a strange way.
First of all, of course, Tsumei and I are in the dean’s office.
And when the door to the dean’s office was broken down, the three people who became sandwiches were Beatrice, Flügel, and Djibril.
I tilted my head slightly, not really understanding.
‘…… Rather, isn’t it right that I should spy on them? Why are they killing me?’
Isn’t that true? In any case, if I had been spying on them, I would have been spying on them, but otherwise, the picture would inevitably not be drawn well.
“What are you guys doing?”
Of course, I didn’t think those three guys would have been peeking through the crack in the dean’s office door to see the boy changing his clothes.
Isn’t that such a deplorable truth?
Probably, they were also curious about the story about dragon people.
Concluding that it was just like that, I stood right behind Tsumei and looked down at them.
[Ah, I got caught.]
So, Flügel, who was in Beatrice’s arms, was the first to burst into laughter.
Although it was located at the bottom, it didn’t look particularly distressed.
Immediately, Beatrice avoided my gaze, and Jibril closed his eyes and started pretending to be blind, as if his supernatural ability had rebounded.
As I looked at that scene, I exchanged glances with Tsumei.
First of all, she didn’t seem to be very interested in this situation, but it felt like she was trying to get over it by saying that she might be strangely so.
It was unexpected, but there was no problem.
“Who suggested it?”
Instead, I just asked. The goal is to find the main culprit among the three.
I’m not trying to say anything in particular, I’m just curious?
“… ….”
[…] ….]
“… ….”
And then silence fell in the audience.
Was it really their amazing loyalty?
“Flügel ordered it.”
[The saint said to do it!]
“The saint dragged me in.”
It appears that wasn’t the case.
Answer that came out at the same time.
In that order, they were Beatrice, Flügel, and Jibril.
In addition, there was only one person who was naturally cornered.
“… ….”
Beatrice, fooled by rational reasoning, fell into deep silence.
And soon, she slowly stood up.
Just then, like flowing water, Flügel fell into the arms of Jibril, who retreated silently. As far as I know, there is no acquaintance between the two…….
Perhaps it was a temporary alliance formed due to a public achievement?
I quietly looked at Beatrice, who was tearful in many ways.
What exactly are you trying to say?
“…… Dante.”
In a truly helpless situation for Beatrice, as she waited and waited, her lips finally parted.
She called me and barely raised her head.
“Actually, that’s not that important right now.”
Soon he looks at me and spits out those words.
That’s not important?
“Then what’s important?”
I immediately tilted her head to one side and asked, and Beatrice let out a shallow sigh with an unwavering expression.
And then she raises her hand and points at me accurately.
With the sound of ‘Chuck!’ Her index finger, which was holding me, began to tremble, albeit slightly. From that reaction, I realized something.
He’s a little nervous now.
“You… ….”
If you have some popcorn, you might want to chew some and look around.
Everyone had excited expressions, but Beatrice was alone, hitting all three beats of strictness, solemnity, and seriousness, glaring at me with her thin eyes.
“Really, when and how.”
Soon after, she tried to speak her mind once again.
A slightly low voice resonates in the dean’s office.
At this moment, I noticed.
Huh? Is he serious?
“…… “At some point.”
At the same time, my teeth grinded slightly.
I noticed again.
‘Well then, really?’
I felt like I knew something.
What she is trying to say.
And then her words, which I thought I knew, were soon spoken in real voice.
“The memories you lost.”
Wow.
“Have you found it? How…… ?”
For an instant, there was silence.
Not just me, but others as well.
Uncharacteristically, Flügel closed her mouth, and Djibril slowly opened one of her closed eyes and looked at Beatrice.
And Tsumei.
“??”
I put a question mark alone.
It seemed like he didn’t fully understand the situation yet.
“… ….”
Finally, I just looked at Beatrice without saying anything.
Dante’s past, memory loss.
Yes, it is as expected. About halfway through, I vaguely realized that Beatrice might bring up this topic.
Jibril and Beatrice, who should not have known each other, have a close relationship and a subtle hierarchical relationship between the two.
And perhaps, given that I overheard the conversation I had with Tsumei a little while ago, it was inevitable that things would end up like this.
Yes. This is something that cannot be helped.
Beatrice at this time was looking at me without blinking.
I would have an obligation to reciprocate her serious attitude.
“…… Phew.”
For that reason, I first took a breath.
It was as if she changed her stance to become serious and then tried to deal with her.
Everyone in the dean’s office turns to me. A variety of emotions were gathered together, but all of them were interest in me, immersion, and the focus of attention.
I accepted their gaze and made eye contact with Beatrice.
Am I a little nervous? Although she spoke confidently, as if she wasn’t worried, Beatrice flinched slightly and tried to hide her shaking eyes.
I decided not to waste any more time.
“…… Beatrice.”
It’s been a really long time, and I’ve intentionally brought up an old title that must have been several months old.
Beatrice visibly shivered her body.
“You… ….”
I looked at her like that and spit out her words right away.
In addition to a calm voice, with worldly faint eyes.
“…… “He was very good at changing topics.”
Say.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll forget your disgraceful behavior today, though.”
With scorn.
“Oh, I didn’t know. “Our saint’s tastes are voyeurism and eavesdropping.”
That’s none of my business.
“Well, I’ll just remember it first!”
“… ….”
“… ….”
…… Anyway, around that time, a heavy silence fell over the audience, with a slightly different meaning than just before.
No, first of all, the sound of me chuckling to myself was breaking the silence little by little.
Still, it is static.
It is a heavy silence.
Beatrice’s three beats of strictness, solemnity, and sincerity clearly cracked. You may hear a ‘jjeok’ sound.
I don’t know, but at this very moment, wouldn’t her mind have gone blank in many ways?
So, I thought there would be no end to waiting for her, so I decided to open her mouth again.
“Well, let’s put that aside. “I still felt like we needed to talk about it.”
Anyway, I did pass it off as a bit of a joke.
I couldn’t just let it go without talking about it at all.
If we just leave it buried and move on, there may come a time when we become uncomfortable with each other.
So, even if I can’t reveal everything 100%.
It would be right to say what I can and what I want to say to them and move on.
I smiled brightly and sat down on the sofa first.
And then he turns to the others and says.
“Everyone must be tired since we just got back, but shall we sit down for a moment? “If it’s okay with you, I’d like you to listen to what I have to say—.”
Whoa whoa!!
Just like that, I was about to finish speaking. The sound of the impact rang out so hard that my voice was easily drowned out.
‘…… Uh.’
At the same time, my brain also took a bit of a beating.
Do you feel like it shakes up and down and left and right just once?
I fell under the sofa and looked up, and there happened to be a girl standing there.
…… So, this is the girl who was fuming as if she was very angry, but also had a complicated expression on her face as if she was relieved, with a relatively small amount of tears clinging to the corners of her eyes, perhaps because she thought she was glad that I was the same.
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“Hmm.”
I glanced at Beatrice carefully and smiled awkwardly.
“Did I play around a little too much?”
“…… Fool!!”
Pow!!
“Hundreds of millions.”
Beatrice immediately kicked me in the side.
It hurt a lot because it contained divine power.
This is the side effect of acceptance…… ?
Ahh look at this tsundere 🙄😵💫🥹