BSS 102

Chapter 102

“Both of you, stop it! This is your final warning.”

“Ginny, but he started it!”

[Master! This poop‑colored lizard—!]

“Enough with the excuses. If you keep fighting, I’m not taking either of you.”

Magi, who had been gnawing down on Rai’s wolf ears, came running over with tears welling up as if she might burst into sobs any second, then smack—latched herself onto my leg.

Magi was a creature perfectly tuned to the modern concept of “weaponized cuteness,” having thoroughly learned that I was weak to adorable things.

“I don’t want that! Take me too!”

[Krrgh, a reptile trying to act cute!]

“Rai! I told you not to tease Magi! You acted cute when you were a snake too!”

[I’m cute no matter what, so I’m exempt!]

Ugh. Shameless to an impressive degree. Just like his owner, maybe.

“Anyway, both of you! If you don’t behave, the picnic is canceled.”

Their possessiveness toward me seemed to grow stronger the more they competed with each other.

You’d think it would cool off without a rival, but having someone to fight against only made the fire burn hotter.

Rai had always been like this, and Magi—being younger—clung to me like a child obsessed with a favorite toy, deliberately poking at Rai’s sensitive spots.

“Picnic!”

[Picnic!]

“Yeah, a picnic.”

Rai flapped his ears, still damp from Magi’s bite, and wagged his fluffy tail.

Since turning into a wolf, his emotional expressions had gotten even richer.

“If you behave today, I’ll tell you about human picnics.”

I bent down to pick up the ‘3rd‑Class Magic Theory’ book Magi had dropped and said indulgently,

“Ooh! What’s that like?”

“You pack lots of tasty food, go somewhere sunny, spread out a cloth, and eat together.”

“I don’t get it. What’s fun about that?”

“You’ll know once you try.”

At least we’re not eating me.

Magi should know that much by now. The hardest part of training her had been teaching her not to eat humans.

She couldn’t understand why she was allowed to kill but not eat them.

“Then go pack a lunch, Magi.”

“Okay!”

[Yes!]

…Hey, Rai. Why are you heading so naturally toward Magi’s treasure vault?

You were just fighting with her a second ago.

Seriously, where does he get that shamelessness from?

Magi’s lair had priceless items scattered everywhere, completely at random. Among them was an infinite pouch.

It was enchanted with spatial magic, allowing endless items to be stored inside, and no matter how much you put in, it always weighed about as much as a single potato.

If I asked for it, would she give it to me?

Why were there so many drool‑worthy items here?

I finally understood why humans risked their lives raiding dragon lairs.

I’d already pocketed more than a few treasures, but this one was especially tempting.

The absent‑minded dragon Magikos was Jin Crowell’s finest nutritional—no, treasure—supplier.

“Ginny! Is this okay for a picnic mat?”

What Magi brought while I was drooling over the pouch was a gaudy, patterned carpet hanging in a corner of the vault.

“A carpet? Isn’t it too thick? And it’s for indoors, not outside.”

“It’s enchanted with a Clean spell, so it never gets dirty.”

“That’s perfect. Yeah, let’s use that.”

A carpet with a permanent Clean spell! Dragon kids really knew how to apply magic creatively.

“This carpet has another function too.”

Magi said as she stuffed it into the pouch.

The palm‑sized bag opened wide enough for a person to climb into, its interior shimmering like outer space.

As long as you put something near the opening, it went in.

Human mages could create infinite pouches too, but the scale was completely different.

Despite the name, at best they could store something the size of a small room, and the weight wasn’t reduced at all, making them practically impossible to carry.

More like compression than true infinity.

“Really? The Clean spell alone sounds amazing.”

“That’s just a bonus. It’s actually a flying carpet!”

“Uh… those really exist? I thought they were only in fairy tales.”

Well, in this world, I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.

“But it’s uncomfortable. Flying with my wings is way better. It’s a useless function.”

“That’s because you’re a dragon….”

“Anyway, it’s perfect as a picnic mat! Mom keeps giving me useless stuff.”

So this was what being born with a dragon spoon in your mouth looked like.

Everything Magi dismissed casually was extraordinary by human standards.

While pondering how I might sweet‑talk her into giving me the pouch, I strapped it around my waist.

Inside were Magi’s carefully packed “lunch”—the tastiest parts of various monsters, meaning monster chunks—Rai’s gemstones, and the jerky I’d prepared.

“Looks like we’re ready. Shall we go?”

“Yeah!”

“Where are we going?”

“Where else, on a picnic— …Who are you?”

The cheerful “Yeah!” had definitely been Magi.

Rai was off to the side, staring with wide, empty eyes.

So then—who was the one behind me, asking coldly where we were going?

I stiffly turned my neck and quickly sidestepped.

In the treasure vault that had been empty just moments ago, a blonde woman stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at me with narrowed eyes.

She had appeared right behind me without me noticing even a trace of presence.

She was so flawless she could have been mistaken for a decorative statue, and so chillingly devoid of presence and warmth that she felt utterly alien.

Since she hadn’t risen from the ground, she must have used teleportation magic to enter.

She looked roughly my age, but her pointed ears suggested she was an elf—

“Ah? Mom!”

“…Magi, are you really my son, Magikos?”

Emergency.

[Emergency!]

Rai clearly thought the same.

My heart felt like it was about to seize and drop straight down. I could feel my thought process shutting off.

It felt as though all the blood in my body was rapidly going cold.

“What’s with the human form?”

“Ginny said she liked it.”

“Ginny? That human? You never listened when I told you to change forms.”

“Well, when you say it, I just don’t want to listen.”

How could I not be shaking?

Magi’s mother. A proper, fully grown Gold Dragon.

In other words—a boss monster.

Ah. So this is where my life ends. I saw no path to survival.

Even in human form, her overwhelming presence crushed me completely.

“And why are you here, Magi? I heard nothing from you for a while, so I came to check.”

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 personal taste, never secretly pocketed treasures from the vault, and I definitely never thought, He’s dumb enough that I might be able to kill him someday—

Aaaah! Someone hide me! Isn’t there a snake hole anywhere?!

Rai, what were you doing, not even digging a hole?!

This cave was huge, yet there was nowhere to hide. Pure despair.

“Oh! Lately, Ginny’s been teaching me magic.”

“Oh? A human teaching magic?”

“Yeah!”

“To a dragon.”

“Yeah!”

“And she’s not even a mage… looks more like a spiritist.”

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Each word stabbed into my heart like a dagger.

As her golden eyes narrowed dangerously, my heart felt like it was being crushed smaller and smaller.

The pressure was so intense I couldn’t move a finger.

So this was what it felt like to be prey cornered by a predator—an emotion I never wanted to understand this deeply.

“That’s right! Ginny’s top of the Academy’s Spirit Studies Department!”

I was the only student, so I was last place and first place at the same time!

It wasn’t a lie!

“I see. Let’s accept that.”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

Magi, being Magi, had absolutely no grasp of the situation.

“Why is a human here? Could she be a dragon hunter…?”

“She’s not!”

“I wasn’t asking you, human.”

No! I’m innocent! This is unfair!

I just shook my head frantically, my body rigid.

She smiled beautifully—but it felt like a blade pressed to my throat.

Her hair was a dazzling gold, like spun threads of light, straight and reaching down to her ankles without a single wavering strand. A beauty so perfect it felt unreal, like a painting come to life.

Ugh… I swear I can see a floral background behind her. Black flowers of death!

“Ginny? I kidnapped her.”

“Oh my! Magi, you did? Personally?”

“Ahem!”

Why are you proud of that?!

“And I went to two human countries in the Empire and took this many jewels and mithril! I did good, right?”

“My goodness! Our Magi can already do that? Well done, Magi!”

Right. Dragons.

“But still, Mother’s a bit sad. You could’ve just asked me.”

“I’m all grown up now. I figured I should supply myself.”

“Our Magi… such a good son. When did you grow up so much…?”

“And I can use all 3rd‑class magic now! Ginny said I’m a genius! A magic genius! Even that incredibly unlucky guy is called a genius too!”