BSS 104

Chapter 104

“……Haha, the kids really get along well.”

“They do.”

“They’re full of energy too, aren’t they?”

“Well, for a spirit to have eaten a Dragon Heart, of course it’d be bursting with life.”

Adelaide, a wyrm-class dragon over five thousand years old, said that although her son Magi had committed countless foolish mistakes over the years, the worst of them all was feeding a precious Dragon Heart to a metal spirit.

And she often gave me pointed looks because of that incident, which felt terribly unfair to me.

No! If it was that precious, you shouldn’t have entrusted it to your idiot son in the first place. It’d have been better to give fish to a cat!

If it had been something that could be spat back out, I was sure she would’ve demanded it back—but by then, it had already become part of Rai’s flesh and bones.

Rai was a spirit, but that much was true.

The Dragon Heart had completely melted inside him, suffusing his entire body from head to toe with its distinctive, dazzling golden glow.

From time to time, Adelaide would rub at the corners of her eyes while looking at Rai’s glossy sheen.

As if holding back tears.

“Well, we really should be going now! Rai, that’s enough.”

[Hey! Let’s settle this next time!]

“That makes it 423 wins for me, so I win!”

[That’s 424 losses!]

“No, it isn’t!”

Adelaide and I each grabbed one of the two idiots by the back of the neck and, out of long familiarity, pulled them apart before they could clash again.

“Human, I am grateful that you taught magic to my son Magi.”

“Oh, not at all.”

I was just doing my best to survive, that’s all.

“But if you were to spread word of that among humans—”

“I won’t! Absolutely not! I swear on Rai’s life that I won’t!”

[Huh? On me?]

“Good. I think you’re a clever human, so I’ll trust you. And since it’s true that I owe you a small debt, I’ll give you a gift for the journey.”

A gift!

The word gift immediately piqued my interest. I’d heard that when dragons repaid a favor, the scale was on a whole different level.

Treasure so abundant it wouldn’t be depleted even after ten generations used it,
a supreme divine sword forged from a dragon’s claw,
or armor made of dragon hide—lighter than a feather and harder than mithril.

Of course, all I’d done was tutor Magi, so it wasn’t like she’d give me anything that extravagant, but still.

“If you want to get out of the forest, you’ll need this. To humans, this place is vast.”

What Adelaide tossed to me with her usual cool expression was a round object of unknown origin.

I barely managed to snatch it out of the air before it hit the ground.

“What did you give her, Mom?”

“A compass.”

…Huh? That’s it?!

“I’m grateful, but… this compass only has a needle. There are no direction markings?”

Shouldn’t it at least show north, south, east, and west?

I might be bad with directions, but even I knew that much.

“That isn’t an ordinary compass. It’s Rubao’s Compass.”

Just hearing the name was enough.

There was no doubt she’d sacrificed someone again to make this dragon magic tool.

Just like Toka’s Orb—dragons really did treat other races’ lives as worthless as bugs’.

Are we magic ingredients or something?!

“Do you know of an ancient mythical beast called Rubao?”

“Of course.”

“Hm?”

“Ah, no, I mean—I’ve never heard of it before.”

“It’s a type of bird that’s now extinct. They say it could hear the voice calling to it from anywhere. In particular, it was highly sensitive to the call of the heart, so lovers would share a mated pair. This compass is a magical tool containing the soul of one such Rubao.”

So in a world without phones or even pagers, it was a remarkably useful creature.

As I stared at the compass, I seriously wondered if I should hold a small memorial rite for it.

“The reason there are no direction markings is because this doesn’t find paths—it finds people.”

“People…?”

The compass looked quite old.

Its surface was a faded green, and atop it, a single golden needle was pointing to my right.

In that direction stood Magi.

“It has the power to guide its holder to the nearest ‘one who longs for them.’”

“By ‘one who longs for me’… you mean someone who misses me?”

“Yes. Dragons are included too, of course.”

Following where the needle pointed, I walked toward Magi.

I turned my body, looked in different directions, but it continued to point unerringly at Magi alone.

“That wasn’t how I originally intended to make it, but the refinement failed a bit. Now it only responds to longing.”

“That’s fascinating.”

“Still, since it guides you to someone who wants to see you, it should be enough to get you out of the forest.

If you follow where the needle points, you’ll find a human who knows you.”

Someone who longs for me…

Given how I’d lived my life, no one immediately came to mind.

Maybe my parents in this world?

They were always writing letters saying they missed me. If I followed the needle, would I escape this vast forest and meet them?

Or would it lead me to the academy first?

“So I can’t know who it is beforehand?”

“That’s right. Just think of it as taking you to the closest acquaintance. You might end up meeting someone you’ll be happy to see after a long time.”

“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

Rubao’s Compass—somehow it felt like a good item and not at the same time. A very subtle gift.

“But right now, it’s only pointing at Magi.”

“Stroke the compass together with Magi. Magi, touch it.”

At Adelaide’s words, Magi placed his hand on the compass I was holding.

The needle suddenly spun around several times before pointing in a completely different direction.

It seemed to have found someone else who knew me—and wanted to see me.

“Who do you think it is?”

“You’ll find out when you get there.”

I nodded slightly.

At first, I’d thought she should’ve just given me a map—but I wouldn’t have known how to read it anyway and would’ve gotten lost. In that sense, this might actually be better.

At least I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my way while leaving the forest.

I was already curious about who I would end up meeting.

“Human, then let’s meet again in twenty years.”

“Yes! Twenty years from today.”

“Magi really is naïve. Making such a foolish promise. At that interval, you’ll be dead after meeting only two or three times.”

“……Hahaha!”

“Well, it’s fine. It’ll be good for Magi’s emotional education. Losing a cherished pet usually makes one mature.”

Could you please treat me like a person?

Or is that pointless, since dragons look down on humans in general?

“It’ll also be a chance for him to learn that humans die quickly.”

“Mom! I want to do that thing with Genie. That thing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know! Giving humans treasure!”

“Ah, that. This is how you do it. I’ll demonstrate, so you can copy it later.”

I really wished they’d just let me leave already. I wasn’t some kind of training animal. This was unpleasant.

“Human, congratulations on surviving a dragon’s lair.”

“It is kind of impressive, right?”

“From the gem vault over there, you may take as many jewels as you can carry in one trip.”

“…Jewels!”

I take back what I just thought! Being a training guinea pig might be worth it!

“You may fill both hands, or stuff them into your clothes. It’s our gift.”

I knew this!

I’d read it long ago in a fairy tale. Was it a dragon’s trial?

In that story, humans swallowed gems, tore their clothes to wrap them up, and mages levitated jewels with magic—but couldn’t maintain their mana until the end, so they ended up receiving nothing.

The lesson of the story was that if you refused the jewels, the moved dragon would fill a magic pouch with gems for you instead.

“You’re a spirit contractor, so you may use your spirits.”

“…You won’t regret this, right?”

“Of course not. A dragon does not go back on its word.”

“You won’t get angry even if I take a lot, Lady Adelaide?”

“Do you think us stingy? Take as much as you can.”

At Adelaide’s solemn assurance, a triumphant smile spread across my face.

Adelaide didn’t know that Rai’s fundamental ability was absorption.

Well, she’d never had a reason to see it!

All she’d ever seen was Rai spitting out special alloys. She didn’t really know what a metal spirit was capable of!

“Let’s go! Rai!”

[Shlrrp.]