Chapter 66
“Let me introduce you. This is Yumia. She’s the top first-year student at Reinhart Magic School.”
“James P. Millennium. It’s not exactly a family name to be proud of.”
Even if you say that, I still wouldn’t know.
“He’s the empire’s best staff maker. He doesn’t make them often, but my staff was made here too.”
Isabel said, looking at James.
“So you’re the next head of House Valentine. I remember you. That blue, noble mana.”
“So, you’re saying you’ll make my staff!”
“Of course. In fact, I’d like to ask you to do it for us.”
He pushed everything he’d been working on aside.
“I’ll perform a simple inspection.”
The inspection that followed after that was anything but simple.
He drew blood and dripped it onto various magic circles, and even had me try to squeeze out dragon mana.
He had me demonstrate every spell I could use, including basic magic, and even put me in some contraption that spun me like a human centrifuge.
The conclusion was this.
“Your body is very sturdy, and as a result your mana has become sturdy as well. The dragon part is the deciding factor, though there seem to be other factors too.”
So basically, I was just strong.
Being strong is a good thing, huh.
It’s just a shame that whenever I’m in front of Adrian or Karnarov, I end up turning into a total weakling.
“Your potential is also excellent... You said you want a staff that can use dragon mana?”
“Yep.”
“Dragon mana is very different in nature from ordinary mana. And your mana is gradually mixing with dragon mana.”
“So?”
“That means you can use mana that has the qualities of both your own mana and natural mana. It has both the flexibility of self-mana and the toughness of natural mana.”
I nodded.
Honestly, I didn’t understand.
“Do you want a staff you’ll use for the rest of your life, or one you’ll use only for a time?”
So, whether I wanted a temporary staff.
Or a staff I’d use for life, right?
Got it.
“Wouldn’t the lifelong one be better?”
“Either one can be made. However, for a lifelong one, there are issues with price and other matters...”
“If it’s a matter of cost, that’s already been taken care of.”
Karnarov said flatly.
No, just how much money does that old man have?
A staff that costs even a few dozen gold can break after a few blasts of dragon mana.
And he was readily offering to buy one that could withstand that.
“I’m not worried about that either. Between House Karnarov and House Valentine, we can afford it. However.”
“However?”
“There’s another problem.”
“What is it?”
“It requires dragon materials. It’s uncertain when any will come up for sale, and when it’ll be completed.”
“Hmm.”
This time, even Karnarov seemed deep in thought.
Isabel’s expression turned serious too.
The problem was that they didn’t have any materials on hand right away.
“There is a way, though... I don’t recommend it.”
“The student undergoes a dragon’s trial.”
“A trial?”
“A trial?”
Isabel explained.
“All dragons are bound to humans by an oath, so they have to grant humans trials. Humans who successfully pass the trial can ask the dragon for something.”
“There happens to be a dragon living in the western forest.”
“We already knew there was a dragon of that level living in Reinhart, but... if it’s that dragon’s trial, that should be more than enough.”
I made a troubled face.
“Right, it’ll be hard. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
Isabel said, trying to reassure me.
No.
I always end up getting things from them, so it’s hard to ask for more...
Every time I went there, I got dragon-blood transfusions, and on top of that I was getting all kinds of other things too.
‘If I take any more, my conscience might not survive...’
All I ever give them in return is modern food or entertainment.
If I got a staff too, by the law of equivalent exchange I might have to provide a game console or something.
It looked like I couldn’t take the trial in someone else’s place.
“What’s the trial?”
“That cannot be disclosed. Still, you’ll have to take a dragon’s trial someday anyway. Doing it now might not be a bad idea.”
“Right. It might be better to get it over with quickly! If your rank is low, the trial can sometimes be easier!”
“Have the professors done it?”
“We already have. It was rather... filthy.”
Maybe that’s just because Professor Karnarov’s personality is filthy.
I briefly entertained that irreverent thought, then erased it.
Today, Professor Karnarov was a god.
The professor suddenly seemed to think of something and raised his eyebrows.
“Wait, did you say dragon materials?”
“That’s right. Anything that contains dragon mana and can be used as a vessel is fine.”
“You’ve got some.”
“Pardon?”
“What? You had dragon materials? Why didn’t you tell me!?”
Isabel also seemed a little desperate for dragon mana.
Dragons suddenly started looking pretty enviable.
Just from rubbing the grime off them, gold coins would be pouring out.
What kind of insane species was that?
“Some time ago, I exchanged dragon materials for liquor from the Magic Tower’s treasury. It was practically a forced sale, but not a bad deal. I got three scales.”
Ah.
So that’s how it had come full circle and ended up here.
‘...Wait.’
Then Karnarov had, in the end, gained nothing from it, had he?
The liquor was drunk by Adrian and me, and the scales went into my staff...
...Let’s not think about it any further.
James said with a bright smile.
“As expected of House Karnarov. These days, dragon materials are almost never in circulation, and you managed to secure some.”
Secure...?
I didn’t really know what that meant, but I decided not to interrupt.
I’ll never know where that liquor came from for the rest of my life.
That’s just how it is.
“By the way, don’t you guys have any stashed away?”
I asked James.
It’s a magic-item shop, right? Then you’d have materials stocked away too, wouldn’t you?
“Dragon materials are volatile, so if you don’t use them within a few decades, they disappear.”
“And lately it’s even worse because dragon activity has been declining. Sigh...”
They’re more of a pain in the ass than I expected.
If you don’t release them onto the market, the price goes through the roof, and they can’t be preserved either.
I briefly thought that maybe becoming a dragon wouldn’t be so bad.
No, giving up being human would be a bit much.
“For now, let’s proceed with what we have.”
“If that works for you, I’ll have it sent by next week. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to work with dragon materials.”
James’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm.
“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Of course.”
* * *
After that trip to the magic-item shop, I ran to the western forest.
I had something I wanted to ask, and last time when I brought him fruit, I’d asked him to tell me about the final exam.
Damn it, Karnarov.
You even used your unique magic on the final exam.
I’m going to tattle on you like crazy.
“Something like this happened.”
I explained what had happened to Adrian.
“Heh, that guy Karnarov went all out on the final exam?”
“Only on me, though.”
When I stepped out of the inventory, I was so shocked I nearly died.
Honestly, I had my doubts, but I never expected him to actually go through with it.
Adrian asked me with interested eyes.
“Really? That guy’s unique magic must have been insanely tricky. How did you deal with it?”
“I won! Well, I only held out for five seconds.”
“I knew it.”
Adrian gave a captivating smile.
Adrian seemed pretty pleased that Karnarov had gotten a taste of his own medicine.
“Karnarov really was strong.”
“He was incredibly troublesome.”
“If you fought him, who would win?”
“Most of the time, I’d win.”
Meaning, if variables came into play, I couldn’t say for sure.
...What kind of monsters are these people?
Thinking that, I bit into one of the chocolates I’d brought.
It had a bittersweet taste.
I gave some to Adrian too, and they seemed to like them quite a bit.
Since earlier, Adrian had been munching on them whenever there was nothing to do.
“Oh, right.”
“Hmm?”
“I was going to ask you about the trial.”
Adrian chewed on a chocolate and looked at me in confusion.
“Huh? A trial? What’s th— ah.”
Adrian reacted as if they had suddenly remembered something they’d forgotten.
Huh.
It seemed like a pretty important thing for humans.
Why the hell doesn’t this guy know about it?
“It’s just a way to legally chase humans away!”
“...What?”
“In exchange for taking the trial, humans stop causing trouble for us.”
“It wasn’t important?”
“It’s not that important to us. If we didn’t have even that, guys like heroes would come after us with swords.”
...I didn’t want to hear that kind of backstory.
“Can I take one too?”
“What for? Big sis can produce basic materials too!”
“What?”
“Big sis is about one-tenth dragon now too!”
...This guy was casually dropping shocking things like it was nothing.
“Still, I do want to see Ivan now that he’s become a professor, so come get it. I’ll prepare a special gift just for you, sis.”
Ivan, huh... that was Karnarov’s first name.
...I had the faint feeling the family tree was seriously tangled.
I’ll have to come pick it up later.
* * *
In front of the dorm room door.
I received a parcel.
A very large, handsome wooden box.
It was well polished, with not a single splinter in sight.
I carried the wooden box into my room.
“W-What is this!”
Aris shouted in surprise.
I opened the box with anticipation.
It opened smoothly, revealing what was inside.