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“That’s the story,” I said. “Do you know anything, Maouldoth?”
“Beats me,” the dragon grumbled.
Unable to hold back my curiosity any longer, I had gone to see Maouldoth, the only one who had known me as Lilybell.
Since we had both inherited mana from Master Alys, we were capable of using dark magic to message each other telepathically. In fact, he had been sending memos ever since our reunion: “Get over here.” “I could use someone to talk to.” “Um, are you ever going to come?” His tone had been growing increasingly meek, so I’d felt it was about time I paid him a visit anyway. He’d often summoned me like this during my Lilybell days too.
“But, uh, more importantly...huh?” Maouldoth’s eyes widened.
He clearly wasn’t listening to what I was saying.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“What’s with that?”
His gaze was directed toward Lord Felix, who was waiting for me in the distance. I’d planned on coming here alone on horseback, but Lord Felix had accompanied me out of concern that a monster might appear.
Tee hee! In spite of his stiff and scary exterior, Lord Felix actually has a kind heart and is quite the worrywart! It’s too bad I have to make him wait all the way over there, but I can’t have him hearing this conversation about Lilybell.
“Is there a problem with Lord Felix?” I asked.
“Huh?! Isn’t it obvious? Ugh, it’s creeping me out! How dare he? Seriously, yikes!”
“What...?”
I had no idea what the issue was, but Maouldoth was growing more upset by the second. What could possibly be bothering him so much?
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“Huh?! Isn’t it obvious? Ugh, it’s creeping me out! How dare he? Seriously, yikes!” I yelled without thinking.
I’d called for Lucille countless times, and just when she’d finally showed up, I saw that.
Th-That Felix guy smells like Lucille’s mana!
I was trembling with shock. Do you know how hard it is to make a dragon tremble? Long ago, there was a saying that a twitch of a dragon could destroy an entire country. Hinako, the most eccentric of Lilybell’s owners, had recited it with a grin.
What else did she say? Something like “D’aww, how precious. Precious little cinnamon roll Lilybell’s got the legendary dragon all shook.”
Hinako’s vocabulary had been so unique that most of the time, I’d had no idea what she was saying. I assumed she’d meant that I was the strongest of all time and extremely cool, while Lilybell was small and needed to be protected.
Anyway, the point was that I was very surprised.
Back when Lucille had been Lilybell, the humans that clung to her had always poured their mana into her. It’d been out of love. Even a dragon like me could understand that much. And since I’d been beaten, named, blasted, tied up, and sealed by those humans, I had a bit of their mana too.
As much as I hated to admit it, those guys hadn’t been normal. Plus, since Lilybell had been with them, I hadn’t been able to unleash my full power. Indeed, if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have played nice with them. I mean, she was so small. A single roar from me would’ve sent her flying, right?
At any rate, that was what made Lucille’s and my mana special. We had a bunch of weirdos’ mana mixed into ours. Lucille had a lot more of it than I did, but it wasn’t a matter of quantity. I quite liked having this in common with her, and now that her owners were gone, it was supposed to be just the two of us with this mana composition.
But some of it got in that damn Felix guy too!
Boiling over with frustration, I asked Lucille why I was sensing her mana in him.
“Oh, it was quite the predicament. Lord Felix collapsed from mana exhaustion, but because of his curse, other people couldn’t transfer mana to him. So I did it instead,” she said nonchalantly.
Lucille had always been like this, even in her Lilybell days. She never hesitated to share with others. She did it casually, not motivated by special feelings, reasons, or obligations. She was used to people giving things to her, so it was easy for her to pay it forward.
I knew this. I’d always known this. But still!
Even I don’t deserve Lucille’s mana! It’s not fair that he gets to have it!
Outraged, I threw myself to the floor with all my might and released the most pained scream I could muster.
“Aaaah! I’m injured! It hurts! Lucille, I need your mana!”
For my act, I referenced Lilybell’s most cowardly owner, Conrad. That guy hadn’t wanted to fight because he was weak, so instead, he’d invented a bunch of crazy contraptions. He wouldn’t show his true colors in public, but in front of me and Lilybell, he’d never been anything but useless.
I’d swallowed my pride to imitate that weakling, but Lucille only looked at me strangely.
“Huh? Don’t your wounds heal instantly?” she asked. “How would you have even injured yourself just now?”
“No! I can’t heal! It hurts!”
“Why are you lying to me?! Besides, forget giving you my mana, I’d rather have yours! It smells good, and the bite of your tail that Matthew fed me was delicious too.”
“Gah! I told you to never look at me like that ever again!”
I still had nightmares about the time they’d eaten the tip of my tail. Master Alys might have been the scariest of Lilybell’s owners, but Matthew had been the most heartless. The only reason I’d let it slide was because of the way Lilybell’s eyes had sparkled when she’d remarked on how good it tasted.
Lucille stared at me and said, “Come to think of it, your mana must be very powerful, right?”
“What?” Why is she stating the obvious? I’m a dragon; of course it is.
“Hmm, now I’m curious! Maouldoth, give me some of your mana!”
“Huh?!”
No sooner had she said that than she jumped at me and chomped onto my tail.
Are you kidding me?! How many times have I told her not to think of me as food?!
Oh, wait, she’s sucking my mana out. Seriously, what’s with her? I know cats play like this, but I’ve never heard of a human play-biting a dragon.
I looked over and saw that Felix seemed surprised and appalled by Lucille’s behavior. Suddenly, I felt amused.
Hmmm? I bet Lucille’s never bitten you, huh? Let alone eaten you!
Now this was a good feeling!
“Your mana tastes good too,” Lucille murmured in awe.
“I told you before, I’m not food!”
Lucille stepped back, satisfied. A very, very tiny bit of my mana had been transferred to her. Now, I was a powerful dragon with powerful mana, and powerful mana had a strong scent. In other words...
She smells like me...
“H-Huh? Well, I guess this isn’t so bad. Heh heh! He doesn’t have this, and Lucille doesn’t have his mana either! I suppose I can forgive you this time!”
I rolled around in glee.
Heh heh heh! So that’s how it is! If you wanted my mana, you should’ve said so earlier!
Lucille left with Felix on his horse, just like last time. It was a shame that ordinary humans couldn’t smell mana.
Well, I feel bad for him now, so I’ll let him be my minion. That way I’ll barely be able to tolerate him having a bit of the same mana as I do. Just barely.
That night, I once again dreamed of being eaten by Matthew.
“For the last time, I’m not food!”