Chapter 33

“It was fun, but this is the end,” Luke said with a smirk, preparing another warrior spell. “Dark Bla—”

“W-w-w-wait!! Wait a second, please!!”

Luke’s sword halted right in front of the ice dragon. The release of pressure from the mighty swing sent dirt and dust swirling up into the air.

“…What are you playing at?”

“I-I-I-I offer a…f-full sur…r-rend…er…” it choked out.

The dragon kept its head down, tail wrapped around its legs to make itself as small as possible. It was the ultimate mark of respect from a dragon—a show of obedience.

***

Dragons were, quite rightly, seen as the strongest beings in the world. They had scales that were tough as armor, fangs and claws that could easily rip through steel, and wings that let them soar through the sky. Not to mention their myriad other special abilities, such as their breath attacks and free use of magic spells.

Typically, dragons were solitary creatures. They barely even raised their young, and a dragon hatchling would be cast out of its nest after one or two years. Some species simply left their eggs unattended entirely and let them fend for themselves.

The ice dragon had never met its parents, nor did it have any interest in them. It was born into the world roughly two hundred years earlier and never doubted for a moment of its life that it was the strongest being in the world. Every single aspect of its environment served as proof of that fact, after all. The dragon went wherever it pleased, or wherever the wind blew it. It killed anything that bothered it even a little and lived its life gathering whatever treasures took its fancy. At a certain point, the dragon found that nobody dared to oppose it at all anymore. Dragons were the ­strongest of all the races, after all. Nobody in the world could stand against an ice dragon, master of elemental magic.

And then, unexpectedly, its world was turned upside down. The reversal came quite suddenly when, one day, the dragon sensed that someone was drawing close and slowly opened its eyes to observe the intruder.

A human.

The ice dragon felt intense disgust and irritation at their presence.

This human has disturbed my sleep. For that alone, they deserve a thousand deaths.

Just as the dragon arose in order to kill the intruder, the sound of a whistle wormed its way into its ear. The dragon didn’t know it, but it was a magic tool called a “Whistle of Domination.” It had been developed independently, not by any state or kingdom but by a certain organization.

Shiver.

The ice dragon’s body trembled, just slightly. It did not know the name of the emotion it was feeling—it did not care to know. With draconic senses far more honed than any human’s could ever be, the dragon detected the danger that, by rights, should not even have been there. It felt as if the inside of its head was dyed black and a part of its mind was being peeled away, ripped from it. Eventually, the ice dragon came to the realization that the emotion it felt was fear.

This human…it is trying to overtake my mind.

It cannot be. It is not possible. A mere human would never be capable of such a thing.

“ Grrraaaaaah!! You…you damned humaaan!!”

With a bloodcurdling roar, the dragon resisted with all its might. However, despite this, the human’s foul magic continued to eat away at the monster’s consciousness. It had no time to launch a breath or magic attack against its assailants. The dragon knew that all of its energy had to remain focused on simply resisting, or else its mind would be overtaken in an instant.

Long years of research and constant revisions and improvements had finally yielded results in the Whistle of Domination—a magic tool capable of dominating the strongest race in the world.

“Brilliant…it worked! Arthur’s going to be happy about this!”

And yet the whistle’s control was not absolute.

***

The ice dragon had seen humans as nothing but an irritating nuisance, like little buzzing flies. To a human, an insect was nothing; to a dragon, a human was nothing. One was simply on a completely different level from the other.

It is simply that they irritate me. That is why I kill them. That is reason enough. All other beings are inferior to me, and that truth will never change , the dragon had always thought.

“Slash.”

“Graaaaaaah!”

The dragon’s worldview was smashed to dust. The monster had never felt such intense pain before in its life, and its thoughts immediately turned to death.

“Double Slash! Triple Slash!”

“Graaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!”

In an instant, the onslaught completely blew away the dragon’s arrogance and confidence in its own supremacy, and a part of its mind was shattered.

No more. No more. No more.

I don’t want to die…I don’t want to die…I don’t want to die.

It wanted to call out, desperately clinging to life, but the next swing of the sword came before the ice dragon could get the words out. To the dragon, wallowing in the depths of despair, the human flying above him looked like a demon. Time slowed down to a terrifying pace.

“Dark Slash.”

“Graaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

If the ice dragon had, in its past, been blessed with stronger enemies to fight—those who could have granted it a degree of tolerance to pain, made it less complacent—then the result might have been different.

The pain that Luke inflicted upon the ice dragon that day was the first it had ever experienced—and was so intense that it changed the monster’s personality, thinking, and value system completely.

It was something of a rebirth, one might say.

A switch was flipped, and the ice dragon was born anew into a world where pain and death were possibilities to be feared.

I have to apologize…I have to apologize…I have to apologize…I have to apologize…

I have to apologize!

It was its urgent priority.

I was being too full of myself. I’m sorry. I mean it. I’m really sorry. If I apologize hard enough…over and over again…then maybe, just maybe, he’ll forgive me.

Such was the dragon’s fading hope.

…Huh?

Mercilessly, the human’s sword continued to gather light. As it grew ever larger and more terrible, the dragon had a horrible realization:

Ah, this is going to hurt even more, isn’t it? I see…augh! N-no…no, I can’t take it!!

“It was fun, but this is the end. Dark Bla—”

“W-w-wait!! Wait a second, please!!”

The dragon had never used the word “please” before. It had never been so polite and was surprised at how naturally the word rolled off its tongue. Understanding its own responses as a survival instinct, the dragon kept its head down, tail wrapped around its legs to make itself as small as possible.

The dragon felt the wind pass over its body as the sword thankfully came to a stop mid-swing.

I don’t care what comes next, as long as it’s not that awful pain. I just don’t care.

It was pure self-abandonment.

“…What are you playing at?”

“I-I-I-I offer a…f-full sur…r-rend…er…”

The dragon lowered its head to the human.

Perhaps once, before it knew pain and fear, the ice dragon would have twisted its face up in disgust, bitter tears in its eyes due to the humiliation. But it did not do so now, however. The only feeling the dragon felt wash over it was intense relief that the attacks had stopped and a little bit of embarrassment that it had stumbled over its words when offering its surrender.

Luke looked down at the ice dragon, who trembled pitifully before him, and took a moment to consider how the situation could be best used to his advantage.

“Your name.”

“E-excuse me?”

“I am asking if you have a name,” Luke repeated.

“Y-yes! Yes, I do!”

Luke briefly wondered why the dragon kept stumbling and repeating itself, but decided to ignore it.

“What is it?”

“K…King of, um, th-the World…”

“Huh?”

“Aaah, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It was so presumptuous of me!”

Luke raised an eyebrow silently.

Is this thing trying to make a joke, or what?

Incidentally, the name was one that the ice dragon had chosen for itself rather idly one day. It had no need for names and had only thought it up while killing time, but it ended up taking a liking to the moniker. The dragon truly believed that it was king of the world in which it found itself, after all. At least, it did until it encountered Luke.

He looked at the dragon with suspicion. The monster was incapable of reading the subtle differences between human facial expressions, but with its superior mental faculties, it sensed that the human before it was in a bad mood. It felt as if Luke had a hand around its heart.

No. Stop. This is no good at all.

The ice dragon’s mind began racing.

“R-r-r-right, yes…I will think of a new name.”

“Hmph.”

The ice dragon couldn’t think of a new one on the spot, but it resolved that the next name it chose would be as humble as possible.

The wonderful name “King of the World,” I will give to this human. I am sure he will like that. It will show him my respect.

But just as the dragon was about to tell him that, the human spoke:

“Mwa ha, I have decided. You can serve as a mascot for our domain.”

“…Huh?”

Luke had finally found a way to repay the large debt that he owed his father. Family or not, he did not wish to be beholden to anyone. He struck on the idea of using the ice dragon as a mascot for the Gilbert domain, to bring further prosperity to their lands. He was sure that a rare elemental dragon would draw crowds, and much wealth would come as a consequence.

“For the rest of your life, you will serve as my pawn to bring prosperity to these lands. Agree to this, and I will spare you,” Luke sneered. “You will serve the humans that you once despised. I expect it will be a humiliating ordeal for you, but in exchange, I will not take your life. Am I not generous? Mwa ha ha.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll become your pawn!”

“Ha ha…huh?”

Luke was a little confused. Just like that, then? He’d ­expected a pained look of deep indignity paired with some sort of internal struggle, but the dragon took no such emotional journey. In fact, it seemed enthusiastic—even a little bit impatient—to become one of Luke’s pawns.

“Oh, and I will also be stripping materials from you,” he said, assuming an intimidating demeanor once again. “You dragons have incredible regenerative abilities, no? Then I’m sure you won’t mind if I regularly harvest your claws, teeth, and scales? Mwa ha ha ha! Aha ha ha—”

“Not at all! Nothing would make me happier than to have my flesh be of service to you, master!”

“…”

Luke blinked in confusion. He had no guilt over what he had suggested, but he was aware that the proposal was insulting. That was part of the reason he’d made it, in fact. The ice dragon still seemed enthusiastic, though.

I don’t get it.

“Then as a mark of our new fellowship…” began the dragon.

“Wait…h-hey, what are you doing?”

“Hyaah! I cut off my tail as an offering… It will quickly grow back, after all.”

“…I see. I don’t need a tail just yet.”

“Ah, uh, understood.”

“…”

Luke’s confusion deepened.

What’s with this sudden transformation? This dragon was trying to kill me a few minutes ago, calling me a “mere human” and everything.

“You aren’t attempting to deceive me now, are you? It is no use. I am going to use Contract magic to make you my familiar and ensure your full cooperation, of course. Mwa ha ha…I expect you were waiting for my guard to slip, so that you could a—”

“It would be an honorrrrr !”

Luke couldn’t even begin to form a response to this.

So long as I live, I will never be an enemy to Luke again, the dragon silently vowed to itself, and the very thought filled it with deep satisfaction and joy.

“Please! Let’s perform the spell at once!” it cried.

“S-sure…”

Luke set to thinking again.

Am I missing something? I mean, this has to be a trap, right?

But how would it be? He analyzed the situation, trying to imagine what plan the dragon might have in mind, and came up with nothing—and that in itself made the whole situation that much more unsettling. Luke genuinely hesitated for a moment over whether this was really a good idea. Finally, he gathered his mana and cast the spell.

“Contract: Familiar.”

A giant magic circle appeared around Luke and the ice dragon, producing a flash of blinding light. Contract magic was a non-elemental sort of magic that only functioned when both parties were consenting. The amount of mana required for a contract depended on the severity of its terms, but in this case, the process went incredibly smoothly.

The two gazed at each other for a moment as the Contract magic took effect. Luke knew precisely when the invisible bond had fully formed—through their new connection, he felt the monster’s acute desire to serve him and saw the genuine and absolute loyalty within its heart.

“I swear to serve you, with all that I possess!”

“…Hmph.”

Luke was tired of doubting. He climbed aboard the creature’s back and instead turned his thoughts to the development of a new Gilbadian delicacy…something involving roasted ice dragon tail.

He then returned to the adventurers who had been watching his battle from afar. He truly looked like a hero of old as he approached, a dragon rider soaring majestically through the skies. The moment Luke landed, a cry of victory exploded from the crowd, and many fists were thrust up into the air in a display of both relief and congratulations.

***

“Ah…yep! This isn’t gonna work!”

“Impossible. Super impossible.”

Away from the throngs of onlookers, Canis and Ferris had also watched Luke’s battle against the ice dragon from start to finish. Their shared expressions were ones of relief, as if some terrible spirit that had been haunting them had finally been banished.

“We did our best…but there ain’t nothing we can do about that, eh? End of the line,” chuckled Canis. “We’ve got two choices, I think, yeah? Either we just run away as far as we can…or, well…”

“…”

As in everything they did, Canis and Ferris planned their next move to ensure the future of beastling kind.