Ep 43. Do You Know My Name? (8)

  Beyond the clutter of items on the old wooden table, Serenis could spot a peculiar bck cloth, hiding the item beh. It was what she’d been looking for ever sining into this b – a faint, familiar feeling tugging on her senses, as if a fragment of herself was standing before her.

  But before unveiling its identity, the dragonlord spared a brief gnce over to the others.

  “Ilias. Take Light and the animals with you outside. And the men that have turned back.”

  “Outside? What about you?”

  “There are things I must still see to here. But with all the animals retrieved, you and your sister have no reason to remain.”

  “…Light?”

  When the red dragon turo the half girl, Light turo the animals at her feet. Many of them were rubbing their heads against her legs, and even more were softly pushiowards the exit.

  ‘…I came so te, didn’t I. Even though I knew you guys were still here all along…’

  For years, Light had pretehat this pce did . She’d cut her ties and suppressed the memories, pretending to be a normal girl like any other. If she hadn’t seen what her friends had turned into, and if Ilias hadn’t been with her to apany the half girl here, maybe she never would’ve mustered the ce to return.

  But despite the half girl’s guilt, the animals seemed to pay it no mind. Children from all sorts of species whimpered at their parents, simply eager to leave the foul b with their families.

  “…Yeah. We should go. I’m sure there’ll be people to help us outside.”

  When Light rose back up, all the b animals excitedly ran towards the exit, waiting for the half girl to lead them outside. She spared the dragonlord a curt grin.

  “…Should I be worried about leaving you here?”

  “I’d be more worried about where to take your friends.”

  “Pft…don’t bme me if you get lost on the way out.”

  Given her friend’s identity, their occasional jerk-like behavior was starting to make seo Light. It was the epitome of those ky dragons that appeared in storybooks.

  And Serenis was right; this isn’t where Light wao be. With everyoo apany her outside, it was no longer where she o be. They’d saved what animals they could, and other enforcers would eventually reach this pce to apprehend the doctor arieve Iris.

  Ilias made an apologetic smile to Serenis as she quickly picked up the three unsen in her arms.

  “Lord Serenis, I…would stay, but…”

  “Go with your sister. I’ll be along shortly with our enforcer here; her wounds will ending before she’s moved.”

  The red dragon spared a brief gowards the unsage on the chair, then towards the doctor. His sullen eyes resentfully stared at the animals leaving the b with Light, but his broken legs didn’t allow him to do much other than cw at the floor. And even if he could move, there didn’t seem to be anything he could do to threaten the dragonlord.

  “…Alright. See you soon.”

  After the brief goodbye, Ilias quickly followed her little sister outside as her footsteps grew further and further.

  The doctor desperately began to crawl across the floor. His legs dragged behind him as he crudely made his way towards the door.

  “, wait! D, daughter! My children…!”

  Another small g noise reverberated throughout the b as a metal rod formed out of thin air and smmed into the doctor’s skull, knog him out cold. Serenis couldn’t be bothered to elect a nicer way to silence him.

  “Sleep. It’ll be over when you’re awake.”

  The dragonlord finally returned her gaze to the cloth. She swiftly uncovered it, and the dim light of the dle illuminated what had been hiddeh.

  The removed fabric revealed a pendant, embedded with a blue jewel that was cracked all over – as if it had been pieced together after shattering. Parts of it were chipped at, likely by the doctor himself who’d sampled small pieces to mix into his cos.

  It was the kirium pendant the institution used for their mock duels. A used o that.

  Serenis briefly recalled her duel with Gio, but she failed to recall any moment where she’d used a star-aspected spell. In fact, the headmaster had shattered the pendant himself before the stone had collected any of her mana at all.

  ‘When did this…?’

  Then, her memory fshed a little further back – to the day she had awoken in this body, being assaulted by a human child holding a twig. At the end of that duel, the dragonlord had bsted the child with rays of light to scare him.

  Rays of light, raining down from…

  “…”

  ‘It made sehat star-aspected mana would meet the ditions for this supposed ‘mana evolution’. I was curious where a human would’ve obtai, but…to think someone would piece a used spell back together…’

  Serenis scoffed at the sight; she wasn’t sure whether to call the doctor’s efforts diligent or stubborn. She didn’t even know how the pendant had ended up in his hands, but as far as she was ed, he could’ve dug it out of a trash .

  The dragon snatched the pendant into her hand, this time iing it to dust within her grasp. Not a single fragment remained as the mana scattered into the air, diluting into a pure, natural state.

  ‘Now, with that aside…’

  When Serenis turned her gaze to Iris, she could see Iris’ pale red eyes silently studying the dragonlord.

  And when their eyes met, the enforcer finally elected to open her mouth.

  “…Zion.”

  “Were you awake? One moment.”

  The dragon nontly approached the enforcer to stand behind their chair, physically undoing the ropes keeping Iris in pce. Ohe bindings were undone, Serenis examihe wounds on Iris’ body, only to find them rapidly healing ba their own. The injuries regeed at unnatural speeds while emitting a faint blue light from the enforcer’s magic, soon disappearing without a trace.

  “It seems you don’t require aid?”

  “…Not at the moment. Were you pnning to use a healing spell? Your duel with Gio was a sight to behold, but I didn’t think you’d also be versed with recovery magic.”

  “I do not know how to heal your wounds, I only meant to prevent them from worsening. Also…were you present during that event? I do not recall seeing you.”

  “I was. But that matters little right now.”

  ‘Does it? I’d rather like to know why you remained silent all along when you were perfectly capable of intervening.’

  Serenis swallowed the words as Iris firmed her body to be funally normal, rising to her feet. Her usual workface returned, along with her stern, questioning eyes – and they were staring right into the dragonlord beside her.

  “Zion. I realize we’ve already gohrough necessary procedures, but I must ask you again. Are you really…human?”

  Serenis indifferently stared back at Iris. The enforcer had tested this before, and there was nothing that should be giving her identity away in appearance. Even Ilias had struggled to ascertain the dragonlord’s identity with her tied hair and ck of draic features.

  “I am. As you’ve already proven.”

  “…Before today, while your achievements have beeraordinary, they were still within the realms of a genius. I’d long itted myself to disregarding the strangeness of your aptitude in magic. However, the mana you seemed to absorb from the doctor’s beasts…and the fact that a dragon refers to you as ‘Lord Serenis.’ I ot let these slide.”

  The dragonlord slowly turned away, uo meet the enfaze. She’d thought Iris to be unscious all along, but clearly, Iris had been long awake siheir arrival.

  ‘A foolish mistake. I suppose it’s far too te to cover her eyes now…’

  After a long pause followed by a sigh, Serenis turo face Iris once more.

  “My inal name is Serenis.”

  “And you’re a dragon. Correct?”

  “…Yes, as you seem to be predig, I am not truly a human. I am of the dragonkin.”

  “inal name…is your humay a stolen one? Where is the real Zion?”

  “Before you. It is not one or the other; I am dragonlord Serenis, as I am a human named Zion.”

  “…What?”

  “I’m afraid I ot tell you much more, for I simply do not know better. This is how it was when I came to.”

  “…”

  ‘Zion’ was an individual firmed to be human through a kirium spell check. At the same time, it was an individual with insensible amounts of mana, an unorthodox usage of magic for a human person, a calm demeanor unfitting of their age, and an appearahat tio remain altered indefinitely in a rather feminine form.

  ‘Logically, it makes se’s a logical expnation.’

  But logically, a human person couldn’t simultaneously be a dragon.

  “…Why…how e you’re disguised as a human student in the first pce?”

  “To learn about the divine and to meet these entities.”

  “The divine?...The Twelve? There’s no guarahat disguising yourself as a student will allow you to meet a deity.”

  “Perhaps you have a better alternative in mind then?”

  Iris shut her lips. A few ideas came to mind, none very practical.

  “This disguise may be pointless, but hearing cursory knowledge and chasing fraudulent rumors are still a better alternative to doing nothing.”

  “…Why do you want to meet the Twelve in the first pce?”

  “To liberate this star.”

  “…Pardon?”

  “I wish to liberate this star. I wish for a world without the divio oppress others.”

  ‘And ter, I wish to tell my brethren that our deaths weren’t in vain.’

  It was impossible to tell if the enforcer was taking the remark seriously with her unging expression. She instead shook her head, denying the thought altogether.

  “…The Twelve do not oppress us.”

  “Is that an unwavering ant? Or simply your wish?”

  “…”

  “All rulers are proo corruption and depravity. A human king at least be dealt by humans. If these deities were to suddenly decide that your species are to be eradicated, what you lot possibly aplish?”

  “…That’s a pointless jecture. Why would the divine suddenly decide to eradicate mankind? No such thing could happen.”

  “I would love to agree.”

  Anh escaped the dragon’s lips as she closed her eyes in refle.

  ‘I, too, wish it ointless specution. I wish there was a reason behind why the First deemed the demonkin unworthy to live. A reason…’

  For what it was worth, dragons had survived through the millennium. Even though no other demon tribe had survived, Serenis’ own tribe had survived the bloodshed. It was their lord’s duty, then, to guaraheir survival – to care for her children, to eliminate even the smallest possibility of their dreaded history repeating again.

  “I wish…there was a reason behind it all.”

  Iris studied the dragonlord with a perplexed gaze. Her eyes were muddled with doubt, but given her position, she couldn’t bring herself t off their words as a senseless fear.

  “Then your status as a student…was solely to meet the deities? To elimihem?”

  “I ot say. I do not know how these deities yet came to be, and what I do thereafter will be decided once I know of their in. But to know, I must first meet them.”

  The mage let out ay ughter at the dragon’s remark.

  Things were finally starting to make seo her. Not much sense, but still some.

  “…I’m still finding this hard to believe.”

  “Then don’t. It’d be far more ve if you chose not to.”

  “I’m afraid I ’t do that either…friendly or not, dragons are still a potential threat to us. Especially if it was their lord.”

  “And urpose would that serve? I do not oppose mankind.”

  “…A questioatement, but I’ll take it. If you’re not keen oroying us, then could you lend a hand with ing up the mess here?”

  “You won’t . You have plenty more hands on the way.”

  “? More hands?”

  Serenis gowards the operace of the b. She could hear a series of footsteps rapidly growing closer; leading them a short distance away was a rather familiar presence.

  “…They must’ve met halfway.”

  ? ? ?

  A few minutes ago…

  “Uh…what is all this?”

  “Um…you see…well…”

  Rghf?

  Nyan?

  Chirp?

  “…We’re…um…lost animal friends?...”

  Light stammered to ahe enfort sector’s agent who was curiously studying the group of animals behind the half girl. They’d only made it halfway out of the als until they entered the huge group of mages.

  The agent slowly drifted his gaze from the half girl to the dragon followihree bodies were ly piled on top of her shoulders.

  “…Are those people you’re carrying, miss?”

  Ilias darted her gaze from the questioning agent, then at Light, then back at the agent.

  “Oh wait, you’re talking to me? Uh...yeah! They couldn’t walk, so I’m carrying them outside.”

  The agent squinted his eyes as he noticed the familiarity of the people being carried by the red dragon. When he approached her to ihem closer, the agent could make out their identities.

  “Wait, this is…James Welsh? William Keller? These are people who’ve been missing for months!”

  As the group of mages began to mutter amongst themselves, a peculiar enforcer pushed through their midst, walking up to the front. His hand was firmly gripping on his bandaged side, limping forward using his staff as a e. He first firmed the missing individuals being carried by the dragon, then the half girl orriedly looking at him.

  “Move, let me see. What’s going on? How’re you guys ing from the inside? All the sewer gates should’ve been under surveilnce.”

  When the dragon found herself lost for words, Light began stammering out an answer iead.

  “…Sorry, we…snu…”

  “Snu? What happened in there?”

  “Uh, everyone here had turned into monsters…but my friend turhem back using magic. He told us to leave first and that he’d be right along, so…”

  “Friend? Friend who? What’s their name?”

  “Zion. He’s my friend at the institute.”

  “Zion?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “…My little brother Zion?”

  “Uh…huh?”

  “…”

  “…?”

  “…Where is he right now?”

  Praybird

  [colpse]