Abandoned in the mountains, I was adopted by a lizard ~I mastered magic and surpassed my parents, but I didn't know they were legendary ancient dragons~

Chapter 44.4 The rabbit’s return

The morning after Ian thanked me, I woke up feeling a strange presence. Curious, I peeked out the window.

I saw a girl standing in front of the house door. She had bright red hair tied into twin braids, bunny-like ears on her head, and two carrots sticking out of her braids.

…Seriously? Is this trespassing? And why does she have carrots in her hair?

What a way to start my first day here…

She didn’t seem particularly strong when I checked with detection magic, but I still approached with caution and opened the door.

As soon as the bunny-eared girl saw me, she bowed deeply.

“It’s been a while! I’m the rabbit whose lifespan you extended!”

…Wait, what?

“My natural lifespan was extended, and I learned how to transform into a human, so I’ve come to thank you!”

At first, I was puzzled, but her words triggered a memory.

She must be the rabbit I used as a test subject for the lifespan extension magic before I tried it on my mom.

“Oh, no need to thank me…”

After all, I used you as a test subject. Accepting thanks seems wrong.

I was about to decline her gratitude, but…

“Please accept this!”

With those words, the girl yanked the two carrots out of her hair and handed them to me.

“These are called Light Thunder Carrots! They make you super fast when you eat them!”

Her eyes were filled with determination, and I felt that refusing her gift would only make her sad. So, I accepted the carrots.

“Carrots that make you super fast, huh?”

“Try taking a bite.”

I followed her suggestion and took a small bite. Instantly, something strange happened.

The bird I had been watching in the distance seemed to slow down to a near standstill. And I hadn’t used any time manipulation magic.

Curious, I took a few steps. As soon as I did, the bird’s movement returned to normal speed.

Then, something even more extraordinary happened.

A massive tornado formed right behind me.

“What…!?”

Thankfully, the mansion’s sturdy design kept it from collapsing, but just in case, I used time regulation magic to return the building to its pre-tornado state.

“Oh, if you eat these and move too fast, the shock can stir up the atmosphere, so be careful.”

Yeah, thanks for the late warning. These carrots might have limited use. If I’m not careful, I could end up causing a disaster myself…

But then I had an idea.

I remembered reading an ancient text that described a way to move with minimal air resistance. The tornado had formed because of the sudden disturbance in the atmosphere. If I could move using the techniques from the text, maybe I could avoid creating such disturbances.

I used storage magic to pull out the book and quickly skimmed through it. Then, I took another bite of the carrot and tried various movements.

Using barrier magic as a foothold, I moved around both on the ground and in the air. When the effect wore off, there were no signs of tornadoes or any atmospheric disturbances.

Success.

“You seem to have overcome it.”

“To think you can do something like that… Truly, you’re the person who extended my lifespan!”

Honestly, the impressive thing is the walking technique left behind by the great people of the past. Well, for now, it seems like this could come in handy in more situations, so that’s good.

“Oh, and these only grow two from my hair each year, so please use them carefully!”

They grow from her hair… That explains why there were carrots sticking out of her hair. I really didn’t need to hear that.

Well, leaving that aside… Is this girl planning to give me all she harvests? They seem so precious; I feel a bit guilty after having used them so casually earlier. Knowing how to use them properly is crucial, though.

I stored away the remainder using storage magic. Time stands still inside storage magic, so it should be fine even with a bite taken out.

“Thank you so much for coming all this way.”

“No, it’s all thanks to you for extending my lifespan!”

After thanking her again, the girl with rabbit ears bowed once more.

Then, she suddenly said this:

“By the way… This mansion is really great! Could I possibly live here?”

…Huh?

“Of course, I won’t ask for it for free. I’ll do all the housework and take care of the house!”

What is this girl saying?

Could that possibly be her real purpose?

That’s what I want to say, but honestly, it’s not a bad deal.

Ian did say to leave the payroll to him, but going to contract maids is just too much trouble…

To be honest, this seems like perfect timing.

“Do you really want to live here?”

“Well, it’s so stylish and luxurious!”

…Do rabbits really value places like this?

Well, maybe it’s the influence of the humanoid magic she learned after her lifespan was extended. I’ll just not dwell on that too much.

◇◇◇

Chapter 45 A coincidence during practice

After finishing the paperwork for the rabbit girl’s employment and having lunch, I finally headed to the Inferno Continent to meet Francois.

As I approached the continent’s coast and slowed down for landing…

“Brother! I’ve been waiting for youuuuu!”

Below me, Francois was waving her hand wildly, her face beaming with a huge smile as she came to greet me.

“Hey, long time no see. It’s been about a year, hasn’t it?”

“Of course not…”

“Oh, and here comes the human form! Your dragon form is cool, but this is your true form, brother!”

She started narrating as I undid my dragon transformation. It’s embarrassing, so please stop.

“Well, let’s head a bit deeper into the continent.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing how this mock battle goes!”

We switched to using the Great Seitan’s cloud for transport and moved further inland. Having a mock battle near the coast and causing a stampede would be a serious dereliction of duty.

We descended from the cloud in an area slightly deeper into the continent than where I first fought the Great Seitan.

“Alright, shall we get started?”

“Yes, sir!”

To set up the initial positions for the mock battle, we moved to a certain height above the ground using barriers as footholds.

“Alright, let’s get sta—”

However, just as I was about to give the signal, something strange caught my eye below.

“…What’s that?”

What I saw was a creature that seemed to be an ogre type with impressive horns. The creature was violently scratching its throat and coughing uncontrollably, writhing in pain.

“What’s up? Oh, that one? That’s a Gold Horn.”

While I was engrossed in watching the creature, Francois, who had stopped positioning herself and come closer, provided the name. But that wasn’t what I wanted to know.

“Why is it suffering like that?”

I was more concerned about the symptoms. As far as I knew, there wasn’t any disease that made ogre-type monsters exhibit such symptoms. What could it be?

“Ah, those symptoms are caused by the Seitan Virus.”

Apparently, Francois knew the nature of the disease.

“Seitan Virus?”

The only “Seitan” I could think of was the Great Seiten, but could it be related?

“It’s a technique used by the Great Seitan. The Great Seitan has the ability to create nano-sized clones from its hair. These clones enter a creature’s body and produce a toxin called Seitan Toxin while multiplying, acting much like a virus. That’s why it’s called the Seitan Virus.”

As Francois explained, I realized the Great Seitan possessed such a technique.

“I’ve never had that technique used on me…”

“Well, if it targeted you with its instant-kill attacks, it wouldn’t have the time to use its hair.”

“What about when I fought it with the rapid-fire Dragon Flash, or when you were fighting it?”

“Dragons have immunity to the Seitan Virus. So the Great Seitan doesn’t use the Seitan Virus against dragons. In your case, since you used the Dragon Flash, it probably recognized you as a dragon and didn’t use it.”

“I see.”

“…So that’s how it is.”

I nodded in understanding. It was interesting to know that there could be an immunity to the virus.

“Let’s observe it a bit.”

I surrounded myself with a special anti-physical barrier called a Molecule Channel, which only allows nitrogen and oxygen molecules to pass through, and approached the Gold Horn. Using various analytical spells, I examined the mechanism of action of the Seitan Toxin and the natural immune response of the Gold Horn.

“Why are you making such a serious face, Aniki?”

“It’s nothing major. Just a little observation.”

While talking to Francois, I cast an analytical spell on her as well, identifying the antibodies in her body that were effective against the Seitan Virus. Using alchemy magic, I replicated these antibodies and administered them to the Gold Horn.

“Cough… cough…”

The frequency of the Gold Horn’s coughing started to decrease, even if just slightly. The antibody treatment seemed to be working.

“…But this is…?”

At the same time, the Gold Horn began to show what appeared to be side effects from the antibodies.

Though these side effects were not part of the primary effect (i.e., curing the Seitan Virus), they weren’t harmful. In fact, if this could be applied to humans, it could be extremely beneficial.

This could be a fortuitous discovery. I decided to continue experimenting a bit further.