The Encounter Between the Forsaken Healing Magic’s Beloved Child and the Betrayed Black Dragon Princess of Calamity - 44

Chapter 44: Submit or Die, the Deadline Approaches

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“The deadline for the human countries to send their response after Klaus had threatened them to submit or die.”

“Ah…”

Now that he mentions it, we have that going on, huh… 

Hylics Empire was one of the nations that had received Klaus’ ultimatum. 

“Princess-sama, what would you like to do? The humans are likely trembling in fear right now.”

“Let’s see…”

Mer-san placed a finger against her lips, deep in thought.

“Gil-kun, what do you want to do?”

“Me…?”

“Yes. We couldn’t care less about the human nations, but you’re still a human and more importantly… This is the perfect opportunity to get back at those imbeciles for all the torments you had to go through.”

“…”

To be honest, I just wanted to forget my life before I was abandoned in the Dark Forest. I never wanted to see those people again. Back then, I truly believed my father was protecting me… That he was watching over me. Looking back now, I realized how foolish I was. If my father had really been watching over me, there was no way he would have let Madam Polke and the other servants treat me the way they did.

“…The only people who matter to me are Mer-san, Conrad-san, and Elsa-san. So, just like Mer-san, I couldn’t care less about the other humans.”

Meeting Mer-san’s gaze, I declared my feelings without hesitation. Of course, I had no desire to harm innocent people, but I didn’t care what happened to them as long as I remained oblivious. I just didn’t want to think or know about the other human. I… I just didn’t want to feel that way again. Not after knowing the warmth of Mer-san. 

“…Understood. Then, we will take care of the human nations on our own.”

“Yes. Please do.”

I bowed deeply to Mer-san. Not long ago, I had told her, ‘Hurting innocent people isn’t right’ and ‘You should see for yourself what kind of people humans really are before making any decisions.’ So, I believed she wouldn’t go around slaughtering people indiscriminately. At the very least, she wouldn’t do anything to those outside Hylics’ imperial palace.

And yet….

Everything will be fine… Right?

For some reason, I couldn’t shake this ominous feeling off. I clenched the front of my clothes and turned my gaze toward the east—toward the imperial palace.

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“Now then. We had an absolutely unnecessary interruption, but let’s continue your magic training.”

“Y-Yes!”

Pulling myself together, I once again tried to control my magic power to learn dragon magic. I had to master it—if only to rid myself of this ominous feeling gnawing at me. By the way, Conrad-san had left the castle together with Elsa-san after receiving Mer-san’s instructions. I was a little curious about that, but right now, I had to focus on mastering dragon magic.

But…

“It’s still not working…”

I could proudly say I had perfected the transformation of my magic power to match Mer-san’s, but for some reason, no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t get the altered magic power to activate. 

“This is truly baffling. Though, of course, the greatest mystery of all is that you’re able to create magic identical to mine so effortlessly.”

“I-It’s not that great or anything though…”

“Listen. I’ve told you many times. Fundamentally speaking, the nature of magic between dragons and humans are different. I know Gil-kun is amazing since you’re able to use a very high-level healing magic, but even someone as great as you shouldn’t be able to change your magic power similar to mine because of the nature of our magic.”

Mer-san leaned in closer as she spoke. I understood that, but still… Her face was way too close to mine. Good grief, she should be more aware of just how beautiful she was.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, if your magic power has truly reached the same quality as a dragon’s, then you should be able to use dragon magic too, just like us. If you can’t use it, that means there’s some sort of underlying issue…”

“I-Issue?”

“That’s…I don’t know what’s exactly the issue here either….”

I asked and Mer-san averted her gaze with a small pout. Mer-san was born from the strongest dragon family, the Fafnir. That meant using magic came naturally to her, as naturally as breathing. She didn’t even need to think about it. In some way, explaining how magic worked or what was necessary to cast it wasn’t exactly her forte.

“…It’s a bit risky, but how about I try casting magic through your body?”

“Cast magic through my body?”

If I could synchronize my magic’s quality with hers, then maybe, she could show me how it was done by channeling it through me in person.

“That sounds like a great idea!”

“B-But that also means I’ll be putting you in danger, Gil-kun. I will use the weakest magic possible, but still…”

Even though she was the one who made that suggestion, Mer-san didn’t seem pleased with the idea. Well, she always prioritized my well-being after all.  But…

“It’s fine. I can heal myself with magic anyway.”

“Gil-kun…”

But I was the same. I always prioritized her well-being, too. The reason I wanted to master dragon magic was all for her sake. So there was no way I was going to back down over something like this.

“…Alright. But if anything happens to you, we stop immediately. Understood?”

“Yes! Thank you, Mer-san!”

I grasped Mer-san’s hand and expressed my gratitude.

“Haa… I just know I’m going to keep giving in to that smile of yours…”

Mer-san let out a deep sigh as she rested her cheek on her hand. Her expression, tinged with melancholy, had an oddly seductive air to it. I could feel my face grow flushed at that.

“A-Alright then, let’s get started!”

“Ah-“

Embarrassed, I quickly took her hand and led her outside the castle, trying to hide how flustered I was.

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