The Encounter Between the Forsaken Healing Magic’s Beloved Child and the Betrayed Black Dragon Princess of Calamity - 47

Chapter 47: I Will Show Her My Dragon Magic

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“Gilbert-sama.”

“Ah…”

Elsa-san suddenly appeared in the courtyard. It seemed my secret training session had been discovered. 

“E-Ehehe… Elsa-san, what brings you out here at this hour?”

I tried to play it off by laughing nervously, but I knew my effort was in vain. Elsa-san would definitely tell me on Mer-san if she knew that I had been training in secret.

She… She knew what I was doing here… Right?

“…I have nothing to say, but… Please take better care of yourself, Gilbert-sama. Your body is no longer yours alone.”

“Ugh…”

For now, it seemed Elsa-san was willing to let it slide, but she was chiding me sternly. Her gesture comforted me, but at the same time, I was reminded once again I had to reflect more on my actions so I wouldn’t worry her. 

“Well… It’s just… I’ve managed to use dragon magic, but I still need to fine-tune it. I’m sure everything will be fine if I just practice a bit more!”

I clenched my fist with determination as I said so to Elsa-san. After all, the reason why I was training this hard was to avoid making everyone worried about me. 

“…Then at the very least, please refrain from training alone. We don’t know what might happen during your training session and if you absolutely must train late at night, please allow me to accompany you, Gilbert-sama.”

“But… If I do that, I will be inconveniencing you, Elsa-san…”

“Please don’t worry about that. I don’t mind staying up the night. If something were to happen to you, Gilbert-sama… I… That would’ve been more unbearable to me.”

Although I still felt hesitant about accepting Elsa-san’s offer, she was right. It wouldn’t be good to make her worry about me while I train. 

“All right then… Elsa-san, I’m sorry, but could you accompany me during my training?”

“Understood.”

I bowed a bit at her and Elsa-san placed her hand on her chest and returned the gesture with a bow of her own.

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“HOT-?!”

With that, I continued training in order to master dragon magic. However, I still couldn’t control my magic power properly. My right hand ended up suffering from a severe burn. I healed it with recovery magic every time, but this wasn’t getting me anywhere. The only saving grace was that the dragon magic I was practicing,【Flamme】, required surprisingly little magic power, so I could keep using it repeatedly.

“Haa… Maybe it’s impossible after all…”

Letting out a heavy sigh, I slumped my shoulders. Even though I had managed to use dragon magic, I still couldn’t control my magic power properly. Mer-san and the others would continue to worry about me if I kept injuring myself like this. In that case, I couldn’t really say I had mastered dragon magic. 

…At the very least, I wish I could hide the wound from everyone even if I get hurt….

The only reason I was fixated on controlling my magic power was because I didn’t want to make Mer-san and the others worry. Personally speaking, this kind of pain was nothing to me. No matter how many times I got hurt, I could just heal it with healing magic anyway… 

“E-Elsa-san?!”

Suddenly, Elsa-san took my right hand and stroked it gently, almost as if she was trying to stroke the pain away. 

“Gilbert-sama, you tend to push yourself too hard. Right now, you have the same expression as back then…”

“B-back then…?”

“During the ‘Royal Selection,’ when you endured that powerful breath attack from Reiner.”

Now that she mentioned it… I really did something reckless back then. To keep both of us from being annihilated by the attack, I had tried to heal the wounds faster than the damage Reiner’s attack could inflict on us and…. Ah!

“That’s it!”

“Ah.”

The realization finally hit me. I released Elsa-san’s hand and turned my attention back to the target wall. This time, I grabbed my right wrist with my left hand. 

If using dragon magic is going to injure me anyway, then I just need to heal the injury before it becomes a problem. That way…  At least physically speaking, it will look like I’ve mastered dragon magic perfectly. 

“【Flamme】!”

I chanted the spell and a massive fireball burst forth from my right hand. At the same time, a small light enveloped my right hand, healing the burn. The fireball hit the wall, melting and gouging a chunk out of the wall. 

Of course, there wasn’t any burn mark left on my right hand. 

“Elsa-san!”

“Magnificent work, Gilbert-sama.”

I turned around and smiled at Elsa-san. In response, Elsa-san also smiled back at me. 

Good. It seems she doesn’t notice that I’ve used healing magic to heal myself. With this… I can stop worrying Mer-san.

“Alright! I’ve got to practice more and more!”

Of course, I still had to practice so I would be able to use dragon magic without relying on healing magic. I couldn’t afford to skip training. And so, I continued casting 【Flamme】 over and over again until I finally ran out of magic power.

“Ahaha.. I think I’m a bit tired…”

I collapsed onto the ground with a soft thud since I didn’t even have the strength to stand. However, the sense of accomplishment from successfully using dragon magic left me in a great mood. 

“…Dragon magic or not, please don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Ahaha… I-I’ll be more careful.”

Elsa-san said, her gaze sharp and unwavering. I gave her a sheepish smile in return.

I-I guess I tend to not know when to stop when I get too engrossed  into something. 

“A-Alright! Then, Elsa-san, thank you so much for staying with me!”

“It is I who should thank you. Witnessing a human like yourself master dragon magic is truly an honor.”

“A-Ah… It’s not a big deal or anything though…”

Wobbling to my feet, I bowed at her. It was a little embarrassing to hear her praising me so highly like that. 

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave.”

Parting ways with Elsa-san, I was on my way back to the room where Mer-san was asleep… Or so I thought. 

Is that…?

In the shadows near the castle’s entrance, I spotted two crimson glimmers watching me intently. There was no mistaking it. That must be Mer-san. So she noticed that I had sneaked out of the room for training. She had been watching over me all this time, just like that…

“Hehe…”

The warmth in her gentle gaze filled me with happiness and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. 

I’m sure she’ll pretend like she doesn’t know anything, so I’ll play along and act none the wiser. And then… I’ll show her….

The dragon magic I’ve mastered to protect the woman I hold most dear.

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