Luce and Mikhail sat in the restaurant Mark had recommended and ordered a few dishes at random. Thanks to Mark, who had enthusiastically insisted on his favorite menu items after receiving a finder’s fee, they didn’t have to deliberate much.
Though it was considered a high-end restaurant, it was still just a small-town establishment. Luce nodded approvingly at the classic interior that retained a somewhat old-fashioned charm. It was the kind of atmosphere he liked.
Voices of cheerful chatter echoed from the surrounding tables. But at Luce and Mikhail’s table, silence lingered even as the food arrived. They were bound together by a shared wish, nothing more, and there was little for them to talk about.
Luce stole a glance at Mikhail’s face across the table. Just months ago, back at the Hildeke Cliffs, his complexion had been healthy—but now it looked a little worn. Probably hadn’t been sleeping or eating properly. With a listless expression, Luce idly moved his fork.
Then, Mikhail opened his mouth, his voice low and quiet.
“How do you plan on retrieving Adrian’s body?”
The food in front of him remained almost untouched. Honestly, Luce had chosen the restaurant out of consideration for Mikhail, who was human. But in the end, the man had only nibbled a few bites and finished a single glass of water.
Luce paused mid-bite and lifted his head.
“A plan?”
He didn’t have one.
Wearing a blank expression, he twirled his fork a few times before setting it down on the table with a clack.
“I’ll start by going to the place where he fell. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“There’s something that bothers me.”
Mikhail began cautiously, his fingers brushing along the rim of his glass.
“I wished to find his body, yes, but…”
He continued with a serious look.
“In truth, I don’t believe Adrian is dead.”
…What?
Luce froze at Mikhail’s resolute words. Frowning slightly, he stared intently at the other man’s face. For someone who had made such a bizarre wish to a dragon, he looked strangely confident.
“If he truly died, wouldn’t we have found his body by now? Or at least some sign of his death. But for him to vanish so cleanly… That’s not something Adrian could’ve managed alone. He was a commoner. He didn’t know any magic to erase or hide traces.”
More perceptive than I thought.
Luce had intended to grant the wish quickly and leave. He didn’t want to get involved with the Kingdom of Rustavaran any further. The problem was that some unfathomable force kept dragging him back to these people.
“Adrian was researching Ordinas. Because of that, he often talked to me about ‘destiny.’”
That I did. Luce nodded subtly as he listened to Mikhail. The gesture meant: go on.
“So…”
Mikhail hesitated, as if unsure whether to say what came next.
“So?”
Luce, now genuinely intrigued, urged him to continue.
“I wonder if maybe there was an accomplice—or even a group—who helped Adrian disappear. I’ve found out that there are people who deny all other gods and worship only Ordinas, the force of universal order. They believe everything is predestined. Of course, Kyle D’Baicia, who studied Ordinas with Adrian, insists that’s impossible.”
“…”
Luce felt his body instantly relax, the tension draining away at Mikhail’s nonsense.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief, though his lips twitched into a faint, amused smirk. The man’s theory was ridiculous, but also a little entertaining.
“…Maybe. Could be something like that.”
That was all Luce could offer. He remained silent for a moment, then set down his teacup and spoke again.
“I have somewhere I need to go. I’ll return to where you are—so don’t summon me again before then.”
You don’t know this, but getting summoned feels pretty damn awful.
Luce gestured toward Mikhail’s pocket. Inside was a dragon scale, faintly shimmering. Mikhail, with a sour expression, simply stared at the dragon across from him. He was clearly suspicious of Luce’s promise to “return.”
“Until your wish is granted, I’m bound by the influence of that scale.”
Luce shrugged lightly and wrinkled his nose. Only then did Mikhail slowly nod.
“As you say.”
Luce, who had been watching Mikhail with an almost affectionate amusement at his reluctant agreement, gave a slow, toothy grin.
He raised a finger in front of his face and gave a sharp flick. In that moment, a warm breeze stirred gently even inside the restaurant, then scattered into glittering golden particles that shimmered in the air before vanishing. Before long, only an empty chair remained across from Mikhail.
“Oh? Has your companion stepped out already? In that case, shall I prepare dessert for just one?”
A server passing by with a tray glanced curiously at the two teacups on the table and asked.
“No, I’ll skip dessert.”
Mikhail lifted his own teacup slowly to his lips, his gaze still fixed on the empty chair.
***
“Now, where did I leave that thing?”
The dragon flung aside a pile of random trinkets with a casual toss. He was deep inside one of the cavernous corners of his lair.
Clink! Clatter. A solid gold bracelet he had thrown tumbled through the air and rolled noisily across the rocky floor.
“Too much stuff really is a problem.”
After living for eons, even when he tried to cut back, it never lasted. Especially for a dragon obsessed to the point of madness with rare jewels, this storage hoard had become a glittering paradise.
That’s why finding anything in this mountainous heap took forever. Even his exceptional memory couldn’t help when the collection was this vast. I’m sure I left it here somewhere… Hm. Luce combed his golden-blond hair with his fingers, the strands glinting among the surrounding piles of gold.
“Aha!”
After digging through a heap of gleaming coins, something rough and unpolished caught his eye. Sweeping aside the gold and gemstones as if brushing off dust, Luce lifted the object.
“There you are.”
What he held in his hand was a small flowerpot. It contained nothing but black soil—no sprout, not even a stem. Buried within that soil, asleep, was a yet-ungerminated mandragora.
He carried the pot and made his way quickly out of the cavern.
Stepping out into the open, a quiet lawn and a peaceful lake welcomed the dragon. The warm sunlight poured down on the green grass, and small animals that had been frolicking there paused and raised their tiny heads in alert at sensing his presence.
Luce offered them a soft smile and a silent greeting with his eyes. Then, at a wave of his hand toward one of the garden beds bursting with herbs and blooming flowers, the soil floated into the air. A hole just deep enough to plant the mandragora appeared in the spot.
He tipped the pot, emptying its contents into the hole, then covered it with the lifted soil.
“A corpse, huh… This is the first time I’ve had such a picky wish.”
Tch. The dragon clicked his tongue briefly and rolled up his sleeves.
His nails were clean and neatly trimmed, but as his fingers moved with surgical precision, the skin split open like a knife slicing flesh, revealing red muscle beneath. Blood welled up slowly and traced along the curve of his arm. Luce shifted his arm, angling it over the pot.
Drip… drip…
The red blood from his wrist fell onto the soil in the flowerbed. Each drop seeped into the dark earth without a trace, as though nothing at all had happened. Luce watched it all with care before gently brushing his hand over the wound. In an instant, his wrist returned to its unblemished state.
“Well, using mana-made constructs would be obvious to any halfway decent mage, so I don’t have much choice.”
The contract with Mikhail had been sealed through dragon speech, anchored by the scale as its medium. It came with the condition that both the summoner and the wish-granting dragon had to mutually accept its fulfillment.
Sure, he could create something through magic. But constructs made of mana were always easy to detect. Mana naturally tended to dissipate back into nature—its original home—causing its shape to eventually break down.
No matter how powerful a dragon might be, a wish for something that didn’t exist in the world could never truly be granted. And of all humans, Mikhail was probably the only one foolish enough to make such a wish.
“Well, whatever. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.”
Luce shrugged. As he stood beneath a tree, eyes fixed in contemplation, a few small animals crept closer and poked out their heads in curiosity. They were trying to figure out just what was weighing so heavily on his mind.
Looking at the creatures with calm eyes, Luce began casting the same teleportation spell he had used when leaving the restaurant. Tiny shards of radiant gold mana gathered around him, swirling as they encased his form, before scattering like dandelions on the breeze.
Nothing remained where he had stood.
Only the white rabbits lifted their heads toward the sky, sniffing at the air as they tried to find the dragon who had only moments ago occupied that spot.
