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Chapter 5
It had wings, and although it was red…
A lizard was still a lizard.
As Cecilia stood there blankly staring downward, the lizard shouted at her.
Or rather, it let out what sounded more like a squeaky, deflated yell.
“Ahem! I am a proud member of the Fire Dragon clan, and I turned one hundred forty-one this year!”
For a moment, Cecilia’s mind went blank.
A dragon only became an adult at one thousand years old.
Which meant that, in human terms, a hundred and forty-one years old was roughly equivalent to a three-year-old child.
Mezina… was being ruled by a three-year-old dragon?
Completely oblivious to her thoughts, the lizard—
or rather, the Magic King of Mezina—
loudly scolded her.
“You ungrateful wretch! I took you in when you were destined to die, taught you everything, and this is how you repay me? By trying to destroy my country?”
Cecilia couldn’t help protesting.
“Destroy it? I only damaged the detection network a little…”
“Damaged? Damaged?!”
The lizard trembled violently, and its body turned purple.
“You destroyed the entire detection network, drained all of my magic power, and even tried to kill me—and you call that damage?”
“…?”
Her mind blanked again.
She was definitely hearing human language, yet none of it made any sense.
What… did I do?
There was no way.
Cecilia had spent all this time at the Guardian Tower learning how to control her magic.
She was so much stronger than the other apprentices that only her master, Branto, could properly train with her.
But she had never thought that was strange.
Branto had told her that he had seen countless cases like hers before.
In fact, unlike the other apprentices, whom he often let off lightly, Branto never overlooked even the smallest mistake she made.
I didn’t even use a quarter of half the magic I normally use during training!
Cecilia felt genuinely wronged.
Sure, Mezina was ruled by a three-year-old dragon, but who could have guessed that such a tiny amount of magic would destroy everything?
“I’m finished. It’s all over. Mezina is doomed! W-Waaaaah!”
The little dragon covered its face with its wings and burst into loud sobs.
“Um…”
Cecilia spoke cautiously.
“I never intended to kill you. I don’t want to destroy Mezina either.”
“…”
The dragon stopped crying for a moment.
Then its body turned purple again.
“Don’t say such carefree things…!”
“I’ll help repair the detection network.”
“You think this is about the detection network?! Because of you, we’re all going to die! Me, and all of Mezina! Sniff… Poor Jameshu… He makes crème brûlée for me every single day…”
“Crème brûlée? That sounds delicious.”
Cecilia unconsciously licked her lips.
The food at the Magic Tower tasted far too healthy, so simply hearing the name of an ordinary dessert was enough to make her mouth water.
“Not anymore! Because of you!”
“But… why?”
“Because the Emperor of Linek is going to invade and kill everyone!”
Silence followed.
Cecilia opened and closed her mouth several times.
It was as though lightning had struck her.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Who was chasing me?
The Emperor of Linek.
Why was Mezina cooperating with the Linek Empire?
Because the Emperor had threatened to conquer Mezina if they failed to hand Cecilia over.
“…Good heavens.”
As Cecilia muttered quietly, the dragon reacted furiously.
“So you finally understand! That’s right! Because of you, we’re all going to die!”
“Is it really that serious?”
The mages of Mezina were powerful.
Even if the empire invaded, it certainly wouldn’t become a one-sided battle.
“You truly know nothing.”
The dragon sighed in disbelief.
“That man… the Emperor of Linek. He can kill me.”
“…?”
Cecilia blinked.
A mere human…
could kill a dragon?
As far as she knew, the Emperor of Linek was nothing more than an ordinary lecher with no special powers whatsoever.
He could only control the fate of the empire because of his bloodline and authority.
If he faced a dragon with nothing but his own body, he would be reduced to ashes in an instant.
“I underestimated him because he couldn’t even use magic… and then he held a sword to my neck and threatened me!”
“A sword can’t kill a dragon.”
Dragons were not creatures that could be killed so easily.
Even if Cecilia herself cast magic far stronger than a dragon’s own, it would only weaken the dragon—not kill it.
Though… that does seem to be your current condition.
The dragon cried out indignantly.
“What would you know?! You’ve never experienced it yourself! That man made a contract with a demon!”
At that moment—
An indescribably intense emotion overwhelmed Cecilia.
More than fear…
It was anger.
Or perhaps…
More than anger…
It was fear.
I thought… I had finally become strong enough…
And yet…
All of it had been meaningless.
Still, no one could have predicted something like this.
Throughout history, countless people had attempted to summon demons in pursuit of overwhelming power.
In theory, such power could rival that of an adult dragon.
It was undeniably tempting.
But every single one of them had died.
The last recorded attempt had been fifty years ago.
Yet now the Emperor himself had made a contract with a demon…?
Something must have happened.
He already possessed all the power anyone could desire.
There was no reason to gamble with his own life.
The panicked little dragon apparently hadn’t considered that possibility.
Cecilia continued calmly.
“So that’s why you tried to hand me over.”
Now she understood.
If she had been in the dragon’s position, she probably would have reached the same conclusion.
After all, sacrificing one person meant saving an entire nation—and your own life.
Cecilia bit her lip.
Even an Archmage could not hope to defeat a demon.
Especially if she fled straight into the Linek Empire, which had likely become the demon’s stronghold.
That would amount to delivering herself directly to the demon.
Maybe that was his goal all along.
Whether she was captured in Mezina or in Linek made no difference to the Emperor.
While Cecilia was lost in thought—
“Y-Yes… That’s it! Exactly!”
Cecilia blinked.
The dragon’s voice suddenly sounded strangely full of excitement.
“You… should be perfectly capable of killing that man.”
Cecilia looked at the little dragon.
Poor thing.
The pressure must have finally driven it insane.
The towering spires of the imperial palace, stretching toward the clear blue sky, trembled all at once.
The elite soldiers guarding the palace exchanged anxious glances.
Minor earthquakes were practically an annual occurrence, so no one found them unusual.
But every citizen of the empire lived with the fear that one day a truly catastrophic quake might arrive.
BOOM!
The instant the deafening explosion echoed through the palace, soldiers and servants alike fled in terror.
Until—
A woman appeared.
Her hair, cold and radiant like moonlight reflecting off fresh snow, flowed behind her.
The unforgettable beauty of her face was wrapped in a brilliant blue aura.
Everyone instinctively understood.
This slender woman…
was the source of the tremors shaking the entire imperial palace.
A strange little lizard was curled around her wrist, but no one paid it any attention.
“What are you all doing?!”
The commander, finally recovering his senses, shouted.
“Form ranks immediately! Those wicked Mezina dogs are nothing we can’t defeat!”
“…Heh.”
A clear look of mockery appeared on the woman’s face.
“Wicked people of Mezina? It was the empire that threatened those who only wished to live peacefully. How shameless.”
As she raised her hand, every soldier found themselves completely unable to move.
Their bodies were paralyzed.
Even their tongues became stiff, leaving only silence.
Then—
One young soldier, the only person who had not been paralyzed, threw himself flat onto the ground.
“P-Please spare me! I’ll do anything!”
About a minute passed.
Though to everyone present, it felt like an eternity.
Finally, the woman spoke expressionlessly.
“Tell the Emperor.”
Her voice was as cold and unyielding as a perfectly forged steel blade.
“The Cecilia Keres he wanted so desperately…”
“…has returned.”
