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chapter 465
Chairman Shin Hanji, since her magic had already been exposed, seemed to decide she might as well share what she knew. She called in Woo Jimin, as well as Chloe and her attendant, to her room.
Then she pulled some cosmetics out of her bag and showed them.
“Lately, this is the brand of cosmetics I’ve been using. It’s been around for about 150 years, and it’s famous for having no side effects.”
“Oh, I use that too.”
“Even though it doesn’t cause side effects, I felt its moisturizing effect was a bit lacking. That’s why I use this one.”
“Ah, yes, that brand is famous. Once you use it, people say it’s hard to switch to another. But did you know that if you use it for too long, there are side effects?”
The other women, seeing Chairman Shin like that, also pulled out their cosmetics and began talking about which were effective, which had side effects, and so on.
‘… That’s all fine and good, but why are you doing this in our room….’
The problem was that the place they chose to talk about it was the room Alex and I were using.
Shouldn’t they be having that conversation in their own rooms?
“Um… Artist.”
“Hm?”
“Maybe we should step out.”
“……”
Alex said that while glancing at the women, clearly lacking the courage to tell them to leave.
Thinking that, I stood up and addressed the women.
“If you’re going to have that kind of conversation, could you do it in another room? I’d like to rest.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Forgive us. Please rest.”
At my words, the women packed their things and left the room.
Alex, seeing me like that, looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
“As expected of you, Artist…”
“This isn’t really me being great, I think you’re just being too timid.”
I was simply exercising the rightful authority of a room’s occupant.
… Though if Alex had been the one to say it, maybe they wouldn’t have listened.
‘Still, Alex isn’t someone to be underestimated….’
It’s only because the people around him are so outstanding that he sometimes seems overshadowed. But being the world’s first dragon tamer is by no means a small title. Even if he did receive help from others in the process.
“Come to think of it, Alex.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve heard that recently, more mages are taming dragons after following your example. Hasn’t anyone ever brought their dragon to challenge you?”
“Oh… that?”
Alex gave a wry smile.
“There are plenty who contact the Ironblood Guild, insisting their dragon is far stronger than Fafnir. But ever since last year, when Fafnir fought another dragon in China, he hasn’t battled another one.”
“Last year in China… ah.”
There had been that incident where a cult abducted Alex to China to show off the strength of a dragon their mage had supposedly tamed.
Of course, that mage had only barely managed to forcibly tame a dragon that only looked impressive on the outside, so Fafnir easily defeated it.
Still, for Alex and Fafnir, who had been the victims, that incident must have been close to traumatic.
“You okay?”
“It’d be a lie to say I am. That’s why I reject all requests for dragon duels. Isn’t that right, Fafnir?”
He summoned Fafnir as he spoke.
“Kyuu?”
“(You don’t really want to fight other dragons, do you, Fafnir?)”
“Kyuu!”
He asked in English, since although Fafnir could understand Korean, he responded better to English.
And I…
“……”
“Kyuu?”
“… Why are you looking at Fafnir like that?”
I felt something off about Fafnir. At first, I couldn’t pinpoint what it was….
“Hold on.”
“Uh, yes?”
I pulled out my smartphone and compared his appearance to older photos. That’s when I realized what the problem was.
“… Why has he gotten so fat?”
It was simple. Fafnir had grown noticeably bulkier.
If his overall size had increased, it would just mean Alex’s mana had grown, causing Fafnir to grow too. But right now, Fafnir had only grown sideways.
“Fat…? Oh, you mean he gained weight?”
Hearing me, Alex set Fafnir down on the floor and examined him closely.
“… You’re right. He’s gained weight. Maybe because the guild staff and visitors kept giving him snacks, and he hasn’t been exercising….”
I’ll need to make him exercise from now on.
“… That’s impossible. Familiars aren’t made of organic matter like living creatures, they’re composed of mana. They can’t gain weight from too many snacks or lack of exercise.”
“Oh, right… I completely forgot.”
Alex muttered as if it had completely slipped his mind.
But then why had he gotten fat?
“Kyuuu…”
“Hold still.”
I grabbed Fafnir and examined him using Sammae.
“… Nothing wrong.”
But there was no clue in Fafnir’s body itself. Which meant….
‘Could the problem lie with Alex?’
I looked at him and asked.
“Has anything unusual happened to you recently?”
Since Fafnir had only recently started fattening up, it had to be something within the last month or two.
“Recently… I’m not sure.”
“Something that happened within the last month is probably the cause.”
“Hm…”
After thinking for a moment, Alex spoke hesitantly.
“No… no way….”
“Just tell me. Even if it’s trivial. I’ll be the judge.”
“… You’ll keep it secret?”
Why so secretive…?
“You know that I… have feelings for Sophia, right?”
“I do.”
“Well, I saw Sophia relaxing, watching YouTube videos of fat cats and laughing.”
“?”
… Wait. Don’t tell me….
“And now that I think about it, Fafnir started getting fat after that….”
“……”
I see.
“That’s the cause.”
Normally, a familiar’s appearance is fixed at summoning and rarely changes, but Fafnir is an exception.
To conserve Alex’s mana, he usually stays in a tiny form, only shifting when battle begins.
‘Just like Lee Haeun’s familiar, Sarang.’
And both Sarang and Fafnir share a trait: in their smaller forms, their appearances change according to their master’s unconscious desires.
It’s not like Sarang, who appeared as a puppy, suddenly transformed into another species. But since Lee Haeun unconsciously wished Sarang would grow, Sarang gradually did.
‘Though even now, he’s still just a puppy-sized dog.’
As for Alex and Fafnir… the conclusion was obvious.
“Fafnir unconsciously took on the fat cat appearance because you were jealous of Sophia laughing at one. That’s why he got chubbier.”
“Ah…”
“And since you were jealous of a cute cat, Fafnir’s become cuter than before too.”
I poked Fafnir’s chubby cheek as I said this.
“Kyuu?”
“Before, even if it was someone you knew, if it wasn’t Alex touching you, you’d have reacted as if annoyed. But now, you’re deliberately acting cute. That’s the effect, right?”
“Kyuu!”
A dragon acting cute… well, in this stage it was more accurate to call him a hatchling.
“So… what should I do?”
“Why bother? Just leave it. When he transforms into battle form, he’ll be no different from before.”
It wasn’t a bad thing to have become cuter. If he were an actual animal, health concerns would be an issue, but for a familiar? Not at all.
“Phew… that’s a relief.”
Just then—
Knock knock.
“Master! We were thinking of heading to a dungeon. Do you want to come with us?”
Yeon Mirae knocked on the door and called for me.
“… All of a sudden?”
Hadn’t she just been talking about cosmetics? Why bring up a dungeon out of nowhere…?
I opened the door, wondering.
“What dungeon, all of a sudden?”
“I heard cosmetics made from powdered dragon scales are the most effective, even if expensive. So, we’re going dragon hunting.”
“……”
“……”
At those words, Alex and I both looked down at Fafnir.
He froze instantly at Mirae’s words… and then—
Pop!
With a pop, he dismissed himself back into the summoning space.
“Ah.”
Mirae, realizing she had just declared she would kill dragons right in front of a dragon, looked flustered.
“… Fafnir’s going to avoid you for a while.”
“Ah…”
For Mirae, who used to pet Fafnir at the Ironblood Guild for comfort, this was like a bolt from the blue.
“… Maybe if I lure him with some top-grade beef, I can get him to let me pet him again?”
“That’s your problem, not mine.”
“You got dungeon clearance? This is the U.S.—the procedures are complicated.”
“It’s fine. Chairman Shin Hanji said she’d apply directly to the Association on our behalf.”
“……”
So it wasn’t just Mirae—Hanji would be going too.
“Besides you two, who else is going?”
“Quite a few. A bunch of awakened women who overheard us in the hallway decided to join us.”
“… Oh boy…”
Even a lower-tier draconic species like a wyvern is a disaster to ordinary awakened. But from the sound of it, they were aiming for a high-tier draconic species.
‘Normally I’d just say “be careful and come back safe,” but….’
Mirae alone could handle such creatures without much trouble. And if a group of awakened women who had surpassed the Wall were going together to hunt a dragon… well….
“… I almost feel sorry for the dragon that’s about to get its scales plucked.”
I couldn’t imagine the dragon winning.
“Oh, Master—since you know alchemy, I wanted to ask you something about dragon scales.”
“… What is it?”
“Which is better quality—scales pulled while the dragon’s still alive, or ones taken after it’s dead?”
… Ah. Now the dragon’s suffering would be even worse.
“… The ones pulled alive are better, since the dragon’s mana is still flowing through them.”
“Just as I thought! Then we’ll just restrain it and pluck them one by one.”
“……”
As I watched Mirae leave with a smile, I silently offered my condolences to the nameless dragon awaiting them.
