WCMP 32

While I stood there in shock, my mouth opening and closing uselessly, my gaze drifted to the creature’s small body.

It had seemed small even when it was curled up around the sword…

What kind of dragon is only the size of a small puppy?

When it stretched out and took flight, it was no bigger than a toy breed dog.

Whether it knew I was observing it or not, the dragon kept grinning brightly, clearly excited.

“I’ve been asleep here for hundreds of years! I didn’t think I’d end up sleeping this long when I settled here. I almost went berserk, you know!”

“……”

“But I’m so glad my master came to find me! I was really worried!”

The dragon flapped wings larger than its own body and chattered in a high, lively voice.

It had to be that dragon—the one said to have accompanied the founding emperor of the Empire.

But why is it so… bubbly?

I was momentarily taken aback, but quickly regained my composure. Its personality aside, there was a more pressing issue.

The truth was, I didn’t actually know much about dragons.

All I knew was that the first emperor had been chosen by the Goddess, received the Holy Sword, and that a dragon guarded that blade. That was the full extent of my knowledge.

The original novel hadn’t even featured a dragon, so my ignorance was only natural.

But why did it suddenly appear? And what does it mean by going berserk? Isn’t that dangerous?

Countless thoughts stormed through my head.

It had only been a few seconds, yet my curiosity swelled to the brink. I finally voiced my question to the small dragon.

“Hey, you. You’re the dragon that guards the Holy Sword… right? And what do you mean by going berserk?”

I was already fairly certain, but I asked anyway.

Sure enough, the dragon nodded vigorously.

“That’s right! I’m the dragon that guards the Holy Sword. After Carseia died, I slept here while waiting for my second master. But no one came to wake me….”

“……”

Its cheerful tone faltered, and it let out a deep sigh that seemed to drain the energy from the room.

“Sigh… As you can see, I’ve been asleep all this time. Oh, and you asked about going berserk.”

Its gloomy mood vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and it resumed chattering with a bright expression.

“This Esit Mountain Range has the highest concentration of mana on the continent. But I ended up in hibernation longer than expected and absorbed too much mana over the centuries….”

Its golden eyes sparkled as it explained, but when it mentioned mana, its shoulders drooped again.

Its tail fell limply. It stopped flapping its wings and landed lightly on the ground with a soft tap, then flattened its belly against the earth as if melting into it.

Such extreme mood swings… not a person—a dragon.

I had never met anyone with such dramatic shifts in demeanor. It was honestly bewildering.

Still, it didn’t seem dangerous. In fact, it looked small and almost pitiful. I stepped out from behind Arvan and crouched down in front of it.

Arvan, having sensed that the dragon had no intention of attacking us, sheathed his sword—though his stern expression suggested he hadn’t completely let his guard down.

“So you almost went berserk because your mana reserves became too high?”

That was what it sounded like, though it struck me as odd.

Isn’t a dragon usually portrayed as the pinnacle of magic in fantasy novels?

Going berserk from too much mana? What kind of nonsense was that?

“Yeah. Normally mana and divine power oppose each other, right? But I’m the Goddess’s dragon—so it’s more accurate to call me a divine beast.”

I nodded to show I was listening.

“So unlike other dragons, I don’t just have mana—I also have divine power.”

Apparently proud of its connection to the Goddess, it sprang up from the ground and looked at me with wide, sparkling eyes like a kitten.

But only for a moment.

It lowered its gaze again and spoke in a small, almost crawling voice.

“Still, I have more mana than divine power… and because I stayed here too long, I absorbed excessive mana. The balance between mana and divine power collapsed. That’s why I almost went berserk….”

“You almost went berserk—but you didn’t. Is that because I drew the Holy Sword?”

Arvan, who had been silently listening, finally spoke.

The dragon shook its head so hard it nearly buzzed.

“No! That’s not it. Well… it’s a long story. The reason I fell asleep in the temple here was because the mana in this region was too dense and unstable.”

“……”

“Even if I do nothing, I naturally attract and absorb mana. So by staying here, I could absorb the overflowing mana and stabilize the region a little.”

Arvan crossed his arms and asked, “Is the large magic crystal mine discovered not far from here related to you?”

“Magic crystal mine? Oh, if you mean the place up north where mana has pooled together—yes, that’s because of me.”

I parted my lips slightly.

So there were hidden settings like this that the novel never mentioned.

“The mana spread throughout the mountain range has been gathering around me for centuries. It’s not strange that a magic crystal mine formed.”

“I see.”

“And… to get to the point, I almost went berserk recently, so I discarded all the mana I had.”

“…Discarded?”

“Yeah… I couldn’t move while in hibernation, but my mana was surging like I was about to go berserk. Then, nearby, a dimensional rift opened.”

“A dimensional rift? What’s that?”

It hadn’t appeared in the original story, so I leaned in with interest.

“Just what it sounds like—a tear between dimensions. It absorbs the surrounding natural mana to fill its gap.”

“…And what does that have to do with you?”

“Listen first. Depending on its size, a dimensional rift rapidly sucks in mana. So I was able to tear off my mana and throw it toward the rift.”

The dragon shook its head.

“It was fortunate in a way… If the rift hadn’t appeared, even if I’d cast the mana away, it would have tried to return to me. But….”

Trailing off, it suddenly smiled so brightly its almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents.

For a reptile, its facial expressions were astonishingly rich.

Before I could fully process that strange mix of awe and disbelief—especially compared to Arvan’s perpetually stoic face—the dragon trotted over and rubbed its face against my leg.

“Ah—!”

It was… surprisingly cute.

…Even though it was a reptile.

“You. I don’t know what you did, human, but you absorbed my mana!”

…What?

Now that I thought about it, hadn’t it said something like that earlier?

The human who absorbed my mana.

That meant me?

“A mere human shouldn’t be able to withstand my mana. I was wondering how you were still alive, but up close, I see it wasn’t absorbed by your body—it was absorbed by your soul! I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“…Into my soul? My soul absorbed your mana?”

The dragon stared up at me, then narrowed its eyes and whispered,

“Yeah. Didn’t anything unusual happen within the last month? How did you absorb my mana into your soul? A living human shouldn’t be able to do that….”

“……”

Something had happened.

About a month ago.

That was when I transmigrated into this body.

I wanted to ask whether there was a connection between the mana absorbed into my soul and my transmigration.

But…

I glanced at Arvan.

I couldn’t bring that up with him standing here.

I would have to ask later, when I had the chance.

For now, I decided to offer only a filtered version of the truth.

“…Nothing major happened. But around that time, whenever I dreamed, I began experiencing past memories I couldn’t recall before. Could that be related to your mana?”

“It must be! I can freely control dreams. I can even glimpse the future through them.”

“Oh….”

Seeing the future?

That was fascinating.

“My mana must have influenced you, allowing you to look into past memories you couldn’t remember.”

I had assumed it was just part of naturally gaining Rieli’s memories after transmigrating.

So it wasn’t a transmigration bonus.

Thinking back, it had felt strange for mere dreams. They had been far too vivid.

“Originally, I didn’t plan to discard all my mana… But I saw in a prophetic dream that my future self would go berserk and harm my master. I had no other choice. Sigh….”

The dragon, thoroughly dejected, dropped its head onto my knee and sighed heavily.

“Why? If you discard your mana, can’t you recover it later?”

It shook its head.

“No… I lost more than expected, so my mana is basically at rock bottom. But it will recover with time. It’ll be faster if I stay by your side, since you carry my mana. But….”

“But?”

“As you can see, without mana, I’m stuck in this pathetic form….”

It looked so crestfallen that I offered what I thought was comforting.

“Pathetic? You’re cute. And you said you’ll recover eventually.”

“Cute?! Cute?! How can you say that to me?!”

Apparently, that wasn’t the comfort it wanted.

Startled by the tiny dragon’s indignant shout, I instinctively apologized.

“S-Sorry…?”

“Sigh… I was forcibly devolved because I don’t have enough mana to maintain my true form. I think being in this body affects my emotions too. I can’t regulate them properly. When I first saw you and my master earlier, I almost burst into tears.”

Ah… emotional regression, then.

I gently stroked the small dragon’s head in consolation.