Chapter 787
Bear-san, After the Battle with the Ice Dragon
Two Ice Dragons descended.
Kagali-san and I didnât know what was going on, so we made sure we could take action no matter what.
The old Ice Dragon descended to the ground and looked at the frozen Ice Dragon.
âIt seems like he doesnât have enough experience to lose to a human.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
The way she said it sounded like she could beat me.
Maybe she was just trying to say that she didnât intend to lose.
The mother Ice Dragon walked over and came in front of us.
âSo, just to confirm, is the Ice Dragon behind you okay?â (Yuna)
âWe made a contract of subordination.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
A contract of subordination?
âYou can do that?â (Yuna)
âThere was no need for both parties to consent.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
So they could make a contract of subordination without the other partyâs consent.
It might be similar to my Bear Contract Magic.
I turned my attention to the Ice Dragon frozen by my Bear Magic.
Then to the Ice Dragon that was trying to kill the mother Ice Dragon not long ago.
Then back to the frozen Ice Dragon.
I was not convinced that this frozen Ice Dragon would simply obey me.
But there was no reason not to try it out.
âCan you do the contract of subordination with this trapped Ice Dragon as well?â (Yuna)
Just like how I froze the Ice Dragon, I wouldnât know until I tried it.
The mother Ice Dragon moved in front of the trapped Ice Dragon.
She was just staring at it.
âIt looks like theyâre talking.â (Kagali)
âCould it be that you can understand what theyâre saying?â (Yuna)
As expected of Kagali-san.
That was what I thought, but the answer was different.
âI donât know. I just thought so because there was magic power flowing between them.â (Kagali)
I see, they were speaking using magic power.
After watching the Ice Dragons for a while, the horns of the trapped Ice Dragon and mother Ice Dragon started to glow. Then, after a while, the light disappeared.
âWe made a contract of subordination.â (Ice Dragon)
So this time, it was finally over.
âBut itâs you who made a contract of subordination.â (Yuna)
I couldnât imagine Ice Dragons being the kind of beings that obeyed someone else so easily.
âIf he doesnât obey, Iâll crush his body.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
âCan you do that?â (Yuna)
Normal attacks didnât work on them, and even their skin was really tough.
âIce Dragons cover and protect their bodies with their magic. If one loses that magic, it should be much easier to defeat them.â (Ice Dragon)
So, if I drained the Ice Dragonâs magic, only that way could I defeat them physically.
âYou were thinking that you could have defeated the Ice Dragon if you had depleted its magic power, right?â (Kagali)
âKagali-san, can you read peopleâs minds!?â (Yuna)
âI canât read them. Itâs just written on your face.â (Kagali)
I silently massaged my face with my Bear puppet.
Poker face, poker face.
âBut didnât you say it would be better if it was defeated?â (Yuna)
âThat would be from the perspective of humans, they would normally think that it would be better for them to be defeated.â (Kagali)
Different people had different ways of thinking. I think there were people who wouldnât accept things and choose death based on their own beliefs.
But there were also people who would make a contract of subordination, because they either valued their lives or wanted to protect something even if they had to endure humiliation.
It depended on the situation, position, and feelings at the time.
âBut that Ice Dragon lost to me, right? So will it be satisfied with this outcome?â (Yuna)
âThose who lose have no right. They can either live or die.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
So it chose to live.
âHuman child, please melt the ice.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
âJust to be certain, is it really okay? If I melt the ice, it wonât attack me, right?â (Yuna)
âBecause of the contract of subordination, he canât defy me.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
So it all depended on the mother Ice Dragon.
Well, I also couldnât just leave it frozen like this, so I decided to trust the mother Ice Dragon for now.
I melted the ice that was wrapped around the Ice Dragon.
The ice turned into water and flowed down to the ground.
The Ice Dragon, freed from the ice, started to move and roared.
The air shook.
Above all, it was noisy.
Perhaps thinking the same thing as me, the mother Ice Dragon moved its tail and slammed it against the Ice Dragonâs head.
It became quiet.
The Ice Dragon that was hit by the tail glared at me for some reason.
I didnât do anything.
âYou are causing trouble to the Human child.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
It was true.
But please, I didnât want to get myself involved in the Ice Dragonâs troubles.
âBut it really wonât attack me, right?â (Yuna)
I turned my attention to the new Ice Dragon behind the peak.
âThis is the proof of the contract.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
As the mother Ice Dragon said so, the horn of the other two Ice Dragons lit up and they fell to the ground.
âThe horns are used to seal the contract of subordination. The horns are also needed to break the contract. It will take many years for the horns to grow back.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
In other words, it seemed that the contract of subordination could not be broken until a new horn grew back.
No, I didnât want them to break the contract of subordination, even after a new horn grew back.
âThose horns are fine. Do whatever you like with those two horns.â (Mother Ice Dragon)
Did that mean that she was giving them to me?
This timeâs reward was the horns of Ice Dragon.
I was kind of happy.
Dragon materials were rare, right?
The mother Ice Dragon looked at the two Ice Dragons.
âYou two are free to leave.â (Ice Dragon)
The two Ice Dragons roared at me, spread their wings, and flew away.
It was not attempting to attack me, right?
Maybe that one simply hated me?
Donât ever break the contract of subordination, okay?
âHuman child. Thank you for your help.â (Ice Dragon)
The mother Ice Dragon also spread its wings and flew away.
There were still things I wanted to talk about, but I could meet it at the top of the mountain, so I should stop here for today.
I was tired, so I wanted to rest.
âItâs over.â (Yuna)
âThatâs right.â (Kagali)
We stared at the Ice Dragon flying away.
âSo, what do we do with these horns? Do you want it, Kagali-san?â (Yuna)
âI donât need them. You can have them.â (Kagali)
The Ice Dragonâs horns.
I wonder if they could be used for something.
Maybe make a weapon stronger than my mithril knife?
But could someone process something like this?
For now, I put the Ice Dragon horns, which were bigger than me, in my bear box.
I got Ice Dragon horns!
I summoned Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear. We rode back to Lize-san and the others.
âKagali-san, are you feeling okay?â (Yuna)
I asked Kagali-san, who was riding Swaying Bear.
âIâm fine. I just put a little strain on myself by suddenly raising my body temperature to withstand the Ice Dragonâs cold.â (Kagali)
âYou wonât suffer any aftereffects, right?â (Yuna)
âYouâre quite a worrier, you know?â (Kagali)
Was I worrying too much?
I did end up putting her in danger when she ended up being enveloped by cold in my place.
âThank you for that.â (Yuna)
I felt embarrassed to thank her formally.
âProtecting children is the role of adults.â (Kagali)
She looked like a little girl, but she was indeed actually older than she looked.
âBut if anything happens to Kagali-san, Sakura and the others will worry, so donât do anything reckless.â (Yuna)
âThere was a way to endure it, so it was not a reckless move.â (Kagali)
But when I saw her getting engulfed by cold air in front of my eyes, I almost cried.
âI apologize for making you worry, though.â (Kagali)
âNo, thank you for helping me.â (Yuna)
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear carrying me and Kagali-san returned to the mine.
âYuna-san, Kagali-chan!â (Lize)
Lize-san and the others, who were watching from the entrance of the mine, came running over to us when they saw us.
âWeâre back.â (Kagali)
âAre you hurt? Kagali-chan, why is your face red?â (Lize)
Lize-san put her hand on Kagali-sanâs forehead.
âOh, itâs hot. Itâs really hot.â (Lize)
âItâs okay.â (Kagali)
âNo, itâs not. Itâs really hot.â (Lize)
It was hot, but it was not as hot as before anymore since she could be touched now.
If they had seen her body emitting heat that melted the ice and snow around her, they might have been even more surprised.
âI just used my magic to heat up my body. It will heal soon, so donât worry.â (Kagali)
Kagali-san gently grabbed Lize-sanâs hand and smiled reassuringly.
She was responding like an adult, as expected.
Though she looked like a little girl.
âSo, what happened? I saw the Ice Dragons fly towards us. After that, I was told by the girls to watch the situation from the entrance of the mine, butâŠâ (Bollard)
âAll I could hear was a terrible noise, and I didnât know what was going on.â (Bollard)
I gave a simple explanation.
That the new Ice Dragon had brought a companion with it. That Kagali-san and I faced one of them while the old Ice Dragon faced the other one. And that we had defeated them.
âDid you really win?â (Lize)
I took out one of the Ice Dragonâs horns to prove it.
Lize-san and the others exclaimed in surprise.
âThey wonât attack people anymore. This is proof that they canât defy the old Ice Dragon.â (Yuna)
â⊠Ice Dragonâs horn.â (Lize)
âJust leave it as it is and donât touch it.â (Kagali)
Kagali-san stopped the old man who was trying to touch the horn without gloves.
The horn was giving off cold air.
âMaybe itâs going to stay like this forever.â (Yuna)
âItâll wear out eventually.â (Kagali)
That would be nice.
âNow, once the baby Ice Dragon is born, the mother Ice Dragon will also be gone.â (Yuna)
âThatâs right.â (Kagali)
Everyoneâs expressions brightened.
Anyway, the sun had set today, it was late at night, and I was tired from fighting the Ice Dragon, so I decided to rest early.
Bear House?
Of course I brought out a spare.
I forgot to retrieve the Bear House that I took out on the mountaintop when I was fighting the Ice Dragon, so I had to retrieve it tomorrow.
âThank you for this time, Kagali-san.â (Yuna)
I expressed my gratitude to Kagali as I was getting ready to sleep.
âWhat is it about, all of a sudden?â (Kagali)
âMany things. You accompanied me on my exploration of the town, you accompanied me to meet the Ice Dragon, and even though it was dangerous, you fought the other Ice Dragon with me.â (Yuna)
âDonât worry about that. I also accompanied you because I was curious about what was on this land. It was also out of curiosity when I found out that the Ice Dragon could talk, so I joined you at that time. And when we fought the Ice Dragon, it was because Iâm an adult and I couldnât let you fight it alone. Well, I wasnât of much help, though.â (Kagali)
âThatâs not true. I was glad that you fought with meâŠ. You helped me many times, including attracting the attention of the Ice Dragon, even though it was dangerous⊠And you even saved me without regard for danger. But you donât have to risk your life to protect me.â
At that time, I thought that Kagali-san had really died, and my heart tightened.
I felt an indescribable emotion.
Even if my parents had died, I didnât think I would have felt this way.
âAs Iâve said many times before, I didnât risk my life. I had a plan to survive.â (Kagali)
âThe one that involves heating up your body?â (Yuna)
âThatâs right. But the Ice Dragonâs cold was stronger than I thought, so I turned into a fox and amplified my magic power. In human form, I might not have been able to withstand the cold.â (Kagali)
So that was what happened.
âEven so, you came up with a good idea to freeze the Ice Dragon.â (Kagali)
âI somehow noticed that the Ice Dragon hated water.â (Yuna)
I explained that the Ice Dragon was avoiding not only the heat Kagali-san emitted, but also the water in the surroundings that was melted with fire magic.
Kagali-san thought for a moment about my explanation.
âYes, now that I think about it, I did notice a bit of that happening during the battle. But it was only for a small moment.â (Kagali)
âYeah, thatâs why I thought Iâd give it a try. Then, with the Ice Dragonâs own coldness, it froze the water, hindering its movement.â (Yuna)
When the dragonâs wings froze, it definitely looked like it had difficulty moving.
âThe Ice Dragon is stupid to let its own cold freeze it.â (Kagali)
âBut now, even if I have to fight the Ice Dragon again, I can defeat it.â (Yuna)
âAre you planning to fight it again?â (Kagali)
âOnly if it tried to pick a fight with me.â (Yuna)
Kagali-san looked annoyed at my words.
âI wonât join you then.â (Kagali)
Kagali-san said that, but I felt like she would help me.
âWhat are you laughing at?â (Kagali)
âNothing.â (Yuna)
I was tired, but a long day was over.
Canât wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click
HERE
to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!
If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.