Sabuin passed his magic on to Lanivia.
Even so, I couldn't help feeling uneasy. Lanivia had only just been born—her body was still developing. There could be side effects.
"Sabuin, if someone this young learns magic, will anything strange happen? Like body losing control, releasing magic unconsciously, or feeling pain somewhere in the body?"
"Are you worried about some kind of chuunibyou behavior? Relax. What you're worried about won't happen. Dragon race are the most intelligent beings among all living creatures. We don't lose our sense of self."
Good. That was a relief.
Still, I was pretty sure I'd just heard the word chuunibyou.
Chuunibyou—the phase during adolescence where people wrap bandages around their arms to "seal dark powers," claim the darkness inside them is about to run wild, and yell at everyone to stay back.
"You just said chuunibyou, didn't you? How do you even know that word?"
"When we reach a certain age, we develop the urge to look cool or draw attention to ourselves. Our ancestors called that chuunibyou, though no one knows when the term originated."
So it really was that disease. I looked at Lanivia. She tilted her head and stared back at me innocently.
I wondered—would Lanivia create a collection of embarrassing memories someday too? When that day came, I'd just comfort her with, "The past is best left forgotten".
Alright. Everything that needed to be done was done. It was time to end this.
But I couldn't let Lanivia watch. This would be far too intense for a child—especially a baby. I turned to Lina.
"Lina, go back to where Dokamir is and wait for me. And pick up the scales I knocked off Sabuin along the way."
Sabuin had said his scales were excellent materials. There was no way I'd let someone else get their hands on them. I wouldn't allow anything that could become a threat—or a weapon—to exist.
"Okay. Come back soon."
"Yeah."
If the country wanted to purchase Sabuin's corpse later, I'd only sell the parts that couldn't be used as materials.
After Lina had gone far enough, I drew my sword.
"Sabuin, do you have any last words?"
"I am ready."
Sabuin had accepted his fate. I raised my sword.
Then a strange thought crossed my mind. If I cut him down, I'd see raw flesh. Could dragon meat be eaten? And what should I feed Lanivia anyway? Could she eat vegetables? Cooked meat should be fine, right?
I lowered my sword, scratched the back of my head, and asked awkwardly,
"...Sabuin, I forgot to ask a very basic question. Can dragons eat human food?"
"Yes. We can eat anything."
Thank goodness. If Lanivia couldn't eat what we did, I'd be troubled for a long time.
With my answer secured, I raised my sword again—only to hesitate once more. Sabine's neck was covered in scales. I wouldn't be able to cut through them.
"Hmm… turn over. Your scales are too hard."
"My limbs won't move. Deal with it yourself."
I sheathed my sword, walked to Sabuin's side, and shoved upward with all my strength. His massive body rolled over.
"What are you exactly? To think a human could lift me."
Sabine sounded genuinely shocked. A human lifting a creature many times his own size—it was only natural he'd be surprised.
If a baby lifted me, I'd be shocked too.
Of course, it wasn't raw strength. I'd used enhancement magic. But there was no reason to tell him that. I decided to respond with something suitably cool.
"I'm just an adventurer who knows a lot of magic."
"That didn't answer my question at all."
I raised my sword for the third time. This time, I had no more questions. I tightened my grip on the hilt and offered my final farewell.
"Alright. This really is goodbye."
"Farewell."
The moment Sabine finished speaking, I swung my sword down at his neck. Clean and decisive. I made sure he was truly dead before storing his body in my storage hole.
Then I took out my pocket watch.
3:14 p.m. The hunt is over.
What an overrated battle. Most of the time had been spent talking.
After dealing with Sabuin, I went to find Lina, making sure to retrieve Sabuin's wings along the way.
Eventually, I returned to the open clearing of Dokamir and saw Lina and Lanivia sitting beneath a tree. I waved and called out to them.
"Lina, Lanivia."
Hearing my voice, Lina turned around, raised a finger to her lips, then pointed at Lanivia and made a sleeping gesture.
I looked at Lanivia. She was lying on the ground with her eyes closed, breathing steadily—fast asleep. I nodded in understanding to Lina and walked over quietly.
As soon as I reached her, Lina stood up and spoke to me in a low voice.
"Karen, what should we do about Mr. Dokamir?"
I looked toward Dokamir's body. His head was gone, but the rest remained. I answered calmly.
"Just take out the magic core."
"Okay."
I had no intention of using Dokamir's body as material. Dragon materials were valuable, yes, but Dokamir had died because of me. That guilt weighed heavily on me. Because of that, I resolved to take care of Lanivia and make sure she would grow up healthy.
If I hadn't wasted time talking when I first encountered Sabuin, if I had gone all out and defeated it immediately… would Dokamir still be alive?
If I had gone straight to Sabuin from the start and never come here, would Dokamir never have been involved at all?
"Karen, don't be so hard on yourself."
At that moment, Lina gently held my face with both hands, looking at me with concern as she comforted me. Had my feelings really shown so clearly on my face? Then I noticed tears welling up in her eyes. Was she hurting too?
I couldn't stay like this. Even though I still believed it was my fault, I couldn't let Lina worry any more. I held the hands she had placed on my face and spoke to her.
"I'll be okay. I'll pull myself together."
After steadying my emotions, I took out Dokamir's magic core. I would return it to Lanivia someday.
With Dokamir's body now gone, it was time for me to cancel my enhancement magic. I took out a towel, folded it thick, and gently laid Lanivia on the soft fabric.
Then I told Lina to make sure she and Lanivia ate properly while I was asleep.
I sat down beneath the tree, leaned my back against the trunk, and cancaled the enhancement magic. In an instant, discomfort washed over my body. Pain and exhaustion surged all at once, and my consciousness faded away.