The Starving Drakon

While Hikaru stood there dumbfounded, the white, fluffy creature finished the mashed potatoes. Its fluffiness came from its bright, white coat of fur. It definitely looked like a fur scarf wrapped around the neck.

The creature had two front legs near its face, and two hind legs attached almost at the end of its body. Its pink feet, awfully similar to that of a chicken’s, had claws as red as blood.

On its head were two adorable horns bent backwards. Only a few centimeters long, they weren’t pointy.

『Ah, that was good.』The creature turned around.

「Are you… a drakon?」

Although small, the shape of its mouth reminded Hikaru of a drakon. He was sure of it. Mashed potatoes were all over its mouth, though.

『You there. Did you set me free?』Its red, jewel-like eyes narrowed as though putting pressure on Hikaru.『I thank you for releasing me… is what I’d like to say, but a human imprisoned me in that cursed Soul Drainer in the first place.』

Soul Drainer. A familiar item. Hikaru’s body’s previous owner, Roland, had knowledge about it. As the name suggested, it was a stone that sucked a living creature’s soul, its source of life, killing it. Once a stone sucked a soul, it could no longer do it again. There weren’t a lot of uses for the stone, only as catalysts for very few spells. It was simply known as a dangerous stone to the public.

「I see… The Holy Mana Ball used the Soul Drainer as a catalyst to harness a drakon’s energy and turn it into holy mana.」

Hikaru realized how Poelnxinia implemented the holy mana system in their city. It was a Japanese person named Ota Masaki who brought holy mana to this world with the help of a drakon. But Roux Vineyard, blinded by his ambitions, betrayed the man.

Anything related to the holy mana should have been lost at that point. But Roux Vineyard later found a way to harness holy mana by forcibly squeezing out energy from a drakon, and used it for military purposes, making Poelnxinia the supreme ruler of the continent.

『Holy Mana Ball? What’s what? Holy mana does refer to our power, but how does a human like you know about it?』

The drakon probably didn’t know about Roux Vineyard. I don’t know how Caddie came across the Drakon Ball Staff, but it could be a relic from Poelnxinia, Hikaru guessed.

「It’s a long story.」

『Long story? I knew humans couldn’t be trusted.』

The tiny drakon watched Hikaru with wary eyes. It was almost as if it was saying “I’m going to eat you”. Hikaru gripped his wakizashi tight and faced the drakon.

Then the creature’s stomach growled. A dull, out-of-place sound.

『I knew humans couldn’t be trusted…』

「Was that your stomach just now?」

『I knew humans couldn’t…』

「No point in trying to look good. If you’re hungry, just say so.」

『………』

「………」

『I-I’m not really hungry.』

「If you like those mashed potatoes, I can buy you some more.」

『Let’s go! I want five servings, Bro!』

「And you’re acting like we’re buddies all of a sudden.」Hikaru was taken aback.

『The village elders used to tell us to speak with uhh, what’s the term? Dignity? Words are hard. Anyway, I was just doing what they told me, but it ain’t really my style.』

「I-I see…」

『Come on, let’s go! Hurry up! I’m too hungry, I might just swallow a pig whole!』

That was how Hikaru met a starving drakon.

「You still want to eat?」

『Just one more!』the drakon said for the third time.

In the end, it managed to eat eight servings of mashed potatoes before lying down. Hikaru went back and forth to the food stand a couple of times.

「Looks like you have someone with a big appetite at your place.」the food stand owner said, a man with ears of a fox.

From a distance, the blinding light from when Hikaru released the drakon rose like a huge pillar, so they had to move. In the end, he had to rent out a room at an inn for a short period.

The drakon lay on the bed, its stomach bulging like a snake that just devoured an egg.

「I have tons of questions.」

『Same here. Where are we? What year is it?』

Hikaru answered with a sigh.

『Whoa! I was in that thing for almost three hundred years! So this meal was my first in three centuries.』

It had no knowledge about a place named Einbeast, but it did know of a country which demi-humans flocked to.

「You were in that staff for three hundred years, huh… What’s your name? Mine’s Hikaru.」

『I’m Young White Drakon.』

「So like a baby white drakon?」

『I’m Young White Drakon and that’s it.』

「Well, whatever. You might want to hide the fact that you’re a drakon, so let’s give you a name.」

『Really?』

Not a lot of drakons existed in this world. There were plenty of dragons around, though. Young White Drakon…

「How about Drake?」

『Drake… Hmm, yes. It’s my first time having a name. I guess it’s not so bad, human.』

Not bad, huh? Why are you wagging your tail, then? He really likes the name, Hikaru thought.

「So I have a few questions. There’s an item tracking the orb you were imprisoned in. Of course, it’s now shattered in pieces. Was it tracking you specifically or just the orb?」

Hikaru was referring to the compass that Rising Falls possessed. If it tracked Drake, he would have to max out his Group Obfuscation right away. On a side note, he couldn’t open the drakon’s Soul Board.

『Probably the orb. I felt mana that seemed to be connected to something. Though just recently—I think it was recent, I had no sense of time while inside that thing—the connection was interrupted.』

It most likely happened when Hikaru shoved the staff into the Dimension Dragon Box. I think we’re okay for now. I don’t feel much mana coming from him anyway…

「Wait. You’re a drakon, right? How come you barely have any mana?」

『It was being sucked out for centuries, instead of my soul.』

「But I felt immense amount of mana from the orb.」

『My mana was circulating inside the orb. Sometimes, it got released.』

Released… Probably when the staff was used. When Caddie cast her magic.

『But I think the orb would’ve gone full—like my tummy—in the near future and burst. I would be free either way.』

「So all your mana was released with that burst of light.」

『Half of it, at least.』

「Half?」

『That light couldn’t have consumed all the mana sucked out of me. I mean, look at my fur. It’s completely white.』

「Well, you’re a white drakon, aren’t you?」

『Come on. You don’t know what a joke is?』

That was a joke? Is it funny to fellow drakons? I’m being serious here. Hikaru shook his head. Whatever. I don’t really care about jokes right now.

『With that much mana, the whole area would’ve been levelled. But half of it just turned into light, and the other half…』Drake’s glance flickered to Hikaru’s wakizashi.

「What?」Hikaru finally noticed for the first time. His weapon held enormous mana.

『Looks like that thing absorbed half of the mana.』

「………」

So the wakizashi prevented an explosion? He only followed his Instinct. Hikaru thanked his luck.

「Okay. So, are you going home to heaven?」

『How do you know we live in the heavens?』

「I released a drakon before.」

『Wow, that’s amazing! So I’m the second one?』

「I don’t know if it’s an amazing feat or not, but yes, you’re the second one I freed.」

Hikaru realized he couldn’t return the staff anymore. The orb would’ve exploded sooner or later anyway. He might’ve even saved Caddie’s life.

『I’m not going back to heaven. I came down here of my own will. Though the elders tried to stop me.』

「Ah…」

『What?』

「You do look like the type to make a mess.」

『That’s exactly what the elders said! They hurt my feelings, so I left!』

Yikes. Sounds like a mess already.

『I’m interested in you humans. And the food you eat looks yummy!』

「So you’re just a glutton.」

『Who cares?! Give me more of that uhh, mashed potatoes or something!』

「Good grief…」Hikaru shrugged. 「You know, humans make other delicious food besides mashed potatoes.」

『Wh-What did you say?』

「There’s a lot more…」

『I want them! Feed me!』

「But you know what they say, those who do not work, don’t get to eat.」

『I’ll work hard! I swear! I can do lots of things once I’ve recovered my mana! You want me to destroy a castle? Or a mountain?』

I knew it. He mainly destroys. Me saving him must be fate at work. Hikaru didn’t really mind bringing Drake with him anyway. In fact, the drakon could prove to be a valuable asset.

『Though I barely have any juice left in me. It’ll take time for me to recover my mana. B-But I’ll still do my best! So please! Feed me delicious food!』

It might take some time before he became one, though.

「Okay, fine.」

『Really?!』Drake turned over and got up, jumping on the bed.『Ugh… my stomach…』

「That’s what you get for moving around too much after eating.」Hikaru gave a wry smile.

I guess it’s fine if he doesn’t turn out to be valuable. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. Plus, an adventurer with a drakon sounds amusing.

Hikaru rose from his chair.「All right. Time to leave, then.」

『Already?!』

「We need to cross the border and move to another town by the end of the day. I’ll buy you something different then.」

『Let’s go!』Drake jumped up and down.『Ugh…』And dropped on the bed.

Drake wrapped itself around Hikaru’s neck to hide his face and horns. He looked exactly like a fur scarf.

In the carriage, Hikaru noticed a change in his job class.

【Lower Class Heaven’s Messenger God: Lesser Angel】was gone, replaced by【Higher Class Heaven’s Messenger God: Greater Angel】.