Chapter 66

When I woke up, I was back in the usual room.

It’s starting to feel like a recurring pattern at this point.

“It is quite a mystery that the victor, Lord Ryu, remained unconscious longer than I did.”

“Ah, Tiamat. Good morning.”

It had been a while since we’d had this kind of exchange.

“So, that means you’ll be coming with us starting today, right, Tiamat?”

“That is correct. I lost the duel. Therefore, from this day forward, Lord Ryu shall be my Master.”¹

“Hm? Master?”

Master? What was that about? I hadn’t heard anything about being a ‘Master.’

“Look, the whole ‘Master’ thing doesn’t really matter.”

“No, it most certainly does. I lost a battle in which I staked my very self. If Lord Ryu does not become my Master, then what am I to do?”

“Fine, fine, I get it! I’ll be the Master. But I’m not a fan of formalities, so please just act like you always have.”

“But for Lord Ryu to use polite speech with me…”

“Just like always!”

“Yes… I understand. Furthermore, Lord Draig is calling for you. It seems there was a message from the Spirit King.”

A Spirit? Why were Spirits getting involved now?

And I assumed it had something to do with me?

“Understood. I’ll go hear what the Dragon Emperor has to say first.”

With that, I headed to the throne room where the Dragon Emperor was waiting.

“Dragon Emperor, what’s this about the Spirits?”

“Ah, Ryu. My apologies for the rush. A messenger from the Spirit King arrived just moments ago. It seems they wish to borrow your strength.”

“How does the Spirit King even know about me?”

“It appears he watched the recent duel through a familiar. There is also likely the factor that a human would be a better fit for this than relying on us dragons.”

Hmm, the Spirit King, huh?

“So, what’s the job?”

“Apparently, human poachers have been hunting Spirits, and the ‘Elf’ tribes of the forest have also fallen victim. The Spirits are being taken for their power, while the Elves are being captured as slaves to be sold off. Since it is difficult for the Spirits to intervene directly, they reached out for assistance. You are free to accept or refuse; what will you do?”

Hmm. What should I do?

Personally, I wanted to get to Dowal’s place quickly to have my sword forged, and I simply didn’t want to take Ril and the others into a dangerous situation.

“Ryu, you should do as you please.”

“That’s right, Papa. You can do whatever you want.”

“The ugly side of humanity will eventually reveal itself anyway.”

Ril, Karin, and Ouka were standing behind me.

“You guys… this is a different kind of danger than just a fight. The people who enslave Elves are guaranteed to be absolute scum!”

“We’ll just kill humans that bad.”

“It’s okay if I burn them to a crisp, right?”

“I can just punch them before they even touch me, right?”

These guys… and here I was, actually worrying about them.

They sure don’t hold back with the extreme remarks.

“Lord Ryu, we will be fine. We will follow you anywhere.”

Agh, these guys are too mentally tough. I wish they’d actually consider the risks for once.

“Fine. Since I’m worried, I’m going to have Ouka and Tiamat enter a Soul Familiar contract with me. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“With my… soul…?”

“Lord Ryu, I look forward to serving you for the rest of my life.”

Ouka seemed to have some inexplicably strong feelings about the soul contract.
Tiamat, on the other hand, looked like her loyalty had just deepened even further.

“In that case, I guess we can take a little detour and put the Spirits in our debt.”

“Then I shall inform the Spirit King. You should take it easy until the next contact arrives.”

Well then, looks like helping the Spirits is next on the list.