It Probably Got Twisted Somewhere

How much time had passed after that?

When Kikori woke up, that fairy—the one who had insisted they take Kikori back with them—was staring intently at him.

“Ah, you’re awake!”

“You are… guh…!”

“You shouldn’t move, you know? You were asleep for three days.”

His body would not move properly. Realizing that, Kikori decided not to move for the moment… but he felt like something like a lump of cloth had been placed on him.

“While you were sleeping, I checked all sorts of things, and—are you really human?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean? Humans don’t normally use mana like that.”

“…I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She was talking about how he used mana, but Kikori could only use “Break” and “Mjolnir.”

Both were spells created by past heroes and the like, and even the Mjolnir he used so often was something Aria had taught him.

Even Charge was a function of his armor and not something that originated from Kikori himself.

“I see, so you’re not aware of it.”

“Don’t say it in a roundabout way. I’m not that smart.”

“Really? Then I’ll say it. The flow of your mana doesn’t feel very human.”

“…Huh?”

If he was not human, then what was he supposed to be?

It could not possibly be about being demon-possessed at this point. That had already been denied.

“If anything, you’re more like a dragon. Of course, your scale of mana is totally, completely different, though. Compared to the humans I’ve seen, you look like a total weakling too.”

“Yeah, I am a weakling, but… I mean, what part of me is supposed to be like a dragon?”

“Because your mana naturally flows through your body, right? Dragons are about the only ones who use it like that.”

“…Huh?”

What was she talking about? Kuon had definitely said—

“No, wait. This is just that thing where my body learned how to strengthen itself with mana—”

“Idiot. Didn’t you realize it when you took Ijirid’s lightning and didn’t get burned to a crisp?”

“My armor absorbs mana. So—”

“You think absorbing a little mana is enough to stop your body from being burned? Idiot. Ijirid’s lightning isn’t that weak.”

“…Then what is it supposed to be?”

“It’s not some cheap little thing like physical enhancement. That’s Dragon Crown. Proof that a dragon is a dragon… the kind of mana control used to adapt to any environment.”

Dragon.

Kikori had read about that in books too.

The strongest lifeform and monster in history, adapted to every possible environment.

There was nowhere dragons could not live, and because of that, they had no weaknesses.

A creature that saw magma as nothing more than a bath to wash off dirt, and the bottom of the deep sea as nothing more than a bed to keep away annoyance.

There was no way he could believe that he was using the same kind of method as something like that.

“Well, if you insist you’re human, then I guess that’s what you are. In that case, it probably got twisted somewhere.”

Saying that, the fairy let out a little giggle.

“How pitiful—a super-weak fake dragon human. That probably only works well enough to make it hard for you to die and leave you suffering, right?”