Dragon Life - Chapter 80

Chapter 80

A vicious cycle of lies creating lies .

Carrying Chiffon on my back, I walk straight ahead . The coldness I felt on my back made me want to cry, but I bite my lips and walk on .

Returning to the inn, the receptionist uncle looked surprised, but sensing the extraneous circumstances, he didn’t say anything . My steps are heavy as I head upstairs . Chocolat understood with a glance, welcoming us into their room . Urged to lay Chiffon on the bed, he touched her skin, as if to check . Affirming that her temperature was far too low for a regular person, Chocolat frowned .  

“Nee-sama…! What, happened?”

I can’t explain it well . By the time I got there, Chiffon was already in this state . I did not see what had happened . But in all likeliness, the soul controller, the topic of rumours, is a part of it . All I can do is tell him how I found her . Excluding, the things that I did .

“I’m sorry, if I had come sooner”

“…It’s not Itoka-san’s fault . If only I had gone with nee-sama, none of this would have happened… and you can’t assume that she’s dead! If the person Itoka-san met can get the soul back, it means we still have hope!”

Even though his blood sister came back in such a state, he’s still levelheaded . Compared to that, I have no idea what to do, just depending on Chocolat .

“That person is probably the one they call the One-winged swordsman . I’m not sure what kind of person he is, but I’ve met him a few times since he’s someone nee-sama knows”

As I thought, they were acquainted .  

“Then he tried to take Chiffon away, because he was trying to save her?”

I wonder about that .  Chocolat turned his gaze down .

“When I mention the one-winged swordsman, everyone gets scared . An elusive person, and I don’t know what his goal is . Just, he’s merciless towards people in his way”

I recall that time he called me a hindrance . His voice was so cold, I was fearful from the bottom of my heart . The first time we met too, he pointed his sword at me and looked ready to kill me . Was I a hindrance? To kill people just because of that, what nerves he has .

―― Knock, knock .

A knocking sound suddenly echoes in the room .

When Chocolat opened the door to greet them, Al was there .

This morning, I said I had stuff to do before leaving, saying that I’d be back before noon . He might have gotten worried since I was late .

“I came to pick you since you’re late, but are you in the middle of something?”

His teasing face disappeared the moment he saw the ‘sleeping’ Chiffon on the bed . Furrowing his eyebrows while approaching her, he examined her pale, unhealthy face .

“So she’s dead”

“She-she’s not dead yet!”

“It’s the same . Her soul got stolen, right? This is just empty then”

Facing Chocolat, he said so with an unusually serious face . Chocolat looked up at Al bitterly .

“Wait a minute, how could you tell with just a glance?”

To someone who doesn’t know, she just looks like she’s sleeping . But Al was able to conclude that Chiffon was ‘dead’ at first sight . Even for me, I could only tell after noticing the lack of magic flowing in her body . And to say that she’s lost her soul and become empty, it’s as if he’s seen through her .

Al grabbed his head like it was a pain as he said ‘Ah, I didn’t tell you”

“What did you not tell me?”

“My hair isn’t completely white right? If anything, it’s closer to blonde . And yet I have the title of a White Knight . Don’t you think something is weird”

“It’s different…”

“I was born with the blessing of the light . A colour similar to light is white . That’s why, as a white-featured, I was able to earn that title . Do you know what this means?”

On magic, I only know the fundamentals which I learnt earlier . Answering that I didn’t, I swiftly turned to look at Chocolat, to find him looking at Al as if he just found something incredibly rare .

“To have the blessing of light… does that mean that Al is able to use healing magic?!”

“Oi calling me without honorifics huh . Call me Al-san . Hey, if you want, Al-sama[1] is good too?”

“I politely decline . But anyway, if that’s the case–!”

“It’s unfortunate but my magic aptitude is as good as nothing . But I have a somewhat useful constitution . Celia told me before, it’s like she recovers faster when she’s by my side . It works with a touch too”

Following the flow, he patted my head . So that’s why, he often pats my head? …It looks like, Al has such a soft side too .

“But if your soul gets stolen, there’s nothing that I can do . Even if I can quicken healing of injuries, there’s nothing to do about and empty inside”

“That’s not what I want to say . Is Al an idiot?”

“At last, after not using honorifics, you call me an idiot… you’re a noble kid with guts! Then what are you going to do?”

I heard ‘so Al’s an idiot?’ as an ‘alpaca’, I must be really tired . [2]

“I want to maintain nee-sama’s body as it currently is, that’s all”

“Ah, I see . It’d pointless even if you got her soul back, if her body is rotting away . But I can’t maintain it for long, you know?”

How long? Al replied that it’s around one to two days . That answer made Chocolat put on a complicated expression, but as if seeing a glimpse of hope, his expression is brighter than earlier .

But I couldn’t keep up with the situation .

In the first place, these 2 people are moving forward while assuming her soul still exists . It couldn’t be helped that I tried to escape reality with the alpaca .

As for myself, if only my mind was in this world, and the said earth dragon is who I lived as, I would think the soul and mind are different, separate things . I wanted to believe that . I wanted them to think so . But if it’s to save Chiffon, I will have no choice but to accept that existence…–why not accept it! How could my own values, my ego, such feelings and thoughts, ever compare to losing my precious friend . It’d be better to just throw away such useless things . It’s not right to just stubbornly insist that it’s different . That would just make me an inflexible old man . For Chiffon, I’ll change my sense of value . I’ll need to at least resolve myself to that .

“Chocolat, let’s go and get Chiffon’s soul back!”

Chocolat stared blankly at I who just exclaimed so .  

“Actually, what’s the full story . True, that lady is beautiful even in a state with her soul pulled out, but, …soul? …Don’t tell me, you don’t plan to find the soul controller, do you?”

It seems he realised that Chiffon is a victim of running into the soul controller . That speeds things up . It saves me the trouble of explaining .

“That’s the plan”

“Don’t do it, I’ll be killed by Celia!”

Hii, Al let out a small scream .

But, to save Chiffon, I have no choice but to go . Al glared at me, before giving in and turning away .

“Fine . I understand . But make sure that you properly tell Celia . Emphasise the part where I tried to stop you too”

You absolutely have to, he said with an extremely serious look .

＊＊＊

It was really difficult to persuade Celia .

“Absolutely not!” she kept emphasizing . “I’m not letting you go somewhere dangerous!” too . As expected of my guardian . But I cannot afford to spend hours slowly explaining . Only by prostrating, after my almost beautiful act of prostration, did she finally give in .

Now, I’m on standby at the back alley to move forward with our plan . Celia went to check up on Al and isn’t with me .

“To be honest, I’m surprised”

Chocolat who was leaning against the wall turned to look at me .

“?”

“I didn’t expect that you’d help us this much”

True, we only met a few days ago . And you could count the number of times we met with one hand . That’s all for the relationship between us, so one may think it’s strange . But for me, they aren’t just passing acquaintances . Chiffon is someone dear to me, a precious friend . That’s why I want to save her .

“That’s why, thank you very much . If I was alone, I don’t think I’d be able to stay composed”

Chocolat is probably suffering the most .

His own sister came back while in a suspended death state . With her soul unreasonably stolen from her . If that happened to Touka, I wouldn’t be able to stay calm either . I might cry out, or overflow with anger . Either way, yelling would only be distracting and a nuisance .

His downturned eyes were moist .

What can we do, at times like this . It’s weird to say it myself, but I’m terrible at comforting others . Even if I want to say some sensible words, I have no idea how to express it .

Instead, I gently stroke Chocolat’s head . As if combing, I stroke his chocolate brown, cat-fur soft hair . That might have been the trigger, for tears to begin falling from those honey-coloured eyes . That figure of a child crying the tears he held back, looked so mature . As I touched his cheeks to wipe his tears away, a teardrop falls and wets my hand .

My heart cried out a little .

Even if I know I shouldn’t, my body naturally moves . Using both hands to wrap his cheeks, I tilt his head upwards, drawing closer to his small face . The tears that came from the corner of his eyes were scooped up by my lips .

“Itoka, san?”

It’s sweet . It was painfully sweet . Even at such times, ‘her’ greed is still showing, how shameful of me .

Probably taking it as my way of comforting, a small hand hesitantly slowly wrapped its arm around my back .

It’s warm .

―― I’m sorry . For being like this .

About the plan, by deliberately roaming the streets at night, we are aiming to lure out the soul controller . Although he appeared earlier today, generally, he tends to take action at night, and beginning with the innkeeper lady, victims have increased .

The town at night was eerily quiet . Probably because of all the rumours about the soul controller, the streets that were overflowing with people earlier, now has no one in sight . Some buildings and inns have light leaking out, but it feels as if I’ve been left behind by the world .

“If it’s this dark, I wonder if it’ll be fine to take off my hood”

When it’s this dark, everyone’s hair would also look dark .

Taking off my hood, the cool night breeze blows past my cheeks .

In any case, to be roaming around town at night while openly walking around and even drinking blood . I really seem to act like a vampire . The vampire syndrome might not necessarily be wrong anymore . If I want to make it sound cool, it’s Vampire[3] . In the dark of night, Count Dracula attacks a beautiful woman .

But for this condition, I wonder if anything can be done about it . I wonder if I can just endure it until I return home with Touka and the rest .

How about drinking my own blood to ease the thirst . A cycle where I make and drink my own blood . It’s safe for both people and the environment . But, I can’t . Because I don’t have any magic power at all, my blood isn’t appealing at all . Animals don’t receive the spirit’s blessings either so there’s no point… Do I have no choice but to become Count Dracula in this world .

If I explained my situation to Celia and Al, I wonder how they’ll react . They’d probably be afraid . I’m sure, if I said humans look tasty or I want to drink blood, they’d be too scared and disappear from my side . I don’t want that .

But if I don’t find a way to deal with it, something like today might happen again . To drink a random stranger’s blood . It’s one thing if the person has abundant magic power, but if it was a regular person, their blood might bore me, and being insufficient, I might end up biting into their flesh . Just thinking about it is frightening .

―― One-winged swordsman, huh . He said he’s Chiffon’s acquaintance, but I wonder if they met in the 2-year gap . Such an unsociable, curt, taciturn, tall, dangerous man who immediately relies on his sword . But well, it was delicious . It’s the flavour I like . One without any attribute, a mysterious…hmm? Eh? Something feels off . Back then I was desperate so I didn’t realize, but it was not fire, nor water or earth or any attribute-blessed, something sweetly blessed with no other in the world[4] .  

…What does this mean?

Do        I         know        that        person’s       flavour      ?

“Hello, Miss . It’s dangerous to be walking around alone at night on such a dark street”

“Eh?”

I was stuck deep in thought and didn’t notice that someone suddenly appeared from behind me . Turning around in surprise, a smiling, middle-aged man wearing an olive-brown tuxedo was standing there . His mixed white and brown hair was swept back . At first glance, he just looks like a gentle-mannered old man, but to appear in the middle of the night on the street that the soul controller is said to be at is way too suspicious .

“Oh, how rare . You are someone who holds a complicated soul”

It was uncomfortable being stared at through a monocle .

I wanted to ask if he had anything to do, but my words were blocked .

… What did this person say? Didn’t he say soul? Holds a complicated soul, plus he already realised that I’m a girl, even though he’s only seen me from behind .

Is this, no way…!!

“Fumu, It’d become great research material . Now, without further ado”

“Wa-wait! You are the soul controller, aren’t you?”

Taking a small vial out from his chest pocket to try and do something, I rushed to start a conversation with the middle-aged gentleman . Likely not thinking that I’d talk to him, he blinked his small eyes, saying ‘Indeed’, smiling .

“That indeed seems to be what I’m being called . Although, I am simply collecting materials for research”

To call a soul, material .

But I need to buy time here! I can’t just let my soul get stolen . We need to get as much information out of him as possible . Chocolat and Celia should be able to take care of the rest .

Because I’m just the bait .

Celia initially reacted angrily and disapproved of the plan, but eventually gave in . Even if she said ‘Ito-chan can’t be bait!’, once the soul controller steals my soul and returns satisfied, Chocolat and Celia are the better choices to follow him and raid his base . Unfortunately my battle prowess is pretty insignificant . To make it clear, I’m powerless . But that is exactly why there is a role that I can play . What Celia and Chocolate lack, I have . I just have to bet on that .

“What do you mean, research?”

“Are you interested? Of course you are . It’s something my esteemed self has discovered, after all”

I pretended to be interested to get more information, but it was impossible .

“But it’s unfortunate . I do not have the time to talk . Quietly allow your soul to be stolen”

―― This has to be a lie .

The middle-aged gentleman muttered something and opened the vial .

It happened in an instant .

It was so sudden, I had no time to escape .

Losing consciousness, in my growingly-distant vision, I saw a smile like a clown’s float up .

＊Short story＊

“Oh my oh my, unlike your thoughts, you so easily left your body”

The middle-aged man mumbled surprised, staring triumphantly at the contents of the vial . He had lost all interest in the body which lost its soul, collapsed on the ground .

The act of stealing souls from living people is unexpectedly painstaking . Souls rely on the flesh and exist in the body . In order to not destroy the soul, one needs to take time to slowly extract it . However, the soul shining in the vial has easily left its body . As if this soul has left its own body before .

“You must have had a near-death experience before . Well, it’s good to be saved of the hassle . Umu, what a fascinating soul this is”

The soul, coming from the mouth as a white haze, would enter the vial and change colour according to its attribute .

“In any case, to be colourless and clear is extremely unusual”

I won’t know unless I watch it closely . It might be a risky soul existing there . Coiling around it is a slightly black-like haze . It looks as if it is protecting the soul, yet also looks like it is slowly eroding it .

This is the first time this kind of soul has been seen, the middle-aged man smiled joyfully .

Translation Notes:
[1] ‘San’ is kind of like mister/miss, something you can use on anyone and everyone, while ‘sama’ is for people of a significantly higher position or status than you, something like Master, or milady .
[2] Idiot in jap is ‘baka’-> Al-baka sounds like Alpaca
[3] Says it in English, while previously it was written in jap
[4] That is to say, it is one of a kind in the whole world . In case my phrasing didn’t make sense .