~LFTV 09~
Chapter 9
Daisy shouted.
“Lord Callius! Why would you make me cook something like this?!”
At her fierce protest, Callius tilted his small head slightly in confusion.
“So, you put the egg I gave you in the pot, boiled it, and this dragon came out?”
A small dark-red dragon clung to Daisy’s shoulder and roared at Callius.
「Kkukkkakka.」
“…Cute, I guess! But still! It’s shocking!”
Callius narrowed his eyes and muttered softly, shaking his head.
“Hmm. That can’t be….”
“What do you mean it can’t be! You should have told me if it was a fertilized egg about to hatch! I almost witnessed something horrible!”
The little dragon chirped in agreement with Daisy’s scream.
「Kkakka kkakka.」
“There, there. I see. You don’t want to die either, huh?”
「Kkwing kkwing.」
Watching the human and the dragon interact like that, Callius snorted.
“Did you two get attached to each other already? Playing around like that.”
“It seems like it thinks of me as its mother,” Daisy said.
In the old world, there was a term called the “imprinting effect.”
“‘The theory that the first being seen after hatching is recognized as its parent,’ right?”
Indeed, the small dragon clung affectionately to Daisy.
‘Did it happen to cry out “Mama” by coincidence?’
At first, Daisy had been surprised and flustered, but as she watched the little creature with bright red eyes playfully rub against her, her heart slowly melted.
Still, the dragon’s cuteness didn’t change the fact that the situation was completely unexpected.
“So, Lord Callius! What on earth is going on? Explain why you’d make me cook something this adorable for dinner!”
「Kkyu!」
At her intense reaction, Callius sighed and pointed at the dragon with a finger.
“That egg hadn’t hatched for over a hundred years from the start.”
“Excuse me?”
“I knew it was a dragon egg.”
“Then why did you leave a dragon egg in the pantry…?”
“Because I tried everything for a hundred years, and it still didn’t hatch.”
‘So he shoved it away in frustration,’ Daisy thought.
She asked in disbelief,
“But then why tell me to cook it? Suddenly?”
“Dragon eggs are filled with magic. Who knows if it might help me restore my mana?”
In other words, it was a useless egg that neither helped his research nor hatched, so he planned to just eat it for nourishment.
“Everything about this is strange. Ever since you arrived, so many weird things have been happening.”
Callius looked Daisy up and down suspiciously. Daisy gave a hollow laugh.
“What, are you suspecting me? That I’d be the kind of person to steal the Archmage’s power, turn him into a little kid, and hatch a dragon egg?”
The answer came surprisingly easily.
“No.”
“Right? It hurts the pride a little, but that’s the truth…”
“But some verification is still needed.”
“Huh? Verification for what?”
Callius held out his finger.
“Now that my mana has partially recovered, I need to dissect your body, slave.”
“Whaaaat? Dissect?!”
It was a terrifying declaration.
“Close your eyes.”
“Ughhh…”
“Don’t make any weird noises.”
“Eeeeee…”
“Don’t tremble either.”
“It won’t really hurt, right?”
“Shut up before I really kill you.”
At Callius’ deadly warning, Daisy clamped her mouth shut.
“…Yes.”
Following his command, she felt a small, warm hand press against her forehead.
“I’ll scan your magic. Do anything stupid, and you’ll regret it.”
“Yes.”
With that final threat, a cold sensation flowed through her forehead. It was small, but the presence of it was unmistakable.
‘Is this Lord Callius’ mana?’
Previously, Callius had mentioned that the “dissection” was a type of magical dissection.
“To fix your illness, I need to understand your condition. I’ll also check your origin. Make sure no strange witch’s blood is mixed in.”
Recalling Callius’ words, Daisy muttered,
‘He could’ve just called it an examination, why say “dissection” to scare me?’
Meanwhile, Callius’ mana flowed through Daisy’s veins.
The “mana dissection” ended when a golden outline appeared and disappeared in Callius’ black eyes.
“…Hmm.”
Callius inhaled sharply and touched his head.
A complex expression crossed his young face, one far beyond his years.
“Did you figure something out?”
“Probably, yes.”
Daisy perked her ears up.
“What is it? A clue to cure my illness?”
Since even a rural mage had diagnosed her illness, perhaps Callius could discover something even greater.
As Daisy clasped her hands together in excitement, a thunderclap fell from a clear sky.
“You’re not from this world, are you?”
“Huh?”
“Your soul doesn’t belong here.”
Daisy’s mouth dropped open.
“W-How did you know?”
“Your body seems native enough… Then, reincarnation?”
Truly, the Archmage was impressive.
“Ah…”
Daisy instinctively stepped back in surprise.
Callius smirked.
“As expected, my deduction is never wrong.”
He shrugged.
“I’ve figured out the cause of your illness too.”
Callius explained excitedly.
“A soul from another world can’t properly settle into a body here.”
“Can’t settle… meaning?”
“The reason you sometimes faint like a puppet with cut strings is because your body and soul aren’t fully aligned.”
“So, it’s just my constitution…?”
“No. If this continues, the connection between your body and soul will completely break, and you’ll die.”
Daisy’s mouth dropped in horror.
“Wha-what?”
“Technically, your body would fall asleep indefinitely, while your disconnected soul wanders eternally.”
“T-That’s even worse!”
Daisy paled and trembled as she pleaded.
“Lord Callius! Please, help me! Please get the essence of the world and save me! I’ll do anything I can for you too!”
Callius, momentarily puzzled, asked,
“The essence of the world, you say? Where did you hear that?”
“A neighboring mage who diagnosed my illness.”
Daisy briefly explained the situation.
“That mage said the trace of my soul was weak, so my body and soul weren’t firmly connected. That’s all he told me, and charged a fortune for it.”
Still, the diagnosis matched the Archmage’s, so he wasn’t incompetent.
Callius’ expression twisted slightly as he listened.
“A mere village mage read the trace of your soul?”
Daisy tilted her head.
“Is that difficult?”
“Yes.”
“How many can do it?”
“Including me, fewer than five in the entire continent.”
“Eeehhh?”
Daisy recalled the elderly village mage she had met.
“…He was just a normal bald miserly old man.”
No aura of a sage, no dignity of an archmage—just an ordinary old man.
“You can disguise your appearance, though,” Callius said sharply.
Daisy quickly agreed.
“True… Even looking at you, Lord Callius, who would think the Archmage could be in a boy’s body?”
“Shut up.”
Callius glared at her and roughly pulled his hood over his head.
“This is suspicious. Guide me to that mage.”
“Why?”
“I need to know why he sent you to me.”
Callius’ eyes gleamed, as if he had finally discovered the mastermind. He seemed ready to confront the mage immediately.
But…
“Lord Callius…”
“I don’t have time for words. Lead the way!”
Daisy sighed and shook her head.
“But Lord Callius, whether or not that mage is behind this, it will take more than two weeks on foot to get to where I lived! Your body can’t handle such a journey.”
“Ugh.”
Callius flinched. He realized he couldn’t even cast basic magic, let alone movement magic.
His small fists clenched tightly.
“Ha… but I must meet him.”
