Chapter 23: Seething Blood

Dalga hefts his stone blade high overhead and inches toward me.
I raise my left arm like a shield and suck in a breath.

「Hah!」

With a sharp exhalation, the blade comes down.
There is no pain at all.

「Y-you alright, Aniki!?」
「Yeah. That was impressive。」

Seeing my arm neatly sliced through a single layer of scales and skin, blood slowly oozing out, I was impressed.
If anything, Dalga, rushing over, looks far more pained.

Since ancient times, East and West alike have regarded dragon blood as a panacea.
In the German epic the Nibelungenlied, the hero Siegfried bathed in the dragon Fafnir’s blood and gained an invulnerable body, while in China it was solemnly claimed and traded that a type of kanpō remedy was a lump of dragon or qilin blood.

I hoped my blood might have similar effects.

「Um, then, I’ll have some…」
「No, wait a second. Nina, a rabbit.」
「Mm.」

I hold Ai back as she sticks out her tongue to lick my wound and ask Nina. When she nods, the forest suddenly stirs and a rabbit pops out. Like a vending machine.

「We can’t test it on Ai right off the bat.」

I press my arm to the rabbit’s mouth and force it to drink the blood.

The effect is tremendous.

「PIGYEEEEEEE!」

With that cry, smoke jets from all over the rabbit’s body.
At the same time it thrashes violently, slips free of my hand, hops two or three steps, and then its white fur catches fire. It writhes on the ground for a while before finally going still.

Stunned by what had just happened, in the dead hush Nina unhurriedly lifted the rabbit and sank her teeth into its leg.

「! …Delicious…!」

Her eyes fly wide open.

「Seared through in an instant from high heat inside, the juices are perfectly sealed in…! And the doneness is flawless. The skin is crisp, and there’s no need for any prep work.」
「So that’s a failure.」

While Nina, unusually excited, offers her commentary, I slump my shoulders. We’ve accidentally discovered a delicious way to cook rabbit, but I can’t very well serve Ai up as a delicacy. So this is no good either…

「For now, I’ll put today’s spell on you.」
「Okay.」

I beckon Ai over and rest my hand lightly on her head.

「O you who crawl forth from the dark, who walk the world’s edge, who still the breath, who hide the radiance, cliff of the world, terminus of life, you who descend from the lofty sky. Thy names are age, the flow of time, and death. Depart from within this one and vanish.」

It’s a longevity spell I’ve been groping at day by day, lengthening the chant little by little.
I’ve confirmed it’s safe, but I haven’t confirmed its effectiveness. I’ve been testing on short‑lived insects and small animals, but no notable results have shown. Even if it works, it’s probably only a placebo at best.

—I want her lifespan extended so she can stay with me forever.

Ai accepted that selfish wish of mine—one could even call it one‑sided—without a moment’s hesitation.
I was the one who panicked and explained the downsides and concerns of gaining a long lifespan.
You might grow weary of living. You might have to see loved ones off. Depending on the method, you might be unable to die even if you wished to.
But all of that was shut down by a single line: “Which is to say, Sensei would be going through the same, right?”

Even though I smoothly obtained her consent and cooperation, we’ve seen no results at all.
I’ve tried various approaches beyond simple life extension, but they’ve all ended in failure. I had fairly high hopes for dragon blood, and, well, you saw how that turned out.

「Doesn’t come together easily, does it.」

Having licked the rabbit clean with a quick flick of her tongue, Nina laps the grease off her fingers with shameless etiquette.
Contrary to her slender frame, she’s surprisingly big‑eating.
I really do wonder what her metabolism is like.

「Come to think, Nina—how old are you now?」

Her appearance has hardly changed since the first time we met.
She still looks like she’s in her early teens.
Her beauty is so complete I hadn’t thought to question it much, but maybe this isn’t just poor development.

「Hm? Uh… I don’t remember exactly, but I guess about a hundred and thirty?」

When I asked, thinking as much, she turned out to be the elder—by far.
I died at eighty‑nine, and I’ve been a dragon twenty‑four years this year, so that’s a total of a hundred thirteen.
Even counting my previous life, Nina’s older.

「Nina-san, you’re that much older?」
「Long‑ears sure live a long time, huh.」

Ai and Dalga, apparently unaware as well, gape.

「…Just to be sure, any secrets to longevity?」
「How would I know.」

Figures!

That said, this wasn’t something I could just brush off with the usual “because she’s a genius.”

「I want to ask other elves. Do you know where they live?」

The moment I asked, a shadow fell over Nina’s face.

「…I don’t know. It’s been quite a while since I left the forest…」

She always speaks directly, yet now her words come halting and vague.

「If it’s where the long‑ears live, I know it, Aniki.」

Dalga raises his hand.
Come to think, he can speak Elvish.
Naturally he must have met elves.

「Can you guide us?」
「Sure. It’s not that far. Even on foot it’s, well, half a day.」
「Then if I carry you and fly, we should be able to make it back today.」

Dalga’s body is heavier than it looks, and flying with him on my back is pretty tough—but needs must.

「Wait.」

Just as we’re about to start getting ready, Nina stops us.

「…I’m coming too.」

Wearing a troubled look, she said it.





「There. In that forest, I met the long‑ears.」

It lay beyond even the settlement where Dalga and his people once lived.
At a spot about an hour away at a leisurely flight.

「…You okay, Aniki?」
「S-somehow… yeah…」

Panting, I answer Dalga between heaves of my shoulders.

「I’m sorry—maybe I should’ve waited after all?」
「No… it’s fine. It’s not your fault, Ai.」

In the end, on top of Dalga, Nina also insisted on coming, and then Ai said she would too, so we left Ken and the other students to hold the fort and the four of us headed for the elf village.

That said, it’s quite a distance to walk.
Maybe, if we mixed in some magic, all of us could fly there.
Thinking that was the mistake.

Dalga on my back, Ai in my arms, and Nina clinging to the tip of my tail.
Figuring that since Ai and Nina can use flight magic we could still fly like that was right in one sense—and wrong in another.

In terms of weight, there was no problem.
If anything, thanks to Ai helping lift me, I felt lighter than usual.

The problem was the posture.

Ai’s body, wrapped in both my hands, was so soft I seriously wondered if she was the same kind of creature as Dalga.
Rather than impure thoughts, the fear that I might squeeze too hard and crush her came first, and for the entire hour I couldn’t relax in the least.

「Nina, you okay back there?」
「Mm. I’m fine.」

When I look back and ask, Nina gives a curt nod.
I’d been worried since I couldn’t keep an eye on her back there, but she seems okay.
Her complexion being a bit pale probably isn’t airsickness.

「Nina. If you’re not feeling up to it, you can wait for us.」

When I say that, she shakes her head in silence.

「Well, if sis says she’s fine, she’s fine. Let’s go, Aniki.」
「…Right.」

Still feeling something snag inside me, I nod to Dalga and head for the forest entrance.

The instant I set foot inside, a prickling sensation crawls up my nape.
Well, not fur—call it my scales standing on end.

「…We’re being watched.」

She must have sensed the same thing I did.
Ai presses close to me and whispers.

『Hey, long‑ears! Get out here!』

Dalga, either oblivious or doing it deliberately, stomps around kicking at trees and bellows in Elvish.

『As boisterous as ever, aren’t you, bear‑ape.』

What appears without a sound is a beauty unreal enough to feel unearthly.
Perhaps around a hundred seventy centimeters tall? A long, willowy figure with well‑proportioned limbs. Poised on those shoulders is a face of terrifying perfection.
Not just a face—countenance. I hope you’ll understand why I want to put it that way.

Nina is quite the beauty herself, but her features still carry a girlish charm.
The elf before us, however, is so beautiful her very sex is unclear.

『What a curious assemblage. A bear‑ape, a lizard, a monkey girl. And—ah. Even a dropout among you.』

The elf arches her brows and declaims with theatrical flourish.

『A dropout?』

Without thinking, I parrot the word back as a question.
Bear‑ape would be Dalga. It fits him so well it doesn’t even feel odd.
Lizard is obviously me. I’ve heard it enough times that it doesn’t bother me.
Monkey girl is probably Ai. It pisses me off, frankly, but I swallow it down.

By elimination, it’s clear who the dropout refers to.

『…Long time no see, Ultramarine.』

Our resident genius spits it out, thoroughly unamused.