Drifter Guesses

"Heal."

A flash of light came out of Yuki's hand as he casted a healing spell towards his injured arm. After the luster of the spell faded, a couple of his wounds vanished while the dislocated bones returned to their rightful places. However, he still could not move it properly.

His heal was not perfect, not as good as the Dragon God's. That, he was ready to admit fully. His spell did not completely restore his injuries nor did it return his missing magic power and stamina. The reason for this was that he was still weak.

Mirelia could only do what she could because she possessed sufficient mana and absurd mastery over her magic. In addition, he also did not have the necessary medical knowledge to visualize a proper healing spell, resulting in the need to use immense amount of mana to compensate for it. As a result, he could only use it as a first aid measure and nothing more.

After making sure that he had fixed his body sufficiently, Yuki stood up. He needed to hurry, or else, he would be caught unaware without any preparation when the next monster gets summoned. He was aware that the Dragon God, that spartan dragon, would not give him rest. After spending enough time with her, he knew that she could be unreasonable when she wanted to.

Contrary to his expectations, however, no magic circle appeared no matter how long he waited.

"Huh? Are there no more?"

"Yes. This monarch is allowing you to take a rest for an hour. After that, we continue."

Turning around, Yuki spotted a beautiful woman covered in black scales walking towards him. It was Mirelia. His gaze wandered around her beautiful figure unconsciously, as if controlled by something. She was truly charming. No matter how much he looked on, he did not think that he would get tired of it. The clear contrast between her majestic dragon form that exuded power and authority and her human form that was capable of bewitching the world made her appeal much more apparent. He only snapped out of it when her voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What is it?" Mirth shone deep within Mirelia's golden eyes. "Do you really like how this monarch looks that much for you to gawk that hard?"

Her question troubled Yuki greatly knowing that he had been caught checking her out. His heart skipped a beat out of nervousness for a second before he noticed the amused little smirk on her lips. It was fortunate that she did not seem offended, even in the mood to tease him.

"Well…"

The drifter wanted to deny it seeing how smug she looked. However, he could not deny that he was certainly pleased to see her beauty. The first time he saw her in this form, he felt immense shock assault his mind. If it were not for the fact that he remembered what she did and the pain that he experienced prior, he probably would have remained star struck. That was how terrifying her looks were.

"If you do not want to admit it, that is also fine with this monarch." A chuckle came out of her mouth as she puffed up her chest by raising them up with her arms. "This monarch knows that you often stare at these things from time to time after all."

"I-I don't! That's a slander, master!"

"Hmph! You dare look but not admit? Such a wuss."

"Tsk. Give me a break, master." Yuki whispered.

His face reddened hearing the clear disdain in her voice. It was definitely true that he looked at her huge assets from time to time. He was a man, after all, with healthy interests. It would be weirder if he did not. However, for his honor, he refused to admit any of it. He could acknowledge that he was slightly perverted inwardly but would not allow anyone else other than himself to recognize him as such! He was not a complete pervert!

"By the way, why did we stop here? Aren't you the 'pushing to the limits' type of person?"

He changed the topic as calmly as he could to hide the waves in his heart. It would be dangerous if the conversation proceeded in this topic. Of course, Mirelia knew what he was doing. She was tempted to tease him further knowing that it was a sure way to make him flustered. However, she decided to let him go this time seeing his wretched appearance after all the fights that he had to go through.

"Do you still have mana?"

"No…"

"Do you want to fight in that state?"

"O-Of course not! I'll die!"

"Then, we will be continuing after you recover."

"You can just heal me back to full, right?"

"That is true. However, you would not experience what it is like to fight with fatigue, or maybe even with your life on the line, if this monarch heals you every time."

If it was only to strengthen his body, then the Dragon God was willing to heal him back to full whenever he reaches his limit. However, she would not spoil him in this aspect. After all, if he did not experience this type of fatigue, he would most likely miscalculate his strength and stamina when it mattered the most.

Yuki understood what the Dragon God meant by that. He felt slightly moved knowing that she was preparing him for every possibility. But upon thinking deeper about this topic, he came to realize that something was weird. It was not a bad thing per se, but remembering all the training he had received, both in body and magic, he could not help but show doubt in his face.

Why was his master doing all of this? At first, he thought that it was simply to help him cope with her aura. After all, no matter how majestic the Dragon God seemed, he could tell that she treated people under her considerately. And maybe, seeing his difficulty during his work time made her pity him a little, and thus helped him get stronger.

However, when he thought about the bloodline bestowal ritual, her indirectly asking Ereben to guide him in his magic study, and now this combat training that he did not need with his work of organizing treasures, he realized that there was probably something more about this than what it seemed. Because if it was just to help him withstand her overbearing aura with his mortal body, the body strengthening and healing combo hell training seemed enough to achieve that purpose.

"What are you thinking?" Mirelia inquired seeing that the drifter had spaced out.

"Nothing much… I was just thinking why master is going so far to help me."

"Elaborate."

"I was just thinking if you had other intentions. Training me with every aspect to make me stronger, even going as far as to doing it yourself even when you could have left the matter to others, seems a bit overkill if you just wanted to help me withstand the discomfort that I feel from your aura… After all, you're still a monarch. And a ruler need not do things personally."

Was she in need of a strong combat force for battle? Probably not. As a dragon, her own strength was likely enough for any kind of situation. And even if she did, it was faster to find an already powerful existence to recruit rather than to train one from scratch.

In the first place, she did not seem to be in any need of an additional personnel in that regard. As the revered supreme of all Dragons, she obviously had no problems regarding the troops department. If she needed someone for battle, she already had the usually elegant Ereben or other dragons of the same level, too. She did not need a puny servant like him, and he did not see a way to contribute in battles involving dragons either.

So, if that was not the case, then it was apparent that she had a different purpose in mind for helping him like this when it seemed like she stood to gain nothing from him at all. It was strange. Would she really do all of that without gaining anything from it? He refused to believe that this pie that fell from the sky in his hands was not without a price.

"So, master… Is there actually something you need me to do? Something that I can do that you and the others can't…"

"…"

"This favor… All the training that you've been giving me, allowing a mere servant to study in magic, and even pitting me against creatures one after another to gain experience… It feels like you're preparing me for something.

"Good, you are sharp. This monarch indeed has a reason for all of this. When did you figure it out?"

"Actually, I began to feel that something was strange when you did bloodline bestowal on me."

At that time, before he was subjected to that hellish ritual, he actually felt his growth skyrocket when Mirelia "trained" him consecutively. Although he felt aggrieved that the Dragon God had beaten him into a pulp over and over again, the rate at which he grew stronger told him that it would not take a long time for him to gain enough resistance against her aura to do his work properly.

Using that hunch as a basis, it was a logical conclusion that the bloodline bestowal was not necessary at all. And yet, she still did what she did. It was at that time when he was told what actually happened that he suspected her intentions.

Why had she done it? After all, according to her, that blood that she used in that ritual was precious enough to spark wars between countries. And yet, she used it on him, a mere servant? There had to be a catch. She needed him for something.

"That was when I realized that you have something planned for me, and my guess only got affirmed time and time again when you decided to help me get stronger by arranging things for my convenience. I don't know what it is, though."

After Yuki explained, silence reigned within the forest. The drifter actually felt nervous, thinking that he had done a mistake by exposing the Dragon God's thoughts. He was about to ask her about it, and possibly ask for forgiveness to save his skin, when a loud laughter prevented him from doing so.

"Amusing, amusing! To think that this monarch was that obvious. This monarch planned to keep it a secret to surprise you, but you beat me to the punch."

"…"

"Alright. As a reward for guessing this monarch's thoughts, this monarch will tell you everything!"