Chapter 37

“A sedative…… is it?”

“Mm…… should I call it a sedative?”

Not knowing quite how to explain it, I scratched my cheek in mild embarrassment and looked at Durna. She blinked, clearly not following.

“First…… may I explain the state I’ve seen in Luira?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“At first, I thought it was something close to love tangled up with resentment. She wouldn’t let anyone else near you, after all. But…… unfortunately, that’s not it.”

Even if it had been love tangled with resentment, this wouldn’t have been an easy situation. But Luira’s case was something else entirely.

“When you weren’t around, Luira followed my instructions without any trouble. And as we tested before, she followed my instructions even in situations where she had no contact with you.”

“That’s right. She ignored the instructions I gave……”

“That’s exactly it.”

“Pardon?”

“She ignores your instructions. Even when it was just the two of you.”

And yet she wouldn’t allow any other presence near Durna, baring her temper openly, threatening whoever came close.

All of it pointed to one thing.

“Luira doesn’t recognize you as her owner.”

Durna’s face drained with shock. But this was the truth.

“No, if anything, she sees you as an easy target and takes her frustration out on you.”

“T-that can’t……”

“There could be any number of reasons. You’ve been through things that would explain it, but to start with — you’re afraid of Luira. And this is just a guess, but…… even before you were hurt, weren’t you trying to make up for feeling sorry toward her, coaxing and placating her as much as you could?”

“I…… I did. Was that……was that wrong?”

“I don’t think it was the right approach for Luira.”

Durna fell silent. The way her eyes wavered spoke for the tangle of feelings inside her.

That was only to be expected.

She’d believed she was trying harder than anyone could — finding out that effort had gone in the wrong direction was never a pleasant thing to learn.

“Then…… the sedative, that……?”

“Ah. I asked because I thought it might help if you were the one to take a drug with that kind of effect.”

“Me?”

“I thought it would be good if you could stay calm even when Luira turns aggressive. If there’s no such medicine, borrowing a mage’s help would be another option.”

For Luira’s attitude to change, Durna needed to stop being afraid.

But asking someone who’d been badly hurt by Luira’s attack before not to be afraid was, in every sense, a difficult demand.

If Durna can’t give up on Luira, then we’ll have to borrow strength from a tool, at least.

At least until Luira properly recognized the relationship between herself and Durna.

“If that’s what you mean…… yes, there is one. Its use is strictly limited, but if it’s a drug that can take away fear, I can make it myself.”

After thinking it over for a while, Durna spoke.

“It’s made mainly from oil extracted from sungrass seeds and the juice of crystal apples — the ‘Potion of Courage.’ I heard it used to be given to soldiers in wartime…… but the side effects are so severe that taking more than the proper dose is strictly forbidden.”

“It’s not against the law, is it?”

“No, nothing like that. Distributing it would be a problem, but……in this case I’d only be making a small amount for myself to take, so there shouldn’t be much risk. Of course, I should still report it to His Grace.”

She’d clearly already made up her mind — her eyes were shining — so I hurried to ask my question before she could move any further.

“Th-the side effects, you said……?”

“I’d say it’s that you start acting recklessly brave. You become so overconfident that it’s as if you believe you’re the protagonist of this world. Even in a situation that’s objectively life-threatening, you get swept up in the thought, ‘I’m the protagonist, so I’ll somehow get through danger like this!’ ……Of course, a lot of people end up actually hurt or dead because of that, which is why I understand its use is restricted.”

……Oh. That was an incredibly dangerous drug.

There’s nothing more dangerous than acting reckless in front of a dragon.

I was going to have to make sure I never touched that drug myself. No, wait a moment. Did that mean she was saying she’d take it even knowing the danger?

“Lady Durna, that’s such a dangerous drug……”

“I’ll use a little less than the proper dose. Just enough that a trace of fear still remains. That should be fine, don’t you think?”

Durna asked back with a gentle smile, and I couldn’t bring myself to say no. I could tell just how firmly she’d made up her mind.

“……If it looks dangerous, I’ll stop it immediately.”

“Understood. I’ll leave the judgment to you, Trainer Litia.”

Having gotten that promise out of her, I felt a little more at ease.

“How long will it take to prepare?”

“A day will be enough. The fact that it doesn’t take long to make was one of the reasons the Potion of Courage spread so widely on the battlefield.”

“Then let’s meet tomorrow morning.”

“All right.”

Watching Durna nod with her fists clenched in resolve, I thought to myself that Luira’s place in all this had to be set right this time.

That sensitive dragon needed to realize, no matter how much Durna cherished her, that she wasn’t someone to bare her teeth at so freely.

“Grrrrrrr……”

“Hello, Luira.”

Watching Luira growl low with her eyes fixed on me, I gave a small smile.

She didn’t seem to be in a bad mood today — the finicky Marcelid dragon lay comfortably, folding and unfolding her fins over and over.

I filled her feeding trough only two-thirds full. After giving her a feed that was slightly short, I watched the way Luira ate.

Her reaction to the food wasn’t bad today either. She stiffened her fins a little, apparently dissatisfied with the smaller amount, but she wasn’t baring her teeth outright — probably, again, because Durna wasn’t here.

She doesn’t see me as an easy target to take her frustration out on.

That was a trait common to dragons like her — an uncanny ability to tell the weak from the strong, and no hesitation at all in showing their temper to whoever they judged weaker.

There were plenty of excuses one could make. Her previous owner had died. Bad memories had been burned into her by a trainer’s hands. Her owner had changed hands more than once.

But that still didn’t mean she was allowed to show aggression past a certain line. It was a selfish thing to say, but this was a world made for humans.

I’d told the Duke and Durna that this was the last chance — if it didn’t work out, Luira would be handed to another owner. But if it truly came to that, only one possibility would be left for her.

It’ll be hard to find an owner willing to try as long and as hard for Luira as Durna has.

On top of that, if her owner changed again, she’d only grow more violent. The fate of an uncontrollable dragon was plain to see.

I didn’t want that outcome either, so I hoped, somehow, that this could be resolved while she stayed with Durna.

“Sorry to keep you waiting?”

“No. I just finished getting ready, and Luira’s only just finished eating.”

I smiled, greeting Durna, who seemed noticeably calmer than usual. I buried the worst-case outcome deep inside and spoke to her.

“From now on, I’ll tell you what to do. Just follow along exactly.”

“Understood.”

“How are you feeling?”

“My heart’s pounding a little. I’m a bit scared, but it’s bearable compared to how I usually feel.”

Good. That was just about right. Satisfied, I smiled and told Durna what to do.

Luira felt dissatisfied with the oddly smaller portion of feed than usual, and let out a low growl.

She wanted to protest to the human female who’d given her the food, but since the human didn’t look like an easy target, her temper only grew worse. The fact that she’d been fitted with an unfamiliar harness, different from the usual one, made it all the more irritating.

“Grrk.”

Just then, a familiar scent drifted into Luira’s nose.

That human.

The offspring of her former owner. The weak human. The one who used to tremble like a frightened rabbit before her, the one who’d monopolized her former owner’s affection.

The hunter’s instinct lying dormant in the dragon’s blood stirred. The beast’s instinct — tearing prey apart with its teeth, listening to prey’s final shriek while gnawing at its innards — grew stronger.

All of this was because of that weak human.

Because of her, she could no longer see her former owner.

Because of her, the dragons she’d grown close to had died coughing up blood.

The moment a target she could freely unleash her violence on came into view, Luira growled savagely.

“Grrrrrrrrk……!”

Whenever she snarled like this, the weak human used to cower and tremble, quick to shrink back. Watching that had let her vent the frustration she’d built up, and she thought it would be the same this time.

“……Grrk?”

But that thought didn’t last long before it shattered. Luira felt confusion at the human staring back at her with unwavering eyes.

Confused by the sudden change in demeanor, the dragon finally bared her teeth.

She didn’t like it — this weak human acting like that, of all things.

Luira spread her fins wide, bristled her scales, and roared. Even as the great roar shook the enclosure, the human didn’t flinch.

Disliking that, Luira lashed her tail hard against the enclosure wall and scraped her claws across the floor. A harsh scraping sound rang out as shallow grooves were carved into the ground.

But the human showed no sign of unease. If anything, she took a step forward.

At that, Luira flinched and drew her head back. There was something about the air of it that felt familiar, from somewhere.

“No, Luira.”

—No, Luira.

The image of her trustworthy former owner and the weak little human overlapped across the dragon’s retinas.

At that, the dragon’s wide-open eyes trembled faintly.