40: Mayatrey (2)

“Jamieeeeee!!”

The knights groaned as they stopped Sears from throwing herself off the cliff.

She shouted at them to let go and kept reaching for the deep valley.

“My son! My son fell! Let me go! Quickly! Unhand me!”

“Madam! Calm down!”

“Let go!!”

Zach frowned as he looked at the valley.

It was deep. If one were to fall into such a place, it seemed impossible to survive.

But he wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she would show if he said that to Sears, so he tried to reassure her as much as possible.

“The soldiers were released. They are going down to search the entire place, so please wait.”

“My son! My son Jamie!!”

“Madam…”

Sears, who was sobbing, fell to the ground.

Sarah, who was holding her mother’s skirt, kept wailing.

“J-jamie.”

Ricky couldn’t get himself to accept the situation.

His mind turned blank, and panic overwhelmed him.

Anna couldn’t even see what was going on. But she could realise from what she heard that something horrible had happened to Jamie.

She grabbed her brother’s arm.

“It… it is all my fault.”

Sears was on the ground mumbling something as she kept crying.

“If… If I said no. If I said that.. If I refused his request, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s my fault, all my fault…”

“Madam…”

Zach could find no way to comfort her.

The wind was still blowing, and the heavy rain didn’t show signs of stopping.

He did tell her that people would be sent to search for Jamie, but in the current situation, if he sent people, they would just pathetically die.

However, if he gave up in this situation, he wasn’t sure how Count Welton would react. This one accident alone could make him aim his sword at the throats of the escorts.

“It’s my fault, all my fault. We can’t go, we should have just stayed home. My Jamie…”

Someone approached Sears, who just kept looking into the valley and kept muttering the same words.

Zach looked at the person who approached.

“Sir Lars.”

It was Lars, the Holy Executioner of the Pyro Church.

He knelt on a knee and said.

“It will be alright, madam.”

At that, Sears tilted her head.

Her beautiful face was messed up due to the rain and tears.

“Jamie won’t die from such a fall.”

“… Is that true?”

“I am not just giving you hope.”

Lars’ expression was serious.

Zach couldn’t understand why Lars was saying all that stuff. It was fine to give hope, but this current situation didn’t call for it.

Zach knew that Jamie was gifted with great magic.

However, it was just impossible for a 7-years-old to survive in such a deep valley.

But Lars seemed to have different thoughts.

“Since it was Jamie, he shouldn’t have fallen down there at all, but there must be a reason. Something was definitely there.”

“What? Something was there?”

“I am not sure about it, but there seems to be some kind of magic disabling Mana around here.”

“Then, isn’t even the great magician in danger?”

Lars looked at Zach, who asked it.

Zach continued.

“He fell down there, unable to use magic. There is no guarantee for life or death, it is certainly dangerous.”

“… Commander.”

He made a mistake trying to refute Lars’ words.

Zach apologized to Sears.

“S-sorry. I apologize for my insensitive words.”

Sears looked at him with a terrified expression and then looked at Lars.

“You mean that my Jamie is alive?”

“The commander’s words aren’t entirely wrong. However, I think that there is a high chance of survival. Jamie has the skills of an adult magician. As long as he can restore his magic, surviving won’t be difficult.”

Sears’ expression improved at Lars’ confident words. As he said, there was a possibility, but the wind currents in the valley hadn’t yet weakened.

“So I will go.”

Then, Lars got up from the ground and said,

He fixed his sword and looked at the cliff.

“If it were me, I would be able to survive.”

“W-will you be fine?”

“It will be dangerous for you too.”

Sears and Zach were worried for him.

They didn’t doubt his abilities as a Holy Executioner, but natural disasters weren’t something humans could easily overcome.

“3 hours. I will be back in 3 hours.”

Lars didn’t answer their concerns and raised the holy power around his body.

“Brother.”

Worried, Ricky called him.

Lars smiled and then jumped down the cliff.

Zach ran to the edge and saw until Lars disappeared into the valley.

The rain turned heavier.

---

Drip! Drip!

The sound of dripping water.

Jamie struggled to open his heavy eyelids.

‘This’

Nothing was visible.

He could only feel cold moisture on his eyes.

He shook his head to calm himself.

Each time he moved, his entire body trembled.

‘Am I floating in the air?’

His feet were floating.

He moved his legs to see if he could touch anything, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

He tried moving his hands.

With a rustling sound, he confirmed that his arms were fixed.

‘Handcuffs.’

Which meant he was hanging from the ceiling.

‘And, this place is.’

Moist air, water drops and echoes.

Most likely a cave.

And as there was no light, he inferred that he was deep inside.

‘Damn it. How did this happen?’

Jamie remembered the voice he heard as he fell.

[Who are you?]

[You]

[Are a dragon?]

The owner of the voice was someone who used Mana Burn.

Even now, he could not use magic, which meant that Mana Burn was still being unfolded.

‘I was mistaken for a dragon.’

The reason seemed clear.

Perhaps it sensed a huge potential in Jamie that only dragons could have. If not, there was no reason to mistake him for a dragon.

It was then.

‘Footsteps.’

Footsteps not far away from him could be heard.

Jamie closed his eyes and pretended to be unconscious.

The footsteps kept coming closer, and even as the distance shortened, he didn’t open his eyes.

“…”

No words.

It seemed to think that Jamie was still unconscious.

After a while, he heard footsteps getting farther away.

‘It doesn’t seem to want to force me up.’

Jamie sighed in relief and opened his eyes.

“I see you were pretending to be asleep.”

And then came a thin voice from behind.

It was a clear voice, but Jamie didn’t care how the voice sounded.

‘I am caught!’

It baited him!

Jamie was convinced that the owner of the voice was pretty smart.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know if you kept acting as if you fainted?”

He was right.

Closing his eyes would only waste Jamie’s time.

Even now, there must be people outside desperately searching for him.

He had to get out of it as soon as possible.

“… why did you kidnap me?”

He thought he was brought in because he was mistaken for a dragon, but is there another reason.

And the owner of the voice said.

“You. Are you a dragon?”

“… Now that you’ve seen me, you must have your answer.”

“Right. As soon as I saw you, I knew that you weren’t a dragon. But that doesn’t make sense. You aren’t even a dragon, how is it that you have so much potential? And, the type of mana that you have.”

Low voice.

“The way you gather mana is very similar to that of a dragon.”

Humans created the whole-body Mana breathing method to imitate dragons.

The dragon’s body was used to it as it was a race that has existed along with mana from the beginning of history, but it was different for humans.

So, in order to be even a little similar to dragons, who were the Lords of magic, they created mana breathing methods.

“However, the way humans take mana is the other way around. Since they weren’t born with mana in the first place, they only imitate dragons. But you?”

Jamie put on an awkward expression.

It seemed like the reason he was here was because of the whole-body breathing method.

He wouldn’t have been misunderstood if he had just used Marquess Linmel’s method, but Jamie decided to take the method one step further and create the ultimate breathing method.

However, he didn’t know that it was the same method that dragons used.

‘Did I end up knowing how these lizards get their mana?’

The dragons during the time of Diablo Volfir were nothing but lizards.

In the past, he wasn’t interested in beings lower than himself.

Handing the 12 Gods was too much, so why would he pay attention to the weaker ones?

“It can’t be explained. No matter how high your affinity with mana is, no human can be as good as you. Are you a half-blood with elf blood in you?”

The owner of the voice seemed to be a talkative person.

When he heard the voice for the first time, Jamie thought that it would have a heavy personality, but it seemed to be the opposite.

“No.”

“So you are not a half-blood? Well, even if you were a mixed race, it doesn’t make sense. It is hard to get the feeling of a dragon from even a high elf.”

“What doesn’t make sense? You are looking at it now.”

Jamie was annoyed at the constant denial.

“Look at you! Why act so proud when you are held captive?”

“You keep underestimating my abilities. Who even are you?”

“I heard that human children slur their words. Aren’t you pretty good?”

The owner of the voice seemed to have some prejudice.

Until then, Jamie didn’t know.

“Can’t you just untie me and we can talk?”

“Huh. No.”

“… If I can’t use magic, then there is nothing I can even do, so you aren’t in danger with a kid.”

“I don’t want to let you down because this is fun to see. And even if you can use the magic, it wouldn’t change your situation.”

The voice laughed.

Jamie frowned.

“That expression is funny too.”

Playful personality.

‘Rain and wind from the sky. Thunder and lightning threatening the carriage, and Mana Burn.’

Last but not least, the story that Zach told him.

Thinking about it, Jamie asked.

“You, a dragon?”

He wasn’t sure, but the current mountain ranges were named after a blue dragon called.

Blue dragons had the power to control water and even change the weather. Besides, the way the voice kept giving arrogant remarks like it was on top of humans.

‘Personality too is the same as a blue dragon.’

“…”

No answer was heard.

“I am right.”

The moment Jamie said that with certainty.

“Ugh!”

The darkness lifted, and a dazzling light tormented his eyes.

After a short time, his vision returned.

Jamie blinked to adjust his vision.

He was indeed inside a cave.

He shook his head and looked ahead. Someone was standing there with arms crossed.

A woman with long blue hair that came down to her legs. The clothes she was wearing were torn, and her body could practically be seen through the little clothes she had on.

“I am Mayatrey. Like you said, I am a dragon.”

“… Why did a dragon try to kidnap another dragon?”

“That-”

Mayatrey looked away.

“To kill.”

A tremendous amount of life blew within the cave.