Chapter 21 - You Could've At Least Explained
Translator: Roshi
Suddenly, events from the past flickered before my eyes like a panorama.
'Come to think of it....'
The day before Cer arrived.
I'd gotten wasted (not really) and passed out after drunkenly rambling about wanting to raise a puppy.
Then I said I wanted to raise a daughter, and Serintia appeared.
Every time I made a fool of myself and fell asleep, my wishes had been granted in some roundabout, bizarre way.
'Could this all be coincidence?'
I have my own intuition, for what it's worth.
You could say it kicked in pretty late, and I wouldn't argue with that, but....
'First, if I want to find any clues about whether this was coincidence or not.'
I whipped around to look at Cer.
Kkiing?
Cer had been rolling around on the pad with his Comfort Toy, but he shot to his feet the moment he caught my gaze.
Master is paying attention to me! What's going on?! His tail seemed to say, wagging wildly.
"Cer. Can you explain in as much detail as possible what happened right before you came to our animal hospital?"
He'd said before that he didn't know how he got here, but maybe hearing about the process would give me some clues.
Kkiing! Got it!
Cer seemed to retrace his memories for a moment, then pressed his nose against the pad and drew lines to form a square shape.
Then he lay down inside it.
"You were trapped in a square room about that size?"
Kkiing! That's exactly it!
Pleased that I understood so quickly, Cer continued his explanation with gusto.
He lay sprawled out, listless.
Kking? He perked up as if someone had come.
Then he began trembling in fear.
Thwack!
As if being kicked, he was struck by something flying through the air and let out a whimper as he tumbled across the floor.
'What the hell, how is this so realistic?'
He wasn't actually getting hit, but even I flinched.
He even bounced off an invisible line as if he'd slammed into a wall.
His acting was practically professional-grade.
He could've been a stunt man, no, a stunt dog.
I'd expected it, but seeing it acted out like that, he really had been abused.
My heart ached.
At the same time, I felt bad for making him recall those memories.
But Cer didn't seem to mind, fully absorbed in his performance.
Kkiing?!
Cer stared at one corner of his imaginary square.
"A Gate opened."
Cer charged toward it as if squeezing out every last bit of strength he had.
As though the location had changed, Cer walked around looking this way and that with a bewildered expression.
"Did you arrive at the animal hospital?"
Kkiing. No!
Cer shook his head.
It seemed it hadn't connected directly to the animal hospital; some kind of path had stretched out before him.
Kkiing.
Cer drew lines on the pad with his nose, showing that there had been several branching paths.
And then.
Kkiing!
He pointed his nose at the LED string lights I'd put up as interior decor when I moved in, running along the wire.
Then he traced along one of the branching paths in a long line.
"There was a light like that stretching along a path, and you followed it?"
Kking! That's right!
A light had shown Cer the way.
Just as I was pondering the nature of that light.
Kkiing! Kking!
"Hm? Me?"
Cer let out a kking and stared fixedly at my left arm.
Kking!
Then he looked back and forth between the LED lights and my arm.
"The light came from my arm...."
Only then did I recall the phenomenon I'd brushed off as nothing.
"Ah!"
That's right, just before I fell asleep that night, my left arm had faintly glowed.
And sleeping within my left arm was the Dragon's Mark.
'Could it be.... Did the Dragon's Mark guide Cer to this side?'
The Dragon's Mark had that kind of ability?
This was the first I'd ever heard of it.
'Hold on.'
But my arm had glowed the night before Cer arrived.
How did Cer know the light came from this arm....
'No way.'
I asked Cer.
"Cer, did my left arm glow when I was throwing a fit about wanting a daughter?"
Kkiing!! That's right, master!
"Whoa...."
No wonder he'd been making those kking sounds near my arm back then.
'At this point, I'd say it's pretty much certain...?'
I looked down at my left arm.
The moment I thought about making the Mark appear.
It slithered into view.
As if responding to my thoughts, a tattoo of indecipherable characters surfaced on my skin.
I checked the information again.
Ding!
[Dragon's Mark][Rank: ??]
-The Mark of Black Dragon Hereos.
Absolute Shield (S): Can generate a defensive barrier that protects the body of the one bearing the Mark.
Durability (500/500), upon destruction it dissipates along with the attack that destroyed it. Cooldown of 24 hours upon destruction.
Naturally regenerates when not destroyed.
'Right. Now that I look at it, something does seem off.'
I had assumed the Dragon's Mark's only effect was generating a shield that protected my body.
That wasn't entirely wrong, but.
More precisely, it was closer to saying that a separate S-Rank function called "Absolute Shield" was included under the Dragon's Mark.
If that weren't the case, there'd be no reason for the Dragon's Mark to have its rank listed separately as "??" while the shield was separately marked as S.
Considering that skills and items could have hidden functions beyond what was written in the Status Window.
It wouldn't be strange at all for the Dragon's Mark to have additional abilities beyond its stated function.
'But calling it an "additional ability" feels like an understatement...?'
It was powerful enough to bring beings from other dimensions just to fulfill my wishes?
That would make it even more powerful than Absolute Shield....
No, wait, maybe not?
An auto-activating invincible shield that absolutely refused to let any harm through was already an incredible ability, even for S-Rank.
As far as I knew, not even among S-Rank hunters was there anyone with a cheat skill like this.
"Mmgh."
Now that I thought about it, things had been going suspiciously well ever since I healed that dragon.
Of course, things going well was a good thing.
Meeting Cer and Serintia was something I considered a blessing too.
When Cer met me, his flame of life had been all but extinguished.
And if Serintia hadn't met me, she would've had to spend her entire life drinking blood she didn't want to drink.
Both were precious connections.
We hadn't known each other for long, but I'd already grown attached.
But.
'What bothers me is that I didn't use this enormous power of my own will.'
All I did was get drunk and babble, and whatever I said just came true.
Wasn't this the perfect recipe for becoming a walking catastrophe?
What if I, say, drank a whole three cans of beer and became completely wasted, then started yelling something like "Aaaargh, this rotten world! Just end already!" and SS-Rank Gates simultaneously opened all across the globe?
In the imagination of someone whose MBTI had N as the second letter, the worst-case scenarios were already playing out.
A city in flames, people in despair.
Among roaring Demonic Creatures, I alone survived, screaming "Th-this isn't what I wanted!"....
Ugh, let's stop imagining things.
I shook my head furiously.
Of course, I had absolutely no intention of making such a wish.
And even if I did, there was no way it would actually come true.
But the fact remained that a great power beyond my control could be dangerous.
As I sat there with a grave expression, lost in thought.
Kkiing!
Lick.
Cer came over and licked my hand.
Feeling the soft, moist touch of his tongue, I scratched under his chin, and my heart settled down a little.
Nothing beats Cer for calming the nerves.
I took a deep breath.
'Whew. Stay calm.'
I should just be grateful I found out now.
Nothing bad had happened yet, right?
'First, I need to figure out how exactly this activates. I can't control it otherwise.'
The trigger couldn't be "getting drunk and babbling."
Maybe it reflected my strong desires?
While I was at it, I stretched my left hand out in front of me.
And shouted.
"A-ah, I want ice cream!!"
Kking?
"......."
Nothing happened.
The Mark on my left arm didn't glow at all.
I had no choice but to open the fridge and get the ice cream myself.
I genuinely did want some, after all.
What's more classic than ice cream for dessert after grilled meat?
It didn't grant that one, huh.
"Cer, want to try some ice cream?"
Kkiing!! Yes please!
Most dogs are lactose intolerant, so you shouldn't feed them human ice cream.
But our Cer could digest anything.
Better than me, at least.
"Hmph-choo."
I scooped a few spoonfuls of ice cream with a metal spoon and put them on a plate for him.
Lick, lick!
Kkiiing!!
It's cold and yummy! he seemed to say, lapping it up eagerly and taking bites of it too.
I ate a few spoonfuls myself to cool my head, then.
"In that case, this time...."
I steadied my breathing again, stretched out my left hand, and shouted.
"A-ah, I want to raise a cat too!!"
This time, I deliberately called out something similar to the conditions from when Cer came.
I was fairly confident it would work.
Kking? Am I getting a friend?
Cer looked expectant too.
"......."
But once again, the Dragon's Mark was silent.
An awkward silence.
Oh, forget it. Of course not.
Granting wishes, as if....
The moment I thought that.
Vwoooom!
"Huh?"
A Gate appeared right in front of my outstretched hand.
Was it actually happening?
Gulp.
I did say "cat," but whatever came through probably wouldn't be a normal cat, right?
What kind of cat would appear? A black one? An orange tabby? Or maybe a tuxedo?
But what emerged from it wasn't a cat.
"Shin-huuuu...."
"Serintia?"
Serintia poked her face through the Gate.
"What's the occasion? It's only been three days. Are you feeling sick already?"
Seeing Serintia sooner than expected was a pleasant surprise.
But I was worried too, so I asked.
Serintia answered with a sulky expression.
"I already ate all the chocolate.... Hmph. Can't you give me just a little more?"
"......."
Three days since I'd sent Serintia home.
She'd already eaten all the chocolate I gave her.
I knew this would happen.
*
I let Serintia into the house for now.
"Is it really okay for you to be running around this soon? You said you had to maintain the Barrier and everything."
Serintia nodded.
"Right! But you know what, it's really amazing! Ever since Shin-hu healed me, the Barrier seems like it's gotten even stronger!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. And it holds up way better even without me paying much attention to it! So when I told my butler, he said with the Barrier in this condition, it should be fine if I went out for a bit!"
From what she told me, even while she was here, she could immediately sense if something approached the Barrier or if someone attacked it.
Serintia explained all this while scooping up a big spoonful of ice cream and popping it into her mouth.
"Mmmmm!! So good! This is ice cream, right? I think it's the second most delicious thing after chocolate!"
Serintia savored the sweetness of the ice cream with a blissful expression.
Since she was here, I took the opportunity to ask.
"Good timing, actually. I've been meaning to ask you about how we ended up meeting."
"How we met?"
"Yeah. You said you came here trying to catch a falling glass bottle, right? Can you explain in a bit more detail?"
Serintia ate one more spoonful of ice cream, then told me.
"Hmm, the feeling was exactly like traveling through a Dimensional Portal. But the unusual thing was that I didn't come out here right after passing through the portal? I fell through the Dimensional Gap with the glass bottle for a long time, and then suddenly everything slowed way down and I came out here."
The process was a bit different from Cer's, but the part about passing through a place called the Dimensional Gap was the same.
"Did you happen to see any kind of light?"
"Hmm, I was so focused on catching the glass bottle that I didn't get a good look.... But I think I did see something like a light beyond the bottle."
"I see."
"But why do you ask?"
I hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I think I might be the one who summoned you to this dimension. Cer said he crossed over by following a light that came from this Mark."
"A mark?"
I explained how I'd healed a dragon and received the Mark in return.
"Ahh, so that shield of yours was one of the Mark's abilities!"
"That's right. Do you happen to know anything about dragons, or have any idea about them?"
Serintia shook her head.
"No. I don't know much about dragons either. They're vaguely mentioned in legends, and I've never actually seen one."
"I see. Can't be helped, then."
I wiped the ice cream from the corner of Serintia's mouth.
Then I let out a small sigh.
It was nice that Serintia had come, but in the end, I still hadn't figured out the activation condition for this Mark.
The surest bet would be to ask the dragon who gave it to me.
'I should've asked more questions back then.'
How was I supposed to summon a dragon I didn't even know the whereabouts of now?
"Aaaargh! You could've at least explained the basics!!"
I shouted and ruffled my hair in frustration.
And just then.
Kkiing?!
"Hm? What's wrong, Cer?"
I lowered my arm and noticed that the Mark on my left arm was glowing, my eyes going wide.
"Wait, why is this...."
And the next moment.
Vwoooom—!
A Gate appeared in the middle of the living room.
Could a dragon really be coming through...?
Given its size, the house would probably collapse the moment it stepped out.
Even if it came out somewhere outside, that would be a problem too. This whole area would be plunged into terror and chaos.
"Shin-hu...!"
Serintia gulped and pressed herself against me.
Vwooooom....
And just as we all held our breath.
"Hup."
Something came out of the Gate.
"......?"
"...?"
Kking...?
It wasn't a dragon.
A small frame, about half the size of Cer.
A round face with slowly blinking eyes.
A few whiskers sticking out to each side.
Short grayish fur.
'An otter...?'
The otter, carrying a book nearly as big as itself on its back, emerged from the Gate and looked around with a slightly flustered expression.
"Oh dear. Why did I end up here?"
Like someone who'd walked into the wrong room at a karaoke place, it hurried to go back through the Gate, but.
Whoosh.
The Gate had already closed.
The otter waved its paws frantically in the empty air, and after apparently failing at whatever it was trying to do, slumped its shoulders.
"Oh my...."
Then, blinking its eyes, it asked us.
"Um, excuse me, but where might this be, yom?" [TL: The otter adds a cute "yom" to the end of its sentences, a verbal quirk.]
*****
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