“What? Won't you sit down and have a cup? I brewed a pot of tea specifically to wait for you.” The red-haired girl shook the clay cup in her hand and walked into the room with a beaming smile.
Leopold and Isabella quickly exchanged a look, but neither of them moved.
“Relax. If I wanted to call for help, a single shout just now would have been enough. But look—didn't I bring tea?” The red-haired girl set the clay cup on the corner of the table and pulled up a chair to sit down herself.
“Let me introduce myself first. My name is Adele, a sorcerer, as you call us.”
Leopold didn't move. He stood in place, his gaze falling on Adele, quickly scanning her posture and how she sat. Her aura was undoubtedly human.
Yet, she was able to use magic...
“You know we are dragons?” Leopold finally spoke.
“Of course I do,” Adele replied, nodding as if it were obvious. “Although the aura of the dragon clan is greatly suppressed in human form, there are still some traces left for us sorcerers.”
“Sorcerers can recognize dragons?”
“We can recognize any non-human race.” Adele took a sip of tea. “This is an innate ability of ours. What, were sorcerers not mentioned in your inherited memories?”
Leopold didn't answer, nor did he sit. He stood in place, warily sizing up the girl who called herself Adele.
“You said earlier that everyone has spiritual affinity. Why do the cathedral's records classify people into grades?”
“Because those aren't grades of spiritual affinity,” Adele said, setting down her clay cup. “That is the degree to which their spiritual affinity has been activated.”
“All humans possess spiritual affinity, but for most people, it lies dormant. Only those whose spiritual affinity has been awakened have the potential to—”
She paused, as if choosing a simpler way to put it: “—have the potential to use magic.”
“So your magic comes from spiritual affinity?” Isabella asked.
“Yes.” Adele nodded. “Spiritual affinity is a part of the origin of all things. The reason humans cannot use magic is not because of racial limitations, but because their spiritual affinity has never been activated.”
“Then what about sorcerers?” Leopold pressed. “Is the only difference between you and humans that your spiritual affinity has been activated?”
Adele tilted her head, seemingly in deep thought, before slowly speaking a moment later:
“In a way, you could say that. After all, a lowly race like ours is different from yours.”
“Be it elves or angels, you naturally look down on using spiritual light, a power distinct from mana.”
“After all, you can directly generate mana, whereas we must use spiritual light as a medium to absorb mana from nature.”
Leopold stood in place, his gaze still fixed on Adele. “You are quite candid.”
“Candor is one of my few virtues.” Adele picked up her clay cup and took another sip. “Besides, there's no harm in being honest with you. You are dragons; even if you tore down this cathedral, I couldn't stop you.”
“Rather than confessing after you've torn it down, it's better to make things clear from the start.”
Isabella took a step forward and stood by Leopold's side. “You said spiritual affinity can be activated. Do you capture those with ‘spiritual affinity’ to activate it? Or is it for something else?”
The smile on Adele's face faded slightly. She placed her clay cup on the table and clasped her hands over her knees.
“The former,” she said. “At least, that was the original intention.”
“Original intention?”
“Hahaha! What? Is the noble dragon clan actually interested in human history?”
Leopold did not speak, merely watching Adele with a cold gaze.
“Oh?” Adele narrowed her eyes, seemingly quite surprised.
“We have no ill intent. As long as you don't attack us, we won't destroy this place.” Leopold's voice wasn't loud. Adele sat in her chair, her hands clasped over her knees.
“You are easier to talk to than I imagined,” she said. “I thought the first reaction of a dragon upon seeing a sorcerer would be to attack immediately.”
“Have you met other dragons?” Leopold asked.
“No,” Adele said honestly. “But you are the first living dragon I have ever seen.”
“I've only read about them in books before—‘The dragon clan is the overlord of the sky, proud, powerful, and inviolable.’ The books also said that dragons view all flightless races as mere ants.”
“Books are dead, but people are alive,” Leopold said. “Besides, the dragon clan is no longer in any position to speak of ‘pride.’”
Adele blinked, seemingly not expecting him to say that. She fell silent for two seconds, then lowered her head to take a sip of tea.
“A long time ago, a powerful kingdom existed in the Eastern Border Forest.”
“Back then, we weren't called sorcerers. We were called mages, a profession revered by tens of thousands.”
“Humans farmed, built, and traded, while mages were responsible for guarding the borders, researching nature, and healing illnesses. The king was a human, but his chief advisor was always a Grand Mage.”
“Sounds ideal,” Leopold said.
“It was very ideal,” Adele agreed with a nod. “Which is why it only existed for two hundred years.”
“Two hundred years of prosperity is but the blink of an eye in the long river of history. But for the people living in that era, those two hundred years were their entire world.”
“What happened after that?”
“Later,” Adele looked up, a bitter smile playing at the corners of her lips, “later, humans began to feel fear.”
“Fear? Aren't you of the same race?” Leopold asked, puzzled.
“Of the same race? Yes, of course we are of the same race. When the Demon Race invaded the kingdom, we mages fought with all our might to protect it. It was the humans who borrowed our strength to repel the Demon Race!”
“Yet, during the war with the Demon Race, the great warriors of humanity learned Martial Skills—a combat technique that utilizes unactivated spiritual affinity to strengthen one's own body.”
“Martial Skills?” Leopold recalled hearing this term from the mouth of a demon. “Humans can fight using only their bodies, without magic?”
“Yes,” Adele nodded. “The essence of Martial Skills is to allow humans whose spiritual affinity is in a ‘dormant’ state to use that affinity to strengthen their physical bodies through certain methods.”
“It requires no spellcasting, no incantations. It only requires a massive amount of repetitive training and a tiny bit of talent.”
“That kingdom existed for two hundred years, and then humanity decided they no longer needed mages.” Adele lowered her gaze. “After all, if your own sword can cut through anything, why would you beg someone who can use magic?”
“On the contrary, those who used magic would divide their power, becoming a burden to the kingdom.”
“So, the kingdom decided to purge all mages!”
“How ironic, isn't it? How ironic!”
“We were clearly the ones who repelled the Demon Race, yet we were framed as sorcerers who summoned them!”
“Hahaha!” Adele's laughter echoed in the room, carrying a nearly agonizing desolation.
She laughed for a good while before stopping, wiping the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand as if she had laughed to tears.
“...My apologies, I lost control,” she said, taking a deep breath and sitting up straight again. “Every time I speak of this history, I simply cannot control myself.”
Leopold did not speak. He stood in place, his gaze on Adele's face, watching her slowly calm down from her wild laughter.
“Let me guess what your next question will be.”
“Hmm... I've got it. Are you going to ask why we are colluding with the Demon Race?”
“Am I right?”
Rate on N.U.
