118. Black Dragon Adra 1

'I'm Shiro. What about you?'

Shiro finally addressed the dragon, now calmer.

'I'm Adra, the Black Dragon. A dragon of the Dragon Clan. Shiro, I'm grateful. Thank you.'

'Ah, you're welcome. Now, I'm going to remove the source of the status abnormality—the virus. Understood?'

'Yeah, go ahead. If this finally frees me from years of suffering, I'll leave it in your hands,' Adra replied.

'Mitoka, Shestia, Kotone—still holding up okay?'

'We'll be fine if we can just hold on a little longer,' Shestia said.

'Alright, then we'll perform the same procedure we used on Shireina. This time, though, we're using a newly developed "External Spirit Large-Scale Precision HLSL Module." It uses far less mana, so I think we're safe on that front. Mitoka, if anything goes wrong with spirit control, I'll need your support.'

'Understood,' Mitoka said.

Shiro activated the module.

A light flared from his bracer, and shimmering particles erupted, enveloping the dragon.

Within just a few minutes—earlier than expected—the light returned to the bracer.

'Shiro, the virus removal seems to have succeeded. It’s undetectable in precision scans,' Mitoka reported.

'Good. Fast, too. And mana usage was minimal. Alright, then—let's halt all skill activations.'

As Shiro spoke, the barrier vanished. The four beams of light faded, and the light that had surrounded everyone dissipated.

'Let me properly thank you. You've saved my life. You're my saviors.'

Adra spoke to Shiro and the others.

'Hey! So this is how you broadcast your voice to everyone at once? Ah. You're welcome. Sorry—just hold on a sec.'

"Mitoka, uh… you okay? Shestia, Kotone—want to install the 【Concept Language::Ancient Dragon Tongue】 skill now? Shestia, can you accept it through that soul connection of yours?"

"Yeah. Fine. Kotone’s okay too," Shestia said, and a crimson light linked the three of them.

Then Shiro initiated the skill transfer.

――『Installing 【Concept Language::Ancient Dragon Tongue】 module automatically』

The announcement echoed, and the module installed into both of them.

Note: Module installation onto others is restricted. First, the caster must be at Divine Art Level 2, granting access to another’s soul. The recipient must genuinely trust the caster and willingly accept. And finally, a confirmed soul-level connection must exist as proof.

In practice, nearly impossible—but Shiro and Shestia’s bond, plus Kotone’s heart, made it happen.

"Um, okay. Let me rephrase. Can everyone hear me?"

"Got it."

"Affirmative."

"Yes. Senior, is this like telepathy?" Kotone asked.

"Right. In this world, we call it mind-speech."

"Thank you all for your help. My name is Adra. I am a black dragon of the draconic race," Adra introduced himself.

"I’m Shiro."

"Mitoka."

"Shestia."

"Um… Kotone."

Everyone introduced themselves.

"Alright, first question—Adra, are you a Demon King or something?" Shiro asked.

"Demons king? Don’t know what that is. Not me. I’m a dragon—black dragon, Adra," Adra replied.

"Shiro, probably just a witness misjudgment," Shestia murmured. "That’s more like a fairy tale."

"Yeah. From the situation, Adra didn’t seem to be leading the beasts," Mitoka said.

"...Is that so? Well, whatever. I mean, it’s like the name itself made things blow up out of proportion... Could it really just be a misunderstanding?"

Shiro thought that, still not fully convinced, but shrugged it off. *Eh, whatever.*

『...So, Adra, what the hell happened?』 Shiro asked straight to the point.

『Ah, I don’t know myself. After I fled the village, I don’t know when exactly—my body started failing, my mind turning irritable, then violent thoughts. I came here seeking help.』

『Can’t you remember any specifics? Like, when exactly, or where?』 Shiro asked.

『Uh... no idea. Can’t recall.』

『I see... So, what route did you take to get here?』

『Ah, we came from the Dragon Mountains...』 Adra started, then stopped mid-sentence.

『Ah, no! Iberia!』 he shouted.

『Iberia?』

『Ah, a white dragon. Didn’t you see her? My childhood friend. My lover. We traveled together—until we both went mad and split up halfway. I have to find her before I end up like this...』

Adra’s voice cracked—grief, pain, raw.

『So another dragon was involved. Hmm? A white dragon? Then the dragons seen in Sotohaim and the capital weren’t Adra after all?』

Shiro blinked, slightly confused.

『Uh, how far did you two go together?』

『Ah, a plateau covered in blooming flowers...』

『Only one place like that. The Spirit’s Hill, I think,』 Shestia said.

Shiro mentally cross-referenced the map.

『Ah, so that’s how it is. And as for where Iberia went…』

『I don’t know. I went mad first—really messed up mentally—and we fought. I ran off south. I have no idea what happened to her after that.』

『…She probably headed west. She’s been sighted near Sotohaim, the capital. After that, nothing. Might be worth checking with the Guild for any sightings.』

『By the way, where’s the place before the Spirit’s Hill?』

『Further north from the flower plateau—some massive ruin, really. Before that, uh… a huge crater to the west. Weirdly full of mushrooms.』

『Shiro, that ruin is likely MagiEast—the old Demon Kingdom’s city, by location. And the crater? That’s MagiCentral. The epicenter of the infamous MagiCentral Miasma Catastrophe—old Demon Kingdom’s capital.』

『Hmm. All of them, outlets of the dragon veins.』

Shiro murmured, mentally cross-referencing the map.

『That’s right. We dragons directly absorb mana as sustenance,』 Adra said.

『Oh? So MagiCentral’s basically the blast zone, huh? The mushroom thing—what’s that about?』

『Who knows? There were a ton of mushrooms. Tasted awful, though.』

『Wait—you actually ate them?… No, you *did* eat them?』

Suddenly, Shiro snapped his fingers.

『Crap, I wiped out all the viruses in Adra’s body! Should’ve preserved a sample for analysis.』

『Shiro, we already collected samples,』 Mitoka said.

『Oh, right—solid work, Mitoka. You’re a lifesaver!』

Shiro patted Mitoka’s shoulder with a relieved grin.

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