“Elves are, to be honest, idiots, aren’t they?”
『What… are you saying?』
What, you ask…? I’m just stating a fact.
“I haven’t fully grasped the entire root of this magic… the ‘Laws of the World,’ but I’ve analyzed it, gained admin privileges, installed a hack called the M Language, created a backdoor, and made it possible to remotely access other entities. Oh, and I’m also freely using the computational resources.”
『What…? What are you talking about…?』
Huh? You don’t know this level of conversation?
I’m not some third-rate villain from a manga, so I’m not going to explain everything in detail.
But, if you don’t react to these keywords, it’s kind of… underwhelming, you know?
“Well, there’s no need for you to know this information anyway, is there? In any case, the fact that the elves haven’t finished me off yet just proves how stupid they are. Ah, could it be that they lost their knowledge when they transitioned leadership?”
『… I’ve heard that the first generation no longer remains, as the ancient ones transformed into elves and continued to breed. Lost knowledge… Ah, I see, did you steal the wisdom of the elves? I see… Ku ku ku… serves them right…』
Hmm.
Since elves have physical bodies, they would deteriorate or die in accidents, and a lot of time has passed. So, the superior knowledge they had as the truly transcendent ‘Ancient Ones’ has dissipated.
There’s a limit to how much data can be stored in a physical body, after all.
Maybe they could embed recording devices into their bodies… Ah! Is that what the monsters’ magic stones are for?
Huh? No, wait.
Humans don’t have magic stones, do they?
I know this well from all the dissection and experimentation I did on Ada and those thieves.
Humans don’t have magic stones. Not even wizards.
I’ve cracked open the skulls of wizards and dissected them. What’s not there isn’t there.
So why can humans use magic? Because the ‘Laws of the World’ assist them… through ‘incantation.’
That’s why, even without a magic stone, they can control magic externally…
… Huh?
Ah, I see now.
So, the ancient ones who became humans removed the ‘magical’ element from their bodies to gain reproductive capabilities, but not being able to wield magic would be inconvenient. So they set up laws in the world that allowed humans to use magic?
I see, it’s the other way around.
Since they were reincarnated into lifeforms with physical bodies that made it hard to wield magic, they adjusted the world to make it easier to use magic despite the flesh.
It’s absurd, but clever. Not a bad way of thinking.
They named it ‘magic,’ as in the laws of magic? I can’t say I dislike the sense behind that.
… Well, I’m convinced for now.
That said, I don’t intend to go around explaining this to everyone.
I wouldn’t go as far as to call it need-to-know, but it seems like keeping this info under wraps works to my advantage.
I’ll keep quiet.
Now, as for you, Dragon…
“Thanks for talking so much! As a reward, I’ll consume you as one of my company’s ‘resources.'”
『W-what…?』
I restrained the dragon with magic and lifted it up with a force field…
“Don’t worry. You’ll just be livestock for extracting magic stones. Oh, how about dragon meat steaks? That sounds like a catchy phrase that could make a lot of money! Or maybe a sword made from a dragon’s claw?”
『Y-you…! How dare you…!』
“It must’ve been tough being an experiment for the elves. I sympathize. But now you’ll be my experiment, so live happily!”
『S-stop it! Kill me! Kill me right here…!』
“Maybe I’ll make your broken mind serve me… Having a dragon as a servant would be quite the status symbol, not to mention good PR for the company… Oh, should I share some with Alan? And then…”
『N-no…! Not again…! I don’t want to go through experiments like that again…!!!』
And so, I got myself the dragon, the lord of the mountain!
“I caught it!”
“… What?”
“I caught it!”
“No… wait, huh? What…?!”
Fran-chan started losing it as usual.
Man, she’s always fun.
It was the right choice to show her first.
As I watched Fran-chan flailing about, shouting incoherently about common sense, I sipped the black coffee I’ve recently started enjoying.
Ahh, delicious.
Watching pathetic Fran-chan while drinking coffee is like sweet nectar, even though the coffee’s bitter.
I looked at Fran-chan with eyes full of tender affection, enjoying my coffee, and set down the cup.
“Ah, stop it with that look. When you get that look, nothing good ever comes of it…”
“Fran-chan, can I keep this dragon as a pet?”
“Nooooo!!! Absolutely not!!!! It’ll cause a huge commotion!!!!”
Oh, there it is.
Fran-chan has already started proving her worth as a noisy toy!
I’m still a boy at heart, so I love fun, noisy toys.
“Thanks, Fran-chan. I knew you’d say that. That’s why I’m going to do it.”
“Then why did you even ask?????”
“To an-noy you♡”
“Moooomooooo!!!!”
With that settled, the soldiers from the Adon Magocracy were cleared from the mountain, the exercise finished, and we started heading back…
What a productive time!
×××××××××××××××
Demon Dragon Ishmart
Ishmart was an ancient dragon who had lived for over three thousand years and was once an experimental subject of the “Ancient Species.” Captured by the Aurora Group, its entire body was exploited as material. Its magic stone was extracted, its scales peeled, and its fangs removed—every part of it was mercilessly harvested. Even after its death, its body was regenerated, only to have its materials stripped again, in what was considered a highly inhumane practice. This dark aspect of the Aurora Group was heavily criticized in later generations.
