MTO C106
by berryChapter 106
By the time they had finally seen off all of the day’s visitors, the sun was already sinking below the horizon.
Once again…
They had failed to find the dragon.
Where in the world am I supposed to find it?
At this point, Michel was beginning to wonder whether dragons even existed.
He felt as though he had met every child living in Valois, yet he hadn’t even found a single dragon scale.
Perhaps…
There simply wasn’t a dragon in Valois.
Was I looking in the wrong place?
The North consisted of far more than just Valois.
Come to think of it, the original novel had never explicitly stated that the village the dragon visited was located in Valois.
Granted, flyers had already been distributed throughout the entire North.
But there was no telling how carefully people in other territories would actually read them.
Perhaps…
He would have to leave Valois and search the other regions himself.
As luck would have it, ever since the Spring Banquet, invitations from noble houses had been pouring in.
He had declined every one of them because he dreaded seeing the nobility again.
But if it meant finding the dragon…
Perhaps he should start accepting them.
“Taekwon!”
“Thank you for the meal!”
“Everyone, eat well!”
Still burdened by the unanswered question, Michel supervised the orphanage children’s dinner.
They had spent the entire day helping him entertain guests, so they attacked their food with enormous appetites.
Not long after everyone began eating, Barbara returned from the chapel.
“Headmaster.”
“Sister, you’re back?”
“Come, sit down and eat.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ve kept everyone waiting.”
“Not at all.”
“We’ve only just started.”
Michel pulled out a chair for her.
Barbara thanked him and sat down.
Today, however…
There was something different about her.
She always wore a gentle expression.
Yet the smile upon her lips seemed brighter than usual.
“You look especially happy today.”
“Did something good happen?”
“Hm?”
“Oh…”
Barbara touched her flushed cheek in embarrassment.
Even so…
It seemed she wanted to talk about it.
“To tell you the truth…”
“While I was praying…”
“Today, for some reason…”
“I felt as though God was truly listening to me.”
“God?”
“Yes.”
“So I just kept talking…”
“And before I knew it, I’d completely lost track of time.”
She smiled shyly.
With her reddened cheeks, she looked almost like a young girl in love.
Michel quietly admired her.
Sister Barbara really is different…
He couldn’t help remembering his own childhood.
Every time he had been forced to pray…
He had ended up nodding off.
If the sisters from the orphanage where he grew up could see him now…
They would probably faint in disbelief.
We raised you so well…
How did you end up becoming a fraud?
“So then…”
“When do you usually pray, Headmaster?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you visit the chapel.”
“I’ve been worried.”
“You’re so busy…”
“I wondered whether you even had time to pray anymore.”
Throb!
Michel felt his conscience scream for the first time in ages beneath Barbara’s worried gaze.
She had every reason to be concerned.
Ever since arriving in this world…
The thought of visiting the chapel had never even crossed his mind.
To be honest—
Quite often…
No.
Rather frequently…
Michel forgot he was supposed to be a priest.
“W-Well…”
“Now that you mention it…”
“I don’t think I’ve been lately.”
“I’ll go after dinner.”
“I knew it.”
Barbara smiled warmly.
“I’ll look after the children.”
“Take your time tonight.”
Michel could only force an awkward smile.
At the very least…
If he wanted to avoid being burned at the stake as a fake Saint…
He probably ought to make occasional appearances at the chapel.
…Wait.
Where is the chapel?
After questioning several servants, Michel finally managed to locate it.
Of course…
Doing so required telling quite a few lies to avoid revealing that he had absolutely no idea where the chapel was.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered which was worse for a Saint—
Neglecting to visit the chapel…
Or lying repeatedly to find it.
In the end…
He had done both.
So he decided not to think about it anymore.
The chapel turned out to be a tiny chamber at the top of the western tower.
Based on the churches he remembered from childhood…
He had imagined something much grander.
Instead…
The room was scarcely large enough for a single person.
Which, honestly, was for the best.
At least he wouldn’t find himself trapped inside with anyone else.
Within the tiny room lay a single worn prayer cushion.
Inside the lone wall niche rested this world’s holy scripture, a silver candlestick…
And a small golden sculpture shaped like a door.
Michel sat cross-legged before the niche.
He figured he ought to remain here for a respectable amount of time if he wanted to avoid arousing suspicion.
He naturally slipped into a meditative posture.
Then…
Changed his mind.
Bringing his hands together before his chest, he clasped them in prayer.
Come to think of it…
There was something he genuinely wanted to pray for.
Dear God of this world…
Please let me find the dragon soon.
Michel prayed with the desperation of someone clutching at the last straw.
He truly wanted to see the dragon now.
The longer he failed to find it…
The closer Valois crept toward destruction.
How much time passed…
He couldn’t tell.
A cool night breeze drifted through the room, gently tousling his bangs.
At some point…
A soft white radiance, reminiscent of moonlight, began flowing from the center of his forehead.
Yet…
Michel’s eyes remained closed.
As the chapel’s only visitor…
No one witnessed the glow.
Every life announces its arrival with a resounding cry.
So did he.
The instant he broke free from the darkness surrounding him and drew his first breath…
He roared with every ounce of strength he possessed.
Look at me.
I’m here.
Yet no matter how loudly he cried…
No one came.
Light gave way to darkness.
Darkness yielded once more to light.
Again.
And again.
And still…
He remained alone.
A newborn creature knew only one thing.
To cry.
So he cried without end.
Even after exhaustion forced him into sleep…
The moment he awoke, he screamed as though greeting the world for the very first time.
He cried…
Without even knowing what he wanted.
In the end…
Pain moved him.
After crying endlessly, a terrible ache eventually arose within his stomach.
His tear-soaked face stung.
His throat burned from endless screaming.
But none of it compared to the agony in his belly.
Driven by instinct…
He began devouring everything around him.
He had been born inside a cold, dark cave of ice.
He swallowed icicles indiscriminately.
It changed nothing.
The pain refused to fade.
He wanted more.
Something—
Anything—
That could satisfy the torment inside him.
Drawn forward…
He crawled toward a distant beam of light.
The farther he traveled…
The larger the light became.
At last…
He reached the mouth of the cave.
And a brilliance unlike anything he had ever seen engulfed him.
A sky filled with gray clouds.
Towering trees stretching endlessly upward.
Birds soaring through the heavens.
Snowflakes falling silently.
It was merely an ordinary winter landscape.
Yet to him…
It was the first world he had ever known.
He stood frozen.
Everything surrounding him was strange.
New.
Every color entering his eyes had never been seen before.
Every sound reaching his ears had never been heard before.
There was simply…
Too much.
His head spun.
Compared to the quiet warmth of the darkness where he had been born…
The world was impossibly vast.
And unbearably confusing.
The longer he looked…
The more he wanted to cry again.
Before long…
The pain inside his stomach overwhelmed every other sensation.
Once more…
He began crawling.
This time…
Not toward the light.
A mysterious scent tickled his nose.
The instant he smelled it…
His mouth flooded with saliva.
If he followed that scent…
Surely the terrible pain inside him would disappear.
It was not reason.
Only instinct.
Thud!
His body suddenly pitched forward.
He struggled to stand again.
But the ground beneath him was too slippery.
Again.
And again.
He failed.
Eventually…
He became furious.
With a savage roar, he poured every ounce of strength into his body.
He still could not stand.
But…
His wings unfurled.
In the blink of an eye…
He lifted into the air.
His first flight was pitiful.
His weak wings managed little more than lifting him briefly from the ground.
Yet it was enough.
Enough to finally see what lay beneath his feet.
The ground resembled the frozen walls of the cave.
Cold.
Slippery.
Yet unlike the cave’s dark blue ice…
The ice covering the ground glowed with a pale whiteness.
The gray sky.
The towering trees.
Everything…
Was reflected upon its surface.
And for the first time in his life…
He saw himself.
He was…
A dragon.
“Hah!”
Michel abruptly jerked his head upright.
The snowy winter landscape vanished.
In its place…
The rough golden door sculpture greeted him from the chapel’s niche.
The room had been so quiet…
He must have accidentally fallen asleep.
Yet even after waking…
The lingering sensation of the dream refused to leave him.
It had felt…
Unbelievably real.
As though he had truly lived through those memories himself.
His legs had gone numb from sitting so long.
Even so…
He remained perfectly still, replaying the dream in his mind.
The dark blue cave of ice.
The black forest capped with white snow.
The relentless hunger that refused to disappear.
The enormous frozen lake.
And reflected upon its surface…
“A dragon.”
Michel shot to his feet.
His body felt stiff.
But his mind had never been clearer.
He’d found it.
Somehow…
It felt as though he had just met the dragon himself.