The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons Read online

  “What did you do?” Tafel asked Vur. “Everyone’s afraid.”

  Vur tilted his head. “I didn’t do anything,” he said and looked around. No one made eye contact. “Everyone’s just always afraid. Grimmy says that’s the natural state for humans.”

  “What can I help you with?” the receptionist asked as he tried to smile. His lips twitched instead.

  “We’d like to sign up as adventurers,” Tafel said as the two walked up to the counter which was taller than both of them.

  “Just the two of you?” the man asked as he leaned over the counter. “Are you registering for an already established party?”

  Tafel shook her head and smiled. “We’re starting our own.”

  The receptionist’s eyes landed on the adventurers in the corner. They coughed and looked the other way. “Alright. Just fill these papers out,” the receptionist said and passed the two three forms. They took the papers and sat at an empty table in the middle of the adventurers. Only the sloshing of liquid could be heard and even those sounds stopped once Vur cleared his throat.

  Minutes passed in silence except for the sounds of quills scratching against paper.

  When the duo finished filling out the papers, Tafel skipped over to the receptionist and handed them over. “All done.”

  The receptionist nodded and pulled out two metal cards. “Let’s see,” he muttered as he placed his hand over one card. “First name, Tafel. Last name, Besteck. Class, Black Mage. Hometown, Niffle. Age, 6. Gender, female. Eye color, purple.” His hand glowed blue as the information engraved itself into the card. He double-checked the card and nodded before offering it to Tafel. She took it, and her face broke out into a huge smile.

  “Alright. Next,” the receptionist said as he held Vur’s paper in his left hand with his right hand on the remaining metal card. “First name, Vur. Last name…” The receptionist raised an eyebrow, peering at Vur over his eyeglasses. “Last name?”

  Vur shook his head.

  Sweat formed on the receptionist’s brow. “Okay,” he said and turned his attention back on the paper. “Class, Dragon…” He glanced at Vur again but didn’t say anything. “Hometown … blank again. Okay. Age…” The receptionist sighed. “Gender, male. Eye color, gold.” His eye twitched when he passed Vur the half-empty card. “Here you go.” The receptionist lifted the last sheet of paper. “Party name, Tafel x Vur. Members, Tafel Besteck, Vur, Snuffles…?” He squinted at the paper before addressing Tafel. “Well, you’re both registered as adventurers now, and your party has been recorded. Would you like to take a test to determine your starting rank? If you don’t take it, you’ll start as an E-ranked adventurer.”

  Tafel nodded while grinning.

  The receptionist made a strange face. “Alright, let me get the guild master,” he said and walked up the stairs.

  The adventurers sitting in the corner exchanged glances with each other. One of them whispered, “Alright, why are we being so quiet? I’m new here. Who’s the kid?”

  “You know that giant crater in the forest?” another one whispered back. “He’s the one who made it. Apparently, he ate too much cake and got excited. A bunch of people tried to stop him, including the guild master and the elves, but they all got thrashed.”

  The man sucked in his breath. “You serious? That crater’s huge.”

  The other one nodded and lowered his voice even further. “Yeah, don’t mess with him. He’s a monster.”

  Tafel frowned. “They’re saying weird things about you.”

  The men fell silent, faces pale.

  Vur nodded and smiled. “I like compliments.”

  A thud rang out from above. “Alright,” said a man as he walked down the stairs with a giant silver claymore on his back, “where are the newbies who want to die toda—” The man’s eyes locked onto Vur and Tafel. His expression was blank as he made eye contact with the fidgeting receptionist behind him. “Don’t tell me it’s him.”

  The receptionist nodded. “It’s him.”

  The guild master’s face contorted. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Vur. He took the giant sword off of his back and pointed it at the two children. His chest expanded as he took in a deep breath. Then he fell to the ground and clutched his chest. “Urgh,” he said. “I’m defeated. You pass.” He scrambled back up the stairs. “Make them SSS rank and don’t bother me until I finish recovering.”

  “But the girl—”

  “I said don’t bother me until I finish recovering!” A door slammed shut.

  The receptionist sighed. “Congratulations on reaching SSS rank,” he said as he took Tafel’s and Vur’s cards and channeled mana into them.

  Tafel hugged Vur’s arm. “Thank you,” she said and pecked his cheek. “I’m so happy.”

  Vur blinked at Tafel, his face flushing.

  “Let’s go on an adventure!” Tafel said while tugging his arm, dragging him to the nearby bulletin board. “Let’s pick a fun one. Collect ten corpses? That’s too morbid. Steal books from neighboring kingdoms? … Stealing is bad. Collect dragon stool samples? That’s gross, who would even—oh. Exzenter.”

  “How about collect a bottle of fairy tears?” Vur asked. “We get a chocolate cake as part of the reward.”

  “Let’s do it,” Tafel said as she ripped the paper off the bulletin board. “Dustin told me about this one once. He said his party couldn’t complete it. I want to beat him.” She smiled.

  The receptionist looked at the paper. “Are you sure you want to do this one?” he asked. “Fairies are tricky to find, and they’re supposed to be pretty deep in the wilderness.”

  Tafel nodded. “It’s fine,” she said and giggled. “We’re SSSers.”

  A skull popped out of the floorboards beside Vur and Tafel. “The mistress is looking for you two,” it said. “She’s at the mansion.”

  “Okay,” Tafel said and turned to the receptionist. “Thanks, mister.”

  The receptionist nodded at her. “Good luck, you two.” He added in a whisper as they left, “Please don’t rip requests off the board next time.”

  ***

  “Dustin!” Tafel said. “I’m an SSS-ranked adventurer!”

  “What?” Dustin asked. Tafel and Vur were at the entrance to the living room of the castle. Lindyss, Exzenter, Randel, Gale, Zollstock, Mina, and Dustin were sitting on couches with a round wooden table separating them.

  Tafel nodded. “Vur and I went to the adventurers’ guild today and signed up. We passed the test and became SSSers,” she said as she pulled out her card. “See?”

  Zollstock and Mina glanced at each other. The demon lord cleared his throat. “That’s great, Tafel,” he said. Mina stayed silent. Zollstock turned towards her and raised an eyebrow.

  “We picked a mission too! We’re going to get a bottle of fairy tears,” Tafel said and stuck her chest out. Vur yawned and stretched while walking over to Lindyss. Mina’s chest tightened, and Dustin coughed while looking away with a cramped face.

  “Why that mission?” Mina asked with her voice trembling.

  “Dustin told me his party couldn’t complete it. If I do it, then that means you’ll have to accept that I’m strong enough to be an adventurer,” Tafel said and pouted.

  Mina frowned at Dustin. “I wonder what else you’ve told her,” she said with her eyes narrowed.

  “Don’t blame Dustin, Mom,” Tafel said, biting her lower lip. “Please.”

  Mina sighed and turned her head away, hiding the wetness in her eyes.

  Dustin scratched his head. “It’s not that I wasn’t strong enough to complete it,” he said. “There were just … circumstances.” He gazed at Zollstock for a brief moment.

  The room fell silent.

  Lindyss let out a cough. “Anyways,” she said and clapped her hands, “I’m sure many of you have met or heard about him.” She gestured towards Vur.

  “What is he?” Randel asked.

  Exzenter’s eyes twinkled. “A specimen!”

 
Lindyss ignored the time mage. “He’s the adopted child of the dragons,” she said and smiled at Randel. “Since someone stole their egg.”

  The human king gulped as his face paled.

  “Don’t worry; we’re not asking you to return the dragon,” Lindyss said. “It’s just a beast without an imprint after all.”

  Randel raised an eyebrow. “Really? Aren’t its parents furious?”

  “They were, but Vur filled the void in their hearts,” Lindyss said. “Personally, I think Vur is much more lovable than any dragon child could ever be.”

  Randel scratched his head. “That just seems too easy…”

  Lindyss narrowed her eyes. “Why are you complaining? If you feel guilty, then just return it.”

  Randel’s face cramped as he smiled. “Ah, if that’s how it is, then that’s just the way it was meant to be.”

  “He’s the reason you want us to unite our kingdoms?” Zollstock asked.

  Lindyss nodded. “I want Vur and Tafel to be happy together when they get married,” she said, ignoring Mina’s frown. “I’d rather not have either of them be discriminated against because of their race.”

  Randel frowned. “It’s not that easy to forget eight hundred years of enmity.”

  “And yet here we are. Elves, demons, and humans talking with each other peacefully,” Lindyss said and leaned back. “Make it happen.”

  “What do you gain from this?” Gale asked, a furrow in his brow.

  “Obviously, I just want Vur to be happy,” Lindyss said and narrowed her eyes at Gale. “Nosey people should take care or they might get bit.”

  Gale shuddered and nodded.

  “Great. Now, who wants lunch?” Lindyss asked with a smile.

  21

  “I think I should sub-class as a time mage,” Tafel said as she brushed dirt off her sweater. Brown roots and green grass were tangled in her hair. Vur’s head popped out of the ground, and he coughed out a clump of mud. Exzenter had teleported the pair to the wilderness.

  Vur frowned. “I don’t like teleporting. Too much dirt.”

  Tafel shrugged. “It’s only wonky when the distance is really far,” she said as she helped dig Vur out of the ground. Her cheeks flushed pink. “At least we kept our clothes.”

  Vur shook the dirt off his body and looked around. The two were in a jungle with a canopy of leaves blotting out the sun.

  “Do you know where we are?” Tafel asked.

  Vur shook his head. “I think we’re near the graveyard,” he said and sniffed the air. “But there could be other places that look like this.”

  “That’s okay,” Tafel said and hugged his arm. She smiled. “I’m glad I met you. I didn’t think I would become an adventurer this quickly. It’s all thanks to you.”

  Vur’s face flushed as he smiled back. The two walked through the forest while holding hands. Tafel kept turning her head to look at the animals and the trees, an expression of awe constantly on her face.

  “Why wouldn’t your mom let you be an adventurer?” Vur asked after they’d been traveling for a while.

  Tafel pouted. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve asked her, but she always avoided the question. Always saying, ‘you’ll thank me when you’re older,’ or ‘because I said so.’” Tafel rolled her eyes. “Don’t your parents ever tell you things like that?”

  Vur shook his head. “Mom lets me do whatever I want and Dad’s too afraid of Mom to contradict her. Grimmy sometimes tells me I can’t do things. Like that one time he said not to wake Auntie up and I did it anyway.” Vur shuddered and nodded. “Always listen to Grimmy.”

  Tafel laughed. “You’re lucky,” she said. “I wish I could live like you.”

  Vur squeezed her hand. “You can now.”

  Tafel sighed and leaned against him.

  A green bush speckled with yellow dots caught Vur’s eye. “It’s a bananerry bush,” he said. Tafel raised her head.

  A few figures were flitting over the bush. The two waved at the bush and walked over. “Ah! It’s the demon and the bully!” a blue-eyed figure said.

  “The dragon boy?” a red-eyed figure asked. “Quick. Hide me!”

  The yellow-eyed figure rolled her eyes. “If he wanted to hurt you, he wouldn’t just walk over here like that.”

  Vur peered at the fairies. He held out an empty bottle. “Cry for me.”

  The red-eyed fairy snorted at the yellow-eyed one. “You were saying?”

  The yellow-eyed fairy stared at Vur with her mouth gaping.

  “Vur … you can’t just ask them like that,” Tafel said. The red-eyed figure nodded and stuck her chest out. Tafel smiled. “You have to say please.”

  “You!” the red-eyed figure said and pointed at Tafel, “I’ll curse you again!”

  Tafel hid behind Vur and peeked over his shoulder. “Don’t do that, Ral… Rei… Reila?”

  “It’s Rella!” Rella said and stuck her hands on her hips as she flitted above the bananerry bush.

  The blue-eyed figure flew in front of Vur. “What’s my name?” she asked as she circled the children’s heads.

  “Berry,” Vur said and pointed at the yellow-eyed figure. “And she’s Yellow.”

  Yella facepalmed and crouched while turning around.

  “Your memory sucks for someone who practically ate the Tree of Knowledge,” Bella said as she tapped his forehead.

  Vur shrugged. “You weren’t important enough to remember.”

  Rella gasped.

  “Ouch,” Bella said and clutched her chest. “You’ll make me cry.”

  Vur nodded and held the bottle out towards her.

  Bella puffed her cheeks out and smacked the bottle. “That’s like half my height! I can’t cry that much.”

  Vur frowned, and his eyes glowed. The three fairies plummeted to the bananerry bush.

  “Rude!” Rella said as she squirmed, trying to get up.

  “What are you going to do to us?” Yella asked with wide eyes.

  Tafel smiled and pulled out a feather.

  “Oh god,” Bella said. “Please, no.”

  “You three shouldn’t have cursed me,” Tafel said and ran the feather over Bella’s body.

  Vur sat down and munched on bananerries as Tafel extracted the fairy tears.

  “I’ll die! I’ll really die!” Rella said as she gasped and shrieked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “I’ll,” Yella said and gasped as her eyes glowed, “curse you… and… Stop! Stop! I’ll pee!” Her eyes stopped glowing as she writhed under the feather. The fairies shrieked and wailed for an hour while laughing before Tafel relented. She smiled at Vur.

  “We got a whole bottle,” she said. The fairy trio glared at Tafel with tears and snot running down their faces. Their eyes glowed.

  “May you stub your toe every night before you go to bed!” Bella yelled.

  “You’ll always have to sneeze but never get to!” Rella cried out.

  “I curse you with the inability to hear any spoken words! You’ll hear the speaker’s true thoughts instead,” Yella said and pouted. The other two fairies turned towards her with eyebrows raised.

  “How’s that a curse?”

  “Yeah, you should’ve made her step in a puddle of water every time she put on socks.”

  Yella frowned. “I thought it was pretty good,” she said and lowered her head.

  Tafel glared at the three fairies. She turned the bottle upside down. “Oh, it looks like we need more tears,” she said as she raised her feather.

  The fairies wailed.

  ***

  “Where’s Tafel?” Mina asked Zollstock. She stood at the entrance to the dining room wearing a blue dress.

  “She should be playing with Vur,” the demon lord said as he lifted his fork to his mouth, not bothering to turn his head away from his plate.

  Mina frowned and sighed. “I haven’t talked to her at all since we’ve came here.”

  Zollstock stripped a piece of meat off the chicken leg on
his plate. “We’ve been busy. She’s been busy. It’s understandable.”

  Mina narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Did you really agree to marry her to Vur? Won’t the royal family object to her marrying a human?”

  “Becoming allies with Konigreich is much more important than what the royal family thinks,” Zollstock said as he put down his utensils.

  “They’ll disown her,” Mina said as she studied Zollstock’s face.

  Zollstock shrugged. “Then aren’t we lucky we had triplets?” he asked, dabbing at the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “I’m sure Tafel will be happier with Vur. Don’t you agree?” Zollstock smiled, his eyes slightly narrowed.

  Mina’s horns flashed red. “When have you ever cared about someone else’s happiness?” she asked. Her arms crackled with electricity as her dress fluttered around her. “Everything you do is for yourself. You never think of others!” Mina screamed as her face flushed. “I absolutely loathe you, you monster.”

  “Monster?” Zollstock said as he raised an eyebrow and folded his napkin. “Isn’t that too hurtful? I think it’s best if you calm down and think about what you’re doing, Mina.”

  “Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing,” Mina said as she stepped towards Zollstock, hands glowing blue. “Don’t think I don’t know when you lie, when you cheat, when you murder.” She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t think I don’t know what goes on in that basement of yours, harvesting horns for mana. You make me sick.”

  Zollstock stopped smiling. “Why now?” he asked. Before Mina could respond, he raised his left index finger up. “It’s because of Tafel, isn’t it? I was wondering why you were so insistent on keeping her so weak.” He tilted his head as his hand moved towards the sword propped against the seat next to him.

  Mina struck his chest with a thunderbolt. His body slumped over as he crashed against the wall behind him. He raised his head, his horns glowing blue. Flames flickered along his fingertips as he wrinkled his nose and spat out blood. He grinned at Mina. “This is the woman I chased after,” he said and licked his lips.

  A crashing sound resounded through the room. The walls and floor trembled as a circle of stone fell from the ceiling. Lindyss stood on top of the stone disk wearing pajamas, her hair disheveled and frizzy. Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared at Zollstock and Mina. “Make one more sound,” she said, practically growling. “Just one more. I dare you.”