Chapter 160
Chapter 160
Companion (2)
I didn't really care whether she became my Companion or not. It was more of a "if it happens, it happens" kind of thought. If I had any impression at all, it was simply that I had gained a new slave.
More importantly, I wanted to deal with the situation of having brought Canis here.
"Just a moment. There's something I need to do first."
"As you wish."
I briefly asked Berrot for his understanding since he looked like he had something to say. Berrot readily agreed.
I beckoned to the Dream Bird, which was performing its bizarre dance. After tilting its head in confusion for a moment, it flew over to me.
"Let's go to the Palace of Dreams. Me and this one together."
—Mwi... Mwi!
The Dream Bird nodded to my rather polite request. Strange magic began gathering around its wings.
Without any warning, it swung them.
The magic feathers struck us, and after widening our eyes in surprise, we immediately fell asleep.
"..."
"..."
When we opened our eyes again, we were inside the Palace of Dreams.
It would have been less startling if it had at least said something beforehand. Judging from Canis's face, she had been just as shocked.
"Where~ are we~?"
"Follow me."
Since I already knew the layout, I called for Canis.
Leading her without hesitation, I walked ahead.
"This is an old architectural style~ It kind of resembles that temple we saw back in the Poison Swamp~"
Canis couldn't stop admiring her surroundings.
It wasn't as magnificent as the Imperial Palace, nor as grand as the Lofty Cathedral.
Still, ancient architecture possessed a unique kind of beauty. With her keen aesthetic sense, Canis immediately realized that this wasn't an ordinary building.
"What do you think a dream is?"
"A dream? It's what you see while sleeping~ The contents are just memories or information you've personally experienced~"
Normally, that would have been correct.
But this world had one variable—magic.
"Then what about a dream infused with magic? A dream created through magic?"
"Hm? Hmm."
Canis rubbed her lips as she pondered the combination of dreams and magic.
"I wonder~ Maybe it becomes reality or something~"
"That's also true, but this is a little different."
What Canis described was the Dream Bird's ability.
At first glance, it sounded absurdly overpowered, but in reality it had significant limitations.
A dream could never go beyond what one had seen, heard, or experienced. Although the Dream Bird was old, it had lived its life under oppression, so its experiences were limited.
The only thing it could reproduce with its ability was the chains that had once restrained it.
In any case, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about.
"The subconscious."
"The subconscious?"
"That's right. It shows the subconscious sleeping within your heart. Because that's how the dreams created by the Dream Bird are designed."
Before long, we arrived at the room where the Dream Bird lived.
As I slowly opened the door, I saw the Dream Bird sitting neatly on its bed.
I caught the Dream Bird as it flew toward me, cradled it in my arms, and led Canis farther inside.
Toward the place where the dream-containing orbs were stored.
"What are these~?"
"Orbs containing dreams. More precisely, orbs containing the subconscious. Yours is here too."
"Huh? How could something like that exist?"
I shrugged at Canis's question.
It wasn't something I had created, so I had no explanation to give.
"It seems everyone connected to Lady Anaye has one."
"Ah~ I think I get the general idea~"
Canis immediately picked up the orb containing her dream.
Then she stared at it.
"Dabi~"
"What~"
"This~ only shows Anger. Why is that~?"
Canis's dream was bizarre.
It was nothing more than an ordinary dream depicting her daily life.
But the subject was strange.
Instead of Canis herself, a pitch-black Anger appeared in every scene.
Whether eating, casting magic, or sleeping, it was always Anger.
Seeing something like this for the first time, Canis questioned me.
"I told you before that Anger was a disease."
"You did~ You also said there was a cure~ Though I couldn't find it myself~"
I sat down on the bed.
After setting the Dream Bird down, I stroked its head as it rested against my thigh.
"I've always wondered about something."
"Hm? What has you so curious~?"
"Why did the Ulbushis Family have to suppress their emotions?"
At that question, Canis couldn't answer right away.
"Anger is an excellent weapon~ It's flexible, unpredictable, and especially effective at compensating for a mage's weakness in close combat~"
"If that's all it is, there are plenty of substitutes. If it were me, I'd solve it with an artifact instead of something as dangerous as emotional suppression."
After hearing my response, Canis slowly nodded.
Now that she thought about it, I had a point.
With the diverse abilities artifacts possessed, they were far preferable to relying on something as uncontrollable as Anger.
"No one can overhear us here. The Dream Bird has no reason to reveal anything to outsiders either. So let me ask you something. What exactly were you hoping to gain through me?"
I asked another question while Canis remained deep in thought.
She looked slightly exasperated.
For mages, contemplation was extremely important.
Right now, I was doing exactly what mages hated.
"The secret of Anger? Originally~ I just wanted to learn how to separate Anger from myself~ But somehow it feels like you know much more than that, Dabi~"
"And?"
"And somehow~ it feels like you're deeply connected to me~ Or am I wrong? More accurately, deeply connected to Anger~"
The latter would naturally be revealed as the Episode progressed, so there was no need to mention it.
Instead, I carefully considered the former.
I had no intention of telling her everything at once.
I had no desire to deal with the consequences if she lost control.
Nor did I want to choose the worst possible option—killing Canis myself.
"The Ulbushis Family is an extraordinary family of mages. But something about them has always felt suspicious. Which emotion does the current head of the Ulbushis Family suppress?"
"Hmm. I thought you'd already know that, Dabi~"
"They suppress sorrow."
"...If you already knew, why did you ask?~"
Canis shot me a dry look.
I chuckled.
The secret of the Ulbushis Family really wasn't that complicated.
"The Ulbushis Family began suppressing emotions through their research into Ancient Magic about two hundred years ago."
"That's right~ It was quite an important turning point in the family's six-hundred-year history~"
"Do you know how the first head of the Ulbushis Family died?"
Canis's gaze sharpened.
I met her icy stare head-on.
"They say the founder simply disappeared. That's... rather unsettling."
Canis returned the orb containing her dream to its original place.
"Why don't you take that with you and show it to the head of the Ulbushis Family?"
At my suggestion, Canis's hand froze.
She looked at me with an unreadable expression.
Gone was her usual cheerful appearance.
Instead, her face was filled with worry.
"I think you'll hear a very interesting story."
"Hmm~ I suppose I have no choice~"
Canis carefully put away the dream orb.
The Dream Bird looked utterly dumbfounded as it watched her take one of its belongings.
—Mwi? Mwi?
"It's okay. It's okay. You can just make another one. I'll help you."
The Dream Bird pointed its wing at Canis as if protesting, but after hearing my words, it nodded.
I gently stroked the Dream Bird's head again as it finally relaxed.
Once everything on the Floating Island was over, Canis would head straight back to her territory.
And when she arrived there...
An enormous incident would unfold.
***
Berrot Oppenheimer calmly watched the two unconscious young people lying before him.
The Palace of Dreams...
It was a nostalgic name.
"You're heavier than you look."
Davide had a lean frame, and the companion beside him wasn't particularly large either.
Even so, Berrot had struggled quite a bit carrying them onto the bed.
Both weighed far more than their appearances suggested.
His elderly body became exhausted from that effort alone.
"Phew."
Berrot looked at the peacefully sleeping Davide.
While awake, his sharp eyes and commanding presence made it difficult to notice.
But asleep, he appeared much gentler.
'He was a strange one.'
Sitting in the chair beside the bed, Berrot recalled the first time he had met Davide.
A young man who had suddenly approached a homeless old man and handed him a horn.
Berrot had liked how he skipped all explanations and got straight to the point.
His confident manner, as though he already knew everything, had stirred something in Berrot's heart.
That was why, despite Davide asking for a mission, Berrot had simply given him one without hesitation.
Even after being driven into homelessness by his uncle, Berrot had continued living for one reason.
Perhaps this young man could fulfill his long-cherished wish.
That was how deeply Davide's actions and image had impressed him.
"...Father."
Berrot quietly spoke the name of his father, who had fallen after losing the castle to his uncle's scheme.
The Floating Island meant that much to the Oppenheimer Family.
It was the Floating Island they had devoted their entire lives to reclaiming.
If all it had taken was a single person to accomplish it so effortlessly...
He couldn't help regretting that he hadn't tried harder himself.
'Though there's no way to know.'
Everything Davide had shown today had been extraordinary.
He had been chosen by the Dream Bird, whose standards were notoriously strict.
Even Berrot, the legitimate heir of the Oppenheimer Family, had never been chosen.
Yet the Dream Bird had accepted Davide after knowing him for only a short time.
"The Duhein Family..."
Berrot pulled a stack of documents from his robes.
They contained ordinary information about Davide.
A delinquent who had stabbed a classmate, been suspended from the academy, and ultimately expelled from his family.
But the Davide Berrot had witnessed here was nothing like that.
He was certainly rough and reckless.
Yet he wasn't the sort of cunning, evil man who would betray his companions.
'The real issue is the Duhein Family.'
Even Berrot, who lived detached from worldly affairs, knew the Duhein Family's name.
Its infamy was widespread.
It was a family that solved everything through violence.
Yet ironically, the people living within their territory supported them more passionately than anyone else.
Berrot intended to make Davide the successor of the Oppenheimer Family.
'Anything is acceptable.'
He was old.
But the Floating Island had to endure.
Now that his uncle had fallen, the Floating Island needed someone worthy to carry on its legacy.
Someone capable enough to earn the Dream Bird's recognition.
And just at the right moment, Davide had appeared.
The only concern was that Davide held the position of Cult Leader within the Religious Order.
Berrot worried that the Floating Island might eventually become absorbed into the Religious Order's culture.
"Heh."
But perhaps that wouldn't be so bad after all.
Stagnant water inevitably rotted.
And the Floating Island had become stagnant water.
Above all, it seemed far better for Davide to inherit it than for it to fall into the hands of some evil faction.
—Mwiyaaawn.
The Dream Bird let out a huge yawn after finishing its concentration.
Watching it, Berrot smiled warmly.
The Oppenheimer Family's Companion.
He remembered the past, when he had known it was being exploited but had been powerless to reach out and help.
At the very least, seeing how lively it had become after meeting Davide made him realize...
...that the time had finally come to let go of many things.
—Mwi, mwi.
"Hm. What do you think of this?"
The Dream Bird approached him without the slightest hesitation despite all his sins.
Berrot offered it a strip of dried jerky.
The anger he had once felt when the Dream Bird hadn't chosen him had completely disappeared.
For a moment, Berrot wondered if perhaps he could still become the Dream Bird's Companion.
But it was nothing more than a futile fantasy.