It was a nightmare.

A man standing tall in the midst of a raging mana storm.

His jet-black hair added to the desolation of the midnight, and every time his eyes, which held the moonlight, shone, life lost its light.

-Crack... crackle...

Sparks flew over the blackened corpse.

"Sometimes I also make a mistake."

A cold, low voice echoed.

"Humans are inherently good."

-Crack!

Every time he took a step, the lightning that fell shook the ground.

"Humans can change."

-Crack!

It took the lives of those who were still breathing.

"It must have been an unavoidable situation."

-Crack!

The red-haired man, who was facing the nightmare head-on, couldn't even think of retreating, and he didn't even notice his trousers getting wet.

"That's why I told you. Not to betray my trust."

"M-mercy..."

Lucas's eyes swept around at the red-haired man's words.

"Mercy."

"Please..."

"All your subordinates are dead, and the one who leads them is left alone, begging for his life."

A chilling voice that cut through the air.

"It's not me! I-I'm not their leader!"

The man, terrified, crawled desperately, dragging his legs that had no strength.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, yes. That's right. I-I'm just a person in a lower position in this guild, no, even lower than that. So please... please just spare my life..."

The man slammed his forehead on the ground and rubbed his hands together at Lucas's words.

"How pitiful."

"T-that's right. I'm a pitiful person... so..."

"No, not you, but those who trusted and followed you are pitiful. The one who trusted you and entrusted them to you is pitiful."

Lucas, who had cut off the man's words, muttered as if it were a shame.

"...T-that's right. My house, no, my family will all die if I'm not there. They'll all starve to death... so please... please..."

Lucas's head tilted to the side at the man's desperate plea, selling his family.

"Then do the others here have no family? Are you the only one with a family?"

"That's not it. But... but..."

The tip of Lucas's finger shone.

"If I spare only you, won't your dead comrades be resentful?"

"Ugh... ugh... please, please!!!"

As the light gathered at his fingertips grew larger, the man's struggles also grew larger.

"I'm sorry I can't grant your request."

-Fwoosh!

As Lucas finished speaking, the light moved to the man's body.

"Gaaah! Aaaah!!!"

The man, covered in a white light, writhed in pain.

"Rehabilitation is a failure."

Lucas, who had finished speaking as if it were a shame, turned around.

***

The guard captain, who had been captured at the scene where everything had been burned black, was trembling.

"I'll give you the same chance."

Lucas, who had suddenly barged into the guard post where he was. The guard captain was teleported here and dragged here before he could even be surprised.

"T-t-that's..."

The guard captain was trembling so much that even his voice was trembling.

The mana control net that had been shattered. The blackened corpses lying next to it.

Although he couldn't recognize their forms, the guard captain knew who they were.

"I'm saying I'll give you the same chance I gave these people."

"T-thank you, thank you."

The man didn't even know what he was saying, but he just bowed his head repeatedly, saying thank you at the word 'chance'.

"The next time I come back, if there are those who do the same thing as these people, the chance I gave you will also be gone."

The guard captain thought for a moment at Lucas's words, and then he quickly nodded his head.

"Yes, yes! Of course. Of course."

"Caitlin, who lives in this town. If her father gets into debt again, you will also die."

The guard captain was flustered at the suddenly mentioned name and was at a loss for words for a moment.

"...!"

"If that child named Caitlin falls and scrapes her knee, that's also your fault."

"...!?"

It was absurd. No matter how much he was being threatened with his life, to say that it was his fault even if she fell and scraped her knee on her own?!

"Do you understand?"

"Yes! I understand!"

But since there was nothing more important than his own life, the guard captain quickly stood at attention and answered in a loud voice.

"These are foolish people who have thrown away their chance for rehabilitation. I hope you won't be like that."

The guard captain could tell who he was without even asking. That he was a being that he couldn't even dare to look up to.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

-Flash!

Lucas teleported, leaving the guard captain who was bowing his head repeatedly behind.

***

Lucas, who had returned to the inn, felt strange.

It couldn't be compared to his past life, but the overflowing mana.

That's why he had spoken and acted like in his past life without hesitation today.

"Phew..."

His heart was pounding.

The mana storm that had enveloped his whole body. Until a while ago, he couldn't even imagine chanting a spell in ancient language.

But now, chanting a spell in ancient language was nothing.

'I wonder if Aman is okay.'

In fact, the reason he could use mana so freely was because Aman had not put any restrictions on it.

Sharing mana with a contractor was just a favor from a dragon. That's why all dragons put a limit on the mana they shared with their contractors.

But Aman had shared his mana with him without any restrictions.

-Flash!

"...Lord?"

Aman appeared as soon as he had finished his thought.

Lucas's eyes were lost for a moment at Aman's slightly pale complexion.

"Aman."

"What happened? The mana was suddenly draining..."

"Ahem... t-that's..."

"I'm fine. But looking at the Lord's condition... you just wasted it."

He was pricked. In fact, if he had just attacked cleanly, the mana would not have drained enough for Aman to feel it.

But when he had faced them earlier, Lucas, who was a little excited by the overflowing mana, had created a mana storm and had run wild, wrapping it around his body.

"...A waste? It was a dangerous situation."

"You're not in a dangerous situation, are you? You don't even have a speck of dust on your clothes."

"..."

He had nothing to say.

"If you're okay, that's fine... but wasting it is a bit much. And I wasn't going to say this, but..."

"...?"

"You took a bunch of gold from my lair, didn't you?"

This was a little embarrassing.

'No, how did he know? It's not a gem, it's gold... Don't tell me he remembers all that much?'

It was true that he had taken a bunch of gold from Aman's lair in case of an emergency when he had gone there before.

And it was a bunch of 100-gold coins.

But a dragon's lair was not something where you could notice that a bunch of gold had disappeared.

It was like picking up a handful of rice from a large cave full of rice, so how in the world did he know?

"You took it."

"..."

"No, you could have just asked for it, why did you sneak it away?"

"How did you know?"

"How did I know? I saw the gold in the Lord's pouch. The county wouldn't have given the Lord that much pocket money, and you wouldn't have put gold in a secret warehouse, would you?"

A smart bastard. No, more importantly, when did he see his pouch?

Lucas's face turned red and then blue.

"Ahem. Didn't you also come to my lair and take a lot of things in the past? I didn't say a single word to you then."

And in fact, the reason he could take the gold from Aman's lair without any guilt was this.

In his past life, Aman had often come to see Lucas and had silently taken(?) something he liked.

"Ahem. W-when did I?"

"That thing on your arm. It looks like the bracelet that disappeared from my lair a hundred years ago."

Aman quickly changed his attitude and lowered his posture at Lucas's words.

"Oh, Lord, you're too much. I meant that you can take it and use it comfortably anytime from now on. You didn't misunderstand, did you?"

"Right. Thank you."

Lucas also smiled brightly at Aman's attitude.

'Right. You have a conscience too.'

"Do you think your schedule will be longer?"

"Yes. It will be quite long."

"I understand. The atmosphere in the empire is not good right now, so this semester at the academy will probably end here."

It was good news to hear.

He was worried about the academy because he had a feeling that his schedule would be longer, but it was a relief.

"That's a relief."

"Yes. I've already told the children and the people around that I've sent you on an urgent errand."

"Thank you."

"When the academy's vacation starts, I'll also tell the county well."

Lucas nodded his head silently.

"Ah. Please tell me what that excuse is next time. I remember being a little embarrassed last time."

"Haha. I understand."

Aman smiled as if he knew what that was. That meant that there was a high possibility that he had done it on purpose.

"It's a relief that I won't have to worry about anything happening in the future since I've seen you in person. But if a dangerous situation arises, I'll come."

"Right."

"Then... please refrain from wasting it a little."

"Ahem."

-Flash!

Aman, who had finished speaking, winked and then teleported and disappeared.

Lucas, who was left alone in the room again, lay on the bed and began to mull over the day's events.

'Since I've done this much, this place will be quiet for a while...'

In his past life, such things were small incidents that he always experienced when he came out into the human world and wandered around.

He had stopped meddling in human affairs at some point, but he would often get involved if he felt emotional or interested.

But all of those were part of an excursion. Nothing more, nothing less.

Today was also the same.

'At first, that is.'

At first, he had just made a small meddling because he was interested.

'I also wanted to punish the arrogant bastards a little.'

When a thief had come to rob his room, if he had just thrown him far away, he could have avoided the troublesome things like now.

A conclusion came to Lucas's mind as he looked back on the day.

'I just wanted to use some power.'

And so the night passed.

***

"Ugh... I'm going to die..."

The men, who were suffering from a hangover, regretted their excessive drinking last night.

"Here, drink this."

The man, who had received the potion bottle that the mage Serano had handed him, opened the lid and drank it in one gulp.

"Khuk! Of course, the hangover cure you make is the best on the continent, no, in the world!"

"Give me a bottle too. Oh, more importantly, the younger brother drinks well. Why didn't you drink last time?"

"Really. How can I trust my brothers and drink?"

The men, who had been drinking last night, seemed to have become close brothers.

"Khaha! Right, you're right. How much is the bounty on your neck?"

"Oh, the hangover is completely gone."

Another man also drank the potion and stretched with a much better expression.

"Joni brother. Do you remember what I said yesterday? That black-haired bastard."

The man called Joni nodded at Serano's words.

"Oh, right. I remember."

"I think it would be better to get rid of him in the next town. I have some friends there too."

"Hey, brother. Didn't you say that bastard was also a mage?"

Another man asked back at Serano's words.

"As Howard brother saw, I make some potions."

Serano smiled confidently at the words of the man named Howard.

"And that bastard is a novice who has never tailed anyone. He's probably a guy sent by the county."

"Hmm..."

"And isn't a journey dangerous?"

"A journey is dangerous. Of course."

The men exchanged glances.

(End of Chapter)