Chapter 48

Evening.

While cleaning up the scattered black soil from the mud golem's attack with Hestia, it had somehow become this late.

"Phew, golems can do construction work, but I'm still hungry."

This black soil is unusually heavy.

"Hmm... sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, Hestia?"

"Because I was there, that child came with the trouble."

Hestia looked dejected, her shoulders slumped.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. The one to blame is that black soil golem, right?"

"Um... the black soil golem is one of Anne's powers. So, mostly, it's Anne's fault."

"Huh?"

"The Black Earth Breath. The golem comes from the soil that a dragon spits out. That child is the Black Dragon King."

Is that so? But if that's the case, why did she make it attack us?

"When Anne gets frustrated, she has a habit of attacking herself to feel better. Once she's satisfied, it disappears..."

That's serious.

What a troublesome dragon.

"I don't think she does it in the city. But I'll scold her later."

"Wouldn't she be happy about that?"

"...Probably. She would be happy."

There's nothing to be done with that troublesome dragon king.

"Well, it's better that she doesn't cause problems in the city. But I'll still scold her."

I don't want this to happen again, so if she does it here again, I'll get angry too.

"By the way, you and the others blend in normally, but don't you get noticed in the city?"

"As long as we maintain a human appearance, we generally don't get noticed. Also, I suppress my magic power, so I don't get recognized as a dragon king."

"Really? You can suppress magic power?"

"Yep. Thanks to that, we don't get scared of in the city. --Well, even if we get noticed, it's not a big problem. Other dragon kings drink and cause trouble with humans normally."

They really are free-spirited, those dragon kings.

"Most of them follow their instincts to live happily and playfully. ...By the way, you're leaking magic power, but do you know how to suppress it?"

"Yeah. But I don't even feel like I'm leaking magic power."

When I went to the castle, I was welcomed, but everyone was afraid of my magic power and didn't come close.

It must be because I'm leaking it.

To me, it's all a mystery.

"I've managed to live normally so far, but is there a problem with continuing to leak it?"

"Um, a normal person would be dead?"

That's a scary thing to say.

"Fact. Magic power is necessary for life maintenance. At that rate, a normal person would die."

Wow, I thought magic power was just a convenient and easy power, but it's related to life too.

"I don't think there's a problem with your magic power level. But there's a possibility of attracting monsters."

"Really?"

There was such a practical effect.

I knew that this land being a magic spot attracted monsters, but I didn't realize I was attracting them too.

"Um, the range of attraction isn't that wide, and it won't summon more than this dragon vein, so I don't think it's a big issue. ...But there is a way to suppress it. Do you want to try it?"

"Huh? Can it be suppressed so easily?"

Hestia nodded and touched my body.

"Then, here. Mirage Coating."

The moment she cast the spell, my body glowed faintly for a moment.

"This creates a lid with my magic power and covers you. It prevents the leakage. Externally, it should appear that you have the same magic power as when I'm a dragon."

"Wow, ...it feels like my body is reinforced."

It feels a bit harder to move, but my body feels lighter.

I have a sense that I can stand without much effort.

It's similar to wearing Wood Armor.

But it's much lighter and a weaker reinforcement.

...This must be what it feels like to wear a powered suit.

Swinging my arms around, I noticed,

"Huh? The reinforcement feeling suddenly disappeared."

"Um, but it comes off easily when you move vigorously or get excited. It's only effective during normal times."

I see.

So, it doesn't work when I'm angry and emitting a magic power vortex.

"Can I do this coating myself?"

"Probably. With practice."

I see. Let me try it.

According to Hestia, it's the feeling of coating your body with magic power.

"Um... like this?"

I tried to recreate the image of what Hestia did for me.

"---Coating!"

Then,

"Hey, did it work?"

I felt a similar movement difficulty and reinforcement.

If anything, it was even stronger.

"Did it succeed?"

"Um, it did. ...But why did you learn it so quickly?"

Hestia pouted, looking a bit disappointed.

"Huh? Was it bad?"

"Um, no. It's just that teaching you is pointless. My existence becomes a bit meaningless."

"Well, what can I do about it now that I've learned it? But..."

"This coating is too heavy for daily life."

My body feels a bit hard to move.

I could live with it if I had to, but it would be uncomfortable to sleep like this.

Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it.

"Um, no. It's because the part you're covering is stronger than me. You're suppressing your entire body. You're completely blocking the magic power from coming out."

I see. I must have suppressed it too much.

"But this block is convenient. You won't be detected by types that move by sensing magic power, not visually. Like golems made of magic stones."

I see.

So, you're completely coating and blocking the leakage.

There are some uses for this.

"Um... it can be ignored when dealing with troublesome people. But it might be better to let a little magic power linger around your body to avoid being underestimated and causing unnecessary trouble."

I see. But it's hard to control.

"If it's too much trouble, I can do it. Just call me when you need it."

Hestia tilted her head and asked.

Yeah, Hestia is better at fine-tuning the power.

"That would give me a purpose."

"No, don't worry about it... But I'll rely on you for now while I get used to it."

"Okay."

And so, I learned a new technique.

---But I have no intention of going to the city for now.