“Rest in peace… and I’ll be using what’s left of your body.”


    As I lightly made the sign of the cross, perhaps curious about what I was doing, Helena, who had been watching me quietly unlike the other magicians who were busy snooping around, approached.


    When she saw the contents of the coffin, her mouth fell open.


    “B-Brother, are these… Fafnir’s children?”


    “They’re something simr.”


    “I see… It’s said that during the early stages of the War of the Gods, dragons showed incredible might. Because of that, they were targeted first, and even the hidden hatchlings were all ughtered. Perhaps Fafnir was always so enraged because he lost his children.”


    “Oh, no, that’s not it. These three were created by Fafnir after the war, when he was thest dragon left, trying to continue his lineage by cloning himself.”


    “Huh?”


    Helena tilted her head, confused.


    Now that I think about it, aside from the fact that my soul came from Earth, there wasn’t really anything I couldn’t reveal anymore, right?


    I didn’t regret deceiving everyone, but that didn’t mean I felt no guilt at all.


    There was a bit of a sense of responsibility lingering in the back of my mind. Maybe I could clear half of it now.


    Opening the other two coffins and making the same sign of the cross, I added,


    “And they’re my brothers, too.”


    “…Huh?”


    “I mean, I was created by Fafnir as well. I was born in that tank over there.”


    “Wh-What?!”


    Helena was so shocked she jumped up from her spot. When shended, she wobbled for a moment, and then lion ears popped out of her head.


    “What?! Yandel! What are you saying?!”


    “It’s been a while, Sri. First time since that night, huh?”


    “‘It’s been a while’… No, this is no time for casual greetings! Everyone! Gather around! This is important!”


    Sri’s voice roared like a lion.


    The others, who had been curiously fiddling around with theboratory, were startled and rushed over.


    Iona, who arrived first, blinked her blood-red eyes.


    “What’s going on, Helena… oh? Righteous Radiance?”


    “Yes! It’s me! But that’s not the point right now!”


    “Eh… what could be more important than a god descending…?”


    “Yandel was born without a mother!”


    “…That’s a bit of a blunt way to put it.”


    Iona, looking slightly serious, took a step back, and Sri shook her head as she continued,


    “No! I mean it! He says he’s a human created by Fafnir!”


    “Huh? Master is…?”


    “What are you talking about?”


    “Master? I only just arrived and couldn’t hear everything, but what does this mean?”


    The rest of the party, who had arrived a littleter, widened their eyes in surprise and asked in unison.


    Sri, still in shock, began to ramble, trying to exin what had just been revealed.


    “Uh… so, Yandel is a chimera? Or a homunculus? Something like that. And these are his brothers, and they’re also Fafnir’s children, and so… and so…”


    As if she couldn’t bear to watch Sri struggling anymore, ra emerged from the medallion and took over the exnation.


    -Lady, please calm down for a moment. You’re not exining things well at all.


    “Calm down, calm down… right! I’m calm!”


    Sri took a deep breath and nodded. But maybe she calmed down a bit too much because her ears and tail that had been twitching disappeared, and Helena’s consciousness resurfaced.


    “…It’s not a problem, is it?”


    “Yes. The Lord Righteous Radiance says she will continue to listen from within.”


    -If calming down only makes you feel embarrassed, there’s nothing wrong with saying so, Lady Sri….


    “Shh! ra! That’s sphemy!”


    Helena gently tapped the medallion, warning ra.


    Watching the two of them, I let out a chuckle and spoke up.


    “I was going to exin everything when Senior Faye arrived, but… since this happened, I guess I’ll just have to exin it to herter.”


    Feeling the group’s gaze focused on me, I shrugged my shoulders.


    “You’ve all guessed bits and pieces about my past and origins, but none of you really know the full story, right? Now’s a good time to tell you. Here’s how it all happened…”


    And so on… yadda yadda, duck-billed typus.


    “That’s how it is.”


    I glossed over the parts about my soul and Hero and Academy, exining instead that I woke up in the tank and had knowledge imnted through magic.


    Even though I skipped over the most shocking parts, the party was still in a daze, unable to process what they had just heard.


    Each of them looked bewildered, but as usual, Ca was the first to recover and cautiously raised her hand.


    “Um… Master?”


    “Yeah? Do you have more questions?”


    “Yes. As far as I know, artificial beings can’t reproduce, right? So, does that mean…”


    “I’m not impotent. I can definitely have kids, don’t worry. Fafnir seeded in making a body that’spletely identical to a human, after all.”


    “Phew… then the Lindelheit family line will continue. That’s a relief!”


    “…What if I take on a different surname, though?”


    Given my current achievements, I’d probably be granted a title soon.


    But Ca tilted her head innocently, as if the idea didn’t bother her in the slightest.


    “Master is already effectively the heir of the Lindelheit family. Even if your surname changes, you’ll still practice Lindelheit’s breathing techniques and cast spells using Lindelheit’s secret methods. Changing your name doesn’t mean you’re part of a different family, does it?”


    “Huh?”


    Now, Ca boldly dered her n to revive the Lindelheit family, not even bothering to hide her intentions anymore.


    I couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief. Seeing this, Elisha, who was standing next to me, pointed an using finger at Ca with a burst of indignation.


    “You’ve finally revealed your true colors, Ca!”


    “Wh-What do you mean, Elisha? What true colors of the Lindelheitdy are you talking about?”


    “Don’t you see, Teacher? Ca has been slowly turning Yandel to her side from the beginning!”


    “Is that so?!”


    “Yes! While you were preupied, Teacher, Ca has been gradually tainting Yandel with her influence. And now, after hearing that Yandel carries the blood and flesh of a dragon, she no longer sees any need to hide it!”


    “…Oh no.”


    Iris’s shoulders slumped at the sudden attack.


    I gently lifted the dejected Iris, who shuffled over to me with open arms, and gave her aforting shake.


    It hadn’t even been a long shake, yet her face turned into one of pure satisfaction. I then turned to Elisha, who was smugly humming to herself.


    “Don’t be so jealous. I did promise youst time I’d fill a house with half-elves, remember?”


    “Wh-When did I ever make such a promise?!”


    Elisha jumped up like someone had been startled, but if you looked closely, her face was flushed red, and her ears were trembling uncontrobly.


    It was proof that, despite her protests, she was somewhat pleased.


    “Anyway, is there anything else you want to ask?”


    “No, no. Whether you were born from a human or a dragon, it doesn’t change anything, right? The Yandel who threw his life on the line to save me that day is still the Yandel standing before me now, and that’s enough for me!”


    “Professor Iona…”


    For a moment, I was touched by Iona’s sparkling gaze.


    But that was quickly cut short.


    “More importantly, more importantly. You said you can use Dragonification now, right? Could I maybe… drink your blood while you’re in that form?”


    “…That’s fine.”


    Give me my touching moment back!


    Now it just sounds like you’re hanging around with me for the sake of drinking my blood!


    A sigh rose to the tip of my tongue but faded away. In its ce was a dry chuckle.


    Despite the gravity of the situation, they were acting just as noisy—no, even more so than usual, as if to ease my mind.


    I did feel a sense of relief from finally revealing what I’d been hiding, but there was also a part of me that had worried about how they might react, being a chimera and all.


    That concern must have been evident on the surface.


    “Thank you, everyone.”


    “Hmph, it’s good that you understand, Master. But by the way, where is this treasure you said I’d like so much? There’s a lot of interesting things here, but nothing that particrly stands out to me.”


    “Oh, it’s this.”


    I gestured toward the three coffins at my feet, inside of which were the small, neatly preserved dragon corpses.


    They were about the size ofrge dogs, their ck scales shining like obsidian—just like Fafnir’s clones.


    Iris looked down at the dragons with a puzzled expression and tilted her head.


    “Aren’t these the ones you said are like your brothers?”


    “I got permission to use them. They said it’s fine.”


    Iughed as I saw Iris staring at me as if I were some sort of madman.


    “What? Don’t like it? Even though they’re small, just consuming one dragon heart would bring you that much closer to bing an archmage.”


    “…I never said I didn’t like it.”


    Iris quietly approached and rubbed her forehead against my shoulder. So straightforward.


    If it had been a set of dragon materials, Faye would’ve liked it even more than Iris. But this wasn’t the real treasure.


    <i>Thud.</i>


    I used telekinesis to open a drawer a little further away.


    Inside was a stack of paper, thicker than any encyclopedia.


    I brought it over with telekinesis and skimmed through it before handing it over to Iris.


    “Here.”


    “Huh?”


    Iris, who had been burrowing into my shoulder, finally separated from me and looked down at the papers.


    “These are Fafnir’s final magical notes, containing all the research records he absorbed from the Dragon Council elders and reorganized himself.”


    “…What?”


    “I’m giving them to you, Iris. Once you’ve read and understood them, let us know.”


    Iris silently held the papers to her chest. She looked at me, then back at the papers, and then…


    <i>Thunk.</i>


    She fainted on the spot.