Lilia's Tale

Chapter 77: Trust

"Why is it a problem?" she asked. "If I can use Master's magic, it means I can protect Master even better!"

"It's a problem because I'm supposed to hide the fact you're a summon, but at the same time I really want to help you get stronger since you seem to want that. So, I don't know what to do."

She felt concerned, though I could understand why. I sighed and took a decision.

"Alright, I'm sorry to say, but if you could hold off from using my magic, that'd be great."

"If that's what Master wants..."

I could tell she was sad at the decision, but I couldn't give in.

"Thank you and sorry."

I went back to seeing if there was anything I needed to keep in mind in regards to hiding her status as a familiar. I was worried that the mention of it to Tanaka-san would make it more difficult, but I could most likely pass it off as me being dumb. Figuring things were fine, I checked up on Alice's magic training for the rest of the evening until Mark came to get me for dinner.

I had Alice use her disappearing spell before going to eat dinner and taking a bath. I ended up sleeping in the bath.

The next day, I woke up outside of the bath, with Alice next to me. I yawned to wake myself up and asked:

"What happened?"

"Master! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Why am I outside of the bath though?"

"You were about to drown so I pulled you out."

"I can't drown though..."

She was absolutely confused, as shown by her many stutters. Considering what I was about to say, I switched from talking out loud to talking to her in my head.

"Right. You don't know about what I am, do you?"

"I never asked. master is Master no matter what Master is."

"I'm not sure if that's reassuring or worrisome. Well, regardless, I'm a water dragon, so I can't drown. I've slept inside the bath many times, it's more relaxing for me."

"A...a dragon?"

Her talking and emotions were filled with dread. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I couldn't let her stay in that state for very long.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"B-But, a dragon..."

"What's wrong with dragons?"

"I don't know... I can't help but feel extreme fear when I think of dragons."

"Are dragons the natural predator of elemental moths or something?"

"No, it's more like... I'm about to be killed, not eaten."

"Well that put into context why Father wanted me to hide my identity as a dragon if even a technically newborn creature is this afraid of dragons. Again, I won't hurt you. Have I ever hurt you?"

"N-No..."

"Do I have any reason to hurt you?"

"W-What if you're hungry?"

"I don't eat moths. Really though, Alice. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You don't have to fear me. Just think of me as your master and not some random dragon, okay?"

She suddenly seemed to feel more comfortable but still quite worried.

"Well, can't expect you to be comfortable instantly like that. I'll let you go back to your world, I'll change and go eat breakfast."