The young girl pressed her small, pale hands together in front of her imposing chest as an immense pressure radiated from her.
"Advanced Magic: Troll Barrier!"
A terrifying sphere of energy instantly rose, transforming into a gigantic magic circle adorned with glowing glyphs.
After this display of power, the dragoness's spell crashed violently into the ground before vanishing.
Having confirmed her defensive spell held, Ilulu reverted to a humbler appearance and returned to her seat at the bar.
The girl picked up the suspicious book she'd been reading before her master's arrival and flipped through it again, her breathing growing hotter and heavier from the R-18 content.
Ilulu had no romantic or sexual experience whatsoever, but she wasn't naïve enough to be unaware such things existed.
That was precisely why she had grown bolder and more aggressive toward Kirito.
"My dear master~ This poor little Ilulu might have to do all the work herself if you keep being such a coward, hehe…" she thought, a predatory smile creeping across her lips.
Kirito had forgotten one crucial detail about his servant: she wasn't human.
When a dragon wants something, it simply takes it.
And Ilulu's desire for her master only grew stronger as her instincts matured with age. Still, she retained just enough sense to respect her master's consent.
Thus, time flew by quickly from the perspective of both the dragoness and the elf.
Kirito noticed nothing, completely absorbed by how critical and important this phase of his project was.
As for Ilulu, she grew increasingly irritable staring at the door her master had disappeared behind weeks ago.
Fortunately, she never barged into the laboratory or did anything reckless despite her urges.
The young woman had managed to keep herself under control during this period—insignificant for an elf or a dragon.
Meanwhile, the world outside continued to evolve at a breakneck pace without them.
Unlike them, humans felt the passage of time keenly within their humble lifespans.
It was comparable to a mayfly that lives only a few days compared to a human who lives decades: an abyssal gap.
That was also one of the many reasons Kirito avoided spending too much time with humans. He didn't want to end up weeping over countless graves when he could simply avoid growing attached to creatures with such short lives.
"Idiot! Why do you like that half-elf?! Haven't you seen this maid?! She'd give her life for you!" Ilulu's eyes blazed with rage after reading a novel "written" by her master.
Normally, she should have already started setting up a new business because the tavern's finances were in dire straits.
But Ilulu decided to put it off, and weeks passed once more.
Kirito really should have remembered that his dragoness was easily distracted.
And so, she completely lost track of time.
*Ding-a-ling—*
Just as she was fuming over the Japanese protagonist's stupidity, the door chimes suddenly rang.
Hearing the sound, Ilulu tore her eyes away from her novel and glared at the unexpected visitor.
"So it's YOU?! The old hag my master absolutely doesn't want to see?!" she snapped, glancing back and forth between the intruder's portrait and the tavern door.
Ilulu's pupils narrowed slightly narrowed, then instantly turned into vertical slits.
Normally she would have attacked the intruder on sight, but this time was different.
Among the danger markings on the pictures Kirito had left at the bar, there were specific symbols indicating people to either eliminate immediately or flee from without hesitation, along with brief summaries.
Not only that, but the dragoness's instincts were screaming at her to run for her life.
The petite woman with wheat-coloured hair standing at the tavern entrance posed an enormous threat—to both her and her master.
"Well… isn't that rude? I come to your establishment and I'm greeted by an abomination," the golden-haired woman remarked.
Though her words were sharp, her eyes looked utterly exhausted, almost asleep.
Ilulu had seen a similar phenomenon in her master before, but his had always been brief and directed only at humans.
This woman, however, looked at her with those same eyes permanently.
The woman despised her.
"Get out, you old hag… you're clearly not welcome here!" Ilulu shot back, trying to release her magical and draconic aura.
She was furious at the woman's attitude, but she forced herself to rein in her impulsiveness.
Here, she was the weaker one.
"Oh? A young dragoness daring to challenge me? Even though I can clearly sense my son's mark on you, you're far too immature to interest me," the woman said in a bored tone.
The stranger's words caught her completely off guard, deeply unsettling Ilulu.
"S-Son? She's talking about Master? B-But he never mentioned anything about any of this…" she thought, frowning.
Confused, Ilulu still quickly glanced at the rest of the information about the woman.
Besides the note "flee on sight," her master had written that he must avoid any confrontation with the continent's most powerful "mage."
A statement the dragoness found utterly absurd.
"True, I stand no chance against the one surpassed only by the Goddess herself. But Master's orders always come first! You're not disturbing him right now!" she roared at the end.
Yes—Ilulu was now face to face with Serie.
The number-one combat powerhouse beneath the Goddess herself.
(Image)
"Hehe… you seem to know who I am, beyond just my connection to this place's owner. And yet you still want to fight me?" Serie asked, flashing a provocative smile before gracefully sitting down on a sofa.
Her delicate bare feet rested casually on the exquisite wooden table, and with a lazy flick of her hand, a glass of the special wine Ilulu had prepared for Kirito floated out of its carafe and flew straight to her.
"Stop that! That's the wine I made for my master! You're not allowed to drink it!" Ilulu protested, her tone slightly helpless.
"Oops~ What are you going to do about it? Hit me? Try to eat me? Hehe, you're funny, little dragon," Serie chuckled, then poured herself another glass and downed it in one go.
"Ahh~ As expected, my little Kirito's wine is one of a kind. Though… you seem to have tweaked the recipe," Serie swirled her glass, smiling contentedly.
She could criticise her adoptive son for many things, but his culinary talent was no joke.
While Serie was lost in her own little world, Ilulu's face turned red with anger.
'She really drank all of it!' she seethed, clenching her small fists.
"I'm in a good mood today~ While we wait for Kirito to finish playing with his little toys in the basement, how about we have a proper chat?" Serie said, gazing at the dragoness's cute little face and inwardly marvelling at the results of that thing called science.
Reproducing magic without magic.
The idea had been ridiculous and the root cause of the rift between her and Kirito—but even now, she wouldn't have acted differently back then.
To her, magic held infinite potential, and science had no hope of ever comparing.
She thought her son was wasting his time.
"No! If Master never mentioned your relationship, then he had good reasons," Ilulu shot back, crossing her arms beneath her ample chest.
"Ah… When was that again? Oh yes, over fifty years ago…" Serie muttered, completely ignoring Ilulu's refusal.
"I said NO! Are you listening to me?!" Ilulu yelled, but Serie casually bound her with a restraint spell and continued her story.
"Hmm… how old was that child back then? Oh… he was four when he arrived. Normally, for humans, learning magic at that age is undoubtedly a waste of time, but it's also a sign of extraordinary talent.," she said, a brief glimmer other than boredom appearing in her eyes.
The expression was fleeting before her face returned to its usual weary, bored look.
The memory of a small elven boy pestering her endlessly to teach him magic surfaced in her mind.
'I should have paid more attention to him and his education so he wouldn't get absurd ideas like reproducing magic without magic,' she thought to herself.
Kirito wasn't some unbelievable genius and hadn't noticed the anomaly in the mana she emitted, but his talent was still above average even among elves.
If that were all, Serie wouldn't have found him interesting enough to bother with.
What made Serie slightly regret her adoptive son's life choices was the way he handled time.
Unlike every other elf she had known, Kirito perceived time the way humans did.
He lived fully.
That was how he had progressed so quickly in magic—though his progress later slowed dramatically because of science and martial arts.
Serie had had no choice but to try redirecting her son's focus back to magic and stop him from spreading himself too thin, but the result was… an argument.
***
Author's note: Kirito's magical talent is high (slightly below Frieren's), but he is stronger overall because he didn't waste time on random things like she did.
However, Fern's talent far surpasses his.