Returning to Makoto—
Before dawn, Makoto had already packed his belongings. After greeting the guards, he headed toward the mountain. After walking for a while, he saw the shrine gate in the distance.
Makoto was still thinking about how to deal with this situation. It would be easier, he decided, to attack directly. Although this would be his first time killing, Makoto felt no hesitation or doubt. Remembering his previous life, he had hardened his resolve not to repeat the regrets born from naïve thinking—regrets that had caused those he should have protected to be injured, or even lose their lives.
"Brid," Makoto said without chanting.
In his view, incantations existed only to make it easier to shape and define magic. The stronger one's imagination, the easier it became to use magic. That was why expert mages no longer needed chants—they understood the nature and function of the magic they wielded.
A fireball appeared in Makoto's palm. He shaped it into a bow and an arrow, took aim at the shrine gate, and released.
The magical arrow streaked forward and embedded itself precisely at the center above the shrine gate. Moments later, a massive explosion erupted—far larger than anything Makoto remembered from the anime.
What Makoto didn't realize was that the arrow used in the anime had merely been a test spell. Unlike that, the arrow he had just fired carried no hesitation and no restraint. This was not an experiment.
By the time Makoto arrived, all that remained were ruins. Not a single demon remained—unlike in the anime.
Suddenly, red mist spread around Makoto.
Having activated Sakai before attacking, Makoto detected a massive presence—serpentine in form. He immediately understood that Shin had awakened and mistaken Makoto for an enemy who had attacked while he slept.
Without hesitation, Shin lunged forward, trying to bite Makoto. Makoto dodged and unleashed repeated Brid spells in rapid succession. Shin tried to evade, but Makoto's attacks moved as if they had eyes of their own. No matter how fiercely Shin tried to escape, he was struck again and again.
When Shin finally showed an opening, Makoto erased his presence using Sakai and smashed Shin's head with tremendous force.
He repeated the attack several times. When Shin stopped resisting, Makoto revealed himself.
"Can we talk now? My name is Makoto," he said calmly.
"I surrender… My name is Shin, a superior dragon," Shin replied weakly.
"I never intended to fight you," Makoto said apologetically.
"Then why did you attack me while I was sleeping?" Shin asked in confusion.
Makoto explained the demon race's plan—to use Shin's name to deceive the highland orcs and force them to offer sacrifices.
Shin fell silent. He had merely been sleeping when someone suddenly attacked him with powerful magic.
Still, Shin's curiosity toward Makoto grew.
"You are only a human. Why are you this strong?" Shin asked, staring intently.
Makoto thought for a moment and decided to show Shin his memories. He wasn't worried about his past life—after all, even Tsukuyomi-sama, a god, had been unable to detect that Makoto was a transmigrator or sense the mysterious object within his consciousness. Shin, who was not a god, certainly wouldn't be able to see that far.
"Do you have an ability or magic that lets you view memories?" Makoto asked, pretending ignorance.
"Who do you think I am?" Shin said proudly, raising his head. "I am Shin, the undefeated superior dragon. Reading memories is easy for me."
Didn't you just lose to me? Makoto thought silently.
"Then go ahead and look at my memories," Makoto said without hesitation.
"Are you sure? Most people don't want others peering into their memories," Shin asked, surprised.
"It's fine. It'll be faster than explaining," Makoto replied casually.
Shin then looked into Makoto's memories—from his daily life to his journey into another world.
Just as Makoto expected, Shin was unable to see memories from his previous life. Instead, when Shin came across scenes of historical dramas, he became completely absorbed.
"Hey!" Makoto said, tapping Shin to snap him out of it.
"Unbelievable… A human from another world becoming this strong—and possessing such fascinating memories," Shin said in astonishment.
"How about forming a contract with me?" Shin asked eagerly, eyes fixed on Makoto.
"Alright. From now on, I'll be counting on you," Makoto replied seriously.
"I as well. I will serve you forever," Shin said happily.
"Then I will begin forming the contract," Shin declared, initiating the ritual.
A 50:50 contract failed.
A 70:30 parent–child relationship failed.
Finally, an 80:20 ruler–subordinate contract succeeded.
After the ritual concluded, Shin's body was enveloped in light. When the glow faded, a beautiful woman stood before Makoto.
"Once again, I look forward to serving you, my lord Makoto-sama. Please call me your samurai," Shin said with a radiant smile.
Makoto let out a long sigh and gave a stiff smile.
"So… how is your body? Any changes?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"My body feels normal," Shin replied, pausing briefly. "But… I sense something different about my power."
Shin then created a mist.
"Previously, this was a sub-dimension under my control—a space accessible only through a mist gate."
She invited Makoto inside.
When the mist cleared, a vast green plain spread out before him, filled with countless varieties of trees and plants. Having studied biology in the past, Makoto immediately felt that the vegetation here was unusually diverse.
Before him stood trees bearing apples, persimmons, papayas, oranges, grapes, mangoes, guavas—and even durian.
Makoto's guess was correct. The sub-dimension had begun growing plants that Makoto recognized. Though he didn't understand how it worked, that didn't stop him from feeling happy.
Makoto walked around with Shin.
"Shin, do you know where this place is?" Makoto asked, hoping she might have an answer.
"I don't know either," Shin replied with a deeply confused expression. "Before, the sub-dimension was just an empty, dark space. Everything inside existed according to my will—but this place has changed completely."
Makoto sampled various fruits as they walked.
"Oh, this one is delicious too," Shin said happily after tasting them.
After exploring for a while, they returned to the outside world—where they were met by Ema, running toward them, gasping for breath