CHAPTER 222: IMPROVEMENT IN POWER

"Okay, let’s see..." I murmur to myself outside the mansion. Kaelan left me to soak up some sun, and I have three guaranteed days and two uncertain days to enjoy, so I decided to do something useful.

I’m testing the power of misfortune through "stages." I’m basically trying to make one effect hit something else, which will then hit something else, to generate a greater effect.

For this, I’m observing the birds in the sky. I’m going to try to knock down a bird using an apple I have in my hand. I take a bite of the apple, testing it while applying misfortune to a stone.

To a tree in the distance that also receives the effect, I then apply misfortune to the birds flying. My goal is to throw the apple and try to create a chain reaction.

’Seems good enough...’ I apply misfortune to the apple and prepare to throw it. I take just one more bite of the apple and throw it as if it’s nothing special. The apple quickly hits the tree.

Soon, some leaves and a few fruits fall from the tree. The bird is startled by the noise and ends up flying faster, colliding with another bird and falling from the sky.

It falls directly on the stone I applied misfortune to, thus dying. A sequence of "natural" events that seem too unrealistic, but happened without much real interference.

’It’s a terrifying power...’ These small effects would never make me defeat Nyarlisse. She was already hit by a chandelier when I was a goddess, and when I was a goddess, my power was much greater.

So the current power, even weaker, would never do anything against her, which is a shame, but it works against weaker Yanderes.

’Maybe this is the choice...’ Painless death caused by an accident like this, not bad, I think.

’Will I at least have a way to be protected from this curse if I conquer Yui?’ I don’t know, if that happens, it would be a very good bonus that I would love to have.

"Hey, dragon, what are you doing?" Kaelan appears, talking to me. He was probably watching, though asking doesn’t make sense when we can’t even talk to each other.

"..." I just point to the sky to indicate that I was observing. He just looks momentarily.

"Maybe in the future I’ll let you fly freely without restriction," he says, as if that’s the reason. I just nod in agreement.

...

...

...

Two guaranteed days and two uncertain days remain until I need to change worlds. Today, Kaelan and I are participating in a "training session." He’s started trying to teach me commands and reward me with fish.

"Okay, dragon, you need to understand basic commands first before you can understand advanced ones, after all, you’ll need to use your abilities in the future," he says, sitting me on the ground.

"If you do it well, you get a fish. If you fail, you don’t get anything," he speaks simply, as if I don’t understand.

I decide to make his life difficult in the next few days, so I pretend not to understand and tilt my head to the side in confusion, which seems to irritate him.

"It’s not that hard, just stand up," he says, moving his finger up to indicate standing up. I look down and then back at him, and then lie down on the ground and roll to the side.

"No!! Not like that, you’re supposed to stand up, not roll on the ground like a dog," he says as I stop and sit up again, feeling uncomfortable, with my wings not helping to roll on the ground.

"Okay, if you can’t even do something as simple as standing up, how do you expect to stay alive? Are you too stupid to be a dragon?" He says, and I let out a loud sigh as if he’s being annoying.

"..." He grabs my hand and pulls me up.

"This is standing up," he says, holding my waist.

"Now go to that place and sit there," he says, pointing to a chair. As soon as he lets go, I walk to the chair and sit on the floor.

"Not like that! Sit on the damn chair," he yells as my tail knocks over the chair and my wings spread out. I see a vein appearing on his head as he comes up to me.

He picks up the chair and sits me on it, but it’s obvious he doesn’t have the patience to teach someone, especially a being he considers stupid and wild.

"Seriously, why do you have to be so stupid? Look and learn, you need to sit on the chair, not on the floor," Kaelan says, trying to keep calm as I smile at him.

"You know what, forget it, I’ll ask Mei for help," he says, abandoning me here and going into the mansion. Of course, because of the collar, he must have confidence that I won’t just run away.

"Hahahaha," I laugh with amusement. He’s just rough, but not tyrannical, since he doesn’t want to force me to obey through pain or coercion.

"I guess this world isn’t so bad..." Kaelan would be a nice Yandere at first, I think, but it’s a shame I’ll have to leave soon.

...

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...

I have one guaranteed day and two uncertain days left before the end. I need to prepare. I’m eating lunch with Kaelan, the same mixture I’ve learned to like, even though eating from a bowl is strange.

"Hey, dragon, you seem more distant than when you first arrived. Missing that tree hole you lived in?" He speaks harshly, but genuinely concerned.

"I’ll probably kill myself tomorrow, not that you’d understand that, so this is probably one of my last meals today," I say to him, knowing he won’t understand.

I eat the food in the bowl, savoring the pleasant taste while observing him. He watches me eat as I finish quickly.

"Miss Dragon, you’re dirty from training attempts. Could you accompany me for a bath and change of clothes?" Mei says in her somewhat excited tone as she approaches.

I stand up to follow her. She quickly grabs my hand and starts pulling me through the room until we exit, and she closes the door, leading me away.

"Miss Dragon, you won’t do anything foolish, will you?" She says seriously, and I tense up.

"W-What?" I speak, even though I know she doesn’t understand.

"Your surprise gives it away. The way you spoke at the table was strange. I’m very intuitive. You said something bad, knowing we wouldn’t understand, but I know it wasn’t anything pleasant," she speaks sternly.

"..." I swallow hard, getting nervous.

"You’re terrible at hiding what you don’t want to show. It’s almost written all over your face that you’ll do something bad..." She looks at me severely, as if judging my soul.

"It’s better not to do anything bad to the master, or I might end up doing something terrible to you. It’s my duty above all to protect the master, even if it goes against his orders," she says, making a clear threat to my life.

I give her a smile. How ironic that she’s threatening me with death when the foolishness I’m going to do is literally with my own life.

"...Smiling after a threat like that?" She says, raising an eyebrow.

"Be on alert, dragon," she says, no longer calling me "Miss," making the threat more intense, but I just look at her with a certain disdain.

"Thank you for the advice, Mei. I didn’t know I was so obviously transparent in my feelings, even though you didn’t understand me," I thank her for making this so clear. I thought I was hiding it well, and most people don’t notice.

But those who really understand people and behavior seem to understand, even when it’s hidden, and as Yanderes are observant, most must notice it.

"...What did you do?" She asks, seeing a completely neutral expression with just a smile. It’s a fact that if it’s about maintaining an act, I’ve always done it well, even though I’ve made many stupid decisions since I got this curse.

"...I’ll keep an eye on you, dragon," she says seriously, now realizing that with just her "advice," I was able to quickly hide what was so obvious.

Of course, unlike acting feminine like Yara did with me, hiding what I feel is not automatic, but requires some degree of self-effort, but it’s enough.

Mei decides to move forward, more tense and attentive to my movements, truly thinking I’ll do something.

’How lucky I am,’ I think with irony.

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...

[Shizune!! Time’s up, I got everything we needed, and you can go to another world] I hear Nyzz’s voice out of nowhere while I’m in my room. Today is the last day.

"..."

[You seem tense, sad to be leaving this world?]

"More or less, but it’s better than what would happen if I stayed here," I say, pointing to my head after putting misfortune on some of the traps in the room that were made to prevent me from being at risk, now used for the opposite effect.

’I just need... to aim it right...’ I’m trying to put the misfortune on my brain, so the misfortune effects will try to target my brain.

[Clever!! You’ve mastered this power like a human mastering the ability to breathe, go, go, go, go!! GO!!!] Nyzz starts cheering.

"Please don’t cheer for this," I say as I launch the misfortune just on my brain and take a step forward. A trap snaps, activating a mechanism on the other wall.

Soon it activates another, triggering a trap on the wall made to prevent me from sticking my hand in the gap. I hear a thin sound of air being cut and look back, seeing an arrow moving very fast, too close to dodge.

’Oh...so that’s how...’ Before I can conclude the thought, the arrow hits my brain perfectly in areas too important for me to remain alive. Now, the reason for this arrow trap is a surprise even to me.

[Not bad, Shizune. If you do this to people, you’ll be invincible against ordinary humans!] Nyzz says as my body collapses on the floor, ending this life before Nyarlisse arrives.

[Don’t worry, Shizune. I’ll make the next world very difficult for Nyarlisse to notice you. Sleep well!] Nyzz speaks as if all this was a dream.