The general crashed onto a red mountain, and I climbed up after him.
The moment I reached the summit, I saw him lying right beneath the opening in the clouds, illuminated like he was standing beneath a spotlight on a stage.
Then I realized he'd lost consciousness.
Perfect opportunity.
I pulled out my sword, removed the magic core from the metal staff, and placed it back into the sword. Then, with some difficulty, I cut off the general's wings.
Strange.
Normally, I should've been able to slice through them effortlessly. Why couldn't I finish it in a single strike?
Next, I pressed the blade against his scales.
It didn't cut through at all.
Where the hell did my sword's absurd sharpness go?!
I refused to believe it, so I stabbed the sword straight into the flat ground beside me.
It slid in effortlessly.
Then I took out a chunk of tungsten ore, something only slightly weaker than diamond, and placed the blade against it.
The ore split apart instantly.
I stared blankly at my sword.
Its sharpness was obviously still there, so why couldn't it cut through?
...Whatever. There was something more important right now.
I severed the tendons in the general's limbs because I needed to cancel my Enhancement Magic, and the moment I did—
"Bleeeghhh—! Ugh...!"
I collapsed to my knees and vomited up my breakfast.
It felt like my body had just run a marathon at full speed. My stomach churned violently, the acidic taste of vomit coated my mouth, and every muscle in my body screamed in pain.
"Heal..."
I barely managed to cast healing magic.
And just like that...
I felt alive again!!!
Unfortunately, the disgusting sour taste in my mouth wouldn't go away.
I wanted water to rinse my mouth, but I didn't have a water-attribute magic core with me.
Truly tragic.
At that moment, I heard the general groan like someone waking from sleep.
"Ugh... I..."
"Oh, you're awake."
Enduring the taste in my mouth, I greeted him casually while picking up my sword and walking over.
"You! Why can't I move?!"
"You're in the same condition as Samidoride."
"Impossible! I am immortal— What?!"
The general's healing magic failed to activate, and panic instantly spread across his face.
I calmly reassured him.
"You seem like you need some time to calm down. Think carefully about becoming my underling."
"You're the one who needs to calm down. Look at me. What could I even do as your subordinate in this state?"
The moment I finished speaking, he immediately regained his composure just to argue back.
I grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.
"I can heal you."
"Stop lying. You're not a Brave with light magic."
Even the supposedly wisest race in the world couldn't understand the whims of the gods.
For nineteen hundred years, the same story had repeated without change. Naturally, nobody would imagine the existence of another Brave.
Still, I decided to save that topic for later and ask something more casual first.
"Let's put that aside for now. What exactly is that spoon made of?"
"This is a special ability modern dragons developed to rival ancient dragons—the Soul Armament. The weapon's form reflects the deepest desire within one's soul. However, the Soul Armament only awakens after the age of one hundred. Its hardness is equal to my dragon scales."
So ancient dragons surpassed modern dragons in magical power, and since modern dragons couldn't compete in magic, they compensated with physical combat instead.
That was basically what he meant.
"Then where did you even pull it from? I didn't see you use storage magic."
"If I wish to wield it, the Qilin Grave Spoon simply appears."
"Convenient. Then why did you deliberately reach behind your back first?"
"Because it looks cool. Pulling out a weapon far too large to conceal from an opponent's blind spot makes it seem mysterious and intimidating, doesn't it? You thought so too, didn't you?"
I mean... it had looked mysterious and intimidating.
But wasn't that just posing dramatically?
"A little, yeah. So you still haven't graduated from your cringe phase?"
The general replied with complete seriousness.
"The day one graduates from chuunibyo is the day life itself ends."
"Right. I only asked for fun anyway. More importantly, where's the Enchanted Sea?"
I brushed off his cringe philosophy and returned to the important topic.
The general's massive eyes wandered around awkwardly, hesitating to answer.
At that moment, the rain stopped.
I looked up and saw the storm clouds dispersing. Warm sunlight poured down from above, and a rainbow stretched across the distant sky.
"Wow. Look at that rainbow. Beautiful."
The general's forced tone made it painfully obvious he was trying to change the subject.
I crossed my arms and stared at him coldly.
"Don't change the subject."
"...I don't know."
Hearing his weak response, I walked from beside his feet onto his back and asked again.
"Really? Ever heard of the mermaid race?"
"No..."
After confirming his answer a second time, I stomped my foot angrily.
"Then why were you acting all smug?! If you don't know, just say you don't know! You wasted my time! I'm done asking questions. Your turn."
I plopped down onto his soaking wet back.
At this point, I was already drenched anyway, so there was no reason to care about getting wetter.
The general twisted his neck to look toward where his missing wings had been.
"Answer me about my wings first."
"Light magic."
"...Say that again."
The general blinked twice, mouth slightly open in disbelief.
"Light magic. It's fine if you don't believe me right now. You'll believe me soon enough. Next question."
After that, the general asked about the metal staff and the thousand-year magic core. I told him everything except the fact that the dungeon produced thousand-year magic cores in abundance.
"So what exactly are you?"
"A Brave."
"...Uh..."
"I know you don't believe me, but it's true. You and the queen were right. Alice really is a Saintess. I don't know why there are two Braves, but I definitely possess the power of one."
"No, I was actually wondering why that blonde girl carries the scent of humans, demons, and gods all at once."
"Because she's half demon."
"You knew?"
"On the first day after leaving the capital, we encountered demons. They told us Alice was half human and half demon. And Alice really can use dark magic."
"I see. Actually, it's not just Braves, Saintesses, and Diliblash royalty who possess the scent of gods. There are others in this world with it as well. That's why I never suspected you two were a Brave and a Saintess."
His explanation wasn't hard to understand.
There were plenty of people in the world who were exceptionally gifted in certain fields, and he'd assumed Alice and I belonged to that category.
"Besides the royal family, are there any in this country?"
"Yes. A baroness in the western region."
"What's special about her?"
"According to Kejellari and her mother, her garden designs are the beautiful in the world. The royal capital's gardens were designed by her."
The greatest garden designer in the world.
It was probably breathtakingly beautiful.
Too bad I'd never had the time—or peace of mind—to actually look at the gardens.
I'd never even gotten the chance to pass by them.
All because of the general.
Still, I wasn't particularly interested in gardens, so I only gave a simple impressed reaction.
"That's amazing. Anyway, enough about that. Any more questions?"
"I don't think so."
"Then will you become my underling?"
"Why are you so determined to make me your subordinate?"
"First of all, I just want to live a peaceful, carefree life. I don't want to belong to anyone, and I don't want people bothering me. If others know we're friends, they won't dare make any moves against me."
"That doesn't sound like an equal relationship at all."
"Publicly, we'll be friends. Privately, you'll be my underling."
Honestly, even if I called him my underling, I didn't actually plan to make him do anything troublesome.
I just phrased it that way so he wouldn't try negotiating.
"So what exactly would I have to do?"
"If a war ever starts centered around me, I'll call you for help."
"What makes you say that?"
I explained the possibility I'd been considering.
Honestly, the chances of it happening were about 99.9%.
The remaining 0.1% was just my personal wishful thinking.
"I see. For being called a subordinate, that sounds fairly easy. Very well. I accept."
"Good. If you betray me, I'll erase you from existence. And the capital too. Understood?"
A betrayal from the general was impossible to predict or prevent, so I couldn't fully let my guard down around him.
Besides, after living here for a thousand years, he definitely had attachments to this place.
Which made it the perfect leverage.
"Terrifying. My mistake. I'll behave."
"And in return, I'll treat you to delicious food."
"I swear my loyalty!"
Candy and stick worked best together.
A food addict like the general, who'd tried to force me to stay because of his obsession with cuisine, was naturally thrilled by that reward.
I slid down from his back and raised my hand toward him.
"Then let me prove I'm a Brave. Heal."
White light gathered in my hand.
A few moments later, the general's wings regenerated completely, and he immediately stood up excitedly and flapped them.
"Ohhh! I can move again! My wings are back!"
Now the general finally believed I was truly a Brave.
Which meant I could officially start ordering him around.
"Transform into your human form."
While he transformed, I turned my back to him and stored my sword away. Then I pulled out a smartphone from my storage space.
Once the red transformation light disappeared, I turned around and handed it to him.
"Take this. It's called a smartphone. A magical tool used for communication."
"You created this?"
"Yep."
"How does it work?"
I explained the principles behind the smartphone and how to use it. We also exchanged magical signatures, and his name appeared in my contacts list.
After trying it out himself, the general nodded.
"Very convenient."
Since everything had been settled, it was time for me to leave.
"Now fly me to the eastern port. After that, search for the Enchanted Sea. It's located at the easternmost edge of the world map. Contact me once you find it."
Making the general my subordinate had definitely been the right choice.
Now I didn't have to abandon my search for the Enchanted Sea.
And since he could fly, finding it wouldn't take long.
"Understood."
After that, I rode on the general in dragon form toward the eastern port.
Though "rode" might've been too generous a word.
I spent the entire flight lying flat against his back, desperately clinging to his scales.
His flying speed was so absurdly fast that the moment I loosened my grip, I'd probably get blown away instantly.