Chapter 27: The Otaku Acquires a Mage (And Accidentally Starts a Rumor)
The fields were quiet.
Too quiet.
Smoke still curled behind them from the village, but the shouting had grown distant. The search patrols were spreading outward now, not inward.
Which meant time was limited.
Meliodas didn't slow.
Kaelen matched his pace easily, blinking in short bursts to conserve mana rather than waste it.
The mage stumbled slightly behind them before catching himself.
He was still adjusting.
Not just to the running.
To his body.
He flexed his fingers again, staring at skin that no longer bore the fine cracks of age.
"Five pills," he muttered under his breath. "Five."
Meliodas didn't look back.
"You said information," the mage said louder. "You want everything I know?"
"Yes."
"That's dangerous."
"For you?"
"For everyone."
Meliodas stopped walking.
The mage nearly collided with him.
Meliodas turned slowly.
"Then start with something simple."
The mage swallowed.
"What do you want?"
Meliodas's eyes flicked briefly to Bud.
Then back.
"What do people think that is?"
The mage blinked.
"That?"
Bud lifted his tiny head weakly, golden scales faintly luminous even in dimming light.
"Yes. That."
The mage hesitated.
"A magical beast."
Kaelen shook his head immediately. "No. It speaks."
The mage froze.
"…It speaks?"
Bud tilted his head.
'Should I roar?'
'Don't.'
The mage's eyes narrowed.
"You can communicate with it?"
"Yes."
"Telepathically?"
"Yes."
The mage exhaled slowly.
"Then not a standard magical beast."
He studied Bud more carefully now.
"Could be a high-tier familiar."
Kaelen frowned. "A familiar?"
The mage nodded.
"Elementals from the Fae Dimension can be contracted. Lesser ones are common among trained mages. High Elementals are rare. Royals are almost unheard of."
He squinted slightly.
"It radiates light affinity."
Bud puffed weakly.
The mage continued thinking aloud.
"Light-aligned familiars are uncommon. Most academies teach basic elemental contracts — fire, wind, water, earth."
He looked at Meliodas.
"You must have extraordinary compatibility."
Meliodas remained neutral.
'So in this world, Bud equals either magical beast or fae familiar.'
The mage continued.
"If it's a familiar, then you either formed a high-tier contract…"
"…or you were chosen."
Kaelen inhaled softly.
"Chosen by what?"
The mage hesitated.
"The Fae."
Kaelen's eyes flicked toward Meliodas instinctively.
The mage noticed.
"…You didn't form a ritual circle for a contract, did you?"
"No."
"…You didn't summon it."
"No."
The mage's gaze sharpened.
"So it attached itself."
Meliodas didn't answer.
Silence was useful.
The mage drew his own conclusion.
"…Then it's not tamed."
"Clarify," Meliodas said.
"Tamed magical beasts submit through dominance, fear, or bonding."
He looked at Bud again.
"That one doesn't behave like it was subdued."
Bud snorted.
"Familiars," the mage continued, "are not tamed. They agree."
He looked at Meliodas with new calculation.
"If it chose you… that implies unusual mana alignment."
Kaelen swallowed.
"The Dawn Maiden," he whispered unconsciously.
The mage blinked.
"What?"
Kaelen straightened.
"Nothing."
Meliodas didn't intervene.
The mage exhaled slowly.
"Either way, the capital will assume one of two things."
Meliodas resumed walking.
"Which are?"
"That you are either a rare familiar contractor…"
"…or a Magic Knight candidate."
Kaelen's head snapped toward him.
"Magic Knight?"
The mage nodded.
"Elemental Aura infusion."
"Blessing-based weapon augmentation."
"High compatibility with elemental domains."
Meliodas raised an eyebrow.
"And that relates to Bud how?"
"If the dragon is a contracted familiar, its affinity amplifies yours."
He glanced at Moonsing.
"You fight cleanly. Efficiently. Without wasted mana."
Kaelen added quietly, "Magic Knights are rare."
"Yes," the mage agreed. "Most fail the conditioning. Only those with extreme elemental affinity or Fairy blessing stabilize weapon Aura."
He paused.
"If the capital believes you are a Light-aligned familiar contractor…"
"…they will test you."
Meliodas sighed internally.
'Fantastic. More testing.'
They reached a tree line.
Meliodas motioned them into partial cover.
Bud shifted slightly on his shoulder.
'I don't like being called a pet.'
'They don't know better.'
'I'm not a familiar.'
'You are not. But we're not correcting them.'
Bud huffed.
The mage studied Bud again.
"There is something unusual, though."
Meliodas didn't react.
"I've studied familiar contracts."
"Most familiars do not radiate pressure."
Bud's aura, even dimmed, still carried a faint weight.
Subtle.
But present.
The mage narrowed his eyes.
"It doesn't feel hostile."
"It feels…"
He hesitated.
"…structural."
Meliodas didn't respond.
Kaelen looked between them.
"Structural?"
The mage frowned slightly.
"Like it reinforces space rather than distorts it."
Meliodas filed that carefully.
'Interesting wording.'
The mage shook his head.
"Regardless, the soldiers will not classify it beyond what they understand."
"Which is?"
"Familiar or rare magical beast."
Kaelen nodded slowly.
"That is preferable."
"Yes," the mage agreed. "True magical beast taming is common enough. Familiar contracts are prestigious but not destabilizing."
He looked at Meliodas again.
"The rejuvenation is destabilizing."
Meliodas almost smiled.
"I gathered."
They continued north until twilight deepened.
Only when the village lights disappeared entirely did Meliodas stop.
"We rest here."
Kaelen nodded immediately.
The mage looked exhausted.
Bud slipped down from Meliodas's shoulder and landed lightly in the grass, shrinking slightly.
Kaelen stared.
"It can change size?"
The mage went still.
"That complicates classification."
Meliodas looked down at Bud.
"Explain."
The mage exhaled slowly.
"Size manipulation is rare among standard magical beasts."
"High-tier ones sometimes grow with mana saturation."
"But controlled size reduction…"
He shook his head.
"That's more consistent with elemental manifestations."
Kaelen's awe flickered again.
"So definitely a familiar."
The mage nodded cautiously.
"Yes."
Meliodas crouched near Bud.
"You're getting a new identity."
Bud blinked.
'What identity?'
"High-tier Light familiar."
Bud stared at him.
'That's insulting.'
"It's convenient."
Bud sighed.
'Fine.'
Kaelen smiled faintly.
"I will not contradict that interpretation."
The mage looked at Meliodas carefully.
"If you present it as a contracted familiar, the political response changes."
"How?"
"Familiar contractors are seen as blessed or talented."
"Rejuvenation alchemy implies connections."
"Spatial containment implies wealth."
He met Meliodas's gaze.
"Combined, it paints a picture."
"What picture?"
"An Archmage's disciple."
Kaelen's heart pounded slightly at that.
Meliodas leaned back against a tree.
"And if I am not?"
The mage hesitated.
"Then you are either hiding your origin…"
"…or you belong to a power structure the king cannot see."
Meliodas exhaled softly.
Neither option was ideal.
Bud crawled back onto his shoulder and curled up.
'I'm tired.'
'I know.'
Kaelen sat opposite him.
"Master."
"Yes?"
"If the capital assumes you are an Archmage's disciple…"
"…does that protect us?"
The mage answered before Meliodas could.
"For a time."
"No king wants conflict with an unseen Archmage."
"But suspicion will grow."
Meliodas closed his eyes briefly.
'So the plan is simple.'
'Be useful. Not threatening.'
He opened them again.
"What is the capital's response to potential Magic Knights?"
The mage blinked.
"You intend to accept that narrative?"
"I intend to control it."
The mage almost smiled despite himself.
"That is… wise."
"Magic Knights are rare."
"They require Fairy King blessing, or extreme elemental alignment."
Kaelen straightened.
"Fairy King blessing is legend."
"Yes," the mage agreed. "Most believe it allegorical."
Meliodas nodded.
"Good."
Bud shifted sleepily.
'If they knew the truth…'
'They don't.'
The mage watched Meliodas with growing fascination.
"You are very calm for someone who disrupted a ritual beyond academy scale."
Meliodas shrugged slightly.
"I've seen worse."
That wasn't entirely untrue.
The Birth World had been worse.
Kaelen looked at him with quiet admiration.
Not worship.
Conviction.
'If he can remain calm against something like that… then strength isn't noise. It's control.'
Night settled fully.
Stars appeared overhead.
For a moment, silence held.
Then the mage spoke quietly.
"You asked what that crack was."
"Yes."
"It was not minor."
"It was not something the academies teach openly."
"There are… categories beyond what's public."
"But the structure is restricted."
Meliodas nodded once.
"Understood."
He did not push further.
He did not speculate.
He did not label.
Uncertainty was safer than arrogance.
Bud stirred once more.
'It will try again.'
Meliodas didn't answer aloud.
But inside—
'Then we'll be stronger next time.'
In the distance, faint torchlights flickered.
Search parties.
But they were moving outward in the wrong direction.
The trio remained unseen.
For now.
And in the capital, even before dawn—
A soldier would deliver a report.
Not about demons.
Not about hierarchy.
But about:
A prince alive.
A ritual disrupted.
A stranger with three swords.
A golden dragon familiar.
Spatial containment.
And alchemy that rewrote youth.
Rumors would form quickly.
Magic Knight candidate.
Archmage disciple.
Fae-blessed contractor.
All safer stories than the truth.
And far less dangerous.
Meliodas looked north again.
They would reach the main road by morning.
After that—
Politics.
He sighed quietly.
'I just wanted to leave the forest.'
Bud tired and sleepy, murmured.
'You did.'
'Yeah.'
He adjusted his coat.
And prepared for the next complication.
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[END OF CHAPTER 27]