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“So all this stuff is mine?” Vur tilted his head at the massive pile of gold and items in the cave ahead of him. He stood at the entrance with Stella on his head and a humanoid being made of earth beside him.
The earthen being, Diamant, cleared his throat. “N-no, first of all, this isn’t stuff. Second of all, these items belong to the clan.”
Vur frowned at Diamant who had taken the shape of a human instead of the round boulder with limbs. “But you’re the clan master, right?”
Diamant nodded.
Vur blinked. “And you’re my subordinate elemental?”
Diamant scratched his head and let out a hollow laugh. “When an elementalist creates a contract with an elemental, neither of them are above the other. We’re in a contract of equals, you see. As long as you supply me with mana, I’ll be able to use my spells.”
“…So you’re my subordinate elemental, right?” Vur asked again. “You can’t do anything without me.”
Diamant pursed his lips. “You could say that…”
“Right. A subordinate’s stuff is also his leader’s stuff. The clan’s stuff is your stuff because you’re the master, and your stuff is my stuff because I’m your leader. So the clan’s stuff is my stuff too.” Vur nodded.
“Please stop referring to our hard-earned treasury as stuff,” Diamant said with tears pouring from his diamond eyes. “I swear, there’s no one else in this world who’d treat a mountain elemental this badly. Do you know how rare mountain elementals are? We’re the strongest ones amongst the earth elementals.”
Vur shrugged. “But you’re still weaker than me,” he said. “That’s why I’m your boss.”
Stella patted Vur’s head. “You should be nicer to him.”
Diamant stared at Stella with conflicted feelings in his heart. If it weren’t for the fairy, maybe, Vur would never have noticed his existence. But she was being nice now. Was this the mythical carrot and stick used to train donkeys?
“Mountain elementals like to hoard things. He won’t show you his other treasures if you bully him now.”
Diamant winced. Apparently, it was just the stick. He sighed. “Some of this gold can be used for your personal use, but we need most of it for the prosperity of the clan. As long as the clan prospers, you’ll prosper as well since you’re sort of the clan master now.”
Vur stared at the mountain of treasures while rubbing his chin. “Clan master…”
Stella giggled. “I knew you were a natural born leader.”
“And a leader needs a good weapon.” Vur nodded before climbing on top of the pile of treasures within the cave. He rummaged around knocking over gold ingots and golden coins, picking up weapons and tossing them over his shoulder. “I don’t think she’d like this one either…”
Diamant’s earthen body turned pale like marble as he rushed forward. “P-please, our goods are delicate. Handle them with care! If anything’s broken, we won’t be able to offer them as tribute to the dwarves.”
Vur froze with a massive hammer in his hand. His brow furrowed as he turned his head towards Diamant. “What did you say?”
“H-handle the goods with care…?” Diamant asked as his body compressed and shrank.
“After that.”
“I-if anything’s broken, we won’t be able to offer them as tribute to the dwarves…?”
“What’s this about paying tribute to the dwarves?” Vur asked with a frown.
Diamant let out a hollow laugh as he scratched his head. “It’s a protection fee of sorts. The clans who pay tribute to the dwarves aren’t assaulted by…, well, the dwarves. Clans that don’t pay tribute get an unwanted visit from Benny.”
Vur narrowed his eyes. “Someone will take my stuff if I don’t offer my stuff to them?”
“Pretty much,” Diamant said with a nod. “That’s the way things have been since the dwarves landed on this continent. Everyone just accepts it now. There used to be a time where people fought back, but the losses weren’t worth it. It’s better to lose some treasure than to lose your whole clan.”
“When does the clan usually offer tribute?” Vur asked as he took a seat on top of the pile. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Diamant.
“The next collection time is four days from now.”
“I want to meet the dwarves,” Vur said and nodded. “Dragons don’t pay tribute. I’ll do them a favor and educate them.”
“W-wait,” Diamant said and stuck his hands out in front of his chest. “You can’t do that. I know you’re strong enough to destroy one of our harvester golems, but the dwarves can do that easily as well. Even a party of SSS-ranked adventurers won’t have a good time dealing with dwarves. Individually, dwarves aren’t scary, but they’re like insects. Provoke one dwarf and you provoke them all.”
“Then I’ll educate all of them,” Vur said and nodded again. “No problem. Trust in your leader. That’s an order.”
Diamant’s eye twitched. “Trust is earned, not demanded. You shouldn’t fight the dwarves when we can easily pay them off. Violence isn’t the answer.”
“My stuff is mine,” Vur said and shook his head. “If the mini-people try to take it, I’ll beat them up and steal their stuff in return.” He glanced at Stella. “Didn’t you say he’d listen to me if he became my elemental? Why isn’t he? He’s too noisy.”
Stella tilted her head. “Put him inside your runes,” she said while patting Vur’s arm. It glowed with a brown light as the runes spiraling up his forearm lit up. “And only let him out when he behaves.” Stella nodded and smiled at Diamant.
“Aren’t fairies and elementals supposed to be allies?” Diamant muttered as his body turned translucent. Brown orbs of light winked into existence, filling his disappearing frame before floating towards Vur’s arm. A sigh resounded through the cave as Diamant vanished, leaving Vur and Stella with the mound of treasure.
W-wait. Diamant’s voice echoed through Vur’s and Stella’s minds. This is the inside of a person!? What are you made out of!? Gah! Is that a dragon!?
Stella giggled, covering her mouth with her hands. She landed on Vur’s head. “Your insides are very lively.” Her body turned translucent and filled with purple orbs of light. Her voice drifted in the air as she drifted into Vur’s body, “I’ll show him how to survive inside of you.”
Vur looked down at his chest as his rose tattoo pulsed with a purple light. He tilted his head as the brownish runes on his arm intertwined with the roots of the tattoo like the real roots of a flower burying themselves into the earth. Diamant’s voice rang out in his head. Thank you. But what is that thing?
How rude, Stella’s voice said in Vur’s head. It’s Vur’s soul. He’s a dragon. A bit mutated, but a dragon nonetheless.
I see where his confidence is coming from, Diamant’s voice rang out followed by a sigh. But the dwarves are on par with the holy dragons. They don’t fight each other because neither side wants to lose anything. I don’t think—gah! Stop licking me! I’m not a salt lick!
Stella’s giggles echoed through Vur’s head before ringing in his ears. The fairy queen had materialized above his head again. “All done,” she said in a lilting voice. “Try to use his powers.”
Vur tilted his head. “How?”
Stella shrugged. “You’re the elementalist, not me.”
Vur scratched his head. “The runes?” he asked and pouted at his arm. He focused his mana into the brown runes. They glowed with a dim light. “Nothing?” He furrowed his brow and inserted more mana into the runes, causing them to shine as bright as the moon on a cloudless night, yet nothing happened. Vur snorted and flooded his arm with mana until the brown runes shone as bright as the sun, forcing Stella to close and shield her eyes with her arm.
You have to touch the ground, Diamant’s voice said. But you should reduce the mana—
Vur hopped off the pile of treasures and placed his palm against the ground. A shockwave rippled outwards from his body, causing his hair to flutter for a brief moment. The light on his arm disappeared, and he frowned at the result. “That’s it?”
Stella opened her eyes and looked around. Nothing had changed. “Diamant?” she asked, poking Vur’s runes.
I … don’t know, Diamant said. With the amount of mana he had stored up, something big should’ve happened.
Vur shrugged and resumed his search through the pile of treasures.