MISTERLP
"Ah... The scenery is beautiful, just beautiful." I couldn't help but let
out a sigh of admiration.
This was northwest of the Kingdom of Friedonia, a small village on the
border with the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria.
Looking out further to the west from the center of the village, the
bluish-green peaks of the Star Dragon Mountain Range stood there with an
incredible sense of presence. Even though they were still a long ways
away, they still looked so big. It was a series of mountains the size of Mt.
Fuji, so I could understand why the view was so impactful.
Was Dracul, where the dragons lived, in the middle of those majestic
mountains? Just what sort of place was it? I couldn't even imagine.
"What's the matter, Big Brother?" Tomoe called as I stared vacantly at
the mountains.
"Hmm? I was thinking, 'Those mountains sure are big.'"
"Yeah. They're really big."
Seeing Tomoe and me gazing at the mountains, Hal objected. "Oh,
come on. You can see the Star Dragon Mountain Range all the way from
the castle."
"Hal, you just don't get it," Kaede chided the unsentimental Hal with a
wry smile. "Both from afar and up close, they're a breathtaking sight, but
in different ways, you know."
Aisha and Carla returned from leaving the wagon's horses at the inn's
stable.
"Well then, Sir Kazuma," Aisha said, "are we to wait here in this
village until they come to 'pick us up'?"
"...Uh, yeah," I said. "That's how it's supposed to work."
Whoops. Because Aisha had addressed me as Kazuma there, like in the
backstory I'd prepared for her, it had taken me a moment to respond.
Incidentally, in that backstory, I was the young heir to The Silver Deer,
and I was traveling around many countries to find potential trade goods.
Tomoe was my little sister, and I had her hiding her wolf ears and tail
beneath that hooded robe.
The other four, Aisha, Halbert, Kaede, and Carla, were playing the role
of adventurers we'd hired to protect us in our travels. For this trip, I'd
actually talked things over with the adventurers' guild and had them
registered as such.
In an alternate plan, I would have been an adventurer, too, but it stood
out so badly that my skill level was below that of the these four that I had
to give up on that one. It was true that I was weak, but they were almost
too strong. We had the best fighters in the kingdom with us, after all.
Let's get back to the story.
The arrangement was that we would wait here for our escort from the
Star Dragon Mountain Range to arrive. However, there was no set time for
that. It was possible we would be delayed on our trip here, so we could
only decide on a vague time, within a day or two of our arrival.
I said, "Well, if we just wait—"
◆
"—they'll make contact with... Uh... Wait, what?"
I had been responding to Aisha, but suddenly she was gone from my
side. Actually, Tomoe, Hal, Kaede, and Carla were gone, too. More than
that, everything including the village and its buildings had vanished in an
instant.
The next thing I knew, I was standing alone in the middle of a field.
What, why am I in a field?! Where did everyone go?!
It was a desolate field with no sign of people or buildings.
Let... Let me tell you what happened! I was in the village, but I
somehow ended up in a field. You... You guys think I don't know what
I'm talking about...
Wait, this wasn't the time to be joking around.
Unable to believe the situation I'd found myself in, I was looking
around restlessly, trying to find someone else, when the whole area
suddenly went dark. Had it clouded over...? No, that wasn't it! There was
something massive up in the sky, and it was blotting out the sun. When I
looked up to see what it was, there flew a massive dragon, twenty meters
in length.
"Awhuhwhuh?!" I babbled incoherently at the incredible sight.
◇ ◇ ◇
Bzzt.
Huh? Just now, for a moment, I felt something on my cheek... she
thought.
At that same time, in her cave on the Dracul Plateau, Naden quizzically
tilted her head to the side.
Naden had once again shut herself in today to watch broadcast
programs from the Gran Chaos Empire, but she just felt something weird
in her cheeks. It was small, like a little bug had landed there. However,
when she rubbed her squishy cheeks, there was nothing there.
"...Well, whatever." Naden returned to watching the broadcast
program.
Suddenly, Pai rushed up to her in human form. "This is huge, Naden!"
The very next moment, bang, Pai struck her leg on the table. While Pai
crouched down and grasped her leg in pain, the still hot tea that had been
sitting on the table splashed all over Naden's tail.
"Hiyahhhhh!" It was so hot Naden let out a scream that could have
come from a kung-fu movie star.
Thrashing around, she almost knocked the simple receiver over, but
desperately stopped herself just short enough to keep from breaking it.
Meanwhile, Pai, who had already recovered from the pain in her leg, was
looking at Naden in exasperation.
Groaning, Pai said, "What are you doing, Naden?"
"What am I doing?! This is all your fault! It was hot, okay?!"
"Hold on, that doesn't matter right now," said Pai. "This is a much
bigger deal."
"That was a big deal to me! If I break this receiver, I may not find
another one..."
"I'm telling you, there's something more important going on!"
"You can talk all you want. I'm going to sleep."
Naden went to lie down in the bed she had acquired from the outside
world, but Pai, who had a sulky look on her face, put a stop to that.
"No sleeping! Listen to me! Lady Tiamat has summoned you!"
"...Eep." Naden froze stiff just as she was about to get into bed.
Tiamat, who was also known as Mother Dragon, the ruler of the Star
Dragon Mountain Range, was sacred and inviolable, and her existence was
an absolute. Not even the dragons could lay eyes on her revered face
without good reason. Only when they were invited by her to perform some
function, or on some other business, were they able to stand in her
presence.
Furthermore, about the only time she summoned them was when she
meant to bestow some honor on them, or harsh punishment.
Pai looked at Naden pityingly. "What'd you go and do this time,
Naden?"
"Could you not immediately assume I'm getting punished?" Naden
griped.
"Well, have you done anything you'd deserve to be honored for?"
"...No..."
While Naden was wracking her brains, thinking, What could I have
done...? the idol dancing and singing on her simple receiver caught her
eye. There were some dragons with more traditional values who opposed
bringing in things from the human world like this.
"You think it's this?" Naden stared at the simple receiver.
Pai sighed. "They say Tiamat can see everything in the whole world.
She definitely knows."
"I-If it was a problem, she would have told me off for it sooner!"
Naden protested. "That's never happened, okay?"
"Wasn't she just letting it slide before? Or can you think of another
reason?"
"A reason... Maybe that I've crossed the border over thirty times now?"
"You've been going out that much?! Wait, I've got another idea.
Naden, you refused to participate in the Contract Ceremony, didn't you?"
"But... I mean..." Naden's face turned gloomy.
The Contract Ceremony, when the young knights of the Nothung
Dragon Knight Kingdom came to form marriage contracts with the
dragons, was a grand occasion for the dragons that came around once in a
lifetime. However, for an odd, wingless dragon like Naden it was only a
place where she would be a laughingstock.
Pai knew how Naden felt about it, but she also knew that skipping out
on things would only isolate Naden more, so she was stern. "You skipped
the dance practice for the Contract Ceremony, didn't you?"
During the ceremony, a knight and dragon would dance together as
proof of their newly formed contract. Then, when the dragon had finished
dancing in human form, she would take on the form of a dragon, and their
contract would be formally established when they departed the Star
Dragon Mountain Range together. The dance lessons were to prepare for
this.
Naden puffed up her cheeks and pouted, turning her head to the side
and refusing to make eye contact. "There's no point in practicing for an
event I have no intention of attending."
Pai groaned. "Didn't you get in a fight with Ruby and the others a little
while ago, too?"
"They made fun of me for not being able to fly!"
"Don't you think the combination of all that is what's getting you
called in now? In my opinion, it's impressive she let you get away with all
of that for so long."
"Urgh..." Naden had no response to that.
"But, well, if she's never said anything to you before, I don't think
you're going to suddenly get punished for it, you know?" Pai said with a
sigh. "If you're doing something wrong, you ought to be scolded first."
"Y-Yeah!" Naden said with relief.
"But even if it's just a warning this time, will that change how you
behave?" Pai put her hand down on the simple receiver as she spoke. "If
she told you to dispose all these things you picked up in the lower
world..."
"That's like telling me to die!"
"It's that bad?" Pai asked.
Naden pulled the exasperated Pai's hand off the receiver and hid it
behind her back. "I can't throw this out. The simple receiver is my longing
for the outer world."
"And the romance novels?"
"My longing to have someone choose me."
"What are you, a maiden with your head full of dreams?"
"I am a maiden. ...Even if I'm like this."
Pai shrugged her shoulders in dismay. "Whatever; just be ready for it.
Even if she's going to be mad at you, it's best to get it done with quickly."
With Pai admonishing her like that, Naden reluctantly turned off the
receiver.
PS: tell if u guys prefer if i post 2 chaps per day 3 times a week or 1 chapter per day 6 times a week