Nar doesn't want me to go out and play... I mean, help Savel get the nomad dragonewt to stay in Amleth. Why? To play... I mean, I am there to help them and I have Asterion the Centaur from the Special Knight as well as an A-Rank Adventure from Mr. Savel himself that can use Dragon Transformation. Surely I am safe while playing with them outside.
"As a representative of Diana's Play Society, I demand an answer!" [Asterion].
"Since when do you have such a dubious society..." [Kara]
"Since a minute ago, Your Highness, when Nar cruelly denied Diana's wish to go out and play... Sir Savel and I have been playing... bringing the dragonewt and dragonborn to live in Amleth" [Asterion].
"Yes, that's right! We are just playing... Helping Mr. Savel! It just so happens that it's fun, too! Right!" [Diana]
"You're absolutely right!" [Asterion]
"No means no! Don't you remember what happened last time?" [Nar]
What happened last time... I don't remember playing with them. I'm sure I rode behind the centaur Sir Asterion, but it was just for a short distance and nothing bad happened.
"I know what you're thinking, I meant when you were kidnapped!" [Nar]
"Oh, that... That is indeed scary, but as a counter argument, there wasn't anyone else at that time" [Diana].
"I agree! This time, there's me, the fastest of all Amlethians, as well as Sir Savel himself! Surely your safety will be our top priority" [Asterion].
"True, that's why it's safer for me to play... We are all in this together" [Diana].
"Excellent point, my dear. Tell that to your worried brother!" [Asterion]
"Yes! So please let me play with them!" [Diana]
"Helping them is what you mean..." [Mara]
I make puppy eyes, knowing that Nar, as well as Sas and Dana, are quite weak. When I see Nar sighing and about to give his consent, I quickly ride behind Asterion and tell him to start running! Well, he doesn't, since we're still inside the castle. Nar and the head maid look like they've given up trying to convince me to stay behind. My victory!
Once we are outside, Savel also rides behind Asterion. Savel is huge! According to Asterion, he's the weight of two to three adults, and when he transformed like last time, he got even bigger, but that doesn't slow Asterion down. As he said, he is indeed the fastest of all the Amlethians. At his best, he claims that he can travel between Amleth and Emas in about three hours.
The scenery changes quickly and before I know it we are at the gate to leave the city. Since they're both high-ranking individuals, they get to use the special lane and quickly leave the city.
Savel starts to pull out his map. They already know where they're going, but it's safer to double check. It doesn't take long until we see a group of dragonewt and dragonborn. There's also a lizardman among them... Dragonewt are like Savel, who can use dragon transformation, while Dragonborn are those with other mixed blood. They may be able to tap into the same power as Savel, but most of them do not. Lizardmen, though they look the same, are more closely related to lizards than they are to dragons.
Savel quickly gets down and introduces himself and us. I wave to the others and some of them, about my age, wave back. I don't feel any malicious intentions from them, so I quickly fly towards them and shake their hands. Unlike the others, Asterion and Savel don't bother to stop me, maybe because they trust me, or maybe because these nomads are a bunch of good people, or maybe both.
Their camp, though small, is very well maintained. It's not as dirty as I thought. If anything, it's better than how we handle our camp during the trip that our school made as part of our curriculum. There's even a campfire as they grill a large fish covered in leaves. I can also smell a hint of salt and paper. I thought some of the lizardmen didn't like hot food, but maybe it's just a matter of their own taste.
"And what makes you think we will be under Her Highness Queen Amleth, my fellow dragonewt?"
"As I told you, my brothers, a calamity is coming in ten years. The Devil King will rise again and bring blight and disaster to this land, and sooner or later even you will feel the effects" [Savel].
Savel and a strong-looking man among them begin to talk. Strong is a hard word to use, considering he looks rather weak compared to Savel...
"Just like how hot it is in the direction of the Empire?"
"Hmm?" [Diana]
"I am sensitive to heat among my fellow friends, so I felt a strong heat in the direction of the empire."
A lizard man intervened. As he explained, he felt a large source of heat coming from the direction of the empire. Maybe it's just the abnormal weather we've been having lately? Yes, I'm sure of it, but it's not much, so I ask the forest for an answer. They will tell me soon enough.
As they talk to each other, I get a little bored and go play with the other girls. They have this traditional game where they use a bunch of sticks and try to pull them out one by one without disturbing the formation of the sticks too much. It seems like fun, and when it's my turn, I can feel Savel transforming into his ice mirage dragon form, getting even bigger and scarier looking.
"That's so cool! I'm not sure why you're transforming, but go Mr. Savel, go!" [Diana]
"How's that? My form is excellent, I'm sure you can't beat me" [Savel].
"Tchh... We won't know until we try."
"Ohh! A fire dragon! Great... he doesn't look as strong as Mr. Savel though..." [Diana]
"Huh? What do you mean little girl! Surely this fang of mine must at least cause you some fear!"
"Compared to the Devil King... .... It's actually kind of cute!" [Diana]
"C...Cu...Cut... CUTE!? How exactly?!"
"Kahkahkah!" [Savel]
"Save my breath! This is too funny!" [Asterion]
"Cute... To think that I am called cute in this form... By a little girl..."
"Umm.... Actually... You're terrifying! You really are! You scared me! Look, I'm afraid my speech will become incoherent" [Diana].
"Hahahahahaha! Diana even tried to... I can't! Hahahahaha. I can't stop laughing!" [Asterion]
"I'm... I'm sorry..." [Diana]
The teenage dragonborn explains to me that this is supposed to be a competition between the two of them to see who's more worthy, and one of the ways to do that is to show off their transformation for everyone to see and judge. Since I called the other guy cute... you can imagine how devastated he felt. In shame, he quickly transformed back to his original form. I keep apologizing and apologizing, and it looks like he doesn't hold it against me. He even admitted that Savel actually has the superior transformation between the two. However, my comments about the Devil King made them curious, so I told them the time when I was in Emas. Their elders seem to trust me, and when they asked me to describe the Devil King's castle, I described it perfectly, so they knew I wasn't lying.
At the end of the day they decided that they will indeed become official citizens of Amleth. That's great, but they also mentioned that they need some time to move everything out and come back in three days. Asterion and Savel just nod.
Before we leave, the forest doesn't answer my question about the hot temperature the lizardmen mentioned. It might be instinct, but I feel something, but I don't know what.
[Danger]
It's very faint, and my blessing warned me once, but then it stopped... Strange... Is it just my imagination?