Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Editor: [QueenieZhuz]
Volume 4 Chapter 17: Dragon-san and The White Shrine Maiden-san
As soon as we got the message from Vaas-senpai we hurried back home, only to find a woman in Eastern clothes accompanied by Aru, Mikoto and Vaas-senpai.
Like most beastmen she had fur growing on her body, but hers was white in color. She looked young, she was maybe in her mid-twenties at best.
There was no doubt about it: it was Makoto, Mikoto"s elder sister.
It was surprising to see her here, but even more surprising was the amount of magic that could be felt from her.
It was around the same level as Nectar when he was still human, maybe even greater.
That is why the tips of Nectar"s hair were colored differently from the rest -- he simply had too much magic to contain inside of his body.
She must have been the same. Her white hair and red eyes must have been the result of too much magic.
There was also something else about her, some sort of strange aura drifting around.
It felt kind of familiar, as if I knew what it was…… But that"s impossible, after all it"s the first time I have seen her in my life.
She turned around, and upon seeing us the woman bowed down her head deeply.
「It"s a pleasure to finally meet you, oh Elder Dragon. My name is Amagi Makoto, and I am the Shrine Maiden working for the Taisha in the land of Towa. Thank you for taking such good care of Mikoto.」
It surely felt strange to see such beauty bowing her head in such an elegant way during our first meeting ever.
I still had no idea where that mysterious feeling was coming from, but since she greeted us so politely I responded in kind, switching to the Eastern language.
「Likewise, it"s nice to meet you, Mikoto"s sister. My name is Lava. And seeing that you already know this, I am a dragon and Aru"s mother. What would you like us to call you?」
Makoto-san raised her head, looking surprised that I knew the Eastern language, and then smiled rather softly.
「Please, you can call me Makoto. Mikoto"s sister also has a nice ring to it, but please, you can call me whatever you like, really.」
She looked polite and was speaking in a polite way, but it also seemed like she had a sense of humor as well.
Oh, and while I was at it, I finally managed to identify that mysterious feeling.
Oh, I see, she wasn"t us uptight as Mikoto was.
「In return, can I call you Lavsama?」
「Sure, I don"t mind that.」
Still, her features were exactly the same as the "White beast girl" described to me by Ishsan earlier.
Nah, I"m just reading too much into this. Thinking as such, I invited Makoto-san to the living room, and around that time, Nectar brought some tea and snacks.
「Nice to meet you, Mikoto"s sister. My name is Nectar. I am Lava"s husband as well as Aru"s father. Please, help yourself to some snacks and tea.」
「Thank you for your consideration.」
When Makoto went to grab the tea, I turned my head towards Nectar and looked at him. He responded with the same kind of look.
Nectar was aware of that as well. Then Makoto looked at us and put her hands to her slightly flushed cheeks.
「Oh my, you truly act like a genuine married couple. You are a lovely pair, even though it is a bit unusual. And to think that you even managed to have a child.」
Makoto says something like that in an admiring tone, while Aru and Vaas-senpai also entered the room.
Speaking of which, I knew that it was senpai who informed me of this, but it was unusual to see him without Elvie being around.
"Senpai, thank you for letting me know about this. If you want, you can go back now. I can handle this."
When I send him a message like that, he is quick to respond.
"No, I want to stay. I promised that to El, since he was concerned about this as well."
"If he"s worried so much, then I don"t mind."
It seems that Senpai was worried about something, as he ends the conversation in an embarra.s.sing way.
Then, Nectar asked honestly.
「Are you aware of the importance of the dragons, Makoto-san?」
「That"s right, I know about them. The G.o.ds told me some parts, and some other parts I read in various literature.」
Her words were rather vague, but I guess there"s no helping that.
As I was wondering what to ask her, Mikoto finally mustered her courage and spoke up.
「Onee-chan? Why did you come to Ballow so suddenly? And why are you still wearing those clothes? Do you even have the money that is used here?」
「Ara, but I do have money, you know?」
「You mean the Towa currency?」
「Oh well, I guess it cannot be helped. Still, I do have things with me that could be exchaged for money.」
Makoto-san puffed her cheeks and shook her sleeves, and a dozen of magic stones came out of them.
It was as clear as day that they would be quite expensive, judging by their size, color and transparency.
With only those stones alone, she would be able to make a living here for about half a year or even longer.
Although Makoto herself seemed to be quite proud of that, Mikoto"s expression was as stern as ever.
「Onee-chan, you need to sell them properly to receive money.」
「If you say so. Which one should I exchange?」
She answered just like that while swaying her fluffy tail. I think I was beginning to understand just what kind of person she was.
Yup, she was just like a child trapped in an adult"s body.
「I knew it…… It is good that I came here.」
「You keep on saying that, but I can do things if I try, you know? I"ve managed to come and see you. So I"d say it"s a job well done.」
…… Or maybe she was just honest with herself? Like, painfully honest?
Judging from Mikoto"s words alone, it was something unbelievable that she managed to come here all on her own.
「Why did you come here, Onee-chan?」
「Ah, yes. About that. Mikoto, did you manage to find Senjiro?」
Hearing that question, Mikoto"s ears stood up.
It also seems that she was able to understand the truth from Mikoto"s reactions alone.
「So you did?」
She looked up at Mikoto with a warm expression and a soft smile, but Mikoto was far from responding in kind.
「Onee-chan, why did you let me search for Big Brother Sen instead of you?」
「Because I knew you wouldn"t be able to refuse if I asked you to?」
It was a good thing that both Vaas-senpai and Aru were unable to understand her words, for they were truly outrageous.
Mikoto"s eyes in that moment were so cold that they would start freezing the atmosphere at any moment.
「Is that true!?」
「Yes, because he gave us so much trouble, I knew that you would beat him to a pulp once you found him.」
「Onee-chan, are you really fine with that?」
「Are you perhaps talking about my engagement? It was only a formal agreement, so there"s no problem. Truth be told, Senjiro is more like a brother to me…… a younger one, but still a brother. So I sent you after him. Only, later I came to regret that I did that without making sure how you feel about all that.」
Makoto"s face blushed as she had an apologetic look on her face.
「Is this why you recommended me to go study abroad?」
「Not quite, but I guess you can say that.」
For a moment out there Makoto looked troubled, but then she took Mikoto"s hand in her own.
「You see, Mikoto. I want everyone who is important to me to be happy. Especially you and Senjiro.」
Mikoto is taken aback by her sister"s words, and Makoto"s red eyes narrow seeing that.
「So I thought that having you meet with Senjiro once more would be a good idea……Ara?」
Makoto-san c.o.c.ked her head a little bit, and then at the same time you could feel a sudden surge of magic in the room.
Mikoto also notices that and looks worried.
Then, right in front of us, a teleportation circle appears, filled with Ligurila"s magic.
In that moment.
「Please wait just a moment.」
Ligurila emerges from inside of the circle, and of course Senjiro was also there, right by her side.
He steps out of the magic circle as well, still holding a black spear in his hands.
「Welcome, you two. Or rather, you look like you got your a.s.s handed to you again by Ligurila, Sen-san.」
「Terribly sorry for intruding…… Umu, she was making sure that I wouldn"t think of other women, ever. Or else she"s going to cut it off. But it was me who made her angry and I"m sorry for that.」
Said Senjiro while scratching his cheek. Even though he was beaten up and was feeling sick from teleportation, he seemed to be holding just fine.
However, when he looked at me, I stood up and approached him.
「Lavdono, where is Makoto?」
As soon as I heard that, I began to explain to them that Makoto was in fact right here right now.
I thought it would be nice if the old acquaintances could meet after all those years, but Senjiro didn"t seem all that thrilled about that idea.
However, Ligurila had no problems with putting into words the thoughts that I dared not speak.
「Lava, I think it"s best that Sen stays here, so please don"t let him get away.」
No, I could feel that something rather unpleasant was hanging in the air right about now.
I wanted to think that this was Ligurila"s twisted way of showing consideration towards Senjiro"s situation, but it was hard to think that way when his face was telling quite a different story. But I really wanted to think that.
So, whether he liked it or not, Senjiro would be forced to stay as well.
I thought that he might resist the idea more firmly, but seeing his current state made it quite obvious that he was in no condition to argue with Ligurila, or literally anyone else at this point.
「If you"re looking for Makoto, she"s in the living room.」
「I sincerely appreciate it.」
I opened the door while pointing inside, and Senjiro marched forward while saying thanks to me.
I guess I was worrying too much.
I followed suit, seeing the three people from the East greeting each other.
Mikoto wasn"t surprised in the slightest, probably because she expected Senjiro to be together with Ligurila.
Makoto, on the other hand, smiled softly upon seeing Senjiro.
「It"s been a while, Senjiro. I am truly lucky to finally be able to meet you.」
「I see you are still yourself, Makoto.」
Senjiro let out a sigh of relief, followed by a happy wagging of his tail.
I was relieved to see that as well.
「Senjiro, it seems that you have found your soulmate. I"m happy for you.」
Being told that, Senjiro - who probably didn"t expect that - raised his head and looked a little bit shy about that.
「Yes, yes I did. Thank you.」
「It"s all good, then.」
Makoto said with a smile, but her body language was telling a completely different story at the moment.
But still, even though we could not understand the words they were saying, we were feeling relieved as well as the atmosphere got noticeably lighter.
So, naturally the next thought that came to my mind was about asking Makoto-san about letting us into Towa.
Originally, the plan was to go there and ask her about the "Innocent Chaos" and convince her to let us search their archives in hope of finding some clues there, but since she came all the way here, we could very well ask her directly.
However, it was also the first time in years that Mikoto could meet her family.
Surely they had lots of things they wanted to talk about, so I decided to ask about our matters after letting them walk through memory lanes together.
I let both Nectar and Aru know about that, and the two of them agreed as well.
At times like this, telepathy was truly a wonderful thing to have around.
「Still, you were always full of surprises, Makoto, but this is definitely the biggest one to date.」
While we wanted to look for an opportunity to leave the room and leave them some s.p.a.ce for themselves, Senjiro put his hands on Makoto"s shoulders.
Even though his words were light and easygoing, I could see that Senjiro was becoming seriously worried.
「That"s right, Onee-chan. It must have been hard working for the Taisha, right?」
After listening to Mikoto"s words, Makoto raises her brows in surprise.
「No, it"s not about the Taisha or how I feel about them. It"s hard for me to explain, but for now let"s just say that it was complicated.」
「Complicated, you say?」
Makoto seemed to be struggling with her words, and eventually Senjiro and Mikoto"s expressions turned to that of uneasiness.
「It"s alright. This time around, I wanted to confirm that the two of you are doing fine. That"s more than enough for me. But now I think I want to have some fun as well!」
Makoto laughs, and both Mikoto and Senjiro let their ears down in clear sign of embarra.s.sment.
Up until now, I was looking at that situation with satisfaction, but now I had to stand up.
「Now then, my job here is done. It is time to do what I originally wanted to come here for.」
So she walked to her staff that was standing against the wall, her fur fluttering delicately.
Then she took the staff in her hands and struck the ground with it.
Next, a huge amounts of magical power began to spill out from inside of Makoto.
That magic began to channel into her staff, and Makoto herself was smiling lightly while her eyes were becoming cloudy.
「The time of the storm is nigh. Oh, the divine spirit that protects the land. In the name of Amagi Makoto, I sing you this prayer: use this body as your vessel and manifest your divine authority in this realm!」
It was an incantation similar to Mikoto"s previous summoning rituals, but this time around the chant was different, and as a result Makoto"s magical power began to surge violently.
There was a burst of light, and I covered my eyes and was unable to see anything because of that.
Once the light finally stop, you could feel the presence of unknown magic inside of the room.
I opened my eyes just a little bit, and I could confirm that the source of that magic was a woman who appeared right in front of us, similar to Makoto in appearance but distinctively different.
First of all, the feeling of her magic was different right now.
She shakes her head, and her dark-green hair sways in wonderful cascades, so different from everything I have seen so far.
Her aura was intoxicating, and her terrific appearances were so eye catching that it would be hard to move your eyes away from her.
Her slender limbs were wrapped in the traditional robes of Towa, but they were much more colorful than Makoto"s simple white robe.
It was a strange kind of beast, one that was strong, cheerful and elegant at the same time. She was so like Makoto, but at the same time completely different from her.
And above all else.
Her golden eyes were sparkling brightly.
「Wahahaha! Thank you, Makocchi! Well then, let"s get to work, shall we?」
The woman smiled brightly at all of us, while we were left standing still and speechless in the wake of this absurd situation.