Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki

"Cold… High… Scary…"

Right now, I was flying through the skies, being carried by the dragon priestess.

My body was wrapped in the dragon"s hand, so it was reasonably warm, but my face was directly exposed to the wind, and it was very cold.

That, and it was scary being this high up.

It had nothing to do with acrophobia—

I"m pretty sure anyone who suddenly found themselves skydiving with no past experience would be scared. That was what this was like.

"I apologize for the inconvenience," the dragon priestess said. "However, a dragon only lets her partner ride on her back. Please forgive me for carrying you like this."

The dragon priestess sounded apologetic, but I wasn"t convinced that was the problem here.

"No, it"s not that I wanted to ride on your back…"

Honestly, the only reason I wasn"t even more freaked out was that only my head was exposed. If I"d been riding on her back, feeling the speed and wind pressure with my whole body, I"m confident I would have pa.s.sed out.

The members of our Air Force fly this high, too… I realized.

The dragon priestess asked, "Are you afraid of high places, Sir Souma?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Kinda…"

"In that case, I will go faster so we can arrive at our destination sooner." With that, the dragon priestess accelerated rapidly.

"No, that doesn"t mean I want you to go fasteeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr!"

I screamed the loudest I had that day.

"Eek!" Naden shrieked.

Having left Crystal Castle, she"d been on her way back to her den when the biggest jolt she"d felt all day had hit her.

This wasn"t like mere static electricity; this was like squeezing your foot tightly when it was numb from you sitting on it for too long, or suddenly having someone grab your sides. It was that sort of ticklish and stimulating feeling.

Naden rubbed her cheeks and said, "I thought it might be my cheeks, but could this be—"

She was then interrupted by something else.

"You there, worm," a high-handed voice said snootily.

When Naden turned to react, there were three girls there. One was a beautiful young girl with defiant eyes and rolls of curly hair who looked like the epitome of haughtiness, while the remaining two were her blue- and green-haired flunkies.

The girl with rolls of red curls was Ruby; the flunky with the short blue hair was Sapphire; and the flunky with the long green hair was Emerada.

Naden had been walking on a little road in the forest. The three of them were standing to block it.

With a look of utter contempt on her face, Naden walked toward the three of them.

"Oh, look… the three stooges."

"Who"re you calling stooges?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Well, should I call you drag-ons instead?" Naden quipped.

"Huh? Where is that pause in the middle coming from?"

"From how this keeps dragging on. You keep coming to bother me for no good reason."

As one might have guessed from this exchange, Naden hated these three. This country was unwelcoming, both in a geographic and diplomatic sense, so many of the dragons had inward-looking personalities, too. That was why there was no shortage of dragons who mocked her as a "wingless dragon" or "worm."

Dragons prided themselves as being creatures revered as G.o.dbeasts, so most of them wouldn"t tell Naden how they looked down on her to her face. But they still said it maliciously behind her back.

These three were the only ones who would openly mess with Naden.

Red-haired Ruby mockingly said, "Hmph! I heard you were called out by Lady Tiamat, so I came to see if you finally got yourself thrown out. Well? Was she mad?"

"Too bad for you, then," Naden shot back. "There wasn"t anything she was upset about."

"Hmph. Then why were you summoned?"

"I don"t see how that"s any of your business. Now get out of my way."

Naden tried to pa.s.s the three of them, but Ruby immediately blocked her.

Naden tried to turn back the way she had come, but Sapphire and Emerada had sealed it off.

"…You three, cut it out, would you?!"

When Naden glared at them, Ruby took on a nasty grin.

"Oh, yes, it"s the Contract Ceremony soon, isn"t it?"

Naden gulped. The three circled around her, with Ruby closely scrutinizing her face.

"It"s so romantic," Ruby said. "The young dragons and knights all meet, the n.o.ble knights offer their hands to the dragons, and the dragons accept their hands to become lifelong partners. It"s the highlight of every dragon"s life. The moment when we can be said to shine our brightest." Naden was silent.

"On that most important of days, I wonder if there will be a knight who would deign to choose you." The corners of Ruby"s lips turned up, and her fang- like canines peeked out. It was an unpleasant smile. "Dragons prefer strong knights. Strong knights produce prosperous descendants, a mark of pride for any dragon. Knights prefer magnificent, majestic dragons. For the knights of Nothung, the dragons are their partners both in marriage and on the battlefield. In order to distinguish themselves in battle and to move up in the ranks—not to mention survive—they"ll choose strong, majestic, and ferocious dragons."

Triumphant and mocking, Ruby"s words beat against Naden"s ears.

"But what about you? Will there be a knight who would choose you? You, who have no wings, don"t breathe fire, and can"t fly? Even if there is, what will he do? Is he going to ride you? Watching the rest of the dragon knights fly through the sky while he fights on a dragon that"s little better than a horse? Ahaha, what an idiot. He won"t be moving up in the world, that"s for sure!"

Bzzt!

Ruby jumped backward as that sound suddenly came from Naden.

Naden"s hair began to stand on end, and her body was wreathed in pale blue electrical discharge. Her voluminous hair spread out, wriggling in the air like tentacles.

Naden turned to Ruby, pointing a finger at her as she said, "Shut your filthy mouth. If you don"t, I"ll paralyze you."

"Hmph! Do it, if you can."

In the next moment, a blue bolt of electricity shot forth from Naden"s fingertip. However, by the time it reached its target, Ruby was no longer there, and the trunk of the tree that had been behind her was singed instead.

Naden looked up into the sky and howled, "Tch! Get down here, you dirty coward!"

There were three dragons, red, green, and blue, hanging in the air; it was none other than Ruby and her flunkies. The three flapped their membranous, wyvern-like wings as they looked down at Naden.

"What"s the matter? Weren"t you going to paralyze us?" In her red dragon form,

Ruby seemed to have become even more spiteful. "Oh, right. Even if you can control electric shocks, you can"t hit us if you can"t fly."

"Shut up!" Naden yelled.

"Who would ever choose you?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"You had better partic.i.p.ate in the ceremony. Don"t run away. Though I"m sure no one will choose you, it would be good to see you put in your place."

"Ngh!" Naden cried.

Naden ran away, turning her back on Ruby and the other two.

d.a.m.n it… d.a.m.n it…

She didn"t want to let them see her tears of sadness and frustration. If she cried, it would only let them bask in their sense of superiority. Not a chance.

Though I"m sure no one will choose you.

As Ruby"s words echoed in her ears, she imagined the other dragons mocking her at the Contract Ceremony.

Pai and Lady Tiamat told her to partic.i.p.ate, but she wouldn"t let anyone make a laughingstock of her!

Who… Who would go to the stupid Contract Ceremony?!

Naden vanished into the forest.

Having adjusted to flying at high speeds, I spoke to the dragon priestess as we got closer to the Star Dragon Mountain Range.

"So, I wanted to ask a question."

"What might that be?" she asked.

"This Dracul place, where the dragons live—it"s on top of those mountains, right?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"I"m still fine now, but if you carry me up

there, am I going to be all right when it comes to air and whatnot? I"d rather not suffer from alt.i.tude sickness."

This was the Star Dragon Mountain Range, a series of mountains the size of Mt. Fuji. The Dracul Plateau itself was kept in a state of perpetual spring by Mother Dragon"s magic, and the air there was no different from the air at ground level, but what about the route there?

If I was going to be going through an experience equivalent to suddenly being chucked to the top of Mt. Fuji, that would be hazardous to my health.

The dragon priestess shook her head.

"You need not fear. Once we enter the Star Dragon Mountain Range, Lady Tiamat"s magical power will directly transport you the rest of the way to Crystal Castle in Dracul."

…So there you had it. Basically, it was going to be another teleportation like I had experienced earlier.

"In that case, couldn"t she have just transported me to that castle or wherever to begin with?"

"Lady Tiamat can only exercise her fullest power within the Star Dragon Mountain Range. In other lands, her abilities are greatly restricted. When you get to be as far away as that village, she can only teleport you short distances."

…Could a few kilometers really be called a short distance?

Well, it seemed she couldn"t suddenly send dragons anywhere on the continent, at least, so that was a bit of a relief. I didn"t even have an inkling of any intentions to oppose her, but it was still unsettling to have her unilaterally hold the power of life and death over me.

Though, well, I could certainly tell that Mother Dragon was on an entirely different level from other creatures.

While I was thinking that, the dragon priestess picked up speed. "We will soon enter the Star Dragon Mountain Range. Please, brace yourself for transportation."

"Brace myself? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Don"t be surprised if the scenery around you suddenly changes."

"Oh, so that"s what you meant…"

The dragon priestess"s speed slowed, and when she had almost come to a stop…

…the scenery changed. We had just been in midair, but now the floor was beneath my feet.

The dragon priestess set me down, and I was finally able to get my feet back on terra firma.

I looked around, wondering where I might be. It was bright, so I could see well, but it was an incredibly vast s.p.a.ce I"d found myself in. There was a white wall in front of my eyes, but when I turned to look behind me, the wall on the opposite side was a long ways off. This place might be larger than a domed stadium.

When I looked up to the ceiling, still thinking about that, I gulped again. It"s not a wall?!

What I found myself looking up at was a giant dragon"s head. Right now, I was at the breast of a ma.s.sive dragon that was sitting like the sphinx. That head… It was the same dragon I had seen in my dream.

Did that mean this superma.s.sive dragon was Mother Dragon? I"d thought she was big when I saw her in my dreams, but because it"d been a dream, her size had been kind of hazy. When I saw her up close and personal like this, she seemed even bigger than I"d a.s.sumed in my dream.

I heard a voice from above. "You"ve done well. Let us have some time alone."

The dragon who had carried me this far said, "Understood."

She bowed her head, and was then erased. Mother Dragon probably teleported her away.

While I was still dumbstruck, Mother Dragon addressed me in a gentle (though psychic) voice. "Now then, I think it would be much too haughty of me to remain in this form when before the master of a nation."

With that said, her body began to shine and then shrink down. When the brilliant light subsided, I beheld a woman who was roughly the same height as me. Her face was covered by a veil, so I couldn"t tell her age or appearance, but the woman was wearing a shining, silver robe-like garment, and had a well- balanced figure. As with the arms of the Venus de Milo, not being able to see her face made me imagine it to be incredibly beautiful.

"Is that… your human form?" I was awestruck, but somehow managed to get those words out.

She chuckled. "Is this my human form, you ask? That"s an apt name for it." The woman lifted the hem of her robe and bowed. "I am pleased to meet you in person like this. Greetings, King Souma of Elfrieden and Amidonia. I am Tiamat, the one responsible for the Star Dragon Mountain Range."

"It"s an honor to meet you, Madam Mother Dragon." I returned her bow. "I am King Souma of Friedonia."

Mother Dragon chuckled. "That name is something others just started calling me of their own accord. Please, call me Tiamat."

"As you wish, Madam Tiamat. Um… sorry about my appearance."

Much too late, I realized I was still in that Kitakaze Kozou-style traveler"s outfit. I felt bad standing in front of the divine figure I saw before me in this state. I had no time to change clothes, after all. But when I said that, Madam Tiamat shook her head.

"No, you look like that because I called you here so suddenly. If anyone should apologize, it is me. For a start… let"s sit down."

A table made of gla.s.s and two matching chairs suddenly appeared between us.

Teleportation sure was a convenient ability. If I had that, I could instantly find the doc.u.ments I was looking for when working, so I really wanted it…

I was thinking like a total slave to my job.

Once we sat down, Madam Tiamat began by bowing her head deeply. "First, allow me to apologize for bringing you here so forcibly."

"I will accept that apology," I said. "But could I ask you to explain your reasons? I was already on my way here with my companions when you did so."

"I will tell you, of course. But first…"

Suddenly, a tea set appeared before my eyes. The teacup sitting in front of me

was already filled with a warm serving of black tea.

"Let"s have tea. Do you take sugar or milk?"

"No, straight is fine."

It was time for me to stop being surprised by every little thing. She was worshiped as a G.o.d, after all.

I took a sip of tea to calm my nerves. I was more of a coffee person, honestly, but… it had a good fragrance. Tiamat drank her tea, then took a breath before opening her mouth to speak.

"Now, as for what led me to force you to come here, that is because there is an urgent situation that threatens the Star Dragon Mountain Range. In order to resolve it, I need your…… no, the powers of all of you. That is why I"ve summoned you here, well aware that I may cause offense."

She had some sort of situation on her hands? And what did she mean about the powers of all of us? As far as I could tell, I was the only one here.

"What exactly is this urgent situation you speak of?" I asked.

"A storm is approaching the Star Dragon Mountain Range," Madam Tiamat said with a mysterious tone in her voice.

A storm? Wasn"t Dracul a plateau at an alt.i.tude equivalent to the peak of Mt. Fuji? Wouldn"t they hear the thunder coming from below up here? But thinking about it a bit longer, I remembered the peak of Mt. Fuji could get still storms.

They say c.u.mulonimbus clouds can go all the way up to the stratosphere, after all. No, but before that…

"Even our country can"t do anything about natural phenomena," I said.

"Of course, this isn"t a "natural phenomenon.""

"…Is it a metaphor of some sort?"

"Yes, that"s right. I expressed an impending threat as a storm. In order to deal with this storm, we will need your power, Sir Souma, and that of one other.

In order to bind the two of you together, I needed you to come to the Star Dragon Mountain Range on your own."

Madam Tiamat spoke in a quiet voice, almost like she was composing poetry.

"There is little time. If we waited for you to come together with your entourage, there was the risk that the situation would get out of hand. However, even if we explained the situation, there is no way the va.s.sals of a king would allow him to go to another country alone.

Because of that, we resorted to somewhat more forceful methods. I once again apologize. I"m sorry for what we put you through."

Madam Tiamat offered a sincere bow.

I had the mother dragon who was revered as a G.o.d bowing her head to me. What would Liscia and the others say if they heard about this? That aside, she said she spirited me away because there was "little time," but she was being awfully vague as to the reason why.

"You"ve apologized enough," I said.

"Could I trouble you for a more concrete explanation about this storm, or whatever it is?"

"The storm will definitely come. I cannot touch the storm directly. However, my children cannot handle it themselves.

Except… for one of them. The storm will be a miserable calamity. We need you, who will be the key to dealing with it, and that girl who will carry you. It is a miracle that the calamity and the means of resolving it have encountered one another in this time frame, but looking at the eternal flow of time as a whole, it may have been an inevitability."

I was silent. I really didn"t get it.

I scratched the back of my neck. "I do think this roundabout way of discussing things is fitting for a G.o.d, but…"

"If you find it unpleasant, I apologize once more. However, this is the most "guidance" I can hand down."

"Guidance…" I muttered.

"I am a being who exists to raise and watch over those who live on this continent of Landia. I can offer advice that guides things in a better direction, but I have not been given the authority to intervene directly in individual matters."

"If you haven"t been given the authority, does that mean there"s someone who exists at a higher level than you?!" I exclaimed.

Mother Dragon was held up as the highest G.o.d by the pract.i.tioners of Mother Dragon worship. If there was a being in a position to give her authority, wouldn"t that make that being the actual highest G.o.d? If the pract.i.tioners of

Mother Dragon worship heard this (setting aside the issue of whether they"d even believe it), it could cause incredible chaos…

While I was staring, dumbfounded, Madam Tiamat silently shook her head.

"There once was. But they are no more."

"R-Really?"

Was this like saying G.o.d is dead? I couldn"t make a decision based on the information available to me, but Madam Tiamat gave me a slightly sad smile.

"Yes. However, the limitations placed upon me live on. That is how I was born, and so I must continue to abide by those limitations. Even knowing my own children will be exposed to the storm, I myself can do nothing about it."

"So you called me here because of that storm?" I hedged.

"That is correct."

"I think, as far as humans go, I"m one of the weaker ones in this world, though."

"Martial prowess has nothing to do with it," she said. "Your very existence is the key."

"Does that have something to do with how I was summoned as a hero?"

"Yes. However, I am unable to tell you precisely how."

"I dunno…" I scratched my head.

Going purely off the information provided to me, this didn"t seem like something I could make a decision on easily.

However, seeing how sincere Madam Tiamat was, I could be absolutely sure that the situation was pressing, at the very least.

Argh. If I had Hakuya and his oratory skills here, I might have been able to extract as much information from Madam Tiamat as was possible within her limitations; and if I had any one of Liscia, Aisha, Juna, and Roroa with me, I could have consulted them on what to do.

Speaking of Liscia and the others…

"Madam Tiamat," I said. "I"d like you to answer just one thing for me."

"What might that be? I hope it"s something I"m not restricted from telling you."

"It"s a yes or no question." I finished my tea and calmed myself, then sat up, looked Madam Tiamat straight in the eye, and asked her, "Is this storm, or whatever it is, something that would harm me, or those who are going to become my family?"

If I couldn"t know all the details anyway, I at least wanted to make sure of the one thing that was most important to me.

Madam Tiamat"s response: "Yes."

That more or less decided my answer for me.