Kujonin

Kujonin
Author: Hanabokuro
—

The next morning, I woke up along with the sunrise.
Without running away, Cynthia had prepared a cloth for me to use when I woke up and washed my face at the well.
Washing my face, I headed to the Margaret House without even eating breakfast.
Cynthia didn"t raise any complaints towards me when I didn"t head to the city"s gates.

When I opened the gate, Granny just happened to be sweeping outside.
"Good morning."
I called out to her.
"Good morning. You"re quite early, Naoki-san."
"Yeah, are the dragons awake?"
"They are still sleeping in the back garden. Would you like some morning tea?"
"I"d be happy to, but I"m in a hurry."
I"d heard the treatments weren"t going well in Gnomefield, so I"d like to take Cynthia along as fast as possible.
"Understood. I will pack you breakfast and lunch. Go around to the back garden."
Granny entered the mansion.
"Thank you very much."
So saying, I went around to the back.
"What do you mean by dragons?"
Cynthia asked me.
"I mean dragons."
Even with my response, Cynthia looked suspicious.
There"d probably be a huge fuss if dragons normally appeared in the middle of town.
"Maa, you"ll understand when you see them."
So saying, we went around to the back of the mansion.

Cynthia was so startled when she saw the loudly snoring dragons that her eyes went round and she froze.
Red Dragon and Black Dragon-san about both about half the size of the mansion.
"It"s alright, they won"t eat you."
I told Cynthia as I approached the dragons.
Cynthia followed me very timidly.
"Morning, Red Dragon."
"… SNOOOOORE, zzz-"
It looks like he won"t wake up, so I flicked the tip of his nose.
"Ow-! Oo, Naoki. Morning."
While holding the tip of his nose, Red Dragon woke up.
"Please wake up as well, Black Dragon-san."
When I said so, Black Dragon-san"s eyelids rose up.
"Oh, h.e.l.lo! So it"s morning. This lawn is great for sleeping. Mm… yaaaaawn-!!!!"
The surroundings shook at his gigantic yawn.
Cynthia and I covered our ears with our hands.
"I slept well."
"Should I use Cleanup on you?"
"Aah, if you would."

When I had used Cleanup on the two dragons, Margaret-san came out on the terrace and exchanged greetings with the dragons.
"It"s been a while since I"ve had such a good banquet as last night"s. Please come again."
Margaret-san said when she heard we were going to leave immediately.
Granny rolled over lunch in a barrel and three prepared breakfasts and gave them to me.
"Will you be able to take them?"
Granny said, seemingly worried, but it"s fine if I put them in the item bag.
"Cynthia, this is Margaret-san and Granny. Please greet them."
"I"m Cynthia, a slave Naoki-sama bought and released from slavery last night. I"m a former slave who comes from the Earth Hero"s village, Gnomefield."
"My my, welcome. It"s quite tough this early in the morning, isn"t it?"
With that, while the women were conversing, I thrust the barrel into the item bag.
"Hm? What happened to the barrel?"
"Ah, I took it. It"s fine. Come on, let"s go."
When Granny was about to look for the barrel, I quickly set off.
Did Margaret-san realize it? She"s staring intensely at the item bag.

"Oo-! We"re leaving already? I have not eaten breakfast yet…”
Black Dragon-san told me.
"It"s okay. I have Black Dragon-san"s breakfast. Please fly a little bit before that."
"I have no worries if you have breakfast. Alright then, let"s go."
Black Dragon-san, who had opened his wings with a flap, is now about as long as the mansion in size.
So he was that big, huh? The impression changes depending on where you see him.
"Now then, it"s fine to get on. The Lady-san on me, and Naoki on Red Dragon."
Making use of his seniority, it seems like Black Dragon-san wants Cynthia to ride him.
Red Dragon made a, "Whaaaat," kind of a face for a second but then had me ride on his back with a, "Okay, get on!"
"Well then, Young Ladies, we will be parted for a time. Let us have another good feast together sometime! Farewell."
Black Dragon-san said to Margaret-san and Granny, then flew upwards.
Red Dragon also flew up, but is the alcohol from last night still in his system? He"s somewhat unsteady.
"Did you drink too much?"
"Aa, sorry. The alcohol will disperse when I fly."
Riding on the swaying back, I waved back at Margaret-san and Granny, waving their hands on the terrace.
Looking down at the pretty streets of Floura, we quickly pa.s.sed through and were flying above the forest.

Black Dragon-san soon pulled away, so I took a wood board from my item bag and drew a wind magic circle.
"Red Dragon, I"m going to increase our speed a little. We can"t catch up with Black Dragon-san otherwise. Red Dragon, you just focus on flying."
"What? What are thinking of doing?"
I held the board towards the rear and poured magic into it.
A blast of wind flowed out of the board.
The propulsion was so unbelievable, that we pa.s.sed by Black Dragon-san talking to Cynthia in a flash.
"Wahahaha, what is this?!"
"Anyway, just head northeast."
"Got it, wahahaha!"
Red Dragon flew ahead of Black Dragon-san.

When Black Dragon-san protested that the gust board was "cheating," I also handed one to Black Dragon-san.
While we were flying, I asked Red Dragon to burn down the Hero"s plantation.
"I"m sorry for pushing a nasty job onto you."
"Think nothing of it; dragons are naturally feared. With the appearances of the heroes, we are no longer objects of terror. Burning down the Hero"s plantation and the like were things we couldn"t even wish for."
"Oh, well, when I give you the signal through the communication bag, go to the plantation and rampage."
"Umu, I understand."
After flying for around an hour, we pa.s.sed the mountains to the east of the desert.
It seems it"s time for the fishing boats in the Cat Tribe"s village on the banks of Adel Lake to return.
Pa.s.sing the lake, even before we reached the wasteland, the wind became strong.
"My eyes-! It"s harsh, na."
With the sand being blown up in the air, they can"t open their eyes.
So this is as far as they can take us on their backs, huh?
"Red Dragon, I"ll descend here and go by ground."
"Is that so? Got it."
I had Red Dragon descend and took breakfast and the lunch barrel out of my item bag.
Black Dragon-san also descended to the ground with Cynthia.
"Sorry, but can you hide somewhere in the mountains? The Hero"s village is just ahead."
I unfurled the map in the strong wind, and explained the location to Black Dragon-san and Red Dragon.
"Roger."

The two dragons leapt up high in the sky, circled around once, and flew off in the direction of the lake.
"We"ll run from here. Get on my back."
"Okay."
At that time, for some reason I didn"t think about the lucky pervert situation at all, and I regret it.
I earnestly ran.
It might be because we had the scent of the dragons on us, as we didn"t encounter any monsters as I ran.
When I continued to run, I spotted the trees acting as windbreakers and instantly sped up.
The road in the forest made running easier and, maybe because it was morning, there weren"t any merchants walking on it either.
When I was able to see the village, I saw a cloud of dust swirling up.
Despite there being something like a windbreak, the plantation is on a hill so the dust will fly this way.
The dust from the plantation contains magic stones, so I told Cynthia to cover her nose and mouth with a cloth, and I also wound the cloth I used to wash my face with around my face.
When I got closer to the village, I saw that there was a red smoke mixed in with the sand and dust.
It"s not a fire. That"s the color of the mandrain smoke pesticide, huh?

["I"m so sorry! Naoki! Pastor Romeo has become a ghoul!"]
Velsa"s voice resonated from the communication bag.
Cyntha, who was on my back, tensed her arms.
I expanded the Search Skill"s range and felt out the situation.
"Roger! Where are you now?"
["Garcisan"s storehouse. Saying that the ones in most danger was Garcisan"s family, he went to persuade them. When he heard that the children and wife were at the storehouse, Pastor Romeo was suddenly in pain, and threw the mandrain pesticide into the storehouse."
"Is Ayl not there?"
["I am! Right now I"m giving everyone recovery potions! Pastor Romeo is being chased by Garcisan!"]
Ayl"s voice contains anger.
["Ah~ dammitall! Why didn"t I realize it!"]
"Regret it later! You can definitely save the children and the wife! I"ll be there soon. Alright, found them!"
I finally find lights that seem like Pastor Romeo, who had turned into a ghoul, and Garcisan with Search Skill.
"Cynthia, hold on tight!"
I ran towards the lights with all my might.
Without caring for my appearance, I leapt over buildings and went by the shortest way.
When I looked with the Search Skill, I saw the ghoulified Pastor Romeo was red, and Garcisan was shining in blue
Pastor Romeo was gradually being closed in on by Garcisan, and there were running near the village.
Make it in time! Make it! Make it!
I arrived at the spot when the red light and the blue light intersected.

"Gufu-!"

Garcisan"s saber was thrust deeply into Pastor Romeo"s chest.
I froze for a second. I understood that Cynthia got off my back.

"Romeo-…!!!"

Ki—n

Cynthia screamed, but I suddenly couldn"t hear anything; instead, my ears rang with a sharp buzzing.
I felt like time had slowed down, and, like someone was obstructing my movements, I felt like I couldn"t move.
Even so, I approached the ghoulified Pastor Romeo.
He had turned into a ghoul, so I don"t know if the mandrain treatment would work or not, but any way, right now, I don"t want Pastor Romeo to die, and I don"t want Garcisan to kill any one else.
That"s why; I thought those kinds of things.

I pulled the saber our of Pastor Romeo"s body, thrust my hand into the wound"s opening, tossed out the broken magic stone that was within, pulled a recovery potion from my item bag, and doused Paster Romeo with it.
The repercussions?
Right now, I care more about saving a life than that.
The wound closed up, the furrows between his brows disappeared, and I saw that he turned a white as he recovered a little.
I took the highest quality recovery potion from my item bag and poured it on Pastor Romeo.

Cynthia unwound the cloth from her face and ran up to Pastor Romeo.
Pastor Romeo smiled a little and looked me.
"No…te…"
He moved his mouth.
"Note? The note!? I got it! I just need to look at the note. I"ll look, I"ll look!"
While smiling, Pastor Romeo"s gaze switched to Cynthia, and losing the strength in his neck, he looked up at the sky.
While watching the dazzling light of the sun, there was already no life in Pastor Romeo"s eyes.

It was a day that the wind blew strongly.
The leading figure of the ghoul-disease treatment pa.s.sed away on the edge of the wasteland"s village.
Presented as "he was there on the edge of the wasteland"s village," w/the implication that he died.