Manowa

◎ East Dragon Village Zegan, Dragon Cave Hot Spring

「Marriage, huh?」

Yumika grumbled. Of course, that was about Kazane. She had married a rich and powerful man. Her partner wasn"t human, but Yumika thought that suited a fantasy world.

「It"s for form"s sake to the last. We"ll give maximum consideration so that it won"t be a burden on Kazane-sama.」

Byaku replied as she snuggled with Yumika. It seemed she had no intention to separate. Kazane replied「Please.」

「At any rate, I was surprised. I never thought Kazane-sama would become that beautiful a dragon.」

Byaku recalled Kazane"s Dragonized figure, which she had seen in the G.o.d Dragon Emperor"s throne room some time ago. When Kazane became a dragon, her appearance was the same Blue Dragon base as before, but she was now also covered with a rainbow glow. Crystals would grow out here and there, and her beautiful rainbow hair swayed brilliantly with scattered blue flames of Dragon Spirit. It seemed Byaku was captivated by it.

It wasn"t a figure of ma.s.sive overwhelming power like Naga, and she wasn"t an adult dragon. But Kazane"s Dragonized form was a transcendent beauty in the dragon world. To the point that the human form being such a shorty was incomprehensible.

And after Kazane became a dragon, she completed the Reincarnation Dragon ritual with Naga.

The Reincarnation Dragon ritual required a pair of dragons and a Dragon Heart as the core, and as long as there was someone who could use the technique it could be performed anywhere, so they had immediately done the ritual. Although the technique user Naga had to stay in place, so Naga was currently confined to the Great Dragon Palace, and two of the village"s guardian dragons, the Eastern Blue Season Sei and the Southern Red Season Suza, were guarding him.

And when one of them, the Eastern Blue Season Sei, saw Kazane, his eyes became heart marks. If she wasn"t his lord"s consort, and if he wasn"t warned by Byaku, it was certain that he would have impulsively hit on her.

By the way, after Sei saw Kazane turn back into a person, he was confused and looked around restlessly for that dragon"s Humanized appearance. No matter how much Kazane called attention to herself, he didn"t recognize her as the true form of the dragon he had feelings for. He was exceedingly rude.

In any case, the Reincarnation Dragon ritual was completed. The Rainbow Heart was now in the shape of an egg and was being protected by Naga. The formation of the body was completed immediately, but it seemed it would take a little time from there.

As a matter of fact, a Reincarnation Dragon was different from a dragon born normally, and was a completely pure existence with no instincts or the like recorded in its soul.  Therefore, it was necessary to copy and transcribe such things from another individual, which Naga was going to do.

Also, the fainted Naoki woke up and said「I had a strange dream. An impossible dream were Aneki was getting married.」Everyone decided to keep silent about the truth for the time being. Since his eyes were dangerous.

「So then, what are we going to do from now on?」

Yumika asked while soaking in the hot spring. The White Party had completed the quest from Yuuko-nee and Ao... but their future schedule was decided to a certain extent.

Their current plan was to return to Deer South and pick up Naoki"s weapon in Dolmu City along the way, then explore the floating island as they returned to Minshiana. But Kazane"s empress issue came up here.

「Um. For now we"ll stay here until the child wakes up. I think we"ll briefly go back to Deer South, but that depends on the situation? Also, they"re going to go and see Yuuko-nee"s situation for us, so we have to wait for that.」

Minshiana was far away, so she had asked the dragons to go and check on Yuuko-nee.

「Well, Kazane-dono is this village"s second most important person, so there"s no problem with staying as long as you like.」

After Byaku spoke, Kazane replied「Formally the second most important person, isn"t that right?」and Byaku replied「Formally.」And like she had just remembered, Emily said something unnecessary.

「Eh? But if I"m not mistaken, that would be a higher position than Archduke Rynox, wouldn"t it?」

Rynox was Hyvern"s most important person. He was also Louise"s grandson.

「What do you mean?」

Kazane eyes were round.

「Look, Hyvern is a dukedom, isn"t it?」

「So, Hyvern is governed by Archduke Rynox. He"s an archduke because there"s someone he serves.」

Louise continued after Emily"s words.

「The one he serves is Nagsama, and Nagsama"s wife is Kazane.」

Emily pointed at Kazane. Then Kazane looked at Byaku, who nodded.

「Formally.」

「Seriously?」

That was different from what Kazane was thinking. She had been a.s.suming it was a dragon village-only position. She had thought it was something like a shrine maiden being a G.o.d"s bride.

「Ahーshould I call you Empress-sama?」

「Eh?」

Although Kazane"s understanding wasn"t wrong. At least Byaku and Naga were thinking the same thing, so that"s how they explained it to Kazane.

But for Dragon People and ordinary people living alongside dragons, dragons were extraordinarily major existences. Even a single one could destroy a city. So even if Kazane becoming an empress was a mere formality in dragon society, up until now no one had realized how it would affect Kazane"s position in human society.

◎ Great Dragon Palace, G.o.d Dragon Emperor"s Throne Room

And while Kazane was dumbfounded in the hot spring, three dragons were currently in the G.o.d Dragon Emperor"s throne room Kazane and the others had left behind.

One was G.o.d Dragon Emperor Naga, the master of this room. And to his left and right were the blue dragon called Eastern Blue Season Sei and the red dragon called Southern Red Season Suza. Those two, along with Western White Season Byaku and one Kazane hadn"t met yet, Northern Black Season Gen, guarded the East Dragon Village and were called the『Four Guardian Sword Dragons』.

While it was also true that their defensive powers were strong, they were the linchpins of the barrier that protected the village.

『But, I was surprised.』

The red dragon Suza said. That was about the extraordinarily beautiful dragon he saw earlier.

『Haha, she was an outrageous beauty. I really wanted to see her human appearance. Regrettable.』

The blue dragon Sei replied to Suza.

『Moreover, she has a good character, doesn"t she? I never expected she"d unconditionally hand over the Rainbow Heart. Really, she"s almost too good a woman; I"ll completely fall in love.』

Rainbow Hearts were rare enough that they were considered one of the world"s 12 greatest treasures, and they had a corresponding monetary value. Kazane didn"t want『compensation』for using it to give birth to a Reincarnation Dragon. The child born would be Naga and Kazane"s child, and she didn"t want to act like she was selling it... that was Kazane"s thinking, and the dragons and all members of the White Party agreed.

And it seemed Sei fell in love at first sight with the Dragonized Kazane. Kazane"s Dragonized appearance was exactly like the incarnation of beauty to the dragons. Aka was born from the originally human Ao"s power and was indifferent, but Suza and Sei had an ordinary dragon"s aesthetic sense, and they were strongly attracted by Kazane"s dragon appearance. To the degree that it caused a memory problem to occur to Sei that made it so he wasn"t able to recognize the shorty when she returned to her original form. He was rude.

『A rainbow Dragon Spirit wearing organic and inorganic hybrid dragon. I don"t know how such a thing was born, but her existence is surely like a miracle.』

Naga had known that Kazane had rainbow Dragon Spirit. But not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine that she wasn"t a Crystal Dragon, but a different type of dragon with rainbow Dragon Spirit.

『Should we sound her out?』

Suza suggested with narrowed eyes. This was an issue for the entire dragon race. Namely, the birth of a new species before their eyes. Not being vigilant would be unreasonable.

『Maybe we"ll try asking one of these days. But we"ve already accepted her as our fellow, so let"s consider it a good thing. Besides, it seems my child has inherited Kazane"s nature.』

So saying, Naga looked at the Reincarnation Dragon egg with eyes full of affection. The body inside the egg had already been formed, and he had been able to confirm that it was a hybrid dragon like Kazane.

『There will finally be a member of my same family. There is nothing so happy.』

So saying, tears spilled from Naga"s eyes. The two dragons didn"t say anything about it.

G.o.d Dragon Emperor Naga became the head of this village about 900 years ago, after the Great War. But he had never seen another dragon of his race since he was born.

He was an existence born from the remains of a dragon. An inorganic life form. Naga had always wondered if it might be more correct to call himself a Golem modeled after a dragon.

And throughout his entire life, not a single Crystal Dragon awakened to intelligence. He had been lonely since the day he was born.

But light shined on that lonely dragon a few days ago. The cause was a mysterious message that arrived at the East Dragon Village.

『I met Nagsama"s child.』

It was an evidently mysterious message.

Naturally, the heads of the dragons in the East Dragon Village, Naga included, were overflowing with question marks, but that message was sent by Flashing Radiance Dragon G.o.do, the head of Hyvern"s dragon mounts, so it didn"t seem like a prank.

When they inquired about the contents, he said he encountered a Dragon Person with rainbow Dragon Spirit. On the contrary, when they gathered information about that person, they confirmed she wasn"t a Dragon Person but a human being who could turn into a dragon. On top of that, she even had a complete Rainbow Heart.

By the way, a dozen dragons were flying back and forth to gather that much information, so Drums City at the foot of the mountains was frightened by what seemed like a state of emergency, but let"s set that aside for now.

And as they confirmed some time ago, it turned out that Kazane didn"t transform into a Crystal Dragon, but an organic dragon with the nature of an inorganic Crystal Dragon.

So what they desired most was the birth of a dragon lineage with the G.o.d Dragon Emperor as the progenitor. That possessed a great deal of meaning in dragon society. Dragons had truly no interest in royalty, but they were greatly interested in new possibilities for their race. The family Naga would give birth to wasn"t a Crystal Dragon. It was a hope that would demolish the wall separating Naga from his companions; the birth of a hybrid dragon.

And that possibility was now sleeping inside Naga"s chest. The two dragons who knew about Naga"s long loneliness and understood his feelings also shed tears.

But whenever there are good things, there are also bad things. The greatest fortune and the worst misfortune; it wasn"t known if there was some kind of will behind it, but a calamity was approaching to restore balance to the world.

And the Demon Army would arrive.

Accompanied by every malice sealed in the past.

To devour the lives of everything there.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 32

Health: 124

Magic Power: 235+420

Strength: 55+10

Agility: 50+4

Endurance: 32

Wisdom : 62

Dexterity : 39

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』

Yumika:「If I had to say, it feels more like Nagsama is the mother.」

Kazane:「In the first place, the Reincarnation Dragon ritual is like fish sp.a.w.ning, so it feels like I have the male role.」