Manowa

Benzel"s dragon mount Raiel may have been the first to notice.

Raiel didn"t partic.i.p.ate in the Dragon Bear subjugation battle. It certainly would have been advantageous for the dragon Raiel to partic.i.p.ate. But Benzel chose a more reliable path. In the end, Raiel immediately went to Mt. Konron to ask for rescue from the East Dragon Village. Kazane and the others flourished beyond what he had expected, so the dragon rescue wasn"t in time in a good way, and the Dragon Bear subjugation was completed. Speaking of Raiel, he was exhausted due to flying to Mt. Konron at full speed and had collapsed at that time. Half a day pa.s.sed after that before Raiel awoke.

The first thing Raiel checked after waking up was his master Benzel"s presence or absence. Unfortunately, Benzel didn"t seem to be nearby, but Raiel could understand due to the soul connection of the Dragon Knight contract that he was in a place a short distance away. And he was slightly concerned about Benzel"s soul waves being a little quiet, but he concluded that Benzel was probably tired and didn"t think about it too deeply.

It seemed like Benzel was headed toward the northern seal shrine. That was where one of the village"s guardians, Northern Black Season Gen, lived. Raiel immediately took off to meet Benzel.

Raiel would later be discovered with a tragic appearance. But based on the result, Raiel"s action may not have been a mistake. After all, Raiel"s soul was certainly able to reach his master"s side.

◎ East Dragon Village Zegan, Dragonewt City

「Muu...」

Kazane was perplexed.

After leaving the Great Dragon Palace and descending down Mt. Konron to fully enjoy themselves in the hot spring, Kazane and the others entered Dragonewt City, a city halfway down the mountain where the Dragonoids lived.

There were also places people could stay in the Great Dragon Palace, but they were very simple rooms, so people with a certain level of social status would be guided to this city.

Dragonewt City was a city with lined up Chinese-style buildings, and Kazane had the impression that it was flourishing beyond what she had expected. It seemed that Dragonoids didn"t look very different from humans. Appearances like the Dragonoidized Yumika only happened when Dragonoids had considerably thick dragon blood, and this was a city of people with thin blood.  Although that wasn"t particularly a problem to Kazane.

Heave-ho! Heave-ho!

Shaking.

Heave-ho! Heave-ho!

The palanquin Kazane was riding was shaking.

Heave-ho! Heave-ho! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!

(...They"re merrymaking too much)

Kazane was astounded and was looking down while covering her face with both hands. She was conspicuous. She was abnormally conspicuous.

「Look! Our G.o.d Dragon Empress is so deeply moved she"s choked with tears!」

「She expressly Humanized and came down before us Dragonoids! More, make her even more joyful!」

Along with the shouts of the surrounding men, firecrackers of various luminescent colors were fired, and people with red-lined monkey and dragon masks were dancing madly.

Why did it become like this... that was what Kazane was thinking.

Apparently, the marriage with Naga was transmitted to the Dragonoid city more quickly than expected.

And according to what she had heard from Louise, it seemed the Dragonoids had abnormally strong faith in dragons. Not to mention that Naga, who could be considered a supreme deity to them, had a wife for the first time: Kazane.

By the way, to summarize what Kazane heard from the surroundings: Kazane was apparently a dragon princess who came from a foreign land, and as she was now their empress, she had come down to make an appearance before the Dragonoids and had expressly used the Humanization technique to interact with them. Was that so, I didn"t know... Kazane was amazed by the new facts about her she didn"t even know herself.

Her companions were riding in a carriage behind her, and since it seemed like Naoki would be troublesome in various ways, they had left him at the Great Dragon Palace. Jinrai said he would chaperone and persuade him, so they had no choice but to believe in him. And Benzel was apparently already familiar with the city, so it seemed he went to Raiel alone.

「But isn"t this too big an uproar?」

Kazane asked Byaku, who was riding the palanquin beside her.

「Is that so? It"s always like this... no, there certainly might be more people than usual. Well, it isn"t a big difference?」

It seemed this was as usual for Byaku.

After coming here, Kazane realized she had been mistaken about various things. Among the dragons, her marriage certainly possessed the meaning of being for form"s sake, and that recognition would be sufficient for those who only lived among them. But Kazane lived in a different society than the dragons. She finally realized that she should have thought about it more.

(Ahーjeez, what do I do?)

Kazane was perplexed while in the middle of great admiration.

But Kazane and the others would be perplexed by a completely different thing immediately after that.

It occurred in a place above their line of sight.

◎ Great Dragon Palace, Guest Room

「That is to say, Aneki was being pressed by the king of Tsuvara and the prince of Minshiana!?」

While Kazane was perplexed in the middle of the Heave-ho! revelry, Naoki, who had been left behind at the Great Dragon Palace, was stunned by Jinrai"s words. That was because Jinrai finally revealed Kazane"s marriage proposal stories, which had been concealed from Naoki.

Jinrai"s Old Man Battle Maniac part gave the strongest impression, but the truth was that he was fairly eloquent, and he was considerably smart. His unique two spear style was born from him thinking thoroughly over how to overcome his lack of talent, and in the first place, it was largely thanks to his intellect that Jinrai with human specs was able to surpa.s.s monsters.

And Jinrai was trying to use reason to persuade Naoki, who was in a frenzy from the marriage. Namely, he was highlighting the mercenary part that Kazane decided to stop considering: the possibility of rejecting marriage proposals from royalty.

「Mhm. The king of Tsuvara is famous for his lechery. You should already know how he surrounded himself with mistresses to the point that his wife finally ran away.」

Naoki also knew that Tiara"s mother was in Hyvern. Naoki was grinding his teeth as he thought of the king of Tsuvara he hadn"t seen yet. He never thought his sister would be seen by such a man with s.e.xual eyes. Seeing my sister with such s.e.xual eyes, such an erotic... he could only repeatedly think such things. Pure anger was dominating Naoki.

「Also, the prince of Minshiana possesses maturity unsuited to his age, and when he and Kazane ki......」

「Ki?」

「No, anyway, he started aiming for Kazane.」

He and Kazane kissed... Jinrai thought he should drop that subject. He sensed it was a dangerous line to cross. That was the crisis sensing ability only a first-cla.s.s warrior possessed.

「But Aneki didn"t consult with me. That"s too distant!」

The clever Jinrai instantly drew conclusions that could answer Naoki"s grumble. Probably because you"d make a fuss. Probably because you"d be tiresome. Probably because you"d rage. Probably because you"d be annoying. Probably because you"re gross. Plenty of certain answers came to the keen Jinrai"s mind. And after carefully examining them, Jinrai put together the appropriate words.

「Hmm. She probably didn"t want to make you worry.」

Marvelous. It was the perfect answer. Naoki said「Is that so?」and nodded. He completely believed it.

「So you understand?」

「Yeah, Aneki and that dragon"s marriage is merely for form"s sake, and me and... no, it"s completely unrelated to marriage between people.」

「Hmm. Well, if you understand then that"s sufficient.」

Jinrai knew he was obviously about to say something else, but that was good enough for the time being. After all, Jinrai was tired of talking to Naoki about Kazane. Honestly, he wanted it to end already.

「Then, if you"ve calmed down, should we also go to the hot springs?」

「Ok. I want to immediately catch up with Aneki.」

Jinrai bitterly smiled after those words. Jinrai also had an older sister, and while their relationship wasn"t particularly bad, it wasn"t particularly good either. He thought she was still alive, but they hadn"t met in the last few decades. Although there were wicked feelings as well, he smiled at the difference between them as he saw a younger brother adoring his older sister to that extent.

(Returning to the village after a long while might not be a bad idea)

They had plans to go to Elsta Floating Kingdom before they returned to Minshiana. Jinrai thought they might be able to do it then, and he decided to consult with Kazane.

At that time.

「Eh?」

When he was about to leave the room, Naoki halted.

「What"s wrong?」

Jinrai asked. Jinrai thought there wasn"t anything strange inside or outside the room, but Naoki was looking northward with a strange expression.

「What the……?」

The next moment, Naoki and Jinrai were enveloped in darkness. No, not just the two people. The Great Dragon Palace itself was suddenly consumed by darkness. If seen from outside, it would probably look like it was fully covered by a black sphere.

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

『Nagsama, this is!?』

Southern Red Season Suza surveyed the surroundings with suspicion. There was a dark-factor Field. Suza"s perception informed him it was completely covering the Great Dragon Palace. Eastern Blue Season Sei also looked around with a huge spear suitable for a large dragon in his right hand.

『Tch, we"re completely taken in. What outrageous power.』

Sei spoke frivolously, but his eyes weren"t smiling. His feeling of tension was raised by the obviously abnormal situation. While watching the two, Naga noticed the approaching presence.

『Hmph. It seems a visitor has come.』

Then Naga opened his mouth. With every step on the marble floor resounding, a single man walked out of the darkness ahead of their gazes. The three dragons looked at that person. Sei, Suza, and Naga recognized that figure.

『Benzel, why are you here?』

Suza growled. If Suza was remembering correctly, Benzel should have descended to the Dragonoid city with Kazane and the others. And they hadn"t received any notification that he would be coming back or that he had come back. 

「Why, you say? What a strange thing you"re asking, Suzsan.」

『You……』

Benzel smiling as if he found something funny made anger well up inside Suza. But when he looked into Benzel"s upraised eyes, Suza"s heart froze. There was something in the depths of his eyes that made Suza feel instinctual terror.

Then, after his sidelong glance at Suza"s state, Benzel looked at Naga and spoke.

「I came to take Hagasu"s heart?」

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」』

Kazane:「Heave-ho!」

Yumika:「Heave-ho!」

Kazane:「Heave-ho! Heave-ho!」

Yumika:「Heave-ho! Heave-ho!」

Kazane:「Heave... ho... NOT! Why are we doing such an awful thingーー!」

Yumika:「No, you"re the one who started it, aren"t you?」