Chapter 128 – Reason for Fighting (1)“So, did you accept it? The duel.”
Aoi, who was feeding Jaja with a bottle of milk, asked me while sitting on the sofa.
Next to her, Rouge was struggling to give Nana milk while imitating her.
“I"m going to put it on hold for now and get back to him over the weekend.”
“It"s a bit sudden, isn"t it?”
Shouhei and I were preparing dinner together.
My dad will be home soon, so we have to hurry.
By the time we politely saw Prince Atol and the others off, it was already around 6pm.
I ran to the supermarket and scored some boneless beef ribs that was on sale.
Shouhei had decided on the menu and was now simmering the stew.
“You should have refused such a dangerous thing right away.”
Aoi pouted her lips in frustration.
“Hmm. Is duelling dangerous?”
Rouge finally managed to get Nana to suck on her bottle and joined in the conversation.
“I think it"s something we need to do, since that s.h.i.tty rat set us up. I don"t know if I can say no to that. I just can"t get into it. In the meantime, I heard that Kayone can use healing magic, so we don"t have to worry about injuries.”
“Earth dragons often play with each other to test their skills, but they shave mountains and wither lakes. Everyone is a wreck by the time they"re done.”
Changing the terrain while just playing, stop s.h.i.tting me.
“Sky Dragons don"t do that, right?”
Aoi smiled bitterly as she listened to Rouge"s story.
“The rules of duelling, that Kayone-oneechan said, right?
Shouhei asked me while stirring the pressure cooker with a ladle.
As I washed the cookware in the sink, I recalled it.
“No weapons, no backup, it"s decided by admitting defeat or losing consciousness. Was that it?”
But the other side is a demon tribe and can use magic.
As for me, I"m at a disadvantage from the start because I have nothing but my body.
It could be over as soon as it starts.
“Do you really have to win? Can"t you just play along and admit defeat right away?”
“They"ll let us use transference magic even if I don"t win, but there"s an extra prize for winning.”
The transference magic of the Dailan royal family is a one-way ticket.
Because the royal tombs have to be the destination.
So if we use that transfer magic to go to the sphere continent, what are we going to do on the way back?
And that"s why Kayone proposed the extra prize.
『When the Dailan royal family gives rewards to the people, they usually take the form of "three wishes that are within the power of the royal family member who gave the reward". In other words, three wishes that are possible with money or power that can be moved by His Highness Atol. That"s right. If Kazamachi-sama wins against His Highness, we will add this condition as well.』
『Well, what does that mean?』
『With the first wish, you can wish for transportation from the sphere continent to j.a.pan. Using a plane owned by the royal family, you can return to j.a.pan without having your pa.s.sport or ident.i.ty checked. The other two are at your discretion. Money is fine, and anything else His Highness can do is possible, you know?』
That"s what they said.
In other words, they"ll let you use the transfer magic anyway, but if you lose the duel, you"ll have to find your own way back. If you win, we"ll take care of you until you return home. That"s it.
I don"t know if he"s being stingy or generous.
“It doesn"t make any sense. Why would he do something so mean?”
“Oh, that idiot His Highness thought of it. It"s boring to have me hold back, so he made an excuse to make me give it my all.”
It"s the battle junkies who are the only ones who can think like that.
They are self-centered people who will instantly find a convenient way to achieve their own ends.
I hate that kind of thing.
“I"ve never been to the Sphere Continent. Can Aoi fly back with everyone on her back?”
Rouge tilted her head and asked Aoi.
Ah, now that you mention it.
As a sky dragon, Aoi is capable of flying long distances.
In fact, I heard that Aoi"s mother, Yule, flew here from the United States.
“Well, if it"s just me, I don"t think there"s any problem, but with Kunepi-san and the others, Jaja, Nana, and Ru-neesama on my back, I don"t think it"s possible.”
Ah? Is that so?
“Hmm. I"m almost useless in the sky. Earth dragons can"t fly, and there are no earth spirits in the sky, so I can"t give it my all.”
“If you"re flying over land, there"s no problem as long as you lower your alt.i.tude and fly unseen. But if you"re over the ocean, you"ll be attacked by monsters coming out of the water, and if you go up in alt.i.tude to avoid them, you"ll be attacked by monsters in the sky. The monsters themselves are weak, so you can defeat them easily, but if there are a lot of them, there"s going to be violent movements.”
Yeah, that"s impossible.
I can only imagine the scene of being swung around and then falling.
“And I don"t remember the route from the continent to j.a.pan. When my mother took me there when I was little, it was before the worlds collided. If I had to search for the right way to fly, I probably wouldn"t be able to get there in a week.”
“I don"t think it"s a good idea to follow a plane from the continent to j.a.pan. If they find us, we"ll be in big trouble.”
It looks like we"re going to have to win this thing no matter what.
“But it"s amazing. I never thought I"d never be able to do it.”
Shouhei seemed somewhat delighted.
That"s true.
In this day and age, only people who need to travel abroad for work or the rich are allowed to do so.
Opportunities like this don"t come along very often.
I don"t mind, but I want Shouhei, Jaja and Nana to have this experience.
I wonder what my father will do.
I don"t know how many days it will take, so he won"t be able to take off work.
I"ll ask him when he comes back.
“You"re so happy that you"re going, but haven"t you forgotten that you"re smuggling people into j.a.pan and that"s a crime?”
“Ah.”
It"s been a while since I"ve been able to point this out to Shouhei as a big brother.
That"s right.
That"s the way the rat prepared it.
It must be an illegal way.
“But it"s what Jaja and Nana need, right? We"re going, right? Right?”
He"s actually looking forward to it a lot, isn"t he?
Shouhei pleaded with me with an unusually childish look on his face.
“Let"s think about it, including that. There"s still some time before the weekend. I want to hear Mik.u.ma"s opinion, and you never know what might happen. There"s also the risk of smuggling in rare ore.”
Our family"s brain, which I can rely on, might be able to come up with some good ideas.
“Yeah, you"re right…”
Shouhei"s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Ah, an appearance that you wouldn"t normally see.
My brother is so cute.
“Well first, let"s wait until dad gets home, okay?”
“Yeah…”
Dad should be happy.
It"s been a while since Shouhei has acted like the youngest child.
I"m looking forward to seeing your reaction.