Someone wants to fight the dragon Part 1Humans don’t surrender. When they gain victory at their task they do it magnificently (Eiji Sawamura)(TLN: 人に負けるな、どんな仕事をしても勝て、しかし堂々とだ hard to translate quotes, but the meaning should probably come across)
「A tree with straight wood grains and annual rings that are easy to break.」
(TLN: 木には柾目と板目っちゅうもんがあってなぁ、年輪の所から割れやすくなっとるからぁ、気ぃつけにゃあならんべぇ this sentence I didn’t understand so I only roughly translated it.)
「A, a, after it dries, i, i, it won’t be easy to carve.」
(TLN: for those who forgot one of them stutters)
. . . Indeed, it was necessary to know the tree before I could start. After all what’s called a sculpture was profound.
The me right now has learned the ABC of sculpting from Fafner and Fasolt.
The other day I had declared that I would make a totem pole in front of Yggdrasil and decided to start my work the following day.
However, not to mention the time that I was a cicada even inside the memory I inherited from the dragon there was no memory about engraving.
My nails can cut everything and though I saw it only I tried to imitate it but it didn’t go well at all and trees were just cut down in vain.
Because I promised Yggdrasil that I would show it to her when it was done I couldn’t make something miserable.
When I was utterly at lost suddenly the faces of the two good natured giants appeared in my mind.
I visited the home of the giants and when asked to teach me how to make a totem pole they raised a splendid laughter as usual and willingly became my teachers.
And thus I, under the instruction of both of them was making a totem pole.
Although I wasn’t a good student but with their kindness both of them carefully and patiently led me.
Learning was pleasant. I was excited to be able to do something which I couldn’t do before.
As a result of two day guidance by the giants at last the foundation part of the totem pole began to take shape.
「Ndee, ryuu-sama what did you make?」
Before I could answer Fafner’s question Fasolt interrupted.
「Ba, ba , baka-ani-sha , w ,w , without doubt it is a catfish.」
「Ouuuu, a catfish, it has a wide mouth with a certain charm.」
Both of them nod with Unun while looking at my sculpture.
Fumu . . . a catfish, it sure does resemble it.
I could insist that it was a catfish otherwise I would have to tell them of my immaturity and what a bad student I was.
「No, Fafner that is you.」
After hearing my answer their jaws dropped and then they began to laugh with a splendid laugh that shook the mountain.
「Buwahahaha!! What, that is my face?」
「Hahihi hahihahi, a, a, ani-sha, i ,i ,it’s a catfish giant.」
After the two giants laughed for a while I pointed at another sculpture above Fafner.
「Ryuu-sama that is. What is that above me?」
「A, ani-sha, i , it certainly is a hippopotamus.」
「No, Fasolt that is you.」
The two giants rolled around laughing louder than before.
「I see I’m a catfish and you’re a hippopotamus.」
「I, I, I’m a ,hi ,hi, hippopotamus?」
Fumu, after all that effort it is still bad?
But now that it was mentioned I certainly saw a hippopotamus riding a catfish.
Should I remake it once?
Though both giants couldn’t read mind they somehow read my thoughts and apologized for laughing and said this.
「The beginning is always hard. At the beginning what it looks like doesn’t matter what’s important is the heart. The totem pole that ryuu-sama wants to create.」
「Ry, ry, ryuu-sama thank you, m, m, me and my ani-shi have a pleasant smiling face.」
Fasolt and Fafner that I sculptured were modeled with opened big mouth that always smiled or laughed.
Those two said that they liked my clumsy sculpture.
Under the guidance of the two I began to make a sculpture.
When the light of the sun turned golden the faces of the two giants who were the foundation of the totem pole were almost completed.
「Certainly this toothless silly face resembles Fasolt.」
「A, a, ani-sha is a dango i, i, it looks just like it.」
From that somehow the catfish and hippopotamus became the faces of Fafner and Fasolt. This is mostly thanks to the patient teachers.
However, like the door before and this totem pole I’m indebted to these two giants.
I asked the two whether I could do anything in return.
Though I’m clumsy there should be something I could do for them.
Though the two of them repeatedly said that they didn’t need anything they soon realized that I wouldn’t compromise and said this.
「A, a, ani-sha ,t ,that ,h , h, how about we ask ryu-sama about that?」
「That? Even if its ryuu-sama that is too unreasonable.」
Fumu . . . Even if it’s unreasonable I might be able to help.
Currently I was standing in front of a huge rock wall which was ten times as high as me. The rock had a black dull l.u.s.ter and radiated an overwhelming presence that rejected everyone.
「Under this rock formation there is supposed to be high quality iron . . .」
「I, i, it’s too hard f , f, for any of our tools.」
Fafner’s and Fasolt’s request was whether I could do something about this huge rock which blocked the iron vein.
Even these two giants couldn’t do anything to this rock mountain.
For example my dragon nail could sc.r.a.pe of this rock but it would need one or two days considering its size.
「It’s alright you don’t have to overdo it we can get iron from other places.」
「T, t, the day is nearly over r, r, ryuu-sama should return for today.」
The two giants standing in front of the rock thought that it would impossible said so to me.
The rock certainly is big and it would take time sc.r.a.ping it . . .
「Fasolt, Fafner. Can I try to destroy this rock?」
When the two giants had retreated far to the back I stood in front of the rock mountain.
The two giants asked 「Is it alright」 while being uneasy and I told them that they should withdraw a bit more.
Now, what should I do? My strongest weapon is my dragon roar.
Normally the dragon roar’s only effect is to deprive the consciousness of living being. However combined with my method as cicada it became a strong sonic weapon.
With its power I should be able to break this hard rock mountain like it was made of candy.
My lungs swelled with deep breath I took.
I kneaded it together with magic while inside of me.
The atmosphere trembled, any sound of living beings disappeared and the vegetation began to scream.
Don’t worry, n.o.body beside the rock will be damaged.
I took aim at the rock and released a roar at its direction.
The strongest roar that could shatter the world.
While remembering the time as a cicada,
To the limit of power,
ROAR.
「MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNN!!!」(TL: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)
The roar collided with the rock and pierces into it. A cloud of dust wells up and rose like a tornado.
That should be enough. With that conviction I looked at the place where the rock mountain stood.
The dust cloud calmed down and the view slowly clears.
The rock wall that was bathed in my roar . . . . . . . . . , its appearance hadn’t changed at all.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ohhh?
「That’s what happened Yggdrasil.」
「Eetto, so roommate-san roar lost its power?」
After the meal I tell Yggdrasil today’s events like always.
The bark had absorbed the heat of the sun during the day and a pleasant warm voice came from the back.
The roar I released in front of the giants at that time only sc.r.a.ped the surface of the rock a little.
The rock wasn’t too hard. That rock of black basalt stone, though it certainly is hard but I would be able to crush it into pieces in a week.
Although I tried it again several time afterwards, my roar had lost its power.
It deprived the opponents consciousness, the dragon’s roar original intention was to keep things alive and well. There was no shadow of it anymore after the roar turned into a sonic weapon with the vocalization of a cicada.
My roar had weakened but there were signs in hindsight.
Several days ago when the lizardman miko crawled in at night, the dragon’s roar I had released at that time had only injured her a little.
I formulated a hypothesis. Over these couple days, the might of my roar had weakened day by day.
I didn’t understand the reason for it even with the dragon’s wisdom.
Though I didn’t know only one idea came to my mind, I might finally become a true dragon.
My cicada soul changed to that of a dragon every day and the soul of a dragon goes along with the body, so the vocalization of the cicada was removed from the body?
I who was a cicada became a full dragon . . .
「Yggdrasil, can you see if anything had changed with my body?」
Day by day the soul turned into that of a dragon. Then haven’t changes occurred to the body too? I haven’t noticed . . .
From the day I met Yggdrasil no more than ten days had pa.s.sed.
If it was Yggdrasil who knew more than anyone else she might have noticed changes in me?
「. . tsu!? . . . changes, is it?」
The voice transmitted from Yggdrasil showed that she was concealing something.
We didn’t use words to converse. Therefore even the smallest change in the other party’s mind could be understood.
I guess. Yggdrasil was aware of the changes occurring in my body.
However, why did she never tell me?
「Why didn’t you tell me? Yggdrasil. I want to know what’s happening to my body. No matter what’s happening I will accept it.」
I steeled myself. Was there something else, I resolved myself to know if there was something else.
Yggdrasil resisted the me who asked sincerely and then seemed to had finally given up concealing it.
Drop by drop she began to speak.
「. . . that, these past days . . ., roommate-san’s body . . .」
Her words were heavy and I listened to them in silence.
「That . . ., only . . . , only a little bit . . .」
Just from her few words I could feel her concern and anxiety.
. . . I see, apparently 「only a few」 changes had happened to me.
「Only a little . . ., thought it might be my misunderstanding . . .」
She wasn’t able to continue her words. The last words couldn’t be said, only repeated ambiguous words several times.
「Please tell me Yggdrasil! For me! Please honestly tell me who I am!」
With that last push Yggdrasil finally said the last words.
「Y . . ., you became round!」
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . round?
I’m 「round」 I looked down on my body, no, I tried to look down . . .
– muni – (TLN: soft sfx)
The meat at my jaw was held up.
Afterwards, while apologizing many times Yggdrasil hurriedly tried to comfort me, I thanked her for honestly telling me and decided to go to bed since it was already late.
While closing my eyes in the cave of the world tree I sorted out my thoughts.
The cicada cry, it could create a loud sound by amplifying the sound in the hollow of the stomach. By the same method for a dragon’s roar it became a powerful weapon.
However now,
– muni –
When I tried to grab my belly the meat there couldn’t fit into the hand. My body was covered in a large amount of fat.
In other words, the fat took away the sound and power from my roar.
For example a drum, by covering a board of wood with a thin skin the music instrument could create loud sounds reverberating in the hollow. So. It pretty much resembled the mechanism of a cicada’s cry.
However, what would happen if a lot of skins were piled over the drum and the wood was thick like a millstone?
The reverberation of the sound would be absorbed by the skin and the wood and only a small sound would be created even if it was beat intensely.
In short the fat which covered my body decreases the effect of the echo sharply and the internal cavity is reduced therefore the power of the roar was taken away.
Well, the cause of the roar weakening was finally understood.
Then next was the question why I had become fat but there wasn’t any point to talk about it.
Overeating, no, drinking too much.
Since I was born I only drank the sap from Yggdrasil.
In addition to that I never got tired of its taste and day by day the quant.i.ty of sap increases and I didn’t know restraint.
The sap from Yggdrasil is wonderful, it’s filled with complete nutrition and a mysterious life force therefore the most valuable meal in the world. It goes without saying that it was also good for the health.
However, no matter how good it is, it is bad to consume it too much.
My body which wasn’t able to use up the nourishment and vitality in the sap seemed to have chosen to acc.u.mulate it as fat.
Unlike the time as a cicada, presently I had no natural enemy or compet.i.tors for feeding ground and unwittingly consumed an amount of sap bigger than needed.
The result, I ended fat unworthy of a wild animal and the power of my roar had been lost.
Ohh, even if it lost its power the original roar from the dragon is still the same. Even if an enemy showed up by any chance it could take their consciousness.
To begin there didn’t exist an enemy for me on this island and even if my roar was endured a creature which scales can block my fangs didn’t exist.
The power of my roar had weakened but it wasn’t an obstacle to live as a dragon.
However
– muniin –
I grabbed my stomach again.
It was too unbecoming to have a body like a rubber ball.
Above all in front of Yggdrasil this fat body was shameful.
I think I have to start dieting from tomorrow on . . .