As Iris, Punigami, and Sheryl relaxed on top of the hill, two giant shadows approached them from the distance.
「Eh, what on earth are those !?」
Not being able to believe her eyes, Sheryl rubbed her eyes as she asked Iris.
However, with Iris’ eyesight being exceptional, she was quick to identify those shadows.
One of those shadows was especially familiar.
「Dragons. Red dragons. Two of them are heading our way」
「Uhiyaa, dragons! Dangerous, disastrous! Why are such strong monsters heading towards our place!?」
Sheryl let out a scream as she ran around the gra.s.sland.
「Un…….one of those dragons lived here before I came」
「Eh, did the dragon live here before!?」
「Un. I said that I wanted to live here and we fought each other…….then I pushed her away and she escaped crying」
「Sound like a child’s quarrel! That being said, Iris-sama is strong enough to push away a dragon, isn’t it? Amazing, as expected of the G.o.ddess-sama! Hiyu, hiyu! 」
「No, I’m not the G.o.ddess but the Demon King’s daughter」
「You keep saying it」
Sheryl wasn’t the one to believe it.
It’s not like there would be anything good from making her believe but if Iris didn’t correct Sheryl, she would end up being a liar.
「So, why is the dragon, which flew away crying, back again?」
「Who knows……? She came once more after she flew away crying. At that time, she released the Dragon Breath so I made an ice wall to deflect it but she ended up ramming it and was unable to separate. Then she began freezing and I saved her……but she spat something like 「Remember me! 」 and flew away. Maybe she brought her friends to express her grat.i.tude? 」
「Lame! That dragon is too lame! Ah, the image of the dragons in my mind is crumbling……….! 」
「That might be true……the dragons that I saw before gave me a n.o.ble impression……maybe they are comparatively dumber on this continent」
Iris is a former resident of the Kurifot continent, the home of the demons.
Iris spent most of her time in the capsule but, before she came here, she went around the continent.
Besides demons, there were many monsters on the Kurifot continent that pledged their allegiance to them.
The dragons that she saw there gave her a dignified impression.
However, the dragon that was driven away by Iris twice had no such thing as dignity.
On the contrary, she seemed even dumber than Sheryl.
「Indeed, according to you she seems rather dumb…….as if, it’s not the time for idle conversations! Even if she’s dumb, she is still giant. By just walking around, she would destroy all of our painstakingly built houses! Everyone, ran away! Dragon alarm! 」
Sheryl screamed loudly as she ran down the hill,
Apparently, the people below still weren’t aware of the dragons.
However, hearing Sheryl, they looked up and a panic occurred.
There were those, who threw away their tools and tried to run away, as well as those, who instead took the tools to face the dragons.
Both of those behaviors were reckless.
Humans can’t outrun the dragons and they can’t be defeated with farming tools.
Such things should be obvious but the panic disrupted their thought process.
Just as the situation was about to escalate, the Lord, Baroness Sheryl Silverlight, threw herself in the middle of it. Causing even more panic by running around and screaming.
「She’s an idiot, isn’t it?……..」
「Puni」
Iris and Punigami, who were watching from the top of the hill, let out an exasperated voice.
This isn’t how a good lord should behave.
However, considering that they had dragons approaching their village, that couldn’t be helped.
The difficulty was too high right from the beginning. The opponent far outcla.s.sed them.
「I have no choice but to lend a hand…..Punigami, let’s go」
「Puni」
Iris sat on top of Punigami as she descended the hill.
At the same time, the dragons descended too.
The dragons landed right on the bank of the lake. Thanks to that, the building and the fields weren’t destroyed. However, if the dragons ever move or breathe fire everything will be mowed down.
Iris was going to stop them before that happens.
Or so she was determined to do but there were no signs of movement from them.
One of them let out a threatening roar.
However, the one that let out that roar was the one that was driven away by Iris before, the other one remained silent.
I don’t understand.
Why did they even come?
「Hey, dragons! If you keep standing here, the villagers are going to freak out! 」
Iris, who reached the lake, ended up saying something ridiculous.
Even though she resolved herself to be more intimidating.
「Ah, here you are, silver-haired shorty! It’s time to settle this! 」
The dragon that discovered Iris said something stupid.
This dragon is the one that fought Iris before.
Since she was a tad smaller than the other one, Iris temporarily named her『Dragon (small)』
「Settle what? You lost to me twice and run away crying」
「I-I didn’t cry!」
「You did」
「I didn’t!」
Dragon bawled in a girly voice.
She was about to cry again, even though she said that she didn’t.
As the dragon exposed her shameful side, the other dragon finally acted.
This one was slightly bigger, thus『Dragon (big)』.
「Hey, you can’t cry like that in public. You’ll bring shame to our species」
Dragon (big) said in a calm and slow woman’s voice as she hit Dragon (small) on the head with her wing.
「Hurts! Stop it, mom……don’t chide me in front of her! It’s embarra.s.sing! 」
「It’s was already embarra.s.sing enough. Get a grip. I don’t remember raising such a crybaby」
「But….she’s strong……」
Cutely muttered Dragon (small) as she lowered her head in dejection.
「It can’t be helped then. Ara, excuse me. Emm, are you the child that defeated my child? 」
Dragon (big) gazed at Iris.
「T-That’s right……..my child? Does that mean that you are her mother? 」
「Yes, I am. My name is Jessica. This child is Marion. Best regards」
「Ha……..best regards…..I’m Iris Crisis. This one is Punigami…….」
「Puni」
Iris didn’t expect to hear a self-introduction from a dragon, so she subconsciously introduced herself.
「So polite. So small and already so outstanding. So small yet able to defeat my child. So cute」
「Wait, mom, I didn’t lose! It was a strategic withdrawal! 」
Dragon (small), Marion, desperately tried to come up with an excuse.
Nevertheless, such an excuse did little in the face of her mother, Jessica.
「Lying is improper. Just when I thought that you left home for too long you came back crying and said『Mom, I was bullied by a human』……reflect on your behavior at least a little! 」
「Uu…….I’m sorry…….」
Marion hung her head again and started crying.
Once tears fell on the surface of the lake from the eyes of the dragon, they caused large ripples to spread
「Em…….If it’s a parenting issue, can you please argue somewhere else? 」
Iris was unable to watch them any longer and timidly intruded.
「Ara, sorry. I showed you an embarra.s.sing scene. Actually, I came here to see you, Iris-chan」
「Ha……..to see me…….what is it………? 」
As for Iris she only wanted to sleep when she wished and eat when she wished, she didn’t plan to have dealings with dragons.
She wanted to finish this as soon as possible and go back.
「It’s nothing complicated. We, dragons, have our great strength as a selling point, you know? Because we are strong, no one dares to approach our home and, when people see our appearances, everyone looks at us in awe. If rumors spread that one of us lost to a cute girl like Iris-chan, people would look down on us. With that being the case, could you consider another round between you and Marion? 」
Jessica nonchalantly said something dangerous.
「Etto…..in other words, you are here to pick a fight……..?」
「Indeed」
It was hard to understand because she was so nonchalant but, apparently, it was truly the case.
「I don’t really mind having another bout……but what if I win? 」
「You have great confidence in yourself. However, my child is truly strong once she gets serious. Right, Marion? 」
「Of course! I trained with my utmost effort since our last meeting! 」
「That’s right. I made sure to train her well」
「Uu…..I’m having flashbacks about that h.e.l.lish training…….shiver」
Maybe because her training was that great, Marion trembled all over.
Because of that, the water in the lake overflowed and hit the villagers.
They, who silently watched the entire conversation between Iris and the dragons, screamed and run away from the wave.
「Kyaa!」
The loudest scream was that of Sheryl.
Still, she didn’t escape first and tried to bring up the rear.
It was completely useless but her spirit was deserving of a praise.
「Un……I’ll give you what you want, so let’s change the place. The village will be in shambles if we fight here」
「Just what I want! I’m going to show you how I powered-up! 」
「Marion, do your best」
Iris, although experiencing a great lack of motivation, still agreed to fight the dragon.
This is the third time.
Oh, how I wish to make it the last one.
Well, today she has her mother accompanying her, so I should form any unnecessary karma.
Believing it to be true, Iris took Punigami with her as flew away from the village.
References