CH 29

When Peaceful Times Cease to Exist : A New Ally, Part 7 — A Conversation with a Dragon

「Fukuku……Hahahaha! Y-you, good for you, you have a lovely boyfriend!」

「Shut up, you flabby pie!」

Miliazar, who had finally reached the end of her patience, started laughing hysterically. Next to her, Lisa swears while her face turns bright red. Miliazar pats on the shoulder while holding her stomach.

「Well, you actually want to make him a great guy, do you? I’ll take good care of him.」

「If I leave him to you, he’s going to grow up to be a terrible man.」

「No, I’ll take care of that. Even so, I may not be able to satisfy all of your needs.」

「That was just a pretext. I didn’t think he would be able to answer all of them immediately and even get an extra one. I feel like I’ve won a very big bet.」

「You bet your life… didn’t you?」

「Well, you’re right about that, but the results were better than I expected.」

Lisa looked very happy when she said that. Miliazar was also satisfied with Lisa’s expression.

「(… It’s always good to see people’s faces like this. I want to see a lot like this. Apparently, my heart is not yet rusty.)」

Miliazar also smiled. But Lisa left Miliazar alone and soaked in the happiness. It was also the first time in eight years that Lisa felt truly happy since her parents had disappeared.

＊＊＊

The next morning, when Milche heard that Lisa was going to be gone, she was still a little upset, but the children all comforted her. The children all looked sad, but no one complained. It seems that Jake was right, it was one of the possibilities they were considering. Then Lisa said goodbye to each of them.

「Then, Sister, I’m counting on you to take care of everyone.」

「Leave it to me. I’ve got it.」

「Will you all greet the sister properly?」

At Lisa’s urging, the children lined up in a row and bowed in unison.

「「「「「Nice to meet you, Sister Pettanko!」」」」」

Lisa and the children grinned at each other.

「Y–You’ve… really done it, Lisa!」

「Fufufu, it’s hard to take care of those kids. They’re just too much.」

「…Fuu」

「Where’s the other, Albert!?」

That’s how Lisa departed. It was better than being damp, Miliazar decided. The children kept waving until Lisa turned down the street and was no longer in sight.

＊＊＊

Meanwhile, at Alfiris and the company. In the end, they decided to use the dragon to get to the forest that Fenna indicated. Miranda suggested that it would be much better than exposing Fenna to the public with a horse. Fortunately, Miliazar had been able to secure a dragon large for the five of them to ride, and tbe dragon shop was preparing it for them.

Alfiris is quickly communicating with the dragon. Rather, it might be better to say that they have been licked around a lot. Nia and Fenna rolled their eyes as they watched the scene, though they were no longer impressed by what they were used to seeing it for the second time.

「By the way, Nia, you hardly have any luggage. What do you do when you fight?」

「I don’t use weapons, I use my bare hands. Well, although I do wear armor and shin guards on the battlefield.」

「Bare hands… isn’t that dangerous?」

「Weapons are more dangerous to me. Blades are usually chipped or broken if you cut an enemy. And if you cut two or three people in armor, an ordinary sword will be useless. It is said that if you cut with overwhelming speed, you won’t get grease and blodd stains, but there are very few who can do that.」

「Hmm—, that may be true.」

Albert might fit the description, but Miranda agreed that there certainly weren’t many people who could use it like that.

「But isn’t it difficult to finish off an opponent with your fist?」

「No, I’m a soldier. In war, if you can kill your opponent with a single blow, that’s good, but it’s more important to make them seriously injured, to put them out of combat. Those who are obviously dead will be abandoned, but those who are dying, those around will try to help them. That way, it takes five hands to save one person. To put it in another way, it would have the same effect as retreating six people with one blow.」

「I see…」

「More to the point, on the battlefield, ordinary soldiers sometimes use swords that are deliberately dull. Soaking the tip of the blade in a manure puddle for a day and you have an instant poison sword. Wounding an enemy with this will almost certainly produce fever. If you do that, you’ll be in a lot pf trouble after you return to the enemy lines.」

「If you put it that way…」

Miranda thought she had a lot of experience, but when she thought about it, she had never participated in a war between humans, even though she did against the demons. Listening to Nia’s story, she began to think that wars between humans might be more cruel than those against fiends.「Hmm, I see.」As Miranda groans, Fenna pulls Miranda’s hem.

「Um, are you sure you want to leave Alfiris-san alone?」

「Eh? What happened to Alfie… you mean, Alfie is half inside the dragon’s mouth?」

The upper half of Alfiris’ body was completely inside the dragon’s mouth, and she was repeatedly twitching. Miranda and the others rushed to help her out. It was an unexpected crisis.

＊＊＊

「I can’t believe it! How can you be responsible for my wounds?」

「Guh, guwah!」

「Do you think that you can get away from this, as if I can let that happen!」

「Guguh…」

And they were already in the air on their way to Dalcus. After that, they were all busy pulling Alfiris out. Alfiris seemed to be dying a little bit, and she said she saw a beautiful castle or a flower garden.

The dragon seemed to be like Alfiris, and it was probably just a sweet bite to show its affection for her, but its sweet bite was coming from a 15-meter dragon that could carry a large number of people. It’s not like a dog or cat. So for about two hours after getting on the dragon, Alfiris was complaining about the dragon.

It’s not often that a domesticated dragon shows its own affection for a human, but Alfiris seems to be a good match for the dragon. They’re not sure if Alfiris is strange or not, but Fenna calls out to Alfiris from the seat on the dragon’s back.

「Alfiris-san, you can talk to the dragons?」

「Eh? Yeah, I can almost understand what they’re saying. Do Seekers don’t understand them? But I think you guys are more compatible to dragons rather than humans.」

「If it’s a tree dragon with forest attributes or something, it might be okay, but do you understand the language of wyverns, Alfiris-san?」

Fenna looked at her as if she was wondering more than she should. Alfiris continued to talk as if it was obvious.

「I’ve only been able to understand the language of wyverns for about two days now. There was a dragon near the mountain where I used to live that could speak human language, so I asked him to teach me his language. He told me that dragons also have a common language. I was told that once you understand that, the rest is just dialects of different races, so you won’t have any trouble communicating.」

「That’s new to me. I’ve been told that once you understand that, it’s like a dialect of your race, so you won’t have any trouble communicating for now.」

「Uh… Can I tell you something? I believe she said her name was Gwendalf.」

When Fenna heard the name, zhe was puzzled. She wondered if it’s such a big deal. Miranda, who could not swallow the wing situation, pulled on Fenna’s sleeve.

「Hey, is that a great dragon?」

「No, it’s a dragon that is legendary even among the elves. I thought it was just a fairy tale, but I never knew it really existed…」

「Was he that great?」

「Yes, he said to be the dragon that taught the elves how to use magic. Originally, magic was something that was unique to dragons.」

Alfiris reacted to those words. She didn’t think she had been in contact with such an amazing dragon herself.

「Hmmm. I used to him『Gwen-ojichan』all the time… I used to play with him on his head. Was that bad?」

「Fuu… I’m afraid that I can’t do the same.」

Perhaps it was her imagination, but Alfiris felt as if Fenna was looking at her with respect.

「I’m sure you’re not going to tell me that the dragon gave you Alfie a little hand, which hasn’t changed a scratch since I first saw it.」

「Yes, I got it, you know? He said it was a good luck charm. He said it was given to him as a talisman, though he had his master work on it.」

This time, everyone’s mouth were agape. Then they all started talking in secret.

「(Lisa, how much do you think those things cost?)」

「(It costs about 15,000 pents to process a normal wyvern claw or scale. If you want to make a weapon, it will cost you at least 50,000 for the materials of a tamed dragon. If you have a dragon, you can buy a whole small town if you can get it appraised. Lisa would not even think about selling it.)」

「(It’s a piece of armor that’s supposed to last a hundred years without chipping or rusting. It’s also said to be magic resistant.)」

「(I think it’s quite a blessing to have it.)」

Alfiris is still complaining about the dragon, while everyone else is whispering in the shadows.

「(I wonder if I’m friends with the right girl?)」

It was no wonder Miranda folded her arms and pondered.

＊＊＊

This time, as expected, it was not a distance that could be covered up in a day, so the group camped out along the way. The reason why they didn’t stay in the town was because there were not many facilities in the town to rest such a big dragon, and also because they were concerned about Fenna. Fenna looked apologetic, but they were not the kind of people who would complain about a one-day camping trip. Lisa had never stayed in the wild before, and she was unusually talkative with such excitement. Alfiris and Miranda tried to get Nia to practice with their bare hands before going to sleep, but as soon as they tried to step forward, their bodies flew into the air. According to Nia, the first move is the easiest to set off.

「It’s not because of that, but we humans call them felines, and they’re a genus that excels in initial movement and instantaneous power. They can move as fast as any other species, especially up to 20 meters. So, if you hold a sword or any weapon, you will be wasting a lot of time, and you will be able take advantage of our strength. Do you understand?」

「That’s true… If you move that fast in front of us, we might not be able to respond.」

「Well, on the other hand, I’m not very good at endurance fighting, and my arm strength is not much different from that of a human. I try to make up for it with techniques.」

「So, Nia, are you a captain or something in Gruzald?」

「Nope, I’m just an ordinary soldier.」

If she was a common soldier at this level, how could humans be at war with beastmen? Alfiris and the others were grateful that they were not born in a time when they would have to go to war with beastmen.

「Can Fenna do martial arts?」

「I’m mainly an earth magician, but… my magic is a bit unique. I can use a bow as a weapon. I don’t know if I can call it martial arts, though.」

「Then try shooting this.」

Suddenly, Miranda threw a Cucus nut into the air. At the same moment, Fenna picked up the bow and arrow that she had placed on the ground and shot it. She shot the fruit in the air.

「It’s amazing enough…」

「No, even though I’m not a warrior… the bow is made by humans, and it’s not very accurate yet, with a margin of error of 5 cm within 20 meters.」

It was enough considered to be expert level, in the eyes of public.

「With an elf bow, I think I can get a margin of error of two centimeters within 40 meters, but that’s it for me.」

「No, no, no. Normally, a bow can only kill at about 20 meters.」

「An elf bow can kill up to 60 meters if shot by a man. If you just aim it, it can kill at least 100 meters. When we used it to compare who was the best archer in the village, we had a rule that you had to keep hitting the target 100 meters and if you missed even once, you are disqualified, but after one hour five people kept hitting the target and everyone got bored and quit.」

「How big is the target, by the way?」

「We started with cucumbers, but they were so hard to miss that we ended up with nuts the size of the tips of your thumbs.」

「…I can’t even pick a fight an elf, now can I?」

Alfiris’ impressions were also correct.

The night went on with endless chatter. Lisa was teasing Nia with the catnip, but Alfiris decided to leave her alone. She never imagined that both of them would be so absorbed in the game that they would have trouble sleeping next day.

＊＊＊

The next day, they arrived at the entrance to Dalcus Forest in the early afternoon. The pace was more than twice as fast as that of a normal human driving a dragon.

The town of Darv. It’s a small town compared to Mysia, with a population of less than 30,000, but it’s quite lively. Although Dalcus itself is located in the middle of nowhere, it has an abundance of forest resources (timber, nuts, medicinal herbs, etc.), so its population is rather large for such a remote area.

In addition, fiends from the forest are frequent, and because the area is bordered by four countries across the forest, Kramus’ border guards and mercenaries can be seen here and there. Despite the large number of such armed men, the town has a relaxing atmosphere, perhaps due to its remote location and natural surroundings. The soldiers are not dressed in formal attire and are sitting around chatting with the owners of vegetable stalls. Perhaps it is the disposition of the people of Kramus. They did not look like the kind people who would invade an elven village.

At any rate, Alfiris and the others came to the town to gather information. Fenna is also accompanying them with a hood over her head, but the town does not seem to have a strong atmosphere. In particular, there is no sign that Kramus has moved its soldiers.

「This serene vibe… wasn’t it from Kramus?」

「But I think it’s the most likely. It is quite difficult to enter the Seeker’s Village from the other three countries because of the terrain. I have heard that Kramus is the only one who uses Dulcass as a resource in the first place.」

「Let’s explore some more.」

Nia, Fenna, and Miranda are discussing things. Alfiris and Lisa, who are not familiar with the military situation in the area, are not quite able to follow the conversation.

「I need to gather more information about different countries and places right…」

「Lisa agrees. From now on, we must be more sensitive to information about other countries.」

As Alfiris and Lisa were lost in these thoughts, they saw a crowd of people on the street beside them.

「Hey, what’s that?」

「Who knows. Let’s go to find out.」

「Is Lisa the only one who can sense the trouble?」

At any rate, when they all approached, it appeared that a person was lying on the ground. It appears to be a man, but they cannot see its face. For some reason, Miranda’s face was strangely glowing.