Chapter 428: Dance on the desert 1
It takes until evening to get from Polka to Celesta, even if you fly in the morning. There are many ways to enjoy the ride, such as chatting among friends, playing simple games, or having someone cast a windshield spell and looking out of the window or the coachman’s stand. But the taciturn old Dan has no friends or relatives of long standing and the air around his seat is a little heavy……but Naris is there, too.
“A little over a hundred years seems like a long time, but it’s a very short time. I think that if they get so old, they will no longer be talked about in the sense of short-lived species, don’t you think? They are from different countries, different races, different occupations and you could say that their lives don’t overlap at all. But there are topics that are quite common among generations. Right, Dan-san?”
“You’re still the same friendly elf”
“Yes. The other day, we sang the Waska Bird March together when we were in the mood for a drink of big ice field”
“……What is that?”
I was taken aback by the strange words Naris said. Diane answered with a giggle.
“It’s a song that was popular all over the continent about 70 years ago. It was sung about 70 years ago when the Waska bird, a terrestrial bird, was imported from the western continent to be used as a pet. Usually, songs don’t spread well in different linguistic regions, but……because the melody was simple and most of the lyrics were mimetic, the song spread quickly from Afilm in the west to Lux in the east. However, because it was a song for children and the Waska bird craze itself didn’t last very long, you rarely hear about it now”
“Hee”
Naris smiled.
“The Waska bird is very cute in person, isn’t it? Jumping up and down”
“But their faces are so ugly”
“Eh. It wasn’t like that……I think”
“And that thing smelled really bad. Whenever there was a house that had one, half the town would smell it. Soon no one kept them anymore”
“Eh, really?”
“People and ogres with no sense of smell, but beastmen could smell them from three kilometers away”
“That’s right……I only saw them from time to time. I was traveling at the time”
“Well, it’s time for me to travel around. I used to watch it on Afilm”
“What was Afilm like then? I mean, how could you go there when you were a Celesta citizen?”
“There is a Dwarven domain there. It’s a kindred spirit. It was a time when there were still remnants of the Fire Dragon War and the borders were not as clear as they are now”
“Hmm, well, it’s only been 30 years since then”
The conversation was going on and on. The conversation turned to Afilm and Almeida, who is from Afilm, wanted to join in the conversation and Tetes was listening attentively. Apart from that, Luna, Anzeros, Aurora, Hilda and the rest of the Celesta group were having a serious discussion about the food unique to Celesta.
“I don’t really like trots when it comes to whole roasted dishes. I want to eat it”
“That’s fine too, but when it comes to Celesta, I think it’s that spicy sauce with a lot of spices. When I first started living in Celeste, I was sick of it, but now I want to eat any kind of food made with it”
“I can’t say it too loudly, but I can tell you that the food at Claves and other places in the north is very delicate. I don’t want to say it out loud, but sometimes I think the cuisine of the northern forest is too traditional and lacks ingenuity”
“……Aurora-chan, you’re not a very good cook yourself, are you?”
“Th, This is my impression after eating it! Claves have absorbed the different cultures of the East and the West……”
“The dark elves have a monopoly when it comes to cultural exchange. The Talc cuisine looks simple, but it’s quite deep. The dark elves are the only ones who can cook the local cuisine, as the ogre-like taste stands out”
“……I remember a party at Dianne’s mansion where the food was amazing”
“I know, right?”
And it’s funny that Neia is being lured to this topic without saying a word.
“Neia. Are you interested?”
“E, Emm……it’s, well, we’re talking about eating a lot of good food……”
“That’s right, you should look forward to it”
The carriage was still buzzing with excitement and before we knew it, it was past noon and outside we had crossed the small snake mountains and were on the green plains of spring.
A little past Basson, we all ate lunch together. We could have landed, but since we were eating on our own anyway, we decided to eat in the air while watching the scenery flow by. While we were cleaning up, the landscape became dusty and the desert was getting closer.
“Are you flying a little faster than before?”
“Ho. You noticed? It’s because I was beaten by Airi”
She was trying her best to shorten her time. And before we knew it, we were in the desert with the sun shining below Officlade.
“It’s a hot sight even though there’s still snow on the ground in Polka……”
“I think it’s just cold in Polka”
While replying to Naris’ blurts, we continue through the sandy sea as far as the eye can see. These colonies have probably been in existence for hundreds of years without our knowledge. It occurred to me that the people of the desert colonies, who have some trade but live mostly on their own, are not so different from Kalwin and that the various distortions of the dwarf colony, such as the idea of a universal military of all residents and the sexual perversion of the cat beast colony, may just inevitably lead them to Kalwin. I shook my head and thought, no, that’s not the case. It is true that the individual characteristics of the desert colony may be abnormal. But that’s not the same thing. Just because the means of seeking what is lacking has changed, it does not mean that they have fundamentally abandoned seeking. Or there is no will at work to make us abandon it.
“……Abandonment?”
“?”
Neia looks at me strangely when I mutter these words in a whisper. I don’t explain. No, I can’t. But for some reason, I feel a tug. If I were in a similar position, I wondered if I would be able to come up with such an idea. Scared of demons, scared of famine, unprepared and lacking in everything, yet abandoning the idea of developing and creating a surplus. Even if it was a means to perpetuate 「My miniature garden」, it was too……I can’t put into words the emotions that came to me. I don’t have the education to critique such logic sharply. I just sensed a bit of a lurid darkness there.
————————————–
In the evening, we landed near Laila’s Dragon Palace.
“Shouldn’t we be a little closer to the colony?”
“It’s not that far. Besides, it would be troublesome if the people in the village think that we are using the black dragon as a foot soldier”
“Kuku. You can tell them all about it. Your grandchild is the sister of a dragon and the pole”
“……There’s no doubt that it’s more narrow-shouldered”
Laila. You’re playing with me.
“I’m sure it’s a greater honor to be married to a dragon rider than to be embraced by a poor male dragon. You should be proud of that.
“It’s difficult to find a dragon rider’s values in the lower realms”
Old Dan puts his pack on his back, waves at us lightly over his back and walks away.
“I’ll see you in a month. Bring a barrel or two and I’ll pour you a drink”
“Okay!”
“Why are you answering me, you stupid elf woman?”
“No, it was pretty good. I’m looking forward to it!”
No, Naris, after this round, we’ll have to move in earnest, you know? Maybe it’s time for you to go back to living in the fort, let alone retrieving old Dan.
“It’s one of your talents to be so carefree with dwarves……”
“I would have thought that since the Chief Knight uses Dwarvish martial arts, she would be less prejudiced than most”
“I don’t hate them as much as the average elf, but I learned my skills from Berga, not from the dwarves themselves. And I’m not sure I’d be at ease talking to a typical hard-nosed dwarf like Dan-san”
“Well……that’s for sure”
Sharon and Almeida watched Naris wave her hand with a mixture of amazement and a bit of dismay.
“You are both strong, but you are both a little too uptight. Dwarves have a habit of speaking in a thick voice with a thick accent, just like the rest of their race. They’re easier to get along with than elves because they’re not so blatantly mean”
“Better than elves……”
“The world is a tough place for straggler elves”
Naris showed the side of a hard worker.
“Well, then, let’s take off”
Laila, still in her dragon form, soars in the desert’s evening glow with her huge black body, prompting us. The passengers, who had been taking this opportunity to stretch and urinate behind rocks, headed for the carriage at the sound of Laila’s voice, but felt a little uncomfortable because the carriage and Laila’s body were facing north in opposite directions.
“Where are we going next?”
“Ho? That, of course, would be Donna and her colony”
“Eh”
From Laila’s palace, we are going back to the north. I knew that Luna had suggested that we check on them, but since we had passed them by, I thought we would stop on the way back.
“Here’s a map of the proposed course”
Dianne showed us the itinerary with arrows on a map she had drawn on parchment. We would go from Polka to here (old Dan’s landing point), to the cat beast colony, to Helicon, to (Claves? ← still undecided), Talc, Tinbales and from the royal city of Trot to the holy city of Laika.
“The flight back to the desert via Tinbales on the way back would be a huge waste of flight time. Besides, the cat beast colony would be a good place for us to spend the night, since we wouldn’t have to worry about dragons taking off and landing”
“I was thinking we’d continue on to Talc, hang out in the south, then the cat beast colony, then Tinbales”
“Talc will get tired all of a sudden at the beginning of the journey. You will be dealing with that older brother of me”
“……Ah, well, that’s right”
I’m sure he’s a powerful supply connection in terms of special forces, but I wonder if he should be treated that way, Carlos-san?
Well, even though we were going back to the north, it was not much distance compared to the distance we flew today and we arrived at the cat beast colony before the sun went down.
“You come here so often, don’t you? Well, I’m happy to welcome you, but are you free?”
“Grandma”
Grandma Donna had suddenly appeared at the same time as we landed on the usual rocky hill.
“Ho. Luna is wondering if you’re in good health”
“Well, I may be an old woman, but I’m not so old that I can die so easily”
The old lady Donna jumped off the rock, waving her hand in the air. The girls get out of the carriage and the two dragons transform into their human body. Some of them looked at me with curiosity.
“How many people are you going to fuck this time?”
Like the owner of a whorehouse, Grandma Donna said without hesitation and the group of first-timers, including Neia and Sharon, were startled.
“No, no, we just stopped by so that Luna sees your face today, so I thought it would be fine if we could stay the night”
I said, a little concerned about the way she looked at me and she sighed.
“What the heck, my girls are waiting excitedly for you downstairs. You know, you’re not a beast, but you need a full moon to have any power?”
“No, I don’t think so……but you know, I had a lot of fun the other day”
“You might have fucked them a lot, but to the girls, it was like you just fucked them once and then watched them. Even if you swing your cock like that every day, no one will say it’s too much”
“No, that’s not right”
If they built an erotic stage in the plaza and held sex festivals from one side to the other on a daily basis, that would be crazy, wouldn’t it?
“Andy”
Luna pulls on my sleeve.
“I’ll choose girls who look good, so play as long as time allows”
She gave me a thumbs-up with a blank expression.
“I’ll do my best……”
The gazes of those who still have common sense, especially Neia and Naris, turned to dismay. But. You can’t say it’s impossible here, can you?
“Hoho. Well, that’s why you’re the owner”
“Narrow down the number so that it doesn’t span several days, Luna”
Laila and Diane nodded in a hawkish manner. And Tetes.
“I hope you don’t mind if I mix it up?”
She was full of youthful ideas with sparkling eyes.