Chapter 444: Touch and go
Anyway, Sahul will stay at Helicon and we will start our next itinerary in the meantime. It is one thing for Celesta to know that Sahul might go on a rampage, but if you listen carefully, you will hear that Sahul has yet to wield the power of a dragon against a person on his own accord. Even if that is not the case, it is Laila’s instructions, which are not competitive in name or reality and they will probably be quiet for a while.
“Where shall we go next?”
“Claves or Talc……. But if we go to Claves with this face……”
“………..”
Dianne looked thoughtful. Aurora is local, so it’s fine, but Anzeros won’t look good either. Well, anyway, the rest of the faces are Neia, who is an half elf, Hilda, who is a dark elf, the Gauntlet Knight group, who are elves from different regions and also Tetes. I have a feeling that all of them will get into trouble if they are careless.
“Who wants to go to Claves?”
I let them raise their hands, but no one raised their hands. Even Naris, who always wanted to go to famous places, did not want to go.
“I can’t believe Naris doesn’t want to go there”
“I’ve been there once! Don’t forget it!”
“You’ve only been there once?”
“Well, I’ve got some idea of the atmosphere……and I’m afraid that in a closed city like that, if you wander around carelessly, you’re bound to get into trouble”
“……Naris’s judgment is reasonable. What should we do?”
“Can you please don’t say that I’m insane!? I think it’s 10-man captain Smithson who is always insane!?”
Yes. Well, I guess that’s true. But when it comes to sightseeing, my impression of Naris is that she is always exploding with an unstoppable curiosity.
“Don’t you want to go too, Sharon or Almeida?”
“Aurora-san told me that her brother, who is supposed to be there, is 『Vicious pedigreed womanizer who has no regard for beautiful women』……”
“I’m simply not interested”
No, Aurora, what are you blowing into Sharon’s head? It’s true. But still, the letters are terrible.
“Aurora and Anzeros are……”
“I don’t have anything to do with him. I’m afraid my father will scold me”
“I don’t have a good memory of them either”
These guys are……well.
“Hilda and Neia are okay too?”
“Hmm, I don’t feel comfortable there from a dark elf’s point of view. I’m not sure if it’s a little bit of a pain in the ass to get to the other side of the Snake Mountain Range?”
“I don’t know much about it to begin with……”
Umm. I think it’s a nice place to be, in my opinion. A relaxing city surrounded by greenery. The forests are forests, but they are not dense and dark. They are decorated with large, reliable trees growing in places, well-managed lawns, plantings and flower gardens. The light of the engraved crests adds color to the pleasant and beautiful landscape that only forests diligently cared for by elves can offer. The urban atmosphere in which such a neat culture and the gentleness of the forest coexist is not found even in the northern forests. The northern forest are, for better or worse, traditional, or rather primitive and rustic, partly because the total number of elves in the northern forest is small. I think that if you want to live a relaxing life in your old age, a place with a landscape like Claves would be a good place for you. ……No, you have to be an elf to live comfortably, though.
“Ho. You want to go, Owner?”
“Umm, it’s not that I have anything to do there”
It’s too much trouble to go there……just to look at the scenery. But I would like to go back someday.
“Then the destination is Talc”
“Dianne-chan, you went there once last night, didn’t you? Maybe it was a hassle twice”
“I’m sure everyone got a good night’s rest. ……Make sure you all check to make sure you haven’t left anything behind. And Laila, sort out the tributes you’ve received”
“Ho. Not a lot this time, since there weren’t that many lizards”
“The purpose of this trip is to get materials. The amount of materials is not too much for Maia to carry. Some of the desert supplies might be better left here in the compound for Sahul and for future use”
“Hmm. ……I agree and there are some items that I don’t even know what to do with”
Everyone starts moving toward departure. I’m going to……for now.
“Hey Sahul”
“……You?”
I went to the room I had prepared for Sahul and found him sitting quietly on the ground meditating.
“That’s an unusual way of sitting”
“Ah, this. I learned it from an old man at the dragon palace. It’s a bit cramped, but it helps me concentrate because I can’t move so easily”
“Where is this dragon palace that you were indebted to?”
“It’s in the south. It used to be the Goth Kingdom, but now it is the sphere of influence of St. Garde”
The famous countries of the Southern Great Plains have emerged. The place where Sahul was is probably one of them.
“In the first place, why did you come to Celesta?”
“I’ve wanted to come here for a long time. It’s the largest nation on the continent, after all”
“……Just the territory”
The country’s power is not so overwhelming in spite of its size due to the large desert spread over its land. The actual fact is, however, that it is the largest nation on the continent. In the past, it controlled more than half of the Southern Great Plains and it is said that there was a country larger than Celesta, but no country is that big now. Although the size of the country is medium, each country has its own strengths and the standoff between them continues,
“There are only small deserts in the Southern Great Plains and the ogres and dark elves are big players, right? Rika brought me here because she thought it looked interesting……”
“Is this Rika related to the Dragon Palace?”
“I guess it’s more me than the Palace. She was a strange kid and her parents were holding her back, but she heard a rumor and thought that maybe a dragon would know what to do”
“……Stayed with you?”
“No, she just adventures around and comes to the palace from time to time to show her face”
……I want to say. I want to say it. I want to say that she is just a free spirit.
“I spent about 20 years at the Palace. Recently, when Rika came, the old man at the palace told me to go outside……”
“Why did he want you to go?”
“Well, I don’t know. Sometimes she said sincerely, 『You are different from the ordinary』, so I thought she must have some secret……”
“Sahul himself doesn’t know much about it”
“Yes”
I’m a little curious, but……well, I guess we won’t get to the bottom of it even if I ask Sahul any more questions.
“What if this Rika person……is, you know, dead or something?”
“I’d kill the guy who did it”
“No, well, umm”
I wanted to tell him to calm down, but I knew that he would say the same thing, so I kept my mouth shut. Dragons are supposed to be like that.
“No, it’s not that someone did it, but that she died accidentally”
“What is it? Did you hear that Rika is dead!?”
“No, its different. The only thing is, in such a case, are you willing to return to the palace as an adult?”
“……I don’t know. But I was……abandoned because my human parents were too much for me and the old man at the palace was always with me, but I never knew what he was thinking……Rica is all I have left. I’m not sure what I would have done if Rika had been gone……”
“Sorry, I gave you a weird idea”
I know he’s probably a lot older than I am, but I couldn’t bear to see a kid cry.
“Well, anyway, it’s hard for the army to let a dragon like you go on a rampage. I’m sure they’ll do a thorough investigation
“……Army”
Sahul had a complicated expression on his face.
“Do you have any bad memories?”
“I don’t have any bad memories. I’m not sure if it’s that easy for them to do”
“Dianne is a very special person in the military”
“I heard that her parents are ministers. ……But it’s not like that, but if I let a dragon go on a rampage, it’ll be a big problem……what is the reason why you’re so worried about it? Is the military going to do what they say?”
“……There were no dragons like that. Maybe someone will kill such a tyrannical dragon”
“Nnn……that’s a rule on the part of the dragons, isn’t it? You yourself don’t have any countermeasures against them, do you?”
“Since I prepared it poorly, there are still parts that might irritate a dragon……”
“You’re a pretty cowardly……that’s what you are”
“It can’t be helped, if a dragon comes seriously, humans and elves can’t compete. We have no choice but to ask for forgiveness”
“We are……you too, rider?”
“Ah……that’s certainly not me? No, but I heard that basically dragon riders are not accepted by society. That’s why they don’t know that I’m a rider as much as possible. I spend my time like this”
“It’s a pain in the ass for……riders, too. But yeah, if you think about being used or targeted for your life, you can’t be proud because you’re a rider”
“The rules for being a rider in the first place are not well known in the general public at all. You were also mistaken”
“That was my grandfather’s……”
Sahul and I discuss once again the existence of dragons and what the existence of a rider should be. I am still inexperienced and new as a rider and Sahul has wrong sensitivity and knowledge as a dragon. We exchange questions and opinions that would not come to the surface if we had been in contact with 「Normal」 dragons. I found the conversation more meaningful than I had expected, and at the same time, I gradually came to understand the point that the 「Old man」 must have been deeply at a loss about Sahul. Sahul is too much of a snob. Not in a bad way, but the pride and loneliness of a 「Strong man」, which dragons are supposed to have and the gap that they should naturally feel, do not exist in their psyche. The sensibility is not fostered by simply being strong with little desire. It is something that can only be acquired when one continues to glare at the 「Weak」 as the 「Absolute strong」.
“……Umm”
“Umm”
We talked frankly for a while and twisted our heads, sorting out the questions we each had. Since neither of us can reply to the other’s questions with anything more than speculation, we can only confirm a question as a question, as if to say, 「That’s strange, but there must be something going on」. Even so, I never felt that we had wasted our time.
“You’re easy to talk to even though you’re a rider. I kinda like it”
“……I’m glad you’re pretty normal for a dragon, too. I know a lot of people who are dragons, but there’s always that natural, insurmountable difference in perception”
I put aside my unanswered questions and shook hands with Sahul.
“We’ll talk again sometime”
“Sure”
Having shared our problems, we somehow felt solidarity with each other. I don’t know if it’s fair to call it friendship with a boy who looks about the same age as Sara, but I’m sure he felt a sense of closeness with me.
“By the way, I have one more question for you”
“What is it? I’ll answer it if I can”
Sahul looked up at me with his legs crossed in a strange way.
“……You know, everyone here is yours, that……girlfriend?”
“Ah……well, similar?”
“What?”
“F, Female slave……”
“!?”
A feeling of guilt, like making a loud noise in front of a familiar small animal.
“No, Dianne is a lover or rather a bride candidate, but the other girls are mostly female slaves themselves? No, I didn’t force them. There are girls who I do”
“I, I don’t know what you’re talking about……female slave……is a little too adult for me……”
“I don’t really know how it happened either, but somehow, you know? The truth is, about half of them are here and when you go to my hometown, there are even more and one of them has already given birth and another one is about to do the same”
“……I thought we might get along a little better, but maybe I’m just imagining things”
“No, I mean, I’d like to hear a more detailed explanation”
I tried to talk to Sahul for almost an hour, but he looked away and said, 「Ah……is that so?」and only started to give me a hammering tone that gradually gave up on understanding.
—————————–
And when it comes to boarding the carriage for departure, the difficulty of making excuses for Sahul’s attitude explodes.
“……Emm, what do you mean, Naris?”
“Don’t ask me to explain”
“Why is everyone, including you, riding in the carriage in a bathing suit? Why are you in it?”
“It’s because you proved when you came here that if you don’t get your clothes in order first, you’ll have a hard time getting rid of the juices and the smell! It’s like asking me to get dirty if I’m the only one with clothes on while everyone else is trying to get laid!”
I like the way she explains things in a way that is easy to understand. Of course, they have put up an illusion around here so that no one can see them undressing, but I wonder if the carriage will be like this sauna bath on every long-distance trip from now on. Actually, I’d welcome it. But you know what? I’m sure Sahul, who came to see me off, is collapsing at my feet with a nosebleed from the sudden sexy paradise.
“……Take Sahul back into the house for now”
“Yes”
Maia, who has not yet transformed into her dragon body, grabs one of his legs and drags him along. ……The next time I see him, will I be able to talk to him again without any hesitation?