We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Reunion
Seeing Nimia fly faster than himself and above him, the tyrant let out a roar as if to threaten her.
“Hey. Don’t threaten her, she’s my friend.”
I patted the tyrant’s back.
The young dragon looked up at the clouds, taken aback.
“Hey! It’s me!”
I waved my hand again towards Nimia in the sky.
Then Nimia slowly began to descend, circling.
The tyrant growled, “Grrr.”
I think I understand.
The tyrant is enormous, even among wyverns. None of the corpses I saw in the scorched wyvern nest were as large as the tyrant.
And yet, Nimia, who descended, was even a size larger than the tyrant.
The tyrant’s mouth turned crimson.
Then, it breathed flames towards the steep, rocky cliff face.
It was a threat.
The tyrant was clearly wary of Nimia.
It’ll be cautious, wondering who she is, since she’s a dragon species not seen at Dragon Peak.
The tyrant isn’t the type to simply nod and accept my word that Nimia is a friend, you know.
It can’t be helped. Nimia, I’ll show you your power!
If you’re afraid of fighting, or dislike it, then at this stage, we have no choice but to show overwhelming power and silence the tyrant.
Nimia, who was descending, looked down at me.
And then.
“Nya!”
Despite its massive size, it was a surprisingly uninspired cry.
However, the tyrant and the young dragon must have been shocked.
The rocky cliff face that the tyrant had scorched with its flames instantly turned white ash over an area several times larger and collapsed.
“I told you. I know dragons stronger than you.”
I said to the tyrant, who gnashed its teeth in frustration.
Nimia descended further and flew alongside the tyrant.
“Ah.”
I instinctively let out a sound.
On Nimia’s back.
Mistral was there, amidst the long, soft fur swaying.
Mistral was straddling Nimia’s back, glaring at the tyrant warily.
“Mistral!”
When I waved, Mistral finally turned her gaze towards me.
“Why?”
Mistral’s stern expression did not break even when she saw me.
“Why were you on the tyrant’s back?”
“Uh, well, you see…”
The tyrant must be a well-known villain at Dragon Peak. Mistral must be suspicious of me, straddling its back so nonchalantly.
“I shall mend my ways. I swear to the Dragon Princess.”
The tyrant said.
No, no, no. Swear to me.
“Various things happened, and the tyrant isn’t going to do bad things anymore. He’s reformed enough to carry me to Mistral’s village.”
The tyrant cast a displeased glance at my words but did not deny them.
“…”
Mistral looked back and forth between me and the tyrant.
Then she let out a big sigh.
“Honestly.”
Her expression was the usual Mistral I knew.
“I shouldn’t have let you travel alone. The Elder never expected this outcome.”
Mistral sighed, as if saying “What a pain,” and shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry.”
I am aware that this has become a rather unexpected result of my journey.
Whether it’s good or bad, I can’t judge.
Mistral shook her head once, then glared at the tyrant with a serious expression.
“We know your evil deeds firsthand. You claim to have reformed, but we can’t just accept that. However, you swore to me, the Dragon Princess. So, we will believe you. We will believe in your pride and will as a dragon.”
“I shall prove my oath with my life.”
The tyrant glared back at Mistral, not to be outdone, but there was no hostility.
What is this? The tyrant’s gaze towards Mistral feels like how a human commoner would look at royalty, with awe.
“Dragon Princess Mistral accepts your will.”
And so, the standoff between Mistral and the tyrant ended.
“Now, Elnea,”
Mistral said, and then looked at me.
“We’ll hear about your journey and how you reformed the tyrant back at the village.”
“Yes, there’s a lot I have to tell you.”
I nodded.
“Nimia and I will guide the way. You ride on the tyrant’s back and descend to the village.”
“Eh!?”
Is it okay? The dragon-human village earlier caused a huge commotion, and everyone hid, erasing their presence.
Koa said not to let the tyrant fly over the village, but will it be alright?
Mistral smiled at my bewildered expression.
“There will be a commotion, but it can’t be helped. However, this is the result you obtained from your solo journey through Dragon Peak, so you must face it.”
So, I’m riding on the tyrant.
“Then descend to the village with pride.”
With that, Mistral instructed Nimia and turned, beginning to fly towards the small forest visible ahead.
The tyrant followed silently.
The result of my journey.
I saved the tyrant’s life and reformed him. Even so, it’s unlikely anyone will easily forgive his past misdeeds.
I will be judged in Mistral’s village.
But I accept that.
Because I am responsible for saving the tyrant’s life.
The tyrant swore to Mistral. I will believe that oath more than anyone.
The full appearance of the small forest, which was gradually approaching, became clear.
On the north side, I think. We, who are heading south, could see a small forest. Beyond it, a green village in a semi-circle, and to the south, a spring forming the other half of the semi-circle.
The village had wooden houses built along the outer perimeter, and a long building ran horizontally, separating the spring and the village.
In other words, all the buildings were built in a way that enclosed the semi-circle.
And the area enclosed by the buildings, within the semi-circle, was a plaza filled with emerald green grass.
“Wow. The small rocky shrine in the middle of the spring is the Dragon Shrine!”
“You’re very knowledgeable?”
I was surprised by the young dragon’s explanation. It’s surprising that wyverns know so much about dragon-humans.
“That place is special. That’s why I know.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Perhaps it’s because we’re riding on the tyrant’s back together, but the young dragon seems to have grown a little attached to me. At the same time, its cautious tone disappeared, and it began speaking in a cute, childish manner.
This drawn-out way of speaking is probably how this young dragon talks.
I looked at the spring, impressed by the young dragon’s words. Indeed, in the middle of the spring, there was a rocky outcrop with a vermilion shrine.
The green of the forest and village, the clear aquamarine of the spring. And amidst it all, the vermilion shrine exuded a special presence, a sign of its existence.
Nimia reached the sky above the village and began to descend slowly.
Several figures could be seen in the plaza.
It wasn’t like in the easternmost village where everyone was hiding.
Perhaps they didn’t hide because they saw that Dragon Princess Mistral had appeared with Nimia, and they were waiting to see.
Nimia landed in the center of the plaza and let Mistral down.
Then, in an instant, she disappeared.
“Whoa!”
The young dragon, and even the tyrant, were surprised by the disappearance of Nimia, who was larger than the tyrant.
Upon closer inspection, Nimia had shrunk to her usual small size and was now perched on Mistral’s head.
“Horrible dragon.”
I didn’t retort, considering the tyrant said it.
Even though she’s still a child, Nimia is indeed an Ancient Dragon Species.
As Mistral returned, the onlookers who had been observing from a distance swarmed around her. They pointed at the tyrant circling above the village and made a commotion.
Mistral ordered them to back away and then beckoned the tyrant to descend.
The people who had been making a commotion around Mistral scattered in a panic upon seeing the descending tyrant and hid behind the buildings.
The tyrant deliberately descended slowly, as if to show off its presence, and finally landed with a thud.
Blades of grass and dust flew up.
The tyrant glared at the dragon-humans hiding and observing, as if to threaten them, but showed no signs of attacking.
Mistral approached the landed tyrant.
I descended from the tyrant’s back using Spatial Jump and waited for Mistral.
The young dragon flew to my side.
Then, Nimia, who had been on Mistral’s head, took flight and flew cutely above me and the young dragon. Finally, she landed on my head.
“Meow.”
The fearsome power of the tyrant was ineffective in front of Nimia’s cuteness.
Mistral also gave a wry smile at Nimia’s adorableness.
“Welcome to my village.”
“Ah, excuse me for intruding.”
I bowed awkwardly in response to Mistral’s welcoming words.
“Ridiculous.”
“A human has appeared from the tyrant’s back.”
“It’s teleportation.”
“Is that the rumored Mistral’s…”
I could faintly hear the conversations of the people observing.
Now, how should I greet these people and explain the situation? I didn’t even have time to think about it.
“Um, welcome back!”
Suddenly, Priscilla-chan appeared before me via Spatial Jump.
I hastily caught her.
“Welcome back? I’ve never been here before.”
“Priscilla! I told you to hide!”
“You know, Priscilla was hiding properly? But my Older Brother came.”
Priscilla-chan denied Mistral’s words, shaking her head. Her soft, chestnut hair fluttered with each shake, and the small warmth of her in my arms, along with Nimia’s comfortable weight on my head, naturally brought a smile to my face.
Ah, I’ve finally reunited with everyone.
I had many experiences during my journey through Dragon Peak. I gained more experience than could be imagined in just a few days.
Well, most of it was failure.
Ares-chan was by my side, saving my life, so I didn’t feel too lonely.
But now, seeing Mistral and Priscilla-chan before me, I deeply realize how much I craved human warmth, everyone’s warmth.
“I’m home, I’m home.”
When Ares-chan appeared, Priscilla-chan jumped out of my arms and started to dance joyfully. Of course, with Ares-chan.
The tyrant no longer even grumbled.
He stared with a weary expression at the carefree dance of the two young girls unfolding before him.
It seems the tyrant’s infamy and intimidation are ineffective on these two.
“Hey hey, it’s a red dragon!”
Priscilla-chan pointed at the tyrant with interest.
Ah, I have a bad feeling about this.
Mistral seemed to sense it too and hurriedly tried to catch Priscilla-chan.
However, it was too late.
The next moment, Priscilla-chan and Ares-chan were straddling the tyrant’s back.
“Whoa. Big scales. But they’re not as glossy as Grandpa’s.”
Priscilla-chan chirped excitedly on the tyrant’s back.
“Hey, Priscilla!”
Mistral’s admonitions, and the tyrant’s threatening growls, were of no effect.
Beast Tamer Priscilla-chan. She can even make the tyrant her servant…
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