We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Another Errand
“So, why did *this* combination come about?”
I look up at the burly man standing to my right, Sestarinis, the Dragon King.
“Don’t worry about it, young man.”
“No, I *do* worry about it. Explain it properly.”
I then look up at the man with bronzed skin to my left, Zan.
“We rarely get to visit the human capital.”
“That doesn’t mean you had to come down from Dragon Peak with us this time. Right, Ruiseine, don’t you think so too?”
Turning, I look at Ruiseine, who stands a step behind me, seeking agreement.
“Elnea-kun, don’t forget we have to buy souvenirs for Priscilla-chan!”
However, Ruiseine only smiles holding Nimia in disguise, and does not agree.
Why did it turn out like this?!
Let me reflect on what happened so far.
We had gathered the necessary leaves at the summit of the mountain range. Then, riding on Nimia’s back, we returned to Mistral’s village. There, we coincidentally met Sestarinis, who had been spreading news about the western village throughout Dragon Peak.
So far, there’s no problem.
But then, when we decided to go to the Armēdo Kingdom to exchange the leaves for money, Sestarinis became interested in us.
Luiseine and I are from the capital city, and we are currently on our year-long journey, so we cannot go to the Great Shrine in our hometown to sell.
We decided to sell it in a secondary capital instead.
Since Sestarinis had never been outside the capital, he said he wanted to go if we were going to a secondary capital.
Then, Zan also said he wanted to go sightseeing.
Are you guys children?!
Lyra is forbidden from going out until she can practice dragon energy refinement and obtain her protective gear. Mistral is apparently accompanying her. Priscilla-chan also wanted to come, but Mistral told her she couldn’t this time because she had just recently gone to a village for a gathering.
And so, Luiseine, me, and those two men rode on Nimia’s back and came near the secondary capital via the sky above the Dragon Forest.
We couldn’t fly in a conspicuous route, and we had to choose a place to land, so in the end, we had to walk from the Dragon Forest to the secondary capital.
It’s quite a nerve-wracking errand from the start. Could this be a sign that something difficult is about to happen?
It’s just my imagination, right?
After dismounting from Nimia, we walked together through the Dragon Forest towards the secondary capital.
Zan seemed to be entering the Dragon Forest for the first time, and he was enjoying the scenery of the sacred forest, unlike Dragon Peak.
And after walking for a while.
We arrived at the secondary capital of Armēdo without any obstacles.
“I will be going to the shrine to deliver this now. I’ll see you here again this evening.”
Luiseine will exchange the leaves for money to get Lyra’s protective gear.
She handed Nimia to me, gave a polite bow, and quickly walked towards the shrine.
“Well then, I think we’ll ask Elnea to be our tour guide.”
“Please take care of us.”
“Grumble”
With Zan’s arm around my shoulder and Sestarinis’s hand on my head, I’m overwhelmed with tension.
“Uh, it’s only my second time in the secondary capital, and I don’t know any tourist spots!”
“It’s alright. We’ve been here once. That’s one more time than us. So there shouldn’t be any problem.”
What kind of logic is that.
I let out a sigh of defeat and walked along the main street that continued from the road.
It’s all men. Moreover, both Zan and Sestarinis have a manly appearance.
It’s unlikely that these two men would be interested in beautiful palaces or elegant fountains.
So, what would they like? Thinking about it, only one thing came to mind.
“Since we’ve come all the way to this lively and large city, how about we go around and eat food that we don’t see on Dragon Peak!”
“That’s a surprisingly sensible idea.”
“Despite your small stature, that’s a manly proposal.”
Is it manly?
Sestarinis patted me on the back and praised me. But it hurt.
Sestarinis, who is a giant and carries an enormous two-handed axe on his back.
Zan, who is not as tall as Sestarinis but is taller than an average person and has a sturdy build.
Sandwiched between these two men, I, who am slightly shorter than average, rushed towards stalls selling delicious-looking food and rare items.
By the way, Sestarinis had the money.
As expected of the Dragon King. He has plenty of money and is generous enough to pay for everyone’s meals and more.
“By the way, wasn’t Sestarinis supposed to be in charge of transmitting the incident from the western village?”
I asked while munching on a skewer of mutton.
“Oh, if I inform a sufficiently large village, it will spread naturally from there. Don’t worry.”
Uwah. Sestarinis is surprisingly the type to neglect his duties.
Perhaps, like his physique, his thoughts and actions are grand, and he doesn’t care about details.
“Human food is so strongly seasoned.”
Zan commented while heartily eating a mysterious thigh meat coated in a sweet and savory sauce.
That might be true. On Dragon Peak, both in Mistral’s village and the village where the gathering was held, the flavors were light. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t delicious. Somehow, the food served on Dragon Peak was cuisine that brought out the flavor of the ingredients.
I might actually prefer the cooking made by the Dragon Race.
It’s not because I have the selfish thought that Mistral or Ruiseine are making it! I thought, and Nimia, who was on my shoulder, meowed.
“So, Elnea, who is your true favorite?”
“Huh?”
Sestarinis, who swapped Nimia to the top of my head and put his arm around my shoulder, leaned in.
“What do you mean, favorite? You mean, among the food stalls we’ve eaten from, which one was the most delicious?”
“Don’t play dumb. We’re talking about which of your wives is your true favorite.”
This time, Zan plucked Nimia from the top of my head and spun my head around.
Grrr, so that’s what you’re talking about.
I suppose it’s common for conversations to turn to romance when women gather with women or men with men, but I never expected these two to bring it up.
“So, who is it? Is it that girl Lyra you fought with?”
“Hey, hey. You took Mistral away from the Dragon Race people, you’re not going to say your favorite is someone else, are you?”
What’s the deal, as the two burly men cornered me, I felt more and more squashed.
Help me, Nimia! I shouted in my heart, but Nimia, still held by Zan, meowed as if abandoning me.
Grrr, how can I get out of this situation?
While being sandwiched between Sestarinis and Zan and being teased,
“You there, what are you doing!”
A sharp female voice came from behind.
“Hm?”
“Are you talking to us?”
Zan and Sestarinis turned around. But I was completely restrained by them, so I couldn’t see what was happening behind me.
“Uwah. Ganging up on a child in broad daylight in the street is wrong!”
Another female voice flew in.
“Hey. Are you guys misunderstanding something?”
“Hahaha. What cute young ladies. How about it, why don’t you join us for a food tour?”
Zan spoke to the women behind them with a hint of exasperation, while Sestarinis seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Ugh. This guy is hitting on us, the miko, in broad daylight!”
“This is problematic.”
Hmm. The women behind us are miko?
And, doesn’t that voice sound familiar?
I managed to break free from their grasp and looked behind me.
” ” ” Ah! ” ”
And the voices of the two women and myself overlapped.
“Uwah, Kiiri and Inea!”
“Oh, Elnea-kun.”
“Oooh, it’s Elnea-chin!”
We pointed at each other in surprise.
I hadn’t seen these two since the day we parted at the shrine square.
It seems they thought two burly men were harassing a boy and decided to approach them out of their duty as miko.
“What? Are they your acquaintances?”
“Hohou, you sure have a lot of female friends.”
“Uh…”
I was torn, wondering how to explain to Zan and Sestarinis, and then to Kiiri and Inea, respectively.
“You’re not going to say *they* are also your wives, are you?”
“What the heck, were there women in the flatlands too?”
“N-no! These two are Hero Lisuter’s wives!”
As I flusteredly tried to clarify, the two men looked down at me as if saying, “Is that true?”
What’s with that look? Stop looking at me like I’m a womanizer. It’s a terrible misunderstanding.
“To be called wives is embarrassing!”
“Could it be that you all know each other?”
Inea wriggled shyly, and Kiiri, who realized they weren’t being harassed, tilted her head as she looked at me.
“Yes. We were just eating around with these people.”
“Oh my, is that so?”
“Heh. From behind, it looked like a boy being harassed by old men.”
“Old men!?”
Zan, who is still young, flinched.
“Well, from the perspective of a fifteen-year-old like me, or Kiiri and Inea, Zan, who is older than Mistral, can be called an old man without issue.”
“You’ve got some nerve.”
I outsmarted him. Even though Zan glared at me, I wasn’t scared.
“Was it our misunderstanding? We apologize.”
Kiiri bowed politely.
This kind of gesture is very similar to Luiseine, who is her childhood friend.
“But, why is Elnea-chin, who was supposed to be heading to Dragon Peak, here?”
“That’s what I was thinking, too.”
“Umm, this is…”
How should I explain this? I’m in trouble.
I can’t explain that Zan and Sestarinis are of the Dragon Race, and that they rode on Nimia’s back, whom Zan is still holding, from Dragon Peak.
“R-rather than me, why are you guys here? Could it be that Lisuter and the others are nearby too?”
Kiiri and Inea had said they would be acting with Lisuter for their year of journey. So, perhaps he and the rest of the Hero’s entourage are nearby.
“We’re the ones asking the questions!”
“We are.”
Just as Kiiri was about to say something.
“Run! It’s a magic sword user!”
“Those adventurer dudes are running wild with magic swords!”
Screams echoed from further down the main street as a large number of people fled.
“Ah?”
Hearing the words “magic sword user,” Zan and Sestarinis reacted swiftly.
“It finally happened.”
“Elnea-kun, you guys should run too.”
Kiiri and Inea got ready to use their sorcery.
“Now, now, pretty young ladies, you should step back.”
Sestarinis drew the enormous two-handed axe from his back and took a stance.
“It seems things are getting a bit dangerous in the human kingdom too.”
Zan also bared his fighting spirit, cracking his knuckles, and assumed a combat posture.
Nimia had already escaped from Zan’s hand and, flustered by the commotion, burrowed into my embrace.
And soon after.
From the front of the fleeing crowd, several adventurers appeared, wielding weapons that exuded an ominous presence.
“Holy sword!?”
I was astonished by the weapons held in the hands of all the adventurers who were rampaging like madmen.
