We live at the Foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Tyrant and the Koryū
“Umm, shall we play tag next?”
“P-p-please spare me.”
The Koryū’s head, being manipulated by Priscilla-chan, let out a scream and pleaded for my help.
“Do something about that little girl. I am not a mount!”
“I’m sorry. I apologize for the trouble.”
While apologizing, I caught Priscilla-chan. When I grabbed her, Priscilla-chan puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
“Priscilla-chan, the Koryū is in trouble, so let’s take a break for a while, okay?”
“I want to play a little longer?”
“Yes. But if you’re going to be selfish, Mistral will get angry when he returns.”
“Muu.”
Priscilla-chan is weak to Mistral’s genuine anger. Mentioning Mistral’s name made her obedient in my arms.
“Priscilla-chan, you must be thirsty.”
Ruiseine kindly brought drinks. Priscilla-chan took them and drank them up with a satisfied look.
“I’m thirsty too.”
Lyra, who had been busy repairing the nest, also returned, and we all decided to take a break.
All the food had been given to the Koryū, so it was a somewhat lonely break with only drinks.
“If we’re going to be staying here, we need to secure food for later.”
“Ugh, my snack…”
“Priscilla wants a snack too.”
Nimia brought this upon herself. If Nimia hadn’t playfully gone down to the center of the nest and bothered the Koryū, we wouldn’t have ended up providing all the food.
Priscilla-chan was just caught in the crossfire this time.
But Priscilla-chan and Nimia are like two peas in a pod, so it can’t be helped. Of course.
While comforting them, I thought about what to do about the food.
If it comes down to it, I can just go hunting. As for sweets, it would be nice if there were fruits growing somewhere.
We discussed today’s plans, including the food. Priscilla-chan and Nimia still seemed to want to play more. After the meal, we’ll have to make the Koryū sacrifice themselves again.
Ruiseine and Lyra’s eyes sparkled with the desire to experience something new, having come all the way to the Koryū’s nest.
Hmm, what kind of experience can only be had here, I wondered, when a large shadow crossed the nest.
“What was that!?” A moment of tension ran through everyone.
Then, looking up at the sky, we were surprised.
“A big one’s here!”
Priscilla-chan waved her hand towards the sky.
“Kuwa, the Tyrant is here again!”
The Koryū suddenly began to stir.
It was indeed the Tyrant that had flown across the sky above the Koryū’s nest.
After passing by once, the Tyrant suddenly banked and dived straight towards the nest.
“Uwah, run!”
We and the flock of Koryū hurriedly evacuated.
The Tyrant, without question, plunged in, shaking the nest with the impact, kicking up dust, and landing fiercely.
“W-what are you doing!?”
I couldn’t help but shout. The Tyrant then looked at me as if it had just noticed me.
“You seem to appear everywhere.”
“No, no, no, that’s what I should be saying?”
I approached the Tyrant, dusting off my now-soiled clothes.
“Besides, what a terrible landing.”
“What, it’s usual.”
“No, this sort of thing can’t be usual.”
Tyrant, have you forgotten our promise? Destroying the Koryū’s nest, you haven’t changed at all from the past. I said angrily, and the Tyrant laughed.
“This much is just right for them. Their joy in life is to build new and comfortable nests. If they are destroyed, can’t they just build them anew?”
“Hold on a second!!”
However, it was the Koryū’s head that called out a halt to the Tyrant’s argument.
“It’s true that building nests is our joy in life. But if they’re destroyed every single day, it’s too much!”
“Revalia, you’re not by any chance coming here every day?”
I asked with a strained face.
“Hmph. I’m just leaving the young dragons here.”
Saying that, the Tyrant gestured for me to look at its back.
“Whoa! It’s a small one!”
Priscilla-chan, who had been evacuated, happily jumped onto the Tyrant’s back. And then, she started playing with the young dragon that was there.
“Um, what does this mean?”
Why is the Tyrant leaving its young dragons with the Koryū every day?
The Tyrant cast a look of exasperation at my question.
“You’re the one who made them vow to do it for Dragon Peak.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“I’m fulfilling my promise with you reluctantly. However, I can’t involve our young dragons in this.”
Well, you seemed to be enjoying yourself yesterday, fulfilling your duty. I wanted to interject, but indeed, I could understand the Tyrant’s reasoning.
It’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to involve your precious young dragons in a role that might involve danger.
But, you see?
“Even so, why entrust them to the Koryū instead of your own kind, the Wyverns?”
Yes, that’s right. I don’t think there’s any need to specifically entrust them to the Koryū.
“Fool. Aren’t Koryū splendid Wyverns too?”
“Hah!?”
I was stunned by the unexpected answer. And now that I think about it, I looked closely at the Koryū.
They look like chickens, but they aren’t. Their bodies are more than a size larger than a chicken’s, and instead of a comb, they have spiky horns. Their feathers are also more beautiful than a chicken’s.
But, they still resemble chickens in appearance.
And while chickens can’t fly, they are birds.
These resemble birds but aren’t, and are members of the Dragon Race…
“Oh! Indeed, they are a type of Wyvern!”
“Did you just look down on us just now!?”
I convulsed in pain from the Koryū’s tackle. While convulsing, I was half convinced.
“Certainly, they are Wyverns. But I still don’t understand why you entrust them to the Koryū?”
The Tyrant, with its four pupils and four large and small wings, is special even among Wyverns, that much I understood. But if I were the Tyrant, I would entrust them to Wyverns that looked as close to myself as possible, like the one I saved yesterday. To this question, the Tyrant replied with a sigh.
“I understand what you’re getting at. However, I’m uneasy entrusting our young dragons to ordinary Wyverns. With these guys, there’s no problem.”
“Kuwa, that’s looking down on us. I can’t let that slide!”
The Koryū expressed its dissatisfaction and tackled the Tyrant again. But the Tyrant wasn’t bothered and remained unfazed.
“That’s why I’m entrusting them. There’s no problem, is there?”
“There’s a huge problem! We can’t stand having our nests destroyed every single day!”
The Koryū’s protests, accompanied by tackles, were ignored.
“If your questions are finished, I’m leaving.”
Despite his reluctant attitude, he answered my questions properly and seemed to be trying to keep his promises. The Tyrant is surprisingly serious and gentle.
“Stop that disgusting grin. I’m leaving.”
With a “Hmph,” and averting his gaze from me, the Tyrant let its young dragon and Priscilla-chan dismount, and then flew away with its usual rough flapping.
Further messing up the Koryū’s nest with a gale.
“Jeez. You’ve introduced us to quite a troublesome acquaintance.”
Staring at the devastated nest, the Koryū’s head sighed.
Grrr, is this my fault? Something doesn’t feel right.
Despite my dissatisfaction, I couldn’t just stand by and watch the ruined nest, so Ruiseine, Lyra, and I helped the Koryū rebuild their nest.
Priscilla-chan, Ares-chan, the young dragon, and Nimia played as if they were unaware of our struggles.
The Koryū were efficient at rebuilding their nest. We quickly gathered scattered branches and feathers, and in no time, we had recreated the original nest.
“They’re so skilled!” I couldn’t honestly be happy, but still, we rejoiced in the completed nest.
“It was a valuable experience.”
“Well, I wonder if nest building will be useful in the future?”
“It’s good to experience and learn everything.”
Ruiseine’s admonition convinced me. Indeed, I’ve had various experiences before, and they’ve unexpectedly come in handy.
Perhaps this nest-building experience will also be useful someday.
For example, when building Nimia’s nest.
“Nyan wants a fluffy futon with everyone.”
Nimia flew to me just to say that, then returned to Priscilla-chan’s side.
It seems she misunderstood and thought I was seriously going to build her a nest. So she hurried back to state her opinion.
But before Nimia met us, when she was protecting the Ancient Capital with Asher, what kind of place did she live in?
The Ancient Capital where only women live is intriguing, but I’d also like to know about Nimia and Asher’s daily lives.
“Nyan’s home requires permission to visit. But Elnea, Older Brother, you can surely go. So when that time comes, we’ll live there together.”
Nimia flew to me again, said that, and returned.
Nimia, flitting back and forth between me and Priscilla-chan, was cute, and a smile escaped my lips.
However, the game Priscilla-chan and the others were playing was not amusing.
Priscilla-chan, Ares-chan, Nimia, the young dragon, and the chicks were playing normal tag…
The sight of the young dragon chasing the chicks with the role of “it” could only be described as a predator-prey dynamic!
The chicks, instinctively sensing danger, were desperately trying to escape.
“Elnea-sama, is that alright as it is?”
Lyra looked at me with concern.
“Y-yes. Their parents aren’t saying anything, so I guess it’s fine.”
Indeed, this isn’t a problem for me to interfere with. I convinced myself and nodded.
It’s not because Priscilla-chan and the others are out of our league or anything!
“Nyaa.”
Nimia, who had read my mind from afar, let out a meow.
After that, we spent the daytime playing with the parent Koryū.
And then, in the evening. The Tyrant, who had likely been causing trouble at the Wyvern Hunting Ground again today, flew over the nest.
The young dragon thanked everyone and then flapped its wings, soaring towards the sky where the Tyrant was waiting.
The Tyrant placed the young dragon on its back and instantly flew away.
“Hey! What about saying thank you?”
I shouted at the Tyrant, which had flown away without saying goodbye to us.
And the next morning. The Tyrant descended again, destroying the nest, and then flew away after leaving the young dragon.
How overbearing. You can tell how hard the Koryū worked. And so, we once again set to work rebuilding the nest.
