We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Those who protect, and those who are protected.
Without slowing its momentum, Revalia flew straight towards us, with no intention of listening to any explanation.
“No, no! You mustn’t destroy the fortress!”
“Lady Revalia!”
She was definitely enjoying our panicked reactions!
Revalia approached the rooftop of our fortress at incredible speed, then performed a sharp U-turn. She changed her course at the last moment, flinging a gale-force wind around her. Then, with a powerful beat of her wings, she landed inside the fortress, in the plaza in front of the royal capital.
Screams of soldiers echoed.
“The Flame Emperor…”
General Teizenal trembled beside me.
During the summer’s wyvern hunt, Revalia had caused quite a commotion in the wyvern hunting grounds. However, that was to protect the wyverns of Dragon Peak. To humans, she was nothing but a symbol of terror. The fortress soldiers must have faced mortal danger countless times.
But this time, she had come to save humankind and the Armēdo Kingdom.
I needed to let them know that Revalia was a powerful ally. I once again took Rudoriado’s hand and started running towards where Revalia had landed.
“H-hey! Where are you taking me now?”
“To the red wyvern’s location!”
“Are you insane?! That’s a terrifying wyvern!”
“You’re wrong. Revalia is my precious family.”
“What!”
Suddenly, Rudoriado pulled his hand away from mine and glared at me with sharp eyes.
“Elnea, do you even know what you just said?”
“What do you mean?”
I stopped as well and faced Rudoriado directly.
“That terrifying wyvern, we call it the ‘Flame Emperor.’ It’s an evil wyvern that disrupted the wyvern hunt this summer and caused immense damage to humankind.”
“I know. I saw it.”
“You saw it? You saw that carnage and did nothing?!”
“…What do you want me to do? I am human, and a citizen of the Armēdo Kingdom. However, the dragons of Dragon Peak are my companions and family!”
Rudoriado’s words were correct.
But that was from a human perspective.
“It’s natural for wyverns to hunt prey in the wyvern hunting grounds. It was humans who went there and interfered. Should I cooperate with humans? Or should I cooperate with dragons?”
“Humans, of course! Even if Elnea is a disciple of Lord Jiludo of the Dragon Race, and even if you call dragons your companions, there’s damage being done to humans, so you should lend a hand to humans, right?”
“Then is it okay if damage is done to dragons?”
“The difference in damage is significant! Besides, they are dragons.”
“Don’t misunderstand. Dragons are also splendid creatures. They are a race with will, families, loved ones, and companions. Is it okay to be separated from your family if the damage is small? Is it okay to not be able to see the one you love anymore?”
“Even if we concede and say both are important, as Elnea claims. Then why didn’t you act to prevent damage to both sides during the wyvern hunt? If you understand both perspectives, couldn’t you have stopped it before they hurt each other?”
“Can my voice reach them? Can Rudoriado’s voice reach them?”
“What do you mean?”
“Rudoriado, you are a prince. If you were to say, ‘Let’s stop the wyvern hunt because it will cause significant damage to the residents of the royal capital,’ would it be stopped?”
“That’s…”
“It’s the same. No matter how friendly I am with dragons, I cannot completely stop their instincts. But the damage was reduced, wasn’t it?”
“What?”
“I know this fortress was damaged. I know many warriors and soldiers were injured. However,”
I looked in the direction of the royal capital.
“This year, the wyvern damage did not reach the royal capital, right? It didn’t affect people unrelated to the wyvern hunt, did it? Because the wyvern hunt ended early due to fear of Revalia’s threat, the impact on the residents’ lives should have been minimal.”
I shifted my gaze back to Rudoriado from the direction of the royal capital.
“Rudoriado, you said to lend a hand to those who are suffering damage. The ones I should be helping are not the wyverns acting on instinct, nor the warriors and soldiers who interfere with wyverns despite knowing the danger. It’s the residents who are unilaterally suffering damage, isn’t it? Rudoriado, you are a prince, yet you tell me to assist the selfish actions of a few people rather than my own people?”
Rudoriado fell silent under my direct gaze.
“And now, an unprecedented crisis is looming over humankind and the Armēdo Kingdom. That is why we are lending a hand. To protect innocent people, dragons and dragon people have rushed here from Dragon Peak. Rudoriado, please believe me. The dragon people are our allies. The dragons are not our enemies. And Revalia is my precious family and a powerful helper!”
Rudoriado looked at Revalia, who had landed on the royal capital side.
“Rudoriado, and everyone here in this fortress, you know Revalia’s strength, right? Then, if Revalia is an ally, isn’t that incredibly reassuring?”
With that, I took Rudoriado’s hand once more and started running. I ran down the stairs and passed through the inner gate.
“Revalia, Laira, thank you for coming!”
Laira, who spotted me emerging from the fortress, quickly dismounted from Revalia’s back and rushed over.
“I was surprised. I thought Lord Elnea was heading to the Dragon’s Mausoleum, but you’ve already arrived.”
“Yeah. A lot has happened. I arrived ahead of schedule.”
*Uwaaann. I’m here too!*
*Rim too!*
Oh? Where were they hiding? And they were riding quietly on Revalia’s back.
Fiorina and Rim also flew towards me, rubbing their heads against my stomach, arms, and back.
“Ouch, ouch!”
You guys, dragon horns are painful! Rubbing your heads against me means your horns are grating against my skin.
I embraced Laira and petted Fiorina and Rim.
“Elnea. This is…”
Standing right beside me, Rudoriado, whom I had dragged here, widened his eyes. My playful interaction with dragons, even young ones, must have seemed bizarre to him.
“A girl with a terrifying wyvern…”
“Elnea-kun, you have Luisene, and yet…”
Behind Rudoriado, Listea and Cerise were speechless.
It seemed like Cerise was misunderstanding something, so I had to explain properly. But I didn’t have time for that now.
As we exited the fortress, several people descended from the sky. All of them had wings on their backs.
“Did Elnea beat us to it?”
“What the hell, you told us to go ahead, but you’re the first one here.”
“Honestly. Zann is right. He always does something beyond our predictions.”
“Everyone, thank you for coming!”
The five Dragon Kings who landed were Jura, Yakushion, Sestarinis, Heorona, and Gashark.
“Huh? Where are the other Dragon Kings?”
What happened to Sleny, Wol, and Berrig, who were not present?
“Fuhaha. We left those earth dragon types who don’t have wings!”
The Dragon Kings laughed heartily.
“Good grief. Don’t make an old man run too much.”
Just then, Jiludo, who had been dragged around by me, appeared. The five Dragon Kings stopped laughing and rushed over to Jiludo. Then, they bowed their heads deeply.
“Lord Jiludo, one of the Eight Great Dragon Kings, it’s been a while.”
“Hahaha. I am no longer a Dragon King. Elnea is the Eighth Great Dragon King.”
Looking at Jiludo, who was deeply respected by all the Dragon Kings, including the middle-aged Jura, I was once again convinced that he was truly an amazing person.
“Well, now is not the time for greetings.”
Prompted by Jiludo, the Dragon Kings returned to us.
“So, Elnea, who is in charge around here? Don’t tell me it’s you?”
Sestarinis asked with a grin. I shook my head vigorously, denying it.
“Rather than in charge… this is Rudoriado, the Second Prince of the Armēdo Kingdom and a General of the National Army!”
As I indicated Rudoriado, who still looked astonished, the Dragon Kings turned their attention to him.
“Is that so? Human prince, be grateful that Elnea was a citizen of your country. We of Dragon Peak have come here at the request of Elnea. Furthermore, we shall protect this capital and annihilate those demons!”
“The leader of the Dragon Peak Alliance…”
Not only Rudoriado, but Listea and Cerise also looked at me in surprise.
“Prince, be grateful that Elnea was a citizen of your country. We of Dragon Peak have come here for Elnea’s sake.”
“Rest assured. Lesser demons are no match for us.”
“Alright, shall I go have some fun?”
“Alright, you guys, go ahead!”
“No, no, you go too.”
“Don’t be stupid. I just lost my dominant arm recently.”
“Still, lesser demons should be no problem.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
They greeted us inappropriately, declared their participation unilaterally, and started to leave, chattering amongst themselves.
Everyone, please don’t get too excited just because you’ve landed on flat ground. This isn’t a field trip.
As I shrugged my shoulders with a sigh, a golden winged dragon descended from the sky.
“W-wait, Lady Sefina!”
“Lord Yakushion!”
Sefina gracefully dismounted from Lord Yugra’s back, shaking off Friel’s attempts to restrain her.
“It’s been a while, Lord Yakushion.”
“Oh, it’s you. You’ve grown quite a bit.”
Sefina then rushed towards Yakushion, a Dragon King with a muscular build and tanned skin.
Did Yakushion teach Sefina dragon arts or strange martial arts…?
*The dragons in the north are getting restless. And so many Dragon Kings gathered here. Elnea, exercise restraint.*
“Eh?”
Lord Yugra looked at me with a resigned expression.
*Overkill.*
“Huh?!”
Revalia sighed.
“But, there might be a Demon Lord, and Demon Generals and high-ranking demons have come. We have to be prepared for any possibility.”
“A-a Demon Lord!?”
Ah. Listea’s face twitched.
That’s rare.
Or rather, did I not tell them about the existence of the Demon Lord?
“The Demon Lord… it’s over…”
Rudoriado was in a daze. I rushed to shake Rudoriado’s shoulders and bring him back to his senses.
“Rudoriado, you are a prince and a general. How can you despair? As humans, believe in miracles and have hope. We have come here for that very reason!”
“Miracles… hope. That’s right. The truth that we humans received from the Goddess is precisely hope and miracles.”
Rudoriado looked around.
Lord Yugra and Revalia, exuding an overwhelming presence. The Dragon Kings representing the dragon people. And the hero, and the soldiers of the fortress.
After looking at everyone, Rudoriado finally looked at me.
“Elnea brought us a miracle. Then, with hope that we can overcome this crisis, let’s face it with all our might!”
Sestarinis clapped Rudoriado on the back, his eyes now filled with light.
“Ooh, if the General’s feeling that way, we can’t fall behind!”
“He’s a fellow human, and a prince, just like Elnea. Don’t disappoint us!”
“Then, the pleasantries are over. Everyone, let’s go!!”
Heorona encouraged Rudoriado, and with Jura’s call, the Dragon Kings soared into the sky. Then, they flew towards the northern battlefield.
“Friel, thank you for bringing me. I will now participate in this fortress’s battle as a mere soldier.”
At Sefina’s declaration, cheers erupted from the fortress soldiers who had been watching quietly.
“Alright, we can’t let the reinforcements outdo us. I guess I’ll have to work seriously for the first time in a while!”
Rudoriado drew his thick, curse-powered sword.
“Ah. Please wait a moment.”
I stopped Rudoriado, who was eager to rush ahead.
“Our companions will surely protect the north. So, deploy the reserve forces to the royal capital. There are undead armies infiltrating the royal capital!”
“That’s right, Lord Rudoriado. With the strength of us Wyvern Knights alone, we cannot defend the entire royal capital.”
“Understood. We will dispatch the necessary forces from the fortress. So please, save Armēdo.”
Rudoriado bowed his head to Friel.
Then he bowed to me, the hero, and the dragon people like Lord Yugra and Revalia, one by one.
“Elnea, I apologize for earlier. I spoke unilaterally without considering your thoughts or position.”
“No. That’s not true. I think Rudoriado’s way of thinking is normal. I’m just a bit unusual.”
*Hohou, have you finally realized you’re special?*
*Hmph. What’s new? You’ve always been abnormal.*
Uwah! Lord Yugra and Revalia are saying terrible things.
Good. Rudoriado doesn’t have a dragon heart. If he understood, he would have been laughed at. Or so I thought. Laira, Jiludo, and Friel were laughing.
The others, without dragon hearts, tilted their heads, wondering what was so funny about my conversation with Rudoriado.
By the way, what happened to Slaton and the others, whose presence had faded?
I looked around and there they were.
Positioned between Revalia and Lord Yugra, Slaton and Duranel’s eyes were wide with fear.
Slaton was overwhelmed by the power of Revalia and Lord Yugra. And Duranel was being glared at by Revalia.
Pitiful…
