We live in the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The second night.
“It’s nice, but if you do anything strange to Priscilla, you won’t get away with it.”
“My, my, Elnea-kun, do you have that kind of hobby?”
“N-no, that’s not it! Mistral, don’t say things that give the wrong impression.”
“Um, Priscilla is fine?”
All of us were startled by Priscilla-chan’s innocent words.
“Priscilla is fine sharing a room with Older Brother?”
Ah, I see. So that’s what it is.
I’m sure Priscilla thought Mistral and Ruiseine didn’t want to share a room with me and were trying to foist it off on each other.
That’s why she said she was fine.
I had assumed she meant she was fine with something else.
Mistral and Ruiseine, who gave a dry laugh, must have thought the same thing.
When they met each other’s eyes, they shyly averted their gazes.
Priscilla-chan, unaware of our misunderstanding, was smiling.
Nimia also seemed to be enjoying herself on top of Priscilla-chan’s head.
“Well then, Ruiseine and I will move to the next room.”
Mistral straightened herself up and gathered her belongings.
“S-shall we?”
Ruiseine blushed, grabbed her luggage, and hurried out of the room.
“No bath tonight. We’ll go out to eat somewhere later, so come and get me then.”
With that, Mistral also left the room.
“Um, no bath? Is it because I’m flat-chested?”
Wh-what a terrifying thing to say!
“No, it isn’t. It’s because everyone would be surprised by Priscilla-chan’s ears and things.”
Phew, I’m glad Priscilla-chan’s words weren’t heard by Mistral and the others.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
I moved my luggage to a convenient spot and sat down on a chair in the corner of the room.
As I took a breath, thinking how tired I was from all the events of the day, Priscilla-chan climbed onto my lap.
“Um. Today, I’m staying overnight with Older Brother.”
“Staying overnight, nyan.”
Nimia was on top of Priscilla-chan’s head as usual.
“Yes, that’s right. Aren’t you lonely being away from Mistral and the others?”
“It’s okay! Because Priscilla likes Older Brother.”
“Ahaha, thank you.”
Is she perhaps thinking that I’m disliked by Mistral and Ruiseine? I felt a warmth spread through me at the consideration of this small child.
I gently petted Priscilla-chan and Nimia.
Mistral often pets my head, and it feels very good.
So, I also gently petted Priscilla-chan and the others so they would feel good.
Priscilla-chan closed her eyes with a happy expression, and before I knew it, she had fallen asleep hugging me.
Priscilla-chan sleeps a lot.
She plays her best, eats a lot, and sleeps a lot. This child will surely grow up big and strong.
“Elnea Older Brother is targeting Priscilla, nyan.”
“Wh-what are you saying! I’m not looking at Priscilla-chan that way.”
“Nyan. Just kidding, nyan.”
Nimia, who had completely fallen asleep, leaped from Priscilla-chan’s head to mine.
Nimia really likes being on people’s heads.
“Priscilla’s and Elnea Older Brother’s heads are fluffy and feel good, nyan.”
“Hmm, no matter how I think about it, Nimia’s fur looks fluffier.”
“Others’ are better, nyan.”
“I see.”
I focused on Nimia, who was floating above my head with a comfortable weight.
From her, I felt an immeasurable amount of Dragon Power and Dragon Energy.
Although she looks like a kitten, Nimia is an Ancient Dragon Species who has lived for about a hundred years.
According to Old Man Sleigsta, she is stronger than Mistral, let alone me.
Speaking of which, her true form is several times larger than a wyvern. She should be heavy, but she isn’t heavy at all right now. Does her weight change with her appearance?
“I haven’t thought about it, nyan.”
“Eh?”
So, if only her appearance changed and her weight remained the same, Priscilla-chan and I would have been crushed if she sat on us?
I felt a slight chill.
“It’s okay, nyan. I won’t crush Priscilla, nyan.”
“You’ll crush me?”
“If you lay a hand on Priscilla, I’ll crush you, nyan.”
Oh, what in the world!
Besides Mistral and Ruiseine, there was another guardian watching me.
Of course, I wouldn’t do anything strange.
I’m not a pervert, you know.
“Priscilla is also flat, so don’t lay a hand on her, okay? Flat chests are no good, nyan.”
“N-no, that’s not it. It’s all a misunderstanding.”
Both Priscilla-chan and Nimia say such terrifying things.
If Mistral and Ruiseine heard them, they’d hate me before I even had a chance to charm them.
“So, that means you admit that Mistral Older Sister and Ruiseine Older Sister are also flat-chested, nyan.”
“Grrr.”
Although she looks like a kitten, she is still a dragon who has lived far longer than us.
It seems we can’t compete with her not only in strength but also in intelligence.
“S-speaking of which, Nimia, you ran away from home, right? Why did you run away?”
I abruptly changed the subject.
“Meow.”
Fufu, this is the kind of topic Nimia dislikes.
Since Nimia came to the Dragon Forest, she has never explained why she ran away from home.
“Elnea Older Brother is mean, nyan.”
“Fufufu, now, confess, little girl.”
“Your personality has changed, nyan.”
“Come on, say it and be relieved.”
“Meow.”
I grabbed Nimia, who was above my head, and tickled her belly.
Nimia writhed and tried to escape, but as a kitten, her strength, not just her weight, was also like a kitten’s, so she couldn’t escape my clutches.
Nimia’s long tail tickled my nostrils.
“Hiccup!”
My nose twitched, and I sneezed.
“Nyan.”
Perhaps finding a counter-attack against me, Nimia retaliated with her tail.
“Hiccup!”
Grrr, my fluffy tail is making me sneeze.
“Kch-”
“Oh, are you catching a cold, Elnea?”
As Nimia and I were playing, Mistral entered the room.
“Is that so, Elnea-kun?”
Ruiseine peered into the room from behind with concern.
“Ah, no. I was just playing with Nimia.”
“Nyan.”
When I released Nimia, she leaped onto Priscilla-chan’s head.
“I see, that’s good. Well then, let’s go eat.”
Mistral gave a wry smile, looking at Priscilla who had fallen asleep on my lap.
“Priscilla-chan sleeps a lot.”
Ruiseine was also smiling.
We all thought the same thing looking at Priscilla-chan’s sleeping face.
“Come on, Priscilla, wake up, it’s time to eat.”
Mistral gently stroked her back, and her droopy ears twitched.
“Um, Priscilla is hungry.”
Priscilla-chan opened her eyes, still looking sleepy.
But she responded to the mention of food.
We exchanged glances and smiled.
We finished dinner at the dining hall attached to the inn and returned to our rooms promptly.
And we decided to spend the time until bedtime all together in my room.
Priscilla-chan fell asleep again as soon as she was full.
Nimia was also curled up by Priscilla-chan’s side.
“She really sleeps a lot,” I said, smiling as I looked at Priscilla-chan.
“The Mimicho Race lives in harmony with nature.”
Mistral informed me.
“They wake when the sun rises and sleep when it sets. They don’t stay up at night by lighting fires like humans and us.”
“Whoa, is that so? Then, the banquet for Grandma’s birthday that we were invited to started in the early afternoon because they all go to sleep by late afternoon?”
“That would be the case.”
I had thought it was too early for a banquet to start while the sun was still high.
By our common sense, it’s normal to start festivities after sunset, when people are done with their errands and work.
“My, my. Elnea-kun, have you ever been to the Mimicho Race village?”
“Ah, yes. We met Priscilla-chan and the others there.”
I told Ruiseine about the time I was invited to the Mimicho Race village.
For a moment, I wondered if I should say it and checked with Mistral, but it seemed there was no need to hide anything from Ruiseine.
Ruiseine listened to my story with sparkling eyes.
“That sounds like an enviable experience. I’d love to go someday too.”
“Yes, it would be nice if we could go together next time.”
Since this requires the permission of the Mimicho Race, I couldn’t make any hasty promises.
“Oh, right. I’ll introduce you to the Old Man sometime.”
Instead, Mistral promised to guide her to the Moss Garden.
“Fufufu, I’m looking forward to it. The elder who is the guardian of the Dragon Forest? I want to meet him out of morbid curiosity.”
Dragons are truly terrifying beings, but she must have heard some stories from Mistral. Ruiseine was excited.
At first, I thought Ruiseine was a pure and gentle Miko, but I was wrong.
No, it’s not that she’s not pure and gentle.
Ruiseine is a more proactive girl than I expected.
She actively talks to someone like me, who is considered an idiot at school, and shows interest in various things.
Perhaps the mismatch between her aura and personality is Ruiseine’s charm.
Ruiseine heard many other things from Mistral.
Most of them were about the Dragon Forest, which we had in common.
She was surprised when she heard that the wooden sword I possessed was actually a Spirit Tree and a very valuable item.
Then, she borrowed the wooden sword from me and held it on her lap, gazing at it intently.
“I had felt a very mysterious presence, so I was curious. So it was something that changed from a sacred tree called a Spirit Tree, wasn’t it?”
“The reason you could feel its presence is because you have the Dragon Eye.”
“Is that so?”
The Dragon Eye is amazing. It seems to have unconsciously influenced Ruiseine, who knew nothing about Dragon Energy or Dragon Veins.
“Speaking of which, what did you talk about with Ruiseine yesterday?”
They seemed to be having fun in the bath, and I was curious about how much they discussed.
“Fufufu, that’s a secret between girls.”
Ruiseine smiled as she returned my wooden sword.
Mistral also just chuckled and didn’t tell me.
Hmmph. It bothers me when they don’t tell me.
N-no, surely they didn’t have a great time talking about my faults.
“If Elnea-kun hadn’t gotten involved in a strange incident last night, it would have been fun.”
“Gah! Don’t say that.”
“But thanks to that, we were able to prevent a potential issue between the Dragon Race and humans.”
“Yes, that’s the only blessing in disguise. Ah, speaking of which.”
I remembered something.
“That demon had a magic sword, didn’t he? What happened to it?”
A magic sword that looked exactly like a holy sword. We were deceived by that magic sword and Listea’s appearance.
“Rudoriado-san said he would take it away, so we didn’t purify it, just sealed it and handed it over.”
“When did you do all that work?”
“Fufufu, that’s a secret.”
I see, that magic sword was recovered.
I suspect there will be a report to the kingdom.
After all, it wasn’t just any ordinary magic sword. A magic sword that looks exactly like a holy sword makes even me suspicious.
Just like the attribute magic sword from the previous dragon slaying, it’s scary that someone might be secretly operating in the Armēdo Kingdom using magic swords.
“The demon said he entered the Armēdo Kingdom with the help of the Dragon Race, but is that true?”
Mistral might not want to touch upon this topic. Realizing I’d said something sensitive, I covered my mouth.
“Thank you for your concern.”
As if sensing my thoughts, Mistral smiled gently.
“No, I’m sorry. It’s not a pleasant topic.”
“No, but it is an important one.”
Mistral shook her head.
“Shall we switch to a slightly more serious topic?”
Mistral looked at me and Ruiseine.
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
“Yes, I’m fine with that too.”
I drank the water Ruiseine had handed out.
“Then, first, I’d like to talk a little about the relationship between the Dragon Race and demons.”
And then Mistral began to speak in a slow tone.
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