We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Winter Trial
The seasons are gradually growing colder, and we’ve become busier accordingly.
Winter is coming, and once the new year arrives, the time for departure will finally be upon us.
While the number of classmates eager to become adventurers and make a name for themselves has decreased slightly since the beginning, it’s still several times more than in previous years.
From what I’ve heard, many people from different school districts are also aspiring to be adventurers, and the Adventurer’s Guild is bustling with an unprecedented surge in new members in recent years.
The cause of this commotion is, of course, the Hero Listea.
His exploits continue to grow.
During the time we were on an errand for the temple, he apparently vanquished an undead knight who appeared in a nearby village.
Furthermore, recently, he has frequently made front-page news for such deeds as defeating a demon in some region or eliminating multiple demons lurking in the city.
His attendance at school has decreased proportionally, but whenever he returned, he was always at the center of everyone’s attention.
And watching him, I can clearly see that his swordsmanship has improved by leaps and bounds.
I believe I can only perceive this because my own skills have also improved, but Listea is truly exceptional.
No matter how much strength I gain, Listea improves several times faster.
The same goes for Slaton, Creacio, and Listea’s wives.
Each time they go on an adventure, they return with a visibly incredible level of growth.
I am also training. I want to catch up to their abilities someday. However, far from catching up, I only seem to be falling further behind.
Driven by a sense of impatience, I consulted Sleigsta (Old Man).
He told me that the gap in our growth was due to the difference in practical experience.
My training primarily consists of meditation and practicing the forms of Dragon Sword Dance.
As for practical experience, I’ve only had the fight with the magic sword user in the ruins and the incident with the fake hero during an errand.
I often sparred with Mistral, but in the end, it was just a simulation, lacking any killing intent or sense of mortal danger, so there’s a limit to how much I can improve.
And also.
Lately, I haven’t been able to see Mistral much.
She seems to be very busy since the errand.
She appears to come to Sleigsta Old Man’s place every day, but many times, when I come in the afternoon, she has already left.
As usual, she collects a lot of firewood and, more recently, nuts for the season, and prepares them for us, but the days we see each other have become very few.
And I also haven’t been seeing Priscilla-chan and Nimia much.
This is because Mistral always escorts them, so if she isn’t there, Priscilla-chan and the others are naturally not at the Moss Garden either.
The lonely days continue, and I’m feeling a bit down.
But on the other hand, I can concentrate on my training.
I’m still far from Listea’s level of skill, but that’s precisely why daily training is important.
With so little practical combat, I have no choice but to compensate with the quality and concentration of my training.
So, as usual, I was meditating at school.
Recently, I’ve been promoted from “foolish child” to “Elnea of Delusions.”
Why “delusions”?!
It’s meditation, me-di-ta-tion.
However, because I’ve become close with Ruiseine, the boys, especially, have started saying that I must be closing my eyes during martial arts class to imagine lewd things, and that’s how I got this strange nickname.
That’s right.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Ruiseine at school lately.
Ruiseine is proactive.
Even when others tease us, she maintains a composed attitude and stays by my side.
Well, it’s mostly Keyri and Inea, who are also priestesses, who tease her, and she’s probably used to it.
When Ruiseine doesn’t have her own duties, she always goes with me to the Moss Garden.
She tells the temple she’s gathering medicinal herbs.
In fact, when we go to the Moss Garden, she takes the medicinal herbs that Mistral had prepared, so the temple doesn’t seem to suspect anything.
When she comes to the Moss Garden, she helps me with my training.
Ruiseine is a Battle Priestess.
She has far more practical experience than I do, and her fighting style, utilizing a naginata and sorcery, was refreshing to me.
Although my sparring with Mistral has decreased, I’ve started to spar a bit with Ruiseine.
And she is a user of the Dragon Eye.
My sparring sessions with her seem to serve as her training as well.
Ruiseine uses her Dragon Eye to read my Dragon Energy.
She says she can see the flow of Dragon Energy that envelops me when I perform the Dragon Sword Dance.
Seeing that, she has recently begun to anticipate my movements.
Yes. This is dangerous.
I’m realizing the meaning of what Mistral said, that the Dragon Eye is a natural enemy.
No matter what I try to do, if they can read my Dragon Energy, there’s nothing I can do.
If you know what’s coming next, dealing with it is easy.
Sparring with Ruiseine, who has honed her Dragon Eye, presented a different kind of difficulty than sparring with Mistral.
By the way.
What happens when Mistral and Ruiseine spar?
It seems that no matter how much Ruiseine tries to anticipate Mistral’s movements with her Dragon Eye, she is utterly outmatched by Mistral’s overwhelming speed and destructive power.
Mighty Dragon Princess…
Apparently, my first goal is to score a point against Ruiseine.
And then, I will eventually catch up to Listea.
My ultimate goal is Mistral.
I must gain enough strength to protect Mistral, Ruiseine, and the other important people in my life.
With that vow, I headed to the Moss Garden as usual.
It has become quite cold, and fallen leaves are now conspicuous in the Dragon Forest, but the Moss Garden remains its usual green carpet.
And Sleigsta Old Man, lying like a small mountain in the center of the green expanse, is also as usual.
“Bu-e-ckshoooooon!”
“Uwah!”
The moment he saw me, Sleigsta Old Man sneezed in my direction.
I hurriedly evaded with a Spatial Jump.
Your pranks are as usual!
“What? Do you not know how to show concern for an old body sneezing?”
“Well, if it weren’t Grandpa, I’d worry you’ve caught a cold.”
“You’ve been cold to me lately, haven’t you?”
“I learned how to handle you from Mistral.”
“Mm-hmm, that young lady. Meddling.”
He clicked his tongue and averted his gaze from me.
You’re not a child, so why are you sulking over something like that?
I gave a wry smile at Sleigsta Old Man’s gesture.
“You should respect your master more.”
“I do respect you, and I’m grateful. But that’s separate from getting covered in snot, isn’t it?”
“My snot is versatile. Accept it gratefully.”
“No, no. I’m in good health now, so I can’t just bathe in your gratuitous, precious snot.”
I don’t want to be covered in snot right after arriving.
“Very well. For neglecting me, I shall give you a trial.”
I’m not neglecting you, you know.
I just simply dodged the snot you flicked as a prank.
And to retaliate with a trial? Sleigsta Old Man is cruel.
“Hahaha, I will sometimes be strict and train my beloved disciple.”
Sleigsta Old Man laughed heartily with his mouth wide open, but one of his fangs was missing.
He has a gap in his teeth. He looks foolish.
There’s no dignity whatsoever.
“Don’t worry about the fang, it’ll grow back soon.”
“Yeah, I won’t mind that Mistral broke it.”
“Grrr, you’re really heartless lately.”
Sleigsta Old Man’s wry smile brought a smile to my face.
It feels good to be able to retort like this sometimes.
Usually, I’m just on the receiving end of his pranks.
“So, what is this trial?”
I wondered if it was one of his usual whims. What will I be ordered to do today?, I thought, looking at Sleigsta.
Lately, I’ve been doing various things on Sleigsta Old Man’s whims.
Like gathering nuts, or washing the snot-collecting pot in the stream.
Apparently, Mistral used to do these things every day. But she seems busy, so I’ve been helping Sleigsta Old Man a bit with his care.
“This time, you will deliver a letter.”
“A letter?”
I wonder if dragons write letters.
My gaze followed Sleigsta Old Man’s. On top of the pile of firewood and nuts he had gathered as usual, lay a single letter.
“Indeed. A letter. However, it was not written by me. We can easily communicate with someone far away if we feel like it, without writing letters.”
Telepathy, right? Amazing, as always.
“So, whose letter are you delivering to whom?”
“This letter is a letter of introduction. It was written by Mistral. Deliver it to a man named Jiludo who lives north of the capital city.”
Mmm, a letter from Mistral? Or rather, a letter of introduction?
“Deliver this to Jiludo, and you are to receive something from him.”
“What is this ‘something’?”
“I cannot say it myself. However, understand that it will not be easily obtained.”
“Is the letter perhaps to introduce me to this Mr. Jiludo?”
“Precisely. Without it, Jiludo will not deal with you.”
Is he a grumpy person? It’s strange that Mistral would write a letter of introduction.
Also, since Mistral wrote it, is Mr. Jiludo perhaps a Dragon Race person?
But I’ve never heard of any Dragon Race people living in the capital city.
“You’ll find out when you go. In any case, deliver that letter to Jiludo.”
And then, I just need to get the “something” back.
It sounds simple, yet difficult. A trial I don’t quite understand.
“This is an extremely severe trial.”
However, Sleigsta Old Man, reading my not-so-serious thoughts, says in a stern tone.
“If you fail to receive the certain item from Jiludo, your engagement with Mistral will be nullified.”
“Eeeehhh?!”
I widened my eyes in shock at the sudden declaration.
Sleigsta Old Man isn’t acting out of a desire to trouble me with a prank. He’s serious.
The atmosphere suggests that if I cannot overcome this trial, he will truly call off the engagement with Mistral.
Why did this suddenly become such a topic?
Could it be related to Mistral being busy?
I had assumed she was busy because searching for tribes within the Dragon Race that are colluding with demons was difficult, but perhaps she’s busy with something else.
“The deadline is before the new year. You must obtain the ‘certain item’ from Jiludo and return by then. Until then, you don’t need to come here.”
There’s still a considerable amount of time until the new year from now. But I have to obtain this “certain item” within that period.
And the fact that they’ve set such a long period implies that this will be extremely difficult.
I break out in an unpleasant sweat all over.
If I fail, I will lose Mistral.
I don’t want that. I absolutely don’t want to be separated from Mistral.
No matter what, I will overcome this trial.
“That’s the spirit. I have expectations for you too.”
I believe Sleigsta Old Man had no choice but to impose this trial on me due to unavoidable circumstances.
Then all I have to do is accomplish it with all my might.
I took the letter and carefully put it in my pocket.
“By the way, does Mistral know that the engagement will be canceled if I fail the trial?”
“Of course. I have informed Mistral as well. If you wish to marry her, you must fulfill the trial.”
“…Yes.”
Mistral has also agreed.
Why did Sleigsta Old Man suddenly come up with such a trial?
And why did Mistral agree to these terms?
I became increasingly anxious about the unknown trial that awaited me.
