Chapter 3: The Narrowing Distance Between the Two(1)

MISTERLP

"Cold... High... Scary..."

Right now, I was flying through the skies, being carried by the dragon

priestess.

My body was wrapped in the dragon's hand, so it was reasonably

warm, but my face was directly exposed to the wind, and it was very cold.

That, and it was scary being this high up. It had nothing to do with

acrophobia—I'm pretty sure anyone who suddenly found themselves

skydiving with no past experience would be scared. That was what this

was like.

"I apologize for the inconvenience," the dragon priestess said.

"However, a dragon only lets her partner ride on her back. Please forgive

me for carrying you like this."

The dragon priestess sounded apologetic, but I wasn't convinced that

was the problem here.

"No, it's not that I wanted to ride on your back..."

Honestly, the only reason I wasn't even more freaked out was that only

my head was exposed. If I'd been riding on her back, feeling the speed and

wind pressure with my whole body, I'm confident I would have passed

out.

The members of our Air Force fly this high, too... I realized.

The dragon priestess asked, "Are you afraid of high places, Sir

Souma?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Kinda..."

"In that case, I will go faster so we can arrive at our destination

sooner." With that, the dragon priestess accelerated rapidly.

"No, that doesn't mean I want you to go fasteeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr!"

I screamed the loudest I had that day.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Eek!" Naden shrieked.

Having left Crystal Castle, she'd been on her way back to her den when

the biggest jolt she'd felt all day had hit her.

This wasn't like mere static electricity; this was like squeezing your

foot tightly when it was numb from you sitting on it for too long, or

suddenly having someone grab your sides. It was that sort of ticklish and

stimulating feeling.

Naden rubbed her cheeks and said, "I thought it might be my cheeks,

but could this be—"

She was then interrupted by something else.

"You there, worm," a high-handed voice said snootily.

When Naden turned to react, there were three girls there. One was a

beautiful young girl with defiant eyes and rolls of curly hair who looked

like the epitome of haughtiness, while the remaining two were her blueand green-haired flunkies.

The girl with rolls of red curls was Ruby; the flunky with the short blue

hair was Sapphire; and the flunky with the long green hair was Emerada.

Naden had been walking on a little road in the forest. The three of them

were standing to block it.

With a look of utter contempt on her face, Naden walked toward the

three of them. "Oh, look... the three stooges."

"Who're you calling stooges?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Well, should I call you drag-ons instead?" Naden quipped.

"Huh? Where is that pause in the middle coming from?"

"From how this keeps dragging on. You keep coming to bother me for

no good reason."

As one might have guessed from this exchange, Naden hated these

three. This country was unwelcoming, both in a geographic and diplomatic

sense, so many of the dragons had inward-looking personalities, too. That

was why there was no shortage of dragons who mocked her as a "wingless

dragon" or "worm."

Dragons prided themselves as being creatures revered as godbeasts, so

most of them wouldn't tell Naden how they looked down on her to her

face. But they still said it maliciously behind her back.

These three were the only ones who would openly mess with Naden.

Red-haired Ruby mockingly said, "Hmph! I heard you were called out

by Lady Tiamat, so I came to see if you finally got yourself thrown out.

Well? Was she mad?"

"Too bad for you, then," Naden shot back. "There wasn't anything she

was upset about."

"Hmph. Then why were you summoned?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business. Now get out of my way."

Naden tried to pass the three of them, but Ruby immediately blocked

her.

Naden tried to turn back the way she had come, but Sapphire and

Emerada had sealed it off.

"...You three, cut it out, would you?!"

When Naden glared at them, Ruby took on a nasty grin.

"Oh, yes, it's the Contract Ceremony soon, isn't it?"

Naden gulped. The three circled around her, with Ruby closely

scrutinizing her face.

"It's so romantic," Ruby said. "The young dragons and knights all

meet, the noble knights offer their hands to the dragons, and the dragons

accept their hands to become lifelong partners. It's the highlight of every

dragon's life. The moment when we can be said to shine our brightest."

Naden was silent.

"On that most important of days, I wonder if there will be a knight who

would deign to choose you." The corners of Ruby's lips turned up, and her

fang-like canines peeked out. It was an unpleasant smile. "Dragons prefer

strong knights. Strong knights produce prosperous descendants, a mark of

pride for any dragon. Knights prefer magnificent, majestic dragons. For

the knights of Nothung, the dragons are their partners both in marriage and

on the battlefield. In order to distinguish themselves in battle and to move

up in the ranks—not to mention survive—they'll choose strong, majestic,

and ferocious dragons."

Triumphant and mocking, Ruby's words beat against Naden's ears.

"But what about you? Will there be a knight who would choose you?

You, who have no wings, don't breathe fire, and can't fly? Even if there is,

what will he do? Is he going to ride you? Watching the rest of the dragon

knights fly through the sky while he fights on a dragon that's little better

than a horse? Ahaha, what an idiot. He won't be moving up in the world,

that's for sure!"

Bzzt!

Ruby jumped backward as that sound suddenly came from Naden.

Naden's hair began to stand on end, and her body was wreathed in pale

blue electrical discharge. Her voluminous hair spread out, wriggling in the

air like tentacles.

Naden turned to Ruby, pointing a finger at her as she said, "Shut your

filthy mouth. If you don't, I'll paralyze you."

"Hmph! Do it, if you can."

In the next moment, a blue bolt of electricity shot forth from Naden's

fingertip. However, by the time it reached its target, Ruby was no longer

there, and the trunk of the tree that had been behind her was singed

instead.

Naden looked up into the sky and howled, "Tch! Get down here, you

dirty coward!"

There were three dragons, red, green, and blue, hanging in the air; it

was none other than Ruby and her flunkies. The three flapped their

membranous, wyvern-like wings as they looked down at Naden.

"What's the matter? Weren't you going to paralyze us?" In her red

dragon form, Ruby seemed to have become even more spiteful. "Oh, right.

Even if you can control electric shocks, you can't hit us if you can't fly."

"Shut up!" Naden yelled.

"Who would ever choose you?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"You had better participate in the ceremony. Don't run away. Though

I'm sure no one will choose you, it would be good to see you put in your

place."

"Ngh!" Naden cried.

Naden ran away, turning her back on Ruby and the other two.

Damn it... Damn it...

She didn't want to let them see her tears of sadness and frustration. If

she cried, it would only let them bask in their sense of superiority. Not a

chance.

Though I'm sure no one will choose you.

As Ruby's words echoed in her ears, she imagined the other dragons

mocking her at the Contract Ceremony.

Pai and Lady Tiamat told her to participate, but she wouldn't let

anyone make a laughingstock of her!

Who... Who would go to the stupid Contract Ceremony?!

Naden vanished into the forest.

◇ ◇ ◇

Having adjusted to flying at high speeds, I spoke to the dragon priestess

as we got closer to the Star Dragon Mountain Range.

"So, I wanted to ask a question."

"What might that be?" she asked.

"This Dracul place, where the dragons live—it's on top of those

mountains, right?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"I'm still fine now, but if you carry me up there, am I going to be all

right when it comes to air and whatnot? I'd rather not suffer from altitude

sickness."

This was the Star Dragon Mountain Range, a series of mountains the

size of Mt. Fuji. The Dracul Plateau itself was kept in a state of perpetual

spring by Mother Dragon's magic, and the air there was no different from

the air at ground level, but what about the route there?

If I was going to be going through an experience equivalent to suddenly

being chucked to the top of Mt. Fuji, that would be hazardous to my

health.

The dragon priestess shook her head. "You need not fear. Once we

enter the Star Dragon Mountain Range, Lady Tiamat's magical power will

directly transport you the rest of the way to Crystal Castle in Dracul."

...So there you had it. Basically, it was going to be another teleportation

like I had experienced earlier.

"In that case, couldn't she have just transported me to that castle or

wherever to begin with?"

"Lady Tiamat can only exercise her fullest power within the Star

Dragon Mountain Range. In other lands, her abilities are greatly restricted.

When you get to be as far away as that village, she can only teleport you

short distances."

...Could a few kilometers really be called a short distance?

Well, it seemed she couldn't suddenly send dragons anywhere on the

continent, at least, so that was a bit of a relief. I didn't even have an

inkling of any intentions to oppose her, but it was still unsettling to have

her unilaterally hold the power of life and death over me. Though, well, I

could certainly tell that Mother Dragon was on an entirely different level

from other creatures.

While I was thinking that, the dragon priestess picked up speed. "We

will soon enter the Star Dragon Mountain Range. Please, brace yourself

for transportation."

"Brace myself? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Don't be surprised if the scenery around you suddenly changes."

"Oh, so that's what you meant..."

The dragon priestess's speed slowed, and when she had almost come to

a stop...

◆

...the scenery changed. We had just been in midair, but now the floor

was beneath my feet.

The dragon priestess set me down, and I was finally able to get my feet

back on terra firma.

I looked around, wondering where I might be. It was bright, so I could

see well, but it was an incredibly vast space I'd found myself in. There was

a white wall in front of my eyes, but when I turned to look behind me, the

wall on the opposite side was a long ways off. This place might be larger

than a domed stadium.

When I looked up to the ceiling, still thinking about that, I gulped

again. It's not a wall?!