Chapter 2: Time Begins to Move(1)

MISTERLP

"Ah... The scenery is beautiful, just beautiful." I couldn't help but let

out a sigh of admiration.

This was northwest of the Kingdom of Friedonia, a small village on the

border with the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria.

Looking out further to the west from the center of the village, the

bluish-green peaks of the Star Dragon Mountain Range stood there with an

incredible sense of presence. Even though they were still a long ways

away, they still looked so big. It was a series of mountains the size of Mt.

Fuji, so I could understand why the view was so impactful.

Was Dracul, where the dragons lived, in the middle of those majestic

mountains? Just what sort of place was it? I couldn't even imagine.

"What's the matter, Big Brother?" Tomoe called as I stared vacantly at

the mountains.

"Hmm? I was thinking, 'Those mountains sure are big.'"

"Yeah. They're really big."

Seeing Tomoe and me gazing at the mountains, Hal objected. "Oh,

come on. You can see the Star Dragon Mountain Range all the way from

the castle."

"Hal, you just don't get it," Kaede chided the unsentimental Hal with a

wry smile. "Both from afar and up close, they're a breathtaking sight, but

in different ways, you know."

Aisha and Carla returned from leaving the wagon's horses at the inn's

stable.

"Well then, Sir Kazuma," Aisha said, "are we to wait here in this

village until they come to 'pick us up'?"

"...Uh, yeah," I said. "That's how it's supposed to work."

Whoops. Because Aisha had addressed me as Kazuma there, like in the

backstory I'd prepared for her, it had taken me a moment to respond.

Incidentally, in that backstory, I was the young heir to The Silver Deer,

and I was traveling around many countries to find potential trade goods.

Tomoe was my little sister, and I had her hiding her wolf ears and tail

beneath that hooded robe.

The other four, Aisha, Halbert, Kaede, and Carla, were playing the role

of adventurers we'd hired to protect us in our travels. For this trip, I'd

actually talked things over with the adventurers' guild and had them

registered as such.

In an alternate plan, I would have been an adventurer, too, but it stood

out so badly that my skill level was below that of the these four that I had

to give up on that one. It was true that I was weak, but they were almost

too strong. We had the best fighters in the kingdom with us, after all.

Let's get back to the story.

The arrangement was that we would wait here for our escort from the

Star Dragon Mountain Range to arrive. However, there was no set time for

that. It was possible we would be delayed on our trip here, so we could

only decide on a vague time, within a day or two of our arrival.

I said, "Well, if we just wait—"

◆

"—they'll make contact with... Uh... Wait, what?"

I had been responding to Aisha, but suddenly she was gone from my

side. Actually, Tomoe, Hal, Kaede, and Carla were gone, too. More than

that, everything including the village and its buildings had vanished in an

instant.

The next thing I knew, I was standing alone in the middle of a field.

What, why am I in a field?! Where did everyone go?!

It was a desolate field with no sign of people or buildings.

Let... Let me tell you what happened! I was in the village, but I

somehow ended up in a field. You... You guys think I don't know what

I'm talking about...

Wait, this wasn't the time to be joking around.

Unable to believe the situation I'd found myself in, I was looking

around restlessly, trying to find someone else, when the whole area

suddenly went dark. Had it clouded over...? No, that wasn't it! There was

something massive up in the sky, and it was blotting out the sun. When I

looked up to see what it was, there flew a massive dragon, twenty meters

in length.

"Awhuhwhuh?!" I babbled incoherently at the incredible sight.

◇ ◇ ◇

Bzzt.

Huh? Just now, for a moment, I felt something on my cheek... she

thought.

At that same time, in her cave on the Dracul Plateau, Naden quizzically

tilted her head to the side.

Naden had once again shut herself in today to watch broadcast

programs from the Gran Chaos Empire, but she just felt something weird

in her cheeks. It was small, like a little bug had landed there. However,

when she rubbed her squishy cheeks, there was nothing there.

"...Well, whatever." Naden returned to watching the broadcast

program.

Suddenly, Pai rushed up to her in human form. "This is huge, Naden!"

The very next moment, bang, Pai struck her leg on the table. While Pai

crouched down and grasped her leg in pain, the still hot tea that had been

sitting on the table splashed all over Naden's tail.

"Hiyahhhhh!" It was so hot Naden let out a scream that could have

come from a kung-fu movie star.

Thrashing around, she almost knocked the simple receiver over, but

desperately stopped herself just short enough to keep from breaking it.

Meanwhile, Pai, who had already recovered from the pain in her leg, was

looking at Naden in exasperation.

Groaning, Pai said, "What are you doing, Naden?"

"What am I doing?! This is all your fault! It was hot, okay?!"

"Hold on, that doesn't matter right now," said Pai. "This is a much

bigger deal."

"That was a big deal to me! If I break this receiver, I may not find

another one..."

"I'm telling you, there's something more important going on!"

"You can talk all you want. I'm going to sleep."

Naden went to lie down in the bed she had acquired from the outside

world, but Pai, who had a sulky look on her face, put a stop to that.

"No sleeping! Listen to me! Lady Tiamat has summoned you!"

"...Eep." Naden froze stiff just as she was about to get into bed.

Tiamat, who was also known as Mother Dragon, the ruler of the Star

Dragon Mountain Range, was sacred and inviolable, and her existence was

an absolute. Not even the dragons could lay eyes on her revered face

without good reason. Only when they were invited by her to perform some

function, or on some other business, were they able to stand in her

presence.

Furthermore, about the only time she summoned them was when she

meant to bestow some honor on them, or harsh punishment.

Pai looked at Naden pityingly. "What'd you go and do this time,

Naden?"

"Could you not immediately assume I'm getting punished?" Naden

griped.

"Well, have you done anything you'd deserve to be honored for?"

"...No..."

While Naden was wracking her brains, thinking, What could I have

done...? the idol dancing and singing on her simple receiver caught her

eye. There were some dragons with more traditional values who opposed

bringing in things from the human world like this.

"You think it's this?" Naden stared at the simple receiver.

Pai sighed. "They say Tiamat can see everything in the whole world.

She definitely knows."

"I-If it was a problem, she would have told me off for it sooner!"

Naden protested. "That's never happened, okay?"

"Wasn't she just letting it slide before? Or can you think of another

reason?"

"A reason... Maybe that I've crossed the border over thirty times now?"

"You've been going out that much?! Wait, I've got another idea.

Naden, you refused to participate in the Contract Ceremony, didn't you?"

"But... I mean..." Naden's face turned gloomy.

The Contract Ceremony, when the young knights of the Nothung

Dragon Knight Kingdom came to form marriage contracts with the

dragons, was a grand occasion for the dragons that came around once in a

lifetime. However, for an odd, wingless dragon like Naden it was only a

place where she would be a laughingstock.

Pai knew how Naden felt about it, but she also knew that skipping out

on things would only isolate Naden more, so she was stern. "You skipped

the dance practice for the Contract Ceremony, didn't you?"

During the ceremony, a knight and dragon would dance together as

proof of their newly formed contract. Then, when the dragon had finished

dancing in human form, she would take on the form of a dragon, and their

contract would be formally established when they departed the Star

Dragon Mountain Range together. The dance lessons were to prepare for

this.

Naden puffed up her cheeks and pouted, turning her head to the side

and refusing to make eye contact. "There's no point in practicing for an

event I have no intention of attending."

Pai groaned. "Didn't you get in a fight with Ruby and the others a little

while ago, too?"

"They made fun of me for not being able to fly!"

"Don't you think the combination of all that is what's getting you

called in now? In my opinion, it's impressive she let you get away with all

of that for so long."

"Urgh..." Naden had no response to that.

"But, well, if she's never said anything to you before, I don't think

you're going to suddenly get punished for it, you know?" Pai said with a

sigh. "If you're doing something wrong, you ought to be scolded first."

"Y-Yeah!" Naden said with relief.

"But even if it's just a warning this time, will that change how you

behave?" Pai put her hand down on the simple receiver as she spoke. "If

she told you to dispose all these things you picked up in the lower

world..."

"That's like telling me to die!"

"It's that bad?" Pai asked.

Naden pulled the exasperated Pai's hand off the receiver and hid it

behind her back. "I can't throw this out. The simple receiver is my longing

for the outer world."

"And the romance novels?"

"My longing to have someone choose me."

"What are you, a maiden with your head full of dreams?"

"I am a maiden. ...Even if I'm like this."

Pai shrugged her shoulders in dismay. "Whatever; just be ready for it.

Even if she's going to be mad at you, it's best to get it done with quickly."

With Pai admonishing her like that, Naden reluctantly turned off the

receiver.

PS: tell if u guys prefer if i post 2 chaps per day 3 times a week or 1 chapter per day 6 times a week