Chapter 5: Even if this Love was Prearranged(2)

MISTERLP

I peeled Roroa off me and waved a hand in front of Naden's face. "H-

Hey, Naden?"

"Kazuma is Souma, and Souma is Yormajesty, so he's... Yormajesty

Kazuma?" Naden faltered.

"I've got another weird alias now?! Hey, Naden, get it together!"

"Huh?!"

When I grabbed Naden by the shoulders and shook her while calling

out to her, she finally came to her senses. Then, with an angry look on her

face, Naden suddenly grabbed me by the collar.

"Hold it, Kazuma! They're calling you Souma, and Your Majesty, and

what the heck is going on here?!"

"Souma... don't tell me you didn't tell her anything," Liscia said to me,

clearly exasperated.

"Given my position, I didn't know if it was okay for me to give her my

name or not," I said. "But... you're right. It's about time I did. Erm...

Naden?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"My real name is Souma Kazuya. I'm the king of this kingdom, the

Kingdom of Friedonia."

"..."

Naden's eyes went wide, and she froze stiff. I heard that when people

were truly shocked, they lost the ability to speak, and it looked like that

was true of ryuus, too.

If we kept talking in the courtyard at night, we were probably all going

to come down with colds, so we decided to relocate to a conference room.

We sat around a round table, and I gave a rough explanation of how things

had gone.

How Madam Tiamat chose to have me come to the Star Dragon

Mountain Range ahead of the rest.

How there was a "storm" approaching the Star Dragon Mountain

Range.

How she had brought Naden and me together as a means of dealing

with it.

How Naden had been the only ryuu in a group of Western-style

dragons.

How Naden wanted to form a riding contract with me... Basically,

everything.

Liscia and the others hadn't known what happened after I went to the

Star Dragon Mountain Range, while Naden hadn't known about how I'd

gotten there, so I ultimately ended up having to explain everything.

Roroa was the first to open her mouth after hearing everything I had to

say. "Well, darn, looks like Mother Dragon's had ya dancin' in the palm of

her hand all this time. It feels like your meetin' with Nadie, all of it, was

prearranged by her."

"N-Nadie?" Naden's eyes went wide at the sudden nickname.

They met less than an hour ago, but she was already being treated like a

friend. I was amazed, as always, by how adept at socializing Roroa was.

She'll sidle up close to the other person, and not let them feel one bit of

distance from her, after all.

"Well, Mother Dragon of the Star Dragon Mountain Range is known as

a god of matchmaking, you know?" Liscia chimed in.

Roroa shrugged her shoulders. "Even if she is, isn't it all a little bit too

spot-on? For most of the people on this continent, if you say the word

'dragon,' they imagine a big lizard with wings. I'd say Darlin' is about the

only person out there who'd've been able to realize Nadie was a special

and different type of dragon, a ryuu. Since she went and delivered him

right to where Nadie was, I've gotta say the whole thing feels kinda

contrived."

"I believe Lady Roroa is correct," Hakuya said in support of Roroa's

opinion. "If I might add, it could be that Mother Dragon... Madam

Tiamat... is familiar with your world to some degree. If she was certain

that you'd know about ryuus, that means she must have known that the

world you came from had a concept of what a ryuu is."

"Madam Tiamat... knew about the world I came from?" I asked slowly.

She'd known I was a human who came from "Earth," or from "Japan."

I was sure about that. That being the case, she might have also assumed

that I knew about ryuus and the legends of them climbing waterfalls. Was

that why she brought Naden and me together?

"Hrm... That didn't occur to me," I said. "I should've asked more

specific questions, huh."

"I think that would've been difficult," Hakuya replied. "From what

you've told us, sire, if Madam Tiamat claimed not to have the 'authority'

to tell you something, you wouldn't have been able to ask."

I realized he was probably right. It looked like she was doing as little as

possible to influence mankind, after all. It was highly possible.

I noticed Juna was staring hard at Naden's face.

Naden leaned back a little. "Wh-What? Is there something on my

face?"

"No, I just thought your antlers resembled the ones that Grandmother

has..."

"They do?"

"Yes," said Juna. "She's a member of what's called the sea serpent

race, but she has antlers that are smaller than yours."

Excel, huh? If I recalled, the sea serpent race had tails and small

antlers, and were similar in appearance to Naden in her human form.

However, I had a theory about that.

"Excel and the other members of the sea serpent race are said to be

descended from a type of sea serpent that's also called a kouryuu or

jiaolong, right?" I asked. "I think those sea serpents might have been ryuus

like Naden."

For instance, with Juna's family, the Domas, their ancestors were said

to have been loreleis. Because loreleis had a human form, it didn't seem

that out of place for them to have been descended from ryuus.

When it came to sea serpents, they were so much larger and shaped so

differently, I had been somewhat dubious from the beginning about

whether their mating with humans was even possible, much less whether

such a mating could produce something like the sea serpent race. But if

those "sea serpents" had been ryuus like Naden, all such doubts would

melt away.

"The people of this world didn't know about ryuus," I said. "Also,

Naden was so skilled at swimming that she could swim up the Great

Waterfall. If they saw a ryuu who was so skilled at swimming, it wouldn't

be strange for a person in this world to think they were a sea serpent.

Meanwhile, like Naden, those ryuus would've been able to take on human

form, and so they would have been able to leave descendants in the form

of the sea serpent race."

Juna clapped her hands together as if she got it. "I see! So the sea

serpent race isn't half-dragons like the dragonewts, but half-ryuus

instead."

"Well, it's still just a theory, though."

"It made perfect sense to me. Then, that makes Naden like a distant

relative of mine."

"Huh? It does?" Naden asked.

When Juna smiled in response, Naden's cheeks started to loosen for a

moment, but then her gaze happened to fall on Juna's voluptuous chest,

and her smile became forced. She looked down to her own modest chest,

and her shoulders slumped so hard, you couldn't help but imagine an

exaggerated sound effect.

"There's no way we're related..." Naden muttered dispiritedly.

"I dunno what it is, but I've got a feelin' I can get along with this girl."

Roroa nodded sympathetically.

I... had some idea as to why, but I wasn't about to put my foot in that,

so I didn't touch upon it.

"Anyway, what I'm concerned about now is this 'storm' that Madam

Tiamat was on guard against," I said. "It seems it may not affect just the

Star Dragon Mountain Range, but this country, too."

I'd turned the conversation back onto a more serious note, so

everyone's sense of tension returned.

"She said you were the 'key' to dealing with that storm, right?" Liscia

asked, and I nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah. If I factor in how she knew about Earth, I guess it may have

something to do with how I was summoned from another world. Also, it

seems she'd chosen Naden as the one to carry me."

Madam Tiamat had mentioned that she needed me, the key to dealing

with it, and a girl who would carry me. It was more or less certain that the

girl she meant was Naden. If there was anything I questioned about it, it

would be why that girl had to be Naden in particular.

Liscia had her head cocked to the side. "It's rather vague. This 'storm'

doesn't seem like a natural phenomenon, does it?"

"There's no way it is," Naden said firmly. She seemed awfully sure of

it. "When I'm in my ryuu form, my whiskers are so sensitive that I can tell

you what the weather in an area will be like for the next week. If a storm

was coming soon, there's no way I wouldn't sense it."

"Seriously?!" I exclaimed. "That's super convenient!"

If we had Naden, we could start a weather forecast! We could start a

weather corner on Chris Tachyon's news program and broadcast it around

the country. In her ryuu form, Naden could probably fly around the

country in a day, so if we could use that to put together even a rough

weather report, it would be a big help to the people.

I had to have Naden come to the kingdom now!

"Souma... it's too easy to tell what you're thinking," Liscia said to me

as I was getting all excited. It was apparently written all over my face.

I felt awkward about it, so I cleared my throat, then got back to the

main issue at hand. "A-Anyway, in order to deal with this 'storm,'

whatever it is, I'm sure I'll need to go back to the Star Dragon Mountain

Range again."

"I don't want you sticking your neck into anything dangerous," Liscia

told me with a look of concern. But I couldn't oblige her.

"If I don't stick my neck in this now, it'll be just as bad if the same

calamity befalls us later as a result. Besides, I don't know if this is a

problem we can put off dealing with. If I'm going to regret it later,

thinking, 'Why didn't I do something back then?' then it's better to resolve

the issue now, while I have Madam Tiamat's guarantee that I can."

"Well, yes... that may be true, but..."

I put a hand on the still-dissatisfied Liscia's shoulder. "Normally, I

leave the things I can't do to those who can. But if there's something that

only I can do, I have to be proactive about doing it. I have to set an

example for the people."

"...Oh, fine, I get it." Liscia reluctantly accepted.

I stood up and walked over behind Naden's seat. Then, placing my

hands on her shoulders, I said, "In order to deal with this situation, I want

to form a dragon knight contract with Naden. What that basically means is

that I'd be taking Naden as my fifth fiancée. Naden's not the type to be a

primary queen, so she'll probably become a secondary queen, which will

give her more freedom." I looked closely at Liscia, Juna, and Roroa's

faces as I spoke. "But I have no intention of ignoring your feelings. If you

have any objections, now is the time to raise them."

"U-Um... I look forward to working with you." Naden stood up and

bowed her head.

Liscia and the other two looked at one another, but Roroa smiled wryly

and threw both of her hands straight up.

"I'm abstainin'. I'll leave this one to Big Sister Cia as the first primary

queen."

"That makes sense," said Juna. "I'm a secondary queen, so I'll abide by

Lady Liscia's decision on this, too."

The first primary queen was in the position of having to lead the other

primary and secondary queens, so this was a natural result, in some ways.

Liscia, who had been entrusted with deciding for the two of them, must

have understood this, too, because she let out a deep sigh.

"...Let me ask you this, Souma. This girl... you want to take her as your

queen, right?"

"Yeah."

"Is that your decision as a ruler? Or is it based on your own personal

feelings?"

"For the moment, I think it's more as a ruler." I didn't want to say this

in front of Naden, but even if I tried to cover it up, Liscia would see right

through me. So I decided to honestly tell them how I felt right now. "As a

ruler, I don't want to let such a capable person go. She'll give me a tie to

the Star Dragon Mountain Range, and by forming a contract with her, I

can appeal to the authority of the first hero king. Besides, Naden's abilities

are appealing, too. Her ability to know the weather, and to manipulate

electricity... both of them will allow this country to make great forward

strides. I don't want to give someone so capable to another country. I want

her for our country."

I glanced over at Naden, who had a slightly pained look on her face. I

was talking about her like some sort of handy tool, so I could hardly blame

her for that. I know it was weird for me to be the one saying it, but it was

sickening. Still... in my position as king, I had to factor things like this into

my decision-making process.

Liscia understood that, so she just nodded. "Then how do you feel

about her on a personal level?"

"I have a good impression of her... but I don't know yet," I admitted.

"We've only just met, after all."

Naden hung her head.

No, I wasn't trying to put that sort of look on her face. I wanted to

make sure she listened to what I had to say until the end, so I placed a hand

on Naden's shoulder.

"But I think I can come to love her."

Naden's face shot up. I smiled at her.

"Unlike all of the other women in this world, Naden isn't tied down by

things like the concerns of her house, or the need to produce an heir. Even

in times like these, she has the power to live all by herself if she chooses.

Her free spirit reminds me of the women back in my homeland.