Chapter 114

Fe-rin

This was the vast spread of wilderness that laid between Wisdom and Ceramics. It was here that Ellis's party decided to make a stop in order to confirm the Phoenix Dragon Fe-rin's status.

The Storm Dragon Su-chan found a good clearing where a lot of damage could be done with little effect and slowly descended to the ground. Ellis and all of the others slid off his back before Reeve jumped to the ground and Su-chan took his mini size.

"Frau, how is the Phoenix Dragon doing?"

Ellis asked about the dragon who had yet to come out since hiding himself in Frau's hair. Frau had thought it was best to leave him alone for a bit to get comfortable, so she had left him on his own until now.

"How about it, have you calmed down some Phoenix Dragon?"

"Fe-rin is fine Frau. I thought I was done for, but I've been saved."

The other dragons all sympathized.

Usually, when a young girl ran into a dragon, they would shrink back in terror if not just run away screaming. They could hardly imagine coexisting with that dragon. To accomplish that, they would need a strong will that wishes to stand by those dragons and a strong spirit to not fear them. That was why it is rare for someone to actually qualify to become a Dragon Maiden.

By allowing themselves to be named, the Dragons leave their spirits unprotected, giving themselves over fully to their contract partner. This spiritual connection is formed through the pure maiden's kiss which serves as a physical connection allowing the two's spirits to connect.

In other words, a woman holding a dragon down and trying to forcibly form a connection was something that didn't happen too often.

The Frost Dragon was honestly feeling relieved right now. Katie had given him the name Ah-nyan and was a qualified person. She was also a pure maiden which meant that him being forcibly contracted worked out.

The Phoenix Dragon wasn't so fortunate. Peach was obviously not a qualified person, and even if she was, that would have meant spending a good portion of time being addressed as 'Gorgeous Peach's Dragon'. He was screwed either way. Thus when Peach gave him a kiss and tried connecting their two souls together, his whole body rejected her, resulting in him vomiting ectoplasm all over the place.

The Phoenix Dragon was finally able to calm himself down and popped out of Frau's hair. He really did look more like a bird rather than a dragon. The only things that really stood out were the fact that he had a mouth with a fang peeking out rather than a beak and some claws at the end of his wing. Otherwise he was from head-to-toe covered in bright crimson feathers rather than scales.

"I am the Phoenix Dragon, Fe-rin. Though I have now formed a contract with Frau making her my Dragon Maiden, my immediate goal is to get back at that Hero."

Fe-rin took the time to introduce himself. Afterwards, each person took the time to introduce themselves to him as well.

And so Ellis finally asked Fe-rin about his abilities.

"Fe-rin, can you use you Ultimate Release?"

"Just Fe-rin will be fine.¹ Well, mine is probably a bit different than the others, but do you still want to see?"

Saying so, Fe-rin returned to his original size and asked Frau to get on his back.

"Alright Frau, first we need to use {Share Sight}."

Frau did as she was told and used {Share Sight}, and after confirming that the two's sight had melded, Fe-rin took to the sky.

"Next up is {Route Fix}. Can you imagine where it is you want to fly?"

After using the next part of the spell, a small blue ball appeared right in front of where Fe-rin was flying. In her mind, she started drawing a line through the sky with that ball acting as the starting point.

"Well then, let's go, {Summon Fire Bird}!"

Frau and the Phoenix Dragon were wrapped up in a circus of flames, and barreled through the sky like a lit rocket.

It was a sight to behold, and Ellis and the other girls were all taken in by the beauty and elegance of the dancing flames. After a while the flames did disperse, spreading out into the air and flickering out. Frau and the Phoenix Dragon then slowly floated down retaking their original places on the ground.

Frau had grasped the full effects of {Summon Fire Bird} after using it once and started explaining its abilities after rejoining the group.

"Those flames that Fe-rin wraps around himself are special. They can heal enemies, do damage to allies, and have no effect on the surroundings which means no worry of a fire spreading afterwards."

Fe-rin continued the explanation after her.

"It's not a single strike death-blow like the Land Dragon's, but I believe it to be an interesting technique. The only drawback is that I have to have Frau on my back to do it, but other than that it shouldn't cause any problems for our allies."

It's an ability that the party would rarely ever need, but it would be highly effective if the opponent were to try and get close to exchange blows. And whenever it was needed, the type of attack which can hurt enemies while saving allies is invaluable. And the bigger the battle, the more precious the attack becomes.

Ellis told them to keep this ability secret for now. Well, even Warren's bigwigs hadn't seen any of the dragon's Ultimate Releases other than the Land Dragon's.

"Well then, I'm going to rest for a little longer in my charming size."

With his ability explored, Fe-rin retook his mini size and once again started hiding in Frau's hair–his new favorite spot.

"Alright then. What should we do now?" Ellis turned to the group and started talking about the future schedule.

"With this, high-speed flight should be possible for everyone besides Claire."

Reeve didn't mean any harm, but Claire started looking really lonely by herself. Then from inside Frau's hair, Fe-rin started whispering in Frau's ear. Frau's face lit right up after hearing what he had to say.

"Fe-rin can't fly as fast as Su-chan, but he should be able to fly with two additional people on his back while also providing a barrier for any non-Dragon Maidens."

So Su-chan was the speed type while Fe-rin was more of a general purpose?

"Then Su-chan can fly while carrying Reeve and Katie while Fe-rin carries me, Frau, and Claire. Does that sound okay?"

Both of the flying dragons nodded their heads here speaking up.

"It's no problem Ellis. And besides, if I'm only carrying two people, I can fly even faster than before."

"I am also fine with it. Ellis, Frau, please just give me some directions so I know where we're going."

Su-chan and Fe-rin both took on their normal sizes and got ready for flight. Rchin and Ah-nyan meanwhile took their usual spots on Ellis and Katie respectively in their mini forms. Pi-tan was Claire's responsibility.

"Then let's keep flying forward until Claire can't handle it anymore!"

Su-chan and Fe-rin began flapping their wings, and while Claire was feeling a little uneasy about the groups departing cry, the figures of two dragons darkened the sky as they flew west.

"What's the meaning of this?"

Gise started interrogating Dams and Peach after kicking them awake, wanting to know how the worst had happened. Right now even these two knew that this result was terrible, so they remained silent.

This was the wasteland east of Pottery City Ceramics. A few minutes ago, this was also the place where Gray had used magical rope to restrain an enormous crimson dragon.

The magic rope was still there, but for some reason it the load it was holding down had significantly decreased in volume.

"No, when we noticed the dragon was already gone."

Dams gave the only answer he could to the three party members who had returned.

"When we noticed, we realized we were sleeping in a pile right here."

Dams excuses were just making Gise want to kick him some more.

"That sort of thing, where has the dragon gone!"

Gray was getting impatient. "A Dragon Maiden candidate is absolutely necessary!" Giving that excuse, he had insisted that the lord's young daughter come with him. The lord had no idea what Gray was talking about, but the lord eventually allowed his daughter to go so long as he came with as well.

"Please explain this to me."

Not knowing what the dragon's escape truly meant, the lord started pressing the Hero for a proper explanation. So Gray started telling him everything they knew about dragons and Dragon Maidens.

The lord's daughter was quite surprised to find out that the rumored bird was in fact a dragon, and she was even more stunned to hear that the Hero had managed to capture it.

But then came the part of the explanation where the relationship between the dragon and its Dragon Maiden were explained. the descriptions for the overwhelming ability the dragon could display after a contract was formed left the both of them blue.

And then the conditions for becoming a Dragon Maiden were discussed, and after finding out the curse that would be placed on a person after they became a Dragon Maiden, both of their faces turned a startling red.

The lord was trembling in silent rage as he finally started to address Gray.

"Hero, did you honestly just try to constrain my daughter to a life where she would never be allowed to find love?"

"Do I have to dedicate myself to a dragon?" The young girl was herself trembling in fear. Tears had started to form as thoughts about a cursed life started bubbling in her mind.

The absentminded hero, Gray. He knew about the curse placed on a Dragon Maiden, but he had never thought of it as a problem. The members of the Jewelry Box always looked okay with it, but in reality, people who would hear those conditions and say, "Okay," were few and far between in this world. Reactions similar to the lord's were far more reasonable. Honestly, the fact that Gray hadn't been punched was its own miracle.

Gray started grumbling to himself, so Gise took a step forward to try and ease tensions.

"You're wrong Milord. We never meant any harm. We were just trying to follow the royal decree..."

"If so then you should have started your search by finding a Dragon Maiden candidate in the beginning!"

Whacking Gise's words to the side, the lord started berating the group, digging in insults and points that none of them could argue against until finally,

"Nothing can be gained if we tell the capitol what happened here today. The official report will be that you people saw the dragon over Ceramics, but it flew away. End of story."

The Braves bowed their heads. Gray and Gise noticed Peach clicking her tongue behind Dams, but they remained silent. This was after all their fault for blindly a.s.suming that Peach could sign a contract. No, hoping that she could, so she'd be out of their hair.

"Yes. We will return to the capitol immediately. We will take your advice to heart and advise the kind to search for a Dragon Maiden candidate first and foremost."

And just like that, the Braves used {Leap City} to return to Skycastle with a heavy step.