Vol-05 Ch 3 – Legendary Dragon

Part 1

Just as we were told, we spent about half a day to reach the valley's entrance, as it is located half a day's walk from the capital. By the way, the time spent traveling was not on foot, but spent in a carriage.

If I had been to the valley once, it would have taken us an instant to get there… Unfortunately, it's my first time there, so that's not going to happen. Therefore, Owen-san arranged for a carriage to drop us off near the valley.

Certainly, walking that distance would have been difficult for Kaori. It's not for Yuti, Night, Akatsuki, and me, but I'm really grateful.

"Ugh… I've never ridden in a carriage before; it makes my bottom hurt so much…"

I've ridden it once, and I didn't feel the pain as much as Kaori did. This is probably because the difference between status values has a lot to do with it.

"Um… are you okay? Do you want to take a little break?"

Kaori shook her head as I asked her that. I had already planned to proceed according to Kaori's physical condition.

"No, it's fine! More importantly, let's go see the legendary dragon as soon as possible!"

I couldn't suppress a bitter smile as Kaori pointed to the valley with her eyes shining. What can I say? I didn't know that Kaori has a surprisingly strong sense of adventure until we travelled here.

She is not accustomed to the world, even on Earth, so she must be very interested in this kind of new experience. No, it's not just Kaori; I'm also curious about the legendary dragon.

However, I don't even know if it is friendly yet, so we should proceed with caution here.

"Advice. Kaori, stay close to Yuuya and me."

"Y-yes!"

"Night should look after Kaori too. And Akatsuki should… Well, yeah."

"Woof."

"Fugo?"

Night replied cheerfully, while Akatsuki stomped on the ground as if to say that he was offended. Because… well, I can't imagine Akatsuki fighting. I've never seen him fight before and…

"No, Akatsuki, if we get hurt, make sure you heal us well, okay?"

"Fugo? Buhi."

When I quickly followed up on that, Akatsuki seemed to say that it couldn't be helped and squealed proudly. He's cute.

Thus, we were ready to go and stepped into the valley.

＊＊＊

"──Yuuya. Monster. It's headed your way."

"Okay…!"

As Owen-san had described, monsters attacked us one after another a little while after entering the valley. It's also very different from the [Great Devil's Nest] where I usually fight. The monsters were all types I've never seen before.

The monsters I'm fighting now are the first of it's kind that I've seen in this valley; these drooling wolf-shaped monsters are called [Hungry Fang]s.

This monster doesn't have a lot of fur like Night, and is relatively slender, and attacks in packs. However, as Owen-san mentioned beforehand, they were as strong as Bloody Ogre when it came to fighting power, so I was able to deal with them calmly.

I finished defeating the Hungry Fang pack that was attacking me and took a deep breath.

"Phew… there seems to be no problem defeating them, but their vigor was frightening…"

"Affirmation. Hungry Fangs are always hungry, so their vigor while hunting their prey is incredible."

"I see… Or rather, the only item they dropped is a magic stone…"

The only thing left in the place where a Hungry Fang disappeared was a B-class magic stone. Considering that I got the armor I'm wearing now and other things from the Bloody Ogre, it's not entirely worthwhile to hunt it, even if it's the same rank.

"There's always a lot of items that dropped until now, so I feel so disappointed when I don't get them like now."

"Denial. There's always something wrong with Yuuya when it comes to dropped items."

"Eh?"

Is that right? Every time I defeat them, the enemy usually drops an item of some sort. No, I guess the rare drop items don't drop very often though. As I was picking up the magic stone and getting bored, Kaori, who was being protected by Night and Akatsuki, approached me.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to help you…"

"No, no, don't worry about it. We decided to have you be protected in the first place."

"Affirmative. Don't worry about it, Kaori. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses."

"Thank you very much."

Saying that, Kaori lowered her head. Even so… it's hard to believe that Yuti used the power of the "Evil" to attack us a few days ago while she showed such compassion towards Kaori. Well, Kaori also took care of Yuti on Earth, so I guess that's why she opened her heart.

Whatever the case, it's a good indication, considering how Yuti said she would kill humans.

"Now, it's been a little while since we entered the valley, shall we take a break and have a meal? It's an unfamiliar place, and I think it's best to take a break early."

"I agree. It's important to be careful."

"Yes, I think that sounds about right!"

Not only Yuti and Kaori, but also Night and Akatsuki responded to my words, so I once again activated my teleportation magic and was ready to return to the Sage-san's house when Yuti suddenly stopped me.

"Yuuya,"

"Hmm?"

"Suggestion. Let's have lunch here."

"Eh?"

"Reason. Eating in nature, very good. It's so nice here."

Just like Yuti said, as we enter the valley where the legendary dragon is said to sleep, which is surrounded by steep rocky mountains on both sides, the area around the valley part was blessed with nature. Filled with plants that I had never seen even in the [Great Devil's Nest], with a lot of humidity and moss due to the river flowing through the valley; it was such a place.

If we're talking about being in the midst of nature, the [Great Devil's Nest] is also sufficient. Still, it is certainly not possible to have a meal near a flowing river in the [Great Devil's Nest] like in this valley.

"Hmm… I wonder if it would be okay? You see, don't you think the smell of the food will attract the monsters?"

"Don't worry. We can handle them. If you're still unsure, I'll set up a barrier now."

"Eh?"

When I couldn't help but respond to Yuti's strange statement, Yuti was in a daze, as if she was looking into the distance.

And then…

"…I can see it."

"What did you see?"

Not responding to my words, Yuti immediately held up her bow and released a large number of arrows into the sky.

"Now, we'll be fine."

"What?!"

I couldn't understand the meaning of her actions since it made no sense, and I could only be confused. It's not just me, but Kaori and the others as well, each of them looking at each other, unable to ascertain what Yuti's intentions are.

Then Yuti noticed our confusion and explained.

"I can see the future."

"Huh?"

"Of course, it's not perfect. But it's highly accurate. So I just shot it beforehand so the arrow will strike the prey just as it is coming out, according to that prediction."

"….."

Kaori was speechless at Yuti's blunt words. That's right… Yuti was able to do such an outrageous thing. That's why she was able to predict that rebar would fall on the heads of the mother and her baby when we went shopping for clothes.

No, it's not all about predicting the future, what does she mean by shooting an arrow ahead of time to match that predicted future…

But when I think about it, I suddenly recall the time when I fought Yuti, I received such an inexplicable attack.

"When I fought Yuuya, I also used it──look!?"

"Eh?"

As Yuti turned her gaze to the forest bushes, Kaori and I followed her sight in that direction too, and suddenly a Hungry Fang, which we had just fought, came charging in from there, drooling.

"Whoa!"

Being caught off guard completely, I hurriedly tried to raise my weapon, but an arrow struck the Hungry Fang between its eyebrows, even though Yuti hadn't moved. Then, Hungry Fang turned into a particle of light and disappeared.

"This is the barrier."

It was seriously unreal. No, really, any existence that bears the "Holy" title is beyond common sense. No, it seems that Yuti isn't an official "Holy" but a disciple… but if this is done by a disciple, and that's even more extraordinary…

Once again, as I trembled at Yuti's extraordinary ability. Yuti looked at me casually.

"No worries. Now we can eat delicious food in this place. Yuuya, cook."

"…Yes."

In the meantime, thanks to Yuti, I start preparing the food without any trouble, so I activate my teleportation magic again and connect the distorted space to my house. Of course, all the cooking and such are done on Earth, so I would have to go back anyway. But I can handle that on my own.

"Now, what should I make."

For some reason, when I thought of food to eat outdoors, either barbecue or curry came to mind, so I decided to make curry this time.

When I finished making it quickly and returned to the valley again, Night and Akatsuki were rolling one of the large stones which were scattered around. When I looked closely at it, I saw that Kaori and the others had prepared a simple table and chairs using these stones.

"Thanks for the preparation."

"N-no! The cooking was left up to Yuuya-san after all. We should at least do this…"

Kaori smiled as she said that, and then she noticed the smell wafting from the pot in my hand.

"That smell is… curry!"

"Yeah. I don't know what to make, but when I think of food outdoors, curry comes to mind."

Well at the field trip the other day, I didn't expect to be tasked with cooking curry, and I also didn't think I would have to procure the ingredients as well.

"I agree. For a picnic, it would be sandwiches and onigiri (rice balls), but for a camping trip, it would be curry!"

"…Curious. I've never smelled anything like it. This smell, it makes me hungry…"

Yuti, who had never heard of curry, was curious about my pot and rubbed her belly as she described her thoughts. It's true; curry smells appetizing, doesn't it?

I'm hungry, too, so I quickly poured the curry onto the plates I brought with me and served it. Yuti looked more and more interested in the curry in front of her.

"The color, too, is strange. Can we really eat it?"

"Of course."

"…Hmm. It takes a little bit of courage. But it smells delicious…"

It's true that the color of curry, for those who don't know… well, it's a pretty challenging color. It's not a problem for us who are used to eating it. But when Kaori, Night, and Akatsuki began to eat, Yuti finally seemed to have made up her mind and took a bite.

"Huh!"

And as her eyes widened, she looked at Kaori and me with an excited look.

"This, this, this is delicious. It's so good."

"I-is that so? That's good to hear. And I'm glad you're eating it by yourself too."

"Hmm. I'm growing, after all."

"Yuuya-san, you are really good at cooking… it's very delicious!"

The curry was well-liked by the two of them, but let's just say all I did was cut up vegetables and stew them with a commercial Japanese curry powder… Well, I'm not making it with one kind of curry powder, but a mixture of two kinds of curry powder, so it might taste a little different. I didn't have that luxury before, but now that I've gotten money by converting things from the other world, I've expanded the scope of my cooking, or rather the things I can do.

"Waguwagu… Woof!"

"Fugo. Fugofugo."

Night and Akatsuki were also enjoying their curry, so it's a relief. As I watched everyone else eat, I brought my portion curry to my mouth and nodded once. Yes, it's delicious.

As we were each enjoying our curry in this manner, I suddenly realized something.

…It was so delicious that I had forgotten all about it, but the smell didn't attract monsters or anything, does it? Despite Yuti's barrier, it's still okay, right?

"Guooooooooooooooo!"

"""?"""

"Buhi!"

──The voice, or rather a roar of something that didn't seem to be from a monster, rang out. Then, just before the roar reached us, it seemed that some kind of light flooded out of Akatsuki as if the [Sanctuary] skill had been activated, but there was no time to check it.

That roar shook the surrounding trees and the ground, and caused the river's water to splash loudly. The mysterious roar made us drop the curry in our hands involuntarily, and we covered our ears, and held our heads up.

As we desperately endured the sound, the impact eventually subsided. We started to move, checking it out.

"What on earth was that noise?"

"Unknown. But it's unusual."

Even though I had my ears covered, I was still shaken up so much that my head was buzzing.

"Kaori, are you okay?"

"Y-yes… somehow… because, um, Akatsuki-san helped me…"

"Buhi."

As I thought, it looks like I wasn't mistaken about Akatsuki activating the [Sanctuary] skill. Yuti, Night, Akatsuki, and I can withstand it since we have some abilities, but Kaori is different. However, it seems that Akatsuki recognized that, and reduced the damage by applying the [Sanctuary] skill to Kaori.

"Thank you, Akatsuki. It was helpful."

"Buhibuhi."

Akatsuki nodded as if to say that it was obvious, but it actually helped Kaori. Besides, it's cute to see Akatsuki looking so high and mighty like that.

"Aaah… the curry we were eating was totally ruined, but the portion in the pot still looks like it's safe."

"Regret…"

In front of the curry that had fallen to the ground, Yuti muttered that in a sad voice.

"And what was that noise earlier? It's not a normal sound by any stretch of my imagination…"

At any rate, the ground and the trees were shaking – some of them couldn't withstand the impact of the roar, and there were even trees that were snapped off. It really helped that Akatsuki used [Sanctuary] on Kaori. If it weren't for the [Sanctuary] skill, Kaori would have been returned to Sage-san's house for sure.

Once everyone was confirmed safe for now, I had to think about the sound from earlier, but that's when Kaori opened her mouth.

"Well, that sound… that sounded like some kind of cry or… a roar to me."

"Roar?"

Roar, you said? Could it be…

I had a horrible feeling about it, and suddenly a floating sensation came over us.

"Huh?"

What's going on… the ground was shaking even more than before, and I noticed that, with each impact, we were floating off the ground. Just like me, whose face turns blue, Yuti also noticed something and muttered in dismay.

"This is unpredictable. I couldn't see it. Barrier, it doesn't do any good…"

It's an arrow that Yuti predicted the future and released before, but it doesn't help the situation that's happening now.

Because──.

"Yu-YuYuYu-Yu-Yuuya-san…"

"….."

I've already guessed everything, but I can't move now. Because as the approaching sounds and impacts got louder and louder, I couldn't stand properly.

"T-the dragon…!"

"Astonishing. This dragon looks exactly like the dragon from the old storybook…"

I turned around fearfully and saw in front of me a mouth shaped like the dinosaurs I've seen in movies and books.

"….."

"….."

The deep purple of the scales gave the dragon a fascinating air at our first encounter.. The appearance of the dragon, which had a somewhat sharp impression, was very majestic.

As I was about to be blown away by just his breath, my eyes met with the owner of that mouth.

I was interested in the dragon himself, but I couldn't do anything about it now that he appeared in front of me. And this is no ordinary dragon by any stretch of the imagination. Because the size of him is strange. He's big – too big.

He was as large as a skyscraper that's lying on the side. Because of his size, his body was completely hitting the rocks on both sides of the valley, but it might have forced its way to pass through since even that rocky hills had been scraped away and were crumbling.

Everything was outside of the ordinary.

Not only the size of him, but also the atmosphere; everything was overwhelming. Even Yuti, who is stronger than me, as well as Night and Akatsuki were stiff and unable to move.

And…

"Guuoooooooooooo!"

The dragon in front of me raised his head high in the heavens and once again let the roar that we heard earlier.

In the face of such a ridiculous situation, I had only one thought.

Yes, I'm going to die.

Because no matter what comes to mind, it's impossible. No, I originally hadn't planned on fighting, as Owen-san's request was only to investigate. But we ended up encountering him.

As my mind went blank and I couldn't let my voice out, I suddenly heard a voice different from the bellowing I heard earlier.

"Hey, you puny human over there!"

Part 2

"Hey, you puny human over there!"

"...….., Huh?"

I looked around hurriedly as I suddenly heard an unknown voice, but there was no one around who seemed to be the owner of the voice. It seemed that not only me but also Yuti and the others could hear it as well, and they all had puzzled expressions on their faces.

As we were all looking for the owner of the voice, we heard the voice again.

"As a puny human, how dare you ignore me?"

"Eh?"

I didn't think it was possible, but I looked up at the dragon's face. I was looking up towards the sky until my neck hurt.

"Could it be… you're speaking?"

"Indeed. I'm talking to you."

"The dragon is talkinnggggg!"

"What is it, you lot. Is it such a strange thing for me to speak?"

I wasn't expecting him to really be able to talk, so I reacted in this way.

"N-no, um… It's because this is the first time I've encountered a dragon, so…"

"Hmph. I don't want to be compared to those dragons around here, but I can certainly understand and speak your language. Do you know what that means?"

"Huh? …T-that means y-you've worked hard to learn the human language, right…?"

"What kind of apprehension is that?"

For some reason, the dragon was tsukomiing at my words. No, because… that's the only thing that comes to mind when being asked if I know what that means…

"Eei! That means that if I can understand your words, I can understand all the insulting things that you humans have said about me!"

"I-I see?"

"What a lack of response!"

Then, what should I say? Because I by no means have any intent to make fun of the dragon in front of me…

Seeing the exchange between the dragon and I, Kaori was shaken up. but for some reason, Yuti looked at me as if she wanted to say something to me. What? Is my reaction that strange?

It's not that I couldn't stand the stares by everyone, but for now, I'm going to ask the dragon a question.

"Um, can I ask you something…? I heard you were asleep at the beginning, but is there any reason why you woke up?"

"Where did that panic of yours earlier go?"

"I felt better after that conversation got derailed."

"So you're a big shot, huh?"

At first, I was surprised and thought it was all over, but when I found out that we could communicate with each other, I felt a lot better. If this dragon had intended to kill or eat us in the first place, we wouldn't be here talking right now.

"Well, that's okay. I was awakened by the annoying smell of the "Holy" and the "Evil"… And now, for the first time in my life… I, who have lived since the creation of the world… I never thought that there was a smell that I didn't even know existed. That smell has lured me here."

"A smell, you say?"

"You want to feign ignorance, huh? There's a pot lying near you. It's been drifting from there."

"Huh?"

I looked at the pot of curry that was miraculously safe from the dragon's roar earlier.

"Um, you mean this curry?"

"Curry, huh? What's that?"

"Erm, it's our meal…"

The dragon heard my words and, for some reason, frowned. Or rather, the expression on the dragon's face is so easy to understand.

"Hmph, don't talk nonsense. Isn't human food supposed to be either boiled or grilled? Do you think that seasoning it with plenty of salt and spices is acceptable?"

I nod my head at the dragon's words, which seem somewhat ridiculous. Could it be that he's been asleep for so many years that he doesn't know that human taste buds and seasonings have changed?

Sure, it may have been true in the past, but over the years, humans have also developed their own cooking methods and studied various cuisines. Well, in this world, the cooking techniques may not be that well developed yet.

"Hmm, in that case, since you are here, would you like to try it?"

"Eh, my curry…"

Then Yuti gave me a sad look at my remark.

"Aah, Yuti. I'll make another one right after giving this dragon the curry."

"Hoo? Do you think you're going to get home safely before me?"

"Eh? Aren't you gonna let us go?"

"…You are somewhat out of tune."

Why? I didn't do or say anything strange, didn't I?

"But even if I were to eat this thing, I wouldn't be satisfied with such a small and insignificant amount of food. What are you going to do?"

"What am I going to do, you said? If you said so…"

Indeed, the dragon was right; even if it were the size of a large pot, the amount would be completely lacking, considering the size of the dragon in front of me. In the first place, it's doubtful whether there is even enough for the dragon to taste it.

However, there's no better way to deal with this huge body──.

"Ah. That's it."

"Mu? What do you mean?"

"No, I just thought I'd found a way to reduce the size of dragon-san, so I thought that…"

"D-dragon-san? I mean, do you really think there's a way to do that?"

"Yes."

As I said that, I took out a certain thing from the item box. It was the [Pill of Large and Small Changes] that was dropped at the time when I got the equipment for Kaori's protection.

"What, that's… not poisonous or anything like that, right?"

"No, no, it's just a pill to make you smaller."

"A pill that could make me smaller?"

Dragon-san brought his huge face closer from the side and stared at the medicine with his big eyes.

"Hmph. How can such a thing make me small…"

"Well, well, don't say that; you just have to try it."

"Where's the attitude you had the first time you saw me?"

When you become too nervous, you become uncomfortable speaking, don't you think? Well, the reason why I've been able to be so carefree is that being nervous isn't practical. Besides, I'd really want to borrow Japanese companies' help and teach dragon-san that human food is wonderful too.

With that in mind, I threw the pill into the mouth of the still vigilant dragon. Incidentally, there were a lot of pills in the bottle, and to be honest, I didn't know how many pills it would take for the effect to appear. But as expected, I couldn't use more without knowing the effects, so I kept it to one. No, in the first place, if it's unused, I'm just saying that you should use it yourself first.

"Y-you! You really made me eat it!"

The next moment, however, the dragon's body began to glow.

"What is this? What's happening!"

"Who knows…?"

"Who knows?!"

Well, maybe it's like a sign that it's going to start shrinking now.

When dragon-san is panicked at the strange phenomenon of his body, Kaori, who has been watching the course of events until now, asked anxiously.

"W-what an amazing light… but is it okay?"

"I think it's going to be okay. When I got the item, the description didn't mention anything that looked like a side effect."

Yes, that was one of the main reasons why I used it on dragon-san without hesitation.

With the [Identification] skill, if there are any side effects, they should be properly explained to me. After all, when I examined the [Ichikoro grass] that Akatsuki brought me when I was collecting medicinal herbs with Lexia-san and Luna, I was properly informed that it was dangerous.

Eventually, the light subsided, and there was a small dragon there, about the size that I could carry in my two hands.

"I-is it done…? Why do you people look down on me?"

"It's because dragon-san is now small."

"What?!"

Dragon-san received my words and immediately looked over at his body and was stunned.

"T-this is ridiculous… my body is really smaller…"

"Now, you can really taste the curry."

"U-umu… No, I mean, that's not it! It's true that if I get smaller, it will let me try the curry, but I can't have it like this!"

"That's okay too. Perhaps, from now on, dragon-san will be able to change the size of his body at will."

"What?!"

The dragon's eyes widened as if to say that he couldn't believe my words, but his body began to glow again as he looked up at the sky as if he had decided on something.

And when the light subsided, dragon-san in his original size was present.

"I-I really turned back…"

"You really did it."

"You weren't sure about this?"

I knew that it was possible to change the body's size thanks to the [Identification] skill, so I didn't think it was impossible to do so. Dragon-san was astonished by my reaction, but soon, when his body glowed again, he changed into a smaller body.

"…Well, fine. No, it's not actually good, but let's not worry about it at this time. Now what's in the pot there? Give it to me quickly."

Saying that, dragon-san snatched the pot of curry I was holding. Then he opened the pot and took in a full breath.

"Suuuhh… U-umu, as I thought, it's an indescribable smell. But from the color, I can't imagine it's very good."

"Disagree. Then give it to me."

"What is it, little girl? This is mine now! I won't give it to you!"

At this point, Yuti aimed for the curry, but dragon-san finally stuck his face into the pot!

"….."

I wasn't expecting him to shove his whole face into the pot, so I was a little worried about him──.

"Zugogogo!"

"Eh."

I heard what sounded like something being sucked in at an incredible rate.

And then…

"Delicious! This is so good? What is this, what the hell is this?"

This was a victory for the Japanese companies.

I answered with a few words with a proud expression, "This is human food. It's curry."

"T-this is…!"

Dragon-san froze for a bit, looking greatly surprised, but then began to eat again in earnest.

While looking at that figure, I suddenly thought back to my conversation with dragon-san earlier and decided to ask him.

"Um… speaking of which, earlier you said something about the smell of "Holy" and "Evil," what do you mean by that?'"

"Haguhagu… Mm? Apparently… it means nothing. The disgusting smell of "Holy" and "Evil" began to fill the world, so my nose woke me up even though I didn't want to. They're spreading disgusting smells…"

Could it be that Master and the others are causing this…!

I'm not sure what to say to that fact, and as he ate, he moved his nose around and smelled us as well.

"I think I can sense some of that smell from the little girl there and from you as well… Mm? You guys have a bit of a strange smell. The little girl smells like a mixture of "Holy" and "Evil." And from you, it's…"

As he was about to say that much, dragon-san stopped eating his curry and opened his eyes.

"R-ridiculous… why do you smell like that guy!?"

"T-that guy?"

"Stop playing dumb! If I say that guy, it's that guy!"

"No, wait, that doesn't make sense to me…"

"Why is it so hard getting through to you? Didn't the humans call him the Sage?"

"Eh!?"

I was so surprised by dragon-san's words that my eyes widened.

"Sage, you said? You know sage-san?"

"Huh? I know what he knows, and he should know what I know, too."

"No, there's a lot of things happening with me at the moment…"

While telling him about the Earth, I explained to dragon-san that I became the new master of Sage-san's house and that I had inherited Sage-san's magic circuit.

Then, dragon-san snorted loudly.

"U-umu, I see… But I must admit that I've never heard of the existence of a different world… even though I've been living since the creation of this world… this is the first time I've heard of it. And to create a connection with it… As expected of the Sage."

Dragon-san muttered with a somewhat distant look in his eyes.

"Um… what's the relationship between dragon-san and Sage-san?"

"Hm? That's right… I thought we were friends."

"Eh?"

"But I failed to understand his suffering. I had no concept of life span and thought it was foolish to die of old age. But I didn't think that it was his only salvation…"

With a somewhat sad look on his face, dragon-san says so.

Sage-san's book said that he didn't have any close friends, but there were still those who were worried about him like this…

As I was feeling sad about that misunderstanding, dragon-san finally finished his curry.

"Puhah! That was good!"

"Oh, yes. That's good to know──."

The moment I was about to say that much, a message appeared in front of me.

You have succeeded in taming the [Genesis Dragon]

Part 3

You have succeeded in taming the [Genesis Dragon]

"...….Eh?"

"Mmm? What's wrong?"

I rubbed my eyes involuntarily at the message that appeared in front of me. But no matter how many times I checked, the contents in the message didn't change.

I was hesitant to tell Dragon-san about it.

"W-well… Dragon-san, um, You… you've been tamed by me."

"Huh? What did you say? …The human food you served was indeed delicious, but that doesn't mean I'll be tamed by──It's been dooonneeeee!?"

Dragon-san seemed to have checked his status, and his eyes were popping out. From Dragon-san's words, it seemed to be the undeniable truth that he was tamed. Yuti also froze with her eyes wide open.

Kaori didn't understand the meaning of taming, so she just tilted her head in confusion. Night and Akatsuki didn't seem to be making any particular noise.

"Why… why did this happen? What would happen to me now that I've been tamed?"

"Err… I'm sorry?"

"I'm not looking for an apology! You must release me now!"

"Eeh!? Even if you ask me to release you, I don't know how… No, I'm also troubled by taming Dragon-san, too…"

"Why have you tamed me in the first place?"

I'm sorry, I'm honestly surprised as well.

If it's a dragon, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't take him outside on Earth. He might be seen as a rare lizard without the wings, but Dragon-san has magnificent wings and is able to fly. There's no way to deceive others on Earth with regards to that.

Besides…

"Um, speaking of trouble, we originally came here since we heard that Dragon-san has awakened…"

"What? What do you mean by trouble?"

"Although there was a legend that Dragon-san was sleeping in this valley, no one believed it. But recently, with the monsters in the valley suddenly becoming active as if they were fleeing from something and, more importantly, with Dragon-san's roar, people thought that the legend might be true… And if the legend was true, the people were worried about what kind of action Dragon-san would take, as well as many other factors…"

"Hmph. Well, it can't be helped if they don't know about me nowadays… After all, it's been thousands of years since I had last been awake."

"T-thousands?"

"Yes. I'm sure that it was the smell of "Holy" and "Evil" that has awakened me, but as you can imagine, sleeping for so long makes me hungry. That is why I ate the monsters which were reasonably close by… and then the other monsters fled from me."

"I-I see…"

There were many things I wanted to say, but the most important part was that this happened after thousands of years, so Sage-san was a person from at least thousands of years ago… It's no wonder that people didn't know about him like Dragon-san.

Although the impact of Dragon-san's words was huge, it's difficult to comment on Dragon-san's behavior, especially if it seemed to be a bother. Dragon-san looked unperturbed and laid down.

"Hmph… So what are you going to do now?"

"Eh? Well… I've tamed you, for now, so I thought I should give you a name."

"You're starting with that? No, it's important too, but…!"

"Personally, I feel that calling you Dragon-san will be just fine…"

"That's no good! If you're going to give me a name, it should be a cool name that's befitting of me!"

Since Dragon-san asked, I was thinking of ideas for his name again. But rather, is he already accepting that he was tamed? No, it seems much worse.

I looked at Dragon-san again and thought.

Dragon-san is a majestic figure worthy of being a legendary dragon; his scales are a mixture of deep purple, black, and vermilion, which creates a feeling of luxuriousness.

"Hmm… then how about Ouma?"

"Ouma?"

"Yes. How should I say this? From Dragon-san's appearance, the word 'Oumagatoki*' just comes to me…"

[T/n: Oumagatoki means twilight, or the time for disasters (similar to the 'witching hour' but not midnight)]

Whether Oumagatoki is in the evening or not, that's the kind of color I am reminded of, so I just explained…

Then, Dragon-san mumbled the name I suggested and nodded his head a few times.

"Ouma… Ouma… huh? It's good. I'm Ouma from now on."

"Ah, yes."

"By the way, what is your name? Although I'm still reluctant, you've at least become my master. Is it not strange to not know your name?"

Dragon-san… No, Ouma-san's words reminded us that we never introduced ourselves, so we hurriedly told him our names. After hearing that, Ouma-san nodded again.

"Yuuya, Kaori, Yuti. And then Night and Akatsuki, huh? …When I look around again… there's a few unusual individuals here."

"Is that so?"

"Don't you realize? Yuuya and Yuti have a strange smell which is like a mixture of "Holy" and "Evil." I don't feel any threat from Kaori, so it's a mystery as to why she is here. As for Night and Akatsuki… U-umu. Looking at these two, isn't it strange that you tamed them…?

"Eh? I-is that so?"

"…I highly doubt it, but do you know of Night's race? Akatsuki is a bit special, so it's not surprising if you don't know about him…"

"I know about Night's race, you know? It's Black Fenrir, right?"

"Eh."

Then, for some reason, it wasn't Ouma-san who froze, but Yuti, who was listening in on our conversation behind me.

"Yuti-san, what's wrong?"

"K-Kaori. Did Yuuya just say Black Fenrir?"

"Y-yes. That's right. Night-san is that kind of wolf."

"That's two legendary species in one place…"

"Eeh?"

I'm puzzled by Yuti, who is holding her head. I don't understand what she meant. Then Ouma-san told me with a sigh.

"Sigh… It's no wonder that Yuti is like that. Although Night is not from a species that has lived since the creation of the world. But when it comes to combat power, Black Fenrir is on par with me."

"Eh."

"The current Night is just a child and is developing… but I have never heard of a tamed Black Fenrir. Considering how he is tamed and raised by Yuuya's hands… he could become the most powerful Black Fenrir in history."

"Huh…"

I didn't expect Night to become as strong as Ouma-san. Well, since he was in the [Great Devil's Nest] as a child, I didn't expect him to be weak.

"Night, you're a terrific guy, aren't you?"

"Woof? Woof."

"Fugo! Fugofugo!"

"Eh? Yeah, I know Akatsuki is amazing too."

"Buhi? Fugo."

"Woof."

Night himself didn't seem to understand my question, and after tilting his head, he snuggled up to my leg. Akatsuki rubbed up against my other leg, showing off that he's amazing too. …Well, they're cute, so it's okay.

"They're cute, so it's not a problem."

"They're a big-shot, you know? It's the same as having a hell of a force!"

"Affirmation. I was nervous about the fight with "Evil," but with Ouma in front of me, and Night growing up, it's safe to say that it would be a waste of time to worry about "Evil." That's about as strong as a fighting force gets."

"It is that much…"

"Of course. Who do you think I am? Normally, I am not interested in you humans, so I ignore them, but I can put an end to the conflict between the "Holy" and "Evil" in an instant if I choose to."

"H-how?"

"By blowing up this planet."

"That's blowing things out of proportion!"

What do you mean by destroying an entire planet? If you do that, you wouldn't be safe either, would you, Ouma-san?

Then, as if he knew what I was thinking, Ouma-san snorted.

"You may be worried about something trivial, but I can live anywhere. There's no harm in wiping out a planet; it's simply a matter of finding another one."

"Eh, horrible…"

"Yes, I am! I am one to be feared! I am not one to be tamed in any way!"

"But you have been tamed and…"

"That's why, how veeeexxing!"

Ouma-san lamented incessantly. I don't know even if you ask me that.

"Gnunu… If this cannot be reversed, then I hope it will be more fun than before. If not, my taming is just a loss for me! Yuuya, can you satisfy me?"

"Err…? Maybe with the Earth cuisine or information about Earth?"

"Eei, ain't that interesting…!"

It'll be okay. Ouma-san looked frustrated for some reason, and I brushed it off inwardly.

"Well… then, shall we go home…? The dragon in question, Ouma-san, has been tamed, and if Ouma-san was the cause of the monsters' activities, everything will be back to normal once he is gone…"

"Hmph. If your business was to investigate me, then you're done here. As Yuuya says, once I'm gone, the monsters will naturally return here."

"Then everything is fine. Let's go with that."

As I was about to say "let's go home", Kaori raised her hand timidly.

"Uh…"

"Hmm? What's wrong? Kaori"

"That… Ouma-san? However, we were asked to investigate the problems, and of course, Ouma-san is the cause of all these problems, right?"

"Well, I guess so."

"I don't know much about the situation on the human side, anyway" said Ouma-san.

"Then, what should we tell the people in the royal capital… and especially to Owen-san, who made this request to us?" said Kaori.

"Ah."

I froze at Kaori's words. That's right. Originally, Ouma-san's awakening was the cause of much trouble, and Owen-san sent us here to find out if he had awakened.

But the most important thing here is that I can't simply say that I took the legendary dragon back with me, can I…?

"W-what should we do…?"

"W-well, I guess we'll just have to be honest with him…"

"That's right…"

I don't know what the reaction will be. But I can't fool him, then I'll just have to be honest. Just when I think we can finally go home, a new problem comes up. But there's no point worrying about it, so I'm dragging my heavy feet to return to the capital.

＊＊＊

"────Um, Yuuya-dono. Can you repeat it?"

"…Um, the one next to me here is the legendary dragon. Yes."

After returning to the royal capital, I immediately went to report to Owen-san. But for some reason, I was taken in front of Arnold-sama.

It's also that Arnold-sama felt sorry that he had to ask me, a person from another country, to help them out. When the content of the report was about the legendary dragon, he wanted to hear about it in person. That's very courteous indeed.

However, because of this situation, the only people in this audience room right now are us, Owen-san, and Arnold-sama.

I'd like to say hello to Lexia-san and Luna as well, but they are currently away on official business or something. The princess is very busy, after all.

I'm trying to escape from reality, but since I have an unfamiliar dragon with me, Owen-san seemed to have guessed the situation and decided to ask me about it in detail with Arnold-sama. I'm nervous about going in front of Arnold-sama, perhaps even more nervous than when I met Ouma-san…

It might lead to misunderstanding if I left the situation up to their interpretation, so I honestly reported it to them. As expected, both Arnold-sama and Owen-san ended up with headaches.

Although I was concerned about Arnold-sama and the others, Kaori was also very nervous because she was in front of the King. I wanted her to relax somehow, but in front of Arnold-sama was just…

On the contrary, Yuti, who had previously attempted to kill the first prince, Rhaegar-sama, was just standing absent-mindedly and did not feel any tension.

As I was pondering what to do in this somewhat chaotic atmosphere, Ouma-san, the center of this case, opened his mouth as he laid on the ground annoyed.

"What, human. What is so strange about this me being tamed? Hmm?"

"N-no! That's not what──."

"Of course it's strange!" said Owen-san

"Eeh…?"

Owen-san tried to butt in in Ouma-san's good mood, and Ouma-san didn't expect to be cut off here and was confused.

"I don't understand it either! But I can't do anything about it because I've been tamed just like that. It's not me who's strange but him."

"I was just making a curry…"

"What's to blame is the human food that tastes so good!"

It's not my fault after all? No, the curry isn't wrong either.

Well, that's okay…

"So, what should I do?"

"W-what should you do, you ask?"

Arnold-sama replied to my question with a twitch of his cheeks…

"Well, this uproar was caused by Ouma-san… and it was this dragon…"

"Wha? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"But you shouldn't have caused trouble for other people, should you?"

"I am a dragon; I don't give a damn about human circumstances!"

"You can communicate with both dragons and humans, so… you need to be a little more considerate of their situation."

"Gnununu!"

As I explained that to Ouma-san, Owen-san and Arnold-sama looked at us with distant eyes.

"…Owen. Did my eyes get screwed up? The legendary dragon is being preached!"

"…No, Your Majesty. It's real."

"It's okay. I am also confused about what I see."

"R-right… wait, who are you?"

"I am Yuti."

"Yu-Yuti? Owen, do you know who she is?"

"Eh? Ah, well… um, it's hard to explain, I guess you could say…"

"King. Do not worry about the details."

"You seem very familiar!"

"Yuti, you stay away! …My apologies. She's somewhat out of touch with the world…"

"No, I mean, she's quite spirited… Anyway, isn't the legendary dragon supposed to be… bigger? I can't imagine him raising a roar that could make the whole castle tremble from a small body like that…"

"I had no idea that he is the legendary dragon until I led them here, but Yuuya-dono said he had an item that allows one to change the size of their body at will…"

"…Yuuya-dono, who on earth is he actually?

"…It's one question I'd love to know the answer to as well…"

While Ouma-san and I were still discussing, Arnold-sama let out a sigh and continued.

"So, what do you think we should do?"

"Well… First of all, it would be impossible to eliminate him."

"Y-you're right. I'm not sure of his abilities, but if the appearance of a mere dragon can cause the majority of our troops to be lost…. In addition to being able to communicate with us, he has been alive since the creation of the world…"

"The longer a dragon lives, the stronger and more powerful it becomes in terms of both its magic and its body… No matter how you look at it, this is not something that a country could take on."

"If that's the case, I'd like to keep Yuuya-dono in this country…"

"It's not easy. Yuuya-dono is obviously a foreign nobleman or royalty…"

"Mmmm… we really have no choice… No, Yuuya-dono can be considered to be a benefactor for Rhaegar and myself. That's why it's best to not ask for cooperation by force…"

"If a country hostile to ours could control the legendary dragon at will, there is nothing we can do about it."

"Yes. I'm very grateful to Yuuya-dono for helping us with this incident… No, I don't know if Yuuya-dono's country is friendly to us or not, but at least Yuuya-dono is very friendly… to Lexia…!"

"Don't trigger your doting parents' foolishness here… but I do think we'll have to leave it all to Yuuya-dono. From the beginning, Yuuya-dono is outstanding in terms of individual capabilities. It wouldn't be a surprise if a dragon that could easily destroy the country joined as his companions after all this time. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to continue to live in the [Great Devil's Nest]."

"He is truly a mysterious person. The only option is to surrender or be destroyed if the legendary dragon attacks. It is useless to think about it too much. …Yuuya-dono."

"Eh, yes?"

I was in a heated discussion with Ouma-san about not bothering humans. Unexpectedly I was approached by Arnold-sama. I mean, what am I doing, neglecting the King like that? I won't be executed for impoliteness, will I?

Arnold-sama opened the discussion in a dignified manner to me, who was inwardly scared.

"Yuuya-dono. Regarding that dragon… I'll leave everything to you, Yuuya-dono."

"…Eh?"

"We cannot make this matter about… the dragon… public. So I'm sorry that I cannot reward you for your investigation. Of course, we do not demand anything from you either. That's why we leave this up to Yuuya-dono."

"Leaving everything up to me…?"

As I was puzzled by Arnold-sama's words, Owen-san also chimed in.

"Yuuya-dono. I'll tell you clearly. We'll leave it entirely up to you."

"It's really clear!"

It's really clear! That's right! No one knows what to do with this legendary dragon, right?

In the end, as per Arnold-sama's decision, there was no mention of Ouma-san's roar or the damage by the monsters caused by Ouma-san's gluttony, and this audience ended.

Fortunately, there were no casualties included in the damages caused by the monsters that escaped from the valley, which was probably significant. Nevertheless, too much happened today, and so, in the end, our original goal of showing Kaori around the royal capital could not be achieved.