CH 7

I untied the basket made of haganezuta from my right hip and rolled it onto the ground.

“Let’s get out of the forest!”

Dragons and water wolves could create fire and water to attack with. Creatures with such abilities that could harm people were called monsters in this world. 

An incense talisman played the role of keeping them at bay. However, the incense I had chosen, made of mayokegusa, had an attractive aroma for large monsters. Though, large monsters hardly appeared in this area, so mayokegusa could usually be used safely. If I were to continue carrying it around, it’d keep the monsters informed about where I was, but if I were to leave it somewhere, the dragon might get a little distracted.

While walking with the children at a pace fast enough to start running at a moment’s notice, I felt for the sword on my left hip. I removed the thin belt that held the hilt to the scabbard just in case, but to be honest, if a dragon actually appeared, there wouldn’t be much I could do.

“Is… Is a scary monster coming?” Liliana whispered with a tense face. Holding me with his little hand, Leonardo also looked pale.

“It’s a dragon… The himekoryuu that isn’t afraid of even an avaleyu cow1 is running away, so there’s a dragon around.”

“No way, Sumire-chan! Are we going to die?”

“We’ll be in town soon. It might not notice us since there are adventurers on the lookout nearby.”

“Hey, Fikar, you can beat it up when it comes, right?!” Marth, who was holding hands with the himekoryuu, shouted.

Fikar, who was walking without hurry due to his long legs, nodded after a moment of thought.

Is that so~

Fikar, like me, registered with the Adventurer’s Guild after arriving in this town. The same person can’t register twice, so the guild had first checked the registration list, but they couldn’t find any data on his name, blood, or palmprint. From that point on, he gained stars faster than me, and three months ago, when he started participating in more and more distant subjugation missions, he already had four stars. Adventurers aiming for five or more stars usually went up by one star a year with training and experience.

Flying dragons were bigger than flightless dragons, but it supposedly required three or more adventurers with at least six stars to defeat a flying one.

No matter how strong or athletic Fikar was, the task was too great.

Moreover, he had four people, including me, and one animal as dead weight.

“Sumire! Are the children okay?!”

“Ludo-san!”

As we hurried to leave the forest, a young man came running to join us. A little shorter than Fikar and with sturdy muscles, Ludo-san was a 5-star adventurer. Sweat was beading at the roots of his short dark blue hair and he was holding his bow — his best weapon — in his hand, keeping his sword where it could easily be drawn.

“I heard a cry from the sky. The whistle is likely to attract dragons, so I sent the fast-footed Rurna to call for backup, but… it’s not far from here.”

“Seriously?”

“Even the weak tobikamiryuu, if it got serious, could knock down the trees around here. The grasslands are safer and closer to the town.”

With Ludo-san leading the way, we adjusted our course a little to the right. I could still hear the dragon roaring, and I ran while encouraging Liliana and Leonardo, who looked like they were about to cry. Marth was running with his teeth clenched and didn’t utter a word.

Clearings are open areas that are sometimes created in the woods where you can process your prey or look at the sky to check your position. It was in one of those clearings where I had collapsed the first time around.

Stepping into a round clearing and scanning the sky, Ludo-san then quickly looked around and noticed a large, thick tree growing right next to the clearing. Its roots above the ground were split wide open on the side facing away from the clearing, and the children plus the himekoryuu were guided to hide in those gaps. I also helped by cutting large branches from a bush and covering the four of them. Hiding behind strong-smelling branches was a basic method of hiding from monsters.

When I looked up to receive a branch from Fikar, the clearing darkened momentarily. Ludo-san looked even tenser as he whispered.

“We’ve been spotted. Hide the little ones. Don’t speak, don’t move. Don’t come out even if you don’t hear anything. Stay put until an adult comes for you. You got that?”

“I’m scared… Sumire-chan, are you going, too?”

“Hush~. Imitate the himekoryuu. Don’t make a peep.”

Taking some more branches and leaves to completely hide the children, Ludo-san pointed to me, then to the other side of the clearing, saying “You should stay in the shadows.” I nodded firmly. He tapped my shoulder encouragingly, then called out to Fikar.

“Fikar, can you be the decoy? I’ll aim from behind.”

Fikar nodded, then tilted his head slightly. Which is it?

Dragons are fast, so if you were to attack them head-on, you’d lose. So first, you should distract it with a trap or another person, then aim from behind.

At the same time that Fikar revealed himself in the clearing, Ludo-san and I weaved through the trees and towards the other side of the clearing. Assuming that the children were at 12 o’clock, we were at about 4 o’clock when a strong wind blew and a big dragon plunged into the clearing. Ludo-san pushed me behind a big tree and quickly nocked an arrow.

The dragon, half the size of the 6-meter-radius clearing, howled in annoyance after failing to bite Fikar. Its crimson scales, which got darker towards its tail, shone.

“GAOOOOO!!”

It’s very angry…

For a creature of the genus Ryuu, it was pretty big…

The dragon was so busy flapping around, trying to bite or stomp on Fikar, that even a trained eye would have difficulty trying to aim an arrow. Even so, Fikar avoided it all without changing his expression.

While peeking around the tree I was clinging to, I saw Ludo-san move. An arrow flew with a whistle towards the dragon’s spread wings, but it quickly turned around and snapped the arrow with its mouth. Its eyes met with Ludo-san’s, who clicked his tongue and drew his sword. But, suddenly, the dragon went “Gao!” and turned to Fikar again, ripping through the air with its tail.

“What happened? … Maybe…” Ludo muttered with suspicion, shooting another arrow. He aimed for its feet, but it only made a light jump and didn’t bother to look this time. After confirming that, Ludo-san got up and walked into the clearing.

“Wai– Ludo-san, it’s dangerous!”

“It’s fine, Sumire. The dragon won’t attack us.”

It was very aggressive towards Fikar…

Before I could make such a retort, Ludo-san walked away. I wondered if I should keep hiding, but I decided to follow him, thinking about the possibility of Fikar getting tired and killed.

“Fikar, can you get it to calm down?”

“Eh? Fikar, you can do that?”

Fikar nodded, and then punched the dragon on the side of its head, which had been lowered in an attempt to bite him.

The dragon, Ludo-san, and I were stunned.

“… GAOOO!!”

After a moment, the dragon regained composure and attacked again.

Fikar, for his part, just kicked the other side of the dragon, who collapsed and became docile.

Rather, it was trembling. I could see tears in its eyes.

“Fikar, you… did you defeat this dragon before?”

To Ludo-san who called out half-confidently and half-anxiously, Fikar nodded. 

“You idiooot!!!” He balled his fists, yelling in a volume comparable to the dragon. “No wonder it was after you this whole time! … I haven’t heard about this at the guild. You haven’t registered or named it yet, have you? That’s why I’m mad.”

Sighing as though he had a headache, Ludo-san explained so that I could understand.

Flying dragons of the genus Ryuu can be tamed and ridden like a horse if you have sufficient luck and ability. However, the smarter and stronger a dragon is, the more prideful it is. As such, it respects whoever can defeat it and will join them. At that time, it’s necessary to give it a name to show that it’s been accepted as a member of the pack. If that’s not done, it’ll be upset that it wasn’t recognized as part of the pack and will act indignant. How smart~

I see, I see. I nodded, and Fikar gave a small nod as well.

“… You didn’t know?… You should’ve been taught that in a lecture once you got 5 stars.”

Fikar put one foot on the head of the dragon, who was about to start moving, and took out the guild card from under his clothes. Made of a semi-transparent material, it had a small name, the guild’s seal, and stars scattered in the shape of a constellation on it. By the way, when you get promoted, the number of stars on your card increases.

Ludo-san and I looked at the card. There was the 4-star constellation Kogataryuu. 

No changes.

“… You… The dragon will rampage until you give it a name. What have you done to it?”

“I hit it.”

A clear response.

“… with four stars… … than me… … alone… … not knowing anything…”

“There, there, Ludo-san.” He was shaking and muttering something, so I tried to calm him down. After collecting his thoughts and letting out a big sigh, he set his hands on Fikar’s shoulders.

“Take the promotion exam. … But first, give this dragon a name.”

“Gaaoo~” The dragon squealed and stomped, as if saying “That’s right!” Fikar looked down at it, looked at me, then stopped to ponder. After a while…

“Su.”

“Gao~”

“Hey wait, did you just use a short version of my name?”

I wasn’t convinced by the happy faces of Fikar and the dragon, Su, but Ludo-san consoled me and the dragon’s rampage ended, so I guess it was fine.

When I went to pick up the children under the tree with Fikar and the dragon following him, the four of them, who didn’t quite understand what had happened, jumped out of their hole and burst into tears. I explained that everything was okay now, but the tears won’t stop instantly. Ludo-san was amazed that the himekoryuu was still comfortably mixed in after all this time.

Seeing the children (and himekoryuu) cry while clinging to me was a bit of a relief, but at the same time, my anger slowly reignited.

“Fikar.”

I beckoned a little, and Fikar approached me with an expressionless yet happy face. Beckoning him further, he bent down, and I tugged on his cheeks harder than in the morning.

“You scared the kids so~ badly! You should have told us first!”

“My bahd…”

“I thought we were going to die!!”

“I’m showwie…”

We would find out later on that Su decided I was superior to Fikar, probably because of how I scolded him.

As I was challenging the limits of Fikar’s cheeks, though he was being unusually (admirably) apologetic, Marth gasped.