CH 61

Jumping off a wagon, jumping off Su’s head, jumping out the second floor window, and so on. It was all training to overcome my fear of falling, and once that was conquered, I practiced quickly bringing my knees to my chest and I spun and spun and spun until I could open my eyes and see the world spinning around me as I fell.

And now, the chimes of bellfruit rang through the air.

Fikar, gracefully tracing an arc with his sword, stepped past me as I twirled and shook the bellfruits on my hands and feet. Using the momentum from his sword to turn his body, he faced me once more, then thrust his blade into the ground with both hands. As I ran towards him, he let go of the sword and cupped his hands atop its pommel, onto which I jumped with one foot. I was sent flying into the air by a force from below and, as I spun, I braced for impact, ready to complete our duet as soon as Fikar caught me.

Until he set me back down on the ground, I rattled the bellfruits on my hands, and then he picked up his sword and continued his graceful dance. We weaved in and out and past each other without pause, ending our performance with me shaking my hands for one final, loud sha-ra-sha-ra-sha-ra from the bellfruits.

“… hm, isn’t this pretty good?”

“Looks like it. They’ll be a good match for the Carcathians playing the beast characters.”

The two teachers, Ludo-san and Cecile-san, nodded in satisfaction, gazing at Fikar’s blank expression and me, who was slightly out of breath. The backflip, the highlight of the Hero and Sorceress’s show, had become a fluid movement after hours of repetition.

How many times had I dived into Fikar’s arms from great heights to master this? Doubling down on my diet was already showing signs of success, and I’d also become more and more comfortable catapulting into Fikar’s arms. As for whether that’s good or bad, I won’t dwell on it.

Once practice was over, Su, who’d been eager to join us the whole time, finally settled down. No matter how smart she was, I didn’t want her to try and catch me. In the best-case scenario, Su’s bright red scales were so smooth that without a saddle, I would no doubt slip right off her back and take a hard fall on my butt.

Thanking Cecile-san and Ludo-san for taking the time to teach us, Fikar and I packed up. The days leading up to the Great Summer were incredibly long, so even though I was dead tired from hours of practice, it was still bright outside. On that note, about a week ago, the days abruptly got a lot longer, which was interesting but also confusing for my body’s inner clock.

The evening festival was in three days. If we left for Carcathia tonight, we’d have just enough time to prepare.

“Su, look, it’s your favorite perversity mushrooms~ Don’t they look delicious~?”1

“Gyuuu”

There were differences from species to species, but in general, dragons were skilled fliers, with Su being able to go three times faster than a horse. Thanks to Su, while most people left for Carcathia in the morning, we could afford to have one final lesson with Cecile-san and Ludo-san.

“You want? Smells good? Wanna eat it?”

“Guou! Guru~ruuu!!”

“Then you’ll listen to what I say, won’t you? Lightly, smoothly, fly gently~ Okay?”

Su’s pupils dilated, and she cautiously poked me with her snout. On her back, Fikar was handling her saddle.

Since she responded favorably to my words, I left Su to growl in delight while she wolfed down those villainous mushrooms. I hope you know what you’re doing, Su. Just because you’re a little acrobatic doesn’t mean you’ve got everything under control.

“Anemone-chan, come here! We’re leaving!”

Anemone-chan, who had been running around Su’s back as if it were a track course, leapt at me from the dragon’s nose. I caught her delicate body and placed her into a special Anemone-chan container: a long, thin tube with a hinged lid and a leather strap to hang it from my neck. Plenty of people were coming to Carcathia to see the evening festival, so Anemone-chan might as well experience it too.

As soon as we were sure that Anemone-chan wouldn’t be crushed in some way or another, Fikar hoisted me up onto Su. 

Her saddle had a generous amount of space, stretching from the base of her neck past the bases of her wings. At the front, where I sat down, there was a rounded seat buried into the saddle, complete with lower back support, a long handle in front to hang onto, and a seat belt. At the very back, there was a metal rack for luggage, and in between was Fikar, standing in the saddle’s stirrups, ready to steer Su.

“Alright. Anemone-chan: Ready. Seatbelt: Ready. Fikar, onwards! Gently!”

Nodding, Fikar pulled the reins, and Su took off with a running start.

When the nobleman Lawrence-san gave us this saddle as a gift, Su, who had yet to be trained, traumatized me with her erratic movements up and down, abrupt changes in speed, and nauseating turns in every direction imaginable. Yet, in the midst of all the chaos, Fikar rode her like he was driving a luxury car.

Well, to begin with, the fact that he was originally riding a runaway dragon with no saddle at all put him beyond the realm of humanity for me. It’s too late to think about it now…

At my insistence and per the guild’s rules, Su and Fikar were trained to fly in a way that guaranteed that the passenger wouldn’t be flung out of their seat mid-journey. Though, it was still scary, swaying and shaking while speeding across the sky. I’d come to tolerate the feeling of falling out of the sky thanks to all my practice, but this was a bit much.

The sun finally began to set, and Su, with two people and one flower on board, flapped softly in the direction of the sun. There wasn’t much wind where I sat, thanks to the saddle’s built-in magic barrier, so I wasn’t cold as my cape swished and swayed.

Turning around, I saw Fikar crouching at the rear of the saddle, searching for something amongst the luggage.

“… that’s dangerous, Fikar. Also, no, I’m on a diet.”

Maybe I’ll take the dried fruits next time. Just don’t fall, Fikar.

TL Notes:

1: “Perversity mushroom” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but “pervshroom” evokes a… different image, let’s say. Any suggestions? or is it fine as is?