Volume 6 - CH 2

Chapter 2: Time Begins to Move 

“Ah... The scenery is beautiful, just beautiful.” I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration. 

This was northwest of the Kingdom of Friedonia, a small village on the border with the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria. 

Looking out further to the west from the center of the village, the bluish-green peaks of the Star Dragon Mountain Range stood there with an incredible sense of presence. Even though they were still a long ways away, they still looked so big. It was a series of mountains the size of Mt. Fuji, so I could understand why the view was so impactful. 

Was Dracul, where the dragons lived, in the middle of those majestic mountains? Just what sort of place was it? I couldn’t even imagine. 

“What’s the matter, Big Brother?” Tomoe called as I stared vacantly at the mountains. 

“Hmm? I was thinking, ‘Those mountains sure are big.’” 

“Yeah. They’re really big.” 

Seeing Tomoe and me gazing at the mountains, Hal objected. “Oh, come on. You can see the Star Dragon Mountain Range all the way from the castle.” 

“Hal, you just don’t get it,” Kaede chided the unsentimental Hal with a wry smile. “Both from afar and up close, they’re a breathtaking sight, but in different ways, you know.” 

Aisha and Carla returned from leaving the wagon’s horses at the inn’s stable. 

“Well then, Sir Kazuma,” Aisha said, “are we to wait here in this village until they come to ‘pick us up’?” 

“...Uh, yeah,” I said. “That’s how it’s supposed to work.” 

Whoops. Because Aisha had addressed me as Kazuma there, like in the backstory I’d prepared for her, it had taken me a moment to respond. 

Incidentally, in that backstory, I was the young heir to The Silver Deer, and I was traveling around many countries to find potential trade goods. Tomoe was my little sister, and I had her hiding her wolf ears and tail beneath that hooded robe. 

The other four, Aisha, Halbert, Kaede, and Carla, were playing the role of adventurers we’d hired to protect us in our travels. For this trip, I’d actually talked things over with the adventurers’ guild and had them registered as such. 

In an alternate plan, I would have been an adventurer, too, but it stood out so badly that my skill level was below that of the these four that I had to give up on that one. It was true that I was weak, but they were almost too strong. We had the best fighters in the kingdom with us, after all. 

Let’s get back to the story. 

The arrangement was that we would wait here for our escort from the Star Dragon Mountain Range to arrive. However, there was no set time for that. It was possible we would be delayed on our trip here, so we could only decide on a vague time, within a day or two of our arrival. 

I said, “Well, if we just wait—” 

“—they’ll make contact with... Uh... Wait, what?” 

I had been responding to Aisha, but suddenly she was gone from my side. Actually, Tomoe, Hal, Kaede, and Carla were gone, too. More than that, everything including the village and its buildings had vanished in an instant. 

The next thing I knew, I was standing alone in the middle of a field. 

What, why am I in a field?! Where did everyone go?! 

It was a desolate field with no sign of people or buildings. 

Let... Let me tell you what happened! I was in the village, but I somehow ended up in a field. You... You guys think I don’t know what I’m talking about... 

Wait, this wasn’t the time to be joking around. 

Unable to believe the situation I’d found myself in, I was looking around restlessly, trying to find someone else, when the whole area suddenly went dark. Had it clouded over...? No, that wasn’t it! There was something massive up in the sky, and it was blotting out the sun. When I looked up to see what it was, there flew a massive dragon, twenty meters in length. 

“Awhuhwhuh?!” I babbled incoherently at the incredible sight. 

? ? 

Bzzt. 

Huh? Just now, for a moment, I felt something on my cheek... she thought. 

At that same time, in her cave on the Dracul Plateau, Naden quizzically tilted her head to the side. 

Naden had once again shut herself in today to watch broadcast programs from the Gran Chaos Empire, but she just felt something weird in her cheeks. It was small, like a little bug had landed there. However, when she rubbed her squishy cheeks, there was nothing there. 

When the light subsided, before me stood a woman wearing all-white robes, a square hood over her head, and a thin veil over her face. It was hard to be sure with her face mostly covered, but she was maybe in her forties. Well, in a world with long-lived races, it was basically impossible to rely on how old someone looked, though. 

The woman in white walked up to me. “You are King Souma Kazuya of the United Kingdom of Elfrieden and Amidonia, I presume?” 

“I am... Are you here from the Star Dragon Mountain Range?” 

The woman brought a hand to her chest and bowed to me. “I come on behalf of Lady Tiamat, our mother dragon. I will now bring you to the Dracul Plateau in the Star Dragon Mountain Range.” 

“Our mother dragon”... Oh, that’d be that Mother Dragon, I guess. Was Tiamat her name...? Wait, huh? Tiamat... Wasn’t that the name of the oldest dragon to appear in Earth’s legends? I vaguely remembered it because the name had shown up in all sorts of things. 

For starters, it was said that Mother Dragon had been around since before the people of this continent had formed countries, so she lived up to the name, at least. 

I asked the lady in white, “And might I inquire as to whom I have the pleasure of speaking with?” 

“There’s no need to be so polite with me. I am one of the priestesses in the service of Lady Tiamat.” 

“A priestess?” 

“Yes. The dragons are a race that live a thousand years. However, if a dragon’s partner leaves this world before they can have children, that dragon lives in solitude for a long time. Such dragons return to the Star Dragon Mountain Range, becoming priestesses who serve Lady Tiamat. They care for her, maintain Crystal Castle, and look after the young dragons.” 

In other words, dragons who lost their families returned to the Star Dragon Mountain Range to become priestesses. 

“Can’t they get remarried to another knight?” I asked. 

“There are some who can,” the woman said. “However, this is a matter of fate. It is up to the guidance of destiny, and to the blessing of Lady Tiamat who binds the fates of men and dragons.” 

The guidance of destiny, huh. Was Mother Dragon a god of matchmaking or something like that, then? 

That aside, I decided to ask the question that had been bothering me for a while now. 

“By the way, where is this? I’m pretty sure I was with my companions in the village where we agreed to meet just a moment ago...” 

“This field lies five kilometers to the northeast of that village,” the woman said. “Lady Tiamat used her power to move you here.” 

Who could have expected teleportation?! Appearing in dreams, instantly transporting people... Mother Dragon’s power really was off the charts. I could see why people might worship her. 

When Naden came back to her senses, she knelt down, putting a hand over her breast and bowing her head. “...Naden Delal. Here at your behest.” 

Naden was feigning calmness, but her heart was pounding. She couldn’t help but worry about why Mother Dragon might be upset with her. 

Is it my skipping practice for the Contract Ceremony? Is it my fighting with the other dragons? Or... is it my having brought a simple receiver made in the Gran Chaos Empire back here? Oh, what am I going to do if she tells me to get rid of it...? 

“Raise your head, Naden.” 

Naden heard that peaceful voice come from above her head. It had a depth that sounded like three people speaking at the same time, as if it were echoing inside the listener’s own heart. 

When she raised her head like the voice told her to, those sapphire eyes were staring right at Naden’s face. In that tense atmosphere, Naden thought she could feel the sweat running down her back. 

“Um... Er...” 

Naden tried to say something, but her tongue just wouldn’t move right. 

Tiamat didn’t seem angry with her. If anything, it was a soft look on her face. 

She’s not going to get mad at me? Then why did I get called here? Why is Lady Tiamat looking at me with such gentle eyes? 

Those questions sprang to mind one after another, throwing Naden’s heart into disarray. “Um... Lady Tiamat...?” 

When she managed to force just those words out, Tiamat began speaking softly. 

“The furiously moving gear approaches the gear that has come to a stop.” 

“...Huh?” Naden had no idea what had just been said to her. Gears? What was she even talking about? 

Without any concern for Naden’s confusion, Tiamat continued. “Eventually, the two gears will mesh. The stopped gear will be forced to move, and the gear that spins furiously as if driven by something will slow its pace. However, that is nothing to be sad about. It merely means that they will spin at the same pace.” 

“U-Um... I have no idea what you’re talking about...?” 

It was too abstract for Naden to make sense of. Had she been called here to hear this? The furiously spinning gear... The stopped gear... The meshing of the two...? 

“Naden.” 

“Y-Yes!” 

With Tiamat’s eyes fixed straight on her, Naden stood up straight. 

“Be prepared. It will soon begin to move.” 

Prepared? Begin to move? What would, exactly...? 

“Um... Lady Tiamat... just what is going to start moving?” Naden ventured. 

Tiamat took on the face of an angel delivering a revelation, or a mother watching over her child, and told her: 

“Your time.”