CH 108

Frau was leisurely patrolling around Cross Town when she found Ra-chin crawling out of the live house. Curious, she walked over to the miniature lizard and picked him up off the ground.

“Can I help you with something Ra-chin?”

“You don’t need to take a polite tone with me Frau. The programme inside was boring, so I separated from Ellis and came out here. It looks like I timed it just right though. Would you take me to the teahouse?”

“Would you mind if we paid a visit to the Steamed Kitchen first?”

“Not at all, so please carry me.”

Frau carried Ra-chin in her arms as she made her way around to the Steamed Kitchen, the boutique, and the other shops in Cross Town. People had started getting used to Ra-chin’s presence, so while they still showed reverence to him whenever he passed by, they weren’t running up from the back of the shop to bow before him anymore. This allowed Frau to make her rounds quickly, and upon seeing that nothing was wrong, head over to the Jewelry Box Teahouse.

“Oh welcome Guardian Dragon, Frau.”

Today Credia was manning the front and greeted them with a large smile.

“Credia, Ra-chin will have the usual. Could you give me a cake set?”

“Of course.”

Frau put in the order as she walked inside. Ra-chin had a reserved seat, so there was never any need think about where to sit. Frau moved out of habit without thinking about where she was going too much which was why she was halfway through the store when she realized there was already somebody at the table.

Frau stopped for a second and stared, but she quickly shook her head. She didn’t want to get involved with this guy. So, she moved to a separate empty table and placed Ra-chin down there instead.

“Frau, this is the wrong place.”

“That table has a previous appointment.”

“Don’t worry about it. Over there will be just right for me.”

“You’ll have to share a table.”

“I don’t mind at all.”

Frau’s shoulders sank. She eventually gave up, picked Ra-chin off the table, and brought him to his regular seat. As she did, she made a fake smile and sent a greeting to the man.

“Aren’t you Mr. Gise from the Brave Party? I’m Frau. We met before when you were looking to enter the Wight Labyrinth.”

Gise felt like somebody had just kicked him in the butt. He had heard that Aiful was out, so he decided to wait here for her. Now one of those suspicious Jewelry Box members was suddenly talking to him out of nowhere. He was completely caught off guard.

But regardless of his clearly puzzled expression, Frau continued to speak.

“I’m sorry to suddenly drop in like this. You see this table is actually the favorite of the guardian dragon. I’m really sorry but would you mind sharing your table?”

Gise’s head was starting to get all jumbled up. Guardian dragon? Favorite? Sharing a table? Gise wasn’t sure where to start, but he was still able to squeeze out an answer.

“Uh, um, I don’t mind, but what is a guardian dragon?”

“I am, diminutive human.”

Ra-chin spoke up as Frau placed him down on the table. —By the way, ever since Aiful and Credia were shocked at having someone’s consciousness radioed directly into their heads, Ra-chin had started talking with his voice instead of telepathically when around strangers.—

Gise eyed the weird looking lizard in front of him. Ra-chin in the meanwhile had already started to ignore Gise, resting his back legs on his chair with his front legs propped up on top of the table.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Credia brought over Frau’s cake set and the tea before anything else could be said. Today’s cake was one of Ken’s newest creations, a steamed fruit cake.

“Well then please enjoy.”

Seeing Credia off with a smile, Frau sat down in her own chair, moving it slightly away from Gise, and began drinking her tea. Ra-chin in the meanwhile had already dug his nose into the steam coming off of the tea and become as still as stone.

Several minutes had passed before Gise was finally able to straighten out his thoughts.

“Guardian Dragon, might I ask you about how you came to protect this town?”

Thinking about it, Gise realized this was actually quite fortuitous. The Brave Party had been tasked with acquiring a guardian dragon for the capitol, and although Cliff had an idea about where they could find a dragon, they still had no idea about what they should do when they do find it. But when Gise finally tried to broach the subject, Ra-chin was completely unresponsive. So Gise decided to use extreme measures, got off his chair, and knelt down on the floor.

“I beg of you, please teach me everything you know!”

Just from the little information he had gathered, Gise had surmised that Ra-chin was haughty, so going all in on groveling should have brought out positive results. Instead, he continued to receive silence for his efforts. He didn’t want to think it was true, but were his initial doubts correct and this wasn’t actually the guardian dragon?

“Mr. Gise, please sit back down in your chair.”

Frau couldn’t bear to watch any longer. She put her hand on Gise’s shoulder and urged him to get up and quit making a scene. He was bothering the other customers, and more importantly, it was really embarrassing.

“Ra-chin won’t talk to anyone when he’s like that. Until the tea cools down, he’s quieter than the dead.”

Frau was stuck there until Ra-chin was finished. With that being the case, she might as well pick up a bit of information on the Brave Party while spreading a little misinformation while she was at it.

“In other words, it’s all up to the dragon’s will?”

“That’s right Mr. Gise.”

Frau told Gise about the altered version of how the Land Dragon Ra-chin became the guardian dragon for Warren. In other words, the grand excuse of everything was a coincidence. She purposefully left out mentioning Su-chan to avoid drawing any extra scrutiny, but even if Gise brought it up himself, Frau could still hide behind the all-powerful defense ‘coincidence’ so long as he didn’t have any proof. Yes even if he were to somehow find out about Ah-nyan, everything was just a coincidence.

“What are the conditions for making a contract with a dragon?”

“The person in question must be a woman, must give the dragon a new name, and then give the dragon a kiss.”

Here most importantly, Frau used the word ‘woman’ rather than ‘maiden’.

Gise fell deep in thought. If this information was true, then it would be quite simple to form a contract with the dragon. It may even be possible to force a contract with it. After that it would just be a matter of convincing it to protect the capitol, and if the dragon is able to go against the will of its Dragon Maiden, then Gray’s strength might provide a good influence in the worst case.

“By the way Mr. Gise, are there any dragons rampaging around anywhere?”

Gise’s thoughts were already focused on the matter at hand, so he absentmindedly gave a reply.

“Yes there is a legend about one near the eastern Pottery City.”

Information get.

Frau innocently smiled at Gise.

“In order to save the world, please don’t push yourself too hard.”

Gise found all of his previous thoughts blown away again and began to blush slightly at the sight of that smile.

“Oh my, welcome Gise. Frau and Guardian Dragon as well.”

It was then that Aiful returned to the store. Her voice sounded cheerful, and upon entering the store, she immediately walked over towards that table. Gise immediately shook his head and began feeling guilty over how he had reacted to Frau’s smile.

“I wasn’t?”

Aiful didn’t notice Gise’s strange babbling as she immediately started petting Ra-chin’s back.

“Thank you for your protection today as well, Guardian Dragon.”

It was at that same moment that the tea had completely cooled down. Ra-chin blinked and began stretching his joints.

“Mm, it was great today too. Then Credia, can I bring the leftovers with me today as well?”

The timing was a coincidence, but from Gise’s viewpoint, Aiful had woken up the dragon herself. And so clearly dragons had a thing for kindly milfs–a thought Gise could agree on. A terrible misunderstanding was thus accepted as fact.

“Ra-chin, you can go home with me for today.”

Frau stood up after finishing off the last of her sweets and downing the last sip of her tea.

“Oh, you were still here Frau. Hey, when we get back, I have a request. Let’s see if Claire will make me a takeout container so I can come and go from here whenever I want.”

Frau gave a noncommittal, “Yes, yes” while lifting up Ra-chin in one hand with the cup of tea in the other. It would be nice if Ra-chin could be on his own, but Frau was worried that strange rumors might crop up about him spending all day at the teahouse with no need to have anyone attend him anymore. While wondering if it was fine to have a guardian dragon not doing any guarding, Frau turned back towards Gise.

“Pardon our intrusion in the beginning.”

“No, thanks for the information.”

Gise’s line of sight had already become focused on Aiful, and Frau disappeared from his mind immediately after she had left the building.

Meanwhile in Wheat Grace.

“My Reeve, welcome home. How are you doing today?”

Mother Lux greeted Reeve with a bright smile, although the usual several day trip between Warren and Wheat Grace was a factor she seemed to have completely forgotten about.

“Ah, Sister Reeve! Welcome home!”

Hymel on the other hand was extremely excited to see his sister and immediately ran up to give her a hug. He as well however also didn’t think anything was weird with her randomly showing up out of nowhere.

“Yes, I’m home. Real quick, do you know where Grandfather is?”

“Gramps went to go see the tea factory. He should be back soon.”

Reeve was made to play with her younger brother while talking with her mom for about thirty minutes before Ferdinand finally returned home.

“Re-boy, you’re alone today?”

“Yes, there was something I wanted to ask Grandfather by myself.”

Reeve had taken it upon herself to try and find out some more information about scattered dragons, and when she thought about it, nobody knew more useless information than her grandfather.

“Well, I suppose I’ve heard a few stories…..”

Ferdinand began reciting what he knew.

One–There was a dragon who attacked any travelers moving west. This was probably about Ra-chin.

Two–There was apparently a dragon lurking around the southern cape that killed any who disturbed him. This was definitely Su-chan.

Third–There was a dragon that had fought alongside a Hero long ago, but it had mysteriously disappeared. Ah-nyan’s past was apparently known to some.

Fourth–Occasionally appearing near an eastern city, there was a dragon that would appear and then suddenly disappear without doing anything.

Fifth–The world’s chaos was apparently governed by a dragon of fear.

So the fourth and fifth dragons were new information for Reeve.

“Thank you Grandfather. You’ve been a great help.”

“Will you be staying here tonight?”

“No, I’m in a bit of a hurry, so I’ll be heading out now.”

“Even though it’ll take two days for you to get back no matter how fast you travel?”

“About that Grandfather”

Reeve looked down towards her chest. She was wearing a weirdly shaped ultramarine breast plate.

“Su-chan, we’re heading home soon.”

Reeve started talking to her breast armor, and Su-chan’s tiny head peeked out from under his wing.

“Uwa!”

“Wha?”

Ferdinand and Hymel both jumped forward, staring at the suddenly moving piece of equipment. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the two clasps holding it to her were actually claws while the strange accent at the bottom was actually a tail. Then the head that had peeked out turned towards Ferdinand and suddenly began talking.

“Hello, I am Reeve’s contract dragon, Su-chan. Reeve’s grandfather, younger brother, it is nice to meet you!”

Su-chan was a little nervous meeting Reeve’s family like this, so his greeting ended up a louder than he thought it would be. If Ferdinand and Hymel noticed that nervousness though, their agape mouths didn’t show it.

“This is the Storm Dragon Su-chan. He was the dragon who hid in the southern portions of the continent that Grandfather mentioned. I got here today by riding on Su-chan’s back and traveling through the sky.”

The two’s mouths dropped even lower before Hymel tried to reach out and poke the dragon as if to make sure it wasn’t an illusion.

“My my, what’s everyone doing?”

When Lux walked out of the kitchen, she saw her son and father-in-law staring at her daughter’s chest with mouths wide open. She gave them both a strange look before turning her eyes on Reeve as well. Su-chan turned his head to meet her gaze.

“Greetings, mother of Reeve. I am Su-chan. I am Reeve’s contract dragon, so please take care of me from now on.”

“My my, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

Mother Lux returned the polite dragon’s greeting with a warm smile. In such cases it shows that the women of the Lorenburg family are far more adaptable than the men.

“Well then, I’m sorry to have dropped in announced like this, but I really do have to return to Warren.”

Ferdinand and Hymel chased after Reeve as she walked out the door. They were hot on her heels as she made her way to the Lorenburg’s new wide open backyard, and they were able to see Su-chan return to his original size with their own eyes.

“Uwa!”

“Hyah!”

A mixture of fear and amazement were behind those screams of theirs, but the excitement in their eyes rang far louder.

“Hey Reeve, if you don’t mind, could we let Grandfather and Little Brother on for a bit? High speed flight would be impossible, but we could take them around the pavilion a bit.”

Su-chan had a penchant for showing off, but it was a nice offer nonetheless.

“Really? Thanks for this.”

Reeve patted the top of Su-chan’s head while beckoning Hymel and Ferdinand forward. The two scrambled on top of Su-chan’s back, Hymel pushing his grandfather out of the way so he could hop on first.

“Let’s go.”

Su-chan slowly rose up into the air, using a little bit of magic to make sure his two extra passengers wouldn’t fall off. At times he would speed up, make a sudden turn, and he even once did a loop de loop. His three passengers were able to enjoy an exciting dance through the air.

And after dropping off her family back on solid ground, Reeve was able to fly back to Warren at the top speed of a Storm Dragon. The sun was just about to set when she returned home.