On the 15th day of the Month of Wood, I was galloping through the Royal Capital on Bell’s back.
“Slow down a little more, Bell.”
“Gau!”
The reason I was traveling on Bell was simple: he was overwhelmingly faster than any carriage.
My current destination was a considerable distance from Lilia-san’s mansion and would normally have taken quite a while even by horse, but as expected of a Behemoth, the place I was looking for was already in sight.
It featured a yard so sprawling it was practically a ranch and a fairly large building. The sign at the entrance read: Wyvern Service.
The reason I had come here today was to meet the baby dragon who had taken such a liking to me before. Between the chaos with Megiddo-san and the mess with Alice, things had been so hectic that I’d ended up being quite late.
When I hopped off Bell at the entrance, a familiar face came out to greet me—the driver I had met during the Treasure Tree Festival.
“Welcome, Miyama-san... That was quite the entrance.”
“Ah, haha... Sorry he’s so big. But don’t worry, he’s a very gentle boy.”
“...To use a Behemoth as a common mount, I can only say ‘as expected.’ Perhaps you really should become a driver for our Wyvern Service, Miyama-san? You could conquer the world.”
“I-I’ll keep it in mind.”
While her expression was one of pure shock as she looked at Bell, she was a professional who dealt with monsters daily. She didn’t lose her composure and even managed to throw a light scouting pitch my way.
As I shared some idle chatter with her, I heard the sound of flapping wings.
“Kyuku~!!”
“Ah, there she is... Wait, hang on! Too fast! Too fast! Slow dow—Oof!?”
The baby dragon who had grown fond of me was flying my way. I only had a moment to smile at her cute, fluttering wings before she spotted me, accelerated, and charged with incredible momentum.
I tried to stop her in a panic, but her speed didn't drop a bit. She flew straight at me and latched onto my face, the impact sending me reeling.
“Kyukui! Kyukui!”
“...I thought my neck was going to snap.”
The baby dragon seemed to be in high spirits, happily clinging to my face, but after a short while, she seemed to notice Bell and turned her gaze toward him.
“Kyui?”
“Garu?”
“Kyu... Kyuku...”
She didn’t seem afraid of Bell; rather, she looked back and forth between us with an expression of pure shock.
“Kyukua!! Kyuu! Kyua!!”
“Ow! Hey, that hurts!?”
Then, for some reason, she started slapping my face with her wings as if she were throwing a tantrum.
What was going on? While my Sympathy Magic couldn’t translate her feelings into perfect sentences, I could grasp the gist of her emotions.
If I had to put it into words, she seemed to be shouting something like “Cheater!”... but why?
“She’s probably jealous of the Behemoth. After all, this girl likes you ‘as a member of the opposite sex.’”
“Ow... Wait, what!? R-Really?”
The driver muttered the explanation as if sensing my confusion. I asked her back while trying to escape the baby dragon’s wing-slaps.
“Yes. Think back—when she was leaving last time, this little one nipped Miyama-san’s neck twice, didn't she?”
“N-Now that you mention it, I think she did...”
“That was the Dragon Race's courtship behavior.”
“What!?”
I remembered her nipping my neck twice when we parted before, but... what? That was a proposal!? W-Why!?
“Dragon species have a reverse scale at the base of their necks, which is the part they least want anyone to touch. If they nip that scale once, and the other person doesn't pull away and accepts a second nip... then the courtship is established.”
“...Are you serious?”
“Serious? Yes, absolutely. I was quite surprised myself.”
Apparently, the act of nipping the neck twice was indeed a marriage proposal for dragons.
Without even knowing it, I had been confessed to by a baby dragon, and I had essentially replied that I liked her too. Talk about a bolt from the blue.
While the driver gave me this explanation, the baby dragon turned toward Bell and began chirping excitedly.
“Kyuu! Kyukui! Kyuikukyui!”
“Gau, Garua.”
“Kyui!? Kyuku! Kyuaaaa!”
“Gau, Garuagua?”
“Kyukua!!”
Yeah, it definitely felt like they were talking. And I really wanted to believe that the conversation I sensed through my Sympathy Magic was just my imagination.
Yeah, it had to be my imagination, right? Because just now, these two...
'No fair! You’re the only one who gets to be with him!'
'Well, that’s because I’m his pet.'
'A pet!? No fair! No faiiiir!'
'Then why don’t you become his pet too?'
'That’s it!?'
...It sounded exactly like that. No, wait, not “That’s it!” Why was the conversation moving toward me getting another pet while I was being completely ignored?
However, bad premonitions have a habit of coming true. After finishing her chat with Bell, the baby dragon clung to me with an expression that said she wouldn’t budge if someone used a lever.
“Hey now! You’re bothering Miyama-san.”
“Kyuuuuu!?”
The driver also seemed to realize what was happening and tried to talk her down, but the baby dragon adamantly refused to let go. If she were pulled away by force, I was pretty sure my clothes wouldn't survive.
This was bad... really bad. While desperately clinging to my shirt, the baby dragon looked at me with lonely, watery eyes.
Stop it, don’t do that... I’m weak to that look...
“U-Um... I know I’m asking for the impossible, but... is there any way I could adopt this baby dragon?”
“Kyu!?”
“H-Hmm. Since it’s a request from you, Miyama-san, and since she’s grown this attached to you, I’d like to say yes, but... Lately, there’s been a shortage of dragon hatchlings, so letting go of a White Dragon would be a major loss for the company...”
“Kyua...”
That response was only natural.
I’d heard that White Dragons were the star earners of the Wyvern Service, and because they were so rare, they were hard to come by. Apparently, the only White Dragons here were this little one and her parents.
By the way, her parents had been watching us for a while, but they didn’t seem to have any objections. They looked like they were respecting their daughter's wishes.
What should I do? I couldn't ignore her now that she was so depressed, and even though it was an accident, I was the one who had technically accepted her proposal.
“...For example... if I could provide a dragon species that was superior to a White Dragon, would you be willing to make an exchange?”
“Eh? Yes, if that were the case, we wouldn't have a problem, but... dragons faster than a White Dragon only live in the Demon Realm, you know?”
Since it had come to this, it couldn't be helped. I felt a bit hesitant, but I decided to consult with that person.
After persuading the baby dragon by telling her I would be back soon—at which point she looked at me with great expectation—I headed back to return Bell to the mansion first.
“...You really are a softie, Kaito-san.”
“Yeah. Well, it is what it is... Let's go talk to Magnawell-san.”
After dropping Bell off at the mansion, I passed through the Gate to the Demon Realm with Alice, whom I had asked to act as my guide.
Our destination this time wasn't the north, but the south—a place known as the Dragon's Mountain Range, where the Dragon King, Magnawell-san, resided.
I figured consulting the Dragon King about dragon species was my best bet, but it seemed the mountain range was quite a distance from the Gate, and the path was infested with monsters.
“I'm counting on you, Alice. I don't think I'd ever reach it on my own.”
“Yes, yes. Understood~ Well then, let's get moving... Heave-ho!”
“...Wait a second. Why are you picking me up?”
The moment I thought we were ready to set off, Alice lifted me effortlessly into the air and wound up for a massive throw.
“W-Wait a minute!? Alice!? What are you doing!?”
“It's fine, it's fine. I'll put up a barrier, so...”
“Nothing about that sounds fine!?”
“Angle looks good. Distance... eh, close enough!”
“Close enough!? You just said 'close enough'!? Wait, hang o—waaaaaaagh!?”
To repeat myself: bad premonitions have a habit of coming true. After a massive wind-up, Alice hurled me toward the horizon.
The scenery vanished in an instant as I soared high into the sky. Wow. I was flying... NO, I WASN’T! That absolute idiot! Weren’t there other ways to travel!? Why throwing!?
Thanks to the barrier, I didn't feel the wind pressure, but I could tell I was moving at a terrifying speed. And no matter how I looked at it, I felt like I was going to plummet.
As if to confirm my fears, my altitude gradually dropped, and I began to fall toward the ground.
However, that expectation was betrayed in the worst possible way.
While I was falling, Alice suddenly appeared out of nowhere in mid-air, caught me, and spun me around.
“And one more tiiiime~!”
“Gyaaaaaah!?”
Alice pulled off the impossible feat of catching me in mid-air just to throw me again while still in flight. I felt nothing but murderous intent.
It really felt like I was experiencing a roller coaster with nothing but my bare body as I soared toward the clouds once more.
Dear Mother, Father—I decided to visit Magnawell-san’s home to ask about taking in the baby dragon. I asked Alice to guide me, but how should I put it... I picked the wrong person to ask!?