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The group walked along the road beneath the warm sunlight.
It had been a little over a week since they left Yuke. Sometimes they camped outdoors, sometimes they rested at post towns, and they continued steadily onward. Another two or three hours and they would probably reach Pendran.
“And Pendran has a really important lord! The knights are strong and cool too!”
“My, is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”
“Lulu will show you around! There are places with yummy food, clothing shops, hat shops, um… lots of other places too!”
“Oh my, would you? That would be very helpful.”
Lulu chatted with Levia while riding on someone’s shoulders.
“Hahaha. Then maybe you can show me around too. Tell me somewhere you recommend.”
Incidentally, the one carrying her was Ney. Apparently Levia’s remark about her having no maternal instinct had bothered her, and this was the result of trying somehow to win Lulu over. It was more the sort of thing a father would do, but Ney did not seem to have noticed.
“Hmm… Lulu doesn’t know about weapons. Daddy knows lots about weapons!”
“W-weapons? I’d prefer somewhere a little more fashionable.”
“I don’t know about armor either. Lulu likes clothes.”
“…”
Lulu had thoroughly pegged her as the warrior type. It was understandable. They had been attacked by monsters several times along the way, and while Liz used magic and Levia fought with graceful movements, Ney’s style could best be described as bold and fearless. It was only natural that Lulu would form that impression.
“…?”
“My, Liz. Is something wrong?”
Liz was frowning. Levia asked what was wrong, but Liz ignored her and released magical power into the surroundings to begin “detection.”
“…There are fewer wind spirits. Magic? But there’s nothing around us…”
A decrease in wind spirits meant that wind-element magic was being used. Liz’s Wind Cutter was one example: it was wind magic, and using it temporarily reduced the number of wind spirits in the surrounding area.
There was no sign of any wind, however. As the name suggested, most wind magic produced wind. And yet—
“Ney! Get Lulu into the wagon! It’s coming from above!”
Levia sensed something and shouted a warning. Ney immediately obeyed, then drew her weapon and moved to the front.
—GROOOOAAAR!!
A roar. With it came an enormous shadow. The closer it drew, the stronger the wind became, until they had to crouch to keep from being blown away.
They heard the beating of wings, but it was no light flutter like a bird’s. It was a heavy, booming sound. That was only natural, because the creature bearing those wings was—
“W-why is there a dragon here?!”
Ney’s voice was shaken.
A dragon.
Among the monsters of this world, dragons possessed power close to the very highest level. There were many different kinds of dragon, with varying characteristics and strength, but in terms of threat level none fell below A-rank. About the only time one could be called weak was while it was still a juvenile.
The dragon before them was obviously no juvenile. Its body was covered in sturdy-looking green scales, its horns were fully grown, and the vertical pupils characteristic of a predator glowed faintly with magical power. It looked at least five times the size of a human. It was plainly a fully grown adult.
“So that’s what was consuming the spirits?! Well, of course! Something that huge would need a tremendous number of spirits just to fly!”
Even with magical reinforcement to its wings, getting a creature as heavy as a dragon into the air would be difficult. The reason it could fly was because it used magic.
Monsters could not use the same wide variety of magic as humans, but they could use certain forms of magic rooted in their instincts. Their bodies contained organs specifically for constructing those spells.
The horse whinnied in terror and reared. Land tried to calm it while Lulu clung to him anxiously.
The dragon landed with a heavy thud. It growled low in its throat, but showed no immediate sign of attacking. The three remained on guard in front of the wagon, puzzled by its behavior, when…
“Found you.”
A voice came from atop the dragon. A silver-haired man with cat ears stood there with his arms folded, glaring down at them. A cloth covered the lower half of his face, and he was dressed entirely in black, in something resembling a ninja’s outfit.
“Thieves! Give it back! We finally found you!”
A boy poked his head out from behind the man. It was the same boy they had nearly captured at the ruins.
“Oh my, if it isn’t the kitty. Have you been well?”
“Of course I haven’t! It’s been awful! Because of you, Wing stopped listening to us, then we searched the town and you were already gone, and we kept looking and looking until finally—”
“Theo. Be quiet.”
The man stopped the fuming boy. His voice was cold and almost devoid of emotion. At the sound of it, the boy called Theo reluctantly backed down.
“Ugh… Fine, Brother.”
“My, so you’re brothers? …Hmm.”
Levia looked the two of them over as though appraising them. Theo flinched, but the man ignored her and continued.
“Now then, adventurers. We want one thing from you. Hand over the Spirit Stone.”
“Spirit Stone? What are you talking about?”
Ney replied from the front with her shield raised. The man looked displeased.
“Don’t play dumb. You have it. It is not something people like you should possess. Hand it over.”
“Oh, you mean that red stone? I see, I see. Unfortunately, we already sold it.”
“Y-you what?!”
Levia lied as casually as could be, and Theo looked stricken. The man gave a small sigh.
“Don’t let her fool you, Theo. We already confirmed that they were taking it to the Magic City to sell.”
“Oh, right. Hey! You liar!”
“Oh my, you already knew. You looked rather stupid, so I thought I might fool you. The older brother seems to have at least some sense.”
Theo bristled at being called stupid, but the man remained perfectly calm and repeated his demand.
“I’ll say it once more. Give us the Spirit Stone. Do that, and we will let you go.”
The dragon growled, giving the distinct impression that refusal would mean being attacked. Ney frowned and called back to Levia.
“What do we do, Levia? He seems to have complete control over that dragon.”
“Hmm. Yes, I suppose…”
Levia glanced toward the wagon. Land and Lulu were watching them anxiously.
“Well, I suppose it cannot be helped. It belonged to them in the first place. Let us return it.”
“What?! Levia, are you serious?!”
“Liz, I tell you this all the time. What I want is to live extravagantly on my husband’s money. I do not necessarily need a fortune of my own.”
“Ehhh…”
Liz looked suspiciously at Levia’s pleasant smile.
“Besides, money is no use if you’re dead. So, I shall return it.”
“I see. Then throw it over here.”
Levia took the stone from inside her clothes and held it out toward the man, only to be ordered to throw it instead.
“Very well. Then… HRAAH!!”
“What—?!”
FWOOOSH!
She did throw it, but with all her strength. Despite the short throwing motion, the stone shot forward with incredible speed. It was the kind of arm strength that would put a professional baseball player to shame.
Everyone’s eyes followed the stone. Levia did not waste the opening: she leapt at the dragon’s enormous eye and drove a kick into it, crushing the one soft part of its body before using the recoil to spring upward again and slash at the man.
“Kh!”
“My, you blocked that. What a shame.”
The man caught the blow with a kunai and somehow managed to defend himself. Levia sounded disappointed, but flipped backward and landed on the ground.
The dragon thrashed in pain. Unable to maintain his footing, the man grabbed Theo and jumped down from its back.
“You…!”
“My, what a fool. For someone dressed like a ninja, you’re awfully careless.”
The man showed real emotion for the first time, while Levia twisted her lips into a taunting smile.
“I knew it. There was no way you’d suddenly become that reasonable.”
“Agreed. I was certain she would do something.”
Her companions, who trusted her in their own way, attacked the dragon. If she had genuinely returned the stone, they would have accepted that, but apparently they had expected things to turn out like this if she did not.
“Besides, even if we gave it back, there’s no guarantee they’d actually leave us alone! Ice Bullet!”
Liz fired freezing magic. Unless it was a dragon adapted to snowy mountains, dragons were generally vulnerable to low temperatures.
“Doran! Damn it—fly!”
At Theo’s shout, the dragon beat its wings and escaped into the air. It was still suffering from the pain, but seemed to have recovered enough reason to move properly, and its remaining eye burned with hatred.
“What?! That boy is the dragon rider?!”
“Probably not. Given the situation, I think he was controlling the Cerberus the other day too. If that’s true, then…”
“A Rare Skill!”
A Rare Skill.
It was a third kind of power, neither magical reinforcement nor magic. Such abilities could accomplish things that would otherwise require several spells layered together, and sometimes even things magic itself could not achieve. Their underlying principles were unknown, and their effects differed from person to person. The only thing known for certain was that they consumed magical power when activated.
As the word rare suggested, people who possessed such abilities were extremely uncommon, with only a handful in an entire country. Perhaps for that reason, very little research had been done on them. Religious authorities claimed they were blessings from the gods, but…
In any case, Theo appeared to possess a Rare Skill. Most likely, his ability allowed him to control monsters.
“Hmm. In that case, perhaps I ought to sell you to someone in the military instead of a madam. Which would you prefer, kitty?”
“Neither, obviously!”
Theo snapped at Levia’s remark. His brother restrained him and gave instructions.
“Don’t rise to her bait. Support me from above. I’ll deal with this woman.”
“Got it! Doran, come!”
Theo jumped onto the dragon when it came to pick him up, and the two rose into the air. At his command, flames gathered inside the dragon’s mouth and erupted with a deafening roar.
Dragon breath. The flames were aimed at Ney and Liz, but the dragon’s aim was somewhat poor. With only one functioning eye, it probably had trouble judging distance, and the two dodged without difficulty. Liz retaliated by firing arrows of ice.
Meanwhile, the man charged with a kunai in each hand. He approached Levia in a low stance, almost skimming the ground, and struck with both blades. The attacks came from every direction, but Levia merely tilted her body from side to side and avoided them with a calm expression.
“So you’re the technical type. I see.”
She backstepped to create distance, then immediately reversed direction. Lowering herself into a stance much like his, she unleashed a rapid series of thrusts.
“Kh…?!”
The man blocked them with a strained expression. Despite wielding two weapons, defending was all he could manage, and eventually he was forced to retreat.
“Strong…! Was all that ridiculous behavior an act…?!”
“My, already struggling with something this childish? I’m merely copying you.”
Levia giggled as she idly twirled her sword in one hand. Whether she was deliberately leaving openings or simply provoking him, the man could not tell, and hesitated to attack.
“Shall we pick up the pace a little?”
Levia’s figure blurred. The next moment, she was directly in front of him.
Though startled, the man crossed his kunai to defend, only to fail to react to a kick from the left and go flying. The damage seemed slight, however, because he immediately got back to his feet and avoided the slash Levia sent after him.
The man withdrew again with a bitter expression, only to find Levia frowning as well.
“No good. How troublesome. I really am far too weak.”
“…That technique, those movements. You did not learn them on your own. Who taught you?”
“An old man. They are little more than play-fighting techniques, but I suppose they suit a delicate girl like me.”
“You have some nerve…!”
The man released a large amount of magical power and reinforced his body. Apparently he had decided to get serious, because he rushed toward her at a speed incomparable to before and swung his blades sharply.
Levia still dealt with him without difficulty. She saw through everything, from thrown kunai to feints and every other little trick he attempted.
Perhaps unsettled by how much stronger she was than expected, the man’s movements slowed for just an instant. Levia immediately thrust for his neck, but he avoided it by twisting his head sharply aside, then used the motion to turn his whole body and retreat.
“Oh? Not bad-looking at all.”
Levia spoke while holding a strip of cloth caught on her blade. The covering over the man’s face was gone, revealing features that were, as she had said, quite handsome.
Slightly upturned eyes, a straight nose, a sharp jawline, silver hair, and cat ears. He looked more or less like what Theo might become when he grew older.
The man realized what had happened and covered his mouth, glaring at Levia. She paid no attention to his reaction and instead muttered to herself.
“…I wonder how much the two of them would sell for as a set. I know there’s a market for sisters together, but brothers together… I’ve seen that setup in manga, though that was aimed at men. Would women just find it creepy? But then again, reverse harems are a thing…”
Fortunately or unfortunately, the man did not seem able to hear her. He merely watched her cautiously while Levia went around in circles with her unanswered question.
“Brother! Take this!”
The dragon, which had been fighting the other two, flew toward them and breathed fire. Its aim was still poor, but dragon breath covered a wide area, and Levia was forced to make a large dodge.
“Theo, well done…!”
The man threw a kunai. Levia moved to avoid it by a hair, then changed course at the last moment and took a much larger step away. Her instincts proved correct: the instant the kunai struck the ground, it exploded.
“She avoided it on the first try…! What a nuisance…”
“We’re not done! Get her, Doran!”
The dragon fired a fireball, the same kind the Cerberus had used and most likely produced by a magic item. It traveled faster than its breath. Levia saw it coming, made a face, and stepped aside again.
“Crap.”
At that moment another explosive kunai came flying at her, and she threw herself forward with an undignified “W-whoa, whoa, whoa!” Another fireball followed immediately after.
Her earlier graceful movements disappeared as she continued dodging with motions that looked more like acrobatics. She could read the attacks, but she had no room to spare. For Levia, whose defenses were poor, even a single hit could be fatal, and barely avoiding them was no good either. Her precious skin might get scratched.
She tried to finish off the older brother first, but the younger kept interfering, while the younger himself was too far away for her attacks to reach. Levia was completely shut down. She thought to herself that she really should not have messed around earlier.
Still, the situation would not last much longer. Her companions were coming.
The problem was simply that she was fighting two against one. Once her companions joined her, it would become one-on-one fights or a larger group battle. Either way, their side had the advantage in overall strength.
Liz finally entered spell range, constructed a barrage of ice, and fired it at the dragon. The dragon was focused on Levia, so the attack struck it squarely from the side. That should have shifted the situation back in their favor—
“Huh?”
But then something unexpected happened.
The blow knocked the dragon’s head sideways, sending the fireball it had been preparing off in a completely different direction. In that direction were the wagon and the father and daughter sheltering behind it.
“Damn it!”
Levia reinforced herself with magical power and sprinted toward the wagon with explosive speed. She caught up to the fireball, but although she had managed that much, she had no way to block it. No, there was one way. The question was whether she could withstand it—
“Levia!”
Lulu screamed. Levia turned toward the fireball and crossed her arms in front of herself. Heat and impact slammed into her, but she planted her feet and endured.
Levia disappeared into the flames.