Chapter 8, Departure ~ 2
「GRRRRRRR!!」
A huge roar that matched its body size hit Satoru's eardrums. Even as far as the eye could see, around ten monsters saw Satoru, recognized him as the one who had ravaged their territory, and attacked him all at once.
Satoru hurriedly pulled out his greatsword from his back and lashed out angrily at the real culprit in the shadows.
「You bastard! You lied to me again!」
「I'm not! "Windstorm!」
As soon as she slipped out of the shadows, Leia quickly used the art. In an instant, a tornado erupted and blew away all three flying dragons that were about to bite. Leia immediately stands in front of the swarm of flying dragons as if to protect Satoru, and keeps her gaze on the swarm, waiting to see what they will do.
「I'm sorry, my Lord! Perhaps they've changed their lair without my knowledge.」
「Gwah!」
Five of them rushed towards Leia at once. Some tried to bite her, some tried to tear her apart with their claws, and all attacked the uninvited visitors to their nest.
At first glance, she looked like a small girl. Their animal instinct judged that she was easier to assemble than Satoru, who was holding a large sword... but unfortunately, that instinct was wrong.
「"Windstorm!」
Leia calmly used the art. It was an intermediate magic of wind. Although the physical attack power was only moderate, but a large wind blew instantaneously, bouncing off the five flying dragons that must have weighed quite a bit.
The flying dragons were blown away helplessly by the unbelievable gust of wind.
A sudden gust of wind blew the tail of a flying dragon, which had lost its balance, accidentally attacked Leia from her blind spot. The huge spiked tail pierced Leia's thigh, and fresh blood sprayed out
It wasn't she being careless. It was a perfect coincidence.
「Kuhh!」
「Leia!」
Leia's body is small and slender, and under normal circumstances it would not be fatal, but it would definitely be a serious injury. Despite this, she showed only a little agitation, glanced at her Lord behind her at Satoru's cry, and smiled fearlessly.
「This is the first time you have called my name properly, my Lord. A wound of this magnitude is nothing to worry about.」
Leia forced the spiked flying dragon down with a strength that was unbelievable for her slender body. I'm not sure what to make of it. The flying dragon went into a rage, but its power soon weakened. It was weakened by Leia's "Life Force Absorption". She released the weakened flying dragon, and without panic or fuss, snapped the stinging spines, and Leia pulled the spikes out in one fell swoop, holding in the pain.
Her wound begins to close up, peristaltic and squirming.
Satoru shuddered for a moment as he saw the regenerative ability of the Immortal King again before his eyes. Even so, it was not instantaneous regeneration. The scar is still large.
「Incidentally, the tail of the flying dragon has a powerful poison. Even that won't work on me.」
Leia threw away the spikes and spun the spell again,
「"Storm Wall"!」
At the same time as Leia exercised her magic, sand flew around the two of them, creating a wall of wind. The flying dragons are showing up one after another from the depths of the cave. There were signs that some of the animals that had been blown away were coming back to here, but the wall of wind prevented them from approaching us.
「It buys you some time. My Lord, I'll draw them away from you, and you can run while I'm at it.」
「Huuh!?」
Satoru was surprised.
The wind magic she just showed him, which she says she’s good at, and Satoru's healthy legs, which he had tested in the labyrinth. Leia would certainly be able to handle it, and with Satoru's legs, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to escape.
However, being protected by a girl much smaller than me, isn't that the opposite of my position?
「I'll be fine. I'll definitely join you later.」
Leia's expression as she tried to persuade Satoru was one of seriousness.
(...... Honestly, ......, there are too many.)
Leia had an accurate grasp of the situation. The cave that stretched out in front of them seemed to be quite deep, and considering the number of flying dragons that lived in these mountains, it must have been thirty or so.
If Satoru is gone, she can fire off her magic without worry, and even if she takes into account that its daytime, she won't fall behind under normal circumstances.
Normally, that is.
The flying dragons may not have been aware of it at all, but Leia knew that these flying dragons had helped her in no small way as an obstacle to getting to the Deepest Labyrinth, where she lived until now.
She doesn't want to hurt them too much, to be honest, because she has a sense of gratitude.
She knew that if she were to let her Lord escape without hurting the flying dragons too much, and then escape himself, she would not be able to do so unscathed, considering the number of opponents.
For now, she would have to get her Lord to flee this place.
However.
「Leia.」
「What? We don't have much time. And my power in the daytime is.」
「That's not it. Stay in my shadow.」
「My Lord!?」
At Satoru's unexpected offer, Leia looked back at her Lord's face, her eyes black and white as she shouted out in surprise. Satoru smiled fearlessly.
「You'll be safe as long as you stay in my shadow. Is that right?」
「That is, yes, but ......」
If it's the same [Immortal Family], or even if it's just a beastly flying dragon, there's no way that she can be attacked in the shadows.
「And, if what you say is correct, I am invincible in this world. Isn't that right, too?」
「That's true, but....」
「I don't know what it is, but you don't want to kill these guys any more than you have to. Right?」
Leia nodded, slightly surprised that he had noticed her concern.
「This herd of flying dragons has served me well so far, albeit out of consciousness, as an obstacle to my labyrinth. ......」
「All right, I got it. That's enough.」
「But MUGH!」
Satoru blocked Leia's defense by covering her lips. He grabbed her by the chin and kissed her, and for a moment Leia's consciousness almost turn white.
「..........It's not manly to use a woman as a shield and run away.」
He doesn't want to be a coward like that.
Satoru slowly parted his lips, looked Leia in the eye, and smiled wanly.
「But.....」
「It's a "command". Dive into my shadow.」
Leia was still trying to defend herself, but Satoru gave her a command in a strong tone. She was surprised and tried to defy him, but the pain hit her immediately, and she sank into the shadows with a small smile, as if she had given up.
「Really....I've never heard of a master who would willingly become a wall for his slaves.」
「It's the first of its kind. Not bad.」
Leia giggled. Her eyes, full of trust in her Lord, were fixed on Satoru.
『I'm sorry, my Lord. ...... I'll leave it to you』
「Leave it to me.」
Satoru readied his sword and turned to face the swarm of flying dragons that were roaring threateningly behind the disappearing "storm wall".
It was a gamble.
How far will his cheat ability really work?
At a glance, the number of flying dragons was no less than 15. The cave was still deep, and there was still a chance that a big one might come out from inside.
He doesn't want to smash them with his big sword. He turned his sword to the side and regripped it to strike with the belly of his sword.
「Come at me!!」
Satoru holds up his large sword and swings it around wildly. It's not like he had any training in kendo, so he's simply swinging it around, but even so, the flock of flying dragons was clearly intimidated.
Fortunately, his foothold is large enough. If he wanted to avoid being surrounded, it would be better to face the wall, but unfortunately, there was a cave opening in the wall. Inside the cave is a nest. If he were to enter the nest without permission, the ten flying dragons that he could see would surely go into a rage.
「Guuah!」
As soon as the effect of the "storm wall" wore off, one of the flying dragons seemed to have lost its nerve and charged straight at him, trying to bite him. It opened its large mouth and closed in on Satoru.
( ......What?)
To Satoru's eyes, it looked as if the flying dragon had suddenly gone into slow motion. He can see the exact jaw movement of the flying dragon.――Satoru stepped forward diagonally to dodge the jaw and struck the defenseless dragon in the side with his back fist.
「Gyawaa!」
He didn't think he put that much effort into that hit, but the dragon's head flew off in the direction of the day after tomorrow. The flying dragon was blown away while squirming, and crashed into the mountain face. It slid down without effort.
「Haha ...... hahaha!」
Satoru couldn't help but laugh out loud. He could only laugh at his unexpected strength.
The flock of flying dragons was momentarily startled by what had just happened in front of them, and then they began to howl. They seemed to have realized that he was a more difficult enemy than they had imagined. He can see that they are wary of him.
(...... I don't believe it, but)
In order to check his senses, Satoru danced somewhat carelessly into the crowd of flying dragons by himself.
「Hurrah!」
He gave the flying dragon in front of him a fight kick. The dragon was too quick to react and was blown away by the impact. The frightened flying dragons were angered by the scene and charged at Satoru.
One of them was slapped on the head with the belly of his sword and fainted. With a swift movement, he caught the three that were trying to tear him apart with their claws and swung at them, sending them all into a giant swing, where they pitifully disappeared into the void.
(......, no doubt)
Satoru became more convinced. His eyes and ears were following his body movements as if they were in sync with his own. This was evidenced by the fact that the movement of the flying dragon that had attacked him was like slow motion, and he could follow it with ease.
It's also quite powerful. If you think about the size of the body, a single flying dragon can weigh three to four hundred kilograms. You can't expect to be able to take a giant swing at all of them――
It's nothing but a cheat.
『.....What a ridiculous power.』
Leia's voice, echoing in his brain, also contains many components of dismay.
「I'm getting used to not only using my powers but my eyes as well. I think I can handle any number of opponents at this level.」
『Just how much........』
Leia's voice deepened in dismay. Satoru understood exactly what was going on.
It seems that his brain hadn't quite caught up with him when he had tried the dash in the labyrinth. He must have gotten used to it over time. The hard scales of the flying dragon seemed to hurt his skin if he touched it too hard, but even that was not a problem.
He's very aware that he had become a cheat after all.
『It seems that I’m injured is meaningless』
「No, that was meaningful and worthwhile. The best part was that I got to see that you were willing to work for me, even if it meant getting hurt!」
He plunges into the cowering flying dragon. He strikes them one after another with the belly of his sword.
『I'm glad I could prove my loyalty. Oh, and my injuries are almost completely healed.』
「You've got a bullshit body, too, aren't you?」
He smiled back, and Satoru took a deep breath.
「You're no match for me, bastaaaaaaarrrrrr!!!!」
He shouted powerfully.
The flying dragons were horrified by Satoru's other-dimensional power. They just flew around him and roared in intimidation, but did not attack at all.
Carrying the large sword on his shoulder, Satoru thought to himself, "Well. If they were only watching from a distance, it would not be difficult to escape".
And then.
A *shud* echoed from the depths of the cave.
Nuu, What appeared was a flying dragon three times larger than the one surrounding Satoru.
「It's Nushi!」
There was no sense of urgency in Leia's voice. Considering Satoru's power, which is so absurd, even Nushi is no match for him. That's what she sensed it.
「Looks like it's going to be a troublesome one.」
The flying dragons surrounding Satoru only roared and showed no signs of attacking, but Nushi stood directly in front of Satoru, its whole body filled with the signs of a fight.
「GURGOAAAAAA!!!」
With a flap of its wings, Nushi flapped its wings wide in front of him. A gust of wind erupts, momentarily obscuring Satoru's vision. Nushi did not miss the opportunity. It quickly closed the gap and thrust its sharp jaws at the fool who was trying to destroy its nest... but...
CLANG!
There was a dull sound, like metal clashing against metal. His left arm had been bitten, but Satoru felt no pain.
Flying dragon opened its jaws again and tried to bite with vigor――but was unable to do so. Because Satoru's left arm pulled out in an instant, and held the dragon's head firmly.
Its skull cracked under the force of the vise, and the flying dragon's Nushi went into a frenzy of unimaginable pain.
As it tried to kick Satoru away, its right hind leg was caught by Satoru's right arm, which had been freed by dexterously holding the large sword at his side. A crunching sound came from his right arm.
He twisted it up so hard that it seemed to have shattered the bones in the flying dragon's leg. The dragon let out a cry of agony that someone had never heard before.
「You're not a hostage, you're a dragon!」
She had never heard of anyone in this world, let alone in history, being able to control a flying dragon that is four times the size of a human in body parts. Even though she had thought that would be the case considering Satoru's magical power, and it would be, she witnessed it.
『......how fast』
She can only marvel at it.
「Leia. Do these guys have the nature to chase their prey all the time?」
With Nushi is captured, and the surrounding flying dragons are just checking out the surroundings as if they are confused. In Satoru's arms, Nushi flaps its wings and goes on a rampage, but it doesn't even bite.
『No. Once you're out of their territory, they won't follow you as closely.』
「I see.」
As soon as he heard that, he dashed as fast as he could with Nushi in his arms and jumped down from the spot.
The landscape flowed quickly, the sound of the wind cutting through the air. There was no time to choose a foothold. He controlled his posture with a small kick and ran down one after another at a high speed.
The swarm of flying dragons that had been checking him out was too fast for them to accomplish, and they were left there, unable to pursue him.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
After a fifteen-minute dash, Satoru left the rocky surface, and as the greenery became thicker, he stopped and took a deep breath, seeing that there was no sign of pursuit.
「I guess we're good here.」
The flying dragon Nushi, which had resisted so fiercely at first, had become completely docile. Occasionally it would flap its wings as if to resist, but even that was not a problem for Satoru.
「My bad. I make you so much pain」
He loosened his left arm that was holding its head, and then released his right arm that was holding its leg. He was still wary of the possibility that it might attack him, but he had been no match for it even in a one-on-one situation, so he decided that one of them, even if it was a Nushi, would be no problem.
「Gururu.」
Despite Satoru's expectation that it would go on a rampage or something, the flying dragon Nushi slumped its long neck and licked its legs, which were bent in a strange direction. In Satoru's senses, its bone must have been shattered and licking it would not have healed it. Even though he had been attacked, he felt a small pang of guilt for his actions.
「Leia. Can you cure its leg?」
「It can't be helped」
When Leia came out of the shadows again, the flying dragon Nushi let out a menacing roar, but Leia knelt at the feet of the flying dragon Nushi as if she felt nothing, held out her hand, and spun a spell.
「"Regenerate Heal."」
A pale white light appeared in Leia's hand, and the light enveloped the flying dragon's feet. Slowly, the leg that had been bent in a strange direction returned to its normal direction. Satoru heard a small sound, like a tree trunk snapping. Perhaps the shattered bones were being treated as well - How convenient.
Nushi, the flying dragon, who had been quietly watching Leia's behavior, eventually showed an indescribable expression. Leia smiled gently and directed the soft, pale light of the "Regenerate Heal" to its head, stroking it without touching it. The expression on the face of the flying dragon Nushi became so gentle that even Satoru could see it.
After a while, the light from the treatment went out, and Leia took a breath, looked at Satoru, and nodded. The treatment seemed to have worked without any problems. Satoru was more than a little relieved.
「GRUAAAAAA!!!!」
The flying dragon, Nushi, straightened its posture and roared loudly into the sky.
Satoru frowned at the volume of its voice, which made his eardrums tremble. He felt that if it was just a sign, he would not be attacked, but he kept his large sword back in his right hand, ready to move at any moment.
After checking the surrounding, the flying dragon Nushi lowered its long neck and rubbed its chin on the ground while bringing its head closer to Satoru. It didn't move as if it was going to attack. It was a slow, sweet gesture.
「Ooh........Ohhhh, what is it?」
Leia looks at Nushi, the flying dragon, who is rubbing its nose against Satoru's left arm, with an expression that contains about a third of dismay.
「It looks like it's gotten used to you.」
「Oi, oi.......Kuh-haha! It's so cute when you get used to it, isn't it?」
The way it crawled up to him, throttling him, was somehow charming and cute, even though it was a large creature. Originally, Satoru was not averse to amphibians and reptiles, so he had the sense that animals that were pining for him were cute. It was a bit of a different size, though.
Leia breathed thoughtfully.
「In fact, in my days, there were knights who stole the eggs of flying dragons, hatched them, and trained the hatchlings to carry people on their shoulders. I don't know if this is the case today.」
She looked at the flying dragon Nushi curiously. It's an attitude of complete forgiveness. The fact that it was rubbing its chin on the ground was supposed to be a sign that it would not open its lower jaw, which has a stronger bite force than its upper jaw. She had heard of hatchlings and young flying dragons behaving this way when they are held down.
「But I've never heard of a Nushi dragon like this getting used to people.」
Flying dragons are naturally a proud race. Their intelligence is only slightly higher than that of normal animals, but she had not heard of many stories of grown-up flying dragons getting used to people. It's not that there aren't many, but when it comes to Nushi, there are none.
Satoru had playing around with it for a while, but eventually, he tucked his greatsword into his back, tied it back with a string, and patted the base of the flying dragon's head.
「That's enough. Go back to your pack.」
He gave it a little shove, but it showed no sign of moving. It growled a little, but it sounded like a grumbling protest, not intimidation. Leia was convinced that the flying dragon had extended its neck to Satoru.
「...... It seems that the dragon has no intention of leaving.」
「For real ......」
This time, Satoru understood.
『I've lost to you. So I'll follow you.』
He doesn't know if this flying dragon has that kind of logical thinking, but it feels like it does, and Satoru sighs.
「But that doesn't mean I can take it with me.」
「No? Not necessarily.」
Huh? Satoru looked back at Leia.
「I told you earlier. Flying Dragon Knight. If it still exists, there is no problem with you using a flying dragon. But even if it does not exist anymore, some high-level magicians use the "subordination" art, which is a subordinate art to the "subjugation" art, to use them as messengers.」
Flying dragons are not very intelligent, so they are not capable of listening to detailed commands. But if you get used to it, you can ride it like a horse.
But a monster of this size?――Satoru sighs again in dismay
「This world is pretty much the same. ......」
「However, it's not easy to see a flying dragon of this size, but it's possible to change the size of the body with the "shrinking" art.」
Satoru raised his voice, "Really?" It would be a big problem to carry around a flying dragon of this size, but if the size of the body dragon were smaller, the problem would be lessened.
「How much can this art change the size of the body?」
「Let's see. About a one-tenth of my magic power.」
When it comes to one-tenth, it's about a size larger than the Great Eagle. He could walk with that size on his shoulder.
It is unknown how many people in this world carry around flying dragons, even if they are the size of a child, but it hurts his conscience to neglect the flying dragons that have adored him. And more importantly, he's beating up most of the herd.
「......do you want to follow me?」
「Gruo.」
It growled in satisfaction at Satoru's voice and rubbed his face again.
No one can communicate with a flying dragon - Leia almost said that, but swallowed her words.
She's not going to say anything nonsensical now.
The flying dragon Nushi turned its body around and lay on its stomach in front of Satoru as if to tell him to get on. He knew what he wanted to do, but he hesitated.
「I-is this okay?」
As expected, Satoru's fears began to rise. The other party is a flying dragon that doesn't speak the language, and until just a few minutes ago lived in the wild as the leader of the pack. He had no confidence that he would be able to handle such a large carnivorous reptile if he was not familiar with it.
There is a slight dent at the base of its neck, and if you sit on it, you can sit straddling its neck, but he doesn't feel like riding it.
Leia put her hands on her hips and took a small breath.
「Well, I'm sure you'll be fine, but ...... Are there any horses in my Lord's world?」
「There is. But I've never ridden one before. Besides, I don't have a saddle, stirrups, or reins.」
There are not many people in modern Japan who have experience riding horses. Satoru has no experience either. So far, the flying dragon Nushi seems obedient, but the back of a large carnivorous beast covered with hard scales does not seem comfortable.
「There's nothing I can do about the saddle and the stirrup, but the reins are leather straps... is that all right?」
Leia looked up at one of the trees.
「"Wind Blade"」
She blurted out a few words and used the art. The invisible blade of wind cleaves the branch, she picks up the fallen branch, checks its length, and uses the same art again to cut off the leaves and branches, creating a stick 7 to 80 cm long and 5 to 6 cm in diameter..
「"Pierce"」
Chanting the art twice to drill a hole at each end, then tie a leather cord through the hole to adjust the length.
「"Harden".」
The final step is to apply the "Harden" art to prevent it from breaking easily. This is a simple form of hami, a type of harness.
「It's now hardened. It's hard enough that you can chew it up with your own strength. ...... What's wrong, my Lord? You look somewhat dazed.」
「No, I understand what you want to do and what you're doing, but it just seems like a waste of magic to me.」
In the current sequence, she has used the "Wind Blade", "Pierce" twice, and "Harden" five times. That's five times..
Leia smiled honestly.
「It's just that there's no problem because this is me with a lot of magic power. Ordinary people can't do this」
「I see」
If normal people were not afraid of this level of frequent use of magic, Satoru would have been worried. However, Leia is the exception to the rule, and at this point, Satoru only worships the exceptions, so he still doesn't understand how ordinary people feel.
Satoru received the finished product and crouched down to the face of the flying dragon Nushi.
「I'm sorry, this may take some getting used to, but can you hold on to this for me?」
He was not sure if it could understand him, but he told it, and at the same time, he bites on a branch to demonstrate.
The Flying Dragon Nushi growled and opened its upper jaw with a snap. It had two rows of large canine teeth with sharp edges, but no teeth at the back. Satoru took care of the leather strap and fed the branch to the flying dragon.
The flying dragon, Nushi, had been moving its mouth for a while, but it seemed to have found just the right position. It slouched its neck down again and showed its back to Satoru.
He's not going to let a beast of prey that can't speak his language get to him like that. Satoru danced with a flutter as he made up his mind, straddled the back of the flying dragon Nushi, and took hold of the reins. Leia stepped into the shadows again.
The flying dragon Nushi shook its body as if to confirm that Satoru had settled down, and then stood up slowly.
「Oh ...... Ohhhh!」
It's quite a high line of sight. The area around the neck root of the standing-up flying dragon Nushi is about 4 meters high. If you add Satoru's seat height to that, the eye level is about 5 meters. Even if you are not afraid of heights, you may cower when you are looking down from a height of five meters.
Nushi, the flying dragon, carefully spread its wings and began to flap them powerfully.
「Oh......Oohhhh, Ooohhhhhhhh!!」
Despite the additional weight of Satoru, the flying dragon Nushi danced in the air without feeling the slightest effect.
Of course, its wings are huge, suitable for a flying dragon, but it is tough to get buoyancy from its body, and it seems to be moving slowly, but it floats softly and starts gliding.
Satoru stopped to think that magic had something to do with it anyway.
He's going to enjoy the sensation of cutting through the wind and swimming in the air while looking down at the trees in the forest below - but before I do that, there's one thing.
「......If you're going to be my traveling companions, I'm going to have to give you names.」
「Guru.」
I don't know if it intended it or not, but Nushi the flying dragon also replied. Satoru couldn't help but chuckle.
「Would you like a heroic name anyway?」
Satoru listed a bunch of names in his head that sounded right. Satoru's middle-age component is extremely weak, so he can only come up with common names, but he can also come up with twisted names, Leia's voice echoed from inside his head.
『Hold on. A heroic name. ...... My Lord, don't you realize it? It's female, you know?」
「What? You're a female?」
Satoru was honestly surprised and turned his gaze to the flying dragon, Nushi.
「GRRrrrrrr!」
She must have realized that she was being talked about. The Flying Dragon Nushi let out a loud roar of complaint.
「Sorry, sorry!」
Satoru admitted that he was wrong and patted the flying dragon's neck. With a small grunt, the flying dragon Nushi narrowed her eyes and accepted Satoru's apology.
「I thought you were a strong male because you were called Nushi.」
Although her intelligence was not very high, she seemed to understand his words perfectly... Well, it's good that we can communicate easily, Satoru thought, and stopped thinking about it. Of course, he had no knowledge of the ecology of beasts in other worlds.
『Some animals are like that, but the flying dragons are the opposite. It's a race with few females. They surround themselves with males and then select the strongest male to carry their eggs.』
After she said it, Leia felt herself catching on. 『Attracted to strong males』――I don't think so.
「Hmmm. Then, how about ...... Minerva?」
The first thing that came to mind when he heard the word "dragon knight" was that. Originally, it should have been the name of a person who rode a dragon, not a dragon, but it just hit him, so he had to go with it.
『I think it's a good name, but does it come from my Lord's hometown?』
「It's the name of an old mythological goddess, I believe. The dragon was the first thing that came to mind.」
He's not lying.
「Gururu」
「You like it. All right, you're Minerva from now on!」
「Gurrrrr!」
Minerva roars even louder than before. Minerva's roar echoed through the forest on the dragon's back.
This is how Satoru welcomed his new companion - also not a human.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
The journey on Minerva's back was a pleasant one.
It's not that fast and stable, so Satoru was able to enjoy the ride. He held the reins to keep the balance, not to help him steer, but he couldn't possibly handle them in the first place, so it didn't matter.
The hollow was surprisingly soft, and the strain on his hips was not as great as he had expected. In fact, since his hip bones were firmly seated in the hollow, there was little danger of him slipping off, and he didn't feel the need to attach a saddle or stirrups.
After about two hours of gliding in the air, Satoru spotted a small lake below and patted Minerva on the neck, pointing in that direction. As if she knew what she was doing, Minerva turned her wings in that direction.
It's not a conversation, but it's a perfect communication.
Leia, who is in Satoru's shadow, can't help but wonder about this, but she gives up thinking about it, thinking that it's okay that they can communicate. There is only so much she can do in the shadows.
Minerva landed on the shore, her wings flapping loudly. Startled by the sound, the birds and small animals that were probably drinking water scattered and ran away.
「Let's take a break.」
Satoru got off Minerva's back with a flutter, and stretched widely. Although he had been riding in a relatively relaxed manner, an unseen sense of fatigue was inevitable. Besides, he didn't know how long Minerva would be able to keep flying, so it would be necessary to take a break in between.
Satoru looked around in circles. The trees were thick, but not very tall, about five to six meters high. The foliage was lush, but the greenery around his feet was not so dense as to be overpowering.
While watching Minerva gulping down water from the lake, Satoru also took a scoop of the lake water - it was warm.
「Oh, my Lord. You'd better not.」
Leia, who has somehow come out of the shadows, calls out to Satoru from behind. With a smack of his tongue, Satoru spilled the water.
「Isn't this water good for drinking?」
The Minerva in front of him is drinking very well.
「It may not be a problem for a flying dragon, but it's not good for my Lord. The water is a little strong in fire. That's why the trees around it aren't growing very well.」
「I see.」
Water with a strong fire component may seem like a contradiction, but the beautiful girl in front of him is an expert when it comes to demons. There's no reason not to follow her.
It was probably a hot spring. Even in his original world, some hot springs were suitable for drinking and some were not.
He had no choice but to take out a plastic bottle from his backpack and drink the water.
「If you need water, I can prepare it by magic. It's safer that way.」
「Is that so?」
If she can make water with magic, then they won't need to prepare extra water for the trip. It would be easier if they didn't have to carry them.
「Also, the haramu fruit there can be eaten by people.」
There are three or four pale yellow-green pear-like fruits growing at the point she pointed to.
「You could have taken them for me.」
Leia shrugged her shoulders at Satoru's point.
「It is not correct to say that it is impossible ......? If I touch the fruit, I will absorb the nutrients from the fruit with my "life force absorption". You can be sure it will go bad. If I touch bread or other processed food, there is no problem.」
「Ah ......」
This is a very inconvenient story.
Leia, an existence that is out of this world's reason, should probably be in the labyrinth. The outside world may not be inconvenient for her, but it may be hard for her to recognize that she is out of reason in many ways.
Satoru had no choice but to pick up the haramu fruit, wipe it with the hem of his cloak, and take a bite. Contrary to its appearance, the texture was peachy. However, its skin was hard, and the sweetness had a peculiar sourness to it, which made it not uneatable, but not something he wanted to eat more than once.
「Hmmm... ......I think it would be delicious in syrup.」
「Ohhh, my Lord knows it well. In human society, the best way to eat haramu fruit is to eat it in syrup....... However, when they are soaked in syrup, they become a luxury food, so it is not something you can eat easily.」
Satoru looked at the haramu fruit he was about to eat. But if you can put anything in your stomach, there's nothing better than that.
「Well, ......, are there any gods in this world?」
At Satoru's question, Leia gave him a curious look.
「Of course, there are. Are there no gods in your world, my Lord?」
(...... are there any?)
He couldn't help but whisper
「Ah.....In my world, there is not easy to understand God. Many people believe that there is, but」
Hohoー, Leia's admiration was curious. And then Satoru suddenly realized something.
「I mean, you know. Isn't it possible that God or something is trying to get rid of me, an existence that is outside the bounds of this world's "reason"?」
In stories where people are transported to this kind of world, such stories are common. Satoru feared this, but Leia showed a puzzled look for a moment, then laughed it off at the top of her voice.
「Ha, ahahahaha...... that's impossible, impossible my Lord」
After laughing a lot, Leia worshipped Satoru, who showed a disgruntled look on his face.
「Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of you. Because, you know. There are gods in this world, but they are not the kind that manifests themselves and exercises power.」
She cut off her words and stomped on the ground with the soles of her feet.
「This earth is God.」
「......Huh」
For a moment, Satoru was almost taken aback, but when he thought about it, he realized that there were many such stories in the myths of the original world. The earth mother goddess, the corpse of a god, all sorts of things.
「God does not give us any specific benefits. The earth and its bounty are the blessings that God has given us. We are kept alive by the gods. ...... Ah, I'm is half dead, so "kept alive" is not quite the same thing.」
Satoru was immediately convinced.
God is not only the one who performs miracles and the like. The earth, which gives them equal blessings, is worshiped as a god.
Come to think of it, there was also a classification of magic as holy. These sorceries are not given to people based on their faith in God, but only on their aptitude to use them.
If it was a belief in giving thanks to the earth, Satoru was somewhat familiar with it.
On the other hand, Satoru finally realized a very important fact.
「One more thing. I should have asked about this first. I forgot something important.」
「What is it?」
「If someone dies in this world, ......, you'll never see them again, right?」
「Of course.」
Leia asserted clearly.
There is only one value of life, and it is equal.
When he heard that slaves had to give up their lives for their masters, he thought that their lives were light, so he thought that perhaps there was some kind of magic that could revive them, but that didn't seem to be the case. When he thinks back, there was a time in the Middle Ages on Earth when slavery existed everywhere and the value of life was considered quite low.
「Strictly speaking, if your soul is broken or shattered, it's over.」
After saying that, Leia came up with a possibility.
「...... do the dead come back to life in my Lord's world?」
「That's exactly what I'm talking about. I mean, there are stories like that in stories, but never in real life.」
Phew, Leia breathed a sigh of relief.
Death is an absolute truth.
The thought of being resurrected in Satoru's world gave her chills.
Such a world cannot be normal.
「Even if the body is still there, if the soul is destroyed, even the strongest person will die. That is an absolute in this world. We, the Immortal Family, are no different.」
Leia herself is an existence that has deviated from this truth, but even so, if her soul is destroyed, even she will die.
There should be no such thing as resurrection.
「The difference is that people's souls become more fragile as time goes by and eventually break down. But the Immortal Family does not become fragile. Because they deviate from reason, they are abhorred.」
Satoru nodded profoundly. If you are truly immortal, you will not grow, and you will not age forever. The fact that they don't age is enough to make them the object of envy and fear from the human perspective.
「Elves are people's」
「Elf!?」
Leia's words were interrupted by Satoru's surprised voice. Leia, who was interrupted in her speech, sulked a little, but Satoru was very excited, and without noticing the displeasure Leia, he went on with his one-sided speech.
「Heeh, they really exist, huh? They live in the forest, have slightly pointed ears, are slender, and live longer than humans!」
Leia forgot her displeasure to Satoru and looked at him with surprise.
「You know them well, don't you? Are they rare race in my Lord's world as well?」
「No, they are not there. There are many of them in stories and games ...... that is made up. ...... Wow, they really exist.」
It makes him excited to think that he will be able to see them eventually.
Leia smiled bitterly at such Satoru.
「To give you a brief explanation, there are six families that live in this world. They are based on the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind.
Water and wind are the elves.
Earth and fire are the dwarves.
Fire and wind are the Beast Tribe.
Water and earth make the aquatic race.
Water and fire are opposites. Earth and wind are also opposites, so there is no such combination of races.
People are not blessed with any particular attribute. They are, as it were, without attributes. And then there is the demon tribe, which is almost unseen. These are, on the contrary, a mixture of the four, veritable chaos. There are Immortal Family members like me, but they are demons.」
「So, for example, flying dragons are also beasts?」
「That's right. There are also those who are called the Five Dragons, but these are special beings.
The Thunder Dragon of the Wind, Lord of the East.
The Fire Dragon, Lord of the South.
The Earth Dragon, Lord of the West.
The Water Dragon, Lord of the North.
And the king who rules them all, the Golden Dragon Feather Dragon, who lives in the sacred mountain of Nevis.」
Satoru took out his notebook and took notes.
「They do not take part in conflicts between humans. They just watch over us. They may give or lend their power for fun, but basically, they are inviolable. I've told you before that even Feather dragon can obey you, even if only in spirit form, but no one living here, including me, is a match for a Feather dragon. The strongest in this world. That is the Feather Dragon.」
Satoru gulped and swallowed his spit. Leia's face is serious.
「Even I doesn't want to get involved. Feather dragon is mild and tranquil, and it is said that it does not directly attack people, but its power is absolute. On the other hand, it knows so much that it is said that there is nothing it doesn't know. Many people have gone to Nevis to seek its knowledge and have lost their lives.」
Feather Dragon whereabouts are clearly known, and even if the king does not attack it, it means the Feather Dragon's place is where many people lose their lives.
「Well, there's no better way to stay out of it.」
But both Leia and Satoru had a vague idea.
Somehow, they knew that they would have to get involved in the future.
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