“Nyahaha─!!”
As I walked along the bumpy road, I soon found myself surrounded by a dense forest.
The branches rustled in the wind, and the red glow of the sunset seeped through the thick greenery.
Amidst all this, a loud and cheerful laughter echoed from beyond the end of the path.
As I slowly approached the direction of the sound, I saw the silhouette of someone and a creature fluttering its wings madly in the air.
“Nyahahahaha─!!”
“Nabi, that’s enough now. Let’s eat… You must be hungry.”
“Jerion?”
As I finally got closer to them and spoke softly, the man who had his back to me jumped in surprise and hurriedly turned around.
“Hyik─?!!”
“Nyahahaha─!!!”
As soon as our eyes met, the man frowned deeply and quickly drew the sword that was at his waist.
But the creature flapping its wings continued to ignore me, merely emitting strange laughter.
“W-Who are you…?”
Jerion pointed his sword at me with a rather shabby appearance. To reduce his tension as much as possible, I cautiously raised both my hands to chest height and opened my mouth.
“Are you Jerion?”
“…Who are you to know my name?”
“My name is Levi. I am the delicate nun who looked after Aizen.”
At my soft words, Jerion’s eyes widened slightly as he slowly lowered his sword.
“Levi? Are you that Levi?”
“Yes, that’s right. So, there’s no need to be so wary.”
“Well, this is quite an unexpected visitor….”
He sheathed the sword back at his waist, scratching his head with a rather awkward expression.
With an uneasy smile, he began to subtly look away.
“I-I apologize… I thought you were an enemy….”
“It’s okay. It’s my fault for appearing suddenly.”
“So you’re the nun Levi that Aizen used to talk about all the time.”
His disheveled appearance suggested he had spent a year here, but I wondered if it was really necessary to be so tense over just one dragon.
Still, it was not really my place to ask him why, so I refrained from doing so.
“I should have come sooner, but various circumstances delayed my visit.”
“Oh, no…. I’ve heard enough about the nun from Aizen to understand somewhat.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I heard that you have a sun allergy and always stay indoors during the day….”
“…That’s no longer the case.”
I was quite curious about how Aizen had introduced me, but as the sun had already set pretty low, I had no choice but to suppress my curiosity that was rising to the top of my head.
“The reason I came here is simply to offer my gratitude for teaching Aizen swordsmanship during that time.”
“Excuse me? Oh, no…. I didn’t teach him anything great to warrant a reward…. I only taught him the basics….”
“Isn’t it thanks to those basics that Aizen is now making a name for himself in the royal capital?”
“That can’t be right. Aizen was already quite skilled before I taught him the basics. Even without me, he would have made a name for himself eventually.”
I couldn’t help but admire his keen insight.
While I didn’t know how he was now, I could tell at a glance just how seriously Jerion had taken Aizen’s training back then, and that made me feel quite proud.
“Here, take this.”
“…?”
Having more or less wrapped up our conversation, I handed him a scroll that I had hidden in my bosom.
“What is this?”
“It’s a scroll containing very special magic. It’s a rare item that you can’t find anywhere else, so try not to lose it if you can.”
As I almost forced the scroll into Jerion’s hand, he looked dazed and started blinking in confusion.
He then unrolled the scroll and checked the contents.
“…There’s something that looks like blood smudged in the center of the scroll?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s normal.”
“This is normal?”
“Yes. In an emergency, if you unroll the scroll and shout my name loudly….”
Just as I was calmly explaining about the scroll to Jerion, something suddenly flew straight at my face, obscuring my vision completely.
“Nyahaha─!!”
“……”
It seemed that this creature was the dragon Priscilla had mentioned.
I had heard it was quite a troublesome one, but I never thought it would be this oblivious and noisy….
“N-Nabi─?!!”
“Is this dragon’s name Nabi?”
I asked in a low voice as I was enveloped by the dragon.
Jerion, clearly panicked, struggled to open his mouth and answered my question.
“Ah, no… The name Nabi is just something I made up for convenience…”
“Is it normally this scatterbrained?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“I heard that you’ve been in charge of this dragon for a year? But you two don’t seem particularly close.”
At my blunt remark, Jerion immediately shut his mouth and fell into an awkward silence. Shortly after, he let out another awkward laugh and began to make excuses that didn’t seem to hold much weight for me.
“Since it’s such a nonsensical creature that doesn’t understand anything… I’ve tried my best to work hard….”
“You really don’t need to justify yourself like that. I didn’t ask you to find fault or anything.”
With that remark, I didn’t hesitate to pull the dragon away from my face.
The dragon was still flapping its wings happily, but I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh, unable to view its behavior in a positive light.
“Well, since I’ve achieved my purpose, I’ll be on my way now. I don’t know when it’ll be, but if fate allows, we can meet again.”
“Huh? Are you leaving already?”
“Yes. That scroll activates when you open it in times of danger and shout my name loudly. But it’s a one-time use, so be sure to use it cautiously.”
“Ah…. Yes, understood.”
As Aizen’s teacher, it would have been good to spend some time chatting, even if just for a brief moment.
Yet, I felt that I couldn’t concentrate at all because of the dragon that had been running around so distractingly.
Besides, once I visited the village, there would be plenty of places to hear stories related to the children─.
“It was nice meeting you. Well then, I’ll be off.”
“It was nice meeting you too. I hope we cross paths again one day.”
As I reluctantly released my grip on the dragon and turned my steps back towards the village, at that moment.
“Give that to me.”
Suddenly, a coherent word came unexpectedly out of the dragon’s mouth, catching both me and Jerion off guard.
“Give that to me.”
“…This one can talk too?”
“Ah, no… I’ve only heard strange laughter until now….”
“Give that to me─.”
Ignoring the conversation between me and Jerion, the dragon kept staring intently at my chest, repeating the same phrase over and over.
At first, I had no idea what it meant, but then suddenly recalled the World Tree necklace around my neck and realized what it was trying to convey.
“Are you talking about this?”
When I pulled out the necklace I had hidden in my clothing to show it, the dragon finally flapped its wings vigorously and nodded its head.
“Yes!! Give that to me.”
“…….”
I pondered for a moment.
To be honest, it bothered me to keep wearing something that couldn’t even be used as decoration around my neck.
Moreover, it was the World Tree’s necklace, but it hadn’t been of any help until now, so I began to question if it was right to carry it around.
“Well, I don’t have any reason not to give it to you, but how did you know about it and want it so badly?”
“It glows faintly from inside your clothes. And it’s pretty.”
It seemed that the dragon could see something we couldn’t.
There was no light emanating from anywhere, and the design was plain and rustic, so I had no idea what it found pretty.
“Wait a minute…. Why didn’t you say anything until now, if you can talk?”
Jerion, who looked the most taken aback by the situation, asked the dragon.
However, the dragon glanced at Jerion and then let out a loud snort before turning back to me.
“Give that to me. I want it.”
“Ignore…?”
Jerion’s complexion suddenly darkened.
“If I give this to you, what will you give me in return?”
Regardless of Jerion’s mood, I continued the conversation in a flat tone without showing any emotion.
The dragon then flapped its wings again as if it were a habit and bolstered its response.
“I’ll give you anything─!!”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll give you everything─!!”
The dragon’s response immediately left me dumbfounded.
I had no idea what it meant, so I tilted my head slightly and slowly blinked in confusion.
At that moment, the dragon suddenly broke off one of its own horns and unhesitatingly offered it to me.
“What about this?”
Seeing that absurd spectacle right in front of me, I could only lose my words and blink rapidly.
“W-What the…?!!”
Jerion looked equally taken aback.
“Want me to give you another one?”
“Ah, no!! I don’t need that!!”
Before I could finish my sentence, the dragon attempted to raise its wings toward its horn again.
Fortunately, I was able to quickly stop it before it could reach, but my startled heart wouldn’t calm down and was pounding intensely.
Even now, I was shocked enough by the situation, but if it broke off the remaining horn, things would get even more chaotic.
“Why? Don’t you want to give it?”
“No, that’s not the issue…”
“I’ll give you my horn, so give me that necklace.”
“To be honest, getting such a small horn won’t be of much use to me….”
“What’s that?”
“Because it’s too small….”
“Then, should I give you a tooth?”
“No!! I certainly don’t need that!!”
I was in a completely incomprehensible situation.
It was undeniable that it was a rare item, but that didn’t mean this necklace provided anyone with any special help.
It was just meaningful in itself, nothing more, nothing less.
So why did this dragon want this necklace so badly?
I couldn’t understand its intent at all.
“I don’t know what you’re expecting, but this isn’t as great an item as you think it is….”
“Huh?”
“It’s just an ordinary necklace. Just wearing it won’t give you any special abilities or make you stronger.”
“What?”
“The only ability it has is a slight calming effect….”
As I was explaining to the dragon with a disgruntled expression, the necklace I held in my hand began to shake violently.
Seeing that, the dragon’s eyes lit up even more as it began to admire it.
“I’ll give you a horn and a tooth. Give me that.”
“You really want it that badly?”
“Yes─!!”
“Really?”
“Yes─!!!”
“…Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Then I’ll give you this necklace, so can you return to where you originally lived?”
The dragon immediately nodded at my flat remark, but to my surprise, the answer that came out of its mouth was the exact opposite of what I had just seen.
“My birthplace was eaten by the Demon King. So my hometown is here now.”
Upon hearing the dragon casually drop such a shocking statement, I was momentarily left speechless, my brow furrowing slightly.
While losing one’s home to the Demon King was indeed shocking, the calmness with which it said it only added to my astonishment.
“What?”
“The Demon King blew up the place where I lived!!”
“It blew it up?”
“Yes! And took all the adults away somewhere─.”
