Well, it was a dragon as big as Zavilia!
When I looked up in admiration, I saw twin shining eyes in the dust that blocked my vision.
"Lady Fi!" (Curtis)
Even without being warned by Captain Curtis, I realized that the glow in the dragon's eyes was hostile.
Quicker than I could defend myself, the grey-brown dragon opened its mouth and spat out flames.
Although it wasn't as powerful as the one Zavilia emitted before, it was definitely a superior type of fire-breathing dragon.
The flame was about 2 meters wide and headed straight towards me.
The speed of flame movement was much faster than that of humans.
It was an attack that made it clear that it was going to finish us off with one blow.
I thought it was inevitable, so I stretched out one hand towards the approaching flames and activated a defensive spell.
"'Anti-flame defense shield'!" (Fia)
It would be much easier to activate magic by limiting the targets to be protected, such as fire if it was fire, or water if it was water.
Therefore, I deployed magic that specific to fire defense.
As if in response to my voice, a magic shield about 5 meters in diameter appeared from my outstretched palm.
The moment the dragon's flame touched it, the shield transformed into a hemispherical shape that seemed to repel the flames and continued to block the flames.
As I checked the weight of my hand, I thought, "It's not a bad flame." At the same time, Green ran up to me and held up his shield in front of me.
However, Green seemed to notice the magic shield that appeared in front of him, and his whole body stiffened as if it were stiff.
...You can see the magic completely, right? I wonder if it's bad? As I watched Green, he let out a huff of air and let out an excited voice.
"Haha, it's a new magic again!? You don't afraid to defend against this flame by yourself! You surprised me every time!" (Green)
When I looked at it, I saw that Green's expression was just as excited as his voice, and he was staring at the magic shield as if fascinated.
There was a hint of excitement on his face, but that was it, and Blue, who was right next to Green, looked the same.
When I realized that was exactly what happened, I clasped my hand. I guess that's the case! I cried out in my heart with joy.
According to the explanation I received from Captain Curtis, at the celebration of my completion of training, he told us that my old curse had been revived, and that I was now able to use the power of the Saint.
Green and Blue, who were also present, believed the story easily.
Hehe, either I was very good at explaining it, or these two were simply accepting it, but either way it was a convenient story.
Although we were going to be in a mountain full of monsters, there was no way Zavilia would be able to control all the monsters, and I had a feeling that there would be a scene where we would fight.
Captain Curtis said there was no problem, but I was worried about how I would explain to Green and Blue that I could use the power of the Saint, but it seemed my fears were unfounded.
Even when they saw my magic in front of them, they accepted it as such.
"...So, Fia, what are you planning to do? Should I defeat this dragon?" (Green)
My face is a little tense, I was sure there were some parts of me that were calling my bluff, but... Still, when I saw Green delivering such bold lines, Oh my, I wonder if I'm on a big boat, not to mention unfounded worries. It made me feel good.
Just not running away in front of this large dragon was a big deal.
To begin with, the dragon was an S-rank monster, and its basic form requires 100 knights to subdue it.
However, the dragon in front of me had a grayish-brown color that didn't fit into the classification of red or blue dragons, and its body was larger than normal, so it didn't fit into the basic dragon classification.
In other words, it was either a dragon with special growth or a mutant species, and it was a higher-ranking dragon because it breathed flames...
Such a beautiful dragon. Even if many dragons gathered, its presence would probably stand out.
And since it was on this mountain, it must be a friend of Zavilia.
If that was the case, even if it bounced a little, you would never be able to attack.
I sent him a look as if begging him to pull back, but the grey-brown dragon's eyes glared fiercely and the flames only increased in intensity.
The arm that was supporting the shield was shaking.
...That's impossible, I'm sure it's fully willing to fight.
Hmm, to make him lose his fighting spirit without defeating him...
Just as I was thinking about this and not moving, I saw a sunspot in the sky.
I thought, "Maybe," and as I stared at it, the sunspot grew bigger and bigger, and in an instant it took on the familiar shape of a dragon.
As I continued to stare at it, a large black dragon gracefully landed in front of me.
The wind blew with force, but for some reason, unlike when the gray-brown dragon descended, there was no impact sound, nor did any stones or rocks flew up.
The next moment, what was in front of me was a beautiful dragon.
He was a chosen individual who was allowed to wear black, and at the same time, he was able to grow bigger than anyone else, strong and beautiful...
"Zavilia!" (Fia)
I was happy to see that Zavilia, who I hadn't seen in a while. He was in great shape and seemed to be doing well, so I called out her name in a loud voice.
At that, Zavilia bursted into laughter, spread his wings wide, and tilted his head cutely.
"Fia, I'm so happy that you came to see me. Welcome to the Blackpeak Mountain. I welcome you from the bottom of my heart." (Zavilia)
Zavilia was even bigger than the last time I saw her, and his wings were spread out and sparkling in the sunlight.
A horn that should had been broken still grew from the center of his forehead.
"Zavilia, I missed you!" (Fia)
I was so happy to hear his cute voice that I instinctively ran up to him and hugged him tightly to his stomach.
Then, Zavilia bent his head and carefully placed his forehead against my head.
"You're as energetic as ever. I thought I promised to return to Fia before she forgot about me, but...maybe I was too late, and Fia almost forgot about me. Did you come to see me?" (Zavilia)
I knew that Zavilia was pretending to have a misunderstanding to keep the conversation going, but I hurriedly retorted.
"Of course not! I only came because I wanted to see Zavilia!" (Fia)
"I see, you came this far just because you wanted to see me. Thank you, Fia." (Zavilia)
Seeing Zavilia made a happy sound, I too became happy and bursted into laughter.
"I'm relieved that Zavilia seemed to be doing well! It was good to have so many dragon companions. There were red dragons, blue dragons, and even a grey-brown dragon!" (Fia)
When I spoke to Zavilia with a smile, his mouth twisted as if he had somehow remembered something unpleasant.
"Ah, that's right. The grey-brown dragon... I'm starting to wonder if he's really my friend." (Zavilia)
Then, Zavilia turned her head towards the grey-brown dragon that was cowering a little further away, but the voice that came out was not the cute one I had been hearing before, but a chilling one that made me feel chilled to the core.
"So? You were supposed to have gone to meet my master, so why did you spit out flames at Fia?" (Zavilia)
When I heard Zavilia's words, I remembered that I was attacked by a gray-brown dragon.
If Zavilia intended for the gray-brown dragon to pick me up, that would be a very violent response.
While thinking this, I looked at the grayish-brown dragon, and found that it bowed its head, made its body as small as possible, and stopped moving as if it had become rigid.
Come to think of it, the moment I saw Zavilia descending, this grey-brown dragon let out a cry like a death cry and closed its mouth.
Then, it hurriedly stepped back, trying to hide as much as possible out of sight.
It might be trying to hide the fact that it had attacked us, but I couldn't imagine that my clever Zavilia would be fooled by that.
As I was paying attention to what on earth he was planning to do, the grey-brown dragon's eyes were wandering anxiously after being questioned by Zavilia.
Seeing this situation, I felt a little sorry for the child, wondering if he was really in trouble.
However, Zavilia didn't seem to have the slightest bit of sympathy, and continued speaking without seeming to care about the grey-brown dragon's suspicious behavior.
"Zoil, I’m asking you something?" (Zavilia)
Then, the grey-brown dragon called Zoil twitched, then quickly moved his head, belly, and hands to the ground, taking a prone position.
Even his tail was flattened to the ground, taking a posture of complete surrender.
His expression was dejected.
...Well, Zoil likes Zaviria, right?
That was why he was angry and disappointed.
The large, hunched figure of the dragon looked lonely, and I couldn't help but interject.
"Well, Zavilia, I don't know much about dragon customs, but perhaps the grey-brown dragon's way of welcoming guests is by spraying them with flames." (Fia)
"Yes, I see. That means that almost all the guests become part of Zoil's home cooking and put on a plate as soon as they visit." (Zavilia)
"What!?" (Fia)
If you asked me, it was true that normally you wouldn't be able to protect yourself from that flame, so you would get burned all over.
No, no one would visit such a house.
"Zo, Zoil, it may be unnecessary, but maybe you should change the way you welcome people." (Fia)
I casually tried to give him some advice, but Zoil just glared at me.
...Well, that's right.
Dragons were high-ranking monsters, so they naturally have a lot of pride, but Zoil's body color and body length didn't fit within the normal range, so he must be a special individual.
From the dragon's point of view, humans and short-lived species shouldn't be placed on equal terms, so I guessed I didn't even count as an object to Zoil.
In that sense, Zavilia had accepted me well.
Even though he was a black dragon, he was a very understanding and flexible dragon.
As I was thinking about this, Zavilia let out a frozen voice again.
"I won’t go into details about how you were welcomed, as the story would be complicated, but look, Zoil, Fia is my master. Next time, if you act in a way that I deem hostile toward Fia, you will be punished. I'm going to eliminate you...or rather, originally, I wanted to eliminate you right away, but my master has seen me. I don't think my master will allow me to eliminate you..." (Zavilia)
While I was saying this, Zavilia looked at me as if she was asking for judgment, so I shook my head.
No, no, cute Zavilia shouldn't do something as horrible as eliminating him.
When Zoil heard Zavilia's words, his body trembled visibly, and his whole body tensed and stuck even more tightly to the ground.
His head was completely drooped.
When I glanced at Zoil, Zavilia turned to me and opened her mouth apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Fia. I wasn't able to control the dragons well, so I put them in danger." (Zavilia)
I opened my mouth to make things seemed as small as possible, because I didn't want Zavilia to get angry anymore, and I didn't want to make Zoil felt depressed anymore.
"No, it's okay! I'm not in any danger at all! Zoil's flames aren't that bad compared to Zavilia's flames, and with that kind of fire, I can defend myself even after the attack starts." (Fia)
"...I see. Zoil's flames are like a game for Fia." (Zavilia)
When Zavilia heard my words, he looked at Zoil with a funny smile.
When I looked at Zoil, I saw that the grayish-brown dragon had become twice as depressed as before, and was lying on the ground, trying to hide his face.
Author's Note
As always, thank you for reading!
Thanks to all of you, we are pleased to inform you that Volume 4 of the novel is scheduled to be released in December.
(If you already know, it's quick!)
We are currently working on this, so we will contact you with details as we get closer.
Haha, (there are so many things I want to write about) this is going to be the biggest addition I've made so far...