Feeling embarrassed and sorry, I looked up at Zavilia standing before me.
There was a "Black Dragon" there, overwhelmingly large and beautiful, a symbol of fear.
Zavilia glared at the two blue dragons that had once again leapt into the sky and roared. I quickly cast a sound blocking spell around the knights. If they were to hear Zavilia's roar head on, it would be bad news.
The two blue dragons showed no signs of retreating even after seeing Zavilia and circled the sky threateningly with their fangs bared.
……Zavilia said. In the past, Zavilia was a blue dragon, so he didn't want to fight a blue dragon. If I couldn't grant even one wish, then I was not fit to be his friend.
I reached out and touched Zavilia, patting his body.
"Thank you for protecting me. And thank you for intimidating them. Leave the rest to me and the knights." (Fia)
Then, when I turned to look at the knights, they all had the same expression. Their mouth was open, and their eyes were wide.
"B-B-B-B-Black Dragon King...?"
"A-a-a-ancient, legendary dragon. R-r-r-r-really existed...!!"
And they looked at me in shock.
"Fi-Fi-Fi-Fia! You, you, the Black Dragon King is an enemy, right? Ha, ha, get away!!"
"Y-y-you'll be killed! G-g-get-get away!!"
The only one whose expression was different was Captain Quentin. He was clenching his hands as if overcome with emotion and staring at Zavilia.
"What a... noble sight...! Oh, what a blessing it is to have the honor of seeing your face in person! Beautiful, majestic, divine... Oh, how meaningless are words!!" (Quentin)
...Yeah, I don't understand what stability means.
It wasn't that he was influenced by Captain Quentin, but one of the knights burst out laughing, as if his emotions had just burst out.
"... Damn. I was so scared that I started having visual and auditory hallucinations. It sounded like Fia was calling the Black Dragon King's name and talking to him, and it looked like Fia was patting him on the head, as if they were close. Damn. My eyes and ears are damaged!!"
Okay, they're all confused. Now's my chance.
… In this state of confusion, even if I cast strengthening magic on the knights, they might not notice…
I held out both hands towards the knights, ready to activate a strengthening spell. However, just as I was about to activate it, Zavilia tapped me on the head from behind. Surprised by his unusually clingy behaviour, I turned to look at Zavilia.
"……Zavilia?" (Fia)
"Fia, thank you for taking my nonsense seriously. I was out of my mind. I made a mistake about something important. I nearly made a mistake about something that shouldn't have been made." (Zavilia)
Saying this, Zavilia turned his gaze to the blue dragons circling in the air.
"Leave those two to me. Hey, Fia, I was mistaken when I said I didn't want to fight the Blue Dragon. What I wanted to do was to protect Fia." (Zavilia)
Then, without waiting for my reply, he spread its magnificent wings and flapped off into the sky.
With just a few flapping wings, Zavilia was higher in the sky than the blue dragons. The blue dragons seemed wary of Zavilia who had suddenly closed the distance, and as they took up positions on either side of Zavilia, they opened their mouths wide and threatened from both sides.
As I looked up at the three dragons facing each other in the sky, I felt my mouth go extremely dry.
...What should I do? Zavilia is bigger than me, but he's at a disadvantage, 1 against 2.
The two Blue Dragons were a pair, so it would not be easy to fight back if they attacked in unison. The Blue Dragon's scales were already tough, and Zavilia was not even an adult dragon yet. Would Zavilia's fangs be able to reach the Blue Dragons? Once I start worrying, all my thoughts become filled with anxiety.
However, Zavilia seemed oblivious to my concerns and descended suddenly. Without caring about the formation that had him be sandwiched between the blue dragons, he casually descended while the blue dragons let out threatening roars. And then, without any threatening intent, Zavilia suddenly set his sights on one of the blue dragons and, before the blue dragon could prepare itself, bared his fangs at its neck.
"………………huh?" (Fia)
Watching the battle from below, it looked like Zavilia had injured the Blue Dragon with one bite. That was the only way it looked. However, as I looked up, I saw a blue dragon being split in half at the neck where Zavilia had bitten, and the two halves of its body falling to the ground, pulled apart by gravity.
"Hey, get out of the way!!"
The knights shouted and ran away from where the blue dragon had landed. Just where the knights had jumped back, the blue dragon was split in two and fell to the ground with a thunderous roar. A tremendous amount of dust was stirred up.
Several of the knights were blown away by the impact of the falling blue dragon. The knights, now sitting on their butts, looked up at Zavilia with dazed expressions.
"......Wh-Wh-Wh-What is that?"
"Is the Black Dragon King really that strong?"
"S-s-scary! Ah, it's a black fear...!!"
The knights looked up in awe at the sight of another enraged blue dragon. With breeding season approaching, how angry must the blue dragon be at the death of its mate? With a loud roar, the blue dragon rose towards Zavilia... only to be smacked away by Zavilia's tail, who had been waiting for it. Zavilia then opened his mouth wide at the flying blue dragon and made a roaring motion. Even though I had deployed a sound blocking spell, Zavilia's roar was shocking. I instantly stiffened my body.
However, what came out of Zavilia's_ mouth was not an ear-splitting roar, but a pillar of flame. The pillar of flame stretches out in a straight line towards the Blue Dragon. The pillar of fire accurately pierced the throat of the blue dragon, which was sent flying diagonally through the air, and with its undiminished power, part of the forest behind it was charred black. The dead blue dragon went straight down like the previous one and was slammed into the ground with a thunderous bang.
"………………hah" (Fia)
It was my first time seeing Zavilia fight, but he was so strong that I couldn't form any coherent words and my mouth just agape.
...Wh, what was that just now? Was Zavilia really that strong? But, he's still a child...
The surrounding knights were just as surprised, none of them could move, just standing there in a daze.
While everyone stared blankly, Zavilia slowly descended and landed close to me. Then, he straightened his back nice and well behaved and looked at me quietly.
I was still in a daze, but I looked up at Zavilia to thank her for helping me. Then, I thought, "Huh?" and noticed something strange about Zavilia's appearance.
"...Zavilia, did you have horns?" (Fia)
Looking closely, I could see a magnificent horn growing out of the center of Zavilia's forehead. But I felt like nothing like that had ever happened before... huh, has it?
"...Fia, I think I'll become king." (Zavilia)
Looking at me in confusion, Zavilia muttered with determination.
"Huh? K-King?" (Fia)
Surprised by the sudden news, I asked again.
Huh, I mean, I think Captain Quentin and other captains were already calling Zavilia the Black Dragon King, right?
Seeing my surprise, Zavilia muttered softly, "Yes."
"There are many monsters that move in groups, so one day I will be defeated by the power of numbers. So I will become the Dragon King and command all the dragons." (Zavilia)
"Um... ah... yes. If that's what you want, Zavilia..." (Fia)
Come to think of it, we had previously discussed whether or not he should become king. If that's what Zavilia wanted... then I had no choice but to agree.
Even though I knew I should acknowledge Zavilia's wishes, I felt sad about the loneliness of being separated from him.
"Fia, when a black dragon becomes king, it grows three horns. I never wanted to be a king, and I didn't know how to become one, but when I tried to protect you, one grew... That's right. There is no such thing as a sole king, so I guess I will be able to become king only when I have protected and subjugated many dragons, and then I will grow three horns as proof of that." (Zavilia)
Zavilia looked at me intently, then laughed softly.
"Fia's recklessness exceeds my expectations. I'll come back once I've become someone who can protect you." (Zavilia)
As he said this, Zavilia used his front paws and snapped off the horn that was growing from the center of his forehead.
"……hah?!" (Fia)
I looked up at Zavilia in surprise, but by that time I saw a horn, as tall as an adult, already stuck into the ground with a heavy thud.
"Y-you had just managed to grow it...! What have you done..." (Fia)
"Th-th-th-the Black Dragon King's horns aaaaaaaaaaaahhh...!!" (Quentin)
Captain Quentin shouted, so loud that it completely drowns out my voice.
Zavilia glared at Captain Quentin and Captain Zachary alternately, then opened his mouth as if to threaten them.
"I'm leaving Fia in your care. Make sure you keep her alive until I return, okay?" (Zavilia)
Then he kicked the horn he had just dropped in front of the captains.
"That's yours as a favor. Use it to protect Fia, I'd like you to use this sword instead of your dull sword." (Zavilia)
"B-black Dragon King's horn becomes my sword...!!" (Quentin)
Captain Quentin was overcome with emotion and speechless.
"I will definitely, definitely protect her, even if it means sacrificing my own life!!" (Quentin)
And so, in his desire for Zavilia's horns, he made a difficult promise too easily.
"Hey, Captain Quentin, you can't break a promise with a monster! It's a contract! Think about it a bit more..." (Fia)
"Don't worry, Lady Fia! I'll do anything for the Black Dragon King's horn!" (Quentin)
"I-I see..." (Fia)
Just as I was thinking that there was nothing I could do if that was his wish, Zavilia lowered his head and brought his face close to mine. Then, he looked at me with serious eyes and opened his mouth.
"Because Fia and I are connected, if something happens to Fia, I will be the first to die." (Zavilia)
"Huh?!" (Fia)
When I cried out in surprise at what he said, Zavilia burst out laughing.
"That's why I still want to do a lot of things with Fia, so I hope you won't do anything reckless." (Zavilia)
"No! I'll definitely stay quiet!!" (Fia)
"Hehe, that's not like Fia. As long as Fia stays Fia, that's fine. If you call, I'll always come running." (Zavilia)
Zavilia deftly closed one eye and tilted his head playfully.
"I'll be back soon, before Fia forgets me... See you later." (Zavilia)
I touched Zavilia's face with both hands and pressed my forehead against hers.
"...Yes, Zavilia. I love you. I'll be waiting for you to come back." (Fia)
After hearing what I had to say, Zavilia flapped his wings and took to the sky. Then, in a flash, he flew away.
It was only after Zavilia disappeared from sight that I remembered the procedure that had been decided at the knight captain's meeting.
"Captain Quentin, y-you have to throw that stone! Throw that stone at the Blackpeak Mountain!!" (Fia)
Startled by my voice, Captain Quentin belatedly threw the stone in the direction where Zavilia had disappeared.
"Well, well, it's not the right order, but can we say that we followed the proper procedure?" (Fia)
There was no reply to my mutter. Looking around, Captain Zachary and all the other knights were gazing blankly at the sky where Zavilia had flown away.
...Ah, yes, Zavilia was so striking, right?
Following the knights' example, I gazed up at the sky where Zavilia had flown away—the same sky that Zavilia must be gazing at.
Beautiful yet terrifying, the "Black Dragon" was a legendary ancient species. A future Dragon King with the strength to easily defeat the Blue Dragon and the pride to aspire to become a king.
And then there's my adorable friend, who was clingy, sleepy, jealous, sarcastic, but always on my side.
I'll be waiting for you, so please come back soon, okay?
Authors' Preface
Sorry for the delay. Thank you to everyone who waited.