The Naden That Naden Never Knew It was the morning after Naden and Souma had encountered one another.

In a place not far from the cave, light shone down through the branches

of the trees, illuminating a small stream and a person washing themselves

there. Maybe because they didn't need to worry about the eyes of others in

the forest, they wore no more than their underwear, soaking in the river and

pouring water over their body.

Today was another clear day in the Star Dragon Mountain Range with

its everlasting spring.

In fact, rain never fell in the middle of the day here. This might have

been the result of Mother Dragon exercising her power. A fixed amount of

rain fell at a set time each day in Dracul. That was why, even though the

skies were clear every day, the abundant nature on the plateau was able to

maintain itself.

Because it was a warm day like this, the clear water of the river, which

was cool, but not too cool, felt soothing. The half-naked person sat down on

a rock, wiping their face with a cloth that had been left there for that

purpose.

"Wh-What do you think you're doing?!" Naden exclaimed.

Naden, who had still only been half-awake, was suddenly shocked into

full awareness.

"Oh, hey, Naden. You're up?"

"Don't face this way, you pervert!"

It had been Souma bathing in the river. His body, which, thanks perhaps

to his personal trainer, Owen, had no excess fat on it, was exposed.

Unable to take any more of it, Naden looked away. "Wh-What are you

getting naked here for?!"

"I'm still wearing my underwear, you know?"

"That's not the problem here!"

"Well, since I'm imposing on your hospitality, I thought it would be

rude if I was too dirty, so I was washing myself..."

"Still... You can't show yourself in front of a young maiden like that..."

With her head still turned away, Naden stole a few glances out of the

corner of her eye. Even though dragons, as a race, could be somewhat

ambiguous when it came to sex, seeing a member of the opposite sex was

unusual, and she couldn't help herself but look.

Without a care for Naden's innocent reaction to him, Souma began

dressing himself and asked her, "Come to think of it, when you and Madam

Tiamat are in your ryuu or dragon forms, you're so huge. But when you

change into human forms you're already wearing clothes, huh? There's no

sign of them tearing when you grow in size, either. Could it be that those

clothes are a part of your body, or something like that?"

When Souma asked her about that which had been bothering him,

Naden answered with a blank look on her face. "Erm... Yeah. We're

transforming our scales, so that would be one way of putting it. We can't do

anything about the color, but we can change the design, and even have them

disappear entirely if we feel like it. Also, if we wash our bodies in dragon

form, we can wash our human bodies and clothes at the same time."

"Hm... Sounds convenient, but does it hurt if your clothes get torn, or

something like that?"

"Do you feel pain when you cut your hair or nails, Kazuma?"

"Oh, I get it now."

Basically, dragons didn't have nerves running through their scales. In

fact, their scales might be something like a carapace they could freely

control, covering their bodies and protecting their innards.

"Hm? So, that basically means, even when a dragon is dressed up,

they're still naked..." Souma murmured.

"Don't say another word!"

Crack, crack.

With a little crackling sound, Naden's hair stood on end. There were

blue streaks of lightning running from hair to hair. Naden's angry mode

made Souma panic a little.

"Electricity?! Whoa, hold on! I'm all wet here, you know?!"

Bzzt!

Just as Souma got away from the stream, the electric shock Naden

unleashed struck the surface of the water. The poor fish that got caught in

the discharge floated to the surface.

Souma was dumbfounded by what he'd just witnessed, but he

immediately threw on the rest of his clothes and beat a hasty retreat. He

couldn't take an electric shock while his body was wet.

Naden chased after him, shouting, "Hold it!"

Even as he felt terror at the crackling sound of electricity that was

chasing after him, the calm part of Souma's mind was already coming up

with practical applications for Naden's ability.

A ryuu that controls electricity?! The Star Dragon Mountain Range

even has those? If we had electricity, there would be all sorts of things we

could do with it. Wouldn't having Naden give our research into electricity a

real boost?

Whenever he met someone with a special talent, the first thing Souma

did was think of effective applications for their gift. It was an occupational

hazard of being a king.

"Hold it, Kazuma, don't run away!"

Can I get her to come to the kingdom, with no need for a contract or

partnership to be involved...?

That was what Souma wondered, even as Naden chased him around.

◇ ◇ ◇

By the will of Madam Tiamat, I was now being taken care of in

Naden's cave.

That was because there were still another five days until the Contract

Ceremony I had been asked to take part in occurred, and she had suggested

Naden's cave as a place for me to stay. It turned out that, despite how grand

the Crystal Castle was, it had little in the way of entertainment, and I would

most likely just end up being bored if I stayed there.

Naden, on the other hand, had been gathering written materials from the

world below, and had quite a few unusual items in her room. That, and it

was probably most convenient for me to stay in a room meant for a humansized occupant.

Though that's all starting to feel like excuses now... I noted.

Madam Tiamat seemed intent on Naden and me getting to know one

another.

When our meeting concluded, and she was about to teleport me to

where Naden was so she could look after me, Madam Tiamat looked at me,

her eyes full of sincerity, and said, "Please, teach that girl for me. About the

her she doesn't know."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You should already know the way. Please, offer her guidance."

When she said that, Madam Tiamat had the look of a mother worried

for her own child. Just as I was about to ask her why she had that look on

her face, the scenery changed, and I was met with a black ryuu shouting,

You stupid suuuuuuuun! in psychic speech.

After that, a formal messenger from Madam Tiamat came to Naden's

home, and Naden was appointed as my caretaker for the time that I would

be staying here. Naden looked like she thought it was a pain, but she

couldn't defy an order from Madam Tiamat, so she reluctantly acquiesced.

I'd been here ever since, staying in Naden's cave, drinking tea, and

reading the materials she gathered from the lower world... Which was to

say, romance novels that had been written in the nations of mankind.

Across from me was Naden, lying in bed and watching a simple

receiver. A ryuu was watching the Jewel Voice Broadcast... She apparently

picked it up at a flea market in the Empire, and giving it a little shock had

gotten it working again. What, was it like an old TV, which would start

working again if you hit it?

Naden glanced over at me and asked, "Is it any fun for a man to read

romance novels aimed at women?"

"More than you might think. It shows you what the various women of

the world hold up as their ideals."

When I'd heard they were romance novels, I expected them to be messy

dramas of love and hate, like a daytime soap opera, but they were light and

fluffy like a novelization of a shoujo manga.

From a quick glance through, most of them were tales of chivalry.

There would be a knight who swore his loyalty to a beautiful lady, and he

would perform meritorious acts in service of that love... That was how a lot

of them went. There were also Cinderella stories, where a simple village

girl would help a young lord or prince who had left the palace in disguise,

he would fall in love with her, and they would ultimately be wed. The plots

could largely be divided into these two patterns.

"Is this the sort of thing you dream about?" I asked playfully.

"...Well," Naden said, turning her head to the side in thought, "I'd like

to let a cool knight ride me as we fly through the sky together."

"Ahh, if you're a ryuu or dragon, that's the sort of reading you end up

with, huh..."

For a normal girl it would be, "I want to ride on a horse with a cool

guy," but for the dragon races, it was apparently, "I want to be the horse,

and let the knight ride on my back."

When you interacted with different cultures and races, it was interesting

to see those little differences in interpretation.

"So, what are you watching over there, Naden?" I asked.

I'd heard lively noises coming from the simple receiver Naden was

holding, so I was curious. She said she'd found it in the Empire, so was it a

singing program from there?

"Hm? It's a music program from the Gran Chaos Empire. You want to

watch it with me, Kazuma?"

"Oh! Yeah, you bet I do." I was interested in seeing what sort of music

program the Empire was making.

Naden sat next to me, putting the simple receiver in a place where we

could both see it. To prevent news from leaking, it wasn't possible to view

broadcasts recorded with any jewels other than the ones used for broadcast

meetings when you were in another country. During our post-war

negotiations with the Principality and Empire, when Jeanne, Empress

Maria's little sister and general, had seen our country's broadcasts, she said

she'd like to imitate them back in the Empire. I wondered what kind of

programs they were making.

While thinking that, I took a sip of tea, looked at the simple receiver,

and...

"Hello there, everyone! This is Maria."

"Bwuh?!"

"Whoa, Kazuma?!"

I spewed the tea I'd been trying to drink everywhere. On screen,

wearing an idol-style frilly dress, was the Empress Maria of the Gran Chaos

Empire herself.

"Now, I'd like you all to hear my song."

With that, Maria began dancing lightly as she sang in a clear voice.

Though her singing and dancing might come up short when compared

to our Prima Lorelei, Juna, Maria had a greater charisma that drew people

to her.

...And, wait, wasn't Maria getting really into this? She looked like she

might start sparkling at any moment.

Um... What exactly was I looking at here?

Calm down, me. In everything, there's a cause and effect.

From what Hakuya had told me, the most popular program in the

Empire was the one that followed what Maria did during the day. Like on

The Imperial Family Album. Her sister, Jeanne had been complaining,

"How did it turn out like this?"

Maybe this had been the flow of things:

1. The Empire begins producing programs where loreleis sing.

2. The most popular program was one detailing the life of Madam Maria.

3. If we make Madam Maria into a lorelei, won't viewership numbers shoot

through the roof?

4. A singing, dancing empress is born! ← Where we were now.

...Well, that had probably been it, more or less. It seemed the Empire

was going through a process of trial and error to find ways of entertaining

their people. This one felt like an error.

Well, the program itself was fun, so I watched Maria with Naden for a

while, but...

"Oh, no, there're more of them now..."

I heard a girl's voice coming from behind us.

When I turned back to look, there was a girl in a white one-piece dress

looking at us in exasperation. The girl had goat-like horns on her head, and

a white tail protruding from her rear end. Was this girl a dragon, too?

When the girl looked at me, she let out a sigh. "I thought it sounded

lively in here... Naden, you finally started bringing home men, too? Make

sure you take him back to wherever you found him."

...What was I, an abandoned dog? It made me imagine myself in a

cardboard box labeled, "I'm an abandoned provisional king. Please, take me

home." It made for one surreal image.

Meanwhile, Naden, who had been accused of dragging home men,

pouted. "Don't make me sound so bad! He's a guest!"

"A guest?"

"That's right! Lady Tiamat ordered me to be his caretaker."

"His caretaker, huh... It looks to me like you two are just fooling around

together, though?"

"Urgh..."

The girl was right, so Naden had nothing she could say to that. I'd been

given food, and she was looking after me, but she hadn't really done

anything else as my caretaker. I'd been more or less left to my own devices.

The white girl pointed at me. "I'm Pai Long, Naden's friend. Who are

you?"

"Kazuma Souya from the Kingdom of Friedonia."

I smiled and shook Pai's hand. When I did, she tilted her head to the

side.

"The Kingdom of Friedonia? That's that country to the east that Naden

was talking about before, isn't it? We don't have relations with them...

What are you doing here, Kazuma?"

"Ahh, well, I was invited here by Madam Tiamat for some reason."

"By Lady Tiamat?" At this point, Pai had a look on her face like she

just realized something, and she turned to Naden. "Hey, Naden, don't you

think Lady Tiamat might be planning to have this guy take part in the

Contract Ceremony?"

"Huh? Kazuma, take part in the Contract Ceremony?" Naden asked

with her eyes wide. "Kazuma's not one of the knights of Nothung, you

know? Can he even take part?"

"Have you forgotten? It hasn't happened at all recently, but they say

Lady Tiamat sometimes invites those who are likely to become heroes of

their time, allowing them to form independent contracts with a dragon. Like

the first King of Elfrieden did."

"A hero of our time, huh..." Naden glanced in my direction. That look

on her face... She didn't believe it one bit. "I dunno, he doesn't look that

impressive to me."

"That's harsh, even if it is true," I said.

"Didn't Lady Tiamat tell you anything, Kazuma?" Pai asked, but I

shrugged my shoulders, neither confirming nor denying.

It was true, Madam Tiamat had suggested she'd like for me to

participate in the Contract Ceremony. However, I hesitated to tell that to

these two. If they found I would be taking part, the next question would

obviously be who exactly I was. Having them find out I was the king of a

nation would be a bit of a headache.

"I'm not at liberty to say. If you want to know, ask Madam Tiamat."

"Ahaha!" Pai laughed. "It's not that easy to get to talk with her, though.

Oh, I know!" Pai clapped her hands "Naden, you're in charge of looking

after Kazuma, right? It's not something that comes up often, so why not

show him around the Star Dragon Mountain Range?"

"Oh! I'd be interested in that," I said. "Could I trouble you to?"

"Uh..." Naden openly acted like it would be a real pain. "The Star

Dragon Mountain Range is pretty big, you know? Wouldn't that be kind of

hard for Kazuma, having to walk?"

"You can carry him on your back," Pai said.

"Pai, a dragon only lets her partner ride on her back. You're well aware

of that, right?"

"Where's the harm? Why not get him to contract with you?"

"I have the right to choose, too," Naden shot back. "This boring kind of

guy isn't my type. I like strong guys who everyone can respect."

"...You've been getting pretty sharp-tongued toward me for a while

now, haven't you?" I complained. It was like a knife being thrust into my

heart... Then I realized something. "Hey, is letting someone other than your

partner ride on your back seen as being unchaste somehow?"

"Yeah."

"Well, where is your back, Naden?"

"Huh?"

Naden wasn't a Western-style dragon, she was an Oriental-style ryuu.

Her body was basically a cylinder going from the back of her head to her

tail. While she did bulge out a bit around where her front and rear legs

were, she didn't have a clearly defined back like a western-style dragon did.

"Like, if I rode right behind your head, that wouldn't be your back, it'd

be the nape of your neck, right?" I asked. "How about there? There's no

rule against someone other than your partner riding on your neck, now is

there?"

"..."

Naden had no counter to that, so it was decided we would be going out.

Forests full of fresh growth covered more than half of Dracul.

Normally, these forests were neither too dark or too bright, and due to the

lack of wind, there was no rustling of branches. They were quiet forests that

were not too damp or humid.

Now, a black ryuu was threading quickly between the gaps in those

forests' trees. It was Naden in her ryuu form, of course. I was currently

riding on her head.

Partly because of where I was sitting, I felt like the protagonist of this

anime I'd watched a long time ago. While holding her two deer-like antlers

as if they were the handles of a motorcycle, I held on for dear life and tried

not to get shaken off.

We were clearly out of place in the quiet forest.

"Naden... Hold on, aren't you going a bit fast...?" I asked nervously.

"You're getting a free ride, so no complaining."

I'd spoken up because I was scared by the branches whipping by over

the top of my head, but Naden didn't seem to be about to slow her pace.

With the shape of Naden's body, it was like being on a roller coaster, but it

was only possible to enjoy those because you had a safety bar. Well, not that

I had been one for riding scream machines to begin with...

"Come to think of it, Naden, what were you saying to Pai before we

went out?" I asked.

Before we left the cave, they had talked about something in hushed

voices. They glanced furtively in my direction, so I wondered what was up,

but she turned her head to look away.

"N-Nothing!" Then, with her head still turned away from me, Naden

seemed to be muttering something. "Darn it, Pai... Who needs your, 'If you

work hard to sell yourself now, maybe Kazuma will pick you at the

Contract Ceremony'? Don't be such a busybody."

"Huh? Sorry," I said. "Your voice was so quiet, I couldn't make out

what you were saying."

"I told you, it's nothing!"

We continued going back and forth like that while moving through the

forest. Then... a few minutes later...

When we got out of the forest, I jumped down from Naden's head into a

grassy meadow.

Normally, it would have been vast enough to call it a great plain, but it

didn't feel that way when I looked at it. That was because, in the center of

that great plain, there was a single massive tree, its roots crisscrossing the

grassy field, with its branches spread out as if to cover the whole of the

meadow. Thanks to this massive tree, I didn't get the sense that I was

standing on a great plain at all.

Looking up from below, the tree rose up into the sky like a towering

castle. However, its leaves were golden, and they seemed almost blinding in

the way they shone in the sunlight.

I let out a sigh of admiration despite myself. "Its... pretty amazing,

huh."

"Sure is," Naden, who had at some point returned to human form, said,

puffing out her chest proudly. "This is one of the famous sites of the Star

Dragon Mountain Range, the Great Tree of Ladon."

"Radon? The atom? Or the Giant Monster of the Sky?" I asked.

"What are you talking about? It's Ladon, the name of the dragon they

say protected this tree long, long ago."

"Hm..."

There had been a dragon called Ladon, huh? According to Naden, there

was a legend that said there was a golden dragon named Ladon who lived in

the branches of this tree long ago, and it was that dragon's influence that

caused the leaves to take on their golden hue.

Come to think of it, there was a dragon that guarded gold in Greek

mythology, too...

Was it golden fleece and golden apples that one had been protecting?

The way the leaves bunched together, it didn't look entirely unlike golden

fleece. Though it was so massive, it was more like a golden cloud instead.

"It's like something out of the world of legend," I murmured.

"Heh heh! It's pretty amazing, huh?" Naden nodded in seeming

satisfaction, then looked up to the tree. "This great tree has never died,

never dropped its leaves, and has stood here since time immemorial. It's

like a symbol of how the Star Dragon Mountain Range is eternal and

indestructible."

"Eternal and indestructible..."

"It's the embodiment of the dragons' pride. You won't find another tree

this beautiful in all the world," Naden said with confidence.

There probably wasn't a single person out there who could fail to

recognize this tree's beauty. That was just how beautiful, elegant, and

impressive this tree was. If it had been standing here forever, I could

understand why the dragons would be proud of it. But...

"Calling it number one might be a bit much," I said.

"Huh?" My reaction made Naden's eyes go wide.

"I'll grant you that it's an incredible sight, but I like plum and cherry

blossoms, too."

"Plum? Cherry?"

"They were trees in my country that had beautiful flowers. Plums

would blossom while bearing the weight of the snow, and cherry trees

would bloom to their fullest and then fall. They each had their own appeal,

and they were quite beautiful."

"But the flowers fall, right? They only blossom for a short time. The

Great Tree of Ladon will never dry up," Naden insisted.

I smiled wryly and stretched my arms wide. "Having things that stick

around for a long time is important, of course. Like natural scenery,

traditions, cultural heritage, and so on. But, in my country, there was an

equal, or perhaps even greater, appreciation for things that move on."

I crouched down and plucked one of the cottony, dandelion-like flowers

that were growing all over the place. When I gave it a shake, the seeds were

carried off by the wind. The everlasting spring of Dracul helped to lend the

scene a peaceful, airy quality. I smiled to Naden.

"Don't you think this is pretty in its own way?"

"But no matter how pretty it is, it's over in an instant, isn't it?" Naden

protested.

"That's what lets us look forward to the next one, don't you think?" I

sat down in the grass, then lay on my back. "Doesn't the fact that you can't

just see it anytime you want make it all the more valuable? Even if it does

end, you can wait eagerly for the day when it will come around again."

"...I don't really get it."

Hm... The dragons were a long lived race, so maybe mono no aware,

the Japanese appreciation for the impermanence of things, was a little hard

for them to understand.

"It's a difference of values, you see," I said. "There's more than one

way of looking at things. It's the same with dragons, isn't it? To the Mother

Dragon worshipers, dragons are sacred creatures. To the knights of

Nothung, you're their partners and comrades in arms. To the Orthodox

Papal State of Lunaria, you're not much different from monsters. In my

former country, a ryuu like you would have been worshiped as a god that

controls the weather."

"Me... a god?" Naden was taken aback for a moment, but then she burst

out laughing. "Pft... Ahahahahaha!"

Naden clutched her sides as she chuckled. While I was looking at her,

wondering what I said that was so funny, Naden gave me a jolly smile while

wiping the corners of her eyes.

"Ahaha... It's all so silly. To think, they mock me by calling me a worm

here, but in your country I'd become a god. So this is what you meant by a

difference in values, huh."

Once she had a good, hearty laugh, Naden put on a blank expression

and said in a mumble, "Would they be okay... with a dragon that can't fly?"

...Huh? She couldn't fly?

"Huh? You can't fly, Naden?" I asked.

"How could I? I don't have any wings."

"No, no, it's perfectly natural that a ryuu wouldn't have wings."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

We looked at one another. What? There was something not meshing in

our conversation...

"No, no, I have no wings, so it's obvious I can't fly."

"Is there some connection between a ryuu having no wings and one not

being able to fly?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

There was something weird. Like there was some inconsistency in our

understanding.

"Kazuma, just what are you—"

Naden was in the middle of saying something when it happened. With a

great gust of wind, three dragons, red, blue, and green, descended from the

skies to land in front of us.

◇ ◇ ◇

The three dragons that landed in front of us were red, blue, and green.

They were Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerada.

Honestly... Why did I have to run into them now, of all times?

Once the three of them had taken human form, they came to stare me

down at close range.

"I heard you'd picked up a human, so I came to see... Is this him?"

Ruby asked.

I said nothing.

Ruby's glance shifted to Kazuma. "Weird clothes. You're not from

Nothung?"

"...Yeah. I'm Kazuma Souya, here from Friedonia."

Kazuma, who was a bit nonplussed at the hostile atmosphere between

us, gave a cursory self-introduction.

I clicked my tongue a little. "You don't need to give these people your

name."

"I can hear you, Naden," Ruby snapped.

"I said it for you to hear, you nasty piece of work."

"Who are you calling nasty? You're just a measly worm."

It was a touch-and-go situation. Fire spewed from her mouth and

electricity sparked from my hair. Kazuma, who still didn't understand the

situation, was standing there and scratching his head.

"Uh... Do you two not get along, maybe?"

"If you thought this looks like we get along, I'd have to doubt your

eyesight. The red one's Ruby, the blue is Sapphire, and the green is

Emerada. They like to call me a 'flightless failure' and a 'worm,' among

other things, and they're always picking fights with me."

"Flightless... huh." Kazuma crossed his arms and seemed to be thinking

deeply about something.

...What had he been getting at before?

Whatever it was, I turned back to Ruby and her flunkies to tell them,

"You came to see Kazuma, right? Well, how about you go home now?"

"I don't think I appreciate your condescending tone," Ruby sneered.

"My business isn't with you."

With that, Ruby walked right past me to stand in front of Kazuma.

"I've heard... that you were invited here by Lady Tiamat, were you?"

"Hm? Yeah." Kazuma, who appeared to be deep in thought, responded

as if he'd just noticed her.

"That means you will be participating in the Contract Ceremony, yes?"

"...Well, apparently it does mean that. Not that I think I'm worthy to."

"If Lady Tiamat saw fit to invite you, it means you're worthy."

I gulped. Ruby, who mocked me as a worm, was recognizing Kazuma.

Could it be that Ruby was about to make a pass at Kazuma?

If Lady Tiamat had called him here, even if he didn't look like much,

he still might be a person worthy of respect. During the Contract Ceremony,

it was usually the knight who proposed. However, if a dragon took a fancy

to one of the knights, they could also introduce themselves to encourage the

knight to choose them.

At the Contract Ceremony... would Kazuma end up dancing with one of

the dragons?

...I don't think I'd like that.

What I imagined brought a pain to my modest chest. When I thought

that the person who'd told me I was a ryuu might go on to form a contract

with a dragon, my heart ached. Even though I had no intention of

participating in the ceremony myself.

While I was in agony thinking about that, Ruby was closing in on

Kazuma. "Hey, come stay with me at my house."

My head shot up in shock. When I looked, Ruby had extended her hand

to Kazuma.

"You fascinate me. I would love to learn more about you."

"About me?" Kazuma repeated.

"Yes. You must be special for Lady Tiamat to have recognized you. If

you live up to my expectations, I might even deign to form a contract with

you."

A dragon knight's riding contract... Ruby couldn't have fallen in love

with Kazuma at first sight, could she?

With a glance to me, Ruby added, "I am a far superior dragon than that

shut-in. Unlike Naden, I can fly, and I can breathe fire, too. I could show

you every corner of the Star Dragon Mountain Range from up in the sky."

"Urgh..." It frustrated me to no end that I couldn't refute what Ruby

was saying.

True enough, Ruby was a red dragon, the kind that was popular with

the knights. It was said that red would intimidate the enemy, so it was easier

for the rider to earn military accolades. On top of that, she had the big

wings I lacked, and she could breathe fire, as would be expected of any

dragon. When I looked to see how Kazuma was reacting to her being so

forward with him... he had a bit of a troubled smile on his face.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you have such a high opinion of me and all..."

I gasped. Kazuma's words sent electricity coursing through my body,

and my hair stood on end.

Hearing him give a positive response to Ruby, my chest filled with

rage... and sadness. I didn't want to hear those words from the person who

told me I was a ryuu. It made me want to cry so badly. Maybe I would let

loose an electric strike on Ruby and the others, then go on a real rampage.

"But..." Kazuma shook his head and said, "Is being able to fly and

breathe fire all that valuable?"

...Huh?

"Huh? What are you saying?" Ruby demanded.

Everyone's eyes focused on Kazuma. Kazuma scratched at his head as

he replied, "Uh, well... I'm from a country without much contact with

dragons, so forgive me for my ignorance here. Like you were saying before,

is being able to fly and breathe fire what makes a dragon valuable?"

"Of course it is," Ruby shot back. "While a dragon is their knight's

partner, they're also their comrade in arms. What is sought after, more than

anything, are wings that will carry them high and fast across the battlefield,

and flames with which to incinerate their foes."

"I see. Appearance doesn't come into it, then. Well, it seems that there

are a lot of beautiful people among the dragon race, after all." Kazuma

nodded at Ruby's answer. "And you girls can all fly and breathe fire, right?"

"That's right. Except for that worm over there, that is."

"...I see." Then, with a serious look on his face, Kazuma looked Ruby

in the eye and asked her, "Then, tell me, what is it that makes you,

personally, valuable?"

Ruby and the others' value? Wasn't it their ability to breathe fire and

fly?

"Huh? What are you saying?" Ruby asked. She didn't seem satisfied

with that answer.

Kazuma shook his head. "It's a given that dragons can breathe fire and

that they can fly, isn't it? Well, in that case, it's nothing special that you can.

It's an ability that every dragon comes equipped with, and that means it's

not a special reason why I ought to choose you, right?"

When he said it that way, Ruby and the others' jaws dropped, and they

stared blankly at him. I probably had a similar look on my own face.

Kazuma continued on, paying no heed to any of us. "If other dragons

can do it, too, then it doesn't serve as a reason why I should go to the

trouble of picking you, specifically. It's valuable having something

universal like that, but it's nothing special. If you all start on the same basis,

won't the stronger or the more beautiful dragons win? Being the same as

everyone else isn't even a point in your favor."

I couldn't believe it. "Kazuma... You..."

Kazuma's criticism was so on point that I started to doubt if he really

had no familiarity with this country's traditions. The fact of the matter was,

the Contract Ceremony was an intense competition between the dragons.

Since whether or not they were chosen by someone there would more or

less determine the rest of their lives, that was only natural.

While we were busy reacting with surprise, Kazuma let out a sigh. "A

standardized basis of evaluation, the rejection of those with individuality... I

thought I'd experienced this atmosphere somewhere before, but it's

basically the same as the exam wars. Man, I had a tough time two years

ago..." Kazuma murmured with a far off look in his eyes.

...Eggzam Wars? What were those? Was it a series of wars that had

happened in some other country? But why was he talking about them now?

"W-Well, it's better than not being chosen at all!" Ruby, who had come

back to her senses, said with her face twitching. "Who would choose

Naden, who can't do the things that everyone else can?!"

She pointed accusingly at me.

Kazuma instantly responded, "It's true, as a dragon, Naden lacks

universality. But what she does have is individuality."

"I-Individuality?"

"Something that makes her different from others. When evaluating the

value of things, the simplest standard is 'a thing there's only one of in the

whole world.' If there's only one of something, even if it's just a child's toy,

or the lid to a jar, it only makes sense it would hold value, right? That's

equally true of people. I... No, the king of my country goes out of his way to

collect those sorts of people with specific strengths."

The king of his country... Did he mean Friedonia's hero king?

"And you're saying... Naden has that value?" Ruby asked, looking

stunned.

"Here in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, is there any dragon other

than Naden who can create lightning? She can do a thing that no one else

can. That, in and of itself, is valuable. But, really, do you actually

understand what's happening here?"

"Wh-What...?"

"The reason you're always picking fights with Naden," Kazuma said.

"It's because you envy her for her individuality, isn't it?"

"Wha..." Ruby seemed dumbstruck by what Kazuma had pointed out.

Huh? W-Was that really it?

With the truth being shoved in our faces, I didn't know how to react,

and neither did Sapphire or Emerada, who were standing back.

While Ruby's mouth kept flapping open and closed, Kazuma continued

to speak.

"I'd say the other dragons who hold ill will toward Naden probably do

so for the same basic reason. From the perspective of those dragons, who

are struggling inside a standardized system of evaluation, the existence of

someone like Naden, who flouts that standard entirely to go her own way, is

an object of resentment and jealousy, and thus they just can't accept her,

right? During the exam wars, if there's one student in the preparatory class

who says, 'I'm gonna take over the family business'... well, yeah, they're

gonna stick out. Obviously, they'll have troubles in their lives that those

around them don't, but for those who have been placed in a competitive

situation, they don't have the composure to stop and consider that."

Kazuma seemed to be the only one satisfied with his explanation. I'd

lost him somewhere along the way, too, and he was making no sense, but

the one thing I did get was that he was saying I was special.

I stared at Kazuma's back. Maybe it was because we'd been born in

different countries, but in these past few days, I'd been forced quite a

number of times to realize that Kazuma and I saw things differently.

However, Kazuma was offering me a new set of values, most especially

one where I wasn't worthless. My chest grew hot, and I felt like I might cry

for a different reason than before.

"Eventually, one who knows your value will appear."

Lady Tiamat's prophecy had been true. That person was in front of me

now.

"Hmph, that doesn't change the fact that a flightless dragon is of no

use!" Ruby declared, seeming to have regained her footing.

A flightless dragon; those words would have greatly disturbed me

before. However... strangely enough, they didn't bother me in the least now.

That was because Kazuma had told me I was a ryuu, that I had

individuality.

With a mystified look on his face, Kazuma tilted his head to the side.

"This has been bothering me all along, but who decided Naden can't fly?"

"Huh? It should be obvious that this wingless worm can't fly."

"I mean, why would a ryuu need wings to fly?"

"Whaa?"

"Huh?"

...I felt like I had heard this exchange somewhere not so long ago.

Having gotten sick of the atmosphere here, I tugged Kazuma, who

seemed to have a question mark floating over his head, away by the collar

gently. "That's enough... Let's go."

"Hm? What's wrong, Naden? Your cheeks look awfully red."

"Y-You're imagining it! Come on, I was in the middle of showing you

around the Star Dragon Mountain Range, remember?"

"Oh, now that you mention it, you were."

Leaving behind the dumbfounded Ruby and the others, we turned

around and went back the way we'd come.

"Naden, you better be at the Contract Ceremony!" Ruby shouted after

me. "Don't you dare run away!" She seemed to have come back to her

senses.

My response was to turn back, pull down my eyelid, and stick out my

tongue at her.

"So, where to next? You've seen Crystal Castle already, right?" I asked.

Once we'd gotten away from Ruby and the others, I had Kazuma ride

me again so I could show him around the Star Dragon Mountain Range. It

didn't even feel like a hassle anymore. In fact, I even found myself wanting

to keep going on like this, and to see all sorts of things with him. Not just in

the Star Dragon Mountain Range, but in the world outside, too.

"I was teleported when I came in and when I left," Kazuma said. "I'd

like to see its rumored beauty from the outside, but... before that, there's

one place I'd like you to take me," Kazuma added with a thoughtful look on

his face.

"There's somewhere you want to go?"

"Madam Tiamat said I already knew the way. If she meant what I

think... it's worth trying it, I'd say," Kazuma said with a confident look on

his face.

Ten minutes later, after racing along in my ryuu form...

"Was this place really okaaaaay?!" I shouted.

"Yeaaaaah, it'll do fiiiiine!" he called back.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

We were both shouting. Thanks to the endless rumbling, we couldn't

hear each other if we didn't.

The source of the rumbling sound in front of us, with its spray of water

that resulted in constant rainbows during the day, was the Great Waterfall. It

was a curtain of water several dozen meters high, and several hundred

meters wide, creating a mist that spread out far into the distance. Even

among the many sights of the Star Dragon Mountain Range, which tended

to be large in scale, this and the Great Tree of Ladon were in a class of their

own.

Unable to remain quiet in the presence of such a sight, Kazuma shouted

out, "Ohh, the scenery's beautifuuuuul, just beautifuuuuul!"

"Huh? Whaaaaat? I couldn't hear youuuu!"

"I said it's beautifuuuuul! Alsoooo, there's something I want you to

tryyyyy!"

"I dunnoooo! Soooo, what is it you want me to tryyyyy?!"

"Ohhhh, I remember noooow!"

It looks too noisy, so I think that's enough drawn out vowels from here

on.

Kazuma started stripping his clothes off. It came out of nowhere, so I

turned my back to him and cried, "Wh-Whoa?! Why are you suddenly

stripping?!"

"To get in the water, of course."

"Whaa?! Why?!"

"Come on, you get in, too, Naden."

"Again, why?!"

Kazuma took off just his top, leaving his loose-fitting pants on as he

started doing some light exercises, then got in the water. I tried dipping just

the tips of my feet in, too. The water was being kept at the perfect

temperature, neither too cool nor too warm. It felt good... But, before that.

"If we're going to swim, there are calmer places to do it, like the lake,

you know?" I said.

"It needs to be a place like this. Hurry on in, Naden."

"Are you telling me to get naked?"

I hugged my body tightly. The idea of making my clothes disappear and

getting in the water in front of Kazuma... It was so embarrassing, I thought I

might die.

While I was acting shy, Kazuma laughed wryly and said, "No, no, you

can do it in your dragon form, okay?"

"Oh... Th-That's right, huh." I blushed at having jumped to conclusions.

While I was still like that, Kazuma beckoned for me to come in.

"You're a ryuu, so you should be good at swimming, shouldn't you?"

"I don't know about it being because I'm a ryuu, but... I'm confident in

my ability to, yes. But why is this coming up so suddenly?"

"There's a little thing I want to try out. Okay, Naden. Let's go to the

bottom of the falls."

At Kazuma's urging, I turned into my ryuu form and plunged into the

water with a great splash. There was a big wave that lifted Kazuma up and

down. I asked the drifting Kazuma, "Why the bottom of the falls? Do you

want me to train that way, or something?"

I'd heard that sort of training method existed in the world below. Was it

that they tried to focus their mind while being struck by the falls? However,

even if I went beneath the Great Waterfall, which would probably break a

normal human's bones if they tried to train under it, with the increased mass

and defensive power of my ryuu form, it probably wouldn't feel like much

more than a massage.

"It'd probably help with stiff shoulders," I commented at last.

"You don't have anything that'd give you stiff... Okay, I was wrong.

Please, no lightning."

"Geez!" When I raised the hairs on my back in my ryuu form, showing

some electrical sparks, Kazuma put his hands up. "If you don't want to get

shocked, you can just avoid saying things that'll make me angry."

"Nah... When I'm with you, I remember my female friends from back

in my homeland," Kazuma said, shyly scratching his cheek. "That's why I

end up making the sort of jokes I would've made back there."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. The women in this world are all living their lives restrained by

something, be it large or small. It could be a famous family, the need to

produce an heir... For those of high enough birth, it could even be their

hometowns or country. Those restraints also offer them protection, though.

But, Naden, you don't have anything like that, do you? You're strong

because you're a ryuu, and if you set your mind to it, you could even live

alone. Freely. In all of this continent, you're probably the closest to the

women from my homeland."

I didn't really get what Kazuma was saying. But...

"Even I... get lonely when I'm all by myself," I said.

The word came out naturally: Lonely. I was more surprised than anyone

that I'd said it. I never really... thought that way before. I've been happy not

to be involved with any dragon other than Pai, because it was less hassle

that way. Yet despite that... I'd just said I was lonely.

"Well, of course," Kazuma replied with a smile. "Even if you can live

on your own, it really is lonely being all by yourself."

When I heard those words, I came to understand that I was no longer

the me I had been up until now.

"The stopped gear will be forced to move."

This was what Tiamat had been talking about.

By being with Kazuma, I learned the sense of security that came from

being with someone who accepted you. I learned of the loneliness that came

with being all by yourself. Now that I knew those things... I couldn't go

back to being alone.

I didn't want to go back.

I didn't want to go back... so I had to move forward.

"Naden?" he asked.

"I-It's nothing!"

Whew... It was a good thing I was in my black ryuu form. If I'd been in

human form, Kazuma would have definitely noticed my face was bright

red. Not good. I needed to get my mind on something else.

"So, uh... Oh! Right. Why are we going the bottom of the waterfall?"

"Huh? Oh. There was a thing I remembered. For now, let's just head

next to the waterfall."

With Kazuma urging me onward, we went up to the mist-filled

waterfall basin. That was when Kazuma pointed to the top of the falls and

said, "Naden, can you swim up these falls?"

"Swim, inside these falls? They're roaring pretty loudly, you know?"

"Well, yes, it is a waterfall."

"But why?"

"There's this saying in my homeland, 'By climbing a waterfall, a ryuu

ascends to the heavens.'"

"Ascends to the heavens?! Really?!"

Could I gain the ability to fly from climbing a waterfall?

He whispered, "Though the saying is actually that a carp that climbs a

waterfall will become a dragon..."

"Huh? Did you say something? I couldn't hear you over the roaring of

the falls."

"It was nothing. You've got to be willing to give anything a try. Let's

do it."

I looked up the waterfall. "Um... I think fighting this current might

break some bones..."

"You can't do it?"

"I don't think I can't."

"Oh, also, Naden, close your eyes when you're in the water."

"Huh? Why?"

"Trust me, just try it."

With that said, Kazuma waved to me, as if saying, "Have a nice trip."

"Why are you acting like this is all someone else's problem?" I shot

back.

"More like someryuu else's problem, am I right?" he joked.

"If I do this and nothing changes, you are so getting shocked!"

Having mentally prepared myself, I moved in and out of the water

repeatedly, like the sea serpents depicted in paintings. I left my body

sticking out of the surface of the water in a half-doughnut shape as I

charged toward the center of the Great Waterfall. When I entered the

waterfall, this time I twisted my body horizontally, climbing further and

further up.

"Naden, close your eyes when you're in the water."

Kazuma's words from earlier came back to me.

Oh, be quiet! I just have to close them, right? Fine!

Shutting my eyes, I swam against the flow of the waterfall.

Urkh, it's pretty scary swimming with my eyes closed...

In total darkness, I kept swimming, sensing only the water on my skin,

and the sound of the falls which had been dampened somewhat underwater.

My sense of which direction was up or down was growing gradually more

iffy. Was I swimming upward like I was supposed to? Or were the walls

already behind me, and I was swimming horizontally now?

It was probably only a few dozen seconds of actual time, but it felt like

several dozen times longer than that to me. Then...

Ah!

The pressure on my body suddenly disappeared.

It was like being thrown out into space. Despite that... I was still

swimming. It was like I had lost my sense of touch along with my sight. I

was swimming, but I didn't feel the water.

What was this sensation? I was uneasy, but it felt pleasant somehow.

"Hold on, how long do I need to keep my eyes closed for... Huh?"

When I opened my eyes, looking down to complain to Kazuma, the

ground was far below me.

The waterfall had ended long ago. Yet I was still swimming.

I was "swimming" in the sky. I could feel the air currents clearly.

By making my body float on them, I could swim through the sky. I was

in the sky that I'd only been able to look up to before, looking down at the

Star Dragon Mountain Range, the land, this world.

To think the world was this beautiful...

The tears started to flow naturally from my ryuu eyes. When the tears

dried, I was awkwardly swimming in the sky, and I descended to where

Kazuma was staring at me with his mouth agape.

"Kazuma... I... I could fly."

"Uh, yeah..." he said. "Though that was more like swimming than

flying. The legends of my homeland said that a ryuu would climb to the

heavens through wind, clouds, lightning, and rain, traveling through the sky

as if they were swimming at the bottom of the sea."

"Traveling through the sky like swimming..."

"Though I didn't expect this to go as well as it did." Kazuma scratched

his cheek, smiling wryly.

"Huh? You weren't confident I could fly if I climbed the waterfall,

then?"

"I gave it fifty-fifty odds. I mean, if you stop to think about it, even

dragons and wyverns manage to fly. Even if they do have wings, they're not

built for flying the way birds are. In order for them to get those massive

bodies flying, there has to be some element of magic involved. That being

the case, I figured, since you're a ryuu, having or not having wings

wouldn't affect your ability to fly. I thought maybe you just didn't know the

way to do it. That, and Madam Tiamat said something that suggested I

would know how you could fly. About the only thing that came to mind

when I thought of ways for a ryuu to fly was the waterfall climbing in the

legends from my homeland. That was why I had you test it."

It seemed Kazuma had been thinking of something when he'd

suggested it. So Lady Tiamat said something like that to him... That pretty

much guaranteed he was the person who would find the value in me that

even I couldn't.

Does that mean... Kazuma is the one I've been waiting so long for?

We returned to the shore, and I asked Kazuma as he was putting the

clothes that he left there back on, "Hey, Kazuma. Tell me... If I hadn't been

able to fly like this, what did you plan on doing?"

Kazuma considered my question for a little while, then honestly

confessed, "If it came to that, I would have apologized. 'Sorry, it didn't

work out,' is what I'd have said."

"Wait, that's all?"

"That's all. Even if you couldn't fly, your value wouldn't change. I

don't know what the dragon knights value, but going by the value system of

my country, I desperately want your ability to control electricity. If no one

chooses you at the Contract Ceremony, please, come to my country. You'll

be welcome there."

I was silent.

"Come to my country," he said without the slightest embarrassment.

It felt like there was no place for me in the Star Dragon Mountain

Range. But Kazuma said he wanted me. I felt like I could swim through the

sky again in glee.

But, well... the way he said "If no one chooses you" ticked me off. So I

decided to distract myself from that.

"Whoa, whoa, Naden?" I snatched Kazuma up by the collar, and forced

him to ride on my back.

"Whoa?!"

Then, with a breath, I launched into the sky. In an instant, the ground

was far away, and a panicking Kazuma clung to my back screaming,

"Naden, I'm falling! I'm falling!"

"You won't fall," I told the flustered Kazuma in an exasperated tone. "I

have you on my back, after all."

"Huh...? ...Now that you mention it, we went up on a nearly vertical

path, but I didn't fall off."

"It's a dragon's power. We protect the humans that ride on our backs so

they won't fall off. It means the knights can ride without holding on, and

they're protected from the wind and cold. Notice how it's not cold, even

though we're up in the air."

"Now that you mention... I see. Little wonder dragon knights are so

strong." Kazuma sounded impressed.

I giggled. "I know, right? I wasn't sure a ryuu like me would be able to

use it, but..."

"Huh? If you couldn't, wouldn't I have fallen to my death?"

"I felt like I could manage it, and even if you fell, I just had to catch

you."

"You know, I'd prefer not to suddenly go bungee jumping without the

cord..."

"Ahahaha. Consider it payback for earlier."

"For the waterfall climbing?"

"For saying, 'If no one chooses you.' ...Hey, Kazuma?" I worked up my

courage and asked Kazuma. "You're going to participate in the Contract

Ceremony, aren't you? Won't you choose me?"

When I asked that, Kazuma's mouth shut tight. To form a contract

meant to take me as his spouse. In other words, I was proposing to him. The

reason he didn't immediately respond was because he was giving it some

serious thought, I was sure. Eventually, he slowly opened his mouth.

"I was just invited by Madam Tiamat. I'm not from the Nothung

Dragon Knight Kingdom."

"I know."

"Even if you make a contract with me, I can't become a dragon knight."

"I'm not like other dragons, either."

"Besides, I haven't told you anything about myself. Not even my real

name."

"Huh?! Kazuma Souya was a fake name?!"

"And I already have four fiancées back in my country."

"Four?!"

O-Oh... But, well, even the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom allowed

polygamy. If the dragon was a partner who accompanied the dragon knight

to the battle field, the knight needed another partner to stay and watch the

home front, too. That was why I didn't have any problem with the fact that

he had other fiancées in and of itself, but having four of them wasn't

something he could do without being in very high standing. It was

completely different from taking on a concubine after already having

married his official wife.

"Kazuma... Just who are you?" I demanded.

"That, I can't say just yet." Kazuma managed to force those words out.

"I'm not able to decide about the contract by myself, either."

Was I... just rejected? My heart sank as I thought that, but then...

"So, would you come back to my country with me?" Kazuma asked.

"You can go pretty fast in this ryuu form, I'll bet. I'd like to go back to the

Kingdom of Friedonia for a bit, and ask everyone else for their opinions on

the matter. That way, if we end up returning to the Star Dragon Mountain

Range, we'll be here well before it's time for the Contract Ceremony.

Would that... be a problem for you?"

Kazuma sounded apologetic. I shook my head and told him, "...No.

That's fine with me."

If it meant there was some possibility that Kazuma would form a

contract with me, I'd fly to the Kingdom, the Empire, or anywhere else he

wanted. I had the power to do that now.

"So, where do I head to?" I asked.

With a look of relief on his face, Kazuma responded. "Okay, to Parnam,

the capital of the Kingdom of Friedonia, please."

"Roger that."

And with that, I swam off into the eastern sky.