10-4 The One Called An Ally

The next morning, while I was training my magic power, His Highness got up.

“Good morning, Marquis Granburst.”

“Good morning. Did you rest well last night?”

“Yes, indeed, I had an extremely comfortable and wonderful night.

Just how exactly does this hut work?”

“Well, um, ahahaha.”

After all, it was a product made by Japanese professionals.

Even the electrical wiring was extremely solid.

It was completely different from the slapdash things I made.

At first, I did not really understand it, but now I do.

This was unquestionably running on my magic power.

It seemed to be converting magical power into electricity.

It was a system I myself had created during “God’s time” when crossing between worlds (or rather, “that guy” had).

It would not be an exaggeration to call it a magical generator.

Using this as a base, I was able to create power-generating magic stones.

And not only that, it was the sine-wave kind that provided the finest, stable AC 100V.

If it were one of those strange simplified systems, it could have a bad effect on things like charging a PC.

The outlets inside somewhat older cars use a power system that does not seem suitable for precision electronic devices like tablets or laptops.

I had also given plenty of the good power-generation systems I made to Aoi-chan.

She had been making all sorts of things with them for the children at the Beast-Ear Garden too.

Well then, shall we get going?

We formed up again and proceeded along the fairly steep mountain path.

But before an hour had passed after setting out, I noticed its presence.

This was it!

Mari and Ars noticed too and looked my way, but I just smiled back at them.

The fact that that was enough to communicate with them showed what invaluable people they were.

“Come, Your Highness. Let us hurry onward.”

Ars was smiling, and Mari looked exasperated.

And then it finally showed itself.

This was another gigantic dragon.

And it was my first time encountering an Ancient Dragon, an SS-rank monster.

Silver-white scales, and an enormous body reaching nearly one hundred meters.

It was almost like there was another mountain inside the mountain.

It was so gigantic that it could not even stand directly in front of the path to block it, so it was more like it was facing us from the mountainside.

And in its brilliantly shining green eyes, it held a truly vast amount of magical power.

Where in the world had such an enormous body been hiding in this mountain?

Even this deep ravine and secluded mountain would hardly make it easy to conceal that tremendous giant form.

The prince held his breath and froze.

Then he hurriedly reached for the sword at his waist, but his hand was trembling so badly that he did not seem able to grasp the hilt properly.

Your Highness, hold yourself together.

After all, the biggest selling point of this trial is that “not a single person has ever failed to return safely”!

Then the dragon suddenly spoke in a muffled voice.

“I am the one who guards this sacred land of Kamakura, the one who bears the name Daibutsu. Who goes there? I shall never forgive anyone who defiles this sacred land!”

Hey, Takeshi…

That ruined everything in so many ways.

Well, I felt like I was starting to understand your personality more and more.

I glanced at Mari, and she too was smiling wryly.

“Dragon! Open the way. I am royalty of this kingdom whose ancestor was a rare visitor. I have come to undergo the trial. If you do not open the way, I shall punish you!”

Yeah, that would be me.

That was an incredibly cool line, but it would have been even better if his knees had not been trembling a little and if he had not kept glancing over at us.

Besides, the other guy was so huge that he was not actually blocking the path at all.

Even so, I had to revise my opinion of him.

He was far cooler than that Tripitaka from Journey to the West, who was nothing but pathetic!

The dragon narrowed its eyes and looked at the prince as though appraising him, but before long it smiled broadly (that surprised me! Dragons can smile?) and said this.

“Well done for coming, you who shall become the twenty-sixth king of the Albatross Kingdom. By covenant with the first king, Takeshi Funabashi, I serve as the witness who observes each generation’s trial. Good grief, I had been dismayed that this time some ridiculous greenhorn had shown up, but perhaps not. I like you, boy.”

Well now, it looked like all of His Highness’s earlier disgrace had been watched.

And then the creature went on to say something even more outrageous.

“Hey, Mari. It has been a long time. By the way, what in the world is that Demon King over there? He has an outrageous amount of magical power. Is he really all right!?”

Hey, you lizard over there.

Want to step behind those rocks and talk?

Mainly in body language.

Though finding a hiding place large enough to fit that giant body might be the harder part.

“Heh, it has indeed been a long time. Actually, this person is a rare visitor too. If he lets his guard down, he has even less restraint than that Takeshi, so he is someone to be especially, especially careful about. Everything he does overlaps with that one.”

That Takeshi guy had finally been reduced to being called “that one” by his own creation.

Well, that was only to be expected.

“Hahahaha, so that was it. Rare Visitor-dono, your name?”

“My name is Ryusuke Inoue. In this world, I go by Alphonse von Granburst. Please call me Al.”

“I see, then Al-dono. A pleasure.”

“Yeah, likewise. What is your name?”

“My name is Baldos of the Silver Dragon. I am the one who regarded the late Takeshi Funabashi as his one and only friend.”

And then His Highness the Crown Prince, who clearly had no idea what was going on at all, asked in confusion.

“W-what exactly is going on here?”

“Hm? This is the trial, right? No kingdom can be entrusted to someone pathetic enough to run home just because a dragon frightened him a little. This is a trial to test the resolve of one who would become king.”

“W-what…”

Carlos the Crown Prince stared with wide eyes.

“By the way, Your Highness. All of us here knew from the beginning that he was not an enemy. Ars and I are S-rank-class adventurers, and Mari seems to have known him for a thousand years.”

“So that is how it was…”

His Highness looked up at the sky, somewhat drained.

“Then shall we proceed?”

The dragon said that quite matter-of-factly.

“Huh?”

His Highness let out a blank, foolish-sounding noise with a puzzled look on his face.

“It is my role to guide the one who overcomes my trial. Ah, there is a guest here at the moment, but please do not mind that.”

“A guest? Right in the middle of an important trial that is hardly ever held?”

As soon as he said that, Baldos began to transform into a human.

It was an utterly intense process, but he himself seemed used to it.

Watching from the side, it looked incredibly rough, all cracking and snapping and grinding.

I see, if he stayed human-sized, then there would be no problem with him being on this mountain.

Then, with Baldos leading the way, we climbed the mountain path.

His Highness was clearly struggling, but there was no way he could complain in front of the witness of the trial.

Gritting his teeth, tangling his steps, he still climbed desperately onward.

He did not utter a single complaint.

Baldos watched him in silence with a warm, indulgent gaze.

Was the figure of a former ally he would never meet again now appearing in his mind?

From what Mari had just told me, it seemed this dragon had also lent his aid in the great war that had founded this kingdom.

He had watched over the fate of those who fought together, and had given trials to those who would become king and guided them.

Under the watchful eyes of his ancestor’s ally, the path finally opened before the Crown Prince, who had been desperately forcing himself onward for the sake of the trial, when we rounded a left-hand curve in the mountain road.

“Welcome. Descendant of my ally, Takeshi Funabashi. This is the place where the trial of the Crown Prince Rite is carried out.”