This Course Of Action Is Not Wrong

Once they returned from the place where Volcanion lived, they naturally found themselves back in the heavy snow region from earlier.

But… the moment they returned, Orphe flew out from Kikori’s hands.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot! Why were you having a whole conversation with a dragon!? Why were you making a dragon angry!? I thought I was going to die!”

“Sorry. But it was a good dragon, was it not?”

“There is no ‘but’ about it! The whole time, all I could think was, ‘Ah, I am going to die. I am going to die right now’!”

“Sorry, Orphe.”

“Ugh… well, fine. I forgive you!”

With that shout, Orphe once again deployed that warm spherical field.

“Without you there, I probably would have ended up as a pile of ash too…”

“From the way it talked, yeah, probably.”

“They say dragons are usually selfish… but there are dragons like that too, the kind that are basically like, if you enter my sight, I will burn you.”

“…You have met another dragon before, have you not, Orphe?”

“Well, yes.”

“What kind of dragon was it?”

Kikori asked out of simple curiosity, but Orphe ended up making a troubled face.

Maybe I should not have asked, Kikori thought, scratching his cheek, while Orphe let out a groan.

“That dragon looked very different from this one.”

“Huh.”

What Kikori had imagined was the kind of dragon that had been called a “ryu” in his previous life, but Orphe’s strained answer made him blurt out, “What?”

“…If I had to say… a jellyfish?”

“It was a dragon, right?”

“It was a dragon. Maybe that is just what it ended up looking like after adapting to water? I do not know.”

“There really are all kinds.”

Imagining a giant jellyfish with a head like Volcanion’s attached to it, Kikori walked on toward the direction of the Kobold Plains.

This snow and cold meant almost nothing to Kikori, so he might have been able to make a map, but… he felt like he would get lost before managing that, so he had not tried.

“So, what do we do after this?”

“For now, we will go back and report. We have to tell them about Volcanion.”

“Hm.”

“…What is it? Is there something?”

A dragon… Volcanion was unquestionably absurdly powerful.

It was one of the beings called the strongest creatures, and above all, it was neither merciful nor careless. On top of that, it was intelligent.

Ordinarily, no one would choose to challenge something like that.

Since there was a message saying not to enter, Kikori believed the best course was to pass that on and reduce the number of victims.

Even the Defense Count he had met because of the matter with Orphe had seemed like a very reasonable person.

There should be no reason not to tell him.

There should not be, but… Orphe’s words filled Kikori with a faint sense of unease.

Orphe kept her gaze fixed on him.

“It is nothing. I just thought you really do trust in goodwill.”

“I do not trust it unconditionally. I am not that much of a child.”

“Hm.”

This course of action is not wrong.

Or at least, it should not be.

Even while wavering, Kikori continued on his way back.