Be Careful With Your Words, Because Dragons Are Always Listening

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……

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~A little earlier, around the time Tooyama was excitedly heading toward Color Town.

At the Dragon Embassy~

“Spupu, my, my, Hoarding Dragon. You have quite the interesting hobby. In the short time I have not seen you, well, you have become even softer again.”

“…You truly seem to want to be burned by my flames.”

A spacious room. No, it was far too vast a space to simply call it a room, one so large that even an entire orchestra could enter without lacking space.

A distinctive laugh echoed merrily.

In the Hoarding Dragon’s bedroom, the Dragon of Human Knowledge sat on the dressing table and smiled. Seeing that, the Hoarding Dragon narrowed her blue eyes, narrower and narrower.

“No, no, no, no. As you are now, you would not be able to burn me. You would need at least one-third, no, one-fifth of that detestable Flame Dragon’s heat, you see.”

“Fukaka, old fossils are troublesome because the only thing they can boast about is the past. …Old dragon, close that immediately. And return it immediately.”

That. What Alice pointed at was a single notebook held between the Dragon of Human Knowledge’s thumb and index finger.

A first-rank monster, a giant deer-like monster called an Eskimo Caribou. The Dragon of Human Knowledge stroked the binding made from tanned hide taken from an aged specimen of that creature.

Flip. Just like that, the Dragon of Human Knowledge ignored Alice’s words and opened the notebook.

“Spupu, let us see. ‘I want to become closer to that one. I want to understand him more. But I am a dragon, and he is human. We are not the same existence. That is precisely why effort is needed in order to understand him. This I shall make an effort. Mm, not bad. Thus, humans are said to write this in order to reflect upon themselves—’”

“Stop!! Do not read my diary!! You fool!!”

Alice’s loud voice rang out. That voice, slightly mixed with tears, was anger, or perhaps shame. A dragon feeling shame. That was originally an emotion that should not have existed.

“Suuupupu! No, no, no, no, no! Hoarding Dragon, Aaalice!! You really have become interesting, haven’t you! A diary?! A diary, you say?! A dragon keeping a diary?! Wow, you got me. You truly got me!”

“U-uuuu, give it back! Do you not think you are being childish?! You are an old dragon like Grandfather and Grandmother, so what is wrong with you, really?!”

“I am a seeker, you see. Things that interest me simply interest me. Ahahaha! You too have become so cute, truly.”

Golden flames surged, burning the air.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge lightly waved her index finger, and the golden flames changed into steam in time with the movement of that finger.

The golden flames did not reach the silver.

“Y-you… I dislike you. To begin with, what is with you?! Your behavior and even your first-person pronoun are different now compared to when you are in front of Naruhito!”

“Spupupu. That is his preference. The same as you. I also want to understand him, to draw closer to him. I want him to choose me. In that case, matching his tastes is an extremely natural strategy, is it not?”

Dragon and dragon. Alice shouted. However, the silver-haired beautiful dragon, the Dragon of Human Knowledge, remained utterly unconcerned.

With a puhee sigh, she combed her fingers through the silvery-white hair she had changed to suit her favorite.

Her silver hair wavered as if fingers had been placed into flowing water. It was a gesture that would captivate lower creatures with just one look.

“…Old dragon, why are you so fixated on Naruhito? I know you are fond of humans. But why have you suddenly begun fixating on one person now?”

However, it had no effect on Alice. The sun did not feel jealousy toward the moon, nor did it become entranced by it.

“Hmm?”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge tilted her head theatrically at Alice’s question.

“Do not ‘hmm’ me. Do not evade the question. To you, humans should have been toys. You might adore them, but you never sought them. So what has happened recently?”

“Oh… Young dragon, Alice-chan, have you grown just a little? You learned to hold questions and ask them. Naruhito-kun is really quite something…”

“Naruhito is not involved right now. This is my question.”

The golden-haired beautiful dragon declared it sharply. Her deep blue eyes were properly opened, and her golden-ratio body stood with good posture.

A beauty that could be called violent spoke decisively and dignifiedly.

“Spupu, I do not think there is any way he is uninvolved. …Here, I will return it. I am sorry for peeking without permission. Well, I will read it again if I feel like it.”

“…You tasteless creature. Is that the face of someone who feels sorry? So, what is the answer?”

“What do you mean by the answer?”

“Do not play dumb, sinister woman. Tell me the reason you are fixated on Naruhito. You have no right to refuse.”

“My, my. Are we discussing rights among us dragons? Only one who has defeated a dragon can take away a dragon’s rights. Spupu, I do not recall losing to you.”

“No, you are simply freeloading here. What are you saying? I will throw you out.”

“…Now that you mention it, I have become quite familiar with this place.”

“No, you have not. Bernal, Faran, and the others have been subtly trying to drive you out by harassing you in various ways. You simply do not care at all.”

Alice stared flatly at the Dragon of Human Knowledge, who had a smug look on her face.

The maids had subtly tried to drive the Dragon of Human Knowledge out by placing knives meaningfully in her bedroom, turning every chair in the guest room she had taken over upside down, and other acts of harassment, but none of it worked at all on Ai Kelbrem Doctustail.

“Oh, how cold, how cold. From my perspective, I merely intend to have cheerful interactions with you, the granddaughter of my friend.”

“From the granddaughter’s perspective, having Grandfather’s friend freeloading here is normally uncomfortable. All-Knowing Dragon, as the mistress of this house, I command you. Tell me the reason you are fixated on my dragon slayer.”

“Spupu, what an arrogant mistress. Oops, Alice. My name is not All-Knowing Dragon. It is Dragon of Human Knowledge. Do not mistake it.”

“…Is that also connected to Naruhito?”

The new dragon addressed the old dragon who had changed her own name without any warning.

Alice’s gaze did not permit evasion, and the Dragon of Human Knowledge narrowed her eyes and sighed.

“…Yes, it is. Mistress. Spupu, I do not intend to tell you everything, but let me see. If I were to say one thing…”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge raised one long finger straight up.

A long black skirt and a vest of the same color as night.

Her silver hair fell over her clothes, glittering like starlight floating in the night.

“It would be that he is not necessarily only your dragon slayer.”

“…Was that supposed to be a joke? If so, you have no sense of humor.”

The air cooled. It was fortunate there were no living beings in that space other than dragons. Otherwise, they might have been unable to withstand the air as its pressure increased and died.

“It is no joke. Dragons and dragon slayers are deeply connected. There is likely no stronger fate in this world. An existence that kills what should be impossible to kill, a foreign object that crosses beyond the laws. Ah, all dragons like interesting things, do they not?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Just as he killed your boredom, he killed my despair. Alice, while we are at it, this is a good opportunity, so I will state it plainly.”

With her back still turned to Alice, the Dragon of Human Knowledge smiled through the mirror while seated at the dressing table.

“He is mine.”

It was a dragon’s smile. The warped desire of an old dragon sent a slight chill even down the spine of Alice, who was of the same race.

The arrogance of defining a human as one’s own possession. And yet, for a dragon, it was a statement allowed to a transcendent being.

Dominate, hurt, test, fight, torment.

Just as humans slept, ate, and mated, dragons possessed such functions as instinct—

“Be silent. He belongs to no one. He is not anyone’s possession.”

However, she, Drako, Alice Dral Flaretail.

She alone did not acknowledge those words.

Alice, who respected the existence of Tooyama Naruhito, who had chosen a method of acknowledging that way of being and deepening her understanding, would never acknowledge that opinion.

He belonged to no one. Not even to herself. That was why he was precious, and that was why—

“…Spupu. You truly have grown, haven’t you? The Hoarding Dragon will not make her own dragon slayer into one of her collected possessions?”

“This is why amateurs are troublesome. There is a way of honoring each thing appropriate to it. Keeping that one at my side would not allow his value to be fully displayed.”

Alice closed her eyes.

“Because that one is free. Because that one pursues. Yes, that one is—”

When she closed her eyes, she could easily recall his figure, his words, his eyes.

That was the dragon slayer’s true form as seen by Alice.

Nothing went according to her wishes. He was cheeky, mysterious, and an existence that would always be interesting to watch.

“—Beautiful precisely because he is not mine.”

Quietly, the Hoarding Dragon spun those words.

A gentle color was lit in her blue eyes. As if watching over a dream.

“…Somehow, this is frustrating. It seems you are still closer to him than I am.”

Leaning deeply against the backrest of the dressing table chair, the Dragon of Human Knowledge sighed.

“Hmph. I am his friend, after all. Oh? My, my, my? Dragon of Human Knowledge, come to think of it, what are you to him? Hm? As far as I know, Naruhito should feel that you are an unsettling existence.”

“Oh, you can say that, can you? But you, spupu, do not know… what it means to be settled into the friend category.”

“What did you say?”

Alice stopped speaking, stunned. The Dragon of Human Knowledge narrowed her eyes with a smirk and looked at the young dragon.

“Ah, poor young dragon. What do you want to become with him? No, that is fine. You do not need to answer. Please continue being satisfied with friendship. That would help me.”

“Wh-what? What is it? What is that composure of yours…? I-I am his friend.”

“I am not particularly trying to become his friend.”

“Wh-at…”

This time, Alice faltered. Those words were outside her own sensibilities. Why? This one should also be fond of Naruhito. And yet, what did it mean that she did not want to become his friend?

To Alice, whose only formula for approaching a human she liked was becoming friends, the Dragon of Human Knowledge’s words were beyond understanding.

“I want him to look at me. I want him to whisper only to me. I want him to tell only me about his life. That is not a relationship called friendship. I seek a different form.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge knew. She knew the name of her own emotion.

Deeper than darkness, hotter than flames, more troublesome than illness.

She knew the true identity of that emotion that drove her brain and heart mad and scorched her throat.

“What about you? Alice Dral Flaretail. What do you seek from your dragon slayer?”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge knew the name of a human heart that Alice did not know.

“…I do not want to tell you.”

“Oh, spupu. I have been rejected. Well, anyway.”

Ahem. The Dragon of Human Knowledge cleared her throat, let her body slump against the backrest, arched her neck backward, and looked at Alice.

“Alice, I will not lose to you. I will at least say that.”

“Hmph. …I do not know what contest you mean. But if you obstruct his way of being or his steps forward, then I will certainly burn you to ash.”

“Spupu, ah, you truly have changed. Or have you been infected? What kind of existence is he to you?”

“Is it not obvious? He is my dragon slayer and my friend.”

Alice knew that in order to become close to humans, one had to become friends.

Alice did not know the meaning of her own true heart. Not yet.

“You are stubborn too. Well, that is fine. If you continue down the friendship route like that, it will help me as well. Spupu. Now then, how shall I invite Tooyama-kun to play? A sauna, perhaps? Hmm… I believe the literature left behind by the Daimyo remained at the Academy…”

“Fuka.”

At the same time that the Dragon of Human Knowledge began muttering, Alice twisted her lips into a broad grin.

A ferocious expression. However, it was a smile.

“…What is it, Hoarding Dragon? That nasty smile. That is the face of an unpleasant dragon. An arrogant smile from one convinced she stands above the other. …You look exactly like your grandfather. Detestable.”

“Fukaka, no, it is nothing. Well, what can I say? Right now, I am in a good mood.”

“What was that?”

“No, nothing. It simply seems that I, too, am thoroughly a dragon. I am reminded of the instincts of the living beings known as dragons. To compete, to win, and to look down from above. The instinct for struggle that we dragons possess. And when it is directed toward another dragon, it is especially exquisite.”

“That roundabout way of speaking is exactly like that child. It reminds me of the Water Dragon. …What are you trying to say, little girl?”

“Fu, ka, ka. Look at this.”

Grinning, Alice approached the Dragon of Human Knowledge and carefully took a parchment from her breast.

In the Empire, where papermaking technology had advanced, parchment was considered an exceptional luxury.

With a suspicious expression, the Dragon of Human Knowledge looked at the parchment thrust before her.

“Hm? Paper? It has been hardened with preservation wax… Oh, First Civilization language… Let us see. ‘I, Tooyama Naruhito, hereby express my gratitude for your cooperation in the negotiations with the Workshop to recover my smartphone. Therefore, in accordance with the contract, I, Tooyama Naruhito, swear that I shall, as promptly as reasonably possible, invite you, Lady Alice Dral Flaretail, as a friend, to a meal on the day you desire, or to social leisure including such within the vicinity of the adventure city. Furthermore, until the promised day with you, I shall purify myself and solemnly swear not to mingle with other beings, especially females—’

This…”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge opened her eyes wide.

Fupii. The Hoarding Dragon gave a long, smug snort.

“Fukaka, that is how it is. Mm-hmm, ah, what a shame. The one who will play with Naruhito is not you, but me. His schedule is already filled with playing with me, his friend. Fukaka, hmm? What was that again? Thinking of how to invite him to play? Fukaka! Very well, very well. Do think hard with that brain you are so proud of.”

Spin, spin. Alice walked around the Dragon of Human Knowledge as if dancing. The skirt of the simple one-piece dress she wore as room clothes spread softly like a blooming flower.

“Ah, I feel wonderful! Because I already possess what that old dragon, the All-Knowing—no, the Dragon of Human Knowledge—desires. Fukaka, Naruhito’s first partner will not be you, but me!”

Alice thrust out her finger and made a draconic smug face. Her whole face shone with joy, an expression perfectly fitting Alice, whose mental age was preadolescent.

“Guh, ggg… Damn it… I cannot say anything back… Why did you become fond of Naruhito-kun so quickly this time…?”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge muttered quietly, and her beautiful face twisted with genuine frustration.

“Fond?”

But that one word pierced Alice. Her dance of joy and victory stopped abruptly.

“Eh, what is that reaction? …Do not tell me you have not noticed your own feelings?”

“Fond…? This, I am? This is fondness…? Toward Naruhito?”

Her eyes blinked. Blink, blink, blink.

Again and again, restlessly.

“Wow, you really are warped in so many ways… You want to understand him, draw closer to him, and be by his side. If the name of that emotion toward another, regardless of gender, is not fondness, then what is it? Iron Dragon and Flower Dragon, just how sheltered did they raise you?”

“I, ah… I, I… No, I merely, Naruhito…”

“Friendship, walking closer to him, the expression and approach are your freedom. However, well, as dragons who have taken a liking to the same male, to use the phrase ‘sending salt to the enemy,’ let me say you should not deceive yourself about the goal at least, Hoarding Dragon. Advice from an elder.”

“I have fondness… toward Naruhito… Then, this feeling… No, impossible. I am a dragon, and he is human, yet fondness…”

Ignoring the words from the Dragon of Human Knowledge, Alice became completely dazed. A space dragon.

“Hellooo, Alice? Alice-chan. …Spupu. This is no good. She has completely entered her own world…”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge sighed and sat back down at the dressing table. To think she would see this side of that Hoarding Dragon. She suppressed the smile rising within her.

“Now then, let us leave that child aside. Shall I do my daily Tooyama Naruhito viewing? …Dragon of Human Knowledge magical formula, hypothesis proposal initiated. Water Mirror. Infiltration into world composition complete.”

What was spun was a magical formula.

A technology of deception that infringed upon the world. A loophole discovered by humans and dragons, mixing the end constructed by oneself into the world’s laws and distorting those laws.

“Mm, you, what are you doing?”

“Nothing much. My life’s work, my hobby. Morning, noon, and evening. If I do not see his face at least three times a day, I cannot settle down. Now then, what is he doing this time? The other day, I looked away for just a little while and he caused a commotion with the dwarves, tried to make moonshine and got into trouble with the Crows, and so on. I never know what he will do.”

“Why are you doing it in my room…? And, that…”

“Spupu. Water Mirror. A new formula I created. Convenient, is it not? Doing it in your room is rather kind of me. He is not very diligent about writing letters, is he? Are you not curious? When he is not with you, what he, Tooyama Naruhito, is doing, thinking, and saying?”

Softly, softly. Bubbles of water appeared in empty space. Or so it seemed, and then they suddenly spread, becoming thin and flat.

In the blink of an eye, a membrane made of water, a mirror, formed in the room.

“…This is because, as a friend, I wish to confirm whether my friend is facing danger. Very well… I permit it. In exchange, show me Naruhito’s state as well.”

“Spupu, yes, yes. Let us check the Water Mirror. Now then, is our Sir Dragon Slayer being a good boy?”

《That is why—I have a good idea. Lazaar, Stolu.》

Softly, the water spread in the air like a thin membrane and became a farseeing mirror.

Like a modern television, the surface of water floating in the air, projected by the formula, showed the figure of Tooyama Naruhito.

“Mm… It is Naruhito.”

“His wicked way of laughing is the same as ever. Well, that is what is cute about him.”

Though the two beautiful dragons’ words differed, their expressions were the same. Each looked happily at her own dragon slayer.

The time was just early afternoon.

《We find that woman. That is what we need to do now.》

《Do you need that woman so badly, Naruhito?》

《Yeah, I need her. I can’t think of any other method anymore. I can’t think of anyone but that woman.》

“Fuka?”

“Spu?”

But that lasted only an instant.

This world always had bad timing.

The two beautiful dragons saw Tooyama Naruhito at the worst possible timing for him.

The two beautiful dragons did not know that Tooyama Naruhito was about to head to Color Town for the sake of his own scheme.

The two beautiful dragons did not know that the woman was the bishop of the Angel Church.

Tooyama on the other side of the Water Mirror also did not know. The man who assumed himself to be the hunter was now heading straight toward the execution platform, hop, step—

《Now then, we’re charging into Color Town. Following our desires, we’re going to do what we want to do.》

And jumped.

“Charging into Color Town? Cannot think of anyone but that woman?”

“Following his desires, going to do what he wants to do?”

The dragons repeated Tooyama’s words expressionlessly.

His usual decisive line had, only this time, performed the worst possible function.

Ah, Tooyama Naruhito knew nothing.

““Huh?””

Inconveniently, they had only heard the conveniently bad parts.

The expressions vanished from the two beautiful dragons’ faces.

The Hoarding Dragon tightly gripped the promise certificate hardened with wax, the one on which Tooyama Naruhito’s promise was written.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge snapped her fingers and erased the Water Mirror.

Only silence. But dragon pressure spread. And then, from neither one first—

“Alice Dral Flaretail.”

“Ai Kelbrem Doctustail.”

They called each other’s names at the same time. Though their gazes did not intersect, what the two saw was the same.

“I am going out for a bit.”

“So am I. I am going out.”

“…Destination?”

“Color Town.”

“What a coincidence…”

Blue eyes, pupils splitting vertically. A wavering golden gleam swam through the irises.

Dark eyes, pupils splitting vertically. Within the dark eyes, that fierce emotion could no longer be suppressed.

No one was smiling.

“Let us go.”

“We go.”

That was how it happened.

It just happened.