Confrontation With The Black Dragon

“Jonah, Henrik, never leave my side.”

“Yes!”
“Yes!”

Jonah, Henrik, and Patricia pushed through the snow toward Mount Baldia, where the Paired Dragons were said to be.

In the end, not a single knight or soldier from the imperial army followed them. Apparently, they cherished their own lives after all.

But Patricia did not scold them; she simply ordered that if they did not return within three days, they were to turn back to the Empire.

She had always told them to prioritize their survival, and this reckless attempt to slay the White Dragon had driven that point home. Who could blame them?

And yet.

“Wa! It’s cold!”

“Jonah, don’t get carried away. Right, Kuu?”

“Woo!”

Jonah frolicked happily at the touch of the snow, while Henrik chided him.

Seeing the two boys so happy, the tense Patricia couldn’t help but relax.

“Good grief… you two are something else.”

“Huh? R-really?”

“Yes, indeed. We’re about to face the Paired Dragons, and yet there is not a trace of fear on your faces.”

From Jonah’s perspective, he had already defeated a sea-serpent beast and one of the Demon King’s army commanders.

Now it’s a dragon instead. There was nothing for him to be overawed by. If anything, he was thrilled at the thought of meeting a dragon.

Henrik, for his part, was of course afraid of dragons, but he had come prepared to learn the truth—that his father was no longer in this world.

More than anything, his goal wasn’t to confront the dragon, so he was several times more at ease than Patricia.

“Heh, well then. I suppose I’ll enjoy the journey while I can.”

“Wawawawa!? I-it’s cold!”

Patricia smiled mischievously and slipped snow down Jonah’s clothing.

It was both gratitude toward the two boys who had followed her and a bashful attempt to hide it from herself.

The three of them proceeded cheerfully, and then.

“We’ve finally arrived.”

“Yes…”

The three arrived at the foot of Mount Baldia.

“Now then… Jonah, Henrik, as we originally agreed, this is as far as you go. You two will wait here obediently.”

“……………………..”
“……………………..”

They silently nodded at Patricia’s instruction, but had no intention of actually obeying.

Henrik was going to search Mount Baldia for traces of his father, and Jonah was going to see the legend of the Paired Dragons with his own eyes.

“Well then.”

After dismounting, Patricia patted both their heads and stepped into Mount Baldia.

“…Jonah…”

“I know. Be absolutely careful, okay?”

“Yeah! Let’s go, Kuu!”

“Woo!”

Henrik climbed onto Kuu’s back and also entered Mount Baldia.

Jonah waved them off—one boy and one beast.

“Now then… what should I do?”

If he used ancient magic to teleport, he can reach the summit of Mount Baldia immediately.

Of course he didn’t intend to wait here for their return, and besides, he’d be worried if something happened to them.

So Jonah had prepared a setup for the two of them in advance.

Small magic circles on their backs.

And then.

“…!? Jo-Jonah!?”

“Sorry. After all, I’ll go with you.”

Patricia’s eyes widened at Jonah suddenly appearing before her.

“E-even so, I never imagined Jonah was such an incredible mage…”

As they headed for the summit of Mount Baldia, Patricia walking beside him had been staring at Jonah ever since earlier.

Jonah’s earlier teleportation seemed seared into her mind.

“But, was it all right for you to show me your magic?”

“Yes.”

Carlo, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Benedia, had warned him to limit use of ancient magic to “only when absolutely necessary to protect oneself.”

So Jonah had no hesitation about using ancient magic to protect Patricia and Henrik on this journey; this was exactly one of those “absolutely necessary” times.

Besides.

“It was precisely because Princess Patricia worries about me that I used my magic. So there’s absolutely no problem.”

You see… Patricia was the First Princess of the Estraia Empire and a general nicknamed the ‘Silver Sword Princess.’

Rather than seeing Jonah’s ancient magic as something to exploit, she had worried about his well-being. So what was there to worry about?

“Honestly… Jonah, you really are hopeless.”

“Wah! …Hehe.”

Patricia stroked his head; Jonah was surprised for a moment, then squinted his eyes in contentment.

“By the way, what about Henrik? Isn’t he with you?”

“…Henrik has things he must do as well.”

“I see…”

She too had come to this mountain out of pride as the First Princess and as the Silver Sword Princess.

Realizing that Henrik also had something he couldn’t give up, Patricia didn’t press the matter further.

“So, if you’d like, I can teleport us to the summit right away—what do you want to do?”

“I-is that so. With Jonah’s magic, that’s possible then.”

“Yes.”

Accepting Jonah’s offer, Patricia put a hand to her mouth and pondered.

If they teleported and faced the Paired Dragons and Jonah found himself in danger, he had teleportation magic and should be able to withdraw immediately.

If that’s the case.

“…Jonah, sorry, but can I ask you to do it?”

“Of course!”

Patricia decided to use Jonah’s teleportation to go to the Paired Dragons.

Now that Jonah’s safety was assured, she wanted to conserve as much energy as possible for the upcoming battle.

“Then…”

Pointing his index finger at the ground, Jonah drew a magic circle at high speed.

“Princess Patricia, please step into this magic circle.”

“Y-yes…”

Patricia hesitantly stepped onto the glowing magic circle.

“Going.”

“…!?”

In an instant, the two were teleported to the summit of Mount Baldia.

Then.

“…!?”
“…!?”

“……………………..”

Before them lay a black dragon, prostrate and staring their way.