I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level Max Level Witch - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

  WE TOOK A TRIP HOME TOGETHER  

A few days later, someone of an unfamiliar dragon race came to my house.

I asked Laika afterward, and she said it was a wyvern. Like the one making deliveries to the apothecary at the World Tree, right? I still wasn’t sure about all the small differences among wyverns and drakes and other dragons.

Of course, the wyvern wouldn’t have come out here for no good reason.

It brought an invitation from the demon king.

That’s it?! All for this?!

The date was written on the second page. Fatla and Vania would apparently take us there. I guess I’d be treated as a national guest as long as I was acting as the demon king’s older sister.

Incidentally, Kuku had been writing songs and practicing harder than ever before since Beelzebub came to visit. Almost to the point where I couldn’t just waltz into her room. What was once a spare space in the house had completely transformed into a studio.

“Kuku’s been improving a lot. I knew it—she would never gain the skill if she did not practice her hardest. She must be determined to give it her all now,” Flatorte said, listening to the sounds of Kuku’s practice coming from her room.

It was teatime for Flatorte, Laika, and me. My daughters weren’t interested in tea by itself, so they didn’t come. Halkara was at work. I didn’t see Rosalie nearby, but she was somewhere around.

“I’m an amateur, but I can tell she’s been improving.”

Laika loved people who were always striving for self-improvement, because she had the same personality type.

“Kuku has the patience to do the same thing over and over. Had that patience been directed in just a slightly different direction, she could have made so much more progress,” Flatorte remarked about her music. “Some hard work doesn’t produce good results, and some does. Kuku had trouble telling which was which, but she’s been improving rapidly now that we’ve corrected her.”

What she said could be applied to many things, not just music.

There were people who made efforts that weren’t effective or didn’t have much point.

In middle school, I had a classmate who poured her heart into making her notes look immaculate, but her grades were average.

The point of notes was to make sure you didn’t forget anything you heard in class. They didn’t need to be nice and neat, like merchandise. Though they definitely should be clear instead of muddled, you should be able to understand them, as the one who wrote them.

This classmate of mine ended up making it her goal to take perfect notes. If she’d just shifted her enthusiasm over to raising her grades, I was sure she would’ve done better.

“In that case, that means you have no patience and no stamina to work hard over long periods of time.” Laika stabbed a thorn straight into Flatorte.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what! What does that mean?!”

“I mean, in recent memory, you would go and fight my elder sister Leila, wouldn’t you? Perhaps you should’ve spent a little more time preparing to defeat her?”

“Well, that’s what you do… I’m impressed by those who live their lives thinking of who they will defeat that day! That’s why I thought it was perfect to go bully her whenever it occurred to me!”

This was getting strange. I didn’t know if I was convinced or not…

People who are always yelling, “Down with so-and-so!” sure are a problem, but please don’t just go bully people when you feel like it.

That being said, I felt a little love now in the relationship between the red and blue dragons, like rival neighborhoods in a sports competition.

Of course, it was still a fight between dragons, so it was on a much more unusual scale. Plus, some of the younger ones really would take it too far. The rivalry was a big problem.

“Hmph, don’t push me too much today. Fine. Whoever is luckier in their horoscope is the winner!”

“Very well. I accept.”

This showdown was a little too peaceful.

Maybe they get along so well because they’re both dragons…

We could still hear Kuku’s lute from her room. And unlike during her Schifanoia era, there were lots of quiet songs to ensure a reasonable noise level.

The snippets of music must have grabbed Flatorte’s attention again.

“I had a feeling. Kuku went all the way to the capital, so she probably wants to erect a bronze statue in her hometown.”

I felt like I’d heard a similar expression before in the past. It probably meant coming home with great honor and glory.

“Those who go to the capital for art sometimes do, don’t they? Perhaps it’s hard to say one accomplished anything there without becoming famous.”

“I’ve seen plenty of minstrels like that… I wonder what Leapfrog and White Lightning and Arsakes are all up to now…”

I didn’t know any of these minstrel names.

“They say only one in fifty gets a bronze statue. Oh—home…”

Flatorte suddenly seemed to remember something.

Now that she mentioned it, she hadn’t gone home once since coming to live in the house in the highlands…

“R-right! I didn’t have the time to go home, so I forgot!”

“Then good thing you remembered, right? You can go home—or wait, can you?”

I seemed to remember a rule that she wasn’t allowed to leave my side while she was living here.

“No… And I want to go home, but at the same time I don’t. It’s a very complicated feeling…”

“What do you mean?”

“I would be a failed dragon returning home… All those people looking at me…”

Flatorte’s gaze was directed straight down. So that’s why…

Only she could understand how that would feel, I suppose.

Since I had been an office employee, I could go to my parents’ house to soothe my everyday weariness, but I had a steady job. Not that it did any good in the long run; steady job or not, the overwork led to my death…

“Okay, so if you did go home, would people look at you coldly, then?”

I would be the one responsible for that, so I asked hesitantly.

“At the very least, I wasn’t treated any differently after we attacked the red dragon village and lost. The blue dragons as a whole were the losers anyhow. We are equal on that front.”

“So they didn’t push all the blame on you, then. Your society is very accepting, Flatorte. More accepting than the company I worked for, at least.”

They’d always had a scapegoat ready for these things.

“Lady Azusa, as far as I know, power is the law among blue dragons. I believe that since the whole clan was recognized as weak, they had no choice but to grin and bear it, despite their regrets,” Laika offered.

Flatorte nodded weakly, so Laika was probably right. Flatorte looked up to me with puppy eyes and kept going. “But right now, I, Flatorte, must absolutely obey my mistress’s orders… There are a number of blue dragons who would find that disgraceful…”

“Oh! I didn’t know. I feel bad…”

Since I’d petted Flatorte’s horns, she had no choice but to live with me.

And this injustice began with the mischief-loving demon king, Pecora.

But…I was glad that Flatorte had become a member of the family, and I had a lot of feelings about it, too. I even wanted to thank Pecora sometimes.

“So which is it? Do you want to go home or do you not?” Laika asked her straight.

“Hey, this isn’t a simple question. I’ve thought and thought about it. I’ve thought all about it, but I still don’t know…”

“But you must decide if you’re going home; otherwise, you will never get there regardless. If you just wait for a chance, it will never work out perfectly. Even you said that Kuku couldn’t have just waited for her big break without making some changes.”

Laika’s argument went straight for the heart.

But her sincerity worked with Flatorte. I was sure she saw that Laika was seriously thinking about her as a dragon.

“I—I guess I want to go home… I at least want to tell my parents that I’m living happily with my mistress.”

And this was the conclusion Flatorte found after some deliberation.

“Great! Then I’ll go with you. You won’t be able to go otherwise, right?”

“Yes, you’re right, but… There are plenty of blue dragons who don’t know of your strength firsthand, so could you exude an aura of immense power, please?”

I didn’t quite understand what Flatorte was saying.

“If every blue dragon knows that no one is a match for you, Mistress, then people might think that I, Flatorte, have no choice but to continue living in the house in the highlands. That might relieve some pressure on me, I think.”

This wasn’t something she could say loud and proud, so she was talking in a hushed voice, but I understood her intention.

If they recognized me as a power no blue dragon could defeat, then no one would think that Flatorte was serving me because she was weak.

“But won’t I be playing the role of a villain, then…?”

“That’s all right. We blue dragons value power as our standard of justice. We even believe that as long as we work hard, we might be able to win our disputes with the red dragons.”

I wondered why they had such a monarchical mentality, but did dragons even have monarchs in the first place?

“Understood. Then let’s pick a good time to go.”

“Let’s go right now.”

“Wait, seriously? I know they say good deeds should be done quickly, but—”

“Lady Azusa, I will go with you.” Laika told us she was coming along.

“I don’t mind, but wouldn’t you be traveling into enemy territory?”

“That may be true, but… I thought it unfair that she gets to travel with you, Lady Azusa…,” she muttered.

Oooh! She’s so cute! Just like I knew my little sister would be!

“You can come if you want. I’m not carrying you.” Flatorte was obviously unhappy with this.

“That’s fine. I can fly.”

I rode on Flatorte, and we headed for the blue dragon village.

If we left immediately, we would apparently get there around dinnertime.

At times like these, perhaps it’s best to leave the moment we decide to do something. For example, one could usually get to anywhere within Japan in the same day if you took the bullet train or a plane. You could even visit home.

But people didn’t. Not only did it cost money, but it was hard to decide when, which inevitably led to putting it off.

We could go home whenever we wanted, so we ended up doing so only once or twice a year.

We soon landed just at the entrance of the blue dragon village.

My first thought after landing was:

“It’s cold! I mean, it’s covered in snow!”

“Yes. The snow never melts here.”

Flatorte, now back in her human form, seemed totally content.

On the other hand, Laika had her arms wrapped around herself like me, trying to withstand the cold.

“Then let’s go to the village. Everyone is typically in their human form, so it shouldn’t seem too strange.”

We walked for a little bit, and we came across a small smattering of houses sitting at a much higher elevation than my own house.

There was a sign at the entrance that just said, THIS IS THE BLUE DRAGON VILLAGE.

As we walked along what was probably the main street, we came to a large square at the center.

There were several roads extending in a radial pattern from the square.

Even farther in, there was a building atop a staircase of about a hundred steps. It was probably a religious institution or some kind of fort. If this were Japan, that’s where a shrine or temple would be.

“It’s more humanlike than the red dragon village was. It’s not much different from a human village.”

“Indeed. We live our lives in human form in consideration of efficiency. There is not much to be gained by showing off our dragon forms. That’s what makes us different from the pretentious red dragons.”

“Why must you insult us for that?” Laika objected. Understandable.

“Flatorte, don’t explicitly go looking for fights like that. Now apologize.”

“Urgh… Mistress, it was a joke…”

“A rude joke. And if someone told you that blue dragons are idiots without any foresight, you’d be angry, too, right?”

“Ugh… S-sorry…” Flatorte gave in quickly and apologized to Laika.

This is one of those problems you should solve as soon as you notice it.

“It’s so empty in here.”

There was no one around as far as I could tell at a glance. No one on the main street, at least.

“Could they be holed up inside because it’s cold…?” Laika asked, but she was speaking from the perspective of a red dragon with little tolerance for the chill.

“But there’s no lights on anywhere at all, even though it’s getting dark outside.”

That’s right—we arrived at night, not during the day, and yet nothing was lit.

“Oh, I think we were too late. Everyone’s asleep already.”

“Wait, asleep?”

“Yes. Once it gets dark, blue dragons quickly eat dinner and go straight to sleep. For example—”

Flatorte turned the corner onto a side street, chose a random house, and peeked inside.

That’s not very considerate; is she breaking the law…? She was like a thief casing the premises.

“Look. Everyone’s asleep.”

We peered through the gloom and, sure enough, everyone was in bed.

“It’s not that late, though… It’s only just past six…” Laika was bewildered. She wasn’t exactly a night owl herself, but it was still way too early…

As we stood there, my stomach growled.

“Hey, is there at least a bar or something that’s open late here?”

“No.”

That was fast!

Oh no. It feels like we’ve been stranded in the middle of nowhere…

“There’s nothing to do here, and it’ll be pitch-black soon. Why don’t we go home and sleep now?”

“But your family’s already asleep, aren’t they…? We’d be sleeping there before we even say hello… I dunno…”

“If I sleep there, they won’t think the red dragons are trying to start something, will they…?”

Laika was worried about that, too.

It’d be one complicated homecoming if we came back while her family was asleep and invited ourselves to spend the night!

“I was thinking that maybe we should stay at an inn here in town, even if it costs money… Sleeping in an unfamiliar house stresses me out…,” Laika suggested. I was tempted to agree…

I didn’t want her parents to get the wrong idea about us, so I was reluctant to sleep there.

“No inns, either.” Flatorte’s response came easily.

“There’s nothing here!”

“Well, there are no highways in town. We don’t get travelers. We don’t need inns.”

This place is worse than I thought… Even Flatta has more than this!

“So then what industry was it based around?”

“There’s no industry here. Whenever we need money, we go to a human settlement, do some physical labor to earn it, then come back. Otherwise, we go to undeveloped mountains and hunt boars and whatnot whenever we feel like it.”

“Um, I think you should stop this aimless lifestyle and live with a little more culture.”

What Laika said sounded dangerously similar to an insult, but it was the truth…

“We do have culture. See, we have a shrine at the top of the staircase, and we hold festivals there several times a year. These festivals are rather intense. Some people get so worked up that a brawl usually breaks out. People are inevitably injured, but that just adds to the excitement!”

Laika stared at Flatorte coolly.

I remembered when the blue dragons attacked the red dragons.

They’d suddenly come to attack back then, too, and it reminded me of something. These blue dragons lived like delinquent high schoolers!

Hey, I heard the red dragons are holding a wedding. → That pisses me off; let’s attack ’em!

I’m hungry. → Let’s hunt some boar.

Man, I got no money. → I’m off to get some dough.

I lost to someone who’s real good in a fight. → Whoa, insane! So much respect! We’ll follow you forever!

We should have a festival. → WOOOO, LET’S GO!

But delinquent kids wouldn’t go to sleep so early. That was the only difference.

Still, their lifestyle didn’t seem particularly stable. There was no concept of planning here.

This typically wasn’t sustainable, but dragons were powerful enough to pull it off.

“Lady Azusa, I realize that what I’m about to say is rather selfish, but I will head for the nearest town and stay at an inn there.”

Laika’s expression was tense. She was serious.

“I guess I should do the same… I don’t really want to sleep in someone’s house before saying hello… We’ll come back again tomorrow…”

“What?! Seriously?!”

In the end, along with Flatorte, we flew thirty minutes to a town at the foot of the mountains to stay there for the night.

That night, while Flatorte was in the bath, Laika complained to me.

“Lady Azusa, it is not a mistake that the blue and red dragons do not get along. It is entirely the fault of those idiots. We had no major connections in the past; they would just come to fight us because they thought we were acting snooty.”

It reminded me of punks in high school going to rile up the kids at the school next door…

“I can’t say this too loudly, but I think it’s possible that the reason she can’t get married is because the other dragons avoid her… Blue dragons are the absolute problem children of all dragons…”

Why did I have to be so involved in interpersonal relationships even in a different world?

Then Flatorte came out of the bath, steam rising from her skin.

“Phew! The water’s great. That was a wonderful bath.”

Laika and I kept our mouths shut.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d run into trouble again tomorrow…

The next morning, nine AM—we went back to visit the blue dragon village.

But there was still no one walking around.

“Oh, blue dragons are usually only active between ten and five, so that might be why.”

What are they, a shop in the sticks…?

But they were probably awake, at least, so we went to Flatorte’s house.

There were two people there with horns, likely her parents. They didn’t seem like ruffians. And since dragons aged slowly, they looked like humans in their thirties.

“Oh, Flatorte, you’re home!”

“I heard a rumor that someone touched your horns!”

Flatorte’s father and mother greeted her, and their faces told me immediately that they were overjoyed.

But Flatorte didn’t know how to react upon seeing her parents. “I-I’m home…” She faltered.

This was no different from a human homecoming.

“You lost to a red dragon last time. Well, these things happen. You can’t fight anymore according to the rules, but that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with going for a challenge, you know. It’s normal to beat ’em up when you get angry.”

Her father sounded both reasonable and totally unreasonable at once.

Don’t tell your daughter to beat people up when she’s angry!

“That’s right. You did it because you thought it was a good idea, so there’s nothing to feel sorry about. Don’t worry about shame or anything like that. The chickens who wouldn’t go to fight are the ones who should be ashamed.”

Her mother was being encouraging, but something was weird here! I wished they wouldn’t recommend violence.

“This is my current mistress, Lady Azusa, the super-powerful Witch of the Highlands. And this is the strongest of the red dragons, Laika.”

It was weird hearing about our strength as part of an introduction.

And we were all of a sudden being introduced to not just any blue dragons but to Flatorte’s parents.

How would they react…? I wondered if they saw me as the nasty woman enslaving their precious daughter…

The color in her parents’ eyes changed.

“You’re the Witch of the Highlands?! Wow! You’re real! You’re the real thing! Let’s fight later!”

“You’re much slenderer than I thought you’d be, Miss Witch of the Highlands! Please autograph the wall! Let us fight later!”

“Uh, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why do you want to fight?!”

That’s not what you want to say to someone you just met!

“And you must be, like, the red dragon boss, huh? Sorry about before. Let’s fight next time.”

“We can’t have an all-out brawl, but I suppose we could have a sort of scrimmage in a safer environment. Why don’t we fight?”

Laika’s face was twitching as she held it in a strained position. “A-all right…,” she said as she bowed.

It was like a young girl from a posh household had come to play at her uncouth friend’s house…

“Now that we’re here again, I’m going to show you two around the village. We don’t have any shops, though.”

“Thanks…”

Afterward, blue dragons in human form started coming out into the village, and everyone who saw Flatorte came to say hello.

I was glad they didn’t appear to be making fun of her for serving me.

But—

“You’re the Witch of the Highlands! Let’s fight later.” “I’m a nobody, really, but we should fight!” “Missy, missy, fight me!”

As of now, one hundred blue dragons had asked me to fight!

“Lady Azusa, I understand it’s racist to claim that elves are obnoxious when they drink, since I can assume there are elves who don’t drink as well.”

I had a feeling she was thinking of Halkara with that example, but I would ignore that part.

“However, in this situation, saying that blue dragons always ask for a fight is simply a fact. Would that make it all right to say so?”

“I don’t see why not. I can’t think of anyone around who would be insulted by that.”

Flatorte didn’t even seem to think anything was strange about it. “I was uneasy on the way back here, but I’m glad nothing’s changed.”

Were the blue dragons an aggressive people?

It really wasn’t an exaggeration to say they believed violence could solve anything…

As we wandered around the village, the number of people around us grew.

I could tell all eyes were on us, since outsiders rarely ever came.

“Mistress, everyone seems to want to test your strength, so would you fight with some of them here?” Flatorte asked me. We could make fight the word of the year.

“First, let me be honest: I don’t want to. There’s nothing to gain from it.”

Someone who would want to test their strength couldn’t lead a slow life in the highlands for three hundred years.

“But everyone’s expecting me to… Some of them look really excited, too… I can’t refuse, so I’ll do it.”

Someone must’ve heard, because there was a yell: “The Witch of the Highlands who Flatorte serves said she’d fight!”

There came a cheer.

At that moment, I was experiencing the hardships of cultural exchange.

I mean, it was weird for an entire small village to challenge me to a good-natured fight.

And so we set the stage for the fight in the square.

It would’ve been fine and easy if this was arm wrestling or something, but before I knew it, a whole row of enormous bluish dragons was waiting. Guess this was going to be a serious battle.

It seemed like the entire village was out spectating, some in human form and some in dragon form. There were even some who were still dressed in their pajamas and others waving flags around.

A temporary tent was set up by the square, which became our waiting room.

“Mistress, the standard is to go all out, if that’s all right. There is not a single blue dragon who would hold a grudge against you if they lost. But please just don’t touch their horns. The village would fall apart if everyone was to become your servant.”

“Yep, I’ll keep that in mind…”

If I ended up as the Witch of the Highlands with thirty blue dragon underlings, my peaceful life would be ruined forever…

Laika watched the energetic goings-on with a sour look.

“Lady Azusa, please beat them senseless. She may grow to scorn you if you don’t.”

Laika was looking straight at Flatorte.

That was possible. If I wasn’t a big deal, then that would mean that Flatorte was no big deal. I had to keep her family from being insulted.

“And if someone thinks they have a sliver of a chance at winning, still more might come to fight you. There are non-fighting pacts agreed on between dragons, but none have anything like that with you, Lady Azusa. They might come to our house in the highlands every day, to fight you for the sake of killing time…”

Yes, it was cold outside, but a shiver still ran down my spine.

“Fight with everything you have.”

I’ll show them that they’re no match for me. That was my only choice.

“It seems it’s almost time now. I, Flatorte, will act as judge.”

“I think that might not be entirely fair, but I just need to have a sweeping victory, then.”

I went to the square. The cheers were so loud, but that was because there were so many in dragon form. Some dragons were watching the fight from the sky, so they cast large shadows everywhere.

“The first match is with Flatorte’s mother—Cainresq, Cainresq!”

The dragon standing at the front stepped forward.

“I can’t just fight one of your parents right from the get-go!”

“Well, I’d like to fight you fresh before you get tired, so I asked my daughter to put me first.”

I didn’t know what to make of her exercising her influence over the judge to make requests. And she called me fresh, like some fish, so that bothered me.

“Let the match begin!”

I ran straight toward the dragon, and she was running right at me. It was perfect.

Don’t breathe ice on me.

“Ready and go!”

Before she could, I slammed my fist into her, right about where her stomach was.

Wham! A nice resilient impact struck my arm.

The dragon flew high up above the clouds—actually, it wasn’t that far, but she made a nice parabola as she flew through the sky then landed somewhere outside the village.

“Ma, can you get up? Nah. All right, victory goes to my mistress!”

Flatorte raised my hand high over my head. I guess I just needed to keep this up.

There came a great cheer (more like a roar, since they were dragons) from the crowd. As long as they were enjoying it.

“All right, the next opponent will be Flatorte’s father—Armeshtan, Armeshtan!”

First her mom, and now her dad?! Can’t you be a little fairer?!

But maybe this is fair, since she’s making her connections so obvious…?

“It’s been ages since I could cut loose! Get ready, great Witch!”

They sure were a hot-blooded bunch… I thought of all the troubles Laika and the red dragons had gone through.

This time, her father went for a Cold Breath attack right from the start, so I blocked it with Flame magic.

“Wha—! Such power! She didn’t even cast anything or use a magic circle!” Someone in the audience shouted like a commentator.

“Sure. The most general way of blocking Cold Breath is to use Flame magic. But drawing a magic circle or casting a spell wouldn’t be fast enough, so it’s not an effective means of stopping an instant attack like Cold Breath. Meaning this witch is a real powerhouse!”

Don’t know who that was, but thanks for the play-by-play.

Right, so nothing would happen if I stayed on the defensive the whole time. I immediately closed the gap between us, and with that acceleration, I kicked!

He didn’t go flying this time. He just leaned and then toppled right over.

“Urgh… What might… My daughter could never win against this… That was an overwhelming attack…”

I’m so glad you understand.

I could hear people cheering again: “Amazing!” I could somehow see how power decided what was just. As I defeated the dragons, they apparently didn’t seem embarrassed at all. I was becoming more like a hero instead. It almost felt like the stronger I was, the more I could get away with.

“All right, let’s keep going! Next up is Flatorte’s uncle—Baldando, Baldando!”

“Aren’t you prioritizing your relatives a little too much, Flatorte?!”

Well, whatever. All I had to do was square away these dragons. Everything was for Flatorte’s sake—actually, I didn’t know if it was anymore, but it was true that my only choice was to fight.

The battles went on and on, and I managed to get through fifty people.

I hadn’t been thinking too carefully about it, but I knew from the analyst’s comment: “We’ve finally gotten through fifty people!”

By the way, I wasn’t really tired at all. Almost every match was finished with one hit. I couldn’t OHKO effortlessly, but if I ran right at them and put all my weight into it, that was enough for a finishing blow.

“We’re almost out of people for you to fight, I see. You’ve proven to us that your strength is real, Mistress.”

Flatorte seemed even prouder than I was. Don’t forget you’re the judge here.

There were a few dragons I hadn’t fought yet, but I could hear them saying that since so-and-so lost, they stood no chance. There was probably some bigwig among the blue dragons I’d defeated.

“I guess that’s it. Great, my job’s done now.”

But—someone unexpected walked briskly into the opponents’ waiting area.

It was Laika.

“Battle with me, Lady Azusa.”

Laika was the very earnest type, not one to pull pranks. I knew right away that she was being serious.

And her face was dead serious, too.

“Can I ask why first?” I couldn’t say anything until I knew that.

“I have been working diligently under you as your apprentice, Lady Azusa, in order to better myself. I would like to confirm the results of my hard work by battling with you.”

This was getting way too heavy. I’d lived an easier life, though.

“I’ve been watching you work hard all this time, so I know. But you’d have to put in the effort for a hundred, two hundred years for it to mean anything, not just one or two.”

I myself didn’t know a way to improve in such a short amount of time anyway.

“Indeed. I do not think I’ve improved very quickly in a short amount of time. I do not believe I can win against you. I just want to fight you. Actually, I want to lose. I cannot keep moving forward unless I lose.”

That was a very Laika-like thing to say. If she’d been thinking this hard about it, then I couldn’t just brush her off.

“Sure. But in exchange, don’t come crying to me if you get hurt. I’m guessing I’d be missing the point if I went easy on you for this fight.”

“Thank you!” I could tell how passionate she was just by her voice.

“And so, Flatorte, keep acting as judge.”

“Ah, very well… I hate to say this, but there’s no reason for me to be a judge, is there? Your strength is the real deal, Mistress.”

That might be. I didn’t feel like budging on my victory, not even an inch. It would be an easy win for me.

“It’d be rude to Laika if this wasn’t a proper match. I want you to announce the winner and loser like a real judge.”

“O-okay!” Flatorte seemed to understand what I meant.

There came cheers from the watchers around us, but then it immediately went quiet.

Everyone wanted to see everything that happened.

The stakes were just that high, for both Laika and me.

She transformed into a magnificent red dragon.

Ahhh, I recalled when Laika had first come to challenge me to a fight.

Back then, I had wanted to thank her for coming.

Had I never met her, I don’t think I ever would’ve thought of creating a family like we have now. It was a real hassle when she came, and my house got kind of wrecked, but in return, I received so much happiness.

Life was funny that way.

“I will give it everything I have.”

“Of course you will. I would be angry if you gave less than a hundred percent after how much you’ve grown.”

Flatorte looked between Laika and me, then she brought her raised hand down with a “B-begin!”

Laika flew up into the air to start then dove straight down at me, face-first.

I see. She was trying to get a hit in on me because slow, deliberate attacks like breathing flames wouldn’t do anything.

Her hand moved slightly. So she was planning on tossing me away, huh?

If it connected, I’d be sent flying far into the distance.

And so instead of dodging it—I would let it land and stop it with all my strength!

I spread out my arms, like I was going to give a big hug, then clapped them shut to catch it.

I got a heavy shock, but I managed to stop it.

The shock was the first damage I’d taken all day.

Laika didn’t say anything, either. We were battling, after all, and she was still concentrating.

I could sense her will. The only thing she lacked was force, and all she had to do about that was continue to improve under me.

“All right, and here’s my counterattack.”

I kicked and punched Laika over and over.

It was a boring attack, but each powerful hit chipped steadily away at Laika’s strength.

And then, at last, I aimed for the sky—

And kicked her like a soccer ball into the air.

After a long hang time, Laika’s dragon form crashed on a mountain just outside the village.

I could feel the ground shudder slightly all the way over from where I was.

A murmur immediately rippled through the crowd.

I glanced at Flatorte. “The verdict, Judge?”

“Oh, uhhh… Laika, Laika? Can you stand?”

From far away came a deep dragon voice: “I cannot…”

Flatorte came right over to me and raised her hand. “The winner is Mistress!”

After that, I was finally freed from fighting.

Well, I was caught in a flurry of questions from the blue dragons, so I wasn’t really free yet… In a way, this part was more grueling than the fights.

In the meantime, Flatorte got some alone time with her family, so it was all okay. Sure, Flatorte would be alive for much longer than my three hundred years, but a daughter was still a daughter no matter how old she was.

On the other hand, Laika seemed a little glum.

“Hey, Laika, what’s got you down?”

During a brief lull in the blue dragons’ interrogation, I peeked at her from below, and Laika’s face flushed in embarrassment.

“I am not down! I just… Now I realize what an absurd thing I asked of you. I’m so mortified…”

Right. So she couldn’t look me in the eye.

I pressed her cheeks firmly between my hands.

“Wh-wha—!”

She couldn’t speak well with her cheeks squished. Her face looked a little funny.

“You made a firm decision about what you wanted, so you have no reason to be embarrassed. Live with pride!”

“I—I unnershtan…”

As long as she got it. I let her go.

“You’ve gotten stronger, haven’t you, Laika? I want you to keep improving.”

I needed to follow up with my apprentices from time to time.

Laika’s face immediately brightened.

“Thank you! I will devote myself to it!”

Laika’s joining us on this trip was unexpected, but she still gained something from it.

You never knew what would happen in life—that was what made it interesting.

We reaped our own rewards from our trip to the blue dragon village.

But then, Laika’s mouth started twitching, and—

“Hachoo!”

—she sneezed loudly.

“Lady Azusa, it’s much too cold here…”

“Yeah, I agree with you…”

We shivered, breathing out white clouds.

Moving around in a fight was the perfect activity to stave off this cold.