WE WENT TO THE DRAGON LORD BATTLE
“And that is checkmate, Miss Halkara.”
“W-wait! Please just give me one more turn, Miss Laika!”
Laika and Halkara were playing chess in the dining room. The pieces were slightly different from the kinds I saw in Japan, but the basic rules seemed to generally be the same.
“I don’t mind, but I doubt the situation will change in your favor with just one move.”
“Oooh… You are truly strong… But I was still good enough for the second grade at the amateur level in my home province of Hrant…”
“I placed second in the red dragon’s chess championship in the under-two-hundred division.”
The races were so different, it was hard to tell what those strength indicators were supposed to mean…
Also, wouldn’t it be a better idea for them to establish a division for dragons over two hundred years old instead of under…? Dragons sure were long-lived…
“Hey, are there titles for chess in this world, too?”
Things like grand master or international master?
“Titles? As far as I know, they’re just called champions,” Halkara said as she put the pieces away in the box. “And the rules change slightly depending on the region~ Hrant uses pieces called dark elves and wanderers.”
“The wanderer is allowed to leave the confines of the board,” Laika said. “With that in play, it introduces the element of luck. I’m not fond of it, myself.” Apparently, she knew the piece, too. That sounded kind of complicated.
“Personally, that is exactly what gets me so excited about the game~ But I’ll admit, it is frustrating to have the advantage until the wanderer comes out of nowhere and kills my king. From certain victory to utter defeat.”
A one-hit KO piece?! That couldn’t be right!
Then Flatorte rushed over, back from shopping. What was she in a hurry about? “Laika, Laika! Listen! It’s starting!”
“What is? Calm down…” Laika remonstrated her less-delicate fellow dragon.
“The Dragon Lord Battle is starting! It’s that time of season!”
A Dragon Lord Battle?! Was this the fight that determined who held the title of ryuuou, the dragon king, in shogi?
But shogi didn’t exist in this world—at least, I didn’t think it did. In that case—
“So there’s a dragon king title in chess, too, huh?”
“Chess? What are you talking about, Mistress? I, Flatorte, never play such fussy games as chess. Dragons are obviously all about tests of strength.” And water is wet, she might as well have been saying.
“Then what’s the Dragon Lord Battle?”
“The Dragon Lord Battle is the dragons’ tournament to determine who is the strongest dragon in the world.”
Okay, so exactly what it says on the tin.
“I will have to enter. This is the perfect opportunity for me to test how much I’ve grown.” Laika sounded upset.
“I, the great Flatorte, will show off my power to all the dragons, too. Laika, don’t lose before we get to fight, okay?”
“Of course. And you be sure you don’t find yourself defeated, as well.”
“Heh, don’t worry. I’m not gonna forget to register like last time!” Flatorte said boastfully, although she hadn’t exactly improved her image with that one. “By the way, I heard it’s taking place at the forest dragon’s community center. Let’s go, Laika.”
“Yes, of course. I must get ready, then.”
They were already talking like they would be taking part.
“Lady Azusa, my apologies, but may I have a day off?”
“Sure, it’s no big deal. I’m actually wondering if I can’t bring the family along to watch.” The kids would be interested, I bet.
“You’re welcome to come. The battle starts early in the morning and lasts for a very long time, however, and you would not be allowed to watch the preliminaries. It might be best if you come in the afternoon—oh, but without a dragon, it might be hard to get there…”
She was right—if both her and Flatorte were going beforehand, transportation could prove difficult.
“Mistress, there might be a lot of dragons in the area around the tournament venue, so it’s a good place to kill time. I, Flatorte, can take you there.”
“I think I might ask you to do that.”
In the end, the whole family ended up heading for the land of the forest dragons the day before the event.
Even our little soursprout Sandra was excited.
“If it’s in a forest, this could be fun.”
And her excitement was very plantlike indeed.
It went without saying that the land of the forest dragons was full of dragons—although everyone was in their human forms, so it just looked like a bunch of people with horns walking around.
“Wooow! So many dragons!”
“That’s a pearl dragon. And there’s a black dragon over there. There are so many dragons here, it’s like a specimen village.”
“Dragons squash plants with indifference… Scary… I’m glad they’re all in their human forms…”
Sandra was the only one afraid of the dragons. It made sense, since in their original sizes, they could easily knock down trees and stuff…
“Sandra, the forest dragons protect the trees and have chosen to live among them. You should be all right while you’re here. That is why they typically assume their human forms,” Halkara, the elf and forest expert, explained. “If you break just one branch, you’ll be sent to jail. Please be careful.”
“Harsh…” Rosalie, being a ghost, took the chance to lounge nearby. “Wow, I forgot about places like this~ Their buildings are practically like caves.”
Yes, the forest dragon dwellings generally reminded me of tunnels. Maybe they didn’t want to use so much wood to build a house. The strong fires inside kept everything well lit, but they only used environmentally friendly scrap wood for their kindling.
“Yeah, this is one of the best parts of having such a long life. There’s still so much I don’t know about the world.”
Rosalie, was that a joke? Are you waiting for me to deliver the punchline? Well, I’ll indulge you.
“You’re not long-lived at all, Rosalie. You’ve spent a long time as a ghost, though.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right!”
She was being serious…
That night, we all stayed in a forest dragon inn. It was mostly full because of the Dragon Lord Battle, but we somehow managed to snag a room.
And then, the next day, Laika and Flatorte headed for the venue at four in the morning.
It’s super early… What a grueling schedule…
“Lady Azusa, we’ll be back!”
“I, Flatorte, will be the Dragon Lord this time, Mistress!”
I woke up to see them off, but I was so tired that I went right back to sleep. After I woke up again at seven thirty, the family and I went to the inn’s dining room.
They were serving green veggie juice first thing in the morning, and the kids hated it.
“Waaah! It’s bitter!”
“There is essentially no difference between this and poison. They should put some effort into the taste.”
“Isn’t this cannibalism…? I won’t have a sip. I don’t need to anyway.”
There was no problem with Sandra not drinking it, but for health reasons (?), I wanted Falfa and Shalsha to drink theirs.
“Hey, you two, put some honey in it. That should mellow it out~” Halkara came in with the save.
Come on, kids, you can do it!
“Then I’d just wanna lick the honey, Miss Halkara.”
“I agree with my big sister. As the younger sister, Shalsha always follows her example.”
They still won’t drink it… Well, I guess it’s okay…
“The bitterness can be quite addictive. I think I’ll have seconds, myself.” Halkara was the only one with a tolerance for it. She was an elf, all right.
Okay, what should we do for the morning? Maybe this was a good time to sightsee while the Dragon Lord Battle preliminaries were going on. Honestly, Falfa and Shalsha were smart enough to enjoy a museum, so for a mom, it was a no-brainer.
“Everyone, why don’t we spend the morning at this ‘museum on forest dragon life’ that’s written about here in this pamphlet?”
“Mistress, museums are boring, so can we please go somewhere else? Perhaps somewhere I, Flatorte, can run wild and free?”
“Aww, don’t say that, let’s just take a look aro—Wait, what?”
I got a response that I shouldn’t have gotten, so I turned toward where the voice was coming from.
“Whaaat?! Flatorte?!”
Flatorte was right in front of me!
“Don’t tell me you lost in the preliminaries! Is the Dragon Lord Battle really that tough…?”
I could hardly believe it. I thought since Flatorte was strong enough to bring together and lead all the blue dragons…
“I had no chance, Mistress… All the other blue dragons who were participating flunked out, too…”
This was starting to turn out like an action manga… The enemy you thought was so tough was actually just a B-class in strength, with crowds of A-class and S-class people above her…
“What kinds of dragons are the strongest? Are there still dragons I don’t know about…?”
“What kinds? There are several kinds. Laika sailed right through the prelims.”
Wait, was she really that much stronger? “What, did you end up against the favorite to win right from the get-go…?”
“No, I didn’t get a chance to test my strength against anyone.”
She probably fouled out or something.
“The preliminaries are a written test. I didn’t understand it at all, so that’s where I failed.”
“A written test?!?!”
The Dragon Lord Battle doesn’t exactly start off with a bang, does it?
“I didn’t know any of it. It was all multiple choice, though, so I picked the first one for all the questions. I got a twenty-five.”
Well, yeah, statistically, that is what you’d get.
“The Dragon Lord Battle is looking for dignified dragons, so that’s why they have the written exam.”
I could only imagine they had this system in place to make sure that none of the loose-cannon blue dragons would end up being chosen…
“Also, in the second round of preliminaries, everyone is divided into groups of four for debates. Only the top two of each team can proceed.”
That’s really not what comes to mind when I think of dragons.
“Do you want breakfast, Flatorte?”
“Yes. But vegetable juice is too bitter, so I’ll pass on that.”
Dragons were typically carnivorous, so nothing odd there.
Now that Flatorte was back, we decided to wander around the forest dragon lands. Laika would get through the prelims with no trouble. I felt like a parent who’d come to take her kid to an exam.
As we walked through the forest dragon town, we could hear all around us the cries of other dragons who failed the preliminaries.
“I didn’t think there’d be any questions about horn philosophy…”
“Don’t you see flight studies popping up a lot on the prelims nowadays?”
“I changed my answer for the last question just before time was called, but I had it right the first time…”
“There was one that asked you to line everything up from smallest to biggest, but I ended up doing it from biggest to smallest!”
That last kid was definitely getting the entrance exam experience… When I took the National Center Test for University Admissions, I made the same mistake in the math exam… My heart sank when I saw the answers…
Also, Sandra was much more irritable than I thought she’d be.
“This forest is so thick that there’s no light. And I’m tired from walking…”
Right. Even with all the trees around her, Sandra needed her sunlight.
“I’m tired. Can you carry me? I’m tired,” Sandra said, emphasizing her reasoning. Kids at her (mental) age wanted their parents to dote on them.
“Yes, okay. I’ll give you a piggyback ride.” I crouched down and held Sandra.
Shalsha seemed a little jealous, but then Falfa spoke to her. “When you’re a big sister, you have to let it go. She can’t photosynthesize, so walking is really hard for her.”
“…Yes, I understand. ‘Slow and steady wins the race—even if it takes three hundred years.’”
I got that she was using a proverb, but three hundred years in a race was way too long.
“Yes, this is a nice view. And I get more light when I’m higher up.”
Sandra was starting to feel better. She was probably happy to get a piggyback ride. She got huffy whenever I treated her like a kid, but that really was just a reminder that she was a kid.
I wanted her to grow up well, even though I wasn’t sure she would grow up, technically.
Then Rosalie flew over. “Big Sis, I think the main event is starting soon. Apparently, they’re ahead of schedule!”
Geez, this tournament really doesn’t care about its spectators, huh…
“Let’s go! It’s at the forest dragon community center, right?!”
We hurriedly made our way to the venue. The community center was free to enter, and inside, we saw mostly dragons. In fact, I think we were the only non-dragons in the audience.
The master of ceremonies appeared on the stage. He also had horns, so he was probably a dragon, too.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone. Our three hundred and seventy-four individuals who have gallantly prevailed over the preliminaries will now come to the stage!”
That’s too many! Narrow it down some more in the preliminaries!
Dragons in their human forms swarmed onto the stage and around it. Look, this is too many. They barely fit.
I noticed there were a lot more girls up there; actually, they were all girls, as far as I could tell. Were female dragons naturally better at this stuff than male dragons?
“We will now begin our first round of the competition. This will be a battle of the arts. We will have our competitors draw a picture of a cool dragon in thirty minutes, starting now!”
They’re not fighting yet?! Please, do that stuff in the preliminaries. Isn’t including this in the actual competition a little weird…?
But no one in the hall was complaining, so I guess it wasn’t.
Everyone was being given a pen and paper. We’re really doing this, huh?
“Mistress, there’s no point watching this in a community center, is there?”
Sound logic from Flatorte.
“Yeah… We’re here, but we can’t do anything… It even feels weird to cheer…”
“Maybe it’s too mundane for the competition, so they’re doing it earlier than planned to get people to drop out?”
“Your mind’s been sharp all day…”
She may not have passed the written test, but she wasn’t totally stupid.
“It’s dark in here; it’s making me sleepy…”
Sandra fell asleep on the spot, and it wasn’t just her—this could put anyone to sleep. Falfa and Shalsha closed their eyes, too.
Thirty minutes later, the first round ended, and the results came another thirty minutes after that.
“I will now announce the names of the one hundred who will proceed to round two of the competition.”
Still too many!
Laika was the sixty-seventh person to be named.
“Incredible! Miss Laika is among the top one hundred dragons!” Halkara had apparently stayed awake to listen.
“Hmm… That is good news… But a kid who can’t draw will never be the Dragon Lord…”
Now the next event was definitely more what you’d expect to see from dragons.
“Round two of this competition will be a flight race!”
This was undisputedly draconic!
“There is a checkpoint at the peak of Mount Zondahda in the province of Mentrate. Take a sash from there and bring it back to this hall! Only the top twenty will make it to the semifinals!”
I wasn’t sure if this was a sprint or a marathon for dragons, but Laika’s physical skill was finally going to be tested.
Now that there were only a hundred left, I could just barely see Laika before they set off.
You can do it, Laika. I know you’ve got this!
I could tell she was determined as she left the venue, but I still wasn’t sure how long we would have to wait…
“Mistress, this will probably take an hour or so, so we should go and get lunch,” Flatorte informed me. As a dragon, she would have a better idea of how much time this was going to take.
“That long…? You know, there’s actually not a lot for us to enjoy as spectators…”
“The Dragon Lord Battle is still only well-known among dragons. It might not be that interesting.”
“So that’s why it was free…”
When we were walking outside, I didn’t see anyone who wasn’t a dragon, of course…
Thus, as I started wondering if our forest dragon lunch might be turning us vegetarian, we returned to the hall.
But the audience was clearly different than it was just an hour earlier—it was crowded. I was glad we’d gotten back early. Soon, it would be standing room only.
When the top twenty was decided, we’d finally be moving into the battle stages. I could tell from the buzzing excitement among the audience—it filled the whole hall.
The first-place dragon soon came into the venue. Both her hair and horns gleamed a deep black, so she was likely a black dragon.
She was in her human form, so she probably transformed back before coming in. She didn’t have an imposing presence this way, but I could see the dangers of having them all come in at full size.
After that, more dragons started filing in one after the other. We reached tenth place, but there was still no sign of Laika.
“Gah! She never really practices flying! And she knows she can’t just practice her fighting moves! Argh, I can’t handle this!”
Flatorte was wriggling her whole body impatiently. After all was said and done, she really wanted Laika to do well.
Numbers fifteen and sixteen came in right after each other.
Just four more… Come back, Laika…
Number seventeen.
Again, no Laika.
I folded my hands and prayed.
Please, Laika! Come back!
Number eighteen. This time, it was a one-horned race of dragon. Not Laika.
But following right behind her—was the dragon girl I knew best, gripping a sash in her hand.
Laika made it to the goal at number nineteen!
“She did it, Mistress!” Flatorte hugged me. She could hardly keep herself still. I hugged her back and shared the joy.
“Amazing, Miss Laika!”
“Big Sister Laika! She did it!”
“Go Miss Laika!”
The whole family was cheering for her.
“Magnificent. I want her to keep giving her all on her way to the top.” Shalsha didn’t express it as enthusiastically, but she was excited in her own way.
Laika had made it to the top twenty.
Come on, girl! Now’s the time to show them the fruits of your training.
The MC dragon came out onstage again. “And now, we’ve finally made it to the semifinals. The twenty here who have admirably displayed the dragon’s power of flight will be battling it out in the semifinals. There will only be two that will make it through!
Two out of twenty, huh? They were really cutting down. Would it be a battle royal?
“Our semifinals will be the Miss Dragon contest! We will choose the two most beautiful dragons from the twenty here!”
I almost fell out of my seat.
They weren’t fighting until the final?!
“This is weird! A beauty contest? What happens if a guy’s in the pool? If there were ten guys and ten girls, then they could pick one of each, but how does it even work if the numbers are uneven?”
“It’s fine, Mistress. This contest is the Dragon Lord Battle: Women’s Division,” Flatorte explained.
Well, that was a shock.
“What…? Now that you mention it, there’s only girls onstage…”
“Yes. It happens on different years from the men’s division. It’s separated by gender.”
I guess it’s like how the female pros are separate in shogi… Wait, that isn’t the question here.
Then, when I looked around the spectator stands, I realized something.
I thought it seemed crowded when we came back from lunch…
And that was because the hall was filled to the brim with male dragons. They were here for the beauty contest! That was why they were so excited!
“Oh yeah, and some years, over half the spectators leave once the semifinals are over.”
“Can’t they at least pretend to care about the actual tournament?!”
They weren’t even hiding that they were here for the beauty contest…
“But from the participants’ perspective, this will allow them to be recognized as the greatest dragon, and they’re obviously hoping to be crowned the Dragon Lord. Laika must want the title, too.”
Now that she mentioned it…
Even though this was a beauty contest, that didn’t mean the girls were going to half-ass this. We were in the semifinals, after all. This was only going to decide which two were going to the finals.
“A thought came to me after watching all this—this Dragon Lord Battle has been going to great lengths to avoid any one-on-one situations.” Halkara sounded like a color commentator.
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“In one-on-one situations, even if someone was the second strongest out of a thousand people, if they were pitted against the strongest person right at the beginning, they would lose. I think they are making sure not to match anyone directly against another in order to reduce the element of luck in the competition.”
“I see… I thought the screening process was a little sloppy, but thinking about it that way, it does get rid of the random element…”
If this whole thing had been about combat, then two very skilled competitors would end up facing each other, meaning someone would get hurt—and then the final ranking might not be based on pure skill at all.
That might make for a fun tournament, but the goal of the Dragon Lord Battle was to definitively pick out who was truly the strongest.
After a short break, the semifinals—the Miss Dragon Contest—began.
First, ten judges entered the hall and sat down. Now we’re getting serious…
“Entry number one is pearl dragon Sant Helena!”
A lovely girl with silver hair emerged. Actually, there were a lots of attractive men and women among the human-form dragons.
If I were a male dragon, I sure would be excited to come see this.
“But is there any point for the guy dragons if they don’t get to see the competitors’ dragon form…?”
“No, Mistress, a dragon’s beauty is carried over into their human form, so it’s okay. And you have to be human-sized to fit into the hall,” Flatorte the dragon informed me.
“I see. That makes sense.”
Also, the judges didn’t hold up numbers or a score or anything. After all, it would only upset the ones with lower scores.
“Now, Madam Teacher, you may notice that in a competition involving consecutive entrants, the judges’ impressions may be affected by previous entries, giving those with later numbers an advantage. What number do you think Miss Laika will be?”
“You sound like a commentator, Halkara.”
She is the president of a company, so maybe this objective perspective is a skill of hers.
“The order appears to be randomly determined, rather than starting from last or first in the race. The ideal position would be number sixteen or so.”
“I get that, but this is still a competition among the twenty fastest fliers, right? They didn’t come this far just to win a beauty contest. You’d think the simpler the contest, the lower the level—but that isn’t the case. Dragons are so cute…”
Even though these twenty were chosen through a trial of physical prowess, all the dragons who appeared onstage were beautiful. I had expected to see some older lady-dragons among them, but they probably couldn’t rank very high in the race, so they were most likely out of the competition.
How did Laika look to the other dragons, though?
Laika was undeniably cute, but I wasn’t sure how she measured up to others of her kin. It’s not like I’d been paying close attention.
And the judges (all in their human forms) were dragons, scoring from a dragon’s perspective.
I prayed that Laika’s people could appreciate her good looks.
Every time a girl came out, a cheer rose from the crowd. Guy dragons were so open about this…
On the other hand, the contest judges were writing down notes the entire time with very serious faces; the contrast was striking. Even in a beauty contest, they were trying to make the best decision possible.
And then came number fourteen—Laika.
She was wearing a fancier dress than what she normally wore.
She’s so cute. Cuter than usual! Even all the way back here, I can still tell!
But something strange happened.
No one in the hall cheered. It was as quiet as the dead of night.
Was she a letdown? Come on, guys, look at how beautiful she is!
But I couldn’t say that, obviously. If someone in the audience started making unnecessary comments, it would hurt her image.
But Laika paid no mind—actually, I think she was too nervous to understand what was happening, and she stammered out her self-introduction.
“Um… My name is Laika, the red dragon. I entered this competition because I want to be the Dragon Lord one day… I have much to learn, but if I do manage to make it to the finals, I will fight with all my body and soul!”
Laika had no intentions of flattering the judges or the audience—she wouldn’t even know how to.
She only had one final comment: “Thank you!”
That was all she had to say.
Then—
The loudest cheer so far—more like a scream, really—erupted through the hall!
They weren’t quiet because Laika was no good. They were holding their breath because she was so cute!
I wasn’t sure what kind of tough competitors would come out afterward, but—
She had to be the clear front-runner right now!
Laika left the stage with her face flushed red, but the cheers for her still hadn’t faded.
“The whole atmosphere sure changes when a major competitor enters the room…,” Halkara commented, completely absorbed in what was happening. “Laika truly is a wonderful girl… All the dragons—no, the entire world understands how cute she is…”
“Mistress, Laika is a diligent girl. That’s why,” Flatorte murmured thoughtfully. High praise for her rival. “In the Miss Dragon Contest, you need more than good looks. The beauty of one’s heart naturally comes across, too. Red dragons are known for being proper, but even among them, not many are as diligent as Laika.”
“You really do keep a close eye on her, Flatorte.”
I was almost jealous. Maybe there was something here that only dragons could understand.
“I mean, they’re so stuffy. It really ticks me off! That’s why the blue dragons went to attack the red dragons.”
“You sound like a delinquent angry at an honor student!”
I also understood well that the red dragons found the blue-dragon attacks troublesome… Their personalities were so different, so of course a fight would break out…
The beauty contest continued after that, but we weren’t paying much attention to it. Once the judging for all twenty of them was over, the MC gave the results.
“The two we have proceeding to the finals are number six, Miss Ostila, and number fourteen, Miss Laika!”
I wasn’t that surprised hearing the result. Laika had definitely made it to the top—she had practically won at this point. I was sure she could easily win the last battle.
Laika was the second strongest in all Nanterre, after me!
—But if I mentioned that now, Flatorte would say she was going to fight Laika, and that wouldn’t be good…
Her opponent, Ostila, was a rather pale and skinny girl. There was nothing dragon-like about her. She was even slenderer than Laika, and she made me think of a princess who had never stepped foot outside her castle.
“Big Sis, it’s time for the finals! They’re gonna decide the Dragon Lord! Even I’m getting all fired up!”
Rosalie floated over to me—ghosts didn’t have any concept of seating.
“But…a real fight between dragons might destroy their surroundings… Maybe we’ll change venues.”
“Yeah… They can’t have it in this hall, at least…”
There were quite a few dragons here in human form, but an earnest fight would usually be carried out in their original forms. They would need a place big enough for that.
“Her opponent, Ostila, is a pearl dragon. They’re not very big, but their claws are sharp, and they’re said to be powerful enough to scoop out whole mountain ranges,” Flatorte explained.
“Dragons really are on a completely different level…”
“Ugh, pearl dragons and their fancy jewelry. I can’t stand those glitzy types.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t expect you to get along…”
“I bet Laika’s thinking about how she doesn’t want to lose to such a superficial girl, too. I saw her glaring; she’s getting fired up for the match.”
I could hear people from the seats around me wondering about the results of this tournament.
“No matter who ends up taking the crown, this is still the Dragon Lord Battle. I bet the fight is going to be intense enough to wipe out the whole forest.”
“Yeah. These two fought all the way here, you know?”
“Either one of them could win.”
“They’ve both won victories in battles worthy of a Dragon Lord.”
Battles…? I feel like this whole tournament has had many unusual elements, from academic tests to beauty contests…
That being said, this meant the winner of this battle would be a worthy dragon in both the scholarly and martial arts. It would be appropriate for the female Dragon Lord.
“Now, esteemed guests, all that remains is the final battle.”
The MC began talking. Even though he wasn’t using any magic to project his voice, it still reached us. Maybe because he was a dragon.
“Will the one to take the title today be Miss Ostila, or Miss Laika?! Either way, the previous Dragon Lord was unable to make it through the semifinals. It is certain that we will see the birth of a new Dragon Lord today!”
The previous Dragon Lord lost in the beauty contest… I bet that was giving her mixed feelings… It probably would’ve felt a lot better to lose in the flying test…
“Starting now, here, in the forest dragon community center, we will decide who our Dragon Lord will be. It has been our time-honored tradition for the finals to be a mixed martial arts competition, a no-holds-barred contest of claws, breath, and brute strength to decide who is the strongest dragon but that is not the case now.”
Wait, hey, the MC was frowning.
“An eminent figure among the forest dragons graciously hosting us has requested we abstain from a fight that would cause considerable damage to nature…and so our judging of physical prowess has concluded with the measuring of flight speed…”
They’re not fighting?!
I could understand that the forest dragons might get upset if a genuine fight meant destroying the forest and more. I could also understand if the spectators started booing the decision, so I looked around the stands, but it didn’t happen.
Actually, about half of them had gotten up and were leaving.
They really don’t care about anything after the beauty contest!
“Either of them could be the Dragon Lord.”
“Yeah, they’re both gorgeous.”
“The Dragon Lord and the runner-up are both cute, that’s for sure.”
“I really don’t care if they fight or do a quiz show; it’s not like they’re gonna pick the one who’s better looking.”
“Yeah. I think Laika was number one, and Ostila was number two in the beauty contest.”
Sheesh… These people really weren’t interested in the Dragon Lord at all…
The MC kept talking as the seats emptied out. “We will now begin the final match to determine who our Dragon Lord will be, and as a result of impartial talks among the Dragon Lord Battle judges—”
What was it? What were they going to do?
Even if it wasn’t a fight, maybe it would be another test of physical strength.
“—we will settle this with a game of chess!”
What the hell?!
“Chess is also considered a battle on a board. Citing this reasoning, a member of the judges’ panel suggested it was the most appropriate way to determine who could be the Dragon Lord. After a process of elimination with no other suggestions, we have decided to go with chess.”
Oh yes, very impartial. I was getting a sneaking suspicion that this was more of a Whatever, just pick something! kind of decision.
“We will now begin a best-of-three chess match. The one who wins two matches first will be our Dragon Lord!”
At that point in time, almost 70 percent of the crowd had gone home. Instead, a few dignified dragons (in their human forms) entered the hall.
“Master Doldomunk, how do you think this match will turn out?”
“I believe Laika has the advantage here; she is rumored to have taken second place in the under-two-hundred division in the red-dragon championships, Grandmaster Nascrub.”
They sounded like pro players who had come to watch!
“It truly is an honor to have chess adopted for the Dragon Lord Battle, Master Doldomunk.”
“Yes. If this tradition continues in the Dragon Lord Battle, then I can see the player population increasing, Grandmaster Nascrub.”
And suddenly, the Dragon Lord Battle now meant basically the same thing as it did in Japan.
And so the three-match set of chess began—
But Laika’s opponent didn’t know the rules of chess at all, so Laika took two decisive victories in a row.
“Hmm, her opponent was such a beginner that it was hard to tell how strong the red dragon-girl really was, Master Doldomunk.”
“But she had a vigilant way of fighting that brought her total victory without letting her weak opponent accomplish anything, Grandmaster Nascrub.”
I don’t think you need to force yourselves to talk…
I mean, obviously it would turn out like this… She probably would’ve won easily even if she was missing some pieces as a handicap.
“Your Dragon Lord has been chosen! It is Miss Laika, the red dragon! Everyone, give her a round of applause!” the MC announced, and we all clapped. “Miss Laika will receive a trophy to honor her newly acquired status of Dragon Lord!”
Laika received an ornament of a dragon wrapped around a sword. When she took it, her eyes started to water. Even though her victory in chess was an easy one, she was still happy about it.
“Now, Miss Laika, how does it feel to be the Dragon Lord?”
“I’ve always dreamed of achieving this title, and I’m honored and touched to finally have it… This is all thanks to my family, who has supported me…”
“Was your red dragon family here to cheer you on?”
“No, I live with Lady Azusa, ‘the Witch of the Highlands,’ as her apprentice. She and the others that I live with are my family.”
My heart swelled. Laika thought of everyone at the house in the highlands as her family, too.
I mean, we didn’t do anything in particular to help her prepare for the Dragon Lord Battle, so maybe us “supporting” her for this was a little much to say…
But then things started going south.
“So it was the Witch of the Highlands who helped you!” The MC turned the conversation over to me.
No, stop, stop!
“This may lead to even more dragons hoping to train under her!”
Don’t say that! My house is not a dragon dojo!
“She is not particularly looking for any more students…” Laika was a little flustered, too.
“Will any of our other participants of the day end up as Miss Laika’s junior apprentice? Thank you all for coming to our fifty-seventh Dragon Lord Battle!”
And so the curtain closed on the Dragon Lord Battle with Laika’s victory.
If any dragons came to me requesting that I teach them, I’d have to politely turn them down…
That day, we held a big dinner for Laika in one of the forest dragon restaurants.
“Congrats, Laika!” The whole family gave her a round of congratulations—there was no doubt that she was the star today.
“Th-thank you… I never thought I would end up being the Dragon Lord… It was just chance…”
“Nonsense. You are the Dragon Lord. You should be proud!”
As a non-dragon myself, I wasn’t the best judge of what made a good Dragon Lord, but it was still a worthy achievement.
“Yes… And now that I’m the Dragon Lord, I already have work coming in…”
“Wait, work? What kind of work?”
“…For example, selected members from the Miss Dragon Contest have to tour various areas and such.”
That kind of work?! That’s just idol stuff!
“I wanted to bow out of it, but the Dragon Lord apparently has to take center stage, so I have to go… The position comes with so many responsibilities…” Laika seemed rather embarrassed by it; she fidgeted, with her face as red as an apple.
Was the Dragon Lord Battle just another idol audition process…? The Dragon Lord sure had her work cut out for her.
Then Flatorte stood up and slammed down a very expensive-looking bottle of alcohol in front of Laika.
“This is high-quality liquor, coveted by the blue dragons, called Iceberg. It’s for you.”
Flatorte was clearly feeling sulky, but she was still going through the motions to congratulate Laika.
“Then I shall gladly accept. Thank you, Flatorte.” That caught my attention—Laika had used Flatorte’s name.
Flatorte was older than Laika, so by Laika’s prim and proper standards, using her name would feel overfamiliar. I mean, it wasn’t like Flatorte was the respectful type, and Laika didn’t have that sort of relationship with her anyway, so she usually skirted it by avoiding Flatorte’s name entirely.
I was proud of her.
“I’m not going to lose in the Dragon Lord Battle next time, Laika.”
“Yes, you will. You’ll fail the written test again,” Laika said breezily.
“Th-that’s… Look, I get credit for participating, okay?!”
Flatorte wasn’t planning on getting past the preliminaries at all!
But maybe they could finally call each other by name now without too much difficulty.
“We ought to drink this together when we return to the house in the highlands.” Laika hugged the bottle to her chest.
“Yeah, we gotta celebrate the birth of the Dragon Lord at home, too.”
That liquor was the proof of the friendship between a red and a blue dragon.
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