Chapter 34
“Fia, thanks for calling me!”
But in stark contrast to my confusion, the Black Dragon greeted me cheerfully.
“Zabiria...? It's you, right?”
Yes, that high, clear voice definitely belonged to Zabiria.
“Huh? Have you already forgotten me?”
The large, beautiful Black Dragon lowered its head dejectedly.
I hurriedly stroked the Black Dragon's scales.
“N-no, that's not it. Zabiria, haven't you gotten bigger? Your wings and body have grown impressive, and your scales are gleaming. You're completely different from four months ago.”
“Hehehe. I'm going through a growth spurt, so of course I've gotten bigger.”
“A growth spurt? Wait, Zabiria, how old are you?”
“Zero.”
“Z-zero?!”
To my shock, Zabiria declared being a baby!
I thought dragons lived for ages, so I'd assumed Zabiria was much older.
“Z-Zabiria-chan, it's okayyy... Fia Mommy will take care of you, okay? Wanna eat your num-nums...?”
“Hehehe. Dragons and humans age differently, so in human years, I'm about twelve or thirteen. And in less than half a year, I'll be an adult dragon.”
“O-oh, I see. Wait, does that mean you're going to get even bigger?”
“Yeah, I'll probably be about twice this size.”
Hmm... I clutched my head.
I was worried about other monsters bullying Zabiria, so I'd thought I'd bring Zabiria back if they agreed. But this size might make that difficult. Zabiria wouldn't even fit in my room.
Zabiria watched me ponder with a puzzled look, then asked,
“Is something bothering you? Can I help?”
“I was thinking we could go back together if you wanted to, but you're bigger than I expected, so I was wondering how you'd fit inside a building.”
“Huh? You're going to take me with you?”
Zabiria's blue eyes began to sparkle.
“Yeah, that was the plan, but your size...”
“In that case, I'll make myself smaller!”
As Zabiria said that, they rapidly shrank. In the end, they were small enough to fit in both my cupped hands.
“Z-Z-Z-Zabiria! W-what are you doing? A-are you okay? Won't this affect your growth?”
“Yeah, I'm fine. This isn't reverting to a juvenile form, like what happens when you're injured. It's just shrinking.”
“O-oh...”
Honestly, I couldn't really tell the difference, but I played along. The bigger problem was...
“Zabiria, can you change your color? The only creatures with black wings are Black Dragons, so even if you shrink, being black is a problem.”
At that, Zabiria visibly drooped.
“...I'm sorry, Fia. I'm proud of my black color, and that feeling gets in the way, so I can't change it.”
“I see. Well then... Hehehe, I've got a great idea! Zabiria, can you hunt bird-type monsters?”
“That's easy enough, but, Fia, I don't think I've ever seen one of your great ideas lead to a good result.”
As Zabiria spoke, they returned to their original size. Then they asked me to cover my ears, so I did. Zabiria opened their enormous mouth wide and roared.
“Gwooooooooooar!!”
The ground shook, and the air trembled.
Then, something began tumbling down from the trees far in the distance.
“Ah, just as I thought, there weren't any monsters near the entrance. I'll go collect some.”
With that, Zabiria spread their great wings and flew off, leaving me standing there in a daze.
H-ha... A single roar took down the monsters...
I went limp and sank onto the ground.
What should I do? Zabiria's a lot stronger than I thought.
This is bad. Zabiria is completely different from the last time I saw them.
Before, I felt like I might've been able to introduce Zabiria as my familiar and get away with it, but I can't do that now. This feels like a serious problem.
I don't know how strong the other knights' familiars are, so I can't say for sure, but I have a really bad feeling about this... For now, I'll just wait and see.
After a while, Zabiria returned with about a dozen monsters in their mouth.
I picked out two blue bird-type monsters and put them in a bag.
“Zabiria, are you okay to come with me right now? If there's anyone you need to say goodbye to, I can come get you when it's convenient.”
At my question, Zabiria drooped and lowered their head.
“It's fine. I've always been alone...”
“I-I see... Well, can you make yourself smaller?”
As I spoke, I unbuttoned a few buttons on my uniform, starting at the top.
Then I tucked the shrunken Zabiria inside my uniform and fastened as many buttons as I could.
“Are you okay in there, Zabiria? Hang in there until we get to the castle.”
“Fia, you're warm...”
After saying that, Zabiria didn't move at all. They must've fallen asleep right away.
That's right, kids get sleepy so quickly.
I got on my horse and rode as slowly as I could to avoid jostling Zabiria.
They say children grow while they sleep. I hope Zabiria grows up healthy.
As soon as I reached the royal castle, I headed for the Monster Knight Order, but on the way I passed some knights from the Sixth Knight Order.
“F-Fia, what's with your stomach?”
“I get that you've got an appetite, but shouldn't you show a little restraint?”
...Hello? There's no way my stomach could be this swollen.
The Sixth Knight Order's knights have a seriously bad impression of me!
Feeling annoyed, I entered the Monster Knight Order's building and saw Deputy Captain Gideon walking toward me.
When Gideon spotted me, he put his hands on his hips and looked down at me from above with a mocking expression.
“Well, well, if it isn't the capable knight recommended by the First Knight Order's Captain. Good day to you. Out for a stroll?”
“I had some business in the nearby forest. I'm back now.”
Deputy Captain Gideon snorted and started to walk past me, but then he stopped as if he'd changed his mind and grabbed my arm.
“Come to think of it, I heard you have a familiar too. Show me your arm.”
Without waiting for my reply, he rolled up my sleeve.
Thinking that the knights of the Monster Knight Order were pretty forceful, just like Deputy Captain's Aide Patty, I let Gideon do as he pleased. Gideon spotted the familiar's mark on my left wrist and blinked several times. Then he leaned in close and stared at it, muttering as if he couldn't make sense of it.
“What is this? It's so thin, does it even count as a mark? I mean, what kind of monster would leave a mark this thin?”
Gideon glared at me and spoke in a mocking tone.
“You're something else. This hardly ever happens, but you must've run into a monster that was barely clinging to life. Then you made a familiar contract with it, right?”
“Huh?! How did you know?”
When I looked up at Deputy Captain Gideon in surprise, he gave me a thoroughly contemptuous look.
“Because I'm a hundred times smarter than you. Don't think you're on our level just because you have some pathetic little monster as your familiar. Even if you commanded a hundred monsters, you'd still be beneath my feet.”
He gave my shoulder a shove, but all I could do was tilt my head.
Wait, was Captain Cyril's strategy of letting imagination do the work actually working?
Did I just get the impression that he decided Zabiria was really weak? Or am I imagining things?
I desperately tried to remember my conversation with Captain Cyril.
Let's see...
(Fia's recollection)
Captain Cyril: “That's why I think you should act confident, keep up an air of mystery, and avoid revealing your monster's name. ...Though, this is the first time I've ever seen a mark just one millimeter wide, so I'm not sure how far the bluff will get you...”
...That's right. He told me to act confident and keep up an air of mystery.
This is it! This is what I was missing.
I turned back to Deputy Captain Gideon and raised my chin with a smug little grin.
“With all due respect, Deputy Captain Gideon, my familiar isn't some ordinary monster. It's the strongest and oldest... Whoops, I probably shouldn't say too much.”
I pretended to cover my mouth, but Deputy Captain Gideon looked down at me with contempt.
“You're an idiot, aren't you? You're hopelessly lacking in stature. You're small and scrawny. You're definitely the weakest knight in the entire order. So what, you can't make it as a knight, and you thought you'd rely on your familiar instead? But monsters judge their masters. Any monster that'd take you as its master is as weak as you are. In other words, it's the weakest, all talk and no substance—a pathetic familiar.”
Gideon moved in close and looked at me with pity from point-blank range.
“People like you are everywhere, no matter what organization you're in. You suck up to your superiors and get promoted despite having no ability. Did you lick Captain Cyril's boots? Then throw a tantrum about wanting to visit the Monster Knight Order, and they let you have your way? Ha, you probably think you've done something impressive. You got lucky and found a familiar that was barely alive, so you came to the Monster Knight Order hoping to raise its value? You're a real piece of scum.”
For a moment, I blinked, unable to understand what Gideon had said. But all I got in return was another glare from his blazing eyes.
...Huh? Did I get this wrong?
The plan was for Deputy Captain Gideon to imagine something incredible about my familiar and tremble in fear, but he didn't look afraid or shaken at all. If anything, he was angry.
...C-Captain Cyril, I'm sorry. You gave me a brilliant strategy, but I didn't make good use of it. Actually, my attitude was so bad that I made him angry. In the end, my attempt to act mysterious failed!
As I hung my head in dismay, someone came hurrying toward us from the other end of the corridor.
“Deputy Captain!”
The one who called out in a tense voice was Deputy Captain's Aide Patty.
“This is terrible! We've received word that the Black King has appeared in Starfall Forest!!”
“What?! That's impossible!!”
Deputy Captain Gideon's earlier expression vanished as he cried out in shock.
...Starfall Forest? That's where I just went to pick up Zabiria.
Did something happen?