Chapter 8
“Yaaawn... Am I really that bad in the morning, or am I just a little tired...?”
I blinked as I quietly glided through the sky above the forest, some distance from the bustling district.
When I first tried to leap into the air, I worried I might fall, but once I started flying, it felt incredibly stable.
In fact, flying was faster and more convenient than walking. I didn’t have to pay attention to where I was going or worry about bumping into anything, which was a huge advantage.
“For now... I’ve bought clothes and checked the notice about the tutor position, so... I should have about three days to spare, right?”
How I spent those three remaining days was something I had to decide for myself.
First, the tutor interviews were scheduled for four days from now, and the job involved little more than teaching basic etiquette and manners.
The notice also said I would look after the young lord, Aiden, from morning until evening, and could take a break while he attended his other lessons.
At a glance, it didn’t seem like a particularly difficult job. I thought I could probably manage it, but then I remembered Aiden’s current personality...
What on earth had happened to him in the original story for his personality to change so much by the time he became a fourth-year at the academy, seven years from now?
That question had occurred to me.
“For a boy who was such a troublemaker and always had something sharp to say to become so mature in just seven years... I suppose it’s possible, but...”
Seeing what he was like now, I couldn’t imagine it at all. I could only tilt my head in puzzlement as I flew toward my lair.
There wasn’t much point in dwelling on it now, anyway. The most important thing was that I knew Aiden had been like that as a child.
And I could only guess that something must have happened to make him as kind as he was later on.
Those were the best conclusions I could reach for now.
Tap—
I quietly set foot in my lair, filled with glowing blue crystals, then sat on a small ledge and fell into thought.
“Hmm... For now, the best I can do is try for the tutor interview. Beyond that, I could wander around Karts and gather a little information...”
Everything I did would ultimately come down to ensuring my own survival.
I reminded myself once again that no matter which path I chose, I shouldn’t feel guilty or have second thoughts, then slowly began to think things through.
First, I should explore Karts and visit its library. The things I needed to find out were...
First, I should learn the little bits of general knowledge that amounted to etiquette in this world.
As for getting stronger, that could be pushed pretty far down the list. I already had Mircania’s body and knowledge from outside this world.
Besides, I already knew I could use magic easily, and I’d memorized a few offensive spells, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem.
But I didn’t have much reliable knowledge about this world’s common sense or the little details of daily life.
When I’d played this world as a game, I’d always thought of it as nothing more than a game.
I’d just let bits of miscellaneous knowledge pass by, thinking, “Oh, so there’s something like that.”
That was why the first things I needed to learn were the little courtesies expected of nobles in this world, and the indirect expressions they commonly used.
It wouldn’t hurt to study those, and learn a little about things like the local cuisine and environment as well.
“...Assuming I can become a tutor, at least...”
And if I made it through all those steps and things went according to plan...
I planned to approach the Northern Kalinix Grand Ducal House and interview for the tutor position, while hiding the fact that I was the Iceflower Dragon.
Even if I didn’t get the position, I’d already met Aiden once, so I wouldn’t be too disappointed. But if I did get it...
It would probably be best to gently steer Aiden toward the personality I knew he would have later on.
I didn’t know what events had made him so completely different from the person he was now, but if he’d changed because of some tragedy, I’d feel bad for him.
The character I’d loved and grown attached to had appeared before me yesterday as a real person. I didn’t want him to go through something so tragic.
Especially if it was something so devastating that it could change his personality so completely.
So I would do my best to prevent those things from happening behind the scenes, and slowly change his personality through conversation and time.
With that plan in mind, I quietly lay down on the ground.
Lying here, all I could see when I looked ahead were two mounds of flesh beneath my white clothes. It was enough to make me sigh...
Still, a delicate-looking woman would probably seem easier to approach when meeting someone for the first time than a man with an ordinary or intimidating appearance.
I took some comfort in that thought and gazed up at the sky, savoring this peaceful moment.
The shadow that had been passing over my lair again and again had started to bother me. I considered dispelling my polymorph, but...
I hadn’t paid attention to what it was, so I still couldn’t identify it for sure.
“Hmm...”
...Should I freeze it?
The impulse only lasted a moment, but I jolted upright and shook my head from side to side.
It’s only been two days. I can’t start acting like this already, can I?
I’m human, and I’m never going to look down on humans. Every single life matters to me.
So as long as nothing in my territory is disturbed, I’ll live peacefully too. I reminded myself of that once more and looked up at the sky.
...I couldn’t figure out why that shape was coming toward me, though.
Flap—
A huge pair of silver-and-crimson wings flapped as a blood-red dragon descended toward me.
I’d expected that encountering a dragon would make me feel a tingling sensation or something of the sort, but I felt no particular sensation or pressure. I quietly watched the dragon.
There was something familiar about its appearance, as if it had been etched into my mind somewhere before.
As I stared at it, thinking it looked familiar, the dragon tilted its head, then polymorphed in an instant and stood before me.
“You used to avoid polymorphing at all costs. Did you change your mind all of a sudden?”
“...Zernisha.”
Zernisha de Asteria.
She was the Blood Tiger Dragon, an ally of Ikaria, the protagonist who appeared throughout the main story of Icarus Chronicle.
I had no idea why she’d suddenly appeared before me, so I swallowed my questions and looked at her expressionlessly.
I had no way of knowing what she was thinking or why she’d come to my lair.
And it wasn’t as though the original story had begun yet. This was a world set seven years before its main events.
So the knowledge I had wasn’t of much use to me right now.
“Zernisha? Why not just call me Jeri, like you usually do? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?”
“Uh... well... You haven’t done anything wrong. I just... wanted to call you that.”
Zernisha didn’t seem troubled or as if there were some issue between us. She seemed more like she’d simply come to visit, so I set my worries aside.
For now, I didn’t think there’d be any problem if I just took her at face value.
It seemed that Mircania and Zernisha had been quite close before the madness took hold. I quietly sat and looked at Zernisha.
“So, what brings you all the way here? Your lair is pretty far from here, and you showed up out of nowhere.”
“Seriously, did you eat something weird? Why are you suddenly speaking so politely?”
She seemed to find the way I spoke awkward, or perhaps very different from how Mircania usually acted, so I tried to think of an excuse.
“Um... I have to go down to Karts for a bit, and I’m planning to do it while hiding that I’m a dragon. It’d seem a little strange to speak casually to someone I’ve just met, wouldn’t it? I’m practicing.”
“...So you’re practicing being polite because you’re going down to Karts while hiding that you’re a dragon—and that you’re Mircania?”
I couldn’t tell whether my explanation sounded ridiculous or if something else about it struck her as absurd, but judging by Zernisha’s reaction, I must have seemed very different from the original Mircania.
Come to think of it, Mircania had never once used polite speech when speaking telepathically in the story.
“Ahaha... Something like that?”
“That’s unexpected. You used to say that even if you protected humans as their Guardian Dragon, you’d never change your attitude toward them.”
“...Sometimes, change is necessary.”
Perhaps she didn’t think my words were completely unreasonable, because Zernisha nodded and sat down.
“I’ll sit for a while. I just came to hang out today.”
I wondered what Zernisha would say, and what a real dragon—unlike a half-dragon like me—did to relax.
With half excitement and half worry, I quietly looked at her.