Chapter 9
“Hmm... Mir, why are you polymorphed all of a sudden? If you’re going down there, you can just do it then, can’t you?”
“Well... that’s true, but I thought I should get a little more used to it first.”
Besides, I’d already been out once, and I couldn’t be bothered to undo the polymorph.
“But you used to complain that polymorphing was uncomfortable and avoid it whenever you could. You seem fine with it now?”
“...It is uncomfortable, though.”
Of course, being in a human body wasn’t so bad.
Compared to being in a dragon’s body, I didn’t have to think as much about my surroundings, and it felt a little more familiar to me.
The problem, naturally, was the awkwardness of being in a female body rather than a male one.
“Hm? What part is uncomfortable? I use polymorph more than you do, so I might be able to help.”
“First, is the appearance of a polymorph fixed once it changes?”
“The appearance? Ah, if you mean your human form, then yes. Polymorph is a unique magic, so once your appearance is set, it doesn’t change~”
“Ah...”
If I could have changed my polymorphed appearance however I wanted, I would’ve turned into a young man with sky-blue hair and eyes right away.
I sighed at a wish that could never come true now.
“You’re pretty, though. What are you so unhappy about?”
“Well... Even if I look like this, there are all sorts of uncomfortable things. It’s awkward, for one, but... my shoulders hurt quite a bit.”
“Your shoulders? Why do they hurt?”
I looked at Zernisha’s body as she said that, then sighed and shook my head.
No matter how often she used polymorph, she’d never understand what I meant with a body like that.
“...Something about that feels weirdly insulting. Hey, wait, where are you looking?”
“No, nowhere in particular. Anyway, what brings you here today, sis?”
In any case, it was hard to take Zernisha at her word that she’d come just to hang out, without any thoughts or intentions behind it, so I asked her again what she was really after.
I was Mircania now, and Zernisha was a friend—a dragon I was close to—but even in a human form, I was still a dragon, after all.
Judging her by human thoughts and intentions would only make me more likely to be wrong.
“Hmm... Mir, do you really think I came here with some kind of ulterior motive? I just wanted to see you and make sure you were doing all right.”
“...It’s always much the same, isn’t it? Nothing special ever happens out here in the snowfields.”
The wind might blow and blizzards might rage as usual, but I couldn’t feel the cold.
More precisely, even if I could feel a chill, it would never become cold enough to hurt me.
I was an Iceflower Dragon, a dragon who wielded the cold, just as my title—the Dragon of Ice Flowers—suggested.
I would never stagger or fall from the cold, and a dragon’s mighty body had some resistance to any attack.
That was why, whenever a Monster Wave struck the North, the Iceflower Dragon’s role was to keep the monsters from reaching the lands where humans lived.
And the people living in the human settlements I protected knew that it was all thanks to their Guardian Dragon, so they treated the Iceflower Dragon as their protector.
That was all I knew about the Iceflower Dragon—and about myself now.
“That’s true. I heard you swept away the monsters in the last Wave too, so I came to make sure you hadn’t gotten hurt.”
“I’m not so weak that a few monsters could hurt me. What dragon would carelessly let monsters catch them off guard?”
Even in the game, Mircania’s death hadn’t been because she was weak. It was because the people who came to defeat her were strong.
She wasn’t weak at all. In fact, she was said to be the strongest boss in the series’ history in terms of both magic and intelligence.
But madness had impaired her intelligence, and her wavering resolve meant she couldn’t use her magic properly when they defeated her.
I wasn’t in that state now, so I wasn’t worried about being killed by anyone or anything anytime soon.
“That’s true. Dragons are mighty beings. But sometimes even we have to set aside our arrogance and think a little more about the dangers.”
“...Who says I haven’t thought about it? If you’re going to worry, you should worry about something genuinely threatening. Those monsters are easy enough to deal with, aren’t they?”
At my words, Zernisha nodded as if she agreed.
No matter how careless a dragon might be, it wasn’t the sort of mighty being that could be brought down easily.
“That’s true. I came to worry about you a little, but why are you so touchy today? So, now that the Monster Wave is over, are you really going to head down to Karts?”
“Yes. Honestly... aren’t you curious? If you’re cooped up in a place like this, the snowfields are beautiful and the sky is clear, which is nice for a day or two... but after a while, it gets boring.”
“I suppose. There are plenty of dragons like you. They all find a role and settle into it, then quickly grow bored and turn their attention elsewhere.”
I listened as she spoke as if it were common knowledge that dragons tended to fly off here and there in search of entertainment—and that they really did.
At least for now, I had to hide the fact that I wasn’t the Mircania Zernisha knew and keep the conversation going as naturally as I could.
With other people, or even the Northern Grand Duke if I happened to meet him, I could just be myself and act as I pleased. But I couldn’t do that with Zernisha, who seemed to know the old Mircania well.
Rather than doing whatever I wanted and making her suspicious, it was wiser to play up my capricious side while acting as much like my old self as possible.
“Well... that doesn’t mean I plan to abandon my role as the Guardian Dragon, which I’ve upheld all this time. I just thought I’d spend a little time exploring places where humans live.”
“Sure. Trying something new isn’t a bad thing. I think it’s enough if you try all sorts of things and find the path that makes you happy.”
I’d racked my brain, wondering what sort of relationship Zernisha and Mircania had, but in practice, they seemed to have been close, like sisters, with Zernisha as the older one.
Especially after hearing what she’d just said.
No matter how prickly I acted, Zernisha seemed to look at me like a younger sister going through adolescence, and she seemed used to me being kind to her.
So as long as I maintained this sort of relationship and kept our usual distance, she wouldn’t suspect anything.
“...But Mir, you know that while you can’t change your appearance with polymorph, you can change your clothes, right?”
“Yes, I know. Why do you ask?”
Zernisha was staring intently at my body, so I felt awkwardly self-conscious and casually covered my chest with one hand.
Of course, my slender arms couldn’t cover all of it, and pressing down only made a soft, squishy sensation brush against my arm.
Zernisha seemed to pick up on what I meant by the gesture, because she smiled awkwardly and continued.
“Well... aren’t you going to wear something else? If you go down in an outfit like that, people might think you’re from the red-light district...”
“S-shut up! Who said I like wearing this?! This is just what I had on when I polymorphed...!”
“N-no, I’m not teasing you or criticizing you. It’s just a little short, that’s all... Why have you gotten so sharp-tongued while I wasn’t looking?”
“S-sharp-tongued...”
Even so, I was a woman now, and not even that old. I looked like I’d only just become an adult, so how could she call me sharp-tongued?
“...I’m leaving. I’ll see you later. I’m going to sleep.”
Feeling a little hurt, I snapped back at her, dispelled my polymorph, and lay down on the floor.
“Uh... I’m sorry. I’ll bring you something tasty, so will you forgive me just this once...?”
Zernisha seemed genuinely sorry as she said that, but right now, I wasn’t really hearing her.
If I’d been in a man’s body, I might have been a little taken with things like her appearance or her voice, but...
No matter what she did, I just wasn’t interested right now.
I no longer felt much of the attraction a man might feel toward a woman, so I simply turned away and closed my eyes.
Even if I was a dragon on the outside, the mind inside was human. Calling a human sharp-tongued...
It felt a little too harsh.
“Um... I-I’ll come back later, okay? Take care, all right?”
[...Go.]
After I conveyed my thoughts telepathically, Zernisha smiled awkwardly, nodded, spread her wings, and began to leave my lair.
I simply watched her go and closed my eyes.
It would be better to get some sleep and think about what I should do once I woke up.