A Wonderful Aspect of Autumn: Action (19)

Immediately after reaching the goal, my partner collapsed as though a string had been cut. I was thrown from its back and rolled across the ground at the mountaintop. I could feel nothing but gratitude toward my partner for giving everything it had. You really did your best.

As for Amaha and her partner, they had dived headfirst toward the ground. Apparently, that leap had not taken the landing into account. It was no wonder Amaha had been reluctant to use it.

Amaha, who had been riding on her partner's back, was thrown off just like I was, but instead of rolling across the ground, she planted both hands on it, performed a graceful single rotation like a rhythmic gymnast, and landed on her feet. Compared to that, my fall had been utterly pathetic. With a weary sigh, I planted my staff on the ground and stood up, then hurried over to my partner.

"You did well. Thank you. Really, thank you."

"Krrrul..."

The Sprint Drake made a weak, apologetic sound in response to my praise. Losing had been disappointing, but second place was still an achievement it could be proud of. There was no need for it to apologize.

After I stroked its head and neck for a while, it regained enough strength to get back on its feet. When I looked toward Amaha and her partner, they still did not seem to have recovered enough strength to get up.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. You saw that last jump, right? This is what happens when it does that. It seems to exhaust it beyond its limits. That's why I didn't want it to do it."

"Krrrul?"...