Before Departure

The dismantling of the Demon King Gremlin is complete, and as planned, preparations begin for our journey to the Rus Kingdom.

Hiyori traveled the world to revive me and received resurrection magic from a witch of the Rus Kingdom, in the former Russian territories. As payment for teaching her the spell, she agreed to have 0933 analyze the Rus Kingdom's artifact, "Quodenets."

Something has gone wrong with Quodenets, the foundation of the Rus Kingdom's territorial defenses, and an investigation is needed to resolve it. The only person capable of examining a geometric structure beyond human understanding—a four-dimensional structure—is the legendary wandmaker 0933.

That said, it isn't urgent. Our promise is loose enough that I only need to go there sometime within the next two years.

Even so, the only loose part is the grace period. Skipping out on the promise altogether is not an option.

After being taught an extremely important spell capable of changing the world, welching on the payment would be unbelievably dishonorable. Besides, apparently the witch who knows resurrection magic is so powerful that even Hiyori doesn't want to make an enemy of her.

I guess she's in the same league as the famed Hero Conrad and Saint Lushe. If she's one rank below Hiyori—the World's Strongest—she's pretty impressive.

Hiyori's plan for going to the Rus Kingdom was to "ride on the Dragon Witch's back, zip over there, and zip right back."

My magic power has risen considerably through magic training, but it has only just reached the vicinity of 60K, still far short of the 140K needed for return magic. Having the Dragon Witch handle both legs of the trip is the fastest option.

Even today, excluding return magic, the fastest means of transportation is the Dragon Witch. She can easily reach the speed of sound.

After making the Dragon Witch handle all the troublesome international travel procedures, Hiyori and I visited the Dragon's Nest for the first time in a while to negotiate with her.

The enormous cavern dug into the side of the breached dam beside Lake Tama had been expanded considerably since the last time I saw it. Thick pillars of Abyss Gold had been installed here and there, presumably to prevent collapses.

The Dragon Witch's treasure, which she had greedily accumulated for years, was spread thickly across the entire nest. It had become not merely a carpet of treasure, but actual geological strata. Golden mountain ranges, silver mountain ranges, and mountain ranges of colorful Gremlins were piled high atop those strata, making the sight impossible to behold without awe. This glittering culmination of desire had grown thicker with history, transforming into a breathtaking spectacle unlike anything else.

And when I saw the craftsmen working tirelessly at the foot of the treasure mountains, carrying polishing powder and spray cans, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

That job is boring, and it literally never ends...

I waited for a while, hiding behind Hiyori. Then a dragon with vivid crimson scales like flames came trudging over from beyond the treasure mountains. An old woman with long rainbow-colored hair was riding on its back.

Something about this feels bad.

"I've heard all about it. International flights start at one hundred million yen. I won't knock off a single yen even for you."

"Jemmy, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Blue Witch-sama. International flights start at three million yen."

"Hey, Jemmy! Shh! The rule is to squeeze whoever looks like they can be squeezed!"

"Don't, Drago. You just got a warning from the Transport Bureau, remember?"

After the old woman patted her back, the Dragon Witch drooped her tail dejectedly.

Apparently, the old woman had taken over Zaizen-san's position. Her brain was still external hardware, as ever.

"Well, the Rus Kingdom is the Queen's territory. She gets angry if we fly too close, so I'll drop you off a little way away."

"Yeah, that'll do."

"A round trip for two is twenty million yen. But if you give me longevity magic or some life-extending medicine, I'll waive the fee."

"...Oh?"

Hiyori seemed more surprised that the word "free" had come from the Dragon Witch's mouth than by the word itself.

I was a little surprised too. This was the arithmetic-impaired woman who might say, "It's twenty million, but I'll give you a discount and make it thirty million!" What on earth was she plotting?

Suspicious, I poked my face out from behind Hiyori's back to see what was happening. The old woman riding on the dragon's back had her eyebrows drawn into a worried angle.

"Drago, that's..."

"Jemmy, you're my treasure. Your job is to stay shiny and beautiful forever and ever. You have to live a long time."

As she said it, the dragon twisted her neck around and gently poked the old woman on her back with the tip of her tongue.

The gesture overlapped with the sight of Mokutan constantly licking my face, and my chest tightened.

The Dragon Witch really likes that colorful granny. She probably just likes shiny, vivid hair, but it doesn't look like that's all there is to it. Even the Dragon Witch gets to have a heartwarming story or two in eighty years, I suppose...

But even so, watching that whole exchange failed to dispel the bad feeling.

Seeing her up close like this made it unmistakable.

I am afraid of the Dragon Witch.

Especially when I imagined putting myself in that woman's hands and flying through the sky, my legs started shaking.

I couldn't shake the terror of being kidnapped on our first meeting and carried heedlessly through the open sky hundreds of meters above the ground without a lifeline. It was a genuine trauma. Is there anyone who wouldn't be traumatized by that?

I tugged on Hiyori's sleeve as she negotiated the terms of the transportation and whispered to her.

"Sorry, Hiyori. I really don't want to take Dragon Airlines after all."

"Don't worry. Somehow, this woman won't drop her cargo along the way. She does embezzle it, though."

"No, that's not what I mean. I'm scared. Seriously."

"Really...? Well, if Oori says so."

The strongest creature in the world, who seemed never to have felt fear toward a dragon in her life, tilted her head in puzzlement. But she didn't pry into my confession of a fear of flying, and instead turned down the Dragon Witch on my behalf.

Faced with the sudden collapse of the negotiations, the Dragon Witch spat sparks from her mouth and flew into a rage.

"What!? Were you just here to waste my time? Are you making fun of me? I won't forgive you. The consultation fee is one million yen!"

"Sorry. I'll give you something you like later."

"Then I'll go find a longevity spell. Kyanos would work too."

"Don't push it."

After casually saying goodbye to the noisy Dragon Witch, I headed home with Hiyori pushing me along from behind.

Sorry. I thought it would be fine, but the moment I saw the Dragon Witch in front of me, the memory of being snatched up in those enormous claws and flown through the sky came rushing back. I just couldn't do it.

"I thought the Dragon Witch hadn't changed at all, but it turns out she has changed a little."

"Did it look that way?"

Walking beside me, Hiyori scoffed.

"She wanted that Lifespan-Grow-Grow-Longer stuff for the colorful woman. She managed to do something for someone else after all."

"Yeah, well."

"Maybe you could secretly spare her a drop or so of Fuyou's nectar..."

"No. Don't."

When I tried to show some compassion, Hiyori cut me off decisively before I could even finish speaking.

Was an instant answer really necessary? I understand that it's precious, but she gave me a spoonful, and if I asked Fuyou, surely she could spare one drop...

My thought that Hiyori was being stingy must have shown on my face, because she let out a deep sigh and explained why.

"Oori, you lack a sense of danger. Listen. Long ago, when her adjutant Zaizen got old and bedridden, someone tried to sell the Dragon Witch a rejuvenating elixir."

"T-there are elixirs like that!?"

"No. It was a scam."

Hiyori flatly cut off my astonished, unguarded question and continued sadly.

The Dragon Witch didn't pay for the elixir. She raided its manufacturer and stole every last bit of the medicine. Of course, it was a scam, so nothing happened even after she made them drink all of it. The enraged Dragon Witch slaughtered the entire scam ring.

That's the sort of record she has. If the Dragon Witch learned about the Flower Witch clan's secret nectar, she'd start a war without hesitation—to take every drop. She'd throw herself into plunder without thinking of the consequences, just to keep her treasures by her side forever.

"..."

After hearing that real example, I zipped my lips again.

Right. There was no way the Dragon Witch would be satisfied with one or two drops.

Why had the Flower Witch and her daughter given me longevity medicine while trying to keep its effects secret even from me? Because if word got out, it would unquestionably spark a bloody upheaval.

The reason Tsugibi was given a drop was that, despite being a perverted arsonist, she was otherwise a sensible witch; because she was Mokutan, Sekitan, and Tsubaki's mother; and because it would count as a favor to the Blue Witch. It was granted thanks to all those factors. I shouldn't mistake an exceptional measure for something normal.

It would be better to keep even the existence of longevity medicine secret. I take it, and so do Tsugibi and the fire lizards, while everyone around me seems to be long-lived, so my sense of scale is distorted. Normally, this would be the sort of substance over which a country could be destroyed for a single drop. Knock on wood, knock on wood.

The Gremlin disaster shattered the concept of a lifespan, which should have come equally to all human beings.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing will be told by the history yet to come.

When I returned home in a somewhat somber mood, Mokutan, who had been staring down a grass lizard on top of the wall, suddenly smiled and came running toward me.

Cute. You're always a source of comfort.

"Oori, welcome home!"

"Hey, I'm back. About the Rus Kingdom—I said we'd zip over there and zip back, but it looks like that's not happening."

"Mimimi?"

"Dragon Airlines was a bit too much for me. We might have to take a ship or a train and spend some time traveling by land and sea. You're not coming with us, right, Mokutan?"

When I asked for confirmation, Mokutan looked back and forth between Hiyori and me. After hesitating for a moment, she answered timidly.

"Yeah. My territory is Okutama. Tsubaki and Sekitan said that since I'm the smallest, I could have Okutama. I can't leave my territory unattended for so long."

"Hmm...?"

I had heard that she wasn't coming with us to the Rus Kingdom, but this was the first time I'd heard the specific reason.

It felt like the youngest sister had been given the privilege of living a stable life back at the family home.

Mokutan had indeed been the smallest of the three since the day I met her. She was friendly and cute, and Tsubaki and Sekitan seemed to dote on her. She really was a Kawaiina, after all.

"Oh! When I told Sekitan that Oori was going on a trip, she said she had a souvenir for him."

"A souvenir? What are you talking about?"

"The assortment of plant oils by the shoe cabinet in the entryway. Take them with you. Sekitan said to give them to Tsubaki if you meet her during your travels. She said she bought them with her first paycheck."

"Oh...! Sekitan's a good kid."

"Mimi. Sekitan is great. She gave me tasty binchōtan charcoal too."

Mokutan puffed out her chest proudly, as though she herself had been praised.

Spending your first paycheck on your family was incredibly admirable. Sekitan, you're the best!

Tsubaki, who had hatched first and set out to find the best territory, was still missing.

We knew only that she had gone abroad, so it might be nice to look for information about Tsubaki while traveling to the Rus Kingdom.

This trip looked like it was going to be even more enjoyable than I'd expected.