The name was kinda similar. I looked it up on my map. If I looked at it compared to the regular world, it was found in the middle of the landlocked sea that bordered Hannock, Roadmare, Yulong, and Regulus. It was a little smaller than Brunhild.
Hmm... Nobody checking it out because of Dragons is pretty convenient... Luli might be able to help me with negotiations, too.
“Will the Dragons of this world listen to you?”
“If there are Ancient or Elder Dragons, then it should be quite fine... I think, at least. But if the island only has young Dragons that aren’t aware of my existence, we may see resistance. If that’s the case, then leave it to me... I’ll be able to overwhelm them and dominate them by force.”
That seemed to make sense. Young Dragons certainly seemed trigger-happy. They were a species with long lifespans, so their youths were much longer. A one-hundred-year-old Dragon was about as reasonable as a ten-year-old human. If there were only young Dragons, then Luli would just have to assert her dominance. Hopefully, the elders would be around, though. I didn’t want it to come to that.
Still, if we could get the support of the Dragons of this world, they’d make excellent guards.
“Alright, guess I’ll head there. Thanks for your help, seriously.”
“We’d also like to thank you for teaching us magic. Are you sure we can keep these, though?” Nia gestured toward the spellstone fragments and the beginner’s book of spells I’d left behind for them.
“I don’t mind it, I got that book when I was starting out as well. You won’t be able to read the words unless you wear these glasses, though.” I handed the translator glasses over to Nia. The basic spells of all six schools of magic were covered by the book, so I thought she’d find it useful.
“Just a reminder, though... Be careful with who you teach, alright? My own teachers taught me that magic is something you use to bring joy to others, not misery.” I’d called them my teachers, but they were Linze and Leen, my fiancées.
“I understand. I swear on the name of the Red Cats, the name of we chivalrous thieves. We’ll only make villains cry with our spells.” Nia grinned widely. I trusted her not to abuse the power, so it would be fine. Or rather, I trusted Est to keep her in line.
I left the tent. I wanted to fly straight to the island with Luli, but it’d be too conspicuous if I rode her here. Anyone in the vicinity would probably discover this place if they saw strange things flying out of the fort.
I decided to use [Teleport] to leave instead.
“Alright, I’m off. Hope we can meet again.”
“Okay!” I shook hands with the two girls, then used [Teleport] to reach some nearby mountains. I thought about teleporting directly to the island, but I didn’t want to get the location wrong and teleport into the sea. Better to be safe than sorry, after all.
I had Luli transform into her Heavenly Beast form, and I hopped on to her back along with Kohaku, Ruby, and the other Gollems. I cast [Invisible] to keep us concealed.
“Let’s depart, my lord.” Luli flew up into the air, and we began flying northward.
Our destination was Drakliff island.
I hoped the Dragons in this world were more reasonable than the ones in the world I’d come from.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Grauuuuuurgh!” A massive Copper Dragon stood before us on the sandy beach. It raised a deafening roar.
I had a vague idea of what it was saying, but I checked just to be sure.
“What did he say...?”
“He said... Keep out of my way or I’ll kill you.” Luli let out a small sigh as she sat perched on my shoulder.
We were currently in a small fishing village near Drakliff island.
I was going to get a little bit of information on the island before heading directly there, but just as I started asking around, this Copper Dragon had come down and started to attack the town.
Luli and I stepped in to interfere, and then it began roaring.
“Does it have a reason for attacking the town? Did the people here do something bad?”
“No, it seems to be yelling at us for interfering with its playtime.” It’s just playing around? Just like that goddamn Black Dragon... Do the Dragons in this world look down on other species, too? Sure they’re strong, but this is still a little much...
“He’s young, then?”
“Yes. In human terms, he’s equivalent to sixteen or so. He has all that power, but doesn’t have much in the way of empathy.” I couldn’t stand for this Dragon coming in and messing with people just for fun. Several houses had already been burned to a crisp, but thankfully nobody had died.
“Can you tell him to go back to the island, or not?”
“I don’t think he’s going to listen...” Luli tried speaking to the Dragon in their mother tongue, but it responded by roaring even angrier. Then, without much warning, it spewed out a massive fireball in our direction.
“[Absorb].” The blazing fire breath dispersed into the air, vanishing like a fine mist. The spell I’d invoked rendered magic attacks inert, and turned them into my own power.
For the most part, Dragon breath was internal magical combustion that used the magic supply of the Dragon spewing it out. That’s why absorbing it was pretty easy.
“No point in talking, huh? I guess we don’t need to hold back, then.”
“My lord... Can I slice this one to pieces already? I can’t stand how it’s treating you... For it to be talking to you like that.” I wasn’t too surprised by Kohaku’s behavior here. She was on the verge of exploding. She didn’t understand the Dragon’s language or anything, but she could tell that the enemy was probably badmouthing me pretty badly.
I could see her crouching down, as if preparing to pounce.
“Please wait a moment, Kohaku. Let me deal with it, alright? I will discipline this improper child.”
“...Hmph. Don’t hold back just because it’s one of yours.”
“I never hold back, Kohaku. I’m not like you.” Luli flew from my shoulder and returned to her true form. She was a beautiful Blue Dragon, now on full display along the beach.
The Copper Dragon saw her transform, which caused it to back away in slight fear.
“Gaauuuuuuuugh!” The Copper Dragon let out another roar in a futile attempt to intimidate her. She ignored it, but I noticed one of her eyes twitched... Did it make you mad...? What did it say? Luli suddenly inhaled, then let loose a flame far more intense than the one the Copper Dragon had breathed earlier.
The Copper Dragon was engulfed in the azure flame until it was reduced to charcoal. After a small time, its entire form crumbled away. G-Geez...
“...You might’ve overdone it a bit.”
“I had no mercy for one as insolent as him. There’s a limit to ignorance, and he insulted you rather dearly.” Ahh... So that last roar must have been some serious badmouthing... Luli definitely had a calm and collected façade, but she was definitely fiery when she wanted to be. I kind of saw that regularly in her arguments with Kohaku, anyway.
I was glad she was angry for me, but... She completely wrecked that animal. I felt kind of bad for it.
There was no point worrying about it, though. He was burning up the village, so I guess he had it coming to him.
“Let’s just head to the island for now. If we can talk to an Ancient or Elder Dragon, maybe we can find someone who will listen to reason.”
“Indeed, I hope so. Let us hope this child was just an outlier.” I hopped on to Luli’s back with Kohaku and the Etoiles, and we made off for the island.
After a while, a small landmass came into view. It must have been Drakliff island.
There are a lot of Dragons flying over there... Oh, they’re coming this way... I heard a lot of roaring, and we quickly found ourselves surrounded.
“This doesn’t exactly feel all that friendly...”
“They’ve come out to intimidate us. They’re all young ones, seemingly friends of the copper.”
“Tell them I’d like to talk to whoever rules their island.”
“Very well.” Luli turned to the surrounding Dragons and let out a shriek, which elicited a series of roars from them. Oh geez... They’re so loud.
“They’re saying there’s no reason for us to meet with the elder, they’re suspicious of strangers.”
“...They really can’t hold a simple conversation, huh?” Luli was a creature that reigned as the apex of the Dragon race, but apparently, her lack of manifestation in this world for such a long time had caused their knowledge of her to wane. It made sense that she wouldn’t have come here much, though. There wasn’t much magic, so who would have been able to summon her?
The Elder would probably know about her, but these ignorant young ones were holding us back for the time being. It was kind of annoying.
“What should we do?”
“For now, fly straight toward the island. We’ll break through and meet the elder by force.”
“Understood.” Luli started flying, prompting the surrounding Dragons to pelt blasts of fire, ice, and lightning at us. I used [Absorb] to nullify each and every volley they sent.
We landed on the island, but found ourselves met with several tyrannosaur-like Dragons. They were Earth Dragons, a species that didn’t have wings.
“Stay your hands, wastrels!” Kohaku leaped down from Luli’s back and transformed into her Heavenly Beast form. Her impact with the ground generated a massive shockwave, immobilizing the incoming enemies.
“Target Lock! [Gravity]!” I used my smartphone to cast my spell on all the surrounding Earth Dragons at once.
“Gyraauuugh?!” The collapsed Dragons started screaming out in confusion. I hadn’t added enough weight to kill them. I’d just put them in time-out for a while.
As I took care of the Earth Dragons, a large one swooped down in front of Luli. Its green body, all the way from the neck below, was covered in sharp spines. I remember reading about this one in the guild’s bestiary... It’s a Spike Dragon.
It was massive. Far more massive than Luli.
“Groaaaaaaar!”
“Gwauuuuuugh!” The Spike Dragon roared, prompting Luli to roar back. My ears were killing me.
It began to inhale, it was preparing to breathe out an attack. Luli met its challenge and began to inhale as well.
The two of them shot off their searing breath attacks at the same time. Both torrents of flame met in the middle, mingling and pushing against the other until Luli’s breath won out. The massive Spike Dragon was roasted alive, falling down on the spot.
Puffs of smoke floated into the air above its chargrilled corpse.
“Was that the Elder?”
“No, this one’s even younger than the one I torched earlier. It was badmouthing us quite horribly.” That one was young? But it was huge! I guess size isn’t an indicator of age when it comes to this species.
Hm? Another Dragon came down toward us from the mountain in the middle of the island. The other Dragons, which were screaming in the sky, suddenly fell silent as it came near.
“Ohh...?” I set my eyes on the Dragon that had come out to see us, and involuntarily let out an amazed sound. This was clearly an Elder Dragon... But it might’ve even been an Ancient one.
The silver creature soared through the air with elegance and poise, before gently settling to the ground near us.
“I cannot contain my joy... For the grand Azure Monarch to appear before us... To what do we owe such an honor?” The Silver Dragon spoke in eloquent human tones as it bowed its head. The other Dragons suddenly followed its examples, landing in the area and bowing their bodies down.
“I am not the Azure Monarch here, my child. You may call me Luli. For that name was granted to me by my master, Mochizuki Touya.” The Silver Dragon opened its eyes in shock for a moment before turning to me and bowing its head.
“I beg your pardon for the foolish children of this island...”
“So you should, cur! Do you not know how to discipline...?!” I put my hands over Kohaku’s mouth before she ruined everything. I didn’t want her ruining a delicate situation.
“It’s okay, don’t mind it. Are you the Dragon that rules this place?”
“I am. I rule this place, and this incident was my mistake. Please forgive me for being unable to stop the pitiful children...”
... You know, this guy doesn’t look so good. He seems kind of low on energy... Was it because of Kohaku’s anger, maybe? No, actually... He was flying slow just before as well... Is there something wrong with him? Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been able to unify the Dragons here.
I squinted and noticed something peculiar about the Silver Dragon’s tail. There was purple discoloration toward the tip. I looked a little closer and noticed purple splotches all over its tail.
“What’s wrong with your tail, exactly?”
“...I am rather ashamed to say it, but around two-hundred years ago, a human and a mechanical doll inflicted this wound upon me. It remains as a curse that eats at me even now. I had considered biting off my tail, but I would rather live in lethargy and pain than forgo my ability to fly.” The Silver Dragon looked down in shame. Forgo your ability to fly? Huh?
“Do Dragons need their tails to fly?”
“Not quite... We rely on the tail to balance ourselves during flight. There are indeed Dragons that cannot fly, such as Earth Dragons... But Earth Dragon physiology grants them incredible leg strength. Airborne species lack that kind of power... Thus if he removed his tail, he would be unable to fly, and unable to truly thrive on the ground. He wouldn’t be a creature you could call a Dragon at all.” Luli explained the situation to me.
Geez... Who would do something like that to the Dragon...? I guess by mechanical doll he’s referring to a Gollem, but I wonder what kind of Gollem could maim a Dragon like this.
“That Gollem... Er... That mechanical doll... What color was it?”
“As I recall... It was purple... Why?”
Purple... It must have been Fanatic Viola... Given that it was two-hundred years ago, it was probably serving a different master than Luna, though.
Wait, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. There’s no way Viola is the only purple Gollem in the world. It doesn’t mean that a crown did this.
“I’ll heal you. Hold still, please.”
“Oh?” I walked around to the tail and examined the injury. It was probably a deep poison. I judged that this kind of thing would kill a human in a matter of minutes, but the Dragon’s body had allowed him to withstand it for over two-hundred years. Removing the poison was the first step.
“[Recovery].” I let the magic from my hand into the silver tail, and the tender purple splotches began to clear up. His beautiful scales began to regain their silver sheen.
“Come forth, Light! Calm of the Goddess: [Mega Heal]!” I then finished it off by healing any damage the poison had done to his tail.
“Ooh... My body...! How very refreshing... I feel young again!” The Silver Dragon roared into the sky, prompting all the other Dragons on the island to roar along with him.
I’d heard a dog howl before, but Dragons were on a completely different level. A bunch of Dragons roaring at the same time made the very air quiver.
“Ghhh...!”
《They are singing your praises, my liege. Please forgive them for that.》 Luli’s telepathy prevented me from grumbling too hard. If they were being polite, then I’d be polite in turn.
I listened to the Dragons and their noisy howling for a while longer, until they finally stopped. The Silver Dragon turned to me and bowed his head deeply.
“Lord Mochizuki Touya... I can truly never repay the debt you have given me this day. Even so, is there anything we can do for you?”
“Actually, yes. You don’t need to worry about grand gestures, but I would like to ask a small favor. Could you grant me some territory on this island? I would like to build a home here.”
“Something so paltry is no reque
st at all. You may have some space on the mountainside, it has a magnificent overlook that surveys the entire island.” That sounded great to me. I nodded and asked him to guide me there.
Unlike the slow elegance it had displayed before, the Silver Dragon now flapped its wings at full force and rocketed into the air. We followed after him on Luli’s back, until we reached the area on the side of the mountain.
When we got there, the Silver Dragon wrapped himself in a dazzling light, seemingly changing shape. Once the light settled, he had transformed into a humanoid form. He resembled a young man with long, flowing silver hair that reached his waist.
He had horns sprouting from his head, and rough scale patches on his limbs, he resembled Sonia’s people. He wore a plain pair of pants and a simplistic jacket. Frankly, he was handsome. I wasn’t jealous or anything, but he looked really good.
“Huh... You can turn into a human?”
“Indeed. We Silver Dragons have an affinity for the human form and species, and that affinity has manifested in this trait.”
“Can you do that, Luli?”
“I see no reason to. Silver Dragons are strange creatures, if you ask me.” Luli shook her head as she transformed into her mini-form again. Given that she could change into that form, she could probably turn into a human if she wanted. It was probably more a case of wouldn’t rather than couldn’t.
Luli and the other Heavenly Beasts seemed proud of their regular forms, so there’d be no need for them to turn humanoid.
I walked toward the cliff edge. The view of the island was great.
“This is pretty good. I really like the view...”
“Ping.” Ruby started imitating me, looking around the area. Saph and Emerl started to imitate her in turn. I wondered if they liked it. “Guess I should prepare the area, then...” I flattened out the sloping parts and created a solid foundation of land with Earth magic. This was an outcropping on a mountainside, after all. I didn’t want to risk a landslide.
After I made a sturdy enough foundation, I opened up [Storage] and pulled a house out of it.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 13 Page 16
