REFDL 9

“Alright. Today’s chores done!”

I’d been helping these three with their assigned tasks these past few days.

Gathering firewood, picking mushrooms and berries, or fishing for them like today.

At first, I was on edge, worried the adults might catch us. I couldn’t sit still for a moment, constantly anxious.

All my attention was focused on the village.

But nothing happened.

Just as Rotol had assured me.

The adults rarely came near, let alone to the opposite side of the lake.

“If it’s a water source, there’s a stream right next to the village, so there’s no need for them to come all the way out here.”

The adults were busy. Several times busier than the same time last year.

If the cotton flowers are scarce, winter becomes harsh.

“The lifespan of cotton flowers is about three to four years. They gradually dissolve over time, disappearing completely around the fourth year.”

Originally, hunters formed teams each year to gather the cotton flowers that grew wild in the basin. But early this year, a pack of wolves had settled nearby.

All the flowers gathered four years ago have completely melted away.

Buying the scarce cotton flowers from outside was extremely expensive. More medicinal herbs were needed.

“Adults never really did pointless things to begin with. But lately, they act like wasting time is some terrible crime. They just get angry at each other, get gloomy and angry at the wolves like I do.“

Rotol, whose shoulders had slumped, took a deep breath.

She clapped her hands.

“Enough with the gloom! We hear enough of that in the village. Let’s just tell each other funny stories.”

Rotol was a chatterbox. She’d babble away nonstop even when alone.

Most of it was trivial.

Like how there was a stray dog in the village named ‘Max’.

Or how a hen at someone’s house had hatched chicks.

Or how the peddler who regularly visited the village had arbitrarily changed his inventory this time, leading to a scuffle…

Of course, not all of it was like that. Some of it was quite interesting.

Then I would drop from sitting to lying flat on my stomach. I listened attentively.

Rotol’s eyes also lit up.

The variety of topics wasn’t a coincidence. The clever acorn was certain I understood her words and was trying to figure out even the types of stories I preferred.

“Did you know? They say the Sea of Trees used to be as small as our village a long time ago.”

Every fantasy had its own unique setting. A very ancient origin. The starting point of the world.

In this world’s case, it was the Great Demon Invasion and the Sea of Trees.

Thousands of years ago, the center of the world opened, and the Demon Realm invaded the Middle Realm. The Middle Realm, led by several heroes, repelled their invasion.

After the center closed, the demons either returned to the Demon Realm or perished.

But the hordes of monsters they brought remained in the Middle Realm.

In some ways, these creatures were trickier to deal with than the demons themselves.

Their numbers made it impossible to exterminate them one by one.

And from the closed center, trees began to grow thickly. The forest spread like a plague.

It was like a flood.

It was abnormal growth. What had been a plain one day became a forest the next.

The forest sheltered the monsters, devoured the land, and swallowed the continent in an instant.

The people chose the surest and most powerful method.

Fire.

Whoosh!

It was useless.

Trees grew again over the ashes and soot.

They applied chemicals, overturned the land, and mobilized knights and mages to fell the trees.

“…Nothing worked.”

The forest’s regenerative power matched its growth. Even if the land was scorched to a crisp, by the next day it returned to its original state as if nothing had happened.

I recalled the scars left by the giraffe monster and the giant in the Sea of Trees. How the deep, map-like gouges vanished without a trace.

Grrrr.

So what happened?

“It ended up like this.”

Rotol shrugged her shoulders.

‘…….’

“If the forest had appeared during the Great Demon Invasion? Then the Middle Realm would have already been destroyed by then.”

Rotol picked up a stone and tossed it into the lake. Ripples spread across the once-calm surface. The large wave that formed at the center gradually weakened as it reached the edges.

“Fortunately, the speed at which the forest devours the land has slowed. Now, it expands by… um, this much each year.”

She took a single step forward.

“There are several theories about why. The most plausible one is that something powerful maintains the forest at the heart of the Sea of Trees, and that power weakens toward the edges. Another theory is that the Sea of Trees itself has a will, trying to devour the healthy land. But I like ‘it ate too much land and got an upset stomach’ best.”

Humans pushed to the continent’s outskirts established new nations on scattered, isolated lands.

Interesting.

It really feels like proper fantasy.

I wagged my tail contentedly. Rotol took a step closer.

My dragon’s senses were keen. I knew what she was doing but pretended not to.

Rotol suddenly lunged. I let her have her way. Rotol dangled from my neck, acting all cute.

“Come with me. Please? I’ll tell you stories, about how much I like you every single day, and I’ll clean your scales twice a day. All you have to do is one thing!”

I had no intention of going, but I’d listen to her anyway.

“Become dragon knights together!”

‘……!!’

Lightning struck the top of my head. Rotol’s actions up until now made sense.

No wonder.

There was a reason behind all the clinginess.

Rotol aspired to be a knight, specifically a dragon knight with a partner dragon.

She just didn’t know what to do or how to go about it.

No one in the village knew either. Even Babara, the oldest and wisest elder in the village, said she didn’t know.

A dragon appeared before the disheartened Rotol, fierce-looking, yet strangely gentle. Rotol had a brilliant idea.

“No matter what it takes, if I tame a dragon and bring him along, wouldn’t I pass for sure?”

…Seriously?

‘……’

My eyes opened, my thoughts opened, my path opened.

This is it……!

My heart started pounding.

Rotol’s proposal opened up a new possibility for me. A completely different choice had emerged.

I wouldn’t have to spy on humans. No need to put on a useless act. No need to return to the depths of the Sea of Trees

Ha.

Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? Is this really the difference between an ordinary person and a genius?

Putting together what the knights and Rotol said, dragons coexisting with humans exist in this world. Though perhaps ‘raised’ fits better than ‘coexisting’.

Anyway, the important thing is, there is a way for even a terrifying creature like me to naturally enter human society.

The genius Rotol chirped excitedly.

“I’ve already picked a name for you. Rotol, Mirim, and Odan, one character each. Romeo. How’s that?”

‘…….’

It felt like I was destined for some tragic love story.

I was happy she named me, but I hated it. Absolutely not.

I shook my head with all my might. Rotol giggled. 

“You like it? I knew you would.”

……Hey!

“You like it that much? All that sleepless pondering was worth it!”

Shake shake shake shake! Snap!

Ah.

It felt like my twenty-seventh vertebra had snapped…

I groaned and slumped down. I gave up quickly. Rotol had no intention of backing down. Pushing further would only make me look ridiculous.

……I won’t react if she calls me Romeo.

“We’re going together, right? Right? Don’t you want to fly around the sky looking cool and get cheered by people too?”

That’s true, but give me a moment.

I pointed at my chest and the ground alternately with my sharp claw. I crouched down, stepped back toward the opposite direction of the village, and growled.

I flailed my front paws with my head held high and wings fluttering. Finally, I dug my front claws into a nearby tree, leaving a deep scratch.

“You’ll accept my offer, but you’ll stay in the Sea of Trees for now. You’re scared of the village and don’t want to go. Instead, you’ll practice with the spear. When you grow tall enough to reach that scratch, you’ll join the knight order with me. Right?”

Yes. Right.

Rotol really is a genius.

Her sense of naming things is the worst, though…

Geniuses only need to excel in one field. I nodded vigorously, my long neck bobbing.

Mirim and Odan’s expressions darkened slightly. Was it a bit creepy?

The two, looking disgusted, now turned to Rotol. Their expressions were like they were witnessing cosmic horror.

“……”

Rather than the gentle yet bizarre dragon, they seemed to feel a vast psychological distance from Rotol, who could converse with dragons.

Anyway, Rotol had lifted my fading hope above the horizon.

If Rotol’s plan actually gets carried out, it’ll cause a huge uproar.

Some might doubt it or think it strange.

No.

They definitely will.

But isn’t that up to me?

If it really comes to that, I’ll just have to pretend to die at Rotol’s command.

Lie on my back, wag my tail.

Or maybe showing off a three-part personal skill set would be good.

I imagined myself performing those tricks. At first, I was obviously a dragon, but halfway through, I switched to my human form.

‘…….’

This is the kind of scene where I’d get arrested at least six times.

If I could, I’d rip my brain out and scrub it clean.

Rotol, flushed, pressed both hands to her cheeks.

“In the capital, there’ll be lots of people, lots of food. And way more fun stuff. All those people will cheer when they see us. Ah, just imagining it makes me so happy!”

Yes. Me too.

I opened my mouth wide.

Ke ke kek kek!

“Ahahahaha!”

Kik kik kik kik!

“Hehehehe!”

‘…….’