Chapter 84

A Great Love Story Though it was almost spring, a thick layer of snow coated the restricted zone in the northernmost point of Uropeh. On that expanse of pure-white land, starving monsters who had missed their chance to hibernate tried to eat one another. Deep beneath the chaos, one of the Proxies of the Planet—the Red Dragon—slept in a quiet space underground, not even twitching a muscle. When he felt a familiar magic wave, his eyelids fluttered ever so slightly. A few seconds later, a brilliant light flooded the underground cave, marking the arrival of three human shadows. There was the demon with clear blue hair, the black-haired unabashed outsider, and his own redheaded daughter. “Dad, I’m sorry it took me so long to come back to thank you.” “……” His daughter, Arian, bowed her head low, but the Red Dragon kept his eyes closed. He wasn’t angry with her. As the Red Dragon, he would continue to live for billions of years until this planet was annihilated. Four months came nowhere near what he would call a long time. Besides, he already knew through magic that the black-haired outsider had been running around, trying to clean up after the chaos once they’d defeated that ghost. They’d been so busy, they just didn’t have time to come. The Proxy knew they finally came here today because the blue-haired demon had returned from the southern continent where she had been able to meet the White Dragon. With her back, they had someone capable of teleporting them here. That was why he didn’t mind, but he didn’t put that into words. “I’d like to thank you again. Thank you for helping me. I protected the people important to me with your help, Dad.” Arian held the dragon sword given to her by the Red Dragon and flashed him a smile so beautiful flowers seemed dull in comparison. Seeing that face was all he ever needed. Emotion bubbled in his chest, but the awkward father kept quiet. Arian seemed to sense his feelings, because she didn’t complain that he continued to feign sleep. She just looked nervous now that she had finished expressing her gratitude and took another step forward. “Umm, so about Mom—” The Red Dragon’s heavy jaw moved quickly. “Teleport.” Magic enveloped Arian and her companions. “—Dad, I just want to know!” Arian rushed to object, but she was too late. Their bodies became light as feathers, whisked away to the Demon King’s castle far in the distance. The Red Dragon sighed heavily, alone once again. “…Tired.” He couldn’t imagine telling his daughter about how he met her mother. The Red Dragon fell asleep again, refusing to reveal the mystery. The village of beast morphs, Mouse, was built in the deep valley in the middle of the restricted zone. A boisterous laugh rang out from one of the cave-like homes. “Ah-ha-ha! Can’t expect much else, can ya?” Shinichi had just finished telling the hardy elderly man, the village chief, about what had happened. He laughed, trying to defend the Red Dragon. “I’d be embarrassed, too. Hell, I haven’t even told my sons how me and the missus fell in love, not even after she passed.” “Really?” Arian creased her brow. Regina, the Blue Princess of War, chuckled. “Ha-ha-ha. Boys tend to be shyer about these things. Something about how these matters can’t be discussed lightly.” “But the Demon King talks very proudly about when you met,” Arian pointed out. “Well, he’s a worthless husband.” Regina acted fed up, but she was beaming. Shinichi looked like this was sickly sweet. “Yeah, yeah. I never know what to do when he talks about how you two beat the crap out of each other.” They tried so hard to kill each other, they’d turned an entire mountain range into flatlands. In the end, that’s what made them fall in love with each other. If the Demon King acted all shy when he recounted the story…what would be the appropriate response? “Anyway, if he’s embarrassed, it might mean there’s some bittersweet memories there,” said Shinichi. “That’s what I think…” Arian’s expression didn’t change. Her father was a kind soul, gentle enough to help them, so she didn’t think he would have forced himself on her mother. But what had her mother been thinking when she was with the Red Dragon and gave birth to a half dragon? They had no clues to work from, and she couldn’t even imagine the answers, which really bothered her. “Chief, did my mom tell you much about my dad?” “No… Brigit didn’t talk about herself all that much…” He looked troubled by Arian’s question, but tried to remember what had happened seventeen years ago. “I remember we had this strange lot come into the restricted zone. It happened on a few occasions—a rarity.” “What strange lot?” “A goofy crew that could look unfazed even if they got eaten by a monster.” “Ah, the Goddess’s heroes.” Arian had told them stories about heroes who’d crossed the Matteral Mountains to test their skills and were immediately killed by monsters. Besides, no normal person would set foot into the restricted zone—it’d be suicide, considering how many monsters ran wild here. “…Wait. Does that mean that Arian’s mom was a hero?” asked Shinichi. “Uh, there’s no way!” Arian said, loudly. “Mom despised the church!” Her mother had refused to get healed by the church through their entire nomadic journey, even when she was at death’s door. “But she couldn’t have been a hero…,” Arian murmured, unable to believe it, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. Could she have hated the church so much because she had been a hero? I sort of saw this coming, thought Shinichi, looking at Arian, even more certain about his guess. Well, they had no real proof. He got back to what the chief was saying. “So Arian’s mom was hunting monsters in the restricted zone?” “Yep. We just watched her from a ways off, ’cause we knew we wouldn’t survive if we got attacked.” The beast morphs were the only living remains of the city of Mouse that was destroyed by the Goddess’s church. If heroes discovered their presence, they would certainly come and attack. “We watched her fighting monsters for a while, but at some point, she just disappeared for a bit,” continued the chief. “I bet she was getting comfy with the Red Dragon then,” explained Regina. “Yeah, but would it kill you to be less explicit?” Shinichi snapped. Arian’s cheeks turned red. “After a few months, the monsters seemed worked up, so we went to go see and saw Brigit fighting them all alone.” Waves of monsters were going after her while she mowed down the trees of the forest. The scene was so horrific, even the beast morphs prepared themselves for death, but Brigit stood fast against them and eventually killed every last one of the monsters with the swing of her sword. “Not bad! I really do wish I could’ve fought with her once,” said Regina, truly impressed. “Are you sure she’s human?” Shinichi’s mouth was slack in amazement. Even the chief smiled awkwardly as he remembered what he saw that day. “I hate to say it, but she seemed more like some monster than us… Anyway, we stood there, wondering what we should do, and she eventually collapsed from exhaustion.” They had rushed over and surrounded the unconscious woman, then discussed their next steps. “If we keep this woman alive, she might kill us someday—or come back with that strange group from before. It’s better for us to finish her off here.” That had been their consensus, but they were stopped when they tried to raise their iron spears against her. “My missus suddenly said, ‘This woman’s pregnant. We can’t kill her. We need to take her back to the village.’” The others objected, but the village chief’s wife was quite the warrior, so she shut them up with her fists and lugged Brigit back to the village herself. “We owe our lives to your wife…,” said Arian, shoulders slumping. She wished she could have met her once and said thank you. The chief smiled happily and patted her shoulder to comfort her. “I’m sure she’s in the next world, smiling down on you.” “What happened when you got back to the village?” asked Shinichi to keep the story moving. The chief nodded. “My missus explained everything about us and our village to Brigit when she woke up. When she was done, Brigit knelt, bowed till her head touched the floor, which made us feel bad, and begged us to let her stay in the village until the baby was born.” At first, many of the villagers were opposed, but they immediately changed their minds once they learned of the father of the child. “I mean, she said it was the Red Dragon! We were all gobsmacked!” Until recently, the chief himself had never even seen the Red Dragon in person, but there had been rumors that he had been in the restricted zone even before the city of Mouse had been destroyed. “There’s a lot of folks who worship the Red Dragon, saying beast morphs are born under his protection,” continued the chief. “So you do know where you come from,” said Shinichi. The massive magic waves from the dragon made the magic system in their bodies develop rapidly. Even if they weren’t aware of that logic, they seemed to intuitively guess that was the case. That had been why Elazonia had obliterated the whole city: to prevent any more beast morphs—demons by another name—from being born. “Anyway, we wouldn’t know if Brigit was lying until the baby was born, so we decided we couldn’t kill her right away.” Thus began Brigit’s life in Mouse Village. She had never been one to mock the beast morphs for their looks. In fact, she went so far as to apologize for the Goddess’s heroes who invaded the restricted zone and volunteered to hunt for monsters of her own volition, even though she was pregnant. As she helped with village work, the people slowly began to come around, warming up to her. “Eventually, Arian was born. The scales on her neck were a sure sign that she was the Red Dragon’s daughter. Everyone was so happy. I thought she’d stay and live with us forever, but…” After Arian turned two, happily toddling around, Brigit suddenly said they’d be leaving the village and returning to human society. “Why? It’s much more fun in Mouse. Monsters never show up in human villages,” said Regina. “I don’t think that’s a positive thing…,” said Arian with a wry smile. “Things would have been a lot easier if we’d stayed in this village…” They’d had to keep moving around to hide the fact that Arian was a half dragon. They could never settle in one place. She couldn’t make close friends. She had really been tested. If she had lived with the beast morphs in Mouse Village, she would never have experienced those hardships. “I am grateful, though, since it meant I eventually met Shinichi,” added Arian. “Heh-heh-heh, pleasure’s all mine,” said Shinichi, cackling to hide his embarrassment as Arian blushed and took his hand. If they had stayed in Mouse Village… Shinichi tried to imagine it. He was doubtful things would have worked out so well. The reason Arian hadn’t been able to access her true powers until recently was because she felt she was different from other people. She had the blood of a dragon flowing through her veins. The church hated the dragons, which made her feel inferior. If she had grown up in Mouse Village, she would never have had that feeling of inferiority. In fact, she would have been practically worshipped for being the daughter of the Red Dragon, and she would have had access to her true strength very quickly. If she had grown up freely wielding her power, which was enough to threaten Elazonia, neither the villagers nor her mother would have been able to keep her in check. What would happen to a girl with far too much power and no one to stop her? That was obvious. Too much self-confidence can make someone narcissistic. An appropriate amount of insecurity can become humility. I’m not sure her mom thought that far ahead, though… He knew he wasn’t going to find an answer on his own, so Shinichi turned to the village chief. “What did Arian’s mom have to say about it?” “I think it was something like ‘I know I’m being selfish as a parent, but I want her to see the world with her own eyes.’” “She wanted me to see the world, huh…?” “And she added, ‘Since I couldn’t see anything…’” The villagers hadn’t been able to stop her when they saw her pained face as she carried Arian away. “That’s ’bout all I know. The missus was the closest with her. Brigit might have told her more, but…” “It’s so unfortunate she’s passed…” Shinichi and the chief let out a heavy sigh. “What’s our next move, then?” asked Regina. “The Red Dragon won’t talk, and I can’t think of any other leads.” “……” Arian was silent. Shinichi looked at her, his expression very serious. “Arian, are you sure you want to know everything about your mom?” If Brigit had been unable to tell her daughter even on her deathbed, it might have been because she didn’t want Arian to know certain things. “It’s possible she’s hidden it for your sake,” he added. Even if that weren’t the case, exposing the secrets someone took to their grave was about as disrespectful as digging their body out of the ground. “The dead can’t get angry or seek revenge, but the living might be wracked with guilt. Are you sure you want to know?” “……” Arian thought in silence for a moment. After that, she smiled like a child who’d been caught in a prank. “To be honest, I really just want to know as a reference.” “A reference?” “I mean, my children will have dragon blood. I want to learn from Mom, since she’s already been through all the pain of raising me.” “Uh, oh…” Shinichi became flustered when she looked up at him with gentle eyes and blushing cheeks. “A quarter dragon, huh? I’m curious what kind of children they’ll be, future groom,” teased Regina, grinning widely. “…So you still want to know?” asked Shinichi, completely ignoring the Blue Princess of War. Arian nodded, like she was casting aside any doubt. “I want to know about Mom. I want to be able to be proud to say I’m her daughter, like I’m proud to be Dad’s.” Why did she hate the church? Why did she refuse to heal herself even when she was sick? And why did she force herself into a life of solitude? She must have been a hero, but had a child with the Red Dragon, an enemy of the church. Why would she insist on raising that child, even though she knew she would be ridiculed by the people around her? Arian would rather face the truth directly and have to deal with the consequences if the alternative was to continue to have these nagging questions and feel displeased by her mother until she ended up hating her. Shinichi looked at Arian and grinned broadly. “All right, let’s dig up the happy and embarrassing story of the Red Dragon’s romantic rendezvous!” “Yeah!” “Seems like you have a plan,” observed Regina, jumping to her feet with Shinichi and Arian and looking just as excited. “We’ll be heading out now. Make sure you think about what I said earlier,” said Shinichi. “You mean ’bout sending the youngins to school?” “Uh-huh. Just the ones who are interested. I don’t want to force anyone to come.” “Psssh. The youngins are interested in the world outside the village. I’m more worried they’ll leave in droves.” “Ha-ha-ha. In any world, the boonies always end up with shrinking populations.” Shinichi laughed and finished his good-byes with the chief, then turned to tell Regina where they were going. “Can you Teleport us to the demon world?” “The demon world?” “That’s where we’ll find someone who knows everything, just like the Red Dragon.” “You can’t mean…?” Regina guessed what he was getting at, and her face went pale, but Shinichi said the name like it was nothing. “We’re going to get the scoop from your ‘sun’—the Blue Dragon.” The blue sun in the sky never sank in the demon world. Instead, it continued to hang there, slowly dimming and illuminating in twenty-four-hour cycles. To those who had grown up on the surface, it was hard to get used to this sight. “It’s like a heartbeat,” noted Shinichi. “A heart that only beats once a day. Any creature would die,” said Arian. “The bigger the animal, the slower its heartbeat. It’s not impossible with a heart that massive.” Shinichi and Arian chatted idly while Regina used Fly to take them all up to the sun, now that it was night and it had stopped shining. “It looks even bigger up close,” cried Shinichi. The sphere was at least a third of a mile in diameter. The fact that it continued to float in the air despite gravity was testament enough to the Blue Dragon’s power. The three were awed as they approached the sun. “Do you really intend to speak with the Blue Dragon?” Regina asked uncertainly. “Is that cheeky of me?” “Obviously! This is the god that saved the demons. Even I would be more reverent!” He’d never seen her so flustered before; she was usually so confident. Shinichi just couldn’t hold back. “Ha-ha-ha, I wish Celes could see you right about now.” “Asshole. If Celes were here, she would have beaten you to a pulp for being so disrespectful.” Regina raised her voice, claiming even the Demon King would have refused to come—with some excuse about how he couldn’t show his face because he wasn’t even stronger than Elazonia. Shinichi didn’t care. “If your god is merciful, they should be happy to answer our questions. I mean, wasn’t the White Dragon in the south quite the gentleman?” “Well yeah, but…” She faltered, remembering her encounter from a few days before. Nothing had changed since the ancient civilization. The White Dragon still slumbered, scales shining like pearls, in the middle of a deadly desert ravaged by monsters and sandstorms. And he had kindly greeted Regina, his first visitor in thousands of years. “Speak, brave one. What is it you seek?” Regina already knew what she wanted. “I ask that you stand against me in a battle!” As soon as she blurted that out, she cast the most powerful spell in her arsenal: False Dragon Breath. There was a burning flash so hot it evaporated the white-hot desert sand. However, even with a direct hit, the White Dragon didn’t sustain a single injury. His eyes narrowed as if in amusement, and he gave Regina one of his white scales as proof of her efforts before teleporting her exhausted body back to the Demon King’s castle. “I’d say the White Dragon likes powerful people who pave their way to him,” said Shinichi. “Mm, I had a feeling he was cut from the same cloth.” “The Red Dragon is a man of few words who loves his daughter. The Black Dragon is a lazy creature who just wants to keep sleeping. All of them are pretty harmless.” Which was why it was hard to imagine their lives would be at risk even if they tried to talk to the Blue Dragon. “I think the dragons would only become violent against someone powerful enough to destroy the planet. We’re not that strong.”