Side Story: Together Is Best!
I’M going to be completely honest: the flight back to the imperial city was freaking awesome!
I understood now why Karna said the Linus Empire is a beautiful country.
The scenery was breathtaking, especially when viewed from above.
There was a massive waterfall that looked remarkably similar to the Iguazu Falls. Due to the high elevation, the amount of water was relatively small, and it mostly dispersed into mist by the time it reached the ground at the bottom of the falls. That created a very beautiful perpetual rainbow.
We also passed over lakes of various colors, as well as several seemingly bottomless deep lakes. When I remarked that I wanted to swim in them, I was told that was inadvisable as the lakes were home to carnivorous fish. Maybe those were this world’s equivalent to piranhas?
There was also a massive field of flowers that I wished we could’ve landed in so I could see them up close.
These flowers, called saze, were a light pink that reminded me nostalgically of cherry blossoms. Saze were used to produce cooking oil, so in reality, they were probably more similar to safflowers than cherry blossoms.
The imperial family owned a retreat in the same province where the saze farm was, and the castle there was just as gorgeous as Azurite Palace.
At times like this, I wish they had cameras in this world!
I got so excited that Will scolded me for distracting Lars while he was flying, but I couldn’t help it. I definitely wanted to go sightseeing in the sky again sometime.
When we arrived in the imperial city, the wyverns landed in a large courtyard on the south side of the imperial palace. I was told that this courtyard, which contained nothing but bare grass, was intended for wyverns to land in during ceremonies and in case of emergencies.
We also had a spot designated for lindblooms to land at the royal palace in the Kingdom of Gaché when delivering emergency messages and so on, so this was fairly common in countries with winged dragons.
Once everyone had dismounted, the lieutenant of the Dragon Corps announced that they would be returning to the barracks, but for some reason, the wyverns seemed opposed to that plan.
I asked them what the problem was, and the wyverns said it would be unforgivably rude to leave without first paying their respects to Sol. However, because the lieutenant couldn’t understand what the wyverns were saying, he had no way of figuring out what they were so upset about.
In that case, I’ll lend him a hand!
“Sol, don’t go anywhere just yet, okay?!”
Sol responded to my request by not responding at all, simply lying down in the grass to wait.
I hurried over to the lieutenant and explained the wyverns’ wishes to him.
“They said they want to pay their respects to Sol, so please wait just a little longer.”
“They want to greet the fire dragon?”
I explained that the wyverns viewed primordial dragons as special beings. In the same way that holy beasts were revered by beastpeople, all the different species of dragons likewise revered primordial dragons.
To compare it to humans, it was more like the respect we felt for persons of authority, such as a king or emperor, rather than the worshipful light in which we viewed holy beasts.
When you put it that way, no one with any manners would dare to leave without first paying their respects to His Majesty.
Everyone who worked with dragons had a special fondness for them because once I explained the situation to the lieutenant, he immediately agreed to the dragons’ request.
“I’m sorry for not realizing on my own. Go on and pay your respects.”
The lieutenant gave a light pat to the closest wyvern’s flank and urged them to head over to speak to Sol. But before the wyvern made its way to speak with Sol, it first turned to me.
“Thank you, dragon’s maiden.”
“You’re welcome.”
I’ve gotten used to playing the role of a translator since the dragon knights are always struggling to communicate with the lindblooms and lindrakes without being able to understand their language. But it’s interesting to see the distinct difference in the wyverns’ serious personalities compared to the more playful lindblooms and lindrakes.
The lindblooms and lindrakes were free-willed and only really cared about having fun, whereas the wyverns were more focused on their work, making their mental age seem a bit higher.
As if to prove that point, the lindblooms were frolicking boisterously around in the grassy courtyard, playing just as they always did at home.
One of the lindblooms had even grabbed Shinki and was forcing him to play with them.
Go ahead and indulge them, Shinki!
As for the wyverns, they approached Sol and made a show of lowering their heads in deference to him.
Sol maintained his silence, merely flapping his wings once in acknowledgment.
I wasn’t quite sure what all that signified, but the wyverns seemed satisfied because afterward, they returned to where their riders were waiting and, this time, allowed themselves to be herded back to the barracks without a fuss.
“Now that that’s taken care of, shall we relax and enjoy a nice cup of tea?” the emperor suggested, effectively urging everyone to head inside. But I still wanted to play some more.
Maybe I can convince Will to leave Lars with me. He doesn’t need him for anything right now.
“Is it okay if I stay and play with Sol and the others a bit longer?” I asked hopefully.
“That’s fine.”
All right! The emperor gave his permission, so no one would dare try to stop me from playing as much as I want!
“Lars, you come too!”
Lars glanced at Will, confirming that was okay with him, then used his huge head to bump the small of my back gently as if saying, “All right, let’s go.”
With Lars urging me forward, I quickly turned and called out to Euche as well.
“Euche, come play with us!”
I’d been a bit worried he might refuse since it meant being around Sol, but in the end, he relented, apparently deciding that playing with me was more important than avoiding Sol.
Besides, even if I call it “playing together,” I’m sure Sol and Lars will just watch from the sidelines as usual.
Ultimately, Euche and the lindblooms ended up playing together. The sight of it was enough to make me aware of the age difference between them.
I feel like I’ve seen this game somewhere before…
Euche was producing balls of water, and the lindblooms were catching them in their mouths.
Oh, I’ve got it! It’s like when our family’s pet dog in my past life used to use his mouth to try and “catch” the spray of water from a water gun!