“If he was suspicious of her from the start and set up a plan to trap her, it makes it harder for me to hit His Majesty,” Jill lamented.
“Best of luck to ye, Dragon Consort,” Rolf replied. He smiled as he glanced down at the ring on her left hand. “It’d be a pain to destroy the Kratos royal capital again.”
The small, black scale fluttered to the ground as it joined the bonfire. The fire didn’t transfer over to the petals that the magical dragons had destroyed and smoldered for a few minutes, smoke rising into the air. If this had no effect, Jill and the others would need to storm in without the help of dragons. The silence was deafening, and as Jill steeled herself under the night sky, a furious roar rang out. Rolf laughed at the fuss that was breaking out below.
“Attack!” he shouted gleefully. “Don’t get stomped on by them dragons, you brats!”
They slid down the cliff, the soles of their shoes creating tracks in the dirt, but their enemies were too stunned by the wild dragons that appeared out of nowhere to notice. One of the dragons expelled a powerful flame. The Arks managed to dodge it, but the dragon enveloped in dark mist was too slow. As it burned to death, it let out a metallic shriek before it quickly evaporated away. Just like that, one was down.
“Retaliate!” an Ark shouted. “Prepare the anti-flight magic circles!”
Three members stepped forward and began to write the magic circle, but students punched them from behind, halting the attempt. As more wild dragons appeared, confusion broke out within the Arks.
“Our liaison with Lehrsatz is down!” a member cried.
“The fire will burn our dragons! Have them fly up!” another ordered.
An odd sound echoed through the area, and the dragons emanating black mist took to the sky. The Ark members leaped on top of them—it was true that they were good at fleeing. They made no attempt to fight.
“Our target is in front of the tent! Whoa!” a student cried out.
“Head to assist the others! Anyone who can keep up with me, follow my lead!” Jill roared.
She aimed straight for the tent and thought she saw Millay turn around at the entrance. When Jill leapt forward, a weapon swung down from her side. With a grunt, she just managed to twist her body and change directions as the tip of the staff sank into the ground as though some sort of gravitational force was at play. Jill looked up at the wielder of the staff.
“I’m surprised you found us, Dragon Consort,” Canis said.
Millay stood behind Canis and jumped onto a dragon shrouded in black mist as it flew higher. Jill tried to give chase, but the staff barred her path.
“Fighting against the Dragon Consort?! I can’t possibly undertake such a responsibility!” Canis cried. “I’m better at negotiating!”
He dodged the students’ attacks aimed at his blind spots and pushed them all away. He was far more adept at fighting than he appeared, and perhaps the students required some help. That moment of hesitation was all it took. Canis muttered under his breath and twirled around as he wielded his staff.
With a vwoom, the ground around Jill sank. The pressure is pushing it down—no! It’s the opposite! The magic circle is dragging the ground upward and sapping up magical energy! The students within the circle fell to their knees.
“Truly, a genius of spells is terrifying,” Canis said. “I haven’t used much magical energy and only rearranged the magic circle just a little to get this effect. But…” Canis let out a strained laugh as he dodged Jill’s kick. “I suppose it’s not enough for you, Dragon Consort,” he said. “If you can still move, just how much magical energy do you have?”
“I’m trained differently from you guys!” Jill roared.
She simply needed to move without the aid of magic, but that slowed her down considerably. Canis teleported to and fro, and she was always a step too slow, unable to land a blow.
“Miss Jill, chase after her!” a student gasped.
“Oh, I can’t have you doing that,” Canis replied. “If you leave, I shall reduce those kids into mummies. Your students are so precious to you, aren’t they? I’m a teacher myself, so I very much understand that feeling.”
He pressed the point of his staff against one of the students as he chuckled in the back of his throat.
“Why don’t we talk for a while, Dragon Consort?” Canis suggested. “Ah, how about we discuss the Dragon Emperor’s mother? She couldn’t understand the value of the Dragon Emperor and blamed him for the death of her beloved husband. She punched and kicked him, shoving all the blame on him! Just how much of a fool was she? I can only assume that the Dragon God made it so the Dragon Emperor would never feel close to his mother. I can find no other explanation.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Jill warned her students. “He’s known for using this method to sway the tide.”
Some of the kids looked up in shock, but Canis wouldn’t stop.
“I think the current Dragon God wants to use the Dragon Emperor as his puppet,” he said. “Why else would the Dragon Emperor be shunned by his mother and the rest of the imperial family, only to be sent to the frontiers in his youth? Only when the situation was dire, and the imperial princes died one after another, was the emperor brought back! Why would the Dragon God allow this? The deity surely could’ve done something and spared the Dragon Emperor, but he did nothing! It’s pure indolence—”
Suddenly, a breath of fire silenced the chatty Canis and his annoying mouth. Jill was shocked to learn that they were all in the line of fire, but she quickly realized she didn’t feel the warmth at all. Her clothes and her students were all safe. Only Canis rolled on the ground, consumed by fire. It was all thanks to the protection of the dragons.
“Meine! How did you…” Jill started.
As the dragon burned away the magic circle, another powerful cry echoed from above—the unmistakable chirp of a bird that caused the students to leap to their feet.
“Instructor Sauté!” a student cried. “And…”
“Crap! It’s Mr. Bear! Retreat, everyone!” another shouted.
“Chiiirp!”
Sauté flung Hadis Bear in front of Canis. He’d managed to extinguish the flames and grab his staff, then he furrowed his brows.
“What is this stuffed animal—” he began.
“Miss Jill, leave the rest to us!” a student declared.
“Grandpa Rolf, you should stay back! Go! You’ll die!” another warned.
Hadis Bear stood up with glowing eyes. Jill ran in the opposite direction as Meine outstretched its wings and flew alongside her. She jumped on top and climbed into the saddle. Something brushed against her finger. A tiny magic circle was on the saddle, and upon closer inspection, she saw a tiny piece of paper inside. The handwriting was rushed, but she was very familiar with it.
“I wish you the best of luck.”
This was the urgent scribbling of Lawrence. Now I see why Meine and the others were able to leave the city. This is probably one of his plans, but for now, I’ll gratefully accept the offer of these reins. With a large flap of its wings, Meine increased speed. Jill wasn’t sure just what kind of dragon those magically concocted beasts were, but she was atop a gold-eyed, red dragon, and it was her personal dragon, to boot. There was no reason that she couldn’t catch up with them.