“Hmm, it looks like my father has realized your identity, Zavilia. What a surprise,” I mumbled as we watched him retreat.
In all the hustle and bustle of recalling my past life, I’d clearly said I’d made a pact with the Black Dragon in front of my father, brothers, and sister. That’s why Oria so readily accepted that I was friends with the Black Dragon back when we met in the Gazzar Borderlands. My whole family already knew the Black Dragon was my familiar.
I’d completely forgotten that I told them and made them promise not to tell anyone else, but since there were no rumors going around they must have been keeping my secret. Oria was probably doing so out of kindness, but my brothers probably just didn’t care enough about me for it to come up in conversation.
“And my father hates the idea of using his connections to move up the ladder, so he’s keeping quiet too. Huh… But would they really promote him to captain if it got out that the Black Dragon was my familiar? …Would they promote me to captain?”
Would that make Cyril my subordinate? Yikes. That thought alone turned my blood to ice. He’d scold me every day for not working hard enough as his boss!
“I doubt anybody will realize you’re the Black Dragon, and I doubt they’d ever make me a captain, but juuust in case, I think you should be a little more careful about what you do, Zavilia!”
“Ha ha. So we’re back at square one then.”
“Huh. Yeah, I guess so.”
How strange, I thought as I meandered deeper into the castle garden. I stopped when I encountered Cerulean, dressed as a jester and observing the Roses of the Great Saint. Leon and Dolly flanked him, and some knights stood a respectful distance away guarding the entirety of the rose garden.
I approached, wondering if the trio was hunting for a good flower to give to Colette. Zavilia noticed something along our way; I followed his gaze to find him appraising the shining water springing from the fountain.
“They say dragons like shiny things, but I guess this fountain’s water counts too, huh?” I let Zavilia down by the fountain. “Wait here for me while I go chat for a bit.”
I headed back to the jesters. Their attention never wavered from the roses, so they didn’t notice me approach.
“Looking closely, the color of the petals are slightly different. Hm… I personally associate awakening with the first rays of morning, so maybe a red petal mixed with orange hues would break the spell on Colette?” Cerulean said thoughtfully.
Scoffing, Dolly said, “This is Her Holiness the Great Saint’s special roses we’re talking about here! There is absolutely no way they operate so simply! As for what I would pick, hm… I feel as though the largest flower, this one right here, contains some special power.”
Leon rebuked them both. “Oh, c’mon! Both of you are just choosing the ones you like best! Have you forgotten what we came here for?!”
Interesting. Leon proved himself the most logical and sensible of the trio. As for the roses, I wasn’t done feeding them my mana, so none of them could cure the sleep status effect as of now.
Dolly finally noticed me and exclaimed, “Well, if it isn’t Fia! Have you come to see the roses as well?”
“Hello, Dolly. I was just strolling the castle grounds with a friend and happened to pass by.”
I thought my reply was pretty neutral, but Dolly pressed his lips together.
“You’re with a friend, you say?” he said. “Hmph, well isn’t that something? Do you realize how many times I had to ask before you finally let me be your friend? Just what kind of person are they to meet your criteria so easily?”
How could I describe what kind of person Zavilia was? “Well, I suppose my friend is kind, intelligent, and downright adorable!”
I answered honestly, but that only deepened Dolly’s scowl. “Are you flaunting your friendship in front of me?! I’m hurt, Fia! Am I not kind, intelligent, and downright adorable?!”
“Don’t be such a narcissist, Dolly. Fia’s just listing her friend’s positive traits. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.” Leon tried to smooth things over, but Cerulean cut in.
“Stay out of this, outsider. While you were away, Dolly and I became friends with Fia. It’s only natural that we would compete to see who’s the greatest among all her friends—which is easily me, because of how I’m simply overflowing with class!”
“My, what is this child saying? Her number one friend is me, of course! Do you not see all the beauty and talent I exude?” said Dolly.
I wasn’t quite sure what they were arguing over, but it was kind of annoying. Just then a black creature descended from the sky to alight on my shoulder, spreading its black wings as it landed gracefully. When I looked, sure enough, Zavilia perched on my shoulder. He must’ve grown bored of the fountain water.
“Aaaah?!” the jester trio exclaimed, their eyes wide.
I stood up straight and proud. Clearly, they now saw my friend Zavilia’s kindness, intelligence, and downright adorableness up close.
Dolly’s lips trembled as he sputtered, “Th-th-that’s…!”
I introduced Zavilia while I had their full attention. Gesturing at him with both hands and grinning, I said, “Ta-da! This is the friend I was talking about! Do any of you think you could beat him in kindness, intelligence, and downright adorableness?”
Without missing a beat, Dolly said, “I-Impossible! I surrender!”
Well, that was fast, I thought. I guess Zavilia’s good qualities were apparent at a single look.
“I-I surrender too! There’s no way I could win!” said Cerulean, also rather quickly.
Leon, the last to speak, glanced between his fellow jesters, pale and blinking. “You two folded way too quickly! Um, just putting it out there, but I wasn’t competing from the start!”
Looking to Zavilia, I said, “It seems like you scored a clean sweep!”
The jester trio agreed profusely.
✦ ✦ ✦
After parting with the jesters, I turned back toward the dorm with Zavilia still perched on my shoulder. I had walked for quite a while but only met a handful of familiar faces.
“My father aside, it looks like nobody realized you were the Black Dragon, Zavilia. They saw you from up close and couldn’t tell, so it’s probably safe to assume nobody will figure it out. Looks like you can hang out with me from now on!”
“Interesting. You saw how they reacted and that’s your conclusion? …Of course. There was no real point to this experiment to begin with, was there? The moment you decided the outcome, there was no swaying your opinion.”
“Huh? Are you saying we should’ve skipped the whole thing? Ha ha, looks like the most careless one of all was you, Zavilia!” Struck with sudden brilliance, I added, “Oh, I know! You spoke human words in front of Vice-Captain Gideon, remember? He was surprised, but he never realized your true identity, so you can probably use human speech in front of others! And if anyone ever says anything about it, we’ll tell them your voice box is damaged like we did with Vice-Captain Gideon.”
“Hmm, yeah… You’re definitely the most careless one of all, Fia.”
“Whaaat?!” No way!
My adorable little friend smiled and said, “At any rate, I’m more than happy to stay with you from here on out like you wish. I’ll enjoy dealing with anybody who’s rude to you on the spot.”
“Hwuh? W-wait, what?! Hold on, where’d that come from?! Look, I’m a full-fledged knight, so let me try to deal with my problems myself first.”
“Hmph.” He frowned.
I slapped on a toothy grin. “You’re my trump card, Zavilia! A trump card isn’t a trump card if you use it all the time! In other words, uh… You’re just that important to me, so you don’t need to do a thing.”
“…Fine.” He sounded quite pleased with himself after my explanation and flexed his wings. “So all I have to do is discreetly make my presence known from behind you. I can handle that.”
That wasn’t quite what I wanted, but he seemed happy so I let it go. To distract him, I said, “Heh heh. I’m gonna get some dinner at the dining hall. How about we go together?”
“That sounds good. Let’s.”
I made for the dining hall in high spirits with Zavilia riding on my shoulder, thinking about how wonderful it was to have your friends with you all the time.
As for whether or not we caused a commotion at the dining hall…I think I’ll leave that to the imagination.