It was the middle-aged man they’d met at the pub—Reginald. He was sober now, standing with a weapon in hand and a serious expression on his face. “You’re still here?” he asked. “This place’ll be a battleground soon. Hurry up and get going. You should be okay on your own.”
“Ha. Figures I’d be the only one who can run away,” Shannon pointed out.
Reginald laughed. “I don’t need your pity. We’ll slay that dragon, you mark my words. But just to be safe, you should leave the village now.” When Shannon didn’t respond, he added, “Well, let’s meet again someday. Bring us some good ale next time.”
With that, he headed into the mayor’s house, leaving a thick tension in his wake.
“A raiding party,” Shannon murmured. “What do they even plan to do against a dragon? Let’s go listen in.”
“Huh?” Kyle blurted.
“You’re worried too, aren’t you?” she asked. “The village is in a state of emergency, so let’s go hear what’s going on. Maybe I can help somehow.”
“R-Right!”
Just as Reginald had, they entered the mayor’s house. A large crowd of men was gathered inside, and in the middle of the throng stood the mayor.
A man asked, “Who will go to the closest town and ask for help?”
“You mean Wisteria or Orwood?” someone else replied. “That’ll be no good—each one is a five-day trip, minimum. The village will be destroyed while we’re twiddling our thumbs waiting for help to arrive.”
“I sent a letter,” a third man chimed in. “If we can hold out for a week, they might be able to come help—”
Someone interrupted him. “I don’t think they’ll send people just to help out one small village. Even for a large city, it’s no simple matter to take on a dragon. It’s far more likely that they’ll watch and wait. They’re not going to needlessly send their own citizens to their deaths.”
A gloomy air hung over the room, and everyone’s face was steeped in despair. No one would be able to put up a proper fight like this.
“So waiting for aid is hopeless,” someone muttered. “We have to decide on a course of action, quick.”
“Taking down the dragon ourselves,” the mayor began, but then he noticed the two newcomers. “Oh, Kyle? And who’s that with you?”
“My name is Shannon.” She quickly bowed her head.
“Ah, the traveling mage,” the mayor surmised.
“Th-That’s right!” cried a young man in front of them. He turned around and sank to his knees, bowing his own head with a solemn look on his face. “Ms. Shannon, please! You have to help us!”
Shannon’s face scrunched up in bafflement. “H-Hold on. Please don’t do that.”
“Y-Your magic can do something against that dragon, right?” the young man said. “Please! You have to save the village!”
“I’ll do what I can,” Shannon replied. “You’ve all taken care of me, and besides, I like this place.”
“You will?! Th-Then we can—”
“You think you can stop it?!” the mayor bellowed. His booming voice rendered everyone else silent as they straightened up in surprise and turned to him.
“S-Sir...” someone said.
The mayor paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, traveler. Everyone is terrified. But this is our problem. I do not intend to cause you trouble.”
“But it’s really not a bother,” Shannon said softly.
“I assume you’re putting yourself out there because you’ve taken a liking to our village,” the mayor went on, heedless. “But even for a mage, taking on a dragon is not an easy task. The mages I’ve met in the past were terrible fighters; they were far better suited to curing illnesses and healing wounds. I don’t know if you’re the same, but just because you’re a mage doesn’t mean you can do anything you want. This is our problem. I can’t have a traveler like you putting your life on the line. I’m pleased to hear that you want to help, but you need to escape.”
The mayor turned toward his men. Everyone remained silent, listening to him.
“And who are we if we rely on others?” he asked. “Are you going to beg a little girl for help?”
“W-Well—” someone tried.
“We will defend our own village,” the mayor continued. “How can we face ourselves if we depend on the mighty whenever it’s convenient? We will survive this by our own power. It’s time to show our strength—and live through this.”
All around the room, the look in the men’s eyes changed.
“You... You’re right,” someone said. “We... We can do this!”
“Let’s do it!” another cried.
“That’s right! We’ll protect our village with our own hands!”
With a cheer, the atmosphere in the room was transformed. The raiding party’s morale was at its peak.
Shannon’s face contorted with mixed feelings as she watched the proceedings. “I really am willing to help,” she pointed out quietly. “Do you understand how strong a dragon is?”
“And I’m glad you feel that way. I’m glad you like this village,” the mayor replied with a fond smile. “But we don’t need help. You ought to get going. Come back someday when it’s quiet again, and we’ll be sure to give you a warm welcome.”
With that, he returned his focus to the strategy meeting. He wasn’t going to give Shannon or Kyle any room to speak.
Kyle murmured, “I w-wonder if things’ll be all right.”
“Yeah... Dragons are powerful,” Shannon replied, just as quiet.
Ultimately, Shannon was an outsider; they wouldn’t allow her to meddle without permission. The mayor had said his piece, and the villagers had their pride.
“Y-You know...” Kyle hesitated for a moment, his face pale as he chewed on his lip. “They’re going up against the dragon with only swords and spears...”
The village would fall unless the raiding party could defeat the dragon—and defeating the dragon seemed nigh impossible. Morale was high, but even so, every man in the room had a grim expression on his face. The difference in power between the two forces was clear.
“A dragon’s fangs are strong, and its claws are tough,” Shannon said. “It’d be almost impossible for mere guardsmen and hunters to contend with one.”
“Y-Yeah...”
“Besides, the fire from its maw could turn them into charcoal in an instant. Anything it ate would get thoroughly digested—”
Shannon abruptly stopped speaking.
“Ms. Shannon?” Kyle prompted, shooting her a questioning look. In an instant, Shannon’s expression had transformed. She no longer appeared worried about the village’s raid party or uncomfortable about having been rejected when she had offered her help.
She looked excited.
“Why didn’t I think of that before?!” she asked herself. Her eyes sparkled as if she was bursting with uncontrollable delight—as if she had found something she’d been looking for for days.
“Wh-What’s wrong?” Kyle asked hesitantly, an unpleasant inkling flashing through his mind.
Immediately, his hunch was proven right. “If the dragon eats me, I’ll—! Kyle, I’m going to the dragon!”
“What?! Wait, why?! What changed?!”
He reached out to try to stop Shannon, but she was even quicker than him, and she hurried out of the mayor’s house. Panicked, he rushed after her.
“W-Wait, Ms. Shannon! What are you thinking?!” he called. “They’re sending out the raiding party! What are you going to do all by yourself?!”
“I’m just going to see the dragon!”
“What are you talking about?!”
Shannon was so exultant that she barely took notice of Kyle’s utter bewilderment. “You need to run away!” she instructed. “This is goodbye, but I had fun with you! Be well!”
With that, she broke into a run.
He didn’t understand anything. In the blink of an eye, something had changed Shannon’s mood.
“What happened to you, Ms. Shannon?” he asked under his breath. “‘Be well...’ Wait, no!”
Kyle had saved her life. Could she be trying to repay him by going off to defeat the dragon by herself? With the mayor refusing her help as a mage and insisting she not involve herself, perhaps she intended, somehow, to save the village by going off alone, before the rest of them set out, to face off against the dragon?
That was suicide.
“There’s no way she can stop it,” he thought aloud. Even if Shannon was an incredibly skilled mage, fighting a dragon by herself was absurd! Besides, Kyle had never asked her to do something so monumental to protect the village. As much as he feared losing his home, he was more afraid of Shannon losing her life.
He could not afford to just stand around and wait.
“Ms. Shannon!” he called, breaking into a run, chasing her into the forest.