At night, Luna returned home with the wolf pups, and Zelos and Merlyn each went back to their homes. That left Reina and I as the only ones still in the house.
“It sure is quiet at night, even though it was so noisy during the day,” Reina said.
“Yeah... We used to hear a lot of monsters at night too, but lately they don’t come near here,” I replied.
“It’s your fault— I mean, it’s thanks to you, Arata.”
“Don’t you think calling it my ‘fault’ is too harsh?”
“I corrected myself, didn’t I?”
I enjoyed these vague, unimportant exchanges. I had only met Reina after reincarnating on this island, so we hadn’t even known each other for that long yet. But the tempo and mood of our conversations just clicked, and I liked being with her.
“By the way, I haven’t seen Tailtiu lately. I wonder what she’s doing,” I said.
“Oh, now that you mention it, you’re right. Also... It seemed like Wilhelmina was coming to pester us what seemed like every night for a while, but I haven’t seen her either.”
We both fell silent. It had only been a few days, but once I realized that their near daily visits had completely stopped, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Reina seemed to feel the same, and her expression was somewhat tense.
It was one thing for Tailtiu, but Mina’s absence felt awfully sinister—she was definitely up to no good behind our backs.
“Do you think that maybe, they’re scheming something...” Reina’s voice trailed off.
“I-It’ll be all right, Reina. I’m pretty sure Tailtiu and Mina don’t even know each other.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”
Mina was the queen of the night, and Tailtiu was the ruler of the sky. The latter was also a descendant of Bahamut, who was especially powerful even compared to other Ancient Dragons, which meant that she possessed a strength that was no less impressive than her fellow descendants. Both she and Mina were a cut above the other paramounts on this island. Even so, I was sure they didn’t have any opportunities to associate. The reason was simple:
“Tailtiu can’t stay up late,” I said.
“You’re right. She always seems drowsy by the time it gets dark, and she falls asleep before Wilhelmina comes here.”
“Yeah, so it should be all right...”
We each tried to dispel our uneasiness by repeating what the other was saying.
But then, as if to laugh at our efforts, Mina came the following day—and unlike usual, it was in broad daylight.
✦ ✦ ✦
“How’s it going, you two? Wonderful weather we’re having!”
“Hey, Arata? Could you just fling her away from here as hard as you can?”
“She’ll probably just come back like nothing happened.”
“I see... She’s as much of a nuisance as ever.” At a loss, Reina sighed. She must have really found Mina hard to deal with.
Of course, that only made Mina enjoy tormenting her all the more. Even now, she was coming over to us with a somewhat evil look on her face.
“Whoa there, I can hear you. You’re so cruel. I came all this way just to mess with you, you know.”
“I hope you realize that what you’re saying is already quite cruel.”
She didn’t say she was here to mess around with us, just to mess with us. That definitely hadn’t been a mistake—her nasty smirk made that clear.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she said. “Besides, you’re the one who asked me to come during the day next time.”
“I guess I did say that...”
“So, as promised, here I am. You’re welcome.”
Actually, when I’d asked her to come during the day, she had instantly refused, so there was no promise or anything of the sort. She was a hopeless contrarian.
“I don’t think Luna or anyone else is going to come today,” I said.
“I know. That’s why I’m here.”
I paused. “Why?”
No, seriously, why?
I mean, it wasn’t like Luna and Mina were on bad terms or anything. Elga really hated her, but even so, I’d once heard that Livia felt indebted to her.
“Oh, I just thought that what I’m about to do might be a bit too stimulating for children’s eyes.”
The moment Mina finished speaking, I sensed a tremendous presence up in the sky, and I knew what it was.
“Umm, Arata?” Reina said. “Why did you pick me u—”
“Reina! I’m going to get away from here for a bit, so don’t accidentally bite your tongue!”
“Huh? Wha—”
While supporting Reina’s back and legs, I broke into a sprint while reducing the shock to her as much as possible. At the same time, I heard a roar coming from behind.
“GROOOAAAAR!”
“A-Arata... Is that Tailtiu?!”
“Yeah. I didn’t see her, but I can tell that it’s her. But, it doesn’t seem like she’s quite in her right mind.”
I moved a considerable distance away from the house before stopping for a moment and letting Reina down. Turning around, I saw Tailtiu in her black dragon form racing through the sky toward us.
“What do you think of that?” I asked.
“I think Wilhelmina did something she really shouldn’t have!”
“Tell me about it!”
Maybe it was all in good fun for Mina, but Tailtiu had clearly lost her senses. What in the world could have happened to make her like that?
“Anyway, I’ll stop her, so move away,” I said.
“Yes... I don’t think I need to worry about you, but still, don’t get hurt, okay?”
“Got it. I’m not sure what it’ll take to harm this body of mine, but I’ll be careful.”
Just as Reina made her escape, Tailtiu rapidly plunged to the ground. The gale produced by the explosive energy of her descent shook the surrounding trees.
On this island, I was often on the receiving end of a massive creature’s assault. At first it was a bit scary, but I had gotten used to it lately and no longer felt any fear.
“GROOOOAAAAR!”
“Hey, Tailtiu... I don’t know what happened, but let’s just calm down, okay?”
Tailtiu came closer. In response, I spread my arms and stood ready to receive her. Her jet black body glittered with light and she dove into my embrace in her usual, girl form.
“Groooar.”
“There, there, Tailtiu.”
Like always, she wrapped her arms around my waist and cutely nuzzled her head up against me.
“Groar...”
It seemed like she had lost some of her higher reasoning, but I couldn’t sense any intent to harm me. Her affection was just more intense than usual. Of course, I hadn’t felt any hostility from the start and knew she just wanted to hug me, so her attitude didn’t surprise me. I had only left the area because her flapping her wings could have damaged the house.
“Groooaar.”
“Huh... She may not be in her right mind, but she’s acting the same as always...”
She desperately tightened her grasp, like a child reluctant to part from its parents. Pretty much the only difference from usual was that she wasn’t happily saying, “Darliiing!”
What in the world did Mina do to make her like this? I thought.
I continued to pet Tailtiu’s head, and she soon calmed down considerably. She was cute like this, and it felt like playing with a big dog.
“Are you all right, Arata?” Reina asked.
“Yeah, I’m completely fine. It’s just that Tailtiu’s different from usual, so I can’t ask her what happened.”
“I’m guessing Wilhelmina did this?”
“I think you’re exactly right.”
As we had the same conversation as earlier, we each nodded with confidence.
I couldn’t just leave Tailtiu in this state forever. I picked her up under each of her arms and looked her in the face. She was wearing a satisfied smile.
“Gwaahh.”
“Mina’s got some explaining to do.”
“Still, Tailtiu somehow seems innocent, and even kind of cute like this,” Reina said.
“But Tailtiu’s always cute.”
“It’s a different genre of cuteness. Her haughty manner of speaking coupled with her appearance is definitely cute, but I also like the way she’s being so needy right now.”
Reina’s surprisingly fond of cute things. Does she not say this kind of thing to Tailtiu normally because she finds it embarrassing?
“Anyway, we can’t just leave her like this forever, so why don’t we head back?” I said.
“You’re right... Hey, Arata, do you think I can pet her?” Reina extended a hand, and Tailtiu huffily turned her head away.
“Groar.”
“It doesn’t look like it,” I said.
“Too bad.”
Well, this was weird, but it doesn’t look to be anything serious, so that’s good. Now, I’ll get Mina to tell me why this is happening. If her explanation is too mean, I think I’ll scold her for once. Not that she’s going to listen to a word of what I have to say, but still.
This was the beginning of a different, and somewhat unusual, day.