Without any further ado, welcome back to the story, Dear Readers!
A few hours had passed since Wataru had been called upon by the king himself and tasked with hunting down a dragon!!!!! After packing up for their journey, Wataru and Aria swiftly made their way out of the Sky Kingdom’s capital! The first destination on their roadtrip was the village where the dragon had last been spotted just a few days ago!!
“Wataru... Are you sure about this? You agreed to slay a dragon like it was nothing.” There was a great deal of exasperation in Aria’s voice while they walked along the road leading to the aforementioned village!
“You bet I did! I get to fight a dragon!?!? My hot blood’s pumping faster than ever before!!”
Aria countered with a frown and a pout! “Listen here, Wataru. Just like the King said, the dragon is incredibly more powerful than any Joe Shmoe monster around. It apparently defeated even the Demon Lord Deus once!”
Correct-o-mundo! Rumor had it that the Demon Lord Deus had once challenged the dragon in an attempt to make it join his ranks! The most-assuredly-fearsome battle only ended when the Demon Lord gave up on defeating the dragon and retreated! This anecdote alone was a powerful testament to the might of the dragon’s powers!
“Hmph... Bring it on! The stronger the enemy, the more it fires me up!” Wataru declared with a dauntless grin! Not a shade of fear was on his face!
Aria finally relented! “Well, I don’t think you’ll ever change, Wataru...”
Another hour had passed before the pair arrived at a small village located a few miles east of the Sky Kingdom capital! This was the very place where the dragon had been spotted, just the other day! But... as Wataru gazed over the village before him, he was lost for words!
“Wh-What’s going on!?!?!?!?!?” he shouted!
The village, horrifically, had burned to the ground!! Every single house in the village had been charred extra-well-done! Great gouges had been torn in the ground! A pall of smoke hung over the village, and the occasional wisp of flame licked up out of the rubble!!! Despite the sky being otherwise cloudless, the ash and smoke blocked out the sun, leaving the village darkened as if it was trapped under a gloomy storm cloud! It was more than a full day since the dragon had attacked the village, but the ferocious scars it had left behind were much too fresh and vivid!
“Wh-What, are we on Fury Road...!?!?” Wataru muttered! O, the terror of the dragon! They had never expected it to burn down an entire village!
“According to the king, the villagers have been evacuated to another city...”
“So there were no casualties, then! Lucky us!!”
“Yes, but this is horrible... We can hardly breathe in this thick smoke,” Aria said with a groan, covering her mouth and nose with her hand!
Wataru tightly clenched his fists and turned his eyes to the ground!
“What’s wrong, Wataru?
“Rr-Rragh...!”
Plop...! Plop, plop...!
Before he knew it, Wataru was crying super-manly tears! His lips quivered as waterfalls of macho tears rolled down his cheeks!!
“That dragon... That monster’s evil incarnate...! Burning down an entire village...!? What did the poor villagers ever do to it...!?!?” At this very moment, Wataru made an oath to the manly tears rolling down his face! No matter what, at any cost, he would defeat the dragon!! With that conquest, he will restore peace to the lives of these poor people!!! “The dragon couldn’t have gotten far!! We’re going to hunt it down, Aria!!”
“Okay!” Aria energetically agreed!
Wataru looked up and spotted a familiar figure at the edge of the blinding cloud of ash and smoke! He pointed at the figure, unable to hold back a roar of joy! “Oh!!!!!!!!!! It’s you!!!!!!!!!!”
The figure had an attractive face, and silky, long, blue hair! It was wearing an unmistakable suit of spiky, black, full armor! That’s right, Dear Readers, it was Résistance!
“Hm? Is that... Wataru and Aria!?” It was indeed Résistance, who widened her eyes in astonishment as she recognized the pair!
“Long time no see!!” Wataru cried!! “How many years has it been!?!?”
“Just about a day,” she answered! After Wataru defeated the Demon Lord, Résistance had departed from them on a journey of self-improvement and rigorous training... And now, after a mere 24 hours, they were reunited! I, for one, want my tears back!!
“It’s been so long, Résistance!” Aria said with a brimming smile!
“It’s been. One. Day.” Résistance insisted in confusion!
“So glad to see you again, Résistance! Have you gotten taller since we last saw you!?”
“Of course not. It’s only been a day. How much taller do you get in a day?”
“Oh, right! I should give this back!” Completely ignoring her response, Wataru took off the necklace he had been wearing and handed it to Résistance! This necklace depicted a snake wrapped around a cross. Résistance had given it to Wataru when she left, telling him to “hold onto it until we meet again!”
“R-Right...” Résistance awkwardly accepted the necklace! “H-How should I put this...? Isn’t this sort of transaction supposed to take place in a more... dramatic situation?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it! It’s not our fault we met again in a day!”
“You’re right, but... It just feels strange. We parted ways like ‘See you again someday,’ and here we are the very next day.”
“Setting that aside, Résistance, what are you doing here?” Aria curiously asked.
Résistance was glad to have a chance to change the subject! “Well, I heard a dragon has appeared around here... I thought I’d take on a dragon as part of my self-improvement regiment.”
“I see!”
“I see, too!”
Wataru and Aria answered, turning to each other!!
“We came here to find the dragon, too!” Wataru said!
“Oh, really?”
“After the king learned of Wataru defeating Deus the Demon Lord, He requested that we hunt down the dragon!” Aria proudly boasted! Of course, it was a great honor to have the king of a nation make a request himself!
Résistance crossed her arms, impressed! “That’s quite impressive! A direct request from the king!”
“Yeah!” Wataru said! “But... It looks like we were a little late!”
“Looks like it,” Résistance concurred, gazing out at the burnt-down village before adding: “but I actually came across a traveling merchant nearby. According to him, the dragon flew towards a mountain north of here.”
“Woah, for real!? Then let’s go! You’re coming, right!?!?” Wataru demanded!
Résistance’s mouth formed a gleaming smirk! “Of course!”
And so, Résistance, who had departed the protagonist’s party in the tear-jerker finale of Volume One, had miraculously and conveniently rejoined the party a few pages into Chapter One of Volume Two! We don’t waste time with subtlety around here! The familiar trio of Wataru, Aria, and Résistance headed full-speed to the north, towards the mountain where the dragon had apparently flown off to...!!