He shook with rage. He tensed up to the very tip of his tail, and his face went red. Theft was his thing.
But even if the mini-dragon had wings, it couldn’t escape from the monkeys’ forest. The caper monkey howled at the top of his lungs, ordering the forest to take back the mini-dragon’s bag and show them a world of pain too.
∗ ∗ ∗
As it clutched the bag it had retrieved from the caper monkey, a strange feeling was running through the mini-dragon’s head.
Do your best. I’m rooting for you. I know how amazing you are.
This had been what it was told when it first set off on this journey.
It had to hold on to and protect the bag. When the mini-dragon had been attacked by monsters and lost the bag, it had been so scared that it tried to forget all about the bag. But it just couldn’t. It wanted to live up to the expectations of the person who’d told it that it was amazing.
This bag is sure to hold many words in the future. Your wings may be small, but on them, you’ll cross seas and perhaps even countries.
This bag will be filled to bursting with words, and you’re going to deliver them, he’d told it. This had made the mini-dragon feel a strange sense of pride. Right now, it was just a cowardly mini-dragon. But with this bag, it wouldn’t be a weak monster anymore. It felt like it could become something stronger.
∗ ∗ ∗
As the mini-dragon firmly clutched the bag, the tree branches and vines rapidly climbed up to grab it. The mini-dragon’s wings, which had been frozen as stiff as ice, gradually melted free.
Escaping from the plants that the caper monkeys manipulated was easy. The mini-dragon flipped over its falling body and flew straight ahead. The caper monkey laughed at it as if to say What are you trying now?
“Eek-eek, eek-eek...?!”
His easygoing expression quickly changed to one of shock.
Behind the mini-dragon, another one of Tee’s fireballs approached. This gigantic fireball was even more charged-up and was rapidly gaining speed as the wind boosted it. It was hot enough to sear the mini-dragon’s tail. When it had heard the strategy, the mini-dragon had shook its head and insisted it couldn’t do it. But Tee had told it that it was possible. At that time, Tee’s eyes had looked like his.
The caper monkeys shrieked and moved the trees with a rustle, running away so that they wouldn’t get burned.
Now! the mini-dragon said with a mustered cry. A section of the ivy which formed a dome around the sky hurriedly opened a hole to let the fireball escape outside. The mini-dragon flew through it faster than the fireball.
It was like everything had turned to light.
Its vision had gone totally white. Within this space, the mini-dragon dreamed again.
The species known as mini-dragons couldn’t fight, so they didn’t really deserve the name “dragon.” The reason they were the only kind of monster working for the postal service was due to their unparalleled aerial velocity.
However, they were unable to attain the necessary speeds while they were juveniles. In many cases, they were preyed on by other monsters. That was why humans protected the young mini-dragons and coexisted with them.
The mini-dragons were glad to have a place to put their speed to use and enjoyed delivering bags as fast as they could. They had many friends as well. However, while this was the most natural thing in the world for the rest of its kindred, this particular individual was terrified to death of the job.
What if it was attacked by monsters? What if it couldn’t deliver a letter? Most of all, it was terrified of betraying the trust of the person who’d said it would be okay.
You really are a scaredy-cat, came a weary but warm voice as the mini-dragon whimpered, “Pii pii.” It’s a shame, since you have such exceptional speed. I’ve never had a mini-dragon this small take the test before. Nobody can catch up to you when you fly your fastest, Piana. I know that one day, you’ll be the absolute fastest mini-dragon in the whole of the Dragon Postal Service.
The light waned.
The mini-dragon regained focus and turned its body with force. A moment later, the fireball burst in the sky.
Its heart was pounding so hard that it hurt. It clutched the bag even tighter and looked up.
It was under a clear blue sky.
“Piyahhh...”
The victory condition for this brawl was to steal back the bag from the boss monkey. The mini-dragon had just escaped from the forest with the bag in its possession.
When Tee had explained the strategy, it had told the mini-dragon to get away as fast as it could. The mini-dragon wasn’t worried about leaving them behind. On the contrary, it would’ve just gotten in their way if it had hung around. Now the question was just whether it could move the right way like Tee had instructed.
The mini-dragon’s whole body melded into the blue of the sky. It noticed that it was shaking all over—not from fear, but from overflowing joy that it had succeeded, that it too was capable. It was filled with a baseless feeling that from now on, no matter what happened, it would be okay.
No, I shouldn’t be thinking about this. Right now, I have to get away, the mini-dragon thought. But just as it was about to flap its wings...
“P-Pikyaaa?!”
Losing focus right after getting out had been a bad move. Vines had tangled around the mini-dragon’s legs while it wasn’t paying attention and were tugging it, trying to pull it back into the forest.