When we passed through the gate and returned to Noa Island, the people who’d been standing in line were mostly gone. I looked over at Kon and saw that she’d created a green sphere with magic and was holding it with both paws.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
“I’m calling Lirin,” Kon replied.
Kon threw the sphere into the air. At first it looked unstable as it gently floated upward, but once it reached a height of about ten meters, it suddenly accelerated and disappeared into the sky.
I really should tell Mom before we go on a sightseeing trip with Lirin, or she might be mad when she finds out. I didn’t want it to be like the time I’d set out to get the orichalcum, so I sent her an email.
“So why did Joachim marry a cat sith?” Alice asked me. “I thought they were persecuted where he’s from.”
“I asked him about that same thing,” I replied.
“Tell me!”
I shared the story that his wife Miinya had told me. “When Joachim was still young and in training, he met Miinya after injuring himself in a forest. He was hungry, wounded, and close to death. Fortunately for him, Miinya happened to pass by.”
“It’s a good thing she wanted to save him. They don’t like humans much, do they?”
“No. But she didn’t want to just leave him there to die. She was carrying a magic remedy, so she poured it into his mouth, and she was about to leave him there... but then a monster appeared in front of her.”
I was putting a lot of feeling into telling the story, and Alice and Kon were holding each other as they listened.
They were acting just like this back in Alice’s room. I guess these two liked hearing stories.
“Miinya was too scared to move, but then she heard a sound from behind her and turned to see that, despite his injuries, the remedy had healed Joachim enough for him stand and draw his sword.”
“And then?! What happened to them?”
“Joachim stepped in front of Miinya and fought the monster to protect her. After a difficult battle, he somehow defeated it. And that was how they met.”
“Wow, Joachim is amazing.”
Well, this is a story I heard from his wife, so it’s probably exaggerated. The next part is all about how he singlehandedly defeated a swarm of monsters attacking a cat sith village. It’s like a heroic fairy tale about overcoming danger and finally getting married after many twists and turns. And when you consider that she shared the story with me in exchange for dried fish, it’s not very believable.
I wasn’t sure how to tell Alice the truth of the matter, so I decided to stay quiet about the dried fish. Then a magic circle appeared in the sky.
“It’s so pretty...” Alice said. “Is this magic?”
“Yes.” Kon’s tail waved proudly back and forth as she produced the text. “I can’t use it myself yet, but this is transportation magic used by the dragon race.”
It was a long time since I’d seen magic. I forgot how impressive it was to see a massive magic circle appear in midair.
As I gazed at the circle, a white dragon slowly emerged and flew overhead before landing in front of us.
“Kon, Kouki, it has been a while. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”
“Konn, konkonkonn. Konkon?”
“No, not at all. Would the three of you like to ride on my back as I fly around this area?”
I understood nothing Kon said, but she must have asked Lirin to let us ride her.
Lirin lowered her beautiful wings to the ground and said, “Please, climb onto my back.”
“Thank you for letting us ride you, Lirin,” I said to her. “I’ll climb on right now, if you’re sure it’s okay.”
“Lirin, thank you for agreeing to this. I know it was selfish of me to ask,” Alice said.
“Kon!”
Although Alice and I said thank you before climbing on her back, Kon haughtily climbed on and made herself at home for some reason.
I really need teach her about restraint and modesty...
Alice must have had the same thought. She poked Kon’s cheek and told her off for behaving so arrogantly.
“I’m about to take off,” Lirin warned us before flapping her wings.
Noa Island rapidly grew small in the corner of my eye while I gazed at Alice, who was sitting beside me. I’d never seen her look so happy.
“Aren’t you glad, Alice? You’re on the back of a dragon, just like you dreamed.”
“Yeah! It’s amazing. We’re flying so high and so fast.”
Seeing Alice so excited made me grin, too.
“Did you finish talking to Lirin, Kon?” I asked. “You said you had something to ask her.”
“Yes, I did. Though I didn’t learn what I want to know.”
Kon looked lonely as she walked toward me with her text floating in the air. It was enough to make Alice stop humming to herself and look at Kon with concern.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “If something is bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”
“You can always talk to me, too,” Alice added.
“Marvelus gave me a box that I can’t open. Mother said it’s an item from a house in this world, but there’s some magic on it, and no one can open it.”
I was still reading the text when Kon took a box from a magic circle that was about the same size as her and showed it to us. It looked just like a treasure chest from a typical fantasy world. When I looked at it more closely, I noticed there were ornate engravings all over its surface.
If these things are like the magic circles that appear when using magic, then it’s going to take some fairly complex magic to activate it all.
I studied the engravings by tracing my finger over them. Alice became interested and reached out to touch the box in the same way. As soon as her finger contacted the box, there was a flash of blue light and the lid opened.
“Kon?! Kyuu... kyuun.”
“What happened? Are you all right?!” Alice asked Kon, who suddenly burst into tears.
Large tears ran down Kon’s face as she clutched the box to her chest, her body shaking. I felt something wasn’t right, so I tried to take the box away from Kon, but then I heard the faint sound of music.
“Kouki, do you hear that?”
“I hear it. It sounds like a music box.”
The faint sound of music was coming from the box that Kon was holding. Does this music have some sort of meaning to Kon?
I petted her head and asked her in a gentle voice. “Have you heard this music before?”
“It’s a lullaby passed down by the dragon race. And the magic from the box is similar to my own. This must be my mother’s magic.”
This music box must have been created by Kon’s mother. She passed away before Kon was born, so this must be the first time Kon has ever felt her mother’s kindness.
“I’m happy for you,” I told Kon, who was still holding the music box. “Make sure you treasure it.”
She was still crying as she replied with a loud and happy sounding “Kon!”