The injured dragon seemed to hold the key to finding Simone.
Although we were eager to act immediately after Felix-san shared the details, the darkness of night made the search too risky. We had no choice but to wait until morning.
――At the first light of dawn, we moved into the forest.
「According to the report, the dragon was seen flying in from the north.」
「The north, huh…」
The northernmost point of the continent, Rodan Kingdom, came to mind.
But that icy land, perpetually covered in snow and frost, seemed like an unlikely origin for a dragon.
If not Rodan, then perhaps somewhere along the way—there had to be a place where dragons lived.
As we studied the map while trekking through the forest, Charlotte suddenly spoke up.
「Ara? This… Yabel Valley…」
Her gaze lingered on the map, her tone tinged with familiarity.
「Do you know something about it?」
「I-I can’t be certain if it’s relevant, but… I believe there were sightings of a dragon in this valley some time ago.」
「Really?」
「Yes. My father was planning to pass through this valley on his way to a neighboring kingdom. However, upon hearing about the sighting, he abruptly changed his route…」
Wait, what? That sounds like a major lead!
「Why didn’t you mention this earlier?!」
「I-I would have if I’d remembered sooner! The name just now jogged my memory, that’s all!」
Memories triggered by familiar names—happens to all of us.
But still, this was a big deal.
「So, Simone encountered the dragon that flew out of Yabel Valley… and vanished with it?」
Piecing it together, the situation pointed in that direction, though we lacked definitive proof.
As we deliberated our next move, something unexpected happened.
「Areh… this place…」
We suddenly realized we had wandered into a familiar spot—the place where we first met Simone.
It was here, hidden among the fallen trees, that she had watched us cautiously from the shadows.
「I remember now! Kiara shouted, and Simone ran away in fright!」
「W-Well, what did you expect? I’d never seen a dragonkin before!」
Kiara protested indignantly.
As nostalgia settled over us, a loud voice broke through.
「Hey, everyone! Over there!」
Ailia pointed toward the fallen trees.
Startled, we all turned to look—and what we saw left us speechless.
「Is that… a girl?」
Leaning against the fallen logs, we found a young girl asleep.
She appeared to be around Hanon’s age, perhaps ten years old.
But what truly caught our attention was the striking green tail curled behind her.
Not quite beastkin… something different.
「Could she be… a dragonkin?」
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