「How was that, little brother? Give me your honest thoughts」
「Something amazing, huh」
「Show a little more vocabulary」
I don’t know. Amazing things are just amazing, what else can I say?
The subordinates who drove off the dragon were checking each other for injuries.
Wait? They don’t use magic for healing wounds?
「Healing magic? That needs massive magic power, so it’s impossible without preparing a large-scale array」
「Why?」
「Ah～ That’s… what was it again, Frea?」
Don’t just dump it on her!
Frea-san, suddenly called on, hurried over looking flustered.
「On this continent, the only person who might be able to use healing magic individually is probably the captain. It requires an enormous amount of magic power anyway. The reason it needs so much is… magic power isn’t suited for healing in the first place. As the saying goes, it’s a force without fixed shape, basically meant for hurting others. So, when used for healing, multiple layers of formulas must be woven to carefully prevent harm before applying it」
「Thank you for the explanation」
「Not at all. I’ll get back to work」
She bowed politely and returned to her duties.
The tiny leftover idiot was walking around normally, checking on the subordinates too. Looks like she’s working.
「Convinced?」
「More like… I get the logic」
「That’s enough. Don’t think deeper than that」
That’s why everyone accepts the story that my memory got messed up from the large-scale array used for my 「serious illness」.
They understand how dangerous it is, only someone with that much power could do it individually.
Suddenly I got blasted away with incredible force and rolled across the ground.
Ouch, ouch. Feels like I scraped everywhere.
Only my idiot aniki would do something like this!
I jumped up in anger, and saw him flying through the air after taking a hit.
Huh?
He dragged his back across the ground with a rough scrape, but his eyes stayed locked on one spot as he readied his sword.
At the end of his gaze… was a creature like a two-legged dinosaur without wings.
That’s a dragon too. Even seeing it for the first time, I somehow knew.
Dragons come in all kinds of shapes.
The dragon let out a shrill 「Kweee」 roar and charged straight at my brother.
He twisted his body, rolled across the ground to dodge by a hair, then sprang up using the momentum.
「There should be a fence!」
「That type sometimes jumps over them」
「…」
My brother fell silent after the idiot’s retort.
Hey, hey. Don’t throw rocks like a kid just because someone pointed out your mistake.
「Everyone, surround it and deal with it. When it gets tired, open a gap in one direction and let it escape」
「「Got it!」」
The subordinates moved without hesitation at Mische’s orders.
That girl… she’s not just claiming to be a knight. She really is one.
I somehow managed to stand up too, then suddenly sensed it and looked behind me.
An indescribable, warm, heavy air.
Wrapped in that air, slipping between the trees… was the snake-like dragon we drove off earlier.
『I couldn’t see it from the shadows!』
The excuse arrived before the warning.
Ah, this… it’s definitely on a direct collision course.
They say everything slows down the moment a human is about to die.
I could clearly see each wriggling scale on the dragon.
It doesn’t need to open its mouth that wide… I can see every tiny fang!
Getting chomped by those would hurt like crazy.
Last time I died, it was carbon monoxide poisoning while asleep, so I don’t remember much.
But pain is bad. Suffering is bad. More than anything,
「Noie…」
Not being able to see her again would be the worst.
The dragon’s jaws snapped shut with a loud clack.
-0-
Huh? Wait? It doesn’t hurt? Whoa!
Right in front of me was the dragon. Definitely there. Mouth closed, hovering in mid-air.
But the scariest part… was Noie gripping its tail tightly.
Wait～? Am I imagining it, or is her ahoge puffed up like an angry cat’s tail?
Cold sweat wouldn’t stop. I had no idea why, but this felt seriously bad.
「E」
Words stuck in my throat. But squeeze them out!
「Everyone, get down!」
I yelled while throwing myself to the ground.
Then something totally indescribable happened.
Yeah. How do I even describe it? Like swinging a towel with one arm at full power? Normally that wouldn’t peel skin off a living creature, right?
Ah, she switched to the next target.
Whoa… full-power head slam into the ground followed by a soccer kick.
Squish, minced meat ready.
With flowing, graceful movements, Noie turned both dragons into something that definitely needed mosaics.
She spun around toward me.
「Arg-sama. Are you okay?」
「Yeah. Thank you」
She stepped closer with soft patters, then tilted her head slightly toward me.
What? If this is a headbutt, my face would shatter in one hit.
Height-wise… this, maybe?
I reached out and gently stroked her head.
After a while, she let out a soft 「Hmm」 breath, looking quietly satisfied.
Her ahoge swayed happily back and forth, clearly in a great mood.
But everyone around us… why are they staring at this married couple’s affection like they just saw a horror movie?
At the very least, thanks to Noie, I’m alive right now.
「Thank you, Noie」
If head pats make her this happy, it’s the cheapest reward ever.
I’ve petted dozens, hundreds of stray cats, I’ll show her my serious skills.
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