Chapter 21: Disenchant

「"Why!?"」

I couldn’t help but shout.

「“Why… why hasn’t it melted!?”」

Yes.
Even after we defeated Jack Frost and came back, Ai was still frozen.

「“That Jack Frost thing should be gone…”」

Even Nina, of all people, knit her brows, her voice hard.

「“Yeah. That much should be certain.”」

According to Nina, after I swallowed Jack Frost, its reaction vanished after a while. Even when she cast magic anew on the ice pillar enclosing Ai, there was no response, and the snow falling in the area had also disappeared.

Rather than assuming Jack Frost devised a countermeasure to detection magic, it makes more sense to think the magic’s effect is persisting even after it vanished.

But if that’s the case, what on earth should we do?

「“Sensei.”」

While we were gathered around Ai, at a loss, the one who arrived was Gai-san.

「“Gai-san… I’m sorry. Because of me, Ai…”」
「“Not Sensei’s… fault.”」

Shaking his head, Gai-san spoke in stumbling words.

「“But…”」
「“Sensei.”」

As I hung my head, wanting to disappear, Gai-san called to me in a strong tone.

「“Me, magic… not know well. Words… not good either.”」

Just as he said, Gai-san’s Japanese was clumsy.
But I could tell he was trying to convey something important, and I met his eyes seriously.

「“But… Ai, I know… a little.”」

He turned his gaze to Ai and gently touched the ice pillar.

「“This… Ai did herself, I think.”」
「“Herself? Why would she…?”」
「“To be with Sensei… always.”」

Gai-san’s simple words shocked me.
Because all the questions I’d had suddenly connected.

「“O thing hard as rock, yet clear as the wind. O thing cold as shadow, yet dazzling as light—thou remnant of water.”」

I intoned a spell.

Not at the pillar of ice encasing Ai, but at the ice inside the icehouse.

「“Tell me. The feelings you have heard; the words you have sealed within you.”」

In an instant, a torrent of words poured into me, and at last I understood everything.

The form of Jack Frost that only Ai and I knew in this world.
The place in the snowy mountains we visited together.
The cold magic used over and over in the icehouse.

I had guessed that Jack Frost’s manifestation was due to Ai’s magic. But I’d assumed it was more like a side effect of magic—an accident born of overuse.

But I was wrong.

Ai is a patient girl.
I’ve never once seen her airing complaints or grievances in front of others.

But that didn’t mean she had none.
I hadn’t understood that utterly obvious fact at all.

Jack Frost didn’t appear out of nowhere last night.
It had been in the icehouse all along, and Ai had been confiding her heart to it alone.

Then, seeing me refuse to accept her, it showed itself.
Jack Frost wasn’t running wild.
In its own way, it was faithfully trying to grant Ai’s wish.

「“…Ai.”」

I turned to the frozen Ai and set my hands against the ice pillar as if to cradle it.

Ai’s height would be about one hundred and sixty centimeters, I suppose.
My withers are around two meters, but because I let my long neck droop forward, my head is lower, putting her face right in front of my eyes.

Yes.
The eye level of the little girl who used to cling to my foreleg is now the same height as mine.

By contrast, my body has hardly grown at all.
It’s not that I won’t get any bigger—one look at my mother tells you that.
She’s more than ten times my current size.

Our lifespan is long. Overwhelmingly so.
Ai is already a fully matured woman, but in dragon terms I haven’t even finished my childhood yet. That’s the reality.

And so Ai has caught up to me in no time, passed me by, and will go on ahead to somewhere far away.

That thought hurt, and terrified me, so I pushed her away.
I pretended not to notice the feelings of a girl who adored me single-mindedly and earnestly.

And I had the nerve to say I wanted her to be happy.
The truth is, I was just scared and running away.

And Ai, understanding even a hopeless coward like me, chose to stay with me—going so far as to freeze herself.

「“…No.”」

A bare truth tumbled out.

But her magic is powerful, and probably only the one who cast it can undo it.
If so, then this spell may never melt.

…No.
There was one way.

Just as Ken called to me and drew forth flame, I could call to Ai and use her magic. The reason I can’t use ice magic at all is probably because I’m a red dragon. A creature that breathes fire just by breathing and turns springs into hot water just by soaking in them—of course an ice spirit wouldn’t like that.

But if the one I’m calling to is Ai…

「“…Ai.”」

The theory of the spells I devised is to rephrase the target by calling to its many facets.
Yet ignoring that completely, her name came out first, and I wracked my brain over how I ought to address her.

「“I… don’t want to spend forever together with you while you stay frozen.”」

Rambling, like a child throwing a tantrum, I strung words together.

「“The fish we ate together was so delicious.”」

No good spell came to mind at all; instead, only old memories kept surfacing.

「“Living in the same house with you and Nina was truly fun… though bathing together was embarrassing.”」

Ah, I see.
Suddenly, I realized.

Even this life where everyone can live in comfort now is thanks to you staying by my side all along.

I hadn’t understood magic at all till now.

「“Tomorrow, and the day after, and next year, and the year after that…”」

Why is it that the more you layer spells, the stronger they become?

「“I want to keep seeing your smile, forever and ever.”」

It’s because the feelings poured into them are being layered as well.

「“Come out to me, Ai.”」

I hugged the ice pillar tight.

「“I—love you.”」

In that instant—

the ice pillar suddenly lost its hardness, turned to water, and splashed down.

「“I—”」

With her voice trembling, Ai looked at me with moist eyes.

「“Me too, Sensei.”」
「“Ai!”」

Stifling the urge to throw my arms around her, I gently placed the fingers of my forefeet on both her shoulders.
She immediately dove into me, hugged my face tight, and softly pressed her lips to the spot between my brows.
Her soft warmth and sweet scent tickled my nostrils.

「“Congratulations, Aniki!”」

The blissful, heavenward feeling vanished in an instant under Dalga’s gravelly bellow.

Come to think of it—

I’d forgotten in the heat of the moment, but Dalga, Nina, Ken, and Gai-san were all watching. On top of that, the sun had risen, and a large portion of the villagers had gathered around us.

「“Man, I kept wondering when you two would finally stick together, and it took this long, huh.”」
「“Now… can rest easy.”」
「“Seriously, I thought it would take you years.”」
「“But for Sensei, this is him doing pretty well, isn’t it?”」
「“And to say ‘I love you’ in front of a crowd like this, huh.”」
「“Anyway, it’s a happy day, a happy day.”」
「“It’s happy, but it’s not happy…”」
「“Come on, come on, I’ll cheer you up.”」
「“Nina’s flat, so I’m good.”」
「“I’ll deck you.”」

The villagers egged each other on, saying whatever they pleased.

At that moment, from the bottom of my heart, I was glad I’d been born a red dragon.

Because my face couldn’t turn any redder than it already was.