Chapter 17: Pioneer/Senior

「The king awaits you here. …Do not commit any discourtesy.」
「Yes, thank you for guiding us.」

After I thanked the spear-bearing soldier who’d just driven the warning home, the massive double doors swung open.
An austere yet imposing stone-built audience chamber. Its beauty made me involuntarily catch my breath.

A red carpet signifying nobility ran across the floor, and spear-bearing soldiers stood in long rows to left and right.

And on the innermost throne, the king was seated.

Set against the gigantic throne, his build was surprisingly small. Yet even to an amateur’s eye he was well-honed and brimming with strength. With a grim, dignified face, he looked down at us.

「It is a great honor to be granted an audience, Your Excellency.」
「…You lot, withdraw.」

As I knelt and offered my greeting, the soldiers gave brief acknowledgments and filed out of the chamber with disciplined precision.
An impressive display of order.

「So then… what business brings you here this time?」
「Yes. Before I explain that, may I first ask one thing?」
「Mm. You may.」

As the king nodded grandly, I rose to my feet and rolled my neck around.

「…This way of talking really knots up my shoulders and I’m not used to it, so mind if I stop?」
「I’ve gotten fairly used to it. …That said—」

The king answered without rebuking my impudent tone.

「Rin looks about at her limit too, so let’s drop it, Sensei.」

With the same expression I remembered, the lizardman king—Sig—smiled.


* * *


「Because Sig was using suuuper weird language, and the mood was like I wasn’t allowed to laugh, so I was holding it in so hard! I think I did great! If I were still a kid I totally would’ve pointed and laughed!」
「Yeah, that’s the kind of person you were. I guess we’ve both grown up.」

We moved from the audience chamber to a guest room; Sig, half exasperated but pleased, said that to Rin as she rattled on. In the meantime his wife, Honoo-san, poured tea. As ever, she’s an excellent wife… mm, this tea is really good. A faint sweetness and exquisite bitterness—indescribable. I’ll ask her the recipe later.

「The last time we met was when Yuuki died… so it’s been almost a hundred years, huh.」
「It’s a bit far out here. I see Luka and Violet-san from time to time though—the two of them are doing well.」

Sig murmured with deep feeling.
In that hundred years, the lizardmen’s way of life had changed greatly.
Once cave-dwellers on the mountainsides, they now had stone houses, bore arms, and had built a strict hierarchy. And the one who taught them that knowledge, united many tribes, and became king—was Sig.

「Yuuki?」

Reacting to the name so like her own, Yuuka popped her head out.

「Whoa! Yuuki!? Why are you here!?」

Apparently he hadn’t noticed the small child’s presence; seeing her face, Sig was genuinely shocked.
…Well, yeah, can’t blame him.

「Nope. I’m not Yuuki, I’m Yuuka.」

Yuuka wasn’t particularly offended; she shook her head.
Violet-san and Luka had said the same thing to her, so she was probably used to it by now.

「Yu… Yuuka?」
「Uh-huh. Amata’s… um, grandchild’s, grandchild’s child… maybe?」

She’s the child of Yutaka, who’s the child of Ataka, who’s the child of Asaka, who’s the child of Asata, who’s the child of Amata… yeah, that should be right.

「…Humans really do turn generations fast. Still, I’m surprised. You’re the spitting image of Yuuki when we first met.」
「Really? Do we look that much alike?」
「We don’t, right?」

With Yuuka sitting on her lap, Rin hugged her and they nodded to each other with a “right?”
But she was the only one saying that. For anyone who’d known Yuuki, it was impossible not to notice—Yuuka was the spitting image of Yuuki as a child. Let her short hair grow out a bit and tie it in twin tails, and aside from the long ears they’d be two peas in a pod.

Well, they’re distantly related by blood, so it isn’t that strange they’d resemble each other. Even now, every so often a giant man the spitting image of Dalga is born into the Sword Clan.

「What, did you come all this way just to startle bo—me?」
「No, Yuuka just tagged along for fun. The real reason is Rin.」
「Eh, me?」

At my words, Rin blinked in puzzlement.
It’s true I brought her without much explanation, but how does she not get it?

「…Rin’s researching a spell to transform into a dragon, but it isn’t going well. Sig, you can at least turn your arms into wings and go dragon-like, right? I was hoping you might have any pointers.」
「This one, into a dragon?」

Forced to explain in her stead, I did so; Sig stared at Rin with a dubious look.

「Hmph… I see.」

Then, after gazing at her for a while and nodding,

「Sensei, there’s no way she can become a dragon.」

He declared it flatly.

「Why not—?」

As a child she’d never cared, but even Rin looked miffed at such a peremptory rejection.

「Well… there are various reasons. For example, the only reason I can turn my arms into wings is because they’re the same thing to begin with. Homologous organs, right? That’s what you call them?」
「That’s right.」

I nodded, thinking it remarkable he remembered a phrase I’d only tossed out once in passing.

「Back then you said we’re members of the six-limbed kind. Even among six-limbed types, I think the skeletons split into two: four legs plus two arms like Luka, and two legs plus four arms like us. By that count, mermaids are four legs plus two arms in the lower body—waist fin and tail fin. Dragons are two legs plus four arms in the upper body—forelegs and wings—so it’s a long way for her to transform to that.」

At his logical explanation I inwardly clicked my tongue in admiration. If he weren’t a king, I’d scout him as a teacher on the spot.

「But, Sig. I’m a six-limbed dragon who can transform into a four-limbed human. Doesn’t that make it mostly irrelevant?」
「You’re the exception, Sensei. You’re a dragon and a human to begin with. It’s less transforming than switching… but sure, that part probably isn’t the real problem. It’s just difficult—it isn’t what makes it impossible.」

Then why, that is.

「It’s simple. Rin’s missing the single most necessary thing for using magic.」

As if reading my thoughts, Sig answered.

「You—deep down you don’t actually want to be a dragon, do you.」
「Huh? Why would you say that?」

That “why” wasn’t “how did you figure it out,” but “why would you say such a thing.”

「You’re not even aware of it, huh. …Then tell me this: why do you want to be a dragon in the first place?」

Sighing in exasperation at Rin’s manner, Sig asked.

「Why… because dragons are strong.」
「Right. Dragons are strong. But that’s because they’re dragons—not because they look like dragons.」

Sig flicked a glance at me.
He was right—most fundamentally, what supports my strength is the sheer magnitude of my mana. Dragon breath is an exception, but the other spells don’t differ much in output whether I use them in human form or dragon form.
Even if Rin could take on a dragon’s shape, she wouldn’t suddenly be wreathed in overwhelming mana.

「But… dragons are big, and they’re strong physically…」

Rin answered as if offering a defense.

That’s certainly true.
In this world, it’s likely true that physical strength isn’t determined solely by muscle mass.
But it isn’t completely unrelated, either.
There are small creatures that are strong, but there are no creatures that are large yet weak.

…And yet—

「If it’s just about getting stronger, you don’t have to become a dragon. You could just grow bigger… or maybe you don’t even need to get bigger.」

Sig was right. The principle that a larger frame takes more force to move doesn’t change in this world. If you can produce the same force, staying small is stronger than getting big.

「I turned my arms into wings because that way I could fly faster and higher. It was convenient for fighting lizardmen who could only leap. You don’t need wings—your big waist fin can fly you through the air. Even if you can’t breathe fire, you can make flames with magic.」

One by one, Sig lined up the reasons, as if to knock them down.

「Then why is it you want to be a dragon?」
「That… I…」

Rin couldn’t answer.

So that’s what it amounts to: Rin can’t become a dragon because it’s difficult—and more than that, because she doesn’t have a reason strong enough to overcome that difficulty.

But… that makes it sound as if he’s saying Rin lacks passion.

「I didn’t say that, did I.」

Sensing my thoughts, Sig let out a long sigh.

「You’re the one who taught me that to accomplish something hard, you have to work at it step by step, right? To take those steps, your destination has to be clear. Why do you want to be a dragon—what is it you truly want? I’m saying she needs to fix her eyes on that first.」
「What… I want.」

Rin pressed a hand to her chest and mouthed Sig’s words over to herself.

「It almost sounds like you already know what Rin wants.」
「Hah. Don’t be ridiculous.」

When I said that, Sig placed a light hand on his old partner-in-crime’s head and snorted.

「I’ve never once had any idea what this one’s thinking—since way back then.」