Chapter 156: What’s That? Is It Tasty?
“Gugaa…”
“Hey. How long are you planning to sleep? It’s about time you got up.”
In our home in Arcel, the midday sun was already shining through the windows by the time I called out to Sena from a safe distance.
Mostly because… well, I really didn’t want to be thrown across the room again like that poor thief the other day.
“Mmnn… Is it morning already?”
“It’s already past morning. It’s noon.”
“Wake me up when it’s night.”
“That’s not a nap extension—that’s a whole new time zone!”
It had been a few days since we toured the royal capital and met up with Lyon and the others. With adventurer work paused while Shifa-san and the others prepared for their promotion exams, Sena had happily embraced her inner sloth—much like a certain someone else I know—and spent every day asleep.
“You’re not going sightseeing anymore?”
“Bored of it.”
“You already got bored…?”
Honestly, if she went outside and wandered around for fun, that would still be healthier than staying curled up at home all day. …Then again, thinking about being dragged around on one of her chaotic outings… maybe I preferred her asleep after all.
“But you’re going to enter the martial arts tournament, right? Shouldn’t you be training?”
“Training? What’s that? Does it taste good?”
“…You know you’ll have to win if you want to skip the written exam, right? It’s not going to be easy. And Lala-san seems pretty fired up too.”
“Nnnh…”
Still sprawled out, Sena lazily tilted her head.
“If it’s just Lala-chan, she’ll be easy.”
…Whether that was confidence or pure overconfidence, I couldn’t tell.
She promptly fell asleep again, so I decided to leave the useless sleepyhead alone and teleported to the second home garden.
“Nyan-nya-nya!”
“Pipipipi!”
Milk and Pippi—who had pretty much moved in permanently down here—immediately noticed my arrival and burst out of the house.
“Been doing well?”
“Nya-nya-nya!”
“Pipipipi!”
“Whoa—hey, wait—!”
The fluffy one and the feathery one pounced, squishing me from both sides.
It felt ridiculously good, so I let them.
A moment later, the third one peeked out hesitantly.
“Kululuu…”
A jet-black dragon—its scales gleaming like polished obsidian. It had been pink when it was born, but within three days it had turned pitch black.
It was fond of me, but for a dragon it was surprisingly shy, the timid type. So it only peeked its head out first, watching to check if everything was safe.
“Kululu, you doing well too?”
“Kururuu!”
When I called out, it scampered over happily. Of course, Kululu was its name.
“You’re getting bigger by the day…”
“Kuru?”
It had only been born recently, yet it was already nearly the size of Milk and Pippi. As expected of a dragon—how big would it eventually become?
Red Dragons reached over ten meters, and the Fafnir we saw was over twenty… but surely… hopefully Kululu wouldn’t get that big…
By the way, Pippi had already surpassed Milk in size—though still much lighter.
Kululu loved meat. Whenever I gave it some fresh cuts from the garden’s harvest, it devoured them with sparkling eyes.
“Kuru-ruu!”
“Hm? What is it?”
Kululu was eagerly showing off—“Watch this! Watch this!”—so I focused on it. It kicked off the ground and sprinted forward, then spread its wings wide.
With a powerful beat, it rose into the sky.
“Whoa! You’re flying!”
“Kuru-ru-ru-ru!”
Kululu soared gracefully overhead. A true dragon—already capable of proper flight so soon. And unlike Pippi’s strange “air kicking,” this was actual, majestic flying.
“Pipipipipi!”
Not to be outdone, Pippi shot up into the air as well. It wasn’t quite flying, more like kicking the air repeatedly, but its speed matched Kululu’s. Soon the two were racing side by side.
“Nya-nya-nya!”
Meanwhile, Milk—who couldn’t fly—raced across the ground beneath them. Every now and then it leapt up as if trying to catch them, but of course, it couldn’t reach.
“Nya…”
“D-don’t worry about it! Look, I can’t fly either!”
I knelt down and comforted the deflated Milk with lots of petting.
Before long, the aerial chase grew boring, and both flyers returned to the ground.
“That was amazing, Kululu. You can really fly now.”
“Kururu!”
Kululu puffed up proudly.
Then it suddenly crouched down right in front of me.
…As if telling me to get on.
“Huh? You’re saying I can ride you?”
“Kuru!”
“W-will this be okay…?”
Nervously, I straddled its back. There were no reins, so I clung to its neck.
“Kuru-ruu!”
“Wah—!”
Kululu accelerated rapidly. I tightened my grip to avoid being thrown off.
Worst-case scenario, if I fell, the soft soil of the garden would probably cushion me… probably.
The next moment, Kululu leapt into the sky—with me still on its back.
“Kuru-ru-ru!”
“A-amazing! We’re really flying!”
I’d flown countless times myself around the garden, but this was different; there was nothing stable beneath my feet. The fierce wind slapped my cheeks, and whenever Kululu banked left or right, I felt dangerously close to slipping off.
But that only made the sensation of truly flying more real.
“Pipipipi!”
Worried about the possibility of a fall, Pippi flew up behind us—probably ready to catch me if something happened.
Riding a dragon through the sky… it felt like being a true Dragon Knight. Knights who ride mighty dragons—famous enough to inspire countless epic tales.
Of course, handling a dragon is no simple feat. That’s why only a few nations in the world actually employ Dragon Knights.
“Kuru!”
After circling the sky for a while, Kululu descended back to the ground.
“That was incredible, Kululu. You can even fly while carrying me.”
“Kuru!”
Another smug dragon face.
“Nya…”
“Oh—Milk…”
Milk, left alone on the ground, had grown sulky.
…Alright. Next time, I’ll take Milk flying in the home garden too.