The Proud Dragon (Lol)

"Kkep…! Kek!"

A thing with rabbit-like ears sprouting from its head and a grotesquely massive eyeball embedded right in the center of its face. Its arms: one with razor-sharp claws, one like a gigantic hammer, and one like a spear—three in total. Its legs: two that looked like human limbs bloated several times over. No matter how you sliced it, a horrific monster stitched together from all sorts of creatures loomed right behind Sidus.

"Why the hell is that in a place like this…?"

The first thought that hit me upon spotting it wasn't disgust at its appearance or fear—it was pure bewilderment. The spot where Sidus and I stood was deep in the forest, and not just any forest, but the one inside the academy grounds. Sure, songbirds and wild animals roamed around freely, but something as alien and artificially grotesque as this… a 'chimera,' the kind of magic beast they called it? No way that wandered in naturally.

Which meant, high probability, someone had cooked this abomination up and set it loose in here.

"Gaguruk!"

Who, and for what purpose? No clue. But right now, in this moment, one thing was crystal clear: it was gunning for Sidus. That creepy eyeball was locked solely on her, and it was slowly raising a hand where each claw rivaled a longsword.

"Kyaaak! What the hell is this thing?!"

Sidus whipped around, locked eyes with the monstrosity, and recoiled in horror. Even a dragon couldn't help but freak out face-to-face with something like that.

Shaaak!

At the same instant, its claw sliced emptily through the air where Sidus had stood moments before.

"Kkep! Kkak!"

Missing its strike clearly pissed it off; the chimera stomped the ground, its whole body radiating frustration. Its antics screamed spoiled child, but paired with that hideous mug, it was straight out of a horror flick.

"Th-that thing… you didn't summon it, did you?"

Sidus stared at the abomination like she'd spotted a cockroach, then suddenly shot me a voice thick with suspicion. I'd been the one to warn her it was there, for crying out loud.

I let out an exasperated chuckle. "Ha, if I could summon that, I'd have whipped it out during the entrance exam. And if I did, why the hell would I tip you off about it?"

"W-well… yeah, true…"

Called out on her flawed logic, Sidus admitted her slip-up without a fight. She probably hadn't really suspected me—just blurted it out in panic when the thing showed up.

"Now that that's clear, hurry up and deal with it. This time it's winding up to skewer you with that spear arm."

I seized the moment while she felt a twinge of guilt, ducking behind her and prodding her to handle the chimera. True to my words, it crouched low like it was about to charge, gripping its spear-like arm firmly with the other two.

Who knew what a hit from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that spear would do to Sidus, but for me? Straight through and dead, no question. Best to let her tank it.

"Hold on—you're ordering me around right now?"

But that poked her pride; her round pupils instantly slit into draconic verticals as she glared daggers at me.

"No, that's not—why does it always twist like… Uh, uh! It's coming!"

"Kyakyakak!!!"

Thud!

While Sidus picked a pointless pride-fight, the chimera unleashed its full-powered body in a lance charge. With every step, the ground cratered deeper, and its speed ramped up accordingly. Dead ahead in the path of that jutting spear-arm? You guessed it—me and Sidus.

"Don't change the subject!"

"God, seriously! I'm just trying to keep us both alive, and you gotta overreact now?!"

"A human like you, with no pride to speak of, wouldn't get it! To me, that's as precious as my life!"

"This dragon's impossible…!"

Her attitude—snarling at me instead of the chimera charging us—made my vision swim. Fine, she figures she won't die from a hit. Her funeral.

"Draw…!"

No choice. Everyone's gotta save their own skin. Plus, owing her a favor might lead to who-knows-what down the line.

Fwoosh!

"Then take back what you said—stay put for a sec…!"

I gave up begging the stubborn dragon, activated my unique skill, and yanked Sidus's arm—positioned ahead of me in the chimera's path—pulling her back. Her standing firm would've made countering a pain.

"Hey, wait, you…!"

I shoved her stumbling body aside like luggage and cradled the drawn card in both hands.

"Kyap?!"

Kwaboom!

Even as I did, the chimera closed to point-blank and thrust its viciously pointed spear-arm straight at me. Not aiming for head, arms, or legs—the dead center of my torso. Low intelligence meant straightforward attacks. But I'd handled Sidus's simple strikes plenty; deflecting this was no sweat.

"Hup…!"

I angled the card obliquely into the spear-tip's trajectory, where all its force converged.

Kagagagagak!!!

The indestructible card clashed with the charging spear, forcing it off-course. A train derailed from its rails flips inevitably. Momentum skewed wildly off-kilter, the chimera tangled its steps, lost balance, and tumbled ass-over-end in a heap.

"Krr? Kkak!"

Even after rolling, it reacted with utter confusion. No wonder— a single card had stopped its full-body lunge.

Throb.

"…Ugh."

Truth be told, calling it a clean block was a stretch. Unlike Sidus's ranged slashes, this lance charge transferred some of that hulking mass's impact straight into me.

I couldn't give it another shot, so I checked the drawn card's info.

Useless for now. If I'd brought a weapon, I'd have capitalized on its tumble for a counterattack—but not anticipating this was my bad.

Only option left: Sidus shreds it. But getting her cooperation? Fat chance. She'd already hated me begging like some lowly human; now I'd grabbed and tossed her like baggage.

'…Gonna have to fight both the chimera and Sidus now.'

For a pride-obsessed dragon like her, that move must've been a massive insult. Should've thought ahead—another rash call on my part.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sighed deeply, laced with regret, and glanced back at Sidus, who had to be glaring murderously by now.

"Look, hear me out, it's not—huh…?"

"Y-you… y-you, you, you just… my hand…!"

But… why's she reacting like that?

But the Sidus who'd sworn that was now—

"H-hand… h-hand, hand…!"

"No, seriously, what's your deal?"

—just stammering incoherently, face flushed beet red.

Sidus's state stemmed from her ironclad devotion to pride. It kept her from casual mingling, leaving her a total novice at social stuff. Meaning… her experience with men was zilch.

"H-heuk."

"Wha…? Huh? What now?!"

Yeah. Sidus was a total shuwak.