The Azure Dragon
The forest hummed with the gentle warmth of sunlight filtering through lush green leaves that rustled in the breeze. This was the cabin. The one Jonon Est had stumbled upon while searching for a place to tend to the ailing princess. He gazed blankly around the interior, taking in everything that met his eyes.
It all felt far too perfect. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he had crossed into the realm of the dead. But no, that wasn't it.
"Mmm..."
"Your Highness..."
At the faint rustling beside him, he lowered his gaze slightly. There lay a young girl, tossing restlessly in her sleep. Rachel Evantiana, the Fifth Princess of the Evantium Empire. The girl for whom Jonon had staked everything.
"......"
His hand instinctively reached toward Rachel, only to withdraw just as quickly. He had meant to ask what had happened, but she was sleeping so deeply that he couldn't bring himself to disturb her. Instead, he rose carefully and made his way to the door.
For some reason, the cabin's interior was quite damp. Water marks climbed higher than any rain could have reached, as if the entire space had been suddenly flooded. A small puddle had even pooled at the base of the door.
Jonon gripped the handle with his left hand and turned it slowly.
'...The wound is gone.'
The rotting scar that had filled him with helplessness every time he saw it had vanished. Everything had returned to its original state, save for the Rosario tattoo that symbolized his oath to the imperial family. And where the scar had once marred and twisted the Rosario, a blue line now traced across it.
When he connected the blue lines piercing through the Rosario, a hidden image emerged. It resembled something long and sharp. Yet Jonon dared not guess its true nature.
Finally tearing his eyes from his arm, he opened the door.
Shaaaaa...
The trees whispered like waves crashing against the shore. This was indeed the same cabin where he had left Rachel.
"Just what in the world happened?"
The rotten core he had seen in his dream, and the water that had purified it. Could they be connected? The one person who might have answers was currently lost in a deep slumber.
Splash...
Jonon's foot stepped into the shallow puddle. Without thinking, he dipped his left hand into it.
Then, from somewhere, a whispering voice reached him.
"What..."
But the sound was too faint for him to make out its meaning. He plunged his hand back in urgently, yet the voice did not return. Instead, something strange began to appear before his eyes.
A blue aura? Or perhaps a stream of water? A long streak of blue energy stretched through the air, leading somewhere. As if guiding him, it wound along the forest paths, beckoning him onward.
"......"
Jonon decided to follow the blue energy. Though leaving Rachel behind weighed on him, he recalled Lortania's words and took his first step. Since even Lessa, who had been chasing them from the front, had failed to locate the princess, a brief absence should be safe enough. That was his reasoning.
He began walking through the forest, trailing the cool, refreshing blue energy.
'This area is Nuru's Forest... Could the Water Spirit King have had something to do with saving me?'
As he followed the energy, Jonon pondered the situation himself, but no plausible theory emerged. After about ten minutes of tracking it, the end finally came into view.
It was a cliff. A towering precipice that overlooked a vast sea filling the entire horizon. The blue energy had stopped at the very edge of the cliff.
"Whoever led me here..."
As he scanned his surroundings to find the source of the energy, Jonon came face to face with it. Or rather, he beheld it.
It was blue. The twilight glow piercing through the fading storm clouds sparkled against deep-sea scales that were both firm and resilient.
It was sharp. Antlers twisted like branches growing from a tree, steel-like claws supporting a long body, and fangs glimpsed subtly, honed like swords.
It was gentle. Paradoxically, its sapphire eyes that seemed to hold the universe, its fluid movements, and its gestures were as deep and soft as water itself.
It was long. A white mane like cloaked clouds, two whiskers reminiscent of pure white smoke, and the body that supported it all stretched vast and mighty like a river.
It was... beautiful. So otherworldly that one might question whether it was even permissible to gaze upon it with mortal eyes.
And in that moment, Jonon realized it had been the one to save him.
It did not seem to be the Water Spirit King. He had never seen the ancient Water Spirit King said to have perished long ago, but he doubted such a being could be contained within the vessel of a mere Spirit King.
Therefore, Jonon was certain. This existence was a god. And if his thoughts were correct, it was the one who had saved both him and Rachel.
"...Who are you?"
Jonon asked, his knees buckling of their own accord beneath that gaze that seemed to hold the stars of the cosmos.
I am a dragon. A blue dragon born with azure scales. In other words, the Azure Dragon.
Dragon. Azure Dragon.
'I've never heard those words before. But... it's hard to think of anything more fitting.'
Whether it was a lost ancient tongue or the language of some distant land unknown to them, it didn't matter. What mattered was confirming the truth.
"Did you... help me?"
The Azure Dragon did not answer. It simply stared at him with those exalted eyes. Jonon did not interpret the gaze as a denial.
I ask you this. Is your name Jonon?
"Yes. Jonon Est. That is my name."
Are you Rachel's father?
Rachel. The princess he served. At the mention of her name, Jonon flinched. He had suspected as much, but it seemed Rachel was indeed connected to this dragon.
'I had guessed from seeing them asleep together in the cabin, but to think it was true...'
But father? The dragon seemed to be under some misunderstanding.
"No. I am the escort knight of Rachel, the Fifth Princess of the Evantium Empire."
A princess...
It appeared the being known as the Azure Dragon did not possess detailed information about Rachel. After a brief moment of contemplation, the dragon asked him another question.
Then were those who lay fallen beside you the ones pursuing you and Rachel?
"Ah."
Only then did Jonon recall what had become of Lessa and the others.
****
"Yes. They are the holy knights of the Justron Church. For the past two years, they have been..."
From Jonon's explanation, it seemed they were indeed the ones who had been hunting Rachel. He had been hesitant to ask her about her past, worried it might stir unpleasant memories, so this was a relief. He had learned everything without having to probe.
'The God of Justice, a prophecy foretelling ruin, a knight who abandoned everything to flee with the princess... If I hadn't met Rachel, this would have been a completely doomed fate.'
After all, their only allies were Jonon and Rachel themselves, while their enemies encompassed the entire Evantium Empire and its state religion, Justron. They were wanted by the empire for kidnapping the princess and branded as heretics by Justron. Considering how neighboring countries would likely have assisted in the search due to the influence of both powers... it was honestly astonishing that they had managed to evade capture for two whole years.
That was why I mentioned Rachel, intending to praise her.
Because that child helped me, I was able to heed her request and save you.
"...Thank you."
Jonon's eyes widened as if he had realized something, and suddenly they grew red with emotion. As I stood frozen, unsure what to say in the face of this abrupt change, he wiped his eyes and rose to his feet.
"O Azure Dragon, did you happen to see the one who was with us?"
He has disappeared.
After carrying the half-buried and healed Jonon and the exhausted Rachel back to the cabin, the man had already fled in the meantime. I had been in such a hurry that I hadn't even properly cleaned up the water spilled while moving them, yet he hadn't been able to wait even that short while.
At my words, Jonon nodded with a look of firm resolve.
"...They will likely return tonight. Whether Lessa comes alone or brings more holy knights, I cannot say... but they will come for us in the end."
I had been thinking the same. Since Jonon and Rachel had been as good as caught, they would not want to miss this chance. Moreover, with my intervention, they would be desperate to finish things before any further external forces could get involved.
"Therefore, tonight, I will use the power you have bestowed upon me to end them once and for all. And I will grant true freedom to the princess who saved me."
It seemed Jonon intended to put an end to their pursuit this very night.
'Wait a moment. What? The power I gave him?'
What was he talking about? I had given him no such power. As I stared at him in bewilderment, Jonon offered a trustworthy smile and bowed his head deeply.
No, if only he would tell me what this power I supposedly gave him was.