The Azure Guardian and the Dying Father
Rachel's father was an ordinary man. The countless events and circumstances surrounding her were all extraordinary, but at least in her own mind, she considered herself ordinary. And the one person who allowed her to feel that ordinary warmth was a single individual. He was not related to her by blood, yet to Rachel, he was like a father. From two years ago—a time she could barely remember—he had been the one caring for her. If a person who strives to fulfill a child's wishes and worries about her future isn't called a father, then what else could he be? That was why, despite their exhausting life on the move, Rachel always wore a bright smile to keep him from worrying. She knew he had it harder than she did. She knew that every night after she fell asleep, he would slip outside and return with the faint stench of blood clinging to him. Her cheerfulness was both consideration and thoughtfulness born from that knowledge.
That same man had left to brew medicine for her when she fell ill with an infectious disease. Now that they were close to their destination, the entire region was nothing but forest. Even the nearest village would clearly take several days to reach. So while he was gone, he had set up the tools he always carried in his bag around their small cabin to ensure Rachel wouldn't suffer any discomfort. Thanks to that, she felt less pain and experienced no major inconvenience in her daily life. All that remained was to wait for him to return with the medicine.
In the meantime, Rachel had a dream. She woke from her sickbed and met a blue being who looked like the god of the sea. She spent joyful moments with him. Even then, the man had not returned to the cabin. Though anxiety gnawed at her inside, Rachel trusted him and tried hard to calm her heart. But he still hadn't come even after the promised time. Eventually, she picked up the rosary she had cherished for some time now and headed toward the cliff. Carrying countless worries—Will he listen to me? Will he be angry?—she gathered tree fruits and piled them carefully at the edge of the cliff.
Her hands trembled as she stacked the fruits one by one, but she forced herself to stay calm, desperately trying not to reveal her feelings. Yet the moment the being she had sought appeared before her, Rachel's voice crumbled.
The first inland region I saw after coming to this world… was nothing but forest. Surrounded by blue-green woods stretching all the way to the horizon, it was clear that any human civilization like a village lay quite far away.
To leave a sick child behind and go that far… Surely he wouldn't…
No. It couldn't be. Setting aside Rachel's trust in her father, there seemed to be no reason for him to do such a thing. If he had simply intended to abandon her, he wouldn't have needed to give any excuse at all. Still, I couldn't completely dismiss the thought as I began scanning the forest with my enhanced vision.
The dense undergrowth and trees blocked much of the view, but a dragon's eyes could pierce through some of it. It was like how, in a 3D game, leaves turn transparent when you get too close to a tree object. The problem was that the forest was so vast I couldn't take it all in at once. That was where Rachel helped.
She pointed west. It seemed she had vaguely seen her father moving in the direction of the setting sun. I began shifting my body in the direction her finger indicated.
To the north… there's something else there.
While maintaining our course, I turned my head slightly. Amid the forest that filled the surroundings, I spotted a space that felt distinctly different. On the surface it looked like ordinary woodland, but it contained a special energy that only a dragon's senses could detect.
It doesn't seem as malicious as the aura from a pod of killer whales… It feels somewhat dry.
The hostile energy emitted by orcas surged wildly like blood gushing from the deep sea. In contrast, the energy coming from that distant forest was extremely faint.
It's similar to what happened in that star-making game when you mined all the gas.
Of course, it might only appear weak on the surface. Either way, I knew almost nothing about this world. As I glided slowly westward, focusing on the search, a brief silence fell.
Rachel had been startled for a moment by the flight, but that lasted only briefly. She had returned to looking anxious. I watched her quietly before speaking.
Rachel, why did you come to the cliff that day?
I asked the question both to ease the child's anxiety a little and to learn the truth I had been so curious about. For a moment Rachel looked as if she didn't understand what I meant, then let out a small "Ah!" and hurriedly answered.
…What?
What is she talking about?
She had a dream, woke up, and a puddle told her to go there? Was this some kind of coded phrase? I couldn't understand a single word of Rachel's sentence. I tried analyzing the contextual meaning of the words before and after to uncover any hidden significance, but I couldn't extract any meaningful information. Even Rachel herself, who had given the answer, didn't seem to fully understand what she was saying. I decided to let it go and moved on to the next question.
How did you come to be here?
Why on earth was she in a forest with no people around? Rachel fell silent for a moment after hearing the question, glancing at me cautiously. Then she muttered, It should be fine… and began to answer.
In other words, the cabin where Rachel had been staying wasn't her home. From what I could gather, it sounded like they had left a place that could be considered home or their hometown and were heading somewhere. But with nothing but endless ocean to the east, I couldn't guess where they might be going. Satisfied that I had at least received an understandable answer, I moved on to the third question.
Do you understand your own power?
The unknown power that had healed me. Did its owner, Rachel, truly know about it?
"Power…"
But before I could hear Rachel's answer, I cut her off.
I think I've found him.
"Huh? What?"
Far in the distance, a pure white light was rising from the middle of the forest. That was it. Certain of my discovery, I moved swiftly toward the source. As I glided closer to the origin of the light, I examined the approaching scenery and abruptly slowed down.
"Eep!"
The sudden stop caused Rachel to bump into the water droplet, but that wasn't important right now.
It's a corpse.
No matter how much closer death was in this fantasy world than in the modern one, showing a corpse to a child was obviously not appropriate. And if there was even the slightest chance that the body belonged to her father, bringing Rachel there would be the wrong decision.
Wait here.
In the end, I shaped the water into a pouch, placed Rachel inside it, and hung it on the highest branch of the tallest tree. "T-take me with you too…!" Rachel, who had realized the situation too late, reached out with a sob, but I deliberately ignored her and headed toward the light. As expected, I hadn't seen wrong. Where the pure white light had bloomed, a corpse lay on the ground. But it wasn't just one. Nearly ten bodies were strewn across the forest floor. And in the middle of those corpses, two people faced each other. One stood looking down at the other, while the second clutched his chest as he collapsed.
Among the corpses and the living human, there was no one with black hair like Rachel's. Yet I was certain the fallen man was her father.
Everyone except him is wearing similar clothes.
The dead and the one still standing all wore pure white armor. In contrast, the fallen man wore simple black armor. Most telling of all, a pattern similar to the rosary Rachel had shown me was engraved on his forearm. As the ground drew nearer, the distance between us and them began to close. The two still hadn't noticed me. From the way the standing man's mouth was moving, it seemed he was saying something to Rachel's father.
How should I respond?
Given that one had collapsed, it didn't seem like a friendly relationship. Still, the reason I hesitated was because I didn't know the detailed circumstances. Countless speculations beginning with if, perhaps, and surely not kept raising doubts about their relationship and this situation. As the Azure Dragon, I couldn't be certain whether I should intervene. But when the standing man drew a sword from his waist and raised it over Rachel's father, I cut off all my thoughts.
BOOOOM!!
My massive body finally touched the ground with a thunderous roar. At the same time, water I had gathered from the rain-soaked earth shot toward the two men. The man who had been instantly subdued looked at me in shock and pointed his sword in my direction, but he was quickly overpowered by the rushing water and lost consciousness. Having resolved the situation in a single breath, I slowly lowered my head to look down. Fortunately, Rachel's father was still alive.