Tender Times (1)

Summer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠faded, and autumn arrived.

For the past several months, Rian had spent every single day at Audria's side, the two of them inseparable. Mornings were spent inside the cabin, learning Draconic from her; afternoons, they went out together to tend the fields, and Rian steadily stacked up agricultural knowledge.

Juggling study and labor was exhausting, but Rian never lost his smile. He simply found farming fun — the kind of work you could lose yourself in without thinking. And alongside that, his curiosity about the world beyond kept growing without end.

One day, when Rian asked what lay at the foot of the cliff, Audria immediately shot him a sidelong glare and asked, her voice gone cold.

"Have you grown tired of spending time with me?"

"Not at all. I was just curious."

"The world is overflowing with chaos right now. This place is the safest of all, so put those thoughts aside and apply yourself to your studies. When the time comes, I shall show you around myself."

Around that time, field work had begun to feel natural in Rian's hands. Even without Audria's instructions, he would take the initiative — pulling weeds, repairing furrows, clearing stones — and he had even developed something of an eye for reading the condition of the fields.

Once he had reached that point, Audria, as if she had been waiting for it, began teaching him more specialized techniques.

"Starting today, I shall teach you how to breathe life into the fields."

It was a lesson in making compost, and in analyzing agricultural water and soil. Water, in particular, had different properties depending on the region. Just because it looked clear did not mean you could pour it on the fields willy-nilly — crops you had worked so hard to raise would wither in no time.

Water heavy with lime. Seawater. Water mixed with oil, like petroleum. And beyond those: mineral water, ionized water, distilled water, carbonated water, and so on.

Audria was as thoroughly versed in water as humanity on Earth after long centuries of accumulated knowledge — and she even possessed the astonishing knack of identifying exactly what kind of water it was from a single taste. Soil was no different. She had mastered everything from identifying soil composition to improving and managing its properties when special components ran excessive or scarce. Her agricultural knowledge was encyclopedic.

Having begun to learn these new techniques, Rian hauled sack after sack of rotting leaves, wood ash, and earth every day.

"Set them down over here."

"Yes!"

Following her instructions, he mixed the rotting leaves and wood ash with a bit of soil and left them to ferment, turning the piles now and then — and had to wrestle with the stench day after day. The volume he had to produce was enormous and the process was grueling, but even so, he found himself smiling, proud. He was contributing to the farm's transformation with his own two hands, and he could see the fruits of his labor multiplying one by one. It made the work genuinely satisfying.

"Whew~ that's hard work!"

Having parked a cart loaded with fertilizer near the fields, Rian wiped the beads of sweat from his brow and grinned brightly. Audria was coming up behind him, a shovel in one hand.

"This will take a while, so go rest somewhere in the shade."

"I don't need to help?"

"I've already taught you how to apply fertilizer. I shall handle this part myself."

She scooped fertilizer with the shovel and stepped into the field. Rian called after her.

"Then I'll go clean the cavern!"

"That will be tiring. Why not leave it for tomorrow? Evening is nearly upon us."

"It's fine. I'll finish early and rest!"

Rian stopped by the barn briefly, grabbed the cleaning tools, and headed straight for the cavern.

"It's cold."

The inside of the cavern was cooler than the air outside, chilly enough to raise a shiver. Rian rubbed his arms and looked up at the dragon's white bones. Every time he came here, he felt it — gazing upon those colossal skeletal remains, radiating such immense majesty, filled him with awe and a solemn reverence.

"I'll just tidy up a bit and be on my way. Please look after me."

He lowered his gaze and spoke toward the gravestone beside them as well.

"I'll pull the weeds and clean everything up nicely. Please look kindly on me."

As Rian began cleaning, he found himself recalling something from a few months ago.

After finishing a meal that reeked of gamey meat, Audria had taken an elegant teatime in a shaded outdoor spot. Rian sat across from her and drank tea as well.

"Mmm......"

The tea had a fragrant, moderately bitter taste. It was brewed from young leaves of a tree Audria had grown herself, then dried — and somehow it felt luxurious. Expensive, even. Rian found it swept the lingering gaminess from his mouth so cleanly that he gulped it down and poured himself another cup.

Watching him, a pleased smile played at the corners of Audria's lips.

"Father used to say one must always drink tea after a meal. He called it the most basic refinement of a princess who inherited royal blood."

"Royal?"

Rian hurriedly set down his cup and looked her straight in the eye.

"You're royalty, Lady Audria? Was your father the king of the dragonkin?"

"My father was human."

"Huh? Ah...!"

In that instant, the gravestone he had seen inside the cavern flashed through Rian's mind.

"Is the grave in that cavern your father's?"

"You went in without my permission?"

When Audria looked at him, Rian panicked and fumbled for an answer.

"When you weren't around I was looking around here and there... and I happened to see it. I came right back out the moment I did."

Audria thought about something for a moment, then suddenly set down her teacup and stood.

"It was a conversation we needed to have anyway, so this works out. Come with me."

She took the lead. Rian hurriedly stood and followed.

Walking along, his eyes fell unbidden on Audria's swaying, plump hips. She was completely naked, her skin so startlingly white and translucent that the part of her backside that had been pressed against the chair moments ago was flushed a rosy pink. With nowhere decent to rest his gaze, Rian looked at the shoulders of Audria walking ahead of him with her slight limp, and asked carefully.

"By the way, Lady Audria. Why do you always go around naked?"

"Aren't clothes cumbersome? They make my body itch."

"Right? I was thinking the same thing."

Rian flared his nostrils and grinned goofily. Audria said it with innocent candor.

"If they itch, you can go around naked too."

"Huh? Ah, no. I'm fine."

"Isn't it uncomfortable?"

Rian scratched his chin, pondering how to answer, then opened his mouth.

"Humans don't have skin as tough as yours, Lady Audria. Even brushing against a small twig leaves a scratch. That doesn't happen to you, does it?"

"So that inconvenience existed. Humans truly are frail creatures."

They descended a short slope and soon reached the cavern entrance. The two of them went inside and looked back and forth between the colossal dragon skeleton and the gravestone beside it. Gazing up at the dragon's white bones, Audria spoke.

"This is my mother. She was called the Queen of Snow by one and all. And in this smaller grave here, my father sleeps. He was once king of the human kingdom of Lorelai."

"Ah... so your father was human?"

Rian marveled, thinking to himself, So Audria was a half-blood of human and dragon. He then asked carefully, watching her reaction.

"Would it be incorrect to call you a dragon, Lady Audria? Should I address you as a half-dragon instead?"

Audria answered without a care, her tone easy and unbothered.

"Perhaps because human blood flows through fully half my body, I differ from ordinary dragons in a number of ways. The greatest difference is this: my mother's true form was that of a dragon, but this — the form you see now — is my true form. Aside from the horns, I take after my father completely. Perhaps that's why most of my mannerisms are no different from a human's."

Rian looked astonished.

"So you weren't using Polymorph?"

"There's no need to waste mana for nothing while I'm with you. The most comfortable form for daily life is this one, and this is my original appearance."

Audria continued, a smile on her face.

"In any case, this gorge we live in is a place my parents laid the foundations for. It's called the King and Queen's Sanctuary."

"Did they cultivate the fields as well?"

"None of the crops my parents' hands touched remain. Everything growing now, I cultivated with my own hands. Every single day, without fail, for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the past hundred years."

"A h-hundred years? That long? When did your parents pass away?"

"Father passed first, three hundred years ago. I was seven. Mother passed a hundred years ago."

Rian did a quick calculation.

"So putting that together, you're three hundred and seven years old, Lady Audria?"

"That's how it is."

Rian studied her face closely and marveled. That a three-hundred-and-seven-year-old could still possess such a pure, youthful beauty, like a girl — it was simply astonishing.

"A hundred years ago, after Mother passed, farming began to grow burdensome. I needed someone to help me, but I couldn't just let anyone in here, so I had no choice but to endure it for a hundred years."

Rian tilted his head and asked.

"Your father was a king by profession — he must have had quite an interest in farming?"

"From what I heard from Mother, after he passed the throne to the next generation and retired, the two of them left the secular world together and settled here. That's when they first took up farming. Neither of them had any knowledge of agriculture, but they brought a great many books packed with the essence of every kind of farming, which they said was a tremendous help."

"Books. Well, with books, you'd pick up farming in no time."

"Not quite."

Audria went on.

"I heard they went through a great many trials and errors in the beginning. And when they needed crop seeds, Mother would fly to distant places to obtain them. When they ran into difficulties with the farming, Mother would seek out sages without regard to species and ask for their wisdom. There was not a single race that would refuse the benevolent and great Queen of Snow. All of them readily passed on their knowledge. Through efforts like those, the two of them came to enjoy farming in their later years, and those efforts piled up and piled up until this place now holds rare crops and unparalleled farming methods you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world. And I—"

Audria looked Rian in the eye and said it proudly.

"Have mastered them all."

"That's incredible."

Rian applauded with genuine respect.

"By the way, would it be all right if I called you Princess from now on?"

"Me?"

"After hearing your story, addressing you as Princess seems only proper."

"If that's more comfortable for you, then do so. I don't mind."

Having finished their business, the two of them turned back toward the entrance. As they walked out, they exchanged easy small talk.

"What were their names?"

"My father was Besrotan, my mother Nazretigora."

"Those are some impressive-sounding names. How did the two of them meet? Being different species, it must have been hard for them to even cross paths."

"In his youth, Father was apparently a Dragon Slayer. He received a commission to deal with Mother and went to a place called Ice Gorge, and that's where the two of them fell for each other."

"That's romantic. Wait — so then, how old was your mother at the time...?"

"Hmm... when Father was young, Mother had already lived over five thousand years, so in human years she'd have been about grandmother-aged, I suppose?"

Rian blinked blankly.

"Huh......"

After finishing the cavern cleaning and coming outside to tidy up this and that, the day had already grown dark. As always, Audria prepared to return to her lair.

"Review what you learned today before you sleep."

"Of course. Please go carefully."

"We start the harvest tomorrow, so go to bed early."

She transformed into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a dragon in an instant. Just before taking flight, she gazed at Rian once more with her reptilian eyes.

"Don't go wondering what's at the foot of the cliff, either."

"I've already decided not to worry about it. Hehe."

"A wise choice."

A short while later, Rian waved toward Audria as she soared away into the distant sky.

"Sleep well in your lair~!"

And once her figure had vanished completely, he grinned.

"Party time!"

He dashed into his room and opened the treasure sack. He pulled out a golden crown and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set it on his head, then slipped a couple of gold rings onto his fingers. Looking around for something else to put on, he discovered a small glass bottle filled with a transparent liquid.

"What's this? It's not even gold — why's it mixed in with the treasures?"

On the surface of the bottle, writing was inscribed.

Having become able to use Draconic to some degree, Rian could read the writing. Whether ancient or modern, Draconic made it possible to interpret all manner of languages, regardless of era.

"They've got all kinds of stuff in here."

Rian chuckled and set the glass bottle on a shelf. Then he went outside, set up a table and chair in the yard, and fetched from the kitchen the beer Audria had poured for him a few days ago, along with some snacks. The snack was sashimi made from a fish he had caught in the pond the night before. He had let it age for a day, so he was looking forward to the flavor.

"Okay, looking good!"

Having finished party preparations in a flash, Rian sat in the chair with kingly dignity and gazed into the distance.

"All right, I'm ready! Come on, get started already!"

The moment he finished speaking, as if they had been waiting for it, colorful fireworks bloomed in a far, far distant place, painting the night sky.

Boom!

Boom!

The fireworks of some distant kingdom. On days when the weather was clear and visibility was good, you could even make out the tops of castle towers from this impossibly far place. Today was just such a day. The festival of humans living far away had begun.

A few months ago, Rian had been standing still in this very spot when he had happened to discover that the humans held a festival on a regular two-month cycle. From the day he realized it, watching the distant festivals whenever the humans held them had become his hobby. He was cut off from them, but just watching was enjoyable. Because there was fun in imagining.

"All right, next up — the red fireworks~!"

The instant he finished speaking, a red firework bloomed and burst in a mushroom shape.

"This time it's gotta be blue! Blue, hit it! Blow it sky-high!"

He had watched so many times that he now had the firing sequence of the fireworks memorized.

"Next time you gotta include me, guys! I'll party it up with you!"

Rian downed his beer with a look of pure enjoyment.

Unaware that Audria, who had departed, had come back......