Chapter 564
Chapter Title: Guides-in-Training
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“Oh? This isn't much different from a regular city, is it?”
Following Leo onto the night streets of Dragonia, Ar let out a cry of surprise.
Just as she said, the night streets here were no different from any other city.
As if a night market was open, many people were actively coming and going, adding to the city's vitality.
It was a perfectly familiar, everyday scene with nothing special about it.
“I thought Dragonia would be amazing, but this is a bit of a letdown.”
“What did you think it would be like?”
“I thought everything would be huge!”
“Ah, I was kind of expecting that too.”
Hearing Ar and Lunia's conversation, Leo let out a dry laugh.
*What do they think dragons are?*
Even dragons didn't maintain their true forms at all times.
“But everyone here is a dragon, right? When you think of it that way, isn't this incredible?”
Chelsea said, peeking her head out from behind Leo.
No matter how highly regarded the hero candidates were as the future of their respective races, it wasn't easy to meet multiple dragons in one's lifetime.
Furthermore, entering Dragonia was impossible for anyone but a hero who had achieved considerable feats.
“Thinking of it that way, we really are having an amazing experience.”
Lunia muttered with a look of wonder.
“Where's Driana?”
Leo realized Driana was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, there he is.”
Ar pointed her finger at Driana, who was talking to a girl carrying a basket on the street.
“You are incredibly beautiful.”
“...?”
“I walk the path of art. I'd like you to be my model.”
“...?”
“Preferably nude...”
*Whack-!*
“What are you talking about, you pervert!”
Lunia slammed her elbow into Driana's head.
But she immediately grabbed her elbow and rolled on the ground.
“Lunia, I've told you before, resorting to violence is a bad habit.”
“You... made... me... use... violence... Ugh! You blockhead...!”
“You can't stop my artistic will with just that. Hit me all you want!”
“Oh? Really?”
“I'm kidding, spare me.”
When Ar asked with a grin, Driana surrendered cleanly.
No matter how naturally sturdy a dwarf was, he couldn't take on Ar, a beastkin, in a pure fistfight.
“Are you okay? You must have been startled. It's hard to believe, but they're harmless, despite how they look.”
Chelsea soothed the girl, who had a frightened expression.
“What do you mean, 'despite how they look'? 'Despite how they look'?”
Lunia grumbled under her breath while rubbing her elbow, but she couldn't refute it further.
It was true; one of them had abruptly asked her to be a nude model, and another had slammed their elbow into him.
To a stranger, it was certainly a frightening scene.
But the girl still wore a bewildered expression.
Her reaction was as if she couldn't understand what they were saying.
Just as Chelsea was getting slightly flustered by this...
Leo stepped forward and opened his mouth.
An unfamiliar language flowed from Leo's lips.
But the girl, seeming to understand him, widened her eyes and bowed her head slightly to Leo.
“That language the Black Rabbit is using, what on earth is it?”
“It's Draconic. Lunia, you must have studied it, right?”
“I studied it for magic, but not enough to converse so freely.”
“True. Draconic is a complex language. Leo is always amazing, no matter when you see him. Is there anything he can't do?”
“Ahem!”
“Why are you the one acting so smug?”
Driana gave Chelsea a look of disbelief.
After finishing her conversation with Leo, the young dragon girl carefully approached the four girls and lifted the cloth covering her basket.
The basket was filled to the brim with flowers.
She handed flowers to each of them in turn, but when it was Lunia's turn, she hesitated before carefully placing a white flower in Lunia's hair.
Lunia's eyes widened at this, and the dragon girl opened her mouth to speak.
Lunia glanced at Leo, who translated.
“She says thank you for helping her out of a tough spot. She's a huge fan of Luna's heroic tales, and she'll be cheering for you, the Chaser of the Nebula.”
Lunia's face lit up with a touched expression.
The dragon girl hesitated for a moment, then smiled shyly and held out her hand.
“She's asking if you'll shake her hand.”
“Of course!”
Lunia smiled and took the dragon girl's hand.
Soon after, they waved goodbye and parted ways.
“That's surprising. Weren't all dragons supposed to be able to speak the Continental Common Tongue?”
“Dragons are indeed guides for heroes, but not all dragons are guides.”
Leo said, watching the dragons coming and going on the street.
“So dragons have ordinary daily lives too? That makes sense.”
Driana nodded his head.
Leo silently gazed at the streets of Dragonia.
In a way, these streets represented the very image of the dragon race that Lisinas had wished for.
*Back in the Age of Gods, dragons were the chosen race of the gods.*
In those days, every dragon devoted their entire being to protecting the surface world from their respective domains.
Lisinas had also said he spent his youth forced to live as the Black Dragon.
*The choice to save the world was purely of my own will. But there's no obligation for all dragons to do the same, is there?*
That was why, after the Age of Calamity, Lisinas wanted many dragons to enjoy ordinary, comfortable lives.
*The culture of Gardsrone certainly had a significant influence on the dragons.*
The dragons born in Gardsrone interacted with many other races.
Now, they still maintain their culture that has existed since the Age of Gods and are the only race that uses its own unique language instead of the Continental Common Tongue.
*But even so, this everyday scenery resembles Gardsrone.*
Leo smiled faintly.
*It's just as you wanted. Your race has laid down the shackles they once bore.*
“Leo, how do I look?”
Lunia asked, fiddling with the flower in her hair.
“It suits you.”
Just as Lunia beamed at Leo's answer...
“Black Rabbit, be careful! She's got a flower in her hair. You never know when she'll pounce!”
Ar shouted as she hid behind Leo.
At those words, the expression vanished from Lunia's face as she lunged at Ar, who promptly fled.
Watching the scene, Chelsea commented.
“If that dragon from before saw this, wouldn't she regret giving her the flower?”
“She didn't see.”
Chelsea nodded at Leo's reply.
“How far have those idiots gone?”
Driana sighed, watching the two disappear into the crowd.
“They're not kids. They won't get lost, will they?”
“Hmm. True.”
Driana nodded at Leo's words.
“By the way, Leo, didn't you come out to the streets because you had something to do? What is it?”
“There's something I need to find.”
The contract, written 5,000 years ago after defeating Erebos, promising to rebuild Dragonia.
*That day, Lisinas left it behind in Dragonia when I departed.*
A shard of the egg that had held Lisinas.
That itself is a key to enter Lisinas's world.
As long as the Hero Record exists, Leo can enter Lisinas's world whenever he wants.
But it's different for others.
*Because there will be times when I'm not around.*
It was best to find the key in preparation for those times.
“Let's head to the entrance for now.”
Leo headed for the entrance of Dragonia, retracing his memories.
***
“Where are we?”
“We're lost because of you.”
“Why is it my fault? It's your fault for running away.”
“I ran because you were chasing me like you were going to kill me.”
“Well, who told you to tease me? And who said I was going to kill you?”
“Then? What were you going to do?”
“I was just going to make you wish you were dead for a little bit.”
“That's even more vicious.”
Ar narrowed her eyes, but Lunia just snorted.
“Anyway, where on earth are we?”
It was a place with no sign of people.
Dragonia is vast, so much so that even the inside of the main castle is enormous.
But residents don't live throughout all of Dragonia.
The outskirts are more like a zone of ruins, restored to look like the Dragonia of the Age of Gods.
As such, the back alleys in Dragonia's outskirts were literally like a complex labyrinth.
There was no danger, but it was difficult to get out.
Lunia looked up.
“They said there's a barrier magic cast over Dragonia's sky, so if we fly up, the dragons will come.”
When she suggested this easy way to find their way, Ar shook her head vehemently.
“No way.”
“Why?”
“Then that pervert dwarf will find out we got lost, won't he?”
Ar scowled.
“He'll definitely look at us like we're pathetic.”
“...I wouldn't like that.”
Lunia narrowed her eyes.
Indeed, being treated like an idiot by Driana was unbearable.
The three of them were the successors to Luna, Ar-on, and Dweno, acknowledged by the Dragon Lord.
*Leo also acknowledges us as the successors of the Great Heroes.*
For Lunia, who knew Leo's true identity, his acknowledgment was special and carried great weight, unlike for Ar and Driana.
Because they were on equal footing, they could be honest and show their true selves, which was how they had become close so quickly.
*We're close enough to be honest, but that's all the more reason we can't lose to each other.*
“Then how do we find our way? Do you have a plan?”
“Hmph.”
Just then, Ar brought her right hand, with only her thumb and index finger extended, to her chin.
“Stop trying to look cool and just tell me the plan.”
“Who do you think I am? The next student council president of Azonia! The one and only Ar Tune!”
Ar puffed out her chest, slapped it—*Thump!*—and pointed to her nose.
“I'm saying we can follow our noses!”
At those words, Lunia exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow! You're just like a dog!”
“I'm a cat!”
Ar retorted, her tail standing straight up.
Four people emerged from the alley.
Seeing them, Lunia and Ar wore puzzled expressions.
“You two. You're Lunia El Lundua and Ar Tune, right?”
At the question from the boy in the lead, Lunia, with her arms crossed, tilted her head.
“We are, but who are you?”
“Lunia, look closely. They're wearing something like a uniform.”
Ar said, checking the four people's attire.
Hearing her, the boy smiled.
“We're guides-in-training.”
“Guides?”
Lunia's eyes widened.
Guides.
The position held by dragons who lead heroes.
“I've heard of it. That there's a place in Dragonia where dragons with exceptional talent study to become guides.”
“That's right. You can think of it as the dragons' officer academy for heroes. My name is Riden. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Riden stepped forward and extended his hand.
But Lunia and Ar just stared at his hand.
“Not going to shake?”
As Riden wore a puzzled expression at their reaction...
“I'd like to shake your hand.”
Lunia smiled faintly.
“But when you look at us like you're sizing us up, it puts us in a bad mood, you know?”
At her words, Riden scratched his cheek.
“My apologies if I offended you. It's just that, as guides, we're in the position of leading heroes. And this is our first time meeting hero candidates. So we have high expectations.”
Riden grinned broadly.
“Your reputations are already famous here in Dragonia. Especially you, Lunia El Lundua. You've already attained the rank of hero, haven't you?”
“So?”
“We came to test just how skilled you are.”
“Hmph.”
The corners of Lunia's mouth curled up.
Just then, Ar spoke, swishing her tail.
“There's only one person who can judge my qualities as a hero, you know?”
“What? Who's that?”
Ar grinned at the bewildered Riden.
“Leo Flove.”