The Dragon's Palate
The dragon girl's sudden craving hit me out of nowhere. She wanted another beer? Or was she actually asking for plain water? Maybe she thought it tasted awful since it was her first time trying any. To get a clear answer, I turned to her.
"Hey... are you asking for water, or do you want a different beer?"
"Something else."
"Another beer?"
"Yes."
So even dragons enjoy beer. Fascinated, I stared hard at the dragon girl.
"...What?"
"Nothing... it's just interesting."
"Interesting?"
"Yeah. I only just found out dragons think beer tastes good."
"Who said it tasted good, human?"
"It doesn't?"
"Absolutely not."
Even as she insisted, the girl kept sipping the stout I'd poured into the canteen. She had zero credibility.
"It's true. Believe me."
"Fine..."
"There's no way a dragon like me would enjoy something like this."
-Sip. She kept drinking even while saying that.
"Anyway... you don't have any other beer, human?"
"Well... I do, but..."
I explained that I didn't have any kegs to hold it right now. The dragon girl responded with something completely ridiculous.
"Then we'll just go to the village."
"Huh?"
Her words were enough to throw me completely off balance. A dragon—not even a regular demon—heading into a human village? Was she planning to raze the place?
"Don't look at me like that, human. I have no magic power at the moment, so I can't transform into a dragon anyway."
"Aren't you already polymorphed into human form?"
"You're talking nonsense, human. Staying in dragon form all the time is inconvenient. Except when we're very young, human form is the default."
"I see."
I hadn't known that, having come from another world.
"Not knowing something so basic? Are you an idiot, human?"
"Hey, come on. Idiot is a bit much."
I do have common sense. It's just not the common sense of this world.
"So, are we going or not?"
"Hmm... what if I say I'm not taking you along?"
"I'll follow you in secret."
I couldn't decide if that was refreshingly honest or just plain stupid. This dragon girl apparently couldn't lie to save her life. Still, just to be sure, I asked her one more thing.
"Let me confirm something. You didn't come here to fight humans, did you?"
If she had, I'd have no choice but to stop her, no matter how young she looked. But the answer she gave was nothing like what I'd expected.
"Is fighting really necessary?"
"Huh?"
What was that supposed to mean? Weren't demons and humans supposed to be mortal enemies?
"Human, are you actually an idiot? Do you not know that dragons don't live in packs?"
"Uh..."
Now that she mentioned it, I vaguely remembered reading something like that. While other demon races built settlements, dragons apparently wandered in groups.
"Now that you say it... yeah, that does sound familiar."
"Sigh..."
The dragon girl let out a long breath at my response.
"Anyway... everyone in my tribe is a battle maniac. But I don't have horns, so I'm bad at fighting. That's why I left."
"Horns?"
Only then did I notice she really didn't have any on her head. From what I'd read, a dragon's horns were a measure of their strength—the more powerful their magic, the larger their horns.
"I have no friends. My family abandoned me. So I travel alone. I don't want to fight and get hurt for no reason. Understand, human?"
She said it all so matter-of-factly. But for some reason—maybe the alcohol—her expression looked... a little sad.
"Ha... all right. Let's go."
I stood up and spoke to the dragon girl.
"...Do you really believe me? What if I'm deceiving you?"
"People who are actually trying to trick someone don't usually say that out loud."
"...I learned something, human."
She was still a dragon with a few screws loose. Thinking that, I walked past her. She must have realized I was moving, because she got up and started following.
"Ow!"
But it seemed her strength hadn't fully returned. After just a few steps she groaned and collapsed to the ground.
"Sorry, human. I guess I'm not recovered yet. Don't worry about me—just go on ahead."
She looked up at me as she said it. Instead of walking away, I turned around and approached her.
"W-what are you doing?"
She panicked when I came closer instead of leaving. I knelt down and offered her my back.
"Get on."
"Get on?"
"Yeah. After eating all that emergency food, there's no way your energy's back already."
"..."
The girl hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her arms around my neck. I grabbed her legs, stood up, and started walking.
"...Thank you, human."
With her quiet gratitude in my ears, I set off down the road.
*****
"...It's huge."
That was the first thing the girl said when she saw the city gates.
"Once we're inside, you can't tell anyone you're a dragon, got it?"
"I'm not that much of an idiot, human."
"You won't cause any trouble?"
"I won't."
"I'll hold you to that."
I approached the gate. The guard stationed there stopped us immediately.
"Halt! Identify yourselves!"
I showed him my adventurer's guild card.
"Confirmed. And the girl behind you...?"
"Found her in the forest. Looks like she got lost."
"That's right."
"That's right...?"
Damn it. Things were going smoothly until the dragon had to butt in and make everything weird.
"Stay quiet and don't talk!" I whispered to her.
"She seems a bit young mentally. She even speaks casually to me."
"Huh, so young and already... how unfortunate."
"Right?"
A sharp pain suddenly shot through my back and I bit my tongue. When I glanced behind me, the dragon girl was pinching me with a thoroughly dissatisfied look.
"Are you all right?"
The guard asked worriedly after hearing the strange noise I'd made.
"I'm fine. Just accidentally bit my tongue while talking..."
"Be careful."
"Can we go in?"
"Yes. You may enter."
I quickly slipped past the guard and headed into the village. Once we'd walked far enough that no one was nearby, I checked our surroundings and turned to the girl.
"Why would you pinch me that hard!"
"You insulted me, human. Dragons don't tolerate insults."
"That wasn't an insult, it was an excuse!"
"...I learned something new."
Just how far removed from common sense was she? Shaking my head, I headed for my lodgings.
"Promise me one thing. After you eat your fill and drink your fill, you'll leave without causing any trouble, right?"
"I promise, human. I won't cause trouble."
"Good, good... I'll trust you on that."
I kept walking as I spoke.
*****
Before long I stood in front of my lodging. I opened the door, stepped inside, and set the girl down on the bed.
"Thank you, human."
"Don't mention it. Still, what a day. Never thought I'd end up giving a dragon a piggyback ride."
"Pffffft!!!!!!"
In the middle of our conversation, the unmistakable sound of someone spitting out their drink cut through the air. A terrible premonition crawled down my spine. I slowly turned toward the source of the noise.
And there sat Coriander at the table, beer in hand.
"D-dragon?"
Oh crap. Of all people, I'd been caught by the one person who absolutely could not know about this.
*****
"Have you lost your mind? Really?!"
I was currently kneeling with both hands in the air, getting thoroughly chewed out. In front of both Coriander and the dragon.
"No matter how pitiful she looked, how could you just bring a dragon into the village without talking to anyone first!"
"But... she really did seem pitiful..."
"Quiet!"
"Hng..."
This was exactly why I'd snuck in through the empty back alleys. And yet the biggest problem had been waiting for me at home.
The dragon girl, completely unaware of my suffering—or maybe she was—sat at the table eating the simple meal I'd thrown together and drinking beer while watching me with those big eyes.
"Human..."
She looked at me like I was the pitiful one. Wait, hold on. If we're pointing fingers, this is all your fault. Why are you looking at me like that?
"...Sorry."
Ah. She wasn't pitying me—she felt guilty.
"I swear, you're going to get us all killed! What if the imperial knights find out?"
"Uh... wouldn't she protect us?"
I pointed at the girl. She looked around the direction I indicated, then seemed to catch on.
"You mean me, human?"
"Yes! I fed you and gave you my own beer. The least you can do is help out!"
"There was beer?"
Coriander shouted again. Déjà vu much?
"Oh right, I forgot to mention it."
Brewery — Completed Stout and Belgian White kegs summoned
Saying that, I summoned the kegs containing the freshly brewed stout and Belgian white onto the floor.
"Mommy!"
Coriander let out a startled yelp as the kegs suddenly appeared from thin air.
"...Bel, you..."
She looked back and forth between me and the kegs, then started staring at me with clear suspicion.
What? Had she figured out I was from another world?
As I worried, Coriander spoke.
"Are you a mage?"
"No?!"
Another misunderstanding had taken root.
*****
"Ah... so it's a unique skill."
I somehow managed to organize my explanation and told Coriander about my ability. I left out the part about coming from another world, of course. Saying that would definitely get me dragged away by paladins for heresy.
"Hmm... I see. It's still a little lacking, though."
"Still, this is good. We might actually be able to get revenge on the Domino Brewery without any money."
"Even so..."
I sighed while looking at the pathetically small number of kegs. No matter how little it cost to make them, the output volume was just too low.
"Haa... if only a dragon would show up and help..."
I let out a hopeless sigh. Wait. We had a dragon right here.
Coriander seemed to realize it at the same time. We both turned to look at the girl.
She noticed our stares, stopped eating, and looked back at us.
"Me?"
Yes, you.
"You're going to help us with something for a bit."
"Out of nowhere?"
We'd gained a powerful new ally.