Volume 7 - CH 7.4

After Returning to the Country Arc – 4: The God-protected Forest’s Longest Day 

— In the middle of the 8th month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar — 

On this clear day, I was flying through the sky on Naden’s back while she was in ryuu form. 

This height had scared me at first, but after a number of times being sent out to do weather reporting, I was now completely used to it. Now, I could even sleep at an altitude of 1,000 meters. 

Though Naden gets mad if I sleep... 

“Is something the matter, sire?” Aisha asked. 

“It’s nothing,” I told her. 

It was just that today Aisha was seated behind me, with her hands wrapped tightly around my waist. That was because we were heading to Aisha’s homeland, the God-protected Forest. 

“Still, why are we going to the God-protected Forest so suddenly?” Aisha asked. 

“Because we got engaged, but I haven’t gone to give my regards to Sir Wodan. We’ve been communicating with letters, but I’ve been meaning to find the time to go see him.” 

“It was to see him about the betrothal?!” 

“Yeah. I’ve already talked to Liscia’s parents, and Juna’s guardian is Excel, so I’ve spoken with her. For Naden, Tiamat is like her mother, so the formalities are taken care of there, too. For Roroa... I intend to visit their grave soon.” 

Near Van, the former capital of the Principality, there was a grave for the Amidonian royal family. Roroa’s parents lay at rest there. I couldn’t imagine Gaius would have blessed our marriage, but I had to believe that Roroa’s mother, a cheerful woman according to Sir Gouran, would have pacified him. 

“So, that being the case, we’re visiting Aisha’s family home, huh?” Naden asked. 

“Urgh... If that was what this was about, you could have told me. I’m not mentally prepared...” Aisha ground her forehead against my back. 

Leaving the confused Aisha alone for a bit, I talked to my other fiancée, who was kindly giving us a ride. 

“Sorry, Naden. Making you give Aisha a ride again, too.” 

I gave her a pat on the back. 

She turned her ryuu head around to look our way and replied, “I don’t really mind if it’s Aisha,” using her telepathy. “She’s ridden me before. Besides, ‘the partner of my partner is like my partner.’” 

“Yeah, you were saying something like that before.” 

Aisha, who seemed to have recovered from writhing in embarrassment, tilted her head to the side. “Hm... If Naden and I are partners, which of us is the husband?” 

What is this stupidity Aisha was suddenly spouting? ...was what I thought, but Naden pondered the question with a surprising amount of seriousness. 

“Hmm, wouldn’t it be you, Aisha? You’re strong, after all.” 

“In your ryuu form, you’re strong, too.” 

“But compared to Juna, you’re more of a husband type, wouldn’t you say?” 

“Comparing me to Juna isn’t fair! She’s more of a woman than anyone.” 

“In this form, my breasts are bigger than hers... Wait, saying that just makes me sad. But when you think of it that way, isn’t Liscia the most like a husband?” 

“Lady Liscia is gutsy,” Aisha agreed. “In a way, she’s better husband material than His Majesty.” 

“You’re just saying whatever you want...” Hearing the two of them talk, my shoulders slumped. It was true enough; I was nowhere near as gutsy as Liscia. “Still, in the end, you’d both prefer to be the wife, right?” 

““Well, of course.”” 

“For my part, I need both of you to be my brides.” 

“Sire!” Aisha cried. 

“Souma!” 

The two both smiled bashfully. 

I was embarrassed having said it, too. 

“It’s awkward having my superior flirting right beside me, you realize?” Hal complained. 

He was flying beside us on the back of Ruby, who was in red dragon form. He looked at us with a face like he’d been forced to drink boiled sugar. 

His mount was looking at Naden with her golden eyes, too. 

“You, too, Naden,” Ruby rebuked and then looked away sulkily. “If you’re a dragon of the Star Dragon Mountain Range, keep yourself together when your knight is riding you. That is the dignity expected of a knight’s partner.” 

“Souma’s not a knight, he’s a king, so there.” 

“Don’t quibble! That makes him higher than a knight!” 

“Oh, geez, shut up!” 

The two of them started arguing high up in the sky. 

While they weren’t as hostile as they had been when I’d first met the two of them, neither of them had changed their stubborn personalities, so fights like this were a daily occurrence. 

That said, they did it as friends. 

As my fiancée, Naden’s position was far higher than Ruby’s, but the fact they could fight on equal terms showed that Naden and Ruby didn’t let that come between them. They were each the only person the other knew from their homeland here, after all. 

Then Naden said, “Nyahh!” and barred her teeth. “You can stop worrying about me and get along with your own knight, can’t you?! That fox-eared mage isn’t here today, so you can get as lovey-dovey as you want.” 

“Wh-What are you saying?! I wouldn’t...” 

“Oh, my, what’s this? Your face is all red, Ruby?” Naden teased. 

“It’s naturally that color!” 

After that, Naden and Ruby kept shouting and having a good time. Where did the dignity expected of a knight’s partner go...? Well, if they were getting along and fighting with each other, I could let that go. 

“But there wasn’t any need for me to come, was there?” Hal asked. “If Young Miss Aisha and Young Miss Naden are with you, isn’t that enough to protect you?” 

It was true; when I had the greatest warrior in the kingdom, Aisha, and Naden, who in her ryuu form could probably take on over ten wyvern riders at once, with me, there was no point in bringing Hal to protect me. 

The green leaves of the God-protected Forest shone in the summer sun. 

When coming to provide aid before, we had stopped the rhinoceros train outside and headed for the village on foot, but this time we were coming from the air, so we could land directly in the dark elf village. 

“H-He really came on a dragon!” an elf exclaimed. 

“That’s a big’un...” 

They weren’t wary because we had notified them in advance, but the dark elves curiously watched the ryuu and the dragon descend from a distance. 

When we touched down and Naden and Ruby took human form, the people who had been watching from a distance rushed in like a dam had just burst. Surrounded by dark elves of all ages, from children to adults, we ended up getting manhandled. 

“What?! You girls are dragons?!” 

“Wowwwie! Hey, transform again!” 

“Why, King Souma, how good of you to come visit.” 

“You were a great help last time.” 

“Hey, Lady Aisha, good of you to come back.” 

“Lady Aisha, congratulations on your betrothal to His Majesty.” 

“Is this red-headed girl Sir Hal’s partner? She’s a beauty.” 

“Who is this black-haired kid? Huh? She’s not a kid?” 

That was about how it went, with the questions flying fast and it not being clear who was saying what to whom until somebody clapped their hands. 

Looking in the direction of the noise, Aisha’s father Sir Wodan was looking on with a wry smile. 

“Everyone, His Majesty and his entourage have only just arrived. It is rude to surround and interrogate them like that.” 

When Wodan lightly told them off, the dark elves stepped back seeming a little embarrassed. 

Now that we were free from the crowd, we could finally catch our breaths. 

“You’re a lifesaver, Sir Wodan,” I said gratefully. 

“No, no, the villagers were being rude. However, this is because when they learned that you, who came to the aid of our village, were coming to visit, they all became excited about how they had to welcome you. Please, forgive them.” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m grateful for the warm welcome.” 

Sir Wodan and I exchanged a firm handshake. In that moment, the dark elves all started clapping... 

I dunno, being this welcome was kind of embarrassing. 

“Now, it won’t do for us to stand here talking forever,” Sir Wodan said, indicating which direction he wanted us to go. “Please, come to my house.” 

“Chief.” A hand went up from inside the crowd of dark elves. 

The one with his hand raised was Sir Sur, who had lead the reinforcements that came during our battle against the Army. 

“I wanted to invite Sir Halbert to my own house,” he said. “Would that be all right?” 

“Hmm, what do you say, King Souma?” Sir Wodan asked. 

I smiled and nodded. “I don’t mind. That was why I brought him along in the first place.” 

“Thank you,” Sur said. “Now, Sir Halbert, please come to my house.” 

“O-Okay?” 

Hal was dragged off with Sur pulling him by the arm. Ruby hurried after them. 

Having parted with Hal, Aisha, Naden, and I went to Sir Wodan’s house. 

Looking at the village along the way, I could see almost no signs of the disaster that had happened here before. Their houses were in a forest to begin with, and many were simple, so it must not have taken long to rebuild them. 

“You’ve come a long way towards recovering already,” I commented. 

“That is thanks to your generous provision of materials,” Sir Wodan said. “Thank you, sincerely.” 

“I ought to thank you. Thank you for sending those reinforcements during the recent war.” 

I could hear sniffling from behind me, too. Her tears had likely made Naden start crying, too. 

Sir Wodan stood up and walked towards me. Then, placing his hands over mine and Aisha’s, he smiled and said, “Sir Souma, I’m counting on you to take care of Aisha.” 

“Yes, Father, I will.” 

“Aisha. Be happy.” 

“I will... Father.” 

“Madam Naden, I am sure you will be Sir Souma’s wife, too. Please, treat Aisha well as a member of the same family.” 

“Of course I will! Roger that!” 

Having heard our responses, Sir Wodan smiled broadly and nodded in satisfaction. 

Meanwhile, around that time... 

Having broken off from Souma and the others, Halbert ended up being practically dragged into Sur’s house. 

He walked where his hand was being pulled. With Halbert’s strength, which was among the top in the kingdom, it would be easy to shake free of this hand, but he felt nothing but goodwill from Sur, and so he couldn’t treat the man poorly. 

Ruby hurried after the two of them. 

Halbert turned just his head back in her direction and asked in a whisper, “H-Hey, Ruby, what’s going on here?!” 

“D-Don’t ask me,” she whispered back. “Can’t you get away?” 

“If he were hostile, that’d be one thing, but I’d feel bad brushing off an invitation made with goodwill...” 

“Then all we can do is wait and see how it goes, right?” 

While the two of them were having that exchange, Sur turned back with a smile. “Okay, we’re here. Welcome to my home.” 

““Huh?”” 

By the time they realized it, the two had been led to a small house with a thatched roof. It was clearly the abode of a farmer, but the roof was bizarrely steep. 

“That’s an awfully pointy house you’ve got... huh...” 

Halbert’s opinion was more or less exactly how it looked, so Sur laughed. 

“Here in this forest, when winter comes, we get a fair amount of snow accumulation. If we don’t use roofs like this so the snow falls off, they’ll collapse.” 

“You get that much accumulation?” Hal asked. 

“Yes. Because of it, we cannot hunt in winter, and everyone spends their time indoors, mending things or doing maintenance on their weapons. Though last year’s winter was different.”