I’m going to visit Patrick’s family home in the Ashbaton frontier county and I have a lot to prepare for.
「I need to send a letter telling them the date and time of my visit and arrange a carriage and a proper dress too. 」
「Why can’t you just ride Ryuu and dressed as it is?」
「How can I possibly do such an outrageous thing! 」
「You are talking about common sense… 」
He watched me pacing around the room mumbling and looked at me in disbelief.
I wonder how Patrick can be so optimistic. Oh, and what if Patrick’s father said something like, 「You are not allowed to call me father! 」.
「I’ve already written a letter and sent it to my father, telling him about you as you are. 」
「As I am? 」
「Like how you usually look and what you are doing. So, it’s too late to fix it up— 」
「As it is, it’s all right then… isn’t it? 」
I guess I’m doing some weird stuff sometimes, but it’s in the non-lethal category. His parents don’t seem to be at the level of being repulsed towards me.
「…Right. 」
At that moment, I can never forget his indescribable expression.
◆
We ended up riding Ryuu on our way to Ashbaton territory. While I was worrying about this and that, Patrick sent a letter to his house to inform them about the date he decided on to come home.
「Hey, why didn’t you at least ask me about the schedule? 」
「In the way things were going, you were going to spend years picking out a souvenir. 」
「Souvenir! 」
I had completely forgotten about it. Since I’m visiting my future fiancé’s house, a souvenir is a must. What would be a good souvenir, confectionery? Alcohol? Nope. One little gesture, one small souvenir could be enough to judge a person’s character. I guess I should give it my all.
「What’s going on? You suddenly yelled. 」
「Patrick, I will do my best! 」
The moment I showed my motivation, Patrick scrunched up his face.
「Don’t work hard. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, I just know it’s incorrect. Don’t ever do your best. 」
He seemed resolute in his conviction. Where did that confidence come from?
「All I need to do is bring a souvenir to Patrick’s house? 」
「What kind of souvenir… wait, what are you going to get? 」
His expression softened for a moment when he heard the word souvenir, but Patrick’s expression immediately hardened.
What would be a good souvenir? Something I would be happy to receive and I could do my best with it.
「Something like… a dragon egg? 」
Dragons that are used to humans won’t mate with wild dragons. In some ways, it’s hopeless for Ryuu to get a wife. That’s a pity, I want a dragon egg. I’ll have to give it my all for that.
「Please don’t do that. 」
As Patrick said with a compelling look on his face. He didn’t like the dragon egg.
「Well… 」
Something I’m happy to receive… I’d love to have some items with level cap maxed or something like that though. I’d also like some light-attribute nullification armour. Once my weaknesses are gone, I’m getting close to being the strongest again.
However. I wonder if Patrick’s parents would be happy to receive them…
「Do you think… that my senses are out of sync with the rest of the world? 」
「Oh! I never thought you’d notice it by yourself! Great job, Yumiela! 」
With a huge smile on his face, Patrick patted me on the head. Ehehe. …It wasn’t, I’m getting too far off track.
We will discuss his perception about me later in a firm way, we are talking about souvenirs.
「Now is not the time for that! 」
I tried to shake Patrick’s hand off, but he pulled his hand back and dodged. His level has increased recently and he’s been playing around like this more often than not. It’s better than accidentally punching someone, but it’s also somewhat infuriating.
「Now I’ve got to figure out what to bring as a souvenir, right? Bringing something insignificant would really be pointless, so what do I do?」
「How about some assorted sweets or something? 」
He doesn’t really seem to care. The difference in our perceptions is shocking.
「No, what if they think I’m some kind of crazy girl and oppose our marriage? 」
「They already think you lack common sense. 」
…Okay, let’s wrap some appropriate snacks as souvenirs.
Then I guess I should switch from the well-behaved girl strategy to the one where I had a bad reputation but was surprisingly nice when I meet them in person.
◆
Patrick doesn’t like heights. We’ve been riding Ryuu many times but he never seems to get used to it. I’ve had Ryuu fly slowly and gently but his expression looked poor.
「Shouldn’t we be there by now? …Are you okay? 」
「Yeah …look, don’t do any sudden acceleration and dive. 」
Is he pretending to be alright? Yeah, I got a stern stare. I’m not going to do it.
「So, that’s the town with the Lord’s manor. Huh? The atmosphere is kind of stuffy, though. 」
There were many armed forces in the middle of the town in Ashbaton territory. The tension between them seems to be like a battle approaching…
「That flag …it’s an emergency flag and the highest level. No way …did Remrest attack us?」
As Patrick looked at the flag on the tallest building in the town, he said. Remrest? Are we being invaded by the neighbouring country?
「On a day when our future depends on it… 」
I haven’t slept a wink last night. If I can’t meet Patrick’s parents today because of this, then I would have to do this all over again. Are you trying to put a hole in my stomach? I won’t allow you do it, Remrest Kingdom!
「Calm down. I know you’re angry, but let’s not lose our cool… 」
How can he be so blasé when his hometown is under attack? This is a place where they guard against monsters, the next scene would be burning down all the garbage bugs that are harming the country.
「Ryuu, full speed! I’ll give you a boost too! 」
He flapped his wings as fast as he could and accelerated. I supported him by releasing my magic power backwards.
When you get to a certain speed, the aerodynamic forces on the wings get in the way. Ryuu folded his wings back and took on fighter-like shape. From here, it will only be accelerated by my and Ryuu’s magic power.
The scenery below changes at a fast pace. The trees in the forest quickly drift behind us. Ryuu’s advances generated shock waves. Is this what you call a sonic boom?
We have exceeded the speed of sound.
「Patrick! The enemy forces are in sight! …Patrick? 」
He didn’t utter a word behind me all this time. Is he impressed by the unprecedented speed? I had no idea that Patrick was a speed junkie. What if he says he wants to reach the speed of light or something?
The two armies are in a standoff with each other on the plain of sight. Perhaps that area nearby is the border line. Neither of these forces has found us yet.
Ryuu is flying with a bang but they didn’t notice the sound until only after we’ve passed the area and gone by.
「To reduce the damage… Should we get the enemy general? 」
Patrick, who seemed to know a lot about these warfare rules, had no answers. We’re already reaching above the battlefield. I’ll have to make a decision soon….
Alright, let’s ram it into the enemy’s stronghold. …So where is the main camp?
「Oh, it’s too late! Ryuu, swoop between the two armies! 」
Ryuu roared and proceeded to drop into the center where the Ashbaton’s troops and the Remrest Kingdom’s troops stood in a standoff.
We were slowing down, but at a considerable speed. After landing in front of the Ashbaton’s troops, Ryuu stopped in front of Remrest Kingdom’s troops, gouging the ground. The line ran the length across the center of both armies.
This is what I heard later on. Apparently, when the Remrest Kingdom attacked the Balshine Kingdom, a black meteor fell from the sky and the Black Demon King descended. …As expected, I’m being treated like a demon king again.
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