Ch.199013 Investigation Record – World of Sword and Magic (2)

Having so readily received a promise of help, could I now ride on a dragon’s back and fly through the sky? I had dreamed of it as a child, but gave up after hearing how cold it gets at higher altitudes.

The dragon, merely wearing an orc’s body through polymorph magic, briefly brought his hand to his ear. He covered his ear to prevent sound from leaking in as he spoke. He must be using telepathy.

“This is New York Airport, dragon registration number 00116, Draig Koch. I need to go from New York to San Francisco. Could you arrange a flight schedule for me? I know well enough that I can’t just land and take off as I please. Ah, yes. I have a companion too. An elf. Height just under 5 feet. Good. I’ll keep the telepathic line open.”

Even while sitting in Bar Two Face, he could naturally send telepathic messages to an airport that must be quite far away—another enviable dragon magic.

In terms of ability, if gods were at the top, dragons were right behind them. I’d heard that some races once even worshipped dragons as gods. It felt strange to look at such beings as neighbors.

The dragon, downing another cup of coffee, covered his ear with his thumb again as a voice rang in his ear. He continued speaking naturally.

“That much for supplies… wouldn’t even cost what it takes to lick a rare’s treasure pile clean. I’ll cover it all. Yes. I’m glad to have such a reliable person. Good. I’ll wait for your call.”

Do dragons really live in huge caves with piles of treasure? It seemed like a prejudiced notion, like saying elves live in trees, so I didn’t ask, but it seemed possible.

Come to think of it, for dragons, a human body like that was like formal attire. Naturally, their original massive and powerful bodies would be more comfortable. And such bodies would suit caves.

After finishing his telepathy, he blew a short breath mixed with flames on his fingertips that had been covering his ear to clean them, then looked at me again. I still couldn’t get used to the sharp vertical pupils characteristic of reptiles.

“They say they’ll arrange a flight schedule. It’s just making a few calls, so it won’t take long. So… why do you want to meet the Emperor of San Francisco? Don’t feel pressured. I just want to know a bit more about the person I’ll be carrying on my back.”

Ah, fortunately, when I was at home… well, what’s no longer home now, I had learned how to interview dragons. My father taught me that too.

I don’t need to feel guilty about this. It wasn’t me who put a cursed mask over all family memories and turned them into educational experiences from the Forest’s Firstborn—it was my father. I took a deep breath.

Only then could I look the dragon in the eye. He was a fearsome creature, but not a fearsome person. Rather, from what I’d seen so far, he was someone I should have thanked hundreds of times.

“Well, more than anything else, I feel like my eyes have become too accustomed to New York’s colors. You know? It’s a place full of all kinds of colors, but it’s never peaceful. New York’s red is sometimes painfully bright…”

The dragon nodded as if he understood what I meant. He spoke much more directly than I had expected.

“Even I would be surprised to hear how many people have died from murders in the past month. Whether it’s because too many people live in the city, or because the gray-walled buildings hide cruelty well.”

It was certainly that kind of city, but there were aspects to love. There was Bar Two Face, meeting Carmen, Paulina’s house, and… well, I couldn’t put the Husband Detective Agency on this list, but Michael’s home could certainly be included. There were many places that made me willing to live in this city.

Still, sometimes I wanted to rest my eyes. Sometimes I wanted to see a more cheerful side of the city. It felt like my eyes might lose their sensitivity to color if I kept seeing similar scenery.

“You understand well. Still, it’s quite a livable city, isn’t it? I want to keep living here, but if there’s something I don’t like about it, what should I do? I should find out how to fix what I don’t like! And I feel like the Emperor of the San Francisco Empire might be the way to fix it!”

I might have been sparkling with excitement. The dragon looked at my expression and sighed.

“So you were planning to just dive in headfirst without a plan.”

It was a scathing remark that reminded me of Michael, but it didn’t seem to be said with malice. He must have heard how it sounded himself, as he quickly added:

“But the direction isn’t bad, so it’s amusing in its own way. No, isn’t it funny? If it’s not funny, then you must be a torchbearer. Short-lived races have always needed such people.”

This time I thought he was becoming somewhat favorable, but he looked dubious again, as if trying to find the right balance between kindness and sharpness.

“Or you might just be a foolish short-lived being obsessed with the San Francisco Empire… but if that’s the case, it’s my fault for being deceived. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

It sounded almost like a joke. It would be funny if a dragon who seemed to have lived so long couldn’t read people, and failing to recognize foolishness would be embarrassing.

“If a dragon is watching over me, that’s something to be grateful for, isn’t it? Oh, it would be twice as good if you could help me steal the Emperor’s flame when we get there!”

Since he was clearly a fire dragon, I slipped in a joke. The dragon in orc form leisurely raised the corner of his mouth. Just as he was about to say something, he covered his ear with his thumb again.

“Yes, this is Draig. I’m listening. That’s fortunate. Well, dragons who would make such long-distance flights on a weekday aren’t common. We usually stay around our lairs. I just happen to have some business with short-lived beings. Yes, we’ll go at a convenient time.”

Only then did the overwhelming ozone smell that filled the surroundings subside. Elves with sensitive senses could smell magic well, but standing before a dragon of a different scale altogether often made my nose clog up.

“They say we can come and depart at a convenient time. You did get proper permission for your coverage, right? Even if you’re riding on my back, if you’re not coming back in a day or two, you’ll need to pack… I’ll give you three hours until six. Is that enough?”

Long-lived races tended to treat all short-lived beings like children. I actually liked that they could interpret childish whims as unreasonable requests.

“Of course I got permission for coverage if there was a way! Oh, as for preparations, if you could take me to my apartment, I can finish by five-thirty!”

We returned to my apartment in the orc vehicle that had been waiting in front of Cafe Two Face. The luxurious car that the fire dragon Draig drove seemed completely out of place with the apartment where I lived.

Or perhaps I had become too easily accustomed to this place. I could still long for life at my family home and the time when I received my father’s love, but maybe I was moving too fast.

The detective had said I resembled my father. In fact, not just the detective, but many people said so. Was that really true? Packing my suitcase was urgent, but when I entered my home, I looked in the mirror for a moment.

I couldn’t find anything in the mirror. The only thing I discovered was that I had been staring blankly at the mirror for quite some time. Enlightenment wasn’t something that would pop out easily.

Time was tight, but fortunately, this wasn’t my first time packing a suitcase. I left the apartment with a much lighter suitcase than when I had left the home my family had prepared for me.

On a day like this, it would have been nice if people from my family home had come looking for me, gotten scolded by Mr. Draig, and run away. Then they probably wouldn’t come looking for me at home again, but that was too much luck to hope for.

After Mr. Draig’s driver loaded my suitcase into the trunk, we headed straight for New York Airport. Since it was an airport used only by dragons, this was my first time actually visiting it.

While the New York where people lived had the color of smoke, the airport that only dragons visited had a different feel. Perhaps because of the dragons’ breath filled with mana, exotic plants grew abundantly in the airport’s open space, and beyond the fence meant to keep people out, the asphalt ground covered with claw marks was a fascinating sight.

Mr. Draig’s driver dropped us off and went home with the car, leaving just the two of us to enter the airport building. For a building used by fewer than ten people a day, it was quite spacious and clean.

Were all dragons wealthy? Well, it made sense. This place was used by races that lived long enough for their hobbies to become historical records. As I scanned the area with my eyes, the administrative process continued.

After verifying his dragon registration number and confirming the flight path to our destination once more… the administrative process essentially ended with them handing him a thick coat that I would apparently need to wear.

He ran his palm over the coat’s material and snorted. He spoke as if he wanted to immediately breathe fire and burn it, but settled for throwing it aside.

“Ha! To present this as premium quality… I understand they only prepare such supplies minimally since short-lived beings rarely use them, but I don’t like it. Don’t wear it. I’ll see you on the runway.”

He seemed like he would be fine since he was a red-scaled dragon who handled fire. He went into the changing room, and I walked toward the runway guided by a staff member.

I passed a boundary line with writing as tall as me saying “Please polymorph into human form beyond this line,” and reached a place where I could see a vast flat area that couldn’t be seen in the city center.

Mr. Draig was there too. Not in orc form. In his original form. Front legs connected to membrane wings, two black horns protruding through ruby-red scales… but there was something that couldn’t be explained by appearance alone.

The claws clearly made of sword and magic, and the scars on his belly, looked like evidence that he might once have been a ferocious monster. Yet there was dignity in his ruby-shining scales, and in the way he walked lightly on his front legs—a structure not ideal for walking due to the attached wings—without damaging the asphalt.

He was a dignified beast and a monster worthy of admiration. Like the very stereotype of the dragon race brought to life.

He lowered his head before me. His pupils seemed larger than my head. He spoke not directly but through telepathy. His voice would be too loud to speak at this distance.

“A shield will envelop you, little elf. I’ll wrap your suitcase and food supplies until we arrive, so just feel how a fire dragon’s heat easily crushes the cold of the high altitude on my back. According to airport regulations, a dragon’s insurance applies to their companions too, so feel free to speak up if anything is uncomfortable. Understand?”

“Yes! I understand! Though… whatever might happen at that height… I don’t think any insurance money could resolve it, no matter how small the issue.”

He seemed to smile, raising the corner of his mouth, then exhaled a breath like a sigh. I could vaguely see the asphalt melting stickily where his breath touched.

Soon a heavy ozone smell enveloped the surroundings. It was beyond just a smell, so I coughed, expelled the mana-mixed air, and covered my mouth and nose with my sleeve. It wasn’t very effective, but it helped a little.

The magic that created that much ozone smell lifted my body. Seeing dust and stone fragments rising along with me, it must have been the gravity manipulation magic that dragons use.

In fact, even this much felt like flying to me. I felt my floating body rise onto his back, and soon I could clearly see a streamlined, translucent barrier forming along his scales.

It was a barrier made purely of power. The ozone smell when I brought my face close indicated it was made entirely of magic. Creating a translucent barrier by altering the refractive index was also a technique unique to dragons.

Riding on his back, I could feel more. The pleasant resonance felt with each beat of his heart, heavier than myself, the vast mana that could be felt flowing, and the scales that lifted slightly revealing the flesh underneath with each breath before settling back down. The feeling of being on top of an enormous living being was extremely enjoyable.

He stretched once, extending his front legs forward. He spread his membrane wings to check for any damage, and the ozone smell swept through the surroundings once as if checking telepathy.

About five minutes after all the procedures were complete, the dragon’s voice sounded in my head.

“Good. Takeoff preparations are complete. I need to use telepathy with the control tower, so don’t use magic. And… well, never mind. As long as you stay inside the barrier, nothing much will happen, so relax.”

When I answered with a loud “Yes!” the sand dust sprinkled on the asphalt runway began to rise. Gravity was decreasing. Mr. Draig spread his wings, made a running start to gain buoyancy, then kicked off the ground with his hind legs and took flight. It seemed like he could fly with gravity manipulation alone… but he probably made the running start to avoid damaging the runway.

The huge membrane wings on both sides began to flap. As we rose through the clouds, frost formed on his body but soon melted into droplets, and the droplets that touched his body evaporated into steam.

It didn’t take long for New York to appear small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. If I had taken a train, it might have felt a bit more real, but sitting here on the back of a soaring dragon without any worries, just hugging my suitcase and what looked like canned food, it didn’t feel real at all.

Still, the sky from this height was surely beautiful. The brownish tint of Mr. Draig’s barrier acted like sunglasses, slightly distorting the colors, but it couldn’t completely hide the sky’s hues.

It would take exactly twelve hours to reach the San Francisco Empire. We would probably reach San Francisco in time for the Emperor’s Coronation Anniversary, which was a day and a half away.