Ch.232Side Story: Dragon Lord – 2

“—Those children have arrived.”

The closed eyes opened. Large, vertically slit pupils appeared between the eyelids. The dragons gathered around bowed their heads, folded their wings, and took a step back.

Thud. A massive leg stepped into the space covered with mana. The view rippled. Blue light illuminated, revealing a gigantic body and majestic wings one after another.

Those pupils were directed somewhere beyond dimensions. Though the place was immeasurably distant, physical distance was meaningless to a dragon whose eyes could peer even into the world of consciousness if desired.

“—Prepare to welcome our guests.”

Though far inferior to the being who had spoken, dragons with bodies large enough to match several human buildings combined dissolved into blue mana and disappeared like scattering mist upon hearing those words.

The remaining dragons simply lay prostrate, keeping their heads bowed.

“—Go about your duties. I shall greet the guests personally.”

The remaining dragons bowed their heads even deeper and scattered into blue mana just like their companions who had disappeared first.

Suddenly, the surrounding landscape began to change. The space, where nothing existed except the dark blue light source emitted by mana, transformed into something resembling a luxurious human mansion.

The difference was that not only the size of the mansion itself but also all the elegant furniture within it were incomparably larger than their human counterparts.

For instance, a teacup was the size of a decent mansion’s reception room. The table was large enough to rival human mansions in scale.

But that was fine. Now it was just a matter of reducing the size.

As the dragon’s height gradually decreased, the room itself and the surrounding furniture began to shrink as well.

The teacup, which had been large enough to swim in, shrank to the size of an ordinary palm. Various refreshments, which had been long enough to serve as building materials, diminished to bite-sized portions.

The ceiling, which had been so high that one had to crane their neck considerably to see it, also descended to three or four times human height.

“Ah, ah.”

In the center of it all stood a woman.

“Speaking directly with a human body feels strange indeed. To think the vibration in the throat feels this strong whenever I speak. Do humans always use sensory blocking magic on their throats?”

The completely naked woman, without a single thread on her body, kept clearing her throat while touching her neck. The act of speaking normally through her mouth seemed utterly unfamiliar to her.

Her voice kept changing. Sometimes it was extremely high-pitched, then suddenly dropped to a deep bass that seemed to hug the floor, or occasionally produced a sharp sound like breaking glass.

After repeatedly changing her voice for a while, the woman finally settled on a mature, warm, and affectionate tone, and clothing appeared on her previously naked body.

Elegant garments covered the pure white, graceful curves of her waist. Long silk gloves adorned her hands, and a dress that nearly touched the floor concealed her long, slender legs.

Fully dressed, the woman exuded an antique and rich atmosphere that would make anyone believe she was the lady of some ancient noble family.

The woman, who had “observed” herself with dragon eyes, nodded as if satisfied, then added a light fragrance to her body with magic before taking a step forward.

“That’s enough, child.”

In an instant, her body had arrived at a different location.

“…Who are you?”

Serena, Charlotte, and Christine were highly wary of the woman who had appeared before their eyes without any warning. I too was slightly tense at first, but soon found myself calming the three of them down instead.

Judging by the woman’s expression and the atmosphere she exuded, I thought she probably wasn’t an enemy. As if confirming my thoughts, the woman elegantly gestured toward Charlotte.

“That child is the reason I’ve come here.”

The woman’s gaze turned to Charlotte. I followed her gaze. Charlotte had already replaced her wariness and tension with her usual irritated expression.

“Charlotte, do you know her?”

“That’s half right and half wrong, my dear. It’s true that I know this being, but that is not a person.”

Before I could be surprised by her statement that the woman wasn’t human, Charlotte confronted the visitor.

“I’ll give you a chance to explain why you’ve appeared before us in such a form. What scheme are you plotting?”

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient for me to take human form if we’re to have a long conversation? It’s for the sake of familiarity, so there’s no need to be so irritated, child.”

The woman’s appearance wasn’t exactly identical to a human’s.

Her pupils were vertically slit like a reptile’s, and horns protruded from her head. Her fingernails were slightly pointed, and behind her back was a tail as thick as a thigh.

These were features that immediately revealed what species she originally was. Probably the same kind as the one who had tried to block our entry into the rift before being thoroughly beaten by Charlotte.

A dragon.

“If that’s the case, let me ask one more thing. Dragons have no concept of gender, so why take a form that resembles me?”

That was the fundamental reason why Serena, Charlotte, and Christine were irritated. The woman who appeared before us looked like a mixture of their appearances.

Her hair color was close to blonde like Serena’s, while the overall shape of her hair strongly resembled Christine’s. Her eyes, on the other hand, were blood-red like Charlotte’s.

The placement of her facial features was similar too. Her appearance immediately brought Serena, Charlotte, and Christine to mind.

“As the child says, dragons have no concept of gender. So if necessary, I could have appeared before you children as a male. Would you prefer me to take a male form?”

“Had you dared to use such a tone with me while taking the form of a man who is not my husband, I would have destroyed this place immediately. Can you not hold your tongue?”

And if she had appeared in my form, she would have been destroyed before even speaking.

Though the woman was still smiling, I noticed her lips stiffening slightly, so I quickly intervened before Charlotte crossed the line.

“We didn’t come here to fight. That’s enough, Charlotte. I’ll handle the conversation.”

“…If that is what you wish.”

She probably wouldn’t like the fact that I was talking to a female-formed being, but it was far better than walking a tightrope and accidentally touching someone’s sore spot.

I pulled Serena, Charlotte, and Christine behind me. The three immediately suppressed their killing intent. The woman slightly bowed her head, expressing gratitude for my mediation.

“No need for thanks. So, exactly who are you? I understand that you’re a dragon, but beyond that…”

“There’s no need to be so formal with me, child. Though I have lived as long as the world itself, I care even less about how humans address me precisely because of that. And if I were concerned about etiquette, wouldn’t I have first pointed out the manner of speech of that fierce child behind you?”

Fair point. Charlotte had been treating this woman like her subordinate from the beginning, so if the woman had wanted to point out forms of address or speech patterns, she would have done so already.

I didn’t need to put on airs of humility either.

“Got it. Is this better?”

“Do as you please, child.”

The woman smiled gently.

“Now can you answer me? I know you’re a dragon, but I don’t know anything beyond that. If dragons have hierarchies like humans, I’m guessing you’re pretty high up?”

“Of course I should answer if that’s what you want. But before that, let me ask you something. Do you want to hear the conceptual definition we dragons have established for my existence, or the material definition that humans have created?”

“Um… both, if possible?”

The woman’s smile changed meaningfully, as if watching a child’s innocent play.

“Very well. I will now explain the conceptual definition, so listen carefully, child.”

Pure mana flowed from the void and enveloped her body. Floating in the blue mana, the woman looked at us and opened her mouth.

“……”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

“…”

We all expressed our confusion simultaneously. She seemed to be saying something, but we couldn’t understand a word.

Puzzled by this, I turned around. Serena and Charlotte looked just as confused as I was, suggesting they couldn’t hear anything either.

Christine maintained her usual expressionless face.

After speaking incomprehensibly while surrounded by mana for quite some time, the woman gently descended to the floor. The blue light enveloping her body gradually faded. She wore an expression that suggested she had expected this outcome.

“As I thought, you have faces of incomprehension.”

“What was that just now…?”

“Dragon-speech. It’s much more complex in reality, but simply put, it’s the language used by dragons.”

“So we couldn’t understand it because it’s the dragon language?”

“That’s one way to put it. Unlike human language, which merely transmits sound, dragon-speech directly conveys the concepts embedded in the words. Thus, dragons don’t acquire knowledge by hearing dragon-speech; they understand it. Can you, child, distinguish between acquisition and understanding? That is the difference between human language and dragon language.”

As soon as I heard that, I recalled what Charlotte had said in bed, but quickly changed my train of thought. She had indeed said something similar, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

Christine, however, was different.

“I understand. So that’s what dragons are.”

“Christine, you…?”

Surprised, I turned my head, and Christine calmly bowed to me.

“There is no need for surprise, my god. This is all a miracle stemming from your divine providence, and compared to the power you possess, it is less than a speck of dust before a great mountain, less than a teacup before the ocean.”

‘…So miracles apply to things like this too?’

By this point, I was starting to wonder what exactly this “miracle” was.

“I had already anticipated that you children wouldn’t understand dragon-speech. You haven’t learned it yet. Even we dragons cannot understand dragon-speech right after we’re created, let alone humans. Don’t be too disheartened.”

“So dragon-speech is a concept that humans inherently cannot understand?”

“Ordinary humans couldn’t grasp even a single word after a lifetime of training. But you children have already come too far to be called ordinary humans, haven’t you?”

Pure mana enveloped the woman’s body once more.

“Now, let me introduce myself again.”

Blue light swirled around her.

“In human language, I am known as the Dragon Lord. I am the mother of all dragons, the protector of all dragons, and also the first teacher of all dragons.”

Despite the mana not even touching my body, I felt a refreshing coolness. Amazed by this incredible sensation, I found myself clenching and unclenching my fists. I never knew mana could be so pure and clean.

—So, when addressing me…

Her vertically slit pupils glowed.

—You may call me ‘Ancient.’