4 – Dragon of the Human Continent (4)
“It’s difficult to decide right now. Of course, I’m incredibly grateful that you saved me from almost becoming a slave, and I understand that you are a dragon. But…”
“It’s okay. I understand. I would’ve felt the same way.”
“Yes… For now, let’s leave the desert and go to the nearest city together. We can talk about it again there, how does that sound?”
“I’m fine with that. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Suddenly, the person in front of me turned one of their arms into that of a dragon’s.
It would be very difficult to make a proper judgment in such a situation.
For now, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just go together to the city.
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Riana put her hand on her waist and asked in an energetic voice.
“Okay. Can you ride a camel?”
“I don’t know. Once I try riding, I’ll figure out how to ride. But where should we go?”
To my question, Riana gave a very bewildering answer.
“Well… I don’t know? Should we just keep going north? Actually, I don’t know the geography around here very well.”
I stared at Riana in disbelief at her absurd statement.
“Then it would have been better to just stay on the carriage… At least those humans would know the way.”
“I told you. I didn’t know they would suddenly kill them all.”
“Well…? Is that what happened…?”
Looking towards the horizon, the other humans had already become tiny dots.
It was vague whether to chase after them, and even if I did, they wouldn’t understand me…
It was also dangerous to assume that there was a city in the direction they were running away.
I might be running away from here in any direction out of fear.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry too much. Just keep going north. All the kingdoms are in the north.”
“Okay. But… I hope it won’t take too long.”
“I’m not sure, but… It might take about three days of walking. If I roughly calculate the days I was following you and the days I was captured by the slave traders, it probably won’t take that long.”
“You mean we’ll be walking for three days instead of riding a camel?”
“Yes, walking. How else would we walk for three days straight?”
It’s like going at the same speed as the carriage I was on earlier.
At that speed, it’s like three days…
I wouldn’t know, but for Rihanna, it would be difficult to go through this hot desert for three days straight.
Not to mention that it’s risky to cross the desert without knowing the proper route and just heading north.
Even a slight deviation in angle could lead to missing the city that can be reached in three days and going further.
And there’s no guarantee that we won’t encounter another slave trader or a gang of bandits.
In that case, it might be better to transform into my original form and fly at high speed…
If it’s a three-day journey on foot, we might be able to reach it within a few minutes.
As I confirmed earlier, if it’s a short moment, we might be able to narrowly avoid detection magic.
Having quickly come to a conclusion, I opened my mouth.
“Rihanna. It’s better to fly.”
“Yes, okay. Not go, but fly…?”
“Yes. If we fly, we might be able to reach it in a few minutes. Is there any better alternative?”
Rihanna pondered for a moment and then nodded.
“No, there isn’t. That seems to be the best option. But I can’t fly…”
“I’ll carry you on my front paws.”
“Huh?!”
While she was surprised, I took off the pants I was wearing and handed them to Rihanna along with my top.
It was because it was obvious that I would tear apart and become a helpless monkey if I transformed into my original form.
“Uh… Are you really going to do that…?”
“If there’s no other way.”
“Well… there is one, but…”
“Alright. Let’s go then.”
I released the polymorph that bound my body.
Simultaneously, scales began to protrude fiercely from all over my body.
My arms, legs, and torso grew rapidly while Rianna, who was right in front of me, shrank as if she was being swallowed by the ground.
Faint steam rose from the six wings, and the three tails created sand clouds with their light movements alone.
Looking down at Rianna with my highly developed vision, she was sitting on the ground, trembling and looking up at me.
Judging by the darkening spot where she was sitting, it seemed like she had wet herself.
But there was no time to apologize or delay any further.
I had to fly to the city as quickly as possible, even if it was just for a minute or a second.
“Get on.”
As I reached out my front leg, Rianna staggered and stood up, placing herself on top of my paw.
I tightly wrapped her with both feet and spread out all six wings at once.
Hot acidic steam exploded, and in an instant, we soared high into the sky.
Setting our direction to the north, I used all my wings to start flying at the fastest speed possible.
* * * * *
I hadn’t even flapped my wings a few times, but the scenery beneath my feet changed in an instant.
Only moments ago, it was just sand tinged with moonlight, but now, sporadic patches of green appeared, and before I knew it, it had turned into a meadow filled with trees.
Had we already left the desert behind?
I wanted to ask Liana to check, but at this speed, if I exposed her, she would be swept away by the wind.
Now, shall we search for the city of humans? We need to find it as quickly as possible…
At that moment, my spine tingled as I sensed the absurd aura of detection magic.
I tried to make a sharp turn, tilting my wings at different angles.
I could sense the detection magic piercing through the empty space I was just in, following a straight line with the flow of mana.
I was almost detected if I had been just a little slower.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
One after another, more detection magic spells were fired.
In order to escape from their trajectory, I descended rapidly towards the ground.
The flow of mana surged fiercely above my head.
I tried to make a sharp turn, tilting my wings at different angles.
As I lowered my altitude, the trees entwined around my feet and tail snapped, causing leaves to explode in all directions.
The detection magic spells shooting straight ahead were tightly woven like spiderwebs, so if I went higher, I would definitely be caught.
It would be better to land…!
Spreading my six wings backwards, I planted my hind legs and tail on the ground.
With a tremendous noise, the ground split and flipped, and dust and debris rained down from the sky.
As soon as I came to a complete stop, I hastily cast a polymorph spell.
I was quickly sucked into the dust cloud rising from below, and my vision blurred in an instant.
“Liana! Where are you?”
“Cough…! I’m here…!”
Beyond the thick smoke, a faint human figure emerged.
Pushing through the dust, I approached to find Liana lying on the ground, her face buried in vomit.
“Ergh… Uweeek!”
She couldn’t say another word and began vomiting loudly.
It seemed to be a side effect of the acrobatics she performed to avoid detection magic.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”
“Phew… Why did you suddenly… land?”
“Because of the detection magic from the vampires. I had to avoid it. I’ll explain in detail later.”
“Okay… I don’t think I can listen closely right now… Uweeek!!”
Liana crawled on all fours, turned her back to me, and continued to vomit.
I put my clothes back on and waited for Liana to calm down.
“For now, Ergh… let’s move to another place… I can’t breathe because of the dust…”
Liana staggered to her feet and slowly walked to another spot.
As I followed behind her, the dust gradually became lighter.
“Ugh… Sit down, sit…”
Liana leaned against a large tree in the grassy field and gasped for breath.
“Are there humans who are used to flying…? Ah, I feel like I’m going to die…”
I rummaged through the bag I had brought separately and handed her a leather pouch filled with water.
Liana quickly brought the mouthpiece to her lips and gulped down the water.
The water that flowed down her chin gathered between her deep collarbones.
“I think I’ll live now. Erga, you should drink too.”
Taking the water pouch, she turned around and saw the dust cloud I had stirred up slowly settling.
In the sky, the distinctively clear starlight of late autumn or early winter shone.
The desert, scorching hot to the point of exhaustion, seemed to be entering winter already.
Looking around, most of the trees had shed their leaves, and on the peaks of the rugged mountain range in the distance, white snow had settled.
How far had we flown if the seasons had changed?
It was my first time flying at high speed with my adult wings, so I couldn’t gauge the speed well, but one thing was for sure: it was incredibly fast.
But how could the detection magic keep up with that speed…
“Ugh… It’s cold.”
Liana shivered and wrapped herself in a windproof cloak.
It was something she had brought separately from the slaves’ belongings.
“Aren’t you cold, Erga? Your clothes are so thin.”
“I’m fine. I only look human on the outside.”
“Heh. I’m jealous. So, even after being whipped, you didn’t get any wounds. If you were human, your flesh would probably have fallen off.”
“To be honest, I don’t really know how sturdy I am. This is my first time transforming.”
“I see… Ugh… It’s so cold…”
Liana trembled and huddled up into a ball.
Seeing her shivering, I suddenly remembered something.
“Don’t you need to change your pants? Didn’t you pee yourself?”
“What…?! What are you talking about!?”
Riana shouted unexpectedly and extended her hand towards me.
“Why would I pee myself?! Me?”
“Because you were surprised when you saw my true form earlier?”
“No way!”
“But with my sensitive sense of smell, I can smell urine coming from your crotch…”
“aaah!”
Riana covered her ears with both hands, screamed, and turned her head sideways.
Oh… I didn’t anticipate that she would be embarrassed.
I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal since dragons pee while flying.
I forgot that humans are different. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Now that I’m living as a human, I need to practice distinguishing what to say and what not to say appropriately.
If I speak bluntly like a dragon, I’ll end up in all sorts of trouble.
But… it’s true that I can smell urine…
Riana must have felt it too, as she took off the windbreaker she was wearing and sat down, neatly covering her thighs and buttocks.
“Do you… have spare pants…?”
“No, I don’t. I didn’t know you would pee yourself. Don’t say it smells! You’re such a pervert!”
“Alright. I won’t say it smells.”
“Sigh… But seriously… where are we?”
Then I heard a sound in my ear.
“Shh! Be quiet, Liana.”