The Dragon Kingdom:
Meili's Witchbeast Observation Record IV

1

Meili Portroute was traveling through the Augria Sand Dunes along with Felt and her camp, heading for the Pleiades Watchtower. The journey was going well after overcoming the difficult Sand Time obstacle, but right before they reached the tower, they were faced with an unexpected problem.

A mighty impact violently shook the dragon carriage. The ferocious voice of a young girl echoed amidst the sandstorm. “Didn’t expect to be greeted by the Divine Dragon!”

Listening to her voice next to her, Meili concentrated on her divine protection. For Meili’s case, this meant she had to focus and imagine heat was building up in the middle of her forehead. Every user of a divine protection had their own unique method of concentrating on their power, requiring each to learn on their own in order to discover the most suitable method for themselves. Meili’s method was influenced by the way witchbeasts licked each other’s horns as a sign of friendliness. As a young girl who had been raised by them, she had experienced having her forehead licked as well. In either case…

“I’ll keep my concentration,” Meili said. “Buuut…”

“But what?!”

“There isn’t a single witchbeasty that’ll come near us when we’re being so rowdyyy!” As Meili exclaimed in a high-pitch voice, another one of the impacts struck the side of the carriage. She held onto her seat as the carriage shook violently, holding back the urge to scream. This had been happening repeatedly, but the dragon wasn’t going after anyone in the carriage. The impacts were merely the shockwaves from its attacks, intending to hit its primary target.

Felt clicked her tongue. “Give us a break already. What the hell is Reinhard doing? He better not be goin’ easy on it!”

“Don’t be too hard on him, Miss Felt,” Ezzo admonished. “Sir Reinhard is certainly extraordinary, but the opponent he’s facing is none other than one of the three heroes, the Divine Dragon, Volcanica!”

“Oi Reinhard! If you lose, you’re nothin’ but a dead weight!” Felt yelled at Reinhard as he continued to parry the white beams coming towards him, holding Meili by her shoulders.

What a daring thing to saayy, Meili thought, considering the person Felt was yelling at was someone she saw as a monster.

“My apologies, but my opponent is quite formidable.”

“Don’t give me excuses!” Felt yelled. “Show em’ what you’re made of for once!”

Confusion overtook Meili, causing her to panic at the voice she suddenly heard echoing in her mind. “Wha, wha, whaaat? What was that voice just noooww?”

“Calm down, Miss Meili,” Ezzo soothed, before beginning to explain the nature of the voice he had also heard. “That was Sir Reinhard’s Divine Protection of Telepathy.”

Contrary to Felt, who was bickering with Reinhard’s voiceless voice as if it were the most natural thing to do, Ezzo bit his lips—a rather normal reaction for someone in his situation, one might add.

“There’ll be no end to this situation if it continues on like this…” Ezzo muttered. “Miss Flam! Miss Grassis! Are you two well?”

“We’re managing, somehow,” answered Flam.

“But not for long,” responded Grassis.

Receiving their responses, Ezzo made a sour face like that of a young boy, agonizing over their predicament. “If only we could distract the Divine Dragon for even a second.”

However, he knew all too well that they would just get in Reinhard’s way if they tried to interfere. We sorely lack the strength to jump into the battle between the Sword Saint and the Divine Dragon. Such was his analysis on the matter.

Glancing at Ezzo’s profile as he desperately searched for an effective method, Felt clicked her tongue. “Meili! How about you make a witchbeast throw itself at the Divine Dragon?”

“I told youuu,” Meili responded. “There isn’t a single soul bold enough to get in the middle of their battle, not even a witchbeastyy! If you think there’s some convenient way to help Mister Red-Hair from here, then…” You’re mistaken, were the words she wanted to say. However, before she could utter them, Meili came to a halt.

Felt tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

Meili began searching her breast pocket and took out a small pouch, something Natsuki Subaru had made.

“Miss Meili, what’s inside that pouch?” Ezzo asked.

Meili dropped its contents onto her palm, and Felt and Ezzo looked down at it.

“It’s black but it doesn’t look like jewelry,” Felt assessed as she laid her eyes on the black object on Meili’s palm. “What the hell is it?”

“Uhh, I don’t know how to say this, buuut…” Meili said hesitantly as she looked away from them. “Emilia said that if we have thiiis, then the Divine Dragy won’t get maaad.”

The object was a Dragon Talon given to her by Emilia, who had formed a friendship with Volcanica. In other words, it was a passport, which would allow them to get past the Divine Dragon safely.

“Why the hell didn’t you take out such an important thing sooner!” Felt yelled, erupting in anger.

2

By preventing his feet from sinking into the sand through his Divine Protection of Sandplay, kicking and flying through the air with his Divine Protection of Air Dashing, and protecting himself from the dragon’s blasts with his Divine Protection of Second Sight, Reinhard continued his battle with the Divine Dragon. The last divine protection, which allowed him to intuitively respond to attacks he’d seen before, proved especially effective when he faced formidable opponents, and such was the case with the Divine Dragon, as he had yet to take a single hit.

“But I can’t close the distance,” Reinhard muttered to himself.

Even though he was sure he was the dragon’s target, there was no saying if it would change its mind or not. The distance he created between himself and the carriage carrying everyone was close enough that if the dragon decided to switch targets, he could manage to prevent it from getting to them. However, if he went any further than where he was, he wouldn’t be able to stop the dragon from getting to the carriage in time. Bearing this in mind, he was unable to close the distance and go on the offensive.

If it’s only a matter of evading and blocking its blasts, then I can withstand it however long it wants, but what if it never grows tired? What then?

“───”

As he began searching for a breakthrough, he felt a sudden disturbance that tore his azure eyes away from the Divine Dragon. Keeping the remainder of his five senses on the dragon, his eyes caught hold of the change in the desert.

Felt, who had been told to stay put, was leaning out of the carriage, holding something up.

“Lady Felt…” he muttered as he sensed another change. The Divine Dragon, Volcanica, had also turned his attention to the carriage—nay, to Felt.

Reinhard immediately prepared to draw his sheathed Dragon Sword, which he had only been using to parry the dragon’s attack until now. However, no matter how hard he tried to draw the sword with his steel-ripping strength, the handle wouldn’t budge. Without wasting a second, he gave up on unsheathing the sword and swung it in a semi-circular motion, gouging out the desert and kicking up a sandstorm. Each grain of sand had turned into a lethal bullet, creating a wall of sand as formidable as Sand Time. However, a certain entity broke through this wall with ease.

“───”

With his magnificent blue wings outstretched, the Divine Dragon Volcanica soared away from the watchtower toward Felt at an astonishing speed, despite being ten times larger than an earth dragon. Reinhard kicked into the air as well and readied himself to make a slicing motion with his hand, aiming to sever the dragon’s elongated neck.

“Reinhard.”

Right as he was about to attack the dragon from its flank, Reinhard halted in response to his mistress’s calm voice. When he turned to face her, he detected a strong conviction in her expression and intuited that his action would only inconvenience her. To ignore this would have been a betrayal of her trust. Trusting his instincts, he stopped. However…

“Farsale, thy recklessness tires not only me but all the rest of us.”

Reinhard’s anxiety persisted until the moment Volcanica’s dignified voice spoke these words after landing a few steps away from Felt.

3

“So with this talon Meili was hidin’ from us, the dragon greets us with grace, huh?” Felt said with every intention of poking fun at Meili for causing a once-in-a-century battle due to clumsiness.

“Like I saaaid, it’s not like I was hiding it on puuurpose,” Meili retorted as best as she could, but lacked any strength in her voice.

In her defense, she neither hid it on purpose nor forgot about its existence. She simply expected the talon to be requested in a more peaceful manner, so when they were attacked so vehemently, her mind went blank.

“Besides, Emilia was the only one who told me the dragon went on a rampaaage.”

“However, considering the fight Sir Reinhard had to put up, Miss Emilia definitely deserves praise for even coming back alive after fighting it,” commented Ezzo, on Emilia’s overwhelming power after hearing Meili’s story. “That, of course, has nothing to do with her receiving support from Roswaal…”

“There goes Ezzo’s weird stubbornness,” commented Flam.

“A man’s stubborn pride,” added Grassis.

It feels kind of good when Emilia gets praised, though, Meili thought. However, they still couldn’t completely relax.

“Sooo?” Meili asked, “Are you alright, Feltyyy?”

“Huh, can’t you see? Nothins’ all that different,” Felt responded, gesturing at the window behind her seat. “Although, it’s not tryin’ to bite us or anything, so that’s good I guess.”

Outside the window, a colossal outline ran alongside the dragon carriage. It was Volcanica, his wings neatly folded, matching the carriage’s pace with his lengthy strides.

“I, am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant, the will of thee who hath reached the top shall be questioned.”

“This is all it says, no matter what we ask,” Felt said. “Is this thing really the legendary Divine Dragon?”

“As someone who faced it, I can vouch for that,” Reinhard commented. “I can guarantee there isn’t another dragon with the same tremendous power that fits his description.”

“There’s no mistake, huh?” Felt muttered while resting her face on her hand. She then grinned, flashing her fang at Reinhard. “By the way, the face you had when you came flyin’ back was priceless.”

Reinhard furrowed his brows. “Lady Felt, I say this time and time again, but, please be more careful. I still can’t believe you exposed yourself to the dragon like that… And Ezzo, Flam, Grassis, what are you here for if not for protecting Her Ladyship from danger?”

“Sir Reinhard, I understand what you want to say, but I merely agreed with Miss Felt’s judgment,” Ezzo responded from the driver’s seat. “As soon as I noticed that the talon emitted the same type of Mana as the Divine Dragon, I was certain the plan would succeed.”

Reinhard listened quietly.

“That being said, it could have been myself, Flam, or Grassis to go out of the carriage. Since we didn’t volunteer to do so, I suppose your point is somewhat valid…” he concluded, shrugging his shoulders.

Reinhard lowered his brows, perplexed by Ezzo’s explanation.

“Young Master, a Sword Saint shouldn’t make a face like that,” said Flam.

“You look like a sad, wet puppy,” commented Grassis.

“You too, Flam, Grassis?” Reinhard lamented.

Stretching her neck, Felt pulled her legs up onto the seat and crossed them.

“You’re always so overprotective… But I guess I can’t blame you too much this time, since we were dealin’ with the Divine Dragon. It’s only natural for you to panic.” She put her hands on her knees and bowed. “My bad.”

As someone who had observed their odd dynamic, this scene came as a surprise for Meili. However, she noticed she wasn’t the only one thrown off by it.

“Lady Felt apologized to the Young Master,” said Flam in awe.

“This must be a bad omen,” commented Grassis, astonished.

“Miss Felt, have you accidentally consumed poisonous sand?” Ezzo asked worriedly. “We must treat you immediately.”

“Shut up, all of you!” Felt exclaimed. “I’m more than capable of apologizin’ to Reinhard when I think I did somethin’ wrong!”

“Thou, who hath reached the top of the tower. Step forth onto the first floor, almighty petitioner.”

“Shut it! No one’s talkin’ to you!” After having been teased by the people around her, and even Volcanica, Felt sulkily rested her face on her hand. “Well, I’ll admit I was able to do something so bold because I knew you were there. Though, I guess it must’ve caused you quite a bit of anxiety.”

“No.” Reinhard shook his head awkwardly. “If that was your intention, I have nothing to say…”

Different from his usual calm, confident demeanor, Reinhard couldn’t hide his shock. Sensing this from his profile, Meili couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Just like Subaru and Emilia, and Julius and Anastasia were, I suppose being a royal selection candidate’s knight is no walk in the park.

“Felty has Mister Red-Hair wrapped around her fingeeer, huh?” Meili sighed.

Hearing Meili’s comment, Reinhard smiled bitterly. “To be honest, I’m not very fond of that interpretation.”

Reinhard and Meili both made a mistake that caused them to look like fools during the incident. They glanced at each other and agreed to drop the subject. However, there were still certain things they needed to discuss.

“Why does the Divine Dragy call Felty by some weird naaame?”

“It called Miss Felt ‘Farsale’,” Ezzo said. “That’s the name of the king of Lugunica who made a covenant with the Divine Dragon, Volcanica, and was last to be called a Lion King.”

“So, is the Divine Dragon mistaking Lady Felt for Lord Farsale?” Reinhard inquired.

“Hey, this guy’s a man, right?” Felt exhaled sharply through her nose. She then looked out the window at Volcanica. “Dontcha think it’s rude to mistake me for some guy?”

However, there was no response from Volcanica, leaving Felt scratching her head.

“But if even the Divine Dragon mistook Your Ladyship as royalty…”

“Enough, Reinhard. I told you before. No matter my lineage, I am who I am,” Felt declared in a cold voice.

Reinhard paused and composed himself as he bowed. “Yes, you’re right. Do excuse me.”

Meili narrowed her eyes at their unique interaction and pulled her knees in. Even with Volcanica walking by their side, there were daring witchbeasts that tried to approach them. As she kept them away with her Divine Protection, she watched as the carriage slowly approached a tower on the desert horizon—the tower where she had been just a few days prior, and where she had rekindled her will to live.

“That giant door better open once we get there,” Felt huffed.

“You won’t need to worry about thaaat,” Meili reassured. “But you do need to think of what to do with the Divine Dragyy.”

“Why am I always in charge of the monsters…”

As Felt lamented her predicament, a crimson scorpion crawled out of Meili’s hair and began clicking its pincers triumphantly upon making it back home. As Meili petted it, a thought popped into her head.

“If a whole lot of people are coming, won’t we need more of the Divine Dragy’s taaalons?” she muttered to herself, glancing outside the window at Volcanica.

I bet Felt would get irritated if I asked her to cut the Dragon’s nails…

END