Rendezvous

"Ugh, ack…! Oh, looks like it went well."

Waiting outside the boss room's door, Ichika spoke after her collar tightened twice.

It had surprised her a little, but it had only tightened gently as promised.

"It took quite a bit of time, but as expected of Kehma-san."

"Yeah. We got a decent haul of fire rat skins too. Let's head in."

The party had been hunting fire rats nearby while Kehma was fighting in the boss room. The meat wasn't edible, but the fire-resistant fur fetched a decent price.

Wrapping up their side job of earning some extra money, they opened the closed boss room door to meet up with Kehma.

"Hey, you two safe?"

"Yeah. Completely unharmed."

When they opened the door to the boss room, Kehma and Niku were relaxing inside. Right beside them was a cart large enough to carry a dragon.

… And yet there wasn't a dragon on it.

"… So, Kehma? What happened to the flame dragon?"

"She's on the cart."

However, there was no dragon on the cart Kehma pointed to. Instead, there was a little girl with red dragon hands, feet, and a tail, tied up and sleeping on it.

And she reeked of alcohol… or rather, Gozoh and Team Bacchus, plus Ichika, immediately recognized it as the smell of high-quality alcohol.

"… So you're saying this girl is the flame dragon… right, that's gotta be it."

As he approached the cart, Gozoh felt a dense pressure weighing down on him. Why hadn't he noticed it until he got this close?

Had there been some kind of special barrier around her? He hadn't felt this much pressure even when he'd looked in from outside the boss room earlier.

Gozoh couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat at the overwhelming power contained in that young-looking body.

How had Kehma been able to face this thing and remain so composed?

In terms of raw physical strength, Wataru could probably win. But in terms of magical power, they were on a completely different level.

To put it in terms of water: if Gozoh's magical power could fill a cup, Wataru's would be like the inn's bath. And this thing before him was like a rainstorm. A dragon specialized in a single attribute wasn't just for show.

As for Kehma, he was equally unfathomable. Like fog.

Looking around carefully, there were signs of an intense battle.

Sharp claw marks had gouged the walls and floor, leaving spiderweb-like cracks.

There was even an area where the floor had vitrified from intense heat. That was probably from the dragon's breath.

"Kehma-san, you made her drink alcohol?"

"Hey, don't say it like I fed a little girl booze. She's quite the drinker. You guys would probably get along."

Wataru gave a wry smile at Kehma's joke. It was obvious just by looking that this thing wasn't just a little girl.

Even for Wataru, it was doubtful he could come away unscathed if this thing went wild.

To face an opponent of this caliber, have a scuffle, and come out unscathed. And on top of that, to get her to drink alcohol with him… Kehma really wasn't ordinary.

Wataru raised his evaluation of Kehma another notch. Of course, that went for Niku who had accompanied him in this battle as well.

"Looks like there was a fierce fight."

"Ah, well, yeah. It was a tough battle. For now, let's wait for her to wake up."

"It might be safer to finish her off now, Kehma-san."

"… Wataru, are you serious?"

Kehma looked at Wataru as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Considering the village's safety, that would be the quickest way. Even I'm not sure I could hold her back."

"I-I see… but come on, look at her appearance. Doesn't it make you hesitate?"

"It would hurt a bit, but it'd be a problem if the village got destroyed for it. She burned the village's fields without any provocation, didn't she?"

"But still, she looks like a child. I'm sure it was just a prank. She'll definitely understand if we talk to her."

"If we were confident we could win, that would be fine, but… Kehma-san, do you have a reliable way to subdue this dragon if she goes wild?"

"… …"

Kehma thought for a moment. Then he answered clearly.

"I'll settle this through negotiation. No changes to the plan."

"Understood."

With an attitude of "if Kehma-san says so," Wataru readily backed down.

Wataru was certain of something.

He'd probed a bit, but Kehma had captured this dragon unharmed in the first place. Even if he'd used alcohol, the threat of a dragon was real. Even if it looked like a human child.

When Wataru proposed finishing her off, Kehma had looked surprised. That was probably because Kehma's attitude was "a dragon doesn't need to be killed to keep us safe, right?"

And when asked directly if he could subdue her, Kehma seemed to be deliberating not about whether he could, but "how much information should I reveal?"

… And after all that, he simply answered that he'd settle it through negotiation.

In other words, he'd concluded that he didn't need to borrow Wataru's strength. He'd originally planned to do this without Wataru in the first place, so that was only natural.

Surely, to Kehma, even this dragon was no more threatening than an ordinary little girl.

"… As expected, Kehma-san. Your hidden strength is several levels above mine, isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you feeling alright?"

Wataru smiled at Kehma's feigned ignorance.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

I seriously didn't expect Wataru to look at this little girl and ask if we should kill her.

Niku's prediction was off. It was unexpected for me too.

Is she really something to be that wary of? All I see is a cosplay girl sleeping. She smells like booze, but still.

So she's an opponent even Wataru might not be able to beat… hmm? Wait, does that mean the black wolf Rin was an opponent Wataru could have easily defeated?

Or maybe that was different because negotiation was the goal from the start…

Just then, Igni stirred. Did she wake up?

"Nnfu… huh… something's making it hard to move, umm…"

"Hey, don't move… Have you sobered up?"

"Fweh?"

I spoke too late. Crap, she's already snapped some of the ropes. This is bad.

I pushed the switch I'd hidden. Immediately, a sticky substance resembling birdlime dropped onto the cart and restrained Igni. It was the restraint trap I'd asked Ittetsu for.

"Whoa!?"

Splat. Igni got tangled up in a mysterious white sticky substance and couldn't move. According to Ittetsu, its restraining power against Igni was "two turns." Meaning she could break free after two attempts to escape, apparently.

"Wh-whoa, what the!? The dragon moved and then something fell down!"

"… Yeah, that was me. Don't ask about it."

"Oh, it was you, Kehma? … So she woke up? I'll leave the negotiating to you, Kehma."

Gozoh accepted that and backed off easily. He'd been on guard with his weapon raised, but I guess that's fine? Wataru had his hand on his sword hilt too.

Either way, both Wataru and Gozoh seemed reluctant when it came to Igni. Why are they so jumpy? Is she giving off some kind of powerful aura that I can't sense?

I feel like I'm the only one left out.

"U-Uncl—"

I immediately pressed the switch a second time.

Babyun! A stone dropped from the ceiling at high speed and crashed into the top of Igni's head. The stone cracked in two.

Igni let out a small "ow" as if she'd just been flicked. If that were me, my head would've been obliterated… Well, her father designed the trap, so she should be fine.

"Wh-what was that just now!?"

"That was me. Don't ask about it."

"I-Is that so."

Gozoh, you're overreacting. It was just a rock falling.

"Now then, Flame Dragon. Are you up for negotiation?"

"Huh? That's so cold… just call me by my name, Uncl—ow!"

The third switch dropped an iron ball. But it didn't do much damage either. Ittetsu, you're not going easy on her just because she's your daughter, are you? Well, I suppose these were all calibrated to feel like a firm poke at most.

… Gozoh just stared at me this time.

"Now then. What should I call you? Tell this Onii-san."

"Onii-chan, I'm called Igni!"

"I see. So your name's Igni, huh?"

Her delivery was incredibly wooden, but I'll hold off on pressing the fourth switch for now.