Senior

Not all who wander are lost.

── J. R. R. Tolkien

 

"His Majesty is waiting for you here… please don't make a mess."

"Thank you for your reminder."

Thanking the reminded her to remain mindful, she stepped through the doors and into the throne room.

It was a stone-built audience chamber, both simple and dignified. I couldn't help but hold my breath at its beauty.

A noble red carpet was laid out on the floor and soldiers holding spears stood in a line on either side.

Upon the throne within the chamber sat the king, his back straight and his eyes fixed on the door.

Though his body surprisingly small despite the size of the huge throne, it was well trained and brimming with power. He had a stern face that was filled with dignity as he looked down upon us.

"It is my honor to have been allowed an audience, Your Excellency."

"… Out, all of you."

Upon finishing a short bow, the soldiers gave an affirmative reply and left the audience chamber in an orderly fashion.

Their synchronicity was truly impressive.

"So… what exactly did you come here for this time?"

"Sir. Before I explain, may I ask one thing?"

"Very well. Go ahead."

The king nodded in approval as I stood up and turned my head.

"… This way of speaking is really tiring and my neck isn't used to it, can I stop?"

"… I've gotten used to it, but it's still tiring."

The king answered, not scolding me for my rude attitude.

"Looks like Rin is reaching her limit as well. I think we can drop it, Mentor."

Smiling with an expression that was the same as I remembered, the lizard king──Shig, laughed.

 

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"I mean come on, Shig was using really strange words, and he was giving off an atmosphere where I couldn't laugh, I had to hold back so much! I think I did a good job! If I was a kid, I would've pointed at him and laughed."

"Yeah, you were like that weren't you? Well, I guess we've both grown up then, haven't we?"

Moving the conversation from the audience chamber to the guest room, Shig sighed and smiled as he said that to Rin who just couldn't stop herself from rattling on. While she was doing that, Shig's wife, Honoo, brought us some tea. As always, she made it really well… Ah, this tea is really delicious. The subtle sweetness and the perfect bitterness are just indescribable… I'll have to ask her for the recipe later.

"Still, the last time we met was when Yuuki died, it's been almost a hundred years since then."

"This place is a bit far away, so I don't get to see you two as often as I'd like. I do get to see Luka and Shizuku from time to time, though, and they're both doing well."

Shig sighed deeply.

Over the past century, the lives of the lizard people have changed considerably.

Living in the caves of the mountains, they built stone houses, handled weapons, and created a strict caste system. All of that was taught to them by Shig, who'd gathered many tribes together to become the king.

"Yuuki?"

Hearing a name that was similar to her own, Yuuka poked her head out.

"Uwa! Yuuki!? Why are you here!?"

Shig was surprised to see a child who he hadn't noticed before.

… Well, I guess it's natural to be surprised.

"Nope, I'm not Yuuki, I'm Yuuka!"

Yuuka shook her head without seeming to take any offense.

Violet and Luka had reacted the same way, so I guess she was used to it by now.

"Y… Yuuka?"

"Yup. I'm Amata's… um, great, great, grandkid… maybe?"

Amata's child's Asata's child's Asaka's child's Ataka's child's Yutaka's child, so… yeah, that's right.

"… Humans really are quick to change. Still, I'm surprised. You look just like Yuuki."

"Really~? Do I look that much like her?"

"More than you think."

Holding Yuuka her my lap, Rin nodded her head in agreement.

Still, she was the only one who could say that. Anyone who knew Yuuki would be unable to ignore the fact that Yuuka looked just like her when she was young. If she just let her hair grow out a little more and tied it up in two pigtails, she'd be a dead ringer for Yuuki, except for her long ears.

It's not like she was a distant relative or anything, she's her direct descendant, so it's not that surprising that she looks like her. There's even a guy amongst the Swordsaints who looks just like Darg, after all.

"So what? Did you come all the way here to surprise me?"

"Yuuka just came along for the ride. The real reason is Rin."

"Huh, me?"

Hearing me, Rin blinked in confusion.

It was true that I hadn't explained anything to her, but I suppose she didn't figure it out?

"Right now, Rin is researching a magic that can turn herself into a dragon. She's having a hard time with it. Shig, even if it's just the wings, you can turn into a dragon, right? Is there any kind of trick or something that you can tell her?"

"Her, into a dragon?"

In response, Shig looked at Rin with a strange expression.

"Hmm… I see."

Staring at her for a moment, he nodded his head.

"Mentor, this girl won't be able to turn into a dragon."

He spoke with simple finality.

"Why's that?"

As expected, Rin couldn't not look huffy in to the denial despite never having paid attention to naysayers ever since she was a child.

"It's like this… there are a lot of reasons. For example, I can change my arms into wings because my arms and wings are the same thing. They're homologous organs, right? That's just how it is."

"I see."

I nodded while feeling surprised he'd remembered that even though I'd only ever said it once.

"In the past, Mentor said that we were all hexapods. From there, there are two subdivisions of hexapods based on skeletal structure. There are the four-legged two-armed lykos like Luka, and the two-legged four-armed ones like us. Though it's harder to call theirs legs, merfolk are two-armed with their four legs being made up of their dorsal and tail fins. Dragons are two-legged four-armed with front legs and wings, so they're far away from being able to transform."

I marveled at his logical explanation. If he hadn't become a king, I'd have immediately recruited him as a teacher at the school.

"Still, Shig. I can transform from a six-legged dragon to a four-legged human. That part isn't really relevant, is it?"

"Mentor's case is an exception. Mentor, you're both a dragon and a human, right? It's more like you're just switching between the two, rather than transforming… but yeah, I think that's probably not a big deal. Although hard, I don't think it's an insurmountable problem."

Then why?

"Rin doesn't have the most important thing for using magic."

Shig continued as if he'd read my mind.

"Rin──you don't want to become a dragon, right?"

"Eh? Why?"

It wasn't the "why" as in "why do you know that?" but the "why" as in "why do you say that?".

"So you haven't realized it yourself. Then let me ask you, why do you want to become a dragon?"

Shig asked while sighing in exasperation at Rin's expression.

"Why… because dragons are strong."

"True, dragons are strong. But that's because they're dragons. It's not because they're in dragon form."

Shig glanced at me.

It was true that the strength that supported my power the most was the power of my magic. My breath was an exception, but the other spells didn't have much of a difference in power whether I was in human form or dragon form.

Even if Rin could turn into a dragon, she wouldn't gain any great magic power.

"But… they're big, and strong."

Rin answered as if she were trying to vindicate herself. That was true.

In this world, strength wasn't determined by muscle mass.

But even so it wasn't completely unrelated.

There were strong creatures that were small, but there were no weak creatures that were big.

… But.

"Even if you just want to get stronger, you don't have to become a dragon. You could just get bigger… or you might not even need to get bigger."

Shig was right. The principle that larger physiques required more power move was the same in this world. If you could produce the same amount of power as those with larger physiques, it would be stronger to stay small.

"I could go faster and higher with wings. It was convenient since it made it so that I could go higher than other lizardmen. You don't need wings, but you can fly through the air with your big dorsal fin. You can't breathe fire, but you can use magic to make fire."

One by one, Shig lined up reasons to refute her.

"So then, why do you want to become a dragon?"

"That's… I…"

Rin wasn't able to answer him.

"In other words, Rin, the reason you can't become a dragon is because it's difficult and that, more importantly, you don't have a reason to overcome that difficulty."

So… it's like he was saying that Rin's passion wasn't enough.

"I'm not trying to put it like that."

Shig sighed deeply as if he'd understood my thoughts.

"Didn't Mentor tell you that you have to take steps to overcome difficulties? If you want to take one step at a time, you have to know where you're going. You have to look at what you want… so the first thing you need is to know what you want."

"What… I want?"

Rin placed her hands on her chest as if to help ponder Shig's words.

"It's as if you know what Rin wants, Shig."

"Hah. Stop joking around."

When I said that, Shig placed his hand on the head of his old friend and laughed through his nose.

"Ever since I met that girl, I never understood what was going on in that head of hers."