Editing Leviathan:Volume 3 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 7===

On the fourth night after the mystic spell of Ruruk Soun had been cast on Tokyo New Town...

Pavel Galad was scowling inside his sickroom, a Japanese-style room in a community center that had been converted into a shelter. The futon, which had remained laid out until this morning, was folded and set aside in a corner.

Galad was still maintaining human form. Also, there were two visitors present.

They were the two girls who had remained unaffected back when the magic spell known as "Freeze" to those in the anti-dragon field was cast, thanks to the barrier deployed by Galad.

"Aren't you going to eat dinner, Mr. Handsome? It's pretty good, actually."

"The people from the SDF helped cook it. Although I've heard rumors before, it really is much tastier than the retort pouches and instant food distributed by police and fire department personnel."

"...No thanks."

With a stiff expression, Galad refused the food brought by the two high school girls, Funaki-san and Mutou-san.

The menu consisted of hamburger steak with vegetables minced into it, stew, coleslaw salad and white rice. The girls were chattering away while eating.

However, human food was unnecessary for Galad.

Had he the intention, eating was possible too. Be that as it may, this human body was created using the magic of dragons, hence it did not require nourishment. On the other hand, the girls in front of him&mdash;

Absorbing their blood and essence might replenish his energy, actually.

However, these two were humans, after all, which meant their blood volume was limited. Unless he greedily ingested blood from female serpents, the "imitations" assisting the successor of the bow last time, it was probably impossible to heal his original massive body of a dragon.

Still, speaking of users of dragonslaying power&mdash;

Galad left the girls and walked over to the window.

He looked up at the night sky where only stars could be seen. However, he had definitely spotted the Rune of the Arrow shining in the sky during the daytime. The white dragon king, Princess Yukikaze, had arrived in this city!

"Urgh..."

Currently, fighting at full strength was beyond him, filling Galad with abject regret.

According to the rules of dragons, this city was currently under Galad's authority. Whether intercepting the princess who had invaded willfully or negotiating with her, both were supposed to be his responsibilities.

"But to think I am this incompetent&mdash;!"

For the past few days, his body had been extremely weak, to the extent that he could not move as he wished.

And the whole time, he was being sheltered by humans, by these girls before him. With a human face, Galad began to gnash his teeth.

To think that a dragon was accepting charity from primates, the side being exploited and preyed on&mdash;

This was unprecedented humiliation. However, there was gratifying news. Probably thanks to lying down quietly for a number of days, Galad's human body had recovered some energy. He felt that he was now able to move around and use magic slightly.

He had to leave this place as soon as possible&mdash;Just as Galad was thinking that...

"Could it be that you want to get some outside air?"

"You've been sleeping in the room the whole time, after all. Want us to take you outside?"

Mutou-san and Funaki-san suggested to him.


Twenty minutes later, led by the two girls, Galad arrived outside of the community center.

Since this center was also a large facility used for events such as public speeches, the parking lot at the front entrance was quite spacious. The three of them walked here.

Keeping their pace slow, Mutou-san and Funaki-san walked in front.

This was out of consideration for the semi-patient who was sometimes not too steady on his feet. However, Galad followed them silently without noticing this.

"...Hmm?"

"Oh, they've been flying around a lot lately. It's scary."

"I overheard a conversation between SDF members. Those things are currently searching for something extremely dangerous&mdash;That's the gist, I think. But what on earth is it?"

Galad frowned and stared at the sky, causing Funaki-san to cower uncomfortably. Meanwhile, Mutou-san revealed this piece of inside information.

The trio were looking at a blue Raptor soaring in the night sky.

This area was Minamikasai in the Edogawa ward. The blue Raptor seemed to be flying at low speed in a large circle over this neighborhood, meanwhile gazing at the ground with a dragon's sharp gaze.

Then Galad noticed.

There was magic residing in the winged lizard's gaze&mdash;

An elite somewhere had probably cast detection magic. Even when the target was using Transformation magic to hide his appearance, those eyes would still be able to see the dragon flames hidden inside his body.

Circling in the sky over Minamikasai, the blue Raptor suddenly began to cry out.

Kuahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Kuahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It was a call for its comrades to gather, because that winged lizard had discovered its prey, Pavel Galad, the successor to the Rune of the Sword.

"W-What is going on!?"

"I-I-I've never seen this kind of situation before, what do we do<nowiki>~~</nowiki>!?"

"This place is about to turn into a battlefield&mdash;Simple as that."

Feeling the warning signs of war, Galad clicked his tongue.

Normally, he would happily prepare for battle even when injured. This was a dragon's nature and instinct. However, to be discovered and attacked by the enemy simply because he went out for a brief stroll&mdash;Galad finally realized now.

The only reason why he could spend the last few days in peace was undoubtedly thanks to the humans hiding him.

He became aware of this fact. For Galad, a pure-blooded dragon, this was ultimate humiliation and a irredeemable stain on his reputation.

Gritting his teeth hard with emotion, Galad glared angrily at the girls beside him.

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