Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Prologue

2015-11-01T06:41:21Z

Nscorz: /* Part 1 */

==Peerless Devil Lord Sister in the Morning==

===Part 1===

Every man has imagined it at least once.

About how a cute girl snuck into your bed before you woke up.

A warm and soft sensation. A faint sweet fragrance.

The girl saying a little bit embarrassed, but with a smile--- Morning.

That was a happiness only granted to a limited amount of people.

"………….."

However, on this morning, Toujou Basara, suddenly waking up from a feeling of suffocation, was put into a situation close to it. It wasn't like he had a nightmare. The feeling of suffocation originated from something else.

The origin was--- a little girl under the blanket in the Basara's bed. The little girl had crawled up below the blanket, ''right into the T-shirt Basara was wearing''.

Moreover, the little girl's adorable face was right in front of Basara's eyes. In other words, the little girl's head shot out of the collar, where Basara's head was already coming out.

"Good morning, Basara-san."

"Maria…? Eh, wait a sec--- Uwah!?"

Since they were stuck together face-to-face, not even the slightest movement was possible.

---No, physically it wasn't impossible. The wide T-shirt Basara wore instead of a pyjama shirt was made of a good, flexible material. But--- ''even though it was made like that, would it endure this excess?''

"Oh no~ You cannot do that, silly Basara-san. It is quite dangerous to force yourself to get up."

He got pissed off at that reaction, but couldn't give a retort. In exchange, Basara stiffened up.

Because Basara felt a soft and smooth sensation over the broad area of his chest to his stomach under the T-shirt, under which Maria had slipped into. Without doubt, it was from Maria's bare skin. In other words,

"A- Are you… naked under my T-shirt---"

"Oh please, Basara-san. There is no way I will be so rude as to enter someone else's bed with my clothes still on."

"Screw your unnecessary consideration!"

If so, be considerate about the ultimate rudeness of entering someone else's T-Shirt.

"---Actually, why didn't I wake up before this all happened?"

It was a slight shock for him. Upon that,

"Have you forgotten, Basara-san? I am a succubus. A devil that appears in dreams. Sleeping spells are my specialty."
Maria laughed with a fufufu.

"Of course it might not have worked if you were awake, Basara-san. However, it was a sure thing while you were asleep, defenseless. You let your guard down."

"That's a damn premeditated crime!"

So much for the police when he couldn't even sleep calmly in his own room.

"Oh please, Basara-san. Even though you are really happy about it. Come on, be honest."

Showing a roguish smile, Maria entwined her arms around his neck, brought her body even closer and glided her skin by pressing onto him.

''…Wait, this is bad…''

Even with young features and a small body, Maria was still a proper girl. Her looks were proud of an extraordinary cuteness and honestly, this distance was dangerous. The smooth skin unique to girls, the moderate yet soft swellings of her breasts, all of Maria was only a stimulation to Basara, a boy. Above all, there were two tickling sensations on Basara's body matching with Maria's movements. It most likely were the Maria's nipples, whose sensation became more firm with every rub.

"Mm… Ah… Mm… Fuh…"

Her childish expression turned gradually sexy and the voice she leaked started to fill with passion.

"I, I get it. …I admit defeat. Please, just get out of my T-Shirt."

"I refuse."

"S- Say what?"

On his panic, Maria changed her satisfied smile into a roguish one.

"The inside of your clothes already belongs to me, Basara-san. If you insist that I leave, you need to tell me 'Maria… I want to come inside you'--- Yes, quietly moaning with a sweet voice!"

After responding to the overly cheeky succubus girl with silence for a while,

"Maria…" "Basara-san."

Maria unnecessarily sparkled her eyes, whereas Toujo Basara dropped his right fist onto her head.

A dull 'BAM' sound. Maria leaked an "Ouh" voice of anguish, then turned teary.

"Y- You raised your hand against a girl!"

"Yeah… I'm a horrible guy. But you're even more horrible, so I had no other choice!"

Basara swiftly pulled back both his hand through the sleeves, then pushed away Maria's body inside the T-Shirt to a secure space.

Then he kept his eyes shut as to not see her naked and immediately retreated out of the T-Shirt.

Basara, naked on top, said to Maria, who wore his T-Shirt like a one-piece dress.

"Actually, what's with 'quietly moaning with a sweet voice'? …Well, though I somehow already know."

"The Japanese language is quite difficult. But I believe the important part in communication is to convey your feelings. The MIND."

"No. The important part in communication is etiquette and common sense."

First of all, never enter my T-Shirt without my consent. I'll sue you for illegal trespassing.

===Part 2===

"Jeez, what a morning…"

Basara left his room wearily. He couldn't let Maria be naked, so he gave up on getting his T-Shirt back for now and went down the stairs dressed in shorts and topless.

The end of summer with no sight of fall coming. The temperature was still high, so he didn't feel cold.

To awaken his half-asleep head, Basara headed to the washroom.

While scratching the back of his head, he opened the wood patterned door and went inside.

"---------"

Inadvertently he stood still. Because there stood the other girl that was living together with Basara--- Naruse Mio.

---Basara came to the washroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, but the place had another function.

It was the changing room for those that entered the bath in the back. Therefore,

"……."

Basara was captivated by Mio and her appearance.

A single bath towel--- That was how Mio right in front of him looked like right now.

She was beautiful. He didn't know if she took a morning bath or shower. Nevertheless, her flushed face of course, but also her body still covered with water drops and her shiny wet hair that reached till her waist, all of it was beautiful.

Moreover, her proportions were already closer to an irregularity than unsurpassable. Her overly tempting big breasts and curves that ran from her slender waist over her bottom down to her thighs, drew a charming body line that wasn't typical for the Japanese. That body was clad in a white bath towel, which boosted her sex-appeal, and perfectly emphasized that Mio was a girl.
Basara inadvertently stood stock still from the stimulation that was too strong right after getting up, whereupon

"-----"

He saw Mio's face getting red, taking a breath. She's gonna scream--- The moment he thought so, Basara moved reflexive. He opened the door of the washroom/changing room behind him, rushed out at once and considered how to apologize.

''…However.''

To avoid such incidents, they supposedly made various arrangements as a countermeasure when they started to live together. Even so, the sign with "Girl's time" hadn't been hang on the door. Did she forget to hang it? No, Mio wouldn't make such a careless mistake. Then,

''…Must've been Maria…''

Most likely, before Maria came to Basara's room, she passed by the bathroom and removed the sign that Mio had put up. Nothing unusual for the prankster Maria. How troublesome.

That said, he knew what to do. He didn't know if Mio would believe his excuse, but he could only properly explain the circumstances to her and beg for her forgiveness. So Basara nodded with "Okay"--- and suddenly realized. Before he had noticed, Mio stood right before him.

He had thought for sure that she would be filled with rage, but Mio didn't say anything.

"? Huh…?"

There Basara realized another thing. His left hand was around Mio's waist while his right covered her mouth. And--- for some reason, Basara was ''inside the bathroom instead of outside''.

"…Ehm, just what's going on…?"

While saying so, his intonation at the end of his sentence was trembling. He broke out a cold sweat.

Mh, how weird. By chance, could it actually be?

In other words, it was that. His mind, faced with an extreme situation, escaped reality and made him imagine leaving the bathroom. Something like an alternative future kaleidoscope? In reality, he had forcefully pulled Mio, who was going to raise a scream, closer and covered her mouth against her will?

"-------"

Oh my god. He wanted to prevent her from screaming due to a misunderstanding that bad? Apparently his body had outdone his mind. That said, the situation had only taken a turn for the worse, getting to the worst case. As Mio's bath towel had fallen down in the moment he forcefully pulled her closer and shut her up by covering her mouth, their bodies were in direct contact now.

"……."

She must have been perplexed by the all too sudden situation. As she didn't know how to react, Mio dumbfounded stayed in Basara's arm without moving.

Anyhow, right now Mio was completely naked. Since Basara lent Maria the shirt he was wearing, his top half was naked. What happened when they hugged in that state was clearer than crystal clear.

Even while he knew he shouldn't, Basara dropped his gaze, where Mio's overly voluminous breasts stuck to his stomach region and to prove their first-rate softness, they were squeezed into a lewd shape. Different from Maria's, their size and sensation were both visually and sensually destructive to the max.

"S- Sorry, this--- Uwah!?"

Basara tried to hastily jump back and grandly slipped on the water that had dropped from Mio's body and hair. Naturally the embraced Mio was dragged into it too.

"---Kyaa"

Basara instantly reacted to the scream from within his arms. While forcefully twisting his body in mid-air, he pulled Mio closer and somehow managed to bring his body under hers before they hit the ground. Turning himself into a cushion, the impact Mio received from the fall was reduced. Since he was holding Mio, both his hands were occupied, but he barely managed to absorb the fall with his back, arms, and shoulders.

Even so, the impact from the fall gave him a dull pain and he tried to get up while scowling.

Like that, he plunged his head into some soft things.

"---Hyahn!?" "? S- Sorry!"

On her surprised voice, Basara noticed his next mistake. He most likely had buried his face into Mio's breasts. He hastily grabbed Mio's shoulders and tried to get away.

"Hey, Yah… Not, there…"

But Mio raised a sweet voice in bewilderment, leaving Basara surprised about the sudden occurrence.

Because of Mio's voice, but also because the shoulder he supposedly grabbed was surprisingly soft.

---Of course a girl's body was softer than a boy's, with no exception at the shoulders.

However, this sensation was clearly from something different than a shoulder. And then Toujou Basara finally realized the situation he was in.

"Eh…m."

Mio's face, who he had thought was right before him, wasn't there. There was only a crack. Her bottom.

Whensoever it happened, Mio was on top of Basara the other way round than him.

Basara hadn't plunged his head into Mio's breasts, but her groin area. And what he grabbed, believing it to be her shoulders, was her bottom. On top of having ended up tightly holding the curving portion on both sides that lead to her thighs, he ended up spreading that crack by pushing up what he believed to be her shoulders. Basara unexpectedly got a look at Mio's everything.

"---KYAAAAAAAAAA"

This time Mio hastily jumped away from Basara along with a scream. Grabbing the bath towel on the ground with a red face, she pulled it to herself to hide her body.

"Why're you coming in when I'm already inside!? Pervert! I'll kill you a hundred times!"

Even though there was a more important matter, Mio shouted the original problem as she got upset.

"Sorry! The door hadn't the sign, so I thought---"

"Liar! Come up with a better lie for an excuse, Basara!"

"No, it's not a lie! Really, believe me!"

Basara opened the bathroom door by pulling it to himself while shaking his head to the sides.

"See, no sign. Right?"

"No way… I certainly put it on."

Mio, seeing that there was no sign, couldn't believe it.

"Don't tell me, you hid it… Did you want to peek on me bathing and if you were to get caught, you wanted to blame me for forgetting the sign while saying 'It's an accident'?"

"As if! Besides--- if I did a cowardly act like that, ''everything would be over!''"

Living together with Mio and Maria started with the talk about Jin's remarriage. In the end, the remarriage was just made-up, but even so, Basara considered Mio and Maria as his little sisters--- as his new family. That didn't even change after he found out that Mio was actually the daughter of the previous Devil Lord Wilbert and that Maria is her succubus attendant. ''The reason was that the same applied to Basara and Jin as well.'' However their relationship was far from normal and to live together under the same roof, trust was needed more than anything.

---Just the other day, Basara drove away the enemy that came after Mio and succeeded in saving Mio from her inherited power that had gone out of control. One way or another he managed to help the girl he wanted and swore to protect. Before, there had been some anxiety in their mutual trust, but Basara believed that thanks to that incident they would be able to get through together now. As proof,

"… I see. Yeah, right…"

Mio, calming down a bit, accepted Basara's words. If he had done any dirty act that betrayed Mio, the finally established trust would be ruined.

Basara wouldn't do something so stupid--- She must have believed so.

"But… then why?"

"I didn't remove the sign you put up. That only leaves one suspect, right?"

To be honest, Basara didn't want to suspect the other person living with him. He didn't want to, but she slipped into his T-Shirt early in the morning after all. He might have taken her side if that hadn't happened, but now he could no longer cover for her.

"Mhm~ I see… That's how it is. Then I'll have looong talk with her later."

Mio said while showing an intense smile, but suddenly,

"But--- You should be able to know my whereabouts with the Master-Servant magic. Why did you come inside?"

"Hey… Have you forgotten about it in your rage?"

Basara sighed on her question. Certainly, Basara and Mio had formed a "certain contract" with magic and if they wanted, they could locate each other. But,

"We agreed to not search for each other with it unless it's an emergency, since it's an invasion of privacy."

At worst, they could find out various things like when one was taking a bath, when one was on the toilet and for how long they did that. Even if they were a family living under the same roof, it honestly wasn't wise to know that much about the other.

Above all, they were teens.

A minimal amount of privacy and consideration called for the appropriate indifference needed for a boy and a girl living together. It was a pact made out of necessity for them and they agreed to not search for each other habitually.

"You're right, sorry… But Basara, why did you suddenly cover my mouth then instead of getting out when you noticed I was inside earlier? And you were quite forcefully at it."

''…Right. Of course she would be bothered about that.''

"Moreover--- Why aren't you wearing anything on top today of all days?"

Asked further with an upturned gaze, Basara was at a loss for an answer.

Forcefully covering Mio's mouth was a reflexively unconscious action.

To explain the matter about him being topless would also require telling her about the incident with Maria.

But he got the feeling that explaining either of these would only sound like an excuse.

"Ehm…. I'm sorry."

Basara lowered his head. He himself was partly responsible for making Mio feel embarrassed.

"I see--- But it's fine, you don't need to apologize, Basara."

On this calm voice, Basara made a sigh of relief while raising his head--- and then he saw.

Mio, clad in the bath towel again, grinning while emitting a pale glint from her body.

"---I'll forgive you with 50k volt."

The moment she said so, the small lightning she released turned into a high-voltage stream and ran through Basara's whole body.

===Part 3===

"Aw, damn… What a disaster."

After Mio gave him that lightning attack and left the bathroom, Basara got into the bath and took a shower. He wanted to wash his body that had carelessly dropped on the floor topless and while it was the end of summer, the heat was still enough to make him sweat during sleep. Because of that Mio must have taken a shower like Basara now too.

---There was a reason to why Toujou Basara could accept a situation like that.

It wasn't only because he ran into Mio in the bath numerous times or had bold morning happenings with the other gender due to Maria. Maria was, like she proclaimed herself, a succubus, meaning a devil that appeared in dreams, whereas Mio was raised as a human, but could use powerful magic as she was the child of the late previous Devil Lord. Naturally it would be rather difficult for a normal human to live together with these two.

Even so--- Toujou Basara could stay and live together with Mio and Maria, because he had a tolerance for principles that escaped the common world.

That tolerance was related to Basara's birth and past.

"…………."

Suddenly recalling his past, Basara got a gloomy expression. Even so,

"I have to keep it together…"

Basara's reliable father--- Toujou Jin was currently out of house due to certain reasons.

Put in charge, he had to protect his sisters, Mio and Maria, by himself as the oldest son.

"Fuh…"

While washing away the sweat, the shower gradually warmed up Basara's body. It was a human instinct to wash one's head too when getting it wet.

"Argh…"

His body was still a bit numb from Mio's lightning attack, so he couldn't properly wash his head.

"---Leave it to me."

Along with a calm voice, slender fingers entered Basara's hair and started to gently wash his head and hair.

Just like at a barber, it felt pleasant to have someone else wash your head.

"Oh, thanks. How thoughtful…. Eh?"

Basara noticed the abnormal situation too late since it was conducted all so naturally, and finally turned around. There was a girl clad in a bath towel making a puzzled face.

Finely chiselled features. Looks that could pass her off as a model because of her tall and slender figure.

A clear beautiful girl with a type different from Mio and Maria.

"Y- Yuki… wh- why are you here…?"

Basara was inadvertently surprised and confused. Right in front of his eyes was his childhood friend Nonaka Yuki.

---A few days ago, Basara had reunited with Yuki after five years. Yuki had become so beautiful that she appeared to be a different person. Basara had only known her young appearance, so he was honestly surprised at her change and growth.

That said, they only met each other again and certainly didn't live together. In fact Yuki shouldn't be in the Toujou House--- let alone the bath in the morning. She made her usual expressionless face.

"I came to pick you up. I wanted to go to school together with you."

"I- Is that so… No wait, how did you get into the house?"

Regrettably, there was quite some bad blood between Yuki and Mio/Maria.

It resulted from their standpoints and partly due to their emotions.

"Through the door. The succubus let me in."

That damn loli succubus. She wasn't satisfied by just slipping into my t-shirt, she also had to play yet another ridiculous prank!

"Well, but when did you get into the bath…?"

"I didn't want to disturb you so early in the morning. ---So I completely erased my presence."

"Your modesty is getting out of hand!"

A guy with a weak heart would die, when someone suddenly washed his head from behind!

Yuki uncaringly brought her body closer.

"Basara… can I wash you?"

"N- No, it's not good to be in here together, Yuki… You know that, right?"

"…Why? We often did so in the past."

"No, that was five years ago--- when we were kids!"

They both were no longer innocent kids. Even through the bath towel, he could tell. Yuki's body strongly emphasized that she was already a fine woman.

Basara hastily wrapped a towel around his waist.

"Besides, you can try to play calm, but your face is red, Yuki… You're embarrassed, right?"

"……..Yeah. A bit. But I wanted to take a bath with you."

One breath.

"Do you… hate taking one with me, Basara?"

"No, I wouldn't say that I hate it…"

Being looked at from below at a very close distance, Basara inadvertently averted his eyes out of shame. He was hesitant to say "I would love to", so he equivocated, but she seemed to understand that as a refusal.

"Huh… Ehm, Yuki-san?" "………"

Yuki had gotten a somewhat displeased expression. And,

"…You took one with Naruse Mio and that succubus, yet you ain't takin' one with me?"

Her speech showed a bit of her dialect. It was a habit that occurred when she couldn't suppress her emotions.

The stuff Maria revealed the other day on the rooftop must still affect her--- But, it was already too late by the time he analyzed that.

"H- Hey…!?"

Not listening to Basara's attempt to stop her, Yuki undid the knot of her own bath towel.

The white cloth fell onto the ground and Yuki's smooth and beautiful skin was exposed.

He hastily turned around, but even so he had gotten a good look.

On how much it grown and how beautiful Nonaka Yuki's body had gotten. Moreover,

"---Basara, let me wash you."

Saying so in a more demanding tone than before, Yuki pressed her body firmly onto Basara's back by hugging onto him. Yuki put her cheek against Basara's back, who had gotten all stiff from the earlier destructive sensation.

"If you don't let me wash you--- I'll do something even bolder."

Her calm voice was filled with seriousness, so Basara resigned right away.

"F- Fine… Wash me. So spare me of anything more…!"

He was neither a hermit or a saint. He was a healthy young boy. It was bad enough already, so if she were to do anything more, his reasoning would completely break.

As she regained a bit of her spirits by getting his approval, Yuki changed her tone back into a calm one with "Then don't move" and started to wash Basara's head. Her gentle and careful handiwork made him feel Yuki's serious personality and above all, her precious feelings towards him.

''…Five years, huh.''

Compared to the time when they were young and innocently washed each other's body, both Basara and Yuki had changed in various ways now. Not just their age, but also their standpoints and relationships.

---However, there was still something that hadn't changed.

How Yuki preciously felt about Basara.

Likewise, Toujou Basara kept thinking unaltered about Yuki as someone important.

"….." "….."

At some point both of them had fallen silent and a silence had come over the bath.

[[Image:Shinmai v02 025.jpg|thumb]]

But it wasn't awkward. It was just a silence brought about from their feelings.

Before long, the water from the shower washed Basara's head clean. Then,

"….Basara."

Suddenly. Yuki called out to him from behind. In a really quiet voice.

"You and Jin-san won't ever come back to the <village>…?"

Basara replied with silence to the asked question. That was the very reason why Basara could accept Mio, a descendant from the Devil Lord, and Maria, a succubus.

---The <village> Yuki mentioned wasn't referring to a simple village in the countryside.

Earlier Yuki had said that the succubus had let her into the house.

That was a statement from someone that admitted the existence of devils like Maria. To protect this worlds from devils, the <Hero Tribe> kept fighting since ancient times--- That was Nonaka Yuki's true identity.

And Toujo Basara as well had once fought for the same mission.

Yes--- Until five years ago, when ''the cruel tragedy befell the <village>''.

A lot of villagers were massacred by a young man that was possessed by a sealed S rank evil spirit.

At that time, Basara saw a lot of comrades getting killed before his eyes and even his friends were in danger, so his own power went out of control. His skill <Banishing Shift> that actually was supposed to erase only an enemy's attack, banished everything, like the possessed young man and the limbs of his killed comrades, into the zero-dimensional space. Afterwards the <village> decided to confine Basara to a prison, but Jin, Basara's father, objected. As a result, Basara and Jin were stripped of their Hero title and had to leave the village. In other words, they were chased out. Therefore,

"…I think that'll prove to be difficult."

Of course he had a nostalgia towards the <village>. But the scars the tragedy caused five years ago still remained unchanged. In the village, in the villagers and--- even in Basara himself.

Even now, five years later, Basara kept having nightmares of that day.

---Besides. Toujou Basara had already set out on a new path.

To protect the girl, who unwillingly inherited the power of the previous Devil Lord and was chased for it by the current Devil Lord and his subordinates,--- Naruse Mio. Neither the Devil Lord, Mio's standpoint as a devil or his past as a Hero matter for what. He swore to protect the two as a family, as their brother.

But that was something adverse to the Hero Tribe's doctrine. That Yuki helped out in the battle the other day was an exception of exceptions. They both understood that.

"But Basara---"

It was in the moment when Yuki tried to say something with a somewhat pleading tone.

Outside the bath--- The door that separated the anteroom of the bath from the hallway, opened after a knock.

"Could it be… you're still inside, Basara? Breakfast's been done for a while now, you know."

Basara froze up on Mio's voice from the anteroom.

She must have come to get Basara, since he just wouldn't finish his shower. Even though that incident happened just a few minutes ago--- Mio was basically very caring. When they moved into this new house to live together, she also tagged along with him when he asked her to show him around, albeit stating her complaints. The education of her late foster parents that raised her in the human world must have been good. They seemingly were subordinates of Mio's real father, the previous Devil Lord, but they must have been good people without doubt.

---However, now wasn't the time to reminisce about Mio's past.

After all Basara was currently together with the naked Yuki in the bath.

"S- Sorry… I'm coming now. Yeah, I'll be able to get out in a bit…"

While replying hastily, Basara handed Yuki the bath towel that was laying on the floor. When he urged her "Please wear it!" with his eyes, Yuki started to wrap up herself with the bath towel while showing an annoyed face.

"…Hey Basara, are you angry about earlier?"

There came a question from Mio with a little worried tone. She must have thought that the lightning attack was overdoing it.

"B- But you were at fault, you hear… I mean, I just got out of the bath, but you suddenly come in and hug me. You were so rough, so the bath towel became undone and did even that during the commotion… I was really embarrassed."

"S- Sorry… But that was…!"

Basara raised a scream in his heart. What Mio mentioned was certainly the truth. It was the truth, but from that selective utterance, one who didn't know the circumstances would probably misunderstand. And as expected,

"--------"

Yuki narrowed her eyes and opened the fogged window of the bath for some reason. And then,

"(H- Hey, what're you doing…Yuki?)"

In front of Basara, who asked with a small voice, Yuki unwrapped her own bath towel of all things and threw it out of the window. GYAA, from the shock, Basara became like the painting The Scream from Munch.

"? What's up, Basara?" "N- Nothing. It's nothing."

He desperately tried to smooth it over, but Yuki closed the window and approached Basara.

As he couldn't escape because of Mio, she clung to him from the front.

"Basara… what did you do in the commotion?"

"(W- Well, just a little accident… Really!)"

Basara declared pacifying to Yuki, who asked him by looking up to him, whereupon outside the bath,

"Well… if you say so."

Mio said.

"But Basara--- Why is there a female school uniform and underwear, which don't belong to me here? And they're folded so neatly."

Sorry, these are mine. I'm actually a cross-dresser, ahahaha--- That's not gonna work, damnit!

Excuses were impossible. Basara resigned and at the same time, the door of the bath opened merciless.

"…………."

Awkward to the max. After a silence from all three, Mio opened her mouth first.

"…What has water on top and a big fire below?"

"A, A bath, right…?"

While being clung on by the naked Yuki at the same place like the answer, Basara answered with "Haha".

"---Certainly. Well then, what has fire everywhere, top and below?"

Mio's dangerous eyes were saying: Trick question, go.

"W- Well~ I wonder what. Maybe a burnt out SNS?"

"No, wrong--- You see, it's you, who'll be covered in flames now!"

The emotion she held back exploded. She was about to release her magic like her arising anger--- In that moment, Mio suddenly shivered her body with "Ah". And then,

"Yah… No way, now…? ---Ahhn."

While suddenly letting out a sweet voice, Mio slumped and sunk down on the floor.

"H- Hey--- Are you okay?"

When he hastily rushed over, there was a collar-like mark around Mio's neck.

"Uwah… The curse of the Master and Servant contract." "…What's the matter?"

Yuki was puzzled by Mio's strange behaviour, whereas Basara looked at Mio, who emitted a sweet allure, while giving her the bath towel that he had prepared for himself.

''…It hadn't activated for a while now.''

Actually--- Basara and Mio were currently bound by a magic "Master and Servant Contract".

Maria suggested it, since the contracting parties could locate each other, so when Mio was in danger, Basara could find her.

Originally Mio was supposed to be the Master, but for some reason the contract was formed reversed. Basara had become Mio's Master.

Moreover, this contract aimed at solidifying the relationship between Master and Servant, so when the servant betrayed or had a guilty consciousness towards the master, a curse immediately activated.

Their contract was chanted with the help of Maria's power, so the activating curse got the special characteristic of Maria the succubus.

---Dream Devil, Incubus, Succubus. Its special characteristic was "aphrodisiac".

During the incident where Basara had entered the anteroom with Mio in it, she chanted the lighting attack after Basara's apology, so there was no problem. But this time Mio was worried if she maybe overdid it earlier. So when she tried to attack Basara now, she must have felt guilty somewhere in the back of her heart. That might have switched on the curse.

"Yah, Ah… Hahn, Fuh… Mm…"

She desperately bit down on her lips to stifle her voice, but she couldn't suppress the stream of pleasure that beset her whole body.

Mio twisted her body on the floor unbearable, whereupon the door of the anteroom was opened with attitude.

"Excuse me! Am I right here for Mio-sama getting all yielding from pleasure!?"

Howsoever she noticed, Maria came in quickly.

And when she saw Mio on the floor and the naked Basara and Yuki, she sparkled her eyes with "Ohh".

"I thought this would happen, so I bought this in advance. The world's smallest and lightest! The never fading memories, the memorials of youth will be with you!"

Swiftly setting up a small video camera that she pulled out from wherever, Maria started to film Mio.

"…………"

Basara wordlessly grabbed her at the nape of her neck, threw her into the bath, shut the door and merciless blocked it from his side with a mop and the washing machine. Right away the door was beat with BAM BAM from the other side.

"What are you doing, Basara-san! Are you still angry about the t-shirt? I apologize for hiding Mio-sama's bathing sign! I can stay here, but at least the camera… Please use at least the camera! For my pride and soul as a succubus, I have to film the current Mio-sama!"

"Shut up! Restrain yourself, damn loli succubus!"

Basara succeeded in isolating the root of all this, squatted down besides Mio and softly lifted her up.

"---Are you okay, Mio?"

"It's your fault… Mm, St- Stupid ''Brother…'' I'll kill you a hundred times."

Mio, full of pleasure, entwined her arms around Basara's neck and tightly clung to him, albeit vexing. Calling Basara "Brother" was Mio's unconscious habit that appeared when the curse of the Master and Servant Contract activated.

But most likely the activated curse wasn't that strong. If she were to lay down and rest, the curse should ease up soon. Nevertheless Mio had an unyielding spirit. She surely didn't want Yuki to see her like this. The only way to cancel the curse in no time was for Basara to subjugate the servant--- Mio as her master and confirm her loyalty.

''The things he could do were inevitably limited'' in this state, where she drowned in pleasure. Therefore,

"Okay… Let's go to your room."

It certainly would be embarrassing to do on the sofa in the living room so early in the morning.

"Sorry, Yuki… She's feeling a bit bad, so I have to tend to her. I'll be right back, so wait in the living room after you put on your clothes."

"…………Okay."

As she understood that Mio's state was strange, Yuki nodded, albeit a bit displeased. So Basara left the anteroom while carrying Mio.

Walking down the hallway, he thought while going up the stairs to the second floor.

He wanted to protect Mio's everyday life, but he got the feeling that it didn't include this situation.

At this rate Basara's reasoning, endurance, soul and body definitely wouldn't last.

At some point he would certainly commit a mistake. He couldn't afford to hurt Mio--- his little sister in that horrible way.

Therefore Toujou Basara mumbled quietly. It was a shame to abandon the merit of being able to locate each other, but

"On the next full moon, where we can annul the contract, I'll break this Master and Servant Contract--- My body can't take it."

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| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
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Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-11-01T03:31:01Z

Nscorz: /* Part 3 */

==First Master and Servant Contract==

===Part 1===

Naruse Mio, chased out of the Toujo House, came to a park on a hill with Maria.

It was the park, where she had watched the sunset after cycling around the city on Basara's bicycle.

—30 minutes since they had arrived there. Mio silently watched the glow of the city at night.

It was a beautiful sight. The glow of the buildings and the light of cars or trains appeared just like an illumination. Mio thought, if that was how it looked when one looked down from the stars in the sky.

''…Just like he said.''

Remembering about the guy that taught her about this beautiful view, Mio frowned slightly.

"I knew coming together would be impossible…"

Back then, Mio had replied with a vague answer on Basara's suggestion. Because she had known. That there wouldn't be such a chance. Ever since they met, they had deceived Basara.

"Excuse me, Mio-sama… please do cheer up."

Maria next to her looked up at her with worried eyes. Her appearance was back to one of a human.

"We were just unlucky that they turned out to be Heroes. With someone else, I am sure—"

"No, Maria… let's put an end to all the deceiving."

Mio shook her head.

"I wanted a base ''without involving anyone if possible'', but… deceiving someone for that is certainly not to my liking."

It wasn't like they were penniless. Mio's late foster father left them plenty of savings. But for a base, a single house was the best. If they carelessly rented an apartment or mansion in a living complex, the other inhabitants might get dragged in.

However, Mio was a minor to begin with. Furthermore, without relatives. And Maria was a child by appearance.

Like this they obviously couldn't buy a place, nor rent. Of course it was possible that Maria manipulated memories with her magic, but she would have to manipulated the memories of a lot of people, if they wanted to buy a house as a minor and live without drawing the suspicion from the real estate office. Moreover, the memories would need to match each person's position and relationships. The memory manipulation magic wasn't that powerful.

That was why Mio and Maria had done such a roundabout way.

"I understand… I will abide by your words, Mio-sama."

Maria didn't object. She must have understood her feelings. With a soft smile,

"That is what makes you kind, Mio-sama… I personally do not see any problem with deceiving a human that approaches us with ulterior motives though."

"Maybe…"

Maria said something reasonable. After their current parents had passed away, the lawyer entrusted with the will had tried to deceive Mio to steal her inheritance. When Mio had walked around at night with Maria, guys had approached them worried, yet with the ulterior motive in the open. Therefore they became unable to trust anyone than themselves. However if guys like them existed, they thought it wouldn't be bad to deceive them. After all, both sides were lying.

—So, one month ago, when they were surrounded by delinquents in the city, Jin had come to their rescue.

They couldn't trust him either. He would just deceive them as well.

He would betray them in the end…That was what they thought.

That was the reason Maria manipulated his memories and planned to take over the house. But, by doing so, they turned into the same kind as these guys.

"…But, who could have imagined that these two were Heroes."

Mio showed a self-mocking smile. She wasn't blaming them for hiding their lineage. They had done the same. Of course they might be able to overwhelm Basara if they went back to the house now and fought at full power. There was a possibility to make that house their base then.

"But…"

Jin and Basara both had been different from the others they had deceived. She thought that she might have found people she could put her trust in, for the first time after the death of her parents.

''…But.''

What was the point of that now. It was too late. Time couldn't be turned back. Upon that,

"Mio-sama…"

Maria next to her called with a calm tone.

"Sorry… We need to figure out what to do from now on, but first we need a place to stay tonight."

But Maria lightly shook her head to the side. And then, she said with a slightly stiff voice.

"No— It looks like there is something we have to do before that."

On these words, Mio noticed the surrounding atmosphere.

Unnoticed, the park had become ominous quiet. An unnatural silence. Mio immediately understood what that meant. For the past half year, she had gotten the necessary knowledge.

"Magic to keep humans away…."

Mio or Maria hadn't used it. Then there was only one explanation.

"Please watch out… It is an enemy."

Maria glared in front of her. Upon that, there was a movement in the darkness there.

What appeared from the shadow were three ominous shades. These shades gradually changed shape.

One changed into a [shadow] that had a black humanoid silhouette with a long hilted scythe, like a death god.

The remaining two into a magical lion beasts with wings— A manticore.

Without a doubt, it was devils. And most likely servants of the current Devil Lord. They emitted a blatant bloodlust. It exposed their existence. And also their aim. Therefore,

"I see… To think that you would come on your own accord."

Mio challengingly glared at the three [enemies].

Her squeezed out voice was faintly trembling. It wasn't out of fear. But out of—''anger.''

"Unforgivable… I'll avenge my parents…."

Needless to say, Mio learned the truth and her lineage from Maria after her parents' death. That she, Naruse Mio, was the only daughter of the previous Devil Lord. And that the two people she considered as her parents were just foster parents.

As unbelievable as it was, she accepted it when Maria showed her true appearance and magic.

Yes. Mio's parents weren't related by blood to her. They might just have raised and looked after her because of an order from her real father.

''….But.''

Naruse Mio thought. The two that raised her were surely her parents.

Rather than the real father she never met, they were her precious family.

That was why she would never forgive it. Mio certainly had yet to awaken the power of her father— of the Devil Lord. Still,

"Kindly getting rid of all humans… Fine, bring it on."

Mio inherited something in the blood of her father. That was— the talent for magic.

"Prepare yourselves… I'll kill you a hundred times."

At the same time she said that, Mio's body emitted a crimson aura. She released her own magical power.

—Usually. The magical aura was a negative black.

The magical surge emitted by the enemies right now was a jet black, darker than the night.

In regards to that, Maria or moderate Devils like Mio's father Wilbert had a blue aura. It was a color of those that had sworn to free themselves off the revenge against the God Tribe.

The aura of magical power changed color depending on the heart of the devil that used it.

But— Mio must have sworn revenge for her killed parents and chosen the path of hostility.

So when she learned how to use her magical power from Maria, her aura was neither black, nor blue, but a scarlet even more brilliant than blood. The kind of crimson color that burnt unforgivable enemies to ashes.

"—Okay, let's get started."

Special abilities like magic essentially didn't exist in this world. Average humans couldn't perceive that phenomena. Therefore they couldn't interfere here. And— Mio's words were the sign for the beginning of the battle.

The two manticore [shadows] closed in to them simultaneously. On this coordinated movement,

"Eat this!"

Mio released an offence magic. A flash and a explosion sounded at the same time. A lightning magic crashed down from the sky. But, the two shadows burst though the dust created by the attack.

Manticores. These keen-witted magical beasts must have dodged the lightning.

''…What about the scythe guy…''

She could no longer feel the presence of the enemy in the soaring dust. He must have been defeated by the lightning magic. In that case, Mio shifted her senses back to the two magical beasts.

"Mio-sama, I will go next."

Maria besides her kicked the ground and flew forward, standing in the way of the manticores. However it was a disadvantaged two vs. one with an overwhelming difference in physiques.

"———"

The manticores, deciding to finishing off Maria, who gave an easy target, first, split up to the right and left and made a pinching movement from the sides. Closing the distance, one came at Maria with it's fangs, the other with it's claws. A combined attack from the side and top. The only available option for Maria to dodge it was retreating. However,

"Ahahaha, so foolish."

Along with a laughter, Maria leaped forward. She headed for the right leg of one of the manticores— the one that tried to kill her with it's fangs. She closed the distance in an instant and when she was close enough to reach it with her hands,

"Please entertain me a bit."

Saying so, she swung down her right fist on the giant magical beast's head.

—Unlike Mio, Maria didn't specialize in offensive magic.

Then how was she fighting? That was answered— by a roar and an impact. The manticore, who received Maria's fist, crashed flattened into the ground. That impact hollowed the ground, making a crater. In it's center, the manticore didn't move an inch anymore. It even lost it's shape. Maria looked down on these remains and snorted scorning with a hmpf.

"Is that all… So boring. Please resist unsightly and make me wet."

Then she moved her gaze to a new target.

But the magical beasts approaching Maria from the right changed his own course. It was plunging itself towards Mio. Mio didn't move. And the raised, sharp claw swung down on Mio.

KEEEEEK! With a metallic sound, the claw was repelled. The ferocious attack of the magical beasts had been fended off by a transparent wall that Mio had set up previously. Mio held up her right hand towards the manticore.

"It's over— Die a hundred times and try again."

At the same time she declared calmly, the red ball of light that Mio had created hit it directly.

After the explosion— there was not a single dust of it left.

"Are you unhurt, Mio-sama?"

On Maria's outcall from afar, Mio nodded with a "Yes".

''…These guys had finally made their move.''

It had been half a year since the murder of her parents— since the start of the tragedy.

The enemy hadn't used any flashy attacks so far, but now they had finally come after her.

"Fine… Just bring it on."

Naruse Mio would never forgive the enemy that killed her parents.

And she would definitely defeat the current Devil Lord that gave the order for it. At all costs.

"—Oh, we better get away from here."

By defeating the enemy, the magic to keep humans away should have been lifted. The place was a complete mess due to Mio and Maria's attacks.

They would get reported if a by-passer saw this.

''…But, before that.''

One last time, Mio looked at the night scenery of the city. At the scenery she was supposed to look at with the boy.

—That was an opening.

"Mio-sama!"

When she turned around on Maria's scream, a [shadow] stood in front of Mio.

The enemy that was supposed to be defeated by the first lightning magic. It's hand glowed with black magical power.

Not good— Mio immediately erected a barrier, but it was a bit too late. The [shadow] released a lightning attack magic, which lost steam midway by colliding with the barrier, but directly hit Mio nevertheless.

On that impact, Mio was blown backwards. The park was build on higher grounds— a hill. Mio had watched over the city from it's edge. Right before the cliff.

The wooden fence to prevent falls was aging and couldn't absorb Mio's fall.

Therefore. Slung away over the cliff, Mio started to fall down.

"Kuh…!"

Mio tried to activate a wind magic right away, but failed to.

Due to the enemy's lightning attack, she couldn't move her body properly and couldn't focus her mind enough to cast magic.

''…At this rate…!''

It should be more than ten meters until the road below.

The ground was asphalt. Mio's body simply would be unable to endure the impact of the crash.

Mio cursed her own carelessness. Was dying here her fate?

Was this her life, dying without avenging the murder of her parents?

She tightly closed her eyes in despair and frustration—At that time. Mio heard a single sound.

It was a voice. A shouted voice that prolonged the vocal "o".

''….Eh?''

So Mio faced the voice. To right beside her. Upon that,

"—Oooooooh!"

On the tile of the concrete surface of the wall that guarded against soil slides. With that as his foothold, a single boy ran sideways with a terrific speed into her direction.

At the time Mio realized who it was, she was embraced in midair— by Toujou Basara.

"—Whoops!"

Catching Mio, Basara twisted his body in midair. Mio's vision alternated between top and bottom. And carrying Mio, Basara landed on the ground without troubles. There should have been still quite the distance to the ground. And Basara managed to cushion the landing by just using his lower body as an elastic spring.

"……….Fuh."

In his arms, Mio heard Basara making a breath of relief. Then she was slowly lowered onto the ground.

Still affected by the enemy's lightning magic, she sat on the ground.

"Why…"

Mio looked up to Basara. She still couldn't fully believe that she was saved.

Why did Basara save her? She didn't know the answer to that.

"Well, that's—"

Basara tried to save something awkwardly.

"—Watch out!"

It was negated by Maria's shout from the top of the cliff.

Naruse Mio looked. Behind Basara, who looked at her, the [shadow] came down jumping. Most likely as soon as it noticed Basara, it had jumped down the cliff in pursuit.

It had already gotten in range of it's scythe and was about to about launch a slash.

—But, that slash didn't happen. Before it could, the torso of the [shadow] was perfectly split in half. It took only an instant. For the sword to appear in Basara's hand and cutting the enemy in a flash in the turning motion. An unbelievable agility and swift swordsmanship.

"………….."

In front of the now dumbfounded Mio, Basara erased the sword from his hand.

When he then turned around to her, his face had a somehow troubled expression.

"Ah… ehm, you see…"

He was looking for words. While scratching his cheeks, Basara let his gaze wander around a bit.

And then— He slowly held out his hand to her.

"……..We're going home."

Without making eye-contact with her, he said brusque.

===Part 2===

—For now, let's return home together.

After the overcome predicament, Basara had proposed so, but Mio was still wary.

Basara was a Hero. Mio and Maria were devils. And Mio and Maria had deceived Basara. Taking all that into consideration, there was no reason whatsoever for Basara to save Mio.

She could tell that Basara had no hostility, but she was hesitant about her decision for a while. She must have considered the possibility of a trap. Amidst that, Maria convinced Mio as her follower. That there was no reason for Basara to trick them into a roundabout trap. If he wanted to kill them, he could have done so previously in the living room or could have not helped Mio just now.

So, before long Mio nodded small on Maria's persuasion.

And now presently— Toujou Basara was standing in the kitchen of his own house.

He took a well-cooled barley tea out of the fridge, poured it into a glass and took it with him into the living room.

"Ah, thank you."

When Maria took the glass, she drank up the barley tea in one go. Basara inadvertently raised an eyebrow.

"….Now you sure drank that without any hesitation."

Wasn't that too careless in any event?

"Well, sure it was me who said to come back here, but…"

"—be a bit more wary, you mean?"

With "I already said it", Maria set the empty glass on the table.

"You have no reason to do something so troublesome as to bring us back home and poison the drink after following us all the way to save us, despite throwing us out of the house once before."

Besides,

"You seriously were angered when you found out that we deceived you. That was because you truly considered us to be your family. Then these ten days we spent together, the time you came into contact with us, were by no means a lie. So I believe it is fine to trust you."

Maria shifted her gaze and asked "Or am I wrong?".

"I see…"

So she actually did give it some thoughts.

"…Well, Mio-sama's personality is like that, so she will be a bit obstinate for a bit longer."

Maria looked to the door of the living room.

"I hope she will settle down a bit in the bath."

Japanese summers were hot even at night. Fighting outside in this humidity, you would sweat by all means.

Therefore, Maria had recommended Mio to take a bath as soon as they got back to the house.

"—Anyway, may I ask at this point?"

Maria said.

"About why you, a hero, wanted to help us devils."

"Even if you ask… I just heard about your circumstances from my dad."

While scratching his cheek, Basara told her his reason for saving them. It was about Mio's circumstances, the devils general situation and the moderate faction, which Jin had all looked up. Therefore,

"My dad couldn't leave you guys alone and neither could I… I could never abandon you while I know of your circumstances. I mean, she bears no sin."

Naruse Mio had been living as just a simple girl. Having her life in peril due to other's conveniences was just too much. When Basara finished his talk with a serious tone, a natural silence befell the living room. Maria, who had cast down her eyes while listening to him, soon

"… I see, Jin-san did."

said with a meek expression and then suddenly raised her face.

"That sounds thankworthy, but— staying quiet when he knew everything, he is the worst."

"Well, I won't deny that."

But, he believed that it wasn't really her place to say anything, seeing as they deceived him as well.

"—But, I see that you two Heroes helped us simply because of that."

Saying so, Maria gave him a look that asked for his real intentions.

"Actually, the villagers' decision to put us under surveillance is the kind of reaction you would expect, is it not?"

Maria's doubt was reasonable. No matter how much one sympathized with their circumstances, there was no reason for a Hero to help a devil. Yeah—''Normally there wasn't'', but

"I already told you that I don't have any ties with the Heroes or Devils…. Some stuff happened in the past, you know. Because of that, my dad and I are no longer Heroes now. Just simple humans, unrelated to the village."

Though it gave Basara's heart a never-fading wound.

But well, he was no longer tied down by the Hero's destiny.

"If I want to protect something, I do so… That's all to it."

"Even if it is a devil— one who has inherited the Devil Lord's power? By protecting Mio-sama, you are putting yourself in harm's way, Basara-san."

Basara nodded a "Yeah" to Maria's reminding observation.

"As long as you don't cause any harm to this world or it's habitants."

Upon that, Maria showed a wry smile.

"…You are such good-hearted people, both you and Jin-san."

"Not really. We're just wilful….As father, as son."

Therefore, Jin had readily decided to throw away the Hero status on the day the tragedy befell the village, the time when Basara caused that incident. So now— it was Basara's turn.

"…I understand. If that is the case, I will take you up on your kindness. Right now… Mio-sama needs as many allies as possible."

Maria's calm tone was filled with a heavy pressure. Then Maria corrected her seating position and bowed down deeply into his direction.

"Basara-san… My apologies for deceiving you so far. You will be dragged into our peril, but please take care of us. Please lend us your power, so Mio-sama will be safe."

A formal tone. The words of a subordinate that's worried about it's master from the bottom of her heart. Therefore,

"Yeah. That's the plan."

Basara once again spoke out his resolve. He couldn't keep running away from the past forever.

In that case, he would pick up the sword again and fight. To his current self, neither Hero nor Devil mattered.

I want to protect Mio— There was no lie in that feeling. He believed in that feeling.

"Well then, ehm… Maria-chan."

"Just Maria is fine. After all, we will be comrades now."

"I see— Then, Maria, except for the part with the attack, let's live together normally like we have until now. We're still not sure about the enemy's aim anyway."

"Eh? But, they directly came after Mio-sama…"

Maria asked back puzzled.

"Well… It just doesn't make sense to me."

Basara made a serious expression.

"The guys from the Devil Lord faction should be after the inherited power from the previous Devil Lord Wilbert itself, instead of Mio. Moreover, she hasn't fully awakened the power yet. If she dies now, no one knows who would inherit the power next— In the worst case, Wilbert's power might vanish just like that."

But,

"When you were attacked at the park, ''she could have died'' if I hadn't made it in time. Of course you never know what will happen in an actual battle, but…"

Was it just a coincidence, or were they after something different? He could think of a few possibilities, but time would surely solve it. After all, the enemy wouldn't pull back in silence now.

"I'm sure they also noticed that you guys have been put under surveillance by the Heroes. If they recklessly involved unrelated humans, they themselves will become termination targets next. It's unlikely they'll attack in crowded places."

That's precisely was why they used magic to keep away humans from the park this time.

"Well if they attack next time, we'll get them for sure."

Upon that, Maria said happily.

"So reassuring. I only saw a bit of it, but you seem rather strong, Basara-san."

"Well, don't expect too much… I haven't really fought for five years now."

He had managed to materialize the magic sword Brynhildr, but his body had grown quite dull.

It still wasn't in it's former condition. He would have to train from scratch in his free time or it would turn out bad.

"But. Earlier you erased my wind magic here. I was really surprised by that."

"Mh? Ahh…"

On Maria's words, Basara made a peaceful expression and

"I'm afraid that— was a fluke."

Basara shrugged his shoulders, whereupon Maria sharpened her eyes with "Oh please".

"There is no way you can erase magic completely on a fluke. Just what kind of technique was it?"

Maria was full of curiosity, whereas Basara showed a wry smile and dropped his gaze to his right hand.

"Sorry, but it really was a fluke…"

—Yeah, it had to be a fluke.

After all, that technique— became unusable after that incident five years ago.

===Part 3===

If drenched in sweat in the middle of summer, a shower was the better choice.

At first, Mio had intended to do so. She wanted to get out after quickly rinsing off the sweat.


—However, right now she let her body immerse in the hot water of the bathtub.

"……….."

Mio tightly embraced her body in the bathtub. Even though it was summer, she felt surprisingly cold.

''…For the first time, I…''

Since half a year ago— ever since her parents were killed, Mio had trained in magic and combat by Maria's instruction.

Thanks to that, she became able to chant magic even stronger than Maria's.

But an actual combat… A fight with her life at stake, that was a first for her earlier. Defeating the enemy. A wrong step might lead to death. Without doubt, a fight to the death had taken place there. Yeah— if Basara hadn't come to save her, Mio might have smashed onto the asphalt like that and died. When she thought of that, her body trembled beyond control.

For already nearly thirty minutes, Mio sat in the bathtub hugging onto her knees.

—A while ago, Maria had come once to check on her. She must have been worried since Mio just wouldn't come out. When Mio replied to her, Maria seemed to be relieved in the anteroom.

And then, Maria told her about the conversation with Basara.

Including the reason why Basara saved her.

"I have to get out…"

She couldn't stay in the bath forever. Mio slowly left the bath.


When she wiped her wet body with a towel in the anteroom, she inadvertently leaked an isolated mumble.


"Is it really okay…?"

Mio was still uncertain if it was alright to rely on Basara.

It wasn't like she distrusted Basara. In the ten days they had spent together, she came to understand what kind of person Basara was, without having Maria tell her. He was the kind of boy that would come running over once he knew of their circumstances, regardless of being deceived before. And apparently him being a Hero was also a thing of the past. It was probably alright to trust him.

Mio put her feet one by one into the new shorts and pulled it up over her knees and thighs up to her bottom.

''…The problem is.''

If it was alright to drag Basara into Mio's circumstances. The parents who raised her were killed. Moreover, by the guys who also killed her real father. Even though she didn't do anything wrong, her family was unreasonably taken away from her— Naruse Mio remembered that day vividly.

She would never forgive them. No matter how many enemies she had to make, she would definitely avenge their deaths.

Vowing so in her heart, she had lived the past half-year. And today, the battle had finally started.

The enemy was the new Devil Lord who reigned over the demon realm. Most likely, battles like earlier— no, even harsher and more painful battles would take place from now on. Was it really alright to drag Basara and Jin into these battles that were unrelated to them? As they both had given up on battles along with their Hero status.

"……………"

Then Mio finished dressing. Night had already fallen, but they still had a lot to discuss about the future, so she didn't dress in pyjamas, but a rough casual wear.

Her own expression reflected in the bath's mirror looked unusually gloomy, quite so.

As Mio squeezed her own body, there was a reserved knock on the door of the anteroom from the outside.

"Sorry, Maria… I'll be right there."

Thinking that she made her worry again, Mio replied so, whereupon

"Ah… No, it's me."

On hearing the somewhat awkward voice beyond the door, Mio inadvertently gulped. She still wasn't sure what to say to Basara. She knew she couldn't keep quiet. But she found no words.

—Basara saved her life when she fell down the cliff after receiving that attack.

Mio had no words to say to that Basara. Upon that,

"Sorry. I thought about waiting until you were out, but… But there's one thing I absolutely want to tell you beforehand."

Just what is it— Before Mio could ask so, she received the answer.

"—Forgive me."

For a moment, she couldn't comprehend what Basara said.

"Wh- Why are you apologizing?"

When she inadvertently responded with a trembling voice, Basara continued apologetically from beyond the door.

"I heard about you from my dad and Maria. Sorry, I… didn't know anything about you. And then earlier, I just snapped… I'm really sorry."

"Th- That's…."

What to do? Even though she was the one that caused troubles by deceiving him. Despite that, the one who saved her life apologized. And even before she could. Now she was at a loss for words even more.

"<nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki>"

Her vision swayed. An indescribable feeling rose in her. Suddenly, Mio heard a loud noise. Before she noticed it, she had fallen on her backside on the floor. Before she understood that her legs had given in,

"H- Hey! Are you okay?"

Surprised by the sudden loud noise, the anteroom door opened and Basara came inside.

 
When Basara entered the anteroom, Mio had sunk down on the floor.

Her face was red. Staying in the bath close to an hour, she must have gotten dizzy.

"Don't stay so long in the bath that you're unable to stand anymore… C'mon, you okay?"

His offered hand was shaken off. And Mio made a teary expression even now.

"Why are you apologizing… Even though I deceived you."

In response, Basara scratched his head with the hand that had nothing else to do now.


"I also hid the fact about me being a Hero in the past. So we're even."

"B- But, we tried to take over this house… To chase you out. Can you still call that even?"

On Mio's strong tone, Basara bluntly declared.

"No… That certainly was your bad."

But, he said with a calm expression.

"You guys didn't know I was a Hero. If you just wanted a house, there should have been a better and faster method for that instead of manipulating memories with magic. By force, that is. But you didn't do that and tried to make me go back to the countryside."

Why?

"You did that— to keep me away from your battles, right?"

On Basara's uttered guess, Mio widened her eyes in surprise. Apparently he hit the bulls-eye.

"Why…"

Mio mumbled, dumbfounded.

"Logically speaking, the time we spent together would be an act and chasing me out of the house would be your real intention. But, I actually have an eye for people. I might have snapped at first, but after hearing the circumstances from my dad, I calmed down and understood it."
One breath.

"You didn't reveal your true colors— ''It's the opposite. You put on an act to chase me out of the house.''"

But, Basara continued.

"There's no longer a reason to keep doing that. Both my dad and I decided to protect you two. I mean, we're already a family."

"Wh- What are you saying… The remarriage was a complete lie."

Mio still wouldn't back down from her obstinate attitude, so Basara told her.

"So what. A family isn't just based on blood-relations or a family register. Living together with the desire to protect each other, that's already a family."

So he would protect her at all costs.

"I'm no longer a Hero. We have no blood-relation, nor a family register, but I'm your older brother. So, let me protect— you."

Declaring so, Basara then forcefully took Mio's hand and made her stand up.

"Yah… H- Hey!"

"Well then, let's get along again."

Facing each other, Basara grinned at her, whereupon Mio made a frustrated expression with "Muh~".

"St- Stop touching me already! Get out! I'll kill you a hundred times!"

"Oh my— Seems you two opened up to each other."

Saying so, Maria came into the anteroom. She trotted over to Mio.

"Well, though it seems that Mio-sama has not become fully honest yet."

"I, I'm not really, well…"

Mio turned red and hemmed and hawed, whereupon Maria, along with a smile,


"Then all is well. Truth be told, I have a little suggestion for you two now."

"Suggestion…?"

He knew that they had to discuss the future, but a "suggestion" rather than a "consultation"? Basara gave a doubtful silence, whereupon Maria nodded with a "Yeah".

"From now on, Basara-san will fight by my side to protect Mio-sama. Basara-san is Mio-sama's guard, so to speak. But with the current situation, he might not always be able to come to the aid if we end up separated for some reason."

"Well, yeah…"

Certainly, it was partly due to luck that Basara reached Mio. He had a strong hunch, since he told her at that park that they should come together again at night. So he left the house and headed there immediately. Of course, he had confirmed her position with the cell phone GPS, but he caught the falling Mio on a close call. He couldn't deny the possibility that he would have been too late if he had checked her position on the GPS before starting to run.

"But, there is nothing we can do about that. We should be careful from now on that we don't get separated and in case we do, the GPS—"

"That's too naïve! You never know when a cell phone breaks down or runs out of battery! At a crucial time the reception might be bad as well or you could drop it on an enemy's attack! If you keep relying on such a thing, you might even fall into a trap in the worst case! Blindly trusting in modern science will do you no good!"

"Well, you have a point, but…"

Basara was overwhelmed by Maria's sudden passionate outburst. Upon that, Mio besides him,

"But, is there any other way? There isn't any perfect detection magic."

Exactly, was what Basara thought. Detection magic itself was rudimentary. However, in a fight it was one's first priority not to get found. Therefore there were various spells like magic barriers or decoy magic that prevented or mislead detection, so detection magic was pretty pointless for actual combat. But, Maria showed a smile,

"It is possible, to track down a special target. With the 'Master and Servant Contract Magic"— when you link your souls."

 
Something completely covered the floor of the living room.

The interweaving runes drawn by magic, were a huge magical circle for a ritual.

"…Are we really going to do it?"

In front of the magic circle, Basara said with an unenthusiastic voice.

The Master and Servant Magic turned one into a master and the other into the servant. But Mio might become the future Devil Lord. Position and personality-wise, there was no way she would become Basara's servant.

Naturally, Maria also had suggested it on the condition that Basara would become the servant. But,

"Please do not give it too much thought, Basara-san. With this, you two will be able to feel each other's presence. It certainly will form a Master-Servant contract, but it will just be a formality."

On Maria's persuasion, Basara was still indecisive.

"Linking each others souls with magic… That's all good for pinpointing each other's position, but when you even end up knowing about the other's thoughts, it'll be quite awkward."

There would no longer be any privacy. However, Maria shook her head.

"Do not worry about that— That is not the purpose of the magic."

Purpose? Basara frowned. Upon that, Maria

"More importantly, this magic is special as it can only be used in this world on a night with a full moon. If we let this chance go by, we have no other method. Besides, if any inconveniences arise from the contract, we can always annul it on the next full moon. Now then, please stand here already, Basara-san."

"Well… even if you say all that."

Besides, wasn't it harder on a girl than on a boy? Basara turned around.

"Say something. You don't want to have your soul linked to mine by magic, right?"

He called out to Mio, who had stayed silent the whole time. Upon that,

"…..N- Not really. I'm fine with it."

He got an unexpected reply. Inadvertently Basara frowned as he thought that he heard wrong.

"I, If you're alright with it… I don't mind either."

Saying so bashful, Mio gave him a quick glance. And then,

"Basara— you're against it?"

"Eh? Well, rather than being against it… But are you really fine with it?"

"…Yeah. If it's just about each other's locations."

Ohh, it seemed she was serious.

''…Master and Servant Contract, huh.''

As her guard, it certainly was an attractive offer to be able to track down Mio's position.

Normally, a Hero becoming a devil's servant was out of the question, but sadly enough Basara was just a battlewise average human. With the reliable Jin currently absent, he would like to eliminate all possible uneasiness for the future. Still— if possible, Basara wanted to stay on equal terms with Mio. Because he thought it would be better to stay as a family, as her older brother. And because Mio was raised by humans, even though her father was the Devil Lord, and lived as a normal human girl so far.

''…But.''

Toujou Basara remembered. The expression he saw on Mio's face, slumped down on the floor, when he came into the anteroom.

Her expression back then had been quite gloomy. And— the exact same face was now in front of Basara's eyes. Most likely, Mio was full of worry, which made her accept the Master and Servant contract. So, if forming the contract eased even a little bit of Mio's worries— it wasn't such a bad deal. The contract wasn't forever and only a formality with the possibility of annulling it. With that, he could temporarily form a contract with her until Jin came back. Therefore, Basara made a sigh.

"Okay——So? What do I have to do for that Master and Servant contract?"

Upon that, Maria, hearing his acceptance, instantly formed a smile on her face.

"Thank you. Well then, Basara-san, please stand on the side of the entrance… Yes, right there. That is the side for the servant. And, Mio-sama, please stand by the window side."

When both of them stood in their positions, the preparations for the magic started at once.

"Now then— Mio-sama, please hold my hand."

"Your hand? I just have to hold it?"

Seeing Mio obeying Maria by taking her hand,

"Huh… Mio and my souls are going to be linked, yet she's going to hold your hand, Maria?"

Wouldn't the three of them get linked then? Upon that, Maria nodded a "Yes".

"Mio-sama is using this magic for the first time, so I will take part as an assistance this time. Besides, I think it will be more effective if Mio-sama chants the spell with my magical powers, instead of her own."

Well, if that was the case. Then Mio, after getting told the chant by Maria, took a deep breath.

"Th- Then let's start…"

Saying so with a bit of a nervous expression— she started the chant. Instantly, first the magic circle on the floor started glowing, then Mio's body and following even Basara's body was bathed in the same light.

Seemed it was right that she was only lending her magical power, as Maria's body stayed as it was.

And then— When Mio finished the chant before long, Maria faced him.

"Soon enough a magic circle will appear on Mio's right hand for a while. So please take her hand, Basara-san, and place a kiss on the magic circle before it disappears. With that the Master and Servant contract will be established."

"—Huh? Kiss?"

He didn't really mind a kiss on the hand, but it must have been a formality needed for the contract. When Basara shrugged it off, the magic circle faintly raised up.

But for some reason not towards Mio's hand— but onto Basara's.

"Eh…?"

As she couldn't comprehend the situation, Mio blinked her eyes. In regards, Basara said doubtful.

"Hey… This got on my hand, but is that okay?"

"H- Hey! Just what is going on!?"

Mio changed her expression, grabbed Maria next to her by the collar and shook her. Maria tilted her head.

"O- Oh my? That is strange… Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

"What now!? Th- This is…"

Basara wouldn't become Mio's servant, but Mio would become his.

"Ehm, for now, how about you kiss Basara-san's hand, Mio-sama? You see, the contract will be reversed, but you still will be able to tell each other's position, like originally planned."

The moment Maria said that, Mio's face turned bright red.

"Y- You must be joking! Why would I have to become Basara's slave!"

No, slave kind of set a different nuance. Basara was against that as well.

"However, at this rate… Ah."

Looking on Maria's raised voice, the magic circle on Basara's hand was about to vanish.

"Mio-sama, hurry up! The magic circle, it is vanishing! We can annul the contract later on, so please kiss it for now!"

"B- But… we can only annul it on the next full moon, right? That's…"

Maria was impatient, but Mio was still hesitant, whereupon the magic circle faded before long.

"Ahh…"

Seeing that, Maria raised a fragile voice. At that time,

"Mm… Eh? Wh- What… the!?"

Mio, as her body suddenly trembled with a shiver, raised a confused voice. And then,

"No way… N- No…"

Turning red, she mumbled, then she slumped down on the floor. And then her body started to shiver bit by bit.

"H- Hey… are you okay?"

Saying so, Basara grabbed Mio's shoulder. In that moment,

"—Hyaahn!"

Mio made a sweet outcry and also shivered her body greatly.

"Wh- What…!?"

When Basara removed his hand from the sudden reaction, Maria next to him raised a flustered voice.

"Ahh… The curse is already in effect." "—''The curse?''" "Aww…"

Maria made a face like she had screwed up, which Basara quickly took a hold of.

"Tell me more—without leaving out anything."

"Ah, Ahaha…."

When he brought his face as close as possible, Maria made a dry laughter.

"Eh- Ehm, you know, the 'Master and Servant Contract' not only lets you grasp each other's position, but the actual important part also is that it always sustains the servant's loyalty. When the servant betrays his master or feels guilty, the curse activates as a kind of punishment. The curse normally is influenced by the chanter's characteristics, but this time we used my magical power for the chant."

Still collapsed on the floor, Mio continued to make sweet and heavy breathing along with turning red. Basara looked at her.

"Maria… if I'm right, you're a succubus."

"Yes. I can fight man-to-man, but usually I am a seductive devil."

"In other words— your succubus' aphrodisiac power turned into the curse?"

"…I am afraid so."

"YOU IDIOOOT!"

Basara inadvertently shouted in a loud voice. Of course there was also a problem with her trying to set a weird magic, but

"Why didn't you just let Mio use her own magical power? What would you have done if I assaulted you guys due to the influence of the aphrodisiac!"

"Ah, there is no reason to worry about that. The curse gets stronger when the servant tries to oppose his master and assaulting one's master is the ultimate form of betrayal. If it was attempted, the mind and body can no longer control the pleasure and one will faint or have one's brain roasted."

"The latter is too scary!"

That was the most nasty kind of death.

"Above all, it would most likely have been dangerous to have Mio-sama's ability characteristic. I mean, Mio-sama became able to use magic after Wilbert-sama's death, after she inherited his strength. It is yet to fully awaken, but it is highly likeable that she also inherited Wilbert-sama's characteristic. Incidentally someone, who opposed Wilbert-sama's contract in the past, seemed to have died by being crushed by an invisible power. Therefore I skilfully bypassed the danger of turning into a lump of meat due to the curse on a screw up with my quick wittedness. Yeah, truly by a hair's breadth."

"What are you proud of? This situation is just as dangerous."

"Hah… R- Right!"

On Basara's retort, Maria was greatly perplexed and looked down on Mio.

"At this rate, Mio-sama will go to heaven, in a double meaning! Wh- What should we do, Basara-san!?"

"Nah, a devil doesn't go to heaven upon death."

Basara said so wearily.

"But, the magic circle disappeared before the kiss. Doesn't that mean the spell failed?"

"Yes… however, the magic already activated by finishing the chant. And not kissing the magic circle means opposing loyalty itself."

"And so the curse activated strongly…"

This was the worst.

"Wh… Whatever, Mmh, just… just help me…"

Mio, with a completely enchanted expression, raised a bewitching voice and bent her body back and forth.

It was quite erotic. Basara inadvertently gulped.

"…How do we stop the curse?"

"Since it is the Master and Servant Contract magic, the curse will stop when the servant vows it's loyalty to the master. After the establishment of the contract, a light curse will stop after a set time, but this time the contract itself was opposed— so first you have to completely subdue her and properly bind the master and servant contract."

"Subdue her… What should I do?"

"It is simple— Please touch Mio-sama."

"Eh? T- Touch? …Where?"

Would a dispelling magical circle appear then? Upon that, Maria said composed.

"Anywhere is fine. Right now, Mio-sama's senses are increased a lot due to the aphrodisiac effect of the curse. Remember how she sensitively reacted to your touch on her shoulder earlier? Mio-sama has no experiences with men whatsoever, so she is unfamiliar with pleasure, nor has any resistance against it. I believe she will become obedient and vow her loyalty to you, Basara-san, if you touch her for about five minutes."

"W- Wait, Maria… What, are you saying…"

Maria showed a luxuriously affectionate expression to the startled Mio.

"Please bear with it a bit longer, Mio-sama. Right now, Basara-san will make you feel better— yes, better indeed. It is by no means because I, a succubus, want to see you fall into pleasure or anything. Now then, Basara-san, please touch Mio-sama's embarrassing places already and make her feel better."

"Didn't you say I could touch her wherever?"

"Yes. Still, I want to save Mio-sama as fast as possible. The longer it takes, the greater the burden on her mind and body. If you truly want to help her, I believe you should touch her most effective places to make her submit as soon as possible. Well, if you prefer to tease her bit by bit, I do not mind. I am also into that kind of thing."

"Kuh….. Aw, geez, I get it."

He couldn't let Mio die from something this stupid. Basara sat down next to Mio.

"Yah… St- Stay away, idiot… If you do something weird, I'll kill you a hundred times… Mm."

"…Sorry, but give up on that. I'll make it quick."

Basara calmly told Mio, who writhed her body along with hot and long breathing, and reached out his hand for her.

First, he firmly held down her two arms, so that she wouldn't resist him.

"——FUAAHN"

From just that, Mio leaped up her body in a shiver. The skin he touched was clearly hot.

This heat and her erotic reaction nearly made him get discouraged already, but

"Basara-san— This is for Mio-sama's sake. You are helping her."

"…Yeah, I know."

On Maria's murmured voice, Basara replaced his thinking.

In short, he just needed to make Mio submit and swear her loyalty to him.

If that was the case.

Of course he never did something like that to a girl, but— as a Hero, he was born with the talent for supernatural power.

To otherwise awaken a power, one must get acknowledged by the spirits in this world and form a contract.

In other words, one must make the spirits acknowledge oneself.

Most likely even now the Master and Servant Contract would be formed once Mio acknowledged Basara as her master.

Therefore Basara calmed his heart and just thought about making Mio acknowledge him.

To accomplish that, he had to touch Mio's weak spots, like Maria had said.

"Yah… Ah, Mm… Mm."

Basara searched for Mio's weakest spot over her clothes, touching her all over.

The curse must have been pretty strong. Wherever he touched, Mio reacted sensitive and shivered her body while leaking a sweet voice. But— After a while,

"Ah— HYAAAHN!?"

The moment Basara touched a certain place, Mio showed an unbelievable reaction. Along with a remarkable loud voice, she fiercely shivered her whole body. Basara inadvertently gulped and Maria showed a smile.

"Apparently you found it… Mio-sama's weak spot."

What he looked at was, the symbols of a woman, two soft swellings— Her breasts.

Therefore— Basara took a deep breath. Then he reached out for the most sensitive spot.

With her whole body controlled by a sweet sensation, Naruse Mio looked.

Basara's hand slowly reached out for her own breasts.

"N- No…"

She somehow managed to utter words of resistance, but Basara didn't stop. Staring at her with eyes that seem to be from a whole different person, he didn't allow Mio to resist any further.

''…Wh- What now…. At this rate, I…''

Mio clearly remembered the sweet stimulus that ran through her whole body in the moment when Basara touched her breasts earlier. Soon enough it would come again. Thinking so, she relaxed her body.

"A, Ahh…"

Finally Basara's hand touched Mio's breasts. In that moment, a sweet sensation rushed through her whole body and Mio fiercely shivered her body. It was the same sensation as earlier— No, an even stronger one.

"Yah… Not there, not…. Basaraa…"

Under Basara's body, Mio writhed her hips and said pleading words with an enchanted voice.

But, Basara still didn't remove his hands from Mio's breasts.

And then— Mio finally saw her own breasts changing shape on Basara's touch. She recognized the sweet sensation, but also how soft and sensitive her own breasts were. Mio's big breasts were at a size, where they spilled out of Basara's hands. Like accepting his five fingers despite that, they crowded out between his finger on every rub, lewdly changing shape.

Therefore she wouldn't deceive herself any longer. Naruse Mio knew that the current sensation was pleasure.

This sweet sensation robbed the notion called thoughts from Mio. And then the moment suddenly came.

"Ah— Y- YAAAAAAH!?"

After a moment of sense blankness— A fierce pleasure spark colored Mio's vision snow-white.

A pleasant feeling gushed out from every pore of her body and she felt like she was floating.

Her body stiffened up on it's own and Mio forgot to breath for a moment.

"…, Ah… Hah… Ahh…"

Before long, she exhaled a long breath filled with a sweet heat. The white fog cleared and her vision faintly came back.

''…No way. Just now, I…''

As a high school girl, Mio possessed an average knowledge. Therefore, she understood in what kind of state Basara had driven her. In that moment— Mio trembled her body in a shiver. But,

"Yah… Wh- Why…?"

Mio raised a confused voice. She had thought for sure that this would be the end. Yet, the sweet sensation didn't vanish from Mio's body. Not just that, it got even stronger.

"That will not do, Mio-sama…. This curse is activated due to opposing the Master and Servant contract."

While saying so, Maria lowered Mio's head onto her own two thighs.

In this lap pillow position, her small hands held Mio's head from the sides.

"As long as you do not vow your loyalty to Basara-san from the bottom of your heart, this sensation will not vanish. Listen… Right now in front of your eyes is your future master. The one you will swear your loyalty to."

"Master… Loyalty…"

Maria's voice was sinking into Mio's conscious that was completely blurred already from the sensation. Therefore, Mio shifted her dizzy eyes back to the front.

Upon that, there was a boy looking at her— Basara.

Basara's eyes looking at her were so powerful that they sucked her in.

''…Basara… He, is my master…''

The moment she thought so, Mio felt a trembling happiness. Loyalty to an overwhelming existence— This joy spread in Mio's body at once and she was about to swear her loyalty to him like that. But,

"N- No… That, I…"

Still, with her last reasoning, Mio spoke out her hesitation about this sweet temptation, whereupon Maria made a sigh.

And then, she said something unbelievable.

"Basara-san, please fondle her breasts not over the clothes— but directly."

"Th…"

When Mio inadvertently reacted with a shiver, Basara asked Maria with calm eyes.

"…Is that okay?"

"Yes. If you hold back, you will never be able to set Mio-sama at peace."

While softly petting Mio's cheeks, Maria said in a calm tone to Basara. Upon that,

"—Okay."

When Basara said so shortly, his hand moved from Mio's breasts to the bottom.

"N- No way…"

While dumbfounded, she no longer had any strength to resist. Mio saw Basara's two hands going under the hem of her bra top. And then, these hands slowly started heading upwards towards her breasts. The hem was stuck at Basara's wrist and her bra top was rolled up bit by bit.

"Mm… Ahh, Yah…Don't, ''Broth- Brother, stop it''…"

The cornered Mio called Basara "Brother" on the spur of the moment.

On this reaction, Basara suddenly stopped his hands. There Mio was taken aback.

''… O, Oh no. I unconsciously…''

Her face turned red. Naruse Mio realized her own true feelings that she wasn't aware of herself. After he saved her at the park, she wanted to call the all so reliable Basara that from the bottom of her heart.

Upon that, looking at her, Basara

"Sorry… Bear with this embarrassment for a bit longer."

declared so, whereupon Mio's clothes once again started to roll up.

"Mm… Ah, …. Yah… Mm."

The shame from having her upper body gradually getting exposed and the sensation from Basara's hands gliding up her stomach made Mio's body twist. However, that was all the resistance she could offer. Before long, her clothes had rolled up to her breasts. It meant that there no longer was anything between Basara's hand and her breasts. Unable to endure the shame, she inadvertently tried to avert her face, whereupon

"You cannot avert your eyes or close them, Mio-sama… Please properly witness with your own eyes what is going to happen now."

Maria, in which lap she laid, used her hands to make Mio's head face in front— to Basara.

She couldn't escape. And then,

"…Here I go."

Right after Basara declared just that— Mio saw her own breasts touched directly by Basara's hand.

Immediately, her breasts were fondled— Once she understood what that meant,

"————"

Naruse Mio leaked the sweetest voice ever so far and fiercely shivered her body.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0077.jpg|thumb]]

And then— The curse on Mio lifted before long.

"Ah… Mm, Hah… Ah…"

As the sensation wasn't completely gone yet, Mio lay completely exhausted on the sofa.

"''Nine times''… Nothing less from you, Mio-sama. You were more persistent than I thought."

"Hey… aren't you technically her servant? Shouldn't you say something else?"

On Maria's mumbling in front of Mio, Basara said wearily.

—After that. Even after doing all that, Mio's heart still didn't submit to Basara.

Therefore, he had continued to fondle Mio's breasts numerous times until she swore her loyalty to her master from the bottom of her heart.

After repeatedly giving Mio's body the sensation that shivered her whole body, Mio soon after released a sweet voice and kept calling Basara "Brother" in a delirium. After the ninth time, as Maria had said, she finally swore her loyalty to Basara and Mio was freed of the curse of pleasure.

Maria showed Basara, who wearily looked at her, a roguish smile.

"Oh please~ You, yourself were quite into it after a while."

"Wha, that's not…"

Turning red, Basara hastily denied.

"Even though Mio-sama was so against it, you never stopped your hands."

"Th- That's… You said I had to hurry."

"But when Mio-sama started to call you 'Brother' midway— you shuddered."

"Uh…"

Certainly, at that time his reasoning was inadvertently about to crumble… wait, no!

"S- So, what now? We can really annul the contract, right?"

"Please rest assured. As I said previously, on the master and servant's consent, the contract can be nullified by chanting the same magic on the next full moon."

"The next full moon… That means, it won't be annulled for almost a month."

Upon pondering deeply, he fell into a light depression. Well, until then he should maintain a harmonic relationship with Mio.

If things like this now kept happening, it would be too dangerous in various ways.

And then. Basara asked the essential question, as the situation was resolved.

"—By the way Maria, why did you keep quiet about the curse?"

Ah that is, with that Maria made a sorry expression.

"Because you finally were interested in helping Mio-sama, I kept quiet just in case, so you would not change your mind midway… It is the truth that the contract can be annulled, so I thought that there would not be a problem. I'm sorry."

"I see…"

Basara made a sigh.

"Huh… You're not angry? I believed for sure you would give me a genuine lecture until morning."

Basara nodded a "Yeah" to Maria, who starred in puzzlement. And then,

"—'Cause that's not my part."

At the same time he said that, Maria's head was firmly grabbed from behind. It didn't even need to be said who it was. Maria instantly broke out in a cold sweat and a penetrating cold voice called out to her.

"…Maria, we gotta talk. Come with me."

Grabbing Maria's head like a clamp, Mio left the living room, dragging Maria along.

"Aww, Mio-sama, my head, it hurts! It was not… It was not on purpose!"

Maria raised a scream, but Mio ignored it completely. They could be heard going up the stairs.

Upon that, there was a sound of a door on the second floor yanking open— then a fierce scream and a vibration of something heavy being knocked over. Moreover, loud crushing sounds of breaking something echoed in succession, but Basara pretended to not hear anything of that. Because he thought she should at least continue until she was satisfied.

And then— the noise in the Toujou household passed over the whole night, not stopping until dawn.

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Prologue

2015-10-31T07:20:30Z

Nscorz: /* Part 1 */

==The day he got a little sister==

===Part 1===

"Hey—you said that you wanted a little sister, right?"

The night of a certain day near the middle of summer vacation.

Toujou Basara heard his father say that so resolutely.

It was during their dinner—just as Basara stood up to get a second serving of curry.

"I didn't say that. Did the spice get into a bad place of your brain?"

Basara said so wearily over his back, then he opened the lid of the rice-cooker.

"Such a weak reaction...it's a little sister, you know, a little sister. It's something guys want so bad that they start drooling."

"I'm afraid that a little sister doesn't fill my stomach."

Like he would go along with his father's antics. He had a great appetite. The stomach of a high school boy wasn't to be underestimated. Once he finished loading his plate with the rice, Basara moved in front of the pot with the curry on the stove. He poured the substantial sauce over his rice, then returned to his own seat.

"Huh? Where are the pickled vegetables?"

The bottle filled with the curry's relish had disappeared from atop the table.

In front of him, his father that sat across of him held the bottle with the pickled vegetables in one hand and said with a triumphant look on his face,

"Hey, let's talk a bit more enthusiastically about a little sister."

He showed a smirk. Basara made a sigh of resignation and looked at his own father—Toujou Jin. That father at a good age, tried to discuss the merits of a little sister with his son over dinner.

Putting it into words was quite painful. He felt a slight killing urge.

"Enthusiastic...actually, did I really say I wanted a little sister?"

"What...you don't remember?"

Jin said astonished.

"You said 'I want a little sister', which sounded like a light novel title, with sparkles in your eyes—about ten years ago."

"Like I would remember that!"

Ten years ago, Basara was still 5 years old. Without a doubt, it had only been childish nonsense. However, Jin put up a hand with "Calm down".

"A little sister is nice, cute, kind and soft. She'll wake you up in the mornings."

"Well, that might be..."

"Yeah. Besides—you can do all the perverted stuff you want."

"Don't tempt your son into crimes! Actually, it would be scary instead if there was such a little sister!"

Such a little sister only existed in 2-D.

"What's up with you, dad...? You wanted to talk about a little sister that's likely to fall under the metropolitan regulation that bad?"<ref>The regulation means the legendary loli ban bill in Tokyo</ref>

"I wasn't really talking about fiction. Though the perverted stuff was certainly a joke."

Jin passed the bottle with pickled vegetables by sliding it over the table.

"Well, in short, what I want to say is: Do you like or hate a little sister?"

"What kind of survey is this? Well...a little sister from a drama or manga aside, I heard that a real little sister isn't all that great. Like they're cheeky and crude."

"Then, in other words, you would be fine with a cute little sister."

"Well... Guess so. —Actually, where are these questions leading to here?"

On Basara's words, Jin replied shortly with, "Yeah, well", then showed a suggestive smile.

And then, he spoke the words that would change Toujou Basara's fate.

"Aren't you glad—to get a cute, little sister?"

===Part 2===

Blue, wherever you looked. That was the colour of the sky on that day.

The weather was nice. The cicadas were chirping like a scream of the heat, as the temperature reached a new record high in history. It was an early afternoon in midsummer. Basara had come to a family restaurant in front of the station with Jin.

"I mean, seriously...?"

Toujou Basara mumbled in a still doubtful tone.

—Last night, Jin brought up the topic of a little sister. That was a flag for his second marriage.

Because he had picked, "If it's a cute little sister, I like her," from the choices, they came to meet her right away today.

"Stop sulking... When I called them, they said they wanted to meet and greet you as soon as possible. Besides, I asked you if today would be fine with you."

"Well, yeah..."

Certainly. Basara had told Jin, who had asked with his cell phone in one hand, "I don't mind," as he still couldn't comprehend the situation and was going with the flow.

However, after taking counsel with his pillow, he ought to think about it once more after all. Jin getting remarried meant that Basara would get a new family. And not just a little sister, but he might also get a mother.

...But.

Yes—that was still ''theoretical''.

Along with Jin, the other family and the girl who was to become Basara's little sister were also sympathetic to the remarriage. But, despite that, Jin's remarriage was not yet set in stone. In other words,

...I'm the last one to get convinced, huh...

With the final conclusion resting on his shoulders while all other obstacles had been cleared, it was a somewhat annoying topic. When Basara thought of what kind of predicament he was in, an electronic sound suddenly sounded from the entrance of the restaurant. It signalled the arrival of a customer. While inadvertently putting himself on guard, Basara looked towards the entrance and made a sigh of relief. It had obviously been a different family.

"What are you getting tense for every time a customer comes in?"

"Wh-What does it matter to you…really."

While placing his cheek on top of his palm, Basara looked at the newly arrived family.

—A father, a mother and a child.

It was natural happiness. Thus, something really precious.

Toujou Basara wondered if he could get that happiness, which was what he wanted at that time.

—But what were the actual conditions?

He didn't know. A family of females was something unknown to him. But—he might get an answer to that now. By meeting with the people that might become his family in the future.

—And, he didn't even know himself why he did so.

It wasn't because of the electronic sound that signalled a new customer, nor was there really anything drawing his attention.
Despite that, as if he was being controlled, Basara—suddenly shifted his gaze towards the entrance of the restaurant.

"——"

With leisurely steps, two girls entered the restaurant.

One of them was around the same age as Basara, likely a high school girl. The other one was younger than Basara. Because she was rather short, she looked both like an elementary and middle school girl. Those two were likely sisters, but—

"...Uwah."

He unconsciously leaked a voice out of surprise. So far, he had seen a cute girl on the street before. He also had inadvertently stopped and turned around to her.

But—the girls who had come in, completely surpassed that basic level.

After all, the other customers who had noticed the girls, also had their gazes pinned down on the two of them. Soon enough, the girls were led away by an employee to a table on the opposite side of Basara and Jin.

When he looked at their backs—another new customer entered.

It was a woman in her twenties with a peaceful aura together with her daughter in elementary school.

...Were they finally here?

Inadvertently, Basara stiffened up and at the same time, the two came closer like they had noticed him.

No doubt. Basara stood up from his seat with attitude to the coming mother and daughter.

"N-Nice to meet you... I'm Toujou Basara!"

However, the woman in front of him looked at Basara in bewilderment. She might have been surprised by the sudden greeting. Basara hastily tried to save the situation. Suddenly, a fist hit the back of his head.

"Oww! Wh-What are you…huh!?"

"Sorry about my idiot."

Before Basara could turn around, Jin forcibly grabbed his head and lowered it.

Basara got his body forcefully lowered until he was bending forward, but still managed to shake off Jin with force.

"Who are you calling an idiot!? To smooth out your sudden remarriage, I just tried to—"

Then, the mother and daughter passed by in front of Basara.

"Eh…?"

When Basara followed their backs with his eyes, the pair sat down at the next table—beside a man that was likely the husband. The husband welcomed his wife and child with a smile, but towards Basara, who had called out to his wife, he sent a short, strict glare.

…Ehm, in other words.

It was a misunderstanding. To Basara, who was about to explode out of awkwardness from his painful mistake, Jin spoke.

"You're too nervous...go wash your face and calm down."

"...Sorry. I'll do so."

He said so wearily, whereupon Basara unsteadily headed for the toilet in the back.

...Just what am I doing?

Getting nervous by himself, blowing his fuse by himself, getting elated by himself.

At that rate, it was unknown what kind of failure he would pull on the meeting. Like Jin had said, he ought to calm down a bit. While looking down, he opened the door to the toilet and set a step inside.

"Eh—?"

Toujou Basara raised his face and froze up.

In the opened room—stood a girl.
[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0017.jpg|thumbnail|right]]

At that moment, an awkward silence fell onto the small room.

The girl in the toilet was the beautiful older sister from the pair of sisters that had entered the store earlier.

The girl had bent slightly forward, had rolled up her skirt and had both her thumbs in her white panties, as she was either pulling it down or pulling it up. With all thoughts stopped from the sudden happening, she looked at him dumbfounded.

But it was a misunderstanding. Basara had by no means opened the door of the female toilet.

The toilet merely was for both genders. She likely had used that double gender toilet, as the female toilet was occupied. However, that double gender toilet had a defect that was known to the usual guests—the lock didn't close properly. Therefore, the girls who knew of that, avoided using that toilet if possible. The restaurant had even posted a small paper saying "Please lock the door properly" inside to avoid any troubles. But even if one thought it was properly locked, it could happen that it actually wasn't—yes, just like right now.
Basara hastily tried to close the door and turn on his heels—but suddenly he heard a 'certain sound'. It was the sound of the girl taking a deep breath. An action taken before a scream.

"—Hey, wait!"

"Mmg!?"
Basara narrowly managed to quell the scream and made a sigh of relief for now.

...Wait, what am I doing!?

Before he had noticed it, Basara had completely stepped into the toilet and covered the mouth of the girl.

That wasn't good. It should have been an unfortunate accident due to a misunderstanding, but the situation had worsened so much that even excuses were useless now.

"Sorry for scaring you, but please—listen to me without making a ruckus. This wasn't on purpose. It's an unfortunate accident, a misunderstanding…"

That the occupied toilet door opened from the outside meant that the person, who didn't lock the door properly, was at fault. In other words, the girl. On an emotional level, she was a victim. Therefore, Basara explained about the defect of the lock and about the paper on the door. He desperately tried to convince her.

That there was no assailant here. And that there were only—two victims here.

Upon that—as Basara's explanation worked, the girl relaxed her body soon enough.
"Ehm...I take it that you understand now?"

On his question, the girl gave back a nod. When Basara timidly removed his hand, the girl corrected her posture and laughed a 'Fufu'. A bright smile that seemed like a proof of friendship.

Good. Apparently his sincerity was conveyed and she comprehended the situation calmly. Hooked on, Basara also showed a smile with "Haha…"

—At that moment, he received an attack to the cheek and was blown off to the side.

It was a slap. Needless to say, the initiator defect door was unlocked. Basara bumped into the door and tumbled outside. There, he fell on his backside.

"Wh-Why…?"

"…Come again?"

While pressing on his cheek, Basara looked up dumbfounded. The girl had twitched the edges of her mouth.

"First you peek on a girl in the toilet, then you get inside, cover her mouth and try to make excuses… Put a hand on your heart and think well about what you have done—in the other world."

As if to give Basara the finishing blow, the girl raised her leg and it was then.

"—Hmm? What are you two doing there?"

That a familiar voice sounded from the side. He had probably come to check up on Basara as he was late.

Jin had come to the toilet at some point in time.

"Dad…" "Jin-san…"

Basara and the girl called out to Jin at the same time, then looked at each other with an, ""Eh?"".

And then—as Basara returned to his seat, now two girls sat in front of him.

The taller one was Naruse Mio. The shorter one Naruse Maria. Like Basara had imagined, the two of them were sisters. When they finished ordering drinks,

"Ahaha, sorry, Basara-san."

Maria showed a friendly smile.

"We properly told the waitress that we are meeting up with someone. But apparently, the one who guided us to the table didn't know about you two."

In other words, the shop assistants didn't speak with each other. It was an elementary mistake.

The puzzle had been solved. However, it didn't necessarily solve the 'problem' as well.

"..."

In contrast to the smiling Maria, Mio was puckering her lips wordless for a while now.

...Well, understandable.

To tell her to brighten up when someone interrupted her on the toilet earlier, would be asking too much. It left the worst first impression at the important meeting for the two remarrying families.

The remarriage wouldn't be cancelled because of this, but——Basara once again checked upon the expressions of Mio and Maria, who sat in front of him. And he thought,

…Still, they're cute.

Not the appearance alone, but their aura and casual behaviour made him excited. Specially Mio, who apparently was also a first year in high school just like Basara, albeit with a later birthday. In other words, right now, when their parents hadn't remarried yet, she simply was a girl of the same age as him. Of course that accelerated his heartbeat. Then,

"—But, I'm glad that you're a nice person, Basara-san."

Maria, sitting diagonally opposite to him, faced him and laughed with an 'Ehehe'. She looked very young for a girl only one year younger than Basara and Mio and in her third year of middle school. Her cuteness stimulated a boy's protective instincts gravely.

"As a boy of your age, I was worried about what to do when you were a guy sharp like a knife."

"Ha, Haha…"

An age where you were sharp like a knife, just what kind of age was that? The one of a national reaction entertainer? <ref>Tetsurō Degawa is a reaction entertainer and says that he was a 'sharp knife' in his youth.</ref>

"No need to worry. I mean, he seems to fancy a cute little sister."

"Seems so. I mean, he came into the toilet occupied by a girl."

On Jin's light joke, Mio in front sent off a cold glare.

"I said, that was a misunderstanding, an accident. How often do---"

"Hmp, still making excuses?"

When Basara declared with a sigh, Mio bended slightly forward.

A distance that made his heart skip a beat unmeant. She looked at him with superb upturned eyes that emphasized their height difference.

"…..I'm sorry."

So weak. When Basara, unable to endure her destructive force, apologized, Mio nodded "Mm, I forgive you" satisfied and finally brightened up her expression. Basara made a sigh of relief.

"Oh right… ehm, excuse me, there's something I want to ask."

There Basara suddenly spoke out a simple question.

"Where's your mother? Will she come later?"

The prospect of getting a little sister, and even these two cute ones, had surprised him.

But well. Jin never had said that it would only be one.

However, their mother, who Jin was going to marry, was absent, which made this meeting pointless.

"Yeah, reminds me, I didn't tell you…"

Jin said.

"Their mother--- Chihaya-san is currently overseas for her work."

"……………Huh?"

Wait a moment. What did his father said just now? As bad as it sounded, the marriage partner was currently overseas?

"…. Aw… Dad, lend me your ear for a sec."

Grabbing Jin's arm, Basara moved to a place where their voices wouldn't reach Mio and Maria--- to the corner of the passage.

"…Sorry, but can you say that again?"

Basara crossed his arms and tapped with the index finger of his right hand on his left upper arm.

"Mh? 'Hey---You said, that you wanted a little sister, right?' That one?"

"How far are you going back! I meant about the stuff about your marriage partner being overseas!"

"So you heard it after all. So, what about it?"

"It's weird! That on a meeting for a remarriage, she herself wouldn't show up!"

Even more so, when they were the ones that wanted to meet as soon as possible. He wasn't going to blame her about going on a business trip, but a meeting without her was pointless. Actually,

"I hope I'm wrong, but… you're not getting tricked, are you?"

"Haha. No, don't worry. Besides, do you really think I could be tricked?"

Certainly. If anything, he was the type to trick. This phony father.

"But--- then we could just have done the meeting once she came back…."

"I'm afraid there's a reason as to why we better hurry up."

Jin changed his expression from a smile into a serious one.

"Basara… Now that you saw these two, what do you think?"

"What are you asking… Well, cute, I guess."

At any rate, he thought they were some kind of idols when he saw them at first. So…

…A reason as to why to hurry up, huh…

Judging by the conversation, Basara finally came to understand that reason. The prospect of remarriage meant that they were a family of just mother and daughters. And that mother was currently overseas on a long time business trip.

"I'm sure, a parent would worry, if these two are all left by themselves… Is that why?"

"Yeah. Actually, the two of them seem to be under the attack of some suspicious person. To begin with, when I first met them at the city, a weird guy was picking on them. Besides, there also seems to be a persistent stalker."

"For real…"

The world sure was dangerous, but to think there were actual casualties. It certainly was a pressing matter. The police didn't interfere with personal matters. They wouldn't move unless something happened, which would be too late then.

"I heard that Maria-chan stopped going to school, because of that stalker. Those who want to go to school should just do so, but for someone who can't, it's painful. Even if she's smiling so brightly right now."

Jin said.

"Well, for these reasons, I would like us to start living together already, if you have no objections. They also say a remarriage is more likely to work out if you know each other better beforehand."

"You mean to temporarily take care of them and see if it's possible to live together as a family?"

"This is some kind of destiny. If we can protect them, then you would like to, right?"

On Jin's words, Basara fell silent. It was a silence of affirmation. And-

…Mh?

Suddenly he made eye-contact with Mio on the other side. Like the earlier forceful attitude had been a lie, she had a worried expression. Basara narrowed his eyes and asked Jin besides him.

"---For how long?"

"For starters, a year. It might turn out we're totally unsuited to live together or reach a conclusion about the remarriage, but--- They will only get back to living alone, once a certain level of their safety is guaranteed. After hearing all this, I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore later when I know that something happened to them."

He had a point. When their mother comes back in a year and it was time to decide about the remarriage, it would all fall apart if something had happened to Mio or Maria.

More importantly--- Basara himself didn't want Mio or Maria to suffer.

"But where are we going to live? Our house doesn't have any rooms to spare."

"We'll rent a suitable one. I already have my eyes on one. We should create an environment as close as possible to a family, since we're trying to find out if we're compatible. And it'll quicken things if we actually do get married."

"…Do these two know about the living together?"

"Yeah. They would gladly do so, if you agree."

On Jin's words, Basara stayed quiet for a while. But, soon enough he mumbled slowly.

"……Okay. It's something you decided, Dad. So I'm fine with it."

He wasn't really casual about it. It was his true feelings.

"I see. Sorry for not telling you anything and proceeding on my own."

"It's fine. You must have your reasons for doing so."

He should just tell him everything once he was able to.

He and Jin were blood-related child and father, but their trust in each other was far beyond just that.

Ever since the time ''when Basara had caused that problem''--- the time when he threw away everything to protect him.

"Let's get back, Dad… Or they will worry."

Saying so, Basara returned to their table with Jin. When they sat down on their seats,

"…Uh- Uhm,"

with a timidly tone, Maria tried to confirm their state of affairs.

"Ah, sorry… Just some talk amongst men."

"He made such a serious face that I wondered what it's going to be about, but then he said 'These two are so cute that I can't suppress my arousal'. Geez, boys in their puberty sure are horny."

"Hahaha. Dad, that will have an afterpiece."

An afterpiece about fists at night. Just with him and his father.

And then, to Mio, who looked just as worried as Maria,

"I was surprised by all the stuff I heard yesterday… But, it's all right now."

Basara said.

"Until your mother gets back and even though we still don't know if the remarriage will work out… I think it's a good idea to try out living together as a family before instead of just suddenly remarrying. Let's slowly get to know more about each other."

"…Really?"

Mio asked uneasily, whereupon Basara nodded with a "Yeah."

"We're a men's household, so having girls around really helps… Right, Dad?"

"Right. Besides, I always wanted a cute daughter. Basara also pestered me forever about wanting a little sister. So don't show any reservation, you two."

"Thank you." "Yay, please take good care of us."

Mio and Maria quickly lowered their heads. And then-

"Well then, take care of me, Basara-kun."

Raising her head, Mio gave him a smirking smiling face.

"But--- if you happened to come into the toilet again, I'll kill you a hundred times then."

"……Yes."

Her eyes were serious. When Basara's expression stiffened up, Jin said summing up.

"Okay then…. let's get along as family from now on."

This declaration made with a smile, was the beginning of a new life-style.

"Issues might arise, but--- let's become happy together."

Therefore--- even though prospects for a grim future hang somewhat in the air, it still felt peaceful.

Same for Toujou Basara's every day life----and for the world.

<noinclude>

==Translator notes and References==
<References/>

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Novel Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

User talk:Winlex

2015-10-31T06:51:33Z

Nscorz: /* SnRK */

I finally figured out what to talk about. I am always looking for new novels so shoot me recommendations. Please check my reading list first. It really is a waste of time to recommend books I have already read or am reading.

I guess you can also use this space to complain if I mess something up, though i would hope with your complaints, you explained why.
== Recommendations ==
Why not try Madan no Ou to Vanadis its a good novel and its being translated frequently?
--[[User:Mytsy|Mytsy]] ([[User talk:Mytsy|talk]]) 14:10, 19 September 2013 (CDT)

Synopsis looks right up my alley so I will check it out. Not too crazy about the first few volumes being previews but if it's understandable, I'll read it. [[User:Winlex|Winlex]] ([[User talk:Winlex#top|talk]]) 15:28, 20 September 2013 (CDT)

== File 13: Complaints Department ==
[[Image:Campione SS01 2.gif|thumb|x200px]]
===Site changes===
Please refrain from adding volumes which have neither been started nor a TL to start on. Also please don't destroy my volume-display-code. Overall it'd be much appreciated if you'd ask a supervisor (inaban or I) before you make changes on the OniAi page. Thank you. [[User:Cautr|-cautr]] ([[User talk:Cautr|talk]]) 04:04, 29 October 2013 (CDT)

No problem, I had a feeling I went a bit overboard and was actually about to write you. I will be sure to write you before changing anything in the future. [[User:Winlex|Winlex]] ([[User talk:Winlex#top|talk]]) 04:17, 29 October 2013 (CDT)

No harm done, as stated by Cautr please let me or him know before adding anything, as Cautr has sneaky wiki tricks he uses. You're more than welcome to help out with editing/TLC what have you if you're capable, just drop me or Cautr a line if interested. --[[User:Inaban|Inaban]] ([[User talk:Inaban|talk]]) 05:22, 29 October 2013 (CDT)

== SnRK ==

Why not? Just go ahead, you can also do any major editing if you want to. Thanks for taking the trouble to help me then.--[[User:TJYYEO|TJYYEO]] ([[User talk:TJYYEO|talk]]) 07:59, 25 April 2014 (CDT)

My fellow Editor - thank you for helping me editing this series, I just wanted you to pay attention to the Format Standards :- All edited translations are to be in '''British English''' --[[User:Yoyoyo5678|Yoyoyo5678]] ([[User talk:Yoyoyo5678|talk]])

I will try to be more mindful of the differences between American English and British English.--[[User:Winlex|Winlex]] ([[User talk:Winlex#top|talk]]) 15:22, 13 May 2014 (CDT)

Good morning/evening. I've been making some significant edits to the SnRK translation, but I wanted to run them through you before posting. I've talked to Yoyoyo on the forums already. Please let me know if you wish to proceed. --[[User:Nscorz|Nscorz]] ([[User talk:Nscorz|talk]]) 02:55, 31 October 2015 (GMT)

==OniAi==
That's correct, it had already been fixed on the page, but not on the wiki. That's what I get for living in a 24hr system country. [[User:Cautr|-cautr]] ([[User talk:Cautr|talk]]) 08:28, 3 November 2014 (CST)

Ok, I just was making sure -[[User:Winlex|Winlex]] ([[User talk:Winlex#top|talk]]) 09:51, 3 November 2014 (CST)

== Code Tester Feedback ==

Feel free to post comments on the new formatting here. -- [[User:Winlex|Winlex]] ([[User talk:Winlex#top|talk]]) 20:45, 15 May 2015 (CDT)

== Novel list ==

In your list, Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria should be moved to Recycle Bin (unless you haven't read the 7th yet, in which case it belongs to the cabinet)--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]])

Actually, I'm in the process of reading Volume 7. But now that you mention it, I really need to update the reading list. Thanks for looking out. -- [[User:Winlex|Winlex]] ([[User talk:Winlex#top|talk]])

User talk:KLSymph

2015-10-28T05:57:11Z

Nscorz: /* Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan */

Hey, catwalk here. if u'r interested to edit Rakudai kishi then you should put your name in the editors section. (and also, it would very very helpful if you were to mention in the discussion thread)and thanks again for the had work. --[[User:Ways|TheCatWalk]] --nyaa~ 20:08, 30 April 2014 (CDT)

Next time I'll post on the discussion page, it's just compare to the other projects I edit and knowing other TLers, the norm is you place comments and questions in the summary. That way the TLers can see the changes and comments at the same time, and it's generally how most projects are, they don't really use the discussion page that much.--[[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]]) 14:07, 22 June 2014 (CDT)

----

Are you picking up where cat left off at? If you are translating, should just have your name under Translaters only. Has it been confirmed cat is inactive there sorta like a certain time period before A TLer is declared/believed to be inactive I believe.--[[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]]) 03:52, 5 August 2014 (CDT)

Yes, TheCatWalk has explicitly passed the torch to me in a forum private message. Since you've added yourself to the project editor list, come join the discussion in the teaser feedback forum too. As for my spot on the editor list, I still do editing work for parts I didn't translate, and the rules haven't said anything about being translator and editor at the same time, so I feel I should still label myself that way. -- [[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 08:15, 5 August 2014 (CDT)

Ahh I see, btw do you use IRC, most of the active baka-tsuki community is on it, it's really useful for communicating. I use it to talk to my tlers like Krytyk for edits and changes on projects. If you need help getting started on it you can ask me. About the tler and editor thing, from what I know of and looking at other projects, it's assume that the tler will edit somewhat to a degree his work. It's not always the case but editors are just solely for editing and proposing beneficial changes to the project in general. I always do a good amount of work on a project before I add myself to the editor list, cause that the right way to do it.--[[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]]) 13:36, 6 August 2014 (CDT)

^What he said, although i am not in there most of the time (irl stuff...less net) most of the BT peeps are there. u should join the channel [http://irc.rizon.net/campione #Campione] .
p.s. --> i have some grave and unsettling news here, i sqeezed out some time in my daily tiring student life and found a loop hole. in other words, i 'can' continue tl'ing but about 4-5 pages a day at best. i'll pm u in the forums with details. i'll be removing the afk status on me (dont think i trolled lolz XD i was actually out for a long while right?) - [[User:Ways|TheCatWalk]] --nyaa~ 02:47, 17 August 2014 (CDT)

== Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan ==

So from now on anything questions or matters that comes up in the translation that kind of big or it's too long I'll post on the chp discussion page. I have already posted something on it that requires your attention check it out :D --[[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]]) 16:04, 12 August 2014 (CDT)

I just finished Rakudai Vol 1. I'm sorry, but your translation was pretty bad. It seemed like a direct translation from the Japanese text, with no consideration as to whether the sentence you ended up with actually made sense in English. I do not mean this as an insult, so please do not take this the wrong way, but I do hope that you will perform even more proofreading on your translations in the future before uploading them. --[[User:Fatalystic|Fatalystic]] ([[User talk:Fatalystic|talk]]) 23:15, 28 December 2014 (GMT +8)

Your view is quite right; my translation was done as an emergency effort when the original translator went on break, and it was my first translation as well. That's why I've not allowed the teaser tag to be removed from the project despite the calls from other project members and I have spent the last few months editing the volume. (Whether that time editing will really improve it remains to be seen, but what can you do?) --[[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 18:58, 28 December 2014 (CST)

I'm planning to make a translation into Spanish so I need to ask your permission to start with this project and I already made a translation until chapter 2 of vol 2. Hope you're agree with it. --[[User:Hamberz19|Hamberz19]] ([[User talk:Hamberz19|talk]]) 18:26, 28 December 2014 (CST)

You might want to send this request to TheCatWalk, or Simon the project supervisor. I don't really know the policy on giving permission for alternate language translations, and I don't know Spanish to give an informed opinion. Good luck. --[[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 18:58, 28 December 2014 (CST)

uhh...not sure how to put this but im kinda interested in editing for Rakudai, and have already gone through V2C1,2,3. could you go through them and see how you feel? Thanks. Would have pmed you on the forums but its down for many people (including yourself i believe). --[[User:Bowguyz|Bowguyz]] ([[User talk:Bowguyz|talk]]) 19:42, 16 January 2015 (CST)

I think your edits are quite fine. You don't need my permission to edit or anything. Also, I haven't had any problems with the forum. --[[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 20:27, 16 January 2015 (CST)

thanks. if youre looking for permanent editors, let me know. --[[User:Bowguyz|Bowguyz]] ([[User talk:Bowguyz|talk]]) 07:41, 19 January 2015 (CST)

Ahh I see what you mean with the all Ha●shin thing, yeh I'll check that out.--[[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]]) 19:23, 1 February 2015 (CST)

Hey man you might want hurry with those translation Rakudai if you don't the whole project might get deleted. Change it to Main Project already. That's my favorite Light Novel to read. [[User:WyvernFrog|WyvernFrog]] ([[User talk:WyvernFrog|talk]])

Changing to full project is up to administration, not me. I already completed the steps for requesting approval a month ago. As far as I know, the project is not in danger of deletion. -- [[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 16:22, 7 February 2015 (CST)

Are you going to be translating volume 4 and so on? Or were you just finishing off volume 3.

TheCatWalk is working on volume three. After that, we'll see how it goes. I'm usually the translator-when-no-one-else-is-translating. --[[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 03:16, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Hey man, has TheCatWalk abandoned the project? I know it currently says afk but it has been a while. Just wondering if in the near future the the remaining volumes are going to be translated or whether you might take over as the lead translator? -- [[User:TheSlyGuy|TheSlyGuy]] ([[User talk:TheSlyGuy|talk]]) 17:09, 04 September 2015 (UTC)

TheCatWalk has not abandoned the project as of the last time we communicated. In accordance with Baka-Tsuki rules, I can't answer questions about when translations will occur. I translate when no one else is doing so, though again I can't give an actual schedule. -- [[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 18:29, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Hello! Glad to meet a translator of the project. Feel free to revert my edits if they aren't matching - I don't have the context, after all. Since you're active, I'll put any major concerns in side notes. -- [[User:Nscorz|Nscorz]] ([[User talk:Nscorz|talk]]) 01:59, 28 October 2015 (GMT)

==Why the ATP tag?==
Because that was usually the used mode to get the attention a teaser project needs to get the approvel to become a full project! - So grats for your approval by Simon! --[[User:Darklor|Darklor]] ([[User talk:Darklor|talk]]) 18:51, 9 February 2015 (CST)

It certainly worked. Thanks! -- [[User:KLSymph|KLSymph]] ([[User talk:KLSymph#top|talk]]) 21:33, 9 February 2015 (CST)

Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-10-13T17:53:46Z

Nscorz: /* Part 7 */

== Chapter 1 - Eco the Dragon Girl ==
=== Part 1 ===

Ash's body shuddered. He clearly felt the presence of someone sneaking into his room and crawling onto the bed.



''You're not letting me off tonight either... ?''

In the pitch-black darkness, the girl's hair and skin had a piercingly cold radiance.

The full moon outside the window overhung the horizon.

Ash remembered clearly that he had closed the curtains before sleeping.



"Fufu... it's a beautiful night, don't you think so?"

The girl looked at Ash disdainfully with the eyes of a conqueror. Her lips showed a bewitching smile. 

"Uuu!"

Ash, who was lying on the bed, suddenly could not move.

The girl had sat on Ash's abdomen with her legs spread out. Instead of oppression, Ash could feel warmth coming from the part of his abdomen that was in contact with the lower half of the girl's body.



A faint aroma permeated the room.

What a bewitchingly beautiful girl. 

She had pink waist-length hair with a silver shine, snow-white skin and ruby-coloured eyes. 

She was only wearing the bare minimum of clothing and was almost naked.

The two big bulges on her chest in front of Ash's face shook slightly.

On each side of her head grew a horn that was no different from a dragon's.

"Who are you? Why are you always...... uuuuu!" 

Ash's question was forcefully interrupted. The upper half of the girl's body slowly approached and hugged Ash tightly.

Her smooth white skin came into contact with Ash's body with nothing in between. 

Her luscious lips whispered into Ash's ear.

"I will also dote on you well tonight."

After letting out a hot breath of air, the girl nibbled Ash's earlobe. <nowiki>*</nowiki>Kaa—* The sound was similar to that of biting the ear's bone.

“N-no...... Don't do that......!"

Ash's body trembled non-stop as if struck by lightning.

The girl greedily devoured Ash's body. Neck, chest, waist, arms…… the numbness from her tender tongue and sparkling teeth sliding across his skin almost made Ash lose his mind.

As usual, the girl shifted her body as she pleased in that position tonight. It was like a dance. 

It had been seven days since the appearance of the mysterious girl: the girl who appeared at Ash's bedside every night, and spent every moment teasing him playfully.

Who on earth is she? What motive does she have? Why are there two horns growing on her head? 

The girl never answered questions.

She always danced on Ash's body and left taking light steps slowly.



The girl's teasing was in full force. Ash would always end up lying on the bed exhausted after the ordeal. Currently sitting by the window, the girl was lifting her slender and beautiful legs with a composed expression.



According to his experience from the past six days, the girl was now going to disappear before Ash's eyes. 

''After all, this is only a dream...''

When he opened his eyes, he would be seeing the usual morning. 

At least, it had been so for the past six days.

"My name is Navi."

Ash was shocked from suddenly hearing a name that he did not recognise.

This was the first time hearing the girl say her own name.



Ash gathered the last bit of his strength, barely managing to lift up the upper part of his body.

"Navi...... Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"To entrust myself, who is about to be born soon, to you... consider it a form of ritual." , 

"I don't get what you mean."

"See you, until next time when we meet in real life!"

Navi's figure became countless silver particles and disappeared in the bright moonlight.

=== Part 2 ===
<nowiki>*</nowiki>—Dong*

At dawn, Ash was abruptly awoken by the sound of a large cannon being fired.

A few seconds later, he then realised that the huge sound was actually from the releasing of fireworks using Oracles. 

Ash was in Apollo House, the dormitory where male students of the Advanced Course lived<ref>There seems to be another name for the courses such as Yunios for Basic Course as seen in the manga, since my raws used the terms "Basic Course" and "Advanced Course", I shall leave it be</ref>.

A few months earlier, after completing three years of basic courses, Ash had successfully become a first-year student of the Advanced Course and earned the qualification to live in Apollo House. 

The biggest difference between Apollo House and other dormitories was the one person, one room system. Compared to the past whereby three people had to squeeze into one small room, life in Apollo House was like heaven.

"Uuu......it's cold!"

Ash's shoulders shivered the moment he got out of bed.

The dawn of early spring still carried a deep chill. Bearing  with the impulse to rush back into bed, Ash pulled open the curtains.

Ash's room was on the third floor. One could see the whole field by standing by the window. 

There were many students in the field at dawn carrying out preparation work for the "celebration". There were also a lot of riders on their dragons.

Teams of Stradas<ref>Literally air/winged dragon (second interpretation was from my translation from Chinese), the only dragons other than Maestros that can fly</ref> swept across the horizon in preparation for the celebration that was about to start.

The giant lizards running back and forth on the field were the brilliant Asias.<ref>Literally land/earth dragon, it's pronounced as "Aahsia" instead of the way we pronounce the name of that particular continent</ref>

"It is about to start."

The field of such a size was shrouded in a mysterious and unusual atmosphere. Ash started to get nervous.

"Yo, Ash! Time to get up!"

At that moment, Ash heard his friend's voice accompanied by the sound of door knocking.

"Raymond? Give me a moment!"

Ash frantically took out the bandage from the first-aid box.

He wrapped the bandage around his left hand to cover up the «Seikoku»<ref>"星刻", literally star-marked/carved</ref> on his arm.

The pattern on his arm was the proof of a Breeder.

At the age of seven, Ash took part in the «Orphan Ceremony» held in Albion Forest and had a dragon larva put into his body.

Unfortunately, Ash's memories of that time were foggy with a lot of parts missing.

Since he obtained the «Seikoku», by logic he should have seen Mother Dragon within the deep parts of the forest. However, Ash did not even have the slightest impression of having any memories of that scene.

''I really messed up'', Ash thought in self-mockery.

Compared to other students, the «Seikoku» pattern on Ash's arm was especially large. 

Similar to a tattoo of a unique design, it extended from his elbow to his wrist like a jet-black snake.

"......Sorry to keep you waiting."

Finished with wrapping up, Ash opened the door to his room.

His good friend, Raymond Kirkland, was standing at the door with a hearty smile.

"The bandage again? Why don't you try something new?"

"Hmph, a normal person like you won't understand my feelings at all."

Ash was displeased. Raymond could not help but shake his head with a bitter smile.

"Sorry, it's my fault...... Hnn? Your face is red. Do you have a fever?"

"No. Actually,......I had weird dreams for the past week."

"Weird dreams? What kind of weird dreams?"

"A beautiful girl crawled into my bed, then......she did a lot of things......"

It was really embarrassing to speak about this sort of things. Ash blushed while recounting what happened.

Raymond could not resist laughing.

"Are you ''that'' desperate for a girl? That is too exaggerated!"

"Are ''you'' any better? We are in the same situation!"

"Nonono, I am different from you. It's not that I'm not popular with the ladies; it's just that I have not yet found someone suited for me."

Raymond took out a small mirror and started admiring himself.

Almost all the students of Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy knew that Raymond had severe narcissism. To be fair, everyone acknowledged that Raymond was a handsome young man. However, people did not dare to get close to him due to that personality of his that destroyed the great impression he gave due to his looks. It was like ruining your own image the moment you speak.<ref>This is a more literal translation of the expression used</ref>

"......What are you visiting me for so early in the morning?"

Ash said unhappily. Raymond walked into the room as if that did not concern him.

"Did you forget? The competition that we were looking forward to for so long starts today. Speaking of the competition, you must not forget about flirting with girls!"

"What has flirting got to do with the competition? You should also get out there and enter the competition!"

The righteous Ash raised his volume, but Raymond had an evil smile.

"If I didn't remember wrongly, you should be the first Advanced Course student since the founding of Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy to still have a larva in his body?"

"Uuu......"

Even if he did not wish for it to be so, Ash could not deny that fact. That's right, Ash's dragon companion was still sleeping in his body without any single sign of waking up.

There was not a single change since that year when he was chosen to be a Breeder at the age of seven.

To the students of Ansarivan, to rouse the dragons in their bodies from slumber was the most basic mission.

Other students had obtained their pals in the first year of basic lessons. All except Ash.

—Pal.

This was a very sacred word, representing "the dragon nurtured by the Breeder himself". A larva still sleeping within the Breeder's body cannot be addressed as a pal.

"Ash, to participate in today's competition, you seem to need something."

"Yeah, I need a dragon."

"That's right. So, do you want to borrow my pal?"

Raymond's pal was called Brigid.

Borrowing Brigid was, of course, one of the options Ash was considering. Actually, Ash already knew that Raymond was planning to skip the competition this time.

However, just accepting Raymond's suggestion like that really hurt Ash's dignity so Ash decided to refuse tactfully.

"I can also borrow Arianrhod<ref>A goddess from Celtic mythology, "arian" meaning silver and "rhod" meaning wheel, many names used in the series are related to Arthurian legends or myths of the same culture</ref> from Max. He's a member of the Student Council and thus cannot take part in the competition."

Student Council members made up the executive committee of the competition and were unable to participate. Max also clearly stated his intention of not participating in the competition.

"You're too naive, Ash. Do you think that Max will lend you his pal?"

"What is it about me?"

"Uohh!"

Raymond jumped in surprise. Turning around, Max was there leaning on the side of the door in perfectly good condition.

"Good morning, Max."

Ignoring Ash's greeting, Max silently adjusted the position of his glasses with his hand.

Maximillian Russell: Ash's classmate, honour student bestowed the title of Dragner by the Paladin, and also the Student Council's treasurer.

"You two being so noisy early in the morning, what happened?"

"Ash was crying and begging me to lend him Brigid to participate in the competition."

"Who's crying and begging you?! Max, can you lend me your Arianrhod? It's just for today."

Yes, for a particular reason, Ash had to participate in today's competition no matter what.

"You want to borrow my pal? In your next life."<ref>Chinese expression meaning that it is impossible to do or achieve it.</ref>

"There's no need to be so ruthless, right?"

"Let's not discuss this matter right now......"

Max sized up Ash with his sharp eyes.

"You should see for yourself the state this room is in! Didn't I remind you again and again that you must keep your own room clean?"

The overbearing Max walked into the room with big strides and immediately started cleaning. Ever since moving into the Apollo House, there has never been a day when Ash's room was clean and neat.

"This scene sure brings back memories."

Gazing at Max working hard at cleaning, Raymond could not help but shake his head with a bitter smile.

—Ash, Raymond, Max.

When they were still Basic Course students, they had gone through sentimental times together at Merk<ref>Couldn't really find a name with a mythological reference, so I chose one that had Scottish links, do tell me if you found the right name that sounds the same</ref> House. At that time, having a room to yourself was still a faraway dream and the three of them had to squeeze into a small room. Ash and Raymond had a hard time dealing with Max, who was a neat freak almost to the point of it being an illness.

"......I have always wondered."

Done with cleaning, Max turned around and looked at Ash.

"Why can you ride other people's pals?"

"Well......how should I say this......"

"By logic, dragons only allow their own masters to ride them. There have been many Breeders in the past who have tried riding other people's dragons but they all failed."

"That is indeed true, but I have obtained consent from the teacher, so it should be all right?"

"Why are you still so indecisive when doing things, just like in the past? Sigh, if you really intend to participate in the competition, just borrow Brigid. I'll inform the Student Council president."

Ending with that authoritative tone, Max left without turning back.

"I wonder who's the one that hasn't changed at all."

Raymond shook his head with a bitter smile once again.

Ash suddenly drew close to Raymond.

"You will lend me Brigid, right?"

Raymond nodded his head, his eyes having a peculiar glow.

"Of course, you must make that princess change her impression of you!"

Hearing that, Ash's expression instantly became serious.

"I have that intention, too."

=== Part 3 ===

The grand fireworks were dazzling.

There was a tense atmosphere in the academy, accompanied by excitement in the air.

The "race" Raymond spoke of was one of the names it was commonly known by. The official name was "Aries Dragon Riding Festival". An annual grand event held in the month of Aries (fourth month).<ref>The names of months in the story are taken from the names of the horoscopes in order.</ref>

It was also a springtime activity held by Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy.

Ash, having changed to a Dragsuit,<ref>Term for the clothes worn when riding a dragon</ref> arrived at the academy's sports field.

It was a cloudless sunny day, weather suitable for a race.

Many students on dragons had already gathered on the sports field.

By a rough estimate, there should be around fifty plus people.

Ash was riding on Brigid, which he borrowed from Raymond, using the reins in his hands to guide Brigid towards the middle of the field.

"You're in a good mood today, Brigid."

Brigid replied Ash's greeting with a low cry like a spoiled child.

Brigid was an Asia fancied by Ash. Having four greatly developed legs and no wings, Brigid did not look like a dragon but more like the large types of lizards.

Cheers suddenly arose from the students on the field.

"A good morning to all students."

The radiant Student Council president appeared at the centre of the temporarily constructed stage.

The Student Council president did not have a loud voice, but her words were full of confidence and had a penetrating power.

Fiery red hair, elongated eyes, her beautiful body emitted the cold radiance of a marble statue and terrifying killing intent. Even the petals dancing in the wind paled in comparison.

Rebecca Randall.

The «Scarlet Empress».

Her red hair, bold personality and unparalleled strength were her attractive points as the school idol of Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy.

Even the academy's combat skills instructors could not beat Rebecca on her Maestro Cú Chulainn.<ref>An Irish mythological hero. Do google it if you are interested.</ref> When talking about the strongest student of Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy, 99 percent of the students would immediately think of Rebecca.

"The weather is great today— sorry, I don't want to talk about such nonsense."

The students on the field lowered their heads snickering. "The weather is great today" was the principal's pet phrase, but the festival was an event held by the Student Council, thus the principal did not have to go on stage to deliver a speech.

"Students of Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy, not only is the Aries Dragon Riding Festival a sports competition, it is also Ansarivan's fine tradition with the results of the race included in the official records. Since you all have decided to participate in the race, then you should aim to stand on the victory podium.<ref>The place medalists in sports competitions stand on when they received their medals.</ref> However, I'm aware that fine tradition and official records are not enough as reasons to motivate you to achieve victory."

The students started snickering again, but the snickering stopped quickly.

"So I decided to award the winner a day-long date ticket as a prize. As for the person you are dating, that will be me, Rebecca Randall."

The moment Rebecca finished speaking, cheers immediately arose from the students.

"Silence!"

Rebecca roared. Instantly, the students were quiet like before.

"Next would be a speech by the representative of the participants. Advanced Course first-year, Princess Silvia Lautreamont."

At Rebecca's signal, a female student's figure appeared at the other side of the stage.

Ash subconsciously clenched his fists.

"The princess is actually the representative of the participants......!"

Silvia's dazzling golden hair was tied up at the back of her head. Wearing a Dragsuit with the royal coat of arms sewn on it, she leapt off her pal— Maestro Lancelot<ref>One of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend</ref> and slowly walked up the stage.

The Lautreamont Knights royal family's fourth princess Silvia.

The «Ice Blue Princess».

She was the daughter of the ruler of Lautreamont Knight Country, who holds the title of Paladin.

Ash, whose pal still had not been born after such a long time, had always borrowed the pals of other students during practical examinations.

Otherwise, he would have been retained for the year.

To other students, riding other people's pals was suicide; but to Ash, not only was it not dangerous, it was something natural to him.

No matter how short-tempered the dragon was, it would obediently allow Ash to ride on its back. Whether was it a Strada, Asia or Hydra,<ref>Literally water dragon</ref> he could control it with ease.

Unknowingly, the "Genius Dragon Tamer" Ash's reputation increased, becoming a famous figure of the academy.
[[Image:Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi v1 027.jpg|thumb]]

That accident happened a few days ago.

Ash borrowed Raymond's pal Brigid to participate in dragonback combat training. Being skilled in combat, Ash defeated his classmates one by one in a short time.

It would be a lie to say that he did not feel proud of that.

Concentrated on combat training, Ash did not notice Lancelot walking behind him at that moment.

Not only was physical contact between dragons very dangerous, it was also a situation the academy did its best to avoid.

Everytime before class, the instructor would always patiently remind them.

Fortunately, Brigid's butt only gently bumped into Lancelot's left leg. Both dragon and rider did not suffer any injuries. However, Ash's presumptuous actions infuriated Silvia.

"What do you take combat training for? If you come to the lesson thinking that it is just a game, you will get into trouble sooner or later!"

Other than her special status, Silvia's strict and hardline way of dealing with things was one of the reasons for her being one of the academy's famous people.

Her serious attitude in class and her feat of letting Lancelot grow into a Maestro in only a short time undoubtedly gained her the admiration of many. Her unreasonable demeanour, on the other hand, was widely criticised.

Everyone acknowledged that Silvia was a born beauty but not even one student was willing to be friends with her.

"Urk......sorry, it is my fault."

Ash jumped down from Brigid's back and bowed his head respectfully, apologising.

If this was the usual Silvia, she would have calmed down. Facing an opponent who had admitted his mistakes, Silvia had always been forgiving. It was said to be one of the knight family's precepts.<ref>Basically a set of principles that family members have to abide by. You usually see this in families with prestigious backgrounds</ref>

However, it was not the same this time.

Silvia, still angry, examined Ash from head to toe, not intending to let him off yet.

"You should think with that pea-sized brain of yours! Who exactly is paying the fees for your schooling, uniform, food, accommodation and teaching materials?"

"......Are you talking about the palace?"

"Of course not. Though the one paying is the palace, but the money used comes from the people's taxes. If you continue to have that mindset that this is just a game, then you should just quit school as soon as possible so that you would not continue wasting the hard-earned money of the people!"

"What? Quit school? Are you serious?"

"There is no free lunch in this world. That is one of the Lautreamont family's precepts!"

There was contempt in her ice blue coloured eyes. At that moment, Ash realised why Silvia was called the «Ice Blue Princess». There had been almost no points of intersection between Ash's and Silvia's paths during the phase of Basic Course. This was the first contact between the both of them.

Even if she was a princess, Ash's pride did not permit him to give in.

"The Lautreamont family's precepts are none of my business! I have already apologised. What else do you want me to do?"

"This is not a problem that can be solved by just an apology! You still do not have your own pal, right?"

"Uu......"

A sensitive issue of his having been mentioned, Ash was rendered speechless. It seems Silvia also knew some things about Ash.

"Hmph, like master, like dragon, maybe it died long ago!"

Hearing that, rage burned in Ash's heart.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let it be, Ash. She is the princess, you cannot win against her."

Behind him, Raymond tried to stop him but Ash ignored him.

This was not the first time that he suffered such humiliation. It was no wonder that Ash was the target of humiliation from everyone since he still did not have his pal.

If the insults were directed toward him, Ash could still bear with it.

However, if it was an insult directed towards his pal, he would not let that go easily.

Ash would fight back with all his strength till the other party apologises.

Similar situations having occurred several times, Ash, who should have been the victim, slowly became the problem child in everyone's eyes.

Talking about the most troublesome person in the academy, ninety-nine percent of the students would think of Advanced Course first-year Ash Blake.

"Take back what you said immediately."

Even if she was the princess of the kingdom, she should not humiliate others as she pleases.

So, Ash took a step forward, having no intention to hide his anger.

The lesson was interrupted. Everyone's attention was on Ash's confrontation with the princess.

=== Part 4 ===
Silvia, who had ascended the makeshift stage, observed the students whom had assembled in the sports field. 

Finally, her blue pupils stopped abruptly at one place. 

“………” 

It was evident where Silvia was looking. She was, obviously, staring at Ash. 

That day, Silvia had not withdrawn her words. If the other party had been a boy, at that time Ash would’ve clouted him. However, as expected, even if he wanted to, Ash couldn’t hit a girl. Moreover, she was a princess in the palace circle. 

Instead, he had, reluctantly, proposed an condition. 

<nowiki>------</nowiki> If I am victorious in the race in a few days, you will take back the words you said a while ago! 

Silvia, nonchalantly, had commented: “That would be fine” and agreed. 

That was the answer that Ash wanted. 

Silvia, once she stopped staring at Ash, opened her mouth. 

An icy voice shook the atmosphere, reminding everyone of the winter that had just passed. 

“You must try your best in any competition. That is my family’s motto <nowiki>------</nowiki> no less” 

Silvia then descended quickly from the stage and, riding smartly on Lancelot, returned to the sports field. 

After a few seconds of silence, only a sparse amount of applause arose from the sports field as everyone was taken aback by Silvia’s haughty attitude. 

“What?” 

“It is obvious that Lancelot is the outstanding one, not his owner.” 

“What is so great about his master?” 

“Wasn't the first paladin originally a knight of the Chevron Kingdom. In other words, only just a fortunate soldier, nothing more. Definitely not royal.” 

“As expected of that brother’s sister”<ref>Chinese phrase that basically refers to the fact that brothers and sisters are the same ... something along the lines of that</ref> 

Ash nonchalantly glanced at a few same grade female students, who were murmuring quietly behind him. 

At first, Ash had taken no notice of their conversation, however: 

“That brother’s sister.” 

That part of sentence caught his attention. 

The ‘brother’ that the female students had said, obviously referred to Prince Julius. 

<nowiki>------</nowiki> Dragon Slayer Julius. 

Although he was the eldest son of the Knight family, he violated the biggest taboo. 

No one knew why he would slay his dragon, as he was publicly executed for breaching the taboo before he could disclose his motive. 

To bring his name up at this occasion, really wasn’t thoughtful. 

Even if he had shamed the Royal Knight Family, that was ten years ago. There really wasn’t any good in bringing up these old matters. 

“…… She really doesn’t have an easy life.” 

Ash, suddenly, began to sympathize a little for Silvia’s plight. 

=== Part 5 ===
The competition was about to start. 

The row order of the contestants had been sequenced according to the results of the mock competitions that had occurred during training class. 

Usually, the fastest riders were placed at the front. 

However, this year’s dragon riding competition was different. 

The players who were placed at the front, were the worst scoring students of the mock competitions. 

Apparently, it was Rebecca’s suggestion; her reason being that the competition would be more exciting. 

As a result, based on the new rules, Silvia, who had scored top in the mock competitions, had no choice but to be placed in the last row. 

Aside from Silvia, Ash was also in the last row. 

Although the student council had made an exception to the rule to allow him to use another student’s pal to participate in the competition, just to be fair, his starting position had been purposely positioned in the last row. 

Without doubt, this type of order doubled as a safeguard against a sudden surge of contestants once the race had started. 

Nevertheless, despite these new rules, this situation could be said to be favorable to him. <ref>Chinese phrase. Basically the equivalent of "play into the hands of (Ash)" </ref> 

To be allowed to participate in the competition, was already a one in ten thousand chance <ref>In other words, very lucky</ref>. Furthermore, to be placed beside Silvia, was the perfect opportunity to execute their showdown. 

With every minute and second that passed, he gradually became more and more focused <ref>Chinese phrase that literally translates into "retracted his state of mind"</ref>. 

Silvia didn't talk to him. 

Likewise, he felt that there wasn’t a need to converse with her. 

Finally, the preparations before the race were finished. 

The cheers coming from the audience around the sports field’s boarder had reached a climax. 

All around, a unique sense of tension filled the atmosphere. 

Ash clearly felt his own heartbeat gradually quickening. During the mock competitions, he had never felt so nervous. 

“On your marks!” 

Rebecca’s voice emanated from mid-air. 

Clad in a uniform, she was riding on her pal’s back. Essentially, this was breaching the school rules, however, as today was the annual Dragon Riding Festival, no one had raised that issue. 

Arms akimbo, she now stood majestically on top of Cú Chulainn’s head. Her high-spirited heroic bearing immediately attracted everyone’s attention. 

This was her riding position. 

As Cú Chulainn’s body was too big to find a suitable saddle, and also, because she had publicly expressed that she did not want to restrain her beloved pal with a rein and saddle, this evolved into her current unique riding position. 

A suffocating silence enveloped the audience, as she lifted a magic carbine <ref>A carbine is a gun used by horsemen, do Google it!</ref>. 

Only the sound of one’s own heartbeat and the deep breathing of the dragons could be heard. 

“Get set ------” 

The carbine’s muzzle was aimed at the sky. 

Then, when the flash of an Oracle illuminated the horizon, the gun let out an enormous bang. 

Around fifty dragons, at the same time, started to run, leaving behind a cloud of dust. 

The Stradas, whose tails a smoke bomb had been tied to, formed into a column and, at the same time, flapped their wings and flew. While that was happening, the smoke from the smoke bombs formed a seven-coloured rainbow in the sky. 

=== Part 6 ===
Brigid did not betray Ash’s expectations. After his flawless start, he ran flat out, hot on Lancelot’s tail. As they moved around the academy’s sports field, the competitors maintained a distance between each other. 

Then, in the midst of loud cheering, they passed through the school gate that led to the city district. 

“Full speed ahead!” 

At Ash’s urging, Brigid let out a roar. 

Ash intended to, with all his strength, rush through the avenue leading St. Durham Square. 

Maestro Lancelot, possessed an astonishing speed. Within a blink of an eye, he had already overtaken many competitors. 

Brigid tailed closely behind Lancelot’s body, where the effect of air friction was the least, ascending the ranks with him. However, when Lancelot was about to enter a narrow city road, which was connected to St. Durham Square, he suddenly slowed down. 

“……… That’s odd.” 

Ash, who had been following Brigid, raised his head and looked ahead. 

“Them ………!” 

Four competitors, side by side in a row, had obstructed the way ahead. Upon closer inspection, Ash immediately realised that they were the same four female students who had slandered Silvia before the competition. 

Ahead, the narrow city road meandered endlessly, plagued with numerous challenging turns. It seems that until I have exited the city district, I will have to be patient, Ash thought to himself. 

All of a sudden, he grasped their intentions. 

“Those people ………” 

They were probably here to target Silvia. 

Whenever other competitors approached from behind, they would, at once, automatically create a small gap to allow them to pass. 

Bit by bit, Silvia’s ranking was deteriorating. Soon, she, along with Ash, would be last. 

Ash was at a loss. 

Overtaking Silvia wouldn’t be hard. The female students obstructing the way ahead should let him pass. After all, he was a bystander to them, so there wasn’t a need to make things hard for him. 

“You people really have taken things too far!” 

Infuriated, Ash couldn’t help but shout at them. 

“Do you really not care?” 

He exclaimed, in a loud voice, as he spurred Brigid to Lancelot’s side. 

Due to the difference in height between the Maestro and Asia, Ash had to look up at Silvia. 

In contrast, Silvia glanced down at Ash, her face etched with contempt. 

“……… There is nothing that can be done about this, whether it is blocking our way or working together, it doesn’t violate the rules of this race.” 

“Now is the time to act noble! Could it be that you aren’t angry at all?” 

“I don’t want to talk to enemies! Go away, it’s none of your business!” 

“You excessively prideful person, no wonder you can’t make any friends!” 

“Y-You, what did you say!” 

Ignoring Silvia’s protests, Ash spurred Brigid ahead, quickly leaving Lancelot behind and approaching the four female students, whom were blocking the way ahead. 

As expected, as soon as one of the four girls noticed him, she promptly shifted over, creating a gap on her right. 

Ash, without looking at any of them, spurred Brigid straight towards the gap that she had created. 

They probably had thought that he was just going to pass through. 

“Fu ……… you are wrong!” 

With a flick of the reins in his hand, Brigid’s enormous body immediately moved to squash the female students beside him. 

They were now extremely close together, almost reaching the point of breaking the competition’s rules. 

“Hey, what are you trying to do?” 

One of the girls paled <ref>Chinese phrase 花容失色. 花容 - Literally means flower colour / radiance [And it referrers to a beautiful girl] and 失色 - means to lose colour</ref>, due to fright. 

Due to turmoil caused by Ash, the four riders who had been in an orderly row, were now shortening the distance between themselves. Soon they would collide into each other. 

There was only one option to prevent this; to relinquish their positions. However, if they did so, they would destroy their row formation. 

Without doubt, this was the goal Ash had aimed to achieve, and, after achieving the upper hand, he didn’t overlook the chance to gibe at them: 

“I’m very sorry for the trouble I have caused. This dragon was borrowed from someone and it seems to be a little disobedient!” 

The expression of one of the girls, suddenly changed. 

“You are Ash Blake!” 

Whether it was luck or not, Ash’s name seemed to have an profound effect on them. 

“It’s the Number One Problem Child in the academy!” 

“Uhh! Stay away from me!” 

“Kyaaa!” 

The four female students promptly broke formation and, after a brief period of turmoil, they all fell hopelessly at the side of the road. 

Their high-pitched shrieks, along with the roars of the dragons, reverberated endlessly in the narrow city road. 

Silvia, who had been behind, deftly dodged the female students and dragons, and quickly picked up speed. 

“W-Who told you to meddle in other people’s business!” 

In spite of her brusque tone, her cheeks, however, turned slightly red. 

=== Part 7 ===
After leaving the city district, he journeyed north on the main road, arriving at Fianna Forest. 

The forest was also a part of the competition’s course. The skills required here now were vastly different from the ones needed to navigate through the city roads. 

After just entering the forest, a strange thing happened. 

“……… Brigid?” 

Brigid, who had been tailing Lancelot the whole journey, suddenly slowed down. 

Silvia, obviously, took advantage of this opportunity. In a nick of time, she had disappeared. 

“What’s wrong ………?” 

Brigid finally stopped walking. 

He was breathing heavily and his expression was one of great pain. 

Ash, now, had finally realised the mistake he had made. 

“I was too careless.” 

While Ash had been preoccupied with following Silvia, he hadn’t noticed that Brigid had run out of stamina. 

From the start, Brigid had always maintained the same speed as Lancelot, in spite of the difference of stamina between a Maestro and an Asia. Generally, in order to successfully finish the competition, the pace to complete it at should have been determined from the stamina of the dragon. 

“………Sorry, Brigid.” 

After he had apologised, Brigid let out a soft snort, as if he was ashamed of his physical strength. 

Now, groups of competitors, bit by bit, had caught up. One by one, they raced past Ash’s side. 

The sound of thunderous rumbling shook the earth, as the air filled with dust. 

The sight of a group of Asias running in the forest was spectacular to behold. Ash could sense the ground incessantly rocking. For a very long time, it didn’t subside. 

Ash’s competition, at his point of time, had concluded. 

Between him and Silvia, a winner had been determined. His goal to force Silvia to take back her words, in the end, wasn’t achieved. 

If this was described as unfortunate, it would be a lie. Ash had really wanted to complete the competition. For the entire time, he had made a bee line for the finish line. 

However, oddly enough, Ash’s mood was rather carefree. 

“It turns out that competing with the princess is quite interesting.” 

No matter how reluctant, he couldn’t deny this fact. 

Then, at this moment<nowiki>------</nowiki> 

A rustling noise, without warning, came from behind. 

“<nowiki>------</nowiki>!” 

Ash instinctively looked back, staring at the forest behind him. 

“………Who is it?” 

For safety reasons, Ansarivan’s security guards would, during the race, patrol the forest. 

In the forest, to sense another person’s presence, wasn’t something to make a big fuss out of. 

However, whoever it was, hadn’t replied. If it was really a security guard, he should have already appeared directly before Ash, who had been eliminated. 

Ash heightened his awareness and cautiously surveyed the surroundings. 

Although he hadn’t discovered any suspicious figures, he felt as though someone was watching him.
He could feel a sense of foreboding growing within himself. 

“Wait for me here.” 

After leaving Brigid, Ash walked into the depths of the forest. 

=== Part 8 ===
Fianna Forest, bordered on the west by Rubina Lake, was located northwest of the city Ansarivan. It’s one of the largest forests within the borders of Lautreamont Knight Country. 

As Ash ran in the forest, so as to not trip over the tree roots that crawled over the earth like a web of intricate blood vessels, he constantly looked down at his feet. 

Then, once again, he sensed the presence of someone else. 

“Found you!” 

Trusting his own intuition, Ash threw a stone at the bushes in front of him. 

The bushes rocked left and right, making a rustling sound. 

“Your intuition is quite keen. It really is one of your talents” 

Stated a voice that possessed both the vitality of youth and the staid of seniority. 

“You are ………?” 

From the bushes, a tall thin man emerged. In his left hand, he held the very stone that Ash had just thrown. 

Though he was dressed in a traveller’s garb, which wasn’t out of the ordinary, Ash was shocked into silence. 

This was because that man was wearing a silver coloured mask on his face, which covered everything except for his nose and mouth. 

In addition to this, his gleaming sliver hair was streaked through with strands of crimson hair, which brought to mind an image of silver silk slowly shedding blood, as well as the blood used to write cursed scripts. 

In his right hand, he held a black object that emitted light. 

“A mechanical weapon from ……… the Empire<ref>Although the sources don't say so, this 'empire' refers to the Zepharos Empire</ref>?” 

Ash, dumbfounded, stood on the spot, unable to move. 

It’s not like he didn’t know about it. 

On the other side of the steep mountain range, lacking the blessing of dragons, the Empire, nevertheless, had a highly developed civilisation based on machinery. 

The weapon that the masked man held in his hand probably was the product of mechanical engineering. If he remembered correctly, it was a ‘short machine gun’, a gun that combined the portability of a pistol and the rapid fire of a machine gun. Ash didn’t dare to act rashly. He knew that man could easily, at a moment’s notice, riddle him with so many bullet holes that he would look like a honeycomb. 

Perhaps it was because he had perceived Ash’s wariness, the corners of the man’s mouth twitched faintly upwards. 

“Young man, you are very bright.” 

“You are ……… a soldier of the Empire?” 

“Do I look like one?” 

Ash didn’t know what to decide. 

That object in the man’s hand was a weapon manufactured by the Empire. 

However, that man didn’t have an Empire accent. Instead, he had a strong Chevron Kingdom accent. Aside from that, the way he spoke was highly refined. To be more precise, he was speaking so-called ‘King’s Chevrish’. 

Ash realised that he was in a precarious situation. 

If the masked man was from the Empire, why would he be lurking around the outskirts of Ansarivan for? 

Maybe, he was an Empire spy. 

The Chevron Kingdom and the Zepharos Empire, the two great powers of this continent, had been in a Cold War which had, already, lasted five decades. 

Sandwiched between those two countries, was the Lautreamont Knight Country, the Chevron Kingdom’s child country. 

Initially, the Knight Country was part of the Kingdom<ref>Kingdom here refers to the Chevron Kingdom</ref>, therefore, the relationship between these two countries would, naturally, be much closer than any of their allies. 

Currently, should armed personal from the Empire appear within boarders of Knight Country, this country could, and would, interpret this as a military operation of the Empire. 

However, Ash’s strength was finite. He was definitely incapable of opposing the man before his eyes. 

“Young man, how old are you?” 

The masked man’s unexpected question distracted him for a moment. 

“……… Sixteen. Is there something wrong with that?” 

“That’s strange. Why do you still have larva within you?” 

Ash, astounded, subconsciously retreated a few steps. 

“H-How do you know?” 

“The curse on your body allowed me to clearly perceive that.” 

“Curse ………?” 

Ash frowned. He never would never have expected to hear, from the mouth of a person from the Empire, words so unscientific. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to ask what those words truly meant. 

“Get away from Milgauss-sama” 

A tender, yet commanding voice resonated in his ears. 

Reflexively, he looked back and saw a petite figure moving towards him. Then, immediately after pulling an object from its left bracer, the shrill sound of air being sliced sounded by his ear. 

“Argh!” 

Moving his body quickly, Ash awkwardly dodged the surprise attack. A pitch-black serpent passed through the space where his head had been. Actually, upon closer inspection, the pitch-black snake was actually a long whip, the preferred weapon of the Tantalos Tribe. 

Those who master this weapon are said to have an unpredictable attack. Even soldiers armed with swords, guns, or cannons aren’t a match. 

Ash dived onto the ground and began to roll, attempting to distance himself. 

Although his attacker was also wearing a mask, from their exposed eyes, he determined that it was most likely a young teenage girl. 

Her beautiful jet-black hair was fixed at the back of her head and, despite her petite stature, her eyes were filled with murderous intent. 

Ash, improvising on the spot, got up from the ground, grabbed a handful of dirt, threw it at the girl, turned and ran. 

“Argh ………!” 

The girl flinched and, for a brief moment, shielded her eyes. Then she began to pursue Ash. 

Ash, sprinting, plunged into a nearby thicket. 

“Damn ……… why am I so unfortunate!” 

Upon rushing out of the forest, his field of vision immediately widened. 

Above him, a dazzling blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see, forcing him to narrow his eyes. 

Barren rocks, big and small, littered the ground. 

Ash swallowed. This situation wasn’t good. Ahead of him there was a ravine. Its edge was around ten steps away. Ash looked around but couldn’t find a bridge. 

“Obediently accept your fate!” 

The girl appeared from within the forest. 

Ash, with his back to the cliff, confronted her. 

“When did I ever wrong you?” 

“Meeting us. This was your greatest misfortune.” 

The girls tone was flat, lacking any rise or drop in pitch, making her sound emotionless. 

“That’s absurd!” 

“War needs no reason.” 

“Isn’t there an armistice?” 

“Armistice? That nothing more than something we pretend to adhere to. In reality the war between the Empire and the Kingdom hasn’t ended!” 

The girl kicked the ground, and, brandishing the whip in her hand, slowly forced Ash towards the edge of ravine behind him. 

Though Ash scored quite well in the class of fighting techniques, this girl’s movements were too fast. He could only, step by step, retreat backwards. 

In a few more steps, he would fall into the ravine. 

“Hmph ……… I wonder how long you can continue to struggle for!” 

She sounded irritated. In fact, she was most likely an impetuous person. 

<nowiki>------</nowiki> Now! 

Ash grabbed the end of the whip, which had missed him, and then, with a great pull, broke her balance. 

“Uooo!” 

He grabbed her by her collar and, using her own momentum<ref>Do google Aikido !!!</ref>, hurled her away. Her body traced a parabola in the air. Ash was surprised, as he hadn’t expected her body to be so light. 

“Kawaa!” 

Falling heavily, the girl gave a painful cry and her right hand involuntarily released the whip. 

“Uguu ………” 

Still conscious, tears of misery appeared in her eyes. Aside from that, she was constantly squirming, as if in great pain. She probably wouldn’t be able to stand for a quite a while. 

Steading his breathing, Ash slowly extended his right hand towards the mask on her face. He wanted to see what she looked like. Then, just at this moment. 

<nowiki>------</nowiki> Bishi! 

A peculiar noise, similar to that of an object fracturing, could be heard. 

“Eh ………?” 

Ash could hardly believe his eyes. 

The outcrop <ref>Exposed bedrock</ref> supporting their weight, unexpectedly, had begun to collapse. 

This was most likely due to a geological fault in the rock. This fight should never have been performed in this kind of location. Then he noticed it, a warning sign labelled “Beware of Collapse”. 

“Ku ………!” 

Ash had no time to ponder. He lifted the girl and threw her forwards. 

She landed safely on a stable piece of outcrop. 

However, in doing so, he didn’t have enough time to escape. Instead, he fell along with the rocky debris into the ravine. 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 

The immense drag of the wind almost tore his skin. 

Ash was scared of falling into a bottomless ravine. Then, at this moment, he felt his left wrist heat up. 

“Eh ………?” 

A flash of light burst through his clothing. The «Seikoku», which extended from his elbow to his wrist, suddenly began to emit heat and scarlet light. 

The shrill sound of the wind was silenced. 

In fact, all sound was silenced. 

“Ugh ………!” 

Ash felt an excruciating pain within his chest, as if it was being torn in half, as though something was trying to break out of his body. 

The pain almost caused him to lose consciousness. 

While bearing the pain, he looked down at his chest and found that it was exuding a dazzling radiance. 

“Guaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 

Ash gave a great scream as his consciousness gradually began to fade. 

However, within his hazy vision, he saw something clearly. 

A girl was floating in mid-air. 

Completely naked. 

With her eyes tightly closed and her arms open, she floated next to him. 

Subconsciously, Ash reached out with both his hands towards her petite body. 

She slid with no resistance into his arms. 

Around them, a blinding light had, unbeknownst to them, enveloped their bodies. 

Not only that, but their descent had slowed down. 

Hugging the girl, Ash slowly floated down, like one would within a child’s fairy tale. 

Before long, they landed on a rock beside a creek. 

The ball of light, which had protected them, instantly turned into countless particles and disappeared without a trace. 

“Am I safe now ………?” 

Ash mumbled to himself, as he looked down at the girl in his arms. 

The breathing of the girl, whose eyes were still closed, sounded rather peaceful. 

“Uwaa!” 

Ash felt a little ardent as he realised that the girl was naked. 

Her dainty figure, along with her slightly bulging chest, and her smooth and delicate white skin was definitely something that was hardly ever seen within this world. In fact, it gave rise to the illusion of an angel descending into the world of mortals. 

Her age was probably around fourteen or fifteen. 

Gently laying her on the ground, Ash swiftly took off the coat of his Dragsuit.[[Image:Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi v1 055.jpg|thumb]] 

Just this coat, he was able to sufficiently cover her petite body. 

“Fuu ………” 

With this done, Ash feeling relieved, sat on the ground. 

Yet again, he looked at the face of the girl. 

“Could she be ……… Navi?” 

Within his mind, an image of the girl who had, since the start of this week, been teasing him within his dreams, surfaced. 

“No, you are similar for sure ……… but still a little different.” 

To draw an analogy, Navi would be a succubus from a Gothic novel, possessing a face that retained the innocence of childhood and also the charm of a mature woman. 

On the other hand, the girl before his eyes was just a girl. Ash couldn’t feel any mature charm from her. 

“……… eh?” 

Ash frowned. Something small, circular and ivory coloured, protruded from top left and right of sides her head. 

“What is this?” 

With his fingertips, Ash gently probed the mysterious protrusions. 

It was soft and a little flexible and seemed to be made of some kind of cartilage. 

The mysterious protrusions had a peculiar feel to it, making him want to touch it again after touching it. However, Ash resisted the urges to touch it again, as it would be impolite. 

Looks like those mysterious protrusions weren’t accessories but part of her body. 

“Could it be ……… horns?” 

The little protrusions on top of her head, indeed, seemed to be identical to the horns of a young dragon. 

Ash couldn’t help but recall the details of the events, that had happen prior to now, in his mind. 

The girl had emerged out of his body and she had two horns growing from top left and right sides of her head. 

As a result, there could only be one conclusion. 

“……… is this young girl my pal?” 

Ash was dumbfounded. 

He had always wished to rouse his pal from sleep, however, why was his pal a girl when everyone else’s were dragons? 

“Uuu ………nnn ………” 

The girl’s long eyelashes quivered a little. 

“Huwaaa ………” 

The girl, in contrast to her beautiful appearance, gave a great yawn. 

One of her double eyelids slowly began to open. 

Ash, subconsciously, leaned forwards and looked at her face. 

Her ruby coloured pupils were very fascinating. 

Bleary eyed, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and her facial expression became one of shock. 

“Hugiyaaaaaaaa!” 

“Oooof!” 

Ash, receiving a slap on his cheek, fell backwards and his head became immersed in the creek. 

Fortunately, the stream wasn’t deep, so aside from his sorry figure, he wasn’t hurt. 

“S-Such great strength ………” 

With blood trickling from his nose, Ash struggled to get up. 

“To go so far as to take advantage of a sleeping lady really is too much! Don’t you know who am I?” 

Blushing hard, she suddenly stood up. 

The jacket that Ash had draped over her body, slid off. 

Her dainty naked body was clearly visible. 

However, she made no move to cover herself. 

“P-Please put on your clothes first before you talk!” 

Ash quickly looked away. 

“Clothes? Ridiculous! Clothes are just items humans create to hide their ugliness.” 

“What?” 

“That’s right, a proper dragon doesn’t need clothes!” 

“I don’t care whether you need clothes or not, just put them on!” 

After saying that, Ash turned his back on her. 

“I know that you are a dragon! Well ……… strictly speaking I’m not sure. However, even if you’re a dragon, right now, you are a girl!” 

“So what?” 

“That ……… naked girl standing in front of me ……… is making me lose my calm” 

“Hmph! Such a useless guy. Like I said, humans are really <nowiki>------</nowiki>” 

At this moment, a strong gust of wind blew through the ravine. 

Though it was now spring, it still felt chilly when a gust of wind blew on the body. 

“A ……Ahchoo!” 

Compared to her arrogant attitude just then, her sneeze was extremely cute. 

After her sneeze, an unimaginably huge gust of wind headed towards Ash. 

“Uoo!” 

Immediately, Ash clung onto the rock next to him and, like this, prevented himself from getting blown away. 

“A dragons’ sneeze turns out to be quite formidable ………” 

After calming himself down, with his back towards the girl, Ash proceeded to defend his opinion: 

“You’re right, clothes make people look better. However, apart from that, they also protect against the cold!” 

“Muuu ………” 

The girl pouted, as if she didn’t quite agree with Ash’s point. However, in the end, she accepted his opinion. 

Before long, there was a rustling sound. 

Cautiously turning his head around, Ash saw that she had obediently put on the jacket. 

As her body was very petite, just the jacket was enough to cover her important parts. However, her legs were still exposed. 

Her white tender thighs caused Ash to hold his breath. Wearing just a male jacket, her current appearance, compared when she was naked, caused one to fantasize even more. 

After directing his gaze away from her thighs, Ash sighed a few times. 

“There is something I want to confirm. You should be the dragon that was within me.” 

“Strictly speaking, I was only temporarily borrowing your body.” 

“Weren’t you within my body for too long? I’ve already become a first year Advanced Course student!” 

“What did you say?” 

The girl eyed Ash with an ominous glint in her eyes. 

Her expression, as sharp as a sword, rested on Ash’s chest. 

“N-Nothing ………” 

Ash, a little overwhelmed by the girl’s reaction, could only reply like this. 

“I am not an ordinary dragon. Do not lump me with the others.” 

“Whaa?” 

Clearly displeased, the girl planted both her hands on her hips and looked at Ash. 

“Listen carefully, I do not think that you think that you are my master at all! Who cares about the secret agreement of Albion ………” 

Ash was a little surprised when the girl mentioned that historical term. 

<nowiki>------</nowiki>The secret agreement of Albion 

Long ago, confronted with the crisis of extinction, the dragons stipulated a treaty with humans who wanted their magic. 

“……… That being said, you and I share a common destiny. Although you can't see it, we are bound together by an invisible thread.” 

What she was talking about was probably the so-called Astral Flow. 

“After combining with humans, dragons are able to get a supply of the Astral. As a result, dragons obtained the strength to survive, thus overcoming the crisis of extinction.” 

This knowledge was taught during the Basic Course. The Astral was something similar to “qi”<ref>Look it up here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi</ref> and was the source of greatly-needed strength. 

The history of the dragons was far longer than that of humans. With each new generation, the Astral contained within their bodies decreased. 

Due to the lack of the Astral, before becoming fully grown, many young dragons died prematurely. 

If young dragons were unable to mature into adult dragons, sooner or later, dragons would go down the path of extinction. 

Concerned by the current situation, the dragons decided to combine with the humans who possessed the most Astral Flow, thus avoiding extinction. 

“Quite so. However, even so, I don’t believe the dragons owe humans one. Instead, humans should feel honoured.” 

“No, shouldn’t you at least feel a little thankful?” 

Having just finished speaking, Ash’s abdomen received a blow from the girl’s elbow. 

“Gah!” 

“By the way …” 

After glancing at Ash, who was writhing in pain, the girl, thinking about something, suddenly turned away. Her vigour, that she had displayed just then, disappeared and was replaced by bashfulness and embarrassment. 

“M-My name ……” 

“Ehh?” 

Ash, puzzled, frowned. The girl turned a shade of bright red and shouted. 

“My …… name, my name! Give me a name! T-This is a, somewhat, very important thing!” 

“Do you really want me to give you a name?” 

“It can’t be helped! Although I don’t approve of the secret agreement of Albion, I too, can't break the rules! You must give me a name for the contract to be complete!” 

“Is that so? The dragons also have so many difficult rules.” 

“I-I don’t need things like your sympathy!” 

Faced with the girl's extreme attitude, Ash made a bitter smile. 

“If that’s how it’s going to go, relax. I have already thought of your name” 

Ever since he had become a Breeder, he had always remembered this name. 

“Your name is Eco” 

Compared to Lancelot and Cú Chulainn, it was a little out of fashion. However, it was a rather historical name, frequently appearing in historical or religious textbooks. 

<nowiki>------</nowiki>First year of A.S.B. <ref>(After Saint's Birth)</ref> 

For the first time in human history, a young maiden succeeded in rousing a larva from its slumber. 

Her name was Rosa Maria. 

After her death, people referred to her as a saint, as she was the primogenitor of Breeders. 

At that time, her pal’s name was Eco. 

“Eco ……” 

The girl looked distracted and her dangerous expression eased up. 

“Nnn, not bad. Eco …… congratulation for thinking up this name. Fine, for now I’ll spare you!” 

“Phew, luckily you quite like this name.” 

If the name chosen had been deemed unacceptable, perhaps he would have become a victim of violence. Coming to this conclusion, Ash could feel cold sweat starting to form. 

“Oh, by the way, although you had just awoken, you seem to be quite knowledgeable about the secret agreement of Albion and Astral Flow.” 

Although Ash didn’t say this with the intention to flatter, she, nevertheless, puffed out her chest in pride. 

“This is the greatest difference between wisdom-filled dragons and the stupid, ignorant humans.” 

“Seriously, humans aren’t that bad, are they?” 

“<nowiki>------</nowiki>Dragweiss” 

“Ehh?” 

Eco suddenly began to stare off into the distance, taking Ash by surprise. 

“In order to survive, the still slumbering larvae will automatically inherit relevant knowledge. As this inherited knowledge is beyond generations, there is no need for others to teach them.” 

“Wow, that’s amazing …… By the way, since you are a dragon, why do you take the appearance of a human?” 

“This ……” 

Eco lowered her head in thought. After a while, she could only helplessly shrug her shoulders. 

“It’s no good, the Dragweiss doesn’t contain records pertaining to this …… No, there should be related records, except they can't be accessed. Forget about it, I don’t know! Don’t ask about it anymore, or I’ll crush you!” 

“That’s no good ……? I still want to live for a few more years!” 

Thinking about Eco’s unordinary strength, Ash shuddered. 

At this moment, Ash suddenly remembered something, he still hadn’t introduced himself! 

Thus, he calmed his wild heartbeat, and extended his right hand towards Eco. Regardless, Eco would always remain his pal. 

To obtain his own pal had been his wish for many years. 

“Muu …… what are you doing?” 

“I’m called Ash, from this day on, I am your master!” 

“What?” 

Eco not only refused to accept Ash’s goodwill, but also widened her eyes and stared at Ash. 

“W-what’s the matter?” 

“You seem to have misunderstood something, I think I’d better clear it up. You are not my master.” 

Straightening her runway-like chest, Eco’s eyes began to emit a strange aura. 

“I’m the one who is your master!” 

Once again, a bone-chilling icy wind blew through the ravine. 

=== Part 9 ===
…… A few hours later. 

Sure enough, Silvia didn’t betray people’s expectations, with a manner befitting of the Jedi in ‘Return of the Jedi’, she claimed first place and<nowiki>------</nowiki> 

Security guards within the forest found Brigid, decided that the rider must have encountered a mishap, and immediately formed a rescue team, and began to search for the rider. 

The rider was called Ash Blake, a first year Advanced Course student who rode his friend’s pal to compete, the Number One Problem Child of the academy. 

The student council president, Rebecca, and many other students all joined the rescue team. 

As Fianna Forest covered an extensive plot of land, at first, they believed that the rescue operation wouldn’t succeed; however, before long, they found Ash and Eco. 

Cú Chulainn, with Rebecca riding on its head, without turning back, flew straight towards the ravine bordering the forest, as if attracted by some sort of force. 

Afterwards, Rebecca commented: 

“Today was the first time Cú Chulainn disobeyed my order.” 
 

''End of “The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty ~A.S.B.1365.4~”.''

<noinclude>

==References and Translation Notes==
<references />

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| Back to [[Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Prologue

2015-10-13T17:10:01Z

Nscorz: /* Prologue */

==Prologue==
Lautreamont Knight Country; people called it the country of Dragon Breeders.

To its north was the Zepharos Empire, while to its south was the Chevron Kingdom.

Sandwiched between the two major powers: a small country, with a population of no more than five million, had a special academy.

Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy.

Educating and guiding teenage boys and girls who formed contracts with dragons –- an academy for Dragon Breeders.



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| Back to [[Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-10-12T03:54:03Z

Nscorz: /* Part 6 */

==Chapter 2 - The Streets of Ansarivan==
===Part 1===
The news of the number one problem child in the Academy Ash Blake gotten in an accident in the dragon riding festival and his Pal was finally born spread like wild fire.

However, his finally born young dragon Eco is a girl with horns.

Just to settle Eco’s problem, there were two main opinions given during the staff’s meeting.

One of the opinions was to send Eco to the dragon house for strict discipline. While the other opinion stated that Eco shouldn’t be sent to the dragon house because she looked like a human.

In the end of the day, they couldn't come up with a good solution. That is why all of them agreed on letting Ash took care of Eco in his own room for the mean time.

===Part 2===
At the end of the walkway, in the third floor of the Apollo House,

“This is my room. Hurry!”

After he opened the door, he gave Eco a push on her back.

“Grrrr…. How dare you as a dog to order your master.”

Eco turned around and glared at Ash.

“I don’t remember becoming your dog at all!”

“Then you can just be my meat slave!”

“Do you even know what does that mean?”

Eco crossed her arms and smiled proudly.

As usual, she was going to show off her knowledge she get from the Dragweiss.

“It is a slave who provides its hungry owner with its own meat.”

“I am not some food!”

Ash was getting uneasy with the Dragweiss but he still shoves Eco into the room and ran in himself.

Then he quickly had the door locked.

Students were standing outside along the walls of his room with their ears glue towards the wall. Ash doesn’t even have the strength to chase them off.

Apollo House is a dormitory for males.

Every time a beauty with comparable standards to Eco came, there was always a huge uproar.

“Hmm… What a poor looking room.”

After giving it a glance, Eco stated her first impression.

“I guess this is for today… I am gonna sleep.”

Until just moments ago, Ash had been kept held in the infirmary.

After he was found in the ravine and was brought back to the academy, he was questioned by three parties, the board of directors, the staff and the student councils. He was now tired in both physically and mentally.

“Hold on!”

Eco was blocking Ash who was going to jump into the bed.

“Anything?”

“Since I am your master, this bed is mine.”

“Hey! Where am I supposed to sleep then!”

“Hmph! You can just sleep on the floor!”

“You gotta be joking!”

“I am not! If you continue to disobey, I am gonna squash you!”

Eco was pointing her fingers at Ash. She then removed the shirt that Ash gave her and move towards the bed.

Her white skin and curves can be seen.

“W-Why are you removing them!”

Ash immediately turn aside, his heart was beating none stop.

Didn’t I mention it before, that a proper dragon doesn’t need clothes! Can’t I have some freedom during my sleeping time!”

Eco angrily answered and moved towards the bed.

“Zzz… Zzz…”

In just a while, she was already fast asleep.

Her previous glare had turned into pure angel like.

“Good grief…”

Ash rest himself on the laid out the futon and blanket.

Although he was not used to sleeping on the floor, he still couldn’t resist the urge to sleep.

Since it was a holiday on the next day, he doesn’t have to worry about waking up early.

In just a few moments, Ash was already in a deep sleep.

===Part 3===
It was midnight.

Ash felt something was in his futon and he woke up.

“Uwoo!”

He doesn’t have the luxury to continue sleeping.

He felt as if his heart was going to burst.

“Eco! Wake up!”

Before this, Eco had just occupied his bed.

It seems weird that she was now squeezing herself into the futon.

“Huff…”

Eco who was still sleeping was gluing herself to Ash. The feel from her skin also caused his heart beat to speed up. Then, he remembered that Eco was naked.

Although Eco was not as sexy as Navi, Navi only appeared in his dreams.

But right now is reality. The softness of her skin and her body heat was not something from a dream could match with.

“This looks… Delicious.”

Eco was sleep talking.

''What kind of dream was she actually dreaming…'' Just when Ash was wondering, Ash felt an unknown feeling on his body and he trembled.

It seemed that Eco had given him a bite.

“-!”

It was called a nibble.

It can usually been seen doing by a young dragon.

Being nibbled by a Pal was a breeder’s privilege.

Every time Ash saw his friends being nibbled, he was full of envy.

But, this nibble…. Is a little bad for his heart.

Although he knew that Eco is a dragon, she still looked like a girl. Right now, Eco was nibbling his chest.

“Please…. Stop…!”

Although he asked her to stop, he never really forced it. It doesn’t feel bad being nibble by Eco. No, it even felt great.

“…Huh?”

Unfortunately, it had ended.

It was possible that she was sleeping or even possible that this was a different type of nibble from Eco.

Without any reason, Eco’s bite was getting stronger and stronger.

“Uoooo! It hurts! I really hurts!”

Ash was shivering.

He was horrified by the thought of being eaten. The word food kept on echoing in his mind.

Even though she looked like a girl, Eco was still a dragon.

In the worst case scenario, it would even danger his life.

“Uuwoooo!”

Ash pushed Eco to the side with all his might. Her teeth marks were left on his chest. Though there was no bleeding, it would probably take a few days for it to disappear.

“Zzz… Zzz…”

Without knowing Ash’s troubles, Eco continued to sleep.

''-Are days like this going to continue?''

''She should really be sent to the dragon house for strict discipline…'' Or at least that was what Ash thought of.

===Part 4===
The next morning, Ash was woken up by an unexpected guest.

Since some times before, there seemed to be someone knocking on the door nonstop.

Ash who doesn’t have many friends could only think of Raymond and Max.

“Can’t I at least have a good rest during my precious weekends…”

Ash was mumbling while he was walking towards the entrance.

Ash was shocked the instant he opened the door.

“Good morning Ash Blake. You shouldn’t oversleep even if it is a weekend.”

Rebecca was standing at the doorway. Right behind her stood Max who was in charge of the accounts with a sour look.

“P-President! This is the boy’s dormitory!”

“Say my name.”

“Huh…?”

“Being called president is a little too stiff and unnecessary.”

“Ermm… Rebecca-san?”

Ash called out without a second thought which made Rebecca smile.

“Hmm… That’s great. I am here for Eco.”

“I am grateful for you to take your trouble to come here.”

“That is not necessary. By the way, how’s Eco?”

“She is still sleeping…”

Ash was startled when he turned around and looked at the bed.

“Hwuaa…”

Eco who had just woke up was rubbing her eyes and sat up.

The blanket fall off and her white chest was exposed.

“Wha-! That’s not the case!”

“Beast…!”

Max pulled his collar as he was trying to explain the misunderstanding.

“You beast! Do you even know what you had done!”

Luckily, Rebecca interfered and stopped Max.

“Max! Calm down! They didn’t seemed to be sleeping together since there was a futon on the ground. Am I right?”

“Of course!”

“Then explain why she is naked!”

Ash started stuttering because of the tone Max was using.

“Erm… No, that is… Eco said she is a proud dragon and she does not require any clothes. Apart from that, I don’t have any clothes for her.”

“Hmm… Just as what I expected. I had brought something for you, don’t worry about it.”

After a glance from Rebecca, Max handed Ash a bag unwillingly.

It felt a little heavy.

“I gave some clothing to Eco. Though she is a dragon, her appearance is of a girl’s. You can’t expect her to be moving around naked. Just take it as a birthday present from the student council.”

“T-Thank you very much. I am saved…”

Ash lowered his head.

“However, as for the daily needs, you have to buy it yourself. Do you have enough money?”

“… It is a little tight.”

Be it a noble family or a traders family, it had nothing to do with Ash who was born in a small village at the borders.

“If that’s the case, you just have to fill in this form and pass it to the management.”

The piece of form that Rebecca gave him was used by student to apply for the up taking funds for their Pals.

“Strictly speaking, this is only used to apply for the riding equipment… Well, Eco should be a special case. Then, there is one more thing.”

Suddenly Rebecca turned serious. Though she still maintained her statue like beauty, her muscle was all tensed up.

“Actually this morning, it had been decided in the staff meeting that Dr.Cornwell was asked by the academy to examine Eco.”

‘Huh! By saying Dr.Cornwell you are saying she is that…”

She owned a laboratory in Ansarivan City and held the highest authority in dragon research. Ash had never seen her before.

“That’s right. She is that famous person. Since she was always busy, the date to examine Eco had not been decided yet.”

“I understand. No worries, I will take care of Eco until the time.”

Ash’s serious expression made Rebecca smile.

“Good answer. One more thing, after you are done with everything, please drop by the student council’s office. I had many things that I want to ask you.”

“Understood…”

“Hmm… I will be waiting for you then.”

Rebecca left with a smile while being followed by Max.

===Part 5===
“Try putting this on…”

While trying to avoid looking at Eco’s body with the sun right at her back, he handed her the bag.

Eco suddenly turned angry.

“Didn’t I mention it before? I will get into trouble if you don’t at least put on some clothes.”

“Hmm. Are you trying to say that you are not pleased with my body?”

Eco walk approaching Ash while being fully naked.

Ash was panicking and immediately turned around.

“That is why I had told you that it is a common knowledge to wear clothes in the human society. Anyway, don’t you feel cold with nothing on?”

“Hmph. This sunny day is like a give for me who had just been born. It is not necessarily for me to-”

Right at that instant, a yellow butterfly that had lost its way flew into the room and landed on Eco’s nose.

Eco’s nose twitched.’

“A…. A….Achoo!”

It was a cute sneeze.

“Uwaaa!”

Strong winds were created from her sneeze. Ash was blown up and bang into the ceiling like a frog being ran over.

“Ouch! It is just like a dragon’s sneeze…”

Ash who had just crawled up found that he lost the bag. After a quick search, he found out that Rebecca’s belongings were scattered all round the ground.

To his surprised, Eco was actually holding one.

“…Cute.”

It looked like she seemed to have interest in it since she was at that age.

===Part 6===
Just like what he hoped for, Eco had put on the clothes.

The clothes given by Rebecca was a cute dress that had a similar design to the school’s uniform.

Regardless of the collar ribbon or the puff sleeve, it matched Eco perfectly. As for the beret, it could be used to cover up Eco’s horns.

On the other hand, her boots were stylish and the size fitted perfectly. Ash was amazed at how sharp Rebecca was.

Eco didn't seem dissatisfied when she was looking at the mirror.

“Hmm… Not a bad design from a dumb human.”

Ash was relieved.

“Nnn. By the way, is this Ansarivan, the academic city?”

Ash was surprised by the sudden question.

“According to the Dragweiss, there should be many shops on the streets of Ansarivan.

“That right.”

Ash was starting to admire the Dragweiss. It seemed that Eco inherited a huge amount of knowledge. It would be perfect if they didn’t have any knowledge on those weird stuffs.

“…eets.”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“I said… I will allow you to bring me to look around the streets!”

Eco turned aside with her cheeks blushing.

Ash gave a wry smile. It seemed that Eco wanted him to bring her for a walk in the town.

Though the Dragweiss may be useful, it still didn’t feel safe walking on the streets alone. The reason she didn’t ask Ash directly had probably to do with her honour as a dragon.

“Alright then, even a dragon needs a walk.”

“Don’t say it like you are bringing a dog for a walk!”

“O-Ouch!”

Ash almost fainted from being punched right in the belly.

===Part 7===
After claiming two thousands Eccles for the up taking of his Pal from the management, Ash brought Eco to the city.

Two thousand Eccles is equivalent to a month worth of job pay of a government official. Of course this was the first time he held such a large amount of money.

“This is Ansarivan…!”

Eco was amazed the moment she stepped into the streets. Even though she had knowledge regarding this, still, the real thing never failed to amaze her.

The amount of people increased the moment they entered the main street. Since today was also a holiday, most of the people were students.

On both sides of the streets were stalls and the street was full of the smells of foods.

“Gurrrrr…”

Suddenly, Eco’s stomach gave a loud growl.

All the pedestrians around were shocked. Nothing less could be expected from a dragon.

Eco blushed.

“I-It is not like I have any choice. I haven’t even taken my breakfast yet!”

Ash could understand why she was embarrassed about her stomach rumbling while she can walk around naked.

“Yeah right, I almost forgotten…”

Ash had not taken any breakfast because of Rebecca’s visit. All of a sudden, Ash started to feel hunger too.

Eco was puffing her checks in protest to Ash.

“A dragon must eat five time a day, don’t you know that!”

“I heard about it during my years in the basic class… But is that really a necessity?”

“That’s obvious!”

Ash was looking at Eco’s small body frame in disbelieve.

“The daily cost is going to increase…”

“What did you just say?”

“No, nothing.”

“Mm… What’s that? What a nice smell!”

Eco was pointing at a stall. A noisy group of girls of Ash’s age were gathering there.

“That’s a crepe stall.”

“What’s that?”

“Huh? Is it not recorded in the Dragweiss?”

“It is just a food. There is no need to purposely access the Dragweiss. It requires magic to make a search!’

“I see… Crepe is a popular dessert in Ansarivan. Do you want to have a try?”

Basically, dragons are omnivores. They shouldn’t have any problems eating crepes. At least that was what Ash thought.

“Of course!”

There were three girls before them and Ash and Eco were queuing up at the back.

“Is it our turn yet?”

“We need to be patient. It is bad to cut queue.”

“Hmph… Looks like we don’t have a choice. However, since they have the guts to make a dragon wait, it better be good or else I will have this store crushed.”

“That doesn't sounds good…”

Suddenly Ash felt that someone was staring at him.

“Is there anything?”

Eco asked.

“Nothing. I just thought that I felt someone staring at us.”

“Huh? It is impossible for someone looking at us in such streets.”

“… I don’t think that I have enough confidence to say that.”

Since ages ago, Ash's intuition had always been sharp.

If it was not because of that, he wouldn't be able to spot Milgauss in the forest.

“… It must have been my imagination.”

He had become oversensitive due to that incident.

Right at that moment, the girl standing right in front of him had ordered an Ansal flavored crepe.

In just a moment a rose-like smell filled the air.

It made them hungrier.

“I think I am going to have an Ansal.”

After taking a look at the price list, an Ansal crepe cost about a hundred Glorins. While the rest cost only fifty Glorines. Although it was a little expensive, with the money he received for up taking a Pal, this is nothing.

“What about you, Eco?”

Without any reason, was straightening her chest proudly.

“Huhu, of course it is Ansal. It is the etiquette of a dragon.”

“…It seems so.”

The so called Ansal was a high quality herb that was produced in Ansarivan. Apart from the usual use as spice, it was also loved by the dragons. To them, it was similar to cigarettes and booze to humans.

Finally it was Ash and Eco’s turn.

“Two Ansal crepes please.”

After receiving the orders, the shopkeeper roasted the batter with an amazing speed. When it was almost done, the shopkeeper place some pale green coloured cream on it.

The area surrounding them was full of the smell of Ansal.

“Uwaa!”

Eco was looking at the shopkeeper in amaze. Ash’s heart skipped a beat for a moment when he saw Eco with a look of curiosity.

''Stop! Eco is a dragon…'' Ash hurriedly reminded himself.

===Part 8===
There was a public bench not far away from the store. Since it was empty, both Ash and Eco sat on it.

“Mmm…mmm…”

Eco was eating her crepe.

“Nnn… It is delicious!”

“Thank god. The store is now safe from being crushed.”

“Don’t joke with me! Whoever dare to lay a finger on it have to go through me first!”

“Hmm… Anyway, I think only you have to ability to crush it.”

In just a few seconds, Eco finished her crepe completely. She seemed to be not satisfied with it and was eying Ash’s.

Since he was surprised by Eco’s eating speed, Ash haven’t even taken a single bite.

“Haa… Guess I don’t have a choice. Wanna have a bite?”

“Can I?”

“Well, I can't bear seeing you with that kind of face.”

Eco was overjoyed when Ash handed her his crepe.

Her innocent looks while eating the crepe was like a small animal. Ash suddenly felt like he was feeding his pet.

After eating, tightening her fist and declared:

“It had been decided! This will be my meal!”

“This is just for dessert. You have to eat meat if you are a dragon! Or else you won’t grow!”

“How dare a mere dumb human like you order me! Have you forgotten that I am your owner…. Aaa!”

Suddenly, Eco was blushing and was panting.

“Hey… are you alright?”

“M-My body…. It is hot…”

Eco was suddenly embracing Ash with watery eyes.

Their limbs were rubbing against each other.

Ash could feel Eco body heat through the clothes.

“Hey… What are you doing?”

“N-No more… I can’t….”

Eco pushed forward.

Ash could feel her chest.

Then, Eco started licking his the area around his collar.

“-!”

Ash turned numb from being licked by her soft and warm tongue.

“….Eco? What is happening?”

“Please… Do something… I-I can’t…. No more…!”

Just when Ash was getting confused, the rosy lips was approaching him.

Beneath the lips were pearl like teeth.

There were smells of Ansal mixed in within her hot breath.

“Could it be that…!”

Ash could only think of the only explanation.

This is caused by the Ansal.

Ansals were loved by dragon. To them, Ansal were like tobacco and booze in the human world.

Though she was born with the look of a girl, at the same time she is also a young dragon. It seemed that it was bad to her if she took in a huge amount of Ansal.

“Eco! P-Pleaese…. I beg you!”
[[Image:Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi v1 091.jpg|thumb]]

“Huff…”

Eco was approaching him like an animal in heat.

If this were to be left alone, they will be caught for disrupting the peace of the city.

“Mama, what are both of them doing?”

“Don’t look! Just keep moving!”

Just as expected, glares from the people around were piercing him. Although Ash felt like running away right at this moment, he couldn’t even stand up from being held tightly by Eco.

At that moment, someone was standing beside Ash.

“W-What are you thinking….? Doing something as shameless as this in the public!”

The scold shocked Ash. It sounded familiar. No, it doesn’t just sound familiar.

As expected, he saw Princess Silvia her royal highness herself.

“The enemy of women shall face the hammer of death! This is my family motto!”

An iron fist that had enough force to break a rock swung at his face.

===Part 9===
“With this, you should be alright.”

The person who took care of Eco was Silvia’s maid, Cosette Shelley.

Since she herself was quite a famous person in the academy, Ash knew a little about her. Even though they were on the streets, Cosette was wearing the palace’s maid attire. Quite a number of people were looking at her out of curiosity.

Eco started to regain her sense after drinking the water given to her by Cosette who had gotten it from a nearby shop. According to Cosette, the Ansal will be diluted if a huge amount of water was drunk.

“Huff…”

Although her checks were still red, at least she could finally sit still. Ash breathe a sigh of relieve.

“Thank you, Cosette-san. You really help me there…”

“Tee Hee, you are welcome.”

“Tsk. I am surprise that you fed a young dragon Ansal! What had you learn in class!”

Silvia scolded.

“Didn’t Princess-sama fed the newborn Lancelot with Ansal Tea too?”

“Don’t talk about the past!”

Silvia was blushing. It seems she too had the same experience.

“Before that, why was she born in the form of a human and not a dragon? It had become a rumor in the entire academy.”

“Huh? I didn’t knew that Princess-sama who don’t even have a friend would be interested in gossip.”

Silvia was blushing again.

“Be quiet! I-I had not interest in any kind of gossip. Cosette was always talking about all kinds of things, it was just by chance that I heard it!”

“Huhu… Every time I mention about Ash-sama, didn’t you become excited?”

“N-Never!”

In truth, everyone knew that Silvia was always alone.

She would make everyone nervous with just her presence alone.

It happened not because of her status as a Princess. Alright, it is probably one of the reasons. However, the main reason was because of her stubbornness.

“Well, doesn’t everything turned out well. At least you had found Ash-sama.”

After being pointed out by Cosette, not only her checks, even her ears were red.

“What are you talking about! I did not come to the streets on purpose just to search for him!”

“Alright, alright. We will take what you said as the truth. Heehee...”

Although Cosette looked like an honest person at a first glance, she was actually a bully. Silvia was almost in tears.

“Didn’t Princess-sama have something to say to Ash-sama? Please don’t worry about me. I will turn around and face the other side.”

“Don't joke with me! Even when you are facing the other side, you will still try to listen!”

“Huhu. That is the duty of a maid. Just take me as the statue of Venus at the end of a street.”

“Venus! You look more like the reincarnation of Mórrígan herself!” <ref>The Morrígan("phantom queen") is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have been considered a goddess of battle, strife, and sovereignty</ref>

At that moment, Eco’s nose twitched.

“A…Aa….Achoo!”

A cute sneeze.

''-Fshoos.''

A strong wind was created in front of Eco and it had flipped up Silvia’s skirt.

It was white and laced.

Also, the knots on both sides of her waist were all imprinted in Ash’s mind.

“String…!”

“Don’t look!”
[[Image:Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi v1 096.jpg|thumb]]

Just when Silvia’s iron fist was going to knock into Ash’s face, Eco made her move.

She stretched her arms from under Ash’s armpits and stopped Silvia. It seemed to be a reaction only possessed by dragons. It seemed that she was no longer drunk.

“…Eco?”

Ash was surprised that Eco protected him.

“What are you doing?”

Silvia asked in a cold voice.

“You on the other hand. What are you trying to do when you are just a dumb human. This person’s master is no other than me. The only person in this world who can punish him is me!”

“What kind of logic is that!”

Eco and Silvia were confronting each other as if Ash was unrelated.

“Hmph… Whatever.”

Silvia was the first one who backed off. She lowered her fist and turned around. Her golden hair looked dazzling while being blown by the air.

“Ash Blake! I have only one thing to tell you!”

Silvia turned around facing them.

“T-That is… What I had told you previously was wrong.”

“Huh?”

“During that time, I lost my temper. In truth, your Pal was born successfully.”

Silvia who was embarrassed had her sight wandering around. At one moment when her sight and Ash’s connected, she immediately looked away.

Seeing that, Cosette was grinning with a hand in front of her mouth.

“Princess-sama?”

“I-In another words… Err… How should I put this… I will take back what I said. Admitting one’s fault is one of my family’s motto!”

After that, Silvia left.

“Then I too will take my leave.”

After announcing her leave, Cosette gracefully waved her skirt and left following Silvia.

Ash’s mind turned blank after being suddenly apologized to.

''-Like master, like dragon, maybe it died long ago!''

During that time, Ash challenged Silvia just to make her take back her words. Since he lost the race, he didn’t think it is necessary for her to apologize. Furthermore, he was no longer haunted by her words since Eco was born safely.

However, Silvia still insisted on apologizing even though she was the winner.

“Hmm… She would definitely be the most popular person in the entire academy if she had always acted this way.”

Ash grinned. The next moment, he felt pain on both sides of his cheeks.

It seemed that Eco was squeezing the both sides of his checks.

“H-Heho?(E-Eco)?

Eco was glaring at him with a half-opened eye.

“Could it be that… You have some special feeling for that female? Or is that you have forgotten that I am your master?”

“F-Forry…(S-Sorry…).”

If he ever tried to object, he feared that his face would be squashed. Thus, Ash apologized.

===Part 10===
After buying Eco’s daily needs, Ash was standing in front of a public toilet with both of his hands full of grocery bags. Eco had mentioned that she needed to use the toilet and that is why Ash was standing there.

“How long is she going to make me wait!”

She had entered the toilet for some time and had no sign of her coming out. To make it worst, Ash could take a peek since it was the ladies.

“Hey!”

“What is it? Please don’t bother me.”

“Are you interested in the ladies?”

“Of course. If I am allowed, I would even enter and take a good look...”

“So you are this kind of a person… It was wrong of me to think highly of you, Ash Blake!”

“Huh?”

Ash immediately came back to his sense. Who exactly was the person who was talking to him?

Unfortunately, the moment he turned around, he was kicked.

“Ouch! What the hell are you doing!”

Ash regretted what he just said.

“What the hell are you doing…? Yeah, right. That was what I was going to ask you!”

The person in front of Ash was not some stranger. Right now, she was scolding with her arm crossed. Her golden hair at this moment looked like a lion.

As usual, Cosette was following Silvia from behind and was smiling.

“Why were you standing around suspiciously in front of the ladies? You look like a total pervert no matter how I look at you.”

“No… It is just that Eco had not come out from the toilet yet and I am a little worried. That all is what I was thinking. Nothing apart from that.”

“Why don’t you mention it earlier? I will take a look in your stead if you are okay with it.”

Ash was grateful for Cosette’s help.

“Please do!”

“Let’s go, Princess-sama.”

“Me too?”

“Helping those in need is the responsibility of a royal. That’s is from the proud family motto of the Lautreamont Knight Family.”

“I-I knew that!”

Silvia was in shock when the driving seat was taken away from her by Cosette. She then hurriedly entered the ladies.

===Part 11===
Moments later, Silvia and Cosette returned.

“We didn’t see Eco but in exchange, we found this on the floor.”

What Silvia was holding was Eco’s beret.

“This… This is definitely Eco’s hat. But why?”

Since Eco entered the toilet, Ash had been standing all along at the entrance.

He will defiantly see her if she had walked out.

“Apart from the hat, we also collected these.”

Cosette who was standing beside Silvia showed him a handkerchief.

“Collected?”

Inside the handkerchief were sparkling powders.

“This is…?”

“In my opinion, it should be the powders of a Bright Dragon crystal.”

A Bright Dragon Crystal is the crystallization of the dragon’s magic. At the same time, it was used to activate the Oracle.

Without borrowing the powers from the Bright Dragon Crystal, humans were unable to use magic. In the first place, it was the dragons that brought magic into this continent.

“It was possible that someone kidnapped Eco with the use of the oracle.”

Ash was full of shivers when he heard Silvia.

“That is why I kept on having the feeling of someone peeping at us.”

“Really? Then the culprit must have been targeting Eco since the start.”

“Damn! Just why…!”

“Stop panicking! Try thinking what you had learned in class.”

She was staring at him with her ice blue eyes.

“The bond between the breeder and his dragon will not break this easily. Even if you can’t see it, there is the Astral flow.”

“Of course I knew that. It is just that what am I suppose to do?”

“If she is a Maestro, you just have to summon her… But it will be impossible for a newborn. In another world, you have to go to her.”

“But how the hell am I to know where she was!”

“That is why you must stop panicking. As a breeder, you should have a Seikoku branded on your skin given to you by the mother dragon.”

Ash certainly has the Seikoku branded on his left arm. Unfortunately, he had lost his memories of the meeting with the mother dragon. But, of course this is not a good time to discuss that.

“Tell me what should I do?”

“The Seikoku is not just a mere tattoo. It is the door for the Astral Flow.”

“By the way… During the time when Eco was born, I certainly remember that my Seikoku reacted.”

“Put your thoughts on remembering that feeling. Then call out to Eco.”

Ash finally knew what she was asking him to do.

“I will give it a try. Thank you, Princess-sama.”

Silvia blushed.

“N-No need for that! Dragons are holy beasts that symbolized our country. It is my duty to help those who are in need!”

After saying, she turned around.

Cosette was grinning from behind.

“Let’s begin.”

Ash rolled up his sleeve and removed his bandage. The sight of his Seikoku gave Silvia a shock.

“T-That is your seikoku?”

“It seems so…”

Ash had always hated his Seikoku. If it is possible, he wouldn’t even want anyone to know about it. But, right now, it is an emergency.

“What should we do next?”

“It is hard to describe this in words…. First, focus your thoughts on the Seikoku. Then, think strongly about Eco.”

“This seems to be overly abstract. Are you sure about this?”

“It is not like I have a choice. The Seikoku was the product of magic. It would be impossible to describe it using a human language since the beginning.”

“Well, anyway… I will give it a go!”

Under the sight of both Silvia and Cosette, Ash lifted his left arm and held his left wrist with his right hand.

Next, he focused his thoughts on the Seikoku on his left arm.

Ash could somehow feel the Seikoku being heated up.

“Please… Tell me Eco’s location…”

After a few mumbles, Ash was thinking only about Eco.

Since he was seven, Eco who was in his body had never left his side even once.

Eco should had born earlier, had overslept for an extra three years.

Even so, Ash had always been waiting.

Even when he was looked down upon, he had always been waiting.

Eco was finally born. Although it was unexpected and there were many unexplained stuff going on, still there was one obvious truth.

Eco is his Pal.

“Answer me, please…”

Suddenly, Ash’s Seikoku had turned red.

“This is…!”

The magic from the Seikoku had taken the form of a butterfly. It seemed to be leading Ash.

The location should be where Eco was.

“I can see it!”

Comapre to Ash who was over the moon, Silvia and Cosette seemed confused.

“…What do you see?”

It seemed that Silvia and Cosette were unable to see the butterfly formed from his Seikoku. First, Ash don’t have the time to explain to them and secondly, he did not know how to put this into words.

“I am heading to where Eco is!”

Ash started chasing after the butterfly.

“Hold on! It is dangerous to go there alone! I will go with you!”

“I will follow Princess-sama even if we are heading to hell.”

“Please don’t speak off such unlucky stuff!”

Ash was not bothered by any of them and continued to chase after the butterfly.

===Part 12===
The butterfly that was formed from magic could easily fly pass humans. Ash and the rest were avoiding the other pedestrian while they were running along the alley.

“This is…”

The butterfly had finally arrived at an isolated corner of the eastern district. It was a mansion built in the middle of a huge land. Since it was old, it looked like a haunted house. It had not yet been confirmed whether there is anyone staying there.

“A-Are you sure that Eco was here?”

Silvia was shocked.

Silvia who was usually full of confidence had turned pale.

“The Seikoku had certainly showed us this place.”

“I-I see.”

“Hey, you don’t look good at all. Could it be that…. You are scared?”

Though Ash was just fooling around, Silvia overly responded.

“I-Imposible!”

It was obvious that Silvia was lying. Although she doesn’t look like it, she was actually very timid.

“A-Anyway, we can only depend on the Seikoku’s lead. In the worst case scenario, I just have to summon Lancelot and have this place burnt down.”

“Huhu. This is more like it.”

“No, it is bad to summon Lancelot in the middle of the streets! Cosette-san, please don’t encourage her!”

Just when they were arguing, the butterfly flew into the house.

Silvia was right, right now, they could only depend on the Seikoku.

“Wait for me, Eco!”

Ash pushed open the metal door. ‘Crrrreeek’ comes the sound for the rust rubbing against each outher.

“What in the world is that?”

Once they stepped into the garden, Silvia turned shocked.

Every certain distant was a stone slab. It looked as if it was a magic circle. At the top of the stone slab was a Bright Dragon Crystal. All of them were glittering.

Although they were unclear of its usage, it seemed to be able to activate the Oracle.

“These stone slabs certainly looked weird.”

Ash too had stopped his tracks and was looking at the stone slabs.

“For a rundown looking house to posses such a huge amount of bright dragon crystal, it certainly doesn’t look natural. You usually have to have a huge amount of money to buy this amount of Bright Dragon Crystal… I have a bad feeling. First, let us check the background of the owner of this house…”

“We don’t have time for that. We must first save Eco.”

Ash rejected her suggestion and rushed in. It is not that Silvia’s suggestion was wrong. It was just that they don’t have the time to do any investigation before they found about Eco’s condition.

“H-Hold on! W-Wait for me!”

As expected, Silvia who was timid hurriedly chase after Ash.

===Part 13===
Being shone under the familiar warm light, Eco woke up with a yawn.

She still remembered that she was in the toilet of the shopping district and was going to wash her hands. Her memories after that were blank.

After realizing in what kind of a situation she was in, Eco was horrified.

“W-What is the meaning of this!”

Eco was lying down facing the ceilings while she was being tired up. Apart from her knee socks, she was stark naked.

The tools that were used to tie her up were made from strong materials. Eco couldn’t move an inch even after she tried with her entire might.

“What is happening…?’

Eco was looking around.

There was not even a single window. The sources of lights were from lamps powered by Bright Dragon Crystals. Eco was probably familiar with this kind light because she is a dragon.

In the area around her were many medical tools. The bookshelves by the walls were also stuffed full with documents.

There was a dragon model that was being placed on a table. It was not just a model but also a specimen. It doesn’t feel good looking at it.

“Where am I?”

At that moment, a door was opened slowly.

“How do you feel?”

The person by the door was a woman wearing a spectacle.

“Who are you? How dare you to do such a thing to me!”

“I can see that you are in a high spirit. I like it.”

Eco’s threat was useless against the woman.
[[Image:Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi v1 113.jpg|thumb]]

''‘Clank! Clank!’''It was the sounds of her heels when she approached Eco.

“It is really unbelievable that a dragon was born in the form of a human.”

“What did you say?”

The woman’s words had caught Eco’s attention. It seemed that she kidnapped her while knowing that she is a dragon.

“What actually was the dragon thinking? For them to send a young dragon like you into this world?”

“H-How am I to know!”

The woman had become more curious.

“Did you really not know? Didn’t you share the memories of your dragon ancestral? According to the ancient documents, such a thing happens.”

“If you are talking about the Dragweiss, then to further disappoint you, I can’t access it on my own yet.”

“I see. So, I just have to question your body directly.”

''-Hic…!''

Suddenly the woman’s hand started to move.

There was a silver flash right in front of Eco’s nose.

With a closer look, the thing that pierced the wall was a scalpel.

“D-Don’t tell me that…. You…”

The woman replied naturally while taking out a second scalpel.

“Dissection is the basic for biology.”

===Part 14===
Ash was running on the corridor where its floor had started creaking.

Every time they saw a spider or a rat, Silvia would give a squeak. Although Ash would like to look at her while she was making those looks, his priority was to save Eco.

“Urgh…”

Ever since just moments before, a change occurred in his Seikoku on his left arm. It was getting hotter and lights started glowing. Though all the windows in the house were sealed up, thanks to the lights from his Seikoku, they were able to see clearly.

Finally, the Seikoku led them to a door that led to the basement.

It looked sturdy.

Just when Ash was wandering whether he should try calling out or bang in, Silvia made her move.

“Move to a side! I will have it blow open!”

“…Princess-sama?”

Ash who turned pale took a few steps back. Silvia took out a red Bright Dragon Crystal.

''“Crimson Ex-Breath!”''

At the same time the Bright Dragon Crystal glows, a power was shot at the door.

After a loud bang, the door blast opened.

“Eco!”’

Ash shouted the moment he entered the room. Because it was excessively done by Silvia, dark smokes appeared all over the place.

Ash was worried that Eco was injured by it.

Finally the smoke cleared.

“…What a rude bunch of brats.”

Standing right in front of Ash was a lady in white.

Her spectacles made her look like someone knowledgeable. As for her age, she looked like she was around twenty five. Also, she was wearing a white lab coat which made her look like a doctor or a researcher.

Right behind her was Eco lying stark naked while being tied up.

“What are you doing to my Pal!”

Ash was full of rage when he saw Eco lying in that condition.

Eco was almost in tears when she saw Ash.

“You are late! Untie me this instant!”

“Sorry…. Why am I apologizing?”

“What!”

Eco was getting mad but since she was tied up, Ash couldn’t feel her imposingness. On the other hand, her looks made it bad for Ash’s heart.

After moving his sight away from Eco, Ash was glaring at the women in white.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“I am just performing my duties given by the academy. Alright, I admit that my method is a little too forceful.”

The woman answered calmly.

“Duties given by the academy?”

Just when Ash was being confused, Silvia who was standing behind him suddenly shouted.

“She is… Dr.Angela Cornwell.”

“What!”

“I had heard rumors that the professor had a laboratory in the city… Never in my entire life had I ever thought that it is located in this kind of a place.”

“You must be kidding…”

“Doctor, I had always been a fan of your thesis.”

Silvia took a step forward and shook hands with Angela in the same way she would have treat a country’s guest.

“It is my honour, your highness.”

Angela who answered without hesitating had somehow loosen the tension.

Ash was staring at her with his mouth wide open.

''-Dr.Angela Cornwell.''

It was a name he had heard from Rebecca that morning itself. She was a highly rated scholar whom was asked by the academy to examine Eco.

However, Rebecca had mentioned that she was busy and it may require some time before she could examine Eco.

Since everything was written on Ash’s face, Angela smiled.

“I always receive many boring request from the academy. Though at first I was not at all interested in this at all…. My motivation gushed out when I heard that a dragon was born in the form of a human. I had been spying at both of you since this morning.”

It appears that the feeling of someone spying on them that Ash had was from Angela.

“Since you just received your request from the academy in the morning… How did you manage to spot us?”

“Ash-kun, I had always been noticing you. Aren’t you the Breeder who doesn’t have a Pal? At the same time, aren’t you also the genius who can ride on any dragon? It is you who didn’t knew that you are famous through the school.”

“I see… Wait! Hold on!”

Ash was overjoyed when he was praised by a beautiful adult woman. However, he regained his sense immediately.

“No matter what the reasons are, what you are doing is kidnapping! On the other hand, what are you trying to do with that scalpel!”

“Of course for dissecting.”

Angela answered as if it was a natural thing to do.

“D-Dissecting! Are you serious!”

“That’s right. Even if it is a dragon, we would have to dissect it if we want to know more.”

“…You disappoint me! Eco is going home with me!”

After he declared, Ash moved towards Eco.

“I won’t allow that.”

Angela blocked right in front of Ash.

“…What are you trying to do?”

“How would I let such an interesting sample walk away easily. Also… Apart from her, there is another thing that caught my interests.”

Angela was staring at Ash’s Seikoku.

“Shit…!”

Only then Ash remembered that he had forgotten that his Seikoku was exposed.

“So that’s a Seikoku huh? Until today, I had seen many Breeder’s Seikoku, but something like that is a first time for me. Can I take a closer look?”

“Absolutely not! You don’t even know the reason why I tried so hard to hide this!”

When Ash was enrolled in the academy, there were many students who noticed his abnormal Seikoku and treated him like a monster.

In truth, to the rest of the people, it looked like an ill omen.

“I see… You are afraid of your own Seikoku.”

“T-That's not true!”

Ash cheeks were getting hot. Just as Angela had said, Ash was afraid of his own Seikoku.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!”

Eco’s call had averted his attention away from his Seikoku.

Eco was still being tied.

“Anyway, please move aside!”

“Then we will have Her Highness to decide this.”

“Me?”

Silvia was troubled because the topic was suddenly shifted to her.

“A-About this… I can more or less know how the professor feels. Since Eco was undeniably a special dragon.”

“As expected from Her Highness.”

Her words made Angela smile. However Silvia still continued to speak.

“But, dragons are holy beasts that symbolized our country. I will not allow you to dissect her!”

“Princess-sama…!”

Although her explanations seemed to be slightly off topic, Ash was still thankful for that.

“… How disappointing.”

At that instant, Ash felt that the air in the room had turned sticky.

“Princess-sama, please stay alert! Angela is well known for doing what it takes to make her research a success.”

Although she was speaking in a calm tone, Cosette’s face had gotten serious. She stood in front of Silvia and was facing Angela.

“... Not bad for just a maid.”

Angela’s facial expression had changed. Killing intents were gushing out from behind the two lenses.

“Professor…. Don’t try anything rash. I can summon Lancelot anytime.”

“That doesn’t bother me at all. Why don’t you give it a try?”

“Fine with me!”

Silvia was holding her Bright Dragon Crystal.

“In the name of Silvia Lautreamont! Lancelot! Answer my summon!”

There was just only the sound of her voice.

“…”

Ten seconds had passed, twenty seconds had passed… A minute had passed.

Nothing had happened at all. The room was full of silent. Ash was hoping for Lancelot to make a magnificent appear.

“H-How is this possible!”

Silvia was speaking out her mind.

“Have you not notice? This mansion is being protected in an Oracle field.”

“Could it be those stone slabs in the garden…!”

Angela gave a victorious smile.

“Correct. That device was used to create a barrier by using the Oracle. No matter what you do, as long as you are in this room, Lancelot will never arrive. This device was normally used to prevent any break in.”

“Prevent any break in? Then the reason that we are able to enter easily is…?”

“Just as expected from Her Highness herself. When I found out about the both of you, I had the device shut off.”

Then way of Angela’s speech had become crueler.

“Princess-sama… This person is dangerous. We have to leave this place even if we are forced to use Ash-san as a meat shield.”

“I am a shield!”

What Cosette said was bothering Ash and he made a comment on it, then he immediately turned around facing Angela.

“Are you sure that you want to do this? You will be charged for treason by just pointing your knife at Princess-sama.”

“So? Even a Princess shall not bother with my research.”

“Seems like we have to resolve this by force.”

While she was speaking, she activated the Oracle.

''“Crimson Ex-Breath!”''

After a shout, a flash came from her Bright Dragon Crystal and then it was followed by a bang.

While trying to keep himself from being blown away from the blast, Ash grumbled:

“I think you over did this! Even with all this, she is still a professor that be considered as the country’s treasure!”

“It is not like I have a choice! This magic itself is hard to control!”

“Both of you, don’t you think that this is not a right time to argue?”

The person who had interrupted the both of them was unexpectedly Cosette. She was staring at the pile of smoke.

“Impossible…”

Ash was dumbstrucked.

“You thought that you could win by using Oracle?”

Angela remains standing even after the smoke had cleared. Apart from her lab coat being torn and smoked, she was totally fine.

“That’s….”

Ash noticed her bracelet had a black stone on it.

It was not just a normal rock.

Judging from it special radiance, it should be a Bright Dragon Crystal.

“Now that I think of it, the professor was famous for using the Oracle…”

Angela smiled at Silvia as if she was pitting her.

“It is too late. I will not allow you to leave this place until I am done with dissecting her. ''Dark Mother Lullaby''!”

After she had summoned the Oracle, a flash came from the Bright Dragon Crystal on her bracelet.

At the same time, there was also a change on the floor.

Beautiful patterns started to appear.

“This… A magic circle.”

Silvia lost her balance right after she cursed.

“Princess-sama…”

Cosette who tried to help Silvia had also lost her balance.

“Urgh… What is this…?”

Ash’s legs too had started to betray him.

Although his consciousness still remains, with just a little push, he would be baited by the Oracle.

“This is a magic circle drawn using the powder of a Bright Dragon Crystal. We won’t be able to learn this in the academy. But…. How do you manage to remain conscious?”

Angela was looking at Ash with looks of unbelievable.

“What are you doing! If you fall asleep right now… I will never forgive you!”

Eco was shouting even when she had turned pale white.

Eco’s tone was still being haughty. But considering Ash had fallen and she was going to be dissect, it was understandable.

''-Ba-dump!''

Ash’s Seikoku was burning.

Ash's Seikoku was glowing with red colour similar to yesterday when Eco was born. Right now, it looked like a burning torch.

“This…!”

Ash was shocked from the amount of heat burning on his left arm.

He was no longer sleepy.

For the first time, Angela’s face looked shaken.

“Could it be that… Eco’s magic was sent through the Astral Flow…?”

Anyway, Angela seems to notice the change of Ash’s left arm.

“No matter what…!”

Ash swung his left arm the same moment he stood up.

The winds created had blown off the magic circle. At the same time, Angela’s bracelet was destroyed and the black Bright Dragon Crystal broke into pieces.

“I-It can’t be!”

Angela who was always calm was definitely shaken.

“Return my Pal right at this moment!”

While ignoring Angela who was stunned, Ash move towards Eco.

The strong binding tools were broken by Ash in just a blink of an eye.

“*Sob*… You are late!”

Eco who was freed was hugging Ash while complaining. Then she started crying.

“Eco…”

This was an unexpected development for Ash and he started panicking.

For the time being, Ash tried comforting her by patting her back. But just as he touched her bare back…

“Hic…”

It was probably that Ash’s fingers were cold or Eco’s body was over sensitive, her body jerked.

“…Eco?”

“You… How dare a pet like you dare to touch me!”

Once again Eco swung her fist and Ash was knocked against the wall.

===Part 15===
Time flew pass. Without noticing, it was already four in the evening.

After leaving the laboratory, the four of them were heading back to the dormitory.

Eco who was tired of crying was sleeping peacefully on Ash’s back. Her face looked like an angel.

“Good grief, what a bad day… Sorry for involving you even though it was our problem.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was Princess-sama who chose to save Eco.”

Cosette who was walking side by side with Ash was smiling. Although she too was carrying Silvia who was fast asleep, her footsteps were steady.

Just like Eco, Silvia who was always acting strict looked just like angel after she was fast asleep.

“Cosette, are you alright?”

After Ash had saved Eco, she immediately stood up. Since Silvia had yet to be woken up, it signifies that Angela’s was using a strong magic. However, Cosette doesn’t seem to be affected at all.

During the entire time, it was Cosette who found Eco’s clothes, Cosette who coaxed Eco and Cosette who help Eco put on her clothes.

If it was Ash, he would be panicking all along in the laboratory.

“Huhu. That is because I am a maid.”

“It is just because of this?”

“Of course.”

Cosette was always replying him with a smile that could even ward off evil. Even Angela’s anger was soothed by her smile.

“Ash-san I actually have a favour to ask.”

“What the matter?”

“Please keep today’s incident a secret. It is because…”

“Aaah… Alright.”

Ash understood what Cosette was trying to say.

To save Eco, Silvia had trespassed Angela’s mansion and was put to sleep from an Oracle. It is be a disgrace to the royal family.

“I understand. Though it is a pity that I am unable to announced Angela’s bad doing, I still think that she had gotten what she deserved.”

Seeing Ash smiles, Cosette burst out into laughter.

“When she found out that her Oracle was useless against Ash-sama, she was in a shock. During that time, Ash-sama looked great.”

Ash’s heart was beating nonstop since this was the first time he was praised by a girl.

“That’s not it. During that time, I was only thinking of saving Eco. Putting that aside, have you been watching the whole incident?”

“Huhu.”

As if she was trying to hide something, Cosette just replied with a playful smile.

''Once again, a woman who is full of secrets…'' Ash thought so.

===Part 16===
The second day.

Something happened out of Ash’s expectation.

Even before the first period, the students were silenced by a woman in white who entered the classroom.

“Aaaaa!”

Ash and Silvia shouted at the same time. Everyone around was staring at them.

The lady stood on the podium and smiled.

“I am Angela Cornwell. I came here as replacement of your previous homeroom teacher Sebastian-sensei who had retired.”

“What the…”

There should be one more year before Sebastian-sensei reached his retirement age. This should be the work of Angela.

According to the academy, it is an honour to be able to hire a person like Angela as a teacher.

“You can call me ‘Angela-sensei’.”

Both Ash and Silvia were staring at Angela with their mouth opened.

“S-She never learns…”

Since their teacher was suddenly changed into a beautiful lady, while being led by Raymond, all of the boys in the class were cheering except Ash.

Needless to say, Angela was still targeting Eco.

“Please take care of me.”

Just as expected, Angela was glaring at Ash with her eagle like eyes with a cold smile.

"My Baby Dragon ~A.S.B.1365.4~" is closed.

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==References and Translation Notes==
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