Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 6

Novel Illustrations

These are novel illustrations that were included in volume 6.

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Prologue

The continent of Ark Strada. Looking down towards it from the sky; It was shaped like a dragon spreading its wings; On it were five forces that were kept in balance.

I The dragon’s wing ~ Holy Espada Agency.

II The dragon’s body ~ Chevron Kingdom.

III The dragon’s jaw ~ Zepharos Empire.

IV The dragon’s tail ~ Labrock Trade Union.

Also,

V The dragon’s heart ~ Lautreamont Knight Country

Part 1

As if it was trying to avoid any humans, a four-wheeled vehicle drawn by Asia also known as the dragon carriage that was famous in Lautreamont Knight Country had arrived at the rear gate.

“Get in the carriage! Quick! I warn you, the journey till Ansarivan will be guarded by Mounties. You better not try anything funny.”

A soldier was urging Anya with a stern tone. He wanted to send her off as soon as possible. Her opponent was just a mere soldier of the Knight Country. The normal Anya would've chosen to settle it by swinging her whip. Since her handcuffs had been removed and there were only four soldiers, they were like logs to Anya who had mastered the use of a whip.

“…I understand.”

Anya tried to resist the urge. Right now, Anya didn't even have the right to resist. She, who was caught as a terrorist would normally undergo harsh interrogations to force out information from her and after everything was over, would be sent to the gallows. Lautreamont Knight Country which placed an emphasis on the codes of knights had highly developed sets of laws. However, the way they treated terrorists was no different from the other countries. Anya had prepared herself mentally while she was in the cold cell. But she was deeply shaken when she saw the face of the first man who visited her. That man had the same face as Milgauss that Anya swore her loyalty too.

-Julius Lautreamont.

That was his name.

Part 2

After that, the treatment that she received changed drastically. First, she was released from the dungeon and was relocated to the guest room of the castle. The person in charge of watching her was Avdocha the Convicted, the person responsible for capturing Anya. Anya wondered if Avdocha was confident in her skill since she did had Anya’s handcuff removed. No, rather than saying watching over her, Avdocha had always treated her gently. But Anya could never bring herself to ask her why. Later, Veronica Lautreamont, the Iron Blood Valkyrie pleaded in her stead in the judicial department and thus Anya had escaped death. She had gone through surprisingly mild interrogations for a span of two months. For Anya who had been living in the mountains, the relaxing lifestyle in the castle was like heaven. Her interrogations with Avdocha gave her the deepest impression since she usually asked non related questions. In the end, the student restaurant, La Tene's manager bailed her out.

The problem was, Anya could never gain the trust of her people if she returned to her village because of her easy release. Everyone would be suspicious about the judicial department’s decision or at worst they would take her as a spy from the knights.

If that’s the case, isn't it better to cut ties with your home. Furthermore, the manager had offered you a second life that is far better. Those were the words told to her by Avdocha. Though she missed her home, Avdocha's eyes and the manager’s smile helped her made up her mind.

“There are still many things about Avdocha that I want to know about.”

Anya mumbled while she walked towards the dragon carriage.

“… Anya, you had forgotten something.”

At that moment, she heard a familiar voice coming from behind. A young man was standing in front of her when she turned around. His hair was silver with a tuff of red hair within it and he was wearing a mask that had his entire face covered.

“Milgauss-sama… No, Jul- Urgg…”

Anya was shocked when her checks were being grabbed.

“… That name is a taboo in this castle. Do you understand?

Julius whispered into her ear and let go of his hand after she nodded.

“Erm… Why would you come here on purpose to see me off…?”

“Since it is either the Paladin or I who had the most free time in the entire castle, Avdocha wanted me to pass this to you.”

Julius smiled and handed her a bag. It was a smile that she had never seen Milgauss doing.

“Can I open it now?”

“Sure.”

Anya took out the thing from the bag gently.

“This is…!”

She gasped. It was the muffler with red and yellow stripes that she had worn since she was born.

“Isn't this an important item from your hometown?”

Anya was almost in tears while she buried her face into the soft cloth.

“But it is alright for me to take it? Since I had cut ties with…”

“That is the reason why you should. For me who once left behind my home and had wandered around in the Empire… In the end, I had return for a certain reason. It isn't easy to forget about our home.”

“Thank you very much.”

Anya put on her muffler. It felt as if a burden was lifted once she knew that she didn't have to forget about her hometown. At that instant, Anya thought of a question. She then mustered all her courage and asked since she had a feeling that he won’t be able to meet with Julius again.

“Erm… Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes?”

“Is the Milgauss-sama whom I respect no longer in your body?”

“Aah. That seems to be the case. It… Mordred had left my body. Mordred should be wandering around the world in her spirit form right now.”

“To me, I still couldn't bring myself to believe that Milgauss-sama is an evil dragon…”

“I am the one who was actually surprised that Mordred took you in as its right hand man.”

“That fellow always bears the urge to destroy as the Nehalennia's dark dragons’ king. But she had always treated you gently. She definitely never sees you as a pawn. She probably saw its reflection in you that you became an orphan because of the tribal wars “

Julius eyes were staring afar blankly under the mask.

“That is why Mordred appointed you as the leader of the Tantalos. Mordred had deceived many people like the Count of the Vandenhaar borders for her own purposes but she was only nice to you. But, it is fate that the ending turned out this way.”

“Thank you. When I was still in prison… My mind was in a total mess when you first showed up. But, thanks to that, I realized that the person that I swore loyalty to isn't you, but Milgauss-sama…”

“As that feller’s ex-master, I would like to thank you. Thanks to you, she never had to be lonely.”

“…Over there, what are you doing! Can’t you be quick!”

Julius shut his mouth after the soldier shouted.

“It is almost time. I now thank you for all those times.”

“You shouldn't thank me but Ash-kun.”

Whit that, Julius smiled.

“Erm… What are you planning to do after this?”

Milgauss replied her with a wry smile.

“Now you are asking two questions.”

“S-Sorry.”

Anya was blushing.

“About that… I shouldn't stay any longer in this castle. I think I would probably take a vacation. Veronica did suggest that I take up teaching in the dragon riding academy but she did mentioned that she will burn my face to avoid recognition.”

“Huhu, I can imagine that.”

Anya met Veronica a few times during the interrogation and knew what kind of a person is the Iron Blood Valkyrie. After their laugh together, Anya stared at Milgauss's face once again.

“Please do take care.”

“Aah. Good luck to you too.”

After a bow, Anya entered the carriage. After a roar, the dragon carriage departed followed by the Mounties. Anya mumbled when she felt her chair shake:

“I wonder what Avdocha is doing right now…”

Part 3

Though the weather was still warm, the cool breeze bore the sign of fall. A handsome looking young nobleman with a ponytail allowed his fringes to sway along with the winds. He was wearing the dragon riding academy’s uniform with slightly altered designs that was to the liking of the nobles. The nobleman was lying on top of a hill with the view of the entire academic city, Ansarivan in front of him. Right beside him laid a dragon that was enjoying the sun. The Maestro looked majestic and scary at the same time. It had topaz coloured eyes, ram like horns and its fur was black.

Taking a closer look, the third eye on its forehead was actually a black crystal placed at the middle of its forehead. On a first glance, it was as glaring to the eyes as a drop of black ink on a piece of drawing.

“Hey! Oscar!”

At that instant, a girl wearing maid attire appeared with a grumpy looking face. Her silver coloured ponytail was swinging around as she was climbing up the hill. Her maid attire was full of black coloured accessories. It bore a different concept compare to the rest of the maid attires where its colour was a total black. And the short skirt gave her a lively impression. But the most important feature on this maid was not her black dress or her silver ponytail. It was the eye patch on her left eye. Because of that, it brought out a different kind of beauty from her.

“Take it, this is the information that you asked for.”

Her rude tone didn't make her sound like a maid.

“Thanks for the hard work, Celes.”

After he took the documents, the nobleman called Oscar started flipping through it.

“…Hmm. So Zacharias had his eyes on Eco now? He probably knew that she is the descendant of the Avalon’s holy dragons' emperor family.”

“Though he may be old, he is still the king of Chevron. You better not look down on that old chap’s information network.”

Oscar continued reading the documents without answering Celes.

“Huhu, so Uriel had begun to make his move. Recently, I had heard rumours about him getting his hands on Lautreamont's royal family’s second daughter.”

“In our country, that rumour had caused a huge uproar, since that was the first time Uriel announced that he had a girlfriend. Some of the nobleman’s daughters even blasted that Uriel was deceived by a bitch.”

“Huhu. Whatever it may be, nothing can be done since their opponent is Diabolic Belladonna, Cassandra Lautreamont. In among the four Lautreamont sisters… In among the authentic gemstones, she is the one who stood out. In another words, she is a witch.”

“That being said, knowing Uriel’s personality, he is never Cassandra’s pet. On the other hand, I don’t think he had the intention of handing over Avalon’s daughter over to Zacherias.”

“However, Celes, even I wouldn't hand Eco over to either Zacherias or Uriel."

Oscar stood up and patted his dragon.

“Eco’s awakening had given the entire world a shock. From today onwards… Even I can’t predict what is gonna happen.”

Though his words may sound serious, Oscar was smiling the entire time.

“Nevertheless, I had Tristan my best Pal. Would you stay with me even if I had to become my father and brother’s enemy?”

Maestro Tristan gave a loud roar.

“Celes, would you also stay by my side?”

Unfortunately, Celes wasn't as motivated as Tristan. She shook her ponytail and turned her head aside.

“Hey, that isn't good enough, you know… Celes.”

Celes while still looking aside, mumbled in a rotten mood:

“As fellow outcast, I will think about it.”

“That’s better.”

Oscar gave a wry smile and hopped onto Tristan. Since there was no saddle that could fit Tristan’s huge body, Oscar had to stand on its head while riding. The black crystal on Tristan’s head glimmered. Oscar then shouted towards the clear blue sky:

“I, Oscar Brailsford shall be the man who will become Chevron’s king!”

"Dawn of The New Chapter ~A.S.B.1365.9~" is closed.

Chapter 1 - The return of Rebecca Randall

Part 1

In the dragon workshop, a special realm where dragons made their creations. Many creations of the ancestors were hung on the walls and the floor was like a checker board with black and white tiles. On the ceiling was a chandelier made from bright dragon crystal shining brightly.

“Ouch!”

Suddenly, someone groaned in the mysterious space. The person frowning in the middle of the space was none other than Eco. Right behind her stood Navi with a whip.

“Can’t you concentrate?”

With a silverish pink hair, rubies like eyes and snow like white skin, Navi's features were similar to Eco’s. Just that she had a more mature body and pointy horns compare to Eco whose horns were round, just like a young dragon. The most obvious difference was their breasts. Navi's would shake once every few moments while Eco’s looked just like a washboard.

“It is not like I don’t want to!”

Eco was now sitting with her legs crossed. It was similar to the monks of the east when they meditate. According to Navi, that was the best way to concentrate. Eco with an unsatisfied look on her face could no longer keep her position.

-*Crack*.

Navi swung her whip.

“Ouch!”

Eco felt a jab of pain on her shoulder. Even though she was in her spirit form, she could still feel the pain.

“Hey… That hurts!”

“This is all for the training. Didn't you want to use that bracelet?”

“About that…”

Eco was feeling down.

Part 2

It had been a month since Eco started training with Navi. She had been training nonstop for a month without rest for three to five hours a day. All the hard work was for her to make good use of the Avalon Bracelet that Mother Dragon gave her.

I will never allow anyone to use my powers as Avalon’s Daughter ever again… That was Eco’s resolution. Right now, the use of her bracelet was to only control her transformation. But after the training, she should be able to use it as a device to control her transformation. Currently, Eco still wasn't able to control her transformation. But Navi told her that she could freely Dragonise or Humanise with the use of the bracelet.

For the time being, Eco was grateful to have Navi. Without Navi's knowledge, Eco wouldn't even know where to start her training from. Mother Dragon also probably knew that Navi was always by Eco and that’s why she had never further elaborated on the training.

“Are you still angry about what happened on “That Night”?”

-That Night.

Eco’s shoulders trembled just as Navi mentioned about it.

“Exactly! Silvia she… Right in front of me… She did that thing to Ash!”

“Haa… How many times had I heard you grumbling about it. Even callus is starting to grow in my ears. What happened was Silvia confessed to Ash and kissed him, right?”

“I won’t forgive her!”

“For the Imperial Princess of the Avalon’s holy dragons' imperial family to become jealous for only a mere kiss, it is a disgrace to the family.”

“I am not jealous! This is pure anger!”

“Well, isn't jealousy the source of your anger?”

“Urgh…”

Navi sighed when she saw Eco turned speechless.

“Since this is what had turned out, I will pass this information to you. This happened before the wise dragon magic Albion changes the reproductive system of the dragons…”

“I have no interest in the past.”

Eco refuted but Navi ignored her by continuing.

“Polygamy was common among the dragons.”

Eco’s body had gotten hot the moment she grasped the meaning.

“You mean…”

“That’s right. A male dragon will form a pledge with numerous female dragons.”

“That’s downright low!”

“Ara, even the nobles who had a legal wife in the Chevron Kingdom located next to us at the same time are surrounded by numerous mistresses. Even the Chevron King, Zacherias III had hundreds of mistresses.”

“…What are you trying to imply?”

“I won’t say a thing if you are trying to become Ash’s lawful wife. However if you are getting angry every time because he had some business with the other girls…”

Navi crossed her arms and tried lifting her breast casually as if she was trying to point it out. She then took a look at Eco’s breasts and sneered.

“Isn't your worth as a woman is as small as your breasts?”

“Arrrrrrrghhhhh-------------------------------------!”

Eco’s scream was echoing around the mysterious dragon workshop.

Part 3

It is almost the end of the month of Virgo. There was only about ten days left in the two months long summer holiday. It was almost time for the students to return to the school dorms. The quite dorm which felt like a ghost house probably would be able to return to its usual noisy state by the end of the month. Ash was passing time in his renovated room.

“What a peaceful day.”

Ash mumbled while he was looking at the flowerbed through his window. His days of trouble had continued since Eco’s birth. This was the first time he actually appreciated the peaceful days.

“Mm---------------------!”

However, it was different for Eco. After her training in the Dragon Workshop had ended and had returned to the real world, she was suddenly in a bad temper. She most probably still held a grudge on what happened ‘That Night’.

“Arrrgh! I can’t stand this anymore!”

Eco was kicking around on the bed. Her slender looking bare legs made Ash’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hey, Eco. Shouldn't you calm down?”

“It is not like I can control my anger!”

She sat up with her face red from anger. Her right fist was trembling. On her right wrist was the Avalon’s Bracelet that Mother Dragon gave her. Somehow, it seemed like it lacked luster.

“Haa. I didn't know Eco was the type to hold a grudge…” mumbled Ash.

“What did you say!?”

Eco immediately gave him a sharp glare. Even though it was from a beautiful girl, the glare itself was terrifying. Not to mention that Eco was a dragon. The sharpness of her glare was similar to the glare of a dragon.

“N-No. Nothing at all.”

Ash shook his head in terror. Ash could still vaguely recall the things that happened on ‘That Night’ that had caused Eco’s ill temper.

Part 4

It happened about a month ago. Because of Mother Dragon’s request, Ash, Eco and Silvia went visiting Albion Forest’s Novitiate. On the day where Eco received the magic tool, Avalon’s Bracelet from Mother Dragon to control her Dragonization, Silvia had confessed to Ash on that night itself. Then she robbed off Ash’s kiss. It all happened in an instant and Silvia was not acting like her usual self. Ash’s stomach started hurting whenever he thought about the return journey from the novitiate on the second day. Ash was sitting in the warzone between Silvia and Eco while they were on Lancelot’s back…

Part 5

“-Hey, are you even listening to me!?”

Ash returned to his sense after being shouted at by Eco.

“… I am listening.”

Eco walked towards Ash after she jumped down from the bed. She was looking at Ash with her puppy eyes. Her ruby eyes bear a hint of tears. This was how she looked like even though she was angry just moments ago. Ash felt as if his heart was being grabbed. Their shoulders touched each other first. Their faces were so close that they could feel each other’s breath. Eco then tried her best to express herself:

“You’re… You’re mine! That’s why I will transform and crush you if you keep on thinking about Silvia!”

Eco touched her Avalon Bracelet when she spoke. Her expression changed from sad to an evil looking face.

“You shouldn't be able to control your transformation yet, right?”

“Want to try it? I had been training for a whole month you know.”

But those words were just to intimidate Ash. In fact, she was facing difficulties in her training. She still couldn't control her transformation without the bracelet. Those were the words told by Navi to Ash a few days before. That being said, Eco was seriously going to remove her bracelet. But as her owner, Ash could not allow her to do as she please. Ash told her with a serious look.

“Eco, stop what you are doing right now. Do you want to disappoint Mother Dragon?”

“T-That…”

Eco felt guilty. Ash’s words were really effective.

“Hey, Eco, please listen to what I am going to say carefully.”

Ash placed both his hands on Eco’s shoulders. After being stared at, Eco blushed. Her cute look almost had Ash lose his self control.

“I too am surprised about princess-sama's actions. Even I have not yet mentally recovered from that shock… Anyway, that kiss was unavoidable, please try to understand.”

“Even so, I am still angry! Since… That kiss is unavoidable, you should be able to forget about it. If that’s the case, I will forgive you!”

Ash turned speechless. In times like this, a skillful guy would definitely answer with ‘I had already forgotten about it’. However, Ash was far from skillful and he was bad at lying too. His memories about Silvia’s hot breathe, her soft lips and her honey like scent were deeply engraved into his mind. Eco had gotten angry again when she saw Ash stuttering.

“As expected, you still remember them!”

“No… But no matter what, she is still a princess. Being confessed by a princess…? Isn't it hard to forget? Rather than that, isn't it rude to princess-sama if I forget about it?”

“Urgh…!”

The next moment, Eco was clenching her teeth while tears started flowing from her eyes. Ash begun to panicked.

“Uwaa! Sorry, Eco!”

Ash tried to pat her on her head. But his hand was pushed off.

“Eco?”

Eco was clenching both her fist.

“Even I myself…. Wanted to kiss you at that time!”

“Eh!?”

It was an unexpected confession. Just as Ash was surprised, Eco leaped on to her bed. She then grabbed on to her stuffed toy and covered her head with a blanket. Then, she remained motionless like a stone.

-That stuffed toy initially belonged to Silvia.

Even after she knew that, Eco never had the intention to return it to its owner. On the other hand, she treated it like her child. She was actually using it to protest against Silvia.

“Hey, Eco…?”

However, she didn't reply. Even after he tried to lift the blanket slowly, she didn't do anything to stop him.

“Could it be…”

Ash realized what was happening after he saw her sleeping face. Rather than sleeping, Eco was actually in her spirit form.

“…So she is at the Dragon Workshop again.”

Ash sighed and sat on the bed.

“That being said…”

Ash recalled the moment before being confessed by Silvia. He had obviously forgotten about the moments before Silvia appeared on that night. The shock from Silvia’s actions was too great from him to digest them. He remembered that he and Eco were having a good, calm and sweet atmosphere. They were just a step from kissing…

“Argh..!”

On that night, Eco was on the verge of kissing Ash. However, Silvia’s sudden appearance had interrupted her chance. That being said, Eco’s anger towards Silvia may be worse than Ash could even imagine.

“What should I do to calm her down…?”

“Isn't Eco upset because of that kiss? Why won't you try forcing a kiss on her? Who knows if it is the key to solve everything.”

“No, no, no… It just couldn't be this easy… Uwaaaa!”

Ash almost fell when he tried to turn around. It was Rebecca Randall who was sitting on the window frame with her red hair waving in the wind. Her dazzling appearance suited her name Scarlet Empress well.

How long has she been there…?

Outside the window stood Cú Chulainn, Rebecca's Pal. It was well known as the academy’s strongest and most famous Maestro. But in front of Rebecca, it was like a quiet cat.

“Huhu. It had been a long time, Ash.”

Rebecca with a devilish smile on her face changed the way she crossed her legs. Ash immediately averted his eyes.

“Back to the topic, who would have thought your relationship with Eco and Silvia would progress greatly during my holiday in my hometown.”

“Wha… How come you know about it!?”

Ash was shocked.

“Just days before, I received a letter from Cosette. All the interesting stuff that had happened around you were well written in it. I read about your arrival at Albion Forest’s Novitiate and your meeting with Mother Dragon. Huhu, it is like a romance novel. Do you want me to read it to you?”

Rebecca took out a cute looking letter from her uniform’s pocket.

“I strongly reject!”

“Aaah… By the way, I was surprised that you met Silvia on your Orphan Ceremony when you are seven. Who would expect that she would confess and kiss you. That doesn't sounds like her.”

“Rebecca-san, please… Speak no more…”

Rebecca continued to speak as if she was toying with Ash:

“That’s right, I was even told that you even exchanged kisses with Eco… Huh, what’s wrong, Ash?”

“What else can I do? My strength had reached zero thanks to you.”

Ash was sitting on the floor with both his arms around his knees. He was totally spiritless.

“Haha… Sorry. It is just that I am happy to see you after a long time and I just had the urge to tease you.”

After Rebecca gave him a wry smile, she left the window frame and walked towards Ash. Right after Ash noticed a fragrant scent, the sunlight was hidden behind Rebecca. Rebecca's shadow had overshadowed Ash.

“…!”

Ash’s body immediately froze. Rebecca's breasts had his entire sight covered. They had her uniform stretched to its limit and they looked soft. Just like how a person hugged a puppy, Rebecca embraced Ash. He could feel Rebecca's body heat and her fragrance through her breast. Ash’s mind had gone blank.

“What's wrong? Do you feel better now?”

The sound that brought Ash back to his sense was a voice like a gentle mother.

“Y-Yeah.”

Rather than feeling better, Ash was actually in a shock. He was truly excited from being embraced by the Scarlet Empress.

Did I just use up my entire life worth of luck just now?... Ash was worried about it. Rebecca released Ash. Then, she spoke to the blank wall even though there was no one.

“…Did you had that scene recorded… Cosette-san?”

“Of course. Huhuhu...”

The voice that came from the ceiling almost made Ash’s heart stop beating.

“Wha…!”

He saw a maid on the ceiling when he looked upwards. How much training had she gone through to hide her presence… Ash had a hard time figuring it out. Cosette who witnessed the entire event jumped from the ceiling without even feeling sorry about it. After she landed, she gave a graceful bow.

“Right now, Ash-sama is a potential candidate to become princess-sama's bridegroom… I would do anything…”

“Hold on, you are trespassing!”

“It is alright. It is legal as long as I am not seen ♪.”

Cosette said while she twinkled an eye. Though Ash was almost entranced by her mischievous looks, but he just could not back down.

“It is no use even if you act cute!”

“Ara, it is a pity. Does it meant that Ash-sama like perverted girls more than cute ones?”

Sweet scent emerged from Cosette’s wet lips. In just a split second, Cosette looked a lot more adult like.

“What are you talking about!?”

“Huhu. I am just joking. That’s right, about princess-sama's confession…”

Ash began to panic when Cosette changed to the main topic.

“This is from me… Please act like what you usually do in front of princess-sama.”

“What I usually do?”

“Exactly. Judging from princess-sama's behavior…. She would run away from embarrassment when she remembers about that confession and that kiss when she meets you. Also, you don’t have to give her a reply immediately.”

You don’t have to give her a reply immediately- Ash gave a sigh of relieve once he heard about it. He was always worried about not replying Silvia but he now knew that his answer was not at all important.

“I understand.”

Cosette smiled in satisfaction once she heard his reply. But just as she was leaving, she was stopped by Rebecca.

“By the way, Cosette-san, there will be a meeting for all student council members at one in the afternoon tomorrow. Please inform Silvia.”

“Certainly. Then, I shall take my leave.”

Cosette bowed and leave. Then, Rebecca glared at Ash.

“Ash, you too must attend. I came here to tell you this.”

“I understand. But what about those who are still on their way home?”

“Don’t worry. Regarding that, I had sent them a mail to their home to inform them about it. They will probably arrive by noon, tomorrow. Even Jessica had departed earlier than me just to meet you.”

“I see, she hasn't changed at all…”

Ash had the chills when he thought about Jessica. Right now, she was probably riding on her Hydra Rhiannon that was swimming its best along the flow. Even so, Rebecca was the first one to arrive. Ash was truly amazed by its, by Cú Chulainn's speed.

“By the way, Ash.”

Rebecca spoke in a serious tone.

“There will be an important job next month. As the student council president, I don’t want to see student council’s job being affected by your personal matter.”

The next month is the month of Libra. Ash immediately figure out what the important student council’s job was.

“Is it the Libra Dragon Riding Festival?”

“You are only half correct.”

Rebecca crossed her arms in front of Ash who was confused.

“I see. You had totally forgotten about it. This Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy is going to celebrate its five hundredth anniversary. To be more specific, we are celebrating it next month.”

“S-Sorry. I totally forgot about it.”

Five hundredth anniversary-

“Ash, listen carefully. This year’s Libra Riding Festival will be changed to Ansarivan Five Hundredth Anniversary. It will be done grandly. It will be an honour for me to witness it as the student council president.”

The way Rebecca declared made her looked a lot more magnificent in Ash’s eyes

Part 6

“Aaaaargh! I can’t believe this!”

Eco who had entered the Dragon Workshop had borrowed Navi's power to look into the real world. A single wall had transformed into a screen and Ash was shown on it. Eco who was staring on that wall the entire time stomped around once she saw Rebecca left.

“This time, it was Rebecca who had turned mellow. Don’t tell me that even she had her eyes on Ash!?”

“Huhu… Who knows if she would become a powerful rival to Princess Silvia.”

Navi who was standing behind Eco smiled.

“Don’t tell me that… You are enjoying this!?”

“Ara, is that how I look to you?”

In regards to Eco who pointed her finger at her, Navi replied with a smile.

"The Bracelet of Avalon ~A.S.B.1365.9~" is closed.

Chapter 2 - The Baron of Sonic

Part 1

—Don, Don…Don!

The next morning, Ash was awoken by the sound of a knocking sound on the window, and hurriedly jumped up.

“Su…su…”

Eco, who was beside Ash didn't seem to be affected by the noise, and continued to sleep soundly. Eco, who had always slept naked in the past, recently gained the habit of wearing pyjamas and nightgowns when she slept now. Ever since Ash was kissed by Silvia, Eco’s mood had become worse, but she still reluctantly allowed Ash to sleep on the bed. Although before sleep, she would unhappily turn her back, and turn her face away from Ash. But once she had gone to sleep, she would expose an innocent sleeping face. However, now wasn't the time to admire Eco’s sleeping face. Ash climbed up from the bed, and ran over to pull open the curtains.

“Whoa! It’s this situation again…!”

All he could see outside the window were the bodies of two dragons pushing back and forth against each other. One of them was a beautiful Maestro with silver fur. The other had a long twisted body like a snake, a water dragon which was clinging to the wall. The rider of the former was Lucca, and the latter was Jessica. The sound of the quarrel between those two drifted into the room through the window.

“Mou! Lucca-san. Can you please not get in my way?”

“…I arrived earlier than Jessica. And Gawain would also like to see Ash.”

It looked like the two of them had already returned to Ansarivan. Several large pieces of luggage were attached to Jessica’s saddle, and Lucca was carrying a massive backpack. It seemed the two of them had just happened to meet each other in front of the boys’ dormitory. In any case, they couldn't be allowed to continue quarreling. The nightmare which occurred on the first day of summer vacation vividly resurfaced within Ash’s mind. Because both of them were having an argument outside the window, the other female students nearby were also infected by their excitement, and an entire section of the wall was destroyed in the end. Ash opened the window with a ‘pop’ sound.

“Hey…please you guys, can you come in through the window as per the rules?”

As if to enlighten the mischievous students, he said that with good intentions.

“No way! Come, Ash-sama! Hurry up and accept the souvenirs which are filled with my sincerity!”

“I also…brought back a lot a lot of specialties from the village of Eckbald…”

All at once, a vast number of items were tossed into the room from the window, which caused Ash to gape in surprise.

“Wait — uwah!”

In the blink of an eye, Ash was drowned in a small mountain of souvenirs. The things that Jessica threw into the room were mostly fruits which Ash had never seen before, and most of them were the specialties of her hometown. On the other hand, everything that Lucca gave him were herbs or fragrant woods. A unique fragrance immediately spread within the room.

“I’m very grateful for your consideration, but shouldn't you think more about having a limit to that?”

Ash awkwardly climbed out from the small mountain of gifts, and then begged the two people with pleading eyes.

“No, I haven’t even finished yet! The most valuable souvenir is my body!”

Jessica got up from her saddle, and then jumped into the room.

“Ah, how cunning…me too…!”

Lucca also got up and jumped in.

“Hey, you two…!”

Jessica and Lucca grabbed onto Ash’s body on both sides. Being stimulated by the body heat of those two girls, Ash’s heart couldn't stop racing — the next instant, they all fell onto the floor. Despite the sudden situation in which his eyes were closed, he was pressed down under Jessica and Lucca, and Ash seemed to be in an enjoyable position. Soft and abundant breasts enveloped his right hand, while his left hand felt a stimulating sensation which was like that of a soft, fluffy animal.

“I really wanted to see you! I've never had a break which felt this long!”

“I was also the same…I really wanted to see you. If I can…I hope to be able to introduce Ash to the chief…”

Both Jessica and Lucca displayed truly happy expressions. The two people really had sincere feelings, and Ash felt happy about that. Nevertheless, there was only one troublesome problem in here.

“Hey…you guys, if you continue with no sense of restraint…”

At some time unknown to them, Eco had awoken and stood aggressively on top of the bed, and it felt as though she was ready to make loud ‘grgrgrgr’ noises at any time as her body exuded an atmosphere of anger.

“I’ll crush all of you together!”

Part 2

—At one in the afternoon.

With President Rebecca as the leader, Disciplinary Affairs member Silvia, Accountant Max, Secretary Lucca, Ash and Jessica of General Affairs, and lastly the Mascot Eco – everyone sat around the table in the Student Council Office. Perhaps because she was still thinking about her confession and kiss, Silvia was sitting in the seat furthest from Ash. The two people had obviously not seen each other for a while, yet they didn't even exchange a single word.

—The atmosphere always feels so awkward…

In Ash’s position, he certainly wanted to return to their relationship before, where they could naturally converse with each other. However, as soon as he thought about Silvia’s confession and kiss, it was difficult for him not to become nervous. It was presumably the same for Silvia. Ash suddenly recalled something that Cosette had said. She had come over specifically to tell Ash yesterday, hoping that he would act as natural as in the past with the Hime-sama, and also reminded him that he didn't need to respond to the confession too quickly. Incidentally, Cosette, who normally accompanied Silvia by her side was not present today. It seems as though she went shopping.

—Since Cosette-san isn't here…yes, I should calm down first, and then I’ll try talking naturally to Hime-sama again?

However, as if to completely interrupt his thoughts—

“…I will never forgive that fox.”

With a frightening tone, Eco muttered that while she sat beside Ash. It wasn't just him who was focusing his attention on Silvia. Eco, who was secretly glancing at Silvia, was like a threatened beast with all of its fur on end.

—No. If I just try to talk to the Hime-sama, I’ll just stimulate Eco’s anger…

Just when Ash’s mind was in distress—

“—Then, we’ll begin the meeting now.”

With Rebecca's declaration, the meeting officially began. The topic was called ‘The Libra Dragon Riding Festival’ of ‘Ansarivan's Five Hundred Years Festival’.

“……”

Perhaps because she was deterred by Rebecca's magnificence, Eco relaxed her face that was filled with anger, and Ash also tentatively sighed in relief. When the three o’clock bell rang, an unexpected knock on the door of the room momentarily interrupted their meeting.

“—Excuse me. Rebecca-sama, I have brought that thing here.”

Wearing a maid outfit specifically for those in service of the Royal Palace, a girl walked into the office. Ash was familiar with this innocent beauty. She was Eunice, who served the new Headmistress, Mirabel Lautreamont. What was the thing that she was referring to? …Just when Ash felt curious about it, Eunice walked over to Rebecca's side, and then gave her a seemingly antique, small box. The size of the box was such that it could be held in the palm of Eunice’s hand, and the outer appearance was like that of a jewellery box. Upon receiving the box, Rebecca opened the box’s lid with a serious expression. Placed within the box, was a piece of metal — it was actually a golden key. Also, that wasn't just any ordinary key, on its head was a delicate ornament. In particular, attached on top of it was a bright red Dragon Crystal, which gave off the feeling that it was from a great existence. After Rebecca confirmed the key, she replied to thank Eunice

“Thank you, Eunice-san. Please give my regards to Mirabel-dono for me.”

“Yes.”

After respectfully bowing, Eunice immediately left the office. Rebecca watched Eunice’s back as she left, and then looked around at everyone who was present.

“I have some good news to tell everyone. We Student Council members have always depended on others, and all our activities are in this room…but the number of members we have this year has increased, and it can’t be denied that this space feels a bit narrow.”

Rebecca was right, the Student Council Office had become more and more crowded every day. With more people, it became livelier, and the number of miscellaneous items naturally increased. Although Max, who was a very tidy personality worked very hard to maintain a clean environment, he was unable to keep up recently, and it slowly became untidy.

“So I've discussed it with Princess Mirabel, hoping that she could help us prepare a new activity location.”

“So that key is…!”

Jessica’s eyes lit up, and she stood up from her seat.

“That’s correct, today’s meeting is now finished. I’ll take you to the new location!”

Part 3

Rebecca led a group of people towards a certain building within the school grounds. It was a two story building built with bricks. The style of the building was elegant and refined, reflecting a strong modern architectural style. Within the Academy which was lined with old buildings, this was a unique exception. Moreover, if one had to describe this building with a single phrase — it was in ruins. Nailed across the main entrance were several wooden planks, which strictly prohibited access. With a serious look, Rebecca said

“This mansion was originally used by the Student Council, and was built around ten years ago.”

“Eh? Then why has it been blocked up and only been reopened now?”

Ash felt that it was rather strange, and looked at Rebecca's face from the side. Since such a great office space was built ten years ago, why did the Student Council have to borrow a small room of the school as a makeshift venue?

“The name of this building is called Julius Hall.”

Hearing Rebecca's serious reply, Ash felt uneasy for a moment.

“What, that can’t be…!”

“Correct, during the time that Prince Julius Lautreamont was the Student Council President, he negotiated with the School Board, and asked them to build this mansion. Prince Julius’ dream seemingly was to build a house within the school grounds to act as the activity point of the Student Council. Although his dream became a reality…it didn't even last a year, and Julius Hall was closed down. Even the name ‘Julius Hall’ was erased. The reason for that shouldn't be difficult to imagine, right?”

“Because Prince Julius killed his Pal Mordred…”

“You’re correct. That’s why the Student Council naturally couldn't continue to use the building which was named after Dragon Slayer. For the ten years afterwards, the entrance of Julius Hall was cordoned off, so as to prevent unauthorised persons from entering.”

Rebecca looked at the house with sharp eyes.

“However…after a series of events, we already clearly understand that Prince Julius is by no means the most heinous person he is believed to be. Perhaps we will have to wait for a long time before we can publicly announce the injustice. But, simply removing the seal on Julius Hall shouldn't pose a problem. Furthermore, we have also obtained the agreement of Princess Mirabel.”

After saying that, Rebecca removed the Dragon Crystal from her pocket. The crystal which seemed to originate from a Maestro emitted a sacred light.

“—Lightning Dragon Break!”

At the same time that Rebecca activated the Dragon Magic, a burst of thunder and lightning enveloped the surroundings along with a gust of wind.

—Boom!

The wooden planks that were nailed across the main entrance shattered along with the sound of their destruction. However, even after being struck by lightning, the main door didn't show any trace of damage. Her control of magic techniques was superb. After turning back around to us, Rebecca then relaxed and returned the Dragon Crystal to her pocket. In front of her sharp gaze, Silvia remained still as if she was astonished by it. She appeared to be slightly lost in thought. Perhaps she was still thinking about Ash, as she rarely spoke today.

“Now, since this house is your brother’s work, so it would be more suitable for you to unlock it, Silvia.”

Silvia suddenly returned to her senses, and then walked up to Rebecca's side.

“Thank you, President. Although it can’t be publicly announced…for this house to be reopened again, aniue would definitely be very happy.”

After Silvia seemingly reluctantly accepted the key, she walked towards the front of the main entrance. She seemed to look at the door with mixed feelings for a while, then made her resolve, and inserted the key into the keyhole. A metallic clicking noise indicated that the door had been unlocked. Rebecca was the first person to begin applauding. Following that, Ash and the others also began to clap. They all intended to express their congratulations to Silvia. Even Eco, who was in a cold war with Silvia, did not get angry. Although she had a foul expression on her face, she graciously applauded Silvia as a celebration.

“Thank you everyone, thank you…”

Silvia’s eyes were tinged slightly red, as she felt moved. This heart-warming scene also naturally caused Ash to smile. At that time, Silvia inadvertently looked towards Ash. When the gaze of the two people met, Silvia’s face suddenly became red, and she lowered her head.

“Congratulations, Hime-sama.”

Nonetheless, Ash sincerely gave his congratulations to her.

“T-Thank you…Ash.”

Although her tone was somewhat stiff, Silvia was willing to reply at the very least, so Ash also relaxed somewhat. Ever since the two of them kissed at the novitiate, this was the first time that they finally had a face-to-face conversation.

“—Ow!”

The next instant, Ash felt a sharp pain on his bottom, and he distorted his face in pain. He gritted his teeth in order to resist the pain, and then turned around to look behind.

“…What kind of perverted expression is that?”

Eco had a dissatisfied face, and she forcefully pinched Ash’s bottom. It seemed as though the conversation between Ash and Silvia made her feel a bit…no, it was a highly dissatisfied expression. Ash resisted the pain from his bottom and whispered in Eco’s ear

“I-I don’t have a perverted expression! I was just congratulating her before…”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Seeing Eco increase the strength in her fingers, Ash didn't want the people around him to find out that he was so pathetic, so he desperately suppressed his urge to moan out.

“Well, everyone. If possible, I’d like to hold a luxurious tea party to celebrate the reopening of Julius Hall, but…as you can see, this place has been abandoned for ten years.”

After Rebecca revealed a mischievous smile, she loudly announced the content of today’s task.

“First, we have a big clean up job!”

Part 4

For this reason, all members of the Student Council rolled up their sleeves and started to clean — no one thought that it would be the beginning of a nightmare.

“Hiyaa!”

As she fell, Silvia tipped over a bucket, and spilled it all over the floor.

“Mou, please Hime-sama, you don’t need to do any more — kyaa!”

Jessica had slipped on the wet floor, and fell down bottom first. A spider web had also woven itself onto her face.

“Muu~~~~!”

On the other side, Eco and Lucca were competing to see who was stronger. Rebecca had asked the two of them to move a vase to the reception room, and they were now competing for dominance. The two of them disregarded the seemingly high artistic value of the vase as they pulled it in a tug of war, insisting that they would move it themselves.

“Have I come to hell…?”

Ash muttered with a look of amazement.

“They sure can give people a headache.”

Rebecca went behind Ash, as her moist lips drew a wry smile.

“Actually, I told them that ‘Ash likes girls who do housework’…from the looks of it, the effect of that was too strong.”

“Eeh!? That’s too much, what are you talking about!”

“Fufu. You really know how to play with their emotions, which is remarkable for a first timer, Ash.”

“I-I don’t play with their feelings, that’s too exaggerated!”

“You’re not thinking about turning the Student Council into your own harem, are you?”

“No no no, how would I!”

Seeing Ash become embarrassed, Rebecca laughed without restraint.

“Haha, just kidding. Anyway, I was too stupid to expect anything from them. Silvia has probably never done any housework since she was born; although Jessica is from a family of servants, she’s rather clumsy, and she’s also a daredevil. Lucca is a typical ‘sloppy girl’, and as for Eco, well…I think you would know better than me, right?”

“…You’re right. If Cosette-san was here, I think it would be much easier.”

“Don’t think of Cosette-san like that, she is incredibly busy. Besides, she is Silvia’s personal maid after all, so we shouldn't ask her to help out so casually. It’s just that, in a chaotic situation such as this, you also don’t want to clean up.”

Just when Rebecca sighed, an accident occurred between Eco and Lucca who were arguing. They had been holding the vase in a tug of war, but Eco suddenly let go.

“Ah…!”

“Hmph! Don’t look down on the wisdom of dragons!”

“I think it should be called a childish idea?”

While watching Eco’s triumphant expression, Ash cursed in his mind, but held back and didn't say it out loud. But Lucca's hand clutched onto the vase as she lost her balance and stumbled back. Correctly speaking, she was falling towards the direction that Ash was facing.

“Eh…?”

Upon seeing that Lucca's back was almost in front of him, Ash was momentarily at a loss on what to do. He scrambled to catch Lucca's petite body with his arms, and the fragrance of herbs entered his nostrils — the next moment, his body lost balance due to the impact. Coincidentally, Max was walking past behind Ash. Max was distracted as he looked towards the floor — he didn't expect such a disaster, as Ash crashed into him while he still holding onto Lucca. Max, who had unexpectedly been affected, was knocked back hard.

“—Ah! My glasses!”

Although he seemed to have heard Max’s exclamation, Ash didn't have the capacity to worry about his situation. After rolling over several times with Lucca, he finally stopped, and then slowly opened his eyes to glance around—

“Ouch!”

The sight immediately in front of his eyes gave him a scare. He was unable to utter a sound, because there was something soft pressed onto Ash’s nose and mouth. His entire field of vision was occupied by a pattern of green and white stripes, and he could faintly smell a sweet fragrance.

“Ah! N-No…Ash’s breath…!”

In fact, Lucca's lower body was riding on top of Ash’s face.

—Wah…please hurry and get up!

Ash desperately wanted to convey his thoughts.

“Awu…!”

However, the more that Ash tried to speak, the more intensely Lucca's body shivered. Her thighs on both the left and right side were also clamping onto Ash’s head. Ash was enveloped by the heat of Lucca's body, which made Ash feel as though he was about to faint — but he quickly sensed that a surge of murderous intent was coming towards him, which caused him to shiver.

“You brat…what are you doing while taking advantage of the confusion!”

“How shameless! And you call yourself a Dragonar!”

“That’s making other people feel jealous! Please swap with me!”

It was the three people Eco, Silvia and Jessica. The previous dispute seemed to be futile; those three people had unwittingly signed a truce and now snappily glared at Ash and Lucca. But, Jessica’s point of concern was different from that of the other two people.

“Ah…don’t need……a-already……fine—!”

Lucca suddenly tensed her body, and then her entire body quivered. In the blink of the eye, she seemed to be exhausted, and then slumped forwards. Her delicate upper body which was like that of a fairy’s collapsed onto Ash’s body.

—Not good! This position is…!

Lucca's face landed on top of Ash’s crotch. Indeed, this position was far too dangerous. He also remembered that in the adult magazines that he borrowed from Raymond that there were images which resembled his current position.

“Uwaahh!”

Ash desperately scrambled out from underneath Lucca's body. What just happened to Lucca's body? Ash was puzzled, and peered at Lucca's face as she lay on the floor.

“Ash you…pervert. You've ruined me…I can’t get married now.”

Lucca's breathlessness didn't stop, and she looked at Ash with breathtakingly flirtatious eyes. Her amethyst coloured eyes were watery, and her cheeks were dyed deep red. In addition to her cheeks, her long elf-like ears were dyed a shade of pink from the tip to the earlobe.

“I-I’m sorry, Lucca…!”

Despite the fact that it was an unfortunate accident, it was an indisputable fact that he had buried his face into a girl’s secret garden. Ash’s conscience felt uneasy. However, it seemed as though he didn't even have a single second to repent.

“Ash, have you mentally prepared yourself to be crushed?”

“How dare you be so shameless, I think even bringing out the Lautreamont Family’s motto will be in vain, right?”

For some reason, both Eco and Silvia had smiles on their faces. The Dragon’s kick and the Princess Knight’s iron fist struck at the same time.

“Oww!”

Although Ash was defencelessly thrown into the air, the strange thing was that this had a somewhat nostalgic feeling. It was almost as if one returned to their homeland after an absence of several years, a sensation which made people’s hearts warm. These past few months, the situation around Ash had changed immensely, causing him to feel confused. The truths which were unknown had been revealed one after the other. As the Avalon Knight, Ash had entered an area where he could only advance, as there was no path for retreat — but at least in this moment, he seemed to have temporarily returned to the lively times which were common when Eco was born.

Part 5

“Whew. Blame me for being too stupid for having you to do cleaning work. Anyway, all of you wait outside for me. In the meantime, you can let your heads cool down.”

After Rebecca crossed her arms in front of her chest, she spoke in a severe tone to Eco, Silvia, Lucca and Jessica. Eco and the others, who were ordered to assemble into a straight line didn't even dare to utter a sound.

“Umm…President. I’m going to visit the optometrist.”

On the contrary, Max seemed dejected from being affected by the accident, and lost his enthusiasm. After all, his pair of glasses had broken, so it was inevitable that he would get frustrated. Max himself was not injured, his lenses had simply been cracked, which could be considered lucky amidst the misfortune. After watching Eco and the others leave, Ash realised an important fact.

—Isn't this strange? Right now…doesn't that leave me alone with Rebecca-san…?

Indeed, the ones who remained at Julius Hall were just the two people, Ash and Rebecca. The instant that he realised this, Ash’s body suddenly became tense.

“What is it, Ash?”

Rebecca asked in wonder when Ash panicked. A refreshing fragrance slowly made its way into Ash’s nose. It was undoubtedly the scent of Rebecca's body.

“No-Nothing…I-I’m fine!”

It was just that the more Ash pretended to be calm, the less he could speak properly.

“It couldn't be that you’re starting to feel nervous because you suddenly have to be alone with me, right?”

Rebecca had quickly seen right through Ash.

“T-That…”

“You don’t need to make yourself so nervous. If you think about it, we haven’t been alone together for a long time.”

Rebecca suddenly gave him a flirtatious look, and Ash could not prevent his heart from beating faster. Not only his cheeks, but even his earlobes became hot. Rebecca laughed and enjoyed the extremely embarrassed look on Ash’s face.

“I’ll tell you, Ash. Although this Rebecca Randall is the strict Student Council President, she is also a woman. Who knows if I wanted to create a situation where we would be alone from the beginning?”

“…Eh?”

“First of all, expelling those noisy girls from the room to create the current situation was none other than this — precisely what this lady wanted.”

“Rebecca…san?”

Ash nervously swallowed his saliva.

Could it be that Rebecca-san…she really wanted to be alone, so that was why she got rid of Eco and the others?

“Ash, it’s only us two in this house right now. Whatever we do, we won’t need to be afraid of anyone finding out.”

Rebecca calmly extended out her hands, and placed them on Ash’s face. Her slender fingers were gently stroking Ash’s cheeks. Through her fingertips, he could faintly feel the temperature of Rebecca's body…

“Wah! Don’t do that, Rebecca-san!”

“Eh, why not?”

Rebecca turned her face slightly towards one side. She performed an action which was filled with the flavour of a young woman and displayed her charm, which caused Ash to feel lost as to where he should look.

“Because you’re so well behaved, Rebecca-san, you have an awe-inspiring appearance, you’re equally strict with yourself and everyone else…the point is, you’re the idol that the students of the entire school admire! For someone like you who’s admired like that, you can’t do these things just because it’s fun!”

“Phh…ahahahaha!”

Seeing Rebecca suddenly laugh, Ash was surprised. Rebecca, who normally laughed with dignity, was now laughing so hard that even tears had formed in the corners of her eyes.

“Rebecca-san?”

“Sorry. You looked so innocent and pure, so I couldn't help restraining my laughter.”

“Eh? Then that means the things you just said are…”

“Of course it’s a joke.”

“Rebecca-san, that’s going too far!”

“Haha, didn't I already apologise to you? It seems that the joke went a bit too far.”

After Rebecca smiled for a moment, her expression suddenly became serious.

“Yes, Ash. Taking this rare opportunity, I’ll confess to you how I feel.”

Ash’s heartbeat rapidly accelerated. Rebecca took a step forward, and then placed both her hands on top of Ash’s shoulders. Her expression was serious. She seemed like a completely different person from the one who was laughing just a moment before, and it didn't seem anything like a joke.

“Listen to me, Ash. I have a lot of expectations from you.”

“Expectations?”

“Yes, that’s right. If I had to say that there was a student in this Academy who could exceed me — that person would definitely be you, Ash; that is my expectation.”

“You’re flattering me too much, I couldn't do that!”

“There’s no need to be humble. I want you to become the next Student Council President. I’m going to graduate in half a year’s time, so I need to start looking for candidates to be my successor.”

“Eh!”

Those unexpected words left Ash speechless. The Student Council President of Dragonar Academy had a lot of responsibility, and couldn't be compared to any ordinary Student Council Presidents. The position didn't just surpass the mayor of Ansarivan City, but also gave the right to participate in municipal politics. In contrast, the President also needed to work hard to maintain the Academy’s top academic ranking. After all, as the Student Council President of Ansarivan, if results were unsatisfactory, it would be difficult to set an example for other students. For Ash, the position of Student Council President was like an unattainable cloud.

“Anyway, this is something which will not happen for a good few months. It’s enough for you to simply keep what I just said in a corner of your mind. Well – that’s the end of my personal matters. Before that group of noisy girls get back, let’s first clean up.”

“I understand, Rebecca-san!”

Ash stood up straight, and then responded with a brisk and loud reply. In fact, Rebecca's request was very abrupt, causing him to feel quite confused and unprepared, but he could truly feel Rebecca's feelings of expectation. Before he became a member of the Student Council, Rebecca's existence was like a flower at the peak of a mountain. He never thought that such a great senior would actually harbour such deep trust in him, and this fact caused Ash’s entire body to tremble with delight.

Part 6

“Yes, Ash. I actually found that there are bathrooms inside earlier…but there seems to be some problem with the plumbing. Could I trouble you to take a look?”

Just when Ash was busy wiping down the table in the conference room, Rebecca called for his help.

“When it comes to these kinds of hardware items, boys should understand it better, right?”

Ash stopped his hands, and then turned around to look at Rebecca.

“But what if I’m not familiar with those kinds of things?”

“If you can’t fix it, then we can just ask workers to repair it afterwards. Anyway, just go and take a look first.”

“Okay.”

Ash let go of the cloth, and then left with Rebecca. While they were passing through the corridor which had been swept clean, he began speaking to Rebecca, who was walking in front of him with large strides.

“I really didn't think that there would even be bathrooms inside here.”

“Indeed. There’s a reception room, kitchen, meeting room, bedrooms, library, and even bathrooms…I looked around briefly, and this house has everything that it needs, it certainly is well-equipped.”

After a while, Rebecca arrived at a door which had a ‘bathroom’ sign hung on it.

“Incredible…!”

As soon as Ash stepped into the bathroom, he couldn't help letting out words of praise. The bathroom was spacious enough to accommodate five people at once, and it was adorned with a splendid dragon styled décor, which was cause for amazement. The luxurious baths were built with marble. The four walls were decorated with dragon lights, which created a dreamy atmosphere inside the bathroom. However, it had been left unused for some ten years, so it not only had thick layers of dust, but also traces of mould everywhere. But, as long as it was given a thorough cleaning, it probably wouldn't lose to the bathroom of a high-class hotel.

“It’s too early to celebrate, Ash. Do you remember what I just told you? The bathroom’s plumbing equipment seems to be broken.”

Rebecca reached out to turn one of the taps. But, perhaps because some part of the metallic components had rusted, the tap didn't move at all. Thus, there was no way to fill the bathtub with water.

“Let’s swap and I’ll try.”

After Ash and Rebecca swapped, Ash gripped onto the tap handle.

“Unn…!”

He used all his effort to try rotating it. The tap seemed to have a slight ‘squeaking’ sound as it turned a bit, but there was still no water flow.

“Oh. It didn't move even when I tried before, boys really do have more strength.”

“It isn't that much of a big deal…”

Having lost his father when he was young, although Ash was used to hearing this kind of praise since he grew up in a single parent household, the same words coming from Rebecca still made him feel embarrassed.

“Alright, I’ll also help.”

Rebecca suddenly wrapped her hand around Ash’s hand.

“…!”

A surge of warmth seemed to be transmitted to him from the two hands which were pressed against each other. It felt as though the warmth of Rebecca's body enveloped his whole right hand. It wasn't just that. Because Rebecca leaned her body closer to Ash, her ample breasts pressed against Ash’s back…

—Uh oh! This situation is bad!

Toku toku toku…Ash’s chest was pounding incessantly. It seemed as if his whole mind focused on this heated moment, and liquid was gathering in his lower body. In order to cut off all distractions, Ash decided to focus all of his attention towards the task of ‘turning the tap’.

“I’m going to turn it, Rebecca-san!”

After clenching the tap handle, Ash mustered all of his strength. Rebecca also strongly gripped his hand.

—Ga!

The rusty tap was successfully turned at last.

“Yes!”

Ash joyfully cheered, but Rebecca raised her brows in surprise.

“Wait a minute, Ash. The thing that you’re holding in your hand…what is it?”

“Eh?”

Ash carefully looked at the object that was held firmly within the palm of his hand. —It was actually the corroded and broken faucet, which had been forcefully broken off. The next instant, the tap which had lost its faucet violently spewed out a column of water.

“Uwaa!”

“Get away quickly, Ash!”

Rebecca pushed Ash aside, and then took out a Dragon Crystal.

“Azul Ex-BreathFrozen Fang of the Blue Ice Dragon!”

In front of the invocation of the Oracle, there was a blue dragon spell, which belonged to high-level magic. The spell which was invoked by Rebecca had the effect of freezing, which was evident from the name. At the same time that Ash felt a burst of the biting cold, the column of water became ice.

“Phew…that’ll manage to stop the leak. I’ll ask the workers to repair the plumbing problems at a later date—”

Rebecca's face carried an expression that didn't seem to mind, and she turned back around to look at Ash.

“It looks like the both of us are completely wet now.”

“Haha….yes.”

At that time, Ash noticed that both he and Rebecca were completely soaked. Rebecca's drenched red hair had droplets of water dripping down. Her thoroughly soaked uniform was tightly sticking onto her skin, and emphasised the perfect curves of her body.

“Hm? Is there something wrong? Ash.”

Rebecca twirled her wet hair as she pondered that. Did she not realise that her current behaviour was very seductive? Or was she perhaps feigning it again so that she could tease Ash for fun?

“I-It’s nothing! I’m going to light the fireplace!”

Ash quickly turned around, and swiftly bolted towards the reception room which had a fireplace.

Part 7

The storage room seemed to have some firewood which could still be used, so Ash decided to use them. The sculpture on top of the stone fireplace was a soaring dragon which carried a strong resemblance to the style of Dragonar Academy. After Ash lit the fire, Rebecca also came to the reception room.

“Ah, Rebecca-san, you came just at the right time, I just lit the fire.”

“Thank you, Ash.”

After seeing Rebecca step in front of the fireplace, she suddenly began to take off her uniform.

“…!”

Her one-piece uniform fell onto the floor with a ‘pacha’ noise. Her snow-white skin was exposed from underneath her clothes. Rebecca bodyline was like an hourglass, which had a graceful eight figure. One of her bra straps had already slipped off her shoulder, and was just clinging onto her upper arm. It was a mature and enchanting appearance…

“I-I’ll go outside and wait!”

Ash wanted to rush out of the room in order to avoid it.

“Wait, Ash.”

However, Rebecca had immediately grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, which caused Ash to nearly bite his tongue.

“Rebecca-san…?”

The proud <Scarlet Empress> had calmly exposed her bare skin in front of Ash. Moreover, it was just the two people, Ash and Rebecca in the room right now.

“You also got completely soaked, hurry up and take your uniform off. The Five Hundred Years Festival is almost here, it’ll be troublesome if you catch a cold.”

In contrast to the embarrassed Ash, Rebecca's expression was serious.

“But…”

“What, are you disagreeing with my orders?”

Rebecca's eyes narrowed into a slit. She didn't smile, her eyes were frozen like the spell, and they radiated a chilling atmosphere.

“I follow! I-I’ll t-take them off!”

“Hm, it’s good if you’re obedient.”

Rebecca laughed contentedly.

Ash listened to the ‘crackling’ sound emitted by the fireplace, as he sat with his arms around his bent knees. The bandage which was wrapped around his left arm had also been soaked by the water, so he also took it off along with his uniform to dry. Having the <Seikoku> on his left arm exposed, and sitting down with only his underwear on caused Ash to feel uneasy.

“………”

After Ash sat down in front of the fireplace, he had not said a word. Rebecca, who was wearing only her underwear was sitting behind him to share the heat. If he was unlucky enough to allow Eco or Silvia to see this scene, it would be fair enough to see that he would be dragged to his death…just when Ash was thinking about that—

—Pah.

Rebecca suddenly leaned onto his back, and Ash couldn't stop himself from being startled by it. Rebecca's skin was touching Ash’s back. No, it wasn't just called touching anymore. It was completely pressed against him. Through their close skin contact, Ash could feel the warmth of Rebecca's body.

“This way, it feels much warmer, right?”

Rebecca whispered to Ash.

“Y…Y-Y-Yeah…!”

Ash was so embarrassed that even his voice broke when he tried to speak. He had become as stiff as a stone statue because he was aware that Rebecca had leaned her back against his own.

Part 8

The four girls Eco, Silvia, Lucca, and Jessica, who were all kicked out of from Julius Hall sat side by side on a bench in the academy, bored. There was no doubt that all four of them had feelings for Ash. As a result, the current scene was somewhat awkward and unnatural. No one wanted to start talking about anything, so the tense and silent atmosphere continued.

—Ah…the one who should be closest to Ash should obviously be me, why are there so many attractive female animals sticking beside him…

Eco quietly peeked at Silvia’s and Jessica’s chests. Both of them had breasts which could make their uniform jacket tall and full. Moreover, Silvia was the Princess of the Knight Country, and Jessica was also quite impressive. As for Lucca, although she had a quiet personality, and her bust size was just as flat as Eco’s, she had the unique, fairy-like beauty that only those of Eckbald possessed, in addition to being quite gifted.

—C-Could…I be the one lacking the most feminine charm among these four people…?

Ever since she had obtained the information from the Mother Dragon, Eco no longer needed to worry about the difference between races. If she was allowed to grow for a period of time, Eco would also be able to bear children with humans. Being able to stand on the same starting line as her rivals caused Eco to feel excited. However, not long after that, she began to have a new feeling of unease.

—Also, Rebecca feels strange.

Only the two people, Ash and Rebecca remained to work inside Julius Hall. The serious Rebecca didn't seem like a person who would have indecent relationships, but when discussing who was the strongest and most beautiful female student in the school, everyone would undoubtedly say ‘Rebecca Randall’. Furthermore, the way that Rebecca looked at Ash compared to the other male students felt completely different. Of course, Eco didn't have any evidence to support her ideas. It was based purely on an animal — no, a woman’s intuition. At that time—

“—Hey, ladies. How’s your mood today?”

A male student with long hair had suddenly flown over to them. The male student had a tidy appearance, and the temperament of a noble. The Maestro which exuded a brilliant elegance swept up a gust of wind, and then landed on the ground. The Maestro had a large figure, on par with Gawain. The black crystals which were decorated on its forehead blossomed with a chilling cold glow. The instant that she saw those black crystals, Eco shuddered. Although the crystals looked like decorations, a terrifying aura could be sensed from them. With the imposing appearance of a noble, he stood on top of the Maestro’s head.

“He is…!”

Seeing his face, Jessica immediately stood up from the bench. It seemed as though Jessica knew the name of this man. Eco carefully looked at the noble’s face. His jet-black hair was tied into a bunch, his slender eyebrows possessed determination, and his two eyes were a shade of dark blue. He had a high nose, and he was like a handsome statue crafted by top-class sculptors.

“…Who are you?”

After Eco angrily glared at him, the noble made a hearty laugh.

“Seeing as you have the horns of a dragon on your head…you must be Eco, right?”

Zidon, zidon…the Maestro moved closer to Eco, step by step along with the sound of its muffled footsteps. Both sides became very close to each other, so much so that if they had the intention of doing so, it could open its mouth to swallow Eco. Even so, Eco did not show any signs of fear. It was because she knew that dragons wouldn't harm their own kins’ descendant of the Avalon Royal Family without reason. The noble extended his hand towards Eco with a graceful movement.

“Young dragon Eco — starting today, you will be my partner.”

“What?”

What was this man trying to say?

“Listen carefully, Eco. In my rule, you play an indispensable role. I’ll get straight to the point; I need you. More specifically, I need the power of the Avalon Holy Dragons’ Royal Family.”

“You…are you a pawn of the Empire!?”

Eco became more vigilant, and stared at the noble.

“Fu…how sad, you’d actually lump me together with those people from the Zepharos Empire.”

“Then, who are you?”

The noble revealed an eloquent smile, as if he had been waiting for Eco to ask this question for a long time. As if it had understood its master’s thoughts, the Maestro immediately switched to stand on its hind legs. Oscar’s foothold was suddenly elevated higher.

“My name is Oscar Brailsford, the future king of Chevron! This dragon is my faithful Pal, Tristan!”

The noble imposingly declared that from high above them.

“That sounds rather condescending…”

Jessica, who was beside Eco murmured that with a somewhat surprised expression. At that time, Silivia, who had initially remained quiet, stood up and walked forward.

“That’s a rather rude and condescending introduction, Oscar-dono.”

“Well well, it’s actually Her Royal Highness Princess Silvia Lautreamont-dono. I almost didn't recognise you because you were mingling with these common people.”

After Oscar scoffed at that, he looked down at Silvia arrogantly. The two of them seemed to be old acquaintances. One of them was the Princess of the Knight Country, and the other was a noble of the Chevron Kingdom, so it wasn't strange for them to have met each other before in other places…Eco secretly thought.

“Oscar-dono, with all due respect, I remember that your succession to the throne is ranked as one hundred and eighth, which in short, is last. Practically speaking, your succession to the throne is nothing more than a dream, correct?”

“Fu…it is correct that my current position is at the very bottom. But if you only judge the situation with one-sided information, you can’t become the Queen of Knights, you know?”

“What did you say…!?”

Silvia’s face became red.

“It is correct that among my siblings, there are hundreds of people with the right to inherit the throne, however, I have the Maestro Tristan. Among the potential successors to the throne, I am the only Dragonar.”

With an egocentric expression, Oscar continued

“In addition, the requirements for the successor of the Chevron Kingdom are concise and simple — as long as they’re male, and they’re the strongest, then that’s enough! In order to make myself become the strongest candidate to the throne, I need Eco!”

“It appears…there’s no room for discussion.”

Silvia decided to give up on convincing him, as she glared at Oscar—

“Listen carefully, Oscar Brailsford! Dragons are the treasure of the Knight Country, so as the Princess of the Lautreamont Family — and as a friend, I will protect Eco, and she will not be associated with you!”

“You…!”

Hearing this magnificent declaration, Eco looked at Silvia’s back in surprise. Ever since the novitiate ended, the relationship between Eco and Silvia had become rigid. Eco said that she could not forgive Silvia for kissing Ash no matter what, while Silvia locked herself in her own room all day. Even so — facing Oscar, who coveted Eco, Silvia did not hesitate to declare that she would protect her. She even called her a ‘friend’. Eco couldn't stop her eyes from becoming watery. Silvia took out a Bright Dragon Crystal from her pocket, and then raised it up high.

“—I command you in the name of Silvia Lautreamont! Come, Lancelot!”

“Hooooaaaaarrrrr…oooooo…!”

Lancelot’s roar responded to Silvia’s call, and a thunder-like sound rattled the sky. Lancelot instantly appeared at that point in space. After Silvia jumped onto its back and gripped the reins, she confronted Oscar. However, in contrast to Tristan, Lancelot’s body was rather small, and there was still room for growth. Their age difference was only a year, but it was like the difference between an adult and a child. The problem wasn't Lancelot’s lack of maturity, but rather, it was Tristan’s extraordinary growth.

“Fu…since that’s the case, we’ll come and test your skill. Tristan!”

In response to Oscar’s command, Tristan roared. From Tristan’s nose, a violet ball of lightning was fired. The sphere gradually became larger as it was accompanied by crackling sounds.

—Doon!

Next, a shockwave powerful enough to shake the earth exploded. What Tristan used was high-level magic — Shiny Silver Lightning BlastSilver Ray of the Lightning Dragon.

“Kuh…Lancelot!”

Lancelot followed Silvia’s instructions, and created a defensive magic shield. A crystal-like protective barrier shined brilliantly, and formed in front of Lancelot. The instant that those two impacted each other — a flash of light rendered everything in Eco’s vision a shade of silvery-white. Eco held onto Jessica’s body, and slowly opened her eyes. Then, she witnessed an unbelievable sight. Lancelot was actually being pushed pack while being pressed against its protective barrier/shield.

“Fufu. Has your arrogance from before disappeared? Princess Silvia?”

Oscar teased with a tyrannical tone. Tristan then fired a second, and third ball of light.

“Guh…hold on, Lancelot!”

Silvia gritted her teeth and made a cry of anguish. As strong as Lancelot was, it could only focus entirely on defence at this time, and seemed to be unable to move.

“Come, Gawain!”

Lucca, who realised that Silvia was struggling, raised her Dragon Crystal up high and called for Gawain.

“Ruuuooooooooooooooooo…!”

Gawain also jumped through space to instantly appear. After a mighty roar similar to that of Lancelot, Gawain carried Lucca on its back, and then flew towards Tristan to attack. Tristan’s magic attack was interrupted, as it quickly dodged Gawain’s sudden assault.

“Thanks, Lucca!”

Silvia, who had been freed, moved to Gawain’s side while she rode on Lancelot.

“That person…is very strong…”

Lucca actually made a rare frown.

“It’s alright, Lucca. As long as we work together he’s not a match for us.”

Silvia spoke confidently, but Lucca shook her head.

“Be careful…the black crystal on Tristan’s forehead…has an ominous feeling.”

“What are you saying?”

A leisurely smile emerged on Oscar’s face.

“Fu. You’re an Eckbald person in the Unios Course? This battle is becoming more and more interesting.”

Tristan’s massive body suddenly disappeared. Like the words ‘suddenly disappeared’, it had vanished from that spot.

“What!”

The same time that Silvia exclaimed in surprise, Tristan had moved behind Lancelot. Tristan’s tail twisted and bent like a whip, and directly struck Lancelot’s hind leg. Although Lancelot let out a painful wail, it endured the pain, and did not back down yet. The moment that it turned around, it released a red spray of dragon’s breath. Tristan also spat out a crimson fire dragon breath, without showing any signs of weakness. The two breaths got closer to a collision, and whipped up a burst of wind. However, with the same kind of breath attack, Tristan’s firepower overwhelmingly surpassed that of Lancelot.

“Uooh…!”

In order to protect its master at all costs, the wounded Lancelot made an intimidating growl at Tristan despite its injuries.

“—Gawain!”

At that time, without knowing what Lucca could be thinking, she began to fly straight up into the sky at high-speed.

“Could it be…!”

Eco widened her eyes. She recalled the scene from the lakeside training camp several months ago. Lucca was flying about in the sky over the academy. No, she wasn't just flying about without a purpose — Lucca was painting the pattern of her <Seikoku> on the canvas of the sky. It looked like she intended to release magic through a Dragon Dance. While gliding through the sky, Gawain left behind a trail of pink magic, and slowly completed the composition/pattern of her <Seikoku>. Oscar remained still, as he did not understand the meaning of it at all. After a while, the pattern of the <Seikoku> was finally completed, and shone down a bright light.

“Second Dragon Riding Dance — ‘Burst of Raining Spears’!”

At the same time that Lucca cried out, a countless number of spears which were made with the power of magic fell towards the ground.

“Hey…Lucca-san!? Even if he is an enemy, this move of yours is too much!”

The myriad of spears which rained down from the sky at high-speed caused Jessica’s face to go pale while she cried out in amazement.

“Fu, so that’s the famed Dragon Riding Dance?”

Oscar looked up at the sky, and happily muttered. In an instant, many spears pierced the ground, which caused a cloud of dust to rise into the sky. Oscar and Tristan were enveloped in the cloud of dust. They thought that the other side had been shown who the winner was, but unexpectedly, an arrogant voice actually rang out from within the cloud of dust.

“Unfortunately, the results make me rather disappointed.”

Stunned, Eco widened her eyes and stared ahead. When the dust in front of her dispersed, she could see that Tristan stood undaunted and unharmed within the centre of what had become a large crater, as well as Oscar, who stood upon its head with a clear smile.

“Kuh…!”

Lucca quickly descended, while riding on Gawain. She stood in front of Eco and Jessica to protect them, and also stared at Oscar, who was in front of her with menacing eyes. Maintaining a confrontational position, she said to Jessica without turning her head back

“Jessica…take Eco and run away. Someone able to defeat Oscar…Rebecca would probably be the only one!”

Lucca, who was usually rather calm, was now frantically yelling.

“—Lucca's right. You should hurry up and get President and Ash for protection.”

Interjecting from the side was Silvia. Thanks to the help from Lucca, she was able to gain some time and recovered a bit of her strength. Silvia took the reins, and moved with Lancelot to stand beside Gawain.

“I understand. Come on, Eco-san! We’ll leave this to them for now!”

Jessica pulled Eco’s hand, and quickly began to run — but after not even ten steps, she was stopped in her tracks by an ambush.

“Hmph. Did you think I would let you guys go so easily?”

A girl dressed in a black maid outfit acted as an impregnable wall, and stood in front of those two to block their path. Perhaps because she was wearing a black leather eyepatch, the girl exuded a sense of determination. Her eyebrows were high, which gave off an arrogant impression.

“Ora, hurry up and give the young dragon Eco to me. Otherwise—”

The girl with the eyepatch leaped forward, and then took out a set of daggers. Four in her right hand, and four in her left hand — she mercilessly threw a total of eight daggers at the two people.

“Hii!”

Jessica protected Eco behind her, but her body stiffened in fear—

—Pasha!

Accompanied by the sound of a flag or wings flapping in the air, someone interrupted midway. That person spun around at high-speed to strike down the flying daggers with her skirt.

“Hello, Celes-sama. You’re being too rude, okay?”

The reinforcements who saved Eco and Jessica out of nowhere, was actually Cosette. Looking at the basket in her arms, she should have just returned from her shopping. The daggers which she had struck down with her skirt before were all scattered around Cosette.

“Do you know this woman?”

Upon hearing this question, Cosette revealed a wry smile.

“She’s called Celestina Lafon. She’s Oscar-sama's personal maid. The Lafon family and Shelly family are relatives, which is why I've heard of her.”

“You’re the maid of the fourth Princess! Animals should have the appearance of animals, you should resign yourself to crawling on the ground!”

Celes’ eyebrows were raised to their highest point, and she cursed at Cosette with an unpleasant tone.

“I would return those words right back at you — counterpart-san.”

After Cosette replied with a smile, she whispered to Eco and Jessica

“Although I’m not sure what happened here, please leave this for me to deal with.”

Part 9

“In the end, the Vice-President didn't show up. It seems that my leadership skills could be better.”

After a brief silence, Rebecca murmured that out.

“The Vice-President?”

Fortunately, Rebecca took the initiative to start a topic of conversation, and Ash’s tentatively tense mood relaxed. Rebecca and Ash still sat with their backs against each other. The reason why he didn't open his mouth to say anything was because he was afraid that he would collapse at any time.

“Mmn. I did send him a notice about it.”

“Speaking of which…I haven’t seen the Vice-President yet. He’s always absent without an excuse, so is it really okay to overlook this Vice-President? It really doesn't suit you that you’d actually tolerate such a lax person, Rebecca-san.”

“The Vice-President Oscar’s circumstances are highly extraordinary. To be honest, I feel quite troubled.”

Hearing Rebecca's reply as she sighed, Ash felt surprised.

“Even a strong person such as Rebecca-san feels troubled?”

“If it wasn't like that, how would I let him get away with being like that?”

“What kind of person is Vice-President?”

“Oscar Brailsford — is a second year of the Senior course. It might not be possible to count the number of his characteristics with ten fingers…but the characteristic of his that’s most worth mentioning is his identity as a noble of the Chevron Kingdom.”

“Eh? Isn't it a bit too strange that he’s someone from Chevron, yet also a Dragonar?”

“Then, you currently know about this matter?”

“Sorry. I’m not very familiar with any news outside the Academy…”

“It’s fine. You’re not wrong, foreigners don’t have the right to participate in the <Orphan Ceremony>. However, the aristocracy of the Chevron Kingdom is an exception. Every year, several children who are members of the Chevron royalty and aristocracy are sent here to participate, the truth is that it’s a special place.”

“I didn't know about this at all…”

“The special places were decided on fifty years ago. It’s just that, not a single Chevron person has succeeded in becoming a breeder these past fifty years. Whether the reason was because they lacked qualities to become a breeder, or perhaps the Mother Dragon insisted on people from the Knight Country…no one knows.”

“So Vice-President is the first successful case?”

“That’s right. After a long time of being ignored, or perhaps lacking the special qualifications to participate, the first Chevron person recognised by the Mother Dragon was Oscar.”

“The Vice-President really isn't just some ordinary guy…but, is that it?”

“What do you mean?”

Rebecca seemed slightly startled for a moment.

“I now already know that he’s a noble of Chevron and that he has special circumstances. But that doesn't seem like a reason that would cause you to feel troubled.”

“…Fu. You mind is quite sharp.”

Rebecca revealed a slight smile, as if in admiration of that.

“It is in fact like this…”

When Rebecca's words became slightly vague and quiet, Ash felt surprised.

“Towards me in the past, Oscar—”

In that moment, as if to interrupt Rebecca's words—

DOOON…!

A ground-shaking noise like that of an earthquake suddenly reverberated, along with an earthquake-like trembling.

“Uwah! That was just an earthquake right!?”

“Yes, the epicentre is very close to us.”

Through their backs which were pressed against each other, he could feel that Rebecca had tensed up. But, Rebecca didn't have any intention of separating.

“Could it be that there’s construction work around here?”

“No, I haven’t heard of any plans for construction work.”

At the same time that Rebecca calmly replied to that question…

—PANG!

The door to the reception room was roughly shoved open.

“It’s bad, Ash!”

“Hime-sama and Lucca-san are in danger!”

Eco and Jessica shouted that out as they rushed in, seemingly short of breath. Although the two of them were out of breath, the expression on their faces changed to anger as soon as they saw the appearance of Ash and Rebecca.

“Hey! You guys aren't cleaning seriously at all!”

“Rebecca-san! You didn't make up an excuse to drive us out so that you could be alone with Ash-sama, did you?”

Eco and Jessica advanced towards them while they revealed terrifying expressions on their faces.

“Calm down a bit both of you. We just got wet because the tap faucet broke, and now we’re waiting for our uniforms to dry.”

In contrast to Ash’s embarrassed face, Rebecca replied with confidence.

“Was it really just that? You two wouldn't currently be…enjoying yourselves after doing it, right?”

“Nothing like that. Getting back to the point, you guys said that Silvia and Lucca were in danger; what actually happened?”

After a sharp glance from Rebecca, Jessica recalled the urgent situation.

“Yes! Eco-san was targeted by Oscar, and then…”

Eco then followed Jessica’s incomplete sentence.

“In order to allow us to escape, Silvia, Lucca and Cosette are fighting against them!”

Although the situation sounded quite unbelievable, Eco and Jessica wore serious expressions, so it didn't seem like they were lying.

“So that loud sound from before was…”

Ash was dumbfounded. If Oscar’s target was Eco, then it was connected to Ash as well. Although he didn't know what Oscar was thinking, since he had set his eyes on Eco, Ash wouldn't be able to let him go. Even if the other side was his senior, the Student Council Vice-President, or a Chevron noble — since he wanted to harm Eco, Ash had no choice but to fight back against him.

“Rebecca-san! I’m going to stop Oscar!”

Ash picked up his half-dry uniform and swiftly put it on, and then rushed out of the room.

“I’m also going!”

Coming from behind Ash was the sound of Eco’s high-pitched yell.

Part 10

“How is this possible!?”

After arriving at the Academy, Ash gasped, and he stood frozen on the spot.

“This is a joke, right…?”

Beside Ash, Eco was also flabbergasted and lost for words. Lancelot and Gawain both curled up their bodies, and lay in the middle of the Academy grounds. Silvia and Lucca were lying on top of the backs of their respective Pals; they had lost consciousness, and passed out. At first glance, the two of them didn't seem to have any obvious external injuries, so Ash let out a sigh of relief. On the other hand, in a place that was some distance away from the battle of the Dragonars—

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Two maids were staring each other down as they released a murderous intent. One of them was Cosette, the other was a girl wearing an eyepatch. It was a face that Ash did not recognise. A haughty voice drifted down towards Ash’s head.

“—Yo, Ash Blake. You've finally come.”

The boy who had defeated Silvia and Lucca stood in a relaxed manner atop the head of the Maestro Tristan.

“You’re the Vice-President? What’s your purpose for doing this?”

Oscar looked straight into Ash’s face, and then smiled after a brief pause.

“I've wanted to meet you for a long time. Of course, it would be a meeting of fists!”

Tristan responded to Oscar’s words, and took a step forward. DON…! The ground shook vigorously up and down along with a thunderous sound.

“Hold on! Since you want to exchange fists, we’ll talk once you get down from there first!”

Ash shouted upwards loudly, but Oscar simply looked down with a condescending gaze and said with a cold and sarcastic tone

“When did I say that I was going to use my fists? I want to give you Tristan’s fist.”

“Do you want to kill me!?”

“Trash talk!”

At the behest of Oscar, Tristan stomped down its front limb. Ash hugged Eco and jumped aside with her.

“Kya!”

Eco cried out softly as she held onto Ash. Tristan claws dug into the ground at the spot that Ash and Eco originally were. Accompanied by the loud noise, a cloud of dust was kicked up and obscured their vision, like a grey veil all around them, Tristan’s figure appeared from the smoke once more.

“Oya oya, the title of the ‘Avalon Knight’ is rather grand, but is this all the strength you have?”

Oscar’s face revealed a cruel smile.

“Fufu, can you evade the next strike? Go, Tristan!”

Tristan roared, and stared ferociously at Ash. Ash gritted his teeth. If Oscar really did have an interest in Eco, it was fair to say that he didn't plan to take any lives.

—This guy, is he just playing with us…?

Tristan let out a deafening roar, and then lifted its front limb up high again. Its front limb blocked out the sun, which caused Ash’s and Eco’s entire bodies to be enveloped by its shadow.

“What is it? If you don’t try to escape seriously, I really will have him stomp down, you know?”

Just when Oscar’s face showed such a malicious smile, and his condescending arrogance was projected onto Ash—

“—Leave this to me!”

All of a sudden, a crimson red fireball flew straight towards them, and grazed Tristan’s belly. Seeing that its silver fur was charred slightly, Tristan’s face became resentful, and raised its head to look up at a point in the sky.

“Rebecca-san!”

Ash cried out loudly.

Wearing an Ark which glowed with crimson light, Rebecca rode atop the Maestro Cú Chulainn as she appeared in the sky above the Academy. She hadn't used a saddle, and was simply standing majestically on top of her Pal’s head — although that dragon riding posture was the same as Oscar’s, the decisive difference between the two was truly the presence or absence of an Ark. After Rebecca descended graciously while riding on top of Cú Chulainn, she sent a sharp gaze towards Oscar.

“You do know that fighting is prohibited at school don’t you, Oscar?”

“Are you trying to bind me by relying on the school rules?”

“…I’m curious, you don’t really think that you can defeat me in a fight, do you?”

The edge of Oscar’s mouth twitched, and he made a sly smile at the frowning Rebecca.

“The answer is YES, the legend of the strongest Rebecca Randall, I’ll end that today!”

At the same time that Oscar proudly made such a declaration, Tristan’s roar resounded throughout the sky.

“What is this…?”

After Ash instinctively said that, Oscar declared as if he stood upon a divine pedestal

“I command you in the name of Oscar Brailsford! Present the Ark that you have created to me!”

Oscar’s entire body was instantly enveloped by a golden light, followed by a dazzling flash. The blinding flash of light forced Ash and Eco to squint their eyes as they raised their arms to cover their sight. After the light receded and their vision returned to normal, Ash saw…

“You can all see right now, that I am a true Arch Dragonar.”

After Oscar spoke with words filled with self-confidence, an eloquent smile appeared on his face. The Ark that appeared similar to a lion’s fur was majestic, and the armaments on the upper and lower body were all golden in colour. Gold was the representative colour of the Chevron Kingdom, moreover, the emblem of the Chevron Royal Family was a lion. Tristan probably went by Oscar’s origins and ambitions to create this majestic Ark.

“Now Rebecca, do not forget the agreement we had between us — if I win, you have to become my bride!”

“What? There was something like that?”

Ash was greatly surprised, and couldn't help saying that. Challenging Rebecca itself was a foolish decision, but he actually wanted to take her as a bride for marriage! The confidence of the man in front of him was immense, and Ash felt amazed by it.

“Did you think that you could defeat me with that improvised Ark alone, Oscar?”

Rebecca displayed a calm expression in her eyes, and undermined the enemy’s confidence and pride first.

“That’s what I like about you, Rebecca! Because you’re such a strong woman, you make my fighting spirit burn even stronger!”

That sentence became the signal for the start of the fight. Cú Chulainn and Tristan both responded to their master’s fighting spirit as they unleashed ground-shaking roars, and began flapping their wings. The two crimson and golden Arch Dragonars soared upwards with a whirlwind from their flapping wings.

Upon hearing the commotion, teaching staff, guards, and those who were working in the Dragon Houses all gathered in the Academy grounds, but everyone simply looked up at the sky, and watched.

“Incredible! They’re in a completely different league from the other students!”

Ash also looked up at the sky, unable to conceal his surprised expression. At an altitude of approximately one hundred metres above the grounds of Dragonar Academy, Rebecca and Oscar were engaged in an intense aerial battle.

“—Ash-sama, you know Oscar-sama's nickname?”

At that time, Cosette had calmly walked over to Ash’s side.

“Cosette-san!? What happened to that maid with the eyepatch from before?”

“Are you talking about Celes-sama? She’s over there.”

After Cosette exposed a splendid smile, she turned around to look behind her. Ash followed her gaze, and was almost frightened to that point that he almost fell backwards. Celeste lay on the ground in a corner of the Academy like a caterpillar. Her body was convulsing, and foam was forming at her mouth.

“Cosette-san, did you do that to her?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

Cosette held her cheek with her right hand, and her face became completely red. Ash vowed to himself that he would never go against Cosette.

“Oh yeah! Is it alright to leave Hime-sama there? There’s also Lucca!”

“I already took both of them to the infirmary just then.”

“You’re way too fast!”

Ash was stunned. Ash turned to look at another corner of the Academy; neither Lancelot or Gawain had anyone on their backs. Cosette’s trained reactions caused Ash to gulp.

“Anyway, what was Oscar’s nickname?”

Thinking about the topic from before that was unfinished, Ash asked.

“Oscar-sama's nickname is — The Baron of Sonic.”

“I see. In terms of speed alone, it feels as if he’s faster than Rebecca-san.”

Ash looked up at the sky, and felt convinced. At that time, Eco nervously tugged on Ash’s sleeve.

“Hey, there’s no need to worry right? That guy called Oscar seems to covet my power…and if Rebecca is beaten by him…”

Ash placed his hand on top of Eco’s head, and tried to appease her mood/emotions.

“Don’t worry. Although I just let Rebecca-san go out to rescue/save us, I’ll definitely risk my life to protect Eco next time.”

“Wh…!”

Seeing that Ash declared that he wanted to protect her so bluntly, Eco blushed.

“But I also need Eco to help me. After all, as a Dragonar without a Pal, I’m no different to an ordinary soldier.”

Perhaps because she was so embarrassed, it looked as if her face was the colour of a rose, and Eco turned her head to the other side.

“I know that! Y-You should remember this; having the opportunity to wear the Ark that I make is the highest honour for a Dragonar!”

“Unfortunately, it’s just an unfinished product.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY ~~~~~~!”

Eco stomped her feet with a seemingly unstoppable anger. In fact, the Ark that Eco made was incomplete. Because there was no fixed outer appearance, the sensation could be described as simply wearing the armour, and it was like having a layer of magic over one’s body. Even though it was an incomplete Ark, it was possible to use the Ark weapon which was installed simply by wearing it — Holy Sword Excalibur, as well as various other pre-installed equipment which was worth relying on. More importantly, for the Dragon Race to present an Ark to their master was a proof of their loyalty and love. Because, only when a dragon became the most cherished in their master’s mind would an Ark be born—

“If I could do it, why wouldn't I immediately want to create a perfect Ark for you!? But, I’m just a young dragon, my knowledge and skills are also very lacking—”

Ash made a wry smile, and placed his hand over Eco’s head.

“Sorry, Eco. I didn't have the intention of looking down on you, it’s fine as long as you work hard according to your own habits.”

“~~~~~!”

Having her head pat by Ash, Eco turned around with red eyes. At that time, a sudden loud noise shook the atmosphere. A gust of strong wind gushed through Eco’s long hair. Cosette was also holding her skirt down, while resisting the strong wind. Soon after that, particles of ash drifted down from the sky. With a feeling of disbelief, Ash looked at the Maestro which fell from the sky, down to the grounds of the Academy from afar. Eco and Cosette also gasped. Having fallen from the sky, it was actually Cú Chulainn, covered in wounds. The surrounding earth that it had impacted became like a crater.

“This can’t be real…Rebecca-san was defeated?”

Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing with his own eyes, and muttered softly. Rebecca was lying on top of Cú Chulainn’s head, and her Ark seemed abnormal. The armour had been damaged, and her skin underneath it was exposed. It was a harsh scene which made people look away, it was as if a delicate red rose had been instantly destroyed.

“—I’m so disappointed in you, Rebecca.”

While carrying Oscar, Tristan gracefully descended from the sky.

“When you were fighting against me, you were always very careful so as not to allow the fight damage the surroundings, right?”

“Yes. It looks like I underestimated your strength, and I didn't think that you’d already reached this level.”

Despite her body being badly injured, Rebecca remained calm.

“Well. Have you finally decided to be my woman?”

“No, that is impossible.”

“You rejected that too quickly!”

It was unexpected that Oscar would show such a serious expression as he retorted.

“For me, the throne of a princess isn't comfortable to sit on at all. Please understand that, Oscar.”

“You ask for too much. The most suitable one to warm up the throne of the Chevron Princess is really none other than your perfect ass. The throne of the princess must also be quite willing to accept your ample and tight ass.”

While saying so, a sarcastic smile emerged on Oscar’s face.

“The talk aside, it looks to me as if your Ark is about to shatter, and Cú Chulainn has already depleted its magic. Even then, you’d only be able to take one hit at best, right?”

“If that’s what you think, why don’t you come and try it?”

“Fu. That’s certainly like my woman.”

Having just had a smile on his face a moment ago, Oscar suddenly revealed an expression of dissatisfaction.

“Honestly, since a while ago, I thought that your magic spear Gáe Bolg was very strange. Today, I definitely have to break that hateful magic spear in half! Fly, Tristan!”

Oscar issued an order to Tristan, and then quickly ascended into the sky.

“We’re going up, Cú Chulainn!”

Rebecca also soared up into the sky with Cú Chulainn. Both people exchanged forth their Ark weapons at the same time.

“Appear! The unflowing magic bow — Failnaught!”

Oscar summoned a bow that shone with a brilliant golden light.

The bow and arrow which were composed of magic appeared out of thin air when he began to pull back the bowstring.

“Appear! The certain hit magic spear — Gáe Bolg!”

On the other hand, Rebecca had summoned the magic spear Gáe Bolg which glowed red. As soon as Rebecca held it in her right hand, it immediately released an incredible amount of magic energy. The Ark weapons of those two people released resonating sounds, as the hot air around them entwined. Ash immediately stood in front of Eco, and protected her from the roaring winds that were billowing. Eco also calmly held onto Ash’s hand, and tightly intertwined her fingers with his. This response made Ash surprised. He turned to look over his shoulder, and saw Eco with her head down, seemingly shy, but she still continued to hold Ash’s hand tightly. Despite the critical situation, Ash couldn't stop his face from becoming very hot.

“—Magic bow Failnaught. I have also once heard of its power. It’s said that it’s certain to hit, and that it has never missed. Precisely because it’s a bow that will not create any flow or current…it’s called ‘unflowing’.”

After hearing Cosette’s explanation, Ash recalled a certain thing.

“According to that, its ability is very similar to that of Rebecca-san's Gáe Bolg. It is the certain hit spear.”

“Yes. Both sides belong to the category of weapons which interfere with one’s ‘fate’.”

“I see! Oscar said before that he thought Gáe Bolg was very strange, so it was actually because it has a similar nature to Failnaught…”

The instant that Ash murmured that, Rebecca and Oscar released their certain-hit attacks.

“Become my bride, Rebecca!”

At the same time that Oscar said that, he let go of the bowstring.

“If you can defeat me, I might be willing to consider it for a second!”

When Rebecca threw the magic spear, a streak of light like lightning appeared, magic and a surge of emotions erupted; a fierce collision occurred in front of Rebecca and Oscar. The magic weapons of both sides began competing with each other, and even the air vibrated. It appeared to be an equal show of offense and defense, but—

“You lose, Oscar!”

Rebecca suddenly shouted out.

“You’re still trying to act brave at this point? Rebecca Randall, you've actually gone down to such a level!”

Rebecca ignored Oscar’s ridicule, and then proudly declared

“I command you in the name of Rebecca Randall! Cú Chulainn — reveal the true form of the Ark that you have presented me!”

“What did you say…!?”

At the same time that Oscar was taken aback, Rebecca's Ark began to change. Various parts of the armour released a bright red light, and began to change shape. After the helmet around her head finished its transformation, the shoulders, breastplate, and the armour around her torso also began to change into a new shape. Not only that, a red cloak which fluttered in the wind appeared behind her.

“How is this possible!? Could it be that you were holding back the whole time? You fox!”

“This is it, Oscar! Magic spear Gáe Bolg — [Wheel of FortuneRing of Fate]!”

Then, the magic spear changed in accordance with Rebecca's command. Accompanied by a heavy metallic sound, the magic spear began to expand and lengthen, and became a new part.

“You forced me to use my special skill, so you've got some ability!”

At the same time that Rebecca called out, a surge of magic more powerful than ever before radiated out.

“What kind of joke is this! If I can’t even take you for myself, what right do I have to sit on the throne!”

The two sources of light impacted each other in mid-air — one side was bright red, and the other side was golden. The magic that Rebecca had released was pressed/pushed in front of Oscar’s eyes, but he also began to push back.

“That guy is also formidable! Rebecca-san has already used her full power, yet he’s still able to turn the tide back!”

Ash was sweating profusely, and Cosette spoke with a solemn expression

“This situation is not good. The certain hit magic spear and the unflowing magic bow…these two weapons both have the effect of ‘piercing’ first and the cause of the ‘attack’ afterwards. If both of them continue this senseless confrontation, they might even lose their lives.”

“But could Rebecca-san not have realised this fact?”

“Rebecca-sama certainly knows in her mind. But, I’m afraid that Rebecca-sama has no way to stop the fate which is held in those magic weapons from happening—”

Before waiting for Cosette to finish speaking, Ash quickly turned towards Eco.

“Eco, bring out the Ark that you've created, please!”

“Hold on, what do you want to do?”

Eco seemed to frown, and she watched Ash’s face.

“I need to use Excalibur to break their attacks. Before the magic spear and magic bow actualise their fate of death, I’ll destroy them first!”

“Are you sure you can do that?”

“The problem isn't whether I can do it, but I have to gamble on that anyway!”

“…I understand.”

Eco clenched her fist in front of her chest as if she had made up her mind. She closed her eyes, and then began to chant the spell to summon the Ark.

“Almete, Gorjal, Peto, Espaldar, Brafoneras, Faldaje, Escarcelas, Bufetas, Hombreras, Brazales, Codales, Antebrazos, Manoplas, Quijotes, Guardas, Grebas, Escarpes…”

Ash simply stared. Before she was only able to recite the chant while stuttering, but now Eco had memorised it and could recite fluently. She was also able to courageously call out the final word of the chant as the end of the spell.

“—Espolón!”

The armour which contained holy magical energy latched onto Ash’s body. A silver light suddenly burst out, and enveloped Ash’s entire body. The <Seikoku> on his left arm became hot.

“Uh…!”

The <Seikoku> emitted heat which almost burnt his skin, expanded in the blink of an eye, and spread to Ash’s whole body. The current phenomenon was the same as that time when he repulsed Mordred in Ansarivan city. While his consciousness immersed into a dim light, a sense of warmth entered Ash’s body. It was like the warmth of Eco’s body. Logically, the Ark that Eco created should appear like that, but Ash couldn't see any change in the clothes that he was wearing. Aside from the <Seikoku> which had spread to cover his entire body, the external appearance looked just like any other male student. A young dragon was still a young dragon, she had gone to a lot of effort to build the Ark, and was still unable to give the Ark a clear outline, but Ash could feel that he had obtained her strength.

—The Ark that Eco created for me is now protecting my body.

“Haa, haa…what? I set a record for the fastest time yet!”

Having depleted her magic, Eco was somewhat breathless, but still smiled confidently at Ash. What Eco said was right, it was the first time that she had built the Ark so quickly.

“Thank you, Eco.”

After Ash patted Eco’s head, he gazed sharply towards the sky above. He then used the power of the Ark to leap into the sky and ascend.

Part 11

Looking down at the Academy which seemed like a miniature model from high up in the sky, Rebecca began to feel anxious again. The power of two people were currently even against each other, and it seemed as if the result could only be a loss for both sides. Just when she gritted her teeth, she was surprised to notice that a massive amount of magic was gradually closing in on her.

“Uuoooooooooohhhh!”

Ash shouted out while carrying a large sword. What was most surprising was that his <Seikoku> covered his entire body. Although Rebecca had heard Ash talk about such a thing in the past, it was the first time that she had seen it with her own eyes. While Ash approached rapidly, he began to unsheathe a holy sword — Excalibur. He first turned a sharp gaze towards Rebecca.

“Regardless of whether it pierces the fate of Rebecca-san!”

He then quickly looked at Oscar.

“Or pierces the fate of Oscar!”

Ash focused an overwhelming amount of magic onto the blade of the sword, and held it up high.

“I will sever it apart!”

The sword flashed. The holy sword released a loud noise as it struck the point where both sides had clashed. The sudden power intervened, and its magic appeared as if it would explode in order to force the attack to lose their targets, but in the next instant, Excalibur released a dazzling light. Rebecca whispered in marvel of the scene. The magic, which looked like it was about to explode was completely absorbed by the silver blade of Excalibur. Ash briskly, yet calmly turned around in mid-air, and then leaped onto Tristan’s head. The tip of Excalibur was pointed at Oscar’s chest.

“Would you like to have a fight against the ‘Avalon Knight’, Oscar?”

The expression in Ash’s eyes and the tone of his words caused Rebecca, who was on the side to shudder.

—Dokun!

Rebecca's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She had never had such a heart-moving experience in her life.

“Kuh…I’ll let you guys go for today! But remember this, I will never give up on Rebecca and Eco!”

After saying that, Oscar clung onto Tristan’s curved horns. Tristan understood its master’s intentions, and immediately swung its head about fiercely.

“Uwah!”

Having not paid much attention to defense, Ash was easily tossed into the air.

“Ash!”

Rebecca anxiously cried out while looking on.

“I-I’m fine…”

Ash managed to suspend himself in mid-air. Although it was not possible to see its form, the Ark that Eco had created seemed as if it was still protecting Ash. Eco firmly believed in Ash’s thoughts, which left a memorable impression on Rebecca. At the same time, after thinking about what would happen after Eco finished the appearance of the Ark, wondering about how heroically Ash would glow, it made her heart leap. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Oscar ordered Tristan to fly, and then disappeared into a distant edge on the other side of the sky.

“Wheel of Fortune ~A.SB.1365.9~” is closed.

Chapter 3 - The return of Anya

Part 1

The first day of the month of Libra.

Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy had finally entered the latter part of the teaching course. The Academy City seemed to have become deserted over the summer vacation period, but due to the students who were returning to school for the beginning of a new term, the City’s vitality was restored. In the morning, all of the students were gathered in the auditorium to attend the opening ceremony. Ash and Raymond were unenthusiastically standing at the back of the line for the first year Senios Course students. Unlike Silvia and Max who were standing upright at the very front of the line, both of these people appeared somewhat lazy. It was just that, Ash had a certain worry on his mind.

“It really hurts…”

“What’s wrong, Ash? Do you have back pain? Did you take the stairway to adulthood this summer vacation?”

While Raymond grinned, he patted Ash’s back *pan pan pan* roughly a few times. Ash seemed as if salt had been rubbed on his wound, and cried out angrily in pain.

“Don’t talk nonsense! All of my muscles are aching.”

“A couple’s bedroom activities are indeed a type of full-body exercise huh. Eco-chan didn't come along today, but is that also the reason for it?”

“Please don’t twist that topic around anymore! Also, Eco is simply resting in bed!”

“Well, you still do have the body of a boy, so I understand even without you saying it.”

“Since that’s the case, stop talking about nonsense!”

“Incidentally, I’m also starting this new term with the body of a boy…”

Raymond’s mood seemed like it had hit rock bottom. He was clearly a handsome and self-confident male, yet the blossoming period of his life hadn't come. Ash couldn't help but smile wryly to that.

“I feel sorry for you.”

“Well then, why are the muscles all over your body aching?”

Having no other alternative, Ash recounted the events which had transpired a few days ago. About the matter where Oscar had attacked. After he equipped the Ark that Eco had constructed, he had finally succeeded in repelling him. It was just that the Ark would put a very heavy burden on his body, and although he did not wear it for a long period of time, it had the after-effect of intense muscle soreness…and so on.

“Is that for real!? If such an amazing thing happened, why haven’t I heard any sorts of rumour about it?”

Raymond turned his head from one side to the other in puzzlement. The truth was just as he had said, it was an incredible battle fought between two sides, but he had not heard anyone speaking of such a topic.

“It’s because at that time, it was summer vacation, and the majority of students went home, and hadn't returned yet. Moreover, if news of the President and Vice-President of Ansarivan's Student Council duel leaked out, both of them would most likely be arrested by the City Council.”

After hearing Ash’s words, Raymond revealed an expression as if he had suddenly realised something.

“The conflict between President and Vice-President is a scandal unheard of. That’s why Princess Mirabel kept it quiet…”

“If she wasn't here to help with suppressing it, I think something like this would've already become a newspaper article…”

Ash sighed and hung his head down. As soon as that battle concluded, Ash and the others were taken to the Headmaster’s Office by Mirabel, and were given a serious warning. However, Mirabel let them off with just a verbal warning, so that could be considered quite fortunate for Ash and the others. That was because Ansarivan traditionally imposed heavy penalties on fights within the Academy. Although Oscar was the culprit behind the whole incident, he quickly escaped, and was thus untouched. Although the bulletin boards in the hallways had an announcement of ‘Grounded for one week as punishment’ posted on them, he was afraid that it was nothing more than a harmless announcement for them. It really was quite ridiculous.

“Wow, look at everyone—”

Raymond’s gaze suddenly turned towards the stage. The headmistress Mirabel was preparing a speech.

“Dear students. I am the headmistress, Mirabel Lautreamont.”

The Third Princess Mirabel was sent to Ansarivan after the incident in which the unconscious Eco lost control and attacked Fontaine City. Although she was a Princess, her dress style was rather simple, but regardless of whether it was her silvery white hair or cold eyes, it made her presence rather overwhelming. Even her gestures had an eye-catching charm, as if she was illuminated by moonlight.

“Now…I will hereby declare several regulations, which I hope you students will strictly abide by.”

Although her voice was not particularly loud, a clear voice reached every corner of the auditorium. Her cold statement caused the majority of students to feel nervous, and some even found it difficult to swallow as they gulped.

“First, do not interrupt my personal research. Second, do not interrupt my teatime. And next is—”

Mirabel suddenly stammered, and her cheeks became flushed. That adorable look seemed to captivate all of the students below the stage regardless of their gender. Ash and Raymond were not exceptions to that.

“T-That…since I took up the post of headmistress, l-love…”

“It’s love letter, Hime-sama.”

Eunice quietly reminded her from the side.

“Y-Yes, there have been students who have constantly sent love letters to me. But this kind of behaviour has already caused trouble for me…so please do not send love letters in the future, students.”

Mirabel quickly turned around to hide her face, stepped down from the stage, and then exited the building. Eunice was like a shadow of the Princess, and quietly followed behind her. Mirabel, who was usually cold towards others, actually didn't seem to be very good at dealing with relationships with the opposite gender. Since even the two words ‘love letter’ caused her to stutter for so long, she probably was not very used to it…Ash silently thought to himself. After all, she was the Princess of a country, so perhaps it was not strange for her to be a bit more conservative in that regard. But, for her who previously studied abroad at Espada St. Law University, she actually became so embarrassed after receiving just a few love letters. Perhaps while she was studying, she secluded herself in the laboratory, and rarely or never interacted with other people.

“Princess Mirabel…that’s too cool!”

Beside Ash, Raymond gave a thumbs up as he praised her, and suddenly gasped with excitement.

“Alright, now I also have send a love letter to Princess Mirabel!”

“Hey wait! She just said not to send them anymore, didn't you hear it!?”

Ash had a look of astonishment on his face as he said that to his friend whose habits never changed.

Part 2

Because a staff meeting was scheduled for the afternoon, an announcement was made that classes would be finished for the day when the noon bell rang. While Ash collected his belongings and prepared to head back to the dorm, he thought about the matter regarding Oscar Brailsford.

“Hurry up! I’m hungry and my stomach is grumbling.”

Because she was still in bed, Eco didn't make it in time for the opening ceremony, but she put on her uniform afterwards and snuck into the classroom; she was currently beside Ash, hurrying him up to return to home. It felt like it had been a long time since Eco was in her uniform.

“Come on, delicious meat is calling for me!”

“Ah…alright.”

Although he replied like that, Ash still found it difficult to disengage from the depths of his thoughts. Ever since that major incident in Fontaine City, the Imperial Army of the Zepharos Empire had quietened down, and had not made any obvious moves so far, so Ash and Eco relaxed a bit — but this time, a man named Oscar showed up to cause trouble. Although he shouldn't be as dangerous as the Imperial Army, he was nonetheless still of the Chevron aristocracy. Also, because Eco didn't possess much influence, if there were any errors, the worst situation could turn into a diplomatic issue. Anyway, Ash decided to rely on Raymond’s intelligence network for help.

“Sorry, Eco. Please wait a bit longer, I have something that I want to ask Raymond.”

Seeing that Ash pleaded with both hands together, Eco reluctantly accepted it.

“…It really can’t be helped. Hurry up and ask your friend, okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

Ash quickly ran over to Raymond’s seat and asked

“Hey, Raymond. I wanted to ask you about the things related to Oscar…your contacts are really vast, so you should know something about him right?”

“Ah, I’ll check.”

Raymond took out a treasured book and began to flip through it. That book was filled with records of each female student’s full profile. In fact, many male students took money out of their wallets so that they could purchase the information that was recorded in Raymond’s book. Ash suddenly realised that something wasn't quite right.

“Hold on, Raymond. Oscar is a boy, so which did you take out a tool for scouting girls?”

Raymond made a calm smile, and then pushed his fringe back.

“‘Cute’ and ‘beautiful’ are things that sometimes transcend gender. One day, you’ll come to understand this principle.”

“…I’m starting to get worried about your future.”

“There’s no need to worry, Ash. You’re not my type anyway.”

“Don’t make up things like that without hesitation then! You’re scaring me!”

“Alright, I was just joking with you — Oscar Brailsford comes from the Chevron Kingdom, and is currently studying as a second year in the Senios Course. Although he’s often away from classwork and school activities, his test scores are among the best. Because he has a way to maintain his ranking within the top five, the teachers don’t seem to be able to do anything about him.”

“Seriously…!”

Because it didn't seem like Oscar was a diligent student, Ash was quite surprised by Raymond’s information.

“Also, he’s the child of the current king of Chevron and a mistress, thus, he’s not just an aristocrat, but also has the right to inherit the throne. But, because his mother is a commoner, his succession to the throne is ranked as one hundred and eighth — in other words, last.”

“Huh? Isn't Brailsford a noble family of Chevron? I thought his mother was born from that family.”

“I’m not clear on the details, but Oscar’s mother passed away when he was young, and so it seems like the Brailsford family took Oscar in as an adopted son.”

“I see. Seeing as how he was so arrogant, I couldn't tell that he had gone through so many difficulties in the past…”

Raymond then revealed a few more pieces of information to Ash. They were things such as; although he completely qualified as a candidate, he declined to participate in the Allonnes Selective Training Camp. Also, he couldn't live in the student dormitory unless it was a private room…and various other things. After Raymond closed his book, he raised his head.

“The bottom line is that the Hime-sama probably knows more about the Vice-President than me. After all, the Chevron Kingdom’s family and the Lautreamont Knight Country’s family have quite a deep relationship with each other, so perhaps she may have heard of some information that only royalty would know of.”

“I see, that does make sense.”

Ash calmly cast his gaze towards the front row of the classroom. Silvia was packing her things away as she prepared to go home. All of the injuries that she suffered in the fight against Oscar and Tristan seemed to have healed. It was probably the result of healing based Dragon Magic. Although it was a good opportunity to call out to her right now, Ash was hesitant. The scene of their kiss in the novitiate that night flashed across his mind.

“What is it, Ash? Your face is quite red.”

Raymond curiously asked.

“N-Nothing, it’s nothing, really! You’re right, Hime-sama should probably know something…”

“No! I forbid you from asking Silvia for help!”

Eco suddenly interjected. Unknown to him, she had slipped behind Ash’s back as she may have become tired of waiting.

“Huh? Haven’t you been getting along pretty well with Hime-sama lately, Eco-chan?”

Raymond didn't know what had happened during the summer vacation, and so he was looking at Eco in surprise.

“A-Anyway, if I say no, then it’s a no! You can’t ask Silvia—”

Raymond ignored the angry Eco, and quickly shouted out

“Hey~ Hime-sama! Ash said that there’s something he wants to ask you!”

“Wait…you…!”

Ash anxiously tried to stop him, but it was too late. The instant that Raymond said Ash’s name, Silvia’s shoulders momentarily trembled in an exaggerated motion.

“Hey hey, what’s wrong with you? You’re so familiar with each other, so what’s there to be embarrassed about right now?”

Raymond didn't seem to have the intention of pulling a prank on Ash, as he simply had a puzzled expression on his face. Even if it was just an action with good intentions, it felt like something unnecessarily nosy to Ash.

“T-That thing…it’s because of that time, which is why it’s embarrassing…”

When Ash said so evasively, Raymond’s eyes instantly sharpened.

“You bastard…something good must have happened between you and Hime-sama! So that’s why Eco-chan is avoiding contact with Hime-sama?”

“N-No, the situation isn't what you think it is…!”

“Y-Ye-Yeah! You’re misunderstanding!”

Having the truth seen through by Raymond, both Ash and Eco quickly denied it, as they thought about ways to get out of the current situation.

“Hmm, very suspicious…”

When Raymond narrowed his eyes in suspicion, Silvia hesitantly walked over, after having packed her things away.

“Umm…what did you want to ask me?”

“Ah, yes…”

Ash was wrought with nervousness, and could only murmur in response.

“If you don’t mind…then why don’t we have lunch together? <La Tene> seems to have just finished its renovations and reopened. I-It’s a bit embarrassing for me to go there by myself…”

Silvia’s delicate and adorable attitude caused Raymond to affix his eyes straight onto her. Furthermore, Silvia also invited Ash to lunch of her own accord. Ash was probably even more surprised than Raymond about this.

“Umm…are you really Hime-sama? You aren't actually Cosette-san in disguise are you?”

Hearing Raymond ask such a silly question, Silvia’s eyebrows curled in anger.

“H-How could I possibly be Cosette in disguise!? That’s right, I’m inviting Ash! Do you have a problem!?”

“No, no, I don’t! Uh, I just remembered that I have something urgent to do…see you tomorrow, Ash!”

Raymond gave Ash an indignant look, and then rushed out of the classroom. He would probably prepare a number of irritating questions to pester Ash with tomorrow.

“T-Then, are you willing to accept my invitation? Or reject it?”

Silvia continued to press Ash.

“Wait a minute, what are you trying to do!?”

Eco jumped out as if to protect Ash. And without saying a thing, she grabbed onto Ash’s right hand tightly.

“…Uh!”

Eco had abnormal strength which was on par with that of a dragon despite her body, and for a moment, Ash thought that his wrist would be dislocated. Nevertheless, he clenched his teeth, and swallowed the pain.

“Why don’t the three of us go together? Hmm, let’s do that!”

A sense of rivalry seemed to have been ignited within Silvia, and she grabbed onto Ash’s left arm. Then, like a pair of lovers, she entwined her arm around Ash’s arm.

“H-Hime-sama?”

If it was the Silvia of the past, she never would have been able to take such bold actions. Perhaps she had loosened up a bit as a result of her confession and kiss.

“Hey…what are you doing!?”

Eco protested, but Silvia didn't heed her at all, and simply urged Ash to hurry up and leave. Eco was on his right side. Moreover, Silvia was on his left side. The students who had remained in the classroom watched in amazement as Ash left, with the fortune of having a girl in both arms.

Part 3

In order to celebrate their reopening after taking advantage of the vacation period to complete their interior renovation, <La Tene> had all of their waitresses wear a variety of fancy outfits to serve their guests. There were some like cats or dogs, while there were also those like female knights and young dragons; they had all kinds of strange outfits on. The store’s business was booming, and there were only a few seats remaining. If they acted even a bit slower, they might have had to wait in line.

“It’s my treat today.”

Ash sat down at the empty table, and picked up a menu as if asserting that he was going to be paying the bill for this meal. In fact, after being appointed as an Ark Dragonar, Ash’s wallet had received a monthly salary. Even under the assumption that he came to <La Tene> as a customer every day, it would not result in a great blow to his wallet. Compared to his days as a poor student, his current lifestyle was like a dream.

“Oh. You actually volunteered to treat, it looks like you’re slowly becoming financially capable.”

The generous Ash had become a reliable man in Eco’s mind. Strictly speaking though, Ash had shouldered the burden of Eco’s meal costs ever since she was born.

“Well, you just rely on a man to earn money and support you, so it seems like you don’t amount to much yourself. As a woman of the Knight Country, you should learn how to live independently, instead of being like a Chevron woman who only knows how to flatter men.”

Seeing Silvia speak as though she were attacking Eco, cold sweat dripped down Ash’s body. Sure enough, Eco began to counterattack against Silvia.

“What did you say? How about you treat for this meal, Silvia! You were the one who invited us to eat here anyway!”

“Eco! How can you speak like that to Hime-sama?”

“What, are you helping Silvia’s side now!?”

Eco’s face dyed red in anger.

“I-I…”

“Fighting over such a thing is too shameful, you two. We just came to a students’ restaurant to have a meal, so what is there to argue about? Eco is right, I was the person who invited you to this restaurant. That’s why I’ll be paying for this meal.”

Silvia’s generous statement caused Ash to feel admiration for her, but he immediately realised that something was off.

“Hold on, I’ve never seen you pay for anything before, Hime-sama.”

“Hmm? What are you trying to say, Ash?”

“Well, Hime-sama. Pardon my rudeness for asking this…do you have any cash on you?”

“Cash? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Silvia furrowed her eyebrows in surprise.

“You didn't bring your wallet, right?”

“Why does the princess of a country need to carry a wallet? I normally give my wallet to Cosette to manage.”

“Where is Cosette-san right now?”

“Because the essential oils used for bathing have run out, I remember her saying that she was going to buy some new ones. However, I just need to give the name of the Lautreamont Royal Family, and the restaurant should allow us to eat as much as we like on credit.”

“No no, that might be all right in a three-star restaurant in the capital, but this is the Academy City, you know? Hime-sama, you also shouldn't give out the name of the Royal Family in a public restaurant as well, right?”

“Uh…that is true.”

“Today will still be my treat, since I have a lot of questions to ask you anyway, Hime-sama.”

“I’m sorry, Ash…”

“Hmph, it’s my win this time!”

Seeing Silvia become disappointed and downcast, Eco seemed proud and overjoyed.

“Hey hey, I’m the one treating so don’t get so cocky, alright?”

Just when Ash said that to Eco with an amazed expression—

“W-Welcome back nyan…master!”

A waitress wearing a maid outfit, with cat ears on her head, and a cat’s tail attached behind her suddenly ran out, giving Ash a surprise. What was even more surprising was that this waitress’ face was very familiar.

“You’re Anya!”

Ash stared blankly at the waitress’ face. Eco and Silvia also followed suit, and were speechless. Tan skin, dark black hair, and piercing eyes. She was small, but she had a beautiful figure like a female leopard — it was most definitely the Anya who was previously the enemy of Ash and the others.

“Wanya! It’s Ash Blake and the young dragon Eco! A-And Princess Silvia as well nya!”

“Why is your speech so strange?”

After Ash calmly pointed out her speech issue, Anya’s entire body become so red that it seemed like she was puffing out steam.

“T-This is because of the manager’s orders, I can’t just…”

Anya’s gaze wandered as she spoke vaguely and inarticulately. Ash couldn't stop himself from being mesmerised by the attraction of her exotic beauty. With the cat ears and tail as accessories, it made Anya look even more adorable. She was like a black cat that people only wanted to hug and pamper. Along with the frilly maid outfit, it was surprisingly well suited for her. The length of the skirt was above her knees, and her slightly concealed thighs would make one nervous.

“Guha!”

While Ash was looking on in wonder, he was suddenly struck in the abdomen by an elbow on both sides.

“What…what the heck! Eco! And even you’re being so rough too, Hime-sama!”

As soon as Ash opened his mouth to complain, Eco and Silvia gave him a foul look as they both stiffened and immediately replied

“Hmph! It’s your fault for staring open-mouthed at girls!”

“Indeed, I can’t help approving of what Eco has to say this time.”

“I can’t stand you guys, you’re both getting so worked up about such a perplexing thing.”

Ash lamented as he clutched his stomach.

“Anyway, you’re called Anya, right? Why are you in Ansarivan!?”

This time, Eco directed her anger towards Anya as she spoke.

“Shouldn't you have been left in Fontaine City for interrogation? Surely, you don’t plan on engaging in more plots, do you?”

Silvia aggressively followed like Eco, and cast a cold gaze towards Anya.

“……”

With an enemy on each side, Anya appeared to shrink back timidly.

“Ara, Anya-chan, could these be your friends?”

Then, the manager of <La Tene> came over from behind Anya. Although the manager was rather tall, the perfect proportions of her body were comparable to a model, but she always had a warm and friendly smile on her face, so it didn't give people the feeling that she was difficult to approach. At around twenty years of age, she was greatly admired by the students of the Unios course, which even gave her the nickname of ‘okaa-san’, as a so-called popular manager.

“M-Manager, there are people who know my true identity…”

Anya was on the verge of tears as she turned around and looked at the manager.

“Well well, aren't you Princess Silvia? For the Princess to visit the lowly students’ restaurant <La Tene>, it’s my honour.”

The manager noticed that the customer sitting down was Silvia, and immediately bowed with respect. Then, she began to explain about Anya’s situation to the three people.

“—That’s basically how it is, so this girl is no longer the enemy of the Knight Country.”

In short, when she was being interrogated by Veronica, because of her cooperative attitude, she obtained a pardon afterwards, and it was arranged for her to live in Ansarivan. At that time, the one who volunteered to be Anya’s observer and guardian was the manager of <La Tene>.

“Umm…I’m really sorry for troubling everyone. Although I know it’s not something that can be forgiven with just an apology…”

Anya sombrely bowed as she apologised to Eco.

“What’s with that tone?”

Eco angrily puffed out her cheeks. Before, thanks to Anya’s doing, Eco had suffered a lot in Fontaine City, so it was hard to blame her for not forgiving her so easily. It was just that, seeing Anya maintain her deeply bowed posture without moving, the steel-hearted Eco seemed to relent.

“F-Fine…if you let me have some delicious meat, I’ll consider forgiving you.”

Hearing Eco’s words, Anya’s face suddenly brightened up a bit.

“Really!? The chef’s recommendation for today is [Grilled Lamb]!”

“…Gyruru.”

“Look at you, you’re even drooling!”

Ash quickly picked up a napkin and helped Eco to wipe the edge of her mouth, then looked at the interaction between Eco and Anya, and suddenly had mixed feelings.

“Thinking back about it now…Eco’s birth actually has an inseparable relationship with Anya. Didn't you attack me in the forest at first?”

“I-I’m really very sorry…”

Anya’s shrunk back more and more.

“You don’t need to be afraid, I’m not angry anymore. On the contrary, if not for you, Eco might not have awakened yet.”

After Ash said that with a wry smile, Eco cried out.

“What! Are you mistaken!? If your life wasn't about to end, I could've slept for another three good years!”

“Just how much do you like sleeping!? If I really let you sleep for that long, I would have graduated!”

Seeing Ash and Eco both arguing, Anya couldn't help giggling slightly.

“Hmm? What’s so funny?”

After Ash asked out of puzzlement, Anya gave a wry smile as she replied

“I just think that a Dragonar and their Pal really have a good relationship.”

“I-I don’t have a particularly good relationship with him!”

Eco crossed her arms, and turned her face away dismissively. Ash inadvertently noticed that her cheeks were slightly flushed, which in turn caused him to feel embarrassed.

“Yes yes! Anya has recently been talking all the time about Ash-san. She looks as though she’s anxious to start—”

“M-Manager! What are you saying, really!”

Anya’s ears reddened and she pushed the manager from behind as she left. Not long after, she was seen pushing the restaurant manager outside, and then dove into the kitchen.

“Wait a minute! How are we going to order? What about that tasty [Grilled Lamb]!”

Eco shouted out loudly, but Anya refused to come out no matter what.

“It’s rather strange, what could've happened to Anya?”

Ash honestly wondered about that, and Silvia, who had been silent until now, finally broke the silence.

“It’s like you’re completely off guard. Could it be that even Anya…”

Silvia muttered incomprehensibly, but it was nearly impossible to hear the latter half of what she was saying. Thus, Ash put on a serious expression, and looked at Silvia.

“Hime-sama, why are you angry?”

“You should ask yourself that question!”

Part 4

“Wow…it looks delicious!”

Seeing the dishes arrive at the table one by one, Eco cheered in excitement. Facing the large and steaming hot leg of grilled lamb, it felt like it would be more than enough to eat even if it was split between five people. The surface was grilled to a golden-brown colour and was crispy, which simply stirred up one’s appetite.

“Hmm, it’s certainly not bad…”

Even Silvia, who had a displeased expression before, seemed to have her appetite aroused. Aside from lamb, the dishes on the table also consisted of Allonnes mushroom pasta, a salad with autumn’s seasonal vegetables, pumpkin soup, as well as stone oven baked bread.

“This is mine!”

Right after offering a prayer to Saint Rosa Maria, Eco couldn't wait any longer and prepared to bite into the lamb.

“Eco! The meat needs to be cut up and divided to everyone first!”

Ash quickly stopped Eco, as he picked up a knife to slice up the meat. The moment that the knife cut into the meat, a lot of the juices ‘pochi’ spilled out. After he placed the sliced up meat on a small plate for Eco, she grinned as she tossed the meat into her mouth with large bites.

“Hafuhafu…mmm~ that was delicious!”

Recently, Eco had been becoming more and more feminine, but only when it came to food, she would return to childlike appearance. At that time, Ash felt that there was a strong gaze looking at them from the opposite side, and couldn't help looking up in surprise. It was actually Silvia, who was staring at his hands.

“Is there a problem…Hime-sama?”

Hearing Ash talk to her, Silvia returned to her senses, and exaggeratedly shook her head.

“N-No! There’s nothing!”

Although Silvia said that there weren't any issues, she was holding onto a small plate in her hand. Looking at her awkward demeanour, Ash understood what it was. He couldn't help exposing a wry smile. Silvia probably never had the experience of cutting a large platter of meat by herself. Cosette probably did this kind of task for her all the time. However, Silvia had a lot of pride. She almost definitely thought it too humiliating to ask Ash to help her carve the meat, and was wondering in her mind about what to do.

“Here, give me your plate.”

After Ash took Silvia’s plate, he picked up the knife and cut the meat into slices. The meat juices ‘pochi’ gushed out again. Ash cut the slices of meat into sizes which were easy to eat, and then placed them onto the plate.

“Thank you…”

Silvia took the plate, and then used a voice as quiet as a mosquito to thank him. This time, that exchange caused a killing intent to stab into his cheek, and Ash involuntarily stiffened up.

“Eco? What is it?”

Turning to look beside him, Eco held out her small plate with a serious expression. Having a delicious meat dish to enjoy, Eco was originally overjoyed, but she somehow now had a straight-faced expression.

“A-noth-er-serving!”

“Ah…okay, there is a lot anyway.”

Cold sweat continued to roll down Ash’s body. Eco was clearly in a fit of anger. It must have been because she saw Ash and Silvia’s interaction that caused her to become angry like this. Ash cut slightly thicker pieces of meat and placed them onto Eco’s plate.

“Here, Eco—”

In an instant, a hand suddenly extended out from his side and snatched the plate away, which greatly surprised Ash.

“Oh…I thought that a students’ restaurant wouldn't be able to produce any decent dishes, but the taste of this dish is actually worthy of a three-star rating.”

Ash hastily glanced back, and saw Oscar Brailsford standing behind, with an indifferent look on his face. He held a piece of meat up with his fingers, and then gobbled it with delight; those actions were a complete contrast to his elegant appearance.

“That’s my meat! How dare you snatch it away!”

In anger, Eco stood up and threw a punch, but Oscar easily avoided the attack. As if he had come late to a gathering of friends, he casually sat down in the vacant seat as if nothing had happened.

“Hey! Don’t just sit there so naturally!”

Oscar handsomely brushed his fringe up, and ignored Eco’s angry roars.

“What’s wrong, we’re all members of the Student Council.”

“You have the nerve to say that? And that’s not even counting the fact that you’re normally absent.”

Ash grumbled that with an expression of surprise, but Oscar simply returned a graceful, cheeky smile.

“Oscar, what are you planning? You did such an inexcusable thing to us before, do you really have the right to appear before us?”

Silvia glared sharply at Oscar. Within those icy blue eyes of hers, were scorching red flames. Having recently been defeated by the pair which consisted of Oscar and Tristan, she was presumably not too happy about it.

“Fuu. I remember you looked quite pathetic when I dealt with you, Princess Silvia-dono.”

“What…!”

Silvia’s face was dyed red with anger, and her lips were trembling. But, the next thing that she was going to say was stuck in her throat and wouldn't come out. Despite cooperating with Lucca, Silvia was still defeated pathetically. That’s why she clearly understood that no matter what she said right now, it would just be the cries of a sore loser.

“Anyway, as a dragon, Eco likes to eat meat the most, right?”

Oscar suddenly asked a question which seemed to have no correlation to the previous topic.

“Yeah. So what?”

After Eco snappily replied, Oscar smiled.

“If you consent to be my partner, I can treat you to the highest grade of Chevron beef every day. Whether it’s grilled steak, sautéed beef, or roast beef, you can eat whatever you want to eat. By the way, do you know the part that people call ‘toro’? Eating beef toro raw is one of the most delicious things in this world.”

“Eating Chevron beef toro raw…?”

Eco quickly revealed a greedy expression as she drooled.

“Hey hey! You’re being kidnapped by food!”

Ash quickly doused Eco’s desires, and then glared at Oscar.

“Stop going overboard. Eco is my Pal.”

Ash boldly declared his full authority as the master, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Oscar sighed, and then exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders.

“You really are carefree. Did you know that the Chevron Kingdom has already been informed of Eco’s true identity?”

“So what if they know? The Kingdom and Knight Country are allies.”

Even though Ash was annoyed by studying and exams, he still knew the common knowledge of a citizen of the Knight Country.

“Also, these two countries don’t just have any ordinary bilateral relationship. Like a knight pledging allegiance to their monarch, the Knight Country has always done things for the sake of the Kingdom. Even if both countries share their intelligence on Eco, it’s nothing to make a fuss over.”

“What naive thinking…what [Avalon Knight], this is a joke. Do you really think that the Kingdom and Knight Country acting like lovers in a drama will continue to play out forever?”

Oscar suddenly shifted to a serious expression, which caused Ash to shudder.

“Oscar-dono! Be mindful of what you’re saying!”

Silvia couldn't conceal the anxiousness in her mind, and glared at the side of Oscar’s face.

“Thinking about it realistically, allowing us of the Chevron Kingdom to exclusively manage the dragons would be more convenient and time conserving, isn't this the undeniable truth? Yet, the Kingdom entrusted the Knight Country with the management of the dragons. It’s just that, the Kingdom believed that regardless of the era, the Knight King would whole-heartedly pledge his absolute loyalty to the Chevron King — this model of thinking may have been established five hundred years ago, but the problem is…”

“Hey hey…is it really possible for these two countries to break off their diplomatic relationship?”

Ash nervously gulped, as he awaited Oscar’s reply.

“Eco’s awakening in Fontaine City amidst the disorder has shocked the world leaders — that incident will definitely invoke a gradual change in the situation of the world. Were it not for that riot, the Chevron Kingdom also wouldn't suspect the Knight Country’s government of disloyalty for no reason.”

“Uh…!”

“Moreover, the current Chevron King, Zacharias III is rather old, and the old days of naming the next monarch are long gone. Not only that, he complains that he’s gotten weak in his old age, and is planning to seek out some secret medicine which will grant him eternal youth and immortality. With his personality declining to this point, this so-called King is nothing more than an ugly old man. Regardless of the era, the ones who lead a country to ruin are always old fools who only fill their minds with their own selfish desires.”

“Hey hey, what’s this about eternal youth and immortality…did the King really say such nonsense?”

Ash timidly asked. Could it be that the Chevron King really wanted to imitate the specialists of witchcraft from folk stories?

“Of course he’s serious about that, it’s because the Princess of Avalon’s Dragons’ Emperor has been born into this world.”

Oscar nonchalantly replied.

“Hold on…how is this related to Eco?”

“Simply by drinking the blood of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor, you’ll be able to obtain eternal youth and immortality — this is a long-standing legend.”

“What did you say…”

Eco wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered in fear.

“That’s ridiculous! I've never heard of such a legend!”

“I heard that you went to visit the Mother Dragon during the break, didn't she tell you anything?”

Although Ash felt surprised by the intelligence network that was easily available to Oscar, he gave a serious reply to his question.

“That’s right, I didn't hear her speak about such a thing at all.”

Oscar nodded as if he had understood the main point.

“Is that so? The Mother Dragon didn't say anything at all — that verifies one thing, and it’s that eternal youth and immortality is an impossible existence. Don’t you think so?”

“What you’re saying does make sense.”

Ash expressed his agreement towards Oscar’s words for the first time. If there really was a secret existence such as obtaining eternal youth and immortality through drinking the blood of Avalon, the Mother Dragon definitely would've warned Ash about it.

“The legend of eternal youth and immortality which has spread across the continent probably became a superstition around the time that Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family was established. When Zacharias III was young, he probably also dismissed legends such as this. But, the process of aging can change a person. Sooner or later, Zacharias will die, hence he is seeking out Eco for the medicine.”

“You came to tell us this information, so what are you planning to do?”

“My aim is of course to become the next King of Chevron. I swear that after I succeed the Chevron King, not only will I protect the personal safety of Eco, I will also maintain the alliance with the Knight Country.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. However, in the case that the successor to the throne is another one of the candidates — like that Uriel who has an irritable temper, my guess is that the Knight Country probably won’t be able to escape from the destiny of being annexed by the Kingdom. Uriel holds the ambition to dominate the entire continent, and in order to accomplish that goal, he’ll definitely want to abolish the old system so that he can manage the dragon race himself. After everything is ready, he’s bound to declare war against the mechanised forces of the Zepharos Empire. That situation is bound to set off a world war—”

After saying up to there, Oscar suddenly stopped speaking, and unceremoniously grabbed the glass near his hand and drank it in one gulp. Silvia’s facial expression conveyed shock. That was because the cup that Oscar snatched away was the one that she had just drank from. With her straitlaced personality, Silvia may have gotten the thought of it being an indirect kiss when watching that.

“Umm…would you like to order?”

At that time, Anya appeared with a timid voice. Seeing that she had a pen and paper in her hand, it was probably because she noticed that Oscar had just taken a seat in the restaurant, which is why she came to ask whether they wanted to order. Ash also noticed the reason that Oscar suddenly became silent, and was afraid that he might have some sort of close connection to the waitress. It showed that while he appeared frivolous on the surface, he actually had a cautious and serious personality. Oscar glanced at Anya, and then revealed an arrogant smile.

“I see, so you’re Anya — no, I should call you Shamara Kiltzkaya, right? The rumours say that you were pardoned because you made a plea bargain, it seems it really is true.”

“What…how do you know that!?”

Anya raised the corner of her eyebrows, and immediately put on a defensive stance. Even though she was currently wearing a maid outfit with cat ears and a tail, she was previously a spy for the Imperial Army, and the chief of the Tantalos Tribe; the killing intent that she was giving off was definitely not a bluff. The sharp end of her pen was pointed squarely at Oscar’s eye.

“Hey, Anya…”

Ash was worried. It was unusual that Veronica would spare her, so if she used force against a student, she would be recaptured and sent to serve time in prison.

“Fuu, that’s right. Those are the eyes. No matter how hard you work to make yourself look like an ordinary citizen, you were born as a warrior after all. You carry the bloodline of the fighting Tantalos Tribe, so you’re not allowed to lead a serene life—”

Oscar said that while putting on airs, as he slowly stood up from his seat. His eyes pierced into Anya’s with a gaze that wasn't any less sharp than Anya’s.

“It looks like I need to give a good lesson to this neko-chan with a bad upbringing.”

“You can’t summon your Pal in here, so do you really think that you can beat me in a close-quarters fight?”

At that time, Anya revealed the expression of a warrior.

“Stop! There is no reason for you two to fight!”

Ash desperately tried to stop them, but the two people emitting a killing intent were evidently not going to allow a third person to get in the way of the fight between them. As the place was filled with a tense atmosphere, the sharp killing intent emitted by those two people gave everyone the illusion that they would be slashed if they made any careless movements. This fight had also unwittingly attracted the attention of the seated students all around them, and everyone watched on in amazement of the scene.

“—Hey Oscar! What kind of trouble are you giving me again, you bastard!?”

At that moment, an aggressive voice was heard, and a figure dressed in black rushed in.

“Gofu!”

It also came in with a flying kick. Oscar was blown away by a single kick.

“T-Towards your master, is that the…attitude that you should have!?”

The shameful appearance of Oscar sprawled on the floor and writhing in pain was an affront to the handsome face of a noble that he had.

“…Geez, Don’t increase my workload any more, you filthy insect!”

With a silver ponytail hanging behind her head, it was a girl wearing a black eyepatch — after Celes came to the side of her useless master, she roughly picked him up by his collar. In front of the crowd of stunned onlookers, Celes didn't say anything and dragged her master out of the restaurant.

“The New Term ~A.S.B.1365.10~” is closed.

Chapter 4 - Chevron Royal Family's 'Iron rule'

Part 1

After lunch, Ash and the others rushed towards Julius Hall.

“Run faster! Punctuality is part of the Knight Country’s basic training, and as a Princess, I’m personally setting an example!”

While running across the campus grounds as other students went by, Silvia was urging Ash and Eco. Although an announcement was made that classes would finish at noon today, the Student Council had agreed that they would hold their meeting in the afternoon. Until ‘Ansarivan's Five Hundred Years Festival’ successfully concluded, they would hold a meeting every day.

“Seriously, if Oscar didn't cause trouble all of a sudden, we wouldn't be in such a hurry right now…are you okay Eco?”

Ash looked at Eco’s face from the side.

“T-This level of speed is perfectly fine!”

Eco clenched her teeth, and then suddenly mustered her strength to speed up. She overtook Ash, and stayed in line with Silvia.

“Hmph! Do you think you can overtake me!?”

As soon as she found out that Eco had caught up to her, a sense of rivalry was sparked within Silvia. She increased the stride of her legs, and her speed gradually rose.

“Hey hey! You two don’t need to compete over something as trivial as this!”

Because of the strenuous exercise after eating, the side of Ash’s abdomen began to ache, but no matter what he said, both Eco and Silvia refused to slow down. Their distance from Ash was also increasing with every step.

“Those two have too much spirit…!”

All that Ash could do was try to match those two and increase his pace. Although he had vaguely noticed the reason behind why Eco and Silvia were so competitive, as soon as he thought about it deeply, the side of his abdomen began hurting again, so he decided to simply focus on running. The race between Eco and Silvia continued all the way until they arrived at Julius Hall. Although it wasn't a violent showdown in which they were risking their lives, neither of them were able to give up in the middle, and they arrived at Julius Hall at almost the same time — at least in the eyes of Ash, the results were so.

“Haa, haa…I, I won…”

“What nonsense are you saying! C-C-Clearly it was me…haa, haa…”

By the time that Ash arrived at Julius Hall, the two people had an exhausted look on their face as they slumped over on the front porch. The two people sat back to back, breathless. Their bodies were covered in sweat and their uniforms were soaked, but their bodies also exuded a sultry heat. Perhaps because of this heated aura that they radiated, the two of them appeared more attractive than usual, and Ash couldn't stop his heart from beating a little faster.

“Really, have you two finished arguing now?”

In order to rid these dirty thoughts from his mind, Ash spoke while trying to think of something else.

“I don’t need to be told that by you!”

“It’s not your turn to talk here!”

The two of them immediately retorted, and Ash shrank back like a turtle hiding in its shell. At that time, a nonchalant voice floated down from the window of the second floor.

“This match was won by Silvia due to the slightest difference in the size of her chest.”

When Ash raised his head to look up, he noticed that Rebecca was standing in front of the second floor window. She leisurely crossed her arms over her chest, as she happily looked down upon Eco and Silvia.

“However — the meeting has already begun. You three should reflect on this properly.”

After saying that, Rebecca's figure disappeared from the window. Although signs of life couldn't be seen, her cold tone instead made everyone’s hair stand on end, and Ash felt so frightened that he was unable to move.

“A-As a Princess of the Knight Country, I was actually late…how careless!”

After Rebecca announced the victor, Silvia didn't even have the time to feel happy about it before being cast into the abyss of frustration.

“Fufu, serves you right!”

Upon seeing Silvia’s depressed state, Eco puffed out her chest in triumph while she spoke, as if she was the proud winner.

“Hey hey! What are you so proud about!?”

Ash quickly reproached Eco’s childish behaviour.

Part 2

—The meeting room on the second floor of Julius Hall.

“Most of our members are here, so allow me to explain our task for today to everyone.”

Rebecca put on a serious expression as she looked at everyone.

“You should all know that the Five Hundred Years Festival also has a long-distance racing event. The race route follows the ‘Aries Dragon Riding Festival’ route, and the midpoint of the race will pass through Fianna Forest. So today, we’ll need to go to each of the checkpoints in Fianna Forest, so that we can set up magic incense burners to ward off the beasts.”

Jobs of this kind were also part of the Student Council’s responsibilities, and Ash, who was unaware of this, felt rather surprised. He thought that this would have been a job for the teaching faculty members. This once again allowed Ash to deeply understand just how heavy the responsibilities that the Student Council members shouldered were.

“In addition, we will divide this work into three groups. Although the Student Council members are carefully selected from an elite group, the forest has winged lizards, and it is also the habitat of many dangerous beasts. Recently, there have also been reported sightings of two-headed snakes, so please be sure to increase your vigilance. As for the group arrangement—”

Jessica and Silvia simultaneously spoke up to interrupt Rebecca's words.

“I want to be in the same group as Ash-sama!”

“I-I also hope…that I can be in the same group as Ash.”

It was clearly the same idea, but Jessica said it without blushing or stuttering, whilst Silvia seemed somewhat hesitant towards it; Rebecca's response to those two was like that of an adult admonishing a naughty child.

“If everyone is going to pick their own group members, we won’t come to a decision until it’s dark, right? I think that we should draw by lots as a fair way of deciding. Max, bring that thing out.”

“Yes, President.”

As instructed, Max placed a small box on the table, as if it had been prepared for this occasion. The volume of the box was about thirty cubic centimetres, with an open hole at the top.

“Group A will have three people, while groups B and C will have two people. Well, allow me to be the first to draw.”

The group that Max drew was B. He then put on a businesslike expression, and handed the box to Jessica who was beside him.

“I’m going to draw!”

Jessica put her hands together in prayer to Saint Rosa Maria first, and then enthusiastically drew from the box — the result was also group B.

“Ahh…!”

Jessica revealed a bitter expression, and then stared at the creator of the ballot box, Max, from the edge of her vision. Max wasn't sure if he was the reason for her imposing manner, and seemed somewhat agitated. The next to draw was Lucca, and she drew A. And then Eco also drew A. It was then Ash’s turn to draw.

“………”

He could feel that both Eco and Lucca were glaring at him with eager eyes. There were three places in group A, so Ash didn't rule out the possibility that he would draw the last place in that group. Ash nervously swallowed, and then reached into the box with his hand. His fingers touched several strips of paper. Ash hesitated for a moment, before he made up his mind to take one of them.

“I’m C.”

“Aww…what a pity.”

Lucca made a long sigh in dismay. In contrast, Eco scowled back.

“Hey! If you’re my knight, have the courage to draw out A!”

“Don’t be so unreasonable!”

Silvia, who received the box from Ash, murmured ‘muu’ in a low voice, as she did not seem ready to draw.

“Why aren't you drawing, Silvia? Even if you want to get ahead, you may not necessarily draw the character that you want, you know?”

Rebecca smiled as she joked, and Silvia then revealed a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“T-There isn't a particular character that I want to draw!”

“Oh, is that so? If you have the luck of drawing C, you’ll be able to be in the forest alone with just you and Ash. That’s rather nice isn't it, Silvia?”

“I absolutely do not have that kinds of idea!”

Silvia’s entire face reddened, and she quickly pulled out a strip from the box without any further deliberation. She then carefully unfolded the piece of paper…

“It’s A!”

Silvia revealed an expression of despair as if the end of the world had come, as she gazed at the piece of paper in her hand.

“—It looks like the groups have been decided. Group A is Eco, Lucca and Silvia. Group B is Max and Jessica. And lastly, group C is me and Ash. Well then, let’s all immediately head out for Fianna Forest!”

In contrast to Rebecca's passionate tone, the remainder of the meeting room was filled with a low mood, as if they were attending a funeral. As the protagonist that everyone was fighting for, Ash was so nervous that he couldn't stop cold sweat from dripping down his forehead. It was because he had to accompany Rebecca on the same team for this task.

—I have to do everything I can for this job, I can’t weigh Rebecca-san down.

Part 3

Fianna Forest was located to the northwest of Ansarivan Academy. Students often visited here for combat training or routine school activities, so it was a deeply familiar forest to students.

“Good, we’ll descend here.”

While standing majestically on top of Cú Chulainn's head, she ordered it to descend. Cú Chulainn uttered out a loud roar, and then descended in the southwest corner of the forest. There was a small gap amidst the dense canopy of trees, like a small plaza within the forest. Cú Chulainn's extraordinarily large body was indeed inconvenient for movement inside the forest. Thus it so happened that this clearing was a good resting place for Cú Chulainn. As soon as Cú Chulainn descended, it lied down on the floor to rest. Although it looked like a mighty and sacred dragon that none could oppose, it was obedient like a dog towards Rebecca.

“Be careful, you don’t want to break the magic incense burners.”

After Rebecca reached the ground with light movements, she turned around to look at Ash.

“I’ll be careful, Rebecca-san.”

Ash carefully jumped down from Cú Chulainn's head. In his hand was a bag filled with three large magic incense burners. Although they didn't look too different from an ordinary incense burners on the outside, there were Bright Dragon Crystals inside. Simply setting it within the forest would cause it to activate Dragon Magic, and it would emit a scent that wild animals disliked. But that scent didn't have any effect on dragons, hence it could be considered to be an essential tool when holding a dragon riding competition in the wild.

“Be careful not to get lost, Ash.”

Rebecca cautioned him with a joke, and Ash couldn't help smiling wryly.

“Don’t worry. No matter how vast the sea of trees are, my eyes will be firmly stuck to the <Scarlet Empress> because it’s impossible to lose sight of you.

“R-Really.”

It was rare of Rebecca to stutter when talking. She ‘ahem’ cleared her throat, and then turned her back towards Ash. A fresh aroma could be smelt from her light hair as it drifted in the air.

“I never thought that you were a man who would say such sweet words. Or are those purely words without any intention…”

After Rebecca quietly muttered that, she began to walk along the forest trail.

“…?”

—Did I say something to offend her…?

With an uneasy feeling, Ash caught up with Rebecca's footsteps. The smell of the damp earth roused a sense of nostalgia within him. The sound of chirping birds could be heard everywhere. Through the slits between the branches, the autumn sun streamed down from overhead.

—Fianna Forest huh…

Ash could not help recalling those memories. The spring of this year that he could not forget. Whilst Ash was participating in the ‘Aries Dragon Riding Festival’, he encountered Milgauss and Anya. In the instant that he was able to successfully repel Anya, he lost his balance and fell into the valley. And then Eco was born—

“What is it Ash? You look restless.”

“—W-Wah!”

Ash was immensely shocked. Rebecca, who had originally walked ahead of him had imperceptibly moved beside him without him noticing, and was peering at his face. Upon seeing that Rebecca's face was so close to his own, Ash couldn't stop his heartbeat from intensifying.

“I’m sorry! I was just a little lost in thought…”

“Ho. You wouldn't be indulging in a strange delusion with me in it, would you?”

“I swear it’s absolutely not! I wouldn't dare to be so disrespectful!”

Rebecca's direct words were too sudden, so Ash could not help blushing. The smile on Rebecca's face seemed to show that she was amused by Ash’s reaction.

“‘Wouldn't dare to be so disrespectful’ huh…having people respect me so much is certainly something to be happy about, but as a woman, it would be a lie to say that I’m not lonely.”

Rebecca suddenly looked at Ash with a pair of sullen eyes, causing his mind to fall into a commotion.

—As a woman.

When Rebecca said those words, her slightly moist lips radiated a soft and glossy glow.

“Ash!”

Rebecca suddenly used force to push Ash down.

“Eh…?”

The bag with the incense burners inside them dropped onto the ground with a ‘donk’ sound. Without any resistance, Ash was pushed down into a bush, and his body lay on top of the moist soil. In an instant, Rebecca's body also pressed down on top of his. Their bodies were firmly pressed against each other with one on top and the other below. The warmth of Rebecca's body was transmitted over from the parts that were pressed onto him. It wasn't just that. Even the faint sounds of Rebecca's breathing could be heard.

“…!”

Rebecca's body remained motionless while she remained pressed against Ash’s body.

“…Rebecca-san?”

“Be quiet.”

Rebecca used her index finger to seal Ash’s lips. A rustling sound as if a sandbag was being dragged across the ground was heard, as it cut through the silence of the forest. And then, an enormous figure passed by in the corner of his eye.

—…Is that a two-headed snake!?

Ash’s entire body went stiff. He didn't expect to be here at a time when there were reports of increased sightings of strange snake species in the area. He could see the two long necks of the snake heads beyond the bush. Just the thickness of those necks was comparable to the width of a tree trunk, so it was impossible to imagine just how long the full length of the snake’s body was. Perhaps detecting the scent of two people, the two-headed snake suddenly stopped, and seeing this, Ash and Rebecca froze their bodies like rocks until the snake continued moving on. After a while, the strangely shaped snake disappeared deep into the forest.

“Phew…we’re saved.”

Ash couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief, and at that time, Rebecca whispered into his ear

“I didn't know that you were so bold either…”

Rebecca's breath carried a subtle heat. Ash was initially surprised, but he immediately noticed the source of the problem.

“Wah!?”

He was forcefully pushed down by Rebecca earlier, and while they were entangled together, his right hand inadvertently grabbed her left breast. In that instant of surprise, Ash tightened the grip on his right hand, and accidentally squeezed it.

“Mmn…!”

Rebecca suddenly let out a moan. Her cheeks blushed red faintly, as if she was aroused by pleasure. She had never revealed such an expression before. Although there was a layer of clothing in between, he could still clearly feel the softness of her breasts, and it was as if his five fingers were drawn in. She should be wearing underwear right…such thoughts involuntarily surfaced within Ash’s mind. The mesmerising sensation he felt simply by touching it was like the product of a miracle.

“Uhm…I-I absolutely did not mean to do it on purpose!”

Ash frantically tried to defend himself; because his body was pressed down upon by Rebecca, he was unable to adjust the position of his hand.

“Well, I understand that you did not mean it. Rest assured, I won’t blame you.”

After Rebecca replied somewhat coyly, for some reason, she pressed down on Ash’s body even more. Gripped in the centre of Ash’s right hand, her breast expanded and as a result, compressed into a different shape.

“Rebecca-san!?”

“…I have a question that I’d like to ask someone as bold and audacious as you.”

Rebecca used a dreamy tone as she began to speak.

“W-What is it?”

“Well…after listening to my question, I hope you don’t laugh. Everyone praises me for being strong, cool, and capable. Of course, hearing such praise doesn't make me unhappy, but I am still a girl in her youth. S-So I also want…to hear people praise me for being very cute and the like. Is it so strange for me to worry about such problems?”

Although her appearance was like that of a young girl, the expression in her eyes was dead serious. Ash immediately understood that he absolutely could not use a lame excuse to answer to her question.

“Of course it’s not strange.”

While replying in that manner, Ash still felt the sensation of his hand on Rebecca's breast.

“R-Really?”

“Yes. Rebecca-san is very cute right now.”

Ash decisively said. After Rebecca gasped in surprise, her cheeks became dyed red like a rose.

“Please, could you repeat what you just said?”

Although the unexpected request made him puzzled, Ash still did as she wished and said it once again.

“Y-You’re very cute!”

Ash was embarrassed to death, and his entire body heated up as if it had caught fire. Whether it was his own body heating up, or the warmth of Rebecca's body being transmitted to him…Ash was also uncertain. In short, his entire body was incessantly getting hotter.

“…Thank you, Ash. You’re the first person who’s said such a thing to me.”

After Rebecca showed a satisfied smile, she finally lifted her upper body away from Ash. The soft touch of her body and her sweet fragrance also drifted further away. At the same time that Ash dropped his tension, he inevitably felt some regret, but he soon felt a biting cold air.

Thunk, thunk…

The sound of familiar footsteps could be heard from the depths of the forest. The sound of those footsteps were clearer and more distinctive than any of the wild animals living in the forest. It wasn't an Asia either. Guessing from the way that the ground was shaking, it should be a Maestro. And it wasn't just one of them. Deducing it ground the sound of their footsteps, there were two of them.

“—Hey, you’re still not at the set up point? Hurry up and finish this boring work.”

Blaring into Ash’s eardrums was undoubtedly Eco’s voice.

“Hmm, if you can’t even get work of this degree done in such a time frame, you’ll damage the reputation of the Student Council. Continue, Lancelot!”

The next to ring out was Silvia’s voice.

“Umm…this area is the responsibility of group C, so…”

The person who meekly pointed out this problem was Lucca. Based on that, the other Maestro should be Gawain.

“What did you say!?”

“How is that possible!?”

Eco and Silvia both responded at the same time. Evidently, group A’s task was not going well. Logically speaking, while having Lucca, who was more familiar than anyone with the forest in the group, it should've been rather easy; however, Eco and Silvia seemed to be constantly unhelpful. Ash didn't find it difficult to imagine that Lucca was having a hard time because she was being dragged around by those two, and he couldn't help exposing a wry smile. However, his smile was immediately frozen upon hearing the following dialogue.

“Speaking of which — I wonder what Ash’s group is up to right now?”

Eco suddenly spoke with a tone of displeasure.

“His group member is President Rebecca, so we shouldn't need to worry about them.”

Silvia answered calmly.

“Hold on, what does that ‘we’ mean? Why are you also worried?”

“I-I also like Ash! What’s wrong with being worried!?”

Silvia replied as if it were only natural. Perhaps because she thought that Ash wasn't present, she didn't try to hide her feelings. It was previously impossible for Silvia to have such an attitude.

“Eh? Silvia, you…also like Ash?”

Lucca was probably confused by Silvia’s sudden change in attitude. After all, Lucca was kept in the dark about the events which happened over the summer vacation, so it was hard to blame her for being confused.

“Anyway! If he dares to do anything strange with Rebecca, I’ll crush him in one step!”

Eco’s relentless words reverberated throughout the forest. It was almost as if she were giving a loud warning to Ash, who was somewhere within the forest. The three people in group A turned around and headed towards the eastern side.

Thunk, thunk…

The sound of Lancelot’s and Gawain’s footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

“—Fufu. Ash, congratulations on escaping unharmed.”

Rebecca revealed a playful expression as she whispered softly. Seeing her devilish smile, Ash almost felt like his soul was being sucked away. In order to calm himself down again, Ash leaned over to pick up the bag which he had dropped near his feet. He inspected the contents inside, and confirmed that the incense burner was safe. Unintentionally, Ash had discovered something even more significant.

—Thinking back about it now, if I brought out the magic incense burners to use when the two-headed snake appeared…we wouldn't have had to hide from it in such an embarrassing way, right?

“What is it, Ash?”

Rebecca, who was about ten steps ahead of him suddenly turned around, causing Ash to panic. The sudden doubts that he had were also tossed to the back of his mind.

“I’ll be right over!”

Part 4

“This is the last one.”

“Good work, Ash.”

Ash set down the third magic incense burner at the marked location on the ground. After touching the built-in Bright Dragon Crystal, the Dragon Magic activated. Aside from emitting a light, no particular change could be detected in the Bright Dragon Crystal, but with this, they wouldn't need to worry about dangerous beasts appearing in the vicinity of the route. The burner would generate a scent that was almost impossible to detect for humans, and only dangerous beasts would be able to perceive the unpleasant odour.

“Since it’s been such hard work, do you want to relax a bit?”

While saying that, Rebecca's fiery red hair floated in the wind. Through the lush forestry, it was possible to catch a faint glimpse of Rubina Lake. The sun shone on the surface of the lake, forming a glimmering reflection, which was like an enormous mirror.

“That would be nice, given that we haven’t had a rest for so long.”

Ash said so without a second thought, but the view of the autumn shoreline was beautifully picturesque, and if he rested with just him and Rebecca at such a place, it would feel as if they were on a date. Date — the instant that he realised this word, a wave of embarrassment, shyness, nervousness and other emotions flooded his mind like an avalanche, causing Ash to immediately panic.

“—W-Wah!”

In that instant, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the forest, and an object like a piece of white cloth just so happened to cover Ash’s face. It felt somewhat warm, and it had a soft texture. An odour like that of sweet perfume entered his nostrils.

“I-I can’t see in front!”

Ash hurriedly grabbed the piece of cloth from his face. And then he was astonished for a moment.

“Uwah! How did this kind of thing appear here…!”

Ash’s entire face blushed red. No matter how he looked at them, it was a pair of ladies’ underwear, and based on the quality of the silk, it was probably a fairly expensive item. It was probably the personal underwear of some aristocratic lady, right?

…Thought Ash. The point was, why did this kind of thing get blown over here by the wind?

“Don’t say anything, Ash.”

Rebecca suddenly used a low voice which carried a sense of tension to warn Ash. She slowly crept closer to the lakeside. Ash also followed Rebecca's movements, while tightly holding onto the lukewarm underwear in his hand. Rebecca paused at the junction between the forest and the lakeside, hid her body behind a bush, and then carefully observed the situation near the lake. Ash also followed Rebecca's gaze as he looked out. He could see a graceful figure bathing in the shallow area of the water.

—Taking a bath in a place like this? This person is too lacking in wariness…

The person bathing in the lake had dark black hair which stretched down their back, and their lower body was soaked within the lake. Because their back was facing Ash, he was unable to recognise them, but their slim figure and certain elegance gave Ash a familiar feeling. Their drooping shoulder line was gentle like a work of art.

“…Hmm?”

Ash inadvertently discovered—

That there was a ferocious looking Maestro that was leisurely lying on the grass next to the lakeside having a nap. Its enormous body was in no way inferior to that of Cú Chulainn's. After seeing the black crystal embedded on its forehead, Ash was shocked to realise that that Maestro was actually Tristan.

“No, hold on…if Tristan is in a place like this, then that means…”

Ash was momentarily stunned. Indeed, the person who was bathing in the lake rather happily was Oscar Brailsford.

—So…too beautiful…

When he found himself inadvertently thinking about such things, Ash was greatly surprised.

—Hold on hold on, that guy is a male! Why the hell am I so fascinated by a man…

Just when an internal conflict broke out within Ash’s mind, Oscar turned around, showing his side profile.

“Eh…”

In that instant, Ash was struck by immense shock, as if the centre of his chest had been hollowed out. Upon Oscar’s chest stood a pair of double peaks that a man could not possibly have. Every single movement she made caused her breasts to sway; it was a highly stimulating sight. Her enormous breasts were like an abundantly growing fruit. What was more surprising was that she had a method of disguising her voluptuously huge breasts considerably well. Her cherry-coloured tips perked slightly upwards. Oscar’s breasts were not only very large, but their shape was also very beautiful and attractive.

“W-W-What’s going on here, Rebecca-san!? If you look closely, that guy Oscar is totally a woman!”

“Haah…it looks like I can’t cover it up any more, a student aside from me has found out about it.”

Rebecca made a long sigh.

“So you mean to say that you already knew about this, Rebecca-san?”

“Based on her body shape and behaviour, I could vaguely detect an air of femininity. Even if she was able to fool the eyes of ordinary teachers and students, she wasn't able to escape my discernment.”

“So Oscar also knew that Rebecca-san had seen through her as well…?”

“That’s the reason why Oscar was forced to take the position of Vice-President, because the secret of her gender was uncovered by me. And the reason why she acted unpleasantly to me before, and insisted on me marrying her was probably because she wanted to contain an insider like me, it definitely wasn't because she fell in love with me.”

As if recalling the past, the expression in Rebecca's eyes seemed to become emotional.

“But why is Oscar a girl pretending to be male…?”

Although I haven’t heard it directly from her myself, the reason isn't difficult to imagine. To this day, the Chevron Kingdom still has not given women the right to inherit the throne. In other words, unless Oscar abandons her identity as a woman, she can never become King—”

“Who’s there!?”

At that moment, Oscar suddenly threw a dagger which had been concealed along the lakeside somewhere in advance. A flash of silver light darted over Ash’s and Rebecca's heads.

—Shack!

The sharp blade embedded itself deeply into the tree behind the two of them. Ash felt goosebumps all over his body, and he froze his body in shock. Her technique was staggering. If one hadn't diligently practiced day after day, it probably wasn't possible to obtain such an accurate throwing technique.

“Well, since she’s discovered us, I guess we can only come out and show ourselves.”

Rebecca didn't seem to feel guilty about anything at all, and she calmly stood up.

“Hmph…so it was Rebecca. If it’s just you then that’s fine…”

Oscar showed an expression of relief, but immediately after seeing Ash slowly stand up from the bushes, she was so flustered that she almost lost her sense of balance.

Part 5

“Uwaaahh! How can this be!”

While wearing only a towel around her body, Oscar wailed out. Although all of her important places were covered up, her slender arms were still highly sexy and seductive, which caused Ash to be at a loss as to where to look. Ever since the identity of Oscar’s gender was exposed, Ash felt drawn to the enchanting charm of every one of her actions. Ash was actually surprised that he was unable to notice it before. Even the sound of her voice now sounded a lot sharper than it was before.

“Damn it, I didn't expect that in addition to Rebecca, even Ash Blake now knows my true gender…how could I be so careless!?”

“If you’re going to blame someone, shouldn't you blame yourself for coming to a place like this to bathe?”

“I don’t have a choice! You can’t expect me to take a shower in the public bath in the boys’ dormitory!”

What she said was certainly correct, and Ash could understand her difficulties.

“So that’s why you normally take a bath here?”

“…Yes, exactly.”

“But since it’s such a delicate secret, you should be more careful, and at least order that eye patch maid to be your lookout, right? Speaking of which, where is that maid?”

“Celes went to buy ingredients for cooking…”

“You don’t seem think things through enough.”

“Eh, shut up shut up! Since you know my secret now, I’ll just have to kill to shut you up! Otherwise…”

Oscar’s eyes pierced through him, as they fixated on Ash.

“Be my bride!”

“What? You want me to be the bride? How is that possible!?”

Using some sort of strange logic, the only conclusion was to ‘marry her’? It was completely baffling. Without showing any mercy, Oscar suddenly pushed down the confused Ash.

“Kuh! What do you want!?”

Ash tried to struggle free, but Oscar’s arm strength was surprisingly strong. It was truly unbelievable that a girl’s slender arms could actually exert so much force. The current situation was almost like a strong female leopard had suddenly thrust him down. Moreover, it was possible to see the deep cleavage of her chest from that position. Her voluptuous breasts seemed as if they were ready to spill out of her towel at any moment.

“You don’t need to worry, you’ll be fine as long as you cross-dress as a girl. I promise to give you the position of second queen!”

“Stop dreaming, how could I possibly cross-dress as a woman!? And if I’m the second, then who’s the first?”

“Of course it’s Rebecca!”

“Since when did you decide that!?”

“Ah, that really is a great idea! If a male dressed as a female and a female dressed as a male get married, they’ll be able to have children normally. Like this, the problem of continuing the family line with an heir will be solved! Speaking of which, Rebecca may be outstanding, but two women can’t have children!”

“What kind of sophistry is that!?”

“Don’t worry. Even if the roles of man and woman are reversed, it’ll be fine as long as they can make the combination!”

“What is this combination!?”

“Hey…are you really trying to make me say that out loud? You pervert!”

Ash was rebuked by Oscar in return.

“Seriously, this is the so-called ‘Avalon Knight’? An indecisive man…since you’re so unwilling to cooperate, you have the freedom to choose right here whether or not you die. Stabbed to death, beaten to death, strangled to death, or being eaten by Tristan — say it, how do you want to die?”

“Of course I don’t want any of those, do you even have to ask? And who are you trying to scare with the last option!?”

“If you don’t want to die then marry me!”

“I don’t want to marry you either! Besides, Eco and I are like a single being! As long as you want Eco, you can’t take my life!”

“Hmm. As you just said, that is indeed correct. How about this then, you and I will enter a contract.”

“Contract? What are you saying…”

“Didn't you understand what I said? There’s only one type of contract between man and woman — combine with me right now.”

“Are you crazy!?”

“Y-You can have my ‘first time’! Surely there’s no disadvantage in it for you, is there?”

Oscar blushed slightly, and she suddenly averted her eyes. For some reason, Ash suddenly felt that Oscar was rather cute, and he couldn't stop his heart rate from rising. Faced with the sudden and absurd request, Ash was barely able to maintain his reason.

“Wait a minute! Rebecca-san is right next to us and watching!”

“No, it doesn't matter, it feels quite interesting anyway, so you two don’t need to pay any attention to me.”

Rebecca revealed a cheeky and playful smile, as she replied casually.

“Wait! Why are even you following along!?”

“Hey, the person you’re combining with is me, you’re not allowed to be distracted by other women! Come on, prepare yourself mentally!”

Oscar placed her hand on top of Ash’s belt. She seemed like she really was going to take Ash’s pants off.

“I’m telling you to stop it!”

Oscar was trying to take Ash’s pants off—

Ash was desperately doing all that he could to resist—

Just when the two of them were in a stalemate, the towel that was wrapped around Oscar’s naked body lightly floated down. While straddled on top of Ash, Oscar’s naked body was laid bare like a stone statue.

“Kyaaaaaaaaahhh!”

A piercing shriek rang out across the lake.

“D-Don’t look!”

The previously bold Oscar acted almost like a completely different person, she shyly crossed both of her arms over her chest to cover the important parts.

Perhaps taking the initiative to attack a man, and having a man see her naked body unilaterally, was in a sense, two different things?

Although such thoughts momentarily burst into Ash’s mind, his mind was currently blank, as a result of seeing Oscar’s naked body in front of his eyes.

A few minutes later. After Oscar neatly put on her uniform, and tied her hair to the back, she returned to being the usual dashing noble. However, after finding out that she was actually a girl, it was no longer possible to see her as a man. Ash actually began to doubt himself on how he was unable to see any of that from her. In addition, he clearly saw Oscar’s naked body. As soon as he recalled that scene in his mind, he found it difficult not to have a nosebleed.

“By the way, Ash Blake.”

Oscar spoke to Ash with an uneasy expression on her face.

“What is it…?”

A sense of caution was raised within Ash, and he put himself on alert.

“When I was putting on my clothes before…umm, I couldn't find my underwear no matter where I looked. With no other choice, I simply put on my pants without them.”

“So what? It’s most likely been blown away by the wind…”

Ash answered rather indifferently, but after learning the fact that ‘Oscar is currently not wearing any underwear’, his sanity was shaken.

“Excuse me for asking, but what is that thing sticking out from your pocket?”

“Eh?”

Ash hurriedly checked the pocket of his coat. There was a bit of white cloth protruding from his pocket.

“This is…!”

Ash finally remembered. After setting the last magic incense burner in the forest before, a pair of underwear was blowing in the wind. Afterwards, when he hid behind the bush with Rebecca, he thoughtlessly stuffed the underwear into his pocket as if it were his handkerchief. Oscar’s face went red as she retrieved her underwear from Ash’s pocket.

“Listen up, Ash Blake! I swear! I will definitely take you as my bride!”

She then jumped onto Tristan’s head, and flew away hurriedly.

“A Beauty in Male Attire ~A.S.B.1365.10~” is closed.

Chapter 5 - Oscar's Deeply Laid Plan

Part 1

The new school term had just begun, so Ash was kept busy from morning till night with the preparatory work for ‘Ansarivan’s Five Hundred Years Festival’, and time passed by in the blink of an eye. There was now less than a week’s time before the first day of the Five Hundred Years Festival. Even on a holiday, he was unable to rest, as Ash and Eco were currently walking together towards Julius Hall. There was also going to be a meeting today.

“Fuwaa…”

Eco drowsily yawned while she walked across the campus grounds.

“You don’t need to force yourself to get out of bed, you know?”

Previously, Eco would’ve overslept and stayed in bed all the time, but she was now nearly able to get up early. Although she was grouchy when getting out of bed each morning, she no longer stayed in bed. Eco’s role in the Student Council was the ‘mascot’, so there was no real need for her to show up to meetings, but she still dutifully attended every meeting.

“What? Are you complaining about going to the meeting together with me?”

“Not at all. Don’t you feel weak when you get up in the mornings? I’m just afraid that you’ll find it difficult.”

“…I don’t find it difficult. Also, aren’t you my knight? You’re the ‘Avalon Knight’ and I’m the Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family’s Imperial Princess! That’s why it’s very natural for me to follow you! Am I wrong?”

“Y-You’re right!”

Ash was rather embarrassed, and he replied with a volume that surprised even himself.

—Princess huh…

He had almost forgotten that Eco was the descendant of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family, and was basically a Dragon Princess. In fact, the identity of the noblest person on this planet could actually be her. When she was first born, she did not forget to emphasise ‘I am your master’. Ash smiled wryly.

“I remember that you used to say that I was your meat slave.”

“T-That is…uh…I’m sorry.”

“Haha, I’m not angry about it. I’m now acknowledged as a knight properly.”

“Ash…”

Ash suddenly thought of something. Speaking of a knight in the Lautreamont Knight Country, most people would think of a Dragonar, but the neighbouring Chevron Kingdom was not the same; the image of their knights was closer to strong lady warriors who served the people. Although many stories of chivalry and knighthood were also published in their country, the majority of them were love stories.

—In other words, I shouldn’t be thinking about the problem of how to train Eco, but rather following the example of the knights in neighbouring countries, so that I can aspire to become a knight that can serve this princess, Eco.

As he thought of that, the image of another princess appeared in Ash’s mind.

—<Ice Blue Princess>.

It was Silvia, who had confessed to him with ‘I love you’. The girl that he had met in Albion Forest when he was seven years old — even after being separated, Silvia still kept the memory of Ash in her heart. She had only met him once, a boy whom she didn’t even know the name of—

“Ouch!”

The sudden pain that Ash felt almost caused him to jump.

“……………”

Eco scowled and pinched Ash on his side. Eco was also aware of her own strength, so she did somewhat show some mercy, but even so, Ash felt as though the skin of his abdomen was being clamped down on by a vice.

“W-What are you doing!?”

Eco loosened her grip, and angrily looked up at him. Her face appeared to have an uneasy expression.

“…Just then, were you thinking about other girls?”

“N-No, I absolutely wasn’t thinking about any other girls!”

“Your eyes were wandering.”

Eco emitted a terrifying aura that could almost be heard rumbling, as she took a step towards Ash. Ash involuntarily retreated backwards.

“Ara, why are you trying to escape?”

Eco was smiling, and she had a pretentiously sweet tone when she asked, but this actually showed that she was even scarier than when she showed her angry face.

“O-Of course, it’s because you’re so scary!”

“…And why would you feel afraid?”

The image of Eco’s true appearance as a Holy Dragon Emperor manifested behind her — although Ash knew that it was his own imagination, it still frightened him to the point that cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

“Y-Yeah! We had better hurry over to Julius Hall, otherwise we’ll be late again!”

Ash swiftly turned around and ran off.

“Hey! Why are you running away!? So you really were thinking about other girls!”

Eco brandished her fist as she angrily chased after Ash.

“If you don’t wait for me — I’ll crush you!”

Part 2

When the two of them arrived at Julius Hall, most of Eco’s anger had dissipated. However, as soon as she took one step into the meeting room, her mood turned sour again. Ash was also frozen in place.

“Yo, Ash and Eco, I’ve been waiting for you two for a long time.”

That Oscar Brailsford occupied the sofa that was used for resting, and cordially greeted the two of them. The way that she elegantly sat with her legs crossed seemed much like a noble, and seeing that simply aroused a sense of loathing within them. As for the maid with the eye patch — Celes stood behind Oscar with a frown on her face. Only she and her maid were in the room, no one else was present. It seemed as though Ash’s group had come too early this time.

“Why are you here!?”

Although he asked rather bluntly, Ash was thinking about the incident which had occurred in the depths of the forest. Furthermore, it was Oscar’s carelessness which lead to her being seen in that state whilst straddled on top of Ash, a dreamlike appearance… The instant that Oscar’s and Ash’s eyes met, the same scene probably emerged in their minds. Her cheeks reddened, but she still looked calm as usual.

“I am the Vice-President of the Student Council after all, you couldn’t have forgotten that, right?”

“The class-skipper has the nerve to say that huh, so what has brought you here today?”

Ash quietly stood in front of Eco. Oscar desired Eco’s power. He did not forget this. However, Oscar’s reply was outside of Ash’s expectations.

“My purpose here today was not to seek out Eco, I came here for you. Ash Blake.”

“For me?”

Ash frowned.

“Ah, that’s right — my future second queen.”

“Who the hell is your second queen!?”

“Yes, when it comes to your name as the queen…how does ‘Ashley’ sound?”

“Please don’t say any more…just thinking about it makes me want to die…”

“You’re so unromantic…I see, I understand now! Are you unhappy that Rebecca is the first queen?”

“That’s not the problem!”

“Whew, I really can’t persuade you. I’ll let you be the first queen as you want, and as for Rebecca, all I can do is to ask her to take the position of second queen. Rebecca is very generous, so she wouldn’t care about such trifles with me.”

“Can you please listen to me seriously!?”

After Ash showed an impatient look, Oscar’s face suddenly tensed. Ash felt like a chill ran down his spine, and he stood there frozen in place.

“As long as you become one of my people, Eco will also fall into my hands. In this way, the throne of the next Chevron King will easily become mine.”

Oscar composedly pushed her fringe upwards.

“Ah geez, I’m sick of this, what the hell are you guys saying! What’s going on between you two!? T-Two men getting married, how disgusting!”

Eco’s patience finally wore out, and she stuck her face out from behind Ash. Her cheeks were dyed bright red in annoyance. Ash was unsure of how to explain the situation to Eco. In fact, up until now, he still had not told her about the secret that Oscar was actually a woman.

“Oh. I thought that you surely would’ve told Eco, I didn’t expect you to actually keep my secret.”

Oscar looked at Ash with a gaze of admiration.

“Don’t look down on me. I’m not so low that I’d go around distributing other people’s secrets.”

“Hey! What secret!”

Eco snappishly asked, and Ash hesitantly replied

“Umm, that is…y-yeah, you could call it an agreement between men. Sorry, but it’s inconvenient for me to disclose it to you. I hope you can understand.”

Ash placed both of his hands on top of Eco’s shoulders.

“Hmm…between men huh. So you can’t be forced to speak about it then? But I just heard that — that guy wants to marry you as his bride?”

“T-That’s actually a secret code that only men will understand! It can’t be judged from its literal meaning!”

“…Really.”

Although she was still dubious of Ash’s explanation, Eco gave up on pursuing the matter.

“You really are a good person. I’m starting to like you even more now!”

Oscar snapped his fingers with a ‘click’, and gave an order to Celes who was behind him

“Celes! Prepare project A!”

“…So bothersome.”

From beginning to end, Celes continued to have a displeased look on her face. Please reject Oscar’s orders…Ash silently hoped to himself.

“Fine, I’ll take it as a way to kill time.”

Unfortunately, Celes instantly made a decision that was contrary to his expectations. She abruptly stepped forward, and extended her hand out towards Ash. Her movements looked as though she were naturally petting a dog’s head, but—

“—Wh-!”

Ash’s vision suddenly tipped upside down, immensely startling him. In just the blink of an eye, Ash was grabbed onto and was being held underneath Celes’ arm.

“H-Hey! Let me down!”

Ash constantly swung his limbs around in a struggle, but it was helpless as his body was being firmly held onto, and he was unable to break free from the predicament. It was almost as if his entire body was suspended in mid-air right now.

“Hey, you filthy insect. Who allowed you to order me around! Shut up and stay quiet! Stop struggling for me! Do you want me to throw you out the window?”

After Celes made such threats with a fearsome tone, Ash became silent. It was because her cold tone showed that she was clearly not joking around.

“Hold on! What are you trying to do to Ash!?”

Seeing Celes about to leave the room with Ash captured, Eco hurriedly tried to catch up and stop her, but her path was blocked by Oscar, who calmly stood in the doorway. The sound of Celes’ footsteps gradually receded.

“Move aside!”

“Don’t worry, I promise you that we won’t hurt Ash Blake. Anyway, let us sit down and have a cup of tea while we wait first. Don’t look at me like that, my tea-making skills are actually first-class. Since you’re a dragon, how about a cup of Ansal tea?”

Oscar held a teapot in her hand as she smiled.

“Ansal tea?”

Eco swallowed as she began to salivate. The Ansal herb was too strongly stimulating for a young dragon like Eco, so simply ingesting a small amount would make her immediately drunk. That was why Ash normally prohibited her from having it. But her great desire for Ansal wasn’t something that could be satiated with just words. It was a dragon’s nature, so Eco couldn’t be blamed.

“I can’t! I’ll get drunk!”

Mobilising all of her rationality, Eco finally rejected the temptation. If Ash heard me say that, he would praise me…such thoughts floated into Eco’s mind. Even so, Oscar continued to smile as she persuaded her

“You don’t need to worry. The Ansal content of this tea is very low, so young dragons won’t be affected by drinking it.”

After saying so, Oscar indifferently began to brew the tea. After pouring water into a kettle which had a Bright Dragon Crystal installed in it, she then activated the Dragon Magic. A few minutes later, the piping hot Ansal tea which let off white steam and many pastries with fresh cream were placed in front of Eco.

“Will I really be fine after having it?”

“Trust me.”

Oscar nodded confidently as confirmation.

“Hmm…”

Eco remained highly sceptical as she frowned. She put her nose close to the cup, and sniffed the scent of it like a puppy.

“Ah. It has a delicious fragrance…”

A rose-like aroma entered her nostrils, captivating Eco. It was an aroma that would naturally appeal to a dragon. Eco could no longer withstand the temptation, and she lifted up the teacup for a sip.

“Mmm, it has a very mellow and rich taste…it’s delicious!”

“Of course. That’s because this tea uses the highest grade of Ansal.”

Oscar smiled widely as she replied.

“So this is what the adult taste refers to! It is perfectly suited for a dragon of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family to have!”

“I’m very glad that you like it. Would you like a refill?”

“Of course!”

Eco beamed with joy as she pushed her cup out. This time, she carefully savoured the flavour of the tea while she enjoyed the pastries.

“Fuwaa, I’m so happy~”

The flavour of the Ansal tea and the sweet pastries were in perfect harmony on her tongue, when the two of them were put together, they were both delicious and smooth.

“…?”

After a while, Eco found that her own body was becoming very hot. A familiar sensation surged forth from her mind. Her vision became began to spin for a moment, and it then became blurry. Eco could no longer hold the cup up, and it fell onto the floor with a slip of her hand. The shattered fragments of the cup scattered near her feet.

“Y-You…lied to me…didn’t you…?”

Eco finally realised that she had taken the bait. The so-called ‘Ansal content is very low, so young dragons won’t be affected by drinking it’ was a big lie. Eco’s consciousness went completely hazy, and she lost her ability to understand the situation.

Part 3

“Come on, hurry up and take your clothes off.”

After Celes brought Ash to the changing room, she roughly opened a locker. Hung upon a coat hanger was the uniform of Dragonar Academy — but more specifically, it was for girls. Inside the locker was a chestnut-coloured wig and some underwear. Simply looking at the contents of the locker gave off a strongly girlish feeling.

“Do you really want me to wear that thing?”

Ash nervously asked.

“Yes, do you have a problem with it?”

Celes narrowed her eye which did not have an eye patch covering it, while the rest of her face remained expressionless. Ash felt a powerful cold chill run down his spine, and he couldn’t help shuddering. With her black leather eye patch, fully black-coloured maid outfit, and the feeling of oppression from that single eye of hers all at once — the atmosphere that she exuded was like that of a soldier, rather than a maid.

“You’ve got to be kidding! How could I possibly wear a girls’ uniform! I’m a guy!”

“So, to make you give up the identity of a man, the first step starts by cross-dressing as a woman! Don’t make me have to talk so much!”

Celes didn’t say anything else, and grabbed Ash’s collar; without caring about anything else, she began to peel off Ash’s coat. Ash writhed around as he struggled, but that actually played into her hands. Taking advantage of the moment when Ash desperately struggled to escape, Celes easily snatched away his coat.

“Do you want to take off your shirt next? Or your pants?”

Celes looked at Ash audaciously as she asked.

“I certainly don’t want either of them! Hurry up and give my coat back!”

“Hey, I would advise you not to test my patience, alright? Taking care of Oscar is already a lot of trouble for me, and this lady here has accumulated a lot of stress.”

“No no! Although you say that, didn’t I see you send Oscar flying with a kick as if it wasn’t a big deal?”

“What did you say?”

After being stared at intensely, Ash quickly shook his head. After Celes took a step forward, she extended her neck and stared into Ash’s face.

“Listen up alright, Rebecca is the most perfect bride out of a million candidates, but it’s a pity — that she’s a woman. But if you’re able to make Oscar pregnant, then we’ll be able to let that guy’s lineage continue.”

“What pregnant…you don’t have to speak so crudely!”

“You really are noisy, filthy insect! Regardless of whether it’s you or Rebecca, since you both know Oscar’s secret, unless you want to get tied up and tossed into Rubina Lake someday, you have no choice but to accept your fate! All you have to do right now is marry her, and your crimes can then be annulled; it’s truly too cheap for you two.”

“What do you mean by ‘all I have to do is get married’? This is a matter which concerns my entire life!”

“How immature. Marriage is just a form of contract in human society.”

“No, please don’t destroy people’s dreams like that!”

“You talk too much! Stop giving me excuses, and quickly take off your clothes!”

Celes acted indiscriminately towards Ash as she extended her hands out, much like a female leopard eyeing a cute little lamb in a dry savannah.

“Stooooop it—!”

His desperate screams did not help, and Ash was easily subdued to the ground. His shirt, pants, underwear, and so on were forcefully removed one after the other. Finally, even the bandage wrapped around his left arm was relentlessly pulled off by her.

“I can’t get married anymore…”

Having his pride harshly torn to shreds, Ash hugged his knees, and curled up into a ball. Because he was stark naked, he felt somewhat cold from the wind which poured in from a slit in the window. However, not the slightest sign of pity could be seen on Celes’ face, and she held out the coat hanger upon which the uniform was hanging.

“Hmph. You don’t need to worry about the problem of getting married. Because Oscar will be — your bride.”

“You originally said that I was some kind of stallion!”

“Stop being so noisy! Hurry up and put on the uniform! Or you’ll get downgraded from a filthy insect to a piece of shit!”

“Please just let me be an insect…”

Ash gave up his resistance, and accepted the girls’ uniform as he resigned himself to his fate.

Part 4

Facing the drunken Eco, Oscar revealed a wide smile as an indication that his plan had succeeded.

“Fufu, according to my investigations, you become extremely promiscuous as soon as you have a bit of Ansal. Come! You’re drunk now, so throw yourself at me!”

“Ha-Haa…hey, where’s Ash?”

With hazy eyes, Eco sought only to look for Ash. Looking at her entire body burning up as she seductively panted, it was obvious that she was in a state of lust. However, Eco was clearly not looking at Oscar at all.

“Hmm, what is this? After she ingests Ansal, doesn’t she go after any man who comes? It seems like my investigations were not thorough enough…”

Oscar could see that the drunken Eco only seemed to desire her master Ash Blake, but not all men.

“Haa, haa…Ash! Ah, Ash…you’re here aren’t you?”

Eco began saying strange things to herself. It was as if Ash was standing in front of her eyes, as she acted incomprehensibly.

Is she seeing hallucinations?

“…!”

Oscar’s eyes looked straight ahead. Eco placed her lower body against a corner of the table in the meeting room, and she slowly pressed her body against it. She probably imagined that the table was Ash.

“Hey, that’s too disgraceful! This isn’t worthy of Avalon’s Dragon Princess!”

Upon seeing this, Oscar couldn’t tolerate it any longer, and sharply raised her voice.

“Ash…I love you…”

However, Eco completely ignored the reproach, and continued to murmur to herself as if in a dream. With a blank look, she clung onto the table and didn’t let go. After Oscar let out a long sigh, she carried Eco over to the sofa so that she could lie down. When she looked down, she had a truly innocent sleeping face, which caused Oscar to smile wryly. She could only laugh at herself right now.

“It’s my defeat. I thought that I had succeeded in bribing you when I brought out the Ansal, but it looks like I’ve underestimated the bond between you two.”

—Don!

“We’re back, Oscar!”

Then, along with the loud sound of the door being kicked open, Celes appeared as she came through the door. And there was also another female student shyly following behind her.

“Ho. The outcome is better than I imagined. I was unable to recognise him for a moment!”

Oscar squinted her eyes as she laughed loudly. Ash, who had dressed as a female student had given her quite a surprise. Although he really wanted to run away, Celes was staring intently at him from the side, so it wouldn’t be so simple even if he did want to escape. The chestnut-coloured wig gave off a false impression of purity and innocence. After applying some cosmetics, regardless of how one looked at Ash in the Academy’s uniform from head to toe, it looked like a female student who was around fifteen years of age. The wig was unexpectedly heavy, and it pressed down on top of his head. It was the first time that Ash had been forced to wear a skirt, so it felt somewhat chilly underneath the skirt, causing him to feel uneasy, and he was also even forced to wear knee socks. In fact, he was also wearing a bra underneath his uniform, with breast pads stuffed inside them. Simply by bending his neck and looking down, a pair of curvaceous twin peaks would enter his vision. A short while ago, after he finished dressing himself and went to look in the mirror, Ash doubted his own eyes as he thought ‘Is this person really me?’. In addition, he almost fell into the trap of cross-dressing as a girl, since he thought to himself that he didn’t look too bad when dressed up as a girl.

“You’re very pretty, Ashley.”

Oscar’s face was plastered with a smile. It seemed like she really liked Ash’s appearance as a cross-dressing boy.

“Who the hell is Ashley!? Don’t change people’s names for them!”

“Uh-uh, that can’t do, how can a lady speak so crudely? By the way, I’ll help you make a personal dress another day.”

“Who are you asking that?”

“Fufu. There’s no need to be so courteous even if you don’t need it. The current you is like a white lily that is just beginning to quietly bloom in the Xenoglavia Mountains. I didn’t think that you would actually be reborn, turning into a lovely young girl beyond my imagination, I’m truly so happy.”

Just when Oscar was softly muttering poetically and seemed lost in her thoughts—

“You’re Ash? Why do you need to pretend to look like a girl…?”

Eco got up from the sofa, and rushed up to cling to Ash. Perhaps because she was his Pal, she was able to recognise Ash in an instant. The appearance of Eco’s moist and dreamy eyes looked rather enchanting. She stuck out her bright red tongue and began licking Ash’s neck.

“Kuh…!”

As if being struck by a current of electricity, Ash suddenly shivered. At the same time, he detected a sweet aroma from Eco’s body.

“Hey, Oscar! You better not have given Eco any Ansal!”

Ash began to get angry, as he sent Oscar an accusatory look.

“Don’t get so angry, I was just performing a little experiment.”

Oscar didn’t pay it any heed as she replied nonchalantly.

“Wah…Ash smells very nice today…”

“Hey, Eco?”

Ash was alarmed. Eco then raised her nose to Ash’s neck, and continued to sniff it.

“Oh no!”

Ash remembered something highly important. After being forced to dress as a girl, Celes sprayed perfume onto his body.

“This perfume also has Ansal in it! Get away from me!”

“Don’t want to…I can’t wait anymore!”

After Eco fervently cried out, she savagely pushed Ash down.

“Calm down, Eco! The Ansal has caused you to lose your sanity! Uwah! Don’t lick me!”

Cheeks, neck, earlobe…Eco was like a small animal playing with its master, constantly using her tongue to lick everywhere. She was obviously a proud dragon, but her behaviour was the same as a puppy’s right now. Of course, Ash was surprised by her actions, but Eco’s licking also brought about a very intense feeling of pleasure.

“Hmm. So if it’s to Ash, then Eco will have this sort of a reaction huh…interesting.”

Oscar muttered with a calm tone.

“Don’t sit on the sidelines there so coldly, come and help me!”

“If I help you, will you agree to be my bride?”

“You can’t put two separate things together like that!”

“Then I’m not helping you.”

“To begin with, this is the mess that you started!”

Just when Ash was angrily growling and shouting out…

“This is simply too amazing. At first, I couldn’t tell who it was, I really didn’t think that you’d look quite so pretty when dressed as a girl.”

A cool voice entered Ash’s ears. While Ash tried to resist Eco’s caresses of love, he looked towards the door — only to see a smiling Rebecca standing there with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Seeing Ash’s cross-dressing appearance, she could barely hold back a heavy stream of laughter.

“Wah! Rebecca-san…”

Ash blushed deeply. As if being seen dressed as a girl wasn’t humiliating enough, there was currently also the wildly drunken Eco. The saying ‘embarrassed to the point that one wants to hide in a hole’ would quite accurately describe the current situation. Aside from Rebecca, following behind her was dazzling blonde hair that also greeted Ash’s eyes.

“A-Are you really Ash? Deliberately dressing up as a girl to play with Eco…even if you’re playing perverted games, this is going too far!”

That person was actually Silvia. Her face was pale as she stared wide-eyed at Ash and Eco.

“You’re mistaken, Hime-sama! There’s a reason…”

Silvia was not listening to anything that he was saying right now.

“The person that I l-l-like is actually such a p-p-pervert…huh…?”

Silvia was dealt a heavy blow and was immensely shocked, she knelt down and hit the floor with both of her hands. Today, unusually, she did not unleash ‘My family’s motto punch’ to teach Ash a lesson, it seemed like she didn’t even have the strength to raise her hand against someone.

Part 5

Afterwards, the Student Council meeting began as scheduled.

Because Oscar was also present, today was the first time that all members were present ever since Ash joined the Student Council. Although he was worried about Eco who was lying on the sofa to become sober, Ash still attended the meeting. However, he was still dressed as a girl. One reason was that they couldn’t wait for him to change clothes by himself, thus taking up meeting time, and the second was that Rebecca thought that it would be ‘interesting’, so she told him to wear the girls’ outfit for the meeting. And also because of this, Ash often felt the strong gazes of others during the meeting, making him so embarrassed that it felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He soon realised that the people staring at him fiercely were mostly composed of Silvia, Lucca, and Jessica. Every time Ash lifted his head, Silvia and the other two quickly averted their eyes. Having dressed up like this, Ash thought that it couldn’t be helped that he would be stared at. It was just that, when he looked up and locked eyes with Max, it felt rather embarrassing. At the same time, Max also showed a slightly awkward expression. Max’s cheeks were dyed slightly red and he seemed somewhat uncomfortable, so Ash couldn’t help feeling nervous.

—Max couldn’t possibly be fascinated by me, right?

In the end, while Ash was absent-mindedly imagining such things, the meeting finally concluded.

“Would it be convenient for me to express my opinion?”

Oscar, who had a bored look on her face ever since the meeting began, suddenly raised her hand to speak.

“There’s something that I’ve been troubled about for quite a long time now; don’t you guys think that the rule about prohibiting Student Council members from participating in competitions is rather unfair?”

Upon hearing Oscar’s words, everyone’s expressions became serious. Every time similar events were being planned, ‘Whether the Student Council members will participate in competitions’ was a topic that always came to the meeting table.

“Have a think about it. From the students, to the spectators, to the guests who will come to visit, what is the thing that everyone wants to see? It is nothing more than a fierce competition between Dragonars that gets them enthusiastic. If the Dragonars of a mighty Maestro were to show their true skill — don’t you think that the audience will surely be thrilled?”

Oscar seemed to become more and more ecstatic as she continued to speak, and Rebecca answered

“No, in fact, there are no rules which strictly prohibit us from participating. It’s just that the members serving on the Student Council have declined in the past, so it became a tradition over time. Moreover, using Maestros to compete against ordinary students may cause us to be accused of bullying; without a fair contest, wouldn’t a competition in which the winner is already decided quite boring?”

Oscar was not discouraged, and continued to bring up new ideas.

“Then aside from the ordinary competitions, how about we also hold a <Dragonar’s Gunnar Bout>? In addition, since this year is the Five Hundred Years Festival, I don’t think having an exception like this will pose any problems.”

Rebecca gracefully stroked the contour of her chin with her finger as she sank into deep thought.

“Hmm, a traditional combat tournament between Dragonars? Hearing that, it does sound interesting, so what does everyone else think?”

Rebecca looked around at everyone who was present. It didn’t look like anyone was particularly opposed to it. However, Jessica had a troubled expression on her face as she raised her hand to speak.

“I’m not opposed to holding the <Dragonar’s Gunnar Bout>. It’s just unfortunate that my Rhiannon is an ordinary Hydra, so it won’t be able to participate…so I’ve decided to focus wholeheartedly on cheering Ash-sama on.”

“I’m sorry, Jessica. Is there anyone else with an opinion?”

“Umm…”

Ash timidly raised his hand. Because he was cross-dressing as a girl, every action he made amplified his sense of shame.

“What is it, Ashley?”

“Hold on, why is even Rebecca-san calling me that?”

“No, I’m so sorry. It’s because you were so cute, I accidentally…”

Rebecca made a wry smile.

“Well then, please state your opinion.”

“Umm, I wanted to ask what I should do? Although I have essentially been appointed as a Dragonar, we can’t let Eco awaken in the arena, right? I was thinking that it might be better if I was retracted from the competition like Jessica?”

“Ash-sama…!”

Jessica’s face lit up, and she watched Ash with intent eyes. But Oscar helped him cool her down.

“No, Ash, by all means, I hope that you will also compete.”

“Hey hey…you know about the situation between me and Eco, so please don’t say something unreasonable!”

After Ash firmly refuted her, Oscar revealed a somewhat pleased smile.

“Did you forget? You’re the ‘Genius Dragon Tamer’. So what if Eco can’t be your mount, can’t you just pick any dragon that you like?”

“That method is not unfeasible…”

Recently, because Eco was occupying more and more space within Ash’s mind, he actually forgot about his own nickname and talents. That was why he didn’t even think about an alternative in which he could use other dragons as his mount.

“Right? I propose that if I defeat you in the competition, then you need to abandon your identity as a man, and take on the name of Queen Ashley which is to be engraved in the royal history of the Chevron Kingdom.”

“Please don’t go and decide things on your own! No matter how you think about this proposal, I’m the one that it’s unfavourable to!”

“Is that so? If you can defeat me, I’m willing to withdraw all of my demands. In addition to that, once I become the King of Chevron, I can make a promise to you that the Chevron Kingdom and Knight Country will have an everlasting alliance.”

“Really!?”

Ash thought, if it was such a generous condition, competing against Oscar in the arena wasn’t so bad. Oscar truly desired to become the King, so that was why she was so eager to get her hands on Eco’s power. She was also the type who would do whatever it took to accomplish her goals, and Ash had already personally experienced the horror of that from her. And that was to say nothing of her forcing him into accepting Ashley as his ‘second life’ at the moment.

More particularly, for the sake of the future of the Knight Country, perhaps accepting Oscar’s challenge would be a wise move. Although I’m not sure whether the words of Oscar can be trusted, it feels far better than the Third Prince Uriel and his like.

The problem was that Oscar was a powerful opponent whose strength was nearly tied with Rebecca’s. In contrast, Ash would have to borrow someone else’s dragon to compete. In terms of combat compatibility, Ash was at an indisputable disadvantage.

“What’s this, you’re hesitating? If you’re the kind of coward who flees before a challenge, I would advise you not to call yourself the ‘Avalon Knight’.”

“Kuh…!”

Even though he knew that it was an immature provocation, Ash couldn’t help swallowing and holding himself back when told that in such a way.

“Fine, I’ll accept your challenge. For me, for Eco, and for the future of the Knight Country! One more thing. If I win, you also need to give up on forcing Rebecca to marry you!”

Oscar nodded contentedly.

“It’s settled then. If you win, I will no longer ask for anything from Eco or Rebecca. However, the probability of this occurring could be described as minimal.”

Oscar casually accepted the request.

“Ash, are you really okay? You don’t have to take even my problem into your considerations.”

Rebecca’s voice revealed a rare tone of worry, but Ash firmly nodded and said

“Leave it to me. Ever since Eco was born, I can’t remember how many battles I’ve experienced. I won’t lose.”

Although it was only a verbal display of gallantry, Ash still made that promise to her with resolute confidence.

“You’ve become stronger, Ash.”

Rebecca narrowed her eyes, and cast a gentle smile towards him.

“Muu~”

Silvia, Lucca and Jessica all showed expressions of wariness as they watched the way that Rebecca was acting towards Ash.

“Now then, it’s time to discuss our final topic for today. Who is willing to lend their Pal to Ash…”

“I-If you don’t mind my Lancelot, I’m happy to lend it to you, okay?”

“If it’s now…Gawain would definitely be quite happy to be Ash’s mount.”

The first people to express their willingness to lend out their Pals were Silvia and Lucca.

“Unfortunately, I cannot lend you my Arianrhod.”

Max coldly turned his face away, but his response was already within Ash’s expectations.

“Aah! I have never hated myself for not being a Dragonar like today…”

Jessica, who was still in the stage of being a Breeder lay on the table as she clutched her head and wailed.

“So, your decision, Ash? How about I lend you Cú Chulainn — but you need to have the ability to control it.”

“There’s no way I can do that! Even if I spent a few months of my time, I don’t know if I’d be able to control Cú Chulainn freely…”

Ash didn’t simply express that out of modesty, but because he truly thought so. Even though Ash was known as a Genius Dragon Tamer, it would be extremely difficult for him to control Cú Chulainn in such a short amount of time. Even if he devoted all of his efforts to it, it was also highly possible that it could end up as a repeat of Gawain’s predicament before the challenge. If things didn’t go smoothly, let alone taking a few months, it was possible that it would even take several years.

“Indeed, everyone, do you think you could allow me to express my thoughts again?”

At that time, Oscar raised his hand to speak again.

“With only me and Ash holding a bet in the outcome of the battle, don’t you think that it’s a little unfair? Since it’s rare and we’re going to the trouble to spar like this, why doesn’t each participant ask for a reward that they hope to obtain when they win? However, I cannot agree to conditions that will mess with people’s lives.”

“As if you’re one to talk! You clearly enjoy toying with my life!”

Oscar turned a deaf ear to Ash’s protests, and looked towards Rebecca instead.

“What do you think, Rebecca?”

“Indeed. I think this proposal isn’t a bad idea either. How about everyone else?”

“President! I-If I win, I request to become engaged to Ash! A-Also, Oscar-san must withdraw all of his unreasonable requests to Ash!”

When Rebecca looked towards everyone else, Silvia immediately stammered as she made that declaration. She openly demonstrated her love for Ash, she no longer wanted to hide it — even though her entire face was blushing such a fierce red that it seemed as though steam was about to burst out of her head.

“What engagement? T-That can’t be allowed!”

Seemingly completely sober now, Eco suddenly stood up. But Silvia’s determination remained firm.

“If you think so, then do your best to assist Ash, and help him to obtain victory. Isn’t that right, Eco?”

“Kuh…you dare to oppose me!”

The two of them stared at each other while fierce sparks crackled in the air between them. On the side, Lucca slowly and timidly raised her hand.

“If I can obtain victory…I want to take Ash to the Ecbald Village…so he can meet…the chief — ogifu-sama.”

Although her attitude was somewhat timid, a firm will could be seen in amethyst-like eyes.

“So, Lucca. From the perspective of an Ecbald, what is the meaning of going with you to see the chief?”

“Of course…to hold a sacred wedding.”

Although Ash had already vaguely expected that answer, but when he actually heard such serious words, he still felt incomparably frightened.

“Ah, I’m really too incapable!”

Jessica, who was not qualified to partake in the competition, had a heartbroken look as she held her head and groaned. Ash pretended to inadvertently look at Max. The control of the meeting was now in the hands of the passionate Oscar, and the sensible-natured Max didn’t seem to have joined in to the conversation. Aside from occasionally fixing the position his glasses with his fingertips, he continued to look down in silence.

“Hey, do you have any conditions to set, Max?”

Seeing Max like that, Ash began to talk to him. After Max seemed to have steeled his determination and lifted his head, he steadily looked at Ash, but in a fluster, he wildly averted his gaze elsewhere, before returning his gaze to Ash’s body after a moment. For some reason, Max blushed.

“…Max?”

After Ash perplexedly tilted his head, Max made a shocking declaration that caused his eyes to nearly pop out.

“I-If I win, I request to go on a date with Ashley for one day!”

After he spoke out his wish like the bombardment of a cannon without warning, Max suddenly shut his mouth again, seemingly returning to his usual state. And then his face suddenly went pale and he trembled.

“N-No! I’m not a pervert! Even if Ashley is the ideal appearance of a lover in my dreams, he is actually Ash, I understand that! But when he looks so cute, I can’t help it! Ahh what am I saying! It’s all Ashley’s fault!”

After Max shouted that out loudly with a sense of self-abandonment, he dashed out of the meeting room.

“…It looks like Ashley has awakened a certain something within Max.”

After watching Max’s figure as he left, Rebecca said so with a wry smile. Jessica then asked her a question

“Then Rebecca, what conditions do you want to set?”

“Me? I still don’t have a clue right now, so I’ll think about it again when I win.”

After Rebecca skilfully deflected Jessica’s question, she suddenly revealed a somewhat troubled expression.

“But now that everyone has the motivation to win, it looks like the naïve idea of finding someone to lend Ash their Pal has been reduced to empty words. Moreover, this is going to be an official competition, so it’s necessary to keep one’s Pal in the best condition.”

A solemn silence filled the meeting room. What Rebecca said was correct. Just earlier, Silvia and Lucca were vying over who would lend their Pal to Ash, but they were now burning with competitive spirit.

—Damn it, that Oscar! The present situation was the whole purpose of the proposal that you made at the beginning!

Ash resentfully clenched his teeth, but unfortunately, it was too late. In this way, originally, the best dragon candidates of Lancelot and Gawain could no longer be lent to Ash. Max also seemed unwilling to lend out Arianrhod, so Ash was now caught in a dilemma.

“Ah geez! That’s enough! We’ll be fine if we just take Brigid!”

Ash quickly raised his head, as Eco suddenly interrupted the meeting. She seemed to have fully recovered from her drunken state, and had changed back to her usual tone.

“Hey hey, what are you saying? This can’t be compared to the ‘Aries Dragon Riding Festival’, do you understand?”

“Brigid? I have not heard of that name.”

Ash explained to Oscar, who had a look of surprise on her face.

“Brigid is an Asia. It’s helped me out numerous times before Eco was born. It’s my friend Raymond’s Pal.”

“Using an Asia to compete! What a ground-breaking idea! You want to fight against me and Tristan with a mere Asia? Let alone mentioning their strength, simply using an Asia as a mount to compete in the <Dragonar’s Gunnar Bout> defeats the purpose of the rules.”

Ash was not in a particularly good mood. To begin with, if Oscar didn’t make such an unnecessary proposal, Ash would’ve been able to borrow Lancelot or Gawain. In addition, Oscar was also right, the <Dragonar’s Gunnar Bout> was a tournament meant for Dragonars and their Maestros. Allowing Brigid to compete was basically against the rules. But Eco didn’t back down on this.

“In that case, I’ll also ride Brigid together with Ash. With me as a far more noble Maestro than any others, Ash and I will compete together, do you have a problem with that?”

Eco placed her hands on her hips with a haughty look. Oscar couldn’t help laughing upon seeing that.

“Oh, what a hopeless horse.”

“Who did you call a horse!? I’m clearly a dragon!”

Oscar didn’t look at the fuming Eco, but instead looked at Ash solemnly.

“I would advise you to practice cross-dressing as a girl more often, Ashley.”

Even though the end of the meeting had not yet been announced, Oscar elegantly walked out the door after leaving behind those arrogant words.

“You should work on your feminine charm, you filthy insect.”

After also leaving behind those foul words, Celes, who had been standing beside the door the whole time followed Oscar and exited.

—There were five days left until the beginning of the Five Hundred Years Festival.

“Lovely Ashley ~A.S.B.1365.10~” is closed.

Chapter 6 - Ansarivan's Five Hundred Years Festival

Part 1

Whilst busily preparing for the Five Hundred Years Festival every day, Ash’s days flew by like an arrow.

Thus it was now — the twenty fifth day of the month of Libra. The first day of the Five Hundred Years Festival had finally arrived. From the first day to the second day, it was decided that this was when various preliminary rounds would be scheduled. In addition to the residents of the Academy City, there were also many tourists who came from outside, causing the Academy arena to become packed. The Paladin, Oswald, and the nobles of the Knight Country also attended in the VIP seats. Beside the plump Oswald respectively sat the First Princess Veronica, as well as the Third Princess and Academy Headmistress Mirabel on both sides. Cassandra Lautreamont, who was currently studying in the Chevron Kingdom also attended the ceremony. In addition to the mayor of Ansarivan, naturally, the Academy City’s dignitaries also came to watch the tournaments. Next to Cassandra, the figure of the Chevron Kingdom’s Third Prince, Uriel, could be seen; he seemed to be having an intimate conversation with Cassandra. The rumours that those two were dating was not particularly new gossip.

“Uriel and Cassandra huh…in terms of their poor character, they’re almost like a natural fit for each other.”

In the contestants’ lounge of the arena, Oscar muttered to himself. When Celes, who was standing at the door heard that, she seemed startled.

“Are you afraid, Oscar?”

Oscar scoffed as she revealed a calm smile.

“Even if it is Uriel, he probably wouldn’t dare to make any moves at this Five Hundred Years Festival. I will take this opportunity to let him see what my true strength is in person.”

Part 2

After a one hour break, the first round of the <Dragonar’s Gunnar Bout> began in the afternoon. All of the contestants had gathered in the centre of the arena. This included the President Rebecca, Vice-President Oscar, Disciplinary Affairs member Silvia, Secretary Lucca, Accountant Max, and Ash of General Affairs. The Pals of the contestants were also present in a line, creating a spectacular scene. Amidst the gathering of Maestros with silvery-white fur, the presence of Eco and the Asia Brigid was rather odd and unexpected. The next step would be to draw lots, so that they could determine who would face each other as opponents. The tournament was in a knockout format, the winners of the first, second and third rounds would be able to advance to the last day of the Dragon Riding Festival — they would qualify for the final round in five days’ time. The final round would be between the top three contestants; this information had been published three days ago. The audience in the stands were all extremely passionate, and their cries reverberated throughout the arena.

“Rebecca-sama—! Cú Chulainn—!”

In every kind of festival in the past, Rebecca had always stayed behind at the back, so it was rare of her to personally compete, thus Rebecca’s supporters were all wearing bright red shirts, and held horizontal banners in their hands as they shouted out their cheers of support for her.

“Silvia-dono—! Lancelot—!”

As a Princess of the Knight Country, the cheers that Silvia received were not inferior to those of Rebecca. While one side of the audience was composed of deep crimson, the other side was composed of ice blue colours.

“Our Lucca Sarlinen! The star of Ecbald! The Rider of Gawain!”

Amidst the flurry of red and blue in the arena, the cheers for Lucca also began to rise in volume. The sounds of their cheers were like the recital of a poem. One corner of the arena had ‘exclusive seats for Ecbald people’, and a cheering squad of the Ecbald led by the Chief, causing Lucca to feel so embarrassed that she couldn’t lift her head.

“Kyaaah! It’s the <Baron of Sonic>!”

“He’s as handsome as always!”

“Tristan is also so heavenly and elegant!”

The high-pitched and birdlike cries of the girls were cheering for Oscar Brailsford. Compared to everyone else, the cheers or cries for Ash and Max were barely audible.

“…What, is no one cheering for us right now? You’re obviously a real Dragonar as well.”

The sound of Eco’s complaints made their way into Ash’s ears.

“It can’t be helped, the popularity of us and those four simply can’t be compared.”

Ash smiled wryly as he placed his hand on top of Eco’s head.

“In this world, results are everything. As long as we can advance into the final round of the <Dragonar’s Gunnar Bout>, we’ll definitely garner attention, and I don’t have any intention of being defeated by anyone either.”

Max adjusted the position of his glasses with his finger while he calmly explained his opinion. Because of the Ashley incident earlier, the relationship between Ash and Max became somewhat rigid, but the two of them were slowly able to speak to each other naturally again, taking a load off Ash’s mind.

“What Max said is right.”

“Then, let’s draw lots now!”

After Rebecca made that announcement, silence enveloped the arena. In front of Ash and the others, there was a wheeled round table and wheeled blackboard, while the lottery box was placed on top of the round table. Jessica had a piece of white chalk in her hand, and a nervous look on her face as she stood beside the blackboard. Led by Rebecca, the contestants took turns at drawing lots. Every time a piece of paper was pulled out, Jessica would write down that person’s name on the knockout tournament draw. After a while, the draw was completed. The cheers of the crowd became even more sensational.

“No way…!”

With an expression of disbelief, Ash stared at the draw in a daze.

(1) Rebecca Randall VS. Ash Blake

(2) Silvia Lautreamont VS. Lucca Sarlinen

(3) Oscar Brailsford VS. Maximillian Russell

“For such bad luck, I really feel sympathy for you. It seems that unless the sky was to fall, you won’t have any chance of facing off against me. Let me remind you first that in the slim chance that you do defeat Rebecca, you won’t win unless you defeat me as well.”

After the matchups for the tournament were unveiled, Oscar immediately began to provoke Ash. Behind her, the down-spirited Max could be seen. Ash clenched his teeth. His first opponent would be Rebecca — the Academy’s strongest <Scarlet Empress>. In addition, Ash’s mount was Brigid. No matter how one saw it, it seemed like there was no chance of winning…

—No, I can’t put down my own self-esteem!

After Ash firmly shook his head, he cheered himself up. Oscar was a Dragonar who was on par with Rebecca in terms of strength. If he couldn’t defeat Rebecca, then he wouldn’t be able to defeat Oscar either. As soon as Ash turned his thoughts around, he was able to muster up his fighting spirit. Even if his opponent was Rebecca, all he could was to go all out. Moreover, Ash also had the honourable Princess of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family — Eco standing here…

“Hey come on, why aren’t you saying anything? You aren’t thinking of giving up before the battle has even started, right?”

A ridiculing sneer emerged on Oscar’s face. When her noble-like beauty revealed such an expression, she evoked a very strong sense of courage. Ash clenched both of his fists, and faced Oscar as he stared back.

“You should worry about yourself first, it’d be a shame if you lost to Max, right?”

“Hmph. You should judge yourself before speaking.”

After Oscar laughed with a ‘humph’, she elegantly turned around and left.

Part 3

After the lottery and matchups were concluded, the beginning of the first round was announced immediately.

“I’m sorry, Ash. I understand your current dilemma, and if possible, I’d also like to help you win…but this is the sacred stage of the Five Hundred Years Festival. As the Student Council President, I can’t show any mercy.”

After making that declaration, Rebecca began to equip the Ark that Cú Chulainn had presented her with. After a flash of light, Rebecca’s entire body radiated a dazzling light. After her naked outline faintly appeared, the crowd went into an uproar. Immediately afterwards, a red Ark appeared. Although the helmet protecting her head helped to increase her defence, it did so without sacrificing any of the beauty of the armour, and it added to the overall brave atmosphere of the armour. This was the second type of Ark that was revealed to the public for the first time since the duel between Rebecca and Oscar.

“Right from the beginning and already…!”

Ash deeply felt that Rebecca was being serious this time. When he was so nervous that his mouth became dry, Eco sternly rebuked from behind him as if to cheer him on

“What’s so surprising? An Ark of that degree will be smashed to pieces by a single strike from the treasured sword of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family!”

“That’s easy to say…anyway, all we need to do is be victorious. Hold on tight!”

“I know!”

After Eco grabbed onto Ash’s waist, she began to recite the chant to present his Ark.

“Almete, Gorjal, Peto, Espaldar, Brafoneras, Faldaje, Escarcelas, Bufetas, Hombreras, Brazales, Codales, Antebrazos, Manoplas, Quijotes, Guardas, Grebas, Escarpes — Espolón!”

Ash’s body was suddenly enveloped by an extraordinary amount of magical energy. Based on appearances alone, it was not possible to notice any changes. Ash still appeared to be wearing his normal Dragonar clothing, rather than an Ark. The surprised voices of the audience could be heard amidst the crowd. The Ark which still did not have a clear shape yet was overflowing with magical energy, and even exceeded that of Rebecca’s Ark. Its appearance aside, Ash’s Ark seemed to have the upper hand when it came to performance. It was just that after the end of the match, it was highly likely that he would experience severe muscle aches…

“Hmm. I would like to say this again first, it’s not that I refuse to show mercy — but under these circumstances, I don’t have any margin to hold back.”

At the same time that Rebecca softly uttered that, the bell to mark the beginning of the match sounded.

“Appear! The certain hit magic spear — Gáe Bolg!”

“Appear! The all-conquering steel that can slash through anything, a holy sword meant for the knight of all knights — its name is Excalibur!”

The voices of the crowd drowned out the sound of Rebecca’s and Ash’s chants, and only the people confronting each other on both sides could hear each other’s voices. But this coincided with Ash’s intentions. Ash clearly knew that his own fighting technique had always been unorthodox, so he didn’t want to leak out too much information to the audience. Not to mention that Uriel, who was from the Chevron Kingdom was currently in the VIP spectator gallery. This Third Prince was a dangerous character that even Oscar did not take lightly. If what Oscar said was true, then his ambition would likely cause unrest throughout the continent.

“You’re asking for trouble if you think about other things during a battle!”

Rebecca suddenly shouted out loudly, while her eyes felt so sharp that they almost made Ash shiver. He gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, and finally restrained his impulse to tremble. He used his legs to tighten his position on the saddle so that he wouldn’t fall off Brigid’s back. Cú Chulainn soared into the sky above the arena. And then stopped at a height of fifty metres above the ground.

“Magic spear Gáe Bolg — [Wheel of FortuneRing of Fate]!”

“You’re using your ultimate technique right at the very beginning!?”

At the same time that a geometric pattern appeared in the sky, a blast of magic exploded.

“Brigid!”

Brigid understood Ash’s intentions, and jumped backwards. And the very instant that the aura from [Wheel of Fortune] which charged forth like a raging wave seemed like it would pierce the earth, it suddenly changed its trajectory to fly parallel to the ground, and once again moved straight towards Ash.

“Damn it…!”

There was absolutely no way to evade it this time, and Ash had no choice but to use Excalibur to counter it. A powerful flash of light obscured his field of vision. Then the sound of an explosion reverberated throughout the arena.

“Ugh!”

“Kyaaaaahhhh!”

Although he was barely able to cancel out the [Wheel of Fortune], Ash, Eco and Brigid were still subjected to the impact of the aftermath.

“Kuh!”

Brigid issued a sharp cry, as it struggled with its four legs to remain upright, and thus avoiding the situation of falling over. In terms of the rules, one would be disqualified as soon as they fell off their dragon, which was why the rider couldn’t let go of the reins under any circumstances.

“Since that’s the case, all I can do is release all of Excalibur’s power and break through the [Wheel of Fortune] and Rebecca-san at the same time!”

“If you knew that, you should’ve done that from the very beginning!”

Eco coughed incessantly, while complaining to Ash at the same time. But Rebecca didn’t give them any room to relax, and followed up her assault with a second wave.

“[Wheel of Fortune]!”

“You really are being ruthless, Rebecca-san!”

Ash switched his stance to use the sword one-handed, while he used his other hand to take control of the reins. Brigid charged forth without stopping according to Ash’s instructions. However, it was not the same as the Maestro which could freely move around in the three-dimensional space, as an Asia was limited to moving in a two-dimensional manner over the surface of the ground. From Rebecca’s perspective, Ash’s only way to evade was by running around on the ground.

“Are you complaining, Ash? If you keep this up, it looks like you’ll be at the mercy of Oscar’s outrageous requests!”

Rebecca stood on top of Cú Chulainn’s head as she shouted

“According to the agreement between you and Oscar, if you’re able to win, not only does she have to give up on involving you and Eco, but also giving up on me, right!? Honestly speaking…I’m very happy. Because this is the first time that someone has come forward to protect me.”

“Eh…?”

Ash was unable to hear the last part of that clearly. Compared to the profound emotions of those words, the magic bullet that [Wheel of Fortune] released flickered brightly, and mercilessly charged towards Ash and the others. In response to the magic bullet that was coming towards him, Ash thought that just when he was about to be hit, he could use Brigid’s powerful legs to dodge; and if he failed to evade it, then he could strike it down with Excalibur. As he desperately racked his brains for a way to escape, Ash felt spurts of anxiety. If this continued to drag on, Brigid’s physical stamina would sooner or later be depleted. When it came to that, he would have no choice but to defend with his own body, and Rebecca would have total control over the situation. He had to quickly come up with a countermeasure…!

And in that moment, Ash felt that something wasn’t quite right.

—Could it be…

The name of the attack, [Wheel of Fortune], was the same as the one used against Oscar, it was a streak of light; he remembered that its firepower was incredible, and much like a turbulent storm. In comparison, the current [Wheel of Fortune] was not the same thing. The explosive energy of each strike was quite small, and it was another type of attack entirely. It was basically like a bullet.

—At the beginning, I thought that Rebecca used her maximum firepower so as to prevent me from having any opportunities in an attempt to defeat me with one strike. But in that case, why is she frequently resorting to such fragmented attacks? Did she change her tactic to gradually wear out Brigid’s stamina? No, a petty tactic like this doesn’t suit Rebecca-san’s style…

“Kuuu…”

At that time, Brigid let out a breathless cry. Probably on the brink of exhausting its physical stamina, its mobility also began to decline significantly, and the magic bullets also grazed its scales. Not long afterwards, Brigid finally stopped. The scene of its struggle to catch up to Lancelot during the ‘Aries Dragon Riding Festival’ once again recurred.

“Brigid!”

Brigid no longer responded to Ash’s calls, and simply continued panting breathlessly. Even so, Rebecca continued to mercilessly rain down a flurry of magic bullets. Upon seeing that Brigid was no longer moving around, she arranged eight magic bullets in the air to form a ring, and launched them all for a simultaneous attack.

“Uooooooohhh!”

Ash changed his stance to grip the sword with both his hands as he held it up high. At the same time that the radiance of his sword and the eight bullets collided with each other — a surprisingly massive explosion which shook the very earth took place. Dark smoke was emitted from the arena, and it completely devoured the figures of Ash, Eco and Brigid. A terrifying silence then shrouded the entire arena.

Part 4

The massive explosion set off a chain reaction, producing powerful blasts of wind on a level even above that of the explosion. Hovering in the air, Rebecca and Cú Chulainn were also affected. However, Rebecca maintained a relaxed expression as she stood on top of Cú Chulainn’s head. Cú Chulainn seemed mostly unaffected by the blast of wind, and continued float in mid-air. Rebecca leisurely overlooked the site of the explosion, and murmured with a melancholic tone

“Ash…surely you’ve got more than just that as a Dragonar, right? Where has the you whose strength always exceeded my expectations gone to right now? You protected Ansarivan from being destroyed by the Necromancia, you also repulsed Avdocha; and during the training camp at Allonnes Lake, you were able to help Lucca recover from her situation, and you were also able to emerge victorious from the battle in Fontaine City. Come on, let me see it, blow away my expectations of you, and show me something that will leave even me in disbelief to defeat me!”

Unconsciously, Rebecca’s quiet whispers had turned into a loud bellow.

“Respond to my expectations — Ash Blake!”

Rebecca’s voice grew even more powerful, and it loudly resounded throughout the entire arena. As if in response to her shouting, brilliant rays of light suddenly burst out from the site which had been filled with smoke and dust from the aftermath of the explosion.

“Hmm…!”

Sensing the waves of a violent aura, Rebecca immediately raised her magic spear. There was an unusual atmosphere about the place. She thought that Eco had awakened, but she could not see any of the signs of the ‘Avalon Princess’ who had originally plunged the capital city into chaos. After a moment, the smoke and dust began to clear. When clarity in her vision was restored, Rebecca undoubtedly saw it. It was a Maestro with a physique not inferior in any way to that of Cú Chulainn’s. And — standing on top of that Maestro’s head, were Ash and Eco, mutually supporting each other.

“How is this possible!? He’s turned Brigid into a Maestro!?”

Not even the usually calm Rebecca could conceal the words of surprise that she whispered.

Part 5

“Is that for real!? My Brigid has turned into a Maestro!”

Amidst the bright red crowd of spectators — mercilessly deceived by his own friend and Pal, the boy who waved a banner around and cheered for Rebecca as his favourite — Raymond’s hands slipped, causing him to drop the banner to the floor. Upon seeing Raymond’s shocked appearance, the classmate who was sitting beside him asked with a surprised look

“Raymond, the problem is…are you going to be appointed as a Dragonar under such circumstances?”

“I’m not sure about that…hmm!?”

Raymond suddenly revealed a serious expression, and lifted his red T-shirt upwards.

“Uwah! Why are you undressing in front of such a large crowd! I’m not interested in those kinds of things!”

“I’m not either! The important thing is that my <Seikoku> is gone!”

Raymond’s face went pale, and his entire body trembled.

“If I remember correctly, your <Seikoku> is on the left side of your abdomen?”

“How would you know that so clearly!? …Uh, that isn’t important right now! Look, it’s really not there! I can’t feel Brigid either! The connection of our Astral Flow is broken!”

“Hey…isn’t the situation a bit bad? This means you won’t even be a Breeder anymore…”

Raymond’s state of panic was written all over his face. If someone was no longer a Breeder, they would lose their right to stay in the Academy.

“Ash you bastard, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DOOOOOO!”

After Raymond cried out heartbreaking, his legs gave out and he tumbled down on the spot.

Part 6

“Fly, Brigid!”

After Ash issued his command, Brigid let loose a frightening roar. And then as soon as it soared into the sky — Ash felt the pressure of the wind pushing against his entire body. Its speed was astonishing. Speaking of which, why did Brigid become a Maestro? Ash couldn’t figure out the reason for that either. Perhaps having thought of a possibility, he asked Eco who was behind him.

“Brigid become a Maestro, is that something done by your abilities? Or the Avalon Royal Family’s…?”

Hearing this, Eco was also surprised.

“I’m not sure about it either. But just before we were hit by Rebecca’s attack, I felt as though Brigid and I connected with each other. Look.”

Eco hugged onto Ash as she showed her right palm. In the centre of her small palm, a pattern like the head of a dragon had appeared. It was like a false, replacement <Seikoku>.

“Could it be that you’re connected with Brigid right now? But how is that related to it becoming a Maestro?”

“I said I didn’t know! It’s just that after the Astral Flow between Brigid and I connected, I seem to have inadvertently infused my own magic into its appearance. Because…I wanted to be able to protect Ash.”

After Eco’s face reddened, she lowered her head in embarrassment. Ash also felt embarrassed as well, and he felt his cheeks begin to heat up. This so-called Astral Flow was originally a channel that Breeders used to supply Astral to their Pals.

Eco used this channel to send her own magic to Brigid?

The problem was, in order to turn Brigid into such a magnificent Maestro, just how much magic was needed for that? Ash was unable to imagine it.

“If it didn’t respond to my feelings, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything but sit there, and we would have been defeated by Rebecca, that is the one thing that I can be sure of.”

Eco used eyes full of loving affection as she stared at the strong and mighty Brigid.

“Yeah, that’s right. Thank you, Brigid.”

Brigid answered with a roar of joy. Ash suddenly realised that he seemed to be forgetting something highly important, but he decided to put defeating Rebecca as his top priority. Thus he pushed his non-essential worries into a corner of his mind. After all, even though Brigid had become a Maestro, the gap between the strength of the two sides should have only been decreased by a small amount. But all fear disappeared from Ash’s mind.

“I’m coming, Rebecca-san!”

Rebecca seemed to have been stunned and remained motionless, and only when she heard Ash’s voice did she raise her head. To actually appear shaken, Rebecca was currently below the standard that she normally showed. But she glided around in the sky at high speed with Cú Chulainn so as to prevent Brigid from attacking her from behind, the strain from that speed couldn’t be underestimated. After the aerial battle between the two Maestros began, the thunderous cheers of the crowd shook the air. Now, the cheers of support for Ash had grown to match those of Rebecca’s supporters. Aside from the cheer squads amongst the spectators dressed in bright red, everyone else kept on shouting out Ash’s name. After escaping from Ash’s chase, Rebecca began to pursue him from behind. Cú Chulainn opened its enormous mouth and spewed out a Crimson Ex-BreathCrimson Breath of the Fire Dragon; Brigid quickly turned around, and evaded the flames at the same time to curve around to Rebecca’s back. Cú Chulainn’s enormous body swerved into the attacking range of Brigid.

“—Now!”

Ash shouted out loudly. Brigid fired out a Shiny Silver Lightning BlastSilver Ray of the Thunder Dragon, Cú Chulainn’s reaction was slightly delayed, but it immediately erected a Hexagonal ShieldHexagon Barrier. The hexagonal face which acted as a protective barrier was able to block the magic attack just in the nick of time — however, it was unable to completely nullify the shock waves from the attack, thus causing damage to Cú Chulainn’s body.

“Guooooooohhh…!”

Seeing Cú Chulainn groaning in pain, the audience began to stir. The audience was not cheering, rather, they were shocked by what they saw and were now in uproar. Has that Cú Chulainn ever groaned in pain in front of such a large crowd? That was the one thing that everyone was thinking about.

“We have a chance of winning, Ash!”

Eco began to cheer for Ash.

“Yeah. Even if our opponent is the <Scarlet Empress>, I don’t feel like I’ll lose right now!”

After Ash confidently replied, he hugged Eco’s shoulders even tighter. After Eco’s cheeks became a shade of rosy red, she revealed a panicked expression.

“Hey! What are you doing!?”

“Thank you, Eco. Thanks to your help, I was able to fight until this moment.”

“I-I just did what a Pal should do!”

Eco snappily turned her face away to the other side. However, her body was still tightly pressed against Ash’s body, and she didn’t seem to have any intention of separating with him. Feeling the warmth of Eco’s body, Ash felt an indescribable sensation in his heart. Even though they were clearly supposed to be facing off against Rebecca right now, his current state of mind still had room for relaxation, causing Ash himself to feel disbelief.

Part 7

After the all-out aerial battle, the two Maestros confronted each other as they floated at a high altitude in the sky. The two of them were separated by a distance of approximately fifty metres. The meeting place had unwittingly become silent. Everyone was so nervous that their mouths went dry and they felt thirsty as they stretched their necks to look up at the sky. Even Mirabel also put down her book out of concern for the battle situation. Fifty minutes had already elapsed since the beginning of the match. There was only a brief amount of time before they would reach the sixty minute limit—

“It’s time to decide this match, Ash.”

Rebecca raised up Gáe Bolg, and declared that majestically.

“That’s just what I wanted.”

Ash replied with true sincerity. Rebecca’s intent was very clear — I will pour everything I have into this one blow. That being the case, Ash could only use everything he had to respond.

“Magic spear Gáe Bolg — [Wheel of Fortune]!”

Along with a rumbling noise, Rebecca’s ultimate weapon and charging stance began to surge towards him. The magic spear which interfered with fate had locked onto Ash’s life. The ‘outcome’ had already been decided. Right now, it was his only chance to break [Wheel of Fortune], before the reasoning behind it caught up.

“The all-conquering steel that can slash through anything, a holy sword meant for the knight of all knights—!”

Ash recited the chant out aloud, and then raised Excalibur up high with both hands. He felt as though all of the magic energy which had accumulated within the invisible Ark was being transferred towards the holy sword, causing the holy sword to unleash an incredible pressure on top of the pulse-like energy that the sword inherently had.

“Excalibur!”

Ash swung down the holy sword in one strike with everything that he had. An immense amount of magic energy poured out like an overwhelming avalanche, and the unusually thick beam of light sliced straight through the atmosphere. A clash of magic collided between the two Maestros and shook the air. When Rebecca and Oscar fought against each other, their power was in a deadlock until the very last moment. However, that wasn’t the case this time. The beam of magic energy that the holy sword Excalibur expelled was not something that Gáe Bolg could contend with. Containing an overwhelming destructive power, it was comparable to the time when he had previously used it to defeat Mordred in the capital city of Fontaine. Rebecca now seemed to be losing ground, and Excalibur had almost entirely engulfed all of Gáe Bolg’s attack. The [Wheel of Fortune] which had locked on to Ash’s life had also long been torn apart. Even if she was equipped with an Ark, it was possible that there would be a threat to Rebecca’s life if she continued like this — unease surfaced within Ash, causing him to open his mouth and shout towards her

“The outcome has been decided! Surrender! Rebecca-san, I don’t want to hurt you!”

“…You’re too naïve, Ash!”

Rebecca’s tone was calm and indifferent as usual as she coldly retorted against Ash.

“Gentle…that has always been one of your strengths, but that’s also your weakness! As the current Student Council President, I’ll have to teach you a lesson for being too naïve!”

“Rebecca…san?”

“—Surpass me, Ash!”

Rebecca revealed a fully self-confident smile.

“Someone able to surpass me, regardless of whether they’re from the past or present, the only one is you!”

Seeing her smile was like a wake-up call for Ash. He now understood the reason behind why Rebecca insisted on only using fragmented attack at the beginning of the match. The magic bullets that she fired at that time were obviously quite similar to the magic bullets that Oscar used. Rebecca abandoned her original tactics, and continuously repeated using attacks similar to those of Oscar’s, apparently for the sake of training Ash for his battle against Oscar.

“Your plan from the very beginning was to train me…and you personally did that during the tournament!”

If that was the case, then was this tournament matchup deliberately arranged by Rebecca in secret? This idea briefly crossed Ash’s mind. Even if Rebecca looked forward to a duel with Ash again, this draw would end her journey prematurely. But, for someone such as Rebecca with incredible talent, doing something sneaky during the draw probably wasn’t a problem. Moreover, Rebecca didn’t mention her own ‘request’ when everyone was talking about their victory. To put it bluntly, didn’t this prove that she never had the intention of winning in the first place? In that instant—

The beam of the holy sword Excalibur slashed through Rebecca’s entire body. Not only Rebecca, but even Cú Chulainn suffered immense damage to its body. Cú Chulainn’s body began to wobble, and it began to fall down from the sky. Seeing that Rebecca had been tossed off from its head, Ash immediately cleared his mind. Rebecca seemed to have lost consciousness. A moment later, cracks began to emerge in the bright red Ark, and it eventually shattered and turned into dust. Her bare body which was surrounded by a cloud of dust from the shattered Ark fell down from the sky which was full of shining, bright red glitter.

“Quickly go and save Rebecca-san!”

Ash hastily returned the holy sword to its scabbard, and issued that command to Brigid. Brigid dived in the air, gradually narrowing the distance between him and Rebecca. Ash stretched out both of his arms towards that white-skinned body. With her body held horizontally in his arms, her light weight startled him. Renowned as the distant <Scarlet Empress>, she was just a graceful, and ordinary girl right now. After successfully protecting Rebecca’s safety, Ash breathed a sigh of relief, but in the blink of an eye he blushed deeply out of embarrassment. Rebecca was completely naked right now. Ash accidentally caught a glimpse of her ample breasts and slim thighs, making him so nervous that it felt as though his heart was about to pop out. The beauty of her naked body was akin to that of a goddess carved out on a stone statue.

“Hey! What are you looking at!?”

Without saying anything else, Eco kicked Ash’s calf.

“Ouch!”

It was so painful that Ash couldn’t help bursting into tears. The reputation of the Avalon Knight which was finally established was so easily destroyed. It seems like the Ark that Eco had personally created had been lifted at some point. Could Eco have released it? Because it didn’t have a visible form to begin with, and also because his attention was focused on Rebecca’s naked body, Ash hadn’t realised that his armour had disappeared at all.

“The winner of the first round is Ash Blake! His Pal is named Eco! And the exception that allows two people to ride on it as a mount, that is the Asia which has transformed — the Maestro Brigid!”

The referee’s announcement was made to welcome Ash and the others who had landed in the centre of the arena.

“Rebecca VS. Ash ~A.S.B.1365.10~” is closed.

Epilogue

Part 1

After handing Rebecca over to the medical team to take care of, Ash and Eco headed over to the contestants’ lounge together.

“Hey! Ash! Eco!”

Hearing the anxious voice catching up to them from behind, both Ash and Eco turned around to look back. With a desperate expression, Raymond came straight towards them. Upon seeing that he was wearing a red T-shirt, Ash guessed that he was probably cheering for Rebecca.

“This guy really is heartless…”

At the same time that Ash couldn’t help sighing, he suddenly remembered something important.

“Oh yeah, Raymond! In fact—”

“My <Seikoku> is gone! What’s going on right now!?”

Raymond suddenly shouted, interrupting Ash’s words. It was difficult to imagine that Raymond could actually act so seriously.

“Uh, that’s because…”

Ash hesitated as he could not really explain why. At this time, Eco opened her palm and showed it to Raymond.

“I believe that this should be your <Seikoku>.”

“What are you saying!? If I’m not with Brigid then…?”

“The link between you two seems to have been cut off. I’m sorry!”

Ash put his hands together, and bowed to Raymond in apology.

“This isn’t a problem that can be solved with a mere apology! If something went wrong, what would happen if Brigid lost its life?”

“It won’t happen, Eco shared some of my supply of Astral to Brigid, so it won’t be harmed or lose its life.”

“If that’s the case then it’s a relief, the problem is that I’m not even called a Breeder anymore. If the Academy were to find out, I’ll definitely be expelled!”

“There was actually such a thing…!”

Ash discovered that this was no trivial matter. He certainly did not want to see Raymond drop out of the Academy as a result, all because he had involved Brigid in his battle.

“Anyhow, let’s discuss it slowly in the contestants’ lounge. Just calm down first—”

Just at that time, as if to stop Ash from speaking further—

“Hold on.”

An icy voice was suddenly heard. Without even turning back to look, Ash could tell from her voice that that person was Mirabel Lautreamont. The maid Eunice followed behind her.

“Headmistress! D-Did you hear our conversation just now…?”

Ash timidly trembled and murmured as he turned around, and Mirabel nodded in affirmation.

“Frankly speaking, I thought that this was going to be a boring event, but you allowed me to see an interesting phenomenon. In fact, I have always been interested in the magic device <Yggdrasil>, but…”

Speaking up to that point, Mirabel directed her eyes towards Eco’s right hand. The <Seikoku> which originally symbolised the relationship of master and servant between Raymond and Brigid was now clearly imprinted on her hand.

“I suspect that what Eco has done to Brigid is similar to the effect of <Yggdrasil>.”

The magic device <Yggdrasil> — it was a method through which an immense amount of magic energy could be transferred, a device which forced a dragon which had not yet grown into a Maestro become a Maestro. The Dark Dragon King Mordred used that function in the past to force Eco into her ‘true form’.

“If my conjectures are correct, Brigid’s Maestro form will only last for a short period of time. If it was done through <Yggdrasil>, then it would be a different matter entirely, and as for the effect that Eco inadvertently produced, I think the effect will wear off sooner or later. So—”

Mirabel stared straight at Raymond. Being stared at directly with an icy glare, Raymond immediately stiffened.

“You’re called Raymond Kirkland, right? I’m not going to appoint you as a Dragonar, and neither am I going to force you to drop out of the Academy. For the time being, let’s just wait and see.”

After finishing what she needed to say, Mirabel leisurely turned around and left. Eunice closely followed her indifferent figure as she left.

“Haha…that’s great, Raymond. Although her Royal Highness Mirabel looks rather cold on the outside, she’s actually a nice person.”

“That is true, but, something like this only happened today because you’re the one who insisted on borrowing Brigid! So you also have to lend Eco to me in return—”

At that time, a monstrous figure suddenly appeared, quickly interrupting Raymond’s words.

“Grrrrr…”

It was actually Brigid which had become a Maestro. It picked Raymond up by his collar with its mouth, and then plodded away with heavy steps.

“Wah! I was just joking back then! Just joking! Y-You’re the only one in my heart! I swear that I haven’t thought about choosing Eco over you at all!”

Currently hanging in mid-air, Raymond was taken away by Brigid.

“I will pray for your safety, Raymond…”

After Ash muttered that quietly, Eco shook her head as she shouted

“Is that guy an idiot!?”

Part 2

In the first round, Rebecca’s Ark was shattered, and Cú Chulainn also suffered serious damage to its body. Not only was the venue in uproar, the arena itself was also riddled with holes from Rebecca’s magic bullets, so repair work was necessary. Thus, it was decided that the second and third rounds which were originally scheduled on the same day would be postponed until the next day. In the evening — after the entrance to the arena had been closed, and after he had been relieved of his tasks as a member of the organising committee, Ash decided to visit Rebecca. Not entirely sure about the particular reason why, Ash felt that going alone to visit her would be more appropriate, and so he secretly slipped out of the Academy by himself. His destination was the hospital, the news of Rebecca’s hospitalisation there was released by the Academy. On the way to the hospital, Ash bought a bouquet of flowers from the florist in the shopping district. After about ten minutes’ walk from the florist, he finally arrived at the municipal hospital. It was a pure white building, with the mark of a red cross on it. This hospital was also the only general hospital within the city of Ansarivan.

“Woah…what’s going on!?”

In front of the hospital’s entrance was a crowd of male and female students in uniform who clogged up the entire area. Everyone carried gifts or bouquets of flowers for visiting patients, and the scene was very lively. It was obvious that all of these people were here to visit Rebecca. Aside from the students, there were also many who appeared to be news or magazine journalists, as well as those of the general public who came to join in the with the lively atmosphere. There were probably more than a hundred people present. Security guards had lined up to form a wall, and they worked hard to stop the invasion of visitors. Ash was once again able to experience just how popular Rebecca was. But, he also felt that it would be extremely dangerous for him to show his face outside as the one who had defeated Rebecca.

“If someone recognises me, they might try to catch me and beat me up…”

Ash could do nothing but helplessly give up on trying to visit her, and was ready to turn around to leave. At that time, his arm was suddenly pulled by someone.

“Eh…?”

Ash was dragged away from the hospital by someone just like that.

Part 3

“You wouldn’t happen to be Rebecca-san, right!?”

Ash sped up his pace as he spoke to the person in front of him. The girl running in front of him was wearing the Academy’s uniform. Exposed below her skirt was a pair of beautifully contoured legs wearing black tights. Despite wearing a hat to cover her eyes, her waist long red hair was still highly conspicuous. The two of them passed by a park as they ran, and so the young girl invited Ash to sit on a bench to rest for a while. After they sat down side by side, the girl lifted the brim of her hat away slightly. Revealed underneath the brim of that hat were a pair of bold and round emerald eyes that seemed to sparkle. This feeling was almost like having a private tryst with a stage actress, and Ash couldn’t help feeling butterflies in his stomach as his heart began to beat out of control.

“Rebecca-san, it really is you!”

“Phew. We shouldn’t need to be afraid of being found now that we’ve escaped here.”

Rebecca’s attitude seemed unperturbed.

“U-Umm…shouldn’t you be staying in the hospital?”

“Everyone seems so anxious, but it’s really no big deal. Fortunately, I had the protection of my Ark, so my body doesn’t have any serious problems, but I still need to be hospitalised for three days to undergo some complicated checks. Anyway, I happened to see you wandering around outside when I jumped out of the window from the ward, so I was quite surprised.”

“So that’s how it was…it’s good that you found me, otherwise I would have gone home.”

Ash smiled wryly as he spoke, but he immediately tensed with a solemn expression on his face.

“It was I who broke Rebecca’s Ark…I’m sorry.”

“Haah…when you were in the basic course, were you actually listening in class? An Ark is a crystallisation of magic, as long as Cú Chulainn remembers the design, it doesn’t matter how many times it’s regenerated.”

“Y-Yeah. Then I’ll be relieved.”

“It’s just that Cú Chulainn is a very prideful dragon. Next time, it’ll work hard to design a third type of Ark which can withstand the power of Excalibur.”

Ash felt admiration towards Cú Chulainn’s ambition.

“U-Umm, this is for you—”

Ash shyly handed the bouquet of flowers over to Rebecca. After all, this was the first time that he had ever given flowers to a girl, even though it was just a courtesy for visiting a patient, he still felt highly embarrassed nonetheless. Because the flowers were casually selected, Ash didn’t know what the name of the flower was. He simply saw that the colour of the petals was a bright red, so they probably suited Rebecca’s appearance.

“Thank you. I’ll place them in the best position in the ward for decoration.”

Rebecca smiled elegantly, and then accepted the flowers.

“A-Ash, would it be convenient for you to chat with me for a bit?”

The tone of Rebecca’s voice seemed slightly hesitant. And for her, who was usually quite calm, she seemed to wriggle and fidget with her body at that time out of unease.

“T-Talk about what?”

Rebecca’s appearance, lovely rather than beautiful or dignified, made Ash feel restless.

“Well…as the Student Council President, I have always been quietly watching your actions. Your performance has repeatedly exceeded my expectations, and you’ve overcome a countless number of difficulties. Currently, it’s already a fact that you’re the knight of the Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family. You’ve really grown a lot, and now, no one will see you as a ‘problem student’ anymore, and even if there are people who hold such a bias against you, I won’t forgive them.”

“Rebecca-san?”

After Ash revealed a puzzled look, Rebecca let out a long sigh.

“Actually, why don’t I feel confused? Am I caring about you only with my identity as the ‘Student Council President’? Or am I looking forward to things from you as a woman? I’m feeling more and more confused about it myself.”

“Eh?”

—As a woman.

The charm which was hidden in that sentence made Ash’s heart skip a beat.

“I can certainly understand the situation that you are in quite clearly. Eco, Silvia, Lucca, Jessica…everyone has a good impression of you and shows favour to you. If even I were to jump into the liveliness and commotion, it may make people think that I’m being childish. To begin with, showing my fancy towards you in such a direct manner like them doesn’t seem like something I’ll be able to do…”

Ash was barely holding onto his rationality, and he held back his urge to put his arms around Rebecca’s shoulders.

“I think that you also should have noticed, which is why you deliberately came alone to visit me, right? You probably came to ask me about the matchup from the ballot, right?”

“I didn’t want to ask about Rebecca-san’s plans…but I do hope to know the truth.”

“The truth is as you imagine. In order to fight against you in the draw, I made my move during the selection. But the only thing that I meddled with was the tournament matchup. The result which led to the split group activity in Fianna Forest was purely by chance. In regards to that, you absolutely must believe me.”

“Of course I believe you.”

“…You really are kind of heart, it seems that I was still not able to correct your overly naïve attitude. Having said that though, if gentle kindness is your charm, perhaps keeping it that way isn’t a bad thing.”

After Rebecca stood up, she turned around to look at Ash.

“It’s almost time I went back to the hospital.”

“Then I’ll go back to the Academy.”

“Yes, Ash.”

Rebecca slightly bent over her upper body, and then looked up towards Ash’s face. It was the first time that Ash had seen Rebecca do something so adorable, and his heart began to race so fast that it felt as though it was about to burst. Only then did he see Rebecca reveal a devilish smile, as she asked him a question which made him incredibly embarrassed.

“Did you see my body?”

“T-Th-That was something that couldn’t be helped!”

Ash felt extremely embarrassed, and steam was about to puff out of his ears. That scene then began to clearly resurface in his mind, and the efforts that he had previously made to try not to think about it all came to naught. Like a beautiful statue that God himself had crafted, her naked body could only be described as perfect… After Rebecca placed her hands on her hips, she resolutely said

“Listen, Ash. The only one person who can savour the aftertaste of my naked body is you.”

“Wah! What are you saying!?”

Seeing Ash panic exaggeratedly with his arms flailing about, Rebecca couldn’t help letting out a slight giggle.

“Haha, sorry. I was half-joking there.”

“Only half of that was a joke!?”

After Rebecca’s face was lit up with a cheerful smile, she casually fiddled with her proud red hair. Then, a serious expression returned to her face. Just from the change in the expression of her eyes, Ash couldn’t help tensing up slightly.

“I have to stay in the hospital, so I’m leaving the Five Hundred Years Festival to you. I’ll definitely be discharged from the hospital before the final round, so I’ll be watching your battle from the VIP gallery.”

Rebecca pretended to inadvertently lean towards Ash. When their bodies came close enough that they were in contact with each other, and in the instant that Ash was startled, a pair of soft lips swiftly kissed his cheek.

“You have to let go to allow Oscar a hit, and then steal victory from her.”

By the time that Ash realised he had been kissed and stared blankly ahead as if he had woken up from a dream, Rebecca had already left this sentence behind, and unconcernedly left. A gust of autumn wind blew through the desolate park.

“Rebecca-san, she…kissed me…?”

The touch of Rebecca’s kiss was still vaguely left behind on his cheek. All that Ash could do was stand in the same spot, motionlessly.

“The Avalon Knight Dragner I” is closed.

Afterword

Dear fans of the President, I’m sure I have kept you waiting long enough. Just as mentioned previously ‘Rebecca will show off her full power in the sixth volume’, the development of this volume focuses on Rebecca. As for how exactly she uses her full power, please read through the volume to understand!

Hello everyone, I’m Shiki Mizuchi — sorry for only greeting you now. Thanks to the support of readers, the [Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi] series has finally reached its sixth volume. ‘I really didn’t expect it to get this far’ — this is my current state of mind.

As I mentioned in the afterword of the previous volume, the second arc has begun. In order to create a grand prelude, the [Ansarivan Five Hundred Years Festival] is a large-scale competitive tournament to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the Academy’s founding. The grand figure of five hundred is by no means a thoughtless decision. As someone who has always gone with intuition, it was difficult for me this time to follow a set chronology. I look forward to the day when I can publish the chronology and other undisclosed setting information.

A new character has debuted in this volume. Someone who has been vaguely described ever since the first volume, but has never appeared — the vice-president of the student council finally appears before Ash. This character is by no means a pushover, and is definitely noteworthy, so please be sure to pay attention!

I have a major news announcement to make! The highly anticipated first volume of RAN-san’s version of [Seikoku] has finally been released to coincide with this volume. I sincerely hope that through the manga version, even more people will come to understand the world of [Seikoku]. I can’t say enough about my enthusiasm for the manga version, but—

“The content goes beyond the original work!”

If I had to sum everything up with one sentence, then that would be it. RAN-san, thank you very much!

Next are my acknowledgements. Editor Shoji-san, I feel truly ashamed beyond words for having asked you to significantly extend the deadline for my manuscript. In order to make up for all the trouble that I’ve given you, I will try my best to achieve the goal of handing in the manuscript for volume seven early.

Shimesaba Kohada-san, I’m sure I must have caused trouble for you too with the delay in my manuscript. Thank you for continuing to draw such stunning illustrations despite your busy schedule. Every time a new character debuts, I look forward to seeing what kind of design you come up with.

RAN-san, congratulations on publishing the first volume. I eagerly look forward to the latest chapter of the manga version every month.

In addition, MF Bunko J and Comic Alive — [Seikoku] was successfully able to reach its second arc thanks to the staff from both sides of the editorial departments, business departments, proof readers, art designers, book distributors and all of the countless others who have assisted.

To all of my readers who have supported me until now, an even more thrilling story awaits, so please stay tuned! I welcome any thoughts or comments you may have for me! Well, let us meet again next time! In the next volume — the victor of Ansarivan’s Five Hundred Years festival!

October 2011, Shiki Mizuchi

References and Translation Notes

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