Chapter 49 _ A Twilight Reunion, or the Last Rites for a Friend
After saving the hatchling dragon
and barely escaping our confrontation with the Wicked Dragon Loki,
we took refuge in a wind-carved hollow along the roadside to catch our breath.
…But our respite did not last long.
“――Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!”
A scream tore through the silence of the night,
rising from the depths of darkness.
We sprang to our feet at once
and drove the carriage forward again.
What awaited us there—
were the bodies of the very people we had parted from earlier,
the members of the so-called Dragon Hunt Tour,
now lying scattered and lifeless.
At the center of the carnage stood a black-silver shadow,
calm and unmoving.
Loki.
“…Hm?
So it’s you.”
His voice echoed low and heavy.
“Why did you kill them?”
Frey asked quietly.
“I merely eliminated those who sought to kill my kin,”
Loki replied.
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“True… I feel no sympathy for the merchant
who organized that so-called hunt,”
Frey said, her voice trembling.
“But… the adventurers who joined him
were clearly powerless ones.
They did harm the hatchling, yes—
but they posed no further threat.
Left alone, they would not have mattered.”
“Frey…”
Loki’s voice sank lower.
“Did you come here to say something so dull as
‘hatred gives birth to nothing’?”
“…If that is your intent,” he continued,
“then I will show you no mercy either.”
“Loki…”
Frey struggled to keep her voice steady.
“Because we share old ties,
I ask you this—
promise me you will not do this again,
and I will let this pass.”
“If you cannot…”
“I cannot.”
Loki’s roar shook the air.
“Those who first slaughtered our innocent kin
were humans—your kind!”
“Anyone who seeks my children from now on
will be slain without exception.
And if you stand in my way—
you will be eliminated as well.”
Frey trembled.
Not from fear—
but because she was crying.
“Loki… do you remember?”
she asked softly.
“The day you first came to my den…”
Loki remained silent.
“I was… always alone,”
Frey continued, her gaze drifting far away.
“I was abandoned as an infant,
and raised as the daughter of the Divine Wolf.
Yet no one ever approached me.
They feared me.
From the time I was small…
I was always alone.”
—Memory—
Young Frey was, as always,
playing alone near her den.
The other beasts kept their distance,
afraid of her—
the daughter of the God Wolf.
Then one day,
a small dragon wandered into the area.
“…Hm?
Are you… a dragon?”
“…And who are you?”
“I am Frey.
And you?”
“…Loki.”
That was how they met—
or rather, how Frey met him again,
though she herself had forgotten the first time.
Loki did not fear her.
Whether she was the God Wolf’s daughter meant nothing to him.
To Loki, Frey was simply
a playmate—
and the one who had once saved his life.
“Hey, Loki!
That long tail of yours—
can I slide on it?”
“My tail?
You’re a strange one.”
Surprised, but amused,
Loki stretched out his tail.
“Go on, then.”
“Yaaay!”
Frey slid down his tail again and again,
laughing.
Her laughter echoed through the den.
It was the first time
she had ever heard her own laughter.
“Hey, Frey.
Want to try riding on my back next time?”
“Really!?”
“Yeah.
You’re light.”
On Loki’s broad back,
Frey flew for the first time.
The world spread wide beneath her.
The rush of wind—
and more than anything—
“Amazing, Loki!
I didn’t know the world was this big!”
“Heh.
If it makes you happy,
I’ll take you flying as many times as you like.”
Warm scales.
A gentle voice.
For Frey,
it was her first—
and only—friendship.
Until sunset, they played together.
Every day, Loki came to her den.
“Loki!
You came again today!”
“Of course.
You’re my friend.”
Friend—
That word filled Frey’s heart.
She was no longer alone.
She had a friend.
—End of Memory—
“The Loki of those days… was kind,”
Frey said, tears falling to the ground.
“Kinder than anyone…
the one who understood me more than anyone else…
You were my first friend.
And my only friend.”
“…”
Loki said nothing.
“But… you changed,”
Frey’s voice shook.
“When humans began killing dragon children,
a flame of hatred was lit within your heart.
And now… that flame has consumed you.”
“Frey…”
Loki finally spoke.
“When my kin were massacred by humans…
you did nothing.”
“……!”
Loki’s voice turned cold.
“That is why I acted myself.
I will protect my kin—
with my own hands.”
“That is—”
Frey faltered.
It was true.
She had done nothing.
She had wanted to remain neutral—
to take neither side in the conflict
between humans and dragons.
But perhaps…
that neutrality had been abandonment.
“…It seems we can no longer understand each other,”
Frey whispered.
“Loki…
your heart has already been burned away
by the flames of hatred.
Then… I will free you from that hatred.”
“…I see,”
Loki replied calmly.
“Then come.
Frey… my old friend.
End me with your own hands.”
“Mario…”
Frey looked at me,
her eyes soaked with tears.
“I… I—!”
“…I understand,”
I said at last.
I made my decision.
“Loki… sir.
I hold no hatred toward you.
But… you must die.”
“A human thinks he can defeat me?”
Loki roared.
“Very well!”
And so—
The battle began.
〈To be continued in Chapter 50: The Sorrowful Decisive Battle〉
