Tessa The Dragon Attendant
In the morning, Krai was in the room where Reina was sleeping.
He is like a child refusing to leave his mother's side.
Even on the second day in that strange place, Reina was still in her comatose state. It didn't make Krai worry about her. This was because his friend was the one who healed her wounds; even though he couldn't regenerate her lost limb, he knew that her life was safe.
He saved her life and even got someone to take care of her, a female dark elf.
It was understandable. They are men, and she is a woman, and if they were to take care of her while she was unconscious, she would have to dish out a can of whoop ass for both of them.
☆
"So, where is Zeraff's chamber anyway? And what's your relationship with him?"
"Right, I forgot to mention how I came to know Rita when I reincarnated..."
We were walking in the forest when I started that conversation. When I looked around, I noticed that the road we were using was the one we had first met.
Where we were going must have been where he was coming from the day we met.
He talked as if the story he was narrating was nothing more than a side story with little importance.
"When I was about to reincarnate, I first met the Goddesses' aid in the heavenly realm, where he told me that I was going to be reborn as a lost species. You know that part, right?"
"Yeah, you told me that."
"Anyway, after passing the heavenly realm, I found myself surrounded by ruins and trees I didn't recognize... Although through the talk with the Goddesses' aid, I was a little less afraid of the unfamiliar place."
His mention of the Goddess and her aid made me wonder what kind of god she was and the kind of conversation he had with her aide.
"...Anyway. As I was walking, I ended up in Zeraff's chamber, or rather, I was led there."
Wait. I fear something inconclusive was just said here.
"Led there...?"
"I didn't notice that I was being led there until the scenery changed out of the blue, and all of a sudden, I was standing in front of this massive dragon curled up in a sleeping position."
The image was painted perfectly in my mind, and I could see Zeraff being massive while sleeping on the ground.
"That was how I met Zeraff. As for Rita, well... He told me that there was a spirit here living in solitude."
"Wow. So you made a contract with Rita yourself?"
"Yes. As you're aware, we need to establish a contract with a magical creature to keep our mana in check, or else we will not reach adulthood or be able to use magic."
"Wait, what?"
"He only told me the location of Rita, and I engaged her myself."
There were so many holes in his story. I suppose now we can conclude that he is not suited to be a storyteller.
Like, you can't say that you were led to a place and then not specify who or what was leading you.
What is friendly or hostile?
Is it human or a monster?
And secondly, what does he mean that without a contract, we would not reach adulthood, since when? And why was I not told?
I looked at him with a confused expression and stopped walking.
"Asahi..."
"What?"
I had my eyes closed, gathering all the pent-up frustration I had about him leaving some parts of his explanation out.
"What the hell, man? How can you say something so serious like it's nothing?!"
"Come on. It's not that serious... Zeraff will help you out in a flash."
There he goes again, leaving me in the dark as if it were nothing.
Now that I think about it, he's always done this, even in our past lives.
Narrating a story or relaying information, and never saying everything because to him it was no longer useful or important.
This is one of the reasons I never asked him for any help regarding my schoolwork.
Smart as he is, teaching was the only thing he was terrible at.
"Look... We've arrived."
He came to a stop, the forest came to an end, and in front of us was a part of the image he had painted for me in my head.
The ruins he spoke about,
They were shrouded in a light mist, and the sky couldn’t be seen.
I stared at them from every angle. Big and small, some still standing and some destroyed, all these ancient buildings registered in my retina.
When I looked back, I noticed that the forest didn't come to an end. It apparently disappeared. And we were now standing in the middle of those ruins.
He let me drink the moment and savour the scenery, then we continued to walk.
The ruins carried a nostalgic feeling with them. Like I once lived there myself.
"What is this place?"
"Hehe... Pretty amazing, right?"
"..."
"I don't know the history of these ruins myself. Zeraff said nothing.
Only a few villagers know that the ruins exist, and when you try to ask about them, they'll tell you, "Only on The Day of Succession will the truth be told."
He even tried to imitate the voices of an old man.
The way he was calm and collected, and I was the only one always being surprised by these new places and events, it was almost like I was on a tour, and he was my tour guide.
In a sense, it was like that, but it still seemed weird.
☆
"Now I understand what you meant by led to. This whole place appeared out of nowhere."
"Pay it no mind, it is simply a defensive measure to make sure no one finds it."
"Wow, whatever is hiding in here must be big."
We were walking in the heart of the ruins with no defined direction or destination.
We just aimlessly traversed the street of the ruins while we talked about things that would normally not offend anyone, but that was not the case in that moment.
As we were walking, a voice rang out in the distance.
"We're not hiding anything... We're simply protecting and preserving."
It was a female voice that spoke.
We stopped, and in front of us, footsteps could be heard approaching us slowly. The person was not rushed and moved on their own time.
After a moment of stillness, waiting for her to arise from the mist, she showed herself, and upon arriving, Asahi greeted her.
"Hey, Tessa."
"Hello, Asahi."
He greeted her in a familiar tone, even waving at her, and she acknowledged the greeting, although she greeted him respectfully.
Before us stood a woman who, for a person from another world, was wearing attire from our previous world.
She was wearing a bright red kimono with flower patterns on it.
Not only that, but she also had her long crimson hair tied up using kanzashi. However, it was a simple one without any flashy decorations; all it had was a sakura flower pedal on it.
It was a sakura kanzashi hairpin.
"Who's this ignorant kid?"
She turned her focus towards me with a look of dissatisfied expression of curiosity. It must have been what I said because that was the first thing she had ever heard me say, and according to how she responded to it, she was not happy.
Asahi also turned towards me to introduce me.
"Tessa, this is Ryu, my friend. Ryu, this is Tessa, the person responsible for leading us into these ruins. You can think of her as the Guard Dog of this place."
"Are you mocking me? It seems that I've granted you too much freedom in addressing me."
"I'm not... I mean, you are the caretaker of these ruins."
"..."
They were talking freely and without any restrictions. Even Asahi saw it fit to throw in a joke in the introduction of Tessa.
I watched them talk as if they were old buddies, but I was more interested in the person called Tessa and couldn't care less about the relationship between her and Asahi.
And with that curiosity, I said something that completely changed the mood entirely. Something I had no idea that saying something so trivial would make her react that way.
"A dryad?" I asked.
"..."
Both of them stopped talking and stared at me as if I had suddenly activated a bomb. Asahi stared at me with shock in his eyes, and Tessa gazed at me with a look of disdain. Her eyes were colder than a winter morning in the Atlantic continent.
"What did you say?" She asked back, her voice low and direct.
"Oh ah... I said you must be a dryad."
I repeated what I said, but this time it was like a statement rather than a question, because the first time it was rhetorical.
Yes. To me, she looked like a dryad,
The kimono she was wearing had flower patterns, and not only that, but also spiraling rose stems surrounded her, coming from the base of her feet and to her neck, where they bloomed Daylilies.
She was also so beautiful, like a spirit.
One last thing that made me say dryad was that she had a flower bud on the side of her head. It seemed natural and didn't ruin her appearance.
So when I saw her beauty and the spiraling stem, I instantly murmured dryad unintentionally.
But since I had already said them, I repeated them, not knowing she would be offended.
"Tessa, wait. He doesn't know."
Asahi, sensing the danger, stood in front to separate her line of sight from my own, trying to appease her.
When he stood in front, he flinched as if something made his blood shiver.
"Asahi... Move."
"Okay."
With one look, she made him move without even retaliating.
He stepped aside and went close to the wall, but before he moved, he looked at me and said something chilling.
"Try not to die."
"Wait, what?"
I wanted to know what he meant by that, but there was no need for an explanation, because I was about to get a firsthand demonstration.
Tessa stared at me as if seeking blood.
She was normal-looking not so long ago, but now an immense amount of mana was converging around her.
Around her were flickering sparks of flames, and she was also oozing a crimson aura.
"I was right. You are ignorant."
"..."
I stared at her, confused as to why the sudden bloodlust, and when I shifted my focus to Asahi, I found him safe behind the golden barrier he created upon reaching the wall.
The guy was leaning against the wall, and when he saw me looking at him with confusion, he only nodded his head as if I would understand.
"Miss Tessa, what did I do?"
"Don't worry, I'll teach you the ways of the world."
She raised her hand to the sky and said, "Fire Ball."
That's it. Fireball.
That's all she said, and then a big ball of fire arose from the palm of her hand. If she had her hand in front, the ball of fire would touch her because the radius of that thing was more than the length of her whole arm.
She fired that thing at me without any hesitation or consideration for my well-being.
I couldn't believe it.
We had just met, and now she was seeking to punish me for something I had no clue I had committed. She may be right; I may be ignorant, but that is no excuse to punish me.
The fireball was fast, and it caught me off guard, so I couldn't dodge it in time. I stared at the fireball approaching my face, the light getting brighter by the second.
I couldn't dodge, and I couldn't defend against it.
Not to mention that traitor Asahi was safely guarded from any damage by the barrier.
As I watched the flames approach, I remembered that I had been saved from a similar scene the day before, so there was a way for me to survive it again.
And this time it will be my decision.
"If you can hear me... I need you. Death's Mercy!"
Mana converged around in front of me. Black and greyish mist appeared, spiraling like a tornado to bring something to life.
And in that tornado emerged the samurai from yesterday.
He didn't waste any time upon arriving.
The fireball that was carrying pain and death for me was a threat to his will, and so he sliced it cleanly in half.
Once again, I was saved, but this time it was my own choice, even though I was utilizing someone's power.
Sorry, Tessa, but it seems I am not as ignorant as you think.
