Chapter 178

Chapter 178 – Smile, Thunder in Some Places (2)

After a cracking sound like firewood being chopped in half, my vision went blank for a moment, and when I thought it was back to normal, I saw smoke rising from the carpet at my feet.

I looked at the carpet and saw a black mark the size of a ten-yen coin.

What the hell is this?

“Kunpei-san, stay where you are. Please don’t move.”

“Eh? What?”

Aoi slowly approached me, she slid across the carpet, looking at me and Nana with a straight face.

“Nana, you’re a good girl. You’re a good girl.”

“Kya! Dah!”

Nana, lingering in the aftermath of her apple juice, flapped her arms and legs and laughed.

Give me another one! Nana loves apple juice!

She’s probably getting excited about something like that all by herself.

“Aoi? What’s wrong?”

“Don’t move!”

When I tried to turn my body to Aoi, she got angry.

I was startled and stiffened up.

“Yes… just like that…”

“Dah!”

I’m not sure if she was impatient with me for not being able to move, or if she was unusually excited, but Nana raised her hands as if to say, ‘Dad, hurry up!’

At that moment…

“Woah!”

There was another flash of light in the room.

When I looked at the spot that lit up in surprise, I saw that the corner of the mirror stand, where the sterilizer for baby bottles was kept, was smoking and making a sizzling sound.

“L-lightning? Indoors?”

“Nana, please calm down.”

Before I knew it, Aoi, who was standing next to me, put her hands on both of Nana’s cheeks.

“What’s going on?”

“Kunpei-san, can you see the spirits now?”

Spirits?

Ah, I can manage to see them if I want to.

I slowly calmed myself down when I was told.

The green spirits that accumulated in the twins’ bodies.

If I concentrate, I can see what Alba calls ‘the spirit that controls life’.

“What you see are the spirits of the sky. What do you think?”

“Spirits of the Sky? Well, I’ve never tried to see them.”

There are three kinds of spirits: the spirits of the sky, earth, and the sea.

It seems that there’s a different way to see them and the spirits of life.

The only sky spirits I’ve ever seen was the one I happened to see during the Yule incident.

I calmed my mind and closed my eyes.

I wonder if it’s okay like this.

As I hold Nana in my arms, I try to feel the spirits that I can’t see, but they are definitely there.

I’m used to seeing the spirits of life once a week, but this is the first time I’m trying to see the spirits of sky.

I calmed down and turn my attention from the back of my mind to the outside of my body for the first time.

… Like this, I guess?

I could somehow grasp its presence.

I recognized the presence, which was slightly different from the spirit of life, and slowly opened my eyes.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim.

What… is this?

There are so many of them!

There are so many little white butterflies flying around, filling this room!

There are as many of them as there were of the spirits of life when Jaja first made the things float before.

“They weren’t there at all just a moment ago, but suddenly they started gathering… The spirits themselves are everywhere, but this number is extraordinary.”

“Oh really? Why so sudden?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that these spirits are being controlled by Nana…”

By Nana?

“That’s… why?”

“I don’t know! I don’t understand! It’s strange that Nana’s horns are still so tiny and yet she can control so many spirits!”

Horns?

I look at Nana, who was smacking my face and urging me to get some apple juice.

“It’s glowing…”

It was already shining.

The pale, gentle blue light flickered, and the tiny, upturned horns of Nana were just like those of Aoi’s.

Her horns were glowing more clearly than when she used the spirits of life to control the ChunChu at the ranch before.

Alba had told me this before.

The dragon’s horn is an organ used to control the spirits.

With the light emitted from its horns, it can use spirits to cause various events.

For example, Aoi created a giant lightning ball, Rouge manipulated fire wards and flaming swords.

Jaja has made things float and sink, and Nana has manipulated birds.

All of them are supernatural to me as a human, and the part that is different from other creatures in terms of appearance and ability is the horn of the dragon species.

“Au!”

Nana, who hadn’t quite cooled down from her apple juice fever, squealed in a good mood.

She must really love apple juice, because her little eyes, which usually droop sleepily, were sparkling.

But that’s not the point right now, okay?

“Nana? Do you understand this?”

“Dah?”

Oh, you don’t know anything, do you?

Stop squeezing my ear. It hurts like hell. Yeah, thanks.

“What are we going to do with this?”

“I’ve been trying to do something about it for a while now, but the spirits won’t listen to me.”

“Seriously?”

When I saw Aoi’s face, which was gradually becoming teary-eyed, I began to feel a sense of crisis.

In other words, this is an unusual situation.

Jaja and Nana have grown to a certain extent since birth, and if you convert them to human age, they are roughly around one year old.

They are probably doing things that are impossible for a sky dragon infant of that age.

“A spirit that even Aoi can’t control, so why Nana?”

“… I wonder why. I can understand if the dragon is more powerful than me, like my mother.”

“Like Yule… that’s scary.”

How can there be a dragon as powerful as the Dragon King of the Sky?

Yule, Aoi’s mother.

Yuriel Dragoline.

The king of the sky dragons, who rules the skies of the world, is also known as ‘Night Sky Light’.

She’s a slender, innocent-looking beauty and her daughter Aoi will probably look like her when she grows up, but she’s a crude and violent tyrant.

She’s a fraud. She’s so beautiful, you know? If only she hadn’t opened her mouth.

When I confronted her on top of Tusk Crag.

Even when I was exhausted and wobbly, she was so scary and strong.

I don’t want a being with that kind of power to be around very often.

I’m sorry, but even though Yule is my mother-in-law. I don’t really have a good impression of her.

I’m just scared of her.

“Nana is doing it unintentionally, right?”

“She doesn’t seem to understand.”

Since a while ago, there’s been a crackling electrical discharge around me.

It’s like an occult sound, and it’s very scary.

“Dah, uwah.”

As if she didn’t notice the sound, Nana kept slapping my face, urging me to get her apple juice

“Dah!”

“Jaja, get away for a bit. It’s dangerous.”

Jaja, the older sister, was being carried by Rouge to the entrance of the room for shelter.

The sound of electrical discharge was amusing to her, and she stuck her hands out in front of her and fidgeted.

No, this is not a musical toy.

“Ru-anesama, can I ask you to stay in the next room with Jaja for a moment?”

“Hmm. Yes, of course. Is Nana okay?”

Rouge, who was holding Jaja back and holding her tightly, looked at Nana with concern.

“I don’t know… I’m sure if uncle was here, he’d know why.”

“That uncute rat. Useless at the critical moment. I’ll punish him next time.”

Alba Germain. The Rat Sage.

Even if that shady rat appears in unexpected moments, he wouldn’t appear so conveniently.

“How upsetting, didn’t I come here in a rush because I sensed something was wrong?”

“Whoa!”

“Kya!”

Aoi and I screamed, startled by the sudden voice.

The Rat Sage, Alba Germain.

A robed rat with a wizard-like triangular hat and a wooden staff larger than his body suddenly appeared on my right shoulder, opposite the one holding Nana.

“Uncle!”

“You! Don’t always show up without warning!”

It’s bad for the heart!

“Hahaha. No, sorry, sorry. I was just amused by your reactions, you know?”

“You son of a bitch…”

You really are a genius at irritating people, aren’t you, you rat?

“Fueh. fuyahh!”

“Oh, Nana, I’m sorry. You were startled, weren’t you? There, there.”

“I’m sorry, it’s mama’s bad, okay? It’s okay, alright?”

Nana, startled by our sudden scream, was on the verge of tears.

Aoi and I stroked her head and cheeks and touched the bottom of her neck to quiet her down.

Look! This is what you’ve done, Alba!

If you do it again, I’ll get really angry!

“Hmm. Rouge.”

“What?”

Alba, who was watching the scene, called out to Rouge.

“My sword is in the next room, isn’t it?”

Ah, that reminds me.

This was his prized possession that Alba handed to me through Atol.

The Dragon Fang Sword, a beautiful white sword with a terrible sharpness, was in the next room.

I was going to return it to Alba.

How did he know?

That sword was too dangerous and scary when it’s unsheathed, so I wrapped it in cloth and brought it to this country in a trunk case.

It was so sharp that it would go through the trunk case if I wasn’t careful.

I had a hard time carrying it, you know?

“That sword is very special to me, I’d recognize it anywhere in the world. I’m sorry, but can you bring me the sword?”

“Hmm. Okay, sure. I’ll be right back.”

Jaja and Rouge went through the door to the next room.

There’s a bedroom next door that’s about the same size as this one, so we’ve got two rooms to ourselves.

“Well, the fever seems to be gone now.”

“Yes, the medicine that Uncle gave me seems to have worked. Nana didn’t like it, though.”

The first day of my trip, I was out cold.

Alba was the one who found me after I went missing in the transfer accident.

He contacted Aoi and brought me to the house, and while he was there, he also checked Nana’s condition, and prescribed a suppository for her.

The reason why Nana cried was because she didn’t want to take these suppositories.

I understand.

I’ve used them before when I was sick, but even as I grew older, I couldn’t get used to them.

Even Shouhei doesn’t like it.

“Yes, her magic sickness is gone. I’m sure she’ll be fine to go outside. Nana seems to be more sensitive to magic than Jaja.”

“I see, should we be careful with Jaja too?”

“I’ve prepared some medicine for Jaja. I’ll give it to you just in case.”

Then Alba reached out his hand into the empty space.

The tip of his small hand disappeared, only to reappear holding a cloth bag the size of my palm.

The bag was tied with a green string and he held it out to Aoi.

“Be careful not to make a mistake, okay? The green one is Jaja’s and the blue one is Nana’s. The twins look exactly alike, but they are different in many ways.”

“Okay, I understand.”

After receiving the bag, Aoi went to the mirror stand and carefully placed it in the makeup pouch that Yuri-san had given her the other day.

When I say ‘makeup bag’, what’s in that bag is toothbrushes and soap for the twins.

She doesn’t wear makeup, you know.

“Now, the next question is…”

Alba slowly moved around my shoulders and back, stopping in front of Nana’s face.

He looked around at Nana’s face and body, then crossed his arms and began to think.

“Uncle, sky dragons have to be a little older before they can control lightning at will, right?”

Aoi peeked out from behind me after she put her makeup bag back on the mirror stand.

“That’s right. In addition to Aoi, Yule, and Lynell, there are several other dragons in the sky dragon tribe that can control lightning, but none of them were able to control spirits at Nana’s age.”

“Lynell?”

“Oh, she’s my aunt. She’s my mother’s younger sister.”

Ah, so you have relatives.

I thought Yule was the only one.

“What kind of other sky dragons are there?”

“Cloud dragons, thunder dragons, they control lightning. The hail, frost and ice dragons love the cold. The most common are the wyverns. They can only fly, but they’re still pretty strong, you know?”

“I came here to greet them when I was little. Everyone was very kind. There is also a dragon with a special role called the Wind Dragon, though I have never met them.”

“Really?”

After all this time, I don’t know anything about dragons.

“The Sky Dragon is also the chief of the tribe that unites the Sky Dragons. The Sky Dragon King is chosen by the Sky Dragons because they can do anything the Sky Dragons can do, right?”

Anything?

I’ve seen abilities like… Aoi can control lightning-like thunderballs, and Yule can control wind.

Oh yeah, they can also fly through they sky.

“You are a pretty amazing dragon, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yes.”

Aoi blushed and turned her head.

I wonder if she’s embarrassed.

“So you can control the wind and stuff too?”

“Um, yes. I can do it. I’m not as good as my mother, though. Oh, I’m confident with lightning. I can also make it rain and make it snow. It doesn’t really help me much, though.”

Well, they don’t force rain to fall unless there is a water shortage due to continuous sunshine.

Especially with snow. It just gets in the way when it piles up.

“The lightning was pretty useful, you know? I used it to roast the monsters I caught.”

Ah, that’s right.

When she first came to the house, Aoi, who didn’t know how to cook, tried to roast meat in the garden and struck it with lightning.

Both Shouhei and I rushed to stop her, but I guess that was normal for Aoi.

“So, back to the topic at hand, why is Nana able to control spirits so well now?”

Even while we were talking like this, the spirits were flying around in the room.

There was a crackling sound of electrical discharge. This seems to be caused by the wings of the spirits rubbing against each other.

Whenever the spirits in the form of butterflies pass each other, there’s a light and sound that sounds like tiny static electricity.

“Yes, in short…”

Alba uncrossed his arms and thrust his staff into my shoulder.

Can you please stop doing that because it’s ticklish?

“Nana, seems to have gotten too energetic, right?

“Da.”

What do you mean?