Chapter 184

Chapter 184 – The Island Where the Sea Dragon Sleeps (2)

The next day, we got permission from Atol and drove to the royal capital.

We were in a royal limousine, and I felt like a rich man.

A dignified old chauffeur sat in the driver’s seat.

He is a wingless type of demon, with a beard, and despite his large and scary appearance, he is a playful person.

Before we left, he looked at Jaja and Nana and said, ‘This reminds me of when my grandchildren were little.’

Aside from Jaja, who is very friendly, even Nana, who is shy, laughed at him, so he is probably a good person.

Iris, a prim elderly maid, sat in the passenger seat.

She looks like a beautiful grandmother.

She is a relative of Kayone and Utai, and is said to be an experienced maid with a lot of say in the Inteira family.

She is also the wife of the driver, who has been taking care of Atol since he was a baby.

The first and second rows of the back seat were arranged so that they were facing each other, a rich design.

I’ve seen this on TV and in movies, but I guess it’s real.

In the first row, Atol and Utai are on the window side, and Kayone sat on Atol’s side.

In the middle of the seat facing the opposite direction of travel, between Kayone and Utai, there was a table with a refrigerator inside that could be used to cool drinks if the top panel was removed.

In the second row facing them were me, Jaja, and Shouhei.

Jaja, of course, was tucked into her car seat and went off to dreamland soon after our departure.

In the large space between the first and second rows, there was a long table with pockets for drinks, our drinks and Jaja’s baby bottle.

Behind us, in the third row, sat Aoi, Nana, and Rouge.

Aoi had fallen asleep before we knew it, probably because she was tired.

The twins had been crying so hard last night, I wanted them to sleep when they could.

Sweet dreams?

“So many skyscrapers.”

I muttered to myself as I looked out the window of the limousine.

The scenery flowing by at a safe driving speed is the opposite of my image of the demon nation as a fantasy place where magic is developed.

Modernized buildings, landscaped roadways, and beautiful cityscapes.

The scenery was not so different from that of a Japanese city, although there were a few aspects that showed the character of the country.

“This is the section of the royal capital where commercial facilities and offices are concentrated. But it’s still not as bad as Japan.”

Atol, who was sitting across from me, replied in a bored tone.

It wasn’t so bad when we left the mansion, but as we approached the capital, it was easy to see he was in a bad mood.

Kayone is laughing next to you.

In addition, the maid who is sleeping next to him has a baby face, small size, big breasts and many other attributes.

She’s drooling profusely out of the corner of her mouth, exposing a sleeping face that no girl should ever show.

If she’s awake, she’s noisy, but even if she’s asleep, she’s noisy in her own way, which is great in a way.

“Why are you so grumpy?”

“The royal capital is not my favorite place to begin with. There are a lot of annoying people and I have to face my brother.”

Atol looked out the window resting his cheek in his hands, not making eye contact with me.

The white wings that were folded behind his back were drooping.

He hated coming here so much, didn’t he?

“Nii-chan, nii-chan, look at that!”

Shouhei, whose heart was still dancing with the exotic cityscape, pointed out the window with sparkling eyes.

“Oh, what’s that snake statue? It’s really sparkling.”

In the center of a large square along the road, a huge golden snake about ten meters long sat coiled in a coil.

Men and women of all ages were kneeling in prayer around the statue, which was as golden as it could be.

“Hmm. Look, Nana. It’s Mr.snake.”

“Uu?”

When Rouge, who was sitting by the window, pointed her finger, Nana, who was lying on the child seat in the middle seat, tilted her head curiously.

She was still a little sleepy, probably because she had just woken up.

Her usual sleepy eyes were even more half-open.

The worn out cat stuffed animal, which she hadn’t let go of even when she was sleeping, was in her arms.

Maybe I should buy her a new stuffed animal.

“That’s not a snake. It’s a bronze statue of a sea dragon.”

“Sea dragon?”

That’s not a dragon, it’s an ugly snake.

But if you look at it like that, you can see an ornament on the side of the head and a long horn on the forehead.

The tip of the tail is also not pointy, but looks like a fish’s tail fin.

“It’s a statue of the first Sea Dragon King, who was said to have given water blessings to the drought-stricken people when the country was founded.”

“That’s the Dragon King…”

It is said that there are three kings of the dragon species.

The one I know is Aoi’s mother, the Sky Dragon King Yuriel Dragoline.

She is a conqueror of the skies with terrible power.

“Rouge, do you know them?”

“No. The first Sea Dragon King is already dead. The current Sea Dragon King is the eighth generation. I think her name is Coloria-san.”

“You fool. The predecessor of this country, the Kingdom of Dailan Amistina, was founded several thousand years ago. No matter how much of a dragon you are, you won’t live that long.”

That’s true.

Even the current Sky Dragon King said she was two thousand years old.

“That’s not necessarily true. The sea dragons have the longest lifespan of all the dragon species. That’s why I’ve met the second Sea Dragon King. I heard that she was traveling around the world in her spare time after she quit being a Dragon King, and she once came to visit the earth dragons. Aoi was with him at the time, and she was very kind.”

“Really?”

“He said he hadn’t kept track of her age after 10,000, so I don’t think she was involved in the founding of this country, at least not the first or second generation.”

Oh, I see.

The math doesn’t add up, does it?

“… Atol-sama, a shocking story about the state religion was just told to you.”

“I know. Don’t say anything now. I’m a little anxious myself.”

Hmm?

Kayone and Atol look as if they’re biting down on something bitter.

I wonder why.

“So, where are we staying today? According to the text I got from Mikuma in the morning, I won’t see her until tomorrow?”

Except for Shouhei, all of our members are not familiar with machines and the latest gadgets.

It’s a good thing we found out that we can use the Wi-Fi in Atol’s house to send e-mails.

I almost lost contact with Mikuma.

I didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of having my dad contact them through Japan.

“It’s smaller than the mansion in Inteira, but there is a mansion in the royal capital that the royal family uses as a secondary residence. We’ll stay there tonight.”

“Wow, as expected of the royal family. They have a lot of money.”

I’d like to say that I have a secondary residence, at least once.

“… I’ll try to make an effort, but I may have to ask you and the dragons to prepare yourselves a little.”

“What?”

Preparedness?

What are you talking about?

We don’t mind at all if the house is a bit shabby.

Since we have babies, so a little cleanliness would be preferable, but it’s a royal residence, so it should be fine.

“My father and brother have found out that I’m bringing you here.”

“Hmm? No, was it a secret to begin with?”

I thought everyone knew since we were staying in your mansion without a care in the world.

“You saw the statue of the Sea Dragon earlier, right? In this country, the existence of dragons is very important. If you want to welcome a person of the same dragon race into your country, even though they are of a different species, you have to make certain preparations.”

“Considering Kazmachi-sama’s situation, we were working in secret until the last minute, but we couldn’t hide the recent incident of the transfer magic circle being hijacked . So we expected to receive a formal invitation from the Royal Castle in the near future.”

Following Atol’s words, who had a finger pressed between his eyebrows and was making a somewhat delicate face, Kayone apologetically told us.

“The royal castle, no, that’s not such a big deal, right.”

“Not really. You may not understand it because you’re already numb to it, but it’s not often that you get to meet dragons. Especially in this country, they have a lot to do with the foundation of the country. Although it is not told to the people, every fifty years when the royal family meets with Sea Dragon-sama, all the members of the royal family have to cleanse themselves and cancel their political duties. The original dragon is such a powerful being.”

Hearing Atol’s words, I looked back at the back seat.

Rouge was stroking Nana’s cheek while looking at the scenery outside, and Aoi looked happy in her sleep.

I have no idea, because I see them face to face every day, but they’re those dragons, too, aren’t they?

Hmmm.

Familiarity is a scary thing.

What am I supposed to do about meeting the king?”What am I supposed to do, meet the king?”

This is troubling.

I’ve never met such an important person before, so I don’t know how to behave, and I don’t have any clothes to wear.

“Nii-chan, don’t say anything rude, okay?”

Shouhei, I’m worried about that too.

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry, Father is away from Dailan on an outing, so it will be the eldest brother you will meet. The other brothers may come too, but basically they’re all very friendly.

Well, that’s what I’ve been told.

“Nya, Kunpei-san… this is also delicious…”

Aoi leaked a mumble in her sleep.

I wonder what she’s dreaming about.

Oh, I’m starting to get a little nervous.