Chapter 197

“I apologize for earlier. Nice to meet you, I am Aliceleia Dragulina, daughter of the Sea Dragon King Caroliariselle Dragulina. My name is long, so you can call me Alice.”

Alice bowed so deeply that her peach-colored wavy hair almost touched the ground with Teseara-san standing next to her.

Alice was dressed in a light blue one-piece dress with a white pareo-like garment around her waist.

I’ve heard that she is older than Aoi and Rouge, but no matter how I look at her, she looks like she’s in the early grades of elementary school.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I am Aoinoun, daughter of the sky dragon king Yuriel. Please call me Aoi, too.”

“I’m Rougerichte, daughter of the Earth Dragon King. Just call me Rouge.”

It’s kind of strange to think that all the Dragon King’s daughters are here now.

Alice raised her head to look at Aoi and Rouge’s faces, then moved her gaze downward, and then lowered her head again with a sigh.

“You’re all grown up compared to me… and I’m the oldest… and I knew that, but it’s still depressing.”

Alice lifted her head while muttering something.

“And by the way, what’s going on with you over there?”

The place Alice’s gaze shifted to was Mikuma.

Her eyes were lit up as she looked around at the rows and rows of bookshelves that were many times taller than she was, breathing excitedly.

“Oh, um, my name is Yuuno Mikuma.”

Mikuma greeted her as she busily walked around the room, which, despite its spaciousness, was filled with so many books that it was difficult to find a place to step.

It was rare to see Mikuma Yuuno behave with such bad manners.

She usually never forgets to look the other person in the eye when she speaks to them, but she was so preoccupied during her greeting.

“Alice, this is amazing! There are so many books that are difficult to obtain and of which we have only heard the names, or of antiquarian books whose existence has been handed down only by hearsay…!”

Mikuma picked up a book, opened it, looked at the contents, and then looked for the next book, tracing the spine from one end of the bookshelf to the other with her finger, moving around like a child visiting an amusement park for the first time.

“Muhnnn…”

Alice’s tail, hidden under her dress, twitched.

“Y-y-y-you’re interested in books, aren’t you?”

Alice’s tongue tangled as she spoke too quickly, and she glided across the tower of books piled up on the floor.

“Yeah! Wow, that’s amazing… Is that the Northern Expedition by Jamestown F. Nirbelkel, who is famous for his exploration of the beastmen settlements? You can read the revised edition of the southern sojourn edition in libraries, but the northern exploration is even said to be a myth, as most of the original copies were lost during the world clash…”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh! In the beastman society before the worlds collided, books were only available within a narrow distribution range! Printing technology was still in its infancy stages on the other side of the world, so there were many fake books that could not be identified as authentic or fake! But that book was purchased directly from the publisher while the author was still in the North, so it’s definitely the real thing! Here, this one, too!”

Alice hurriedly pulled a book out of the pile of books and held it up above her head as if to show it off.

“D-d-do you know anything about this book?”

“The emblem on the cover is the collection of old magic system myths by magic researcher and novelist Arlen Nutikarios! It is said that he only gave it to some of his disciples and that there are no more than ten copies!”

“Uh-huh! One of the princes of the old Dailan royal family was taught directly by Arlen! This is an item that Mom received from the royal family after the prince’s death. You see, it has a magic formula that’s so ingenious and complicated that it’s unimaginable in modern magic. This is a lost magic, but it is a unique magic that Arlen developed himself, and although its preservation costs more than the simplified formulas of today, it is incomparably more effective, which is why this book looks brand new! The fact that the book exists in this condition is proof that it is in Arlen’s handwriting! And since it was magically reproduced from the original, not letterpress, the handwriting is also Arlen’s own! What else?”

Hmm?

Suddenly, they both started talking very fast, but I had no idea what they were saying.

“Shouhei. We’ve definitely been forgotten, haven’t we?”

“We haven’t even finished introducing ourselves yet, have we?”

The two of us sat down on the classic chairs near the entrance of the room and tilted our heads.

For some reason, they had been prepared separately from the ladies.

“I’m sorry everyone. Aliceleia-sama is what you call a… fanatic.”

With a troubled look and a furrowed brow, Teseara-san bowed to us.

“You really have an amazing amount of books…”

Nodding to Teseara-san’s words, Aoi looked around.

The room was spacious and has high ceilings, but it looked very cramped because of the bookshelves that were arranged like a large library.

There were more than 20 bookshelves in the room, and you could faintly smell the smell of a school library from the back of the room.

“The sea dragons are a race of dragons with a high thirst for knowledge. Alice has never stepped out of this palace, so she must have been immersed in books where she could easily gain knowledge.”

Yule, who was letting Jaja and Nana play on the bed, responded to Aoi’s voice.

“Dah”

“Hmm? Does Nana like her grandma’s tail? When you grow up, you will have a beautiful and magnificent tail, but your current tail is cute, too, so it’s hard to give it up.”

“Aaaaah!”

“Hey, Jaja, don’t chew on that, okay? You’re just like your mother when you she was little. You put everything in your mouth.”

The twins were already used to their grandmother and squealed with delight every time she tickled them or held them in her arms.

A mother’s experience is amazing.

Whether Nana was pulling her tail as hard as she could or Jaja was biting her in various places with all her might, she was calmly handling the situation without losing her gentle smile.

… The last few dozen minutes have completely changed my image of Yule.

“Hey Yuuno, check this out too! ‘m an omnivore when it comes to books, no matter the genre! You see, this is your country, Japan, right? I collect a lot of books from Japan! Here’s a map, right? Here’s a dictionary… and over here on the bookshelf is a history book! That one is a novel, and this one is ────.”

Alice and Mikuma’s conversation was gradually heating up, and it seemed that the fact that we were waiting here was not even on their minds.

“Ah, I have this book! I’m a fan of this author, especially that series of romance novels…”

“That’s the newest one? I’m not able to get the new ones unless some other sea dragon girl brings them to me! I’m so jealous!”

Hmmm, well, if Mikuma and Alice are having fun, that’s fine.

“Nii-chan, I’m starving.”

“Yeah, actually me too.”

“I’m sorry. Please wait a moment while I bring you some food and drinks.”

“Oh, Teseara-san. Can I use your restroom?”

“Yes, of course. I will show you.”

“Mom, can you change Jaja and Nana’s clothes and diapers for me while I’m in there?”

“Mhm, I’ll help too. Leave it to me.”

I felt it would be unwise to pour cold water on Mikuma and Alice, so I decided to leave them alone.

After a while, Teseara-san brought us some food and we all sat around the table and had an early dinner.

I was honestly impressed that even after we had finished eating all of that, Mikuma and Alice still weren’t done talking.

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

“Going out?”

“Yeah, there’s someplace I want to go.”

When the two of them finally settled down, the light from the sunlight pillars outside had faded considerably, and the entire sea dragon island was dimly lit, in other words, it was nighttime.

Shouhei and I were near the door, and the women have moved the book on Alice’s bed and were sitting or lying down on it.

By the way, Yule, Jaja and Nana were sleeping.

The twins were lined up next to each other and were sleeping peacefully, using their tails as a comforter.

Well, she said she came to this island to rest.

She must have been as tired as ever. She fell asleep surprisingly fast.

It was because of this that Mikuma stopped talking and started whispering so as not to wake her up.

“I heard that there was going to be a large magical tool expo in Francion, and one of the sea dragon girls who went outside brought me some brochures and corporate catalogs. I really need to see it in person to make sure.”

Alice clutched her cup of tea, which had already cooled down, as she spoke with a complicated expression on her face.

“But I heard that Alice is sick and can’t leave the island?”

I asked a little louder, since the bed was quite a distance away.

“Pi!”

Alice cowered and backed away as soon as she heard my voice.

“Hmm?”

What? Why are you so surprised? Did I mess up on controlling the volume of my voice that badly?

“Y-yeah, I have a body that is easily affected by magic other than my own, so except for this island, which is filled with the power of the Dragon King and is free from outside magic, my body will rot away.”

“Rot?”

“Isn’t that a big problem?”

“Then doesn’t that mean you won’t be able to leave?”

Mikuma, Aoi, and Rouge, responded to Alice’s words in turn.

Hey, hey, hey, it’s a much more serious disease than I thought.

As I recall, in Atol’s case, he had a disease that caused too much magic in his body, which hurt him from the inside out.

In Alice’s case, it’s the opposite…

I’m a human, so I don’t have it and don’t get it, but is magic power such a dangerous thing?

That’s scary.

“I want you to lend me the power of Aoi and Rouge, the next Dragon Kings. Even if it is impossible with the power of other dragon species, if Aoi and Rouge are there, they can put up a barrier to protect me while moving, right? I heard that they were coming to the sphere continent at the right time. I asked my mama and pa── uncle Alba to listen to my selfish request.”

I knew he was in on this too, that rat. I’d like a little explanation beforehand.

“Me and…”

“Me?”

Aoi and Rouge looked at each other.

“Yes, we use the Arcdragon’s thermal manipulation to purify magic power at extremely high temperatures, and the sky dragon’s airflow manipulation to dissipate that magic power with the wind toward the outside, creating a spherical vacuum ward. Then, using my liquid manipulation as a marine dragon, I can extract oxygen from water and fill it within the boundary to create a simple purification chamber that can be moved around, right? As for atmospheric pressure, that won’t be much of a problem for us dragons.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, is that going to be alright?”

It sounds awfully complicated just listening to you, doesn’t it?

It sounds so complicated that I couldn’t help but interject.

“Pii.”

“Eh, again?”

I did adjust the volume this time, though, didn’t I?

Is it not the volume of my voice, but the quality of my voice that’s freaking her out?

“It’s okay, right? Hey Aoi, Rouge.”

Clearly looking away from me, Alice turned to Aoi and Rouge.

“Well, if it’s just to that extent.”

“Mhm, it’s not that hard.”

The two of them replied in a nonchalant manner.

“Ah, really?”

I’m too stupid to understand it, but it’s not that difficult, is it?

“No, no, no, heating it enough to remove magical impurities from the air without even using a large furnace is dangerous to begin with, and to move it freely while maintaining a vacuum in a place that is not even hermetically sealed is impossible!”

Mikuma denied it.

Right?

I’m not wrong, right?

“But… I’ve been doing that kind of training with my mother since I was little. Manipulating air currents is just a rudimentary thing, you know? I often do things like weakening the wind around the house and avoiding a bit of rain.”

“I’ve been doing it for a long time. I can do it even while watching TV. Since I came to Kazamachi’s house, I’ve been purifying the magic in the garden every day before dinner while watching TV with Jaja and the others.”

“Eh?”

Mikuma’s mouth dropped open.

“What? You guys were doing those kinds of things?”

I’m with you every day and I’ve never seen anything like that.

“When the wind is blowing and the laundry is about to fly away, or when we go shopping and forget our umbrellas…”

“The garden of the house is adjacent to the dungeon, so it is easy for contaminated magic power to flow in. If the contaminated magic power accumulates in our bodies, it will have a strange effect on Kunpei, Shouhei and father in the distant future, even if we (dragons) are fine. Besides, I don’t want Jaja and Nana to be exposed to that.”

“I have been dispersing the magic of that town with the dragon-qi imparted wind for some time now. I’m not sure how long it’s been. I think I’ve been doing it ever since my mother left.”

“T-that’s…”

Mikuma froze with her mouth wide open.

“M-Mikuma?”

Mikuma looked at me with a robotic movement and slowly opened her mouth.

“What is it?”

The movement scared me a little, so I backed away and replied.

Shouhei. I know you’re scared too, so don’t grab my waist so hard. It hurts a lot.

“I think we were mistaken.”

“A-about what?”

Mikuma looked around at Aoi, Rouge, Alice, Yule and the twins, and finally at me.

“We were too used to it. Dragon species are a life form that is out of the ordinary. Their power is far beyond just amazing.””

Is she excited or bewildered?

The expression on Mikuma’s face, which could be taken either way, made even me, who didn’t understand what she was talking about gulp.