After sleeping for nearly eight hours, I took care of my needs in order to quit my job and then set out. I felt a sharp emptiness inside me—I was worried about whether my friends were alright. I felt terrible, but I wasn't letting it show to those around me.
It's all my fault...
I headed out and started walking quickly. On the way, I ran into Gyoma; he greeted me by nodding his head slightly. I raised my hand. He seemed to understand that I had things to do, which was why he hadn't spoken to me. I kept walking. Within ten minutes, I arrived at the place where I worked, spoke with the manager about the situation, and quit my job—though I did mention that I was still part of the cult.
After I stepped out the door, I ran into Z, who told me she had heard the conversations.
"When did you join that place, Rei?"
"Things just happened, and I joined. I think there's a ceremony today, apparently."
"Yes, there's a cult ceremony. You're coming, right?"
"I'll be there."
"Great. Come on, let's head down to the lower floor then."
We descended the stairs together, walking side by side in harmony. Z seemed pleased to see me. At the same time, I could sense she was wondering how I had managed to become a member of that club so quickly. We kept walking.
"You know all of this stuff is just deception, right?"
"I know."
"I'm glad you're not judging. My father values power, and he also thinks you need to deceive people to obtain it. You're aware of that, yet you still joined here. I interpreted it as you thinking it would be to your own benefit."
"You're right."
"Maybe you're someone who always thinks about their own interests. Anyway, it doesn't harm me—on the contrary, it benefits my father. So it doesn't concern me."
"What do they do at the ceremonies?"
"There are speeches, you know—geared toward the usual deception. But it would be good for you to attend; you'll gain importance, or maybe you'll meet some people. There are usually idiot types, but oh well."
"Don't you know anyone?"
"No, I don't. You're the only friend I have here."
"I see."
We kept walking together. When we descended to the lower floor, the ceremony preparations were beginning. The lower floor was crowded, resembling a theater area. There were small chairs for sitting, and the central area was lit. Shortly after, her father appeared and began to speak—spouting made-up words about hope. People were being influenced by his words, their faith rising. However, it had no effect on either me or the friend beside me. Clearly, she was here for her father too; such things didn't interest her. The speech continued for another thirty minutes. When it ended, we left the area and continued walking together down the corridor. Somehow, her father appeared before us again—I didn't question how very much.
"Thank you for joining, Rei."
"You're welcome."
"You two seem to be having a good time, my daughter?"
"Yes, Father."
"Good, good."
Her father stroked his daughter's hair; it was clear Z enjoyed this gesture. Then he walked away from us, and we were alone together again.
"It pleases me when he praises me like that."
"I can see that."
After that, since I had no further business, I left the building. I went to the market in the city to buy some food. As I was walking, I saw someone from the royal palace outside in a beautiful outfit. Everyone was looking at her; she was wearing a magnificent red dress, and her long hair was black. Clearly, she was from the royal family—perhaps the king's wife or daughter.
I thought that if I stared too long, I might draw attention, so I turned my head back to the fruits I had been looking at. As I tried to think about the fruits, possibilities kept developing in my mind. But before that, I wanted to check the area where the dragons were. After buying and eating some fruit, I headed toward the dragons' territory. Before that, I was going to stop by the club—it hadn't even been four hours yet.
When I stopped by the club, Gyoma and Itsuki were playing a card game. The moment Itsuki saw me, his eyes widened and he came over to me. Gyoma didn't seem very surprised by this situation; clearly, he was aware of Itsuki's feelings toward me. Itsuki had probably been talking about me nonstop.
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"Rei, you came back! Did you come to see me, or what?"
"No, I came to pass the time. By the way, do you know when the next game is? You're in the tournament too, after all."
"Of course I don't know. What, do you want to face me?"
"I didn't imply anything like that."
"You don't want to?"
"It doesn't matter."
"The second games are usually team games. Maybe we'll face each other. We'll see. Want to play a card game, by the way?"
"Nah, I'll pass."
"Alright."
I went inside, got a strong coffee from the club's cafeteria, and drank it. The coffee did me good; I felt more energetic. But there was still a long time to pass—for the first time, I felt bored. But thinking I shouldn't feel such a thing, I suppressed the feeling.
In order to learn more about Itsuki, I returned to the garden area of the club. I sat on the wooden floor and watched the outside. Itsuki, seeing me, immediately sat down next to me—he kept taking breaks from the card game, but Gyoma didn't seem bothered, watching us.
"Reii!"
"What is it? You want attention?"
"How'd you know, damn?"
"What do you know about this kingdom, tell me, Itsuki? And how did you even get back here?"
"Never mind how I got back—I just put in the effort. As for this kingdom, what could I possibly know?"
"For instance, do you know the king's face?"
"No. But I heard he's a dragon."
"Really?"
"Would I lie to you?"
"You would. Why wouldn't you, for fuck's sake?"
Itsuki laughed slightly at my reaction; he seemed to enjoy talking with me. Gyoma kept listening to us.
"You're right, but I'm not lying this time."
"Alright. Seems like there's nothing else to talk about. I'm going to go lie down for a bit."
"Lie down here."
"No."
I quickly went back inside the club. Looking around, members were playing games. I went to a suitable guest room and slept for a few more hours. When I woke up, I realized by checking my phone that about four hours had passed. I got up lightly; the bed here was more comfortable than usual, so I had rested well.
When the time came, I walked toward the mountains at the back. There were no buildings around—there was a lake with a strange blue hue. There were tall grasses and flowers, and I could hear the sounds of frogs. It seemed like a quiet, peaceful place. Two extremely tall mountains stood before me. The sky was dark as always, but the darkness couldn't spoil the beauty of this place—in fact, it seemed to make it more mysterious. After studying the surroundings for a while, a small dragon descended from the sky, making a sound. When it landed, it transformed into a humanoid form—its dragon scales were still present on its back. Its hair was black, its eyes brown; it resembled a normal person.
"I've been expecting you, Rei. What wind blew you here?"
"I thought I should check things out. This seems like a beautiful area."
As I walked a bit further, I saw some humanoid dragons that looked like children kicking trees—clearly, they were training. Their muscle mass was at a good level. I looked at the dragon beside me and tried to strike up a conversation, turning my head to the right to look at him.
"Your children?"
"Yes, they're training. Strength is important."
"What was your name?"
"My name is Pragron. I am a dark dragon."
"I see."
"I think your combat skills are good. Have a sparring match with one of them."
Even though they were children, I was aware they could still be strong because they were dragons. But thinking it was more logical to show courage, I accepted his offer—I could gather information during this time.
"By the way, are there really seven capsules? Isn't that a bit much?"
"What seven?"
"Huh?"
"There aren't seven capsules?"
"No. There are three capsules. I'm sure of it. But I don't know about their contents. Whoever told you there were seven either lied or gave you wrong information."
"I see. So there are three capsules..."
For me, three being the case instead of seven was better—I could reach the other planet more quickly. This information made me feel good. Pragron's body language seemed confident; he didn't seem to be lying. If he were lying, he would gain nothing from this situation. The same applied to the elf king—he had probably given me wrong information.
"So, you said you're a dark dragon. Does that mean there are other types of dragons too, like light?"
"Yes, there are four dragons. Light, Darkness, Beauty, Ugliness."
"Ugliness... interesting."
"A dragon that represents evil. It lives in the deep forests at the far end."
"Deep forests?"
"Yes. The Dark Forests can be said to be more dangerous. We don't go there much because it's always foggy. That one generally lives there. We sometimes hear strange sounds but don't pay them any mind."
"I see."
"The others are sleeping for now."
"It won't be a problem if we make noise, right?"
"No, it won't. Even if it is, when they see me, they won't say anything—don't worry."
"Alright."
We went over to one of the child dragons together. Pragron mentioned he would have them do a sparring match—it would be an experience for me too. I hadn't fought seriously in a long time. We faced each other on the grassy field and took our fighting stances. The child suddenly lunged at me quickly.
When he lunged, I stepped to the right to prevent him from grabbing me—he was acting bravely for his age. When I turned to the right, he tried to kick me in the head with his right leg; I ducked to escape the kick. Right after ducking, I swung a left hook; he ducked under my hook in the same way. Then he tried to lunge at me and get into a grappling position; I took another quick step to the right to escape it. The child fell onto the grass.
He fights really fast. Dragons must be strong...
The moment he fell, he turned and tried to jump on me again. Because he was repeating the same thing, I threw a straight kick to his stomach. The kick connected, but he grabbed my leg with his arms and tried to bite it. Just as he was about to bite, I punched him in the face, forcing his head back. While he was staggered, I pulled my leg free from his arms, spun, and sent a reverse kick to his face. The child was flung backward, holding his nose—it was bleeding slightly. I came out on top in the fight.
"Your kid fights really well."
"You're right. That's enough. Good job, my son."
Pragron stroked his child's head. The child looked at me with ambitious eyes.
"I'll defeat you one day!"
When the child said that to me, I didn't care about what he said. The only thing I thought about was that, for a while now, I hadn't been able to feel the brightness in his eyes within my own. I thought the things that had happened recently had affected me. As I watched the dark sky for a short while, I questioned the meaning of this life—why was I fighting here, or staying here? The only thing I wanted was to take responsibility.