Translation We Dwell at the Base of the Dragon’s Peak

30. A Game of Tag

Nmmtto, then Mistral will be ‘it’ now!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Nyaa~”
“Oh my, all of you have to run away seriously, alright?”
“That sounds a little extreme…”

It’s the day after I meet Priscilla-chan and Nymia. As usual, I come visit the moss-covered plaza. That’s when I come across a tremendous scene.

Priscilla-chan, and Nymia, and also Mistral along with two other men I have never seen before. They are currently playing a fierce game of tag.

One man has dark green hair and looks quite delicate. He has a tall figure and his clothes sway with the wind. His hair is also long, giving him an aristocratic look.

The other has short brown hair, a moustache, and a beard all which give him a fierce look. His bulging muscles shown through his clothes. Yet even though he has such a dreadful physique, he has a gentle smile across his face, easing the atmosphere around him into a gentle one.

Who are these two men?

When I’m thinking that, Mistral who had become the next ‘it’, suddenly chases after the fierce, moustache man with a speed my eye almost can’t catch. She gets closer to him, but then he vanishes and reappears at another location.

Mistral then aims for the nearby Priscilla-chan. She again takes off with a rapid speed, Priscilla-chan escapes with air jump. Mistral, however, predicts where will Priscilla-chan appear and narrows the distance. Even so, Priscilla-chan escapes with several jumps.

The delicate man runs away by riding the wind.

Mistral, chasing everyone around the moss-covered plaza, uses her ultra high speed as she pleases.

Nymia who isn’t able to run away become the next ‘it’.

“Uhhh…”

I stand still while watching the extradimensional game of tag unveiling before me.

But then, who are those two men?
Watching Mistral chase after them makes me feel quite jealous, you know.

“Oh, Ernea, you’ve already come.”

Sniff sniff, so you didn’t realized my presence until now, eh? I’m sad.

Nmmtto, onii-chan, good afternoon!”
“Nyan~”
“Please excuse us.”
“Hm.”

They pause their game of tag and approach me.

Etto, who are these two men?”

Since they are here in the moss-covered plaza, then Old Sleigstar should have given them his approval, right? They have round ears like me, so they are not Long Eared Tribe members. At first, I thought they were Priscilla-chan’s acquaintance, but now…

“Ohhh, please excuse us. I am the wind spirit who works under Priscilla-sama.”
The delicate man gives an elegant bow and introduce himself as wind spirit.

“And I am the earth spirit.”
The fierce moustache man also answers me with a smile.

“S-So you’re spirits. Nice to meet you, I’m Ernea.”

The wind and earth spirits bow politely to me and I bow back to them.

I see, so they are Priscilla-chan’s spirits. That’s right, the Long Eared Tribe’ granny said that Priscilla-chan also has spirits of her own, huh? Still, I’m surprised that she has two spirits with human appearances.

Priscilla hugs me as a greeting. While holding her in my arms, I go towards Old Sleigstar.

“You sure are loved, eh?”
Mistral starts to make fun of me.

Maybe… she is still holding yesterday’s grudge?

“G-Grandpa, good afternoon.”
Fuuun. This one is glad that you are healthy as always.”

Old Sleigstar looks sleepy, how unusual. I wonder if an uproar occurred last night.

“You’re right. This one and Mistral didn’t receive enough sleep.”
“Priscilla is too energetic.”

Mistral makes a wry smile.
Ah, she returns back to the usual Mistral. I’m glad, really glad.

Nmmtto, it’s fun!”
“Nyaa~”

Priscilla-chan grins while Nymia hangs from her head. They are really cute…

The wind spirit and earth spirit don’t seem like they will approach Old Sleigstar and watched us from a distance.

“Priscilla-chan’s spirits also have human-appearance, huh? Amazing!”

She squeals in delight while in my arms at my praise. That sudden, dangerous, movement almost makes me drop her.

“Ernea, that’s not what is amazing.”

Mistral gives a troubled sigh.

“They have opposing attributes while also having adult human appearances.”
“Is that amazing? I don’t really understand since I’m not very knowledgeable about spirits, though.”

A long-haired gentleman is a wind spirit, and a short-haired bearded man is an earth spirit. Their attributes are certainly opposites, but I don’t really understand why that’s so amazing.

Funn. Then before meditation, this one shall teach. First, about attributes.”

It’s Old Sleigstar’s lesson. He tells me about a lot of things, most of them are topics I know nothing about.

“If you contract with a spirit of a certain attribute, spirits of the opposite attribute won’t like it and will refuse to make a contract with you.”
Nmmtto, wind and earth are friends!”

Hmm, in other words, Pricia established a friendship with two opposing spirits and made contacts with them. Well, if the contractor is cute like Priscilla-chan, I would happily accept the contract.

“Next is the appearance.”

The elder granny already told me about spirit’s appearances. Spirits who take human-appearance have the highest rank.

The wind spirit and earth spirit are also great spirits, right?

Funn, you missed some information. Spirits take form through the power of their contractor. Therefore, the power needed to maintain human child appearances and human adult appearances are different. Adult forms require a great amount of spirit power. “
“That’s right, Ernea. Two spirits maintaining adult form simultaneously for such a long time means that the contractor’s spirit power is already at a different league .”

“Uwahhh, so it’s that amazing, huh?”

I never knew spirits depended on the power of their contractors, nor that they need a lot of spirit power to sustain their forms. Those two have been playing tag since before I arrived and are still watching us from a distance. Even with just this, Priscilla-chan has continued to release her spirit power.

As expected from the next leader of the Long Eared Tribe.

“Priscilla-chan is really amazing!”
Nmmtto, but I’m already at my limit…”

At Priscilla-chan’s words, the wind spirit fades into the air while the earth spirit turns into dirt and crumbles away.

“She’s practicing like Ernea. It was an exercise to improve her power and ability to utilize her spirit power.”
“Is that so? I thought it a Long Eared Tribe’s game of tag.”

A game of tag where I definitely can’t join in.

“I’m already tired.”

Mistral gives me a wry smile.
Mistral can’t teleport instantly, but she is still super fast. I wonder if it’s because she is from the dragon tribe or because she is the dragon princess.

“Then, since the problem is already resolved, practice yesterday’s share too.”

Old Sleigstar prompts me and I sit in the meditation form. I sit cross-legged with the tree spirit, wooden sword on my thigh. That’s when Priscilla-chan starts to nap on my knees. Nymia, you too?

Mistral smiles while looking at us and heads into the old forest.

“Where are you going?”
Fufufu, I’m off to collect the firewood you need and pick some delicious food.”

Mistral then disappears into the forest.

Ah, since she was accompanying Priscilla-chan until now, she didn’t have the opportunity to gather them. As always, thank you very much.

I enter my meditation while feeling heartfelt gratefulness towards Mistral.

As soon as I close my eyes, I feel the vitality of the spirit tree on my lap. Next are Priscilla-chan and Nymia along with their peaceful, warm, sleeping breathes.

As I sink further into my meditation, I begin to feel the flow of dragon vein. I scoop up from the dragon vein, knead, and sublimate it into dragon spirit within my body. I then slowly pour it into the tree spirit. With that, the tree spirit transmits its joy towards me.

I feel something soft, different from wind, blow into my ears. Granny told me that the tree spirit was possessing me, but I wonder if this is a sign from the spirit-san. While thinking so, I continue my meditation.

The moss-covered plaza has become lively.

Priscilla-chan and Nymia go with Mistral to visit the Long Eared Tribe in the mornings. I met them at the afternoon, and as we practice together, make a clamors racket. Then, when it’s time for me to go back, everyone sees me off as Old Sleigstar teleports me home.

Mistral is a pretty woman, plus Priscilla-chan and Nymia are very cute.

I am passing my days happily.

Until one day, after summer has ended. It’s already autumn.

“Ernea-kun, do you still remember your promise with me?”
Ruiseine talks to me, while looking as if she is pouting a little.

Ah. Ahhhhhhh….
I forgot again…

“I-I’m sorry, Ruiseine.”

Ahhh, why am I always forgetting it? Ruiseine didn’t ask me about it anymore and with the moss-covered plaza always being so lively, I totally forgot. Either way, this is totally my fault, right? I couldn’t keep my promises after all.

“I’m really sorry.”

“Oh my, no, no. If you look that downhearted, I will feel troubled.” Ruiseine gives me a smile. “I trust that one day Ernea will tell me properly, so don’t worry about it.”

Un, believe me, I’ll definitely tell you.”“Yes, I believe you… is what I want to say, but…”

Suddenly, Ruiseine’s face come closer to mine, surprising me.

Wahhh, she’s too close.

For some reason, Ruiseine is very aggressive these days.

Ever since our adventure in the ruin, Ruiseine, who gets along great with Kiri and Inea, has become friendlier to me while her friends are friendly with the hero, Ristia.

But, these days she becomes too proactive. Well, since Ruiseine is a beautiful girl, I’m happy that I can get along better with her, but…
I already have Mistral. I don’t understand why Ruiseine has become friendlier to me.

“Y-You won’t forgive me?”

I become flustered, in various ways.
Ruiseine sighs from her nose.

My male classmates often complain, wondering how a simpleton kid like me can get along with Ruiseine.

The girls are watching us with interest, it feels so weird.
I thought that a Miko-san would have a pure presence, but surprisingly, Ruiseine is aggressive. Well, Kiri and Inea are in love with Ristia, so they are not banned from falling in love.

“…”

Ruiseine moves closer to my face and focuses her eyes on me.

I-Is she actually angry? What should I do, I wonder if Ruiseine is scary when she gets mad…

“Ernea-kun.”
“Y-Yes…”
“As a punishment, you will do service work for me.”
“EHHHHH!?”

I am shocked by Ruiseine’s unexpected remark.

When she said service work, what kind of job will she give me? Is it cleaning the temple? Or is it a charitable activity? I’ve never done either of them before, so I wonder what Ruiseine wants me to do.

Ruiseine only smiles upon seeing my twisted expression.

M-Maybe, the service work waiting for me is more horrible than what I expected? For some reason, Ruiseine’s smile is scary.

“Ernea-kun.”
“Y-Yes!”

My voice flips inside out because of my nervousness.

“Ernea-kun will be my errand boy.”
“E-Errand boy?”
“Yes, be my errand boy until we reached the vice capital.

W-What are you saying?

Me, who hasn’t left the capital city once in his whole life, suddenly has to go far away? This is getting bad.

“Come with me to the vice capital.”

Ruiseine notifies me with a big smile on her face.


<29. Nyan
31. First Time as an Errand Boy>