I Couldn't Become a Knight, But for Some Reason, I'm Beloved by Dragons - Chapter 18: Let's Go on a Trip

Chapter 18: Let’s Go on a Trip

“Hmm, so you can go out with the Dragon Queen?”

“Well, yeah. I feel like I’ve caused the king some trouble, though.”

On weekends, it was time for me to be with her.

Today, as usual, I met up with Runa at the usual spring and we leaned our backs against a large tree, relaxing together.

“Hey Runa.”

“What is it?”

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I turned my gaze to her.

Her red eyes, staring back at me, were always beautiful and captivating… I resisted the urge to be drawn into her aura and asked her this:

“What kind of existence are you, Runa?”

I had asked her this question several times before.

After a moment of staring at me, Runa narrowed her eyes and chuckled.

“Do you really want to know so much about me?”

“Uh…”

She leaned in closer, placing her hand on my cheek.

We were so close that our faces would touch if we moved even a little bit. After gazing into each other’s eyes for a while, Runa smiled and spoke.

“I don’t mind telling you more about myself, but that’s probably going to be something I’ll tell you soon… Or rather, it will inevitably be known, so let’s wait until then.”

“I understand, we’ll talk about it then.”

If Runa said so, I would look forward to that time. If she didn’t want to answer, I wouldn’t push the matter.

“Hey, when we gaze at each other like this, does your heart skip a beat?”

Runa’s words made my cheeks slightly red, and I almost instinctively looked away, but since her hand was still resting on my cheek, I couldn’t do that. In other words, she saw that I blushed just like her.

“Well… yeah. I’ve never been this close to a woman before.”

“I see. Well, it’s embarrassing, but it’s just an everyday thing for me.”

“Huh?”

“Wait, no! That’s not what I meant! Don’t get the wrong idea!”

“Ah, hey—!”

My shoulders were shaken strongly, making me feel a bit sick, but I didn’t mind it at all because of her intense expression, so I used gestures to communicate with her. However, as I was doing that, she suddenly put her weight on me, and I fell backward onto the grass.

“Oops…”

As a result, I ended up catching her. She climbed on top of my stomach and blinked before snuggling up to me.

“Runa?”

“…On cheerful days like this, relaxing is the best, or rather, I’m getting sleepy.”

Despite being in such a situation, Runa said with a big yawn. It was a big enough yawn to make me feel stupid for being the only one nervous, and it also made me feel sleepy.

“Hey, Xeno, have you decided where to go with the Dragon Queen?”

“Huh? …Oh, yeah.”

To be honest, neither Luna nor I had decided on anything yet. Our current goal was to go wherever she felt like flying to, but as long as we were together, we could have fun anywhere.

“We can’t enter other countries’ territories, but… we’ll probably be quite far from the capital. We’ve been given two days of free time, so I want to go to as many places as possible with her on this occasion.”

“Right. Enjoy yourself then, okay?”

“Yeah… but someday, I hope Runa can come with us too.”

“…Hehe, I hope so♪”

After a while, Runa fell asleep, and I closed my eyes slowly while she was still on top of me, smiling wryly.

▼▽

Two days have passed since I met Runa, and I had come to the castle’s courtyard early in the morning. Luna was humming happily beside me, and Lichter-sama and Marianna-sama came to see us off as they said.

“Xeno, as a dragon tamer, please hold the reins of Luna-dono firmly.”

~Lichter, you’re talking as if I’m a child going on a field trip.~

“Oh my, isn’t that the case? I can only see Luna-sama who looks cute and excited, though.”

~…You’re quite straightforward, Marianna.~

After chuckling at their exchange, I turned to Lichter-sama and Marianna-sama again.

“Thank you so much for this time. You may think it was Luna’s proposal, but it started with me… so for me, I’m happy that I can go out and fly in the sky with her like this.”

“Umu. Enjoy it to the fullest.”

“We’re looking forward to hearing some stories when you come back.”

Stories… whether we may or not, I nodded and said I understood.

Then, I got on Luna’s back and as soon as she said, “Let’s go,” she flapped her wings and took off.

“Wow…”

The feeling of the ground getting further away was just like that time.

As Lichter-sama and the others gradually became smaller, I waved my hand at them, and just as I was about to fly off at full speed, a membrane-like substance formed around me.

~The air is cold up here in the sky. So that’s a magic that’ll keep Xeno’s body temperature constant.~

“Wow, I didn’t know there was such magic.”

Whether it’s large-scale magic or a small magic like this, Luna, who could use anything, was truly special among dragons.

In the sensation of not feeling any cold wind, Luna finally picked up speed and left the royal capital behind.

~Well, where should we go, Xeno?~

“Umm, I haven’t decided on a place, as I told Runa.”

~Hmm…then let’s decide while flying around randomly.~

“Sounds good. Please do, Luna…?”

It wasn’t something I was consciously aware of, but I found many wagons in the middle of the wilderness.

They were probably a group of merchants from another country heading towards the capital, but I noticed that they were stuck there.

~Hmm, it seems they’re being attacked by bandits.~

“Bandits?”

~Even though this place is far from the royal capital and hard to reach by dragon’s sight, it takes a lot of guts to be a thief in the territory of the Dragonis.~

“… Luna.”

~I know. From now on, you and I are on a fun date trip. I won’t let such things disturb our hearts~

Luna folded her wings and plunged down at once.

Then, although it was small, she breathed a scorching hot breath towards the bandits.