CH 2

The Baron of Sonic

Part 1

—Don, Don…Don!

The next morning, Ash was awoken by the sound of a knocking sound on the window, and hurriedly jumped up.

“Su…su…”

Eco, who was beside Ash didn’t seem to be affected by the noise, and continued to sleep soundly. Eco, who had always slept naked in the past, recently gained the habit of wearing pyjamas and nightgowns when she slept now. Ever since Ash was kissed by Silvia, Eco’s mood had become worse, but she still reluctantly allowed Ash to sleep on the bed. Although before sleep, she would unhappily turn her back, and turn her face away from Ash. But once she had gone to sleep, she would expose an innocent sleeping face. However, now wasn’t the time to admire Eco’s sleeping face. Ash climbed up from the bed, and ran over to pull open the curtains.

“Whoa! It’s this situation again…!”

All he could see outside the window were the bodies of two dragons pushing back and forth against each other. One of them was a beautiful Maestro with silver fur. The other had a long twisted body like a snake, a water dragon which was clinging to the wall. The rider of the former was Lucca, and the latter was Jessica. The sound of the quarrel between those two drifted into the room through the window.

“Mou! Lucca-san. Can you please not get in my way?”

“…I arrived earlier than Jessica. And Gawain would also like to see Ash.”

It looks like the two of them had already returned to Ansarivan. Several large pieces of luggage were attached to Jessica’s saddle, and Lucca was carrying a massive backpack. It seems like the two of them had just happened to meet each other in front of the boys’ dormitory.

In any case, they couldn’t be allowed to continue quarrelling. The nightmare which occurred on the first day of summer vacation vividly resurfaced within Ash’s mind. Because both of them were having an argument outside the window, the other female students nearby were also infected by their excitement, and an entire section of the wall was destroyed in the end. Ash opened the window with a ‘pop’ sound.

“Hey…please you guys, can you come in through the window as per the rules?”

As if to enlighten the mischievous students, he said that with good intentions.

“No way! Come, Ash-sama! Hurry up and accept the souvenirs which are filled with my sincerity!”

“I also…brought back a lot a lot of specialties from the village of Elbaff…”

All at once, a vast number of items were tossed into the room from the window, which caused Ash to gape in surprise.

“Wait — uwah!”

In the blink of an eye, Ash was drowned in a small mountain of souvenirs. The things that Jessica threw into the room were mostly fruits which Ash had never seen before, and most of them were the specialties of her hometown. On the other hand, everything that Lucca gave him were herbs or fragrant woods. A unique fragrance immediately spread within the room.

“I’m very grateful for your consideration, but shouldn’t you think more about having a limit to that?”

Ash awkwardly climbed out from the small mountain of gifts, and then begged the two people with pleading eyes.

“No, I haven’t even finished yet! The most valuable souvenir is my body!”

Jessica got up from her saddle, and then jumped into the room.

“Ah, how cunning…me too…!”

Lucca also got up and jumped in.

“Hey, you two…!”

Jessica and Lucca grabbed onto Ash’s body on both sides. Being stimulated by the body heat of those two girls, Ash’s heart couldn’t stop racing — the next instant, they all fell onto the floor. Despite the sudden situation in which his eyes closed, he was pressed down under Jessica and Lucca, and Ash seemed to be in an enjoyable position. Soft and abundant breasts enveloped his right hand, while his left hand felt a stimulating sensation which was like that of a soft, fluffy animal.

“I really wanted to see you! I’ve never had a break which felt this long!”

“I was also the same…I really wanted to see you. If I can…I hope to be able to introduce Ash to the chief…”

Both Jessica and Lucca displayed truly happy expressions. The two people really had sincere feelings, and Ash felt happy about that. Nevertheless, there was only one troublesome problem in here.

“Hey…you guys, if you continue with no sense of restraint…”

At some time unknown to them, Eco had awoken and stood aggressively on top of the bed, and it felt as though she was ready to make loud ‘grgrgrgr’ noises at any time as her body exuded an atmosphere of anger.

“I’ll crush all of you together!”

Part 2

—At one in the afternoon.

With President Rebecca as the leader, Public Morals member Silvia, Accountant Max, Secretary Lucca, Ash and Jessica of General Affairs, and lastly the Mascot Eco – everyone sat around the table in the Student Council Office. Perhaps because she was still thinking about her confession and kiss, Silvia was sitting in the seat furthest from Ash. The two people had obviously not seen each other for a while, yet they didn’t even exchange a single word.

—The atmosphere always feels so awkward…

In Ash’s position, he certainly wanted to return to their relationship before, where they could naturally converse with each other. However, as soon as he thought about Silvia’s confession and kiss, it was difficult for him not to become nervous. It was presumably the same for Silvia. Ash suddenly recalled something that Cosette had said. She had come over specifically to tell Ash yesterday, hoping that he would act as natural as in the past in front of the Hime-sama[1], and also reminded him that he didn’t need to respond to the confession too quickly. Incidentally, Cosette, who normally accompanied Silvia by her side was not present today. It seems as though she went shopping.

—Since Cosette-san isn’t here…yes, I should calm down first, and then I’ll try talking naturally to Hime-sama again?

However, as if to completely interrupt his thoughts—

“…I will never forgive that fox.”

With a frightening tone, Eco muttered that while she sat beside Ash. It wasn’t just Ash who was focusing his attention towards Silvia. Eco, who was secretly glancing at Silvia, was like a threatened beast with all of its fur on end.

—No. If I just try to talk to the Hime-sama, I’ll just stimulate Eco’s anger…

Just when Ash’s mind was in distress—

“—Then, we’ll begin the meeting now.”

With Rebecca’s declaration, the meeting officially began. The topic was called ‘The Libra Dragon Riding Festival’ of ‘Ansarivan’s Five Hundred Years Festival’.

“……”

Perhaps because she was deterred by Rebecca’s magnificence, Eco relaxed her face that was filled with anger, and Ash also tentatively sighed in relief.

When the three o’clock bell rang, an unexpected knock on the door of the room momentarily interrupted their meeting.

“—Excuse me. Rebecca-sama, I have brought that thing here.”

Wearing a maid outfit specifically for those in service of the Royal Palace, a girl walked into the office. Ash was familiar with this innocent beauty. She was Eunice, who served the new Headmistress, Mirabel Lautreamont. What was the thing that she was referring to? …Just when Ash felt curious about it, Eunice walked over to Rebecca’s side, and then gave her a seemingly antique, small box. The size of the box was such that it could be held in the palm of Eunice’s hand, and the outer appearance was like that of a jewellery box. Upon receiving the box, Rebecca opened the box’s lid with a serious expression. Placed within the box, was a piece of metal — it was actually a golden key. Also, that wasn’t just any ordinary key, on its head was a delicate ornament. In particular, attached on top of it was a bright red Dragon Crystal, which gave off the feeling that it was from a great existence. After Rebecca confirmed the key, she replied to thank Eunice

“Thank you, Eunice-san. Please give my regards to Mirabel-dono for me.”

“Yes.”

After respectfully bowing, Eunice immediately left the office. Rebecca watched Eunice’s back as she left, and then looked around at everyone who was present.

“I have some good news to tell everyone. We Student Council members have always depended on others, and all our activities are in this room…but the number of members we have this year has increased, and it can’t be denied that this space feels a bit narrow.”

Rebecca was right, the Student Council Office had become more and more crowded every day. With more people, it became livelier, and the number of miscellaneous items naturally increased. Although Max, who had a very tidy personality worked very hard to maintain a clean environment, he was unable to keep up recently, and it slowly became untidy.

“So I’ve discussed it with Princess Mirabel, hoping that she could help us prepare a new activity location.”

“So that key is…!”

Jessica’s eyes lit up, and she stood up from her seat.

“That’s correct, today’s meeting is now finished. I’ll take you to the new location!”

Part 3

Rebecca led a group of people towards a certain building within the school grounds. It was a two storey building built with bricks. The style of the building was elegant and refined, reflecting a strong modern architectural style. Within the Academy which was lined with old buildings, this was a unique exception. Moreover, if one had to describe this building with a single phrase — it was in ruins. Nailed across the main entrance were several wooden planks, which strictly prohibited access. With a serious look, Rebecca said

“This mansion was originally used by the Student Council, and was built around ten years ago.”

“Eh? Then why has it been blocked up and only been reopened now?”

Ash felt that it was rather strange, and looked at Rebecca’s face from the side. Since such a great office space was built ten years ago, why did the Student Council have to borrow a small room of the school as a makeshift venue?

“The name of this building is called Julius Hall.”

Hearing Rebecca’s serious reply, Ash felt uneasy for a moment.

“What, that can’t be…!”

“Correct, during the time that Prince Julius Lautreamont was the Student Council President, he negotiated with the School Board, and asked them to build this mansion. Prince Julius’ dream seemingly was to build a house within the school grounds to act as the activity point of the Student Council. Although his dream became a reality…it didn’t even last a year, and Julius Hall was closed down. Even the name ‘Julius Hall’ was erased. The reason for that shouldn’t be difficult to imagine, right?”

“Because Prince Julius killed his Pal Mordred…”

“You’re correct. That’s why the Student Council naturally couldn’t continue to use the building which was named after Dragon Slayer. For the ten years afterwards, the entrance of Julius Hall was cordoned off, so as to prevent unauthorised persons from entering.”

Rebecca looked at the house with sharp eyes.

“However…after a series of events, we already clearly understand that Prince Julius is by no means the most heinous person he is believed to be. Perhaps we will have to wait for a long time before we can publicly announce the injustice. But, simply removing the seal on Julius Hall shouldn’t pose a problem. Furthermore, we have also obtained the agreement of Princess Mirabel.”

After saying that, Rebecca removed the Dragon Crystal from her pocket. The crystal which seemed to originate from a Maestro emitted a sacred light.

“—Lightning Dragon Break!”

At the same time that Rebecca activated the Dragon Magic, a burst of thunder and lightning enveloped the surroundings along with a gust of wind.

—Boom!

The wooden planks that were nailed across the main entrance shattered along with the sound of their destruction. However, even after being struck by lightning, the main door didn’t show any traces of damage. Her control of magic techniques was superb. After turning back around to us, Rebecca then relaxed and returned the Dragon Crystal to her pocket. In front of her sharp gaze, Silvia remained still as if she was astonished by it. She appeared to be slightly lost in thought. Perhaps she was still thinking about Ash, as she rarely spoke today.

“Now, since this house is your brother’s work, so it would be more suitable for you to unlock it, Silvia.”

Silvia suddenly returned to her senses, and then walked up to Rebecca’s side.

“Thank you, President. Although it can’t be publicly announced…for this house to be reopened again, aniue[2] would definitely be very happy.”

After Silvia seemingly reluctantly accepted the key, she walked towards the front of the main entrance. She seemed to look at the door with mixed feelings for a while, then made her resolve, and inserted the key into the keyhole. A metallic clicking noise indicated that the door had been unlocked. Rebecca was the first person to begin applauding. Following that, Ash and the others also began to clap. They all intended to express their congratulations to Silvia. Even Eco, who was in a cold war with Silvia, did not get angry. Although she had a foul expression on her face, she graciously applauded Silvia as a celebration.

“Thank you everyone, thank you…”

Silvia’s eyes were tinged slightly red, as she felt moved. This heart-warming scene also naturally caused Ash to smile. At that time, Silvia inadvertently looked towards Ash. When the gaze of the two people met, Silvia’s face suddenly became red, and she lowered her head.

“Congratulations, Hime-sama.”

Nonetheless, Ash sincerely gave his congratulations to her.

“T-Thank you…Ash.”

Although her tone was somewhat stiff, Silvia was willing to reply at the very least, so Ash also relaxed somewhat. Ever since the two of them kissed at the novitiate, this was the first time that they finally had a face-to-face conversation.

“—Ow!”

The next instant, Ash felt a sharp pain on his bottom, and he distorted his face in pain. He gritted his teeth in order to resist the pain, and then turned around to look behind.

“…What kind of perverted expression is that?”

Eco had a dissatisfied face, and she forcefully pinched Ash’s bottom. It seemed as though the conversation between Ash and Silvia made her feel a bit…no, it was a highly dissatisfied expression. Ash resisted the pain from his bottom and whispered in Eco’s ear

“I-I don’t have a perverted expression! I was just congratulating her before…”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Seeing Eco increase the strength in her fingers, Ash didn’t want the people around him to find out that he was so pathetic, so he desperately supressed his urge to moan out.

“Well, everyone. If possible, I’d like to hold a luxurious tea party to celebrate the reopening of Julius Hall, but…as you can see, this place has been abandoned for ten years.”

After Rebecca revealed a mischievous smile, she loudly announced the content of today’s task.

“First, we have a big clean up job!”

Part 4

For this reason, all of the members of the Student Council rolled up their sleeves and started to clean — no one thought that it would be the beginning of a nightmare.

“Hiyaa!”

As she fell, Silvia tipped over a bucket, and spilled it all over the floor.

“Mou, please Hime-sama, you don’t need to do any more — kyaa!”

Jessica had slipped on the wet floor, and fell down bottom first. A spider web had also woven itself onto her face.

“Muu 07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)zxzxzxz (talk) 07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)!”

On the other side, Eco and Lucca were competing to see who was stronger. Rebecca had asked the two of them to move a vase to the reception room, and they were now competing for dominance. The two of them disregarded the seemingly high artistic value of the vase as they pulled it in a tug of war, insisting that they would move it themselves.

“Have I come to hell…?”

Ash muttered with a look of amazement.

“They sure can give people a headache.”

Rebecca went behind Ash, as her moist lips drew a wry smile.

“Actually, I told them just then that ‘Ash will like girls who do housework’…from the looks of it, the effect of that was too strong.”

“Eeh!? That’s too much, what are you talking about!”

“Fufu. You really know how to play with their emotions, which is remarkable for a first timer, Ash.”

“I-I don’t play with their feelings, that’s too exaggerated!”

“You’re not thinking about turning the Student Council into your own harem, are you?”

“No no no, how would I!”

Seeing Ash become embarrassed, Rebecca laughed without restraint.

“Haha, just kidding. Anyway, I was too stupid to expect anything from them. Silvia has probably never done any housework since she was born; although Jessica is from a family of servants, she’s rather clumsy, and she’s also a daredevil. Lucca is a typical ‘sloppy girl’, and as for Eco, well…I think you would know better than me, right?”

“…You’re right. If Cosette-san was here, I think it would be much easier.”

“Don’t think of Cosette-san like that, she is incredibly busy. Besides, she is Silvia’s personal maid after all, so we shouldn’t ask her to help out so casually. It’s just that, in a chaotic situation such as this, you also don’t want to clean up.”

Just when Rebecca sighed, an accident occurred between Eco and Lucca who were arguing. They had been holding the vase in a tug of war, but Eco suddenly let go.”

“Ah…!”

“Hmph! Don’t look down on the wisdom of dragons!”

“I think it should be called a childish idea?”

While watching Eco’s triumphant expression, Ash cursed in his mind, but held back and didn’t say it out loud. Lucca’s hand clutched onto the vase as she lost her balance and stumbled back. Correctly speaking, she was falling towards the direction that Ash was facing.

“Eh…?”

Upon seeing that Lucca’s back was almost in front of him, Ash was momentarily at a loss on what to do. He scrambled to catch Lucca’s petite body with his arms, and the fragrance of herbs entered his nostrils — the next moment, his body lost balance due to the impact. Coincidentally, Max was walking past behind Ash. Max was distracted as he looked towards the floor — he didn’t expect such a disaster, as Ash crashed into him while he still holding onto Lucca. Max, who had unexpectedly been affected, was knocked back hard.

“—Ah! My glasses!”

Although he seemed to have heard Max’s exclamation, Ash didn’t have the capacity to worry about his situation. After rolling over several times with Lucca, he finally stopped, and then slowly opened his eyes to glance around—

“Ouch!”

The sight immediately in front of his eyes gave him a scare. He was unable to utter a sound, because there was something soft pressed onto Ash’s nose and mouth. His entire field of vision was occupied by a pattern of green and white stripes, and he could faintly smell a sweet fragrance.

“Ah! N-No…Ash’s breath…!”

In fact, Lucca’s lower body was riding on top of Ash’s face.

—Wah…please hurry and get up!

Ash desperately wanted to convey his thoughts.

“Awu…!”

However, the more that Ash tried to speak, the more intensely Lucca’s body shivered. Her thighs on both the left and right side were also clamping onto Ash’s head. Ash was enveloped by the heat of Lucca’s body, which made Ash feel as though he was about to faint — but he quickly sensed that a surge of murderous intent was coming towards him, which caused him to shiver.

“You brat…what are you doing while taking advantage of the confusion!”

“How shameless! And you call yourself a Dragonar!”

“That’s making other people feel jealous! Please swap with me!”

It was the three people Eco, Silvia and Jessica. The previous dispute seemed to be futile; those three people had unwittingly signed a truce and now snappily glared at Ash and Lucca. But, Jessica’s point of concern was different from that of the other two people.

“Ah…don’t need……a-already……fine—!”

Lucca suddenly tensed her body, and then her entire body quivered. In the blink of the eye, she seemed to be exhausted, and then slumped forwards. Her delicate upper body which was like that of a fairy’s collapsed onto Ash’s body.

—Not good! This position is…!

Lucca’s face landed on top of Ash’s crotch. Indeed, this position was far too dangerous. He also remembered that in the adult magazines that he borrowed from Raymond that there were images which resembled his current position.

“Uwaahh!”

Ash desperately scrambled out from underneath Lucca’s body. What just happened to Lucca’s body? Ash was puzzled, and peered at Lucca’s face as she lay on the floor.

“Ash you…pervert. You’ve ruined me…I can’t get married now.”

Lucca’s breathlessness didn’t stop, and she looked at Ash with breathtakingly flirtatious eyes. Her amethyst coloured eyes were watery, and her cheeks were dyed deep red. In addition to her cheeks, her long elf-like ears were dyed a shade of pink from the tip to the earlobe.

“I-I’m sorry, Lucca…!”

Despite the fact that it was an unfortunate accident, it was an indisputable fact that he had buried his face into a girl’s secret garden. Ash’s conscience felt uneasy.

However, it seemed as though he didn’t even have a single second to repent.

“Ash, have you mentally prepared yourself to be crushed?”

“How dare you be so shameless, I think even bringing out the Lautreamont Family’s motto will be in vain, right?”

For some reason, both Eco and Silvia had smiles on their faces. The Dragon’s kick and the Princess Knight’s iron fist struck at the same time.

“Oww!”

Although Ash was defencelessly thrown into the air, the strange thing was that this had a somewhat nostalgic feeling. It was almost as if one returned to their homeland after an absence of several years, a sensation which made people’s hearts warm. These past few months, the situation around Ash had change immensely, which caused him to feel confused. The truths which were unknown had been revealed one after the other. As the Avalon Knight, Ash had entered an area where he could only advance, as there was no path for retreat — but at least in this moment, he seemed to have temporarily returned to the lively times which were common when Eco was born.

Part 5

“Whew. Blame me for being too stupid for having you to do cleaning work. Anyway, all of you wait outside for me. In the meantime, you can let your heads cool down.”

After Rebecca crossed her arms in front of her chest, she spoke in a severe tone to Eco, Silvia, Lucca and Jessica. Eco and the others, who were ordered to assemble into a straight line didn’t even dare to utter a sound.

“Umm…President. I’m going to visit the optometrist.”

On the contrary, Max seemed dejected from being affected by the accident, and lost his enthusiasm. After all, his pair of glasses had broken, so it was inevitable that he would get frustrated. Max himself was not injured, his lenses had simply been cracked, which could be considered lucky amidst the misfortune. After watching Eco and the others leave, Ash realised an important fact.

—Isn’t this strange? Right now…doesn’t that leave me alone with Rebecca-san…?

Indeed, the ones who remained at Julius Hall were just the two people, Ash and Rebecca. The instant that he realised this, Ash’s body suddenly became tense.

“What is it, Ash?”

Rebecca asked in wonder when Ash panicked. A refreshing fragrance slowly made its way into Ash’s nose. It was undoubtedly the scent of Rebecca’s body.

“No-Nothing…I-I’m fine!”

It was just that the more Ash pretended to be calm, the less he could speak properly.

“It couldn’t be that you’re starting to feel nervous because you suddenly have to be alone with me, right?”

Rebecca had quickly seen right through Ash.

“T-That…”

“You don’t need to make yourself so nervous. If you think about it, we haven’t been alone together for a long time.”

Rebecca suddenly gave him a flirtatious look, and Ash could not prevent his heart from beating faster. Not only his cheeks, but even his earlobes became hot. Rebecca laughed and enjoyed the extremely embarrassed look on Ash’s face.

“I’ll tell you, Ash. Although this Rebecca Randall is the strict Student Council President, she is also a woman. Who knows if I wanted to create a situation where we would be alone from the beginning?”

“…Eh?”

“First of all, expelling those noisy girls from the room to create the current situation was none other than this — precisely what this lady wanted.”

“Rebecca…san?”

Ash nervously swallowed his saliva.

Could it be that Rebecca-san…she really wanted to be alone, so that was why she got rid of Eco and the others?

“Ash, it’s only us two in this house right now. Whatever we do, we won’t need to be afraid of anyone finding out.”

Rebecca calmly extended out her hands, and placed them on Ash’s face. Her slender fingers were gently stroking Ash’s cheeks. Through her fingertips, he could faintly feel the temperature of Rebecca’s body…

“Wah! Don’t do that, Rebecca-san!”

“Eh, why not?”

Rebecca turned her face slightly towards one side. She performed an action which was filled with the flavour of a young woman and displayed her charm, which caused Ash to feel lost as to where he should look.

“Because you’re so well behaved, Rebecca-san, you have an awe-inspiring appearance, you’re equally strict with yourself and everyone else…the point is, you’re the idol that the students of the entire school admire! For someone like you who’s admired like that, you can’t do these things just because it’s fun!”

“Phh…ahahahaha!”

Seeing Rebecca suddenly laugh, Ash was surprised. Rebecca, who normally laughed with dignity, was now laughing so hard that even tears had formed in the corners of her eyes.

“Rebecca-san?”

“Sorry. You looked so innocent and pure, so I couldn’t help restraining my laughter.”

“Eh? Then that means the things you just said are…”

“Of course it’s a joke.”

“Rebecca-san, that’s going too far!”

“Haha, didn’t I already apologise to you? It seems that the joke went a bit too far.”

After Rebecca smiled for a moment, her expression suddenly became serious.

“Yes, Ash. Taking this rare opportunity, I’ll confess to you how I feel.”

Ash’s heartbeat rapidly accelerated. Rebecca took a step forward, and then placed both her hands on top of Ash’s shoulders. Her expression was serious. She seemed like a completely different person from the one who was laughing just a moment before, and it didn’t seem anything like a joke.

“Listen to me, Ash. I have a lot of expectations from you.”

“Expectations?”

“Yes, that’s right. If I had to say that there was a student in this Academy who could exceed me — that person would definitely be you, Ash; that is my expectation.”

“You’re flattering me too much, I couldn’t do that!”

“There’s no need to be humble. I want you to become the next Student Council President. I’m going to graduate in half a year’s time, so I need to start looking for candidates to be my successor.”

“Eh!”

Those unexpected words left Ash speechless. The Student Council President of Dragonar Academy had a lot of responsibility, and couldn’t be compared to any ordinary Student Council Presidents. The position didn’t just surpass the mayor of Ansarivan City, but also gave the right to participate in municipal politics. In contrast, the President also needed to work hard to maintain the Academy’s top academic ranking. After all, as the Student Council President of Ansarivan, if results were unsatisfactory, it would be difficult to set an example for other students. For Ash, the position of Student Council President was like an unattainable cloud.

“Anyway, this is something which will not happen for a good few months. It’s enough for you to simply keep what I just said in a corner of your mind. Well – that’s the end of my personal matters. Before that group of noisy girls get back, let’s first clean up.”

“I understand, Rebecca-san!”

Ash stood up straight, and then responded with a brisk and loud reply. In fact, Rebecca’s request was very abrupt, which caused Ash to feel quite confused and unprepared, but he could truly feel Rebecca’s feelings of expectation. Before he became a member of the Student Council, Rebecca’s existence was like a flower at the peak of a mountain. He never thought that such a great senior would actually harbour such deep trust in him, and this fact caused Ash’s entire body to tremble with delight.

Part 6

“Yes, Ash. I actually found that there are bathrooms inside earlier…but there seems to be some problem with the plumbing. Could I trouble you to take a look?”

Just when Ash was busy wiping down the table in the conference room, Rebecca called for his help.

“When it comes to these kinds of hardware items, boys should understand it better, right?”

Ash stopped his hands, and then turned around to look at Rebecca.

“But what if I’m not familiar with those kinds of things?”

“If you can’t fix it, then we can just ask workers to repair it afterwards. Anyway, just go and take a look first.”

“Okay.”

Ash let go of the cloth, and then left with Rebecca. While they were passing through the corridor which had been swept clean, he began speaking to Rebecca, who was walking in front of him with large strides.

“I really didn’t think that there would even be bathrooms inside here.”

“Indeed. There’s a reception room, kitchen, meeting room, bedrooms, library, and even bathrooms…I looked around briefly, and this house has everything that it needs, it certainly is well-equipped.”

After a while, Rebecca arrived at a door which had a ‘bathroom’ sign hung on it.

“Incredible…!”

As soon as Ash stepped into the bathroom, he couldn’t help letting out words of praise. The bathroom was spacious enough to accommodate five people at once, and it was adorned with a splendid dragon styled décor, which was cause for amazement. The luxurious baths were built with marble. The four walls were decorated with dragon lights, which created a dreamy atmosphere inside the bathroom. However, it had been left unused for some ten years, so it not only had thick layers of dust, but also traces of mould everywhere. But, as long as it was given a thorough cleaning, it probably wouldn’t lose to the bathroom of a high-class hotel.

“It’s too early to celebrate, Ash. Do you remember what I just told you? The bathroom’s plumbing equipment seems to be broken.”

Rebecca reached out to turn one of the taps. But, perhaps because some part of the metallic components had rusted, the tap didn’t move at all. Thus, there was no way to fill the bathtub with water.

“Let’s swap and I’ll try.”

After Ash and Rebecca swapped, Ash gripped onto the tap handle.

“Unn…!”

He used all his effort to try rotating it. The tap seemed to have a slight ‘squeaking’ sound as it turned a bit, but there was still no water flow.

“Oh. It didn’t move even when I tried before, boys really do have more strength.”

“It isn’t that much of a big deal…”

Having lost his father when he was young, although Ash was used to hearing this kind of praise since he grew up in a single parent household, the same words coming from Rebecca still made him feel embarrassed.

“Alright, I’ll also help.”

Rebecca suddenly wrapped her hand around Ash’s hand.

“…!”

A surge of warmth seemed to be transmitted to him from the two hands which were pressed against each other. It felt as though the warmth of Rebecca’s body enveloped his whole right hand. It wasn’t just that. Because Rebecca leaned her body closer to Ash, her ample breasts pressed against Ash’s back…

—Uh oh! This situation is bad!

Toku toku toku…Ash’s chest was pounding incessantly. It seemed as if his whole mind focused on this heated moment, and liquid was gathering in his lower body. In order to cut off all distractions, Ash decided to focus all of his attention towards the task of ‘turning the tap’.

“I’m going to turn it, Rebecca-san!”

After clenching the tap handle, Ash mustered all of his strength. Rebecca also strongly gripped his hand.

—Ga!

The rusty tap was successfully turned at last.

“Yes!”

Ash joyfully cheered, but Rebecca raised her brows in surprise.

“Wait a minute, Ash. The thing that you’re holding in your hand…what is it?”

“Eh?”

Ash carefully looked at the object that was held firmly within the palm of his hand. —It was actually the corroded and broken faucet, which had been forcefully broken off. The next instant, the tap which had lost its faucet violently spewed out a column of water.

“Uwaa!”

“Get away quickly, Ash!”

Rebecca pushed Ash aside, and then took out a Dragon Crystal.

“Azul Expression[3]!”

In front of the invocation of the Oracle, there was a blue dragon spell, which belonged to high-level magic. The spell which was invoked by Rebecca had the effect of freezing, which was evident from the name. At the same time that Ash felt a burst of the biting cold, the column of water became ice.

“Phew…that’ll manage to stop the leak. I’ll ask the workers to repair the plumbing problems at a later date—”

Rebecca’s face carried an expression that didn’t seem to mind, and she turned back around to look at Ash.

“It looks like the both of us are completely wet now.”

“Haha….yes.”

At that time, Ash noticed that both he and Rebecca were completely soaked. Rebecca’s drenched red hair had droplets of water dripping down. Her thoroughly soaked uniform was tightly sticking onto her skin, and emphasised the perfect curves of her body.

“Hm? Is there something wrong? Ash.”

Rebecca twirled her wet hair as she pondered that. Did she not realise that her current behaviour was very seductive? Or was she perhaps feigning it again so that she could tease Ash for fun?

“I-It’s nothing! I’m going to light the fireplace!”

Ash quickly turned around, and swiftly bolted towards the reception room which had a fireplace.

Part 7

The storage room seemed to have some firewood which could still be used, so Ash decided to use them. The sculpture on top of the stone fireplace was a soaring dragon which carried a strong resemblance to the style of Dragonar Academy. After Ash lit the fire, Rebecca also came to the reception room.

“Ah, Rebecca-san, you came just at the right time, I just lit the fire.”

“Thank you, Ash.”

After seeing Rebecca step in front of the fireplace, she suddenly began to take off her uniform.

“…!”

Her one-piece uniform fell onto the floor with a ‘pacha’ noise. Her snow-white skin was exposed from underneath her clothes. Rebecca bodyline was like an hourglass, which had a graceful eight[4] figure. One of her bra straps had already slipped off her shoulder, and was just clinging onto her upper arm. It was a mature and enchanting appearance…

“I-I’ll go outside and wait!”

Ash wanted to rush out of the room in order to avoid it.

“Wait, Ash.”

However, Rebecca had immediately grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, which caused Ash to nearly bite his tongue.

“Rebecca-san…?”

The proud <Scarlet Empress> had calmly exposed her bare skin in front of Ash. Moreover, it was just the two people, Ash and Rebecca in the room right now.

“You also got completely soaked, hurry up and take your uniform off. The Five Hundred Years Festival is almost here, it’ll be troublesome if you catch a cold.”

In contrast to the embarrassed Ash, Rebecca’s expression was serious.

“But…”

“What, are you disagreeing with my orders?”

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed into a slit. She didn’t smile, her eyes were frozen like the spell, and they radiated a chilling atmosphere.

“I follow! I-I’ll t-take them off!”

“Hm, it’s good if you’re obedient.”

Rebecca laughed contentedly.

Ash listened to the ‘crackling’ sound emitted by the fireplace, as he sat with his arms around his bent knees. The bandage which was wrapped around his left arm had also been soaked by the water, so he also took it off along with his uniform to dry. Having the <Seikoku> on his left arm exposed, and sitting down with only his underwear on caused Ash to feel uneasy.

“………”

After Ash sat down in front of the fireplace, he had not said another thing. Rebecca, who was wearing only her underwear was sitting behind him to share the heat. If he was unlucky enough to allow Eco or Silvia to see this scene, it would be fair enough to see that he would be dragged to his death…just when Ash was thinking about that—

—Pah.

Rebecca suddenly leaned onto his back, and Ash couldn’t stop himself from being startled by it. Rebecca’s skin was touching Ash’s back. No, it wasn’t just called touching anymore. It was completely pressed against him. Through their close skin contact, Ash could feel the warmth of Rebecca’s body.

“This way, it feels much warmer, right?”

Rebecca whispered to Ash.

“Y…Y-Y-Yeah…!”

Ash was so embarrassed that even his voice broke when he tried to speak. He had become as stiff as a stone statue because he was aware that Rebecca had leaned her back against his own.

Part 8

The four girls Eco, Silvia, Lucca, and Jessica, who were all kicked out of from Julius Hall sat side by side on a bench in the academy, bored. There was no doubt that all four of them had feelings for Ash. As a result, the current scene was somewhat awkward and unnatural. No one wanted to start talking about anything, so the tense and silent atmosphere continued.

—Ah…the one who should be closest to Ash should obviously be me, why are there so many attractive female animals sticking beside him…

Eco quietly peeked at Silvia’s and Jessica’s chests. Both of them had breasts which could make their uniform jacket tall and full. Moreover, Silvia was the Princess of the Knight Country, and Jessica was also quite impressive. As for Lucca, although she had a quiet personality, and her bust size was just as flat as Eco’s, she had the unique, fairy-like beauty that only those of Elbaff possessed, in addition to being quite gifted.

—C-Could…I be the one lacking the most feminine charm among these four people…?

Ever since she had obtained the information from the Mother Dragon, Eco no longer needed to worry about the difference between races. If she was allowed to grow for a period of time, Eco would also be able to bear children with humans. Being able to stand on the same starting line as her rivals caused Eco to feel excited. However, not long after that, she began to have a new feeling of unease.

—Also, Rebecca feels strange.

Only the two people, Ash and Rebecca remained to work inside Julius Hall. The serious Rebecca didn’t seem like a person who would have indecent relationships, but when discussing who was the strongest and most beautiful female student in the school, everyone would undoubtedly say ‘Rebecca Randall’. Furthermore, the way that Rebecca looked at Ash compared to the other male students felt completely different. Of course, Eco didn’t have any evidence to support her ideas. It was based purely on an animal — no, a woman’s intuition. At that time—

“—Hey, ladies. How’s your mood today?”

A male student with long hair had suddenly flown over to them. The male student had a tidy appearance, and the temperament of a noble. The Maestro which exuded a brilliant elegance swept up a gust of wind, and then landed on the ground. The Maestro had a large figure, on par with Gawain. The black crystals which were decorated on its forehead blossomed with a chilling cold glow. The instant that she saw those black crystals, Eco shuddered. Although the crystals looked like decorations, a terrifying aura could be sensed from them. With the imposing appearance of a noble, he stood on top of the Maestro’s head.

“He is…!”

Seeing his face, Jessica immediately stood up from the bench. It seemed as though Jessica knew the name of this man. Eco carefully looked at the noble’s face. His jet-black hair was tied into a bunch, his slender eyebrows possessed determination, and his two eyes were a shade of dark blue. He had a high nose, and he was like a handsome statue which was crafted by top-class sculptors.

“…Who are you?”

After Eco angrily glared at him, the noble made a hearty laugh.

“Seeing as you have the horns of a dragon on your head…you must be Eco, right?”

Zidon, zidon…the Maestro moved closer to Eco, step by step along with the sound of its muffled footsteps. Both sides became very close to each other, so much so that if they had the intention of doing so, it could open its mouth to swallow Eco. Even so, Eco did not show any signs of fear. It was because she knew that dragons wouldn’t harm their own kins’ descendant of the Avalon Royal Family without reason. The noble extended his hand towards Eco with a graceful movement.

“Young dragon Eco — starting today, you will be my partner.”

“What?”

What was this man trying to say?

“Listen carefully, Eco. In my rule, you play an indispensable role. I’ll get straight to the point; I need you. More specifically, I need the power of the Avalon Holy Dragons’ Royal Family.”

“You…are you a pawn of the Empire!?”

Eco became more vigilant, and stared at the noble.

“Fu…how sad, you’d actually lump me together with those people from the Zepharos Empire.”

“Then, who are you?”

The noble revealed an eloquent smile, as if he had been waiting for Eco to ask this question for a long time. As if it had understood its master’s thoughts, the Maestro immediately switched to stand on its hind legs. Oscar’s foothold was suddenly elevated higher.

“My name is Oscar Brailsford, the future king of Chevron! This dragon is my faithful Pal, Tristan!”

The noble imposingly declared that from high above them.

“That sounds rather condescending…”

Jessica, who was beside Eco murmured that with a somewhat surprised expression. At that time, Silivia, who had initially remained quiet, stood up and walked forward.”

“That’s a rather rude and condescending introduction, Oscar-dono.”

“Well well, it’s actually Her Royal Highness Princess Silvia Lautreamont-dono. I almost didn’t recognise you because you were mingling with these common people.”

After Oscar scoffed at that, he looked down at Silvia arrogantly. The two of them seemed to be old acquaintances. One of them was the Princess of the Knight Country, and the other was a noble of the Chevron Kingdom, so it wasn’t strange for them to have met each other before in other places…Eco secretly thought.

“Oscar-dono, with all due respect, I remember that your succession to the throne is ranked as one hundred and eighth, which in short, is last. Practically speaking, your succession to the throne is nothing more than a dream, correct?”

“Fu…it is correct that my current position is at the very bottom. But if you only judge the situation with one-sided information, you can’t become the Queen of Knights, you know?”

“What did you say…!?”

Silvia’s face became red.

“It is correct that among my siblings, there are hundreds of people with the right to inherit the throne, however, I have the Maestro Tristan. Among the potential successors to the throne, I am the only Dragonar.”

With an egocentric expression, Oscar continued

“In addition, the requirements for the successor of the Chevron Kingdom are concise and simple — as long as they’re male, and they’re the strongest, then that’s enough! In order to make myself become the strongest candidate to the throne, I need Eco!”

“It appears…there’s no room for discussion.”

Silvia decided to give up on convincing him, as she glared at Oscar—

“Listen carefully, Oscar Brailsford! Dragons are the treasure of the Knight Country, so as the Princess of the Lautreamont Family — and as a friend, I will protect Eco, and she will not be associated with you!”

“You…!”

Hearing this magnificent declaration, Eco looked at Silvia’s back in surprise. Ever since the novitiate ended, the relationship between Eco and Silvia had become rigid. Eco said that she could not forgive Silvia for kissing Ash no matter what, while Silvia locked herself in her own room all day. Even so — facing Oscar, who coveted Eco, Silvia did not hesitate to declare that she would protect her. She even called her a ‘friend’. Eco couldn’t stop her eyes from becoming watery. Silvia took out a Bright Dragon Crystal from her pocket, and then raised it up high.

“—I command you in the name of Silvia Lautreamont! Come, Lancelot!”

“Hooooaaaaarrrrr…oooooo…!”

Lancelot’s roar responded to Silvia’s call, and a thunder-like sound rattled the sky. Lancelot instantly appeared at that point in space. After Silvia jumped onto its back and gripped the reins, she confronted Oscar. However, in contrast to Tristan, Lancelot’s body was rather small, and there was still room for growth. Their age difference was only a year, but it was like the difference between an adult and a child. The problem wasn’t Lancelot’s lack of maturity, but rather, it was Tristan’s extraordinary growth.

“Fu…since that’s the case, we’ll come and test your skill. Tristan!”

In response to Oscar’s command, Tristan roared. From Tristan’s nose, a violet ball of lightning was fired. The sphere gradually became larger as it was accompanied by crackling sounds.

—Doon!

Next, a shockwave powerful enough to shake the earth exploded. What Tristan used was high-level magic — Shiny Silver Lightning Bolt Blast[5].

“Kuh…Lancelot!”

Lancelot followed Silvia’s instructions, and created a defensive magic shield. A crystal-like protective barrier shined brilliantly, and formed in front of Lancelot. The instant that those two impacted each other — a flash of light rendered everything in Eco’s vision a shade of silvery-white. Eco held onto Jessica’s body, and slowly opened her eyes. Then, she witnessed an unbelievable sight. Lancelot was actually being pushed pack while being pressed against its protective barrier/shield.

“Fufu. Has your arrogance from before disappeared? Princess Silvia?”

Oscar teased with a tyrannical tone. Tristan then fired a second, and third ball of light.

“Guh…hold on, Lancelot!”

Silvia gritted her teeth and made a cry of anguish. As strong as Lancelot was, it could only focus entirely on defence at this time, and seemed to be unable to move.

“Come, Gawain!”

Lucca, who realised that Silvia was struggling, raised her Dragon Crystal up high and called for Gawain.

“Ruuuooooooooooooooooo…!”

Gawain also jumped through space to instantly appear. After a mighty roar similar to that of Lancelot, Gawain carried Lucca on its back, and then flew towards Tristan to attack. Tristan’s magic attack was interrupted, as it quickly dodged Gawain’s sudden assault.

“Thanks, Lucca!”

Silvia, who had been freed, moved to Gawain’s side while she rode on Lancelot.

“That person…is very strong…”

Lucca actually made a rare frown.

“It’s alright, Lucca. As long as we work together he’s not a match for us.”

Silvia spoke confidently, but Lucca shook her head.

“Be careful…the black crystal on Tristan’s forehead…has an ominous feeling.”

“What are you saying?”

A leisurely smile emerged on Oscar’s face.

“Fu. You’re an Elbaff person in the Unios Course? This battle is becoming more and more interesting.”

Tristan’s massive body suddenly disappeared. Like the words ‘suddenly disappeared’, it had vanished from that spot.

“What!”

The same time that Silvia exclaimed in surprise, Tristan had moved behind Lancelot. Tristan’s tail twisted and bent like a whip, and directly struck Lancelot’s hind leg. Although Lancelot let out a painful wail, it endured the pain, and did not back down yet. The moment that it turned around, it released a red spray of dragon’s breath. Tristan also spat out a crimson fire dragon breath, without showing any signs of weakness. The two breaths got closer to a collision, and whipped up a burst of wind. However, with the same kind of breath attack, Tristan’s firepower overwhelmingly surpassed that of Lancelot.

“Uooh…!”

In order to protect its master at all costs, the wounded Lancelot made an intimidating growl at Tristan despite its injuries.

“—Gawain!”

At that time, without knowing what Lucca could be thinking, she began to fly straight up into the sky at high-speed.

“Could it be…!”

Eco widened her eyes. She recalled the scene from the lakeside training camp several months ago. Lucca was flying about in the sky over the academy. No, she wasn’t just flying about without a purpose — Lucca was painting the pattern of her <Seikoku> on the canvas of the sky. It looked like she intended to release magic through a Dragon Dance. While gliding through the sky, Gawain left behind a trail of pink magic, and slowly completed the composition/pattern of her <Seikoku>. Oscar remained still, as he did not understand the meaning of it at all. After a while, the pattern of the <Seikoku> was finally completed, and shone down a bright light.

“Second Dragon Riding Dance — ‘Burst of Raining Spears’!”

At the same time that Lucca cried out, a countless number of spears which were made with the power of magic fell towards the ground.

“Hey…Lucca-san!? Even if he is an enemy, this move of yours is too much!”

The myriad of spears which rained down from the sky at high-speed caused Jessica’s face to go pale while she cried out in amazement.

“Fu, so that’s the famed Dragon Riding Dance?”

Oscar looked up at the sky, and happily muttered. In an instant, many spears pierced the ground, which caused a cloud of dust to rise into the sky. Oscar and Tristan were enveloped in the cloud of dust. They thought that the other side had been shown who the winner was, but unexpectedly, an arrogant voice actually rang out from within the cloud of dust.

“Unfortunately, the results make me rather disappointed.”

Stunned, Eco widened her eyes and stared ahead. When the dust in front of her dispersed, she could see that Tristan stood undaunted and unharmed within the centre of what had become a large crater, as well as Oscar, who stood upon its head with a clear smile.

“Kuh…!”

Lucca quickly descended, while riding on Gawain. She stood in front of Eco and Jessica to protect them, and also stared at Oscar, who was in front of her with menacing eyes. Maintaining a confrontational position, she said to Jessica without turning her head back

“Jessica…take Eco and run away. Someone able to defeat Oscar…Rebecca would probably be the only one!”

Lucca, who was usually rather calm, was now frantically yelling.

“—Lucca’s right. You should hurry up and get President and Ash for protection.”

Interjecting from the side was Silvia. Thanks to the help from Lucca, she was able to gain some time and recovered a bit of her strength. Silvia took the reins, and moved with Lancelot to stand beside Gawain.

“I understand. Come on, Eco-san! We’ll leave this to them for now!”

Jessica pulled Eco’s hand, and quickly began to run — but after not even ten steps, she was stopped in her tracks by an ambush.

“Hmph. Did you think I would let you guys go so easily?”

A girl dressed in a black maid outfit acted as an impregnable wall, and stood in front of those two to block their path. Perhaps because she was wearing a black leather eyepatch, the girl exuded a sense of determination. Her eyebrows were high, which gave off an arrogant impression.

“Ora, hurry up and give the young dragon Eco to me. Otherwise—”

The girl with the eyepatch leapt forward, and then took out a set of daggers. Four in her right hand, and four in her left hand — she mercilessly threw a total of eight daggers at the two people.

“Hii!”

Jessica protected Eco behind her, but her body stiffened in fear—

—Pasha!

Accompanied by the sound of a flag or wings flapping in the air, someone interrupted midway. That person spun around at high-speed to strike down the flying daggers with her skirt.

“Hello, Celes-sama. You’re being too rude, okay?”

The reinforcements who saved Eco and Jessica out of nowhere, was actually Cosette. Looking at the basket in her arms, she should have just returned from her shopping. The daggers which she had struck down with her skirt before were all scattered around Cosette.

“Do you know this woman?”

Upon hearing this question, Cosette revealed a wry smile.

“She’s called Celestina Lafon. She’s Oscar-sama’s personal maid. The Lafon family and Shelly family are relatives, which is why I’ve heard of her.”

“You’re the maid of the fourth Princess! Animals should have the appearance of animals, you should resign yourself to crawling on the ground!”

Celes’ eyebrows were raised to their highest point, and she cursed at Cosette with an unpleasant tone.

“I would return those words right back at you — counterpart-san.”

After Cosette replied with a smile, she whispered to Eco and Jessica

“Although I’m not sure what happened here, please leave this for me to deal with.”

Part 9

“In the end, the Vice-President didn’t show up. It seems that my leadership skills could be better.”

After a brief silence, Rebecca murmured/muttered that out.

“The Vice-President?”

Fortunately, Rebecca took the initiative to start a topic of conversation, and Ash’s tentatively tense mood relaxed. Rebecca and Ash still sat with their backs against each other. The reason why he didn’t open his mouth to say anything was because he was afraid that he would collapse at any time.

“Mmn. I did send him a notice about it.”

“Speaking of which…I haven’t seen the Vice-President yet. He’s always absent without an excuse, so is it really okay to overlook this Vice-President? It really doesn’t suit you that you’d actually tolerate such a lax person, Rebecca-san.”

“The Vice-President Oscar’s circumstances are highly extraordinary. To be honest, I feel quite troubled.”

Hearing Rebecca’s reply as she sighed, Ash felt surprised.

“Even a strong person such as Rebecca-san feels troubled?”

“If it wasn’t like that, how would I let him get away with being like that?”

“What kind of person is Vice-President?”

“Oscar Brailsford — is a second year of the Senios course. It might not be possible to count the number of his characteristics with ten fingers…but the characteristic of his that’s most worth mentioning is his identity as a noble of the Chevron Kingdom.”

“Eh? Isn’t it a bit too strange that he’s someone from Chevron, yet also a Dragonar?”

“Then, you currently know about this matter?”

“Sorry. I’m not very familiar with any news outside the Academy…”

“It’s fine. You’re not wrong, foreigners don’t have the right to participate in the <Orphan Ceremony>. However, the aristocracy of the Chevron Kingdom is an exception. Every year, several children who are members of the Chevron royalty and aristocracy are sent here to participate, the truth is that it’s a special place.”

“I didn’t know about this at all…”

“The special places were decided on fifty years ago. It’s just that, not a single Chevron person has succeeded in becoming a breeder these past fifty years. Whether the reason was because they lacked qualities to become a breeder, or perhaps the Mother Dragon insisted on people from the Knight Country…no one knows.”

“So Vice-President is the first successful case?”

“That’s right. After a long time of being ignored, or perhaps lacking the special qualifications to participate, the first Chevron person recognised by the Mother Dragon was Oscar.”

“The Vice-President really isn’t just some ordinary guy…but, is that it?”

“What do you mean?”

Rebecca seemed slightly startled for a moment.

“I now already know that he’s a noble of Chevron and that he has special circumstances. But that doesn’t seem like a reason that would cause you to feel troubled.”

“…Fu. You mind is quite sharp.”

Rebecca revealed a slight smile, as if in admiration of that.

“It is in fact like this…”

When Rebecca’s words became slightly vague and quiet, Ash felt surprised.

“Towards me in the past, Oscar—”

In that moment, as if to interrupt Rebecca’s words—

DOOON…!

A ground-shaking noise like that of an earthquake suddenly reverberated, along with an earthquake-like trembling.

“Uwah! That was just an earthquake right!?”

“Yes, the epicentre is very close to us.”

Through their backs which were pressed against each other, he could feel that Rebecca had tensed up. But, Rebecca didn’t have any intention of separating.

“Could it be that there’s construction work around here?”

“No, I haven’t of any plans for construction work.”

At the same time that Rebecca calmly replied to that question…

—PANG!

The door to the reception room was roughly shoved open.

“It’s bad, Ash!”

“Hime-sama and Lucca-san are in danger!”

Eco and Jessica shouted that out as they rushed in, seemingly short of breath. Although the two of them were out of breath, the expression on their faces changed to anger as soon as they saw the appearance of Ash and Rebecca.

“Hey! You guys aren’t cleaning seriously at all!”

“Rebecca-san! You didn’t make up an excuse to drive us out so that you could be alone with Ash-sama, did you?”

Eco and Jessica advanced towards them while they revealed terrifying expressions on their faces.

“Calm down a bit both of you. We just got wet because the tap faucet broke, and now we’re waiting for our uniforms to dry.”

In contrast to Ash’s embarrassed face, Rebecca replied with confidence.

“Was it really just that? You two wouldn’t currently be…enjoying yourselves after doing it, right?”

“Nothing like that. Getting back to the point, you guys said that Silvia and Lucca were in danger; what actually happened?”

After a sharp glance from Rebecca, Jessica recalled the urgent situation.

“Yes! Eco-san was targeted by Oscar, and then…”

Eco then followed Jessica’s incomplete sentence.

“In order to allow us to escape, Silvia, Lucca and Cosette are fighting against them!”

Although the situation sounded quite unbelievable, Eco and Jessica wore serious expressions, so it didn’t seem like they were lying.

“So that loud sound from before was…”

Ash was dumbfounded. If Oscar’s target was Eco, then it was connected to Ash as well. Although he didn’t know what Oscar was thinking, since he had set his eyes on Eco, Ash wouldn’t be able to let him go. Even if the other side was his senior, the Student Council Vice-President, or a Chevron noble — since he wanted to harm Eco, Ash had no choice but to fight back against him.

“Rebecca-san! I’m going to stop Oscar!”

Ash picked up his half-dry uniform and swiftly put it on, and then rushed out of the room.

“I’m also going!”

Coming from behind Ash was the sound of Eco’s high-pitched yell.

Part 10

“How is this possible!?”

After arriving at the Academy, Ash gasped, and he stood frozen on the spot.

“This is a joke, right…?”

Beside Ash, Eco was also flabbergasted and lost for words. Lancelot and Gawain both curled up their bodies, and lay in the middle of the Academy grounds. Silvia and Lucca were lying on top of the backs of their respective Pals; they had lost consciousness, and passed out. At first glance, the two of them didn’t seem to have any obvious external injuries, so Ash let out a sigh of relief. On the other hand, in a place that was some distance away from the battle of the Dragonars—

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Two maids were staring each other down as they released a murderous intent. One of them was Cosette, the other was a girl wearing an eyepatch. It was a face that Ash did not recognise. A haughty voice drifted down towards Ash’s head.

“—Yo, Ash Blake. You’ve finally come.”

The boy who had defeated Silvia and Lucca stood in a relaxed manner atop the head of the Maestro Tristan.

“You’re the Vice-President? What’s your purpose for doing this?”

Oscar looked straight into Ash’s face, and then smiled after a brief pause.

“I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. Of course, it would be a meeting of fists!”

Tristan responded to Oscar’s words, and took a step forward.

DON…! The ground shook vigorously up and down along with a thunderous sound.

“Hold on! Since you want to exchange fists, we’ll talk once you get down from there first!”

Ash shouted upwards loudly, but Oscar simply looked down with a condescending gaze and said with a cold and sarcastic tone

“When did I say that I was going to use my fists? I want to give you Tristan’s fist.”

“Do you want to kill me!?”

“Trash talk!”

At the behest of Oscar, Tristan stomped down its front limb. Ash hugged Eco and jumped aside with her.

“Kya!”

Eco cried out softly as she held onto Ash. Tristan claws dug into the ground at the spot that Ash and Eco originally were. Accompanied by the loud noise, a cloud of dust was kicked up and obscured their vision, like a grey veil all around them, Tristan’s figure appeared from the smoke once more.

“Oya oya, the title of the ‘Avalon Knight’ is rather grand, but is this all the strength you have?”

Oscar’s face revealed a cruel smile.

“Fufu, can you evade the next strike? Go, Tristan!”

Tristan roared, and stared ferociously at Ash. Ash gritted his teeth. If Oscar really did have an interest in Eco, it was fair to say that he didn’t plan to take any lives.

—This guy, is he just playing with us…?

Tristan let out a deafening roar, and then lifted its front limb up high again. Its front limb blocked out the sun, which caused Ash’s and Eco’s entire bodies to be enveloped by its shadow.

“What is it? If you don’t try to escape seriously, I really will have him stomp down, you know?”

Just when Oscar’s face showed such a malicious smile, and his condescending arrogance was projected onto Ash—

“—Leave this to me!”

All of a sudden, a crimson red fireball flew straight towards them, and grazed Tristan’s belly. Seeing that its silver fur was charred slightly, Tristan’s face became resentful, and raised its head to look up at a point in the sky.

“Rebecca-san!”

Ash cried out loudly.

Wearing an Ark which glowed with crimson light, Rebecca rode atop the Maestro Cú Chulainn as she appeared in the sky above the Academy. She hadn’t used a saddle, and was simply standing majestically on top of her Pal’s head — although that dragon riding posture was the same as Oscar’s, the decisive difference between the two was truly the presence or absence of an Ark. After Rebecca descended graciously while riding on top of Cú Chulainn, she sent a sharp gaze towards Oscar.

“You do know that fighting is prohibited at school don’t you, Oscar?”

“Are you trying to bind me by relying on the school rules?”

“…I’m curious, you don’t really think that you can defeat me in a fight, do you?”

The edge of Oscar’s mouth twitched, and he made a sly smile at the frowning Rebecca.

“The answer is YES, the legend of the strongest Rebecca Randall, I’ll end that today!”

At the same time that Oscar proudly made such a declaration, Tristan’s roar resounded throughout the sky.

“What is this…?”

After Ash instinctively said that, Oscar declared as if he stood upon a divine pedestal

“I command you in the name of Oscar Brailsford! Present the Ark that you have created to me!”

Oscar’s entire body was instantly enveloped by a golden light, followed by a dazzling flash. The blinding flash of light forced Ash and Eco to squint their eyes as they raised their arms to cover their sight. After the light receded and their vision returned to normal, Ash saw…

“You can all see right now, that I am a true Arch Dragonar.”

After Oscar spoke with words filled with self-confidence, an eloquent smile appeared on his face. The Ark that appeared similar to a lion’s fur was majestic, and the armaments on the upper and lower body were all golden in colour. Gold was the representative colour of the Chevron Kingdom, moreover, the emblem of the Chevron Royal Family was a lion. Tristan probably went by Oscar’s origins and ambitions to create this majestic Ark.

“Now Rebecca, do not forget the agreement we had between us — if I win, you have to become bride!”

“What? There was something like that?”

Ash was greatly surprised, and couldn’t help saying that. Challenging Rebecca itself was a foolish decision, but he actually wanted to take her as a bride for marriage! The confidence of the man in front of him was immense, and Ash felt amazed by it.

“Did you think that you could defeat me with that improvised Ark alone, Oscar?”

Rebecca displayed a calm expression in her eyes, and undermined the enemy’s confidence and pride first.

“That’s what I like about you, Rebecca! Because you’re such a strong woman, you make my fighting spirit burn even stronger!”

That sentence became the signal for the start of the fight. Cú Chulainn and Tristan both responded to their master’s fighting spirit as they unleashed ground-shaking roars, and began flapping their wings. The two crimson and golden Arch Dragonars soared upwards with a whirlwind from their flapping wings.

Upon hearing the commotion, teaching staff, guards, and those who were working in the Dragon Houses all gathered in the Academy grounds, but everyone simply looked up at the sky, and watched.

“Incredible! They’re in a completely different league from the other students!”

Ash also looked up at the sky, unable to conceal his surprised expression. At an altitude of approximately one hundred metres above the grounds of Dragonar Academy, Rebecca and Oscar were engaged in an intense aerial battle.

“—Ash-sama, you know Oscar-sama’s nickname?”

At that time, Cosette had calmly walked over to Ash’s side.

“Cosette-san!? What happened to that maid with the eyepatch from before?”

“Are you talking about Celeste-sama? She’s over there.”

After Cosette exposed a splendid smile, she turned around to look behind her. Ash followed her gaze, and was almost frightened to that point that he almost fell backwards. Celeste lay on the ground in a corner of the Academy like a caterpillar. Her body was convulsing, and foam was forming at her mouth.

“Cosette-san, did you do that to her?”

“It’s embarassing.”

Cosette held her cheek with her right hand, and her face became completely red. Ash vowed to himself that he would never go against Cosette.

“Oh yeah! Is it alright to leave Hime-sama there? There’s also Lucca!”

“I already took both of them to the infirmary just then.”

“You’re way too fast!”

Ash was stunned. Ash turned to look at another corner of the Academy; neither Lancelot or Gawain had anyone on their backs. Cosette’s trained reactions caused Ash to gulp.

“Anyway, what was Oscar’s nickname?”

Thinking about the topic from before that was unfinished, Ash asked.

“Oscar-sama’s nickname is — The Baron of Sonic.”

“I see. In terms of speed alone, it feels as if he’s faster than Rebecca-san.”

Ash looked up at the sky, and felt convinced. At that time, Eco nervously tugged on Ash’s sleeve.

“Hey, there’s no need to worry right? That guy called Oscar seems to covet my power…and if Rebecca is beaten by him…”

Ash placed his hand on top of Eco’s head, and tried to appease her mood/emotions.

“Don’t worry. Although I just let Rebecca-san go out to rescue/save us, I’ll definitely risk my life to protect Eco next time.”

“Wh…!”

Seeing that Ash declared that he wanted to protect her so bluntly, Eco blushed.

“But I also need Eco to help me. After all, as a Dragonar without a Pal, I’m no different to an ordinary soldier.”

Perhaps because she was so embarrassed, it looked as if her face was the colour of a rose, and Eco turned her head to the other side.

“I know that! Y-You should remember this; having the opportunity to wear the Ark that I make is the highest honour for a Dragonar!”

“Unfortunately, it’s just an unfinished product.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY 07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)~~!”

Eco stomped her feet with a seemingly unstoppable anger. In fact, the Ark that Eco made was incomplete. Because there was no fixed outer appearance, the sensation could be described as simply wearing the armour, and it was like having a layer of magic over one’s body. Even though it was an incomplete Ark, it was possible to use the Ark weapon which was installed simply by wearing it — Holy Sword Excalibur, as well as various other pre-installed equipment which was worth relying on. More importantly, for the Dragon Race to present an Ark to their master was a proof of their loyalty and love. Because, only when a dragon became the most cherished in their master’s mind would an Ark be born—

“If I could do it, why wouldn’t I immediately want to create a perfect Ark for you!? But, I’m just a young dragon, my knowledge and skills are also very lacking—”

Ash made a wry smile, and placed his hand over Eco’s head.

“Sorry, Eco. I didn’t have the intention of looking down on you, it’s fine as long as you work hard according to your own habits.”

“07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)07:40, 14 April 2016 (UTC)~!”

Having her head pat by Ash, Eco turned around with red eyes. At that time, a sudden loud noise shook the atmosphere. A gust of strong wind gushed through Eco’s long hair. Cosette was also holding her skirt down, while resisting the strong wind. Soon after that, particles of ash drifted down from the sky. With a feeling of disbelief, Ash looked at the Maestro which fell from the sky, down to the grounds of the Academy from afar. Eco and Cosette also gasped. Having fallen from the sky, it was actually Cú Chulainn, covered in wounds. The surrounding earth that it had impacted became like a crater.

“This can’t be real…Rebecca-san was defeated?”

Ash couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes, and muttered softly. Rebecca was lying on top of Cú Chulainn’s head, and her Ark seemed abnormal. The armour had been damaged, and her skin underneath it was exposed. It was a harsh scene which made people look away, it was as if a delicate red rose had been instantly destroyed.

“—I’m so disappointed in you, Rebecca.”

While carrying Oscar, Tristan gracefully descended from the sky.

“When you were fighting against me, you were always very careful so as not to allow the fight damage the surroundings, right?”

“Yes. It looks like I underestimated your strength, and I didn’t think that you’d already reached this level.”

Despite her body being badly injured, Rebecca remained calm.

“Well. Have you finally decided to be my woman?”

“No, that is impossible.”

“You rejected that too quickly!”

It was unexpected that Oscar would show such a serious expression as he retorted.

“For me, the throne of a princess isn’t comfortable to sit on at all. Please understand that, Oscar.”

“You ask for too much. The most suitable one to warm up the throne of the Chevron Princess is really none other than your perfect ass. The throne of the princess must also be quite willing to accept your ample and tight ass.”

While saying so, a sarcastic smile emerged on Oscar’s face.

“The talk aside, it looks to me as if your Ark is about to shatter, and Cú Chulainn has already depleted its magic. Even then, you’d only be able to take one hit at best, right?”

“If that’s what you think, why don’t you come and try it?”

“Fu. That’s certainly like my woman.”

Having just had a smile on his face a moment ago, Oscar suddenly revealed an expression of dissatisfaction.

“Frankly/Honestly, since a while ago, I thought that your magic spear Gáe Bolg was very strange. Today, I definitely have to break that hateful magic spear in half! Fly, Tristan!”

Oscar issued an order to Tristan, and then quickly ascended into the sky.

“We’re going up, Cú Chulainn!”

Rebecca also soared up into the sky with Cú Chulainn. Both people exchanged forth their Ark weapons at the same time.

“Appear! The unflowing magic bow — Failnaught!”

Oscar summoned a bow that shone with a brilliant golden light.

The bow and arrow which were composed of magic appeared out of thin air when he began to pull back the bowstring.

“Appear! The certain hit magic spear — Gáe Bolg!”

On the other hand, Rebecca had summoned the magic spear Gáe Bolg which glowed red. As soon as Rebecca held it in her right hand, it immediately released an incredible amount of magic energy. The Ark weapons of those two people released resonating sounds, as the hot air around them entwined. Ash immediately stood in front of Eco, and protected her from the roaring winds that were billowing. Eco also calmly held onto Ash’s hand, and tightly intertwined her fingers with his. This response made Ash surprised. He turned to look over his shoulder, and saw Eco with her head down, seemingly shy, but she still continued to hold Ash’s hand tightly. Despite the critical situation, Ash couldn’t stop his face from becoming very hot.

“—Magic bow Failnaught. I have also once heard of its power. It’s said that it’s certain to hit, and that it has never missed. Precisely because it’s a bow that will not create any flow or current…it’s called ‘unflowing’.”

After hearing Cosette’s explanation, Ash recalled a certain thing.

“According to that, its ability is very similar to that of Rebecca-san’s Gáe Bolg. Gáe Bolg is the certain hit spear.”

“Yes. Both sides belong to the category of weapons which interfere with one’s ‘fate’.”

“I see! Oscar said before that he thought Gáe Bolg was very strange, so it was actually because it has a similar nature to Failnaught…”

The instant that Ash murmured that, Rebecca and Oscar released their certain-hit attacks.

“Become my bride, Rebecca!”

At the same time that Oscar said that, he let go of the bowstring.

“If you can defeat me, I might be willing to consider it for a second!”

When Rebecca threw the magic spear, a streak of light like lightning appeared, magic and a surge of emotions erupted; a fierce collision occurred in front of Rebecca and Oscar. The magic weapons of both sides began competing with each other, and even the air vibrated. It appeared to be an equal show of offense and defense, but—

“You lose, Oscar!”

Rebecca suddenly shouted out.

“You’re still trying to act brave at this point? Rebecca Randall, you’ve actually gone down to such a level!”

Rebecca ignored Oscar’s ridicule, and then proudly declared

“I command you in the name of Rebecca Randall! Cú Chulainn — reveal the true form of the Ark that you have presented me!”

“What did you say…!?”

At the same time that Oscar was taken aback, Rebecca’s Ark began to change. Various parts of the armour released a bright red light, and began to change shape. After the helmet around her head finished its transformation, the shoulders, breastplate, and the armour around her torso also began to change into a new shape. Not only that, a red cloak which fluttered in the wind appeared behind her.

“How is this possible!? Could it be that you were holding back the whole time? You fox!”

“This is it, Oscar! Magic spear Gáe Bolg — ‘Ring of Fate’!”

Then, the magic spear changed in accordance with Rebecca’s command. Accompanied by a heavy metallic sound, the magic spear began to expand and lengthen, and became a new part.

“You forced me to use my special skill, so you’ve got some ability!”

At the same time that Rebecca called out, a surge of magic more powerful than ever before radiated out.

“What kind of joke is this! If I can’t even take you for myself, what right do I have to sit on the throne!”

The two sources of light impacted each other in mid-air — one side was bright red, and the other side was golden. The magic that Rebecca had released was pressed/pushed in front of Oscar’s eyes, but he also began to push back.

“That guy is also formidable! Rebecca-san has already used her full power, yet he’s still able to turn the tide back!”

Ash was sweating profusely, and Cosette spoke with a solemn expression

“This situation is not good. The certain hit magic spear and the unflowing magic bow…these two weapons both have the effect of ‘piercing’ first and the cause of the ‘attack’ afterwards. If both of them continue this senseless confrontation, they might even lose their lives.”

“But could Rebecca-san not have realised this fact?”

“Rebecca-sama certainly knows in her mind. But, I’m afraid that Rebecca-sama has no way to stop the fate which is held in those magic weapons from happening—”

Before waiting for Cosette to finish speaking, Ash quickly turned towards Eco.

“Eco, bring out the Ark that you’ve created, please!”

“Hold on, what do you want to do?”

Eco seemed to frown, and she watched Ash’s face.

“I need to use Excalibur to break their attacks. Before the magic spear and magic bow actualise their fate of death, I’ll destroy them first!”

“Are you sure you can do that?”

“The problem isn’t whether I can do it, but I have to gamble on that anyway!”

“…I understand.”

Eco clenched her fist in front of her chest as if she had made up her mind. She closed her eyes, and then began to chant the spell to summon the Ark.

“Almete, Gorjal, Peto, Espaldar, Brafoneras, Faldaje, Escarcelas, Bufetas, Hombreras, Brazales, Codales, Antebrazos, Manoplas, Quijotes, Guardas, Grebas, Escarpes…”

Ash simply stared. Before she was only able to recite the chant while stuttering, but now Eco had memorised it and could recite fluently. She was also able to courageously call out the final word of the chant as the end of the spell.

“—Espolón!”

The armour which contained holy magical energy latched onto Ash’s body. A silver light suddenly burst out, and enveloped Ash’s entire body. The <Seikoku> on his left arm became hot.

“Uh…!”

The <Seikoku> emitted heat which almost burnt his skin, expanded in the blink of an eye, and spread to Ash’s whole body. The current phenomenon was the same as that time when he repulsed Mordred in Ansarivan city. While his consciousness immersed into a dim light, a sense of warmth entered Ash’s body. It was like the warmth of Eco’s body. Logically, the Ark that Eco created should appear like that, but Ash couldn’t see any change in the clothes that he was wearing. Aside from the <Seikoku> which had spread to cover his entire body, the external appearance looked just like any other male student. A young dragon was still a young dragon, she had gone to a lot of effort to build the Ark, and was still unable to give the Ark a clear outline, but Ash could feel that he had obtained her strength.

—The Ark that Eco created for me is now protecting my body.

“Haa, haa…what? I set a record for the fastest time yet!”

Having depleted her magic, Eco was somewhat breathless, but still smiled confidently at Ash. What Eco said was right, it was the first time that she had built the Ark so quickly.

“Thank you, Eco.”

After Ash patted Eco’s head, he gazed sharply towards the sky above. He then used the power of the Ark to leap into the sky and ascend.

Part 11

Looking down at the Academy which seemed like a miniature model from high up in the sky, Rebecca began to feel anxious again. The power of two people were currently even against each other, and it seemed as if the result could only be a loss for both sides. Just when she gritted her teeth, she was surprised to notice that a massive amount of magic was gradually closing in on her.

“Uuoooooooooohhhh!”

Ash shouted out while carrying a large sword. What was most surprising was that his <Seikoku> covered his entire body. Although Rebecca had heard Ash talk about such a thing in the past, it was the first time that she had seen it with her own eyes. While Ash approached rapidly, he began to unsheathe a holy sword — Excalibur. He first turned a sharp gaze towards Rebecca.

“Regardless of whether it pierces the fate of Rebecca-san!”

He then quickly looked at Oscar.

“Or pierces the fate of Oscar!”

Ash focused an overwhelming amount of magic onto the blade of the sword, and held it up high.

“I will sever it apart!”

The sword flashed. The holy sword released a loud noise as it struck the point where both sides had clashed. The sudden power intervened, and its magic appeared as if it would explode in order to force the attack to lose their targets, but in the next instant, Excalibur released a dazzling light. Rebecca whispered in marvel of the scene. The magic, which looked like it was about to explode was completely absorbed by the silver blade of Excalibur. Ash briskly, yet calmly turned around in mid-air, and then leapt onto Tristan’s head. The tip of Excalibur was pointed at Oscar’s chest.

“Would you like to have a fight against the ‘Avalon Knight’, Oscar?”

The expression in Ash’s eyes and the tone of his words caused Rebecca, who was on the side to shudder.

—Dokun!

Rebecca’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She had never had such a heart-moving experience in her life.

“Kuh…I’ll let you guys go for today! But remember this, I will never give up on Rebecca and Eco!”

After saying that, Oscar clung onto Tristan’s curved horns. Tristan understood its master’s intentions, and immediately swung its head about fiercely.

“Uwah!”

Having not paid much attention to defense, Ash was easily tossed into the air.

“Ash!”

Rebecca anxiously cried out while looking on.

“I-I’m fine…”

Ash managed to suspend himself in mid-air. Although it was not possible to see its form, the Ark that Eco had created seemed as if it was still protecting Ash. Eco firmly believed in Ash’s thoughts, which left a memorable impression on Rebecca. At the same time, after thinking about what would happen after Eco finished the appearance of the Ark, wondering about how heroically Ash would glow, it made her heart leap. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Oscar ordered Tristan to fly, and then disappeared into a distant edge on the other side of the sky.

“Wheel of Fortune ~A.SB.1365.9~” is closed.