Nia and Grulf looked surprised when they heard the roar.
“Groof-groof!”
“It’s so loud.”
“Indeed. I feel like we’d be able to hear it in the city.”
In any case, we had better run.
“Let’s go.”
“Understood!”
“Groof!”
“Cluck!”
Lord Gerberga on the other hand, was not surprised. He look unconcerned as he held onto my shoulder.
“Are you alright, Lord Gerberga? Do you want to come back inside the breastplate?”
“Cluck.”
I think he was saying he was fine.
And so I started to run even faster. Nia was lagging behind.
It was no wonder, since she was eight years old.
“Grulf, could you carry her?”
“Groof!”
It seemed like he could.
And so I grabbed Nia by the collar and put her onto Grulf’s back.
Grulf was still young but he was almost as big as a horse.
“So-sorry. I couldn’t keep up.”
“Don’t worry about it. Are you alright, Grulf?”
“Groof!”
Grulf ran as fast as he could.
And so I ran beside him at the same pace.
“GYAAAAAAAAAAOOO!! IIIII WWWIIIILLL BEEEEE WAAAIIITTING OOON THEEE WEEESSTT HILLL!!”
Kathe screamed.
I had told Kathe to use any means available to contact me.
But this would draw too much attention. It was horrible.
“We have to get there in a hurry. Who knows what will happen if other Adventurers or knights get there first.”
Luckily, the western hills were quite close to where we were.
“Grulf, we have to run even faster.”
“Grrr!”
I began to run and Grulf did his best to keep up.
But Grulf looked like he wasn’t able to run as fast with Nia on his back.
And so I grabbed Nia’s collar and carried her instead.
“Sorry. We’re in a hurry.”
“Ye-yes!”
Nia’s tail swayed in the wind.
It was just as Grulf was getting tired from our accelerated speed, that Kathe came into view.
“Gahaha! Locke, you were quick.”
“We just happened to be in the area.”
“Is that so!”
Kathe was in a good mood.
I looked at our surroundings. There were no knights or Adventurers yet.
“Kathe. We can talk later. We have to hide.”
“Hm? But why?”
“You know why. A great dragon was screaming so loud that everyone in the capital must have heard it. They might even send an army.”
“Hmph.”
“Stop that. We have to leave now.”
“Alright, I understand. Now, get on my back.”
“Thank you.”
And so I got onto Kathe’s back while still carrying Nia.
And then I put her down.
“Thank you.”
“Sorry that it was so sudden. Lord Gerberga. You’ll have to come inside, now that we’ll be flying.”
“Cluck.”
And Lord Gerberga came off of my shoulder and into the breastplate.
By then, Grulf had also caught up with us.
“Grulf, get up here.”
“Grrr.”
Grulf sat down. I understood why.
“Grulf. You want to wait here? I think you should come with us. You might be attacked by vampires if you stay.”
“Groof!”
Grulf howled loudly.
He was probably trying to muster up the courage. And then he jumped onto Kathe’s back.
“Are you all on now?”
“Yes. You can move.”
“Leave it to me.”
And with that, Kathe flew up into the sky.
Nia squeezed my hand tightly.
“So-sorry. I’m just a little scared.”
“It’s fine. You can hold my hand as much as you want.”
“Thank you.”
Nia smiled.
But her tail was not moving, so it was likely a forced smile.
Grulf was also very scared.
He didn’t bark like he usually did, but whimpered like a puppy.
Not only were we high in the sky, but we were riding on a fearsome monster’s back.
He shivered and pressed up against me.
“Don’t worry.”
I petted him with my free hand.
Kathe looked very pleased and said,
“Gahahaha. I have never flown with humans on my back before.”
“I see. That’s nice. So, did the goblins take over some ruins again?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Apparently, Kathe had went around casting concealment magic on ancient dragon ruins after discovering them.
“They already have concealment magic cast on them from long ago. But time tends to weaken them.”
“So you are going around and strengthening them?”
“Yes, exactly. It’s dragon magic, after all. Goblins wouldn’t able to get in unless it had weakened considerably.”
“That may be true, but there’s a possibility that someone is going around and deactivating them too.”
“GAHAHAHA! That person must be very bored indeed!”
If there was someone bored enough to go around casting concealment spells.
Then there very well could be someone who goes around deactivating them.
However, I’m sure Kathe would only say that it was done for the honorable purpose of preserving important cultural assets.
It was not the same as someone who went about deactivating them for fun.
Kathe sounded a little sad now.
“Even dragon magic becomes weak after thousands of years.”
“You can’t help the passing of time.”
“Gahaha! It is especially convincing coming from someone who can’t live long.”
Kathe said merrily.
And so I asked Kathe,
“So, this time it was your own spell that was broken?”
“Yes. But it was my first time casting concealment magic… So perhaps I did something wrong.”
“That’s unusual. Dragon’s are supposed to be good with magic. But even monkeys fall from trees sometimes.”
“I am very ashamed of myself. And so I would like you to see it later…”
“I don’t mind.”
“Because the concealment spell you cast before was amazing!”
Apparently, Kathe had cast intruder detection magic as well as concealment magic.
And the intruder detection magic had caught something. It was probably goblins.
“And so I decided to call you, Locke.”
“Uh…huh…”
Kathe didn’t do this maliciously. In fact, the dragon looked obliviously smug.
But we would have to have a good discussion about methods of contacting me later on.