After Dorgo talked about the succession for a while, we moved onto a lighter subject.
Then I turned to Drogo and said,
“Now, as for this water dragon settlement. I think we should head for it as soon as possible.”
“Of course. There is not much time.”
“Still, there are preparations to make, so it cannot be right now… But what about tomorrow?”
The water dragon settlement was on the edge of the kingdom. That put it quite far away from the capital.
It would still take several hours if Kathe took us.
So it would be too late if we headed for it after the attack started.
While it didn’t seem likely that a large scale invasion had begun already, we had to go as soon as possible.
“No, Mister Ruck. Please wait.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“There are things that need to be done first. I have to explain things to the water dragons as well.”
The water dragons would be confused if humans suddenly stepped into their territory unannounced.
It might hurt their pride.
And so Dorgo needed to come between them and explain.
“I suppose you are right. After all, they had asked the Wind Dragon Ruler for help, not us.”
I said and Goran nodded.
“Yes. The water dragons may not want the help of some puny little humans.”
“No. I do not know about me or Goran. But surely they would not deny Ruck’s help.”
I had no idea why Eric would think such a thing.
“Hmm. Eric is right.”
“Yes. Even if they were not particularly happy, they should not be angry.”
Kathe and Dorgo agreed.
“I don’t think that’s true at all… But I understand that you need time.”
“Yes. Sorry to make you wait like this.”
“Just tell us when you need our help. We will go at once.”
Milka had been listening too, and here she muttered,
“But if Mister Locke leaves, won’t the capital be unsafe?”
“That’s true.”
“I’d be quite worried.”
Shia and Serulis said seriously.
“Eric and Goran will be here. It’ll be fine.”
“Yes, but…”
“And the divine barrier. Right, Eric and Goran?”
I looked at them.
“I’ll have to brace myself…”
“Aye, I’ll give it my all.”
I didn’t think they needed to do anything out of the ordinary.
As we talked about it, Dorgo said,
“Also…Mister Ruck. This is very hard for me to say, but…”
“What is it?”
“I heard that you put a lock on the palace of the Wind Dragon King, which I am very grateful for…”
Dorgo hesitated.
It wasn’t just Kathe’s house. It was the Wind Dragon King palace.
Perhaps there was some rule that I had broken.
I became worried.
“Should I not have done that?”
“No! I am very grateful. Such a secure lock would have been hard for even us to do.”
“Right? A lock that Ruck put in place will keep out all of the dark ones!”
Kathe said proudly.
Her tail swayed.
“That’s a relief then. Was there some other breach in etiquette?”
“Etiquette? Of course not! Right, dad?”
“Yes. There is nothing of that sort. But…”
Dorgo hesitated again. I patiently waited for him to continue.
“This is truly embarrassing…but I am unable to enter.”
“Oh.”
Now that I think of it, he had not been registered.
“Even dad couldn’t get inside, huh.”
“At first, I thought that there was no way I should not be able to go through if Kathe had created the lock. But it made sense once I found out that it was you who did it.”
“That is nothing to be embarrassed about, dad!”
Kathe said happily.
“Oh, I am not embarrassed… I am truly sorry…but if you could also register me to that door…”
“Well, we must do it immediately then. Let us head over to the palace right now.”
“Thank you! I will take you there myself. You must ride on my back.”
“What! Ruck should ride on my back.”
“No, he should ride on the father’s back.”
“But…”
“Kathe, you already carried him before, haven’t you? Don’t you think you should let me have this one?”
After much debating, they agreed that I should ride Dorgo.
“I will write you a travel permit for the gate.”
Eric said as he began to write.
This was a temporary one, as the official ones took time to issue.
And so we left the city and moved away from the walls.
There, Dorgo transformed into a dragon. He was even bigger than Kathe.
Then I got onto his back and rose into the air.
“Well then, here we go.”
“Thank you.”
Dorgo’s speed was intense.
“Ahaha. To think that the day would come that I would fly while carrying you, Mister Ruck! It is the greatest honor.”
“No, thank you.”
We reached Kathe’s palace in no time.
Once we were there, it was easy enough to register Dorgo to the door.
“It’s finished.”
“Thank you so much. I will now take you back to the city.”
After taking me back to the capital, Dorgo then flew straight for the water dragon settlement.