Chapter 97
"Y-Yes!"
I unfolded a kind of defensive magic in front of Iris who crouched down .
The magic won't completely block the damage, but it can nullify the dragon-damaging magic part, the rest should be fine with Iris's defensive prowess .
As for me, since I don't have the time to deploy a strong defensive magic, I make it to only slightly reduce the magic impact .
Thus, being helpless against the blast, I got blown away .
I slightly changed my trajectory while I was in the air, preventing me from hitting obstacles .
As a result--
"Mathi-kun!?"
"A-are you okay!?"
I got blown to where Ruli and Alma were .
I guess it's around 100 meter away .
"I'm fine . Humans won't die just from being blown 100 meter away . "
I stood up while saying that .
Looks like I got off of this without any injury .
"No well, I think they will though . . . . "
"Even 10 meter will kill you right . . . ?"
But the two don't seem to get it .
Well, there's a lot of knacks to get out of a blast after all .
"You'll be able to withstand it if you forge your body . The knack is to not let your mouth and nose inhale the blast . Once you've got that sorted out, the rest isn't any different from a 100 meter free fall . . . With that, don't you think it's possible to survive somehow?"
"No I don't!"
"That's using Iris-san and Mathi-kun as the standard isn't it--what is this sound!?"
Ruli suddenly cut her words .
We could hear a loud rumbling of something huge moving .
. . . Well, I can guess what sound is that from the mana reaction .
"Ah, no need to worry about this rumbling . "
"But it sounds obviously dangerous!? We've got to hurry and run!"
The loud rumbling stopped right when Alma was going to run .
Soon after--
"I've brought the magic stone with me!"
Iris showed herself up from the dungeon's passage .
Body of the dragon we fought earlier was behind her .
The loud rumbling earlier was from Iris dragging the dragon .
"Ou . Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Nope! I'm saved thanks to Mathias-san! . . . Humans really are small and inconvenient . . . You get buried in a dungeon, fall on a small hole . . . "
"This body is convenient once you get used to it though . "
I check out Iris's body with magic while talking .
She seems to be unhurt . Looks like the defensive magic worked well .
"By the way, Iris . "
After confirming that, I spoke to her .
I've decided on something just now .
"Yes, what is it . "
"This might be a bit sudden, but I'd like to officially treat Iris as one of our party members from now on . "
Up until now, I treated Iris only as a dragon .
But now, treating her like a dragon feels a bit wrong .
Her outward appearance is that of human after all, and she's also treated like human socially .
It makes me think that I should treat Iris like a human while she's in this form .
I spoke with that in mind .
"Me, becoming Mathias-san's party member . . . ? Is that alright?"
"Of course . Alma and Ruli too . . . are you fine with it?"
"I'm in agreement!"
"Me too, I agree . Iris-san is such a great help for us!"
Everyone is unanimous in this .
"Iris is now officially our party member . . . Which means, there is something we should do . "
"Something we should do?"
"Yeah . Now that you're our party member, I can't let you easily get hurt or die on us . I'm thinking of properly training you, Iris, so you get used to that body as soon as possible . "
"To think the day Mathias-san worries about me would come . . . . Thank you very much! Please take care of me!"
Iris happily answered my suggestion .
Her dragon body won't easily get hurt, but there's no guarantee that something like earlier will never happen again .
I can't always protect her with magic like that .
" . . . Mathi-kun's proper training?"
"I-I've got a bad feeling about this somehow . . . . "