Beyond the southeastern border of the empire lies a neutral zone controlled by no one.
This place between the Elf Forest and human lands is the territory of monsters, the wild itself.
The empire’s dragon knight, Adman, was wandering around there.
Grrr.
“Damn.”
His stomach had been churning for a long time. He’d barely eaten in the past few days.
In a moment of carelessness, a flying beast had stolen all the food he’d brought.
He never made mistakes like this normally. Somehow, his luck was rotten.
Adman licked his dry lips.
His tongue felt rough. He lifted his water flask to moisten his throat, but there was hardly any water left.
“Of all times…”
He could probably find water somehow, but the problem was food. This forest was full of poisonous plants, so there was nothing edible to be found.
“Tch, I really don’t want to eat monster meat.”
Adman clicked his tongue.
Just thinking about monster meat made his face wrinkle in disgust. The fishy, tongue-numbing taste made him want to retch.
“Ahem… No choice, I guess.”
That said, hunting was his only option right now.
Adman decided to set a trap and pulled a glass cube from his pocket.
The glass cube sparkled in the sunlight, making it visible from afar and useful in many ways.
It was mainly used for signaling, but another purpose was as bait. Many beasts had a peculiar fondness for shiny things.
“This should do.”
He placed the glass cube in the center of the trap and hid nearby.
A short while later.
“Peep!”
Before long, a resounding bird cry echoed through the forest.
Judging by the loud voice, it seemed like quite a large one had been caught.
Adman hurried to the trap.
“Hmm?”
He’d never seen such a large bird before.
It was so big and strong that when it flapped its wings, the ropes fixed all around shook violently.
Still, a net made for monsters wouldn’t tear easily.
“Grrr.”
A massive beast snorted beside Adman.
With rough hide and thick legs, the heavy-walking beast looked like a cross between a lizard and a crocodile.
When the beast shook its head, drool dripped from its mouth.
It was excited in front of prey.
“Dragon horse, calm down.”
The empire had even attached the word “dragon” to this beast’s name, calling it a “dragon horse.”
Originally, “dragon knight” was a title created to honor the “first dragon knight, Ryan.”
The legendary hero Ryan, who rode a true dragon soaring through the skies.
Those granted the title of dragon knight by the empire in his lineage had exceptional pride.
Even though they rode lizards, not dragons.
Thud, thud.
Adman drew his dagger and approached Dorori.
“I don’t know what kind of creature it is, but it’s better than monster meat.”
He hurried to finish the job before the hard-caught prey escaped.
Suddenly.
“…Huh?!”
His vision went black.
The sun floating in the sky vanished in an instant, swallowed by something.
Adman tilted his head upward.
“Th-that?!”
A massive silhouette that seemed to devour the sun.
Scales of intense ruby red, like blazing flames.
Horns glowing with mysterious light and deep golden eyes.
It was the apex predator among all things in the world.
“…F-fire dragon.”
One of the ancient dragons, a fire dragon.
To take in as much as possible of a sight he might see only once in a lifetime, he stopped even blinking and admired it.
His whole body tingled with joy.
For the empire’s dragon knights, dragons held special meaning. Especially ancient dragons that had lived for thousands of years—they were objects of reverence beyond admiration.
With power to blow away a major city in one go if they wished, and bodies where nothing was worthless.
“…Hah.”
Adman exhaled heavily. Just looking at it felt like his body was crushed under immense pressure. His body froze before the dignity emanated by this noble being that wouldn’t tolerate even approaching it.
Tremble, tremble.
The dragon horse lay flat on the ground on one side, not moving a muscle, as if dead. Like a lizard before an eagle, it huddled low and shivered.
The dragon horse, praised as a dragon by the empire’s citizens and displaying majesty, was nothing but a lowly creature before the fire dragon.
“?!”
Adman, who had been immersed in awe at the fire dragon’s splendor, suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Wasn’t the fire dragon turning and flying straight toward him?
Flap.
Soon, the fire dragon landed nearby, stirring up a gale-like wind.
Danger!
An alarm rang in his mind, but his body wouldn’t budge.
It was as if immense gravity pinned him down, leaving him unable to move.
“…Gulp.”
Swallowing dryly was all he could manage.
Even breathing in front of the fire dragon felt blasphemous, requiring utmost caution.
Thump, thump, thump.
Adman’s heart pounded like fireworks.
Fear that he might die at any moment surged alongside reverence.
His slightly dilated pupils fixed on the fire dragon.
Then.
“Hey, Dorori!”
The fire dragon spoke.
For a moment, he doubted if it was an illusion, but a voice came from the fire dragon again.
Could the fire dragon truly speak human language?
The bird reacted to the voice.
“Peep!”
Pop.
Soon, something emerged from behind the fire dragon’s back.
“…A… human?!”
Adman couldn’t help but doubt his eyes.
It was clearly a person.
A young man descended from the fire dragon’s back.
And he acted without any hesitation right in front of the fire dragon’s nose.
How could he be so calm in front of a massive fire dragon? Was he really human?
“Dorori!”
The man spotted the bird and dashed to the net at terrifying speed.
“Peep!”
“Hang on. I’ll get you out now.”
Snip, he cut through the sturdy net in one go.
This wasn’t a net that could be cut with a mere dagger. It was tough enough to withstand a monster’s claws.
Yet he cleared it away as easily as sweeping cobwebs.
“Are you okay? No injuries?”
“Peep!”
The bird shed tears like chicken droppings and nestled into the man. The man stroked the bird, which didn’t even fit in one arm.
“What the…”
Adman’s mind went blank from the events unfolding in an instant.
The fire dragon’s appearance was shocking enough, but now a human who had arrived on its back.
Too many things happened suddenly and all at once.
“Did you set this trap?”
Flinch.
“Ah, uh, that… I’m s-sorry.”
Adman, who had been rolling his eyes, suddenly bowed his head deeply. It was because he was intimidated by the immense aura.
He couldn’t tell if the aura came from the man or the fire dragon, but it didn’t matter.
“I-I was so hungry that I set the trap. I really didn’t know the bird had an owner.”
He hurriedly explained his situation, but there was no reply. A heavy silence seemed to choke him.
“Grrr.”
For a moment, when the fire dragon snorted massively, Adman felt dizzy all over. Just the sound of its breath made his body feel like it was burning up.
Shiver.
His tensed body stiffened as he anxiously awaited the man’s judgment.
“Ahem.”
The man cleared his throat once and spoke as if swallowing his anger.
“Since Dorori isn’t hurt, I’ll let it slide this time as a mistake.”
“…Th-thank you!”
His tightly tensed body relaxed as if the strength drained out.
“Dorori, let’s head home now.”
“Peep.”
The bird flew up into the sky first. As the man turned to walk toward the fire dragon, he looked back at Adman and said.
“And take this.”
Adman caught the item tossed with a thud.
It was a glass bottle.
“You seem in a tough spot too, so drink that at least. It should give you some energy.”
Flap, flap.
The fire dragon carrying him spread its massive wings and soared into the sky.
Adman stared blankly at the sky where the fire dragon had disappeared.
After standing like that for a while, he suddenly looked down at his hand, where a red liquid sloshed in the glass bottle.
“…It should be fine to drink, right?”
He pulled out the cork.
Pop.
A sweet, fragrant aroma wafted strongly from the glass bottle. His brief hesitation evaporated with the scent.
Unconsciously, he brought the bottle to his lips.
Gulp.
“!!!”
With just one sip, his hair stood on end, and his pupils dilated.
As the sweetness touched his tongue, it danced in ecstasy.
He could confidently call it a heavenly taste.
Gulp, gulp.
After finishing the whole bottle, his mind began to clear.
Energy surged through his body, restoring his vitality.
“…Amazing. Truly amazing!”
It was an effect that left him with nothing to say but “amazing.”
“I was… really lucky.”
Luck that came suddenly at the end of misfortune.
The glass bottle tossed by the mysterious dragon rider brought an unforgettable shock to his life.
“A dragon?”
In the barracks of the dragon knights at the empire’s border, an untimely small commotion arose. It was because the dragon knights gathered snugly inside the barracks were focused on the recent rumor.
“You really saw a dragon?”
“Yeah. And not just any dragon. A fire dragon!”
“F-fire dragon?!”
Several jaws dropped at once. Some eyes shook, and among them, some shook their heads in disbelief.
“Come on, you didn’t see an illusion, did you? You said you starved for days? Maybe in your dazed state, you mistook a big bird for a fire dragon.”
“Yeah. Fire dragons aren’t something you see easily. If you’re going to lie, make it believable.”
The last time a dragon appeared in human lands was over a hundred years ago, an old tale. Moreover, it was established that dragons rarely changed their habitats.
The man who started the story shouted in frustration.
“Oh, come on! I’m so frustrated! I thought that at first too. But—”
Before he could finish, Adman, at the center of this controversy, entered the barracks.
“Hey, Adman! Tell us yourself. Did you really see a fire dragon?”
Adman walked straight toward them without answering.
Thud, thud.
As he approached, his colleagues’ expressions gradually settled.
It was because Adman’s face was more serious than ever.
With a dry expression devoid of any humor, he opened his mouth.
“…It was a wondrous moment.”
Adman’s voice trembled faintly.
Though it was hard to contain his emotions in one sentence, it was enough to stir his colleagues.
“…A fire dragon really appeared?”
“Wow! Seeing a fire dragon up close!”
“No one has seen a fire dragon and lived to tell!”
At that moment.
“…No.”
A single word that brought silence.
All eyes focused on Adman’s mouth.
“There was another human there besides me.”
And then the unbelievable words that followed.
“He arrived riding the fire dragon.”
At those words, everyone gathered there froze stiff as if time had stopped.