<There should have been clothing of many different colors in that room,> said the dragon.

<I like red.> The girl had proudly declared it was her new favorite color.

<…Away from this island,> the dragon continued, <there is even more clothing—and more gems as well. There will be lots of the things you like—and many more red things.>

The girl gave the dragon a startled look. Red eyes and blue eyes met.

<No…,> said the girl. It seemed she didn’t want the dragon to continue. <What I want can only be found on this island.>

<Hear me.>

The girl shook her head, but the dragon ignored her and continued. <Once I die, the things of this island will turn to ash. But only the things of this island. You are not of this island. You were born away from here. When I die, you will not become ash. Even after I die, you must continue to live—away from this island.>

Upon speaking plainly, the dragon suddenly realized—

It seemed he did not want the girl to die.

<There’s no place for me away from this island,> said the girl.

<You’ve only ever spent two or three years away from this island, haven’t you? You simply had bad fortune for those two or three years. Surely there are humans who will be kind to you.>

The girl shook her head fiercely. Droplets scattered from the corners of her eyes to splatter on the marble floor.

<Even still,> the girl went on. <Still… You’re the very first one who was ever kind to me.>

<It was you, and no one else,> the girl said with tears building again. <I want to be with you.>

The dragon felt the same.

All the creatures of Eden were family, but the girl was special to him. He figured that had to be because he’d been watching over the girl since she was a small child. Not having a bond of blood, he couldn’t be certain, but…

It seems that I’ve come to love this girl as a father.

The girl said, <I don’t want you to die. All the creatures of Eden are family…but you’re special to me.>

She said exactly what the dragon had been thinking.

<The next time the humans attack, let’s flee the island together,> the girl continued. <One of a dragon’s secret abilities is to assume the form of a human, right? Let’s disguise ourselves as humans and survive together.>

That was a request he could not grant.

<God has entrusted me with the task to protect Eden. I cannot abandon it.>

But still.

<Does God really exist?> the girl asked. <If He is real, then why doesn’t He help us? We haven’t done anything wrong.>

<God will save us. Now you listen to me. What I’m about to say, you must not ever forget. In Eden, we have lived without hating or loathing anyone, with love and respect for one another. This manner of benevolence is impossible in the lands of men.>

So God does exist.

If you’ve done good things, then you will know salvation.

<When a soul has accumulated good deeds,> the dragon went on, <it will be taken to the Kingdom of Eternity after death. There lies paradise eternal. There, you shall live forever, without being stricken by illness or withered by age, and can spend everlasting life with the ones you love. Of course, there is also no fear of threats from the sea. I want to see you in the Kingdom of Eternity. So even after you have ventured to the lands of men, you must not doubt God. You must not turn your back on these teachings.>

<So in other words, God says, I’ll save your soul, so for now, give up and die?>

It was then that the dragon realized the three years before the girl had come to this island had been fatal.

He had thought back then that, since she’d been a small child, it was not yet too late.

But this girl did not believe in God. Therefore, she could not accept that the structure of the world was so sincerely open, concealing nothing.

In the most fundamental areas, my daughter is a human still.

<…I understand. Let us go to the lands of men together. Let us try living in the human world a little,> the dragon said, but this was not because he had decided that he would live with the girl as a human.

It was in order to get her used to the human world… To the place she had to return.

It took three days for the dragon’s wounds to fully heal.

On the night they were to leave for the lands of men, the dragon gave her one of his scales. <Swallow this. If you do, then you’ll be able to transform into a full-fledged dragon for a short while.>

The girl swallowed the scale without a second thought. Her small body began to change, and in the blink of an eye, she had become a little dragon.

When they stood side by side, the big dragon and the little dragon really did look like parent and child.

The two dragons left the island for the lands of men.

They were headed for the capital of an empire called Norvelland. It was the most glorious city in the empire, Nibelungen.

But clearly they couldn’t land directly in Nibelungen. The silver dragons’ wings would stand out far too much. First, the dragons headed to a deserted location a short distance from the city.

Fortunately for them, no one saw them land.

The large dragon used a secret art to transform into a young man. The color of his short hair was the same silver as his scales.

The little dragon returned to her humanoid form. She simply had to wish to return to human form to make it so.

The two humans were naked.

The girl hid her chest and privates with her hands and sat down.

And then, with her face red as an apple, she said, <D-don’t look…>

The man didn’t understand why the girl would say such a thing, but he decided to turn his back to her.

He was the protective father who had raised the girl, and there was no doubt that the girl thought of him as her father as well. Being parent and child, there was nothing to be embarrassed about, even if they were both naked.

The man walked behind a nearby boulder. There, he had hidden a large bag. Inside was a set of the items needed for traveling, including clothes. He had brought them over during the day.

While ensuring that he didn’t look at the girl, the man handed over some clothes for her. Behind him, he could hear her hastily clothing herself. Meanwhile, the man also dressed.

<You can look now…,> the girl said.

Standing there was a girl wearing the attire of a middle-class resident of the Norvelland Empire.

Properly clothed, the girl seemed to feel relieved, but now it was the man’s turn to become nervous.

While transformed into a human, the dragon couldn’t wield even 10 percent of his original power. It was possible that he was even weaker than the girl in this form. What’s more, he’d heard that certain humans had eyes that could detect dragons in disguise. In the unlikely event that they were attacked, it would be difficult to protect the girl.

The sights of the countryside surrounded them. Off in the distance, the mountains were shrouded in darkness.

They made their way to a small stone bridge. This was the path that led to the capital.

The man took the girl’s hand. <Stay by my side.> On the off chance that they were attacked, the man meant to protect the girl, even at the cost of his life.

The girl’s cheeks were red. But this was nothing like a flush of embarrassment. She not only gave him her hand, but she even leaned into him.

Side by side, they walked through the night until they finally reached the city. Normal people would have felt terribly sore, but it was no problem for them.

They were before the main way in Nibelungen, under an arch where the name of the city was carved. Having finally reached the city, the silver man came to a stop.

He looked straight at the girl and said, <We are about to enter a human city. And so, now I have a request of you.> His voice was tense. <I want you to avoid any preconceived notions as you look around. There will surely be kind people. There will surely be things you will enjoy.>

The girl nodded without thinking about it deeply.

The man didn’t notice that her nod was not entirely honest.

Because the girl had already found something she enjoyed.

Just walking along the night road where there was nothing but country fields, pulled by the young man’s hand, the girl had been enjoying herself. Her heart was pounding. She wanted him to take her hand again, and this time, for him to draw her close.

She didn’t tell him that she was already enjoying herself. She was worried that if she voiced it, their goal here would be done, and it would be over.

She wanted to keep walking with him.

The pair decided to stay at an inn that was neither expensive nor cheap, but right in the middle.

Leaving their bag in the room, they rested only a little before the two of them headed into the city.

Being that it was the capital, the city was bustling, indeed, and full of vitality.

But that was all.

There wasn’t a single thing about this city the girl could enjoy.

She never felt any of the simple joys or pounding of her heart that she’d felt when they’d been walking together with the fields around them.

And that was because no matter where you looked…

…the city was overflowing with dragonslayers.

There were opera performances. The story depicted a hero killing the evil dragon Fafnir—or the story of God raining lightning down upon the treacherous dragon Lucifer and thrusting him down into hell. The singers loudly belted out their songs of the honor of heroes and humiliation of dragons.

There was a bronze statue in the square. It depicted a soldier thrusting a spear into a dragon’s breast. The children running around the square were playing pretend and slaying dragons with make-believe weapons. The role of the dragonslayer was popular, and they all fought over it. In the end, a child who looked like the son of a soldier got the role of dragonslayer, and a timid-looking child had the role of evil dragon foisted on them.

There was a book being sold. It was an award-winning romance novel popular with women. The summary revealed that it was about a prince killing a dragon to save a princess, who he later wed.

The grilled meat of a small dragon was being sold at a food stall. They said that dragon fat was used as fuel for the fire that cooked the meat. The girl thought it was a nasty joke.

The disguised silver dragon had said there were surely kind people in this city, there would surely be things she enjoyed…

But to the girl…

…this bustling and resplendent city of Nibelungen…

…was nothing more than a nightmare made real.