The carriage left the royal capital.
　We were riding down the road to volcano Duego.
　A coachman is reining in the coachman's table and we're riding in the back.
　Meryl is sitting next to me, leaning on my shoulder.

"Mmm-hmm. I'm right next to you.
d*mn. ....... If I'd been sitting next to your father in rock-paper-scissors to determine who would be seated next to him ...... if I'd played my chocks out there, I'd be next to you right now.

　Elsa stared at her hands in frustration as she stared at her hands .

''Elsa's always giving out goo like she's an idiot,'' she said . If you give her a par, she will never lose.
I am a knight. I will fight fair and square with my fists. I will not win with soft hands like chopsticks and parsons.

　Are Choki and Parr soft hands?

Apparently, rock-paper-scissors comes from a rock, choki comes from a pair of scissors, and par comes from a piece of paper or cloth. Gu isn't a fist or anything.
'What?　Is that so?
If you value your knightly pride, you should fight with a pair of scissors, relatively close to a sword. Then we could have won that fight just now.
"Ugh. ....... I was unconscious.
That's how you know all this stuff, Anna.
It's just common sense. Common sense.
'I've shown my lack of education . I'm ashamed of myself. ......!　Your father will think I'm a brainy woman with only a sword. ......!
I don't think so.

　My darling daughter.
　She just needs to stay alive and healthy.

Monsieurs, aren't you? Sirs! Any time the monster comes through. ...... Why do you go to the volcano at this time of year in the first place?
"It's for research. There's been a sighting of a giant monster up at the volcano. We're going to see if it's an ancient dragon.

　Even if it's a different demon than him, I'm going to defeat it because if I leave it alone, it might cause damage, but...

''Ancient dragons are that thing, aren't they?　More than a decade ago, they burned down an entire village at the foot of the mountain: ....... The village was a sea of fire and it was like a picture of hell. At the time, I heard about the devastation through word of mouth.

　When your man said that...

But the masters must be curious, coming all the way out here to look for such a scary monster. It's not a combat mission, so there's no reward money, right?　Mister, do you have some kind of history with him?
"--

　I've been pushed a bit too far.
　There's a connection between me and the Ancient Dragon.
　...... It wasn't just me.
　There's a connection between him and my daughters, too.
　The reason the girls' home was burned to the ground and I was separated from my real parents was because I failed to defeat him.
　I tried to cover up what your man said, but there was a weird pause because I was so upset. It would be awkward to say anything now.
　But if you don't say anything, you'll attract attention.
　Just as I was thinking that, Anna spun out a few words for me.

"It's not about karma. It's not about karma. Then that's a good enough reason. Huh?
"Anna's right. Your father is a man of the big picture. He wielded the sword for the men of King's Landing. And I have done the same.
I'm just following you because I have to go.
"Ha-ha. That's the father of a great knight and guildmaster. That's a fine way of thinking. I don't know if I could do it myself.

　I think your man is satisfied with his answer.
　Your daughters helped you.
　But they weren't wrong either.
　If we leave the ancient dragon unattended, he'll do more damage than he did last time. We have to kill him first.
　The carriage rode along the road for a while before it entered the deep woods.
　Giant trees no more than a few hundred years old loomed densely in the distance. The sky is dark as night, even in the middle of the day, due to the layers of leaves that cover the sky.
　The air was cool and clear.
　You walked straight down a dark road lined with huge trees on either side.

Be careful. There are many demons in this forest. If you're lucky, you'll get through without encountering them.



　A coachman sitting on the coach's rostrum pulled on the reins and said.

"Then maybe we're in the wrong place today.
What?
"There's demons circling the wagon. Do you hear that?　You hear footsteps stomping in the dirt in all directions.
Yeah?

　About ten seconds after your man screamed.
　A black shadow leapt out of the bushes ahead.
　A wolf!
　A vicious wolf demon. Sharp claws and fangs, and muscular legs. It was a dangerous foe, slaughtering its prey in disciplined packs.
　In the bushes and trees around them, red eyes appeared one by one.
　Soon there were nearly a dozen of them.
　We got up from our seats on the back of the truck and went down to the ground.
　Anna's a non-combatant, so we stay put.
　I called to the driver's man.

"You stay in the carriage. Don't take one more step. As long as you stay put, I'll keep you safe.
'Oh, yeah ....... But are you okay?　That many in three: ......
Maybe we're a little too close together.
'What?　Hey, hey, if you're dead, we're dead too!　You know that right!
Hmm?　I think you're confused about something. No, no, no. It's not us who are too clever, it's the bloodwolves.

　As I said this, I drew the sword from my waist.

"Honestly, it's more than enough for one of us. I'd feel a little bad for them if it took three of us to do that.

　★

A few minutes later--.
　There was a Bloodwolf carcass lying in front of us.
　There was a herd of nearly a dozen of them, but we killed every one of them.
　Of course we were unharmed.

Well... Well... that's about it. But the two of you did some good work, though. You feel better than usual, don't you?
I was excited. It's been a long time since my father and I have fought together, so I'm very excited.
Buh. I wish you could have seen more magic. These kids have no bones. They won't even get warmed up.
That's the real thing: ......

　Your man had a horrified look on his face.