The next morning.
　Having rested fully, the fatigue of yesterday was gone.
　Everyone was looking good and showed no signs of fatigue.

Well then, let's get on with the search for the dragons. Sola, Luna. I'm counting on you.
I understand.
"Leave it to us!

　The two of them said a spell.
　Waves of light spread out around us.

　First of all, I decided to have them use magic to find the dragon.
　It's the magic that I used in the lord's mansion before, the magic of exploring the magic reaction in the surroundings.
　If the dragon is there, there should be a high-powered magical reaction........

"Mmm.

　Luna got a difficult look on her face.
　Then Sora gave a small shake of her head.

'No good. There's no response.'
Apparently, there are no dragons around here.
What's the range?
I'd say a radius of 300 meters around Sora.

　It's pretty big.
　However, the mountains are even bigger than that.
　If we're going to cover the whole area, we'll have to use our magic over and over again.

'Let's try it again?　I don't mind. I still have plenty of magic in me.
''I've been sleeping gooey or gooey with my belly out, you know. Sleeping like that will replenish your magic power in abundance.
Yeah, you didn't do that!
Oh, he got my habit.

　He is an energetic fellow.

I'll do the next one.

　I can't let you two work alone.
　Besides, when it comes to exploration, I'm probably better suited to it.

　I invited the birds to perch on the branches of the trees and made a tentative pact with them.
　I asked them to call their friends and made a tentative agreement with them, too.
　And so, after a dozen or so birds...
　I gave the order to let them fly in all directions, letting them know if they found a dragon.

　A bird would be able to search for it from above.
　It might be difficult to find a small target, but in this case, it was a dragon.
　Because of its large body, searching from the sky would not be a problem.
　On top of that, it can fly at a reasonable speed, so it can cover a wide area.

　With this, we should be able to find the dragon.
　That's what I thought....

........nyah. I don't see any response.
No.

　Thirty minutes later.
　Kanade and Tina murmured, as if they were tired of waiting.

''.......Failure?''

　Nina said, tilting her head slightly.
　It's quite unrelenting.

　But ... funny, isn't it?
　With that many birds, we should be able to cover this mountain if we have enough.
　The birds are flying fast, and this mountain isn't very wide...

　So how is it that there are no reports of discovery?
　The behemoth.
　There's no way he could be hiding in the trees.

　It's possible that he's hiding in a huge cave.
　Even in this case, there are still traces of something in the surroundings.
　For example, trees may have been torn down or footprints may have been left on the ground.
　If you can't find even that, then.....

Oh...

　I realized that I had been disappointed in a certain possibility, and I yelled out.

'Nyan?　What's going on?
'On second thought, maybe I was mistaken.
Did I misunderstand you?
Those are dragons, right?　It's the same dragon race as Tania, right?
Yeah, I guess so.
So you could be just as humanoid as Tania was?
Oh...

　Kanade seemed to understand what I meant, and Kanade raised his voice.

　I mean.........
　We were looking for a dragon, but that doesn't mean they're going to stay that way forever.
　It could have taken the form of a person.
　In that case, the method of using birds to search the sky would be futile.
　I won't say zero, but the chances of finding it would be infinitesimally low.

　Oh dear.
　Due to seeing the dragon form for the first time, I was so impressed by it that I assumed it would always be in that form.
　It's possible that he's usually transformed into a person, like Tania.
　Or it could be that she is transforming into a person and hiding from her pursuers to hide from them.

　Either way, it's hard to find them using the bird.
　I broke my tentative contract with the bird.

''Hmm. So that means our magic is the only thing we can rely on?
''Even if they were transformed into people, they can't hide their magical powers, you know. With the magic of Sora and the others, they would be able to catch the dragons with certainty.
It's just that it's too broad...

　Even though the mountain isn't that big, it would still take a good amount of time to traverse it.
　Even if you ask Sora and Luna to use their magic and search for it in a lullaby, it would be inefficient.

　Besides, it's not always possible for them to stay still.
　It's also possible that they are always on the move....
　The chances of finding them are even lower if they go the wrong way.

Is there anything we can do to help?
Hey.

　On top of Nina's head, Tina raised her hand.

　
　Is it your favorite?

I'll give you an idea at my place.
Can I ask you a question?
In that case, I'll just set a trap!



----------



....

　A woman was walking in the mountains to the north.
　Carrying her pack on her back, she slowly made her way down a slightly rough road.

　Would her destination be the city beyond the mountains?
　Out of breath, occasionally stopping for a break...
　Step by step, she trudged through the mountains.

　If anyone else was around, they might look at her and tell her that it was dangerous for a woman to travel alone.
　She could be attacked by bandits, she could meet demons.

　It's just.....

　There was an existence in this mountain that was much more dangerous than bandits and demons right now.

''Grrrrrr!
What?

　Nothing happened a few minutes ago, and now...
　Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dragon flew in.
　It landed in front of the woman while flapping its huge wings.

''Do, dragon!
'....Foolish man, you will die for us. If you hate me, hate yourself for walking out of a place like this alone!

　The dragon roared and raised its massive paws as it roared.
　As it is, it slams into the woman with great force.
　The woman's body would not be allowed to disobey, and her body would be crushed.

　..........

''What?!''

　The dragon let out a startled cry.
　That was as it should be.
　The woman had caught the dragon's blow with her thin arms.

'Nonsense!　My blow to such a man who are you!

　The woman grins.

'Hmmm. What am I, you say?　The answer is........the cat spirit race!

　There was a blah, blah, blah, blah, and the woman's body was enveloped in smoke.

　Somewhat later, the smoke cleared...
　Kanade appeared.