The final test has begun.

　The earth was shaking and the cave was about to collapse.

I don't think we'll be able to stay too long. We should get back to the place where Lara and her friends are.

　Muttering, I try to activate the transference magic.
　But.

''........What's wrong with you, Red Bird and Blue Bird? If you guys don't escape too, you will die if you don't do this.

　I saw two birds flapping their wings and trying to stop in place.

　When I asked them that question, the red bird and the blue bird didn't change the quality of their voices.

No, this is as far as we go, and we wish the Master good fortune.

　He said extremely calmly.

　After hearing that, I said, "What a stupid thing to say.

'What are you talking about? You don't care if you die? You'll be in trouble if I ever want to use this place again.
'No, Master,' he said, 'the Master may have forgotten, but we will regenerate.

　The two wings continued to do so.

　Rebirth.........oh, rebirth.
　After all, after a thousand years, there are a lot of memories that I've forgotten in places. I'm not sure if what you did with me... or if some of your memories were lost when you used reincarnation magic.

''Even if you guys die, two similar birds will regenerate again. In that case, you can perform the ordeal again.........

　When I asked, the two birds nodded at the same time.

　In other words, the Red Bird and the Blue Bird will die, but they will soon come back to life. By the exact same thing.
　But that doesn't change the fact that they die.

'So it's all right...you don't like us.

　The two birds seemed to have a firm intention.
　They were done with their ordeal. Their work was done. So all that was left was to decay.
　Even if they died, the same one would come back to life.
　Masters don't have to worry about anything. On the contrary, we'll all be proud of him.

　But.

"That doesn't feel so good.

　Yes.
　Even if they come back to life, it doesn't change the fact that the two birds in front of you will die once they do.

　Am I going to let that happen?
　Maybe that's what I thought a thousand years ago.

　But now that I've been reincarnated, I've changed my mind about a lot of things.

'Get on my shoulders.'

　When I urged them to do so, the 《Red Bird》 and 《Blue Bird》's eyes widened in surprise.

''Nah ... how thoughtful ...''
'You think I can't save lives?　And I can't afford to be offended here and be an obstacle to the ordeal later on. Let's go together.

　--Meeting friends like Lara and Marise and Cynthia changed me too.

　Even though I said this, the two "red birds" and "blue birds" didn't want to get on my shoulder at first.

"Get on! We don't have time. Or........are you planning to disobey Master's orders?

　I deliberately gave them an intimidating look.
　Then the two birds buzzed and shook their bodies.

''Ha, yes!'' That look in your master's eyes I haven't seen in a long time. Oh, how happy we are.

　It's a bird, so I don't know what its expression is, but the two birds are probably ecstatic.
　I don't want to complain too much because I made them a thousand years ago... but how did you make a bird that says 'I love the Lord' so much?

　Oh well.
　I don't have time for this either way.
　Two birds quickly climbed onto my shoulders on either side of me.

'Okay let's go.
"Yes!

　This is how I activated my transference magic and escaped from the crumbling cave.

　◆ ◆ ◆

　When I stepped outside, it was apparently noisy in the forest.

'Kurt!'

　Lara's voice.

　She's the first to find me and rushes over to me, looking like she's in a hurry.

'What do you mean by this!　I have a bad feeling there's going to be a big earthquake and I have a bad feeling about it...
Hmm, I'm pretty sure that hunch wasn't wrong.

　Marise and Cynthia followed suit, running up to me.

'Kurt, does that mean the ordeal is still going on?'
I defeated the inconsistent creature...

　Apparently, he wiped out the contradictory creatures while I was away from him.
　 As I expected, the three of you are growing at an amazing rate.

　But.....

No time for praise. Now the final test begins. From what I remember, the first thing to do is...

　And that's when I was about to begin to explain.


　Goooooooooooh!


　An earth-shaking yell.
　When we looked up at the sky, there was a white dragon flapping its wings and looking down at us.

'Do, dragon!'
What kind of things are going to show up?
We have to get away ... now ... and get away...

　Seeing this, the three of us panicked.
　But I didn't have any fear in my heart when I saw the white dragon, my heart just fluttered.

''First of all, we have to defeat that dragon.''
A dragon!　Oh, but I beat Kurt once in the Empire.

　Lara is probably referring to the time when the demon god Von Bask assimilated the dragon.

'If you're a master, it's at least one twist for a dragon.

　The "red bird" and "blue bird" on their shoulders also called out so.
　Lara and the others looked at the two birds and said, "Wow!　The bird spoke! My eyes widened, but we can explain about this guy and others later.
　In the meantime, the dragon's large eyes gazed at us.

''Master, it's been a long time.''

　The dragon's voice, which seemed to speak directly to his head.

'Yeah. I'm sure you've been reincarnated and your appearance has changed, but do I know that?
"Of course. You may look different, but you have the same soul.

　Hmm, you're right.

"But master, after a thousand years, your powers have waned.
That's right. That's why we're here in this space.
Then let me put my powers to the test. I will successfully block the breath that destroys warding magic.

　After saying that, the dragon slowly opened its mouth.
　Magic power accumulated in his mouth cavity.
　The dragon was right, that was a breath that nullified the warding magic. Normally, it would be too foolish to try to prevent it from being warded.


　If you're a common(ish) passerby.


　The dragon fires its breaths without mercy.
　The breath that roars from the heavens is so powerful that if left unchecked, it could turn the entire forest into a burnt-out area with a single shot.

"Lara and the others, stay back!

　I held out my hand against the breath.
　And then I deployed the warding spell.


You can't talk about this if you can't deploy that much warding magic to protect yourself from the breathlessness that nullifies the warding magic.


　That's what he said, and he prevented a breath from the dragon.

''As expected of a master. You can turn any impossible thing into a possibility. That's the kind of master I'm in love with.''
Even though he's less powerful than he was a thousand years ago, this level of trickery is still a piece of cake.

　The dragon's eyes that intimidated his opponent seemed to be somewhat enraptured.