After glaring at us, the red dragon accelerated and flew towards us.
　Now, will I really be able to catch it with my treasure sword tetracord?

　The next moment after thinking about that, the red dragon reaches in front of me.

''Come!''

　The red dragon attacked me with his long claws, but he flashed his treasure sword, Tetracord, and I caught it.
　Next, the red dragon's mouth opens wide.

　It may be planning to spit out magical flames from its mouth, but I don't let it do so.
　Almost at the same time I unleashed my Treasure Sword Tetracord.

　According to my knowledge, the kryptonite of the red dragon is the throat.
　If the treasured sword is delivered there, it won't be defeated, but it will become paralyzed and stop moving for a while.

　If Sofia and Lucy attacked in unison during that time, it should be easy to defeat the red dragon no matter how strong it was.
　I've explained the strategy to the two of them beforehand.

　The treasure sword draws a trajectory just as I aimed and stabs the throat of the kryptonite under the red dragon's scales.
　As I pulled out the treasure sword, the red dragon stopped moving.

''God!　Let me help you!

　With a timing slightly faster than my treasure sword, Sophia chanted a church-style attack magic in advance.
　Then, I let the attack hit the stopped red dragon directly.

　As expected, Sophia and I have been fighting in the same adventuring party for several years, so we breathe well together.

　We've gone through hundreds of battles, so we even know what each other is thinking.

　However, even with Sofia's attacks, a single strike would not be enough to defeat the sturdy scaled red dragon.

　The overwhelming firepower of Lucy's flame magic was necessary.

　However, Lucy's flame magic was slightly delayed.

　Lucy was not an adventurer.
　In other words, she's not used to fighting.

　That's why he was just a little bit slower to unleash his attacks.
　However, it was fatal.

　When Lucy's flame magic was unleashed, the red dragon had already recovered from its paralysis and rampaged out of control.
　Because of that, the flame magic didn't hit the red dragon directly, it only grazed it.

　Still, the red dragon's red eyes glowed with anger.

　Not good.

　The red dragon seemed to have set its sights on Lucy this time.

　Is he planning to retaliate because he was attacked right before, or did he see her as the biggest threat to himself?

　Either way, Lucy is in danger.

　I called out to a stunned Lucy and I jumped back to stand in front of her.
　It's to protect Lucy.

　However, unlike before, I don't have time to adjust my stance.
　I tried to catch the red dragon's claws with my treasure sword, but my hand was delicately screwed up.

　Because of that, part of the claw grazed my cheek and fresh blood splattered on my cheek.

''Solon........!

　Lucy screams in grief, but for an adventurer, this level of injury is not a big deal.

　I fired the treasure sword tetracord at the red dragon once more.

　The treasured sword neatly thrusts into the red dragon's throat.
　It must have reached quite deep this time.

　He wouldn't be able to move for longer than before.

''Come on, let's see what Lucy-sensei is really up to.

　As I said with a smile, Lucy waved her wand with a huff and waved her wand and exercised her flame magic without a chant.
　Countless large rings of flame appear on the spot.
　They soon became a single vortex, burning more shimmeringly and forming a huge mass of fire.

''How dare you hurt my disciple!

　Lucy swung her staff down and a massive flame magic attacked the red dragon.
　The red dragon let out a scream.

　The hard scales were burned out and the red dragon was reduced to ashes from head to tail.
　The flame magic burned through every corner of the other side of the ruins and finally stopped.

　As expected of a crimson Lucy.
　The power of that flame magic was beyond standard.

　I sighed with a sigh of relief.
　I had encountered a strong enemy that I hadn't expected, but I managed to save myself.

　I was about to say "thank you" and I cringed.
　Lucy slumped, tears welling up in her crimson eyes.

''W-what's wrong?''

Because of me, Solon was injured...

'Oh. This is just a scratch.

　Lucy touched my cheek and tried to cast a recovery spell, but before she could, Sophia's healing powers were released to heal my wound.
　I wasn't completely healed, but the blood stopped for now.

　Lucy mumbled softly again, "It's my fault........" and looked sad.

　As for me, it doesn't matter that I'm wounded like this. More importantly, I didn't want Lucy to have a gloomy look on her face.

　When I first met her as a girl, Lucy always had a blank or gloomy expression on her face.
　But from the time I became her apprentice, Lucy began to change.
　Whether she was giggling or puffing her cheeks out in a sour mood, she began to show a bright and charming expression.

　But now she was starting to revert back to her old expression.
　I began to worry.

'It's not the doctor's fault. So please don't look at me like that.

''But if I hadn't attacked at the wrong time, I would have been able to take it down before the red dragon fought back...''

'It wouldn't have been a problem if I'd been able to make up the time a little longer. So you don't have to blame yourself, doctor.

"....Sophia could have attacked Solon with her perfect breath.... And I couldn't..... I'm sorry for that and I envy Sophia.

　Even Lucy, a genius, finds it difficult to do well at something she's not used to.
　A person's ability depends on their natural talent, but it also depends on their past experience.　

　Me and Sophia have always fought together, but Lucy is different.
　That's all there is to it, and it's not that Lucy is responsible for it.

　When I was unsure of how to say something to her, Sophia stood softly next to us.

''Um.........I was Solon-kun's companion, so I can fight with Solon-kun in one breath. I'm not like Lucy-sensei.

　Gulping, Lucy trembled.
　Seeing Lucy like that, Sofia lovingly continued.

I'm not Solon-kun's master. There are many friends of Solon-kun, but he has only Lucy as his teacher. I envy him because he's the only one who can teach him, and I feel jealous of that. I don't think he has any reason to be jealous of me.

I'm not jealous.

　Hearing that, Sophia smiled softly.

''If that's really the case, then I'd be relieved too.