A shadow larger than a house moved across the lakebed.
It moved slowly and gracefully... yet there was a kind of liveliness to it, as if it were enjoying the situation.
“Is that the Water God...?”
“Maybe. Let me try something.”
“Huh? Try what...?”
While I was still puzzled, Licorice shouted something.
It wasn’t in any human language—I couldn’t make out a single word.
It sounded a little like a bird’s call... but what exactly did she just do?
“What was that just now?”
“The language of monsters. You see, since I’m super cute and pretty, that kind of thing’s easy for me.”
You just said the same thing twice, you know?
“You can speak monster language? That’s amazing.”
“Heh, leave the translating and interpreting to me!”
“Wait—whoa!?”
The ground rumbled beneath our feet with a gogogo sound.
An earthquake?
No... not quite.
The shadow moving at the bottom of the lake was swelling rapidly in size.
It surged upward all at once—
and the shock of it made the ground tremble.
ZAAAAAAHHH!!!
Moments later, the massive shape broke through the lake’s surface.
“...Amazing...”
It was unbelievably huge—maybe fifty meters long?
I felt like a tiny insect in comparison.
Its body twisted like a serpent’s,
and here and there fins like those of a fish jutted out—eight in total, four on each side.
Its head bore great horns and flowing whiskers,
and sharp fangs glinted between its jaws.
That fierce, commanding face carried the majesty of a being that stood atop all living things.
A dragon.
The kind you’d only ever read about in fairy tales—was right there before us.
“...O, small ones.”
“It spoke!?”
“Why so startled? Didst thou think speech the privilege of humans alone?”
“Ah, no, not at all... Licorice?”
“...”
When I turned to her, Licorice was trembling in shock.
Apparently, not from fear of the dragon itself...
“Hey, why can you talk!? I said I’d handle the translating and now I look like an idiot!”
She was angry—for the most ridiculous reason imaginable.
“What business hast thou here?”
“Um... I have a question. Is the storm over this town your doing?”
“Indeed.”
He admitted it so casually that it caught me off guard.
I thought he’d dodge the question or deny it outright... huh?
“Then please stop the storm immediately. At this rate, the town will sink.”
“I care not.”
“W–Wait, really?”
Another unexpected answer.
Maybe he was more reasonable than he looked—
“I care not... but bring me a sacrifice.”
...Never mind.
“If thou wouldst have the storm cease, offer a sacrifice as part of the pact.
If that be denied, thy wish shall not be granted.”
“A pact, you say—but this storm, you’re the one who caused it, aren’t you?”
“Aye.”
“And yet you demand a sacrifice to stop it? Isn’t that a bit tyrannical?”
“That is the pact.”
“You cause the trouble yourself and then make unreasonable demands? Isn’t that absurd?”
“I think not. Humans keep livestock, do they not?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Do ye treat thy cattle with unnecessary care? Concern thyself with their feelings? Nay. It is the same.”
“...I see.”
I understood.
This thing was our enemy.
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