I run after Tiltue, but the distance between us isn’t shrinking.
If we were still following an animal trail in the forest I’d probably have the advantage, but she’s running faster than I expected thanks to the new path.
“Tiltue! It’s a misunderstanding!”
“W-what misunderstanding!? I heard it! You want to eat dragon! And you were pointing at me!”
“I wasn’t the one pointing!”
She’s not only a member of one of the strongest races, but also one particularly close to her ancestor. Even if I run at full speed, I can’t catch up.
Then again, the path is still being made, so once we enter the deep forest, she won’t be able to hide from my keen senses or run.
At least that’s what I thought…
“Touh!”
“Ah!?”
Tiltue suddenly starts shining, turns into a black dragon, and is about to fly off.
I stop and stare for a moment at how she’s using this like an airport runway, but if she gets away, she’s going to be depressed and cry alone.
I’ve been treated well by all sorts of people since I arrived on this island, and of course, that includes Tiltue. I don’t want to see her off like this.
“H-how’s that!? You can’t chase me like this! Give it up already, darling!”
Tiltue shakes the forests’ trees as she flaps her giant wings, but her voice sounds a little sad as she looks back at me.
“Oryah!”
“…Eh?”
Tiltue is taken aback, probably because I’m chasing her even in the sky.
“W-why are you flying!?”
“I saw Wil fly before and learned it from her!”
“L-like that’s so easy to learn! This is why people keep saying ‘well, it’s Arata’!”
Don’t tell me that. Reina, and other people too now, have been treating me like my race is Arata, not human. It’s kind of sad.
Anyway, we’re now playing tag in the sky, but…
“Ku, I really can’t get used to this.”
I actually tried this before, but this kind of floating magic is pretty difficult. It’s hard to maintain my balance in the sky, and I’m still struggling not to fall.
I was thinking about practicing in secret to surprise Reina, but now that lack of practice is coming back to bite me.
“I should’ve just trained normally instead of trying to surprise her.”
As Tiltue soars through the sky, I think about how she’s faster than you’d think considering her giant body.
I’m trying as hard as I can to catch her, but the distance between us is growing bigger.
“T-Tiltue!”
“…”
I yell her name, and feel like her speed has gone down a little.
I also see her peeking back a few times to check if I’m keeping up.
“…Is she worried about me?”
I guess I’m not used to using this floating magic, and if I lose control for a bit, I’m plummeting all the way down.
Then again, if that could hurt me, I’d be dead already, and I’m sure Tiltue understands that too. Still…
“Oh, could it be… That you just want attention?”
She keeps peeking back at me, so that might be it. She is a lonely girl after all.
She let her emotions take over and took off flying alone, but if no one follows her, she’s going to be holding her knees and crying again.
“Hey! Isn’t it about time you forgave me?”
“H-hmph! I’m still mad!”
She doesn’t sound mad. I guess her anger has subsided in the meantime.
I think she agrees that being happy with everyone is better than being angry.
“Even though I wanted to stay alone…”
Suddenly, I remember when I asked to be reincarnated here. I really did want to spend the rest of my life without dealing with anyone.
Now I’d rather be with a lot of people and have fun. People sure can change.
“But for now, I have to catch Tiltue.”
If she really wanted to, she could leave someone who’s not used to floating magic in the dust.
And yet, she’s still not that far away. I’m sure she’s flying just fast enough that I can’t catch her.
“Then…”
I remember the wind magic Reina used before. If I use it to boost myself while using floating magic, I should be able to catch up.
“Ha!”
I point my palms behind me, and release magic energy. An intense wind is generated, and I catch up with Tiltue with way more intensity than I was expecting.
“…Ah.”
“Eh?”
And I fly right past her.
“D-darling! Wait, where are you going!?”
“I-I didn’t think about how to stop!”
I fly further and further away from Tiltue, as I’m unable to resist the force of the wind magic I released without holding back, along with the floating magic I’m not used to.
As I fly through clouds, I see Tiltue rushing to try to catch me, in a complete reversal of what was happening before.
“I-If I use wind magic in the opposite direction…”
I think as I shift my body’s position, but what awaits me is a giant crimson dragon with its mouth open.
“Eeh!?”
The surprise leads me to release my wind magic without thinking, and into its face.
It can’t even yell, as it slowly falls to the ground, dead.
But as for me, that did a good job adjusting my speed, so I’m able to stop.
“Ahh…”
It feels like a waste, so I grab its wing. It feels pretty heavy, but my body can hold it no problem.
“D-darling!”
“Ah, Tiltue.”
“Don’t Tiltue me! W-why did you fly past me!? T-t-t-tha-that’s weird, isn’t it!?”
She’s out of breath, probably from flapping her wings so much in her dragon form. Each flap produces a gust of wind that shakes the crimson dragon I’m holding.
“Sorry sorry, I’m not good at controlling it.”
“…Ah, Darling, this is why you…”
She sighs, sounding exasperated, and turns back to her usual humanoid form. One thing is different though. She still has the dragon wings on her back.
“Ah, you can do that too?”
“Hmph. I can’t fly without my wings.”
“Eh…”
I let out an impressed sound without thinking.
A beautiful girl flying with black dragon wings on her back looks like a lovely painting.
And I drop the dragon I’m holding unintentionally.
This giant thing lost everything from the neck up, and sprays blood as it falls.
The blood turns into fine drops in the wind, but there’s so much of it, that it looks like rain.
“By the way darling.”
“Hn?”
“Are you going to eat that dragon?”
She’s staring at me, but why?
Is it because she’s appalled at the idea of me wanting to eat one of her own? Because she thinks it’s tasty?
If I make the wrong move, the same thing from before is going to happen again.
Let’s just play it safe. I’ll say I won’t eat it and see what…
“…Drool.”
“Yes, let’s ask Reina to cook it later.”
She clearly wants to eat it, so that settles it.
And the smile she has on her face as she nods confirms it.
“Let’s go back then.”
“Yes!”
And that ends our game of tag that began with a misunderstanding.
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