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Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi (Light Novel) - Volume 3, Chapter 4 - The Battle at Willingham Mausoleum, Part 1-5
Volume 3, Chapter 4 - The Battle at Willingham Mausoleum, Part 1-5
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
Sometime during midnight… Ash slowly sat up.
“It hurtssss…”
Because, of the pain in his joints, he couldn't seem to get a good nights' sleep. It was because he played in the water earlier during the day. Silvia and Eco were riding on Lancelot while Jessica was riding on Rhiannon. Without any warning… A normal fun time on the water had turned into a two sided battle field of ‘Fighting for Ash’. If they really wanted to play something, Ash had hoped that it would be a more peaceful game. But the swimsuits worn by both Eco and Silvia was deeply engraved in Ash’s mind. Eco was wearing a white swimsuit which brought out her cute self. Even though her body was still far from perfect… There were still guys who were sure to fall for her innocent look. Although her true ruthless attitude would be exposed as soon as she opened her mou…
On the other hand… Silvia was wearing a sexy bikini. Ash was going to have a nose bleed just by thinking about it. For sure, it wouldn't have been Silvia who chose a bikini exposing so much of her skin, but Cosette, the culprit who must have forced it on her. Ash quickly removed all these troubles from his mind and left his bed. The bedroom in the training camp was a twin sharing bedroom. Max was sleeping soundly at the bed beside. Eco was not in the room because the neat freak Max said that ‘sharing a room with a girl is illogical’ so Eco was now taken care by the other girls.
Logically speaking, since it was Cosette, there should not be a reason for him to worry… But Ash had been together with Eco for a long time. If Eco is not beside him he feels uneasy… As if a part of his heart is missing.
“Can’t… I really can’t sleep.”
Ash sighed and slowly stood up. Then he left the room and wanted to ask for a cup of water in the kitchen.
Ash was walking at fast pace along the corridor of the second floor. The old building felt like a haunted house. The kitchen was located on the first floor so he was headed towards the stairs.
The moonlight shines through the windows. Tonight is a full moon with a silver light.
“…Huh?”
Ash stopped beside a window.
He felt a shadow passed by.
“That is…”
Every single corner of the garden can be seen through the corridor’s windows. A girl can be seen walking under the moonlight. She was wearing a one-piece pajama. Ash recognized her.
“Is it… Lucca?”
Under the moonlight the golden white hair emits a mysterious light. Even her white ceramic-like skin was as if shining. Her pointy ears can be seen indistinctly poking out from her hair.
Lucca walked past the garden with her unsteady steps and through the old back door. Beyond the back door is deep and endless piece of forest. - Norg Forest.
In a blink of an eye… Lucca disappears into the forest.
“Hey… What is she thinking?”
Ash rushed down the stairs to the garden through the door specially used by the instructors. He rushed at a fast speed to the back door then following the stone slabs to the edge of the forest and stops. After he was mentally prepared… He walked to the forest.
But, just as he step into the Norg Forest, he immediately took a steps back.
“…Are you kidding me?”
Ash originally thought that he was used moving in the forest, but that is only limited to day time. This is the first time he was going to enter the forest at night! Even the wet ground had a different smell. The nocturnal animals and night bugs creeps the hell out of him. The lush branches of the trees had the sky covered which blocked whatever moonlight there was from piercing through. Also. There were noises that he suspected to be the sounds of an owl.
Could it be that Lucca is just an imagination? Ash secretly hoped that it would be true.
“Wait a minute…”
The Eckbalds were also known as the ‘Forest Yōsei’. Actually. The self ruled territory of the Eckbalds, within the Knight Country was a wide forest called ‘Eckbald forest’. Maybe, to Lucca, every forest is like the garden back at her home. After Ash mustered his courage, he moved forward while trying to feel his way along with his hands. The rough tree bark made him feel at ease, but every time he touched something slimy, he immediately retracted his hand. If there was a small animal that passed by his feet, he immediately jumped.
“This is bad for my heart…”
Ash complained while walking and unconsciously thought about Gawain. All the other dragons were together in the dragon house of the training camp and only Gawain alone was resting in Norg Forest. It was because Norg Forest was a well known resting spot for dragons.
“I see. She went to look for Gawain…”
Realizing the truth, Ash continued to walk deeper into the forest. After a while… His field of vision widened. In front of him was an empty space with the moonlight shining directly from the sky. There was a pond in the empty space and the water was reflecting the silvery moonlight. Gawain cuddled onto itself while lying beside the pond. Its shining white fur was reflecting the moonlight. Lucca was standing some distance away from Gawain. For a breeder, that amount of distance was weird. Ash found out that Lucca's shoulders were shaking.
“Please, Gawain, I… Can’t live without you.”
Lucca was calling after Gawain in a pitiful tone while Ash hid behind a tree and listened.
“The only Eckbald left in Ansarivan… Is only me. The people in our home town have placed high hopes on me.”
Gawain didn't answer. It was still with its same old self.
“Why must you reject me? I had always treated you as family. When you became a maestro I was very happy. But why…?”
Suddenly. Some unexpected things happened.
“Grrrrrr…”
Gawain actually lifted its neck to scare Lucca. Lucca was afraid to move forward and fell to the ground on the spot. Then she silently cried. The sounds of the owls and the wings of the insects suddenly stopped… Most probably caused by Gawain’s growl. In the silent night the only sound that could be heard, was Lucca's crying.
-Crack! Ash stepped on a dried branch. Damn!- The sound was tremendously clear in the middle of the night. He regretted it as soon he understood what had happened.
“…?”
Lucca, wiping of her tears turned back and looked at Ash’s direction. It seemed that there was no longer any point for him to be hiding. After Ash made up his mind… He walked out towards Lucca.
“You are… From the student council?”
It seems that she didn't remember Ash’s name. But since she also didn't even remember Silvia’s name… This was expected.
Ash stated his name while smiling. “I’m Ash.”
“…Why are you here?”
“Sorry. I accidentally saw you running into the woods…”
After Ash explained. He looked at Gawain.
Gawain had frightened Lucca just now. That was a total rejection. Lucca treated Gawain as her family which was undoubtedly the right thing to do… But Ash still didn't understand why Gawain was not bothered by it. The image of Lucca sobbing remains in Ash's mind… In a few moments, it had turned into determination. Ash stood in front of Gawain as if he wanted to protect Lucca.
“Say, Lucca. The previous experiment… Can I continue right now?”
Lucca gasped.
“This… Has nothing to do with you.”
“No. Of course it has something to do with me.”
Ash took a step closer to Gawain.
“This fellow had made you cry. This alone should be reason enough for me to interfere.”
Part 2
Anya was looking, at Ash's sudden challenge with Gawain, from afar.
“That guy… What is he trying to do?”
Anya followed her plan, which was, working at the training campsite at Allonnes Lakeside presenting herself as a waitress at the student restaurant ‘La Tene’. The work to prepare the food was more troublesome than she thought. It was already midnight before her job was done. On her way back to her room for a rest from the kitchen, she accidentally spied on Ash. She became interested in Ash who had sneaked out into the Norg Forest. After all… The reason, why she worked hard to infiltrate ‘La Tene’, was to investigate Ash Blake. She thought that she had a better chance to come into contact with Ash in the restricted area of the training camp compared to the large area of the school grounds. For Ash to run out into the middle of the forest was out of Anya’s expectation. He even challenged Gawain.
As for the matters concerning Gawain… Anya also heard something regarding it. It was said that it was resting in Norg forest because it wasn't feeling well. Anya couldn't figure out any reason to bring a sick maestro here. The rest of the staff in charge of the foods also didn't receive any information regarding it. - There was probably no reason for the basic staff to know about it. Ash was protecting a girl at his back. To her surprise… She was an Eckbald. Her name should be Lucca Saarinen… thought Anya secretly. She had memorized all the names of the student who attended the training camp before hand.
From their conversations that she could not hear clearly, it seemed that Lucca's and Gawain’s relationship right now was bad. So Ash wanted to help her to solve this problem- This should be the whole picture for the incident. Ash was probably thinking about riding on Gawain just like how he defeated the Necromanica.
“What is this about… Trying to play the hero in front of a cute girl.”
Anya wondered why she suddenly got mad.
Part 3
The sharp claws tore through the moonlight mercilessly. Ash immediately jumped aside from the strong front paw. He would die in a horrible way if he faced it directly.
“Stop…!”
Lucca shouted at the top of her voice but Gawain had no intention of stopping.
After its front paw missed… Gawain’s weakness was exposed. Ash used that opportunity to step on a tree branch to climb up a nearby tree. After he reached a suitably thick branch he followed it out and looked downward. Gawain’s entire back was in his view.
“Uoooooo!”
Ash decided to jump down from the branch. Gawain was not in his riding gear but this was just what Ash wanted. He had decided, that when riding on a dragon, the riding gear would only be in his way. Actually… Ash had heard before, in class, that ‘All the great riders hated the riding gear’.
“You are now under my control!”
Ash successfully landed on Gawain’s back. Like how a horse riding tribe mounted a horse without a saddle… Ash was now riding on Gawain’s naked back . His hands were holding tightly onto its neck. He swore not to let go of it even when Gawain tried to shake him off with its dragon strength.
“Grrrr…”
The thrash that Ash experienced nearly made him faint. He still kept telling himself never to let go. Ash, with all his might, tried to tame Gawain and tried to persuade it to accept Lucca again. But suddenly… Gawain gave an earth shattering roar.
“What’s happening…?”
Ash felt fear. But, unless Ash let loose his grip, Gawain had no chance of winning. As long as Ash remained on its back… Gawain can’t use its breath attack, magic, teeth or claws. If it was so, then what was the uneasiness he was felling. Even when Ash had a complete advantage of mounting it on the back, he felt an uneasiness deep inside as if–he–was the one whose back was exposed to a shinigami. [1]
At that moment there was a wave of magic that felt like it exploded out from Gawain’s body.
“Uwaaa…!”
Ash was thrown into the air by an invincible wall. His sight was spinning. The bright moonlight came into his view for a moment. Ash, who was still spinning in midair, had nowhere to escape. Gawain, like a whip, swatted its tail at Ash.
“*Cough*…!”
It was a direct hit on Ash. An unimaginable strong impact swept from his chest passing on to his abdomen and sent him flying, parallel with the ground, until he hit a tree and only then did he slowly fall to the ground.
“*Coug*…*Cough*…!”
Ash coughed and then even coughed out blood. He probably had internal injuries. He was making some weird noises from his throat… Which was probably caused by a broken bone that punctured his lungs. To make it worse… the blood from his head flowed in to his left eye blinding half of his view. His body totally ignored his orders. Ash felt a cold chill. He didn't know how serious his injuries were. The thing that frightened him the most was… He couldn't even feel a single pain after such serious injuries. As if this body was not his.
Will my life end like this…? Ash almost lost hope.
Eco's face suddenly emerged in his mind.
An angry face. An angry face. An angry face… No matter what. It is always an angry face. Even so… I hope that she would smile to me more often. A pure cheerful smile.
-Stop! What am I thinking about? Isn't this… No different from dying. How could Eco smile at me…
With his back on the tree… Ash mustered all his remaining strength and glared at Gawain.
“Grrrr….”
Gawain was threatening Ash. Ash had just realized there was a thin layer of magic on its body. That's was the reason he was sent flying, it was a thin layer of magic.
“Reflecting type… Defense magic!”
This was a high level magic that could only be activated by a maestro. The effect of this magic was not to neutralize an attack but to reflect it. Even though Ash was only clinging on to Gawain… But it probably interpreted Ash's presence as an ‘attack’. Could this have anything to do with his ability ‘to ride on any dragon’?
“Just what kind of rascal is it…”
Under those conditions Gawain could even use its defence magic to eliminate Ash. If it was any other dragon Ash's 'riding on their back' talent would have them tamed. He already reached his limit. Just before he lost consciousness… He felt that he heard Lucca calling after him.
Part 4
“This can't be true…”
Anya watched the whole breath taking event. An empty handed human versus a dragon… That was clearly a stupid move but Anya still thought there was hope deep inside her heart. Since Ash was the famous ‘Silver Knight’. But the result was clear in a blink of an eye.
“Just what kind of rascal is it…”
Ash who was hit by the dragon’s tail pitifully, remained motionless even though he still remained conscious after he landed. Maybe he was dead. Under the moonlight, he could only be described as pitiful. Not only his head was bleeding nonstop, he even threw out blood. The seriousness of his internal injuries is even hard to determine. Then, Lucca, made a sad voice.
“Nooooo!”
Lucca, who was pale in the face, rushed over to Ash. But she quickly panicked as Ash's injuries were pretty much lethal. She didn't know what to do. At this moment… Anya was thinking about two things.
-If she left him as he is, he will die sooner or later. Serves him right for showing off and ruining Milgauss-sams's plan. This is his divine punishment.
-But I still owe him. If I don’t save him… Won’t I lose my honour as a Tantalos? The fellow had saved me once without thinking about the consequences…
“Damn!”
She was lost for just a moment. Ash's life could not be guaranteed if it was left in the hand of the unreliable girl. If she was unlucky there would be questions about why a staff member in charge of food service, was in the Norg Forest. Well, that would be a problem in the future but she just needed to make an excuse to cover up. Anya rushed out from the trees and pushed Lucca aside. She discovered that Lucca, who was suffering from trauma herself, was trying to carry Ash’s upper body. Didn't she know that simply moving the body of an injured person would put their life in danger?
“What are you doing?! I’ll take care of the emergency treatment. Go and look for help!”
“Y-Yes.”
Even though Lucca was still troubled… She still knew the seriousness of the current situation and there was not a single moment to be wasted. She turned around and ran as if she was trying to blend into the darkness of the forest.
Part 5
“…”
When he regained consciousness… He was in a strange place.
The floors had alternating black and white tiles laid out like a checkerboard. There were many semi-completed objects hanging randomly on the walls. Human bodies, beasts, armours, buildings and many more. On the ceiling was a grand palace-like Chandelier which was a bright-dragon-crystal light. There was an antique bed in the middle of the room and Ash was resting there.
“I remember that…”
I lost to Gawain and was seriously injured. Even though he still remembered the incident… There were only just fragments of memories. Even though he was seriously injured he still didn't feel any pain or even a wound on his body. His uniform which was originally covered in blood had become clean. This was weird.
“Are you awake?”
“Uwaa!”
After someone breathed in his ear Ash immediately sat up in fear. A girl was sitting beside the bed, right next to him without him even knowing.
“It has been some time since we saw each other face to face!”
The girl was beautiful. Her dress clearly highlighted her curves. Even though she had two horns on her head they were still not very noticeable. Her hair was like Eco’s shiny pink coloured hair.
“Are you… Navi?”
Ash had met her about a week before Eco was born. No… ‘Met’ was not the right word to describe this situation… Because he saw Navi in his dreams. The Navi in his dreams had explored his body all over. Just by thinking about it Ash blushed.
“Tee Hee…”
After Navi gave a devilish smile she leaned forward. Ash could smell something nice, but when he found out that he was on a bed, he started to feel uneasy.
“Wait!”
Ash averted his eyes from Navi's huge breast and shouted.
“Navi, if you are here, then… I should be dreaming. Right? No. There is no other explanation. Because I don’t even have a scratch on me right now though I was seriously injured !”
“You are not dreaming.”
“I-If I’m not dreaming… Then I’m in ‘that world’?"
Navi laughed because she probably thought that Ash panicking looked funny.
“This is just the Dragon Workshop! The place where dragons made/make their creations. I’m the one responsible for summoning you here.”
“Even though I still don’t really understand the current situation… At least I’m alive… No?”
“As long as your true body is safe.”
“What do you mean?”
“The you now, here, is nothing but a spirit.”
“Is that true…”
Ash turned down his head to observe his own body.
“That’s right. Your spirit has now left your body. If your body in the material world stops functioning, then you have nowhere to go.”
“Y-You must be kidding! Let me return to my original state immediately!”
“Worry not. There is a reason for me to personally bring you here. This child has something that it wants to tell you.”
Just like agreeing with Navi-
“Kyuu.”
A small animal popped out from over her shoulder. After taking a closer look, even though it had the size of a rat, it's still a dragon.
“That dragon is?”
“This is Gawain. Although it's a maestro it has not yet matured mentally so it looks is like this while here.”
“T-This little guy is really Gawain…?”
Ash kept on examination the small animal in front of him. After being told by Navi… This dragon did indeed have some similarities with Gawain.
“Fufu… If we were to fight right now… Isn't it a sure win for me?”
“Kyun!”
Gawain gave out a frightened voice and hid behind Navi.
“…Tsk. Pretending to be the nice guy. So. What do you want to tell me? Before that, let me say, I was nearly killed by you.”
After Ash asked… Gawain made a soft sound while coming out to stand on Navi's shoulder. It seems that it was trying to ask Navi to become the translator. After Gawain finished speaking, Navi looked at Ash.
“Gawain said that its master is Lucca and Lucca alone. The reason why it rejected you was because it doesn't want anyone apart from Lucca to ride on its back. Even when you were the ‘The Boy Who Can Ride Any Dragon’.”
“What are you talking about! You were obviously rejecting Lucca this whole time…”
“Kyuun!”
After Gawain made another angry sound it then explained its reason for rejecting Lucca to Navi.
“…I see.." said Navi and continued.
"Gawain was worried about Lucca and thus rejected her. According to Gawain… Lucca had fallen from its back about three months ago.”
“Huh…? I have never heard of this.”
Ash felt that he being was hit on the head. Three months ago was the time when Gawain started to reject Lucca.
“The Eckbald, as a dragon affiliated race, regard themselves highly and believe that falling from a dragon is a disgrace. That’s why Lucca never told anyone about this.”
Although Ash didn't really know how Lucca was feeling if it's an Eckbald culture… Then he could only accept it.
“Then… Under what circumstances did she fall?”
“Have you ever heard of the Dragon Riding Dance that is passed down by the Eckbald leaders?”
“No. This is my first time hearing about it.”
“Just like what the words say… It is dancing on a dragon while riding. Although Lucca kept silent about this... She was destined to become the leader. So she must start practicing young. Not to mention, if the Dragon Riding Dance was a success, there will be an activation of various types of magic!”
“So you are saying that, in the middle of practicing the Dragon Riding Dance, she fell?"
“That’s right. Since she fell from Gawain she was traumatized. She stood far away from Gawain. Although she was lucky that she only had light injuries… She now lives under the shadow of those memories…”
“Traumatized? I can’t even see that happening.”
“I think that even she herself doesn't know how much fear is hidden in her heart right now.”
Ash unintentionally said something important.
“Then… Lucca stayed quite far away from Gawain in the Norg forest. She didn't even try to pet it. Even at the seventh dragon house in the academy she also maintained her distance.”
So the unnatural distance was caused by Lucca's trauma…!
“If she tried to ride a dragon, with those mixed feelings, she will one day face serious injuries. If a Dragner was afraid of his pal… His future will be at best terrible and at worst he will die. It's because Gawain is worried about Lucca… So it remained stern in not letting Lucca ride on it.”
“I see. So, Gawain, I can see that you are kind! But why was your Astral cut off?”
“After the magic of Wise Dragon Albion was activated the dragons were under special restrictions. One of them was; The more you go against a master’s orders the less astral you will receive. If this situation keeps on… Gawain will die soon. Even with the Norg Forest supplying some Astral… It is still hard to say whether it can survive for more than five more days.”
“-!”
Ash held his breath.
Only a mere five days. Ash had never thought that the situation was this critical.
“Gawain… Would you rather sacrifice your life to protect Lucca?”
Ash spoke to Gawain seriously but it was with its haughty look. Ash who replied with a wry smile suddenly felt something was off.
“…Huh?”
Ash quickly looked at his own body. His skin became transparent and he felt an irresistible force pulling his body. The truth was… Ash's legs were slowly lifting from the ground. If this continued… Then he would be floating in a few moments.
“Hey, hey… what is…?"
“It seems that you are leaving.”
Navi calmly told the good news.
“Huh!”
Without knowing whether she was enjoying Ash’s changes in expressions, Navi smiled.
“Even though I said that you were leaving… It's different from what you are thinking. Your body is healing and thus summoning your spirit back. This is the law of nature.”
Ash was relieved after hearing Navi's explanation.
“So… I’m safe?"
“That’s it.”
Navi stood up from beside the bed and walk towards Ash. There were some redness on her face. Were those illusions?
“I’ll be waiting for your growth –– ‘Knight of Avalon’.”
“Avalon? What does it mean?”
Navi gave a simple tap on his face as an answer. Although he was still at his spiritual state, he could still clearly feel the softness of a girl’s palm.
“Fufu. You must learn to ride on me as soon as possible!”
“But my pal is Eco…”
“Eco and I are two surfaces on a coin. If you ride on her, it also means, you are riding on me.”
“What does that mean-?”
Ash was not allowed to ask any further questions. It was because Navi was kissing him passionately.
“Mguk...!”
Navi's watery lips had warped up Ash’s lower lips. Before he could react… His upper lip was also sucked in by Navi. Both of their salivas flowed together. Just when their mouths were wet, Navi forces her tongue into Ash’s mouth.
“....Nn!”
Their slippery tongues were curled together.
...Until he was separated from Navi... Ash's thoughts was in a mess. After this intense experience… Ash only knew that there existed such a kiss. Navi was with her, rarely seen, blushing looks and crimson red watery iris.
“I hope that you can have such a kiss with Eco one day in the future.”
“Wh- What are you talking about!”
“Fufu. Let’s us meet on another day.”
At the same time, as Navi was speaking with her watery lips, Ash was no longer able to resist the strong force and was swallowed by the darkness.
Notes:
1. God of death. Grim Reaper.
