Published at 18th of July 2022 8:22 am

Volume 7, Chapter 4 - Ashley Trapped, Part 9-11

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 9

In the ruins at Lake Rubina — Navi appeared next to Ash who had been drugged asleep. The hems of her gorgeous dress fluttered in the abandoned room.

“…I never imagined that such a day would actually arrive.”

Navi whispered as if in self-mockery. This body that she had constructed with magic used the same principle as to how the Mother Dragon appeared, and existed in this world. To a highly intelligent vessel of information like Navi, a physical body was unnecessary. Having said that, today’s Navi was unable to refrain from her impulses to appear in this physical form. She withheld information from Eco, and appeared alone by Ash’s side. After Navi sat down on the edge of the bed, she placed Ash’s head over her lap. Because it was rare to see him with a wig on, Navi continued to let him wear it, and didn’t take it off.

“Fufu. I never expected that you’d be so suited for crossdressing, how surprising.”

Navi muttered in a calm tone of voice as she gazed attentively at Ash’s sleeping face while her body gradually became hot. Her artificially crafted heart began to race ‘dokun dokun…’ and accelerate. Navi smiled as she stroked the cheeks of Ash’s sleeping face.

“You really are such a sinful man. For you to be able to evoke these kinds of feelings in the Dragweiss. As a result, you actually led me to refuse to help Eco…”

Navi recalled her meeting with Ash this morning in the Dragon Workshop.

—But doesn’t that make you feel lonely?

—I can’t accept that! Even if the dragon race agrees, I absolutely can’t!

—In my eyes, Navi is also an important companion.

—I don’t want to lose Navi, not even a bit.

“I was born from the Dragweiss to teach the immature Eco, and in the distant future, I will become a part of Eco, to continue to act as her knowledge base. Although my [self] will vanish, I never had any doubts about my own destiny. But…”

Navi closed her eyes as tear droplets rolled down her cheeks from the corners of her eyes. The transparent droplets vaguely moistened Ash’s forehead.

“I’ve always wanted to be by your side—”

“Unh…”

In that instant, a faint noise came from Ash’s lips, surprising Navi.

“It can’t be…! How could he wake up so soon?”

Navi had already analysed the sleeping drug that were prepared by Celes. Because the effects of the drug would not cause harm to the human body, Navi planned on staying here alone with Ash until Eco found this place. She never considered the possibility that Ash would be able to wake up on his own.

“Kuh…uhh…”

Ash’s eyebrows quivered, and large beads of sweat streamed down his forehead. He struggled and stretched out his hand into the emptiness of the air, as if trying to grab onto a lifeline. He appeared to be struggling to resist the effects of the sleeping drug.

“What incredible willpower…”

Navi felt amazed. It seems there was much more to the Avalon Knight than just the name. She tightly grasped the hand that Ash had stretched out.

“Do your best, Ash…!”

Navi whispered encouragement into Ash’s ear. Perhaps this was the first time in her life that she had cheered someone on with such ardent passion. After a while, Ash faintly opened his eyelids.

“Eco…?”

A single word escaped from his trembling lips. When Navi’s figure was reflected in his eyes, the name that Ash called was Eco’s. In that instant, Navi understood the fact that she could not be compared to Eco, and she revealed a lonely smile.

A shiny pink lustre flashed within his blurred vision. Despite his hazy consciousness, Ash determined it to be Eco’s hair. That was why he called Eco’s name.

“…How rude of you to mistake a woman’s face.”

However, the voice that answered was a mature voice that seemed to have a rather prickly tone. After his eyes focused, Ash’s face turned red in embarrassment.

“Navi!? I-I’m sorry! When I saw the colour of your hair, I thought it was Eco…”

“I’m not particularly angry. After all, my appearance was originally a forecast of Eco’s appearance once she became an adult. Since it was purely a prediction, I can’t guarantee that she’ll grow up to look exactly like me.”

“Since you’re here Navi, then that means I’ve come to the Dragon Workshop again…damn it, Celes actually fed me that kind of drug! Owow…”

Ash grimaced as he suddenly felt a headache. He couldn’t help but press against his temple with his fingers.

“This isn’t the Dragon Workshop, it’s the real world.”

“Eh? But Navi, your current appearance is…what’s going on?”

Ash felt puzzled. Navi had once appeared in the real world. At that time, she had possessed Eco’s body. But the current Navi had the same appearance as when he saw her in the Dragon Workshop. Leaving that aside, Ash realised that his head was resting on top of Navi’s lap, causing him to quickly jump up.

“Oww—!”

Feeling the pain of the headache again, Ash’s face contorted in pain. His limbs still felt numb. He finally climbed back up, but not long afterwards, his upper body began to sway unsteadily again.

“Don’t move, and lie here okay.”

Like a kind mother, Navi held Ash’s head against her own chest. Ash’s face was buried into the cleavage of her enormous breasts. The softness and warmth was the same as when he had touched Navi in the Dragon Workshop. Whilst being enveloped with such a comfortable sensation, Ash’s consciousness gradually began to dim…. As if singing a lullaby, Navi whispered into Ash’s ear with a soft voice

“Although you’re awake, the drug’s effects haven’t completely subsided.”

After Navi laid Ash’s body down flat, she rested his head on her thighs again. Although the sensation of resting on top of Navi’s thighs made Ash’s heart beat erratically, he soon came back to his senses.

“Navi! Tell me what time it is right now! I have to hurry back to the Academy for the decisive battle!”

“It’s impossible. Even if you drag your body along to the tournament, I’m afraid you won’t even be able to ride Brigid. By the way, the time right now is fifty nine minutes past twelve.”

“Huh…?”

Ash’s face was drained of its colour. He hoped that Navi was joking with him. Late participants would automatically lose their right to participate. But there was one minute until the match right now…!

“Kuh…even if I’ll be late, I still have to go. I can’t throw away the chance of victory in the Five Hundred Years Festival that Rebecca-san painstakingly prepared me for!”

“It’s destined to be ruined the moment you’re late.”

“That’s right, but…”

“Let me tell you something. Originally, I could have told Eco that you were here, but I didn’t do that. When Eco came to ask for my help, I…coldly refused.”

“What did you say!?”

In contrast to her indifferent tone, Navi’s eyes appeared warm and moist.

“Please, Ash. Forget about the match, and just look at me, alright—”

Ash could not help but feel surprised. Was there something wrong with Navi? The usual Navi was filled with intellect, had a calm temperament, there was always a leisurely smile on her face, and though she was occasionally a bit too mischievous — she would always rise in a timely manner to act as support for Ash and Eco during critical situations. But the present Navi was like a different person. Not only did she seem overly desperate, every one of her gestures also seemed somewhat unnatural. But, Ash didn’t dislike her current appearance. In fact, he thought that she was more attractive than usual, which is why he didn’t know what to do.

“Just for now, be someone that belongs only to me—”

After Navi quietly said that with a serious expression, her moist lips slowly approached Ash’s face. In that instant — a flash of light shone brightly from Ash’s chest.

“This light is…!”

The blinding glare forced Navi to hold out her hand to cover her eyes. Pink and silver rays of light radiated out with Ash’s body as the epicentre. It was an extremely warm light. Bathed in the warm glow, Ash’s headache and the numbness in his arms and legs gradually receded. With his entire body shrouded in this light, Ash climbed up from the bed. A mysterious energy was circulating around his body. It also felt rather awkward as his skirt fluttered about. After standing in front of the stunned Navi, Ash reached into his pocket. The thing that his fingers felt was — the object that even Ash forgot that he was carrying. The Bright Dragon Crystal that Eco had produced.

“Hmm…I guess I really can’t beat that child.”

Navi smiled bitterly as if she had given up.

“What’s happening?”

“The Bright Dragon Crystal produced by the Princess of Avalon has a special name, it’s called UranusHoly Star Stone. Uranus has a power far greater than a normal crystal. However, cases of resonance between Uranus and the master’s thoughts to cause automatic activation is very rare. Seriously…it’s Eco’s victory.”

“Well, it’s useless even if she wins. If I can’t return to the Academy, then it’ll count as my loss due to absence. This is bad.”

Ash was distressed. Even if the condition of his body had returned to normal, the fact that he was in a dire situation had not changed.

“Ara, don’t you have Uranus though? In that case, there’s only one way.”

“You can’t mean…!”

Ash immediately understood what Navi meant, while the question ‘Is it really possible to do this kind of thing?’ floated into his mind.

“There’s no problem because Eco is a dragon. As long as the master summons, she’ll immediately — fly across time and space.”

“…I know, I’ll give it a try.”

Ash held Uranus up high and concentrated on it. This was obviously his first experience of summoning his Pal. He recalled the time when Rebecca had summoned her Pal, and tried to follow it.

“I command you in the name of Ash Blake. Respond to my summons, Eco!”

However, the light released by Uranus gradually faded, and it finally became silent.

“…What does this mean?”

Navi shook her head and shrugged as she sighed to Ash. Seeing Navi almost back to her usual self, Ash felt happy, yet also lonely at the same time.

“That won’t work. You have to call out her full name.”

“Full name? Just [Eco] isn’t enough?”

“It doesn’t matter for other dragons if their full name isn’t used, but Eco is the Imperial Princess of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family. You only have the right to decide on the first name, as the other names have strict rules. For example, the names from the second onwards must come from the names of ancestors and so on. Even her surname Avalon is only a part of the whole.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of this…”

Ash’s face went pale. As if his last sliver of hope had disappeared, he felt a blow to his heart. Moreover, when he realised that he didn’t even know what Eco’s full name was, he felt useless.

“It can’t be helped.”

A wry smile emerged on Navi’s face, and it looked as though she were a mother looking at her naughty child. Ash suddenly remembered. Navi was the Dragweiss. Logically speaking, she was all-powerful when it came to knowledge of the dragons…!

“That’s it, you should know Eco’s full name, right Navi!?”

Asking for Navi’s help in such a situation without responding to her earlier feelings felt much too shameless. But it was an urgent situation. It was not the time to be worrying over such problems.

“…Fine. To begin with, I only brought you this trouble because I got carried away by my personal feelings, so I’ll answer to your request.”

“Thank you, Navi!”

“A-Again, it’s nothing to be grateful about…!”

Navi suddenly averted her face, and the colour of her cheeks resembled that of roses. Ash was almost captivated by Navi’s exquisite beauty and he felt a little lightheaded, but now was not the time to be getting excited over feminine appeal.

“But, before that—”

After a faint smile emerged on Navi’s face, magic was released from her fingertips. A pale blue and white light enveloped Ash’s body. The wig disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the girls’ uniform also turned into a Dragsuit.

“Amazing! My clothes have changed!”

Ash looked down at his own body. This Dragsuit felt like it was a better fit than the one designated by the Academy, and it was also lighter. It was also designed with a silver white tone that an elegant and refined appearance.

“This is a special service I’m giving you. Summoning your Pal for the first time in girls’ clothing isn’t cool at all, you know?”

“Thank you, Navi. Let’s get started then.”

The two of them stood face to face in the middle of the room. Navi reached out to touch Ash’s forehead. A vast amount of knowledge immediately entered his mind. It was like a string of incantations.

“This is Eco’s full name…?”

“Quickly call her over.”

After Ash nodded, he lifted Uranus up high above his head again.

“I command you in the name of Ash Blake. Respond to my summons—”

Ash then called out Eco’s name with mixed feelings.

“Eco Pendragon Aurora Christa Lena Angeles Iria Lorence Liliane Muirel Octavia Robertine de la Rosa L’Espérance van Compostela de Avalon!”

Part 10

The sound of the bell to announce that it was one o’clock in the afternoon rang out through the air. After Eco descended onto the Academy’s rooftop with Brigid, she looked down over the campus below. Because all of the staff and students of the Academy had gone over to the arena, the campus was significantly deserted.

“Ah geez! That Ash, just where did he go!? If I remember correctly, we’ll lose the right to participate if we’re late, right? So Ash will lose without fighting? …Then won’t that mean Ash will have to cross-dress as a woman to get married with Oscar!?”

“—You don’t have to worry about that problem.”

A cool voice drifted downwards as Tristan landed down next to Brigid. Standing on top of Tristan’s head was Oscar.

“It’s you…! I thought you’d have gone to the arena already.”

“Please don’t look at me so flatly. Didn’t I say that a master was responsible for their servants’ mistakes?”

Eco looked at Oscar with slight admiration.

“D-Don’t think that I’ll thank you!”

“Haha, you’ve not very flattering. The important point is that if both Ash and I forfeit due to absence, then victory will fall into Princess Silvia’s hands. I seem to recall that the reward for her stupid victory was to be engaged with Ash?”

Eco felt as though she had suffered a blow to her mind. All of a sudden, Silvia had become her greatest obstacle, so this was an unexpected situation for Eco—

“T-Then what should I do?”

“In any case, the top priority is to find Ash. I heard some information from a staff member who stayed behind at the Academy. It seems as though Celes and Ash took a dragon carriage at the station.”

“Then we have to find that coachman or else we won’t know where they went!”

“I did try looking…but once I started searching, I realised that looking for a dragon carriage that doesn’t stop moving is a rather difficult task. It seems I underestimated coachmen a bit too much.”

“You…you’re way too disappointing!”

“What about you Eco? Did you find any clues?”

“Kuh!”

Eco dishearteningly showed a dejected appearance, but anger gradually began to well up in her.

Why is it that such misfortune only comes down on my head? Why did Navi refuse to help? Ash is also such an idiot! No matter what was going on, how could he just disappear without saying a thing!?

Although Eco may have been wrong for sleeping so soundly, couldn’t Ash rely on his Pal just a little more…. Eco shouted into the clear autumn sky.

“ASH YOU IDIOT~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!”

After Eco’s echo reverberated back a few times, silence returned again.

“Have you let off all of your steam?”

“I’m just tired…hah, hah…”

“In any case, it’s already been determined now that he’ll forfeit due to absence. Since time is no longer a factor to consider, we should perform a thorough search, what do you think?”

“That’s right. I also think that would be — kuh!”

All of a sudden, Eco felt an unfamiliar sensation, and she couldn’t stop her shoulders from trembling.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-I don’t know…but I feel strange. It feels as if my body is being pulled by a very powerful force…what is this?”

It felt as though someone was trying to pull the soul from her body. Eco could not help but felt uneasy as she had no idea what kind of strange phenomenon was happening to her own body. And after a while, the sound of someone else’s voice seemed to ring out in her mind.

—…I command you. Respond to my summons…

“This voice! Could it be Ash!? Ash, is it you!?”

Eco looked up and around in every direction.

—Eco Pendragon Aurora Christa Lena Angeles…

Ash’s voice continued to resound. He seemed to be reciting some kind of incantation.

“Ash! Where are you!? What are you saying!?”

At that moment, Tristan roared out and turned towards the north. Eco and Oscar also followed suit to look at the sky in the north. Located at the far northern horizon was the vast Fianna Forest. Eco could see a column of light rising into the sky.

“That light is…!”

Upon hearing Eco’s low whispers, Oscar tilted her head in confusion.

“I can’t see anything…right! Could it be that this is something that only dragons can see?”

As if to affirm Oscar’s speculation, Tristan let out another roar. Ash’s voice continued to ring out in Eco’s mind.

—…de la Rosa L’Espérance…

Hearing Ash’s voice that seemed like an incantation, Eco began to feel extremely anxious.

“No…it’s like my body is being pulled away! What’s happening to my body!?”

I really want to fly over to Ash’s side as soon as I can.

I really want to protect Ash.

I really want to stay by Ash’s side.

I really want to embrace Ash tightly.

All of these thoughts circulated within Eco’s mind.

“Don’t resist, Eco. Open you heart and accept these feelings.”

As if to cheer Eco on, Oscar placed her hand on top of her head.

“Ash is calling for you right now.”

Eco stared at Oscar’s face with disbelief. Dragons summoned by their masters would always appear across space — Eco had personally witnessed this phenomenon several times. In fact, she had always been envious of the other dragons who could traverse space to appear beside their masters. However, she never believed that it was possible for her as a dragon with a human appearance. As time passed, she even gave up on this idea.

“Ash? Are you really calling for me…?”

Eco muttered to herself with overflowing emotions. As if to respond to Eco’s words, Ash spoke the last part in a single breath—

—van Compostela de Avalon!

Eco felt a force of attraction that was even greater than before. Before she realised, a gate transcending time and space had appeared in front of her. Because Oscar did not seem to show any particular response, it was likely that this gate could only be seen by dragons.

“Go, Eco.”

Oscar smiled so with a smile. An endless darkness lay on the other side of the gate. Although the terrifying appearance scared Eco a bit, she immediately overcame her fear.

“Thank you, Oscar. I have to go!”

After Eco made up her mind, she clung onto Brigid’s head.

“You too, Brigid!”

As Brigid let out a roar, it leapt through the gate.

Part 11

The entire wall of the ruin was blown apart along with the sound of a violent explosion.

“W-What happened…?”

Grey dust filled the air, obstructing Ash’s vision.

“Ash!”

A nostalgic voice broke through the grey veil, and made its way to Ash’s ears. Eco ecstatically rushed over. With a ‘pon’ sound, she buried her face into Ash’s arms.

“Eco? Is it really Eco!?”

It was almost like a dream. Following Ash’s call, Eco had traversed the space between them.

“Idiot idiot idiot! You made me so worried!”

Eco cried as she pounded against Ash’s chest with her fists.

“I’m sorry, Eco.”

Ash used all the strength in his body to tightly embrace that delicate body. Eco also brought her arms around his back to hug him tightly.

“—Ahem. Sorry to interrupt your touching reunion, but weren’t you in a hurry to get to the arena?”

Behind Ash, Navi spoke up. A bitter smile emerged on her face as she looked at Ash and Eco embracing each other. Upon hearing that, Eco suddenly showed a tempestuous expression.

“Navi!? Why are you here!? And why do you have a body!?”

“Well, I wonder why?”

After Navi replied with an innocent tone, she curled her hair through her fingers in circles.

“You two…couldn’t have been hiding here doing some shameless things right…!?”

Eco rapidly burst into a fit of anger.

“You’re overthinking things. If I didn’t have Navi’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to summon you Eco.”

Ash was flustered. Even though he didn’t tell a single lie, as soon as he recalled how Navi confessed to him, he was unable to calm down.

“I-In any case, even if I forfeit due to absence, we should still show ourselves at the arena. Since we’ve troubled the President and the guests, we should properly apologise to them.”

“Ooooooooooohh…!”

Brigid also seemed to be in agreement with Ash’s opinion. After letting out a mighty roar, it moved its body away from the half-destroyed house. And then, it ascended into the majestic blue sky while carrying Ash and Eco on top of its back—.

“The First Summon ~A.S.B. 1365.10~” is closed.

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