Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu

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Quiet Story: Abnormal Situation


Sorry I made you wait.
This time, it will be Norn's point of view in Mialak.
 
* * *

　Kureha Fountain.
　A mysterious spring guarded by the royal family of Mialak.
　One sip of the fountain will give you immense power, but at the same time it is dangerous, destroying the bodies of those who drink from the fountain.
　Such a dangerous spring, which is nothing but a danger, creates a fantastic sight in the cave where a faint light shines through.

"Falga-sama. Is it about time that Leona and the others entered the demon king's territory?"

　Looking at the unchanging scene of the underground cavern in my eyes, I ask this question to the divine dragon, Falga-sama, who is quietly meditating.

『Norn, don't worry so much. Leona is a capable hero. She is as good as any of the heroes of the Kingdom of Lingle.』
"But..."

　His voice is as gravely as ever.
　You can hear the trust in Leona in his voice.
　Even for me, I believe in her power, but when I hear that she is going to fight the Demon King, it is impossible for me not to worry about her as a friend.

『She does not fight alone. There are two heroes from the Lingle Kingdom and Usato. They all have different personalities and they all have different strengths. Of course, they have their weaknesses, but they have a bond that can make up for it.』
"From Falga-sama's point of view, what was your impression of the two heroes?"

　It is said that when Falga-sama entrusted the armament to the heroes, he flew his divided consciousness for a short time and attempted to have a conversation with them.
　They were in the middle of a battle, so they did not exchange many words, but I am sure that Falga-sama would have grasped the personality of the heroes in that short period of time.

『Impression, huh. Kazuki was a very pure boy, which is rare nowadays. He was full of a sense of justice, genuinely caring for his friends, and in a sense, had a temperament similar to that of Karon.』

　A person like Karon.
　Perhaps the perception of him is that he is a good-natured, friendly person.
　Because of my position as queen, I have never seen him in a casual attitude, but Leona tells me that he has a nice personality and is adored by everyone.
　Although he is now retired due to the aftereffects of his power as a dragon that went out of control, I still hear a lot about his activities.

『On the other hand, however, hero Kazuki is mentally fragile. Anxiety about his own power, and insecurity and fear in battle ... No, this does not mean that hero Kazuki is weak, but it is normal.』

　Then, Falga-sama takes a deep breath.
　As far as I can tell, is it safe to say that Hero Kazuki is a nice young man?

『Regarding the hero Suzune ... Umu, I don't know how to put it into words』

　To the extent that Falga-sama is troubled...?
　Falga-sama closes his eyes and tilts his large head in distress.

『I have exchanged a few words with her, and she is a very lively person. Although she has a natural talent for battle and analytical skills that allow her to respond flexibly and make decisions, but...』
"But?"
『I don't know if she is trying to drown her fears or not, but even in the midst of battle, she is a person who is constantly joking around and refining her movements with unexplained excitement. After all, she even recognizes the weakness of her own armament as an advantage, who can say that this is not strange?』
"Etto..."

　She is a contrast to the hero Kazuki.
　It's quite unusual for Falga-sama to have such a tired expression.

『Frankly, it's beyond my ability to understand that. I don't know if it's her origin from another world or if it's simply just her, but I'm sure there are very few who can hold the reins of that.』
"Are you going to say that much..."

　Hero Suzune, who is evaluated to that extent by Falga-sama.
　She is frightening in many ways.

『Two heroes. Usato, an unorthodox healing magician, will be added to this.』
"Just hearing the words makes me think it's kind of crazy."

　It feels a little strange to have a healing magician join the heroes.
　When you learn the reality of the person Usato, though, you will have a different kind of strange feeling.

『With them, Leona will be fine. No, maybe for Leona, she is motivated when Usato is around.』
"Fufu, that's true."

　After Karon incident, Falga-sama began to joke occasionally.
　I don't know if he recognized me as a queen, but it is a pleasant change for me.

『...』
"Falga-sama?"

　Suddenly I notice that Falga-sama is silent, as if in thought.
　After a short silence, Falga-sama opened his big mouth.

『There was one thing that concerned me. After using the connection as an armament and trying to have a conversation with two heroes, I now have a certain concern.』
"Concern?"
『It's about Usato's gauntlet.』

　Why is Usato's gauntlet talked here?
　If I'm not mistaken, it should have been remade based on the katana used by the previous hero.
　It is fundamentally the same, but it is different from the armaments of the two heroes.

『The katana was originally one of a pair of katanas used by the previous hero, the young man. In order to seal up the evil dragon, the half of me that once tried to destroy everything, the young man thrust his katana into the heart of the evil dragon and sealed up the dragon's soul as well.』
"I heard that story before... is there something wrong with it?”

　To my question, Falga-sama reacts with hesitation.

"The soul of the Evil Dragon is unclean."
"You mean it's dirty?"
『Even after hundreds of years, the soul of an evil dragon that has not faded away and is still trying to spread death with its destructive impulse cannot possibly be sane. That much will, that much hate, that much obsession, that much desire to kill, that much fearlessness is far beyond what we can imagine.』
"..."
『That is why, in the process of making Usato's katana into a gauntlet, I tried to purify the unclean mind of the evil dragon, but... When I touched Usato's katana, there was not the slightest trace of evil in it.』
"Isn't that... a good thing?"
『Yeah, but it sure doesn't make sense. There is no cloudiness at all in the katana that continued to hold down the soul of the defiled evil dragon. If the young man's seal was that strong, that would be fine. But what if——』

　Falga-sama, who had paused his words, uttered those words as if to persuade me strongly.

『If the evil dragon's pollution is heading "somewhere else" through the katana —— then the situation is far more serious than we had assumed. After all, this is an extraordinary situation that not even the young man could have anticipated.』
"... Isn't it overthinking?"
『I hope so. But things don't always roll in the right direction』

　Only Usato and his friends have actually seen the evil dragon.
　It is hard to imagine how terrifying and fearsome it is, but being a divine dragon like Falga-sama, it must be a monster with extraordinary power.
　A katana of the previous hero who was touched by the soul of such an evil being.

"Do you know where the other katana is?"
『No, the young man has another one hidden away somewhere』
"Hid it?"
『Maybe he was afraid it would be misused, or maybe he simply gave it away———no one knows where it is. Anyone who has ended up where he's come to has closed his mind and given up trusting others.』

　After uttering that much, he closed his mouth as if he remembered something.

『No... there was a single person.』
"Was there someone that the hero had open his heart to?"
『I don't know about that. But there was only one person close to him who followed him.』

　That's new to me.
　At least, I was told that the hero was acting alone, so I was honestly surprised by Falga-sama's words.

『The first beastfolk to be given a name by the hero. The first generation Time Reader who could foresee even the parallel future, and one of the strongest swordsman in swordsmanship.』

　Time Reader. (時詠み: Tokiyomi)
　Despite my other concerns, the first person I thought of when I heard those words was Amako, the girl next to Usato.

『——Her name was Kannagi. She's still as cheeky a little girl as I can remember.』

　He closed his eyes as if thinking about a distant memory, and said so.