Chapter 8: King of the World

“Well, I’m quite familiar with this continent because I’m escorting Prince Milan. It’s much more interesting and more accurate to explain than the geographers who are only about logic.”

Kumahachi took out an old map from his hakama and spread it out on the grass. The map was well-worn, but it was much more detailed and precise than the maps that Selene had seen in the picture books. On the map were notes, saying things like “there are a lot of beautiful women in this country” and “The alcohol sucks here”, and such information that could only be learned by actually going to that place.

The map itself was rather large when opened up, but Kumehachi could stretch his arms and point from place to place while sitting cross-legged. But the petite Selene had leaned over to get a good look at the map. It was the first time that Selene, who had only seem maps from around Aquila, to see the entire continent from a bird’s-eye view. Looking at it like that, it looked quite similar to Earth’s Australia.

“Now, where do I start… Well, let’s start with the basics. First off, This country here is the place where you lived, the Aquila kingdom.”

“Un.” (Indicates agreement)

Kumahachi’s finger points to the bottom-left of the continent, Selene’s home country, a small country that could not exactly be considered a country.

“And this is the Helifalte kingdom, the country we are heading to now. As you can see, it is the biggest country on the continent.”

Kumahachi moved his finger to the northeastern part of the continent, causing Selene to frown a little. She had heard that Helifalte is a big country, but if you were to look at an accurate map, it was ridiculously huge.

The Helifalte Kingdom took over half of the continent, with the other half being the rest of the countries in the continent. Selene had decided to destroy the Prince’s country, but this was a rather troublesome opponent to pick a fight with. ‘What’s the deal with this?!’ Selene held her head in her mind.

While she was looking for any path to capture it, Selene noticed something odd. While it is true that the Helifalte Kingdom is the biggest country, the upper half of the continent is covered in a white forest, and not listed as a part of any country in particular.

And further north of the forest, you would only see a huge mountain. In other words, there was barely any information on the upper half of the continent.

“From here, white.”

“That’s right. Since Selene had never seen the continent like this, let me explain this one at a time.”

“Are you teaching Selene geography?”

While Selene and Kumahachi were sitting next to each other, Milano, who had been with the other knights, was standing right between them. Behind him was a servant holding a large pot. ‘Looks like they had lunch and went through the trouble to bring it to us,’ Selene thought.

“Do you mind if I joined in?”

And without a chance for Selene to say “No”, Milan sat down next to Selene. This is why Selene didn’t like dealing with good-looking people and their terrible personalities, but Milan didn’t seem to notice.

The servant behind Milan passed lunch around to everyone sitting around the map. The menu was jerky, soup, and black bread with herbs and salmon on the side. Like the others, Selene soaked the bread and stuffed it into her cheeks. Whether the ingredients were good, the person cooking was good, or both, the salty soup was simple but delicious, so the simple Serene felt better from this alone.

She had wanted to give some of her meal to Butler if she could but realized she could not feed a rat in public and decided to take some food later to secretly feed him.

“Well, What did you guys talk about? Ah, the white part of the continent. That place is what we call ‘Shiromori Shiromori’. (Kanji: 白森しろもり or White Forest Peak But I’ll leave it as it is so it’s easier on me.)

“Shiromori?”

“Let me explain it like this. As you can see, the whole forest is white, yes? This is due to the influence of magic.”

This is the first time Selene’s ever heard of it. There was a white part in the map that Selene had seen up until now but because it was a simplified map, Selene had thought that it was some kind of snowy country or a cut-out drawing.

“The more north you go in the continent, the denser the earth’s mana becomes there. Unless if you were a person with magical abilities like me or Selene, ordinary people without magical powers like Kumahachi would lose their sense of balance or get sick with mana poisoning. That’s why only Elves live in the Shiromori.”

“Don’t make fun of Kumahachi!”

“No, I wasn’t making fun of him……”

Selene retorted to Milan’s explanation. She was annoyed about Milan casually looking down at Kumahachi but noticed some important clues.

“Elves? Long-ears?”

“You know them pretty well. Elves- Also known as the long-ear tribe and the Guardians of the forest, but they rarely ever come out of the forest. They look similar to you and I, but are a race specialized in the forest and skilled in using magic. However, since I have never met any, This is only from what I picked up.”

“I see.”

“Thankfully, Selene-sama is quick to understand. To be able to understand this much at your age is a big deal, you know?”

“Ehehe~”

Selene smiled proudly. No matter how much Selene looked like a girl, the person inside was an old man. Rather, isn’t it odd to feel proud, being to understand this kind of conversation?

“So, What’s next?”

“The other side of Shiromori is called Dragon’s peak.” (Kanji: 竜峰りゅうほう or ryuu mine ryuuho)

“Ryuuu~Ho~?”

“Since the area past Shiramori is almost uninhabitable, it’s a good representation of that place. The one who lives in the Dragon’s peak is the King of the world……”

Kumahachi trailed off, turned his eyes to a faraway place. Selene and Milan followed his line of sight.

“That over there is it.”

Selene was surprised to see what Kumahachi meant with a smile. It was a huge creature flying in the sky, very far away, tearing through the blue sky.

“Eh, Dragon!?”

“Is it your first time seeing one? Well, it’s rare for them to fly all the way south to Aquila.”

She ignored what Milan was saying, and was staring at the Dragon.

The Dragon, covered in blazing crimson scales, had sturdy, thick limbs, batlike wings, and a fine horn. It was flying at a high altitude, but its gigantic build could be seen at a glance even from a distance.

The Dragon. as if showing off that he was the ruler of the sky, disregarded the people below, and was enjoying some sort of leisurely walk in the sky.

When such an amazing big creature shows up that could only be seen in games and manga, Selene looked up, stunned. But she returned to herself and tugged at Kumahachi’s clothes.

“Kuma, Kuma, Quickly!”

“Eh, What’s the problem? You don’t have to panic. They’re big, but we humans don’t have to run…..”

“No, you have to!”

Selene was excited. the other side was carelessly flying above them. It’s a great opportunity to hunt it. -It was necessary to bring it down quickly with some sort of explosion.

Contrary to Selene’s excitement, Kumahachi and Milan pointed their eyes at Selene. As Selene started to slow down and began to feel impatient, Kumahachi began to hold his stomach in his arms, bursting into laughter. Even Milano, who was usually calm was laughing too.

Selene didn’t understand and looked at the two men laughing. Did she say anything funny? Selene, who was passionate about a certain game where a party of four people hunting dragons like they were deer or wild boars. However, Selene had no friends, so she had to play alone, but that doesn’t matter.

“Hunting? Hunting dragons? Selene, that kind of thing only appears in fairy tales and myths.”

It was so funny, that Kumahachi voice trembled as he replied over his laugh Their common sense needed a significant amount of time to understand Selene’s ‘to ride’ meant ‘to hunt’. (due to the kanji for to hunt and to ride to have similar pronunciations: 「からないと」が「狩らないと」) Milan began to speak to pacify Selene, who pouted her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“Selene, In the line of raw food and us, Dragons are on another level. Just as Kumahachi said, there are many stories in the continent, such as getting a mighty power by making a contract with a dragon or defeating one after three days and three nights, but those are just fantasies.”

“…… So it’s just a dream?”

Even so, Selene was persistent in her approach. She had always wanted to see a dragon being hunted, no matter the cost. Selene knew Kumahachi had an amazing sword, and Milan’s sword was extravagant, So she insisted that they slay a dragon or two.

So what if it took three days and nights? If I were a dragon, I would have hunted them in less than 15 minutes. Selene gave up and shook her head.

“Well, whether you hunt a dragon or ride one, it’s all about the romance behind it. So, how about it, Prince? Why don’t you test yourself?”

“Sorry. If you want to commit suicide so much, it will take more time and effort than my country destroying itself, so do it without me.”

Milan said in reply to Kumahachi’s lighthearted joke. Milan gave an extra explanation to the still dissatisfied Selene.

The general ecology of dragons is largely unknown, but they seem to have a much longer history than humans with unmatched capability in magic and vitality. Unlike on earth, where humans ruled the world, in this world, the dragon is on top.

On the other hand, there is a theory that intelligence is subtle. Most people say that they are equal to or higher than humans, but they were interested in street performances in human cities, and as a result of descending to the square, all entertainers and spectators escaped. There seems to be a stupid case of ruin. (note: edit later, meaning still vague) The general idea for what humans look like to dragons is like an ant nest of human activity.

“I see…”

Kumahachi and Milan, after explaining extensively about how strong the dragon was, Selene finally understood what it meant to challenge the dragon. At that time, the dragon noticed that the small humans were making a fuss about who he was, and made a nose dive toward. A huge gust of wind began to roll in, and Selene put her hands on her hat in a hurry so it wouldn’t blow away.

The dragon kept accelerating towards the ground, but then suddenly pulled up, as if to show off his power, and resumed to fly north, like a kite.

“Amazing…”

“Yes. Just like how lions don’t care much about moles, they don’t show much interest in humans. So there’s no need to be scared. Well, I’m done with my food, and I’m about ready to leave.”

That said, Kumahachi folded his map and put it away. Even after the dragon left, Selene had been looking in the direction in which he had disappeared. ‘Let’s leave her alone for a while’, Milan said, went with Kumahachi, empty bowl, and began to help clean up.

“Thank you, Kumahachi.”

“What’s up?”

“It’s for teaching that child about the continent. She seems to be very interested in it. That dragon came at a good time, too. I’ll have to thank him, too.”

“Hey, no problem.”

When the break was over, Selene’s carriage began to move again. Selene, who had just been rolling around with hollow eyes, was now sitting on the foot of the carriage, smiling a little and poking his cheeks and thinking about something.

When Milan saw Selene’s smile, which had been depressed up until now, he smiled in relief. The world is nothing to be afraid of, for there are many exciting things like before. Milan was happy she smiled and even communicated for a bit.

to Milan’s best friend, Kumahachi, and the passing dragon, Milan expressed his gratitude from his heart and got on the horse.

However, Selene was developing a devious plot while he was thinking that. It was a shame that she couldn’t hunt the dragon, but she found out some useful information. The elves made her worry a little, but if such a powerful dragon was there, then there must be some way, no matter how strong the country is, She had an idea.

“fufufu…”

Even though Selene had no idea how she would do that, she imagined the expression of the prince panicking and made an evil smile on her adorable lips.

Chapter 8: King of the World

“Well, I’m quite familiar with this continent because I’m escorting Prince Milan. It’s much more interesting and more accurate to explain than the geographers who are only about logic.”

Kumahachi took out an old map from his hakama and spread it out on the grass. The map was well-worn, but it was much more detailed and precise than the maps that Selene had seen in the picture books. On the map were notes, saying things like “there are a lot of beautiful women in this country” and “The alcohol sucks here”, and such information that could only be learned by actually going to that place.

The map itself was rather large when opened up, but Kumehachi could stretch his arms and point from place to place while sitting cross-legged. But the petite Selene had leaned over to get a good look at the map. It was the first time that Selene, who had only seem maps from around Aquila, to see the entire continent from a bird’s-eye view. Looking at it like that, it looked quite similar to Earth’s Australia.

“Now, where do I start… Well, let’s start with the basics. First off, This country here is the place where you lived, the Aquila kingdom.”

“Un.” (Indicates agreement)

Kumahachi’s finger points to the bottom-left of the continent, Selene’s home country, a small country that could not exactly be considered a country.

“And this is the Helifalte kingdom, the country we are heading to now. As you can see, it is the biggest country on the continent.”

Kumahachi moved his finger to the northeastern part of the continent, causing Selene to frown a little. She had heard that Helifalte is a big country, but if you were to look at an accurate map, it was ridiculously huge.

The Helifalte Kingdom took over half of the continent, with the other half being the rest of the countries in the continent. Selene had decided to destroy the Prince’s country, but this was a rather troublesome opponent to pick a fight with. ‘What’s the deal with this?!’ Selene held her head in her mind.

While she was looking for any path to capture it, Selene noticed something odd. While it is true that the Helifalte Kingdom is the biggest country, the upper half of the continent is covered in a white forest, and not listed as a part of any country in particular.

And further north of the forest, you would only see a huge mountain. In other words, there was barely any information on the upper half of the continent.

“From here, white.”

“That’s right. Since Selene had never seen the continent like this, let me explain this one at a time.”

“Are you teaching Selene geography?”

While Selene and Kumahachi were sitting next to each other, Milano, who had been with the other knights, was standing right between them. Behind him was a servant holding a large pot. ‘Looks like they had lunch and went through the trouble to bring it to us,’ Selene thought.

“Do you mind if I joined in?”

And without a chance for Selene to say “No”, Milan sat down next to Selene. This is why Selene didn’t like dealing with good-looking people and their terrible personalities, but Milan didn’t seem to notice.

The servant behind Milan passed lunch around to everyone sitting around the map. The menu was jerky, soup, and black bread with herbs and salmon on the side. Like the others, Selene soaked the bread and stuffed it into her cheeks. Whether the ingredients were good, the person cooking was good, or both, the salty soup was simple but delicious, so the simple Serene felt better from this alone.

She had wanted to give some of her meal to Butler if she could but realized she could not feed a rat in public and decided to take some food later to secretly feed him.

“Well, What did you guys talk about? Ah, the white part of the continent. That place is what we call ‘Shiromori Shiromori’. (Kanji: 白森しろもり or White Forest Peak But I’ll leave it as it is so it’s easier on me.)

“Shiromori?”

“Let me explain it like this. As you can see, the whole forest is white, yes? This is due to the influence of magic.”

This is the first time Selene’s ever heard of it. There was a white part in the map that Selene had seen up until now but because it was a simplified map, Selene had thought that it was some kind of snowy country or a cut-out drawing.

“The more north you go in the continent, the denser the earth’s mana becomes there. Unless if you were a person with magical abilities like me or Selene, ordinary people without magical powers like Kumahachi would lose their sense of balance or get sick with mana poisoning. That’s why only Elves live in the Shiromori.”

“Don’t make fun of Kumahachi!”

“No, I wasn’t making fun of him……”

Selene retorted to Milan’s explanation. She was annoyed about Milan casually looking down at Kumahachi but noticed some important clues.

“Elves? Long-ears?”

“You know them pretty well. Elves- Also known as the long-ear tribe and the Guardians of the forest, but they rarely ever come out of the forest. They look similar to you and I, but are a race specialized in the forest and skilled in using magic. However, since I have never met any, This is only from what I picked up.”

“I see.”

“Thankfully, Selene-sama is quick to understand. To be able to understand this much at your age is a big deal, you know?”

“Ehehe~”

Selene smiled proudly. No matter how much Selene looked like a girl, the person inside was an old man. Rather, isn’t it odd to feel proud, being to understand this kind of conversation?

“So, What’s next?”

“The other side of Shiromori is called Dragon’s peak.” (Kanji: 竜峰りゅうほう or ryuu mine ryuuho)

“Ryuuu~Ho~?”

“Since the area past Shiramori is almost uninhabitable, it’s a good representation of that place. The one who lives in the Dragon’s peak is the King of the world……”

Kumahachi trailed off, turned his eyes to a faraway place. Selene and Milan followed his line of sight.

“That over there is it.”

Selene was surprised to see what Kumahachi meant with a smile. It was a huge creature flying in the sky, very far away, tearing through the blue sky.

“Eh, Dragon!?”

“Is it your first time seeing one? Well, it’s rare for them to fly all the way south to Aquila.”

She ignored what Milan was saying, and was staring at the Dragon.

The Dragon, covered in blazing crimson scales, had sturdy, thick limbs, batlike wings, and a fine horn. It was flying at a high altitude, but its gigantic build could be seen at a glance even from a distance.

The Dragon. as if showing off that he was the ruler of the sky, disregarded the people below, and was enjoying some sort of leisurely walk in the sky.

When such an amazing big creature shows up that could only be seen in games and manga, Selene looked up, stunned. But she returned to herself and tugged at Kumahachi’s clothes.

“Kuma, Kuma, Quickly!”

“Eh, What’s the problem? You don’t have to panic. They’re big, but we humans don’t have to run…..”

“No, you have to!”

Selene was excited. the other side was carelessly flying above them. It’s a great opportunity to hunt it. -It was necessary to bring it down quickly with some sort of explosion.

Contrary to Selene’s excitement, Kumahachi and Milan pointed their eyes at Selene. As Selene started to slow down and began to feel impatient, Kumahachi began to hold his stomach in his arms, bursting into laughter. Even Milano, who was usually calm was laughing too.

Selene didn’t understand and looked at the two men laughing. Did she say anything funny? Selene, who was passionate about a certain game where a party of four people hunting dragons like they were deer or wild boars. However, Selene had no friends, so she had to play alone, but that doesn’t matter.

“Hunting? Hunting dragons? Selene, that kind of thing only appears in fairy tales and myths.”

It was so funny, that Kumahachi voice trembled as he replied over his laugh Their common sense needed a significant amount of time to understand Selene’s ‘to ride’ meant ‘to hunt’. (due to the kanji for to hunt and to ride to have similar pronunciations: 「からないと」が「狩らないと」) Milan began to speak to pacify Selene, who pouted her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“Selene, In the line of raw food and us, Dragons are on another level. Just as Kumahachi said, there are many stories in the continent, such as getting a mighty power by making a contract with a dragon or defeating one after three days and three nights, but those are just fantasies.”

“…… So it’s just a dream?”

Even so, Selene was persistent in her approach. She had always wanted to see a dragon being hunted, no matter the cost. Selene knew Kumahachi had an amazing sword, and Milan’s sword was extravagant, So she insisted that they slay a dragon or two.

So what if it took three days and nights? If I were a dragon, I would have hunted them in less than 15 minutes. Selene gave up and shook her head.

“Well, whether you hunt a dragon or ride one, it’s all about the romance behind it. So, how about it, Prince? Why don’t you test yourself?”

“Sorry. If you want to commit suicide so much, it will take more time and effort than my country destroying itself, so do it without me.”

Milan said in reply to Kumahachi’s lighthearted joke. Milan gave an extra explanation to the still dissatisfied Selene.

The general ecology of dragons is largely unknown, but they seem to have a much longer history than humans with unmatched capability in magic and vitality. Unlike on earth, where humans ruled the world, in this world, the dragon is on top.

On the other hand, there is a theory that intelligence is subtle. Most people say that they are equal to or higher than humans, but they were interested in street performances in human cities, and as a result of descending to the square, all entertainers and spectators escaped. There seems to be a stupid case of ruin. (note: edit later, meaning still vague) The general idea for what humans look like to dragons is like an ant nest of human activity.

“I see…”

Kumahachi and Milan, after explaining extensively about how strong the dragon was, Selene finally understood what it meant to challenge the dragon. At that time, the dragon noticed that the small humans were making a fuss about who he was, and made a nose dive toward. A huge gust of wind began to roll in, and Selene put her hands on her hat in a hurry so it wouldn’t blow away.

The dragon kept accelerating towards the ground, but then suddenly pulled up, as if to show off his power, and resumed to fly north, like a kite.

“Amazing…”

“Yes. Just like how lions don’t care much about moles, they don’t show much interest in humans. So there’s no need to be scared. Well, I’m done with my food, and I’m about ready to leave.”

That said, Kumahachi folded his map and put it away. Even after the dragon left, Selene had been looking in the direction in which he had disappeared. ‘Let’s leave her alone for a while’, Milan said, went with Kumahachi, empty bowl, and began to help clean up.

“Thank you, Kumahachi.”

“What’s up?”

“It’s for teaching that child about the continent. She seems to be very interested in it. That dragon came at a good time, too. I’ll have to thank him, too.”

“Hey, no problem.”

When the break was over, Selene’s carriage began to move again. Selene, who had just been rolling around with hollow eyes, was now sitting on the foot of the carriage, smiling a little and poking his cheeks and thinking about something.

When Milan saw Selene’s smile, which had been depressed up until now, he smiled in relief. The world is nothing to be afraid of, for there are many exciting things like before. Milan was happy she smiled and even communicated for a bit.

to Milan’s best friend, Kumahachi, and the passing dragon, Milan expressed his gratitude from his heart and got on the horse.

However, Selene was developing a devious plot while he was thinking that. It was a shame that she couldn’t hunt the dragon, but she found out some useful information. The elves made her worry a little, but if such a powerful dragon was there, then there must be some way, no matter how strong the country is, She had an idea.

“fufufu…”

Even though Selene had no idea how she would do that, she imagined the expression of the prince panicking and made an evil smile on her adorable lips.


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