Chapter 783 - Two Cats, in the Sky
—Now then. Let me take a moment to talk about my Stardust Beast, Sapphire.
With its wings spread to their full twenty-meter span, it boasts a scale that overwhelmingly dwarfs all other currently known tamed beasts.
Its head, with its long and magnificent beak, has a distinctive shape reminiscent of a Pteranodon, and its overall form might be better described as a wyvern rather than a dragon.
Well, whether it's a pterosaur or a wyvern, it's still a “dragon,” and in any case, he's cool, huge, and super cool. But my pride and joy's charm doesn't end there.
I remember when we first met. Despite me utterly demolishing him in a battle that lasted maybe a minute, he took to me instantly. As you can probably guess from that, this Sapphire, or Saffy-chan (kun?), is incredibly friendly.
He doesn’t care one bit about being summoned only to find a stranger on his back. First-time riders are no problem at all… even if it's a certain [Traveler] who starts horsing around on his back. He’s tolerant enough to accept it all.
He's loyal not just to his master, but to those his master is connected to. It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to dote on him like a cat—or rather, a dragon—but even so.
Even the friendly Sapphire has a sort of affection ranking.
And as for those rankings—first place, me.
Well, that’s a given. And it’s not just my master’s bias putting me at the top; we’ve experimented, and when the top three of us call him at the same time, he flies straight to me. So it's confirmed fact.
Of course a master's call takes priority, you say? I don’t care. No matter what anyone says, Sapphire is mine, and I'll never give him up. If you have a problem, come at me.
Anyway, third place(..), Sora-san.
Well, this is also a given. As my partner, she spends the most time with me, so naturally she spends more time with Sapphire than anyone else.
She recently acquired the Rider skill, and her bond with him through interaction has been steadily deepening. Plus, she's incredibly sweet and gentle with him, so of course he’d take to her.
And then, after that. Fourth place and below are all pretty much tied, with the top three far ahead. But if Sora, who spends the second-longest time with him, is in third place…
Then who, you ask, is in second?
Well… that's obvious, isn't it?
“—Whoa!? H-hey, wha… what’s gotten into you! You’re full of energy, huh!?”
And so, with all that, we were in the sky.
For the first training session, continuing from the first day, I handed the reins to Senpai and entrusted Sapphire to her. But the panicked voice that rang out a second later was so predictable I couldn’t hold back a smile.
It was exactly as I’d expected.
His mood was clearly even better than yesterday, and the dragon, soaring into the clouds in a very mischievous trajectory, paid no mind to the screams of the kitten on his back.
But even while screaming, she held onto the reins—or rather, the “threads”—and dug in her heels with impressive grit. Nacchan-senpai would be fine on her own.
Therefore, the only problem was over here(…).
“—Why the long face, Nia-chan? You should be used to this by now, right?”
“……………………I don’t know what you mean by ‘by now,’ or ‘should be.’ I don’t get it at all. And if you let go of me, I’ll scream and cry like it’s the end of the world.”
I had a firm grip on her slender waist, and she was within the protection of my [Luna Nobody (Guardian of the Shimmering Moon)]. The high-altitude winds, the g-forces from the excessive speed and wild turns—I was taking it all, so she should have been perfectly comfortable. But judging from her face, she unfortunately wasn’t feeling so great.
Well, it couldn't be helped.
“If you keep making that face, Saffy will get all dejected and feel bad again, you know.”
“Ehh… ehhh… oh, come on… give me a break… I like Sapphire-chan, but Nia-chan is the frail type of player who doesn’t fly through the sky…”
Still, she only complains at the very beginning of each day. After flying for a while, her complexion gradually improves, as it usually does. …In other words, Sapphire was over the moon to have his favorite(…..) on his back, and as always, he was greeting her with a devastatingly cheerful welcome.
It's a genuine expression of affection. You must humbly… or rather, silently, accept it.
“—Hey, you! Why are you so calm! I’m freaking out here!? I’m actually in trouble! What am I supposed to do with this?!”
“What are you supposed to do? You’re already doing it(………),” is all I can say.
“Your smug voice is so annoying!!!”
Well, the kitten-sama over there seemed to be in high spirits too, so I’ll just leave her be.
“…Hey, you. You still don’t have the Rider skill, do you? How in the world are you stuck to him, even upside down, without even a hint of clinging on?”
“Guts.”
Even though her face was blue—well, pale—she had indeed grown enough to stop screaming. At this rate, her adaptability would keep improving, and if she ever managed to acquire the skill by mistake, Sapphire would be thrilled. I hoped she’d keep at it—
I thought, sending her some half-hearted encouragement from my heart.
“Alright, Nia, your training(..) begins now too. Neither I, nor Ashe, of course, expect perfection from the get-go. Just do the best you can, okay?”
“Mmph… ……………………Mhm. Your hand.”
“I’m not letting go. Have I ever let go? Don’t worry, just focus on your training.”
If I intended to give an unreasonable order to a frail non-combatant, I would have assembled the three-man cell yesterday. I wouldn’t waste precious time.
So, my words were true. Therefore…
“The goal is… let’s see, how about maintaining it for five minutes(…………), for now?”
“Yeah, that’s impossible. I’m telling you, this(..) isn’t something you can use for a long time.”
“My apologies. Well, again, just do what you can.”
“………………”
I said it in a light tone, and she shot me a sidelong glance. I wonder what was going through her mind… I had a pretty good idea, but if I said it out loud, she’d probably get angry.
—I want to be of use, even if I have to push myself a little. The fact that she felt that way was more than enough. I gave her a casual smile, and I wonder if my feelings got through to her.
The indigo-haired girl let out a sad sigh that melted into the sky, and then,
“Alright, here I go… —[Truthnight Aquamarine (Night Queen Seeing Through the Moon)].”
Amidst the blue of the sky, her twin stars of indigo glittered brilliantly.
Meanwhile, the background music (Nacchan) never stopped screaming.