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“Let me introduce them—Bakvilyde and Orgueil. Not that remembering their names will matter for someone about to die.”
**“――――GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!”**

At the red-haired girl’s words, the dragon she called Bakvilyde let out a thunderous roar.

Its hide was jagged like rock, and its massive body exuded brute strength. Its wings, built like solid armor, looked more like decoration than anything functional—its sheer presence made Claxton seem like a child in comparison.

Even if Momo punched it with all her might, she probably couldn’t even peel off a single scale. I doubted my magecraft would have any real effect either.

**“Bakvilyde. Mind your manners. You’re in the presence of the princess.”**
“It’s fine. Being grovelled to just gives me a stiff neck.”

In contrast, the other dragon, Orgueil, glided through the sky with a sinuous, streamlined body, moving as if swimming through the air.

Its long, flowing tail fins danced on the wind, and the eye-like patterns on its wings induced a dull headache just from being looked at. Illusory magic, maybe? Staring too long felt like it would rip your eyes right out.

Its drifting, fluttering movements were hard to pin down. It looked softer than Bakvilyde, sure—but landing a solid hit would be far more difficult.

“So I’m supposed to fight these two monsters by myself? That’s going to be a pain.”
“Oh my, did you forget about me? Hate to break it to you, but you’re up against three of us.”
“Ah, my mistake. Three, then. By the way, whatever happened to the master of this desert?”
“…That insolent mouth of yours. You really aren’t her, are you? The more you talk, the more pissed off I get.”

I was only making light conversation, but the girl’s mood continued to sour rapidly.

She seemed to be seeing someone else in me… no, perhaps she actually knew the original owner of this body?

“Valka? I killed him. Fool broke the rules and showed this forbidden land to humans.”
“Forbidden land, huh… If I’m going to die here, at least give me something to take to the afterlife. What is this place? The architecture’s ancient, but the tech scattered around doesn’t match. It’s almost like—”
“Silence. Don’t say another word.”

She snapped her fingers.

Still airborne, Orgueil arched its upper body back and swelled its chest. That motion made it obvious what was coming next.

“Hey now, don’t go destroying everything. I still don’t know anything yet. Besides, what’s here is—”
**“――――GRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”**

What spewed from Orgueil’s mouth was a breath laced with ominous-looking purple gas—just looking at it made it clear it wasn’t good for the body.

Even the sheer wind pressure alone was enough to crush a human, and adding poison on top of that was just plain overkill.

The breath spread across the full width of the hole in the ceiling, leaving no room to escape. Trying to flee down the corridor would just lead to getting buried alive when they blasted through the ceiling again—not exactly appealing.

“…Nothing but junk, really.”

The purple vortex swallowed the entire room—and my body along with it. The scattered bones around me were pulverized instantly, turning black wherever the gas made contact.

If bone reacted like that, there was no way a living body would fare any better. Covering my mouth with a sleeve to breathe as little as possible, I generated a blast of compressed air in my palm and used it to deflect the swirling winds around me.

“Phew… that stinks a bit. What is that, tooth decay?”
**“…Princess, tell me—am I senile?”**
“You’ve still got all your edge, Orgueil. But looks like she’s not just some cheeky brat.”
“Brat’s not the word I’d use. But my neck is getting sore from looking up at you. Mind if I join you up there? —*Raging Eleventh*.”

As I chanted, I blew a soft breeze into my palm. It began to spiral, growing sharper like a dry autumn wind, and soon formed a massive tornado that consumed the entire room.

Of course, it wasn’t large enough to swallow two dragons whole—but it was a perfect shield to keep them off my back while I made my way to the surface.

“Let’s see… how many times have I stared down a dragon this close? It dredges up nothing but awful memories.”
“You’re just full of sass, aren’t you?”

The crunch of sand underfoot. The searing sun that felt like it might roast my skin.

Rather than being moved by the return to the surface, I was already starting to feel miserable about the desert’s brutal conditions—and the two dragons glaring daggers at me didn’t help either.

“Now then, I know there’s no room for negotiation here, but I’m going to talk anyway. First off, that building—when exactly was it constructed?”
“Shut up!!”

The girl, a vein bulging on her temple, suddenly lashed out with her claws.

I narrowly dodged the strike aimed for my neck, but the razor-sharp claws grazed my cheek, leaving a vivid red line in their wake.

“Sorry, but I’m not the type to just lie down and die without answers. Why are you trying to kill us? What’s your goal? What’s hidden in those ruins?”
“You never shut up, do you!? I’m the one who wants answers! Why do you have that body? Who the hell are you? What do you know!?”
“My name is Laika Galactica. This body was given to me after my original one crumbled away, following a thousand-year sentence. All I know is the dust-covered history I’ve picked up along the way.”
“Laika… Galactica…?”

The girl turned toward me again, raising her claws—but something in her movement wavered.

We’d never met before. With hair as strikingly red as hers, there’s no way I would’ve forgotten her.

And yet, her reaction suggested she knew my name.

“You… don’t tell me. You’re that obnoxious Yuuri Rin’s student… aren’t you?”