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「Marion, Jessica-san, wake up!」

Having come back to the Silverlight Barony, Iris took off the blanket and woke up the sleeping dragons.

「Uu…..cold……for me to witness the day when Iris comes to wake me up………humiliating……」

「Iris-chan, be usual Iris-chan and sleep…..look, the bed is so fluffy…..」

Hearing Jessica’s words, Iris’ heart wavered for a brief moment.

However, she had things to do.

Iris’ will was hard as steel.

「Arise, oh mighty dragons………Giga Inferno Flame!」

Iris released her rainbow-colored magical power and stretched a hand towards Marion and Jessica.

Magic turned into heat…….producing tiny sparks around them.

「I’m suddenly motivated」

Marion got up.

「That’s bad. I didn’t clean the house for a long time」

Jessica too remembered her work as the housewife.

「Cleaning is fine but……instead of that I want the two splendid dragons to carry something for me」

Perhaps reacting to the word splendid, Marion grinned.

「Y-You’re so hopeless. If you insist so far, I don’t mind helping you」

「Arara. Does being praised by Iris make you so happy?」

「I-It doesn’t! Don’t say strange things, mother!」

Marion turned bright red, rolled back on the bed, and pushed her face into the pillow.

Seeing her reaction, Iris too felt embarrassed.

「Anyway! I’m waiting outside, so come as soon as you can!」

Iris hurriedly escaped outside.

Punigami, Muriel, Eclipse, and Sheryl were waiting for her outside the church.

「N? What about those two?」

「T-They will come soon!」

Indeed, Marion and Jessica came ten seconds later.

For some reason, Marion was still hugging a pillow.

Since she couldn’t work like that, she hugged Punigami instead and put the pillow back on its place.

「So what do you want mother and me to carry?」

「That thing」

Iris pointed at the two snowballs they left outside the village.

The moment the dragons saw them, their eyes opened wide.

「Big! Eh, what’s that?」

「We wanted to make a snowman and that’s how it ended up」

「Are you idiots!?」

Marion’s face was full of heartfelt frustration.

Then Eclipse chimed in.

「We aren’t idiots」

「Ah, I didn’t really mean to call Eclipse an idiot…..」

「It was Eclipse who suggested making a snowman」

Iris enlightened the ignorant Marion.

「Eh, is that so….no, but, this…..sorry, Eclipse」

「Okay, I forgive you. Instead of that, carry that snowball」

「Carry where……? Didn’t you want to make a snowman?」

「We did. We wanted to make a snowman, but there is a water shortage in the south, so we are carrying it there」

Eclipse answered with a smile.

「You’ve spent so much effort making these snowballs, all for the sake of some strangers…….Eclipse, you’re such a good girl」

「How admirable. I want to take you home」

「I’m your only child!」

Or so the dragons said as they patted Eclipse’s head.

However, Iris was the one to suggest carrying the snowballs to the southern island.

She suggested it immediately after she heard about it from Roshe.

If it’s the dragons, they might just be able to carry it.

However, Marion and Jessica climbed into the bed and turn into something resembling Iris.

That’s why iris practiced Katie’s defining technique on the way back.

It was much easier than expected and she successfully woke up the two.

「But that thing is definitely cold, right? We are bad with cold things」

「Eclipse and I will support you with Giga Inferno Flame, so it’s alright」

「Won’t the snowballs melt?」

「For the snowballs it’s Giga Cocytus Blizzard」

「You can even use this one……」

「Well, I didn’t practice yet, but it’s basically doing the opposite. Easy peasy」

「I see…..if the temperature isn’t a problem, it seems doable」

Marion muttered as she calmly observed the snowballs.

Jessica looked at the sky and became worried about the time.

「It’s evening already. I don’t know how far south it is but isn’t it a bit too late?」

「Then we’ll depart tomorrow morning」

「Eh? Can you wake up in the morning, Iris-chan?」

Jessica said something rude.

「I’ve been playing with everyone since early morning! I don’t want to hear it from someone who slept the whole day!」

「Well, you know……..it was cold, so I had no choice…..」

Jessica averted her eyes in guilt.

「Anyway, we are carrying the snowballs tomorrow morning, right? I’ll bake some cookies to eat on the way!」

Sheryl clutched her fist.

She is trustworthy when it comes to sweets.

「Wai, cookies」

「This Mistress wishes us a safe journey. A prayer of the Guardian Deity」

「Eclipse and I should practice our magic. We have to master Giga Inferno Flame and Giga Cocytus Blizzard」

「Okay. Is it that difficult?」

「It’s ridiculously easy, let’s quickly do it and go to bed」¹

「Is that so? I’ve played a lot today, so I’ll sleep a lot」

Eclipse voiced her desire to sleep.

Iris saw a new comrade in her and became happy.

「The we’ll sleep early to prepare for tomorrow too. Even for dragons, carrying the snowballs of such a size is somewhat tiring」

「Are? You are going to sleep again even though you’ve slept the whole day………?」

Iris was surprised.

She thought that sleeping the whole day was her unique skill.

「I’m not sleepy at all, but if you dispel Giga Inferno Flame I can fall asleep even here」

「…….Could it be the red dragons hibernate during the whole winter?」

「Not the whole of it, only the coldest period.  Everyone must be already in hibernation back in the dragon’s village」

Jessica said nonchalantly.

「Sorry for forcing you to go against your instincts……」

「Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. The monsters are always glad to serve strong demons. If it’s Iris-chan asking, I’ll listen. Right, Marion?」

「I-I’m not thinking about something serving Iris…..! 」

「Mmm…..then why do you like Iris-chan so much? Perhaps there is something else besides instincts at play」

「There is no like! I’m normal! Mother is mean!」

Marion screamed on top of her lungs and ran down the hill.

She was about as red as she was in her dragon form.

「Iris-sama is somewhat red too」

「Did you catch a cold, big sister Iris?」

「Warm yourself and go to bed」

「It’s not cold! It’s nothing! It’s just…..Giga Inferno Flame warmed my body and hastened the flow of blood!」

「Punii」

「The way you make excuses resembles that of Marion」noticed Punigami.

「Fufu, Iris-chan, please get along with Marion. Well then, I’m going to chase after her. You can cancel Giga Inferno Flame whenever. Bye, bye」

She asked for Marion’s sake.

Of course, she meant being friends.

There should be no deeper meaning.

Or so it was supposed to be, Jessica’s voice was so full of meaning Iris ended up imagining different things.

She decided to stop thinking and went to bed.

「Arere? What about magic practice?」

「We’ll figure it out on the way」

「Alright」

「Puni」

「Don’t forget to dispel Giga Inferno Flame before sleeping」said Punigami reading the mood.

Thanks to him, the dragons managed to avoid insomnia.

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References