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“…What was that just now?”

I had definitely heard it—a piercing, unnerving scream that didn’t sound remotely human. The sheer intensity had left the windows trembling. Outside, I could see people murmuring anxiously, undoubtedly shaken by the same harrowing sound.

This wasn’t normal. And the direction it came from…

“Lord Axio, urgent report!!”
“Enter. What is it?”

Accompanied by a rough knock, a soldier clad in leather armor entered the room. Likely one of the Umravolf family’s private guards, his presence even made Axio straighten up and take him seriously.

“Claxton has awakened! It’s advancing while causing a dragon calamity! Estimated to reach the city in about half a day!”
“That’s quick. What’s the cause?”
“Unknown, but we suspect it might be the rebellion of the criminals…”
“Wait, that’s impossible. Momo and the others would never do something like that.”
“Uh, Lord Axio? Who is this…?”
“A friend of mine. Good work, you may go now. Laika, can I trust your words on this?”
“Out of the three, Momo doesn’t have the brains to pull off something so elaborate. If Nova and Kusuf were to go rogue, Momo would be the first to stop them—even if it meant brute force.”
“…I see. Interesting.”

Honestly, if those three had provoked the dragon, they wouldn’t have made it out of the mountain alive, let alone guided an enraged beast all the way to the city.

“But the dragon is definitely coming. I can feel the immense magical pressure emanating from it.”
“You can sense it? The mountain is still quite a distance away.”
“At this range, I can at least pick up the presence of a major entity. But… wait, this signature—what’s going on here?”
“The ghost ship?”

At Axio’s question, I nodded silently.

The oppressive aura of the dragon made it difficult to discern, but woven into the magical wavelengths coming from the mountain was the unmistakable, cursed resonance of something I had never wanted to encounter again.

“Axio, is there any connection between what you mentioned earlier and the dragon’s advance?”
“I’d rather there wasn’t, but… the ghost ship has, on rare occasions, shown the ability to encroach upon land throughout Aldebaran’s history.”
“…Are you referring to the incident where half the city was carved away, and the previous Saint met her end?”
“Exactly. There have been several instances of the ghost ship’s outbursts. Each time, the intervals between incidents shorten, and it seems to grow more cunning.”

“Then you must have some plan to confront it this time. Or perhaps evacuating the residents should come first?”
“My men are already handling the evacuation. The real issue is Claxton.”
“I’ll go check it out. Focus on the evacuation. Once I’ve dealt with things on my end, I’ll come back to assist.”
“I appreciate it, but… you’d really lend a hand?”
“It’s incidental. If there’s anything urgent, I’ll send a sound transmission. Don’t count on me too much—I’ll retreat if it’s beyond me.”

Without waiting for Axio’s reply, I dashed out of the cramped house.

The sky was shrouded by dense clouds, dimming the light as though it were dusk. The dragon’s awakening had already begun to affect the environment.

“No time to dawdle…”

Gathering all the wind power I could muster, I shot toward the mountain. The aerial route was unobstructed and much faster than Momo’s carriage.

Still, considerable time had passed since they departed. Considering the cause-and-effect relationship behind the dragon’s awakening, the chances of being too late were overwhelmingly high, no matter how much I hurried.

“…Hmph.”

So what? What difference does it make? If anything, it would be refreshing to have fewer nuisances around.

This mess was Momo’s fault for meddling in Nova’s business. I had no obligation to clean it up for her.

“Well, it’s not like I can let that city get wiped out, so I suppose I have no choice…”
“—Hey! Kid! Look over here!”
“Hmm?”

The unceremonious shout furrowed my brow. Looking down, I spotted two familiar idiots steering a carriage.

“So, you’re still alive, Criminals #1 and #2. Quite tenacious, aren’t you?”
“What the hell, you—! We barely made it out alive, you know!?”
“It’s bad, sis! The dragon’s dead, then alive, and now the ghost ship is zombie-fied!”
“I get it, I get it. I’ve already pieced together most of the situation on my end.”

Dropping to match the height of the carriage, I was immediately bombarded by their panicked rambling. It was almost amusing how thoroughly rattled they were.

Still, nothing they said added much to what I already knew—other than raising the likelihood of the claim that the ghost ship had hijacked the dragon’s corpse and was advancing toward the city.

“Calm down for a moment, and don’t come any closer. Just to confirm, you haven’t come into direct contact with the ghost ship, right?”
“Of course not! Before it could happen, I used my unique magic to get us out of there. I never want to go through that again…”
“Hahaha, well, aren’t you lucky. Escaping unscathed from a cursed combination like a ghost ship and a dragon—just the three of you? That’s nothing short of a miracle.”
“…About that, sis…”
“Momo’s still with you, right? Let’s see her face.”

The assassin, Kusuf, across from me audibly caught her breath. It was a small sound, but unmistakable in the tense atmosphere.

There was no way Momo would stay silently huddled in the carriage bed in this situation. Which meant…

She wasn’t here.

Facing the dragon, she must have sacrificed herself to let these two escape. That kind of impulsive, harebrained decision was exactly what I’d expect from my idiotic apprentice.

“Le-let me make it clear—we didn’t use her as bait! Before I could stop her, that pink-haired idiot just—”
“Enough. I don’t care about excuses, just the facts in front of me. Head back to the city and report everything you’ve seen to the Astraea bunch.”
“I…we…we’re not the bad guys here, dammit! If there’s any way to save her, please do it! I can’t pay back what I owe if she doesn’t make it back!”

Apparently, I must have been making quite a grim face. Even the horses seemed spooked, galloping off as if fleeing from me.

But she wasn’t wrong. Everything that happened was because Momo acted on her own. I had no reason to lash out at them for it. Then why was I so annoyed? Shouldn’t I be relieved it was just one sacrifice instead of more?

“…Still, that idiot is going to get an earful once I find her.”

Exhaling a sigh heavy enough to press into the earth, I turned back toward the mountain and increased my speed.

It was fifteen minutes after parting ways with the carriage that I finally came face-to-face with that.

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