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Mira spent the night in a small inn she found not too far away from the academy. The inn was built out of wood on stone supports, giving a warm appearance but also had its own character. As small as it was, it had a unique presence. The owner was a well-built middle-aged man who was running the inn together with his wife and two daughters.

Just like what Mira had wished for, the first floor was the dining room where dinner was being served at that moment. Even though the inn was rather compact, the food was exceedingly delicious and she also managed to accomplish her goal of chattering with the owner. Mira felt some pity for him after he unrestrainedly grumbled about how he felt like he had a weak presence when being surrendered by three women there, even though Mira looked younger than his daughters.

The day after Mira checked the current standpoint of her skills, Mira woke up to the birds frolicking on the rooftops. As her drowsiness slowly faded away and her mind got clearer, she thought about her plans for the day.

(There’s still a lot of places I haven’t seen yet, so perhaps…)

The occurrences from the day before replayed in her mind. Mostly the figure of Amaratte riding a Rock Bear and going away. A new passion started boiling inside Mira at the same time, new experiments she could try which were impossible before. Now that staying in a common inn was checked on her list, her next priority was to try mounting a summoned entity.

Being used to it by now, Mira finished her preparations and left the room while wearing her magic robe set. As she walked down the stairs, the scent she smelled grew stronger together with her expectations until she arrived at the dining room. There were other people who were not guests of the inn enjoying their breakfast there too. It was especially in the mornings when they had the most clients. Seeing the entire family working hard to meet the demand, Mira felt an indescribable warmth that relaxed her cheeks.

That place was called 「Moonlight Diner/Moon Breeze Manor」, the last night the owner explained that Moonlight Diner referred to the dining room, while Moon Breeze Manor was the inn. When Mira asked why they split it like that, the owner explained that he was mostly in charge of the Moonlight Diner, while his wife managed the Moon Breeze Manor. His daughters did a bit of both.

「Business is already quite thriving.」

As Mira recalled their conversation from last night, she sat down at the bar and spoke to the owner.

「Oh, good morning, Mira! And well, it’s almost peak hour here after all.」

The owner spoke while smiling cheerfully. Mira returned a 「Good morning」 as she tilted her head seeing the muscat ale that appeared out of nowhere, puzzledly looking at the owner.

「It’s a treat since you’re so cute, just keep it a secret from my wife and daughters.」

He looked around trying to watch out for them, smiling while telling her to keep it secret. Muscat ale was the inn’s specialty, and the owner remembered how Mira had ordered five glasses one after another. Since she appreciated their original items, he felt generous with her.

「I guess I’ll take it then. Thanks.」

As she tipped the glass against her lips, the delightful taste of sour muscat combined with sweet milk spread through her mouth.

The breakfast menu consisted of bread with strawberry jam, pumpkin potage and bacon with eggs, a very breakfast-like meal. Mira delightfully ate it, and halfway through, one of the owner’s daughters wiped the smudges of jam on the side of her lips. Luxurious meals were good to eat, but simple and common ones like this suited her better. Thinking about more average things like that, Mira drank her muscat ale.

Finishing her meal, Mira departed towards the gates leading towards the outskirts of the city. She wanted to experiment with her skills, so she needed a large and open area. Her main use of riding a summoned entity was to travel faster, which meant that something that could fly for long distances would be best. Also, to summon something like that, she needed a lot of space.

After walking for around an hour, the walls surrounding the capital city of Lunatic Lake came into view. In front of her, a large metal gate that rose as far as she could see stood half-open. That gate would be closed at night, and then opened again in the morning. When she arrived there, it was in the middle of being opened.

Mira’s body fidgeted restlessly as she waited for the gates to finish opening as they caused a deep rumbling sound. Close to Mira, there were other people waiting to go outside; merchants and adventurers. Some of them stood with their mouths half-open, looking up at the gate absentmindedly. Others looked slightly exasperated that the gates were still not opened.

As soon as the gates were open and the gatekeepers gave the signal to pass, everyone started moving. Mira moved with the flow, going outside with them and then continuing to walk for some distance until she found a large grass-covered plain with scarce people. That region was known as the Muscat Meadows, which was to the east of Lunatic Lake. As its name implies, there were countless muscat orchards around the place.

As a fresh and sweet breeze blew on her, Mira walked deeper into it until she reached a place devoid of any human presence. Two hours had passed since she left the inn.

(I won’t stand out if I’m this far out.)

She had found a clearing inside some woods. Mira nodded to herself after looking around. There would be no problem if she summoned entities that would normally attract a lot of attention now that she was surrounded by trees and a considerable distance away from the main road. Trying to restrain her excitement, she struck her right hand forwards with the palm pointing ahead.

Summoning Skill: Binding Arcana Circle

As Mira moved her hand, four binding circles floated in the places where her hand had been. She then turned her body around for a full circle and touched them with her left hand, converting them into Rosario Summoning Circles.

‘O black born in the bowels of the earth, yearning for the light beyond. White born amidst the heavens, yearning for the faraway azure.
Thine beginning was a bird, trailing through the immaculate blue. Thine beginning was a dream, reminiscing the memories of valiants strewn into the spiral of rebirth.
Longing to transcend the eons of time.
Thine bundled wings clad in dreams.
Take to the heavens once again, my beloved child.’

As Mira chanted with a clear voice, the summoning circles began glowing and floating higher in the air, overlapping with each other and creating a halo shining high above. The halo increased in diameter as it became the catalyst to call him forth, piercing through the sky with the sound of silver scales.

Summoning Magic: Emperor Dragon Isenfald

An enormous amount of mana was channeled into the halo, distorting the space there before a large tail, thick like a tree trunk, appeared there. The tip of the tail was sharp like a blade, slowly moving inside the light with the life it had just been imbued with. Following next, two hind legs with black talons appeared, a torso covered in silver scales, arms, wings, neck, and lastly, the gilded head of the Emperor Dragon manifested itself, who turned to look at Mira.

The light shattered as the supreme ruler of the skies landed in front of Mira, lowering his ferocious head while clearing his throat. He brought his face close enough to her that she could feel his breath, closely examining Mira’s body before looking at her with round eyes.

「Father… since when have you become my mother?」

As opposed to his appearance, the Emperor Dragon could be a handful with his mischievousness. He raised his long neck as he asked that.

「Well, it’s a really long story… I would prefer if you avoided broaching that subject.」
「If fath… mother wishes it so, I won’t ask again. I’m glad I also have a mother now.」

Saying that, the Emperor Dragon narrowed his eyes and nestled close to Mira while humming. He looked like a child being spoilt by his mother, and Mira actually was something like a parent to him.

He was originally an egg Mira found inside some ruins in the Valley of the Dragons. After many difficulties, she managed to hatch and raise it, until it eventually became the Emperor Dragon humming in front of her.

「I… I see. But… mm… I guess that’s fine.」

Mira relaxed her eyes as she caressed the face of the dragon, at least where she could reach. He was set on calling her mother, which rubbed her in the wrong ways, but once she put that aside, her eyes sparkled as she looked up at the dragon with a wingspan that crossed thirty meters. Any fan of fantasy works would dream at least once about flying on the back of a dragon. Thinking that she had an opportunity to make that a reality now, she was obviously excited.

「It’s been a while, Isenfald. Have you been well?」
「Yes, I’ve been in good health, but it was hard being unable to meet mother. I thought perhaps you had forgotten about me.」

With a gentle voice, Mira attempted to converse with him. Isenfald relaxed his body in relief, replying with a sad tone as he snuggled against Mira.

「Were you always this clingy?」

Mira attempted to push him back a little while comforting him as he tried to move his body closer. Isenfald always had a straightforward disposition, but she did not recall ever spoiling him to make him like this.

「When mother was still father, I looked up to you. A father teaches love through discipline, a mother teaches love through kindness. That’s why I never did this. But now you’re mother, it should be alright now.」
「Hmmm…」

Mira kept getting pushed down by Isenfald until she was eventually lying down on the ground while looking at the sky, reminiscing through her memories with him. As soon as he hatched from the egg, she subjected him to a spartan training. Normally that would have been excessive, but as they trained, Mira also hammered into him that philosophy. At the time she only did that for appearances, without much thought, but he had remembered everything she said. And now that she had become a mother, he was looking for that love he never received.

(I feel like I taught him that… Hmm, at the time I was really into things like that, but I guess I’m reaping what I sowed back then…)

Isenfald behaved like a spoiled child with the young girl, opposite of his appearance as Emperor Dragon suggested. Mira had a strained smile as she recalled the pictures she had Luminaria take as screenshots, with Danbulf in an imposing pose, Isenfald spreading his wings magnificently and the tower illuminated by moonlight in the background.

「You’re still a troublesome child, even after all this time.」

Mira gently caressed him as she said that, but a silver glow suddenly covered his entire body.

「Hm, what happened?」

Mira lifted her hand from him and narrowed her eyes as the light attacked her retina, waiting for the light to weaken before placing her hand back. Once the light was gone, a young man appeared there. That man was so handsome that calling him a prince would not be enough, and his overall figure was so perfect it could only be described as a god or an angel.

She was left dumbfounded trying to comprehend what had just happened when the young man’s face that still had traces of infancy turned into a smile and he leapt on her. Completely naked on top of that.

「Mother. I can receive all your love if I change into this shape.」

That low and calm voice was the same as Isenfald’s, who had been lying against her just moments before. Mira was barely able to peel off that young man that hugged her tightly while giggling happily.

「Are you Isenfald?」
「Yes, it’s me, mother.」

That handsome young man replied with a bright smile, he was Isenfald. Mira had never expected he would be able to morph like that, so she stared wide-eyed at his brand new appearance.

(I guess it makes sense for dragons in a fantasy world to be able to morph into a human body. Which means there might be others who can also change appearances. I’m looking forward to that.)

Thinking like that, Mira patted Isenfald’s head, who while looking like a young adult, still behaved like a little child.

(This feels a bit too unsettling after all…)

Not happy at all with being embraced like that by a good-looking man, Mira sighed while cursing her past self. But even then, Isenfald was like her son, who she had raised with all her heart. Even if she wanted to retract her past words and resume his spartan lifestyle, it was still a fact that she had abandoned him for thirty years, whether or not she could control it. So while she thought of a way out of the situation, she let him do as he pleased.

After spending time with him for a while, Mira found a good moment to talk to him.

「By the way, there’s something I wanted to ask of you. Is it alright?」
「Of course, mother. Just tell me what you want.」

Isenfald replied as his golden eyes sparkled even more. After never being summoned for such a long time, he was more than glad being of any use to her.

「I’d like to ride on your back and fly through the sky. Can I do that?」

As soon as Mira asked that, Isenfald looked surprised for a moment before being all smiles with joy.

「But of course. Letting you fly with me is like a dream come true!」

Isenfald rejoiced to the point of jumping around a bit, after which the silver glow enveloped him again and he turned back into a dragon. He then pressed his body against the ground while his tail swung around like a puppy’s.

「You can hop on now, mother.」

Isenfald put his left hand… left paw forward, which Mira used as a foothold to climb on his back. His body covered in countless silver scales spread vastly in front of her, which she seemed to check one after another while excited for finally being able to do this.

「Let’s go now!」

Isenfald also had been almost unable to contain himself as he stood up, making Mira’s view get much higher. This felt like an earthquake to Mira, who lost her balance and hurriedly grasped some scales that stood out to maintain her balance.

「Don’t move so suddenly.」
「I’m sorry mother. But I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.」

Even though she had scolded him, Isenfald’s voice still rang cheerfully. Mira could almost feel the joy exuding all over his body, so she looked for a good place to sit while thinking there was nothing much she could do to control him.

「Well, Isenfald, you can fly now.」
「Yes, mother!」

Mira tried to contain her excitement as she said that, and Isenfald held nothing back as he spread his wings, lowered his body and jumped into the air at the same time as he began flapping his wings. The trees surrounding the clearing were hit by a strong gale, pushed back together with slightly bothersome cracks as they glanced at the supreme ruler of the sky. Seeing her viewpoint get higher and higher with each flap, Mira was unable to contain her excitement any longer.

「Good, good, Isenfald. You’re the best!」
「I’m also feeling the best!」

Unable to contain herself anymore, Mira patted the ground… Isenfald’s back under her, as she looked all around her. Isenfald was rejoiced for being praised by his mother so he flew even higher, eventually getting high enough that Mira caught her breath being able to almost see over the horizon.

There were mountain ranges, forests, villages, cities, old castles, ancient trees growing tall into the sky, and the blue sea surrounding it all. Her eyes could see everything. As opposed to the real world filled with man-made objects, this world was vast and seemed to coexist with nature.

(This experiment was completely worth it with this sight alone…)

Mira carved into her mind the shape of the world she was living in now before turning her eyes towards the Linked Silver Towers. Since his summon had led him all the way up there already, she could just use it to head to her next destination.

「Isenfald, let’s head to the tower now.」

Saying that, she pointed towards the magic city of Silver Horn. Isenfald accepted the command together with a gleeful roar. He slowly changed the angle of his flapping so they would move forward rather than staying still in mid-air, while a soft glow came off his wings.

「Let’s go, mother!」

After saying that, it only took him an instant to move faster than the speed of sound. They reached the mountain range separating Silver Horn and Lunatic Lake in the blink of an eye, moving at a supersonic speed and leaving a shockwave behind, the scenery moving at a breakneck speed below them.

All the while, Mira was only holding onto him with her bare hands.

「Wait whaa—!」

Mira’s body suddenly felt more light, like the ground had been removed under her or she had stepped on a pitfall. Ahead of her, she saw Isenfald turn into a small dot in the distance while the floating sensation of freefall assaulted her body. She tried to hold her clothes and hair to keep them from going too wild as she sighed depressedly.

(That makes sense… if he starts moving at supersonic speeds this was bound to happen… I should’ve told him to fly more slowly.)

Since Isenfald was the summon most adapted to the sky from the ones she had, she summoned him without thinking, forgetting about a simple and reasonable law of physics blinded by her excitement. Namely, inertia.

As she fell, she used [Sky Stride] to slow down her speed, while Isenfald’s figure became bigger as he returned from the other side of the mountain range.

「Mother! I’m truly sorry!」

He was almost leaving a trail of tears behind as he slowed down under Mira and letting his mother fall on his back. He slowly turned his head around to look at Mira. Seeing his sorry and disheartened look, Mira broke into a smile.

「Well, it was obvious that would happen. I was having too much fun so it completely slipped my head.」
「I’m sorry motherrrr.」

Her words sounded more apologetic than scolding, so Isenfald apologized again with a crying voice.

「It’s okay, it’s okay. Just make sure you fly slowly now.」
「Okay, mother!」

After that fall, this time he accelerated more gradually, flying towards the tower at a more reasonable speed.

After crossing over the mountain range, Isenfald flew high above Silver Wand, the town Garret had recommended for its stores. The ground appeared to move slowly under them, but in reality, they were traveling faster than even an Express Carriage, so Mira had to hide behind Isenfald’s neck to avoid the wind pressure.

(It’s really cold…)

At the height they were, the air was considerably colder than on the surface. Even if she could avoid the wind coming from the front, she was unable to protect herself from the one hitting her sides. With her body trembling, she closed her coat, which only gave her a momentary relief.

(I should get a better outfit against the cold next time I try to fly.)

As Mira thought that, she caught sight of the nine towers near Isenfald’s neck. Now that she thought about it, she had only been there the first day she awoke in this world, which meant she had not seen Mariana since then either.

(I’ve only been thinking of ways to hide it, but maybe I should confess everything to Mariana…)

After Solomon told her about it, the way Mariana had spent those thirty years was always on her mind. She had been waiting for Danbulf to return for all that time. If Mira could return to her past appearance then everything would be alright, but Vanity Cases could not be traded between people, and there was no way for her to buy a new one now that the world had become reality. In other words, there was virtually no way for her to become Danbulf again.

There was no way of leaving Danbulf secluded in the Town of Phantasmal Beast forever either. And by telling her everything, Mira would be able to get her to rest assured as well. No matter how she looked at it or thought about it, she could not continue deceiving the girl who had done so much for her in the past.

Riding on top of her son, feeling her current world affecting her whole body, Mira resolved to do one thing.