Chapter 68 Strongest Sage, Repairs

 

"I-is this really safe? We won't get thrown off right?"

"T-traveling on a dragon's back, I wonder if it's really safe..."

"No problem. You can hold on many things there after all."

Not limited to Iris, a dragon's back is rugged, so there are many places where you can hold on and sit down.
It'd get cold if we fly too high, but there should be no problem as long as Iris doesn't suddenly accelerate too fast.

"But, it must be hurt if we grip too strongly...."

Alma pointed at one of the protrusion on Iris's back.
However, a dragon's crust cannot be broken by just being gripped by humans normally.

"I'll be fine, please hold on without worrying about it! If you got thrown off by some mistakes, Mathias-san would murder me...."

Un. If I have to say, that should be what you're worried about instead.
Killing our mean of transportation would lead to many problems later on, so I don't really have an intention to though.

"Th-...then, excuse me!"

Ruli said that as she grabbed an easy-to-hold protrusion on Iris's back.
By the way, Alma already did from the beginning without worrying about it.

"So, where should I go from here?"

"To the opposite side. The distance is about 4500 kilometers. Move at a speed humans can endure and remain at less than 1000 meter high."

"4500 kilometer, this will be quick! Well then, a speed that humans can endure is..."

Iris spreads its mana into its wings.
And, accelerates--

"Hold up."

When I saw the amount of mana Iris poured, I quickly constructed a spell and shot it at its wings.
The spell I shot was a magic to stop the acceleration by disturbing the mana movement on the wings.

"Au!"

"Kyaa!"

"Uwaa!"

Iris's wings instantly lost its buoyancy, its body shook.
The two riding on Iris back and Iris itself were surprised all at once.

"W-what are you doing!"

"That's my line! How fast were you trying to accelerate just now?"

"Err, to a speed that humans can endure...."

That didn't look like it no matter how.
That was a speed to make a mince meat out of the humans on its back.
....No, wait.

"...Hey Iris. Whose standard did you use for 『a speed humans can endure』?"

"Err... Since Gaias-sama's would be too much after all, I based it off Loita-san's...."

"Isn't that practically your full speed?"

Loita was a sword nerd who lived in the same era as the past me.
The next strongest one after me amongst humans.
Of course, the standard for 『a speed humans can endure』 would be way off.

"Why did Magic God Gaias-sama and Sword God Loita-sama's names appear there?"

"It can't be, this dragon is really the Dark Dragon Iris that appeared in the myth...."

By the way, the names of gods people believe in the current world are the same as my past one and Loita's.
Whether this is a coincidence or not.... God only knows.

"But I have never met other humans...."

....Come to think of it, this dragon never interacted with other humans.
Everyone was afraid and dared not to come close to it.

"Listen here ok? A stone falls down if you throw it like this right?"

"It does."

"This much speed is enough. To begin with, your wings would be broken if you used that much mana at your current state. Only 1/500 of the circuits are connected compared to the past you, got it?"

Iris's treatment is ultimately a temporary repair.
It's not fit for full speed flight.

"I did think it was hard to fly, so my wings were in that bad of a state.... I'll comply and fly slowly...."

And then, Iris began to accelerate little by little.
....That said, it's still overwhelmingly faster compared to horse or human.

"Yea, you should never exceed 80% of the speed of sound. At the current state of your wings, more than that is dangerous."

"Yes!"

I'm using magic to nullify the air friction that assault us three, but Iris's body is too big, I can't apply it on it.


--Several hours later.

"...Not long now. Reduce your speed."

We safely arrived at a place pinpointed from the trace.

"Um...."

"What's wrong."

"Will we be alright if we reduce our speed. I feel like we'll be detected somehow...."

Iris asked me back when I told it to reduce the speed as we got closer to our destination.

"Yeah. We will be. They probably haven't found us yet."

Just as Iris said, mana from 【Active Detection】 type of magic is being circulated in the vicinity of our destination.
It's a plain and obvious spell art without concealment or anything.

The past Iris should be able to point the exact location of the spell user, not just 『Somehow』 feel it.
As I thought, Iris's detection capability has considerably decreased because of how bad its magic circuits have become.
It's probably also the reason why Iris didn't notice my mana when we first met back then.

"...I can't move that agile right now, you know?"

"Well, I'll do something about that. Lend me the control of your wings."

"I-I understand! If it's Mathias-san, I'm sure we will slip pass them without getting detected."

The mana in the dragon's wings can be moved externally.
Normally, such an act is pointless, but the current Iris can't move its own wings that well after all.
Letting me do it should allow them to move better.

"....But, was Mathi-kun the type that would do that?"

"Far from slipping through, it feels like he will happily plunge into the demons instead...."

"...Ah."

At Alma and Ruli's words, Iris sounded like it was going to say, "Oh no!".

























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