Chapter 214: Are You Here Just to be Adorable?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Whooaaaaa----please! Please! Ssssstop! Master H-H-op--"Aya screamed at the top of her lungs in mid-air.
Baiyi agreed that the entire scene was starting to look suggestive, so he gave in to her protest and stopped. As soon as he stopped, there something crashed into his back with a gentle impact. It was her soft, amorous body which inertia had propelled her forward.
"Ouch! Oww, that hurts…" Aya frantically climbed down from his back. Both her hands were gripping her chest as she moaned softly in anguish.
"Hey, aren't you a dragon? That flight speed shouldn't be too much to you, right?" Baiyi murmured. He really wasn't that fast in flight—at least, compared to a dragon's full-speed.
There was an abundance of creatures in the universe that could naturally reach Mach-1. Meanwhile, two highly-skilled sorcerers in aerial battles can reach supersonic speeds, aka even faster than two military aircraft.
"To be honest… I very rarely turn back into my original form, because it's… um, very bothersome…" Aya explained herself bashfully, and her face once again reddened. She suddenly realized that the number of times she had blushed after she met Baiyi was more than she had done all through the previous year.
"Ha. You really do consider yourself human already!" Baiyi chuckled lightly. When the duo began flying again, Baiyi made sure that it was at a slower speed that Aya would be comfortable with.
They headed to an unpopulated floating island. It was not too high in altitude, boasting breathtaking scenery like lush green woods and a quiet stream coursing between two hills.
The island was no longer within the protection of the barrier of the Safe Zones. That was why it was barren. Without protection from the dragon knights, not even the greediest explorers would set foot on it.
That isolation worked for the Fifth Walker tremendously. He loved the peace that came with it and strode along the calm woods with the dragon-lady.
Aya wore her conservative long dress befitting of an aristocrat. As she traveled through the woods, she gently lifted the hem of her dress, barring a pair of deer-skin boots and her fair ankles.
Baiyi was taciturn throughout the journey, so Aya maintained the silence, unwilling to break it.
A ridiculous thought took root in her mind. 'This feels like I'm his mistress, meeting him secretly…'
She shook her head hard, ridding herself of the intruding thoughts.
"Oww!" She let out a cry of pain as she knocked herself face-first into Baiyi's back, just as the Soul Armature stopped dead in his tracks.
'Damn. That pathetic reflexes of yours are starting to sully the legend of dragons! Or are you just one of those female dragons whose entire career revolves around pumping out children at home?' Baiyi couldn't stop himself from complaining. He pointed to a flat clearing between the trees, dismissing Aya's anxious apology. A quiet, snake-like creek had winded through the clearing. It was a perfect spot to stop.
Baiyi went ahead and began removing bits of rubble using magic until there was nothing left but the grass and the earth.
He crouched and started drawing a magical formation.
"Hmm? Formation? Not runes, Master Hope?" Aya watched, intrigued.
"It's for the accuracy. A thermal formation would be able to detect the slightest temperature change in the atmosphere; hence its prolific use in magus labs. On the other hand, thermal runes can't accomplish the level of accuracy needed for our work 1 ," Baiyi explained as mana emanated from his fingers. In a matter of minutes, the formation was completed.
Next, he created another formation beside the last one. This one was created to monitor the strength of the wind in the area. Usually, this special formation was created by sorcerers who wished to perform difficult wind spells. This formation could detect the strength of the wind, allowing the sorcerers to borrow some strength from nature.
Both two formations were sorcerers' substitute for scientific instruments. Any time there was a change or a fluctuation in either the temperature or air pressure, the formations would detect and monitor them swiftly.
"We will each monitor one of them to look for changes, and then collect the data gathered by the end of the day," Baiyi laid out his plan briefly. After that, he simply eyed a spot nearby, sat down there and concentrated on the thermal formation.
"Oh, um," Aya murmured. She took out a silky kerchief from her pocket and spread it on the ground. After tidying up her dress a little, she sat down next to Baiyi.
She watched the formation for a while until rings started forming around the pupils of her emerald green eyes.
She shook her head hard and wrapped her legs around her arms. Her reddened face descended to her knees until her face was almost buried between them, saved for two teary eyes.
Her voice was so timid and quiet, "Master Hope..? I'm… sorry…"
"Don't know how to read them?" He replied without turning his head.
"Mm-hmm…" Came an even quieter reply. She didn't even dare to look up to in fear of seeing his expression, even though he was only a Soul Armature. This was why Baiyi's expression was basically hidden.
'So what's the point of coming with me? You can't help with anything; you're not gonna let me ride on you, and you can't even act as a vehicle. Is your purpose just to add that extra "cute" factor?' Baiyi sighed.
"Gee, don't be harsh on the kid." The Third Walker was quick to defend his adorable junior, "How about I take over her role and watch the change on that other formation?"
Kid? 90 years old kid? …okay. I admit that to a dragon, a 90-year-old is still considered a kid. Probably not even considered older than Little Mia, yet she had already taken up the mantle of motherhood! Baiyi replied, stealing a glance at Aya.
Seeing that the Soul Armature had turned to look at her, Aya felt her tears well in her eyes as indignation overwhelmed her. "I… I wanted to come with you b-b-because I thought there might be a chance for me to h-h-help..."
Her voice started to falter. She didn't even convince herself with her own explanation.
Suddenly, the volume of her voice rose again as she voiced a thought out loud. "Right! I'm a dragon, too! I should be able to detect whatever is scaring the wild beasts!"
"Oh, so did you detect anything?" Baiyi asked.
"Um, no. Not yet." Her head sank again.
"Is that so?" Baiyi extended his psychic energy outward, and soon enough, he sensed a creature flying at top speed, heading towards the Safe Zone. This implied that they were indeed in a wild territory affected by the mysterious, maddening, undulations.
"Maybe your human form is hindering you. Why not revert to your true form?" Baiyi suggested.
"But… But the transformation spell that I'm using is a specialized, static sort… If I want to turn back into a dragon, I.. I would need special formations and tools…" Aya was already close to tears by this point.
'So did you just join me so that you score a date?' Baiyi was speechless. He thought it was better not to say anything more and returned his attention to the formations. As for this mascot of cuteness beside him, she could do whatever she wanted. Data collection would take at least half a day to give any significant findings.
The aforementioned mascot of cuteness noticed Baiyi's renewed attempt to concentrate, so she decided not to interrupt him. After spending some time engaging in odd thoughts, she quietly stood up, determined to find something to do.
First, from her storage pouch, she produced a tea set, her homemade cookies, and finger food. She ate like a squirrel, holding a cookie with both her hands and eating it in small bites.
She had woken up really early that morning, so she wasn't able to have breakfast.
Next, after being enticed by the crystal clear water from the creek, she went to sit by the water and kicked off her boots. Her fair-skinned feet, like a pair of jade fishes, splashed in the water playfully.
That evening, she ran into the woods for her own adventure, and when she returned, there was a squirrel in her hand; but judging from the squirrel's messy fur, vegetative state, glassy eyes, and Aya's poor reflexes, it was easy to guess that she had cheated by capturing the squirrel using her own draconic aura.
'You used your draconic aura to catch a rodent? Why don't use it to scare off those mad beasts instead? …Damn, just another girl whose talent lies in being cute.' Baiyi couldn't help but worry about Mordred's education. Her mom was obviously a little girl at heart!
Noticing that Baiyi's gaze had veered from the formations, Aya took the chance to inquire about the progress. "Master Hope, did you find anything?"
"No." He shook his head sideways. "All stats are normal, and there are no sudden fluctuations or anything. Could these really not be the problem? Maybe we should get some climate statistics for a longitudinal comparison…*"
He trailed off. Even if they had climate records, their measurements would no doubt be in large units, not in the accurate units that he needed.
"We could ask my father to request for the data from the Empire. I bet they keep tabs on those," She said, sitting next to him again.
She watched the sun setting in the west. After pulling a few strands of her hair back, she said, "The day's about to end, huh?"
"Hold on. What did you say?" Baiyi froze and cried out suddenly.
"Huh?" Aya jumped at his reaction, hugging the squirrel even tighter. "I said… The day's about to end."
"Of course.." The Soul Armature turned to look at the thermal formation. He recalled his memories and focused on the data he had collected, and suddenly, he lifted his finger. After a quick chant, he released a fire wall spell that surrounded the two.
The thermal formation reacted violently to the spiking temperature.
"Master Hope?! Are we being ambushed!?" Aya leaned closer to him unconsciously, startled by the sudden appearance of the wall.
"Don't worry, I was just checking if the formation had any problem, or if it was being hijacked." Baiyi snapped his finger, and the fire was extinguished. "But it looks like it has been functioning normally after all."
"I think I found the source 2 of the problem," he muttered. "But let's talk about it after we got home."
He cast the levitation spell on both himself and Aya.
The horizon was illuminated by the red glow of the setting sun, and the echoes of a girl's frantic screams signaled the end of another day.