Trees drink water, and feed fire.
That is merely the providence of the world; within it, there is no malice.
The Blue Dragon Nemorensis had appeared in the world within the forests of the Silva Empire, yet it ended its life within the territory of the Ignis Empire.
Nemorensis had taken part in the battle between the Ignis Empire and the Metallum Empire.
And for Ignis, it offered up its own body, saving Ignis from the brink of destruction.
Yet that achievement belonged solely to Nemorensis alone, not to Silva’s army.
Rather, Silva’s army had left Nemorensis alone on the battlefield and returned to the forest.
For supporting Ignis had never been Silva’s intention.
The forest was quiet as always, but the expressions of Empress Dryan and her retainers were far from peaceful.
“Our Nemorensis has fallen?”
Within the garden of council, Dryan rose from her seat and asked.
Her gaze was steady and firm, but her fingertips trembled faintly.
Tarban watched her expression and answered.
“Yes… that is what happened. It fought against Metallum’s dragon and vanished together with it on the same spot. To be honest, we are not entirely sure why Nemorensis acted that way…”
Bramir looked at him and said,
“If we were to interpret it in the most convincing way possible, I would think it was not so much to save Ignis, but to bring down Metallum’s dragon… Though that is only my guess. In truth, if the war had continued as it was, Ignis would have fallen, and Metallum’s dragon would have survived. Since Ignis is at least a power capable of keeping Metallum in check, if Ignis disappeared, we would be the next ones in danger.”
Tarban answered his words.
“Whatever the case, the fact remains that Nemorensis fought while aiding Ignis. It is shocking enough that our dragon returned to nature so vainly, but I am worried that Aqua may misunderstand us again. We already became distant from Aqua for a time because we supported Ignis once before, and now this has happened again…”
Dryan, who had been listening to them, opened her mouth.
“We can only hope that they understand us. That this situation was never something we intended.”
After thinking for a moment, Tarban continued.
“There is actually something I have yet to tell you. Do you remember when Ignis brought us the Ember Core?”
Bramir nodded.
“Yes, they did. And after that, we were being attacked by Metallum.”
“That is correct. But one of their soldiers quietly told me that they thought they could help us against Metallum’s attack. And indeed, Metallum, which had been attacking us in full force, hurriedly withdrew its army because of Ignis’s assault. Ignis, too, once saved us from Metallum.”
“Ah…!”
Only then did Bramir recall what had happened at the time.
“Then could it be that because Nemorensis remembered that Ignis had saved us…?”
Dryan’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Tarban slowly nodded.
“I think it would be best to understand it that way. If, by doing so, it repaid our debt to Ignis, then we can instead completely settle our relationship with Ignis. This is as far as our ties with Ignis go.”
Dryan said,
“Does that mean the action we should have taken was to save Ignis? Yet I recalled our army in order to avoid being drawn into their war.”
At Dryan’s words, everyone fell silent.
She looked out at the forest stretching beyond the fortress.
No matter that she was Empress Dryan, ruler of the Silva Empire, she could not belittle Nemorensis’s choice.
Thinking on it quietly once more, perhaps Nemorensis’s actions had been right.
Dryan’s voice rang low.
“Should our soldiers have fought alongside Nemorensis as well? Is it because we left it alone on the battlefield that this result has come back to us?”
Her words sounded like she was speaking to herself, but all her retainers heard them.
Tarban answered carefully.
“Your Majesty, no. We considered it thoroughly as well. Nemorensis’s actions could not have been stopped in any case, and its sacrifice was an unavoidable outcome.”
“But we lost that life, did we not?”
“That is not so. If even our army had joined the war, we would have lost even Aqua’s trust…”
Dryan gave no further answer.
She slowly walked through the garden of council.
Her footsteps were quiet and heavy, as though she were walking atop the roots of an ancient tree.
Dryan turned her gaze outside the garden.
Leaves rustled in the wind, and several guardian tree spirits were wandering through the forest.
She slowly closed her eyes and opened her mouth.
“And another concern has been given to us. I can no longer clearly see the path this forest should take. At the same time that Nemorensis disappeared, we lost our direction as well. Nor can we summon the Nemorensis that has just fallen again.”
Just then, Bramir cried out.
“Your Majesty! A wind is blowing in from Aqua. That is… it appears to be a dragon!”
Dryan opened her eyes again.
“Are you saying Aqua has summoned a dragon as well?”
“Yes. It is moving now!”
Dryan, too, began to feel the wind within the forest.
That wind was announcing that Marinus, the Black Dragon of the Aqua Empire, was approaching this forest.
Dryan lowered her head slightly.
“Nereia must be coming with it as well. Surely their dragon will not threaten us. But why they are coming to find us, I still cannot know.”
Dryan, Tarban, and Bramir left the fortress together.
They prepared to receive Aqua’s Marinus.
A familiar yet unfamiliar aura seeped into the forest of the Silva Empire.
It was common for water to flow in from the deep sea of the Aqua Empire, but this time was somewhat different.
A being even larger and colder than Aqua’s Storm Beast was walking into the forest.
On the path made of vines, Dryan, her retainers, and a couple of guardian tree spirits waited for them.
The black shadow that had risen from the deep sea also appeared, together with Empress Nereia and her party.
Dryan looked at them and said nothing.
Nereia spoke first.
“I heard the recent news. We, too, grieve that your dragon fell in battle on Ignis’s battlefield.”
At Nereia’s words, Dryan was able to set down a little of her worry.
It was an incident that could easily have flared into misunderstanding, but Nereia first showed them her position.
“We did not expect it either. It seems to have been repayment for when Ignis saved our forest after it was invaded by Metallum.”
Dryan looked up at Marinus.
She asked,
“Is this your dragon?”
Nereia answered with a nod.
“It is. Its name is Marinus. This dragon, too, is not a being that moves by my command. Marinus came to find you of its own accord.”
Marinus showed no aggression whatsoever toward Dryan and her party.
Unlike the dragons of other empires, it remained quietly in place before Dryan.
“Haaak…”
A certain sound came from within Marinus’s black body.
A moment later, it opened its mouth, and spray spread out from within.
“Haaaa…”
Marinus breathed spray toward the forest.
White water scattered in all directions from inside the black dragon’s body.
It was not an expression of anger.
Rather, that water was gentle like rain, caressing the forest.
Nereia and her retainers looked at Marinus.
Dryan stood still and received the spray Marinus breathed out.
Nereia said,
“Perhaps Marinus also knows of your dragon’s sacrifice. It seems to have come to comfort you.”
Dryan closed her eyes and felt Aqua’s spray.
And after a little while, a damp mist rose throughout the forest as well.
The trees absorbed that moisture, and the vines, feeling the water, writhed and moved.
Marinus’s rainlike spray felt almost like a ritual mourning Nemorensis’s sacrifice.
After a while, Marinus’s spray ceased.
It looked down quietly at Dryan, then soon turned its body and headed back toward the deep sea.
Nereia said one final thing to Dryan.
“Had we been able to face your dragon, we would have grown even stronger. I look forward to the day when our dragons can meet one another before long.”
Dryan nodded.
“We are grateful that you came to us. It was an honor to meet Marinus.”
Soon, Nereia’s party returned together with Marinus.
In the place they left behind remained moisture, silence, and emotion.
After the black dragon departed, the forest regained its peace, but the presence of the spirits had changed somewhat.
They moved more gently than before, and more calmly.
Just as traces remain where waves have passed, Marinus’s visit left deep ripples in Silva.
“Thanks to Aqua’s water energy, I can feel vitality in the forest.”
Dryan said as she looked down at the forest from within her fortress.
Bramir asked her,
“Aqua promised that we would meet again next time. Is resummoning Nemorensis our priority?”
Dryan slowly shook her head.
“I would like that, but the amount of Life Cores we possess is not ample, and the time required for summoning is long as well. The conditions have not yet been met.”
“Then…”
Dryan opened her mouth.
“Let us focus on producing Slime Cores.”
Tarban and Bramir, who were beside her, looked at her.
She continued.
“It is not something Aqua requested, but that is what we can do together with them. The fusion of life and waves. From that, too, we may be able to call forth a new being.”
Bramir bowed his head.
“Yes, we will do so.”
At the border between Silva and Aqua, the production of Slime Cores began to flourish once again.
Tarban said in a relaxed voice,
“The actions of Aqua’s black dragon were a comfort clearer than words. Their hearts seem as deep and wide as the deep sea.”
Dryan slowly nodded.
“That is what dragons are by nature. They possess eyes that read the world. We do not rule dragons; we learn our direction from them.”
Throughout the forest, Life Cores continued to grow, and not only soldiers but citizens also moved about busily.
With this, the relationship between the two friendly empires was fully restored, and quiet peace came to the deep sea and the forest.
“Perhaps, if there is something we can protect even amid war, it is precisely this.”
As one’s gaze moved from the eastern side of the world to the west, stillness turned into clamor, and peace was distorted into unease.
The region of the Metallum Empire, dull and rigid, where not a trace of life energy could be found.
“Damn it all!!”
Emperor Oruma’s short, resounding shout rang out from his fortress.