Chapter 1: Encounter with the Dragon Girl, and the Beginning of the Journey

  Episode 4: Her Name

  After bread, tea, and way too much thinking, my brain finally stopped spinning.

  I still felt nervous around her, of course. But I shoved that to the side.

  We couldn’t just sit here forever doing nothing.

  So I started going through the storage in the room. Shelves, drawers, crates. Pulling things out, spreading them across the floor like I knew what I was doing.

  There wasn’t any food. Or if there was, I couldn’t tell what was safe to eat.

  Which meant staying here was a no-go.

  If we were going to leave, we’d have to get down the mountain. And for that—we’d need gear.

  There were clothes. Men’s and women’s. Thick jackets, gloves, scarves, hats—the works.

  I also found coins. Actual coins. Not yen, obviously, but definitely money.

  If there were people out there, maybe we could trade for supplies.

  Then I spotted a bag. Shoulder strap. Not as big as my school backpack, but sturdy.

  It had some weight to it, like it already had notebooks or something inside.

  Curious, I opened it.

  Nothing.

  Just empty cloth lining. No pockets. No hidden compartments. Just… empty.

  I dropped the coin pouch inside, and it disappeared.

  Not like, “it’s hard to find.” I mean it literally vanished.

  Panicked, I stuck my hand in and felt around.

  Losing the money would be a disaster. But then—there it was. The pouch. Still there, still heavy.

  I pulled it out. Still had its weight.

  Wait. Had I felt any weight at all when it was inside?

  …Nope.

  So the bag ignored weight.

  And when I started shoving more stuff in—coats, gloves, tools—it didn’t seem to care about volume, either.

  No matter what I put in, it fit.

  I had no idea what the limit was, but I wasn’t about to complain.

  Among the stuff, I found a map.

  Brown, grainy paper. Hand-drawn lines.

  It showed a large landmass stretching diagonally.

  Mountains in the upper-left corner—one marked with an X.

  An island in a sea, also marked. A few more X’s scattered around.

  If I could figure out where we were, this would actually be useful.

  But there was no guarantee the map even showed our region. Still, information was information.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I also found a bundle of papers with writing.

  Totally unreadable. Weird script, alien characters.

  I showed it to her. She couldn’t read it either.

  Flipping through it, I found a drawing. A glowing pattern—just like the one that had shimmered on her chest.

  I traced it with my finger.

  Did it mean something? A crest? A seal? A spell? I had no clue.

  But something about it made me think… maybe I’d understand it someday.

  I shoved the whole stack into the bag.

  Why not? Space wasn’t an issue anymore.

  Honestly, if it wasn’t bolted down—and if it fit—I was taking it.

  Well. Maybe not the shelves.

  She sat nearby, watching me with wide, curious eyes as I packed.

  When I paused and looked over, she looked right back—bright blue eyes filled with light.

  “I’m planning to leave this place,” I said.

  “Where to?”

  “…I don’t know. I don’t even know where we are.”

  She tilted her head. Silver hair fell across her face.

  The collar had kept her trapped. She was free now.

  She didn’t feel the cold outside. She was a dragon, after all.

  She could survive out there. Maybe better than me.

  “I’m going,” I said. “But you—”

  I stopped.

  Couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Will you come with me?

  I had no idea what I was doing, or where I was going.

  Was it fair to ask her to follow me?

  Would it be worse to leave her here?

  “I…”

  Before I could finish, she reached out and grabbed the edge of my clothes.

  “I waited here for so long. No one came. I waited and waited.

  Then you came. You said you’d help me. So don’t leave me. Help me.”

  She leaned forward and clung to me, eyes wide, desperate.

  That fragile, pleading voice—it hit hard.

  Because I’d said I’d help her.

  And she believed me.

  I felt a little unsure. But also… weirdly relieved.

  I didn’t want to leave her behind.

  And honestly, I didn’t want to go anywhere alone.

  So maybe… yeah, maybe I was glad she said it first.

  Even if that made me a coward.

  “…I’d be glad if you came with me,” I said. “I’d feel better. It’d help… me.”

  She hugged me tighter.

  “I’ll go with you!”

  “Fwah?!”

  I made a noise. A weird, undignified noise.

  Because now I was holding a soft, warm, not-wearing-much girl in my arms.

  She didn’t have a name.

  The other dragon—if it even existed—hadn’t given her one.

  The humans hadn’t, either. And she hadn’t understood them anyway.

  I asked, and she just blinked at me.

  “No one ever called me anything. Besides, I didn’t understand their words.”

  Apparently, she couldn’t understand just anyone.

  So… why me?

  “I’m Yuya,” I said.

  “Yuya?”

  “Yeah. That’s me.”

  She nodded slowly.

  Even though her voice was still that soft hum of meaningless syllables, I heard it.

  “Yuya.”

  Something about that made me feel grounded. Real.

  She needed a name too.

  I told her to pick one.

  She tilted her head again.

  In the end… I named her.

  It wasn’t clever. Or deep. Just the first word that came to mind.

  “Sil.”

  “Sil? That’s my name?”

  “Is that… okay?”

  I winced. Worried it sounded too lazy.

  But she smiled.

  “Sil. My name is Sil. You’re Yuya. I’m Sil.”

  She repeated it softly to herself. Then nodded, content.

  That’s when I noticed it.

  A faint glow, shining through her blouse—left side of her chest.

  Right over her heart. That same strange pattern.

  I felt something warm under my own shirt.

  I pulled it open and looked.

  Same spot. Same glow. Same pattern.

  No pain. No heat. Just light.

  And then it faded.

  She looked at me. I looked at her.

  We both had the same thought written all over our faces.

  What the hell was that?