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

  Episode 5: On Verbal Communication

  Sil had wings.

  Big, elegant, silver-scaled wings. She said she could fly with them.

  I, on the other hand, wasn’t confident I could walk down a snowy mountain trail without eating dirt every few steps. So… I agreed to ride on her back.

  According to her, it was her first time flying.

  She looked thrilled. Genuinely happy.

  As for me? That wasn’t flying. That was falling—while clinging to a dragon for dear life.

  Still, it got us off the mountain. Fast.

  She managed to land somewhere near the base, behind some rocks.

  I mean, we survived, so let’s call it a landing.

  Then she turned back into a human.

  Which, of course, meant she was completely naked again.

  I sat down hard, trying not to throw up. My inner ear needed a break.

  Meanwhile, Sil was trying—and failing—to get dressed behind me.

  She was struggling with a ribbon. I’m not saying which ribbon. Use your imagination.

  “Yuya,” she called out. “I can’t… do this.”

  I shouldn’t have looked.

  But I did.

  She was half-dressed and entirely unbothered.

  I closed my eyes, whispered “okay” to myself like a tiny prayer, and stood up.

  Blank mind. No thoughts. Only buttons.

  I helped her get dressed.

  I think I did okay.

  But one thing was clear: riding Sil around the world?

  Absolutely not happening.

  We were walking from now on.

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  We met Dechimo not long after that.

  We’d found a forest just beyond the rocks. Through the trees, we saw a narrow mountain trail.

  Unfortunately, it was way down below us—at the bottom of a steep slope.

  I was trying to figure out how to get down without dying when Sil tilted her head.

  “You want to go down?”

  “Yeah. It’s a path. If there’s a path, people use it. Easier than wandering.”

  “I see,” she said.

  Then she picked me up.

  Like, full-on princess carry.

  Before I could object, she ran straight down the slope—with me in her arms.

  At the bottom, we ran into someone.

  Literally.

  Well, almost.

  A tall man in a traveler’s cloak stared at us like we’d just fallen out of the sky. Which, to be fair, we kind of had.

  I slipped out of Sil’s arms and adjusted my own cloak.

  I’d changed into some of the extra clothes we found back in the room. Nothing flashy, just warm.

  Sil had done the same—same blouse and skirt, now with a cloak over her shoulders.

  The man wore a similar style. That was a relief. At least we didn’t look totally alien.

  He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Tanned skin. Carried a big pack on his back.

  Still staring.

  “Uh, hi,” I said carefully. “Sorry if we startled you.”

  I reached into the magic bag, took out one of the coins we’d found, and held it up.

  Maybe he could help us. Trade us food. Point us toward civilization.

  He saw the coin—then immediately stepped forward and covered it with his massive hand.

  His eyes darted left and right, scanning the trees.

  There was no one else around. Just me, Sil, and this guy.

  “…Food? Or, um, the road?” I tried again.

  He didn’t respond. Just started speaking rapidly.

  I blinked.

  I didn’t understand a single word.

  Right.

  Different world. Different language.

  Only now did it hit me that the whole “understanding Sil magically” thing wasn’t normal.

  The man kept talking. One word popped up a lot: Pāle.

  Later, I’d learn it meant language.

  Eventually, he took the coin—carefully tucked it into his coat—and said something that sounded like:

  “Dai.”

  Then he turned and walked away.

  Sil and I exchanged a glance.

  He looked back. Beckoned.

  “Dai!”

  “…Let’s go with him,” I said.

  Sil nodded.

  And just like that, we followed a stranger into the woods.

  Because that’s what you do when you're stranded on a snowy mountain in an unknown world.

  He didn’t suddenly start speaking words I could understand.

  Sil couldn’t understand him either.

  Which… only made it weirder that she and I could understand each other.

  We eventually learned his name—Dechimo—through hand gestures and a lot of pointing.

  He learned mine, too. Yuya.

  And Sil’s.

  After that, he started calling us by name. That felt… grounding.

  He gave us food. Dried meat, something like crackers, and a weird but decent-tasting root.

  We walked together. Or rather, he and Sil walked, and I… trudged.

  Despite her delicate looks, Sil had stamina. She didn’t even break a sweat.

  Me? I was already realizing I was in way worse shape than I thought.

  So much for being the hero of anything.