The Tradition of Yamaok Village

“............U, ah......?”

When Gonpeter came to and opened his eyes a crack, the first things to leap into view were the deep blue sky and the beautiful white clouds drifting across it.

(Is this heaven? Did I...... die......?)

His head still foggy, he vaguely thought so and tried to sit up from where he lay on his back, but a sharp pain shot through his chest.

“Gh......!?”

“You're awake, Gonpeter. Don't force yourself to move...... you've probably got broken bones.”

Moving only his head toward the voice, he saw Sabrown sitting on a small rock, gazing at Gonpeter with a drained, dazed face.

Looking around with some difficulty, he found it was no place as fancy as heaven; it was Okachan's Rock.

Jagged, thorn-like great rocks jutted up toward the sky all around.

Apparently, he had simply been unconscious.

“......!! What happened to her, to Emi!? And Okachan!? Ugh......!”

“Easy, easy...... here, I'll sit you up slowly......”

Gonpeter, his groggy head now wide awake, at once began to worry whether his benefactor was safe.

Sabrown gently assisted the hunter, supporting his back to help him sit up.

What leapt into Gonpeter's view as he sat up was a scene of devastation he couldn't have seen just by turning his head.

The area around the stone stage in particular was a sight too terrible to put into words.

It was bloodstained everywhere.

Under the beautiful blue sky, a ghastly, hellish landscape stretched out.

“......She's dead, then.”

“Yeah, dead.”

Seeing that sight, Gonpeter let his shoulders drop.

“......Eaten, then.”

“Yeah, eaten.”

His heart tightened.

When it came down to it, he too was one of those who had agreed to offer Emi up as a sacrifice.

And yet, who was he to feel this now?

But even so.

His thoughts went numb.

The guilt of having killed his benefactor threatened to crush Gonpeter......

“Ah, don't get the wrong idea, eh? The one who died was Okachan-sama...... Okachan. The one who got eaten was Okachan, too.”

“Huh!!?”

But, hearing Sabrown's next words, Gonpeter let out a bewildered cry.

“After you got knocked flying and passed out...... that sacrifice girl, Emi, woke up. Then, she started fighting Okachan. Before I knew it, Okachan had been beaten to a pulp and gone limp, and then she had her head cut off and died.”

“B, ‘before you knew it’, you......”

“It was too fast, I couldn't really tell what was going on. Just dragging you over here so you wouldn't get caught up in it took everything I had.”

“R, right...... sorry about that. Thank you. So...... where on earth did Emi go?”

“I don't know. That dragon's huge body, in no time at all...... she ate it all up without leaving even the bones, and then...... leapt off somewhere to the west.”

“......What, the heck is that......”

“......I don't really get it, either......”

The two of them sat there in silence for a while.

“......In the end.”

It was Gonpeter who began, once again, to murmur.

“That girl...... Emi, what on earth was she......”

“Huh? You're asking that? You're the one who brought her, you know?”

“No, that's true, but...... I'd thought she was human. She said so herself, too...... but......”

“Haha, there's no way a human could beat a dragon to death with their bare hands, right?”

“............Right.”

“That kind of power, that violence. I think she was surely......”

Sabrown got that far, but then he shut his mouth.

He thought for a moment, looked straight at Gonpeter, and spoke.

“No, what she really was. That doesn't matter at all, Gonpeter.”

“What?”

“What's important, Gonpeter, is how we...... pass her story down.”

“Pass it, down......”

“Our guardian dragon is dead.”

Hearing those words, Gonpeter felt his heart give a hard jolt.

“From now on, we have no dragon's protection. No matter what attacks us, we must repel it ourselves.”

“............”

“Hunger, cold, monsters. It's us who'll have to deal with them.”

“......I see, that's...... harsh.”

“It's harsh. But listen, Gonpeter...... it's precisely because the future is so harsh that there are those who are permitted to live...... Oyukipa doesn't have to die!!”

Sabrown's voice grew gradually stronger and louder.

Gonpeter saw a light in Sabrown's eyes.

It was the light of resolve, shining brilliantly within eyes ringed with dark circles.

The strength to live.

Hope, for the future!

“The one who led us to a future like this, where Oyukipa is alive, can't possibly be a monster! She's a guide to the future. Liberation from the old ways, and a symbol of freedom!!”

Seeing Sabrown speak so passionately, Gonpeter gave a wry smile.

It seemed his best friend was well on his way to being his old self again.

“Sabrown, what you're saying's a bit too complicated. The village folk won't understand it. Me neither.”

“Then for the time being, we can just say she was a messenger of the gods.”

Sabrown laughed.

Then, suddenly becoming teary-eyed, he bowed his head toward the west.

“Thank you, thank you...... thank you, Emi!! Ugh, sniff...... I know! I know how convenient the things I'm saying are! But...... but!!”

And loudly, sobbing, he shouted!

“THANK YOU!! FOR GIVING OYUKIPA, A FUTURE, THANK YOU!!!”

“............”

Gonpeter too, favoring his aching chest, somehow managed to bow his head toward the west, where no one was.

The two of them stayed like that for a long, long time.

With a Gou!, an especially strong gust blew up along the slope and sent the pale pink dragon scales stuck in the rocks flying.

The dragon scales danced in the air like a flurry of cherry blossoms celebrating a new beginning, then were sucked into the deep blue sky and vanished.

And so, a new tradition was born in Yamaok Village.

It is the tale of a battle between the mother dragon and a free girl.

A tale of gratitude to the past, and resolve for the future.