A Cursed Life

Sordil and the others did not return to their dragon forms. Instead, they let Igneel carry them toward their destination. They soon left the dense forest behind and approached the main peak of the Dil'dixiu Mountain Range. At last, Igneel brought them down onto the summit of the tallest mountain. After landing, they discovered five enormous caves in the surrounding peaks.

"Igneel, where did you go yesterday? You had us worried all night!"

Before they could approach the caves, a soft, gentle female voice drifted out. Immediately afterward, a white figure flew out from the cave to the west.

"Yesterday, I was taking an afternoon nap at the foot of the mountain and overslept. I didn't wake up until nightfall. Then I met some new friends, and while we were having fun together, I got drunk, so I only came back now."

"New friends? You mean those humans on your back? Wait, what do you mean, got drunk? What is alcohol?"

"That's right, them! Alcohol is something like water that they brought with them. It tastes great! But if you drink too much, you fall asleep, and when you wake up, your head hurts."

Igneel rested his chin on his right hand as he recalled it. The white dragon opposite him studied his expression and immediately realized that her old friend had surely gotten greedy and drunk someone else's drink again, then refused to let them leave and brought them up here instead.

"Hello, I'm Celestial Dragon Grandine. Igneel didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

Grandine stopped paying attention to Igneel and turned her attention to Sordil and the others instead. Not long after she finished speaking, three more dragons flew out of the other caves. As they flew over, they continuously unleashed their "taunting" skills on Igneel.

"Igneel, I heard you ran off to sleep again. I think you should stop calling yourself the Fire Dragon King and change it to the Sleepy King!"

"Metalicana, you're just jealous because I'm more handsome than you, so you mock this dragon every day."

Igneel fired back forcefully at the black dragon from the middle cave. But before Metalicana could retort, another black dragon from the northern cave chimed in on Igneel's side.

"Exactly! Metalicana, you're just jealous of Igneel. How could he be the Sleepy King? He's clearly the Glutton King."

"Scylladrum, you're wrong too. Didn't you hear Igneel? He drank too much alcohol and passed out at the foot of the mountain, so he should be called the Drunken Dream Dragon King!"

"Haha! Vyseria summed it up best!"

Watching this eye-searing scene, Sordil could hardly believe he had encountered the Last Five Dragon Group from the anime in his previous life. But when he thought of how they had said goodbye to Gajeel and the others in the anime, the Metalicana and dragons before him felt more real, more fitting of who they were. After all, wasn't the mature and gentle Anna from the anime just an innocent, timid, and shy Little Girl right now? Perhaps the war in the future had forced everyone onto the path of maturity. For now, he only needed to let things take their course. There was no need to demand perfection. While Sordil contemplated life, Igneel and the other three dragons continued their verbal battle without pause. However, one against three, Igneel was gradually losing ground.

"Have you all caused enough trouble? Can't you see we have guests here? Hurry up and prepare something to entertain them! I really don't know what I was thinking when I ended up with you four. It's exhausting!"

"Grandine, this isn't my fault. Those three started it!"

Faced with Grandine's fury, Igneel promptly surrendered and shifted the blame onto Metalicana and the others. The three opposite him were no fools either. Seeing Igneel dump such a huge black pot on them, Metalicana immediately defended himself. "Grandine, you know we only meant well for Igneel. Who knew he wouldn't appreciate it and would argue with us instead?"

"Enough. Go attend to the guests!"

"Understood!"

"Got it!"

Following Grandine's instructions, Igneel led Metalicana and the other dragons down the mountain to gather ingredients for a feast, while Grandine remained at the summit to chat with Sordil and the others.

"Where are you friends from, and where are you headed?"

"We're from Fostadu, and we're heading to the royal capital of the Kingdom of Tsuyioru Xiu. My name is Sordil. These are my friends and my sister. They're accompanying me to the royal capital to take care of something, but we went the wrong way and ended up in the Dil'dixiu Mountain Range. Last night, while camping at the foot of the mountain, we happened to meet Igneel. We had originally planned to leave, but Igneel invited us here as guests. We felt too embarrassed to refuse, so we shamelessly came to trouble you."

In response to Grandine's question, Sordil told her why they had come here and how they had met Igneel. Grandine stared at him with a strange expression, then looked him over from head to toe before asking suspiciously, "Are you really Sordil from Fostadu?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

"I heard that Sordil is a dragon, and the young lord of Fostadu. But you...?"

"Haha! I don't think I ever said I wasn't a dragon, did I?"

Seeing that Grandine had seen through his identity, Sordil no longer hid it. He directly dispelled his Transformation Magic and returned to his original appearance. Grandine stared in shock at the seven-colored giant dragon before her. She had never imagined that dragons could transform into other races. If she had not heard of Sordil's identity before, she probably would have been kept in the dark just like Igneel. After revealing his identity to Grandine, Sordil returned to human form and said to her mysteriously, "It's enough if you know that I'm a dragon. Don't tell Igneel and the others, or it won't be fun anymore!"

"Haha! I never expected this, never expected this! Igneel has met such a kindred spirit. I wonder what expression he'll make when he learns your true identity someday. Haha!"

Hearing Sordil's words, Grandine burst into laughter. Now she was greatly looking forward to seeing Igneel's reaction when he saw Sordil's true form someday. She wondered how that glutton Igneel would deal with such a mischievous brat. Not long after Grandine learned Sordil's identity, Igneel, Metalicana, and the others returned with abundant ingredients. Then Igneel had Sordil bring out all the alcohol he had stored away for Metalicana and the other dragons to try. With drink and meat adding to the merriment, a grand feast began. During it, Igneel encouraged Metalicana and the others to get Sordil drunk, but Sordil dodged every attempt.

"Bleurgh."

Sordil squatted in the carriage with a pained expression. He felt as though the whole world was spinning, while his stomach churned violently, as if he were about to vomit up even his gallbladder.

Five days had passed since they parted with Igneel and the others. After their grand feast with Igneel and the dragons that day, Sordil and the others rested for a day before bidding them farewell. After leaving the Dil'dixiu Mountain Range, they joined a merchant caravan and arrived at a small city called Medea. To save time, they rented a horse-drawn carriage for transportation, and that was where Sordil's miserable life began.

At first, everything was fine while the carriage stood still. But once it started moving, Sordil felt that the whole world had become hostile toward him. A wave of dizziness and nausea swept through his entire body. At first, he thought this was a weakness common to all dragons, but when he looked up, he found that Diphiya and the others were completely fine. Only he was vomiting his guts out. It made him wonder whether some powerful figure had cursed his entire life. He couldn't use dragon magic, and now he got horribly motion sick just from riding in a carriage. Did he really have to be this unlucky?