The dragon had been flying all night and looked utterly exhausted. Its huge head drooped wearily, but even so, it had no choice but to keep flapping its wings now and then, carrying a troublesome little girl and an incompetent dragon knight on its back as they continued on their way.
"..."
('-ω??)
"Ah-oh~!"
?(?′0`?)?
"Eek! Where are we?"
(′???`)
"Uncle Grenier, haven't we arrived yet?!"
=????(???*)
At long last, the troublesome little girl who had been fast asleep on the dragon's back the whole way slowly woke up. When she saw how high the sun had climbed, she finally asked, sounding a little impatient and surprised.
"We're here, we're here!"
"Look!"
"Right up ahead!"
"But we can't see clearly from here. Should we scout the area first before landing?"
Grenier asked cautiously.
At the same time, he leaned around both sides of the dragon's neck, peering down at the ground as if trying to see whether there were any enemies left near the village.
Unfortunately, they were high in the air, and the trees below were tall and dense. Even with his tired eyes opened wide, all he could make out were the buildings in the demon village, whose style was rather crude and sinister.
The bodies of the villagers who had been attacked earlier were nowhere to be seen, either. He could just barely make out patches of dark brown bloodstains left on the ground.
"What are you looking at? What's there to see?"
(?~?)
"Just go down!"
???(?)????
Waking up to find they had reached their destination was already the best possible outcome. How could Annie possibly wait any longer?
So, before Grenier could ask again, she happily stamped her foot and ordered the red dragon to hurry up and fly down. Her Majesty Queen Annie didn't