Chapter 16: Confused Little Dragons, III

Louis managed to suppress his urge to cry with great difficulty. He sighed softly and hung his head.

“Haah… You know, the leader of any adventure should be smart. Smarter than me, right?” Louis’s words made Khan and Kani puff up their cheeks even more.

“But you’re shorter than us!”

“…”

“That’s true! And younger too!”

“…”

The twins’ relentless jabs made Louis’s eyes twitch. With superhuman patience, he restrained himself from losing his temper. Struggling to speak through gritted teeth, he offered weak excuses.

“I’ll grow taller eventually. As for age… …you see, kids born earlier in the year can still be friends with those who are technically one year older. Besides, there’s only a month difference between our birthdays!”

Louis was born in January, while the twins were born a month earlier in December of the previous year. After some grumbling, Louis took charge as the oldest, with Fin assisting him and the twins carrying their gear.

As the leader of the party, Louis’s first command was simple:

“Search everywhere!”

Although there were items stored within the spatial dimension, most were food or books. There wasn’t anything valuable enough to earn them quick cash. Well, technically, there were precious objects worth a fortune among humans, but selling such items would raise suspicions for ten-year-old twins and seven-year-old Louis. Therefore, Louis focused on finding more mundane things that could still bring in money.

‘Since this place is connected to dragons, there must be something valuable here.’

With that thought, Louis began scouring every nook and cranny of the cave.

However…

“Tsk! There’s nothing here.”

He found only the bastard sword stuck on the stone pedestal as his one salvageable item. But it looked too expensive to sell outright.

As he resigned himself and tried stuffing the blade into a pocket dimension, Khan whined at him.

“Louis, gimme that!”

“I’ll keep it safe for you until you’re older.” Louis placated Khan with words similar to those parents use when taking their children’s New Year’s money. “Let’s get going.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Move out!”

The twins enthusiastically responded to Louis’s command, while Fin instinctively perched on Louis’s shoulder.

And so, amidst the blizzard at the foot of some mountain, the “Ten-Year Project: Return of the Runaway Hatchling Warrior for the Peaceful Continent” officially commenced.

As Louis’s group emerged from the cave, they noticed that the blizzard had subsided, and the sky was clear as if nothing had happened.

“Huh?”

Louis looked up at the sky while descending the mountain, then let out a deep sigh.

“Yes… I wondered why it felt so quiet.”

His gaze was fixed on dark clouds gathering overhead. The sudden appearance of ominous storm clouds could mean only one thing: an unpredictable death flag had been raised without warning. Despite their considerable size, Louis remained unfazed; he merely checked his lightning attribute-gathering bracelet with a lifted arm.

“I haven’t been able to collect much lately due to the calm weather, but this works out well.”

He spread his arms wide, preparing himself for the lightning strike. At the sight, the twins’ eyes sparkled, and they eagerly approached him.

“Is Louis getting struck by lightning again?”

“Me too! Me too!”

As lightning mages by nature, thunderstorms were actually beneficial for the twins. They often watched Louis getting struck with envy.

Before he knew it, they had latched onto him. Giving up on prying them off, Louis looked back at the sky.

The gathering dark clouds seemed unusually dense.

“Oh? This one’s quite big.”

Since they would have to share this strike with the twins, bigger was better.

Louis and the twins eagerly awaited their turn under the stormy skies.

BANG!

Finally, the world lit up with an enormous flash accompanied by a deafening roar.

KRAK!

A thick bolt of lightning descended—

But…

“What?”

“Huh?”

“No way!”

It didn’t hit where Louis and his companions stood.

He blinked in confusion. “What? Did I miss something?”

Louis and the twins looked crestfallen as they watched it strike somewhere else entirely.

…This is a first.

Never before had Louis escaped the death flag lightning. He blinked in confusion at this unexpected turn of events.

Then, a low rumble reached his ears.

Rrrrumble…

The sound sent chills up his spine, as one theory popped into his mind regarding its origin.

I-is that…?

He fervently hoped he was mistaken, but his fears were confirmed.

Krrrroooom!

A massive wave of white rapidly approached them.

Was that what it was aiming for?!

The bolt hadn’t struck randomly; rather, it had been used to trigger an avalanche.

As the massive white wave rapidly approached them, Louis urgently yelled at his companions.

“Hey, hey, transform already!”

“What?! L-Louis sir!”

“Ahhh! Snow!”

“It’s so much snow!”

Louis was the first to grasp the gravity of the situation and alerted Fin and the twins. However, they were still oblivious as they clapped excitedly at the sight of the avalanche barreling toward them.

It was no wonder that Louis’s patience snapped.

“You idiots!”

Frustrated, he shouted, but by then, the wall of snow was almost upon them.

“Dammit!”

It was ultimately Louis’s responsibility to take care of everyone. His dragon heart surged with energy.

Vwoooom.

They were on the brink of being swept away by the avalanche. Swiftly, precisely, and calmly, Louis cast his holy magic spell.

“Fragmentation!”

Instantaneously, a protective hexahedral shield enveloped Louis’s group just as the snow engulfed them.

“Aaargh!”

“Gaaaah!”

“Eeeek!”

“Yee-haw!”

The force of the avalanche spun the shield around like a top, eliciting screams filled with agony, terror, joy, and everything in between from those inside it.

Whooosh.

As the avalanche settled, four small heads popped out of the snow-covered landscape.

“Oh boy!”

“A-Are you okay, Louis?”

Louis shook off the snow from his head.

“Eeeh-ha-ha!”

“This is fun, Louis! Let’s do it again!”

The reckless twins thought they were sledding down the mountain instead of being swept away by an avalanche. Thanks to Louis’s quick thinking, everyone had come through unscathed.

“Louis, let’s—again!”

“One more time!”

Seeing them excitedly clamoring for another go, Louis finally lost his patience and punched both their foreheads.

Bam!

“Ow!”

“Louis hit us!”

Watching the twins wail while clutching their heads, Louis wore a look of relief.

“…Grow up already, you two.” Fin appeared satisfied with Louis disciplining the twins as well.

With his temper cooled, Louis surveyed their surroundings.

“…Where are we?”

It snowed year-round on this winter continent, so unsurprisingly, the avalanche had swept down unimaginable amounts of snow. Louis couldn’t even begin to guess how far they’d been carried by these monstrous waves of ice and snow. The landscape was indistinguishable due to being covered in white everywhere he looked.

“Haah… We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.” His sighs grew deeper each day.

The twins, oblivious to his frustration, were already frolicking through the snow, having forgotten their pain. Seeing them like this, Louis decided to let go of everything.

“Yes… Do as you please.”

No matter where or when, the twins never lost their cheerfulness. It could be seen both as their strength and weakness. As Louis watched them play, he shook his head in resignation.

Suddenly…

“Ahhh?!”

“Khan?”

As Khan trudged through the snow, his head disappeared beneath it. Sensing something was amiss, Kani swam toward him, only to meet the same fate.

Louis muttered incredulously as he watched them sink.

“What kind of mischief are they up to now?”

He waded through the snow to scold them and arrived at where Khan and Kani had vanished.

“Stop fooling around and get ou— Aaargh!”

His body sank abruptly. Feeling his legs give way, Louis frantically grabbed onto Fin’s pin.

“O-oh no! L-Louis?!”

However, there was no way such a tiny pin could support Louis’s weight.

“Aaaah!”

“Aiee!”

Louis and Fin plummeted together, screaming all the way down.

Whooooosh.

The wind rushed past Louis’s ears as his body slid rapidly down an icy chute.

“W-wh-what is this?!” Shocked, he yelled but couldn’t stop his descent.

How far had he gone?

“Huh? Aaahhh!”

As soon as he spotted the end of the slide leading to a sheer cliff, Louis found himself flying through the air.

M-manifest my true form!

In desperation, Louis tried to transform when…

Tak.

Someone grabbed hold of both his feet, halting his fall.

“Louis’s here too!”

“Hi, Louis!”

Khan and Kani, who had descended earlier, had caught him. They manifested themselves as silver dragons, each holding on to one of Louis’s legs, leaving their friend dangling upside-down in midair.

Soon, they slowly descended to the ground together.

“Ohhh, that was scary… My heart…”

“That was fun!”

As Louis clutched his chest from shock, the twins grinned at each other. Louis watched them warily.

“Fin…I think I’m starting to admire these two…”

“They’re truly remarkable…”

Louis and Fin exchanged sympathetic glances, understanding each other’s predicament.

Regaining his composure, Louis stood up and looked around.

“…Where are we now?”

Damn it; swept away by an avalanche, he had landed in yet another unfamiliar place.

“Cursed death flags!” Louis cursed the death flag responsible for transporting him here.

However, his frustration didn’t last long as he straightened himself. There was no telling what might happen next in this unknown location. It would be best to escape as quickly as possible. With this resolve, Louis began moving forward.

It would be best to leave this mysterious place as soon as possible. With that thought, Louis started moving, and the twins closely followed him.

“Hmm…”

As he walked, Louis scanned his surroundings. The ceiling had holes in it, while the walls sparkled like glass. Despite their transparency, Louis recognized them as ice.

These don’t seem naturally formed.

The origin of the holes in the ceiling was unclear, but the structure they were in could not have been created by nature.

Is this some kind of passageway?

The walls resembled those of a corridor, with the floor neatly arranged. As Louis observed his surroundings, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu and tilted his head.

“What is this…? I feel like I’ve seen this place before.” He tried searching through his old memories but failed to recall anything specific.

Creak, creak.

Crunch.

Something coming straight toward him interrupted his thoughts.