-Whoooooosh!!
-Roooooosh!!
The gale-force winds that swept through were far from ordinary.
It was a tempest so fierce it felt capable of effortlessly whisking a person away.
“Oh, Mother, it’s too dangerous here.”
“Hm? It’s fine, my daughter. You must be very nervous, aren’t you?”
Struggling to suppress the violent trembling that seized my body, I gazed out at the precipice of the rocky peak.
Below, the kingdom stretched out into the vast distance.
Above it all, a thick blanket of clouds obscured the sky.
This vista alone confirmed that our elevation surpassed even the highest clouds.
“M-m-my first flight, and it’s from such an astronomical height?!”
“My daughter, you can do it, right? Your Mother and Father did it here too.”
Mother offered a reassuring smile as she continued her explanation.
“You see, it’s a time-honored tradition for dragons to take their inaugural flight from this very spot. It’s not *that* ancient, mind you; it only began when our kind unified.”
Though Mother smiled at me as she spoke, I found myself utterly incapable of returning the gesture.
“Isn’t a 3,000-year-old tradition ancient…?”
“Hmm… is it?”
My inability to smile stemmed partly from the shock of a dragon’s perception of time, but primarily from the acrophobia that had plagued me since my previous life.
‘…Having been so utterly immobile in my past life, I had completely forgotten about my debilitating fear of heights…!’
Within the confines of my mind, I unleashed a silent, desperate shriek.
Yet, of course, no one could hear it.
-Tremble, tremble, tremble.
“…Mino, are you very scared?”
“Y-yes, yes, yes…!”
Such was my terror that my legs quivered uncontrollably.
Mother’s gaze, filled with concern, rested upon my trembling form.
Mother, I don’t think I can do this. Please, save me.
Though I pleaded with my eyes, Mother merely embraced me, her words carrying a note of resigned despair.
“What should we do? You absolutely have to do it.”
“If not today, the winds will grow even stronger…”
“It’ll be even harder if we come next time.”
Oh, to simply crawl on all fours for the rest of my life.
Flying in the sky? What utter nonsense.
Confound it, one should dream within the bounds of reason and possibility.
-Tremble, tremble, tremble.
-Whoooosh.
“…Hiek.”
“Oh dear, the wind.”
Each gust of wind made me feel as though I’d be swept away, prompting me to burrow even deeper into Mother’s embrace.
“Mino, let’s try our best.”
“…Ugh.”
Mother gently set me down, then tenderly stroked my hair.
Just as a semblance of calm began to settle over me, another rush of wind would inevitably cause my body to involuntarily recoil.
-Tremble, tremble, tremble.
“Mino, why are you like that?”
“…N-noona, u-uh…”
“Hm?”
Noona, addressing me with a question, crouched down to my level.
“I, I have a fear of heights.”
I scuttled towards Noona, clinging to her side before whispering into her ear.
“Ah.”
Noona’s expression, which had been one of gentle amusement, swiftly transformed into an unmistakable sneer of derision as she grasped the meaning of my words.
She then leaned in, whispering back into my ear.
Her breath, laced with the struggle to suppress laughter, mingled with her hushed words.
“That’s right, you had acrophobia, didn’t you?”
“…U-uh-huh.”
“But you said you wanted to become a bird? That you’d come to meet me?”
-Pfft.
Noona clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes fixed on me as she chuckled.
My cheeks burned a furious red with mortification.
“I-I forgot! I never even got out of bed.”
“…Even so, how could you forget *that*?”
“Y-you forgot too, Noona.”
“I’m not you.”
Noona, looking utterly bewildered, whispered to me once more.
“Look at your red face.”
“…I don’t know.”
“Are you sulking?”
“I’m not sulking.”
It’s true.
I truly wasn’t sulking in the slightest.
Rather, I was merely a touch disappointed in Noona.
“What are you two talking about so intently?”
“…Ramir!”
“Hm?”
Ramir, having apparently noticed our hushed conversation, ambled leisurely towards us.
Curiously, Ramir carried a wooden staff in her hand, roughly the same height as herself.
“What’s that staff?”
“This? It’s a magic staff.”
“…Ooooh.”
Magic wand.
To witness something I’d only ever seen in films or anime, manifest before me in reality, was truly something.
It was a novel sensation.
Ramir, who carried herself as if great heights were no impediment, prompted me to stare at her in a daze.
A faint blush coloring her cheeks, perhaps from a touch of embarrassment, she then asked me,
“…Why, why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Um, Ramir, aren’t you scared?”
“Of what?”
“High places.”
“I’m not a child, why would I be scared of a place like this?”
-Tremble, tremble, tremble.
…….
What on earth? Did that staff possess a will of its own, perhaps?
Upon closer inspection, I noticed her hands were also subtly trembling.
-Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
“Oh, this big sister here doesn’t get scared by things like this!”
…Perhaps you should wipe that cold sweat before you speak.
A bead of cold sweat trickled visibly down Ramir’s cheek.
“…You’re sweating.”
“Th-th-this is, uh! It’s because it’s h-h-hot! Yes, it’s just the heat!”
“…The wind, isn’t it cold?”
“No! Mino, the sun is closer now, isn’t it? So it’s incredibly hot here right now!”
…….
Oh, that makes perfect sense.
Given my immunity to temperature changes, which renders me oblivious to the actual warmth, I suppose I’ll simply have to take Ramir’s word for it.
Since it’s a passive ability, it can’t even be deactivated.
Indeed, in this fantastical realm, it’s entirely plausible that temperatures might rise with increasing altitude.
A sense of quiet pride swelled within me, as though I had just uncovered a profound piece of new world knowledge.
“But why are you trembling?”
…….
…….
“…A-a tremor.”
Ah, so you suffer from tremors.
That’s certainly a possibility.
It appears your wrists have endured quite a bit of rough handling.
Wrists, being delicate joints, ought to be treated with care; you truly should have stretched them sufficiently.
“But Mino, are you flying from here?”
“Yeah, they say I’ll do it here.”
Engaging in conversation with Ramir had, to some extent, managed to dissipate my pervasive tension.
“Mino? Has your tension eased a bit?”
“Yes, Mother!”
At that opportune moment, Mother called out to me.
I dashed towards Mother with a flurry of eager steps.
Before I could reach her, Father intercepted me mid-stride.
“Mother is tired, so let’s train with Father~”
“…Yes!”
“It seems like you don’t like something.”
“I was going to hug Mother…”
“Let’s do it with Father then!”
Father enveloped me in a tight embrace.
Though his coarse beard pricked my skin, the warmth of his hug filled me with a pleasant sensation.
“…It’s prickly.”
“Ahem! It’s my day off, so I didn’t shave.”
And so, with a final playful exchange, my true training was set to commence.
****
“Alright, Mino, release Polymorph. You trust Father, right?”
“Y-yes!”
Releasing the Polymorph skill, I reverted to my true draconic form.
“…My daughter, even in your dragon form, you are truly beautiful. When you’re older, promise you won’t ever leave your Father’s side; all men are utterly untrustworthy, you know.”
“Wow.”
“It’s my first time seeing Mino’s dragon form~”
“…Oh.”
From behind, those who beheld my dragon form for the very first time showered me with compliments, remarking on my beauty.
“Heh, hehe, I-I’m embarrassed.”
“Then, shall we fly splendidly now?”
“Yep!”
On all fours, I made my way to the very edge of the precipice.
“Alright, take a few steps back, then run forward and jump. You can do it, right?”
“I-I’ll try.”
“When you run, spread your wings wide, and as soon as you jump, flap them. You can do it, right?”
“Y-yes!”
“Good, don’t look down, only look forward, okay?”
“Yep!”
‘I can do this, I am the strongest, I can do this,’ I chanted to myself.
Though the gnawing tension stubbornly refused to dissipate, I continued to reassure myself with fervent self-talk.
After all, I was the strongest; they had granted me this body precisely because I yearned to fly.
There’s no way I won’t be able to fly, is there?
“Alright, Mino? If anything goes wrong, Father will immediately fly down and catch you.”
“Yep!”
For Father to speak with such unwavering assurance, it truly must be safe.
Even Mother wasn’t making any particular effort to dissuade me.
I resolved to place my trust in both Mother and Father.
Noona and Ramir, apparently sharing the same sentiment, both offered me encouraging smiles and cheers.
“H-here I go!”
“That’s right! You can do it!”
“Yeees!!”
With that resounding affirmation, I surged forward with a powerful burst of speed.
‘Kyaaaak!’
‘I don’t care, Father will save me!’
My four paws lifted from the solid earth.
-Flap flap flap flap.
‘Ah, this is impossible.’
My body began its swift descent towards the ground.
Following four feeble, utterly futile wing beats, my body, helplessly ensnared by gravity’s pull, commenced an unending plummet towards the earth below.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaang!!”
“Save meeeeeeeeeee…!!!!”
-Yooooo…
-Oooooh…….
-Ooooh…….
My desperate shriek reverberated against the rocky mountains, echoing back to me.
The jagged rocks of the ground rapidly drew nearer.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
[Skill: Polymorph is activated!]
No, *why*?!
Now, of all things, even the status window had seemingly malfunctioned.
[The King giggles, saying ‘Oops, my mistake.’]
“Mister!!!!”
[Apologizes, saying ‘My apologies.’]
This insane individual?!
You’re trying to kill a person—no, a dragon—and you dare utter ‘sorry’ now?!
Do you truly believe a simple ‘sorry’ will suffice to fix everything?!
“I’m going to kill you…!!”
[What can you even do?]
“I’m going to dieeeeeeeeeee!!!”
I had already plummeted straight through the clouds.
It was skydiving, but without the parachute.
Was this madness?
“Waaaaaah!! S-save meeee!!!”
Too terrified to glance at the ground below, I twisted my body to look behind me, where a majestic white dragon was rapidly plummeting in my direction.
Instinctively, I knew precisely who it was.
“Fatherrrrrrrrrr!!”
“Mino! Just a moment, I’ll save you right away!”
“Save me!!”
I watched, horrified, as my tears scattered like droplets through the vast expanse of the sky.
“Bwaaaah.”
[Skill: Flight is activated.]
What?
-Flap!!!
The instant that message flashed before my eyes.
From my back, a pair of colossal golden wings burst forth.
The moment those immense wings, seemingly capable of engulfing the entire sky, unfurled and flapped.
I stood suspended in the very air.
This was no mere illusion; I was genuinely standing.
“…?”
-Whoosh!!!
Something white streaked past me in a blur.
“Ah, Fatherrrrr!!! I succeeded!!!!!”
It was Father.
My abrupt halt had caught Father off guard, preventing him from decelerating, and he continued his descent below.
Overwhelmed with the elation of success, I bounced excitedly, waving a triumphant hand towards Father.
“J-just go on up first! It looks like Father overdid it and his wings fell off?”
What? Why is he so frail?
Upon reflection, Father seemed even frailer than Mother.
Perhaps it was due to his perpetual sedentary lifestyle at his desk.
“Yes!!”
Flapping my colossal golden wings, I ascended gracefully.
Remaining motionless if I kept my wings still, I found I could ascend by merely giving them a strong, deliberate beat.
The sensation of standing motionless, as if upon solid air, was surprisingly not unpleasant.
“Mother!”
“Mi-Mino?! H-how did you do that?”
“Huh? I’m just flying, though?”
“H-how are you flying in Polymorph form?”
“I-I don’t know. It just… happened…”
Mother, barely concealing her astonishment, rushed towards me.
“O-Mother, it’s dangerous!”
“My daughter! You’re a genius, a genius!”
Before Mother could embrace me mid-air, I swiftly landed back on the mountain peak.
“It’s dangerous!”
“Sorry, I was just too happy.”
[Skill: Flight is terminated.]
My inaugural flight concluded with resounding success.
