Kanna no Kanna Volume 1 Chapter 2

//TN : usual bit with typos, some lines beind dubious and little editting//

Chapter 02 : Crossing the mountain and one step short of freezing to death

We just ended our rest after flying for 4 hours in that dragon; then Real directed the dragon towards the foot of the mountain range.

「I appreciate your efforts, we were saved thanks to you so please make sure to rest properly」

Real tickled the jaw of the dragon to show her appreciation as she spoke before taking some steps of distance; receiving an animal greeting which sounded like kyui kyui before leaving, on it’s feet a large magic formation showed up s.h.i.+ning in white light and when it’s whole body became enshrined in brightness, the dragon’s shape became less visible as the brilliance was gradually losing it’s s.h.i.+ne to finally disappear when the radiance of the formation on the ground was completely gone; the order for that is exactly reversed from when she summoned it, implying that the fundation of process might be exactly the same. When I was shown this the first time, I became completely overwhelmed and it went way over my head.

It looks like summoning magic consist of calling forth something that was previously contracted by the user.

And quite properly, this fantasy world has what is without exceptions the quintessential example of what a fantasy world needs to have; which is the art know as 『magic』. This driving force known as 『magic』 is something that everyone needs to take a hold of, it might be easier to understand if you compared it to the energy source from our world known as 『electricity』.

「Hekkushou」

Hugging my body down with my own two hands, with chattering teeth; I let out some weird sneezing sounds. I can’t even imagine how high is the alt.i.tude of the mountain we have just crossed now since the actual top is in fact above the clouds. Would I really have had to climb such a high mountain while on my student uniform? Fortunately it’s not it’s coldest right now and a blessing in disguise is that I can take at least some peace of mind that my uniform is a long sleeved gakuran.

「Oops, sorry」

A light sign breaks through this open s.p.a.ce as Real’s fingertip produces a fire and while pointing her hands in front of her, the flame leaves her finger and flew off through the air.

「Aaah……I’m being healed」

Thanks to the new found heat, he was moved to the point were tears almost fell down.

「When flying at such height the normal is to wear something that blocks the cold; at this time of emergency there is no choice but to rely on some fire attribute magic as a replacement………… I guess it isn’t warm enough？」

At the time we were gradually increasing the alt.i.tude while flying, Real deployed fire magic as to surround us as stop-gap mea.s.sure. It was not perfect, as the wind that could blew through from every direction ended up causing an overwhelming cold. At that time Real’s face spelt clearly a deep regret over her own lack of ability to cope with the sutuation.

「I have only learnt elemental magic up to the bare minimum, I apologize since I forced you to experience strong cold」

「I can say with confidence if it wasn’t for that fire, I would have long died frozen」

My consciousness would have flied far away as simply as that and I would have ascended to heaven. Speaking of, if I die at this place, I wonder which world’s heaven I would had ended up in?

Or rather, I wonder why Real doesn’t look cold at all.

「While I truly am not good at elemental magic, endowment magic is something I can take great pride in and that allowed me to use spells to ward off the cold. This type of magic strong point is defense」

Afterall.

「And then, with this is fine since we already earned some days of advantage. From leaving the castle till crossing the mountain, it doesn’t matter how fast we project them to catch up, they’ll need at least 3 full days」

「Even if the pursuers also use a dragon like we did？」

「Even if they try that, there is no dragon that can overcome this mountain so simply. I’ll allow myself to boast here, when it comes to cla.s.sifications, my contracted partner falls into the upper ranks of the dragon species, and for that reason we had quite the advantage in our trip when it came to elevation & speed」

「Even when it looks so cute and soothing？」

「Even when it looks so cute and soothing; I mentioned something about it previously, but that dragon does not really get attached to people and this is common for their species. Is common sense that contracts are rare, regardless of the species involved」

In other words, Real who managed to achieve such an unusual contract is a remarkable individual. When Real noticed that within my sight some admiration was now mixed in, her cheecks flushed ever so slightly.

「Wel- Well, the fact that it’s unusual to achieve means not that it’s completely impossible; there are those who have achieved contracts so overwhelming when using me as a reference you can’t possibly even touch their feet」

For the sake of hiding her own embarra.s.sment, she presses the talk towards someone on higher position, and her unusual hand gestures when losing compossure add a cute side that one would normally not notice, with her usual gallant expression.

「Le- Let’s return to our previous talk; regardless of how hard or pursuers chase us, there is no inconvenience factor for us if we spend a night in the local village. For any dragon, performing high speed continuos flight for long periods is not a simple thing– specially if you add human pa.s.sengers to the mix; similarly to our current case, four hours should be the upper limit」

Should I relate this to engines and their gears? The strain when using low speed that requires low power becomes completely different when one uses a high gear with high speed which needs much more power.

「In one side we have that, but there is that it also looks like the day is about to end. It won’t do if we don’t secure a place to spend the night」

Right now we are close to the outskirts of a village; while crossing through the mountain the location of a village and it’s settlemens was clearly visible and we made the dragon land before we got close to the village; this was for the sake of being as less eye catching as possible. While magic in itself is widespread, summoning magic can be considered in the category of unusual…. In the first place, if we go to the village with a dragon in tow, there is basically no other way of gathering more attention than that.

「…………If we speak about standing out, don’t those ears already are something very noticeable？」

After that line, her long ears trembled a little at the tip.

「This won’t cause any problem since the shape is different from the elves. While my mother was an elf, I’m only a half elf.」

And now that key world elf has popped up; the second quintessential example of what a fantasy world is meant to be like. Being immersed in the love for the 2D world or not is absolutely irrelevant; even if you only have a little bit of an otaku in yourself like me or not; the love for cute things will ultimately always win. And when those long ears tremble a little right in front of you, the feeling of wanting to touch them naturally comes.

「Actual elves are much less numerous than human beings; but whether it’s a castle or a castle town, you can still find some if you put your mind into it; in contrast elves travelling to remote areas like this village would be extremely unusual」

「Even something like travelling troubadours？」

The ones that I know from fictional works give the strong impression of always having a lyre or a flute at hand.

「You know well; that’s correct. Elves naturally have a strong awareness for excellence when handling instruments that stems from their very own fingertips. You can always find one pa.s.sing through town and performing as to earn travel expenses— As expected I don’t have such gift for music」

「In other words, we are a par of travelling mercenaries who merely are stopping at the village？」

「Playing that part would be indeed the safest route… I’ll have to treat you as an a.s.sistant even though I feel bad about it」

「It’s fine like that. I wouldn’t feel good if I merely keep receiving a.s.sistance here」

「My grat.i.tude to you who saved me from that place will last for a life time. Helping this much is but a simple matter.」

After being forcefully dragged into this world, certainly having meet this woman has been without a doubt the greatest fortune. Exactly mirroring what she says, I myself have the mindset of rewarding her for all which she has done for me.

………… At this moment Real and I where completely unaware of it; and we wouldn’t even noticed it for a long while after that.

The mountant that we had just crossed with the dragon, has quite the big significance to this country as a sacred mountain.

Simply because Real used that elemental magic which is her weak point to produce a little bit of warmth, and the fact that I happened to go through a simple preset mountain path.

And lastly, the unique 『condition』 that I have been aflicted ever since being summoned to this world.

「Hekkus.h.i.+！ urgh………… I want to quickly enter the bath. Rather, are there even baths? Or maybe I have just stated a super luxurious aspiration？」

「If you expect a small sized one, plenty of houses have. Of course an inn would count with one as well」

「UOOOSHAA! If there is a nice meal and a bath, then I can survive no matter the place！」