Bonus Short Stories
Unexpected Uses
Just after the battle, near the walls of the palace, a knight ushered Inglis and Rafinha toward a dressing room.
“We’ve prepared outfits for you! Right this way!”
“Thank you. Shall we go, Rani?”
“Sure thing, Chris!”
Before they got far, Reddas called out to them. “Ah, wait, Lady Inglis! What shall we do with this dragon tail? Surely you don’t intend to bring it with you to Ahlemin.”
“Hmm, about that... If it’s not too much trouble, perhaps you could bring it to the academy dorms?”
“Yeah. It’ll get in the way here,” Rafinha nodded.
“I think it could come in handy in a lot of ways, but if they can find a use for it, I’d be glad to lend it to them,” Inglis said.
“What is it good for other than eating?” Rafinha asked.
Suddenly, shouts arose from the crater that Inglis had created.
“We’re going over the edge!”
“It’s no use! All hands, abandon ship!”
The waters of Lake Bolt flowed into the crater like a waterfall. When it filled, its vast depth would be hidden away from sight. That solved that problem, but another remained: the Venefic flying battleship which had made a crash landing during Inglis and Rochefort’s battle.
Caught up in the flow of water, it slipped toward the crater. Aboard were not only Venefic soldiers who hadn’t yet abandoned ship but also knights attempting to save them. If the ship sank into the crater, there was no way it could be raised again.
“Ah! Oh no!” Inglis gasped. She thought that, if captured, the ship might still be of use. Letting it sink would be a waste.
She hoisted Fufailbane’s tail over her shoulder, leaped aboard, and gave a powerful swing. “Haaaah!”
The force of the swing was enough to push the ship from the crater’s edge to the shallows. As for the impact...
Krrraaassshhh!
The shock of the tail’s impact against the canal bank sent several soldiers into the water.
“Aaaaaah!”
“H-Help!”
After swinging the tail, Inglis dived toward the water, forming an ice blade in her hand. Normally, she too would fall in, but she had a plan.
“Freeze!” She plunged the ice blade into the surface of the water, and in an instant it froze, creating a foothold. “Grab this!” Landing there, Inglis held out the dragon tail to the soldiers.
“You saved us!”
“Thanks!”
Once the soldiers overboard grabbed the tail, Inglis planted her feet firmly and gave a shout. “Haaah!” Carrying the tail and the soldiers along with it, she leaped high into the air.
“Whoa!”
Accompanied by the soldiers’ panicked screams, she landed back where she’d begun, near Rafinha and the others. “See? This thing’s good for civil engineering purposes when you need to move a large object, and even as a lifesaver.” Inglis grinned at Rafinha.
“That’s not very helpful when you’re the only one who can swing that thing around!”
“Really? Well, it feels quite pleasant—it’s got a good weight to it, so it’s great for training.” Inglis took a few experimental swings with the tail.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Stoooooop!”
The soldiers, still clinging on, began to scream again.
“Ah, s-sorry!”
Rafinha tugged at Inglis’s ear. “C’mon, Chris! Knock it off!”
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