“……Ah, I’m definitely going to die.”

I muttered this as I was currently flying through the sky. Or rather, to be precise, I was falling from the sky.

Why did it come to this, you might ask? The story goes back a few minutes.

“Eh? You want to try flying in the sky?”

“Yes, has anyone ever flown with magic?”

One day during spring break, while having breakfast, I asked Father something that had been on my mind.

“Um, among my acquaintances, I don’t know anyone who said they’ve flown in the sky… Even Idel probably hasn’t. He can use teleportation magic, so he doesn’t need to fly. Besides, it would be extremely difficult for a human to use magic powerful enough to fly like a bird… It might be possible for someone who has studied magic for decades or a genius among geniuses.”

“I see……”

It was a bit disappointing to hear that, as I had always wanted to fly in the sky once I came to this different world. I wonder if there’s any way I could fly…

I finished my breakfast with a feeling of unease, left the house and headed out of the royal capital alone.

Moving to a deserted area, I made sure no one was around and began developing a flying spell all by myself. I just couldn’t give up.

“First, coat my entire legs with wind attribute magic… Yes, like this, like this… And then, to increase the output, use fire attribute magic…”

I eagerly continued the spell manipulation, knowing a single misstep could send me flying.

Then, after adjusting the magic, I excitedly shouted at the top of my lungs, “Now, to the distant skies!”

The moment I thrust my fist upward and activated the magic――

Boom!!

“Ah.”

I messed up the adjustment and caused a fierce blast at my feet.

As a result, I was blown away by the blast and reached far above the clouds in an instant… Oh dear.

Well, I tried escaping reality by reminiscing, but I’m still falling. I thought I’d come up with a good solution…

“No, but what should I do about this, seriously… Dying from a fall in my thirteenth year after reincarnating in another world? Even counting my previous life, I would have only lived for forty years, that’s too young to die…”

Half-resigned, I was mumbling to myself when Noir suddenly popped out and clung to my head with a panicked, “Fugyaa!?”

“Your timing couldn’t be worse… Ah, Noir, do you have any abilities that could help us out in this situation?”

“Nya~!”

Noir meowed as if to say, “I don’t have anything like that!”

“If that’s the case, it’s dangerous here, so go back…”

When I said that, Noir left.

For now, I started thinking alone about what to do.

About a minute left until I hit the ground? Hmm, my mind is too calm considering the dire situation. Maybe Noir came out because I was so calm.

If Noir was a creature that could fly, I wonder if she could have flown with me on her back… like a bird, or a bat, or a dragon…

…Dragon?

“…That’s right! Shafal is here!”

In a hurry, I called out to Shafal, who was sleeping inside me. “Shafal, wake up! It’s seriously bad right now, so wake up!”

I shouted desperately, but there was no reply. I guess it wouldn’t be that convenient…!?

While I was thinking about it, the ground started to become visible directly below me.

“Ah, if I had known it would be like this, I should have experimented near a lake…”

It was too late to regret it now. I decided to sleep peacefully. So, I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

The next moment, something hit my body. The ground…? But it feels too soft…

I opened my eyes suspiciously and saw an amazing sight. Beneath me was Shafal, who had grown even larger than when we defeated the Ogre. At that moment, I was riding on Shafal, flying in the sky.

“I was sleeping peacefully, but you woke me up with all that shouting. What is going on?”

“…Huh? Sha, Shafal!? Wait, you’ve grown this big?”

“Yes, I ate the magic stone inside me during the fight with the Ogre, and my body has been growing rapidly ever since. I’ve been sleeping until now to reduce the load.”

“…So you’ve been growing all this time. But you woke up late.”

“But I did save you, didn’t I?”

Sure enough, I can’t complain about that.

“I understand that you were sleeping, but I know roughly how you ended up like this. You’re a human trying to fly in the sky. Don’t you know that the sky is our dragon’s territory?”

“I don’t need a sermon from a dragon who just woke up. It was also my dream to fly in the sky, so it couldn’t be helped.”

After a while of bickering in the sky, Shafal landed on the ground. But I didn’t get off Shafal’s back, instead clinging tightly to him.

“Shafal, I’ll feed you something delicious later, so can you fly again?”

“……I can’t help it. I did promise to fly with you, but I’ll definitely take my reward, okay?”

“Okay, I’ve developed various dishes while you were sleeping. Look forward to it.”

After that, I enjoyed another trip in the sky with Shafal. After enjoying the sky to my heart’s content and landing on the ground, I looked up at the grown Shafal again.

“But, haven’t you grown too big?”

“Yes, I didn’t think I would grow this big. After all, I’ve been sleeping all this time.”

“But… With this size, you can’t come out anymore, can you?”

“Uhmm… Wait? Maybe… No, I have enough magical power back, so I might be able to do it.”

As I thought he started muttering something under his breath, suddenly, Shafal’s whole body began to glow. Simultaneously, his body visibly shrank, and when the light subsided, there stood a young man of about fifteen or sixteen years old.

“So you’ve become capable of taking human form, impressive.”

“Hmm, it’s thanks to the growth and regained magical power. A few generations ago, my contractor told me, ‘Your dragon form is too conspicuous, so I want you to learn to disguise yourself as a human,’ so I worked really hard to master it at that time,”

Shafal said, wearing a smug expression as if asking for praise.

Sure enough, when the light appeared earlier, Shafal’s magic power was consumed to an unthinkable extent. Even I could tell that this was not a simple feat. Maybe I should genuinely praise him.

“You’ve worked hard. In that case, let’s treat hardworking Shafal to a delicious meal.”

“Hmm, I’ve been waiting for those words! With this form, human portions will suffice, and it’s more fuel-efficient.”

With the conversation settled, I head home with the transformed human Shafal.

Upon returning home, Father, who had the day off work, was uncharacteristically reading a book in the living room.

“I’m home, Father.”

“Ah, welcome back, Lark. Hmm, is that young man there your new friend, Lark?”

“No, he’s not. This guy is Shafal in human form.”

“What?”

Father looked at Shafal as if to say, “What are you talking about?”

“It’s been a while, Guldo.”

Hearing Shafal calling out to him, Father tumbled off the sofa. “What!? That voice is the same as Shafal… does that mean it really is Shafal!?” Rubbing his hip as he got up, Father stared at Shafal with a look of astonishment.

“Hahaha, don’t be so surprised. You knew that I could take human form, didn’t you? For someone like me who has lived for thousands of years, it’s quite simple.”

“But you said you couldn’t transform into a human if you didn’t have enough magical power.”

When I muttered that, Shafal glared at me.

“Hmm? Lark, are you making fun of me?”

“Well, I’ll go make some delicious food, so Shafal, please wait quietly.”

“Hmm, understood.”

For a moment, Shafal seemed ready to fight, but as soon as he heard the words “delicious food,” he obediently sat down in a chair. Whether his body grows larger or he becomes human, his personality doesn’t change at all.

I went to the kitchen and prepare the fried rice, rusk, and rice croquettes I made while Shafal was sleeping, then carry them to the living room.

Shafal’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the food being brought in, and as soon as everything was ready, he said, “Let’s eat!” and started gobbling it up.

“Delicious, this is also delicious, everything is delicious!!”

“Shafal, eat slowly. You’re spilling too much.”

I warned him as he spilled fried rice and crumbs from the croquettes on the table.

“I’m sorry! But I can’t eat calmly! This is the first time I’ve eaten something this delicious since the grilled rice balls!”

“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it, but…”

Then, Father patted me on the shoulder. “Lark, let him be today. We can clean up what he’s spilled later, and I understand how he can’t stop his hands from eating Lark’s cooking after a long time. It’s somewhat unavoidable.”

“Well, if you say so…”

After that, when Shafal finished eating, he looked at me with a happy smile. “It was delicious. Thank you for the meal!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Well, if he’s going to make such a happy face, I don’t feel bad about it.

As I was thinking that and clearing the dishes, Shafal, who was sitting on the sofa, spoke to me, “By the way, how is the girl we saved at that time?”

“Rin? She’s been living here with me since then. She’s out right now, but I think she’ll be back in the evening.”

“So you ended up taking her home… You’re quite something, Lark.”

“Eh, what do you mean?”

When I asked back, not understanding the meaning, Shafal continued with a smirking face, “Hm? Didn’t you bring her back as your partner?”

“No way!” When I retorted, Shafal turned to Father with a surprised look on his face and said, “Is that not so!?”

Father cleared his throat and opened his mouth, “Shafal, Lark is shy. Let him be.”

“I see, so there’s a chance.”

“Father! Shafal! If you don’t stop it, I’m going to get mad!”

When I glared at the two of them, they lightly apologized, saying “Sorry, sorry.” Thinking that they would tease me again if I stayed there any longer, I left the living room and retreated to my room.

“Jeez, even though Rin and I aren’t in that kind of relationship…” I muttered such words to myself, but as I thought about Rin in my mind, my face started to heat up.

“Ah, stop it, stop it! I’ll read a book to calm down.”

I picked up a book from the shelf and sat down in a chair to read intently.