Chapter 21: The Gloom Above the Sky

To conquer the sky is humanity’s eternal pursuit.

But to be conquered by the sky is a real torment.

Ascending, falling, ascending again, falling again.

Under the gaze of layers of moonlight, we passed through the clouds several times.
The airflow grazed my skin, and gravity blessed every nerve ending in my body.
This repetition led to numbness.

Elvira, maintaining her human form, wrapped her arms around my waist.
The wind howled, and our black and white hair intertwined and danced, like black and white fireworks flying towards the sky.
A pair of golden eyes that left me speechless looked at me, a deep smile in their depths.

This head-down “piledriver” game is truly interesting.

‘When you play a game, you have to smile. You have to play with a smile. Smile, hehe~’

Play my ass!

Enduring the palpitations, I gritted my teeth and said, “Is this fun?”

“Among dragons, close friends all do this. Don’t you like it, Verona?” Elvira said nonchalantly.

“Is there any possibility that I’m not a dragon?”

Her actions have refreshed my understanding of dragons.
Secretly sultry and petty.
All I did was emphasize that she should fly back “by herself.”
If she didn’t want to, she didn’t have to.

And this thing, which is just like an execution throw in a fighting game, is a little romantic quirk of dragons?
It could kill someone, you know.
I always feel like Elvira is lying.
Who goes bungee jumping in the middle of the night instead of resting?

So I protested loudly: “Let me down! I want to sleep!”

“Alright, alright, then… wait.”

Elvira’s expression suddenly turned serious.
Her wings flapped powerfully, halting her descent.
Instead, she soared upwards, rushing into the clouds.

“What did you find?” I also put away my thoughts and followed Elvira’s line of sight.

In the distant clouds and mist, several behemoths were faintly visible.
Flickering lights shone from them.
Through the clouds, I could vaguely make out that the behemoths were oval-shaped…

“They’re airships, three of them,” Elvira’s voice came from beside me.
I couldn’t help but be startled.

“Elvira, do airships usually appear in groups?”

“Airships are mostly responsible for transporting personnel and supplies.
But due to operational costs, they don’t usually operate in fleets unless the owner is wealthy or there’s an emergency.”

“Is that so…” I said in a deep voice.
“Then it seems the situation is quite clear…”

It’s most likely that group from the Church of Mancius.

“Any ideas?” I turned my head and asked Elvira.

“If Verona has one, then I have one.”

“Ugh~ so cheesy it’s disgusting… Can you get me onto an airship without being discovered?”

“Of course, it’s very easy.”

Her wings flapped, creating a gust of wind, and our altitude suddenly increased.
Elvira circled the airships from a great distance, using her superhuman dragon sight to observe the situation on them.

It was also thanks to Elvira being black enough that she was hard to spot in the night sky.
Coupled with the distance, the people on the airships didn’t notice us at all.

“There aren’t many people on guard, but their attire doesn’t look like they’re from the church.
I’ll take you there first.”

After saying that, Elvira flew to a position directly above the airship.
Her wings spread out like a hang glider, gliding silently through the air.
As we got closer, the full view of the three airships came into my sight.

The three airships were arranged in a triangle formation.
Each airship consisted of roughly two parts: a wooden hull structure as the main body for carrying people, suspended from an oval, grayish-white balloon by dozens of thick hemp ropes.
The balloon was similar to a hot air balloon, with a sail for steering and a propeller for power at the stern.

Elvira brought me directly above an airship and slowly lowered me onto the balloon.
This was a blind spot.
The grayish-white oval balloon completely blocked the crew’s line of sight.

My feet made two shallow dents.
The balloon seemed to be made of some kind of airtight fabric or leather.
It had no problem supporting me.

After steadying myself, I made a shushing gesture to Elvira and walked step by step towards the stern of the airship, where the control cabin was located.
I could hear the sounds of a few people talking from inside.

“Phew! Dammit, everything was fine, but I don’t know what got into those managers.
They made me rush the work for several days to set off.
Now, the power units of the three airships have eight hundred problems a day.
It’s so annoying,” a man’s resentful voice could be heard from far away.

“Stop complaining. Special times call for special measures.
Haven’t you heard about what happened in Norn City?”

“What happened?”

“You don’t even know that! One of the six Grand Inquisitors of the Holy Tribunal, the Greatsword of Judgment, Marolin Leni, is dead!
I don’t know what major event happened, but it’s very rare for a Grand Inquisitor to die in the line of duty and be replaced.”

“Oh… just that, huh? What does that have to do with me?
Does it have anything to do with this batch of goods being sent to the port?”

“Are you stupid! Didn’t you see that we’re transporting nothing but barrels of black powder this time?
This is a strategic resource, strategic resource, understand?
I’m sure something big is about to happen.”

“I’m not interested in that.
If you can tell me where to find some nice chicks in Port Otas, I’d be happy to listen, preferably some other-race chicks.”

Alright, I don’t need to listen anymore.
These are not people directly under the church.
One is a fool, and the other is a ladybug¹.
The supplies they’re transporting are all black powder…

Then if I really let Elvira shoot them down, it would probably be like dropping a missile…
That would be too loud… and these people aren’t here for us.

Then… I’ll let them go.

Is impossible.

Strategic resources of Mancius, right?
Time to experience the feeling of a crash.

Looking at Elvira, I said softly, “Can you make a hole in their balloons, not too big, and then destroy the propellers at the stern?”

Elvira smiled confidently and chose to answer with her actions.

Her wings spread open again, and after a moment, they suddenly came down.
Her graceful black figure shot straight into the sky and then dived down.
This time, Elvira didn’t hide her arrival.
Her wings, which cut through the night and the air, created a sharp whistle.
Within a few seconds, with three loud bangs, all the airships’ propellers were scrapped.
Then, she repeated the same trick, and a three-meter-long gash appeared on all the balloons.

So, Elvira had been controlling her speed when she was carrying me before.
Was she afraid I couldn’t handle it…
For the sake of her thoughtfulness, I’ll just write off the “piledriver” game from before.

It’s not that I’m soft-hearted, it’s just a fair exchange.

I guess I’ll acknowledge her showing off this time.

After doing everything I had instructed, Elvira flew back.
Before I could react, her face, which made the stars and moon pale in comparison, rapidly enlarged, and then…

Dragon Impact!
Elvira pulled me into her embrace, and my face was directly buried in her chest…

Holy sh*t, holy sh*t, holy sh*t!

What is this dragon doing now!

In a panic, the tips of my ears quickly turned bright red, and my cheeks grew hot.
I completely ignored the noisy and chaotic sounds from the airship.

At this moment, the world seemed to be just me and Elvira, who was holding me.

“I did something for you, how will you repay me?
You were very willing to repay kindness before.”

I suddenly came back to my senses and pulled my head out of Elvira’s chest.
My heart was pounding like a drum.
The noise in my ears instantly disappeared, leaving only Elvira’s heart-stopping breath.
Her golden eyes were fixed on me.
The playful and undeniably scorching gaze in her eyes made me freeze for a moment.

No, sis.

Third time’s the charm, understand?²
Isn’t two days in a row enough?
Even leeks aren’t harvested this frequently.
Even a donkey in the production team can’t be overworked like this.³

“I refuse.”

Congratulations, congratulations.

After my full resistance, Elvira didn’t get her wish tonight.
I spread out a mat in the cave, and lay down on it, physically and mentally exhausted, ready to fall asleep immediately.

But I was still concerned about what just happened.
The church’s movements have already reached Port Otas.
Our plan to cross the sea needs to be accelerated to avoid any further complications.
I’ll go find Nadiesse first thing in the morning.

No… I can’t fight off the sleepiness anymore.
Since it’s come to this, for the sake of tomorrow, I need to sleep first.

I could feel the cold hardness of the stone slab through the mat, but the overwhelming sleepiness was even stronger.
My consciousness gradually blurred.

In the last moment before falling into a deep sleep.

Something suddenly wrapped around my ankle…

Footnote:

¹ 瓢虫 (piáochóng – ladybug): In Chinese internet slang, “瓢虫” is a homophone for “嫖虫” (piáochóng), which literally means “prostitution bug.” It’s a derogatory term for someone who frequently visits prostitutes.

² 事不过三 (shì bùguò sān – a matter doesn’t exceed three times): A Chinese idiom meaning that one should not repeat the same mistake or action more than twice. Verona is using it to say “enough is enough” regarding Elvira’s advances.

³ 韭菜都没这么噶的，生产队的驴也不能上强度啊 (Jiǔcài dōu méi zhème gā de, shēngchǎn duì de lǘ yě bùnéng shàng qiángdù a – Even leeks aren’t harvested this frequently, and even a donkey in the production team can’t be worked this hard): This is a combination of two popular Chinese internet slang phrases. “割韭菜” (gē jiǔcài – cutting leeks) refers to exploiting someone repeatedly. “生产队的驴” (shēngchǎn duì de lǘ – the donkey of the production team) is a metaphor for someone who is hardworking and endlessly exploited. The combined phrase is a humorous and emphatic way of saying “you’re overworking/exploiting me.”