Published: March 21, 2026
We managed to rescue both Sato and Asahina using the pterosaur we rode. For the two of us who don’t have any combat strength, nor the everyday-life abilities like Hosoyama, this was a great achievement. For the first time I felt like I was actually useful to this party.
By the way, we didn’t even consider Oda a rescue target — he’d just ride back with Ms. Yoru anyway. I think Noah and the others were checking the route for that reason. He can get back no matter what. As for Lord Lattice Nail, I don’t know what they were talking about, but since she’s the demon king’s daughter, they assumed she wouldn’t be harmed and excluded her from the targets. Well, those two were fine.
Mr. Crow, who had been carried on Asahina’s back with his upper body soaked in blood, didn’t even know we had disembarked after Oda and the others left. If I’d known things had turned out like this, I wish I’d barged in earlier, but there was nothing I could do about not knowing. Seeing Crow in what was clearly a fatal condition deflated the elation I’d felt at saving the two in an instant.
Ms. Ueno, who was straddling the pterosaur’s neck with me, looked back toward the pterosaur where Crow and the others were with a worried expression.
“Tsukasa-kun, how’s Crow-san?”
“...Not good. Maybe fifty-fifty whether he’ll last until Ms. Ria and Ms. Noah get here. Ueno, sorry, but can you come over here and keep talking to him? I’ll go check on Asahina-kun.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll go too. No need to pilot, so I can help.”
On the dragon’s broad back, Sato had Crow laid down and was checking his condition, his face hard. I helped Ueno cautiously move from the neck toward the back as Sato asked, and I crawled along the pterosaur’s neck as well.
We were flying just below the clouds so we could slip into them if pursuers appeared. Unlike an airship, there was no stable footing; it rocked and the wind was strong. And there were no safety lines. Though we were riding for the first time, unlike us Sato and Asahina moved nimbly; it was impressive. We knew that if it weren’t for this pterosaur trained to carry humans as dragon riders, we would long ago have become stains on the ground, so we moved slowly.
I sat near Crow’s waist with Ueno, and held his hand to warm it — his hands were trembling from blood loss and the cold at altitude.
I’d been with Sato and the others for a while and had even helped Hosoyama with healing work at the Adventurer Guild, but I’d never seen anyone this badly injured — more like barely alive. In the Adventurer Guild of Yamato Country, where most humans have low vitality, someone as bad off as Crow would have died without even making it to Hosoyama. To be honest, even with a higher base status than us average summoned Beastmen, I doubt someone would survive being in Crow’s state.
But please, just stay alive until Ms. Ria gets here. Clutching that wish, I squeezed his hand and rubbed his body.
“Asahina-kun, how’s it looking behind us?”
After handing Crow over, Asahina had been sitting near the pterosaur’s tail, staring hard at the rear. He finally turned forward when Sato approached and called to him.
“...My ‘gut’ says there aren’t any pursuers after us. Maybe orders were given to prioritize over there, or the command structure is in chaos — I don’t know — but we should be safe for a while. Still, take the detour route to the ship just in case, Kazuki.”
“Okay, roger!”
It seemed all the pursuers had headed toward Oda. We were cautious, even slipping into clouds, but there were no sign of enemies. To be safe I told the pterosaur to take a wide detour toward the meeting point, going around the northern part of the Demon Clan territory that the first generation hero supposedly blew up. This thing might be smarter than me.
I wanted to head straight back to the airship given Crow’s condition, but I couldn’t risk the non-combatants there or the people asleep who had been rescued from Morte. Sato and Asahina seemed to be betting on Crow’s strong vitality.