Chapter 422 – Duchesses

「Okay, got it!」
Cruz sprunk backwards, as did all the others.
However, Femm, Moofy, and Chel didn’t move.
「Femm, Moofy, Chel, come over here!」
「Wuff」「Moo」「PigGgi」
All three of them refused to move. They were planning to fight with me.
「Do what Timi tells you. I don’t think they’re here for a fight.」
『I know that.』「Moo」「PiggGi」
Femm and the others separated from me, so it was just me and Shiggy.
As soon as this happened, the six dragons’ descent quickened.
They landed without sound in front of Shiggy and me.
They were the size of six mountains and it was very threatening.
I looked over and Timi had taken a knee in front of them and bowed.
But it wasn’t the six she was bowing to, but to Shiggy.
I was thinking that maybe I should bow as well, but not knowing dragon rules, it was probably just better to remain silent.
But I did think for a second that I should bow.
If that was necessary, though, Timi would have told me.
So I just stood there, not bowing or anything.
As I stood there alone, the six dragons glared at me, while I glared right at them.
Well, not glared, but more like observed.
While these duchesses weren’t overflowing with magical force, they were quite intimidating.
After these six duchesses looked me over, they laid on the ground, and their chins touched the ground.
「We, the duchesses are here at the behest of the dragon god.」
One of the duchesses said in a very respectful tone.
「ryaa?」
「We hope to be proper servants to the new queen of the dragons.」
Another duchess said to us.
「ryaaa」
「Our High Duchess. We serve you, the queen of all dragons, and pledge our loyalty to you alone.」
「We hope that you will consider us as your loyal servants from now on.」
「ryaa ryaaa!」
「「「Hah hah, we all thank you!」」」
It seems that the six duchesses all pledged their loyalty to Shiggy.
「Shiggy? Are you the queen of the dragons?」
「ryaa? Ryaa….」
It seems that she might not have understood, but was still happy.
Maybe because all these dragons had come to see her.
I could tell she was wagging her tail because I could feel it inside the pouch.
And the duchesses didn’t raise their heads either. They stayed prostrate, heads on the ground.
They were probably waiting for Shiggy’s permission to rise.
I didn’t know what the rules were for these dragons, but I thought it was best to tell them to rise some time soon.
I looked over at Timi.
However, Timi was still bowing as well.
Oh well, I had to whisper into Shiggy’s ear,
「Shiggy…you shouldn’t leave them bowing like that.」
「ryaaryaaryaaryaayraaaaa」
It sounded like I had tickled her and she was laughing. I could feel her tail wagging again.
It was cute.
And with that said, the prostrate duchesses said,
「Dragon queen! Let me humbly say, that…」
「Grand Duchess!」
I bet they were asking why a human was so close to her.
I was about to introduce myself, but Timi stopped me and said,
「This is the great Alfredora Lint. He was given peace to care for her by her mother Jilnidora…」
Timi attempted to introduce me as the caretaker for Shiggy.
I remembered that some ancient dragons had said rude things about me before, and when corrected, they showed their bellies as a sign of apology. Maybe Timi wanted to prevent that all from happening again.
「I am Alfredora Lint. Pleased to make your acquaintance.」
「You are the fabled…ah, I apologize.」
「No need to worry.」
And just in case, the duchess continued,
「I need to make sure, but this is the one that was entrusted with care of Sighisoara?」
「Yes. It is just as regent Alfredora states.」
「Regent?」
「In the case of a carer for or rather a advisor of a dragon queen, the proper name is regent.」
「Is that so?」
Somehow, me taking care of Shiggy had made me a regent.
So I guess that Shiggy really was the new dragon queen.
I had heard about the dragon queen before from Timi. It was when we were searching for the death lord.
We had a map that would indicate her presence when she arrived, and when she did, the other duchesses would gather to pledge their loyalty.
「That reminds me, we had that map that showed where she would be.」
So I took the map from my bag.
It unfolded from it’s tiny folded state into a big map.
「Hm, it seems that the dragon queen is here in Elkay.」
In the place where Elkay was, there was a strong gold glow of the dragon queen.
And there the magic lord, me, the holy lord, Cruz, the death lord, chel, but our colors were hidden by the golden glow.
The map was made to find the dragon queen first, after all.
Perhaps the whole purpose was to know where the dragon queen was at all times.
That’s why the color of her map point was so bright.
And that reminded me, yesterday we had talked about how the follower of the god of destruction was coming in this direction.
I looked over the map to try to find the marker for it, but I couldn’t find the destruction lord’s indicator anywhere