My son was clever.
Unlike me.
“Your son is a genius.”
A retired ranger. An insignificant hunter who lived day to day, setting old traps and using ancient methods to hunt wild beasts. An uneducated old man who couldn’t even read—a relic left behind by a rapidly changing era. A man discarded by the passage of time. That would be the shortest way to describe me.
“Tell him one thing, and he understands ten—no, a hundred.”
To such a man, the son I gained late in life was my sole pride. A lovely little thing that made my heart swell just by looking at him. My son was the new purpose that kept my faded life going. I would have done anything to protect that child—truly, anything.
“You’re a lucky man!”
My son was an extraordinary child.
Though I couldn’t afford a tutor, let alone send him to an academy, he gained knowledge from discarded books, learned of the world from the tales of wandering gypsies, and learned of life through his inadequate father’s daily routine. By the time he turned twenty, he had become an inventor. By twenty-two, my son was one of the most prominent talents in the city.
Strangers from the Eastern Continent spared no praise, calling him a needle that couldn’t be hidden in a pouch, or a dragon born from a humble stream. Their praise delighted me. What father in the world wouldn’t be overjoyed to hear his son praised? But on the other hand, I felt a flicker of unease at times.
“Do you know why moths fly into the flame, Father?”
My extraordinary son.
This brilliant, outstanding boy had a dream.
“We laugh when we see moths plunge into the fire and burn to death. We say they do such foolish things because they are lowly insects.”
“That we do.”
“But did you know? Moths don’t dive into the flames because they are lowly or foolish. To a moth, everything that burns bright and brilliant is a star, a sun, a moon. They beat their wings toward anything that shines bright just to fly higher.”
“…….”
“I think moths are beautiful. Even lowly insects must feel pain. If the flames char their bodies, they must writhe in the heat and suffer. Yet, the moth does not stop beating its wings. Only to fly higher, only to embrace a higher sky, do they throw the end of their lives into the fire.”
My son.
He wanted to fly.
“I realized I wanted to live like that, too.”
My son.
He desired to soar.
“People call me a genius. They praise me for succeeding from the very bottom through nothing but my own ability. But I am not satisfied. The world is vast, and what I have achieved is as insignificant as a grain of sand. I want to embrace a higher sky. I want to stand tall in the world of stars at the peak of the continent, burning bright and brilliant. I want to go to the highest place.”
Born in a city of the lowly, my son craved the light.
He craved the heavens.
“Higher, further up.”
Looking at him, I had to swallow my true feelings.
My son, is not the end of the moth to eventually burn to death in the searing heat? I would be so happy even if you stayed here in this lowly place. Even if you lived insignificantly like your father, I would take care of you until the moment I die. Even now, as a fine young man, you are nothing but a child to me. It’s fine if you depend on me forever. I can live my life solely for you. I could even swear it to the gods. So, instead of heading for the dangerous sky, why not stay here on this earth? Instead of risking your life to be great, can’t you just stay safely by your father’s side?
“To the sky….”
I suppressed the words that threatened to burst out.
They were words a father could not bring himself to say. I couldn’t hold back a son who wanted to soar. My son was too kind; if he heard his father’s desperate heart, he would willingly give up his dream. Instead of doing what he desired, he would spend his life by his old father’s side. I couldn’t bear to see that. I remembered my own shabbiness—how I could never give him what he wanted, how I could never truly support him—and so I couldn’t do it. There was only one thing I could do as a father.
“Fly. Fly far and wide.”
To smile for him.
To nod, pretending I was fine.
“You can do it, Icarus.”
But looking back now, I should have stopped him, even if it meant becoming a hateful father. Even if I became a father who was resented for a lifetime, a burden on his heels, I should have spat out the words boiling inside me.
My son left for the capital to see the wider world.
He returned seven years later.
Older and more pathetic, I saw my son return. The brilliant boy was now a mess, drooling and crawling on the ground like a beggar. His exposed skin was covered in scars. Wounds from being beaten. Around the neck of my broken, discarded son, a sign was hung.
「The end of a sinner who dared to dream of the sky.」
.
.
.
A vivid memory.
The explosive emotions of a father facing his tragically broken son seethed within me. Intense anger, hatred, and resentment, hot enough to explode at any moment, gathered and sharpened like a blade. The Sword’s emotions were directed at only one thing.
Dragons.
“Human.”
Looking down at us was the Lord of the Sky.
“Why does a human use this path?”
The Dragon’s voice echoed clearly. It wasn’t just a growl vibrating through vocal cords; it felt like something with physical substance. There was even a sensation of the vibrating voice brushing against my skin.
「It is Dragon Speech.」
“Dragon Speech…?”
「A great will dwells within the voices of Dragons. A great will that can cause phenomena with a single word and force other souls to their knees.」
The party stood frozen like ice.
Meanwhile, the Dragon’s eyes slowly scanned us.
“A witch, an old human, a young human from the East, an Orc… and another young human. A strange combination. Are you heading to the Empire for a circus?”
Every time my eyes met the Dragon’s, it felt like a needle piercing my body. After observing us for a moment, the Dragon flicked its tongue and spoke.
“You two.”
The Dragon raised a claw and pointed at Audrey and Sherizik.
“You two may use our bridge. You are worthy.”
“…….”
“But I cannot permit the rest.”
The voice boomed majestically. Audrey muttered as she listened to the Dragon.
“…Dammit, what is this? Seriously.”
“…….”
“Why does a Dragon suddenly pop out? Something that hasn’t happened for over a hundred years happens the moment I start moving with you. Dammit, dammit….”
Audrey complimented my luck.
Yeah. My luck is pretty spectacular.
But now wasn’t the time for exclamations.
“Is there any way to escape?”
“…We have no choice but to get out of here.”
“And if we do?”
“I’ll have to use teleportation magic. To get out of a Dragon’s sight, I need to use long-range teleportation. The fatal flaw is that you can’t set a destination for long-range, and you’re moved to a random location… but wouldn’t anywhere be safer than in front of a Dragon?”
She was right.
Instead of seeking our consent, Audrey decided that a crisis was imminent and began chanting a spell rapidly. But before the spell was even half-finished—
“Stop.”
The Dragon noticed.
“Where do you think you’re running?”
“…….”
“Lowly human who gained nobility by selling your body to a god. Did you think it possible to escape my sight with such a shallow trick? How insulting.”
The Dragon’s voice grew sharp.
As the air turned cold, I asked.
“Is there any chance of winning if we fight the Dragon?”
“Absolutely zero.”
Sherizik also nodded at Audrey’s words.
“…I agree. Perhaps on the ground, but winning a fight against a Dragon in a place like this is impossible. It would be better to plead for mercy.”
“Will it grant us mercy?”
“Ah. By mercy, I meant asking it to kill us without pain.”
“…….”
“Still, ending one’s life by fighting gallantly against a Dragon in the sky isn’t so bad. I could brag about it when I join my ancestors.”
Dammit.
She spoke elegantly, but it was the exact same mindset as the Orcs. I had forgotten. This green race does not fear death. Between dying magnificently and living pathetically, every single one of them would choose the former. As my head began to spin, Audrey spoke.
“Think of a way, anything. As fast as possible.”
“Pardon?”
“I can’t use magic anymore. That damn Dragon has completely seized control of the surrounding mana. Forget magic, it’s getting hard to even breathe right now.”
“Did you lose to the Dragon?”
“Are you joking? In the first place, original magic came from Dragons. All magic is just a copy of the mysteries Dragons wield. The moment my secret trick was caught, it was over for me.”
As Audrey muttered, the Dragon drew closer.
An astonishingly large claw slowly scraped against the glass barrier. A deeply unpleasant sound echoed—a screech that felt like it was tearing my ears apart.
Audrey bit her lip and spoke.
“Lord of the Sky, why do you threaten us? I am aware that there have been those who used the Cloud Bridge unofficially over the last hundred years. We have no intention of defiling your honor, nor will we reveal that we used this place. Please, allow us. We will pass quietly. If even that is unacceptable, we will withdraw peacefully. Please, just spare our lives.”
It was the first time I had seen Audrey take such a humble stance.
She added.
“Please allow it, if only for the sake of my husband. Do not all of you, the Lords of the Sky, serve my husband, the Father of the Sky? If you harm me, he will be furious.”
The words were strangely laced with a threat.
But the Dragon didn’t even flinch.
“Indeed. If I were to harm you, he would be angry. But conversely, as long as you are unharmed, there will be no problem. Did I not say? There are three who are unworthy. I will only harm those three.”
“…….”
“I was insulted, but I shall let it slide this once. Young witches are precious beings. However, there is no mercy to be granted to lowly humans. None at all.”
Crrrk.
Cracks began to appear in the glass.
“I dislike humans. And especially, one of you gives off a hideously unpleasant scent. I cannot tell what it is, but that smell irritates me greatly. A scent so terrible it was enough to provoke me, who has been curled up for over a hundred years.”
“…….”
“Dammit, I smell iron.”
The smell of iron.
The moment those words fell, everyone there looked at me. The passage that had been fine for a hundred years, the sudden shitty turn of events, the danger facing the party—it was the moment the cause of everything was revealed. Audrey’s eyes turned lethally sharp.
“You son of a—”
At that moment.
With a loud bang , the glass forming the Cloud Bridge began to shatter and collapse. A powerful impact shook the bridge, and the party was tossed into the air. Our bodies, suspended for a moment, soon began to fall endlessly due to gravity. As we were pulled downward, everyone’s eyes were fixed on me.
Being the center of such lovely attention, there was only one thing I could say.
Um.
Sorry, everyone.
