I Raised A Black Dragon

Sorrent, Zone 10 of Lunazel

The countryside, with its steep coastal cliffs to the south, dense forests to the east, and fairy lake to the west, was quiet amid the numerous incidents in the capital, Tezeban, the coastal city of Botswana, the mining zone of Noviscosha, and the industrial city of Tauren.

The Frill Frill Happy Night clothing store that’d been frequented by an apricot-haired witch at one point, the Sorrent branch of Queen of Cookies, and even the butcher shop run by Mr. Walter. Even the Sorrent police station where the commissioner was dozing off today remained the same. Unchangingly warm, seamlessly peaceful.

The only days when there was a brief disturbance in Sorrent were on days when the train came in once every five days. However, the number of people remained almost the same, to a great extent, as the Sorrent people also went out to each province of Laurent as much as the outsiders were entering. So, the disturbance usually ended within a day.

The Sorrent people knew one thing after the other about their neighbors—for example, well enough to know how old their children were—but they were just as ignorant of the outside world. The capital’s news was just delivered to Sorrent three months late.

“Ahem, you said the dragon hatched? I heard his head touched the Imperial Castle’s spire and the tail reached the outer castle road.”

“They said a witch imprinted out the dragon. A very gentle, beautiful witch. Whatever kind of young woman she is, if I get her autograph and hang it on a wall, Sorrent will be filled with tourists.”

“Something must have happened in the capital. It seemed that a major trial has opened. They say the defendant is a minister. Which ministry was it again? Was it the Treasury Department?”

As always, news that traveled a long way was a bit exaggerated and glorified.

But even those wild rumors gradually waned, and it was one of those ordinary days when the people of Sorrent were again engrossed in their own lives.

A train trailed by a long streak of smoke sliced through the wide flatlands in the north.

***

“Oh, we’re almost there.”

The train that’d departed from Lunazel had to travel two hours to finally make it to the outskirts of Sorrent.

It had taken a week to return from Noviscosha and complete Kyle’s transfer before coming here. The end was seen on the long journey that’d taken Noah from Tezeba to Buttuanu, Lunazel, and Sorrent.

Noah was deeply moved as she admired the scene passing by outside the window. Gradually, familiar figures came into her field of vision.

A row of planted olive trees, a warm red brick alley, a few dogs dozing in the sun in front of her favorite clothing store, an old shopping cart…

When she opened the window and stuck her head out, she could see the train station—as tiny as a fingernail—where the train was heading. Kyle, sitting next to her reading 50 Luxurious Meals to Take Charge of Your Dinner Table Tonight lifted his head.

“We’ll be arriving at the station in five minutes. We should get ready to get off.”

He closed the book, and while he was bringing down their luggage from the space above their seats the tiny train station grew to the size of Noah’s hand and then Muell’s head before swallowing the train.

A sluggish announcement echoed on the old platform where the noon sun was shining.

“The train is arriving. This train transfers to Botswana and Lunajel via Tezeba.”

It didn't take long for today's sparsely populated platform to be filled with a huge chunk of scrap metal.

“Boarding passengers, please take a step back for your safety.”

The announcement ended with the last word stretched out, and the train slowly came to a stop. Noah, knowing how much she was trembling, gripped her straw hat tightly.

The station employee jumped down onto the platform first to operate the train’s safeguard. Before long, the train doors opened with a long squeaking metal sound.

Click.

The first one to step down on the platform was a young boy wearing overalls. Muell, jumping with his feet pressed together, turned his head both ways as he caught sight of the station. And then he yelled excitedly, “We arrived!”

He leaned out of the train using that cheerful cry as a sign. The sun's rays from the perforated ceiling of the train station permeated Noah’s brown hair and cheeks under her hat and lightly fluttering red skirt.

She read out loud the amiable text written on a wooden board:

“…Sorrent.”