Eliza told me it was okay, so I moved closer to her.
We were alone in a vast space, the sound of shoes echoed heavily.
This is an amazing stone statue, was it made by the first emperor?
No, this is the guardian dragon himself.
"Yourself?
"Yeah. Apparently there was a lot of trouble when he was building the empire, and he was petrified. They haven't changed since.
That's right.
Petrification.
As I looked up at the huge stone statue of the dragon in front of me, my bosom flashed.
"Alec? What is it?
This is ......
The Philosopher's Stone.
The philosopher's stone, which I carry with me always, glowed by itself.
I can sense its will.
unusually, the stone spoke to me.
It was a way to use the magic of unpetrification.
"Uh-huh, I see.
"Okay, what?
"Sorry, I was just backing off, Eliza.
"Huh? Yeah ......
I don't know what it was, but if Alec was right - and Eliza took a few steps back.
I looked at the stone dragon statue again.
I reviewed in my mind the magic I learned from the Philosopher's Stone once more, and then held up my hand to cast a spell.
Hello? Alec, what are you going to do?
I stopped the petrification. You're a guardian dragon, and it would be good for the Empire to untie you.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Alec, it's impossible to--
Eliza wonders, while the magic is triggered.
A feeling of weakness overtook me as a considerable amount of magic was taken away, but the magic was successfully activated and the dragon's stone statue was enveloped in light.
Soon, the guardian dragon's petrification is released.
The stone statue's appearance gradually returned to normal, lifelike scales.
The eyes, too, gradually lit up, unlike when they were stone statues.
In less than a minute, he changed from the stone statue back to his full dragon form.
The guardian dragon was thumping! And fell face down on the ground, but was breathing in my sleep.
Sleeping here is a bit distracting, but I was relieved that I had succeeded, because it was proof that the petrification had been released.
Then I turn to Eliza.
......
"What's up Eliza? You look so surprised.
You'd be surprised at ......
"Surprised?
Did I do something strange?
Because the dragon is petrified? It has always been said that keeping a creature the size of a dragon petrified for so long is a magic comparable to that of a god. That's why some people say the legend of the guardian dragon is a lie.
I remember that theory.
But it's true. There are dozens of ordinary wizards who tried to solve the petrification problem, only to have their magic taken from them by the roots because they didn't have enough power. And then Alec easily solved it: ......