Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 7 - Chapter 1.6

6

As the residents clean up the burnt debris, I take Little Bashin to the infirmary before heading to the conference room to be briefed by Alice with the other main members of the Kisaragi contingent.

“So while you were off on your recon mission, we were attacked by the dragon that had chased after Heine and the others. Rose and Russell were injured drawing the dragon’s attention, but luckily, no one was killed.”

The injured chimeras are receiving treatment in the infirmary at the moment.

Given how tough they are, the fact that they're in critical condition shows just how much I underestimated the dragons.

The only buildings that caught fire in Hideout City were the wooden warehouses, and there hadn’t been any loss of life. That came as a relief, but the residents still look gloomy.

That's understandable.

“Sheesh, it’s a shame my underlings are so useless without me! They couldn’t even beat a lizard with all these fortifications and equipment!”

Even though there was a large group of Combat Agents in Hideout City, they weren’t able to do anything against the dragon’s onslaught.

Expendable A, one of the useless idiots who’d used me as a decoy, snaps back at my hectoring.

“S-shut up, asshole! We tried to fight with the heavy weapons! But our projectile weapons didn’t work on it for some reason!”

“Say that again? Always with the lame excuses! Just be honest and admit you guys couldn't handle it and that you can’t get anything done without MISTER Combat Agent Six.”

I defend myself against Expendable A, who protests my taunting. In an unusual little twist, Alice backs him up.

“No, seriously, our heavy weapons didn’t work on it, Six. And we’ve seen that before.”

Mook A stops his attack at Alice’s words and Snow follows up.

“Yep. It’s the same special ability that the Sand King and that giant cat have. It somehow stops all projectile weapons.”

Almost all of the giant monsters we’ve fought have had the same ability.

I see... In that case, there’s not much to do against a flying dragon...

"Got it, dumb-dumb? It’s not like we weren’t doing anything'. When we found that our attacks were ineffective, we shifted our focus to evacuating the civilians. Jackass.”

“And you’ve got a big mouth for a little boy who got lost in the woods and had to have Little Bashin escort you back to the city. So who’s really the useless one here, huh? HUH?”

Two more of the useless expendables taunt me to repay me for my earlier insults.

As I get into a brawl with these two, someone knocks hesitantly on the conference room door.

“Pardon me. I took a look around the city and am pleased to report there wasn’t any visible damage. Thankfully, this shouldn’t impact our ability to prepare for winter,” Viper says as she enters the room, looking visibly relieved as she delivers the news.

She sees us duking it out and quickly tries to intervene.

“U-um...Mr. Six, evil organization or not, fighting with your coworkers isn’t good.”

“We’re not fighting, Vi. I’m just chastising these useless underlings. The only thing they’re good for is fighting, so if they can’t be useful at that, they’ll be no better than children!”

“Oh yeah? Well, next time the dragon comes along, you can deal with it on your own.”

“We’re not going to help you even if you come sobbing and begging! We were just lucky Miss Viper was here. You wouldn’t have stood a chance!”

They’re lucky that Viper was here? ...Wait, does that mean...?

“Was Vi the one who drove off the dragon?”

“Oh, yes...When we found out that projectiles didn’t work, Miss Alice proposed launching the Combat Agents at the dragon with rockets, so I volunteered... Instead of a rocket, I had Heine’s griffin carry me up to the dragon, and I jumped onto it before landing a Demon Lord punch,” says Viper, lacking any self-preservation instinct as always. The Combat Agents, whose job it is to fight, look away in uncomfortable silence.

“Aren’t you lot embarrassed about sending our new female leader to fight your battles? And that’s not even counting the fact that kids like Rose and Russell put their lives on their line, too...”

“We do feel a little bit guilty! But what were we supposed to do? Miss Viper wouldn’t take no for an answer, no matter how much we tried to talk her out of it!”

“We’d be the first to charge in against an opponent we can actually handle! We’re thinking up ways to deal with dragons now; we’ll get them next tune!”

Alice speaks up after we watch the losers make their excuses and slink out of the room.

"The letter from the Bashin tribe mentioned a large number of giant monsters that included dragons. So we should operate under the assumption there’s more things like that dragon lurking around.”

“I see... Thankfully, I do construction for a living. Combat Agents sure have a dangerous job,” the construction worker who’s supposed to be a knight says, as though it doesn’t concern her in the slightest.

“Well, look who's decided to tuck her tail between her legs and hide! I don’t think I've ever met a construction worker who’s constantly cosplaying as a knight!”

“W-watch your tone! Calling me a cosplayer is going too far! It’s true that the creature that attacked us last night was huge, but surely they’re not all that size. Besides, dragons fetch good prices. I can’t just let you insult me like that. Fine, I'll join the fight next time, too!”

Viper hesitantly raises her hand to stop our argument.

“Um...I don’t wish to interrupt, but...a dragon that small isn’t going to be worth much money.”

Huh?

“Um, Vi.. .that thing was a small dragon? We barely got away from it with our lives.”

“Well, um... The dragon from last night is one of the lowest classes of its kind. It’s not weak by any stretch of the imagination, but the ones that are truly feared on this world and fetch the highest prices are the greater dragons. It’s not uncommon to refer to them as walking natural disasters...”

I decide then and there that I’m going to go do some construction work with Snow for the time being...

I leave the conference room, fully committed to putting in for a transfer when Alice suddenly calls me over.

"Hey, Six, we're going to file a complaint with Hiiragi."

“I’m a construction worker now. You’re gonna have to find someone else.”

I quickly turn down Alice’s nonsensical proposal.

Heading back into the woods after all that? Not a chance in hell.

“The Hiiragis you’re scared of are the Hiiragi tribes in the woods controlling the dragons, right? I’m talking about filing a complaint with the Hiiragi who call themselves an Agency of Order.”

Oh, right, they’re both called Hiiragi, aren’t they?

“Remember what that woman Adelie was saying? The surface-dwelling tribes are their followers. They were there to restore the balance when people on the surface obtained too much power.”

That’s true. If those brutes really are affiliated with the Agency of Order, then the actions by the tribesmen are a violation of our cease-fire.

"But if they’re the ones issuing directions to the Hiiragi tribe, wouldn't it be dangerous to just march into their headquarters?”

Alice raises her lips in a conniving little smile at my question.

“Ten’s already infiltrated their base to gather information. Depending on how they choose to respond. I’m going to have him do some explosive demolition work at their base.”