After a bit more than half a day of peaceful travel, we reached our first stopping point. This wasn’t an adventure, so there would be no camping in the wild. Safety was the number one priority, which was a relief for us on guard duty. Thanks to Perfect Vacation, even the horse ride had been a perfectly comfortable affair. But that wasn’t what I was the most relieved by.
“Awesome. Nothing happened,” I cheered and clenched my fist.
“Did I hear that right?!” Kris yelled. “Because of you, our departure got bungled! Sir! You have to buy a horse in this town.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“What? What?!”
In spite of her yelling, I was perfectly comfortable, which was all due to Perfect Vacation. I just needed to remember to get it charged.
“What I meant was that no bandits, or monsters, or treasure vaults, or phantoms appeared,” I said while holding on to Kris, as directed. “There were no natural disasters either. This is unprecedented.”
“Huh? This is just an escort job. Of course there hasn’t been anything like that. Sir.”
“Well, I guess that’s how some people might see it.”
Nothing’s better than nothing happening. What a happy life she must be living.
“Don’t try to act thoughtful! Sir!” she said, noticing my warm gaze. “Know your place!”
Unsurprisingly, the inn prepared for us was a fancy one that catered to nobles. The emperor and the imperial guard had an entire floor to themselves. The other guards, including my crew and I, locked down the lower floors.
Once our preparations were finished, Franz came up to me, a scowl on his face. “We’ve made it through the first day without incident. Perhaps we scared Fox off.”
“No, no, it’s still too early to relax,” I said. “Who knows what might happen?”
“So far, the only source of trouble has been you! Don’t act serious in those ridiculous clothes!” The Carpet patted him on the shoulders. “Don’t do that! I’ll cut you down!” he roared at the Carpet.
He would never learn to get along with the Carpet if he let small things like that get to him so much.
“Quiet down. Sir,” Kris said. She was sitting nearby, back straight and gracefully sipping her tea. “There’s no use getting so red in the face. As long as I’m here, our success is practically assured. Even if something too much for your knights to handle comes along, you can leave it to me! Sir!”
“We also have Kechachakka, as well as the Counter Cascade,” I added.
Hell, we even have Sir Killigan.
Kechachakka, still in his suspicious robes, laughed his usual suspicious laugh. I deeply envied Telm’s ability to stay calm among this bunch.
“You’re supposed to list your own name first! Sir! You human weakling!” Kris yelled at me.
“Hmph. To hell with it. Thousand Tricks, why not share your assessment of the situation with me? I hear you have a reputation for precognition.”
Huh?
My eyes bulged. Kris, Kechachakka, Telm, all of them looked my way, almost like they expected something from me. I didn’t really have an assessment to offer. I had never made a single correct prediction in my life. In some senses, I could be right, but at the worst possible times. But I was here to do a job, so I couldn’t just say no. Offering an assessment was the least I could do.
I folded my legs and made myself look hard-boiled. For my opener, I tried to free myself from liability. “This is tough. I can’t see the future, y’know? I can’t tell you anything for certain, but I’ve learned a few things over the years.”
I glanced at Telm. I hoped that the second highest level hunter here might help me out if I needed it. Telm knitted his brow, but I continued on.
“You’re at your most vulnerable when you let your guard down. We’re fairly safe in this town, but we still need to stay alert.”
“What?” Franz said. “We had no plans of relaxing, even without your warning—are you trying to say something might come for us?”
“Umm. Dragons?”
“What?!”
Oh no. I didn’t mean to say that.
It’s been said before, but dragons rarely attacked towns. However, that wasn’t accounting for the emperor-escort factor.
“There also might be, um, elementals or something.”
Fran’s eyes were bloodshot. “Impossible. Total nonsense. This isn’t the wilderness, we’re still within the borders of the empire!”
He didn’t need to get so angry. This was just my assessment, after all. I didn’t even believe any of it myself.
“Well, there was that incident at the Imperial Castle, and elementals have attacked towns before,” I said with a placating smile.
“Damnit,” Franz seethed.
“There’s no need to worry. Even if there are any dragons, Telm will take care of them.”
A slight widening of the eyes was the only reaction Telm showed to my absurd relegation. He must’ve been used to it, being the right hand of that crazy old lady.
There were very few people in the capital as skilled with water magic as he was. His title, “Counter Cascade,” came from his ability to perform feats like stopping rivers, parting oceans, and bringing waterfalls to a halt.
Water spells frequently lacked power, but that changed when you could manipulate them to a degree that lets you bring currents to a dead stop. Water makes up sixty percent of the human body and is necessary for all forms of life, even dragons and illusory beings. You might say he was capable of killing with extreme efficiency. According to Lucia, anyway.
Telm held his chin in contemplation. Then he nodded. “Very well. If any dragons should appear, I shall be their opponent. However, I have but one question: why choose me? We have Kechachakka here. Kris as well. That Sir Killigan fellow also seems quite capable.”
Just as you might expect of a Level 7, Telm was unfazed by the idea of fighting dragons. It probably helped that in all likelihood he didn’t believe he would actually encounter any. As for why I picked Telm, it was simple—I trusted Telm the moniker-bearer more than anyone else in our group. Kechachakka’s strength was unknown to me, and Sir Killigan was a mystery in many senses of the word. And Kris was my personal protection. But I didn’t want to say any of this in front of them.
I glanced at Kechachakka when I heard his creepy cackling, then turned to Telm.
“Can’t you tell?” I asked.
“Hmm.”
Had I gotten through to him? He didn’t seem put off by my question.
“Very well,” he said with a serious expression. “I’ve not yet had the opportunity to show you my skill. Perhaps you will get to bear witness to the splendor of my magic.”
“Excuse me? Charging? What do you think I am? Do that yourself! Sir!”
Kris Argent was a good girl. She had a rude way of speaking, but after just over three years, I had learned how to get along with her. I simply bowed my head.
“H-Hey, stay out of my room! Sir! Were you raised in a barn? Ah, don’t grovel. Don’t you have any pride? You’re only making this worse for both of us! Sir!”
I had nobody to blame but myself, so I had no room to argue back. Using my special technique, I got lower and lower to the ground. I noticed Kris’s bewilderment and remembered something Eliza had once told me: proud creatures like Noble Spirits considered my behavior beyond bizarre.
“F-Fine, hurry up and show me the Relics! Sir! Once we get back, you completely entirely have to tell Lucia how much help I was. Huh? When did you even use so many Relics?! At least try and pretend you’re sorry! Sir! This is the issue with you, human weakling...”
Noble Spirits had a high affinity for magic. It was said their mana reserves were often tens of times larger than those of humans. It’s like they were made to charge Relics. If only I had been born a Noble Spirit.
Brimming with anger, Kris charged the Safety Rings I handed her. Charging multiple Safety Rings should have been tough even for a Noble Spirit, but her pride didn’t allow her any complaints. The inflammatory remarks made by Sitri that one time might also have had something to do with it.
The rooms assigned to us hunters were a level, or rather a grade below that being used by the emperor. They were made to be optimal spaces for guards to stay in, but with this inn being what it was, even the cheaper rooms were still luxurious. I sat down on a super fluffy couch and heaved a sigh.
“Stay off my sofa! Sir! Don’t sigh! Sir!”
“I can’t believe nothing really happened today,” I said.
“Nothing weird about that. Sir. Was something supposed to happen?”
Well, it was too early to start jumping to conclusions. It’s when you get comfy that misfortune likes to strike. But having Telm around was incredibly reassuring. If he was a Level 7, that meant the Explorers’ Association considered him to be about as powerful as someone like Ark. And Kechachakka, he didn’t seem quite as crazy as he looked.
I carefully opened the box I had brought with me.
“Human weakling, what is that?” Kris asked, trying to obfuscate her obvious fatigue.
“I dunno, but it was left in front of my room,” I said. “It has my name on it, so it must be meant for me.”
Kris found this very alarming.
Inside were a bunch of neatly arranged chocolates and a card with a heart drawn on it. The sender’s name wasn’t written anywhere, but the way the heart was drawn told me it must be from Sitri. Somehow she knew what inn we would be at and what room I would be in. Isn’t that strange?
The chocolates were some fancy variety. Using one of my Relics, I made sure they weren’t poisoned, then bit into one.
“Is the word ‘caution’ not in your dictionary?!” Kris asked me.
“They’re perfectly safe,” I replied.
After all, if someone wanted to kill me, there was no need to resort to poison. Punching me would probably be enough. Punching me until my Safety Rings depleted, that is. And I did know the word “caution.” It was why I insisted on staying near Kris.
The chocolates were incredible. Leave it to Sitri to know my tastes so perfectly.
I can feel my fatigue fading away. Oh, this one’s got honey in it. That’s good for you, isn’t it?
Kris watched me with exasperation as a smile crept onto my face and I sunk into the sofa.
Just then, the door rattled and we heard voices outside.
“Dragons! There’s a brood of frigid dragons!”
“Protect His Imperial Majesty!”
That’s ridiculous. We’re in a town. Dragons would never come to a town in Zebrudia.
When I said dragons might come, I had just been giving an example. Besides, my predictions were never correct. This shouldn’t be possible. My luck was bad, but not this kind of bad. And what was with all the dragons? Two encounters in rapid succession was obviously strange.
I absentmindedly reached for another chocolate, but Kris grabbed my wrist. In her right hand, she already held her staff.
“We’re going! Sir!”
“I don’t think I’m really needed here.”
“Get a hold of yourself! Sir! You call yourself Lucia’s brother?!”
Damn, I should’ve stayed with Sir Killigan.
I’m not proud to say it, but I had never genuinely engaged in a fight. But I told myself not to worry. My lie might have come true, but I could just let Telm take care of everything. Buuut, I was technically part of the guard team, so I figured I should at least make it seem like I was helping.
Kris dragged me from her room by my arm. Before we left, I made a split-second decision and grabbed my charged Safety Rings. I steeled myself. I didn’t know if there was really anything I could do to help, but since I got that wonderful Flying Carpet, it made sense that I at least try to do what I could.
Running alongside Kris, I headed in the direction of the screams.
“Tell me, human weakling, have you ever fought a frigid dragon?” Kris asked. “I haven’t!”
“Uh, yeah. ’Course I have.”
She looked at me, astounded. I just shrugged and gave a half-hearted smile.
My bad luck had brought me into contact with all sorts of different monsters. Lately, I hadn’t been going out much, but I had already encountered just about every mythical beast there was. Strangely enough, the rarer they were, the more likely I was to encounter them. “Rare” didn’t even feel like an appropriate word.
Needless to say, even though I had encountered plenty of beasts, I had never actually fought one. My role was always just to act like a nihilist and burn through Safety Rings.
Without stopping, I activated one of my bracelets, Mirage Form, and summoned up an image of a frigid dragon. How’s that for good use of a Relic?
Dragons were already a rare breed of mythical beast, but frigid dragons were especially so. They certainly weren’t the type to attack a town. I would know, I remembered them very well after my first encounter with them.
Kris pressed her lips together when she saw the image of a light blue dragon appear before her. It was about the size of a large dog, making it about half the size of the hot spring dragon back in Suls’s hot springs. It had large wings, a long tail, and all the features that made it clear it was a dragon.
“Frigid dragons are a variety of ultra-small dragons and form broods. They’re expert fliers, exude cold air, and can breathe ice. By dragon standards, a single frigid dragon isn’t much, but you still need to be careful around them.”
Frigid dragons. When was the last time I encountered these?
As far as dragons went, they weren’t especially resilient or strong. However, their airborne mobility, icy breath, and ability to work as a group meant they were still very dangerous. In the right circumstances, they could be far more formidable than the average dragon.
“And?” Kris asked, surprised to see me being useful.
“And what?”
Kris stopped and got right up in my face. “Don’t you have any other information?! Sir! Do you think I’m an idiot?! You don’t need to tell me something I already know!”
Looks like another day will pass without me being of any use. I don’t have any other information.
“They’re weak to fire,” I offered. “Also, uh, you can make a refrigerator by stuffing one in a box.”
“Say something more Thousand Tricks-eque! Sir! Why are they attacking a human settlement? Where did they come from? How many are there? What’s the best defense against them? You are, technically, our leader! Sir!”
Sorry, but I really don’t know anything more. If you wanna know why the dragons are here, you’ll have to ask them—
Then it hit me. Sitri’s present floated through the back of my mind. I had a very bad feeling about this. To repeat myself, dragons didn’t just attack human settlements out of the blue. They usually lived in wildlands rich in mana material. If they were attacking a human habitation, it couldn’t be without reason.
Dragons were like a form of natural disaster. No matter how bad my luck was, I couldn’t believe that dragons had simply happened to attack the exact inn I was staying in. After the incident with the hot spring dragon, it was hard to say this sort of thing was impossible, but I didn’t think it could happen twice in a row. If something like this became normal, my days would’ve been numbered. Thus, this incident was most likely no coincidence, but a product of human interference.
In that case, the most likely culprit is...
“Oh, that?” I said. “Yeah, I’ve got an idea or two.”
Now Kris looked really surprised. “You do?!” she said, a full octave higher than usual.
“But I can’t get into details,” I said, furrowing my brow. “I shouldn’t say anything when I’ve got nothing more than speculation to offer.”
The most likely culprit was none other than my dear friend Sitri. It was possible Liz or Lucia were accomplices. Either way, capturing something like frigid dragons and siccing them on a town clearly wasn’t the work of an average person. At the very least, it had to be someone with superhuman levels of mana, and the Sitri theory was more believable than it being some mysterious attacker.
I considered the possibility that that heart mark meant “I’m sending you frigid dragons!” Something about that made me really want to go home. Common sense said that the idea was absurd, but common sense couldn’t be applied here. If I had indeed asked Sitri to send frigid dragons, she would damn well do it. Except I hadn’t asked her to do that.
Basically, what I’m getting at is that I was pretty sure Sitri was to blame for this. Shortly after I had said dragons might appear, they had. I was fairly certain she had been nearby from the beginning, which meant it was possible she had heard my conversation with Franz. As we had just learned at the Gathering of the White Blade, her eye for details sometimes caused her to go overboard.
I had to hurry. If the emperor got hurt, Sitri would be arrested.
If we say she didn’t mean anything by it, she might get spared the death sentence. Or maybe it’s too late for that, after the poisoning and everything.
“C’mon, Kris. Let’s hurry,” I said. “We have to protect His Imperial Majesty!”
“Wh-Where’s that motivation coming from?! You don’t need to tell me that! Sir!”
The emperor was staying on the highest level, the third floor. Without even breaking a sweat, Kris ran through the inn, while I panted as I followed behind her. I desperately wanted a ring that would let me run without getting tired.
When we got to the staircase, nobody was there. There should have been a guard, but they had probably gone off to aid in the fight. Kris began to shiver, most likely because of the cold from the frigid dragons. That was another thing that made them a nuisance to deal with. I, however, had the Perfect Vacation, so I was perfectly comfortable.
“Kris, you take point,” I said as we sprinted up the stairs. “I’ll support you from the back.”
“Are you stupid?!”
“This is how I run things! Don’t worry, Telm will handle the bulk of it!”
The third floor was in a state of chaos. The first thing I noticed was a broken window and the thick fragments of glass that were scattered across the carpet. There hadn’t been any dragons on the first or second floor, but now I could surmise they had entered through the third-floor window. Glass, no matter how thick, couldn’t prevent a dragon from making their way in.
A knight I recognized from earlier let out a thundering yell as he attacked three hovering dragons. His blade tore through the air at an intense speed, but failed to even scratch any of the dragons. His attack hadn’t been slow by any means, the dragons were simply too agile.
Even I could tell that the knight was someone of deft swordsmanship, but it seemed he didn’t have much experience fighting nimble creatures. That wasn’t uncommon because most monsters and mythical beasts were massive beings.
I erased the mirage I had conjured earlier and muttered, “They’re smaller than I expected.”
The dragons engaged with the knight were much smaller than the ones I had met long ago. My mirage had been about the size of a large dog, but the ones I could see now were no larger than cats.
I saw a dragon dodge a blade, then begin to glow faintly. This was a sign that it was about to use a breath attack.
“Their size doesn’t matter! Sir!” Kris yelled, then pressed the end of her staff against the floor. “Fire, it’s fire right? Swallowflare!”
In an instant, the sparks in front of me swelled and took the shape of a bird. This was part of the spell Kris had cast. Without needing any direction, the lambent bird silently flew towards one of the dragons. The icy beast halted its breath attacks and dodged the swallow with ease.
It turned its head in our direction, but the moment it did so, its blue body was enveloped in flames. After missing its first attack, the swallow had looped around and made another attack. These sorts of spells were called “tracking spells.” I didn’t know much about magic, but casting a spell like this in an instant couldn’t have been done by any ordinary Magus.
“Way to go! I knew I could count on you!” I cheered.
“Shut up! Spare me your mockery! Sir!” Kris yelled then cast again without even stopping to catch her breath. “Swallowflare Flight!”
The frigid dragon had survived the flaming birds. Their wings had been scorched, but they were still strong enough to keep themself aloft. The other two frigid dragons turned our way, ready to attack.
A flurry of sparks appeared and formed into birds smaller than the first one. They dive-bombed the frigid dragons, creating a cloud of steam.
Kris leaned against her staff for support. “My mana...” she heaved.
“Huh? You’re out already?!” I accidentally said aloud.
I thought Noble Spirits had massive mana pools?
Kris gave me a sharp glare. “And you’re to blame! Sir! I was never good with fire spells to begin with!”
“But I’m sure Lucia could’ve—”
“I’m gonna smack you! Sir!” Kris screamed, the blood drained from her face. “Now protect me! You over there in the armor! Get out of the way so I can use a wide-area spell!”
The knight quickly darted to the wall.
The firebirds outnumbered the dragons, but the frigid dragons were frightfully resilient. Even after getting hit multiple times, none of them had anything worse than minor burns. They remained as nimble as ever and showed no signs of falling to the ground.
It’s a bit late for this, but is it possible fire isn’t their weakness?
“They’re durable as hell. Sir. Is fire really their weakness?”
“Y-You can do it! You’ve got this!”
“Be quiet! Shut up! Sir! Burning Gale!” Kris said with flagging breath.
A bright red wind blew through the hallway. The dragons turned red and let out small cries. They plummeted to the ground, but it took only a moment for them to recover and get back in the air.
“Unbelievable! I keep using spells they’re weak to. Why are they still so agile?!”
Beads of sweat flowed off Kris’s forehead and she glared defiantly at the dragons. Her slender arms and legs, however, were trembling, and her breath was ragged. She was close to exhausting her mana, no doubt because she had just been charging my Relics.
Then the knight dashed from his spot on the wall. He charged through the sweltering air and brought his sword down on a wobbly dragon. The white blade was swung straight into the beast’s body. It wasn’t cut in two, but it hit the ground hard and let out a screech of agony.
The knight didn’t spare it another glance. He immediately moved on and, in one fluid movement, swung at another one of the dragons. His blade scathed the body of one dragon, while the other dodged to the side.
“G-Go on!” he shouted while making another attack. “I can take it from here! His Imperial Majesty needs—”
“Right, let’s get going, Kris.”
The knight swung again. Unless I was imagining things, it seemed like his next attack had a lot more force behind it.
With the frigid dragons wounded, I didn’t think he was likely to lose. It probably doesn’t mean anything coming from me, but it seemed to me that it would be best for everyone if Kris and I prioritized the emperor.
“Huh?! Are you serious? Sir?” Kris asked in astonishment.
I simply undid the chain around my waist, activated it, and hurled it in the direction of the dragons. The Hounding Chain landed on all four of its legs, then leapt at one of the mythical beasts. I closed my eyes and said a prayer.
Please, don’t get yourself destroyed.
“That should do it,” I said. “Now let’s go.”
If we didn’t hurry, someone could get killed. Once that happened, it would be hard to write this dragon incident off as just a bad joke.
I’ll have to give Sitri a thorough lecture later.
***
In a small inn room, the man looked up at the ceiling. A small smile formed on his lips as he listened to the screams and shouts above. The curse had been applied successfully. He carefully wrapped the onyx black gem in a hex cloth and put it away.
The gem was a Relic known as “Dragon’s Reprisal.” It was based on a gem that had once been a dragon king’s most prized possession. The gem was proof of the larceny committed against the dragon, thus giving the Relic the power to lure in nearby dragons. Once they were drawn in, the dragons wouldn’t stop until they had destroyed everything in the area.
The sight of a dragon would surely teach the imperial guard just how powerless they were. Now that he had the dragons he had asked for, the Thousand Tricks was no doubt panicking. That boy was nothing like the personage of all the rumors. Each movement of his seemed bereft of purpose. It was thanks to him that the emperor’s departure had been delayed. He hardly seemed like anyone worth being cautious of.
But the man wasn’t going to let his guard down. The drugs slipped into the drinks had been rendered useless. The matter of the dragon egg had been sidestepped. Then on the road, those costly mercenaries hadn’t even appeared.
Much to his bewilderment, poison had been found where there shouldn’t have been any, and that hadn’t even been the only unanticipated development. But no matter how well you planned in advance, defending someone was still a difficult job. All the more so when the number of available personnel was limited. They couldn’t protect him from everything.
And so the man’s best option was all too clear—if he had missed once, he could just swing again and again. He had his misgivings, but he furrowed his brow and brushed the thoughts aside. His job wasn’t to make judgments, it was to loyally carry out his orders.
***
Frigid dragons were a species known for forming broods and it was rare to see one by itself. Grieving Souls had once fought an intense battle with a large brood. And yet even to someone used to dangerous beasts as Liz Smart, the sight of a sky filled with frigid dragons was nothing short of apocalyptic.
She watched the beasts from the second floor of an inn. The frigid dragons completely ignored the houses and fleeing civilians, and made straight for the inn that was hosting the emperor and his retinue. This was clearly unnatural.
“Siddy, this is way too many!” she yelled. “Are you trying to get the old son of a bitch killed? Don’t try and tell me this isn’t your fault!”
“But it’s not my fault!” Sitri lamented. “My lure should have only brought eleven dragons, and at first there were only that many. You saw them, didn’t you, Lizzy? Besides, I didn’t have the supplies to plant this many.”
They had found a frigid dragon nest in some nearby mountains and drugged the dragons they had found. Krai had said there would be dragons, and, as his best friends, they had to make that happen.
Liz looked from her sister to Luke, who was doing practice swings.
“So then it’s Luke’s fault?” she suggested.
“Sure! Just tell me how many to cut!” he replied.
“That’s not what I meant. Where’d these ones come from? Maybe we didn’t need to catch those dragons in the nest?” Liz turned back around and rested her elbows on the windowsill while she watched the madness outside.
Next to her, Lucia looked upward and knit her brow. “Maybe they’re here to get revenge for stealing part of their brood?”
“I thought we destroyed the entire nest,” Sitri said, “and I was under the impression that taking retribution like that isn’t in frigid dragons’ nature. But I can’t really be sure.”
She was quite confused. There was a large brood of frigid dragons right before them and they were headed straight for Krai’s location. Normally in these situations, monsters and the like would target someone like Liz. Seeing them pass right by was incredibly bizarre.
“I wonder if Krai Baby’s all right. Should we take a few of the dragons out?” Liz proposed.
Sitri shook her head. “I imagine he’ll be fine if Telm and Sir Killigan are with him. Not to mention our brother went to lend a hand.”
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