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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 105: Inherited Feelings and Revived Fear
Chapter 105: Inherited Feelings and Revived Fear
In the palace, King Albach who faced Rudel felt the situation
was taking just a bit of a strange turn.
Once he learned that Rudel had returned, his authorities said
they would have Alejandro take responsibility for this incident. Up
to there, it was fine.
Oldart took on an evasive attitude to dodge the problem, and it
simply ended with both sides exploring a compromise. But the
problem started with Rudel’s statement.
A strange flow had come about from the Queen, Ciel Courtois’
cynicism.
“How pitiful, for the heir to an archduke house to let their
dragon run away. And am I to understand that our pitiful
future-archduke spent these past few months playing around?”
Once they learned that Rudel spent the past few months in the
dragons’ dwellings, those around held indignation. Opinions started
flying around that he should have returned alone, that he wasn’t
worthy to be a dragoon.
At the authorities’ words, Oldart directed a serious expression,
but he arbitrarily turned their points aside. Within all that, a
single statement from Rudel caused everyone’s attitude to take a
sudden change.
“No, by no means was I playing around! I was receiving
instruction under Marty-sama’s dragon Mystith in order to become
the best dragoon I can be.”
“Who’s Marty-sama? I don’t know this Mystith either.”
While he proudly brought up Marty’s name, Oldart was oblivious.
But in exchange, the queen dropped the fan in her hands.
And the authorities… especially the old ones were shaking.
King Albach remained expressionless, but after clearing his
throat once, he sought confirmation.
“Ahem, Rudel. Is it that… could you be talking about
Wolfgang?”
“Yes. I am undoubtedly referring to Marty Wolfgang-sama! I’ve
been in the care of his beloved dragon Mystith, and…”
The king was acting blatantly strange at Rudel’s words. The
queen who had spat cynicism to that point seemed somewhat
restless.
Even the authorities seemed to lose their momentum.
This was different from the flow Oldart was anticipating, the
air in that space was clearly centered around Rudel.
“Where did you get to know about Wolfgang? I doubt there would
be many a chance to learn of him…”
“I found him through ‘How to Pet a Dragon’! That was a wonderful
book, so wonderful I’m perplexed as to why it hasn’t spread more.
While I’m still immature, Mystith-sama has initiated me into the
secret arts!”
“… I see. That’s good.”
“That has a lovely ring to it.”
The queen’s tone didn’t sound as if she was congratulating him.
More than that, she seemed fearful.
While Albach was lowering his shoulders for some reason, he
decided to hold a conference on Rudel’s punishment. For the sake of
negotiation, Oldart had proposed three days in the disciplinary
cells, and a few months of odd jobs after that.
He was told that was too light, and things were proceeding in a
direction of taking in opinions from the authorities as well. But
now, the authorities accepted Oldart’s proposal as is.
“Then we’re all fine with three days in disciplinary, and a few
months of odd jobs after that, right?”
The king sought confirmation, the authorities simply nodded
along. Among the authorities, a few young ones seemed unsatisfied,
but the glares of the old men were doing their charm, forcing them
to bob their heads.
“Right, now don’t do it again, Rudel-dono.”
The queen who had called him future-archduke sarcastically had
changed a bit. Come so far, she was even adding a dono to his
name.
“I shall exercise the utmost caution.”
Together with Oldart, Rudel kneeled. Looking at the result,
Rudel accepted a light punishment, but wouldn’t have any further
restrictions placed on him.
◇
There was a reason the king and authorities would take on such
inexplicable measures.
‘How to Pet a Dragon’, while its direction itself may have been
mistaken, it was a book that held wonderful contents. But from its
publication to the moment Marty left the world, it never received a
proper evaluation.
The moment Marty was gone, the crown hurried to retrieve every
last copy of the book.
Before the contents even came into question, they wanted to
prevent the appearance of another dragoon like Marty. That had been
tormented by Marty so thoroughly that they incinerated the
collected books before they could check the contents.
The fact that one crossed into Rudel’s hands was, surprisingly
enough, so unlikely it could even be called a miracle.
Without placing emphasis on the book’s title or contents, How to
Pet a Dragon had been collected and burned out of fear of the
author. The reason neither Cattleya nor Lilim knew of Marty was
because his achievements were hidden up and recorded as the merits
of many other dragoons.
If one did some digging, then quite a few things could come up,
but those were things Rudel was only able to find out precisely
because he was the heir to an archduke title.
To the country of Courtois, Marty and Mystith were nothing more
than a symbol of fear. Both stories were frantically covered
up.
In Courtois, where its national defense was maintained by the
dragons, Marty was the man who led their dragon force to return to
their dens.
Mystith was a dragon with enough power to rule over the others.
To add on to that, the palace at the time was even destroyed by
Mystith.
The era’s royal family was somehow able to quell the situation
by getting on their knees, but to make sure that fear was never
forgotten, the knowledge was passed down to their successors and
leaders of history.
It was here that the fact the white knight was a worshipper of
Marty stuck into them.
Even now, they hadn’t the opportunity to learn that the second
princess looked up to the dragoon long lost.
All that could be said was that a fear of over a hundred years
passed had been revived.
◇
Having returned to his disciplinary cell, the formalities and
questionings were enough to make three days go by.
Placed in the cell next to Enora, he did nothing but concentrate
his spirit, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in
meditation. But Enora next door leaned on the wall and called over
to Rudel.
“You got off quite lightly. The new has even reached here. That
you threatened the king.”
“… I didn’t threaten anyone. I just told the truth.”
From Rudel’s point of view, he hadn’t made any threats, but the
royal family and authorities were in fear. There was no doubt they
felt threatened.
“I see… I really am sorry.”
From her prior joking tone, she changed to something a bit
solemn. Sensing Enora’s feelings, Rudel answered them.
“It’s gone and done with. I don’t mind it. Though I do feel
sorry for punching the vice-captain.”
“Don’t worry about that one. It was quite refreshing, after
all.”
Hearing Enora laugh, Rudel felt just a little relieved. Because
it wasn’t the possessed expression or voice she had always carried,
it was a voice as if an evil spirit had released its hold.
“Though I made Lieutenant Cattleya angry. Said I should show
some discretion… Once the vice-captain calmed down, he said he’d
try pleading for your clemency, it seems. Said that way would be
more effective.”
“Ah, that sounds like him. I’m sure my father wanted to make a
debt as well.”
The two of them laughed across the wall. It was there that Rudel
recalled what Oldart had said. He didn’t understand it, so he
wanted to use the opportunity to ask Enora about it.
“Right. When it comes to the lieutenant, the captain said
something… Enora, do you know what he meant by, ‘Boomerang
Cattleya’? The Captain laughed as he said it, but I’m unable to
understand.”
“… Boomerang, you mean…”
(TL: In Japan, this is a phrase that pretty much means you end
up attacking yourself much more than you attack the enemy.)
Once Enora explained it, Rudel finally got it. Sure enough,
there were times where one got the urge to tell someone to say that
to a mirror.
As Oldart never put a gag order on it, Rudel ended up reporting
the matter to Cattleya after he got out of the cell. Because of
that, Cattleya’s moniker in the dragoon brigade was changed to
Boomerang Cattleya for a while.
After that, Oldart was chased around by Cattleya. The words he
uttered…
‘Gyaaaah! The boomerang came back again!’
It’s said he was surprisingly enjoying it.
◇
When Rudel left the disciplinary cell, the preparations were
finally together.
While Rudel was gone, an anxious Sakuya made use of the dragon
stables reserved for those of Major or above. Even if you said she
was using it, she simply dug out a new sleeping space.
Her preparations were ready, she was finally going to challenge
the other dragons.
She had made her certain-kill one two finish her own, and
fighting on disadvantageous conditions, she had attained victory
over a wind dragon. She had some confidence now.
‘G-get out here! Sakuya is annngry!!’
“That’s the spirit, Sakuya, let’s show them all your power
today!”
Rudel standing to her side encouraged her.
From the eyes of those around, it was a lonely sight, as if he
was talking to himself next to a roaring dragon.
The dragons of the stable showed no signs of coming out.
Rudel had already confirmed that the dragons not on duty were in
the stable. He had chosen a day he knew Cattleya’s red dragon
would be there.
‘T-today Sakuya is going to defeat the boss and become the new
boss!’
“Keep at it, Sakuya!”
But the dragons wouldn’t come out. A while passed, and perhaps
Sakuya’s fruitless howls were beginning to feel lonely as she burst
into tears.
‘Please come out…’
“S-Sakuya…”
Even with Rudel next to her, patting her leg to cheer her up,
Sakuya was losing her spirit.
“Good grief, just what are they doing?”
The one who approached with a fed-up face was Cattleya. If
Sakuya roared, whether they liked it or not, people would gather.
It would be bad if she ran away again.
“Lieutenant, the truth is, Sakuya is trying to challenge the
boss of the dragon stables, but your dragon isn’t coming out. Could
you give it a call?”
Seeing a restless Rudel before a weeping Sakuya, Cattleya felt
even more fed-up.
“Why do I have to call Bram out? It looks like your dragon’s
gunning to kill him, so no.”
“I’m begging you!”
“F-fine.”
As Rudel gripped Cattleya’s right hand in both hands,
desperately pleading to her, Cattleya averted her face away from
Rudel.
She changed her opinion just a little bit and assented. Sensing
that exchange from within the dragon stables, Bram cried out at his
own contractor.
But to Rudel, it only sounded like the roars of a dragon’s
heart.
“Shut it! Get out here already, and you call yourself a
man!?”
◇
The dragon stable was populated by gray dragons, with a few wild
dragons on the side.
In it were both Cattleya’s red dragon Bram, and Enora’s dragon
Falk. While there were others, they had run off saying they weren’t
relevant.
Bram was the boss of the dragon stables, while Falk couldn’t
move from the wounds he suffered at Sakuya’s hands.
‘Goddammit, that woman… she sold me out to Rudel.’
Letting his tail alone protrude from the straw, Bram was truly
scornful. Falk had already suffered a blow, and a single strike had
put him into a considerably terrible condition.
Even if wind dragons weren’t specialized to defense, this was
abnormal. Sakuya’s offensive power was way too high.
‘In the first place, I have nothing to do with this!!’
‘Why don’t you give up already?’
‘Shut it, whelp! You can only say that because you don’t know
her true terror… the true terror of the one behind her, fool!!’
While Bram was counted as a young dragon, Falk was an even
younger male. In his confusion, Bram stuck his head out of the
straw and looked at the gray dragons around.
‘This is you guys’ fault, dammit!’
‘No, but, you see?’
‘You normally wouldn’t think that giant was a child.’
‘And wait, what’s with that destructive power?’
A majority of the gray dragons had burns on their surface on top
of being beaten up. Even like that, they would recover in a few
days, so they were dragons as well.
‘You domesticated cattleee!!’
The dragon stables generally only took red and wind dragons.
Water and gaia dragons lived in special environments.
The water dragons loved the water, and the gaia dragons found
solace in the earth… the two species were given a different
stable.
There was a movement outside. Apart from the Cattleya, who had
sold him out to Rudel through her maidenly affection, he heard
another voice he didn’t want to hear.
‘Ah, Mystith-sama.’
‘Mystith~, no one’s coming out.’
‘You let Sakuya cry again. Good grief…’
‘Why is a wild dragon here?’
‘Shit, she really did come.’
Bram felt as if his red face was turning blue, but the other
gray dragons were clearly going pale as well. The young gray
dragons who didn’t know Mystith didn’t show any particular
change.
More than that, those young ones still had leisure. The one
Sakuya was challenging was Bram, and they were sure they were
irrelevant.
‘Oy, oy, what’s with this. It’s just one more lizard,
right?’
‘She’s quite an old hag to boot.’
‘Bram really is pitiful.’
‘You, the one who dropped my honorific, I remember your face.
No, I have to do something about… GYAAAAAH!!’
‘Ah, boss is heeeeeere!’
‘Please forgive us, boss!’
As Bram raised a scream and burrowed into the straw, a single
large dragon appeared at the stable entrance.
The other gray dragons that knew Mystith raised screams as they
pleaded for forgiveness.
If they were able to tell the outside situation from within, she
was able to tell the inside situation from out there.
With her body a size larger than the other dragons, Mystith
entered the dragon stables that began to feel narrow, before
opening her mouth to speak. There was light streaming in from the
entrance, and her open mouth almost seemed to be smiling.
But her eyes weren’t smiling at all.
‘Gentledragons of the stables, come~ out~ and~ play~.’
Her words were stretched as if she was mocking them, but that
only made Bram all the more fearful.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s16.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 106: Revived Fear and a New Ruler
Chapter 106: Revived Fear and a New Ruler
‘I’m telling you to get out there already! You damn brutes!’
‘This has nothing to do with me!’
‘Cut the crap! The moment you overlooked it, it was your
responsibility, fool! If you’re the boss of the dragon stables,
then take some damn responsibility!’
‘Now ain’t that overbearing!’
On standby outside, Rudel and the others could hear the sounds
from the dragon stable. To those that could hear their voices, they
picked up on Bram’s bitter cries.
Even to those who could not, they heard Mystith’s roars of rage
and Bram’s sorrowful whimpers.
The other gray dragons were also letting off cries reminiscent
of screams, but none of them tried to go outside.
‘Waaah, so Sakuya’s a no good dragon after all.’
“That’s not true! You’re a splendid partner.”
While Rudel comforted a depressed Sakuya, in the next
instant…
‘Quit your complaining and get out there, dammit!!’
Perhaps Mystith had reached the end of her patience as a large
amount of water flooded out of the dragon stables. Just like that,
the building was blown away as if it had been detonated.
The surrounding area was beset by a wave of water that flowed
from the stables.
Rudel was also soaked up to his ankles. But there, it seemed
that the building wasn’t the only thing blown away, the gray
dragons were also blown off, now sprawled out over the ground.
For Bram alone, Mystith had grabbed him by the tail and dragged
him out.
‘Good grief, causing me so much trouble… Sakuya, I brought him,
so get ready for a duel.’
“Y-yeah!”
Seeing Sakuya’s delight, Rudel pat his chest in relief. But
Cattleya standing to her side had a stiff expression on her
face.
“R-Rudel.”
“Yes?”
With a cramped smile, Cattleya grabbed Rudel’s shoulders,
turning him- body and all- towards the place the dragon stables
once stood.
In that space, nothing more than a few pillars remained. The
water Mystith produced had washed away the walls, the tools and the
roof, along with everything else, it seems.
Seeing that scenery, Rudel was impressed. In that situation,
Mystith managed to instantly manifest a single strike of water with
such destructive power, and he sent her his honest admiration.
“What do you think when you look at that?”
“Mystith-sama is amazing! Ow! … Lieutenant, if you’re going to
hit me, please tell me your reasons.”
Seeing Rudel’s face that showed he really didn’t understand,
Cattleya’s eyes grew teary as she lowered her second fist onto
Rudel’s head.
◇
While Bram was already in tatters, he was forcefully dragged by
Mystith out before Sakuya.
Bram knew Sakuya’s situation. It’s precisely because he knew,
that he understood just how dangerous this match would be.
His opponent Sakuya was a goddragon of all things, and she had
undergone Mystith’s tutelage. Speaking to her quality as a dragon,
she was the sort of existence who would surpass him a mere few
years after her birth.
He was truly pissed off at the gray dragons who looked down on
and teased Sakuya.
‘I definitely don’t think I’m at fault. You get where I’m coming
from, right?’
As if clinging on to his last hope, Bram brought Sakuya to the
negotiations table. But his opponent was one who had been brought
up by Mystith.
There was no way talks would go through.
‘Yeah! But if I don’t beat you, they’ll make fun of Sakuya, so
I’m sorry!’
‘No one’s going to make fun of you again! These yellow bastards
don’t have the guts to pick a fight with the gal who blew away the
training grounds!’
Right, when Sakuya blew away the training grounds, the gray
dragons had realized. That if they picked a fight with her, they
would die…
Even the red dragon Bram feared her. If a gray dragon tried
fighting her normally, there was no way to win by normal means.
Suddenly turning timid, the thought crossed Sakuya’s mind that
if she wouldn’t be made fun of, she wouldn’t have to fight. She
sent a glance towards Rudel and Mystith.
There, Rudel was having both his shoulders grasped by Cattleya,
having his body violently shaken left and right as he received a
lecture. But his face was turned towards Sakuya, and he clenched
his right fist to encourage her.
It was clearly a pose telling her to fight. Bram wasn’t
expecting much, but when he looked at Mystith…
‘Sakuya Go!’
Punching the air, she fired Sakuya up. He didn’t expect the
slightest from his own contractor, but still, he sent her a
pleading glance.
“Why are you so off-point!? How can you look at that scene and
say with a straight face the dragon is amazing!?”
She was too busy with Rudel, not even paying the slightest mind
to Bram.
‘So my contractor is the worst of all.’
The red dragon’s shoulders dropped, but he considered seriously
fighting the white one before his eyes. Despairing that there was
no one to save him, Bram hardened his resolve.
‘Sakuya won’t lose!’
‘Dammit to hell!!’
Turning desperate, Bram turned towards Sakuya. He had been
challenged to a fist fight, and as long as Mystith was there, if he
unleashed a breath attack, he would be killed.
And if he had Sakuya lift the breath ban, he would probably be
killed.
If he tried to bring it to an aerial battle or ran from the
spot, Mystith would chase him down. Be killed by Mystith, or
smacked by Sakuya… those two choices stuck deep into the dragon
Bram.
As a result, deciding that closing in held the highest chance of
his own survival, the red dragon charged straight at the gaia
dragon subspecies.
◇
Before the certain-kill combo, Bram was sent flying by the first
strike. It was only by the miss of the second blow that Sakuya and
those around noticed the first had blown him away.
Blown away by a blow from her left hand, Bram was left with his
upper half stuck into one of the dragoon facilities. But appearing
after he heard the explosive sound of the facility’s destruction,
Alejandro was frozen with his mouth wide open.
“W-Who did it!!”
Come so far, the training ground along was a huge problem. On
top of that, it wasn’t just the dragon stables, the building next
to it was half-destroyed.
But what surprised Alejandro most was the gray dragons who were
in the stables.
They were all lined up before a single water dragon. That much
was fine.
But therein lay the problem. The water dragon went down that
line of gray dragons, smacking each of them hard in turn. The gray
dragons were so fearful they didn’t even think to escape.
They were hit one after the next, collapsing on the spot. The
country’s valuable war potential was being rapidly chipped
away.
It was a scene Alejandro couldn’t comprehend. No, a scene he
didn’t want to comprehend.
“O-Oldart!!”
Crying out the captain’s name, Alejandro ran off from the
spot.
◇
Charged with the responsibility of the dragon stable and
neighboring building’s destruction, Rudel was put to cleaning up
the building’s remnants.
To Rudel’s side, Sakuya was helping out as well.
Generally speaking, Dragons boasted powers greater than human.
Used no differently than heavy machinery, Sakuya was practically a
flying bulldozer.
The work was proceeding quicker than expected.
‘When Sakuya won, why does she have to clean up?’
After she had finally achieved victory, Sakuya was dissatisfied
she had to tidy up as punishment. But there was no helping that
one.
The other dragons were bedridden. They weren’t in a state where
they could be put to work.
“You destroyed it, so there’s no helping it. But you were really
cool today, Sakuya.”
‘Sakuya is an amazing dragon!’
As Rudel praised her, the word speed went up. Happy from the
praise, Sakuya swung her tail around, hitting the half-destroyed
building, and increasing the amount of rubble.
If he was ever given such a mission, it would probably best to
let her calm down a bit before going to work. Rudel thought over
the future as he soothed Sakuya, who had grown depressed again.
(We went too far. But, well…)
Looking at Sakuya’s mood go up and down, Rudel’s face
slackened.
He did feel some responsibility for destroying the stables and
adjacent building, but if he showed it on his face, Sakuya would
feel down again.
While she was a goddragon, Sakuya had one large flaw.
A soul much too young.
Despite being a newborn, Sakuya was born with abilities that
ranked her highly, even among the dragon, a terribly dangerous
notion.
(I guess I have to support her up.)
The reason Mystith showed excessive care towards her wasn’t only
because she had made a contract with Sakuya before she was reborn a
dragon.
She understood that Sakuya’s future would be important to the
dragon race.
She placed restraints on the gray dragons because they were a
bad influence on the girl. In that sense, Bram was the same.
This was a tragedy brought forth from the fact that Bram didn’t
truly understand Sakuya’s value.
Mystith didn’t want to suddenly make Sakuya boss of the dragon
stables either. But in the dragoon brigade that currently only had
young dragons, she determined that Sakuya’s upbringing would be
impossible.
Mystith’s teaching of Rudel wasn’t completely due to his
adoration of Marty.
For Sakuya who would one day stand at the pinnacle of dragons,
she wanted him to be a worthy partner.
Rudel understood it as well.
But he also understood that even if he scolded the current
Sakuya for destroying the building, it wouldn’t have an effect.
Little by little, over the course of time, he would have to
teach her.
‘… I broke it again. Rudel, I’m sorry.’
‘It’s fine. No problem… be careful next time (now then, what am
I supposed to say to the palace).’
For better or worse, the dragoons often ran into these sorts of
problems. They were the link that bound the country to the
dragons.
They served to mediate between the palace and the dragon race.
And that meant there was trouble to be had between the palace, and
the dragons who boasted a different sense of values from
humans.
Destroy buildings in the enemy camp, don’t destroy the country’s
buildings.
With an order as simple as that, a dragon wouldn’t understand
what was being said. While they had intelligence, it was the
dragons who lived in a world separated from human common sense.
If they obediently listened to human orders, then the dragoons
wouldn’t be necessary in the first place.
(If I want to make sure the top brass don’t direct their
dissatisfactions at Sakuya… then that’s probably the best way to
go.)
Continuing on his rubble removal work, Rudel decided to direct
the higher up complaints towards himself.
◇
“… I never thought we’d be meeting again so soon.”
“It has been a while, your majesty.”
The one Rudel kneeled to was Albach. Albach hadn’t even
considered he would be calling Rudel back in less than a week.
You could also say he didn’t want to think about it.
Unable to use the audience chamber, he called Rudel to an
informal meeting in the room the authorities would usually use for
meetings.
Destroying one dragoon facility after the next, he had raised a
true crisis where their valuable dragons would be unusable for a
number of days.
If saying it to the dragons Mystith and Sakuya wouldn’t get
anywhere, then there was no choice but to summon the contractor
Rudel.
One of the authorities made a bitter face, placing his documents
on the table to question Rudel. But his face was tinted with just a
bit of fear.
“Just how much collateral damage to you intend to create in half
a year?”
“… My apologies.”
“An apology isn’t going to cut it! The dragon stables your
dragon destroyed, the adjoined facilities, and even the training
grounds. They were all amenities with some good money invested into
them!”
As one of Courtois’ elite forces, the dragoons did have a
considerable budget sent around to them. But no matter how they cut
it, the facilities Rudel destroyed weren’t the sort of thing the
dragoon brigade’s annual budget would be able to cover.
On top of that, the dragoons were a knight brigade Courtois
couldn’t do without.
The kingdom had no choice but to supply the funds.
“If I may. Let’s give up on the dragon stables. They’re dragons,
after all, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem if you have them
camp out.”
At Rudel’s proposal, the authorities held their heads.
They wanted to raise their voices and cry out, ‘That isn’t the
point!’…
In fear of Sakuya and Mystith, despite everything, they were
still holding themselves back. Originally, they wanted to tack on a
reason and have Rudel restrained in the palace as soon as
possible.
But the problem was Sakuya, who had been trained by Mystith.
Mystith had past precedent of destroying the palace, and accepting
Sakuya, who could be called her disciple into the palace was out of
the question to them.
That being the case, if they pulled the Marty-worshipper Rudel
away from Sakuya, there was no telling what would happen.
The country’s upper brass was unable to meddle.
Albach endured his urge to let out a sigh as he reported to
Rudel.
“Rudel, the country’s funds are not unlimited. I’m sure you know
that. From now on, please hold back on… please refrain from any
destructive activities. Of course, when on a mission, you can wield
those powers as you see fit.”
They were dealing with dragons, so a level of damage was
expected. But Albach remembered Sakuya was no trifle. When cleaning
up the half-destroyed facility, she had made it a full-destroyed
one.
“Yes sir!”
Rudel’s perfect etiquette only irritated the authorities
more.
They wanted something more to scold him on, but he was perfect
in that regard. In truth, while he did have a few strange parts to
him, if looked at as a knight, Rudel was the ideal.
The crown and authorities lamented that he looked up to the
wrong individual.
Once Rudel left the meeting room, Albach folded his hands over
the table. And worn out, he lowered his head.
His form, based on how one perceived it, could look as if he
were praying.
“Wolfgang… even in death, you torment Courtois all the
more…”
While the higher-ups of Courtois despised Marty, surprisingly
enough, his military achievements were on a legendary level. But
not only did his unprecedented behavior balance out his
achievements, it actually brought him into the negatives.
Alongside Mystith, he had defended the country from Gaia Empire
invasion time and again. From the fear of that time, Marty’s name
was famous throughout the empire.
Within the Empire, Marty was called the ‘Demon of Courtois’ and
held as a symbol of fear. Nothing but trouble to his surroundings,
and rightly feared by his enemies.
That was the man called Marty Wolfgang.
◇
After Rudel returned from the palace, an evaluation exam was
held.
The time to show the results of the past few months had come
around, but the surrounding atmosphere was completely different
from last time. All the dragoons had called their partner dragons
to their side.
They were ready to run away at a moment’s notice.
But…
“You’re doing good, Sakuya!”
‘My hovering is perfect!’
While Sakuya cried out in glee, she was unsteadily swaying in
the air. It was still shoddy, but she displayed ample
competence.
Following on from that was shooting, but in that, only sturdy
frames were built. The disposable targets were draped over them. On
top of being cheap to produce, they were cheap to maintain.
Oldart’s desperate thoughts had somehow kept it within
budget.
Everyone was sure those would be destroyed as well, pitying
Oldart’s efforts.
But…
“Great work! Six out of ten. That’s just barely a passing
grade!”
‘I did it! I did it!!’
Delighted, Sakuya roared on the spot, and the surrounding
dragons roared along. It wasn’t the scornful roars they had used to
that point, they were honestly singing praise.
The tattered dragons were praising Sakuya. This was proof that
Sakuya was the new boss, their way of showing there was no one who
would go against her.
But Bram and Falk’s injuries were more severe than expected, and
they were still in treatment. This fact became an even greater
factor preventing the gray dragons from going against Sakuya.
The dragoons around were making dubious faces.
No, to be more precise, they were happy that Rudel and Sakuya
managed to pass without any collateral damage. Some part of them
was simply struggling to accept it.
“So they can do it and succeed the proper way.”
At the words Luxheidt muttered, everyone in the training grounds
loud from the roars of dragons nodded.
They were happy that Sakuya managed to clear the exam without
incident, but they had been expecting some more exorbitant
actions.
They had been enthusiastically preparing to cope with whatever
they threw at them, but they ended up clearing it the normal
way.
With this unexpected turnout, they felt just a little
lonely.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 107: Friends and Cleaning Duty
Chapter 107: Friends and Cleaning Duty
In preparation for the display held every year in the capital,
the newly recruited knights had gathered.
While the elite dragoons were the centerpiece every year, of
course, the other brigades took part as well. It also had a purpose
of increasing national prestige, but for the other elites, the high
knights, this was likely the last year they could take part.
The dragoons, the royal guard, the high knights, with three
special elite forces prepared, it was a fact that Courtois didn’t
have any further financial leisure.
It was around the time where many knights were arriving at the
capital.
The dragoon brigade was practicing its flight formation.
◇
“T-that’s dangerous, Rudel!”
Hearing Luxheidt cry out, Rudel immediately issued orders to
Sakuya.
“Sakuya, you’re drifting!”
‘Wowowoah!’
Rise, descend, turn, in everything, Sakuya brought trouble to
her surroundings. A single change in the flap of her wings might
blow the surroundings dragons and dragoons away.
It was proof she was putting in a needless amount of power, and
every time she heard Rudel’s warnings, Sakuya would move as if
squirming in the air.
Those movements weren’t quite the sort of thing the residents of
the capital would be pleased with. The residents who watched the
flight formations every year had become quite the connoisseurs.
In the event’s goal of increasing national prestige, they
couldn’t disappoint those watchful eyes. But from her fame, it was
difficult to remove the splendid form of Sakuya.
Rudel was the white knight, and Sakuya was his giant dragon
partner. Her white and beautiful form was enough of a show in
itself. To add onto that, throughout the country, white knight
Rudel and black knight Aleist had been publicized.
There was no way they could pull him out now.
… But.
“Rudel! Don’t come over he… gyaaah!”
This time, Sakuya approached Saas, who was on the opposite side
from Luxheidt. As Saas hurriedly withdrew from his station, the
other dragons commenced hovering.
“S-sorry.”
Rudel apologized to the two of them. Today alone, they had
interrupted training over ten times.
‘S-sorry.’
Rudel and Sakuya had managed to receive a C-Rank, but they were
causing problems in flight formations as well.
The new recruits flying in formation was a simple way to show
the royal capital’s residents the competence of the dragoons.
But if they failed, on the contrary, it was a show of their low
degree of training.
Sakuya was a gaia dragon subspecies, and her flight capabilities
were expected to fall short of the other dragons. But to put on a
show, it was decided she would fly at the center of the new
recruits.
If safety was their first priority, then flying in a straight
line without any tricks was their best bet.
It was a problem that made the dragoon brigade collectively hold
their heads as a whole.
◇
“You mean to say you’re taking us off the formation!?”
In the vice-captain’s office, Rudel raised his voice as
Alejandro informed him of what had been decided.
If she knew she was taken out of the formation, Sakuya would get
depressed again. The fact he knew of how hard she was training only
strengthened his desire to do something for her.
“There can be no helping it. And you’ll be appearing at the end
to descend down onto the plaza. If that’s all there is do it, I
doubt you’ll fail.”
“Certainly, I don’t think we’ll fail, but…”
He understood what Alejandro was trying to say. He did, but it
was a fact he couldn’t accept it.
“You’ll be adorning the center of the plaza at the end, it’s
quite an important role. Our flight formations are officially meant
to be a side show, but they have a considerable history to them.
We’ve been holding them for over sixty years.”
The historic dragoons would enchant the crowds with their
craft.
Alejandro was also making an enervated expression and it seemed
he’d been mulling over the formation quite a lot as of late. Not
wanting to cause any more trouble for his superior officer, Rudel
accepted it.
“… Understood.”
“That’s a huge help. You’re just going to tie a bow on the
performance at the end, but don’t fall behind in practice, okay?
Think of it as flight training, and you’ll never find it
wasted.”
Rudel left the room, mulling over how he was going to explain it
to Sakuya.
When he thought one problem had been cleaned up, the next one
came out.
He couldn’t quite lie, but telling Sakuya nothing but the facts
felt would be too cruel. Rudel mulled over what to say to persuade
her as he walked down the hall.
It was there that a voice called out over to him.
‘Well now, I’ve finally gotten the members together. Let’s start
preparing for our flight formation already.’
He looked out the window just in time to see Mystith’s
descent.
◇
… A few days later.
In preparation for the unveiling the day after tomorrow, knights
had gathered from all over the land.
A large portion of them were new recruits, youths who had only
just ventured into the world. From them came out some who wanted to
stretch out and relax in one of the capital’s high-class pubs.
To the knights from the outskirts, there were barely any chances
to come to the capital. It couldn’t be helped that some would think
of using this chance to play around.
Yet what that gathering stared at loathsomely were the knights
who worked in the capital from the start.
Unlike their standard knight garb, that gathering that wore
high-class garments over their bodies were members of the unit led
by Eunius.
Liking his share of revelry, Eunius didn’t hate this atmosphere
at all. But it seemed that wasn’t the case for those around
them.
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a rowdy bunch.”
“My thoughts exactly, this is why those country bumpkins are
nothing but trouble. They should go find a store befitting their
stature.”
“… That so (That’s not what I meant).”
As part of a knight brigade charged with the defense of the
capital, Eunius was appointed as a major.
He was the future head of an archduke house, given considerable
preferential treatment… or not. The ones stationed under Eunius
were young nobles. They were a unit of those who were determined to
be of no particular use.
With their status, it was too difficult to order them around, so
Eunius had been stationed to put a hold on them.
(Even if I’m returning to my house in a few years, this is
harsh.)
Their low level of training went without saying, their usual
work ethic was also truly terrible.
Reminiscing over his student days, he downed the ale poured into
his glass. Fitting of a shop the knights of the palace and capital
had taken a liking to, he had no complaints about the ale or
food.
But in this air, it all tasted strangely unsavory. That’s all
there was to it.
The ones around Eunius were knights who had been stationed for a
few years now. His followers from the academy were treated as new
recruits and had all the miscellaneous jobs shoved onto them.
Now there were just the folks constantly gathering to curry the
favor of the future archduke Eunius.
“They really should learn to carry that thing called
elegance.”
“Precisely. As a fellow knight, I feel ashamed.”
“To think even demi-human knights would come, they’re dropping the
status of this shop.”
As Eunius endured the surrounding atmosphere, the civil servant
Luecke made his appearance. Everyone around Eunius instantly
directed hostility.
◇
Finishing his civil official work, Luecke was taken along by his
seniors to a certain shop.
Usually, he would return to his estate in the capital, occupying
the rest of his day with work or books. But thinking that
socialization was also important, he accepted their invitation that
day.
(Just goes to show you shouldn’t do what you’re not used
to.)
There were many of the Halbades House’s faction among the civil
officers, and they treated Luecke with care. But with his work
capabilities, Luecke found himself working as part of their main
force.
He had worked overtime today, so they had likely shown some
tact.
The officials were immensely busy over the display in two days.
But it just had to be that day that they encountered the ones they
didn’t want to meet.
“Hmm, look, the beansprouts have come out.”
As one of Eunius’ subordinates let out a voice such to resonate
through the rowdy shop, the surroundings instantly went quiet. A
large number of customers showered Luecke and his compatriots with
their gaze.
Generally speaking, civil and military officials didn’t get
along.
“Yeah, let’s change shops.”
One of his seniors tried to leave with a troubled look on his
face, but from among his comrades rose a voice of
dissatisfaction.
“You’re going to quietly run away!?”
There, Luecke purposely brought his feet to a chair nearby
Eunius. Pressured by the atmosphere of Eunius’ group, everyone had
been avoiding the seats in the area.
So the only open tables were around Eunius.
“You’re not going to order?”
Ignoring the looks from Eunius’ men, Luecke cast a silent
pressure onto his seniors. Timid as they were, those seniors began
to take their seats.
To the current Luecke, knight brigades were nothing more than
money devouring insects. Especially Eunius’ unit that served no
particular purpose, to put it bluntly, he thought it was fine if
they got thoroughly crushed.
He understood they were a necessary evil. But his
dissatisfaction built up.
When Eunius’ unit caused problems, they multiplied the work of
the civil officials. They’d tack on some reason for high-class
goods, and demanded that their equipment was first rate, despite no
other part of them matching up.
The current Luecke and Eunius were undoubtedly political
opponents.
◇
With cleaning implements in hand, Aleist walked down the palace
corridor with his subordinates.
He had cast off his outercoat, equipping a thick cleaning
apron.
After his graduation, Aleist was appointed as a lieutenant in
the defenders. But when he resolved himself and asked what his work
was, the mission he was handed was ‘cleaning duty’.
It wasn’t as if he wanted a large job, or that he particularly
wanted to work as a knight.
Simply…
“I really think this should be left to the cleaning ladies.”
“Captain, I’ve heard that complaint five times today.”
The one who returned a cold response was Millia, stationed to
the same unit. She had been invited by Fina as bait to lure Aleist
in, so naturally, she was stationed in the same platoon.
But the distance between the two hadn’t closed in at all.
“Well, well, the captain does have a point.”
“That’s right, don’t be so stiff. You’ll never get a boyfriend like
that.”
Their cleaning had been wrapped up, and after writing a log,
they only had to return home. But Aleist’s fatigue was great.
The platoon he was stationed to was made of members gathered for
Aleist’s sake.
(That princess definitely hates me.)
But Aleist felt some malice in his station. After Millia applied
for the defenders, he heard a sweet tale from Fina. That if he came
to the defenders, he would be a lieutenant, and Millia his deputy
officer…
But how did it turn out?
All the members stationed under him were fair female knights. To
take it a step further, among them, two of the women were romance
target characters.
Even when he was being careful, the events splendidly broke out.
Day after day, they approached Aleist in a way even he could
understand.
What’s more, in front of Millia.
“U-um… do you want to go drinking after this? We’ll be busy the
day after tomorrow, so today’s the last day we’ll have time.”
“You serious!? I’m going!”
“Oh, so Aleist-kun’s invited me out.”
The two of them instantly approved, but Millia was making a
sullen face.
Wanting to invite Millia, Aleist was just about to try
persuading her when an acquaintance passed down the hallway.
It was Izumi.
◇
As Izumi walked down the corridor on her way home, she happened
on Aleist desperately inviting Millia out.
From her eyes, she could only see it as him trying to flirt with
her while taking two other girls along. He really was doing just
that.
“Aleist, are you at it again?”
As Izumi made a fed-up expression, Aleist frantically tried to
correct the misunderstanding.
“That’s wrong! I just wanted to go out drinking with everyone
from the platoon… not that I have everyone with me right now.”
While Izumi was currently doing paperwork, she was a knight in
service to the palace. She was an elite high knight, and with quite
a few amiable relations from the academy, she did hear the stories
going around.
That the members that made up Aleist’s harem had grown by two in
number…
“I do get the feeling you’re lacking in fidelity.”
“I’m telling you, it’s a misunderstanding!”
Aleist insisted it was a misunderstanding, but looking at the
result along, he couldn’t quite say it was. From how Izumi saw it,
the two besides Izumi were quite heated over Aleist.
With his superior looks and earnings, as long as you ignored his
insides, Aleist was a fine piece of work. She understood why women
might want to gather, and Izumi didn’t feel like cautioning him on
it.
But his invitation of Millia who kept on rejecting looked just a
little forceful.
“Ah, then how about it! Do you want to come too, Izumi-san?
There’s this shop that’s quite famous in the capital.”
Often encountering one another in the capital, the two were
already on a first-name basis.
She looked at Millia to find she was making a tired
expression.
Hearing both sides of the story from Aleist and Millia, Izumi
held some conflicted emotions. In order to approach Aleist, the elf
village that knew of Millia’s present situation had moved to
forcefully have her engaged.
But it was here that Lilim’s matter brought forth an
influence.
In the past, the one Lilim was engaged to was the son of the
village chief. Lilim was betrayed by that son, so at least Millia
should be able to decide by her own choice, her parents were taking
on an obstinate stance.
Millia had no mind to marry, let alone go out with Aleist.
But Aleist showed a strong fixation on her. It was quite a
luxury when he already had a harem. That’s what she thought at
first.
But Aleist had his position as the black knight.
While if he was on cleaning duty right now, it wouldn’t be
strange for him to become a leader of Courtois, or perhaps even
king. The fact that the higher-ups would put such an individual on
cleaning duty surprised Izumi.
She got the impression in the palace that those up top were
troubled over how to deal with him, that they were still
arguing.
“Hah, got it. Then I’ll tag along. How about you, Millia?”
“… Fine.”
With Aleist’s desperate expression and Izumi folding in, Millia
accepted the invitation.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 108: Cleaning Duty and the Bar
Chapter 108: Cleaning Duty and the Bar
The unveiling display two days away, the main street of the
capital was lively.
The newbie dragoons walked boldly down that rowdy main street.
They didn’t particularly intend to put on air, but they were
elites, and the dragoons recognized as the heroes of the
country.
Showing humility and servility was also a problem.
Within that group, Rudel was in high spirits. Saas, who often
spoke to him in the brigade, grew curious and ended up asking.
“You’re in quite a good mood, Rudel. Since the vice-captain
called you out to remove you from the formation, I thought you’d be
down.”
Saas was a man with sharp eyes and a bad mouth on him. But among
their colleagues, he was the closest to Rudel. Despite the hatred
that occasionally escaped his mouth, he was a man who worried for
his comrades, in the past half year they spent together, Rudel had
noticed it.
“You can tell? The truth is, it looks like the flight formation
matter will work itself out. We can’t do any acrobatics, but I’m
sure you’ll be surprised.”
Recalling his conversation with Mystith, Rudel smiled. His
surrounding colleagues, Saas included, seemed relieved to see a
satisfied Rudel.
His dragon had run away once, and they had been worried she
would run away again.
Gathering the eyes of the people- especially the men- passing by
on the main street, Enora walked beside Rudel. Ever since their
dragoon dogfight, she began to treat him like a good friend. She
would often invite him out for lunch on their days off, and the
distance between them was definitely closing in.
Such an Enora was a tad bothered by the ruckus of the main
road.
“What’s wrong, Enora? Do you dislike a festive air?”
As Rudel directed his eyes at Enora, his other colleagues’ eyes
gathered on her as well. For better or worse, Rudel had become
something of a leader to the new recruits.
This was probably related to his partner Sakuya’s official rule
over the dragon stables.
Rather than the other eyes, receiving a look from Rudel caused
Enora to deny it in a bit of a panic.
“I don’t particularly hate it, but when it gets to this level,
entering a store will be dreadful. They’re all fully occupied by
the new knight recruits from all over the place.”
Enora said, as she directed her eyes to a nearby shop. Sure
enough, the pub-ish shops facing the main road had been conquered
by droves of knight-ish young knights. It wasn’t particularly a bad
thing. Around this time of year in the royal capital, one could
call this scenery a harbinger of the season.
But the dragoons couldn’t drink tomorrow. A brigade regulation…
or rather, it was an order from Oldart.
‘When I can’t play around, to hell with the new recruits having
fun on their own. I’m banning all alcohol on the day before the
expo!’
The new recruits couldn’t tell whether he was joking or serious.
But it definitely was bad for the dragoons to be hungover during an
important display. They accepted that.
“It looks like most of the shops that serve alcohol are
full.”
Rudel muttered as he looked over the knights happily drinking,
when Luxheidt made a proposal. When it came to these matters,
Luxheidt was the most reliable of his colleagues.
Enora knew a few famous stores in the capital, but when it came
to bars, that was outside her area of expertise.
“I thought this might happen! I took the liberty of hearing this
and that from our superiors.”
“As expected of our Brahms and Liszt head.”
“Eh? That’s what I’m head of? I thought I was on the general
planning committee.”
As Luxheidt returned a joke to Saas’ cynicism, everyone smiled.
Seeing those newbie dragoons, the surrounding passersby seemed
perplexed.
“That aside, they’re always crowded around this time. From what
I heard, it seems we’re best off going to a high-class shop. They
have good service to start with, and they’re rarely filled up.,
they say.”
The drunk knights of the outskirts often picked fights with the
elite dragoons. It felt idiotic to have to waste time every time,
so he recommended a store with relatively nice goods.
“If it’s too expensive…”
While Saas seemed reluctant, Luxheidt explained away.
“A dragoon can’t quite go to a cheap place, right? From time to
time, it’s important to go to a place befitting your status. And
look, our salary is nothing to laugh out.”
Right, a dragoon’s salary was truly high. Rudel didn’t really
pay it any mind, but to those from knight-class families, nobles in
name alone, like Saas and Luxheidt, it was an unbelievable sum.
“No, I get that.”
Rudel looked over Saas’ reluctance with a smile. With his large
family, Saas was sending most of his money home. In contrast,
Luxheidt was in a position where he didn’t have to pay mind to
those sorts of things.
“Let’s listen to Luxheidt here. Lest we spend precious time
searching for a shop.”
As Rudel directed them towards Luxheidt’s opinion, everyone
accepted and started off towards a famous high-class pub.
◇
Before the unveiling in two days’ time, Cattleya had dropped by
her superior Lilim.
Originally, she wanted to submit a report before taking the new
recruits off drinking. But Lilim stopped her with a smile that
wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Cattleya’s platoon was a part of Lilim’s company, and she
couldn’t go against her orders. More than that, Lilim still held a
grudge over having the responsibility of Rudel’s case shoved onto
her.
In an office those of Major rank could use, Cattleya was helping
out with paperwork. She accepted the fact she had foisted off the
responsibility, and felt sorry about it. But her dissatisfaction
escaped her mouth.
“Aah, I was planning to go drinking, you know.”
Every time Cattleya finished up a form, a complaint would come
out of her mouth. Lilim was silently completing more than double
the amount of papers. Finally reaching the end of her patience,
Lilim warned her.
“Cattleya, could you give it a rest already? You understand that
a majority of these documents are a result of the responsibility
you had me take, right?”
Lilim opened her eyelids, faintly showing her pitch black
eyes.
“Is that so? But in the end, the vice-captain took
responsibility, right? Then shouldn’t that be the end of it?”
“… Right. In the end, the vice-captain did indeed take
responsibility. But the work you pushed onto me didn’t go
away!”
“Taking responsibility is the responsibility of the one
responsible, Major.”
To Cattleya’s attitude as she closed up that conversation and
picked up her next form, Lilim gripped her shaking fist. If she was
up to it, Cattleya was capable of work. More than that, she was
able to complete paperwork on Lilim’s level.
She just didn’t, which made it all the worse.
… Once the forms were done with, Lilim poured Cattleya some tea.
She felt it would be too awkward to just drive her away like that.
The topic of conversation turned to the new recruits.
“So do we have any promising kids?”
“… Four of them, I guess. Well, two go without saying, and the
other two give off a real ruffian feel. A rebellious one and a
light one, I guess.”
As she thought over the two of them, Cattleya recalled Oldarts
face. Their captain Oldart, if Cattleya had her say, was a ruffian
as well.
“I see, so it looks like four will be able to add to our main
force.”
Lilim muttered as she drank the tea she put out. Unlike
Cattleya, she was a long-lived elf. Of course, that held an
advantage of having a long period over which she could work. The
core of the dragoon brigade had high hopes for her.
While the two of them carried out a serious conversation, when
the topic of Enora came out, Cattleya suddenly started
complaining.
“More importantly, that Enora girl! That breast monster, lately
she’s been on the attack when it comes to Rudel, she keeps trying
to make a pink air. It’s irritating. Just the other day, she clung
onto him, you know.”
“… That really is a problem. Yes, she’s disrupting the public
morals of the brigade.”
“Exactly! Whenever she clings onto Rudel, the vice-captain’s
mood goes hell.”
“Come to think of it, he was a bit angry when he came to the
capital a few days ago.”
“Ah, that one was different. It seems even he got irritated with
Rudel not noticing Enora’s feelings.”
“Some things never change.
While Lilim’s tone was worn, Cattleya didn’t overlook it. For
just a moment, Lilim had made a delightful expression.
◇
As Rudel and the dragoons entered the shop, luckily enough,
there were open seats.
What’s more, some familiar faces were conveniently gathered. The
ones he had spent his academy life with, Luecke, Eunius, Aleist and
Millia. Even Izumi was there.
“What’s this, so you all came as well.”
While Rudel secured a seat with a smile, the surrounding air was
truly heavy. The other tables were happily conversing, but around
the area Rudel had taken his seat, there was little talk going on.
No, it seems Rudel’s arrival began the conversation.
“Been a while.”
“Yo.”
“Ah, Rudel.”
“Pleasure”
Catching sight of Izumi, Rudel was relieved to see her pulling
off the stylish high knight uniform. While she gave off a more
mature air than she had half a year ago, he was relieved to see she
had barely changed.
“Rudel, it’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Yeah, Sakuya’s doing well too.”
“I see, that’s good.”
Hearing their conversation, Enora sat beside Rudel. Rudel didn’t
seem to mind, and he was just about to introduce Enora when
Luxheidt whispered into his ear.
“Hey, what’s with these members? And what’s this heavy air?”
Hearing that, he looked around for the first time. Sure enough,
Luecke and Eunius weren’t talking. Their followers seemed to have
undergone a complete change after moving from the academy to the
workforce. In the past, they had all eaten at the same table, and
Rudel did feel something was off.
“Luecke, Eunius, what’s wrong?”
As Rudel called out to the two of the, the knights around Eunius
directed sharp looks. But once they noticed Rudel’s party was a
party of dragoons, their eyes suddenly swam around the room.
The two of them said it was nothing, and the conversation was
cut off once more.
An atmosphere different from that around ruled the area. But the
one who could no longer endure it was Aleist
“H-hey, Rudel.”
“You look well… or not. Aleist, what’s wrong? You look
worn.”
Aleist’s expression felt as if he was forcing himself to smile.
Seeing his table, there was quite a biased male-to-female ratio.
Luecke and Eunius’ table were nothing but men, while Rudel had two
women at his.
But only Aleist’s place had a single man surrounded by eight
women, a clearly florid scene.
“Well, this and that. Ahaha.”
Aleist gave a bitter smile, but there were quite a few
unfamiliar faces at his table. Rudel called out to Luxheidt sitting
to his side. When it came to these sorts of things, his colleagues
recognized Luxheidt as the one most knowledgeable on these
matters.
“How does that table look to you?”
“Eh~? I’m meeting them for the first time, so I don’t know
anything. But let’s see, it seems strangely tense. That black
haired girl was probably just dragged into the mess? Besides her
and that elf girl, are the others all the guy’s girlfriends? But it
feels like the guy’s going after the elf. I think that about sums
it up.”
“I see, so Aleist increased his number of girlfriends again.
This is a problem.”
“That’s right. Though I also think not noticing is a problem as
well.”
“You think?”
As Rudel failed to grasp Luxheidt’s words, he looked over at
Aleist’s table. Aleist was definitely surrounded by women. It was a
familiar scene from the academy. But here as well, his member had
undergone a complete change.
Surely they weren’t all his girlfriends, and he was supposed to
already have five fiancés. Won’t anymore be a bit too harsh, or so
Rudel worried. It was Aleist’s problem, so thinking it wasn’t his
place to stick in his mouth, he tried to call over.
It was there that, like Aleist, those unable to endure came
out.
From Eunius’ table, a few young knights called over to Aleist’s
table.
“Hey, girls of the defenders, how about you entertain us as
well.”
“Our Eunius-sama over here is the heir of an archduke house, you
know.”
“You could at least pour him a drink.”
Looking at Eunius’ expression, he was truly displeased. It seems
these were followers who didn’t understand Eunius’ feelings.
“You lot…”
Eunius was about to stop his followers. But his voice was
interrupted by Luecke.
“Good grief, this is why the Diade faction is so
troublesome.”
While eyes gathered on Luecke at once, the man in question
continued eating as if nothing had happened. In contrast, Luecke’s
followers were growing panicked.
“Hah, they did it again.”
From how Aleist held his head in anguish, this had likely
happened a number of times before they had come in. Rudel sent a
glance at Izumi and she shook her head.
“It’s been like this every time they open their mouths. It’s
troublesome how they keep angering Millia.”
“I’m not angry.”
From how she immediately interrupted Izumi, Rudel understood
Millia had something to say on the matter. But this time was
something different from before.
“Tsk, what an ungrateful bunch.”
“They’re the sort that take along a demi-human and a foreign girl.
It’s our fault for getting our hopes up.”
“Sure enough. One’s tastes speaks volumes to their character.”
Such laughs broke out at Eunius’ table. Just as Rudel stood,
Aleist stood as well. Enora and Luxheidt swiftly grabbed Rudel’s
arm, but it seems Aleist’s table was too late.
Aleist headed off for Eunius’ table and glared at the folks who
were laughing.
Perhaps the surroundings sensed the dangerous air as the shop
itself returned to silence.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 109: The Bar and the Fight
Chapter 109: The Bar and the Fight
In a pub that gave off a dampened air, tensions suddenly surged
as Aleist stood to face Eunius’ table.
More than himself being mocked, he couldn’t’ forgive the fact
they looked down on Millia as a demi-human. While those around
Rudel instantly stopped him, the women from the defenders were
unable to do the same for Aleist.
He glared at the knights who flocked around Eunius, and the one
who said it stood, a grin on his face.
Aleist was the black knight, the eldest son of the Hardie Count
House. Even that title, before an archduke was overshadowed. No
matter how important the black knight was to the country, his role
in the palace was cleaning duty. It was surely only natural that
the knights made light of Aleist. Even if they heard tales of his
strength, they had never seen it in person.
Humans had a tendency to lend an eye only to what was most
convenient.
The laughing knight was tall in stature, over a head above
Aleist. When Aleist glared at him, he trembled in a joking
manner.
“Oh, how scary. Our little black knight is angry.”
“You lot better take back those words.”
Rudel watched as Aleist ignored his foe’s reactions, closing in
and telling them to take back their remark. He decided to leave it
to Aleist. Seeing through the enemy’s strength, he saw that two
people weren’t necessary. But his eyes drifted to Eunius. While
Eunius directed fed-up eyes to his followers, he didn’t give off
the same intensity he had at the academy. He held an expression
somewhat close to resignation.
“Hah, don’t push your luck, newbie. No matter how strong you say
you were at the academy, we’re official knights here. We’re in a
different class from your petty games.”
“Class? You definitely do seem low-class.”
Receiving that provocation, a few more knights stood to take on
his offer. Unable to watch any further, Eunius breathed out a sigh
as he apologized.
“My bad, Aleist. You lot sit down. We have an important expo the
day after tomorrow. I don’t want any trouble.”
“S-sorry.”
Before the knights who took their seats, Aleist was still
unsatisfied, Grabbing the lapels of the knight who provoked him, he
forcefully lifted him to his feet.
“That’s all well and good, now apologize. Eunius’ apology and
your statement are a separate matter!”
His lapels grasped, the knight’s face turned red as he gripped
his fist. There, the defender female knights finally stepped in to
stop Aleist. Millia seemed unmotivated, while she had stood, she
just watched without holding him back.
“… You’re being a bother. Sit down.”
“Eh? … Okay.’
Seeing Aleist dejectedly step down on Millia’s words, those
around put their best efforts into containing their laughter. From
the surrounding seats, small stifled laughs escaped, and some even
had their shoulders shaking.
Though the air surrounding Eunius and Luecke, and those around
them was something else.
◇
“Even so, it sure is quiet.”
Rudel reached a hand for the food and ale brought to the table
as he spoke.
Luxheidt put in an order for some extra ale from the waiter who
brought their food as he cheerfully answered Rudel’s doubts.
“Of course, when we have three archdukes, plus some followers
from their factions, it’s going to be tense. The only ones who’d
dare make a ruckus in this heavy air are our little Enora in love,
and that black knight over there.”
While it didn’t sound like the sort of thing anyone’d laugh
over, Luxheidt was also a dragoon. He had gone through his share of
experiences, and obtained a dragon. It was natural for him to be
able to stay calm.
Rudel looked at Aleist’s table, seeing a situation where Aleist
wanted to talk to Millia, but everyone around kept getting in the
way.
Looking at Izumi, she simply ate her meal with the knife and
fork she was once so terrible at using. When he thought nothing had
changed, Rudel notices those around him were beginning to change,
little by little. But more than that, Rudel showed some interest in
Luxheidt’s statement. He had also gained some bonds with his
comrades, and perhaps he had changed as well, he thought…
“Love? Enora has someone she likes?”
“Hey! … It seems the alcohol has reached Aiguille-san’s
tongue.”
While Enora was caught off-guard by Rudel’s sudden statement,
she instantly smiled and gazed at Luxheidt. It was here that Rudel
made a misunderstanding.
“What’s this? So the two of you were dating?”
“Wow, even I’m taken aback. I never would have thought you could
look at that smile on Enora’s face and come out with those words.
Rudel, look a little closer… her eyes aren’t smiling, right?”
Hearing that from Luxheidt, Rudel looked back at Enora to find
her gazing at him intently with upturned eyes, her face a little
red. He thought it was a little early for her to be drunk, but he
managed to understand the two of them were not going out.
“Oy, Luxheidt. It doesn’t look like Rudel gets it.”
Even Rudel had to deny that one.
“How rude. I understand now that those two aren’t going
out.”
Rudel was certain that he understood what Saas was trying to
say, and both Saas and Luxheidt sighed. Seeing the two of them,
their other comrades laughed.
“Hah, it’s scary to see how a woman can change. Anyways, Rudel,
how’s that black knight over there? Is he as creepy a guy as he
looks?”
Luxheidt looked tiredly at Enora. And after turning his eyes
towards Aleist, he asked Rudel about his nature.
“You’re interested? He’s a little strange, but he’s a good
person. From what I know, he had five fiancés, but… looks like it’s
on the rise.”
“For real? Just what sort of oddball does he have to be for you
to call him strange?”
“Saas, I get the feeling you’re making fun of me.”
When Saas sent a truly surprised look at Aleist, the other
dragoons looked at him as well. They were curious just what sort of
oddball he had to be for even Rudel to think he was a strange
person.
… But if they made a ruckus in that quieted-down store, then
naturally, the other party would hear it as well. On top of that,
receiving pitiful eyes from all the dragoons, even Aleist would
notice.
“Hold it! I don’t want to be called strange by you, Rudel! I
haven’t destroyed any training grounds or facilities!”
To a teary-eyed Aleist, a voice came from an unexpected
place.
It was Luecke.
“Oh, now that’s quite an intriguing statement, Aleist. From what
I can tell, a sum far exceeding the annual budget has been wasted
on the defenders.”
Resting both his elbows on the table, Luecke folded his hands to
cover his mouth as he glared at Aleist. For some reason, his
follower civil officials also sent some bitter expressions at the
defenders.
“N-no, I mean, I haven’t broken anything, you know? And it’s not
like I have any say in our budget or anything.”
“I agree that Rudel is also a problem, but several tens of times
the funds required to fix the broken training grounds and buildings
are moving around. You really should think a bit about funding. You
don’t want to be seen as the same as some muscle heads who come
under the misconception that money is an inexhaustible resource,
right?”
“S-sorry, and wait… I do treasure the tools I use for cleaning,
and I’m economizing as much as I can with detergent…”
Aleist’s touching efforts, before the outrageous sum moving
around fell short of even chickens feed. But it was better than
doing nothing, Rudel nodded in honest admiration.
“… no, Rudel? You really should repent.”
Saas cautioned a nodding Rudel, but his statement was cut off
halfway. Smashing his glass, a knight stood to his feet to glare at
the civil officials. It seemed Eunius had no intent to stop them
this time as he left it be.
“And who could these muscle heads be? I’m sure you’d be happy to
tell us, beansprouts.”
The knight who stood had a hand on his weapon. The pub instantly
regressed to its original tense state. There were some who had
already finished paying to retreat, it was a right bother to the
store.
“What’s this? Isn’t it precisely because you’re aware of it that
you’re so irritated? This must be a show of the caliber of your
owner.”
Luecke downed the contents of his glass, quietly placing it on
the table. When his eyes met Eunius’, Eunius violently slammed his
glass down, shattering it. Both sides exchanged a glare, and
naturally, their surroundings reacted as well. But the officials
were looking around, their eyes pleading for help.
“You two, why don’t you call it quits? The expo’s in two
days.”
Receiving those pleading eyes, Rudel remonstrated them. But with
a bit of drink in them, the two of them didn’t seem to have their
usual level-headedness.
“Hah? Shut it Rudel. He’s the one who picked the fight. Then it
would be rude if I didn’t take him up on that. To pick a fight you
know you’re going to lose, you sure are a strange one.”
As Eunius stood and gripped his sword, Luecke gave a scornful
laugh.
“Fight? It seems you still don’t understand. If you still think
everything can be settled with violence like in our student days,
then you really are unsalvageable idiots. You’re better off shoved
in the dungeon. No, it’s your jobs that should be locked away.
This’ll be a good laugh.”
With Luecke’s words as the trigger, Eunius’ men picked up their
weapons and kicked the table down. As a high knight, Izumi stepped
between them to mediate.
“Give it a rest already. I must ask you to refrain from making a
ruckus before the unveiling.”
Just like in their student days, Eunius and Luecke of them
stopped in their tracks on Izumi’s arbitration, but they were the
only ones who did.
“Shut your mouth, a mere foreign woman thinks she can stand
before us!?”
“Wha!”
Eunius’ follower thrust at Izumi. In the next instant, Rudel had
smacked the knight who thrust at Izumi. It happened in a flash.
While the knights thought there had been a bit of distance between
them, Rudel ignored that fact, closing the distance in an instant
to punch and knock that knight out.
“… You’ve got some nerve. If you want to fight so badly, then
I’ll be your opponent. Everyone let’s take this outside.”
Rudel sent a glance to both Luecke and Eunius, and picking up on
something, the two of them smiled a bit.
But seeing his serious eyes, the follower knights directed a
glance to Eunius. They were hesitant to pick a fight with a
dragoon.
… But.
“It’s too late to go weak at the knees. But this ain’t bad… it’s
been a while since I’ve gone on a rampage. You lot, you’re all
going outside. You picked a fight, so it’s only natural,
right?”
Eunius gave the order to his followers. He wouldn’t let them run
away.
“Hmm, for such a meritocratic bunch, it doesn’t sound bad at all
for a civil official to shut them up. Everyone who wants to join
in, go outside. And when we’re up against those guys, don’t expect
me to protect you. If you’re taking part, you have to fend for
yourselves.”
Saying they could take part if they wanted to Luecke rolled his
shoulders to show his will to fight. Within all that, Aleist of the
defenders was the only one who tried to stop those three.
“What are you thinking!? Do you understand we’re in an important
period? Quit fighting like a student, let’s calm down a bit!”
While he had stood to stop the three of them, Rudel and Eunius
silently placed their hands on Aleist’s shoulders to lead him
outside, Dragged along, Aleist’s expression showed he had no idea
what they were angry about.
“Eh? W-what? What is this?”
To Aleist’s confusion, an empty-handed Luecke tossed some
unreasonable words.
“No you see… I was a bit jealous, seeing you surrounded by
women. I’m going to take out some of my anger.”
“What’s with that!? When I’m not happy about it at all,
forcefully dragging me off is way too unfair!”
“It really is unfair. I know that. And since I know that, I’ll
just say it. You’re participating whether you like it or not.”
As Luecke explained something he wasn’t even thinking to Aleist,
the four of them went outside. With a late start, the follower
knights and civil officials left the store as well.
◇
Seeing Rudel off, Luxheidt finished the remaining food before
emptying his glass.
“H-hey! You’re going to leave them!?”
The sharp-eyed, often sarcastic Saas seemed worried for Rudel.
Enora looked like she would bound off at any moment, but perhaps
she wanted to ask Izumi about her relationship with Rudel as she
was fidgeting.
Luxheidt smiled as he told the waiter to get the person in
charge. A little while later, the owner of the shop frantically
raced over to Luxheidt.
“W-was there any problem on our part?”
While they were the ones who caused the problem, the owner was
unable to go against the dragoons, the heroes of the country, so he
gave an apology.
“No, no, that should be our line. We really are sort. Send the
repair fees and trouble fees around to a mister Rudel Arses. Ah,
also, we’ll also foot the bill for the other tables… everyone went
outside, after all.”
Right, the women of the defenders had left Izumi and Millia to
give chase to Aleist. They would likely return later, but that
would be trouble for the shop. Those who owed money should pay. But
saying it was Rudel’s responsibility for causing a problem this
time, Luxheidt pushed the payment onto Rudel.
“… That’s a big help.”
As the owner said his thanks, Luxheidt handed over a simple
memo. Accepting it, the owner left at once.
“How’s that going to work out for you?”
“The payment? It’ll be fine, I plan to sell him a favor. Now
then, it’s right about time for us to go watch the fight.”
Urging on a worried Saas, Luxheidt dragged a nervous Enora out
of the store. So love really can change a person, he thought as he
looked at her.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 92: Demands and Preparing for Graduation
Chapter 92: Demands and Preparing for Graduation
Around the time their life at the academy greeted its end, the
graduates began cleaning up the rooms they had used for five
years.
There were second and third-year graduates as well, and around
this time, the school dorms would be a busy mess. There were
students who’d call forth servants from their houses, and others
who would hound up underclassmen to clean.
Similarly, Rudel had begun to clean up his luggage that had
grown from when he first came.
He had few belongings when he first came, but over the course of
five years, he had added on more.
“This book is… I’ll keep it.”
The book he took in his hands was a child-geared picture book
introducing the dragoons. It was something Rudel had given to
Sakuya, and something he had left in his room. Rudel had read it as
a child, imagining his own form in the future, and after that, it
had become a memento he had given to Sakuya.
Apart from that, there were other pieces of memorabilia
around.
The sword he had used from his youth, while it was broken, he
still had it carefully preserved. He had tried to throw it away,
but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. So without any way to use
it, he was troubled over what to do.
“Hah, it’s grown to a surprising amount. My clothes are the
same, there’s no way I…”
While Rudel’s belongings were on the scarce side, as he didn’t
know the situation of other students, he felt like he had a lot.
Luecke was mulling over his mountains of books, while Eunius was
troubled to deal with all the presents he never got around to
giving to girls.
The largest problem was Aleist.
It was certain he would have at least five engagements, and the
girls had handed over many a gift from their houses. Things worthy
of Aleist, and Fina had also sent loads of presents under the
pretense of celebration.
Fina had aimed for this time, conducting harassment under the
name of celebrating his instatement to the defenders.
She picked the bulkiest things she could find and sent them to
trouble him. But because of that, there were whispers of rumors
that Fina was gunning for Aleist.
It was a disaster for Aleist, but after she self-destructed,
Fina had grown quite docile as of late. She had realized herself
that she was lacking in composure.
But a princess all the same, Aileen remained with her composure
in tatters.
As Rudel and Aleist both left the academy, the palace grew
fearful that the power balance between its forces would crumble.
The names white and black knight held special meaning in
Courtois.
For that sake, Fritz was transferred to the three-year course
and forcefully inaugurated as royal guard captain. It was a result
of Aileen and her followers concluding it would be too late for
Fritz to become captain a whole two years later.
Having come so far, Aileen could no longer ignore the defenders
Fina had set up.
Rudel had become a dragoon, but Aleist’s name was still on the
list of Aileen’s engagement candidates. If he raised some
achievements in the defenders, then that would be used as a reason
to proceed talks right to marriage.
To Aileen, she was considerably cornered.
But it was quite like Aileen to not look and feel fear from a
war potential perspective.
◇
“Hah, Rudel-sama.”
Gazing out the classroom window, Fina muttered. If she muttered
Rudel’s name so lovingly, the rumors would go and spread on their
own.
In truth, it had become well known that her love for Aleist had
awakened, and once it spread to the palace, there was no taking it
back. The queen made a ruckus over it, hastening a marriage between
Aleist and Fina.
“Didn’t she just say Rudel-sama?”
“Eh? But Fina-sama and Aleist-sama are…”
“By the gods, a love triangle!”
In the classroom, her peers were making a ruckus. A majority of
them were nobles, but there were some commoners among them,
eavesdropping with intrigue.
(Tsk, it really is unpleasant that such strange rumors are
spreading. If I become a rumor with Aleist, there really won’t be
any return. In the worst case, mother will forcefully have me marry
Aleist, and push master onto my sister. To think my sister who
hasn’t gone to any troubles would be the greatest wall to my
fluffadise.)
While Fina was vexed within, in the first place, Aileen was
always a demi-human hater. The moment Fina’s patience ran out, they
were fated to clash someday.
In the documents prepared with her textbooks, the defenders and
royal guard… the names of the recruits to each knight brigade were
listed.
(Five high knights this year, and nine dragoons… there’s no
helping it for the dragoons, but it looks like the high knights are
about to be crushed. I wanted to crush them before that black hair
entered! The border is the same as always…)
The high knights put up a resistance, and she wasn’t able to
dismantle them as she wanted. From Fina’s point of view, it wasn’t
anything too important, so she instantly changed her train of
thought.
She had investigated whoever intrigued her and paid especial
attention to the movements of the royal guard. Choosing Aileen over
her, many young nobles had already infiltrated her faction.
Seeing the movements of the enemy force, it really was the
end.
(So that house is no good either. That house is joining my
sister too? Oy, oy, that’s quite a number.)
Unable to stop her laughter within, Fina planned to use this
opportunity and largely chip away at the nobles’ power. If blood
was going to flow regardless, she might as well use it to its
fullest.
That was Fina Courtois.
It was something that had been decided from the moment her
sister Aileen had chosen to prioritize her personal matters over
the country. But Aileen was strangely blessed with luck. To Fina,
that was a major problem.
The formation of the royal guard was the same, it was almost as
if she was loved by the heavens.
(Well, it’s impossible I’ll ever see a heaven outside my
fluffadise. But even so… why does my sister have such a large
faction? There’s no way I’d ever side with her. The risk is too
great. Could it be there’s someone backing her? … Hah, no way, no
way.)
The fact that she had a large backer called the plot was
something even Fina had no way of knowing.
◇
“A graduation party? We’re having one this year too?”
In the boys’ dorm dining hall, Rudel and the usual members were
having a meal. That day was a rare one where Aleist was at the same
table, participating in the conversation.
“That’s right! This time, we’re the lead roles, right? Then
there’s no point if we don’t enjoy ourselves.”
Eunius was delighted. While his academics were abysmal, he
somehow managed to maintain the bare minimum grades up to
graduation. He was delighted to finally be freed from the
books.
“Even if you say to enjoy it, you know. Food and live
performances… what else is there? If the academy puts too much
money into it, the palace will get noisy.”
From a financial standpoint, they wouldn’t be able to do
anything too large-scale, said Luecke. Aleist finished his desert
before joining in.
“A party, eh… like a masquerade?”
“What’s that?”
As Aleist spoke of a masquerade, Eunius bit on. Perhaps Rudel
didn’t have any interest as he sipped his drink.
“No, well, you attend the party in disguise. How should I put
it, like a costume or… something you wouldn’t usually where. You
can wear a large stuffed animal? No, I think that’s a little
different.”
While he explained it, Aleist was unable to convey a clear
image.
“What you don’t usually where? Will the men wear dresses or
something? That sounds a bit sickening.”
On Luecke’s impression, Eunius made a smile.
“Now that sounds interesting.”
“Hah?”
“You…”
“What you don’t usually wear…”
As the three of them sighed, Eunius burst into laughter.
Imagining a man wearing a dress in public, he grew just a little
sick.
“Idiot, it’s best to have a lot of ideas, right? It’s just a
thought, it’s not like they’ll actually take it up, so let’s spice
things up and submit some interesting requests. It seems the other
folks are submitting requests to the academy, after all.”
Knowing it would be held again this year, the students were
submitting requests to the academy. There were many noble students
with ample party experience, and they put in many requests.
“Sure enough… right! Then I want a beauty contest!!”
Aleist jumped on board Eunius’ cajolery, taking out something to
write with and listing his ideas. The three who didn’t know what a
beauty contest was sought the contents from Aleist.
“What sort of this is that? Well, if it’s beauty, it probably
has something to do with the girls…”
As Luecke thought, Aleist explained with a smile. These sort of
pre-school-festival events, in his past life, they were things he
couldn’t take part in even if he wanted to.
“Among the girls participating in the contest, you choose the
most beautiful one. It’s better to have more participants, and we
can have active students take part as well. Hey, it’s just a
request… so let’s put in a swimsuit judging.”
“Beauty? Then Izumi has my vote! No, wait. Beauty… can Sakuya
participate? If she can, then that’ll be a hard choice.”
Rudel showed some interest, and as expected, it had to do with
Izumi. From how he asserted of Sakuya’s beauty, it meant that to
Rudel, Izumi was just about as precious to him as a dragon.
But the three men didn’t notice that.
“No, that’s not happening.”
“Rudel, a dragon is…”
“You want a dragon to wear a swimsuit? Yeah, no.”
Once Aleist got the idea together, Luecke was next. Recalling
the previous party, he remembered how Aleist had caused a
ruckus.
Aleist, who had nonchalantly accumulated romance events, had no
insufficiency of these sort of topics.
“Last year was interesting. You know, when Aleist was assaulted
by a woman. In that case, should we hold a confession in the
hall?”
“… How long are you going to drag on that joke on?”
“Too bad for you. As long as we’re alive, I’m going to tell
everyone I meet.”
As Eunius said that with a straight face, Rudel inflicted the
final blow.
“That confession at the tournament was the same, but that was
considerably famous. A confession in the sickroom, and one in a
concluded space… ah, I’m talking about the places you seduced your
fiancés. Right now, they’ve become popular landmarks.”
“Why do you have to gouge out my heart!!? A majority of them
were mistakes and misunderstandings! Even if a graduate, I’ll leave
my name in some strange way!”
“What are you talking about? You’ve already left it. The
confession spots of Aleist, the god of love have become rumors all
over the academy. Or so I heard from Izumi.”
He had actualized the harem that was thought to be impossible,
and even so, Aleist kept confessing. He was now being called the
academy’s god of love.
“Your info source is usually Izumi.”
If Rudel had heard it from Izumi, Luecke was sure it wasn’t
mistaken. Izumi was popular among the girls. She had likely heard
of the spots from her juniors and went to confirm them. Luecke’s
guess was on the mark, he wasn’t wrong.
The fact Izumi was able to form connections with her junior
girls was truly a good thing indeed.
Becoming prefect was a nice opportunity for her to expand her
sphere of influence.
“Then let’s add on a public confession. Now then, god of love,
put it down on the form.”
Overdoing things, Eunius had Aleist fill in an entry for public
confession. Having come so far, Rudel was the only one who hadn’t
submitted an idea.
“Do you have any requests, Rudel?”
As Luecke asked for Rudel’s request, Rudel made a bit of a
troubled face.
“Me? I haven’t taken parts in many parties. I don’t know what
would be good.”
“Nothing? Just say whatever. We’re just submitting ideas, and
it’s not like they’ll actually use them.”
Aleist put out a few ideas, and Rudel selected one from among
them.
◇
“The events for this year’s graduation party have been decided,
so let me relay them.”
The staff gathered for a meeting to talk about the graduation
party. They felt relief that the fundamental curriculum’s class
battles had ended without incident.
But there were quite a few problems with the graduation party.
It was something that had started last year, and now that young
nobles had begun to take notice, the party’s contents were a
problem.
Starting with food and drink, they got all sorts of requests for
high-class goods. What’s more, call in some beauties, and have them
put on a show, there were quite a few requests coming in.
From among them, there were only a few that were actually
possible to actualize. It was the teaching staff’s hope that the
status of the students who put in the requests would contain the
dissatisfaction of the other students.
“It’s impossible to assemble high-class foodstuff for all
students, so here, we will be stressing the contents of the party
itself.”
They couldn’t’ use too much money, but be that as it may, they
had to make it fun. That was the challenge.
“Then first off, we recognize the request for the attendees to
participate in costume, and next, a swimsuit judging among the
female students… that sounds cold. We’ll do something with magic.
And skipping the public confession, let’s look at the king’s
game.”
All of Rudel’s group’s proposals had gone through. The biggest
reason was that they were all plausible on an economic front.
“Is there really no problem with the beauty contest?”
A female teacher spoke in a bit of a harsh tone, but from the
point of view of the men, they did have a desire to watch. More
than anything, it would be a wasted if they didn’t do something to
occupy the time.
“Participation isn’t obligatory, after all. It’s entirely
possible we’ll have no contestants at all.”
Softly evading the female teacher’s question, they moved onto
the public confession. There were students whose positions made it
troublesome to confess or be confessed to, so that would be a
problem.
“Public confession… isn’t that taking things too far?”
“Yeah, I feel the same. Some might let the drink get to them,
but would anyone really confess before several hundred? At most,
someone’ll do it as a side show.”
The male staff member acting as chairman began explaining the
final submission.
“Last is the king’s game. In this one, we pick a ‘king’ from
among the participants and have all the others select a number.
Without knowing those numbers, the king gets to give an order”
“Well, that one’s a game, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
The headmaster was sure the last game would have far less issue
than the first three. Those around were arguing a little about how
the beauty contest was going too far.
But from the knowledge Aleist had brought with him, no one had
noticed.
The headmaster was greeting the graduation of the generation
with so many problem children, and he was overcome with relief and
loneliness. Rather than the party, he was happy they were able to
safely graduate.
So no one noticed. That the king’s game was the most problematic
of all…
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s20.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 110: The Fight and Friends
Chapter 110: The Fight and Friends
In front of Aleist’s eyes, a large man was sent flying to the
side.
No, perhaps it was more accurate to say he was blown away. Rudel
and Eunius exchanged fists nearby, while a little further away,
Luecke used his magic to blow away the knights that swarmed around
him. The civil officials who tried to capture Eunius were thrown
and littered about the streets like garbage.
At the surrounding disaster, Aleist’s face went pale. He
instantly sobered up.
“Yep! This looks bad. This is definitely bad, Rudel!”
The two locking fists wouldn’t lend an ear to his cry. On the
contrary, despite the unveiling the day after the next, the two of
them were punching each other in the face. When the others were
carefully punching away from the face, the two of they laughed as
they blatantly took aim.
Just as they had been in the academy, they were serious. The
form of them seriously enjoying that exchange of blows caused
Aleist to draw back.
“I’m telling you to stop it! You aren’t kids anymore.”
“Aleist, what makes you think you can stay an onlooker?”
“Eh?”
When Aleist tried to stop the two of them, Luecke placed a hand
on his shoulders. As he turned, Luecke began to scold him, a frigid
smile floating over his face.
“You… no. The defenders really have been a thorn in my side. The
overtime I go through every day, and the mountains of paperwork,
they’re all because of the defenders. Did you know? Who do you
think prepares all the budget you guys run through like water? And
who do you think checks over the documentation?”
“I haven’t the slightest.”
Aleist was a lieutenant, but he generally didn’t attend
meetings. No, he wasn’t invited to them. He simply worked at the
palace on cleaning duty. That was all.
When he was suddenly brought into talks of funding there was no
way he could answer.
“It’s me. It’s my duty to process it! Even so, it’s my job. If
it’s a necessity, I won’t complain. But you see… the quantity and
details of the papers surrounding you guys is abnormal!”
Aleist could hear a grating sound from the shoulder Luecke
grasped. HE was definitely angry. Definitely enraged. Not wanting
to take on Luecke when he was like that, he tried to laugh and play
it off, when…
“Do you know about the magic called earth hand?”
As Luecke snapped his fingers, the dirt behind him swelled into
the shape of a gripped fist. The size of that fist was as large as
a grown man.
“W-what do you plan to do with that?”
“Isn’t is obvious? You use your shadows, so I’ll be using magic.
I’m not suited to duking it out like those guys.”
Aleist’s eyes turned to Rudel, confirming the form of the two
rampaging about, destroying everything around them.
Looking back at Luecke, Aleist broke into a cold sweat at the
earth hands that had multiplied in number while he wasn’t
looking.
“Now why don’t we start.”
“This is way too unreasonable!”
◇
Around that time, the culprit behind Luecke’s anger, Fina, was
processing paperwork in her private room at the palace.
“Hah, this is for the sake of the country… I cannot be negligent
(I’ll pass this proposal and augment our budget! Just you wait,
Halbades! I’ll show you a thing or two about how this works.
Hihyaaaah!)”
“Princess, please stop with the lies. A majority of these
documents pertain to demi-humans, correct? What’s with this special
facility? The budget’s become something incredible.”
“Fluff fluff land.”
“…”
“For the sake of my dreams of fluffadise, I must first start
with a house of fluff.”
Sophina’s face was stiff as she looked at Fina, who didn’t have
anyone to stop her lately. She had worked too hard, transcending
her fatigue and ending up in a state of high tensions. Naturally as
it was, once the individual calmed down, she would surely come to
regret it.
The current Courtois didn’t have the budget to send around to
such things. But through her needless proficience, her papers were
able to skillfully draw funding from the country. Meaning the
official documents made it all the way to the top brass. They would
likely be torn up there, but it was no joke for the government
officials who had to deal with it along the way.
At this point, Luecke’s sending back of the documents had become
Fina’s motivation. Luecke’s overly serious personality had
backfired.
“I’ll call my master to fluff fluff land, and spend my days by
his side gazing at fluffies being fluffed! I’m saying goodbye to
this life of paperwork!”
“Get a grip on yourself! Why are you trying so far? When you’re
usually so useless!”
“… Sophina. You just called me useless, did you. I now
understand how you see me on a regular basis.”
Seeing Fina suddenly turn serious, Sophina flinched.
After staring expressionlessly at Sophina, Fina turned to her
desk and restarted her work. Atop the desk, there were a number of
serious documents scattered about. A report on the border was one
of them.
(Well I’m beat. The movements of the knight brigades stationed
on the border are worse than I thought. They’re not even
particularly incompetent, so why are…)
She seriously considered anti-empire measures and moved some
hands around, but it seems she had lost the initiative.
While she had sent around members of the defenders as well, but
even so, if you asked whether they were enough to maintain the
border, that would be impossible. A number of choices encroached on
Fina. Within all that, what would become her trump card would have
to be the dragoons. From the founding of the nation, they had
protected the kingdom.
(They’re too skilled. We’ll eventually have to pay the bill for
relying on them too much. Even if we overcome this situation, it’ll
be bad if we don’t have some reforms.)
As she troubled her head over the dragoons, Fina remembered
Rudel. In preparation for the expo in two days time, the members of
each knight brigade were probably making a ruckus right around
now.
“I’m sure it’s rowdy outside.”
On Fina’s words, Sophina hurriedly gave a response.
“I-It happens every year. We’ll have to spend tomorrow repairing
the destruction.”
At the expo that could be called Courtois’ specialty, the young
knights would run rampant every year. It was also a sort of stress
relief. You could say that area was sponsored.
“It’s an annual event. If the fountain isn’t destroyed, you
can’t say it’s that time of year.”
“The area around the fountain on the main road is the perfect
place for a fight, after all.”
Perhaps recalling her time as a new recruit, Sophina gave a
nostalgic nod. There was no problem about the exchange of blows
between knight brigades.
If it was on the level of a scuffle, they would often be
condoned. It was a part of the festival. A part of the festive
eve.
Fina wondered if Rudel was also raising a ruckus right around
not. That didn’t sound bad, thought she as she looked at the desk.
For Fina knew now was the only time he could play around.
◇
The four out of breath fled from the plaza surrounding the
fountain.
As knights protecting the capital came in droves, Luxheidt and
the others bought them some time. But Eunius and Luecke’s followers
were apprehended, unable to run away. Rudel had hopes that Luxheidt
would manage to do something about that as well.
“W-why are we running? Just own up.”
While Aleist gave a short-winded lament, the other three
laughed. Rudel gave his first grand laugh he had given in a long
time. The four of them hadn’t changed. They were the same sort of
idiots they had been in their school days.
“No, couldn’t help it.”
Eunius rubbed the place Rudel had smacked him as he laughed.
Rudel had cut the inside of his mouth, blood dripped from the
corner of his lips. As he wiped that, Luecke began to speak.
“Now then, what are we going to do now?”
“Let’s get a drink. It won’t be any fun if we broke up
here.”
On their exchange, Aleist recalled their followers.
“Huh? What about your men?”
“I’m sure they’ll be released in no time. That’s just the sort
of day it is.”
“Once they’re shoved in a cell, even those lot will quiet down a
bit, right? Oh right! I can use that as a reason to increase their
training hours. My body’s aching to move around.”
On their light correspondence, Rudel recalled his own comrades.
Luxheidt, Saas, and Enora would likely be fine without him.
And he thought over Izumi, but he couldn’t turn back to invite
her now. If he showed himself, he would be apprehended.
“Then we have to find a store that’ll take us.”
Rudel proceeded down the depths of an alley, and following
behind him, the other three walked. Being in an alley, Aleist
walked mindfull of his surroundings.
From behind, they could hear the clamor of the main street.
◇
“Oy, was that really alright?”
Leaving the fallen to the knights charged with security,
Luxheidt had freed his company. Saas seemed worried about letting
Rudel run away and pushing their job onto the other knights.
But Luxheidt laughed.
“It’s fine. Rather, I already told them who the principal
offenders were.”
“You sold Rudel out?”
Enora scowled at him, so he said that was an overstatement and
brought seriousness to his face.
“The culprits are the three lords and that black knight, right?
It’ll be more troublesome for them to actually arrest them, and as
punishment, the four are going to help with the cleanup tomorrow.
This is for the best. I’m sure they’ll be delighted, being given a
legit reason to avoid some troublesome work.”
“You really see it going down that well?”
Saas glared at him, so Luxheidt shrugged his shoulders. He
didn’t particularly get the feeling he handled things perfectly. He
hadn’t stopped Rude. If he did, it wouldn’t have come to this.
Even so, Luxheidt had his own reasons for not stopping
Rudel.
“Well, I just have to do better next time.”
“So I hope.”
On Saas’ words, Luxheidt gave a bitter smile.
He was looking at his colleagues in his own way; while Saas had
a sharp look in his eyes, he worried for his comrades. Enora was
engrossed with Rudel, but lately, she had lost her tension, and let
the power leave her shoulders. She had talent from the start. He
recognized her abilities.
Whenever he looked at Rudel, he found himself amused.
He felt he was looking forward to whatever he would do. While he
was a person unsuited for organizations, that being the case, he
would draw people to him.
(Is this how a hero is supposed to be? Well, if that’s how it’s
going to be, it sure is lucky to have a hero among your
colleagues.)
Seeing Luxheidt chuckle, both Saas and Enora, and the other
dragoons found it creepy.
◇
Right as they exited the alley they found themselves at a stall
near the river.
Rudel and the others walked over to it and took their
seats at the provisional chairs outside the stall. The table wasn’t
fixed, it wouldn’t stop wobbling.
The sound of flowing water and the exchanges of the
surrounding customers rung comfortably against their ears. While
they were covered in wounds, their clothes in tatters, the
stallkeeper accepted them with a smile.
Eunius handed over some money and told them to bring out
whatever. In no time, the table was lined with snacks and ale. The
plates were cheap, and the ale wasn’t anything high class, but the
four of them raised their glasses on the spot.
Aleist alone seemed vaguely unpleased. Seeing his expression,
Eunius pat him on the shoulder and laughed.
“What’s up? You look down, Aleist.”
Luecke munched on the potatoes put out as a snack, and perhaps
they were surprisingly tasty, as he continued reaching out for
them. And with Eunius leading in, he tried consoling Aleist.
“Are you mindful of what happened back there? I’ll forget about
it, so why don’t you have a bite too? These fried potatoes are
splendid.”
“No, I’m not angry or anything. How should I put it, I don’t
hate this sort of thing. It’s just, I’m on cleaning duty, and I’m
anxious about what’s to come, or rather…”
It seemed Aleist had his worries. Rudel recalled Aleist’s
expression as he saw it in the high-class shop. It didn’t quite
look that he was living a fulfilled life. Though he knew that he
was troubled, being surrounded by women.
“Are you worried? Then it’ll be easier to talk about it.”
“It’s that, right? Millia, right? The rumor’s been going around
the palace.”
Eunius bit off some meat from a skewer, telling Rudel Aleist’s
rumor in the palace.
In the first place, while being a lieutenant of the defenders,
he was surrounded by female knights. What’s more, they were all
beauties. It was natural for male knights to resent him. Yet such a
man was in love with the female elf knight called Millia. And the
target of his affections wasn’t giving him the time of day.
“You know, when you already have five fiancés, there are even
talks of getting the princess with you as well. That’s why you’re
so hated.”
“Five mistresses is a bit much, don’t you think. Rudel, could
you pass that fish over there.”
Luecke asked Rudel to hand over the fish he hadn’t tried yet.
Rudel cleaned up the empty plates as he handed Luecke the plate of
fish.
“This one? Well, I think it’s too much as well.”
The three of them warned Aleist about his engagements, but to
them, Aleist dropped an even bigger bomb.
“… Seven.”
“… Hah?”
While he was drinking his ale, on Aleist’s murmur, Eunius ended
up spilling his cup. Luecke also dropped the food en route to his
mouth.
“Aleist, if that wasn’t a mistake, did I just hear seven?”
As three sets of eyes gathered, Aleist downed the contents of
the cup in his hand. He cried out.
“That’s right! Seven! It went up. It went up while I wasn’t
looking… my parents said she was the daughter of an important
business partner and took her. And after that, even a childhood
friend popped out.”
Rudel looked at Luecke and tilted his head.
“Are childhood friends the sort of things that suddenly pop
out?”
“No, they usually don’t suddenly pop out. Tell us more,
Aleist.”
Aleist poured alcohol into his cup and sipped it as he began to
speak. His eyes were already teary.
“A long while back… well, there were a few reasons, and there
was a kid who moved over. Rather than moved over, she was the
daughter of my old private tutor and she lived at the mansion with
us.”
“I see. A common tale.”
Eunius gave an adequate response before putting in an order for
extra ale. While he was surprised they had increased, it seems he
had no interest in how love began. More than that, he was directing
a smile at the stallkeeper’s cute daughter who came to take their
order.
“No, well… that kid had this and that going on, and we got along
well. But I forgot about her, or how should I put it…”
“Now that’s terrible.”
The reason Rudel could say that was because of his few
encounters in life. The nobles Luecke and Eunius had plenty of
places to meet people. Within all that, there were quite a few
faces they had forgotten.
For Rudel, who had few encounters before he came to the academy,
he felt forgetting was terrible.
Sensing his difference in temperature from those around him,
Rudel inclined an ear towards Aleist’s story.
“Y-yeah. And you see, it seems we made a bit of a promise when
we were little, and…”
“A verbal agreement? I can’t endorse the fact you let someone
grasp your weakness.”
“You should learn to evade it a bit more.”
Luecke and Eunius pressed Aleist on his verbal agreement. That
was also something that came from their special environment. And as
such a mismatched conversation carried on, Aleist’s present
situation came into light.
Meaning, while proclaiming he loved Millia, he had increased his
number of fiancés. There were seven at the current stage. Thinking
of how either Fina or Aileen might be added on, the three of them
could no longer laugh it off.
Because his serious worry was an increase in his amount of
engagements.
“Then just reject them.”
The words Eunius said through a laugh were the closest thing he
had to an answer. His indecisiveness was the problem, Rudel agreed
with that.
But Aleist understood it as well.
“I did! Rather, I flat out rejected them! But… but… one of them
was a daughter of a merchant business partner, and my parents said
it was for the future of their transactions, and the other side was
all up for it. And when there’s a girl with a smile that says she’s
waited for this moment her entire life, um, I couldn’t straight up
say no, or how should I put it, my words didn’t get through at
all.”
The three faces gradually grew sympathetic. There was no helping
it if it was about the connections between houses, thought Rudel as
he consoled Aleist. But here, Luecke changed the topic.
The three of them had noticed. Aleist had some fault in it…
So that was the end of the matter. There was nothing more for
the three of them to do. They weren’t able to stick their mouths
into the circumstance of other houses.
“Come to think of it, Rudel, your sister’s enrolling in the
academy next year, right? … Is Lena doing alright?”
“Lena? I heard she’s going fine. They grow up so fast.”
“I-I see. Then I want to send her something to commemorate the
event. What would be nice?”
“Hey, I’m not done yet.”
Having lost interest in Aleist, Rudel and Luecke began talking
about Lena’s enrollment. Eunius had started hitting on the
stallkeeper’s daughter.
He was being a bit incessant, so Luecke glared at Aleist. His
eyes were the epitome of seriousness.
“Can you keep quiet a bit? I’m talking about something serious
here… so if I’m sending her something, would a spear be nice? I can
arrange for one of the highest quality at once.”
“I think it’s a bit early for that. In that case, I something
simple that fits her physique would be nice. As a brother, if
possible, I’d like to do something for Erselica as well, but…
Aleist, I’ll hear you out some other time.”
Rudel spoke with Luecke about his sisters as he put off Aleist’s
talk to another time.
◇
Separated from everyone, Izumi and Millia walked down a path a
little away from the rowdy main road.
The voices of the knights in festive spirits reached all the way
to them.
Millia and Izumi walked side by side as they made for the
lodging house. The two of them stayed silent.
Perhaps being tactful, Izumi started a conversation about the
events of the day.
“Today really was something. Even so, those four are the same as
ever.”
Seeing Izumi’s bitter smile, Millia suddenly grew irritated.
Rudel had smacked away the knight who tried to lay a hand on her.
It felt as if she had been shown just how important Izumi was to
Rudel.
(When I already decided to forget.)
“And Aleist is going after you as alwa–”
“Quiet! Shut up!”
“M-Millia?”
Stopping in her tracks and screaming out, Millia looked blankly
into Izumi’s face. With that sudden cry, Izumi’s expression showed
she was mindful over whether she had said something bad.
Handing her head, Millia threw out all the feelings she had been
keeping silent about. Hearing her own shaking voice, she noticed
she was crying.
“I’m jealous of you. The only one he’ll ever look at is you,
Izumi. It was the same at the academy. Always by his side. When I
could only ever watch, you were always having fun with him.”
She understood these weren’t words to direct at Izumi. She
understood, but with the alcohol in her system, she was doing a bad
job at controlling her feelings.
She didn’t particularly hate Aleist. But the one she came to
like was Rudel. Within Millia, there remained still emotions she
couldn’t shake off. No matter how hard she tried to forget, it was
no good. It would only remind her, inform her of how much she
thought of Rudel.
And yet…
“Even now, I still like Rudel.”
… And yet, I can’t win against Izumi.
Understanding she couldn’t’ win, It was the voice of Millia’s
heart.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 111: Friends and the Display
Chapter 111: Friends and the Display
In the capital preparing for its expo in two days, the revelry
could be heard, even on the unpopular road back to the lodging
house.
The two women who met each other on that road, a green haired
crying elf, and a black haired beautiful oriental woman.
She understood she would never be able to say it so bluntly. She
knew it would only be trouble if she said that. To Izumi, Rudel was
close to her life’s savior. So she didn’t want to trouble her
savior Rudel.
And yet, Millia said she was jealous.
“Say something… laugh at my efforts as futile. Rudicule me! Say
I’m a stupid woman! Make me give up already!!”
While Millia painfully wrung out her voice, Izumi shook her
head. It was a sensation as if Millia was speaking her own
feelings, causing the tears to build in Izumi’s eye. Enduring the
urge to cry, Izumi took a deep breath before slowly looking over
Millia.
The fact she looked like a young girl trembling in her anxiety
was surely because she was an elf. Raising her head, she readied
herself.
“I’m the same. No, I’m even worse. I always liked him. That’s
why I stayed by his side. But even that was no good. I’m not good
enough to stand by Rudel’s side.”
When she put what she understood to mouth, she felt ashamed of
herself. But even so, Making a smile, Izumi spoke to Millia.
“We’re similar, you and I. Falling in love with a person our
hands will never reach, we’re both stupid women.”
“… But you’re all the way up there, so far ahead of me. I don’t
have a single memory with him at the academy…”
“Even so, that doesn’t change the result.”
Izumi’s tone wasn’t as if she was speaking to Millia, it was as
if she was telling it to herself.
◇
The next day…
In the plaza with the broken fountain, under Cattleya’s watch,
the Three Lords and Aleist were cleaning up the wreckage.
Eunius and Luecke’s followers they had forcefully brought in had
taken paid leave and were currently hospitalized.
“Why is it just us? There were definitely others who went on a
rampage.”
“My thoughts exactly. I’m no good at physical labor. Can’t we
leave this to the laborers?”
To the two who spilled complaints, Cattleya gave the whip in her
hands one strong smack against the ground. That strike from the
whip made quite a painful sound.
“Yeah, yeah, you two over there, get back to work. Otherwise,
we’ll never make in time for tomorrow’s display (Not just this
time, we haven’t had idiots that destroyed it this bad in
years).”
As the new recruits were placed under Cattleya, she had to take
responsibility and keep watch over the four. It was decided that
Cattleya was the only viable option, but truth be told, Oldart
pushed the job onto her because she looked bored.
(Hah, why am I even here.)
She issued orders to the four, putting them to work, but any
normal knight would be too fearful to order them around. With
various things having happened in the past, it was decided Cattleya
would be alright.
She looked at the two seriously doing work a little away. It was
Aleist and Rudel.
“Huh? Rudel, why are you smiling like that? It’s creepy.”
“Yeah, you should look forward to tomorrow’s display. I can’t
talk about it yet, but I’m sure you’ll be surprised.”
(What are you planning? Well, the ones who’ll be troubled are
that Charmer in his Prime and Mr. Straight-laced so I don’t really
care.)
As Cattleya let out a sigh, she got around to thinking that her
amount of troubles had increased as of late. Perhaps her state had
been witnessed as the four of them gathered to look at
Cattleya.
“What’s this? Does your superior have someone she likes? Come to
think of it, she used to be your fiancé, right Rudel?”
As Eunius checked it with another dragoon, Rudel, the man in
question tilted his head.
“I’m not good with those sorts of rumors, but… I don’t think she
does.”
(… Well I’m sorry for being single. Even like this, I’m at least
trying.)
With younger men gossiping over her love life, it got to her
head, but Cattleya persuaded herself to endure it.
“Hmm, well, with that personality, you know. She must be
troubled with no one wanting to take her. This is why boorish women
are troublesome.”
Aleist followed through on Luecke’s cold words. As Aleist took
some fleeting glances at her, Cattleya grew irritated.
“N-no, well! Appearance-wise, she’s beautiful, and she’s a
dragoon, so that sort of thing is…”
“Well sorry for only being beautiful appearance-wise! Now get
back to work already.”
When she hit her whip against the ground, three of them returned
to work. Eunius the manual labor, Luecke used magic to repair the
broken portions. Aleist carried out miscellaneous jobs.
But Rudel…
“Lieutenant.”
“What is it?”
He came over to Cattleya, and after struggling a bit over what
to say, he directed her a smile. As Cattleya worried whether that
smile would turn her face red, Rudel…
“I don’t know what happened, but do your best!”
Cattleya expressionlessly approached Rudel before lightly
hitting him with her whip. While Rudel’s seemed confused, she
yelled out loudly.
“This is your faullttt!”
“Why!?”
Seeing Rudel’s incomprehensive face, Cattleya screamed some
more.
◇
Fritz wore the gorgeous knight uniform he had gotten accustomed
to over the past half year as he paid Aileen a visit.
As captain of the royal guard, escorting Aileen was part of his
duty. It was a role he was responsible, and definitely a problem to
be handled, but it wasn’t as if he didn’t have any proficient
subordinates he could leave it to.
Originally, guards of firm status and capability would be
selected.
But it hadn’t been long since the royal guard’s creation.
To add to that, Fritz had graduated on the academy’s three-year
curriculum. He had become captain without learning all the things
he should. That being the case, he had problems when it came to
paperwork jobs. The executives of the royal guard had circled him
around to Aileen’s security.
Otherwise, on top of Aileen’s mood spiraling downwards, work
wouldn’t get done. Keeping Aileen company as she sipped tea on the
terrace, Fritz had begun to hold questions as of late. Was it
really alright for him to be here doing this? Wasn’t there
something else he should be doing?
But he had already become captain of the royal guard, and he had
not the freedom.
The Kingdom of Courtois had even granted Fritz a dragon. Letting
Fritz do as he pleased was an impossible request.
“What seems to be the matter? Are these sweets not to your
liking… then I’ll call the bakers.”
“N-no. that isn’t the case.”
While he had gotten around to using words he wasn’t accustomed
to, he was told that in private, before Aileen, he was to speak
normally. From that, his manner of speech had become a mismatch.
The reason for his panic was Aileen.
If she didn’t fancy them, she would instantly change out the
bakers.
If it was so easy, then couldn’t he be next… the thought crossed
Fritz’ mind. He had unskillfully succeeded, so he couldn’t’ let
himself drop from his current status. The elevation of commoner
living standards he wanted to carry out, put in the wrong station
he wasn’t able to push it forward.
(It’s not yet the time. If I wait a bit more, I should be able
to move freely.)
Smiling, sipping tea with Aileen, Fritz feared when the smile of
this beautiful princess might be directed at another.
(Want. I want Aileen.)
Her blond hair was long and beautiful, her blue eyes seemed they
just might suck him in.
Fritz held affection towards Aileen, who had supported him so
far. It was something, looked on from the side, was a fleeting, and
hazardous scene to behold.
◇
“Father, what knight brigade is that one!?”
A small girl held an ice cream cone in her right hand as she
asked her father giving her a piggy back ride about the knight
brigade members marching in file.
“That’s the royal guard. There aren’t many high knights this
year, so they might be the centerpiece in years to come.”
The father had lived in the capital for many years and he had
watched the displays from a young age. As the years went by, he had
begun to view them with the strict eyes of an examiner.
The royal guard was a hurriedly constructed brigade, and their
movements couldn’t’ help but lack in polish.
“They aren’t moving well. I heard some high knights had
transferred over, but their ranks are slightly misaligned. If
that’s how they’re going to be, then while they’re lacking in
numbers, the high knights are the prettier sight.”
“Ah, father, look, look! There’s a person wearing amaaazing
black armor over there.”
As the girl started squirming on her father’s shoulders, ‘Don’t
drop your ice cream,’ he said as he gave a wry smile.
“One of this year’s centerpieces. That’s the black knight.”
“Black knight?”
“Black full-plate armor and a red mantle… those gold horns and
ornaments are lovely. He’s even riding a nightmare, he’s on a
different level from the other knights.”
A nightmare was a beautiful horse monster with a long, black
mane. But as it possessed intellect, it was possible to domesticate
it. The sharp horn growing from its forehead and the red lines that
drew a pattern as they ran around its body were a charming
sight.
“Ah! There’s a dragon flying in the sky! Are is that a
dragoon?”
“Hahaha, with just one dragon, I can’t say that’s a dragoon.
It’s circling over the royal guard, so I’m sure that’s the
captain’s dragon. But it does look lonely flying along like that.
When the new recruit and veteran flight formations are the
centerpiece each year.”
The royal guard passed in front of the two, followed by the new
recruits of each knight brigade. The residents living in the
capital looked to the sky, knowing the real show was yet to
come.
“My neck hurts.”
“Just watch a little longer. I’m sure you’ll never forget
it.”
There, the girl raised a cheer. The surrounding townsfolk all
looked up at the formation of dragons flying through the sky.
Cheers and whistles. And as if they couldn’t hear a lick of it, the
two looked up at the sky.
“What was that!? What was that!”
“That was some high-level flying. There was a wind dragon at the
lead, so I’m sure that person’s going to become an amazing knight
of the dragoons someday. When they picked them up in less than a
year, those movements were splendid.”
The dragons flying through the sky flew in a way they could show
off their skill to the residents of the capital.
The delighted young girl waved her hand at the dragons in the
sky. But the dragons had already gone.
“They’re gone.”
“It’s not done yet. The real show starts now.”
The father’s eyes sparkled, without blinking his eyes, he looked
up at the sky. His expression was one that wouldn’t let the
slightest movement go unnoticed, the face of a child.
There, a completely different unit of dragons from before showed
movements as if they were dancing through the sky. On those
movements on another level from before, the girl could only cry
out, “Amazing, amazing!”
The father shouted, “No way, an aileron roll there!? Oy, oy, now
that’s a combo!” he said in great excitement. The seasoned eyes of
the capital’s residents had nothing but praise for the year’s
flight formation…
“Father, that was amazing!”
“Yeah, but there weren’t many wild dragons this year. The
captain has a gray dragon, so perhaps the dragoon’s quality is on a
decline after all. Their movements were nice, but I wanted to see
something more gallant. They used to swoop down so low you could
almost touch them, but I guess they’re paying mind to safety…”
“Father?”
(Come to think of it, wasn’t the white knight supposed to come
out this year? I believe… he had a gaia dragon, but I didn’t see it
back there. They say he’s a future archduke, so maybe he’ll come
out at the end.)
The man checked to see how the daughter on his shoulders was
faring. The girl who liked festivities ate her ice cream on her
father’s shoulders as she looked at the sky.
She looked at the sky enthralled, waiting to see if they would
come again. Seeing his daughter like that, the man recalled his own
past self.
He reminisced over how he had ridden the shoulders of his
father, now a grandfather, looking up at the dragons like this.
Back then, he had dropped his ice cream on his father’s back.
Recalling how angry he had gotten, he gave a bitter smile, only for
his daughter to drop her ice cream.
“Hey, you have to keep a proper hold on it.”
He didn’t get as angry as his father before him. When dealing
with his daughter, he couldn’t help but soften his words. But his
daughter stayed silently staring at the sky.
His surroundings grew silent as everyone stared. Feeling
suspicious of his daughter and the surrounding residents who
wouldn’t say a word, he looked up at the sky as well.
“What’s this…”
No one would answer the man’s words. No, no one could
answer.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s22.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 112: The Display and the King
Chapter 112: The Display and the King
The sky the capital’s residents looked up to was one of
cloudless blue sky.
But a shadow stretched out over the many onlookers. The light
was interrupted by the flight of dragon upon dragon, enough to
cover up the sky. At times, the sun would peek out from behind the
dragons, but the residents were left unable to say a single
word.
The heroic forms of the beautiful dragons were led to fly across
the sky in file.
It wasn’t a flight formation, it looked like a single large
flow. The movements of the dragons went alongside the plaza,
causing many to imagine the sight of a large flowing river.
They didn’t do any aerial maneuvers. The dragons that flew in
line showed a flight without a string’s breadth of disorder. And
flying at the center was a dragon especially large, even among its
peers, a large brilliant dragon of white.
Red, blue, yellow, green… Its form as it flew protected by a
conspicuously large dragon of each species made it look like a king
of dragons. Eventually, the dragons passed above the townsfolk,
gathering over the palace and rotating around it as if to draw a
circle.
Right above the palace stationed in the center of the royal
capital, a crest imitating the form of a dragon was put on show for
all to see. That crest was formed of the lines of dragons, and from
within it, a single dragon descended.
A single knight in white armor, a blue mantle on his back,
boldly descended to the palace alongside that dragon.
“Demon lord…”
“Eh?”
On the mutters of a girl on her father’s shoulders, the father
stared blankly. Once the small girl’s cry brought the silence to an
end, the residents directed their eyes at her.
“I saw it in a picture book. The demon lord will come, leading
his army. His legions cover the sky as he attacks the palace.”
On that day…
In the country of Courtois, a young man called the demon lord
was born.
◇
The palace was dark, a large hoard of dragons interrupting the
sky above them.
The place Rudel descended to was the same place that had been
decided on beforehand. As promised, he hadn’t carried out any
aerial maneuvers, so under normal circumstance, there wouldn’t be
and complaints.
But…
“W-what is the meaning of this!?”
The first one to raise their voice was Aileen, protected by
Fritz. The dragoons instantly took to the skies to protect the
royal line and authorities. The difference in numbers was
overwhelming, not a soul thought they would win.
Courtois had contracted with dragons from times of old, so long
ago that many who feared the day the dragons would turn against
them.
“We’ve invited in the rage of the dragons!”
“No way! They’re not attacking.”
“Who was it. Who did this!?”
In the chaotic palace plaza, King Albach raised his voice.
“Do not falter! Carry on the ceremony. White knight, black
knight, come forward.”
The unveiling was supposed to have the representatives come out
before the king and kneel. There, the king called out to the
knights. The whole goal was to show the residents of the capital
the military might of Courtois. If the space devolved into chaos,
then the country would grow chaotic as well.
“Let the orchestra play on. This is all per schedule.”
Albach took lead of that chaotic place, having Aleist and Rudel-
who had dismounted Sakuya- come out before him. The authorities and
knights who could naught but look at the sky quieted their ruckus
and faced the ceremony.
(… You’ve sure gone and done it.)
While he wanted to lodge a complaint or two, the king kept a
tranquil expression as he called out to Rudel and Aleist.
“Splendid. I am pleased to be able to see the form of two such
gallant knights this year.”
“Sir! I take your words with the deepest gratitude.”
“S-such words are wasted on…”
The two gave the responses decided on beforehand, but Aleist was
confused. At times, he looked mindfully at the sky. He had taken
off his helmet, holding it in his right hand, and it was his small
fortune that had made him less conspicuous. If he wore it, then the
twitching of his horns would alert the others of how mindful he was
of the space above him.
(Even so, what terrible faces they’ve got. They’re covered in
wounds.)
As a result of their fights, there were marks remaining on their
faces. While they had likely treated them, the treatment hadn’t
made it in time.
There were knights like this every year, but Albach never
thought the two serving as representatives would be among them.
(Good grief, cleaning this up will be a headache.)
He was certain an urgent anti-Rudel countermeasures meeting
would be called afterwards.
◇
Once the ceremony ended, the knight brigades were supposed to
disperse.
But after the wild dragons returned, Rudel was apprehended.
Seeing Rudel taken off, Sakuya laid her rage bare.
The other dragons didn’t try to stop Sakuya, so a situation
where the knights fearfully surrounded her persisted.
When Sakuya roared, the knights in their best clothing uneasily
took their stances. IT was a formal ceremony and they hadn’t
brought any decent equipment with them.
“C-captain! It’s no good!”
“Don’t give up! We are before his majesty’s eyes!”
“No, but…”
When it took courage just to stand against a dragon, Sakuya
boasted the biggest body of them all. There was no helping the
knights fear her.
It was the fault of the royal guard for forcefully dragging
Rudel off. Their treatment of him put Sakuya into a rage.
“What about the royal guard!?”
“What are the dragoons doing!?”
There were dragoons who would only watch from around, but that
was because their own dragons couldn’t move. Oldart and Alejandro
came up front to try to calm her down.
“Oy, oy, Sakuya-chan. Get too angry, and you’ll sprout wrinkles
on that pretty mug of…”
“You’re definitely not trying, are you!”
Alejandro cautioned Oldart for his lack of motivation. Perhaps
displeased at the wrinkle part, Sakuya roared out again.
Normally, these two would have accompanied Rudel, but the royal
guard had driven them off. The royal guard asserted it was their
jurisdiction, from Oldart’s eyes, it looked like they were
desperate for achievements.
“No, even if you ask me to work for those bastards sake, you
know…”
“Fool, this is a problem related to the honor of the
dragoons.”
“Sure, sure.”
Oldart looked at Sakuya, he could see she really was angry.
Their own dragons recognized Sakuya as boss, so he couldn’t
carelessly get close. While the difference in power was clear, more
than that, the finer laws of humanity held no meaning to
dragons.
Her contractor was receiving unjust treatment.
If Sakuya thought so, that was the dragon truth. On top of that,
still young, Sakuya had problems with regulating her emotions.
(No way I’m dealing with a child this big.)
As he was at his wit’s end, there a single high knight appeared.
The one who brought her was Aleist, who had removed his armor.
Escorting her halfway, he dispatched that single female knight
before Sakuya.
The female knight was Izumi.
As the high knight appeared, her ponytail swaying, the others
wondered what was going on and made a path.
“Sorry, pardon me.”
Still in her ceremonious knight garments, Izumi parted the crowd
and came forward. While Oldart tried to have her step back from the
danger, Sakuya’s behavior blatantly changed.
“Oy, young lady, any closer is… oh.”
Sakuya who- until just a moment before- had been spreading her
wings and roaring time and again, suddenly groaned and folded up
her wings. And Izumi looked at Sakuya.
While the roars had stopped, the surroundings maintained their
tension. In contrast, Izumi approached without getting worked
up.
“Rudel is alright. So it will be fine… right. Rudel’s strong,
isn’t he?”
Seeing Izumi call out to Sakuya, the surroundings were
surprised. While it looked like she was simply talking to herself,
the dragoons knew that scene boasted a different meaning.
Alejandro made a face of surprise.
“Is she holding a conversation? A knight who isn’t even a
dragoon?”
“That’s rare, but it’s not unheard of. I’m just thankful our big
girl’s grown meek.”
Oldart shrugged his shoulders sending orders around for everyone
to stand down. Sakuya obeyed Izumi and sat on the spot.
The knights released from their tensions started looking at
Izumi with eyes as if they were viewing their messiah. The new
recruits who sat down had haggard looks on their faces.
That was just how mentally taxing it was to confront a
dragon.
(Well, it really is harsh when you’re not used to it.)
Oldart called his subordinates, giving orders for everyone who
wasn’t keeping watch over Sakuya to return. Sakuya was now lying
down, and it seems Izumi was approaching her head to talk.
“… A hole? No, I really don’t think you should do that here… no,
I’m telling you it’s a bad idea.”
Sakuya was a gaia dragon with a liking for caves. She was bored
waiting, so she was probably telling Izumi she wanted to dig a
hole.
Hearing that, Oldart and Alejandro were flustered.
“Y-young lady! Stop her with all your might!”
◇
The palace was in chaos from Rudel’s actions.
The urgently-called meeting was held with everyone still in
ceremonious clothing. At times, they would hear Sakuya’s roars, the
vibrations resounding, even through the distant meeting room.
The meeting pertained to how they would treat Rudel
henceforth.
He had done no more than appear taking some dragons along, but
the fact he led so many wild dragons was the problem. According to
the man in question, it was a one-time thing.
But it was unclear whether or not that was true. If he was up to
it, couldn’t he bring ruin to Courtois? That was what they feared.
But they couldn’t treat him poorly. Rudel’s own status was one
thing, but now he was the white knight and famed through the
land.
In the worst case, there was no guarantee killing Rudel wouldn’t
invite in the retribution of the dragons. No, from Sakuya’s state,
it was thought that the possibility was high.
Once Rudel was shoved in a cell, the royal guard requested his
transfer.
“Rudel-dono is dangerous. We cannot leave him in the charge of
the dragoons. I beseech you to let the royal guard take charge of
him.”
Without any conspicuous military gains and with Fritz as their
captain, the seeds of panic had been born. They didn’t think they
would have the princess backing them forever.
Albach looked at the executive who spoke in Fritz’ stead,
sensing his impatience.
“On top of his numerous outbursts of problematic behavior since
becoming a dragoon, I think you have come to understand through
today’s expo. Rudel-dono is not properly being handled.”
(So you’ll handle him properly…? You’ll pin down the white
knight to obtain influence for yourselves? I think that’s more
trouble than it’s worth.)
Seeing through the royal guard’s impatience, Albach recalled
Fina’s warning to be wary of them. Even if you called him captain,
Fritz held the authority of the head of a single brigade. If Rudel
was placed under him, there would definitely be disputes.
They likely couldn’t permit the fact the black knight was with
the defenders. Even if he was on cleaning duty for now, it was
certain he would work his way up.
Rudel was also a single knight, but at the same time, he was a
future archduke. Staring ten, twenty years into the future, the
royal guard were nothing but anxious. There was nothing to assure
them Aileen would continue being their supporter in times to
come.
Yet at the same time, they were rapidly holding power within the
palace. They planned to make Rudel a part of that. To maintain that
power, they needed a shrine greater than Fritz in value.
(This is getting troublesome. But…)
“I also endorse his transfer to the royal guard.”
One of the ministers signaled his approval, he said they should
just entrust and quarantine him to the royal guard. While it was an
indirect statement, it was a proposal to keep him as little more
than a pet for life.
(These guys are even more trouble.)
Among his ministers, there would many who would stay Albach’s
hand. While they were preparing for the Gaia Empire, it was a
situation where he would have to do something about them.
(But right now, Rudel takes precedence.)
He feared punishing him too harshly, inviting the rage of the
dragons. Everyone felt the same. As there were many who signaled
their approval, Albach looked at Fritz.
“And how thinks the captain of the royal guard?”
Fritz stood from his seat and gave a bold declaration. It felt
almost as if he was just speaking lines written for him beforehand.
When looking at him as a single knight, he was competent, and the
king couldn’t wait to see how he would grow.
But from his ideals and standing, he couldn’t’ help but look
unreliable. No, from Albach’s point of view, Fritz was a
hindrance.
“I will be able to contain Rudel. It is my belief it is much too
dangerous to let him roam free forever. The problem lies in the
individual’s lack of self-awareness.”
“Hmm. Then the royal guard can contain Rudel?”
“Precisely.”
By Albach’s personal opinion, if Fritz actually had that much
power, then he would be fine with leaving the matter to him. But
when compared to Oldart, he seemed to fall short, and on top of
that, he knew that Fritz was doing nothing but drink tea with
Aileen.
Even if he was entrusting work to his subordinates, there should
be a limit to that. While it seemed the royal guard wanted to take
Rudel in, he got the feeling opinions were clashing within.
(The defenders have the black knight. But the royal guard can’t
contain Rudel. In that case, it’s best to keep the status quo,
but…)
Albach looked at Fritz and the other royal guard executives.
“Then will you be able to cope if wild dragons come as they have
today?”
“Yes.”
Fritz answered full of confidence. But there, the roars they
could hear from outside ceased. Alback sent a nearby knight outside
to confirm the situation.
He considered that Rudel might have slipped out, but he got
quite an interesting report instead.
◇
“Special inspection officer?”
As Izumi accepted the papers from her superior, she felt the
urge to tilt her head at the contents they detailed.
A few days had gone by since the ruckus at the expo, and when
she dropped by her workplace, she was called out by her superior
officer. Her superior who no longer had any hopes for the future…
the captain of the high knight brigade smiled as she sipped
tea.
“Yeah, your special talents have been recognized.”
“Special? But I don’t have any special talents…”
Izumi didn’t’ think she had any talent distinguishing her from
the others.
“You should be proud of the fact you were able to converse with
a dragon you aren’t contracted to and even sooth it at that. Even
more so if the one you can converse with is that white one. I’ve
heard you’ve held a friendship with her from your school days.”
The papers listed Rudel as her target of inspection. Continuing
on, she was to observe Sakuya as well.
“Well, your work will be taking you to the outer reaches of the
kingdom, but your promotion has been decided.”
A station on the outskirts was surely a strange promotion, but
Izumi confirmed the contents in surprise. She was being treated
favorably. While being enlisted in the high knight brigade, she was
granted a level of authority.
On top of that, she was even granted the right to choose her own
subordinates.
Even if her duty was in the outer reaches, it wasn’t as if she
was being sent off to some desolate place.
“… But what exactly am I supposed to do? I don’t understand the
point of just watching him.”
“That’s more than enough. You’ve seen it at the expo, you just
have to stop a knight and dragon before they run wild. This is a
job only you can do. No, to think a connection from your school
days would help out so, this is fate.”
Some part of the captain who had been doing nothing but
paperwork lately gave off a sense of resignation. Izumi had no
right to refuse, so she took the papers and exited the captain’s
office.
As she walked down the corridor, she was surprised she had
suddenly been granted the authority of a major.
◇
In the dungeon, by the light of a lamp, Rudel was writing a
letter.
“Who’s it to? Izumi-san?”
In front of the grid bars, Aleist had been stationed to watch
over the white knight. He also had his regular duties to attend to,
so he was wearing an apron. It fit him much too well; Rudel didn’t
have anything particular to say in regards to his attire.
“To my disciple. I feel bad for Luecke, after all. I’m writing
to tell her not to trouble him too much.”
“… I can’t think of those as the words of the culprit who caused
today’s ruckus. Should I put in something as well?”
Shoved in a cell, Rudel seriously thought over what he had done
wrong. He had been banned from aerial maneuvers, so he had
restrained the others from doing them. Was it bad to fly in
formation over the palace? As he mulled over that, he put the
letter in an envelope and handed it to Aleist.
“I thought it was a success.”
“No matter how you look at it, that was no good. There are
complaints coming in from the residents of the capital, or rather,
it’s been considerably troubling with all the people coming in to
confirm the truth of the matter. And right around now, his majesty
included, the authorities and Fritz are holding a meeting.”
Rudel wondered if he’s caused them trouble again, but he found
it strange the dragoons weren’t participating in that meeting.
“Why is Fritz participating when our captain cannot? Come to
think of it, it’s strange for the royal guard to be there at
all.”
“I guess that’s their authority in the palace? Princess Aileen
is publically backing them, and a number of ministers are all for
the royal guard, see. You’ve got to wonder what the world’s coming
to when tea duty and cleaning duty are holding office.”
As Aleist derided himself, Rudel gave thanks about the matter
with Izumi.
“You think? Well, whatever. More importantly, you were a big
help back there. Thank you.”
“… Hahaha, Sakuya was glaring daggers at me, though.”
Aleist was giving a bitter smile, but when Rudel asked, he had
instantly taken Izumi to Sakuya. It seems he had gone quite a bit
past his station, and Rudel was thankful.
“I didn’t have the slightest intent to resist. And yet those
guys from the royal guard…”
Rudel made a displeased face. He hadn’t the mind to resist. But
the royal guard were much too eager as they pinned him down. From
there, Sakuya flew into a rage, and he was in a state where he
couldn’t even hold a proper conversation.
Right now, Izumi was at her side, and it seemed she’d calmed
down.
“Was Flan von Brains no good after all?”
Perhaps Aleist recalled Sakuya’s resentment before she lost her
memories as he fell into a slump. From Rudel’s point of view, he
understood she didn’t particularly hate him. But he knew Sakuya did
think of him as a rival.
At the academy, the two of them would fight over any and
everything. Perhaps this was the vestiges of it. Even when she had
been reborn without memories, Rudel felt that Sakuya was still
there.
“The way I see it, it’s closer to rivals. I don’t think she
hates you.”
“I really must decline a rival relationship with a dragon.”
Aleist’s face was stiff.
◇
Fina was slumped over the desk of her room at the academy.
She had been normal up until she returned from the palace, but
from the moment she got back, she had been in this state.
The reason lay in the documents on the desk. One was torn up,
another crumpled. But for the last one alone, she was carefully
writing a reply without damaging it.
“Goddammit… that black hair.”
Her guard Sophina looked at her master, cheering her up with a
smile. Inside, she was delighted to see her master grow depressed
when her schemes went amiss.
“It cannot be helped, princess. This is also Rudel-dono’s
request.”
The torn paper was one Aleist submitted. Hearing Luecke’s tale,
he had put in his opinion as Lieutenant.
“That ornament, thinking he can complain to me…”
She was irritated, so she devised a plan to shove some more
female knight in his platoon next year. The crumpled document was a
report detailing Izumi’s action.
“Even so, appointing that black hair as a special inspections
officer… my plans are…”
She didn’t know what was on their minds, but they had officially
recognized Izumi as an anti-Rudel trump card. Sophina felt
relieved. And she was also relieved Izumi had been ascended to a
status where it was hard for Fina to lay a hand on her.
The last one was a report from Rudel, but it was more accurate
to call that one a letter. It was a warning that cautioned her on
unreasonably securing funding.
“Uuuurrgh, my fluff fluff land…”
“… That wasn’t a joke?”
“No, once I got permission, I planned to actualize it. But if
master’s opposed…”
Pledging Rudel her heartfelt gratitude, Sophina took hold of
Fina’s response letter to Rudel. There, she informed Fina of the
rumor she heard around the palace. For these sorts of things, Fina
would listen to it as a single source of information.
“Come to think of it, have you heard the rumors surrounding
Rudel-dono? It seems that ever since that display at the castle,
he’s being called demon lord more than white knight.”
As Sophina gave a bitter smile, Fina expressionlessly cleaned up
her desktop before getting back to work. She was listening, but she
didn’t stop her hands from moving.
Sophina swallowed down her true desires for her master to use
her needlessly high processing power a bit more for the country’s
sake.
“Demon lord, eh.”
“I was surprised at the display, and the palace is still busy
with it. It seems they’re going to leave him with the dragoon
brigade as before, but the royal guard aren’t staying silent about
that.”
“It would be crazier to leave him with a captain whose job it is
to drink tea. Well, I’m sure my sister is making a ruckus, but… are
there any movements?”
Sophina’s eyes turned serious. She pushed up her glasses with
the index finger of her right hand, letting them catch the
light.
“This isn’t confirmed, but it seems there’s a faction
approaching Aileen-sama. The bats from around the border.”
“… Do you mean to say the traitors? Well, they’re in a painful
position out there, after all. I don’t think it’s strange for them
to want to have personal connections with the empire.”
“Aileen-sama’s zeal for the royal guard captain’s become a rumor
around the palace as of late. Perhaps they think she’ll be easy to
use.”
Sophina gathered information from her colleagues in the palace.
The high knights were losing their power, but that wasn’t the full
extent of Sophina’s connection. She also had her fellow marriage
interview comrades.
While it didn’t make her happy at all, Sophina’s continued
failures made everyone look at her with gentle eyes.
The faction she called bats were the nobles who held territory
around the border. Neighboring an enemy country, the skirmishes
were unbearable. But among them were some who would form personal
connections with the empire to contain their casualties. To
Sophina, they looked like traitors.
“There are sparks smoldering all over the place, and it won’t be
strange if the whole thing is set alight at any second.”
“Should we move as well?”
“… No, let’s wait for now. When the time comes, I’ll put them to
work whether they like it or not. Right, when the time comes.”
Sophina turned to her master cleaning up the paperwork and after
giving a tidy bow, she left the room.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s23.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Extra: Mystith is Working Hard
Chapter 113: Extra - Mystith is Working Hard
This is a tale of how the girl who once carried a great knight
on her back, Mystith, ran about to prepare for an unveiling
display.
◇
The clock turns back to when Sakuya defeated the former boss of
the dragon stables (Bram).
Having returned to her den, Mystith asked all the dragons of her
lake about flight formations. But a dragon who had done flight
formations didn’t exist in Mystith’s turf.
Before her promise to Rudel came into question, she wanted to do
something for Sakuya’s sake, she wanted to give her the best flight
formation there could be.
‘Even so, this is a bother. Even if you tell me flying in
formation, just what am I supposed to do… they didn’t use to have
anything like that! But I’m sure Marty would be happy to see.’
She recalled the first human to ever make a contract with her,
gallantly holding a spear in his hand. Even now, his form existed
in her heart.
‘And now that I’ve made a promise with that kid, I have to do
something to make it a reality. If I can’t find an answer in my
turf, I just have to take the other turfs.’
Taking off from the lake she lived in, she looked at the
mountain she could see in the distance. It was a volcano, still
very much active, but there were dragons who lived there as
well.
The ones who lived there were red dragons. Among the dragon
species, they were the ones who boasted the fiercest
temperaments.
‘Alright! Let’s start off with the easiest place.’
The small dragons of the lake saw Mystith off with a wave of
their forelimbs.
◇
The red dragons lived in a cave, scorching hot from the lava
that flowed through it.
The fact the volcano didn’t erupt was related to the fact the
red dragons lived in it.
Appearing in such a place alone, Mystith called out to a young
red dragon stationed on watch at the entrance.
‘Oy, go get your boss.’
‘Ah? What are you talking about, old haGGGYAAAAAHHH!’
Punching down the youth with such a rude mouth, she walked right
into the cave. She pressed on, blowing away the red dragons she
occasionally encountered with her fists.
The boss’ room was extremely vast. Lava welled up in the deepest
chamber of the cave, and there lay a conspicuously large dragon who
looked to be the boss. Around, the other dragons stood on their
guard, presumably to protect him.
‘Who dares come before me?’
Letting out a voice of dignity, the red dragon boss looked at
Mystith. But Mystith informed him without faltering.
‘Oy, who do you think you’re taking that attitude in front
of?’
‘Ah, sorry, ma’am!’
The red dragon boss stood, quickly approaching Mystith. Curling
his large body, he revised his attitude. The surrounding red
dragons were shocked at their boss’ sudden change.
‘I told the young’un at the entrance to go get you, but you
weren’t coming so I came to see you myself.’
‘My deepest apologies! I’ll discipline him later.’
‘No honestly, I couldn’t care less. More importantly, from today
onwards, I’m going to rule this place.’
‘Eh? Eh! No, that would be quite troubling, or what’s the
word…’
Seeing the boss show weakness, a single young dragon stepped up
front. Irritated at the boss’ timid form, he tried to show that he
was the one worthy of being boss.
‘hmm, I don’t know who on earth you think you are, but I’m
different from that cowardly mess. I’ll make a bloodbath of you,
and from today onwards, the boss will be fGYAAAAAHH!’
Swinging her tail and sending that young dragon flying with a
single attack, Mystith continued her conversation with the boss.
Seeing a powerful dragon taken out in a single blow, the
surrounding dragons fell silent.
‘So? What’s your response?’
‘… I graciously accept your rule.’
‘Thank you kindly, I knew you were the one to ask. I’ll be off
to the north for a bit, so follow my lead.’
‘Yes ma’am!’
◇
It was a place inhabited by hordes of wind dragons.
A place with nothing but rocky crags, and a place where the wind
was strong. The wind dragons governed the wind, and by their
influence, a strong wind would constantly blow through. Well, not
that Mystith cared about that.
Alongside the red dragon, she had come to defeat the area’s
boss. If her memory served her right, this was supposed to be a
vast territory.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t know the boss here.’
‘Yeah, it’s a young wind dragon. He’s a bit impertinent, but
before your charm, he’ll be begging for mercy!’
While the red dragon was playing up to Mystith, he was once a
boss with dignity. In the past, he had challenged Mystith to a
match, and in the past, he had been beaten until his heart folded
in. There was no way he could go against her.
According to him, the boss of this area was a young one who had
risen to power in recent years.
‘… Hey, what makes him think he can become boss without paying
me his respects?’
‘For real!? To think he never dropped by, he must be quite the
trash-tier dragon!’
The two went out to face the wind dragon; fitting of his youth,
their foe was brimming with ambition. From high up, he looked down
over Mystith.
‘Oy, oy, what business do the elderly have with me?’
The dragon who called them elderly chuckled to himself.
‘Hey, is that guy the boss? He reeks of small fry.’
‘It’s that, you know. The last boss retired and all the
influential ones went off to contract with humans, so he became
boss by default.’
The two of them looked at the wind dragons, directing eyes of
pity. He hadn’t the dignity of the boss, and those around him
didn’t’ seem to respect him as one.
Mystith challenged that wind dragon to a fight.
‘You look real silly up there. Get down here and fight me. From
today onwards, this territory will be under my command.’
‘Hmph! Putting on airs at your age… then try to keep up with
me!’
The wind dragon leapt into the sky, parting from the two dragons
at a rapid pace. Mystith looked on the scene with fed-up eyes.
‘Huh? I told him to come at me, didn’t I?’
‘He ran away.’
‘Then there’s no helping it. If he wants to play tag, then why
don’t we keep him company.’
Mystith’s open mouth drew an arc as if she was smiling, her eyes
sharpened. The red dragon was shaking, perhaps recalling the time
his heart was crushed.
Mystith lifted herself into the air and chased right after the
wind dragon. A few hour later, she returned, a wind dragon crying
and apologizing under her arm.
◇
‘Next is aunty’s place.’
‘Ah, the gaia aunty.’
As he consoled the wind dragon, the red dragon nodded ay
Mystith’s next objective. When it came to the remaining influential
bosses, only a long lived gaia dragon female remained.
‘I’m no good with her. No, I don’t hate her, but…’
Even Mystith was weak to aunty. She had known her from a young
age, and in her rebellious phase, Mystith had caused her quite a
bit of trouble. She couldn’t look her in the eye.
‘More importantly, why are you suddenly expanding your
territory? Up to now, you always said you weren’t interested,
right?’
On the red dragon’s question, Mystith explained about Sakuya.
About how she looked after her like a daughter, and about the
flight formation she was misunderstanding.
‘Flying in formation, is it? I’ve never done it before.
You?’
“Me neither… hic.”
‘I don’t have any kids who’ve contracted at my place. But I made
a promise, so I’ve expanded my territory to find someone who knows
about it.’
‘… For reals?’
‘Don’t expand your territory for something like that.’
As the two dragons made difficult expressions, Mystith headed
off for the gaia dragon.
In a space with a number of caverns, the trees didn’t grow, but
the grass and wildflowers decorated the landscape in shades of
green. Where the gaia dragons lived, the large trees would all be
mowed down. But as they were a race that governed the dirt, the
soil was rich in nutrition. Approaching the largest cave, Mystith
hit against the wall as if to knock.
There, a giant gaia dragon popped out her head. Her form as she
slowly stuck out just her head reminded them of a turtle sticking
its head out its carapace.
‘Now here’s a rare visitor. I’m glad you look well, little
lady.’
‘Hey! Quit it with the little lady stuff, aunty. Anyways, I came
because I wanted your territory.’
While she took a clearly rude attitude, the gaia dragon didn’t
seem to be particularly bothered. She even looked just a little
happy.
‘You’re finally up to ruling? Then do what you will. More
importantly, are you still stuck up over that human? I hear you
haven’t laid an egg ever since back then. You’re already at a good
age, so why don’t you find someone new?’
‘Aunty! You promised not to talk about that!’
On the negotiations between Mystith and the gaia dragon, the
remaining two could only listen in, their mouths hung open in
disbelief. There was someone even the savage Mystith couldn’t win
against.
‘Well whatever. So with this, we have the main faces together.
Now all that’s left is to get those folks with their own small
territories to obey.’
‘We’re still doing this?’
‘Just how greedy are you?’
‘You’re going to rule over the other territories too?’
‘If we challenge them with these members, we’ll be fine. Let’s
do our best for the sake of flight formations.’
And like that, Mystith came to rule the dragon dwellings as
queen.
◇
For the sake of flying in formation, the dragons began their
training.
From the words of the dragons who had participated in it before,
they reached the conclusion that, for now, they just had to put on
a good show in the air.
So Mystith did precisely that.
‘Hey, you red dragons can exude fire from your bodies,
right?’
‘Yes ma’am! We sure can.’
The red dragon who was once a boss showed her how he coated his
body in fire. That form was practically that of a dragon made of
flames, sinister, yet be that as it may, strong and beautiful.
But…
‘Lacking.’
‘Eh?’
Mystith didn’t feel it was enough.
‘Blaze up some more! That’ll just look shoddy if they’re looking
from the ground! Okay, try again.’
‘… For real? This is quite tiring, you know?’
Next was the wind dragon.
Specializing in aerial movement from the start, they showed
off a high-level flight formation in the air. But Mystith
wasn’t satisfied.
‘It feels a bit lacking.’
‘We can’t go any faster than that, boss.’
To the wind dragon who had gone docile, Mystith pushed an
unreasonable demand.
‘The red dragons will be making rings of fire in the air, so you
guys will be passing through them.’
‘Eh!?’
‘Ah! And you guys could call down thunderstorms, right?’
‘No, that one is a real pain, and it’s not thunderstorms, we
control the wind to gather clouds and…’
‘Do I look like I care? Just prepare some nice-looking clouds
for the day in question.’
Faced with Mystith’s glare, the wind dragon averted his eyes and
nodded.
‘I-I’ll do my best.’
Following on was the gaia dragon.
Gaia dragons were no good in the air. But if all they had to do
was stand out, the kind aunty gathered up her brethren and had
large rocks float in the air. Those rocks given lift through magic
looked almost as if they were floating islands in the sky.
‘Aunty, that’s amazing!’
‘Well, this is about all I can do. If we practice a bit more, we
should be able to send even larger rocks flying.’
‘And my folks will have water floating next to it, so do you
think we’re getting a little closer to a flight formation?’
‘Who knows? We’re dim when it comes to humans. Even for the
dragons that have contracted, it seems the knowledge they possess
is much too old by human standards.’
A dragon and human’s perceptions of time were exceedingly
divided. For one who lived in ten-year increments, a life form that
lived hundreds, thousands of years held a completely different set
of values.
‘For now, we still have some time, so we should be fine if we
keep practicing.’
Mystith said that, looking satisfied at the practicing dragons,
when the small dragon children started imitating what they saw.
Making rings of water, they leapt into those rings and played by
breaking the rings of others.
‘… There it is. That’s it! That’s what we were lacking!’
‘What’s up, boss?’
‘We just have to fly out of explosions!’
By Mystith’s plan, the red dragons would set off large
explosions, and the wind dragons would swoop through them, avoiding
at the nick of time.
They were all dragons. Something of that level should be fine.
But while they could do it, it was quite a difficult thing
indeed.
‘Give us a break already!’
In the dragon dwellings, the screams of a wind dragon rang
out.
◇
And the dragons prepared. Only a few days remained until the
unveiling.
Mystith took along the representative dragons and headed off for
Rudel.
“Mystith-sama! And three splendid dragons to boot… I’m moved to
tears!”
Mystith wasn’t at all displeased with Rudel’s delight.
’Hm, as promised, we’ve taken flight formation and made it our
own. I’m sure the humans on the barren soil will shed their pluck
and run for the hills.’
Before Mystith’s full confidence and the wild dragons of all
varieties, a delighted Rudel relayed the message. It was a little
difficult for him to say, but it was an important thing.
“I’m really sorry. I’ve been banned from aerial maneuvers during
the flight formation. Sakuya can only fly out and descend into the
palace plaza. If you’re flying with us, they probably won’t let you
do aerial maneuvers.”
‘… Eh? Is that true? How unfortunate, we put quite a bit into
it.’
Mystith was a bit disappointed. Similarly, the gaia dragon
called aunty also muttered, ‘A shame’.
In that space, Rudel looked up at the gaia dragon in
delight.
… But there were two who weren’t as satisfied.
‘When we worked so hard… goddammit.’
The red dragon rolled up into a ball and sulked. In contrast,
the wind dragon…
‘Just where am I supposed to direct this anger of mine?’
He was seriously crying.
◇
And just like that, unbeknownst to man, Mystith’s flight
formation (pervert flight) was sealed.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s3.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 93: The Costume and the Beauty Contest
Chapter 93: The Costume and the Beauty Contest
Once the bell rung six, Rudel stopped swinging his sword and
wiped off his sweat.
He gazed at the backs of all the students in the dorm courtyard,
who had started on their way to the dining hall after hearing the
sound.
The early morning training he had done from his enrollment had
continued on to his graduation. From the eyes of a stranger, it
might have been something praiseworthy.
But to Rudel, and the students who trained in a similar manner,
it was only normal. If they slacked off, then that’s just how far
they’d fall behind the others.
One could say Eunius and Aleist were extraordinary. The two of
them didn’t train in the morning, but they did devote their time to
it during other hours. Their life styles simply weren’t suited to
train in the early warning.
“So it ends today.”
Wiping his sweat, Rudel sat on the spot and looked up at the
sky.
He recalled all the time he had spent here since he first came.
He had met Vargas during morning training, and Vargas had been the
first friend he ever made.
If he saw any troubled students, he did try to call out, but his
status would always get in the way, and it would never go as
smoothly as it had with Vargas.
Personality problems and the air Rudel gave off had become
factors that prevented others from approaching him. While he hadn’t
noticed it, the fact that he had become strongest in the academy
was also to blame.
Rather than being fond of Rudel, his underclassmen were in awe.
The class years one and two below kept their distance with the
incident with Chlust and Fritz.
When it came to underclassmen below that, Rudel’s exorbitant
ability would create distance. There weren’t any commoner students
who would even think to approach the future archduke and white
knight that was Rudel.
Young nobles would only greet him, at most. Feeling a bit of his
own awkwardness, Rudel made a bitter smile. While to each his own,
he would have no choice but to deal with people from now on.
That he thought that meant that Rudel had matured. When he
entered the academy, he largely didn’t understand the importance of
human interaction.
“Now then, I guess I’ll prepare for graduation.”
Standing, he headed for the dining hall.
He had prepared for the sake of this day, and alongside his
loneliness, he felt just a little happy.
◇
The graduation ceremony ended without incident and from
afternoon, the academy was busy with the final preparations for the
party.
Within all that, the culprit who had devised this new event was
delighted.
“King’s game!!”
While Fina wasn’t allowed to go out while the party was being
prepared, in exchange, Mii was busy at work. In her Mii-less room,
she was making a ruckus. It wasn’t quite possible for the princes
Fina to help set up the party.
The year before, Rudel and the others had taken part, causing
quite an awkward air. But taking her safety and status in
consideration, the academy was able to ask her to refrain. In
Fina’s place, Mii was spending every day, busily preparing for the
event.
“Hah, what is it, princess? Are you scheming something
again?”
Correcting the positioning of her glasses with the middle finger
of her right hand, Sophina readied herself in her heart for Fina’s
next spurt of irrationality. She needed to make sure she wasn’t
surprised no matter what she heard.
Sophina, who could practically be called Fina’s retainer at this
point, was used to dealing with her.
“… Sophina, look at this schedule. Right here, it has the words
King’s Game written in.”
“That is quite a discourteous name. Shall we request the academy
to change it?”
“You fool! It is only those small in caliber who complain about
all the petty details. The problem is the contents. ‘The king’s
orders are absolute!’ What do you think about that?”
“… I think it’s a tad strange for an event at a party. If
someone orders another to die on the spot, then the atmosphere will
take quite a peculiar turn.”
As Sophina spoke of brutal detail, Fina criticized her
expressionlessly.
“How foolish. This is why your marriage interviews continue to
fail. This time makes thirty two, does it? You’re on your way
there! Courtois’ high score of fifty six is right before your
eyes.”
The high score for marriage interviews among nobles-
particularly women- was fifty six. While marriages for royalty were
close to obligations, for those low in status and relatively free,
both sides were able to turn down the matchups.
And in Courtois, the more girly ones were the most popular.
“Why do you know about that!? A-and, I’m not aiming to update
the score…”
Having failed once more, Sophina recalled her delicate partner.
While they attended the academy, a large portion of nobles would
often skip classes. Her partner was unable to see a splendid knight
like Sophina as girly in any shape or form.
Rudel’s generation was rare among nobles, where the future
archduke was earnest, so they followed his lead. Looking at it from
that side, Rudel and the others had set a good example.
In order to sell themselves to these future heads of the
factions, it would be best to make an earnest effor. The nobles had
made calculated, objective judgements.
“… That’s what they all say as their numbers go up. And once
they hold the high score, their hearts break every time. Putting
that aside, the problem is that this game is being held in a
festive hall… and that means the orders can be pervy as hell,
right? I mean, they’ll all have a bit of drink in their systems,
and it’s the final time they can fool around as students! Don’t you
think this is the perfect place to seal the deal?”
Becoming a little fearful of Fina’s expressionless zeal, Sophina
cautioned her she was going too far.
“Sealing the deal at a party is a little…”
“Oh? How far are you imagining? I was talking about a kiss. Hey,
Sophina, just what sort of indecent things did you imagine?
Hey!?”
“I-in that case, you just have to get your feelings across in
the public confession.”
As Sophina forcefully changed the subject, Fina grinned within,
choosing to play along.
“Even if I confess in that game, anyone would think it was a
joke, right? If we kiss, and I take on a heartrending attitude,
everyone around will go and imagine it on their own.”
This girl’s dark, or so Sophina made light of her master when
Fina suddenly turned serious.
“But in order to do that, I’ll have to become king and I’ll have
to know master’s numbers… hey, Sophina?”
Understanding what Fina was thinking and what she desired,
Sophina could only silently nod.
(Hah, what am I even doing.)
◇
In the party hall, the preparations had finished, and the
graduates in disguise started appearing one after the next.
From among them, Eunius in his Viking costume looked
considerably real. The man in question was tall in stature and
muscular in build. His form as he wore a horned helm of wood,
carrying with him a large shield and axe, was truly that of a
warrior.
In contrast, Luecke had with him an eastern garment and
weapon.
He had asked a blacksmith Rudel was acquainted with to prepare
an eastern kimono. His long hair was collected at the back, and his
costume was made to enjoy a foreign culture. His katana was made of
bamboo, and Luecke had taken a bit of a liking to it.
“What’s this? When a beansprout wears clothes like that, he only
looks needlessly wimpier.”
To the end of the end, the two of them spat cynicism, but it had
lost the bite it had at the start. More than that, it had become
something of a greeting between them.
“When I thought I spotted a bandit here, it was just the
musclehead. It suits you so well, I’m shaking in my boots.”
As the two of them glared at one another within the hall, Rudel
stepped into the space between them.
“Stop it, both of you! Izumi said no fighting today. Can’t you
let it slide, on my face today?”
As Rudel entered the hall a little late, the two of them lost
their words.
“… Eh?”
“Y-yeah.”
There was no helping their befuddlement. Before them, of black
and brown fur… was Rudel in a dog helmet. That lovable stuffed
animal expression gave off quite a lax impression.
A fluffy tail, and stiff, standing ears… The mouth was slim, and
perhaps it could look like a wolf. But those large arms and legs,
and that large face… there was no way for the two of them to know
who it was. Only by the mention of Izumi’s name could they know it
was Rudel inside.
“Dude, what’s with that getup?”
As Eunius pointed at Rudel, Rudel took off the headpiece to show
his face.
“This? It’s a dog. I worked hard to prepare it. I didn’t want to
spend too much money, after all. It’s all hand-made.”
“Well that’s quite something. No, that’s not the point. Why a
dog?”
Luecke was surprised by the hand-made part, but more than that,
he couldn’t understand why he had chosen a dog. The students around
were also directing their eyes at Rudel.
“The truth is, we keep a dog back home.”
Rudel informed them of the fact his house kept a dog, and Eunius
waited for the reason to come after that. But Rudel stayed
silent.
“… And?”
“And what?”
Seeing the two unsatisfied with his answer, Rudel tilted his
head.
Luecke and Eunius looked at Rudel, mulling over what to say,
when Izumi appeared.
Rather than a disguise, Izumi had prepared the clothing she wore
in the Orient, participating in a kimono. Her hair was fastened
with an ornate hairpin.
“Rudel, you chose something quite conspicuous.”
Rudel put his headpiece back down, showing Izumi the rest of his
costume. After he did a full turn, the three of them clapped their
hands at the considerable workmanship.
“Right? It’s handmade.”
Rudel showed a peculiar talent, but the three of them had gotten
around to thinking anything went with him. Looking around, the most
common costume was the girls simply wearing male uniforms.
Many men wore mantles, dressing as magicians.
If there was another conspicuous figure, then surely it was
Aleist. He had come in his black knight armor. This was something
he had worn on the requests of those around him.
It was a result of his fiancés demanding to see his gallant
form
Spotting the usual members, Aleist raced up in his armor.
“Oyy. Huh? Where’s Rudel?”
His black armor was thorny, and his helmet sprouted two golden
horns, similar to the viking helmet. The surroundings raised their
voices in surprised.
“Amazing.”
“I heard it’s the black knight’s armor.”
“Kickass.”
It was rated surprisingly high, giving Aleist a moment of
relief. Even if he knew it wouldn’t be so, he had just a bit of
worry they would call him a sufferer of eighth-grade syndrome.
“Aleist, is that really a disguise?”
While Luecke wondered if armor counted in the realm of
disguises, Aleist sent a glance over to the animal suit.
“No, I think this is more than enough dress up for me… what’s
this costume supposed to be? A wolf?”
As Aleist touched the ear of Rudel’s costume, a clear ominous
sound came out. Rudel confirmed the area around his head to find
that one of his perky ears had slumped down limp.
As Rudel sat down on the spot, Izumi followed through for him.
Because of the costume, it was impossible to see what expression he
was making underneath.
When that lovingly made oversized stuffed animal fell into a
slump, it was exceedingly cute. But the one inside was
depressed.
“R-Rudel? It’s still cute like this.”
“… The ears took an especially large amount of time.”
Seeing him depressed, Aleist had to step in to encourage him.
Luecke looked around nervously.
“No, no, this has got its own flavor to it. Yeah, you look more
dog-like than before.”
“… Really?”
“Aleist, you…”
On Luecke’s prodding gaze, Aleist realized the one inside was
Rudel and apologized.
“I-I’m sorry! I never thought it would break.”
“No, it’s my fault for making something prone to breaking. Next
time, I’ll make something of better quality.”
“That’s the spirit, Rudel!”
While Izumi cheered Rudel on, the other three thought.
(He’s making another?)
As everyone desperately tried to cheer Rudel up, the headmaster
appeared in the hall. He gave some simple greetings, telling them
it was their last event at the academy, and encouraging them to
enjoy it.
◇
‘Well then! Let the first Academy beauty contest commence!!’
A fourth year student wore a striking outfit on stage as he took
the lead. Never actually expecting the beauty contest to take
place, Aleist was a little excited.
The reason being Millia had entered. Her friend had told her she
would undoubtedly win if she took part, so the girl in question
reluctantly joined in.
But not knowing what a swimsuit was to begin with, Millia was
surprised when those undergarment-like pieces were delivered right
beforehand.
From the fourth year, Fina and Mii were participating. And to
speak to celebrities, Izumi was goaded by Rudel into taking
part.
“I never thought they’d actually hold it.”
Holding a glass in one hand, three men watched over the area a
little ways away from the students gathered around the stage.
“Hmm? Where’s Rudel?”
Luecke searched out Rudel, who had left his sight before he had
noticed it. Eunius was the same. In this long-awaited heated event,
if Rudel wasn’t there, it would lose its flavor.
“He’ll show up once Izumi comes out, right? Rather, he was
wearing something considerably conspicuous, so… wait, oy!!”
Eunius looked at the platform, and noticed the tail of a
familiar costume sticking out of the side of the stage.
“Lucky. That’s a special box seat, isn’t it?”
As Aleist looked on with envy, the event commenced. Girls from
fourth and third year made their entries wearing swimsuits of low
coverage.
“Oh, not bad at all.”
A slackening expression on his face, Eunius quite enjoyed the
beauty contest Aleist had proposed. Luecke pretended he wasn’t
interested, but his eyes were firmly directed at the
participants.
It was just at that moment that Fina and Mii appeared in cute
swimwear. The hall’s enthusiasm reached its peak. It wasn’t just
the men, the women called out as well to cheer on their
friends.
In secret, there were bets being placed over who would win.
“Oy, someone climbed onto the stage.”
Luecke directed a glance at the man who had climbed onto the
stage, while Aleist and Eunius breathed out some sighs. The drink
getting to him, a student had gotten into a stupor and climbed onto
the platform to try laying hands on one of the participants.
“Ah, it’s Rudel.”
But there, Rudel appeared in his costume, kicking the student
into the air.
Kicked by a stuffed animal, the student was naturally enraged.
There, Rudel took off the headpiece and showed his real face. In an
instant, the students around the stage went quiet.
‘Ah!, by the way! If you try climbing on stage or doing anything
mean to the participants, mister wolf will send you flying, so keep
that in mind.’
The mc leaked a late warning. But this time, Rudel closed in on
the mc. Seeing that scene, Eunius raised a grand laugh.
“That Rudel’s definitely telling him it’s a dog! And look. The
guy he kick’s woken from his drink and turned pale!”
“Eunius, you’re laughing too much.”
Luecke tried to restrain Eunius, but on the contrary, when one
of the three Lords was laughing so loudly, the hall was once more
enveloped in laughter.
“Ooooh!! Millia’s coming out!! She looks kinda embarrassed, but
that just makes it better!”
Aleist excitedly looked at Millia who entered the chaotic stage.
She had covered her lower half in cloth, so it couldn’t be seen,
but she was wearing a bikini with high exposure.
Her one leg and thigh that escaped the cloth had a sense of
eroticism to it. Her embarrassment needlessly delighted the men
more.
Apart from Aleist, the elf males had discarded their usual
levelheadedness as they exploded in delight.
But Aleist’s other fiancés were taking part as well. They were
looking at him so excited over Millia from their spots atop the
stage.
Eunius covered his face with his left hand as he looked at the
ceiling. Luecke looked at Aleist’s fiancés making eerie smiles on
stage and pitied the man.
When the girls had put their all into appearing in the contest,
Aleist had barely even looked at them.
But in the next instant, the men cried out.
“Hey! Oy!!”
“Hmm? Wha!?”
“Shirasagi-san, that’s too amazing…”
Izumi was the last to enter, and she entered wearing a
considerably hazardous bikini. The one in question didn’t act as if
she was particularly embarrassed.
Perhaps to match her hair, her black bikini covered an
exceedingly small area. Apart from covering the important parts, it
was almost all string.
One poor move, and perhaps something would come out, or so the
guys hopes got up.
Rudel was wearing a costume, so even if he applauded, he could
only let off a soft sound. By the way, the student who he kicked
was nearby, being forced into clapping.
Among all the participants, Izumi was the most extreme.
◇
With Izumi’s entrance stealing away the flow all at once, Fina
panicked within.
(Black hairrr!! That woman casually pulled off what I could
never do!!)
Fina had work a cute frilled swimsuit with low exposure. She and
Mii them directed their eyes at the adult swimsuit Izumi wore.
Mii and Fina wore the same type of different colors. Their forms
emphasized their youths, rousing intense popularity from a portion
of the student body.
Fina did try to pick out something more extreme. But from her
body build and atmosphere, and the fact she was royalty, she had
chosen something cute and low in exposure.
For that choice held the highest prospects of victory. Contrived
as it might be, it was also the right choice. In all actuality,
there were many men directing their eyes at the two of them.
“Princess, Izumi-san is amazing.”
Without any hidden sides, Mii really did think she was amazing.
But Fina was different.
“Right. Amazing (Goddammit, to think she would choose something
so extreme… master must have put her up to it! Oh, master, you
really are so… adorable!)”
Seeing Rudel in his costume, Fina was so excited inside she
thought she might leak her drool. If the chance presented itself,
she thought she just might assault him.
But the problem was that Rudel never left an opening. On the
eyes of a hunter staring down its prey, Rudel felt a chill on his
spine.
“Hmm? What’s this? I got the feeling something was aiming at
me…”
As Rudel looked around in his costume, his movements excited
Fina to no end.
And the curtains opened on the academy’s final event.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s4.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 94: The End of School Life and a New Problem Child
Chapter 94: The End of School Life and a New Problem Child
“Well now, that really was a splendid contest.”
“Yeah, I never thought it would be that extreme.”
A grinning Aleist and Eunius were discussing the beauty contest
that had just come to a close. Luecke was nonchalantly nodding
along.
“Those poses they struck in that last self-appeal session were
nice. I never thought Izumi would make such a pose, but in the end,
Millia won hands down.”
Right, it ended as Millia’s landslide victory.
To the end of the end, the tension born from her sheer
embarrassment had caused her to fail. During her self-appeal
session, she bit her tongue, and as she made a pose, she stepped on
the long cloth wrapped around her waist.
By treading on that cloth, not only was it removed, her top bra
was taken with it, making her pose one where she covered her chest
with her hands. On its severity, she monopolized the votes of the
male student body and won.
By the way, the runner-up was Fina, and following on from her,
Izumi placed as well.
“Yeah, I’ll never forget that scene!”
Through his armor, Aleist clenched his fist victoriously. But as
the beauty contest was over, of course, his fiancés had descended
the stage.
Having changed from their swimsuits into their costumes, the
girls were making dark smiles behind Aleist.
Luecke and Eunius decided to change location at once, going off
to search for Rudel and Izumi. From behind, they could hear
Aleist’s screams.
“Eh? No way! You were in it too? … That was a joke! I’m just
kidding!! Aaaah!!”
Right as Aleist cried out, the two of them were able to spot
Rudel and Izumi walking side by side.
◇
‘Following on, it’s confession time!! Now that we’ve all got a
spot of drink, everyone who wants to use this last chance at the
academy to confess to the one they admire, raise your hands!!’
The mc was enthusiastic, but the hall wasn’t quite on board.
Even if you asked them to confess at the end of the end, it would
only be troubling.
In the first place, an extent of the students already had
partners. If they were nobles, they’d have engagements, and based
on the person, there were even some who, while students, surrounded
themselves with numerous women.
First on that list were Aleist and Eunius.
The hall was enveloped in a dubious air, and there were only a
few students who took part, half for fun. Within all that, some
commoner students had gathered in a separate space.
Starting with Fritz, they were students of the three-year
curriculum.
When it was decided Fritz would become captain of the royal
guard, he had invited some of his close friends to join as well.
Those who gathered with Fritz’ followers.
In that hall of dubious enthusiasm, he held a glass as he looked
around.
“What’s wrong, Fritz? You’re not taking part?”
One of his classmates suggested that he take part in this side
show. As captain of the royal guard, with more influence than the
captain of a knight brigade, Fritz did have a certain level of
popularity among the girls.
Especially the students who wanted to rise from commoners, and
low-ranking nobles would often call out to him. But Fritz had
Aileen, so he couldn’t participate in this sort of event.
“No, I’d rather not become a laughingstock in a farce like this.
More importantly, this party isn’t free. Do those nobles really get
it?”
While those around him exchanged jokes, Fritz alone hadn’t read
the mood.
“Yeah, y-you’re right.”
Following on from Fritz, the commoner knights who dreamed of
promotion forcefully sterned up their faces. In truth, they at
least wanted to enjoy their last days at the academy.
The eyes of that group with a dicey air fell on Rudel in his
costume and Izumi.
They were smiling as they looked over the students confessing to
boys in jest, and the students receiving those confessions not
knowing they were jokes.
Fritz instantly down the juice that filled the glass in his
hands.
“The noble-for-hobby who ignored the palace’s orders to become a
dragoon, and the foreign woman who seduced him. It’s rotten, the
current Kingdom of Courtois.”
At a glance, Fritz’ opinion wasn’t correct, but it wasn’t wrong
either. If someone who didn’t know looked at Rudel and Izumi, it
certainly wouldn’t be strange if they imagined such a
relationship.
No matter how those two thought of one another.
“Hey, did Rudel really reject enlistment in the royal guard? Is
that really allowed?”
As a weak-willed-looking one of his followers mouthed something
that could be taken as supporting Rudel, Fritz’ expression
changed.
“We’re dealing with a noble, and an archduke at that! You should
know it isn’t strange for them to do such a thing. Those rotten
nobles have to do something for the sake of this country.”
On Fritz’ opinion, everyone nodded.
Even if he had an environment to learn, an environment to study,
if he only looked at the information he wanted to believe, he could
only strengthen his biased viewpoint.
Laughing (?) with his friends, Fritz glared at Rudel. But the
two of them were exceedingly similar.
If Rudel didn’t have anyone to believe in, there was a
possibility he would fixate on becoming a dragoon and ruin himself.
The difference was whether they were able to accept others or
not.
Rudel who saw dreams of dragoons, and Fritz who dreamed of
heroes.
After coming so far, the gap had grown so large it could no
longer be filled in.
“I’m definitely going to change this country.”
Glaring at Rudel who clung onto Izumi in his costume, Fritz
muttered.
◇
In the hall, making use of the confession time, Sophina had
moved behind the scenes.
Obtaining the numbered tags that would be used in the king’s
game, Sophina appeared before Fina. The two of them met hidden in a
corner of the hall, hurriedly going into preparations.
“Princess, the preparations are complete.”
“You’ve done a splendid job. As expected of a high knight.”
“… I am glad I was able to answer to your expectations. (Even if
you praise me over something like this, it doesn’t make me happy at
all…)”
Swiftly sticking on a marker, Fina got a grasp of the
characteristics of the other number tags. But that alone made her
anxious, so she directed her face at Sophina.
Dropping her shoulders, Sophina quietly nodded.
◇
‘Now that those confessions are behind us, it’s finally time to
begin the king’s game!! And what a discourteously named game it is,
but we have Fina Courtois-sama’s stamp of approval, so we’re going
with that! Don’t be a stiff, and join in. Now then, Fina-sama will
be participating in the first game.’
Alongside that enthusiastic introduction from the mc, Fina
reservedly waved her hand as she walked to the center of the circle
the students had made. To her side, Sophina escorted her as a
guard.
“It is my pleasure.”
‘And while I’d like to put rank aside, we can’t start it off
without our future archdukes!’
Being introduced, Rudel and the others stepped up as well. As
Fina was taking part, they had selected out earnest participants
who could read the mood for the first round.
While it was dubious whether or not Rudel could read the mood,
there was no changing the fact he was earnest. But Aleist had been
removed from the first round’s members.
‘Well then, you’ll all be drawing lots from this box! We’ll
start off with Fina-sama.’
As he said that, the student on duty held out the box of
numbered sticks to FinaThere were round tags stuck on the ends of
each stick, and the tags indicated their number or king status.
“Then if you’ll beg my pardon (Fwahahaha!! I am the king!!)”
Picking out one of the sticks, Fina discreetly retrieved the
marker she had stuck onto it. Pulling the king’s tag without issue,
she resolved herself.
(Hmm, that was dangerous. I always lose focus when I get this
far, and I was one step from doing something crazy. Today is my big
chance to get master in my hands! If I fail here, it’ll be a real
pain later.)
After Eunius and Luecke pulled numbers, Rudel was wearing his
costume, so it was considerably hard to grasp one. On his gestures,
Fina thought she would start drooling.
(Quit it, Fina! That’s just a fake fluffy. I have to hold a
stalwart heart… and yet, I must hate myself for wanting to assault
him!!)
Seeing Rudel grasp a stick in both hands and pull it, Fina
fought the urges within her head. She thought her heart would be
stolen by that cute appearance and bearing.
But even so, she didn’t let her guard down. She sent a glance at
Sophina, who silently sent the signal to her high knight
subordinates. One of the high knights stationed behind Rudel
confirmed the number on Rudel’s lot.
For the sake of this day, she had stationed those with good
eyes, even among all her subordinates. The abilities of these
talented girls were being put to use in the king’s game.
‘Is everyone ready? Then who’s the king~!!?’
As the mc raised his voice, Fina laughed inside that she had
been waiting for this as she softly raised her hand. From
appearance alone, she was a reserved beautiful girl.
As she was doing that, Fina informed her of the number on
Rudel’s stick. Carefully confirming it, Fina couldn’t stop her
laughter within. But as she directed her eyes at Rudel, she noticed
a certain something.
“Um, it looks like it’s me (Master’s number is five… then the
order…?)”
Chatting amiably with Luecke and Eunius, Rudel’s outfit was
cute, and there were no problems with his gestures. But something
was lacking.
“The sort of order she gives in the first round will decide the
flow for the rest of the game.”
“For real? Then even a kiss is safe, right?”
“With the princess? I think that’s completely out, Eunius.”
“No, she could order one number to kiss another. Aleist has a
talent when it comes to these sorts of things.”
Luecke praised Aleist for proposing this game. But Aleist
himself was currently receiving punishment for ruining his fiancés’
moods during the beauty contest.
“Sure enough, if it’s this game, then they could use it at the
shops too. That guy just might be a genius!”
Eunius decided to start a trend at the shops he frequented.
And with that, Aleist had left yet another legend.
“I don’t have talent when it comes to these things. I’m a bit
jealous.”
Wearing his costume, Rudel made a bit of a thinking gesture. But
even if Fina was satisfied with his appearance and cute gestures,
she wasn’t satisfied with his speech.
If only his appearance wasn’t as cute, if only his actions
weren’t so lovely.
(…… Unforgivable. That way of speech is unforgivable! If you’ve
already gone that far, then do something about your speech!! Just a
little more. A little more, and it’d be perfect!!)
‘Well then, Fina-sama, if you’ll please give an order!’
“Princess, your order please (Hah, forcing me to work in a party
of young kids… I want to go home)”
Hearing Sophina’s spiritless voice, Fina saw the completion of
her goal of kissing Rudel appear before her eyes. But within Fina,
a new desire was being born.
(Kissing master… but it’s hard to abandon the thought of adding
‘woof’ to his sentences. Wait a second, Fina! You cannot be shaken
here!)
As her heart came into conflict, the angel of her heart
whispered out.
‘What are you doing!? Fulfill your initial objective. Use this
opportunity to obtain master!!’
There, the demon whispered in her ears.
‘Hehe, are you sure? If you let this chance slip by, there might
not be a next, you know? Kisses and sealing deals, you can do all
manner of pervy things however you want afterward. Your authority
exists to be abused, right? You have no choice but to add a woof to
his words here and now!’
On the devil’s words, the angel within Fina voiced her
approval.
‘Oh my, you do have a point. Then the right choice is to add
‘woof’ to his sentences! My word, this is splendidly
arousing!!’
By the drooling angel and demon within Fina, her direction had
been changed. Harding her resolve, Fina boldly handed down her
order with expressionless face.
And at that moment, Fina was shaken.
◇
“Erk, she told me to add woof to the end of every sentence,
woof.”
“Isn’t that fine? I think it’s cuter that way.”
The king’s game continued, but taking the number of students
into account, there were few who could take part in each game.
Rudel had left the game early, switching out with the students
waiting their turn.
Having come so far, Fina’s objective ended in failure. But she
was satisfied, so perhaps it wasn’t a problem.
Rudel- forced to add woof to his words- and Izumi parted from
the place the king’s game was held to have a hand at the food.
Luecke and Eunius were still playing, so the two of them were
killing time.
It went without saying that the two men had created time for
Rudel and Izumi to be together.
“Even so, your swimsuit was surprising, woof.”
“Y-you think? They said the participants could keep the swimsuit
afterward, so I chose out the one I liked… did you dislike that
swimsuit?”
“Not at all! … woof. I thought it was really pretty, woof.”
Still wearing his dog costume, Rudel took Izumi’s hand. Izumi
seemed happy Rudel had taken a liking to it.
“That’s good. I didn’t think it was a little extreme, but I’m
glad I chose it.”
The one who chose the swimsuit was Izumi herself, and it seems
she had considered it just a little extreme. Rudel went on to
praise her swimsuit form.
“I got really excited. There was barely any string on your back,
and it almost looked as if you weren’t wearing anything at all,
woof! But if possible, I wouldn’t want you to show it to anyone
else, woof.”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful.”
Giggling, Izumi found Rudel’s slightly frantic attitude to be
quite pleasant.
There, having run away from his fiancés, Aleist came seeking
help. He was wearing his armor, so when he moved, they could hear
the sounds of clashing metal.
As Aleist was wearing something conspicuous, he decided to use
Rudel, someone his fiancés couldn’t approach so easily.
”S-save me, you two! At this rate, I’m going to have a hole in
my stomach.”
As Aleist appeared in lament, this time, Luecke and Eunius
appeared. Both of them took Aleist in with weary eyes.
“Why don’t you read the mood?”
“Read the mood, dammit.”
To the words of the two who held the same impression, Aleist
tilted his head. But even if he tilted his head in gold-horned
black armor, it didn’t look cute at all.
◇
The hall was growing rowdy over the king’s game.
A large number of students awaited their turn to take part, and
Izumi had been detained by some underclassmen girls, separating
from Rudel.
The four men had gathered by the wall, but Aleist had gotten
some drink in him, and with his fatigue, he had fallen asleep
against it.
“He really fell asleep.”
As Eunius made a game of prodding Aleist with his finger, Luecke
let out a sigh.
“Just leave him be. After they stuck to him like that, of course
he’d be tired… good grief, he’ll burn a hole in his stomach
someday.”
“Sure enough, woof.”
As Rudel and the others said, Aleist’s fiancés had launched
their attack. They had contained their usual pace but even so, it
seems they were hard on him.
“Ah, but his shouts during Millia’s wardrobe malfunction were
painful. He was chastised for them quite a bit, this guy.”
Eunius was talking about the time Millia lost her upper
garments. Excited, Aleist had some drink in his system, and he
ended up shouting out.
From atop the stage, his engagement partners were all watching
him. There was no excuse.
“… Well, the way things are going, Millia will probably be
engaged to Aleist too. Looking at the elves as a whole, this matter
with Millia is a stroke of good luck. The talks should go forward
regardless of her intent.”
Luecke tilted his glass, swishing the drink inside, and watching
it move. Once talks turned serious, Eunius looked up at the
ceiling.
Rudel alone, because of his costume, was unable to put out a
serious air.
“Hah, becoming an adult means you’ve got to become a real stick
in the mud, huh.”
Eunius down the contents of the glass in his hand, making a bit
of a lonesome face.
“You can’t be a student forever. We’re the same. After this,
we’ll be in service to the palace for a bit, but we’ve each got our
factions.”
Originally, they were houses that were supposed to be in
conflict. Even if Rudel was a separate story, the Arses House still
held a faction. He couldn’t stay irrelevant.
“What a pain.”
On Eunius’ words, Luecke could give no response. But before
that, Rudel had something he had to do.
His promise with the black fog… perhaps you could call it fate,
if he didn’t fight against the large flow, he would never be able
to move forwards.
“I’m a dragoon, woof. It’s customary to head to the border for a
while… woof.”
“No, you’re special, so you’ll probably be serving at the
palace, right? This sleeping guy is entering the defenders that
were just put together, and he’s suddenly a candidate for
captain.”
Eunius corrected Rudel’s statement, but Rudel had a vague
understanding. There was a flow he couldn’t do anything against,
and he was being swept up in its currents…
But he hadn’t given up on his struggle.
He had promised to fight against it, and it was one of the
reasons he became a dragoon. Rudel suddenly felt as if the
still-human Sakuya was standing beside him.
(I’ll definitely honor my promises.)
It was almost as if Sakuya made a bit of a sorrowful face. But
the feeling she was there soon faded away.
“Well, as long as Rudel’s there, the Arses faction should build
some momentum. We won’t be the two great factions for long. Rudel,
you better prepare yourself. Even if you’re the dragoon, you’re the
white knight. It’s not like there’s no possibility you’ll be the
next king. No, among us, you have the highest chances.”
Luecke looked at Aleist just once. But he couldn’t imagine the
man leaning asleep against the wall becoming king.
“If you become king, you’ll be clashing with us.”
Even if Rudel became king, if their politics collided, then the
archdukes would oppose. Friendly relations from their school days
wouldn’t mean anything there. No, those around wouldn’t let them
have meaning.
The three fell silent, but on Izumi’s approach, Eunius opened
his mouth.
“Well, it was fun. For now, I guess that’s enough.”
“Sure enough.”
“That’s right, woof.”
Rudel was faithfully upholding his order. And that was something
Luecke and Eunius couldn’t help but laugh at.
The fact that they couldn’t keep it tense to the end left the
three of them laughing.
◇
In the academy where the graduation ceremony had concluded, the
headmaster held his head.
Having come so far, the students’ guardians had come forth to
complain that the party’s contents had been too extreme. The name
of the king’s fame was approved by Fina, so it didn’t become a
problem.
But in the beauty contest, boys aside, the girls and their
parents came to complain. This was largely because of Izumi and
Millia.
While they couldn’t approve of the contest itself, they
complained that they couldn’t approve of those extreme pieces of
swimwear either. Among them were some of the students who took
part, simply being sore losers.
And while confession time did become a bit of a problem, among
the students, there were some boys who jokingly confessed to one
another, and it was praised as being funnier than the average
comedy.
No one said anything particular about the costumes, but after
that, the academy received a considerable number of complaints.
The fact that they were praised to an extent was the silver
lining on a dark cloud. It was well known as a party where the
students had made lasting memories.
Of the enrolled students, there were many looking forward to
next year’s party.
“Come this far, to think my sense of relief would backfire… I
never would have thought Izumi-kun and Millia-kun would…”
It’s not as if they hadn’t been wary of Rudel and co, but the
problem had come from somewhere they had never even expected,
making the headmaster hold his head.
“Hah… well, there’s only one year left in my term. It did make
for a nice memory.”
Recalling when Rudel had come to the academy, his face went
unusually lax. It was quite some trouble, but remembering how it
was fun in its own way, the headmaster continued through his
processing of complaints.
… But because of the problem child who paid visit to the academy
two years later, the headmaster’s troubles would continue.
That the problem child would cause his term to be extended was
something the headmaster had no way of knowing.
“Now then, I’ve got to do my best for my final year.”
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 95: New Comrades and Superiors
Chapter 95: New Comrades and Superiors
From early in the morning, a large number of knights had
gathered at the palace.
They were all prim and proper, and even the sounds of voices
couldn’t be heard.
In the country of Courtois, the appointment ceremony of its
elites- the high knights, dragoons… and royal guard- was carried
out in April. This was a standing tradition and the unchanging
start of the year for all knights.
Those with excellent grades at the academy, those whose efforts
as knights were evaluated, and those who had accumulated
achievements were chosen as elites, and given the right to attend
the ceremony.
Here, the new knights to represent Courtois were lined up.
Rudel was boldly lined shoulder to shoulder with them. Unlike
his time as a student, his arms had passed through the sleeves of
the official dragoon ceremonious knight garments.
If anything differed, it was that he was there as one from an
archduke house, lined up in the very front row, his ceremonial
knight clothing made of valuable white material. From the fabric to
the gold decorations, even among the knight clothes the craftsmen
had prepared for the elites, his was surely of the highest
workmanship.
He stood by Aleist, who was participating as an exception, and
they certainly stood out.
Aleist’s enlistment in the defenders was decided. But there was
no way they could have the black knight- a key figure in the
nation’s founding- not take part in the ceremony.
As if to contrast Rudel, he wore truly beautiful knight garments
fashioned with black as the base and silver ornaments.
Perhaps he was nervous as his face was serious to no end.
Since their graduation from the academy, starting with Rudel,
Luecke, Eunius, Aleist, Izumi… and Fritz had been granted
extravagant knight clothing to stand in the ranks.
It was rare for graduates to line in the ceremony on that very
same year, and apart from Rudel’s group, the others were those who
had put in at least a few years of knight work and had their
efforts or achievements recognized.
But it wasn’t unprecedented for early academy graduates to stand
among them.
Called a genius, Cattleya stood for her ceremony when she was
only seventeen.
What’s more, that was after she was forcibly graduated like
Fritz. When Cattleya obtained her red dragon, the dragoons were a
majority gray dragons with very few natural ones.
For the dragoon knight brigade that prided their contracts with
dragons, to speak to the contrary, a lack of natural dragon
contractors could raise doubts that the organization was
weakening.
It came at a bad time, and Cattleya was held up high as a
genius.
In that reception hall where Rudel and the others stood in file,
the high ceiling was held up by large pillars. Prepared for the
day’s ceremony, the carpet was brand new.
The morning air was, at most, cool on their skins, and the lined
knights felt it gave just the right feel. Rudel could feel himself
growing tense.
In such a hall, the orchestra informed them of the king’s
appearance.
There were other authorities walking behind him as he came out
before the knights.
Without the slightest signal, those elite knights simultaneously
fell to their knees and lowered their heads to signal their
devotion. The king was satisfied with those splendid movements.
Moving just his eyes, the king looked at Rudel in his bright
knight garments.
(So he’s finally come this far. He does seem to be quite the
stubborn one, but that’s all the better.)
Seeing Rudel who hadn’t given up to the end and had become a
dragoon, the king rejoiced without changing his expression. Rudel
had sent a letter saying he would save much more people as a
dragoon than as an archduke.
The king himself had a hand in the royal guard that would break
that promise. But by his daughter’s secret dealings, those plans
went largely amiss and he became a dragoon.
As one of the authorities signaled the start of the ceremony,
the proceedings went on in solemnity.
◇
After the ceremony, the new recruits were gathered in the rooms
allotted to each knight brigade.
From their status, Luecke and Eunius had special standings, and
treating it as training, the two of them would spend a few years at
the palace. Luecke as a civil official and Eunius as a military
officer, they would be stationed in normal knight brigade.
But the two of them were future archdukes. Despite being
newcomers, they were granted considerable posts.
Rudel sat in the dragoon meeting room alongside the other new
recruits as he awaited the captain’s arrival. This year, there was
a change in captain and it was decided that they would use this
opportunity to reorganize their formation.
The newbie dragoons calmly awaited the captain and
vice-captain’s arrival. It was there that the meeting room’s door
was slammed open with good momentum.
Before everyone could feel surprised, they stood from their
seats and corrected their postures.
“Oh! That’s quite a nice reaction. Looks like I can count on
this year.”
A middle-aged man of tidily kept beard looked over the faces of
the new recruits and nodded. His hair was silver, all swept to the
back, while his face was pristine.
He was shorter in stature than the vice-captain, but he had a
muscular build.
In contrast, the vice-captain had a scar on his face. His
orange, wavy long hair was collected at the back, and tall in
height, he brought to mind the image of a seasoned warrior.
A light captain and a reliable vice-captain- that was the
impression the newcomers held.
“Captain, promptly tell them of our schedule henceforth. I have
work to do.”
To that vice-captain, whose intensity even reached his voice,
that captain pat him on the shoulder as he informed him he would go
at his own pace.
“Don’t be so stiff, Alejandro. Deepening our friendship with
these guys is included in our job description! Your daughter’s here
too, and if you don’t tell the men not to lay a hand on her, she’ll
be eaten right up.”
“Oldart, shouldn’t you be the one doing something about that
loose personality of yours?”
From the vice captain’s fed-up face, the captain turned to the
new recruits. Directing his white teeth, hs commenced his
self-introduction.
“I’m Oldart Billums, high and mighty captain of the dragoon
brigade. I’m a charmer in his prime turning forty-eight this year,
you better remember that. By the way, my partner’s a gray
dragon.”
Once he finished a light introduction, Oldart looked at his
vice-captain.
“… Alejandro Campbell. My partner is a wind dragon.”
Once he finished his simple introduction, Alejandro handed the
documents he brought to one of the new recruits. That nearby newbie
took his share before circulating the rest of the forms.
His eyes fell only once on a female knight, but those around
didn’t pay it any particular mind. Oldart alone was directing him a
detestable grin.
After making an unpleasant face, Alejandro gave a simple
explanation of what was to come.
“During the new recruit training, the previous generation’s
captain and vice-captain will serve as instructors and lead you.
There will be other active members serving as instructors, and they
will pound the fundamentals of being a dragoon into you within the
next half year.”
Oldart crossed his arms, nodding as he added onto the
explanation.
“In half a year, we’ll have an unveiling to the public. Though
we’ll just be flying in formation around the palace. Until then,
you’ll be doing grunt work for three months! And in the remaining
three months, you’ll be mastering flying in formation. By the way!
I made sure all the active dragoons instructing you are manly
men!”
The new recruits reacted poorly to those words. Rudel simply
wondered if there was a reason he wouldn’t make a woman
instructor.
“This year, we have a future archduke coming in, and the
higher-ups told us to let our beauts teach him… that would make me
jealous as hell, so I decided to do some harassment.”
As Oldart confessed his true feelings with a smile, Alejandro
felt the urge to spit out a sigh.
“This year’s been a stream of unprecedented events. I doubt
it’ll go as it does every year, so you should all keep that fact in
your heads. Be at ease until the instructor arrives. We’re going,
captain.”
“Already? Whatever. Well then, new recruits, we’ll meet again
soon.”
After Oldart left the room laughing, the unsociable Alejandro
followed behind.
Once the captain and vice-captain’s footsteps grew distant, a
single young man loosened the collar of his knight clothing as he
sat in his seat. With chestnut hair, he gave off the impression of
an amiable young man.
“That vice-captain has some intensity… though I get the feeling
the captain is a bit too light.”
As the young man unraveled his impression of the two, a nearby
female knight sat and began talking about the captain.
“Sure enough. Having a gray dragon for captain and a wind dragon
for vice-captain, it’s a peculiar tale.”
The nine newcomers in the conference room sat in their chairs at
ease, and as it was a break time, they began to converse.
“And we’re even getting a future archduke entering this year.
You’re Rudel, aren’t you?”
A knight with gray hair and a sharp look in his eyes looked at
Rudel, taking on a provocative attitude. The surrounding knights
were surprised by his bearing, but Rudel didn’t flinch.
“Yeah, I’m Rudel. So?”
“Don’t be so cold. From here on, we’re going to be fellow
dragoons, right? I hate all that stiff, serious stuff, see. And
we’ve got another interesting one with us this year.”
The knight with sharp eyes directed his gaze at the female
knight with orange, wavy long hair.
“You’re Enora Campbell, aren’t you? Having a father and daughter
both become dragoons is amazing.”
“… That has nothing to do with it.”
As the knight with sharp eyes called out her name, Enora reacted
without any particular change in her reaction. While those gathered
here were all elite knights, they were just a bit
idiosyncratic.
Rudel knew about the Campbell House, and he had some interest in
the name that put out dragoons generation after generation.
“The Campbell House is famous for turning out many dragoons. Do
they make you do anything special?”
“Ah, that sounds interesting.”
The knight who was the first to open his mouth endorsed Rudel’s
question, leaning his torso over the meeting room table. Enora was
of ample chest and fine features.
Even though she wore the same uniform, from her measurements, it
looked as if she almost wore a completely different one from the
other female knights. And yet, her waist was slim, and her limbs
were slender.
Such a girl smiled as she answered all the knights in the room
looking at her.
“That’s a secret.”
“Now that’s unfortunate.”
Rudel shrugged his shoulders, but it wasn’t as if he was
expecting her to tell him from the start. He just wanted to
converse with the other dragoons who would become his
colleagues.
The other knights were also just a little let down by her words.
There weren’t any who intended to pry any further.
As expected of those chosen as elite knights, they were all
relatively calm and collected. And like that, the break time ended
with some light conversation and self-introductions.
◇
“I cannot accept it! Why wasn’t I chosen!?”
The one who captured the captain and vice-captain as they walked
down the hall was Cattleya. Having returned from the border and
been officially appointed head of a platoon, she had the
qualifications to train the new recruits.
She had personally volunteered to help train the newbies of the
term.
The fact Rudel was there was part of the reason, but newbie
training was a required prerequisite for promotion. If she wanted
to aim higher than lieutenant, Cattleya would have to carry out
newbie rearing.
Within the brigade, Cattleya had gained strength and
distinguished herself, and Oldart dealt with her with a smile.
“No, well… right! This and that happened between you and Rudel
so we took it into consideration. I mean, when you were formerly
engaged, the other side broke off the engagement, right? Man, the
captain really has to read the mood in this sort of thing, you
know.”
Cattleya was once a candidate to be Rudel’s fiancé. After she
raised a problem, the talks were broken off by the Arses House.
“Ah, that’s already gone and done with. Or do you think I intend
to get revenge?”
At Cattleya’s words, Oldart laughed within.
(No, it’s because I do think so that you were removed. Have you
forgotten what happened a few years ago?)
By the confusion Cattleya caused, the dragoon brigade went
through a period of turbulence. A few years back, Oldart headed a
battalion.
He had memories of the considerable strife he had to go through
with countermeasure meetings and human resources.
This time, Alejandro admonished Cattleya with a tired
expression.
“This time, the higher-ups told us to treat our archduke with
care. It is my belief that the knights we selected as instructors
are a sensible lot. You’re still young. You can try again for an
instructor position next year.”
But the real reason Cattleya didn’t become an instructor wasn’t
Rudel. Alejandro had used Rudel as a reason to persuade Oldart, but
the real reason was Cattleya’s youth, and his daughter Enora.
Praised as a genius, Cattleya was undoubtedly an outstanding
talent, even within the dragoons.
Age-wise, she was twenty-three, and even younger than some of
the new recruits this term. Rudel was the youngest recruit, but
apart from him, many of the others were over twenty-five. And
Cattleya was the same age as Enora.
Becoming a dragoon at seventeen, she had put in six years of
service. More than anything, she was capable of using her demonic
sword. Given a few years, Alejandro was certain she would even
surpass him.
For her dragon she had contracted a young, powerful male, and as
a dragoon, Cattleya’s value was exceedingly high.
As Alejandro looked at Cattleya, he felt a sense of panic. While
being of a famed name that put out dragoons generation after
generation, his daughter was at the end of her talent
Even when he returned home, he couldn’t help but see an
unfavorable comparison. Those feelings would come out in his
attitude, and it would often end in him mentioning Cattleya’s name
to Enora.
(Even if it’s my responsibility, we can’t go like this.)
He had intended to raise her worthy of being a dragoon, but
Alejandro had noticed the darkness in Enora’s heart. While she
usually looked meek, Enora held an extraordinary sense of hostility
towards Cattleya.
This time, Rudel- who held relations with Cattleya- was also
instated as a dragoon.
“See? That’s just how it is, this time around. Well, if you want
to do it no matter what, you could help this charming captain in
his prime practice his night flying skills…”
“I refuse.”
“… Even if I knew it wouldn’t work out, getting such an
immediate response is painful. Try being a bit more tactful. I’m a
delicate man.”
“A delicate man doesn’t say such indecent things.”
Among the dragoons, night flying was just the sort of innuendo
it sounded to be.
“… That’s why you can never get a boyfriend.”
“Oy, even for a captain, there are things you should and
shouldn’t say. Do you want me to explain certain things to your
wife again?”
“H-hey! That’s a no go! Now that one’s one of the things you
shouldn’t say!!”
“It’s only because your conduct is so bad, that you would be
troubled by such a thing, charmer in his prime (lol).”
“Then I’d better watch out. I wouldn’t want to be blasted off to
the border like you, genius (lol).”
The two of them glared at one another, continuing on their
comedy routine.
While Alejandro was mulling over his daughter, Oldart and
Cattleya had started such a back and forth. Alejandro looked
enviously at his ability to get together the strong personalities
of the dragoons.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 96: The Rival and the Evaluation
Chapter 96: The Rival and the Evaluation
Having become a high knight, Izumi’s first job was to clean up
the room the high knights used at the palace.
As there was no longer the required personnel to maintain the
organization, a notice of its official dissolution had been handed
down. The guard of important personnel the high knights had risked
their lives on had been taken up by the royal guard.
Promptly after entering the force, Izumi was put to processing
documents.
“Hah, this is definitely not what I was expecting.”
In the reference room the high knights used, Izumi muttered as
she tidied up forms alongside the other high knights. From the
start, she had become a high knight to become a noble.
But this year, there were absolutely no high knights who came
from the noble class.
Factional disputes were already going on within the palace. As
nobles, the archdukes leading the two great factions, and Archduke
Arses who planned to use both of them had started to move.
Knight brigades… within military circles, there was a
recruitment war going on between the royal guard and defenders.
The only ones you could call irrelevant were the dragoons. Due
to their special standing, neither force could carelessly pull them
from their positions.
Having the dragoons feud amongst themselves and cutting the
number of dragons would be akin to largely chipping away the
country’s military might. At the same time, the royal line and
authorities greatly feared the dragons turning against
Courtois.
As it stood, the dragoons had a tacit rule of
noninterference.
For the sake of Courtois’ superiority, while they didn’t fully
understand the situation, the royal guards and defenders hadn’t
lain hands on them. Fina herself did want to try reaching out, but
in the end, she stopped herself.
That was simply how vital the pillars of the country, the
dragoons, were.
In contrast, the status of the high knights had been snatched up
by the royal guard.
No one could have imagined they would decline so much in only a
few years. It was a result of the organization being cornered into
dissolution by both Aileen and Fina simultaneously.
For Aileen, it was for her own sake.
Fina for her own desires, and just a little for the sake of the
country…
When the high knights once shouldered the protection of vital
personnel, this treatment was simply terrible.
But the high knights were elites. Their wisdom went without
question, and they were the capable elites of Courtois. After the
organization’s dismantlement, their members would undoubtedly find
work in one of the two fronts.
Through simple chat, Izumi had also come to know the
circumstances of the palace. Feeling anxiety for her own future,
Izumi began cleaning up when a voice called out to her from
behind.
“Oh, Izumi, you’re working hard.”
“Yes. Is something the matter, senpai?”
The ones who came over to her were senior members of the high
knights. A group of three and fresh nobles without any backers.
“No, I just wanted to know if you’re free after this. Someone I
know from the royal guard called out. You at least want to hear
them out, right?”
They weren’t hitting on her, it seems they wanted to carry Izumi
over to the royal guard. In the intensifying recruitment wars to
come, they wanted to gather as many people and contribute as much
as possible.
“No, I’m…”
Izumi took on a refuting attitude. Through Rudel, she had
already found a station with Luecke and Eunius. The two of them had
promised to mediate if Izumi’s clan wanted to come under their one
of their factions.
“That so, well, you better think over where you’re going in the
near future.”
The party of three left; they wouldn’t push her too hard. They
weren’t selected as high knights for nothing, and they knew what
would happen if they overdid their movements.
But the fact that such solicitation would come out on the job
was proof that the high knight brigade was growing lax as a
whole.
“Even if you tell me about the royal guard and defenders…”
While she knew the general gist of things, Izumi didn’t know the
specifics. If she knew this was a petty sibling fight within the
palace, she would surely drop her shoulders in disappointment.
Speaking to scale, it couldn’t even be called a fight anymore.
Within such a situation, Izumi plainly continued on her work.
◇
“Well then, henceforth we will be putting your abilities to the
test. Just because you’ve managed to contract a dragon, they alone
won’t make you a first-rate dragoon. Don’t forget that you lot are
merely standing on the starting line!”
Before the former captain and vice-captain, the nine new
recruits saluted in file.
It was a training grown a long way off from the palace, and not
in ceremonious garb, the newbies with training clothes wrapped
around their bodies had come to the field without their
dragons.
“From here on, you lot will be looking after the dragons as you
learn the basics. What’s needed of a dragoon is the ability to lead
a dragon to your will. No matter how strong a dragon may be, if you
cannot use its power, you won’t be the slightest use in
battle.”
The vice-captain took a single large leap before taking a few
more steps in the air.
In that empty airspace, his form almost as if he was kicking the
atmosphere left the newbies surprised. Before the surprised new
recruits, the former captain gave a proud explanation.
It was almost as if he was looking at his past self, and he felt
a sense of nostalgia.
“This is only the beginning. At the very least, you will have to
be able to carry out two mid-air movements. This one is mainly an
emergency recovery measure for when you fall off your dragon. Well,
it does have its uses in battle. Now then, those who can already
use this technique, step forward. We’ll have you set a good example
for the other new recruits.”
Watched over by the instructors, Rudel and Enora stepped
forwards.
This was largely expected and the instructors wanted to confirm
their abilities. Each year, there would always be an extent of new
recruits who could pull it off.
But they generally wouldn’t carry the necessary techniques with
them.
What the vice-captain showed off was nothing more than the
minimum. Once the new recruits proudly unveiled their midair
movement, he would show off an even higher level of movement.
Here, Enora took four air jumps before landing full of
confidence.
On top of the graceful form of a beauty flying through the sky,
the male knights’ attention was especially devoted to her large,
swaying chest.
“How was that?”
After directing a provocative smile to the instructors, Enora
switched out with Rudel. Seeing Rudel a little tense, she smiled
and offered some advice.
“You should really relax your shoulders.”
“Ah, thank you.”
As she passed Rudel by, Enora predicted he might even fail. He
was the youngest one among them, and he didn’t look to have much
battle experience… she thought.
The instructors who received the report that Rudel had mastered
air movement had been a little naïve as well. They thought that
those seeing the technique for the first time might have
overevaluated him.
But as Rudel leapt above the training grounds, the first thing
that surprised everyone was the height.
“… Now that’s high (No, isn’t that a bit too high? Jumping that
high is usually impossible, isn’t it).”
On the former captain’s words, no one was able to react. Rudel
climbed to a considerable height and began executing air
movement.
A small point seen from the ground seemed to be carrying out
impossible fluctuations. Rather than a jump, he was already
flying.
“… Oy, someone go set an example as his senior (That’s not
happening).”
The former vice-captain’s words caused the active dragoons to
shake their heads at once.
“Not happening! That one’s impossible!! And aren’t you supposed
to set an example, vice-captain!?”
“I’m getting old. I can’t be getting in the way of you young’uns
forever (Oy, oy, I’m begging you, read the mood a bit,
Rudel-sama).”
As the former vice-captain and the active dragoons selected as
instructors began to argue, the former captain muttered in his
heart.
(This guy… what am I supposed to say.)
Within all that, Enora alone directed Rudel a gaze not of
praise. What dwelled in her eyes was an intense hostility.
To Enora who was raised to be more of a dragoon than anything
else, Rudel who boasted abilities that exceeded hers was simply
unpleasant.
As if glaring, she watched Rudel fly freely through the sky.
◇
The place the dragons were kept was called the dragon
stables.
Around when evening was fading away, Rudel and the other new
recruits were cleaning those very stables.
While there were exclusive caretakers, it was regulation that
the newbies would spend their time cleaning the stables for the
first three months. There was no denying the fact the dragons were
lifeforms. They generally smelled, and there were dirty places to
be found.
In such a space, Rudel almost felt like breaking into a hum.
Despite being the eldest son of an archduke house, the drive he
held as he carried out odd jobs caused those around to see him as
an odd one.
“Oy, I’m surprised you can clean so happily. When I thought you
would be the first one to snap at our superiors. Hah, looks like
I’ve lost this bet.”
“Bet?”
The sharp-eyed knight, Saas Venia, revealed he had been placing
bets with the other newcomers.
“That’s right. With the brat with the light personality and the
two women, we placed our bets. Over how long you were going to hold
out. And then you’re pleasantly cleaning the stables? Looks like
Enora’s the only winner here.”
“Ah, the Campbell House’s… in that case, she thought I would
hold out. How rare.”
The way things had gone up to now, Rudel found it more
understandable for people to doubt him. Being evaluated by a person
he didn’t really know left him a little lost.
But if it was a bet, then perhaps she aimed for the greatest
turnout, or so he changed his train of thought.
“Now then, once this is cleaned up, we can call it a day.”
Once Saas tried to bring the cleaning to the end, the other
newbies increased their pace. Rudel thought he felt Enora’s gaze,
but she was conversing with the only other of the two female
knights.
“I’m going off to look at my own dragon.”
“Again? Well, that kid’s a special one.”
Saas directed his gaze outside the dragon stables at the
conspicuously large hole that had been dug out. In it was a dragon
that even the splendidly constructed stables couldn’t contain.
A subspecies of gaia dragon, Sakuya was even bigger than the
standard gaia, and if she entered the dragon stables, there was a
fear of her breaking the building.
For that sake, as an exception, it was permitted for Sakuya to
dig a hole and use it as a place to sleep.
As Rudel approached, Sakuya popped her head out of the depths of
the cave hole. If it was a small animal, it would’ve been cute, but
Sakuya was a dragon. What’s more, her size was double that of the
other dragons.
If any layman saw her, they’d surely be at a loss for words. But
to Rudel, she was the dragon he had made a contract with.
“I kept you waiting, Sakuya.”
‘I’m hungry… this place doesn’t give enough food.’
For Sakuya who ate quite a portion, the palace had prepared a
considerable portion. But it does seem it still wasn’t enough for
her.
“I see, in that case, I’ll tell the instructor.”
Right after Rudel made a pampering remark, the roar of a dragon
came from the stables. While Rudel couldn’t’ understand the
contents of that roar, Sakuya did seem to make un unpleasant
face.
“What’s wrong?”
‘… It’s nothing. I’m going to sleep for the day, good night
Rudel.’
“Y-yeah, good night.”
Normally, they would enjoy a conversation there, but lately,
Sakuya was lacking in spirit. When Rudel became a dragoon, it was
decided Sakuya would live in the stables.
While she dug a hole and lived there as an exception, for some
reason, she seemed to be losing energy day after day.
She was in high spirits when she left the forest where the
dragons lived. While Rudel was a little worried, he decided to wait
for the time when Sakuya would divulge her own worries.
If he worried too much, he thought it would have an opposite
effect and make Sakuya overly conscious.
He did know she was hiding something and making sure he wouldn’t
find out.
After spending some time cleaning up the front of the cave,
Rudel took his leave. He was definitely mulling over Sakuya, but
for now, he didn’t know any resolution.
She didn’t seem to be sick, so he suspected it was something
psychological.
(Is she stressed out from a change in environment? But she was
delighted at the start.)
Troubling his head over Sakuya, Rudel returned to the dragon
stables.
◇
In the instructor room, the former captain and vice captain were
exchanging a drink
It was passed working hours, and they planned to sleep after
downing a glass. Watching over the new recruits was left to the
other active dragoons.
“Hah, even so, this year is a hard one.”
“Right you are.”
Both poured a slightly-expensive wine in their glass before
drinking it down. Reaching their hands to the snacks left on the
table, they began discussing Rudel.
“Does the archduke even need training? Why not just add him to
the main force already?”
“That’s going to be a hard one.”
They exchanged bitter smiles as they evaluated the year’s new
recruits.
“The runner-up is Enora, and next, I guess Saas is showing a bit
of promise? For now, I don’t know about the others.”
“They’re elites chosen by dragons but, well, there’s still a
ranking to things. The two who managed to obtain wild dragons will
definitely support the core force in times to come.”
Being recognized by a wild dragon was several times harder and
more dangerous than contracting a gray dragon. The dragoons who
succeeded in such a task were truly outstanding talents.
“From tomorrow onwards, training’s gradually going to grow
harsher, but let’s see… I guess a B-Rank evaluation is
guaranteed.”
A dragoon was evaluated on a five level evaluation system
ranging from E to A. While all of them held competence as knights,
dragoons were mainly focused around dragons.
Controlling a dragon freely was what made one first-rate.
“So I’m sure.”
But managed by the dragoons, gray dragons would move faithfully.
Wild dragons were hard to handle, but in exchange, they boasted
performance greater than a gray dragon.
While they had placed their expectations on Rudel and Sakuya, in
the evaluation exam held a few weeks from that day, the two of them
received a D-Rank evaluation.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 97: The Evaluation and Running Away
Chapter 97: The Evaluation and Running Away
‘Rudel Arses… Evaluation: D-Rank’
As he looked at the document indicating his evaluation, Rudel’s
expression was serious.
Sakuya was also out on the training grounds, but her wings and
tail unfit for her large build were folded in. Perhaps discouraged,
her expression was somewhat dark.
‘I-I’m sorry.’
“Don’t mind it. I don’t really care.”
The reason Rudel’s evaluation was so low lay in his partner
Sakuya. A gaia dragon subspecies, Sakuya was specialized in offense
and defense.
While she was bad at flying, she possessed skills to make up for
it. But as a dragoon’s dragon, she was a failure.
No matter how proficient Rudel might be, if Sakuya’s evaluation
was so low, he would never rise in rank.
Sakuya had received training from Marty’s dragon Mystith, but
that wasn’t for long. It was hard to say she had learned all of the
necessary skills. Even more than that, there were skills the
dragoons had polished after Mystith had left.
Starting with ‘hovering’- stopping on the spot in midair- things
like flight formations hadn’t been necessary in Mystith’s era.
Now that group combat had become the norm, a majority of the
fighting techniques Mystith taught her were outside of the grading
scale.
‘But if we don’t become C-Rank (?) we can’t go out in
battle…’
Right, just barely obtaining D-Rank, Rudel and Sakuya wouldn’t
be able to enter the fray. It meant they couldn’t escape the label
of newbie.
While Rudel possessed the necessary abilities of a dragoon,
Sakuya was just somehow able to manage a D.
“Don’t worry. We just have to raise our rank by one. And you
don’t have to worry about the evaluation.”
Rudel tried to console Sakuya, but there he heard yet another
grand dragon cry from the direction of the dragon stables. The fact
it was different from a normal roar made Rudel curious.
Every time Sakuya heard that cry, she would lose her spirit.
Conversations would cut off.
“What’s wrong?”
‘… It’s nothing.’
Even through the conveyance of thought that came between
contractors, the weakening of the ends of Sakuya’s words bothered
Rudel. He grew excessively anxious.
“If something’s wrong, then tell me. You’re my precious
partner.”
‘Y-yeah.’
While Rudel worried for Sakuya’s lack of energy, in contrast,
Sakuya only grew more depressed.
◇
Enora watched Rudel cheer Sakuya up from afar.
“Serves you right.”
On the words she spat out, the dragon she had contracted to
looked at Sakuya.
‘A kid with a story from Mystith’s place? Looks like he likes
her quite a bit. I do have some sympathy for her upbringing, but I
don’t have the mind to support her to such an extent.’
Mystith was the most powerful dragon in the dragon dwellings,
but her territory was surprisingly small. When there were dragons
that followed her, it was only natural there would be those
opposed.
Enora’s dragon was one of those opposing ones.
In order to look after her own dragon, Enora removed her gaze
from Rudel and Sakuya. Unstrapping the tools used at the training
grounds, her expression turned to a dark smile.
It was a huge difference from her usual self.
“No matter how proficient he is as a knight, that’s no good at
all.”
‘If she can’t even fly properly and her breath is so half-baked,
then there’s no helping it.’
In order to commence air raids, it was necessary for a dragon to
accurately hit a mark with their breath. Within all that, Sakuya
was terrible at firing her breath during flight.
Even if her output was on the high side, her accuracy was
exceedingly low. Even if Rudel was controlling, she rarely ever
hit.
“It’s fatal to have a D evaluation at the three-month point.
There’s no way they can add him to the flight formation. This
future archduke sure has fallen. There’s a reassessment exam next
week, but that’s definitely not something at a level he can do
anything about.”
The fundamental training had ended, and now, they would have to
learn to fly in formation for the unveiling event. But at present,
Sakuya’s abilities hadn’t reached that level.
‘Well, being this bad is an embarrassment to our kin. The grays
are making a ruckus.’
“Hmm~.”
Seeing the ones she thought would be her greatest rivals- Rudel
and Sakuya- be the biggest failures among the newcomers, Enora was
delighted. Her wind dragon explained what the gray dragons he
scorned as grays were doing to Sakuya.
‘You never see a wild dragon this terrible, after all. The jeers
are flying left and right. It’s unbearably noisy.’
“Now isn’t that nice. If that’s all it takes to crush them, they
have my thanks. But I can’t stumble in a place like this.”
Within Enora’s head, she had already lost interest in Rudel. But
her hostility towards Cattleya who she was constantly compared to
burned bright.
While she did hold a high evaluation of Rudel himself, if his
dragon was no good, there was no point in paying him any mind.
◇
On his lodging house bed, Rudel looked at the evaluation notice
as he desperately searched for a solution.
“Hovering… halting in the air for a fixed amount of time.
Shooting… destroying the marks set up while in flight. If we
accomplish these two, then we can get a C-Rank.”
Rudel looked at the documents attached to the evaluation notice
and looked over two entries. While there were other shoddy places
as well, he would have to do something about those two points that
were evaluated highly as the essentials.
To be honest, Rudel didn’t care about rank. There wasn’t a
problem as long as he could go out in battle. In this instance, it
was fine even if he couldn’t take part in the flight formation.
But Sakuya was depressed.
“I have to do something to give her self-confidence. If I do…
no, it won’t be a problem! Just what am I thinking.”
Leaping up from his lying position, Rudel rushed straight off to
Sakuya.
◇
Once the day of the reevaluation came around, surrounded by the
instructors, the other newcomers and their dragons, Rudel and
Sakuya went into preparations.
“Alright, we’re doing it just as planned, Sakuya!”
‘Yeah!’
Confirming his preparations were complete, Rudel turned to an
instructor and sent a signal. There, the instructor gave the order
for him to commence hovering.
Rather than Enora who had lost interest, the sharp-eyed Saas
seemed strangely unsettled as he looked at Rudel.
“Will they be alright?”
There, the knight standing to his side poked fun.
“You’re more of a worrywart than you look. Well, let’s just see
how far they’ve managed to come in a week.”
The knight of light personality relaxed as he looked at Rudel
and Sakuya. First came the hovering evaluation but here, Rudel took
an action no one expected.
Of all things, he produced one of his specialties, a shield of
light.
“… The hell’s he doing?”
While someone muttered, Sakuya leapt up and mounted that shield.
That form as if a dragon was riding a board left everyone
dumbfounded.
One of the instructors loudly verified it with Rudel.
“W-what are you doing!? Get to hovering at once!”
Rudel also answered loudly.
“There is no problem! The assessment entry describes it as,
‘halting in the air for a fixed period of time’! And see? We’ve
stopped, haven’t we!?”
Sakuya was just sitting on the shield of light Rudel had
produced. She wasn’t doing anything.
“No, that’s true! But that’s not what we had in mind!!”
Seeing the instructor’s troubled face, the surrounding newbies
gave bitter smiles. But Enora alone made a mortified face.
“To think he would come out with such a means!”
The other female newbie looked at her face from the side.
“No, is this really where you should be angry? More than that,
isn’t it a laugh?”
Enora Campbell was quite off herself.
◇
Following on, the shooting evaluation test commenced.
In the place prepared for shooting practice, there were only
dragoon facilities around.
The goal was to hit the brick walls erected along the flight
path. Those walls were made strong, making sure even a dragon’s
breath wouldn’t be able to destroy them.
Destroying the walls wasn’t the objective, the aim was to
demolish the planks posted up on those walls. They were made just
strong enough that a dragon wouldn’t be able to break them if it
wasn’t serious.
Flying at a certain level of speed, they would have to destroy
the marks set up.
Once the ten targets were successful posted, the instructor
issued Rudel the order.
Sakuya flew off into the distance to build up speed.
With that previous hovering case, the instructors were worried
whether or not Rudel would do something. Not just the brick walls,
the targets themselves were made difficult to destroy by human
hands, so they had some piece of mind. As Sakuya was terrible at
hitting marks, the instructors and new recruits watching took more
distance than usual.
Saas worried in a different way than before as he muttered. As
expected, the knight with the light personality responded.
“It’ll be alright this time, won’t it?”
“No, even if you ask me… but that last one was interesting. Sure
enough, he wasn’t wrong, so perhaps he might just pass.”
Raising her speed, Sakuya passed down the designated route,
approaching the target.
But even when the mark entered the firing range of a normal
breath, Sakuya didn’t even try to fire. At her mouth, she was
either preparing to fire a breath, or simply gathering mana.
“… Isn’t it a bit large?”
As an ill-natured knight muttered, without aiming at the mark,
Sakuya continued to come closer and closer. The mana converging in
her mouth was exceedingly large.
Not a single shot fired, Sakuya flew right up to the first
target.
“What are they doing!?”
Saas was worried, but outside of the surrounding worry, under
Rudel’s orders, Sakuya dropped that mass of mana.
Sakuya was unable to fire a powerful breath from the air. Taking
that into account, Rudel hit upon the idea that instead of firing
it, he could just do an airdrop.
Rudel had chosen to clear this challenge by dropping a lump of
mana right over the target. Rather than risking holding back too
much to aim at the target, he bet it all on a single powerful
blow.
As that spherical lump of mana fell, Sakuya instantly fled into
the sky. Seeing her rise in altitude, the instructors turned to the
newbies and cried out.
“E-evacuattte!”
From their experience, the instructors determined that mass of
magic was dangerous. They turned to the recruits and ordered them
to retreat.
All called their dragons, and it was at the moment everyone
tried to flee the area. The mass of mana didn’t fall on the
target.
As it found its destination in the very center of all those
scattered targets, a cloud of smoke and shockwave ruled the space.
Following on, the sound of explosions turned the area into a sea of
fires.
… The explosions took it all in, swallowing down the targets on
the walls in its wake.
The training ground was reduced to scorched earth.
Luckily, there were no injuries, but everyone gathered could
only look upon the scene in mute amazement.
“We did it, Sakuya! With this, we’ve risen in rank!”
Descending upon the barren ground, Rudel and Sakuya rejoiced
that they had destroyed all the targets, wall and all. Sakuya also
let out a delighted howl.
◇
“No, you’re still D-Rank, you know.”
“Why!?”
The next day, Rudel received the conclusion from the instructors
who had discussed the matter. Perhaps you could call it the natural
result.
Rudel and Sakuya’s evaluation remained at D-Rank.
As Rudel approached the instructor in utter surprise, the active
dragoon shied back as he explained.
“I mean, dude, boarding a shield of mana in hovering is
downright cheating.”
“We halted in the air for a set period of time!”
While they definitely stopped, that wasn’t by Sakuya’s power,
but by Rudel’s. In contrast, Sakuya hadn’t done a thing. She simply
laid back on Rudel’s shield of light.
“And just because you can’t hit the target, you decide to blow
the whole training ground away? Your imagination is
terrifying!”
“But it was never stated in detail how we had to aim at the
target!”
“No matter what you say, this is what’s been decided among the
instructors… I’m begging you, just clear the tasks normally. We’re
not asking for wit here.”
As the instructor with dropped shoulders handed the document to
Rudel, he took his leave as if completely worn out.
“What am I supposed to say to Sakuya…”
While Rudel was depressed, he would have to inform Sakuya of the
outcome. Recalling how Sakuya was looking forward to her result,
Rudel felt a weight on his mind.
“I thought it was a perfect plan! How am I supposed to try
clearing them next time…”
While Rudel used his head further, he couldn’t think of any way
to raise his evaluation by valid means.
The next day, after learning the results, Sakuya ended up
running away.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 98: Running Away and the Search Party
Chapter 98: Running Away and the Search Party
“Sakuya ran away.”
His shoulders slumped, Rudel returned to the lodging house and
muttered that truth to his peers.
Right after he woke up, he had made for the cave Sakuya lived,
but it was already an empty husk. While Rudel was desperately
searching for her, he found a message addressed to him, carved with
claw at the cave’s entrance.
‘I’m going home. I’m sorry.’
They were extremely shoddy letters, but letters that brought
back memories of a once-human Sakuya. The characteristics were
similar, and that only made Rudel more depressed.
Saas didn’t know what he was supposed to say to a depressed
Rudel. Everyone present was surprised at a situation where a dragon
had run away.
“W-what am I supposed to say… cheer up.”
But Enora alone forsook him.
“Hmm, so your dragon ran away. In that case, you’re not a
dragoon anymore. You don’t have any reason to stay here.”
On her cold words, those around stepped in to stop her.
“Quit it, Enora.”
But without seeming to pay it any mind, Rudel replied.
“Yeah, that’s why I’ve decided to search for her. I got
permission from the instructors, so I’ll be operating separately
for a while.”
“They gave permission? Well, with your status, I doubt they
could refuse.”
Before being a dragoon, Rudel was the white knight. For a vital
knight to the country of Courtois, having a dragon run away was
nothing more than an embarrassment.
But more than his own evaluation, Rudel lamented the fact he
hadn’t noticed Sakuya was pressured enough to want to run away.
He was depressed because he had made Sakuya sad, and not the
fact she had run away.
“Then I’ll be off.”
With teetering steps, Rudel started into air movement and left
the spot.
“… I’ve already gotten used to it, but that guy’s definitely
flying, isn’t he? He’s not jumping, right?”
As the light-natured knight muttered, everyone apart from Enora
nodded.
◇
Arriving at the dragons’ dwellings a few days later, Rudel was
in tatters.
He had given chase in a hurry, making the journey practically
empty-handed. All he had with him was a knife and a flask.
But without paying it much mind, he filled the inside of his
flask with water magic. While the taste was terrible, as long as it
quenched his throat, it wasn’t a problem.
It was a spell with terrible efficiency and an action he would
only come out with in an emergency.
But having once spent a long while camping in the dragons’
dwellings, as long as he could make it to the dwellings, it
wouldn’t be a problem.
‘Kid, what did you do? Sakuya’s holed herself up in the cave,
and she won’t come out.’
After arriving in the dragons’ dwellings, he brought his feet
straight to the cave Sakuya used as a stronghold. When he did, he
found Marty’s dragon Mystith, who had brought her hunted prey to
the entrance.
What seemed to be pray was clearly not the sort of fish she
could catch in the lake.
Even larger than Mystith, it was a lifeform with an atrocious
visage.
“I’m ashamed. Our evaluation was a bit low, and Sakuya grew
mindful of it…”
Rudel tried to convey this hard-to-explain situation in a way
Mystith would also understand.
‘… What’s that? They go incessantly evaluating every single
thing and sticking a rank onto it? How idiotic.’
“My thoughts exactly.”
‘Sakuya, I brought you dinner, so let’s eat together. I caught
the fish you like most.’
“… This is a fish?”
Looking at the fearsome lifeform, it definitely did have a
dorsal fin and tail. But on top of being larger than a dragon, it
made the foulest of expressions.
Rather than fish, calling it a sea monster hit the mark
better.
‘Something wrong? It’s quite tasty. The bloody bastards live in
the sea, and when they got a bit stuck up and tried attacking my
kinsmen, I decided to eat them. And you know what, they turned out
to be delicious.’
“That’s definitely not a fish, is it.”
‘As long as it’s tasty, kid.’
In order to eat the fish that was at a level even Rudel had to
put in a retort, Sakuya came out of the cave. But as soon as she
spotted Rudel, she bit onto the fish and took it with her back into
the cave depths.
‘Hey! Come out here and eat! That’s bad manners!!’
“Sakuya! I’m begging you, please come back!!”
Rudel continued desperately calling out to Sakuya holed up in
the back of the cave, but it didn’t have an effect.
◇
‘Hmm~, hovering, and breath accuracy, eh.’
“Yes, Sakuya can’t help but be bad at them, and we can’t raise
our rank,”
‘Are such things really necessary? I can’t understand it in the
slightest. Well, once you grow big, you should be able to do it
naturally, but in contrast to her body, that girl’s still a
child.’
At the lake Mystith made her den, Rudel discussed with her how
to deal with Sakuya’s troubles.
‘In the first place, she destroyed all the targets, and stopped
in the air for a fixed period of time, right? Just what was so bad
that she deserved to fail?’
“Who knows? I don’t get it either. They told me they weren’t
looking for wit.”
‘That’s what they call moving the goalpost.’
Conversing with a dragon that held a completely different sense
of value, Rudel agreed and nodded. Around them, small dragon
children were biting onto the prey Mystith had brought back.
It was a situation that delighted Rudel, and he wanted to go
around petting the nearby dragons at once. But with Sakuya’s
matter, he held himself back.
Rudel couldn’t seem to think up any resolution, so he sought
verification with Mystith over the other matter that had been
troubling him.
“Ah, there’s another thing. Sakuya didn’t have any energy at the
dragon stables. At first, she was in high spirits, but she grew
more and more depressed by the day… do you have any idea what the
reason might be?”
‘The dragon stables? How nostalgic. As long as she went about it
normally, I don’t think there would be any problem. Did something
happen?’
“Let’s see… when she’s talking with me, the other dragons often
cry out. In these sort of um, short growling bursts, I guess.”
‘… Kid, they’re making light of her.’
“What?”
‘I’m telling you they’re making fun of her! Mocking her! Those
damn brutesss!!’
“M-my word!”
After hearing the general circumstances from Rudel, Mystith
concluded Sakuya was being bullied at the dragon stables. While
dragons all shared a race, they would usually keep a level of
distance from one another.
But as gray dragons didn’t know life in the wild, they lived
affected by one another more than necessary.
While their strength and intelligence didn’t reach the level of
a wild dragon, when it came to coordination and ease of use, a gray
dragon was the best. But for the gray dragons who couldn’t
help but prioritize the group, if their foe showed any weakness,
they would look down on them from an internalized pecking
order.
“W-what should I do!?”
‘… Who knows?’
“Eh… Don’t you know any resolution!? Is there anything I can do
for Sakuya!?”
‘Even if you ask me that, well… when it came to me, I made the
other dragons obey from the start, and I only know one way to go
about it.’
“So there is a way!”
Rudel saw a glimmer of hope in Mystith’s words.
But again, it was Mystith he was dealing with.
‘It’s simple. Duel the current boss of the dragon stable and
beat them black and blue. If that’s the way we’re going, then it’s
training time! Now bring Sakuya out here.’
“Yes!!”
As Rudel raced off towards the cave, Mystith saw off his
back.
‘How nostalgic. It makes me recall Marty, back at the start when
he was still naïve and innocent.’
◇
Like that, in order to pull Sakuya out of the cave, Rudel made
his way to it.
The deep and dark cave was the place the undead dragon
originally slept. At this point, the cave’s depths were no longer
filled with the scent of death, and it was just a hole that was a
little deep.
Within such depths, Sakuya was rolled in a ball, asleep.
She looked somewhat sorrowful. But around, the bones of the food
Mystith brought in rolled around, and to Rudel, it looked strangely
Sakuya-esque.
“Sakuya, let’s go outside.”
Perhaps not wanting to lend an ear to Rudel’s voice, Sakuya hid
her head with both hands. Despite her large build, her movements
were those of a pet who had done a bad thing and was afraid of what
was to come.
“… I’m sorry. I never noticed you were hurting.”
‘… Not hurting’
“I heart from Mystith-sama. That you were being bullied by the
gray dragons… I’m sorry.”
‘I’m not being bullied!!’
As Sakuya raised her voice into a yell, her violent roar shook
the cave interior.
“Sakuya…”
On Rudel’s sorrowful voice, Sakuya stood and spread out her four
large wings.
‘Sakuya isn’t being bullied! She’s a really strong dragon and
Rudel’s partner! So… so Sakuya isn’t a no-good dragon!!’
After actually running away and holing herself up in a cave,
perhaps Sakuya was a no-good dragon. But in front of Rudel, she
tried to put on a bluff and appeal to him.
Not much time had passed since Sakuya’s birth, and unsuited to
her giant build, her spirit was still young.
Thinking of how such a young girl had been forced to endure the
jeers from her own kin for his sake, Rudel felt ashamed.
“… I’m a no-good partner.”
‘Why? Rudel didn’t do anything wrong.’
Approaching Sakuya, Rudel held out his hand.
Sakuya drew closer with her head and Rudel gently stroked her.
Comfortably flapping her spread wings, Sakuya sat on the spot in
delight.
“Sakuya, you and me together make a dragoon. When we’re
evaluated low as a dragoon, that’s my responsibility as well.”
‘… The others say it. You fall behind your partner, you’re a
useless dragon. So Sakuya isn’t needed… is it alright for Sakuya to
be here?’
“Fall behind? That’s got nothing to do with anything. I’m your
contractor, and you’re my dragon. If you weren’t there, I wouldn’t
have become a dragoon in the first place. You can be here. No,
please be my dragon!”
Saying it boldly, Rudel directed a gentle smile; Sakuya closed
her eyes once as her response.
“Then let’s go outside. Mystith-sama is worried. And it seems
she’s got some special training in store for you.”
‘Training?’
“Yeah, a training that will stop you from being bullied!!”
And like that, in order to train up Sakuya, Rudel holed himself
up in the dragons’ dwelling again. It went without saying that by
that point, he had completely forgotten about the unveiling that
would take place in three months’ time.
◇
Meanwhile, in the palace, Sakuya’s disappearance had become a
huge problem.
The dragoon captain and vice-captain had been called out before
the king and his authorities. While Rudel had gotten permission to
search for his own dragon, he didn’t seem to be coming back.
In the palace, a simple runaway case had become a problem of
national security.
“For the white knight’s dragon to run away, it’s so shameful
there’s no way we can publicize it.”
“Good grief, what was management doing!?”
“More importantly, what are we going to do about the ceremony? If
the white knight remains absent, we won’t be able to set an
example.”
The news of the white and black knights had spread far and wide
throughout Courtois.
In this ceremony called an unveiling, the level of attention to
be poured on Rudel and Aleist was exceptionally high. In such a
situation, there was no way they could announce that the white
knight’s dragon had run away, and he wasn’t taking part.
“I have no excuses.”
Oldart who laughed as he confronted the authorities was also a
seasoned warrior. Something of this level was nothing to be
flustered about.
But the other matters he had to handle made his head hurt.
(This is bad. The training ground is destroyed, and a dragon ran
away… our budget’s going to be cut, isn’t it. Hah, can’t our high
and mighty archduke do something with his pocket money.)
Before the authorities, he troubled his head over his future
expenses. In contrast, Alejandro had broken into a cold sweat.
While Alejandro had a proficient dragon and ample achievement under
his belt, this was the reason he was vice-captain.
He was terrible when it came to these things. Or rather, he
didn’t have the leisure.
Without the emotional leisure, Alejandro couldn’t help but want
to smack Rudel.
(To think he can’t even manage his own dragon. At this rate, he
won’t make it in time for the unveiling! If that’s all we’d get off
with, it’d be fine, but Rudel has a low evaluation. At this rate,
the dragoon brigade itself will be made light of!)
His flaw, his lack of leisure was what left him stuck at
vice-captain.
Strength-wise, he didn’t fall short of his fellow dragoon
Oldart. But mindful of his personality, the former captain and
vice-captain said farewell to his inauguration as captain.
“I will bring them back at once!”
While Oldart evasively dealt with the authorities, Alejandro
gave a forceful answer.He
was also a single man, and it wasn’t as if he had no interest in
promotion.
What’s more, even if he recognized Oldart’s abilities, he was
dealing with a man who had a gray dragon as his partner. He had
conceit that he was the better of the two.
He wanted to get his hands on an opportunity to surpass Oldart
no matter what.
“I see. But do you know where they are?”
“With the white knight who went searching of unknown whereabouts as
well, it brings to doubt the quality of the dragoons.”
“I truly have no excuse (Alejandro, read the mood a bit. He’s not a
brat anymore, if we keep quiet, I’m sure he’ll return sooner or
later).”
Oldart sent a pleading glance, but Alejandro didn’t notice.
A few days later, a dragoon search party for Rudel and Sakuya
was formed. As there was a limit to their numbers, even some of the
new recruits were enlisted on rotation.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s9.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 99: The Search Party and the Head of the Platoon
Chapter 99: The Search Party and the Head of the Platoon
Cattleya had been called to a meeting room in the palace under
Lilim’s orders.
At this point, Lilim had been put in charge of a company. That
led to her becoming Cattleya’s direct superior.
“What is it, senpai? I’m a bit busy.”
Wearing the uniform of a major, Lilim was just a bit irritated
at Cattleya’s behavior. While the two of them had similarly caused
a problem, Lilim had finished the newbie training requirement, so
she was able to be promoted to command a company.
“… Cattleya, right now, I am your superior.”
“Yeah, yeah. So what’s up?”
“You really are an irritating one, you know that? It’s an order
from the top brass. Your platoon is to search out Rudel-sama…
Recruit Rudel. But they want as many hands on it as possible this
time, so you’ll be using the new recruits as well.”
After Lilim sent them a glance, the newcomers saluted to
Cattleya. Receiving those salutes, reluctant as she was, Cattleya
sent a salute back.
“This week, those three will be left with you.”
The three in question included Saas, the knight of light
personality: Luxheidt Aiguille… and Enora. Even standing before
Cattleya, she was acting normal.
But inside, she thought her stomach would boil over.
Alejandro’s sense of rivalry towards Oldart had burned so
brightly he had been negligent in paying care to his daughter. In
order to find Rudel, the one who gave permission to lend out the
new recruits was Alejandro.
“Looks like one of you has a wind dragon. Having some fast legs
is a huge help.”
Looking through the documents she received form Lilim, Cattleya
passed her eyes through Enora’s papers and gave her honest
admiration at the fact she had contracted a wind dragon.
Only those whose abilities and luck overlapped would be able to
get a wild dragon to follow them.
At the same time, she noticed she was the vice-captain’s
daughter.
“… You’ll be working with my subordinates from the platoon. We
work in teams of two so Enora, come with me.”
On Cattleya’s orders, the newcomers saluted and gave their
response. While Enora was making a serious expression on the
surface, some dark emotions were beginning to take root.
Would I be able to kill Cattleya, she asked herself…
“Cattleya, I think you have the general idea, but if anything
happens, then you have to pull back. You got that? This is an
order.”
Faced with a serious Lilim, Cattleya gave a salute, for
argument’s sake. But she was dealing with Rudel, an acquaintance.
She questioned whether they really had to care about it that
much.
“I really don’t think I’m going to fail this one.”
“That’s why you’re still naïve.”
As Cattleya made light of Rudel, Lilim’s anxieties only
grew.
◇
A wind dragon’s speed was greater than what a gray dragon could
keep up with.
Taking that into consideration, Cattleya had chosen to pair up
with Enora. And even if she was supposed to increase the search
radius, Cattleya already had an idea where they were.
If Sakuya wanted to run away, the only place she had to return
was the dragons’ dwellings. Any other dragon might escape overseas
to make sure they wouldn’t be found no matter how hard the country
looked.
But from the point of view of Cattleya, who knew the situation,
this time’s mission was exceedingly easy.
The only problem was that the newbie she brought along hated
Cattleya terribly, and her personality wasn’t as it appeared.
“We’re heading straight for the dragons’ dwellings.”
Riding the backs of their two dragons, the two dragoons matched
dropped speed to discuss their destination point. But at Cattleya’s
arbitrary attitude, Enora was irritated within.
“Are they really at such an obvious place? (Dammit, don’t order
me around).”
“Yeah, well, that’s the only place they could be.”
Cattleya had her subordinates check out other places. In truth,
she didn’t really want knowledge on Rudel’s peculiar behavior to
spread.
While he was skilled, Rudel did seem to have a screw missing
somewhere, and for better or worse, he worked at his own pace.
While he was like that, Rudel was a future archduke, and the
white knight, an existence that stood out in Courtois. From those
who knew him, this was quite the predicament.
Reading ‘How to Pet a Dragon’ dearly, he was a problem child who
worshiped Marty Wolfgang. That was Cattleya’s evaluation of
Rudel.
While this and that happened before, at this point, she would
honestly evaluate and commend his effort.
But she couldn’t quite let that exorbitant personality spread
through the world. She teamed up with Enora because if she was the
daughter of a dragoon house, Cattleya expected her to understand
such delicate problems.
She already knew about the destruction of the training ground
from the reports, and from a position of responsibility, it was a
problem that brought pain to Cattleya’s head.
So with Cattleya’s red dragon following behind, Enora urged her
wind dragon towards the dragons’ dwellings.
(Someday, right… I’ll definitely surpass her. No matter what I
have to do, no matter what methods I have to use!)
Perhaps it is here that we must explain the character called
Enora. She had no major relation to the story. At best, she was a
character that appeared as one of Courtois’ dragoons.
While she was talented, that was the end of it.
Compared to Cattleya who was practically loved by the world, her
situation was completely different.
◇
Around when the search party was formed, Sakuya began her
training alongside Mystith.
As it was a dragon’s training, she would be operating separate
from Rudel for a period of time. And left alone, Rudel was fooling
around with the young dragons of Mystith’s turf.
“Hey! That’s my lunch!!”
As a small dragon snatched up a fish he had caught in the lake,
Rudel gave chase with a smile. Even if they were children, their
size was no different from a grown human being.
Perhaps due to the influence of the lake they lived in, they
were all showing the characteristics of a water dragon on their
heads.
While the dragons fled into the lake, with his inhuman
abilities, Rudel easily chased and captured the fleeing
dragons.
“Now you have to return it… you already ate it?”
From the mouth of the dragon he caught, he could see the tail of
a fish. At the success of his mischief, the little dragon seemed
delighted.
Through his survival lifestyle in the dragons’ dwellings, Rudel
had fastened his knife to the end of a stick. Since he lived close
to the lake, his clothes would often get wet, so at this point, he
wore a waist wrap made of sturdy leaves.
Looking practically like a wild man, he was playing around with
little dragons.
“This really is the life.”
Holding one dragon under his arm as he crawled out of the lake,
Rudel exclaimed it with a smile. But where he climbed up, leading a
red and wind dragon, Cattleya and Enora were waiting for them.
“Don’t ‘This really is the life’ me! You’ve become a dragoon, so
have some self-awareness!”
“Cattleya-sa… lieutenant.”
He was about to add a –sama to Cattleya’s name, but recalling
the fact that he was also a dragoon now, he swallowed his
words.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
Before his fed-up fellow newbie Enora, Rudel gently placed the
shy dragon he carried on the ground. All the small dragons fled
into the lake and disappeared.
“Training.”
“Training? More importantly, did you find Sakuya yet? We’ve got
to return soon.”
Showing little interest in Rudel’s answer, Cattleya looked
around to find Sakuya. She was sure she’d be somewhere by Rudel’s
side.
“That’s impossible. She’s currently out training in the north
sea.”
“The sea… when will she be back?”
“No idea.”
“No idea!? What do you mean ‘no idea’!? We’re in a hurry here!
You know there’s barely any time left for her to learn to fly in
formation for the unveiling, don’t you!?”
While Cattleya drew close, Rudel didn’t step down.
“No, there’s something more important than flying in formation.
Right now, Sakuya is doing her best to learn it. I’m going to
believe in her, and wait here.”
“And what’s that?”
“Defeating the boss of the dragon stables.”
“What’s with that!? Your dragon ran away for something like
that!?”
As Rudel spoke on with a serious expression, Cattleya had gotten
her hopes up a bit, but now she was only able to yell. She had to
make a report, so if possible, she wanted a more decent reason.
“If it’s Sakuya, she’ll be able to do it! More importantly, do
you happen to know who the boss of the dragon stables might
be?”
‘… That would be me.’
Cattleya’s dragon butted into the conversation. But here it was
revealed that the dragon they had to beat was Cattleya’s very one
red dragon.
“Oh no! … Sakuya, your opponent is a powerful one. Do your
best!”
Rudel prayed for Sakuya’s safety in her fight with Cattleya’s
dragon. But the one in question hadn’t swallowed down the
circumstances.
‘What do you mean, ‘do your best’!? If I get smacked by that
giant, I won’t come out in one piece!! In the first place, why did
it come to defeating the boss? I don’t get it at all.’
“The truth is…”
Rudel put together what had happened to that point and conveyed
it to everyone. There were things those apart from Enora didn’t
know, and the fact Sakuya was being bullied carried with it some
sympathy.
“I feel a bit sorry for her. But running away was going too
far.”
‘I see, so that kid was being bullied… but this has nothing to
do with me, right? I haven’t been to the dragon stables in
ages.’
“No, beating the boss is our objective.”
As Rudel calmly informed him he was relevant, showing his will
to accomplish his goal, the red dragon and Cattleya made a
ruckus.
‘Don’t screw with me! I really know nothing!!’
“To think my dragon who gets beat up every time was
actually…”
After being removed from newbie rearing, Cattleya had been given
a mission. She had no idea about the affairs of the dragon stables.
As a major, Lilim’s dragon was in a separate stable.
It was an unlucky occurrence.
Enora was unable to hear the voice of Cattleya’s dragon. In such
a state, she was unable to enter the conversation. She asked her
own dragon to interpret and could do no more than listen.
But her face was turning red.
Her eyes couldn’t help but drift towards Rudel.
Brought up harsher than Cattleya by her parents- especially her
father- Enora kept a distance from men at the academy. While she
did wear stylish clothing, that was also a form of recoil against
her upbringing.
But she hadn’t the leisure to date men. With a dragoon as her
father, no knight would unskillfully approach her.
She had no resistance to the male gender.
Her accustomed façade was her own way of rebelling against her
father. While Enora’s dragon was abridging and conveying Rudel’s
conversation, it noticed the strange behavior of its
contractor.
‘What’s wrong?’
“… I-it’s nothing.”
To make sure no one perceived her reddened face, Enora directed
her mind towards other things. As her head changed to their course
of action henceforth, she sought confirmation with Rudel, who was
still arguing.
“Sorry to interrupt. But more importantly, is it not best that
we first make a report? The higher-ups are still angry over his
present unaccounted for status.”
While she acted as if she was calmly thinking over future plans,
Enora’s gaze was directed at Rudel. As the conversation was turned
towards work, Cattleya also changed her train of thought.
“Right… then I’ll go report. You stay and watch over him.”
Cattleya pointed at Rudel, the seed of worry, as she ordered
Enora to stay alone with him. While she was a woman, she was first
a knight, and Enora agreed to abide the request.
There was nothing to say about man and woman. More than
anything, leaving Rudel alone would be a problem.
Even now, perhaps thinking the conversation was over, he had
started into preparing lunch.
“That aside, why won’t you come back? If Sakuya is training,
then isn’t it fine if you return? If need be, I can take you back
now.”
When Cattleya asked Rudel as if only noticing it now, Rudel made
a perplexed face.
“Eh? If Sakuya is training, then I have to train too. Today, I
played with the dragon children!”
As Rudel boldly confessed to playing, Cattleya silently lowered
a fist on his head.
“… I’ll hear out your excuse.”
“Isn’t that something you’re supposed to say before you hit me?
Well, Mystith-sama left the care of the children to me, and while
she was at it, she taught me Marty-sama’s training method. Both me
and Sakuya will have powered up by the time we return home.
Ow!”
As Cattelya silently put in a kick, her red dragon cheered her
on.
‘Kick him! Kick him more! I only ever get treated like this
whenever Rudel’s involved! It’s definitely that guy’s fault!’
Cattleya continued kicking him for a while, but once she grew
tired, she gave up.
“You really should grow some self-awareness!”
“Why!? This is to become the strongest dragoon!”
“Shut it! The first step is to become a decent human being!”
Cattleya’s statement, which would definitely set the captain
laughing if he was there, echoed through the forest. Looking over
that scene, Enora’s eyes grew sharp.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 091-113_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-091-113-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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title-page.txt
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Dragoon
Arc
5
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s1.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 114: The Knight Brigade and the Outskirts
Chapter 114: The Knight Brigade and the Outskirts
The unveiling display over, the new knight recruits were
officially recognized by the knight brigades they were enlisted
in.
Even if they had left the academy, the work environment wasn’t
kind enough to fully recognize new hires. That held the same for
knights who had piled up experience. The knights who were stationed
to elite units had to train themselves up from square one once
more.
From brigade to brigade, the necessary skills differed.
As a dragoon, Rudel had to learn how to handle a dragon. There
were some things he could never obtain from Mystith’s partial
wisdom. No, perhaps it was more accurate to say what she couldn’t
teach him was the majority.
A man specialized in techniques no longer necessary in the
modern era, that was the dragoon called Rudel.
But Rudel had the fundamental techniques pounded into him by his
superior officers, and now he stood in the training ground, before
the captain and vice-captain of the brigade
Around, the term’s newbies and a few veterans took part.
Before the new recruits, Oldart mixed in some jokes with his
usual smile as he explained.
“I see you’re making some nice faces. With this, you’re a member
of our oddball squad. But this charmer in his prime is a separate
story, so don’t group us together!”
“… Oldart, no one cares, just get on with it.”
Alejandro’s forehead twitched at his captain’s joke as he
offered some words of caution. Rudel and the other recruits had
already been informed what they had been called for.
One on one battle with a veteran dragoon.
This was largely to have the recruits feel upfront what their
current selves were lacking. What’s more, the veterans who kept
close to the king consisted of nothing but competent ones.
Those newbies would suddenly be put against those with top-class
abilities.
“This is why people who don’t get jokes are… well then, we’ll go
ahead and announce your opponents! But first off, Rudel!”
“Yes sir!”
As Rudel replied, taking one step forward, Oldart continued on
with an unpleasant look on his face.
“I really, really can’t stand it, but your opponent is me. I
don’t want to fight that giant girly and a battle junky like you,
but this is part of my job description, so I’ll reluctantly take it
on. Follow me! … Everyone else, confirm your opponents with the
vice-captain.”
Ordering Rudel to follow, Oldart walked out of the training
grounds.
Chasing after his back, Rudel started to question it, and seeing
his expression, Oldart breathed out a sigh.
“Why am I the only one fighting in a separate place? That’s the
face you’re making. Listen here, you and your girly are special, so
we’ll fight in a place where the collateral damage doesn’t
matter.”
“Is that true? Then I can fight seriously without paying mind to
my surround–”
“Idiot! Are you trying to kill me!?”
Seeing Oldart seriously reluctant, Rudel made a regretful face.
He had been given the chance to fight the active captain of the
dragoon knight brigade. Surely Rudel wanted to have a serious
match.
“I’m already at that age. If I was just a little younger, I’d be
able to give it my all.”
“That’s unfortunate. I wanted to fight a serious captain.”
“… Why do you look so disappointed? It’s that, you know. In my
golden days, I really was amazing, you hear. I was ridiculously
strong; around the time I first enlisted, my superior told me I’d
be the next captain. Even if I can’t go all out, I’m not going to
lose to you.”
“Is that true?”
“No doubt about it. You really should be thankful I’m a charmer
in his prime. If I was a little younger, in my energetic, popular
days, I’d be sending you right to the hospital.”
“I’m already used to be carted off to hospital rooms, so I’ll be
fine!”
“… T-that so.”
Rudel took his lie as fact, but if he was chosen as next chief
when he enlisted, then Oldart would have to have been appointed
captain much, much earlier.
“Hey, I might joke around a bit, but you really are easy to
fool. You should learn to doubt others.”
“About what?”
“Look! Like if I was selected as the next captain, then the
previous captain must have been in service for a long, LONG time!
I’m waiting for you to say something out. It’s an obvious lie!”
“Lie… so you were deceiving me!”
“You’re late to the party! Ah, I don’t like this guy.”
In that case, perhaps his strength is also a lie, Rudel began to
doubt. You couldn’t say Oldart was high in stature. And rather than
Alejandro, who gave off the air of a seasoned warrior at a glance,
his face was well in order, and he was usually joking around.
The captain was required to be apt in negotiations with the
higher-ups and to have an affinity for paperwork. For that sake,
there were rumors that he might fall short in ability, that the
vice-captain was the real power behind the organization, and the
captain was to be a dragoon skilled in governmental affairs.
Considering that possibility, Rudel felt he would have preferred
to fight the vice-captain.
◇
A few hours later, Rudel was being chased by Oldart over the
backwoods distanced from human habitation.
“Hey, what’s wrong.”
Straddling his grey dragon, even in aerial combat, Oldart gave
off an air of leisure. The giant Sakuya was unaccustomed to flying.
If she was on the run, she’d be easily caught up to.
“Kuh!”
Turning towards Oldart and his dragon approaching close behind,
Rudel stuck out his left hand and produced his shields of light.
Their numbers climbed to several dozens, impeding Oldart’s
path.
But that didn’t change the speed he gave chase.
He followed, avoiding them as if it were only natural. The
shields in his way were destroyed by a small consecutive firing of
his dragon’s breath. He closed in using only the minimum necessary
movements.
“Those are some convenient shields, but humans aside… they’re
less than paper before a dragon. And that’s no good. You’ve taken
your mind off your dragon. The way you’re going…”
Cautioned by Oldart, Rudel noticed and shouted orders to
Sakuya.
“Sakuya, ascend!”
‘Wowowhoah, I-I can’t!’
Rudel had been too mindful of his rear, and through the link
that connected their minds, Sakuya had grown negligent of what was
in front of her as well. By Rudel’s mind being too taken by the
rear, Sakuya had been unable to discern where her own consciousness
was directed.
As a result, Sakuya was just about to collide with the slope of
a mountain. Noticing just in the nick of time, she got off with
just her scales scraped along the mountain crags, but because of
that, Sakuya’s speed had fallen as she swayed unsteadily in the
air.
Before Rudel and Sakuya full of openings, Oldart went on the
offense.
“No good. No good at all.”
Flying as if to draw a circle with Sakuya at the center,
Oldart’s dragon finely tuned its altitude as if made sport of Rudel
and Sakuya.
“Sakuya, steady and brace yourself. You can brush off a few
attacks, right?”
‘Yeah!’
The two had decided to wait for Oldart’s dragon to make a move,
but unlike his past fight with Enora, this felt faster. They were
surely going slower than a wind dragon, and in truth, the captain’s
dragon boasted relatively average abilities as a gray dragon.
But ever since the fight with Oldart began, Rudel had been
unable to go on the offense.
(He isn’t fast. This person… the captain is skillful.)
While Rudel prepared all the techniques he had to cope with the
onslaught, Oldart showed a smile from atop his dragon.
“No good. The way you’re going, I can’t even give you a
fifty.”
Evaluating Rudel’s actions, Oldart issued orders for his dragon
to begin its attacks. All the attacks that hit Sakuya were low in
output, but they were pinpointed at her vitals.
Unable to properly beat her wings, her stance was easily
crumbled.
As Sakuya fell, squirming through the air, Rudel leapt down.
There, Oldart descended with his dragon.
While the match had been settled, it seems they were going to
continue. But it wasn’t dragon on dragon. This would be a land
battle between Rudel and Oldart.
“Back there, you should’ve used the mountain to protect your
rear. And the narrowness of your field of vision when you’re being
chased… looks like you’re not ready for real battle yet.”
Oldart laughed as he pulled the sword at his waist, so Rudel
pulled his blade as well. Both of them had been wearing the robes
of the dragoon brigade, but thinking it would be a hindrance, Rudel
threw his robe down.
“Let’s go.”
Watched over by Sakuya, dizzy from her fall, Rudel challenged
the captain to a match. He swiftly circled around to the captain’s
back, but perhaps his movements had been read, as Oldart lightly
stepped to the side to dodge him.
Growing irritated, Rudel used his instant movement, but Oldart
hummed a tune as he dealt with those blows.
“Your emergency stops are still unpolished. When you get used to
it, they’re too easy to deal with. Well, I guess this is what you
can expect from a student’s level.”
Catching Rudel’s sword with the one handed sword in his right
hand, he instantly stepped in to seal off his movements. From his
left hand concealed in his robe, he thrust out a dagger, stopping
it just short of Rudel’s throat.
“I-I admit defeat.”
Rudel, who had been a bit in doubt over his opponent’s
abilities, shed a cold sweat as he looked at the laughing
captain.
“Oy, oy, don’t look at me like that. You’re making me
blush.”
“Honestly, I never thought you’d be this strong. As a member of
the brigade, I deeply apologize for doubting my captain.”
“Uwah… he ignores my jokes and hits in with pure honesty. That’s
the sort of thing you’re not supposed to say even if you think it.
A charmer in his prime is weak to stabs at the heart, you should
treat him with care.”
The two of them conversed as they sheathed their swords, and
even now Oldart looked full of openings. Rudel still seemed
perplexed over his own loss, so Oldart took a seat on a rock that
went about up to his knees. Stroking his chin, he began answering
what Rudel was probably questioning.
“Now then, about your evaluation… to be totally honest,
spec-wise, it would be easier to count your ranking in the dragoon
brigade starting from the top. You’ve surpassed me as well.”
As Rudel corrected his posture where he stood, Oldart told him
to take a seat as well before continuing on. In order to find out
what he was lacking, Rudel was directing him with serious eyes.
“However! … Your performance is lower-middle class, at best. Do
you know the reason?”
“No idea!”
On Rudel’s words without any fabrication, Oldart nodded.
“Alright! I want to caution you on not giving it any thought,
but I’m sure you’d have done better if you already knew. Why don’t
you try thinking over it yourself fo… no, wait, you really should
stop using your head after all.”
Covering his face with his right hand, Oldart breathed a sigh as
he informed Rudel of what he was lacking.
“It’s simply that your combat techniques are shoddy. And your
field of vision is too narrow. Those two points. You were so
focused on yourself you hadn’t the mind to spare for your little
girly. While you’d usually be fine, when backed into a corner, the
cracks start to spread. You instantly try to do something about it
yourself and fail as a result.”
Oldart used the shields of light he put up to impede his path as
an example. Those were pretty much useless before a dragon. If he
wanted to, he could have rammed straight through them and proceeded
on.
And it wasn’t as if everything ranked lower than taking on
dragoons. If he took on troublesome monsters, then there were
enemies who were fearsome in their pure bulk.
“You’ve no leisure in battle. Sure enough, the girly has plenty
of things she’s no good at, but if a mid-tier dragoon was
controlling her, I’d have no choice but to change my approach.
That’s just how powerful that girl’s weapons are. You should trust
in your partner a bit more.”
‘… Rudel, Sakuya is working hard too.’
Seeing Sakuya worry for him, Rudel recalled he had definitely
tried to do it all on his own.
Oldart informed, not using the terrain, and having Sakuya, who
wasn’t good at flying, be on the run was a mistake. Rudel nodded as
he listened to those words.
“For your field of vision, just try to have a bit more leisure.
There’s no point in panicking. There’s a possibility you might
mistake your decisions. Look around a bit more, and think of the
power difference between you and your foe.”
Unlike his usual attitude, Oldart was saying some earnest
things, and to Rudel, he looked like a true charmer in his
prime.
Patting off his robe as he stood, while it was still early,
Oldart proposed for them to return.
“Now then, let’s end the lecture there and go back. It’s been a
while since I last trained, and my hip is…”
“Please fight me again!”
“… Eh?”
When Rudel pleaded for another fight, Oldart’s face
stiffened.
“I understand that I have things I am lacking. But rather than
understanding it in my head, I think it would be better for my body
to remember it. If I fight you again, I’m sure I can climb to
greater…”
“Ah~, no, I really am tired, or rather… eh? You’re serious?”
“Yes!”
‘Sakuya will do her best too!’
Having recovered, Sakuya stood and roared to answer Rudel’s
expectations. Oldart and his partner gray dragon were making truly
reluctant faces.
It had already grown dark when an exhausted Oldart returned to
the training ground, leading along a tattered Sakuya and Rudel.
◇
Having been informed by the veterans on their areas to work on,
the new dragoon recruits were conversing over the stations they
would be appointed to the following day.
They were comrades who had trained together, and while their
ages differed, they spoke with the smiles of colleagues.
“Saas, you were stationed in the trade city?”
On Luxheidt’s question, Saas nodded cynically.
“I’ve no complaints I was stationed at such an important point.
Besides the fact my job’s mainly hauling cargo.”
Dragons were able to fly through the sky, and due to their high
maintenance cost, they would have to take on jobs like these. The
more were sent to the outskirts, the more terrible their financial
circumstances became.
It was laughed that the reason dragoons were stationed in trade
cities with plenty of people and adventurers was to scrape together
spare change. But it was also true there was no safer transport of
goods than by dragon.
“It’s us dragoons’ greatest worry, after all. By the way, Enora
is… from how depressed she looks, I doubt it’s the outskirts.”
Everyone looked at Enora, who had grown dark, before shifting
their gaze towards Rudel, who rejoiced over being sent to the far
off reaches of the kingdom. While it was all and well for him,
Luxheidt knew Enora had proposed she would follow Rudel.
(So her old man declined.)
“I’m going to be stationed right in the capital… hah.”
By the problems Enora had caused, at this point, it seemed her
relationship with her father had improved a bit. But even so,
Enora’s trip to the outskirts wasn’t granted.
With a wild dragon obeying her, Enora was a valuable addition to
the dragoon brigade. Thinking of her future, they wanted to nurture
her in the capital with care.
And yet, Rudel was making a perplexed face.
“Enora, you don’t like your station? Well, there will be a
transfer in a few years, so just place your hopes on the next
one.”
It was natural if they hadn’t gotten the positions they wanted,
but with the man in question not noticing the underlying problem,
the air grew awkward. Those around looked at Luxheidt, so he
shrugged and sent out a lifeboat.
“But Enora, you have it hard, making a contract with a wind
dragon. You’ll be flying all over the place, carrying messages and
doing urgent missions… you might have to send some messages to the
outskirts as well.”
But Enora didn’t perk up. Her main problem was the new position
that had been created. From the high knight brigade on the verge of
dismantlement, an officer had been sent to keep watch over Rudel.
She would follow Rudel to the outskirts. What’s more, she was a
classmate, a girl who got along well with him at the academy.
It would be stranger if no problems occurred.
“Right, I might go from time to time. But if the two who are
always together become lovers… I don’t think I’ll be able to
recover.”
(This girl is a pain. Well, she’s easier to talk to than before,
but the gap with her appearance is amazing.)
While she gave off an air as if she might play around, Enora’s
wholeheartedness left her surroundings perplexed.
“So Rudel, where exactly on the outskirts are you headed?”
Giving up on cheering Enora up, Luxheidt smacked the question
into the person he was most curious about. The only one he was
interested was Rudel, who had determined to be interesting.
“It’s a recently set up post. They started constructing a port
there a few years ago… The town’s called Beretta.”
“Beretta, eh… as I recall, the place is dangerous, so they have
other dragoons dispatched as well. It’s a port town, so two water
dragons, and one gray dragon.”
Rudel looked through the documents on his new workstation and
offered a correction to Luxheidt’s explanation.
“No, since I’m being stationed, one of them’s being taken off.
It’s just two water dragons now.”
The area’s development wasn’t getting anywhere, so to put it all
in order, the kingdom had invested its valuable water dragons into
it.
Luxheidt thought the empire’s current state of affairs was
dangerous. The information coming in was scarce, but still, he felt
a sense of danger.
However…
(Is being stationed in a place like that a condition to be a
hero?)
While he felt sorry for him, he also found Rudel’s deployment to
be interesting.
“They say it’s a pretty place, so if I ever get a day off, I
might go and see.”
As Saas called over, Rudel rejoiced and said he would show him
around at that time. Luxheid tactfully turned that talk towards
Enora, giving her a chance to go to the outskirts to see Rudel.
Seeing Enora’s delight, Luxheidt thought.
(She really is easy to please.)
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s10.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Extra: Eunius and Aleist Part 1
Chapter 123: Extra - Eunius and Aleist | Part 1
Climbing a mountain overgrown with trees was Eunius with
Aleist’s defender platoon as his guards.
They hadn’t even gone halfway to their destination point, apart
from the thick lines of foliage, there were numerous other
problems.
Namely…
“Why are you lot so slow!? I’m short of training here too, and
yet you’re just that much slower? Are you messing with me?”
“W-wrong! It’s just, we’ve been doing nothing but cleaning every
day, so…”
The cave they were searching for had an entrance halfway up the
mountain. While they were heading straight for it, Aleist’s platoon
was slow on their feet.
With all the beauties gathered together, Aleist’s platoon
emphasized appearance over capability. On a side note, the
demi-human ration was strangely high.
“Give me a break. I want to go and revere that holy sword thingy
already… oh, we’ve got company.”
Eunius himself didn’t believe in the holy sword. But in the
place the sword was said to lie, for some reason, powerful monsters
would make their homes.
Ogres were the least of their worries, and apart from them,
large monkey-like monsters and monsters that seemed to have been
made from numerous animal parts put together wandered the land. To
Eunius, rather than the holy sword, he was after the monsters that
almost seemed to be protecting it.
Taking a stance with his special made greatsword, he directed
its tip towards the monster that came out.
The footing was bad, and be that as it may, the movements of the
platoon was worse. If there was a single thing going in their
favor, it had to be the fact there was only one foe.
“I don’t believe those holy sword rumors, but it’s nice to see
these things crawling all over the place. Looks like I can enjoy
myself.”
“This is why you battle junkies are… everyone, get behind
me.”
Aleist had his subordinates from his platoon step down as he
drew the two swords at his waist and took a stance. They were both
one-handed swords, but their hilts were fashioned a bit on the
longer side. The blade portions were made just that much
shorter.
“Why two swords again?”
“’Cuz I’ve got more on my plate these days. Using magic like
Rudel and Luecke just doesn’t suit me.”
As the two of them conversed without looking at one another, the
large monkey before their eyes raised a war cry as it leapt towards
them. Its jumping ability would have instantly sent it towards the
women behind Aleist, but along the way, it extended an arm towards
a nearby branch and clung fast to the tree.
While the enemy showed such a pitiful sight, in the next
instant, from Aleist’s shadow, several dozens of spears pierced
through a spot it would pass through.
If it had continued on, it would have been impaled.
“Hmm, this one’s clever. It’s stronger than the previous one…
Aleist, this one’s mine.”
Eunius looked at the enemy’s movements and thought back to the
monster of the same race he had beaten not a moment ago. While its
power and speed seemed around the same, at a glance, he could feel
the enemy before him was smarter.
His face changing to a ferocious smile, Eunius used his magic
sword to cut at the monster in the trees. The warping blade
extended towards the monster, but skillfully leaping from tree to
tree, the monkey managed to dodge it. The terrain was on the
enemy’s side.
“I could just blow the whole area away, but that wouldn’t be
interesting.”
“That’s the reason you won’t blow it away? No, I don’t quite
know what to think about blowing away the landscape.”
“… And you’re one to talk. In that wilderness training in the
fundamental curriculum, who was the first and last in academy
history to blow the forest away with magic to clear a path?”
“Stop it! Don’t talk about that time!”
Leaving an embarrassed Aleist aside, Eunius pruned at the
monster coming at him from above. With its long limbs and sturdy
body, it was simply idiotic to try comparing it to a human.
Its fur was practically the monster’s armor. Even when cut by
the magic sword, not only did the arm remained unsevered, it was
barely even scratched. Perhaps it had grown its coat longer than
the previous one, or perhaps this was a superior variant…
Eunius leapt back to take distance, changing his stance from
slashes to one specialized in thrusts.
His face was the epitome of severity, and as if sensing that,
the monster intimidated him, but it didn’t make any poor
approaches.
A few seconds passed…
As both sides glared at one another, the first to move was the
monster. After coiling up its large limbs, it used the recoil to
spring towards Eunius. Seeing the monster that was practically
flying parallel to the ground, Eunius’s mouth curved into a
smile.
“Looks like you really weren’t any different from that last one.
Just a little bit harder and a little more clever, but that’s about
it.”
Eunius stepped in and lowered his stature to match the monster,
thrusting out his sword at a range where its tip still wouldn’t
reach.
A magic sword accompanied his blade, drawing the form of a sharp
spiral as it enraptured the monster and caused it to spin while a
large air hole opened up in its chest. After slamming into a large
tree behind it, the monster slumped to the ground and Eunius put
his sword away on his back.
“Alright… moving on, next!”
Aleist put his sword away, reverting his shadow to normal as he
called over to his subordinates. His form was just a bit
entertaining to Eunius.
(He’s properly acting as their commanding officer, that Aleist.
But…)
Aleist held no ulterior motives, he was only doing the actions
he usually would, but Eunius understood how that looked to his
female subordinates.
When he was the one who fought, they were directing favorable
eyes towards Aleist, but he didn’t notice anything of the sort.
(… It’s interesting, so I’ll keep quiet. It’ll make a nice story
to bring back to the boys.)
Without informing Aleist he was subconsciously raising his
subordinates’ affection points, Eunius set out for the next
waypoint.
◇
There were a number of places the holy sword was said to
rest.
But those were along the same vein as buried treasure, and the
people of this world did not hold them in high belief. A king of a
few generations prior had once dispatched forces to a number of
prominent points to try to find the holy sword, but the results
were a disaster.
The sword was never found. Many people were invested, much
funding was thrown down the drain. Therefore, the existence of the
holy sword was thought of as something of a fairy tale.
Then came along Aleist with his knowledge of a game. He knew
where exactly the item called the holy sword was supposed to be. He
knew, and he led Eunius right to the site.
“Even so, who would’ve thought the holy sword was this deep in
the mountains.”
“Isn’t that precisely why it’s so deep in the mountains?”
Eunius used a short sword to clear away the overgrown grass and
tree branches as he made a path. Aleist similarly used a one-handed
sword to move forward. Behind them, the women of the platoon walked
with the supplies.
But Aleist was shouldering all the heavy luggage. In order to
fight, Eunius was barely carrying anything.
More than that, they really couldn’t have Eunius carry
anything.
“They should just put the important things away in the
treasury.”
“Maybe they didn’t want it to be misused? Even so, I never
thought you’d want the holy sword, Eunius.”
To be honest, Aleist didn’t want the holy sword. Knowing the
truth, Aleist knew what sort of thing the holy sword was.
It had long since accomplished its role and lost its power, it
was an article barely able to maintain its own shape. Its rusted
hilt had already rotted through. He had seen the scene in his game,
and it was not the sort of thing that could be used as a
weapon.
Aleist knew this place as little more than a place to farm
EXP.
(Once Eunius learns the truth, I’m sure he’ll accept it, and I
have to hurry and get my own equipment together.)
From the depths of his memory, Aleist tried to recall the
weapons he thought were necessary. But lately, that was starting to
feel dubious.
The weapons he now held in his hands were the same, just because
he possessed them, that didn’t mean he’d be able to use them
immediately. The more powerful they were, the more cautious he
would have to be when handling them. As he started to hold a
perception that things were different from a game, Aleist had
gotten around to thinking the weapons he was most accustomed to
using were the best ones for him.
“We should camp around here today.”
After Eunius looked up at the sky and confirmed the position of
the sun, he concluded any more would be dangerous and decided to
search for a place to rest.
“It would be a real help if there was water around…”
Said Aleist as he directed a glance to one of his subordinates.
The beast tribe female knight smiled as she pointed out the
direction she smelled water.
“Captain, there’s a pond in that direction.”
After saying thanks to his subordinate who informed him with a
smile, Aleist and co began moving in that direction. Normally, they
would refrain from camping in such a dangerous place. But Aleist
didn’t think they would get too many of these chances.
To Aleist who had a mild urge to get stronger, it was the
perfect opportunity. He even began to wonder if Eunius was trying
to cheer him up after Millia had gone away.
But once he approached the pond, his subordinate started acting
strange.
“H-huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
As if she had suddenly lost confidence, his subordinate began to
fidget. She said something quite intriguing.
“There’s someone at the waterfront. No, that’s not a person…
huh? A person and a monster? But it’s much too quiet for that.”
Before his bewildered subordinate, Aleist explained the
situation to Eunius.
“There’s something there. Perhaps a person is being
attacked.”
“For real? Then I… no, that’s impossible. In that case, isn’t
this your territory?”
“Leave it to me.”
Eunius was their guard target. What’s more, he wasn’t strong in
covert operations. Not only was Aleist able to deal with most
enemies, if he used his characteristic shadow, he’d be able to
overcome an extent of trouble.
Determining that sending everyone to scout was dangerous, Aleist
took the lead and went out. He knew that having his subordinates
acting individually in such a place was much too risky.
Running ahead, Aleist made a path with his shadow, erasing his
footsteps and ignoring the forest road as he headed for the point
he had heard from his subordinate.
The fact it was growing dark only worked to his advantage,
and as if hiding in the shadows, he approached his destination
point. Around the pond, he was able to confirm the form of a large
dragon drinking its water.
A dragon with blue, glassy scales, its beautiful wings were
folded as it lapped at the pond. From the saddle and bag strapped
to its back, he could instantly tell it belonged to a dragoon.
Aleist surveyed the area to find a single young man bathing in
the cold. A young man of beautiful blue hair had stripped down to
bask in the pond. His form was one that even Aleist had to admit
looked cool.
… But it was there that Aleist was able to recall who it was he
had discovered.
“It couldn’t be… Keith-san?”
The mutter that came from his lips was caught by his foe. As the
dragon’s eyes fastened Aleist with its glare, Keith’s voice
resounded through the trees.
“Who’s hiding over there?”
Showing his form, Aleist held up his hands to signal he had no
hostile intent. He had never thought he would encounter Keith in a
place like this.
As it was a romance-centric came, there were few male characters
to be found, but Keith was undoubtedly an important individual. He
wasn’t the type who would participate in battle, in the latter half
of the game, he was a means of transportation across the land.
He was an individual who held the role of delivering the main
cast to their destination.
That was Keith Elrond.
What’s more Keith was always kind to the main character, and a
cool guy who never laid the slightest of hands on the women. Ever
kind to the commoner main character, and if you asked him, he would
transport you to any destination. Even with all he knew about the
game, Aleist had no reason to be hostile.
“M-my apologies. I’m Aleist Hardie of the defenders. At present,
I am in the area on a guard mission, and I have come to scout out
the waterfront.”
“Aleist of the Hardie House… a pleasure to meet you, I’m Keith
Elrond. Sorry, sorry. You surprised me a bit.”
Smiling as he rose from the pond, Keith was naked, but he didn’t
seem mindful of that. On the contrary, he apologized for acting so
surprised. While he thought the man was a bit strange, Aleist felt
relieved he was still the same kind older brother character as he
explained the situation.
He spoke of how he had come all the way here as Eunius’ guard,
and even explained up to how they would be heading to the port town
of Beretta afterward. After hearing him out, Keith put on
undergarments and trousers, keeping his upper half bare as he
offered a proposal.
“In that case, let me tag along. I finished my mission a bit
early, you see. And Beretta is where I’ve been stationed. Once
you’ve finished your business here, I can fly you straight to
town.”
“That would be a huge help.”
They had made it part-way by carriage, but as the way back was
dangerous, they planned to return to a nearby village on foot
before taking another carriage from there.
Keith’s proposal was a spurt of good luck to Aleist.
“No, no, we’ve got to help each other out in our times of need.
You can just call me Keith.”
◇
“… And that’s how it is.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
At the waterfront, Eunius was introduced to the dragon and
Keith.
While those around were relieved at a dragoon’s participation,
they couldn’t help but be curious of Keith’s eyes.
His face was nice. His lineage splendid. But they couldn’t help
but feel anxious. While he hit it off well with Aleist, for a while
now, he hadn’t offered the slightest glance to any of the
women.
With Aleist’s platoon that even made Eunius jealous before his
eyes, he didn’t show any particular reaction.
(Doesn’t he envy Aleist as a man? Well, he’s from a Count House,
so perhaps he has a fiancée, or he’s the devoted type like
Rudel.)
But for that, he really looks like he’s having fun, thought
Eunius.
“Even if I look like this, I’m unfit for battle. I’ve only got a
bit of confidence in controlling my dragon. Well, as long as we
have a dragon with us, most monsters should run away, so it
shouldn’t be a problem. Everyone, just take it easy.”
Moving through an unfamiliar forest alone was difficult. Even if
he had done wilderness training in his student days, that didn’t
mean Eunius wasn’t tired. And since he had entered the forest, he
had don’t quite a bit of combat.
Thankful that a dragon was on watch, he decided to be pampered
by Keith’s words. But…
“.. Spinnith, am I really that untrustworthy?”
“… I know. It’s not like I’m some sort of wolf. I won’t do anything
like that.”
“Yeah, we have to get to know each other better.”
“I’ve gotten used to it from watching Rudel, but it really looks
like he’s just talking to himself.”
Aleist gave a bitter smile as he watched Keith talk with his
dragon. As he recalled Rudel, Aleist started to reminisce.
“… No, I’m kinda starting to become nervous here.”
Feeling an anxiety he couldn’t put into words, for some reason,
Eunius’ wild instinct was telling him this guy was dangerous.
Eunius himself had a strong belief in his instinct.
He didn’t feel any hostility. But for some reason, he felt
danger.
(Even so, Elrond… I get the feeling I’ve heard that name
somewhere before.)
“Oh, you know Rudel? He and I were both dispatched to the same
point. If you’re up to it, could you tell me some tales of the
past?”
As Aleist brought up Rudel, Keith bit right on. But come so far,
Keith placed a hand on Aleist’s shoulder. The girls who witnessed
that scene seemed to sense something. Even more than the
demihumans, the human knights reacted.
“C-captain Aleist, it’s already late, so why don’t we rest in
preparation for tomorrow…”
“Eh? Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Keith-san, it’ll have to be
another time.”
“… Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
One of his subordinates sensed something and called it a day.
But Eunius didn’t overlook… the form of Keith clicking his tongue,
making sure the female knight wouldn’t see.
For only a moment, he directed eyes thirsting for blood at that
knight.
(Ah, this guy is dangerous.)
Eunius mulled over whether to inform Aleist or not, and in
conclusion…
(But it’s interesting, so I’ll leave it be.)
He decided to watch it unfold.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s11.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Extra: Eunius and Aleist Part 2
Chapter 124: Extra - Eunius and Aleist | Part 2
“There, how’s that!”
Inside the cave, Eunius used nothing more than his sword to take
on the humanoid monsters with reptilian heads.
Perhaps they had made that cave their lair, as they were
beginning to surround him with their horde.
In their hands they held axes, and shields called bucklers. From
the monsters’ sizes, they might look like small bucklers, but if
Eunius held one, it would be bigger than a full sized shield.
In such a perilous situation, surrounded by monsters, Eunius was
laughing. Even in the cave, there were in a space vast enough for
monsters to attack in a group, and he was able to swing about his
large sword freely.
Meanwhile, one of the knights of Aleist’s platoon was
illuminating the cave with magic.
Behind Eunius, Aleist took a stance with his two swords and used
his shadow to impale approaching monsters. However, the monsters’
movements seemed accustomed to battle, and things weren’t going as
well as they had been in the forest.
Changing his grip on his sword, Eunius shrunk the swing of his
sword to cut at the monster that had raised its large axe, but like
that, all he could do was dig into his enemy’s skin.
However…
“Not yet!”
With his sword wedged in, he used brute force to cut the rest of
the way through, making tatters of his sword’s blade. It was a
result of a battle just that intense, but Eunius wasn’t satisfied.
While he was wasting time here, he got the feeling Rudel and Luecke
were proceeding ahead.
In all actuality, when he heard from Keith that there was an
opponent Rudel couldn’t beat, he began to panic. He couldn’t keep
going like this.
(That guy will definitely surpass any opponent he’s lost to.
Then what about me? Do I just rot away like this? If I wasn’t
stationed to that blasted knight unit, would I have become
stronger?)
He questioned himself as he swung his sword, but his movements
had already begun to optimize themselves to his foes.
◇
Focusing his attention on Eunius from behind, Aleist shouted out
orders.
“Don’t let it ever come to one-on one! At worst mark them down
with two, and if that’s impossible, send them around to me!”
Stopping a monster’s axe with two swords, Aleist extended out
his left hand’s sword. The light scratch that would never inflict
anything fatal spouted smoke… the monster spat a froth of blood as
it collapsed.
“If it’s no good from the outside, then go at it from within.
That’s how it usually works.”
As he retook his stance, the wary monsters took distance. It was
disadvantageous that they couldn’t use powerful magic in the cave,
but even so, there were ways to go about it.
Growing accustomed to his enemies’ movements, he freed some
space for leisure as he moved to a point where he could keep an eye
on Eunius.
(So genius really does exist.)
Looking at the man’s movements, he was already fighting
completely differently from how he started out. He was making the
optimum movements to defeat his foe.
While Eunius had a strong image as a sword genius, Aleist felt
something different.
One of his own fiancées, he knew a former noble girl called
Seli. She was a character from the game Aleist was aware of and
held the position of an underclassman. What’s more, she possessed
the established setting of being a genius with the sword.
But even to Aleist, who knew her wonderful talent when it came
to blades, comparing her to Eunius, he was beginning to notice the
difference.
While Seli was only a genius as far as swords went, he got the
feeling Eunius held a fighting talent that went beyond that.
He learned proper swordplay, and be that as it may, he displayed
flexible swordsmanship unimaginable from his appearance.
Just during this mission, when he fired blasts form his magic
sword, he learned to ad a spin to them to increase their output.
When he thought up shooting thrusts, it only took a few days before
it was possible. Even now, against an opponent where it was
difficult to compare raw power, he was shortening his cuts to get
in and tear them apart.
In regards to the monsters that leapt at him from both sides,
Aleist kept his attention on Eunius as he dealt with them.
Putting out a few dozen black hands from his shadow, he captured
both monsters in midair and fastened them down. After preparing a
fire magic sword in both hands, he did a revolution on the spot and
sent the slash waves toward the monsters. The monsters were cut
through, black arms and all. Rather than shooting the waves, it
felt more like the blades had extended.
As Aleist’s flames strongly lit up the cave, Eunius had
completed his battle as well.
Putting away his swords on his waist, Aleist looked at Eunius,
raising and lowering his shoulders in breath as he thought.
(A future archduke has talent in the sword… but such a talent is
pointless. So it’s because the man himself understood it that he
had such a resigned personality?)
The Eunius from the game gave off a different impression from
the current one. Right now, not wanting to lose to his friends, he
recklessly swung his sword. He had clearly lost that personality
where he had given up on something.
“Let’s rest a bit before we go on.”
As Aleist called over, Eunius sat on the spot and drank some
water from the flask hung at his waist.
“Yeah, sorry for that. Making you mindful of me.”
“No, that’s fine. I can barely go on myself.”
Forwarding enemies onto Eunius and making sure he wasn’t
attacked from behind was Aleist’s role.
“You got the knack for it around the end, right? That means I’ve
caused you trouble. When you’re my guard, I’m sorry for giving out
so many orders.”
Getting his breath in order, Eunius checked over his sword. He
wanted to see if his weapon would hold out for the road ahead.
Aleist checked whether any of his subordinates were injured, and
checked the luggage before looking deeper into the cave.
Saying he would just be a hindrance, Keith alone was on standby
outside the cave. He had a dragon, so there was no need to worry
about him, but as he was weak enough to declare it with such
confidence, that was a reason for worry in itself.
“Even so, do you think Keith-san will be alright?”
It wasn’t just Eunius who looked at Aleist with worry. His
subordinates, the human ones, in particular, looked anxiously over
him.
“… I’m more worried for you, in various ways.”
“Eh?”
◇
In the deepest depths of the cave was a room where light
streamed in through the ceiling.
There remained traces that a human once lived there and the door
had been locked. Beyond the lock a dexterous subordinate had picked
lay the dust-caked furniture.
“This is terrible.”
“… That it is.”
The numerous fixtures… especially the wooden ones had collapsed
in form. While the pots and the like remained, atop what seemed to
have once been a bed were the white skeletal remains of a
human.
“It’s a miracle anything remains at all.”
For argument’s sake, one of Aleist’s subordinate muttered as she
invoked a purification magic. It was a magic effective against
undead monsters, but there didn’t seem to be any regrets lingering
around.
As everyone searched the room, they found the holy sword all too
easily.
It was just as Aleist knew it, the rusted holy sword just barely
managed to hold its form. Even in the game, it was just an item
that took up an inventory slot, and it didn’t have any particular
scenario prepared for it. There was no way to mend it or return it
to its glory.
It ended as such a tale, a joke, a cruel lesson that nothing was
ever so easy.
But as he looked over the room, Aleist couldn’t bring himself to
say it.
“The end of a hero? And he lay here a few hundred years
unbeknownst to man?”
As Eunius muttered, the expressions of the subordinates in the
room darkened a bit. Aleist surveyed the area and spotted a few
books written in old lettering.
He handed it to one of his subordinates and she began to read
aloud.
“This is considerably old. There are some words I don’t know
either… this might predate the founding of Courtois.”
In order to search out the holy sword, Aleist had assembled all
those he thought would be necessary. It was no coincidence.
Originally, the ones here were supposed to mainly consist of
romance-target characters, but he had gathered people capable of
fulfilling the necessary roles.
“There are very few legible portions, so I’ll try to give a
simple explanation. Do you want to hear it?”
The woman prepared a light with magic and began flipping through
a book. As confirmation had been sought from him, Aleist nodded.
Eunius seemed to want to hear as he folded his arms and took a
seat.
“It seems the resident of this room lived in a country smaller
than Courtois. It’s probably somewhere within Courtois’ current
territory, but the name is too old for me to compare it to
anything.”
According to her words, at the time, they were terribly afraid
of giant monsters boasting four arms. In a situation where there
weren’t any dragoons, they would always have heavy casualties each
year.
In such an era, the lord of the room stood on his own.
The technical details of how he fought were either illegible or
absent. And seeking out readable portions, the subordinate flipped
to the final page.
“I think I can read… eh!?”
“What’s wrong?”
“N-no… it’s just, the name of the individual who wrote this
book…”
As he looked at the surprised face of his subordinate, for some
reason, she was looking between his own face and the skeletal
master of the room.
“U-um… around the end, it’s written he entrusts the holy sword
to whoever reaches this place, and apart from that, the only thing
I can read is his name.”
“Hmm… so who is he? This lost hero?”
“… Hardie. It says right here, Aleist Hardie.”
“… Eh?”
“Hey, doesn’t that… creepy!”
A surprised Aleist, and as he suddenly stood in fear, he found
Eunius and his subordinates looking back and forth between himself
and the skeleton. Aleist had no idea either, but apparently, the
lord of the room was named Aleist Hardie.
Just feeling the slightest tug of fate cause a shiver to
instantly run through the room.
The conversations suddenly turned towards Aleist’s past and his
past life.
“Captain, I’m sure you’re the reincarnation of this hero!”
While his subordinate spoke with such excitement, Aleist could
say with certainty that wasn’t the case as he thought over his next
course of action.
“No, I was definitely not a hero in my past life, or rather,
this is definitely a coincidence… (Sorry, my past life wasn’t a
hero, it was just a bullied little kid.)”
While he desperately tried to change the subject, Eunius alone
was nodding to himself.
“… They do say great men have a fondness for women. Isn’t it
fine? It looks like Hero Aleist used two swords as well.”
“Two swords? I’m definitely using two swords right now, but that
has nothing to do with it!”
While everyone made faces as if to say, this guy just doesn’t
get it, Aleist tried his best to take control.
“A-anyways! Leaving him like this would be terrible, so let’s
make a grave. I think this spot where the light touches will be
nice! We’ll use the holy sword as a gravemar–”
“No, since you found it, then in accordance with his will,
shouldn’t you be the one carrying it, Captain Aleist?”
“…?”
“You’re right. While it’s rusty, his will says to entrust it to
whoever visits this place. He has the same name, so I’m sure you
were fated to inherit it from the start.”
As Eunius laughed and pat him on the shoulder, Aleist looked at
the holy sword his subordinates brought to him. Before that sword
that looked unusable beyond a reasonable doubt, he mulled over what
he was supposed to do.
◇
A few days later, the party of Aleist and Eunius dropped by the
port town of Beretta.
After making a grave for the lord of the room, they made an
offering from the supplies they brought along and left the
cave.
From there, they rode Keith’s dragon on a journey through the
sky.
“So this is the port town of Beretta.”
Seeing the sea for the first in quite a while, Aleist felt a
little disappointed it was too cold to take a dip.
“From here on, I’m going to go report to the Major, but are you
going to tag along? I think Rudel will be there as well.”
“Ah, then I’ll go with you.”
With Eunius linking arms with him, Aleist was forcibly pulled
into accompanying them as well. He ordered his subordinate female
knights to head to the inn they had planned for beforehand.
The place they made for was a spot that could be called the
knight station. That station used by multiple brigades gave off a
miscellaneous feel to Aleist, who worked in the capital. As Keith
called out to the soldier on watch, the young soldier happily
responded.
“Keith-san sure is the popular one.”
“Good for him. I wonder if Rudel’s alright.”
While Eunius looked around, worried for Rudel, the first ones to
enter his eyes were Izumi and Millia.
“Yo!”
The two of them approached Eunius, as he raised his right hand
in greeting. They walked right up to Aleist and Eunius.
“I never thought you two would be coming. You look well.”
As Izumi looked surprised, Eunius flexed his bicep to make an
appeal to his good health.
“Righto! There was a dragoon at our destination point, so we had
him deliver up. Even so, he’s way too amazing and… huh? Where did
that Keith guy go?”
“Oh? … You’re right. He’s gone.”
As no matter how hard they scanned the station, they couldn’t
spot him, Izumi’s bearing took a sudden change. Her features that
had been smiling to that point turned expressionless all at
once.
“Keith… so he’s already back, that pervert.”
Aleist grew frightened and decided to strike up a conversation
with Millia, who he hadn’t met in a while. He did feel sorry to use
Izumi as a pretext, but it was hard to talk to her.
“H-hey, did something happen?”
“Who knows? It’s been going on since we came here, she just
doesn’t get along with Lieutenant Elrond. When she’s so friendly
with Bennet-san, it really is strange.”
Happy to finally be able to talk, in order to continue on the
conversation, Aleist bit onto the name Millia put out.
“Is Bennet-san… a man?”
“No, she’s not. She’s a Major in the dragoons, and Rudel’s
superior officer. She’s really cute, but…”
While Aleist was relieved, for some reason, he felt some anxiety
at the face she made, as if something was difficult to say whenever
she brought up that superior she called cute.
“I’ve been with Rudel alone lately.”
(A- as I thought…)
Feeling down, Aleist slumped his shoulders.
“Look, they’re back.”
Millia pointed towards the entrance and there, they confirmed
the forms of Rudel, and Keith, who had disappeared not too long
ago. His form as he draped his jacket over his shoulder and
reluctantly gave a report didn’t look like the usual Keith.
But it seemed as if there was no one at the point Rudel and
Keith directed their eyes.
“So where’s this bennet-san fellow?”
Eunius also searched out Bennet, but he couldn’t find her. Izumi
breathed out a sigh and gestured to look down.
When he heard of a Dragoon Major, Aleist had imagined a
considerably large female knight, but over the station desk and
shelves, he could just barely make out the form of a small
girl.
“… I didn’t see it coming.”
“Agreed.”
So that’s what a major in the dragoons looks like, thought
Aleist. Her appearance was that of a young girl with long, silver
hair, of small build and slender frame, giving off a fleeting
impression. But the voice they could hear was a militaresque
one.
“Why did you take up five whole days? It was a mission that was
supposed to end in three.”
“No, no, I’ve got a real deep reason here… right! In order to
wash away my daily fatigue, I was taking an extended bath. Because
a certain someone pushed an unreasonable mission onto me, my
stress’s been building up, you know.”
“How brazen. You should’ve been able to complete it in two days
with ease. If you were my subordinate, I’d have smacked you.”
“I’ll watch myself hereon. More importantly, Rudel, have you
been well?”
“Yes. No problems on my side.”
“You don’t have to be so stiff. With our relationship–”
“It’s been a while, Lieutenant Elrond.”
“… Oh, you. It really has been so long, I didn’t notice you. So
who were you again?”
The one who came between the three of them was Izumi.
She entered in as if to cut off Rudel and Keith and while her
mouth was smiling, her eyes were not. The way she nonchalantly
reached for the katana handing at her waist was terrifying.
“… What’s that supposed to be?”
While he sought confirmation with Millia, Millia shook her head.
But Eunius alone seemed relieved. After looking at Rudel, he sent
Aleist a look of pity.
“Rudel will be fine as long as he has Izumi. That leaves you as
the problem.”
Unable to understand, Aleist and Millia tilted their heads in
sync.
◇
Around dinner, the inn Aleist’s platoon stayed at… the abandoned
house was visited by Bennet with the food she had prepared.
Due to the number of people, she prepared the ingredients and
held a barbecue in the yard. Bennet took charge of the area,
cooking up meat, fish and vegetables.
“Is Bennet-san really that strong?”
“That’s a surprise.”
Seeing Aleist and Eunius’ surprised figures, Rudel began
praising Bennet, growing happy as if he was praising himself.
“I can’t even stand against her. I can’t stand against
Lieutenant Keith in aerial battles, and it looks like I’ve got a
ways ahead of me.”
“Despite that, you sure look happy.”
Eunius grinned as he brought meat to his mouth, and Rudel
nodded.
“Yeah, I mean I’ve got myself a goal to aim for. First off, I
have to beat Major Bennet in a land battle!”
While Rudel happily informed them, behind him stood Bennet in
her apron.
“You sure sound confident, Rudel. Have you forgotten how many
times I’ve held you against the ground today?”
“Major!”
As Rudel turned in surprise, Bennet handed over their next plate
of food. It seemed to be a stir-fry of fish and vegetables, but it
included shrimp and shellfish as well. With it being for three men,
while it was just one plate, it contained a large quantity.
After skillfully distributing it to the three, Bennet collected
up the empty plates. While Rudel made a plea that he would clean
them up, Bennet simply held up a hand.
“Talks with friends are important. I’ll overlook it for
today.”
After saying just that, she returned to get back to cooking.
With Izumi at the lead, the women were helping out, but they were
frightened by her abilities.
“… That girl is perfect.”
“Right.”
“She’s usually a harsh and kind Major. I want to be like her
someday.”
Reaching a hand for the new food, Rudel praised Bennet once
more. There, Eunius asked him about Keith.
“Hey, putting that aside, what about Keith? Has he done anything
to you?”
“The Lieutenant? No, nothing in particular. He’s a kind and
reliable superior. Well, my direct superior is Major Bennet, but…
ah!”
“So something happened!”
As Eunius made a worried face, Rudel began talking about what
had happened before.
“No, he drops by the house an awful lot when I’m in the bath,
and I feel sorry that I always seem to miss him, so I consulted
with Izumi on the matter.”
“Hmm, timing is important, after all.”
“These idiots…”
Seeing Rudel agree with Aleist, Eunius put down his empty plate
and rubbed his brow with a finger.
“And then Izumi came and told me I had to tell her whenever I’m
going to take a bath. After that, Izumi was always keeping lookout
in front of the bath. What do you think it means?”
“Isn’t she answering the door in your place? See, you can’t
entertain a guest while you’re in the bath.”
“That’s wrong, dammit!”
Eunius’ scream was completely lost on the two.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s2.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 115: The Outer Reaches and the Academy
Chapter 115: The Outer Reaches and the Academy
“I’m sorry, you even carried my luggage.”
High in the sky, Izumi rode aboard Sakuya’s back, calling out to
Rudel’s back.
They were on the way to Beretta, in the outer reaches of the
kingdom, and Izumi was accompanying Rudel to his station as a
special inspector.
“Don’t worry about it. A weight increase of this extent is
meaningless to Sakuya.”
‘I-it’s easy.’
Izumi’s heart ached, seeing Sakuya let out a considerably pained
voice. As a subspecies of gaia dragon, Sakuya had a merit of being
able to carry large loads of cargo. Even a normal gaia dragon’s
loading capacity was incomparable to the other dragons.
For that reason, when they flew from the capital, they were
ordered to take a large load of supplies with them.
They were headed to a land that had only begun to be set up, and
the town’s present state was one where more goods were insufficient
than not.
A blue sky spread far and wide to bless their departure, but
Sakuya was pained by the luggage fastened onto her. They had to put
in a number of breaks on the way, and Izumi wondered whether the
load was simply too great.
(A number of custom tailored bags on her back, two shoulder bags
per side… those bags look custom made as well…)
By the way, Izumi and Rudel’s personal bags were strapped to her
neck. It was pitiful to look at her, but Rudel was constantly
calling out to Sakuya.
“Do you want to rest, Sakuya?”
‘S-still fine.’
“Don’t force yourself. We still have time before I take up my
post, so you can take it easy.”
‘Sakuya will do her best.’
Watching Sakuya desperately move her wings, Izumi stroked her
back.
“…… I apologize for ruining the mood, but I’m here too.”
Izumi and Rudel turned to find Millia sitting with an irritated
look on her face. Right, Millia had been scouted into becoming
Izumi’s subordinate.
From the start, it was impossible for one person to fulfill the
inspector role, and she had to choose someone. So Izumi had called
out to all her acquaintances. But once they learned the job was
keeping watch over Rudel, her friend and acquaintances all
declined.
(No, I know the real reason, but…)
What’s more, they were declining out of good will. In order to
leave Izumi alone with Rudel, they had acted out of virtuous
intent.
Only one…
Only Aleist volunteered and pleaded to be her subordinate. That
was probably because of Millia.
(We’re really not like that.)
Breathing a sigh, Izumi felt a little worried that the
subordinate she finally managed to obtain was Millia. She thought
she would decline, but contrary to her expectations, Millia
promptly accepted the position. While Izumi knew she hadn’t given
up on Rudel, it wasn’t her place to caution her on that matter.
(I hope nothing goes wron… no, I guess that’s not
happening.)
Aleist already wanted to run away from the palace… she recalled
his face when his subordinates, the female knights, forcefully
dragged him back.
Whether he wanted to become a special inspector because he hated
cleaning duty, or if he wanted to chase after Millia. Izumi noticed
he was acting on both reasons.
(That Aleist is definitely causing a problem.)
“Do your best! Do your best, Sakuya!”
‘Aaaah! My wing is cramping!!’
In contrast, this side was somewhat heartwarming, thought Izumi.
Even when there was a woman behind them who followed through
conflicted emotions, Rudel and Sakuya were the same as ever.
… Wing is cramping.
“Wait! That’s bad, you should land at… nwaaaaaaaah!”
Izumi’s cry resounded across the sky.
◇
In the end, they arrived at port town Beretta the next day.
Arriving just barely in time, Rudel left the unloading of the
luggage to Izumi, hurrying to the knight station alone.
Even if it was called a port town, it was originally a place
without anything. Migrants who volunteered from the capital and
major cities were working hard to establish a port.
In such a situation, it was impossible to prepare a station for
each individual brigade. In that land where everything was held in
insufficiency, defense was left to a platoon of knights from the
outer reaches, and two dragoons.
Walking down the path lined with brick-lain houses, Rudel gazed
at the mismatched townscape as he made for the station.
On top of the simple-made houses, the paths were exceedingly
bad. The people he passed by were making somewhat enervated
faces.
(Is the situation worse than I thought?)
Both the Kingdom of Courtois and the Gaia Empire were countries
you could say were based around magic. That meant that if you used
magic, the work that a single person could do grew immensely. The
craftsmen all made use of some sort of magic, spreading its
grace.
But at the same time, the cities that had existed for ages had
their hands full with simply maintaining their side. Magic was
convenient, cities would grow with ease. But thinking of
maintaining them, each city had come to its limit.
It was for that purpose that new lands were being claimed, and a
port town was set up to obtain marine products.
But from what Rudel could see, it didn’t look like it was going
so well. This wasn’t simply due to the difficulty of land
cultivation. While they could use magic, in the end, that was
naught but the power of man. And this was a land that had been
uninhabited to that point.
There were monsters that saw it as their home, and the mana
reserves of the people would be chipped down in combat. Unlike the
tempered knights, even if a layman could use magic, that had its
limits. Despite that, if an enemy came out, they had no choice but
to fight for their lives, and looking at the result, their plans
weren’t going through.
After arriving at the station, Rudel presented his
identification papers to the soldier on watch.
It seems he was someone recruited on site, his service was
sloppy.
“U-umm… You’re a knight, are you? What business have you come
for today?”
“I’m supposed to be stationed here, starting today. For now,
could you let me meet the person in charge of the area’s
dragoons?”
“No, um…”
Rudel grew anxious over whether this nervous soldier would be
alright, but from the back of the station, the soldier’s superior
came out. He was probably the leader of the knight platoon.
His body was on the plump side, but his eyes were considerably
sharp.
“You didn’t hear!? My apologies. Bennet is off overseeing
construction at the harbor, so if you want to see her, you better
head down there. Ah, and I’ll take your paperwork.”
“… Is that alright?”
Rudel had some resistance to handing his forms to a knight of a
different jurisdiction.
But the other side laughed.
“Those sorts of regulations don’t pass through over here. We’re
in charge of all paperwork.”
Handing his forms to the knight giving a dry laugh, Rudel made
for the harbor. Even without a guide, he decided he’d be able to
speak as long as he went towards the spots under construction.
The town itself wasn’t too big, and he wanted to get a good look
over it.
◇
“Master should have arrived around now.”
Now a fifth year, Fina looked out the corridor as she
muttered.
Her guard Sophina sought confirmation on the dragoon matter.
“This is just as you’ve planned, isn’t it? Did you station those
water dragons beforehand in preparation for this?”
Before it was decided Rudel would go to Beretta, Fina had
shuffled around the jobs of two water dragons. Officially, it was
for the sake of the settlement that wasn’t growing as planned.
“Perish the thought. Even I can’t read that far ahead. If I
could, my Fluff-fluff Land would already be under construction…
master, if only master would move according to my plans.”
Only Sophina could understand she was truly vexed.
(If only she wasn’t like this.)
“Well, I did change their positions, but if you ask how much
meaning that action held…”
Fina had prepared numerous anti-empire measures, and the dragoon
dispatchment changes was only one of them. She stationed the
proficient ones close to the empire’s border.
With no authority of her own, Fina could only use her father
Albach. But even Sophina could keenly sense the weakening of
Albach’s political power.
When she wanted to prepare for the empire as soon as possible,
Albach was unable to move. If Fina didn’t move herself, it seems
they wouldn’t even get any decent information. The kingdom was done
for, the fact she occasionally thought so was Sophina’s secret.
“I was sure you simply intended to send a female knight of the
wolf tribe over to Rudel.”
The individual Sophina brought up in jest was a woman of the
wolf tribe contracted to a water dragon, ‘Bennet’. While there were
numerous feline demi-humans around Fina, there weren’t any of the
dog or wolf tribes. That’s why Sophina said it as a joke.
Honestly, she never thought such a thing. It was certain that
woman was a proficient dragoon… however.
“O-of course not. There’s no way that could be true. Now let us
hurry to my next class.”
“… Princess.”
“What is it? Do you intend to make me late, Sophina?”
“Your next class is that way.”
As Fina turned right at the T-shaped hallway, Sophina pointed
towards the left passage. Expressionlessly and silently, Fina
walked down the path Sophina instructed.
Confirming her surroundings, and seeing there was no one around,
Sophina ordered her subordinates to fortify the area. Those female
knights surrounded their guard target Fina.
And… Sophina grasped both Fina’s shoulders to ask.
“So how is it really?”
“… Hmm, looks like I can’t lie to you.”
Giving up, Fina began reciting the truth. It was just as Sophina
had considered as a joke.
“Female knights of the wolf tribe are exceedingly valuable.
There are few to be found among all the knights of Courtois…
without getting her in his hands, do you think master could ever
become the king of fluff? No, that’s impossible. In order to make
my master the fluffmeister, Iiaaaaiaa!”
Around the end, Sophina started shaking Fina back and forth, her
subordinates didn’t stop her. What irritated her was largely Fina’s
use of the term fluffmeister.
(This girl definitely thought it was clever the moment it came
out of her mouth.)
Her glasses misaligned, her breaths short, Sophina shook Fina.
It was a scene to make one’s blood curdle.
“Do you think this is a fluffing joke!? The one who said we’re
in an important period was you, princess. Get a grip already!”
Once the shaking stopped, Fina remained expressionless, but to
Sophina, it looked like her face was more prim than usual. When she
thought she was going to make an excuse…
“You must change that way of thought, Sophina. It isn’t that I
am handing a fluffy to the fluffmeister, the fluffies are leaping
into my master’s hands. I never really thought he would be going to
the wolf tribe’s place, but this must be fate. Fluffadise is
telling my master to become the fluffmeisteeeeeEEer!”
Sophina shook her back and forth once more, she continued
shaking her until just before class was to begin.
◇
Meanwhile, the teachers who surrounded the headmaster in the
staffroom held bouquets of flowers in their hands as they directed
smiles.
“Put a stop to it, people! What you are trying to do is a
violation of school regulation!”
But only for the headmaster putting up resistance, his face was
pale as he refused their proposal. Of course he would, the banner
draped over the staffroom read:
‘Congratulations on Your Third Term as Headmaster’
Normally, headmasters would swap out after two terms, at
longest. And yet, his surroundings were informing him his third one
was set in stone. The headmaster couldn’t understand.
(Why? They were normal up to yesterday, were they not! I was
already preparing to pass it on!)
He recalled his preparations to hand over the role, the
preparations he had carried out thinking these would be his final
days. By the graduation of the generation of super problem
children, he had returned to those nostalgic school days of times
passed.
A minor problem was the fact Fina was a surprising problem child
herself. In the dead of the night, she would let out strange sounds
as she did paperwork, and she would skip class to wander outside
the academy. Apart from that, it was the same as before… no,
thinking of how there were fewer intruders in the girls’ dorm, it
could even be said it was more decent than before.
And yet…
“Hahaha, what might you be talking about, headmaster! There is
no such regulation in the academy.”
“All our staff have been deeply moved, working under such a
wonderful headmaster.”
“It was a unanimous decision.”
While everyone was laughing, their eyes were not.
“There’s such a thing as a tacit agreement! And I told you I was
ready to retire! (These guys are lying. Why. What exactly
happened to them!?)”
The headmaster looked at his aid, the deputy headmaster. The man
was at an age where, if he didn’t become the next headmaster, he
wouldn’t have another chance. The headmaster knew, when his own
second term was decided, the man had been quite vexed. But now,
“I’ll do my best to support you,” he muttered with a smile.
“… Did something happen?”
The headmaster looked at a weak-willed teacher. That teacher had
caused a problem before, and he had stuck up for her. So he knew
she wouldn’t lie to him.
As the surroundings returned to silence, the truth the
headmaster’s stare drew from that teacher was a dreadful one
indeed.
“T-the list of next year’s freshmen has come in.”
“I’m sure it has. For young nobles, they get their enrollment
forms done nice and early. It shouldn’t be a problem for it to
finish up around this…! It couldn’t be.”
“My deepest apologies! I… I saw it. Rudel-dono’s sister of
another mother, I saw the devil… I saw the Rudel-dono in her!”
The staff members spoke of their memories from when Lena once
came to the academy. The form of a brother doting on his sister was
heartwarming, but the problem lay in her statements.
‘I want to fight Eunius-san.’
‘The academy is a place to pick fights.’
‘Do you think I’ll be able to destroy a facility too?’
The teachers’ dramatized memories spread along with her
finalized enrolment. The appearance of Rudel-female-version had
brought a complete change to the peaceful staff room.
As a result of the urgent discussion that followed, talks came
to the idea the headmaster would do something about it. It was a
result of the headmaster’s ability to handle things needlessly
well.
“Ah, it’s impossible for me,” The deputy headmaster went as far
as to say, refusing the headmaster seat in its early stages.
“D-don’t mess around with me, people. No matter how you look at
it, you shouldn’t put your guard up before you even meet her. She
might actually be an honest and good kid.”
“Even if she’s an honest and good kid, I don’t want another
problem child. And I could tell! That child gave off the same
feeling as Rudel-dono and the others.”
Everyone nodded.
Driven to the brink, the headmaster looked at the papers spread
across his desk. There was a document permitting his continued
service; it had already received the palace’s seal, and all he had
to do was sign.
“Calm down! First, let’s sit down and talk!”
“We’ve received the palace’s approval. All that’s left is your
decision. Our will is unchanging!”
A few hours later, an exhausted headmaster signed the forms. In
that staff room where his was the only dark face, the other staff
members rejoiced and blessed him.
In the academy, Fina’s graduation and Lena’s enrollment were
drawing near.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s3.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 116: The Academy and the Superior
Chapter 116: The Academy and the Superior
At the port of Beretta stood a woman loosely wearing the knight
clothing of a dragoon.
Issuing orders to her water dragon, she was having it carry
construction materials.
The female knight’s gray hair was conspicuous, but more than
that, her standing form was dignified. Her eyes were sharp, and her
gold pupils almost looked as if they were radiating light.
To add to that, the ears twitching atop her head were adorable.
And as she stood a head lower than all the people working around
her, dignified as she stood, she looked adorable herself. An
additional problem lay in her tail. That thick, fluffy tail was
swaying left and right. It was truly adorable.
Right… the female knight pretty much looked like a young
child.
“Are you Major Bennet?”
Rudel had been informed of her appearance, so he was able to
find her without hesitation. The documents spelled out that she was
an adorable female knight.
“And you are?”
“Ma’am! Today forth, I have been stationed in this town, my name
is Rudel Arses!”
Looking over Rudel, she walked up to him. While her air was
imposing, the closer she got, the more Rudel had to tilt his head
downwards to look at her.
“I’ve received the report. It seems you’ve perpetuated quite
some foolishness at the capital. I was wondering what sort of face
someone stupid enough to be suddenly flown off to the outskirts
would carry about, but you’re quite the looker… I hold a firm
belief that my subordinates’ failures are to be corrected by my
fist. If you want to maintain that pretty face of yours, then you’d
best off not anger me.”
With Bennet glaring at him, Rudel answered without fear.
Confirming his salute, “At least your salute is first rate,” she
praised him.
For some reason, her tail was moving happily from left to
right.
“While our mission here is important, more than that, you will
learn to adapt to the environment. If the construction doesn’t go
anywhere, we will bring trouble to all the brigade members who sent
us here. You dragon was a gaia, was it?”
“Yes ma’am! She’s a gaia subspecies. Her name is Sakuya!”
Keeping a firm expression, Bennet hummed.
“I didn’t ask for her name. But I’ll commit it to memory. I’ll
have you lot carrying cargo… and so? Where are your
inspectors?”
Looking at the Major and her wagging tail, Rudel explained that
they were unfastening the cargo. As a new settlement, there were
many materials and tools Beretta was lacking in. Being able to
carry such a large load of goods, Sakuya was a valuable means of
transportation.
“Put Sakuya on standby outside the town. Don’t let her dig holes
outside the designated spaces. For now, me and Elrond will be doing
the work. I can’t leave detailed work to your dragon.”
After saying only that, she ordered him to return to the lodging
house and rest for the day. Rudel recognized her as a captain who
looked deeply into her subordinates.
(Looks like it’s going to be rough, but I’m sure this person
will be alright.)
He recalled how Luxheidt told him to pray he wasn’t given a
no-good superior. Even if they were strong as knights, there were
plenty of dragoons who couldn’t take command. It was a gathering of
strong-willed knights. Rudel felt relieved his superior didn’t seem
to be the hopeless type.
◇
Returning to her work, Bennet finished carrying materials before
straddling her water dragon ‘Heleene’ to patrol the area.
Alone in the sky, she pressed her forehead to Heleene’s back,
shaking a little. Her tail was moving exceedingly violently.
‘What’s wrong, Bennet?’
“Listen to this! They finally sent me a decent subordinate! When
everyone asks if I’m pushing myself, or tells me I’m cute, today’s
grunt was all prim and proper, he’s the ideal subordinate!”
Unlike how she acted before Rudel, Bennet raised her face in
delight. Short in stature and youthful in appearance, Bennet’s
greatest worry was being made light of by her men. In truth, they
simply recognized her as a cute commanding officer, but the leader
the girl idealized was an existence held in fear and awe by those
under them.
And yet, when she did her best to become a commanding officer,
no one feared her.
Let alone fear, she bit into the upper ranks of the dragoon
brigade popularity contest and was treated as a mascot. While she
was adored by her subordinates, she ended up giving off an
unreliable impression. She thought that was why her subordinates
never stayed long.
Truth be told, since she led along a valuable water dragon, she
was issued a number of special missions, making it hard to affix
set subordinates to her. While she knew about that, Bennet was sure
it was because she was unreliable.
“Alright! I’ll do my best tomorrow!”
‘… That’s all well and good, but you’d best not get too
enthusiastic and fail. Around three times back, that made them call
you hopelessly cute for a while, right?’
“T-that was just because I slipped up and broke a plate, but for
some reason, they kept treating me like that all the way
after…”
As Bennet failed to be honest, her tail powerlessly drooped
limply over Heleene’s back.
‘B-but now I’m a splendid commanding officer! From tomorrow,
I’ll become his dignified commander!’
‘Yeah, yeah.’
Feeling Heleene’s disbelief, Bennet strengthened her own resolve
to do her best.
◇
Elsewhere, in the Arses House mansion, while it was a little
early, a package came in from the Halbades House.
Erselica had the servants break the seal on those gifts sent to
commemorate her matriculation and present them to her. The sent
goods were high-class-looking tools that would be necessary at the
academy.
“Luecke-dono of the Halbades House, was it? I heard he got along
well with Rudel.”
On her mutter, the surrounding servants seemed to have
difficulty answering. Erselica was quite displeased with those
servants’ attitudes.
When her beloved Chlust was chased to the outskirts as if to
drive him away, a majority of them had stopped speaking ill of
Rudel in the shadows, turning their tongue to Chlust instead. A
portion of them even started coming out to say they thought
Rudel-sama was the more worthy heir from the start.
Erselica couldn’t forgive those servants.
Many of the servants who looked after Erselica urged her to
write letters to Rudel, and even if she wrote up a letter to
Chlust, it wouldn’t be sent.
(Will I be able to become a good actress for their comedy?)
Rudel- who she had mocked- was now so famous there wasn’t a soul
in Courtois who didn’t know his name. On the streets, they were
calling him the demon lord.
The Arses House that had oppressed such a man was now ruled by
quite a dubious air. Within all of that, a package from the
Halbades House had been delivered. The atmosphere of the mansion
lightened up a bit.
“Oh! This one’s for me.”
As she untied the goods sent to her, before she noticed it, her
stepsister Lena was there. That girl who usually wore around the
clothing of a man, Erselica looked on her enviously. Honest to
herself, and it looked as if she was living free as could be.
While they would never even talk in the past, at this point,
they would exchange a few words if they met on the premises.
“You look happy. Even so, isn’t that box a bit too big? What did
you get?”
She folded her arms as she interrogated Lena. Lena tore off the
wrapping and opened the wood crate to find a spear inside. For
something sent to a lady, it was an item that made one question the
sender’s sense.
However…
“Whooooh! A new spear! What’s more, it’s perfect for me!”
Handing the box off to the servants, Lena started swinging the
spear she took in her hands. Erselica could feel the wind raised as
she spun it around.
“L-Lena-sama! It would be troublesome if you swung that around
in a place like this!”
Apologizing to the panicking servants, Lena looked at the spear.
Erselica didn’t have the skills to tell if a spear was good or not,
but it looked to be better than the ones held by the soldiers
protecting the mansion.
“To be so happy after receiving a weapon, what does that make
you as a lady?”
“The one I’ve always used’s been growing old, and it’s short so
this one is just right. I’m sure my brother had some input.”
Saying Luecke-san was easy to understand, Lena read through the
letter inside the box. The craftsmen who prepared the spear had a
shop near the academy, so go there with it, the letter read.
(Are they going to fine tune it for Lena? This is surprisingly
troublesome.)
To Erselica who had never held a weapon in her life, it was a
talk that made her head hurt. To that point, she had polished
herself to be beautiful. And that was in order to find a good
family to marry into. But the Arses House had begun to wane even
more than before.
When the surroundings would no longer draw close to her, it was
decided Erselica would attend the academy. She was told to go and
seduce a rich nobleman.
Otherwise, the house wouldn’t hold up, her mother said.
(If you stopped wasting money, we would recover in no time.)
While she had much she wanted to say to her mother, she was
still a daughter of the Arses House. Erselica had never even
considered marrying someone she actually liked. No, she did her
best not to think about it.
“You’re going to the academy too, right? And yet, that
Luecke-dono of the Halbades House is a little strange to send you a
spear. Or could it be he thought that was more than enough for the
child of a mistress?”
Even she knew she was saying something terrible. But Erselica
wasn’t skillful enough to suddenly change the attitude she had
always taken towards another.
Stroking back her straight, blond hair, she focused her emerald
eyes on Lena.
But Lena didn’t seem particularly mindful of her cynicism.
“Perhaps. And brother told me that I can get all the necessary
writing implements for cheap around the academy, so that’s enough
for me.”
Seeing Lena’s smile, Erselica felt she had lost again. These
feelings had become a daily occurrence.
One of the servants cautioned her.
“Erselica-sama, Lena-sama is also the master’s daughter. I’m not
sure you should be taking that attitude…”
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Lena (What’s with this. You all used
to mock her for being the child of a mistress.)”
Erselica understood the servants’ true intent; they didn’t want
to invite in the rage of Rudel, who doted on Lena. For both
Erselica and Lena who were to be married off, to the servants as
well, they were tools to bring money into the Arses House.
If they were both tools, then offering favorable treatment to
the one most liked by the next head was only natural. Just as
Erselica once was…
(This really is miserable, Chlust.)
◇
Arriving at the lodging house of Beretta, Rudel and co. were
confused to find it wasn’t a lodging house at all.
The young soldier who led them gave an explanation before Rudel,
Izumi and Millia.
“My apologies. The construction isn’t making any progress, so
the buildings for the knight brigade end up being something like
this…”
What stood before them was clearly a private house. The ones who
used to live there moved to another house for various reasons, and
it was abandoned as a vacant building. That house on the slightly
larger side was granted when they heard three people were coming.
For knights living alone, they would be given smaller houses.
“.. I’m a man, and these are two ladies. Isn’t there anything
you could do?”
Rudel felt this was going too far, but the young soldier
indirectly told them to deal with it. The nervous man would only
say it was impossible.
“An official lodging house will only be prepared after the
knight brigade main headquarters are constructed, so… and it’s far
from most of the houses of the other knights, so there shouldn’t be
a problem if you make a ruckus.”
“That’s nothing but problems. No, in the first place, why are
you averting your eyes?”
After looking at Izumi and Millia, the young soldier’s face
turned red as he averted his eyes, Rudel thought the man was making
some sort of misunderstanding and ordered him to look up so he
could correct it.
But the day was reaching its end, and worn out from a long and
tense voyage, Millia said the place would be fine.
“Even if we make a ruckus at this hour, I doubt anyone’ll be
able to solve the problem. In that case, we’ll put up with it a few
days. I want to sleep soon.”
“You’re right. Today was quite tiring.”
It wasn’t just riding by dragon back, on that trip that was
almost like a constant roller coaster, the two women made bitter
smiles through their pale faces.
Hearing that from the female camp, Rudel reluctantly accepted.
After accepting the keys, he entered the house. Finally, the young
soldier said something important as he ran away.
“They said to clean it, but we’ve been busy and… the tools are
there, so you’re better off cleaning before you sleep. Then see you
tomorrow.”
“He fled.”
Rudel stared over the room dumbfounded. Expanding before him was
a room layered in dust. While it was minimalistically furnished,
those pieces were also smeared in dust.
“T-this is a bit…”
The disastrous state of all the rooms left Izumi bewildered. It
seems there had been an order to clean up, but if the order wasn’t
carried out, it was meaningless.
“… The worst.”
With scornful eyes, Millia prepared a cloth and mask before
breathing out a sigh. Unable to forgive this filth, it seems she
was up for cleaning.
A former member of Aleist’s cleaning platoon, Millia was a
valuable fighting force on this front. Izumi also went outside to
prepare the cleaning utensils.
“They did say the inn was full. So this was the reason.”
When the knight at the station told them there were no openings
at the inn, they had tilted their heads. But at this point, the
reason had become clear, and Rudel was cleaning as well.
“We should’ve taken Aleist along.”
While half in jest, Rudel was also half serious.
◇
“Achoo!”
Finishing up work (cleaning) for the day, Aleist was surrounded
by female knights as he returned to the lodging house.
“Captain, do you have a cold? In that case, do you want to drop
by my room?”
“Hey, why are you inviting him so naturally?”
“Ah, then should I go over to your room?”
On that scramble over Aleist among the female camp, the man in
question gave a bitter smile as he denied it, saying it wasn’t a
cold.
(Is someone gossiping about me or something?)
If gossip really could make him sneeze, then Aleist would be
sneezing nonstop throughout the day. Even if he hadn’t the intent,
he was called the number one playboy in the capital.
No matter how he denied it, no one would believe him. His
fiancés were on the verge of surpassing seven, and his platoon was
made up of all women. What’s more, at the very least, they looked
at him favorably.
It wasn’t a mistake.
(Hah, even so…)
Looking around, the Millia he loved most wasn’t there. Under
Izumi’s request, she had become Rudel’s special inspector. Whatever
the case, even if he rejected the proposal, someone higher up the
chain of command had permitted it.
(Even when the paperwork said she needed her direct superior’s
permission.)
Aleist couldn’t understand why, but Millia was going further and
further away. Looking up at the sky, he prayed for her safety.
(I hope we meet again.)
“Captain, are you listening?”
“Eh? Y-yeah, I’m listening. I think so too. (What were they
talking about? Well, I’m sure it’s the usual complaints about the
job.)”
Aleist’s cleaning duty platoon was building up frustration that
they didn’t have any missions as knights. From the point of view of
Aleist, who had nonchalantly devoted himself to cleaning, he had
begun to believe that if he didn’t have to fight, then maybe this
was for the best. He had no complaints.
In order to match his subordinate’s conversation, he merely
showed sympathy.
“In that case, today’s the day you make it clear who you like
most in the platoon!”
“It’s me, isn’t it, captain!”
“Stay out of this, washboard! It’s me, right Aleist?”
“…”
Aleist was holding a rom-com of his own in the capital.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s4.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 117: The Superior and the Mission
Chapter 117: The Superior and the Mission
Failing asleep from their fatigue after the major cleanup, the
three dropped by Bennet on the next day.
It was decided that either Izumi or Millia would clean up that
house that hadn’t been properly prepared. Based on how their
meeting with Bennet went, one of them would go back.
The Beretta townscape the three of them walked down was lined
with hurriedly constructed buildings of brick. But they couldn’t
see any buildings that extended passed two stories.
The same held true for the inns.
(This is a puzzler. I have to secure a place to sleep soon.)
She knew that staying with Rudel for too long would surely cause
him trouble. Izumi mulled over who she should consult.
It was there that a building that could be classified as
splendid for the town came into sight. At the sight of young
soldiers having a friendly chat, Izumi felt like holding her
head.
“Oh, good morning. Did you sleep well last night.”
“Yeah, more importantly, where’s Major Bennet?”
On Izumi’s reply, the young soldiers looked at Rudel, Millia and
herself, discussing something amongst themselves. While she could
guess the contents of their discussion, she didn’t have the time to
worry about that now.
“She’s doing paperwork at the desk in the back.”
After giving thanks to a young soldier with a reddened face, the
three of them made for Bennet.
In the station, there was one desk put aside for the dragoons to
use on rotation. Normally, that would never come to pass, in a
settlement without anything, granting the dragoons an exclusive
desk was plenty.
The knights on duty at the capital would never be able to bear
this sort of treatment, thought Izumi.
Izumi looked at Rudel’s superior before her eyes and submitted
her forms. But more than that, looking at the female knight before
her, she thought.
(She’s… kinda cute.)
Taking the paperwork, Bennet tucked it away in her file before
confirming their future course.
“So you two are this man’s inspector. I don’t mind if you keep
watching, but there are times we’ll be flying around on duty. And
you should think that doing work is normal around here.”
“Would that work be outside of our mission?”
As Millia looked down and asked, Bennet hummed a note.
“A new recruit who’s only ever sat back and done their duty at
the capital need not stick their mouth into the way of the
outskirts. While I haven’t the authority to issue you orders, if
you do nothing but keep watch over that guy, that alone will buy
you a bad rep in these parts.”
Millia saw how busy Beretta was, and perhaps she realized just
watching would definitely make her unpopular as she shut her
mouth.
When Izumi proposed they would participate in work on rotation,
Bennet said, ‘That so,’ before handing Rudel a comprehensive
schedule.
(She’s surprisingly attentive and good at looking after others.
And she’s cute.)
Izumi noticed she was being mindful of them.
“Well, just do your best out here. You should take this
opportunity to learn that the same way of doing things doesn’t work
everywhere you go… Rudel, I’ll be having you break rocks with
Sakuya. I’m going out of my way to personally supervise a newbie
like you. Give me results.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Seeing Rudel taking his job seriously, Izumi felt relieved. It
seems even Rudel wouldn’t suddenly go on a petting spree. No, while
Izumi herself was relieved that she had sealed Rudel’s petting, she
felt uneasy whenever she thought he might unveil a new
technique.
Starting with petting, onto massages, embrace, and lotion… even
when she sealed all of them, Rudel brought forth his magic eyes out
of nowhere. So while she was wary, it couldn’t be said she was
going too far.
More importantly…
Izumi looked at Bennet’s tail when she talked to Rudel. Running
contrary to her expression it was delightedly waving about. That
gap looked cute as well.
(The way it feels like she’s pushing herself is also cute.)
Sure that Millia was holding the same impression, she looked to
the side, only to receive a mildly irritated impression. Millia was
staring intently at Rudel and Bennet.
Every time Rudel gave an earnest reply, Bennet’s tail would
wave. Even if they were told the titles of superior and subordinate
were swapped, surely no one would hold any doubt.
(She really is cute, though.)
For a while longer, Izumi watched over the girl doing her best
to play the part of a superior.
◇
Outside town, in the rockface opposite the harbor, Rudel was
smashing rocks with Sakuya.
They would be used as materials for the port, but after being
smashed, the stone would have to be processed. For that sake, it
was necessary to break them down to an adequate size.
As Rudel issued Sakuya orders, Sakuya punched the rocks with her
large arms and destroyed them.
“Fool! Do it like that, and they’ll end up too small. Having
them too big is no good, but if they’re too small, then it takes an
unnecessary amount of mana to mend them!”
Under Bennet’s orders, Rudel was learning his job in Beretta.
Carrying materials, patrol of the area around the port city, and
helping out with construction, there was much to be done. As long
as you ignored their consumption, the convenient dragons were
indispensable lifeforms for construction.
“This is hard. The work’s too detailed for Sakuya.”
Taking Sakuya’s large build into account, it was definitely a
difficult job. But Bennet hummed a note.
“Oh, then will you choose your own work? It is only natural for
us to be able to carry out whatever mission need be done. The way
you are, you’re not even half a dragoon.”
“That is…!”
While he tried to say something, Rudel swallowed his words. Sure
enough, being particular about his missions was usually something
he should never do.
Bennet called her own dragon and had it smash rocks to the right
size to set an example. After the destruction, unlike with Sakuya,
the leftover fragments didn’t scatter about much.
“If the development goes steady, then this place will also
become a part of town. If you cause too much destruction and spread
debris around, it will make our jobs more troublesome in times to
come. I do believe the development plans were included in the
documents I gave you.”
“My deepest apologies.”
Having not thought that far ahead, Rudel apologized to Bennet.
Certainly, the plan included the port’s construction, and a
description of the town’s expansion.
“… Well, so be it. Right now, Elrond is off buying supplies, so
I’ll be teaching you for a while. Know that training is also part
of your duty, and don’t lose focus.”
“Yes ma’am!”
◇
While Rudel continued his work, to the side, Izumi watched his
exchange with his cute superior officer.
As a special inspector, Izumi’s duty was to make sure her eyes
never left Rudel, if possible. While the two of them were earnestly
doing their job, from a watcher’s perspective, it couldn’t help but
look like a pleasant scene.
Bennet’s tail was happily waving left and right, and on top of
that, Sakuya was learning how to chop rocks from the water dragon.
A dragon opening up its palms to chop stone into blocks was a
peculiar sight indeed.
(They look like they’re having fun.)
While the two of them had their dragons smashing stone, they
carried out training themselves. When Bennet told Rudel to come at
her, Rudel cut forward with all his might.
Izumi thought that looked bad, but Bennet lightly responded,
throwing Rudel into the ground. Despite her small body, the way she
handled it could only make one say, as expected of a dragoon.
But after she had won, when Rudel sent her eyes of admiration,
“Get to your feet already, fool!” the girl in question said, her
tail violently wagging.
Next to that, Sakuya- who was unable to skillfully smash stone-
tried to break it apart with her breath only to be smacked on the
head by Bennet’s dragon.
(I do feel sorry to say it, but…)
“Your attacks are following a pattern. You won’t even be able to
scratch me that way.”
“Kuh!”
Accelerating with wind magic, Rudel desperately rushed in to
capture Bennet, but dodging by a paper-thin margin…
‘I mean, I can’t do it! Hey, that hurts!’
Her chops still not going well, this time, Sakuya tried to
strike it with her tail…
(I wonder what it is. It just looks like they’re enjoying
themselves.)
◇
Driven off to an area close to the border, Chlust grimaced as he
received a report from his subordinate.
“Captain, are we in hot water?”
What the unshaven man reported to Chlust was a meeting between
high officials of the countries of Courtois and Gaia. Even if it
was diplomacy under the veil of secrecy, Courtois was a noble
society, and it was often the case that its high officials were of
nobility. They disliked rough treatment, and it was difficult to
think they would go all the way to the outskirts just to put on
airs.
The man who was Chlust’s subordinate reported what he heard from
his trusted men.
… It was information Chlust wanted to think was impossible.
“When I thought they had quieted down, it couldn’t be…”
The black ogre incidents were no longer breaking out. But as
long as he stayed on the border, he could tell the enemies was
growing more active whether he liked it or not.
The air was one thing, and it had been so quiet it was
contrarily creepy.
And about the contents of the high official’s discussion, the
unshaven man was making a pale face. Chlust thought his own
complexion was also leaving him, but as he was before his
subordinate, he changed his train of thought.
“… Could you tell the official’s face? Or their
characteristics?”
“Nothing. Everyone was wearing robes and hiding their faces. If
the way they talked and their documents didn’t prove their status,
we would have moved to take them in as suspicious individuals.”
But his subordinate seemed relieved they hadn’t done so from the
depths of his heart. This was home ground, and there were plenty
who were used to concealing their bodies, it could be called a spot
of good luck that their foe didn’t know the area.
That was just how powerful their guards had been.
If he knew their names, then Chlust was the second son of an
archduke. He thought he would be able to find out their faction,
but it didn’t seem it would go so easily.
“Whatever the case, we have no connections to the center right
now.”
“What do we do, captain? Won’t it blow sky high, the way things
are going?”
The reason his subordinate- usually so lively- panicked to such
an extent was simple. A high official of Courtois had exchanged
documents with a high official of the Gaia Empire. What’s more,
they seemed used to it.
The few words they exchanged were clearly bizarre.
‘The princess is on board.’
‘As long as you accept our conditions, we’ll play along with you
farce.’
‘Hmm, making a hero of a commoner, the thought makes me want to
vomit. I’d rather he became a hero post mortem.’
‘… I pray you come to a decision before our preparations are
complete. Tell them to understand, it’s too late once it’s all
begun.’
Princess, hero, commoner, and too late once it began… on these
words, Chlust couldn’t help but remember those two.
The fact he was in a place like this, at the very least, he
thought those two were involved. In a good sense, of course.
Chlust was aware that if he had continued to hate Rudel, his
current self wouldn’t exist. He could recall well the faces of the
two who had created the opportunity.
(Is this for certain… but at this rate…)
Even if he noticed, he understood it was futile to report the
fact to the higher-ups. For better or worse, they lived in noble
society, and having been once oppressed, Chlust could understand.
If it was a truth, it would be hushed up, if it was a lie, they
would boldly punish him.
No, it was more probable they would erase him the moment he
reported it.
His stay in the outskirts was a long one, and it plagued him
that his information on the palace factions was outdated.
To add onto that, the outskirts were optimistic. No matter how
the empire invaded, they were certain that with its dragons,
Courtois would never lose.
“… Don’t tell anyone about this matter. Order your men not to
leak the information.”
“Then what will we do!?”
“I’ll look into it. If I report to the wrong man, then it
wouldn’t be strange if the entire unit is erased.”
The man fell silent. He realized he had stuck his head into a
troublesome matter, but Chlust felt an even greater sense of crisis
than his subordinate.
(Who do I rely on? My house is… I can’t even get in touch with
Erselica, so that’s not happening.)
Once his subordinate left the room, Chlust scratched his head
and thought.
(I’ve always reported the suspicious movements on the Empire’s
side. I can’t think the higher-ups don’t know. Then did they know
and plan to abandon us from the start?)
From the reinforcement of war potential around the border,
Chlust had felt relief, but now he had a bad premonition.
(Our forces are being reinforced. But…)
The map of the area affixed to one of the room’s wall had memo
sheets stuck all over it. It was a map that collected all the
incidents on the border over the past few years.
He confirmed the war potential on Courtois’ side.
(There won’t be a problem if it’s a skirmish? No, the empire’s
been tormented by our dragons for many years. It’s unthinkable that
they’re not taking the dragons into account so late in the game.
Our side is looking down on our foe too much.)
Getting together the reports on the black ogre, he had found one
that suspected they might be an experiment from the empire. But his
superior had laughed it off.
Even if that was true, Courtois had dragons, so they knew it
wouldn’t be a problem.
(I can only gather info for now. And I have to inform someone of
this fact…)
While his brother’s face came to mind, recalling Rudel’s present
situation, he shook his head. As the white knight, Rudel stood out
too much. And he wasn’t in a position of power.
“First, I have to establish casual contact with Erselica. I need
as much information on the palace as possible.”
Looking at the map, Chlust scanned for the name of a port town.
On a memo next to it, the town’s fighting force was listed out.
When there were three powerful dragoons stationed there, there
were no other decent reinforcements. On that mismatched treatment,
Chlust feared for the safety of his brother who had likewise been
flown off to the outskirts.
“I hope I’m just thinking too much.”
Feeling the calm before the storm, Chlust felt something
contrived in his brother being sent to the outskirts during such a
period.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s5.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 118: The Mission and Hostility
Chapter 118: The Mission and Hostility
“I can’t stand this anymore!”
Expressionlessly tidying up her paperwork, Fina ruffled up her
blond hair as she cried out. But even still, she hadn’t the
slightest emotion on her face. On the contrary, the made it
scarier.
But already used to it, Mii looked at Fina as she prepared some
tea and snacks. It tasted worse than when Sophina prepared it, but
Fina more readily accepted tea brewed by Mii.
“When you have both an elf and a wolf by his side, why haven’t
you lain hands on them, master! And you call yourself the lord of
fluff? Or could it be you’re teasing and playing around with
me?”
“Rudel-sama doesn’t have any fixation on fluffies, after
all.”
“Right, even if you didn’t force him to choose, he’s for dragons
and dragons alone.”
Helping out in Fina’s work, Sophina and Mii processed documents.
Perhaps they had built a resistance to Fina’s conduct and speech up
to now, as they were calm as could be.
“Dammit… I put such a cute wolf tribe girl by his side! And
because I forcefully pulled out that clutzy commanding officer, my
workload’s increased! What’s more, that Aleist guy keeps saying, ‘I
don’t want to be away from Millia’ or something… it was irritating,
so I recommended her for special inspector! Yeah, it was me,
whatcha gonna do about it!”
“Princess, I think that’s terrible.”
With much to think about love and marriageable ages, Sophina
glared at Fina. Mii also pitied Aleist, so she didn’t send Fina an
affirmative look.
Noticing that, Fina hurriedly followed through.
“I-it’s alright Mii. Aleist will soon have his eighth fiancé,
and he really will dry up.”
“Isn’t that no good? Do you have some sort of grudge against
him, princess?”
Thinking of a dried up black knight, Sophina brought up her
memories of his fiancés that were still at the academy. One of them
was a female knight who excelled in the sword, and it was already
decided she would skip grades.
She had surely done her best for Aleist’s sake, but Sophina had
felt something terrifying from her, so she could foresee something
terrible happening.
For the other one, a girl of the tiger tribe, Fina had done
everything in her power to pull her into the defenders. It was only
at times like these that Sophina had to tip her hat to Fina’s
abilities. Though she held a flaw of only ever working for her own
desires.
“Hah, for the princess of a country to spend her school life
buried in paperwork…”
While Sophina pitied Fina’s present situation just a little,
Fina expressionlessly embraced Mii and started fondling various
things. The one in question looked happy enough.
“Well whatever.”
Before that usual scene, Sophina returned to work.
… Doing paperwork that wasn’t even part of her job, her absolute
lack of resistance was also a problem. The two of them had been
corrupted.
◇
In the port town of Beretta, Millia was watching over Rudel
Separated from Rudel, who had work at the port, Izumi was
discussing matters with Bennet at the knight brigade station.
“Do something about your living conditions?”
“Yes.”
The topic of their consultation was the fact they slept under
the same roof as Rudel. While it was a problem that Millia didn’t
see it as much of a problem, Izumi generally wasn’t fond of this
situation.
Thinking of his future, she thought this might become trouble
for Rudel.
“Why is that? While simultaneously observing him, the two of you
were allotted to the future archduke Rudel, were you not? That’s
how I and the others understood it.”
Bennet had no ill intent. It would be stranger if the future
archduke Rudel didn’t have anyone by his side to look after him.
Young and beautiful, Izumi and Millia were seen as Rudel’s mistress
candidates, or perhaps his servants or convenient women. To Bennet
and the rest who didn’t know the happenings of the capital, they
thought the top brass had even gone as far as to tack on a reason
and give them a post as, ‘Special Inspectors’.
“… There is no ulterior motive behind our directive. We really
are just here to watch Rudel.”
“I see.”
Once Izumi corrected the misunderstanding, Bennet started to
think. She looked tiny behind the large desk and chair that were
prepared because the dragoon called Elrond used them as well.
“Then this really is a problem. Not only Rudel, it will bring
about an influence to your futures as well. I do want to do
something on my side, but…”
As Bennet made a difficult expression, her tail apologetically
drooped down from her chair.
But perhaps she had a good idea, as her tail suddenly regained
its vigor, swaying to and fro.
“Then the two of you can come over to my place.”
“Is that alright? And I don’t think it’s wise to keep too far
from him.”
There was no telling what Rudel might do, and even if it was
knight, there was no meaning to their inspector posts if they were
too far away.
“I know it’s only been a few days since you’ve taken your post,
and there’s no helping it if you haven’t been able to make rounds,
but you should at least learn who lives next to you.”
“And that would be… you, Major Bennet?”
On Izumi’s words, Bennet’s tail violently wagged. She must have
been greatly pleased, as it even showed on her face.
“I’ll return early today. The two of you should come around to
my house today. Luckily, our lodgings are next to one another, so I
don’t mind if you leave your belongings at Rudel’s place.”
“While you have a point, won’t it be a bother?”
“I was the one under a misunderstanding. And when my
subordinates cause a problem, it’s my responsibility as well. I
plan to deal with it as a superior officer.”
While Bennet made a stern expression, in contrast, her tail was
lashing out as if she couldn’t endure her delight.
(What’s she so happy about?)
Izumi couldn’t help but be curious about the individual called
Bennet.
◇
Within the day, Izumi explained the situation to Millia and took
her belongings to the civilian house that Bennet used as a
dwelling.
“Wasn’t that fine as it was?”
While Millia didn’t particularly see a need to change houses,
Izumi was greatly opposed. She went as far as to give an order to
dragon Millia to Bennet’s house.
“There’s something called the eyes of society. You should be
more aware that me and you are both unmarried women.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Due to being raised in a closed elf village, it did seem Millia
minded not the eyes of society. No, she was raised in a closed
environment where she would have to mind it, but from her special
position, she ended up quite dim on the matter.
Having heard about Lilim from Rudel, Izumi thought she might
develop a headache. Even if recognized a differing sense of values,
Izumi wanted to avoid Rudel being put at a loss over something like
this.
Even if she might be paying undue worry, Rudel was even denser
to his surroundings than Millia. At least someone had to care about
it.
The neighboring house was of the same construction as the one
afforded to Rudel. As they stepped through the threshold, Bennet
came out to greet them in her apron.
“So you’re here. Leave your luggage in an empty room.”
The scent of a seafood soup, and the smell of roasting meat
filled the area. Perhaps she had gone out of her way to prepare it
for them, as three plates were already prepared in the kitchen.
“When you’re already letting us stay, you’re even cooking for
us… my deepest apologies.”
“Don’t mind it. While there is always left over with one, if we
have three people, then nothing will be left to rot. You haven’t
been stationed long, so think of it as your celebration. Eat
without restraint.”
The food was the same, but the room was casually put in order.
Even Millia, who was fussy over cleaning, looked over the room and
mortifyingly conceded…
“N-not bad.”
… She muttered.
Even from her eyes, it was clean. After spending more than half
a year cleaning the palace, Millia had developed a fixation for
cleanliness. Izumi, who had only spent a few days with her, found
herself cautioned time and again.
(Bennet-san is amazing… and she can even cook.)
But there was one thing that bothered Izumi.
Perhaps she didn’t want it to wag while she was cooking, as she
had her tail tucked away in her apron. That was also cute, but the
problem was the apron. Fitting with her appearance, the frilled
apron was fine in itself, but the character embroidered on it was
definitely a simplified cat.
Looking like she’d start humming at any moment, Bennet bestowed
the finishing touches onto the food.
(When she’s a wolf, she has a thing for cats?)
Izumi was bothered by quite a trivial thing.
◇
“Now then, this is a bother.”
In the house Izumi had left, Rudel thought aloud.
The fact Izumi and Millia had left was one that was a deep
relief to him. Living with a man before marriage would definitely
invite needless trouble to their futures.
But there was a problem.
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”
… Right, Rudel had never lived alone before. Even when he was
endeavoring through his training and studies, at the dorm, the
servants would look after his room.
While the girls might not have been aware, the young nobles had
their cleaning and laundry taken care of by the servants attached
to the dormitory. To add to that, Rudel generally couldn’t
cook.
For argument’s sake, he could make the sort of food he’d prepare
in the wild, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do
alone.
As he had become a dragoon right after graduation, he had
skipped right over the cleaning and house work that would be
assigned to the low-level grunts. To the elite dragoons, even if
they may clean the dragon stables, they were never troubled with
the necessities of life.
“It would be rude to go ask them at this point.”
Standing from his chair, for now, Rudel decided to heat up
yesterday’s leftovers. Before the stove, he lit a fire with magic
and placed the pot over it.
He still had the soup Izumi made, he would likely hold out a day
or two.
But what would happen after that?
“Well, I’m sure it’ll work out.”
More than twenty years old, Rudel lived by himself for the first
time in his life.
◇
Three days later…
Three women looked over Rudel’s house with stiff faces.
On top of the dirty table, the kitchen was heaped with unwashed
dishes. Apart from that, perhaps the laundry wasn’t being done, as
there were dirty garments left here and there.
“Rudel, what is the meaning of this?”
As Bennet glared at Rudel, the man in question made a troubled
face.
“Even if you ask me… how did it come to this?”
After hitting Rudel’s head with her palm, Bennet breathed out a
sigh. She thought a man might be bad at this sort of thing, but
even so, wasn’t this a bit too terrible? She looked over the room
once more. When she thought of the state of spaces she couldn’t
see, her heart sank.
It began during the day’s work, when Izumi had grown worried and
asked Rudel if he was properly eating.
Early to bed, early to rise, there was also a problem in how
Rudel was never home to begin with.
(There’s no helping what’s been done, but this is too terrible,
oh subordinate of mine!)
On the question of whether or not he was eating properly, Rudel
said this.
‘I still have takeout, so I’m fine.’
Just what part of that is fine, Izumi and Millia teamed up to
cross-examine him. Then Bennet had begun to worry and joined
in.
“Good grief… before your mission comes into question, you can’t
even properly live your life?”
“M-my deepest apologies.”
Leaving a noble like Rudel alone was a problem, but neither
Izumi nor Millia thought it would be this bad. It was the weak
point of the top-scoring Rudel.
The sun was already going down so they couldn’t do laundry now.
If they started cleaning, it would carry on to midnight.
“Hah, I’ll prepare food for you today. Izumi, Millia, come over
once you’ve cleaned up the kitchen.”
Heading off to her own house, Bennet had concluded that rather
than making anything in Rudel’s ingredient-less house, making a
large portion in her own place would be faster.
(What sort of thing would a man like to eat? It has to be meat,
right?)
Swiftly equipping her apron, she tucked her tail into it so it
wouldn’t swing around. The box loaded with ingredients was filled
with magic-made ice alongside seafood and various meats.
(Yeah~, what should I make…)
As she thought that, she heard a scream. The voice belonged to
Millia.
‘Why can’t you do something as simple as this!? And wait, how
are you able to live in a room like this? I can’t believe
it!’
‘S-sorry.’
(Oh no, they’re getting mad at my subordinate. I really don’t
think there’s any helping it, but Millia-chan is scary.)
Hurriedly making arrangements, Bennet looked over the three who
appeared once the food was done. Millia was letting off a prickly
air, while Rudel lowered his shoulders. Izumi was trying to cheer
him up, saying she would teach him how to do laundry the next
morning.
“You really are hopeless. Today’s special, don’t expect me to do
this again.”
Before the food lining the table, Rudel delighted at his first
decent meal in a while. Seeing his face, while she didn’t let it
show on her expression, Bennet rejoiced as well.
(Yay! It doesn’t look like he hates it.)
The four of them sat around the dinner table, and as expected,
talks went towards Rudel’s lifestyle. Even if they told him to do
better starting tomorrow, there was no way Rudel could do that. For
the time being, Izumi and Millia would do something about it.
And the topic changed to the food.
“Is it good?”
Bennet asked Rudel, happily chowing down, and the man in
question gave an energetic reply. He was already on his third
plate.
“Yes! Major, you are an amazing cook.”
“You can skip the flattery. With a house of your stature, I’m
sure you’ve eaten the food of top-class chefs from before you could
walk. I can at least understand that much.”
“Is that so? I was never too fixated over the taste.”
Unfamiliar about Rudel’s early childhood, Millia seemed to be
curious over what Rudel ate. Izumi knew he had been treated
terribly, but she had never asked about the contents of his
meals.
“So what sort of things did you eat?”
“… First off, vegetables and things with high nutritional
value.”
“Being able to eat something nutritional is something to be
thankful for. So how was it prepared? (Maybe I’ll try it out next
time.)”
Bennet had some interest in a noble’s cooking as she awaited
Rudel’s answer.
But the answer that came back crossed was more than she could
handle.
“No, just normally. Raw, I mean.”
“R-raw?”
Millia was surprised.
“Is that strange?”
Izumi looked around, perplexed by Bennet and Millia’s reactions.
She was sure he meant some sort of food prepared raw, showing
little surprise.
“… You mean a salad?”
“No, we just kinda ate it whole. They were bitter, so my little
sister would always swallow without chewing. Generally speaking,
there were a lot of cold dishes, I guess? I think the bread was on
the harder side, and I get the feeling the meat was lightly
seasoned…”
Rudel was the only one able to smile.
After hearing the specifics, they wouldn’t imagine that as the
meal of a future archduke.
“So that’s why you always said the dining hall food was the
best…”
“Hey, no matter how you look at it, that’s not normal.”
“… Do you want another?”
“With pleasure!”
As Bennet held out her own meat dish, Rudel ate it with delight.
Seeing him like that, Bennet was on the verge of tears within.
(Poor subordinate of mine… I’ll have to do my best in cooking
from tomorrow onwards.)
“Maor, your food is the best!”
When he happily praised her, Bennet grew happy as well.
“For the time being, I’ll provide your meals. It will be
troublesome if you collapse, after all… what’s wrong, you two?”
There, Izumi and Millia looked at Bennet.
“U-um, would it be possible for you to teach us how to cook as
well?”
“Hmm? I don’t mind.”
“Really!?”
As the faces of the two women approached, Bennet felt something
dreadful.
(Eh? What’s this? Hey, you’re scaring me.)
◇
The next morning, Izumi taught Rudel how to do laundry as
promised.
(Come to think of it, Millia was doing everyone’s laundry for
the past few days.)
It was curious how she had no resistance to washing a man’s
undergarments. No, as the sight of her gleefully doing laundry
floated in her mind, Izumi shook her head. She was reading too far
into it.
Before the tub, Rudel hesitated as he washed his own
clothing.
“The water’s grown murky.”
“When your clothes are so dirty, of course it would. Don’t
change out the water, just keep washing.”
“I could use magic and…”
“It’s not like you couldn’t, but you know that clothing is
valuable out here, right? If you make a mistake, you really will
have nothing to wear.”
He had proposed resolving the problem with magic, but after that
was declined, he got back to work. Watching his back, Izumi was
filled with an inexplicable urge to help out.
But Bennet had told her to make him do it on his own.
Once he finished the washing in the house’s yard, he hung the
clothes up to dry. Looking over the large load of drying laundry,
it was clear he still had a way to go, but for argument’s sake,
Izumiconcluded he would be alright.
Inside the house, Millia was doing the minimum amount of
cleaning she could bear.
“It’s meal time. Come over.”
Once Bennet called across the yard, taking Millia along, the
three of them headed for Bennet’s house. There, around the
entranceway stood a man with his blue hair tied at the back. He was
talking about something with Bennet.
“You sure took your time.”
“Don’t ask for the impossible. Even like this, I made haste.”
The male knight who looked older than them had the robe of a
dragoon draped over their shoulder. Once Izumi and the others came
out, Bennet introduced them to the male knight.
“This is my subordinate Rudel, and his two inspectors. The one
with the black hair’s called Izumi, and the green haired one is
Millia. Remember that.”
“Hmm… My name’s Keith. Keith Elrond. Pleasure to meet you.”
The male knight gave a splendid smile as he approached Izumi and
the others; along with his introduction, he reached out and took a
hand. But the way he gripped it wasn’t one that they could come to
like. He was acting overly familiar, or so was Izumi’s frank
opinion.
The way he touched it was a little indecent.
“U-um.”
During that space, Keith had reached out his left hand and
wrapped it around a shoulder as well. It was nothing more than a
handshake, but it was almost as if his ulterior motives were on
show for all to see.
“What is it, umm~…”
“I’m Izumi. Could you let go of that hand?”
“And why’s that?”
Keith flippantly resisted with a smile. On his expression, dark
emotions on a level she had never experienced before began to well
up in Izumi.
… Hatred, detestation.
A sensation similar to that ruled over Izumi as she
simultaneously recognized Keith as an enemy. Izumi glared at him
with a straight face.
It was the moment that within Izumi, a person she couldn’t like
no matter how hard she tried had been born.
And she spoke.
“Listen, just release Rudel’s hand and shoulder already.”
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s6.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 119: Hostility and Form
Chapter 119: Hostility and Form
“Release Rudel already.”
Izumi reached her left hand towards the sheath of the katana
hung at her waist, preparing herself to draw it at a moment’s
notice. Pushing up the hilt with her thumb, she intimidated her
enemy, Keith Elrond.
However…
“My name is Keith Elrond. My partner Spinnith is a water dragon.
Would you like to go flying with me next time, Rudel?”
He ignored Izumi.
“A getaway? I do want to try riding other dragons, but right
now, I have Sakuya, so…”
The man of whose eyes the women didn’t even seem to enter was of
high stature and pleasant appearance. But his chest area was
strangely laid bare.
As Izumi extended her right hand to the scabbard, Millia
frantically stepped in to stop her.
“S-stupid! You’re dealing with a dragoon. That’s no normal
man.”
Right. Dragoons were humans chosen by the dragons. No one could
imagine a normal knight winning out. In essence, a majority of the
dragoons were proficient when looked at as single knights.
Rudel was shaking Keith’s hand with a smile, and it seemed he
hadn’t the slightest understanding of his partner’s ulterior
motives. That only made Izumi needlessly more anxious. Her foe was
definitely handsome, he didn’t look all too strong. But Izumi
parted her right hand that trembled as it gripped her hilt
tight.
He looked weak, but he was a dragoon, of all things. If he was
hiding his abilities, then Izumi would never be able to
compete.
Mortified, Izumi managed to endure it.
“Elrond-dono, please step away from Rudel (Dammit, he’s taking
glances this way and laughing!)”
“Oh, what’s this? I don’t know who you might be, but you look
quite angry.”
“I named myself not a moment ago.”
Releasing Rudel from his grasp, Keith overreacted, covering his
face with his right hand and gazing up at the sky.
“Then I must apologize! I’ve little interest in a woman’s name,
see. I’m of the belief that as long as I remember my mother and
grandmother, the rest is unnecessary, and I can never work up the
mind to commit any to memory.”
“… And you’re the same as always.”
Bennet sounded tired, but she had long since given up. After
breathing out a sigh, she didn’t make any further remarks.
(I really don’t like this man.)
Izumi contained the emotions welling up as she glared at Keith.
Noticing her gaze, Keith looked over her expression with a grin. He
further rubbed Izumi’s nerves the wrong way.
◇
“… Rudel.”
“What is it, Major?”
Her tail waving around, Bennet looked over the glaring Izumi and
Keith as she pulled Rudel over. Her motions were practically that
of a little sister badgering her brother. Millia had nervously
separated from the glaring two, and in front of the entranceway,
the three of them discussed the next day’s plans.
“Starting tomorrow morning, we’ll be carrying out your training.
Let’s see… let’s start out with a one-on-one mock battle with me.
And then we’ll use our dragons to fight.”
“Really!?”
Looking at Rudel’s delighted face, while she spoke with a stern
expression, Bennet’s tail was happily wagging.
“Fool, now is the last time you’ll be able to rejoice. And I’ll
have you fight Keith as well.”
“The lieutenant? Isn’t he worn out, having only just
returned?”
“Do you think a dragoon can shirk duty simply because they’re
worn out? It seems you’ve asked the captain what it is you’re
lacking, but you haven’t fully comprehended it.”
“M-my apologies.”
Seeing a depressed Rudel, Bennet thought.
(T-that was a failure! I-I have to cheer him up somehow.)
From Rudel, she had heard about how Oldarts had informed him of
the things he was lacking in combat. But Rudel wasn’t having a good
time coming up with a resolution. Even if he was told to rely on
his partner, he didn’t understand exactly what he was supposed to
do.
Even if he was told to expand his field of vision, he could only
pack in experience.
In order to become a dragoon, talent was necessary, and in order
to aim for number one among them, one would have to polish
themselves more than anyone.
Bennet didn’t think Rudel had no talent. More so, she praised
him for believing in a talent he might not even have and polishing
himself to such an extent. While she had become a dragoon because
she had been granted the opportunity, he had bet his life to become
a dragoon, and that was something she would never be able to
do.
“Don’t look so down. If you fight me and Keith, you might find
your answer.”
“I will?”
“That depends on you.”
Bennet headed off towards Izumi’s glaring match.
She was trying to get Rudel to notice that the answer wasn’t
something set in stone. If the individual didn’t accept it, it held
no meaning. Like that, both Bennet and Keith had polished their
form as dragoons…
Human life was short. No matter how much talent one may have,
mastering everything was impossible. Cattleya was treated as an
exception to that rule, but that very Cattleya had committed a
large blunder when it came to Rudel…
And even if one was selected by a dragon, the partner dragon’s
abilities weren’t uniform. Even the gray dragons had variance in
their individual abilities.
He would have no choice but to choose what he wanted to
become.
(I’m sorry, my little subordinate. But this is a path you have
to grasp on your own.)
Having him fight her, and Keith, a different type of dragoon,
Bennet wanted to show Rudel examples of the forms a dragoon could
take.
◇
Early the next day, they made for a site far from the port town
of Beretta.
In that separated space, protected by Keith’s dragon, Izumi and
Millia watched over Rudel and Bennet.
It was a rough land of nothing but rocks, but Sakuya had taken a
liking to it, so there was a hole she had dug out nearby.
In that space without grass or tree, Rudel and Bennet faced one
another.
“Is that wooden sword your only weapon?”
“Yes, it’s the weapon I’ve used most.”
“I see… I use two daggers, three boomerangs, and a whip.”
As Bennet showed him her two wooden daggers and boomerangs,
Rudel seemed perplexed over how she could use so many weapons. He
was certain that polishing a single weapon one specialized in would
hold the highest efficiency.
Sensing Rudel’s thoughts, Bennet let out a sigh.
“I know what you’re thinking, but this is my style. Come at me
without restraint.”
Tucking her daggers into her belt, she readied a boomerang in
her hand. Putting the other two away in a pouch in her back, she
lowered her hips and took a peculiar stance. The boomerang in her
right hand against her shoulder, she directed the left side of her
body towards Rudel.
Rudel took a stance with his wooden sword, adjusting his posture
just a little. Sensing the movement of her eyes, and the minute
movements of her body, Rudel’s body reacted and started to motion
as well.
Unable to endure it anymore, Rudel launched a charge on Bennet,
approaching her with his high-speed movement. But swiftly leaping
to the left, Bennet cut at Rudel with her boomerang. By the time
Rudel had parried and corrected his stance, there was already
another boomerang in Bennet’s left hand.
(This is bad!)
While Rudel immediately moved from the spot to dodge, to the
place he transferred, a boomerang flew. From the projectile that
spun as it flew after him, he could sense a faint hint of mana.
Concentrating his attention on the two boomerangs that chased
him as he ran, Rudel knocked one out of the air. The moment he
returned his eyes to Bennet, controlling them remotely, he felt an
impact on his back.
Collapsing right onto the back, he managed to endure, left in a
state supporting his body with his left hand.
(She controls three at once? To think that was possible…!)
It was here Rudel regretted taking his eyes off her for even a
moment. Demi humans of the beast tribe never boasted much magic.
That put them at an overwhelming disadvantage, but as if to make
up, they boasted extraordinary physical prowess not held by the
other races.
As he held his wood sword horizontally, bringing it up over his
head, Bennet fell towards him, equipped with both daggers, the
force of all her body’s weight behind her blow.
Unable to endure the impact, he diverted the force and escaped,
but Bennet was able to follow his movements.
“That truly is an astounding way to get around. But if that’s
all you can do with it, then even I can keep up.”
Skillfully handling her daggers, she changed from forehand to
backhand, launching a series of attacks. If he used his full speed,
he might have been able to escape, but as Bennet made sure he had
no escape, Rudel was pressed into a hard fight.
(She’s fast! At this speed, I can’t put out my shield of light
or light bolts.)
“What’s wrong? Is that all it takes to be academy number
one?”
But Rudel had a bit of confidence in his swordplay. As he hit
aside one of Bennet’s daggers, she threw the other one at him to
take distance. Lowering down his sword, the deflected dagger made a
dull sound as it rolled across the ground.
By the time he noticed it, Rudel’s breath had grown rough.
That sensation of all his movements being sealed, it was
practically what he felt when he was going up against the
captain.
(This person’s also strong, after all.)
As vexing as it was, Rudel couldn’t withstand the smile
spreading across his face. While he couldn’t confirm that
expression himself, according to Aleist, it was the face of a
‘battle junkie’.
(Even so, I don’t mind. I’m going to become stronger. If I fight
this person, I’ll be able to rise even higher.)
“… You’re putting your all into every movement. Think about your
own stamina a bit more before you make a move. Finally, you’d do
best not to show that face to anyone else.”
Bennet was a little amazed.
Taking out the whip at her waist, she hit it once against the
ground. As a sound rang out that made it clear that would hurt if
it hit, Rudel took a stance with his wood sword.
Looking at Bennet’s whip, he recalled Eunius’ magic sword. That
one made movements like a whip, but here he was dealing with a real
whip. As he mulled over how he should handle it, Bennet’s whip came
at him as if it were a living being.
“But at this level!”
His wood sword became a magic sword, letting off light. But the
blade was easily entangled by the whip, destroyed just so easily as
well.
“You should’ve put up the magic sword sooner. Well if you did,
I’d have taken some countermeasures, but… do you want to
continue?”
On Bennet’s voice, Rudel stepped in to respond.
If the sword was no good, then magic. If magic was no good, then
his bare hands…
That was Rudel’s style.
“You’ve got spirit, but your movements are too
straightforward.”
Bennet tossed aside her whip, shifting her body just a little to
avoid Rudel’s fist. In that moment, a few strands of her hair were
severed, carried off by the wind, and Bennet opened her eyes
wide.
In the next instant, her knee had found its place in Rudel’s
solar plexus. On that knee hammered in with his own forward
momentum, Rudel was instantly grasping for breath. Even so, he
didn’t fall to his knees, so Rudel was quite outside the norm
himself.
“Even if I held back, it’s usual to collapse there, but… this is
the end.”
With Bennet tripping him up, Rudel found himself collapsed
face-up on the ground.
◇
“For Rudel to be played with like that…”
Making an unbelieving expression, it seemed Millia didn’t want
to believe there was that great of a gap in ability. The usually
adorable Bennet’s abilities were certainly worthy of a dragoon.
While Izumi really didn’t want to, she struck up a conversation
with Keith to ask about Bennet.
“How is Major Bennet ability-wise? Is she high up in the
dragoons, or…”
On Izumi’s query, Keith looked over the collapsed Rudel as he
answered. It was blatantly obvious he was begrudgingly answering,
but Izumi held it in.
“Yeah, you’d find her faster, counting from the top. Of course,
when it comes to comprehensive score, I’m higher than her.”
“You’re stronger than the Major?”
While Izumi thought it strange for the lieutenant to be
stronger, the individual sounded certain, so she decided to
believe. She didn’t think he’d lie about something like that.
“Is that not what I just said? Do you have ears on that head?
That woman over there was personally trained by the current captain
and vice-captain… how envious. When they only ever took me on
once.”
Irritated, Izumi sent her eyes back towards Rudel to find Bennet
nursing him. To be honest, she never thought there would be such a
gap in abilities. At this point, Bennet looked much more Major-like
than ever before.
“Next is the aerial battle.”
The two of them called their dragons and began a battle in the
sky.
But the match was over in no time.
“… He lost.”
“That he did.”
Confirming Sakuya falling towards the ground, the two thought
over that previous battle. The only impression they got was that
Sakuya had completely lost an upfront confrontation.
“Dammit! If the captain and vice-captain were closing in on me,
just who am I supposed to choose!? That charmer in his prime, or
the vice-captain and his villainous face… ah, I!… I’m!”
Watching Keith make a ruckus all on his own, Izumi’s eyes had
turned considerably cold.
“Izumi, what’s wrong? You’ve been a bit scary since
yesterday.”
Seeing Millia, who didn’t think anything, even looking at Keith,
Izumi hardened her resolve. She had to do something about it
herself.
◇
As Rudel looked after Sakuya, Bennet descended to the ground.
She didn’t ask him anything about that previous fight.
“Get in some rest. Your dragon shouldn’t have suffered any major
damage.”
‘Well, I did hold back.’
“Sakuya. Are you alright, Sakuya!”
‘My head hurts! A tail straight to the face!’
While Rudel frantically stroked Sakuya’s head, to Bennet, for
some reason it looked like he was depressed. Not over the loss, it
felt like it was coming from something else entirely.
“How is that, Sakuya, does it feel good?”
‘Not at all. It tickles.’
“… I-I see.”
(… He looks kinda depressed, but how am I supposed to cheer him
up?)
A troubled Bennet called out to Keith. There, he rushed over
with speed he had never shown before.
“You called?”
On his light tone, Bennet’s tail slumped powerlessly to the
ground.
She wanted him to treat her just a bit more like a superior.
Despite being from a noble household, he happily worked shirtless
in the dirt, alongside the town residents, and he even went out
drinking with the men. While Keith was always spreading smiles
around, he didn’t seem to hold particularly favorable emotions
towards her.
The battalions they were affiliated with were different, so to
be more precise, she was not his superior officer. But they were
among the few dragoons who possessed water dragons, so they were
often together on missions.
“After they get some rest, I’ll leave it to you. First off, have
a one-on-one with Rudel and–”
“I don’t want to. I want him to see me at my most beautiful.
Therefore, I’ll start with the aerial battle.”
Seeing Keith’s glare that showed he definitely wouldn’t yield,
Bennet fell into a slump, consenting without letting it show on her
face.
“… Got it. Do what you want. Rudel, next you’ll be having an
aerial battle with Keith.”
“… Understood.”
On his knees, with both hands against the ground, Rudel stood
and corrected his posture before giving an orderly reply. Bennet
was deeply moved, her tail wagging left and right.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s7.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 120: Form and the Wall
Chapter 120: Form and the Wall
Putting in a midday break, Rudel leapt onto Sakuya’s back and
rose into the air.
The wide, blue sky spread out, noon had just gone by, and the
light of the sun was strong. But as he looked at his foe, something
like the measly sun flew out of his head.
“We’re taking on a water dragon again.”
‘I won’t lose this time.’
As Sakuya thrust her fist towards her opponent a few times, the
dragon laughed. For some reason, he called out towards Rudel.
‘So that kid’s the aunty of the lake’s favorite. I’ve got some
hopes for you, but be careful not to get hurt. My partner’s quite a
troublesome one, after all.”
“Hahaha! How terrible, Spinnith.”
‘… And you should be especially careful.’
“I don’t understand the reason, but I’ll be careful.”
Rudel didn’t understand what Spinnith was trying to say. But
thinking it would be rude to ask here, for now, he concentrated on
the match. On a match with his superior, his heart was dancing.
This was a world he didn’t know, and there were plenty of strong
people rolling around.
That only made Rudel irresistibly delighted. Delighted that
there was still a higher level he could reach for.
“Then let’s have some fun with it.”
‘You’re going to aim for the rear after all.’
“He’s coming, Sakuya!”
‘I’ll teach you a lesson for calling Mystith aunty!’
‘No, I mean seriously, she’s my aunt. She’s my mother’s
sister.’
“Is that true?”
While Rudel learned an unexpected truth in the sky, with that as
the signal, Keith began moving.
“Let’s leave the talks at that. From here on, you need only be
intoxicated by my beautiful dance!”
◇
Looking up at the sky, the three girls and a dragon were
enraptured by the movements of Keith’s water dragon.
“No matter how many times I see it, he flies beautifully.”
The water dragon’s glassy scales caught the light and glimmered
in the air. That form was one thing, but unlike Bennet’s
performance before, he had a sense of sharpness.
He wasn’t leaving it to brute force, it was as if he was reading
his opponent’s every move. Reading Sakuya’s movements, and easily
slipping around Rudel’s shields of light. While he could surely
destroy them, he purposely avoided them as he slipped around to the
back each time.
“Is the Lieutenant’s dragon strong?”
As Millia called out to Bennet, she answered without moving her
face. She wanted to watch those movements, to steal as much of that
technique as she could.
“No, there’s barely any difference. More so, I’m sure my partner
Heleene is stronger.”
‘I won’t lost to the young ones, and I’m mama’s girl.’
As Heleene stuck out her chest, “That’s right,” Bennet answered.
The movements of the water dragon that left behind afterimages in
the air were making sport of Sakuya.
Was Keith’s magic preparing doubles of water, or was it the
dragon? Perhaps it wasn’t either.
(Talent truly is a scary thing.)
It wasn’t as if Bennet didn’t have talent. But the gap was
evident.
“Major, is Rudel actually weak? I can’t believe it. I’ve never
seen Rudel played with to such an extent.”
On Izumi’s worried voice, Bennet knew it was a misunderstanding.
She worried over how she was supposed to convey it, and worried
over whether she could get the point across well.
(Yeah~, teaching people really is difficult…)
So there, Bennet tried to compare her and Keith.
“Rudel is strong. To be blunt, he’s stronger than me. His
fighting style is still young, but if he trains, he’ll surpass me
in no time.”
“He can even win against you?”
“Yeah. But you see, defeating Elrond in an aerial battle will be
difficult. That dragon called Sakuya is unsuited to the air. And
just like me, Elrond’s dragon is a water dragon. Among the four
variants, it’s the one with the best balance.”
While wild dragons were all usually stronger than gray dragons,
the answer to which of the four was strongest had yet to come out.
The dragoons would all argue by emotion, and the strongest could
never be determined. Of course, one’s own dragon was always the
strongest.
Everyone thought so. And Bennet was the same.
If she fought Keith Elrond in an aerial battle, she would lose,
but she was certain her partner was stronger than Spinnith, and she
thought it wouldn’t lose out to any of the other species.
That was because water dragons had very few weaknesses.
As they could operate in the water, they were thought to be
dragons specialized fot the water. But that wasn’t so.
They were simply also good in the water, that was water dragons.
Slower than a wind dragon, but they could take second place in
speed. Less firepower than a red dragon, but even so, second place.
Less physical strength than a gaia dragon, but even there, they
were second.
Therefore, even if they didn’t have anything special, they
excelled in balance. And from Heleene, she had heard there was a
dragon who specialized in every single field.
“But he lost so easily.”
Bennet answered Izumi’s question as if it were only natural. But
inside, she couldn’t help but be anxious over whether she was
properly getting the message across.
“The reason it looked like he lost so easily was because I made
it look so. Don’t let your opponent do what they want. Don’t let
them bring it to their preferred way of fighting. It’s a way of
fighting you can only do if you have information.”
As Izumi and Millia didn’t seem to get it at all, Bennet
breathed out a sigh and looked at their faces. In truth, she wanted
to see Keith’s fighting techniques, but it was clear that teaching
her two juniors was more important.
“Don’t misunderstand. We dragoons are the country’s elite
brigade. It’s downright strange for Rudel- who just graduated the
academy- to be able to fight us. Graduated within the top ten of
the academy. Had barely anyone who could stand against them. This
is a unit filled with people like that.”
“E-even so, the difference in skill is way too intense.”
“Let’s see. If you’ll let me have my say, there’s barely any
difference between Rudel and me. No, if it just comes down to
power, swordplay and magic, that guy clearly has the upper hand. In
that sense, I’m weaker.”
Seeing the two still couldn’t understand, Bennet was starting to
panic. Just being stronger means victory, explaining it wasn’t so
simple was quite difficult.
“What that guy lacks is experience… something more
technical.”
◇
Out of breath, Rudel sent a sidelong glance to Keith and
Spinnith encroaching from behind as he produced his shields. While
their numbers climbed to a few dozen, as if slipping straight
through, his foe kept chase with barely the slightest
movements.
The most detestable thing was how he always maintained a set
distance as he followed behind.
“You should never show your dragon’s rear. Otherwise, it’s an
easy target.”
‘When you say it, it takes on a whole new meaning.’
“Hahaha! Now try putting up some more resistance!”
“Kuh! (I never thought he could be so strong. What makes us so
different!)”
On top of the fact his attacks showed no sign of hitting, his
opponent didn’t even try to make use of the terrain. It was as if
he was taunting Rudel.
Before an overwhelming gap in abilities, Rudel felt a different
sense of crisis from when he faces the captain.
While Rudel was delighted if his abilities even put him at the
bottom, when Sakuya was involved, that changed things. His heart
was starting to panic, would he be unable to protect Sakuya? He was
treasuring her too much.
‘Quit following us from behind!’
Sakuya turned all the way around, but in that instant, Spinnith
had transferred behind her. Before Sakuya could turn, he had
already started moving.
(We’re being read?)
Played around with in the air, Rudel and Sakuya were unable to
raise a hand to Keith and Spinnith.
With Heleene, Sakuya had the slight hope that something would
happen if only her attacks would connect, but now she began holding
fear towards their opponents.
‘Don’t get close to meeee!’
‘Now that’s just a mean thing to say.’
Against an opponent with leisure, Rudel and Sakuya were being
manipulated in their own desperation.
◇
“They’re starting to panic. Their movements are growing worse,
so they’re only falling further into Elrond’s traps.”
“Is that some sort of magic?”
Millia directed her eyes at the fight in the sky as she asked
the question. Bennet saw that even an amateur’s eyes could see that
gap in strength as she continued on the previous explanation.
“You could call it individual difference if you want. When you
call it talent, don’t you think it always comes off as mean?”
“… You mean to say Rudel has no talent?”
On Izumi’s thoughtful face, Bennet shook her head.
“Like hell someone who became a dragoon could go at it without
any talent. What I’m trying to say is that individual differences
definitely exist. It’s the same with the races. Us beast type
demi-humans have especially high physical abilities. But we have
low magic. That elf has below-average physical abilities, but her
mana is clearly higher than a human’s right?”
“W-well, yeah.”
When Millia conceded that her race was indeed like that, Bennet
continued on with the conversation.
“You have a sister in the dragoons, right? Major Lilim.”
“Yes.”
When talks turned to her sister, Millia’s expression became
serious. Izumi also listened in with deep intrigue.
“If you asked whether or not Lilim has talent, a majority of
people would say yes. And if you ask about Cattleya, everyone will
chime in to say she’s a genius. I don’t think that’s mistaken.
Especially Cattleya, her abilities have been growing amazingly
lately.”
Bennet recalled how the unmotivated Cattleya had shown some
considerable mettle as a dragoon. It was a good thing that she had
grown earnest these past few years, as her abilities had grown
alongside it.
From the start, even if she wasn’t the slightest bit motivated,
if you taught her, she’d be able to do it. What a human would spend
a few years to learn, in a month, or even a day she’d acquire it.
That could be called nothing short of genius.
“Um… how is that related to Rudel?”
“Yeah, let’s see. Meaning, what I’m trying to say is that he’s
the same, and from the eyes of those around him, he’s got talent.
It’s only natural. It would be strange for someone without talent
to be among the elites. If you don’t have talent, then even before
it comes to that, no dragon would recognize you.”
“But Rudel’s circumstances are a bit differ–”
“Right. But if you ask me, that’s something you can only say in
hindsight. Before someone strong, everyone will always look back
and say they have talent. (Ah, no! This talk is proceeding in a
strange directionnnn! What I’m trying to say is that it isn’t
talent, it’s form!)”
While she was sure she had failed, Bennet still tried to convey
it to the two.
“What I’m trying to say is that Rudel is plenty a monster
himself. Just by putting in a bit of experience, that guy will run
straight passed me in no time. To be blunt, just be teaching him
the knack and a few techniques, he’ll already be on another level.
That’s the sort of strength he needs.”
Bennet forcefully dragged the conversation back on topic and
said was she was trying to say.
“Talent has no meaning if it isn’t polished. And the time we
have to polish it is limited.”
“You mean you don’t have the time to train?”
Bennet felt like bursting into laughter at Izumi’s question, but
she endured it and recovered.
“No, I’m saying we don’t have the time to aim to be the best.
Life is short, after all. So I, and Elrond, and Lilim and Cattleya…
we dragoons all have to search for our own form.”
Just as Bennet had polished her own strength, Keith had polished
his aerial prowess. If you asked which was better, it depended on
time and situation. It wasn’t as if there weren’t missions where
she’d be acting alone, so you couldn’t say Bennet’s decision was
wrong.
Many dragoons would choose the same route as Keith. That was
simply how powerful a dragon was. To control them as best as
possible, a large number of training hours were required. As a
result, one would need to make a choice.
… About their path, and the path they would take as a
dragoon.
“The dragoons are the knights who, by possessing a dragon, have
expanded their options. But in exchange, there are things they have
no choice but to throw away. In this match, I hoped Rudel might see
what he wanted to become. It isn’t something to be told by another,
I want him to choose his own form.”
The three and one dragon looked up into the sky to see a number
of water orbs exploding, and Sakuya plummeting. Once the match
ended, the area was flooded out.
(Everyone looks up to the competent knights strong even up in
the sky, but that’s impossible. Cattleya-chan wasted a few years,
so I don’t know if she’ll be able to do both.)
Seeing a soaked Rudel and Sakuya collide with the ground, Bennet
held a bit of hope. Without talent Cattleya held, or the magical
prowess or time gifted to Lilim. Such was Rudel, but…
Unable to stand up to her feeble self, and unable to stand up to
Elrond, but…
(If he does manage to do it, I guess you can’t call it talent
anymore.)
… He somehow looked like he could surmount it all.
◇
While the party wanted to return already, Rudel’s match with
Keith still remained.
But Keith didn’t seem up to it.
“It’s already late, so can’t we return? The sun’s already going
down”
“What are you talking about? We still have plenty of time left.
And it’ll be over in an instant, so time is irrelevant.”
(So that’s how big the gap is between me and the Lieutenant… but
I have no choice but to accept it.)
Rudel hit both hands against his face to psyche himself up, and
a worried Izumi and Millia called over to him. Perhaps they
couldn’t stand to see a beaten Rudel any longer.
“Now let’s do this, Lieutenant!”
When Rudel wrung out his voice, Izumi and Millia reluctantly
took distance. And before Bennet could say anything, Keith stood
before Rudel. In his hand, he gripped a wooden sword.
“Hmm, when you’ve said that much, I can’t quite keep silent
myself.”
Keith’s partner dragon looked worried for some reason. Bennet
also took distance with a tired face. But for some reason, everyone
was closer than they had been in the match with Bennet.
‘Don’t go too crazy.’
(Is there really that much of a gap? He definitely is
famous…)
While looking into the dragoons, information on Keith had
entered Rudel’s ears a number of times. He was feared by his own
squad members, so he was surely strong.
Taking a stance with his wood sword, he concentrated and gazed
at Keith.
“Now! Come at me however you like!”
“Here I come!”
◇
“LIIEEEUUUTEEENNNAAAANNTTT!”
Rudel had taken Keith out in the first blow. Izumi and the
others could only watch as Rudel held him up in his arms and cried
out.
“See, it ended in no time, didn’t it?”
“… Um, Major Bennet. Is Lieutenant Elrond, um…”
Izumi seemed troubled with her words, but Bennet said it
plainly.
“Yeah, he’s ridiculously weak. When it comes to one-on-one
fights, he’s the absolute lowest rank among the dragoons.”
There, Millia stepped into their conversation. Perhaps she
couldn’t believe the sight before her eyes as she drew closer to
Bennet.
“But just a moment ago, he said his comprehensive rank was
higher than yours.”
Bennet crossed her arms and tilted her head. It was Izumi’s
little secret that those gestures healed her soul.
“Yeah, sure enough, in the comprehensive ranking, I think he was
higher. I mean, in aerial battles, he’s in the top five, so I’m
sure his rank is higher than me. About one or two spots
higher.”
Seeing the collapsed Keith, Izumi’s gaze turned cold.
Completely specialized towards piloting a dragon, Keith
definitely carried a higher ranking than Bennet. But compared to
Bennet who could pull off both land and air combat, Izumi couldn’t
help but hold Keith’s placing in doubt.
(I hate myself for ever fearing him.)
From that day forth, Izumi swore to protect Rudel from Keith
through the use of physical means.
“Izumi, you’ve been acting strange lately.”
“Y-yes, she’s definitely scary.”
Seeing Millia and Bennet fearful of her, Izumi mulled over just
how she was to convey Keith’s level of danger.
◇
A few days later, Rudel stopped by Bennet.
It was already late into the night, but he had eaten through all
his takeout. He dropped by at a time where he thought Izumi and
Millia would already be asleep.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
Chowing down on the leftovers of dinner, Rudel cut into the main
reason he came over. While it was true he had run out of takeout,
if he felt like it, he could dive into the sea and take another
fish out.
There was a reason he came to Bennet without doing that.
“Major, I want to become stronger.”
At Rudel’s words, Bennet folded her arms in her pajamas and sad
in her chair. Today, she was wearing bear-print sleeping garments.
She even had a hat.
“You’re already plenty strong. And there’s little I’ll be able
to teach you. The knack for battle, and the techniques are
something you need to pick up in real combat.”
“I don’t mind! If that’s what will make me stronger, I’ll learn
any technique.”
Bennet took Rude’s empty bowl, poured in the leftover soup from
the saucepan, and handed it over to Rudel.
“I don’t mind teaching you. But are you sure? Rather than my
techniques, if you simply train yourself, you’ll be able to become
strong.”
There, Rudel downed another bowl of soup before answering.
“I don’t mind. I’ll just be training more. I’ll learn the
techniques and train myself as well.”
Bennet rubbed the corners of her eyes, a tired look on her face.
But after letting out a sigh, she looked just a little down and
laughed.
Seeing that expression, Rudel was surprised that his strict
leader had smiled.
“What a greedy noble. Well, that’s just about right for you
noble lot… you better prepare yourself for tomorrow. And
Elrond!”
“What?”
Casually appearing, Keith opened the door and entered Bennet’s
kitchen. While Rudel was also surprised, Bennet who called for him
was holding her head.
Perhaps she never thought he would be there, or she hated how it
was exactly what she expected. Rudel was unable to tell.
“I never thought you would actually come, but… well, whatever.
From tomorrow onwards, you’re accompanying Rudel’s training. You
have no right to de–”
“I’ll be harsh starting tomorrow. Why don’t you go to sleep early,
Rudel?”
While Bennet was in the middle of talking, Keith still followed
her orders, so while Bennet seemed a little unsatisfied, she
nodded.
Once Rudel learned the two of them would be training him, he
brightened up and stood. And he lowered his head.
“I’ll be in your care!”
“Leave it to me.”
“Yeah, in that case, lead the way to the bed…”
The moment Keith made a pass, the door to the kitchen was
violently opened. Wearing her sleep-wear pajama, Izumi appeared
with her katana in hand. Three sets of eyes gathered; Bennet was a
little surprised, while Keith took a step back at her
expression.
Her neck a little tilted, Izumi who appeared expressionlessly,
alongside the darkness of the room, it was exceedingly
terrifying.
But Rudel alone was…
“Listen to this, Izumi! From tomorrow onwards My commanding
officers will be helping me train. With this, I can become stronger
again.”
As Rudel delightedly reported, Izumi smiled. Unlike her prior
expressionlessness, and the slight hair stuck fast to her skin,
right now, she joined Rudel in his celebration.
“Good for you, Rudel. And could you wait a minute? I need to
have a talk with that illegal trespasser.”
Her smile reverted to an expressionless state, and while Rudel
and Bennet frantically stopped Izumi as she pulled her blade from
her sheath, Keith made an irritated face as he retreated.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s8.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 121: The Wall and Light
Chapter 121: The Wall and Light
In the port town of Beretta, a tattered Rudel crawled out of the
sea.
A rough breath, and large movements seemed painful on his body.
But Rudel’s face was smiling.
“It was a harsh battle… but I won the match!”
Holding a spear up high, he hoisted his spoils high to the
heavens. There, a fish much larger than Rudel’s body- still very
much alive- was thrashing about.
While they could see the young man holding up a fish that
surpassed four meters in size, those around were putting out an
atmosphere as if to say, ‘He’s at it again’. The town residents who
had suspended their work for a meal were beginning to return their
eyes to their lunch.
What Rudel saw was Bennet and Millia, lunch boxes spread
out before them as they ate their meal. From how the contents were
the same, he inferred they were both made by Bennet.
Rudel had once eaten Millia’s homemade food, but from the nice
appearance of the lunch boxes’ contents, he determined they had to
come from Bennet. Millia’s cooking was, according to Keith,
‘biodegradable waste’, apparently. To Rudel who could eat anything,
he thought that was a bit too cruel, but he did remember it didn’t
taste very good.
“… What are you doing?”
As Bennet stared at him blankly, still in his undergarments,
Rudel began using his sword to disembowel the fish. He answered
normally.
“I ran out of take out, so I’ve switched to local sourcing.”
As Rudel replied with a straight face, Bennet could only say, “I
see.” While she sent him a bit of a pitying look, Rudel returned to
preparing his meal.
“It never occurred to me that someone would locally source their
lunch. And isn’t the water cold this time of year?”
Having lately grown accustomed to Rudel’s eccentric actions,
Millia was taking some fleeting glances at Rudel’s body. But when
he suddenly jumped into the sea during lunch break, she never
thought that would actually be to secure lunch. She was a little
fed-up.
Raising a fire with magic, he began roasting the fish when
Sakuya and the dragons took notice of it.
‘That fish is a tasty one, right?’
‘It’s delicious, right?’
‘There aren’t too many of them around, right?’
“… There’s no helping it.”
As a result, only a meager portion remained in Rudel’s hand.
Even so, it was more than enough for a single person to eat.
Biting down grandly over the red flesh of the fish that looked
practically like a high-class steak, Rudel looked over the
construction of the port.
The birds swooped down the clean up the intestines he had
discarded. Under the blue sky that expanded over the port town, the
piercing light of the sun was blinding.
“It’s getting along quite well.”
Bennet answered Rudel’s muttering. While he hadn’t said what he
was referring to, as one who had helped out in the work, she
understood what he was trying to say.
“If you use a dragon, the work goes forward. While we’re behind
schedule, it shouldn’t take too long at this rate. If the plan
proceeds favorably, the port’s construction will be complete, and
we’ll take over the work of some other brigade member and head to
the site of our next mission.”
“Major, you’re moving away?”
At Millia’s fluster, Bennet wager her tail. Rudel wanted her to
teach him many more things, and that would be troubling. He headed
off towards Bennet.
“Don’t misunderstand. A port isn’t something constructed so
quickly. There’s at least another year left to go.”
While both Rudel and Millia were relieved, Rudel was delighted
over the training he received. Meanwhile, Millia was more relieved
about the food.
Neither Izumi nor Millia were able to cook like Bennet. When
looked upon from the side, they were completely being led along
with food. The only who didn’t notice that were the three being
baited and Bennet.
“Hah, after this break, Elrond should be coming to help out with
the work. You’ll be training with me in the afternoon, Rudel.”
“Yes, Major!”
As Rudel rejoiced, Millia whispered under her breath.
“That’s all well and good, but put on some clothes already.”
◇
The training was generally carried out near Sakuya’s den.
The fact there were no people around, and they wouldn’t be a
hindrance to the port’s development had already been confirmed, so
they made use of that fact.
At the same time, Bennet was calculating to try and make this
wasteland as habitable for humans as possible. When the scale of
the town increased, there was nothing lost in having as much
exploitable land as possible.
(Is it about time to have her make a den somewhere else?)
By having Sakuya live there, what was once a desolate landscape
of rocks was now starting to sprout weeds. While the gaia
subspecies was generally thought of as useless, when it came to
transporting large cargo and mending the soil, they were way too
capable.
And their armoring and power were top class among the
dragons.
“Major… I finished running.”
A sweat-stained Rudle returned to Bennet. Running along the
terrible footing of the crags and mountains had been added to his
basic training.
That was the beast tribe’s standard training, but with his high
physical abilities, Rudel was able to carry it out with a bit of
pain.
“I see. Then today, let’s work on your special skills.”
“My specials?”
“Now bring out that shield of light thing of yours.”
When Bennet issued her orders, Rudel stored power in his left
hand. A little later, a shield of light manifested in the air.
(… That really is convenient. Moving a shield around by his
will.)
If Bennet simply wanted to make Rudel stronger, she had
determined there wouldn’t be a problem if he continued firmly
training his foundation as he always had. Eventually, he would be
able to beat her even if he just brute forced his way through. But
it was true if he polished some technical skills, he would be able
to aim higher.
“Is concentrating power in that left hand your hobby? In that
case, you should stop at once. You create too large a gap, and
you’re merely informing your opponent of your next move.”
In essence, Bennet was able to prevent Rudel from using his
shield and light bolts by keeping it so he couldn’t focus his
attention on his left hand. It was too easy to cancel out.
“… I think that’s possible, but with my style, I can’t help but
focus my power on my left hand.”
Seeing Rudel lost in thought as he looked at his left hand,
Bennet nodded a, sure enough, in her heart. As he generally held a
sword in his right hand, Rudel had a habit of invoking magic in his
open left.
“If you can substitute something else, then do it. At the very
least, make it so you can focus your attention on anywhere in your
body.”
To test it out, Rudel started with his right hand, and with a
slightly greater lag than his left hand, a shield of light took
shape. Throwing one of her boomerangs at it and seeing how easily
it was destroyed, Bennet was convinced.
(The quality’s fallen much further than the ones he makes with
his left. But I should see this as room for improvement.)
After thinking a while, Bennet issued Rudel an order.
“Rudel, henceforth, we’ll be training every day so you can make
a shield from anywhere. What’s more, a small, strengthened one.
After that, we’ll make it so you can move them freely.”
Rudel tilted his head.
“I can already move them well enough.”
Seeing Rudel rotate the shield he made, amazing, Bennet thought
as she let out a sigh, and did her best to create a mocking
air.
“Are you an idiot? I’m telling you that you have to be able to
produce stronger shields. Try making them the size of the palm of
your hand. It would be even better if you can discard the shield
shape entirely.”
“Discard the shape?”
“Even if you call them shields, based on how you use them, they
can be weapons as well. You’ve used them like that a number of
times, right?”
“You’re right.”
(If he can raise the quality of his shields, that would be
plenty, but it would be even better if he can give them a new
form.)
Seeing Rudel recall something, Bennet thought back over Rudel’s
data. While he was using them as shields, from the eyes of those
around, at the very point they floated without him having to hold
them, it could only be said they were exceedingly versatile.
What’s more, Cattleya had witnessed Rudel riding his shield over
the water’s surface. There was no need to fixate on the shape of a
shield. When he could think up a use for it like that, Bennet
couldn’t understand why he would fixate on that form.
(Hah, the captain’s pushed a tough one onto me… but for the sake
of my cute subordinate, I have to do my best!)
Bennet recalled what she felt when she first looked over Rudel’s
data. Even since Rudel awakened as the white knight, he had devoted
an exceedingly large amount of time towards controlling that power.
While the forceful parts stood out a bit, he had changed from his
early days where he had focused on technique.
(The reason he’s so mismatched is surely because he
awakened.)
When he had always been worried over his lack of power, when
that was bettered, this time he was on the verge of becoming a
power type. The individual himself couldn’t keep up with those
changes.
(In that case, what he needs right now is… a change of style?
No, if we raise his base and give him enough control over it, that
should be best.)
From Bennet’s point of view, Rudel was full of pointless action.
That abundant pointlessness was the cause of his loss.
(The captain definitely pushed him onto me because it was a
pain, right?)
Recalling the captain who trained her, Bennet offered the
struggling Rudel some advice.
“Rudel, when a powerful attack is coming towards you, what do
you do if you can’t dodge?”
“… I’d block it.”
“Let’s say you can’t block it with your power. I’m not taking
any objections.”
While Rudel was about to say something, he dropped his
shoulders.
“You parried my attacks a number of times. Why was that?”
“Because rather than catching the blow, that would lessen
the…!”
Noticing something, Rudel began changing the shape of his
shield.
“It’s only natural to strengthen it, but there is no need to
block every single attack. Just changing the direction of force is
a considerable strength. Try using your head a bit.”
“Yes!” Rudel delightfully responded, while Bennet crossed her
arms and wagged her tail.
◇
Seeing Rudel borrow Bennet’s shoulder as returned, Izumi, who
had taken the day off, made a face as if to say, ‘this again?’
But her face was just a bit happy as she scolded him.
“He’s all beaten up again.”
“Pretty much. He has way too much stamina, so he always pushes
it too far. It makes me tense just watching him.”
Handing Rudel off to Izumi, Bennet headed to a back room to
change out of her dirty garments. Lending Rudel a shoulder, Izumi
sat him down in a chair,
“I-I did my best today.”
“I see, good work.”
“I’ll get stronger tomorrow.”
Looking at Rudel who was unable to stand, Izumi began preparing
the meal she had cooked. The sun was setting, and thinking that
Millia would be back soon as well, she put the pot over the
fire.
He moved his body until it moved no more, and once he got back,
he would eat and then sleep. Sleep soundly until morning came, only
to leap up the next day and get back to training. It wasn’t
something the normal person could imitate.
Within all that, he also had to carry out paperwork and
development work, so the burden on Rudel was in no ways light.
“Tomorrow, I’m training with Lieutenant Keith.”
Rudel informed Izumi with a smile, and the one in question
listened in with a smile as well. She already knew from the start,
and she had arranged her schedule for it. Izumi was working hard
not to leave Rudel and Keith along together.
(If only those two had the slightest sense of danger.)
Bennet and Millia both seemed estranged from that sort of thing,
and they felt no danger at all. Izumi mulled over whether or not to
tell them, but she hesitated to say such a thing to the innocent
Bennet.
If she told only Millia, that would bring about the problem of
making Bennet feel mindful and left out. She was strangely
sensitive to that sort of thing. In a situation where she was the
only one who didn’t know, the way she held her anxiety was also
cute, and Izumi had watched it all the way.
(… No, that’s no good, me!)
Somehow crawling up from that train of thought, Izumi listened
to Rudel’s story as she sensed a presence. Right after that, Millia
returned to Bennet’s house, but Izumi had reached a hand for her
nearby katana.
“I’m back… wait, what’s this!”
While Millia was surprised to see Izumi holding her sword, after
following her line of sight, she came to an understanding.
“Hey there, Rudel. Let’s take it nice and easy with tomorrow’s
rendezvous.”
Raising his left hand, directing a smile at Rudel, the amiable
young man in appearance alone received a scary smile from
Izumi.
“So you’ve come again, Lieutenant Elrond.”
“Hahaha, it’s not like this is your house, right? The owner told
me to drop by now and again.”
“You’ve casually told another lie. How many times does that make
this? I confirmed it with Major Bennet, and she never said such a
thing. In the first place, you only come here with eyes on Rudel,
right?”
“And what of it?”
At Keith’s face, completely devoid of any wrongdoing, Izumi’s
smile stiffened up.
“He’s out of your league.”
“Foolish woman, let me teach you my true strength. I’m not a
dragoon for nothing! Spinnittthh!”
As Keith called for his dragon in a loud voice, Izumi braced
herself. While the notion of seriously cutting him down before his
dragon came crossed her mind, Keith was acting strange.
“… Eh? Eating, so you can’t? I-I see.”
It was a dragon’s voice that Izumi couldn’t hear, but she could
tell what was going on. The dragon had prioritized his meal over
Keith. Or perhaps it was precisely because it understood the
circumstance that it refused.
It was a dragon much more decent than its contractor.
“…”
As Izumi silently stared at him, Keith averted his eyes. There,
Millia lightly hit Izumi on the head.
“Quiet down.”
There, Izumi noticed Rudel giving a sleeper’s breath from his
chair. Keith also felt sorry and decided to withdraw.
“What a wonderful sleeping face. By the grace of that face, I’ll
let you off tod–”
“Get going already.”
Under Izumi’s glare, Keith ran straight out of Bennet’s
house.
◇
Meanwhile…
In the royal palace, Aleist let out a sigh as he cleaned. The
room was beautifully polished, but somewhat lacking in motivation,
Aleist looked out the window.
“Millia…”
The form of Aleist’s powerless mutter, the members of his
platoon looked at their commanding officer mulling over something.
The fact he didn’t look like he was worrying over a single woman
was surely because of his devilish appearance.
But all of Aleist’s worries came from how Millia had gone off
with Rudel.
At this point, he couldn’t even put his all into training. When
the war event was closing in, he just couldn’t work himself up.
This was also largely because he didn’t understand his own
strength.
Aleist wasn’t weak.
But as he had seen Rudel’s strength, lately, he had gotten
around to wondering if Rudel would just bring an end to it. You
could also say that was just how large Rudel’s existence was to
Aleist.
But…
“Is Aleist here!?”
The one who heartily slammed open the door and entered was
Eunius. Aleist worried that the dust he’d piled would fly away as
he halted his window wiping and approached Eunius.
“What is it? I’m really busy right now. Today, the cleaning of
the noble visitor room is…”
“Fool! You’re fitting in way too well!”
Having completely developed a love for cleaning, at this point,
Aleist’s apron fit him like a glove. And Eunius yelling at him had
removed the uniform he was usually supposed to wear. By palace
rules, wearing his knight uniform was supposed to be an
obligation.
“Anyways, what’s up.”
“It’s Luecke! The bastard went and did it!”
As Eunius threw a newspaper at him, Aleist wiped his hands off
on his apron before reading the article. Under a large heading, a
picture of Princess Aileen and Fritz had been painted.
“The Common Man’s Hope, his Name is Fritz… did he always look
that cool?”
As he complained the artist had made him too handsome, Eunius
cried out.
“The small article under that! I told you I was talking about
Luecke, you damn fool!”
Shifting his gaze below, he found an article about his former
classmate Luecke Halbades.
The contents were short, but it was written that his thesis was
accepted by the magic community. In the introductory statement, it
was written that he was first rate as a knight as well.
“I don’t really get it, but that bastard went and did something
big, so I can’t keep quiet anymore. Then it came to me. Have you…
ever heard of the holy sword?”
“I know about it (That thing really dragged me all over the
place in-game. But while I definitely would like a holy sword, the
most practical thing for the current me is…)”
“Then that makes things fast! We’re off!”
“… Eh?”
“As I was saying, we’re going off to search for that holy sword
thingy. There are rumors that the place with the holy sword is
dangerous, right? Then it’ll be perfect training. Are you going to
let yourself rot away here? I can’t bear the thought of being
overtaken by those two.”
Those two were surely Rudel and Luecke.
But the current Aleist and Eunius had their duties. There’s no
way they could get permission for arbitrary action so quickly.
“Wait! I’m the same, but don’t you have work to do? Eunius,
let’s all calm down and…”
“I already got permission. Look.”
On the document tossed over, Aleist’s platoon was officially
charged with the security of Archduke Heir Eunius Diade.
“Eh? Why…”
Despite Aleist’s surprise, Eunius didn’t really know the
specifics either, so he scratched his head and answered.
“I don’t really get it, but the talk passed through. We’re
setting out soon, so prepare yourself. Also, if we’re lucky, we
might drop by Rudel’s place as well.”
“I’m going!”
As Aleist swiftly began to tidy up his tools, he issued orders
to his subordinates and got them preparing for departure.
Looking over his nimble actions, Eunius laughed a bit, but he
was so happy he didn’t’ mind being watched.
(I can see Millia.)
When their dreams are in sight, it is only human to work harder.
Aleist was no exception and using the bait that was Millia, Eunius
had hooked Aleist into his trap.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s9.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 122: Light and the Two
Chapter 122: Light and the Two
‘Sakuya can do it!’
“Definitely not!”
Rudel and Sakuya were having a rare quarrel. From the side, it
only looked like he was trying to anger his dragon, but to Izumi
who could hear her voice, it was a pleasant scene.
This all started when Bennet watched Rudel’s treatment of
Sakuya, and…
“Send Sakuya on an errand… Alone.”
“That’s not happening.”
When Rudel denied it with a smile, Izumi recalled how pitifully
Bennet’s tail slumped.
“Listen, Sakuya. The outside world is full of dangers.”
(No, you’re talking to the strongest dragon on land, right?)
‘Uuurrh, but I can do an errand!’
(Yeah… rather than an errand, it’s carrying cargo.)
Gazing over their quarrel Izumi leisurely sipped some tea as she
listened to the somewhat mismatched conversation. They were on
break at the moment, and Bennet also sat beside her, listening to
the quarrel.
At times, she would ask Izumi to translate what was being
said.
“Hah, what does he think his partner is supposed to be?”
While Izumi agreed with Bennet’s sigh-mingled amazement, the
fact she knew the circumstances too well meant that she couldn’t
say anything too strongly against Rudel.
To Bennet, no matter how she saw it, he was going too far.
“That’s not how you raise a dragon. He’s being too
overprotective when she had to develop some self-confidence.”
“Is that so? Sakuya is technically the boss of the dragon
stables, it seems.”
When she heard Sakuya had become the boss of the dragon stables,
Bennet’s bearing wasn’t exactly the best. As she contracted a rare
water dragon, she was always sent around, and she hadn’t been to
the stables in a long while.
She probably thought to do something about that distorted
environment.
Sending her out on an errand was a form of education.
“If she has that much power only a few years from her birth, I’m
a bit worried for her future. For now, she has Rudel, so it won’t
be a problem, but in a hundred years, it will be scary when there’s
no one left to hold her reigns. Worse comes to worst, this country
is done for.”
That’s going too far, thought Izumi, but as she looked over the
problematic duo of Rudel and Sakuya, she grew anxious.
“If we have an older dragon look after her…”
“A dragon’s sense of values is different from a human’s. That’s
why dragoons exist. If they would abide a human’s values, we would
need not be any more than normal knights.”
Bennet gazed at Izumi. Perhaps she hit on something as her tail
swung to the side.
“I-is something the matter?”
“Very well. Special Inspector Izumi, is it not about time you
went to the palace to report?”
“Eh? Oh, yes, it’s about time I headed to the palace to report
our present situation. I was thinking of leaving it to
Millia…”
“No, special inspector, I do think you should go. I’ll even arrange
for your transport. With this, you’ll be able to cut down on
time.”
Bennet was looking at Sakuya, so Izumi did have a vague idea.
She planned to have her send Sakuya off.
But Izumi had a reason she couldn’t leave this site.
… She had to protect Rudel from Keith.
“I understand your reasoning, but I cannot quite leave my
po–”
“I’m sending Elrond out shopping as well.”
“… I’ll go.”
Learning that Keith was going away, Izumi resolved herself to
make for the capital with Sakuya. Bennet entrusted her with a
letter to Captain Oldart.
◇
Seen off by a depressed Rudel, Izumi had Sakuya land in the
designated site near the capital.
“I’ll finish my report quickly, so you have to wait
quietly.”
‘Can I dig a hole?’
“You cannot. Once we get back, we’ll ask Major Bennet for the
next spot to dig.”
‘… Come back soon.’
The area had become rowdy, so Izumi took her documents and
headed for the palace. She was to give a regular report to the
captain of the high knights, but she had come with bad timing, and
both the captain and her superior officer were out.
As she stood troubled in the hallway, she noticed she couldn’t
spot Aleist and his platoon, who were usually somewhere around,
cleaning.
(Last time I was here, this was about the time they cleaned the
hallways… were they given another mission?)
The way things were, she wouldn’t be able to return within the
day. As she stood troubled, she spotted the dragoon captain
and vice-captain coming from the opposite side of the hall, so she
raised a hand and approached.
The captain Oldart smiled, raising his right hand in greeting,
but Vice-Captain Alejandro made a troubled face.
“Hey there, little lady. You look like you’re doing well.”
“Yes. It has been a while, dragoon captain.”
“How stiff. Well whatever, Sakuya-chan’s here, right? I don’t
see the future archduke around, but is he off somewhere?”
Wondering if they had been out looking for Rudel, Izumi answered
normally.
“No this time, it’s just me and Sakuya. Rudel is keeping
house.”
On Izumi’s joke-mingled response, the vice-captain covered his
face with his right hand. Seeing Izumi’s face as she wondered what
she had done wrong, Oldart informed her of the reason.
“You haven’t noticed? It’s not a good idea to show a dragon
following someone besides their contractor. Who’s decision was
it?”
“… M-my apologies.”
“From that look, it doesn’t look like it was you. In that case…
it’s not Rudel, so probably Bennet-chan?”
Oldart called Bennet with an added –chan. There, Alejandro gave
a reluctant mutter.
“That’s why I said I didn’t want to leave him with Bennet.”
“It’s not going to help anyone, saying something like that so
late in the game. And when we discussed how we didn’t have anyone
besides Bennet-chan we could leave him with, you couldn’t say a
thing. You just nodded.”
The sight of the dragoon top dogs arguing was a troubling one.
Izumi began to worry over whether the actions she had thought so
little over would develop into a massive problem. But Oldart smiled
and reassured her.
“Ah, you don’t have to worry. It’s just in bad taste, but these
sorts of things happen quite a bit. You see, every time this
happens, the folks who want to try taming a dragon start to make a
ruckus.”
Unlike Oldart, Alejandro was making a tired face.
“And we’re the ones who have to deal with it.”
They sure are troublesome, said Oldart as he directed an eye to
the documents in Izumi’s hands. Once he realized it was a report,
he offered to hold onto them for her. While she wondered if she
should really show them to someone who wasn’t her superior, once
she heard her boss was on a long-term business trip, she decided to
entrust them.
They were documents Oldart was supposed to look through anyway,
and he said he would explain the situations surrounding them.
Relieved, Izumi asked about the two dragoons stationed in the
port town of Beretta.
“Bennet-chan and Keith?”
“Yes. I don’t know much, or rather, I don’t know a thing about
them.”
Exchanging a glance, Oldart and Alejandro exchanged a look as if
wondering how they were supposed to explain it. Izumi did seem
curious, so Oldart led her to the dragoons’ office in the
palace.
◇
Leading Izumi and Alejandro to that room in the palace, Oldart
had a subordinate prepare tea and sat Izumi down on the sofa.
“Telling you about them would be easy, but before that, I guess
I’ll ask. Young lady, how do those two look to you?”
While Oldart seemed to be testing Izumi before her eyes,
Alejandro didn’t show any particular reaction. He reached a hand
for the sweets the servants of the palace had prepared.
“Major Bennet is, um… a reliable one. But Lieutenant Elrond
is…”
That was close to the answer he expected, and Oldart gave a
grand laugh. There was definitely no mistake in their rankings.
Their quirks were just too strong, that most people would always
mistake them. It was always like that.
“A cute commanding officer, and a dangerous manlover, is the
impression you got, right? That’s not a mistake, you don’t have to
worry.”
“I-I see.”
Perhaps thinking she was being teased, he sensed Izumi put up
her guard, so Oldart cut into the main topic.
“Well, this is a perfect opportunity. I wanted someone who knew
the situation.”
“Is that really alright?”
When Alejandro entered the conversation, Oldart only nodded.
If Rudel and Sakuya opened their hearts to her, Oldart
determined it wouldn’t be a problem. What’s more, he had looked
into Rudel and Izumi.
When he sighted Sakuya today, Oldart had decided he would
talk.
“This is something they themselves haven’t been informed of, but
you know how the area around the border’s been noisy lately?”
“N-no.”
Seeing Izumi surprised at the sudden change of topic, Oldart
continued on.
“Well, it seems someone’s wary, so we decided to station the
strongest forces we had on hand. But there are quite a few folks
who would grow noisy if we stationed so many around the border, so
we decided to place our strongest dragoons in land and air at the
port town of Beretta, where it’s close enough to send
reinforcements.”
“And that’s those two?”
“They don’t look it, right? But they really are our trump
card.”
While Oldart gave a laugh, Alejandro made a somber face. While
he didn’t want to admit it, their capabilities were certain.
Extending a hand to the documents, he started to explain. Things
were going largely as he had expected. If he wanted to train Rudel,
then rather than sticking him under some half-baked instructor, he
had decided to put him under the strongest dragoons in active
service.
The fact he was blessed with an opportunity, he saw it as a true
stroke of good luck. Those two that led around rare water dragons
were exceedingly busy. Their mission sites were often close to the
border, and they rarely ever returned to the capital.
This was coupled with his personal desire to not have Keith come
back.
Having stepped down from active duty, the former captain and
vice-captain didn’t have the stamina left in them to train someone
as out of the norm as Rudel. And those two were already training
the members that had caught their eyes. They thought he would have
no choice but to train on his own.
But there, among the active dragoons, the strongest on land
Bennet, and the strongest air fighter Keith got together. When they
were sending Rudel off to the outer reaches, Oldart even sensed a
hint of fate.
“Bennet-chan is good at looking after people, so if anything
happens, you should ask her. You should really avoid asking Keith
anything.”
While Oldart laughed, Alejandro averted his face. Knowing what
had happened, for the sake of the vice-captain’s honor, and the
stability of his heart, Oldart decided not to touch on old
wounds.
“Are they really that strong? Neither of them said anything of
the sort.”
“They’re strong, or rather, they’re in another dimension. An
idiot who’d try to pick a fight with Bennet-chan… doesn’t exist.
Her appearance is that, but anyways, she’d doted on. If anyone
tries to pick something with her, the defenders will come flying
over. Ah, by that, I don’t mean the official one, Bennet-chan has
her own personal defenders among the dragoons. They really will
come flying, so watch yourself.”
“That’s nothing to laugh about. Good grief… I don’t know what
your intention is, letting such a dangerous group be for so
long.”
“No, Bennet-chan’s a former subordinate, and she’s a good girl.
She’s not losing out on anything with her appearance, but the way
she worries about it is cute. I’d really like a certain boomerang
girl to learn from her.”
By the way, the captain of the defenders was Oldart. He was the
ringleader who set up an assembly to protect Bennet from the
shadows.
“I never noticed they were that strong.”
“Well, when it comes to demi-humans, you can’t really help it.
Normally, it wouldn’t be strange if she stood out even more than
Cattleya, but for better or worse… that girl has no talent in
driving dragons.”
The reason Bennet specialized herself in land battles, it was
because she was lacking in talent when it came to flying dragons.
In contrast, Keith excelled in his dragon control.
Even so, she had made a contract with a water dragon. In a
situation where she could no longer say she had no talent, Bennet
had chosen her own form.
“I put her in the Major spot left open for Cattleya, but if it’s
troubling her, maybe I should think over it.”
Finishing his tea, Alejandro offered Oldart a warning.
“Whatever the case, it’s already been decided. She leads a
valuable dragon. It would be troublesome if she doesn’t do her best
as a Major.”
Looking over the report, Oldart sensed she was worried and ended
up groaning. While things were fine as they were, he needed to
prepare some subordinates for Bennet, and fast.
Perhaps after she had trained Rudel, he would place some new
recruits under her.
“Um, did Rudel know they were both so…”
“That guy? He knew. Well, it seems he didn’t know their exact
strength, but on the contrary, I’m the surprised one.”
Inside, he wondered how he found out, but thinking that he would
be able to look into it with his status, he swallowed down the
word, ‘creepy’.
Perhaps as revenge for being smacked, or because he couldn’t
forgive the fact his daughter had fallen for him, or perhaps both
at once, Alejandro spat some cynicism.
“Hmm. It’s best for him to learn of reality. In this world,
there’s always someone higher.”
“Well, the two of us have already reached the summit, mind
you.”
As Oldart laughed over his joke, Izumi seemed lost in
thought.
◇
On the way back to the port town of Beretta, Izumi looked up at
the sky as she called out to Sakuya.
“Hey, Sakuya. Do you think I have the qualifications to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with Rudel?”
‘I don’t really get it, but Izumi belongs with Rudel. And with
Sakuya too!’
You’re right, she muttered.
Izumi looked at the orange-dying sky as she thought over her
current self.
(When everyone around is going ahead, is it really alright if I
stay like this? Shouldn’t I search out my own form…)
Once she had thought that far, she suddenly recalled Rudel’s
back. That back she had chased after from her student days, she was
assailed by a sense of unease that it might fly far away once
more.
Even when she knew it would never reach, Izumi looked at her
right hand with a sorrowful look on her face.
(At the very least, I want enough strength to stand next to
him.)
The place she should never wish for. It was by Rudel’s side. But
at the very least, in work, in her mission, she wanted to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
For that sake, she needed strength.
Once she returned, Izumi decided to consult with Bennet.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/title-page.txt
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Dragoon
Arc
6
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
|
s1.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 114: The Knight Brigade and the Outskirts
Chapter 114: The Knight Brigade and the Outskirts
The unveiling display over, the new knight recruits were
officially recognized by the knight brigades they were enlisted
in.
Even if they had left the academy, the work environment wasn’t
kind enough to fully recognize new hires. That held the same for
knights who had piled up experience. The knights who were stationed
to elite units had to train themselves up from square one once
more.
From brigade to brigade, the necessary skills differed.
As a dragoon, Rudel had to learn how to handle a dragon. There
were some things he could never obtain from Mystith’s partial
wisdom. No, perhaps it was more accurate to say what she couldn’t
teach him was the majority.
A man specialized in techniques no longer necessary in the
modern era, that was the dragoon called Rudel.
But Rudel had the fundamental techniques pounded into him by his
superior officers, and now he stood in the training ground, before
the captain and vice-captain of the brigade
Around, the term’s newbies and a few veterans took part.
Before the new recruits, Oldart mixed in some jokes with his
usual smile as he explained.
“I see you’re making some nice faces. With this, you’re a member
of our oddball squad. But this charmer in his prime is a separate
story, so don’t group us together!”
“… Oldart, no one cares, just get on with it.”
Alejandro’s forehead twitched at his captain’s joke as he
offered some words of caution. Rudel and the other recruits had
already been informed what they had been called for.
One on one battle with a veteran dragoon.
This was largely to have the recruits feel upfront what their
current selves were lacking. What’s more, the veterans who kept
close to the king consisted of nothing but competent ones.
Those newbies would suddenly be put against those with top-class
abilities.
“This is why people who don’t get jokes are… well then, we’ll go
ahead and announce your opponents! But first off, Rudel!”
“Yes sir!”
As Rudel replied, taking one step forward, Oldart continued on
with an unpleasant look on his face.
“I really, really can’t stand it, but your opponent is me. I
don’t want to fight that giant girly and a battle junky like you,
but this is part of my job description, so I’ll reluctantly take it
on. Follow me! … Everyone else, confirm your opponents with the
vice-captain.”
Ordering Rudel to follow, Oldart walked out of the training
grounds.
Chasing after his back, Rudel started to question it, and seeing
his expression, Oldart breathed out a sigh.
“Why am I the only one fighting in a separate place? That’s the
face you’re making. Listen here, you and your girly are special, so
we’ll fight in a place where the collateral damage doesn’t
matter.”
“Is that true? Then I can fight seriously without paying mind to
my surround–”
“Idiot! Are you trying to kill me!?”
Seeing Oldart seriously reluctant, Rudel made a regretful face.
He had been given the chance to fight the active captain of the
dragoon knight brigade. Surely Rudel wanted to have a serious
match.
“I’m already at that age. If I was just a little younger, I’d be
able to give it my all.”
“That’s unfortunate. I wanted to fight a serious captain.”
“… Why do you look so disappointed? It’s that, you know. In my
golden days, I really was amazing, you hear. I was ridiculously
strong; around the time I first enlisted, my superior told me I’d
be the next captain. Even if I can’t go all out, I’m not going to
lose to you.”
“Is that true?”
“No doubt about it. You really should be thankful I’m a charmer
in his prime. If I was a little younger, in my energetic, popular
days, I’d be sending you right to the hospital.”
“I’m already used to be carted off to hospital rooms, so I’ll be
fine!”
“… T-that so.”
Rudel took his lie as fact, but if he was chosen as next chief
when he enlisted, then Oldart would have to have been appointed
captain much, much earlier.
“Hey, I might joke around a bit, but you really are easy to
fool. You should learn to doubt others.”
“About what?”
“Look! Like if I was selected as the next captain, then the
previous captain must have been in service for a long, LONG time!
I’m waiting for you to say something out. It’s an obvious lie!”
“Lie… so you were deceiving me!”
“You’re late to the party! Ah, I don’t like this guy.”
In that case, perhaps his strength is also a lie, Rudel began to
doubt. You couldn’t say Oldart was high in stature. And rather than
Alejandro, who gave off the air of a seasoned warrior at a glance,
his face was well in order, and he was usually joking around.
The captain was required to be apt in negotiations with the
higher-ups and to have an affinity for paperwork. For that sake,
there were rumors that he might fall short in ability, that the
vice-captain was the real power behind the organization, and the
captain was to be a dragoon skilled in governmental affairs.
Considering that possibility, Rudel felt he would have preferred
to fight the vice-captain.
◇
A few hours later, Rudel was being chased by Oldart over the
backwoods distanced from human habitation.
“Hey, what’s wrong.”
Straddling his grey dragon, even in aerial combat, Oldart gave
off an air of leisure. The giant Sakuya was unaccustomed to flying.
If she was on the run, she’d be easily caught up to.
“Kuh!”
Turning towards Oldart and his dragon approaching close behind,
Rudel stuck out his left hand and produced his shields of light.
Their numbers climbed to several dozens, impeding Oldart’s
path.
But that didn’t change the speed he gave chase.
He followed, avoiding them as if it were only natural. The
shields in his way were destroyed by a small consecutive firing of
his dragon’s breath. He closed in using only the minimum necessary
movements.
“Those are some convenient shields, but humans aside… they’re
less than paper before a dragon. And that’s no good. You’ve taken
your mind off your dragon. The way you’re going…”
Cautioned by Oldart, Rudel noticed and shouted orders to
Sakuya.
“Sakuya, ascend!”
‘Wowowhoah, I-I can’t!’
Rudel had been too mindful of his rear, and through the link
that connected their minds, Sakuya had grown negligent of what was
in front of her as well. By Rudel’s mind being too taken by the
rear, Sakuya had been unable to discern where her own consciousness
was directed.
As a result, Sakuya was just about to collide with the slope of
a mountain. Noticing just in the nick of time, she got off with
just her scales scraped along the mountain crags, but because of
that, Sakuya’s speed had fallen as she swayed unsteadily in the
air.
Before Rudel and Sakuya full of openings, Oldart went on the
offense.
“No good. No good at all.”
Flying as if to draw a circle with Sakuya at the center,
Oldart’s dragon finely tuned its altitude as if made sport of Rudel
and Sakuya.
“Sakuya, steady and brace yourself. You can brush off a few
attacks, right?”
‘Yeah!’
The two had decided to wait for Oldart’s dragon to make a move,
but unlike his past fight with Enora, this felt faster. They were
surely going slower than a wind dragon, and in truth, the captain’s
dragon boasted relatively average abilities as a gray dragon.
But ever since the fight with Oldart began, Rudel had been
unable to go on the offense.
(He isn’t fast. This person… the captain is skillful.)
While Rudel prepared all the techniques he had to cope with the
onslaught, Oldart showed a smile from atop his dragon.
“No good. The way you’re going, I can’t even give you a
fifty.”
Evaluating Rudel’s actions, Oldart issued orders for his dragon
to begin its attacks. All the attacks that hit Sakuya were low in
output, but they were pinpointed at her vitals.
Unable to properly beat her wings, her stance was easily
crumbled.
As Sakuya fell, squirming through the air, Rudel leapt down.
There, Oldart descended with his dragon.
While the match had been settled, it seems they were going to
continue. But it wasn’t dragon on dragon. This would be a land
battle between Rudel and Oldart.
“Back there, you should’ve used the mountain to protect your
rear. And the narrowness of your field of vision when you’re being
chased… looks like you’re not ready for real battle yet.”
Oldart laughed as he pulled the sword at his waist, so Rudel
pulled his blade as well. Both of them had been wearing the robes
of the dragoon brigade, but thinking it would be a hindrance, Rudel
threw his robe down.
“Let’s go.”
Watched over by Sakuya, dizzy from her fall, Rudel challenged
the captain to a match. He swiftly circled around to the captain’s
back, but perhaps his movements had been read, as Oldart lightly
stepped to the side to dodge him.
Growing irritated, Rudel used his instant movement, but Oldart
hummed a tune as he dealt with those blows.
“Your emergency stops are still unpolished. When you get used to
it, they’re too easy to deal with. Well, I guess this is what you
can expect from a student’s level.”
Catching Rudel’s sword with the one handed sword in his right
hand, he instantly stepped in to seal off his movements. From his
left hand concealed in his robe, he thrust out a dagger, stopping
it just short of Rudel’s throat.
“I-I admit defeat.”
Rudel, who had been a bit in doubt over his opponent’s
abilities, shed a cold sweat as he looked at the laughing
captain.
“Oy, oy, don’t look at me like that. You’re making me
blush.”
“Honestly, I never thought you’d be this strong. As a member of
the brigade, I deeply apologize for doubting my captain.”
“Uwah… he ignores my jokes and hits in with pure honesty. That’s
the sort of thing you’re not supposed to say even if you think it.
A charmer in his prime is weak to stabs at the heart, you should
treat him with care.”
The two of them conversed as they sheathed their swords, and
even now Oldart looked full of openings. Rudel still seemed
perplexed over his own loss, so Oldart took a seat on a rock that
went about up to his knees. Stroking his chin, he began answering
what Rudel was probably questioning.
“Now then, about your evaluation… to be totally honest,
spec-wise, it would be easier to count your ranking in the dragoon
brigade starting from the top. You’ve surpassed me as well.”
As Rudel corrected his posture where he stood, Oldart told him
to take a seat as well before continuing on. In order to find out
what he was lacking, Rudel was directing him with serious eyes.
“However! … Your performance is lower-middle class, at best. Do
you know the reason?”
“No idea!”
On Rudel’s words without any fabrication, Oldart nodded.
“Alright! I want to caution you on not giving it any thought,
but I’m sure you’d have done better if you already knew. Why don’t
you try thinking over it yourself fo… no, wait, you really should
stop using your head after all.”
Covering his face with his right hand, Oldart breathed a sigh as
he informed Rudel of what he was lacking.
“It’s simply that your combat techniques are shoddy. And your
field of vision is too narrow. Those two points. You were so
focused on yourself you hadn’t the mind to spare for your little
girly. While you’d usually be fine, when backed into a corner, the
cracks start to spread. You instantly try to do something about it
yourself and fail as a result.”
Oldart used the shields of light he put up to impede his path as
an example. Those were pretty much useless before a dragon. If he
wanted to, he could have rammed straight through them and proceeded
on.
And it wasn’t as if everything ranked lower than taking on
dragoons. If he took on troublesome monsters, then there were
enemies who were fearsome in their pure bulk.
“You’ve no leisure in battle. Sure enough, the girly has plenty
of things she’s no good at, but if a mid-tier dragoon was
controlling her, I’d have no choice but to change my approach.
That’s just how powerful that girl’s weapons are. You should trust
in your partner a bit more.”
‘… Rudel, Sakuya is working hard too.’
Seeing Sakuya worry for him, Rudel recalled he had definitely
tried to do it all on his own.
Oldart informed, not using the terrain, and having Sakuya, who
wasn’t good at flying, be on the run was a mistake. Rudel nodded as
he listened to those words.
“For your field of vision, just try to have a bit more leisure.
There’s no point in panicking. There’s a possibility you might
mistake your decisions. Look around a bit more, and think of the
power difference between you and your foe.”
Unlike his usual attitude, Oldart was saying some earnest
things, and to Rudel, he looked like a true charmer in his
prime.
Patting off his robe as he stood, while it was still early,
Oldart proposed for them to return.
“Now then, let’s end the lecture there and go back. It’s been a
while since I last trained, and my hip is…”
“Please fight me again!”
“… Eh?”
When Rudel pleaded for another fight, Oldart’s face
stiffened.
“I understand that I have things I am lacking. But rather than
understanding it in my head, I think it would be better for my body
to remember it. If I fight you again, I’m sure I can climb to
greater…”
“Ah~, no, I really am tired, or rather… eh? You’re serious?”
“Yes!”
‘Sakuya will do her best too!’
Having recovered, Sakuya stood and roared to answer Rudel’s
expectations. Oldart and his partner gray dragon were making truly
reluctant faces.
It had already grown dark when an exhausted Oldart returned to
the training ground, leading along a tattered Sakuya and Rudel.
◇
Having been informed by the veterans on their areas to work on,
the new dragoon recruits were conversing over the stations they
would be appointed to the following day.
They were comrades who had trained together, and while their
ages differed, they spoke with the smiles of colleagues.
“Saas, you were stationed in the trade city?”
On Luxheidt’s question, Saas nodded cynically.
“I’ve no complaints I was stationed at such an important point.
Besides the fact my job’s mainly hauling cargo.”
Dragons were able to fly through the sky, and due to their high
maintenance cost, they would have to take on jobs like these. The
more were sent to the outskirts, the more terrible their financial
circumstances became.
It was laughed that the reason dragoons were stationed in trade
cities with plenty of people and adventurers was to scrape together
spare change. But it was also true there was no safer transport of
goods than by dragon.
“It’s us dragoons’ greatest worry, after all. By the way, Enora
is… from how depressed she looks, I doubt it’s the outskirts.”
Everyone looked at Enora, who had grown dark, before shifting
their gaze towards Rudel, who rejoiced over being sent to the far
off reaches of the kingdom. While it was all and well for him,
Luxheidt knew Enora had proposed she would follow Rudel.
(So her old man declined.)
“I’m going to be stationed right in the capital… hah.”
By the problems Enora had caused, at this point, it seemed her
relationship with her father had improved a bit. But even so,
Enora’s trip to the outskirts wasn’t granted.
With a wild dragon obeying her, Enora was a valuable addition to
the dragoon brigade. Thinking of her future, they wanted to nurture
her in the capital with care.
And yet, Rudel was making a perplexed face.
“Enora, you don’t like your station? Well, there will be a
transfer in a few years, so just place your hopes on the next
one.”
It was natural if they hadn’t gotten the positions they wanted,
but with the man in question not noticing the underlying problem,
the air grew awkward. Those around looked at Luxheidt, so he
shrugged and sent out a lifeboat.
“But Enora, you have it hard, making a contract with a wind
dragon. You’ll be flying all over the place, carrying messages and
doing urgent missions… you might have to send some messages to the
outskirts as well.”
But Enora didn’t perk up. Her main problem was the new position
that had been created. From the high knight brigade on the verge of
dismantlement, an officer had been sent to keep watch over Rudel.
She would follow Rudel to the outskirts. What’s more, she was a
classmate, a girl who got along well with him at the academy.
It would be stranger if no problems occurred.
“Right, I might go from time to time. But if the two who are
always together become lovers… I don’t think I’ll be able to
recover.”
(This girl is a pain. Well, she’s easier to talk to than before,
but the gap with her appearance is amazing.)
While she gave off an air as if she might play around, Enora’s
wholeheartedness left her surroundings perplexed.
“So Rudel, where exactly on the outskirts are you headed?”
Giving up on cheering Enora up, Luxheidt smacked the question
into the person he was most curious about. The only one he was
interested was Rudel, who had determined to be interesting.
“It’s a recently set up post. They started constructing a port
there a few years ago… The town’s called Beretta.”
“Beretta, eh… as I recall, the place is dangerous, so they have
other dragoons dispatched as well. It’s a port town, so two water
dragons, and one gray dragon.”
Rudel looked through the documents on his new workstation and
offered a correction to Luxheidt’s explanation.
“No, since I’m being stationed, one of them’s being taken off.
It’s just two water dragons now.”
The area’s development wasn’t getting anywhere, so to put it all
in order, the kingdom had invested its valuable water dragons into
it.
Luxheidt thought the empire’s current state of affairs was
dangerous. The information coming in was scarce, but still, he felt
a sense of danger.
However…
(Is being stationed in a place like that a condition to be a
hero?)
While he felt sorry for him, he also found Rudel’s deployment to
be interesting.
“They say it’s a pretty place, so if I ever get a day off, I
might go and see.”
As Saas called over, Rudel rejoiced and said he would show him
around at that time. Luxheid tactfully turned that talk towards
Enora, giving her a chance to go to the outskirts to see Rudel.
Seeing Enora’s delight, Luxheidt thought.
(She really is easy to please.)
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s10.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Extra: Eunius and Aleist Part 1
Chapter 123: Extra - Eunius and Aleist | Part 1
Climbing a mountain overgrown with trees was Eunius with
Aleist’s defender platoon as his guards.
They hadn’t even gone halfway to their destination point, apart
from the thick lines of foliage, there were numerous other
problems.
Namely…
“Why are you lot so slow!? I’m short of training here too, and
yet you’re just that much slower? Are you messing with me?”
“W-wrong! It’s just, we’ve been doing nothing but cleaning every
day, so…”
The cave they were searching for had an entrance halfway up the
mountain. While they were heading straight for it, Aleist’s platoon
was slow on their feet.
With all the beauties gathered together, Aleist’s platoon
emphasized appearance over capability. On a side note, the
demi-human ration was strangely high.
“Give me a break. I want to go and revere that holy sword thingy
already… oh, we’ve got company.”
Eunius himself didn’t believe in the holy sword. But in the
place the sword was said to lie, for some reason, powerful monsters
would make their homes.
Ogres were the least of their worries, and apart from them,
large monkey-like monsters and monsters that seemed to have been
made from numerous animal parts put together wandered the land. To
Eunius, rather than the holy sword, he was after the monsters that
almost seemed to be protecting it.
Taking a stance with his special made greatsword, he directed
its tip towards the monster that came out.
The footing was bad, and be that as it may, the movements of the
platoon was worse. If there was a single thing going in their
favor, it had to be the fact there was only one foe.
“I don’t believe those holy sword rumors, but it’s nice to see
these things crawling all over the place. Looks like I can enjoy
myself.”
“This is why you battle junkies are… everyone, get behind
me.”
Aleist had his subordinates from his platoon step down as he
drew the two swords at his waist and took a stance. They were both
one-handed swords, but their hilts were fashioned a bit on the
longer side. The blade portions were made just that much
shorter.
“Why two swords again?”
“’Cuz I’ve got more on my plate these days. Using magic like
Rudel and Luecke just doesn’t suit me.”
As the two of them conversed without looking at one another, the
large monkey before their eyes raised a war cry as it leapt towards
them. Its jumping ability would have instantly sent it towards the
women behind Aleist, but along the way, it extended an arm towards
a nearby branch and clung fast to the tree.
While the enemy showed such a pitiful sight, in the next
instant, from Aleist’s shadow, several dozens of spears pierced
through a spot it would pass through.
If it had continued on, it would have been impaled.
“Hmm, this one’s clever. It’s stronger than the previous one…
Aleist, this one’s mine.”
Eunius looked at the enemy’s movements and thought back to the
monster of the same race he had beaten not a moment ago. While its
power and speed seemed around the same, at a glance, he could feel
the enemy before him was smarter.
His face changing to a ferocious smile, Eunius used his magic
sword to cut at the monster in the trees. The warping blade
extended towards the monster, but skillfully leaping from tree to
tree, the monkey managed to dodge it. The terrain was on the
enemy’s side.
“I could just blow the whole area away, but that wouldn’t be
interesting.”
“That’s the reason you won’t blow it away? No, I don’t quite
know what to think about blowing away the landscape.”
“… And you’re one to talk. In that wilderness training in the
fundamental curriculum, who was the first and last in academy
history to blow the forest away with magic to clear a path?”
“Stop it! Don’t talk about that time!”
Leaving an embarrassed Aleist aside, Eunius pruned at the
monster coming at him from above. With its long limbs and sturdy
body, it was simply idiotic to try comparing it to a human.
Its fur was practically the monster’s armor. Even when cut by
the magic sword, not only did the arm remained unsevered, it was
barely even scratched. Perhaps it had grown its coat longer than
the previous one, or perhaps this was a superior variant…
Eunius leapt back to take distance, changing his stance from
slashes to one specialized in thrusts.
His face was the epitome of severity, and as if sensing that,
the monster intimidated him, but it didn’t make any poor
approaches.
A few seconds passed…
As both sides glared at one another, the first to move was the
monster. After coiling up its large limbs, it used the recoil to
spring towards Eunius. Seeing the monster that was practically
flying parallel to the ground, Eunius’s mouth curved into a
smile.
“Looks like you really weren’t any different from that last one.
Just a little bit harder and a little more clever, but that’s about
it.”
Eunius stepped in and lowered his stature to match the monster,
thrusting out his sword at a range where its tip still wouldn’t
reach.
A magic sword accompanied his blade, drawing the form of a sharp
spiral as it enraptured the monster and caused it to spin while a
large air hole opened up in its chest. After slamming into a large
tree behind it, the monster slumped to the ground and Eunius put
his sword away on his back.
“Alright… moving on, next!”
Aleist put his sword away, reverting his shadow to normal as he
called over to his subordinates. His form was just a bit
entertaining to Eunius.
(He’s properly acting as their commanding officer, that Aleist.
But…)
Aleist held no ulterior motives, he was only doing the actions
he usually would, but Eunius understood how that looked to his
female subordinates.
When he was the one who fought, they were directing favorable
eyes towards Aleist, but he didn’t notice anything of the sort.
(… It’s interesting, so I’ll keep quiet. It’ll make a nice story
to bring back to the boys.)
Without informing Aleist he was subconsciously raising his
subordinates’ affection points, Eunius set out for the next
waypoint.
◇
There were a number of places the holy sword was said to
rest.
But those were along the same vein as buried treasure, and the
people of this world did not hold them in high belief. A king of a
few generations prior had once dispatched forces to a number of
prominent points to try to find the holy sword, but the results
were a disaster.
The sword was never found. Many people were invested, much
funding was thrown down the drain. Therefore, the existence of the
holy sword was thought of as something of a fairy tale.
Then came along Aleist with his knowledge of a game. He knew
where exactly the item called the holy sword was supposed to be. He
knew, and he led Eunius right to the site.
“Even so, who would’ve thought the holy sword was this deep in
the mountains.”
“Isn’t that precisely why it’s so deep in the mountains?”
Eunius used a short sword to clear away the overgrown grass and
tree branches as he made a path. Aleist similarly used a one-handed
sword to move forward. Behind them, the women of the platoon walked
with the supplies.
But Aleist was shouldering all the heavy luggage. In order to
fight, Eunius was barely carrying anything.
More than that, they really couldn’t have Eunius carry
anything.
“They should just put the important things away in the
treasury.”
“Maybe they didn’t want it to be misused? Even so, I never
thought you’d want the holy sword, Eunius.”
To be honest, Aleist didn’t want the holy sword. Knowing the
truth, Aleist knew what sort of thing the holy sword was.
It had long since accomplished its role and lost its power, it
was an article barely able to maintain its own shape. Its rusted
hilt had already rotted through. He had seen the scene in his game,
and it was not the sort of thing that could be used as a
weapon.
Aleist knew this place as little more than a place to farm
EXP.
(Once Eunius learns the truth, I’m sure he’ll accept it, and I
have to hurry and get my own equipment together.)
From the depths of his memory, Aleist tried to recall the
weapons he thought were necessary. But lately, that was starting to
feel dubious.
The weapons he now held in his hands were the same, just because
he possessed them, that didn’t mean he’d be able to use them
immediately. The more powerful they were, the more cautious he
would have to be when handling them. As he started to hold a
perception that things were different from a game, Aleist had
gotten around to thinking the weapons he was most accustomed to
using were the best ones for him.
“We should camp around here today.”
After Eunius looked up at the sky and confirmed the position of
the sun, he concluded any more would be dangerous and decided to
search for a place to rest.
“It would be a real help if there was water around…”
Said Aleist as he directed a glance to one of his subordinates.
The beast tribe female knight smiled as she pointed out the
direction she smelled water.
“Captain, there’s a pond in that direction.”
After saying thanks to his subordinate who informed him with a
smile, Aleist and co began moving in that direction. Normally, they
would refrain from camping in such a dangerous place. But Aleist
didn’t think they would get too many of these chances.
To Aleist who had a mild urge to get stronger, it was the
perfect opportunity. He even began to wonder if Eunius was trying
to cheer him up after Millia had gone away.
But once he approached the pond, his subordinate started acting
strange.
“H-huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
As if she had suddenly lost confidence, his subordinate began to
fidget. She said something quite intriguing.
“There’s someone at the waterfront. No, that’s not a person…
huh? A person and a monster? But it’s much too quiet for that.”
Before his bewildered subordinate, Aleist explained the
situation to Eunius.
“There’s something there. Perhaps a person is being
attacked.”
“For real? Then I… no, that’s impossible. In that case, isn’t
this your territory?”
“Leave it to me.”
Eunius was their guard target. What’s more, he wasn’t strong in
covert operations. Not only was Aleist able to deal with most
enemies, if he used his characteristic shadow, he’d be able to
overcome an extent of trouble.
Determining that sending everyone to scout was dangerous, Aleist
took the lead and went out. He knew that having his subordinates
acting individually in such a place was much too risky.
Running ahead, Aleist made a path with his shadow, erasing his
footsteps and ignoring the forest road as he headed for the point
he had heard from his subordinate.
The fact it was growing dark only worked to his advantage,
and as if hiding in the shadows, he approached his destination
point. Around the pond, he was able to confirm the form of a large
dragon drinking its water.
A dragon with blue, glassy scales, its beautiful wings were
folded as it lapped at the pond. From the saddle and bag strapped
to its back, he could instantly tell it belonged to a dragoon.
Aleist surveyed the area to find a single young man bathing in
the cold. A young man of beautiful blue hair had stripped down to
bask in the pond. His form was one that even Aleist had to admit
looked cool.
… But it was there that Aleist was able to recall who it was he
had discovered.
“It couldn’t be… Keith-san?”
The mutter that came from his lips was caught by his foe. As the
dragon’s eyes fastened Aleist with its glare, Keith’s voice
resounded through the trees.
“Who’s hiding over there?”
Showing his form, Aleist held up his hands to signal he had no
hostile intent. He had never thought he would encounter Keith in a
place like this.
As it was a romance-centric came, there were few male characters
to be found, but Keith was undoubtedly an important individual. He
wasn’t the type who would participate in battle, in the latter half
of the game, he was a means of transportation across the land.
He was an individual who held the role of delivering the main
cast to their destination.
That was Keith Elrond.
What’s more Keith was always kind to the main character, and a
cool guy who never laid the slightest of hands on the women. Ever
kind to the commoner main character, and if you asked him, he would
transport you to any destination. Even with all he knew about the
game, Aleist had no reason to be hostile.
“M-my apologies. I’m Aleist Hardie of the defenders. At present,
I am in the area on a guard mission, and I have come to scout out
the waterfront.”
“Aleist of the Hardie House… a pleasure to meet you, I’m Keith
Elrond. Sorry, sorry. You surprised me a bit.”
Smiling as he rose from the pond, Keith was naked, but he didn’t
seem mindful of that. On the contrary, he apologized for acting so
surprised. While he thought the man was a bit strange, Aleist felt
relieved he was still the same kind older brother character as he
explained the situation.
He spoke of how he had come all the way here as Eunius’ guard,
and even explained up to how they would be heading to the port town
of Beretta afterward. After hearing him out, Keith put on
undergarments and trousers, keeping his upper half bare as he
offered a proposal.
“In that case, let me tag along. I finished my mission a bit
early, you see. And Beretta is where I’ve been stationed. Once
you’ve finished your business here, I can fly you straight to
town.”
“That would be a huge help.”
They had made it part-way by carriage, but as the way back was
dangerous, they planned to return to a nearby village on foot
before taking another carriage from there.
Keith’s proposal was a spurt of good luck to Aleist.
“No, no, we’ve got to help each other out in our times of need.
You can just call me Keith.”
◇
“… And that’s how it is.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
At the waterfront, Eunius was introduced to the dragon and
Keith.
While those around were relieved at a dragoon’s participation,
they couldn’t help but be curious of Keith’s eyes.
His face was nice. His lineage splendid. But they couldn’t help
but feel anxious. While he hit it off well with Aleist, for a while
now, he hadn’t offered the slightest glance to any of the
women.
With Aleist’s platoon that even made Eunius jealous before his
eyes, he didn’t show any particular reaction.
(Doesn’t he envy Aleist as a man? Well, he’s from a Count House,
so perhaps he has a fiancée, or he’s the devoted type like
Rudel.)
But for that, he really looks like he’s having fun, thought
Eunius.
“Even if I look like this, I’m unfit for battle. I’ve only got a
bit of confidence in controlling my dragon. Well, as long as we
have a dragon with us, most monsters should run away, so it
shouldn’t be a problem. Everyone, just take it easy.”
Moving through an unfamiliar forest alone was difficult. Even if
he had done wilderness training in his student days, that didn’t
mean Eunius wasn’t tired. And since he had entered the forest, he
had don’t quite a bit of combat.
Thankful that a dragon was on watch, he decided to be pampered
by Keith’s words. But…
“.. Spinnith, am I really that untrustworthy?”
“… I know. It’s not like I’m some sort of wolf. I won’t do anything
like that.”
“Yeah, we have to get to know each other better.”
“I’ve gotten used to it from watching Rudel, but it really looks
like he’s just talking to himself.”
Aleist gave a bitter smile as he watched Keith talk with his
dragon. As he recalled Rudel, Aleist started to reminisce.
“… No, I’m kinda starting to become nervous here.”
Feeling an anxiety he couldn’t put into words, for some reason,
Eunius’ wild instinct was telling him this guy was dangerous.
Eunius himself had a strong belief in his instinct.
He didn’t feel any hostility. But for some reason, he felt
danger.
(Even so, Elrond… I get the feeling I’ve heard that name
somewhere before.)
“Oh, you know Rudel? He and I were both dispatched to the same
point. If you’re up to it, could you tell me some tales of the
past?”
As Aleist brought up Rudel, Keith bit right on. But come so far,
Keith placed a hand on Aleist’s shoulder. The girls who witnessed
that scene seemed to sense something. Even more than the
demihumans, the human knights reacted.
“C-captain Aleist, it’s already late, so why don’t we rest in
preparation for tomorrow…”
“Eh? Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Keith-san, it’ll have to be
another time.”
“… Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
One of his subordinates sensed something and called it a day.
But Eunius didn’t overlook… the form of Keith clicking his tongue,
making sure the female knight wouldn’t see.
For only a moment, he directed eyes thirsting for blood at that
knight.
(Ah, this guy is dangerous.)
Eunius mulled over whether to inform Aleist or not, and in
conclusion…
(But it’s interesting, so I’ll leave it be.)
He decided to watch it unfold.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s11.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Extra: Eunius and Aleist Part 2
Chapter 124: Extra - Eunius and Aleist | Part 2
“There, how’s that!”
Inside the cave, Eunius used nothing more than his sword to take
on the humanoid monsters with reptilian heads.
Perhaps they had made that cave their lair, as they were
beginning to surround him with their horde.
In their hands they held axes, and shields called bucklers. From
the monsters’ sizes, they might look like small bucklers, but if
Eunius held one, it would be bigger than a full sized shield.
In such a perilous situation, surrounded by monsters, Eunius was
laughing. Even in the cave, there were in a space vast enough for
monsters to attack in a group, and he was able to swing about his
large sword freely.
Meanwhile, one of the knights of Aleist’s platoon was
illuminating the cave with magic.
Behind Eunius, Aleist took a stance with his two swords and used
his shadow to impale approaching monsters. However, the monsters’
movements seemed accustomed to battle, and things weren’t going as
well as they had been in the forest.
Changing his grip on his sword, Eunius shrunk the swing of his
sword to cut at the monster that had raised its large axe, but like
that, all he could do was dig into his enemy’s skin.
However…
“Not yet!”
With his sword wedged in, he used brute force to cut the rest of
the way through, making tatters of his sword’s blade. It was a
result of a battle just that intense, but Eunius wasn’t satisfied.
While he was wasting time here, he got the feeling Rudel and Luecke
were proceeding ahead.
In all actuality, when he heard from Keith that there was an
opponent Rudel couldn’t beat, he began to panic. He couldn’t keep
going like this.
(That guy will definitely surpass any opponent he’s lost to.
Then what about me? Do I just rot away like this? If I wasn’t
stationed to that blasted knight unit, would I have become
stronger?)
He questioned himself as he swung his sword, but his movements
had already begun to optimize themselves to his foes.
◇
Focusing his attention on Eunius from behind, Aleist shouted out
orders.
“Don’t let it ever come to one-on one! At worst mark them down
with two, and if that’s impossible, send them around to me!”
Stopping a monster’s axe with two swords, Aleist extended out
his left hand’s sword. The light scratch that would never inflict
anything fatal spouted smoke… the monster spat a froth of blood as
it collapsed.
“If it’s no good from the outside, then go at it from within.
That’s how it usually works.”
As he retook his stance, the wary monsters took distance. It was
disadvantageous that they couldn’t use powerful magic in the cave,
but even so, there were ways to go about it.
Growing accustomed to his enemies’ movements, he freed some
space for leisure as he moved to a point where he could keep an eye
on Eunius.
(So genius really does exist.)
Looking at the man’s movements, he was already fighting
completely differently from how he started out. He was making the
optimum movements to defeat his foe.
While Eunius had a strong image as a sword genius, Aleist felt
something different.
One of his own fiancées, he knew a former noble girl called
Seli. She was a character from the game Aleist was aware of and
held the position of an underclassman. What’s more, she possessed
the established setting of being a genius with the sword.
But even to Aleist, who knew her wonderful talent when it came
to blades, comparing her to Eunius, he was beginning to notice the
difference.
While Seli was only a genius as far as swords went, he got the
feeling Eunius held a fighting talent that went beyond that.
He learned proper swordplay, and be that as it may, he displayed
flexible swordsmanship unimaginable from his appearance.
Just during this mission, when he fired blasts form his magic
sword, he learned to ad a spin to them to increase their output.
When he thought up shooting thrusts, it only took a few days before
it was possible. Even now, against an opponent where it was
difficult to compare raw power, he was shortening his cuts to get
in and tear them apart.
In regards to the monsters that leapt at him from both sides,
Aleist kept his attention on Eunius as he dealt with them.
Putting out a few dozen black hands from his shadow, he captured
both monsters in midair and fastened them down. After preparing a
fire magic sword in both hands, he did a revolution on the spot and
sent the slash waves toward the monsters. The monsters were cut
through, black arms and all. Rather than shooting the waves, it
felt more like the blades had extended.
As Aleist’s flames strongly lit up the cave, Eunius had
completed his battle as well.
Putting away his swords on his waist, Aleist looked at Eunius,
raising and lowering his shoulders in breath as he thought.
(A future archduke has talent in the sword… but such a talent is
pointless. So it’s because the man himself understood it that he
had such a resigned personality?)
The Eunius from the game gave off a different impression from
the current one. Right now, not wanting to lose to his friends, he
recklessly swung his sword. He had clearly lost that personality
where he had given up on something.
“Let’s rest a bit before we go on.”
As Aleist called over, Eunius sat on the spot and drank some
water from the flask hung at his waist.
“Yeah, sorry for that. Making you mindful of me.”
“No, that’s fine. I can barely go on myself.”
Forwarding enemies onto Eunius and making sure he wasn’t
attacked from behind was Aleist’s role.
“You got the knack for it around the end, right? That means I’ve
caused you trouble. When you’re my guard, I’m sorry for giving out
so many orders.”
Getting his breath in order, Eunius checked over his sword. He
wanted to see if his weapon would hold out for the road ahead.
Aleist checked whether any of his subordinates were injured, and
checked the luggage before looking deeper into the cave.
Saying he would just be a hindrance, Keith alone was on standby
outside the cave. He had a dragon, so there was no need to worry
about him, but as he was weak enough to declare it with such
confidence, that was a reason for worry in itself.
“Even so, do you think Keith-san will be alright?”
It wasn’t just Eunius who looked at Aleist with worry. His
subordinates, the human ones, in particular, looked anxiously over
him.
“… I’m more worried for you, in various ways.”
“Eh?”
◇
In the deepest depths of the cave was a room where light
streamed in through the ceiling.
There remained traces that a human once lived there and the door
had been locked. Beyond the lock a dexterous subordinate had picked
lay the dust-caked furniture.
“This is terrible.”
“… That it is.”
The numerous fixtures… especially the wooden ones had collapsed
in form. While the pots and the like remained, atop what seemed to
have once been a bed were the white skeletal remains of a
human.
“It’s a miracle anything remains at all.”
For argument’s sake, one of Aleist’s subordinate muttered as she
invoked a purification magic. It was a magic effective against
undead monsters, but there didn’t seem to be any regrets lingering
around.
As everyone searched the room, they found the holy sword all too
easily.
It was just as Aleist knew it, the rusted holy sword just barely
managed to hold its form. Even in the game, it was just an item
that took up an inventory slot, and it didn’t have any particular
scenario prepared for it. There was no way to mend it or return it
to its glory.
It ended as such a tale, a joke, a cruel lesson that nothing was
ever so easy.
But as he looked over the room, Aleist couldn’t bring himself to
say it.
“The end of a hero? And he lay here a few hundred years
unbeknownst to man?”
As Eunius muttered, the expressions of the subordinates in the
room darkened a bit. Aleist surveyed the area and spotted a few
books written in old lettering.
He handed it to one of his subordinates and she began to read
aloud.
“This is considerably old. There are some words I don’t know
either… this might predate the founding of Courtois.”
In order to search out the holy sword, Aleist had assembled all
those he thought would be necessary. It was no coincidence.
Originally, the ones here were supposed to mainly consist of
romance-target characters, but he had gathered people capable of
fulfilling the necessary roles.
“There are very few legible portions, so I’ll try to give a
simple explanation. Do you want to hear it?”
The woman prepared a light with magic and began flipping through
a book. As confirmation had been sought from him, Aleist nodded.
Eunius seemed to want to hear as he folded his arms and took a
seat.
“It seems the resident of this room lived in a country smaller
than Courtois. It’s probably somewhere within Courtois’ current
territory, but the name is too old for me to compare it to
anything.”
According to her words, at the time, they were terribly afraid
of giant monsters boasting four arms. In a situation where there
weren’t any dragoons, they would always have heavy casualties each
year.
In such an era, the lord of the room stood on his own.
The technical details of how he fought were either illegible or
absent. And seeking out readable portions, the subordinate flipped
to the final page.
“I think I can read… eh!?”
“What’s wrong?”
“N-no… it’s just, the name of the individual who wrote this
book…”
As he looked at the surprised face of his subordinate, for some
reason, she was looking between his own face and the skeletal
master of the room.
“U-um… around the end, it’s written he entrusts the holy sword
to whoever reaches this place, and apart from that, the only thing
I can read is his name.”
“Hmm… so who is he? This lost hero?”
“… Hardie. It says right here, Aleist Hardie.”
“… Eh?”
“Hey, doesn’t that… creepy!”
A surprised Aleist, and as he suddenly stood in fear, he found
Eunius and his subordinates looking back and forth between himself
and the skeleton. Aleist had no idea either, but apparently, the
lord of the room was named Aleist Hardie.
Just feeling the slightest tug of fate cause a shiver to
instantly run through the room.
The conversations suddenly turned towards Aleist’s past and his
past life.
“Captain, I’m sure you’re the reincarnation of this hero!”
While his subordinate spoke with such excitement, Aleist could
say with certainty that wasn’t the case as he thought over his next
course of action.
“No, I was definitely not a hero in my past life, or rather,
this is definitely a coincidence… (Sorry, my past life wasn’t a
hero, it was just a bullied little kid.)”
While he desperately tried to change the subject, Eunius alone
was nodding to himself.
“… They do say great men have a fondness for women. Isn’t it
fine? It looks like Hero Aleist used two swords as well.”
“Two swords? I’m definitely using two swords right now, but that
has nothing to do with it!”
While everyone made faces as if to say, this guy just doesn’t
get it, Aleist tried his best to take control.
“A-anyways! Leaving him like this would be terrible, so let’s
make a grave. I think this spot where the light touches will be
nice! We’ll use the holy sword as a gravemar–”
“No, since you found it, then in accordance with his will,
shouldn’t you be the one carrying it, Captain Aleist?”
“…?”
“You’re right. While it’s rusty, his will says to entrust it to
whoever visits this place. He has the same name, so I’m sure you
were fated to inherit it from the start.”
As Eunius laughed and pat him on the shoulder, Aleist looked at
the holy sword his subordinates brought to him. Before that sword
that looked unusable beyond a reasonable doubt, he mulled over what
he was supposed to do.
◇
A few days later, the party of Aleist and Eunius dropped by the
port town of Beretta.
After making a grave for the lord of the room, they made an
offering from the supplies they brought along and left the
cave.
From there, they rode Keith’s dragon on a journey through the
sky.
“So this is the port town of Beretta.”
Seeing the sea for the first in quite a while, Aleist felt a
little disappointed it was too cold to take a dip.
“From here on, I’m going to go report to the Major, but are you
going to tag along? I think Rudel will be there as well.”
“Ah, then I’ll go with you.”
With Eunius linking arms with him, Aleist was forcibly pulled
into accompanying them as well. He ordered his subordinate female
knights to head to the inn they had planned for beforehand.
The place they made for was a spot that could be called the
knight station. That station used by multiple brigades gave off a
miscellaneous feel to Aleist, who worked in the capital. As Keith
called out to the soldier on watch, the young soldier happily
responded.
“Keith-san sure is the popular one.”
“Good for him. I wonder if Rudel’s alright.”
While Eunius looked around, worried for Rudel, the first ones to
enter his eyes were Izumi and Millia.
“Yo!”
The two of them approached Eunius, as he raised his right hand
in greeting. They walked right up to Aleist and Eunius.
“I never thought you two would be coming. You look well.”
As Izumi looked surprised, Eunius flexed his bicep to make an
appeal to his good health.
“Righto! There was a dragoon at our destination point, so we had
him deliver up. Even so, he’s way too amazing and… huh? Where did
that Keith guy go?”
“Oh? … You’re right. He’s gone.”
As no matter how hard they scanned the station, they couldn’t
spot him, Izumi’s bearing took a sudden change. Her features that
had been smiling to that point turned expressionless all at
once.
“Keith… so he’s already back, that pervert.”
Aleist grew frightened and decided to strike up a conversation
with Millia, who he hadn’t met in a while. He did feel sorry to use
Izumi as a pretext, but it was hard to talk to her.
“H-hey, did something happen?”
“Who knows? It’s been going on since we came here, she just
doesn’t get along with Lieutenant Elrond. When she’s so friendly
with Bennet-san, it really is strange.”
Happy to finally be able to talk, in order to continue on the
conversation, Aleist bit onto the name Millia put out.
“Is Bennet-san… a man?”
“No, she’s not. She’s a Major in the dragoons, and Rudel’s
superior officer. She’s really cute, but…”
While Aleist was relieved, for some reason, he felt some anxiety
at the face she made, as if something was difficult to say whenever
she brought up that superior she called cute.
“I’ve been with Rudel alone lately.”
(A- as I thought…)
Feeling down, Aleist slumped his shoulders.
“Look, they’re back.”
Millia pointed towards the entrance and there, they confirmed
the forms of Rudel, and Keith, who had disappeared not too long
ago. His form as he draped his jacket over his shoulder and
reluctantly gave a report didn’t look like the usual Keith.
But it seemed as if there was no one at the point Rudel and
Keith directed their eyes.
“So where’s this bennet-san fellow?”
Eunius also searched out Bennet, but he couldn’t find her. Izumi
breathed out a sigh and gestured to look down.
When he heard of a Dragoon Major, Aleist had imagined a
considerably large female knight, but over the station desk and
shelves, he could just barely make out the form of a small
girl.
“… I didn’t see it coming.”
“Agreed.”
So that’s what a major in the dragoons looks like, thought
Aleist. Her appearance was that of a young girl with long, silver
hair, of small build and slender frame, giving off a fleeting
impression. But the voice they could hear was a militaresque
one.
“Why did you take up five whole days? It was a mission that was
supposed to end in three.”
“No, no, I’ve got a real deep reason here… right! In order to
wash away my daily fatigue, I was taking an extended bath. Because
a certain someone pushed an unreasonable mission onto me, my
stress’s been building up, you know.”
“How brazen. You should’ve been able to complete it in two days
with ease. If you were my subordinate, I’d have smacked you.”
“I’ll watch myself hereon. More importantly, Rudel, have you
been well?”
“Yes. No problems on my side.”
“You don’t have to be so stiff. With our relationship–”
“It’s been a while, Lieutenant Elrond.”
“… Oh, you. It really has been so long, I didn’t notice you. So
who were you again?”
The one who came between the three of them was Izumi.
She entered in as if to cut off Rudel and Keith and while her
mouth was smiling, her eyes were not. The way she nonchalantly
reached for the katana handing at her waist was terrifying.
“… What’s that supposed to be?”
While he sought confirmation with Millia, Millia shook her head.
But Eunius alone seemed relieved. After looking at Rudel, he sent
Aleist a look of pity.
“Rudel will be fine as long as he has Izumi. That leaves you as
the problem.”
Unable to understand, Aleist and Millia tilted their heads in
sync.
◇
Around dinner, the inn Aleist’s platoon stayed at… the abandoned
house was visited by Bennet with the food she had prepared.
Due to the number of people, she prepared the ingredients and
held a barbecue in the yard. Bennet took charge of the area,
cooking up meat, fish and vegetables.
“Is Bennet-san really that strong?”
“That’s a surprise.”
Seeing Aleist and Eunius’ surprised figures, Rudel began
praising Bennet, growing happy as if he was praising himself.
“I can’t even stand against her. I can’t stand against
Lieutenant Keith in aerial battles, and it looks like I’ve got a
ways ahead of me.”
“Despite that, you sure look happy.”
Eunius grinned as he brought meat to his mouth, and Rudel
nodded.
“Yeah, I mean I’ve got myself a goal to aim for. First off, I
have to beat Major Bennet in a land battle!”
While Rudel happily informed them, behind him stood Bennet in
her apron.
“You sure sound confident, Rudel. Have you forgotten how many
times I’ve held you against the ground today?”
“Major!”
As Rudel turned in surprise, Bennet handed over their next plate
of food. It seemed to be a stir-fry of fish and vegetables, but it
included shrimp and shellfish as well. With it being for three men,
while it was just one plate, it contained a large quantity.
After skillfully distributing it to the three, Bennet collected
up the empty plates. While Rudel made a plea that he would clean
them up, Bennet simply held up a hand.
“Talks with friends are important. I’ll overlook it for
today.”
After saying just that, she returned to get back to cooking.
With Izumi at the lead, the women were helping out, but they were
frightened by her abilities.
“… That girl is perfect.”
“Right.”
“She’s usually a harsh and kind Major. I want to be like her
someday.”
Reaching a hand for the new food, Rudel praised Bennet once
more. There, Eunius asked him about Keith.
“Hey, putting that aside, what about Keith? Has he done anything
to you?”
“The Lieutenant? No, nothing in particular. He’s a kind and
reliable superior. Well, my direct superior is Major Bennet, but…
ah!”
“So something happened!”
As Eunius made a worried face, Rudel began talking about what
had happened before.
“No, he drops by the house an awful lot when I’m in the bath,
and I feel sorry that I always seem to miss him, so I consulted
with Izumi on the matter.”
“Hmm, timing is important, after all.”
“These idiots…”
Seeing Rudel agree with Aleist, Eunius put down his empty plate
and rubbed his brow with a finger.
“And then Izumi came and told me I had to tell her whenever I’m
going to take a bath. After that, Izumi was always keeping lookout
in front of the bath. What do you think it means?”
“Isn’t she answering the door in your place? See, you can’t
entertain a guest while you’re in the bath.”
“That’s wrong, dammit!”
Eunius’ scream was completely lost on the two.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 115: The Outer Reaches and the Academy
Chapter 115: The Outer Reaches and the Academy
“I’m sorry, you even carried my luggage.”
High in the sky, Izumi rode aboard Sakuya’s back, calling out to
Rudel’s back.
They were on the way to Beretta, in the outer reaches of the
kingdom, and Izumi was accompanying Rudel to his station as a
special inspector.
“Don’t worry about it. A weight increase of this extent is
meaningless to Sakuya.”
‘I-it’s easy.’
Izumi’s heart ached, seeing Sakuya let out a considerably pained
voice. As a subspecies of gaia dragon, Sakuya had a merit of being
able to carry large loads of cargo. Even a normal gaia dragon’s
loading capacity was incomparable to the other dragons.
For that reason, when they flew from the capital, they were
ordered to take a large load of supplies with them.
They were headed to a land that had only begun to be set up, and
the town’s present state was one where more goods were insufficient
than not.
A blue sky spread far and wide to bless their departure, but
Sakuya was pained by the luggage fastened onto her. They had to put
in a number of breaks on the way, and Izumi wondered whether the
load was simply too great.
(A number of custom tailored bags on her back, two shoulder bags
per side… those bags look custom made as well…)
By the way, Izumi and Rudel’s personal bags were strapped to her
neck. It was pitiful to look at her, but Rudel was constantly
calling out to Sakuya.
“Do you want to rest, Sakuya?”
‘S-still fine.’
“Don’t force yourself. We still have time before I take up my
post, so you can take it easy.”
‘Sakuya will do her best.’
Watching Sakuya desperately move her wings, Izumi stroked her
back.
“…… I apologize for ruining the mood, but I’m here too.”
Izumi and Rudel turned to find Millia sitting with an irritated
look on her face. Right, Millia had been scouted into becoming
Izumi’s subordinate.
From the start, it was impossible for one person to fulfill the
inspector role, and she had to choose someone. So Izumi had called
out to all her acquaintances. But once they learned the job was
keeping watch over Rudel, her friend and acquaintances all
declined.
(No, I know the real reason, but…)
What’s more, they were declining out of good will. In order to
leave Izumi alone with Rudel, they had acted out of virtuous
intent.
Only one…
Only Aleist volunteered and pleaded to be her subordinate. That
was probably because of Millia.
(We’re really not like that.)
Breathing a sigh, Izumi felt a little worried that the
subordinate she finally managed to obtain was Millia. She thought
she would decline, but contrary to her expectations, Millia
promptly accepted the position. While Izumi knew she hadn’t given
up on Rudel, it wasn’t her place to caution her on that matter.
(I hope nothing goes wron… no, I guess that’s not
happening.)
Aleist already wanted to run away from the palace… she recalled
his face when his subordinates, the female knights, forcefully
dragged him back.
Whether he wanted to become a special inspector because he hated
cleaning duty, or if he wanted to chase after Millia. Izumi noticed
he was acting on both reasons.
(That Aleist is definitely causing a problem.)
“Do your best! Do your best, Sakuya!”
‘Aaaah! My wing is cramping!!’
In contrast, this side was somewhat heartwarming, thought Izumi.
Even when there was a woman behind them who followed through
conflicted emotions, Rudel and Sakuya were the same as ever.
… Wing is cramping.
“Wait! That’s bad, you should land at… nwaaaaaaaah!”
Izumi’s cry resounded across the sky.
◇
In the end, they arrived at port town Beretta the next day.
Arriving just barely in time, Rudel left the unloading of the
luggage to Izumi, hurrying to the knight station alone.
Even if it was called a port town, it was originally a place
without anything. Migrants who volunteered from the capital and
major cities were working hard to establish a port.
In such a situation, it was impossible to prepare a station for
each individual brigade. In that land where everything was held in
insufficiency, defense was left to a platoon of knights from the
outer reaches, and two dragoons.
Walking down the path lined with brick-lain houses, Rudel gazed
at the mismatched townscape as he made for the station.
On top of the simple-made houses, the paths were exceedingly
bad. The people he passed by were making somewhat enervated
faces.
(Is the situation worse than I thought?)
Both the Kingdom of Courtois and the Gaia Empire were countries
you could say were based around magic. That meant that if you used
magic, the work that a single person could do grew immensely. The
craftsmen all made use of some sort of magic, spreading its
grace.
But at the same time, the cities that had existed for ages had
their hands full with simply maintaining their side. Magic was
convenient, cities would grow with ease. But thinking of
maintaining them, each city had come to its limit.
It was for that purpose that new lands were being claimed, and a
port town was set up to obtain marine products.
But from what Rudel could see, it didn’t look like it was going
so well. This wasn’t simply due to the difficulty of land
cultivation. While they could use magic, in the end, that was
naught but the power of man. And this was a land that had been
uninhabited to that point.
There were monsters that saw it as their home, and the mana
reserves of the people would be chipped down in combat. Unlike the
tempered knights, even if a layman could use magic, that had its
limits. Despite that, if an enemy came out, they had no choice but
to fight for their lives, and looking at the result, their plans
weren’t going through.
After arriving at the station, Rudel presented his
identification papers to the soldier on watch.
It seems he was someone recruited on site, his service was
sloppy.
“U-umm… You’re a knight, are you? What business have you come
for today?”
“I’m supposed to be stationed here, starting today. For now,
could you let me meet the person in charge of the area’s
dragoons?”
“No, um…”
Rudel grew anxious over whether this nervous soldier would be
alright, but from the back of the station, the soldier’s superior
came out. He was probably the leader of the knight platoon.
His body was on the plump side, but his eyes were considerably
sharp.
“You didn’t hear!? My apologies. Bennet is off overseeing
construction at the harbor, so if you want to see her, you better
head down there. Ah, and I’ll take your paperwork.”
“… Is that alright?”
Rudel had some resistance to handing his forms to a knight of a
different jurisdiction.
But the other side laughed.
“Those sorts of regulations don’t pass through over here. We’re
in charge of all paperwork.”
Handing his forms to the knight giving a dry laugh, Rudel made
for the harbor. Even without a guide, he decided he’d be able to
speak as long as he went towards the spots under construction.
The town itself wasn’t too big, and he wanted to get a good look
over it.
◇
“Master should have arrived around now.”
Now a fifth year, Fina looked out the corridor as she
muttered.
Her guard Sophina sought confirmation on the dragoon matter.
“This is just as you’ve planned, isn’t it? Did you station those
water dragons beforehand in preparation for this?”
Before it was decided Rudel would go to Beretta, Fina had
shuffled around the jobs of two water dragons. Officially, it was
for the sake of the settlement that wasn’t growing as planned.
“Perish the thought. Even I can’t read that far ahead. If I
could, my Fluff-fluff Land would already be under construction…
master, if only master would move according to my plans.”
Only Sophina could understand she was truly vexed.
(If only she wasn’t like this.)
“Well, I did change their positions, but if you ask how much
meaning that action held…”
Fina had prepared numerous anti-empire measures, and the dragoon
dispatchment changes was only one of them. She stationed the
proficient ones close to the empire’s border.
With no authority of her own, Fina could only use her father
Albach. But even Sophina could keenly sense the weakening of
Albach’s political power.
When she wanted to prepare for the empire as soon as possible,
Albach was unable to move. If Fina didn’t move herself, it seems
they wouldn’t even get any decent information. The kingdom was done
for, the fact she occasionally thought so was Sophina’s secret.
“I was sure you simply intended to send a female knight of the
wolf tribe over to Rudel.”
The individual Sophina brought up in jest was a woman of the
wolf tribe contracted to a water dragon, ‘Bennet’. While there were
numerous feline demi-humans around Fina, there weren’t any of the
dog or wolf tribes. That’s why Sophina said it as a joke.
Honestly, she never thought such a thing. It was certain that
woman was a proficient dragoon… however.
“O-of course not. There’s no way that could be true. Now let us
hurry to my next class.”
“… Princess.”
“What is it? Do you intend to make me late, Sophina?”
“Your next class is that way.”
As Fina turned right at the T-shaped hallway, Sophina pointed
towards the left passage. Expressionlessly and silently, Fina
walked down the path Sophina instructed.
Confirming her surroundings, and seeing there was no one around,
Sophina ordered her subordinates to fortify the area. Those female
knights surrounded their guard target Fina.
And… Sophina grasped both Fina’s shoulders to ask.
“So how is it really?”
“… Hmm, looks like I can’t lie to you.”
Giving up, Fina began reciting the truth. It was just as Sophina
had considered as a joke.
“Female knights of the wolf tribe are exceedingly valuable.
There are few to be found among all the knights of Courtois…
without getting her in his hands, do you think master could ever
become the king of fluff? No, that’s impossible. In order to make
my master the fluffmeister, Iiaaaaiaa!”
Around the end, Sophina started shaking Fina back and forth, her
subordinates didn’t stop her. What irritated her was largely Fina’s
use of the term fluffmeister.
(This girl definitely thought it was clever the moment it came
out of her mouth.)
Her glasses misaligned, her breaths short, Sophina shook Fina.
It was a scene to make one’s blood curdle.
“Do you think this is a fluffing joke!? The one who said we’re
in an important period was you, princess. Get a grip already!”
Once the shaking stopped, Fina remained expressionless, but to
Sophina, it looked like her face was more prim than usual. When she
thought she was going to make an excuse…
“You must change that way of thought, Sophina. It isn’t that I
am handing a fluffy to the fluffmeister, the fluffies are leaping
into my master’s hands. I never really thought he would be going to
the wolf tribe’s place, but this must be fate. Fluffadise is
telling my master to become the fluffmeisteeeeeEEer!”
Sophina shook her back and forth once more, she continued
shaking her until just before class was to begin.
◇
Meanwhile, the teachers who surrounded the headmaster in the
staffroom held bouquets of flowers in their hands as they directed
smiles.
“Put a stop to it, people! What you are trying to do is a
violation of school regulation!”
But only for the headmaster putting up resistance, his face was
pale as he refused their proposal. Of course he would, the banner
draped over the staffroom read:
‘Congratulations on Your Third Term as Headmaster’
Normally, headmasters would swap out after two terms, at
longest. And yet, his surroundings were informing him his third one
was set in stone. The headmaster couldn’t understand.
(Why? They were normal up to yesterday, were they not! I was
already preparing to pass it on!)
He recalled his preparations to hand over the role, the
preparations he had carried out thinking these would be his final
days. By the graduation of the generation of super problem
children, he had returned to those nostalgic school days of times
passed.
A minor problem was the fact Fina was a surprising problem child
herself. In the dead of the night, she would let out strange sounds
as she did paperwork, and she would skip class to wander outside
the academy. Apart from that, it was the same as before… no,
thinking of how there were fewer intruders in the girls’ dorm, it
could even be said it was more decent than before.
And yet…
“Hahaha, what might you be talking about, headmaster! There is
no such regulation in the academy.”
“All our staff have been deeply moved, working under such a
wonderful headmaster.”
“It was a unanimous decision.”
While everyone was laughing, their eyes were not.
“There’s such a thing as a tacit agreement! And I told you I was
ready to retire! (These guys are lying. Why. What exactly
happened to them!?)”
The headmaster looked at his aid, the deputy headmaster. The man
was at an age where, if he didn’t become the next headmaster, he
wouldn’t have another chance. The headmaster knew, when his own
second term was decided, the man had been quite vexed. But now,
“I’ll do my best to support you,” he muttered with a smile.
“… Did something happen?”
The headmaster looked at a weak-willed teacher. That teacher had
caused a problem before, and he had stuck up for her. So he knew
she wouldn’t lie to him.
As the surroundings returned to silence, the truth the
headmaster’s stare drew from that teacher was a dreadful one
indeed.
“T-the list of next year’s freshmen has come in.”
“I’m sure it has. For young nobles, they get their enrollment
forms done nice and early. It shouldn’t be a problem for it to
finish up around this…! It couldn’t be.”
“My deepest apologies! I… I saw it. Rudel-dono’s sister of
another mother, I saw the devil… I saw the Rudel-dono in her!”
The staff members spoke of their memories from when Lena once
came to the academy. The form of a brother doting on his sister was
heartwarming, but the problem lay in her statements.
‘I want to fight Eunius-san.’
‘The academy is a place to pick fights.’
‘Do you think I’ll be able to destroy a facility too?’
The teachers’ dramatized memories spread along with her
finalized enrolment. The appearance of Rudel-female-version had
brought a complete change to the peaceful staff room.
As a result of the urgent discussion that followed, talks came
to the idea the headmaster would do something about it. It was a
result of the headmaster’s ability to handle things needlessly
well.
“Ah, it’s impossible for me,” The deputy headmaster went as far
as to say, refusing the headmaster seat in its early stages.
“D-don’t mess around with me, people. No matter how you look at
it, you shouldn’t put your guard up before you even meet her. She
might actually be an honest and good kid.”
“Even if she’s an honest and good kid, I don’t want another
problem child. And I could tell! That child gave off the same
feeling as Rudel-dono and the others.”
Everyone nodded.
Driven to the brink, the headmaster looked at the papers spread
across his desk. There was a document permitting his continued
service; it had already received the palace’s seal, and all he had
to do was sign.
“Calm down! First, let’s sit down and talk!”
“We’ve received the palace’s approval. All that’s left is your
decision. Our will is unchanging!”
A few hours later, an exhausted headmaster signed the forms. In
that staff room where his was the only dark face, the other staff
members rejoiced and blessed him.
In the academy, Fina’s graduation and Lena’s enrollment were
drawing near.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 116: The Academy and the Superior
Chapter 116: The Academy and the Superior
At the port of Beretta stood a woman loosely wearing the knight
clothing of a dragoon.
Issuing orders to her water dragon, she was having it carry
construction materials.
The female knight’s gray hair was conspicuous, but more than
that, her standing form was dignified. Her eyes were sharp, and her
gold pupils almost looked as if they were radiating light.
To add to that, the ears twitching atop her head were adorable.
And as she stood a head lower than all the people working around
her, dignified as she stood, she looked adorable herself. An
additional problem lay in her tail. That thick, fluffy tail was
swaying left and right. It was truly adorable.
Right… the female knight pretty much looked like a young
child.
“Are you Major Bennet?”
Rudel had been informed of her appearance, so he was able to
find her without hesitation. The documents spelled out that she was
an adorable female knight.
“And you are?”
“Ma’am! Today forth, I have been stationed in this town, my name
is Rudel Arses!”
Looking over Rudel, she walked up to him. While her air was
imposing, the closer she got, the more Rudel had to tilt his head
downwards to look at her.
“I’ve received the report. It seems you’ve perpetuated quite
some foolishness at the capital. I was wondering what sort of face
someone stupid enough to be suddenly flown off to the outskirts
would carry about, but you’re quite the looker… I hold a firm
belief that my subordinates’ failures are to be corrected by my
fist. If you want to maintain that pretty face of yours, then you’d
best off not anger me.”
With Bennet glaring at him, Rudel answered without fear.
Confirming his salute, “At least your salute is first rate,” she
praised him.
For some reason, her tail was moving happily from left to
right.
“While our mission here is important, more than that, you will
learn to adapt to the environment. If the construction doesn’t go
anywhere, we will bring trouble to all the brigade members who sent
us here. You dragon was a gaia, was it?”
“Yes ma’am! She’s a gaia subspecies. Her name is Sakuya!”
Keeping a firm expression, Bennet hummed.
“I didn’t ask for her name. But I’ll commit it to memory. I’ll
have you lot carrying cargo… and so? Where are your
inspectors?”
Looking at the Major and her wagging tail, Rudel explained that
they were unfastening the cargo. As a new settlement, there were
many materials and tools Beretta was lacking in. Being able to
carry such a large load of goods, Sakuya was a valuable means of
transportation.
“Put Sakuya on standby outside the town. Don’t let her dig holes
outside the designated spaces. For now, me and Elrond will be doing
the work. I can’t leave detailed work to your dragon.”
After saying only that, she ordered him to return to the lodging
house and rest for the day. Rudel recognized her as a captain who
looked deeply into her subordinates.
(Looks like it’s going to be rough, but I’m sure this person
will be alright.)
He recalled how Luxheidt told him to pray he wasn’t given a
no-good superior. Even if they were strong as knights, there were
plenty of dragoons who couldn’t take command. It was a gathering of
strong-willed knights. Rudel felt relieved his superior didn’t seem
to be the hopeless type.
◇
Returning to her work, Bennet finished carrying materials before
straddling her water dragon ‘Heleene’ to patrol the area.
Alone in the sky, she pressed her forehead to Heleene’s back,
shaking a little. Her tail was moving exceedingly violently.
‘What’s wrong, Bennet?’
“Listen to this! They finally sent me a decent subordinate! When
everyone asks if I’m pushing myself, or tells me I’m cute, today’s
grunt was all prim and proper, he’s the ideal subordinate!”
Unlike how she acted before Rudel, Bennet raised her face in
delight. Short in stature and youthful in appearance, Bennet’s
greatest worry was being made light of by her men. In truth, they
simply recognized her as a cute commanding officer, but the leader
the girl idealized was an existence held in fear and awe by those
under them.
And yet, when she did her best to become a commanding officer,
no one feared her.
Let alone fear, she bit into the upper ranks of the dragoon
brigade popularity contest and was treated as a mascot. While she
was adored by her subordinates, she ended up giving off an
unreliable impression. She thought that was why her subordinates
never stayed long.
Truth be told, since she led along a valuable water dragon, she
was issued a number of special missions, making it hard to affix
set subordinates to her. While she knew about that, Bennet was sure
it was because she was unreliable.
“Alright! I’ll do my best tomorrow!”
‘… That’s all well and good, but you’d best not get too
enthusiastic and fail. Around three times back, that made them call
you hopelessly cute for a while, right?’
“T-that was just because I slipped up and broke a plate, but for
some reason, they kept treating me like that all the way
after…”
As Bennet failed to be honest, her tail powerlessly drooped
limply over Heleene’s back.
‘B-but now I’m a splendid commanding officer! From tomorrow,
I’ll become his dignified commander!’
‘Yeah, yeah.’
Feeling Heleene’s disbelief, Bennet strengthened her own resolve
to do her best.
◇
Elsewhere, in the Arses House mansion, while it was a little
early, a package came in from the Halbades House.
Erselica had the servants break the seal on those gifts sent to
commemorate her matriculation and present them to her. The sent
goods were high-class-looking tools that would be necessary at the
academy.
“Luecke-dono of the Halbades House, was it? I heard he got along
well with Rudel.”
On her mutter, the surrounding servants seemed to have
difficulty answering. Erselica was quite displeased with those
servants’ attitudes.
When her beloved Chlust was chased to the outskirts as if to
drive him away, a majority of them had stopped speaking ill of
Rudel in the shadows, turning their tongue to Chlust instead. A
portion of them even started coming out to say they thought
Rudel-sama was the more worthy heir from the start.
Erselica couldn’t forgive those servants.
Many of the servants who looked after Erselica urged her to
write letters to Rudel, and even if she wrote up a letter to
Chlust, it wouldn’t be sent.
(Will I be able to become a good actress for their comedy?)
Rudel- who she had mocked- was now so famous there wasn’t a soul
in Courtois who didn’t know his name. On the streets, they were
calling him the demon lord.
The Arses House that had oppressed such a man was now ruled by
quite a dubious air. Within all of that, a package from the
Halbades House had been delivered. The atmosphere of the mansion
lightened up a bit.
“Oh! This one’s for me.”
As she untied the goods sent to her, before she noticed it, her
stepsister Lena was there. That girl who usually wore around the
clothing of a man, Erselica looked on her enviously. Honest to
herself, and it looked as if she was living free as could be.
While they would never even talk in the past, at this point,
they would exchange a few words if they met on the premises.
“You look happy. Even so, isn’t that box a bit too big? What did
you get?”
She folded her arms as she interrogated Lena. Lena tore off the
wrapping and opened the wood crate to find a spear inside. For
something sent to a lady, it was an item that made one question the
sender’s sense.
However…
“Whooooh! A new spear! What’s more, it’s perfect for me!”
Handing the box off to the servants, Lena started swinging the
spear she took in her hands. Erselica could feel the wind raised as
she spun it around.
“L-Lena-sama! It would be troublesome if you swung that around
in a place like this!”
Apologizing to the panicking servants, Lena looked at the spear.
Erselica didn’t have the skills to tell if a spear was good or not,
but it looked to be better than the ones held by the soldiers
protecting the mansion.
“To be so happy after receiving a weapon, what does that make
you as a lady?”
“The one I’ve always used’s been growing old, and it’s short so
this one is just right. I’m sure my brother had some input.”
Saying Luecke-san was easy to understand, Lena read through the
letter inside the box. The craftsmen who prepared the spear had a
shop near the academy, so go there with it, the letter read.
(Are they going to fine tune it for Lena? This is surprisingly
troublesome.)
To Erselica who had never held a weapon in her life, it was a
talk that made her head hurt. To that point, she had polished
herself to be beautiful. And that was in order to find a good
family to marry into. But the Arses House had begun to wane even
more than before.
When the surroundings would no longer draw close to her, it was
decided Erselica would attend the academy. She was told to go and
seduce a rich nobleman.
Otherwise, the house wouldn’t hold up, her mother said.
(If you stopped wasting money, we would recover in no time.)
While she had much she wanted to say to her mother, she was
still a daughter of the Arses House. Erselica had never even
considered marrying someone she actually liked. No, she did her
best not to think about it.
“You’re going to the academy too, right? And yet, that
Luecke-dono of the Halbades House is a little strange to send you a
spear. Or could it be he thought that was more than enough for the
child of a mistress?”
Even she knew she was saying something terrible. But Erselica
wasn’t skillful enough to suddenly change the attitude she had
always taken towards another.
Stroking back her straight, blond hair, she focused her emerald
eyes on Lena.
But Lena didn’t seem particularly mindful of her cynicism.
“Perhaps. And brother told me that I can get all the necessary
writing implements for cheap around the academy, so that’s enough
for me.”
Seeing Lena’s smile, Erselica felt she had lost again. These
feelings had become a daily occurrence.
One of the servants cautioned her.
“Erselica-sama, Lena-sama is also the master’s daughter. I’m not
sure you should be taking that attitude…”
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Lena (What’s with this. You all used
to mock her for being the child of a mistress.)”
Erselica understood the servants’ true intent; they didn’t want
to invite in the rage of Rudel, who doted on Lena. For both
Erselica and Lena who were to be married off, to the servants as
well, they were tools to bring money into the Arses House.
If they were both tools, then offering favorable treatment to
the one most liked by the next head was only natural. Just as
Erselica once was…
(This really is miserable, Chlust.)
◇
Arriving at the lodging house of Beretta, Rudel and co. were
confused to find it wasn’t a lodging house at all.
The young soldier who led them gave an explanation before Rudel,
Izumi and Millia.
“My apologies. The construction isn’t making any progress, so
the buildings for the knight brigade end up being something like
this…”
What stood before them was clearly a private house. The ones who
used to live there moved to another house for various reasons, and
it was abandoned as a vacant building. That house on the slightly
larger side was granted when they heard three people were coming.
For knights living alone, they would be given smaller houses.
“.. I’m a man, and these are two ladies. Isn’t there anything
you could do?”
Rudel felt this was going too far, but the young soldier
indirectly told them to deal with it. The nervous man would only
say it was impossible.
“An official lodging house will only be prepared after the
knight brigade main headquarters are constructed, so… and it’s far
from most of the houses of the other knights, so there shouldn’t be
a problem if you make a ruckus.”
“That’s nothing but problems. No, in the first place, why are
you averting your eyes?”
After looking at Izumi and Millia, the young soldier’s face
turned red as he averted his eyes, Rudel thought the man was making
some sort of misunderstanding and ordered him to look up so he
could correct it.
But the day was reaching its end, and worn out from a long and
tense voyage, Millia said the place would be fine.
“Even if we make a ruckus at this hour, I doubt anyone’ll be
able to solve the problem. In that case, we’ll put up with it a few
days. I want to sleep soon.”
“You’re right. Today was quite tiring.”
It wasn’t just riding by dragon back, on that trip that was
almost like a constant roller coaster, the two women made bitter
smiles through their pale faces.
Hearing that from the female camp, Rudel reluctantly accepted.
After accepting the keys, he entered the house. Finally, the young
soldier said something important as he ran away.
“They said to clean it, but we’ve been busy and… the tools are
there, so you’re better off cleaning before you sleep. Then see you
tomorrow.”
“He fled.”
Rudel stared over the room dumbfounded. Expanding before him was
a room layered in dust. While it was minimalistically furnished,
those pieces were also smeared in dust.
“T-this is a bit…”
The disastrous state of all the rooms left Izumi bewildered. It
seems there had been an order to clean up, but if the order wasn’t
carried out, it was meaningless.
“… The worst.”
With scornful eyes, Millia prepared a cloth and mask before
breathing out a sigh. Unable to forgive this filth, it seems she
was up for cleaning.
A former member of Aleist’s cleaning platoon, Millia was a
valuable fighting force on this front. Izumi also went outside to
prepare the cleaning utensils.
“They did say the inn was full. So this was the reason.”
When the knight at the station told them there were no openings
at the inn, they had tilted their heads. But at this point, the
reason had become clear, and Rudel was cleaning as well.
“We should’ve taken Aleist along.”
While half in jest, Rudel was also half serious.
◇
“Achoo!”
Finishing up work (cleaning) for the day, Aleist was surrounded
by female knights as he returned to the lodging house.
“Captain, do you have a cold? In that case, do you want to drop
by my room?”
“Hey, why are you inviting him so naturally?”
“Ah, then should I go over to your room?”
On that scramble over Aleist among the female camp, the man in
question gave a bitter smile as he denied it, saying it wasn’t a
cold.
(Is someone gossiping about me or something?)
If gossip really could make him sneeze, then Aleist would be
sneezing nonstop throughout the day. Even if he hadn’t the intent,
he was called the number one playboy in the capital.
No matter how he denied it, no one would believe him. His
fiancés were on the verge of surpassing seven, and his platoon was
made up of all women. What’s more, at the very least, they looked
at him favorably.
It wasn’t a mistake.
(Hah, even so…)
Looking around, the Millia he loved most wasn’t there. Under
Izumi’s request, she had become Rudel’s special inspector. Whatever
the case, even if he rejected the proposal, someone higher up the
chain of command had permitted it.
(Even when the paperwork said she needed her direct superior’s
permission.)
Aleist couldn’t understand why, but Millia was going further and
further away. Looking up at the sky, he prayed for her safety.
(I hope we meet again.)
“Captain, are you listening?”
“Eh? Y-yeah, I’m listening. I think so too. (What were they
talking about? Well, I’m sure it’s the usual complaints about the
job.)”
Aleist’s cleaning duty platoon was building up frustration that
they didn’t have any missions as knights. From the point of view of
Aleist, who had nonchalantly devoted himself to cleaning, he had
begun to believe that if he didn’t have to fight, then maybe this
was for the best. He had no complaints.
In order to match his subordinate’s conversation, he merely
showed sympathy.
“In that case, today’s the day you make it clear who you like
most in the platoon!”
“It’s me, isn’t it, captain!”
“Stay out of this, washboard! It’s me, right Aleist?”
“…”
Aleist was holding a rom-com of his own in the capital.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 117: The Superior and the Mission
Chapter 117: The Superior and the Mission
Failing asleep from their fatigue after the major cleanup, the
three dropped by Bennet on the next day.
It was decided that either Izumi or Millia would clean up that
house that hadn’t been properly prepared. Based on how their
meeting with Bennet went, one of them would go back.
The Beretta townscape the three of them walked down was lined
with hurriedly constructed buildings of brick. But they couldn’t
see any buildings that extended passed two stories.
The same held true for the inns.
(This is a puzzler. I have to secure a place to sleep soon.)
She knew that staying with Rudel for too long would surely cause
him trouble. Izumi mulled over who she should consult.
It was there that a building that could be classified as
splendid for the town came into sight. At the sight of young
soldiers having a friendly chat, Izumi felt like holding her
head.
“Oh, good morning. Did you sleep well last night.”
“Yeah, more importantly, where’s Major Bennet?”
On Izumi’s reply, the young soldiers looked at Rudel, Millia and
herself, discussing something amongst themselves. While she could
guess the contents of their discussion, she didn’t have the time to
worry about that now.
“She’s doing paperwork at the desk in the back.”
After giving thanks to a young soldier with a reddened face, the
three of them made for Bennet.
In the station, there was one desk put aside for the dragoons to
use on rotation. Normally, that would never come to pass, in a
settlement without anything, granting the dragoons an exclusive
desk was plenty.
The knights on duty at the capital would never be able to bear
this sort of treatment, thought Izumi.
Izumi looked at Rudel’s superior before her eyes and submitted
her forms. But more than that, looking at the female knight before
her, she thought.
(She’s… kinda cute.)
Taking the paperwork, Bennet tucked it away in her file before
confirming their future course.
“So you two are this man’s inspector. I don’t mind if you keep
watching, but there are times we’ll be flying around on duty. And
you should think that doing work is normal around here.”
“Would that work be outside of our mission?”
As Millia looked down and asked, Bennet hummed a note.
“A new recruit who’s only ever sat back and done their duty at
the capital need not stick their mouth into the way of the
outskirts. While I haven’t the authority to issue you orders, if
you do nothing but keep watch over that guy, that alone will buy
you a bad rep in these parts.”
Millia saw how busy Beretta was, and perhaps she realized just
watching would definitely make her unpopular as she shut her
mouth.
When Izumi proposed they would participate in work on rotation,
Bennet said, ‘That so,’ before handing Rudel a comprehensive
schedule.
(She’s surprisingly attentive and good at looking after others.
And she’s cute.)
Izumi noticed she was being mindful of them.
“Well, just do your best out here. You should take this
opportunity to learn that the same way of doing things doesn’t work
everywhere you go… Rudel, I’ll be having you break rocks with
Sakuya. I’m going out of my way to personally supervise a newbie
like you. Give me results.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Seeing Rudel taking his job seriously, Izumi felt relieved. It
seems even Rudel wouldn’t suddenly go on a petting spree. No, while
Izumi herself was relieved that she had sealed Rudel’s petting, she
felt uneasy whenever she thought he might unveil a new
technique.
Starting with petting, onto massages, embrace, and lotion… even
when she sealed all of them, Rudel brought forth his magic eyes out
of nowhere. So while she was wary, it couldn’t be said she was
going too far.
More importantly…
Izumi looked at Bennet’s tail when she talked to Rudel. Running
contrary to her expression it was delightedly waving about. That
gap looked cute as well.
(The way it feels like she’s pushing herself is also cute.)
Sure that Millia was holding the same impression, she looked to
the side, only to receive a mildly irritated impression. Millia was
staring intently at Rudel and Bennet.
Every time Rudel gave an earnest reply, Bennet’s tail would
wave. Even if they were told the titles of superior and subordinate
were swapped, surely no one would hold any doubt.
(She really is cute, though.)
For a while longer, Izumi watched over the girl doing her best
to play the part of a superior.
◇
Outside town, in the rockface opposite the harbor, Rudel was
smashing rocks with Sakuya.
They would be used as materials for the port, but after being
smashed, the stone would have to be processed. For that sake, it
was necessary to break them down to an adequate size.
As Rudel issued Sakuya orders, Sakuya punched the rocks with her
large arms and destroyed them.
“Fool! Do it like that, and they’ll end up too small. Having
them too big is no good, but if they’re too small, then it takes an
unnecessary amount of mana to mend them!”
Under Bennet’s orders, Rudel was learning his job in Beretta.
Carrying materials, patrol of the area around the port city, and
helping out with construction, there was much to be done. As long
as you ignored their consumption, the convenient dragons were
indispensable lifeforms for construction.
“This is hard. The work’s too detailed for Sakuya.”
Taking Sakuya’s large build into account, it was definitely a
difficult job. But Bennet hummed a note.
“Oh, then will you choose your own work? It is only natural for
us to be able to carry out whatever mission need be done. The way
you are, you’re not even half a dragoon.”
“That is…!”
While he tried to say something, Rudel swallowed his words. Sure
enough, being particular about his missions was usually something
he should never do.
Bennet called her own dragon and had it smash rocks to the right
size to set an example. After the destruction, unlike with Sakuya,
the leftover fragments didn’t scatter about much.
“If the development goes steady, then this place will also
become a part of town. If you cause too much destruction and spread
debris around, it will make our jobs more troublesome in times to
come. I do believe the development plans were included in the
documents I gave you.”
“My deepest apologies.”
Having not thought that far ahead, Rudel apologized to Bennet.
Certainly, the plan included the port’s construction, and a
description of the town’s expansion.
“… Well, so be it. Right now, Elrond is off buying supplies, so
I’ll be teaching you for a while. Know that training is also part
of your duty, and don’t lose focus.”
“Yes ma’am!”
◇
While Rudel continued his work, to the side, Izumi watched his
exchange with his cute superior officer.
As a special inspector, Izumi’s duty was to make sure her eyes
never left Rudel, if possible. While the two of them were earnestly
doing their job, from a watcher’s perspective, it couldn’t help but
look like a pleasant scene.
Bennet’s tail was happily waving left and right, and on top of
that, Sakuya was learning how to chop rocks from the water dragon.
A dragon opening up its palms to chop stone into blocks was a
peculiar sight indeed.
(They look like they’re having fun.)
While the two of them had their dragons smashing stone, they
carried out training themselves. When Bennet told Rudel to come at
her, Rudel cut forward with all his might.
Izumi thought that looked bad, but Bennet lightly responded,
throwing Rudel into the ground. Despite her small body, the way she
handled it could only make one say, as expected of a dragoon.
But after she had won, when Rudel sent her eyes of admiration,
“Get to your feet already, fool!” the girl in question said, her
tail violently wagging.
Next to that, Sakuya- who was unable to skillfully smash stone-
tried to break it apart with her breath only to be smacked on the
head by Bennet’s dragon.
(I do feel sorry to say it, but…)
“Your attacks are following a pattern. You won’t even be able to
scratch me that way.”
“Kuh!”
Accelerating with wind magic, Rudel desperately rushed in to
capture Bennet, but dodging by a paper-thin margin…
‘I mean, I can’t do it! Hey, that hurts!’
Her chops still not going well, this time, Sakuya tried to
strike it with her tail…
(I wonder what it is. It just looks like they’re enjoying
themselves.)
◇
Driven off to an area close to the border, Chlust grimaced as he
received a report from his subordinate.
“Captain, are we in hot water?”
What the unshaven man reported to Chlust was a meeting between
high officials of the countries of Courtois and Gaia. Even if it
was diplomacy under the veil of secrecy, Courtois was a noble
society, and it was often the case that its high officials were of
nobility. They disliked rough treatment, and it was difficult to
think they would go all the way to the outskirts just to put on
airs.
The man who was Chlust’s subordinate reported what he heard from
his trusted men.
… It was information Chlust wanted to think was impossible.
“When I thought they had quieted down, it couldn’t be…”
The black ogre incidents were no longer breaking out. But as
long as he stayed on the border, he could tell the enemies was
growing more active whether he liked it or not.
The air was one thing, and it had been so quiet it was
contrarily creepy.
And about the contents of the high official’s discussion, the
unshaven man was making a pale face. Chlust thought his own
complexion was also leaving him, but as he was before his
subordinate, he changed his train of thought.
“… Could you tell the official’s face? Or their
characteristics?”
“Nothing. Everyone was wearing robes and hiding their faces. If
the way they talked and their documents didn’t prove their status,
we would have moved to take them in as suspicious individuals.”
But his subordinate seemed relieved they hadn’t done so from the
depths of his heart. This was home ground, and there were plenty
who were used to concealing their bodies, it could be called a spot
of good luck that their foe didn’t know the area.
That was just how powerful their guards had been.
If he knew their names, then Chlust was the second son of an
archduke. He thought he would be able to find out their faction,
but it didn’t seem it would go so easily.
“Whatever the case, we have no connections to the center right
now.”
“What do we do, captain? Won’t it blow sky high, the way things
are going?”
The reason his subordinate- usually so lively- panicked to such
an extent was simple. A high official of Courtois had exchanged
documents with a high official of the Gaia Empire. What’s more,
they seemed used to it.
The few words they exchanged were clearly bizarre.
‘The princess is on board.’
‘As long as you accept our conditions, we’ll play along with you
farce.’
‘Hmm, making a hero of a commoner, the thought makes me want to
vomit. I’d rather he became a hero post mortem.’
‘… I pray you come to a decision before our preparations are
complete. Tell them to understand, it’s too late once it’s all
begun.’
Princess, hero, commoner, and too late once it began… on these
words, Chlust couldn’t help but remember those two.
The fact he was in a place like this, at the very least, he
thought those two were involved. In a good sense, of course.
Chlust was aware that if he had continued to hate Rudel, his
current self wouldn’t exist. He could recall well the faces of the
two who had created the opportunity.
(Is this for certain… but at this rate…)
Even if he noticed, he understood it was futile to report the
fact to the higher-ups. For better or worse, they lived in noble
society, and having been once oppressed, Chlust could understand.
If it was a truth, it would be hushed up, if it was a lie, they
would boldly punish him.
No, it was more probable they would erase him the moment he
reported it.
His stay in the outskirts was a long one, and it plagued him
that his information on the palace factions was outdated.
To add onto that, the outskirts were optimistic. No matter how
the empire invaded, they were certain that with its dragons,
Courtois would never lose.
“… Don’t tell anyone about this matter. Order your men not to
leak the information.”
“Then what will we do!?”
“I’ll look into it. If I report to the wrong man, then it
wouldn’t be strange if the entire unit is erased.”
The man fell silent. He realized he had stuck his head into a
troublesome matter, but Chlust felt an even greater sense of crisis
than his subordinate.
(Who do I rely on? My house is… I can’t even get in touch with
Erselica, so that’s not happening.)
Once his subordinate left the room, Chlust scratched his head
and thought.
(I’ve always reported the suspicious movements on the Empire’s
side. I can’t think the higher-ups don’t know. Then did they know
and plan to abandon us from the start?)
From the reinforcement of war potential around the border,
Chlust had felt relief, but now he had a bad premonition.
(Our forces are being reinforced. But…)
The map of the area affixed to one of the room’s wall had memo
sheets stuck all over it. It was a map that collected all the
incidents on the border over the past few years.
He confirmed the war potential on Courtois’ side.
(There won’t be a problem if it’s a skirmish? No, the empire’s
been tormented by our dragons for many years. It’s unthinkable that
they’re not taking the dragons into account so late in the game.
Our side is looking down on our foe too much.)
Getting together the reports on the black ogre, he had found one
that suspected they might be an experiment from the empire. But his
superior had laughed it off.
Even if that was true, Courtois had dragons, so they knew it
wouldn’t be a problem.
(I can only gather info for now. And I have to inform someone of
this fact…)
While his brother’s face came to mind, recalling Rudel’s present
situation, he shook his head. As the white knight, Rudel stood out
too much. And he wasn’t in a position of power.
“First, I have to establish casual contact with Erselica. I need
as much information on the palace as possible.”
Looking at the map, Chlust scanned for the name of a port town.
On a memo next to it, the town’s fighting force was listed out.
When there were three powerful dragoons stationed there, there
were no other decent reinforcements. On that mismatched treatment,
Chlust feared for the safety of his brother who had likewise been
flown off to the outskirts.
“I hope I’m just thinking too much.”
Feeling the calm before the storm, Chlust felt something
contrived in his brother being sent to the outskirts during such a
period.
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 118: The Mission and Hostility
Chapter 118: The Mission and Hostility
“I can’t stand this anymore!”
Expressionlessly tidying up her paperwork, Fina ruffled up her
blond hair as she cried out. But even still, she hadn’t the
slightest emotion on her face. On the contrary, the made it
scarier.
But already used to it, Mii looked at Fina as she prepared some
tea and snacks. It tasted worse than when Sophina prepared it, but
Fina more readily accepted tea brewed by Mii.
“When you have both an elf and a wolf by his side, why haven’t
you lain hands on them, master! And you call yourself the lord of
fluff? Or could it be you’re teasing and playing around with
me?”
“Rudel-sama doesn’t have any fixation on fluffies, after
all.”
“Right, even if you didn’t force him to choose, he’s for dragons
and dragons alone.”
Helping out in Fina’s work, Sophina and Mii processed documents.
Perhaps they had built a resistance to Fina’s conduct and speech up
to now, as they were calm as could be.
“Dammit… I put such a cute wolf tribe girl by his side! And
because I forcefully pulled out that clutzy commanding officer, my
workload’s increased! What’s more, that Aleist guy keeps saying, ‘I
don’t want to be away from Millia’ or something… it was irritating,
so I recommended her for special inspector! Yeah, it was me,
whatcha gonna do about it!”
“Princess, I think that’s terrible.”
With much to think about love and marriageable ages, Sophina
glared at Fina. Mii also pitied Aleist, so she didn’t send Fina an
affirmative look.
Noticing that, Fina hurriedly followed through.
“I-it’s alright Mii. Aleist will soon have his eighth fiancé,
and he really will dry up.”
“Isn’t that no good? Do you have some sort of grudge against
him, princess?”
Thinking of a dried up black knight, Sophina brought up her
memories of his fiancés that were still at the academy. One of them
was a female knight who excelled in the sword, and it was already
decided she would skip grades.
She had surely done her best for Aleist’s sake, but Sophina had
felt something terrifying from her, so she could foresee something
terrible happening.
For the other one, a girl of the tiger tribe, Fina had done
everything in her power to pull her into the defenders. It was only
at times like these that Sophina had to tip her hat to Fina’s
abilities. Though she held a flaw of only ever working for her own
desires.
“Hah, for the princess of a country to spend her school life
buried in paperwork…”
While Sophina pitied Fina’s present situation just a little,
Fina expressionlessly embraced Mii and started fondling various
things. The one in question looked happy enough.
“Well whatever.”
Before that usual scene, Sophina returned to work.
… Doing paperwork that wasn’t even part of her job, her absolute
lack of resistance was also a problem. The two of them had been
corrupted.
◇
In the port town of Beretta, Millia was watching over Rudel
Separated from Rudel, who had work at the port, Izumi was
discussing matters with Bennet at the knight brigade station.
“Do something about your living conditions?”
“Yes.”
The topic of their consultation was the fact they slept under
the same roof as Rudel. While it was a problem that Millia didn’t
see it as much of a problem, Izumi generally wasn’t fond of this
situation.
Thinking of his future, she thought this might become trouble
for Rudel.
“Why is that? While simultaneously observing him, the two of you
were allotted to the future archduke Rudel, were you not? That’s
how I and the others understood it.”
Bennet had no ill intent. It would be stranger if the future
archduke Rudel didn’t have anyone by his side to look after him.
Young and beautiful, Izumi and Millia were seen as Rudel’s mistress
candidates, or perhaps his servants or convenient women. To Bennet
and the rest who didn’t know the happenings of the capital, they
thought the top brass had even gone as far as to tack on a reason
and give them a post as, ‘Special Inspectors’.
“… There is no ulterior motive behind our directive. We really
are just here to watch Rudel.”
“I see.”
Once Izumi corrected the misunderstanding, Bennet started to
think. She looked tiny behind the large desk and chair that were
prepared because the dragoon called Elrond used them as well.
“Then this really is a problem. Not only Rudel, it will bring
about an influence to your futures as well. I do want to do
something on my side, but…”
As Bennet made a difficult expression, her tail apologetically
drooped down from her chair.
But perhaps she had a good idea, as her tail suddenly regained
its vigor, swaying to and fro.
“Then the two of you can come over to my place.”
“Is that alright? And I don’t think it’s wise to keep too far
from him.”
There was no telling what Rudel might do, and even if it was
knight, there was no meaning to their inspector posts if they were
too far away.
“I know it’s only been a few days since you’ve taken your post,
and there’s no helping it if you haven’t been able to make rounds,
but you should at least learn who lives next to you.”
“And that would be… you, Major Bennet?”
On Izumi’s words, Bennet’s tail violently wagged. She must have
been greatly pleased, as it even showed on her face.
“I’ll return early today. The two of you should come around to
my house today. Luckily, our lodgings are next to one another, so I
don’t mind if you leave your belongings at Rudel’s place.”
“While you have a point, won’t it be a bother?”
“I was the one under a misunderstanding. And when my
subordinates cause a problem, it’s my responsibility as well. I
plan to deal with it as a superior officer.”
While Bennet made a stern expression, in contrast, her tail was
lashing out as if she couldn’t endure her delight.
(What’s she so happy about?)
Izumi couldn’t help but be curious about the individual called
Bennet.
◇
Within the day, Izumi explained the situation to Millia and took
her belongings to the civilian house that Bennet used as a
dwelling.
“Wasn’t that fine as it was?”
While Millia didn’t particularly see a need to change houses,
Izumi was greatly opposed. She went as far as to give an order to
dragon Millia to Bennet’s house.
“There’s something called the eyes of society. You should be
more aware that me and you are both unmarried women.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Due to being raised in a closed elf village, it did seem Millia
minded not the eyes of society. No, she was raised in a closed
environment where she would have to mind it, but from her special
position, she ended up quite dim on the matter.
Having heard about Lilim from Rudel, Izumi thought she might
develop a headache. Even if recognized a differing sense of values,
Izumi wanted to avoid Rudel being put at a loss over something like
this.
Even if she might be paying undue worry, Rudel was even denser
to his surroundings than Millia. At least someone had to care about
it.
The neighboring house was of the same construction as the one
afforded to Rudel. As they stepped through the threshold, Bennet
came out to greet them in her apron.
“So you’re here. Leave your luggage in an empty room.”
The scent of a seafood soup, and the smell of roasting meat
filled the area. Perhaps she had gone out of her way to prepare it
for them, as three plates were already prepared in the kitchen.
“When you’re already letting us stay, you’re even cooking for
us… my deepest apologies.”
“Don’t mind it. While there is always left over with one, if we
have three people, then nothing will be left to rot. You haven’t
been stationed long, so think of it as your celebration. Eat
without restraint.”
The food was the same, but the room was casually put in order.
Even Millia, who was fussy over cleaning, looked over the room and
mortifyingly conceded…
“N-not bad.”
… She muttered.
Even from her eyes, it was clean. After spending more than half
a year cleaning the palace, Millia had developed a fixation for
cleanliness. Izumi, who had only spent a few days with her, found
herself cautioned time and again.
(Bennet-san is amazing… and she can even cook.)
But there was one thing that bothered Izumi.
Perhaps she didn’t want it to wag while she was cooking, as she
had her tail tucked away in her apron. That was also cute, but the
problem was the apron. Fitting with her appearance, the frilled
apron was fine in itself, but the character embroidered on it was
definitely a simplified cat.
Looking like she’d start humming at any moment, Bennet bestowed
the finishing touches onto the food.
(When she’s a wolf, she has a thing for cats?)
Izumi was bothered by quite a trivial thing.
◇
“Now then, this is a bother.”
In the house Izumi had left, Rudel thought aloud.
The fact Izumi and Millia had left was one that was a deep
relief to him. Living with a man before marriage would definitely
invite needless trouble to their futures.
But there was a problem.
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”
… Right, Rudel had never lived alone before. Even when he was
endeavoring through his training and studies, at the dorm, the
servants would look after his room.
While the girls might not have been aware, the young nobles had
their cleaning and laundry taken care of by the servants attached
to the dormitory. To add to that, Rudel generally couldn’t
cook.
For argument’s sake, he could make the sort of food he’d prepare
in the wild, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do
alone.
As he had become a dragoon right after graduation, he had
skipped right over the cleaning and house work that would be
assigned to the low-level grunts. To the elite dragoons, even if
they may clean the dragon stables, they were never troubled with
the necessities of life.
“It would be rude to go ask them at this point.”
Standing from his chair, for now, Rudel decided to heat up
yesterday’s leftovers. Before the stove, he lit a fire with magic
and placed the pot over it.
He still had the soup Izumi made, he would likely hold out a day
or two.
But what would happen after that?
“Well, I’m sure it’ll work out.”
More than twenty years old, Rudel lived by himself for the first
time in his life.
◇
Three days later…
Three women looked over Rudel’s house with stiff faces.
On top of the dirty table, the kitchen was heaped with unwashed
dishes. Apart from that, perhaps the laundry wasn’t being done, as
there were dirty garments left here and there.
“Rudel, what is the meaning of this?”
As Bennet glared at Rudel, the man in question made a troubled
face.
“Even if you ask me… how did it come to this?”
After hitting Rudel’s head with her palm, Bennet breathed out a
sigh. She thought a man might be bad at this sort of thing, but
even so, wasn’t this a bit too terrible? She looked over the room
once more. When she thought of the state of spaces she couldn’t
see, her heart sank.
It began during the day’s work, when Izumi had grown worried and
asked Rudel if he was properly eating.
Early to bed, early to rise, there was also a problem in how
Rudel was never home to begin with.
(There’s no helping what’s been done, but this is too terrible,
oh subordinate of mine!)
On the question of whether or not he was eating properly, Rudel
said this.
‘I still have takeout, so I’m fine.’
Just what part of that is fine, Izumi and Millia teamed up to
cross-examine him. Then Bennet had begun to worry and joined
in.
“Good grief… before your mission comes into question, you can’t
even properly live your life?”
“M-my deepest apologies.”
Leaving a noble like Rudel alone was a problem, but neither
Izumi nor Millia thought it would be this bad. It was the weak
point of the top-scoring Rudel.
The sun was already going down so they couldn’t do laundry now.
If they started cleaning, it would carry on to midnight.
“Hah, I’ll prepare food for you today. Izumi, Millia, come over
once you’ve cleaned up the kitchen.”
Heading off to her own house, Bennet had concluded that rather
than making anything in Rudel’s ingredient-less house, making a
large portion in her own place would be faster.
(What sort of thing would a man like to eat? It has to be meat,
right?)
Swiftly equipping her apron, she tucked her tail into it so it
wouldn’t swing around. The box loaded with ingredients was filled
with magic-made ice alongside seafood and various meats.
(Yeah~, what should I make…)
As she thought that, she heard a scream. The voice belonged to
Millia.
‘Why can’t you do something as simple as this!? And wait, how
are you able to live in a room like this? I can’t believe
it!’
‘S-sorry.’
(Oh no, they’re getting mad at my subordinate. I really don’t
think there’s any helping it, but Millia-chan is scary.)
Hurriedly making arrangements, Bennet looked over the three who
appeared once the food was done. Millia was letting off a prickly
air, while Rudel lowered his shoulders. Izumi was trying to cheer
him up, saying she would teach him how to do laundry the next
morning.
“You really are hopeless. Today’s special, don’t expect me to do
this again.”
Before the food lining the table, Rudel delighted at his first
decent meal in a while. Seeing his face, while she didn’t let it
show on her expression, Bennet rejoiced as well.
(Yay! It doesn’t look like he hates it.)
The four of them sat around the dinner table, and as expected,
talks went towards Rudel’s lifestyle. Even if they told him to do
better starting tomorrow, there was no way Rudel could do that. For
the time being, Izumi and Millia would do something about it.
And the topic changed to the food.
“Is it good?”
Bennet asked Rudel, happily chowing down, and the man in
question gave an energetic reply. He was already on his third
plate.
“Yes! Major, you are an amazing cook.”
“You can skip the flattery. With a house of your stature, I’m
sure you’ve eaten the food of top-class chefs from before you could
walk. I can at least understand that much.”
“Is that so? I was never too fixated over the taste.”
Unfamiliar about Rudel’s early childhood, Millia seemed to be
curious over what Rudel ate. Izumi knew he had been treated
terribly, but she had never asked about the contents of his
meals.
“So what sort of things did you eat?”
“… First off, vegetables and things with high nutritional
value.”
“Being able to eat something nutritional is something to be
thankful for. So how was it prepared? (Maybe I’ll try it out next
time.)”
Bennet had some interest in a noble’s cooking as she awaited
Rudel’s answer.
But the answer that came back crossed was more than she could
handle.
“No, just normally. Raw, I mean.”
“R-raw?”
Millia was surprised.
“Is that strange?”
Izumi looked around, perplexed by Bennet and Millia’s reactions.
She was sure he meant some sort of food prepared raw, showing
little surprise.
“… You mean a salad?”
“No, we just kinda ate it whole. They were bitter, so my little
sister would always swallow without chewing. Generally speaking,
there were a lot of cold dishes, I guess? I think the bread was on
the harder side, and I get the feeling the meat was lightly
seasoned…”
Rudel was the only one able to smile.
After hearing the specifics, they wouldn’t imagine that as the
meal of a future archduke.
“So that’s why you always said the dining hall food was the
best…”
“Hey, no matter how you look at it, that’s not normal.”
“… Do you want another?”
“With pleasure!”
As Bennet held out her own meat dish, Rudel ate it with delight.
Seeing him like that, Bennet was on the verge of tears within.
(Poor subordinate of mine… I’ll have to do my best in cooking
from tomorrow onwards.)
“Maor, your food is the best!”
When he happily praised her, Bennet grew happy as well.
“For the time being, I’ll provide your meals. It will be
troublesome if you collapse, after all… what’s wrong, you two?”
There, Izumi and Millia looked at Bennet.
“U-um, would it be possible for you to teach us how to cook as
well?”
“Hmm? I don’t mind.”
“Really!?”
As the faces of the two women approached, Bennet felt something
dreadful.
(Eh? What’s this? Hey, you’re scaring me.)
◇
The next morning, Izumi taught Rudel how to do laundry as
promised.
(Come to think of it, Millia was doing everyone’s laundry for
the past few days.)
It was curious how she had no resistance to washing a man’s
undergarments. No, as the sight of her gleefully doing laundry
floated in her mind, Izumi shook her head. She was reading too far
into it.
Before the tub, Rudel hesitated as he washed his own
clothing.
“The water’s grown murky.”
“When your clothes are so dirty, of course it would. Don’t
change out the water, just keep washing.”
“I could use magic and…”
“It’s not like you couldn’t, but you know that clothing is
valuable out here, right? If you make a mistake, you really will
have nothing to wear.”
He had proposed resolving the problem with magic, but after that
was declined, he got back to work. Watching his back, Izumi was
filled with an inexplicable urge to help out.
But Bennet had told her to make him do it on his own.
Once he finished the washing in the house’s yard, he hung the
clothes up to dry. Looking over the large load of drying laundry,
it was clear he still had a way to go, but for argument’s sake,
Izumiconcluded he would be alright.
Inside the house, Millia was doing the minimum amount of
cleaning she could bear.
“It’s meal time. Come over.”
Once Bennet called across the yard, taking Millia along, the
three of them headed for Bennet’s house. There, around the
entranceway stood a man with his blue hair tied at the back. He was
talking about something with Bennet.
“You sure took your time.”
“Don’t ask for the impossible. Even like this, I made haste.”
The male knight who looked older than them had the robe of a
dragoon draped over their shoulder. Once Izumi and the others came
out, Bennet introduced them to the male knight.
“This is my subordinate Rudel, and his two inspectors. The one
with the black hair’s called Izumi, and the green haired one is
Millia. Remember that.”
“Hmm… My name’s Keith. Keith Elrond. Pleasure to meet you.”
The male knight gave a splendid smile as he approached Izumi and
the others; along with his introduction, he reached out and took a
hand. But the way he gripped it wasn’t one that they could come to
like. He was acting overly familiar, or so was Izumi’s frank
opinion.
The way he touched it was a little indecent.
“U-um.”
During that space, Keith had reached out his left hand and
wrapped it around a shoulder as well. It was nothing more than a
handshake, but it was almost as if his ulterior motives were on
show for all to see.
“What is it, umm~…”
“I’m Izumi. Could you let go of that hand?”
“And why’s that?”
Keith flippantly resisted with a smile. On his expression, dark
emotions on a level she had never experienced before began to well
up in Izumi.
… Hatred, detestation.
A sensation similar to that ruled over Izumi as she
simultaneously recognized Keith as an enemy. Izumi glared at him
with a straight face.
It was the moment that within Izumi, a person she couldn’t like
no matter how hard she tried had been born.
And she spoke.
“Listen, just release Rudel’s hand and shoulder already.”
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 119: Hostility and Form
Chapter 119: Hostility and Form
“Release Rudel already.”
Izumi reached her left hand towards the sheath of the katana
hung at her waist, preparing herself to draw it at a moment’s
notice. Pushing up the hilt with her thumb, she intimidated her
enemy, Keith Elrond.
However…
“My name is Keith Elrond. My partner Spinnith is a water dragon.
Would you like to go flying with me next time, Rudel?”
He ignored Izumi.
“A getaway? I do want to try riding other dragons, but right
now, I have Sakuya, so…”
The man of whose eyes the women didn’t even seem to enter was of
high stature and pleasant appearance. But his chest area was
strangely laid bare.
As Izumi extended her right hand to the scabbard, Millia
frantically stepped in to stop her.
“S-stupid! You’re dealing with a dragoon. That’s no normal
man.”
Right. Dragoons were humans chosen by the dragons. No one could
imagine a normal knight winning out. In essence, a majority of the
dragoons were proficient when looked at as single knights.
Rudel was shaking Keith’s hand with a smile, and it seemed he
hadn’t the slightest understanding of his partner’s ulterior
motives. That only made Izumi needlessly more anxious. Her foe was
definitely handsome, he didn’t look all too strong. But Izumi
parted her right hand that trembled as it gripped her hilt
tight.
He looked weak, but he was a dragoon, of all things. If he was
hiding his abilities, then Izumi would never be able to
compete.
Mortified, Izumi managed to endure it.
“Elrond-dono, please step away from Rudel (Dammit, he’s taking
glances this way and laughing!)”
“Oh, what’s this? I don’t know who you might be, but you look
quite angry.”
“I named myself not a moment ago.”
Releasing Rudel from his grasp, Keith overreacted, covering his
face with his right hand and gazing up at the sky.
“Then I must apologize! I’ve little interest in a woman’s name,
see. I’m of the belief that as long as I remember my mother and
grandmother, the rest is unnecessary, and I can never work up the
mind to commit any to memory.”
“… And you’re the same as always.”
Bennet sounded tired, but she had long since given up. After
breathing out a sigh, she didn’t make any further remarks.
(I really don’t like this man.)
Izumi contained the emotions welling up as she glared at Keith.
Noticing her gaze, Keith looked over her expression with a grin. He
further rubbed Izumi’s nerves the wrong way.
◇
“… Rudel.”
“What is it, Major?”
Her tail waving around, Bennet looked over the glaring Izumi and
Keith as she pulled Rudel over. Her motions were practically that
of a little sister badgering her brother. Millia had nervously
separated from the glaring two, and in front of the entranceway,
the three of them discussed the next day’s plans.
“Starting tomorrow morning, we’ll be carrying out your training.
Let’s see… let’s start out with a one-on-one mock battle with me.
And then we’ll use our dragons to fight.”
“Really!?”
Looking at Rudel’s delighted face, while she spoke with a stern
expression, Bennet’s tail was happily wagging.
“Fool, now is the last time you’ll be able to rejoice. And I’ll
have you fight Keith as well.”
“The lieutenant? Isn’t he worn out, having only just
returned?”
“Do you think a dragoon can shirk duty simply because they’re
worn out? It seems you’ve asked the captain what it is you’re
lacking, but you haven’t fully comprehended it.”
“M-my apologies.”
Seeing a depressed Rudel, Bennet thought.
(T-that was a failure! I-I have to cheer him up somehow.)
From Rudel, she had heard about how Oldarts had informed him of
the things he was lacking in combat. But Rudel wasn’t having a good
time coming up with a resolution. Even if he was told to rely on
his partner, he didn’t understand exactly what he was supposed to
do.
Even if he was told to expand his field of vision, he could only
pack in experience.
In order to become a dragoon, talent was necessary, and in order
to aim for number one among them, one would have to polish
themselves more than anyone.
Bennet didn’t think Rudel had no talent. More so, she praised
him for believing in a talent he might not even have and polishing
himself to such an extent. While she had become a dragoon because
she had been granted the opportunity, he had bet his life to become
a dragoon, and that was something she would never be able to
do.
“Don’t look so down. If you fight me and Keith, you might find
your answer.”
“I will?”
“That depends on you.”
Bennet headed off towards Izumi’s glaring match.
She was trying to get Rudel to notice that the answer wasn’t
something set in stone. If the individual didn’t accept it, it held
no meaning. Like that, both Bennet and Keith had polished their
form as dragoons…
Human life was short. No matter how much talent one may have,
mastering everything was impossible. Cattleya was treated as an
exception to that rule, but that very Cattleya had committed a
large blunder when it came to Rudel…
And even if one was selected by a dragon, the partner dragon’s
abilities weren’t uniform. Even the gray dragons had variance in
their individual abilities.
He would have no choice but to choose what he wanted to
become.
(I’m sorry, my little subordinate. But this is a path you have
to grasp on your own.)
Having him fight her, and Keith, a different type of dragoon,
Bennet wanted to show Rudel examples of the forms a dragoon could
take.
◇
Early the next day, they made for a site far from the port town
of Beretta.
In that separated space, protected by Keith’s dragon, Izumi and
Millia watched over Rudel and Bennet.
It was a rough land of nothing but rocks, but Sakuya had taken a
liking to it, so there was a hole she had dug out nearby.
In that space without grass or tree, Rudel and Bennet faced one
another.
“Is that wooden sword your only weapon?”
“Yes, it’s the weapon I’ve used most.”
“I see… I use two daggers, three boomerangs, and a whip.”
As Bennet showed him her two wooden daggers and boomerangs,
Rudel seemed perplexed over how she could use so many weapons. He
was certain that polishing a single weapon one specialized in would
hold the highest efficiency.
Sensing Rudel’s thoughts, Bennet let out a sigh.
“I know what you’re thinking, but this is my style. Come at me
without restraint.”
Tucking her daggers into her belt, she readied a boomerang in
her hand. Putting the other two away in a pouch in her back, she
lowered her hips and took a peculiar stance. The boomerang in her
right hand against her shoulder, she directed the left side of her
body towards Rudel.
Rudel took a stance with his wooden sword, adjusting his posture
just a little. Sensing the movement of her eyes, and the minute
movements of her body, Rudel’s body reacted and started to motion
as well.
Unable to endure it anymore, Rudel launched a charge on Bennet,
approaching her with his high-speed movement. But swiftly leaping
to the left, Bennet cut at Rudel with her boomerang. By the time
Rudel had parried and corrected his stance, there was already
another boomerang in Bennet’s left hand.
(This is bad!)
While Rudel immediately moved from the spot to dodge, to the
place he transferred, a boomerang flew. From the projectile that
spun as it flew after him, he could sense a faint hint of mana.
Concentrating his attention on the two boomerangs that chased
him as he ran, Rudel knocked one out of the air. The moment he
returned his eyes to Bennet, controlling them remotely, he felt an
impact on his back.
Collapsing right onto the back, he managed to endure, left in a
state supporting his body with his left hand.
(She controls three at once? To think that was possible…!)
It was here Rudel regretted taking his eyes off her for even a
moment. Demi humans of the beast tribe never boasted much magic.
That put them at an overwhelming disadvantage, but as if to make
up, they boasted extraordinary physical prowess not held by the
other races.
As he held his wood sword horizontally, bringing it up over his
head, Bennet fell towards him, equipped with both daggers, the
force of all her body’s weight behind her blow.
Unable to endure the impact, he diverted the force and escaped,
but Bennet was able to follow his movements.
“That truly is an astounding way to get around. But if that’s
all you can do with it, then even I can keep up.”
Skillfully handling her daggers, she changed from forehand to
backhand, launching a series of attacks. If he used his full speed,
he might have been able to escape, but as Bennet made sure he had
no escape, Rudel was pressed into a hard fight.
(She’s fast! At this speed, I can’t put out my shield of light
or light bolts.)
“What’s wrong? Is that all it takes to be academy number
one?”
But Rudel had a bit of confidence in his swordplay. As he hit
aside one of Bennet’s daggers, she threw the other one at him to
take distance. Lowering down his sword, the deflected dagger made a
dull sound as it rolled across the ground.
By the time he noticed it, Rudel’s breath had grown rough.
That sensation of all his movements being sealed, it was
practically what he felt when he was going up against the
captain.
(This person’s also strong, after all.)
As vexing as it was, Rudel couldn’t withstand the smile
spreading across his face. While he couldn’t confirm that
expression himself, according to Aleist, it was the face of a
‘battle junkie’.
(Even so, I don’t mind. I’m going to become stronger. If I fight
this person, I’ll be able to rise even higher.)
“… You’re putting your all into every movement. Think about your
own stamina a bit more before you make a move. Finally, you’d do
best not to show that face to anyone else.”
Bennet was a little amazed.
Taking out the whip at her waist, she hit it once against the
ground. As a sound rang out that made it clear that would hurt if
it hit, Rudel took a stance with his wood sword.
Looking at Bennet’s whip, he recalled Eunius’ magic sword. That
one made movements like a whip, but here he was dealing with a real
whip. As he mulled over how he should handle it, Bennet’s whip came
at him as if it were a living being.
“But at this level!”
His wood sword became a magic sword, letting off light. But the
blade was easily entangled by the whip, destroyed just so easily as
well.
“You should’ve put up the magic sword sooner. Well if you did,
I’d have taken some countermeasures, but… do you want to
continue?”
On Bennet’s voice, Rudel stepped in to respond.
If the sword was no good, then magic. If magic was no good, then
his bare hands…
That was Rudel’s style.
“You’ve got spirit, but your movements are too
straightforward.”
Bennet tossed aside her whip, shifting her body just a little to
avoid Rudel’s fist. In that moment, a few strands of her hair were
severed, carried off by the wind, and Bennet opened her eyes
wide.
In the next instant, her knee had found its place in Rudel’s
solar plexus. On that knee hammered in with his own forward
momentum, Rudel was instantly grasping for breath. Even so, he
didn’t fall to his knees, so Rudel was quite outside the norm
himself.
“Even if I held back, it’s usual to collapse there, but… this is
the end.”
With Bennet tripping him up, Rudel found himself collapsed
face-up on the ground.
◇
“For Rudel to be played with like that…”
Making an unbelieving expression, it seemed Millia didn’t want
to believe there was that great of a gap in ability. The usually
adorable Bennet’s abilities were certainly worthy of a dragoon.
While Izumi really didn’t want to, she struck up a conversation
with Keith to ask about Bennet.
“How is Major Bennet ability-wise? Is she high up in the
dragoons, or…”
On Izumi’s query, Keith looked over the collapsed Rudel as he
answered. It was blatantly obvious he was begrudgingly answering,
but Izumi held it in.
“Yeah, you’d find her faster, counting from the top. Of course,
when it comes to comprehensive score, I’m higher than her.”
“You’re stronger than the Major?”
While Izumi thought it strange for the lieutenant to be
stronger, the individual sounded certain, so she decided to
believe. She didn’t think he’d lie about something like that.
“Is that not what I just said? Do you have ears on that head?
That woman over there was personally trained by the current captain
and vice-captain… how envious. When they only ever took me on
once.”
Irritated, Izumi sent her eyes back towards Rudel to find Bennet
nursing him. To be honest, she never thought there would be such a
gap in abilities. At this point, Bennet looked much more Major-like
than ever before.
“Next is the aerial battle.”
The two of them called their dragons and began a battle in the
sky.
But the match was over in no time.
“… He lost.”
“That he did.”
Confirming Sakuya falling towards the ground, the two thought
over that previous battle. The only impression they got was that
Sakuya had completely lost an upfront confrontation.
“Dammit! If the captain and vice-captain were closing in on me,
just who am I supposed to choose!? That charmer in his prime, or
the vice-captain and his villainous face… ah, I!… I’m!”
Watching Keith make a ruckus all on his own, Izumi’s eyes had
turned considerably cold.
“Izumi, what’s wrong? You’ve been a bit scary since
yesterday.”
Seeing Millia, who didn’t think anything, even looking at Keith,
Izumi hardened her resolve. She had to do something about it
herself.
◇
As Rudel looked after Sakuya, Bennet descended to the ground.
She didn’t ask him anything about that previous fight.
“Get in some rest. Your dragon shouldn’t have suffered any major
damage.”
‘Well, I did hold back.’
“Sakuya. Are you alright, Sakuya!”
‘My head hurts! A tail straight to the face!’
While Rudel frantically stroked Sakuya’s head, to Bennet, for
some reason it looked like he was depressed. Not over the loss, it
felt like it was coming from something else entirely.
“How is that, Sakuya, does it feel good?”
‘Not at all. It tickles.’
“… I-I see.”
(… He looks kinda depressed, but how am I supposed to cheer him
up?)
A troubled Bennet called out to Keith. There, he rushed over
with speed he had never shown before.
“You called?”
On his light tone, Bennet’s tail slumped powerlessly to the
ground.
She wanted him to treat her just a bit more like a superior.
Despite being from a noble household, he happily worked shirtless
in the dirt, alongside the town residents, and he even went out
drinking with the men. While Keith was always spreading smiles
around, he didn’t seem to hold particularly favorable emotions
towards her.
The battalions they were affiliated with were different, so to
be more precise, she was not his superior officer. But they were
among the few dragoons who possessed water dragons, so they were
often together on missions.
“After they get some rest, I’ll leave it to you. First off, have
a one-on-one with Rudel and–”
“I don’t want to. I want him to see me at my most beautiful.
Therefore, I’ll start with the aerial battle.”
Seeing Keith’s glare that showed he definitely wouldn’t yield,
Bennet fell into a slump, consenting without letting it show on her
face.
“… Got it. Do what you want. Rudel, next you’ll be having an
aerial battle with Keith.”
“… Understood.”
On his knees, with both hands against the ground, Rudel stood
and corrected his posture before giving an orderly reply. Bennet
was deeply moved, her tail wagging left and right.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 120: Form and the Wall
Chapter 120: Form and the Wall
Putting in a midday break, Rudel leapt onto Sakuya’s back and
rose into the air.
The wide, blue sky spread out, noon had just gone by, and the
light of the sun was strong. But as he looked at his foe, something
like the measly sun flew out of his head.
“We’re taking on a water dragon again.”
‘I won’t lose this time.’
As Sakuya thrust her fist towards her opponent a few times, the
dragon laughed. For some reason, he called out towards Rudel.
‘So that kid’s the aunty of the lake’s favorite. I’ve got some
hopes for you, but be careful not to get hurt. My partner’s quite a
troublesome one, after all.”
“Hahaha! How terrible, Spinnith.”
‘… And you should be especially careful.’
“I don’t understand the reason, but I’ll be careful.”
Rudel didn’t understand what Spinnith was trying to say. But
thinking it would be rude to ask here, for now, he concentrated on
the match. On a match with his superior, his heart was dancing.
This was a world he didn’t know, and there were plenty of strong
people rolling around.
That only made Rudel irresistibly delighted. Delighted that
there was still a higher level he could reach for.
“Then let’s have some fun with it.”
‘You’re going to aim for the rear after all.’
“He’s coming, Sakuya!”
‘I’ll teach you a lesson for calling Mystith aunty!’
‘No, I mean seriously, she’s my aunt. She’s my mother’s
sister.’
“Is that true?”
While Rudel learned an unexpected truth in the sky, with that as
the signal, Keith began moving.
“Let’s leave the talks at that. From here on, you need only be
intoxicated by my beautiful dance!”
◇
Looking up at the sky, the three girls and a dragon were
enraptured by the movements of Keith’s water dragon.
“No matter how many times I see it, he flies beautifully.”
The water dragon’s glassy scales caught the light and glimmered
in the air. That form was one thing, but unlike Bennet’s
performance before, he had a sense of sharpness.
He wasn’t leaving it to brute force, it was as if he was reading
his opponent’s every move. Reading Sakuya’s movements, and easily
slipping around Rudel’s shields of light. While he could surely
destroy them, he purposely avoided them as he slipped around to the
back each time.
“Is the Lieutenant’s dragon strong?”
As Millia called out to Bennet, she answered without moving her
face. She wanted to watch those movements, to steal as much of that
technique as she could.
“No, there’s barely any difference. More so, I’m sure my partner
Heleene is stronger.”
‘I won’t lost to the young ones, and I’m mama’s girl.’
As Heleene stuck out her chest, “That’s right,” Bennet answered.
The movements of the water dragon that left behind afterimages in
the air were making sport of Sakuya.
Was Keith’s magic preparing doubles of water, or was it the
dragon? Perhaps it wasn’t either.
(Talent truly is a scary thing.)
It wasn’t as if Bennet didn’t have talent. But the gap was
evident.
“Major, is Rudel actually weak? I can’t believe it. I’ve never
seen Rudel played with to such an extent.”
On Izumi’s worried voice, Bennet knew it was a misunderstanding.
She worried over how she was supposed to convey it, and worried
over whether she could get the point across well.
(Yeah~, teaching people really is difficult…)
So there, Bennet tried to compare her and Keith.
“Rudel is strong. To be blunt, he’s stronger than me. His
fighting style is still young, but if he trains, he’ll surpass me
in no time.”
“He can even win against you?”
“Yeah. But you see, defeating Elrond in an aerial battle will be
difficult. That dragon called Sakuya is unsuited to the air. And
just like me, Elrond’s dragon is a water dragon. Among the four
variants, it’s the one with the best balance.”
While wild dragons were all usually stronger than gray dragons,
the answer to which of the four was strongest had yet to come out.
The dragoons would all argue by emotion, and the strongest could
never be determined. Of course, one’s own dragon was always the
strongest.
Everyone thought so. And Bennet was the same.
If she fought Keith Elrond in an aerial battle, she would lose,
but she was certain her partner was stronger than Spinnith, and she
thought it wouldn’t lose out to any of the other species.
That was because water dragons had very few weaknesses.
As they could operate in the water, they were thought to be
dragons specialized fot the water. But that wasn’t so.
They were simply also good in the water, that was water dragons.
Slower than a wind dragon, but they could take second place in
speed. Less firepower than a red dragon, but even so, second place.
Less physical strength than a gaia dragon, but even there, they
were second.
Therefore, even if they didn’t have anything special, they
excelled in balance. And from Heleene, she had heard there was a
dragon who specialized in every single field.
“But he lost so easily.”
Bennet answered Izumi’s question as if it were only natural. But
inside, she couldn’t help but be anxious over whether she was
properly getting the message across.
“The reason it looked like he lost so easily was because I made
it look so. Don’t let your opponent do what they want. Don’t let
them bring it to their preferred way of fighting. It’s a way of
fighting you can only do if you have information.”
As Izumi and Millia didn’t seem to get it at all, Bennet
breathed out a sigh and looked at their faces. In truth, she wanted
to see Keith’s fighting techniques, but it was clear that teaching
her two juniors was more important.
“Don’t misunderstand. We dragoons are the country’s elite
brigade. It’s downright strange for Rudel- who just graduated the
academy- to be able to fight us. Graduated within the top ten of
the academy. Had barely anyone who could stand against them. This
is a unit filled with people like that.”
“E-even so, the difference in skill is way too intense.”
“Let’s see. If you’ll let me have my say, there’s barely any
difference between Rudel and me. No, if it just comes down to
power, swordplay and magic, that guy clearly has the upper hand. In
that sense, I’m weaker.”
Seeing the two still couldn’t understand, Bennet was starting to
panic. Just being stronger means victory, explaining it wasn’t so
simple was quite difficult.
“What that guy lacks is experience… something more
technical.”
◇
Out of breath, Rudel sent a sidelong glance to Keith and
Spinnith encroaching from behind as he produced his shields. While
their numbers climbed to a few dozen, as if slipping straight
through, his foe kept chase with barely the slightest
movements.
The most detestable thing was how he always maintained a set
distance as he followed behind.
“You should never show your dragon’s rear. Otherwise, it’s an
easy target.”
‘When you say it, it takes on a whole new meaning.’
“Hahaha! Now try putting up some more resistance!”
“Kuh! (I never thought he could be so strong. What makes us so
different!)”
On top of the fact his attacks showed no sign of hitting, his
opponent didn’t even try to make use of the terrain. It was as if
he was taunting Rudel.
Before an overwhelming gap in abilities, Rudel felt a different
sense of crisis from when he faces the captain.
While Rudel was delighted if his abilities even put him at the
bottom, when Sakuya was involved, that changed things. His heart
was starting to panic, would he be unable to protect Sakuya? He was
treasuring her too much.
‘Quit following us from behind!’
Sakuya turned all the way around, but in that instant, Spinnith
had transferred behind her. Before Sakuya could turn, he had
already started moving.
(We’re being read?)
Played around with in the air, Rudel and Sakuya were unable to
raise a hand to Keith and Spinnith.
With Heleene, Sakuya had the slight hope that something would
happen if only her attacks would connect, but now she began holding
fear towards their opponents.
‘Don’t get close to meeee!’
‘Now that’s just a mean thing to say.’
Against an opponent with leisure, Rudel and Sakuya were being
manipulated in their own desperation.
◇
“They’re starting to panic. Their movements are growing worse,
so they’re only falling further into Elrond’s traps.”
“Is that some sort of magic?”
Millia directed her eyes at the fight in the sky as she asked
the question. Bennet saw that even an amateur’s eyes could see that
gap in strength as she continued on the previous explanation.
“You could call it individual difference if you want. When you
call it talent, don’t you think it always comes off as mean?”
“… You mean to say Rudel has no talent?”
On Izumi’s thoughtful face, Bennet shook her head.
“Like hell someone who became a dragoon could go at it without
any talent. What I’m trying to say is that individual differences
definitely exist. It’s the same with the races. Us beast type
demi-humans have especially high physical abilities. But we have
low magic. That elf has below-average physical abilities, but her
mana is clearly higher than a human’s right?”
“W-well, yeah.”
When Millia conceded that her race was indeed like that, Bennet
continued on with the conversation.
“You have a sister in the dragoons, right? Major Lilim.”
“Yes.”
When talks turned to her sister, Millia’s expression became
serious. Izumi also listened in with deep intrigue.
“If you asked whether or not Lilim has talent, a majority of
people would say yes. And if you ask about Cattleya, everyone will
chime in to say she’s a genius. I don’t think that’s mistaken.
Especially Cattleya, her abilities have been growing amazingly
lately.”
Bennet recalled how the unmotivated Cattleya had shown some
considerable mettle as a dragoon. It was a good thing that she had
grown earnest these past few years, as her abilities had grown
alongside it.
From the start, even if she wasn’t the slightest bit motivated,
if you taught her, she’d be able to do it. What a human would spend
a few years to learn, in a month, or even a day she’d acquire it.
That could be called nothing short of genius.
“Um… how is that related to Rudel?”
“Yeah, let’s see. Meaning, what I’m trying to say is that he’s
the same, and from the eyes of those around him, he’s got talent.
It’s only natural. It would be strange for someone without talent
to be among the elites. If you don’t have talent, then even before
it comes to that, no dragon would recognize you.”
“But Rudel’s circumstances are a bit differ–”
“Right. But if you ask me, that’s something you can only say in
hindsight. Before someone strong, everyone will always look back
and say they have talent. (Ah, no! This talk is proceeding in a
strange directionnnn! What I’m trying to say is that it isn’t
talent, it’s form!)”
While she was sure she had failed, Bennet still tried to convey
it to the two.
“What I’m trying to say is that Rudel is plenty a monster
himself. Just by putting in a bit of experience, that guy will run
straight passed me in no time. To be blunt, just be teaching him
the knack and a few techniques, he’ll already be on another level.
That’s the sort of strength he needs.”
Bennet forcefully dragged the conversation back on topic and
said was she was trying to say.
“Talent has no meaning if it isn’t polished. And the time we
have to polish it is limited.”
“You mean you don’t have the time to train?”
Bennet felt like bursting into laughter at Izumi’s question, but
she endured it and recovered.
“No, I’m saying we don’t have the time to aim to be the best.
Life is short, after all. So I, and Elrond, and Lilim and Cattleya…
we dragoons all have to search for our own form.”
Just as Bennet had polished her own strength, Keith had polished
his aerial prowess. If you asked which was better, it depended on
time and situation. It wasn’t as if there weren’t missions where
she’d be acting alone, so you couldn’t say Bennet’s decision was
wrong.
Many dragoons would choose the same route as Keith. That was
simply how powerful a dragon was. To control them as best as
possible, a large number of training hours were required. As a
result, one would need to make a choice.
… About their path, and the path they would take as a
dragoon.
“The dragoons are the knights who, by possessing a dragon, have
expanded their options. But in exchange, there are things they have
no choice but to throw away. In this match, I hoped Rudel might see
what he wanted to become. It isn’t something to be told by another,
I want him to choose his own form.”
The three and one dragon looked up into the sky to see a number
of water orbs exploding, and Sakuya plummeting. Once the match
ended, the area was flooded out.
(Everyone looks up to the competent knights strong even up in
the sky, but that’s impossible. Cattleya-chan wasted a few years,
so I don’t know if she’ll be able to do both.)
Seeing a soaked Rudel and Sakuya collide with the ground, Bennet
held a bit of hope. Without talent Cattleya held, or the magical
prowess or time gifted to Lilim. Such was Rudel, but…
Unable to stand up to her feeble self, and unable to stand up to
Elrond, but…
(If he does manage to do it, I guess you can’t call it talent
anymore.)
… He somehow looked like he could surmount it all.
◇
While the party wanted to return already, Rudel’s match with
Keith still remained.
But Keith didn’t seem up to it.
“It’s already late, so can’t we return? The sun’s already going
down”
“What are you talking about? We still have plenty of time left.
And it’ll be over in an instant, so time is irrelevant.”
(So that’s how big the gap is between me and the Lieutenant… but
I have no choice but to accept it.)
Rudel hit both hands against his face to psyche himself up, and
a worried Izumi and Millia called over to him. Perhaps they
couldn’t stand to see a beaten Rudel any longer.
“Now let’s do this, Lieutenant!”
When Rudel wrung out his voice, Izumi and Millia reluctantly
took distance. And before Bennet could say anything, Keith stood
before Rudel. In his hand, he gripped a wooden sword.
“Hmm, when you’ve said that much, I can’t quite keep silent
myself.”
Keith’s partner dragon looked worried for some reason. Bennet
also took distance with a tired face. But for some reason, everyone
was closer than they had been in the match with Bennet.
‘Don’t go too crazy.’
(Is there really that much of a gap? He definitely is
famous…)
While looking into the dragoons, information on Keith had
entered Rudel’s ears a number of times. He was feared by his own
squad members, so he was surely strong.
Taking a stance with his wood sword, he concentrated and gazed
at Keith.
“Now! Come at me however you like!”
“Here I come!”
◇
“LIIEEEUUUTEEENNNAAAANNTTT!”
Rudel had taken Keith out in the first blow. Izumi and the
others could only watch as Rudel held him up in his arms and cried
out.
“See, it ended in no time, didn’t it?”
“… Um, Major Bennet. Is Lieutenant Elrond, um…”
Izumi seemed troubled with her words, but Bennet said it
plainly.
“Yeah, he’s ridiculously weak. When it comes to one-on-one
fights, he’s the absolute lowest rank among the dragoons.”
There, Millia stepped into their conversation. Perhaps she
couldn’t believe the sight before her eyes as she drew closer to
Bennet.
“But just a moment ago, he said his comprehensive rank was
higher than yours.”
Bennet crossed her arms and tilted her head. It was Izumi’s
little secret that those gestures healed her soul.
“Yeah, sure enough, in the comprehensive ranking, I think he was
higher. I mean, in aerial battles, he’s in the top five, so I’m
sure his rank is higher than me. About one or two spots
higher.”
Seeing the collapsed Keith, Izumi’s gaze turned cold.
Completely specialized towards piloting a dragon, Keith
definitely carried a higher ranking than Bennet. But compared to
Bennet who could pull off both land and air combat, Izumi couldn’t
help but hold Keith’s placing in doubt.
(I hate myself for ever fearing him.)
From that day forth, Izumi swore to protect Rudel from Keith
through the use of physical means.
“Izumi, you’ve been acting strange lately.”
“Y-yes, she’s definitely scary.”
Seeing Millia and Bennet fearful of her, Izumi mulled over just
how she was to convey Keith’s level of danger.
◇
A few days later, Rudel stopped by Bennet.
It was already late into the night, but he had eaten through all
his takeout. He dropped by at a time where he thought Izumi and
Millia would already be asleep.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
Chowing down on the leftovers of dinner, Rudel cut into the main
reason he came over. While it was true he had run out of takeout,
if he felt like it, he could dive into the sea and take another
fish out.
There was a reason he came to Bennet without doing that.
“Major, I want to become stronger.”
At Rudel’s words, Bennet folded her arms in her pajamas and sad
in her chair. Today, she was wearing bear-print sleeping garments.
She even had a hat.
“You’re already plenty strong. And there’s little I’ll be able
to teach you. The knack for battle, and the techniques are
something you need to pick up in real combat.”
“I don’t mind! If that’s what will make me stronger, I’ll learn
any technique.”
Bennet took Rude’s empty bowl, poured in the leftover soup from
the saucepan, and handed it over to Rudel.
“I don’t mind teaching you. But are you sure? Rather than my
techniques, if you simply train yourself, you’ll be able to become
strong.”
There, Rudel downed another bowl of soup before answering.
“I don’t mind. I’ll just be training more. I’ll learn the
techniques and train myself as well.”
Bennet rubbed the corners of her eyes, a tired look on her face.
But after letting out a sigh, she looked just a little down and
laughed.
Seeing that expression, Rudel was surprised that his strict
leader had smiled.
“What a greedy noble. Well, that’s just about right for you
noble lot… you better prepare yourself for tomorrow. And
Elrond!”
“What?”
Casually appearing, Keith opened the door and entered Bennet’s
kitchen. While Rudel was also surprised, Bennet who called for him
was holding her head.
Perhaps she never thought he would be there, or she hated how it
was exactly what she expected. Rudel was unable to tell.
“I never thought you would actually come, but… well, whatever.
From tomorrow onwards, you’re accompanying Rudel’s training. You
have no right to de–”
“I’ll be harsh starting tomorrow. Why don’t you go to sleep early,
Rudel?”
While Bennet was in the middle of talking, Keith still followed
her orders, so while Bennet seemed a little unsatisfied, she
nodded.
Once Rudel learned the two of them would be training him, he
brightened up and stood. And he lowered his head.
“I’ll be in your care!”
“Leave it to me.”
“Yeah, in that case, lead the way to the bed…”
The moment Keith made a pass, the door to the kitchen was
violently opened. Wearing her sleep-wear pajama, Izumi appeared
with her katana in hand. Three sets of eyes gathered; Bennet was a
little surprised, while Keith took a step back at her
expression.
Her neck a little tilted, Izumi who appeared expressionlessly,
alongside the darkness of the room, it was exceedingly
terrifying.
But Rudel alone was…
“Listen to this, Izumi! From tomorrow onwards My commanding
officers will be helping me train. With this, I can become stronger
again.”
As Rudel delightedly reported, Izumi smiled. Unlike her prior
expressionlessness, and the slight hair stuck fast to her skin,
right now, she joined Rudel in his celebration.
“Good for you, Rudel. And could you wait a minute? I need to
have a talk with that illegal trespasser.”
Her smile reverted to an expressionless state, and while Rudel
and Bennet frantically stopped Izumi as she pulled her blade from
her sheath, Keith made an irritated face as he retreated.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s8.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 121: The Wall and Light
Chapter 121: The Wall and Light
In the port town of Beretta, a tattered Rudel crawled out of the
sea.
A rough breath, and large movements seemed painful on his body.
But Rudel’s face was smiling.
“It was a harsh battle… but I won the match!”
Holding a spear up high, he hoisted his spoils high to the
heavens. There, a fish much larger than Rudel’s body- still very
much alive- was thrashing about.
While they could see the young man holding up a fish that
surpassed four meters in size, those around were putting out an
atmosphere as if to say, ‘He’s at it again’. The town residents who
had suspended their work for a meal were beginning to return their
eyes to their lunch.
What Rudel saw was Bennet and Millia, lunch boxes spread
out before them as they ate their meal. From how the contents were
the same, he inferred they were both made by Bennet.
Rudel had once eaten Millia’s homemade food, but from the nice
appearance of the lunch boxes’ contents, he determined they had to
come from Bennet. Millia’s cooking was, according to Keith,
‘biodegradable waste’, apparently. To Rudel who could eat anything,
he thought that was a bit too cruel, but he did remember it didn’t
taste very good.
“… What are you doing?”
As Bennet stared at him blankly, still in his undergarments,
Rudel began using his sword to disembowel the fish. He answered
normally.
“I ran out of take out, so I’ve switched to local sourcing.”
As Rudel replied with a straight face, Bennet could only say, “I
see.” While she sent him a bit of a pitying look, Rudel returned to
preparing his meal.
“It never occurred to me that someone would locally source their
lunch. And isn’t the water cold this time of year?”
Having lately grown accustomed to Rudel’s eccentric actions,
Millia was taking some fleeting glances at Rudel’s body. But when
he suddenly jumped into the sea during lunch break, she never
thought that would actually be to secure lunch. She was a little
fed-up.
Raising a fire with magic, he began roasting the fish when
Sakuya and the dragons took notice of it.
‘That fish is a tasty one, right?’
‘It’s delicious, right?’
‘There aren’t too many of them around, right?’
“… There’s no helping it.”
As a result, only a meager portion remained in Rudel’s hand.
Even so, it was more than enough for a single person to eat.
Biting down grandly over the red flesh of the fish that looked
practically like a high-class steak, Rudel looked over the
construction of the port.
The birds swooped down the clean up the intestines he had
discarded. Under the blue sky that expanded over the port town, the
piercing light of the sun was blinding.
“It’s getting along quite well.”
Bennet answered Rudel’s muttering. While he hadn’t said what he
was referring to, as one who had helped out in the work, she
understood what he was trying to say.
“If you use a dragon, the work goes forward. While we’re behind
schedule, it shouldn’t take too long at this rate. If the plan
proceeds favorably, the port’s construction will be complete, and
we’ll take over the work of some other brigade member and head to
the site of our next mission.”
“Major, you’re moving away?”
At Millia’s fluster, Bennet wager her tail. Rudel wanted her to
teach him many more things, and that would be troubling. He headed
off towards Bennet.
“Don’t misunderstand. A port isn’t something constructed so
quickly. There’s at least another year left to go.”
While both Rudel and Millia were relieved, Rudel was delighted
over the training he received. Meanwhile, Millia was more relieved
about the food.
Neither Izumi nor Millia were able to cook like Bennet. When
looked upon from the side, they were completely being led along
with food. The only who didn’t notice that were the three being
baited and Bennet.
“Hah, after this break, Elrond should be coming to help out with
the work. You’ll be training with me in the afternoon, Rudel.”
“Yes, Major!”
As Rudel rejoiced, Millia whispered under her breath.
“That’s all well and good, but put on some clothes already.”
◇
The training was generally carried out near Sakuya’s den.
The fact there were no people around, and they wouldn’t be a
hindrance to the port’s development had already been confirmed, so
they made use of that fact.
At the same time, Bennet was calculating to try and make this
wasteland as habitable for humans as possible. When the scale of
the town increased, there was nothing lost in having as much
exploitable land as possible.
(Is it about time to have her make a den somewhere else?)
By having Sakuya live there, what was once a desolate landscape
of rocks was now starting to sprout weeds. While the gaia
subspecies was generally thought of as useless, when it came to
transporting large cargo and mending the soil, they were way too
capable.
And their armoring and power were top class among the
dragons.
“Major… I finished running.”
A sweat-stained Rudle returned to Bennet. Running along the
terrible footing of the crags and mountains had been added to his
basic training.
That was the beast tribe’s standard training, but with his high
physical abilities, Rudel was able to carry it out with a bit of
pain.
“I see. Then today, let’s work on your special skills.”
“My specials?”
“Now bring out that shield of light thing of yours.”
When Bennet issued her orders, Rudel stored power in his left
hand. A little later, a shield of light manifested in the air.
(… That really is convenient. Moving a shield around by his
will.)
If Bennet simply wanted to make Rudel stronger, she had
determined there wouldn’t be a problem if he continued firmly
training his foundation as he always had. Eventually, he would be
able to beat her even if he just brute forced his way through. But
it was true if he polished some technical skills, he would be able
to aim higher.
“Is concentrating power in that left hand your hobby? In that
case, you should stop at once. You create too large a gap, and
you’re merely informing your opponent of your next move.”
In essence, Bennet was able to prevent Rudel from using his
shield and light bolts by keeping it so he couldn’t focus his
attention on his left hand. It was too easy to cancel out.
“… I think that’s possible, but with my style, I can’t help but
focus my power on my left hand.”
Seeing Rudel lost in thought as he looked at his left hand,
Bennet nodded a, sure enough, in her heart. As he generally held a
sword in his right hand, Rudel had a habit of invoking magic in his
open left.
“If you can substitute something else, then do it. At the very
least, make it so you can focus your attention on anywhere in your
body.”
To test it out, Rudel started with his right hand, and with a
slightly greater lag than his left hand, a shield of light took
shape. Throwing one of her boomerangs at it and seeing how easily
it was destroyed, Bennet was convinced.
(The quality’s fallen much further than the ones he makes with
his left. But I should see this as room for improvement.)
After thinking a while, Bennet issued Rudel an order.
“Rudel, henceforth, we’ll be training every day so you can make
a shield from anywhere. What’s more, a small, strengthened one.
After that, we’ll make it so you can move them freely.”
Rudel tilted his head.
“I can already move them well enough.”
Seeing Rudel rotate the shield he made, amazing, Bennet thought
as she let out a sigh, and did her best to create a mocking
air.
“Are you an idiot? I’m telling you that you have to be able to
produce stronger shields. Try making them the size of the palm of
your hand. It would be even better if you can discard the shield
shape entirely.”
“Discard the shape?”
“Even if you call them shields, based on how you use them, they
can be weapons as well. You’ve used them like that a number of
times, right?”
“You’re right.”
(If he can raise the quality of his shields, that would be
plenty, but it would be even better if he can give them a new
form.)
Seeing Rudel recall something, Bennet thought back over Rudel’s
data. While he was using them as shields, from the eyes of those
around, at the very point they floated without him having to hold
them, it could only be said they were exceedingly versatile.
What’s more, Cattleya had witnessed Rudel riding his shield over
the water’s surface. There was no need to fixate on the shape of a
shield. When he could think up a use for it like that, Bennet
couldn’t understand why he would fixate on that form.
(Hah, the captain’s pushed a tough one onto me… but for the sake
of my cute subordinate, I have to do my best!)
Bennet recalled what she felt when she first looked over Rudel’s
data. Even since Rudel awakened as the white knight, he had devoted
an exceedingly large amount of time towards controlling that power.
While the forceful parts stood out a bit, he had changed from his
early days where he had focused on technique.
(The reason he’s so mismatched is surely because he
awakened.)
When he had always been worried over his lack of power, when
that was bettered, this time he was on the verge of becoming a
power type. The individual himself couldn’t keep up with those
changes.
(In that case, what he needs right now is… a change of style?
No, if we raise his base and give him enough control over it, that
should be best.)
From Bennet’s point of view, Rudel was full of pointless action.
That abundant pointlessness was the cause of his loss.
(The captain definitely pushed him onto me because it was a
pain, right?)
Recalling the captain who trained her, Bennet offered the
struggling Rudel some advice.
“Rudel, when a powerful attack is coming towards you, what do
you do if you can’t dodge?”
“… I’d block it.”
“Let’s say you can’t block it with your power. I’m not taking
any objections.”
While Rudel was about to say something, he dropped his
shoulders.
“You parried my attacks a number of times. Why was that?”
“Because rather than catching the blow, that would lessen
the…!”
Noticing something, Rudel began changing the shape of his
shield.
“It’s only natural to strengthen it, but there is no need to
block every single attack. Just changing the direction of force is
a considerable strength. Try using your head a bit.”
“Yes!” Rudel delightfully responded, while Bennet crossed her
arms and wagged her tail.
◇
Seeing Rudel borrow Bennet’s shoulder as returned, Izumi, who
had taken the day off, made a face as if to say, ‘this again?’
But her face was just a bit happy as she scolded him.
“He’s all beaten up again.”
“Pretty much. He has way too much stamina, so he always pushes
it too far. It makes me tense just watching him.”
Handing Rudel off to Izumi, Bennet headed to a back room to
change out of her dirty garments. Lending Rudel a shoulder, Izumi
sat him down in a chair,
“I-I did my best today.”
“I see, good work.”
“I’ll get stronger tomorrow.”
Looking at Rudel who was unable to stand, Izumi began preparing
the meal she had cooked. The sun was setting, and thinking that
Millia would be back soon as well, she put the pot over the
fire.
He moved his body until it moved no more, and once he got back,
he would eat and then sleep. Sleep soundly until morning came, only
to leap up the next day and get back to training. It wasn’t
something the normal person could imitate.
Within all that, he also had to carry out paperwork and
development work, so the burden on Rudel was in no ways light.
“Tomorrow, I’m training with Lieutenant Keith.”
Rudel informed Izumi with a smile, and the one in question
listened in with a smile as well. She already knew from the start,
and she had arranged her schedule for it. Izumi was working hard
not to leave Rudel and Keith along together.
(If only those two had the slightest sense of danger.)
Bennet and Millia both seemed estranged from that sort of thing,
and they felt no danger at all. Izumi mulled over whether or not to
tell them, but she hesitated to say such a thing to the innocent
Bennet.
If she told only Millia, that would bring about the problem of
making Bennet feel mindful and left out. She was strangely
sensitive to that sort of thing. In a situation where she was the
only one who didn’t know, the way she held her anxiety was also
cute, and Izumi had watched it all the way.
(… No, that’s no good, me!)
Somehow crawling up from that train of thought, Izumi listened
to Rudel’s story as she sensed a presence. Right after that, Millia
returned to Bennet’s house, but Izumi had reached a hand for her
nearby katana.
“I’m back… wait, what’s this!”
While Millia was surprised to see Izumi holding her sword, after
following her line of sight, she came to an understanding.
“Hey there, Rudel. Let’s take it nice and easy with tomorrow’s
rendezvous.”
Raising his left hand, directing a smile at Rudel, the amiable
young man in appearance alone received a scary smile from
Izumi.
“So you’ve come again, Lieutenant Elrond.”
“Hahaha, it’s not like this is your house, right? The owner told
me to drop by now and again.”
“You’ve casually told another lie. How many times does that make
this? I confirmed it with Major Bennet, and she never said such a
thing. In the first place, you only come here with eyes on Rudel,
right?”
“And what of it?”
At Keith’s face, completely devoid of any wrongdoing, Izumi’s
smile stiffened up.
“He’s out of your league.”
“Foolish woman, let me teach you my true strength. I’m not a
dragoon for nothing! Spinnittthh!”
As Keith called for his dragon in a loud voice, Izumi braced
herself. While the notion of seriously cutting him down before his
dragon came crossed her mind, Keith was acting strange.
“… Eh? Eating, so you can’t? I-I see.”
It was a dragon’s voice that Izumi couldn’t hear, but she could
tell what was going on. The dragon had prioritized his meal over
Keith. Or perhaps it was precisely because it understood the
circumstance that it refused.
It was a dragon much more decent than its contractor.
“…”
As Izumi silently stared at him, Keith averted his eyes. There,
Millia lightly hit Izumi on the head.
“Quiet down.”
There, Izumi noticed Rudel giving a sleeper’s breath from his
chair. Keith also felt sorry and decided to withdraw.
“What a wonderful sleeping face. By the grace of that face, I’ll
let you off tod–”
“Get going already.”
Under Izumi’s glare, Keith ran straight out of Bennet’s
house.
◇
Meanwhile…
In the royal palace, Aleist let out a sigh as he cleaned. The
room was beautifully polished, but somewhat lacking in motivation,
Aleist looked out the window.
“Millia…”
The form of Aleist’s powerless mutter, the members of his
platoon looked at their commanding officer mulling over something.
The fact he didn’t look like he was worrying over a single woman
was surely because of his devilish appearance.
But all of Aleist’s worries came from how Millia had gone off
with Rudel.
At this point, he couldn’t even put his all into training. When
the war event was closing in, he just couldn’t work himself up.
This was also largely because he didn’t understand his own
strength.
Aleist wasn’t weak.
But as he had seen Rudel’s strength, lately, he had gotten
around to wondering if Rudel would just bring an end to it. You
could also say that was just how large Rudel’s existence was to
Aleist.
But…
“Is Aleist here!?”
The one who heartily slammed open the door and entered was
Eunius. Aleist worried that the dust he’d piled would fly away as
he halted his window wiping and approached Eunius.
“What is it? I’m really busy right now. Today, the cleaning of
the noble visitor room is…”
“Fool! You’re fitting in way too well!”
Having completely developed a love for cleaning, at this point,
Aleist’s apron fit him like a glove. And Eunius yelling at him had
removed the uniform he was usually supposed to wear. By palace
rules, wearing his knight uniform was supposed to be an
obligation.
“Anyways, what’s up.”
“It’s Luecke! The bastard went and did it!”
As Eunius threw a newspaper at him, Aleist wiped his hands off
on his apron before reading the article. Under a large heading, a
picture of Princess Aileen and Fritz had been painted.
“The Common Man’s Hope, his Name is Fritz… did he always look
that cool?”
As he complained the artist had made him too handsome, Eunius
cried out.
“The small article under that! I told you I was talking about
Luecke, you damn fool!”
Shifting his gaze below, he found an article about his former
classmate Luecke Halbades.
The contents were short, but it was written that his thesis was
accepted by the magic community. In the introductory statement, it
was written that he was first rate as a knight as well.
“I don’t really get it, but that bastard went and did something
big, so I can’t keep quiet anymore. Then it came to me. Have you…
ever heard of the holy sword?”
“I know about it (That thing really dragged me all over the
place in-game. But while I definitely would like a holy sword, the
most practical thing for the current me is…)”
“Then that makes things fast! We’re off!”
“… Eh?”
“As I was saying, we’re going off to search for that holy sword
thingy. There are rumors that the place with the holy sword is
dangerous, right? Then it’ll be perfect training. Are you going to
let yourself rot away here? I can’t bear the thought of being
overtaken by those two.”
Those two were surely Rudel and Luecke.
But the current Aleist and Eunius had their duties. There’s no
way they could get permission for arbitrary action so quickly.
“Wait! I’m the same, but don’t you have work to do? Eunius,
let’s all calm down and…”
“I already got permission. Look.”
On the document tossed over, Aleist’s platoon was officially
charged with the security of Archduke Heir Eunius Diade.
“Eh? Why…”
Despite Aleist’s surprise, Eunius didn’t really know the
specifics either, so he scratched his head and answered.
“I don’t really get it, but the talk passed through. We’re
setting out soon, so prepare yourself. Also, if we’re lucky, we
might drop by Rudel’s place as well.”
“I’m going!”
As Aleist swiftly began to tidy up his tools, he issued orders
to his subordinates and got them preparing for departure.
Looking over his nimble actions, Eunius laughed a bit, but he
was so happy he didn’t’ mind being watched.
(I can see Millia.)
When their dreams are in sight, it is only human to work harder.
Aleist was no exception and using the bait that was Millia, Eunius
had hooked Aleist into his trap.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s9.txt
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EpubPress - Sun Aug 20 2017 - Dragoon 122: Light and the Two
Chapter 122: Light and the Two
‘Sakuya can do it!’
“Definitely not!”
Rudel and Sakuya were having a rare quarrel. From the side, it
only looked like he was trying to anger his dragon, but to Izumi
who could hear her voice, it was a pleasant scene.
This all started when Bennet watched Rudel’s treatment of
Sakuya, and…
“Send Sakuya on an errand… Alone.”
“That’s not happening.”
When Rudel denied it with a smile, Izumi recalled how pitifully
Bennet’s tail slumped.
“Listen, Sakuya. The outside world is full of dangers.”
(No, you’re talking to the strongest dragon on land, right?)
‘Uuurrh, but I can do an errand!’
(Yeah… rather than an errand, it’s carrying cargo.)
Gazing over their quarrel Izumi leisurely sipped some tea as she
listened to the somewhat mismatched conversation. They were on
break at the moment, and Bennet also sat beside her, listening to
the quarrel.
At times, she would ask Izumi to translate what was being
said.
“Hah, what does he think his partner is supposed to be?”
While Izumi agreed with Bennet’s sigh-mingled amazement, the
fact she knew the circumstances too well meant that she couldn’t
say anything too strongly against Rudel.
To Bennet, no matter how she saw it, he was going too far.
“That’s not how you raise a dragon. He’s being too
overprotective when she had to develop some self-confidence.”
“Is that so? Sakuya is technically the boss of the dragon
stables, it seems.”
When she heard Sakuya had become the boss of the dragon stables,
Bennet’s bearing wasn’t exactly the best. As she contracted a rare
water dragon, she was always sent around, and she hadn’t been to
the stables in a long while.
She probably thought to do something about that distorted
environment.
Sending her out on an errand was a form of education.
“If she has that much power only a few years from her birth, I’m
a bit worried for her future. For now, she has Rudel, so it won’t
be a problem, but in a hundred years, it will be scary when there’s
no one left to hold her reigns. Worse comes to worst, this country
is done for.”
That’s going too far, thought Izumi, but as she looked over the
problematic duo of Rudel and Sakuya, she grew anxious.
“If we have an older dragon look after her…”
“A dragon’s sense of values is different from a human’s. That’s
why dragoons exist. If they would abide a human’s values, we would
need not be any more than normal knights.”
Bennet gazed at Izumi. Perhaps she hit on something as her tail
swung to the side.
“I-is something the matter?”
“Very well. Special Inspector Izumi, is it not about time you
went to the palace to report?”
“Eh? Oh, yes, it’s about time I headed to the palace to report
our present situation. I was thinking of leaving it to
Millia…”
“No, special inspector, I do think you should go. I’ll even arrange
for your transport. With this, you’ll be able to cut down on
time.”
Bennet was looking at Sakuya, so Izumi did have a vague idea.
She planned to have her send Sakuya off.
But Izumi had a reason she couldn’t leave this site.
… She had to protect Rudel from Keith.
“I understand your reasoning, but I cannot quite leave my
po–”
“I’m sending Elrond out shopping as well.”
“… I’ll go.”
Learning that Keith was going away, Izumi resolved herself to
make for the capital with Sakuya. Bennet entrusted her with a
letter to Captain Oldart.
◇
Seen off by a depressed Rudel, Izumi had Sakuya land in the
designated site near the capital.
“I’ll finish my report quickly, so you have to wait
quietly.”
‘Can I dig a hole?’
“You cannot. Once we get back, we’ll ask Major Bennet for the
next spot to dig.”
‘… Come back soon.’
The area had become rowdy, so Izumi took her documents and
headed for the palace. She was to give a regular report to the
captain of the high knights, but she had come with bad timing, and
both the captain and her superior officer were out.
As she stood troubled in the hallway, she noticed she couldn’t
spot Aleist and his platoon, who were usually somewhere around,
cleaning.
(Last time I was here, this was about the time they cleaned the
hallways… were they given another mission?)
The way things were, she wouldn’t be able to return within the
day. As she stood troubled, she spotted the dragoon captain
and vice-captain coming from the opposite side of the hall, so she
raised a hand and approached.
The captain Oldart smiled, raising his right hand in greeting,
but Vice-Captain Alejandro made a troubled face.
“Hey there, little lady. You look like you’re doing well.”
“Yes. It has been a while, dragoon captain.”
“How stiff. Well whatever, Sakuya-chan’s here, right? I don’t
see the future archduke around, but is he off somewhere?”
Wondering if they had been out looking for Rudel, Izumi answered
normally.
“No this time, it’s just me and Sakuya. Rudel is keeping
house.”
On Izumi’s joke-mingled response, the vice-captain covered his
face with his right hand. Seeing Izumi’s face as she wondered what
she had done wrong, Oldart informed her of the reason.
“You haven’t noticed? It’s not a good idea to show a dragon
following someone besides their contractor. Who’s decision was
it?”
“… M-my apologies.”
“From that look, it doesn’t look like it was you. In that case…
it’s not Rudel, so probably Bennet-chan?”
Oldart called Bennet with an added –chan. There, Alejandro gave
a reluctant mutter.
“That’s why I said I didn’t want to leave him with Bennet.”
“It’s not going to help anyone, saying something like that so
late in the game. And when we discussed how we didn’t have anyone
besides Bennet-chan we could leave him with, you couldn’t say a
thing. You just nodded.”
The sight of the dragoon top dogs arguing was a troubling one.
Izumi began to worry over whether the actions she had thought so
little over would develop into a massive problem. But Oldart smiled
and reassured her.
“Ah, you don’t have to worry. It’s just in bad taste, but these
sorts of things happen quite a bit. You see, every time this
happens, the folks who want to try taming a dragon start to make a
ruckus.”
Unlike Oldart, Alejandro was making a tired face.
“And we’re the ones who have to deal with it.”
They sure are troublesome, said Oldart as he directed an eye to
the documents in Izumi’s hands. Once he realized it was a report,
he offered to hold onto them for her. While she wondered if she
should really show them to someone who wasn’t her superior, once
she heard her boss was on a long-term business trip, she decided to
entrust them.
They were documents Oldart was supposed to look through anyway,
and he said he would explain the situations surrounding them.
Relieved, Izumi asked about the two dragoons stationed in the
port town of Beretta.
“Bennet-chan and Keith?”
“Yes. I don’t know much, or rather, I don’t know a thing about
them.”
Exchanging a glance, Oldart and Alejandro exchanged a look as if
wondering how they were supposed to explain it. Izumi did seem
curious, so Oldart led her to the dragoons’ office in the
palace.
◇
Leading Izumi and Alejandro to that room in the palace, Oldart
had a subordinate prepare tea and sat Izumi down on the sofa.
“Telling you about them would be easy, but before that, I guess
I’ll ask. Young lady, how do those two look to you?”
While Oldart seemed to be testing Izumi before her eyes,
Alejandro didn’t show any particular reaction. He reached a hand
for the sweets the servants of the palace had prepared.
“Major Bennet is, um… a reliable one. But Lieutenant Elrond
is…”
That was close to the answer he expected, and Oldart gave a
grand laugh. There was definitely no mistake in their rankings.
Their quirks were just too strong, that most people would always
mistake them. It was always like that.
“A cute commanding officer, and a dangerous manlover, is the
impression you got, right? That’s not a mistake, you don’t have to
worry.”
“I-I see.”
Perhaps thinking she was being teased, he sensed Izumi put up
her guard, so Oldart cut into the main topic.
“Well, this is a perfect opportunity. I wanted someone who knew
the situation.”
“Is that really alright?”
When Alejandro entered the conversation, Oldart only nodded.
If Rudel and Sakuya opened their hearts to her, Oldart
determined it wouldn’t be a problem. What’s more, he had looked
into Rudel and Izumi.
When he sighted Sakuya today, Oldart had decided he would
talk.
“This is something they themselves haven’t been informed of, but
you know how the area around the border’s been noisy lately?”
“N-no.”
Seeing Izumi surprised at the sudden change of topic, Oldart
continued on.
“Well, it seems someone’s wary, so we decided to station the
strongest forces we had on hand. But there are quite a few folks
who would grow noisy if we stationed so many around the border, so
we decided to place our strongest dragoons in land and air at the
port town of Beretta, where it’s close enough to send
reinforcements.”
“And that’s those two?”
“They don’t look it, right? But they really are our trump
card.”
While Oldart gave a laugh, Alejandro made a somber face. While
he didn’t want to admit it, their capabilities were certain.
Extending a hand to the documents, he started to explain. Things
were going largely as he had expected. If he wanted to train Rudel,
then rather than sticking him under some half-baked instructor, he
had decided to put him under the strongest dragoons in active
service.
The fact he was blessed with an opportunity, he saw it as a true
stroke of good luck. Those two that led around rare water dragons
were exceedingly busy. Their mission sites were often close to the
border, and they rarely ever returned to the capital.
This was coupled with his personal desire to not have Keith come
back.
Having stepped down from active duty, the former captain and
vice-captain didn’t have the stamina left in them to train someone
as out of the norm as Rudel. And those two were already training
the members that had caught their eyes. They thought he would have
no choice but to train on his own.
But there, among the active dragoons, the strongest on land
Bennet, and the strongest air fighter Keith got together. When they
were sending Rudel off to the outer reaches, Oldart even sensed a
hint of fate.
“Bennet-chan is good at looking after people, so if anything
happens, you should ask her. You should really avoid asking Keith
anything.”
While Oldart laughed, Alejandro averted his face. Knowing what
had happened, for the sake of the vice-captain’s honor, and the
stability of his heart, Oldart decided not to touch on old
wounds.
“Are they really that strong? Neither of them said anything of
the sort.”
“They’re strong, or rather, they’re in another dimension. An
idiot who’d try to pick a fight with Bennet-chan… doesn’t exist.
Her appearance is that, but anyways, she’d doted on. If anyone
tries to pick something with her, the defenders will come flying
over. Ah, by that, I don’t mean the official one, Bennet-chan has
her own personal defenders among the dragoons. They really will
come flying, so watch yourself.”
“That’s nothing to laugh about. Good grief… I don’t know what
your intention is, letting such a dangerous group be for so
long.”
“No, Bennet-chan’s a former subordinate, and she’s a good girl.
She’s not losing out on anything with her appearance, but the way
she worries about it is cute. I’d really like a certain boomerang
girl to learn from her.”
By the way, the captain of the defenders was Oldart. He was the
ringleader who set up an assembly to protect Bennet from the
shadows.
“I never noticed they were that strong.”
“Well, when it comes to demi-humans, you can’t really help it.
Normally, it wouldn’t be strange if she stood out even more than
Cattleya, but for better or worse… that girl has no talent in
driving dragons.”
The reason Bennet specialized herself in land battles, it was
because she was lacking in talent when it came to flying dragons.
In contrast, Keith excelled in his dragon control.
Even so, she had made a contract with a water dragon. In a
situation where she could no longer say she had no talent, Bennet
had chosen her own form.
“I put her in the Major spot left open for Cattleya, but if it’s
troubling her, maybe I should think over it.”
Finishing his tea, Alejandro offered Oldart a warning.
“Whatever the case, it’s already been decided. She leads a
valuable dragon. It would be troublesome if she doesn’t do her best
as a Major.”
Looking over the report, Oldart sensed she was worried and ended
up groaning. While things were fine as they were, he needed to
prepare some subordinates for Bennet, and fast.
Perhaps after she had trained Rudel, he would place some new
recruits under her.
“Um, did Rudel know they were both so…”
“That guy? He knew. Well, it seems he didn’t know their exact
strength, but on the contrary, I’m the surprised one.”
Inside, he wondered how he found out, but thinking that he would
be able to look into it with his status, he swallowed down the
word, ‘creepy’.
Perhaps as revenge for being smacked, or because he couldn’t
forgive the fact his daughter had fallen for him, or perhaps both
at once, Alejandro spat some cynicism.
“Hmm. It’s best for him to learn of reality. In this world,
there’s always someone higher.”
“Well, the two of us have already reached the summit, mind
you.”
As Oldart laughed over his joke, Izumi seemed lost in
thought.
◇
On the way back to the port town of Beretta, Izumi looked up at
the sky as she called out to Sakuya.
“Hey, Sakuya. Do you think I have the qualifications to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with Rudel?”
‘I don’t really get it, but Izumi belongs with Rudel. And with
Sakuya too!’
You’re right, she muttered.
Izumi looked at the orange-dying sky as she thought over her
current self.
(When everyone around is going ahead, is it really alright if I
stay like this? Shouldn’t I search out my own form…)
Once she had thought that far, she suddenly recalled Rudel’s
back. That back she had chased after from her student days, she was
assailed by a sense of unease that it might fly far away once
more.
Even when she knew it would never reach, Izumi looked at her
right hand with a sorrowful look on her face.
(At the very least, I want enough strength to stand next to
him.)
The place she should never wish for. It was by Rudel’s side. But
at the very least, in work, in her mission, she wanted to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
For that sake, she needed strength.
Once she returned, Izumi decided to consult with Bennet.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 114-124_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-114-124-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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title-page.txt
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Dragoon
Arc
6
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s1.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 125: The Port Town and the Empire
Chapter 125: The Port Town and the Empire
In the port town of Beretta, Eunius and Aleist were undertaking
Keith’s tutelage alongside Rudel.
The expedition had displayed quite some interest in a lesson
from a dragoon like Keith.
Inspectors Izumi and Millia also sat, under the blue sky,
receiving the salty sea breeze as they watched Keith drag a
blackboard over. Bennet sat next to Rudel with the intent to learn
what she could.
While Izumi didn’t mind it, Millia was taking some fleeting
glances. From Izumi’s point of view, she wanted her to be more wary
of Keith, but she was troubled over how she couldn’t bring herself
to say it. For the innocent Millia and Bennet who didn’t possess
the knowledge, Izumi had some resistance to explaining everything
from scratch.
Aleist’s subordinates were listening in from behind Izumi. While
they looked to be a graceful gathering at a glance, the lecturer
Keith seemed quite displeased.
“Why are there so many women? You’re in the way.”
“Lieutenant, please tell us what today’s lecture’s about!”
“Good question, Rudel. Today I’ll have you do some classroom
learning on the relation between dragoon and dragon. I could teach
you through practicals, but it would be better if you started those
out with the knowledge, after all.”
When Rudel raised his hand to ask a question, Keith instantly
made a smile. He was as unfazed as ever. Gripping her beloved
katana’s sheath in her left hand so she could draw it at any
moment, Izumi didn’t let her guard down for an instant.
“First off, we’re going with current and past relations. In the
past, dragoons largely focused on fighting to protect a dragon’s
back. That really hasn’t changed, but fundamentally speaking,
against a monster capable of piercing a dragon’s scales, a human is
powerless!”
As Keith suddenly rejected a dragoon’s reason to be, Rudel
directed some serious eyes. His face flushing, Keith continued on
his explanation.
“Then if all you have to do is find yourself some means of mid
and long-range attack, you just have to draw out the dragon’s own
power. That’s how I see it.”
On the blackboard, Keith drew an x over the picture of a knight
firing magic from a dragon’s back. While Keith was definitely weak,
he had still cleared the basic physical criteria to be a
knight.
“Protecting a dragon’s back is something of the past. In the
current era, they’re shifting towards controlling their dragons,
but… that really is meaningless, you know. I mean all they’re doing
is removing the ‘protect the back’ part of their duty, those
slackers.”
“But mid-range attacks are…”
“I’m telling you it’s meaningless, shrimp.”
Bennet’s objection was cut down by Keith. There, Rudel to her
side tried comforting her.
“It’s alright, Major! I also think mid-range attacks are
important.”
“A-aye.”
Millia and Keith watched over that exchange with irritation.
Izumi thought the way Bennet happily wagged her tail was cute.
After clearing his throat, Keith went into an explanation as to why
it was unnecessary. It was surely because of the emphasis Rudel
placed on mid-range attack methods. If it was Bennet’s opinion, he
had already discarded it.
“If all your own attacks can do is serve as a diversion, then
you’re better off concentrating on giving orders to your dragon.
That’s the honest-to-goodness truth. But I thought I’d take that
one step further. You better put the words, ‘draw out a dragon’s
power,’ into your head.”
“Draw out its power?”
When Izumi let out her voice, that’s right, Keith muttered with
a click of his tongue. Rudel and Bennet sunk into thought.
“What do you mean by draw out its power?”
Bennet asked. If her orders took precedence, the dragon would
move, it had always been like that and she didn’t understand the
meaning of the words themselves. It was a question quite fit for
Bennet, who had gained a means of mid-range attack to protect her
dragon’s back.
“All you’ve ever done is order it around. What I’m trying to say
is pulling out its abilities. Let’s see… I don’t mean to tack on a
little extra strength. What’s important is control. You have to
operate a dragon’s power. I have this one technique called Rainbow
Mirage, and that’s a prime example of this theory in motion!”
While he proudly unveiled the name of his technique, no one
around seemed to understand what it was. As Rudel looked around
troubled, Izumi extended a helping hand.
“Rudel, um… he’s talking about that body double technique.
Probably.”
“You mean those body doubles, Lieutenant!?”
Against Rudel’s sparkling eyes, Keith faltered. As Izumi smiled
at her small revenge for all his usual conduct, with a mortified
face, Keith changed his technique name from Rainbow Mirage to body
double.
Those clones of water he produced, Rudel had seen them as well.
He just didn’t know the attack name, and Izumi had somehow noticed
and connected the dots. Being understood, put him in quite an
unpleasant mood.
“A dragon’s latent abilities are high. In order for us dragoons
to control them, more than the telepathic bond we share, we need to
understand one another. But… in your case, your dragon’s a
subspecies, so it’ll be difficult.”
“It’s difficult?”
On Bennet’s question, Keith informed her there were absolutely
no documents available. You can’t draw out what isn’t there. It all
starts from looking into past records to see what sort of thing
their dragons have done, and what they’re capable of. That was
Keith’s way of going about it.
But Rudel’s dragon Sakuya was a gaia subspecies. What’s more,
even if its appearance had some common points, it was easier to say
it was a separate species entirely.
“In this case, the problem is that the dragon itself hasn’t
noticed its own attributes. She’s still young. No, she’s way too
young.”
Seeing Keith seriously mull, Eunius was surprised. He whispered
over to Aleist who was sitting beside him.
“He’s surprisingly decent. I thought he’d be a bit more of a
lost cause.”
“Hah? Of course Keith-san is decent.”
“… Just where does that trust of yours come from. You’ve got to
tell me sometime.”
Izumi endorsed Eunius’ opinion as she worried for Aleist’s
chastity. But to Izumi, Rudel was higher on her order of
precedence. Meaning even if Aleist was assaulted in some way by
Keith, she was going to let it be.
She wasn’t abandoning him. If Izumi raised a hand, she
understood the situation would clearly take a turn for the worse.
While Aleist’s chastity was important, by protecting him, there was
no guarantee his harem members wouldn’t misunderstand
something.
As things stood, Millia had yet to become wary of Keith. From
Izumi’s point of view, she was wary of the harmless Bennet, and
what a wasted effort that was.
“If you give the average dragoon a value of one, while dragons
all have individual difference, the power difference puts them well
over a hundred. It’s generally impossible for a human to win out
over a dragon, after all.”
After writing that humans can’t beat dragons on the board, he
sent a glance around as if to ask, ‘then what are they supposed to
do?’
“Adding your own power onto theirs is slight and insignificant.
If all you’re doing is protecting its back, then you should
strengthen the dragon. That’s why I decided to draw out my dragon’s
strength. The body doubles is a part of that. You make the shape of
a dragon with water, and imitate the surface.”
“Is that really possible? Mana-capacity-wise, you wouldn’t be
able to use that much magic too many times.”
Rudel tilted his head. There, Keith spoke with a smile.
“Hahaha, I can’t create those doubles on my own. Who do you
think I am? I don’t have that sort of mana, and I don’t have the
control. That’s why I put my own dragon to it. I understand his
exact characteristics, transmit a clear image, and support him in
the finer points. With that alone, a dragon’s strength rapidly
increases. You don’t need some mid or long-range magic. More so, as
long as you can do something like this, you’re doing good as a
dragoon.”
While the eyes watching Keith grew surprisingly favorable,
Bennet put a damper on his parade.
“Hey… doesn’t that mean you’re casting off everything apart from
aerial combat?”
“And what of it? Something so savage as fighting on the dirt
isn’t suited to me. Just have that gorilla Cattleya do it or
something.”
Did something happen with Cattleya? Izumi thought, as Keith’s
lesson came to an end. As Aleist headed off to help him clean up,
Eunius approached Rudel.
“Oy, Rudel.”
“What is it? I was planning on helping the Lieutenant.”
“It’s been a while, let’s have a match. You’ve been going all
over the place, and it’s boring me to death. Aren’t you curious to
see how strong you’ve become?”
“… Eunius.”
While Rudel made a bit of a fed-up face, Izumi understood. That
wasn’t him fed up over Eunius challenging him to a match.
“You better not regret it.”
“Good grief. You guys are always the same.”
A ghastliness befell upon Rudel’s smile that could be called
battle mania. Seeing that expression, Eunius also changed to a
ferocious grin.
Bennet looked over the two with tired eyes, but she looked just
a little happy.
However…
“I can’t stand it anymore!”
Looking at Rudel and Bennet, Millia finally exploded.
◇
“I’m telling you, the major is definitely dangerous!”
“C-calm down. The major isn’t dangerous at all. More so, that idiot
over there is–”
“They’re both guys, right? What are you talking about, Izumi!”
“… Hey?”
“What?”
It did seem Millia was mindful of the female knight of the wolf
tribe close to Rudel. While they did get along, Eunius saw it as
the relationship between superior and subordinate. He knew his
close friend Rudel, and Bennet’s actions didn’t have anything to do
with man or woman.
And yet, Millia was wary of Bennet. Still such accusations,
Bennet still stood with resolution, but her tail and dog ears were
in a terrible station.
“Why is that woman so angry?”
“Are you talking about Millia? She hasn’t seen eye to eye with
Izumi lately. It’s been like that ever since we came here… Izumi’s
been aggressive towards Lieutenant Keith, and Millia’s been wary of
Major Bennet. I don’t know the reason either.”
“Ah, I see. Right, right. That’s the sort of guy you are.”
Recalling how Rudel wasn’t wary of Keith, Eunius was convinced
his friend’s chastity had been protected by Izumi. He suddenly
wondered whether Aleist would be alright, but he had a number of
key harem member with him, so he’d probably be fine, or so Eunius
changed his train of thought.
As Rudel didn’t understand, he mulled over whether to inform
Rudel that Keith was dangerous precisely because they were members
of the same sex. In truth, even if the two of them had their
innocence stolen, he thought it might become a funny story.
While he was worried, it was interesting no matter which way the
ball rolled. Keith was so entranced with Aleist and Rudel that he
calculated there was no danger of himself becoming a casualty.
More importantly…
(This isn’t the atmosphere to have a duel.)
The fact he wasn’t able to fight Rudel displeased Eunius. It did
seem Millia and Izumi had stolen the flow away.
The arguments of women would gradually intensify. At first, they
would argue over whether Keith or Bennet was more dangerous,
gradually shifting to things of the past. Eunius thought women who
never forgot their grudges were scary.
“You called me a bug back at the academy, didn’t you!”
“T-that just came to my mind during the match and… t-that has
nothing to do with what’s happening right now!”
Two of Aleist’s harem stepped in to soothe them, but the problem
was they didn’t have the slightest effect. Within that never-ending
argument, Bennet pulled at Rudel’s sleeve.
“D-did I do something problematic?”
While she acted out a firm bearing, her voice was shaking. Her
eyes were swimming around. To such a commanding officer, Rudel
spoke gently.
“That’s not true at all! You’re the ideal superior, Major! I can
say with pride that I’m glad to have become your subordinate.”
“I-I see.”
As she averted her face, Bennet’s tail swung happily from left
to right. Her form brought to mind the image of a dog rejoicing
after receiving praise from its master.
But thinking it was strange the voices had died down, Eunius
looked at Millia and Izumi only to feel intense regret.
“Just look at that! Just look at how much that woman’s tail is
wagging! She’s definitely gunning for Rudel!”
“I’m telling you, that’s not the sort of thing we’re dealing with!
Can’t you get a grip already?”
Seeing the exchange between Rudel and Bennet, the two heated up
even further. The members of Aleist’s harem around had already
given up on persuading them.
(These guys are useless!)
I won’t be able to fight Rudel today, Eunis instinct promptly
informed him.
◇
“… They’re more vindictive than I thought.”
“That does seem to be the case.”
Fina’s room at the academy was already in a state more like an
office equipped with a bed. Having entered her final year, Fina
only had a few months left until graduation.
While Sophina thought a school life that ended with fluffing and
work was mistaken, she didn’t say it aloud. If she didn’t have the
needlessly competent Fina, she never would have made it this far to
begin with.
On top of the nobles and authorities connected to Aileen, the
augmented war potential of the royal guard…
Everything had come together.
“When we have to prepare on two fronts, the border and the
palace, they only have to pay mind to the palace, so they sure have
it easy.”
“Worse comes to worst, can’t we keep it to the palace? In that
scenario, we can concentrate our own forces.”
“… That’s no good.”
While Fina didn’t know how both sides were connected, she did
suspect how each side reacted and moved in accordance.
While they would likely move the moment her side showed an
opening, the enemy country was showing movements as if they knew
precisely when that time would come. It was a dangerous situation,
Sophina thought over the worst possible scenario and wanted to
concentrate their forces at the palace.
Rather than trying to win both fronts, she wanted to stop
Aileen’s reckless that was definitely going to break out.
But Fina’s opinion differed.
“In the case that the empire has gained the means to stand
against the kingdom, there is no meaning if we suppress the palace
alone. If they manage to snatch up a large amount of land, then
they will gain just as much power on the rematch. The top brass of
the kingdom will need some time to recover from its chaos, and in
that time, the empire should be able to get its war potential
together. If we don’t suppress both fronts, we won’t survive.”
The empire’s hatred of the kingdom, from the people of the
kingdom’s point of view, it was nothing but false charges. You live
on abundant soil, so fork it over, is what they were saying. That
was the country’s recognition of the empire.
Sophina knew the lands of the empire were impoverished. What’s
more, she knew just how important it was to them to invade Courtois
and steal its soil.
“When territories are stolen, there will be some nobles who turn
coat. And if I let my sister get away, there will definitely be
nobles to raise a rebellion. We have to win both sides no matter
what.”
As she accepted a few documents from Fina, Sophina made a grim
face. The nobles they recognized to be allied with Aileen. In a
situation where they couldn’t lose to the Gaia Empire or Aileen,
the country of Courtois… Fina’s powers were being cornered.
No, it wasn’t a corner they were being driven into. Fina had
started this match well-aware of her disadvantage.
Within a present state that only grew harsher the more time
transpired. Fina was trying to create a build up a stage she could
overcome. Sophina was also moving and lending her power for that
sake.
“… If nothing else, it’s our fortune a princess was allowed into
the academy. Before the enemy moves, we’ve been able to build our
own personal forces like this. If we were in the palace, we’d never
be able to move to this extent.”
Sophina’s opinion wasn’t mistaken. In the palace, they would
never have been able to establish so many connections. At the same
time, they were able to move away from Aileen’s eyes. It could
truly be called fortune.
“I know, right!? It’s because I’m loved! I’m a maiden loved by
the fluffadise above! You can call me the fluffmaiden if you wish…
no, that doesn’t sound right. I get the feeling maiden’s veering in
the wrong direction. This body of mine ain’t gonna stay pure for
long.”
Seeing Fina’s tension suddenly rise, Sophina noticed it was
about time for her concentration to run out. As she had Mii prepare
tea, Fina leapt out of her seat and headed off towards the white
cat tribe lass.
“If only she didn’t have this side, she’d be perfect…”
Sophina breathed out a sigh as she gazed over Fina
expressionlessly fluffing up Mii.
◇
“The results of the experimental subject?”
Mies Licorise wore a lab coat.
In the laboratory, her subordinates were busily making records
of the cages containing the black monsters. The final adjustments
on the strengthened monsters were being in that lab of the Gaia
empire.
Ogres and orcs, wyverns and a wide array of different monsters,
you could say their control experiments were proceeding
smoothly.
“No problems to report. It has already received a high
evaluation taking on monsters within imperial territory.”
Taking the documents from her subordinate, Mies read the report
of the newly formed unit. When operating monsters, if taking
command was possible, they needed an exclusive unit to do so. For
that sake, they were conducted experiment after experiment,
combatting monsters on imperial soil.
Seeing the papers that reported absolutely no problem, her
subordinate seemed self-confident. But Mies was beginning to fear
it a bit.
“If we keep on succeeding like this, it does feel somewhat
eerie. More importantly, it seems some of the monsters they took on
fled in the direction of Courtois, but how is that handling?”
“Nothing to worry about. It’s a common occurrence. Some common
monsters were just driven out of the mountains.”
As her subordinate showed no particular concern, Mies warned him
not to let his guard down. To her, this research held a vital
meaning.
“We’ve been pushing ourselves too hard this past year. The
higher-ups told us not to make too big of a ruckus before the
invasion, so be careful henceforth.”
“Y-yes.”
As her subordinate man left the area, Mies headed for the space
in front of the largest cage. Their prototype of a large monster
called a gora sat quietly, still with its ferocious expression on
its face. On top of the fangs that stuck out of its mouth, when it
became an enhanced variant, its skin and fur dyed a shade of black,
making for a truly ominous sight.
For some reason, a white tattoo spread across its body, and
large bat like wings spread out form its back. The gora’s eyes
narrowed as it looked at Mies, it almost seemed to be laughing.
“… You monster.”
A cold sweat running along her back, Mies left with due
haste.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s2.txt
|
EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 126: The Hippogryph and the Knight of Shadows
Chapter 126: The Hippogryph and the Knight of Shadows
Noon had already passed by the time the notice reached the port
town of Beretta.
To the three dragoons on duty, a report came in that some towns
and villages near the border were under attack. The ones who
delivered the messages was a knight mainly tasked as a
messenger.
Those knights who rode hippogryphs, crosses between horses and
gryphons, were a shadow unit largely specialized in working with
information. Unlike the dragoons, who could only take action as a
public affair, they would accomplish their missions without
standing out.
The hippogryph took the form of a horse, entering the port town
with an innocent face. But those knights who tamed beasts even
rarer than dragons were those who served directly under the royal
line. It was unnatural to find one in a place like this.
“You’re telling us to sortie?”
Wearing a hood, the knight’s face couldn’t be made out. While
the inside of the hood was definitely dark, they seemed to be
wearing some sort of mask.
After bringing their feet to Bennet in civilian clothing, they
gathered the relevant personnel and undid their disguises in the
meeting room.
Eunius and Aleist, who had been forcefully dragged along the
way, showed different reactions as they stood before a knight of a
famous brigade, in a sense.
While Eunius was full of interest towards that nameless brigade
he was seeing for the first time, Aleist firmly tilted his head.
Even when it came to hippogryphs, it seems he didn’t even know of
their very existence in this world.
While gryphons were impossible to tame by human hands, if one
were to sire a child with a mare, a hippogryph was the result. That
being the case, gryphons would more often than not make meals of
horses, and hippogryphs themselves were infertile. For that sake,
their conception itself was rare.
“Yes. We do not have the ability to hold them in place. Speaking
to their scale, the option of diverting them away from the towns
and villages will prove difficult.”
Before the masked knight who replied to Bennet with a muffled
voice, Keith was silent. While Keith was usually the sort to start
a ruckus, when it came to work, his expression changed.
“The scale is far too grand. What happened?”
“We cannot offer you the specifics… but, it’s certain they’re
flowing in from the empire’s side. To add to that, it is doubtful
that a second wave will come.”
“Counting the small fries, it’s a scale surpassing a
thousand.”
“I observed them from afar, and they seem to be searching for
food. It’s a considerably dangerous situation.”
Bennet put together a plan from the information coming in. But
there, Aleist stepped into the ranks. From what he had heard, it
was certain this knight sat and watched while the monsters attacked
a village.
“You don’t mean you overlooked them!”
As he drew close to a robed knight, Eunius grasped his
shoulders. When Aleist turned, Eunius shook his head to the
side.
“That’s just the sort of unit this one belongs to. While they
may be knights, they’re the sort of folks who conceal their numbers
and history to work for the crown. That they even came to notify us
is a miracle.”
Eunius turned his gaze to the robed knight. The knight who
couldn’t be made out as man or woman showed not the slightest
quiver. As Aleist looked down, Bennet came to the conclusion they
were in a situation where no ordinary means of communication was
viable.
“Keith, take the lead and take down the monsters around the
settlement under attack. Upon my arrival, I’ll enter ground combat.
After that.–”
“I-I’ll go too!”
“Oy!”
When Bennet put out orders, Aleist let out his will to tag
along. Eunius thought it was a discourtesy to involve one’s self in
the dealings of another brigade and tried to stop him. But Bennet
gave consent.
(This might be just right.)
“Rudel, this time, you’ll be riding my Heleene. If those two
over there wish to ride, they can come along as well.”
As Bennet gave the word, Keith made a stern expression. He
surely wanted to criticize her for taking any unrelated people to
the site, however, Bennet informed him before he could open his
mouth.
“At the battle site, procedure has you come under my command.
What’s more, the tagalongs have simply increased from two to
four.”
Keith scratched his head, and while he didn’t fully accept it,
if it was an order… or so he silently rushed out of the room. Just
as he left the meeting room, his dragon started its descent outside
the building, having been put on standby in the air.
Thinking he would be a reliable subordinate, this time, she
turned her whole body towards her direct subordinate Rudel.
“Rudel, you will not be taking Sakuya on this mission.”
“Major, Sakuya can do it. If it’s just monsters, then–”
“It seems you are misunderstanding something. Let me spell it
out clearly. What is demanded of us is the perfect execution of a
mission. She did her best? That effort isn’t even worthy of
evaluation. I have determined it is impossible for your dragon to
execute the mission. That is why you’re not bringing her.”
On the verge of opening his mouth, Rudel looked down mortified
as he put nothing more than his acceptance to mouth. While Bennet
wanted to try cheering up her subordinate, they didn’t have the
time. Thinking there would be some time to talk en route, she
rushed into her preparations.
“We’re heading out at once. Prepare what you can, if you’re not
at the plaza, you’ll be left behind.”
After calling over to Aleist and Eunius, Bennet rushed out of
the meeting room herself. For her equipment, she just had to fasten
her bag to her dragon.
She could settle Rudel’s worries in the sky. That’s all she had
to think, and yet she ended up mulling over something
unnecessary.
(Sakuya-chan’s going to be depressed.)
◇
Following on from Keith’s lead, the party headed off for a
counteroffensive, but from her dragon’s back, Bennet issued the
orders for the site.
“Protection of the civilians?”
In regards to Izumi’s question, Bennet spoke.
“That’s right. Rudel and I will sweep up the monsters that
infiltrated. The rest of you will be guarding the civilians who’ve
evacuated. Generally speaking, you’d be in the way otherwise.”
Hearing he would be in the way, Aleist started to his feet, but
Eunius stopped him. The very fact that the usual Eunius would
probably rise at those words as well only made Aleist more
surprised.
“We’re capable of fighting too.”
“She knows that. She took us along because we can fight. But
this is Rudel’s job. We shouldn’t get in the way.”
Being talked to in a manner as if to soothe a child irritated
him, but Aleist had no words to return. He understood. He never
thought he’d be able to establish coordination with the others in
this battle, but he did have the will to help.
Both side of the coin mingled within him, leaving him at a loss
for words.
“Aleist, leave it to me and the Major.”
When Rudel said it, Aleist could only nod.
(Goddammit. Aren’t I supposed to strong? Wasn’t I supposed to
have become strong?)
He was irritated at his own uselessness. If he was the
protagonist of the story, then no matter the time, he should be
able to make the impossible possible. So he thought, but the real
him was different.
Cleaning day in and day out, he was an existence distant from
anything that could be called the lead role. Even so, some day… he
had held onto the belief, but he knew reality was never so
sweet.
Raising his face, he looked at the town raising black smoke. If
they carried out their lives, surely smoke would rise, but it was a
dark smoke that failed to give off the slightest sense of
liveliness. On that scene where he thought he might hear human
screams at any moment, Aleist swallowed his breath.
(I’m scared.)
He wasn’t afraid of battle. He was afraid of his own
powerlessness. Atop the dragon’s back, Aleist strengthened his
resolve. Just as he was about to tell himself he wasn’t the same
useless child he once was, Bennet…
“We’re landing in the town plaza, but we don’t have the time for
a descent. I’ll put her on an inverted flight, so just jump
down.”
“Yes! … wait, what?”
From the large bag fastened to the dragon’s back, Bennet
produced a metal boomerang that spanned her whole height.
What’s more, it wasn’t just one or two. She had stuffed what
could be called several dozens of boomerangs into her bag.
“Major, should I hold that for you?”
Rudel called out in worry, but Bennet wagged her tail as she
denied it.
“You fool! What good will it do in your hands? Keep a good eye
on the way I fight. If Keith is doing well at the vanguard, then
right around now…”
In the air above the town they approached, a water dragon was
firing a stream of attacks towards the ground. Attacking the area
around the ground, it eliminated the monsters flying through the
sky. But as a dragon’s attacks would raze the town, its assault was
limited to the town’s airspace and exterior.
Seeing the skillful manipulation of the dragon, everyone held
the impression it would be impossible for Sakuya. More than that,
she might even erase the town alongside the monsters.
“… Looks like he’s doing just fine. Heleene, meet up with
Spinnith and strike down the monsters around.”
As Bennet called out to her own dragon, the dragon gave a single
roar in the air. It was as if it was responding to say it
understood. If anyone apart from a dragoon saw the scene, it would
look like a one-sided conversation with a dragon.
“Then we’re off.”
“Ah, wai… gyaaaah!!”
Taking a sudden nose-dive, Heleene turned and flew in a position
with her stomach face up. From what had once been a stable flight,
her motions changed to a trajectory that brought a roller coaster
to mind. Aleist was never too good with roller coasters.
“Aleist, you’ll bite your tongue.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
While Rudel worried for Aleist, Eunius was making a fed-up face.
With this being their first real battle, neither Izumi nor Millia
found the leisure to pay mind to Aleist’s tensions. Meanwhile,
Rudel was calling out to those two.
Aleist regretted it just a bit that he had missed the perfect
opportunity.
“And here we go.”
Watching Bennet’s back, Aleist was surprised. Grasping a bundle
of those large boomerangs, she went straight into throwing them.
The number thrown in that instant was six. From there, they flew,
spinning with good momentum to find a target in the monsters on the
ground.
Each time they stuck into the earth, they would sew monsters
onto it. Once she had finished throwing eighteen, Bennet cried
out.
“Now, jump off!”
Seeing everyone jump off, Aleist jumped down just a little late.
His timing slightly off, he was the only one who fell into the
fountain in the center of the plaza. After his body struck the
fountain water that rose to about knee-level, he sunk from the
weight of his equipment.
“What are you doing, Aleist!? You’re alright, right?
Right!?”
“I-I’m fine…”
Crawling out of the water, Aleist sent Millia a smile. But
Millia immediately commenced a survey of the area.
While Millia had called out to him, Aleist was the sort who was
happy even if it was a yell. Looking around, they could see Bennet
and Rudel commence their action.
“I saw them evacuating to the south in droves. You lot, head
straight south!”
With those words, the two started running west and soon went out
of sight.
“Bennet-san has good eyes.”
Holding such an out-of-place impression, Aleist hardened his
resolve as he and the other three ran off to save the
townsfolk.
◇
While they each possessed different means of high-speed
movement, looking at the result, it seemed as if Rudel was just
barely managing to follow.
It was a small town, where three story buildings were rare, and
the highest they would go. The two of them were clearing up
monsters in the area where the residential buildings were closely
packed together. But in the space where Rudel defeated a single
monster, Bennet was defeating them one after the next.
Defeating a monster on the move, she would instantly search out
her next target.
(She really is fast.)
When it came to instantaneous acceleration, Rudel wasn’t losing.
More than that, when it came to speed, Rudel surely had the upper
hand.
Bennet tossed two knives at the two goblins who tried to flee
into an alleyway. With their vitals accurately captured, the two
died instantly.
Bennet and Rudel leapt freely across the spaces between
buildings, but their movements were different. Rudel couldn’t help
but decelerate right before an attack.
There, they heard a scream.
When he slowed down to check, he found a single orc about to
lower an adze of stone and wood down at a family unit. IT would
likely fall under the more clever variety of monster. Rudel swiftly
moved to the space above the orc, accelerating towards the ground
as he used his sword to bisect it.
For a while now, he had stopped counting how many monsters he
had taken down.
As the orc split vertically spurted blood, Rudel was bathed in
it. Seeing that form, the family who had been attacked raised a
greater scream as they ran off.
The left arm he had extended in an attempt to assist them,
before he noticed it, Bennet had approached and grasped it.
“What are you doing? The cleanup isn’t over yet.”
“But we have to ensure their safety.”
“In the time you spend saving a single family, many more
residents will die. They fled up the path we cleaned up and came
down, their probability of survival is high.”
The family that ran off without lending an ear was already out
of sight.
“We can leave the monsters outside town to Keith and Heleene,
but we’re the only ones who can take on the monsters who came
in.”
Seeing off Bennet, who commenced movement after leaving only
those words Rudel grit his teeth. He understood it in his head. But
when it was actually before his eyes, he had some hesitation.
Beginning his movement a little late, he caught up with Bennet, who
had lowered speed.
“Get it in your head, the more you waver, the more people will
die. And that is the extent of your strength. If you want to save
them, you have to become stronger.”
“… Yes.”
Saying that as Rudel caught up, Bennet accelerated again. In
order to follow, Rudel raised his speed. While desperately keeping
on her tail, Rudel watched her back.
She had already used up all the boomerangs she shouldered, and
she didn’t have my throwing knives left. But that didn’t lower the
speed she took them down. It just went to show how diverse she
was.
At the same time, she wasn’t using any unnecessary power. Her
movement and attacks gave off the impression she was only using the
minimum necessary. To Rudel, it looked like he was watching a
professional work.
In contrast, Rudel’s means of attack were limited. As they were
in the middle of town, he couldn’t use magic. When attacking on the
move, the accuracy would fall, and if the magic of the needlessly
powerful Rudel failed, it would incur damages onto the area.
If he had Sakuya, the damage would become something severe.
(Sakuya, me and you, we’ve got a long ways to go.)
Bennet kicked away an orc before his eyes, sending a number of
goblins tumbling down alongside it. Perhaps she had inserted her
kick into a vital, as the orc showed no signs of moving. She had
run out of throwing knives, now holding a dagger in each hand,
changing to a dual-wielding style.
With that, her movements only grew sharper.
Even when approaching an enemy was when one’s movements were
supposed to require the greatest amount of caution.
“Just right. Rudel, I’ll show you by example. Burn it into your
eyes.”
As the two of them landed on a rooftop, Bennet ordered Rudel to
watch before jumping down. While there were monsters fearful of the
combat prowess she had shown, perhaps seeing her form, there were
some who misunderstood her as weak, as they began to flock.
Her appearance was that of a young girl, a weak one at that.
Even if a few of them had comparatively good heads on their
shoulders, there was a limit to that. In regards to the monsters
coming at her, Bennet showed no panic.
In the next instant, after she had lightly jumped twice on the
spot, to Rudel, it almost looked as if she had disappeared.
Immediately activating his magic eyes, Rudel traced her
movements. It was a speed no different from his own, perhaps even
slower, but rather than his emergency bursts, her movements were
smaller.
For all the speed he had, Rudel couldn’t help but make his
movements large, and it was here the difference was coming out.
There was no waste in each step she took.
By the time he realized it, the surrounding monsters had been
cleaned up.
◇
Meanwhile, Eunius and the others who were to prioritize the
protection of the townsfolk were protecting the evacuees from
monsters.
The largest building in town was apparently a fort built up ages
ago.
“Goddammit, there’s no end to them.”
Cutting down two monsters with his great sword, a blood-stained
Eunius used a cloth to wipe off his face. That had been the last of
the monsters who’d approached.
But even so, given just a bit of time, the monsters would group and
attack again.
Climbing onto the surrounding buildings, Millia used sound to
notify them whenever monsters were approaching. She could handle a
bow, and they were thankful she could take the stragglers down from
that position.
“Eunius, switch out with me.”
“Are you stupid? I can’t use a lick of magic. You stay at the
entrance and continue with magic support.”
Returning Aleist to his original post, Eunius observed Millia
and Izumi. No problems with Aleist. In front of the building the
townsfolk had evacuated into, there was a small courtyard. As they
could use magic there, then it was easy to defend against monsters
of this level.
“Even so, if we didn’t happen to be there, what did that cute
captain plan on doing… well, she’s got her dragon, so I’m sure it’d
work out.”
He shifted his eyes to Izumi. Millia was keeping wary of the
surroundings. There didn’t seem to be any particular problems on
her side, but Izumi’s exhaustion was severe.
Apart from battle, she was put to looking after the residents
who’d evacuated. Eunius would treat them too roughly, and with
Millia, there were some race-related problems.
More than anything, Aleist was unreliable in these sorts of
things. As a result, the burden was placed on Izumi.
Calming the townsfolk in chaos, and be that as it may, she still
dealt with the monster attacks. The enemies came in numbers too
great, and even Aleist’s magic wasn’t able to completely deal with
them.
“The uniform of a high knight really is effective.”
The fact Izumi was a high knight had an effect, more or less. Of
course, from the townsfolk’s point of view, it wasn’t as if they
understood her affiliation. They decided by appearance that some
splendid knight was talking.
Aleist and Eunius were in civilian clothing, and the defenders’
uniform didn’t look much different from that of the rank and file
to begin with.
But even with Izumi persuading them, the residents continued to
riot, making it even worse in nature. There was a merchant-esque
man who demanded they go out to save his child left behind. Because
his wife died, there was a man who rushed out saying he would die
as well.
Eunius felt an anger he had nowhere to place as he thought of
how he would fulfill the job before his eyes.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s3.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 127: Bennet’s Job
Chapter 127: Bennet’s Job
By the time it was all over, two villages were wiped off the
map, and a town was half-destroyed.
Thinking of the situation when they came, the dragoons who had
prevented the situation from worsening were worthy of praise, but
that wasn’t a tale of the outskirts, it was one of the central
capital.
From the townsfolks’ point of view, a large number of monsters
had suddenly flooded into the area where they were peacefully
living their lives. The numbers easily exceeded a thousand. The
soldiers protecting the town had perished, and the villages the
monsters passed through were annihilated.
When the night opened up and noon was almost upon them, the
monster cleanup had finally been completed. To be more precise, the
final checks began around dawn, and they were finally completed at
noon.
The monsters had been taken care of before the sun rose.
“It really is amazing.”
Izumi tossed a monster corpse into the hole piled up with other
bodies like it, pulling back as she watched Heleene fill the pit
with a fiery breath.
“We have to clean up quickly, after all. When it comes to these
things, having a dragon makes it go much faster.”
Even if they didn’t have enough people, as long as they had a
dragon they were a match for a thousand, Izumi had witnessed a
dragoon’s ability. Not flustering before over a thousand monsters,
they finished their work in a day. The monsters who had fled upon
the arrival of a dragoon were all wiped away by Keith. It wasn’t as
easy as it sounded.
“Keith… Lieutenant Keith is quite something too.”
“While you might hate him, that guy does his job. I’d like him
to be that earnest on a regular basis, but as long as you properly
do your work, our organization’s much laxer than the high
knights.”
As Izumi stood in conflicted sentiment, two of the robed, masked
knights appeared. The horses they led along looked to be a size
larger than the others. Izumi stood on guard, but Bennet held up a
hand and began talks.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, as expected of the dragoons, is all we wanted to say. We’ve
got much to think over in this incident as well.”
“I see, then you can return to your job. The knight brigades
should arrive within a few days.”
Keith had already made off to report; the knights would soon
rush in. But it was hard to say how much supplies they would bring
with them.
As it was a territory near the border, and there was some money
invested into its military. If it was a territory out of danger’s
way, then local armies and militia would serve well enough, but the
feudal lord who reigned over the town possessed his own knight
brigade.
“The least we could do is offer our thanks. Well then…”
After lowering their heads, the two knights mounted their
horses. As they did, the horses’ heads changed to those of eagles,
and their front legs to a bird’s as well. Only their back halves
remained in a horse state.
When they took to the air, Heleene glared at them.
“You can’t eat them, Heleene.”
The dragon sent a single roar into the sky, and the hippogryphs
hurriedly soared out of sight.
“Who are they?”
“Yeah, well… they’re folks without a name.”
Izumi mulled over whether she should ask any further, but Bennet
made a troubled face, so she decided to leave it at that. While
they were talking, Rudel approached. But their expressions were a
little confused.
◇
When Bennet came to the plaza, she found Eunius there, quite fed
up. Sitting on a wooden crate, a sleepy look on his face.
All the knights had worked through the night. The fatigue from
unfamiliar work was also coming out.
“What’s wrong?”
“To hell with what’s wrong! Why didn’t you come sooner!? The
town’s a mess is it not!? I’ll let you know I’ve got a wide face
around the capital.”
The merchant-esque man was perhaps speaking as a representative
of town. With his connections in the center, his attitude remained
large before a knight.
Bennet knew this was going to be a pain, but she didn’t show it
on her face. Her tail simply dropped powerlessly in exhaustion.
In the corner of her eye, she could see Aleist wrapped in a reed
mat with his mouth gagged in cloth. While he was desperately trying
to cry something out, she couldn’t understand what he wanted to
say. But having received an explanation from Rudel along the way,
she had a general grasp of the situation.
“You might think you’ll receive some sort of medal for saving
us, but I’ll definitely never let it happen!”
“Is that so. In that case, do what you want. The knight brigade
should be coming in the near future, so we’ll stick around to guard
you until then.”
Bennet didn’t seem to pay it any mind, and after dealing with
the representative man, she called everyone to follow. Aleist alone
was taken off over Eunius’ shoulder.
All the gazes that fell upon the party came from unfavorable
eyes. It was only natural. When they had suffered such casualty and
loss, these folks would sit back in the center, showered in medals
and rewards. When they imagined it, they couldn’t help but feel
irritated.
“Major, in this case, I was nothing but a hindrance. So I don’t
deser–”
Feeling the eyes of the townsfolk, Rudel suggested he would turn
down the rewards. But Bennet shook her head. After they had
separated from the residents, she explained to him.
“They’re not giving a medal for your sake alone. This is a medal
granted for the frontier. You guys better remember that too.”
Making a tired face, Millia seemed perplexed. Perhaps that
explanation didn’t satisfy her as she opened her mouth.
“What’s that supposed to mean? If they’re giving out medals and
rewards, shouldn’t they use those funds for restoration?”
“That’s the right way to look at it. It’s so righteous it’s
bringing tears to my eyes. If that was possible, we wouldn’t have
any troubles.”
Bennet explained how in the territory on the border, there was
the feudal lord’s own knight brigade alongside some dispatched
forces. They were one of the dispatchments. And when it came to the
territory, that was the feudal lord’s responsibility. To be more
precise, Bennet’s dispatchment hadn’t received a request, so they
were under no obligation to save them.
However, she didn’t have the option of not saving them. It was
precisely because they possessed the large powers called dragons
that such a thing would never be permitted of a dragoon. If she
overlooked it, then blame might even be attached.
Dragoons were the heroes of Courtois. But Bennet didn’t think of
herself as a hero. For the sake of the country, she played the part
of the ideal dragoon.
Her expression distorting, Millia shifted her gaze from Bennet,
so Eunius explained in her place. Placed in a position where he had
to use people, Eunius knew.
“… This might sound cruel, but if they don’t give out medals or
praise anyone, no one’s going to move. Meaning it’s about profit.
The country is the one profiting from it. Territory management is
the feudal lord’s responsibility. Originally, the law states that
the knight brigade and soldiers were supposed to deal with it. But
the borderland also has knights stationed by the country for
national defense. Well, I’m sure the situation’s special this time,
since those guys were here as well.”
Bennet took over Eunius’ explanation. Those guys referred to the
knights in the masks. Those who specialized in covert operations.
Not wanting to talk too much about them, Bennet retook the
conversation a little forcefully.
“If they commend us, then of the surrounding territories, some
will start to send aid. Willingly at that. On top of selling a
favor to this territory, this tale will become the talk of the
area. The folks who want to put on airs will gather.”
Once Bennet arrived at the tent they set up for camp, everyone
took a seat. Izumi was already at her limit, her complexion was
taking a bad turn. The way Rudel worried for her looked
considerably cute. But Bennet spoke on for her subordinate and his
comrades.
“Just because you saved them, there’s no guarantee everyone will
be thankful. It’s more often that demi-humans will find themselves
discriminated against.”
As she took a fleeting glance at Millia, Millia averted her
face. Along the way, she heard that the representative man insulted
Millia, angering Aleist.
“But if we didn’t come, they would’ve been annihilated, right?
They got in the way when we were fighting, and even if we save
them, they spout off complaints.”
Finally freed, Aleist gave an irritated rebuttal to Bennet. He
didn’t understand why they’d be insulted when they saved them.
Bennet recalled her experiences from when she was a new recruit,
for some reason thinking back on them warmly.
“That’s how it works. Or could it be you seriously thought you
would be praised and lifted up as a hero? Lining nothing but pretty
words won’t help them live their lives. Show a bit of
understanding.”
The anger they had nowhere to place, they slammed it against who
was available. This was the result of going through such troubles
and risking their lives to protect them.
“Then what’s the point of sa…”
While Millia brought her mouth that far, she couldn’t say the
rest. She couldn’t see the value in going as far as to be insulted
to save them. And she had no such obligation.
With a haggard face, Izumi asked Bennet.
“Major Bennet, what do you think of it?”
Bennet gave an immediate response. Within her, that was an
unwavering fact.
“My? In my case, it’s simple. I do it because it’s my job.”
Based on how they were taken, those were cold words.
◇
As they waited for the lord’s knights to arrive, Millia assisted
Rudel and the others in restoration work. They moved the collapsed
buildings and rubble blocking the paths.
Those works could generally be left to the dragons, so Millia
helped the men out on patrol.
“What about Izumi?”
“She was sent around to the food lines. It would be harsh for
the Major alone.”
She spoke with Rudel. Normally, Millia would’ve been put on the
food lines as well, but cooking was her weak point. What’s more,
she was well aware she would lower the efficiency of the work.
Because of that, Millia was patrolling with Rudel.
Aleist and Eunius were currently on break and asleep. It was a
town that had just suffered tragedy, but if they let their guards
down for a moment, the bandits would gather.
There were also those who might try something strange. In order
to put checks on those sorts, it was their duty as knights to keep
watch, or so Bennet taught them.
“Even so, little by little, people are starting to help
out.”
Each time they looked over town, the number of residents who had
begun clearing away Ruble increased ever so slightly.
While there were people whose occupations weren’t an absolute
necessity, once they finished clearing up, they opened up shop. A
bakery they passed by was distributing bread to people free of
charge.
“Oh, if it isn’t the knights. Take this with you.”
The well-bodied proprietress of the bakery handed a brown sack
of bread to Millia and Rudel. There were loaves of freshly baked
bread lining the front of the store, and while the inside still
seemed to be a mess, there was a white smoke rising from the
chimney.
“Eh? But…”
While Millia made a troubled face, Rudel paid it no mind and
accepted the offer.
“Thank you.”
“Hahaha, just a bit of thanks for saving us. Why not come over
some day to make a purchase?”
“I definitely will.”
Holding up the bag of freshly baked bread, Rudel gave a response
to make one think he really would come again. Millia had been
around him for a considerable amount of time, and she saw that part
of him hadn’t changed.
As they walked, Rudel started into the continuation of the
previous conversation.
“This is what the Major said, but an empty stomach thins the
heart. That’s why meals are so important. Once they have some
leisure, their bodies will move.”
“Yet you move even without the leisure. Aren’t you pushing
yourself too hard?”
Millia worried for Rudel, who had continued moving for the past
few days without rest. But the man in question was too sturdy for
that, and gave a smile.
“I can go on!”
“Hah, whatever.”
As she breathed out a sigh, the two of them took a seat on the
wreckage of a collapsed building. The sun had come to a high point
in the sky. It was quite probably noon. As they sat side by side,
eating the bread they’re received, the town women who passed by
clicked their tongues.
Looking down, Millia recalled the insults she received a few
days ago. The representative man told her, a demi human shouldn’t
stick in their mouth, they need only work until they die. The fact
there were still people like that around saddened her.
It felt as if she’d been shown a clear delineation.
“Don’t mind it. The Major said nothing starts with mulling.”
“I know that. But there are some things that get to the
heart.”
Stuffing his face with breath, Rudel consoled Millia. Gazing at
the spot where she and Rudel sat, she felt there was a clear
delineation there as well. As he gulped water from the flask hung
at his waist, Rudel had already finished his meal.
When Millia tried to eat the bread in her hands, a single young
boy entered her eyes. From the shadow of a tree in their line of
sight, he seemed to be peering at them. Perhaps Rudel was waiting
for Millia to finish eating, as he was looking at the sky without
noticing the boy. No, while he did notice, it’s possible he was
just ignoring him.
No matter how you looked at him, the boy was still young. Wary
that even a kid like that would say something against her, her eye
met with the boy, who would occasionally pop out his head There,
the boy frantically hid himself.
Finishing up her bread, Millia tried to leave at once. She had
no obligation to hear out his complaints, but as she stood, the boy
hurriedly leapt out of the tree’s shadow.
“We’re going.”
“No, it looks like he’s got some business with you, Millia.”
Rudel noticed the boy look at her with straightforward eyes,
grasping Millia’s hand as she tried to depart. There, the boy
glared at Rudel.
While Millia made a displeased face, Rudel seemed somewhat
amused. He didn’t seem to be an ill-natured boy, so he surely had
some sort of reason. Thinking that, Millia turned her whole body
towards him.
“Something wrong?”
“U-um…”
The boy looking down held both his hands behind his back. The
way she was looking down over him couldn’t be helped from his
height.
There, the boy brought the hands he kept behind to the front.
Millia readied herself for a knife, but what she found instead was
a bouquet of flowers, wrapped in the brown paper the bread was
distributed in.
They were flowers that grew around the area, by no means
difficult to reach, but the boy who seriously collected them’s face
turned red. Once he’d gone so far, Millia understood as well.
Leaning down to match the boy’s eye level, she accepted the
bouquet.
“… Are you sure you want to give them to me?”
“Y-yeah.”
The young boy couldn’t look her in the face, looking to one
side.
“Thank you.”
“You saved me, so… I have to say thank you.”
As he watched over the two of them, Rudel was all smiles. With a
conflicted psyche, Millia stared at Rudel. There, the boy took off
running, his face a bright red.
Along the way, he turned around and yelled at Millia.
“I-I love you!”
“Say what!?”
Never expecting it to go as far as a confession, Millia was
surprised. While Rudel watched her expression change with a grin,
the boy had something to shout at Rudel as well.
“And I hate yoouuuu!”
Watching the boy run off screaming he hated him, Rudel was
surprised as well. Millia looked at Rudel like that and burst into
laughter.
Sha laughed and laughed, and perhaps she had laughed too hard,
as her tears came out, and she wiped them with her fingertip. While
Rudel was also laughing at the end, Millia grew curious, so she
ended up asking.
“Could it be you knew he was going to confess?”
“Yes, when he making such serious eyes, I’d notice whether I
wanted to or not. And wait, you never noticed? Millia, you can be a
bit dense.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you!”
Being called dense from the densest of them all, Millia cried
out in a voice that resounded through town.
◇
When they returned to the tent where they camped out, they found
Aleist and Eunius cleaning up after the food lines. They were
washing the cooking utensils nearby the tent. They looked quite
sleepy.
They had probably started helping out as soon as they woke.
“You two are late. Did something happen?”
When Eunius said that to Rudel with a broad grin, Aleist was
flustered. He looked at Rudel and Milia with worried eyes, but
Rudel…
“Yeah, Millia was confessed to. The one who confessed mistook me
as her boyfriend because I was nearby.”
As Rudel said that with a laugh, Aleist held his head. Rudel
couldn’t understand what he did wrong, so he looked at Eunius.
There, Eunius shook his head.
“You don’t have to worry about it. Rather, it’s best you don’t
do anything.”
He knew Aleist loved Millia from their student days. While he
wanted to do something to help out, it was his weak field, so he
decided not to stick in a hand.
“I-I see.”
Millia was also making a conflicted face, but it would be bad to
confuse Rudel with any unneeded help, or so she remonstrated
herself. Having heard the voices, Bennet appeared from inside the
tent.
“You’re late, you two. The soup’s gone cold, so I’ll put it on
the fire again.”
“No, we’re fine with it like that.”
Rudel refused, not wanting to cause Bennet any trouble. But
Bennet rejected that refusal.
“I’m doing it to make sure you properly do your work. So return
the favor by working it off.”
“… Thank you. Major, if I may?”
“What is it?”
As she walked off to warm the soup, Bennet turned around to look
at Rudel.
“To you, what is your job?”
Having thought about his work ever since then, Rudel wanted to
ask about her sense of values when it came to working. Otherwise,
he would see Bennet as the sort of person who only helped people
because it was her job.
He couldn’t find an answer himself, so he asked her
directly.
“It’s nothing to think so hard about. But, if I had to say… it’s
how I live my life.”
Rudel thought a bit before giving a satisfied not. It was an
answer he was satisfied with. He knew that Bennet didn’t say it was
work with cold-hearted thoughts.
“Thank you.”
“Hmm, to rejoice over hearing such a thing, you really are an
idiot.”
When Bennet turned to walk off, her tail was delightfully waving
from side to side. Leaving Aleist- still holding his head- to the
side, Eunius walked over to Rudel and watched Bennet’s back as he
struck up a conversation.
“Even when we were just a hindrance, perhaps Ms. Major brought
us along for our … no, for you and Aleist’s sake.”
While Eunius called Bennet Ms. Major, it didn’t seem to be out
of sarcasm. He had recognized her in his own way.
“… You might be right.”
Rudel looked at Bennet’s back as he agreed. Unlike them, Bennet
had graduated the academy on the two-year curriculum. From a
situation where she didn’t even have a knight’s qualifications, she
had gotten a dragon to recognize her and climbed up the ranks.
If Rudel and the others were elites, then Bennet really was a
self-made soldier.
“When she’s got her troubles, she’s good at looking after
people.”
Rudel and Eunius understood why Bennet went out of her way to
bring them. She wanted to show them where it all happened. Not only
out of good will, with their unstable positions, there was no
telling when Rudel and Aleist would rise up the ranks.
It would be troubling if they rose without knowing anything, or
perhaps she had calculated so. But that wasn’t all, the two
thought.
“I’m proud to have her as my superior officer.”
On Rudel’s boast, Eunius laughed and joked.
“I want one at my place too. Hand her over.”
“Hell no.”
While the two of them were exchanging jokes, Aleist held his
head in serious thoughts. Millia looked perplexedly over the three
men.
A few days later, switching out with the first dispatchments of
knights, Rudel returned to the port town of Beretta.
Around that time, Aleist ended up in a petty quarrel with the
boy in love with Millia.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s4.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 128: The Major and Aleist
Chapter 128: The Major and Aleist
After returning to the port town of Beretta, Rudel spent his
days with Izumi, comforting a depressed Sakuya.
Within all of that, Rudel made a small shield of light over his
right hand and thought. The shield that wasn’t even ten centimeters
twirled over the palm of his hand.
Sitting down and gazing at the shield, Rudel had made some break
time in front of Sakuya’s den, repeating a similar practice every
day. At this point, he was even able to produce a shield of light
from the tips of his toes.
While he tested it on Bennet’s suggestion, it was surprisingly
easy. More so, he could only be perplexed at why he had always
fixated on his left hand.
“Even so, I want some more cards to play.”
Bennet’s fighting style was one thing, but Rudel also wanted to
secure Keith’s piloting methods. When he started to look at it like
that, he began to see what he was lacking. The sword and magic were
insufficient. He couldn’t help but think so.
Bennet was a demi-human of the wolf tribe, and she compensated
for her lack of magic with an abundance of attack methods. Rudel
knew that.
He had tried out the boomerang, but it didn’t feel right in his
hands. His admiration for Bennet only made that all the more
irritating.
“Then is it throwing knives after all?”
Once he had thought that far, Izumi appeared as per usual with a
bag she held in both hands. It contained a midday meal and
drink.
“Are you thinking of something again? If you plan to concoct
another special move, if possible, I’d like to ask you to
stop.”
While Izumi sent him a bitter smile, Rudel couldn’t understand
why she was against it. However, at that moment, he wasn’t thinking
up a special move, so for now, he nodded.
“No problem. Right now, I’m thinking up new means of attack.
Just like the major, I’d like a means of mid-range attack apart
from magic.”
Izumi lined up the food she took from the basket on a rock in
front of Rudel as she listened in.
“I don’t think there will be any problem with your mana, Rudel.
Even if you’re not on Aleist’s level, you’re definitely on the more
plentiful side.”
“I definitely have a bit…”
His words growing muddled, Rudel extended a hand to the food
before his eyes. There, he felt Izumi’s skill in cooking had risen
from before.
“This is good. Have you been practicing?”
“Thank you. It’s all because of Bennet-san. That person can do
everything, after all.”
Generally omnipotent in housework, and first rate as a knight
and dragoon. She was an admiration to both Rudel and Izumi.
“I’m glad I came to the outer reaches. I’ve got two proficient
superiors to look up to.”
When Rudel said that satisfactorily, Izumi gave a powerless
nod.
“Yeah. You’re right. Bennet-san is a good person. Yeah.
But…”
Izumi couldn’t bring herself to recognize Keith, and Rudel
directed her a perplexed face. He didn’t think the man had any
particular problems. To Rudel, they were both admirable superior
officers.
“Anyways! How are things on your end? Bennet-san was delighted,
said you had grown a bit.”
Matching Izumi’s change of topic, Rudel washed down the sandwich
in his mouth with tea before responding.
“I’ve got a long way to go. I’ve got to work on the finer
details. And using magic while on the move is still a bit… in that
case, how about I deploy magic before moving? Keep it deployed at a
set distance from me at all times?”
Suddenly hitting on something, Rudel sunk his thoughts into the
sea. Izumi watched over him with a warm smile.
◇
Among the members Keith was to deliver to the palace, Aleist’s
party was not included.
“You really aren’t going back?”
“Yeah. I have a bit of a place I have to go.”
His words growing muddled, Aleist had seen Rudel training every
day, and after the recent monster attack, he thought over it.
As a result, for a while, he wanted to go on a journey.
“The captain has us with him, so it’ll be fine.”
While the members of his platoon gave large nods, the man in
question could only breathe out a sigh and watch. Normally, he
would decline, but the girls said they would tag along and wouldn’t
listen to anything else.
“Well, I’m returning so that’s all well and good. I’ll hand a
letter to your superior, but what do you plan to do from now
on?”
Eunius didn’t seem particularly worried, but if possible he
wanted to return together. For some reason, he made an unpleasant
face when he looked at Keith. On the contrary, Keith seemed
pleased.
“Fufufu, a trip through the sky alone with Eunius-kun.”
“Hold it. Aren’t you after Aleist?”
“You two look like you’re having fun.”
When Aleist said that, Eunius made a truly incomprehensive face.
From Aleist’s point of view, in both the game and this world,
Keith’s impression as a good, reliable person was too strong. He
couldn’t even imagine him being after him.
“Now let’s enjoy our journey over the clouds!”
“Oy, get any closer and I’ll cut you! I’m serious!”
“Y-you’re serious… what a passionate proposal. Then I must
answer to those steamy feelings!”
“Gyaaah! Stay away!”
The water dragon Spinnith spread out his wide wings and lifted
into the sky. His figure was truly beautiful.
After seeing off the dragon that flew with a ruckus on its back,
Aleist turned and looked at the women who made up his platoon. In
order to inform them of his future plans.
“There’s a large town nearby, and I’m thinking of heading there.
We have to get someone to look after the holy sword we obtained,
and more than anything, we’ll be able to operate out of there for a
while.”
There were plenty of monster hunting jobs to be found around the
border with ample facilities to tend to weapons and armor. His own
armor was also being worked on by a craftsman in those parts.
Why wasn’t Aleist returning with Eunius? It was because Aleist
had reached his own sort of answer in regards to his strength.
Aleist had thought about his strength. He knew he couldn’t catch
up if he went at it the same way as Rudel and the others.
He wasn’t the same sort of lunatic, and it wasn’t as if his
technique was particularly high. A magic talent he could never
master wouldn’t even serve as borrowed plumes.
But… there was something he could do.
(This isn’t a game, but I can’t think of anything else. Power is
power. I have to do what I can…)
What he recalled was his conversation with Bennet. When Aleist
returned to Beretta, he heard from Rudel she was dreadfully strong.
If she really was that strong, or so he and Eunius tried asking
her.
◇
“What are you supposed to do to become strong?”
“Y-yes.”
Bennet was short in stature, practically a little girl, yet
before her, Aleist stood troubled. No matter how he looked at it,
she looked like a girl standing on her tip toes to talk to him and
he felt his face would grow slack. While he somehow managed to
endure it, Eunius just gave up and called her Bennet-chan.
While the girl’s expression didn’t show any signs of minding it,
her tail would droop powerlessly. And while she clearly did seem to
mind it, even that was cute as well.
“If you could establish something like that, we wouldn’t have
our troubles. Even if, hypothetically, there was a definite method,
our prerequisites are far too different. What I know is no
guarantee.”
What Bennet was trying to say was that while she could give
advice, she wouldn’t take responsibility for it. Even with Rudel,
who she was tasked with watching, she said she was just
accompanying him every day to confirm his results. From what Aleist
could tell, he didn’t think that would make him strong, but for
now, he wanted to catch up to Rudel as much as possible.
While Luecke and Eunius had grown in their areas of expertise,
all he had done was cleaning. He was beginning to panic.
Perhaps sensing Aleist’s impatience, Bennet decided to try
helping him out. Borrowing an open room of the station, she talked
to him one on one.
“It’s not like I’m your superior. I can’t give you any orders,
and I can’t take responsibility. You’d best get that in your
head.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Giving a vague response, Aleist sat across from Bennet as she
put out a drink. He did his best to convey his own panic and
anxiety.
Avoiding any game terms, he told it so Bennet could understand.
But Bennet made a perplexed face.
“Then what are you worrying about?”
“Eh? But…”
“If you know the means to become strong, What reason could you
have not to use it?”
“I… don’t have one. But it feels a bit cowardly, or unrealistic,
or rather, in my head, I don’t accept that it’ll work. Even if I
say I’ll get stronger the more monsters I beat, doesn’t that sound
a bit wrong?”
Speaking in game terms, by defeating monsters, he’d gain
experience points and level up. But it’s not like he could see
something like his own status.
For some reason, Aleist was beginning to grow embarrassed. Even
seeing his reddened face, Bennet didn’t laugh.
“… Talks of defeating monsters to become strong, you can find
them anywhere. In the place I was born, a man’s rite of passage was
monster hunting. There was a superstition that you steal the
strength of the life you take away, but I do get the feeling it
will make you stronger. It’s not a complete lie.”
Rather than becoming stronger from the monster slaying itself,
Bennet thought that by beating them, you would gain combat
experience and courage.
Having depended on his game knowledge and failed, Aleist had
once bid them a complete farewell. But everyone around him was
growing strong, and even if he wasn’t there, wouldn’t Courtois be
just fine? He tried to convince himself too. But he couldn’t stand
the feeling he was being left behind. At the same time, he had
gotten around to thinking he wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder
with Rudel.
But it was that moment, he realized he didn’t have anything of
his own. What he wished for was inexhaustible mana, and social
status. While both of them had become Aleist’s power, they weren’t
his own. That’s precisely while his close friends who climbed up
with their own power looked radiant in his eyes.
“This might sound cruel, but in the end, power’s just power,
nothing more, nothing less. If I were you, I’d seek out that power
without hesitation. I don’t see any particular problems with your
methodology. No problem at all. No, as a knight, it’ll be bad if
you don’t report to your commanding officer.”
“Ah, right, there’s that. I’ve been doing so much cleaning these
days, I’ve stopped thinking of myself as a knight.”
While Aleist turned his head down in a powerless laugh, Bennet
gently called over to him.
“You’re the black knight. Hold your head up high.”
“Y-you’re right.”
“I’ve heard about you from Rudel. I know you’re not a bad
person, but you worry too much. Just make it simple… there’s no
point in just having power. The problem’s how you use it. If
there’s something you want to accomplish, you gain power for
it.”
When he thought of what he wanted to, Aleist reached the
conclusion he would definitely need more power than what he had
now. He could no longer think that just because those around him
were strong, he could just leave it to them.
“Will I be able to do it?”
But Bennet wouldn’t reassure him.
“Who knows?”
Bennet looked at Aleist and told him that was for him to
decide.
“It is when you master your strength that it finally becomes
your own. And if you fear you’ll drown in your power, then fret
not. The reason being…”
◇
Recalling Bennet’s words, Aleist began walking.
But turning back once to look at the port town, he grew envious
of Rudel. Ever since he was enlisted in the defenders, all he had
ever been taught was cleaning. The difference in environment
between him and Rudel, from the eyes of those around, perhaps it
might look as if he was being given preferential treatment.
But thinking of his own growth, Rudel had the better
circumstance.
“I want a superior like that too…”
Additionally, he did have some lingering regret with Millia, but
there were no particular developments in that field. While he tried
calling out to her, things never went as he wanted. He would end up
speaking so naturally his subordinates around him couldn’t even
bring themselves to believe he really was smitten with her.
“If I drown in my power, then Rudel and the others will stop me,
eh… friends sure are nice.”
Bennet’s final words… if Aleist was ever going to step off his
path, his friends would come to stop him. Sure enough, Rudel and
Eunius… and Luecke would probably stop him.
His other friends from his school days had saved him all the
way. The very fact he could think he wasn’t alone was a blessing to
Aleist.
But when he thought of his friends gleefully charging at his
power-drowned self, he felt a slight quiver. The battle maniacs
Rudel and Eunius laughing as they swung their swords, while Luecke
used him as a test subject, hammering in his magic, he could
imagine it too vividly.
“What’s wrong, captain Aleist?”
As one of his subordinates called out in worry, Aleist
forcefully made a smile and said he was alright.
To enact a game-type strengthening method, Aleist was walking
again. Swearing he would never lose himself to his power…
◇
In the mansion of the Arses House, Erselica was panicking.
A letter had come from her older brother Chlust, but the
servants had thrown it away. IF Lena hadn’t discovered it by chance
and brought it to her room, she would never have noticed.
The contents of the letter she unfolded right at the door
darkened her face.
“This is… but, it can’t be…”
The letter from her brother stated he wanted precise and current
information on the relations between nobles at the palace. While it
seemed he was in a serious situation, Erselica didn’t have enough
information to answer to her brother’s hopes.
With Chlust sent off to the border, the state of the Arses House
only grew worse.
Thanks to the eldest son Rudel, she was occasionally called to
parties, but at first, she and her parents avoided them. At this
point, her parents would show themselves, but in order to ensure
Erselica’s marriage to a wealthy noble or merchant, she wasn’t let
out.
The prominent nobles were taking a wait and see approach to the
Arses House’s state of affairs. If Rudel took the archduke seat,
they would approach, but the rumors of discord between him and his
parents were experiencing a sudden spread. His father’s attitude at
the knight appointment ceremony was coming back to torment
them.
Because of that, Erselica couldn’t say she had a precise grasp
of the current situation.
“What does it say?”
Sending a harsh look at the cheerful Lena, Erselica yanked her
into the room.
Closing the door and fastening the lock, unlike Lena’s or
Rudel’s room, the splendid room of an archduke’s daughter was
spread out.
“… Were there any other letters?”
“That’s the only one I found. See, when I thought I’d roast some
potatoes over the scrap paper, there was a letter inside.”
Seeing Lena scratched her head and smile, Erselica felt
irritated. While she knew Lena didn’t have any ill intent, the
contents of the letter suggested he had been sending letters for a
while now. Meaning the servants were crushing his attempts to send
them.
While the contents didn’t go into the specifics, it was certain
he required information urgently. Erselica took a deep breath
before making a plea to Lena.
“I have a request.”
“What’s up?”
“If you see any of the servants throwing away any letters from
Chlust, I want you to deliver them to me.”
“I don’t mind.”
While Lena easily took up Erselica’s request, the problems
didn’t end there. Erselica didn’t have the connections to answer
Chlust’s demand. And even if she managed to receive his letters, it
would be difficult for her to send them.
“Anyways, I have to somehow look into it… but…”
Even if she wanted to investigate, from the letter’s contents,
she understood it wasn’t the sort of thing she could talk to people
about so easily. What’s more, the fact the letters hadn’t been
getting through made her imagine the worst possible scenario.
Within the mansion, there was an individual preventing Chlust’s
letters from reaching her.
If they just wanted to crush Chlust, that wasn’t a problem.
Erselica saw it as a huge problem, but the real problem would be if
they had seen through Chlust’s actions
Holed up in her room, Erselica was in a situation where she
couldn’t’ do anything. There, Lena read through the letter she had
dropped in confusion.
“Noble relations? I know someone who’s really knowledgeable
about that.”
“W-who!?”
Lena’s sudden statement caused Erselica to jump at her It gave
off the impression as if she was clinging onto Lena’s tall
build.
“No, if you just ask Luecke-san, you’ll be able to find out most
things. He’s real knowledgeable.”
“… Well yeah, I’m sure he knows.”
Erselica was aware of Luecke of the Halbades House. Talks of
engagement to Eunius of the opposing Diade House had come up. But
generally speaking, the three lords held an antagonistic relation
to one another. If possible, he was someone she wanted to avoid.
More than anything, the fact he held a friendly relationship with
Rudel made him someone she couldn’t psychologically accept.
“I’ll try asking next time. I’m getting a lot of letters from
him these days.”
“Wait, you mean to say you’re pen pals?”
“We’re not. They just keep coming in, and I respond to about one
every ten letters. I’m no good with writing, you see. When I’m
trying to write up a response, the next one comes in, so I have to
write something new.”
Seeing Lena laugh, Erselica didn’t know what she was supposed to
say. While there was a problem with Lena, she felt the problem lay
with Luecke as well.
The story continued to flow without delay.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s5.txt
|
EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 129: The White Dragoon’s Ability is?
Chapter 129: The White Dragoon’s Ability is?
A few months since Rudel was flown off to the outer reaches…
Above the water, a little away from the port town of Beretta,
three dragoons were flying through the sky.
Izumi and Millia gazed upon the scene from a place overlooking
the port. While it looked like they were flying in formation, they
were fighting two on one.
The two blue dragons were flying circles around the white one.
The white dragon that fought, pincered by two others, looked at a
glance to be at a disadvantage.
“You think they’ll be alright?”
While Millia seemed nervous, Izumi was worried. While she knew
it was dangerous from the start, in order to measure their
abilities, it was concluded there was no helping it.
If possible, it was something she wanted to avoid, but if it was
something those three had agreed upon, then this wasn’t a problem
Izumi or Millia could stick their mouth into. The three dragoons
enthusiastically took part in this combat.
“It’ll be fine… probably.”
“You’re certain? Can you look me in the eye and swear it?”
Millia doubtfully sent a glance at Izumi. It wasn’t as if Izumi
didn’t believe in Rudel, but she averted her gaze from Millia.
Thinking of his current abilities, it wouldn’t be strange if some
sort of problem broke out.
Two on one. She wanted to believe he was alright.
When the two of them took their eyes off the battlefield, a
light broke out over the water. That dazzling light caused the two
of them to raise their arms to protect their eyes, and once the
light died down, they looked at the dragons. There, they found the
form of two dragons, going at it one-on-one.
That vision-stealing light must have been exceedingly
troublesome for the three in an upfront confrontation.
“So the first one to fall was Spinnith!”
There was no mistaking it, the first ones down were the Keith
and Spinnith team skilled in aerial battle. But it was questionable
whether any of the others had the ability to do it.
“That can’t be!”
Shifting from the dragon’s movements, Izumi confirmed Spinnith
had fallen into the sea. Bennet’s dragon Heleene was taking
distance from Sakuya. But none of her long-distance attacks were
reaching Sakuya.
Distance-wise, she was in range. But Sakuya remained
unscathed.
Eventually, Sakuya began to give off light. While her roar
reached all the way to Izumi’s ears, it was something the air
vibrations conveyed to her entire body.
Noticing the disadvantage, Heleene, charged at Sakuya, bringing
her all the way to sea level, only for the surface of the ocean to
freeze over in an instant. It looked almost as if the water dragon
was offering a place for Rudel and Bennet to fight.
“So she realized Bennet-san was at a disadvantage in the
air.”
A portion of the water truly had been swiftly exchanged for an
arena.
“There’s no helping it. No matter how faster they are, the time
they can stay in the air is short.”
The two were more worried for Bennet than Rudel.
◇
Before she could fall into the sea, Bennet leapt up onto a
footing of ice.
Taking a stance with the wooden boomerang on her back, she
checked left, right, and up. While she had confirmed he had sunken
into the sea with Sakuya, it was unknown what direction Rudel would
come from.
He wasn’t tempered so soft that sinking would be the end of him.
He had already grown to the level where she couldn’t stand up to
him in aerial battles. Rudel was the sort who would keep at
training the basics like an idiot. Therefore, she thought it would
be fast as soon as he picked up the knack, but he had far exceeded
Bennet’s expectations.
“From where… below!”
As Bennet heightened her senses to keep wary of her
surroundings, she suddenly turned her face straight down and
hurriedly left from the spot.
Right after that, the ice was smashed, and a pillar of ice rose.
While she was bathed in the seawater that gushed out, Bennet’s
expression didn’t change. She concentrated to search for Rudel.
There, she heard a slight sound, so she used her boomerang in place
of a shield.
Regardless of the mana she flowed in to strengthen it, her
gripping hand conveyed a grating sound to her. Determining it would
break at this rate, she instantly discarded her boomerang, and
tossed another one from her back at him.
The boomerang that spun fast enough to hum through the air gave
chase to Rudel, but ended with no more than cutting up his own
afterimage. The next instant, Bennet equipped the wooden daggers
she kept at her waist in both hands. Crossing them, she caught the
wooden sword Rudel lowered from right above her.
They were atop a chunk of ice bobbing in the waves, but at the
impact of that attack, cracks spread from where she planted her
feet. The ice as a whole took one large bob below the water before
coming back up and stabilizing.
Bennet forcefully parted him, and as she corrected her stance,
Rudel landed before her. She instantly sent a kick, but Rudel
grabbed that leg in his left hand, throwing it off.
Correcting her positioning in the air, Bennet threw the dagger
in her left hand. While Rudel deflected it, Bennet took a light hop
on the ice.
It was something like a habit for Bennet, but as she would
always enter high-speed movement right after, she had never come to
recognize it as a weakness.
However…
(Crap.)
By the time she noticed it, Rudel had extended his left hand
towards her face. Rudel had got her in his sight.
While she returned fire with her remaining dagger, the intense
clash had her lose in brute force, and Bennet was beginning to be
pushed back. In speed, power, and technique, Rudel had matured.
When it came to the technique part, she could likely still win out,
but that was no longer enough to bury in the other gaps.
Even as she moved her fastest, those sharp bolts of lights
pursued to capture her. When she thought of her footing crumbling
into smaller and smaller pieces, Bennet was losing all options
besides an upfront conversation.
(My subordinate’s grown… but I can’t just lose here.)
Bennet opened her eyes wide, instantaneously accelerating to
insert a kick in Rudel’s stomach. But there, a small shield had
manifested. Rudel took on Bennet’s kick that had lost its momentum,
jumping back, pretending to be blown away.
When she chased to close in the distance, Rudel tossed the sword
in his hands at her. Entering hand to hand combat, they each fired
a series of fist and foot. But both sides could do naught but
capture the other’s afterimage, and neither side was scathed.
From the eyes of a third party, they were surely too fast to
perceive. Even if they could be seen, after Bennet fired a
roundhouse kick with her right leg, they would’ve sworn they saw
her left instead… it would surely cause such a misapprehension.
But that scuffle was also greeting its end. Unable to catch up
to Rudel, Bennet received a blow to her abdomen knocking her off
her feet. Correcting her stance as she rolled across the ice, she
saw Rudel had stopped moving.
Right after, Bennet stood on the spot and tossed her dagger to
the side. Raising her hands, she showed a pose of surrender.
“Once you’ve gone so far, I’ve no choice but to concede… it’s
your win, Rudel.”
Above the surface of the ice, the swords of light gleamed in
their numbers, as if to cover up the sky. Their points were
directed at Bennet, and if they came at her from all directions,
Bennet wouldn’t come out unharmed.
As Rudel stood to his feet, the swords turned to grains of ice,
fading out as they were swept away by the wind.
“Thank you. Major.”
Her prided subordinate who had shown such results in such a
short period gave a delighted smile. Bennet felt just a little
lonely when she looked at his smile. She didn’t have anything left
to teach him. Perhaps he wouldn’t look at her like a superior
anymore she grew anxious for just a moment.
There, Keith who had crawled out of the sea sent a smile to
Rudel, out of breath.
“N-nice fight.”
“Thank you! Lieutenant!”
When Rudel hurriedly rushed to help Keith up, Keith continued to
smile as he collapsed on the spot. He had pushed himself
considerably.
◇
The three dragons who’d returned were sopping wet.
At the port, the dragons climbed out and lied down. They had
used up their stamina, so they were resting, but Sakuya alone was
full of energy.
‘And you see, you see, when Spinnith was coming at her, Sakuya
decided it with a counter!’
Happily informing Izumi of her contributions, Sakuya made a fist
and began shadow boxing. She was too energetic.
“I see, you worked hard too, Sakuya.”
‘That’s right. I was punching it out with Heleene in the water
too!’
The punched dragons looked at the energetic Sakuya and let out
some large sighs. They looked worn out. But finally, Heleene…
‘You lost to me in the water, dammit!’
Exhausted, on her side, it seemed Heleene was showing the
backbone of the water dragons.From how Spinnith averted his
face, though, it was quite likely he lost to Sakuya.
‘N-next time, I’ll use my sure kill one, two finish to…’
‘I can use that one too, you hear!’
Unable to imagine a punching match between dragons, Izumi could
only give a bitter smile. In half a year, Rudel and Sakuya had
defeated competent members of the dragoon brigade. It goes without
saying that was due to their own training.
But it was also a fact they possessed latent abilities that
high. The talent of Rudel, who had continued training his
foundation like an idiot, was blooming as a dragoon.
The man in question lay down an unconscious Keith as he spoke to
Bennet.
“Was it your idea to steal our sight with light?”
“No, my close friend Aleist said something of that effect, so I
thought I might be able to do it, and practiced.”
Rudel had used a surprise flash to daze Keith, letting Sakuya
defeated Spinnith while the dragon was unmanned.
“It wasn’t bad. If you’re able to coordinate it into your
attacks, it’s effect will rise. And also…”
The two of them continued talking about the battle. They were
both the epitome of seriousness, and Izumi gave up on entering the
conversation. If Keith were awake, he might be able to.
But Bennet’s face grimaced.
“So you got me here too.”
Taking off her gloves, Bennet looked at the swelling on the back
of her right hand as she muttered. While it didn’t seem to be
broken, she had been injured in the midst of battle without
noticing it.
“Major, I can use healing magic.”
“I see, then I’ll leave it to you.”
Bennet held out her right hand, and Rudel reached to grasp it.
Seeing that scene, Millia was just a little jealous. But Izumi
opened her eyes wide as she foresaw the development that was to
follow.
(Rudel’s healing magic… hold it!)
Leaping out, Izumi grasped Rudel’s arm. Sakuya pestered Izumi to
keep listening to her story, but there was something greater she
had to stop. As she put some considerable force into gripping
Rudel’s arm, the man was perplexed.
“Izumi, that hurts.”
“W-what’s wrong, Izumi?”
While Bennet was worried as well, Izumi looked into Rudel’s
face. There, she confirmed just one thing.
“Rudel, when did you learn that healing magic?”
“Listen to this! The truth is, Mystith-sama personally taught it
to me!”
“What sort of effect does it have?”
“What are you talking about? It’s healing magic, so of course it
has a healing effect… ah, it’s also got a side effect of decreasing
the pain usually felt during healing and–”
Once she had heard that much, Izumi put more power into her hold
on Rudel’s arm. When she gripped it, water was squeezed from
Rudel’s soaking wet clothing, and a grating sound could be heard.
Izumi informed Rudel with a smile.
“Rudel.”
“Y-yes?”
“That is also banned.”
“Say what!?”
Rudel informed Izumi of how he had tested it on his colleague
Enora, and how it definitely had a healing effect, but by no means
would Izumi give him a nod. In her long relation with Rudel, this
was the moment where Izumi’s instinct had prevented the dangers of
petting.
Unable to accept it, Rudel pleaded; he told her it definitely
wouldn’t hurt. But Izumi kept denying it saying that wasn’t the
problem.
“… Um, what about me?”
Bennet looked over the two of them, a troubled look on her
face.
◇
Rudel’s colleague from the dragoon brigade, Luxheidt, had
temporarily returned from his dispatchments station.
He needed to report, and he wanted to take some vacation. As a
secret fan of Rudel, Luxheidt was also considering dropping by the
port town of Beretta.
Stopping by the palace for the first in quite some time, the
somewhat strained air he sensed was definitely not to his
liking.
“It’s quite tense here.”
Holding his report, Luxheidt walked down a corridor of the
palace when he happened to pass by a certain room used by the civil
officials. There, he heard a delighted voice. Rather than a work
room, it was a room used to take breaks.
‘You did it, young master!’
‘Vargas, I’m sure I told you to stop calling me that. Well, I’m in
a good mood today, so I’ll permit it.’
‘But that girl really is a strange one.’
‘Well it’s surprising that she’d want to hear about noble
relations. But with this, I can invite her out to tea!’
‘Um, if that’s what you want, then I guess that’s fine.’
Hearing a conversation between subordinate and superior,
Luxheidt mused it was a peaceful conversation as he hurried on.
At least the civil officials are at peace, he thought as he made
for the dragoon captain office, but it was there that Luxheidt came
to the understanding he wasn’t one to talk. The reason being, there
was a slip on the office notifying him they were in the middle of a
meeting.
“Huh? I’ve never heard of a slip like this being on the office
before.”
It wasn’t normal to have a meeting in the captain’s office, it
was normal to borrow a conference room. Luxheidt did consider
coming back later, but it was there he heard a voice from the
room.
Growing intrigued, he put his ear to the door to listen in. He
had confirmed there was no one else in the corridor, and it was an
action that came from pure curiosity.
And he would regret it.
‘W-what… was that…?’
‘I’m telling you, he’s dangerous! My niece told me, Rudel has an
absolute advantage when it comes to demi humans!’
‘M-my brothers and sisters were saying the same thing!’
It seemed the captain and a few dragoons were discussing
something. Rudel’s name came out, so Luxheidt’s interests welled.
But the conversation rapidly strayed.
‘Then that mean’s Bennet-chan’s in danger, does it not! That
baster, I’ve got no interest in women, ‘s the sort of air he gave
off, but he was actually aiming for this!’
‘No, you’re the one who sent him off to the border, captain! What
are we going to do!? At this rate, the position of we who protect
Bennet-chan are…’
‘In his student days, he had a free pass into the girls’ dorm, and
he entered it boldly! For some reason it’s highly classified
information, and it was a real pain to look into! But Rudel-sama is
a man of valor who’s even managed to tame the tiger tribe!’
(Ah, looks like we’re not ones to speak.)
Picking up on the contents of the conversation, Luxheidt felt
like apologizing to those civil officials from before. There, a
hand was placed on his shoulder.
When he turned, he found the vice-captain Alejandro standing
with a dubious face. While he wanted to chastise Luxheidt for his
actions, more than that, he worried over what Luxheidt was going to
do, now that he had learned the secret of the dragoon brigade.
“You… heard?”
Looking at the vice-captain who would calmly send people off to
borderland, Luxheidt broke into a cold sweat.
“…”
He knew it would be pointless to deny it here, and from the
vice-captain’s face, he knew he couldn’t say anything foolish.
“Listen, don’t tell anyone about what you’ve–”
“Vice-captain, I have an idea!”
From the vice-captain’s behavior, Luxheidt sensed he had no
particular fixation on Major Bennet and decided to take a
gamble.
It would be a pain to be stationed any further away. Luxheidt
proposed a plan to crush this secret gathering.
◇
In Beretta, a summons from the palace came for Rudel and the
other dragoons.
“Are they going to award us for that monster subjugation?”
“Yeah, I thought they’d just send something and that would be
the end of it, but it seems they’re handing it out at the
palace.”
Bennet read over the letter as she confirmed Rudel and Keith’s
schedule. At present, there weren’t any delays in the development
of the port town. The construction using dragons was proceeding
faster than anticipated.
Even if the three of them slipped out temporarily, there was
little to worry about.
For Rudel, if he returned, he would be able to see Eunius and
Luecke, so he thought he wouldn’t be bored. Keith thought the
same.
“The palace, eh… I can see the captain and vice-captain!”
Seeing Keith’s delighted face, Rudel arbitrarily misinterpreted
it as an immense admiration for those two great men. While he
wasn’t wrong, it was in a vaguely different direction.
But Bennet wasn’t making a happy face.
“What’s wrong, Major?”
“No… it just seems I’m hated within the brigade, see. If I go,
there will be some troubles.”
“That can’t be! You’re a splendid major!”
Rudel was convinced there was no way Bennet could be hated. He
couldn’t believe someone like that could exist, so he decided to
ask for a name.
“Just who could hate you, Major?”
“Rudel, you can’t ask something like that.”
When Keith cautioned Rudel, Bennet laughed a bit.
“Everyone’s got people they love and hate. I don’t mind it, so
you don’t have to either.”
“… Understood.”
Bennet put a plan together and informed the two of their day of
departure. With the changing schedule, she informed them they would
have to work quickly for a while.
“You can take some vacation at the capital as well. Well, it’s
not like we can’t fly through the night, but there’s no need to
push yourselves.”
And so, they were given a day of vacation at the capital.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s6.txt
|
EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 130: Aleist’s Harem
Chapter 130: Aleist’s Harem
Aleist took a journey from the port of Beretta to a town near
the border.
Taking up a merchant’s request for guards, he made for his
destination. They didn’t have much leisure, time-wise, but even so,
it was an action he had determined necessary.
His own platoon was composed of female knights and it wasn’t as
if everyone was suited for combat. A squad needed rear support as
well. Perhaps the archeology enthusiast Pasette Yulineria was a
good example. If it had to be stated, she possessed most of the
functions of a thief.
Starting with trap evasion, she was skilled in disarming locks
as well. They were techniques she had taken up in the process of
aiming for the beloved archeologist path she desired, and it wasn’t
as if she aspired to rob anyone. Her skillset was merely on the
thief side of the spectrum.
Draped over her green coat, her leather bags stowed many more
tools than weapons. She loved books, and she was a female knight
with the sort of decisive power to just run out and get something
done at the drop of a hat.
Inside the swaying carriage, she was trying to decipher the
hero’s journal she had gotten her hands on. As long as she had the
time, she would look at the journal every day.
Aleist sat across from her. As she read through the passages
again and again, he called over.
“Is there something special about that journal?”
In-game, it was no more than a single item, but when Pasette
lifted her face from the book to look at Aleist, her cheeks
flushed. While Aleist noticed the affection directed at him, he
pretended not to notice.
“U-umm… it’s… interesting?”
“Why did you make that a question?”
When Pasette thought of how her face was reddening, she sent him
a troubled look.
“Because I’m not often understood. The other girls keep asking
me what’s so fun about reading other peoples’ diaries.”
To Pasette’s bitter smile, Aleist could only mutter ‘I see’. He
was making sure not to stick his mouth in problems between women.
While this might not be the best way to put it, as long as they
didn’t go too far, Aleist would ignore it.
He wasn’t trying to be heartless, his intervention would only
create more problems. Whoever he helped would only be recognized as
an enemy by the surroundings.
(Girls sure are scary. They make factions and… huh? Girls?
Rather, aren’t they already adults?)
As Aleist looked at the journal, Pasette opened her mouth.
“Before the Kingdom of Courtois was formed, it was an era with
small countries jumbled all over the place, and there were plenty
of skirmishes. But this journals comes from a little before even
that era. Because it details how the Gora were still wielding their
fury across the lands.”
Hearing of Gora, Aleist tilted her head, so Pasette hurriedly
offered an explanation.
“Gora are vicious monsters that live in the empire. There are
legends they can grow as big as mountains, they have four arms, and
back then, they were in Courtois as well.”
“They’re not anymore? (S-so there was such a scary monster!?)”
Having never heard of Gora, Aleist was a little startled, but he
played serenity. Nodding, Pasette told him it was alright as she
continued her explanation.
“Ever since the dragoons made their appearance, they were
eradicated from the Courtois side. Since we have dragons, the Gora
in the empire don’t wander over. That’s why the important people
say they must be quite clever.”
“I-I see. (Thank god! Seriously, thank you!!)”
“At the time, they didn’t have a common language, so I can’t
completely decipher it. There are words mixed in, or rather, the
same sentence or word can have a different meaning. If we knew
where exactly the owner of this journal came from, that would make
things easier. Like you know how we have a slightly different use
of words in the south and north? It’s like the dialects were
stronger back then, and there are some things we’ll never find out
unless we can ask a local.”
Seeing Pasette describe it so happily, Aleist recalled the self
of his past life. He recalled his experience of the things he loved
being belittled by others.
“… I’m sorry. It’s not interesting, is it? Listening to this
babble.”
He loved games and he especially enjoyed playing fantasy ones.
Even after he reincarnated, he could recall how it hurt his heart
when his classmates called that creepy. It felt as if they were
denying him as a person.
It would’ve been better if he had a friend who shared the same
hobbies, but unfortunately, in his serious prep school, he was
unable to find any gaming friends.
“No, I’ll admit I don’t get it, but I can understand you really
like it. And looking into the past is kinda romantic, don’t you
think?”
“Romantic? You’re the first to ever say something like that to me,
captain.”
The laughing Pasette’s hair was fashioned into a ponytail. Her
hair itself wasn’t very long, so the tail portion was short. When
she laughed like that she looked like a child, or so was Aleist’s
frank opinion.
After that, until it was time to change out guards, Aleist
continued talking with PAsette.
And he thought…
(Yeah, they’re all alive after all.)
“What’s wrong, captain?”
“It’s nothing.”
In the past, even if they entered his field of vision, he
thought of these characters who didn’t appear in the game as little
more than part of the mob, but like this, he could see full well
they were living their lives. He had experienced this feeling once
more after he left the environment of the academy, and he was
beginning to develop an interest in the pasts of the people he’d
encountered.
(Bennet-san is the same. And Rudel’s sister of a different
mother… Lena as well. I wasn’t looking at my surroundings.)
He repented at how narrow his field of vision had been before he
enrolled at the academy. And until his lookout shift came around,
Aleist enjoyed conversing with Pasette..
◇
By the time they reached their destination, the sun had gone
down.
The caravan Aleist’s platoon had taken up a request to protect
arrived at a large town near the border. By Aleist’s knowledge, as
it was close to borderland and in the farther reaches of the
kingdom, it was a town with a prospering weapon and equipment
industry. Before searching for a weapon, taking care of the other
equipment was important.
Generally, knights of Courtois would make use of their supplied
weaponry, but the use of personal armaments was also
recognized.
In the town that gave off an uncouth impression unfit for
sightseeing, Aleist decided to search out an inn.
“For now, let’s look for the inn they told us about. If they
don’t have any rooms, we should be safe if we take one on the
slightly pricey side.”
The female knights abided the orders of their superior Aleist.
They all carried their own luggage as they made for the place the
merchant had told them about.
Aleist thought they were wearing conspicuous clothing, but that
didn’t seem to be the case. There were many travelers passing
through, and be that as it may, there were plenty wearing the same
attire as them.
“Aren’t there a few too many travelers around?”
When Aleist brought forth the question, Pasette walking
immediately behind him gave an answer.
“It’s because there are plenty of equipment craftsmen here.
There are lots of merchants who come to stock up, or sell daily
necessities.”
Meaning they would need guards to accompany them. For merchants
that managed large-scale shops, it wouldn’t be strange for them to
have their own personal guards.
After Aleist nodded at that explanation, their destination inn
came into sight. A sign near the door informed them there were
vacant rooms. As they got closer, it even detailed the prices and
the sorts of food they would offer if you took up a stay.
“Hmm… breakfast is included, and for dinner, you can use the
restaurant on the first floor. What’s more, it’s a pretty
place.”
Personally, Aleist preferred a pretty inn with good service. Not
only was he the young head of a noble, his past life was one of a
high school student in modern japan. Putting up with a cheap inn
was close to impossible. Additionally, his subordinates were all
women.
If it was possible, the best inn was one that wouldn’t displease
them.
The point of their dissatisfaction was directly tied to the
atmosphere of the platoon, it was something Aleist had come to
learn as of late.
When he was traveling with Eunius, he was technically traveling
with the son of one of the three lords. If Eunius told them to stay
at a cheap inn, they would keep their mouthes shut and abide. This
did not hold true for their captain Aleist.
“Looks nice. If it’s got a bath, then I’m all for it.”
“I can’t complain if they’re providing food.”
“It’s a bit on the expensive side, but we’ve been camping a lot, so
I want to sleep in a fluffy bed.”
Nobles, commoners, and demi-humans… the various members of the
female camp used their own sense of values to give a favorable
rating to the inn before their eyes. A commoner knight was just a
little mindful of the price.
“Then it’s settled, we’re staying here. (Thankfully, it looks
like we don’t have to go around looking for another inn).”
If they didn’t like it, even if they didn’t complain to Aleist,
the air of the platoon would take a turn for the worse. In-game, he
made use of cheap inns when he was low on funding, but when he
looked at reality like this, he was reminded it wouldn’t go so
easily.
For now, he gave thanks to the fact they had found an inn before
it grew dark as he led the party through the door.
As he opened the door, the nice smell from the dining hall on
the first floor hit them. The smell of roasting meat, the scent of
simmering soup… for his party worn out from their journey, it was
exceptionally appealing.
“Welcome! Are you here for a meal or a stay?”
As the energetic poster girl of the place approached the party,
Aleist confirmed to see if they had enough openings.
“So it’s a party! We do have the openings, but singles rooms for
everyone are a bit… if you’re fine with doubles, I don’t think
there will be a problem.”
When he turned to look at his subordinates’ faces, everyone
nodded. With hunger and fatigue, no one complained they would
prefer to sleep alone. Rejoicing inside, Aleist told the young girl
that would be fine and checked how much it would cost.
“If possible, a few days. Could you take us in for three
days?”
“That’s perfectly fine. If it was an extended stay, then if any
singles rooms opened up, we wouldn’t have minded if you moved into
them.”
Extended stay… then did that mean three days wasn’t enough?
Giving a bitter smile, Aleist told them they would book three days
for now and paid the fee.
Moving from the entrance to the counter, the girl called out to
the young man behind it.
“It’s a party. They’re staying three days, and for the
room…”
The man handed the registry over to Aleist for him to write down
names. As Aleist entered everyone’s information, his movements were
truly accustomed. Eunius threw these sorts of things right out the
window, so they naturally flowed down to him. While it would be
fine if he left it to his subordinates, their sense of values
differed so greatly they would argue over choosing inns.
There was no helping it, so Aleist took on these sorts of
tasks.
“I’ll show you to your room.”
Taking charge of the keys, the girl showed Aleist and his party
to their rooms. From a number of customers, it seemed business was
going well. After they were led to separate rooms scattered across
different floors, Aleist was the final one led to a singles room on
the fifth floor.
“This is the room the white knight once stayed in, you
know.”
“The white knight? You mean Rudel?”
“Oh, you know him? He came to this town a few years ago. Back
then, there were also a lot of dragons, and it was a huge ruckus in
town. I was helping out back then and I accidentally entered the
white knight’s room, but he was kind and cool.”
The reminiscing girl called her encounter with the white knight
her pride. With a bit of a conflicted feeling, Aleist gave a bitter
smile.
◇
The next day.
Having finished breakfast Aleist’s party was moving
independently, the day having been designated as a vacation.
They hadn’t had any rest to that point, and as this was a perfect
opportunity, Aleist decided to walk through town on his own.
Holding the cloth-wrapped holy sword under his arm, he searched for
the eastern craftsmen who had produced his armor.
“Can they use this?”
He recalled it was registered as a material, but it didn’t give
any particular effects. That’s why he saw the holy sword as little
more than a meaningless item to fill up a bag space. But before the
threat of the Gaia Empire, he wanted as proficient a weapon as he
could find.
Not just for himself to hold, he needed to assemble equipment
for the rest of his party.
He intended to polish their abilities, but with that alone, from
how his surroundings were growing, he wondered if that might be
insufficient. Especially with Rudel, Eunius and Luecke, those three
were outside the norm. He didn’t know how it happened, but the
three of them had continued down their own paths at a breakneck
pace.
In such a situation, Aleist wasn’t stupid enough to think the
enemy would remain weak.
“At the very least, if it has a slight effect…”
If he found the opportunity, he wanted to circulate weapons
outside his part as well. That alone should have some effect. As he
walked, thinking over such a thing, he was able to spot his
destination smithy.
When it came to the blacksmithy run by people of the orient, it
was famous in town. He located it in no time. The fact everyone
knew it meant it was surely well known.
… Though whether that was in a good or bad sense was a separate
issue.
“Good of ‘ya to come, punk!”
“How’s yer armor feelin’? Crazy, right?”
When those kimono-clad quiet-looking craftsmen-esque men caught
sight of Aleist, they approached him with words that felt off from
their appearance. Those words that brought a delinquent to mind
were something Aleist was no good at dealing with.
“T-today, I’ve come for–”
“Haah?”
While they were likely acting normal, they had originally flowed
to this town and lived in the slums. They had picked up the
language there, so it couldn’t be helped that their words were
rough. And as those words actually went through, the craftsmen lost
the chance to correct their way of speech.
“N-no… um, this.”
He presented the cloth-wrapped holy sword to one of the
craftsmen. But Aleist was growing weak at the knees as that
scary-faced man accepted it with careful hands. The moment he took
the sword out of its cloth, the man’s eyes opened wide.
“It’s rusted through, damn fool!”
“Bastard, how in the ‘ell could you let it get this bad!?”
“I’m sooooorrrryyy!”
Quite a bit of time was wasted before he finally managed to
inform them the holy sword was something he found.
◇
Led inside the smithy, Aleist sat across from a man called
Zouken.
Having returned to find his smiths making a ruckus, Zouken found
himself taking it up. Zouken was a swordsmith, the most
knowledgeable when it came to these sorts of weapons.
And after hearing Aleist’s circumstances, he laughed with a
troubled face.
“Then I must apologize for that. It’s not as if they had any ill
intent, it’s just, the place they learned their words is… when I
was out buying and selling, they were finding daily work in the
slums.”
In the harshest of times, Zouken went out to sell his katanas,
while the other craftsmen worked in the slums to eat. Now they had
worked together to borrow a workshop and they were making goods to
sell.
“I see. Even so, you’re making all sorts of things here.”
The inside of the room was decorated with the weapon’s they’d
made. Looking over them, Aleist was growing interested in the
peculiar equipment. His own armor was the same, but he felt an
affinity with these pieces that had a somewhat Japanese make.
“We make to order, after all. Never troubled with putting food
on the table.”
Zouken appraised the rusted, rotted sword in his hands as he
conversed with Aleist. Zouken’s group was one thing, but there was
something else that piqued Aleist’s curiosity. It was the famed
blade they were supposed to possess.
The sword’s name was Yakumo… in the kata line, it was the blade
that boasted the highest class specs. While Aleist couldn’t use it,
he thought it might prove useful to Izumi so he decided to ask.
“Pardon me, but do you happen to have a sword called
Yakumo?”
That expensive sword was something that, forget early game, it
was an item considerably beyond one’s reach through mid game as
well. But the current Aleist had some financial leisure. Despite
everything, he was still the eldest son of a Count. He had carried
considerable funding with him when he left on this journey.
“You know about Yakumo? Unfortunately, I sold it. I consider
that man my savior, you see. I can’t bring myself to buy it
back.”
“Ah, if it’s been sold, then it can’t be helped. There’s just
this oriental woman I know, and that person wields a katana.”
Aleist recalled Izumi. .Come to think of it, she had received a
katana from Rudel as a present. HE heard it was something cheap,
but he remembered the way she rejoiced to be something amazing.
“Gifting a katana to a lady… is that the trend these
days?”
“No, not that I’ve heard of.”
As the two of them exchanged some trifling words, confusion
began to set on Zouken’s face. As he looked at the holy sword
in his hands, he gave a firm tilt to his head.
“What’s wrong.”
Finishing his appraisal, Zouken spread a cloth over the ground
before carefully laying the holy sword over it. He unraveled a
number of points bothering him.
“Is this really something of the past? No, this rot is
definitely one of years, but… the make is, you see…”
Aleist explained the circumstances behind how he obtained it and
gave a general outline of the era from the journal. Taking those
into perspective, it was definitely a relic of centuries past.
Zouken didn’t seem satisfied but he continued on.
“It’s not as if I don’t believe you, but this one’s make is too
new.”
“New?”
As Aleist directed his eyes at the sword placed on the ground,
Zouken explained it so he could understand.
“It’s the technique, or rather the manufacturing process. Its
make is more advanced than what’s going around now. Tempering some
sort of magic-imbued material into the metal, and there’s the stone
embedded into the blade. That is a sort of gemstone with mana
sealed into it. I’ve heard that the blacksmiths of the royal
capital have only recently managed to create a sword like this.
From what I’ve heard, this one is of a much higher completion,
but…”
Struggling to say something, Zouken mulled a bit before giving a
suitable hypothesis. And he forcefully made himself come to terms
with it.
“Well, it’s possible that an old manufacturing process was lost,
and it’s only being rediscovered now. When you think of it like
that, those craftsmen of the past must have been quite advanced.
Though it vexes me to say it as a blacksmith myself.”
Aleist agreed with Zouken’s words, and he restarted the
conversation.
“So will you be able to use it to make something?”
“I can. Rather, it’s the best possible material. From what I can
see, it’s got quite a bit of use into it.”
Relieved that it could be used, Aleist requested the making of a
weapon. But there, Zouken made a misunderstanding.
“Show me your sword and your hands.”
“Yes?”
As asked, he displayed his two swords and his hands. Zouken
nodded a few times as he started taking notes.
“So you’re fine with it being augmented into those two swords,
right? It’ll take a bit of time… half a year. No, if you give me
three months, I’ll show you I can get it done.”
“No, um…”
Aleist noticed Zouken was trying to use the holy sword as a
material to reforge his own blades. He tried to deny it, but Zouken
smiled.
“To be able to make a weapon for a swordsman of such caliber, my
skills are crying out. I’ll call for my craftsmen friends at once,
and make you the finest of swords.”
He looked extremely delighted. And Aleist…
“I-I’ll leave it to you.”
Was unable to tell him it was a misunderstanding.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s7.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 131: Erselica Rises to the Stage
Chapter 131: Erselica Rises to the Stage
Pasette Yulineria was decoding the journal she obtained in the
cave.
The room she stayed had a simple desk and lamp, so even when
night fell, she was able to read. Her tired roommate was already in
her bed, in a world of dreams. She was a commoner girl, who kicked
the cover away to expose her undergarments.
Standing once from her chair, Pasette re-draped the cover over
her.
Normally, she tied her slightly-curling brown hair back, but for
now, it was down. Her hair that grew just barely reaching her back,
the girl thought it was just in the way. She wanted to cut it
short, but with the reactions of her surroundings, she wasn’t able
to.
Her parents opposed, saying it wasn’t good for a girl to have
her hair too short.
Pasette herself strongly wished to cut it, but she couldn’t make
it any shorter.
She returned to the desk and sat in the chair. To the side of
the journal, Pasette had her memo pad and references scattered
around, which she began to clean up. She intended to go until she
reached a good stopping point. But it seems she had grown heated
and hurried forth a bit.
“I should call it quits for today.”
The journal detailed the region the hero had lived in.
Time-wise, it was an era tormented by the Gora. If it was before
the founding of Courtois, then it would also have to be before the
warring states period. When she read about his daily life, she grew
excited and tried to compare it to the books she used as
reference.
But she felt something was off. The individual who wrote the
journal, she got the feeling his thought process was too close to
their own… to that of their own era. There were descriptions of the
inconvenience he felt at the technologies that were likely brand
new at the time.
There were places where the old paper had been ruined and
rendered illegible, but Pasette was curious about the last page.
Alongside a message to entrust the Holy Sword to whoever found it,
it gave Aleist’s name. Pasette had thought it was the name of the
diary’s author.
But would they really write their name on the last page? It
bothered her.
“The book’s covered is too tattered… hah, even so, our captain
sure is mysterious.”
From Pasette’s point of view, Aleist was the same age as the
rest of them, and an elite entrusted with a commanding role. But in
actuality, he had cleaning duties shoved onto him for more than
half a year, and the members of his platoon were all women.
All things considered, the personnel selection seemed too
mismatched. At first, Pasette didn’t have any interest in Aleist.
But as they journeyed together, she was among those whose hearts
were moved by the gap between the leisure he showed and his usual
conduct.
“When we were cleaning, I’d always wonder if he’d be alright,
but the black knight is different after all.”
Relaxing and stretching her stiff body, Pasette extinguished the
lamp atop the desk and made for the bed. Once the room’s light died
down, she could see the lights outside. The light of the stars, and
the slightly-distant lights of the business district.
As she absentmindedly gazed from the bed out the window, she
heard a voice from the room next door.
‘Prepare yourself, Captain Aleist!’
‘Noooo!! Stop, don’t be violent!!’
‘It’ll end in no time. Just count the number of stains on the
ceiling!’
‘I don’t want to! I… I want my body to stay pure!’
‘Ah, don’t run! At this rate, there’s a possibility your body will
be forever defiled! In that case, can’t you just give your first
time to me!?’
‘A girl shouldn’t crawl into someone’s bed! I’m begging you, just
let me sleep!!’
Alongside those boisterous voices, she could hear the sound of
the door slamming open with good momentum, and Aleist running down
the corridor. A little later came the footsteps of her colleague
giving chase. Ever since they had acted alongside Lieutenant Keith,
the anxiety amongst the female knights had grown.
For the sake, these sorts of exchanges had grown in numbers.
(So today it’s Fizz.)
Fizz Brandt was the third daughter of a Baron House. When she
learned she would become the second wife of a noble who’d lost his
first if she stayed, she ran off to the academy, and stayed there
until she became a knight. Older than them, and having been born
into a relatively affluent household, she was a woman who received
a firm and proper education… or that’s how it was supposed to be,
but with such a tasty meal before her eyes, it seems she was unable
to hold back.
(Fizz does get blinded by appearance, after all.)
Close in age to her, and be that as it may, he came from a high
status. To Fizz, it was a chance she couldn’t let get away.
The current Aleist was definitely set to take one of Courtois’
two princesses as a bride. When that happened, it would mean the
rise of Aleist’s Hardie House. To marquis, or even archduke…
perhaps the era of Three Lords would change to four.
A new archduke house would be born. To the nobles of Courtois,
this was a serious affair. It meant the factions would largely
shift. What’s more, the Hardie House was an upstart with few usable
vassals. Even if they scraped them up from their relatives, there’s
no way that would be sufficient.
The birth of a new power would be the trigger for large change
in Courtois’ stagnant noble society. For better or worse, Aleist
was at the center of that.
“Hah, in that case, do the captain’s rivals have the upper hand?
They’re archdukes to begin with, so maybe there’s no room for him
to step in.”
The violent mistress candidate dispute had reached a dreadful
impasse. At first, Pasette thought as long as it would aid in her
excavations, she would raise her name as a candidate. But as she
continued interacting with Aleist, she came to hate herself for
that.
“I never should’ve fallen for him… if I didn’t fall, then right
around now, I’d be able to act for nothing more than my own profit.
I really am an idiot.”
Passing for a book-loving girl before Aleist, Pasette was also
considering taking action like Fizz. She hated that part of
her.
(I wonder what other stories the journal has to tell.)
Closing her eyes, Pasette fell asleep. Those two would probably
return eventually. It was unknown whether Aleist would be caught
and dragged back, or he’d run until dawn and Fizz would give
up.
‘After you’ve made a woman do so much, you’re running
away!?’
‘Man and woman doesn’t matter! What’s important is how we feel
about one another!’
‘Feelings and shit like that will work itself out later! I’ve
already prepared my heart, mind you.’
‘And I haven’t prepared mine! Seriously, stop it! Why is my platoon
full of so many carnivorous beasts!?’
‘If it’s going to be stolen anyway, then give it to me! What are
you unsatisfied with!? I know I shouldn’t be the one to say it, but
my appearance isn’t a problem, is it!?’
‘It’s what’s inside! Show a little more prudence!’
The voices came from outside the inn. Pasette knew the two of
them had run out, and she grew fed up over what they were doing.
But she did hope Aleist would run away.
◇
Aleist kept low in a small lane between buildings.
The darkness that clad the black knight… freely manipulating his
shadow, he hid from Fizz.
(Why am I using the black knight’s abilities to run and hide…
and this isn’t the harem I imagined. It’s too muddled, I can’t take
this anymore.)
The Platoon’s composition was an order from up high. Even when
Aleist exercised his authority, it was splendidly crushed to bits.
Looking out the darkness, he saw Fizz draped in a gown pass
nearby.
“He got away again. The captain should just give it up
already.”
Passing straight by him, Fizz returned to the inn. Aleist showed
his form from his shadow, getting his messed-up pajamas in order.
As a nightcrawling countermeasure, he placed his slippers where
they could be worn in an instant, so he wasn’t barefoot.
Fizz’s late start came from her exercise of the minimum level of
womanly modesty; she had searched for a gown and slippers, making
her a little late to leave the room.
“This is definitely wrong. Why am I going through something like
this?”
Lamenting, Aleist determined it was too dangerous to return to
the inn. In order to kill a bit of time, he sunk into the shadows
and gazed at the sky.
The sky he could see between the gap in the roofs looked more
pretty than the one from the world he had been. Inside, he dreamed
of looking up at the stars with Millia, in a place vaster than
this.
But that was impossible, he had come to understand as of late.
Whatever the case, Aleist’s standing was still dubious. He was an
upstart noble, and with his house’s momentum, the surroundings had
taken an adequate distance to watch them. Aleist’s parents’ thought
processes were closer to a merchant than a noble, so they were
pretty much neglecting the obligations of a noble.
He had received a noble’s education, but he was dim on the topic
of noble marriages to continue on the house.
Just as a fiancée had been decided for Rudel in his student
days, Luecke and Eunius had numerous candidates. Magic granted a
level of longevity so they wouldn’t be wed in their student days,
but even so, it wasn’t rare for there to be a formal engagement for
a student.
And since he’d been recognized as the black knight, women were
flocking around Aleist.
“For some reason, it’s quiet around Rudel, though.”
What he couldn’t accept was Rudel’s situation. Aleist was paying
caution to the rumors surrounding Rudel. But he didn’t hear the
slightest rumor of engagement or women. When he heard talks of some
noble plotting a marriage, in the next week it was as if nothing
happened at all.
“Having just one wife… is it really impossible?”
There was a time where he wanted to be surrounded by lots of
women, but now, Aleist had someone he liked. When he had someone in
his heart, he couldn’t think of laying hands on another woman. But
by the time he noticed it, he was in a situation that wouldn’t
permit it.
“Hah, what do I do if the number increases again…”
Dry up and die. That wasn’t a joke, that situation truly was
encroaching on him. At present, it was decided a princess of
Courtois would marry into the Hardie House. Normally, Rudel
marrying one of the princesses and succeeding the throne would be
the ideal.
But the man in question had no such will, and the palace was
moving as if it detested the very notion. A member of the dragoons,
the heroes of Courtois, and rider of a rare white dragon, there was
no one in the world better to make a symbol.
Though he’d hate that, Aleist gave a bitter smile.
When he dropped by the port town of Beretta, he saw Rudel get
all muddied up as he did his best. Aleist was honestly envious. He
seemed truly delighted as he worked.
“It’s a good thing for a dream to be granted. But dreams,
eh…”
Aleist thought over what he was aiming for. Beating the last
boss was natural. Otherwise, the country would cease to exist. Even
if it remained, it would be cornered into a harsh situation.
But what did he seek beyond that? To Aleist, it was much too
obscure.
They were lives of pretty much running down predetermined rails,
but even so, Luecke and Eunius were putting in the greatest effort
they could. Even as they shouldered responsibility and
expectations, the way they did what they wanted was envious.
“Just what is the protagonist supposed to be…”
Stabbed with a difference of values, Aleist looked at the sky
and muttered.
◇
In a café of the capital, Erselica and Lena were led to a
private room.
As with the building’s exterior, there was considerably
craftsmanship put into the inside as well. That shop that nobles
would use by choice was a harsh shop where customers were also
requested to follow a certain level of manners.
Erselica turned to look at a restless Lena.
“Calm down a bit.”
“No, I mean… I haven’t worn a skirt in a while no, and dresses
are a bit…”
Normally preferring Rudel’s hand-me-downs and men’s wear, Lena
grabbed and lifted up the hem of her skirt. At that gesture, the
host’s expression reacted with a twitch, so Erselica stopped Lena
with a glare.
The reason the two of them had dressed up and come to the
capital was definitely not to play.
It was to hear of the palace’s current state of affairs from a
certain Luecke Halbades. Erselica had investigated into Luecke as
much as she could. He shared what could be called a close
friendship with Rudel, and he had no relations to the traitors
Chlust was worried about… at the very least, she approached him
with the hopes he wasn’t related.
She had similarly tried to get in contact with Eunius, but as
luck would have it, he was currently out of the capital.
“Walk this way.”
The host who led them to the private room with polite gestures
closed the door behind them. Inside, a different employee was
preparing tea.
Light streamed in from the large window. But from the
positioning of the tables and chairs, there was no worry of it
becoming too bright.
“Luecke-san!”
“Wait, Lena!”
As Lenna suddenly let a loud voice into the calm café air,
Erselica panicked. The employee was about to caution her when
Luecke got the better of him.
“My apologies. We’ll be talking a while, so after the tea is
prepared, leave us be a while.”
“Understood.”
After preparing three people’s worth of tea and snacks, the
employee left the room. Erselica pinched her skirt’s hem to give a
curtsy, and Lena did her best to imitate. Unlike when she was
holding a spear, why did she look so unreliable? Erselica was
perplexed.
“Well, take a seat. We don’t need any of that stiff stuff today.
If you make me act like that even on my days off, you’re going to
wear me out.”
(He’s an adult.)
Erselica felt relieved at the leisure Luecke gave off. Taking a
seat with Lena, she gave a simple greeting. The air he gave off was
different than that of the boys she would usually meet, causing her
to feel something close to admiration.
However…
“Ah, Luecke-san, could you tell us about noble relations? Me and
my brother are no good with that stuff. But Erselica said she
wanted to hear, so…”
“… Lena, how could you be so rude? You’re before a future
archduke. Even if he told us to act normally, the minimum level of
etiquette m–”
“Leave it to me. I prepared in a way that’s easy to
understand.”
All for it, Luecke handed the documents to Erselica. On it, the
general relationship between the current noble houses was spelled
out. There were a number of pages, so he must have gone through
some effort to prepare it. But something smelled fishy to
Erselica.
“Are you done preparing for the academy?”
“We’re all good. I rented out big bro and Sacky, so me and Erselica
are going to have an elegant trip through the sky. Ay, this
cookie’s nice.”
“I see. If anything happens, just tell me. There are some things
Rudel won’t be able to deal with when he’s out on the border.”
As Lena and Luecke spoke with smile, Luecke casually took a memo
of the name of the sweet Lena said was good. When Lena directed her
eyes at Luecke’s plate, he gave a warm smile as he passed it over.
And then there were none.
(… Huh? He’s acting somewhat different than before.)
Sure enough, he had perfectly looked into what was request. And
Erselica was satisfied with the contents. But leaving her to the
side, the sight of the pleasant chat between the two brought a few
things to mind.
(As I thought, Rudel’s friends are usually strange.)
Erselica scanned through the documents as she thought such a
thing.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/title-page.txt
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Dragoon
Arc
7
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
|
s1.txt
|
EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 125: The Port Town and the Empire
Chapter 125: The Port Town and the Empire
In the port town of Beretta, Eunius and Aleist were undertaking
Keith’s tutelage alongside Rudel.
The expedition had displayed quite some interest in a lesson
from a dragoon like Keith.
Inspectors Izumi and Millia also sat, under the blue sky,
receiving the salty sea breeze as they watched Keith drag a
blackboard over. Bennet sat next to Rudel with the intent to learn
what she could.
While Izumi didn’t mind it, Millia was taking some fleeting
glances. From Izumi’s point of view, she wanted her to be more wary
of Keith, but she was troubled over how she couldn’t bring herself
to say it. For the innocent Millia and Bennet who didn’t possess
the knowledge, Izumi had some resistance to explaining everything
from scratch.
Aleist’s subordinates were listening in from behind Izumi. While
they looked to be a graceful gathering at a glance, the lecturer
Keith seemed quite displeased.
“Why are there so many women? You’re in the way.”
“Lieutenant, please tell us what today’s lecture’s about!”
“Good question, Rudel. Today I’ll have you do some classroom
learning on the relation between dragoon and dragon. I could teach
you through practicals, but it would be better if you started those
out with the knowledge, after all.”
When Rudel raised his hand to ask a question, Keith instantly
made a smile. He was as unfazed as ever. Gripping her beloved
katana’s sheath in her left hand so she could draw it at any
moment, Izumi didn’t let her guard down for an instant.
“First off, we’re going with current and past relations. In the
past, dragoons largely focused on fighting to protect a dragon’s
back. That really hasn’t changed, but fundamentally speaking,
against a monster capable of piercing a dragon’s scales, a human is
powerless!”
As Keith suddenly rejected a dragoon’s reason to be, Rudel
directed some serious eyes. His face flushing, Keith continued on
his explanation.
“Then if all you have to do is find yourself some means of mid
and long-range attack, you just have to draw out the dragon’s own
power. That’s how I see it.”
On the blackboard, Keith drew an x over the picture of a knight
firing magic from a dragon’s back. While Keith was definitely weak,
he had still cleared the basic physical criteria to be a
knight.
“Protecting a dragon’s back is something of the past. In the
current era, they’re shifting towards controlling their dragons,
but… that really is meaningless, you know. I mean all they’re doing
is removing the ‘protect the back’ part of their duty, those
slackers.”
“But mid-range attacks are…”
“I’m telling you it’s meaningless, shrimp.”
Bennet’s objection was cut down by Keith. There, Rudel to her
side tried comforting her.
“It’s alright, Major! I also think mid-range attacks are
important.”
“A-aye.”
Millia and Keith watched over that exchange with irritation.
Izumi thought the way Bennet happily wagged her tail was cute.
After clearing his throat, Keith went into an explanation as to why
it was unnecessary. It was surely because of the emphasis Rudel
placed on mid-range attack methods. If it was Bennet’s opinion, he
had already discarded it.
“If all your own attacks can do is serve as a diversion, then
you’re better off concentrating on giving orders to your dragon.
That’s the honest-to-goodness truth. But I thought I’d take that
one step further. You better put the words, ‘draw out a dragon’s
power,’ into your head.”
“Draw out its power?”
When Izumi let out her voice, that’s right, Keith muttered with
a click of his tongue. Rudel and Bennet sunk into thought.
“What do you mean by draw out its power?”
Bennet asked. If her orders took precedence, the dragon would
move, it had always been like that and she didn’t understand the
meaning of the words themselves. It was a question quite fit for
Bennet, who had gained a means of mid-range attack to protect her
dragon’s back.
“All you’ve ever done is order it around. What I’m trying to say
is pulling out its abilities. Let’s see… I don’t mean to tack on a
little extra strength. What’s important is control. You have to
operate a dragon’s power. I have this one technique called Rainbow
Mirage, and that’s a prime example of this theory in motion!”
While he proudly unveiled the name of his technique, no one
around seemed to understand what it was. As Rudel looked around
troubled, Izumi extended a helping hand.
“Rudel, um… he’s talking about that body double technique.
Probably.”
“You mean those body doubles, Lieutenant!?”
Against Rudel’s sparkling eyes, Keith faltered. As Izumi smiled
at her small revenge for all his usual conduct, with a mortified
face, Keith changed his technique name from Rainbow Mirage to body
double.
Those clones of water he produced, Rudel had seen them as well.
He just didn’t know the attack name, and Izumi had somehow noticed
and connected the dots. Being understood, put him in quite an
unpleasant mood.
“A dragon’s latent abilities are high. In order for us dragoons
to control them, more than the telepathic bond we share, we need to
understand one another. But… in your case, your dragon’s a
subspecies, so it’ll be difficult.”
“It’s difficult?”
On Bennet’s question, Keith informed her there were absolutely
no documents available. You can’t draw out what isn’t there. It all
starts from looking into past records to see what sort of thing
their dragons have done, and what they’re capable of. That was
Keith’s way of going about it.
But Rudel’s dragon Sakuya was a gaia subspecies. What’s more,
even if its appearance had some common points, it was easier to say
it was a separate species entirely.
“In this case, the problem is that the dragon itself hasn’t
noticed its own attributes. She’s still young. No, she’s way too
young.”
Seeing Keith seriously mull, Eunius was surprised. He whispered
over to Aleist who was sitting beside him.
“He’s surprisingly decent. I thought he’d be a bit more of a
lost cause.”
“Hah? Of course Keith-san is decent.”
“… Just where does that trust of yours come from. You’ve got to
tell me sometime.”
Izumi endorsed Eunius’ opinion as she worried for Aleist’s
chastity. But to Izumi, Rudel was higher on her order of
precedence. Meaning even if Aleist was assaulted in some way by
Keith, she was going to let it be.
She wasn’t abandoning him. If Izumi raised a hand, she
understood the situation would clearly take a turn for the worse.
While Aleist’s chastity was important, by protecting him, there was
no guarantee his harem members wouldn’t misunderstand
something.
As things stood, Millia had yet to become wary of Keith. From
Izumi’s point of view, she was wary of the harmless Bennet, and
what a wasted effort that was.
“If you give the average dragoon a value of one, while dragons
all have individual difference, the power difference puts them well
over a hundred. It’s generally impossible for a human to win out
over a dragon, after all.”
After writing that humans can’t beat dragons on the board, he
sent a glance around as if to ask, ‘then what are they supposed to
do?’
“Adding your own power onto theirs is slight and insignificant.
If all you’re doing is protecting its back, then you should
strengthen the dragon. That’s why I decided to draw out my dragon’s
strength. The body doubles is a part of that. You make the shape of
a dragon with water, and imitate the surface.”
“Is that really possible? Mana-capacity-wise, you wouldn’t be
able to use that much magic too many times.”
Rudel tilted his head. There, Keith spoke with a smile.
“Hahaha, I can’t create those doubles on my own. Who do you
think I am? I don’t have that sort of mana, and I don’t have the
control. That’s why I put my own dragon to it. I understand his
exact characteristics, transmit a clear image, and support him in
the finer points. With that alone, a dragon’s strength rapidly
increases. You don’t need some mid or long-range magic. More so, as
long as you can do something like this, you’re doing good as a
dragoon.”
While the eyes watching Keith grew surprisingly favorable,
Bennet put a damper on his parade.
“Hey… doesn’t that mean you’re casting off everything apart from
aerial combat?”
“And what of it? Something so savage as fighting on the dirt
isn’t suited to me. Just have that gorilla Cattleya do it or
something.”
Did something happen with Cattleya? Izumi thought, as Keith’s
lesson came to an end. As Aleist headed off to help him clean up,
Eunius approached Rudel.
“Oy, Rudel.”
“What is it? I was planning on helping the Lieutenant.”
“It’s been a while, let’s have a match. You’ve been going all
over the place, and it’s boring me to death. Aren’t you curious to
see how strong you’ve become?”
“… Eunius.”
While Rudel made a bit of a fed-up face, Izumi understood. That
wasn’t him fed up over Eunius challenging him to a match.
“You better not regret it.”
“Good grief. You guys are always the same.”
A ghastliness befell upon Rudel’s smile that could be called
battle mania. Seeing that expression, Eunius also changed to a
ferocious grin.
Bennet looked over the two with tired eyes, but she looked just
a little happy.
However…
“I can’t stand it anymore!”
Looking at Rudel and Bennet, Millia finally exploded.
◇
“I’m telling you, the major is definitely dangerous!”
“C-calm down. The major isn’t dangerous at all. More so, that idiot
over there is–”
“They’re both guys, right? What are you talking about, Izumi!”
“… Hey?”
“What?”
It did seem Millia was mindful of the female knight of the wolf
tribe close to Rudel. While they did get along, Eunius saw it as
the relationship between superior and subordinate. He knew his
close friend Rudel, and Bennet’s actions didn’t have anything to do
with man or woman.
And yet, Millia was wary of Bennet. Still such accusations,
Bennet still stood with resolution, but her tail and dog ears were
in a terrible station.
“Why is that woman so angry?”
“Are you talking about Millia? She hasn’t seen eye to eye with
Izumi lately. It’s been like that ever since we came here… Izumi’s
been aggressive towards Lieutenant Keith, and Millia’s been wary of
Major Bennet. I don’t know the reason either.”
“Ah, I see. Right, right. That’s the sort of guy you are.”
Recalling how Rudel wasn’t wary of Keith, Eunius was convinced
his friend’s chastity had been protected by Izumi. He suddenly
wondered whether Aleist would be alright, but he had a number of
key harem member with him, so he’d probably be fine, or so Eunius
changed his train of thought.
As Rudel didn’t understand, he mulled over whether to inform
Rudel that Keith was dangerous precisely because they were members
of the same sex. In truth, even if the two of them had their
innocence stolen, he thought it might become a funny story.
While he was worried, it was interesting no matter which way the
ball rolled. Keith was so entranced with Aleist and Rudel that he
calculated there was no danger of himself becoming a casualty.
More importantly…
(This isn’t the atmosphere to have a duel.)
The fact he wasn’t able to fight Rudel displeased Eunius. It did
seem Millia and Izumi had stolen the flow away.
The arguments of women would gradually intensify. At first, they
would argue over whether Keith or Bennet was more dangerous,
gradually shifting to things of the past. Eunius thought women who
never forgot their grudges were scary.
“You called me a bug back at the academy, didn’t you!”
“T-that just came to my mind during the match and… t-that has
nothing to do with what’s happening right now!”
Two of Aleist’s harem stepped in to soothe them, but the problem
was they didn’t have the slightest effect. Within that never-ending
argument, Bennet pulled at Rudel’s sleeve.
“D-did I do something problematic?”
While she acted out a firm bearing, her voice was shaking. Her
eyes were swimming around. To such a commanding officer, Rudel
spoke gently.
“That’s not true at all! You’re the ideal superior, Major! I can
say with pride that I’m glad to have become your subordinate.”
“I-I see.”
As she averted her face, Bennet’s tail swung happily from left
to right. Her form brought to mind the image of a dog rejoicing
after receiving praise from its master.
But thinking it was strange the voices had died down, Eunius
looked at Millia and Izumi only to feel intense regret.
“Just look at that! Just look at how much that woman’s tail is
wagging! She’s definitely gunning for Rudel!”
“I’m telling you, that’s not the sort of thing we’re dealing with!
Can’t you get a grip already?”
Seeing the exchange between Rudel and Bennet, the two heated up
even further. The members of Aleist’s harem around had already
given up on persuading them.
(These guys are useless!)
I won’t be able to fight Rudel today, Eunis instinct promptly
informed him.
◇
“… They’re more vindictive than I thought.”
“That does seem to be the case.”
Fina’s room at the academy was already in a state more like an
office equipped with a bed. Having entered her final year, Fina
only had a few months left until graduation.
While Sophina thought a school life that ended with fluffing and
work was mistaken, she didn’t say it aloud. If she didn’t have the
needlessly competent Fina, she never would have made it this far to
begin with.
On top of the nobles and authorities connected to Aileen, the
augmented war potential of the royal guard…
Everything had come together.
“When we have to prepare on two fronts, the border and the
palace, they only have to pay mind to the palace, so they sure have
it easy.”
“Worse comes to worst, can’t we keep it to the palace? In that
scenario, we can concentrate our own forces.”
“… That’s no good.”
While Fina didn’t know how both sides were connected, she did
suspect how each side reacted and moved in accordance.
While they would likely move the moment her side showed an
opening, the enemy country was showing movements as if they knew
precisely when that time would come. It was a dangerous situation,
Sophina thought over the worst possible scenario and wanted to
concentrate their forces at the palace.
Rather than trying to win both fronts, she wanted to stop
Aileen’s reckless that was definitely going to break out.
But Fina’s opinion differed.
“In the case that the empire has gained the means to stand
against the kingdom, there is no meaning if we suppress the palace
alone. If they manage to snatch up a large amount of land, then
they will gain just as much power on the rematch. The top brass of
the kingdom will need some time to recover from its chaos, and in
that time, the empire should be able to get its war potential
together. If we don’t suppress both fronts, we won’t survive.”
The empire’s hatred of the kingdom, from the people of the
kingdom’s point of view, it was nothing but false charges. You live
on abundant soil, so fork it over, is what they were saying. That
was the country’s recognition of the empire.
Sophina knew the lands of the empire were impoverished. What’s
more, she knew just how important it was to them to invade Courtois
and steal its soil.
“When territories are stolen, there will be some nobles who turn
coat. And if I let my sister get away, there will definitely be
nobles to raise a rebellion. We have to win both sides no matter
what.”
As she accepted a few documents from Fina, Sophina made a grim
face. The nobles they recognized to be allied with Aileen. In a
situation where they couldn’t lose to the Gaia Empire or Aileen,
the country of Courtois… Fina’s powers were being cornered.
No, it wasn’t a corner they were being driven into. Fina had
started this match well-aware of her disadvantage.
Within a present state that only grew harsher the more time
transpired. Fina was trying to create a build up a stage she could
overcome. Sophina was also moving and lending her power for that
sake.
“… If nothing else, it’s our fortune a princess was allowed into
the academy. Before the enemy moves, we’ve been able to build our
own personal forces like this. If we were in the palace, we’d never
be able to move to this extent.”
Sophina’s opinion wasn’t mistaken. In the palace, they would
never have been able to establish so many connections. At the same
time, they were able to move away from Aileen’s eyes. It could
truly be called fortune.
“I know, right!? It’s because I’m loved! I’m a maiden loved by
the fluffadise above! You can call me the fluffmaiden if you wish…
no, that doesn’t sound right. I get the feeling maiden’s veering in
the wrong direction. This body of mine ain’t gonna stay pure for
long.”
Seeing Fina’s tension suddenly rise, Sophina noticed it was
about time for her concentration to run out. As she had Mii prepare
tea, Fina leapt out of her seat and headed off towards the white
cat tribe lass.
“If only she didn’t have this side, she’d be perfect…”
Sophina breathed out a sigh as she gazed over Fina
expressionlessly fluffing up Mii.
◇
“The results of the experimental subject?”
Mies Licorise wore a lab coat.
In the laboratory, her subordinates were busily making records
of the cages containing the black monsters. The final adjustments
on the strengthened monsters were being in that lab of the Gaia
empire.
Ogres and orcs, wyverns and a wide array of different monsters,
you could say their control experiments were proceeding
smoothly.
“No problems to report. It has already received a high
evaluation taking on monsters within imperial territory.”
Taking the documents from her subordinate, Mies read the report
of the newly formed unit. When operating monsters, if taking
command was possible, they needed an exclusive unit to do so. For
that sake, they were conducted experiment after experiment,
combatting monsters on imperial soil.
Seeing the papers that reported absolutely no problem, her
subordinate seemed self-confident. But Mies was beginning to fear
it a bit.
“If we keep on succeeding like this, it does feel somewhat
eerie. More importantly, it seems some of the monsters they took on
fled in the direction of Courtois, but how is that handling?”
“Nothing to worry about. It’s a common occurrence. Some common
monsters were just driven out of the mountains.”
As her subordinate showed no particular concern, Mies warned him
not to let his guard down. To her, this research held a vital
meaning.
“We’ve been pushing ourselves too hard this past year. The
higher-ups told us not to make too big of a ruckus before the
invasion, so be careful henceforth.”
“Y-yes.”
As her subordinate man left the area, Mies headed for the space
in front of the largest cage. Their prototype of a large monster
called a gora sat quietly, still with its ferocious expression on
its face. On top of the fangs that stuck out of its mouth, when it
became an enhanced variant, its skin and fur dyed a shade of black,
making for a truly ominous sight.
For some reason, a white tattoo spread across its body, and
large bat like wings spread out form its back. The gora’s eyes
narrowed as it looked at Mies, it almost seemed to be laughing.
“… You monster.”
A cold sweat running along her back, Mies left with due
haste.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s2.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 126: The Hippogryph and the Knight of Shadows
Chapter 126: The Hippogryph and the Knight of Shadows
Noon had already passed by the time the notice reached the port
town of Beretta.
To the three dragoons on duty, a report came in that some towns
and villages near the border were under attack. The ones who
delivered the messages was a knight mainly tasked as a
messenger.
Those knights who rode hippogryphs, crosses between horses and
gryphons, were a shadow unit largely specialized in working with
information. Unlike the dragoons, who could only take action as a
public affair, they would accomplish their missions without
standing out.
The hippogryph took the form of a horse, entering the port town
with an innocent face. But those knights who tamed beasts even
rarer than dragons were those who served directly under the royal
line. It was unnatural to find one in a place like this.
“You’re telling us to sortie?”
Wearing a hood, the knight’s face couldn’t be made out. While
the inside of the hood was definitely dark, they seemed to be
wearing some sort of mask.
After bringing their feet to Bennet in civilian clothing, they
gathered the relevant personnel and undid their disguises in the
meeting room.
Eunius and Aleist, who had been forcefully dragged along the
way, showed different reactions as they stood before a knight of a
famous brigade, in a sense.
While Eunius was full of interest towards that nameless brigade
he was seeing for the first time, Aleist firmly tilted his head.
Even when it came to hippogryphs, it seems he didn’t even know of
their very existence in this world.
While gryphons were impossible to tame by human hands, if one
were to sire a child with a mare, a hippogryph was the result. That
being the case, gryphons would more often than not make meals of
horses, and hippogryphs themselves were infertile. For that sake,
their conception itself was rare.
“Yes. We do not have the ability to hold them in place. Speaking
to their scale, the option of diverting them away from the towns
and villages will prove difficult.”
Before the masked knight who replied to Bennet with a muffled
voice, Keith was silent. While Keith was usually the sort to start
a ruckus, when it came to work, his expression changed.
“The scale is far too grand. What happened?”
“We cannot offer you the specifics… but, it’s certain they’re
flowing in from the empire’s side. To add to that, it is doubtful
that a second wave will come.”
“Counting the small fries, it’s a scale surpassing a
thousand.”
“I observed them from afar, and they seem to be searching for
food. It’s a considerably dangerous situation.”
Bennet put together a plan from the information coming in. But
there, Aleist stepped into the ranks. From what he had heard, it
was certain this knight sat and watched while the monsters attacked
a village.
“You don’t mean you overlooked them!”
As he drew close to a robed knight, Eunius grasped his
shoulders. When Aleist turned, Eunius shook his head to the
side.
“That’s just the sort of unit this one belongs to. While they
may be knights, they’re the sort of folks who conceal their numbers
and history to work for the crown. That they even came to notify us
is a miracle.”
Eunius turned his gaze to the robed knight. The knight who
couldn’t be made out as man or woman showed not the slightest
quiver. As Aleist looked down, Bennet came to the conclusion they
were in a situation where no ordinary means of communication was
viable.
“Keith, take the lead and take down the monsters around the
settlement under attack. Upon my arrival, I’ll enter ground combat.
After that.–”
“I-I’ll go too!”
“Oy!”
When Bennet put out orders, Aleist let out his will to tag
along. Eunius thought it was a discourtesy to involve one’s self in
the dealings of another brigade and tried to stop him. But Bennet
gave consent.
(This might be just right.)
“Rudel, this time, you’ll be riding my Heleene. If those two
over there wish to ride, they can come along as well.”
As Bennet gave the word, Keith made a stern expression. He
surely wanted to criticize her for taking any unrelated people to
the site, however, Bennet informed him before he could open his
mouth.
“At the battle site, procedure has you come under my command.
What’s more, the tagalongs have simply increased from two to
four.”
Keith scratched his head, and while he didn’t fully accept it,
if it was an order… or so he silently rushed out of the room. Just
as he left the meeting room, his dragon started its descent outside
the building, having been put on standby in the air.
Thinking he would be a reliable subordinate, this time, she
turned her whole body towards her direct subordinate Rudel.
“Rudel, you will not be taking Sakuya on this mission.”
“Major, Sakuya can do it. If it’s just monsters, then–”
“It seems you are misunderstanding something. Let me spell it
out clearly. What is demanded of us is the perfect execution of a
mission. She did her best? That effort isn’t even worthy of
evaluation. I have determined it is impossible for your dragon to
execute the mission. That is why you’re not bringing her.”
On the verge of opening his mouth, Rudel looked down mortified
as he put nothing more than his acceptance to mouth. While Bennet
wanted to try cheering up her subordinate, they didn’t have the
time. Thinking there would be some time to talk en route, she
rushed into her preparations.
“We’re heading out at once. Prepare what you can, if you’re not
at the plaza, you’ll be left behind.”
After calling over to Aleist and Eunius, Bennet rushed out of
the meeting room herself. For her equipment, she just had to fasten
her bag to her dragon.
She could settle Rudel’s worries in the sky. That’s all she had
to think, and yet she ended up mulling over something
unnecessary.
(Sakuya-chan’s going to be depressed.)
◇
Following on from Keith’s lead, the party headed off for a
counteroffensive, but from her dragon’s back, Bennet issued the
orders for the site.
“Protection of the civilians?”
In regards to Izumi’s question, Bennet spoke.
“That’s right. Rudel and I will sweep up the monsters that
infiltrated. The rest of you will be guarding the civilians who’ve
evacuated. Generally speaking, you’d be in the way otherwise.”
Hearing he would be in the way, Aleist started to his feet, but
Eunius stopped him. The very fact that the usual Eunius would
probably rise at those words as well only made Aleist more
surprised.
“We’re capable of fighting too.”
“She knows that. She took us along because we can fight. But
this is Rudel’s job. We shouldn’t get in the way.”
Being talked to in a manner as if to soothe a child irritated
him, but Aleist had no words to return. He understood. He never
thought he’d be able to establish coordination with the others in
this battle, but he did have the will to help.
Both side of the coin mingled within him, leaving him at a loss
for words.
“Aleist, leave it to me and the Major.”
When Rudel said it, Aleist could only nod.
(Goddammit. Aren’t I supposed to strong? Wasn’t I supposed to
have become strong?)
He was irritated at his own uselessness. If he was the
protagonist of the story, then no matter the time, he should be
able to make the impossible possible. So he thought, but the real
him was different.
Cleaning day in and day out, he was an existence distant from
anything that could be called the lead role. Even so, some day… he
had held onto the belief, but he knew reality was never so
sweet.
Raising his face, he looked at the town raising black smoke. If
they carried out their lives, surely smoke would rise, but it was a
dark smoke that failed to give off the slightest sense of
liveliness. On that scene where he thought he might hear human
screams at any moment, Aleist swallowed his breath.
(I’m scared.)
He wasn’t afraid of battle. He was afraid of his own
powerlessness. Atop the dragon’s back, Aleist strengthened his
resolve. Just as he was about to tell himself he wasn’t the same
useless child he once was, Bennet…
“We’re landing in the town plaza, but we don’t have the time for
a descent. I’ll put her on an inverted flight, so just jump
down.”
“Yes! … wait, what?”
From the large bag fastened to the dragon’s back, Bennet
produced a metal boomerang that spanned her whole height.
What’s more, it wasn’t just one or two. She had stuffed what
could be called several dozens of boomerangs into her bag.
“Major, should I hold that for you?”
Rudel called out in worry, but Bennet wagged her tail as she
denied it.
“You fool! What good will it do in your hands? Keep a good eye
on the way I fight. If Keith is doing well at the vanguard, then
right around now…”
In the air above the town they approached, a water dragon was
firing a stream of attacks towards the ground. Attacking the area
around the ground, it eliminated the monsters flying through the
sky. But as a dragon’s attacks would raze the town, its assault was
limited to the town’s airspace and exterior.
Seeing the skillful manipulation of the dragon, everyone held
the impression it would be impossible for Sakuya. More than that,
she might even erase the town alongside the monsters.
“… Looks like he’s doing just fine. Heleene, meet up with
Spinnith and strike down the monsters around.”
As Bennet called out to her own dragon, the dragon gave a single
roar in the air. It was as if it was responding to say it
understood. If anyone apart from a dragoon saw the scene, it would
look like a one-sided conversation with a dragon.
“Then we’re off.”
“Ah, wai… gyaaaah!!”
Taking a sudden nose-dive, Heleene turned and flew in a position
with her stomach face up. From what had once been a stable flight,
her motions changed to a trajectory that brought a roller coaster
to mind. Aleist was never too good with roller coasters.
“Aleist, you’ll bite your tongue.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
While Rudel worried for Aleist, Eunius was making a fed-up face.
With this being their first real battle, neither Izumi nor Millia
found the leisure to pay mind to Aleist’s tensions. Meanwhile,
Rudel was calling out to those two.
Aleist regretted it just a bit that he had missed the perfect
opportunity.
“And here we go.”
Watching Bennet’s back, Aleist was surprised. Grasping a bundle
of those large boomerangs, she went straight into throwing them.
The number thrown in that instant was six. From there, they flew,
spinning with good momentum to find a target in the monsters on the
ground.
Each time they stuck into the earth, they would sew monsters
onto it. Once she had finished throwing eighteen, Bennet cried
out.
“Now, jump off!”
Seeing everyone jump off, Aleist jumped down just a little late.
His timing slightly off, he was the only one who fell into the
fountain in the center of the plaza. After his body struck the
fountain water that rose to about knee-level, he sunk from the
weight of his equipment.
“What are you doing, Aleist!? You’re alright, right?
Right!?”
“I-I’m fine…”
Crawling out of the water, Aleist sent Millia a smile. But
Millia immediately commenced a survey of the area.
While Millia had called out to him, Aleist was the sort who was
happy even if it was a yell. Looking around, they could see Bennet
and Rudel commence their action.
“I saw them evacuating to the south in droves. You lot, head
straight south!”
With those words, the two started running west and soon went out
of sight.
“Bennet-san has good eyes.”
Holding such an out-of-place impression, Aleist hardened his
resolve as he and the other three ran off to save the
townsfolk.
◇
While they each possessed different means of high-speed
movement, looking at the result, it seemed as if Rudel was just
barely managing to follow.
It was a small town, where three story buildings were rare, and
the highest they would go. The two of them were clearing up
monsters in the area where the residential buildings were closely
packed together. But in the space where Rudel defeated a single
monster, Bennet was defeating them one after the next.
Defeating a monster on the move, she would instantly search out
her next target.
(She really is fast.)
When it came to instantaneous acceleration, Rudel wasn’t losing.
More than that, when it came to speed, Rudel surely had the upper
hand.
Bennet tossed two knives at the two goblins who tried to flee
into an alleyway. With their vitals accurately captured, the two
died instantly.
Bennet and Rudel leapt freely across the spaces between
buildings, but their movements were different. Rudel couldn’t help
but decelerate right before an attack.
There, they heard a scream.
When he slowed down to check, he found a single orc about to
lower an adze of stone and wood down at a family unit. IT would
likely fall under the more clever variety of monster. Rudel swiftly
moved to the space above the orc, accelerating towards the ground
as he used his sword to bisect it.
For a while now, he had stopped counting how many monsters he
had taken down.
As the orc split vertically spurted blood, Rudel was bathed in
it. Seeing that form, the family who had been attacked raised a
greater scream as they ran off.
The left arm he had extended in an attempt to assist them,
before he noticed it, Bennet had approached and grasped it.
“What are you doing? The cleanup isn’t over yet.”
“But we have to ensure their safety.”
“In the time you spend saving a single family, many more
residents will die. They fled up the path we cleaned up and came
down, their probability of survival is high.”
The family that ran off without lending an ear was already out
of sight.
“We can leave the monsters outside town to Keith and Heleene,
but we’re the only ones who can take on the monsters who came
in.”
Seeing off Bennet, who commenced movement after leaving only
those words Rudel grit his teeth. He understood it in his head. But
when it was actually before his eyes, he had some hesitation.
Beginning his movement a little late, he caught up with Bennet, who
had lowered speed.
“Get it in your head, the more you waver, the more people will
die. And that is the extent of your strength. If you want to save
them, you have to become stronger.”
“… Yes.”
Saying that as Rudel caught up, Bennet accelerated again. In
order to follow, Rudel raised his speed. While desperately keeping
on her tail, Rudel watched her back.
She had already used up all the boomerangs she shouldered, and
she didn’t have my throwing knives left. But that didn’t lower the
speed she took them down. It just went to show how diverse she
was.
At the same time, she wasn’t using any unnecessary power. Her
movement and attacks gave off the impression she was only using the
minimum necessary. To Rudel, it looked like he was watching a
professional work.
In contrast, Rudel’s means of attack were limited. As they were
in the middle of town, he couldn’t use magic. When attacking on the
move, the accuracy would fall, and if the magic of the needlessly
powerful Rudel failed, it would incur damages onto the area.
If he had Sakuya, the damage would become something severe.
(Sakuya, me and you, we’ve got a long ways to go.)
Bennet kicked away an orc before his eyes, sending a number of
goblins tumbling down alongside it. Perhaps she had inserted her
kick into a vital, as the orc showed no signs of moving. She had
run out of throwing knives, now holding a dagger in each hand,
changing to a dual-wielding style.
With that, her movements only grew sharper.
Even when approaching an enemy was when one’s movements were
supposed to require the greatest amount of caution.
“Just right. Rudel, I’ll show you by example. Burn it into your
eyes.”
As the two of them landed on a rooftop, Bennet ordered Rudel to
watch before jumping down. While there were monsters fearful of the
combat prowess she had shown, perhaps seeing her form, there were
some who misunderstood her as weak, as they began to flock.
Her appearance was that of a young girl, a weak one at that.
Even if a few of them had comparatively good heads on their
shoulders, there was a limit to that. In regards to the monsters
coming at her, Bennet showed no panic.
In the next instant, after she had lightly jumped twice on the
spot, to Rudel, it almost looked as if she had disappeared.
Immediately activating his magic eyes, Rudel traced her
movements. It was a speed no different from his own, perhaps even
slower, but rather than his emergency bursts, her movements were
smaller.
For all the speed he had, Rudel couldn’t help but make his
movements large, and it was here the difference was coming out.
There was no waste in each step she took.
By the time he realized it, the surrounding monsters had been
cleaned up.
◇
Meanwhile, Eunius and the others who were to prioritize the
protection of the townsfolk were protecting the evacuees from
monsters.
The largest building in town was apparently a fort built up ages
ago.
“Goddammit, there’s no end to them.”
Cutting down two monsters with his great sword, a blood-stained
Eunius used a cloth to wipe off his face. That had been the last of
the monsters who’d approached.
But even so, given just a bit of time, the monsters would group and
attack again.
Climbing onto the surrounding buildings, Millia used sound to
notify them whenever monsters were approaching. She could handle a
bow, and they were thankful she could take the stragglers down from
that position.
“Eunius, switch out with me.”
“Are you stupid? I can’t use a lick of magic. You stay at the
entrance and continue with magic support.”
Returning Aleist to his original post, Eunius observed Millia
and Izumi. No problems with Aleist. In front of the building the
townsfolk had evacuated into, there was a small courtyard. As they
could use magic there, then it was easy to defend against monsters
of this level.
“Even so, if we didn’t happen to be there, what did that cute
captain plan on doing… well, she’s got her dragon, so I’m sure it’d
work out.”
He shifted his eyes to Izumi. Millia was keeping wary of the
surroundings. There didn’t seem to be any particular problems on
her side, but Izumi’s exhaustion was severe.
Apart from battle, she was put to looking after the residents
who’d evacuated. Eunius would treat them too roughly, and with
Millia, there were some race-related problems.
More than anything, Aleist was unreliable in these sorts of
things. As a result, the burden was placed on Izumi.
Calming the townsfolk in chaos, and be that as it may, she still
dealt with the monster attacks. The enemies came in numbers too
great, and even Aleist’s magic wasn’t able to completely deal with
them.
“The uniform of a high knight really is effective.”
The fact Izumi was a high knight had an effect, more or less. Of
course, from the townsfolk’s point of view, it wasn’t as if they
understood her affiliation. They decided by appearance that some
splendid knight was talking.
Aleist and Eunius were in civilian clothing, and the defenders’
uniform didn’t look much different from that of the rank and file
to begin with.
But even with Izumi persuading them, the residents continued to
riot, making it even worse in nature. There was a merchant-esque
man who demanded they go out to save his child left behind. Because
his wife died, there was a man who rushed out saying he would die
as well.
Eunius felt an anger he had nowhere to place as he thought of
how he would fulfill the job before his eyes.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 127: Bennet’s Job
Chapter 127: Bennet’s Job
By the time it was all over, two villages were wiped off the
map, and a town was half-destroyed.
Thinking of the situation when they came, the dragoons who had
prevented the situation from worsening were worthy of praise, but
that wasn’t a tale of the outskirts, it was one of the central
capital.
From the townsfolks’ point of view, a large number of monsters
had suddenly flooded into the area where they were peacefully
living their lives. The numbers easily exceeded a thousand. The
soldiers protecting the town had perished, and the villages the
monsters passed through were annihilated.
When the night opened up and noon was almost upon them, the
monster cleanup had finally been completed. To be more precise, the
final checks began around dawn, and they were finally completed at
noon.
The monsters had been taken care of before the sun rose.
“It really is amazing.”
Izumi tossed a monster corpse into the hole piled up with other
bodies like it, pulling back as she watched Heleene fill the pit
with a fiery breath.
“We have to clean up quickly, after all. When it comes to these
things, having a dragon makes it go much faster.”
Even if they didn’t have enough people, as long as they had a
dragon they were a match for a thousand, Izumi had witnessed a
dragoon’s ability. Not flustering before over a thousand monsters,
they finished their work in a day. The monsters who had fled upon
the arrival of a dragoon were all wiped away by Keith. It wasn’t as
easy as it sounded.
“Keith… Lieutenant Keith is quite something too.”
“While you might hate him, that guy does his job. I’d like him
to be that earnest on a regular basis, but as long as you properly
do your work, our organization’s much laxer than the high
knights.”
As Izumi stood in conflicted sentiment, two of the robed, masked
knights appeared. The horses they led along looked to be a size
larger than the others. Izumi stood on guard, but Bennet held up a
hand and began talks.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, as expected of the dragoons, is all we wanted to say. We’ve
got much to think over in this incident as well.”
“I see, then you can return to your job. The knight brigades
should arrive within a few days.”
Keith had already made off to report; the knights would soon
rush in. But it was hard to say how much supplies they would bring
with them.
As it was a territory near the border, and there was some money
invested into its military. If it was a territory out of danger’s
way, then local armies and militia would serve well enough, but the
feudal lord who reigned over the town possessed his own knight
brigade.
“The least we could do is offer our thanks. Well then…”
After lowering their heads, the two knights mounted their
horses. As they did, the horses’ heads changed to those of eagles,
and their front legs to a bird’s as well. Only their back halves
remained in a horse state.
When they took to the air, Heleene glared at them.
“You can’t eat them, Heleene.”
The dragon sent a single roar into the sky, and the hippogryphs
hurriedly soared out of sight.
“Who are they?”
“Yeah, well… they’re folks without a name.”
Izumi mulled over whether she should ask any further, but Bennet
made a troubled face, so she decided to leave it at that. While
they were talking, Rudel approached. But their expressions were a
little confused.
◇
When Bennet came to the plaza, she found Eunius there, quite fed
up. Sitting on a wooden crate, a sleepy look on his face.
All the knights had worked through the night. The fatigue from
unfamiliar work was also coming out.
“What’s wrong?”
“To hell with what’s wrong! Why didn’t you come sooner!? The
town’s a mess is it not!? I’ll let you know I’ve got a wide face
around the capital.”
The merchant-esque man was perhaps speaking as a representative
of town. With his connections in the center, his attitude remained
large before a knight.
Bennet knew this was going to be a pain, but she didn’t show it
on her face. Her tail simply dropped powerlessly in exhaustion.
In the corner of her eye, she could see Aleist wrapped in a reed
mat with his mouth gagged in cloth. While he was desperately trying
to cry something out, she couldn’t understand what he wanted to
say. But having received an explanation from Rudel along the way,
she had a general grasp of the situation.
“You might think you’ll receive some sort of medal for saving
us, but I’ll definitely never let it happen!”
“Is that so. In that case, do what you want. The knight brigade
should be coming in the near future, so we’ll stick around to guard
you until then.”
Bennet didn’t seem to pay it any mind, and after dealing with
the representative man, she called everyone to follow. Aleist alone
was taken off over Eunius’ shoulder.
All the gazes that fell upon the party came from unfavorable
eyes. It was only natural. When they had suffered such casualty and
loss, these folks would sit back in the center, showered in medals
and rewards. When they imagined it, they couldn’t help but feel
irritated.
“Major, in this case, I was nothing but a hindrance. So I don’t
deser–”
Feeling the eyes of the townsfolk, Rudel suggested he would turn
down the rewards. But Bennet shook her head. After they had
separated from the residents, she explained to him.
“They’re not giving a medal for your sake alone. This is a medal
granted for the frontier. You guys better remember that too.”
Making a tired face, Millia seemed perplexed. Perhaps that
explanation didn’t satisfy her as she opened her mouth.
“What’s that supposed to mean? If they’re giving out medals and
rewards, shouldn’t they use those funds for restoration?”
“That’s the right way to look at it. It’s so righteous it’s
bringing tears to my eyes. If that was possible, we wouldn’t have
any troubles.”
Bennet explained how in the territory on the border, there was
the feudal lord’s own knight brigade alongside some dispatched
forces. They were one of the dispatchments. And when it came to the
territory, that was the feudal lord’s responsibility. To be more
precise, Bennet’s dispatchment hadn’t received a request, so they
were under no obligation to save them.
However, she didn’t have the option of not saving them. It was
precisely because they possessed the large powers called dragons
that such a thing would never be permitted of a dragoon. If she
overlooked it, then blame might even be attached.
Dragoons were the heroes of Courtois. But Bennet didn’t think of
herself as a hero. For the sake of the country, she played the part
of the ideal dragoon.
Her expression distorting, Millia shifted her gaze from Bennet,
so Eunius explained in her place. Placed in a position where he had
to use people, Eunius knew.
“… This might sound cruel, but if they don’t give out medals or
praise anyone, no one’s going to move. Meaning it’s about profit.
The country is the one profiting from it. Territory management is
the feudal lord’s responsibility. Originally, the law states that
the knight brigade and soldiers were supposed to deal with it. But
the borderland also has knights stationed by the country for
national defense. Well, I’m sure the situation’s special this time,
since those guys were here as well.”
Bennet took over Eunius’ explanation. Those guys referred to the
knights in the masks. Those who specialized in covert operations.
Not wanting to talk too much about them, Bennet retook the
conversation a little forcefully.
“If they commend us, then of the surrounding territories, some
will start to send aid. Willingly at that. On top of selling a
favor to this territory, this tale will become the talk of the
area. The folks who want to put on airs will gather.”
Once Bennet arrived at the tent they set up for camp, everyone
took a seat. Izumi was already at her limit, her complexion was
taking a bad turn. The way Rudel worried for her looked
considerably cute. But Bennet spoke on for her subordinate and his
comrades.
“Just because you saved them, there’s no guarantee everyone will
be thankful. It’s more often that demi-humans will find themselves
discriminated against.”
As she took a fleeting glance at Millia, Millia averted her
face. Along the way, she heard that the representative man insulted
Millia, angering Aleist.
“But if we didn’t come, they would’ve been annihilated, right?
They got in the way when we were fighting, and even if we save
them, they spout off complaints.”
Finally freed, Aleist gave an irritated rebuttal to Bennet. He
didn’t understand why they’d be insulted when they saved them.
Bennet recalled her experiences from when she was a new recruit,
for some reason thinking back on them warmly.
“That’s how it works. Or could it be you seriously thought you
would be praised and lifted up as a hero? Lining nothing but pretty
words won’t help them live their lives. Show a bit of
understanding.”
The anger they had nowhere to place, they slammed it against who
was available. This was the result of going through such troubles
and risking their lives to protect them.
“Then what’s the point of sa…”
While Millia brought her mouth that far, she couldn’t say the
rest. She couldn’t see the value in going as far as to be insulted
to save them. And she had no such obligation.
With a haggard face, Izumi asked Bennet.
“Major Bennet, what do you think of it?”
Bennet gave an immediate response. Within her, that was an
unwavering fact.
“My? In my case, it’s simple. I do it because it’s my job.”
Based on how they were taken, those were cold words.
◇
As they waited for the lord’s knights to arrive, Millia assisted
Rudel and the others in restoration work. They moved the collapsed
buildings and rubble blocking the paths.
Those works could generally be left to the dragons, so Millia
helped the men out on patrol.
“What about Izumi?”
“She was sent around to the food lines. It would be harsh for
the Major alone.”
She spoke with Rudel. Normally, Millia would’ve been put on the
food lines as well, but cooking was her weak point. What’s more,
she was well aware she would lower the efficiency of the work.
Because of that, Millia was patrolling with Rudel.
Aleist and Eunius were currently on break and asleep. It was a
town that had just suffered tragedy, but if they let their guards
down for a moment, the bandits would gather.
There were also those who might try something strange. In order
to put checks on those sorts, it was their duty as knights to keep
watch, or so Bennet taught them.
“Even so, little by little, people are starting to help
out.”
Each time they looked over town, the number of residents who had
begun clearing away Ruble increased ever so slightly.
While there were people whose occupations weren’t an absolute
necessity, once they finished clearing up, they opened up shop. A
bakery they passed by was distributing bread to people free of
charge.
“Oh, if it isn’t the knights. Take this with you.”
The well-bodied proprietress of the bakery handed a brown sack
of bread to Millia and Rudel. There were loaves of freshly baked
bread lining the front of the store, and while the inside still
seemed to be a mess, there was a white smoke rising from the
chimney.
“Eh? But…”
While Millia made a troubled face, Rudel paid it no mind and
accepted the offer.
“Thank you.”
“Hahaha, just a bit of thanks for saving us. Why not come over
some day to make a purchase?”
“I definitely will.”
Holding up the bag of freshly baked bread, Rudel gave a response
to make one think he really would come again. Millia had been
around him for a considerable amount of time, and she saw that part
of him hadn’t changed.
As they walked, Rudel started into the continuation of the
previous conversation.
“This is what the Major said, but an empty stomach thins the
heart. That’s why meals are so important. Once they have some
leisure, their bodies will move.”
“Yet you move even without the leisure. Aren’t you pushing
yourself too hard?”
Millia worried for Rudel, who had continued moving for the past
few days without rest. But the man in question was too sturdy for
that, and gave a smile.
“I can go on!”
“Hah, whatever.”
As she breathed out a sigh, the two of them took a seat on the
wreckage of a collapsed building. The sun had come to a high point
in the sky. It was quite probably noon. As they sat side by side,
eating the bread they’re received, the town women who passed by
clicked their tongues.
Looking down, Millia recalled the insults she received a few
days ago. The representative man told her, a demi human shouldn’t
stick in their mouth, they need only work until they die. The fact
there were still people like that around saddened her.
It felt as if she’d been shown a clear delineation.
“Don’t mind it. The Major said nothing starts with mulling.”
“I know that. But there are some things that get to the
heart.”
Stuffing his face with breath, Rudel consoled Millia. Gazing at
the spot where she and Rudel sat, she felt there was a clear
delineation there as well. As he gulped water from the flask hung
at his waist, Rudel had already finished his meal.
When Millia tried to eat the bread in her hands, a single young
boy entered her eyes. From the shadow of a tree in their line of
sight, he seemed to be peering at them. Perhaps Rudel was waiting
for Millia to finish eating, as he was looking at the sky without
noticing the boy. No, while he did notice, it’s possible he was
just ignoring him.
No matter how you looked at him, the boy was still young. Wary
that even a kid like that would say something against her, her eye
met with the boy, who would occasionally pop out his head There,
the boy frantically hid himself.
Finishing up her bread, Millia tried to leave at once. She had
no obligation to hear out his complaints, but as she stood, the boy
hurriedly leapt out of the tree’s shadow.
“We’re going.”
“No, it looks like he’s got some business with you, Millia.”
Rudel noticed the boy look at her with straightforward eyes,
grasping Millia’s hand as she tried to depart. There, the boy
glared at Rudel.
While Millia made a displeased face, Rudel seemed somewhat
amused. He didn’t seem to be an ill-natured boy, so he surely had
some sort of reason. Thinking that, Millia turned her whole body
towards him.
“Something wrong?”
“U-um…”
The boy looking down held both his hands behind his back. The
way she was looking down over him couldn’t be helped from his
height.
There, the boy brought the hands he kept behind to the front.
Millia readied herself for a knife, but what she found instead was
a bouquet of flowers, wrapped in the brown paper the bread was
distributed in.
They were flowers that grew around the area, by no means
difficult to reach, but the boy who seriously collected them’s face
turned red. Once he’d gone so far, Millia understood as well.
Leaning down to match the boy’s eye level, she accepted the
bouquet.
“… Are you sure you want to give them to me?”
“Y-yeah.”
The young boy couldn’t look her in the face, looking to one
side.
“Thank you.”
“You saved me, so… I have to say thank you.”
As he watched over the two of them, Rudel was all smiles. With a
conflicted psyche, Millia stared at Rudel. There, the boy took off
running, his face a bright red.
Along the way, he turned around and yelled at Millia.
“I-I love you!”
“Say what!?”
Never expecting it to go as far as a confession, Millia was
surprised. While Rudel watched her expression change with a grin,
the boy had something to shout at Rudel as well.
“And I hate yoouuuu!”
Watching the boy run off screaming he hated him, Rudel was
surprised as well. Millia looked at Rudel like that and burst into
laughter.
Sha laughed and laughed, and perhaps she had laughed too hard,
as her tears came out, and she wiped them with her fingertip. While
Rudel was also laughing at the end, Millia grew curious, so she
ended up asking.
“Could it be you knew he was going to confess?”
“Yes, when he making such serious eyes, I’d notice whether I
wanted to or not. And wait, you never noticed? Millia, you can be a
bit dense.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you!”
Being called dense from the densest of them all, Millia cried
out in a voice that resounded through town.
◇
When they returned to the tent where they camped out, they found
Aleist and Eunius cleaning up after the food lines. They were
washing the cooking utensils nearby the tent. They looked quite
sleepy.
They had probably started helping out as soon as they woke.
“You two are late. Did something happen?”
When Eunius said that to Rudel with a broad grin, Aleist was
flustered. He looked at Rudel and Milia with worried eyes, but
Rudel…
“Yeah, Millia was confessed to. The one who confessed mistook me
as her boyfriend because I was nearby.”
As Rudel said that with a laugh, Aleist held his head. Rudel
couldn’t understand what he did wrong, so he looked at Eunius.
There, Eunius shook his head.
“You don’t have to worry about it. Rather, it’s best you don’t
do anything.”
He knew Aleist loved Millia from their student days. While he
wanted to do something to help out, it was his weak field, so he
decided not to stick in a hand.
“I-I see.”
Millia was also making a conflicted face, but it would be bad to
confuse Rudel with any unneeded help, or so she remonstrated
herself. Having heard the voices, Bennet appeared from inside the
tent.
“You’re late, you two. The soup’s gone cold, so I’ll put it on
the fire again.”
“No, we’re fine with it like that.”
Rudel refused, not wanting to cause Bennet any trouble. But
Bennet rejected that refusal.
“I’m doing it to make sure you properly do your work. So return
the favor by working it off.”
“… Thank you. Major, if I may?”
“What is it?”
As she walked off to warm the soup, Bennet turned around to look
at Rudel.
“To you, what is your job?”
Having thought about his work ever since then, Rudel wanted to
ask about her sense of values when it came to working. Otherwise,
he would see Bennet as the sort of person who only helped people
because it was her job.
He couldn’t find an answer himself, so he asked her
directly.
“It’s nothing to think so hard about. But, if I had to say… it’s
how I live my life.”
Rudel thought a bit before giving a satisfied not. It was an
answer he was satisfied with. He knew that Bennet didn’t say it was
work with cold-hearted thoughts.
“Thank you.”
“Hmm, to rejoice over hearing such a thing, you really are an
idiot.”
When Bennet turned to walk off, her tail was delightfully waving
from side to side. Leaving Aleist- still holding his head- to the
side, Eunius walked over to Rudel and watched Bennet’s back as he
struck up a conversation.
“Even when we were just a hindrance, perhaps Ms. Major brought
us along for our … no, for you and Aleist’s sake.”
While Eunius called Bennet Ms. Major, it didn’t seem to be out
of sarcasm. He had recognized her in his own way.
“… You might be right.”
Rudel looked at Bennet’s back as he agreed. Unlike them, Bennet
had graduated the academy on the two-year curriculum. From a
situation where she didn’t even have a knight’s qualifications, she
had gotten a dragon to recognize her and climbed up the ranks.
If Rudel and the others were elites, then Bennet really was a
self-made soldier.
“When she’s got her troubles, she’s good at looking after
people.”
Rudel and Eunius understood why Bennet went out of her way to
bring them. She wanted to show them where it all happened. Not only
out of good will, with their unstable positions, there was no
telling when Rudel and Aleist would rise up the ranks.
It would be troubling if they rose without knowing anything, or
perhaps she had calculated so. But that wasn’t all, the two
thought.
“I’m proud to have her as my superior officer.”
On Rudel’s boast, Eunius laughed and joked.
“I want one at my place too. Hand her over.”
“Hell no.”
While the two of them were exchanging jokes, Aleist held his
head in serious thoughts. Millia looked perplexedly over the three
men.
A few days later, switching out with the first dispatchments of
knights, Rudel returned to the port town of Beretta.
Around that time, Aleist ended up in a petty quarrel with the
boy in love with Millia.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s4.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 128: The Major and Aleist
Chapter 128: The Major and Aleist
After returning to the port town of Beretta, Rudel spent his
days with Izumi, comforting a depressed Sakuya.
Within all of that, Rudel made a small shield of light over his
right hand and thought. The shield that wasn’t even ten centimeters
twirled over the palm of his hand.
Sitting down and gazing at the shield, Rudel had made some break
time in front of Sakuya’s den, repeating a similar practice every
day. At this point, he was even able to produce a shield of light
from the tips of his toes.
While he tested it on Bennet’s suggestion, it was surprisingly
easy. More so, he could only be perplexed at why he had always
fixated on his left hand.
“Even so, I want some more cards to play.”
Bennet’s fighting style was one thing, but Rudel also wanted to
secure Keith’s piloting methods. When he started to look at it like
that, he began to see what he was lacking. The sword and magic were
insufficient. He couldn’t help but think so.
Bennet was a demi-human of the wolf tribe, and she compensated
for her lack of magic with an abundance of attack methods. Rudel
knew that.
He had tried out the boomerang, but it didn’t feel right in his
hands. His admiration for Bennet only made that all the more
irritating.
“Then is it throwing knives after all?”
Once he had thought that far, Izumi appeared as per usual with a
bag she held in both hands. It contained a midday meal and
drink.
“Are you thinking of something again? If you plan to concoct
another special move, if possible, I’d like to ask you to
stop.”
While Izumi sent him a bitter smile, Rudel couldn’t understand
why she was against it. However, at that moment, he wasn’t thinking
up a special move, so for now, he nodded.
“No problem. Right now, I’m thinking up new means of attack.
Just like the major, I’d like a means of mid-range attack apart
from magic.”
Izumi lined up the food she took from the basket on a rock in
front of Rudel as she listened in.
“I don’t think there will be any problem with your mana, Rudel.
Even if you’re not on Aleist’s level, you’re definitely on the more
plentiful side.”
“I definitely have a bit…”
His words growing muddled, Rudel extended a hand to the food
before his eyes. There, he felt Izumi’s skill in cooking had risen
from before.
“This is good. Have you been practicing?”
“Thank you. It’s all because of Bennet-san. That person can do
everything, after all.”
Generally omnipotent in housework, and first rate as a knight
and dragoon. She was an admiration to both Rudel and Izumi.
“I’m glad I came to the outer reaches. I’ve got two proficient
superiors to look up to.”
When Rudel said that satisfactorily, Izumi gave a powerless
nod.
“Yeah. You’re right. Bennet-san is a good person. Yeah.
But…”
Izumi couldn’t bring herself to recognize Keith, and Rudel
directed her a perplexed face. He didn’t think the man had any
particular problems. To Rudel, they were both admirable superior
officers.
“Anyways! How are things on your end? Bennet-san was delighted,
said you had grown a bit.”
Matching Izumi’s change of topic, Rudel washed down the sandwich
in his mouth with tea before responding.
“I’ve got a long way to go. I’ve got to work on the finer
details. And using magic while on the move is still a bit… in that
case, how about I deploy magic before moving? Keep it deployed at a
set distance from me at all times?”
Suddenly hitting on something, Rudel sunk his thoughts into the
sea. Izumi watched over him with a warm smile.
◇
Among the members Keith was to deliver to the palace, Aleist’s
party was not included.
“You really aren’t going back?”
“Yeah. I have a bit of a place I have to go.”
His words growing muddled, Aleist had seen Rudel training every
day, and after the recent monster attack, he thought over it.
As a result, for a while, he wanted to go on a journey.
“The captain has us with him, so it’ll be fine.”
While the members of his platoon gave large nods, the man in
question could only breathe out a sigh and watch. Normally, he
would decline, but the girls said they would tag along and wouldn’t
listen to anything else.
“Well, I’m returning so that’s all well and good. I’ll hand a
letter to your superior, but what do you plan to do from now
on?”
Eunius didn’t seem particularly worried, but if possible he
wanted to return together. For some reason, he made an unpleasant
face when he looked at Keith. On the contrary, Keith seemed
pleased.
“Fufufu, a trip through the sky alone with Eunius-kun.”
“Hold it. Aren’t you after Aleist?”
“You two look like you’re having fun.”
When Aleist said that, Eunius made a truly incomprehensive face.
From Aleist’s point of view, in both the game and this world,
Keith’s impression as a good, reliable person was too strong. He
couldn’t even imagine him being after him.
“Now let’s enjoy our journey over the clouds!”
“Oy, get any closer and I’ll cut you! I’m serious!”
“Y-you’re serious… what a passionate proposal. Then I must
answer to those steamy feelings!”
“Gyaaah! Stay away!”
The water dragon Spinnith spread out his wide wings and lifted
into the sky. His figure was truly beautiful.
After seeing off the dragon that flew with a ruckus on its back,
Aleist turned and looked at the women who made up his platoon. In
order to inform them of his future plans.
“There’s a large town nearby, and I’m thinking of heading there.
We have to get someone to look after the holy sword we obtained,
and more than anything, we’ll be able to operate out of there for a
while.”
There were plenty of monster hunting jobs to be found around the
border with ample facilities to tend to weapons and armor. His own
armor was also being worked on by a craftsman in those parts.
Why wasn’t Aleist returning with Eunius? It was because Aleist
had reached his own sort of answer in regards to his strength.
Aleist had thought about his strength. He knew he couldn’t catch
up if he went at it the same way as Rudel and the others.
He wasn’t the same sort of lunatic, and it wasn’t as if his
technique was particularly high. A magic talent he could never
master wouldn’t even serve as borrowed plumes.
But… there was something he could do.
(This isn’t a game, but I can’t think of anything else. Power is
power. I have to do what I can…)
What he recalled was his conversation with Bennet. When Aleist
returned to Beretta, he heard from Rudel she was dreadfully strong.
If she really was that strong, or so he and Eunius tried asking
her.
◇
“What are you supposed to do to become strong?”
“Y-yes.”
Bennet was short in stature, practically a little girl, yet
before her, Aleist stood troubled. No matter how he looked at it,
she looked like a girl standing on her tip toes to talk to him and
he felt his face would grow slack. While he somehow managed to
endure it, Eunius just gave up and called her Bennet-chan.
While the girl’s expression didn’t show any signs of minding it,
her tail would droop powerlessly. And while she clearly did seem to
mind it, even that was cute as well.
“If you could establish something like that, we wouldn’t have
our troubles. Even if, hypothetically, there was a definite method,
our prerequisites are far too different. What I know is no
guarantee.”
What Bennet was trying to say was that while she could give
advice, she wouldn’t take responsibility for it. Even with Rudel,
who she was tasked with watching, she said she was just
accompanying him every day to confirm his results. From what Aleist
could tell, he didn’t think that would make him strong, but for
now, he wanted to catch up to Rudel as much as possible.
While Luecke and Eunius had grown in their areas of expertise,
all he had done was cleaning. He was beginning to panic.
Perhaps sensing Aleist’s impatience, Bennet decided to try
helping him out. Borrowing an open room of the station, she talked
to him one on one.
“It’s not like I’m your superior. I can’t give you any orders,
and I can’t take responsibility. You’d best get that in your
head.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Giving a vague response, Aleist sat across from Bennet as she
put out a drink. He did his best to convey his own panic and
anxiety.
Avoiding any game terms, he told it so Bennet could understand.
But Bennet made a perplexed face.
“Then what are you worrying about?”
“Eh? But…”
“If you know the means to become strong, What reason could you
have not to use it?”
“I… don’t have one. But it feels a bit cowardly, or unrealistic,
or rather, in my head, I don’t accept that it’ll work. Even if I
say I’ll get stronger the more monsters I beat, doesn’t that sound
a bit wrong?”
Speaking in game terms, by defeating monsters, he’d gain
experience points and level up. But it’s not like he could see
something like his own status.
For some reason, Aleist was beginning to grow embarrassed. Even
seeing his reddened face, Bennet didn’t laugh.
“… Talks of defeating monsters to become strong, you can find
them anywhere. In the place I was born, a man’s rite of passage was
monster hunting. There was a superstition that you steal the
strength of the life you take away, but I do get the feeling it
will make you stronger. It’s not a complete lie.”
Rather than becoming stronger from the monster slaying itself,
Bennet thought that by beating them, you would gain combat
experience and courage.
Having depended on his game knowledge and failed, Aleist had
once bid them a complete farewell. But everyone around him was
growing strong, and even if he wasn’t there, wouldn’t Courtois be
just fine? He tried to convince himself too. But he couldn’t stand
the feeling he was being left behind. At the same time, he had
gotten around to thinking he wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder
with Rudel.
But it was that moment, he realized he didn’t have anything of
his own. What he wished for was inexhaustible mana, and social
status. While both of them had become Aleist’s power, they weren’t
his own. That’s precisely while his close friends who climbed up
with their own power looked radiant in his eyes.
“This might sound cruel, but in the end, power’s just power,
nothing more, nothing less. If I were you, I’d seek out that power
without hesitation. I don’t see any particular problems with your
methodology. No problem at all. No, as a knight, it’ll be bad if
you don’t report to your commanding officer.”
“Ah, right, there’s that. I’ve been doing so much cleaning these
days, I’ve stopped thinking of myself as a knight.”
While Aleist turned his head down in a powerless laugh, Bennet
gently called over to him.
“You’re the black knight. Hold your head up high.”
“Y-you’re right.”
“I’ve heard about you from Rudel. I know you’re not a bad
person, but you worry too much. Just make it simple… there’s no
point in just having power. The problem’s how you use it. If
there’s something you want to accomplish, you gain power for
it.”
When he thought of what he wanted to, Aleist reached the
conclusion he would definitely need more power than what he had
now. He could no longer think that just because those around him
were strong, he could just leave it to them.
“Will I be able to do it?”
But Bennet wouldn’t reassure him.
“Who knows?”
Bennet looked at Aleist and told him that was for him to
decide.
“It is when you master your strength that it finally becomes
your own. And if you fear you’ll drown in your power, then fret
not. The reason being…”
◇
Recalling Bennet’s words, Aleist began walking.
But turning back once to look at the port town, he grew envious
of Rudel. Ever since he was enlisted in the defenders, all he had
ever been taught was cleaning. The difference in environment
between him and Rudel, from the eyes of those around, perhaps it
might look as if he was being given preferential treatment.
But thinking of his own growth, Rudel had the better
circumstance.
“I want a superior like that too…”
Additionally, he did have some lingering regret with Millia, but
there were no particular developments in that field. While he tried
calling out to her, things never went as he wanted. He would end up
speaking so naturally his subordinates around him couldn’t even
bring themselves to believe he really was smitten with her.
“If I drown in my power, then Rudel and the others will stop me,
eh… friends sure are nice.”
Bennet’s final words… if Aleist was ever going to step off his
path, his friends would come to stop him. Sure enough, Rudel and
Eunius… and Luecke would probably stop him.
His other friends from his school days had saved him all the
way. The very fact he could think he wasn’t alone was a blessing to
Aleist.
But when he thought of his friends gleefully charging at his
power-drowned self, he felt a slight quiver. The battle maniacs
Rudel and Eunius laughing as they swung their swords, while Luecke
used him as a test subject, hammering in his magic, he could
imagine it too vividly.
“What’s wrong, captain Aleist?”
As one of his subordinates called out in worry, Aleist
forcefully made a smile and said he was alright.
To enact a game-type strengthening method, Aleist was walking
again. Swearing he would never lose himself to his power…
◇
In the mansion of the Arses House, Erselica was panicking.
A letter had come from her older brother Chlust, but the
servants had thrown it away. IF Lena hadn’t discovered it by chance
and brought it to her room, she would never have noticed.
The contents of the letter she unfolded right at the door
darkened her face.
“This is… but, it can’t be…”
The letter from her brother stated he wanted precise and current
information on the relations between nobles at the palace. While it
seemed he was in a serious situation, Erselica didn’t have enough
information to answer to her brother’s hopes.
With Chlust sent off to the border, the state of the Arses House
only grew worse.
Thanks to the eldest son Rudel, she was occasionally called to
parties, but at first, she and her parents avoided them. At this
point, her parents would show themselves, but in order to ensure
Erselica’s marriage to a wealthy noble or merchant, she wasn’t let
out.
The prominent nobles were taking a wait and see approach to the
Arses House’s state of affairs. If Rudel took the archduke seat,
they would approach, but the rumors of discord between him and his
parents were experiencing a sudden spread. His father’s attitude at
the knight appointment ceremony was coming back to torment
them.
Because of that, Erselica couldn’t say she had a precise grasp
of the current situation.
“What does it say?”
Sending a harsh look at the cheerful Lena, Erselica yanked her
into the room.
Closing the door and fastening the lock, unlike Lena’s or
Rudel’s room, the splendid room of an archduke’s daughter was
spread out.
“… Were there any other letters?”
“That’s the only one I found. See, when I thought I’d roast some
potatoes over the scrap paper, there was a letter inside.”
Seeing Lena scratched her head and smile, Erselica felt
irritated. While she knew Lena didn’t have any ill intent, the
contents of the letter suggested he had been sending letters for a
while now. Meaning the servants were crushing his attempts to send
them.
While the contents didn’t go into the specifics, it was certain
he required information urgently. Erselica took a deep breath
before making a plea to Lena.
“I have a request.”
“What’s up?”
“If you see any of the servants throwing away any letters from
Chlust, I want you to deliver them to me.”
“I don’t mind.”
While Lena easily took up Erselica’s request, the problems
didn’t end there. Erselica didn’t have the connections to answer
Chlust’s demand. And even if she managed to receive his letters, it
would be difficult for her to send them.
“Anyways, I have to somehow look into it… but…”
Even if she wanted to investigate, from the letter’s contents,
she understood it wasn’t the sort of thing she could talk to people
about so easily. What’s more, the fact the letters hadn’t been
getting through made her imagine the worst possible scenario.
Within the mansion, there was an individual preventing Chlust’s
letters from reaching her.
If they just wanted to crush Chlust, that wasn’t a problem.
Erselica saw it as a huge problem, but the real problem would be if
they had seen through Chlust’s actions
Holed up in her room, Erselica was in a situation where she
couldn’t’ do anything. There, Lena read through the letter she had
dropped in confusion.
“Noble relations? I know someone who’s really knowledgeable
about that.”
“W-who!?”
Lena’s sudden statement caused Erselica to jump at her It gave
off the impression as if she was clinging onto Lena’s tall
build.
“No, if you just ask Luecke-san, you’ll be able to find out most
things. He’s real knowledgeable.”
“… Well yeah, I’m sure he knows.”
Erselica was aware of Luecke of the Halbades House. Talks of
engagement to Eunius of the opposing Diade House had come up. But
generally speaking, the three lords held an antagonistic relation
to one another. If possible, he was someone she wanted to avoid.
More than anything, the fact he held a friendly relationship with
Rudel made him someone she couldn’t psychologically accept.
“I’ll try asking next time. I’m getting a lot of letters from
him these days.”
“Wait, you mean to say you’re pen pals?”
“We’re not. They just keep coming in, and I respond to about one
every ten letters. I’m no good with writing, you see. When I’m
trying to write up a response, the next one comes in, so I have to
write something new.”
Seeing Lena laugh, Erselica didn’t know what she was supposed to
say. While there was a problem with Lena, she felt the problem lay
with Luecke as well.
The story continued to flow without delay.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s5.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 129: The White Dragoon’s Ability is?
Chapter 129: The White Dragoon’s Ability is?
A few months since Rudel was flown off to the outer reaches…
Above the water, a little away from the port town of Beretta,
three dragoons were flying through the sky.
Izumi and Millia gazed upon the scene from a place overlooking
the port. While it looked like they were flying in formation, they
were fighting two on one.
The two blue dragons were flying circles around the white one.
The white dragon that fought, pincered by two others, looked at a
glance to be at a disadvantage.
“You think they’ll be alright?”
While Millia seemed nervous, Izumi was worried. While she knew
it was dangerous from the start, in order to measure their
abilities, it was concluded there was no helping it.
If possible, it was something she wanted to avoid, but if it was
something those three had agreed upon, then this wasn’t a problem
Izumi or Millia could stick their mouth into. The three dragoons
enthusiastically took part in this combat.
“It’ll be fine… probably.”
“You’re certain? Can you look me in the eye and swear it?”
Millia doubtfully sent a glance at Izumi. It wasn’t as if Izumi
didn’t believe in Rudel, but she averted her gaze from Millia.
Thinking of his current abilities, it wouldn’t be strange if some
sort of problem broke out.
Two on one. She wanted to believe he was alright.
When the two of them took their eyes off the battlefield, a
light broke out over the water. That dazzling light caused the two
of them to raise their arms to protect their eyes, and once the
light died down, they looked at the dragons. There, they found the
form of two dragons, going at it one-on-one.
That vision-stealing light must have been exceedingly
troublesome for the three in an upfront confrontation.
“So the first one to fall was Spinnith!”
There was no mistaking it, the first ones down were the Keith
and Spinnith team skilled in aerial battle. But it was questionable
whether any of the others had the ability to do it.
“That can’t be!”
Shifting from the dragon’s movements, Izumi confirmed Spinnith
had fallen into the sea. Bennet’s dragon Heleene was taking
distance from Sakuya. But none of her long-distance attacks were
reaching Sakuya.
Distance-wise, she was in range. But Sakuya remained
unscathed.
Eventually, Sakuya began to give off light. While her roar
reached all the way to Izumi’s ears, it was something the air
vibrations conveyed to her entire body.
Noticing the disadvantage, Heleene, charged at Sakuya, bringing
her all the way to sea level, only for the surface of the ocean to
freeze over in an instant. It looked almost as if the water dragon
was offering a place for Rudel and Bennet to fight.
“So she realized Bennet-san was at a disadvantage in the
air.”
A portion of the water truly had been swiftly exchanged for an
arena.
“There’s no helping it. No matter how faster they are, the time
they can stay in the air is short.”
The two were more worried for Bennet than Rudel.
◇
Before she could fall into the sea, Bennet leapt up onto a
footing of ice.
Taking a stance with the wooden boomerang on her back, she
checked left, right, and up. While she had confirmed he had sunken
into the sea with Sakuya, it was unknown what direction Rudel would
come from.
He wasn’t tempered so soft that sinking would be the end of him.
He had already grown to the level where she couldn’t stand up to
him in aerial battles. Rudel was the sort who would keep at
training the basics like an idiot. Therefore, she thought it would
be fast as soon as he picked up the knack, but he had far exceeded
Bennet’s expectations.
“From where… below!”
As Bennet heightened her senses to keep wary of her
surroundings, she suddenly turned her face straight down and
hurriedly left from the spot.
Right after that, the ice was smashed, and a pillar of ice rose.
While she was bathed in the seawater that gushed out, Bennet’s
expression didn’t change. She concentrated to search for Rudel.
There, she heard a slight sound, so she used her boomerang in place
of a shield.
Regardless of the mana she flowed in to strengthen it, her
gripping hand conveyed a grating sound to her. Determining it would
break at this rate, she instantly discarded her boomerang, and
tossed another one from her back at him.
The boomerang that spun fast enough to hum through the air gave
chase to Rudel, but ended with no more than cutting up his own
afterimage. The next instant, Bennet equipped the wooden daggers
she kept at her waist in both hands. Crossing them, she caught the
wooden sword Rudel lowered from right above her.
They were atop a chunk of ice bobbing in the waves, but at the
impact of that attack, cracks spread from where she planted her
feet. The ice as a whole took one large bob below the water before
coming back up and stabilizing.
Bennet forcefully parted him, and as she corrected her stance,
Rudel landed before her. She instantly sent a kick, but Rudel
grabbed that leg in his left hand, throwing it off.
Correcting her positioning in the air, Bennet threw the dagger
in her left hand. While Rudel deflected it, Bennet took a light hop
on the ice.
It was something like a habit for Bennet, but as she would
always enter high-speed movement right after, she had never come to
recognize it as a weakness.
However…
(Crap.)
By the time she noticed it, Rudel had extended his left hand
towards her face. Rudel had got her in his sight.
While she returned fire with her remaining dagger, the intense
clash had her lose in brute force, and Bennet was beginning to be
pushed back. In speed, power, and technique, Rudel had matured.
When it came to the technique part, she could likely still win out,
but that was no longer enough to bury in the other gaps.
Even as she moved her fastest, those sharp bolts of lights
pursued to capture her. When she thought of her footing crumbling
into smaller and smaller pieces, Bennet was losing all options
besides an upfront conversation.
(My subordinate’s grown… but I can’t just lose here.)
Bennet opened her eyes wide, instantaneously accelerating to
insert a kick in Rudel’s stomach. But there, a small shield had
manifested. Rudel took on Bennet’s kick that had lost its momentum,
jumping back, pretending to be blown away.
When she chased to close in the distance, Rudel tossed the sword
in his hands at her. Entering hand to hand combat, they each fired
a series of fist and foot. But both sides could do naught but
capture the other’s afterimage, and neither side was scathed.
From the eyes of a third party, they were surely too fast to
perceive. Even if they could be seen, after Bennet fired a
roundhouse kick with her right leg, they would’ve sworn they saw
her left instead… it would surely cause such a misapprehension.
But that scuffle was also greeting its end. Unable to catch up
to Rudel, Bennet received a blow to her abdomen knocking her off
her feet. Correcting her stance as she rolled across the ice, she
saw Rudel had stopped moving.
Right after, Bennet stood on the spot and tossed her dagger to
the side. Raising her hands, she showed a pose of surrender.
“Once you’ve gone so far, I’ve no choice but to concede… it’s
your win, Rudel.”
Above the surface of the ice, the swords of light gleamed in
their numbers, as if to cover up the sky. Their points were
directed at Bennet, and if they came at her from all directions,
Bennet wouldn’t come out unharmed.
As Rudel stood to his feet, the swords turned to grains of ice,
fading out as they were swept away by the wind.
“Thank you. Major.”
Her prided subordinate who had shown such results in such a
short period gave a delighted smile. Bennet felt just a little
lonely when she looked at his smile. She didn’t have anything left
to teach him. Perhaps he wouldn’t look at her like a superior
anymore she grew anxious for just a moment.
There, Keith who had crawled out of the sea sent a smile to
Rudel, out of breath.
“N-nice fight.”
“Thank you! Lieutenant!”
When Rudel hurriedly rushed to help Keith up, Keith continued to
smile as he collapsed on the spot. He had pushed himself
considerably.
◇
The three dragons who’d returned were sopping wet.
At the port, the dragons climbed out and lied down. They had
used up their stamina, so they were resting, but Sakuya alone was
full of energy.
‘And you see, you see, when Spinnith was coming at her, Sakuya
decided it with a counter!’
Happily informing Izumi of her contributions, Sakuya made a fist
and began shadow boxing. She was too energetic.
“I see, you worked hard too, Sakuya.”
‘That’s right. I was punching it out with Heleene in the water
too!’
The punched dragons looked at the energetic Sakuya and let out
some large sighs. They looked worn out. But finally, Heleene…
‘You lost to me in the water, dammit!’
Exhausted, on her side, it seemed Heleene was showing the
backbone of the water dragons.From how Spinnith averted his
face, though, it was quite likely he lost to Sakuya.
‘N-next time, I’ll use my sure kill one, two finish to…’
‘I can use that one too, you hear!’
Unable to imagine a punching match between dragons, Izumi could
only give a bitter smile. In half a year, Rudel and Sakuya had
defeated competent members of the dragoon brigade. It goes without
saying that was due to their own training.
But it was also a fact they possessed latent abilities that
high. The talent of Rudel, who had continued training his
foundation like an idiot, was blooming as a dragoon.
The man in question lay down an unconscious Keith as he spoke to
Bennet.
“Was it your idea to steal our sight with light?”
“No, my close friend Aleist said something of that effect, so I
thought I might be able to do it, and practiced.”
Rudel had used a surprise flash to daze Keith, letting Sakuya
defeated Spinnith while the dragon was unmanned.
“It wasn’t bad. If you’re able to coordinate it into your
attacks, it’s effect will rise. And also…”
The two of them continued talking about the battle. They were
both the epitome of seriousness, and Izumi gave up on entering the
conversation. If Keith were awake, he might be able to.
But Bennet’s face grimaced.
“So you got me here too.”
Taking off her gloves, Bennet looked at the swelling on the back
of her right hand as she muttered. While it didn’t seem to be
broken, she had been injured in the midst of battle without
noticing it.
“Major, I can use healing magic.”
“I see, then I’ll leave it to you.”
Bennet held out her right hand, and Rudel reached to grasp it.
Seeing that scene, Millia was just a little jealous. But Izumi
opened her eyes wide as she foresaw the development that was to
follow.
(Rudel’s healing magic… hold it!)
Leaping out, Izumi grasped Rudel’s arm. Sakuya pestered Izumi to
keep listening to her story, but there was something greater she
had to stop. As she put some considerable force into gripping
Rudel’s arm, the man was perplexed.
“Izumi, that hurts.”
“W-what’s wrong, Izumi?”
While Bennet was worried as well, Izumi looked into Rudel’s
face. There, she confirmed just one thing.
“Rudel, when did you learn that healing magic?”
“Listen to this! The truth is, Mystith-sama personally taught it
to me!”
“What sort of effect does it have?”
“What are you talking about? It’s healing magic, so of course it
has a healing effect… ah, it’s also got a side effect of decreasing
the pain usually felt during healing and–”
Once she had heard that much, Izumi put more power into her hold
on Rudel’s arm. When she gripped it, water was squeezed from
Rudel’s soaking wet clothing, and a grating sound could be heard.
Izumi informed Rudel with a smile.
“Rudel.”
“Y-yes?”
“That is also banned.”
“Say what!?”
Rudel informed Izumi of how he had tested it on his colleague
Enora, and how it definitely had a healing effect, but by no means
would Izumi give him a nod. In her long relation with Rudel, this
was the moment where Izumi’s instinct had prevented the dangers of
petting.
Unable to accept it, Rudel pleaded; he told her it definitely
wouldn’t hurt. But Izumi kept denying it saying that wasn’t the
problem.
“… Um, what about me?”
Bennet looked over the two of them, a troubled look on her
face.
◇
Rudel’s colleague from the dragoon brigade, Luxheidt, had
temporarily returned from his dispatchments station.
He needed to report, and he wanted to take some vacation. As a
secret fan of Rudel, Luxheidt was also considering dropping by the
port town of Beretta.
Stopping by the palace for the first in quite some time, the
somewhat strained air he sensed was definitely not to his
liking.
“It’s quite tense here.”
Holding his report, Luxheidt walked down a corridor of the
palace when he happened to pass by a certain room used by the civil
officials. There, he heard a delighted voice. Rather than a work
room, it was a room used to take breaks.
‘You did it, young master!’
‘Vargas, I’m sure I told you to stop calling me that. Well, I’m in
a good mood today, so I’ll permit it.’
‘But that girl really is a strange one.’
‘Well it’s surprising that she’d want to hear about noble
relations. But with this, I can invite her out to tea!’
‘Um, if that’s what you want, then I guess that’s fine.’
Hearing a conversation between subordinate and superior,
Luxheidt mused it was a peaceful conversation as he hurried on.
At least the civil officials are at peace, he thought as he made
for the dragoon captain office, but it was there that Luxheidt came
to the understanding he wasn’t one to talk. The reason being, there
was a slip on the office notifying him they were in the middle of a
meeting.
“Huh? I’ve never heard of a slip like this being on the office
before.”
It wasn’t normal to have a meeting in the captain’s office, it
was normal to borrow a conference room. Luxheidt did consider
coming back later, but it was there he heard a voice from the
room.
Growing intrigued, he put his ear to the door to listen in. He
had confirmed there was no one else in the corridor, and it was an
action that came from pure curiosity.
And he would regret it.
‘W-what… was that…?’
‘I’m telling you, he’s dangerous! My niece told me, Rudel has an
absolute advantage when it comes to demi humans!’
‘M-my brothers and sisters were saying the same thing!’
It seemed the captain and a few dragoons were discussing
something. Rudel’s name came out, so Luxheidt’s interests welled.
But the conversation rapidly strayed.
‘Then that mean’s Bennet-chan’s in danger, does it not! That
baster, I’ve got no interest in women, ‘s the sort of air he gave
off, but he was actually aiming for this!’
‘No, you’re the one who sent him off to the border, captain! What
are we going to do!? At this rate, the position of we who protect
Bennet-chan are…’
‘In his student days, he had a free pass into the girls’ dorm, and
he entered it boldly! For some reason it’s highly classified
information, and it was a real pain to look into! But Rudel-sama is
a man of valor who’s even managed to tame the tiger tribe!’
(Ah, looks like we’re not ones to speak.)
Picking up on the contents of the conversation, Luxheidt felt
like apologizing to those civil officials from before. There, a
hand was placed on his shoulder.
When he turned, he found the vice-captain Alejandro standing
with a dubious face. While he wanted to chastise Luxheidt for his
actions, more than that, he worried over what Luxheidt was going to
do, now that he had learned the secret of the dragoon brigade.
“You… heard?”
Looking at the vice-captain who would calmly send people off to
borderland, Luxheidt broke into a cold sweat.
“…”
He knew it would be pointless to deny it here, and from the
vice-captain’s face, he knew he couldn’t say anything foolish.
“Listen, don’t tell anyone about what you’ve–”
“Vice-captain, I have an idea!”
From the vice-captain’s behavior, Luxheidt sensed he had no
particular fixation on Major Bennet and decided to take a
gamble.
It would be a pain to be stationed any further away. Luxheidt
proposed a plan to crush this secret gathering.
◇
In Beretta, a summons from the palace came for Rudel and the
other dragoons.
“Are they going to award us for that monster subjugation?”
“Yeah, I thought they’d just send something and that would be
the end of it, but it seems they’re handing it out at the
palace.”
Bennet read over the letter as she confirmed Rudel and Keith’s
schedule. At present, there weren’t any delays in the development
of the port town. The construction using dragons was proceeding
faster than anticipated.
Even if the three of them slipped out temporarily, there was
little to worry about.
For Rudel, if he returned, he would be able to see Eunius and
Luecke, so he thought he wouldn’t be bored. Keith thought the
same.
“The palace, eh… I can see the captain and vice-captain!”
Seeing Keith’s delighted face, Rudel arbitrarily misinterpreted
it as an immense admiration for those two great men. While he
wasn’t wrong, it was in a vaguely different direction.
But Bennet wasn’t making a happy face.
“What’s wrong, Major?”
“No… it just seems I’m hated within the brigade, see. If I go,
there will be some troubles.”
“That can’t be! You’re a splendid major!”
Rudel was convinced there was no way Bennet could be hated. He
couldn’t believe someone like that could exist, so he decided to
ask for a name.
“Just who could hate you, Major?”
“Rudel, you can’t ask something like that.”
When Keith cautioned Rudel, Bennet laughed a bit.
“Everyone’s got people they love and hate. I don’t mind it, so
you don’t have to either.”
“… Understood.”
Bennet put a plan together and informed the two of their day of
departure. With the changing schedule, she informed them they would
have to work quickly for a while.
“You can take some vacation at the capital as well. Well, it’s
not like we can’t fly through the night, but there’s no need to
push yourselves.”
And so, they were given a day of vacation at the capital.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 130: Aleist’s Harem
Chapter 130: Aleist’s Harem
Aleist took a journey from the port of Beretta to a town near
the border.
Taking up a merchant’s request for guards, he made for his
destination. They didn’t have much leisure, time-wise, but even so,
it was an action he had determined necessary.
His own platoon was composed of female knights and it wasn’t as
if everyone was suited for combat. A squad needed rear support as
well. Perhaps the archeology enthusiast Pasette Yulineria was a
good example. If it had to be stated, she possessed most of the
functions of a thief.
Starting with trap evasion, she was skilled in disarming locks
as well. They were techniques she had taken up in the process of
aiming for the beloved archeologist path she desired, and it wasn’t
as if she aspired to rob anyone. Her skillset was merely on the
thief side of the spectrum.
Draped over her green coat, her leather bags stowed many more
tools than weapons. She loved books, and she was a female knight
with the sort of decisive power to just run out and get something
done at the drop of a hat.
Inside the swaying carriage, she was trying to decipher the
hero’s journal she had gotten her hands on. As long as she had the
time, she would look at the journal every day.
Aleist sat across from her. As she read through the passages
again and again, he called over.
“Is there something special about that journal?”
In-game, it was no more than a single item, but when Pasette
lifted her face from the book to look at Aleist, her cheeks
flushed. While Aleist noticed the affection directed at him, he
pretended not to notice.
“U-umm… it’s… interesting?”
“Why did you make that a question?”
When Pasette thought of how her face was reddening, she sent him
a troubled look.
“Because I’m not often understood. The other girls keep asking
me what’s so fun about reading other peoples’ diaries.”
To Pasette’s bitter smile, Aleist could only mutter ‘I see’. He
was making sure not to stick his mouth in problems between women.
While this might not be the best way to put it, as long as they
didn’t go too far, Aleist would ignore it.
He wasn’t trying to be heartless, his intervention would only
create more problems. Whoever he helped would only be recognized as
an enemy by the surroundings.
(Girls sure are scary. They make factions and… huh? Girls?
Rather, aren’t they already adults?)
As Aleist looked at the journal, Pasette opened her mouth.
“Before the Kingdom of Courtois was formed, it was an era with
small countries jumbled all over the place, and there were plenty
of skirmishes. But this journals comes from a little before even
that era. Because it details how the Gora were still wielding their
fury across the lands.”
Hearing of Gora, Aleist tilted her head, so Pasette hurriedly
offered an explanation.
“Gora are vicious monsters that live in the empire. There are
legends they can grow as big as mountains, they have four arms, and
back then, they were in Courtois as well.”
“They’re not anymore? (S-so there was such a scary monster!?)”
Having never heard of Gora, Aleist was a little startled, but he
played serenity. Nodding, Pasette told him it was alright as she
continued her explanation.
“Ever since the dragoons made their appearance, they were
eradicated from the Courtois side. Since we have dragons, the Gora
in the empire don’t wander over. That’s why the important people
say they must be quite clever.”
“I-I see. (Thank god! Seriously, thank you!!)”
“At the time, they didn’t have a common language, so I can’t
completely decipher it. There are words mixed in, or rather, the
same sentence or word can have a different meaning. If we knew
where exactly the owner of this journal came from, that would make
things easier. Like you know how we have a slightly different use
of words in the south and north? It’s like the dialects were
stronger back then, and there are some things we’ll never find out
unless we can ask a local.”
Seeing Pasette describe it so happily, Aleist recalled the self
of his past life. He recalled his experience of the things he loved
being belittled by others.
“… I’m sorry. It’s not interesting, is it? Listening to this
babble.”
He loved games and he especially enjoyed playing fantasy ones.
Even after he reincarnated, he could recall how it hurt his heart
when his classmates called that creepy. It felt as if they were
denying him as a person.
It would’ve been better if he had a friend who shared the same
hobbies, but unfortunately, in his serious prep school, he was
unable to find any gaming friends.
“No, I’ll admit I don’t get it, but I can understand you really
like it. And looking into the past is kinda romantic, don’t you
think?”
“Romantic? You’re the first to ever say something like that to me,
captain.”
The laughing Pasette’s hair was fashioned into a ponytail. Her
hair itself wasn’t very long, so the tail portion was short. When
she laughed like that she looked like a child, or so was Aleist’s
frank opinion.
After that, until it was time to change out guards, Aleist
continued talking with PAsette.
And he thought…
(Yeah, they’re all alive after all.)
“What’s wrong, captain?”
“It’s nothing.”
In the past, even if they entered his field of vision, he
thought of these characters who didn’t appear in the game as little
more than part of the mob, but like this, he could see full well
they were living their lives. He had experienced this feeling once
more after he left the environment of the academy, and he was
beginning to develop an interest in the pasts of the people he’d
encountered.
(Bennet-san is the same. And Rudel’s sister of a different
mother… Lena as well. I wasn’t looking at my surroundings.)
He repented at how narrow his field of vision had been before he
enrolled at the academy. And until his lookout shift came around,
Aleist enjoyed conversing with Pasette..
◇
By the time they reached their destination, the sun had gone
down.
The caravan Aleist’s platoon had taken up a request to protect
arrived at a large town near the border. By Aleist’s knowledge, as
it was close to borderland and in the farther reaches of the
kingdom, it was a town with a prospering weapon and equipment
industry. Before searching for a weapon, taking care of the other
equipment was important.
Generally, knights of Courtois would make use of their supplied
weaponry, but the use of personal armaments was also
recognized.
In the town that gave off an uncouth impression unfit for
sightseeing, Aleist decided to search out an inn.
“For now, let’s look for the inn they told us about. If they
don’t have any rooms, we should be safe if we take one on the
slightly pricey side.”
The female knights abided the orders of their superior Aleist.
They all carried their own luggage as they made for the place the
merchant had told them about.
Aleist thought they were wearing conspicuous clothing, but that
didn’t seem to be the case. There were many travelers passing
through, and be that as it may, there were plenty wearing the same
attire as them.
“Aren’t there a few too many travelers around?”
When Aleist brought forth the question, Pasette walking
immediately behind him gave an answer.
“It’s because there are plenty of equipment craftsmen here.
There are lots of merchants who come to stock up, or sell daily
necessities.”
Meaning they would need guards to accompany them. For merchants
that managed large-scale shops, it wouldn’t be strange for them to
have their own personal guards.
After Aleist nodded at that explanation, their destination inn
came into sight. A sign near the door informed them there were
vacant rooms. As they got closer, it even detailed the prices and
the sorts of food they would offer if you took up a stay.
“Hmm… breakfast is included, and for dinner, you can use the
restaurant on the first floor. What’s more, it’s a pretty
place.”
Personally, Aleist preferred a pretty inn with good service. Not
only was he the young head of a noble, his past life was one of a
high school student in modern japan. Putting up with a cheap inn
was close to impossible. Additionally, his subordinates were all
women.
If it was possible, the best inn was one that wouldn’t displease
them.
The point of their dissatisfaction was directly tied to the
atmosphere of the platoon, it was something Aleist had come to
learn as of late.
When he was traveling with Eunius, he was technically traveling
with the son of one of the three lords. If Eunius told them to stay
at a cheap inn, they would keep their mouthes shut and abide. This
did not hold true for their captain Aleist.
“Looks nice. If it’s got a bath, then I’m all for it.”
“I can’t complain if they’re providing food.”
“It’s a bit on the expensive side, but we’ve been camping a lot, so
I want to sleep in a fluffy bed.”
Nobles, commoners, and demi-humans… the various members of the
female camp used their own sense of values to give a favorable
rating to the inn before their eyes. A commoner knight was just a
little mindful of the price.
“Then it’s settled, we’re staying here. (Thankfully, it looks
like we don’t have to go around looking for another inn).”
If they didn’t like it, even if they didn’t complain to Aleist,
the air of the platoon would take a turn for the worse. In-game, he
made use of cheap inns when he was low on funding, but when he
looked at reality like this, he was reminded it wouldn’t go so
easily.
For now, he gave thanks to the fact they had found an inn before
it grew dark as he led the party through the door.
As he opened the door, the nice smell from the dining hall on
the first floor hit them. The smell of roasting meat, the scent of
simmering soup… for his party worn out from their journey, it was
exceptionally appealing.
“Welcome! Are you here for a meal or a stay?”
As the energetic poster girl of the place approached the party,
Aleist confirmed to see if they had enough openings.
“So it’s a party! We do have the openings, but singles rooms for
everyone are a bit… if you’re fine with doubles, I don’t think
there will be a problem.”
When he turned to look at his subordinates’ faces, everyone
nodded. With hunger and fatigue, no one complained they would
prefer to sleep alone. Rejoicing inside, Aleist told the young girl
that would be fine and checked how much it would cost.
“If possible, a few days. Could you take us in for three
days?”
“That’s perfectly fine. If it was an extended stay, then if any
singles rooms opened up, we wouldn’t have minded if you moved into
them.”
Extended stay… then did that mean three days wasn’t enough?
Giving a bitter smile, Aleist told them they would book three days
for now and paid the fee.
Moving from the entrance to the counter, the girl called out to
the young man behind it.
“It’s a party. They’re staying three days, and for the
room…”
The man handed the registry over to Aleist for him to write down
names. As Aleist entered everyone’s information, his movements were
truly accustomed. Eunius threw these sorts of things right out the
window, so they naturally flowed down to him. While it would be
fine if he left it to his subordinates, their sense of values
differed so greatly they would argue over choosing inns.
There was no helping it, so Aleist took on these sorts of
tasks.
“I’ll show you to your room.”
Taking charge of the keys, the girl showed Aleist and his party
to their rooms. From a number of customers, it seemed business was
going well. After they were led to separate rooms scattered across
different floors, Aleist was the final one led to a singles room on
the fifth floor.
“This is the room the white knight once stayed in, you
know.”
“The white knight? You mean Rudel?”
“Oh, you know him? He came to this town a few years ago. Back
then, there were also a lot of dragons, and it was a huge ruckus in
town. I was helping out back then and I accidentally entered the
white knight’s room, but he was kind and cool.”
The reminiscing girl called her encounter with the white knight
her pride. With a bit of a conflicted feeling, Aleist gave a bitter
smile.
◇
The next day.
Having finished breakfast Aleist’s party was moving
independently, the day having been designated as a vacation.
They hadn’t had any rest to that point, and as this was a perfect
opportunity, Aleist decided to walk through town on his own.
Holding the cloth-wrapped holy sword under his arm, he searched for
the eastern craftsmen who had produced his armor.
“Can they use this?”
He recalled it was registered as a material, but it didn’t give
any particular effects. That’s why he saw the holy sword as little
more than a meaningless item to fill up a bag space. But before the
threat of the Gaia Empire, he wanted as proficient a weapon as he
could find.
Not just for himself to hold, he needed to assemble equipment
for the rest of his party.
He intended to polish their abilities, but with that alone, from
how his surroundings were growing, he wondered if that might be
insufficient. Especially with Rudel, Eunius and Luecke, those three
were outside the norm. He didn’t know how it happened, but the
three of them had continued down their own paths at a breakneck
pace.
In such a situation, Aleist wasn’t stupid enough to think the
enemy would remain weak.
“At the very least, if it has a slight effect…”
If he found the opportunity, he wanted to circulate weapons
outside his part as well. That alone should have some effect. As he
walked, thinking over such a thing, he was able to spot his
destination smithy.
When it came to the blacksmithy run by people of the orient, it
was famous in town. He located it in no time. The fact everyone
knew it meant it was surely well known.
… Though whether that was in a good or bad sense was a separate
issue.
“Good of ‘ya to come, punk!”
“How’s yer armor feelin’? Crazy, right?”
When those kimono-clad quiet-looking craftsmen-esque men caught
sight of Aleist, they approached him with words that felt off from
their appearance. Those words that brought a delinquent to mind
were something Aleist was no good at dealing with.
“T-today, I’ve come for–”
“Haah?”
While they were likely acting normal, they had originally flowed
to this town and lived in the slums. They had picked up the
language there, so it couldn’t be helped that their words were
rough. And as those words actually went through, the craftsmen lost
the chance to correct their way of speech.
“N-no… um, this.”
He presented the cloth-wrapped holy sword to one of the
craftsmen. But Aleist was growing weak at the knees as that
scary-faced man accepted it with careful hands. The moment he took
the sword out of its cloth, the man’s eyes opened wide.
“It’s rusted through, damn fool!”
“Bastard, how in the ‘ell could you let it get this bad!?”
“I’m sooooorrrryyy!”
Quite a bit of time was wasted before he finally managed to
inform them the holy sword was something he found.
◇
Led inside the smithy, Aleist sat across from a man called
Zouken.
Having returned to find his smiths making a ruckus, Zouken found
himself taking it up. Zouken was a swordsmith, the most
knowledgeable when it came to these sorts of weapons.
And after hearing Aleist’s circumstances, he laughed with a
troubled face.
“Then I must apologize for that. It’s not as if they had any ill
intent, it’s just, the place they learned their words is… when I
was out buying and selling, they were finding daily work in the
slums.”
In the harshest of times, Zouken went out to sell his katanas,
while the other craftsmen worked in the slums to eat. Now they had
worked together to borrow a workshop and they were making goods to
sell.
“I see. Even so, you’re making all sorts of things here.”
The inside of the room was decorated with the weapon’s they’d
made. Looking over them, Aleist was growing interested in the
peculiar equipment. His own armor was the same, but he felt an
affinity with these pieces that had a somewhat Japanese make.
“We make to order, after all. Never troubled with putting food
on the table.”
Zouken appraised the rusted, rotted sword in his hands as he
conversed with Aleist. Zouken’s group was one thing, but there was
something else that piqued Aleist’s curiosity. It was the famed
blade they were supposed to possess.
The sword’s name was Yakumo… in the kata line, it was the blade
that boasted the highest class specs. While Aleist couldn’t use it,
he thought it might prove useful to Izumi so he decided to ask.
“Pardon me, but do you happen to have a sword called
Yakumo?”
That expensive sword was something that, forget early game, it
was an item considerably beyond one’s reach through mid game as
well. But the current Aleist had some financial leisure. Despite
everything, he was still the eldest son of a Count. He had carried
considerable funding with him when he left on this journey.
“You know about Yakumo? Unfortunately, I sold it. I consider
that man my savior, you see. I can’t bring myself to buy it
back.”
“Ah, if it’s been sold, then it can’t be helped. There’s just
this oriental woman I know, and that person wields a katana.”
Aleist recalled Izumi. .Come to think of it, she had received a
katana from Rudel as a present. HE heard it was something cheap,
but he remembered the way she rejoiced to be something amazing.
“Gifting a katana to a lady… is that the trend these
days?”
“No, not that I’ve heard of.”
As the two of them exchanged some trifling words, confusion
began to set on Zouken’s face. As he looked at the holy sword
in his hands, he gave a firm tilt to his head.
“What’s wrong.”
Finishing his appraisal, Zouken spread a cloth over the ground
before carefully laying the holy sword over it. He unraveled a
number of points bothering him.
“Is this really something of the past? No, this rot is
definitely one of years, but… the make is, you see…”
Aleist explained the circumstances behind how he obtained it and
gave a general outline of the era from the journal. Taking those
into perspective, it was definitely a relic of centuries past.
Zouken didn’t seem satisfied but he continued on.
“It’s not as if I don’t believe you, but this one’s make is too
new.”
“New?”
As Aleist directed his eyes at the sword placed on the ground,
Zouken explained it so he could understand.
“It’s the technique, or rather the manufacturing process. Its
make is more advanced than what’s going around now. Tempering some
sort of magic-imbued material into the metal, and there’s the stone
embedded into the blade. That is a sort of gemstone with mana
sealed into it. I’ve heard that the blacksmiths of the royal
capital have only recently managed to create a sword like this.
From what I’ve heard, this one is of a much higher completion,
but…”
Struggling to say something, Zouken mulled a bit before giving a
suitable hypothesis. And he forcefully made himself come to terms
with it.
“Well, it’s possible that an old manufacturing process was lost,
and it’s only being rediscovered now. When you think of it like
that, those craftsmen of the past must have been quite advanced.
Though it vexes me to say it as a blacksmith myself.”
Aleist agreed with Zouken’s words, and he restarted the
conversation.
“So will you be able to use it to make something?”
“I can. Rather, it’s the best possible material. From what I can
see, it’s got quite a bit of use into it.”
Relieved that it could be used, Aleist requested the making of a
weapon. But there, Zouken made a misunderstanding.
“Show me your sword and your hands.”
“Yes?”
As asked, he displayed his two swords and his hands. Zouken
nodded a few times as he started taking notes.
“So you’re fine with it being augmented into those two swords,
right? It’ll take a bit of time… half a year. No, if you give me
three months, I’ll show you I can get it done.”
“No, um…”
Aleist noticed Zouken was trying to use the holy sword as a
material to reforge his own blades. He tried to deny it, but Zouken
smiled.
“To be able to make a weapon for a swordsman of such caliber, my
skills are crying out. I’ll call for my craftsmen friends at once,
and make you the finest of swords.”
He looked extremely delighted. And Aleist…
“I-I’ll leave it to you.”
Was unable to tell him it was a misunderstanding.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s7.txt
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EpubPress - Thu Nov 16 2017 - Dragoon 131: Erselica Rises to the Stage
Chapter 131: Erselica Rises to the Stage
Pasette Yulineria was decoding the journal she obtained in the
cave.
The room she stayed had a simple desk and lamp, so even when
night fell, she was able to read. Her tired roommate was already in
her bed, in a world of dreams. She was a commoner girl, who kicked
the cover away to expose her undergarments.
Standing once from her chair, Pasette re-draped the cover over
her.
Normally, she tied her slightly-curling brown hair back, but for
now, it was down. Her hair that grew just barely reaching her back,
the girl thought it was just in the way. She wanted to cut it
short, but with the reactions of her surroundings, she wasn’t able
to.
Her parents opposed, saying it wasn’t good for a girl to have
her hair too short.
Pasette herself strongly wished to cut it, but she couldn’t make
it any shorter.
She returned to the desk and sat in the chair. To the side of
the journal, Pasette had her memo pad and references scattered
around, which she began to clean up. She intended to go until she
reached a good stopping point. But it seems she had grown heated
and hurried forth a bit.
“I should call it quits for today.”
The journal detailed the region the hero had lived in.
Time-wise, it was an era tormented by the Gora. If it was before
the founding of Courtois, then it would also have to be before the
warring states period. When she read about his daily life, she grew
excited and tried to compare it to the books she used as
reference.
But she felt something was off. The individual who wrote the
journal, she got the feeling his thought process was too close to
their own… to that of their own era. There were descriptions of the
inconvenience he felt at the technologies that were likely brand
new at the time.
There were places where the old paper had been ruined and
rendered illegible, but Pasette was curious about the last page.
Alongside a message to entrust the Holy Sword to whoever found it,
it gave Aleist’s name. Pasette had thought it was the name of the
diary’s author.
But would they really write their name on the last page? It
bothered her.
“The book’s covered is too tattered… hah, even so, our captain
sure is mysterious.”
From Pasette’s point of view, Aleist was the same age as the
rest of them, and an elite entrusted with a commanding role. But in
actuality, he had cleaning duties shoved onto him for more than
half a year, and the members of his platoon were all women.
All things considered, the personnel selection seemed too
mismatched. At first, Pasette didn’t have any interest in Aleist.
But as they journeyed together, she was among those whose hearts
were moved by the gap between the leisure he showed and his usual
conduct.
“When we were cleaning, I’d always wonder if he’d be alright,
but the black knight is different after all.”
Relaxing and stretching her stiff body, Pasette extinguished the
lamp atop the desk and made for the bed. Once the room’s light died
down, she could see the lights outside. The light of the stars, and
the slightly-distant lights of the business district.
As she absentmindedly gazed from the bed out the window, she
heard a voice from the room next door.
‘Prepare yourself, Captain Aleist!’
‘Noooo!! Stop, don’t be violent!!’
‘It’ll end in no time. Just count the number of stains on the
ceiling!’
‘I don’t want to! I… I want my body to stay pure!’
‘Ah, don’t run! At this rate, there’s a possibility your body will
be forever defiled! In that case, can’t you just give your first
time to me!?’
‘A girl shouldn’t crawl into someone’s bed! I’m begging you, just
let me sleep!!’
Alongside those boisterous voices, she could hear the sound of
the door slamming open with good momentum, and Aleist running down
the corridor. A little later came the footsteps of her colleague
giving chase. Ever since they had acted alongside Lieutenant Keith,
the anxiety amongst the female knights had grown.
For the sake, these sorts of exchanges had grown in numbers.
(So today it’s Fizz.)
Fizz Brandt was the third daughter of a Baron House. When she
learned she would become the second wife of a noble who’d lost his
first if she stayed, she ran off to the academy, and stayed there
until she became a knight. Older than them, and having been born
into a relatively affluent household, she was a woman who received
a firm and proper education… or that’s how it was supposed to be,
but with such a tasty meal before her eyes, it seems she was unable
to hold back.
(Fizz does get blinded by appearance, after all.)
Close in age to her, and be that as it may, he came from a high
status. To Fizz, it was a chance she couldn’t let get away.
The current Aleist was definitely set to take one of Courtois’
two princesses as a bride. When that happened, it would mean the
rise of Aleist’s Hardie House. To marquis, or even archduke…
perhaps the era of Three Lords would change to four.
A new archduke house would be born. To the nobles of Courtois,
this was a serious affair. It meant the factions would largely
shift. What’s more, the Hardie House was an upstart with few usable
vassals. Even if they scraped them up from their relatives, there’s
no way that would be sufficient.
The birth of a new power would be the trigger for large change
in Courtois’ stagnant noble society. For better or worse, Aleist
was at the center of that.
“Hah, in that case, do the captain’s rivals have the upper hand?
They’re archdukes to begin with, so maybe there’s no room for him
to step in.”
The violent mistress candidate dispute had reached a dreadful
impasse. At first, Pasette thought as long as it would aid in her
excavations, she would raise her name as a candidate. But as she
continued interacting with Aleist, she came to hate herself for
that.
“I never should’ve fallen for him… if I didn’t fall, then right
around now, I’d be able to act for nothing more than my own profit.
I really am an idiot.”
Passing for a book-loving girl before Aleist, Pasette was also
considering taking action like Fizz. She hated that part of
her.
(I wonder what other stories the journal has to tell.)
Closing her eyes, Pasette fell asleep. Those two would probably
return eventually. It was unknown whether Aleist would be caught
and dragged back, or he’d run until dawn and Fizz would give
up.
‘After you’ve made a woman do so much, you’re running
away!?’
‘Man and woman doesn’t matter! What’s important is how we feel
about one another!’
‘Feelings and shit like that will work itself out later! I’ve
already prepared my heart, mind you.’
‘And I haven’t prepared mine! Seriously, stop it! Why is my platoon
full of so many carnivorous beasts!?’
‘If it’s going to be stolen anyway, then give it to me! What are
you unsatisfied with!? I know I shouldn’t be the one to say it, but
my appearance isn’t a problem, is it!?’
‘It’s what’s inside! Show a little more prudence!’
The voices came from outside the inn. Pasette knew the two of
them had run out, and she grew fed up over what they were doing.
But she did hope Aleist would run away.
◇
Aleist kept low in a small lane between buildings.
The darkness that clad the black knight… freely manipulating his
shadow, he hid from Fizz.
(Why am I using the black knight’s abilities to run and hide…
and this isn’t the harem I imagined. It’s too muddled, I can’t take
this anymore.)
The Platoon’s composition was an order from up high. Even when
Aleist exercised his authority, it was splendidly crushed to bits.
Looking out the darkness, he saw Fizz draped in a gown pass
nearby.
“He got away again. The captain should just give it up
already.”
Passing straight by him, Fizz returned to the inn. Aleist showed
his form from his shadow, getting his messed-up pajamas in order.
As a nightcrawling countermeasure, he placed his slippers where
they could be worn in an instant, so he wasn’t barefoot.
Fizz’s late start came from her exercise of the minimum level of
womanly modesty; she had searched for a gown and slippers, making
her a little late to leave the room.
“This is definitely wrong. Why am I going through something like
this?”
Lamenting, Aleist determined it was too dangerous to return to
the inn. In order to kill a bit of time, he sunk into the shadows
and gazed at the sky.
The sky he could see between the gap in the roofs looked more
pretty than the one from the world he had been. Inside, he dreamed
of looking up at the stars with Millia, in a place vaster than
this.
But that was impossible, he had come to understand as of late.
Whatever the case, Aleist’s standing was still dubious. He was an
upstart noble, and with his house’s momentum, the surroundings had
taken an adequate distance to watch them. Aleist’s parents’ thought
processes were closer to a merchant than a noble, so they were
pretty much neglecting the obligations of a noble.
He had received a noble’s education, but he was dim on the topic
of noble marriages to continue on the house.
Just as a fiancée had been decided for Rudel in his student
days, Luecke and Eunius had numerous candidates. Magic granted a
level of longevity so they wouldn’t be wed in their student days,
but even so, it wasn’t rare for there to be a formal engagement for
a student.
And since he’d been recognized as the black knight, women were
flocking around Aleist.
“For some reason, it’s quiet around Rudel, though.”
What he couldn’t accept was Rudel’s situation. Aleist was paying
caution to the rumors surrounding Rudel. But he didn’t hear the
slightest rumor of engagement or women. When he heard talks of some
noble plotting a marriage, in the next week it was as if nothing
happened at all.
“Having just one wife… is it really impossible?”
There was a time where he wanted to be surrounded by lots of
women, but now, Aleist had someone he liked. When he had someone in
his heart, he couldn’t think of laying hands on another woman. But
by the time he noticed it, he was in a situation that wouldn’t
permit it.
“Hah, what do I do if the number increases again…”
Dry up and die. That wasn’t a joke, that situation truly was
encroaching on him. At present, it was decided a princess of
Courtois would marry into the Hardie House. Normally, Rudel
marrying one of the princesses and succeeding the throne would be
the ideal.
But the man in question had no such will, and the palace was
moving as if it detested the very notion. A member of the dragoons,
the heroes of Courtois, and rider of a rare white dragon, there was
no one in the world better to make a symbol.
Though he’d hate that, Aleist gave a bitter smile.
When he dropped by the port town of Beretta, he saw Rudel get
all muddied up as he did his best. Aleist was honestly envious. He
seemed truly delighted as he worked.
“It’s a good thing for a dream to be granted. But dreams,
eh…”
Aleist thought over what he was aiming for. Beating the last
boss was natural. Otherwise, the country would cease to exist. Even
if it remained, it would be cornered into a harsh situation.
But what did he seek beyond that? To Aleist, it was much too
obscure.
They were lives of pretty much running down predetermined rails,
but even so, Luecke and Eunius were putting in the greatest effort
they could. Even as they shouldered responsibility and
expectations, the way they did what they wanted was envious.
“Just what is the protagonist supposed to be…”
Stabbed with a difference of values, Aleist looked at the sky
and muttered.
◇
In a café of the capital, Erselica and Lena were led to a
private room.
As with the building’s exterior, there was considerably
craftsmanship put into the inside as well. That shop that nobles
would use by choice was a harsh shop where customers were also
requested to follow a certain level of manners.
Erselica turned to look at a restless Lena.
“Calm down a bit.”
“No, I mean… I haven’t worn a skirt in a while no, and dresses
are a bit…”
Normally preferring Rudel’s hand-me-downs and men’s wear, Lena
grabbed and lifted up the hem of her skirt. At that gesture, the
host’s expression reacted with a twitch, so Erselica stopped Lena
with a glare.
The reason the two of them had dressed up and come to the
capital was definitely not to play.
It was to hear of the palace’s current state of affairs from a
certain Luecke Halbades. Erselica had investigated into Luecke as
much as she could. He shared what could be called a close
friendship with Rudel, and he had no relations to the traitors
Chlust was worried about… at the very least, she approached him
with the hopes he wasn’t related.
She had similarly tried to get in contact with Eunius, but as
luck would have it, he was currently out of the capital.
“Walk this way.”
The host who led them to the private room with polite gestures
closed the door behind them. Inside, a different employee was
preparing tea.
Light streamed in from the large window. But from the
positioning of the tables and chairs, there was no worry of it
becoming too bright.
“Luecke-san!”
“Wait, Lena!”
As Lenna suddenly let a loud voice into the calm café air,
Erselica panicked. The employee was about to caution her when
Luecke got the better of him.
“My apologies. We’ll be talking a while, so after the tea is
prepared, leave us be a while.”
“Understood.”
After preparing three people’s worth of tea and snacks, the
employee left the room. Erselica pinched her skirt’s hem to give a
curtsy, and Lena did her best to imitate. Unlike when she was
holding a spear, why did she look so unreliable? Erselica was
perplexed.
“Well, take a seat. We don’t need any of that stiff stuff today.
If you make me act like that even on my days off, you’re going to
wear me out.”
(He’s an adult.)
Erselica felt relieved at the leisure Luecke gave off. Taking a
seat with Lena, she gave a simple greeting. The air he gave off was
different than that of the boys she would usually meet, causing her
to feel something close to admiration.
However…
“Ah, Luecke-san, could you tell us about noble relations? Me and
my brother are no good with that stuff. But Erselica said she
wanted to hear, so…”
“… Lena, how could you be so rude? You’re before a future
archduke. Even if he told us to act normally, the minimum level of
etiquette m–”
“Leave it to me. I prepared in a way that’s easy to
understand.”
All for it, Luecke handed the documents to Erselica. On it, the
general relationship between the current noble houses was spelled
out. There were a number of pages, so he must have gone through
some effort to prepare it. But something smelled fishy to
Erselica.
“Are you done preparing for the academy?”
“We’re all good. I rented out big bro and Sacky, so me and Erselica
are going to have an elegant trip through the sky. Ay, this
cookie’s nice.”
“I see. If anything happens, just tell me. There are some things
Rudel won’t be able to deal with when he’s out on the border.”
As Lena and Luecke spoke with smile, Luecke casually took a memo
of the name of the sweet Lena said was good. When Lena directed her
eyes at Luecke’s plate, he gave a warm smile as he passed it over.
And then there were none.
(… Huh? He’s acting somewhat different than before.)
Sure enough, he had perfectly looked into what was request. And
Erselica was satisfied with the contents. But leaving her to the
side, the sight of the pleasant chat between the two brought a few
things to mind.
(As I thought, Rudel’s friends are usually strange.)
Erselica scanned through the documents as she thought such a
thing.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 125-131_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-125-131-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
|
title-page.txt
|
Dragoon
Arc
7
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s1.txt
|
EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 1
Extra: Songstress 1
This is a story without much relation to the main plot. It is my
hope you enjoy it as a side story where dragoon characters make an
appearance.
Down a path buried up by droves of people passed the caravan of
gorgeous carriages.
The sky was blue. The scenery colored by fluttering confetti was
one to sing praise of a single princess in the largest
carriage.
Inside that carriage rode only that single beautiful girl,
alongside the young knight that served as her guard.
The cheers buried up the surrounding noises. From inside the
carriage, the white dress-clad young girl waved her hand. Her skin
was pale and her frail, slender body gave off the impression it
might snap in two. And then was her curling blue hair, that could
be called her most notable feature.
Her waving, gleaming blue hair grew to around her lower back. As
she waved from the window, her hidden left hand gripped her
pendant… the item that proved she was of the royal line, a small
gold egg-shaped item engraved with the cursed seal of Celestia.
Everyone celebrated the birth of a new shrine maiden, rejoicing
as they offered up Princess Cleo Celestia of the Celestia royal
line.
With this they’d be safe. They’d be at peace for another few
decades. Cleo understood what was on everyone’s minds.
In the first place, these cheers and the smiles on the peoples’
faces, all of it… was delight over her own sacrifice.
The green-eyed Cleo, under her smile, she wasn’t able to think
anything. She had been born to do so. Her role had finally come,
nothing more, nothing left.
It would be too pitiful for her young little sister. Her
brothers wouldn’t be able to fulfill the role.
The clan raised as sacrifices would regularly offer up a woman
every few decades. The people would think of them as maidens
offered to their guardian god.
Cleo was royalty. But for the peace of the country, she would
offer her very life to the protector… How tragic. From the eyes of
the people who knew nothing, it looked as if the royal family was
fulfilling their obligation.
In truth, royal blood did flow through Cleo’s veins. But that
blood had been carefully prepared outside the current royalty.
Cleo’s family was merely being kept alive, a clan of sacrifices
royal in name alone. The energy supply of the ancient weapon, that
demanded life every few tens of years.
In order to replenish it, Cleo was henceforth set to die.
She would continue on the carriage, making for a mountain on the
edge of the continent. She would enter the ruins on that active
volcano of a mountain, offer her life to the weapon, and that would
be the end of it. Right, that’s where it was supposed to end.
Cleo first thought it strange when the carriage stopped at a
spot it wasn’t planned to stop. When she thought they had run upon
some trouble, in the next instant, the surrounding knights acting
as guards started charging straight ahead.
And knights gathered around them as well. Wearing white,
ceremonial armor, those elites of Celestia bragged that their
training and devotion fell not short of the high knights of the
large power of Courtois.
“Protect the princess!”
“No matter what, we have to protect her from these bandits.”
“Dammit! They were hiding in the crowd!”
Things did not seem to be going very well outside.
“Why did it come to this…”
While Cleo was the surprised, the young knight hung over
her.
“Princess, get down! It will be dangerous if an arrow flies our
way!”
Even if they tried to run, they were unable to go out into the
main street crowded with people. They could only trust in the
carriage, built not only pomp, but sturdy as well.
So following the words of her guard… no, the knight keeping
watch over her, Cleo had no choice but to meekly quiver.
The young knight’s name was Emilio Balhart. His green hair grew
long, and he was a fair knight of Celestia. Called the wonder child
of Celestia, once in knight school, he easily changed that name to
genius.
Even after enlisting in a brigade, his rumors would all extol
him. His service only covered a few year, but it was said he was on
the way to becoming knight captain and he was stipulated to be the
country’s strongest knight.
Many women would envy a position of being protected by him. But
thinking to the contrary, that meant there was a need for strong
enough surveillance to dispatch such an elite knight.
(Mother…)
Cleo felt the sounds of battle outside gradually grow in
intensity, too scared to help it. But while she had lived for
nothing more than to be a sacrifice, she hated the thought of dying
without fulfilling her role. Otherwise, her young little sister
would be offered in her place.
(Just to the ruins… we just had to make it to the altar.
Why won’t they just let us be?)
To protect the girl on the verge of tears, Emilio, who’d been
keeping watch of the outside, let out his voice. Cleo required just
a bit of time before she realized that.
“It’s dangerous here, princess! We need to withdraw.”
“… Eh? We can’t, Emilio. The ceremony can’t start without me.
What’s more, if we return come so far, the palace’s standing
will…”
“Right now, your life is more important, princess! We’ll
withdraw and reorganize our formation. The carriage ahead’s been
attacked, so we can’t go further in this. We have to go
outside.”
The carriage in front carried the ceremonial tools. It took
quite some time to prepare them. While she didn’t want to cast them
aside, she saw there was some sense in Emilio’s words and jumped
down from the carriage.
Emilio pulled her by the hand, and as they left the carriage,
the street buried in cheers had changed to the intense sounds of
battle. Outside, she could hear even more noises that rung through
her ears. Alongside the din of clashing metal, the sensation of
magic being fired off.
Cleo wanted to hurry from the spot. She didn’t feel sorry for
the surrounding knights, for this was their job. And her own job
meant for her to offer her life.
She told herself so as she fled with Emilio who pulled her down
the way. In their way, a man who had likely slipped into the crowd
held a weapon in hand as he came at them. Emilio pulled his sword
to knock it from his hand.
“Stand down, ruffian!”
For now, perhaps prioritizing their escape, Emilio sprinted into
the gap between buildings on the main road without landing the
finishing blow. Cleo had never been somewhere like that before.
Unlike the main streets, an unpleasant smell wafted about.
At the same time, there was trash littered around the place
making it difficult to run.
“Princess, just a little further.”
“I’m sorry, Emilio. I’ve caused you nothing but trouble…”
As Emilio continued running through the small spaces between
buildings, he looked to Cleo like a reliable knight. When she had
no idea where she was and she had even started to forget which way
they’d gone, Emilio continued proceeding on.
He turned a right, and next a left. He ran down the stairs.
Once the left the narrow path, a small river was flowing. A
different terrible smell came from there. It was the smell of a
drain.
“This might be harsh on you, princess, but this is all to get
away.”
“I know. I don’t intend to fixate on these trivial matters.”
Thinking Leo’s hand would let her get away, as the sounds of
battle grew distance, Cleo found a little of her composure. If an
ally appeared here, she would have more peace of mind. But it
seemed the ones who appeared were no allies.
“It’s a dead end this way.”
Just as they tried to cross the bridge, they were pincered in
the front and back. Unlike the ones who had slipped in with the
people, the men this time wore robes with swords hung at their
waists. From the leisure with which they held themselves, they
likely thought they would win if they pressed through with
numbers.
Three in the front, and two in the back.
Cleo gave Emilio’s hand one strong squeeze before letting go.
Emilio shifted the sword he held in one hand to a two-handed
grip.
“Princess, leave this to me.”
“I’m counting on you, Emilio.”
If it was Emilio, even called Celestia’s strongest knight, then
he would be able to break through this dilemma. Cleo believed
so.
The robed men drew their swords. Emilio took a stance as well.
Protecting Cleo in the center of the bridge, he kept wary of foes
on both sides.
… It was at that moment.
“Princessss!”
It wasn’t elite knights but soldiers who rushed to their aid.
The robed men clicked their tongues before running away.
“We’re saved, Emilio.”
Relieved, Cleo called over to Emilio. But Emilio didn’t look so
optimistic. His grip on his sword remained firm as he glared at the
soldiers rushing over.
(Has the enemy donned a disguise?)
She felt awkward, doubting the soldiers who rushed to their aid,
but if Emilia didn’t let his guard down, she thought she would
imitate.
The soldiers noticed they were being suspected and hurriedly
stowed their weapons.
“We’re, um… we’ve been assigned to guard the small gate beyond
this point. We’re on break right now, and we’d gone to the main
road. Wanted to catch a glimpse of the princess off to the ritual.
So anyway, we saw the princess and companion running and hurriedly
rushed to your aid. My apologies.”
The city was surrounded by walls, and apart from the main gate
for standard use, there were other gates one could pass through.
The sluice gate to let in the river water fit that description.
There were a number of small gates, and in order to protect them,
there were usually soldiers permanently stationed.
But it wasn’t the sort place knights were deployed. If anything
happened, they could seal the gates at a moment’s notice, so such
places were occupied by hired soldiers.
Cleo looked over their equipment and saw the plating the
gatekeepers wore around their waists.
The large leaderish man boasted an unshaven face and looked
especially wild. The slender man with the spear looked to be in ill
health and somewhat unreliable. For the small fat man, a portion of
his stomach even stuck out of the provided equipment.
The men looked suspicious by all accounts, but they were looking
at them apologetically. As Emilio stepped out front, knights and
soldiers began to appear behind them.
“Found them!”
“Really!?”
“It’s true. They really survived!”
One of the knights who raced over was one of Cleo’s guards.
Seeing his face, she felt truly relieved. The small, fat man spoke
with just a bit of pride.
“Hmhmhm, I thought this would happen, so I called out to the
soldiers. I drew arrows on the wall along the way, making sure they
could get here no problem. I mean, we got lost the hell of
it.”
“Not bad, soldier!”
“It’s true. You did good, kid!”
The unshaven man and the tall man praised the small one. Seeing
that, Cleo was at a loss for words. But it was certain they were
allies. Holding up his sword, Emilio spoke.
“Looks like it’s alright.”
“Yes. It does seem they’re on our side. I was one step away from
cutting them.”
Sheathing away his sword, Emilio looked at the three-man soldier
party.
“Yes, I’m truly glad it never came to that.”
A relieved Cleo was led right off towards the palace, protected
by knights and soldiers. When she returned to the main road that
had been suppressed, the knights had walked following the arrows
the plump man drew. Looking back at the path she had rushed down
too fast, the maze-like back alleys and the smells made her head
spin. All the tensions she had never felt before had been put off
until that moment.
There, the man in charge muttered apologetically.
“My apologies, princess. It’s about the ceremonial tools, but
they were destroyed in the attack. A bolt of magic struck the
carriage directly, and they’ve all been rendered impossible to
use.”
Which meant the ceremony couldn’t be held. The tools prepared
specifically for that day were lost, and Cleo lamented she would be
unable to fulfill her duty. When she had been born to fulfill her
role, that was no longer possible.
“There can be no helping it. I’m sure father will prepare a
replacement at once. We must exercise patience.”
On Cleo’s words, the knights made vexed faces as well. They
couldn’t fulfill their role. You could call it natural. Within all
of that, Emilio along made a disgruntled expression.
◇
In the royal palace of the Kingdom of Courtois, three knights
temporarily recalled from the outer reaches showed their faces at
the office of the knight brigade they were affiliated with.
Self-proclaimed charmer in his prime Captain Oldart gave a smile
before those three. His gaze was mainly directed at the good Major
Bennet. A female knight of the wolf tribe, and tamer of a water
dragon, she was the highest-ranking officer of the three.
“Yeah, good work on your mission in the outer reaches, Major
Bennet.”
“Sir! It is an honor.”
Enthusiastic about her work, Bennet boasted a short status and
cute appearance, but sticking her chest out, she gave a splendid
salute. The captain shifted his eyes to the side to look at the
remaining two.
The first was Lieutenant Keith. Similar to Bennet, he was a
dragoon who rode a water dragon, but the captain didn’t want to get
too involved with him, so he gave a vague compliment.
“Ah, Keith, you did alri–”
“Your words are too much for me! To convey my greatest delight,
today let the two of us–”
“And finally Rudel.”
Cutting Keith off early, Oldart finally looked at the real
target, Rudel. The knight who rode a white dragon… a future
archduke, a young man with both status and fame. Even within the
elite dragoon brigade, he was considerably conspicuous.
From the moment of his enlistment, he kept creating legends, and
he was a troublesome young man some called the new legacy. Of
silver hair and blue eyes, he looked at the captain as a child
would.
“Rudel… it’s that. You need to work a little harder.”
“Why is that!?”
From Oldart’s personal reasons, his evaluation of Rudel was low.
As Rudel fell into a slump, Bennet called over to him.
“Rudel, you’re before the captain. Stick out your chest. If
you’re displeased with your evaluation, then put in the effort to
change it. You’ve no time to be down. What matters is results.”
On Bennet’s words, Rudel nodded and straightened his back.
There, Bennet nodded as well.
“That’s right.”
Seeing that relation of superior and subordinate, Oldart spoke
to Rudel.
“This is why I hate you!”
The scene of the dragoon’s idol-esque existence Bennet being
kind on her subordinate Rudel was one Oldart couldn’t bring himself
to accept. From her… from Bennet’s lovable appearance, she was a
valuable existence doted on by subordinate and superior alike.
(And I’ll tell you, the form of Bennet-chan fidgeting nervously
after a subordinate calls her cute is the cutest!)
He was that sort of terrible captain, but he cut the jokes
there. In order to talk about work, he pulled an envelope from his
desk drawer. In it detailed a mission that wasn’t thought to be
particularily important.
“Now then, that’s all for the jokes. I’m changing the subject,
but Rudel, a separate mission has been prepared for you.”
“Why is that!?”
“That’s terrible, captain!”
This time Bennet and Keith raised their voices. Oldart breathed
out a sigh as he continued on. Bennet didn’t want her ideal
subordinate Rudel to leave. Keith… after thinking that far, Oldart
shifted his thoughts.
“I told you, I’m not joking. This isn’t a long term mission. You
know of the country of Celestia we’ve tied an alliance with? We
were told to prepare a dragoon guard for them.”
Placing the envelope on the table, Oldart produced a paper from
it. On it, the details of the incident in Celestia were written
out. Rudel accepted the paper and made a conflicted face.
“Based on what’s written, isn’t it bad for them to use a knight
from another country?”
Oldart waved his left hand dismissively as he answered.
“With the attack, there’s the civilians’ feelings, you see. They
want to give the image that they’ve pulled in a dragoon and they’re
working him to the bone. This is getting political, but it would be
troublesome for Courtois if a small country dragged on past matters
forever. Since it’s come to that, they’re sending in the flashy you
and Sakuya to show them how much better we are! Or so the higher
ups are thinking. Also, this and that happened, concerning the
result, it would be better if we dispatched someone.”
When it came to politics, Rudel had too little information to
work with to make a decision, so he stuck the papers under his arm
and gave a salute. Oldart was relieved Rudel hadn’t declined the
mission. If he did, with that dubious title of future archduke, it
would spell trouble.
In that regards, it was a real help he was diligent in his work.
While he joke about lowering Rudel’s evaluation, he was rightly
evaluating Rudel’s work in itself. Even when flown off to
borderland, he knew he was working hard in his duties and the
region’s development.
From Oldart’s point of view, if only his status was removed,
he’d be a proficient subordinate.
“But captain, Rudel has designated overseers.”
Bennet brought up Rudel’s overseers… the ones who followed him
under the name of special inspectors, causing Oldart to recall
those two female knights.
“Ah, those girls. Take them along, why don’t you. No, definitely
take them along. I’m anxious with Rudel alone.”
“… If you’re worried, should I go too? Even if I look like this,
I’m more knowledgeable on etiquette than some foreign woman and elf
woman.”
When Oldart said he was worried, Keith stepped into the
conversation. He got the feeling there was some wrath included in
the ‘woman’ portion, and that was likely not his imagination.
However…
“Rejected. I can’t send you into an important allied country.
Good grief.”
To Oldart’s exasperation, Keith was moved. Just how do you
misinterpret that in a way so convenient to you, Oldart looked at
Keith’s expression and thought.
“Captain, you want me by your side so b–”
“Wrong! Don’t get any closer!”
Oldart grew angry for real, and standing from his chair, he put
his back against the window as he cried out. Both Rudel and Bennet
looked over the two in wonder. But it was a mission, so Rudel
looked over the contents of the documents once more. Perhaps Bennet
thought the conversation was done as well, as she strayed over
Rudel’s side and confirmed the contents.
“If they’re sending my subordinate, they’ll need my
signature.”
“You’re right. There’s a line for your signature, Major. It’s all
yours.”
“Quite right. Because I’m your commanding officer!”
Seeing Bennet rejoice over the words commanding officer, Oldart
felt healed as he tried to do something about this situation with a
dangerous individual closing in.
“Oy, Keith, don’t cross that line!”
“Isn’t it fine, captain? Just look over there, this is all part
of superior, subordinate communication!”
“You fool, stay back!”
Oldart’s office was quite chaotic.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s10.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 10
Extra: Songstress 10
Cleo lay on the bed in her room.
Night had come, but even if she tried to, she couldn’t
sleep.
The one who called over to her at that time was Millia.
“Um, how should I put it…”
Having heard the circumstances, she had learned of the truth
that the maid Cleo thought of as a friend had betrayed.
For that sake, she tried to be tactful towards Cleo.
“… I appreciate your thoughts towards me. But it’s alright. I
will be participating in tomorrow’s ceremony, after all.”
“S-so… if you’re alright with me, I wouldn’t mind being your
fri–”
Millia’s proposal received an immediate response.
“Please stop right there! Don’t say something like that…”
Millia was silenced.
(I’m sure she must think I’m a terrible woman. But even if I
make a friend right before I die, I’m…)
To Cleo, failure couldn’t be permitted in the next ritual.
He had her obligation as a daughter of the royal house, and she
had been told all her life to fulfill her duty.
(I… even so, I must do my duty.)
Cleo endured her tears as she waited for the sun to rise.
◇
The dungeon beneath the castle…
Before night gave way to dawn.
A party of three with black robes over their bodies.
Those three with their hoods pulled deep down came into contact
with the three sleeping in one of the cells.
“Oy, you lot.”
“What is it now? We just followed our orders and~.”
The one who called out to the half-asleep faces of Ben, Pono and
Passan was Emilio.
Aleist stayed on high alert as he complained.
“Is this place really supposed to be that easy to
infiltrate?”
As he said that, Nate sounded fed-up.
“You’re the amazing one, senpai. Entering a shadow to move… just
having the combat prowess to stand against Gaia’s mechanized unit
is amazing enough.”
From Aleist’s point of view, being complimented like that only
made him tilt his head.
Of all else, he was surrounded by people much more amazing.
With all the trouble he went through in his student days, he
would often wonder if his abilities were even high at all.
The individuals he had met up to that point, from Aleist’s eyes,
they were all cheat-class characters.
“You think? When I look at Rudel and the others, I can’t help
but feel I fall short. Though I have put in some effort.”
“… The very fact you can even compare yourself to those crazies
puts you at a considerably high level, senpai.”
While the two of them conversed, Emilio negotiated with the
three.
“S-so you had a reason like that!”
“Captain, let us help out! I don’t want to stay useless like
this.”
“I don’t want that either. I feel sorry for the princess.”
As Aleist hadn’t been listening in to what they were saying, he
tried asking Emilio as the man used the key to free them.
“What exactly did you tell them to smooth it over?”
On those words, Emili’s face turned just a little serious.
But his expression immediately crumbled.
“Nothing more than the truth. These guys are good folk at heart.
So they’re easy to deceive.”
“You deceived them!?”
Quietly exclaiming to Emilio, Aleist looked at the three
shedding tears as they left their cell.
Returning his eyes to Emilio once more, he was laughing a
bit.
It wasn’t an unpleasant smile. It was one of true delight.
“… I intended to let them out regardless. But while we’re at it,
might as well get their help.”
“In the end, what do you want to do? Saying you don’t care, then
helping these three.”
Aleist tried weighing out Emilio.
“It’s probably true that he wants to save that princess called
Cleo. And they do call him boss.”
Emilio was Cleo’s real brother.
Meaning he was a prince of this country.
But his father Barquah devised a plan to send his own country to
ruin.
The ringleader behind the princess’ attack was the king.
(This is way too complicated. Shouldn’t it be a bit more…
aaarrggh!!)
Dismayed, Aleist watched the form of Emilio issue orders to the
three.
By Emilio’s plan, they would carefully cause explosions and
fires across the palace and town to evacuate its residents.
By Barquah’s plan, the king would crush all home, and as the
people were panicking left and right, he would use the ancient
weapon to destroy the castle town.
But normally, it would be strange for the influential people of
the country to go along with such a plan.
(A war against an ancient weapon… that event was never in the
game.)
Even if he knew this world wasn’t a game, he would still find
himself taking these things as events.
Aleist shook his head to the side to change his train of
thought.
(I have to stop them. The King of Celestia’s plan, and the
ancient weapon.)
For that sake, Nate had set up contraptions across town.
Mechanisms to produce smoke, to raise ruckuses around and direct
people towards evacuation.
“Alright, here are your orders. If any explosions break out at
the castle, you’re to rouse all the folks in the barracks and have
them help evacuate the residents. Here’s the official decree.”
Emilio took out the document he had brought and handed it over
to the leader Ben.
Accepting it, Ben took a nervous look over it.
“C-captain, is it really alright for me to hold something like
this?”
As the unshaven man trembled, Emilio dropped the bomb.
“Don’t worry… it’s fake.”
“Fake!!?”
On Pono’s surprise, Emilio cautioned him to keep quiet.
“We’ve made arrangement for smoke to rise all over the place.
You are to prioritize evacuating the citizenry, and once that’s
done, your job is to protect them. It’s a vital role… you can do
it, right?”
There was no doubt it was an important job.
Hearing that, the three nodded with serious expressions. Emilio
gave a warm smile, handing over their equipment he had brought
along.
“When you’re done changing, keep a low profile until you hear
the explosions. You need only take advantage of the confusion to
move as planned. Make sure you properly carry out your orders.”
“Leave it to us, captain!”
“We’re finally starting to look like a unit!”
“And the captain is actually relying on us!”
Once the three started changing, Aleist checked over the
scheduled time with Nate.
“It should be happening soon, right?”
“Yes. Right about…”
At that instant.
The sound of an explosion rung through the castle walls. Hearing
that, everyone’s expression turned to surprise.
“What is the meaning of this!?”
As Emilio drew close to Nate, the party-of-three looked around
nervously. Aleist was the same, but he calmly looked at Nate.
“The scale of that explosion was strange… it’s not the one I
set.”
Hearing that, Aleist did hit on something.
(… The ones specialized for this sort of thing, if I recall
correctly…)
◇
Izumi exchanged slashes with a black-robed assembly in a palace
corridor.
Her drawn katana cut at the mechanical soldiers before her
eyes.
On her horizontal swipe, her foe leapt back to take distance.
But seeing the cracks spread down his arm he had guarded, the
machine man’s wariness instantly spiked.
Behind Izumi, there were knights and soldiers of Celestia as
well.
“… Judging by the uniform, you’re a High Knight of
Courtois.”
The mechanical soldiers lowered their hips and came at her at
once in a coordinated assault.
“Kuh!”
Izumi sent out shockwaves, but perhaps she was dealing with
elites, as even if she managed a cut, they avoided anything fatal.
As she drew her sword back in, she cut the enemy fast-approaching
before her eyes.
But the sensation she got wasn’t that of human flesh.
“So these are the mechanized men Rudel was talking about.”
Izumi looked around to see a number of Celestian soldiers and
knights were on the ground. In that space, a number of enemies had
slipped through.
But Izumi didn’t move.
Because in order to confine her, a few enemies had remained.
“H-High Knight! Just what could-”
A Celestian knight asked in dismay, but all Izumi knew was the
fact her opponents were soldiers of Gaia.
“We are dealing with a unit from the Gaia Empire. Be careful…
they’re elites.”
As Izumi took a stance, her foe did the same.
Of course, the enemy’s main objective was to buy time. They
wouldn’t force themselves to go on the offense.
On top of the presence of enemy and ally forces around her, the
narrow corridor made it difficult for Izumi to move around.
(How shameful… to think I would be this useless in a real
battle.)
Deeply vexed, Izumi stepped in and cut.
Her opponent leapt back and used a projectile.
While she hit it aside with her blade, another enemy used a
similar means to attack the Celestian knights.
The concealed arrow pierced in, and yet another knight was
down.
“Don’t force yourselves to go up front!”
“W-when a woman is taking a lead, you think the knights can
stand down!?”
Even on Izumi’s warning, the knights didn’t step back. But a
majority of them were only equipped with their swords.
They were attacked in their sleep, a majority of them were
forced to leap out without any decent equipment.
(Our defense is too fragile. Why is it so… we were already
attacked once, shouldn’t we be on high alert?)
On the unsightliness of Celestia’s correspondence, Izumi
couldn’t help but feel something contrived.
◇
On a balcony overlooking the mountain the ancient weapon was
sealed, Barquah listened to the surrounding turmoil alone.
Riding the wind, a burnt stench reached him.
“We’ve got some boorish visitors among us. What say you…
Emilio.”
To where he turned, three robed figures stood.
It was Emilio, Aleist and Nate.
“Boorish? Is this not precisely the sort of chaos you wished
for?”
Emilio glared at Barquah. While the king received a glance
imbued with such hatred, upon seeing it, he burst into
laughter.
“What a comforting glance indeed! That hatred of yours, it gives
me the purest confirmation my revenge has succeeded.”
Seeing Barquah laugh, Aleist took a step forward and took a
stance.
“What are you talking about… doing something like this for petty
revenge, are you crazy!?”
Hearing Aleist’s words, Barquah scoffed.
“I don’t know who you might be, but you sound quite eager to
stick your mouth into another’s household affairs.”
“H-household affairs? When you’re making a mess of your country,
you call it household affairs?”
Aleist drew his sword, and Nate took out her weapons as
well.
Emilio slowly pulled his saber.
“The country is of no importance to me. This is simple revenge.
My wife died in the place of the woman who birthed that
good-for-nothing! And after fleeing her own duty, the woman who
abandoned her own sister to die, dropped dead in some ditch!
Because of that, my wife was…”
Aleist’s failure to understand set him bewildered.
Having noticed that, Barquah knew it was the end, so he began
talking from his heart.
“Twin sisters of the clan were sent to me. I was to marry one of
them and bring up children with both. It is the job of the royal
house. That’s all my marriage would be… so I thought.”
The hilt of the saber Emilio gripped let off a grating
sound.
“… You abandoned my and Cleo’s mother, dammit!”
While he heard it, Barquah thought nothing of it as he continued
his explanation.
“Yes, but the one I loved was the other. My conversations with
her, can you imagine the solace they offered me… I fell so deeply
in love I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
Barquah looked at the view of the castle town he could see from
the balcony.
And at that blazing scene, he directed a smile.
“How truly wonderful. The sight of the people who raised an
uproar for me to offer my wife in the place of the woman who ran
away, the sight of them falling to hell truly clears the
heart.”
“T-this man… is mad.”
On Aleist’s words, Barquah turned and glared at the three.
“That’s right! This country maddened me! The system of this
country is what’s cornered me to such an extent.”
With a step forward in her mask, Nate asked Barquah.
“Did you need to go so far to get your revenge? Then shouldn’t
there have been a much more efficient way to go about it?”
Barquah let a low-brow smile cross his face.
“I thought I would have that woman’s son and daughter see hell
as they lived on. It was the greatest farce! The faithful, foolish
daughter who lived to carry out her duty. Driven out of the palace,
the foolish son living a filthy life in the slums! It truly was a
comforting scene to watch!”
Having lived solely for revenge, it seemed not a fragment of his
feelings as a father remained.
Seeing that, Emilio grit his teeth.
“So you knew everything?”
Barquah answered his question with a refreshing smile.
“That’s right. I watched in pleasure as you crawled your way up.
Knowing you would start something, at the end of the end, your
hopes would spill from your hands… that was the instant I wanted to
see. Of course, Cleo’s miserable state was also a sight to behold.
She resembled that woman so closely, I hated and hated her more
than I could bear.”
The root of this malice… this serious of events, Barquah had
been pulling the strings of them all.
Once they figured out that was the case, Emilio and Aleist’s
expressions dyed in hatred.
Barquah’s smile took a turn for the supreme.
“That’s right… hate me. My hatred is far greater than that!”
Aleist spoke to him.
“You’re crazy… do you hate everything around you so badly!?”
Barquah spread his arms out, turning to the three as he
spoke.
“… A love that doesn’t drive one to madness on its loss isn’t
true love at all, my boy.”
The next instant.
The mountain that could be seen at the end of the balcony
erupted.
It was an explosion that even shook the castle, but in contrast
to its scale, the magma that rose from it was scarce. Seeing that,
Aleist noticed something was off.
“W-what’s this!?”
In the dark night sky, a number of red light rose from the
castle town.
With the volcano’s eruption, magma had begun to spout.
From within it, it looked as if a giant something was trying to
crawl its way out of the mountain.
“So why don’t we change the schedule? It would be boring to
leave this country’s final act to that boorish lot. Don’t you think
finishing it by my hand would be a happier ending?”
As Barquah said that, the giant something’s single eye gleamed
as it began making its way towards them.
Nate cried out.
“It can’t be, it’s really moving!”
Emilio quietly walked up and raised his saber. Seeing that,
Barquah laughed.
“It’s a pity I won’t see this country’s end, but I’ll be heading
to the side of my beloved. I’ve kept her waiting quite a long
while… I love you, —-”
His body was cut through, his blood fluttered through the air.
As he leisurely gazed over that scene, he collided with the
handrail, and his body took a fall.
An upside-down Barquah watched over the castle town wrapped in
fire as he fell.
“Now here is where hell begins.”
The moment he fell. And even after he collided, Barquah’s face
was smiling.
◇
Led off by Millia, Cleo ran down the corridor jumbled with enemy
and ally.
Assailed by an intense tremor along the way, they headed outside
through a shattered windowpane.
The scenery that awaited them was certainly hell.
“It can’t be… the castle town is…”
“This is terrible.”
Cleo touched both hands to her mouth, shaking.
Millia looked at the scenery and muttered.
The flames blazed up as a giant something set course towards
them.
As the morning sun slowly rose from beyond the mountain, its
form gradually grew vivid.
“I-it’s that thing we saw at the souvenir shop.”
As Millia said that, Cleo crouched on the spot.
There, a group of a few appeared before her.
“We’ve finally found you. I never thought the ancient weapon
would start up… but that body of yours is to become research
material for the empire. We will make you useful, Princess
Cleo.”
A man whose three red eyes let off an ominous light…
The captain of the mechanized unit held a sword in each
hand.
Millia came out front and poised her bow, but the man’s
movements were different from what she saw in the alley.
“Wha!”
Instantly circling around, those three red eyes became tails of
red light. Looking where he ended up, he had circled around to
Millia’s right side.
His remaining subordinates came at Millia.
“It doesn’t matter if you kill the guard. For the princess as
well, an arm or a leg is–”
The three-eyed man said as he lifted his sword, only for Rudel
to arrive at the scene.
As magic in the shape of blades of light pierced into the floor,
the men jumped back at once.
“You’re late, Rudel!”
Landing then and there, Rudel pulled his sword and readied the
shield of his left hand.
Wearing his white armor, Rudel spoke to Millia.
“I’m sorry. I ran into some troublesome ones along the way.”
As he said that, Rudel used his shield to bash aside the
mechanized soldier coming at him.
Glowing shields manifested around, floating and gathering around
Cleo.
“Eh, this is…”
As Cleo remained unable to comprehend the surrounding situation,
once more, an ally appeared on the spot.
As a black shadow was cast onto the ground, three figures
emerged from it.
“I-it’s Rudel after all… and wait, carrying two people in that
thing is harsh…”
Aleist tossed his robe aside. He was wearing armor under it.
“We were right to load it into Sakuya-chan’s bags. Right,
senpai?”
Nate handed over his helmet and Aleist pulled it down on his
head.
“So you guys came too. By the way… I feel like I recognize your
companion.”
As Rudel said that, Emilio looked at Cleo.
“Cleo!”
“E-Emilio…”
Cleo began taking distance from him.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s11.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 11
Extra: Songstress 11
Rudel wore his white armor over his body, Aleist was clad in his
black.
The white and black knights stood side by side in the Celestia
Castle courtyard.
Fires were rising across the castle town and the townsfolk had
begun their evacuation.
Izumi darted out for more freedom in combat and looked
around.
“And now I’m surrounded.”
The mechanized unit of the Gaia Empire.
An elite unit thrown into dark, backroom missions, it was made
up of those whose bodies were mainly mechanical.
The three red eyed man who commanded that elite force held a
barbed sword in each hand.
A tail protruded from his robe. Freely moving it around, he
looked amused as he looked their way.
Across his visor, Rudel spoke to Izumi.
“Aleist and I will handle this. Izumi, Millia, go protect the
princess. You too, Na… masked woman I do not know.”
Both Rudel and Aleist lowered their hips and readied their
weapons.
Those around kept wary of their every move.
As Izumi remained wary of Emilio, Nate in her mask
explained.
“It’s alright. Please think of him as an ally. As long as it
comes to protecting Cleo-san, he is our comrade in arms.”
Aleist also spoke to Rudel.
“That’s how it is, so while I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on,
for now we have to work together… there are too many enemies.”
Around then, the enemy mechanized unit continued to shuffle and
gather.
Why were so many able to slip in?
As he thought that, Rudel—
“How long has it been since we fought together?”
“Not since we met Sakuya? I get the feeling it’s been a real
long time… I only really remember getting into slugfests with
you.”
As the two of them started an out-of-place conversation, a
number of the mechanized unit came at them.
The one who called them to a stop was the three-eyed man.
“Stand down!”
Rudel had smacked one to the side with his shield, while Aleist
had used the long-hilted swords he held in both hands to stop the
attack of another.
And once the enemy Aleist pinned down was cut down by Rudel,
Aleist’s hands were free, and his unoccupied left-hand sword
pierced into another foe.
A reddish black oil spouted as the two enemy soldiers were flung
away.
The enemy soldier Rudel had bashed didn’t move after he collided
with a wall.
Rudel spoke.
“Head to where Sakuya is. If she moves, the castle will
crumble.”
The reason Sakuya hadn’t come to their aid was because the
castle interior was still a jumble of enemy and ally. If she made
any wrong moves, she would end up injuring allies.
But if they could make it to Sakuya, they’d be safe.
“Her clumsiness is inconvenient at times like this.”
And Rudel,
“But that’s what makes her so cute”
The three-eyed man issued orders to his men.
“Cut at them with the resolve to become sacrifices for the
cause. The white and black knight… take their heads, and glory
shall follow for eternity! It will be a severe loss to
Courtois!”
As the surrounding soldiers made for Rudel, Izumi took Cleo’s
hand and ran off.
“You two better survive!”
As the two of them raced off towards the enemy, whether Izumi’s
voice even reached or not…
Millia ran watching their back, while Nate and Emilio took the
vanguard.
◇
Under his helmet, Rudel moved his eyes.
As he fell back to avoid the spear thrust from his right of a
mechanized soldier, he turned and beat them down with his left-hand
shield.
For the enemies that tried cutting at his now-empty back, a
number of black stakes protruded from his shadow to skewer
them.
Aleist was using both his hands to parry foes, and a number of
enemies rushed at his back as well.
Concentrating to produce shields, the leaping soldiers collided
with them and fell to the ground.
Rudel turned to the enemies coming at them one after the next,
muttering under his helmet.
“This is a pain.”
Using his sword to sweep back surrounding foe, he moved to stand
back to back with Aleist.
Because of the enemies scattering reddish-black liquid around,
the smell of oil was much harsher than that of blood.
Aleist, his breath a little disturbed,
“There are too many of them. Rather…”
“Right.”
The oil spreading across the ground restrained their use of
magic.
Looking around, the three-eyed man was nowhere to be found.
Aleist sighed.
“Give it some time, and this place will blow sky high.”
“I don’t think it’s something to laugh at, but that’s something
I’d rather avoid.”
Would the oil on the ground ignite?
That was their worry.
This was especially troublesome with Rudel’s high magic output.
If the blaze spread, they would instantly find themselves fighting
through a sea of flames.
“This is getting harsh, but… three-eyes is gone.”
As Aleist cut down the foe coming at him, he spoke to Rudel.
“Who’s going to go?”
Hearing Aleist’s serious voice, Rudel thought just a bit.
(They’re no weaklings, but if Aleist is wary of the man… will it
be difficult for Izumi and the others?)
Rudel highly evaluated Izumi’s abilities.
But he couldn’t ignore Aleist’s decision.
“Got it. I’ll handle this place. I’m good at drawing
attention.”
In his white armor, Rudel was extremely conspicuous at
night.
“But it’ll be troublesome to break out of this encirclement.
That Celestian King definitely had a hand in this. To the very end,
he’s the worst.”
A large number of enemy soldiers still remained around.
(Good grief, where are they coming from? That aside, it sounds
like Aleist knows something, but for now…)
In order to let Aleist slip out, Rudel performed a grand cut at
the enemy.
“Once you reach Sakuya, flee into the sky. They won’t be able to
follow you there… go!”
The two who ran off in different directions.
Rudel accelerated, cutting down one enemy soldier after the
next. Perhaps they didn’t feel pain, as the enemy came at them
without fear.
(They really are troublesome foes!)
As he accelerated with wind magic, the oil scattered and stuck
to everything around.
Nearby, as if to observe him, Rudel spotted a single soldier on
the wall.
(Is it about time they used it?)
As he thought that, the soldier took out something like a pipe
and made a motion of igniting it. Once the pipe-like item breathed
fire, he tossed it straight at Rudel.
◇
While Izumi’s group ran down the palace corridor, they found the
three-eyed man waiting for them.
Running to the front, Emilio glared at the man.
“That was the shortest possible route. Why are you here!”
The laughing three-eyed man opened his robe a bit to show off
his legs. There were small wheels attached, alongside ominous
spikes.
“Even if I take a detour, as long as I’m faster, it is possible
to catch up. What’s more, your side is moving while guarding our
precious test subject.”
Emilio took a stance with his saber, Nate readied her knife.
Millia fired an arrow into the three-eyed man’s shoulder.
“No way…”
She reeled back.
The man let out a mechanical laugh, pulling out the arrow and
crushing it in his hand as he spoke.
“I’m sure it will be meaningless before the white and black
knights, but a majority of this body is a mass of iron. An arrow
with just a bit of magic put in is pointless. Now won’t you hand
over our test subject?”
Cleo was necessary to manipulate the ancient weapon, the
three-eyed man recognized that.
Izumi called out to the two up front, letting go of Cleo’s hand
to grip her hilt and take an iai stance.
“Dodge to the side!”
Nate swiftly reacted, Emilio opened the passage a little late.
And as Izumi drew her katana, a shockwave broke out, and the
three-eyed man—
Izumi’s eyes instantly turned to the ceiling.
Like a reptile, the man stuck both arms and legs to the ceiling
surface, immediately extending his tail to attack her.
While Izumi hit the attack aside with her scabbard, the tail
went right on to wrap around Cleo.
“N-nooo!!”
As it lifted up a screaming Cleo, the tail was cut through by
Emilio’s saber.
Millia embraced the falling girl, while Izumi hammered another
slash into the three-eyed man.
When he landed right in the center of the group, Nate took a
swipe at him, but he locked her down with a sword.
“You Courtois dogs… would do best just to cower in the shadows
of your dragons!”
The man discarded his tail, only for another tail to shoot out
of his robe.
Not to capture Cleo, this was a blow filled with killing
intent.
“If the subject is to be taken by Courtois, then I’d
rather!”
The three-eyed man said with a laugh, and Cleo was unable to
move from surprise. Millia tried to yank her aside.
Izumi tried to cut at the tail, but…
(I won’t make it in time!)
There, Emilio leapt out in front of the tail and cut it down
with his saber. The sword broke in two, and the tail’s pointed end
stabbed deeply into his body.
“Emilio… why?”
Cleo was still immobile; the three-eyed man tried to retreat
back.
“Blasted traitor!”
But Nate tripped him up, and as he collapsed onto the ground,
she immediately thrust her knife right into the vicinity of his
neck.
That attack she had carefully aimed at the armoring’s joint
stuck deeply into his throat.
Showered in a reddish black oil, Nate spoke.
“… This really is the worst.”
After delivering the finishing blow, she stood and raced over to
Emilio.
Izumi was taken aback, but she immediately poised herself to
guard them.
The collapsed Emilio gripped Cleo’s hand. And then and there,
Emilio decided he would convey his message to Cleo.
“Emilio… I am set to die shortly. Why would you…”
Perhaps with too much to say, Cleo’s words couldn’t come out.
Spitting blood from his mouth, Emilio smiled a bit.
And he opened his mouth.
Millia stopped him.
“Don’t speak! We have to start your treatment at…”
There, Nate held Millia back and shook her head.
“This is the end of the line. Please give them some time to
speak.”
Emilio offered Nate his gratitude.
“T-thank you. Cleo…”
“Yes.”
“I’m… I’m your real brother. Mother took me when she left the
castle.”
Perhaps listening with conflicting emotions, Cleo’s gaze
shifted. But Emilio continued on.
“Life was filled with troubles. But I had mother with me and it
was fun. I heard I had a little sister…”
Emilio took a silver, egg-shaped necklace from his clothe pocked
and entrusted it to Cleo. On it, the insignia of the royal house
was engraved.
“This is…”
“You have a gold pendant, don’t you? That one belonged to our
aunt… can you hand this one to Aleist… the black knight as his
payment? You don’t need two exchange stones, do you?”
Exchange stone… a force that moved the ancient weapon, and by
paying a price, a stone that could grant a proportional reward.
Of course, Emilio didn’t seem to understand what basis it worked
on.
“U-umm…”
After spitting up blood, Emilio’s breathing grew rough as he
spoke.
“There are loads I wanted to tell you. But there’s no time. Our
mother loved you, and aunty did too. That man… when father told
mother she was going to die, he was considerably troubled. We
wanted to take you when we ran, but… hac!”
Before Emilio’s bloodened mouth, Cleo shed tears.
“Emilio… my brother.”
Called brother, Emilio made a delighted face.
“Thanks for that. Now I can make a proper report to mother. No,
I guess I’m off to hell, so that’s not happening.”
Smiling, Emilio placed a hand on Cleo’s face.
“Cleo… mother and me, we both love you. When you were announced
as the next sacrifice, mother was crying. She could no longer move
her disease-weakened body, but she said time and again she wanted
to meet you… she wanted to apologize. So I’ll say it. I’m sorry.
Please forgive her.”
Without letting out a voice, Cleo nodded. She nodded and nodded,
and Emilio spoke up.
“… Thank god. Leave the rest to Aleist…”
Emilio’s body ceased with those words, Cleo hung over him and
shed tears.
Izumi readied her katana.
“Who is it!?”
The one who ran over was Aleist in his black knight armor.
He looked at the collapsed Emilio. He took off his helmet and
raced over to the body.
“W-why! What happened!?”
The one who spoke coldly to a fidgety Aleist was Nate.
“We don’t have any time. Senpai, where’s Rudel-senpai?”
“He’s buying time! We have to get that man to a doctor!”
“It’s too late for that. It’s already over… now, let’s go.
There’s no telling when an enemy will come.”
Nate took Cleo’s hand.
Cleo…
“Why… if I just died, it would all have worked out.”
When she said that, Aleist struck her with his left hand.
Collapsing onto the floor, Cleo gazed up at Aleist in wonder.
“That man! Emilio wanted to save you! He continued to fight all
on his own! And over his corpse, over all his effort… don’t say you
want to die.”
To a teary Aleist, Nate spoke.
“Senpai. If you don’t want to waste Emilio-san’s will, for
now,”
“I know!”
Aleist wiped his tears as he walked off, Cleo gazed at his
back.
Izumi extended a hand to Cleo. Millia as well.
“… I don’t know what I should say at a time like this. But if we
keep dawdling here, it surely won’t make Emilio-dono happy.”
“Now let’s go.”
Taking both their hands to stand, Cleo walked, turning back a
few times to look at Emilio’s smile.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s12.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 12
Extra: Songstress 12
Arriving at Sakuya, Izumi boarded her back.
Around were the fragments of earthen dolls, and flattened
soldiers of the mechanized unit.
Once everyone had gotten on her back, Sakuya took to the
sky.
‘What are we supposed to do after we’re in the air?’
To the voice, Izumi.
“Head towards Rudel. But I recommend against helping it
out…”
Where Sakuya was had become a mountain of rubble. Each minuscule
move of the dragon would destroy surrounding buildings, and if she
rampaged for real, Celestia Castle would quickly be leveled to the
ground.
Izumi thought.
(So not even a dragon could beat the ancient weapon?)
Brushing aside her hair disheveled by the wind, Izumi looked at
the castle down from Sakuya’s rising back.
A blazing smoke rose from a number of places.
The black of night was lit with an ominous light, as the giant
quadrupedal ancient weapon slowly crashed into Celestia’s defensive
wall.
And…
“The hell’s that…”
As Aleist leaned his body in, the ancient weapon’s single eye
spouted fire, melting down the surrounding walls and buildings.
Its whole body illuminated by the inferno it spewed, it really
did look just like the ornaments sold at the souvenir shops.
Unlike those easy-to-break articles, however, the ancient weapon
showed no sign of stopping as it made straight for the palace.
Its movements were dull, the evacuating citizenry fled in the
opposite direction of the weapon.
Seeing the sights from the air, Cleo,
“… Please take me to the guardian deity.”
As she said that with a serious face, Millia returned fire.
“Why!? If you go to a place like that, your life–”
“Even so! If you can’t get too close, then just as close as you
can! This is an order from a princess of Celestia! … I can’t cause
any further trouble.”
To Cleo who leaked a sob with those words, Aleist spoke.
“You’re saying it again… don’t you think you’re besmirching
Emilio!?”
“I’m fully aware I am! But it cannot be helped. This is all I’m
capable of. I was born and raised for this sake. Telling me to live
a different life at this point… take me to that guardian deity this
instant!”
With a face of pure earnesty, she shed tears as she spoke.
There, not from the direction of Sakuya’s flight, a different
gust blew through.
Rudel skillfully landed on Sakuya’s back, removing his helmet to
speak.
“Unfortunately, the orders I received were to ‘Guard you to the
ceremonial alter’ tomorrow morning. I cannot follow your
orders.”
‘Ah, Rudel.’
“Rudel, glad you’re alright.”
Sakuya rejoiced, Izumi was relieved. Izumi looked at the ancient
weapon from Sakuya’s back.
Cleo spoke.
“It’s an order. I beg of you.”
“I refuse. I’m a knight of Courtois, after all. Oh, right,
perhaps I should say this? I’m a member of the Dragoons, the
strongest knights of Courtois. It’s an insult for the world to
think we remained on a losing streak with this weapon forever. I
shall be settling the score.”
Rudel looked at the ancient weapon and laughed.
Izumi touched her right hand to her face as she spoke.
“Rudel, show some prudence.”
“My apologies. But as long as we defeat that thing, it will all
be over. My mission was, from start to finish, to safely deliver
Cleo; I was never told not to obliterate any guardian deities or
ancient weapons or whatever it is.”
Millia was amazed.
“They never said it! Sure enough, they never said it,
but…!!”
Nate looked at Rudel and shook her head to the side.
“You haven’t changed from your student days, I see. For better
or worse, that is.”
Aleist was looking at the earth.
“… The small ancient weapons are moving around. I’ll deal with
those.”
As Aleist showed some motivation, Rudel smiled. The black
knight’s face turned a little sorrowful.
“Rudel, I was Emilio’s friend… perhaps not, but I’m sad that he
died. While I’m not going out for revenge, I could at least put in
some effort ‘til it’s over.”
Understanding from the fact the man wasn’t there, Rudel kept it
short.
“I see,”
He muttered. And he put down his helmet and turned to
Aleist.
“I’ll stop that ancient weapon with Sakuya. I’ll try to lead the
fight outside as much as possible, but there will be collateral
damage. Can you take care of evacuation too?”
Aleist, likewise.
“Of course.”
Seeing the two of them meet fists, Cleo spoke.
“Why go so far… if only I become a sacrifice, no one has to be
hurt.”
To that opinion, Izumi.
“It’s alright.”
“Eh?”
“Rudel’s all over the place, but he’s a man who’s true to his
word. Up to now, and from here on… that’s the sort of man he
is.”
Millia grumbled as she added on.
“I’ll be on the ground too. Aleist, you’d better give some
decent orders.”
Aleist, a little nervous.
“L-leave it thoo me!”
He fumbled his words.
Nate uninterestedly muttered.
“Millia-senpai again? Just so you know, everyone’s going to hear
about this when we get back. Well, it’s partly to protect myself,
but… sharing information is the ironclad rule of the harem.”
Izumi thought.
(He’s got it rough, that Aleist.)
Rudel addressed Sakuya.
“Sakuya, land in an adequate place. After that… we’re going to
be settling the score with that weapon.”
He sounded like he was having fun.
(If he didn’t have that side to him… if he was just a little
settled…)
Izumi grumbled in mild delight.
Cleo stared at the dragoon attempting to challenge the
impossible.
◇
After landing on the ground and separating with Aleist’s group,
Sakuya immediately took to the sky once more.
As the surroundings received a downward gust strong enough to
put out the flames, Aleist looked around.
“I’ll have Millia relay orders from a high point. Izumi-san will
be fighting, so… Nate, you guard the princess.”
Nate breathed out a sigh.
“Well, with these members, that sounds about right. Now let’s be
off.”
Cleo handed over the silver pendant to Aleist.
“Oh? And this is?”
“From Emilio to you. Perhaps Emilio thought of you as a friend
as well.”
“I see… so I’ve lost a friend.”
As Aleist let out a sorrowful voice, Cleo spoke.
“No, Emilio… my brother was happy. I wasn’t able to do anything
so you have my gratitude as well. It was made from an ore called an
exchange stone. I heard something similar was used in the ancient
weapon’s core.”
The hand Aleist used to grip the pendant shook.
(So it’s something that dangerous?)
Cleo told him about the stone.
“As the name implies, you can exchange something for a wish. A
small price for a small wish, a large one for large… though you’re
better off not using something like that.”
At Cleo’s powerless laugh, Aleist tucked the pendant away in his
breast pocket.
“… I graciously accept it.”
“Thank you.”
Nate led Cleo off by the hand and evacuated her from the
site.
Aleist drew a sword.
Nearby, dolls just like the ancient weapon, albeit smaller, were
beginning to gather.
Izumi took her stance, offering Aleist some advice.
“Cutting them is pointless. Unless you smash them to pieces,
they just regenerate.”
“Smash… huh.”
Aleist protruded a spear from his shadow, reshaping the tip into
something like a hammer as he shattered one of them to bits.
“—That’s neat.”
Despite Izumi’s surprise, Aleist let out a sigh.
“If I couldn’t do this much, I’d be left in the dust. Now let’s
go.”
Racing off, Aleist and Izumi went around smashing ancient
weapons.
◇
High in the sky, Rudel challenged the ancient weapon to battle
with Sakuya by his side.
‘Jeeeerrrk!!’
As Sakuya delivered a punch up front, its surface easily
split.
But its insides weren’t empty…
‘Hooottt!!’
Sakuya instantly drew back her hand, a gush of boiling magma
accompanying it.
By the regeneration of its surface armor, the weapon’s contents
quickly came out of sight.
Rudel.
“What do you think you’re doing to my Sakuya!?”
Producing a large shield, he projected it in front of the single
eye that had begun to gather light as they spoke.
Just as the shield appeared, a blaze streamed out, lighting
everything around in a red.
Sakuya’s hand wasn’t badly injured.
A dragon that could get off just by complaining magma was hot
was fearsome. But if they smacked their foe away here, magma would
scatter about their surroundings.
(If we keep blowing it away until it runs out of innards, will
it stop moving? No, if that’s how it works, then surely the
dragoons wouldn’t have retreated…)
To Sakuya who was rubbing her right hand with her left, Rudel
spoke.
“Sakuya, take to the sky.”
‘I hate this thing!’
Sakuya voiced her complaints in a child’s voice as she rose into
the sky.
Thinking it would be troublesome if they applied too much
damage, Rudel considered his options.
(If we block off the roads, destroy the surface and control the
flow of the magma…)
After he had thought that far through, the movements of the
weapon turned strange.
“What is it now?”
‘That thing, something’s.’
Before Sakuya could say something was squirming inside it, the
ancient weapon’s surface began to crack.
Spouting magma, the armoring crumbled away bit by bit.
“What’s this supposed to mean? Is it broken?”
‘No, here it comes.’
As Sakuya rose, the fire from the weapon’s split, round torso
jetted out in her direction. Not by coincidence, they could feel an
intent to attack.
“Kuh! Sakuya, Right!”
Sakuya veered right, but the flames gave chase.
“What is this?”
Just as before, Rudel manifested a large shield. But as the
flames collided, the shield broke, and from within the flames, a
mass of squirming magma showed itself.
The magma continued to burn a dark red as it took form.
A humanoid shape sprouting wings from its back, it took on quite
a sinister shape.
“… Doesn’t look like a guardian deity to me.”
‘Not at all.’
Moving its large one eye, opening its mouth, the monster that
emerged from the ancient dragon flew straight at Sakuya.
Rudel amassed a few hundred swords of light and shot them at the
enemy.
Those small swords exploded as they stuck into the massive foe
in quick succession, but only scattering magma, they didn’t seem to
be very effective.
“So we should try destroying it all at once with massive
firepower… but it’s surprisingly fast.”
As the monster chasing Sakuya opened its mouth, it fired a
number of fireballs from it. Those attacks that followed closely as
if each shot held its own will, Rudel crushed them by preparing
shields. Looking down, they were distancing themselves from
Celestia’s castle town.
“Now then, if we want to fight seriously, we’ll need to go a
little further away.”
Searching for an adequate site for battle as he fled, Rudel
turned to the beast letting out an uncanny roar.
“Don’t be so impatient. We’ll properly eliminate you.”
For some reason, he found himself saying.
Rudel found it a little perplexing why he said it himself.
‘Rudel?’
“No, it just felt as if it was crying out to be eliminated.
Sakuya, are you up for it?”
‘Yeah!’
Sakuya seemed happy she was being relied on, and Rudel sent a
warm smile.
Turning to look at the monster, it was once again about to fire
attacks at them.
A mass of fire larger than any before it, it looked almost as if
a large boulder had been clad in flames.
“… That one won’t end well.”
As he said that, Rudel held up his right hand.
Manifesting a large spear of light, he pierced through the
boulder before it could be fired, raising a large explosion.
Magma scattered, falling onto the ground.
The monster’s upper body had been blown away, but magma quickly
welled up from its lower half, regenerating it in the blink of an
eye.
‘Uwah’
Sakuya reeled back.
“An ancient weapon… it seems we’ve met a worthy foe!”
While Rudel seemed delighted.
But be that as it may, he also thought over it with a level
head.
(Now then, to prepare a large attack, we’ll need some distance
and time, but that one doesn’t look like it’ll let us get away. If
we close in, Sakuya will…)
Observing the enemy chasing them, Rudel simulated how he would
fight with the beast.
Even if Sakuya might be able to blow it away in one attack, if
the attack was directed thoughtlessly, some village or town may
face casualty.
It would have to be something big enough to change the area’s
geography.
And considerable time would be needed to store enough power.
They could close in and beating it down until there was nothing
left, but the heat was harsh on Sakuya.
“How troublesome. I’m starting to see why my seniors called it a
draw. But if we win here…”
‘Will Sakuya be praised?’
To the young child desperate for praise, Rudel nodded.
“You’ll undoubtedly be praised. Mystith-sama will be
delighted!”
‘I’ll do my best!’
After saying that much, Rudel thought.
“Sakuya, can you produce water?”
‘No!’
“As I thought. I doubt I can make enough to stop that one.”
Rudel thought about using water to lower the magma’s heat and
harden it.
But there was no meaning in small amounts.
(I’m sure a water dragon would have an affinitive
advantage.)
Thinking he could never say that in front of Sakuya, Rudel
reached that conclusion.
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 13
Extra: Songstress 13
Magma taken on the shape of man, a winged monster gave chase
through the dark sky.
Receiving winds so strong the magic barrier couldn’t suppress
them, Rudel looked behind him.
“Sakuya, it’s about time. Begin ascent!”
Rudel’s plan was simple.
If the enemy was a monster of magma, he concluded they simply
had to fight where there was water.
He led the monster along the night sky to distance it far from
Celestia.
Sakuya’s four wings swayed grandly.
She rose as large fireballs passed right beneath her.
As the monster closed its large mouth, Rudel looked at his foe’s
single large eye.
Under the eyelid as if the eye itself had been divided
vertically, what looked to be an eye of flesh… it bore the eye of a
lifeform.
Even when its body was made of magma, he questioned why it
didn’t burn.
‘That thing’s persistent!’
Sakuya complained at the enemy chasing her.
Rudel observed it with a serious face.
(If we want to take it out in a single blow, our best bet’s to
get into close combat and drop it into the ocean. How do we hit it
down… explosions just blow away parts of its body, the rest isn’t
affected.)
Looking at the monster of magma, Rudel thought over how he might
manage close combat.
Even with Sakuya’s fists, their enemy was magma.
Her hands would stick into the monster’s body, and Sakuya would
be scalded.
But to get off with such little damage, dragons really were
amazing after all.
Sakuya entered a cloud.
As his vision grew worse all at once, Rudel issued orders to
Sakuya.
“Sakuya, break through the clouds!”
‘Yeah.’
Sakuya shot straight up through the clouds.
But there, the monster was waiting for them.
‘I hate this thiiiing!!’
On Sakuya’s directional change, Rudel leaned over and gripped
the handrail off so as not to be thrown off.
As the scenery around him changed at a dazzling pace, he took a
deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Just for a little while. Sakuya, take the wheel… head towards
the ocean.”
‘On my own!?’
Hearing that voice on the brink of tears, Rudel opened his eyes
and stomached his urge to throw out that idea.
Rudel’s eyes were magic eyes.
As he closed his eyes, they gradually began to emit heat.
By flowing magic into them, he could imbue them with various
effects.
While Sakuya hurried to flee, Rudel waited for his preparations
to be readied.
A sudden rise, a sudden turn.
It was hell clinging on to not be thrown off.
(I should’ve used the belt.)
Repenting on his actions before he closed his eyes, he finished
up preparations and opened them.
A red light dwelled in the pupils as he gazed at the
monster.
“Kuh!”
Narrowing his eyes, he tried scanning the magma for the
monster’s true form.
“What’s this… hundreds, thousands of people are crying out?”
Hundreds of human souls squirmed and struggled, imprisoned.
Captured by a stone in the monster’s chest, they struggled
within the magma.
(Are those the sacrifices? And who’s that in the center of the
stone?)
That soul in the shape of a woman looked at Rudel from within
the stone.
His magic eyes focused and showed her form in vivid detail…
“She looks like Cleo… no, I guess it’s the opposite.”
He recalled the painting in the king’s room.
He remembered the painting with an unnatural space left in it.
And the painting of the queen as well.
“The previous sacrifice was the queen, was it? Which means.”
All the captured, squirming souls were related to the royal
house.
A prison of spirit even death couldn’t escape.
The monster was a kind of cage.
Rudel took a deep breath.
“… Sakuya, can you see that?”
‘If Rudel can see it, then Sakuya can see it too. We’re
connected.’
To a proud Sakuya, Rudel,
“I see. Then you know what I want to say. Alongside the mission…
we’ll be destroying that thing.”
Rudel touched Sakuya’s body with both his palms.
Feeling out Sakuya’s beat, he used his own magic to control
it.
He still wasn’t accustomed to it, it felt all too unnatural, but
this was no time for hesitation.
Glaring at the monster, Rudel…
“I’ll free you now.”
As he put that to mouth, a golden insignia surfaced over
Sakuya’s body.
Rudel used his own magic to manipulate the mana flowing through
her body. Under her four wings, a new gold-glowing smaller pair
manifested.
A number of sharp sword blades protruded out of the now
six-winged Sakuya’s tail.
As if covered in golden gauntlets, masses of energy manifested
around her fists.
‘I’ll show you serious Sakuyaaa!!’
To intercept the monster, Sakuya held her position in the
air.
Readying her two large fists, she took on a fighting pose.
As the monster opened its large mouth to produce fireballs,
Sakuya opened her mouth as well. She usually gathered stones or
fired breath attacks from it, but this one was different.
A number of water orbs formed around her mouth, before shooting
right off towards the monster.
The fireballs the monster shot were taken down by water one
after the next.
As water and magma collided, a water vapor broke out, rendering
everything out of sight.
“It won’t go down the same as before.”
After saying that, Rudel called out to Sakuya.
“Go!”
‘Yeah!’
While she had been running away to that point, Sakuya started
straight towards the monster.
Rudel’s magic eyes captured its sinister form.
Sharing Rudel’s vision, Sakuya slammed her fist into the
beast.
The water hit first, and she aimed her attack into the portion
that had hardened. The black lump on its surface shattered from the
force, but the golden gauntlets had managed to capture the monster
without piercing through.
Hurdling back, the monster regained its posture, moving its
single eye left and right to search out the dragon’s form.
Circling around beneath it with a nosedive, Sakuya went into a
steep climb…
‘Handed down from Mystith, taste the… what was it called
again?’
Having forgotten the name, still oblivious, Sakuya got her large
fist into the enemy’s body.
The monster bent into an L shape, flying into the air upon
receiving the impact.
And with speeds greater than before, Sakuya chased after it,
putting both her fists together and lifting them above her head,
she came right above the monster to lower them.
Seeing the monster fall towards the earth, Rudel spoke.
“… And that’s that. I’ll free you now.”
Sakuya’s gauntlets disappeared, she opened her mouth wide.
There a large mass of mana emerged and Rudel compressed it. Once
the forcefully compressed lump of magic swelled again, it was
compressed even further.
Drawing out a dragon’s power… no, the power Sakuya originally
possessed was Rudel’s job.
Sakuya turned the mass of magic towards the monster that had
fallen into the sea.
Water vapor rose all around, the writhing monster could no
longer maintain its form.
It spread and spread, and spread some more.
It was almost as if a single large island was forming.
Sprouting countless hands, it opened its large mouth to cry
out.
Water leaked from its large eye, making it look as if it
were crying.
“Being sealed away forever, sealing others away, you must’ve
hated it… so this is the end.”
Sakuya fired the compressed mass of magic.
Her body shot a bit back from the recoil, as her small light was
sucked into the monster’s open mouth.
As she left that space, the golden markings disappeared from
Sakuya’s body.
The color of Rudel’s eyes also returned to their usual blue.
Hurriedly fastening on his belt. Rudel clung to the
handrail.
“It’s the first time we tried going all out.”
‘Sakuya did her best~.’
Hearing her tired voice, Rudel tried to open his mouth as he
looked at the large pillar of light.
From the monster’s open mouth, magma erupted into the sky.
It was almost like an endless stream of lava.
As the shockwaves assailed Sakuya, it became difficult to fly
properly, sending her barreling through the air.
“The output was too high.”
Perhaps it would be best not to use it again.
Rudel thought.
Gradually the pillar receded, and by that time, Sakuya had
regained the ability to fly normally. Regaining her position, she
commenced hovering on the spot as she looked at the monster.
‘It just keeps spreading.’
“Right.”
Where the monster had fallen, a black island was born.
The scene of it visibly expanding wasn’t one he could witness
all too often.
Rudel turned only to suddenly raise his right hand in front of
his face.
The morning sun.
“So it’s already morning.”
‘Sakuya is tired. I want to go to the hot spring.’
Rudel was of the same opinion.
“You’re right. I’m also worn out this time.”
After seeing the sun, Rudel turned to the island that continued
to expand.
There, from within it, a large blue light in the shape of a
human waved its hand. Below it, several hundred waved their hands
at Sakuya.
Rudel rubbed his eyes, looking at the island again.
“… They’re gone. Was the magic eye’s effect still
lingering?”
Just as he thought he’d seen a hallucination, Rudel pulled his
sword and turned around.
Where he pointed it, a single woman watched the rising sun.
The blue-haired woman closing her eyes, she spread her arms out
as if to bask in its light.
And…
‘You have our thanks. Foreign knight.’
Seeing that smile, Rudel noticed it was the queen he had seen
from the painting in the king’s study.
And sheathing away his sword,
“It’s dragoon. I’m a dragoon.”
‘Eh? You’re a knight, aren’t you?’
“Yes. But I’m more precisely a dragoon. I can’t budge on that
one.”
The other party was successfully confused but as Rudel wouldn’t
concede that point, she gave a cute clearing of her throat as she
started from square one.
Rudel made a satisfied face.
‘You have our thanks, foreign dragoon.’
“I was in the neighborhood on a mission. Call it a whimsy.
Also.”
‘Also?’
“With this, I have proven the dragoons are the strongest. This
is my victory, so in the end, that last draw has become the
dragoons’ victory!”
Seeing Rudel’s delight, the blank stare of the transparent woman
turned to a smile.
Her smiling face was reminiscent of Cleo.
‘What an interesting person. To think you’d defeat our guardian
deity.’
“It looked more like a monster to me.”
As Rudel looked down at the island from Sakuya’s back, the woman
leaned over to do the same.
Her feet weren’t there.
‘… It was twisted over the course of a history far too long. At
first it was there to bring bounty to our country. Once it was used
for war, its power was shown and it became a tool for battle.’
Rudel looked at the woman.
“You’re Cleo’s mother, aren’t you?”
There, the woman smiled and shook her head to the side.
‘I’m her aunt. That girl’s mother was my sister… I see, so Cleo
is safe. That really is wonderful.’
Seeing the woman’s delighted smile, Rudel thought back to the
unnatural painting in the king’s office. The person who was meant
to occupy that space, surely it was Cleo’s real mother.
(… I guess every royal house has its complications.)
The woman stood and looked at Rudel.
‘Thank you, dragoon. With this, Celestia’s guardian deity has
been freed, and we can return to the stream of souls.’
“I wholeheartedly accept your thanks. Of course, from the
country’s point of view, I might end up the villain.”
‘We should have never held a power so far beyond our means. I
can see it in hindsight. It was an unnatural, twisted country. But
even so, it’s my sister and my homeland, so I think it’ll
recover.’
To the woman gradually becoming fainter, Rudel spoke.
“Anything you want me to pass on to Cleo or the other
royals?”
The woman shook her head.
‘Nothing personally… just tell them I’m watching over them.’
“Understood.”
‘And.’
Her face turning serious, the woman looked right at Rudel and
spoke.
‘… As I am now, I can understand. You’ll be coming over to our
side in the near future.’
“… Is that so.”
With no further words from Rudel, the woman made a praying
gesture.
‘But please don’t forget, you’re not alone…’
Turning a smile to Rudel at the end, as the light of the sun
grew stronger, she disappeared as if dissolving away.
Sakuya let out her voice.
‘Rudel, who were you talking to?’
Rudel opened his mouth to explain it to her, closed it along the
way, and smiled as he shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing. Now once we get back, it’s going to be
busy.”
Directing Sakuya to return, Rudel turned just once to look at
the island that continued to expand.
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress Epilogue
Extra: Songstress Epilogue
From where a destroyed castle town spread out, Cleo looked over
her surroundings.
The earthen dolls ceased function, rattling as they began to
crumble apart.
Once the sun had fully shown itself, their movements grew
strange, and just like that, they stopped moving.
Near Cleo, Nate took off her mask and looked around.
With a whistle from her lips, a hippogryph descended from the
sky.
Seeing that, Cleo spoke.
“U-um,”
“Mn? Oh, that’s my partner, don’t worry about it. See, he can
become a horse too.”
After landing, the hippogryph gave a shake of its eagle head and
took on the form of a normal horse.
And breathing a sigh, Nate looked around.
“But this really will be a pain to report.”
“You’re… right.”
When they saw the red pillar pierce through the sky, that moment
they felt the tremor and gale, both Cleo and Nate were surprised.
But they could understand it now.
“Do you think Rudel-dono won?”
“I’d quite hope so. Because that would also mean the destruction
of Celestia’s ancient weapon, or rather guardian deity… who’s going
to take responsibility for this, I wonder.”
Cleo spoke.
“The guardian deity, is it. If I just…”
She had much to think about.
There, Nate cut in.
“… My ancestors, you see, they were once people of Celestia.
This blue hair is something of a testament to that.”
“Eh?”
As Cleo looked on blankly, Nate…
“Meaning, I’m a survivor of your clan that ran away. Though at
present, I’ve got work in Courtois as you can see.”
She kept on talking on the matter, but Cleo worried whether that
might bring problems to her position. There, Nate’s expression
turned serious.
“Well, I’m just trying to say that humans can live anywhere.
Don’t you think it’d be alright if you just became free? If the
threat of Celestia is gone, Courtois should give a public
apology and provide some support.”
As Cleo hesitated, Nate spelled out her options.
“You could run off somewhere and live, not as a princess but a
single young girl. All that’s left of the Celestia royal line is
you and a few children. It’s possible to push it onto someone
else.”
Cleo gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
She wouldn’t choose that option.
“Thank you. But I have my responsibilities and obligations. I
could not become a sacrifice, but I cannot abandon my people.
Someone will have to take the leading role. Even if it’s someone as
unreliable as me.”
Nate spoke disinterestedly.
“Is that so.”
And putting on her mask, she pat her partner’s neck a few times.
Cleo understood that Nate wasn’t particularly angry.
It felt like she already knew which one she would choose.
“I’m just a little envious of you.”
“Eh?”
At the end, Nate,
“That you could choose the option not to run, I’m just a little
envious.”
◇
A few days later.
In the ruins of Celestia, Sakuya moved around heavy loads as if
playing with building blocks.
To help out in the reconstruction efforts, Rudel and Aleist
worked dawn to dusk.
Izumi and Millia aided them.
Nate alone made for Courtois to report on the incident. Someone
had to be told…
“To be totally honest, I think there’s something messed up about
defeating a god and making an island of it.”
Holding a shovel, Aleist looked at Rudel.
“… Aleist, sure enough, I won’t deny I had some personal
feelings involved. But there was no helping that one!”
Millia looked at the two of them tiredly.
“I understand it was a situation where it couldn’t be helped,
but… who’s going to take responsibility for this?”
Neither Rudel nor Aleist could take responsibility.
Millia looked at Izumi…
“Isn’t this his surveillance inspector’s liability?”
A startled Izumi spoke.
“I do get the feeling there was nothing that could be done
there.”
Izumi had hurriedly drafted up a report and handed it to Nate.
But just how would the top brass evaluate it…
The four of them put some thought into it, but Rudel,
“Well, whatever will be will be. Once I return, I’m sure I’ll be
put to work in the outer reaches again, so I don’t mind if I’m to
aid reconstruction a while longer.”
Aleist as well.
“You’re right. This feels so much more worthwhile that returning
to cleaning duty. Now then, let’s give it our best for another
day.”
Millia looked at the two.
“Isn’t it strange to use Courtois’ white and black knights like
this? Normally, they should have some post or something, and work
in the royal palace, right?”
Rudel and Aleist’s standings were dubious even in Courtois. When
normally it wouldn’t be strange if they had much higher ranks, one
was sent to the middle of nowhere. The other was treated as a
cleaner.
Izumi sighed.
“Well, as long as the ones in question don’t raise a ruckus,
isn’t it fine? If anyone’s got any complaints, they can voice them
to the higherups.”
When he became a dragoon, Rudel knew he would be sent to the
outer reached as he had no complaints; while Aleist might grumble
here and there, he was earnest in his work.
Yet the two of them had saved the country called Celestia.
No, perhaps saved was a misunderstanding.
Of all else, the one they fought was the guardian deity of
Celestia.
One wrong move and people might say Courtois took advantage of
their request to eliminate their deity.
Of course…
“But it’s a huge problem if a majority of their important
ministers are gone.”
It was just as Rudel said.
Almost all of Celestia’s ministers and high officials had
perished in the castle.
It was because of the mechanized unit, according to Nate.
There were various hands moving behind the scenes, and from
Rudel’s group’s point of view, it was a peculiar mission that ended
while they fought a battle they’d been roped into.
Sakuya looked up at the sky.
‘Hey, can I eat that?’
She sought confirmation with Rudel, so he followed her eye
line.
“The hippogryph? Someone’s riding it, so you can’t.”
Sakuya was downhearted.
◇
What the returned Nate informed them of was everyone’s
return.
At the same time, she told them, a squadron from Courtois had
been dispatched with the intent to provide aid.
Rudel wanted to remain until they had built an extent of a
basis. But he had to follow his orders.
He had asked Nate, but it seemed Celestia would officially be
treated as Courtois’ vassal state. This owed to the fact it didn’t
have any strengths worthy of forming an equal alliance.
And the new queen of Celestia, Cleo, was to have a discussion
over it with the temporary ministers.
The damage was great, if they went against Courtois and could no
longer receive aid, it was easy to imagine Celestia’s
reconstruction taking decades.
There was no guarantee Courtois wouldn’t invade in that
space.
“Did I do something unnecessary?”
Lying down in a room of the palace, Rudel muttered.
They would depart come the next day, so he took an early
rest.
Once he returned, a report to Courtois’ palace awaited him.
(I’m sure I’m causing them trouble again.)
Thinking he’d brought even more trouble to his superiors, Rudel
closed his eyes.
There, a knock at the door.
“Boss!”
The ones who entered were Ben, Pono and Passan, the party of
three. As they had been promoted to knights, they now wore clothing
that half-looked the part.
Cleo had appointed them as part of her royal guard.
Their achievements in evacuating citizens all the way to the
end, and Cleo’s trust for them brought it about.
Of course, that was the public reason.
Truthfully, there was a severe lack of personnel, so things had
grown lax in various places, and the three of them were
appointed.
“What’s wrong? You want to train again?”
“No, today it’s work.”
“That’s right!”
“t’s work!”
As the three of them stuck out their chests, a single woman came
out from behind them.
It was Cleo.
“Princess… or no, it’s Queen now I see.”
As Rudel left the bed and stood, Cleo turned him her tired face
curled into a smile.
“Can I have just a little bit of your time?”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
◇
The party of three kept watch outside, while Rudel and Cleo went
out to the balcony.
The night breeze had a nice feel to it.
“So why have you called me for?”
Cleo was taking deep breaths. And resolving herself, she looked
at Rudel, wrung out her voice…
“Rudel-dono, no, Rudel-sama, I’ve fallen in love with you!”
She confessed.
Rudel spoke with a smile.
“I can’t!”
… He refused.
Upon hearing that, Cleo burst into laughter. Perhaps she knew
the answer from the start.
“Can I ask for your reasons?”
Rudel spelled it out clearly.
“To start with, I have no freedom in my marriage. And even if I
look like this, I’ve got quite a few restraints placed on me. I
doubt the country will recognize a marriage between the two of us.
If that’s how it’s going to be, I concluded I should decline it
from the start.”
Cleo gave a bitter smile.
“You won’t give an answer in regards to my feelings, I see.”
“… I already have someone I love. Of course, for the same
reasons, I can’t tell her I love her.”
Rudel got the feeling Cleo had become stronger than before.
“… In this incident. Celestia will put up a strong protest to
Courtois for destroying our guardian deity. Of course, the
country’s circumstance and the feelings of our people are
conflicting, so that is simply the public stance. I am
personally quite thankful, Rudel-dono.”
“So it’s going that way after all.”
As Rudel said that, Cleo…
“I truly am thankful. Celestia has finally gained the
opportunity to stand on its own power… I can think of it like that
now.”
Cleo was surely troubled over many things, Rudel imagined.
And he surmised she had confessed to get her own feelings in
order at the end.
“So have you gotten your feelings in order?”
“You noticed? Well let’s see… with this I can be not Cleo the
princess, I can become the figurehead queen Cleo. I’ll leech as
much aid from Courtois as possible.”
Rudel laughed.
“It’s quite troublesome if you say such things to me. Even like
this, I’m one of Courtois’–”
Cleo said it before he could.
“Dragoons, after all. Right? … You have my thanks. At the end,
you even let me hear the words of my mother and aunt. That I was
loved. I’ve been granted the opportunity to learn that, and I look
on it with delight.”
Defeating the monster, Rudel had conveyed the words of the
existence calling herself Cleo’s aunt to Cleo and the surviving
royal children.
(Even so, she’s become quite strong in the past few days.)
She had lost her brother Emilio, she had lost many things, and
Rudel mulled over what he should say to her.
“You’ll be off early tomorrow morning, right? I shall see you
off from here. Well then, farewell… Rudel.”
She dropped the honorific at the end.
◇
The next day.
Looking at Sakuya take to the sky from the balcony, Cleo stroked
aside her blue hair.
Around were the party of three and her servants, likewise
looking at the dragon soar through the air.
“They’ve gone, boss and his friends.”
The party of three were shedding tears, while the servants
pulled back from the sight of them.
To Cleo, those three were idiots but honest, and kind from their
hearts. Precious knights to have.
Looking at Sakuya, Cleo sung a song.
(At the very least, even if only in song… thank you, foreign
knights. Thank you, dragoon.)
Passan spoke.
“The princess’ songs really are the best!”
Ben,
“Fool, it’s queen now!”
Pono,
“Quiet down and let me hear the song!”
As Cleo’s song voice resounded through Celestia, the white
dragon took a leisure circle around the palace. And the knights on
its back waved their hands.
The party of three grandly waved back, and Cleo also answered in
a wave.
(Thank you, Rudel. .And goodbye.)
Her smile still on her face, Cleo shed tears.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s2.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 2
Extra: Songstress 2
Racing down the main road of the capital was a young man known
as the black knight.
“Pardon me!”
Leaping over a cart pulled by an old man, he changed directions
as he landed, desperately running off. Mindful of his back, he
looked around and decided the direction he should run.
His curly blond hair flowed back as he ran. His mismatched eyes
were a beautiful sight to behold, blue in the right and green in
the left. His well-trained body acted as a spring, letting him
bound freely over the main road. But what he made use of wasn’t his
physical body alone.
By channeling mana into his body, he was enhancing it. Desperate
enough to use every means at his disposal to flee, whenever he’d
passed by a woman’s side, his Jetstream would flip their skirts.
Whenever he was about to run into someone, it was always a young
girl or a pretty older woman.
“Like hell I’ll stop here!!”
Shouting as if his soul was crying out, Aleist didn’t even try
to peer into the flipped skirt. He continued avoiding all the young
girls in his way with magnificent footwork.
They would call him ‘That harem bastard,’ with envy, jealousy,
resentment.
But from the point of view of the man in question, that wasn’t a
result he obtained because he wanted it. Aleist understood that a
harem was a special privilege only granted to the chosen few. That
didn’t mean to say assets or strength. What was most important was
what could be called the qualifications to keep a harem.
… and the power to maintain that harem, even when
surrounded.
You can be dense as hell. You can pretend you don’t see. Even
lucky perverts are permitted. But you mustn’t run away. A man with
the caliber to accept all harem members… meaning a main character’s
disposition.
Aleist lacked that.
Before that even came into question…
“Don’t run away, Aleist-sama!”
“What is the meaning of this, captain Aleist!”
“That should be our line. We’re his fiancées! And yet he goes on a
trip with nothing but women? Fat chance!”
The women chasing him from behind were catching up, even when he
ran at full force. There were those running in skirts, and those
riding horses to give chase. A majority of them were knights who
had graduated the academy, the Courtois Kingdom’s educational
institute, while the others were women who possessed equal
power.
Aleist endured the cold eyes directed at him by the surrounding
men as he screamed from his heart.
“No, I already have someone my heart’s set on!”
But the world was full of uncertainty.
“If you’re a noble, just give it up!”
“In the first place, that girl you’re after doesn’t think anything
of you!”
“Aleist, just give up!”
Noble ladies, knights and those of the beast tribe, various
sorts of women chased after Aleist. It was a dream many a young boy
had dreamed of. But Aleist’s heart was set on another. An elf girl
called Millia.
Yet the one he loved would never chase him, he was the one
giving chase. What’s more, his rival was more than up to par.
The white knight Rudel. He knew that man didn’t think anything
special of Millia, but even so, Millia had not given up on him. To
Aleist, it was quite a sorrowful thing.
The fact Rudel was his close friend only made their relationship
more dubious. Even so, Aleist didn’t give up.
“Like hell I’ll give uppp!!”
There was no telling what they’d do to him if he was captured.
Imagining them making sure he could no longer run away, Aleist
raced down the main road. It was at that moment. As he entered an
alley off the street where the paths grew a little complicated,
Aleist was grasped.
The one who caught him was a blue haired underclassman from his
student days… one of his fiancées.
(Ah, it’s over. Farewell, my innocence.)
Aleist’s expression had already given up on everything.
It was Nate. Her curling blue hair grew to her back. Her pale
skin and eyes the same blue as her hair were exceptionally
beautiful. Her meeting with Aleist had been at the graduate sendoff
party, an outrageous encounter where she ended up on top of him.
But without Aleist having the slightest idea of what was going on,
she had become engaged to him.
“How troubling, senpai.”
Nate grasped Aleist, smiling gently as she made a plea. You
could call it a bargain.
“I have just a small request, but if you’ll grant it, I’ll save
you here and now.”
“W-what is it? I’m not giving you my body!”
“That does sound appealing, but this time’s different. Well, you
could call it a problem with my house, or perhaps something of the
sort… there’s a place I want you to go with me. Of course, if
you’ll go then I’ll save you, and I won’t lay a hand on you.”
Aleist cowered from the sound of the approaching footsteps,
thinking a little before giving a nod.
(If that’s all it takes, it’s a cheap buy.)
He thought and nodded, but that would turn out a tremendous
mistake.
“Very well, then wait a moment.”
Nate walked out of the alley, in a theatrical voice, proclaiming
to the pursuing women where Aleist had run off to.
“Big trouble! Senpai leapt over that building and went that
way!”
“Good work, Nate!”
“Don’t let him get away, find him!”
“If that’s where he went, I can use some friends from the knight
brigades to encircle him!”
(I’m scared. They’re scaring me. Let’s learn to be just a little
more graceful, ladies…)
Once everyone had left under Nate’s deception, she beckoned to
him. Aleist left the alleyway, relieved he had been saved.
“You really saved my back there.”
“You don’t need to thank me. Because you’ll be properly working
in exchange. Yeah, now that I know you’re going to help me out,
that’s a huge load off my shoulders.”
Nate pat her chest in relief. And Aleist recalled he had never
asked for the destination.
“Come to think of it, where are we going?”
“Ah, about that… it’s the Kingdom of Celestia. My House flowed
in from there, and there’s been a bit of a request made to us this
time around, so I have to make the trip. I really am relieved
you’re coming with me. I mean, one wrong step and we’d have an
international incident on our hands. No, perhaps bigger than
that?”
“… Eh?”
Before a delighted Nate, Aleist’s understanding was unable to
catch up.
◇
The air passage from Courtois to Celestia was, to the five of
them, a fresh experience.
Flying through the open sky was a white dragon with four wings.
Its body was a size larger than the normal wild dragon. With the
size of its body and wings, its arms were also thick and burly. But
if you said such a thing, you would hurt that young maiden of a
dragon.
Among the dragoons, the most famous knight’s partner… riding
Sakuya’s back, Izumi Shirasagi’s ponytail flowed in the breeze. Her
silky hair swayed to and fro. Normally, the gale would be much
worse, but the barrier erected with magic protected the five on the
dragon’s back.
Hailing from a foreign region called the orient, Izumi was a
beauty of black hair and black eyes. She was once Rudel’s classmate
and a person who understood him well.
More than friends, less than lovers, both sides accepted
that.
At present, while being enlisted in a knight brigade of elites
called the high knights, she was granted the position of special
inspector to keep an eye on Rudel- who caused problem after
problem. They were going to a foreign nation this time around, so
she wore the blue knight clothing worn by high knights. Her chest
was large enough to force up her clothes, and at times eyes of envy
were concentrated on her.
“The kingdom of Celestia is a small nation. I’ve only ever read
about it in books, so I’m somewhat looking forward to it.”
When Izumi said that, the girl of long green hair beside her
muttered disinterestedly. Differing from humans, her ears stretched
a great deal. A woman with the characteristic ears of the elves…
Millia looked towards Rudel with her green eyes.
Izumi had said she couldn’t take on the role of special
inspector alone, and by calling to her fellow alumni Millia, Millia
also became one of Rudel’s inspectors. Note, her modest chest was
never the target of any envious eyes.
“It’s that place with the large volcano, right? I’m surprised
people are able to live in such a place. It seems pointless, or
perhaps even admirable.”
Millia’s statement was answered by the overly serious Rudel.
“It’s true it’s an active volcano, but while I don’t know how,
it’s a country that somehow controls the volcano. And because
they’re close to a volcano, the hot springs are famous. It seems
the land’s suited for growing fruit. Courtois also imports its
fruit wines, haven’t you ever drunk it before?”
“There’s no way any of us have ever tasted the sort of wine you
drink, Rudel.”
Averting her eyes from Rudel, after spitting some cynicism she
shut her mouth. She did seem to have a nature that couldn’t be
honest with itself, and Izumi could only think that was doing
nothing but harm to her as she gave a bitter smile.
“But this is a surprise. I thought you’d return to the outer
reaches at once, Rudel.”
In order to change the subject, Izumi recalled the contents of
this time’s special mission. To summarize, by sending an especially
conspicuous dragoon, they were to show the dignity of Courtois.
There may have been political motivations behind it, and Izumi
worried whether Rudel would be against those sorts of things.
Their job on the outskirts wasn’t over yet. Despite that, they
alone were carrying out such a decorative mission. As long as it
was an order, she knew he would accept it, but she worried what he
would be thinking underneath.
The man seemed quite enthusiastic to be heading off on a
mission. But at Izumi’s question, he made just a bit of a troubled
face.
“… I want you to keep this from Sakuya, but she got real worked
up when I told her we were going to do a special mission. See, last
time we did something big, she had to keep house… as long as
Sakuya’s happy, it can’t be too bad. Even if it’s just at the level
of an errand.”
An outrageous reason. Rather than the importance of the mission
itself, he took it up to dote on his dragon. Hearing that, Millia
breathed a sigh as she spoke.
“You’re the same dragon idiot as ever.”
Izumi touched the white back beneath her as she smiled.
At times, the dragon would let out a resounding roar. To Izumi
who could hear the thoughts she transmitted, she could tell that
was a happy roar. Her appearance was that of a dragon much too
splendid, Sakuya was a child born not a few years ago.
She was often judged on her appearance but was still a child who
needed to be looked after.
‘Special mission! Sakuya is strong! Sakuya is cool!’
Sakuya sung as she flew through the sky, and Izumi and Rudel
watched her with smiles. A subspecies of gaia dragon that lived in
the earth, Sakuya wasn’t skilled at flying. Her movement speed was
much lower than the average dragon. But this was a laid back
mission. They had parted from the occasionally hectic border, and
Izumi felt these sorts of missions weren’t bad from time to
time.
She turned towards the envious gaze coming from Nate.
“So what sort of business do the two of you have with the
Kingdom of Celestia? As I recall, the decree just said we have to
accompany you there and back, but…”
Before their departure, with an official decree from an
organization called the defenders, came Nate and another
individual. Aleist looking at Millia recalled how Nate had told
them at the last minute they would be riding as well. In the midst
of their busy departure, they accepted the decree and let them
right on.
They were well acquainted, and they intended to confirm the
paperwork while in the sky.
“Ah, you don’t have to pay it any mind. While you’re at it, I do
recommend you pluck those things off your che… ow!”
As Nate envied her ample bosom with a smile, Aleist hit her on
the back of the head.
“M-my apologies, Izumi-san! This girl has absolutely no breasts,
so she gets jealous of those with a large chest.”
Aleist followed through for her. You’re not supposed to say
that, or so Izumi only grew more worried. For the one on Aleist’s
mind Millia was a modest one on the opposite side of the spectrum
from Izumi.
When Izumi looked at Millia, she saw a vein popping out on her
forehead.
(Ah, this is that pattern of failure.)
Izumi looked at Rudel to find him humming along to Sakuya’s
song. He likely had no interest. Before she could become collateral
damage, Izumi moved to Rudel’s side and listened attentively to
Sakuya and Rudel’s tune.
‘You’re strong, Sakuya. Amazing, Sakuya! All~ The enemies go
down in one blow!’
“Yeah, Sakuya, you’re the best!”
Looking at Rudel and Sakuya, Izumi chose not to lend an ear to
the fight going on behind them.
“Well excuse me! I’m sorry for having such a small chest!”
“You’re wrong, Millia! Rather than large, I prefer a more reserved
one!”
“Then that means I’m senpai’s type! Millia-senpai, being flat isn’t
bad you know. Those lumps of fat are only ever in the way.”
“When someone so envious of them says it, you’ve got no persuasive
power!”
“You’re wrong, both of you! What’s important is balance, and size
isn’t every—”
“Come to think of it, Senpai, your big sister was stacked, wasn’t
she?”
“Why are you sending such a pitiful glance at my chest!?”
“Nate! Don’t go there! You shouldn’t touch on that one!”
“Aleist, so you were thinking it too! That’s right, in the end,
I’ve got nothing! Even when my sister’s stacked, they always
say!”
“… I know I’m not one to speak, but Senpai, you’re a little off
there.”
Izumi ignored the quarrel behind her, but perhaps Rudel grew
curious as he turned around. Looking at the circumstances of their
argument, he made a face as if he didn’t understand.
“… Izumi, what exactly did Aleist do wrong?”
Seeing Rudel tilt his head, Izumi shook her own. To be
completely honest, Aleist’s mistakes were beyond count. When he had
a girl he liked, bringing a different woman along was yet another
one of those mistakes.
(Ah… he was wrong from the very start. Well, whatever.)
Giving up, Izumi only prayed Rudel wouldn’t turn out like
Aleist.
“No, if you don’t understand, then that’s fine. Just stay the
way you are, Rudel. That way, you’ll reduce the casualties
around.”
The honest Rudel didn’t understand but nodded anyway.
“I-I see. I’ll do my best.”
Seeing Rudel fail to comprehend, Izumi was relieved. He loved
dragons so much he had little interest in anything else. But he had
a status as a future archduke, and he had obtained a standing as a
dragoon, the knights called the heroes of Courtois. It would be
stranger if there were no women around her.
In truth, many women approached him with affection, but with his
status and dragoon position, he declined their association. He
always made it clear when it came to those things, a relief to
Izumi.
… The reason she didn’t go out with him was also such a problem
of status.
“These sorts of missions aren’t bad.”
Looking over the lively three, Rudel spoke. Izumi was in
agreement.
“Right. A carefree trip through the sky isn’t bad at all. But
Rudel, this is a mission in a foreign land, so you must exercise
caution. In umm… various things.”
Celestia was an allied nation, and she fretted over whether he
might cause an incident. Rudel nodded with a smile.
“Leave it to me. It’s not like I intend to cause any
problems.”
‘Sakuya is fine too, Izumi!’
Hearing Rudel and Sakuya’s responses, Izumi gave a warm smile
and thought.
(Now I’m worried.)
They were responses that didn’t give her the slightest peace of
mind.
◇
Emilio walked irritantly down a corridor in Celestia castle.
(Dammit! It’s because that useless king relies on other
countries…)
He had been notified that Celestia had requested the dispatch of
a dragoon from its allied nation Courtois. The details that the
knight brigades were all rounded up to hear were little more than a
proclamation those knights weren’t trusted.
But there was something more than that Emilio couldn’t
forgive.
(The plan went amiss. I have to do something…)
Thinking back, the mistake came with that party of three.
Gathered in order to protect a gate that held no particular value,
they were hoodlums, soldiers in name alone. But perhaps their
awareness along was high, as despite their paltry wages, they had
risked their lives to give chase.
(When they’re lower than the mercenaries hired to make up for
numbers, my plan was…)
To add onto that, those hoodlums were following behind Emilio.
All three were smiling. On top of the shoddy armor they were
granted, they wore even shoddier medals granted to them for saving
the princess.
What’s more, by that they rose in rank to be official
soldiers.
Celestia was not a large nation. For that sake, they prepared
elites as knights, but when it came to soldiers, they were only
gathered for the numbers. Normally, it was the knights who would
carry out the mission. It was a country with few troops, but there
was a reason for that.
In that past, Celestia was at war with the large power of
Courtois. And as Courtois invaded with their dragoons as the main
shaft, the god of the volcano revered as the country’s protector
repelled them. It was an event of about eighty years prior.
(Clinging onto past glory forever, it’s because they worship
something like that as a god, that this country is ruined!)
From then on, the people of Celestia were convinced that they
were a people protected by god. For that sake, the notion the
military might be unnecessary spread like the plague.
While being a small nation, they maintained an equal relation
with Courtois… no, one wrong step taken and they’d be made light
of, and that was largely due to these sorts of occurrences.
And come so far, the failure of the knight brigade was doing its
work. Because the ceremonial articles were lost, it would take some
time before the ceremony could restart. Irrelevant to the populace,
the crowd or the castle, that dissatisfaction was directed at the
knights.
The knight brigades remained in order to maintain public order,
but in the attack on the princess, the populace began to hold their
doubts. For that sake, the royals and nobles had an allied nation
send in a dragoon, mainly to send a message.
When Emilio thought of just how much incompetence that showed,
it irritated him to no ends.
(Because of that inept top brass, this country is…)
Once he had thought that far, a voice called to him from behind.
IT was the party of three.
The unshaven large man was Ben. The tall slender man was Pono.
The short and plump man was Passan. With splendid smiles, the three
of them called Emilio…
“What’s wrong, captain?”
“Keeping it bottled up isn’t good for your body, captain.”
“If you’re hungry, let’s go to the cafeteria, captain.”
When he thought of how this lot had gotten in the way of his
plan, Emilio was filled with a feeling of helplessness.
“…Y-you guys…”
He held his head. Just where did he go wrong? The soldiers who
protected Cleo were now stationed as Emilio’s subordinates. This
was something even Emilio, heralded as a genius couldn’t predict.
Of course, Emilio understood full well he was no genius.
He wasn’t average. He was just a little talented.
(Why did my plan go so awry? I won’t say it was perfect, but
even so, I spent a long time preparing.)
Emilio’s head began to hurt.
… But even so, he didn’t give up.
(I can still correct it. Somehow the princess… the princess,
with these hands…)
Emilio’s sharp eyes still hadn’t given up.
He suddenly heard a rowdy voice from inside the castle. At the
ruckus, the party of three looked inquisitively at Emilio.
“… Let’s go check it out.”
◇
Their flight over, Rudel’s party descended into Celestia.
“We’re a little earlier than scheduled.”
At the designated landing point, the soldiers and knight
platoons who caught wind of the ruckus were beginning to race in.
Taking on the shape of a fortress city, the capital had a splendid
castle erected in the center.
While the troops entered and gathered, they wouldn’t approach.
It was only natural. There weren’t many men brave enough to see
Sakuya and think to challenge her.
But while they tried to land at the spot they’d been scheduled
for, it was too small for Sakuya. Carefully maneuvering her into
that space, Rudel praised her.
“Well done, Sakuya.”
‘Praise me, praise me! Praise me more!’
When Sakuya wagged her tail in delight, Izumi cautioned her.
“Rudel, put a stop to Sakuya’s tail. At this rate, there will be
collateral damage. This isn’t Courtois. If you break too many
things, it will cause a huge problem.”
Hearing that, Rudel immediately soothed Sakuya and calmed her
down before dismounting her back. But there, Nate began to lead
Aleist off somewhere.
“Ah, well then, we’ve got our own mission to deal with.”
“Wait, mission? Eh!?”
Watching Nate pull Aleist off by the hand, Rudel grew anxious as
he found out the man hadn’t seemed to have confirmed the contents
of his own mission. At the same time, he was curious just what sort
of mission it might be.
(I guess It’s got nothing to do with me. You do your best,
Aleist.)
While Rudel waved his hand at his friend, Aleist cried something
out.
“You said it was personal! Where did that official decree come
from!? Hey, are you listening!?”
“You’re being noisy, senpai! When you’ve come so far, just resolve
yourself! It’s fine, the decree is the real deal… its origin point
is just a little dubious.”
“As I thought!”
Rudel’s worries only grew, but this was Aleist’s problem so he
decided to leave them be. He just sought some confirmation with
Izumi.
“Izumi, Aleist’s decree was genuine, wasn’t it?”
“There’s no doubt about it. Though it was a little
suspicious.”
While Rudel and Izumi lost themselves in thought, Millia in her
defenders uniform looked at the entrance of the plaza and
spoke.
“Guys, looks like our welcome party is here.”
“Now then, let’s execute the mission. You two stay behind me.
You’re supposed to act as my attendants, after all.”
As Izumi and Millia nodded, Rudel got his specially-made white
knight uniform in order as he waited for an envoy of Celestia to
arrive.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s3.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 3
Extra: Songstress 3
Once the bureaucratic paperwork was in order, to receive a
simple explanation of the situation, Rudel’s party scheduled an
audience with royalty… with the current king Barqah Celestia.
But the only one who could attend was Rudel.
The reason was a discriminatory one, and a decision by Celestia
that a Courtois non-native like Izumi and a demi-human like Millia
were unworthy of the meeting.
Within the flurried palace interior, Rudel was kept waiting in
the waiting room. Knights left to watch over him stationed nearby,
Rudel read through the documents from Celestia’s side.
“… I don’t think there will be a problem guarding Princess Cleo
on the way to the volcano, but protecting her throughout two days
before departure will be difficult for me alone.”
The contents denoted were orders for Rudel to serve as Cleo’s
guard. With the other party being the princess of a foreign
country, Rudel felt there was a limit to how far he could accompany
her over a course of two days. The bath, bathroom, changing and
such, it would be embarrassing for a man to be by her side.
Rudel had already been kept waiting over an hour for his
audience. Within all that, Millia sat in a chair as she sipped tea.
While she looked calm, perhaps she was irritated within, as she
sent some glances towards the knights stationed around.
“I get why you’re the only one who gets an audience, but aren’t
they treating us too terribly? And there’s a bit of a problem
relying on a foreign knight to protect the precious princess.”
Millia’s words afforded her glares from the knights. Izumi
sipped her tea calmly.
“I’m sure Celestia has some preparations of its own. And we did
arrive quite ahead of schedule.”
“There’s a limit to that. And even if it’s an audience, he’s just
meeting in the king’s office, isn’t he? I don’t want to say it, but
Rudel’s a future archduke. They’re treating him too lightly.”
Millia’s anger could be called natural. There was no helping if
the country made light of them. When it came to keeping Rudel
waiting, they recognized it as a foreign diplomacy tactic. But they
also knew it was a measure to be taken against those of lower
status.
The small country of Celestia boasted less land than Rudel’s own
home.
There was an active volcano close to the fortress city, with
some towns and villages dotted around. The national population
didn’t reach a million.
There were hot springs around, and accepting travelers, they
were in possession of assets in foreign currencies. The fruit juice
that made up their specialty product was widely exported. It was
certain these lands were livelier than the Arses territory governed
by Rudel’s parents.
But they depended on a foreign knight. They took an attitude as
if to pick a fight with a major power. It wasn’t strange at all to
think they were going beyond their reach.
“… For now, I have come on a mission as a single knight. I don’t
think they’re treating me lightly. But more than that, the
princess’ guard detail will be a problem. I can’t follow her to the
bath or changing room.”
“Can’t Celestia dispatch some female knights?”
On Millia’s arbitrary statement, Rudel shook his head.
“Unfortunately, there are no female knights in Celestia. No
soldiers either.”
Different countries had different customs. The female knights
that were gradually becoming natural in Courtois were nothing but
heresy here. Rudel thought the reason for the limited audience was
also related to those customs.
Women were not permitted to enter the restricted class of
knights. There were other small countries around Courtois, but even
among them, Celestia was special.
(This is a troublesome mission. I guess I’ll try
negotiation.)
Thinking it would be difficult to serve as the only guard, Rudel
decided he’d ask for Izumi’s cooperation in the case that Celestia
hadn’t made any preparations of their own.
A butlerish man appeared in the waiting room.
“Rudel Arses-dono. The preparations are in order, so I shall be
guiding you to the King’s office.”
Leaving the documents and standing to his feat, Rudel
straightened his uniform as he walked off. Izumi and Millia sent
him a look, so he gave a light nod.
◇
His entry into the king’s office permitted, Rudel offered his
greetings to King Barqah, taking a break in the room.
But the King didn’t turn his body towards him.
(Hmm. It’s just as the captain said. This isn’t the attitude of
a small nation…)
With Rudel’s position, he couldn’t stick his mouth into
political decisions. And once Rudel finished his greetings and got
to his feet, Barqah took the cup left on his break table in
hand.
“I wish to speak some with him. Have the others stand down.”
On his words, the knights and servants stationed took their
leave. Sensing them on standby outside the room, Rudel waited for
Barqah’s words.
He took a glance at the king’s extravagant work desk.
It was piled with six whole mountains of documents.
“My apologies. Because that daughter of mine got attacked, I’m
busier than you could believe. Originally, I wanted to use the
audience chamber, but even now, the authorities who hold antipathy
towards Courtois are not few in numbers.”
(The princess is treated as a ‘that’? I don’t feel I’ll come to
like this person…)
The antipathy surely referred to the war eighty years past. But
Rudel felt rather than antipathy, this was something closer to
contempt.
And he didn’t like how the man referred to his daughter. Barqah
sent his gaze above the fireplace, not in use for seasonal reasons.
It was furnished by three separate professional paintings of what
seemed to be his family.
From the documents received in Courtois. The first depicted
Barqah’s queen and children. The second, a woman with blue hair,
and two small children… that one was placed in the center. It was
bigger than the other two.
And the third along, Rudel found unnatural.
It looked to be a painting of Barqah in his younger days. His right
hand rested on a woman of blue hair. The king was positioned in the
center, making his left side seem strangely desolate.
(It looks like someone’s been taken out. But that’s the best
smile the king’s shown of the three.)
“… They’re paintings of my family. The precious family I’m
supposed to protect. Now, we can’t stay like this forever. Let’s
talk about work, Dragoon.”
His bright green hair straight and long, Barqah stroked his
beard, making a serious face to talk about work. In his early
thirties, the king could be classified as young, but his dignified
air was well-formed.
“I have gone over the documents. I accept the guard mission. But
I think it will be difficult for me to guard the princess
alone.”
“Fret not. I will be dispatching people as well.”
“But all of your guards are male, are they not? I believe it in
your best interest to send around a trustworthy woman.”
“… Unfortunately, I have no woman who could serve as a
guard.”
“I have come here accompanied by one High Knight and one defender.
Would it be possible for them to take part in this mission?”
“Hmm. You may do as you wish. Personally, I have no problems as
long as the departure takes place in two days. The ceremonial tools
should be in order by tomorrow.”
“You have my gratitude. And what will our schedule be for this
two-day period? It was not detailed in the documents.”
Barqah stopped stroking his beard, gazing out of the window.
“I decided to give that one free time. It’s her last after all.
For now, she should be spending it with her younger brothers and
sisters, but this is an important period. I’d like to avoid time
with her family wavering her resolve. If it will let you divide
them, then I mind not if you listen to that one’s wishes.”
Rudel thought over what the reason might be for treating the
princess of his own country… his daughter like this. He heard she
would be offered as a sacrifice. Taking that into consideration, it
wouldn’t be strange if he already had his feelings sorted out in
his heart.
After that, Rudel was told to hear the specifics from the
knights on guard detail and was excused from the room. When he
left, Barqah called over.
“Dragoon. That one is a pitiful girl. You must protect
her.”
“… Leave it to me.”
Rudel couldn’t determine whether that was his heart speaking or
not.
(I’ve taken on quite a troublesome mission.)
He thought of it as a mission to regain Sakuya’s spirits, but
ever since he arrived at the palace, he was struck by many a
strange feeling.
◇
Taking Izumi and Millia along, Rudel made for the plaza where
Sakuya was stationed.
There, those of the royal line… the royal children were watched
over by knights as they studied the dragon. Sakuya looked at the
children with a tilt of her head.
“Big!”
“Sister, is this a dragon? But our god is stronger, right?”
“Turn this way, you big lunk!”
The child who spat those last words really didn’t understand the
amazingness of a dragon, or so Rudel was filled with sorrowful
sentiment.
(Good grief, if I had just a day, I’d drill a dragon’s splendor
into his body.)
“R-Rudel. Your eyes are scary.”
With Millia’s worries, Rudel reverted his glare and approached
the woman surrounded by knights. The reason the knights gave such
harsh looks must’ve been because their jobs were snatched away.
Rudel thought as she approached the woman.
“Pardon my intrusion. My name is Rudel Arses. On this occasion,
I have been ordered to accompany Princess Cleo as a guard.”
Giving a drilled Courtois-styled salute, Rudel looked at the
surrounding children. Two blue-haired women. Apart from them, a
green-haired and brown haired child. They looked older than he had
seen them in the paintings.
The woman in her later teens… Cleo let her hand part from her
younger sister of similar hair color and countenance to give a
curtsey.
“I am greatly delighted by Courtois’ assistance in this matter.
You have my thanks for taking up my guard.”
She smiled. It was hard to imagine she would lose her life in
two days.
(Is this… resolve?)
Rudel took caution in his words as he lightly exchanged
conversation with the princess. He also introduced Izumi and Millia
who were standing back.
“Are they female knights of Courtois? And the defenders? My
apologies. I am none too knowledgeable on the affairs of
Courtois.”
“That’s perfectly alright. The defenders are an organization only
set up recently. There’s no helping if someone of foreign lands has
yet to hear of them.”
Rudel dealt with her as he recalled the painting in the king’s
office. A majority of the children here had been painted. But the
one individual who had been kept out… he noticed it was Cleo.
(Is this that family… no, national circumstance thing?)
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to dig too deep into it, Rudel
conversed with her.
“Even so, to think dragons were something so large. It’s the
first I’ve ever seen one, but I’m surprised how white and beautiful
it is.”
“She praised me! Rudel, she praised me!”
The one whose body twitched in response was Cleo. Perhaps those
around could only see it as a roar, as the knights stood in
formation before the royal line. From Rudel’s point of view, it
could be nothing more than a cry of delight.
“She’s just happy to be praised. But you’ve got a good eye on
you, Cleo-sama. Even among the dragons, this girl is an especially
cute one, and her name’s Sakuya. See, the blue gemstone in her
forehead’s pretty, isn’t it? And when she spreads out all four
wings, no one can take their eyes off of…”
“Rudel. Rudel! You’re troubling the princess!”
Izumi immediately suppressed Rudel’s mania, causing him to
repent as he lowered his head at Cleo.
“My apologies.”
“Think nothing of it. You really love dragons, I see. But I do
understand those feelings just a bit. To want to get on such a
large back, and ride somewhere…”
Were those her true feelings? It didn’t seem the one in question
noticed it. Rudel would be able to let Cleo on her back. But as he
thought over whose permission he’d have to get, a knight leading
soldiers along made his appearance.
(Green hair?)
The knight stood out more than the others. No, from Rudel’s
point of view, he felt his skill level was a cut above the rest.
But he the soldiers behind him didn’t quite look like elites. Even
as they closed in, the three soldiers cowered at Sakuya.
“Princess, so this is where you were? I have a message from his
majesty.”
“… Yes. Ah, Rudel-dono, this is Emilio. He used to serve as my
guard.”
“And I am still serving as your guard, Princess.”
“Is that so? I had yet to hear about that, but… very well. Emilio,
I’ll be counting on you again.”
“Much obliged.”
Cleo happily spoke with Emilio. In contrast, Emilio took on a
businesslike correspondence. To Rudel, it somehow felt as if the
knight was pushing himself. Hearing the message from Barqah, he
instantly understood it was meant to pull the princess form her
family.
Once Emilio related it, Cleo’s expression clouded after all. And
the royal children got together to say their goodbyes.
They were firm-hearted, Rudel thought. It was at that moment the
knight… Emilio looked at him and narrowed his eyes. He felt
something close to rage.
“U-um…”
When Rudel turned, he found the three soldiers in light-weight
armor lined up.
One’s face was unshaven. One was slender and tall. And the last
one was short and stout. At a glance, they didn’t look much like
soldiers at all.
“Is something the matter?”
“N-no. It’s just a rare opportunity to speak with a knight of
foreign lands, so. Um…”
“Boss, you can do it!”
“Boss, fight on!”
After looking at the two cheering on the bearded man, Rudel sent
a glance to Izumi and Millia. The two of them shook their heads as
if they didn’t know what was going on either.
(It doesn’t feel like they’re picking a fight.)
“W-we were also chosen as guards, so we thought we ought to give
our greetings. No, I don’t know a thing about knights’ etiquette,
so I’ve no clue what to do.”
A forced use of words. And attitude… thinking of Rudel’s
standing, it wasn’t something to be permitted. Even to any dragoon
of the major power of Courtois, that was a bit much. Or so was the
general consensus.
But Rudel smiled and held out his right hand.
“I’m Rudel Arses. There’s a lot I don’t know in this mission as
well. It would be a big help if you helped me out.”
“Y-yeah! Leave it to me.”
“He shook hands with a dragoon! Boss is amazing!”
“S-shake my hand too!”
As Rudel shook hands with the three, Izumi, who had wandered to
his side, called out.
“Is this alright?”
What, she wouldn’t say. But he understood what she was worried
about. Rudel was a dragoon in foreign lands… what’s more, the
representative of Courtois. Answering to such a light treatment
might not be taken too well.
“It’s fine. .The feelings got across. Rather, I’m sorry for
pushing guard duty onto you two as well.”
“That’s not a problem. It’s my field of expertise.”
While at this very moment, Izumi was stationed to keep an eye on
Rudel as a special investigator, she was originally a high knight.
As a bodyguard, she was even more knowledgeable than Rudel.
“I’m sorry to you too, Millia.”
“I-it’s fine, doesn’t matter.”
As Millia turned her face away, Rudel mulled over what he had
said wrong. Unlike with Izumi, he didn’t understand how Millia felt
in the slightest.
“Boss, you think that dragoon doesn’t understand a woman’s
heart?”
“Quit it, Passan. See, get in the way of someone’s love and… huh?
What was supposed to kick you again?”
(TL: The saying he’s referring to is, Get in the way of
someone’s love, and you’ll get kicked by a horse and die. Meaning,
if you stand in the path, the horse is going to run you over.)
When Ben looked at Pono, Pono also thought a while. But unable
to hit on anything, he looked up at the dragon.
“A dragon’s kick looks painful.”
“That’s right! Passan, you’ll get kicked by a dragon.”
“I-in that case, to hell with that!”
As the party of three cowered from Sakuya, Rudel spoke.
“Sakuya’s fists hurt more than her kicks…”
“Rudel, I don’t think that’s the point.”
“… Why is everyone so stupid.”
Izumi pointed out Rudel’s err, while Millia breathed out a
sigh.
◇
Meanwhile…
“Hey, why are we wearing these robes?”
“Ah, these are really convenient, you know. There’s a special fiber
weaved in, making them top-grade products that can slip through
magical detection!”
“Why did you have something like that on you!? That’s what I want
to know!”
Aleist and Nate wore black robes as they walked down the alley.
There were arrows drawn on the walls, and simply by following them,
they arrived at their destination. As he walked down the maze-like
back alleys different from those in the kingdom of Courtois, Aleist
was holding his nose and mouth.
“Even so, this place is too confusing, the smell is harsh and…
what business do you have here anyway?”
Nate silently climbed the bridge, sitting on the spot and
touching her palm to the wood flooring. Looking right around, she
scratched her face.
“No combat took place, so there aren’t any traces. The main road
has too many people so the traces have all disappeared… so I guess
we’re just wasting our time.”
“Come so far and we’re wasting time?”
While Aleist looked surprised, Nate deeply pulled down her hood.
She ran off from the spot. Startled by her swift movements, Aleist
chased her a little behind. There, at the end of the bridge, they
ran into a man wearing a similar robe.
But Nate thrust a dagger at his throat. Pinning him up against
the wall, a knife fell at the hooded man’s feet. Nate kicked it
away and slid it towards Aleist.
Quickly retrieving it, Aleist felt a dull glow from the knife’s
edge. A sticky liquid had been plastered over it.
“Senpai, you’d better not touch that.”
“This couldn’t be…”
“Poison. A powerful one at that. It’s the sort that induces
numbness, but get it in the wrong places and it’ll leave permanent
effects.”
(Yeeaaah, the knife I can deal with, but what exactly is Nate
supposed to be?)
While she had always been a member of his harem, with the sword
master Seli and the tiger tribe chieftain’s daughter Juju, in an
assortment of all sorts of quirky ones, he thought she was a
relatively docile girl. But Aleist felt he would have to reevaluate
his recognition of her.
When Nate muttered something, the power left the robed man’s
body as he collapsed to his knees. He wouldn’t meet eyes with
her.
“Where did you come from?”
“… G-Gaia.”
“Eh? The empire? Is he a tourist?”
While Aleist desperately thought, Nate dispatched one question
after the next. But after a certain extent of time, an arrow was
fired. The sound of an arrow released from the depths of the
passage, the one to react quickest was Aleist.
Pulling the two swords at his waist, he leapt out to protect Nate
from the arrow. He brushed the projectile aside, slamming it at the
wall. There, a man in a robe jumped out from the alley.
At the same time, came an assault from atop the building.
“Senpai, we should probably run.”
“Way ahead of you!”
Rather than aiming for them, the group seemed to be focused on
rescuing their supposed ally, so Aleist and Nate ran. But
Aleist…
“You know… aren’t we in a really bad situation here?”
Racing down the maze-like alleys, he said to Nate. There with
her hood still on, Nate stuck out her tongue and hit a fist against
her head.
“Yep, real bad. Tehe.”
“That wasn’t cute at all! What do you think you’re doing!? Rather,
what are we even trying to do here!?”
Aleist’s pained cry echoed through the alley.
Perhaps from a stroke of good luck, or because they were let off,
the robed men showed no signs of chasing the two.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s4.txt
|
EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 4
Extra: Songstress 4
Having accepted a mission to be Cleo’s guard, Rudel stood before
Emilio’s unit in thought.
(Even if they’re official knights and soldiers, how truly
unreliable for a princess’ guards.)
While that wasn’t the best way to put it, it was one knight and
three soldiers.
… From Rudel’s point of view, it wasn’t an assortment that made him
feel much motivation.
In the room he had been permitted use, the princess Cleo, and
those assigned to be her guards had to think about their roles
henceforth. A lady servant prepared tea for everyone. Within all
that, Rudel called over to Emilio who was looking at him.
“Emilio-dono, in regards to the guard detail, I’d like to decide
on the division of labor.”
“… That should do just fine. But even if I say that, the departure
is in two days, so our mission only covers today, tomorrow, and the
next morning. You don’t mean to tell me Courtois’ elite Dragoon
requires sleep to exhibit his strength?”
It was a provocative phrasing, but Rudel understood his
sentiment. The king of his country didn’t trust the knights of his
own country. In a situation where he had to follow the orders of a
foreign knight, there was no helping his irritation. What’s more,
he was trying to do his job.
For now, that was enough… no, thinking of the mission period, it
was plenty.
In that meeting-room like space, the nine of Courtois and
Celestia sipped their tea in an inexpressible atmosphere. Cleo sat
in a chair conversing with Izumi and Millia.
In front of the entranceway, the nervous soldier party of three
stood to the side of the door.
(They’re too tense. They’re not going to hold out to
nightfall…)
From the way they stood, Rudel perceived they hadn’t received a
great degree of training. He looked at Emilio. Emilio was reputed
to be proficient, and on the way here, he had spoken of how he
saved Cleo in the incident.
Perhaps he was a trustworthy knight.
“We will be fine. Your worry is uncalled for. But if it’s
possible to increase the number of knights and soldiers, then I
must make the plea.”
Without an incentive to oppose, Rudel thought of nothing more
than increasing the guard success rate. He simply tried to handle
it with numbers.
But Emilio shook his head.
“That will be impossible. With last time’s attack, the knights
have been spread out to the limit to provide security for the
fortress city. The soldiers as well.”
As Emilio said that, Rudel thought.
(This is your country’s princess we’re talking about. But
still…)
Rudel looked at Cleo. While she did seem cultured, it was
honestly hard to imagine she had received education as a member of
the royal family. She was kind at heart, but he heard much too many
words from her mouth that would show weakness in foreign diplomacy.
As seen as a princess, she was a failure, as a person, a kind and
beautiful woman.
(A life lived just for death, eh.)
Rudel recalled Sakuya.
He recalled the goddess who cast away what little remained of
her life to grant him a dragon. While the reborn Sakuya carried on
her name, her memories didn’t remain.
He suddenly ended up seeing Cleo overlap with the goddess.
Rudel closed his eyes and suppressed his emotions.
(That is this country’s problem. The mission I’ve been given is
to guard her until the day comes. Don’t waver, Rudel.)
Reminding himself of it, he returned to his discussion with
Emilio.
“It would probably be best for a woman to enter the princess’
private quarters. I shall station Izumi and Millia at her side. The
rest of us should guard her when on the move, and defend the
perimeter while she is asleep. Of course, the soldier at the door
will be deployed on rotation.”
Emilio grit his teeth at Rudel’s words. He was also aware the
party of three didn’t have the stamina to keep up guard duty for
two days.
Listening in, the three raised their voices.
At their cry, Cleo was surprised as well.
“We’re not chopped liver!”
“T-that’s right! An all-nighter is nothing.”
“With an afternoon nap, I think it’ll work out?”
Following on from stubble Ben’s loud voice, Pono weakly voiced
the same opinion. Passan gave a reply that was quite clearly right
out.
Emilio grit his teeth at that reply. Perhaps he wanted to tell
them to shut it, but before Rudel and the others, he held it
in.
“You lot, we don’t need your input for now. Once matters are
decided, I’ll relay the orders.”
“I-I mean, captain…”
While Ben hesitated, Emilio silenced him with just a glare.
Rudel evaluated him as a knight with some experience under his
belt.
(He’s skilled. And unlike me, he has experience.)
Rudel himself could easily tally up his own real combat
experience. Even so, as he looked at Emilio, he felt something
close to home.
From Rudel’s point of view, this mission was a mission given to
him because he had contracted with a splendid dragon… with Sakuya.
Perhaps it was precisely because he knew that, that he could act so
calmly.
But Emilio didn’t take kindly to his composure.
“Then how about it? Why not use this opportunity to discern one
another’s level of ability?”
“… I have no problem with that.”
He brought the match to Rudel.
◇
Cleo brought her feet to the training grounds used by the
knights.
It was her first visit, and she did feel a something more
suffocating than she had imagined. The training ground build
indoors was lined with wooden swords, spears, and logs to use as
targets.
When Rudel’s and co. were the only ones who were supposed to be
there, the place reeked of men. Perhaps the way the room was
constructed to hold in heat was to blame.
“I-it feels a little peculiar here. Are the knights always
training in a place like this?”
Cleo struck up conversation with Izumi to her side. Black hair
was a rare sight to her. And the dignified Izumi was older than
her, giving off a reliable impression. If her own country had
female knights, she imagined they would surely give off such a
feeling.
“It varies by country and knight brigade, but when it’s built
indoors, it can’t really be helped.”
Izumi understood what she wanted to say, not saying anymore.
From how muddled her words were, Cleo understood it was pretty much
the same wherever you went.
It was true that she was a little excited, coming to such a
place for the first time.
But…
“Unacceptable! You’re nowhere near up to par!”
“Ow!”
“Not enough training!”
“Geh!”
“No technique to speak of!”
“Bubrah!”
As she saw Rudel take down the three coming at him bare-handed,
her face turned pale. Looking at Izumi and Millia to her side, they
were making unconcerned faces.
Defeating the three challengers in an instant, Rudel brushed off
his hands as he spoke. At his feet were the forms of three trying
to stand. Pono and Passan still struggling to their feet. And Ben
had clutched onto Rudel’s ankle.
“But your resolve alone gets a passing grade.”
Hearing of their success, the three of them passed right
out.
“I-is that a dragoon? That all happened too fast for my eyes to
follow.”
While Cleo was troubled, Millia explained.
“It’s fine. Rudel is outside of the norm, so you don’t have to
compare him to a standard knight. As long as you remember he’s the
strange one, you won’t have any problems.”
“I-is that so. He’s strange? I don’t know anything when it comes
to knights.”
The troubled Cleo looked at Rudel. He was hoisting up the three,
and putting them to sleep on the benches. Emilio took off his
overcoat and tossed a wooden sword at Rudel.
Catching it, Rudel took a stance with the left side of his body
protruding forward.
“I don’t see a shield.”
Emilio also got in stance as he said. Rudel laughed.
“I just don’t want to change my stance. And I’ve no intentions
of getting hit.”
On Rudel’s provocation, the two of them stepped in for an
intense clash of wood. Looking at Emilio on the moment of impact,
Cleo was surprised to find there was a knight who could keep up
with Emilio. Fighting on even terms with the knight heralded as a
genius was surely a marvel.
Seeing her expression, Izumi spoke up.
“Neither side is particularly serious, so there won’t be any
injuries.”
“I-is that so?”
As Cleo looked at two knights violently swinging their wooden
swords, it seems she thought they were going full force. There,
Emilio increased the arc of his sword. With that opening, Rudel
tried to leap in, only to instantly jump back.
Giving pursuit, Emilio gradually strengthened his offensive.
Seeing the superiority of a knight of her country, no matter how
much she detested violence, Cleo was relieved. The fact that her
country’s knight could stand his ground against a knight of
Courtois was an important fact.
But Izumi made a bit of a conflicted face.
“The world sure is vast. To think he would have a move like
that.”
Cleo couldn’t’ understand what she was saying.
◇
In his match with Emilio, Rudel saw an opening and tried to
dive in. But he found himself on the receiving end of an
attack.
The wooden swords came at him left and right, but there were a
number of slashes that faded away as if they had only been
afterimages. And some attacks where he couldn’t even see the
swing.
“You use some interesting moves.”
He found his mouth curving into a smile, so Rudel took a big
step back and used his left hand to cover his face. Through the
gaps in his fingers, he could see Emilio’s haste. Even if neither
side had been serious, that was more than enough to measure the
other’s competence.
(This is bad. I want to fight more.)
His emotions surging, Rudel renewed his grip on the wooden sword
in his right hand. This time, he would go on the offense to probe
out the identity of his enemy’s move.
But there, Izumi raised her voice.
“That’s enough, both of you.”
Rudel looked at Izumi, and saw Cleo who’d been looking over the
match was teetering. Perhaps her eyes had spun too much to
follow the two moving around.
Taking a deep breath, Rudel parted his left hand from his face.
There, Emilio gave a slight smile.
“Dragoon.”
He gestured towards the sleeve of his left hand. While he had
removed his coat, looking closely, there was a slight tear on his
shirt’s sleeve.
Knowing that had been inflicted by the enemy’s sword, Rudel
laughed just a bit.
“It does seem this match is my loss.”
It wasn’t the sort of wound that would decide victory or defeat,
but at the very start, Rudel had declared he wouldn’t be hit. In
that case, even if it was a graze, he decided to admit his loss.
Perhaps Emilio hadn’t anticipated that attitude, as he was a little
taken aback.
But retrieving up his own overcoat, he headed for Cleo.
“Princess, you should return to your room.”
“I-I’m sorry, Emilio.”
Millia approached the two of them, while Izumi picked up Rudel’s
coat and walked over. Before presenting the coat to Rudel, she
handed over something to wipe his sweat.
“How was it?”
Rather than Emilio’s capabilities, she was more curious about
the technique he had displayed.
“I thought it was a large swing, but that was just to draw my
attention. His real aim was a sharper swipe I couldn’t see… I
thought, but that’s wrong too. There’s definitely some trick or
device to it.”
“You look happy. You’d better not show that face before the
princess.”
Rudel was a battle enthusiast. As long as he had a strong foe,
he was the sort of man who would want to fight to climb to greater
heights. He repented at Izumi’s words, but at the same time, he
thought.
(I want to fight him seriously for once, but that doesn’t look
plausible.)
“… Rudel, I’ll just throw this out there, but…”
Izumi understood what was going through his mind. A little
panicked, Rudel took the coat off her hands.
“I know. The mission takes priority.”
“As long as you get it. For now, let’s go to the princess’
room.”
The two walked off, leaving the party of three behind.
◇
Having removed their robes, Aleist and Nate walked down the main
road.
The two of them linked arms, walking the street like lovers. But
as the color of Nate’s hair stood out, there were many heads that
turned to take a second look at her.
Giving a bitter smile, Aleist pretended to have fun.
“Aha, ahahaha, how fun!”
“Oh darling, oh you!”
The one who suggested they put on a couple’s act was Nate. And
Aleist was extremely against it. But she earnestly convinced him
that the attackers of the Gaia Empire wouldn’t give chase if they
stayed in character.
For that sake, Aleist and Nate paced the main road as if on a
date.
(This is definitely unnecessary. How did she manage to convince
me this was a good idea?)
Generally speaking, persuading Aleist was not a difficult task.
The reason being, if you just kept pushing him, he would fold under
pressure. If that wasn’t the case, then he would’ve been able to
prevent the continued expansion of his harem. And it was precisely
because he was unable, that Nate could push through.
(Am I too much of a pushover after all?)
He thought as the two dropped by a stall. The lad manning the
stall called out to her in a lively voice.
“That’s some splendid blue hair you’ve got there, madam.”
“You think so? We just came to Celestia to see the sights. But for
some reason, I feel like I’m really sticking out.”
Taking on a half-witted tone as she spoke with the shopkeeper,
she moved the conversation towards gathering information. In order
to stay out of the say, Aleist looked at the souvenirs lining the
space.
“What’s this, it’s amazing! (Why am I praising such a peculiar
piece, I wonder.)”
What he took in hand was an ornament made of a round torso, and
four cylindrical legs. He thought it was a spider, but for that,
the number of legs was too scarce. Where the round body leveled
off, making one think a face might go there, a red paint had been
slathered on.
It almost looked like a single eye.
As Aleist took the souvenir in hand, the shopkeeper closed in on
him rather than Nate.
“That’s the guardian deity.”
“Eh? This thing is!?”
Surprised that something like this was a god, Aleist carefully
inspected the article in his hands. No matter how he looked at it,
he could only see a mud doll made by a child.
“To be more specific, it’s modeled after the god’s servants you
can find on the mountain. Heard they look quite like the god. The
real one’s enshrined where the ceremony takes place, but ordinary
folk aren’t allowed in, see. So like this, we make souvenirs of the
servants that are said to look like the god.”
“Hmm~.”
Aleist looked at the piece. But he wasn’t getting any image of a
god. All he saw was a bug, or perhaps a robot drone that’s job it
was to be done in.
“Hey! Shopkeep, we were in the middle of talking!”
“S-sorry for that. It can’t be helped if you stand out. Blue is
the hair color of the royal family in these parts. What’s more, the
shrine maidens who hold a special meaning. The area’s real tense
right now, so the surrounding eyes are going to be harsh. Don’t let
it get to you.”
“What happened?”
“In the past, see? A little before the previous ritual. The
royal princesses splendidly fulfill their roles, but even so, there
was an unruly one in the royal family.”
From the shopkeeper’s tone, Aleist wondered what could have
happened in the past. And as he put power into his hands, one of
the ornament’s legs snapped off.
“Aaaah!”
When the shopkeeper screamed out, Nate raised a laugh.
“You can’t do that, darling!”
“Ah, no, wait!”
A panicked Aleist apologized to the shopkeeper, saying he would
buy it, and producing money from his wallet. Having bought that
dubiously high-priced artifact, Aleist spilled complaint after
complaint within.
(If it was fragile, he could’ve just said it.)
Now with the deadweight ornament to occupy him, Aleist didn’t
have to hold Nate’s hand as they made a round around the other
shops lining the main road.
◇
There was no light in that palace room.
Paying mind to his surroundings, the one who entered was Emilio.
He called out to the individual within. But he couldn’t see their
face.
“Oh, what seems to be the matter?”
“This room is too bright.”
“… You sound like you’re in a hurry. What happened?”
In that room purposed to give reports to his contact, Emilio
gave the right watchword in response. The normal lost servant would
just be turned away, but if the password was correct, the contact
would fulfill their original job.
“Soldiers who don’t know anything have been made my
subordinates. Can they be taken off”
“They cannot. They have been selected as those for whom it matters
not if they disappear.”
Hearing that, Emilio muttered an, I see. His face was a little
concerned.
(I’d like to do something for them, but…)
After learning that he couldn’t take the three off for the sake
of his goal, Emilio immediately gave his report.
“That dragoon’s skills are greater than expected. I have begun
to doubt whether I can win or not.”
“I’m aware. But I heard you injured him… as expected of a knight of
Celestia.”
“I could do without the flattery.”
As Emilio said that, the contact relayed the orders.
“… Depart from the palace tomorrow. The preparations are ready
for that.”
“Won’t they think it too unnatural?”
“Just have it come from the princess’ mouth. Then the higherups
should accept it without complaint.”
Emilio listened to the plan and hammered the contents into his
head. Any memos he took would leave evidence. That’s why they met
in a dark room. Emilio didn’t know the other party’s face. But they
knew Emilio.
(This is getting troublesome.)
“… And that is all. The princess is necessary for the plan. The
ceremonial tools are all together, so all that’s left is,”
“I know. I just have to present the princess to your group, right?
What happened before shall not happen again.”
“… Are you sure about that? After looking into it, it seems they
came from the Gaia Empire. Though we haven’t gone as far as to look
into why they came.”
“That’s your job. I’d appreciate if you did it properly.”
Emilio recalled when he was surrounded. He remembered the group
in the black robes.
“I must apologize for that. Then make sure tomorrow goes
according to plan.”
“Leave it to me.”
Emilio left and looked around. From the start, it was a corridor
that experienced little passage. And as he walked off, he
muttered.
“Tomorrow, huh. I’ll have to do something about the Dragoon and
his comrades, but how should I go about this.”
Unbeknownst to himself, Emilio’s hand had reached to touch the
egg-shaped pendant in his breast pocket from over his clothes.
The dragoon was taking part, and he had even been stuck with
subordinates who would drag him down. Just how would he struggle
through the next day? Emilio thought.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s5.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 5
Extra: Songstress 5
The first night on guard duty.
Izumi and Millia stayed alert in the princess’ private room on
rotation.
There was little to be found in that frugal room one wouldn’t
imagine belonging to a princess. Her garments were always prepared
by the maidservants, so there very many pieces in the closet.
Izumi investigated the room for what it was worth, but Cleo, who
should’ve hated it, seemed to slightly enjoy the notion.
Sitting on her bed, Cleo grinned as she looked at Izumi keeping
guard at the side of the room.
“S-something the matter?”
The place was different to Courtois, and Izumi thought perhaps
she had committed a discourtesy as she called over to Cleo. But
Cleo’s response was different.
“No. It is simply the first time I’ve invited a foreigner into
my room… I found it a tad joyous.”
Izumi didn’t feel too bad, hearing that from her. This was also
part of the mission, and she would keep up the conversation.
“Is that so? I’m something of a refugee. I’m sure the color of
my hair is rare around these parts.”
“Really? Would it be alright if I heard the story?”
Cleo’s eyes glistened as they looked at Izumi.
(It’s not a bad feeling for her to be interested in me, but in
the middle of a mission, it’s a bit…)
Troubled, Izumi apologized that she would have to stay
standing.
“My house was originally from an island nation in the far east.
Let’s see, the knights there use swords like this one, similar to
sabers. They’re called bushi and samurai over there, but their role
is similar to the knights of this country.”
As Izumi gave a simple explanation of her homeland, Cleo happily
listened in. While she got the feeling she was acting a bit too
young for her age, Izumi couldn’t bring herself to hate her.
“And the fact you’re seeking refuge means, umm…”
“Yes, my house was caught up in a war, and left the country. If
they didn’t do so, I’m not sure I’d be living in this world.”
Seeing Cleo’s saddened face, Izumi regret her words. She
should’ve talked about something more interesting, she thought, as
she gave a meaningful clearing of her throat to change the
topic.
“But now that I think back, I don’t see it as a bad thing. I
attended the academy in Courtois, and I’m here as an honorable high
knight.”
When Izumi smiled, Cleo did too. And she looked out the
window.
“I don’t know anything… unlike my younger brothers and sisters,
I was fated to be offered as the maiden from the start. So my
education was kept to a minimum. I rarely had any opportunities to
speak to a foreigner, so today was fun.”
To be offered. It meant her life would be forfeit. Izumi and
Rudel had investigated the internal affairs of Celestia beforehand,
and it was the most famous story about the country, so she knew
about it.
About the blue-haired tribe that offers life to the god who made
even Courtois stand down.
“I know I’m really not supposed to say this, but I’m happy that
my attack let me meet everyone. I was even able to see a
dragon.”
To change the topic, Izumi picked up the thread on Sakuya.
“You should mention that to Rudel tomorrow. If you tell him you
want to see a dragon up-close, Rudel will be delighted.”
“Rudel-dono will? I don’t mean ill, but he’s a peculiar one,
isn’t he? Millia-san did say, ‘he’s the strange one, you’re not
crazy’.”
Cleo’s impression towards Rudel seemed to be fixed on him being
a strange one. Labelling that a misunderstanding or mistake was
something Izumi found exceedingly hard to do. Thinking about Rudel
using Courtois’ knights as a frame of reference brought about
numerous problems.
“H-he is strange, but he’s a good guy. A really good guy!”
It was the greatest defense she could muster.
“Fufufu, you get along, I see.”
“Yes, he’s a precious friend.”
Seeing Izumi’s expression as she said that, Cleo tilted her
head. Something wasn’t sitting right in her stomach; she tried
asking Izumi.
“You’re not lovers? Um, you make a wonderful face whenever you
talk about Rudel-dono, you know.”
“That’s wrong. He’s a dear friend from the academy. A little
circumstance has led me to stay by his side as a colleague, nothing
more and nothing less.”
If she called it a little circumstance in Courtois, the royal
palace would be abuzz with cries of, ‘are you sure you’re taking
this seriously with an attitude like that?’. For the sake of the
country, Izumi was appointed as Rudel’s special inspector. It
wasn’t an exaggeration to say it was a mission of the utmost
importance.
Rudel was generally classified as a first-rate knight. Strong,
proud, and even loyal. But the most important thing was… he was an
idiot.
Not the sort that couldn’t study, the type that burst into
erratic conduct the very moment the idea struck his head. Even
after he was instated in the dragoon brigade, he had repeated
numerous bouts of problematic behavior that dragged all his
surroundings in. What’s more, the biggest problem to Courtois was
the fact Rudel had obtained an outrageous dragon like Sakuya.
‘If that thing gets serious, this country is seriously done
for.’
The reason the upper brass seriously thought so was largely due
to a single knight, feared by Courtois and all the countries that
bordered it.
Rudel idolized that knight… Marty Wolfgang.
It’s been said the King of Courtois once cried out, ‘Why did it
have to be him of all people!’ or something along those lines…
Putting all jokes aside, there was no doubt keeping Izumi with
Rudel was an important measure.
“Are you sure?”
Said Cleo with a slight laugh.
As Izumi found it strange, Cleo spoke.
“I’m sorry. Love gossip, was it? I wanted to try doing something
like that.”
Cleo was raised in the castle. She was raised as if the only
important thing was that she was alive until the time came… or so
was the feeling Izumi got.
The room’s interior was modest, and she could think it belonged
to a princess who held an important role.
“At the end, my dreams keep getting granted one after the next,
I’m overjoyed.”
“… Is that… so.”
Izumi didn’t know what words to send her anymore.
◇
Once the night had advanced, two faces peeped out of an inn
window with a view of the palace.
It was Aleist and Nate.
Nate peered into her telescope, changing the magnification with
the regulator stuck to the side as she inspected every last detail.
Aleist wasn’t very knowledgeable on the matter, but as it was
constructed as a magic item, it was most certainly an expensive
piece. Not something Nate would be able to purchase.
There was one at Aleist’s house as well, but he had only ever
seen his father carefully stow it away a few times.
“I was also thinking it around noon, but who really are you,
Nate?”
When Aleist asked, Nate continued peering into the telescope as
she conversed.
“You want to know? Once you know, there’s no going back? Senpai,
you might just get swallowed up in the mysteries of an enigmatic
woman like me.”
“Yeah, not happening. I just wanted to ask what sort of secret
you have.”
Aleist waved his hand, laughing Nate’s words away. And he
decided to change the topic.
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m confirming the state of the castle. The departure’s the day
after tomorrow, but there’s no telling what’ll happen until
then.”
“The day after tomorrow?”
Aleist tried to recall what would happen in two days.
He remembered Rudel’s main mission would take place at that
time.
“Come to think of it, is Rudel alright?”
“Sakuya-chan’s nice and quiet, so I think he’s just fine.
Rather, she’s fidgeting restlessly, and it doesn’t seem she can
settle down.”
“Eh? You can see her with that? Let me have a go.”
“Go ahead. If you adjust it here, you can change the
scaling.”
Accepting the telescope, Aleist zoomed out to search for Sakuya.
He spotted her popping her head over the castle wall from time to
time.
She seemed restless and unsettled.
“What is that girl doing?”
As Aleist said that, Sakuya’s eyes met with Aleist’s across the
telescope. That was scary, he thought, putting the telescope down,
and looking at the castle in the distance. From here, he couldn’t
see Sakuya’s form. Somewhat relieved, he tried peering in again,
only to find her staring straight at him this time.
“… Nate, thank you.”
He didn’t want to think Sakuya had noticed them, but Aleist was
hated by Sakuya. In the case that he really was sighted, the very
fact Sakuya moved would become a huge problem.
“You’re already done with it?”
He returned the telescope to Nate. There, as if suddenly hitting
on something, she began to speak.
“Come to think of it, senpai, you have any interest in peeping?
In that case, you want me to lend you my telescope?”
Nate gave a sly laugh as she held out the device, but Aleist was
getting tired, so he wanted to return to the bed. What’s more he
had no interest in peeping.
“What’s that? Ah, no, I’m fine.”
Having lost interest in such talks as of late, it was on a level
where he wanted a magic device to prevent being peeped on. Within
Aleist’s harem, there were a few who specialized in magic. Those
girls would identify Aleist’s bathing time to launch their
attacks.
“Rather, you know, give me something so I don’t get peeped on
myself.”
While Aleist made a relatively sincere plea, Nate’s face
twitched.
“… I know I’m not one to speak, but you really are an off one,
senpai.”
“You think? I don’t notice it myself anymore. I’ve just kinda
been real tired these days, see… ah, you’d better honor your
promise and not assault me.”
Nate looked at him with a dubious face.
“Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? I’m the one who
should be worried about getting assaulted.”
Nate spread out her arms to show off her own lightly dressed
fresh-out-of-the bath form. Short, white pants, a simple shirt
above… what’s more, the slight see-through nature of her clothing
allowed a faint glance at her undergarments. Though it just looked
to Aleist that she had purposely chosen undergarments with striking
colors for the contrast.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t even assault you if you asked me
to.”
Giving an immediate reply, he took his eyes off of Nate and
looked at the room. Two single beds…
(Well, even if she tried, I’ll be able to run away. My
intuition’s been particularly sharp in those things as of late,
I’ll be able to notice before she makes her move.)
Flopping down on the bad, Aleist was delighted he’d be able to
get his first restful sleep in a long time. While Nate was there,
he didn’t seem to pay her the slightest mind.
“Early to bed, early to rise, what a wonderful phrase!
Goodnight.”
“Uwah…”
Nate’s face was filled with conflicted sentiment.
◇
Once morning came, Rudel went out to the plaza to see
Sakuya.
Perhaps because of her presence, the plaza looked a little
narrow. And around, the soldiers seemed to be surrounding her on
lookout.
‘Ah, Rudel.’
When Sakuya moved, the surrounding soldiers cowered. There were
some whose hips gave out, and others that readied their spears.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look too peppy.”
Seeing Sakuya not in the best health, he worried a bit, when
Sakuya took a look around.
‘Um, well, you see… someone was looking. And Sakuya can’t calm
down when she’s not in the ground.’
Sakuya was a subspecies of the gaia dragon that made their homes
in the soil. As expected, they were most calm in the ground, and
when sleeping outside… what’s more, an unfamiliar place, it was too
unsettling.
(But even if she says looking, with so many soldiers around,
isn’t that natural?)
Rudel looked around and saw the cowering soldiers looking at him
with eyes demanding he did something about this. While Rudel could
hear Sakuya’s voice, only Rudel could hear Sakuya’s voice. To the
others, it just sounded as if she was raising a growl.
“Don’t worry. Right… I’ll ask if there’s anywhere nearby you can
dig a hole. Your special mission is tomorrow after all. It should
be fine if you stay on standby until then.”
A dragoon and dragon could communicate with their hearts. Rudel
thought he could just call her if it came down to it. Though he
didn’t think he would actually get permission for her to dig a
hole.
‘Really!? The earth around here feels really warm, so it was on
my mind the whole time! I want to build a house soon.’
“… No, making something so full-blown is a bit…”
Rudel felt somewhat apologetic. When it came to digging holes…
no, to making dens, Sakuya had her hangups. She would make a number
of chambers, designating the room furthest in as her private room.
It wasn’t just a bit of a cave… it was a full-blown cave
system.
Perhaps she had a good feel for the ground, or it was just
intuitive, but amazingly, even if she arbitrarily dug with her
power, it never crumbled. But even if he explained that, he doubted
the people of Celestia would understand.
“Can you make due with a simple one? We’ll be returning
tomorrow.”
‘… Fine.’
Sakuya’s sulking hurt Rudel’s heart.
(Sakuya… how cute can you be.)\But as a dragon idiot, even if
his heart hurt as he looked at her, he still found her cute.
◇
“It passed.”
“What did?”
Rudel sat at the same table as Cleo and Millia for breakfast.
Izumi was still asleep, so it was a meal for just the three of
them.
Near the door, Ben and Passan stood at attention. The party of
three consisted of soldiers, and they were unable to eat breakfast
with the princess.
For Rudel and Millia, it was treated as special.
“No, I went and asked Emilio-dono if there was anywhere Sakuya
could dig a hole, early in the morning. When I did, he got
permission.”
“… Is that really alright?”
As Millia sent him a doubtful glance, Rudel thought over it as
well.
(This does feel a little off. Normally, he’d want to keep Sakuya
as close as possible, but… could it be the soldiers just complained
that much.)
He thought over various things, but he had received permission,
he started devising a plan to lead Sakuya to the location. It was
already arranged that Rudel would be told the location after
breakfast, sending Sakuya in the right direction once he returned
to the castle.
Once the maidservant finished the preparations for breakfast,
the three gave a Celestia-styled prayer and began to eat.
The scent of bread and bacon wafted through the room.
Rudel looked at the princess, thinking of her almost as a small
animal as he watched. The way she ate wasn’t unruly. More so, she
was firmly following proper manners.
But the air around her was restless.
(Perhaps she’s mindful of me and Millia.)
He thought, and after he had eaten his meal and sipped his tea,
Cleo came out with a request.
“U-um… if it’s possible, I’d like to see your dragon up close,
would that be alright? Erm, Izumi-san said you would show me if I
asked…”
After Cleo had shyly asked, Rudel quietly set down his cup. He
looked at Cleo with a serious face.
Perhaps she was nervous, her body stiffened.
“Rudel?”
Millia sent over a worried voice. But Rudel…
“No problem at all. While we’re at it, would you care for a
journey through the sky as I tell you the wonders of a dragon–!
Millia, that hurts, you know.”
“Don’t hit on the princess! And there’s no way that would be
allowed!”
As Millia talked on and on with a rough way of breath, she has a
point, Rudel ended up agreeing. He had been delighted to hear
of her interest in dragons.
But his aid came from an unexpected place.
“Um…”
“Something the matter.”
After the maidservant let out a voice, she lowered her head
towards Rudel. And she made a desperate plea.
“I am aware of how discourteous this may be, but please take the
princess into the sky!”
When he wondered what was up, the maidservant said something
like that. He did think it wrong, but there Emilio made his
appearance.
“A dragon, is it… I don’t see why not.”
“Emilio-dono?”
Unlike the day before, Emilio was taking on an attitude much too
lenient. And he made a proposal to Cleo.
“Whatever the case, today is the only day the princess may have
her freedom. Let’s see… all the more, why don’t you let her see the
lands around the castle?”
“Don’t you think that’s going too far?”
Millia sighed, but Emilio let a slight laugh.
“No, I’ve actually been thinking it a while now. At least at the
very end, the princess should be given some time to have fun… I’ve
already received permission, everyone, please just unwind.”
As he said that and left, Rudel and Millia gazed at Emilio’s
back. The difference between yesterday was one thing, but the
problem lay elsewhere.
“I kinda feel something really off about this.”
The maidservant answered Millia’s words.
“That’s not true! Emilio-sama is Celestia’s finest knight. He is
thinking about the princess. I was also desperately searching for
something I could do for her and…”
The maid lowered her head and apologized for her rudeness. Next,
it was Ben and Passan’s turns to lower their heads to Rudel.
“Boss Rudel, I’d like to make the plea too! Show the princess
what it’s like outside the castle!”
“I’m beggin’ you here, boss Rudel!”
Millia endured a laugh as the two of them called him boss. Rudel
looked over at Cleo.
(Well, I guess that depends on how Cleo-sama feels.)
He called over. But Cleo’s face was turned down.
“Cleo-sama, do you have any obj… Cleo-sama?”
A red face, shaking a little, when Cleo looked up into Rudel’s
face, she started to panic.
“I-I! Um, uh… it’s the firth time anyone’s tried to hit on
me!”
(Ah, she bit her tongue.)
Rudel was casually mindful of how she bit her tongue around the
word first. Millia beside him held her head.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s6.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 6
Extra: Songstress 6
Successfully driving everyone out, Emilio passed by the maid in
service to Cleo as he walked down the hall.
Walking by her in that empty corridor, neither side took a
glance at the other. When her back faced his, he quietly called
over.
“You play well.”
“Oh my, and I’m sure I was changing my voice.”
As the maidservant giggled, Emilio’s mood took an unpleasant
turn. The voice she replied in was the female voice that relayed
information in the dark room.
“Right around now, all the hindrances are in the sky… the
dragoon’s powerful partner is leaving the castle. The higherups
will rejoice.”
Emilio didn’t know whose orders the contact was moving under.
But he also knew the maid hadn’t the slightest intention of telling
him.
“I wonder about that. You’ve already failed once before.”
“Those words had some thorns. Once noon has gone by, I’ll have
them move according to plan.”
“I suppose I should tell you to do your best. It does seem those
of the Gaia Empire obstructed you last time… and there were some
skillful ones among them.”
Hearing that, Emilio narrowed his eyes. He warned himself not to
let any emotion leak into his voice. Over his clothes, he touched
the egg-shaped pendant in his breast pocket. It was a precious
memento of his mother.
“Even so, it seems the princess has quite a longing for the
lifestyle of the common folk. Is that your doing?”
“Yes. Ever since I began serving her, I spoke of things that
would make her yearn for a common life. What she couldn’t
experience in her limited life… I was told to give the princess a
dream she would never reach no matter her yearnings. But I never
thought that would prove useful here of all places. A princess
whose face goes red from being hit on is…”
Emilio grasped the gist of what the maid was trying to say. Cleo
was much too dense to the malice around her. In her eyes, there
were places where the ill-natured surroundings were only
natural.
(I doubt she will find anything off. How truly pitiful…)
The maid continued on, as if to take over from his thoughts.
“… She truly is a pitiful girl. Her life taken without being of
the slightest use, her days ending with her unable to accomplish
anything.”
The maid’s voice was laughing. What’s more, it was the sort of
laughter that made it seem she was enjoying herself so much she
couldn’t help it.
“Sure enough. Once everyone has returned, I will go out to meet
up with them. The location is…”
“If you’ll have them come to the central square, we will handle
the rest.”
The maidservant walked off. From the depths of the corridor,
another person came walking. Emilio started off as if nothing had
happened at all.
(That’s right, this time, I’ll make it succeed.)
Taking his hand from his pendant, he strongly walked down the
corridor. A resolve was beginning to seep into his expression.
(No matter what happens, Cleo will…)
◇
Having taken off from the palace courtyard, Sakuya housed Rudel
and Izumi, and Millia, Cleo and the party of three on her back.
“B-boss! The sky’s scary!”
“Let’s fly a little closer to the ground!”
“We’re really high up! If we fall, we’re gonna die!”
“If I fly lower, there will be collateral damage. You’ll have to
put up with it.”
The three fell to all fours on Sakuya’s back, their faces pale,
their bodies shaking as they tried their hardest not to look down.
Rudel instantly vetoed their request.
In contrast, Cleo was…
“Amazing. So this is the sky! The sky only a dragoon can
obtain!”
Delighted.
“That’s right! The sky only a dragoon can see! In order to get
it in my hands, I worked hard from a young age!”
Every time Cleo rejoiced, Rudel was delighted as well. Almost as
if he had gained someone who understood him, he frolicked along
with the girl.
From the point of view of Izumi and Millia, whose hearts were
dancing as they kept a close eye to make sure Cleo didn’t fall, it
was a bit of a peculiar sight.
“Rudel, can’t you fly a little safer? And Cleo-sama, please take
a seat and hold onto the handrail.”
Like a horse, Sakuya’s back was furnished with equipment for
humans to ride her. A large bag was stuck on for luggage, and her
equipment included things like handrails and cushions. Things that
might prove necessary when escorting people.
Dragons of the gaia variant were slow when it came to
transporting, but as they were able to move a large quantity of
goods, they were a priceless addition to the dragoon brigade’s rear
logistic support.
In battle, their slow speed and large bodies had them hated as
easy targets, but even so, with their skin and scales that kept
away normal attacks, they were the dragons that boasted the
greatest destructive power. As a subspecies of such a race, it
didn’t matter to Sakuya if there were seven people on her back.
“In the first place, why did they give permission? Letting the
princess out like this shouldn’t be allowed… ah, come to think of
it our second princess is casually attending the academy.”
When Millia spoke of the pink-haired expressionless princess,
Cleo showed a degree of interest. But rather than the second
princess Fina, she was interested in the academy.
“The academy, is it? A school that even royalty can attend
sounds wonderful.”
“And wonderful it is! I especially enjoyed the fundamental
curriculum’s interclass tourney, and the upper classmen’s’
individuals’ tournament.”
At Rudel’s statements that made it seem as if combat was the
main activity, Izumi and Millia ended up sighing.
“No, you’re just a special case.”
Remembering the days of Rudel, Aleist, Eunius and Luecke
fighting, Millia put a damper on his spirits.
“What makes you say that, Millia, you took part in a match in
your fifth year as well! I think Aleist’s confession prevented you
from exhibiting your full strength, not that I think about it, that
was a legitimate tactic and…”
Millia turned red to her ears as she cried out.
“Don’t talk about that!!”
Not wanting to remember, she turned her face down.
But on the contrary, Cleo grew interested.
“It sounds amazing, Courtois’ academy… my country does not have
such an educational institution, so I find myself envious.”
“I know, right!? When the tiger tribe men exchanged blows–”
“Rudel, don’t you think we’ve had enough of that topic. You’re
giving the academy a strange image.”
Izumi stopped him.
Atop Sakuya’s back, they shared a laugh.
(I hope this takes her mind off it a bit.)
Rudel looked at the map he received from Emilio. And once Cleo
and Izumi got into a girls’ conversation, he stared hard at the map
in thought.
(… It’s a bit too far from the castle. If something happens and
I have to call Sakuya, it will take too much time for her to
return. This might have been a failure.)
Revoking it now would be a disservice to Emilio. But thinking of
his duty to guard Cleo, Rudel knew that keeping Sakuya close would
be the best deterrent. Right, just a deterrent.
(No, did they fear Sakuya conducting combat near the palace?
When we’re doing the actual guard mission, we’ll need Sakuya to
serve as transport.)
If Sakuya was caught up in a battle near the palace or castle
town, the surrounding area was instantly be turned to a mountain of
rubble. As he still had his worries about holding back, Rudel was
cautious in that field. In the case that an enemy attacked, he
would have Cleo board Sakuya to evacuate her into the sky.
That alone would prevent enemy hands from reaching her. That was
how he saw it, and he wasn’t considering to have her take part in
battle.
(It’s a bit worrisome they don’t seem to have any intent to
protect her. Well, I’m the one who made the proposal, but… I should
keep cautious.)
None too knowledgeable on the internal affairs of other
countries, the fact his own country wasn’t monolithic became a
stroke of good luck. He was beginning to notice there might be a
separate force moving within Celestia.
It was strange from the start.
By relying on a foreign nation for guards, they invited in the
dissatisfaction of the knights, what’s more, they didn’t send
enough manpower around.
Rudel looked at the party of three making pale faces.
(Their loyalty aside, if they’re this unusable, I must presume
they haven’t received basic training.)
They were spies from the other force… he tried to consider, but
they were too unreliable for that. He thought they might be
concealing their real skill, but at least from what he could tell
by fighting them, that didn’t seem likely. And they had the mind to
serve Cleo from the depths of their heart.
(They’re a sort… I’ve never had around me.)
As far as Rudel knew, that type of retainer didn’t exist on his
home estate. He had seen enough of the opposite- those that mocked
and tried to use him- to grow tired of them Because of that, he
found himself just a little envious of Cleo.
(But whatever the case, we should be nearing the limit. Thinking
of the princess’ stamina, we should descend and take a short
break.)
It was nothing more than flying through the sky, but for those
unaccustomed to it, the stamina expenditure was intense. Rudel
decided to land and take some rest.
“Sakuya, it looks like the designated point is over
there.”
‘Uwah, it’s a warm-looking place.’
Rudel couldn’t understand how the ground could look warm. But
there was a mountain nearby with smoke rising from it.
“Is this area alright? It’ll be hell if an eruption occurs.”
The villages he spotted around made Rudel anxious. If the
volcano erupted, the casualty figures would be severe. But near the
volcano was a forest that had seen a good number of years.
“Ah, we’re perfectly fine. The sort of eruptions I hear about
from other lands never happen in Celestia.”
Rudel inclined an ear to Cleo’s explanation as he had Sakuya
lower altitude.
“The guardian deity is in a different one… a shrine in the
volcano you can see over there, but because of his protection,
eruptions never occur. Not since the founding of Celestia… so at
the very least, there hasn’t been one in two hundred years.”
On her words, Izumi was mildly surprised.
“Not a single major eruption in a few hundred years?”
Cleo shook her head.
“They can’t happen. As I said it’s because of the guardian
deity.”
Making a little… no, a sorrowful face, Cleo turned her head
down. Unable to see her state given their position, the party of
three regained their vigor as the ground approached, getting
excited over the princess’ explanation.
“Our god is amazing! The princess is amazing too!”
“He’s a god after all! And as expected of the princess!”
“The god is amazing, but the princess is smart!”
On their three reactions, Cleo giggled a bit.
“That’s right. Even like this, I’ve studied, for what it’s
worth. But it’s the first time anyone’s called me smart.”
Saying she was happy even if it was just flattery, Cleo smiled
at the three. They seemed happy as well.
As Rudel looked at them, a scene of his own youth suddenly
revived in his head.
(… That doesn’t matter right now.)
Issuing orders to Sakuya, he told everyone to prepare to
land.
“Grab onto the handrails. We’re touching down.”
◇
‘Building a house for Sakuya~.’
Sakuya sang a song as her large arms began digging a hole.
Little ways away, Rudel watched as the mountain was shaved
away.
Sakuya had her own criterion for which place was best, so she
was apparently investigating. And with this serving as their break,
Rudel and the others looked over the scene.
“… The rocks and dirt are flying through the sky.”
Ben looked at the parabola the soil drew in the air as he
muttered.
“No matter how many times I see it, Sakuya’s digging is a
magnificent sight.”
Rudel looked and nodded a few times.
“It’s amazing. If she has that much power, can the dragons do
other jobs as well?”
Cleo’s question was answered by Izumi.
“They’re used for transport and land development. A skillful
dragon can fulfill a number of roles.”
The princess took a keen interest to that response. Rudel
recalled the port town of Beretta where he was stationed. While it
was built at a harbor, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any fields.
Preparing those fields was left up to Keith… when the Lieutenant
Keith didn’t have any subordinates, his water dragon Spinnith could
fulfill the role alone.
He didn’t have the same level of power as Bennet’s dragon, but
if put to skilled labor, he could pull it off well. He made quite
an undragon-like statement, saying he liked work that had to be
built up one step at a time.
“Well, each dragon has its own quirks.”
Don’t just write off our problems as quirks, the upper echelons
of Courtois would claw at Rudel if they heard the statement.
Sakuya was comfortably singing her song. There, going along with
what should only sound like a dragon’s growl to other humans, Cleo
began to hum. She was gradually picking up the rhythm.
The party of three looked at Cleo with faces as if they were to
be moved to tears.
“What’s wrong?”
Ben explained to Rudel.
“What’s wrong… ah, you didn’t know? The princess is really good
at singing. I don’t know how long ago, but back when we was still
jobless, unsteadily topplin’ around, she was singing a song in the
square. When we heard her singing, it moved us, got us
inspired.”
Ben began to shed tears.
When Rudel asked the reason, he found the three had left their
village unable to find work, and once they came to the castle town
of Celestia, they lived by rummaging through the trash. Troubled
for food, they were honestly about to stick their hands into ill
deeds.
But hearing the song in the square, they popped their heads out
the alley, and saw it was Cleo who was singing.
That clear voice held a certain something that resounded in a
person’s heart. The fact these three hadn’t turned to crime was
thanks to Cleo, apparently.
The voice had caused them to reflect on themselves.
“It was a real pretty song, see. Ended up pepping us right up.
What we was doing started to look stupid. We stopped caring how
cheap the pay was, searched out a place to work, and ended up
guarding a gate that no one ever used. People made fun of us, but
we didn’t give a damn. Working earnest, earning money… she made us
notice there was nothing more rewarding.”
Cen listened to Cleo sing as he told Rudel a tale. Pono
continued on after him.
“When we begged and started out as trainees, it was nothin but
cleaning and chores. But man, if we put the work in, even we could
do it, boss.”
As Cleo’s mood gradually rose with her humming, she began
lightly singing to herself. Passan closed his eyes to hear. Rudel
also inclined his ear.
(I see, so these three feel indebted to the princess. But if a
song’s all it took to get them back on their feet, perhaps they
were good people to start with. Whatever the case…)
The three were troubled for food, fished through trash, and in
the end, were about to commit crime. There were surely
opportunities for ill deeds before it came to that, so Rudel
concluded to himself they were good at heart. And that the song was
only the trigger they needed.
But…
(Yep, it’s a nice voice. I’m no good with those things, but it
feels pleasant on my ears. Perhaps this is talent.)
In Cleo’s singing voice, Rudel could also feel something echoing
in his heart. As a noble, he had received a general education.
Music was included. But when it came to fine arts, especially
music, Rudel didn’t exhibit any particular knack or talent.
Rather, Eunius and Luecke achieved excellent grades in music and
art.
… Aleist was out of the question.
But according to Luecke, perhaps he was just born in the wrong
era. Apparently. In various ways, Aleist was too advanced.
As Rudel and the others lent an ear to Cleo’s song, Sakuya cried
out.
‘Higyaaaaah!!’
“S-Sakuyaaa!!”
Responding to the scream, Rudel leapt out to find the hole
Sakuya was haughtily excavating welling up with water and
steam.
Rudel rushed over to Sakuya’s side, surprised by the heat rush
of the vapor, and the temperature of the water.
“Is this a hot spring?”
As Sakuya finally managed to bob her head out of the water,
Rudel jumped at it and latched on, calling out.
“Are you alright, Sakuya!? Any burns?”
While he was worried, there, Izumi called over.
“No, Rudel… Sakuya is a dragon, you know.”
Right. Sakuya was undoubtedly a dragon. And the dragon in
question floated in the hot water as she remarked.
‘Haaah, it feels niicccee.’
She was quite satisfied by the hot spring she had dug up
herself. Perhaps she had struck the source, as the water wasn’t at
a temperature a human could enter. To a dragon, such matters were
irrelevant.
(Kuh, Sakuya in a bath… she’s too cute.)
From atop Sakuya’s head, Rudel gazed at his own dragon with
great satisfaction.
◇
Returning to the castle, Rudel reported to Emilio.
Before a soaked Rudel who had removed his coat, Emilio
spoked.
“… So you’re telling me you fell in when your dragon changed
posture? You haven’t been burned, have you?”
“I am alright. My apologies.”
Rudel and the others had safely returned, but Rudel had fallen
into the spring. The reason was just as Emilio had detailed. Fed
up, Emilio looked at Rudel as he ordered the servant in the room to
bring him some clothes.
“Bring a change of clothing for Rudel-dono, if you please.”
Cleo’s maid nodded and left the room.
“Once Rudel-dono’s finished changing, we shall depart. Time is
limited, after all.”
Feeling an urge to hold his head, Emilio looked at Rudel.
(Give me a break, Dragoon. I need you to do your job.)
It was a large strain on the plan.
But he continued thinking of how he would reconnect the ends of
the deviating plan, and bring it towards a result he desired.
Cleo presented a towel to the soaked Rudel. The towel in Rudel’s
hands was already sopping wet.
Rudel, Izumi, and everyone else felt ashamed.
(No, you’re not supposed to be doing that sort of thing.)
Emilio was troubled by Cleo’s correspondence.
“Princess, once the maid returns, leave Rudel-dono to her. Now
let’s prepare to head o…”
After saying that much, Emilio noticed his own failure.
(Ah, wait a second. Cleo only has one maid. Then no one’s
actually preparing for the plan?)
With everything in such a shapeless state, Rudel’s party were
about to set out into the castle town.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s7.txt
|
EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 7
Extra: Songstress 7
In the center of Celestia’s busy center square, a statue of the
country’s founding queen was erected.
With the time being slightly past noon, the food stalls gave off
a mouthwatering scent.
Steamed food seemed to be the norm as many people could be seen
eating steamed vegetables topped with meats and sauces.
Other than that, the people who walked as they ate a food
wrapped in white dough that let off meat juices stood out. Holding
them in brown paper, their forms as their mouths let off steam as
they ate left quite an impression.
The slight differences he could find from Courtois made it all
the more interesting to Rudel.
Though that was also due to the fact Rudel’s group had disguised
themselves to play the part of tourists.
“Are they different from what you can find in Courtois? They’re
sweet pastries, aren’t they?”
As Rudel put his impression to mouth, Cleo in the clothes of a
village girl marveled alongside him. She didn’t know what sort of
food the townsfolk ate either.
“I can’t think those are sweets…”
They let off steam, and the contents were filled with meat.
Once she voiced that, one of their guards, Passan explained.
“What Boss Rudel’s talking about ‘s steamed buns. You wrap meat
in a yeast dough ‘n steam it, so it’s a proper meal and not a
sweet.”
“Is that so? You’re surprisingly knowledgeable.”
As Rudel nodded in acceptance, a booth selling some sort of
dolls caught Cleo’s eyes.
There, Pono cautioned her.
“Prin… ah, no! Young lady, you shouldn’t touch those. They
exceedingly easy to break, and the sort of souvenirs that force
whatever tourists pick them up to buy them.”
Cleo swiftly drew back her hands
The old man manning the stall made a grim face as he saw
that.
“It’s not like I’m tryin’ ta make them easy to break. It’s just,
the manufacturing process, see. When you make them outa dirt,
they’re gonna be fragile.”
Hearing the words from the shopkeeper, Rudel simply…
(Then do something about it.)
Thought from a customer’s viewpoint. In truth, if she picked one
up and broke it, they would likely be forced to buy it. Millia, who
had reached out in a similar fashion, now looked truly
relieved.
“In the first place, that’s our guardian deity, who should be
treated with care. It’s their fault for breaking them.”
On the old man’s opinion, Rudel looked at its form, but it was
much too crude, and he could only barely make out its shape. An
elliptical body with four thick legs stuck on; the only part of the
doll colored in was an eye-like red point.
He could only see it as a rip-off.
(Was it made poorly, or does the original actually look like
that… I get the feeling whoever makes them easy to break and puts
them up for sale is also at fault.)
Rudel took a side-glance at Izumi.
She was keeping alert of their heavily crowded surroundings. And
under the robe she wore as an escort, her hand was placed on her
katana.
Rudel also directed his attention around.
There, Emilio took one of the clay dolls in hand and lifted it
up.
His subordinate Ben warned him of the danger, but Emilio laughed
and returned it to its original place.
His eyes were terribly cold.
“Now that we’ve seen the crude dolls that are this area’s
specialty, let’s move on to the next area. Milady, it might be a
little late, but how about lunch?”
Emilio suggested lunch to Cleo.
She curiously turned her eyes to the food stands. While there
was something she wanted to eat, she couldn’t bring herself to say
it.
Rudel called out to Passan. Producing his wallet from his inner
breast pocket and handed over Celestian currency he had exchanged
for.
“Passan, use this to buy something. It seems milady is
interested in the food stalls.”
“Y-you don’t need this much!”
Passan declined to accept such a fortune, but Rudel forcefully
had him grip. Looking over at Emilio, he showed no signs of
opposing, instead giving a nod.
“Don’t worry about that, just buy enough for everyone. Take Pono
with you.”
Saying that, Rudel moved to stand on the opposite side of Cleo
from Izumi.
“U-um, it’s a bother, then…”
While Cleo sounded apologetic, Rudel shook his head to the
side.
“No, I wanted to try it as well, so don’t worry. I deeply
apologize for having you keep me company in my meal.”
When he spoke in a phrasing tactful towards the princess, Izumi
and Millia made tired faces.
Millia even blatantly glared at him.
“… What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really. I just thought you were being refreshingly
thoughtful.”
When Millia lifted her hair and said it, perhaps sensing the
atmosphere, Passan and Pono headed off towards the stalls. Ben
enviously saw off their backs.
As always, Cleo looked apologetic, so Emilio followed
through.
“I’d appreciate if you left your spats for once you’ve returned
to your own country. Right now is milady’s time.”
Millia turned to Cleo.
“My apologies, Milady.”
Hearing that, Cleo gave a bit of a lonesome laugh.
“No, it’s’ alright.”
At that moment, Passan and Pono returned, both their arms full
of food.
“We’re back!”
“Passan, you bought way too much.”
Ben sighed. And Emilio naturally started off towards a place in
the square where chairs and tables were lain out.
“Then let’s eat. Over here.”
(He’s used to this. Meaning the knights eat here? Despite that,
I don’t see any around.)
Rudel couldn’t see any knights eating around.
He spotted quite a few soldiers on lookout, and he could see
some soldiers having their meals. But he didn’t see any
knights.
(Is it a problem with the timeslot?)
Rudel watched Cleo take a seat as he called out to Passan.
“Passan, do the knights eat in this area too?”
Taking a sidelong glance at Emilio, who even wore a hood, Rudel
sought confirmation. Emilio was explaining to Cleo how to eat the
various foods from the stalls.
Ben and Pono’s eyes were sparkling at the feast before their
eyes.
Passan as well, and when Rudel struck up conversation, he
troublesomely looked between Rudel and the food.
“There’s no way they’d come here. Even if they go on patrol,
they get free meals at the castle. I’ve never heard of them showing
up at these measly stalls.”
“But this is a sight-seeing spot, right? They never stretch
their legs in the area and eat at the stalls?”
“Yeah, this might not be the best way to put it, but the mighty
knights eat ‘t proper restaurants. This place is just right for the
penniless soldiers to fill their stomachs… we’re thankful for it-
no money and all- but once you get to be a knight, it’s looked down
upon, er rather…”
Seeing how he struggled to say it, the knights likely avoided
eating at the lowbrow food stalls.
(Do they look down on the food eaten by the masses? Quite a few
of these are surprisingly delicious, but…)
Rudel’s wariness towards Emilio was instantly raised. But as
things stood, he didn’t have any evidence. Even if he had his
doubts, they were at a level where they’d clear up if the man gave
an excuse.
A little suspicious, was all he thought.
“Passan, you can have mine. I’m fine with just one.”
Saying that, Rudel took one meat bun in hand and swiftly
finished his meal. A delighted Passan brought the remaining bun
over to Ben and oano.
“Boss, I got this from Boss Rudel!”
“Cheers. We’re having a feast today!”
“Thank you!”
Giving a bitter smile at the rejoicing three, Rudel went over to
Izumi and sat down by her side. While he kept wary of his
surroundings, he took care not to direct that towards Emilio.
Millia glared at the two of them, but he ignored her for
now.
“Did something happen?”
Hearing Izumi’s whisper, it’s nothing definitive, he gave as a
preface as he whispered back. Rudel himself only had a light
off-feeling at best.
“It’s Emilio. Something feels off about him.”
“… I see.”
Without moving her eyes, she lent an ear to his words.
“This might not be so simple a request. Just keep that in
mind.”
Saying that and standing, Rudel moved over to an adequate seat
to guard Cleo.
Though they were in the middle of work, Ben’s party were
deliciously digging into their meal. Cleo seemed to be having fun
as she watched them.
She held a yearning towards plebian… things of differing status,
to be more specific.
It wasn’t as if Rudel didn’t understand the feeling.
(Perhaps every royal family is complicated.)
There were plenty of strange points in this matter. He honestly
couldn’t believe the reason they were called over was because the
country’s own knights weren’t trusted.
(No use digging too deep into it. That’s not our job.)
Rudel changed his train of thought to focus on nothing but the
mission. But as Cleo gave an innocent laugh as she listened in to
Ben’s party’s conversations, he grew just a little curious.
Turning his eyes to Emilio, Rudel noticed.
(He’s smiling?)
◇
Aleist had climbed to the roof of a building overlooking the
center square.
To be more precise, Nate had led him there.
They both wore robes, weapons at the ready as they waited on
standby.
Keeping her body low, Nate used her telescope to check the
surroundings. When the sun was so high in the sky, the reason they
didn’t stand out was because of the magic she was using.
Aleist recalled the magic and skills he didn’t use in-game.
(All the magic and skills I thought were useless, to think there
were such convenient uses for them. Even so, what is Nate
doing?)
He had still yet to hear the reason Nate had come to Celestia.
But Aleist had been led off from Courtois as her guard.
There had been some combat with those he suspected to be
soldiers of the Gaia Empire.
(There’s no doubt it’s something troublesome. What is she
looking at?)
Nate peered into the lens as she called over to Aleist. It was
almost as if she had his thoughts in the palm of her hand.
“Are you curious about me, senpai?”
… But that was quite evidently a misunderstanding. There was no
way Nate could understand how Aleist felt.
(Well, if she’s noticed, I’d best not beat around the bush.)
Giving a bitter smile, Aleist offered Nate a correction.
“I’m pretty sure what I’m curious about is why we’ve come all
the way to a foreign nation to do something like this. In the first
place, you’ve yet to explain why we had to run away from that
strange bunch.”
While she heard out his take, Nate continued observing somewhere
with her telescope. She continued gazing at what seemed to be the
central square of the busy main road.
Perhaps she had found the target of her surveillance, as she
didn’t remove her eye.
“You’re asking that now? I’d really prefer it if you either
asked earlier, or stayed silent and showed some stoicism as you
silently watched over me.”
“That’s not in my character. If you don’t like that, hurry up
and find a boyfriend, and marry them alongside your
graduation.”
“Uwah… senpai, you’re terrible. After you did such a thing to
me.”
Such a thing, meaning when Aleist was pushed down. It was in his
student days. Dropping by the graduation party, Aleist ran smack
dab into Nate, who was handing out drinks, and she ended up pushing
him down.
“I was the victim there, wasn’t I? And It really was hell back
then.”
Recalling his school days, Aleist breathed out a sigh as he
slumped his shoulders.
“Senpai, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but there aren’t
many students out there who enjoyed their school life as much as
you. Surrounded by cute girls, with friends and rivals… it was the
best, wasn’t it? If that’s what makes you sigh, the gods are going
to punish you.”
Aleist had an ample understanding of Nate’s words.
It was a fact he truly did have some fun. He was fulfilled.
But…
“I confessed to the girl I like, and I still haven’t gotten a
response. No, that’s already, how should I put it, yeah, hopeless,
but see…”
“Hah, are you so unsatisfied with a cute girl like me?”
As Nate called herself cute, Aleist averted his eyes and
muttered.
“I think the part where you praised yourself is no good. Are you
overly self-conscious?”
Nate lifted the telescope up and hit it into Aleist’s head. Was
it really alright to use an expensive article in such a manner,
Aleist thought as he robbed his head.
“It’s embarrassing for me to say it too. This sort of, I’d like
if you were more mindful of a maiden’s heart. It’s just the two of
us, so shouldn’t it be fine if there was a bit of a better
atmosphere between us? Like, when I call myself cute, you could at
least say, ‘You definitely are cute, Nate’.”
Nate’s face reddened in embarrassment, but…
“That sounds like a pain.”
Aleist bluntly called it troublesome only to be smacked by the
telescope again. Seeing Nate silently smack him with her face still
red, Aleist…
(Ah, she might actually be a little cute when she’s
embarrassed.)
Ended up thinking even Nate had some cute parts to her. Due to
the abundance of violent members in his harem, even if she hit him,
he ended up seeing it as cute.
◇
While they spend time in the central square, the time to return
to the palace approached.
The flow of people had also begun to change, with the pedestrian
traffic gradually lessening off.
But there, Emilio moved.
“Milady, would you like to see the famed spot of Celestia? It’s
not too far from central square, so we can still make it in
time.”
“A famed spot? I’ve never heard of it.”
Cleo looked at Ben, but the party of three tilted their
heads.
“Was there a spot like that around here? In this area, I guess
you could call the central square a famed spot, but…”
As Pono crossed his arms in thought, Emilio went into somewhat
forceful negotiations.
“Those in the know, know it well. Though to people without
lovers, it might be irrelevant.”
Hearing of lovers, the three nodded.
“So it’s one of those date spots? Sure enough, it wouldn’t be
strange if we’ve never heard of it!”
While Ben gave a grand laugh, Passan continued tilting his
head.
Rudel approached Passan and tried asking what was on his
mind.
“Is something bothering you?”
“I’m not sure if you know, but in these parts, center square is
a tourist site so there are soldiers. But go just a little away and
the public order isn’t too good. Even if you say it’s a date spot,
I’m not really seeing it… well, I don’t have a girlfriend, so maybe
I just don’t know about it.”
Seeing Cleo being led off by Emilio, her face had turned a
little red at the words date spot.
As she took some fleeting glances at Rudel, Emilio went into
effective persuasion.
“Why don’t you take one last visit there with Rudel-dono?”
Hearing Rudel’s name, Cleo thought a bit and nodded.
“You’re right. If we can be back in no time, at the very end, at
least…”
A little. She said and consented. Emilio led her. But it was at
that moment.
“Kyaaaaah!!”
Alongside a woman’s scream, they heard the sound of a building
or stall being broken. A portion of a blown-away stand flew towards
Rudel as well.
“Stand back!”
Saying that, Rudel drew his sword and cut down what was coming
his way.
Izumi and Millia rushed over to Cleo’s side, while the party of
three panicked, unable to take immediate action.
Emilio issued orders to them.
“Ben, take your men and go check around the square. Head
straight towards the noise and see if the enemy is still
there.”
“Eh, oh, yes!”
As Ben instantly ran off, Rudel instantly closed in on
Emilio.
He could no longer think his off feeling was a
misunderstanding.
“Hold it. How do you know it’s an enemy?”
Drawing his sword, he didn’t hesitate to direct the tip at
Emilio.
There was definitely a ruckus. But Rudel’s group had yet to find
out the slightest detail on what had happened. Despite that, Emilio
had concluded and proclaimed a clear enemy.
Izumi and Millia also quickly entered the space between Cleo and
Emilio, readying their weapons. But they were swallowed up by the
wave of people running away.
“Princess!”
While Izumi raced towards Cleo, a large mass fell from above.
Then another, and another. In the gap Izumi used to direct her eyes
up, Emilio made his move.
(This is bad!)
Rudel was sure Emilio would cut Izumi down. He determined those
somethings that came from the sky were his allies.
But Emilio ignored Izumi entirely.
“Wait!”
Swallowed whole by the flowing crowd, Millia couldn’t approach
Cleo.
“Emilio, why are you doing something like this!?”
“Shut up and follow me!”
Her hand forcefully grasped by Emilio, Cleo glared and put up
resistance. Unfortunately, the difference in power was too great,
and her resistance ended in futility.
Around the residence still ran to flee, and with his movements
sealed off, those falling masses surrounded Rudel.
Those round bodies looked as if they were made from a sphere
crushed flat, with four thick legs attacked. Their single red eyes
let off a light, their earthen surfaces…
“I don’t know what’s going on… but it doesn’t look like these
are the guardian deity.”
Similar to the ornaments sold at the souvenir shop, those
objects that exceeded two meters across surrounded Rudel’s party,
locking them in with their eyes.
Within all that, Emilio alone was able to run freely, dragging
Cleo by the hand.
Millia drew back her bow, but as if to protect him, the masses
moved to block her line of sight.
“Looks like these things are that Emilio’s comrades.”
At Millia’s vexed words, Izumi also drew her katana and took a
stance.
“I’d like to give chase asap, but…”
The masses that showed no intent to let them through moved
mechanically like dolls. Surrounding Rudel’s party of three, they
looked like they would attack at any moment.
One step… Izumi tread in, and sent a slash flying at a doll. She
had determined the surroundings had finally become scarce enough
for her to exert her strength.
And stirring ever so slightly, the doll’s torso was severed from
its legs.
That clean-cut revealed- practically like the idols up for sale-
its insides were empty.
“What’s with these things.”
Finding the empty dolls uncanny, she tried thinking of them as
golems produced with magic and tried looking around. While her eyes
had always been good, she couldn’t spot any magician controlling
them.
For dolls made out of earth, their surfaces were almost like
earthenware. Appart from the severed portion, she could see cracked
places as well.
But they weren’t strong. Rudel thought it would be fine if they
just cut them all down, but the doll’s dislocated limbs quickly
crept up to their original positions, fastened themselves on, and
set the thing moving again.
“Now that’s troublesome.”
Rudel took a stance with his sword as he said that, when Izumi
sent a shockwave flying to make a path. Turning, she spoke to
Rudel.
Her ponytail swayed, and as she looked over her shoulder,
Izumi’s form made for a pretty picture.
“Go ahead, you two. If we don’t carry out the mission, it will
affect Courtois’ reputation.”
“At the moment she was kidnapped, our reputation was lost. But
if that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll be going ahead.”
“Eh? We’re really leaving her here alone? Hey, Rudel!”
Millia voiced her opposition to leaving Izumi behind.
But Rudel made a prompt decision, ignored the dolls in the
process of regeneration, and chased after Cleo.
“Aaaah, whatever!”
Millia followed behind, protruding wings of magic from her back
and chasing after Rudel.
If a doll tried to follow, a slash would fly from behind,
slicing it into pieces. But as if that was pointless, the dolls
regenerated one after the next.
Even so Rudel left it to Izumi.
(Now then, that means me and Millia will have to take Emilio on,
but expecting only a single enemy would be too optimistic.)
The two chasing Emilio, who had entered an alley from the main
road, kept the possibility of an ambush in mind as they proceeded
on.
◇
“Now then.”
Having let Rudel go ahead, once the backs of the two were out of
sight, Izumi sheathed her katana into its scabbard.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have the intent to fight. She had
determined that cutting them would take way too much time.
She undid the thread that bound her scabbard to her belt. Taking
the sheath in her hand, she leapt right above the doll that tried
moving going after the other two.
“You’re not getting away.”
Pulling the sheath halfway down the blade, the moment its end
touched the enemy, she hammered her sword back into it with good
momentum.
The doll was slammed into the ground, shattering beyond the
realm of repair. Her jump clearing the top of the shattered doll,
Izumi observed the state of her enemy.
“So they don’t regenerate if you break them enough. Then I’ll be
destroying the lot of them.”
Izumi ran straight towards the remaining dolls, and as if they
had a form of will, the dolls began to retreat.
But knowing from their movements they couldn’t output much
speed, Izumi wasn’t going to let them get away.
She took another leap and destroyed another doll.
The ground she slammed it into caved in slightly from the
impact.
(I’ve had Captain Bennet teach me a lot of things, but it seems
I’ve at least managed to make one of them my own.)
It was a technique she learned to deal with enemies where
slashes weren’t the most effective.
As Rudel and the others went ahead, Izumi learned it to chase
after him, if only by a single step.
“It’s my first time using it in real combat, but this is a good
opportunity.”
Izumi muttered as she went on destroying the dolls that
continued to gather in the center square.
◇
Having fled into an alleyway, Emilio stopped in his tracks.
After running through those maze-like back alleys without going
astray, he carefully set down Cleo, who he had hoisted under his
left arm. She had thrashed along the way, but by this point, she
was slumped without resisting.
As she took a seat, Emilio spoke.
“We’re still moving. Your clothes will be soiled if you sit
there.”
“… Why did you turn coat?”
It was a feeble voice, but he heard it resound through the
alley. He could hear the distant sounds of battle, but nothing
else.
There, a woman’s voice called out.
“This is troublesome, Emilio-dono. It’s troubling for you to do
such unnecessary things.”
What Cleo saw as she lifted her head was the maid who had looked
after her. She was wearing her maid uniform, but her atmosphere was
different than usual.
“W-why are you here…”
Cleo didn’t want to believe it. The maid was carrying such a
friendly conversation with Emilio. Which meant…
“What a dull woman. Well, such a thing shouldn’t be a problem
for bait, so I’ve no complaints. I was able to have a laugh over
how you thought of me as a friend, and your pitiful environment was
interesting enough to watch, so I’ll forgive you.”
As the maid imparted her such words with a smile, Cleo’s
thoughts couldn’t catch up.
But no matter how she recollected, that was definitely the face
of the girl who had listened to what she had to say so warmly.
“You don’t have to look so conflicted. You’re only bait, after
all. Now then, if we keep the higherups waiting, they’ll be angry.
Take her away already, Emilio-dono.”
Seeing the maid turn from a smile to an uncanny grin, Cleo
didn’t know what to believe in anymore.
“T-tomorrow, I have to…”
“I know. That’s why we’re stopping that. Would it kill for you
to be just a little thankful to me for taking care of mere
feed?”
A tear flowed along Cleo’s face.
There, Emilio approached the maid.
“Emilio-dono, if you let go of her hands, the bait will run aw…
eh?”
Having drawn his sword as they were on the run, Emilio still
held it firmly in his right hand. With a big step forward, he swung
it from his top right to bottom left.
The maid was surprised, but having trained in some martial arts,
she instantly leapt back. She glared at Emilio in rage.
In her, Cleo could see no trace of the kind woman who told her
tales of a common life.
“What are you doing, you rotten knight!!?”
Drawing the knife she concealed in her skirt, this time the maid
jumped at Emilio. But…
“H-huh…”
The moment she stepped in, blood burst from her right shoulder
down to her left hip. As if she had been cut through…
“Have you forgotten how I climbed my way up the knight
brigade?”
“B-bastard… you trash upstart knight. Do you think it’ll end
with this!?”
Spitting blood from her mouth, the maid raised her voice.
“I don’t. But you see, you guys make me sick. Disappear.”
Emilio’s previous tone disappeared, his words becoming a little
rough. He stuck his saber into the maid to land the finishing
blow.
“Emilio, you’re…”
As Cleo said that, Emilio turned and made a sorrowful face. But
at the same time, a little happy… as if his expression was trying
to tell her something.
While he had been so rough a moment before, his tone towards
Cleo was kind.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to be free soon, Cleo.”
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s8.txt
|
EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 8
Extra: Songstress 8
“What are you talking about, Emilio?”
Cleo sat down in the narrow back alley, looking at the young man
before her eyes.
Her guard, a young and powerful knight of the Kingdom of
Celestia, was gripping the sword in his right hand. From its tip,
the blood of the maid- Cleo’s personal caretaker- he had killed
fell drop by drop.
Cleo couldn’t hear the distant clamor.
The maid she had believed in, who she had known for so many
years had scorned her all the way.
The knight she had believed in presented her hand out to
her.
“Cleo, this is enough. There’s no need for you to become a
sacrifice anymore. Let’s run from here. The preparations are
already in order.”
Emilio slowly approached, extending out his left hand. Cleo
moved her eyes to look between that hand and his face.
“What are you talking about, Emilio? If I don’t undergo the
ceremony tomorrow, the country will be…”
In her dismay, Cleo couldn’t properly process the situation.
This was largely due to the betrayal of the maid she thought of as
a friend, who would tell her all about the castle town and life as
a commoner. But even more than that, she couldn’t believe Emilio
when he told her to run from the ceremony.
… She had lived her life for tomorrow’s ritual…
To Cleo, that was the very meaning of her existence. Even if she
knew she was going to die, if it was for the sake of the country…
she thought. No, she was taught.
But she did find the extended left hand to be captivating.
(If I follow Emilio, will I be saved?)
It was to her, what could be called the devil’s temptation. No
one ever truly wanted to die. And up until the attack from the
dolls just before, Cleo had been able to spend a happy time. That
only amplified her desire to live on.
(I want to live. But…)
Cleo brushed away Emilio’s left hand with her right.
Glaring at him as he opened his eyes wide, Cleo spoke.
“Stand down. This body is one I have pledged to Celestia.
Following you is something… I cannot do.”
She was highly confused, but she barely managed to stop herself
without losing to temptation. Rage, or perhaps irritation, she
didn’t know what to expect from Emilio, but the man simply made a
sad face and smiled.
“I see. You’ve grown strong, Cleo. But I have my own
obstinacy.”
Emilio reached out his left hand to forcefully take her arm. But
in the next instant, he turned his back to Cleo, taking a stance
with his saber.
In the depths of the alleyway, before she had noticed it, there
stood three in robes. Cleo hadn’t sensed the slightest hint of
their approach.
A robed man who stood just a step ahead of the three let his
muddled voice resound through the space. That somewhat low voice
was one she couldn’t believe belonged to a human. Not a sound of
life. It held a mechanical, inorganic something.
But that voice did manage to hold some emotions Cleo couldn’t
see herself taking to.
“This is different from what we arranged. Were you not going to
hand the princess to us? This isn’t the delivery point, traitor to
Celestia.”
The man who declared Emilio a traitor produced a barbed sword
from under his robe. He took out two. Those two thorny blades gave
off a purple hue in the dark back alley. As with the sword in
Emilio’s hands, they didn’t even give off a dull reflective
glow.
“… I lost my way. There was a slight blunder on my part.”
Still readying his saber, Emilio hadn’t dropped his guard. He
was saying things completely different from before. Cleo thought,
but she could tell his voice was nervous.
“J-just what could…”
On the voice Cleo rung out, the men to both sides of the
double-bladed man sprung to action. Quickly, as if they were
running across the wall, they leapt out towards Cleo.
“You imperial bastards!”
Giving a statement as if he had previously been working with
them, Emilio swung his blade at the two. But one of them stopped
his sword. And the other came at Cleo without the slightest
hesitation.
“Run, Cleo!”
Emilio loudly worried for her safety, but the girl in question
couldn’t even stand from where she was.
“Ah…”
From the hood of the robe, she looked into her assailant’s face.
They wore a mask with round spectacle-like somethings stuck on.
They gleamed like red eyes, and in the gloom of the alley, they
looked oh so ominous.
The hand reaching out, unlike Emilio’s, was clothed as if
violently wrapped in rubber. That hand that somewhat smelled of oil
extended towards Cleo.
But…
“That’s as far as you go.”
… A gust blew through the back-alley.
◇
Just in the nick of time.
Running down the complex maze-like alleys, Rudel was relieved to
find he had made it in time. High-speed movement in a layout he
didn’t know took more concentration than he thought, and he wasn’t
able to pursue Cleo as well as he expected.
Placing himself in front of her the moment he spotted her, Rudel
swung his sword.
Cutting through the suspicious arm reaching out towards Cleo, he
entered the space between her and the suspicious man. He instantly
kicked the robed figure away, but he felt something was off.
(Oil? And the sense I got from that kick was bizarre.)
He surely lopped off an arm, but the stump wasn’t bleeding. In
exchange, a liquid- presumably oil- lightly dripped. With the cut
as well, he didn’t get the sensation he was cutting through
flesh.
“Rudel-dono.”
Cleo called out but Rudel didn’t turn back to her. Taking a
stance with his sword, he spoke.
“Please stay behind me. It does seem this is a dangerous
bunch.”
The man he kicked away stoop. From the severed right hand, as he
thought, not blood but oil sprinkled the ground.
The robed one with the barbed swords who was probably the leader
raised a cloudy, mechanical laugh.
“Kukuku, I never thought I would run into such a big shot here.
It is a pleasure, Dragoon… no, Rudel Arses-kun.”
Rudel kept on guard as he strained his ears to hear.
“Looks like you know about me. It’s an honor for one of far-off
lands… no, the empire to know my name.”
In the space of that light conversation, Emilio parted from the
enemy, no it felt more like both sides retreated. The man before
Rudel’s eyes also back stepped as he returned to his comrades. On
his movements, Rudel noticed the identity of his off-feeling.
(The empire’s machine soldiers?)
Machine soldiers… soldiers of the empire who compensated for
their lost limbs with animated metal. He knew they moved by means
of magic, but it was a technology not found in the kingdom. By
their uncanniness, they were often shunned and left the dirty work
of the empire, he had heard at the academy.
“I see, so I’ve got some eyes on me.”
To Rudel’s words, the leaderish man replied.
“You humble yourself. Your existence is one much too radiant for
us. So radiant we must envy, and detest to such we can never
forgive. I especially so, for it was a dragoon who took away my
arms and legs.”
So he was a machine soldier who lost his limbs in combat with a
dragoon. There was no doubt whatever was under his robes had been
left in a terrible state.
“We have taken up a nonaggressive defense policy. You are the
ones one-sidedly invading.”
The kingdom of Courtois lay on rich, fertile land. There was no
merit to be found in making a march on the empire. But the empire
had been pressed into a circumstance where they had to invade even
if they were going against dragoons.
“How young. Your youth is also enviable.”
From under the hood, three red dots let off a faint light. Rudel
stood and took a position to protect Cleo from the four. The robed
group before him… and Emilio.
Emilio had led his three soldiers in a wrong direction so he
could flee into the alleys alone with Cleo. That was the main
reason for Rudel’s wariness. His final actions made it doubly
sure.
Rudel saw Emilio as an enemy. Emilio also seemed to understand
that, but sandwiched between Rudel and the robed men, he couldn’t
freely move around the narrow alley.
“When I’ve come so far.”
Regretfully… his face grimaced as his eyes darted to Rudel and
the robed men.
“Kukuku, quite the ill-prepared knight you are. It speaks
volumes to the nature of Celestia. To think this man would be one
of the knights representing the country… now then, we shall be
resuming our work. We’ve done a splendid job biding time.”
As he said that, two robed men jumped down from the rooves of
the buildings enclosing the space.
As Rudel grabbed Cleo under his left arm and jumped back, he
narrowed his eyes as he looked at the situation.
“They managed to slip this many in?”
Just with a quick check, he could sense ten presences around.
Was there a problem with Celestia’s security, or were these guys
just good at their jobs… perhaps it was both.
“You’re too careless. When the enemy starts speaking, you’d best
think they’re trying to buy time… of course, you didn’t have too
many options to choose from. A dragoon without a dragon is just a
normal knight. Kill them.”
Losing interest, the three-eyed man issued orders to his men in
an emotionless voice. But Rudel laughed just a bit.
“Your words do me ill.”
With those words, he squatted with Cleo still under his arm.
Three arrows passed above his head, the three-eyed man used the
swords in both his hands to block them.
It was Millia.
Wings of magic spread out from her back. She took on an archer’s
stance, and with her next arrow, a robed man poised with a crossbow
fell from the roof.
“Rudel, you rushed out too far ahead!”
“My bad. But that timing wasn’t bad, Millia.”
To Rudel, these weren’t numbers he was unable to deal with. But
with Cleo so close, he couldn’t’ exhibit his full strength. By
Millia’s arrival, Rudel was sure the risk factor behind fighting
his way through had decreased.
“Cleo!”
Emilio cried out as he took on the three-eyed man’s subordinate
coming at him. Parrying his opponent’s sword, he used his left hand
to draw a knife from his breast-pocket and take a slash. Perhaps
his opponent was an elite as they jumped back to dodge.
But blood poured out of the mask the robed man used to breathe
as he collapsed. Seeing that, the three-eyed man clicked his
tongue.
“An elf, eh… and the Celestian knight isn’t bad. Well, even so,
he wouldn’t get far in the empire. Everyone come at them.”
Renewing his grip on his two swords, he issued orders to his
men. Millia skipped around the space, kicking from wall to wall,
firing arrows at the men. What were simple arrows stuck in deeply
as they stuck into the walls and ground, but the robed men ran
dodged through the volley as they encroached upon Rudel.
“… Sorry, but this is part of my job.”
Saying that, Rudel entrusted Cleo to Millia, who had come close
enough, and cut down one of the robed men coming at him.
The sensation of cutting through metal and flesh was something
Rudel had never experienced before. But he hadn’t the time to be
flustered by it.
The three-eyed man ran as he issued orders.
“I’ll take on the dragoon. You lot get the traitor and
princ–”
Just as he had said that much, this time the robed men with bows
began to fall from the roof. As they hit the ground, they let off
metallic sounds.
Rudel looked at the two who descended the next instant and
dispelled the magic storing up in his left hand. He had considered
sending them flying with magic, but the ones who came down did seem
to be allies.
“Good grief, my encounter rate with the underside of the Kingdom
and Empire is especially high today. (That’s totally Aleist, but I
probably shouldn’t point that out.)”
Wearing masks, the robed party of two stood in front of Rudel,
and one answered him without turning her head.
“Would you mind leaving this to us? Your mission is to guard the
princess; this one is our mission.”
Rudel sent a glance at Emilio, but in his order of precedence,
he had to prioritize Cleo. He had no need to fixate on the enemies
before his eyes. What’s more, Millia had already taken her and
left. It was possible there were other enemies in hiding.
“Then they’re all yours.”
Saying that, Rudel swiftly left the spot. A strong wind blew,
and in the next instant, he was gone.
◇
“… His strength exceeds the rumors. He might be even more
troublesome than he was in his school days, Senpai.”
Draping over the robe and mask Nate handed over, Aleist looked
at the surrounding situation and shook.
Wearing black robes, those men with round and red spectacles
peeking out of their hoods for eyes.
(What’s this supposed to mean… seriously, what!?)
The reason he was so surprised lay in Nate’s prompt order to get
ready as she led him barreling from rooftop to rooftop. By the time
he noticed it, he was being attacked, a battle unfolded, and on top
of that, he had rushed to Rudel’s aid.
“Dogs of the Kingdom, is it. No, perhaps it’s more accurate to
call you washouts.”
A man whose mask boasted three eyes called over to Aleist and
Nate. Around, Emilio and the robed men were on high alert.
… Meaning they were surrounded.
“Now go do your best, Senpai.”
Letting out a bit of a cute voice, Nate went right ahead to push
the impossible onto Aleist. She told him to take on the group
surrounding them and directing so much killing intent.
“Wait a second! Telling me to take on this many foes, no matter
how you look at it, that’s strange! That’s strange, isn’t it!?”
“Yeah, yeah, enough with the jokes. Just go do your best. You’re
my guard, aren’t you? You said you’d help me, didn’t you?”
“No, I did! I definitely said it! I just never thought it would
come to this!”
“I want to see you at your coolest. Don’t make me say it, how
embarrassing.”
“Even if you act embarrassed, you’re not cute at all!”
The exchange between the masked duo, if there was a third party
present, surely they would have opened their eyes in surprise. It
was a comedy skit one might think would continue forever, but
fed-up after all, the three-eyed man stuck in his mouth.
“Good grief, you people have no sense of tension… well then,
once you’re out of the way, we’ll be nabbing the princess.”
With a light wave of his jaw, his nearby subordinates charged at
Aleist. But…
“…!? The texture when you cut into them is creepy!!”
The moment Aleist drew his own weapons, he cut apart the robed
men coming at him. He had clearly cut them before they came into
the range of his sword, bringing a complete change to the
surrounding reactions.
The three-eyed man let out a wary voice.
“A fellow twin sword user. And a skilled one at that. How
troublesome… how truly troublesome. Slaying him here might be in
the empire’s best interest.”
With those words he had his subordinates step down and rushed at
Aleist himself.
On the other side, Nate jumped away from Aleist as she
spoke.
“Have at it, Senpai! I’ll be guarding your back.”
“No, fight alongside me! These people look terrifying!”
Even as he cried out, he didn’t take his eyes off of the
three-eyed man before his eyes. He instinctually understood that
would prove fatal.
Aleist’s swords met with that of his foes.
And seeing the enemy up close, Aleist felt like something was
coming back to him.
(Ah, could this guy be…)
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s9.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 9
Extra: Songstress 9
Aleist was a reincarnator.
He had been reborn into the world of a romance-themed game,
carrying over the knowledge from when he played it.
Yet Aleist had no memory of a country called Celestia making an
appearance. It wasn’t even that it existed in setting alone.
Wearing similar robes to the masked group he fought, Aleist
thought to himself.
(I didn’t think they’d come to another country. But why am I
fighting this guy in a place like this.)
The ‘this guy’ Aleist referred to was the man holding two barbed
swords before his eyes.
The man who used two blades just as he did, Aleist knew him.
(Gaia’s assassination unit, was it? No, I believe they called
them the special forces, but…)
Both sides swung about two swords freely, contesting with their
number of cards to play.
Around the men who seemed to be enemy grunts surrounded
Aleist.
(If you count the Celestia knight, we only have three.)
While he had inherited an overwhelming disadvantage from Rudel,
he couldn’t be negligent with the enemy before his eyes.
Of all else, the three-eyed man before him was a character who
appeared in the game.
Leading the mechanized unit that headed Gaia’s special forces,
he was a character without a name. Aleist remembered him appearing
in a number of combat events.
His main characteristics had to be the special means of attacks
he gained from his mechanization.
“This is troublesome.”
In a muddled voice, the three-eyed man who called Aleist
troublesome leapt back to take a set distance.
Seeing that, a shiver raced down Aleist’s spine.
He instantly used magic as he jumped back.
(Crap!)
As he protruded tens of black spears from the ground, a number
of them immediately shattered.
He crossed his swords to receive what impact remained of his
enemy’s attack.
“You stopped it? You’re the second one I’ve ever met who’s been
able to stop it the first time they saw that attack. You can be
proud of yourself… black knight.”
Kukuku, or so the three-eyed man burst into laughter.
He turned up and lifted the back portion of his robe to show the
sharp blade attached to the tip of the tail furnished on.
A tail of coiled metal wiring, Aleist quickly determined it
would be dangerous and destroyed it with his sword before it could
retract.
But his foe shoed some leisure.
“This truly is a wonderful feeling. For my sure-kill blow to be
stopped… Black knight, I think I’ll add you to my list.”
“List? And what list would that be?”
Aleist asked out of curiosity but instantly found himself
regretting it.
“The list of individuals I want to land the final blow on
personally! Be proud. I’ll put you in at second place.
Ahahaha–”
Said he as he sprang up.
The enemy grunts, as if to follow, raced their way up the
wall.
The black-robed group ran, they jumped… it wasn’t a pleasant
sight to see.
“… He must be quite the dangerous one.”
While his face stiffened, Aleist was relieved the enemy had
pulled back when a voice called from behind. It was Nate.
“Senpai, you’ve earned the affection of someone outrageous. That
guy, even if he looks like that, he’s the top of the Imperial
mechanized unit’s applied theory division.”
“Is that it? That’s who he was supposed to be?”
Even his title didn’t appear in the game, and Aleist only saw
him as a troublesome foe.
And now he had been recognized as the person that individual
wanted to kill second-most.
(Then who’s number one… and wait…)
At the end of his fleeting glance was the green haired man Nate
directed her dagger at. Before what appeared to be a knight of
Celestia, Aleist didn’t know what he was supposed to do.
Nate kept wary as she spoke.
“Now then, I’ll have you explain yourself, Emilio-dono. When
you’ve already called out to Courtois, I never imagined you’d
invoke accursed Gaia as well.”
Nate’s voice was lower than usual, becoming one to threaten the
other party.
In regards to the knight called Emilio, Aleist was wary as
well.
But their foe showed no signs of resistance. Forget resistance,
he tossed his sword aside and sat on the spot.
The alley floor is filthy… Aleist thought when Emilio opened his
mouth.
“I never thought it would go well. It’s just, if the possibility
existed, I had no choice but to cling to it. Otherwise, Cleo… my
little sister would be…”
Covering his face with his right hand, Emilio grit his
teeth.
“Little sister? By Cleo, you mean the princess of this country,
don’t you?”
Aleist tilted his head in wonder.
Nate saw her opponent had no will to resist and tucked away her
dagger. She decided to hear out Emilio’s circumstance.
“Based on the situation, taking you out here is my role. It
seems you have some circumstances… so why don’t you tell us about
it?”
Emilio spoke after letting out a sigh.
“Do what you will, is what I’d like to say, but I will be
putting up a last-ditch effort.”
Nate entered negotiations.
“I said based on the situation. If there’s profit to be had on
our side, I’m saying we might just cooperate with you.”
There, Emilio indifferently started into the present state of
Celestia’s underbelly.
“If it’s in my possession, be it information or anything else,
go ahead and take it. I’m fine as long as Cleo is saved. That’s my
mother’s wish.”
So Aleist got to learn the truth of Celestia.
◇
Having saved Cleo and returned to the palace, Rudel was summoned
to the king’s room.
In regards to this incident, the king proclaimed he would carry
out the questioning himself.
There were many points beyond his understanding, and this was a
foreign land, so Rudel paid it little mind as he spoke the plain
truth.
About the attack, about the combat with a unit from the Gaia
Empire, and about Emilio’s betrayal.
But he decided to cover up Aleist’s involvement.
Hearing all that, the king’s spoke without a change in
expression.
“So Emilio was an enemy spy… good grief, how disappointing.”
A prominent knight of his own country was colluding with the
enemy. It was no laughable matter.
(Even so, he doesn’t look at all panicked. Is it because the
princess is safe?)
Rudel felt something off at the king’s attitude, but he decided
to confirm his future plans.
“Will there be any change to our mission?”
There, the king spoke without looking at Rudel.
“None. You are to depart tomorrow as scheduled. There is no need
to pay mind to anything else. Tell Cleo it will all go as
planned.”
This wasn’t the attitude of a parent giving a final
farewell.
The one before him was a foreign king.
Rudel’s position was not one to stick his mouth into foreign
affairs.
But…
“She was betrayed by those closes to her. From what I’ve heard,
Emilio had accomplices as well, correct? The princess must be
feeling–”
“What a human set for death feels bears no relevance. Is that
all you wanted to say?”
Rudel glared at the king who wouldn’t hear his opinion.
He wasn’t scared. But Rudel did feel within him, this was much
too sad of an attitude from a father.
(Is it really possible to be this cold to his child?)
◇
Cleo sat on the bed of her own room.
Absentmindedly gazing out the window, she recalled the words of
her closest friend, the servant who deceived her.
‘What a dull woman. Well, such a thing shouldn’t be a problem
for bait, so I’ve no complaints. I was able to have a laugh over
how you thought of me as a friend, and your pitiful environment was
interesting enough to watch, so I’ll forgive you.’
In the narrow world she lived in, the maid would teach her all
about the world outside.
It was always a fun time for Cleo. The food at the stands, the
events of the castle town, she was the reason Cleo longed for it
so.
“So I never had any friends…”
While she felt sad, Cleo turned it around.
“It’s better the fewer people there are to be saddened by my
loss.”
It was a little sad but even so, she had a duty to fulfill. If
she did that, then surely, the smiles of many people would be
protected.
Cleo convinced herself as her tears flowed.
◇
Rudel left guard detail to Izumi and Millia as he prepared
himself for tomorrow.
Calling Sakuya to the palace courtyard, he prepared to take Cleo
to the destination point.
To Rudel, who didn’t seem up for it at all, Sakuya let out her
voice. Thought rather than a voice, it was a telepathic something
Rudel could hear.
If looked at from the side, it looked as if Rudel was talking to
himself.
‘Are you worrying, Rudel?’
“Pardon? Ah… I probably am.”
Rudel had been given a mission as a knight of Courtois. More
than his own personal feelings, he was there under orders to
accomplish the mission.
He didn’t agree with it, but if it was an order, it couldn’t be
helped.
“My order from the higherups was co complete the request of
Celestia’s king. I will take Cleo to the destination point. I’ll be
counting on you tomorrow, Sakuya.”
While he spoke of expectations, Rudel’s expression was
cloudy.
He didn’t know himself.
(If I lead Cleo there, that’s where she’ll die.)
No matter how it was phrased, Cleo was a sacrificial lamb to
protect Celestia. That was the country’s custom, and something that
had carried on for many years.
A complaint from Rudel wouldn’t get anywhere.
“If you don’t want to, you could just not.”
Sakuya was a holder of a young soul. If you don’t want to do it,
then don’t. She offered Rudel such a simple answer.
Giving a bitter smile, Rudel replied.
“If I could do that, it would be so much easier. I’ll prioritize
the mission.”
‘Cleo will die.’
Sakuya had taken a liking to Cleo.
The girl had sung to her in her pretty song voice. It had to be
a talent bestowed on Cleo from the heavens.
(If she wasn’t born as royalty… no, there’s no point thinking of
possibilities.)
Rudel also admired her song.
“… It’s a mission. Tomorrow, we will guard Cleo along the way to
the destination point.”
◇
Alongside Nate, Aleist listened to Emilio’s story at the
inn.
“What’s with that… what the hell’s with that!?”
Standing from his chair, Aleist raised his voice. That was
simply how terrible the contents he heard from Emilio must have
been.
“Senpai, how about we calm down.”
“Do you think I can stay calm!? Destroying a whole country for
personal grudge is crazy!”
The one surprised at Aleist’s outburst was Emilio.
Nate wasn’t making the best face either. But it wasn’t as if she
was particularily angry.
What Emilio told them of was the starting point, an incident ten
years prior.
“The person he liked was offered as a sacrifice? And because
Cleo’s mother made it so, he had the girl live a miserable life in
the castle? She’s his own child, is she not!”
What Aleist learned was the fact Cleo’s birth mother wasn’t the
queen. And Emilio’s identity was a prince of this country.
At present, he was officially dead, but even so, he was a male
who carried the blood of the king.
Of course, Emilio himself was raised in the slums, but that
wasn’t to say he would’ve been better off if he stayed.
“I didn’t think you would get so angry. But now you understand,
right? Cleo must not be led to the altar. The shackles on that
ancient weapon are growing weak. If she’s taken there, that
excrement will use her to set it in motion and destroy this
country. And that isn’t all… if it loses its restraints, it’ll head
to other countries as well.”
An ancient weapon, that was the identity of the guardian
deity.
Who made it for what? At this point, even the royal family
didn’t have the answer to that one, said Emilio.
But giving it a shape through the volcano’s energy, it was bound
and used as a weapon.
“I don’t know its exact value as a weapon. They say it once had
the dragoons step down, but seeing how we didn’t go on the
offensive ourselves, it must have some limitations. What’s more
important to Celestia is its byproduct effect of controlling the
volcanoes.”
The main worth of the ancient weapon lay in how it stored up
energy from the volcanoes, preventing eruption. The fact that
cities could be built so close to active volcanoes was because of
its grace.
But living so close to volcanoes carried just that many risks.
And if there was a means to control those volcanoes?
The answer was simple.
The royal house of Celestia presented sacrifices to keep it
under their control.
“A woman of the royal line, rather a blue-haired woman is
necessary. Presenting the women to maintain control over it is how
this country works.”
A question came to Aleist’s head.
He tried asking.
“Wait a second. Does this country have the necessary craft to
keep it under control? And why does it have to be a blue-haired
woman?”
But Emilio’s answer…
“Like hell I know. It’s been like that for a long time. There
are some records of trial and error, but they concluded someone
from the blue-haired tribe that used to inhabit these parts is
necessary. Cleo’s part of the tribe, the royal line took in their
blood to make a show that they were performing their obligation to
the people… this place can go to hell.”
At Emilio’s words, Aleist didn’t know what he should say.
(What’s going on? And presenting a sacrifice lets you control
the weapon? I don’t get it.)
In place of Aleist’s worries, this time Nate asked.d
“So you intended to create chaos by calling in Courtois and
Gaia, and use the mess to flee over the border? That’s quite the
grand scheme you have there.”
To a fed-up Nate, Emilio cried out.
“I didn’t have any time! It took quite the effort to become a
knight, and when I was finally high up enough to approach her, Cleo
was going to be offered as sacrifice! I’m hanging by a thread here,
you know that!”
Emilio had become a knight to save her, but by that time Cleo’s
sacrifice was upon them.
With no time to spare, he did all that was within his power. Of
course, that ended in failure.
“… By the way, after you saved that Cleo-san (?) What did you
intend to do? Played poorly, and wouldn’t you have an
uncontrollably rampaging ancient weapon on your hands, or something
like that?”
Emilio didn’t shy back from Aleist’s question.
“Who knows? That’s none of my business. Why should I care about
the people who affirmed our sacrifices and killed our clan
generation after generation for their own sakes?”
Aleist grasped Emilio’s lapels and lifted them up.
“You’re…!”
Nate breathed a sigh as she mediated and had the two sit.
“Give it a rest already. This talk isn’t getting anywhere.
Senpai, endure it. And Emilio-dono, don’t rile him up. You know
full well your time is limited.”
On Nate’s words, Emilio lifted his hips.
“Then you’ll save Cleo!?”
She shook her head.
“We are not here to save her. Courtois shares a border with
Celestia. And Gaia’s special forces are moving around. I don’t want
to give them any information. Good grief, if you just called us
alone, it would’ve been so much easier.”
As Nate spilled complaints, Emilio averted his gaze.
He was just a little ashamed of his lack of foresight.
“So anyways, what are you going to do, senpai? I’m going to go
ahead on my own from here on out, but you’re free to participate.
Ah, but! If you help out, you’ll raise my affection points!”
Nate touched a hand to her face, taking a pose as she sent a
glance at Aleist. But Aleist handled brushed her aside and looked
at Emilio.
“… What?”
“I have a condition. I don’t want to have any casualties. I want
to make it so the princess can be saved, and no one has to die
after that. If that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll provide as much
help as you want.”
At the condition Aleist presented, Emilio looked amazed.
“Are you stupid? If something like that was possible, someone
would be doing it.”
“Senpai, you’re so soft. Though I do like that part of you.”
Ignoring Nate’s statement, Aleist looked at Emilio. At his
serious gaze, Emilio violently ruffled up his own hair.
“Tsk, we’ll have the residents evacuate. I don’t know if the
ancient weapon can be stopped, after all. Rather, even I can’t tell
you what’ll happen if the sacrifice isn’t presented.”
“That’s way too conceited! After the princess is gone, won’t
someone else just take her place.”
As Aleist said that, Emilio’s expression turned serious.
“… The one selected as sacrifice has to be a woman of
appropriate age. They can’t be too young or too old. Right now… the
only candidate is Cleo.”
Emilio seemed hard pressed to sat it. Hearing that, Nate’s
expression turned somewhat grim.
“There’s definitely something wrong with the organization of a
country that can’t even secure a backup, but personally speaking, I
do feel a little sorry.”
Aleist recalled how the blue-haired Nate had been mistaken as
someone concerned on the main road. She had denied it herself, but
was she perhaps related?
He thought.
“A-anyways! My condition for helping is making it so there won’t
be casualties! I won’t let up on that!”
At Aleist’s words, Emilio offered some cynicism.
“Not even the unit from Gaia, and those that get in our way? No
casualties at all is impossible.”
“T-that’s…”
Losing his momentum, Aleist looked at Emilio’s expression.
(He laughed?)
It looked just a little sad, but it was a smile that had a tint
of joy.
“Well, black knight, was it? I want to borrow your strength, so
I’ll try to keep casualties to a minimum. Oh, that’s right… I do
know some people who might help out.”
Aleist tilted his head.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/title-page.txt
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Dragoon Extra: Songstress
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
|
s1.txt
|
EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 1
Extra: Songstress 1
This is a story without much relation to the main plot. It is my
hope you enjoy it as a side story where dragoon characters make an
appearance.
Down a path buried up by droves of people passed the caravan of
gorgeous carriages.
The sky was blue. The scenery colored by fluttering confetti was
one to sing praise of a single princess in the largest
carriage.
Inside that carriage rode only that single beautiful girl,
alongside the young knight that served as her guard.
The cheers buried up the surrounding noises. From inside the
carriage, the white dress-clad young girl waved her hand. Her skin
was pale and her frail, slender body gave off the impression it
might snap in two. And then was her curling blue hair, that could
be called her most notable feature.
Her waving, gleaming blue hair grew to around her lower back. As
she waved from the window, her hidden left hand gripped her
pendant… the item that proved she was of the royal line, a small
gold egg-shaped item engraved with the cursed seal of Celestia.
Everyone celebrated the birth of a new shrine maiden, rejoicing
as they offered up Princess Cleo Celestia of the Celestia royal
line.
With this they’d be safe. They’d be at peace for another few
decades. Cleo understood what was on everyone’s minds.
In the first place, these cheers and the smiles on the peoples’
faces, all of it… was delight over her own sacrifice.
The green-eyed Cleo, under her smile, she wasn’t able to think
anything. She had been born to do so. Her role had finally come,
nothing more, nothing left.
It would be too pitiful for her young little sister. Her
brothers wouldn’t be able to fulfill the role.
The clan raised as sacrifices would regularly offer up a woman
every few decades. The people would think of them as maidens
offered to their guardian god.
Cleo was royalty. But for the peace of the country, she would
offer her very life to the protector… How tragic. From the eyes of
the people who knew nothing, it looked as if the royal family was
fulfilling their obligation.
In truth, royal blood did flow through Cleo’s veins. But that
blood had been carefully prepared outside the current royalty.
Cleo’s family was merely being kept alive, a clan of sacrifices
royal in name alone. The energy supply of the ancient weapon, that
demanded life every few tens of years.
In order to replenish it, Cleo was henceforth set to die.
She would continue on the carriage, making for a mountain on the
edge of the continent. She would enter the ruins on that active
volcano of a mountain, offer her life to the weapon, and that would
be the end of it. Right, that’s where it was supposed to end.
Cleo first thought it strange when the carriage stopped at a
spot it wasn’t planned to stop. When she thought they had run upon
some trouble, in the next instant, the surrounding knights acting
as guards started charging straight ahead.
And knights gathered around them as well. Wearing white,
ceremonial armor, those elites of Celestia bragged that their
training and devotion fell not short of the high knights of the
large power of Courtois.
“Protect the princess!”
“No matter what, we have to protect her from these bandits.”
“Dammit! They were hiding in the crowd!”
Things did not seem to be going very well outside.
“Why did it come to this…”
While Cleo was the surprised, the young knight hung over
her.
“Princess, get down! It will be dangerous if an arrow flies our
way!”
Even if they tried to run, they were unable to go out into the
main street crowded with people. They could only trust in the
carriage, built not only pomp, but sturdy as well.
So following the words of her guard… no, the knight keeping
watch over her, Cleo had no choice but to meekly quiver.
The young knight’s name was Emilio Balhart. His green hair grew
long, and he was a fair knight of Celestia. Called the wonder child
of Celestia, once in knight school, he easily changed that name to
genius.
Even after enlisting in a brigade, his rumors would all extol
him. His service only covered a few year, but it was said he was on
the way to becoming knight captain and he was stipulated to be the
country’s strongest knight.
Many women would envy a position of being protected by him. But
thinking to the contrary, that meant there was a need for strong
enough surveillance to dispatch such an elite knight.
(Mother…)
Cleo felt the sounds of battle outside gradually grow in
intensity, too scared to help it. But while she had lived for
nothing more than to be a sacrifice, she hated the thought of dying
without fulfilling her role. Otherwise, her young little sister
would be offered in her place.
(Just to the ruins… we just had to make it to the altar.
Why won’t they just let us be?)
To protect the girl on the verge of tears, Emilio, who’d been
keeping watch of the outside, let out his voice. Cleo required just
a bit of time before she realized that.
“It’s dangerous here, princess! We need to withdraw.”
“… Eh? We can’t, Emilio. The ceremony can’t start without me.
What’s more, if we return come so far, the palace’s standing
will…”
“Right now, your life is more important, princess! We’ll
withdraw and reorganize our formation. The carriage ahead’s been
attacked, so we can’t go further in this. We have to go
outside.”
The carriage in front carried the ceremonial tools. It took
quite some time to prepare them. While she didn’t want to cast them
aside, she saw there was some sense in Emilio’s words and jumped
down from the carriage.
Emilio pulled her by the hand, and as they left the carriage,
the street buried in cheers had changed to the intense sounds of
battle. Outside, she could hear even more noises that rung through
her ears. Alongside the din of clashing metal, the sensation of
magic being fired off.
Cleo wanted to hurry from the spot. She didn’t feel sorry for
the surrounding knights, for this was their job. And her own job
meant for her to offer her life.
She told herself so as she fled with Emilio who pulled her down
the way. In their way, a man who had likely slipped into the crowd
held a weapon in hand as he came at them. Emilio pulled his sword
to knock it from his hand.
“Stand down, ruffian!”
For now, perhaps prioritizing their escape, Emilio sprinted into
the gap between buildings on the main road without landing the
finishing blow. Cleo had never been somewhere like that before.
Unlike the main streets, an unpleasant smell wafted about.
At the same time, there was trash littered around the place
making it difficult to run.
“Princess, just a little further.”
“I’m sorry, Emilio. I’ve caused you nothing but trouble…”
As Emilio continued running through the small spaces between
buildings, he looked to Cleo like a reliable knight. When she had
no idea where she was and she had even started to forget which way
they’d gone, Emilio continued proceeding on.
He turned a right, and next a left. He ran down the stairs.
Once the left the narrow path, a small river was flowing. A
different terrible smell came from there. It was the smell of a
drain.
“This might be harsh on you, princess, but this is all to get
away.”
“I know. I don’t intend to fixate on these trivial matters.”
Thinking Leo’s hand would let her get away, as the sounds of
battle grew distance, Cleo found a little of her composure. If an
ally appeared here, she would have more peace of mind. But it
seemed the ones who appeared were no allies.
“It’s a dead end this way.”
Just as they tried to cross the bridge, they were pincered in
the front and back. Unlike the ones who had slipped in with the
people, the men this time wore robes with swords hung at their
waists. From the leisure with which they held themselves, they
likely thought they would win if they pressed through with
numbers.
Three in the front, and two in the back.
Cleo gave Emilio’s hand one strong squeeze before letting go.
Emilio shifted the sword he held in one hand to a two-handed
grip.
“Princess, leave this to me.”
“I’m counting on you, Emilio.”
If it was Emilio, even called Celestia’s strongest knight, then
he would be able to break through this dilemma. Cleo believed
so.
The robed men drew their swords. Emilio took a stance as well.
Protecting Cleo in the center of the bridge, he kept wary of foes
on both sides.
… It was at that moment.
“Princessss!”
It wasn’t elite knights but soldiers who rushed to their aid.
The robed men clicked their tongues before running away.
“We’re saved, Emilio.”
Relieved, Cleo called over to Emilio. But Emilio didn’t look so
optimistic. His grip on his sword remained firm as he glared at the
soldiers rushing over.
(Has the enemy donned a disguise?)
She felt awkward, doubting the soldiers who rushed to their aid,
but if Emilia didn’t let his guard down, she thought she would
imitate.
The soldiers noticed they were being suspected and hurriedly
stowed their weapons.
“We’re, um… we’ve been assigned to guard the small gate beyond
this point. We’re on break right now, and we’d gone to the main
road. Wanted to catch a glimpse of the princess off to the ritual.
So anyway, we saw the princess and companion running and hurriedly
rushed to your aid. My apologies.”
The city was surrounded by walls, and apart from the main gate
for standard use, there were other gates one could pass through.
The sluice gate to let in the river water fit that description.
There were a number of small gates, and in order to protect them,
there were usually soldiers permanently stationed.
But it wasn’t the sort place knights were deployed. If anything
happened, they could seal the gates at a moment’s notice, so such
places were occupied by hired soldiers.
Cleo looked over their equipment and saw the plating the
gatekeepers wore around their waists.
The large leaderish man boasted an unshaven face and looked
especially wild. The slender man with the spear looked to be in ill
health and somewhat unreliable. For the small fat man, a portion of
his stomach even stuck out of the provided equipment.
The men looked suspicious by all accounts, but they were looking
at them apologetically. As Emilio stepped out front, knights and
soldiers began to appear behind them.
“Found them!”
“Really!?”
“It’s true. They really survived!”
One of the knights who raced over was one of Cleo’s guards.
Seeing his face, she felt truly relieved. The small, fat man spoke
with just a bit of pride.
“Hmhmhm, I thought this would happen, so I called out to the
soldiers. I drew arrows on the wall along the way, making sure they
could get here no problem. I mean, we got lost the hell of
it.”
“Not bad, soldier!”
“It’s true. You did good, kid!”
The unshaven man and the tall man praised the small one. Seeing
that, Cleo was at a loss for words. But it was certain they were
allies. Holding up his sword, Emilio spoke.
“Looks like it’s alright.”
“Yes. It does seem they’re on our side. I was one step away from
cutting them.”
Sheathing away his sword, Emilio looked at the three-man soldier
party.
“Yes, I’m truly glad it never came to that.”
A relieved Cleo was led right off towards the palace, protected
by knights and soldiers. When she returned to the main road that
had been suppressed, the knights had walked following the arrows
the plump man drew. Looking back at the path she had rushed down
too fast, the maze-like back alleys and the smells made her head
spin. All the tensions she had never felt before had been put off
until that moment.
There, the man in charge muttered apologetically.
“My apologies, princess. It’s about the ceremonial tools, but
they were destroyed in the attack. A bolt of magic struck the
carriage directly, and they’ve all been rendered impossible to
use.”
Which meant the ceremony couldn’t be held. The tools prepared
specifically for that day were lost, and Cleo lamented she would be
unable to fulfill her duty. When she had been born to fulfill her
role, that was no longer possible.
“There can be no helping it. I’m sure father will prepare a
replacement at once. We must exercise patience.”
On Cleo’s words, the knights made vexed faces as well. They
couldn’t fulfill their role. You could call it natural. Within all
of that, Emilio along made a disgruntled expression.
◇
In the royal palace of the Kingdom of Courtois, three knights
temporarily recalled from the outer reaches showed their faces at
the office of the knight brigade they were affiliated with.
Self-proclaimed charmer in his prime Captain Oldart gave a smile
before those three. His gaze was mainly directed at the good Major
Bennet. A female knight of the wolf tribe, and tamer of a water
dragon, she was the highest-ranking officer of the three.
“Yeah, good work on your mission in the outer reaches, Major
Bennet.”
“Sir! It is an honor.”
Enthusiastic about her work, Bennet boasted a short status and
cute appearance, but sticking her chest out, she gave a splendid
salute. The captain shifted his eyes to the side to look at the
remaining two.
The first was Lieutenant Keith. Similar to Bennet, he was a
dragoon who rode a water dragon, but the captain didn’t want to get
too involved with him, so he gave a vague compliment.
“Ah, Keith, you did alri–”
“Your words are too much for me! To convey my greatest delight,
today let the two of us–”
“And finally Rudel.”
Cutting Keith off early, Oldart finally looked at the real
target, Rudel. The knight who rode a white dragon… a future
archduke, a young man with both status and fame. Even within the
elite dragoon brigade, he was considerably conspicuous.
From the moment of his enlistment, he kept creating legends, and
he was a troublesome young man some called the new legacy. Of
silver hair and blue eyes, he looked at the captain as a child
would.
“Rudel… it’s that. You need to work a little harder.”
“Why is that!?”
From Oldart’s personal reasons, his evaluation of Rudel was low.
As Rudel fell into a slump, Bennet called over to him.
“Rudel, you’re before the captain. Stick out your chest. If
you’re displeased with your evaluation, then put in the effort to
change it. You’ve no time to be down. What matters is results.”
On Bennet’s words, Rudel nodded and straightened his back.
There, Bennet nodded as well.
“That’s right.”
Seeing that relation of superior and subordinate, Oldart spoke
to Rudel.
“This is why I hate you!”
The scene of the dragoon’s idol-esque existence Bennet being
kind on her subordinate Rudel was one Oldart couldn’t bring himself
to accept. From her… from Bennet’s lovable appearance, she was a
valuable existence doted on by subordinate and superior alike.
(And I’ll tell you, the form of Bennet-chan fidgeting nervously
after a subordinate calls her cute is the cutest!)
He was that sort of terrible captain, but he cut the jokes
there. In order to talk about work, he pulled an envelope from his
desk drawer. In it detailed a mission that wasn’t thought to be
particularily important.
“Now then, that’s all for the jokes. I’m changing the subject,
but Rudel, a separate mission has been prepared for you.”
“Why is that!?”
“That’s terrible, captain!”
This time Bennet and Keith raised their voices. Oldart breathed
out a sigh as he continued on. Bennet didn’t want her ideal
subordinate Rudel to leave. Keith… after thinking that far, Oldart
shifted his thoughts.
“I told you, I’m not joking. This isn’t a long term mission. You
know of the country of Celestia we’ve tied an alliance with? We
were told to prepare a dragoon guard for them.”
Placing the envelope on the table, Oldart produced a paper from
it. On it, the details of the incident in Celestia were written
out. Rudel accepted the paper and made a conflicted face.
“Based on what’s written, isn’t it bad for them to use a knight
from another country?”
Oldart waved his left hand dismissively as he answered.
“With the attack, there’s the civilians’ feelings, you see. They
want to give the image that they’ve pulled in a dragoon and they’re
working him to the bone. This is getting political, but it would be
troublesome for Courtois if a small country dragged on past matters
forever. Since it’s come to that, they’re sending in the flashy you
and Sakuya to show them how much better we are! Or so the higher
ups are thinking. Also, this and that happened, concerning the
result, it would be better if we dispatched someone.”
When it came to politics, Rudel had too little information to
work with to make a decision, so he stuck the papers under his arm
and gave a salute. Oldart was relieved Rudel hadn’t declined the
mission. If he did, with that dubious title of future archduke, it
would spell trouble.
In that regards, it was a real help he was diligent in his work.
While he joke about lowering Rudel’s evaluation, he was rightly
evaluating Rudel’s work in itself. Even when flown off to
borderland, he knew he was working hard in his duties and the
region’s development.
From Oldart’s point of view, if only his status was removed,
he’d be a proficient subordinate.
“But captain, Rudel has designated overseers.”
Bennet brought up Rudel’s overseers… the ones who followed him
under the name of special inspectors, causing Oldart to recall
those two female knights.
“Ah, those girls. Take them along, why don’t you. No, definitely
take them along. I’m anxious with Rudel alone.”
“… If you’re worried, should I go too? Even if I look like this,
I’m more knowledgeable on etiquette than some foreign woman and elf
woman.”
When Oldart said he was worried, Keith stepped into the
conversation. He got the feeling there was some wrath included in
the ‘woman’ portion, and that was likely not his imagination.
However…
“Rejected. I can’t send you into an important allied country.
Good grief.”
To Oldart’s exasperation, Keith was moved. Just how do you
misinterpret that in a way so convenient to you, Oldart looked at
Keith’s expression and thought.
“Captain, you want me by your side so b–”
“Wrong! Don’t get any closer!”
Oldart grew angry for real, and standing from his chair, he put
his back against the window as he cried out. Both Rudel and Bennet
looked over the two in wonder. But it was a mission, so Rudel
looked over the contents of the documents once more. Perhaps Bennet
thought the conversation was done as well, as she strayed over
Rudel’s side and confirmed the contents.
“If they’re sending my subordinate, they’ll need my
signature.”
“You’re right. There’s a line for your signature, Major. It’s all
yours.”
“Quite right. Because I’m your commanding officer!”
Seeing Bennet rejoice over the words commanding officer, Oldart
felt healed as he tried to do something about this situation with a
dangerous individual closing in.
“Oy, Keith, don’t cross that line!”
“Isn’t it fine, captain? Just look over there, this is all part
of superior, subordinate communication!”
“You fool, stay back!”
Oldart’s office was quite chaotic.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s10.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 10
Extra: Songstress 10
Cleo lay on the bed in her room.
Night had come, but even if she tried to, she couldn’t
sleep.
The one who called over to her at that time was Millia.
“Um, how should I put it…”
Having heard the circumstances, she had learned of the truth
that the maid Cleo thought of as a friend had betrayed.
For that sake, she tried to be tactful towards Cleo.
“… I appreciate your thoughts towards me. But it’s alright. I
will be participating in tomorrow’s ceremony, after all.”
“S-so… if you’re alright with me, I wouldn’t mind being your
fri–”
Millia’s proposal received an immediate response.
“Please stop right there! Don’t say something like that…”
Millia was silenced.
(I’m sure she must think I’m a terrible woman. But even if I
make a friend right before I die, I’m…)
To Cleo, failure couldn’t be permitted in the next ritual.
He had her obligation as a daughter of the royal house, and she
had been told all her life to fulfill her duty.
(I… even so, I must do my duty.)
Cleo endured her tears as she waited for the sun to rise.
◇
The dungeon beneath the castle…
Before night gave way to dawn.
A party of three with black robes over their bodies.
Those three with their hoods pulled deep down came into contact
with the three sleeping in one of the cells.
“Oy, you lot.”
“What is it now? We just followed our orders and~.”
The one who called out to the half-asleep faces of Ben, Pono and
Passan was Emilio.
Aleist stayed on high alert as he complained.
“Is this place really supposed to be that easy to
infiltrate?”
As he said that, Nate sounded fed-up.
“You’re the amazing one, senpai. Entering a shadow to move… just
having the combat prowess to stand against Gaia’s mechanized unit
is amazing enough.”
From Aleist’s point of view, being complimented like that only
made him tilt his head.
Of all else, he was surrounded by people much more amazing.
With all the trouble he went through in his student days, he
would often wonder if his abilities were even high at all.
The individuals he had met up to that point, from Aleist’s eyes,
they were all cheat-class characters.
“You think? When I look at Rudel and the others, I can’t help
but feel I fall short. Though I have put in some effort.”
“… The very fact you can even compare yourself to those crazies
puts you at a considerably high level, senpai.”
While the two of them conversed, Emilio negotiated with the
three.
“S-so you had a reason like that!”
“Captain, let us help out! I don’t want to stay useless like
this.”
“I don’t want that either. I feel sorry for the princess.”
As Aleist hadn’t been listening in to what they were saying, he
tried asking Emilio as the man used the key to free them.
“What exactly did you tell them to smooth it over?”
On those words, Emili’s face turned just a little serious.
But his expression immediately crumbled.
“Nothing more than the truth. These guys are good folk at heart.
So they’re easy to deceive.”
“You deceived them!?”
Quietly exclaiming to Emilio, Aleist looked at the three
shedding tears as they left their cell.
Returning his eyes to Emilio once more, he was laughing a
bit.
It wasn’t an unpleasant smile. It was one of true delight.
“… I intended to let them out regardless. But while we’re at it,
might as well get their help.”
“In the end, what do you want to do? Saying you don’t care, then
helping these three.”
Aleist tried weighing out Emilio.
“It’s probably true that he wants to save that princess called
Cleo. And they do call him boss.”
Emilio was Cleo’s real brother.
Meaning he was a prince of this country.
But his father Barquah devised a plan to send his own country to
ruin.
The ringleader behind the princess’ attack was the king.
(This is way too complicated. Shouldn’t it be a bit more…
aaarrggh!!)
Dismayed, Aleist watched the form of Emilio issue orders to the
three.
By Emilio’s plan, they would carefully cause explosions and
fires across the palace and town to evacuate its residents.
By Barquah’s plan, the king would crush all home, and as the
people were panicking left and right, he would use the ancient
weapon to destroy the castle town.
But normally, it would be strange for the influential people of
the country to go along with such a plan.
(A war against an ancient weapon… that event was never in the
game.)
Even if he knew this world wasn’t a game, he would still find
himself taking these things as events.
Aleist shook his head to the side to change his train of
thought.
(I have to stop them. The King of Celestia’s plan, and the
ancient weapon.)
For that sake, Nate had set up contraptions across town.
Mechanisms to produce smoke, to raise ruckuses around and direct
people towards evacuation.
“Alright, here are your orders. If any explosions break out at
the castle, you’re to rouse all the folks in the barracks and have
them help evacuate the residents. Here’s the official decree.”
Emilio took out the document he had brought and handed it over
to the leader Ben.
Accepting it, Ben took a nervous look over it.
“C-captain, is it really alright for me to hold something like
this?”
As the unshaven man trembled, Emilio dropped the bomb.
“Don’t worry… it’s fake.”
“Fake!!?”
On Pono’s surprise, Emilio cautioned him to keep quiet.
“We’ve made arrangement for smoke to rise all over the place.
You are to prioritize evacuating the citizenry, and once that’s
done, your job is to protect them. It’s a vital role… you can do
it, right?”
There was no doubt it was an important job.
Hearing that, the three nodded with serious expressions. Emilio
gave a warm smile, handing over their equipment he had brought
along.
“When you’re done changing, keep a low profile until you hear
the explosions. You need only take advantage of the confusion to
move as planned. Make sure you properly carry out your orders.”
“Leave it to us, captain!”
“We’re finally starting to look like a unit!”
“And the captain is actually relying on us!”
Once the three started changing, Aleist checked over the
scheduled time with Nate.
“It should be happening soon, right?”
“Yes. Right about…”
At that instant.
The sound of an explosion rung through the castle walls. Hearing
that, everyone’s expression turned to surprise.
“What is the meaning of this!?”
As Emilio drew close to Nate, the party-of-three looked around
nervously. Aleist was the same, but he calmly looked at Nate.
“The scale of that explosion was strange… it’s not the one I
set.”
Hearing that, Aleist did hit on something.
(… The ones specialized for this sort of thing, if I recall
correctly…)
◇
Izumi exchanged slashes with a black-robed assembly in a palace
corridor.
Her drawn katana cut at the mechanical soldiers before her
eyes.
On her horizontal swipe, her foe leapt back to take distance.
But seeing the cracks spread down his arm he had guarded, the
machine man’s wariness instantly spiked.
Behind Izumi, there were knights and soldiers of Celestia as
well.
“… Judging by the uniform, you’re a High Knight of
Courtois.”
The mechanical soldiers lowered their hips and came at her at
once in a coordinated assault.
“Kuh!”
Izumi sent out shockwaves, but perhaps she was dealing with
elites, as even if she managed a cut, they avoided anything fatal.
As she drew her sword back in, she cut the enemy fast-approaching
before her eyes.
But the sensation she got wasn’t that of human flesh.
“So these are the mechanized men Rudel was talking about.”
Izumi looked around to see a number of Celestian soldiers and
knights were on the ground. In that space, a number of enemies had
slipped through.
But Izumi didn’t move.
Because in order to confine her, a few enemies had remained.
“H-High Knight! Just what could-”
A Celestian knight asked in dismay, but all Izumi knew was the
fact her opponents were soldiers of Gaia.
“We are dealing with a unit from the Gaia Empire. Be careful…
they’re elites.”
As Izumi took a stance, her foe did the same.
Of course, the enemy’s main objective was to buy time. They
wouldn’t force themselves to go on the offense.
On top of the presence of enemy and ally forces around her, the
narrow corridor made it difficult for Izumi to move around.
(How shameful… to think I would be this useless in a real
battle.)
Deeply vexed, Izumi stepped in and cut.
Her opponent leapt back and used a projectile.
While she hit it aside with her blade, another enemy used a
similar means to attack the Celestian knights.
The concealed arrow pierced in, and yet another knight was
down.
“Don’t force yourselves to go up front!”
“W-when a woman is taking a lead, you think the knights can
stand down!?”
Even on Izumi’s warning, the knights didn’t step back. But a
majority of them were only equipped with their swords.
They were attacked in their sleep, a majority of them were
forced to leap out without any decent equipment.
(Our defense is too fragile. Why is it so… we were already
attacked once, shouldn’t we be on high alert?)
On the unsightliness of Celestia’s correspondence, Izumi
couldn’t help but feel something contrived.
◇
On a balcony overlooking the mountain the ancient weapon was
sealed, Barquah listened to the surrounding turmoil alone.
Riding the wind, a burnt stench reached him.
“We’ve got some boorish visitors among us. What say you…
Emilio.”
To where he turned, three robed figures stood.
It was Emilio, Aleist and Nate.
“Boorish? Is this not precisely the sort of chaos you wished
for?”
Emilio glared at Barquah. While the king received a glance
imbued with such hatred, upon seeing it, he burst into
laughter.
“What a comforting glance indeed! That hatred of yours, it gives
me the purest confirmation my revenge has succeeded.”
Seeing Barquah laugh, Aleist took a step forward and took a
stance.
“What are you talking about… doing something like this for petty
revenge, are you crazy!?”
Hearing Aleist’s words, Barquah scoffed.
“I don’t know who you might be, but you sound quite eager to
stick your mouth into another’s household affairs.”
“H-household affairs? When you’re making a mess of your country,
you call it household affairs?”
Aleist drew his sword, and Nate took out her weapons as
well.
Emilio slowly pulled his saber.
“The country is of no importance to me. This is simple revenge.
My wife died in the place of the woman who birthed that
good-for-nothing! And after fleeing her own duty, the woman who
abandoned her own sister to die, dropped dead in some ditch!
Because of that, my wife was…”
Aleist’s failure to understand set him bewildered.
Having noticed that, Barquah knew it was the end, so he began
talking from his heart.
“Twin sisters of the clan were sent to me. I was to marry one of
them and bring up children with both. It is the job of the royal
house. That’s all my marriage would be… so I thought.”
The hilt of the saber Emilio gripped let off a grating
sound.
“… You abandoned my and Cleo’s mother, dammit!”
While he heard it, Barquah thought nothing of it as he continued
his explanation.
“Yes, but the one I loved was the other. My conversations with
her, can you imagine the solace they offered me… I fell so deeply
in love I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
Barquah looked at the view of the castle town he could see from
the balcony.
And at that blazing scene, he directed a smile.
“How truly wonderful. The sight of the people who raised an
uproar for me to offer my wife in the place of the woman who ran
away, the sight of them falling to hell truly clears the
heart.”
“T-this man… is mad.”
On Aleist’s words, Barquah turned and glared at the three.
“That’s right! This country maddened me! The system of this
country is what’s cornered me to such an extent.”
With a step forward in her mask, Nate asked Barquah.
“Did you need to go so far to get your revenge? Then shouldn’t
there have been a much more efficient way to go about it?”
Barquah let a low-brow smile cross his face.
“I thought I would have that woman’s son and daughter see hell
as they lived on. It was the greatest farce! The faithful, foolish
daughter who lived to carry out her duty. Driven out of the palace,
the foolish son living a filthy life in the slums! It truly was a
comforting scene to watch!”
Having lived solely for revenge, it seemed not a fragment of his
feelings as a father remained.
Seeing that, Emilio grit his teeth.
“So you knew everything?”
Barquah answered his question with a refreshing smile.
“That’s right. I watched in pleasure as you crawled your way up.
Knowing you would start something, at the end of the end, your
hopes would spill from your hands… that was the instant I wanted to
see. Of course, Cleo’s miserable state was also a sight to behold.
She resembled that woman so closely, I hated and hated her more
than I could bear.”
The root of this malice… this serious of events, Barquah had
been pulling the strings of them all.
Once they figured out that was the case, Emilio and Aleist’s
expressions dyed in hatred.
Barquah’s smile took a turn for the supreme.
“That’s right… hate me. My hatred is far greater than that!”
Aleist spoke to him.
“You’re crazy… do you hate everything around you so badly!?”
Barquah spread his arms out, turning to the three as he
spoke.
“… A love that doesn’t drive one to madness on its loss isn’t
true love at all, my boy.”
The next instant.
The mountain that could be seen at the end of the balcony
erupted.
It was an explosion that even shook the castle, but in contrast
to its scale, the magma that rose from it was scarce. Seeing that,
Aleist noticed something was off.
“W-what’s this!?”
In the dark night sky, a number of red light rose from the
castle town.
With the volcano’s eruption, magma had begun to spout.
From within it, it looked as if a giant something was trying to
crawl its way out of the mountain.
“So why don’t we change the schedule? It would be boring to
leave this country’s final act to that boorish lot. Don’t you think
finishing it by my hand would be a happier ending?”
As Barquah said that, the giant something’s single eye gleamed
as it began making its way towards them.
Nate cried out.
“It can’t be, it’s really moving!”
Emilio quietly walked up and raised his saber. Seeing that,
Barquah laughed.
“It’s a pity I won’t see this country’s end, but I’ll be heading
to the side of my beloved. I’ve kept her waiting quite a long
while… I love you, —-”
His body was cut through, his blood fluttered through the air.
As he leisurely gazed over that scene, he collided with the
handrail, and his body took a fall.
An upside-down Barquah watched over the castle town wrapped in
fire as he fell.
“Now here is where hell begins.”
The moment he fell. And even after he collided, Barquah’s face
was smiling.
◇
Led off by Millia, Cleo ran down the corridor jumbled with enemy
and ally.
Assailed by an intense tremor along the way, they headed outside
through a shattered windowpane.
The scenery that awaited them was certainly hell.
“It can’t be… the castle town is…”
“This is terrible.”
Cleo touched both hands to her mouth, shaking.
Millia looked at the scenery and muttered.
The flames blazed up as a giant something set course towards
them.
As the morning sun slowly rose from beyond the mountain, its
form gradually grew vivid.
“I-it’s that thing we saw at the souvenir shop.”
As Millia said that, Cleo crouched on the spot.
There, a group of a few appeared before her.
“We’ve finally found you. I never thought the ancient weapon
would start up… but that body of yours is to become research
material for the empire. We will make you useful, Princess
Cleo.”
A man whose three red eyes let off an ominous light…
The captain of the mechanized unit held a sword in each
hand.
Millia came out front and poised her bow, but the man’s
movements were different from what she saw in the alley.
“Wha!”
Instantly circling around, those three red eyes became tails of
red light. Looking where he ended up, he had circled around to
Millia’s right side.
His remaining subordinates came at Millia.
“It doesn’t matter if you kill the guard. For the princess as
well, an arm or a leg is–”
The three-eyed man said as he lifted his sword, only for Rudel
to arrive at the scene.
As magic in the shape of blades of light pierced into the floor,
the men jumped back at once.
“You’re late, Rudel!”
Landing then and there, Rudel pulled his sword and readied the
shield of his left hand.
Wearing his white armor, Rudel spoke to Millia.
“I’m sorry. I ran into some troublesome ones along the way.”
As he said that, Rudel used his shield to bash aside the
mechanized soldier coming at him.
Glowing shields manifested around, floating and gathering around
Cleo.
“Eh, this is…”
As Cleo remained unable to comprehend the surrounding situation,
once more, an ally appeared on the spot.
As a black shadow was cast onto the ground, three figures
emerged from it.
“I-it’s Rudel after all… and wait, carrying two people in that
thing is harsh…”
Aleist tossed his robe aside. He was wearing armor under it.
“We were right to load it into Sakuya-chan’s bags. Right,
senpai?”
Nate handed over his helmet and Aleist pulled it down on his
head.
“So you guys came too. By the way… I feel like I recognize your
companion.”
As Rudel said that, Emilio looked at Cleo.
“Cleo!”
“E-Emilio…”
Cleo began taking distance from him.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s11.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 11
Extra: Songstress 11
Rudel wore his white armor over his body, Aleist was clad in his
black.
The white and black knights stood side by side in the Celestia
Castle courtyard.
Fires were rising across the castle town and the townsfolk had
begun their evacuation.
Izumi darted out for more freedom in combat and looked
around.
“And now I’m surrounded.”
The mechanized unit of the Gaia Empire.
An elite unit thrown into dark, backroom missions, it was made
up of those whose bodies were mainly mechanical.
The three red eyed man who commanded that elite force held a
barbed sword in each hand.
A tail protruded from his robe. Freely moving it around, he
looked amused as he looked their way.
Across his visor, Rudel spoke to Izumi.
“Aleist and I will handle this. Izumi, Millia, go protect the
princess. You too, Na… masked woman I do not know.”
Both Rudel and Aleist lowered their hips and readied their
weapons.
Those around kept wary of their every move.
As Izumi remained wary of Emilio, Nate in her mask
explained.
“It’s alright. Please think of him as an ally. As long as it
comes to protecting Cleo-san, he is our comrade in arms.”
Aleist also spoke to Rudel.
“That’s how it is, so while I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on,
for now we have to work together… there are too many enemies.”
Around then, the enemy mechanized unit continued to shuffle and
gather.
Why were so many able to slip in?
As he thought that, Rudel—
“How long has it been since we fought together?”
“Not since we met Sakuya? I get the feeling it’s been a real
long time… I only really remember getting into slugfests with
you.”
As the two of them started an out-of-place conversation, a
number of the mechanized unit came at them.
The one who called them to a stop was the three-eyed man.
“Stand down!”
Rudel had smacked one to the side with his shield, while Aleist
had used the long-hilted swords he held in both hands to stop the
attack of another.
And once the enemy Aleist pinned down was cut down by Rudel,
Aleist’s hands were free, and his unoccupied left-hand sword
pierced into another foe.
A reddish black oil spouted as the two enemy soldiers were flung
away.
The enemy soldier Rudel had bashed didn’t move after he collided
with a wall.
Rudel spoke.
“Head to where Sakuya is. If she moves, the castle will
crumble.”
The reason Sakuya hadn’t come to their aid was because the
castle interior was still a jumble of enemy and ally. If she made
any wrong moves, she would end up injuring allies.
But if they could make it to Sakuya, they’d be safe.
“Her clumsiness is inconvenient at times like this.”
And Rudel,
“But that’s what makes her so cute”
The three-eyed man issued orders to his men.
“Cut at them with the resolve to become sacrifices for the
cause. The white and black knight… take their heads, and glory
shall follow for eternity! It will be a severe loss to
Courtois!”
As the surrounding soldiers made for Rudel, Izumi took Cleo’s
hand and ran off.
“You two better survive!”
As the two of them raced off towards the enemy, whether Izumi’s
voice even reached or not…
Millia ran watching their back, while Nate and Emilio took the
vanguard.
◇
Under his helmet, Rudel moved his eyes.
As he fell back to avoid the spear thrust from his right of a
mechanized soldier, he turned and beat them down with his left-hand
shield.
For the enemies that tried cutting at his now-empty back, a
number of black stakes protruded from his shadow to skewer
them.
Aleist was using both his hands to parry foes, and a number of
enemies rushed at his back as well.
Concentrating to produce shields, the leaping soldiers collided
with them and fell to the ground.
Rudel turned to the enemies coming at them one after the next,
muttering under his helmet.
“This is a pain.”
Using his sword to sweep back surrounding foe, he moved to stand
back to back with Aleist.
Because of the enemies scattering reddish-black liquid around,
the smell of oil was much harsher than that of blood.
Aleist, his breath a little disturbed,
“There are too many of them. Rather…”
“Right.”
The oil spreading across the ground restrained their use of
magic.
Looking around, the three-eyed man was nowhere to be found.
Aleist sighed.
“Give it some time, and this place will blow sky high.”
“I don’t think it’s something to laugh at, but that’s something
I’d rather avoid.”
Would the oil on the ground ignite?
That was their worry.
This was especially troublesome with Rudel’s high magic output.
If the blaze spread, they would instantly find themselves fighting
through a sea of flames.
“This is getting harsh, but… three-eyes is gone.”
As Aleist cut down the foe coming at him, he spoke to Rudel.
“Who’s going to go?”
Hearing Aleist’s serious voice, Rudel thought just a bit.
(They’re no weaklings, but if Aleist is wary of the man… will it
be difficult for Izumi and the others?)
Rudel highly evaluated Izumi’s abilities.
But he couldn’t ignore Aleist’s decision.
“Got it. I’ll handle this place. I’m good at drawing
attention.”
In his white armor, Rudel was extremely conspicuous at
night.
“But it’ll be troublesome to break out of this encirclement.
That Celestian King definitely had a hand in this. To the very end,
he’s the worst.”
A large number of enemy soldiers still remained around.
(Good grief, where are they coming from? That aside, it sounds
like Aleist knows something, but for now…)
In order to let Aleist slip out, Rudel performed a grand cut at
the enemy.
“Once you reach Sakuya, flee into the sky. They won’t be able to
follow you there… go!”
The two who ran off in different directions.
Rudel accelerated, cutting down one enemy soldier after the
next. Perhaps they didn’t feel pain, as the enemy came at them
without fear.
(They really are troublesome foes!)
As he accelerated with wind magic, the oil scattered and stuck
to everything around.
Nearby, as if to observe him, Rudel spotted a single soldier on
the wall.
(Is it about time they used it?)
As he thought that, the soldier took out something like a pipe
and made a motion of igniting it. Once the pipe-like item breathed
fire, he tossed it straight at Rudel.
◇
While Izumi’s group ran down the palace corridor, they found the
three-eyed man waiting for them.
Running to the front, Emilio glared at the man.
“That was the shortest possible route. Why are you here!”
The laughing three-eyed man opened his robe a bit to show off
his legs. There were small wheels attached, alongside ominous
spikes.
“Even if I take a detour, as long as I’m faster, it is possible
to catch up. What’s more, your side is moving while guarding our
precious test subject.”
Emilio took a stance with his saber, Nate readied her knife.
Millia fired an arrow into the three-eyed man’s shoulder.
“No way…”
She reeled back.
The man let out a mechanical laugh, pulling out the arrow and
crushing it in his hand as he spoke.
“I’m sure it will be meaningless before the white and black
knights, but a majority of this body is a mass of iron. An arrow
with just a bit of magic put in is pointless. Now won’t you hand
over our test subject?”
Cleo was necessary to manipulate the ancient weapon, the
three-eyed man recognized that.
Izumi called out to the two up front, letting go of Cleo’s hand
to grip her hilt and take an iai stance.
“Dodge to the side!”
Nate swiftly reacted, Emilio opened the passage a little late.
And as Izumi drew her katana, a shockwave broke out, and the
three-eyed man—
Izumi’s eyes instantly turned to the ceiling.
Like a reptile, the man stuck both arms and legs to the ceiling
surface, immediately extending his tail to attack her.
While Izumi hit the attack aside with her scabbard, the tail
went right on to wrap around Cleo.
“N-nooo!!”
As it lifted up a screaming Cleo, the tail was cut through by
Emilio’s saber.
Millia embraced the falling girl, while Izumi hammered another
slash into the three-eyed man.
When he landed right in the center of the group, Nate took a
swipe at him, but he locked her down with a sword.
“You Courtois dogs… would do best just to cower in the shadows
of your dragons!”
The man discarded his tail, only for another tail to shoot out
of his robe.
Not to capture Cleo, this was a blow filled with killing
intent.
“If the subject is to be taken by Courtois, then I’d
rather!”
The three-eyed man said with a laugh, and Cleo was unable to
move from surprise. Millia tried to yank her aside.
Izumi tried to cut at the tail, but…
(I won’t make it in time!)
There, Emilio leapt out in front of the tail and cut it down
with his saber. The sword broke in two, and the tail’s pointed end
stabbed deeply into his body.
“Emilio… why?”
Cleo was still immobile; the three-eyed man tried to retreat
back.
“Blasted traitor!”
But Nate tripped him up, and as he collapsed onto the ground,
she immediately thrust her knife right into the vicinity of his
neck.
That attack she had carefully aimed at the armoring’s joint
stuck deeply into his throat.
Showered in a reddish black oil, Nate spoke.
“… This really is the worst.”
After delivering the finishing blow, she stood and raced over to
Emilio.
Izumi was taken aback, but she immediately poised herself to
guard them.
The collapsed Emilio gripped Cleo’s hand. And then and there,
Emilio decided he would convey his message to Cleo.
“Emilio… I am set to die shortly. Why would you…”
Perhaps with too much to say, Cleo’s words couldn’t come out.
Spitting blood from his mouth, Emilio smiled a bit.
And he opened his mouth.
Millia stopped him.
“Don’t speak! We have to start your treatment at…”
There, Nate held Millia back and shook her head.
“This is the end of the line. Please give them some time to
speak.”
Emilio offered Nate his gratitude.
“T-thank you. Cleo…”
“Yes.”
“I’m… I’m your real brother. Mother took me when she left the
castle.”
Perhaps listening with conflicting emotions, Cleo’s gaze
shifted. But Emilio continued on.
“Life was filled with troubles. But I had mother with me and it
was fun. I heard I had a little sister…”
Emilio took a silver, egg-shaped necklace from his clothe pocked
and entrusted it to Cleo. On it, the insignia of the royal house
was engraved.
“This is…”
“You have a gold pendant, don’t you? That one belonged to our
aunt… can you hand this one to Aleist… the black knight as his
payment? You don’t need two exchange stones, do you?”
Exchange stone… a force that moved the ancient weapon, and by
paying a price, a stone that could grant a proportional reward.
Of course, Emilio didn’t seem to understand what basis it worked
on.
“U-umm…”
After spitting up blood, Emilio’s breathing grew rough as he
spoke.
“There are loads I wanted to tell you. But there’s no time. Our
mother loved you, and aunty did too. That man… when father told
mother she was going to die, he was considerably troubled. We
wanted to take you when we ran, but… hac!”
Before Emilio’s bloodened mouth, Cleo shed tears.
“Emilio… my brother.”
Called brother, Emilio made a delighted face.
“Thanks for that. Now I can make a proper report to mother. No,
I guess I’m off to hell, so that’s not happening.”
Smiling, Emilio placed a hand on Cleo’s face.
“Cleo… mother and me, we both love you. When you were announced
as the next sacrifice, mother was crying. She could no longer move
her disease-weakened body, but she said time and again she wanted
to meet you… she wanted to apologize. So I’ll say it. I’m sorry.
Please forgive her.”
Without letting out a voice, Cleo nodded. She nodded and nodded,
and Emilio spoke up.
“… Thank god. Leave the rest to Aleist…”
Emilio’s body ceased with those words, Cleo hung over him and
shed tears.
Izumi readied her katana.
“Who is it!?”
The one who ran over was Aleist in his black knight armor.
He looked at the collapsed Emilio. He took off his helmet and
raced over to the body.
“W-why! What happened!?”
The one who spoke coldly to a fidgety Aleist was Nate.
“We don’t have any time. Senpai, where’s Rudel-senpai?”
“He’s buying time! We have to get that man to a doctor!”
“It’s too late for that. It’s already over… now, let’s go.
There’s no telling when an enemy will come.”
Nate took Cleo’s hand.
Cleo…
“Why… if I just died, it would all have worked out.”
When she said that, Aleist struck her with his left hand.
Collapsing onto the floor, Cleo gazed up at Aleist in wonder.
“That man! Emilio wanted to save you! He continued to fight all
on his own! And over his corpse, over all his effort… don’t say you
want to die.”
To a teary Aleist, Nate spoke.
“Senpai. If you don’t want to waste Emilio-san’s will, for
now,”
“I know!”
Aleist wiped his tears as he walked off, Cleo gazed at his
back.
Izumi extended a hand to Cleo. Millia as well.
“… I don’t know what I should say at a time like this. But if we
keep dawdling here, it surely won’t make Emilio-dono happy.”
“Now let’s go.”
Taking both their hands to stand, Cleo walked, turning back a
few times to look at Emilio’s smile.
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 12
Extra: Songstress 12
Arriving at Sakuya, Izumi boarded her back.
Around were the fragments of earthen dolls, and flattened
soldiers of the mechanized unit.
Once everyone had gotten on her back, Sakuya took to the
sky.
‘What are we supposed to do after we’re in the air?’
To the voice, Izumi.
“Head towards Rudel. But I recommend against helping it
out…”
Where Sakuya was had become a mountain of rubble. Each minuscule
move of the dragon would destroy surrounding buildings, and if she
rampaged for real, Celestia Castle would quickly be leveled to the
ground.
Izumi thought.
(So not even a dragon could beat the ancient weapon?)
Brushing aside her hair disheveled by the wind, Izumi looked at
the castle down from Sakuya’s rising back.
A blazing smoke rose from a number of places.
The black of night was lit with an ominous light, as the giant
quadrupedal ancient weapon slowly crashed into Celestia’s defensive
wall.
And…
“The hell’s that…”
As Aleist leaned his body in, the ancient weapon’s single eye
spouted fire, melting down the surrounding walls and buildings.
Its whole body illuminated by the inferno it spewed, it really
did look just like the ornaments sold at the souvenir shops.
Unlike those easy-to-break articles, however, the ancient weapon
showed no sign of stopping as it made straight for the palace.
Its movements were dull, the evacuating citizenry fled in the
opposite direction of the weapon.
Seeing the sights from the air, Cleo,
“… Please take me to the guardian deity.”
As she said that with a serious face, Millia returned fire.
“Why!? If you go to a place like that, your life–”
“Even so! If you can’t get too close, then just as close as you
can! This is an order from a princess of Celestia! … I can’t cause
any further trouble.”
To Cleo who leaked a sob with those words, Aleist spoke.
“You’re saying it again… don’t you think you’re besmirching
Emilio!?”
“I’m fully aware I am! But it cannot be helped. This is all I’m
capable of. I was born and raised for this sake. Telling me to live
a different life at this point… take me to that guardian deity this
instant!”
With a face of pure earnesty, she shed tears as she spoke.
There, not from the direction of Sakuya’s flight, a different
gust blew through.
Rudel skillfully landed on Sakuya’s back, removing his helmet to
speak.
“Unfortunately, the orders I received were to ‘Guard you to the
ceremonial alter’ tomorrow morning. I cannot follow your
orders.”
‘Ah, Rudel.’
“Rudel, glad you’re alright.”
Sakuya rejoiced, Izumi was relieved. Izumi looked at the ancient
weapon from Sakuya’s back.
Cleo spoke.
“It’s an order. I beg of you.”
“I refuse. I’m a knight of Courtois, after all. Oh, right,
perhaps I should say this? I’m a member of the Dragoons, the
strongest knights of Courtois. It’s an insult for the world to
think we remained on a losing streak with this weapon forever. I
shall be settling the score.”
Rudel looked at the ancient weapon and laughed.
Izumi touched her right hand to her face as she spoke.
“Rudel, show some prudence.”
“My apologies. But as long as we defeat that thing, it will all
be over. My mission was, from start to finish, to safely deliver
Cleo; I was never told not to obliterate any guardian deities or
ancient weapons or whatever it is.”
Millia was amazed.
“They never said it! Sure enough, they never said it,
but…!!”
Nate looked at Rudel and shook her head to the side.
“You haven’t changed from your student days, I see. For better
or worse, that is.”
Aleist was looking at the earth.
“… The small ancient weapons are moving around. I’ll deal with
those.”
As Aleist showed some motivation, Rudel smiled. The black
knight’s face turned a little sorrowful.
“Rudel, I was Emilio’s friend… perhaps not, but I’m sad that he
died. While I’m not going out for revenge, I could at least put in
some effort ‘til it’s over.”
Understanding from the fact the man wasn’t there, Rudel kept it
short.
“I see,”
He muttered. And he put down his helmet and turned to
Aleist.
“I’ll stop that ancient weapon with Sakuya. I’ll try to lead the
fight outside as much as possible, but there will be collateral
damage. Can you take care of evacuation too?”
Aleist, likewise.
“Of course.”
Seeing the two of them meet fists, Cleo spoke.
“Why go so far… if only I become a sacrifice, no one has to be
hurt.”
To that opinion, Izumi.
“It’s alright.”
“Eh?”
“Rudel’s all over the place, but he’s a man who’s true to his
word. Up to now, and from here on… that’s the sort of man he
is.”
Millia grumbled as she added on.
“I’ll be on the ground too. Aleist, you’d better give some
decent orders.”
Aleist, a little nervous.
“L-leave it thoo me!”
He fumbled his words.
Nate uninterestedly muttered.
“Millia-senpai again? Just so you know, everyone’s going to hear
about this when we get back. Well, it’s partly to protect myself,
but… sharing information is the ironclad rule of the harem.”
Izumi thought.
(He’s got it rough, that Aleist.)
Rudel addressed Sakuya.
“Sakuya, land in an adequate place. After that… we’re going to
be settling the score with that weapon.”
He sounded like he was having fun.
(If he didn’t have that side to him… if he was just a little
settled…)
Izumi grumbled in mild delight.
Cleo stared at the dragoon attempting to challenge the
impossible.
◇
After landing on the ground and separating with Aleist’s group,
Sakuya immediately took to the sky once more.
As the surroundings received a downward gust strong enough to
put out the flames, Aleist looked around.
“I’ll have Millia relay orders from a high point. Izumi-san will
be fighting, so… Nate, you guard the princess.”
Nate breathed out a sigh.
“Well, with these members, that sounds about right. Now let’s be
off.”
Cleo handed over the silver pendant to Aleist.
“Oh? And this is?”
“From Emilio to you. Perhaps Emilio thought of you as a friend
as well.”
“I see… so I’ve lost a friend.”
As Aleist let out a sorrowful voice, Cleo spoke.
“No, Emilio… my brother was happy. I wasn’t able to do anything
so you have my gratitude as well. It was made from an ore called an
exchange stone. I heard something similar was used in the ancient
weapon’s core.”
The hand Aleist used to grip the pendant shook.
(So it’s something that dangerous?)
Cleo told him about the stone.
“As the name implies, you can exchange something for a wish. A
small price for a small wish, a large one for large… though you’re
better off not using something like that.”
At Cleo’s powerless laugh, Aleist tucked the pendant away in his
breast pocket.
“… I graciously accept it.”
“Thank you.”
Nate led Cleo off by the hand and evacuated her from the
site.
Aleist drew a sword.
Nearby, dolls just like the ancient weapon, albeit smaller, were
beginning to gather.
Izumi took her stance, offering Aleist some advice.
“Cutting them is pointless. Unless you smash them to pieces,
they just regenerate.”
“Smash… huh.”
Aleist protruded a spear from his shadow, reshaping the tip into
something like a hammer as he shattered one of them to bits.
“—That’s neat.”
Despite Izumi’s surprise, Aleist let out a sigh.
“If I couldn’t do this much, I’d be left in the dust. Now let’s
go.”
Racing off, Aleist and Izumi went around smashing ancient
weapons.
◇
High in the sky, Rudel challenged the ancient weapon to battle
with Sakuya by his side.
‘Jeeeerrrk!!’
As Sakuya delivered a punch up front, its surface easily
split.
But its insides weren’t empty…
‘Hooottt!!’
Sakuya instantly drew back her hand, a gush of boiling magma
accompanying it.
By the regeneration of its surface armor, the weapon’s contents
quickly came out of sight.
Rudel.
“What do you think you’re doing to my Sakuya!?”
Producing a large shield, he projected it in front of the single
eye that had begun to gather light as they spoke.
Just as the shield appeared, a blaze streamed out, lighting
everything around in a red.
Sakuya’s hand wasn’t badly injured.
A dragon that could get off just by complaining magma was hot
was fearsome. But if they smacked their foe away here, magma would
scatter about their surroundings.
(If we keep blowing it away until it runs out of innards, will
it stop moving? No, if that’s how it works, then surely the
dragoons wouldn’t have retreated…)
To Sakuya who was rubbing her right hand with her left, Rudel
spoke.
“Sakuya, take to the sky.”
‘I hate this thing!’
Sakuya voiced her complaints in a child’s voice as she rose into
the sky.
Thinking it would be troublesome if they applied too much
damage, Rudel considered his options.
(If we block off the roads, destroy the surface and control the
flow of the magma…)
After he had thought that far through, the movements of the
weapon turned strange.
“What is it now?”
‘That thing, something’s.’
Before Sakuya could say something was squirming inside it, the
ancient weapon’s surface began to crack.
Spouting magma, the armoring crumbled away bit by bit.
“What’s this supposed to mean? Is it broken?”
‘No, here it comes.’
As Sakuya rose, the fire from the weapon’s split, round torso
jetted out in her direction. Not by coincidence, they could feel an
intent to attack.
“Kuh! Sakuya, Right!”
Sakuya veered right, but the flames gave chase.
“What is this?”
Just as before, Rudel manifested a large shield. But as the
flames collided, the shield broke, and from within the flames, a
mass of squirming magma showed itself.
The magma continued to burn a dark red as it took form.
A humanoid shape sprouting wings from its back, it took on quite
a sinister shape.
“… Doesn’t look like a guardian deity to me.”
‘Not at all.’
Moving its large one eye, opening its mouth, the monster that
emerged from the ancient dragon flew straight at Sakuya.
Rudel amassed a few hundred swords of light and shot them at the
enemy.
Those small swords exploded as they stuck into the massive foe
in quick succession, but only scattering magma, they didn’t seem to
be very effective.
“So we should try destroying it all at once with massive
firepower… but it’s surprisingly fast.”
As the monster chasing Sakuya opened its mouth, it fired a
number of fireballs from it. Those attacks that followed closely as
if each shot held its own will, Rudel crushed them by preparing
shields. Looking down, they were distancing themselves from
Celestia’s castle town.
“Now then, if we want to fight seriously, we’ll need to go a
little further away.”
Searching for an adequate site for battle as he fled, Rudel
turned to the beast letting out an uncanny roar.
“Don’t be so impatient. We’ll properly eliminate you.”
For some reason, he found himself saying.
Rudel found it a little perplexing why he said it himself.
‘Rudel?’
“No, it just felt as if it was crying out to be eliminated.
Sakuya, are you up for it?”
‘Yeah!’
Sakuya seemed happy she was being relied on, and Rudel sent a
warm smile.
Turning to look at the monster, it was once again about to fire
attacks at them.
A mass of fire larger than any before it, it looked almost as if
a large boulder had been clad in flames.
“… That one won’t end well.”
As he said that, Rudel held up his right hand.
Manifesting a large spear of light, he pierced through the
boulder before it could be fired, raising a large explosion.
Magma scattered, falling onto the ground.
The monster’s upper body had been blown away, but magma quickly
welled up from its lower half, regenerating it in the blink of an
eye.
‘Uwah’
Sakuya reeled back.
“An ancient weapon… it seems we’ve met a worthy foe!”
While Rudel seemed delighted.
But be that as it may, he also thought over it with a level
head.
(Now then, to prepare a large attack, we’ll need some distance
and time, but that one doesn’t look like it’ll let us get away. If
we close in, Sakuya will…)
Observing the enemy chasing them, Rudel simulated how he would
fight with the beast.
Even if Sakuya might be able to blow it away in one attack, if
the attack was directed thoughtlessly, some village or town may
face casualty.
It would have to be something big enough to change the area’s
geography.
And considerable time would be needed to store enough power.
They could close in and beating it down until there was nothing
left, but the heat was harsh on Sakuya.
“How troublesome. I’m starting to see why my seniors called it a
draw. But if we win here…”
‘Will Sakuya be praised?’
To the young child desperate for praise, Rudel nodded.
“You’ll undoubtedly be praised. Mystith-sama will be
delighted!”
‘I’ll do my best!’
After saying that much, Rudel thought.
“Sakuya, can you produce water?”
‘No!’
“As I thought. I doubt I can make enough to stop that one.”
Rudel thought about using water to lower the magma’s heat and
harden it.
But there was no meaning in small amounts.
(I’m sure a water dragon would have an affinitive
advantage.)
Thinking he could never say that in front of Sakuya, Rudel
reached that conclusion.
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Extra: Songstress 13
Magma taken on the shape of man, a winged monster gave chase
through the dark sky.
Receiving winds so strong the magic barrier couldn’t suppress
them, Rudel looked behind him.
“Sakuya, it’s about time. Begin ascent!”
Rudel’s plan was simple.
If the enemy was a monster of magma, he concluded they simply
had to fight where there was water.
He led the monster along the night sky to distance it far from
Celestia.
Sakuya’s four wings swayed grandly.
She rose as large fireballs passed right beneath her.
As the monster closed its large mouth, Rudel looked at his foe’s
single large eye.
Under the eyelid as if the eye itself had been divided
vertically, what looked to be an eye of flesh… it bore the eye of a
lifeform.
Even when its body was made of magma, he questioned why it
didn’t burn.
‘That thing’s persistent!’
Sakuya complained at the enemy chasing her.
Rudel observed it with a serious face.
(If we want to take it out in a single blow, our best bet’s to
get into close combat and drop it into the ocean. How do we hit it
down… explosions just blow away parts of its body, the rest isn’t
affected.)
Looking at the monster of magma, Rudel thought over how he might
manage close combat.
Even with Sakuya’s fists, their enemy was magma.
Her hands would stick into the monster’s body, and Sakuya would
be scalded.
But to get off with such little damage, dragons really were
amazing after all.
Sakuya entered a cloud.
As his vision grew worse all at once, Rudel issued orders to
Sakuya.
“Sakuya, break through the clouds!”
‘Yeah.’
Sakuya shot straight up through the clouds.
But there, the monster was waiting for them.
‘I hate this thiiiing!!’
On Sakuya’s directional change, Rudel leaned over and gripped
the handrail off so as not to be thrown off.
As the scenery around him changed at a dazzling pace, he took a
deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Just for a little while. Sakuya, take the wheel… head towards
the ocean.”
‘On my own!?’
Hearing that voice on the brink of tears, Rudel opened his eyes
and stomached his urge to throw out that idea.
Rudel’s eyes were magic eyes.
As he closed his eyes, they gradually began to emit heat.
By flowing magic into them, he could imbue them with various
effects.
While Sakuya hurried to flee, Rudel waited for his preparations
to be readied.
A sudden rise, a sudden turn.
It was hell clinging on to not be thrown off.
(I should’ve used the belt.)
Repenting on his actions before he closed his eyes, he finished
up preparations and opened them.
A red light dwelled in the pupils as he gazed at the
monster.
“Kuh!”
Narrowing his eyes, he tried scanning the magma for the
monster’s true form.
“What’s this… hundreds, thousands of people are crying out?”
Hundreds of human souls squirmed and struggled, imprisoned.
Captured by a stone in the monster’s chest, they struggled
within the magma.
(Are those the sacrifices? And who’s that in the center of the
stone?)
That soul in the shape of a woman looked at Rudel from within
the stone.
His magic eyes focused and showed her form in vivid detail…
“She looks like Cleo… no, I guess it’s the opposite.”
He recalled the painting in the king’s room.
He remembered the painting with an unnatural space left in it.
And the painting of the queen as well.
“The previous sacrifice was the queen, was it? Which means.”
All the captured, squirming souls were related to the royal
house.
A prison of spirit even death couldn’t escape.
The monster was a kind of cage.
Rudel took a deep breath.
“… Sakuya, can you see that?”
‘If Rudel can see it, then Sakuya can see it too. We’re
connected.’
To a proud Sakuya, Rudel,
“I see. Then you know what I want to say. Alongside the mission…
we’ll be destroying that thing.”
Rudel touched Sakuya’s body with both his palms.
Feeling out Sakuya’s beat, he used his own magic to control
it.
He still wasn’t accustomed to it, it felt all too unnatural, but
this was no time for hesitation.
Glaring at the monster, Rudel…
“I’ll free you now.”
As he put that to mouth, a golden insignia surfaced over
Sakuya’s body.
Rudel used his own magic to manipulate the mana flowing through
her body. Under her four wings, a new gold-glowing smaller pair
manifested.
A number of sharp sword blades protruded out of the now
six-winged Sakuya’s tail.
As if covered in golden gauntlets, masses of energy manifested
around her fists.
‘I’ll show you serious Sakuyaaa!!’
To intercept the monster, Sakuya held her position in the
air.
Readying her two large fists, she took on a fighting pose.
As the monster opened its large mouth to produce fireballs,
Sakuya opened her mouth as well. She usually gathered stones or
fired breath attacks from it, but this one was different.
A number of water orbs formed around her mouth, before shooting
right off towards the monster.
The fireballs the monster shot were taken down by water one
after the next.
As water and magma collided, a water vapor broke out, rendering
everything out of sight.
“It won’t go down the same as before.”
After saying that, Rudel called out to Sakuya.
“Go!”
‘Yeah!’
While she had been running away to that point, Sakuya started
straight towards the monster.
Rudel’s magic eyes captured its sinister form.
Sharing Rudel’s vision, Sakuya slammed her fist into the
beast.
The water hit first, and she aimed her attack into the portion
that had hardened. The black lump on its surface shattered from the
force, but the golden gauntlets had managed to capture the monster
without piercing through.
Hurdling back, the monster regained its posture, moving its
single eye left and right to search out the dragon’s form.
Circling around beneath it with a nosedive, Sakuya went into a
steep climb…
‘Handed down from Mystith, taste the… what was it called
again?’
Having forgotten the name, still oblivious, Sakuya got her large
fist into the enemy’s body.
The monster bent into an L shape, flying into the air upon
receiving the impact.
And with speeds greater than before, Sakuya chased after it,
putting both her fists together and lifting them above her head,
she came right above the monster to lower them.
Seeing the monster fall towards the earth, Rudel spoke.
“… And that’s that. I’ll free you now.”
Sakuya’s gauntlets disappeared, she opened her mouth wide.
There a large mass of mana emerged and Rudel compressed it. Once
the forcefully compressed lump of magic swelled again, it was
compressed even further.
Drawing out a dragon’s power… no, the power Sakuya originally
possessed was Rudel’s job.
Sakuya turned the mass of magic towards the monster that had
fallen into the sea.
Water vapor rose all around, the writhing monster could no
longer maintain its form.
It spread and spread, and spread some more.
It was almost as if a single large island was forming.
Sprouting countless hands, it opened its large mouth to cry
out.
Water leaked from its large eye, making it look as if it
were crying.
“Being sealed away forever, sealing others away, you must’ve
hated it… so this is the end.”
Sakuya fired the compressed mass of magic.
Her body shot a bit back from the recoil, as her small light was
sucked into the monster’s open mouth.
As she left that space, the golden markings disappeared from
Sakuya’s body.
The color of Rudel’s eyes also returned to their usual blue.
Hurriedly fastening on his belt. Rudel clung to the
handrail.
“It’s the first time we tried going all out.”
‘Sakuya did her best~.’
Hearing her tired voice, Rudel tried to open his mouth as he
looked at the large pillar of light.
From the monster’s open mouth, magma erupted into the sky.
It was almost like an endless stream of lava.
As the shockwaves assailed Sakuya, it became difficult to fly
properly, sending her barreling through the air.
“The output was too high.”
Perhaps it would be best not to use it again.
Rudel thought.
Gradually the pillar receded, and by that time, Sakuya had
regained the ability to fly normally. Regaining her position, she
commenced hovering on the spot as she looked at the monster.
‘It just keeps spreading.’
“Right.”
Where the monster had fallen, a black island was born.
The scene of it visibly expanding wasn’t one he could witness
all too often.
Rudel turned only to suddenly raise his right hand in front of
his face.
The morning sun.
“So it’s already morning.”
‘Sakuya is tired. I want to go to the hot spring.’
Rudel was of the same opinion.
“You’re right. I’m also worn out this time.”
After seeing the sun, Rudel turned to the island that continued
to expand.
There, from within it, a large blue light in the shape of a
human waved its hand. Below it, several hundred waved their hands
at Sakuya.
Rudel rubbed his eyes, looking at the island again.
“… They’re gone. Was the magic eye’s effect still
lingering?”
Just as he thought he’d seen a hallucination, Rudel pulled his
sword and turned around.
Where he pointed it, a single woman watched the rising sun.
The blue-haired woman closing her eyes, she spread her arms out
as if to bask in its light.
And…
‘You have our thanks. Foreign knight.’
Seeing that smile, Rudel noticed it was the queen he had seen
from the painting in the king’s study.
And sheathing away his sword,
“It’s dragoon. I’m a dragoon.”
‘Eh? You’re a knight, aren’t you?’
“Yes. But I’m more precisely a dragoon. I can’t budge on that
one.”
The other party was successfully confused but as Rudel wouldn’t
concede that point, she gave a cute clearing of her throat as she
started from square one.
Rudel made a satisfied face.
‘You have our thanks, foreign dragoon.’
“I was in the neighborhood on a mission. Call it a whimsy.
Also.”
‘Also?’
“With this, I have proven the dragoons are the strongest. This
is my victory, so in the end, that last draw has become the
dragoons’ victory!”
Seeing Rudel’s delight, the blank stare of the transparent woman
turned to a smile.
Her smiling face was reminiscent of Cleo.
‘What an interesting person. To think you’d defeat our guardian
deity.’
“It looked more like a monster to me.”
As Rudel looked down at the island from Sakuya’s back, the woman
leaned over to do the same.
Her feet weren’t there.
‘… It was twisted over the course of a history far too long. At
first it was there to bring bounty to our country. Once it was used
for war, its power was shown and it became a tool for battle.’
Rudel looked at the woman.
“You’re Cleo’s mother, aren’t you?”
There, the woman smiled and shook her head to the side.
‘I’m her aunt. That girl’s mother was my sister… I see, so Cleo
is safe. That really is wonderful.’
Seeing the woman’s delighted smile, Rudel thought back to the
unnatural painting in the king’s office. The person who was meant
to occupy that space, surely it was Cleo’s real mother.
(… I guess every royal house has its complications.)
The woman stood and looked at Rudel.
‘Thank you, dragoon. With this, Celestia’s guardian deity has
been freed, and we can return to the stream of souls.’
“I wholeheartedly accept your thanks. Of course, from the
country’s point of view, I might end up the villain.”
‘We should have never held a power so far beyond our means. I
can see it in hindsight. It was an unnatural, twisted country. But
even so, it’s my sister and my homeland, so I think it’ll
recover.’
To the woman gradually becoming fainter, Rudel spoke.
“Anything you want me to pass on to Cleo or the other
royals?”
The woman shook her head.
‘Nothing personally… just tell them I’m watching over them.’
“Understood.”
‘And.’
Her face turning serious, the woman looked right at Rudel and
spoke.
‘… As I am now, I can understand. You’ll be coming over to our
side in the near future.’
“… Is that so.”
With no further words from Rudel, the woman made a praying
gesture.
‘But please don’t forget, you’re not alone…’
Turning a smile to Rudel at the end, as the light of the sun
grew stronger, she disappeared as if dissolving away.
Sakuya let out her voice.
‘Rudel, who were you talking to?’
Rudel opened his mouth to explain it to her, closed it along the
way, and smiled as he shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing. Now once we get back, it’s going to be
busy.”
Directing Sakuya to return, Rudel turned just once to look at
the island that continued to expand.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s14.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress Epilogue
Extra: Songstress Epilogue
From where a destroyed castle town spread out, Cleo looked over
her surroundings.
The earthen dolls ceased function, rattling as they began to
crumble apart.
Once the sun had fully shown itself, their movements grew
strange, and just like that, they stopped moving.
Near Cleo, Nate took off her mask and looked around.
With a whistle from her lips, a hippogryph descended from the
sky.
Seeing that, Cleo spoke.
“U-um,”
“Mn? Oh, that’s my partner, don’t worry about it. See, he can
become a horse too.”
After landing, the hippogryph gave a shake of its eagle head and
took on the form of a normal horse.
And breathing a sigh, Nate looked around.
“But this really will be a pain to report.”
“You’re… right.”
When they saw the red pillar pierce through the sky, that moment
they felt the tremor and gale, both Cleo and Nate were surprised.
But they could understand it now.
“Do you think Rudel-dono won?”
“I’d quite hope so. Because that would also mean the destruction
of Celestia’s ancient weapon, or rather guardian deity… who’s going
to take responsibility for this, I wonder.”
Cleo spoke.
“The guardian deity, is it. If I just…”
She had much to think about.
There, Nate cut in.
“… My ancestors, you see, they were once people of Celestia.
This blue hair is something of a testament to that.”
“Eh?”
As Cleo looked on blankly, Nate…
“Meaning, I’m a survivor of your clan that ran away. Though at
present, I’ve got work in Courtois as you can see.”
She kept on talking on the matter, but Cleo worried whether that
might bring problems to her position. There, Nate’s expression
turned serious.
“Well, I’m just trying to say that humans can live anywhere.
Don’t you think it’d be alright if you just became free? If the
threat of Celestia is gone, Courtois should give a public
apology and provide some support.”
As Cleo hesitated, Nate spelled out her options.
“You could run off somewhere and live, not as a princess but a
single young girl. All that’s left of the Celestia royal line is
you and a few children. It’s possible to push it onto someone
else.”
Cleo gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
She wouldn’t choose that option.
“Thank you. But I have my responsibilities and obligations. I
could not become a sacrifice, but I cannot abandon my people.
Someone will have to take the leading role. Even if it’s someone as
unreliable as me.”
Nate spoke disinterestedly.
“Is that so.”
And putting on her mask, she pat her partner’s neck a few times.
Cleo understood that Nate wasn’t particularly angry.
It felt like she already knew which one she would choose.
“I’m just a little envious of you.”
“Eh?”
At the end, Nate,
“That you could choose the option not to run, I’m just a little
envious.”
◇
A few days later.
In the ruins of Celestia, Sakuya moved around heavy loads as if
playing with building blocks.
To help out in the reconstruction efforts, Rudel and Aleist
worked dawn to dusk.
Izumi and Millia aided them.
Nate alone made for Courtois to report on the incident. Someone
had to be told…
“To be totally honest, I think there’s something messed up about
defeating a god and making an island of it.”
Holding a shovel, Aleist looked at Rudel.
“… Aleist, sure enough, I won’t deny I had some personal
feelings involved. But there was no helping that one!”
Millia looked at the two of them tiredly.
“I understand it was a situation where it couldn’t be helped,
but… who’s going to take responsibility for this?”
Neither Rudel nor Aleist could take responsibility.
Millia looked at Izumi…
“Isn’t this his surveillance inspector’s liability?”
A startled Izumi spoke.
“I do get the feeling there was nothing that could be done
there.”
Izumi had hurriedly drafted up a report and handed it to Nate.
But just how would the top brass evaluate it…
The four of them put some thought into it, but Rudel,
“Well, whatever will be will be. Once I return, I’m sure I’ll be
put to work in the outer reaches again, so I don’t mind if I’m to
aid reconstruction a while longer.”
Aleist as well.
“You’re right. This feels so much more worthwhile that returning
to cleaning duty. Now then, let’s give it our best for another
day.”
Millia looked at the two.
“Isn’t it strange to use Courtois’ white and black knights like
this? Normally, they should have some post or something, and work
in the royal palace, right?”
Rudel and Aleist’s standings were dubious even in Courtois. When
normally it wouldn’t be strange if they had much higher ranks, one
was sent to the middle of nowhere. The other was treated as a
cleaner.
Izumi sighed.
“Well, as long as the ones in question don’t raise a ruckus,
isn’t it fine? If anyone’s got any complaints, they can voice them
to the higherups.”
When he became a dragoon, Rudel knew he would be sent to the
outer reached as he had no complaints; while Aleist might grumble
here and there, he was earnest in his work.
Yet the two of them had saved the country called Celestia.
No, perhaps saved was a misunderstanding.
Of all else, the one they fought was the guardian deity of
Celestia.
One wrong move and people might say Courtois took advantage of
their request to eliminate their deity.
Of course…
“But it’s a huge problem if a majority of their important
ministers are gone.”
It was just as Rudel said.
Almost all of Celestia’s ministers and high officials had
perished in the castle.
It was because of the mechanized unit, according to Nate.
There were various hands moving behind the scenes, and from
Rudel’s group’s point of view, it was a peculiar mission that ended
while they fought a battle they’d been roped into.
Sakuya looked up at the sky.
‘Hey, can I eat that?’
She sought confirmation with Rudel, so he followed her eye
line.
“The hippogryph? Someone’s riding it, so you can’t.”
Sakuya was downhearted.
◇
What the returned Nate informed them of was everyone’s
return.
At the same time, she told them, a squadron from Courtois had
been dispatched with the intent to provide aid.
Rudel wanted to remain until they had built an extent of a
basis. But he had to follow his orders.
He had asked Nate, but it seemed Celestia would officially be
treated as Courtois’ vassal state. This owed to the fact it didn’t
have any strengths worthy of forming an equal alliance.
And the new queen of Celestia, Cleo, was to have a discussion
over it with the temporary ministers.
The damage was great, if they went against Courtois and could no
longer receive aid, it was easy to imagine Celestia’s
reconstruction taking decades.
There was no guarantee Courtois wouldn’t invade in that
space.
“Did I do something unnecessary?”
Lying down in a room of the palace, Rudel muttered.
They would depart come the next day, so he took an early
rest.
Once he returned, a report to Courtois’ palace awaited him.
(I’m sure I’m causing them trouble again.)
Thinking he’d brought even more trouble to his superiors, Rudel
closed his eyes.
There, a knock at the door.
“Boss!”
The ones who entered were Ben, Pono and Passan, the party of
three. As they had been promoted to knights, they now wore clothing
that half-looked the part.
Cleo had appointed them as part of her royal guard.
Their achievements in evacuating citizens all the way to the
end, and Cleo’s trust for them brought it about.
Of course, that was the public reason.
Truthfully, there was a severe lack of personnel, so things had
grown lax in various places, and the three of them were
appointed.
“What’s wrong? You want to train again?”
“No, today it’s work.”
“That’s right!”
“t’s work!”
As the three of them stuck out their chests, a single woman came
out from behind them.
It was Cleo.
“Princess… or no, it’s Queen now I see.”
As Rudel left the bed and stood, Cleo turned him her tired face
curled into a smile.
“Can I have just a little bit of your time?”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
◇
The party of three kept watch outside, while Rudel and Cleo went
out to the balcony.
The night breeze had a nice feel to it.
“So why have you called me for?”
Cleo was taking deep breaths. And resolving herself, she looked
at Rudel, wrung out her voice…
“Rudel-dono, no, Rudel-sama, I’ve fallen in love with you!”
She confessed.
Rudel spoke with a smile.
“I can’t!”
… He refused.
Upon hearing that, Cleo burst into laughter. Perhaps she knew
the answer from the start.
“Can I ask for your reasons?”
Rudel spelled it out clearly.
“To start with, I have no freedom in my marriage. And even if I
look like this, I’ve got quite a few restraints placed on me. I
doubt the country will recognize a marriage between the two of us.
If that’s how it’s going to be, I concluded I should decline it
from the start.”
Cleo gave a bitter smile.
“You won’t give an answer in regards to my feelings, I see.”
“… I already have someone I love. Of course, for the same
reasons, I can’t tell her I love her.”
Rudel got the feeling Cleo had become stronger than before.
“… In this incident. Celestia will put up a strong protest to
Courtois for destroying our guardian deity. Of course, the
country’s circumstance and the feelings of our people are
conflicting, so that is simply the public stance. I am
personally quite thankful, Rudel-dono.”
“So it’s going that way after all.”
As Rudel said that, Cleo…
“I truly am thankful. Celestia has finally gained the
opportunity to stand on its own power… I can think of it like that
now.”
Cleo was surely troubled over many things, Rudel imagined.
And he surmised she had confessed to get her own feelings in
order at the end.
“So have you gotten your feelings in order?”
“You noticed? Well let’s see… with this I can be not Cleo the
princess, I can become the figurehead queen Cleo. I’ll leech as
much aid from Courtois as possible.”
Rudel laughed.
“It’s quite troublesome if you say such things to me. Even like
this, I’m one of Courtois’–”
Cleo said it before he could.
“Dragoons, after all. Right? … You have my thanks. At the end,
you even let me hear the words of my mother and aunt. That I was
loved. I’ve been granted the opportunity to learn that, and I look
on it with delight.”
Defeating the monster, Rudel had conveyed the words of the
existence calling herself Cleo’s aunt to Cleo and the surviving
royal children.
(Even so, she’s become quite strong in the past few days.)
She had lost her brother Emilio, she had lost many things, and
Rudel mulled over what he should say to her.
“You’ll be off early tomorrow morning, right? I shall see you
off from here. Well then, farewell… Rudel.”
She dropped the honorific at the end.
◇
The next day.
Looking at Sakuya take to the sky from the balcony, Cleo stroked
aside her blue hair.
Around were the party of three and her servants, likewise
looking at the dragon soar through the air.
“They’ve gone, boss and his friends.”
The party of three were shedding tears, while the servants
pulled back from the sight of them.
To Cleo, those three were idiots but honest, and kind from their
hearts. Precious knights to have.
Looking at Sakuya, Cleo sung a song.
(At the very least, even if only in song… thank you, foreign
knights. Thank you, dragoon.)
Passan spoke.
“The princess’ songs really are the best!”
Ben,
“Fool, it’s queen now!”
Pono,
“Quiet down and let me hear the song!”
As Cleo’s song voice resounded through Celestia, the white
dragon took a leisure circle around the palace. And the knights on
its back waved their hands.
The party of three grandly waved back, and Cleo also answered in
a wave.
(Thank you, Rudel. .And goodbye.)
Her smile still on her face, Cleo shed tears.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s2.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 2
Extra: Songstress 2
Racing down the main road of the capital was a young man known
as the black knight.
“Pardon me!”
Leaping over a cart pulled by an old man, he changed directions
as he landed, desperately running off. Mindful of his back, he
looked around and decided the direction he should run.
His curly blond hair flowed back as he ran. His mismatched eyes
were a beautiful sight to behold, blue in the right and green in
the left. His well-trained body acted as a spring, letting him
bound freely over the main road. But what he made use of wasn’t his
physical body alone.
By channeling mana into his body, he was enhancing it. Desperate
enough to use every means at his disposal to flee, whenever he’d
passed by a woman’s side, his Jetstream would flip their skirts.
Whenever he was about to run into someone, it was always a young
girl or a pretty older woman.
“Like hell I’ll stop here!!”
Shouting as if his soul was crying out, Aleist didn’t even try
to peer into the flipped skirt. He continued avoiding all the young
girls in his way with magnificent footwork.
They would call him ‘That harem bastard,’ with envy, jealousy,
resentment.
But from the point of view of the man in question, that wasn’t a
result he obtained because he wanted it. Aleist understood that a
harem was a special privilege only granted to the chosen few. That
didn’t mean to say assets or strength. What was most important was
what could be called the qualifications to keep a harem.
… and the power to maintain that harem, even when
surrounded.
You can be dense as hell. You can pretend you don’t see. Even
lucky perverts are permitted. But you mustn’t run away. A man with
the caliber to accept all harem members… meaning a main character’s
disposition.
Aleist lacked that.
Before that even came into question…
“Don’t run away, Aleist-sama!”
“What is the meaning of this, captain Aleist!”
“That should be our line. We’re his fiancées! And yet he goes on a
trip with nothing but women? Fat chance!”
The women chasing him from behind were catching up, even when he
ran at full force. There were those running in skirts, and those
riding horses to give chase. A majority of them were knights who
had graduated the academy, the Courtois Kingdom’s educational
institute, while the others were women who possessed equal
power.
Aleist endured the cold eyes directed at him by the surrounding
men as he screamed from his heart.
“No, I already have someone my heart’s set on!”
But the world was full of uncertainty.
“If you’re a noble, just give it up!”
“In the first place, that girl you’re after doesn’t think anything
of you!”
“Aleist, just give up!”
Noble ladies, knights and those of the beast tribe, various
sorts of women chased after Aleist. It was a dream many a young boy
had dreamed of. But Aleist’s heart was set on another. An elf girl
called Millia.
Yet the one he loved would never chase him, he was the one
giving chase. What’s more, his rival was more than up to par.
The white knight Rudel. He knew that man didn’t think anything
special of Millia, but even so, Millia had not given up on him. To
Aleist, it was quite a sorrowful thing.
The fact Rudel was his close friend only made their relationship
more dubious. Even so, Aleist didn’t give up.
“Like hell I’ll give uppp!!”
There was no telling what they’d do to him if he was captured.
Imagining them making sure he could no longer run away, Aleist
raced down the main road. It was at that moment. As he entered an
alley off the street where the paths grew a little complicated,
Aleist was grasped.
The one who caught him was a blue haired underclassman from his
student days… one of his fiancées.
(Ah, it’s over. Farewell, my innocence.)
Aleist’s expression had already given up on everything.
It was Nate. Her curling blue hair grew to her back. Her pale
skin and eyes the same blue as her hair were exceptionally
beautiful. Her meeting with Aleist had been at the graduate sendoff
party, an outrageous encounter where she ended up on top of him.
But without Aleist having the slightest idea of what was going on,
she had become engaged to him.
“How troubling, senpai.”
Nate grasped Aleist, smiling gently as she made a plea. You
could call it a bargain.
“I have just a small request, but if you’ll grant it, I’ll save
you here and now.”
“W-what is it? I’m not giving you my body!”
“That does sound appealing, but this time’s different. Well, you
could call it a problem with my house, or perhaps something of the
sort… there’s a place I want you to go with me. Of course, if
you’ll go then I’ll save you, and I won’t lay a hand on you.”
Aleist cowered from the sound of the approaching footsteps,
thinking a little before giving a nod.
(If that’s all it takes, it’s a cheap buy.)
He thought and nodded, but that would turn out a tremendous
mistake.
“Very well, then wait a moment.”
Nate walked out of the alley, in a theatrical voice, proclaiming
to the pursuing women where Aleist had run off to.
“Big trouble! Senpai leapt over that building and went that
way!”
“Good work, Nate!”
“Don’t let him get away, find him!”
“If that’s where he went, I can use some friends from the knight
brigades to encircle him!”
(I’m scared. They’re scaring me. Let’s learn to be just a little
more graceful, ladies…)
Once everyone had left under Nate’s deception, she beckoned to
him. Aleist left the alleyway, relieved he had been saved.
“You really saved my back there.”
“You don’t need to thank me. Because you’ll be properly working
in exchange. Yeah, now that I know you’re going to help me out,
that’s a huge load off my shoulders.”
Nate pat her chest in relief. And Aleist recalled he had never
asked for the destination.
“Come to think of it, where are we going?”
“Ah, about that… it’s the Kingdom of Celestia. My House flowed
in from there, and there’s been a bit of a request made to us this
time around, so I have to make the trip. I really am relieved
you’re coming with me. I mean, one wrong step and we’d have an
international incident on our hands. No, perhaps bigger than
that?”
“… Eh?”
Before a delighted Nate, Aleist’s understanding was unable to
catch up.
◇
The air passage from Courtois to Celestia was, to the five of
them, a fresh experience.
Flying through the open sky was a white dragon with four wings.
Its body was a size larger than the normal wild dragon. With the
size of its body and wings, its arms were also thick and burly. But
if you said such a thing, you would hurt that young maiden of a
dragon.
Among the dragoons, the most famous knight’s partner… riding
Sakuya’s back, Izumi Shirasagi’s ponytail flowed in the breeze. Her
silky hair swayed to and fro. Normally, the gale would be much
worse, but the barrier erected with magic protected the five on the
dragon’s back.
Hailing from a foreign region called the orient, Izumi was a
beauty of black hair and black eyes. She was once Rudel’s classmate
and a person who understood him well.
More than friends, less than lovers, both sides accepted
that.
At present, while being enlisted in a knight brigade of elites
called the high knights, she was granted the position of special
inspector to keep an eye on Rudel- who caused problem after
problem. They were going to a foreign nation this time around, so
she wore the blue knight clothing worn by high knights. Her chest
was large enough to force up her clothes, and at times eyes of envy
were concentrated on her.
“The kingdom of Celestia is a small nation. I’ve only ever read
about it in books, so I’m somewhat looking forward to it.”
When Izumi said that, the girl of long green hair beside her
muttered disinterestedly. Differing from humans, her ears stretched
a great deal. A woman with the characteristic ears of the elves…
Millia looked towards Rudel with her green eyes.
Izumi had said she couldn’t take on the role of special
inspector alone, and by calling to her fellow alumni Millia, Millia
also became one of Rudel’s inspectors. Note, her modest chest was
never the target of any envious eyes.
“It’s that place with the large volcano, right? I’m surprised
people are able to live in such a place. It seems pointless, or
perhaps even admirable.”
Millia’s statement was answered by the overly serious Rudel.
“It’s true it’s an active volcano, but while I don’t know how,
it’s a country that somehow controls the volcano. And because
they’re close to a volcano, the hot springs are famous. It seems
the land’s suited for growing fruit. Courtois also imports its
fruit wines, haven’t you ever drunk it before?”
“There’s no way any of us have ever tasted the sort of wine you
drink, Rudel.”
Averting her eyes from Rudel, after spitting some cynicism she
shut her mouth. She did seem to have a nature that couldn’t be
honest with itself, and Izumi could only think that was doing
nothing but harm to her as she gave a bitter smile.
“But this is a surprise. I thought you’d return to the outer
reaches at once, Rudel.”
In order to change the subject, Izumi recalled the contents of
this time’s special mission. To summarize, by sending an especially
conspicuous dragoon, they were to show the dignity of Courtois.
There may have been political motivations behind it, and Izumi
worried whether Rudel would be against those sorts of things.
Their job on the outskirts wasn’t over yet. Despite that, they
alone were carrying out such a decorative mission. As long as it
was an order, she knew he would accept it, but she worried what he
would be thinking underneath.
The man seemed quite enthusiastic to be heading off on a
mission. But at Izumi’s question, he made just a bit of a troubled
face.
“… I want you to keep this from Sakuya, but she got real worked
up when I told her we were going to do a special mission. See, last
time we did something big, she had to keep house… as long as
Sakuya’s happy, it can’t be too bad. Even if it’s just at the level
of an errand.”
An outrageous reason. Rather than the importance of the mission
itself, he took it up to dote on his dragon. Hearing that, Millia
breathed a sigh as she spoke.
“You’re the same dragon idiot as ever.”
Izumi touched the white back beneath her as she smiled.
At times, the dragon would let out a resounding roar. To Izumi
who could hear the thoughts she transmitted, she could tell that
was a happy roar. Her appearance was that of a dragon much too
splendid, Sakuya was a child born not a few years ago.
She was often judged on her appearance but was still a child who
needed to be looked after.
‘Special mission! Sakuya is strong! Sakuya is cool!’
Sakuya sung as she flew through the sky, and Izumi and Rudel
watched her with smiles. A subspecies of gaia dragon that lived in
the earth, Sakuya wasn’t skilled at flying. Her movement speed was
much lower than the average dragon. But this was a laid back
mission. They had parted from the occasionally hectic border, and
Izumi felt these sorts of missions weren’t bad from time to
time.
She turned towards the envious gaze coming from Nate.
“So what sort of business do the two of you have with the
Kingdom of Celestia? As I recall, the decree just said we have to
accompany you there and back, but…”
Before their departure, with an official decree from an
organization called the defenders, came Nate and another
individual. Aleist looking at Millia recalled how Nate had told
them at the last minute they would be riding as well. In the midst
of their busy departure, they accepted the decree and let them
right on.
They were well acquainted, and they intended to confirm the
paperwork while in the sky.
“Ah, you don’t have to pay it any mind. While you’re at it, I do
recommend you pluck those things off your che… ow!”
As Nate envied her ample bosom with a smile, Aleist hit her on
the back of the head.
“M-my apologies, Izumi-san! This girl has absolutely no breasts,
so she gets jealous of those with a large chest.”
Aleist followed through for her. You’re not supposed to say
that, or so Izumi only grew more worried. For the one on Aleist’s
mind Millia was a modest one on the opposite side of the spectrum
from Izumi.
When Izumi looked at Millia, she saw a vein popping out on her
forehead.
(Ah, this is that pattern of failure.)
Izumi looked at Rudel to find him humming along to Sakuya’s
song. He likely had no interest. Before she could become collateral
damage, Izumi moved to Rudel’s side and listened attentively to
Sakuya and Rudel’s tune.
‘You’re strong, Sakuya. Amazing, Sakuya! All~ The enemies go
down in one blow!’
“Yeah, Sakuya, you’re the best!”
Looking at Rudel and Sakuya, Izumi chose not to lend an ear to
the fight going on behind them.
“Well excuse me! I’m sorry for having such a small chest!”
“You’re wrong, Millia! Rather than large, I prefer a more reserved
one!”
“Then that means I’m senpai’s type! Millia-senpai, being flat isn’t
bad you know. Those lumps of fat are only ever in the way.”
“When someone so envious of them says it, you’ve got no persuasive
power!”
“You’re wrong, both of you! What’s important is balance, and size
isn’t every—”
“Come to think of it, Senpai, your big sister was stacked, wasn’t
she?”
“Why are you sending such a pitiful glance at my chest!?”
“Nate! Don’t go there! You shouldn’t touch on that one!”
“Aleist, so you were thinking it too! That’s right, in the end,
I’ve got nothing! Even when my sister’s stacked, they always
say!”
“… I know I’m not one to speak, but Senpai, you’re a little off
there.”
Izumi ignored the quarrel behind her, but perhaps Rudel grew
curious as he turned around. Looking at the circumstances of their
argument, he made a face as if he didn’t understand.
“… Izumi, what exactly did Aleist do wrong?”
Seeing Rudel tilt his head, Izumi shook her own. To be
completely honest, Aleist’s mistakes were beyond count. When he had
a girl he liked, bringing a different woman along was yet another
one of those mistakes.
(Ah… he was wrong from the very start. Well, whatever.)
Giving up, Izumi only prayed Rudel wouldn’t turn out like
Aleist.
“No, if you don’t understand, then that’s fine. Just stay the
way you are, Rudel. That way, you’ll reduce the casualties
around.”
The honest Rudel didn’t understand but nodded anyway.
“I-I see. I’ll do my best.”
Seeing Rudel fail to comprehend, Izumi was relieved. He loved
dragons so much he had little interest in anything else. But he had
a status as a future archduke, and he had obtained a standing as a
dragoon, the knights called the heroes of Courtois. It would be
stranger if there were no women around her.
In truth, many women approached him with affection, but with his
status and dragoon position, he declined their association. He
always made it clear when it came to those things, a relief to
Izumi.
… The reason she didn’t go out with him was also such a problem
of status.
“These sorts of missions aren’t bad.”
Looking over the lively three, Rudel spoke. Izumi was in
agreement.
“Right. A carefree trip through the sky isn’t bad at all. But
Rudel, this is a mission in a foreign land, so you must exercise
caution. In umm… various things.”
Celestia was an allied nation, and she fretted over whether he
might cause an incident. Rudel nodded with a smile.
“Leave it to me. It’s not like I intend to cause any
problems.”
‘Sakuya is fine too, Izumi!’
Hearing Rudel and Sakuya’s responses, Izumi gave a warm smile
and thought.
(Now I’m worried.)
They were responses that didn’t give her the slightest peace of
mind.
◇
Emilio walked irritantly down a corridor in Celestia castle.
(Dammit! It’s because that useless king relies on other
countries…)
He had been notified that Celestia had requested the dispatch of
a dragoon from its allied nation Courtois. The details that the
knight brigades were all rounded up to hear were little more than a
proclamation those knights weren’t trusted.
But there was something more than that Emilio couldn’t
forgive.
(The plan went amiss. I have to do something…)
Thinking back, the mistake came with that party of three.
Gathered in order to protect a gate that held no particular value,
they were hoodlums, soldiers in name alone. But perhaps their
awareness along was high, as despite their paltry wages, they had
risked their lives to give chase.
(When they’re lower than the mercenaries hired to make up for
numbers, my plan was…)
To add onto that, those hoodlums were following behind Emilio.
All three were smiling. On top of the shoddy armor they were
granted, they wore even shoddier medals granted to them for saving
the princess.
What’s more, by that they rose in rank to be official
soldiers.
Celestia was not a large nation. For that sake, they prepared
elites as knights, but when it came to soldiers, they were only
gathered for the numbers. Normally, it was the knights who would
carry out the mission. It was a country with few troops, but there
was a reason for that.
In that past, Celestia was at war with the large power of
Courtois. And as Courtois invaded with their dragoons as the main
shaft, the god of the volcano revered as the country’s protector
repelled them. It was an event of about eighty years prior.
(Clinging onto past glory forever, it’s because they worship
something like that as a god, that this country is ruined!)
From then on, the people of Celestia were convinced that they
were a people protected by god. For that sake, the notion the
military might be unnecessary spread like the plague.
While being a small nation, they maintained an equal relation
with Courtois… no, one wrong step taken and they’d be made light
of, and that was largely due to these sorts of occurrences.
And come so far, the failure of the knight brigade was doing its
work. Because the ceremonial articles were lost, it would take some
time before the ceremony could restart. Irrelevant to the populace,
the crowd or the castle, that dissatisfaction was directed at the
knights.
The knight brigades remained in order to maintain public order,
but in the attack on the princess, the populace began to hold their
doubts. For that sake, the royals and nobles had an allied nation
send in a dragoon, mainly to send a message.
When Emilio thought of just how much incompetence that showed,
it irritated him to no ends.
(Because of that inept top brass, this country is…)
Once he had thought that far, a voice called to him from behind.
IT was the party of three.
The unshaven large man was Ben. The tall slender man was Pono.
The short and plump man was Passan. With splendid smiles, the three
of them called Emilio…
“What’s wrong, captain?”
“Keeping it bottled up isn’t good for your body, captain.”
“If you’re hungry, let’s go to the cafeteria, captain.”
When he thought of how this lot had gotten in the way of his
plan, Emilio was filled with a feeling of helplessness.
“…Y-you guys…”
He held his head. Just where did he go wrong? The soldiers who
protected Cleo were now stationed as Emilio’s subordinates. This
was something even Emilio, heralded as a genius couldn’t predict.
Of course, Emilio understood full well he was no genius.
He wasn’t average. He was just a little talented.
(Why did my plan go so awry? I won’t say it was perfect, but
even so, I spent a long time preparing.)
Emilio’s head began to hurt.
… But even so, he didn’t give up.
(I can still correct it. Somehow the princess… the princess,
with these hands…)
Emilio’s sharp eyes still hadn’t given up.
He suddenly heard a rowdy voice from inside the castle. At the
ruckus, the party of three looked inquisitively at Emilio.
“… Let’s go check it out.”
◇
Their flight over, Rudel’s party descended into Celestia.
“We’re a little earlier than scheduled.”
At the designated landing point, the soldiers and knight
platoons who caught wind of the ruckus were beginning to race in.
Taking on the shape of a fortress city, the capital had a splendid
castle erected in the center.
While the troops entered and gathered, they wouldn’t approach.
It was only natural. There weren’t many men brave enough to see
Sakuya and think to challenge her.
But while they tried to land at the spot they’d been scheduled
for, it was too small for Sakuya. Carefully maneuvering her into
that space, Rudel praised her.
“Well done, Sakuya.”
‘Praise me, praise me! Praise me more!’
When Sakuya wagged her tail in delight, Izumi cautioned her.
“Rudel, put a stop to Sakuya’s tail. At this rate, there will be
collateral damage. This isn’t Courtois. If you break too many
things, it will cause a huge problem.”
Hearing that, Rudel immediately soothed Sakuya and calmed her
down before dismounting her back. But there, Nate began to lead
Aleist off somewhere.
“Ah, well then, we’ve got our own mission to deal with.”
“Wait, mission? Eh!?”
Watching Nate pull Aleist off by the hand, Rudel grew anxious as
he found out the man hadn’t seemed to have confirmed the contents
of his own mission. At the same time, he was curious just what sort
of mission it might be.
(I guess It’s got nothing to do with me. You do your best,
Aleist.)
While Rudel waved his hand at his friend, Aleist cried something
out.
“You said it was personal! Where did that official decree come
from!? Hey, are you listening!?”
“You’re being noisy, senpai! When you’ve come so far, just resolve
yourself! It’s fine, the decree is the real deal… its origin point
is just a little dubious.”
“As I thought!”
Rudel’s worries only grew, but this was Aleist’s problem so he
decided to leave them be. He just sought some confirmation with
Izumi.
“Izumi, Aleist’s decree was genuine, wasn’t it?”
“There’s no doubt about it. Though it was a little
suspicious.”
While Rudel and Izumi lost themselves in thought, Millia in her
defenders uniform looked at the entrance of the plaza and
spoke.
“Guys, looks like our welcome party is here.”
“Now then, let’s execute the mission. You two stay behind me.
You’re supposed to act as my attendants, after all.”
As Izumi and Millia nodded, Rudel got his specially-made white
knight uniform in order as he waited for an envoy of Celestia to
arrive.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s3.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 3
Extra: Songstress 3
Once the bureaucratic paperwork was in order, to receive a
simple explanation of the situation, Rudel’s party scheduled an
audience with royalty… with the current king Barqah Celestia.
But the only one who could attend was Rudel.
The reason was a discriminatory one, and a decision by Celestia
that a Courtois non-native like Izumi and a demi-human like Millia
were unworthy of the meeting.
Within the flurried palace interior, Rudel was kept waiting in
the waiting room. Knights left to watch over him stationed nearby,
Rudel read through the documents from Celestia’s side.
“… I don’t think there will be a problem guarding Princess Cleo
on the way to the volcano, but protecting her throughout two days
before departure will be difficult for me alone.”
The contents denoted were orders for Rudel to serve as Cleo’s
guard. With the other party being the princess of a foreign
country, Rudel felt there was a limit to how far he could accompany
her over a course of two days. The bath, bathroom, changing and
such, it would be embarrassing for a man to be by her side.
Rudel had already been kept waiting over an hour for his
audience. Within all that, Millia sat in a chair as she sipped tea.
While she looked calm, perhaps she was irritated within, as she
sent some glances towards the knights stationed around.
“I get why you’re the only one who gets an audience, but aren’t
they treating us too terribly? And there’s a bit of a problem
relying on a foreign knight to protect the precious princess.”
Millia’s words afforded her glares from the knights. Izumi
sipped her tea calmly.
“I’m sure Celestia has some preparations of its own. And we did
arrive quite ahead of schedule.”
“There’s a limit to that. And even if it’s an audience, he’s just
meeting in the king’s office, isn’t he? I don’t want to say it, but
Rudel’s a future archduke. They’re treating him too lightly.”
Millia’s anger could be called natural. There was no helping if
the country made light of them. When it came to keeping Rudel
waiting, they recognized it as a foreign diplomacy tactic. But they
also knew it was a measure to be taken against those of lower
status.
The small country of Celestia boasted less land than Rudel’s own
home.
There was an active volcano close to the fortress city, with
some towns and villages dotted around. The national population
didn’t reach a million.
There were hot springs around, and accepting travelers, they
were in possession of assets in foreign currencies. The fruit juice
that made up their specialty product was widely exported. It was
certain these lands were livelier than the Arses territory governed
by Rudel’s parents.
But they depended on a foreign knight. They took an attitude as
if to pick a fight with a major power. It wasn’t strange at all to
think they were going beyond their reach.
“… For now, I have come on a mission as a single knight. I don’t
think they’re treating me lightly. But more than that, the
princess’ guard detail will be a problem. I can’t follow her to the
bath or changing room.”
“Can’t Celestia dispatch some female knights?”
On Millia’s arbitrary statement, Rudel shook his head.
“Unfortunately, there are no female knights in Celestia. No
soldiers either.”
Different countries had different customs. The female knights
that were gradually becoming natural in Courtois were nothing but
heresy here. Rudel thought the reason for the limited audience was
also related to those customs.
Women were not permitted to enter the restricted class of
knights. There were other small countries around Courtois, but even
among them, Celestia was special.
(This is a troublesome mission. I guess I’ll try
negotiation.)
Thinking it would be difficult to serve as the only guard, Rudel
decided he’d ask for Izumi’s cooperation in the case that Celestia
hadn’t made any preparations of their own.
A butlerish man appeared in the waiting room.
“Rudel Arses-dono. The preparations are in order, so I shall be
guiding you to the King’s office.”
Leaving the documents and standing to his feat, Rudel
straightened his uniform as he walked off. Izumi and Millia sent
him a look, so he gave a light nod.
◇
His entry into the king’s office permitted, Rudel offered his
greetings to King Barqah, taking a break in the room.
But the King didn’t turn his body towards him.
(Hmm. It’s just as the captain said. This isn’t the attitude of
a small nation…)
With Rudel’s position, he couldn’t stick his mouth into
political decisions. And once Rudel finished his greetings and got
to his feet, Barqah took the cup left on his break table in
hand.
“I wish to speak some with him. Have the others stand down.”
On his words, the knights and servants stationed took their
leave. Sensing them on standby outside the room, Rudel waited for
Barqah’s words.
He took a glance at the king’s extravagant work desk.
It was piled with six whole mountains of documents.
“My apologies. Because that daughter of mine got attacked, I’m
busier than you could believe. Originally, I wanted to use the
audience chamber, but even now, the authorities who hold antipathy
towards Courtois are not few in numbers.”
(The princess is treated as a ‘that’? I don’t feel I’ll come to
like this person…)
The antipathy surely referred to the war eighty years past. But
Rudel felt rather than antipathy, this was something closer to
contempt.
And he didn’t like how the man referred to his daughter. Barqah
sent his gaze above the fireplace, not in use for seasonal reasons.
It was furnished by three separate professional paintings of what
seemed to be his family.
From the documents received in Courtois. The first depicted
Barqah’s queen and children. The second, a woman with blue hair,
and two small children… that one was placed in the center. It was
bigger than the other two.
And the third along, Rudel found unnatural.
It looked to be a painting of Barqah in his younger days. His right
hand rested on a woman of blue hair. The king was positioned in the
center, making his left side seem strangely desolate.
(It looks like someone’s been taken out. But that’s the best
smile the king’s shown of the three.)
“… They’re paintings of my family. The precious family I’m
supposed to protect. Now, we can’t stay like this forever. Let’s
talk about work, Dragoon.”
His bright green hair straight and long, Barqah stroked his
beard, making a serious face to talk about work. In his early
thirties, the king could be classified as young, but his dignified
air was well-formed.
“I have gone over the documents. I accept the guard mission. But
I think it will be difficult for me to guard the princess
alone.”
“Fret not. I will be dispatching people as well.”
“But all of your guards are male, are they not? I believe it in
your best interest to send around a trustworthy woman.”
“… Unfortunately, I have no woman who could serve as a
guard.”
“I have come here accompanied by one High Knight and one defender.
Would it be possible for them to take part in this mission?”
“Hmm. You may do as you wish. Personally, I have no problems as
long as the departure takes place in two days. The ceremonial tools
should be in order by tomorrow.”
“You have my gratitude. And what will our schedule be for this
two-day period? It was not detailed in the documents.”
Barqah stopped stroking his beard, gazing out of the window.
“I decided to give that one free time. It’s her last after all.
For now, she should be spending it with her younger brothers and
sisters, but this is an important period. I’d like to avoid time
with her family wavering her resolve. If it will let you divide
them, then I mind not if you listen to that one’s wishes.”
Rudel thought over what the reason might be for treating the
princess of his own country… his daughter like this. He heard she
would be offered as a sacrifice. Taking that into consideration, it
wouldn’t be strange if he already had his feelings sorted out in
his heart.
After that, Rudel was told to hear the specifics from the
knights on guard detail and was excused from the room. When he
left, Barqah called over.
“Dragoon. That one is a pitiful girl. You must protect
her.”
“… Leave it to me.”
Rudel couldn’t determine whether that was his heart speaking or
not.
(I’ve taken on quite a troublesome mission.)
He thought of it as a mission to regain Sakuya’s spirits, but
ever since he arrived at the palace, he was struck by many a
strange feeling.
◇
Taking Izumi and Millia along, Rudel made for the plaza where
Sakuya was stationed.
There, those of the royal line… the royal children were watched
over by knights as they studied the dragon. Sakuya looked at the
children with a tilt of her head.
“Big!”
“Sister, is this a dragon? But our god is stronger, right?”
“Turn this way, you big lunk!”
The child who spat those last words really didn’t understand the
amazingness of a dragon, or so Rudel was filled with sorrowful
sentiment.
(Good grief, if I had just a day, I’d drill a dragon’s splendor
into his body.)
“R-Rudel. Your eyes are scary.”
With Millia’s worries, Rudel reverted his glare and approached
the woman surrounded by knights. The reason the knights gave such
harsh looks must’ve been because their jobs were snatched away.
Rudel thought as she approached the woman.
“Pardon my intrusion. My name is Rudel Arses. On this occasion,
I have been ordered to accompany Princess Cleo as a guard.”
Giving a drilled Courtois-styled salute, Rudel looked at the
surrounding children. Two blue-haired women. Apart from them, a
green-haired and brown haired child. They looked older than he had
seen them in the paintings.
The woman in her later teens… Cleo let her hand part from her
younger sister of similar hair color and countenance to give a
curtsey.
“I am greatly delighted by Courtois’ assistance in this matter.
You have my thanks for taking up my guard.”
She smiled. It was hard to imagine she would lose her life in
two days.
(Is this… resolve?)
Rudel took caution in his words as he lightly exchanged
conversation with the princess. He also introduced Izumi and Millia
who were standing back.
“Are they female knights of Courtois? And the defenders? My
apologies. I am none too knowledgeable on the affairs of
Courtois.”
“That’s perfectly alright. The defenders are an organization only
set up recently. There’s no helping if someone of foreign lands has
yet to hear of them.”
Rudel dealt with her as he recalled the painting in the king’s
office. A majority of the children here had been painted. But the
one individual who had been kept out… he noticed it was Cleo.
(Is this that family… no, national circumstance thing?)
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to dig too deep into it, Rudel
conversed with her.
“Even so, to think dragons were something so large. It’s the
first I’ve ever seen one, but I’m surprised how white and beautiful
it is.”
“She praised me! Rudel, she praised me!”
The one whose body twitched in response was Cleo. Perhaps those
around could only see it as a roar, as the knights stood in
formation before the royal line. From Rudel’s point of view, it
could be nothing more than a cry of delight.
“She’s just happy to be praised. But you’ve got a good eye on
you, Cleo-sama. Even among the dragons, this girl is an especially
cute one, and her name’s Sakuya. See, the blue gemstone in her
forehead’s pretty, isn’t it? And when she spreads out all four
wings, no one can take their eyes off of…”
“Rudel. Rudel! You’re troubling the princess!”
Izumi immediately suppressed Rudel’s mania, causing him to
repent as he lowered his head at Cleo.
“My apologies.”
“Think nothing of it. You really love dragons, I see. But I do
understand those feelings just a bit. To want to get on such a
large back, and ride somewhere…”
Were those her true feelings? It didn’t seem the one in question
noticed it. Rudel would be able to let Cleo on her back. But as he
thought over whose permission he’d have to get, a knight leading
soldiers along made his appearance.
(Green hair?)
The knight stood out more than the others. No, from Rudel’s
point of view, he felt his skill level was a cut above the rest.
But he the soldiers behind him didn’t quite look like elites. Even
as they closed in, the three soldiers cowered at Sakuya.
“Princess, so this is where you were? I have a message from his
majesty.”
“… Yes. Ah, Rudel-dono, this is Emilio. He used to serve as my
guard.”
“And I am still serving as your guard, Princess.”
“Is that so? I had yet to hear about that, but… very well. Emilio,
I’ll be counting on you again.”
“Much obliged.”
Cleo happily spoke with Emilio. In contrast, Emilio took on a
businesslike correspondence. To Rudel, it somehow felt as if the
knight was pushing himself. Hearing the message from Barqah, he
instantly understood it was meant to pull the princess form her
family.
Once Emilio related it, Cleo’s expression clouded after all. And
the royal children got together to say their goodbyes.
They were firm-hearted, Rudel thought. It was at that moment the
knight… Emilio looked at him and narrowed his eyes. He felt
something close to rage.
“U-um…”
When Rudel turned, he found the three soldiers in light-weight
armor lined up.
One’s face was unshaven. One was slender and tall. And the last
one was short and stout. At a glance, they didn’t look much like
soldiers at all.
“Is something the matter?”
“N-no. It’s just a rare opportunity to speak with a knight of
foreign lands, so. Um…”
“Boss, you can do it!”
“Boss, fight on!”
After looking at the two cheering on the bearded man, Rudel sent
a glance to Izumi and Millia. The two of them shook their heads as
if they didn’t know what was going on either.
(It doesn’t feel like they’re picking a fight.)
“W-we were also chosen as guards, so we thought we ought to give
our greetings. No, I don’t know a thing about knights’ etiquette,
so I’ve no clue what to do.”
A forced use of words. And attitude… thinking of Rudel’s
standing, it wasn’t something to be permitted. Even to any dragoon
of the major power of Courtois, that was a bit much. Or so was the
general consensus.
But Rudel smiled and held out his right hand.
“I’m Rudel Arses. There’s a lot I don’t know in this mission as
well. It would be a big help if you helped me out.”
“Y-yeah! Leave it to me.”
“He shook hands with a dragoon! Boss is amazing!”
“S-shake my hand too!”
As Rudel shook hands with the three, Izumi, who had wandered to
his side, called out.
“Is this alright?”
What, she wouldn’t say. But he understood what she was worried
about. Rudel was a dragoon in foreign lands… what’s more, the
representative of Courtois. Answering to such a light treatment
might not be taken too well.
“It’s fine. .The feelings got across. Rather, I’m sorry for
pushing guard duty onto you two as well.”
“That’s not a problem. It’s my field of expertise.”
While at this very moment, Izumi was stationed to keep an eye on
Rudel as a special investigator, she was originally a high knight.
As a bodyguard, she was even more knowledgeable than Rudel.
“I’m sorry to you too, Millia.”
“I-it’s fine, doesn’t matter.”
As Millia turned her face away, Rudel mulled over what he had
said wrong. Unlike with Izumi, he didn’t understand how Millia felt
in the slightest.
“Boss, you think that dragoon doesn’t understand a woman’s
heart?”
“Quit it, Passan. See, get in the way of someone’s love and… huh?
What was supposed to kick you again?”
(TL: The saying he’s referring to is, Get in the way of
someone’s love, and you’ll get kicked by a horse and die. Meaning,
if you stand in the path, the horse is going to run you over.)
When Ben looked at Pono, Pono also thought a while. But unable
to hit on anything, he looked up at the dragon.
“A dragon’s kick looks painful.”
“That’s right! Passan, you’ll get kicked by a dragon.”
“I-in that case, to hell with that!”
As the party of three cowered from Sakuya, Rudel spoke.
“Sakuya’s fists hurt more than her kicks…”
“Rudel, I don’t think that’s the point.”
“… Why is everyone so stupid.”
Izumi pointed out Rudel’s err, while Millia breathed out a
sigh.
◇
Meanwhile…
“Hey, why are we wearing these robes?”
“Ah, these are really convenient, you know. There’s a special fiber
weaved in, making them top-grade products that can slip through
magical detection!”
“Why did you have something like that on you!? That’s what I want
to know!”
Aleist and Nate wore black robes as they walked down the alley.
There were arrows drawn on the walls, and simply by following them,
they arrived at their destination. As he walked down the maze-like
back alleys different from those in the kingdom of Courtois, Aleist
was holding his nose and mouth.
“Even so, this place is too confusing, the smell is harsh and…
what business do you have here anyway?”
Nate silently climbed the bridge, sitting on the spot and
touching her palm to the wood flooring. Looking right around, she
scratched her face.
“No combat took place, so there aren’t any traces. The main road
has too many people so the traces have all disappeared… so I guess
we’re just wasting our time.”
“Come so far and we’re wasting time?”
While Aleist looked surprised, Nate deeply pulled down her hood.
She ran off from the spot. Startled by her swift movements, Aleist
chased her a little behind. There, at the end of the bridge, they
ran into a man wearing a similar robe.
But Nate thrust a dagger at his throat. Pinning him up against
the wall, a knife fell at the hooded man’s feet. Nate kicked it
away and slid it towards Aleist.
Quickly retrieving it, Aleist felt a dull glow from the knife’s
edge. A sticky liquid had been plastered over it.
“Senpai, you’d better not touch that.”
“This couldn’t be…”
“Poison. A powerful one at that. It’s the sort that induces
numbness, but get it in the wrong places and it’ll leave permanent
effects.”
(Yeeaaah, the knife I can deal with, but what exactly is Nate
supposed to be?)
While she had always been a member of his harem, with the sword
master Seli and the tiger tribe chieftain’s daughter Juju, in an
assortment of all sorts of quirky ones, he thought she was a
relatively docile girl. But Aleist felt he would have to reevaluate
his recognition of her.
When Nate muttered something, the power left the robed man’s
body as he collapsed to his knees. He wouldn’t meet eyes with
her.
“Where did you come from?”
“… G-Gaia.”
“Eh? The empire? Is he a tourist?”
While Aleist desperately thought, Nate dispatched one question
after the next. But after a certain extent of time, an arrow was
fired. The sound of an arrow released from the depths of the
passage, the one to react quickest was Aleist.
Pulling the two swords at his waist, he leapt out to protect Nate
from the arrow. He brushed the projectile aside, slamming it at the
wall. There, a man in a robe jumped out from the alley.
At the same time, came an assault from atop the building.
“Senpai, we should probably run.”
“Way ahead of you!”
Rather than aiming for them, the group seemed to be focused on
rescuing their supposed ally, so Aleist and Nate ran. But
Aleist…
“You know… aren’t we in a really bad situation here?”
Racing down the maze-like alleys, he said to Nate. There with
her hood still on, Nate stuck out her tongue and hit a fist against
her head.
“Yep, real bad. Tehe.”
“That wasn’t cute at all! What do you think you’re doing!? Rather,
what are we even trying to do here!?”
Aleist’s pained cry echoed through the alley.
Perhaps from a stroke of good luck, or because they were let off,
the robed men showed no signs of chasing the two.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s4.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 4
Extra: Songstress 4
Having accepted a mission to be Cleo’s guard, Rudel stood before
Emilio’s unit in thought.
(Even if they’re official knights and soldiers, how truly
unreliable for a princess’ guards.)
While that wasn’t the best way to put it, it was one knight and
three soldiers.
… From Rudel’s point of view, it wasn’t an assortment that made him
feel much motivation.
In the room he had been permitted use, the princess Cleo, and
those assigned to be her guards had to think about their roles
henceforth. A lady servant prepared tea for everyone. Within all
that, Rudel called over to Emilio who was looking at him.
“Emilio-dono, in regards to the guard detail, I’d like to decide
on the division of labor.”
“… That should do just fine. But even if I say that, the departure
is in two days, so our mission only covers today, tomorrow, and the
next morning. You don’t mean to tell me Courtois’ elite Dragoon
requires sleep to exhibit his strength?”
It was a provocative phrasing, but Rudel understood his
sentiment. The king of his country didn’t trust the knights of his
own country. In a situation where he had to follow the orders of a
foreign knight, there was no helping his irritation. What’s more,
he was trying to do his job.
For now, that was enough… no, thinking of the mission period, it
was plenty.
In that meeting-room like space, the nine of Courtois and
Celestia sipped their tea in an inexpressible atmosphere. Cleo sat
in a chair conversing with Izumi and Millia.
In front of the entranceway, the nervous soldier party of three
stood to the side of the door.
(They’re too tense. They’re not going to hold out to
nightfall…)
From the way they stood, Rudel perceived they hadn’t received a
great degree of training. He looked at Emilio. Emilio was reputed
to be proficient, and on the way here, he had spoken of how he
saved Cleo in the incident.
Perhaps he was a trustworthy knight.
“We will be fine. Your worry is uncalled for. But if it’s
possible to increase the number of knights and soldiers, then I
must make the plea.”
Without an incentive to oppose, Rudel thought of nothing more
than increasing the guard success rate. He simply tried to handle
it with numbers.
But Emilio shook his head.
“That will be impossible. With last time’s attack, the knights
have been spread out to the limit to provide security for the
fortress city. The soldiers as well.”
As Emilio said that, Rudel thought.
(This is your country’s princess we’re talking about. But
still…)
Rudel looked at Cleo. While she did seem cultured, it was
honestly hard to imagine she had received education as a member of
the royal family. She was kind at heart, but he heard much too many
words from her mouth that would show weakness in foreign diplomacy.
As seen as a princess, she was a failure, as a person, a kind and
beautiful woman.
(A life lived just for death, eh.)
Rudel recalled Sakuya.
He recalled the goddess who cast away what little remained of
her life to grant him a dragon. While the reborn Sakuya carried on
her name, her memories didn’t remain.
He suddenly ended up seeing Cleo overlap with the goddess.
Rudel closed his eyes and suppressed his emotions.
(That is this country’s problem. The mission I’ve been given is
to guard her until the day comes. Don’t waver, Rudel.)
Reminding himself of it, he returned to his discussion with
Emilio.
“It would probably be best for a woman to enter the princess’
private quarters. I shall station Izumi and Millia at her side. The
rest of us should guard her when on the move, and defend the
perimeter while she is asleep. Of course, the soldier at the door
will be deployed on rotation.”
Emilio grit his teeth at Rudel’s words. He was also aware the
party of three didn’t have the stamina to keep up guard duty for
two days.
Listening in, the three raised their voices.
At their cry, Cleo was surprised as well.
“We’re not chopped liver!”
“T-that’s right! An all-nighter is nothing.”
“With an afternoon nap, I think it’ll work out?”
Following on from stubble Ben’s loud voice, Pono weakly voiced
the same opinion. Passan gave a reply that was quite clearly right
out.
Emilio grit his teeth at that reply. Perhaps he wanted to tell
them to shut it, but before Rudel and the others, he held it
in.
“You lot, we don’t need your input for now. Once matters are
decided, I’ll relay the orders.”
“I-I mean, captain…”
While Ben hesitated, Emilio silenced him with just a glare.
Rudel evaluated him as a knight with some experience under his
belt.
(He’s skilled. And unlike me, he has experience.)
Rudel himself could easily tally up his own real combat
experience. Even so, as he looked at Emilio, he felt something
close to home.
From Rudel’s point of view, this mission was a mission given to
him because he had contracted with a splendid dragon… with Sakuya.
Perhaps it was precisely because he knew that, that he could act so
calmly.
But Emilio didn’t take kindly to his composure.
“Then how about it? Why not use this opportunity to discern one
another’s level of ability?”
“… I have no problem with that.”
He brought the match to Rudel.
◇
Cleo brought her feet to the training grounds used by the
knights.
It was her first visit, and she did feel a something more
suffocating than she had imagined. The training ground build
indoors was lined with wooden swords, spears, and logs to use as
targets.
When Rudel’s and co. were the only ones who were supposed to be
there, the place reeked of men. Perhaps the way the room was
constructed to hold in heat was to blame.
“I-it feels a little peculiar here. Are the knights always
training in a place like this?”
Cleo struck up conversation with Izumi to her side. Black hair
was a rare sight to her. And the dignified Izumi was older than
her, giving off a reliable impression. If her own country had
female knights, she imagined they would surely give off such a
feeling.
“It varies by country and knight brigade, but when it’s built
indoors, it can’t really be helped.”
Izumi understood what she wanted to say, not saying anymore.
From how muddled her words were, Cleo understood it was pretty much
the same wherever you went.
It was true that she was a little excited, coming to such a
place for the first time.
But…
“Unacceptable! You’re nowhere near up to par!”
“Ow!”
“Not enough training!”
“Geh!”
“No technique to speak of!”
“Bubrah!”
As she saw Rudel take down the three coming at him bare-handed,
her face turned pale. Looking at Izumi and Millia to her side, they
were making unconcerned faces.
Defeating the three challengers in an instant, Rudel brushed off
his hands as he spoke. At his feet were the forms of three trying
to stand. Pono and Passan still struggling to their feet. And Ben
had clutched onto Rudel’s ankle.
“But your resolve alone gets a passing grade.”
Hearing of their success, the three of them passed right
out.
“I-is that a dragoon? That all happened too fast for my eyes to
follow.”
While Cleo was troubled, Millia explained.
“It’s fine. Rudel is outside of the norm, so you don’t have to
compare him to a standard knight. As long as you remember he’s the
strange one, you won’t have any problems.”
“I-is that so. He’s strange? I don’t know anything when it comes
to knights.”
The troubled Cleo looked at Rudel. He was hoisting up the three,
and putting them to sleep on the benches. Emilio took off his
overcoat and tossed a wooden sword at Rudel.
Catching it, Rudel took a stance with the left side of his body
protruding forward.
“I don’t see a shield.”
Emilio also got in stance as he said. Rudel laughed.
“I just don’t want to change my stance. And I’ve no intentions
of getting hit.”
On Rudel’s provocation, the two of them stepped in for an
intense clash of wood. Looking at Emilio on the moment of impact,
Cleo was surprised to find there was a knight who could keep up
with Emilio. Fighting on even terms with the knight heralded as a
genius was surely a marvel.
Seeing her expression, Izumi spoke up.
“Neither side is particularly serious, so there won’t be any
injuries.”
“I-is that so?”
As Cleo looked at two knights violently swinging their wooden
swords, it seems she thought they were going full force. There,
Emilio increased the arc of his sword. With that opening, Rudel
tried to leap in, only to instantly jump back.
Giving pursuit, Emilio gradually strengthened his offensive.
Seeing the superiority of a knight of her country, no matter how
much she detested violence, Cleo was relieved. The fact that her
country’s knight could stand his ground against a knight of
Courtois was an important fact.
But Izumi made a bit of a conflicted face.
“The world sure is vast. To think he would have a move like
that.”
Cleo couldn’t’ understand what she was saying.
◇
In his match with Emilio, Rudel saw an opening and tried to
dive in. But he found himself on the receiving end of an
attack.
The wooden swords came at him left and right, but there were a
number of slashes that faded away as if they had only been
afterimages. And some attacks where he couldn’t even see the
swing.
“You use some interesting moves.”
He found his mouth curving into a smile, so Rudel took a big
step back and used his left hand to cover his face. Through the
gaps in his fingers, he could see Emilio’s haste. Even if neither
side had been serious, that was more than enough to measure the
other’s competence.
(This is bad. I want to fight more.)
His emotions surging, Rudel renewed his grip on the wooden sword
in his right hand. This time, he would go on the offense to probe
out the identity of his enemy’s move.
But there, Izumi raised her voice.
“That’s enough, both of you.”
Rudel looked at Izumi, and saw Cleo who’d been looking over the
match was teetering. Perhaps her eyes had spun too much to
follow the two moving around.
Taking a deep breath, Rudel parted his left hand from his face.
There, Emilio gave a slight smile.
“Dragoon.”
He gestured towards the sleeve of his left hand. While he had
removed his coat, looking closely, there was a slight tear on his
shirt’s sleeve.
Knowing that had been inflicted by the enemy’s sword, Rudel
laughed just a bit.
“It does seem this match is my loss.”
It wasn’t the sort of wound that would decide victory or defeat,
but at the very start, Rudel had declared he wouldn’t be hit. In
that case, even if it was a graze, he decided to admit his loss.
Perhaps Emilio hadn’t anticipated that attitude, as he was a little
taken aback.
But retrieving up his own overcoat, he headed for Cleo.
“Princess, you should return to your room.”
“I-I’m sorry, Emilio.”
Millia approached the two of them, while Izumi picked up Rudel’s
coat and walked over. Before presenting the coat to Rudel, she
handed over something to wipe his sweat.
“How was it?”
Rather than Emilio’s capabilities, she was more curious about
the technique he had displayed.
“I thought it was a large swing, but that was just to draw my
attention. His real aim was a sharper swipe I couldn’t see… I
thought, but that’s wrong too. There’s definitely some trick or
device to it.”
“You look happy. You’d better not show that face before the
princess.”
Rudel was a battle enthusiast. As long as he had a strong foe,
he was the sort of man who would want to fight to climb to greater
heights. He repented at Izumi’s words, but at the same time, he
thought.
(I want to fight him seriously for once, but that doesn’t look
plausible.)
“… Rudel, I’ll just throw this out there, but…”
Izumi understood what was going through his mind. A little
panicked, Rudel took the coat off her hands.
“I know. The mission takes priority.”
“As long as you get it. For now, let’s go to the princess’
room.”
The two walked off, leaving the party of three behind.
◇
Having removed their robes, Aleist and Nate walked down the main
road.
The two of them linked arms, walking the street like lovers. But
as the color of Nate’s hair stood out, there were many heads that
turned to take a second look at her.
Giving a bitter smile, Aleist pretended to have fun.
“Aha, ahahaha, how fun!”
“Oh darling, oh you!”
The one who suggested they put on a couple’s act was Nate. And
Aleist was extremely against it. But she earnestly convinced him
that the attackers of the Gaia Empire wouldn’t give chase if they
stayed in character.
For that sake, Aleist and Nate paced the main road as if on a
date.
(This is definitely unnecessary. How did she manage to convince
me this was a good idea?)
Generally speaking, persuading Aleist was not a difficult task.
The reason being, if you just kept pushing him, he would fold under
pressure. If that wasn’t the case, then he would’ve been able to
prevent the continued expansion of his harem. And it was precisely
because he was unable, that Nate could push through.
(Am I too much of a pushover after all?)
He thought as the two dropped by a stall. The lad manning the
stall called out to her in a lively voice.
“That’s some splendid blue hair you’ve got there, madam.”
“You think so? We just came to Celestia to see the sights. But for
some reason, I feel like I’m really sticking out.”
Taking on a half-witted tone as she spoke with the shopkeeper,
she moved the conversation towards gathering information. In order
to stay out of the say, Aleist looked at the souvenirs lining the
space.
“What’s this, it’s amazing! (Why am I praising such a peculiar
piece, I wonder.)”
What he took in hand was an ornament made of a round torso, and
four cylindrical legs. He thought it was a spider, but for that,
the number of legs was too scarce. Where the round body leveled
off, making one think a face might go there, a red paint had been
slathered on.
It almost looked like a single eye.
As Aleist took the souvenir in hand, the shopkeeper closed in on
him rather than Nate.
“That’s the guardian deity.”
“Eh? This thing is!?”
Surprised that something like this was a god, Aleist carefully
inspected the article in his hands. No matter how he looked at it,
he could only see a mud doll made by a child.
“To be more specific, it’s modeled after the god’s servants you
can find on the mountain. Heard they look quite like the god. The
real one’s enshrined where the ceremony takes place, but ordinary
folk aren’t allowed in, see. So like this, we make souvenirs of the
servants that are said to look like the god.”
“Hmm~.”
Aleist looked at the piece. But he wasn’t getting any image of a
god. All he saw was a bug, or perhaps a robot drone that’s job it
was to be done in.
“Hey! Shopkeep, we were in the middle of talking!”
“S-sorry for that. It can’t be helped if you stand out. Blue is
the hair color of the royal family in these parts. What’s more, the
shrine maidens who hold a special meaning. The area’s real tense
right now, so the surrounding eyes are going to be harsh. Don’t let
it get to you.”
“What happened?”
“In the past, see? A little before the previous ritual. The
royal princesses splendidly fulfill their roles, but even so, there
was an unruly one in the royal family.”
From the shopkeeper’s tone, Aleist wondered what could have
happened in the past. And as he put power into his hands, one of
the ornament’s legs snapped off.
“Aaaah!”
When the shopkeeper screamed out, Nate raised a laugh.
“You can’t do that, darling!”
“Ah, no, wait!”
A panicked Aleist apologized to the shopkeeper, saying he would
buy it, and producing money from his wallet. Having bought that
dubiously high-priced artifact, Aleist spilled complaint after
complaint within.
(If it was fragile, he could’ve just said it.)
Now with the deadweight ornament to occupy him, Aleist didn’t
have to hold Nate’s hand as they made a round around the other
shops lining the main road.
◇
There was no light in that palace room.
Paying mind to his surroundings, the one who entered was Emilio.
He called out to the individual within. But he couldn’t see their
face.
“Oh, what seems to be the matter?”
“This room is too bright.”
“… You sound like you’re in a hurry. What happened?”
In that room purposed to give reports to his contact, Emilio
gave the right watchword in response. The normal lost servant would
just be turned away, but if the password was correct, the contact
would fulfill their original job.
“Soldiers who don’t know anything have been made my
subordinates. Can they be taken off”
“They cannot. They have been selected as those for whom it matters
not if they disappear.”
Hearing that, Emilio muttered an, I see. His face was a little
concerned.
(I’d like to do something for them, but…)
After learning that he couldn’t take the three off for the sake
of his goal, Emilio immediately gave his report.
“That dragoon’s skills are greater than expected. I have begun
to doubt whether I can win or not.”
“I’m aware. But I heard you injured him… as expected of a knight of
Celestia.”
“I could do without the flattery.”
As Emilio said that, the contact relayed the orders.
“… Depart from the palace tomorrow. The preparations are ready
for that.”
“Won’t they think it too unnatural?”
“Just have it come from the princess’ mouth. Then the higherups
should accept it without complaint.”
Emilio listened to the plan and hammered the contents into his
head. Any memos he took would leave evidence. That’s why they met
in a dark room. Emilio didn’t know the other party’s face. But they
knew Emilio.
(This is getting troublesome.)
“… And that is all. The princess is necessary for the plan. The
ceremonial tools are all together, so all that’s left is,”
“I know. I just have to present the princess to your group, right?
What happened before shall not happen again.”
“… Are you sure about that? After looking into it, it seems they
came from the Gaia Empire. Though we haven’t gone as far as to look
into why they came.”
“That’s your job. I’d appreciate if you did it properly.”
Emilio recalled when he was surrounded. He remembered the group
in the black robes.
“I must apologize for that. Then make sure tomorrow goes
according to plan.”
“Leave it to me.”
Emilio left and looked around. From the start, it was a corridor
that experienced little passage. And as he walked off, he
muttered.
“Tomorrow, huh. I’ll have to do something about the Dragoon and
his comrades, but how should I go about this.”
Unbeknownst to himself, Emilio’s hand had reached to touch the
egg-shaped pendant in his breast pocket from over his clothes.
The dragoon was taking part, and he had even been stuck with
subordinates who would drag him down. Just how would he struggle
through the next day? Emilio thought.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s5.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 5
Extra: Songstress 5
The first night on guard duty.
Izumi and Millia stayed alert in the princess’ private room on
rotation.
There was little to be found in that frugal room one wouldn’t
imagine belonging to a princess. Her garments were always prepared
by the maidservants, so there very many pieces in the closet.
Izumi investigated the room for what it was worth, but Cleo, who
should’ve hated it, seemed to slightly enjoy the notion.
Sitting on her bed, Cleo grinned as she looked at Izumi keeping
guard at the side of the room.
“S-something the matter?”
The place was different to Courtois, and Izumi thought perhaps
she had committed a discourtesy as she called over to Cleo. But
Cleo’s response was different.
“No. It is simply the first time I’ve invited a foreigner into
my room… I found it a tad joyous.”
Izumi didn’t feel too bad, hearing that from her. This was also
part of the mission, and she would keep up the conversation.
“Is that so? I’m something of a refugee. I’m sure the color of
my hair is rare around these parts.”
“Really? Would it be alright if I heard the story?”
Cleo’s eyes glistened as they looked at Izumi.
(It’s not a bad feeling for her to be interested in me, but in
the middle of a mission, it’s a bit…)
Troubled, Izumi apologized that she would have to stay
standing.
“My house was originally from an island nation in the far east.
Let’s see, the knights there use swords like this one, similar to
sabers. They’re called bushi and samurai over there, but their role
is similar to the knights of this country.”
As Izumi gave a simple explanation of her homeland, Cleo happily
listened in. While she got the feeling she was acting a bit too
young for her age, Izumi couldn’t bring herself to hate her.
“And the fact you’re seeking refuge means, umm…”
“Yes, my house was caught up in a war, and left the country. If
they didn’t do so, I’m not sure I’d be living in this world.”
Seeing Cleo’s saddened face, Izumi regret her words. She
should’ve talked about something more interesting, she thought, as
she gave a meaningful clearing of her throat to change the
topic.
“But now that I think back, I don’t see it as a bad thing. I
attended the academy in Courtois, and I’m here as an honorable high
knight.”
When Izumi smiled, Cleo did too. And she looked out the
window.
“I don’t know anything… unlike my younger brothers and sisters,
I was fated to be offered as the maiden from the start. So my
education was kept to a minimum. I rarely had any opportunities to
speak to a foreigner, so today was fun.”
To be offered. It meant her life would be forfeit. Izumi and
Rudel had investigated the internal affairs of Celestia beforehand,
and it was the most famous story about the country, so she knew
about it.
About the blue-haired tribe that offers life to the god who made
even Courtois stand down.
“I know I’m really not supposed to say this, but I’m happy that
my attack let me meet everyone. I was even able to see a
dragon.”
To change the topic, Izumi picked up the thread on Sakuya.
“You should mention that to Rudel tomorrow. If you tell him you
want to see a dragon up-close, Rudel will be delighted.”
“Rudel-dono will? I don’t mean ill, but he’s a peculiar one,
isn’t he? Millia-san did say, ‘he’s the strange one, you’re not
crazy’.”
Cleo’s impression towards Rudel seemed to be fixed on him being
a strange one. Labelling that a misunderstanding or mistake was
something Izumi found exceedingly hard to do. Thinking about Rudel
using Courtois’ knights as a frame of reference brought about
numerous problems.
“H-he is strange, but he’s a good guy. A really good guy!”
It was the greatest defense she could muster.
“Fufufu, you get along, I see.”
“Yes, he’s a precious friend.”
Seeing Izumi’s expression as she said that, Cleo tilted her
head. Something wasn’t sitting right in her stomach; she tried
asking Izumi.
“You’re not lovers? Um, you make a wonderful face whenever you
talk about Rudel-dono, you know.”
“That’s wrong. He’s a dear friend from the academy. A little
circumstance has led me to stay by his side as a colleague, nothing
more and nothing less.”
If she called it a little circumstance in Courtois, the royal
palace would be abuzz with cries of, ‘are you sure you’re taking
this seriously with an attitude like that?’. For the sake of the
country, Izumi was appointed as Rudel’s special inspector. It
wasn’t an exaggeration to say it was a mission of the utmost
importance.
Rudel was generally classified as a first-rate knight. Strong,
proud, and even loyal. But the most important thing was… he was an
idiot.
Not the sort that couldn’t study, the type that burst into
erratic conduct the very moment the idea struck his head. Even
after he was instated in the dragoon brigade, he had repeated
numerous bouts of problematic behavior that dragged all his
surroundings in. What’s more, the biggest problem to Courtois was
the fact Rudel had obtained an outrageous dragon like Sakuya.
‘If that thing gets serious, this country is seriously done
for.’
The reason the upper brass seriously thought so was largely due
to a single knight, feared by Courtois and all the countries that
bordered it.
Rudel idolized that knight… Marty Wolfgang.
It’s been said the King of Courtois once cried out, ‘Why did it
have to be him of all people!’ or something along those lines…
Putting all jokes aside, there was no doubt keeping Izumi with
Rudel was an important measure.
“Are you sure?”
Said Cleo with a slight laugh.
As Izumi found it strange, Cleo spoke.
“I’m sorry. Love gossip, was it? I wanted to try doing something
like that.”
Cleo was raised in the castle. She was raised as if the only
important thing was that she was alive until the time came… or so
was the feeling Izumi got.
The room’s interior was modest, and she could think it belonged
to a princess who held an important role.
“At the end, my dreams keep getting granted one after the next,
I’m overjoyed.”
“… Is that… so.”
Izumi didn’t know what words to send her anymore.
◇
Once the night had advanced, two faces peeped out of an inn
window with a view of the palace.
It was Aleist and Nate.
Nate peered into her telescope, changing the magnification with
the regulator stuck to the side as she inspected every last detail.
Aleist wasn’t very knowledgeable on the matter, but as it was
constructed as a magic item, it was most certainly an expensive
piece. Not something Nate would be able to purchase.
There was one at Aleist’s house as well, but he had only ever
seen his father carefully stow it away a few times.
“I was also thinking it around noon, but who really are you,
Nate?”
When Aleist asked, Nate continued peering into the telescope as
she conversed.
“You want to know? Once you know, there’s no going back? Senpai,
you might just get swallowed up in the mysteries of an enigmatic
woman like me.”
“Yeah, not happening. I just wanted to ask what sort of secret
you have.”
Aleist waved his hand, laughing Nate’s words away. And he
decided to change the topic.
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m confirming the state of the castle. The departure’s the day
after tomorrow, but there’s no telling what’ll happen until
then.”
“The day after tomorrow?”
Aleist tried to recall what would happen in two days.
He remembered Rudel’s main mission would take place at that
time.
“Come to think of it, is Rudel alright?”
“Sakuya-chan’s nice and quiet, so I think he’s just fine.
Rather, she’s fidgeting restlessly, and it doesn’t seem she can
settle down.”
“Eh? You can see her with that? Let me have a go.”
“Go ahead. If you adjust it here, you can change the
scaling.”
Accepting the telescope, Aleist zoomed out to search for Sakuya.
He spotted her popping her head over the castle wall from time to
time.
She seemed restless and unsettled.
“What is that girl doing?”
As Aleist said that, Sakuya’s eyes met with Aleist’s across the
telescope. That was scary, he thought, putting the telescope down,
and looking at the castle in the distance. From here, he couldn’t
see Sakuya’s form. Somewhat relieved, he tried peering in again,
only to find her staring straight at him this time.
“… Nate, thank you.”
He didn’t want to think Sakuya had noticed them, but Aleist was
hated by Sakuya. In the case that he really was sighted, the very
fact Sakuya moved would become a huge problem.
“You’re already done with it?”
He returned the telescope to Nate. There, as if suddenly hitting
on something, she began to speak.
“Come to think of it, senpai, you have any interest in peeping?
In that case, you want me to lend you my telescope?”
Nate gave a sly laugh as she held out the device, but Aleist was
getting tired, so he wanted to return to the bed. What’s more he
had no interest in peeping.
“What’s that? Ah, no, I’m fine.”
Having lost interest in such talks as of late, it was on a level
where he wanted a magic device to prevent being peeped on. Within
Aleist’s harem, there were a few who specialized in magic. Those
girls would identify Aleist’s bathing time to launch their
attacks.
“Rather, you know, give me something so I don’t get peeped on
myself.”
While Aleist made a relatively sincere plea, Nate’s face
twitched.
“… I know I’m not one to speak, but you really are an off one,
senpai.”
“You think? I don’t notice it myself anymore. I’ve just kinda
been real tired these days, see… ah, you’d better honor your
promise and not assault me.”
Nate looked at him with a dubious face.
“Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? I’m the one who
should be worried about getting assaulted.”
Nate spread out her arms to show off her own lightly dressed
fresh-out-of-the bath form. Short, white pants, a simple shirt
above… what’s more, the slight see-through nature of her clothing
allowed a faint glance at her undergarments. Though it just looked
to Aleist that she had purposely chosen undergarments with striking
colors for the contrast.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t even assault you if you asked me
to.”
Giving an immediate reply, he took his eyes off of Nate and
looked at the room. Two single beds…
(Well, even if she tried, I’ll be able to run away. My
intuition’s been particularly sharp in those things as of late,
I’ll be able to notice before she makes her move.)
Flopping down on the bad, Aleist was delighted he’d be able to
get his first restful sleep in a long time. While Nate was there,
he didn’t seem to pay her the slightest mind.
“Early to bed, early to rise, what a wonderful phrase!
Goodnight.”
“Uwah…”
Nate’s face was filled with conflicted sentiment.
◇
Once morning came, Rudel went out to the plaza to see
Sakuya.
Perhaps because of her presence, the plaza looked a little
narrow. And around, the soldiers seemed to be surrounding her on
lookout.
‘Ah, Rudel.’
When Sakuya moved, the surrounding soldiers cowered. There were
some whose hips gave out, and others that readied their spears.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look too peppy.”
Seeing Sakuya not in the best health, he worried a bit, when
Sakuya took a look around.
‘Um, well, you see… someone was looking. And Sakuya can’t calm
down when she’s not in the ground.’
Sakuya was a subspecies of the gaia dragon that made their homes
in the soil. As expected, they were most calm in the ground, and
when sleeping outside… what’s more, an unfamiliar place, it was too
unsettling.
(But even if she says looking, with so many soldiers around,
isn’t that natural?)
Rudel looked around and saw the cowering soldiers looking at him
with eyes demanding he did something about this. While Rudel could
hear Sakuya’s voice, only Rudel could hear Sakuya’s voice. To the
others, it just sounded as if she was raising a growl.
“Don’t worry. Right… I’ll ask if there’s anywhere nearby you can
dig a hole. Your special mission is tomorrow after all. It should
be fine if you stay on standby until then.”
A dragoon and dragon could communicate with their hearts. Rudel
thought he could just call her if it came down to it. Though he
didn’t think he would actually get permission for her to dig a
hole.
‘Really!? The earth around here feels really warm, so it was on
my mind the whole time! I want to build a house soon.’
“… No, making something so full-blown is a bit…”
Rudel felt somewhat apologetic. When it came to digging holes…
no, to making dens, Sakuya had her hangups. She would make a number
of chambers, designating the room furthest in as her private room.
It wasn’t just a bit of a cave… it was a full-blown cave
system.
Perhaps she had a good feel for the ground, or it was just
intuitive, but amazingly, even if she arbitrarily dug with her
power, it never crumbled. But even if he explained that, he doubted
the people of Celestia would understand.
“Can you make due with a simple one? We’ll be returning
tomorrow.”
‘… Fine.’
Sakuya’s sulking hurt Rudel’s heart.
(Sakuya… how cute can you be.)\But as a dragon idiot, even if
his heart hurt as he looked at her, he still found her cute.
◇
“It passed.”
“What did?”
Rudel sat at the same table as Cleo and Millia for breakfast.
Izumi was still asleep, so it was a meal for just the three of
them.
Near the door, Ben and Passan stood at attention. The party of
three consisted of soldiers, and they were unable to eat breakfast
with the princess.
For Rudel and Millia, it was treated as special.
“No, I went and asked Emilio-dono if there was anywhere Sakuya
could dig a hole, early in the morning. When I did, he got
permission.”
“… Is that really alright?”
As Millia sent him a doubtful glance, Rudel thought over it as
well.
(This does feel a little off. Normally, he’d want to keep Sakuya
as close as possible, but… could it be the soldiers just complained
that much.)
He thought over various things, but he had received permission,
he started devising a plan to lead Sakuya to the location. It was
already arranged that Rudel would be told the location after
breakfast, sending Sakuya in the right direction once he returned
to the castle.
Once the maidservant finished the preparations for breakfast,
the three gave a Celestia-styled prayer and began to eat.
The scent of bread and bacon wafted through the room.
Rudel looked at the princess, thinking of her almost as a small
animal as he watched. The way she ate wasn’t unruly. More so, she
was firmly following proper manners.
But the air around her was restless.
(Perhaps she’s mindful of me and Millia.)
He thought, and after he had eaten his meal and sipped his tea,
Cleo came out with a request.
“U-um… if it’s possible, I’d like to see your dragon up close,
would that be alright? Erm, Izumi-san said you would show me if I
asked…”
After Cleo had shyly asked, Rudel quietly set down his cup. He
looked at Cleo with a serious face.
Perhaps she was nervous, her body stiffened.
“Rudel?”
Millia sent over a worried voice. But Rudel…
“No problem at all. While we’re at it, would you care for a
journey through the sky as I tell you the wonders of a dragon–!
Millia, that hurts, you know.”
“Don’t hit on the princess! And there’s no way that would be
allowed!”
As Millia talked on and on with a rough way of breath, she has a
point, Rudel ended up agreeing. He had been delighted to hear
of her interest in dragons.
But his aid came from an unexpected place.
“Um…”
“Something the matter.”
After the maidservant let out a voice, she lowered her head
towards Rudel. And she made a desperate plea.
“I am aware of how discourteous this may be, but please take the
princess into the sky!”
When he wondered what was up, the maidservant said something
like that. He did think it wrong, but there Emilio made his
appearance.
“A dragon, is it… I don’t see why not.”
“Emilio-dono?”
Unlike the day before, Emilio was taking on an attitude much too
lenient. And he made a proposal to Cleo.
“Whatever the case, today is the only day the princess may have
her freedom. Let’s see… all the more, why don’t you let her see the
lands around the castle?”
“Don’t you think that’s going too far?”
Millia sighed, but Emilio let a slight laugh.
“No, I’ve actually been thinking it a while now. At least at the
very end, the princess should be given some time to have fun… I’ve
already received permission, everyone, please just unwind.”
As he said that and left, Rudel and Millia gazed at Emilio’s
back. The difference between yesterday was one thing, but the
problem lay elsewhere.
“I kinda feel something really off about this.”
The maidservant answered Millia’s words.
“That’s not true! Emilio-sama is Celestia’s finest knight. He is
thinking about the princess. I was also desperately searching for
something I could do for her and…”
The maid lowered her head and apologized for her rudeness. Next,
it was Ben and Passan’s turns to lower their heads to Rudel.
“Boss Rudel, I’d like to make the plea too! Show the princess
what it’s like outside the castle!”
“I’m beggin’ you here, boss Rudel!”
Millia endured a laugh as the two of them called him boss. Rudel
looked over at Cleo.
(Well, I guess that depends on how Cleo-sama feels.)
He called over. But Cleo’s face was turned down.
“Cleo-sama, do you have any obj… Cleo-sama?”
A red face, shaking a little, when Cleo looked up into Rudel’s
face, she started to panic.
“I-I! Um, uh… it’s the firth time anyone’s tried to hit on
me!”
(Ah, she bit her tongue.)
Rudel was casually mindful of how she bit her tongue around the
word first. Millia beside him held her head.
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s6.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 6
Extra: Songstress 6
Successfully driving everyone out, Emilio passed by the maid in
service to Cleo as he walked down the hall.
Walking by her in that empty corridor, neither side took a
glance at the other. When her back faced his, he quietly called
over.
“You play well.”
“Oh my, and I’m sure I was changing my voice.”
As the maidservant giggled, Emilio’s mood took an unpleasant
turn. The voice she replied in was the female voice that relayed
information in the dark room.
“Right around now, all the hindrances are in the sky… the
dragoon’s powerful partner is leaving the castle. The higherups
will rejoice.”
Emilio didn’t know whose orders the contact was moving under.
But he also knew the maid hadn’t the slightest intention of telling
him.
“I wonder about that. You’ve already failed once before.”
“Those words had some thorns. Once noon has gone by, I’ll have
them move according to plan.”
“I suppose I should tell you to do your best. It does seem those
of the Gaia Empire obstructed you last time… and there were some
skillful ones among them.”
Hearing that, Emilio narrowed his eyes. He warned himself not to
let any emotion leak into his voice. Over his clothes, he touched
the egg-shaped pendant in his breast pocket. It was a precious
memento of his mother.
“Even so, it seems the princess has quite a longing for the
lifestyle of the common folk. Is that your doing?”
“Yes. Ever since I began serving her, I spoke of things that
would make her yearn for a common life. What she couldn’t
experience in her limited life… I was told to give the princess a
dream she would never reach no matter her yearnings. But I never
thought that would prove useful here of all places. A princess
whose face goes red from being hit on is…”
Emilio grasped the gist of what the maid was trying to say. Cleo
was much too dense to the malice around her. In her eyes, there
were places where the ill-natured surroundings were only
natural.
(I doubt she will find anything off. How truly pitiful…)
The maid continued on, as if to take over from his thoughts.
“… She truly is a pitiful girl. Her life taken without being of
the slightest use, her days ending with her unable to accomplish
anything.”
The maid’s voice was laughing. What’s more, it was the sort of
laughter that made it seem she was enjoying herself so much she
couldn’t help it.
“Sure enough. Once everyone has returned, I will go out to meet
up with them. The location is…”
“If you’ll have them come to the central square, we will handle
the rest.”
The maidservant walked off. From the depths of the corridor,
another person came walking. Emilio started off as if nothing had
happened at all.
(That’s right, this time, I’ll make it succeed.)
Taking his hand from his pendant, he strongly walked down the
corridor. A resolve was beginning to seep into his expression.
(No matter what happens, Cleo will…)
◇
Having taken off from the palace courtyard, Sakuya housed Rudel
and Izumi, and Millia, Cleo and the party of three on her back.
“B-boss! The sky’s scary!”
“Let’s fly a little closer to the ground!”
“We’re really high up! If we fall, we’re gonna die!”
“If I fly lower, there will be collateral damage. You’ll have to
put up with it.”
The three fell to all fours on Sakuya’s back, their faces pale,
their bodies shaking as they tried their hardest not to look down.
Rudel instantly vetoed their request.
In contrast, Cleo was…
“Amazing. So this is the sky! The sky only a dragoon can
obtain!”
Delighted.
“That’s right! The sky only a dragoon can see! In order to get
it in my hands, I worked hard from a young age!”
Every time Cleo rejoiced, Rudel was delighted as well. Almost as
if he had gained someone who understood him, he frolicked along
with the girl.
From the point of view of Izumi and Millia, whose hearts were
dancing as they kept a close eye to make sure Cleo didn’t fall, it
was a bit of a peculiar sight.
“Rudel, can’t you fly a little safer? And Cleo-sama, please take
a seat and hold onto the handrail.”
Like a horse, Sakuya’s back was furnished with equipment for
humans to ride her. A large bag was stuck on for luggage, and her
equipment included things like handrails and cushions. Things that
might prove necessary when escorting people.
Dragons of the gaia variant were slow when it came to
transporting, but as they were able to move a large quantity of
goods, they were a priceless addition to the dragoon brigade’s rear
logistic support.
In battle, their slow speed and large bodies had them hated as
easy targets, but even so, with their skin and scales that kept
away normal attacks, they were the dragons that boasted the
greatest destructive power. As a subspecies of such a race, it
didn’t matter to Sakuya if there were seven people on her back.
“In the first place, why did they give permission? Letting the
princess out like this shouldn’t be allowed… ah, come to think of
it our second princess is casually attending the academy.”
When Millia spoke of the pink-haired expressionless princess,
Cleo showed a degree of interest. But rather than the second
princess Fina, she was interested in the academy.
“The academy, is it? A school that even royalty can attend
sounds wonderful.”
“And wonderful it is! I especially enjoyed the fundamental
curriculum’s interclass tourney, and the upper classmen’s’
individuals’ tournament.”
At Rudel’s statements that made it seem as if combat was the
main activity, Izumi and Millia ended up sighing.
“No, you’re just a special case.”
Remembering the days of Rudel, Aleist, Eunius and Luecke
fighting, Millia put a damper on his spirits.
“What makes you say that, Millia, you took part in a match in
your fifth year as well! I think Aleist’s confession prevented you
from exhibiting your full strength, not that I think about it, that
was a legitimate tactic and…”
Millia turned red to her ears as she cried out.
“Don’t talk about that!!”
Not wanting to remember, she turned her face down.
But on the contrary, Cleo grew interested.
“It sounds amazing, Courtois’ academy… my country does not have
such an educational institution, so I find myself envious.”
“I know, right!? When the tiger tribe men exchanged blows–”
“Rudel, don’t you think we’ve had enough of that topic. You’re
giving the academy a strange image.”
Izumi stopped him.
Atop Sakuya’s back, they shared a laugh.
(I hope this takes her mind off it a bit.)
Rudel looked at the map he received from Emilio. And once Cleo
and Izumi got into a girls’ conversation, he stared hard at the map
in thought.
(… It’s a bit too far from the castle. If something happens and
I have to call Sakuya, it will take too much time for her to
return. This might have been a failure.)
Revoking it now would be a disservice to Emilio. But thinking of
his duty to guard Cleo, Rudel knew that keeping Sakuya close would
be the best deterrent. Right, just a deterrent.
(No, did they fear Sakuya conducting combat near the palace?
When we’re doing the actual guard mission, we’ll need Sakuya to
serve as transport.)
If Sakuya was caught up in a battle near the palace or castle
town, the surrounding area was instantly be turned to a mountain of
rubble. As he still had his worries about holding back, Rudel was
cautious in that field. In the case that an enemy attacked, he
would have Cleo board Sakuya to evacuate her into the sky.
That alone would prevent enemy hands from reaching her. That was
how he saw it, and he wasn’t considering to have her take part in
battle.
(It’s a bit worrisome they don’t seem to have any intent to
protect her. Well, I’m the one who made the proposal, but… I should
keep cautious.)
None too knowledgeable on the internal affairs of other
countries, the fact his own country wasn’t monolithic became a
stroke of good luck. He was beginning to notice there might be a
separate force moving within Celestia.
It was strange from the start.
By relying on a foreign nation for guards, they invited in the
dissatisfaction of the knights, what’s more, they didn’t send
enough manpower around.
Rudel looked at the party of three making pale faces.
(Their loyalty aside, if they’re this unusable, I must presume
they haven’t received basic training.)
They were spies from the other force… he tried to consider, but
they were too unreliable for that. He thought they might be
concealing their real skill, but at least from what he could tell
by fighting them, that didn’t seem likely. And they had the mind to
serve Cleo from the depths of their heart.
(They’re a sort… I’ve never had around me.)
As far as Rudel knew, that type of retainer didn’t exist on his
home estate. He had seen enough of the opposite- those that mocked
and tried to use him- to grow tired of them Because of that, he
found himself just a little envious of Cleo.
(But whatever the case, we should be nearing the limit. Thinking
of the princess’ stamina, we should descend and take a short
break.)
It was nothing more than flying through the sky, but for those
unaccustomed to it, the stamina expenditure was intense. Rudel
decided to land and take some rest.
“Sakuya, it looks like the designated point is over
there.”
‘Uwah, it’s a warm-looking place.’
Rudel couldn’t understand how the ground could look warm. But
there was a mountain nearby with smoke rising from it.
“Is this area alright? It’ll be hell if an eruption occurs.”
The villages he spotted around made Rudel anxious. If the
volcano erupted, the casualty figures would be severe. But near the
volcano was a forest that had seen a good number of years.
“Ah, we’re perfectly fine. The sort of eruptions I hear about
from other lands never happen in Celestia.”
Rudel inclined an ear to Cleo’s explanation as he had Sakuya
lower altitude.
“The guardian deity is in a different one… a shrine in the
volcano you can see over there, but because of his protection,
eruptions never occur. Not since the founding of Celestia… so at
the very least, there hasn’t been one in two hundred years.”
On her words, Izumi was mildly surprised.
“Not a single major eruption in a few hundred years?”
Cleo shook her head.
“They can’t happen. As I said it’s because of the guardian
deity.”
Making a little… no, a sorrowful face, Cleo turned her head
down. Unable to see her state given their position, the party of
three regained their vigor as the ground approached, getting
excited over the princess’ explanation.
“Our god is amazing! The princess is amazing too!”
“He’s a god after all! And as expected of the princess!”
“The god is amazing, but the princess is smart!”
On their three reactions, Cleo giggled a bit.
“That’s right. Even like this, I’ve studied, for what it’s
worth. But it’s the first time anyone’s called me smart.”
Saying she was happy even if it was just flattery, Cleo smiled
at the three. They seemed happy as well.
As Rudel looked at them, a scene of his own youth suddenly
revived in his head.
(… That doesn’t matter right now.)
Issuing orders to Sakuya, he told everyone to prepare to
land.
“Grab onto the handrails. We’re touching down.”
◇
‘Building a house for Sakuya~.’
Sakuya sang a song as her large arms began digging a hole.
Little ways away, Rudel watched as the mountain was shaved
away.
Sakuya had her own criterion for which place was best, so she
was apparently investigating. And with this serving as their break,
Rudel and the others looked over the scene.
“… The rocks and dirt are flying through the sky.”
Ben looked at the parabola the soil drew in the air as he
muttered.
“No matter how many times I see it, Sakuya’s digging is a
magnificent sight.”
Rudel looked and nodded a few times.
“It’s amazing. If she has that much power, can the dragons do
other jobs as well?”
Cleo’s question was answered by Izumi.
“They’re used for transport and land development. A skillful
dragon can fulfill a number of roles.”
The princess took a keen interest to that response. Rudel
recalled the port town of Beretta where he was stationed. While it
was built at a harbor, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any fields.
Preparing those fields was left up to Keith… when the Lieutenant
Keith didn’t have any subordinates, his water dragon Spinnith could
fulfill the role alone.
He didn’t have the same level of power as Bennet’s dragon, but
if put to skilled labor, he could pull it off well. He made quite
an undragon-like statement, saying he liked work that had to be
built up one step at a time.
“Well, each dragon has its own quirks.”
Don’t just write off our problems as quirks, the upper echelons
of Courtois would claw at Rudel if they heard the statement.
Sakuya was comfortably singing her song. There, going along with
what should only sound like a dragon’s growl to other humans, Cleo
began to hum. She was gradually picking up the rhythm.
The party of three looked at Cleo with faces as if they were to
be moved to tears.
“What’s wrong?”
Ben explained to Rudel.
“What’s wrong… ah, you didn’t know? The princess is really good
at singing. I don’t know how long ago, but back when we was still
jobless, unsteadily topplin’ around, she was singing a song in the
square. When we heard her singing, it moved us, got us
inspired.”
Ben began to shed tears.
When Rudel asked the reason, he found the three had left their
village unable to find work, and once they came to the castle town
of Celestia, they lived by rummaging through the trash. Troubled
for food, they were honestly about to stick their hands into ill
deeds.
But hearing the song in the square, they popped their heads out
the alley, and saw it was Cleo who was singing.
That clear voice held a certain something that resounded in a
person’s heart. The fact these three hadn’t turned to crime was
thanks to Cleo, apparently.
The voice had caused them to reflect on themselves.
“It was a real pretty song, see. Ended up pepping us right up.
What we was doing started to look stupid. We stopped caring how
cheap the pay was, searched out a place to work, and ended up
guarding a gate that no one ever used. People made fun of us, but
we didn’t give a damn. Working earnest, earning money… she made us
notice there was nothing more rewarding.”
Cen listened to Cleo sing as he told Rudel a tale. Pono
continued on after him.
“When we begged and started out as trainees, it was nothin but
cleaning and chores. But man, if we put the work in, even we could
do it, boss.”
As Cleo’s mood gradually rose with her humming, she began
lightly singing to herself. Passan closed his eyes to hear. Rudel
also inclined his ear.
(I see, so these three feel indebted to the princess. But if a
song’s all it took to get them back on their feet, perhaps they
were good people to start with. Whatever the case…)
The three were troubled for food, fished through trash, and in
the end, were about to commit crime. There were surely
opportunities for ill deeds before it came to that, so Rudel
concluded to himself they were good at heart. And that the song was
only the trigger they needed.
But…
(Yep, it’s a nice voice. I’m no good with those things, but it
feels pleasant on my ears. Perhaps this is talent.)
In Cleo’s singing voice, Rudel could also feel something echoing
in his heart. As a noble, he had received a general education.
Music was included. But when it came to fine arts, especially
music, Rudel didn’t exhibit any particular knack or talent.
Rather, Eunius and Luecke achieved excellent grades in music and
art.
… Aleist was out of the question.
But according to Luecke, perhaps he was just born in the wrong
era. Apparently. In various ways, Aleist was too advanced.
As Rudel and the others lent an ear to Cleo’s song, Sakuya cried
out.
‘Higyaaaaah!!’
“S-Sakuyaaa!!”
Responding to the scream, Rudel leapt out to find the hole
Sakuya was haughtily excavating welling up with water and
steam.
Rudel rushed over to Sakuya’s side, surprised by the heat rush
of the vapor, and the temperature of the water.
“Is this a hot spring?”
As Sakuya finally managed to bob her head out of the water,
Rudel jumped at it and latched on, calling out.
“Are you alright, Sakuya!? Any burns?”
While he was worried, there, Izumi called over.
“No, Rudel… Sakuya is a dragon, you know.”
Right. Sakuya was undoubtedly a dragon. And the dragon in
question floated in the hot water as she remarked.
‘Haaah, it feels niicccee.’
She was quite satisfied by the hot spring she had dug up
herself. Perhaps she had struck the source, as the water wasn’t at
a temperature a human could enter. To a dragon, such matters were
irrelevant.
(Kuh, Sakuya in a bath… she’s too cute.)
From atop Sakuya’s head, Rudel gazed at his own dragon with
great satisfaction.
◇
Returning to the castle, Rudel reported to Emilio.
Before a soaked Rudel who had removed his coat, Emilio
spoked.
“… So you’re telling me you fell in when your dragon changed
posture? You haven’t been burned, have you?”
“I am alright. My apologies.”
Rudel and the others had safely returned, but Rudel had fallen
into the spring. The reason was just as Emilio had detailed. Fed
up, Emilio looked at Rudel as he ordered the servant in the room to
bring him some clothes.
“Bring a change of clothing for Rudel-dono, if you please.”
Cleo’s maid nodded and left the room.
“Once Rudel-dono’s finished changing, we shall depart. Time is
limited, after all.”
Feeling an urge to hold his head, Emilio looked at Rudel.
(Give me a break, Dragoon. I need you to do your job.)
It was a large strain on the plan.
But he continued thinking of how he would reconnect the ends of
the deviating plan, and bring it towards a result he desired.
Cleo presented a towel to the soaked Rudel. The towel in Rudel’s
hands was already sopping wet.
Rudel, Izumi, and everyone else felt ashamed.
(No, you’re not supposed to be doing that sort of thing.)
Emilio was troubled by Cleo’s correspondence.
“Princess, once the maid returns, leave Rudel-dono to her. Now
let’s prepare to head o…”
After saying that much, Emilio noticed his own failure.
(Ah, wait a second. Cleo only has one maid. Then no one’s
actually preparing for the plan?)
With everything in such a shapeless state, Rudel’s party were
about to set out into the castle town.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s7.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 7
Extra: Songstress 7
In the center of Celestia’s busy center square, a statue of the
country’s founding queen was erected.
With the time being slightly past noon, the food stalls gave off
a mouthwatering scent.
Steamed food seemed to be the norm as many people could be seen
eating steamed vegetables topped with meats and sauces.
Other than that, the people who walked as they ate a food
wrapped in white dough that let off meat juices stood out. Holding
them in brown paper, their forms as their mouths let off steam as
they ate left quite an impression.
The slight differences he could find from Courtois made it all
the more interesting to Rudel.
Though that was also due to the fact Rudel’s group had disguised
themselves to play the part of tourists.
“Are they different from what you can find in Courtois? They’re
sweet pastries, aren’t they?”
As Rudel put his impression to mouth, Cleo in the clothes of a
village girl marveled alongside him. She didn’t know what sort of
food the townsfolk ate either.
“I can’t think those are sweets…”
They let off steam, and the contents were filled with meat.
Once she voiced that, one of their guards, Passan explained.
“What Boss Rudel’s talking about ‘s steamed buns. You wrap meat
in a yeast dough ‘n steam it, so it’s a proper meal and not a
sweet.”
“Is that so? You’re surprisingly knowledgeable.”
As Rudel nodded in acceptance, a booth selling some sort of
dolls caught Cleo’s eyes.
There, Pono cautioned her.
“Prin… ah, no! Young lady, you shouldn’t touch those. They
exceedingly easy to break, and the sort of souvenirs that force
whatever tourists pick them up to buy them.”
Cleo swiftly drew back her hands
The old man manning the stall made a grim face as he saw
that.
“It’s not like I’m tryin’ ta make them easy to break. It’s just,
the manufacturing process, see. When you make them outa dirt,
they’re gonna be fragile.”
Hearing the words from the shopkeeper, Rudel simply…
(Then do something about it.)
Thought from a customer’s viewpoint. In truth, if she picked one
up and broke it, they would likely be forced to buy it. Millia, who
had reached out in a similar fashion, now looked truly
relieved.
“In the first place, that’s our guardian deity, who should be
treated with care. It’s their fault for breaking them.”
On the old man’s opinion, Rudel looked at its form, but it was
much too crude, and he could only barely make out its shape. An
elliptical body with four thick legs stuck on; the only part of the
doll colored in was an eye-like red point.
He could only see it as a rip-off.
(Was it made poorly, or does the original actually look like
that… I get the feeling whoever makes them easy to break and puts
them up for sale is also at fault.)
Rudel took a side-glance at Izumi.
She was keeping alert of their heavily crowded surroundings. And
under the robe she wore as an escort, her hand was placed on her
katana.
Rudel also directed his attention around.
There, Emilio took one of the clay dolls in hand and lifted it
up.
His subordinate Ben warned him of the danger, but Emilio laughed
and returned it to its original place.
His eyes were terribly cold.
“Now that we’ve seen the crude dolls that are this area’s
specialty, let’s move on to the next area. Milady, it might be a
little late, but how about lunch?”
Emilio suggested lunch to Cleo.
She curiously turned her eyes to the food stands. While there
was something she wanted to eat, she couldn’t bring herself to say
it.
Rudel called out to Passan. Producing his wallet from his inner
breast pocket and handed over Celestian currency he had exchanged
for.
“Passan, use this to buy something. It seems milady is
interested in the food stalls.”
“Y-you don’t need this much!”
Passan declined to accept such a fortune, but Rudel forcefully
had him grip. Looking over at Emilio, he showed no signs of
opposing, instead giving a nod.
“Don’t worry about that, just buy enough for everyone. Take Pono
with you.”
Saying that, Rudel moved to stand on the opposite side of Cleo
from Izumi.
“U-um, it’s a bother, then…”
While Cleo sounded apologetic, Rudel shook his head to the
side.
“No, I wanted to try it as well, so don’t worry. I deeply
apologize for having you keep me company in my meal.”
When he spoke in a phrasing tactful towards the princess, Izumi
and Millia made tired faces.
Millia even blatantly glared at him.
“… What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really. I just thought you were being refreshingly
thoughtful.”
When Millia lifted her hair and said it, perhaps sensing the
atmosphere, Passan and Pono headed off towards the stalls. Ben
enviously saw off their backs.
As always, Cleo looked apologetic, so Emilio followed
through.
“I’d appreciate if you left your spats for once you’ve returned
to your own country. Right now is milady’s time.”
Millia turned to Cleo.
“My apologies, Milady.”
Hearing that, Cleo gave a bit of a lonesome laugh.
“No, it’s’ alright.”
At that moment, Passan and Pono returned, both their arms full
of food.
“We’re back!”
“Passan, you bought way too much.”
Ben sighed. And Emilio naturally started off towards a place in
the square where chairs and tables were lain out.
“Then let’s eat. Over here.”
(He’s used to this. Meaning the knights eat here? Despite that,
I don’t see any around.)
Rudel couldn’t see any knights eating around.
He spotted quite a few soldiers on lookout, and he could see
some soldiers having their meals. But he didn’t see any
knights.
(Is it a problem with the timeslot?)
Rudel watched Cleo take a seat as he called out to Passan.
“Passan, do the knights eat in this area too?”
Taking a sidelong glance at Emilio, who even wore a hood, Rudel
sought confirmation. Emilio was explaining to Cleo how to eat the
various foods from the stalls.
Ben and Pono’s eyes were sparkling at the feast before their
eyes.
Passan as well, and when Rudel struck up conversation, he
troublesomely looked between Rudel and the food.
“There’s no way they’d come here. Even if they go on patrol,
they get free meals at the castle. I’ve never heard of them showing
up at these measly stalls.”
“But this is a sight-seeing spot, right? They never stretch
their legs in the area and eat at the stalls?”
“Yeah, this might not be the best way to put it, but the mighty
knights eat ‘t proper restaurants. This place is just right for the
penniless soldiers to fill their stomachs… we’re thankful for it-
no money and all- but once you get to be a knight, it’s looked down
upon, er rather…”
Seeing how he struggled to say it, the knights likely avoided
eating at the lowbrow food stalls.
(Do they look down on the food eaten by the masses? Quite a few
of these are surprisingly delicious, but…)
Rudel’s wariness towards Emilio was instantly raised. But as
things stood, he didn’t have any evidence. Even if he had his
doubts, they were at a level where they’d clear up if the man gave
an excuse.
A little suspicious, was all he thought.
“Passan, you can have mine. I’m fine with just one.”
Saying that, Rudel took one meat bun in hand and swiftly
finished his meal. A delighted Passan brought the remaining bun
over to Ben and oano.
“Boss, I got this from Boss Rudel!”
“Cheers. We’re having a feast today!”
“Thank you!”
Giving a bitter smile at the rejoicing three, Rudel went over to
Izumi and sat down by her side. While he kept wary of his
surroundings, he took care not to direct that towards Emilio.
Millia glared at the two of them, but he ignored her for
now.
“Did something happen?”
Hearing Izumi’s whisper, it’s nothing definitive, he gave as a
preface as he whispered back. Rudel himself only had a light
off-feeling at best.
“It’s Emilio. Something feels off about him.”
“… I see.”
Without moving her eyes, she lent an ear to his words.
“This might not be so simple a request. Just keep that in
mind.”
Saying that and standing, Rudel moved over to an adequate seat
to guard Cleo.
Though they were in the middle of work, Ben’s party were
deliciously digging into their meal. Cleo seemed to be having fun
as she watched them.
She held a yearning towards plebian… things of differing status,
to be more specific.
It wasn’t as if Rudel didn’t understand the feeling.
(Perhaps every royal family is complicated.)
There were plenty of strange points in this matter. He honestly
couldn’t believe the reason they were called over was because the
country’s own knights weren’t trusted.
(No use digging too deep into it. That’s not our job.)
Rudel changed his train of thought to focus on nothing but the
mission. But as Cleo gave an innocent laugh as she listened in to
Ben’s party’s conversations, he grew just a little curious.
Turning his eyes to Emilio, Rudel noticed.
(He’s smiling?)
◇
Aleist had climbed to the roof of a building overlooking the
center square.
To be more precise, Nate had led him there.
They both wore robes, weapons at the ready as they waited on
standby.
Keeping her body low, Nate used her telescope to check the
surroundings. When the sun was so high in the sky, the reason they
didn’t stand out was because of the magic she was using.
Aleist recalled the magic and skills he didn’t use in-game.
(All the magic and skills I thought were useless, to think there
were such convenient uses for them. Even so, what is Nate
doing?)
He had still yet to hear the reason Nate had come to Celestia.
But Aleist had been led off from Courtois as her guard.
There had been some combat with those he suspected to be
soldiers of the Gaia Empire.
(There’s no doubt it’s something troublesome. What is she
looking at?)
Nate peered into the lens as she called over to Aleist. It was
almost as if she had his thoughts in the palm of her hand.
“Are you curious about me, senpai?”
… But that was quite evidently a misunderstanding. There was no
way Nate could understand how Aleist felt.
(Well, if she’s noticed, I’d best not beat around the bush.)
Giving a bitter smile, Aleist offered Nate a correction.
“I’m pretty sure what I’m curious about is why we’ve come all
the way to a foreign nation to do something like this. In the first
place, you’ve yet to explain why we had to run away from that
strange bunch.”
While she heard out his take, Nate continued observing somewhere
with her telescope. She continued gazing at what seemed to be the
central square of the busy main road.
Perhaps she had found the target of her surveillance, as she
didn’t remove her eye.
“You’re asking that now? I’d really prefer it if you either
asked earlier, or stayed silent and showed some stoicism as you
silently watched over me.”
“That’s not in my character. If you don’t like that, hurry up
and find a boyfriend, and marry them alongside your
graduation.”
“Uwah… senpai, you’re terrible. After you did such a thing to
me.”
Such a thing, meaning when Aleist was pushed down. It was in his
student days. Dropping by the graduation party, Aleist ran smack
dab into Nate, who was handing out drinks, and she ended up pushing
him down.
“I was the victim there, wasn’t I? And It really was hell back
then.”
Recalling his school days, Aleist breathed out a sigh as he
slumped his shoulders.
“Senpai, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but there aren’t
many students out there who enjoyed their school life as much as
you. Surrounded by cute girls, with friends and rivals… it was the
best, wasn’t it? If that’s what makes you sigh, the gods are going
to punish you.”
Aleist had an ample understanding of Nate’s words.
It was a fact he truly did have some fun. He was fulfilled.
But…
“I confessed to the girl I like, and I still haven’t gotten a
response. No, that’s already, how should I put it, yeah, hopeless,
but see…”
“Hah, are you so unsatisfied with a cute girl like me?”
As Nate called herself cute, Aleist averted his eyes and
muttered.
“I think the part where you praised yourself is no good. Are you
overly self-conscious?”
Nate lifted the telescope up and hit it into Aleist’s head. Was
it really alright to use an expensive article in such a manner,
Aleist thought as he robbed his head.
“It’s embarrassing for me to say it too. This sort of, I’d like
if you were more mindful of a maiden’s heart. It’s just the two of
us, so shouldn’t it be fine if there was a bit of a better
atmosphere between us? Like, when I call myself cute, you could at
least say, ‘You definitely are cute, Nate’.”
Nate’s face reddened in embarrassment, but…
“That sounds like a pain.”
Aleist bluntly called it troublesome only to be smacked by the
telescope again. Seeing Nate silently smack him with her face still
red, Aleist…
(Ah, she might actually be a little cute when she’s
embarrassed.)
Ended up thinking even Nate had some cute parts to her. Due to
the abundance of violent members in his harem, even if she hit him,
he ended up seeing it as cute.
◇
While they spend time in the central square, the time to return
to the palace approached.
The flow of people had also begun to change, with the pedestrian
traffic gradually lessening off.
But there, Emilio moved.
“Milady, would you like to see the famed spot of Celestia? It’s
not too far from central square, so we can still make it in
time.”
“A famed spot? I’ve never heard of it.”
Cleo looked at Ben, but the party of three tilted their
heads.
“Was there a spot like that around here? In this area, I guess
you could call the central square a famed spot, but…”
As Pono crossed his arms in thought, Emilio went into somewhat
forceful negotiations.
“Those in the know, know it well. Though to people without
lovers, it might be irrelevant.”
Hearing of lovers, the three nodded.
“So it’s one of those date spots? Sure enough, it wouldn’t be
strange if we’ve never heard of it!”
While Ben gave a grand laugh, Passan continued tilting his
head.
Rudel approached Passan and tried asking what was on his
mind.
“Is something bothering you?”
“I’m not sure if you know, but in these parts, center square is
a tourist site so there are soldiers. But go just a little away and
the public order isn’t too good. Even if you say it’s a date spot,
I’m not really seeing it… well, I don’t have a girlfriend, so maybe
I just don’t know about it.”
Seeing Cleo being led off by Emilio, her face had turned a
little red at the words date spot.
As she took some fleeting glances at Rudel, Emilio went into
effective persuasion.
“Why don’t you take one last visit there with Rudel-dono?”
Hearing Rudel’s name, Cleo thought a bit and nodded.
“You’re right. If we can be back in no time, at the very end, at
least…”
A little. She said and consented. Emilio led her. But it was at
that moment.
“Kyaaaaah!!”
Alongside a woman’s scream, they heard the sound of a building
or stall being broken. A portion of a blown-away stand flew towards
Rudel as well.
“Stand back!”
Saying that, Rudel drew his sword and cut down what was coming
his way.
Izumi and Millia rushed over to Cleo’s side, while the party of
three panicked, unable to take immediate action.
Emilio issued orders to them.
“Ben, take your men and go check around the square. Head
straight towards the noise and see if the enemy is still
there.”
“Eh, oh, yes!”
As Ben instantly ran off, Rudel instantly closed in on
Emilio.
He could no longer think his off feeling was a
misunderstanding.
“Hold it. How do you know it’s an enemy?”
Drawing his sword, he didn’t hesitate to direct the tip at
Emilio.
There was definitely a ruckus. But Rudel’s group had yet to find
out the slightest detail on what had happened. Despite that, Emilio
had concluded and proclaimed a clear enemy.
Izumi and Millia also quickly entered the space between Cleo and
Emilio, readying their weapons. But they were swallowed up by the
wave of people running away.
“Princess!”
While Izumi raced towards Cleo, a large mass fell from above.
Then another, and another. In the gap Izumi used to direct her eyes
up, Emilio made his move.
(This is bad!)
Rudel was sure Emilio would cut Izumi down. He determined those
somethings that came from the sky were his allies.
But Emilio ignored Izumi entirely.
“Wait!”
Swallowed whole by the flowing crowd, Millia couldn’t approach
Cleo.
“Emilio, why are you doing something like this!?”
“Shut up and follow me!”
Her hand forcefully grasped by Emilio, Cleo glared and put up
resistance. Unfortunately, the difference in power was too great,
and her resistance ended in futility.
Around the residence still ran to flee, and with his movements
sealed off, those falling masses surrounded Rudel.
Those round bodies looked as if they were made from a sphere
crushed flat, with four thick legs attacked. Their single red eyes
let off a light, their earthen surfaces…
“I don’t know what’s going on… but it doesn’t look like these
are the guardian deity.”
Similar to the ornaments sold at the souvenir shop, those
objects that exceeded two meters across surrounded Rudel’s party,
locking them in with their eyes.
Within all that, Emilio alone was able to run freely, dragging
Cleo by the hand.
Millia drew back her bow, but as if to protect him, the masses
moved to block her line of sight.
“Looks like these things are that Emilio’s comrades.”
At Millia’s vexed words, Izumi also drew her katana and took a
stance.
“I’d like to give chase asap, but…”
The masses that showed no intent to let them through moved
mechanically like dolls. Surrounding Rudel’s party of three, they
looked like they would attack at any moment.
One step… Izumi tread in, and sent a slash flying at a doll. She
had determined the surroundings had finally become scarce enough
for her to exert her strength.
And stirring ever so slightly, the doll’s torso was severed from
its legs.
That clean-cut revealed- practically like the idols up for sale-
its insides were empty.
“What’s with these things.”
Finding the empty dolls uncanny, she tried thinking of them as
golems produced with magic and tried looking around. While her eyes
had always been good, she couldn’t spot any magician controlling
them.
For dolls made out of earth, their surfaces were almost like
earthenware. Appart from the severed portion, she could see cracked
places as well.
But they weren’t strong. Rudel thought it would be fine if they
just cut them all down, but the doll’s dislocated limbs quickly
crept up to their original positions, fastened themselves on, and
set the thing moving again.
“Now that’s troublesome.”
Rudel took a stance with his sword as he said that, when Izumi
sent a shockwave flying to make a path. Turning, she spoke to
Rudel.
Her ponytail swayed, and as she looked over her shoulder,
Izumi’s form made for a pretty picture.
“Go ahead, you two. If we don’t carry out the mission, it will
affect Courtois’ reputation.”
“At the moment she was kidnapped, our reputation was lost. But
if that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll be going ahead.”
“Eh? We’re really leaving her here alone? Hey, Rudel!”
Millia voiced her opposition to leaving Izumi behind.
But Rudel made a prompt decision, ignored the dolls in the
process of regeneration, and chased after Cleo.
“Aaaah, whatever!”
Millia followed behind, protruding wings of magic from her back
and chasing after Rudel.
If a doll tried to follow, a slash would fly from behind,
slicing it into pieces. But as if that was pointless, the dolls
regenerated one after the next.
Even so Rudel left it to Izumi.
(Now then, that means me and Millia will have to take Emilio on,
but expecting only a single enemy would be too optimistic.)
The two chasing Emilio, who had entered an alley from the main
road, kept the possibility of an ambush in mind as they proceeded
on.
◇
“Now then.”
Having let Rudel go ahead, once the backs of the two were out of
sight, Izumi sheathed her katana into its scabbard.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have the intent to fight. She had
determined that cutting them would take way too much time.
She undid the thread that bound her scabbard to her belt. Taking
the sheath in her hand, she leapt right above the doll that tried
moving going after the other two.
“You’re not getting away.”
Pulling the sheath halfway down the blade, the moment its end
touched the enemy, she hammered her sword back into it with good
momentum.
The doll was slammed into the ground, shattering beyond the
realm of repair. Her jump clearing the top of the shattered doll,
Izumi observed the state of her enemy.
“So they don’t regenerate if you break them enough. Then I’ll be
destroying the lot of them.”
Izumi ran straight towards the remaining dolls, and as if they
had a form of will, the dolls began to retreat.
But knowing from their movements they couldn’t output much
speed, Izumi wasn’t going to let them get away.
She took another leap and destroyed another doll.
The ground she slammed it into caved in slightly from the
impact.
(I’ve had Captain Bennet teach me a lot of things, but it seems
I’ve at least managed to make one of them my own.)
It was a technique she learned to deal with enemies where
slashes weren’t the most effective.
As Rudel and the others went ahead, Izumi learned it to chase
after him, if only by a single step.
“It’s my first time using it in real combat, but this is a good
opportunity.”
Izumi muttered as she went on destroying the dolls that
continued to gather in the center square.
◇
Having fled into an alleyway, Emilio stopped in his tracks.
After running through those maze-like back alleys without going
astray, he carefully set down Cleo, who he had hoisted under his
left arm. She had thrashed along the way, but by this point, she
was slumped without resisting.
As she took a seat, Emilio spoke.
“We’re still moving. Your clothes will be soiled if you sit
there.”
“… Why did you turn coat?”
It was a feeble voice, but he heard it resound through the
alley. He could hear the distant sounds of battle, but nothing
else.
There, a woman’s voice called out.
“This is troublesome, Emilio-dono. It’s troubling for you to do
such unnecessary things.”
What Cleo saw as she lifted her head was the maid who had looked
after her. She was wearing her maid uniform, but her atmosphere was
different than usual.
“W-why are you here…”
Cleo didn’t want to believe it. The maid was carrying such a
friendly conversation with Emilio. Which meant…
“What a dull woman. Well, such a thing shouldn’t be a problem
for bait, so I’ve no complaints. I was able to have a laugh over
how you thought of me as a friend, and your pitiful environment was
interesting enough to watch, so I’ll forgive you.”
As the maid imparted her such words with a smile, Cleo’s
thoughts couldn’t catch up.
But no matter how she recollected, that was definitely the face
of the girl who had listened to what she had to say so warmly.
“You don’t have to look so conflicted. You’re only bait, after
all. Now then, if we keep the higherups waiting, they’ll be angry.
Take her away already, Emilio-dono.”
Seeing the maid turn from a smile to an uncanny grin, Cleo
didn’t know what to believe in anymore.
“T-tomorrow, I have to…”
“I know. That’s why we’re stopping that. Would it kill for you
to be just a little thankful to me for taking care of mere
feed?”
A tear flowed along Cleo’s face.
There, Emilio approached the maid.
“Emilio-dono, if you let go of her hands, the bait will run aw…
eh?”
Having drawn his sword as they were on the run, Emilio still
held it firmly in his right hand. With a big step forward, he swung
it from his top right to bottom left.
The maid was surprised, but having trained in some martial arts,
she instantly leapt back. She glared at Emilio in rage.
In her, Cleo could see no trace of the kind woman who told her
tales of a common life.
“What are you doing, you rotten knight!!?”
Drawing the knife she concealed in her skirt, this time the maid
jumped at Emilio. But…
“H-huh…”
The moment she stepped in, blood burst from her right shoulder
down to her left hip. As if she had been cut through…
“Have you forgotten how I climbed my way up the knight
brigade?”
“B-bastard… you trash upstart knight. Do you think it’ll end
with this!?”
Spitting blood from her mouth, the maid raised her voice.
“I don’t. But you see, you guys make me sick. Disappear.”
Emilio’s previous tone disappeared, his words becoming a little
rough. He stuck his saber into the maid to land the finishing
blow.
“Emilio, you’re…”
As Cleo said that, Emilio turned and made a sorrowful face. But
at the same time, a little happy… as if his expression was trying
to tell her something.
While he had been so rough a moment before, his tone towards
Cleo was kind.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to be free soon, Cleo.”
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s8.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 8
Extra: Songstress 8
“What are you talking about, Emilio?”
Cleo sat down in the narrow back alley, looking at the young man
before her eyes.
Her guard, a young and powerful knight of the Kingdom of
Celestia, was gripping the sword in his right hand. From its tip,
the blood of the maid- Cleo’s personal caretaker- he had killed
fell drop by drop.
Cleo couldn’t hear the distant clamor.
The maid she had believed in, who she had known for so many
years had scorned her all the way.
The knight she had believed in presented her hand out to
her.
“Cleo, this is enough. There’s no need for you to become a
sacrifice anymore. Let’s run from here. The preparations are
already in order.”
Emilio slowly approached, extending out his left hand. Cleo
moved her eyes to look between that hand and his face.
“What are you talking about, Emilio? If I don’t undergo the
ceremony tomorrow, the country will be…”
In her dismay, Cleo couldn’t properly process the situation.
This was largely due to the betrayal of the maid she thought of as
a friend, who would tell her all about the castle town and life as
a commoner. But even more than that, she couldn’t believe Emilio
when he told her to run from the ceremony.
… She had lived her life for tomorrow’s ritual…
To Cleo, that was the very meaning of her existence. Even if she
knew she was going to die, if it was for the sake of the country…
she thought. No, she was taught.
But she did find the extended left hand to be captivating.
(If I follow Emilio, will I be saved?)
It was to her, what could be called the devil’s temptation. No
one ever truly wanted to die. And up until the attack from the
dolls just before, Cleo had been able to spend a happy time. That
only amplified her desire to live on.
(I want to live. But…)
Cleo brushed away Emilio’s left hand with her right.
Glaring at him as he opened his eyes wide, Cleo spoke.
“Stand down. This body is one I have pledged to Celestia.
Following you is something… I cannot do.”
She was highly confused, but she barely managed to stop herself
without losing to temptation. Rage, or perhaps irritation, she
didn’t know what to expect from Emilio, but the man simply made a
sad face and smiled.
“I see. You’ve grown strong, Cleo. But I have my own
obstinacy.”
Emilio reached out his left hand to forcefully take her arm. But
in the next instant, he turned his back to Cleo, taking a stance
with his saber.
In the depths of the alleyway, before she had noticed it, there
stood three in robes. Cleo hadn’t sensed the slightest hint of
their approach.
A robed man who stood just a step ahead of the three let his
muddled voice resound through the space. That somewhat low voice
was one she couldn’t believe belonged to a human. Not a sound of
life. It held a mechanical, inorganic something.
But that voice did manage to hold some emotions Cleo couldn’t
see herself taking to.
“This is different from what we arranged. Were you not going to
hand the princess to us? This isn’t the delivery point, traitor to
Celestia.”
The man who declared Emilio a traitor produced a barbed sword
from under his robe. He took out two. Those two thorny blades gave
off a purple hue in the dark back alley. As with the sword in
Emilio’s hands, they didn’t even give off a dull reflective
glow.
“… I lost my way. There was a slight blunder on my part.”
Still readying his saber, Emilio hadn’t dropped his guard. He
was saying things completely different from before. Cleo thought,
but she could tell his voice was nervous.
“J-just what could…”
On the voice Cleo rung out, the men to both sides of the
double-bladed man sprung to action. Quickly, as if they were
running across the wall, they leapt out towards Cleo.
“You imperial bastards!”
Giving a statement as if he had previously been working with
them, Emilio swung his blade at the two. But one of them stopped
his sword. And the other came at Cleo without the slightest
hesitation.
“Run, Cleo!”
Emilio loudly worried for her safety, but the girl in question
couldn’t even stand from where she was.
“Ah…”
From the hood of the robe, she looked into her assailant’s face.
They wore a mask with round spectacle-like somethings stuck on.
They gleamed like red eyes, and in the gloom of the alley, they
looked oh so ominous.
The hand reaching out, unlike Emilio’s, was clothed as if
violently wrapped in rubber. That hand that somewhat smelled of oil
extended towards Cleo.
But…
“That’s as far as you go.”
… A gust blew through the back-alley.
◇
Just in the nick of time.
Running down the complex maze-like alleys, Rudel was relieved to
find he had made it in time. High-speed movement in a layout he
didn’t know took more concentration than he thought, and he wasn’t
able to pursue Cleo as well as he expected.
Placing himself in front of her the moment he spotted her, Rudel
swung his sword.
Cutting through the suspicious arm reaching out towards Cleo, he
entered the space between her and the suspicious man. He instantly
kicked the robed figure away, but he felt something was off.
(Oil? And the sense I got from that kick was bizarre.)
He surely lopped off an arm, but the stump wasn’t bleeding. In
exchange, a liquid- presumably oil- lightly dripped. With the cut
as well, he didn’t get the sensation he was cutting through
flesh.
“Rudel-dono.”
Cleo called out but Rudel didn’t turn back to her. Taking a
stance with his sword, he spoke.
“Please stay behind me. It does seem this is a dangerous
bunch.”
The man he kicked away stoop. From the severed right hand, as he
thought, not blood but oil sprinkled the ground.
The robed one with the barbed swords who was probably the leader
raised a cloudy, mechanical laugh.
“Kukuku, I never thought I would run into such a big shot here.
It is a pleasure, Dragoon… no, Rudel Arses-kun.”
Rudel kept on guard as he strained his ears to hear.
“Looks like you know about me. It’s an honor for one of far-off
lands… no, the empire to know my name.”
In the space of that light conversation, Emilio parted from the
enemy, no it felt more like both sides retreated. The man before
Rudel’s eyes also back stepped as he returned to his comrades. On
his movements, Rudel noticed the identity of his off-feeling.
(The empire’s machine soldiers?)
Machine soldiers… soldiers of the empire who compensated for
their lost limbs with animated metal. He knew they moved by means
of magic, but it was a technology not found in the kingdom. By
their uncanniness, they were often shunned and left the dirty work
of the empire, he had heard at the academy.
“I see, so I’ve got some eyes on me.”
To Rudel’s words, the leaderish man replied.
“You humble yourself. Your existence is one much too radiant for
us. So radiant we must envy, and detest to such we can never
forgive. I especially so, for it was a dragoon who took away my
arms and legs.”
So he was a machine soldier who lost his limbs in combat with a
dragoon. There was no doubt whatever was under his robes had been
left in a terrible state.
“We have taken up a nonaggressive defense policy. You are the
ones one-sidedly invading.”
The kingdom of Courtois lay on rich, fertile land. There was no
merit to be found in making a march on the empire. But the empire
had been pressed into a circumstance where they had to invade even
if they were going against dragoons.
“How young. Your youth is also enviable.”
From under the hood, three red dots let off a faint light. Rudel
stood and took a position to protect Cleo from the four. The robed
group before him… and Emilio.
Emilio had led his three soldiers in a wrong direction so he
could flee into the alleys alone with Cleo. That was the main
reason for Rudel’s wariness. His final actions made it doubly
sure.
Rudel saw Emilio as an enemy. Emilio also seemed to understand
that, but sandwiched between Rudel and the robed men, he couldn’t
freely move around the narrow alley.
“When I’ve come so far.”
Regretfully… his face grimaced as his eyes darted to Rudel and
the robed men.
“Kukuku, quite the ill-prepared knight you are. It speaks
volumes to the nature of Celestia. To think this man would be one
of the knights representing the country… now then, we shall be
resuming our work. We’ve done a splendid job biding time.”
As he said that, two robed men jumped down from the rooves of
the buildings enclosing the space.
As Rudel grabbed Cleo under his left arm and jumped back, he
narrowed his eyes as he looked at the situation.
“They managed to slip this many in?”
Just with a quick check, he could sense ten presences around.
Was there a problem with Celestia’s security, or were these guys
just good at their jobs… perhaps it was both.
“You’re too careless. When the enemy starts speaking, you’d best
think they’re trying to buy time… of course, you didn’t have too
many options to choose from. A dragoon without a dragon is just a
normal knight. Kill them.”
Losing interest, the three-eyed man issued orders to his men in
an emotionless voice. But Rudel laughed just a bit.
“Your words do me ill.”
With those words, he squatted with Cleo still under his arm.
Three arrows passed above his head, the three-eyed man used the
swords in both his hands to block them.
It was Millia.
Wings of magic spread out from her back. She took on an archer’s
stance, and with her next arrow, a robed man poised with a crossbow
fell from the roof.
“Rudel, you rushed out too far ahead!”
“My bad. But that timing wasn’t bad, Millia.”
To Rudel, these weren’t numbers he was unable to deal with. But
with Cleo so close, he couldn’t’ exhibit his full strength. By
Millia’s arrival, Rudel was sure the risk factor behind fighting
his way through had decreased.
“Cleo!”
Emilio cried out as he took on the three-eyed man’s subordinate
coming at him. Parrying his opponent’s sword, he used his left hand
to draw a knife from his breast-pocket and take a slash. Perhaps
his opponent was an elite as they jumped back to dodge.
But blood poured out of the mask the robed man used to breathe
as he collapsed. Seeing that, the three-eyed man clicked his
tongue.
“An elf, eh… and the Celestian knight isn’t bad. Well, even so,
he wouldn’t get far in the empire. Everyone come at them.”
Renewing his grip on his two swords, he issued orders to his
men. Millia skipped around the space, kicking from wall to wall,
firing arrows at the men. What were simple arrows stuck in deeply
as they stuck into the walls and ground, but the robed men ran
dodged through the volley as they encroached upon Rudel.
“… Sorry, but this is part of my job.”
Saying that, Rudel entrusted Cleo to Millia, who had come close
enough, and cut down one of the robed men coming at him.
The sensation of cutting through metal and flesh was something
Rudel had never experienced before. But he hadn’t the time to be
flustered by it.
The three-eyed man ran as he issued orders.
“I’ll take on the dragoon. You lot get the traitor and
princ–”
Just as he had said that much, this time the robed men with bows
began to fall from the roof. As they hit the ground, they let off
metallic sounds.
Rudel looked at the two who descended the next instant and
dispelled the magic storing up in his left hand. He had considered
sending them flying with magic, but the ones who came down did seem
to be allies.
“Good grief, my encounter rate with the underside of the Kingdom
and Empire is especially high today. (That’s totally Aleist, but I
probably shouldn’t point that out.)”
Wearing masks, the robed party of two stood in front of Rudel,
and one answered him without turning her head.
“Would you mind leaving this to us? Your mission is to guard the
princess; this one is our mission.”
Rudel sent a glance at Emilio, but in his order of precedence,
he had to prioritize Cleo. He had no need to fixate on the enemies
before his eyes. What’s more, Millia had already taken her and
left. It was possible there were other enemies in hiding.
“Then they’re all yours.”
Saying that, Rudel swiftly left the spot. A strong wind blew,
and in the next instant, he was gone.
◇
“… His strength exceeds the rumors. He might be even more
troublesome than he was in his school days, Senpai.”
Draping over the robe and mask Nate handed over, Aleist looked
at the surrounding situation and shook.
Wearing black robes, those men with round and red spectacles
peeking out of their hoods for eyes.
(What’s this supposed to mean… seriously, what!?)
The reason he was so surprised lay in Nate’s prompt order to get
ready as she led him barreling from rooftop to rooftop. By the time
he noticed it, he was being attacked, a battle unfolded, and on top
of that, he had rushed to Rudel’s aid.
“Dogs of the Kingdom, is it. No, perhaps it’s more accurate to
call you washouts.”
A man whose mask boasted three eyes called over to Aleist and
Nate. Around, Emilio and the robed men were on high alert.
… Meaning they were surrounded.
“Now go do your best, Senpai.”
Letting out a bit of a cute voice, Nate went right ahead to push
the impossible onto Aleist. She told him to take on the group
surrounding them and directing so much killing intent.
“Wait a second! Telling me to take on this many foes, no matter
how you look at it, that’s strange! That’s strange, isn’t it!?”
“Yeah, yeah, enough with the jokes. Just go do your best. You’re
my guard, aren’t you? You said you’d help me, didn’t you?”
“No, I did! I definitely said it! I just never thought it would
come to this!”
“I want to see you at your coolest. Don’t make me say it, how
embarrassing.”
“Even if you act embarrassed, you’re not cute at all!”
The exchange between the masked duo, if there was a third party
present, surely they would have opened their eyes in surprise. It
was a comedy skit one might think would continue forever, but
fed-up after all, the three-eyed man stuck in his mouth.
“Good grief, you people have no sense of tension… well then,
once you’re out of the way, we’ll be nabbing the princess.”
With a light wave of his jaw, his nearby subordinates charged at
Aleist. But…
“…!? The texture when you cut into them is creepy!!”
The moment Aleist drew his own weapons, he cut apart the robed
men coming at him. He had clearly cut them before they came into
the range of his sword, bringing a complete change to the
surrounding reactions.
The three-eyed man let out a wary voice.
“A fellow twin sword user. And a skilled one at that. How
troublesome… how truly troublesome. Slaying him here might be in
the empire’s best interest.”
With those words he had his subordinates step down and rushed at
Aleist himself.
On the other side, Nate jumped away from Aleist as she
spoke.
“Have at it, Senpai! I’ll be guarding your back.”
“No, fight alongside me! These people look terrifying!”
Even as he cried out, he didn’t take his eyes off of the
three-eyed man before his eyes. He instinctually understood that
would prove fatal.
Aleist’s swords met with that of his foes.
And seeing the enemy up close, Aleist felt like something was
coming back to him.
(Ah, could this guy be…)
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
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s9.txt
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EpubPress - Fri Dec 29 2017 - Extra: Songstress 9
Extra: Songstress 9
Aleist was a reincarnator.
He had been reborn into the world of a romance-themed game,
carrying over the knowledge from when he played it.
Yet Aleist had no memory of a country called Celestia making an
appearance. It wasn’t even that it existed in setting alone.
Wearing similar robes to the masked group he fought, Aleist
thought to himself.
(I didn’t think they’d come to another country. But why am I
fighting this guy in a place like this.)
The ‘this guy’ Aleist referred to was the man holding two barbed
swords before his eyes.
The man who used two blades just as he did, Aleist knew him.
(Gaia’s assassination unit, was it? No, I believe they called
them the special forces, but…)
Both sides swung about two swords freely, contesting with their
number of cards to play.
Around the men who seemed to be enemy grunts surrounded
Aleist.
(If you count the Celestia knight, we only have three.)
While he had inherited an overwhelming disadvantage from Rudel,
he couldn’t be negligent with the enemy before his eyes.
Of all else, the three-eyed man before him was a character who
appeared in the game.
Leading the mechanized unit that headed Gaia’s special forces,
he was a character without a name. Aleist remembered him appearing
in a number of combat events.
His main characteristics had to be the special means of attacks
he gained from his mechanization.
“This is troublesome.”
In a muddled voice, the three-eyed man who called Aleist
troublesome leapt back to take a set distance.
Seeing that, a shiver raced down Aleist’s spine.
He instantly used magic as he jumped back.
(Crap!)
As he protruded tens of black spears from the ground, a number
of them immediately shattered.
He crossed his swords to receive what impact remained of his
enemy’s attack.
“You stopped it? You’re the second one I’ve ever met who’s been
able to stop it the first time they saw that attack. You can be
proud of yourself… black knight.”
Kukuku, or so the three-eyed man burst into laughter.
He turned up and lifted the back portion of his robe to show the
sharp blade attached to the tip of the tail furnished on.
A tail of coiled metal wiring, Aleist quickly determined it
would be dangerous and destroyed it with his sword before it could
retract.
But his foe shoed some leisure.
“This truly is a wonderful feeling. For my sure-kill blow to be
stopped… Black knight, I think I’ll add you to my list.”
“List? And what list would that be?”
Aleist asked out of curiosity but instantly found himself
regretting it.
“The list of individuals I want to land the final blow on
personally! Be proud. I’ll put you in at second place.
Ahahaha–”
Said he as he sprang up.
The enemy grunts, as if to follow, raced their way up the
wall.
The black-robed group ran, they jumped… it wasn’t a pleasant
sight to see.
“… He must be quite the dangerous one.”
While his face stiffened, Aleist was relieved the enemy had
pulled back when a voice called from behind. It was Nate.
“Senpai, you’ve earned the affection of someone outrageous. That
guy, even if he looks like that, he’s the top of the Imperial
mechanized unit’s applied theory division.”
“Is that it? That’s who he was supposed to be?”
Even his title didn’t appear in the game, and Aleist only saw
him as a troublesome foe.
And now he had been recognized as the person that individual
wanted to kill second-most.
(Then who’s number one… and wait…)
At the end of his fleeting glance was the green haired man Nate
directed her dagger at. Before what appeared to be a knight of
Celestia, Aleist didn’t know what he was supposed to do.
Nate kept wary as she spoke.
“Now then, I’ll have you explain yourself, Emilio-dono. When
you’ve already called out to Courtois, I never imagined you’d
invoke accursed Gaia as well.”
Nate’s voice was lower than usual, becoming one to threaten the
other party.
In regards to the knight called Emilio, Aleist was wary as
well.
But their foe showed no signs of resistance. Forget resistance,
he tossed his sword aside and sat on the spot.
The alley floor is filthy… Aleist thought when Emilio opened his
mouth.
“I never thought it would go well. It’s just, if the possibility
existed, I had no choice but to cling to it. Otherwise, Cleo… my
little sister would be…”
Covering his face with his right hand, Emilio grit his
teeth.
“Little sister? By Cleo, you mean the princess of this country,
don’t you?”
Aleist tilted his head in wonder.
Nate saw her opponent had no will to resist and tucked away her
dagger. She decided to hear out Emilio’s circumstance.
“Based on the situation, taking you out here is my role. It
seems you have some circumstances… so why don’t you tell us about
it?”
Emilio spoke after letting out a sigh.
“Do what you will, is what I’d like to say, but I will be
putting up a last-ditch effort.”
Nate entered negotiations.
“I said based on the situation. If there’s profit to be had on
our side, I’m saying we might just cooperate with you.”
There, Emilio indifferently started into the present state of
Celestia’s underbelly.
“If it’s in my possession, be it information or anything else,
go ahead and take it. I’m fine as long as Cleo is saved. That’s my
mother’s wish.”
So Aleist got to learn the truth of Celestia.
◇
Having saved Cleo and returned to the palace, Rudel was summoned
to the king’s room.
In regards to this incident, the king proclaimed he would carry
out the questioning himself.
There were many points beyond his understanding, and this was a
foreign land, so Rudel paid it little mind as he spoke the plain
truth.
About the attack, about the combat with a unit from the Gaia
Empire, and about Emilio’s betrayal.
But he decided to cover up Aleist’s involvement.
Hearing all that, the king’s spoke without a change in
expression.
“So Emilio was an enemy spy… good grief, how disappointing.”
A prominent knight of his own country was colluding with the
enemy. It was no laughable matter.
(Even so, he doesn’t look at all panicked. Is it because the
princess is safe?)
Rudel felt something off at the king’s attitude, but he decided
to confirm his future plans.
“Will there be any change to our mission?”
There, the king spoke without looking at Rudel.
“None. You are to depart tomorrow as scheduled. There is no need
to pay mind to anything else. Tell Cleo it will all go as
planned.”
This wasn’t the attitude of a parent giving a final
farewell.
The one before him was a foreign king.
Rudel’s position was not one to stick his mouth into foreign
affairs.
But…
“She was betrayed by those closes to her. From what I’ve heard,
Emilio had accomplices as well, correct? The princess must be
feeling–”
“What a human set for death feels bears no relevance. Is that
all you wanted to say?”
Rudel glared at the king who wouldn’t hear his opinion.
He wasn’t scared. But Rudel did feel within him, this was much
too sad of an attitude from a father.
(Is it really possible to be this cold to his child?)
◇
Cleo sat on the bed of her own room.
Absentmindedly gazing out the window, she recalled the words of
her closest friend, the servant who deceived her.
‘What a dull woman. Well, such a thing shouldn’t be a problem
for bait, so I’ve no complaints. I was able to have a laugh over
how you thought of me as a friend, and your pitiful environment was
interesting enough to watch, so I’ll forgive you.’
In the narrow world she lived in, the maid would teach her all
about the world outside.
It was always a fun time for Cleo. The food at the stands, the
events of the castle town, she was the reason Cleo longed for it
so.
“So I never had any friends…”
While she felt sad, Cleo turned it around.
“It’s better the fewer people there are to be saddened by my
loss.”
It was a little sad but even so, she had a duty to fulfill. If
she did that, then surely, the smiles of many people would be
protected.
Cleo convinced herself as her tears flowed.
◇
Rudel left guard detail to Izumi and Millia as he prepared
himself for tomorrow.
Calling Sakuya to the palace courtyard, he prepared to take Cleo
to the destination point.
To Rudel, who didn’t seem up for it at all, Sakuya let out her
voice. Thought rather than a voice, it was a telepathic something
Rudel could hear.
If looked at from the side, it looked as if Rudel was talking to
himself.
‘Are you worrying, Rudel?’
“Pardon? Ah… I probably am.”
Rudel had been given a mission as a knight of Courtois. More
than his own personal feelings, he was there under orders to
accomplish the mission.
He didn’t agree with it, but if it was an order, it couldn’t be
helped.
“My order from the higherups was co complete the request of
Celestia’s king. I will take Cleo to the destination point. I’ll be
counting on you tomorrow, Sakuya.”
While he spoke of expectations, Rudel’s expression was
cloudy.
He didn’t know himself.
(If I lead Cleo there, that’s where she’ll die.)
No matter how it was phrased, Cleo was a sacrificial lamb to
protect Celestia. That was the country’s custom, and something that
had carried on for many years.
A complaint from Rudel wouldn’t get anywhere.
“If you don’t want to, you could just not.”
Sakuya was a holder of a young soul. If you don’t want to do it,
then don’t. She offered Rudel such a simple answer.
Giving a bitter smile, Rudel replied.
“If I could do that, it would be so much easier. I’ll prioritize
the mission.”
‘Cleo will die.’
Sakuya had taken a liking to Cleo.
The girl had sung to her in her pretty song voice. It had to be
a talent bestowed on Cleo from the heavens.
(If she wasn’t born as royalty… no, there’s no point thinking of
possibilities.)
Rudel also admired her song.
“… It’s a mission. Tomorrow, we will guard Cleo along the way to
the destination point.”
◇
Alongside Nate, Aleist listened to Emilio’s story at the
inn.
“What’s with that… what the hell’s with that!?”
Standing from his chair, Aleist raised his voice. That was
simply how terrible the contents he heard from Emilio must have
been.
“Senpai, how about we calm down.”
“Do you think I can stay calm!? Destroying a whole country for
personal grudge is crazy!”
The one surprised at Aleist’s outburst was Emilio.
Nate wasn’t making the best face either. But it wasn’t as if she
was particularily angry.
What Emilio told them of was the starting point, an incident ten
years prior.
“The person he liked was offered as a sacrifice? And because
Cleo’s mother made it so, he had the girl live a miserable life in
the castle? She’s his own child, is she not!”
What Aleist learned was the fact Cleo’s birth mother wasn’t the
queen. And Emilio’s identity was a prince of this country.
At present, he was officially dead, but even so, he was a male
who carried the blood of the king.
Of course, Emilio himself was raised in the slums, but that
wasn’t to say he would’ve been better off if he stayed.
“I didn’t think you would get so angry. But now you understand,
right? Cleo must not be led to the altar. The shackles on that
ancient weapon are growing weak. If she’s taken there, that
excrement will use her to set it in motion and destroy this
country. And that isn’t all… if it loses its restraints, it’ll head
to other countries as well.”
An ancient weapon, that was the identity of the guardian
deity.
Who made it for what? At this point, even the royal family
didn’t have the answer to that one, said Emilio.
But giving it a shape through the volcano’s energy, it was bound
and used as a weapon.
“I don’t know its exact value as a weapon. They say it once had
the dragoons step down, but seeing how we didn’t go on the
offensive ourselves, it must have some limitations. What’s more
important to Celestia is its byproduct effect of controlling the
volcanoes.”
The main worth of the ancient weapon lay in how it stored up
energy from the volcanoes, preventing eruption. The fact that
cities could be built so close to active volcanoes was because of
its grace.
But living so close to volcanoes carried just that many risks.
And if there was a means to control those volcanoes?
The answer was simple.
The royal house of Celestia presented sacrifices to keep it
under their control.
“A woman of the royal line, rather a blue-haired woman is
necessary. Presenting the women to maintain control over it is how
this country works.”
A question came to Aleist’s head.
He tried asking.
“Wait a second. Does this country have the necessary craft to
keep it under control? And why does it have to be a blue-haired
woman?”
But Emilio’s answer…
“Like hell I know. It’s been like that for a long time. There
are some records of trial and error, but they concluded someone
from the blue-haired tribe that used to inhabit these parts is
necessary. Cleo’s part of the tribe, the royal line took in their
blood to make a show that they were performing their obligation to
the people… this place can go to hell.”
At Emilio’s words, Aleist didn’t know what he should say.
(What’s going on? And presenting a sacrifice lets you control
the weapon? I don’t get it.)
In place of Aleist’s worries, this time Nate asked.d
“So you intended to create chaos by calling in Courtois and
Gaia, and use the mess to flee over the border? That’s quite the
grand scheme you have there.”
To a fed-up Nate, Emilio cried out.
“I didn’t have any time! It took quite the effort to become a
knight, and when I was finally high up enough to approach her, Cleo
was going to be offered as sacrifice! I’m hanging by a thread here,
you know that!”
Emilio had become a knight to save her, but by that time Cleo’s
sacrifice was upon them.
With no time to spare, he did all that was within his power. Of
course, that ended in failure.
“… By the way, after you saved that Cleo-san (?) What did you
intend to do? Played poorly, and wouldn’t you have an
uncontrollably rampaging ancient weapon on your hands, or something
like that?”
Emilio didn’t shy back from Aleist’s question.
“Who knows? That’s none of my business. Why should I care about
the people who affirmed our sacrifices and killed our clan
generation after generation for their own sakes?”
Aleist grasped Emilio’s lapels and lifted them up.
“You’re…!”
Nate breathed a sigh as she mediated and had the two sit.
“Give it a rest already. This talk isn’t getting anywhere.
Senpai, endure it. And Emilio-dono, don’t rile him up. You know
full well your time is limited.”
On Nate’s words, Emilio lifted his hips.
“Then you’ll save Cleo!?”
She shook her head.
“We are not here to save her. Courtois shares a border with
Celestia. And Gaia’s special forces are moving around. I don’t want
to give them any information. Good grief, if you just called us
alone, it would’ve been so much easier.”
As Nate spilled complaints, Emilio averted his gaze.
He was just a little ashamed of his lack of foresight.
“So anyways, what are you going to do, senpai? I’m going to go
ahead on my own from here on out, but you’re free to participate.
Ah, but! If you help out, you’ll raise my affection points!”
Nate touched a hand to her face, taking a pose as she sent a
glance at Aleist. But Aleist handled brushed her aside and looked
at Emilio.
“… What?”
“I have a condition. I don’t want to have any casualties. I want
to make it so the princess can be saved, and no one has to die
after that. If that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll provide as much
help as you want.”
At the condition Aleist presented, Emilio looked amazed.
“Are you stupid? If something like that was possible, someone
would be doing it.”
“Senpai, you’re so soft. Though I do like that part of you.”
Ignoring Nate’s statement, Aleist looked at Emilio. At his
serious gaze, Emilio violently ruffled up his own hair.
“Tsk, we’ll have the residents evacuate. I don’t know if the
ancient weapon can be stopped, after all. Rather, even I can’t tell
you what’ll happen if the sacrifice isn’t presented.”
“That’s way too conceited! After the princess is gone, won’t
someone else just take her place.”
As Aleist said that, Emilio’s expression turned serious.
“… The one selected as sacrifice has to be a woman of
appropriate age. They can’t be too young or too old. Right now… the
only candidate is Cleo.”
Emilio seemed hard pressed to sat it. Hearing that, Nate’s
expression turned somewhat grim.
“There’s definitely something wrong with the organization of a
country that can’t even secure a backup, but personally speaking, I
do feel a little sorry.”
Aleist recalled how the blue-haired Nate had been mistaken as
someone concerned on the main road. She had denied it herself, but
was she perhaps related?
He thought.
“A-anyways! My condition for helping is making it so there won’t
be casualties! I won’t let up on that!”
At Aleist’s words, Emilio offered some cynicism.
“Not even the unit from Gaia, and those that get in our way? No
casualties at all is impossible.”
“T-that’s…”
Losing his momentum, Aleist looked at Emilio’s expression.
(He laughed?)
It looked just a little sad, but it was a smile that had a tint
of joy.
“Well, black knight, was it? I want to borrow your strength, so
I’ll try to keep casualties to a minimum. Oh, that’s right… I do
know some people who might help out.”
Aleist tilted his head.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 132-145_Dragoon-WN-Chapter-132-145-[Yoraikun][Trollo]
|
title-page.txt
|
Dragoon Extra: Songstress
by
Mishima Yomu & Wai
Novel
Updates
Translation
Group:
Yoraikun
Translation
Epub:
Trollo
WN/LN EPUB
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/146-147.txt
|
EpubPress - Mon Aug 13 2018 - Dragoon 146: Friends and
Chapter 146: Friends and
“And. I’m. Saying. Why didn’t he invite me!?”
His ash blonde hair swept back, the tan skinned Eunius Diade had
some ale in his system, making him more quarrelsome than usual.
“Don’t drag me into this! In the first place, that was a dragoon
mission, and you had nothing to do with it!”
“Fighting an ancient weapon, and even Gaia’s mechanized unit! I
wanted to join in on the fun.”
“Like I care!”
His silky blond hair grown out, Luecke Halbades sat across the
table from his friend from his academy days.
Two other friends had suddenly returned from a mission, so they
got together to drink.
That much was fine.
But Luecke and Eunius were the only ones around that round table
downing their glasses.
Turning an eye to the nearby seats, there Rudel and Aleist were
both at different tables, accompanied by their female
encampments.
When looked upon from the side, both of them were surrounded by
lovely ladies, but those around made sure to take their distance.
There were even customers who left the shop.
That was simply how tense the restaurant’s air was.
“Eunius, if you want to know why you weren’t taken along, you
can just ask those two.”
As Luecke sipped his drink and said that, Eunius reached his
hand for a snack as he vetoed the notion.
“Like hell I can do that!”
Having just returned from the Kingdom of Celestia, Rudel Arses
was a young man of silver hair and blue eyes.
He was currently surrounded by seasoned warriors of the Dragoon
Brigade as he drank. It was quite accurate to say Rudel saw the
woman affiliated with the dragoons as his idols.
Luecke looked at Rudel’s enjoyable-looking table.
“The ones with him are Major Bennet, Cattleya Ninias, Lilim,
Enora Campbell… a brilliant gathering of elite dragoons, that
is.”
While he said that with a hint of cynicism, ability-wise, those
girls truly were elites.
Among the elite dragoons, it was as if they were chosen to be
elites among elites.
Before the valorous dragoons putting checks and restraints on
one another as they closed in on Rudel, the man in question was
happily enjoying his meal.
Perhaps Izumi was in tune with those restraints as she spoke
less than usual. Everyone at Rudel’s table was smiling, but some
part of it birthed a tingling tension.
It seems Rudel spoke of what happened in Celestia, at least to
the extent he was free to speak on.
Bennet alone seemed innocently delighted at her subordinate’s
achievements.
(Compared to that, Aleist’s table is…)
Luecke looked at the other pitiful table.
Aleist made a pale face, as he desperately explained how nothing
happened with Nate- one of his harem members- while they were alone
in Celestia.
Numerically, they were a greater gathering of beauties than
Rudel’s table, the number was more than double.
There were plenty of drunks at the bar, but no one even thought
to pick a fight with the beauty-surrounded Aleist. More than that,
they directed eyes of pity.
A harem member from its early days, Seli took charge.
“And so, Alest-sama, you say nothing happened between you and
Nate?”
His face increasingly pale, neither food nor drink passing
through his throat, Aleist Hardie levelly answered the
question.
Curling blond hair, mismatched eyes of blue and green… his
features were of the beautiful sort, but some part of him gave off
a most unfortunate air.
“Nothing happened. Nothing at all. I was able to get some sound
sleep, so I preferred it over there. I want to return to
Celestia.”
At the end, he leaked his true feelings, causing the other woman
to barrage him with questions as well.
Eunius ate his meal as he looked between Rudel and Aleist’s
table.
“When we just got together to drink, they came in one after the
next and casually surrounded them. I’d like to have some stupid
banter at least at times like this.”
Luecke shared the sentiment.
(Dammit! I wanted to consult with them on Lena! Read the mood,
you lot!)
Unable to speak out against Aleist’s harem members or the
warriors surrounding Rudel, Luecke downed his glass.
For some reason, Millia was present at Aleist’s table.
“Hey, I think I’m irrelevant. Can I go over there?”
As Millia pointed at Rudel’s table, her sister elf Lilim who
heard that waved her hand.
Lilim, whose eyes were closed as per usual, waved with a smile.
Seeing that, Millia felt just a little annoyed.
The store had specially prepared the table and chairs, there
were quite a few people at Rudel’s table, and it didn’t look like
it would fit anymore.
Eunius looked over the elven sisters.
“Looks like things are getting complicated over there.”
Luecke, to his friend who said such a thing.
“Over there as well, you mean. But what’s with these members…
that blasted Aleist, he’s long since past ten. At the rate things
are going, in a few years, I won’t be surprised with twenty or
thirty.”
He sighed at Aleist’s ever expanding harem.
What was stranger than anything was the fact the man in question
was in love with Millia, who had eyes for Rudel. At present, he had
no desire for a harem.
In his student days.
At first he had admired harems, calling out to women, and
wasting his efforts in futility. After losing an interest in a
harem, he chased after Millia. And yet, from that point onwards,
women began to gather around Aleist.
To the one in question, it was nothing more than a bother.
Eunius leaked his real feelings.
“As I thought, Harems are only fun to watch. I do feel jealous,
but if you say I’ll turn out like Aleist, I’ll have to
decline.”
Luecke was the same.
“My thoughts exactly. I can only handle one… no, if I had to,
two at most. Yeah.”
While Luecke was zealous towards Rudel’s stepsister, given her
status as an illegitimate daughter, he might not be unable to take
Lena Arses as a legal wife.
Therefore, if he wanted her by his side by all means, she would
be treated as a mistress.
Perhaps sensing Luecke’s feelings, Eunius spoke tiredly.
“And is that one Lena? You really are… well, I guess you’re
better off than when you were a straight-laced asshole.”
“Don’t stick strange names on me!”
Luecke found himself being teased, but there he heard Bennet’s
voice.
“Eh, no… I mean, I’m the one who graduated first.”
At Bennet’s great fluster, wondering what had happened, the two
of them quietly observed. Rudel explained with a smile.
“What are you talking about, Major? You’re the same age as us.
Those born to the wolf tribe are considered to be one year old at
birth, with age counting up every New Year, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You were born in the twelfth month, right?”
“No, I was definitely smaller than those in my year, they always
called me small, but…”
Bennet looked anxious.
“You became two soon after birth, and enrolled in the academy at
the same age fifteen as us, right? But that means you were actually
thirteen. When you graduated on the two year course, you were
fifteen, so you should be younger than Lieutenant Cattleya.”
Bennet blankly opener her mouth and looked at Cattleya. Cattleya
didn’t seem very amused.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m the older one. What’s more, I’m a lieutenant, a
lower ranking officer!”
Seeing Cattleya down her drink all at once, Bennet started
making excuses.
“I-I mean no one ever told me I was supposed…”
Perhaps the drink had put Rudel in a good mood.
“That’s got nothing to do with it. I mean, you’re a Major. Even
if you’re not her direct commanding officer, you’re still her
superior!”
Bennet’s ears standing sharply upwards drooped miserably as her
face turned red and she hung her head. Covering her face with both
hands, her tail began to quiver.
“… When I’m the younger one, I’m sorry for acting condescending.
I’m sorry for sticking a -chan on your name. From here on, I’ll
call you senpai. I’m sorry.”
When she said such a thing, Cattleya snapped.
“If a Major talks to me like that, I’ll just be troubled.”
Lifting up her orange hair, Enora to Rudel.
“Looks like our commanding officers have it rough. Rudel, you
want to train together next time? You’ll be in the capital a while,
right?”
To Enora who asked in a fawning voice, Rudel crossed his arms
and looked at the ceiling.
“I think that’s possible, but…”
There, Lilim to Enora.
“Yey, brigade member over there! What are you trying to make him
promise in the confusion?”
There, Enora spoke with a face of leisure.
“My apologies. I mean, it looks like our superior officers are
all busy, and this is the special privilege of his peer in rank.
See, me and Rudel are peers.”
Lilim gripped the cup in her hand so hard one wondered if it
might break. Looking over that, Rudel spoke.
“Izumi, is it alright for me to participate in training?”
Izumi, who had kept careful watch, made an expression as if to
say, don’t turn this towards me.
Enora spoke.
“Rudel, why are you checking it order with Izumi-san? Let’s just
let the two of us…”
Rudel smiled.
“No, Captain Oldart told me, ‘You should never take any action
on your own,’ after all. He sounded really disheartened, so
breaking those words all of a sudden is a bit…”
It seems the problem with Celestia had the higherups whittle the
captain away quite a bit.
As Izumi possessed the title of special inspector, Rudel sought
confirmation with her.
Surrounded by these valorous members of the dragoons, Izumi
responded.
“No, as long as you’re acting alongside other dragoons, I think
it should be fine…”
Unable to endure the pressure from Cattleya and Lilim, Izumi
spoke nothing more than the truth. Enora heard those words and
lightly clenched her hand in victory.
Seeing that, Luecke muttered.
“Looks like they’re enjoying themselves more than at Aleist’s
table.”
He gave his honest opinion.
Eunius agreed.
“Only in comparison, that is.”
◇
Only a few hours after the drinks with the female camp began,
were Rudel’s group able to slip out of the pub, flee into a back
alley, and drink in peace at a stall.
As if rehearsed, the four of them went up together to pay the
tab and slipped out of the back door.
While they did feel bad about it, from the start, it was
intended as a drink among men.
Removing their upper coats, the top few buttons of their shirts
opened, the four raised their glasses.
“It’s that. As I thought, it’s nice to take it easy and just
have a drink between men.”
On that statement from Rudel, Luecke spoke in surprise.
“What’s this, you were actually able to read the mood? Well,
sure enough, if you asked me to drink in that sort of
atmosphere…”
“No, so… it’s good to be surrounded by women you admire, but
you’re always mindful of them, or how should I put it.”
Mindful, Rudel put it. With an amazing smile, Aleist strongly
slammed down his glass of ale on the table.
“You’re lying. I saw how much fun you were having! My stomach
was grating, and I could feel all the blood leave me, you
know.”
Seeing Aleist on the verge of tears, Eunius gave a grand
laugh.
“You reap what you sow. And the numbers keep steadily increasing
even after you’ve graduated. So are you still after Millia?”
Not at his drink, Aleist’s face reddened at the topic Eunius
brought up. Teasing the easy-to-understand Aleist, Eunius reached
for the food.
The food wasn’t anything refined, but even so, the atmosphere
was much better than that pub from before, making everything
naturally taste better.
“Oh, this isn’t half bad.”
As he said that, Luecke reached out a hand as well.
“Then I don’t mind if I do. More importantly. Rudel, your little
sister… I’m not talking about Lena, this is about Erselica. She
came to my place asking around.”
Sipping his drink, Rudel made a surprised face. While Rudel and
Erselica were siblings, it was hard to say they got along.
Unlike his stepsister Lena, he never really talked with Erselica
Arses.
“That’s rare, perhaps? I’ve heard some things from Lena, but I’m
relieved she’s not moping around anymore.”
He said with a swig. Rudel,
“It was while I was having some tea with Lena. She asked me
various things about the factions, but do you know her intent?”
Perhaps worried for her, Luecke made a serious face.
Rudel had no idea what Erselica was trying to do.
“Who knows? I haven’t heard anything.”
“I see,” said Luecke, leaving his glass on the table to look at
Rudel.
“There have been some unsettling movements in the palace as of
late. Especially around Princess Aileen… it was the same when we
were at the academy, but I don’t know what she’s planning this
time.”
Aileen Courtois had some connection to Rudel’s group. Of course,
that was only through her favorite young man called Fritz.
Of common descent, Fritz was a knight hailing from the territory
governed by the Arses House.
By Aileen’s work, he was also the captain who commanded the
royal guard.
He held an emotion close to hatred towards Rudel, and often
stood against him in their student days. But Rudel himself didn’t
care about it all too much.
“The princess, eh. Come to think of it, Fina’s about to
graduate, isn’t she?”
It was time for the second princess Fina Courtois to graduate
the academy. To Rudel, that relation was the more important one.
Not as man and woman, she was his disciple who pursued the means to
pet a dragon by his side.
Hearing of Fina, Aleist joined in on the conversation.
“Graduation… eh. What do you think I should do? How should I put
it, there are some new recruits scheduled to join my platoon, but
they’re all women.”
At Aleist who butted into the conversation, Eunius shook his
head and shrugged his shoulders.
“I thought it might be more elegant than nothing but men, but
after seeing that, I don’t want any part.”
Luecke was, meanwhile, laughing.
“I’ll have to agree.”
Rudel looked at Aleist.
“The defenders have it rough. Rather, isn’t it strange that the
female knight ration is only skewed around Aleist? I’m sure they’re
all proficient, but Aleist is the only man there.”
Looked on from the side, it was a vibrant workplace where he was
surrounded by women.
That was Aleist’s station in a knight brigade called the
defenders. Within that, Aleist was the head of a platoon.
Of course, all he ever did was clean the palace.
“I can’t take it anymore! It’s grating on my every day, and the
talks are all going in strange directions! No one ever listens to
my opinion, yet they still come to me to hear it out! What’s that
supposed to mean!? Asking me who’s my number one, don’t bring out
those questions that only make things worse! They all know my
number one is Millia, dammit!”
The drink getting to him, Aleist’s tensions were rising.
Eunius poured ale into Aleist’s cup as he grinned.
“Hmm, the black knight has it tough. And from the look of it,
you’re getting more female knights? I’d be envious if I didn’t know
any better.”
Aleist instantly downed the refilled ale.
Taking a few deep breaths after drinking it, he vented the anger
he was usually storing up.
“Envious? Then switch out with me! This personnel assignment is
definitely the doing of someone with a grudge towards me! What’s
with this, what did I do to deserve this?”
Rudel also drank some ale as he spoke.
“I get the feeling you were thirsting for women at the
start…”
There, Luecke snapped his fingers and nodded.
“Come to think of it, my image of you running around’s grown too
strong, but Aleist, you really were terrible before that. You’re
easy to talk to now, but back then, I wouldn’t even think of
approaching you unless you had some ale in your system. Ah, come to
think of it, he used to sound so full of himself.”
As Luecke reminisced and nodded, Eunius reached for the food, a
tired look on his face.
“You’re the one who changed. What’s this? Saying whatever you
want about noble obligations, you’re getting all heated over
Rudel’s sister. Have you forgotten how you made a misunderstanding
and challenged me back at the academy?”
Luecke was earnest in his student days, no… he was so earnest he
let off an air that made people distance themselves.
He and Eunius were like cat and dog, leading along their
followers to snarl at once another. From the start, both their
houses held the top spots in the factional wars, with enough reason
and history to hold a feud.
But like this, the two of them now drank together at the food
stalls.
Aleist recalled how he was when he enrolled at the academy,
poured himself another glass and downed it at once before looking
at Rudel.
“You say that, but I think the one who changed most was Rudel.
In the first place, I always thought you were strange from the
first time we met.”
Rudel tilted his head.
Luecke and Eunius shook their heads and received some water from
the man running the stall. Pushing that water onto Aleist, they
seemed deeply concerned.
Eunius,
“The one who changed the least was Rudel, right? Going on about
dragons and dragons from dawn to dusk, and after graduation, it’s
still dragons all the way down. You’ve got to respect that.”
Rudel acted a little bashful.
“You think so?”
Sparingly sipping his ale, Luecke cautioned Rudel.
“Eunius wasn’t praising you. But I have to agree Rudel hasn’t
changed. Changing so little in the time since we met, isn’t that
actually amazing? Rather, when I heard him talk about how he was
really going to become a dragoon, looking back on it now, I’ll say
it, but I thought it sounded stupid.”
Eunius agreed as he drank.
“Yeah, me too. I thought it was interesting but definitely
impossible.”
Aleist also nodded.
“Yeah~, I remember that. No one thought you’d make it. You
surprised me too.”
The drink getting to Rudel again, his face turned a little
red.
“Aren’t you being terrible? No, but my probability of becoming a
dragoon was considerably low. I couldn’t get the rights to meet a
grey dragon, and my screening forms were…”
Seeing Rudel begin to think to himself, Eunius pat him on the
back. That hurts, Rudel said as he looked at Eunius.
“You’re a dragoon now, so don’t worry about it. Even so, it
really was fun. Going to matches, cutting at one another, bashing
each other’s faces in.”
“Yeah, I remember a whole lot of smacking.”
Luecke looked at Eunius and Rudel nodding and reminiscing, and
made a truly incomprehensive face.
“You muscleheads.”
And the one staring intently at a tired Luecke was Aleist.
“No, aren’t you the same, Luecke? You butted heads with Eunius
over the duel, right? I’ll just say it, but just switching out
fists for magic doesn’t change much in the grand scheme of things.
From my point of view, you’re all the same sort. Plain old battle
maniacs!”
Eunius stood from his chair and pointed at Aleist.
“Don’t screw with me! You also exchanged blows with Rudel!
What’s more, not winning by a paper-thin margin, the only time you
ever won was the first time!”
In his matches with Rudel, Aleist only ever won once.
In his first match after enrolling at the academy, Rudel lost to
Aleist.
Perhaps recalling that, Rudel seemed delighted.
“And after that, I’ve got two wins and one draw. Man, both those
matches I just barely got through, and we were carted off to the
infirmary every time.”
Aleist pulled back.
“Why do you sound so happy? You’re the only one who gets
hospitalized enough to get a reserved bed in the sick room.”
Eunius spoke loudly as if recalling.
“Come to think of it, his majesty came too! Back then, we were
so frantic to lower our heads through our injuries! Thinking back
on it now, you think he would’ve burst out like that if we were in
public?”
Aleist cried out.
“That was lese majeste, you hear! Really, just don’t! Rather, I
didn’t know about that one…”
Luecke put down his glass with a serious face.
“The truth is, I’ve had to go and lower my head to him quite a
few times…”
Aleist held his head.
“Why!? I thought you were the most decent, but why!?”
Rudel addressed Aleist.
“Don’t mind it. I’ve been cautioned more times than I can count,
but I’m still just fine!”
Aleist looked to be on the verge of tears.
“You’re not fine at all! Why are you still a problem child after
graduation!? Hey, let’s act a little more grown up.”
Looking at Aleist, the three laughed.
Aleist began to laugh as well.
Hitting glasses together, the four of them talked and reminisced
over their student days, drinking the night away.
◇
In a room of the palace, the first princess Aileen took a single
document in hand.
Confirming its contents in that dark room, she set it ablaze and
tossed it in the fireplace for it to burn through.
The document that instantly burned away, it detailed that the
plan Aileen brought forth was at a stage where it could be
executed.
The sender was an enemy nation, the Gaia Empire.
The knights on standby in the room gazed at Aileen with nervous
faces.
And turning away from the fireplace, Aileen directed a smile to
those knights.
“Could you call Fritz here? Things are going to get busy, so
I’ll have to start preparing.”
Under Aileen’s orders, one of the knights left the room.
The first princess was of a kind heart, a beautiful
princess.
Despite being of the royal family, she held antipathy towards
the corrupt nobility and made her favorite commoner knight Fritz
into the captain of the royal guard.
And in order to see Rudel’s mortified face, she even granted a
gray dragon to Fritz.
In the Kingdom of Courtois, dragons were a valuable war asset.
The knights who rode them needed to be elites.
In order to obtain their own dragons, there were knights who
sought out wild ones. But even those knights couldn’t enter the
lands the dragons lived without the kingdom’s permission.
Without treading into any of those procedures, a gray dragon
managed by the country- born and raised in Courtois, it was smaller
than a wild dragon- was granted by Aileen unto Fritz.
The young captain of the royal guard, and the young man who
obtained a dragon, receiving such special treatment from Aileen,
Fritz did have his dissatisfactions.
It could not be said he lacked any talent.
The young man called Fritz definitely did have talent and
strength. But for surrounding eyes, that wasn’t enough.
Just in his own generation, starting with the White Knight
Rudel, there was the Black Knight Aleist, then Eunius and Luecke,
the four with strength and fame towering over the rest.
They graduated the academy together, they started work as
knights together.
Speaking to position, Fritz was far above any of them.
But Fritz was no noble.
In regards to Rudel’s group that all possessed, Aileen thought
that might be another large reason her Fritz was looked down
upon.
From within the room, one of the knights asked Aileen.
“Princess, from here on, we will be…”
Aileen nodded with a smile.
“Yes, we will be at war. But don’t worry. For the empire has
agreed to fall back in exchange for a designated portion of land.
And there won’t be just one battlefield. Once the Gaia Empire lays
hand on fertile soil, they will be satisfied.”
Unlike the abundant lands of Courtois, the Gaia Empire lay on an
exceedingly harsh terrain. For that sake, they had challenged
Courtois time and again for their soil.
Aileen was a lover of peace.
But…
“On top of falling back after obtaining a portion of land, we
will be able to tie friendly relations for times to come. This will
be our final battle with them.”
… No matter how dearly she held it, she had absolutely no
talent. Her little sister Fina had talent in the field, her little
sister Fina knew the reality.
But Aileen was different.
Raised sheltered within the palace, she grew up without ever
learning how such things worked. She honestly believed the world
was gentle and just, she had no doubt the other party would honor
their promises.
“With this, Fritz-sama will surely obtain social status. And a
better future will come upon Courtois.”
The knights held anxiety towards Aileen’s joy. But they wouldn’t
try to stop her. The reason being, Courtois had never once lost to
the Gaia Empire.
The dragoons never lost on the battlefield.
To that point, the powerful existences called the dragons had
protected Courtois time and again. From the point of view of the
knights, they were sure this wouldn’t lose this time either.
◇
The Gaia Empire.
His blonde hair that grew to his shoulders swept back, a young
man stood.
High in stature, he boasted a trained body. And in his hand, he
gripped a single document.
Askewell Gaia…
A prince of the empire, if he was on the battlefield, it was
said they were sure to win. The empire’s hero.
A girl called Mies Licorise nervously watched over his state.
Her long, blonde hair curled at the tips.
Of small build, she was useless as a fighter, but she had come
to assist Askewell as a researcher. And her research was finally to
see the light of day.
To her side, a pale, slim, old man, Reole, mumbled something in
a small voice. Perhaps thinking of his hatred towards the folks who
never recognized his magic, perhaps hitting on a new magical
discovery entirely, he gave a low chuckle.
When looked at from the side, he looked like a limitlessly
dangerous man, but even like that, a proficient magician of the
Gaia Empire. No, perhaps it should be said he had been too
proficient.
The past tense was what suited him most. Discarding his family
name, and calling himself the archwizard, Reole was a strange, one,
but he was a man Askewell recognized.
On Mies’ opposite side stood a general who’d climbed his way
up.
Ban Lochuas stood on many a battlefield with enemy countries,
swinging his battleax and burying many an enemy.
Whether it be man or monster, as long as they stood before him,
they would be cleaved in two.
He wore full armor over his muscular body, a well-ordered beard
as his trademark around his mouth, the general was subordinate to
Askewell.
Ban spoke to his leader.
“Have the cowards of Courtois moved yet? They really are taking
this easily.”
Letting out a light chuckle, Reole made light of Courtois.
“When they haven’t offered what we desire, they’re nothing but
fools for believing in such an agreement. Or could it be they plan
to crush us with dragons once we march to invade? That sounds
interesting. I need only burn the dragons to death with my magic.
Kihihi!”
Mies broke into a cold sweat.
For this looked to be too unworthy an assortment to follow the
rule of one of a prince like Askewell. But there was no doubt they
were proficient.
Askewell turned his eyes to the documents as he spoke to
Mies.
“Are the preparations in order, Mies?”
“Y-yes! We can move at any moments! We have already started
limiting their food, increasing their brutality, and if I may speak
to the contrary, it will be dangerous if we keep them on standby
any longer.”
What Mies had prepared.
It was an army of black monsters. Starting with ogres, they had
even prepared wyverns as a countermeasure for the dragoons.
Their knights had already begun training to ride the wyverns she
produced.
To that point, they had been one-sidedly attacked from the sky,
and with all the losses under its belt, when it came to invading,
the Empire couldn’t help but take every caution.
And Askewell…
“My brother said he wished to borrow the wyvern unit. If father
accepts those conditions, then it can be said we will be attacking
on two fronts. Come so far, I’ve no intent to refuse, but what
numbers should I send around to them?”
While Askewell showed a clear lack of motivation as he asked
Mies, he had his reasons.
Of all else…
“The Wyvern unit is it? If it’s to hold down the dragoons… they
might need three hundred. In that case, the number we can bring
along ourselves drops to two hundred.”
Askewell laughed.
“That’s plenty! The Gora’s preparations are ready. I’ll give him
however many wyverns he wants. But my brother truly has a faint
heart. When I said I’d lend him Gora, he readily declined.”
While Askewell gave a grand laugh, to the people of the Empire,
the monster known as Gora were nothing but fear itself.
A normal army couldn’t hope to win against one, what’s more,
their large form and uncanny appearance. They boasted four arms,
and when strengthened, they even sprouted wings.
Even with the techniques to control them, they were nothing more
than a source of fear when too close.
Standing to his feet, Askewell crushed the document in his hand
and made a serious face.
“… Henceforth, we will be going to take Courtois. Trample them
down, and attain plentiful land for the empire. I don’t know what
idiot set this up, but if they intend to catch us in their trap,
we’ll rip them away and make them regret it.”
Mies swallowed her breath, the two on her side laughed.
Thinking Askewell was serious, some part of her wished the
researcher he once told her about would come back.
Gentle.
Thinking of the people of the empire, doing his best to bring
fertility to their lands, or to secure a source of food, the
Askewell of his younger days.
But his research was nothing but failures, and once he was
forced to the battlefield, in contrast to his research, he found
nothing but success. He won and he won and got around to being
called the hero of the empire.
The man in question, as long as it was for the empire’s sake,
didn’t care if he was a military man or hero, he intended to
fulfill his role. And the conclusion Askewell had finally
reached…
“We will be invading Courtois! Prepare to depart!”
… To steal fertile soil form the people of Courtois, and save
the people of the empire.
Chapter 147: The Country or the People
The palace of the Kingdom of Courtois was driven to react to the
activity shown by the Gaia Empire.
While the matter with Celestia had them in a hurry about
awarding medals, in order to deal with the sudden movements of an
enemy country, a meeting had been opened.
King Albach looked at the lines of ministers and yelled.
“What is the meaning of this!? For what reason has such a report
not been raised to this point!?”
There, one of the ministers jovially laughed as he spoke.
“Now, now, your highness, please keep it at that. We’ll just
have to put the dragoons to work. We can decide who’s responsible
later and replace them. We need to prepare for the ceremony.”
Albach lowered his fist on the table.
“What idiocy do you speak of!? Why are we making light of our
foe!? Just how much of our blood do you think Gaia has made flow?
How can you declare the enemy will repeat the same actions as
before!? Where is all the information!? I know we have more than
enough forts stationed at the border!”
As no report was ever raised, the country was unable to put up
any decent countermeasures. Sensing some ill intent, Albach glared
at the ministers.
But Courtois had never lost before.
The reason being they had the strongest dragoons. As long as
they were there, even if casualties came out, they would surely
never lose, the ministers were certain of it. At the same time,
Courtois’ land was bountiful, leading to a lowered sense of
crisis.
“What are you doing!? We must investigate, send scouts…!”
Holding his chest, Albach wiped sweat from his forehead. On top
of a pain in his chest, his voice wouldn’t come out. Breathing took
all his might, his dizziness wouldn’t allow him to stand any
longer.
“Y-your majesty!”
Those nearby approached him, and the meeting was put on
hold.
Albach thought.
(Don’t just close it there, fool. Someone take command in my
place… anyone!)
As his consciousness grew distant, Albach felt something black
and squirmy moving in a corner of the room. But Albach lacked the
means to confirm if it was really there.
His voice sealed, from his chest pains, he couldn’t move.
With the king unable to do a thing, Courtois was thrust into a
state of war.
◇
Fina Courtois.
She awaited her graduation ceremony.
She had acquired all the required elective and class credits,
there were no problems with her graduation.
As the second princess of Courtois, Fina had achieved excellent
grades, but… with bags under her eyes, she sipped coffee as she
looked at the blinding morning sun.
“… The night has let up again.”
The one who built similar bags under her eyes, with her violet
hair ruffled up, her glasses out of place, was a woman called
Sophina.
Fina’s exclusive guard, at present she was a commanding officer
of the declining order of high knights.
Regardless of the fact she was in a school dorm, Fina’s room
luxuriously spread out. In such a room, the floor was littered with
documents, and a demi-human of the white cat tribe was pitifully
collapsed.
“Don’t give me that, the night has let up schtick! Your school
days are about to end buried in a sea of paperwork, princess, are
you really okay with that?”
Her expressions unchanging from the time of her birth, Fina
expressionlessly made a fist and stuck up her thumb.
“I have no regrets. I’ve made a friend in Mii, fluffed up so
many comrades, I was able to meet my master… I’m so happy I think
I’m going to go crazy.”
While expressionless, her delight was the real thing. Sophina
lamented over whether it was really alright for her master to
rejoice over such a thing.
“Let’s make some better school memories while we still can!
You’re the only one chased around your room by government
papers!”
The bags under her eyes were deep, the ink staining on her hands
was terrible. But while Fina was expressionless, she gave off an
air as if she had received enlightenment.
“A lifelong friend and a master, what more can I wish for? Once
this is over, I’ll be satisfied just with controlling the country
from the shadows. Right, to one day raise the status of
demi-humans, I’ll get my hands on all the strings!”
“You really are the worst.”
At the sound of Sophina bursting into tears, her subordinates
entered the room. They were the subordinates of a high knight, but
the problem lay in that Sophina’s subordinates would not enter the
room over an exchange of that level.
“What happened?”
Their faces were the epitome of severity. Sophina turned her
face serious as well as she sought confirmation.
One of her subordinates spoke.
“Captain, a messenger has come from Aileen-sama. We were told to
return Fina-sama to the palace at once.”
Hearing that, Sophina turned to look at Fina.
She had finished her coffee, and breathing a sigh, Fina looked
at the collapsed white cat Mii.
“… Let me put Mii to sleep. I’ll get myself ready, so could you
please tell them to wait?”
But the female knights brazenly entered the room. This attitude
against Fina was a great discourtesy, and on top of that…
“Second princess, Aileen-sama is waiting at the palace. You
needn’t prepare anything. Please make for the carriage at
once.”
Fina stood from her seat, placing the cup in her hand on her
desk.
“I cannot leave my good friend like this. I’ll put her to sleep
on my bed, you could at least give me time for that.”
There, one of the intruding knights let out their voice.
“A demi-human as a friend? It’s because they let you attend this
academy that it came to this.”
While she heard those words, Fina carried herself calmly. The
captain of the knights who came in thought a bit before nodding and
approving of Mii’s transfer to the bed.
Fina issued the orders, and Sophina lay Mii down.
And…
“Well then, high knights, you will be leaving your weapons
behind.”
On that further demand, Sophina’s eyes went sharp.
“What is the meaning of this? This is almost as if…”
… Almost as if we’re being apprehended, as Sophina tried to say
it, Fina quieted her down.
Walking up before the captain of the knights, she spoke.
“You’re a knight of the royal guard. Very well, take me where
you will. But will you provide an explanation of the
situation?”
The knight spoke.
“Aileen-sama will personally do so at the palace.”
Meaning there wouldn’t be any explaining along the way.
(Ah man, so she’s finally made her move. That’s a bit earlier
than I thought. My preparations aren’t even complete yet.)
Thinking she hadn’t made it in time, Fina had Sophina and her
subordinates disarm themselves before leaving the room.
A while later, once everyone was gone, Mii lifted herself from
the bed with a pale face.
◇
Meanwhile.
In the palace, leading her knights, the first princess Aileen
showed a smile of leisure before the king and queen.
The king was holding his chest, he tried to rise from the bed,
but perhaps he couldn’t get any power into his body, as he was
failing miserably.
The doctor restrained Albach with a desperate look on her face,
the queen threw the fan she usually carried at her daughter.
The one who cut that fan down was Fritz, captain of the royal
guard.
Brown hair, wearing the uniform of the royal guard, he made a
slightly pale face himself.
The queen cried out.
“Aileen! Do you know what it is you’re doing!?”
The queen who usually spat cynicism yet remained unperturbed was
enraged. The king remained immobile, his disturbed breath causing
him to keel over.
Aileen opened her mouth.
“I do. If father cannot move during this great crisis, then
someone will have to take his place. The Gaia Empire is making its
move. We will have to erect countermeasures of our own.”
The queen’s expression wasn’t directed at her daughter, she sent
it to Fritz standing by her side.
“So the princess of our country has been deceived by a single
man… I never liked you, but I never thought you would go so
far.”
As the queen voiced her displeasure towards Fritz, Aileen flew
into a rage.
“What do you mean by that!? Fritz-sama is my splendid knight! If
you mean to insult him, then even my mother will have no mercy from
me.”
As the knights readied their weapons, the knights around the
king took their weapons in hand as well. With many knights of the
royal guard around, to look at the numbers, they were
surrounded.
Aileen continued on levelly.
“Just watch on from here. The day Courtois is reborn anew… where
status doesn’t matter, I shall show you the actualization of a
world where everyone lives equally.”
On those words, the queen.
“I don’t see you capable of accomplishing such a thing. You’d do
well to learn, even if you do something like this, no one will
recognize you! The rumors will all say Albach’s ailment was surely
your doing. The times will resent you.”
Albach had collapsed from mysterious illness, even the royal
physician was unable to treat him.
Aileen had gone on the offense. Albach had two daughters, Aileen
and Fina.
Restraining her mother the queen, she had made preparations to
restrain fina as well.
“… Mother, once everything is over, I’ll release you. Fina as
well. That child is my sister. From here on, I want her to live
more freely.”
Hearing that, the queen laughed.
“Aha ahahaha! Aileen, you’re under a misconception.”
At the queen’s words, the knights looked at Aileen. Holding them
back with a hand, Aileen conversed with her mother.
“A misconception? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s simple. You misunderstand who Fina is. That child properly
understands it. Though it seems you’ve taken a liking to moving in
the shadows. The talks of your marriage with Aleist… do you know
who it was that brought it forward?”
Aileen looked between Fritz and the queen’s face.
“So you mean to tell me that child did such a thing.”
The queen spoke to Aileen.
“I’m sure there won’t be a next time so remember this. Feuds
between siblings are not restricted to the royal house, they’re a
tale you can find anywhere. The Fina you find so adorable might
turn out a wild beast, you know.”
Aileen expressionlessly led Fritz and the others out the room,
leaving knights to keep watch.
(That child… did such a thing!)
Feeling she’d been betrayed, Aileen walked down the palace
corridor. Taking along her knights she called out one order after
the next.
“Gather all the main members at once. The white and black
knights should be here to receive their medals. They both hold
vital roles, make sure to call for them without fail.”
Fritz watched as the knights moved on Aileen’s orders. While he
was supposed to be captain of the royal guard, his men were all
moving on Aileen’s orders.
“Aileen, what exactly is going on? When the Gaia Empire is
invading, why is the palace so…”
She had raised what was almost an insurrection. No, it was
insurrection.
Aileen smiled at Fritz.
“It’s alright, Fritz-sama. I will definitely make fulfill your
dreams.”
Come so far, Fritz felt something terrifying in Aileen’s smile.
But having grown so involved, Fritz had lost the option to run
away.
◇
Having ventured to the capital to receive a medal, Rudel had
come to the front of the dragoon training facilities.
It was a place he was stopping at for the first in a while, but
the ones who awaited him were knights prepared for battle. His
brigade captain Oldart Billums and the vice-captain Alejandro
Campbell.
The other dragoons were also preparing for battle, waiting for
Rudel’s arrival.
Rudel could see his colleague Luxheidt Aiguille making an
apologetic gesture behind the dragoon brigade in full battle
formation.
Bennet who had accompanied him there was also perplexed by the
situation.
In the first place, Rudel had dropped by to train with Enora.
But when he arrived, he found the dragoons preparing for war.
Of course, it confused him.
Failing to grasp anything, Rudel asked the captain.
“Captain, what’s all this about? Do you need me to do
anything?”
The self-proclaimed charmer in his prime Oldart made a
belligerent smile as he spoke to Rudel.
“No, you see… we’re just going to put some restraints on the
damn fool who laid hands on the dragoon brigade’s idol. We’re just
going to crush a newbie who’s gotten on his high horse just because
he’s got a bit strong. This isn’t a personal grudge or
anything.”
The vice-captain with a scar on his face, Alejandro spoke.
“… Leading beauties around, a guy who’s even in a position to
lay hands on my daughter. There’s no way I could leave him be. We
will be setting things straight here.”
Thinking they were misunderstanding something, Rudel sent a
glance at Luxheidt, who seemed to be the only one still sane.
“Sorry.”
While Luxheidt apologized, he looked like he was enjoying
it.
Having been looking forward to her training with Rudel, Enora
was deeply irritated as she looked at the other brigade members
getting in their way.
“Hey, isn’t this a bit too terrible? Did you really need to
assemble these numbers to take on Rudel? We’re a bit busy
here.”
Feigning calmness, perhaps Bennet was a little scared as her
tail curled up.
“T-that’s right. What’s more, using dragons for personal affairs
is strictly prohibited. Captain, this is surely no good.”
Rudel surrounded by women.
And Rudel with women sticking up for him.
The will of the dragoon brigade became one.
Oldart.
“Don’t screw with me! Bennet-chan, you have to wake up! That man
is a wolf!”
Hearing that, Bennet’s ears slumped down. Of all else, Bennet
was a demi-human, a wolf, and he made it sound like…
“… I’m part of the wolf tribe.”
As she said that, Oldart started making excuses. “Men are all
wolved beneath the belt,” he said as he broke into a sweat.
Meanwhile, Alejandro,
“You should get a bit of a better eye for me! It’s Rudel we’re
talking about. That Rudel!”
Being called a that, Rudel made a dubious expression as he sent
a glance over to Izumi, who kept silent all the way. Trying to keep
out of it, Izumi seemed truly reluctant to receive that glance.
“Hey, am I really that terrible?”
Izumi.
“In a different sense, you’re considerably terrible. No, I think
you’re a really good guy, normally.”
“I-I see!”
Seeing Rudel delighted at Izumi’s praise, Enora seemed
displeased and Oldart let out a shout.
“You don’t have to sweat the small things! We’re right here, and
so is Rudel! Then there’s only one thing to do!”
“We’ll show you hell!”
“Today is the day you die!”
“Bury the bastard!!”
Answering their dragoons’ cries, the dragons also roared and
soared into the skies. Straddling their dragons, the dragoons
danced through the air.
Oldart spoke to Rudel.
“Rudel, we’ll take you on. Get on up there.”
As he said that, he soared into the sky, and the dragoons began
flying around as if to draw a circle.
Seeing that, Rudel’s eyes began to sparkle.
Enora,
“Those numbers are a bit much. That’s more than twenty dragons.
Rudel, just go home for today.”
Bennet was also worried.
“This is a personal affair. There won’t be a problem if you
refuse.”
She seemed worried for her subordinate Rudel.
Izumi looked over the worried two as she spoke with a resigned
face.
“There’s nothing you can do when he gets like that. Rudel, make
sure you don’t get hurt too badly. It will be bad if you get
hospitalized before you get your medal.”
Rudel smiled.
“Yeah, leave it to me… it’s just when my enemy’s so serious,
wouldn’t it be rude not to get serious myself?”
As he said that, Rudel smiled and whistled.
From a large hole near the facility, the white dragon Sakuya
popped out her head and roared. The dragons soaring through the sky
weakly roared back in answer.
Sakuya landed before Rudel and turned him her back.
A smiling Rudel boarded her in an instant. As he lifted into the
air with Sakuya, Bennet sighed.
“You’re at a real disadvantage with those numbers. I’ll lend a
hand. Heleene.”
As Bennet called her dragon, a blue beautiful dragon descended
to the ground. In her mouth was a mass of meat she had procured
from somewhere.
It seems she was in the middle of a meal.
After crushing that boned meat in her teeth and swallowing it
down, she directed her back at Bennet.
Enora as well.
“I-I can also… Falk, get over here!”
Appearing in response to that voice was the wind dragon
Falk. Spreading out his large wings, he roared and once Enora had
gotten on his back, he took to the sky.
Seeing all that, Izumi breathed out a deep sigh.
“Hah, guess I should start running.”
She said as she fled from the spot.
◇
In the sky, the dragoons flocked around the white dragon.
“Dammit! She won’t fall!”
“She’s way too hard!”
“Oy, someone go stall the other two!”
As a subspecies of gaia dragon, a species that faced
difficulties in aerial combat, Sakuya flapped her four large, white
wings.
Double the size of the gray dragons that made up a majority of
the dragoons, she held a different level of intensity. As this
expedition had failed to recruit any gaia or red dragons, they
lacked any real means to get damage through.
And such a dragon was being guarded by Bennet and Enora’s
dragons.
While Bennet could perform well on ground battles, in the air,
she exhibited abilities lower than the average dragoon. Regardless,
she was accompanied by a wild water dragon.
Enora’s wind dragon made use of its speed in aerial combat to
stand superior.
Against those three dragoons, Oldart’s forces numbered over
twenty.
But even with seven times the forces, they were unable to put a
dent on Sakuya, who struggled in aerial combat.
“No, she’s way too hard! It wasn’t like this before!”
The one who answered Oldart’s panicked voice was Bennet.
“I did my best to train her!”
Looking at Bennet answer full of confidence, Oldart,
“Bennet-chan really is cute~ but Rudel… I won’t forgive
you!”
Atop Sakuya’s back, Rudel blocked the breath attacks coming in
from around with his shields of light. And if a dragon got too
close, it would be batted away by Sakuya’s large arms.
(I planned to beat him down to show him there are still people
better, but… so he grew this strong.)
Even as he raised this stupid ruckus, Oldart was amazed by
Rudel’s growth. He was convinced his own decision hadn’t been
mistaken.
(It wasn’t a mistake to leave him with the strongest in land and
air, Bennet-chan and Keith. God dammit, if only Keith was able to
eat him up along the way. But eating up Bennet-chan, really cut me
some slack.)
Before Rudel who normal dragoons were no longer a match for,
Oldart showed a smile.
(Just how strong will he grow.)
Oldart and his dragon took a round around Sakuya as she kept
stagnant, blowing away any dragon that got too close. Looking
closely, there was also a wind dragon battle between parent and
child going on.
“Enora, call it quits already!”
“You’re the one who should call it quits!”
The wind dragons were playing a game of chase.
Turning his eyes to Bennet, he saw she was keeping a moderate
distance from three dragons, going on the defense to hold them in
place.
(Hah, I wanted to be over there. But we can’t leave this one
like this.)
Oldart looked at Rudel, issuing orders to his subordinates.
“Don’t get close, continue circling and sprinkling attacks!
Let’s see just how long Rudel can hold out!”
There, with a smile of madness from Sakuya’s back, Rudel seemed
delighted.
“That’s just what I wanted!”
He said such a thing.
(… Oh my, this guy’s scary.)
Thought Oldart.
◇
It was a tower to shut away royalty.
Within that prison made by royalty was a luxurious cell for
royalty.
The room had a fluffy bed, a carpet spread out. All the
furniture was in order, and bookshelves were prepared as well.
But they didn’t contain books.
Fina looked over the room.
“Good grief, to shove me into a place like this.”
She said and breathed a sigh.
There were iron bars running across the window from which the
light streamed in. It was impossible for Fina to leave through
them.
Across the entrance door were two female knights on watch.
Sitting on the sofa, Fina thought over what would happen now.
“… They’ll let me look after animals, won’t they? I should put
in an order.”
In her life of boredom, she thought of what would give her
warmth. Showing a surprising amount of leisure, it wasn’t as if
Fina never considered it would come to this.
“Wait a second… if they’re going to lock me away like this, that
means I don’t have to work and I can spend all my time fluffing up
fluffy animals, right? Oh me oh my! That might be amazing!”
The expressionless Fina stood, raising both her hands as she did
a jump for joy.
“The first one should be a dog, perhaps? And then a cat…”
Just as her fantasies expanded, a knock came at the door.
Before she could answer, the door opened up.
Standing there was her elder sister Aileen.
Leading along her prided knights, she appeared before Fina with
a smile.
(What’s this, she’s appeared without delay.)
Fina stopped her dance and curtsied to Aileen and Fritz.
“It has been a long while, sister.”
Aileen motioned her to sit. There were tables stationed with a
sofa in-between, and after Aileen took a seat first, Fritz stood
diagonally behind her, keeping wary of Fina.
If anything happened, he seemed ready to cut at her.
(Bringing along her favorite knight, looks like someone’s having
fun.)
While she wanted to complain, Fina endured and sat before her
sister. There, Aileen offered an apology.
“This is all happening so fast we haven’t found someone to look
after you. I can’t serve you any tea, I’m sorry Fina.”
Fina shook her head.
“Don’t worry about that. And so? Can I ask why you’ve called me
here, sister?”
Knowing Aileen would make a move, Fina knew this day would come.
Of course, she intended it to be her sister shut in the royal tower
instead of herself.
(Well, family feuds are only good sense for the royals and
nobles. Perhaps I was a little too naïve. Thought my preparations
have gone a considerable way.)
Aileen’s face turned from a smile to serious as she explained
the present situation.
“Fina, father has collapsed. Luckily, there is no danger to his
life. But he is suffering difficulty speaking. To add to that, the
Gaia Empire has made its move. Don’t you think someone has to take
charge in such a situation?”
Fina listened in expressionlessly.
But she closed her eyes.
(Ah~, I just pulled an all nightery, I’m sleepy. They didn’t
even let me sleep in the carriage. I want to drink some coffee. A
straight shot should get me right up.)
She was thinking over something completely different, but Aileen
knew Fina’s expression wouldn’t change and went on.
Perhaps she thought the girl was taking it meekly.
“If we show weakness in such a crisis, the archdukes will take
advantage of us. So I have decided to take command. But even if I
can suppress the palace, I can’t do anything about the
knight brigades or the army. So I’m going to have Fritz-sama
do his best.”
Aileen’s gaze turned to Fritz. Fritz stuck out his chest as he
came out before her.
Fina…
(Oy, oy, you really sure about that? He doesn’t have any
experience leading a large force, does he? Rather, he doesn’t have
any achievements for anyone to recognize him by.)
Fina opened her mouth.
“… What happened to mother. Also, starting with the three
archduke houses, a large number of nobles won’t be satisfied with
Fritz.”
Aileen narrowed her eyes, she took on quite a displeased
expression.
“For now, I cannot be bothered to care for such a trifle. What’s
more, we have many who will cooperate with us. Fina, the current
Courtois is mistaken. The nobles only ever think of themselves,
ignoring the people…”
Fina thought the same. But all she agreed with was the part
about Courtois being mistaken.
Right, themselves included.
(We rely too much on the dragoons. An environment of abundant
land watched over by powerful dragoons… the surrounding countries
have polished various things to go up against us, yet we do nothing
at all. We have no prince to succeed, Courtois is filled with
problems… it really is a hassle.)
Aileen informed Fina of just how disappointing Courtois’ nobles
were, and of the pain they caused their people.
And using this as an opportunity, Aileen…
“With a commoner like Fritz’ achievements as an opportunity,
Courtois will undergo a large change. It will no longer be people
for the country, but a country for the people. We will need to make
this a country where everyone’s equal, where as long as you’re
skilled, you’ll be recognized.”
If Fina could make any expression, she would be laughing. What’s
more, with a belittling smile on her face.
But the words that came out of her mouth…
“You’re right. That is important. I do think to evaluate
talented personnel and assign them important roles is important.
It’s just, I cannot quite agree with Fritz-dono being the
representative of that. He does not have any achievements.”
Aileen remained displeased.
“… He need only start building them up now.”
She said.
“Big sister, there are no absolutes in war. Fritz-dono.”
Fina directed her eyes at Fritz. He seemed a little surprised,
but he instantly replied.
“What is it?”
“The war this time around… do you think we can win it?”
Fritz stuck out his chest as he clearly declared.
“We will win. Using this chance Aileen has given me to prove
even a commoner can rise in the country of Courtois is something of
a duty to me.”
“Is that so,” Fina said and looked down a bit.
Aileen to Fina,
“Fina, you’ll cooperate with me, won’t you? In the academy, you
interacted not only with nobles but with commoners as well. Can you
understand how I feel?”
As she sought out Fina’s approval, Aileen seemed to be trying to
increase her allies.
What Aileen spoke of was correct. Fina also wanted to make the
system more meritocratic than it currently stood.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t see the need to reform Courtois that
relied on the dragoons so much it ruined itself.
But this wasn’t the time.
It hadn’t come to that stage.
That was Fina’s conclusion.
Fina expressionlessly looked at her sister Aileen head on as she
spoke.
“I’ll have to decline, sister (A country for the people, eh.
That’s wrong, sister).”
Seeing Aileen’s expression of disbelief, Fina thought.
(It’s not people for the country or a country for the people. It
takes both sides for a country to live on. As I thought, the two of
us are incompatible.)
Fina decided to give Aileen her farewell.
◇
Rudel brought his feet to the palace.
It was to receive his war medals.
In the past, he had saved a town attacked by monsters. The
ruckus about Celestia’s ancient weapon was finally dying down, and
the Kingdom of Celestia sent over some choice words of
gratitude.
Receiving them, Rudel and Aleist would receive some medals as
well.
Rudel was rarely ever at the palace, Rudel was unable to settle
as he looked around.
His accompanying inspector Izumi posed him the question.
“What’s wrong? It’s rare to see you so restless.”
The surroundings were the same, but Rudel felt a sort of
tingling sensation on his skin.
“No, that’s not it. It’s just, this sort of…”
In the middle of their conversation, Rudel spotted Aleist in the
hall and called out to him. Leading along his subordinates, for
some reason Aleist was holding cleaning supplies.
“Ah, good morning.”
Izumi made a dubious face.
“It’s been a while since I last saw you like that. Rather,
aren’t you supposed to be receiving some medals today, Aleist?”
Aleist nodded.
“That’s right. That’s why I have to finish up my job before
that. After this, I just have to return to the room and get
ready.”
Leaving the palace’s cleaning to the heir of a Count House was
quite the peculiar tale.
What’s more, Aleist was the black knight.
Rudel spoke up.
“Aleist, the palace feels strange, but did something happen?
Does it always feel like this?”
To Rudel’s question, Aleist.
“No, I did hear a rumor his majesty collapsed. But there are
lots of other strange rumors, and I can’t tell you what exactly
happened.”
As Aleist seemed troubled, ”I see,” Rudel said as he decided to
make for the waiting room.
“I’ll go on ahead. You’re coming later, right?”
As he said that, Aleist nodded with a smile.
“That’s right. But I just can’t get used to walking around the
palace not in these work clothes.”
Seeing Aleist’s laugh, is that really alright? Thought Rudel,
but he kept silent.
The man in question seemed to enjoy his job, and he got the
feeling that wasn’t something for an outsider to stick his mouth
into.
“I’ll be waiting.”
As Rudel said that and led Izumi off, Aleist waved his hand.
“Yeah, I’ll be there before you know it.”
He replied.
As they separated from Aleist’s group, Izumi began to
chuckle.
Rudel seemed puzzled.
“Something funny happen?”
As he asked, Izumi shook her head with a smile.
“No, I was just thinking you and Aleist really have become
friends. I just thought it was strange.”
“You think?”
“I do.”
Being told that by Izumi, Rudel felt a bit awkward as he
scratched his face with his fingertip.
At the same time, the atmosphere of the palace still bothered
him for some reason.
(I have a bad feeling about this. I hope it goes without
issue.)
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/161-163.txt
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EpubPress - Mon Aug 13 2018 - Dragoon 161: Those Who Can’t Run
Chapter 161: Those Who Can’t Run
A general in the imperial army, Bahn Rhoshwas had begun his
march on a request from the main body.
His army was composed of only humans, for no other reason than
that he couldn’t trust monsters. As a matter of fact, the monsters
from the main force had all gone berserk. One moment, he thought
they’d disappeared, and the next they were on a rampage.
“Under a sky of several hundred dragons, they want me to launch
an attack on the enemy camp…”
To those of the empire, the dragon could only be a symbol of
fear.
The reason they termed those of Courtois as cowards in general
was because they were protected by those dragons.
Their own forces had given rise to enhanced monsters, and just
when he thought they’d finally reached the stage they’d be able to
put up a decent fight against Courtois, they were impossible to
control.
“We’re retreating after we retrieve Prince Askewell. There is no
victory to be found on these fields.”
The army’s main body was still trying to fight. No, Bahn didn’t
let it slip his eyes that they weren’t properly reigned in.
Yet regardless of what Bahn did, it wasn’t long before a
Courtois army was drawing near.
“General Rhoshwas! An enemy army is headed our way! That flag…
it’s Diade!”
Bahn’s expression turned sour.
“So that Diade comes out at this timing?”
The Diade House could be called the strongest of Courtois’
ground troops.
Bahn had fought them a number of times, and every time had ended
inconclusively. Before one side could triumph, the dragoons would
storm in, leaving him no choice but to retreat.
Retreat wasn’t an option this time.
“Tear through them to rescue our allies. Drag along those main
force fools who’re still up to fight and retreat!”
On Bahn’s words, his tempered legion moved all at once.
◇
Riding a specially prepared carriage, Leor was enraged.
“Each and every one of them, trash that can’t understand magic!
What did I tell them? I told them to lure the dragons my way, but
not only do they fail to listen, they demand I send reinforcements
to them… I’ll make test subjects of the lot of them.”
Muttering complaints, Leor wore a robe over his skin of an
unhealthy color. He didn’t wear any armor.
He had his pride as a magician, and he knew protective gear was
unnecessary.
A subordinate nearing his carriage informed him of the state of
the magic circle.
“Leor-sama, the around seventy percent of the sigils are ready.
But there is an army coming towards us.”
He couldn’t exhibit his full might on an incomplete circle. Leor
laughed.
“Perfect. It may not be complete, but it’s an anti-dragon magic
circle… I’ll blow any human army away. That’s right. They should
have just obeyed my orders from the start. His highness so joyed
with just enhancing monsters, and that aide gora of his; I’ll show
them all. Just how wonderful my magic can be!”
Stepping down from the carriage, he ordered along his men as he
made towards the center of the circle. Rescuing Askewell didn’t
even occur to him in his eagerness to show off just how superior he
was.
“The empire shall know. Rather than relying on monsters, they
should have relied on me… Ahahahah!”
While Leor said so, he was supported by subordinates on both
shoulders. Through repeated research and experimentation spanning
many a year, his body had grown terribly slender. Stamina-wise, he
boasted a considerable problem.
◇
The main force Askewell led was being ordered by Mies.
However, the rampage of his other men was terrible.
“General Mies, the armies on both flanks are rushing to our
aid!”
“We’ll hammer down what Courtois’s army in one fell swoop!”
Seeing the knights and soldiers speak with such delight, Mies
was distraught.
“What are you talking about? There’s no way we can fight in this
situation. We’re retreating. Yes, that’s what we’ll do! We can’t
control them anymore!”
One of the knights spoke.
His expression was somewhat suspicious. For a moment, she got a
sense his eyes let off a red light.
“It will be fine, General Mies. The gora that Prince Askewell
has possessed did not attack any of our men who approached. This is
the perfect opportunity. The perfect change to finally win one
against Courtois.”
Askewell had been taken in by a gora.
Phrasing it as the opposite, the second-in-command raised the
hopes of those around.
In her distress, Mies couldn’t notice the knight was different
from usual.
“Have both flanks stand down at once! If we don’t retreat fast,
something terrible will… the sky above is nothing but dragons!”
To the empire’s knights and soldiers, dragons were their gods of
death. However, in this situation, more than despair, the troops
sought out the victory they had long craved.
“We cannot pull back like this! If we retreat, that means we
will have lost to a single knight. Not a dragoon, our forces were
breached by a lone knight… only hell awaits on our return.”
A collected-looking knight said so, and those around nodded.
They had taken too much time on Rudel alone. That was not coming
back to bite them, cornering the imperial army—or rather, those who
had actually fought into a state where they couldn’t withdraw even
if they wanted to.
Mies held her head and cried out.
“All troops prepare to retreat! Your commanding officer
is—Eh?”
A few knights and soldiers turned their weapons on her.
“You’ll have to keep quiet a while. There’s nowhere left for us.
Do you not understand that? To prepare such an army and yield no
results… shall never be forgiven.”
Preparing the monster army alone was a considerable strain on
the empire.
On top of that, they formed two armies surpassing ten thousand
to attack on two fronts.
If this failed, the empire would be driven to a crisis of
possible collapse.
“If the land we took is taken back, the empire will fall apart.
I want you to understand that.”
The situation was more urgent than Mies had imagined. As she sat
on the spot and hung her head, the soldiers led her off. Finally,
the knight,
“Hurry up and reorganize our formation! Let those cowards of
Courtois know the grudge of the empire!”
Watching these zealous imperial knights and soldiers-
practically dead men walking- who knew there was no future ahead of
them, Mies took one last look at the gora that had assimilated
Askewell.
(So no one needs him anymore…)
◇
Mounting his faithful steed Heath, Aleist held a sword in one
hand and gripped it hard.
He didn’t have the inexhaustible mana he once possessed. He
didn’t have talent. Even his charm had been lost.
Could such a man fight the gora coming towards them?
As he cowered over such questions and fears, Millia took a seat
behind him with her bow. They were riding the nightmare in
tandem.
One of the harem members pointed at Millia.
“That bitch!”
Millia barked back at the rest of them.
“Oh, shut it! If it was any of you, you’d be at each other’s
throats, so I got on behind him. So quit your whining, and prepare
for battle already!”
Scolded away by Millia, the harem member reluctantly obeyed and
prepared to fight the beast.
Behind them, an army to support them stood in rank and file
under Chlust’s orders.
Chlust looked like he was going to cry as he issued out orders,
entering preparations to hold the army at bay. Upon seeing that,
Aleist managed to calm down just a bit.
“Aleist, you’ll be fine, won’t you?”
On Millia’s worried voice, Aleist mulled a smidgen before he
nodded.
“I’ll be fine. But honestly, whether we can beat that thing or
not is…”
Heath shook his head and neighed. As if he was telling him to do
his best.
In the sky, two water dragons awaited his orders to fight.
Millia breathed out a sigh.
“God, have some confidence. Rudel was fighting against that
thing the whole time. When you’re able to exchange punches with
that very same Rudel, there’s no way you’ll go down too
easily.”
Aleist recalled those matches, and the fists he exchanged.
In his battles with Rudel, in the end, it was always their
weapons that gave out first. In that case, what was left was a
full-on fist extravaganza.
“I wasn’t exchanging punches because I wanted to.”
Aleist personally would have preferred more stylish, more
elegant matches. But he was always pushed to the brink and got to
thinking he never had the leisure.
However, upon looking around.
“Well, it looks like everyone apart from me is reliable
enough.”
In game terms, his harem members were competent pieces. What’s
more, in the sky were two dragons supporting him. Two dragoon
knights as well.
Game-wise, this was a satisfactory party, or rather, these
numbers were greater than what could be deployed at once. Aleist
delivered a light kick to Heath’s stomach.
With that alone, Heath made a straight dash for the Gira.
Millia readied her bow.
“Aleist, I’m counting on you.”
“Yeah, it’ll probably work out.”
Hearing his somewhat unreliable response, Millia laughed.
Standing up on horseback, she took an arrow in hand, pulled it, and
fired.
She had aimed for Askewell taken in by the Gora, yet the arrow
was repelled by the gora’s thick finger. Just by spreading its
palm, the giant had Askewell completely protected.
“The fact it protected him means that really must be its weak
point. But seeing how Rudel couldn’t take aim at it, it must have a
solid defense, perhaps?”
As Heath gradually increased speed, the gora lowered two of its
four arms down towards him. Heath ran straight at the lowered
fists, and cleared them as Millia fired an arrow at the gora from
below.
“Oh my, it’s not just a grass skirt.
Carefully observing the gora that was properly wearing pants
under that, Millia gave an indifferent analysis before immediately
firing an arrow.
“Eep!” Aleist mouthed a small scream. But it didn’t look like it
had any effect on the far-too-large Gora.
“How can you just aim at the crotch like that!?”
When Aleist told her that, Millia scoffed.
“Like it or not, it’s a vital point.”
She said, this time taking out multiple arrows and firing them.
They all carried more force than the previous one, piercing deep
into its nether regions.
The Gora cried out.
“Alright!”
Seeing Millia triumphantly clench her fist, Aleist was beginning
to pity the gora.
Gripping the sword he held in one hand, he swung it towards the
beast’s ankle.
A black magic flame coiled about the blade, and once he released
it, the gora’s foot was severed through.
(I can still fight.)
What he lost was great, yet there was much he had built on his
own, and what remained became his strength to overcome this
monster.
While the gora tried to deal with Aleist, who was passing right
beneath it, the breath attacks of dragons from the sky knocked it
back.
Heath moved so as not to be dragged in with its fall as Millia
looked around. Imperial knights and soldiers were charging towards
them.
“When we’re busy taking on this monster!”
Aleist drew his left-hand sword as well, swinging them from
horseback to cut down those closes. It was the perfect unity of
horse and rider.
No, rather than that, Heath was the one matching Aleist’s
movements. As Milla fired arrows from behind him, the knights
wearing iron armor were pierced through.
Aleist’s harem members gathered to occupy the gathering
army.
“You’re in the way!”
Seli cut down all before her with her skilled swordplay.
“In the way!”
Juju threw, punched and kicked the knights and soldiers coming
close.
Aleist confirmed that before turning back to the gora.
“If it recovers that fast, we won’t be able to chip it
down.”
Before the gora that instantly recovered from its injuries,
Aleist thought over how he should approach. He thought, but he was
never too smart to begin with.
It was inevitable that the long worn-out methods were the first
things to hit him.
“Then you either attack it so fast its regeneration can’t keep
up, or defeat it in one blow… but I don’t have any attacks as
flashy as Rudel’s.”
Lopping off the arms of the gora attempting to stand, Aleist
thought. His surroundings were beginning to become a muddled mess
of enemy and ally, the field rapidly growing more difficult to
fight.
The gora spread the wings on its back, rising into the sky.
“Can’t let it add another dimension to this—Bennet-san,
Keith-san!”
On Aleist’s cry, the two dragons attacked so the gora couldn’t
rise up. Tearing its wings and smacking it with dragon fist, they
removed any means of escape.
Jumping up from Heath’s back, Aleist transferred over to the
Gora, tearing open flesh below him as he raced up its body. Despite
its large palm’s attempt to capture him, he cut that palm open with
a sword in each hand, making for Askewell’s embedded body.
“I see it.”
Racing from the massive gora’s foot to its head, Aleist swung
his sword at Askewell the moment he was in sight.
If it had any weakpoint, he thought it had to be there, but the
gora stuck its glare on Aleist and opened its large mouth.
It seemed it was going to spit up a large mass of those black
spears it used on Rudel. In its mouth opening, he could see the
countless tips of spiraling polearms.
Aleist manifested from his shadow a cloth-like black mass,
spreading it out to protect himself.
Even if a spear pierced through, the material would wrap around
, catch it, and take the blow.
And once the black cloth vanished, Aleist jumped out and pointed
his sword at Askewell.
“This is the end!”
At the last moment, Askewell who had been buried to his
shoulders opened his eyes; he raised an arm and stopped Aleist’s
attack.
Gripping the sword between his fingertips, he looked at
Aleist.
“… I see, so you’re the cause of all this.”
After regaining consciousness, Askewell crawled out from the
gora, looked at Aleist and spoke.
“It is for the sake of your existence that my people suffer… I
shall not forgive you!”
Black smoke poured out of Askewell, as the gora disappeared.
Having suddenly lost his footing, Aleist entrusted his body to
freefall as he trained his eyes upwards. Askewell’s form remained,
standing right where he was in the air.
“So it ain’t over yet?”
After Aleist was recovered by Millia, who had spread out her
magic wings, he looked up at the black smoke whirling up, and the
prince.
Chapter 162: Sword and Magic
Eunius straddled his horse, commanding the private army he
brought with him to face off with the army of General Bahn.
On this chaotic battlefield, both sides had their command in
relative order. Albeit, only relative to the rest. The reason they
couldn’t pay undo mind to keeping formation lay in the black giant
nearby—the gora recklessly thrashing around.
Eunius took a glance in its direction.
“I’d like to end this while Aleist is keeping it busy; then I
can go help him out.”
Even if the sky was beyond him, he could help as long as it was
on land. But regardless of what wanted to do, the matter wouldn’t
be settled so easily.
Bahn Rhoshwas—a general who had worked his way up, a seasoned
veteran of the empire, and a strong opponent in land battles. While
he didn’t stand out due to the existence of the dragoons, Eunius’
father had held a close fight with him more than a few times.
The dragoons would come out before the victor could be decided,
so there was no score to keep. Which side was stronger? Both
countries likewise regarded the question as wholly
inconsequential.
Yet on a battlefield where they couldn’t borrow the dragoons’
aid, it would hold a large meaning. The quality of troops at
Eunius’ home the Diade House was high.
But the opponent was a prominent force of the empire.
Eunius licked his lips.
“Go at it making light of them, and we’ll be devoured.”
He said, pulling his sword as he looked at the faces of his
enemy—the faces of elite soldiers.
“Run them down!”
The numbers were even, or perhaps the other side had a slight
advantage. The empire had supplemented a majority of their forces
with monsters. For that sake, the numbers of humans were lower than
expected.
The soldiers Eunius led wrung out their voices, gripped their
weapons and collided with enemy forces.
The frontmost soldiers clashed, filling the air with the sounds
of clanging metal and shouts.
With both sides accustomed to battle, slight casualties didn’t
fluster them in the slightest.
But perhaps the opponent’s side was short on time, they came out
with hard offensive measures.
A large-build man on a horse grandly brandished his battle axe,
butchering soldiers on Eunius’ side.
Swinging around a large axe that- at a glance- made clear the
strength of his arms, he made a straight line towards Eunius.
The official to Eunius’ side cried out.
“Young master! He plans to take you out and pierce straight
through our army.”
Eunius gave a small laugh.
“Is he mocking me? Or is he out of time… looks like both!”
Kicking his horse’s stomach, he had his allies ahead of him
stand back as he raced towards the unit led by General Bahn.
Upon seeing that, Bahn performed a wide swing with his axe to
cut Eunius down; but Eunius caught the blow with his greatsword.
The horses both rode had stopped in their tracks, their hooves
sinking into the earth
Once a conspicuously large metallic sound had chimed across the
battlefield, both enemy and ally had begun taking distance from the
two.
General Bahn glared at Eunius.
“Youngling, are you related to Diade?”
Eunius held up his greatsword in one hand, directing its tip
towards the general.
“The eldest son. You’re Bahn Rhoshwas, right? I’ve heard about
you. Heard there was some bloke my old man couldn’t take out.”
As General Bahn clenched the hilt of his battle axe, it let off
a grinding, grating noise. His muscles swelled and raised a
sound.
“Oh quit it. You’re just another coward protected by the dragon,
I’d usually say. But if your Diade’s brat, that changes things up a
bit. You lot are just about the only ones to hold back my army’s
charge.”
Each side holding high their weapon of choice, what followed was
a simple clash of steel.
Sparks scattered.
“But youngling… now you’re in the way. I’ll send your old man
down afterward. Go wait for him in hell.”
Holding his sword horizontally to block the strike from on high,
Eunius grit his teeth.
(What weight. This guy really is strong.)
Eunius felt his own horse’s shaking legs and tried to ward the
blow aside, yet his attempt had General Bahn forcefully blow him
off of his horse.
“Protect the young master!”
The knight who went out front was promptly cut down.
Eunius rolled across the ground before immediately standing and
shouting out.
“Don’t get in the way! I’ll take him down.”
Looking down on Eunius from horseback, Bahn scoffed at those
words.
“You look halfway competent, but you’ll stand before me with
that level of skill? Your head’s in the clouds.”
But Eunius had properly measured out his opponent’s
abilities.
“That so? But I got it with that one. I’d love to have fought
you in your heyday, old man.”
It was a provocation, that the aged Bahn was lacking.
“… Youngling, I’ll praise your tongue if nothing else!”
General Bahn galloped his horse, lifting his axe, charging at
Eunius to slice him in twain. Eunius lowered his hips and watched
his movements.
(You’re definitely strong, old man. But you know… I’m even
stronger. And I know people far stronger than me!)
As he watched his foe’s movements, Eunius was overcome by a
sensation as if time was passing by in slow motion. He
concentrated, and matching General Bahn’s motions, he swung his
great sword.
The sword was clad in light, and as that light grew stronger, he
finished his cut before the general was within sword range.
“You fool. You grew impatien—nngh!!”
General Bahn spat up blood. Holding his mouth, he fell from his
horses back; his axe pierced into the ground as he fell to his
knees.
A single large wound across his chest.
Eunius’ magic sword has inflicted a blow on him. Seeing that,
Bahn siped his mouth, stood, and took a stance with his axe.
“Hey now, I felt quite some resistance.”
While Eunius felt resistance on his blade, it did seem General
Bahn was far tougher than he’d anticipated. The general
laughed.
“Gahahahah! Youngling, I’ve been fighting from before you were
born. Like hell it’d be so easy to off me. But… I’ll admit you’re
not all talk.”
While his subordinates gathered around him, Bahn had them step
down.
“… No complaints, having you as my last foe. No, guess you
wouldn’t want this old man. I’d have loved to have fought you ten.
Nay, twenty years earlier.”
Eunius laughed.
“Don’t be stupid. You’d cross axe with rattle?”
The two laughed, their looks gradually shifting to serious as
the surrounding air tense up. Around them, ally and enemy fought,
yet their minds were taken by the duel.
And the two stepped in and passed by.
It happened in an instant.
A large cut opened up on Eunius’ arm, leaking some blood.
But General Bahn collapsed right on the spot.
The ground flowed with a heavy torrent of red.
“… Youngling. Your name?”
“Eunius. It’s Eunius Diade.”
“I see. A good name. I’ll be waiting in hell. Until our next
match…”
When General Bahn used up the last of his strength, the
surrounding imperial soldiers lowered their weapons one after the
next. Eunius saw that and shouted out.
“Don’t kill those who’ve surrendered. Spread the word… Bahn
Rhoshwas has fallen to Eunius Diade! Cease your resistance!”
His subordinate raced over.
“Young master! The sky!”
Looking in the direction he pointed, the gora had vanished,
lacing a scene of black smoke rising up onto the sky.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this… Rudel, just end this
already.”
◇
Meanwhile.
Luecke’s army marched in close formation.
Vargas barked from nearby.
“Maintain formation! Don’t disperse under any
circumstances!”
Knights toting shields engraved with magic circles stood at
predetermined positions hoisting up their shields Upon confirming
that, Luecke used his magic.
A pale green flame broke out around, his army, dispersing the
lightning that rained down from above. An intense explosive sound
rose as the earth was gouged out.
“We’re lucky the ground was damp. Otherwise, the dust cloud
would be terrible.”
Vargas cried out at Luecke’s words.
“Not that it matters, young master! Do something about this. At
this rate, the magic will keep coming down, and we won’t get any
closer.”
The enemy was stationed on a low hill, having prepared a circle
there, and was firing off magic from it. That alone wasn’t a
problem, but the magic output was way too high.
If they took on a single blow, it would be enough to inflict
serious damage unto the entirety of Luecke’s forces.
He managed to elude those attacks, utilizing the shields to cast
large-scale spellcrafts.
Luecke toughed his hand to his chin.
“But how curious. With that setup I can make out from a
distance, they should have a higher output. That’s what I’ve been
preparing for with each defensive measure but… is it not yet
complete? Still preparing?”
As one who used magic, he held a genuine curiosity. This was
despite Vargas’ pleas.
“You can think about it later, but just do something now. If it
gets complete, we’re all in danger!”
Luecke felt somewhat let down.
(If this had nothing to do with Rudel and the others, and our
motherland wasn’t in peril, I wouldn’t mind waiting for them to
complete it… more so, I should invade after insuring it’s complete
to thoroughly investigate their circle. No, there’s no such time…
what a waste. If Lena weren’t here, I’d watch a while longer.)
While he looked the type to prioritize his own interest, at the
same time, he was also considering his means of attack.
“… Vargas. The enemy is clearly making light of us. Otherwise,
they can only launch incomplete attacks because their magic circle
isn’t fully prepared. I’d rather it not be number one. That would
mean with all that careful preparation, they can only fire magic on
this paltry level.”
Vargas leaked a sigh. Even in that instant, lightning rained
down from the sky to be blocked by Luecke’s magic.
“You wouldn’t believe how thankful I’d be if they were just
putting on a show.”
Luecke ignored him and explained.
“Their strength is either equal to, or slightly greater than our
magic formation for a simple shield. In that case, it’s simple. We
will maintain this formation and charge towards the enemy.”
Hearing that, Vargas opened his mouth.
“Pardon?”
“Charge, I said. Charge.”
Those around couldn’t conceal their hesitation either. They
couldn’t think the heir to the Halbades House actually voiced a
word like charge. No, they would indeed charge from time to
time.
But that was after they had done something about the opponent,
and they wouldn’t charge to force through enemy lines like the
Diade House.
“… How do you figure?”
With Vargas acting as a representative of surrounding opinion,
Luecke spat a sigh.
“Fool. We need only move while keeping the shield up. If our
opponent changes the attribute of their magic, we’ll immediately
adapt. You’ve all been trained to do so. Simple, right?”
Vargas’ eyes turned teary.
“I’ve said it before, but you know… aren’t you in the wrong
family!? Young master, I thought you were kinda… a bit more apt to
using your brain!”
“Vargas… don’t think I’m a muscle head like Rudel and the
others. I’m an intellectual. All I’m saying is that this is the
optimum means of victory. I’ll admit, it vexes me I can’t win over
our foe with magic.”
He chose a charge for victory, there wasn’t any particular
impatience in Luecke’s eyes. Knowing he didn’t thoughtlessly choose
a reckless assault on his first campaign, Vargas didn’t rebut him
anymore.
However…
“Alright, you’ve all got to properly fulfill your own roles.
We’ll be swiftly changing formation on the move. Everyone’s
coordination will be the key.”
Vargas cried out yet again.
“Change formation in transit!? This isn’t any ordinary
formation, young master! The spells are reproduced by the
positioning of the shield knights, and asking them to—”
Luecke shook his head, placing a hand on Vargas’ shoulder.
“Do it. That is an order, Vargas.”
When he was so kindly informed with a smile, “Yes” was all that
was left to say.
And the Halbades House’s moving army spread about a bit from its
close-knit formation.
Luecke began his move to the center.
As they would have to make delicate adjustments to their
positioning, while Luecke rode a horse, the shield knights had to
dismount theirs and go on foot.
The march began once Luecke was in place.
This time, a mountainous load of large fireballs was fired off
from the enemy camp. While they were many in numbers, they also had
a speed, and it was in a rain of fire that Luecke’s men were to
move.
“Change formation. Water.”
Abiding by his orders, the shield knights hastily moved and took
their places as a pale blue light enveloped their surroundings.
The flames that collided directly went out. The places on the
ground set ablaze by those that missed faded away as soon as they
touched against the pale light.
Luecke watched for his foe’s reaction.
(Now then, what’s their verdict on our approach… here it comes.
)
The soldiers- presumably guards- on standby took up their
weapons, and started on their way towards him. As the imperial
soldiers approached, Vargas and the others drew their weapons at
the ready.
But the enemy troops were few in numbers.
Luecke grimaced.
“… Decoys.”
While the magic from the enemy camp had stopped for a moment,
the problem was that they were preparing for another round.
“Vargas, the shield knights shall prioritize maintaining
formation. Everyone else, protect the shield knights.”
Drawing his sabre from its sheath, Luecke began commanding his
troops.
Vargas retorted.
“It’s supposed to be the other way around! We were brought up to
protect you and our allies!”
Luecke shot back.
“Shut it! Just do it! If you guys misstep, we won’t be able to
block enemy fire!”
As soon as he had said that, the enemy camp was at it again.
“Next earth!”
As Luecke ordered the shield knights to change formation, the
others provided support. The imperial soldiers were few in numbers,
and while they fought desperately, they were taken down one after
the next.
(They don’t mind firing on allies, eh. Can’t say I respect that.
But it’ll pick up the pace.)
“Here it comes!”
The enemy soldiers outside the formation were swept up into a
tornado and blown into the air. Upon seeing that, many soldiers
gave up their resistance.
Cast down your weapons and surrender. We are increasing our
speed to the enemy camp.
Vargas posed Luecke the question.
“Will the enemy wait for us? Shouldn’t they already by—”
But Luecke firmly declared.
“They’ll be there. They can’t move. They’re too fixated on their
magic after all.”
And with those words, the Halbades House army continued its
advance.
What they came upon once they were right at the camp were the
magicians who had still remained on the site.
In chaos, abandoned by their guard knights and soldiers and left
behind.
In the center of the magic circle, a single unhealthy-looking
man in a robe raised his voice. His ear perked at the chipped and
uncanny voice, Luecke urged on his horse.
“Y-you utter fools! Don’t let those brutes into the circle!
Don’t step there! What do you take this artistic magic circle
for—”
Luecke looked down on the screaming man—Leor.
“It certainly is a work of art. This deployment, and the sheer
beauty of the sigils… I’m sure no ordinary man c ould even imagine
it.”
To Luecke’s words, Leur knew he had found a kindred spirit. His
expression brightened right up.
“Y-you can tell? I never thought I’d find someone in Courtois
who could understand this—”
Luecke’s sabre stuck into Leor’s chest. Witnessing such a scene,
the magicians—Leor’s assistants raised screams. Those assistants
were quickly apprehended and restrained.
Luecke pulled out his sabre.
“W-why? If you let me live, the secrets of this magic circle
could be…”
A portion of the circle was incomplete.
To add to that, there were spots he had erased because the enemy
had come.
“You’re right. It really is a pity… but even so, I am a noble,
and a knight of Courtois. I have to see beyond the magic. And
someday, I’ll unravel the secrets of this circle, just you
wait.”
Hearing Luecke’s words filled with confidence, a slight smile
crossed Leor’s face.
“That’s impossible. The likes of you… I am a genius…”
Confirming Leor had breathed his last breath, Luecke issued
orders to Vargas.
“Vargas, have those with the knowhow accurately copy down the
magic circle. The positioning of all the ceremonial equipment as
well. Record it all, copy it all, preserve everything important
and—”
But before he could finish, Luecke looked at the sky.
In his eyes was a scene of black smoke rising to the sky.
Luecke narrowed his eyes.
“Young master?”
To Vargas’ worried voice, Luecke shook his head.
“Vargas, lead all troops. We’re moving.”
“Are you sure? Isn’t this magic supposed to be amazing?”
Luecke immediately mounted his horse and started off.
“I’ve got something more important to attend to.”
Luecke looked at the sky and muttered.
“Rudel, I can’t really lend a hand if he’s so high up.”
There, Vargas spoke.
“It’d be a whole lot easier if we could attack the sky with this
thing.”
Luecke immediately took a look at the circle. It was around
sixty percent complete. While a portion had been erased, from what
he could see, at the very least, those portions could be
reused.
He jumped down from his horse.
“Vargas!”
“Y-yes!?”
“… Well said. Gather up all the shield knights at once. We’re
putting this to good use.”
Chapter 163: Versus
Rudel fought the vile serpent through the sky. It could be
called a one-sided battle, mostly consisting of his attempts to
corner and land a final blow on the beast.
Sakuya opened her large mouth, and as she was about to fire a
breath, the serpent laughed. It stopped running to turn towards
Rudel and Sakuya.
Before Rudel and Sakuya—a dragoon of one man and one dragon, the
tattered serpent. But now a look of triumph spread across its
face.
‘You did well making it this far. You have my praise…
dragoon.’
While continuously calling Rudel an irregular, here it was,
stopping to evaluate him. But Rudel—
“I see, then disappear. Sakuya!”
Rudel had Sakuya fired on it no questions asked.
‘HYAAaaah!!’
Highly condensed mana swelled to a massive size, the light fired
off from it drawing a spiral in its flow as it swallowed the dark
dragon whole. With that output before her, Izumi narrowed her
eyes.
“It’d be hell if that hit the ground.”
It’s output… Rudel was definitely right in his decision, parting
from the ground to avoid dragging anyone else in.
All the clouds around them were blown away by the force of that
breath, the thick clouds clearing to shine light onto the
battlefield.
But the serpent that took the breath, while it had lost a
majority of its body, remained floating in the air. Its
disintegrating bones showing, it laughed through its ominous
visage.
‘You are strong. No, you ‘two’ are strong together. Very well… I
shall admit that.’
Feeling a bad premonition, Rudel immediately readied Sakuya for
a second shot.
‘It’s too late!’
The black smoke rising from the ground enveloped the serpent.
Prince of the Empire Askewell looked at Rudel from his place in the
air.
Rudel grimaced.
“You’re a stubborn one. Did Aleist let you slip by?”
While it was a problem that couldn’t be cleaned up with the word
stubborn, Rudel was of the simple belief that he need only defeat
him again. I essence, that was the only option.
Askewell opened his mouth.
“Aren’t you—”
“Sakuya, fire.”
“Wait! Rudel!”
Izumi stepped in to stop him but she didn’t make it in time.
Before he could hear Askewell’s words, Sakuya fired her second
round.
‘Fly awaaay!!’
Sakuya’s breath assailed the black smoke and Askewell. Yet,
Askewell brushed that blast aside with one hand.
Seeing that, Rudel immediately considered countermeasures.
(He redirected it? Luecke had a magic quite similar to that.
Then should I beat him in close combat?)
Askewell showed no surprise, nor did he condemn Rudel for his
actions. It was almost as if he had foreseen it happening. He
plainly continued to speak.
“Aren’t you irritated?”
“… Irritated? That I let your imperial invasion get so far? Or
the fact I couldn’t win on my own?”
They were both irritating to him. He couldn’t fulfill his duty.
He couldn’t protect his country. That was why he had to take
Askewell down and drive the imperial army out of kingdom
territory.
That was Rudel’s job.
Askewell lightly laughed.
“Aleist, was it? For the sake of such a good-for-nothing
existence, both me and you were put through the wringer. You were
to be nothing more than a stepping stool in his life… I was forced
into the role of enemy. You’ll overlook such unreasonability?”
Askewell’s voice was the epitome of serious. These were the
screams of his soul.
“No matter how I tried to save the empire’s people, it was all
futile! The reason I kept winning when I went out to the
battlefield was all for this day. None of it was my own power! Not
a single bit of my life’s effort has had any impact on this world!
For the sake of that man… for that sort of man, can you imagine how
many humans have suffered!? Doesn’t it irritate you!?”
Looking at the prince before his eyes, Rudel thought.
(What is he talking about?)
It was a simple, honest question. And he understood the
answer.
“I see, so you made it Aleist’s fault that things aren’t going
your way. Good for you, you found an excuse.”
Askewell’s eyes opened wide. A vein surfaced on his forehead. In
rage and surprise towards Rudel’s words. His face was one of all
sorts of emotions swirling about.
“You want me to sympathize? I’ll do plenty of that once this
battle is over. So… die.”
When Rudel directed his right arm at Aleist, the black smoke
manifested a number of offensive shields around Askewell. Those
spiked shields closed in from around as if to crush him whole.
“I see… when you made your dream come true, I…”
Those several hundred large shields crushed Askewell and
exploded. His hair ruffled out of place by the blast wave, Rudel
narrowed his eyes as he looked at Askewell.
“If you’ll let me have my say, you’re the unreasonable one
here.”
At the end of Rudel’s slightly envious expression, was the form
of Askewell riding the back of the dark dragon. And now the form it
took on was terribly reminiscent of Sakuya’s. A purple halo
floating behind its back, six wings, and four large limbs.
The differences that stood out were its aggressive, barbed
scales and the look in its eyes.
(… I want to ride it a bit.)
From the point of view of one who had desperately become a
dragoon, he had a complaint or two for Askewell, who had mimicked
one at the drop of a hat.
Even if he was barking up the wrong tree.
The dark dragon opened its mouth.
‘Don’t think this makes us equal. We surpass you on all fronts.
In order to restore these glaring errors, the more your abnormality
increases, the stronger we become.’
Rudel folded his arms.
‘I see, so you don’t start out almighty. Then there are ways to
go about it.’
Izumi wondered if the calm and collected Rudel had some
ingenious idea.
“You have a plan?”
But Rudel offered an immediate reply.
“None! But since it’s come to this, there’ no choice but to grow
stronger than we are now. If we do that, we can surpass our
enemy.”
Izumi breathed a sigh.
“You heard it, if you get stronger, they’ll also—”
“Then I’ll surpass what comes next. You worry too much… I’m
quite used to fighting guys stronger than me.”
As Rudel made a smile, Izumi shut her mouth. She looked in the
direction of the dark dragon and Askewell. Gripping the hilt of her
katana.
“Got it. I’ll try to help out. I have to make myself at least a
little useful.”
Rudel laughed aloud.
“That makes it three against two! It’s our win.”
◇
On the ground, the Kingdom of Courtois fought the imperial army
under Chlust’s command. With Aleist fighting on the frontmost
lines, they barely managed to hold out without crumbling.
That was the most they could do. A gathering of odds and ends,
the Courtois army had no coordination. Even if some was
established, before the empire’s trained troops, it was a
last-second veneer.
“Keep everything down to the basics. That’s all we can do!”
Chlust issued simple orders. With the quality of the gathered
soldiers all over the place, they had to keep their objectives to
the absolute basics.
The army moving especially poorly belonged to the Arses
House.
Having not done any decent training, they had become a
deadweight.
(If the black knight and his elites weren’t here, we’d be
screwed.)
Looking up in the sky, two water dragons intercepted the wyverns
raining down on them.
They were fighting so they couldn’t bring casualties to the
ground troops, and none were to die to stray shots from above.
However, because of that, their forces had mixed into a muddled
mess with the imperial. This prevented them from receiving dragoon
support.
Chlust had been driven off to the outskirts, and there he had
learned how to command. Yet when an army far too large was placed
under his command, his panic began to show.
“The dragoons will protect the sky! We’re going to do our
part!”
At the same time, he thought.
(To think the empire’s training would be on this level.)
In one on one, the imperial army surpassed Courtois. They could
only fight because they had the black knight. Additionally, the
soldiers of the imperial army fought almost as if they were walking
death row.
As the fight devolved into a chaotic melee, the dragons couldn’t
attack. With that in mind, compared to fighting the dragons up
high, the Courtoan soldiers before their eyes weren’t scary in the
slightest.
And they couldn’t pull back.
They really were dead men walking.
“… Brother, we won’t hold out much longer.”
Regardless of the grudge he held towards his brother who shoved
command onto him, Chlust could only do what he was capable of.
◇
“Take that!”
Swinging two swords from his horse, cutting down streams of
imperial knights and soldiers, Aleist was terribly stained with the
blood spurt.
The gora disappeared into black smoke, while Askewell had fled
into the sky.
He had no means to give chase, and so he fought on the ground.
But these crazed soldiers were cornering him into a close fight.
While his harem members were strong, they were flinching before the
enemy’s death-driven insanity.
“Should they usually withdraw after incurring casualties this
high!?”
More than twenty percent of the whole. The imperial army’s
casualty figures had long since exceeded that, but he couldn’t
discern any signs of retreat.
More so, these were soldiers who’d lost anywhere to run to.
While the tides were already in Courtois’ favor, even so, the
rate things were going would leave tremendous casualties on both
sides.
As Aleist helped out his allies while gathering enemies towards
himself, a giant white mass approached from the sky.
It was Sakuya.
“… Wait a tic.”
Falling towards the battlefield, there were traces of burns on
her surface. A heavy gray cloud swirled a spiral, and from it, a
black dragon resembling Sakuya slowly showed itself.
“Kuh!”
Racing his trusty steed Heath, Aleist tried to part from the
course of Sakuya’s fall when he caught a glimpse of a flash of
light.
The one who fell from the sky was Izumi, holding her Katana.
“Izumi-san!”
Izumi looked at the ground, prepared to draw her blade, and in
one flash—
“Hah!”
Slashing up the imperial soldiers around Aleist, she landed out
of breath before looking at the sky.
Aleist got down from his horse to hear out the situation.
“What the hell happened up there!?”
Izumi responded at once. Wiping off the grime on her face, she
explained the fight in the air.
“Seven times.”
“Seven what?”
“… Rudel and Sakuya, and myself managed to corner that black
dragon seven times. But every time, that thing just revives
stronger than before. It’s getting beyond our ability to cope.”
Both armies took distance from where Sakuya fell. While that
brought a temporary ceasefire, a look at the sky revealed the black
malign dragon looking down over them. On its head, Askewell was
also visible.
He wore sinister armor, equipped with a lance, his arms
folded.
As Sakuya fell, in order to support her from below, Rudel made a
great many shields of life, killing her momentum before she
landed.
“Rudel!”
While Aleist called out, Rudel seemed considerably vexed.
He heard a voice from on high.
“You did splendid to hold out so long. But this is the end. Once
I defeat you, the world will finally be free of your
influence.”
Askewell’s bitter expression was directed at Aleist.
Renewing his grip on both his swords, Aleist grimaced. Come so
far, would they really fall short?
(It’s my fault… then I should be the one to settle it…)
He would protect his comrades, even if it cost him his life. It
happened the moment he thought that.
Slowly standing Sakuya’s massive body, Rudel came over to him.
His expression was straightforward to no end—
“As you can see, there’s nothing I can do to take that thing
down on my own. Aleist, you’re coming with me. The two of us and
Sakuya will kill it.”
Aleist flew into a confusion.
“… Eh? Say what you want, but I have no idea what to do.”
“No worries, no problem. For now, just lend a hand. It’s a
bothersome one that immediately revives when you’ve almost got it.
I’d love to blow it away before it restores itself, but I’m lacking
in firepower.”
For the Rudel-Sakuya combo to have insufficient firepower? From
Aleist’s point of view, that was a nightmare. Even with his help,
he started to think when.
“Hey, let’s get going. Izumi, I’m sorry, but could you go help
out Chlust? I’m going to push my limits a bit, so I wouldn’t
recommend riding with me any further.”
Izumi shrugged her shoulders.
“That so? That’s a shame.”
Looking up, Sakuya’s palms were approaching the two of them.
With a skillful grip, Sakuya boarded Rudel and Aleist on her
back.
◇
Once Rudel was on Sakuya’s back once more, he looked up at the
dark dragon alongside Aleist.
“Just a little more to go. When there was just a little left, it
restored itself seven times.”
Seeing an irritated Rudel, Aleist shook his head to the
side.
“I get that, but it would be troublesome for you to rely on me
here. All I can do is control shadows, that sort of thing. To clear
things up, I don’t have unlimited mana reserves anymore!”
Rudel directed Aleist a smile.
“Yeah, no problem. When I was dead, Sakuya told me. You won’t
lose what you’ve cultivated yourself. And if it’s mana you’re
looking for, Sakuya’s got it.”
Rudel looked down at Sakuya and smiled.
“By Sakuya, you mean the goddess, don’t you? To think she’d be
waiting at death’s door for you, well how should I put it… no,
doesn’t really matter.”
As he slowly raised his head, the dark dragon emitted a stream
of wyverns out of his body. That scene was a nightmare in
itself.
“Is it not landing a finishing blow because it’s got the
leisure?”
Aleist thought the enemy was trying to belittle them, though
Rudel begged to differ.
“I wonder. If it had leisure, it would have come to finish us
off by now. Perhaps its been weakened so far it’s unable to.”
Sakuya slowly spread her wings and roared, while Rudel felt out
the flow of mana in her body.
“Aleist, try manipulating Sakuya’s mana. If you just change it
up a bit and form the shape, Sakuya will go and do something.”
Despite his confusion, Aleist leaned over and stroked Sakuya’s
back.
“Now that’s arbitrary. Whatever happens, don’t blame me.”
As Rudel and Aleist touched Sakuya’s back, white and black
symbols surfaced over her body as mana raced across its surface.
The two of them stood, and Rudel’s right hand. Aleist’s left hand.
After the two formed fists to bump with one another, Sakuya flapped
her large wings and rose into the sky.
The halo appeared behind her back again.
While the golden armor manifested to protect her, this time that
wasn’t all. Her third pair of wings formed, and from both
shoulders, a new set of arms emerged.
Black, and protected in golden armor, those arms gripped weapons
of gold.
And as the wyverns approached Sakuya, hundreds of snake heads
emerged from the exposed skin of those arms to bite into them and
tear them apart.
“That’s new. Looks like you get an autonomous intercept.”
Ignoring Rudel’s delight, Aleist looked around somewhat
perplexed.
“Isn’t that a bit creepy? No, I get I’m the one who made it, but
how to put it…”
As Sakuya rose to the same height as the dark dragon, the two
sides exchanged a glare. Askewell looked at Rudel and Aleist,
pointing the tip of his spear.
“It’s the same no matter how many times you stand. There is no
victory for you.”
More than a hundred wyverns had already manifested around the
dragon once more, and the battles on the ground had already
resumed.
Within that, Rudel.
“Pretty much everyone’s told me it’s impossible too many times
to count, but here I am. And how many times have you said those
words? I’m starting to lose trust in them.”
Rudel’s words put Aleist into a panic.
“Could you please stop riling up your opponents just this
once?”
The thick clouds drew a spiral, the lightning letting off light
and sound. On the battlefield where the rain was about to fall,
Rudel looked to the sky.
“… And also. You’ve wasted too much time.”
Turning to Askewell, as if proclaiming his own victory, Rudel
pointed at the sky.
Wild dragons shot out from the clouds one after the next, having
finished exterminating wyverns, and come over to help.
Askewell’s brow twitched.
“If that’s all the help you’ve rallied, then—”
Rudel smiled.
“No, that’s not all. That’s not all, prince of the empire!”
In addition to the wild dragons, gray dragons with dragoons on
their backs entered the stage. Even the dragoons had arrived.
Aleist looked at the ground.
“There are allies below as well…even father.”
Starting with Aleist’s home, the Hardie house, the armies of
various regions were gathering.
Rudel urged Askewell to surrender.
“… It’s over. The fact our allies have arrived means we have
reigned triumphant on the other battlefield. There is no victory
for you. Surrender.”
At the point the dragoons came as relief. Rudel could see their
victory was secured on the other field. As a matter of fact, that
was precisely the case.
However, Askewell wrung out his voice.
“Not yet. It’s not over yet. I’m right here. Victory to the
empire… for the empire’s future, I shall hold victory in these
hands!”
Rudel turned to Askewell with a slight mutter.
“I see, that’s unfortunate.”
On Sakuya’s roar, Rudel and Aleist lowered their hips. Sakuya
and the dark dragon smashed into one another, the shock wave
raising a wind around.
With the two closing in the distance, Askewell jumped over to
Sakuya’s back, making his way towards her riders.
Rudel with his sword and shield.
Aleist readied his twin blades, and on Sakuya’s back, their
weapons met.
“— I’ll make this the end.”
As Rudel said so, Askewell grit his teeth.
“I’ll be the one ending it. This bad joke of a destiny—and my
fate with you two!”
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/164-167.txt
|
Dragoon 164-167 - Dragoon 164: Last Battle
Chapter 164: Last Battle
By the collision of Sakuya and the dark dragon, the sun’s light
pierced through the battlefield covered in thick clouds.
Neither side could pull back. On that bog of a battlefield,
Eunius rushed over to Luecke. The reason being, the enemy had begun
to amass around Luecke’s forces.
Issuing orders from the center of a magic formation, he seemed
to be carrying out some form of preparations.
“What the hell’s so important you’d isolate yourself away to do
it!? The enemy’s at your doorstep!”
Without turning his face to Eunius’ yell, taking notes and
calculating something out, Luecke indifferently answered.
“This magic formation is anti-dragoon. I’m going to use it.”
Recycling the formation the enemy had been using, he would help
out Rudel and Aleist. Luecke earnestly carried out his
calculations.
Eunius thought.
(No use talking to him. But will this guy’s troops hold
out?)
The enemy on their last stand, they stood in unity charging
straight forward without knowing retreat. Luecke’s army detached
from the main force was nothing more than an easy target for
them.
It was partly due to their lack of a proper offensive that they
were trying to reuse their circle in the first place.
The empire’s soldiers were strong. Eunius recalled his own
honest impression as he gave up on persuading this idiot of a
friend.
“… No way around it. I’ll buy you some time. How long do I have
to hold out?”
Hearing Eunius’ voice, Luecke’s memo taking hand stopped for a
brief moment. Once it had resumed, he made his request.
“… One hour. If we use it once, the enemy will see it coming the
next time, so it’ll be a one-time thing. But that alone should be
plenty for Rudel up there.”
Eunius turned Luecke his back and walked off.
“Then I’ll protect you while you get on with this thing. If the
time comes, I’ll drag you away whether you like it or not, remember
that.”
“Thanks,” came a small voice from Luecke.
◇
Her body draped in golden armor, with two new black arms, Sakuya
exchanged blows with the dark dragon.
The black arms gripped golden weapons, its right hand the white
knight’s sword, its left hand the black knight’s. Two golden
shields floated to protect her, fending off the dragon’s fists.
The two grappled, they punched, they cut at one another and
exchanged dragon breath. The attacks from these two giants
generated massive shockwaves, and in no time at all, the
surrounding clouds had almost all been blown off, giving way to a
blue sky.
The dark dragon bit into Sakuya’s neck. Each and every one of
its sharp fangs concealed power greater than a magic sword
fashioned to slay dragons.
Opening her mouth in a scream, Sakuya hammered a body blow into
the dragon’s stomach. A stroke from her thick arms caused cracks to
race across the dark dragon’s tough skin.
Writhing in pain, the dragon’s mouth wretched open as it parted
from Sakuya’s neck. Before it could get away, Sakuya lowered the
golden sword at its head.
While the dragon immediately took evasive action, Sakuya grabbed
it with both arms to hold it in place. By turning its head to one
side, it contained its injuries at a portion of its horn and one
eye.
‘Nggh, my wounds aren’t healing. Why!?’
Even as blood dripped down her nape, Sakuya offered the dragon
an answer.
‘Sakuya’s power is being drawn out by Rudel and Aleist. So she
won’t lose. Sakuya is strong!’
Young. Terribly young, yet Sakuya gave off the will to never
lose.
Spreading its remaining eye wide, the dark dragon opened its
large mouth to roar.
‘You sham lizard! When you’re merely a cobbling of sham odds and
end, who do you think you’re biting back at!?’
The dragon who would call Sakuya a sham went right on to drive a
breath into her. Yet the black and red muddled mana gathering in
its mouth found itself bisected by a sword of light, exploding
before release.
There stood the enraged form of Rudel.
“Bastard! You got something to say about my Sakuya!? Very well,
I’ll answer that deathwish!”
Spitting smoke from its mouth, the dark dragon cried out
Askewell’s name.
‘Askewell! What are you doing? Kill him already!’
Sakuya and the dragon. Using both airborne beasts as footing,
Rudel, Aleist and Askewell fought.
But Askewell found himself held up by Aleist.
“What do you think I’m doing!? If only, if only you didn’t
exist!”
A wrinkle gracing his brow, Askewell swung his lance with the
face of a demon. Shockwaves and magic emitted with each revolution
before the point abruptly shot towards Aleist.
But Aleist turned it aside with a magic sword, and with his
other sword, he cut at his foe. Askewell sacrificed his left arm to
take the attack. While the blade cut deep into his flesh, it
stopped just short of lopping the limb off.
However, Aleist was a dual blade user, and in the moment
Askewell’s attention was occupied, he immediately used his other
sword to inflict a followup blow on his stomach.
“Kuh!”
He didn’t bleed. Askewell’s body swiftly regenerated, but
without faltering, Aleist kept up an offense.
“Rudel! Help out here too! The most I can do is hold him in
place!”
And yet, Aleist let out a pathetic voice. It only served to rub
Askewell the wrong way.
Askewell forcefully swung his spear to knock Aleist back. But
using that intent to take distance, Aleist produced a stream of
spears from his own shadow, sending them flying towards him.
While Askewell easily hit them all down, those black spears
burst, emitting a smoke that stole away his vision. In that
opening, Rudel cut down from above.
Despite him catching it with his spear, Rudel’s strike with all
his weight behind it bisected the shaft, carving deep from
Askewell’s right shoulder to his abdomen.
Seeing that, Rudel offered a word.
“Even that won’t do it.”
Not shedding a drop of blood, Askewell’s body had already begun
restoring itself, causing Rudel to take distance. With a large
lurch of the dark dragon he was using as footing, Askewell’s stance
was thrown a bit off.
“What are you doing!?”
Askewell grew irritated, however, they were in the sky… with
uncertain footing, and the stage being atop a dragon’s back, every
aspect favored the dragoon.
Without a moment’s delay, Rudel cut again, and Askewell’s leg
soared through the sky. Following on, having recovered his footing,
Aleist cut in to finish the job with his arm.
Thrown into freefall, Askewell attempted to float on his own
while regenerating his body. But right before his eyes came the
white approaching fist of a dragon.
“What non—”
He was likely about to question the nonsensical nature of
coincidence. But to the dragoons who could communicate
telepathically, the knight and dragon existed as a set, and their
coordination was to be expected.
Smacked, sent flying, with a large portion of his body crushed,
while Askewell continued falling, his body was still regenerating.
His healing was gradually growing slower.
“Why. Why are you—”
His body back in order, Askewell stood on the battlefield once
more. Against Rudel and Aleist, a battle of numeric
inferiority.
◇
On the ground, Eunius was pushed into a close fight to protect
Luecke.
“Don’t let a single one through!”
Swinging down his greatsword, he cut aside an imperial soldier
as he cried out; his surrounding subordinates wrung out their
voices in response.
A battlefield over which flew mud, flew iron, flew blood, and
flew flesh, this truly was a hell on earth. The imperial soldiers
pushing in on them wave after wave were driven mad by the fear of
inevitable death.
Believing in Luecke, Eunius would protect this point to his last
breath, swinging his sword. Before his eyes, a knight-looking man
stepped out front.
A glance was enough to know he was strong. Swinging about a
large hammer, he mowed away allies as he charged towards
Eunius.
“So you’re their commander!”
Eunius laughed at the enemy knight’s words.
“And what if I am!?”
Magic sword. A swing with all his weight and might, the enemy
was split in two- hammer and all- no longer able to move. Eunius
gasped for breath as he looked forward.
No matter how low their numbers fell, the imperials would even
climb over their friends’ corpses to grit their teeth and press
on.
“Just surrender already!”
Swiping his great sword to the side, he sliced down another when
an impact rang out behind him. Both friend and for turned an eye
towards it.
“What now!?”
“Did Courtois do something!?”
“That light it—”
Behind Eunius’ forces, a light broke out from the magic
formation Luecke had been working on.
“The bastard really did it!”
Believing in Luecke’s success, Eunius issued a manifesto to his
troops!
“One final push! If we overcome this, it will be our Courtois’
victory!”
A war cry resounding across the battlefield, and the intense
collision of two camps.
◇
In the center of the magic circle, Luecke stationed shield
knights over various places in and out of it as he looked to the
sky.
Light flooded up from the formation, amplifying his magic even
further.
A look up to two dragons fighting in the distance.
With a magic called farsight, Luecke confirmed his foe’s
positioning before nodding. Vargas sent over a shout.
“Young master, this shield’s at its limit!”
Luecke laughed.
“Vargas, don’t call me that! But this is the end. Rudel, you’d
better not waste my aid… my and Eunius’ aid.”
Hoisting his right arm high, when he snapped his finger, an orb
of light formed above the formation. With fire, water, wind,
lightning, earth attribute magic revolving around it, the round was
fired into the sky towards the dark dragon.
After seeing it off, Luecke collapsed at the knees. The light
vanished from the circle, Vargas rushed over to him.
“Oy, Luecke!”
With Vargas calling him what he once had before, Luecke
smiled.
“You fool. I’m your employer, Vargas. But not bad… Vargas, we’re
going to help out Eunius.”
Forcing himself to his feet, Luecke issued out orders to send
reinforcements to Eunius.
◇
Rudel clanked down from the sky.
He was in the midst of cutting at Askewell when he noticed
something was fired from below. He immediately identified it.
Perhaps it could be called instinct, or perhaps one might say he
could trace the thoughts of his close friend from his school days…
he understood help was on the way.
“Luecke! I owe you one!”
Rudel’s words greatly irritated Askewell.
“Don’t look away on the battle—”
Rudel kicked Askewell away as he collected up Aleist, making a
dash for Sakuya’s shoulder as he cried out.
“Sakuya, get back!”
Sakuya immediately followed his orders to take distance from the
dark dragon. The wound-ridden dragon and Askewell thought to use
this chance to heal their wounds—
‘What!?’
“From below!?”
A little late to notice the lights encroaching on them from
below, they shifted to evasive action. However, the light went
right on to capture the dragon, the mana within it exploding,
wrapping the prince and dragon in a blazing inferno. Immediately
after, water broke out to drown them, and electricity after
that.
A harsh wind blew, trapping the two in a storm, and finally
large rocks mixed in with the gale smashing into them.
To Rudel’s side, Aleist watched over the scene, reeling back
somewhat.
“I’m surprised they’re enduring that one.”
Aleist was tattered two. A portion of his armor had been blown
off, he was covered in wounds with blood dripping down his face as
well.
Rudel wasn’t much better. Wound-ridden, his shield dented, chips
running down his sword.
Rudel took in the surrounding circumstance and determined now
was the change to seize victory.
Holding out his left hand, he gripped his fist.
“… Aleist, the next one will decided.”
His serious voice compelled Aleist to nod.
“Got it. I’ll bet my all one this. We’ve made it this far. With
everything I’ve got le— huh! What!? Whaaat!?”
Aleist’s surprise was justified. Sakuya suddenly grasped the two
riding on her shoulders. Rudel in her right hand, Aleist in her
left, she prepared for the next step.
Aleist cried out hysterically.
“Wait! I can see where this is going, but don’t tell me!”
Rudel laughed.
“You’re quick on the uptake. That’s right… Sakuya’s going to
give us a boost. Wager it all on this one blow, Aleist.”
Sticking up his thumb, Rudel directed Aleist a smile. In the
gaps between her fingers, Aleist hung his head, letting out a dry
laugh.
“Aha, ahahahah… goddammit! Let’s do this shit!”
The two of them had made their resolve just as the magic bolt
from the ground faded out.
Askewell and the dark dragon released from it were covered in
wounds, their regeneration wouldn’t make it in time.
“Sakuya… chuck us.”
‘Yeah!’
Rudel flowed magic into his sword and shield. He poured in the
techniques he had forged to that point. As he imbued his armaments
with magic, the light waved and flickered like a flame. A wind blew
around him, swaying the flames even more.
Aleist similarly flooded his two swords with magic.
His inexhaustible mana was long gone. What he had was what he
had cultivated himself, Aleist’s own mana. That which Aleist could
shape however he liked coursed through his two swords like black
lightning.
With their preparations in order, Sakuya swung both her arms at
once, throwing them towards the dark dragon.
The dragon roared, Askewell emitted mana from all over his
body.
While they readied themselves to intercept, Rudel made for the
dragon, Aleist to Askewell, both on a complete offensive.
“This is—”
“— The end!!”
The dragon’s roar shifted into a breath aimed at Rudel, yet from
right within its stream, Rudel blocked the damage with his shield
as he pressed on. He extended the blade of the sword in his right
hand, and cut at the dragon.
‘If only, if only you didn’t exist!!’
Askewell put every ounce of his being into facing Aleist. Sparks
flew as his spear met with Aleist’s crossed swords.
“This world went mad because of you… it’s you, it’s all your
fault!”
Hearing Asekwell’s words now, Aleist no longer had any
hesitation.
“I do feel guilty. But, even so… I want to press onwards with my
friends! I decided we’re all moving forward together!”
As Askewell heard Aleist’s words, his power softened. Aleist’s
swords tore through his spear and then him.
As the two of them were thrown into the air, Rudel used his air
movement to collect Aleist. Returning his sword to his sheath, he
directed his right hand at Askewell and the dragon.
Aleist looked over the scene in awe.
“So many dragons…”
Enclosing the dark dragon and Askewell, the dragoons and dragons
were stationed, their mouths at the ready to fire their breath.
Sakuya was also at the ready, and with Rudel clenching his open
palm as the signal, each and every dragon opened fire at once.
“Not even ash will remain. Rest in peace.”
With Rudel’s whisper, the dragon and Askewell disappeared into
the light.
Only Askewell’s severed torso fell towards the ground.
While they wanted to chase after it, both Rudel and Aleist were
close to their limit. In the midst of their fall, Sakuya gently
caught them, the gold armor and black arms having faded away.
‘Rudel, it’s getting quiet down there.’
‘… So we really did it. The fatigue’s kicking in.’
Rudel said and closed his eyes in Sakuya’s hand.
◇
Askewell lay battered on the ground. What had regenerated of his
body was mere human flesh.
Opening his eyes, he saw Mies and his subordinates nearby.
“Askewell-sama! I-I’ll get a doctor at once. So get a grip—”
But while his surface wounds had closed, he couldn’t say the
same for underneath. Askewell could sense his own death wasn’t far
off.
This had to be the compensation for borrowing that black
existence’s power and overexerting himself.
(I see, so this is where I end.)
Askewell grasped Mies’ arm. To Mies’ surprise, he squeezed out a
faint voice.
“Mies… t-the responsibility for this war… is mine.”
“Please don’t talk, Askewell-sama!”
Spitting up blood, Askewell continued on.
“I-I have to. Someone has to take responsibility. Otherwise…
even more chaos…”
Askewell knew of the empire’s exhaustion. He knew they needed an
existence to smash their discontentment into. It would soften their
hatred, if only slightly. And he thought over what he was capable
of as he was now.
“Y-you just have to take me to the empire. This life will
finally find its meaning on the gallows… so… so, take me to the
empire. There, before its people…”
As he went on coughing blood, Mies wept.
“Let’s run, Askewell-sama. If it’s just a few of us, we’ll be
able to keep low.”
“We can’t! That won’t work, Mies… I’m begging you. Please.”
Breaking into tears, Askewell wished for an end executed by the
empire. As the big bad who impoverished and brought ruin to the
country, he would become the existence for them to alleviate their
hatred.
(I see, so I ran away… this all happened because I gave up on my
dreams and ran here.)
Askewell spoke.
“Mies, there are rooms full of research material at my manner.
They’re all on agriculture: nothing but failures, but I’d be happy
if you made some use out of them. I won’t say it’s for the empire’s
sake anymore. The empire will eventually fall apart. But for the
future… please.”
Mies gripped Askewell’s hand, and shedding tears, she nodded.
With a warm smile at her, he gave the order for his own capture and
a retreat back to the empire.
◇
Izumi looked at the retreating imperial army.
Courtois was too exhausted to give pursuit.
Chlust looked up at the sky.
“My brother’s coming back. You should go to him.”
“you have my gratitude!”
Of the dragons descending to the ground with teetering feet,
Izumi picked out the single white dragon among them.
Sakuya slowly descended, gently placing Rudel and Aleist on the
ground. As soon as she saw him, Izumi jumped right at him.
Similarly, Aleist’s harem members crowded around Aleist. It
looked as if Aleist was going to be crushed.
Perhaps he could no longer speak, as Aleist could only entrust
his body to the female members.
Izumi embraced Rudel.
“… You keep pushing yourself. You’re wounded again.”
As Izumi said that, Rudel opened his eyes ever-so-slightly and
smiled.
“My bad. But I feel somewhat pleasant.”
“… Rudel?”
Upon seeing a smiling Rudel, Izumi grew worried.
“You finally overcame it.”
Her voice was shaking.
“Yeah, so I have to work hard from here on.”
Rudel reached his hand towards Izumi’s face.
“You know… I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?”
“My achievements this time… I think I’d like you as a reward. If
Chlust can do a good job with the Arses House, I think I’ll confess
my feelings to you.”
Rudel’s hand brushed up against her face. She gripped it.
“Yeah, and I’ll accept them. I’ll always accept them, so…”
Rudel smiled.
“That’s great. Then I have to think of the right words to
propose… I’ll consult with Eunius or Luecke… do you think Aleist
will do?”
Rudel’s voice turned just a bit dubious. Izumi spoke in
jest.
“I don’t know about those three. Rudel, how about you think
something up? I won’t be surprised no matter how off-beat it is.
So…”
As Izumi shed tears, Rudel wiped one away with his fingers.
“I’ll get thinking… don’t get mad if I fail.”
Rudel closed his eyes.
“I won’t be mad! So… so stay with me!”
Rudel took just one deep breath.
“Yeah, now that the relief’s set in…”
Rudel’s hand slipped out of Izumi’s and fell to the ground.
Izumi bawled out her voice as around, starting with Bennet, a great
many individuals surrounded Rudel.
Every closed their eyes to offer a silent prayer.
Chapter 165: You’re There, and I’m Here
Aleist had lost consciousness at some point.
In a deep sensation as if his body wasn’t his own, he heard a
voice. A voice he knew, it was the voice of the existence who sent
him to the world he was now.
Thinking back on it, he was extremely embarrassed by how he was
back then.
‘Did you have fun in the world you wished for?’
Were those words cynicism, or honest curiosity?
Aleist couldn’t tell, but he spoke honest as could be.
“It was fun, no I mean, it is and will be fun. They accepted me
even as I am after all. Back then… for sending me to this world,
truly, thank you.”
When he reincarnated, Aleist wished for status, for power, for
everything. Yet when he was supposed to have obtained it all, he
hadn’t obtained a thing.
“I made friends. I never thought I’d be friends with the side
character Rudel. When he was just supposed to be a stepping stone
support role, he longed to ride dragons, grew earnest, put his all
into each and every day… he was a really radiant existence. I’m the
one who ended up the stepping stone side character.”
It was as if their roles were reversed. But the moment he
accepted that, Aleist felt he had matured quite a bit.
“I never mastered the cheat you gave me, and yet I went and
traded it off… sorry about that.”
The voice sounded somewhat amused.
It must have been considerably pleased with Aleist’s answer.
‘It’s a power I gave you. Use it however you want. However, I
never thought you’d let go of it at the end. You surpassed my
expectations, and so too did he. It all stemmed from but a single
incident. That unplanned action rewrote everything.’
Action? As Aleist grew curious, the voice spoke.
‘A boy pleaded to his parents to see a dragon on his birthday.
His parents heard his wish, and a single dragon that was never to
take flight soared through the sky… the one who witnessed it was
Rudel.’
A surprise indeed.
“Ahahah, then I’d very much like to thank that boy. Otherwise,
who knows where I’d be around now.”
The voice spoke gently.
‘Did your real wish come true?’
Aleist spoke strongly and clearly.
“It has.”
There, the voice told of a world to come.
‘The world was nothing more than a reproduction of a game. I
can’t guarantee what happens after the game’s been cleared. You’ll
have to manage. No visible fate, no existences to get in your way.
Whether things get better or worse is all up to you.’
Aleist was hard-pressed for words. There was something he had to
ask no matter what.
“Umm, did this world distort because of me?”
The voice plainly informed him.
‘That’s right. But if it weren’t for you, this world wouldn’t
even have existed. I’ll leave the rest to you and your friends.
This is the most fun I’ve had in a while.’
After it had said that, the voice really did fade into the
distance. Aleist could clearly tell. And at the end.
“… Thank you.”
He gave his thanks.
◇
Aleist opened his eyes. He was in a place he recognized all too
well, a sickroom he often used in his years as a student.
“… Huh?”
When he looked around, the usual suspects lay on the other beds,
their bodies wrapped in bandages. Rudel alone, a red mark on his
face… he had the traces of a slap.
Aleist was distraught.
(D-don’t tell me I went back in time!? I mean, this is the
academy, and there’s Izumi-san next to Rudel, and… h-huh!?)
While Aleist wondered if he had been turned into a time traveler
this time, Luecke explained from the bed beside him.
“What are you so surprised about? There were so many injured
parties, that we were carted around and pushed into any available
facility. Good grief, I never thought I’d be in this room’s care
after graduation.”
Eunius meanwhile yawned.
“Let’s just take it easy. Rudel’s little brother can take care
of cleaning up. Rather, that Clust kid’s got talent. Rallying
together such numbers, and even leading them to victory.”
Chlust’s evaluation was on the rise. Aleist looked at Izumi
bashfully peeling fruit.
Rudel hung his head in shame.
“Hey, what happened?”
Luecke looked at Rudel and Izumi. Touching a finger to his
forehead, he breathed a sigh.
“That Rudel, it seems he barely got any sleep before the battle.
So after it was over… he said something misleading, and fell asleep
in the most misleading way.”
Rudel had fought alone, day after day through the waves of
marching imperials. The effects of his sleep deprivation had him
out cold the moment he loosened up.
That ha invited in misunderstandings galore, and apparently
Izumi had tears in her eyes as she slapped him. Of course, only
after he was healed and had opened his eyes.
Eunius laughed.
“I hear everyone gathered around and gave him a moment of
silence. At the center of it, ‘He’s just sleeping, okay!’ Izumi was
screaming with her face all red.”
Luecke spat out his words.
“Good grief, what a troublesome guy.”
Aleist looked at Rudel. Rudel was apologizing to Izumi.
“Izumi, please hear me out. Even I have my limits.”
With her face bright red, Izumi shoved a fruit slice into
Rudel’s mouth. After chewing and swallowing, Rudel went on.
“I’m sorry. I apologize.”
But perhaps that wasn’t enough, as she shoved another fruit into
his mouth. Upon seeing that,
“Maybe I should get a girlfriend,”
Eunius said. Luecke sighed.
“Not you too. Good grief, when I’m still suffering from my
failed confession.”
Aleist was somewhat surprised. He thought things were going well
enough with Lena.
“Really? She turned you down?”
Eunius immediately yelled at Aleist.
“You fool, don’t touch that one!”
Luecke grinned as he began detailing the circumstance.
“Well now, the truth is, after that, I went over to Lena to
confess. I carefully chose out all my words and was going to convey
my feelings… but before that, ‘Luecke-san, I like you,’ she told
me. My proposal was a complete failure.”
Eunius made a reluctant face at Aleist.
“Aaah, this is going to drag on. Aleist, you take responsibility
and listen. He goes on for about two hours. And wait, I can only
imagine he’s lying when he says he was confessed to instead,
dammit.”
Luecke turned Eunius a smile.
“Hey now, Lena just guessed what was going on when I was trying
to set a mood and squeeze out my voice. It was definitely my
failing, but it’s true she confessed to me. Don’t be jealous.”
Aleist thought.
(… What is it, this hazy feeling. When Millia is still avoiding
me…)
It was at that moment Millia dropped by the sickroom.
“Is everyone doing well? Oh, Aleist you’re up. That’s good.”
Millia looked at Aleist with a smile. With that alone, Aleist
found happiness.
(Aah, Millia really is my goddess.)
His heart momentarily ruled by envy cleared to blue skies.
Meanwhile, with fruit shoved in his mouth one after the net, Rudel
was nearing his limit.
“If you’re well, you’re up for a meeting.”
“Meeting?”
On Millia’s beckoning, wearing a tiara and a garb more
extravagant than usual, Fina Courtois entered the room.
Aleist’s honest impression,
(Oh right, she was a princess or something.)
His impression of her as a junior at the academy was too strong,
he was prone to forgetting. It was also a problem that Aleist
himself was so bothered by other things he didn’t pay much
attention to Fina.
Rudel’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Fina. Surely this would
end Izumi’s wrath, even temporarily.
Fina grasped the hem of her skirt, deeply lowering her head.
“As a representative of Courtois, I would like to express our
thanks for everyone’s work on this occasion.”
Hearing that, Luecke’s and Eunius’ faces turned serious. Rudel
was the same. Aleist alone didn’t notice.
With Fina before him, Rudel climbed off the bed onto his knees.
Both Luecke and Eunius followed Suit, and Aleist barely managed to
copy.
But Fina stopped them with a hand.
“We are not in an official space.”
Rudel spoke as representative.
“Would it be in order to address you as Her Majesty, the
Queen?”
Fina shook her head to the side.
“That is still a work in process. In that regard, my master…
pardon. Rudel-dono, I have a request to make of you.”
Rudel lowered his head.
“Yes, say the word.”
Aleist thought.
(I see, if she’s representing the country, that means the second
princess is becoming queen? That’s different from the game… no,
this is already a different world.)
Fina spread out her hand.
“I alone am insufficient to reconstruct our dear country. Won’t
you shoulder that weight with me? Courtois had prepared a seat on
the throne for Rudel Arses.”
Aleist honestly rejoiced at Rudel becoming King, but it was
there he noticed.
(Huh? Wait a second. If you say that to Rudel…)
Rudel raised his face and smiled.
“I refused. I am but a lowly dragoon. As a single knight, I
swear to my heart I shall continue to support ‘Her Majesty the
Queen’. There are those far more worthy than I.”
Saying that, Rudel sent a look around. Before anyone could move,
Eunius stood and declared.
“I, Eunius Diade! Swear it on my sword to cut down the enemies
of her majesty!”
And Luecke stood as well.
Aleist thought.
(Crap! I’m too late!!)
“I, Luecke Halbades devote an oath of loyalty to her royal
highness.”
A rattling sound from the doorway, King Albach made his
appearance in a wheelchair. The one pushing the char was
Sophina.
“W-wait. Boys, wait a second. Then what is it? … You’ll decline
the position of King!?”
Fina had frozen in place expressionless.
Rudel, Eunius and Luecke were all looking at Aleist.
“… Aleist, I believe in you.”
“Aleist, I ain’t gonna complain if you rise to power.”
“Yeah, you have my full support.”
The three of them shoved the throne on him with wonderful
smiles.
Aleist shouted.
“Wait a second! I mean, it’s King, right!? Wouldn’t you want
that, normally!?”
Rudel averted his eyes as he spoke.
“O-of course. But I’m not worthy… and so, fare thee well!”
Suddenly sprinting off, Rudel hoisted Izumi over his shoulder
and jumped out the window. With Sakuya retrieving him outside, he
achieved a perfect escape.
Eunius shouted.
“The bastard got away! Umm, as my first duty to her majesty, I
shall chase him down!”
Luecke also jumped aboard the ship.
“And I as well. Good grief, what is that man thinking?”
When the two of them were gone, a dubious air enveloped the
sickroom. Albach silently gazed at Aleist.
Aleist looked at Millia. But she turned away his gaze.
Fina sat on the spot, expressionlessly muttering…
“Master, you idiot. I laid all the groundwork, but it’s because
sister stirred everything up that it wasn’t perfect yet… now that
it’s come to this, I’ll make it an established truth whether you
like it or not… no, perhaps I can even fabricate I t. I mean, I’m
queen. I am the law.”
Aleist looked at her and thought.
“Huh? What!? Is it just me, or is this kid saying some scary
things!?”
Alback opened his mouth.
“Aleist-kun… you won’t run, right?”
Aleist stood, he took a step back.
(No way. With kingship and such, isn’t that normally a position
you’d even spill blood to reach!? Why did they all run!?)
With a bitter smile, Aleist slowly retreated further. The door
forcefully burst open with the entrance of his harem members.
“Aleist-sama!?”
Faaaai!
To his surprise, the group had clearly grown in numbers since he
last saw them.
“Aleist-sama, we’ve come to a conclusion!”
“D-did you now?”
(I see, so they’ve finally lost interest in me—)
We don’t mind if we’re not your number one. So please, keep us
by your side! We came to understand as we watched you fight for the
country under that hopeless situation. That you are a hero!
“D-did you now!? … huh?”
By the time he noticed it, everyone told him they didn’t have to
be number one. Millia burst into laughter.
“Aleist, you sure are loved.”
But Aleist,
“Now wait! I’ll be very upfront here, I can’t love you all
equally, and there’s someone I’m in love with—”
“Even so!”
His harem members’ faces were serious.
(I-inconceivable. Don’t have to be loved? Don’t have to be
number one…? That’s just wrong, that’s just crazy!)
Aleist jumped out of the window in a half-laughing frenzy.
“I’m sorry, it’s impossible for me!”
Was it impossible to marry Fina, or impossible to accept his
harem… he couldn’t accept either.
Chapter 166: Dragoon
Having fled the sickroom with Izumi, Rudel looked over the sky
from Sakuya’s back.
Her four wings drawing grand arcs, Sakuya soared through the
wide-open sky. A dragon’s body was protected by magic, letting a
human endure even at high altitudes.
Izumi sat on Sakuya’s back, her back turned towards Rudel.
Rudel sat with his back pressed against hers.
“Izumi, cheer up already.”
There, Izumi rased a bashful, embarrassed voice.
“You said you’ think of the words to confess. I haven’t heard
those words yet!”
Hearing that, Rudel was surprised at first, but net he laughed.
He laughed, and drove Sakuya to plunge into a cloud.
“Whoa!”
Once they breached the clouds, Izumi felt a slight chill over
her body. A layer of dampness rested on her skin and hair.
Sakuya led the two further and further into the sky, below them
a carpet of clouds unfolding.
Rudel lifted Izumi up and held her tight.
“I like you, I’ve fallen in love with you! But I don’t know if I
can make you happy. For just as much as I love you… more than that,
I’m in love with this sky.”
Boldly, Rudel divulged his true feelings. Izumi nodded.
“I know. It was always your dream to fly on a dragon’s back.
I’ve heard that time and again.”
But in five years at the academy—Izumi who’d spend those days
with him had come to sympathize with Rudel’s feelings.
“If you said I was number one, I’d be doubtful.”
Rudel spoke.
“How cruel. But still, I want you. I fought with my life on the
line. No one will mind if there’s just one thing I have freedom
over.”
There was no telling what was to come. Courtois was in great
turmoil, and it was possible that Fina would be enthroned as
queen.
Disposing of the nobles who raise an insurrection, and as this
was the first the empire had ever cornered them so far, military
reforms would be needed as well.
No, first and foremost, the country of Courtois itself needed
reform.
“Just one, eh. Do what you want. I’ll just follow along.”
As Izumi hugged Rudel back, Sakuya gave a bashful roar. It was
as if she was congratulating them, and she sounded exceptionally
happy.
And just like that, the dragon swooped down, piercing through
the sheet of clouds.
◇
After escaping from the sickroom, Aleist met up with Eunius and
Luecke.
Before long, they were drowning their cares at the tavern.
“I can’t do it! That many women is impossible, I tell you!”
He said with a sip, his form prostrate over the table
unthinkable of the black knight
“I told them to give up on me. Somehow that increased their
numbers. And then comes the throne! It’s inconceivable!”
He proclaimed he would throw everything away, and lost all the
cheats he had been blessed with. He lost his unnatural level of
charm, he no longer had the talent or mana he had before.
But there were more women around Aleist than ever before.
Eunius and Luecke pat his shoulder to console him.
“Hey, do your best. We’ll do our best to not cause you trouble.
Rather, I kinda think it’s not your fault this time. So have at it,
your highness.”
“Good for you. If you attain kingship, then no matter who gets
thrown into your harem. Queen Fina’s at the top. You’ll never have
to worry about ranking.”
Aleist raised his face.
“Don’t give up! You’re all for forcing it on me, aren’t
you!”
Eunius scoffed.
“Hah! No shit Sherlock. Who in their right mind would willingly
take power in this pain-in-the-ass postwar period? What’s more,
we’re definitely entering a pain-in-the-ass era after that.”
The Kingdom of Courtois was trying to change. No, it had no
choice but to change. At the same time, what would become of their
enemy, the empire… there was a mountain of problems.
The work required would be incomparable to peace times. Both
future archdukes fully understood that when they fled from the
throne.
But Luecke breathed a sigh.
“From my point of view, Rudel was better off King. Considering
my marriage with Lena, that would let me welcome her as the legal
wife instead of a mistress… hah.”
While he sighed, his reasons were solely for self-interest.
Aleist clung in tears to the man who wouldn’t even bring up the
country’s distress as a formality.
“Didn’t you used to go on about nobility or something!? Then
save me. Fulfill your duty as a noble and save me!”
Luecke removed Aleist’s hand and smoothed out his clothes.
Albeit, he was dressed in an infirmary gown.
“You fool. You’re just as much a noble yourself. Do something
about it on your own… wait, I’ve got it!”
Aleist and Eunius glanced at Luecke.
But the idea that hit him—
“I can just take her as a mistress, and not marry a legal wife.
In that instance, for all intents and purposes, wouldn’t the
mistress be the legal wife!?”
— Was about Lena.
Aleist removed his eyes, Eunius sipped his ale. In a “this guy’s
hopeless” sort of air, the two opted to just ignore the man.
(So it’s true how they say there’s a paper-thin line between
idiot and genius.)
Eunius poured some ale into Aleist’s glass.
“Well, you know. Break a leg.”
After downing the freshly-poured liquid, Aleist spoke.
“This is messed up!”
◇
“Those bloody fools, I’m never gonna forgive them!”
Briskly proceeding her preparations, Fina had put her all into
laying the groundwork so she could be enthroned as queen. She was
needlessly proficient, and in abilities alone, Fina was the one
worthy of the position.
However, the problem lay within.
She had already prepared the papers and was arranging to
distribute them to the relevant divisions.
“Just you watch. When I’m queen, I’m dismantling those pesky
dragoons of yours! Fwahahahah, I can see my master, crying, begging
for forgiveness!”
Looking at Fina were Sophina and Mii.
Seeing her expressionlessly accomplished one job after the next,
all while swearing vengeance, they were somewhat creeped out.
Mii spoke.
“Princess, I mean your majesty, don’t you think that’s a bit
much.”
Fina looked at her.
“Oh, what’s wrong? It’s alright, Mii… if he cries and grovels,
he can have my forgiveness.”
Sophina sounded fed-up.
“No, that’s the same as saying you won’t forgive otherwise.
Rather, to be serious for a second…”
Seriously speaking, with the Diade and Halbades Houses assisting
her during the time of Aileen’s insurrection, whether she wanted to
carry our reform or anything else, she was unable to slight either
house.
Moreover, she didn’t hold enough power to do so.
“Goddammit! It’s because these archdukes exist that Courtois’
national power was shaved away! Quit screwing with me, bring out
the manager! In this scenario, should we be centralizing power!?
You think the empire’s going to wait!?”
Mii tilted her head.
“Umm, but I heard the empire was considerably exhausted in this
loss.”
At Mii’s inquisitive gesture, Fina loosed a satisfied drool in
her head. And she began speaking in regards to that.
“For now, that is. But just you wait, give them a decade, a
century. Their national power will plummet, the way they’re going,
either civil war or separation, the empire’s going to change. You
think they’re guaranteed to change for the worse? I hate that sort
of wishful thinking.”
Sophina spoke to Fina.
“In that case, shouldn’t we launch something from our side—”
“You fool!”
Fina hit her on the fed. The high knight’s eyes turned
teary.
“We don’t have hands to send around as it is! The country’s in
tatters, and there’s absolutely no merit in stealing the barren
wastelands of the empire! What I’m trying to say is that their side
is the one with all the pieces in place for proper reform!”
How much time and energy did they have to deal with the
movements of surrounding powers while proceeding reform in the
country? The larger the country was, the greater hassle it was to
govern its landmass.
With this as an opportunity, there may be lords scheming to gain
independence.
“Even if we get rid of as many of those who sided with sister’s
rebellion as possible, and increase the kingdom’s national power…
AAaaah!! My head hurts!”
Fina’s desire to marry Rudel wasn’t just only of
self-interest.
Forming a composition with the nation’s strongest force- Rudel-
by her side would be a nightmare to the others.
With Ruel’s strength backing her, it was her aim to force her
reforms through.
“… But I, Fina Courtois! I shall be one to stand tall through
such times of troubles! I’ll get master on his knees!”
Seeing her return to work with those words, Mii and Fina shook
their heads.
At the end, Mii,
“On the contrary, why is it I get the feeling her majesty’s the
one who’s going to be groveling to Rudel-san…”
She said, but Fina didn’t hear.
◇
A few years later.
Rudel stood on the soil Askewell had once invaded and brought to
ruin.
By the current Queen Fina’s new policies, a majority of nobles
were to relinquish their land to the state, instead living in the
center off an annual pay from the kingdom.
A portion of those who opposed were ordered to change
territories to the border, and Rudel was there on a mission as a
dispatch from the capital.
The renewed fortress had ten dragoon knights stationed.
The empire had fallen into civil war, its division giving rise
to the birth and fall of many new countries, and in the midst of
that struggle, there were many who marched to claim Courtois’
land.
At times, there would be strife with nobles in his own country
plotting rebellion against Fina, giving him no shortage of
work.
While his life had grown hectic, Rudel was busy in the dragon
stables washing Sakuya’s back with a deck brush, humming a merry
tune. Sakuya looked quite comfortable.
His subordinate, a new dragoon called over to him.
“More letters, Castellan. From her majesty, the capital’s black
knight, and the Diade House and Halbades House… that’s an amazing
assortment.”
Castellan was Rudel’s station. While fulfilling the role of a
dragoon, he was concurrently the one in charge of the fort.
After jumping d own from Sakuya, Rudel accepted the letters and
unsealed them on the spot.
“I don’t really care about Fina’s. Eunius wants to go drinking,
Luecke… oh, his first child! So Lena’s a mother now. But does he
really plan on not having a legal wife?”
The letter from the queen was a lengthy apology and a plea
urging him to return to the center. Rudel personally preferred the
border to the center, the letter hit all the usual points, so he
immediately read through it and quickly lost interest.
Eunius was an invite to the town, while Luecke reported in great
joy how a child had been born.
“Now then, Aleist is… I-I see.”
According to Aleist’s letter, for some reason, his harem members
increased and breached thirty. With so many children, he had no
idea what to do at this point, or so his screams of anguish were
spelled out in paper.
As to be expected, Rudel had no idea what to write back.
“He has it rough. I guess I’ll consult with Izumi and write up a
reply.”
Rudel’s subordinate looked at him with a sigh.
“Castellan, if you return to the capital, you’ll be assigned a
considerable status. Are you sure you won’t go back? I don’t see
anything stopping you.”
While Rudel was in charge of the fort, he would have preferred
it if he could assume his duties as a single knight. He even
thought he had too many unnecessary duties.
Normally, anyone would want a promotion and a station at the
center. But Rudel couldn’t discern any value in that. He had gone
as far as to push the status of Arses House head onto his younger
brother Chlust he held far too little interest in status or
promotion.
“I’m not interested. If you can fly through the sky,
everywhere’s pretty much the same. As long as I’ve got Sakuya and
my wife, it doesn’t matter where I am.”
Hearing those words, Sakuya delightfully groaned.
His subordinate shrugged his shoulders.
“Bragging? I just think it’s a waste. You should be aiming
higher.”
Rudel smiled. From his subordinate’s point of view, life on the
border was something he wanted to be done with soon so he could get
back to civilization. Rudel had no intent to deny that way of
thinking.
Going off of that, the man asked with deep intrigue.
“Come to think of it, there’s a rumor going ‘round that you
refused not only your Archduke position but the throne as well, but
is that true?”
Leaning the deck brush over his shoulder, Rudel made back
towards Sakuya.
“Who knows? I’m not really interested in that sort of thing. For
now and forever, I am but—”
Turning back, Rudel smiled.
“A single dragoon.”
Chapter 167: Epilogue
Several hundred years passed from the time Rudel was in
service.
The Kingdom of Courtois left only its name as kings and nobles
faded out, the curtain quietly closing on an era.
The forms of the dragoons who once served the country now gone,
the view of airships crossing the sky had become standard. With the
skies above no longer a land beyond reach, mankind eventually
stopped keeping their dragons. The development of technology soon
gave rise to propeller planes.
Knight brigades were abolished. Uniform armies became standard,
and the know-how to utilize a dragon was lost to time. The dragoons
were quick to go. With their high upkeep and the capricious
temperament of their mounts, they had become more than they were
worth.
Airships, airplanes… once those were in hand, dragons had become
unnecessary.
Yet the supreme rulers of the sky still remained, as they had
always been, the beasts of legend.
◇
It was only in the past few decades that the vast lands of the
dragons’ dwellings became a land of dispute among the humans
In a sacred place with a lake, Sakuya watched the small dragons
similar to her in appearance playing around her.
Her wings had naturally increased to six, and her large body had
grown a size larger. Both the splendid gemstone in her head and her
horns had grown, the young spirit she had held in her days with
Rudel nowhere to be found.
Sakuya lifted up her head to look at the sky.
She let out a short and loud roar. With that alone, the Dragons’
dwellings gradually grew boisterous as dragons took to the air one
after the next.
Sakuya too spread her wings to rise up and face her rude
uninvited guests from the country once called the Gaia Empire.
From over thirty airships, the fighter planes took off in
orderly succession.
A vast, fertile plot of land, what’s more, the Dragons’
Dwellings were abundant in natural resources. To humans, dragons
were no longer comrades in arms, they had already gotten to
recognize them as enemies.
Sakuya looked upon the scene and muttered.
‘Have they forgotten what became of the last Courtois Army that
tried to invade?’
Wind dragons zoomed between the fighter planes, luring them into
a dogfight. One by one, the crafts were shot down to the
ground.
The red dragons breathed their fiery breath, sinking the
airships behind them. Protruding cannons from their hulls, the
airships commenced a bombardment on Sakuya.
The cannon shells failed to scratch her.
Sakuya opened her large mouth, and as her breath was released,
it dispersed through the air. The shots assailed airship and
airplane alike, bringing them to the ground.
While there were enemies who tried to flee, they were quickly
circumvented and crushed.
Similar to Sakuya, a white dragon with four wings approached
her.
‘Mama, it’s over. All that’s left is the clean-up.’
Sakuya kept her eyes on the falling crafts as, after a large
flap propelling herself up a distance, she took off somewhere.
Perhaps curious, Sakuya’s child tagged along.
◇
It was where the capital of the Courtois Kingdom once stood.
Now ruined and abandoned, not a trace of its former glory
remained.
Having brought her feet there, Sakuya mimicked a human form as
she descended, her child copying her and changing shape as
well.
The form Sakuya took on was as if the once-goddess Sakuya had
grown into an adult. Her child boasted the same blue eyes and blond
hair- cut short. A blue gemstone embedded in his forehead.
But unlike Sakuya, his hands remained disproportionately large,
and it seemed he wasn’t yet completely accustomed to taking human
form.
“Mama, why did you come here? There haven’t been any humans here
for quite some time.”
“You’re right,” Sakuya muttered, as she walked through the royal
capital buried in rubble and sand.
The reason the capital fell. It all lay in the limits of the
Kingdom. The kingdom had welcomed in a golden age under Fina
Courtois- the great leader who was said to have rejuvenated the
dynasty- alongside her prime minister Luecke Halbades.
But from then on came a slow, gradual decline.
They had their share of wise rulers, but in the end, they
launched a war on the dragons, and the capital was destroyed by the
force led by Sakuya.
Indeed, the one who burnt it down was Sakuya herself.
As she walked through such a place, from all over, the goblins
and orcs showed their faces. They seemed to think of Sakuya in her
human form as mere food as they approached.
Those goblins and orcs were cleaved through by a single swing of
her child’s arm.
“Who do you think you raise your blades against, you lowly
curs!?”
Sakuya stopped him from chasing and hunting down the ones who
fled.
(… I’ve gotten more children who think of dragons as the
strongest race on earth, looking down on the others.)
In their battles with humans, a greater number of dragons were
beginning to think of themselves as the true rulers of the land. It
was becoming a large worry for Sakuya.
Leading her child by the hand, Sakuya headed towards it.
What was once the very center of the city. In a now-broken
fountain, with Fina at the center, then Rudel, Aleist, Luecke and
Eunius, the statues of those who had contributed to Courtois’
heyday.
Sakuya brushed off the dust and sand, cleaning off only that
spot to look at the statue of Rudel. It was dubious to say it
resembled him to a great degree, but as long as people considered a
representation of him, she couldn’t treat it poorly.
“… Rudel, I can barely remember your face anymore.”
Her memories from her youth gradually faded away.
The time she had spent with Rudel and Izumi, to Sakuya, it was
no more than an instant. In the times that followed, after the two
had gone, a little while later, Mystith and all the dragons who
looked after her were gone as well.
Before she knew it, Sakuya was the one leading the dragons, and
their relations with humans were breaking down.
It was all far too painful for her.
The child gazed at Sakuya before looking at the statue,
“I can’t believe you ever let some human ride your back. That’s
crazy.”
Sakuya hid her face with her right hand, turning to the
child.
“You’ve never ridden a human on your back before. No, you’ve
never ridden a knight. When dragon and human hearts connect, they
become a dragoon. It was once only normal.”
The child’s cheeks puffed up.
“Humans are incompetents with nothing but numbers. If it were up
to us, we’d have burnt them all down.”
Sakuya took the words with sorrow; she felt the reality of how
wide the gap with humans must have grown for the dragons to develop
that mindset.
There, the sky suddenly grew rowdy.
An ominous dark shadow overhead—impossible to make out whether
they were living or dead, they had grown in numbers lately, those
things that weren’t monsters, and one of them was being chased by a
fighter plane.
The child shrugged his shoulders.
“One of those bugs that’ve been multiplying lately? Now that’s a
good match for those pesky humans.”
That ominous something with the form of an arthropod was finally
cornered and shot to death by the craft. But the plane was also
shot and burst into flames.
“It’s going down.”
While the fighter plane continued on a downward trajectory
somewhere, the pilot jumped from the cockpit with a parachute
strapped on.
Oddly enough, right towards where Sakuya was.
As the pilot landed, the parachute draped over him, and as he
squirmed his way out of it, he held a pistol in his hand.
The moment before her child swung his arm, Sakuya saw the
pilot’s face and lowered a fist on her child’s head. She lowered it
with enough power a vivid clang rung out.
“Mama, that hurt!”
“… I’m sorry. But wait.”
If she used only words, then surely the human before her eyes
would be dead. The pilot seemed quite bewildered before Sakuya and
the child.
He pulled off the helmet covering his head, removed his goggled
and spoke. With distinctive silver hair and blue eyes, the pilot
kept his pistol at the ready.
“Civilians? You’re in quite an odd place for that.”
The young man said, looking at the child’s large arms and
observing the two of them. From a human’s eyes, there was no
possible way Sakuya would be able to come here as lightly equipped
as she was.
But with the young man before her, Sakuya burst into tears.
“A human life is short. But…”
The young man approached, his gun trained on Sakuya. While the
child intimidated him, Sakuya held up a hand to put it to a
stop.
“Rudel.”
Touching a hand to the young man’s cheek, Sakuya muttered a
name. The man seemed quite flustered, he jumped back to take
distance.
“You’re not human. A form of monster? Or a new type of bug?
Where did you learn my name?”
Hearing it wasn’t just his face but his name as well, Sakuya
gave a small smile. She changed to her dragon form on the spot.
Upon seeing that massive dragon, Rudel’s eyes opened in
surprise. However, he didn’t show any fear.
He looked on with pure intrigue.
“A dragon!? Moreover, the lord of the Dragon Den!”
Sakuya rested Rudel on her hand and raised him into the sky.
‘I’ll deliver you somewhere close to where humans live. I once
rode a fine human on this back. This is the least I could do to
return the favor.’
From the palm of her hand, Rudel looked up at Sakuya.
“A dragoon!? I never thought they actually existed… how
interesting, then let me ride on your back too.”
How brazen could he be? The child returned to dragon form,
flying to Sakuya’s side as he complained at Rudel.
‘Don’t get in over your head, human! Who do you think you’re
talking to!? Do you think mama would let a dirty lowlife like you
rest on her back!?’
But Sakuya exchanged words with the man.
‘You know of the dragoons, you know of the world, yet still, you
wish to ride on my back?’
Rudel struck his right hand to his chest.
“Of course. You’re far stronger than a fighter plane. If I ride
you, I can annihilate those blasted bugs!”
Even now, her child was poised to attack ay any minute. His
fangs bared, his eyes wide open, he would kill the man at the
slightest opportunity.
Rudel went on.
“And the small stuff doesn’t really matter. I just want to ride
on your back!”
Sakuya laughed.
A human life is short. But they go in cycles… Those were the
words of Mystith, who had once lost Marty to gain a new partner in
Lena.
Finally understanding what she meant, Sakuya brought her hand to
her back and set Rudel onto it.
‘Very well. Then ride me you will… new-age dragoon.’
‘Mama!’ the child cried out.
Once Rudel was on her back, he spread his arms wide and
smiled.
“Yes! I feel right at home. Like this, I’ll be able to
annihilate any bug that comes my way!”
And so the first dragoon in several hundred years would forge a
new legend—but that is another story.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s1.txt
|
Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 148: And Aleist the Protagonist
Chapter 148: And Aleist the Protagonist
The Gaia Empire and the Kingdom of Courtois.
Near the border, a large formation of troops had gathered.
The soldiers sent creeped-out glances at the monsters stationed
nearby, on standby as ordered. The most conspicuous monster, the
Gora included, they all had white insignia-like lines racing over
their black bodies, making them particularly conspicuous.
The black monsters wore their white symbols uniformly.
“Oy, these things better be safe”
“Like I know. All I can tell you is ‘t they’re part of the third
prince’s army.”
“But a look at that, and I know Courtois’ is done for this
time.”
A great many knights and soldiers were watching the wyverns
flying through the sky. They were great in numbers and would
obediently listen to the knights riding them.
Seeing that wyvern brigade soar gallantly through the sky, and
those knights and soldiers were enveloped with a sense of elation;
they would finally be able to win against the Kingdom of
Courtois—nay, the dragoons who had tormented them for hundreds of
years.
Their supreme commander- the first prince- walked beside
Askewell, the third.
More middle-aged than a young man, the first prince looked over
the army of monsters.
“Askewell, this is the real test of your army. But are you
alright with this? Using monsters to massacre them… not everyone in
our lands has the best look on their faces.”
Rather than worried for his younger brother, his tone was one
putting a check on him. In actuality, if this war succeeded, then
Askewell would be the closest to the seat of emperor.
Askewell noticed they were words wary of a younger brother who
was earning a name as the empire’s hero.
“Someone has to do it. The empire is already at its limit. Even
if my name alone is to fall to the dirt, if that will save tens of
thousands of imperial lives, it is a cheap price to pay.”
To Askewell’s declaration,
“I see,”
Was all the first prince curtly replied. But continuing on.
“… This time, my army will serve as bait to draw out the
dragoons. But are you alright with leaving us so many of your trump
card wyvern units?”
Two armies were preparing to assault separate stretches of the
border. The division centered around humans was about to make for
the border to attract Courtois’ main force.
“We have the Gora. What’s more, some wyverns of our own. It will
be troublesome for me if you don’t return alive, big brother.”
An army of monsters surpassing ten thousand.
As he took the lead, Askewell was certain of his victory. No, he
was certain victory was the only path to survival.
(Eventually, the empire will wear down and face internal divide.
Before that happens, we must obtain as much of Courtois’ plentiful
soil as we’re capable of.)
The imperial palace was in shambles, and family quarrels ran
rampant between his brothers and sisters.
Rather than those ever ending, Askwell’s eyes captured a future
of the empire’s division if the central power fell any lower.
The first prince.
“I see. Askewell.”
“Something more?”
Askewell looked at his brother, but the first prince was already
on his way off. Showing his back, a few short words.
“Come back alive. I’ll crack open a treasured wine.”
Hearing that, Askewell immediately grew wary of assassination,
but that didn’t seem to be the mood. The timing was far too
unseemly for his death.
“Yes, if you’ll put up with me, I’ll happily share a glass.”
With those words, the two returned to the armies they
commanded.
◇
The royal palace.
An individual came for Rudel.
He was a knight of the royal guard, who read aloud the official
papers he carried on his person. Rudel heard them out in the
waiting room before the ceremony.
Izumi stood to her feet, her eyes wide as she opened her
mouth.
“You want Rudel to head to the site alone? Are you mocking
us!?’
The royal guard looked at the high knight Izumi and scoffed.
“This is an official order. What mockery is there to be
found?”
If it was an order from his majesty, Rudel had no right to
refuse. Even if he hailed from an archduke house, he was now
working as a single knight of the kingdom.
On the royal decree—
“Izumi, stand down. If I’m told to investigate Gaia movement on
the border, I have no right to refuse. I have received my orders. I
shall now head to the site. But if there really is movement, I do
think the road will be perilous with myself alone.”
— Rudel was told to take the mission on his own. Normally, this
would be an impossible situation.
“Rudel, this is crazy! We’re in the palace at this very moment.
Why would you be receiving a written decree!? Why does the king not
come order you directly!? And you’re a part of the Dragoon brigade.
If you were told by the captain, I could understand, but why are
you as an individual…”
After confirming the order had been passed on, the royal guard
knight immediately left the room. Left on their own, Rudel and
Izumi exchanged a glance.
But Rudel was smiling.
“They’re sending me to the site alone… should I interpret that
they expect great things of me?”
Izumi sent a sharp glare to his joke.
“Rudel, inform the others at once. This is wrong. There’s
something strange about this decree!”
The papers they accepted were definitely signed by his majesty
and stamped with his seal. But Izumi continued explaining to him it
was impossible.
Rudel was already well aware.
“If the enemy is moving, it’s a part of my job. And you see, I
need to head there, even if I’m alone. At the fortress on that
stretch of the border… is Chlust. And if they really did move, then
I’m sure the captain will soon follow my lead.”
As Rudel was about to leave the room, Izumi grabbed his arm.
With a resolved expression—
“I’m going too. It’s too dangerous alone.”
Rudel sent her a smile and pleaded.
“No, the order specifies I go alone, see. And I have to depart
at once. I need you to relay this matter to someone. It can be
Luecke or Eunius. Is Aleist somewhere around? I’ll take the
vanguard and stall the enemy for them.”
Rudel removed Izumi’s hand from his own, and made straight out
of the room.
“I’ll catch up with you soon. Don’t do anything crazy.”
To a serious Izumi, Rudel smiled and waved her hand.
“Well, it’s possible they haven’t begun moving for real
yet.”
Though he didn’t truly think so.
(I see… it’s finally come. That was sooner than I thought.)
Recalling everything to that point, he did think it would happen
someday. He couldn’t understand it herself, but he got the feeling
he had seen it coming.
The three black beasts who got in their way, yet lent a hand at
the end—the boar, the bird, and the black fog had told him.
(They knew this day would someday come.)
After leaving the room and closing the door, Rudel thought.
(Fate, huh… now that’s interesting.)
He hadn’t a clue who had set it up. But he thought he had to go
there, and those thoughts hastened his feet down the corridor.
His brother Chlust was stationed where a battlefield was
expected.
“Just you wait, Chlust.”
◇
The surrounding civilians had evacuated to a fort overseeing the
border. A messenger had already been sent to a town further into
the country, sending out orders for others to evacuate.
A boy resembling Rudel took charge of the station.
“How’s the evacuation efforts!?”
Wearing heavy armor, his subordinate confirmed the fort’s
situation before answering.
“It ain’t looking good, captain. Those knights from central made
off with the horses. Said they would spread the word and fled! If
it were just the men, maybe, but with dames, kids, and old folk to
look after, we’re not going to make it.”
The name of the knight called captain was Chlust Arses—Rudel’s
younger brother, and a knight forced to graduate from the
academy.
Reconciling with his brother Rudel, he had a change of heart and
fulfilled his duty as a knight of the fort.
But his superior knights fled before the enemy, and at this
point, he was going to be forced to stand in as the one in
charge.
Chlust looked out the fort.
A black smoke rising in the distance. The black, writhing army
of the empire. A flock of monsters.
Looking at the situation before his eyes, he understood why
someone would want to run away. But he could hardly bring that to
mouth.
“We’ve already sent messengers around. Hold out until the
dragoons arrive, then it’s our win!”
The civilians who’d fled into the fort were also consoled by the
fact Courtois’ strongest dragoons would come. For better or worse,
the ones who had always kept the Gaia Empire at bay were the
dragoons.
Those that fled believed they would surely be saved another
time. It was precisely because of that belief, that many refused to
flee any further than the fort.
(This is bad. They plan to stay here and return home as soon as
the war is over. To think our people are the ones who aren’t
running…)
The dragoons’ existence granted peace of mind to the people. By
that, while they had their anxieties, they were quite calm at the
fort.
Whatever their mindset, that would mean Chlust would have to
intercept the empire while shouldering a people who wouldn’t
proactively flee.
Chlust had sought support from his little sister Erselica. He
thought of what he could do and prepared for the time something
happened.
Yet he had no way to foresee this great army before his
eyes.
(Hold out until the dragoons come? But why have they amassed
such an army at this point… they should be well aware they’ll just
fall prey to the dragoons.)
All through history, the Empire had suffered great casualties by
the dragoons. Chlust worried the empire might be holding some sort
of trump card.
To blow away his anxieties, Chlust smacked his hands against his
cheeks.
(It’ll be fine. We can at least buy some time.)
◇
In the royal palace of the Kingdom of Courtois, Aileen’s
preparations were underway. The surrounding attendants dressed her
in a dress, a report was read to her as she changed.
“I see. So Rudel headed for the battlefield. Well, that one’s
the White KnightThere’s no mistake he contributes to Courtois’ war
potential If he loses, Fritz-sama’s military exploits will stand
out, so he has my thanks in that regard.”
A female knight o the royal guard continued on with the
report.
“The empire is invading Courtois with two separate armies as
planned. It does seem the site Rudel made for is their main force,
and they have a considerable number together.”
Aileen spoke somewhat fed-up.
“An army of monsters of all things… the empire sure are savages.
What about the preparations for the ceremony?”
The female knight informed her that one wasn’t going too well.
As Aileen’s expression clouded, the knight immediately gave a
follow-up.
“There is strong opposition to stationing him as supreme
commander. Additionally, if you make him supreme commander,
Fritz-dono will not have any opportunities to raise any personal
military achievements. It is my humble opinion he should be placed
in a position that affords him a little more freedom of movement.
Perhaps second in command.”
Aileen had a hard time accepting it, but there wouldn’t be a
problem as long as Fritz could perform, so she reluctantly
agreed.
“I’ll let your side take care of it. But then who will we
appoint as commander?”
Courtois’ palace was in a hot haste. Where Aileen couldn’t see,
the female knight curved the ends of her lips.
(Like hell a commoner knight can fulfill such a role. A
decoration should act as a decoration should… it is out of the
question for royal blood to mix with common mud. The knights will
much sooner accept the Black Knight, the same station as our
country’s founder.)
The nobles and knights hoisting up Aileen simply wanted
themselves as the next major power.
There was a problem with Fina, whose expression never changed.
The easy-to-manipulate Aileen was more fitting of a portable
shrine.
They had followed her for no reason other than Courtois’
internal factional strife. Whether war came and land was taken
away, as long as they had the dragoons, they knew they could take
it back at any time.
That was simply how large of an existence the dragoons were.
“I recommend Aleist Hardie. The conspicuous Black Knight should
do well for supreme commander. His parents have already arrived at
a manor in the capital. I’m sure they came to see their son in his
finest clothing, but they should suffice to hold against him.”
Aileen was a tad displeased with her dress.
“Wait. This color won’t pair well with Fritz… change it at
once.”
The female knight looked at Aileen and thought.
(You are a wonderful queen, Aileen-sama. With this, one corner
of the three lords will fall, a great many nobles will lose their
standing… rarely has such change befallen Courtois, and you are the
perfect statue to rally behind. As long as an heir is born, love a
commoner all you want. Not that you’ll be leaving this castle.)
As Aileen changed her dress, she suddenly recalled.
“Come to think of it, what are we going to do about the sword we
prepared for Frtiz-sama? It was prepared as a sword for the supreme
commander.”
The knight smiled.
“You need only hand it to the supreme commander. It’s a sword
made with the finest craft in Courtois, it should hold up perfectly
fine if you lend it out for a short while. It’s good for show, and
using the weapon one’s accustomed to is best on the battlefield.
Fritz-dono wouldn’t care to test the limits of a borrowed blade, he
won’t be able to fight to the best of his abilities.”
Aileen tilted her head, but she didn’t have any particularly
deep thoughts when it came to swords. She took the knight’s opinion
as-is.
“Then I leave it to you. Please let Fritz-sama play an active
role.”
The female knight gave a knight’s salute.
“Leave it to me.”
◇
It was just a vague feeling, yet he thought this day would
come—
Rudel produced his belongings from a bag on Sakuya’s back. There
were blue ornaments decorating his white armor. He took out his
shield and confirmed its state.
Near the dragoon’s dragon stables, Sakuya was eating a meal. She
was heartily munching down on a large quantity of meat, filling up
for a battlefield ahead.
Watching the feed empty at an alarming rate, the dragon stable
workers prepared a successive stream of seconds.
“Keep piling it on!”
“Let the other dragons eat too! I don’t care if you have to empty
the storehouse!”
“Hurry and check the refill valve!”
Once Rudel informed them of the Gaia Empire’s large-scale
movements the dragoon facilities were as boisterous as a hive of
bees. A dragoon immediately headed to the palace to confirm the
information, while the dragons were put to eating as preparations
began.
In the midst of that, Rudel equipped his own armor. Once a
crude, functional piece, it was the gift the black fiendish-looking
boar granted him at the end. As he put the armor on, Rudel repeated
an action of opening and clenching his hand.
When he looked up, the sky was cloudy. The weather looked like
it might turn to rain, but that alone wouldn’t delay the
attack.
After Rudel pulled down his helmet, he grabbed someone nearby
busily moving around.
“My preparations are complete. I’m going to depart.”
The dragon stable work spoke in a loud voice.
“Understood. Um, this is your first campaign, right? Make sure
you’re back in one piece!”
Rudel strongly gripped the hand held out for a handshake. The
stablehand smiled.
“To think I was the one who prepared the white knight for his
first campaign; I want to brag, so go and do something big.”
After returning a smile, Rudel flew off towards Sakuya’s
back.
(This isn’t my first campaign… no, that part doesn’t
matter.)
When he landed, Sakuya had just finished eating, as she spread
out her four wings wide with a roar. From inside the dragon
stables, he heard dragon roars in reply.
Rudel stroked Sakuya’s back.
“Are you ready?”
‘My tummy is full so I’m fine! Sakuya will drive them back!’
When Sakuya hoisted up her two large arms and showed her
motivation, Rudel pat her twice lightly. With that as the signal,
she slowly moved her wings and rose into the sky.
The surrounding people took shelter. Even so, once they had
risen to a safe height, Rudel spoke to Sakuya.
“Sakuya, I get the feeling this will be an important battle for
both me and you. So I’ll say it now. Thank you for becoming my
dragon.”
Sakuya tilted her head. She didn’t seem to really understand
what he meant.
‘I don’t get it, but Sakuya is Rudel’s dragon, you hear! I’ll do
my best! Sakuya is strong, she’ll take the enemy down in no
time!’
Rudel laughed.
“I’m counting on it. Now let’s be off… ____ awaits.”
Rudel looked beyond the sky, sensing something fuzzy.
Sakuya violently moved her wings, as she gradually built up
speed, a wall of magic formed around her. The wind was being
blocked by the wall. As Sakuya headed right off for the
battlefield, the people working at the stables waved their
hands.
◇
Around the time Rudel headed for the site.
His preparations for the ceremony at the palace complete, Aleist
was met by his parents.
“Father, mother! W-why!”
Disregarding his confusion, his parents approached and tapped
him on the shoulders. They seemed exceptionally pleased, causing
him to act bashful.
Aleist’s father spoke.
“We came to see you in your hour of triumph. An invite came
right from the palace.”
Aleist’s mother was moved to tears.
“You’ve grown into a young fine man. You were really worrying
us, you haven’t come home at all lately. Are you eating right?
Haven’t you lost some weight?”
Aleist gave a bitter smile. He took a bit of distance so the two
could calm down.
“I-I’m fine. More importantly, I’m just receiving a medal this
time, and I’m something of an extra. The real star this time is
Rudel.”
When he said that, his father gave him a blank look. Aleist
wondered if he had said something wrong. His mother doubtfully
opened her mouth.
“Aleist, the Gaia Empire is invading, so you were appointed
supreme commander of the subjugation force, weren’t you? The
dragoons will drive them off, so I’m sure it’ll be fine, but it’s
an unprecedented large appointment at your age.”
Aleist took on a pose of surprise. At his curious posture, his
father fell into confusion.
“The palace is already in a panic. The knights are preparing,
and it’s already been decided you’d be appointed supreme commander.
Don’t tell me you never heard.”
“B-but! I didn’t hear anything in the morning cleaning! And
there was nothing at all yesterday!”
Now something completely different surprised his father.
“C-cleaning? What do you mean!? Weren’t you a commanding officer
of the defenders? What do you mean you were cleaning in the
morning? I never heard about that!”
Grabbed by the shoulders and shook, Aleist was too disheveled
for a proper reply.
“Huh? War? The Gaia Empire!? Seriously, what!? Rather, I’m just
on the defender cleaning duty and…”
His mother cried out.
“C-cleaning duty!? My Aleist is!? How could my cute Aleist be…!
…Aah.”
“Dear!”
His father embraced up his mother on the verge of collapse.
Aleist verified the two were still getting along as well as ever,
but more than that…
(A war at this timing… more importantly, is this an event? No,
wrong. This isn’t a game. It’s not a game anymore!)
Thoughts of games and events still crossed his mind, but Aleist
cut off that train of thought by telling himself this was a
different world.
(That’s right. I became friends with Rudel. Eunius and Luecke
too… this is the world I live in!)
Just as he was about to rush out of the room, Izumi raced in.
She was out of breath, her hair was a mess.
“Aleist! Rudel was… dispatched on his own.”
Aleist opened his eyes wide, his mouth hung down in mute
amazement. That was practically the same development as the game.
Strangely, in the game, informing the protagonist of the enemy
country’s invasion was Izumi’s role.
Aleist felt something truly ominous at this turn of events.
(At this rate, Rudel will…)
Izumi grabbed Aleist’s arm. She made a petition.
“There was definitely a royal decree. But something’s wrong.
Rudel was ordered to sortie alone… and something’s strange about
the palace. It’s uncannily calm. I’m begging you, save Rudel.”
Holding his swooning mother, his father stuck his glare on
Izumi.
“And just who are you? Aleist has the heavy responsibility of
supreme commander in the war against the Gaia Empire. If you’re
seeking help, can’t you ask someone more suitable!? Aleist, I’ll
hear the explanation later. We’re out of time.”
Aleist tried to open his mouth. Right after, the royal guard
flooded into the room. And the royal guard knights apprehended
Izumi.
The one leading them was Fritz.
“It will be quite troublesome if you run amok. Black Knight
Aleist, the appointment ceremony will begin shortly. You may escort
your parents to the hall. And throw the high knight in the
dungeon.”
After baking the orders, Frit was gone. When Aleist tried to
resist, the royal guard had surrounded his parents. Where his
parents couldn’t see, there were even some whose hands had reached
the hilts of their swords.
“You lot… why are you…”
The royal guard simply grinned, they took Aleist in and led him
out of the room.
◇
Alongside his tag-along knights, Eunius headed for the hall to
participate in the medal awarding ceremony.
He sensed a strange disturbance in his chest, and a panic in the
palace, but shoved into a waiting room and put under surveillance,
he was unable to move.
While he could understand something was happening, he couldn’t
understand what it was. From the other end of the corridor walked
Luecke.
When Eunius raised a hand, Luecke looked around and sighed. He
approached Eunius to complain.
“Don’t speak with me so lightly here. More importantly, there’s
something I’ve got to ask you. I was just half shoved into my room,
but what in the blazes is going on? If someone’s capable of doing
that to us, who could they be?”
Luecke had a similarly bad premonition. His tone gave the
impression he already knew who he was dealing with. Eunius mouthed
the name of the person who instinctually came to mind.
“If we’re dealing with the royal guard, it’s got to be Princess
Aileen. But this is some terrible treatment. I’ve got to get in at
least a complaint.”
Seeing Eunius’ ferocious smile, Luecke looked like he wanted to
say something, but after breathing a resigned sigh, he walked off
towards the hall. While the two walked down the palace hallway,
their surroundings were in a flurry. Luecke gave a slight
smile.
“Perhaps something’s happened to Rudel and Aleist as well. Shall
we invite them for a protest?”
Eunius smiled mischievously.
“A protest? Now aren’t you proper. We’ve got to send a message.
That’s right, let’s get Rudel to circle the palace with his dragon.
I’m sure they’ll be shocked.”
Fed-up as he was, Luecke seemed to be having fun.
“But that way, only Rudel will be punished. Let’s see, I guess
I’ll try thinking up some interesting revenge. Not like the
ceremony’s going to be interesting anyway.”
Eunius looked at Luecke with a mildly surprised face. But
different from the last, he gave a truly mischievous grin.
“You really are better as you are now. If we were fighting, it’d
be much more fun with the current you.”
Luecke shrugged.
“Still fighting? You’re one who never changes. But… right. I
didn’t participate in our final school year. Thinking back on it
now, I do regret it just a bit.”
Eunius raised his voice.
“That’s why I told you. Get in the ring, I said! That would’ve
been a blast.”
The smiling two approached the hall. But what awaited them there
was—
◇
In the waiting room of the audience chamber that would host the
ceremony, Aleist couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
While his parents were still there, Aileen made her appearance
and told him on the spot to become supreme commander. And Aleist
confirmed it with Aileen.
Where was Rudel?
It was the worst possible possibility. Aleist was a
reincarnater. Holding knowledge of a game, he knew what would
happen if war broke out with the Gaia Empire. The irredeemable
villain Rudel runs off to sell out his country, leaving chaos in
his wake.
And Rudel is taken out by a prince of the empire. But the Rudel
of this world was idiotically positive.
Aleist wanted to think the future had changed somewhere down the
line; yet, come so far, as if to snark at him, the world was
throwing bits and pieces together to reform the event.
“Rudel was dispatched to the site where it’s said the Gaia
Empire might invade. We have determined that one to be a diversion.
Therefore, we sent only one unit. There’s a fort there, I’m sure
they’ll be able to hold it. He is one of Courtois’ strongest, a
dragoon, after all.”
Hearing the location, Aleist’s expression turned even worse.
That was the site of the game’s decisive battle. No matter how he
considered it, he felt the enemy’s real force was there.
“Only one unit? That’s… at the very least, send backup!”
Aleist’s parents were surrounded by the royal guard. His mother
anxious, his father glaring at the knights.
“Princess Aileen, what is the meaning of this!? Such
discourtesy, even if you are a royal princess, don’t think this
will be forgiven!”
Aileen ignored Aleist’s father’s opinion and turned to
Aleist.
“Aleist-dono, you are the supreme commander. You will be granted
a sword prepared by the Kingdom of Courtois. For you to carry out
your role splendidly. Well, you just have to be there. Please don’t
do a thing.”
“Not a thing?”
Aileen nodded.
“Yes, you are an ornament going by the name of supreme
commander. We seek nothing more from you.”
Both Aleist and his father glared at Aileen. The surrounding
knights directed their weapons at the two.
Aleist firmly contained himself.
“Then I will head out as Rudel’s reinforcements. That site is
the critical one. If you want an ornament, it doesn’t have to
be…”
Aileen seemed troubled. Yes, it was all so troublesome.
“It has already been decided. Or will you throw away any and
everything to go to his aid? Very well. I have no interest in you.
Of course, at that time, know you will lose everything. The Hardie
House will be done for.”
Once Aileen had left, Aleist’s tears broke out. They fell as he
collapsed at the knees. He wanted to save his friend. He wanted to
go and help Rudel.
He had a bad feeling.
But thinking of his parents, he couldn’t move. They had raised
him with love, an impertinent reincarnator like himself, they were
his second family. Aleist didn’t know what he was supposed to
do.
And into that space, that waiting room, the royal guard shoved
in Aleist’s subordinates. His academy juniors, Seli and Juju had
come to join in on Aleist’s ceremony.
The blue haired Nate was also shoved in, mumbling complaints to
herself.
If he ran, then those gathered here—
Aleist had a bad feeling about this. And he was mortified at
himself, so unable to move. His parents and harem members nervously
watched him as he wept.
It was at that moment. Aleist’s mother opened her mouth.
“Aleist, raise your face.”
“M-mother?”
And with a smile, she spoke to Aleist.
“You want to go save your friend, don’t you?”
Aleist’s nodded. His tears spilling all over the place, he
opened his mouth.
“He’s helped me out again, and again, and again. If he hadn’t
been there, I’d never be where I am now… I was never able to
properly say thank you. And yet, I can’t even save him!”
He thought he had become strong. He used his game knowledge to
raise his level. But wrapped up in a large flow that wouldn’t
resolve, Aleist couldn’t move.
His mother placed a hand on his shoulder.
“… Now move how you want to.”
“What are you…”
Aleist’s mother spoke to him with a smile. Hearing that, his
father seemed bewildered. To his father, in a tone different from
usual.
“What is that? Does the Head of the Hardie House fold to such a
paltry threat!? All of you, good god, the Hardie House shall
support Aleist’s actions. We are prepared to take an aggressive
stance against the Kingdom of Courtois. If you understand that,
you’d best stop chasing after Aleist… you’ll never find
happiness.”
At the end, his mother showed kindness towards his girlfriends.
Aleist looked at his mother’s face.
“W-why. I mean, if I run from here…”
“He’s a precious friend, isn’t he? Aleist, as long as I can
remember, you always had a screw loose somewhere, always chasing
around women, you had me worried. When you went off to the academy,
there were days I lost sleep over the thought you might have gotten
some girl pregnant. But I think it was around the end of your
second year? You were talking so happily about your friend, the
happiest I’d ever seen you. The Aleist who always seemed to be
looking for god knows what was actually having fun…”
When he thought of how his mother was properly looking at him,
Aleist cast down his eyes. Ever since he reincarnated, he had
always looked at his world thinking it was a game, not truly
looking at anything at all. He spoke to people practically as if
watching characters on a screen.
His mother had noticed.
“Aleist, go. To do such a thing, Courtois must be in a
precarious position. Even if you obey her here, Princess Aileen
will surely continue to issue the Hardie House unreasonable
demands.”
His father gave a strong nod.
“That’s right! His majesty is absent, the queen is nowhere to be
seen! This is plain suspicious, is it not! Our Hardie House may be
upstarts, but there is no reason for us to be treated like this!
Don’t worry about us. Aleist, just do what you want to. There’s no
way such tyranny shall be allowed!”
Aleist wiped his tears, he stood and looked at his parents’
faces. And embracing them, he cast his words.
“… Thank you. For loving someone as shoddy as me, thank you. I
don’t mind if you disinherit me. I’m going to save my friend of my
own will. Thank you for everything.”
He didn’t think an excuse like that would work. But he was
definitely going to use his connections to aid his parents to the
best of his abilities. Luckily, Aleist was friends with the sons of
the three lords.
(I’d rather not use them like this, but…)
Aleist turned to look at his girlfriends. The girls who gathered
once he lost interest in a harem. To be completely honest, he
didn’t know whether or not he loved them.
But they were people he couldn’t hate. And traveling with these
girls was fun.
“… I’m sorry. I am no longer the heir to a Count House, nor am I
a knight of Courtois. As but a single human, I’m going to save a
friend. I’m sure I’ve caused you some trouble, but this is where we
part ways. Thank you… and goodbye.”
After incapacitating the royal guard knights on watch with his
bare hands, Aleist leapt out of the room. He told everyone not to
linger as he raced his way of the palace.
He got the feeling he had lost many things. But at the same
time, he couldn’t overlook the plight of his dear friend who had
opened his eyes.
(I’m sure I’ll never be anyone important. I’m not a hero. I’m
stupid and servile… even so, it can just be for once. Can’t I stand
up just once for the sake of a friend!? If I run away here, I’ll
never forgive myself for the rest of my life.)
To save a friend—save Rudel, Aleist rushed down the
corridor.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s10.txt
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 157: Events Set in Stone
Chapter 157: Events Set in Stone
In Courtois’ palace, the knights and nobles who had lost the
flag known as Aileen, and a great many soldiers who took part were
apprehended.
A portion of the palace had burned up and the walls were
crumbling, but with no time to consider repair costs, Fina led
Sophina and her pieces- the defenders- to meet with her mother and
father.
Albach lay on the bed. He seemed somewhat relieved the ruckus in
the palace had died down. But when he heard of Aileen, his
expression clouded over.
In place of Alback, whose voice still wouldn’t come out, Ciel
inquired Fina.
“Fina, I recognize you ability in putting a stop to Aileen’s
reckless actions. The truth stands that you managed so much while
we were unable to do anything. You may become the next queen,
regnant or consort, and do whatever you may. However, in regards to
Aileen.”
Her mother Ciel worried about Aileen as well.
Fina gave a slight nod.
“Understood. However, she will officially be treated as dead.
That is the most I am capable of.”
She enacted an insurrection while the empire was invading.
Aileen would henceforth be treated as dead.
“That is plenty. Also, about the war situation—”
Even if they possessed dragoons, if the palace was in shambles,
perhaps something terrible was happening on the battlefield.
As Ciel thought so, Fina breathed a sigh within.
(Sister went and dispatched my troops, so I have no forces to
send around to master. Albeit I heard Archduke Halbades and Diade
sent out reinforcements.)
Fina wouldn’t impart Ciel with any wishful thinking. She simply
expressed the truth.
“The situation is still being verified.”
A wrinkle graced the queen’s brow.
“That’s a disgrace. Even if you win here, if territory is lost,
you’ll be the next one up for the executioner’s block.”
But Ciel couldn’t really blame Fina for it. She had, in essence,
been shoved by her daughter into house arrest.
Fina turned to Ciel and gave a curtsey.
“I have already taken measures, so no need to worry. Now about
what’s to come—”
The confusion in the palace would be cleaned up by Fina.
(Alright, I’ve made a place for master to return, so what’s left
is the battlefield.)
◇
“What is… this…”
“General Liquorice, what in god’s name is this?”
Mies Liquorice– Askewell’s adjutant, and a girl who’s name was
placed in the position of second in command looked at the scene on
the battlefield at a loss for words.
The strengthened black monsters she’s prepared, dead or alive,
dissipated into smoke and gathered at two points.
The first was at Askewell, who’d been defeated by the white
knight.
The rest gathered in the sky and took on the form of a
dragon.
The Gora Askewell had prepared as a dragoon countermeasure to
decide the battle.
A giant, four-armed, hideous monster. Its enhanced form sprouted
wings, so it could even fly through the sky.
But on the white dragon’s departure, it suffered a large injury
and was sent to the backlines.
Taking in such a giant, Askewell has sunk up to his chest in the
gora’s forehead. All that could be seen was his drooping
silhouette.
“I don’t know. This isn’t… what I…”
From the start, there were too many unnatural points. The
monster controlled greeted such success it even made her fearful.
And establishing an army of enhanced monsters.
It was a monster army that had been crafted up without any
decent research, but even Mies never thought it could do something
like this.
Her subordinate, a knight sought confirmation.
“Should we call back the generals?”
The self-proclaimed archmage Leor was preparing a magic circle,
so he couldn’t move.
Bahn Rhoshwas said he wasn’t interested and led his army
separate from the main battalion.
Mies wanted to hold her head.
Leor was someone who fixated on preparing his own personal magic
circle, and only fighting on top of it. If the enemy did stray
over, his magic would most likely blow them away. He could probably
even take on a dragoon.
But he couldn’t move.
Bahn had a distaste for surrounding a single man with a massive
army, and showed no signs of moving. No, he might move if he
noticed this abnormal state of affairs…
“Send a messenger at—”
As Mies was about to move, a dragon roared overhead.
When she looked to the sky, the white knight had set out his
shields and swords of light, leaping up to face it.
“What even is he!?”
Seeing Rudel stand to face the fiendish-looking dragon, Mies
cried out with teary eyes.
◇
‘I see. So that is your answer.’
Facing the thorny, sinister dragon, Rudel fired a round of
magic. The reason he took on the sky battle was because Askewell
wasn’t moving.
Embedded into the giant’s forehead, he was still slumped down
without a twitch.
Therefore, he decided the dragon was a higher priority.
The dragon narrowed its eyes as it took on Rudel’s magic. Yet no
matter how he fired, it showed no visible effect.
“Don’t go arbitrarily closing the curtains. I definitely did
mull a bit… but you are my enemy, aren’t you?”
While Rudel did love dragons, that didn’t mean he was kind
enough to concede his life to one.
More than that—
“But I myself do hold a special loathing for such underhanded
means.”
He glared at the dragon.
The black smoke had gathered to defeat Rudel and took the form
of a dragon. That was something Rudel couldn’t forgive.
‘I see. But this is your end. It must be your end. That is the
conclusion of the ‘story’, and your fate.’
The sinister dragon—the vile serpent spread its large wings, the
atmosphere trembling under its roar. The vibrations alone sent
Rudel sprawling, crashing him into the ground.
Quickly getting up, he wiped his mouth.
“That’s just from the roar. And I’m not even scratching it…”
While inside, he did want to ride it just a little bit, Rudel
gripped his weapon.
‘You shouldn’t keep your eyes on me. The one who will kill you
is—’
Rudel lowered his eyes a bit. He had no choice but to.
For there was the form of a black giant, raising tremors in the
earth as it made its way for him.
Aiming at Askewell in its foreheads, he didn’t hesitate to form
and shoot swords of light.
While they hit directly and exploded, the thought of stopping
seemed foreign to this four-armed being.
“This… will be harsh.”
Approaching his limit, Rudel murmured to himself, before him a
dragon in the air, a gora on the earth.
“… Is this my fate?”
With a small mutter, and a small laugh.
“But not bad. If anything’s to best me, it better be ramped up
this high…”
For a moment, Rudel recalled Sakuya when she had her human
form.
The words Sakuya spoke to him.
“When I’m going to be the strongest dragoon, if I stood down
here, she’d laugh at me.”
With overwhelming despair laid out ahead, Rudel slowly took one
step forward.
He walked, gradually raising his speed to face the Gora. While
it was massive, its balance looked to be precarious, so much
balancing on two feet.
“Alright, let’s start with the ankles.”
Despite being in the worst situation, Rudel tried searching out
the optimum hand. However, the dragon in the air gave a large flap
of its wings to obstruct him.
With winds sweeping over him making it difficult to move, Rudel
infiltrated the space around the gora’s feet, and cut his sword
into its ankle.
The giant’s skin was too thick, a normal cut didn’t seem like it
would reach the tendon.
“In that case!”
Magic sword. Light dwelled in his blade as mana formed a sword
edge around it, its length growing to a few dozen meters. And one
spin.
The gora’s leg was severed.
“Start with this guy—!”
Rudel jumped back with great haste as a breath attack was fired
from above that would wrap the gora in too. He managed to
avoid.
But the vile serpent in the air didn’t seem perturbed.
The ground gouged out, amidst the blazing inferno—the gora that
had finished regenerating its leg stood.
He heard the serpent’s voice from the sky.
‘Struggle, stand. All that awaits you is death.’
Rudel, upon hearing that, readied his weapon with a smile.
“Bring it on.”
◇
Bennet’s partner, the water dragon Heleene.
Riding on her back, Izumi and Aleist’s party reunited with
Sakuya along the way. After lowering the evacuees and entrusting
them to Chlust, they made for the battlefield at full speed.
Bennet felt the air tremble from Heleene’s back.
“What’s this feeling…”
As Bennet felt an unpleasant presence, Heleene was the same.
‘Right. This detestable feeling. How should I put it, it’s
pissing me off.’
Leaving Heleene’s remark aside, Bennet knew the battlefield was
close, and ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
“We’re nearing the battle. Is everyone ready?”
Izumi nodded; Aleist had put on his black army, he was ready to
go.
“I’m fine.”
“All good here. But is Heath okay?”
Gripped in Heleene’s forepaw, Aleist’s trusted steed that was
being carried with them. Bennet heard Heath’s condition form
Heleene and passed it on to Aleist.
“No problem. You’ve got yourself quite a fine horse. He’s
rearing to start running the moment his legs hit the ground.”
Aleist felt relieved. His harem members were finished preparing
as well.
But as Bennet faced forward, her expression turned a little
bitter.
(The enemy is supposed to have prepared troops in the tens of
thousands. In such a battlefield, Rudel alone. What’s more, we his
reinforcements number so few.)
The probability of Rudel’s survival, and the damages wrought to
their war potential by sending in so small numbers.
With a situation far too harsh before her, Bennet braced
herself.
(A battlefield so drastic is a first for me.)
And the field came into view.
“… What’s that?”
The battlefield she saw had its surroundings blown away, the
ground was showing its skin as not an army, but a black dragon
hovered over the barren land.
On the earth, a large giant swung its four arms and opened its
large mouth.
But as a radiant light emitted, three of its arms were lopped
off and sent flying.
“It’s Rudel!”
— He was alive.
Upon confirming it so, Izumi cried out, while Aleist made a fist
with his right hand in a triumphant pose. Bennet was also relieved,
but…
The sinister dragon roared, while the giant’s open mouth emitted
hundreds, thousands of needle-like somethings.
The intense sounds of battle that had rung up to that point
could no longer be heard.
Behind Heleene, Sakuya who was desperately following roared. It
was almost as if she was crying out. When Bennet looked at Izumi,
she had collapsed to her knees.
“… So we didn’t make it.”
Those words from Bennet sent Aleist into a shock.
“N-no way. But there’s still a chance he’s alive!”
He might just be injured. That was surely what he wanted to say,
but from Sakuya and Izumi’s state, Bennet understood the prospects
were grim.
“A dragon has a good understanding of the state of their partner
dragoon. Unfortunately… we’re now on a battle of vengeance. Worst
case scenario, we retrieve Rudel’s corpse and pull out.”
At her cold tone, Aleist grabbed her shoulders.
“H-how can you—!”
Say something so cruel, Aleist wanted to say. But Bennet knew
how corpses were treated on the battlefield.
At the very least, wanting to make out with his body was still a
show of compassion.
“We’ll land soon. If he’s alive, you might hear his last words.
You and Izumi hurry to Rudel.”
Bennet produced an iron boomerang from a bag fastened to Heleen
and held it in her hand.
As Heleene neared the battlefield, she fired a breath at the
dragon.
While there seemed to be safe troops on both flanks of the
imperial army’s battle array, the army in the center was in
shambles.
While it did look bizarre, it also looked obvious they wouldn’t
be able to approach the dragon and giant rampaging in the center so
easily.
“Those blasted imperials prepared something crazy.”
A black dragon and giant.
It wasn’t only Heleene who thought they were the work of the
empire. Once Aleist parted from Bennet, he cast down his eyes and
drew his swords.
(He must’ve done a toll, that Rudel.)
Knowing her subordinate had fought splendidly, Bennet
strengthened the hand gripping her weapon. She continued testing
out the black dragon by blasting breathes at it.
“We’re here.”
On the battlefield, imperial soldiers were gathering around
Rudel.
Wedging numerous boomerangs in the space between her fingers,
Bennet threw them in quick succession.
Heleene flew right up next to the ground to make it easier for
everyone to disembark.
And the scene that came into sight was one of Rudel, his chest
pierced through by a long spear-like projectile.
“Everyone get down.”
Heleene lowered Heath onto the ground, While Izumi and Aleist’s
party jumped off her back one after the next.
What Bennet saw the moment after she jumped was the form of
Sakuya punching at the giant.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s11.txt
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 158: The End of the Event
Chapter 158: The End of the Event
Rudel looked at his own chest.
His white armor slathered in mud, he had incurred various
injuries of all shapes and sizes. They were the proof he had
managed to stand firm.
But now he was pierced by a black, twisted polearm.
Thousands of similar rods were stabbed into ground all around
him, almost like a jail cell to lock him away.
He tried blowing away the rain of black spears from the sky. He
had managed to parry a few of them…
“… Is this the limit?”
He let go of the sword in his right hand. Sewn onto the ground,
his back arched back, Rudel spat up blood from his mouth.
A single stab to the heart.
A fatal blow.
“He’s got me. I can’t move anymore.”
Looking down on him was the gora, he’d severed three arms from a
moment prior. The arms were gradually regenerating, and now it
looked down over an immobile Rudel.
The vile serpent was the same.
As if to say their role was over, now they did nothing but stare
down at him.
He heard footsteps.
Knights and soldiers of the empire.
While they were wary of the dragon and gora, as the two were no
longer moving, they tried to approach. Of course, that was out of
hatred of Rudel.
Having brought about such large-scale losses, they walked over
to Rudel who had produced this current state of affairs.
“You crazy bastard.”
“Coward of Courtois.”
“How dare you, my brother…”
Comrades and relatives. Those who had them killed by Rudel’s
hand took weapons in theirs to close in on him.
Their movements didn’t seem as if they were being led; they were
moving on their own.
Rudel laughed.
“Did I crush the chain of command?”
It would be nice if that made them retreat, he thought as he
looked at the sky.
The sky was clouded, the sort of weather to bring one down. The
vile serpent flapping its wings in such a sky seemed to have
already lost interest in him.
It gave off an air as if it was satisfied with this result.
“… Sakuya really is number one.”
Looking at the dark dragon beating its wings, Rudel closed his
eyes and took a deep breath.
He heard the imperials soldiers flocking with weapons in
hand.
“Did I… manage to resist?”
Rudel didn’t know who his words were directed to. Perhaps it was
Sakuya, perhaps his dear friends. The superiors and colleagues he
trusted—and, Izumi’s face came to mind.
With a roar, a breath was fired at the vile serpent.
The winds growing rough, the sound of two large masses colliding
opened his eyes.
There was Sakuya.
Swinging her two large arms, she punched at the Gora. Witnessing
her in all her glory, Rudel gave a small laugh… as the power
drained from his body.
◇
Jumping down from Heleene’s back, Izumi drew her katana the
moment her feet touched the ground.
Bennet threw her projectiles one after the next to clear away
the knights and soldiers approaching Rudel.
In order to reach Rudel, Izumi ignored her foes and plunged
straight forward.
As she ran cutting down the large, black bars pierced into the
ground, she spotted Rudel, his chest pierced through by one of
them.
“Rudel!”
Izumi cried, cutting down all the black bars around him in her
advance. The gathered imperial army soldiers directed their weapons
towards her.
“Cowards of the kingdom!”
They were removing spears to make their way to Rudel, they
numbered a few hundred.
Before such an enemy, Izumi narrowed her eyes.
“You’re in the way.”
A single flash of her sword. Firing a slash, she mowed down
black spears and cut down a few enemy soldiers, all while Aleist,
whose shadow slipped through the gaps in the bars blew his foe away
bars and all.
“Rudel!”
The two raced to Rudel in great haste; by the time they reached
him, he had already breathed his last breath.
Izumi immediately severed the spear pierced into him, unpinning
him from the spot.
“W-we have to heal him at once—”
Her hand shaking in her fluster, Izumi got to healing Rudel.
There, out of boomerangs, a dagger in each hand, Bennet raced
over.
“What are you doing? Pick him up and run.”
A glance at the sky, Bennet looked at the gathering imperial
soldiers and readied her daggers.
“Even Heleene can’t win against that one. And that one doesn’t
seem up to it anymore—”
Confirming Rudel’s death, the black gora and dragon had lost
their motivation. However, as the two bodies—looked at Aleist
running towards Rudel, they roared.
“W-what!?”
The Imperials were confused as well.
Seeing there were even some who took to their heels, Bennet
clicked her tongue.
“So they can’t control it.”
Izumi held Rudel tight. She was shedding tears.
“Major Bennet. Rudel has no pulse… and. And, I can’t feel
anything from him.”
Izumi’s shaking voice.
Aleist looked at Rudel in a daze. Unhanding the twin swords hs
gripped, he stood stock still on the spot.
“You two, get a grip on—”
There, one of Aleist’s harem members rushed over and informed
them.
“This is bad, guys! The stationary armies on both flanks are now
coming towards us.”
Hearing the armies that had ignored the main body up to that
point were now moving, Bennet looked to the sky. There was the form
of a serpent treating her partner Heleene’s attacks as if they were
nothing at all.
But looking down over them, it was taking a stance for
battle.
Izumi held Rudel to her chest.
“This, this can’t…”
He had been put to battle alone under such a hopeless situation,
Izumi embraced him as all manner of thoughts passed through her
head.
The gora Sakuya was fighting was also strong. To Izumi, it
looked as if Sakuya was losing in raw power. Rudel had fought such
a foe all alone.
Bennet made her resolve.
“I’ll take up the rear guard. All troops, immediately pull
out—”
Aleist picked up his weapons and screamed.
“Don’t screw with me… don’t screw with meeeee!!”
Aleist kicked the ground to propel himself towards the Gora. A
sword in each hand, he cut with all his might.
A black mana resided in his blade, it flicked and bent like
flames as it grew to swallow the Gora down.
When Sakuya leapt out of the way, an attack with all Aleist’s
might poured down on the beast.
An impact great enough to enrapture the surroundings in a sudden
gale rung out as smoke hung over all.
Aleist raised his shoulders in breath. Looking at his back,
Izumi.
“Aleist, you…”
His shoulders rose, his shoulders fell, soon it was turning into
a slight quiver.
“Don’t screw with me. He’s a precious friend. Give him back. You
damn—”
But a flap from the dragon and the smoke had cleared.
There stood a gora, burnt on the surface. But new skin soon
generated from below that, and the black carbonized flesh fell off
in pieces to return it to its unharmed state.
He heard a voice from the Gora.
But it didn’t come from its mouth. He could hear it from the
mouth of Askewell, buried in its forehead.
‘I’ve waited so long for this moment.’
Izumi had stood, and shouldering Rudel, she perked her ears to
this ominous voice.
Aleist looked a little flustered.
‘It was all for today, for this very moment… and for you to
die.’
The one the gora and dragon glared at with the word ‘you’ was
undoubtedly Aleist.
“W-what do you mean?”
Izumi looked at Aleist. But Aleist seemed somewhat accepting of
this declaration.
◇
Aleist felt as if his heart was being clutched by the voice he
heard from the gora.
‘I was born for the very sake of your existence. That was the
reason for us to exist… but a reason like that can eat shit.’
The gora pointed at Aleist, the dragon opened its mouth as
well.
‘At first, it was a truly minuscule distortion. It all started
more than fifteen years ago. When you, in your ignorance, called a
dragon to your manor out of pure curiosity.’
Sakuya landed on the ground, and stood to protect Izumi and
Aleist. Heleene kept a careful watch on the dragon’s movements.
While the imperial soldiers were running, they would immediately
reform their forces and advance on them.
“Back then? Don’t tell me, when I said I wanted to see a dragon
on my birthday…”
When Aleist recalled were memories of the day he pleaded to his
parents to see a dragon.
This was a world of swords and magic. It was quite inevitable he
wished to witness a fantasy. Yet such a meaningless action from
Aleist had set it all in motion
‘That small distortion gradually grew in size. That was Rudel.
It’s your fault that whelp set out to be a dragoon.’
Aleist turned to look at Rudel being held up by Izumi.
Everyone looked at Aleist.
The dragon continued.
‘We were born in order to correct that distortion. Do you know
why? That is because you wished for it.’
That manner of speech almost as if Aleist was related to the
monsters before their eyes; Izumi’s expression darkened a bit.
Aleist shook his head.
“Even if that’s true! You killed Rudel!”
The gora indifferently spoke.
‘That’s right. But had you done nothing, that’s where it would
end. You are the source of it all. We prepared the stage for you,
set up every event, so this final day could come.’
The vile serpent opened its large mouth.
Mana turned to beads of light gathering in its mouth to a
sinister black and red hue.
‘The very last event, you can’t imagine how we’ve waited… all
that’s left is to erase you, and it will all be over. We may
finally be at peace.’
Aleist brandished his weapon.
But the ground and the sky—what’s more, a foe even Rudel
couldn’t match before them, the result was laid out from the
start.
In addition, Aleist’s head was occupied with thoughts of
regret.
(Is it because I wished for it? Because I wished to live in a
game world that this—if I just disappeared…)
The regret of the reincarnator Aleist.
His dear friend had died for the world he had wished for, and he
would die to it as well.
(Is this the result of reincarnation?)
He thought he had obtained everything. But what he really wanted
could never be obtained with cheats.
(How stupid was I.)
Aleist was beginning to give up.
(I finally got what I really wanted. Yet I’m going to die in a
place like this?)
The gora, it’s four large arms held aloft, and a vile serpent
about to fire a breath from the sky.
With these two bodies before him, Aleist grew desperate and
raced forward.
“Like hell I am!!”
Aleist cried.
But his voice was immediately covered by the sound of
explosions.
Sakuya stooped over to protect Izumi, and Heleene took her
distance.
What rained down on the gora and dragon was tens, hundred of
magics and breaths.
“Wai, gyaaaaah!!”
Aleist cried out in a different sense, bracing his body as the
wind and smoke swept over him. Surviving the attacks that didn’t
take him into account by diving into his shadow, once he could no
longer hear the explosions, he protruded out his face.
“W-what just…
Looking over his surroundings and racing his head, there were
several hundred dragons flying through the sky.
A rider could be seen on the central existence, a single water
dragon.
And before that water dragon, a red dragon and wind dragon
followed close. They were equipped with bags, and it was clear the
two by its side were the partners of dragoons.
However, riding the water dragon’s back was…
“Eh Why!?”
Aleist leapt from his shadow in surprise at the young girl with
a spear, whose side ponytail swayed in the wind—the form of Rudel’s
little sister.
“The hero is always late to the party… but maybe a little too
late this time.”
Looking up at Lena, who said that with a laugh, Aleist was
dumbfounded by the legion of wild dragons before him.
◇
Atop the sky.
Riding on Mystith’s head, Lena looked at Rudel being shouldered
by Izumi on the ground.
“Brother…”
‘We didn’t make it.’
Lena’s ponytail swept sideways as she turned her eyes to the
gora and dragon before her eyes.
“No, not yet. My brother won’t end in a place like this. He’s a
man I recognized, after all.”
Mystith laughed.
‘Very well. If that got you down, I’d be beating that black
thing to bits by now.’
To Mystith’s side were Cattleya and Lilim. Mystith had grabbed
them when they were rushing over as reinforcements.
Cattleya took a glance at Lena.
“Why is she boldly standing in the center?”
Lilim was just as confused.
“Rather, she hasn’t even enrolled in the Academy, yet she’s
contracted to Mystith… was the Arses House actually amazing?”
The two looked at the ground.
“Even so, this is already…”
Both Catteleya and Lilim’s expressions turned dark as they
inferred Rudel had spent his life supporting the front lines.
Thereupon, the vile serpent before their eyes emerged unscathed
from the smoke that broke out in their attacks.
‘Another distortion? I shall erase you too. Along with
Aleist—’
Lena leaned her spear against her shoulder.
“Oh shut it, you. In short… he pisses you off, so you want to
take him down, right? Well I’m the same. I want to tear apart
whoever did my brother in.”
Mystith gave an irritated roar.
‘Hey, you, yeah you, blacky! You act like hot stuff for a
newborn brat!’
The dragons roared out one after another, obeying their current
leader Mystith.
The serpent narrowed its eyes.
‘Accursed lizards. Let me teach you what a real Dragon is. Gora,
you erase Aleist.’
Cattleya and Lilim prepared for battle.
“Rather, I really don’t want to fight someone who got out
unscathed from so many attacks.”
Perhaps Lilim was the same, as she breathed a sigh.
“Right. I don’t see us winning this one.”
Mystith smacked her right fist into the flat of her left hand,
speaking in a low voice.
‘That’s simple. We surround it, gang up, and beat the living
daylights out of it. It’s got to pay the toll for calling us
lizards.’
Lena seemed just as irritated.
“Ah, how irksome. Me and broski love dragons and all. Well, put
all the troublesome stuff aside… and you’re dead.”
Wyverns bubbled up from the serpent’s body. Their sinister forms
resembled the serpent.
Even bigger, and more menacing than the enhanced wyverns. They
came out one after another.
Lena smiled.
“Bring it on.”
Cattleya and Lilim, upon looking at Lena.
“This kid’s definitely Rudel’s sister.”
“You’re right. I can really see the resemblance.”
In the sky, a dragon dogfight was about to commence.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s12.txt
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 159: Thank you for Everything
Chapter 159: Thank you for Everything
In the sky above, an aerial battle of dragon and wyvern
unfolded.
Within that, Sakuya fought the gora to help out Izumi’s
retreat.
The party fled across the battlefield-turned wasteland. No one
around knew the right words to call to Aleist. By the enemy’s
words, Aleist had been the cause of all of this.
(I shouldn’t take it at face value, but—)
Izumi thought, yet still ended up raising her guard to the
silent Aleist. Whether he noticed her attitude or not, Aleist
wouldn’t open his mouth.
At times, the breath of a wyvern or dragon would pour down and
raise an explosion. Heleene flew to protect the fleeing members,
and once they had distanced themselves from the battle, Millia
appeared before them.
She had brought allies.
While they were too few in numbers to call reinforcements, it
was a reassuring addition.
With a large wave of her hands, Millia faced them and called
out.
“Over here!”
Upon crossing a low knoll, they came upon soldiers warily
watching the battle between the Gora and Sakuya.
Millia had her fellow demi-human soldiers prepare a station for
them. However, upon seeing Rudel’s state, she made a terribly
frightened face.
“L-lay him down over there. We’ll get to treating him—”
But Bennet was quick to inform her.
“That won’t be needed. His heart’s been pierced. It’s
fatal.”
To a Rudel who was already no longer breathing, Millia
desperately held in her tears.
“You idiot. It’s because you faithfully honored such ridiculous
orders. The palace could have managed just fine.”
Upon hearing that, Izumi sought confirmation.
Her hand stroked Rudel, lain over a stretcher.
“Is the palace alright?”
Millia wiped her tears before explaining in a shaking voice.
“Princess Fina used the defenders to suppress the insurrection.
The archduke houses helped out too… and yet, why is this guy
dead?”
At the end of her sights, Rudel, his eyes closed with a slight
smile on his face.
Izumi strongly clenched Rudel’s hand. Seeing Millia’s tears only
made Rudel’s death seem all the more real.
“Always bringing us nothing but trouble. Yet in the end of the
end, for such a meaningle—”
Meaningless, Izumi was about to say, when Bennet plainly
interrupted.
“There was a meaning. Rudel held out here alone, he made a
literal last stand until the allied army could arrive. Don’t say it
was meaningless.”
It was then that two groups made for Rudel.
Luecke and Eunius, who had only just arrived. The dragons
appeared and helped transport their forces, hastening their
arrival.
“Move aside.”
Luecke pushed his way through knights and soldiers to arrive at
Rudel, opening his eyes wide when he came upon the man laid
out.
Eunnius was the same, albeit, he had come clearing a path far
more roughly.
And looking at Rudel, he spoke.
“… Damn fool. Going off and dying.”
A terrible monologue. But his tone was terribly disappointed and
horribly dark. Eunius yanked out the black bar wedged in his
heart.
Luecke instantly hung his hands over Rudel’s chest. He was going
to use healing magic.
Aleist opened his mouth.
“Luecke, Rudel is already…”
Luecke, the man who looked the most level-headed of the bunch,
glared at Aleist and screamed.
“Shut your mouth. When it comes to magic, I’m better than
anyone. Better than you, and better than Rudel. I’m number one. So
you… hold your tongue.”
It was impossible for healing magic to revive the dead. No
matter how many spells he used, the deceased body showed no
reaction.
Izumi wanted to get a word in for Luecke to stop, but upon
seeing his face, she shut her mouth.
“There’s no such thing as impossible for me. A dear friend or
two… who would I be if I couldn’t help them out? I’m Luecke
Halbades. I’m better at magic than anyone…”
Shedding tears before Rudel, he desperately continued to cast
his magic. Those hands were beginning to burn from the heat of
magic overuse.
Eunius grabbed his arm, forcefully wrenching him from Rudel.
“That’s enough! Don’t waste your mana here.”
Luecke cried back.
“Waste? You just called it a waste!? I see. In the end, that’s
all Rudel was to you…”
When Luecke saw Eunius face, he couldn’t say anymore. Eunius was
crying too.
“Listen here. Neither you nor I can bring back someone who’s
died. But you know, isn’t there still something we can do? Fight to
avenge him. Those imperial bastards are still here. Then it’s
obvious what we’ve got to do!”
On those words, Luecke made a fist with his scalded palms. His
subordinate Vargas held in tears, as he ordered those around him to
heal him.
Izumi touched a hand to his cheek.
“Rudel, look how many people you’ve made cry… and yet, you’re
the only one smiling. You really are a terrible guy.”
There, Aleist exclaimed.
“I-I’ve got it. Rudel can still make it, I think…”
◇
Rudel was in a white, a very white space.
Hazily taking in his surroundings, the words that came out—
“This is the second time I’ve come here. The first was when I
parted with Sakuya, perhaps?”
— As he calmly weighed his situation, a cracking sound came from
the fist lowered on his head.
There was Sakuya—the former goddess Sakuya, floating in the air
in human form. Tears welled in her eyes, her cheeks were puffed up
and her face was red.
‘Rudel, you idiot! Idiot, idiot, huge idiot!’
Before the girl who continued smacking both hands into him,
Rudel laughed.
“So you came to get me? Guess that means I really am dead.”
Sakuya’s crumbled into tears.
‘How many times did I tell you!? You have to fight together! And
yet, why did you leave your own partner? We worked so hard so we
could fight together!’
Seeing Sakuya cry, Rudel dimly perceived this was the
afterworld.
“Sorry. I tried my best… but it looks like I failed.”
He had lost to fate. While Rudel thought so, he didn’t make a
regretful face.
‘Why do you look so refreshed!? Everyone’s crying for you!’
Rudel sent her a bit of a sorrowful smile.
“I won’t say I have no regrets. I fought to triumph over some
fate or another. And I’m only half the dragoon I want to be. I hate
that I couldn’t use the chance that you gave me. But you know… I
fought with my all. I exerted myself so hard that even looking
back, I am certain I couldn’t have done better.”
If he lost on top of that, there was no space for excuses.
Rudel said so and stroked Sakuya. Despite the nostalgia he felt,
it also brought to mind his own partner dragon.
Sakuya looked at Rudel with a serious face.
‘Are you satisfied now?’
To that question, Rudel—
“Satisfied? I’m not. I am definitely not satisfied. I wanted to
ride a dragon’s back through the sky some more. I haven’t even
become the strongest dragoon. My seniors are strong, see. I won
once, but I’m still so far from my ideal/”
‘In that case, try looking a bit irritated.’
“You sure are stupid. I’ll never be satisfied with myself no
matter how far I go. Even if I overcame, to die when the years
caught up, I’d never achieve satisfaction”
(But that’s fine. Either way, I fought hard enough to think
so—)
To Rudel’s words, Sakuya floating in the air breathed a big
sigh. She scratched up her blonde hair and touched her left hand to
her hip.
‘There’s a possibility of you coming back, but if you’re already
satisfied, then—’
“Really!”
The moment he heard of a possibility, Rudel snatched Sakuya out
of the air.
‘Hey! Up to a moment ago, you were all like, I’m not satisfied,
but perhaps that’s fine!’
“Fool. If I can live, then of course I’m going to live. I’ve
only just become a dragoon. I haven’t turned those imperials back.
There’s a mountain of stuff left to do.”
As Rudel shook her up, Sakuya’s eyes spun as she forced her way
out of his grip and unsteadily teetered into the air.
‘I’m just bringing up a possibility! And, and it’ll need
Aleist’s cooperation.’
Rudel tilted his head.
“Aleist’s cooperation?”
Sakuya nodded.
‘That guy has the exchange stone, doesn’t he?’
Exchange stone. It was what Aleist received while carrying out a
mission in the Celestia Kingdom.
“Now that you mention it.”
He always had it on him, so Rudel did remember.
‘If that idiot notices, it might work out. But the probability
is low. And there’s no telling what he’ll have to give up. Though
honestly, he’d be a fool if he didn’t keep it with him.’
Hearing of what would be lost, Rudel asked Sakuya.
“What will Aleist lose?”
Sakuya took her time explaining to him what had happened
hitherto. It was the truth of this world, and about Aleist’s
existence.
◇
“I-I’ll save Rudel. I can still make it.”
His body clad in black armor, Aleist pulled off his helmet and
produced a blue stone from his breast. It was the exchange
stone.
Seeing it, Izumi recalled its purpose and turned to Aleist with
a shake of her head.
“You can’t. If you use that, there’s no telling what you’ll pay
in exchange for Rudel’s life.”
Hearing Izumi’s words, the surrounding faces looked at Aleist. A
great many looked on with conflicted faces, But Aleist’s harem
members grasped him.
They stared at him sorrowfully.
“Aleist-sama.”
As a representative, Seli tried to stop him.
(There are people who want Rudel to live more than me, but there
are some who would choose me too. That’s a bit reassuring.)
The gora’s revelation had raised everyone’s wariness towards him
by no small amount. So if he said he would exchange his life, he
worried they would happily tell him to do it.
Eunius approached Aleist and grasped his shoulder.
“Give it a rest. You think Rudel would be happy with that? You
shut up and fight the empire.”
Those words were his own way of worrying for Aleist. Luecke was
the same.
“You’re the worst, to even bring up choosing one or the other.
Aleist, think a bit more before you speak.”
Aleist gave a bitter smile.
(Choosing one or the other, huh. Originally, the protagonist was
supposed to pick either Eunius or Luecke, but… well, that’s not
important.)
Aleist removed Eunius’ hand and reassured him it would work.
“Don’t worry I do have something I can give. It’s not my life,
and it’s borrowed goods, but it’ll be enough, I think.”
Eunius grimaced at those words.
“So you can’t state it definitively to the end. But you should
quit while you’re ahead with those gambles. The result won’t make
anyone happy. Rudel is dead. You are alive. That’s the result.”
Right, Rudel had died.
(The event was definitely carried out. And those guys said they
would kill me. Which means what happens here on has nothing to do
with the game.)
Aleist approached a lying Rudel and had Izumi concede her
spot.
His eyes abruptly met with Millia. Milla’s eyes were red and
swollen.
(She really does like Rudel, doesn’t she. But I’ll be granting
her wish too.)
However, Millia to Aleist.
“You’re really not going to die, right? And does that stone have
that much power? If you both end up dead…”
Both ending up dead was the worst case.
(Ah, she’s worried about me too. How delightful.)
But Aleist had no conviction he could do it.
(It’s not like I never thought about what would happen If this
day came. There’s far too little I can do… but even so, he’s a
precious friend.)
When Rudel had helped him out so much, when Aleist thought he
could finally repay his debt, he smiled.
(Aah, but in that case, I might become useless. Well, if Rudel’s
there, that’s some reassurance. And this is for the best.)
Gripping the exchange stone over Rudel’s body, Aleist closed his
eyes.
A blue light enveloped the two of them. Aleist whispered, making
sure those around couldn’t hear—
“The cheat I have received… I return my abilities. I don’t need
inexhaustible mana or talent. My noble family… I’m fine as long as
they’re safe. I don’t mind if they forget about me. So… please
bring my friend back to life. I don’t need anything else.”
The cheat he received on his reincarnation was inexhaustible
mana.
(I’m sorry I never managed to master it to the end.)
Along with a talent in various fields, and charm.
(Talent alone was no good. Without the effort to polish it…
thank you for everything.)
To that point, Aleist had been protected by a great many
cheats.
“Thank you for all you’ve given me. Perhaps this can’t be called
payment. If it’s not enough, you can take my existence as well. My
friend—please bring Rudel back to life. I’m begging you!”
As he strongly gripped the exchange stone, Aleist could feel the
power leave his own body.
All the great powers that had helped, protected, and enhanced
him.
Aleist shed a tear.
“Thank you for everything.”
Aleist got the feeling the last bit of power lingered around
him. He got the feeling it asked him if he’d be fine without
them.
“I’ll be alright. I’m sorry I never mastered you. You have my
dearest thanks.”
The power faded. Aleist could feel the last ounce of it drain
away; he instinctually understood various abilities had disappeared
from within him.
He looked at Rudel.
The wound had closed, and with even his armor mended, Rudel
opened his eyes.
“Rudel!”
Aleist cried out, as Rudel raised his torso from the stretcher.
Delight spread around, Izumi leaped forward to embrace Rudel, and
Aleist warmly watched over the scene.
But the one Rudel jumped up and held tight was Aleist.
“Aleist, my man!”
“Eh? Wait a second! With the way things were going, why
me!?”
To Aleist’s confusion, the suspicious eyes of Izumi and the
other women gathered.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s13.txt
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 160: I Kinda Don’t Really Get it
Chapter 160: I Kinda Don’t Really Get it
“You bloody fool!”
Eunius placed a hand on Rudel’s head and ruffled up his hair.
His voice was filled with true delight, while there were tears
visible in his eyes.
“You really did a number on us. You too, Aleist.”
Luecke delightedly stuck up the thumb of his gloved hand,
directing a smile towards Aleist.
However, while being embraced by Rudel, and receiving smiles
from the boys…
“Hey, way. Seriously, give me a minute! Rudel, I do think
there’s someone else you should be hugging here!”
As Aleist attempted to peel Rudel off, Izumi looked on with a
conflicted expression.
“Don’t tell me these two are…” or so Millia even sent them
doubtful eyes. Rudel parted, patting his hair in place as he
shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t be stupid. It is only natural I give my thanks to my
life’s savior. Mn? Oh Izumi, I see you’re here too.”
A bitter smile from Izumi, upon being treated as an extra.
“I really am happy. Though a part of me can’t rejoice…”
For just an instant. A very brief instant, Izumi directed a look
of hostility at Aleist. A chill ran down his spine.
In order to overcome this situation, he hurriedly tried
assisting Rudel to understand the situation.
“M-more importantly, about where we are now—”
Rudel slowly stepped down from the stretcher he’d been lying on
and stretched out his back. He was confirming the state of his body
as he received his weapons Aleist’s harem members had secured.
“Oh, that’s right.”
A look at the battlefield, and even now, Sakuya was fighting the
Gora to hold it in place.
The imperial army units reformed, with the forces on both flanks
headed their way.
Rudel looked at the imperial army and offered a word.
“Now then… let’s go.”
He was going to fight the minute he revived. Aleist hurriedly
stepped in to stop him.
“No, I wonder about that! How about some rest? It looks like
more forces are gathering as we speak.”
The one who approached them was Chlust.
“Brother!”
“Chlust… you, what about the evacuees?”
Chlust breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming Rudel’s safety.
He explained the state of affairs.
“They’re fine. I’ve already handed them off. Joining the
reinforcements of the Arses House, I come bearing a force of five
thousand. They need a commander. These numbers are impossible for
me.”
The reason Chlust deemed it impossible was simply because he had
no experience leading so many troops. Additionally, he never
received commander training at the academy.
“You’ve all been educated in that field. You have real combat
experience to boot. Brother, if you’ll just take command—”
Rudel reached his right hand towards Chlust, opening his palm in
the gesture of ‘wait’. And after looking at the sky, he returned
his gaze to Chlust.
“I’m sorry, but while I’ve undergone the coursework, I am
lacking in experience. I must pass the torch to Major Bennet.”
With the talks suddenly turned her way, Bennet’s hair and ears
stood on end as she shook her head.
“Don’t ask the impossible. I have never taken charge of a land
force of this scale. Rather, if anyone here is to take the right to
command…”
Bennet’s gaze shifted to Rudel, Aleist, Luecke, then Eunius in
turn.
— They all averted their eyes.
“Major, I am a dragoon. I lack the experience to command ground
troops. I have no idea where to start!”
“Hey, I’m a dragoon too! And wait, you definitely got the
education at the academy!”
The reason Aleist looked away was simply because he had no
confidence. Having lost his cheat, at this point, even he didn’t
know whether or not he had the power to fight.
Eunius looked at Luecke, his gaze speaking, ‘Just do it’.
But Luecke—
“It does seem there is a troublesome unit with a magic circle
prepared. Good grief, I doubt anyone but me will be able to handle
it. I must head off. I leave the rest to you. Now tally ho,
Vargas!”
“H-hey, are you serious!?”
“Like I care. Not my problem, not going to deal with it.”
— He scrambled to be the first one off.
Taken aback, Eunius picked up his weapon and started from the
spot.
“O-oh, now that I’ve got a closer look, that’s General Rhoshwas’
flag over there. My house’s got a score to settle with that bloke.
Yep. I’ve got to go take care of that.”
Later! Said Eunius, leading his men to take flight.
All eyes gathered on Rudel and Aleist.
“B-brother?”
Chlust looked at Rudel.
(Well, Rudel’s far worthier than me.)
There, Rudel whistled. Reacting to that whistle, Sakuya lifted
into the air, and descended beside him.
Rudel cleared his throat.
“It’s that, you know. As long as that black one’s there, it’s
meaningless no matter your numbers. So I think someone has to take
on the top dragon and bottom giant.”
Once everyone agreed that was a valid point, Sakuya loomed over
Rudel, and reached her hand.
Immediately jumping onto its palm, Rudel addressed the rest of
them.
“I’m a dragoon, so Chlust, I’m leaving the ground troops to you.
Aleist!”
“Me?”
Rudel pointed at the Gora.
“I’ll take on the black dragon up top. You take care of that
black thing.”
Aleist hurriedly refuted it.
“No, I don’t have any power any—”
Rudel smiled.
“Don’t worry. Sakuya told me at the entrance to the world
beyond. You’ll be just fine. Now onward, Aleist!”
With a large flap of Sakuya’s wings, Rudel was set for the
skies. When Izumi jumped up to chase after him, Sakuya carefully
caught her and placed her on her back.
“… Huh?”
Hearing he would be fine, Aleist looked at the gora, only to
find it was coming right at them. Now that Sakuya was gone, it
seemed Aleist was the first on its list.
“Wait a second!!”
In Aleist’s dismay, his faithful nightmare Heath drew close.
“Y-you… where have you been?”
Breathing a sigh, Millia gave it to Aleist.
“Aleist, get a grip. If you don’t do something about that, we’ll
all be in danger! Hey, I’ll help out, so just hurry.”
Aleist nodded. Bennet shrugged her shoulders.
“You have my cooperation. I’m sure it’ll be hard for the black
knight alone. Still, we’ll need just a bit more manpower.”
To Bennet’s words, Aleist—
“If we had just… one more dragoon.”
A new dragoon made entered the stage from directly overhead.
“Did you call?”
There, the man boasting the number one aerial technique in the
dragoon brigade, Keith, looked at Aleist with a glint in his
eye.
“Keith-san!”
“It’s a request of my dear Aleist-kun. Yep, how about I lend a
hand.”
Bennet’s face twitched.
“Keith… where have you been this whole time?”
◇
High in the sky.
Around were the dragons fighting against the black wyverns.
Soaring through the wide sky filled with tempestuous dogfights,
Sakuya was delighted to have Rudel riding her back.
‘I thought I would never see you again!’
Rudel gently stroked the back of the delighted, crying
dragon.
“I’m sorry. But it’s alright now.”
Having died once and come back, Rudel made a bit of a liberated
face. Izumi took a look at him and posed the question out of
curiosity.
“Did something happen?”
Rudel closed his eyes, he recalled what had happened at death’s
door.
“I made Sakuya mad.”
“Me?”
To the dragon’s Sakuya’s confusion, “A different Sakuya,” Rudel
said, opening his eyes wide to look at the sky. Before his eyes,
the form of a wyvern coming at Sakuya, it’s large mouth ajar.
Holding his right hand forward, Rudel produced a sword of light,
put a spin on it and fired it at the wyvern.
Receiving the blade, the wyvern’s head was blown off, as it
turned to black smoke and faded away.
“A dragoon is complete with human and dragon. Why did I send you
away? She asked.”
Izumi smiled just a little sorrowfully.
“I see. So she helped you out.”
Rudel issued orders to Sakuya.
“Sakuya, a dragoon’s true domain is the sky. Let’s show those
imperials the power of a true dragoon.”
‘Yeah!’
When Sakuya roared, the wyverns in the sky directed their
hostility towards Rudel.
The one directing it most was the vile serpent.
Approaching Sakuya, it opened its large mouth and breathed its
breath.
‘You really are obstinate! I’ll send you to the other side,
however many times it takes!’
Laughing at the dark dragon’s words,
“Now that would be troublesome. I wouldn’t want Sakuya scolding
me too many times. And I’m a dragoon. Now that my partner is here,
you’ll soon learn I’m a bit different.”
Issuing orders to Sakuya, he exchanged breath for breath.
When Sakuya used her four wings to suddenly turn, the vile
serpent gave chase.
‘You can’t run away!’
When the dragon opened its large mouth towards the back Sakuya
showed, Rudel laughed.
“Run? Far from it.”
Holding his right hand straight out at the dragon, Rudel
produced a number of extra large swords around them. Rotating them,
he hammered them at the moment before it could fire a breath
‘Guuh!!’
The serpent’s head was enveloped in smoke. However, it didn’t
seem to take any major damage.
‘Is that all you’ve got!? Get them!’
As the surrounding wyverns began advancing on Sakuya, the swords
Rudel produced were fired off towards them.
They pierced, exploded, and disintegrated wyverns into black
smoke.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
On Rudel’s provocation, the vile serpent opened its blood-red
eyes wide.
‘You blasted irregulars!! …!’
The serpent opened its large mouth and spread its wings to
exclaim. But It was then the surrounding dragons all turned to fire
on it at once.
And as it endured, a blue dragon approached from right
above.
‘Twas Mystith.
‘You’re top’s wide open!’
Lowering a fist from overhead, she slammed the serpent into the
ground head-first. While it was an attack with all of her might,
the wounds from butchering any a wyvern stood out on her body.
‘Alright!’
“Alright!”
Mystith cinched it with a pose. And… so did Lena on her
back.
Spotting her, Rudel was dumbfounded.
“What are you doing, Lena!?”
Izumi was just as surprised. But Lena sent Rudel a wing, as she
raised one arm in greeting.
“I, Lena Arses have from today onward become Mystith’s partner!
Best regards, bronin!”
‘That’s how it is.’
Mystith’s acceptance did little to alleviate Rudel’s confusion.
But this wasn’t the right place to sit and dawdle.
“I-is that so. There’s plenty I’d like to hear, but that thing
comes first.”
Looking down, there was the form of the serpent rising off of
the ground. It seemed to be feeling it in the head as it birthed a
large new batch of wyverns from its body.
Mystith sounded vexed.
‘Tsk, it multiplied again. I’m not losing to the likes of them,
but there are too many. Just approaching the black one’s a
pain.’
Rudel looked at the ground.
“Mystith-sama… could you leave it to me and Sakuya? We’ve
developed that quite a bit?”
Upon hearing that, Mystith readily nodded.
‘Well why not. But that whelp called us lizards. You’ve got to
hammer it home.’
Izumi thought back.
“Rudel, don’t tell me, what you used in Celestia…”
The sinister serpent that rose towards Rudel. As if to invite it
in, Sakuya soared higher and higher into the sky.
“Come, I’ll take you on.”
‘Step aside, lowly side character!’
The serpent fired its breath into the sky, but Sakuya avoided on
Rudel’s orders. Distancing themselves from the battlefield of
dragon and wyvern, they turned to face their challenger.
Breaking through the clouds into the endless sky above.
The two dragons faced off.
‘You never stop getting in our way. If you’ll come back upon
death, this time we won’t let even ash remain!’
On the serpent’s vigorous roar, Sakuya slowly took her stance in
the air.
“Let me teach you something nice.”
‘… What.’
“Don’t make like of a dragoon. Just one knight and one dragon
but… put them together, and I’ll teach you just how troublesome we
can be.”
‘Sakuya and Rudel are the strongest!’
With Sakuya’s roar, the serpent lunged at the two, Sakuya opened
her four wings wide, and Rudel unleashed the power of the white
knight.
“I couldn’t show it on land, but here it won’t be a problem.
Sakuya, we’re going all out.”
‘Yeah!’
As the light overflowing from Rudel enveloped Sakuya, symbols
began to surface over her body.
Apart from her four wings, another pair made of light…
Forming an armor of light to protect her, giving off a divine
light. Further behind the wings, a golden circle formed.
Izumi looked at that form, containing her hair swaying from the
breeze as she muttered.
“… Breathtaking.”
The white dragon wore golden armor, and pinned down the serpent
coming at them with both hands.
‘W-what!?’
The serpent was surprised. It noticed Sakuya was different than
she had been a moment ago.
Sakura roared as she got in a right hook. Reeling back, the
serpent disappeared into the clouds, firing a breath off from
within them.
A number of golden shields manifested around Sakuya to obstruct
it.
The serpent burst out of the clouds, raising its speed to circle
around in an attempt to catch Sakuya off guard.
But Sakuya immediately reacted and followed suit. With Sakuya
right behind it, maintaining an exact distance and giving chase,
the serpent was put on the rung.
‘C-curses. Curse you!!’
It stopped, turned, and fired a breath, but elegantly avoiding
it, Sakuya’s sure-fire special—
‘One, two, finish!’
Left, right, tail, three consecutive attacks smashed into the
dragon. The impact greatly shifted the clouds and changed their
shape. Cracks raced through the serpent’s skin they had never
managed to pierce, as dragon blood was shed.
‘M-mocking me…’
The serpent flared at Rudel and Sakuya. It seemed it was
unforgivable for a dragon to bring the smackdown.
Izumi seemed to understand those feelings just a bit.
“Well, it certainly is a little unfair.”
Rudel looked at the vile serpent, folding his arms.
“Playtime ends here.”
It was then that the serpent burst into laughter.
‘I see. The exchange stone. Aleist used the powers residing in
his body as compensation to bring you back!’
The laughing dragon looked at Rudel, pointing a finger. While it
was unknown how it looked into it, it seemed to know the means
through which Rudel was brought back.
“Correct.”
Rudel made it short, preparing for his next attack.
‘Then it was a mistake to pull me away. You should have
remained. Right around now, the gora will have run them all down.
As long as I hold you here, victory is our—’
“… Unfortunately, that’s not happening.”
Interrupting the serpent’s words, Rudel informed it.
“The three who remained on ground, Aleist, Luecke and Eunius are
my dear friends. We fought at the academy time and again, and I
went through great pains each time.”
Rudel slowly pulled his sword, directing its point at the
serpent.
“Don’t you dare make light of them. Even if Aleist loses
inexhaustible mana and talent, and a great deal else… what he built
up won’t fade away. That guy is strong. He’s the man I’ve
recognized.”
The serpent roared and came at Sakuya.
Sakuya spread out her six large wings wide, to meet it.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s2.txt
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 149: The Empire’s Advance
Chapter 149: The Empire’s Advance
“So you were brought here too.”
The jail cell the royal guard led Izumi to was already occupied
by Sophina. A clammy underground dungeon, she could barely make out
her face by the unreliable light.
“U-umm,”
Izumi was a high knight, same as Sophina. But Sophina was her
senior and the second princess Fina’s guard who headed a unit of
her own. Why was she here? As Izumi puzzled over it, Sophina lifted
herself off the bed and stretched.
“The princess was taken in too. We were bound and shoved in
here. Our weapons were taken, but our clothes were left as is. They
must be in quite a hurry.”
Perhaps there was no time to dress them in prison robes, as
after taking their weapons and shoving them in the cell, the royal
guard knights had already gone off somewhere.
The soldier keeping watch over them seemed restless as well.
“Just what could have… this is just too terrible.”
Sophina fully agreed with Izumi’s words. While she agreed, she
was keeping somewhat collected.
“There’s been movement in the palace for quite a while now. It’s
just, I never imagined they would take it this far.”
“You know something? I need to get out of here fast and save
Rudel.”
“… Err, did something happen to Rudel-dono?”
Sophina seemed troubled. Izumi promptly explained he had been
sent off to the battlefield as a lone rider. When she described
Aleist’s predicament, Sophina seemed surprised.
“So the black knight’s the supreme commander. Not bad. I thought
she’d force Fritz into the position, but… did someone stop her?
She’s surprisingly brittle.”
“You sure are calm.”
At Izumi’s light sarcasm, Sophina gave a sardonic laugh. After
checking her surroundings, she whispered.
“Hey, don’t be like that. I managed to learn this and that was
going on thanks to the princess. Sorry, but my lord was taken in
too… until the major players at the palace make their move, I doubt
she will make hers. That’s the sort of person she is.”
“Then she has something planned? If she doesn’t hurry up with
it, something terrible will–”
“It’s already plenty terrible. But see, she intends to use these
developments as well. She really is… if she was just a bit more
decent of a human being, you can’t imagine how easier my life would
be.”
After saying that, Sophina instructed Izumi to lie down and get
some rest.
◇
The audience chamber.
The gathered nobles were informed not of medals to be
bestowed.
The kingdom of Courtois’ audience chamber was a vast room, it’s
make of an extravagance worthy of a major power. The knights and
nobles gathered in such a place, Eunius and Luecke included, were
mostly struck dumbfounded.
The king wasn’t taking part.
The queen nowhere to be seen.
Princess Aileen stood in front of the throne, giving an
address.
“The Gaia Empire has yet to learn their lesson, they are once
again preparing to invade Courtois soil! Their parch has already
begun… the time has come to show your loyalty to Courtois!”
Within all the confusion, upon hearing of the Gaia Empire’s
march, the nobles were quick to direct their eyes to the dragoons
taking part.
While they feigned composure, the dragoon brigade members looked
to be holding it in.
“We will prepare to depart at once. But first… we initially
intended to request the role of supreme commander in this battle to
the Black Knight. However, the black knight has fled like the
coward he is. While he might not be a fitting replacement, I
appoint the Captain of the Royal Guard, Fritz-dono as Supreme
Commander.”
The audience chamber fell into chaos. It wasn’t because the Gaia
Empire had invaded. They had invaded too many times to count, and
just as many times, the dragoons had repelled them.
The nobles’ interests were drawn to the commoner Fritz appointed
as supreme commander of the armed forces. Without any decent deeds
of arms, and still young; the voices of dissatisfaction rose
against him.
But Eunius didn’t let it elude him.
“There are some around who aren’t surprised.”
From nearby, Luecke nodded.
“Aleist isn’t here, but I don’t see Rudel either. That woman did
something. To think she’d go this far.”
Neither Aleist nor Rudel were anywhere to be seen.
A confused gathering of knights and nobles. But among them were
some not confused in the slightest, the royal guard, for one.
Eunius didn’t seem amused.
“I doubt they’re dead, but… I’m returning to my territory. I’ll
be sending soldiers from my place.”
Luecke glanced at Aileen, giving her address before the
throne.
“What a coincidence. Once this farce is over, I’ll be right on
my way back—”
And Fritz walked out before Aileen. As he walked out in front of
her, he was gifted the sword, the proof of his station by Aileen’s
hand.
Eunius looked at that sword.
“Haven’t I seen that sword somewhere before—”
Aileen, after handing the sword to Fritz.
“This is a sword produced by gathering the best technology
Courtois has to offer. Surely it’s worthy of the supreme commander.
You have to make sure you bring it back.”
Fritz held the sword high.
“Without fail, I shall return here and report on our
victory!”
Luecke, to Eunius’ comment.
“Looks like it’s only just been made. You must be seeing things.
Forget that, she hasn’t said a word about Rudel.”
Luecke worried for his friend.
◇
Aleist had come to the basement dungeon.
Showing himself from within the shadows of the dim cells, he
restlessly checked his surroundings.
“Izumi-san, are you alright?”
Izumi sprung off the bed, looking at Aleist who had somehow
entered her cell in surprise.
“I never knew you could do that.”
“Well you see, as I was chased around by night visits, I learned
a thing or two on how to use it. Being the Black Knight sure is
convenient… wait, no time to chit-chat. Here.”
Aleist pulled out Izumi’s katana from the shadow and handed it
over. He tossed over the key alongside it.
“I’m in your debt. Aleist, what’s the situation right now?”
After accepting the katana and gripping the key tight, she tried
to confirm the present situation from Aleist. But he hung his
head.
“Sorry. I’ve just been running around. I want to inform Eunius
and Luecke of the situation, but it’s not just the royal guard, it
seems Princess Aileen’s got some allies in other places… It’s
hopeless for me, I just stand out too much. I’ve come for your
cooperation…”
Sophina in the cell lifted her body and turned to Aleist.
“… The defenders.”
“Pardon.”
“Seek help from the defenders. Use the princess’ name if you
have to. If you just need to deliver a message, they can still move
around the castle freely. Can you give me just a few more details
on the state of affairs?”
Aleist reported everything he’d managed to learn.
◇
The captain of the dragoon brigade Oldart faced the supreme
commander Fritz.
With Princess Aileen stationed to his side, he couldn’t make any
rash remarks.
“In short, you’re putting us under the commander’s control? It’s
troubling that you’re saying something so blatantly obvious, and
it’s also troubling that you arbitrarily sent my subordinate off to
the battlefield. You said it was an area of low priority, but in
the present state with the empire attacking on two fronts, one
unit’s worth of war potential is clearly not up to par. I shall
send additional reinforcements.”
Oldart’s discontentment came from Aileen superseding him,
sending Rudel to a warzone unassisted. A dragon was certainly
powerful. They were powerful, but a battle was also about
numbers.
Sending only one rider was something he couldn’t overlook as the
captain. And he couldn’t forgive that she ordered around one of his
men.
Fritz boldly responded.
“As long as their main force lies elsewhere, it is only natural
we concentrate our war potential there.”
Oldart gave a scornful laugh.
“You sound like you already know which one’s their main force…
while we haven’t received a lick of information. What could that
possibly mean?”
There, Aileen stuck in her mouth. Fritz had faltered ever so
slightly, so she was surely to cover for him.
“Now’s not the time to speak of such matters. Under Fritz-sama’s
command, the dragoon brigade will band together and drive back the
empire. That is an order.”
If she called it an order, he had no choice but to obey.
However—
“If it’s an order, I’ll obey. I want to get this over with
already so I can save my subordinate. How about we have a good talk
once I’m back?”
Under Oldart’s glare, Fritz.
“Then prepare to depart at once. The dragoon brigade will take
the lead to beat down our foe. Based on the speed of their
preparations, the main force will depart immediately.”
But Aileen added on.
“Dragoon captain… in the case the enemy crosses the border, I
will permit an attack. But I won’t approve of anything else.”
Oldart spoke through a sign.
“I’m well aware. How long do you think we’ve been protecting the
border?”
Aileen simply gave a fearless smile. It was more than enough to
tip Oldart off that something was up.
(… Now then, what do I do about this? I guess I’ll have Keith
move or something.)
◇
It was the Arses House mansion.
Erselica made a desperate plea before her father’s room.
“Father, when Chlust-niisama is fighting, why won’t the Arses
House send reinforcements!?”
No matter how she raised her voice, she never got a response. It
wasn’t only her father, upon learning of Chlust’s predicament, her
mother wouldn’t attempt any action either.
Having frequently exchanged letters with Chlust, Erselica knew
the situation of the border fort in detail. She learned of the
Empire’s movements from Chlust as well.
On that front, Erselica had supported him to the best of her
abilities. But come so far, the notice came that the empire had
finally initiated its full mobilization. The Rases House showed no
signs of moving.
Around the room, the retainers had gathered.
(If I’d just moved faster.)
A vexed Erselica raised her voice at the door time and
again.
“I’m begging you. The preparations are already in order. All
that’s left is for you to give the order, father, and we will be on
our way.”
She had already confirmed her father was in the room, and the
Arses House had completed its preparations to sortie. Looking at
them as an archduke house, they could only send a minuscule number,
but that was all Erselica could prepare with all her might.
“There are other lords who have promised us their cooperation.
Why must my own father, an archduke, remain stationary when his
country is in a time of crisis!?”
Her desperate pleas wouldn’t reach her father in the room. Not
only that, to Erselica and the retainers gathered before the
room—
“What is the meaning of this, how irritatingly noisy!”
— From the other side of the corridor, her mother appeared
leading along her servants.
“Mother! You throw in a word too! The fort Chlust-niisama is
stationed at is under attack by the empire. I seek permission to
send reinforcements!”
Her mother offered a cold rebuttal to her words.
“… That child is the failure of the Arses House. If he puts up a
hard fight at the fort and dies in battle, it will at least
somewhat recover the Arses House’s reputation. And even if we don’t
move, the likes of the empire can be driven back by those
dragons.”
Erselica listened on in terror. She shook her head to the
side.
“… I’ve heard enough.”
“What’s with that attitude? Someone lock Erselica up. Good
grief, causing such a ruckus…”
As her mother tried to leave, she was surrounded by armed
knights and soldiers.
The butler by Erselica’s side didn’t find fault in that.
“What is the meaning of this!? Who do you think I am!”
Turning to her clamoring mother, Erselica shot back.
“If you are to take a watchful stance in this crisis, you have
no qualifications to lead this house! Bind and imprison my father
and mother! We will be sending reinforcements immediately. Tell the
lords who’ve promised assistance to dispatch at once.”
While the knights and soldiers moved around, soldiers with axes
appeared in front of the room. They destroyed the door and flooded
in.
As the soldiers apprehended her, she looked at Erselica.
“Do you understand what you’re doing!? Such an act… no one will
ever recognize it!”
The more Erselica watched her mother, the sadder her expression
became.
“… There are no vassals here who will assist you. The only ones
here are those discontent with your deeds. The others all ran away
when I imparted precise information and asked for their
cooperation.”
Erselica had put in a request to Lena to have Luecke look into
the factional relations. What factions the surrounding feudal lords
pledged allegiance to, and what houses had an invested
interest.
There were plenty of lords and palace officials who didn’t think
so kindly of the Arses House’s present state that would collapse if
things were to go on.
By talking with those people, Erselica had made her own
preparations.
“Erselica-sama!”
One of the knights restrained her father and led him out of the
room. While he wore a gown, he had nothing but undergarments on
underneath.
There were a number of women and it was permeated with the scent
of alcohol. Looking d own on her father muttering complaints,
Erselica spoke.
“Take him away. We don’t have time to waste on him.”
◇
While the manor was in a boisterous commotion, Lena climbed up
to the roof and looked up at the sky.
“… Now then, I should get moving.”
Holding her spear, wearing clothing easy to move around in, Lena
whistled. That whistle that resounded through the sky, it almost
seemed as if it was calling for something.
Sitting right down on the roof, it seemed like Lena was going to
stay there and wait until whatever she called for arrived.
“You think that broski of mine’s gonna win against fate?”
Curiously, Lena smiled.
From the start, Lena was a peculiar sister. She was Rudel’s
peculiar sister. At the start, Rudel was able to become more human
because Lena was there. When Rudel held no interest for other
people, he showed interest towards Lena. At the important times, it
was Lena who was involved with Rudel.
Not directly, she had always been indirectly tied in.
“Well, he’s my broster, he should be fine.”
Lena said and looked at the sky.
◇
The scene shifts to a fort continuing its resistance.
The army led by Askewell of the Gaia Empire had continued minor
attacks as if to torment it.
There were a number of reasons, but while they managed to
infiltrate foreign soil well enough, they had advanced without
receiving anything that could be classified as resistance.
Dispatching units to the towns and villages in the area, they
were scraping together supplies.
Keeping a low profile to Askewell’s side, Mies looked bitterly
at the supplies they had gathered.
In the tent, she reported the present situation to Askewell as
he sat in his chair.
“Askewell-sama, the enemy has mostly pulled out. While a small
portion of villages have ignored the evacuation order and remained,
I believe the enemy commander ordered the civilians in this parts
to find refuge as soon as our side started moving.”
Askewell quietly muttered.
“I see. Then the monsters must be hungry.”
From the start, the black monsters of his army were disposable
pieces. And those pieces had their own role in his forces.
The empire was teeming with people. The plan was to migrate to
Courtois’ plentiful soil, and with that goal in mind, the people
living on that land were in the way. Taking care of that disposal
was the monsters’ job.
“I thought this was a country that could only rely on its
dragons, but it looks like it has some staunch men of its own. To
let the people flee, and try to hold out at but a small fort.”
Mies confirmed their future course with Askewell.
“What should we do? It would be simple to crush them, but we
intended to set up a base of operations there, so that would
greatly affect the—”
After Mies had said that much, a messenger soldier entered the
tent.
“Your Highness! Enemy dragoons are approaching! Gray in color!
Two riders!”
Askewell grinned at that report.
“… Perfect timing. Send out the wyvern unit.”
The moment the messenger left the tent, the surroundings were
filled with the voices of monsters.
Askewell stood to his feet; Mies followed him outside. Around
them, wyverns took to the sky one after the next, with knights in
black armor straddling their backs.
They were up against two knights, yet their charge consisted of
a few dozens.
Gray dragons.
Dragons domesticated by Courtois, they were said to be the
weakest, but even so, they had been a threat to the empire as it
was. While the soldier seemed anxious, they looked like they had
some hope in the wyvern unit’s dispatch.
No, one might say they were sending their prayers. To the
empire, the dragons were they symbol of fear. In the past, a single
blue dragon had been enough to put them through countless
terrifying experiences.
That fear was passed from father to child, succeeded by their
grandchildren.
In regards to the two dragoons, the dozens of wyverns surrounded
them to carry out their attack. Perhaps as expected of a dragon,
they put up a good fight against the wyverns, but in the end,
before the difference in numbers, one eventually fell to the
ground.
Askewell looked over the scene.
“Looks like three on one will be enough to fight. Their aerial
maneuvers are rough, but they should be able to fight well
enough.”
The surrounding black monsters and human soldiers gathered to
attack the fallen dragoon.
Raising a cheer, the dragon’s head was lopped off and hoisted
high into the sky.
“The era of the dragoons is over!”
“Glory to the Empire! Glory to Prince Askewell!”
“Have a look, the other one’s running away!”
Overhead, the dragoon surrounded on all sides received attacks
as if it were being made a game of. Even so, four allied wyverns
took a fall.
“… If they get in some combat experience, the wyvern unit could
become a mainstay of the empire’s forces.”
Askewell sent a sorrowful look at his dead subordinates. They
were his precious troops and his comrades. Watching Askewell mourn
his fallen comrades, Mies was moved.
“Askewell-sama, you’re too kind.”
The final dragoon fell to the ground. Was it the bond between
knight and dragon? The dragon followed his rider to the ground as
if to protect him. On land, the knights and soldiers raised cried,
and the monsters flocked around knight and dragon.
To the empire, this was the scene they had waited so long for.
The once-rulers of the sky, the dragoons falling to their earth,
the scene of their own wyvern unit becoming the sky’s new
sovereigns.
It meant the era of cowering from Courtois was over.
“Show the heads of knight and dragon to the fort! After we chip
their fighting spirit, advise them to surrender!”
The surrounding knights raising cheers, they held up their
weapons and thrust their fists towards the heavens.
Within that, his golden hair fluttering behind him, his body
clad in black armor, Askewell was a picturesque sight to
behold.
◇
“Captain!”
In the first, Chlust was woken from his rest by his
subordinate.
He hadn’t slept in days, and while he attempted to get in just a
few hours, the situation had vehemently changed.
Rising from the bed, Chlust slapped his cheeks to wake up as he
received the report.
“What happened?”
“The empire… the empire took out a dragoon!’
Hearing the words, Chlust made off without the chance to grab
any proper armor. Once he arrived where there was a good view he
saw the heads of two dragons, and the terrible state of two knights
lined up in the plaza in front of the fort.
Two imperial knights ordering around black ogres loudly demanded
their surrender.
“Bear witness to what Prince Askewell’s new unit has made of the
dragoons you relied upon! Cowards of Courtois! You have been given
the option. Fight for this fort to your deaths or surrender and
submit to the empire!”
The imperial knight’s words threw the local civilians who
remained at the fort into a panic. They had never even imagined
that a dragoon could lose.
It had never occurred to Chlust that the dragoons who came to
their aid would lose so easily.
“How in the… there’s something in the sky.”
In the air above them, a dragon-like shadow… no, Chlust was a
man born of Courtois. He knew that shadow was different from the
dragons of Courtois.
From his knowledge, he could make out what sort of monster it
was.
“Why are wyverns… they’re supposed to have even harsher
temperaments than dragons. No human has ever been able to make a
contract with them before!”
Chlust’s subordinates were gathered around him, cautiously
glancing around.
“Captain, the civilians who didn’t flee are demanding an
explanation. At this rate, this fortress will become a battle
royal!”
The people who fled into the fort and said they wouldn’t move
until the war was over were beginning to raise a ruckus. They had
been certain there was no way they would lose, but hearing of the
dragoons’ defeat, they were beginning to stir.
“That’s why I told them to run… dammit!”
Chlust was cornered into a situation with enemies both inside
and out.
It was a small fort.
If the citizens taking refuge inside ran amok, the knights and
soldiers would have to fight to save their own skin. When that
happened, the fortress insides would turn to hell.
The troops that remained were fighting to protect Courtois. If
they had to kill their own citizens, it would lead to a large loss
of morale. If it came to that, protecting this fort would be
impossible.
Before the fort, the imperial knight yelled.
“If you bring out the fort commander’s head, we wouldn’t mind
setting you up as nobles. Unlike Courtois, the empire pays its
dues!”
Loudly, the knight laughed.
Chlust and those around him heard it out in despair. The
civilians were beginning to gather around them.
Chlust’s subordinate.
“Stand down! Don’t try to go out.”
They readied their weapons to threaten the evacuated civilians,
but those civilians had gripped farm implements, and whatever
weapons they could find around the fort.
“I-it’s your fault for losing, bastards!”
“If I can become a noble in the empire…”
“We just want to live in peace!”
Chlust regretted leaving his armaments in his room.
(To think I would be killed by those I was to protect… sorry,
brother. This is as far as I go.)
Chlust had begun considering surrendering himself to the enemy.
If that would save his men and the people here.
But something passed over the skies of such a fort.
To the skies where those of both Courtois and Gaia raised their
heads, a dragon with four, large white wings was falling towards
the ground. Once its large build slammed into the soil, the
surrounding imperial knights, soldiers, and a great many black
monsters were blown off of their feet.
From above, a wyvern opened its mouth to hammer in its breaths,
but that mouth pierced through by a large sword of light, the magic
storing in its mouth reacted, exploded, and blew off its head.
While a cloud of dust covered everything, a glimmering something
let off an explosion of light.
The sounds of screams chimed out in turn, and at the end, the
white dragon’s large wings blew away the dust.
What appeared was a single knight clad in white armor, his blue
mantle fluttering in the wind. Imperial knights and monsters
gathering around him. That knight in white armor was soon
surrounded.
Chlust muttered—
“… Brother.”
◇
Landing on the ground alongside Sakuya, Rudel leaned the sword
in his right hand against his shoulders.
Looking around, there was nothing but enemies.
Two gray dragon heads presented before the fort, the husks of
knights were stuck up in unsightly states.
One among them was Rudel’s contemporary.
Saas Venia—a dragoon, while he had a bad look in his eyes, he
had a knack for looking after people.
Rudel had heard he’d been stationed on the border, and after
rushing to help, he had died in battle.
“… You’re disrespecting a warrior.”
As he sent around a look, the imperial knights and soldiers
behind the black monsters raised their voice. Surely they were
giving orders for his death. Rudel closed his eyes.
The blue eyes he slowly opened turned red, precisely taking in
the movements of his surroundings. Within a sensation as if time
was slowly passing by, Rudel spoke.
“I’m sure you all came here knowing you might now return to your
fatherland alive.”
Matching Rudel’s wrath, Sakuya roared into the sky. As
surrounding soldiers covered their ears at that ear-shaking din,
Rudel rushed forward and cut down the black ogre that had rushed
out before him.
It was the sort of black ogre he encountered in his school days,
its body covered in the white insignia of one who had once tried to
get in his way.
Rudel took a swipe at the net ogre.
“… I take it you’re serious. But you won’t advance a step
further!”
Turning his left hand forward, Rudel manifested a number of
swords of light around. The point of each made off towards its own
destination, impaling monster and enemy soldier alike.
While one of the knights parried the sword with his blade, it
exploded and crumbled his stance. Not letting the opportunity slip
by, Rudel closed in and let his sword run from his left shoulder to
right hip.
Armor was cut through, blood spouted as a terrible scene spread
around.
Sakuya brushed away ogres with her giant arms; she fired off her
breath towards the sky. As the airborne wyverns came into contact
with her breath, their wings tore, sending them falling to the
ground.
In contrast, even if the wyverns’ breath hit Sakuya directly, it
didn’t exhibit any particular effect.
The knight taking command in the back.
“R-retreat! Retreeaaat!!”
The order cemented the knight in Rudel’s mind as the commanding
officer, and closing the distance in an instant, he smacked his foe
with the shield in his left hand.
The knight commanding from horseback tolled across the ground,
while his horse acted up and ran off elsewhere.
The knights around tried to surround Rudel with their spears and
swords. Taking a lance thrust at him from a mounted knight in his
left hand, he snatched it away, and stuck it into the torso of a
knight with a sword.
Returning his own sword to its scabbard, he used a stolen sword
to cut at the nearest soldier. Another swift movement, as he cut
down monster and human in succession, his form, his movements were
truly close to a beast’s.
“You… monster!!”
Blown away by Sakuya, and rapidly sunk into a sea of blood by
Rudel, the unit of the empire.
It didn’t even take an hour for everything to be over.
The scene was witnessed by the soldiers and knights of the fort,
and the evacuated residents in gross fascination.
When it had ended, Rudel apprehended an unconscious enemy
leader. With a wave of his hand, he ordered those watching from the
fort to collect the commander from him.
Tossing aside the sword he was holding, Rudel walked over to the
husk of a comrade.
“… I’ll get you down. Sakuya, you take care of the dragons.”
‘… Yeah.’
Sakuya recovered the dragon’s heads, and as she gently placed
them on the ground, Rudel released his comrade and contemporary
from their gruesome fastenings.
To his friend Saas’ husk, Rudel made an address.
“I didn’t make it in time. I’m sorry… but I’ll fight for your
share. I shall definitely spread word of your heroism.”
Once soldiers raced in from the fort, Rudel looked around. The
monsters and soldiers he had killed were littered around, but
strangely, the monster dissolved into black smoke and
disappeared.
The black fumes ignored the pull of the wind, making off
somewhere.
Rudel’s expression was harsh as he looked at the sky, but there
he heard a nostalgic voice.
“Brother!”
When he turned, there was Chlust, not in a decent piece of
armor. He must have hurried, his breathing was considerably
rough.
“… You did well to hold out, Chlust.”
Chlust didn’t know what he was supposed to say. But looking at
Rudel, he made a serious face.
“Brother, that was only a small portion of the empire’s army.
Their main force is still ahead, scraping together supplies from
the area. I have to ask, how many reinforcements can we
expect?”
Seeing Chlust make the face of a commander, Rudel mood lightened
just a bit. But the thought couldn’t remain.
“Unfortunately, I was sent as the vanguard. I don’t have any
definite information on reinforcements.”
Chlust hung his head a bit.
“Understood. And thank you… you saved us.”
He gave his thanks.
|
LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
|
Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s3.txt
|
Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 150: Comrade
Chapter 150: Comrade
After entrusting the defenders with a message to Luecke and
Eunius, Aleist had come to the gate to slip out of the palace.
Concealing himself in the pillar of a shadow near the gate, he
kept a close watch from within its shadow.
(I doubt I’ll be able to break through the walls or gate.)
They were bestowed with a special make, an especially high
resistance to magic in order to protect the palace.
There were armed soldiers stationed around and an order had been
issued for Aleist to be captured on sight.
While he had been able to evade all attempts, the Black Knight’s
power didn’t allow him to teleport. At most, he could sink into and
move across shadows.
The sun was high in the sky, leaving little room for him to
hide, let alone move. When he hid, only a single stretch formed a
conspicuously darker shadow, which might give him off all too
easily.
(Drat! I spent so long moving around, that time is… it looks
like my parents and the others got away, but…)
Izumi had made for Luecke and Eunius alongside the defenders. It
was a stroke of luck that within the uproar of war preparations, it
seemed they weren’t keeping a proper count of those in the
cells.
But Aleist alone was different.
His renown had him on the run from those in the palace
affiliated with, or whose superiors were affiliated with Aileen’s
faction.
(They’ve sealed the back door and escape ways, so I thought I’d
try the gate)
As Aleist considered forcing his way through, the soldiers in
front of the gate beckoned to him. He hid himself in surprise, but
when one of them removed their helmet, Aleist instantly recognized
him as a dear friend from his school days.
It did seem he had known he was hiding in the shadows. The other
soldiers couldn’t notice, but his friends ended up picking him
out.
“Captain, can I go take a piss…” one of them said, separating
from his units and racing over towards Aleist.
Circling around the round pillar, Aleist stuck his upper body
out from the shadow.
“It’s been a while, Aleist.”
“Y-yeah, it really has… no, I know now’s not the right time to
catch up.”
It wasn’t like Rudel group were Aleist’s only associates. While
it may be strange to spell it out so plainly, Aleist had a few
friends.
Keeping wary of his surroundings,
“Why did you run away? Supreme commander’s got to be a huge
promotion. Your parents and girlfriends got through… but the palace
is going to send someone after them in no time.”
Aleist gave a general explanation. That this world was strange,
and on top of Aileen running wild he explained in as shortest terms
as possible that Rudel was in danger.
His emotions getting the better of him, he didn’t know if he was
properly getting his thoughts across.
While still confused,
“… Got it. Luckily, the three of us are in the same unit. Makes
things convenient.”
“Convenient?”
“We’ll open the front gate just a bit. Use that opening to break
through.”
To his friend’s proposal, Aleist shook his head to the side.
“No way. You’ll get yourself killed.”
His friend smiled a bit.
“Play it off well, and it’ll end at the dungeons. And you
know,”
“You know?”
As Aleist worried, his friend smiled.
“This is the most we can do. Don’t be such a stranger…”
His friend pulled his helmet back down, and running off from
behind the pillar, he immediately informed his captain he had
returned. After explaining the situation to the other two, the
three immediately sprung to motion.
It was necessary to move a mechanism to open the gate; two of
them faced the soldiers protecting the lever, while one of them
distracted the captain.
And—
“Bastards! What are you doing!?”
By the time the captain noticed, the gate was already half
opened. While Aleist hesitated a bit, he soon leapt out from the
shadow and made a dash for the gate. To hurriedly close it, the
knights and soldiers had flocked around the lever, letting him run
through with ease.
A look back, and his friends were being smacked. But in the
moment before it slammed down.
“Go! Aleist!!”
They cried. The troops raised a great ruckus, they’d begun to
gather. Aleist made a clenched fist, he grit his teeth as he dived
into the shadows beyond the gate and sped away.
While the knights tried chasing Aleist shadow, upon shifting to
the shadows cast by the town scape, he easily shook them off.
(I’m sorry. I’ll definitely be back to save you!)
Aleist prayed for the safety of his friends.
◇
Into the basement dungeon, three battered knights were shoved
in.
Sophina watched from a cell on the opposite side.
“… What did these three do?”
She confirmed it with the soldiers who took them in; the lead
soldiers looked down over the three.
“They helped the black knight escape. Good grief, I can’t
comprehend why someone would aid a coward fleeing from war. If they
really are friends, they should’ve stopped him.”
With work to do, the soldiers soon left the cell.
“Are you friends of the Black Knight?”
The battered three looked to have been beaten quite brutally.
While their bones were probably intact, their faces and bodies were
ridden with bruises.
One of them muttered.
“Ha, hahaha, that’s right.”
On that answer, Sophina reached her arm through the iron bars.
Her left hand let off a faint light as the three writhed in pain,
their injured parts acting up.
“Stay put. It’ll be over soon.”
The dungeon’s watchman raced over.
“What are you doing!? Don’t make any funny moves.”
He held up a spear to intimidate her, so after a scoff,
“It’s already done. Don’t tell me you have a problem with
treating their injuries? And it’s not like I’m being kept here for
committing a crime.”
As the watchman went off with complaints on his breath, Sophina
looked at the three raising their bodies. And—
“Now then, you’ve taken some drastic measures, I see. If luck’s
against you, your punishments might reach all the way to your
families.”
The three gave thanks for the healing magic.
“The magic was a lifesaver. But to think that guy’d look so
serious… and when we heard Princess Aileen was involved, our
generation can’t help but be suspicious.”
Rudel and Aleist’s generation was one especially exposed to
Aileen’s preferential treatment of Fritz. They had witnessed and
formed a doubt.
Sophina had spent a few years at the academy as Fina’s guard.
Through that relationship, she was relatively knowledgeable on the
academy’s circumstances.
“I see… your year was one with a strong doubt towards Princess
Aileen. In that case,”
As Sophina considered adding these three to her war potential,
the footsteps of an armed group resounded through the basement
dungeon. The shrill sound of scraping metal, and the screams of
watchmen.
“W-what are you—!”
The watch instantly fell silent, as a tall gathering peered into
to confirm the contents of the cell.
One of the three,
“Tiger tribe? Why are they in a place like…”
A tall, armed tiger tribe young man spotted Sophina. Taking
along the two, he walked hunched-up through the narrow-looking
passage.
“I take it you are Sophina-san. The princess orders you to get
ready.”
Hearing that, Sophina.
“So it’s come. You’re here anyway, so get my subordinates and
those three too. It’s best to have as much manpower as
possible.”
Once the tiger tribe men opened the lock, Sophina met up with
her subordinates in the other cells.
(Now then, the fact that we’re moving means…)
◇
“NUHOHOHOoHoooo!”
Rolling on the bed, Fina was getting her fill of vacation in a
room far too luxurious for a prison.
“The seedy cheap fluff of this pillow is irresistible. If it was
just a bit fluffier, it would be perfect.”
She was shoved in a cell right after pulling an all-nighter:
after eating, she crashed, woke up, took a bath, then fell asleep
all over again. Leading such a no-good lifestyle, Fina found there
were no lifeforms to her tastes or demi-humans around, so she
embraced her pillow and rolled across the bed.
And yet.
“Hah, and now I’m bored. It really doesn’t hold up to real
fluff. Rather, I’ll make do with a sewer rat, someone, anyone come
out. I just want to give you food and rear you to liven the place
up a bit.”
Speaking as if she was scolding who she was up to a moment
before to learn some self-reflection, even placed in this
situation, Fina was expressionless and calm.
Getting somewhat a feel of the ruckus in the palace, she sensed
the main players were moving, so she had gone into
preparations.
Moving her expressionless body, Fina went into some warm-up
stretches as she spoke.
“My word, when you already know it’s going to happen, it sure is
quick to prepare for. Though thanks to that, we can move just as
fast.”
Breaking into a peculiar dance, Fina loosened up her body before
sitting on the bed. She corrected her posture, keeping as
motionless as a doll.
It was at that moment she heard a boisterous voice from the
door.
‘W-who are—!’
‘Call for backu—!’
She remained stationary throughout the ruckus. When the door
opened, a full-armed Mii popped in her head. She could see other
demi-human soldiers and knights through the gap in the door.
“P-princess, we’ve come to save you.”
Fina gave a small, expressionless nod. It wasn’t just to Mii,
she had to show her surrounding allies the sort of character she
was.
“I’m glad you could make it, Mii. I’m sure you’ve all had a hard
time. But here is where the true battle begins.”
The knight and soldier demi-humans directed salutes at Fina. An
armored group—before the members of the defenders, Fina laughed
within.
(The fluff brigade! The fluffy legion based around the cat
tribe… aah, what happiness. If only master were here, it’d be
perfect.)
Somehow containing her own writhing, Fina walked d own the
corridor.
“We will immediately begin suppressing sectors individually. How
many troops remain?”
As Fina confirmed it, Mii walking beside her looked over her
memo.
“Two thousand have been left at the palace. The royal guard is
to remain, and it seems the nobles in Princess Aileen’s faction are
at the palace as well.”
At Mii reporting in a fluster, Fina endured her urge to
drool.
“And our numbers?”
“A-around eight hundred. She took action earlier than planned,
so we couldn’t gather too great of a number. There are units of
ours that were absorbed into the expedition.”
Hearing the personnel she prepared had been added into Fritz
army, Fina wanted to click her tongue.
(I thought I could get two thousand with room to spare… well,
we’re in a race against time. We’ve got to do a clean sweep of
sister’s faction and their collaborators. Best done while it still
all counts as my own achievement.)
With dark thoughts on his mind, Fina shifted towards enacting a
plan she’d been furthering for a long while. It was a means for
when her sister took strong measures, and a means Fina didn’t want
to have to use.
(Now how about we start building my country?)
… If she could make an expression, Fina would surely have a
muddy-black smile slathered over her face.
◇
Surrounded by defenders, Izumi managed to come into contact with
Luecke and Eunius.
After explaining the situation, the two of them—
“… They’re demanding reinforcements from us too. That will put
us under Fritz’ command.”
As Luecke said that with a sour face, Eunius discontentedly
plucked his hair.
“Rudel was sent off alone, and Aleist chased after… those two
idiots aren’t thinking a thing.”
Eunius labeled Rudel and Aleist as fools, and sure enough, Izumi
also thought there might have been a better way they could’ve gone
about it.
But saying that now wouldn’t get them anywhere.
“I want to somehow help out those two. Would you be able to lend
your strength?”
At Izumi’s plea, Luecke reached a prompt verdict.
“There are too many strange points. I’ll return to my territory
at once, and send troops your way. But the problem is how I’m
supposed to persuade father.”
To his quandary, Eunius,
“Just give him a good smack-around. That always seems to work at
my place; though admittedly, I’ve never won against him
before.”
In the time Izumi wondered if that was alright, Luecke had
already shifted to action.
“I’m heading off. Izumi, what are you going to do?”
She touched a hand to her chest.
“I will make for Rudel as a reinforcement. He should be wanting
as much war potential as he can get.”
Luecke was about to open his mouth, but seeing Izumi’s serious
eyes shut him up.
Eunius spoke in his place.
“You’ve got your own stubborn streak. Throwing units at the
enemy one at a time isn’t the efficient way to do war. What’s more,
adding a single member to the battlefield accomplishes nothing.
Restrain yourself and either come with me or Luecke.”
Izumi shook her head. Her black ponytail swayed.
“If that doesn’t make it in time, I get the feeling I won’t
forgive myself for the rest of my life. So even if it’s just the
slightest bit faster…”
Before he could finish those words, a single knight entered the
room. Dragging along Vargas, who’d been keeping watch outside, the
individual who entered with a smile was Oldart.
“Oh, now look who it is. Izumi-chan, the special inspector
shouldn’t be abandoning her job. What are you going to do if Rudel
goes off the rocker when you’re not watching?”
“Captain Oldart? Umm, I’m—”
Oldart let two knights into the room. One of them was a
silver-haired female knight, her ears perked straight up.
The other was a handsome, slender male knight.
Bennet and Keith.
“Keith, Deliver the archdukes’ eldest sons to their territories.
And don’t lay a hand on them. Listen, I’m serious!”
On Oldart’s serious expression, Luecke and Eunius retreated a
step to look at Keith.
The one in question,
“To save a precious subordinate, and to save a dear friend, I
gladly take up this mission to deliver these men home. Ah, what a
wonderful day it is. For such beauty is the friendship between
men.”
Oldart ignored Keith.
“There are some problems with his personality, but he’s got the
top aerial capabilities in the dragoon brigade. Now onto the
dragoon brigade’s idol… Bennet-chan, take Izumi-chan with you, and
join Rudel in the fray. Ah, if you spot the black knight along the
way, pick him up.”
Bennet saluted.
“Understood, captain. He’s a precious subordinate to myself as
well, I will certainly make it in time. But whether I find the
black knight or not is up to question.”
Oldart scratched his head.
“That one’s a miscalculation on my part. Well, right now, it’s
more important t o hurry up. There’s no time. We’ll send around our
support as quickly as possible… you just have to hold out until
then. Don’t push yourself.”
Bennet and Keith answered their usually carefree captain’s
serious expression with earnest salutes.
Izumi thought to herself.
(I can only hope this is enough… Rudel.)
◇
An army of monster that continued to no end.
As if they didn’t know the notion of pause, they continued
invading the fort, wave after wave. There was no plan, and the
empire had gathered numbers great enough that one wasn’t
needed.
In the fort, Rudel sheathed his sword, sleeping as if to embrace
it.
He sat on a wooden crate, around him, the bonfires were kept
alit as the continuing enemy offense was dealt with. In the narrow
fort, Sakuya would take the blows of enemies that managed to make
it in.
Before hundreds of thousands of monsters, the reason a small
fort could hold out was due to the grace of a gaia dragon
subspecies, thanks to the defense of Sakuya’s tough skin.
Her large arms brushed away the monsters clinging to its walls,
but even so before the violence of hundreds of thousands, they were
pressed into a hard battle.
A dragon like Sakuya could continue fighting for a few days, but
the human Rudel was easily beset by his limits. Even so, he managed
to fight on two nights and two days, so he was plenty inhuman
himself.
Chlust had stationed trustworthy knights around Rudel.
Around, the civilians from around the fort who’d lost their
place to flee raised a ruckus in their terror.
“Why aren’t you fighting!? If you’re a knight, then
fight!”
“Let me out! I’ll get away from the fort, just let me out!”
“I never heard it would be like this! You can’t pin any of this on
me!”
Blindly faithful to the dragoons, and feeling betrayed, the
anger of the people was directed unto a resting Rudel. Even if he
had fought to the edge of his limit, in this state of panic, no
matter how they explained, they couldn’t expect understanding.
(That’s why I told them to run. And even if they run now,)
It was too late to run. Far too late. They were surrounded by
the empire’s army of monsters, and anyone who stepped out would be
no more than monster feed.
The fort’s defense had become a little more reliable with
Sakuya’s arrival, but a situation where they had to keep wary of
both inside and out still persisted.
A few hours after he began resting, Rudel slowly rose up.
“Brother! You can sleep some more! In that state—”
Seeing Rudel’s stamina and mana expended, Chlust wanted to use
every means at his disposal to get his brother just a little more
rest. But as Rudel lifted his face.
“The night will soon open up. When that happens, the enemy
movements will be even more active than before. Could I have a bit
of food?”
Rudel wouldn’t show a pained expression; Chlust ordered one of
his men to prepare a meal.
◇
The army led by the first prince of the empire… the crown prince
measured out the right timing to advance near the border.
Under a large pavilion, the crown prince was surrounded by his
generals.
“The wyvern unit is ready.”
“Crown prince, the time has finally come for us to launch a
counteroffensive on Courtois!”
“There are a hundred to two hundred dragoons at most, but the
empire’s wyvern unit surpasses five hundred. Even numerically, we
hold the advantage.”
Hearing out those statements,
“On this occasion, we are mere decoys. Rather than victory, our
priority shall be to shave away their foot soldiers. Hold the
dragoons in place with the wyvern unit, and use that space and our
numbers to put a dent in their army.”
At the crown princes declaration, the surroundings generals
quietly nodded. When it came to the battlefield, Courtois places
heavy stress on their dragoons. For that sake, their foot soldiers
were in short supply.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the empire had more foot
soldiers than they knew what to do with. With Askewell leading his
monster army, a majority of the human soldiers came under the crown
prince’s command. Put up against Courtois’ soldiers in both quality
and quantity, they would win.
And there was meaning in prioritizing chipping down their foot
soldiers.
One of the generals,
“If they lose their foot soldiers, it will be impossible for
them to occupy their land. No matter how powerful the dragoons may
be, foot soldiers are still a necessity.”
The crown prince looked at the table laid out for him and the
generals. A map had been spread over it, with the formation of the
imperial army waiting intently for Courtois’ main force to come
lain out in wooden pieces.
“… There is no need to win. Defeat as many soldiers and
commanding officers within our capabilities. In an aerial battle,
our wyvern unit will never win against Courtois’ dragoons in
technical skills. Then we must knock Courtois down so hard it will
take them ten, twenty years to recover. In that time, the empire’s
crops will rise from the rich soil we have taken. For that is true
victory for the empire!”
When the crown prince stood, the generals stood with him. Their
expressions were all the epitome of severity. They could finally
get one back at Courtois, who had tormented them for many a long
year. The generals also understood this was a single important
battle for the empire to make a comeback.
While Courtois had been protected by the dragoons, the empire
was placed into the harshest of times. And those times had bred a
powerful land force.
Imperial soldiers… their quality was higher than Courtois’
average fighter. Their fighting spirit was higher than it ever
could be.
The crown prince gave a slight smile, he gripped his right hand
into a fist and held it up high.
“In this battle, the empire’s future hangs on everyone’s
performance. And I am certain we will reign victorious… victory to
the empire!”
“To the empire!”
The highest ranking of his generals following on from the crown
prince’s cry, the generals raised their voices in succession. Far
more unified than Courtois, they were a foe one couldn’t drop their
guard around.
◇
— Delivered home via Keith, Luecke met with his father, the head
of his house at the Halbades House castle.
Vast, apart from the window, every surface off the office his
father processed paperwork in was covered with bookshelves reaching
up to the ceiling. Well-set hair and beard, his clothing was also
prim and proper, a man who looked visibly high-strung.
He wouldn’t even look at his son Luecke who’d come home.
“… So, you’re telling me to dispatch Halbades House troops
because you want to save a friend? Going as far as to oppose the
kingdom? I had my hopes on you, but now I wonder what I was looking
at.”
At the words of his father, Luecke clenched his fist and grit
his teeth. He expected it would come to this, and negotiating with
that predetermined result in mind, Luecke had merely reaffirmed
it.
He desperately moved his mouth, speaking of profits to the
Halbades House.
“There is a high probability Princess Aileen is moving of her
own accord, and more unnatural than anything is that—”
“Probability? Unnatural? The moment you move on wishful thinking
is the moment you fail. You’re not at an age where you can’t
understand that, are you?”
His paperwork finished, Luecke’s father returned his quill to
its pen stand and capped off his ink vial. He reviewed the
documents as he waited for the ink to dry.
Sitting deep into his chair, he closed his mouth and shut his
eyes. Luecke’s voice grew rough.
“Then I’ll head out alone if I have to.”
To Luecke.
“I know you hold affection for the daughter born to an Arses
House concubine. Are you throwing away your life for her? Be good,
and I wouldn’t mind you taking her as a concubine of your own. Give
it another thought.”
Luecke scoffed at his father’s cold words.
“Hah, I’d rather you not belittle me. I’ll seduce the woman I
love on my own terms. But a friend… Rudel is a dear friend to me.
If I let him die, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”
Resting an elbow on his desk, Luecke’s father spoke.
“I see. Then I’ll send reinforcements, though I don’t know if
you’ll make it in time. I’m busy over here. The matter’s in your
hands.”
Luecke had turned his back to his father, the head, and was
about to leave the room. Seeing that back, the head gave a tired
mutter.
“… Good grief, you weren’t that sort of kid.”
Luecke stopped in his track.
“… Certainly, perhaps I’ve changed. But I personally take it for
the better.”
Beaten down by his persistence, the head called out to Vargas,
who was stationed outside the room.
“… Vargas, are you there?”
“Y-yes!”
Rudel’s upperclassman, Vargas was also Luecke’s guard. He was,
at present, a knight of the Halbades House leading his own unit. He
had been quite worried about Rudel, and perhaps he intended to
sortie with Luecke as he was already wearing his armor.
“I shall be heading to the palace on a separate matter. Know you
will only have five thousand troops to move. I will require one
thousand of my own.”
“Father?”
As Luecke turned, the head smiled a bit.
“You’re still a child, Luecke… did you think I didn’t know a
thing? I’d long since grasped Princess Aileen’s suspicious
movements. I’m sure that Diade will also be moving. And listen
well… if you’re a man of an Archduke House, show enough ardor to
make your side the one that wins. You go to your friend. I’ll do
something about the palace. It seems Princess Fina’s already
moving, after all.”
Liecke was a little dumbfounded by his father’s words, but he
soon nodded and called to Vargas.
“Let’s go, Vargas!”
“Leave it to me, young master!”
“Don’t call me young master! Dammit, I’m going to reeducate you
one of these days!”
Luecke had moved in order to save Rudel.
◇
In the courtyard of the Diade House castle, Eunius was being
knocked off his feet by his father.
His strong-muscled father wasn’t as tall as him. But his arms
were much thicker, and his body was ridden with large scars.
They were scars of the battlefield. His short hair standing on
end, his stiff beard made him more of a brave warrior than a
nobleman.
“… Concede the battlefield to you? When did you become more
important than me, son?”
When Eunius wiped his mouth with a sleeve, it turned red, but
paying no mind, he glared at his father.
“I’m going to save a pal! Why do I have to deal with that pissy
Princess Aileen at the palace!? You go take the palace, old
man!”
His thick eyebrows twitch, Eunius’s father punched Eunius again
to blow him away. But this time, Eunius endured and returned the
punch.
Smacked by his son, his father spaced out just a bit, but
bursting into laughter, this time he smacked Eunius without holding
anything back.
Blown all the way into the wall, Eunius fell to the ground.
“Nice fist. Very well, I’ll respect that punch and your tongue
with the plains of war. But I won’t accept anything apart from
victory. If you skulk back without any distinguished service, I’m
rebuilding you from the ground up.”
Eunius stood and brushed off the dirt clinging to his
clothing.
“You old fogey… too strong for your own good.”
Looking at his son Eunius with a smile, Eunius’ father barked
orders to his subordinates around.
“I’m heading to the palace. You all follow Eunius. If that idiot
tries running, give him a kick in the ass towards the
battlefield.”
Eunius spat his saliva at that unthinkable line from an
archduke. A majority-red spit stuck to the grass, but paying it no
mind, Eunius looked at the lines of soldiers.
Stationed close to the border, the elite gathering of Diade
House vassals.
Strapping on their armor, they turned to Eunius and stood in
file.
“… Run? If I ran and abandoned a friend, I’ll regret it for
life. This alone is where I won’t run.”
And as he walked off towards his vassals, Eunius declared.
“Aight, I’m off to carve the Diade House name into those foolish
imperials. You lot, try ‘n keep up!”
Eunius’ words were followed by a loud response. While the Diade
House was rough, that was simply the gathering of warriors they
were.
Eunius looked at his men hurriedly moving around.
(Don’t know if we’ll make it in time. Rudel, don’t overdo
it.)
And as Eunius looked to the sky, the sun was blocked out by a
flying something, making a shadow.
◇
Near the Hardie House estate in the royal capital, Aleist ran
into Nate.
“Senpai, the Hardie House manor has already been occupied.”
“Nate? What about my parents!”
To a panicking Aleist, Nate closed one eye in a wink.
“They already got out of the city. Said something about
returning to the territory and preparing for war. Your house sure
is radical, senpai. I’m worried whether or not I can keep up.”
Aleist half-smiled seeing Nate as her usual self. She wore a
robe around her body, and nearby a hippogryph was stationed taking
on horse form. It was Nate’s partner.
To its side, with long black hair, a monster with red lines
running down its horn… the Nightmare Heath stood as well.
Approaching its master Aleist, it touched its horn to him.
“Heath, you waited for me.”
Aleist’s armor and baggage were loaded on its back. He had come
to collect them, but it did seem Nate was being considerate.
“Nate, you stayed too? What about that nameless knight brigade,
or would you prefer shadow brigade?”
As Aleist tilted his head, Nate touched a hand to her brow.
“They’re doing their work. I, well see… I’m your fiancé, so I
came to support you. I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
Seeing Nate at her usual tempo, Aleist gave a bitter smile. A
voice called from behind him as well.
“Nate, you… are you trying to promote yourself?”
“Dirty. Nate, you’re playing dirty.”
There, Seli and Juju met up with them, wearing their
equipment.
“Eh? H-huh?”
To Aleist’s snowballing confusion, the female camp gathered one
after another. A woman who was the daughter of a merchant came over
to Aleist.
“Aleist-sama, I shall be the one to safely deliver you out of
the capital.”
“Oy, that’s the only part you’ll be of any use at all!”
“Rather, isn’t this quite a number?”
“Huh? Didn’t know you were joining in.”
Aleist looked at the gathered members. And despite his
confusion.
“Err… I’m putting up a bit of resistance to the kingdom, and no
matter how you cut it, I’ll be in a terrible position after this.
So anyway, if possible, I’d quite like if you forgot about me and
moved on.”
To that, Aleist’s academy junior Seli spoke.
“What are you talking about!? If you folded to such an order and
became supreme commander, I’d have cut off our engagement then and
there. To save a friend, Aleist-sama who stood in the trust sense
against the kingdom’s crisis is the only one worthy of being my
husband.”
Juju’s face likewise flushed red.
“Aleist, you really are cool.”
Aleist thought.
(… Huh? Why is everyone following me? Didn’t mom say something
about knowing where you stand… rather, why every one of them? I see
some people here I’m not even engaged to…)
The females that came there were too numerous to count on two
hands.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon-WN-Chapter-146-167-[Yoraikun][Trollo]/s4.txt
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 151: The Other Reincarnation
Chapter 151: The Other Reincarnation
The Arses House manor.
Many armed knights and soldiers crowded into the stretch from
the gate to the front door.
In the noisy state, preparations were underway to intercept the
Gaia Empire encroaching on the national border. While the troops
had gathered, it wasn’t the best gathering.
Two thousand had been scraped together, but both their equipment
and training fell short.
Sitting atop the roof, Lena Arses looked over them with a
stretch and a yawn.
“With our territory, it’ll be hard to get any more.”
Their misgovernment was running its course.
When they heard of Courtois’ crisis, there were even nobles and
knights who fled. The soldiers were few to gather, making it
evidently clear how little adoration the Arses House held.
That they could gather two thousand even so must have been their
status as Archdukes.
Looking at troop numbers far too low for the scope of their
territory, Lena spotted Erselica conversing with a knight.
“Erselica’s gotten around quite a bit, but this is going to be
harsh.”
Even if they marched out now, and gained the assistance of the
nobles who would cooperate, it would take time to reach the border.
Any missteps, and they wouldn’t make it in time.
Lena hung her spear over her shoulder and looked up at the
sky.
Nostalgic… a truly nostalgic wind swept over her. Feeling the
abnormal flow of air fanned by a dragon’s wings, she leisurely
stood.
A blue, beautiful dragon blatantly glaring at her before her
eyes—Mystith looked down over Lena.
While the surroundings grew panicked, Lena could be no
calmer.
‘I’ve found myself quite the impertinent human, I have. I don’t
know where you learned it, but your whistle– reached me.’
She had whistled at the sky. But that was no ordinary
whistle.
It was a whistle to summon a dragon. To be more precise, it was
the whistle that had been taken up between Marty and Mystith. A
whistle that could be heard no matter where the other might be.
Lena turned to Mystith with a smile.
“I don’t really remember the specifics. But you know… I thought
I could do it. And I thought you would come for me.”
Flapping her wings, Mystith narrowed her eyes to gaze at
Lena.
‘… So that’s how it is.
Opening her mouth in a laugh, Mystith addressed the young
girl.’
‘It’s been a while, Marty… you’ve gotten quite cute when I
wasn’t looking.’
Lena laughed alongside her.
“Right you are, Mystith. But I’m sorry, but there’s barely
anything I remember. Right now I’m Lena… Lena Arses, and a girl.
And… I want to save my brother. Could I have your cooperation?”
Mystith slowly lowered herself onto the ground, bringing her
eye-level to Lena’s height.
‘So you want me to lend a hand. But Marty—’
“It’s Lena. I’m Lena Arses, Mystith.”
Lena said with a smile.
“I want to save my brother.”
‘To think you were Rudel’s little sister. Is this some sort of
fate?’
On Mystith’s words, Lena hung her head a bit in thought.
It wasn’t like she knew everything. She simply had a slight
hunch she had a past she didn’t know. It was impossible for her to
determine whether that was true or just her delusion.
(I think I remembered when I was with broski. Right, that time
when he came over with my—the book the past me wrote.)
While it was vague, it happened when Rudel brought her a book
she had written in a past life. At that moment, Lena remembered a
time before.
A stranger’s memory. And the fact that a past life self existed,
to Lena at the time, it was an exceedingly heavy truth to
swallow?
Just who was she? She started to think her own existence was a
fabrication. Yet to Lena, Rudel would speak on and on about just
how great Marty was. He would preach honest praise, strengthening
both their aspirations to be a dragoon—
“… My brother’s an idiot, isn’t he.”
‘… He is.’
Mystith openly agreed with that one.
“When I looked at my brother like that, it felt so idiotic to
think too hard about everything. Not like I wasn’t an idiot myself.
I decided not to think too hard. It’s a new life after all. Why not
have some fun with it? But…”
This time, she was going to live her life as Lena. That’s why
she never thought she would involve Mystith in her life.
“Surely, there was some reason I was my brother’s little sister,
I think.”
Lena said and stroked Mystith.
Mystith spread her wings wide, she seemed delighted d at Lena’s
touch.
‘Welcome back, Marty. And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lena
Arses. You are my third partner.’
◇
At the palace, Fritz looked at the edge of the sword he’d been
given.
Looking over that sword, embedded with gemstones and made with
the latest technology, he confirmed his preparations were in order
before tucking it into its sheath.
“Fritz-sama, the preparations to depart are complete. And it
does seem the black knight made it out of the capital.”
“Got it.”
Ritz said and left the room, heading for the palace courtyard
where his dragon awaited.
His subordinate following behind made an anxious face.
“Fritz-sama, there’s no need for you to personally subjugate the
black knight—”
An irritated Fritz glared at his subordinate before increasing
his walking pace.
“Do you think I’ll lose or something?”
Fritz was impatient. It was all well and good that he became
Supreme commander, but it was quite clear to him that his
surroundings didn’t accept him.
Without any achievements to speak of, Fritz had completely
become a decoration. His last ray of hope, Aileen, seemed to be
under the impression if that would keep him out of harm’s way, it
would be fine.
(Like I could accept that.)
The existences called Rudel and Aleist were a hindrance to him.
Defeating Aleist who ran away was his last opportunity to
demonstrate his own abilities.
(Even if he’s the black knight, I have a dragon on my side. Like
hell I’d lose.)
He’d obtained a new sword.
It was a powerful blade, just by the look of it, and when he
actually tried using it, it truly was fearsome. With that might,
Fritz would defeat Aleist, demonstrate his own strength, and become
supreme commander not only in name alone.
(I won’t let myself become a decorative piece.)
Going out with that on his mind, Fritz looked at the gray dragon
on standby in the courtyard. His partner, upon seeing him turned
him its back. The surrounding servants looking after it distanced
themselves as Fritz jumped on and wrung out his voice.
“We’re striking down the black knight. Now fly!”
Abiding by Fritz’ order, the gray dragon flapped its wings and
rose into the sky.
◇
A few horse-drawn carriages left the outer wall of the royal
capital.
Out of the luggage loaded into the back of one, Aleist popped
his face.
“W-we somehow managed.”
With some peace of mind, having rounded the outermost bounds of
the city, Aleist looked around with a relieved expression. His
faithful steed Heath was pulling the carriage in disguise.
He remained on guard a while, but there were no signs of enemy
attack. A few kilometers away, Aleist showed his whole body from
the shadows of the luggage crates.
“Well now, I was worried they would notice, but it looks
alright.”
Following on from Aleist, the female members appeared one after
the next.
“Even so, at our pace, the time to the border is—”
All of a sudden, Aleist looked up at the cloth stretched over
the ceiling, promptly leaping out of the carriage and looking up at
the sky.
A gray dragon was headed their way from the castle, and looking
around, there was a strange scarcity of passersby using the main
road.
It was the road that led to the capital, quite an unnatural
state of affairs.
“So they did notice.”
Shedding a cold sweat, Aleist pulled his pair of swords from
their sheaths. As the dragon flapped its wings to maintain its
position overhead, he heard Fritz’ voice.
“Did you think you left unnoticed? Well so be it. Black Knight
Aleist, you are going to die here.”
As the gray dragon opened its mouth about to fire its breath,
Aleist enveloped his surroundings in a sphere of his own shadow to
harden his defense.
Yet before a dragon’s breath, Aleist’s defenses were torn down
all too easily.
“—!”
With his defenses breathed, Aleist looked up to see Fritz’
descent.
The women around him readied their weapons, but as they tried to
cut at him, the Dragon landed to intimidate them. Aleist redirected
his stance at the beast before him.
“What a bother. We’re in a hurry here.”
Sensing Aleist’s panic, Fritz laughed a bit.
“You’re not going to make it regardless. Instead of your useless
plight, please just die by my blade.”
When Fritz drew his sword, Aleist looked perplexedly at it.
(Haven’t I see that sword somewhere…)
Ritz cut at him. Was it the weapon’s specs, or perhaps his own
ability?
He had gotten quite a bit stronger than before.
“I always wanted to cut you down like this. I can’t forget my
grudge from the academy!”
The grudge he spoke of involved Aleist instantly taking him out
at the Academy Tournament. Thanks to that, Fritz had been terribly
belittled by those around him.
Blocking Fritz’ slack with both blades, Aleist kicked forward to
destroy his footing. But Fritz took distance and cut in again.
Aleist parried it with the sword in his left hand, only for Fritz
to contain Aleist’s right arm with his own left.
(This bloke’s far stronger than last time…)
The gemstone embedded in Fritz’ sword let off a light. The sword
was strengthening his body.
“It’s water under the bridge! What are you even doing here!?
You’re—the supreme commander, aren’t you!?”
Aleist took distance as he fired a few spears made from his own
shadow at Fritz, but Fritz cut them down.
An irritated Aleist.
Inside, his anger towards Fritz was welling up
(You’re the supreme commander, dammit. What are you doing here!?
Go prepare for war or something.)
As the Kingdom of Courtois readied itself for invasion, it was
unthinkable that the army’s commander personally came out to defeat
Aleist.
From Aleist’s point of view, he wanted to come to Rudel’s aid
without a second to lose.
Fritz laughed. But his smile was a dark one.
“Supreme commander? At this rate, I’ll be a decoration. No merit
or achievement. Who’d seriously listen to my opinion? … Made light
of for being a commoner, mocked by the nobles. They treat me like
I’m your replacement… like I can put up with that!”
Rushing at Aleist, Fritz went into a consecutive stream of cuts.
Skillfully handling them with two swords, Aleist cried out as the
sparks flew around him.
“Like I care! That’s what you asked for!”
From Aleist’s point of view, Fritz’ circumstances were the least
of his worries. Diving into his shadow to avoid one of Fritz’
attacks, he moved behind him to cut him down.
Yet in Fritz’ time of crisis, the dragon roared, averting
Aleist’s attention.
“Dammit! If the dragon weren’t there, it’d be over in no
time!”
Irksomely taking distance, Aleist saw his comrades taking up
positions to surrounding Fritz.
(Even if we all go at him at once, the dragon will get in the
way. This guy’s out here playing for own merits…)
If Fritz really intended to crush Aleist, he could have managed
by riding his dragon and launching breath attacks from that
sky.
In that instance, Aleist would make it look like he was blown
away, covertly recovering his members to overcome the situation.
Contriving a means of escape in a corner of his mind, Aleist turned
Fritz a smile.
“Are you satisfied, winning under a dragon’s protection…
Fritz?”
In his attempted provocation, Aleist looked at his face to
confirm his irritation.
With a furrowed brow, Fritz readied his sword.
“I’m different from a pathetic man who’s protected by his
women.”
Aleist laughed.
“Kahah! That so. Never thought I’d hear that from someone
protected by Princess Aileen and allowed to do whatever he pleases.
You mean to tell me it wasn’t Princess Aileen who appointed you as
Supreme Commander in the first place?”
Seeing Fritz grit his teeth, Aleist thought.
(I see, so he noticed. That’s why he’s forcing himself to kill
me. But look, kid…)
“… You, you really need to look at a mirror. You prattle on
about commoners and nobles, but in the end, you’re only looking out
for yourself.”
Aleist said, despite his thoughts.
(Well, not like I’m one to speak.)
For now, enraging Fritz was the priority. Reaching a hand behind
his back, he signaled for his comrades to gather behind him.
His comrades slowly moved into position.
“A wealthy bastard like you who’s got everything can’t
understand what—”
“Yeah, I can’t. I’m not going to sugarcoat it… but what does
that make you? Protected by Princess Aileen, she even made you
supreme commander. And yet, people aren’t listening to you, so you
go off on your own to take me out? Didn’t you despise those blasted
nobles who ignored their people and went off on flights of fancy?
Man, you really have it wonderful. I’m sure they’ll sing songs of
praise. Of that damn fool out lusting for glory.”
From Aleist’s point of view, the commander going out front and
fighting was unthinkable.
Of course, he only thought so because he knew a past life.
As Fritz said, those placed under a knight with no deeds of
arms, no real life experience could only be anxious.
Anyone would prefer an achieved soul abundant in experience.
“Fritz, you’re becoming the person you hate most. I can tell.
I’m not too different. So—”
“—You’re the same as me? Impossible. That’s definitely
impossible!”
In the end, Aleist’s compassion came out. He wanted Fritz to
somehow notice, because he got the feeling he was practically
looking at himself.
His past self—his past portion so stuck up looked the same as
Fritz to him.
But his words wouldn’t reach.
Turning expressionless, Fritz moved to the side of where he was
standing.
“That’s enough. Burn away.”
The moment Fritz stepped away, the form of a gray dragon, a
breath prepared in its wide-open mouth came into sight.
(Here it comes!)
Measuring out the right time, Aleist was about to move to rescue
his party.
But it was there, the dragon suddenly closed its mouth, picked
up Fritz, and soared into the sky.
“Wah! Oy, I didn’t order you to—”
It must have been unexpected for Fritz as well. He was
panicking.
Where Fritz had been a moment ago, a mass of water—a number of
orbs showered down. They burst upon colliding with the ground,
soaking Aleist and his cohorts.
Aleist looked to the sky—
“—Bennet-san!”
Riding a dragon with blue scales, the form of a small-built
young girl with silver hair.
“Sorry for that. Couldn’t hold back.”
Bennet said, intimidating her opponent with her own dragon. The
difference between a wild dragon and a bred one was far too
different from the get-go. To add to that, the difference in
strength between its partner Bennet and Fritz was great as
well.
The gray dragon retrieved Fritz and retreated for the
palace.
“Aleist!”
It wasn’t just Bennet on the Dragon’s back. Izumi was there with
her.
“Get on. We’re on a direct route to Rudel.”
Aleist nodded, immediately gathered his comrades and put them to
preparations.
◇
Having returned to the palace, Fritz immediately reported to
Aileen that the dragoon brigade had turned coat.
However—
“Fritz-sama… We have already received a report from Captain
Oldart of the Dragoon Brigade that a portion of the dragoons have
defected. However, we are in a state of affairs where we are unable
to chase after them.”
Around a troubled-sounding Aileen, the knights of good pedigrees
waited upon her. Taking the name of guards, the knights who were
stationed near Aileen in Fritz’ place.
They looked at Fritz with eyes of scorn.
“You should really get a grip, high and mighty supreme
commander. At this very moment, you are the responsible party for
all military affairs.”
When he was told it wasn’t supposed to be Aileen receiving these
reports, Fritz clenched his fists. The knights looked at him and
laughed.
Aileen spoke to soothe him.
“They shall receive the appropriate recompense after the war.
Does that work out?”
Aileen said as she sought confirmation from the knights around
her. With their nods, an order was handed down to Fritz.
“Then Fritz-sama. As our general, why don’t you go take down the
foolish Gaia Empire invading upon our lands?”
Fritz kneeled and accepted the order.
“Yes, Princess Aileen.”
But he was conflicted inside.
Despite becoming supreme commander, the knights—the young nobles
of good households made light of him, and he was being sent off to
the battlefield as a mere decoration.
(… What the hell am I even doing here.)
Aleist’s words, ‘you’re becoming the person you hate most,’
abruptly flashed through his head.
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LNWNCentral_Dragoon_Dragoon - WN Chapter 146-167
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Dragoon 148-160 - Dragoon 152: Fina’s Counterattack
Chapter 152: Fina’s Counterattack
At the dragoon brigade headquarters, preparations to sortie were
underway.
Contrary to his usual insincerity, the Captain Oldart was
issuing orders with a serious face.
Readied for takeoff, the dragons stood in file, the forms of
their partner dragoons on their backs a magnificent spectacle.
Close to a hundred had lined up. The scene that unfolded was one
that upon which, it wouldn’t be strange if anyone was already
convinced if another victory.
“The old empire never learns. Well, I’m sure they have some
prospects…”
Oldart groaned, knowing well they were no fools; his
vice-captain Alejandro shed a cold sweat as he walked over.
He was followed behind by people who weren’t allowed to be
there.
(That Alejandro, he’s as spineless as ever.)
The one following him was a certain Fina, surrounded by
demi-human knights. The dragoons around raised a ruckus.
“Oldart, you have a summons from the princess.”
Contrasting Alejandro’s panic, Oldart spread out both hands with
a smile.
“Well if it isn’t her highness, the second princess. What brings
you to such a sweltering place.”
The flurried haste of the palace. Added to the unreasonable
orders, and Aileen’s seemingly suspicious movements—Oldart had an
inkling something had happened in the Palace.
He hit upon that Fina coming here must have some sort of
meaning.
Fina expressionlessly addressed him.
“I would be very much obliged if you could lend me just a few of
your dragoons, Oldart-dono.”
Before Fina’s inability to show expression, Oldart knew this was
going to be difficult as he scratched his head.
“Dear me, what could you mean by that? Haven’t you noticed we’re
in a bit of a crisis here?”
Fina gave a small not, touching her right hand to her chest.
“Yes, I am aware. Should I say that is precisely why? A moment
ago, I was imprisoned by my sister—Aileen.”
Seeing Alejandro make an unpleasant face, Oldart folded his
arms.
“So you’ll bring the dragoons into the palace’s mess. Are you
sure about that? Our dragoons… it is my humble opinion that their
power shall only be exercised in defense.”
If they were dragged in, they would have done something there
was no taking back. Even so, Fina wasn’t moved.
No, it didn’t come out on her face, so it was impossible to tell
what she was thinking.
“Three dragon riders have sided with Aileen. Did you happen to
have three taking separate action? For instance… three who were to
remain stationed in the remotest of regions?”
Oldart felt like clicking his tongue. He endured it to make a
smile.
(Can’t be part of the main force. So some folks sent off to the
outskirts were lured in by promotions…)
“You have my apologies for that one. We’ll have them caught and
thrown in the dungeons in no—”
Fina wouldn’t let Oldart finished.
“— The dungeons aren’t kept open for dragoons alone. My sister
shall go with them. As my personal request.”
Fina told him her plan. Upon hearing it, Alejandro’s face turned
pale, while Oldart formed a stiff smile.
“Is this really the time for a family quarrel?”
Fina’s reply came immediately.
“It’s never too rare among royalty. Additionally, could I ask
you to send reinforcements to my mast… Rudel-sama? As inconspicuous
of a number as possible. Just a few elites, if you can.”
Oldart had already been considering it.
“Are you fine with just a few?”
“If the numbers are too different, I fear it will be seen
through. Both fronts of the empire’s invasion plan likely have the
potential to become their main force. We shouldn’t divide our
numbers too much. And… I’m sure master will be fine.”
Fina said, established Oldart’s cooperation and left. Oldart
looked at the girl’s back as,
“… The hell’s up with master?”
In his head, Rudel had become even more incomprehensible.
◇
After the dragoon brigade had taken flight. From the royal
palace, an army of a few tens of thousands passed under the gate of
the outer wall on their march.
Fritz set out in magnificent armor, and with so many people
leaving the royal palace of the royal capital, it was fare more
scarcely populated than usual.
Aileen lowered herself into the throne in the audience
chamber.
The knights and nobles around her recommended it.
“You’re a perfect fit, Princess Aileen. No, Queen Aileen.”
The nobles continued lifting her up with their words.
“But the empire sure is foolish.”
“Surely. When there’s no way they can win against a dragon.”
“Even if they manage to take land, the dragons will take it
back.”
Their optimism lay in just how powerful the dragon’s really
were. As a matter of fact, they had protected the kingdom of
Courtois like that for hundreds of years.
Aileen breathed a small sigh.
“It may be fine to reclaim it. But of the empire lays hand on
fertile soil, perhaps they’ll calm down and stop instigating
wars.”
Hearing that, the surrounding knights and nobles were a little
flustered.
“No, Aileen-sama, I would never recommend leaving them be. It’s
the empire we’re talking about here, if they get one victory,
they’ll prepare to invade again—”
“Then we can simply talk the matter out. We do have vast spans
of fertile earth. What have you to complain about?”
Her surroundings sent her troubled faces. But the had decided to
lift Aileen up even so. From now on, they could make as many
excuses to her as they pleased. So they thought.
In fact, it would surely be possible.
However—
“U-urgent message!”
A knight of the royal guard plunged into the audience chamber.
The large doors were violently thrown open as he stood, out of
breath in a huge panic.
“Princess Fina is—leading the defenders in a rebellion!”
A tension raced across the audience chamber. Aileen stood from
her chair, covering her mouth with both hands.
“Fina did… there’s no way…”
The guard knights nearby her issued our orders.
“Suppress it at once. And don’t harm Princess Fina.”
They were the sole two heirs to the royal bloodline, with high
utility value. The intent was to quell the rebellion at once, and
have someone else take responsibility.
But Fina’s rebellion exceeded their anticipation.
“I-it’s impossible! The number of armed defenders exceeds five
hundred. The civilians are joining in to besiege the palace
walls!”
As knight and noble alike opened their eyes wide, the vehement
sounds of battle came from outside the castle.
“We request reinforcements at—”
As the messenger knight said that, one of the nobles wrung out
his voice.
“Calm down. We have the dragoons we called from the—”
Recalling the existence of their trump card, the dragoons, the
knights and nobles present regained their composure.
But the knight opened his mouth wide.
“Nay. They have them too… our three dragoons have already been
taken in!”
◇
Six dragoon knights had held down the dragoons on Aileen’s
side.
Breaching the palace gate, Fina stepped in surrounded by knights
of the tiger tribe.
Yet they stood without entering the door to the palace.
“Good on them to anticipate the enemy’s infiltration, but this
sure is troublesome.”
Prepared long ago, the door unclear whether it could even move
or not was closed. Aileen’s group had locked themselves into a
siege, it seemed they intended to endure to the return of their
dispatched troops.
It was not the palace of the historic Courtois Kingdom for
nothing, its defense couldn’t be dealt with through ordinary
means.
The high knight Sophina took command, while in the palace, the
defenders continued the fight with the troops of Aileen’s
faction.
“Hurry with the siege weapon!”
Aleist’s friends were also taking part, reassembling a siege
weapon within the castle walls to use from the inside. But it
wasn’t made in the first place to be used indoors.
“Not happening! In the first place, the halls are to narrow to
carry it.”
The place was vast enough, but if they wanted to reuse the siege
weapon they’d brought, they’d have to downscale it. That would
lower its output.
If they took it too far, it might not do anything at all.
“You look exhausted. Should I have a dragon blow it away with
breath from the outside?”
When Fina ran her mouth on that, she heard a voice from
behind.
“Princess… no, Fina-sama, that would be quite troubling. To burn
up the valuable material in the palace, and the many pieces of fine
art will surely bring trouble down the line.”
When Fina turned, she made a terribly unpleasant face in her
head.
(Dammit, they’re already here.)
There, Luecke’s father, Archduke Halbades led his own troop to
make his way to her.
“You’ll be troubled when you take the throne, or perhaps become
queen.”
Fina was expressionless to the Archduke… but quite irritated
inside, she asked.
“Archduke Halbades. We are in a time of crisis. The fact you
have appeared before me with such a statement means…”
The knights around Fina readied their weapon, stepping before
Fina and the archduke. Not that Archduke Halbades seemed to
mine.
“The Halbades House offers you our assistance. Fret not, with
our cooperation, victory is assured. We will see to it that you are
queen, be it consort or regnant.”
Fina expressionlessly had the knights around her back down.
“I’m counting on you, Archduke Halbades.”
(Dammit! Dammit! I wanted to suppress the palace already,
greatly regulate the nobles and chip away at the power of these
archdukes! If he plays a part, my reforms will…)
From inside the palace corridor came the sound of an enemy
attack. It seemed they were attempting to destroy the siege
weapon.
But a large glass pane in the corridor shattered, and as rugged
knights and soldiers clambered in, a bloodbath was immediately
raised among the enemy knights.
A red blood expanding across the corridor, the head of the Diade
House, Archduke Diade made an appearance toting his prided war
hammer.
When he placed it on the ground, it let off a heavy sound.
“Fina-sama! No need to fear, now that the Diade House is
here.”
The hardy Archduke Diade proclaimed his alliance with a grand
laugh. In her head, Fina burst into dry laughter.
“Aha, ahahahah… how did they get to the palace so fast!? It
should have taken more time! This is strange. There’s something
fishy here!”
At first, Fina intended to take a large bit of power from the
other nobles, but two of the archduke houses had pledged their
cooperation.
She thought they might watch and wait some, what’s more, it
should have taken more time just to get their soldiers from their
territories to the capital.
Fina’s plan was beginning to twist astray.
“… With great pleasure, I do accept the aid of Archduke
Diade.”
When they arrived after all was over, Fina intended to give a
sarcastic quip and move to reduce their power. Was he aware of
that? Archduke Halbades sang praise of Fina.
“But splendidly done, Fina-sama. I’d almost have to assume
you’ve been planning this for ages. For even the people of the
capital to take your side.”
She had put Mii and the other demi-humans, along with a great
many knights at the bottom of the totem pole up to spreading
rumors. After the armies departed, she leaked a rumor a portion of
the territories were to be abandoned.
Generally speaking, she made it out that the nobles were
bad.
“On the way here, we received some considerably harsh looks from
the people. Treating us almost as if we were the enemy. No, I
wouldn’t dare to imply it was your doing, Fina-sama.”
With that cynicism from Archduke Diade, Fina internally broke
into a cold sweat.
(…. Dammit, I’ll have to revise my plan. But now victory is
certain.)
Changing her train of thought, for not Fina prioritized winning
against Aileen. But there was just one thing bothering her.
On Fina’s query, the two archdukes made slightly troubled faces.
And Archduke Diade opened his mouth.
“Well, it’s that. I never thought I’d be riding a dragon at my
age.”
◇
The events of the capital.
They were events that happened a few days after Rudel’s arrival
at the battlefield.
And—
“That’s enough. You’ve done enough, brother!”
A battered Rudel was trying to leave the fortress. He had fought
for days, and after resting only a few hours, he would set out
again. Rinse and repeat.
There weren’t any serious dents in his armor.
But Rudel’s stamina and mana had reached their limit. The one
responsible for the fort, his younger brother Chlust had picked up
on that.
“… Chlust.”
Rudel looked at Chlust, smiling a bit.
“No can do. This is my job. These are lines my superior told me,
I took quite a liking to them. A job is how you live your life.
I’ll fight to protect this point to the end.”
He was protecting those that lived in the area, taking refuge in
the fort. But they were also those who didn’t abide by the
evacuation orders.
“… Brother, you’ve done enough. Take the civilians with you and
run.”
Chlust hung his head, he clenched his fist.
“Chlust, you…”
Chlust made a face on the verge of tears.
“We’ll hold out somehow or another. So… brother, please run. I
already know. There’s no meaning even if I live on. I’m a human
who’s already been abandoned. But brother, you’re different.”
Chlust spoke of just how important Rudel’s existence was.
“Your power is necessary to rebuild to Arses House. It’s
hopeless for me. The same could be said for the country. Brother,
you have to be there. You’re… you’re different from me.”
Rudel looked at Chlust.
“I’m unable to abdicate this point. My orders are to protect
this fort to my last breath.”
Chlust smiled.
“I’ll do it. I’ll take care of it… brother, you just have to
live.”
There, Rudel returned a gentle smile.
“Chlust, you’ve… changed. You’ve changed so much since I saw you
at the academy.”
And Rudel punched Chlust out. Chlust was dumbstruck, as his
consciousness faded away, he heard Rudel’s voice.
“… But Chlust. This is my battle.”
◇
When Chlust opened his eyes, he was in the sky.
Sprawled out over a large, white back, when he looked around, he
saw his subordinates.
“Brother!”
When he hurriedly sprung up, one of his subordinates, a knight
looked at him apologetically.
“Captain… I’m sorry. Your brother, he,”
With a sorrowful roar from the dragon, Chlust looked back at the
shrinking fort. The black monster army attacking to it, the
unresisting fortress was being swallowed whole.
“… Why. Oh god why!!”
Chlust’s cry resounded through the sky.
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