Chapter 443: How to kill a dragon
Dianne returned from her contact with Talc and gathered everyone in a room upstairs.
“We made arrangements without delay regarding what Sahul was looking for. We will have some information within a few days. ……Whether she’s alive or dead is another matter”
“You mean she might be dead?”
Dianne-san nodded slightly when Neia muttered.
“That’s all. I can’t be responsible for Rika as long as I don’t know what kind of person she is”
“Still, you’re convinced you can get the information……”
“In Celesta. There are countless other sources of information besides the regular military. If the military is serious about this and they still can’t keep it from us, they’ve got a lot of work to do”
Tetes raised her hand.
“What if she dies in the middle of nowhere and is stripped and drowned in the sea?”
“A traveler is watched more than he knows. At least you can track them down to a stage before they get there. The rest can be managed by the scent of the beastman and the search by magic”
“It’s amazing that you can say that, isn’t it……we are very careful about information in our country, too, but not to that extent”
“Renfangas has too many outsiders and towns and villages basically double as forts and fortresses. Inevitably, there will be many places that cannot be reached. Celesta’s conditions are different”
“That’s right……Marquis Buster is also worried about it”
“But anyway. I’m going to settle another matter that Sahul has brought to my attention”
“……Another one?”
Tetes nodded her head. The other members looked at each other. Did something happen? ……In the midst of all this, Laila has a complicated look on her face and Hilda-san covers her mouth and looks a little serious. Did the two of them understand? ……Maybe Laila had Dianne talked on the way there and back.
“What is the other case……?”
When Aurora asked the question as if to represent her, Dianne got out a blackboard and chalk and began to draw something.
“It wasn’t necessary until now……but it’s about time you guys learned. You’ve figured it out this time”
The chalk drawing, though simple, showed an animal with four legs, wings, a long neck and a tail.
“How to slay a dragon. You may have to fight against this being that has mighty capabilities both offensively and defensively and even has the ability to transform and regenerate itself. And yet most of you don’t understand how to defeat it. Don’t you?”
“That’s……true, though”
Aurora glances at Laila and Maia. They both look complicated. But Laila returned Aurora’s gaze and shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s something you’ll have to find out eventually. I know it’s too late……after someone has been killed for not knowing”
“Be patient with me there, Laila. ……A hundred years ago, every warrior would have known”
“I know”
Laila closes her eyes. She must have decided that it was best for her to at least say nothing.
“I’m going to teach you how to fight dragons. Listen carefully”
“Almeida was already fighting by then, wasn’t she?”
“You mean the knight chief was still……at that time?”
“Yes. If she had been so strong back then, she would be the first in the Gold Arms by now”
“……Indeed”
“So did people really know about this a hundred years ago?”
“Because at one time there was a lot of momentum to exterminate dragons. There was a lot of talk about how to slaughter them, as far as gossip goes”
While Sharon and Almeida are whispering, Dianne puts an X on the dragon’s head, neck and chest.
“Andy. Which one of these do you think is the most pressing?”
“E, Emm”
“I’m not a fighter, but……no, that’s not the question.
“Neck……maybe? The head seems pretty hard and the chest would have to be pretty powerful to be lethal”
“I’d say 40 points. If we assume the firepower Andy can secure, the neck is the most likely to work, no doubt”
“……That means”
“It’ll do some damage, but it’s not the most effective point”
“Neck!?”
“Yes. In extreme cases, even if it is severed, it is not fatal”
Seriously!? I was shocked, then Laila and Maia opened their mouths.
“We always have another body”
“My great-uncle told me that wounds are etched as wounds, but only the pathways of thought and such are still going through……I haven’t been decapitated yet”
……Human body is meant to be such a fallback device?
“That’s why I was relieved to think that I could defeat a dragon with that……but my body counterattacked. But if you cut off the neck, you can prevent the dragon breath, which is the biggest obstacle and you can temporarily cut off the link with the sensory organs. With the neck separated, the dragon can’t move well either. So it’s an option worth 40 points”
“Then what about the head?”
“Twenty points. Even if you crush it, if the dragon has enough strength, it will regenerate. Unless you use a dragonslayer”
“…………”
One day I thought, 「It’s a mystery whether cutting off the head would really kill it」, but it really was a messed up creature on that level.
“I mean, can you do that kind of thing even if your brain is fucked up……and isn’t the brain the place where you think about things?”
It was once said that the human head was simply a blood-cooling organ. This belief was especially strong in Trot and eastern Celesta. They say that a human will comes from the soul and that the human mind cannot be influenced by a single organ like the brain. However, the long tradition of medical science cultivated by the elves overturned this common sense. The brain was important, after all. But dragons can still survive even if their brains are crushed. Even if it has another body, if it can keep replacing itself like that, it can’t really die, can it?
“Now, here’s the last remaining place. The chest……is the heart to be exact. This will be the dragon’s real kryptonite”
Dianne tapped the spot on the painting.
“The theory is that dragons have moved the role of the brain over here. ……The point is that the body structure is fundamentally different. The dragon has eyes, nose and ears in its head, but it thinks with its heart”
“……E, Eh……!?”
“It’s no surprise. In the old days, there were many theories that people thought with their hearts, too. The heart is also the quickest to react when a person is moved or enraged. That’s why people used to think that we think with our hearts”
“……I, I see”
“So the dragon is really a structural realization of that. So if you want to defeat a dragon, it’s not the neck or the head, it’s the heart. It’s the only way”
“…………”
Laila still looked complicated after hearing that conclusion.
“……Well, Laila was hit in the torso by old Bonaparte, wasn’t she?”
“Umm”
“……Is it possible that it was pretty bad?”
“I’m not sure. ……Now that I’m alive and well, that’s all that matters”
Laila says while looking away. ……I guess she wants to say that it can’t be helped to get angry from now on.
“You knew about this, didn’t you, Al-chan?”
“……Well, it’s a well-known story. But dragons are too powerful to fight with that much knowledge. Warriors who could draw out the power of dragonslayers were rare and without considerable skill, a blow that reached the heart. It’s almost a theory on paper……in addition, after the Fire Dragon War, it was banned worldwide to stimulate dragons. It’s probably no wonder so little has been passed down among the short-lived species”
“Umm……if it’s that difficult, it still doesn’t seem to make sense”
Tetes folds her arms. But Neia denies it.
“That’s why there’s that tactic”
“?”
“The dragon cannot use its breath on a dragon rider……. Because of their huge size, they are not that fast, so it should not be impossible for them to go for the heart if they can hunt down the dragon in the right order”
“That may be true, Neia-san……or if it has an attack power equivalent to the Black Arm, but”
“If the breath doesn’t come, you don’t have to do anything with a single blow. Just drop the head, block the movement and then go for the heart without giving it a chance to regenerate”
“……After all, you and Neia-san have quite a bit of basic knowledge”
“?”
Tetes was at a loss. Tetes is known to be quite cunning, but when it comes to fighting, she says, 「I can’t do what I can’t do」.
“I mean. We’re supposed to fight together……but is Neia also convinced that Rainer has a dragon with him and that we’re going to fight?”
“Tss……”
Neia must not have had a clear attitude about Rainer. Though her distrust of royal authority continues to deepen, will she really have to fight Rainer herself and by extension, will she have to fight Kalwin itself? In other words, has she made up her mind to survive for me? This, in other words, is the story that leads to that. Neia opened her eyes wide as if she had been caught in the void, letting her gaze wander, but there was a little.
“……No matter what happens at Kalwin, I will protect you. That much, I promise”
“Neia”
“……Will that be enough to……convince you now?”
“…………”
It’s not a satisfactory answer. It may just be a sense of responsibility. But I nodded my head.
“That’s fine for now”
I pat her on the head. It doesn’t matter if I just draw out the words now. I’m sure that by that time, I’ll be able to make her dream about the future. With a renewed determination.