Chapter 534: Escape 2
Ray led me out of the prison. But the palace is built on the very edge of a cliff in the middle of a sandbar, so we had to cross a bridge to get out……but Ray kicked down the wall boldly and made a hole.
“U, Uwa, hey”
I felt like the entire royal palace was shaking and I was panicking. Well, if the dragon kicked it with all its might, it would probably shake.
“Let’s fly. Everyone, please jump at the same time”
“Th, There are five of us, are you okay?”
Me, Neia, Tetes, Apple and Brian. I think Neia, Tetes and Brian will survive the jump, but Apple and I will probably kill ourselves if we fall into the rapids a few feet below.
“We’ll all be captured by the time we drop down. The ice dragons have more confidence in their ability to fly than the fire dragons. Trust me”
“…………”
Believe, huh? It’s not easy to break through the front door against three hundred heroes. Ray is strong because he is a dragon and Neia and the others can fight here too, but there are still two dragons left, not including Leyla who Ray kicked down earlier. I am not accustomed to fighting against people while protecting me and Apple, no matter how much Neia has outstanding abilities, there must be a limit. Let’s be prepared.
“O, Okay……Neia, take care of Apple. Tetes, hold my hand”
“Understood”
It will be easier for Ray to retrieve them than if they fall apart. However, if one of us gets caught, we’re probably limited to supporting one person, so we’ll try to hold hands in pairs. I’m sorry to Brian, but I’m going to let him do his best on his own. Then, looking down at the windswept evening valley, I nodded to everyone around me and dove……!
“Gu, uoooooo!!!”
Please, Ray! ……Ray, who leapt almost simultaneously with us and instantly changed into his dragon body, collected Brian first with a big swipe of his wings and then with his mouth. Then he grabbed Neia and Apple with his right paw and me and Tetes with his left and glided over the surface of the river. Then they soar up into the air, spit Brian out next to us and then hover and glare around us. We saw several dragons around. They weren’t necessarily chasing us, but they were glaring at each other.
“It’s now and then. Maia the blue dragon will join us shortly. Leave the rest to us and evacuate”
“H, Hey, it’s absurd for you to head for Rainer´s group by yourselves!”
“We need to stall for time. Besides, we believed that you are our hope. We will at least give you time to escape, even if it is beyond our power”
……The Presbyterians of Crystal Palace are determined to save us. If they don’t, they don’t know how they will treat us. That is correct.
But I can’t accept the idea that they’re suddenly willing to sacrifice themselves to save us.
“Don’t die. Ray. We’re going to be okay. We’re going to need your help when all is said and done”
“……I’ll do my best”
With that, Ray glided away, leaving us on a nearby shore.
“……Uwawawawawa”
“Brian, are you okay?”
“I, I thought I was going to die……and then suddenly get eaten to death by a dragon……”
After Ray flew away, Brian was still shaking and trembling. Well, of course it was scary because he suddenly took him in his mouth……or rather, it was pathetic that as soon as he became his companion, a position similar to that of Naris had become established.
“He’s kind of a punchline worker like Naris-chan, isn’t he?”
Tetes seemed to think the same thing. Apple and Neia laugh vaguely. ‘Be that as it may.
“Even if we wait for Maia, there’s no point in hanging around in a place like this. Let’s move. ……Neia aside, Tetes and Brian need weapons. The dragons will be tough on them no matter what they have, but it will be hard with bare hands if the heroes are chasing them”
“Let’s go to the craftsman village”
Neia nodded and we started walking, looking up at the dragons glaring at us. If we go to the craftsman village, there will probably be some weapons there. It might be in the form of robbery, but……we were saved relatively close by.
And when we arrived at the craftsman village……the craftsmen were lined up outside for some reason and a few unfamiliar guys were standing in front of them, also staring at each other.
“No matter what happens, you can’t give us our weapons? Is that what you’re saying, craftsmen?”
“We are making weapons for each of the five members of the Heroes Alliance. Even if you suddenly come and ask us to give you as much as we have, they don’t belong to you. Come back with an order form bearing the king’s seal. However……we are full up just making enough for the five. If you ask for more, I’m not sure how long it will be before we have a full supply”
“The king has passed away. It is now the reign of our Queen Stana. You must obey her orders”
“I have just heard that for the first time. Well, then, you’ll have to say so to Princess Stana, so there’s no guarantee that you’re not just a bunch of farm boys dressed up like that”
“You’re all talk for a craftsman. I’m telling you to get out of here. Things are urgent. We can’t just keep on using our ready-made, rickety practice swords. You have a spare one from Brian Luo or a dead one from a dead hero”
“I tell you, I can’t give you a single piece of iron”
“If you want proof of identity so badly, you can have this!”
A young man, who appears to be a member of the heroes squad, is about to thrust his sword at the craftsmen. Then, suddenly, a rock rises up about two meters, as if to leap up at them. When he turned around, he saw Neia slamming her flash sword into the ground. It was an earth drive.
“Wh……What”
“Brian!”
“Ossa!”
Neia and Brian quickly jumped on the heroes. Neia is strong as hell and Brian, though barehanded, has enough experience to skillfully beat and kick the new heroes to the ground. As a type, he is similar to Bronson, the second infantryman in the crossbow squad’s escort. He gave the impression of an unconventional swordsman.
“You’re not going to Tetes, too?”
“Well, I’m a little annoyed by that, but if I leave the space next to Master now, it would be putting the cart before the horse”
“……Okay, okay”
“Ehehe”
She seemed to be silently sharing the role of our escort with Neia.
“Are you all right, everyone?”
After Neia takes care of the hero squad, she speaks to the craftsmen. The craftsmen rushed towards Neia as if their tension had suddenly disappeared.
“Thank God you’re here, Neia-sama!”
“What’s going on?”
“Brian-sama, what happened to the weapons and stuff? They took them away……the king died after all!?”
The two of them struggled to answer the rapid-fire questions. As we watched in a daze, we finally heard the sound of wings from the direction behind us. When I turned around, I saw the majestic figure of a blue dragon that felt so nostalgic even though I had only been away for a few days.
“Hi, Hyaaaaa, even a dragon came!”
“Help”
“Calm down, everyone, it’s one of ours! The blue dragon is Smithson-san’s dragon!”
Despite the confusion, Maia slowly descends near us and returns to her human body, leaving an illusory shock in their brains.
“Andy-sama”
“You’re late. ……I can’t do anything without you, Maia”
“Yes. I’m sorry”
Maia hugged me tightly and apologized happily. Now, for the time being, everything is complete on my side. Now…….
“We’re going upstream. To the south”
The river that runs through the valley of Kalwin flows in a northerly direction. The sea is to the north. But if we go that way, the sphere of civilization will be far away. If we continue upstream, it will be easier for Dianne and the others to join us.
“We don’t intend to run away completely. We will fight back at some point. As long as we do that, we should be able to slow the progress of the situation”
……Was Tetes’ suggestion. We are going to use Rainer’s building. Rainer is reaching out to us according to the new queen. However, unless he himself is going to put his pride as a dragon rider on the line, it won’t be a serious attack on the dragons. Since I´m also a dragon rider, Rainer’s order has no force against the majority of the dragons. When we abandon the building, we must part ways with the new queen. In other words, as long as we resist, state rule will not be complete. It will be a distressing harassment for them. Either Rainer is a puppet of the queen, or the queen is a puppet of Rainer. If Rainer breaks with the queen’s power, the cause of Kalwin’s vision as a nation will also be left in the hands of the queen. At the very least, the hastily minted strongman power that is the heroes squad would cease to be effective. I don’t think it will go that far, but we can keep the dragons at a standstill until Dianne and the others come here again and the forced ideological unification of the nation by the heroes squad can be thwarted.
“As a matter of fact, the most troublesome thing in the panel that Rainer Exeliza has on hand right now may be the Heroes Squad. So they will be the underpinning of the dictatorship, mowing down suspicion against Princess Stana……the new queen. I don’t like the number of three hundred sober. And unlike the dragons, I don’t expect any break in the rules to be attached”
“If we don’t break that one, it will probably hinder our negotiations with the outside world”
“Yes. Fear replaces dictatorship with strength in numbers, you know”
Tetes nodded to Neia. If only the dragons were separable from the current Princess Stana, but the heroes squad would still be a wedge to bind the people with fear and make the will of Princess Stana the will of the nation as it is.
“So Neia is against the running of the state by Princess Stana”
Brian asks, checking his newly received suit of armor, sword and chain whip. Neia nodded.
“In the end, the people know nothing. They continue to suffer and be toyed with without knowing anything and on top of that, even their cries for help are trampled on for the sake of Princess Stana……that’s all there is to it, isn’t it? This was never a country to begin with. It’s just a cage for livestock that can’t leave because they have nowhere else to live”
“……That sounds like an insult, depending on how you look at it”
“But even so, I have decided not to retreat”
Neia grips the hilt of her flash sword, pulls back the brim of her hat and looks ahead.
“I will fight. So that this valley may have a future of salvation”
She must have thought about this for the past three days. The high spirits had returned to her eyes.