Chapter 550: Entering the royal palace 1
We left Juliene and Michela to defend and let the rest of the blue dragons take off with the carriages to carry the fighting men. Myself, Irina, the former king Ulysses and his escort, Ector, will be carried by Laila, who will be slightly behind us. As for the vehicle, we rode in a horse-drawn carriage that had been used to transport supplies, but had been converted to empty. It wasn’t very comfortable, as there were no seats, but well, it wouldn’t be a problem since we wouldn’t be flying for hours.
“When I think that we are going to settle this now, I feel……that it is finally happening, or maybe it is just a letdown”
“You can never be too careful”
Irina scolds me, but at this stage, I don’t feel like there’s much of a difference whether I let my guard down or be on guard.
“Of course, it’s not an easy situation and I know that everyone could get hurt, or if I don’t do something wrong, I might die……but when I think about how I was in a desperate situation just yesterday, the situation has changed to the point where I’m ready to push through”
“……Well, it’s certainly a radical change, considering that you were driven to the point of wanting to fight the heroes directly”
I don’t really feel it. Dianne-san has already decided on a plan”
Look at the empty right sleeve. ……Actually, although this surprised Rainer, it did little to no real damage. In addition to the injured Shario, there are other dragons available to replace her. If the reinforcements had not arrived, we would have been killed for sure. But now we were in a situation where we were about to seize the royal palace, so it was a sudden situation. Whether we cried or laughed, the fate of this strange world would be decided in the next few hours. I was in the midst of a day where my heart was slowly being drained away and my head couldn’t quite keep up with it.
“For some reason, Dianne and Sir Bonaparte are there and many other great knights have come……it may be true that I’m slacking off because I don’t feel like I’m going to lose in this situation. But I’m fine with this ending. I feel like I’ve been left behind”
“I think it has to end this way. Dianne won’t let you suffer any more. Selenium also went into labor on the way out. This is a difficult place, but you should not stop here”
“Eh, really?”
This is the first time I’ve heard that Selenium had gone into labor. Someone could have told me……but there’s no point in me being in a strange hurry here.
“If you had been harmed, Selenium would have come for revenge, even if it meant letting her baby die. And in that case, Dianne would have destroyed the country that brought you death, along with the Dragon Palace”
“……I’m glad things didn’t turn out that way”
If I think about it, these women are passionate. If you lose the brakes, it’s not surprising that they’d do something like that. For better or worse, they are not ordinary women within the bounds of common sense. Laila sometimes refers to Dianne as 「Our dragon lady」 and she is probably right in the sense that she could easily go off the beaten path if push comes to shove. There is no need to go beyond that. If you take something that is important to you, you destroy everything. Dianne has the values and ability to do that.
“So, you will not look so short. There will be times when we will need your help, but for now, the upheaval must end as soon as possible. For your own sake and for the sake of this country”
“……Th, That’s right”
The reason why I’m not in a good mood is because I was thinking too high and far away to settle with Rainer. In fact, even if we beat Rainer and Princess Stana, we still have a lot of work to do. Even saving this country from its plight is only a starting point. The grand hope for the next 300 years of mankind, the pacification of the demon territory, starts there. This is no time to waste. This is not the time for me to be playing the leading role.
“Owner. It’s about time”
Chibi Laila appears on my shoulder. I nod. I opened the window and looked out. Beyond the formation of blue dragons ahead of me, I could see the royal palace built on a sandbank in the middle of the cliff. ……That’s where it all started,
“Is that it?”
“Yes. We’ll swoop in from the sky, keeping an eye out for the silver dragons”
“Umm”
Laila’s low roar shook the sky. The blue dragons slowly landed in the backyard of the castle in turn, without the aerial interception that had been feared.
We were the last to enter the royal palace.
“Dianne, the enemy?”
“A dozen or so miscellaneous soldiers, but no more than a dozen. But Vincent took the iron one as bait and subdued it. There has been no significant resistance so far”
The iron one, it seems, refers to General Amatsushima. ……In a small place like this, he would certainly be an excellent advance reconnaissance man.
“I don’t see any sign of big game like dragons”
“Irina, you know about that kind of thing?”
“I don’t want people to think that divination is something that belongs to purple clan”
Ah, divination magic. Come to think of it, Apple is a descendant of the Purple Clan, which is skilled in magic, so maybe that’s what her parents taught her.
“I’ve searched everywhere. I’m having Neia and Brian Luo check it out right now, but……it looks like it’s empty”
Anzeros came to report. Dianne narrowed her eyes.
“They’ve already pulled out……? I suppose it’s not difficult now that power is concentrated in Rainer Exeliza and the queen……but where are they going to run off to now?”
“A trap, I suppose. After gathering all of us, they could crush us from the outside……”
“I’m wary about that. We still have Broll-dono and Airi on patrol outside, so it shouldn’t be that easy”
“If that’s the case……umm, what’s your intention……?”
Anzeros roared. And then, from the passageway behind her, comes the sound of footsteps, knacks, knacks. Anzeros’s ears twitched and she braced herself a moment later.
“Who is it?”
“I thought you were checking”
“The footsteps are different from those of the Sword Saint Brigade, our women, the dragons and the Overknights!”
……I, I’m surprised she’s able to hear them. Well, with elf ears, I guess you can do it if you feel like it.
“I guess you could if you wanted to”
“Hmmm. Who are you?”
Diane and Irina also turn their gazes to the darkness. Dianne, a dark elf, must have been able to see deep inside, but Irina, who couldn’t see, murmured her spell, creating multiple spheres of light and sending them flying in a line into the darkness. What emerged was a scale-like suit armor that covered the entire body.
“Hero……”
The figure expressed its affirmation to my murmur as it walked forward.
“Hero captain. ……I’m still more comfortable being called in that simplified manner than being called that”
“You, as I recall……”
A strong young man. He is not Rainer, nor is he rather the good-looking Richard. The hero whose presence has been the least visible to me up until now.
“I’m sure you’re……Herman”
“I would like to thank you for getting to know me in just one face-to-face meeting. ……That’s right. I am Herman Kidd”
We’re five meters away. When we were within a stone’s throw of him, Herman stopped.
“There’s no Rainer here, no Queen and no other hero captains. They moved their main camp to the royal villa yesterday”
“Royal villa……?”
“It’s a sort of royal treasury from the time of the Six Kingdoms of the Old North. No one visits it anymore, but seeing as it is still there, it must be a difficult place for monsters to get to”
“……I see. I’m glad you told me that”
While saying that, I observe him, trying to read his intentions. Is this……providing this information a sign of surrender to us….…or? ……His expression is rather hard. In other words, there is no atmosphere in which he admits defeat and quits. Perhaps sensing my doubts, Herman took a small breath.
“……I don’t care what Rainer is up to, or what ideals the Queen is talking about. ……But I’m also not going to be doing this job with such cheap resolve to judge my own behavior based on whether Neia Grans is better or worse……or whether I’m going to win or lose now”
“……You are”
“I don’t know how much you have heard from Neia Grans about this job of being a hero. No matter how many times you kill, it’s a never-ending job where you just keep killing. Killing the people, cutting monsters……you can’t get better at it. Even if you keep cutting until the end and survive, the job that awaits you the next day is to kill again. Forever and ever, that’s all”
Then, with somewhat vacant eyes.
“Still, I have to do it. I cannot run away because I don’t want to die or because it is not right. That’s what a hero is. That’s what I became. ……Maybe you guys are right. If I fight you, I may lose. But then again, all I know is that I will be a hero until the moment of my death”
“……You’re yourself and you’re immersed in something different than courage”
“What is the use of a glorious name woven into a poem? What is the use of a title as a token of one’s pathetic, blood-soaked life?”
Herman Kidd, a hero who had made little impression on me. But when I confronted him in this way……that impression was overturned and in a sense, I understood. This man is different from both King Jeddha and Rainer. He does not see any hope for tomorrow. He just despairs of the world as such……no, he is convinced. There is no way such a man would leave a strong impression as a human being. It is not because he is a hero of this country. This kind of despair is everywhere. It could be a pauper, a slave or a soldier. A life in which one cannot see or imagine anything more pleasant or beautiful than one’s own circumstances. The life that it creates, a life with no expansion at all. And an ego that has no choice but to affirm it.
“Now……let’s get to work, pirate”
Herman slowly draws his sword. Naturally, Dianne stands there protecting me and Irina. Ector, who was nearby, also protects the former king and the tension builds before Herman’s first blow. Then, Anzeros quickly steps forward.
“You’re a sad man, aren’t you?”
“Not so much”
“Andy. Let me handle this”
“……Yes, but……”
Anzeros quickly pulls out her sword and holds it up in front of her as if in prayer. Following that, Herman smiles and does the same. As in a liturgy, the two faced each other in the same pose.
“Herman Kidd, the First Knight of the Kalwin Kingdom, Explosive Flame Knight. Here I come”
Anzeros responds to Herman’s name in a voice filled with pride.
“The first knight who protects the black dragon Laila. Dragon Knight, Black Anzeros”
……Eh. Dragon Knight ……? When I looked over in surprise, Laila, who was watching from a little distance, nodded.
“I’m speaking on behalf of rider Andy Smithson”
A moment later. The sword of Anzeros spewed fire and its flames lit up the surroundings.
“……You”
“Let’s do this, Explosive Flame Knight”
Swinging her flaming sword, Anzeros takes a stance. The explosive flame and the fire dragon knight face each other in the dimly lit stone corridor.