“[Slip]!” Seeing an opening, I magically reduced the friction of the ground around the dragon, making the senseless beast lose its balance entirely. Its gargantuan, heavy body suddenly came crashing to the ground.
Man, that was close... That [Slip] spell of mine is super useful... Just a shame it’s useless against enemies in the air. That knife was a real lifesaver, though. Yae must’ve thrown it. I’ll have to thank her later. Actually, hold on... wasn’t Yae on the opposite side of where the knife came from? Well, whatever. I’ll worry about that later.
The dragon let out another furious roar. I had already lost my katana. Just as one would expect from a dragon, it wasn’t an easy foe to do battle with. I needed something with more penetrative power. In that case...
“Yae, Elze! Buy me some time! Linze, build a giant ice wall in front of me! Kohaku, you make sure that no harm comes to her!” Linze quickly began focusing her magic and speaking the incantation.
“Come forth, Ice! Eternal Frozen Ridge: [Ice Wall]!” A thick barrier of frost materialized before me. It was beautifully clear and without any visible faults. Perfect for what I was about to do.
“[Modeling]!” I placed my hand on the ice and began reshaping it. The object I was making wasn’t complicated at all. Magic ice was harder to melt than normal ice, but I was changing its shape without heating it, so that was really an unrelated piece of trivia.
After a few seconds, I reformed it into the shape I needed — a large, icy magnifying lens. Complete with a stand that wouldn’t let it fall.
“[Multiple]!” Small magic circles started appearing and expanding, all pointing toward the lens. One... Two... Four... Eight... Sixteen... Thirty-two... Sixty-four... One hundred and twenty-eight... Two hundred and fifty-six... Five hundred and twelve!
“Strike true, Light! Sparkling Holy Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” All five hundred and twelve spears of light were fired into the lens. They were absorbed and refracted, focusing into a single point. I quickly used [Modeling] on the lens to fine-tune its thickness and set the focal point onto the black dragon.
“Eat this!” In a flash, a strange sound pierced the air. When I looked at the black dragon, it had a gaping hole where its chest once was. Soon enough, the beast tumbled forward and fell to the ground, making the earth tremble something fierce. The fresh blood flowing from its chest painted the surrounding field a vivid red.
“We really beat that thing?!”
“We did it, Touya-dono! We did!” Elze and Yae cheerily ran up to me. And Linze, riding Kohaku, wasn’t far behind them.
“Well done...”
“I’d expect nothing less from my master. Truly, I can rest at ease now.” As I exhaled a sigh of relief at Kohaku’s words, the lens I built suddenly shattered into countless pieces. Whoa, that scared me!
But, moments later, another fright came. A shadow cast itself upon the ground. I looked up to see yet another dragon floating in the sky and blocking out the moon.
“What... another one?!” This one was considerably larger than the one we’d just killed. It had red scales and a white mane trailing from the back of its head to the tip of its tail. Its horns were thick and its tail long.
As we stood there in perfectly reasonable confusion, the red dragon, still floating in the air, began to talk.
“I have no intention of fighting you. This child of my people seems to have caused much trouble. For that, I sincerely apologize.”
“Wait, you can talk?!”
“I am the red dragon, he who rules the Sanctuary Grounds. I came to bring back the unruly youth, but it seems I was too late.” The red dragon surveyed the fresh corpse with a sad expression, then slowly closed its golden eyes.
So that was the reason it came here, huh? I’m sorry, if you were a bit faster it could’ve been different, but...
It was kind of hard for me to say anything at that point, so Kohaku took a step toward the red dragon.
“Red dragon. If you ever meet with the Green Monarch... tell it to properly discipline its kin.”
“What? This presence... but that cannot be... The White Monarch?! Why are you in such a place?!” The red dragon was completely taken aback. I stared at Kohaku in utter blank, confused amazement. Was there even more to this tiger than I was unaware of?
“I see... So the black dragon was defeated by none other than the White Monarch. I can see why it stood no chance. What a foolish child it was...”
“Do not misunderstand. Your foolish ilk was exterminated by my master, Touya. The brat had the gall to insult this venerable young man. This end result is but a natural consequence of arrogance and idiocy.”
“What?! A mere human is the master of the White Monarch?!” The red dragon directed its golden eyes toward me. It was clearly having trouble processing this information. Shortly after that, it gently landed on the ground, lowered its whole body, and bowed its head.
“I humbly request you pardon my insolent manner... I also hope you can find it within your heart to forgive us for this black dragon’s actions. If possible, I would prefer the punishment—”
“Hey, enough of that. It’s fine so long as you understand, but you’re not getting a second chance, understand? Make sure it doesn’t happen again by telling your kids to behave.”
“Of course, sir. By all means. I will return immediately to the Sanctuary Grounds and voice what must be said. If that is all, I shall take my leave now. Thank you.” The red dragon stood up, bowed once more, and spread its wings before taking flight. It made a circle above us and disappeared toward the south.
“Goodness gracious, how vexing... This is why I so detest that Green Monarch.” Mumbling some complaints, Kohaku popped back into tiger cub form.
The White Monarch and the Green Monarch didn’t seem to have a very good relationship. Wonder if it had something to do with one being a tiger and the other a dragon. Wait a sec... I looked around to see that the three girls were on the ground.
“What’s wrong with you all?”
“What’s wrong is that... we couldn’t move...” Elze spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. Ah, it was probably similar to Yumina’s condition when I initially summoned Kohaku. That red dragon was probably among the more powerful ones. I wondered if he too was a bearer of the Mystic Eyes. They certainly were exotic and golden enough.
“Touya... were you really not scared at all through that?”
“Yep. I was just fine.”
“That feels somewhat unfair, it does...” Well, what am I supposed to do about that? Not like I can control whether or not I’m affected by stuff like that. It’s probably just another of God’s gifts.
Now that I think about it, no matter how scared I’ve been, there’s never been any time I was petrified with fear.
As those thoughts ran through my mind, I cast some Healing magic on the girls.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Sheesh, I’m tired.” I spread myself out on the grass and got comfy. The sun rose from the eastern sky, blinding my eyes with light. It’s dawn already...?
After we beat the black dragon, we had to do a lot of running around the village. Linze used magic water to put out the fires, Elze searched around for the injured, and I restored them using Healing magic. Also, by the time I realized that I could’ve just run a map search for “injured person,” we were already done. No one died in the event, but the village was basically reduced to rubble. The financial cost was great indeed.
“Ah, Sir Touya. So this is where you were.”
“Ah, Lyon. Great work today.” The good knight approached me. Apparently, the situation was cooling down. I could even smell some food being made for the victims.
“I must say, though, to defeat a dragon with only four people... I am far past surprised. In fact, I’m simply deep into that feeling where you lose the ability to fully articulate a comment.”
“Well, it was only a young dragon, so it wasn’t super strong yet or anything. That’s probably the only reason we won.” I explained tha
t part to him, but conveniently left out everything regarding the red dragon. Suddenly, the wolf captain, Garm, came over to us.
“Oh, Mister Touya. What do you intend to do with the dragon?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, just think of the ingredients. Selling it would net you a great amount of coin. Though, transporting it would be a problem...”
“You’re telling me I can sell the dragon’s corpse?” Apparently, draconic scales, claws, horns, fangs, and bones were great weapon and armor crafting materials, while the meat was rather delicious. It seems dead dragons were extremely expensive commodities. And since I was the one to defeat the black dragon, I had the right to decide what to use it for. Hmm, in that case...
“The villagers can have it. It should help them get back on their feet.”
“All of it?! To them?!”
“Mister Touya, do you know what you’re saying?! The price of a dragon is staggering! That carcass alone would not go for anything less than ten royal coins!” Ten royal coins? Seriously? It was worth more than a hundred million yen?! Awesome! I’ll definitely keep it in tha— Oh. Damn. Right as I was about to reconsider my decision, I saw the villagers huddled together in my peripheral vision. Crap, they heard me.
“...I-IT’S A SMALL PRICE TO PAY TO HELP THIS LOVELY VILLAGE. I TRULY HOPE THEY USE IT WELL.” I couldn’t retract my statement, so I forced out a sentence that made me seem far more benevolent than I actually was. I bet the truth of it showed on my face, though.
“I think I speak for all of Mismede when I say this. Thank you, Mister Touya.”
“Hah... indeed. Just as father said, you are truly a man of fine standing. I cannot help but admire you, Sir Touya.” Gazes of appreciation and respect converged upon me. No. Stop. I was just keeping up appearances... I could only hope that the girls would tolerate this mistake.
I used the fake teleportation mirror to bring Olga, Arma, and Yumina back to us, and Olga didn’t hesitate before thanking me. Most of her gratitude was for defeating the dragon and saving the village, but I had nearly nothing to do with there being no fatalities. That was likely due to our escorts doing a good job.
Speaking of those guys, they were completely exhausted and getting some well-deserved sleep next to the carriages. And honestly, I really wanted to join them. As if to deny me that luxury, however, an old beastman hobbled over to us, supporting himself with a stick.
“I am Solum, the village chief. I would like to give you my earnest thanks for defeating the dragon that attacked our village, and giving such great support to our restorative endeavors.” By “support,” you mean my generous donation, right? Man, did I screw up by just handing it over... But with the village in this sorry state, they’ll need anything they can get. Ah whatever, no use crying over spilled milk.
The chief called over some villagers who were carrying something. What’s that? Looks about one and a half meters long... A big black curved cone? Oh, I’ve seen this thing before.
“This is one of the dragon’s horns. Please take it for yourself.”
“Huh? But I...”
“We hear you damaged your weapon. You can use this horn to craft a new one, or sell it and buy something already made.” Well, he’s not wrong. Guess I should just take it, then. Once the chief passed it over, I couldn’t hide my surprise at how light it was. Despite that, I heard it was far harder than the finest steel. I began to understand why a creature as large as that could actually take off from the ground.
As far as I was aware, the only materials stronger than dragon parts were hihi’irokane, mithril, and orichalcum.
Either way, I graciously accepted the horn and walked away from the village chief and the rest. To be honest, I was close to collapsing from exhaustion. But by some miracle, I was able to drag myself to the carriage. Looking inside, I saw Elze, Linze and Yae sleeping peacefully. I couldn’t really join them, so I simply slumped down and spread myself out on the grass next to the carriage.
“Here, Touya. A blanket.” A moment later, Yumina came over with something I really needed. Perfect timing... I gave her my thanks and covered myself, all while trying to prevent my eyelids from drooping there and then.
Ah, sweet warmth... I couldn’t hold it back any longer. My eyes closed and drowsiness set in.
I woke up to see Yumina with the wide open sky behind her. Still not fully aware of my surroundings, I looked into her eyes as she stared at mine.
“Are you finally awake?” I could feel something soft under my head as I heard her say that... Wait, is my head on her thighs or something? I rolled off to the ground to escape the situation. How long was I sleeping like that?! I hastily got up and noticed the villagers and now-awake guards who were grinning and looking at me like I was something adorable. Whoa, this embarrassment is next level. Resting on a girl’s thighs in front of a group of people...?! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it pleasant, but it’s still way too embarrassing, man!
“Oh. He’s awake.”
“...S-Seems like you slept well.”
“Indeed. He looked quite satisfied, he did.”
Chills ran down my spine. I fearfully turned around to see the reason for that. Three girls, silently standing there with full smiles on their faces. Their eyes, however, reflected no joy at all. W-Wait a sec, are they mad at me?
“Err... did I miss something?”
“Nope.” “No...” “You did not.” They were clearly lying. I could see it on their sulking faces.
“Now now, ladies. Let’s leave it at that! The results of rock-paper-scissors are sacred. No grudges allowed, okay?”
“Geez, I know that much...”
“Mhm...”
“This is rather vexing, it is...” Yumina made a little clap and spoke words that made the three look away and calm down. What was so important that they’d get mad at losing rock-paper-scissors over it?
“Mister Touya, you should begin getting ready to depart. We have to report what happened here to the capital.” Garm came over with Olga in tow, telling us to get prepared. It broke the uncomfortable air, so I used the opportunity to head to the carriage. The stares boring into my back were distracting, but I pretended not to notice.
«Kohaku, what exactly happened while I was sleeping?» I telepathically spoke to Kohaku, who seemed to be inside the carriage. I figured the tiger might know something, after all.
«Well... How should I put this...? I suppose you could say that there was a catfight.»
«Huh?» I had no idea what that meant, but it was clear that no one other than Yumina was in the best of moods. I had to do something about that... Aha!
Struck with a sudden idea, I went to the chief’s house and made a little trade to acquire a certain something.
As the carriage shook and rattled, I exhaled a sigh of relief while looking at the satisfied girls. There were silver bracelets shining on Elze, Linze, Yae, and Yumina’s wrists.
They were made by me, of course. I bought some silver objects from the chief and used [Modeling] to reshape them into bracelets. The design was based on one of the more moderate ones I found on the internet. Once my work was done, I gave one to each of them, to express my thanks for everything up to that point.
They seemed pretty surprised at first, but none of the girls hesitated to take theirs. From the way they looked at the bracelets every once in a while, I could easily tell that they liked them. Though, the occasional grins were a tiny bit unsettling, honestly.
“Olga, how long will it take us to get to the capital?”
“We should reach Berge in just over two days. Touya, you should get a weapon in one of the towns along the way.”
Good point. Garm told me the best place to get a weapon crafted from a dragon’s horn is the capital city. But being unarmed until then probably isn’t smart. I mean, sure, I can fight just fine with magic alone, but being without a weapon at my side makes me feel a bit helpless. Hm? Wait. Can’t I just use [Modeling] to shape the horn myself? N
o, wait, I shouldn’t risk screwing that up...
“Well, it’s only two days, so I’ll just make due with magic.” No point in buying a weapon if I’m just gonna use it for two days. Berge is the capital city anyway, so it’ll have way better goods. Olga suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled a cloth-wrapped object out of her bag.
“I just remembered, the village chief gave this to me.” Olga passed it over, and I instantly realized that it was a cloth-wrapped knife. It was black, single-edged, slightly curved, and had a length of about twenty centimeters.
“What’s this...?”
“Hm? I heard it was found in the dragon’s eye... Isn’t it yours?” Oh, it’s that weapon. So the chief retrieved it, huh? I took the knife from Olga, wrapped it up again, and tried passing it to Yae.
“Here you go, Yae.”
“Hm? But that is not mine, it is not.” Huh...? If it’s not Yae’s, then Elze, maybe? It wasn’t Elze’s either. Linze? No, she couldn’t even hold something like this properly. Whose knife is this, then? Weren’t we the only ones there? Did someone help us from the shadows? That means they weren’t our enemy, but it’s still super creepy...
«Kohaku. Was someone other than us present during that fight?»
«There was someone there. I could sense a presence at the top of a tree in the grove. No, there were likely two, actually... I sensed no killing intent, so I had assumed them to be mere villagers.» I telepathically confirmed it with Kohaku. Apparently, it was certain that someone was observing our battle with the dragon. Why, though? I suddenly recalled that someone was watching Yumina and me back in Langley. Could it have been the same people?
That wasn’t something I could figure out just by thinking about it. I examined the knife, but it didn’t seem like anything in particular stood out.
For the time being, I decided to keep the blade on my person. Not having its sheath was a real pain, though.
Seriously... who could it have been?
◇ ◇ ◇
“Hah... so that’s how it is...” That was all I could say upon catching sight of the pure white royal palace in the capital of Berge. To be blunt, it reminded me of the Taj Mahal. The all-marble tomb a certain emperor built for his beloved. That huge white building with a name meaning “Crown of the Palace.”
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 2 Page 9