Dragonslayer

There's a Dragon in Lestia?"

"Yes, it appeared in a frontier town named Groose. There's been quite a lot of

damage so far, unfortunately. It seems to be a formidable creature."

I was training with Hilde a bit when I received a call from her brother,

Reinhard. It seemed there'd been a Dragon attack.

"Is it a quadruped?"

"It is. It's a four-legged, Gold-Copper Dragon, as far as I'm aware."

"I wonder if it's a vagrant... I have an understanding with the Dragons, after

all." Dragons were a species of monster I could call upon with Luli's power, but I

couldn't control certain subspecies like Wyverns.

I thought maybe it was a Wyvern that had attacked Lestia, but it seemed like

it wasn't the case.

That was why I assumed it was a vagrant Dragon.

Vagrant Dragons were the lone wolves of the Dragon world. Except... They

were Dragons, not wolves. Hopefully that made sense.

They were Dragons that acted according to their own whims, never heeding

the advice of their elders. They freely attacked whatever they pleased, even if

I'd made a general law to keep away from humans. Seemed like they couldn't

control their tempers.

It wouldn't have been a big deal, but it seemed like the other Dragons didn't

take it upon themselves to stop the vagrants, so there was always a risk of them

harming towns.

The only solution was to quickly take them out whenever I heard about them.

"Got it, then. Want me to kill it for you?"

"Ah, well... If you don't mind, I'd like to kill it with Lestian knights. It's rather

dishonorable to always rely on foreign intervention. If you could tell me where

it is located, I should be able to handle the rest."

Oh, huh. I guess I didn't really consider the social shame aspect of meddling in

people's stuff.

"Hold on a second then, uhh... Run search. Gold-Copper Dragon."

"Searching... Search complete."

I looked at the map, and one of the hits was right on the border of Lestia. That

was probably the one we were after.

I used my phone to screenshot the map and then sent it to Reinhard via text.

"You have my thanks. I'll be in touch."

The call was promptly cut off. I wondered if he'd be fine, though... I heard

Dragons with reddish coloration were extremely high-tier. Even the Ancient

Dragon guarding the sanctuary in the Sea of Trees was red.

"What did my brother want?"

Hilde seemed anxious to know what the call had been about. I wasn't too

surprised she was worried. Her brother and I had been discussing a Dragon of

all things.

I told Hilde what Reinhard had told me.

"Ah, a Dragon... My brother has long hoped for such an event."

"He's been hoping for it? Why?"

"Our grandfather is a Gold adventurer, as you know. He also has the

Dragonslayer title in the guild. And when our father was young, he defeated a

Griffon and gained the title of Griffon Killer. My brother always talks about this

kind of thing."

Oh, makes sense. I guess since he's the king now, he feels inadequate

compared to his predecessors.

The Dragonslayer title was awarded to people by the guild if they killed a

Dragon in a party of five or less.

Of course, that was just a guild formality. You could kill a Dragon outside of

the guild and still be recognized if you had witnesses.

Though, obviously, if you wanted the formal title, you'd need to bring proof,

and if you brought it down with an army, then you obviously wouldn't qualify.

If Reinhard took down this Dragon alone or with a small unit, he could get the

same title that his predecessor Galen once earned.

"But still... I can't help but worry. My brother excels at fighting other people,

but I'm not so sure if he's as disciplined against monsters. I hope he'll be

alright..." I didn't really think that the king would go down so easily, but I could

also understand her fears.

Hilde was worried about her older brother. If something happened to

Reinhard, then Lestia would be in great trouble. But I still thought it would be

rude or unreasonable to butt in on such a personal fight to him.

"...Wanna go spy on him?"

"Ah, yes!"

Hilde smiled. Thus, we headed off to covertly peek at the fight between the

Lestian knights and the Dragon.

◇ ◇ ◇

Three days later, the Lestian knights arrived at the mountainside. The Dragon

had claimed the area as its home.

I informed Hilde, and we used [Gate] to get to Mt. Parute, at the southern

Lestian border. We hid away from their encampment and sent out Kougyoku to

keep an eye on them.

"Looks like they're fine for now."

Kougyoku's vision was transmitted through Hilde's smartphone screen,

sending her a wave of relief as she ascertained her brother's safety.

It'd definitely be bad if they ran into a powerful beast before even reaching

the Dragon.

"So, where's the Dragon?"

"Ah, hold on. It's uhh... Here. Yeah, the rocky crag to the northwest. Wait...

Hold on..."

The marker on the map showed where the Dragon was, but something didn't

feel right...

I squinted my eyes before pinching my fingers on the screen and zooming in.

The zoomed-in map confirmed my fears. There were two overlapping

markers.

"Oh crap... There are two Dragons here!"

"What?!"

Hilde stared at my smartphone in shock. There was no mistaking it... There

were two markers. It was kind of like the case with the Mithril Golem forever

ago.

Even if they were Lestian knights, it'd be almost impossible for them to kill

two Dragons. I wasn't sure what to do.

"...Maybe we could take one of them away from the other and let your

brother fight it."

"Do you think he'd be okay?"

"Probably, yeah. It won't be an easy fight, though. It'll take them some time

to ground the Dragon."

That was the most difficult part of Dragon fighting. You could use a powerful

Wind spell to shred their wings, but none of the Lestian knights were specialized

in that regard, as far as I knew.

Thus, they had no choice but to fight with bows and arrows, but that had

challenges to it as well. If the Dragon sensed too much danger, it would just fly

off.

That was why it was imperative to bring it down to the ground and keep it

there. Obviously, bows and arrows could bring down a Dragon with a lucky

shot, but this wasn't especially reliable.

I decided we should draw one of them away, so we needed to head off

immediately. We needed to do it covertly, since we didn't want to blow our

cover.

The two of us made our way to the nesting grounds.

We carried on through the mountainous area, checking our smartphone maps

every so often until we arrived.

The two of them were feasting on a large monster together. Both of them had

Gold-Copper scales, and one of them was considerably larger than the other. A

male and a female, huh? Wonder if they're a couple...

"They're a noble species, but it seems these ones are immature. They're

talking about attacking more humans when they're done eating. Seems they

find it fun. I'm glad Luli isn't here; she'd have turned the two of them into

charcoal by now."

Kougyoku gave us the gist of what the two Dragons were saying. If Luli was

here... That certainly would've been a problem...

I shuddered quietly, thinking about that Dragon's fire breath, when Hilde

suddenly caught my attention.

"Ah, Touya... I have a request. Can you let me kill that Dragon on my own?"

"You want to do it alone?"

Hilde's face turned red. I wasn't sure why.

"This is a touch embarrassing, but... I've always wanted to kill a Dragon, as

well..."

"Huh?"

"I-It's honorable for a knight to defeat a Dragon! I can't pass on this

opportunity now, so please!"

"Aha... Alright, I guess."

Geez. She really is just as knightly as her brother.

I could understand her feelings well enough, so it was no big deal.

"I-I'm planning on confining one, but which one did you want to fight?"

"The big one!"

She answered without hesitation. That meant the Lestian forces would fight

the smaller female...

That was probably better, actually. Hilde had been taught by the god of

swords herself, so she'd be able to take on a Dragon for sure. If anything, I was

more worried about the soldiers.

Better to confine the smaller one, then.

"[Prison]."

"Graaagh?!"

The Dragon was placed within a barrier, and started thrashing around. It was

a waste of effort, since it wasn't gonna escape.

"Lestian Sacred Sword: First Cutter!"

"Grargh!"

Hilde slashed toward the neck of the free Dragon.

The cut was only a shallow one, but it was enough for the beast to register

her as a threat.

"Graaargh!"

"Let us go!"

Hilde charged out of the rocky nesting area, causing the male Dragon to

pursue her.

Once we reached an area that was easy to fight in, Hilde turned around and

faced the Dragon head-on.

The Dragon suddenly opened its gaping maw. It looked like it was preparing a

fire breath attack.

"GRAAARGH!"

"Mph!"

I thought the Dragon was about to spew flames, but it vomited up a

streaming blast of liquid.

Hilde jumped to the side, the liquid spraying to the ground and causing it to

bubble and sizzle away. I looked closer and saw that any plants in the path of

the substance had been completely melted. It was some kind of potent solvent

liquid, an acid spit.

That was kind of annoying. Hilde wielded a phrasium blade. It was extremely

sharp and durable, but I didn't know how it'd do against acid. I'd never tested

that before... I didn't think it'd melt that easily, though.

"Gra... Ragh!"

"Guh...!"

Hilde still seemed determined not to get any liquid on her sword. She

continued to dodge the acid spray.

She charged forward, ducking under the acid breath and charging straight

toward the Dragon.

"Lestian Sacred Sword: First Cutter!"

"Grargh!"

The wind blade from Hilde's attack sliced through one of the Dragon's wings,

impairing its ability to fly. I was really impressed! I stood at the side with a

double thumbs-up as the Gold-Copper Dragon fell down.

Now it's on the ground, good. It'll be easier. But even a grounded Dragon isn't

so simple.

"Gragh!"

The Gold-Copper Dragon started firing out spray after spray, several blasts at

once. It seemed to be able to fire multiple short blasts like a water gun.

Hilde easily dodged the attack, then charged forward again.

"Lestian Sacred Sword: Third Shear!"

Hilde jumped up and cleaved off the Dragon's wings at the base. Now it

wouldn't be able to fly away at all.

"Groargh!"

The Dragon's claws swiped toward Hilde as she descended. There was

nowhere for her to escape. The Dragon probably expected her to go for its

wings...

"Lestian Sacred Sword: Second Wardance!"

"Gyah?!"

The sword danced, ripping the Dragon's outstretched hand to shreds. The

scaly beast pulled its arm back out of pain as Hilde landed safely.

Hilde then turned backward with a flourish and cut the Dragon's tail at the tip.

The Dragon furiously swung its tail, but it wasn't as fast as before. She was

whittling it down.

"GRAAARGHHH!"

Looks like it's spewing acid at random... Wait, it's coming this way?!

"Touya?!"

"Ack! [Teleport]!" I quickly warped away from the incoming acid.

That was almost a very unlucky moment for me. A little more... and I'd have

gotten burned... Though, if it hit an ordinary person, they'd have been melted

into goo.

"How dare you aim for Touya!"

...I don't think it was trying to specifically hit me or anything.

Fury burned in Hilde's eyes as she faced down the Dragon. It kept on spitting

more globs of acid to prevent her advance, but she kept on dodging, left to

right.

Hilde jumped right up in front of the Dragon, scorn burning through her very

being.

"Lestian Sacred Sword: Fifth Swirl!"

Hilde's spinning blade aimed right for the Dragon's chest.

"Gragh... Frugh...!"

"It's over."

Hilde's crystal blade flashed in the air, slashing upward and digging into the

Dragon's throat. The Dragon's head fell to the ground, its long neck swaying left

and right as it oozed blood.

Done already? She killed it pretty fast.

Hilde sheathed her blade as I walked over to her.

"Good work, Hilde. You killed it!"

"Yes! I'm really pleased!"

Kind of a shame this wasn't a guild mission, though. With just me as a witness,

she might not get the Dragonslayer title.

Then again, I'm a Gold adventurer, so my testimony should be enough. I'll ask

Relisha to be on the safe side. Plus, the dead Dragon should be proof.

"Oh yeah, the other one..."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's head back."

I put the dead Dragon into [Storage] and we headed back toward the nest.

It was trapped in the barrier, still thrashing around. It seemed like it was still

healthy, if not a little fatigued.

"Now, I'll just cover our tracks a little..."

I took my smartphone out and called Reinhard.

"Hey, 'sup. It's Touya. Just wanted to say that my map's telling me the

Dragon's to your northwest. Also, I heard this one has acidic breath, so be

careful out there! Best of luck, man."

I spoke as if I was calling from Brunhild, and he seemed convinced enough.

Now all I had to do was lead the Dragon to the Lestian knights.

"Alright, let's do this."

"Of course!"

I cast [Levitation] on Hilde, and I used [Fly] to float up alongside the [Prison]-

confined Dragon.

I didn't want anyone seeing us by chance, so I cast [Mirage] to disguise us as

eagles against the night sky.

Now all I had to do was release the barrier.

"Graaarrrggghhh!"

"Shut up."

"Groagh?!"

The Dragon roared before being smacked across the face by Hilde. From the

perspective of an onlooker, it would've looked like an eagle swiping its talons at

the monster.

"Let's go, then!"

"GRARGHGRAAAAAAGH!"

We flew off, and the Gold-Copper Dragon immediately gave chase. But we

just kept on flying slowly but surely toward the Lestian knights.

The moment we saw the group of knights in the forest below, I cast [Invisible]

on Hilde and myself.

The knights were focused on the Dragon, so it didn't pay any heed to the

mysterious vanishing eagles up above.

"Archers, take aim!"

Arrows rained from below, and I decided to give them a helping hand. I

snapped one of the Dragon's wing tendons with Wind magic.

"Gragh?!"

It was unable to maintain its balance, so it tumbled downward.

That was the full extent of my interference, though. I wanted to see how

Reinhard and the Lestian knights fared against the Dragon.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Lestian Sacred Sword: Sixth Roaring Thunder!"

"Graaah!"

Reinhard's crystal blade stabbed through the Dragon's brain.

The Gold-Copper Dragon seized up, and its head fell to the ground with a

mighty crash.

"We... did it? We did it! The Dragon's dead!"

Reinhard raised his sword after pulling it out of the Dragon's head. The small

group of Lestian knights alongside him cheered at the sight. Some cried with

joy, some fell to their knees with exhaustion, and some jumped around happily.

Lestian tradition said it was honorable for a knight to slay a Dragon. But the

chances to do so were sparse, and when they came up, they were extremely

deadly.

I wondered how they felt after such an ordeal. They were lucky that they'd all

survived. There were a good few injured, but none were dead.

Reinhard took a selfie next to the dead Dragon's head. He seemed to be

treating all this pretty casually, but I could tell he was happy.

Hilde and I received a text with the photo attachment shortly afterward.

Reinhard was smiling wide in the picture, so he must've been totally overjoyed.

I immediately texted him back to congratulate him.

"Kinda funny getting a text from him when he's right there, huh? What do you

think...? Wait, Hilde?!"

I turned around and saw Hilde openly weeping at her phone. She looked up,

showing her streaming tears and runny nose.

"Sniff... My brother... Ahhh, my brother... He... Ah... He's so happy... Thank

you!"

I wanted to give her a big hug, but the crying was a little extreme. If we stayed

in the vicinity, I was sure they'd hear us.

"[Gate]!"

I opened up a portal and warped right in front of Reinhard. I figured it'd be

better to pretend we'd warped right over from Brunhild to congratulate him.

"Hilde?!"

"Brother!"

Hilde nestled her face into Reinhard's chest.

"Congratulations... You fought so hard!"

"...Thank you, Hilde."

Reinhard gently pet Hilde on the head.

The girl I looked at wasn't a knight princess, just a sister truly happy for her

brother. Hilde knew exactly how much this meant to Reinhard, so she was

legitimately proud that he'd made a childhood dream come true.

"You'll get Dragon's blood on you. You should move back a little."

"You're right..."

Hilde finally parted from her brother. I handed over a handkerchief to her and

she wiped her face.

Reinhard smiled over toward his sister, then turned to me.

"Grand Duke, if you could..."

"You want me to carry the Dragon back? No problem, I'm on it. I'll send you

all back to Lestia's capital while I'm at it."

"Thank you."

I shoved the dead Dragon into [Storage] and opened up a [Gate] back to the

castle courtyard in Lestia. When we were back, I took out the Dragon from

[Storage], taking care not to bring out the wrong one. And when I brought it

out, everyone nearby started to cheer.

Hilde and Reinhard's parents came out into the courtyard along with their

grandpa, Galen.

"Ohoho... You really did it, Reinhard."

"I did, grandfather."

The old man grinned broadly as he struck his cane against the Dragon's

corpse.

"A Gold-Copper, eh? That's quite the apex predator. Did the Grand Duke help,

I wonder?"

"No, I just carried it back. The Lestian forces are the ones that killed it."

"Is that right? Incredible work, son."

The former king patted his son on the shoulder. He laughed heartily, causing

Reinhard to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Now now, it wasn't just me. I won thanks to the support of my men."

"Mmm. Keep that spirit with you. You've truly grown as a knight today."

"Indeed!"

Hrmph... It's a touching scene, but nobody here knows his sister killed an even

bigger one earlier. Obviously, I'm not gonna say anything, though.

After the initial fuss was made, the story of Reinhard and his brave men was

made public. The entire city quickly started singing its praises of the knight king,

and the streets were packed with celebrating commoners. I was pretty

surprised by the commotion, given that I was so overpowered at this point that

I'd just hunt Dragons for their meat or whatever.

Well, at any rate, Reinhard could call himself a true Dragonslayer now. I

helped a little by grounding the Dragon, but the kill was all on the rest of them.

"The king and his men have slain a foul beast!"

"Hail the Dragonslayer!"

"All hail the king!"

Hilde and her brother stood by the gates as the townsfolk cheered.

"Wanna get your Dragonslayer title from the guild?" I whispered.

The dead Dragon was still in my [Storage]. With that and my own testimony, I

was sure she'd get the title. In retrospect, I should've just recorded a video.

"...No need. I'm happy just having that memory with you, Touya. I'm glad we

got to see my brother kill a Dragon and that he could do so safely and

brilliantly."

"Oh, I see..."

That was just like her. Hilde was that kind of person, through and through.

She didn't care about the title at all; she just wanted to make sure the second

Dragon wouldn't give her brother a hard time. She'd done it again, giving it her

all for the sake of another. Her selfless nature was one of the things I loved the

most about her.

"We should make something from the Dragon you killed to commemorate

your victory, anyway. Maybe some armor or a shield?"

"Actually, I want to stuff and mount its head as a bedroom decoration."

"Really?"

...Mounting it like a hunting trophy? Well, I guess that's alright.

"Sure... But will there be room?"

"It should be fine. I don't have much in my room."

Each of my fiancees had their own bedroom, and they were fairly large ones.

Each was decorated differently, and all had their own charm.

Linze's room had stuffed toys and sewing gear all around, while Yae's room

had tatami mats and had a more Eashenese aesthetic.

Hilde's room had swords and armor pieces in the corners, but she was pretty

space-efficient in general. It was likely that there'd be room on the walls for a

hunting trophy. It would probably be fine.

Personally, if I woke up in the middle of the room and saw a Dragon's head on

the wall, I'd probably be inclined to freak out.

"Well, that should be okay..."

"Thank you."

I was a little confused by her aesthetic taste, but it was her call at the end of

the day.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Oooh! Th-That's amazing! It's like it's really alive!"

Sue gazed up in awe at the mounted Dragon's head on the wall. Honestly, it

kind of felt like an actual Dragon was peeking its head in the room...

Doctor Babylon helped us stuff the head, but it still felt a little out of place.

"A... Ahaha... It certainly has a presence, huh...?"

"Y-Yes, it's quite something..."

Yumina and Linze looked up at it uneasily. The two of them seemed to share

my feelings on it, but quite a few of the girls were excited.

"Ooh! It is truly impressive, it is! I wish I had one too, I do!"

"Yeah, I'm a little jealous... But a Dragon head wouldn't suit my room, I think."

Yae and Elze looked up at the head with impressed smiles on their faces. I had

a feeling that the two of them would be in full support of Hilde's new

decoration.

Elze's room had a lot of surprisingly cute stuff in it, so a stuffed Dragon head

wouldn't support the aesthetic. It definitely wouldn't suit the Eashen feeling of

Yae's room, either.

"Touya-dono! I wish to hunt a Dragon as well, I do!"

"Yeah, I want in as well!"

Yae and Elze both turned toward me. I didn't really see a point... They already

had the Dragonslayer title, anyway.

"I really want to do this, I do! I would like to hunt a suitable trophy, I would!"

"Yeah! We could decorate the castle entryway!"

I wasn't really sure about that plan, since we'd probably scare any guests who

came by.

"...There's like a whole graveyard's worth of dead Dragons in my [Storage],

you know...? We can just use those if you care so much..."

"No way! That's no good at all!"

"Indeed! I want it to be the fruit of my own hunt, I do!"

I was trapped.

Aaagh, at this rate, I'm gonna have to go out Dragon hunting again... Why did

it come to this?

Despite my exasperated sigh, Hilde walked over to me and simply smiled.