The Crystal Dragon

"What, you're saying the Phrase are back?!"

"That's what the eyewitnesses say, at least. One showed up in Roadmare,

apparently," Ende claimed as he shrugged and slurped his fruity water through

a straw.

Preparations for the masquerade were in full swing, so I asked Ende if it'd be

okay to postpone his wedding for a little bit. In the end, I called him and the

three brides-to-be over for a drink at the Parent Cafe.

As the three Phrase girls munched down on various treats I'd purchased as an

apology, I raised my brow due to the topic Ende had brought up.

"I thought the Phrase were all gone, though."

"Sure, in this world. But it's not like Phrasia stopped existing or anything."

The Phrase that Yula had brought to this world were corrupted by the wicked

god and turned into mutants, but I was fairly certain we'd hunted down and

exterminated the lot of them... Maybe it was a situation where a strong one

had escaped being mutated?

"Nope, I don't think so. We would've noticed if it was something like that.

Mutant or not, we'd sense it. It's probably just a misunderstanding."

The Phrase constantly emitted sounds that were imperceptible to the human

ear. However, Melle, the other Dominant Constructs, and Ende could perceive

those noises from anywhere in the world. And apparently, they couldn't hear

anything, so this crystal monster was probably just a case of mistaken identity.

"But can't that sound be hidden through special means? Isn't that what I did

to Melle's frequency?"

In order to prevent the mutants from finding Melle, I used [Prison] to confine

her core. Surely it would be possible to block off another Phrase's frequency

through similar means.

"I mean, sure, but how many people in this world can raise barriers as strong

as yours? Hell, why would a regular Phrase want to seal off its frequency,

anyway?"

"Yeah, I guess you've got a point there... It's just a little weird."

Hrmm... I'm at a loss here. Is it really just a misunderstanding? Something

feels off. If it is, though... are there even any monsters out there that resemble

the Phrase? They're pretty distinct creatures.

"I should probably run a search."

I projected a map of the world above the table and searched for "Phrase," but

there were no hits at all. Well, that wasn't exactly true. There were three hits

right next to me, but they weren't the Phrase I was looking for.

Hm... Fake news, I guess... Wait, no. If it's a fake Phrase, I won't recognize it as

a real one, so let me try that search again...

"Run search. Uh... Something resembling a Phrase...?"

"Searching... One result found."

"Oho."

This time I was right on target. It seemed it really was just a beast or monster

that resembled the crystal menace. It was in Roadmare... so presumably, that

was the one that'd been sighted.

"What're you gonna do?"

"I should probably go verify what it is. Better safe than sorry and all that jazz."

Luckily, it's pretty far from any settled areas... I'll go check it out tomorrow,

after I get permission from the doge, of course.

◇ ◇ ◇

"It's around here, I think..."

"Sure it isn't in those woods over there?"

"Or that lake, maybe?"

I stood atop a cliff with Sue and Sakura right behind me. They each gave their

opinions on where the monster might be hiding. They'd asked to tag along since

they were bored, but it wasn't like I'd come to have fun...

The mountainous region we were in was part of Roadmare's territory, but it

was quite out of the way. As such, there weren't any settlements in the area.

The information I got from the adventurer's guild said it was spotted around

here, but I couldn't see anything.

I expanded the search range on my map and zoomed it out. The most

confusing thing was that my map said it was... right there. Like, right where we

were standing. But I couldn't see a thing.

Invisibility magic, maybe?

"Sakura, can you use your vocal magic to track it, maybe?"

"I can try..." Sakura mumbled, then began to sing toward the cliff's edge.

Sakura's vocal magic would hopefully be able to figure out the location of the

enemy.

She sang for a while, but abruptly halted. Her brow raised. Perhaps she'd

found something.

"...Grand Duke, it's below us."

"Huh?"

Right after Sakura finished saying that, the cliff's edge began to crumble as if

something was emerging from below.

"Watch out!" I roared as I used [Fly], grabbing the girls just in time to keep us

from falling off the side. While floating there, I saw the creature emerge from

beneath the ground. It gleamed in the sunlight, its crystal body reflecting the

rays all around. For a split-second, I definitely thought it was a Phrase, but it

wasn't. It was a Dragon made out of pure crystal.

Sure, it certainly resembled a Phrase at face value, but I knew after taking a

good look at it that it couldn't be one. Its body was simply too different in

appearance and structure. Dominant Constructs aside, the Phrase looked

distinctly inorganic. They resembled carvings, or cut gems, as they were angular

like they'd been designed to fit a mold. However, the Dragon I was looking at

was very clearly a living organism.

So it's a Crystal Dragon, then... Wait, is that even an actual type of Dragon?

I've never heard of those.

"Luli!"

"...You called, my lord? Ah... Hm?"

I called on Luli in her blue baby form. Right after addressing me, she cast an

inquisitive glance over at the Crystal Dragon.

"Is this one of yours?"

"It's not. It doesn't fall under my species' domain. It's similar in form, but it

has no life to it," Luli proclaimed, sounding almost disgusted as she looked

down at the crystal creature. What did she mean about it having no life?

"She's right, Grand Duke... It's like it's lifeless... There's no breath nor

heartbeat..." Sakura, who was tucked under my arm, spoke quietly.

"Wait, huh?"

Like it's lifeless? So wait, it's not a crystal creature, then...

"That's right, my lord. It's a magical construct akin to a Golem or Gargoyle.

Likely a familiar constructed by a sorcerer from ancient times. It may look

similar to my kind, but it's far different from my grand and noble species. That

much I can assure you."

A familiar... So it's an artificial lifeform constructed out of magic, then.

Luli mentioned Golems, and they were definitely the most common example

found across the world. There were also fake treasure chest monsters called

Mimics.

Thankfully, it wasn't a Phrase, but what was a familiar doing out in the open?

They were usually conjured up by humans (or demi-human species like elves)

and made to follow extremely specific directives, obeying the last order given.

The most obvious examples were Gargoyles who acted as gatekeepers and

Golems that guarded ancient ruins. They usually followed ancient orders like

"protect this treasure" or "kill any intruders." Bearing that in mind, I could only

conclude that this Crystal Dragon was following orders of some kind.

"Is it guarding something, maybe...?"

"It might be! Maybe someone broke in someplace and activated it?"

Sakura and Sue were already hypothesizing the same thing, it seemed.

"————————!"

"Gh... [Teleport]!"

The Crystal Dragon opened its maw and launched a shock wave in our

direction. Right before it hit us, I used [Teleport] to move us all out of the way.

A large boulder behind us crumbled apart. It clearly viewed us as enemies... or

even trespassers.

"My lord. Please leave this to me."

"Uh... Sure... I guess?"

"My thanks to you."

After gaining my permission, Luli transformed into her full-sized sapphire

form. Thus, the stage was set. Dragon vs Dragon... even if only one of them was

actually a Dragon.

"If you must hold a grudge, then hold one against your creator for giving you

such a maligned form!" Luli bellowed loudly, seemingly enraged.

Ugh... I know you're mad at that thing, but please dial down the volume.

The Crystal Dragon was completely fearless in the face of Luli's roar. Given

that it was basically like a robot, that wasn't too surprising.

The familiar's mouth opened wide, preparing to launch another shock wave.

Luli didn't move at all, tanking the attack head-on. A massive crashing sound

rang out as the blast slammed into her body, but she was completely

unscathed.

"Pathetic. Even Kohaku's attacks are stronger than that. You dare imitate a

Dragon with such pitiful strength?"

Damn, she's really mad... Maybe I shouldn't have summoned her. She's pretty

quick to get heated, too. Though, given that she spends most of her time

bickering with Kohaku, I shouldn't be surprised. She's extremely proud at heart. I

bet she's insulted that something like this has the shape of a Dragon... I should

probably warn Doc Babylon and Elluka not to make any Dragon-shaped

Gollems. The Dragoon's probably safe since it's not a Dragon... right?

Apparently, the Crystal Dragon wasn't deterred, as it launched three or four

more shock waves. Luli tanked all of those hits head-on once more. I wondered

if she was okay... Why was she holding back so much? The only sound for miles

around was the thudding crash of blast after blast striking Luli.

"...Pathetic!"

Oh, she snapped.

Just as the Crystal Dragon geared up for further attacks, Luli spewed a deluge

of blue flames from her mouth.

"————————!"

In a matter of seconds, the Crystal Dragon's upper body melted like glass.

Only the construct's lower body remained, flailing around aimlessly without its

upper portion. Eventually, it collapsed completely.

Holy shit. I was kind of planning to power it down and bring it back for Doc

Babylon, but it just got blasted to hell. Maybe she'd still like the bottom half?

Satisfied with the damage she'd inflicted, Luli returning to her miniature form.

"I won't make Luli angry if I can avoid it..." Sue couldn't help but mutter those

words to herself.

Before the heat spread to the nearby woodland, I used [Storage] to stash the

Crystal Dragon's lower half. Being responsible for a forest fire was not

something I wanted added to my list of crimes against nature, after all.

"Well, that takes care of the fake Phrase. Though, if this thing was a

gatekeeper or guard, maybe there's some ancient dungeon or ruins around

here..."

It'd probably be easy to find something like that by firing up [Search].

"Grand Duke, look..." Sakura said as she pointed toward a little outcropping in

the cliff face.

"Hm?"

It was mostly just crumbling rock, but I could see some kind of man-made

gate a little further in the crevice. It'd been long obscured by rockfalls and other

such natural blockages, only being finally exposed now. That was probably what

the Crystal Dragon had been guarding... Maybe it was some kind of dungeon. If

that was the case, I'd need to inform the doge right away.

Dungeons made good national attractions, after all. I'd been permitted to

hunt the Crystal Dragon, but I wasn't allowed to perform any archaeological

searches within Roadmare's territory... But then again, there was no guarantee

this was a dungeon.

I flew down toward the entrance and found bodies. Fresh ones, even. They

were probably people who'd found the place, accidentally awakening the

Crystal Dragon in the process. I dug a small hole with Earth magic and buried

them in it.

"It's huge... Did someone hollow out the mountain, maybe?"

Sue's words made me glance up at the entrance. It was less like a gateway

and more like the entrance to a great stone temple. Some ruins back on Earth

looked similar... If I remembered right, it was called Petra.

I cast [Light Orb] and headed into the structure. We passed through a straight

passage and eventually came out into an open hallway. The orb of light

illuminated the room, prompting Sakura and Sue to gasp out in surprise.

The room was filled with statues of all shapes and sizes. An armored warrior,

a woman in a fancy dress, a pegasus with spread wings, a wolf mid-leap, and a

nude woman on her side. And all the statues were carved from shining crystals.

Perhaps because protective magic had been cast on them, not a single statue

had lost its luster. They all looked brand new. The sight was like something out

of a dream, resulting in us standing there transfixed in the dark for a while.

"What is this, a museum? Or maybe a private workshop."

"Wow... It's like they're alive..."

Sakura's words startled me a little, since it made me consider the possibility

that these were familiars or magical constructs like the Crystal Dragon. I walked

over to the statue of a little dog, then activated [Analyze] to be on the safe side.

There was no magical flow in any of them, which confirmed that they were

simply carvings.

They were certainly the work of exquisite craftsmanship, though. It was as if

people and creatures had simply become crystal themselves. The statue of the

nude woman was especially realistic... Her breasts, for example, sagged in a way

that was consistent with gravity. They were quite large, too...

As I stood there, admiring the statue of the woman, I felt two piercing gazes

bear down on me from behind.

"...Tsk. Some nerve you have, ogling some naked statue when you've got two

of your wives right here, Touya."

"...I hope you're not comparing our sizes, Grand Duke... Or do you want to

cause a family argument...?"

"N-No, wait! Sorry!"

I felt scared after hearing the two of them, so I immediately backed off. I

didn't want them saying anything to the other girls and causing some kind of

weird misunderstanding... If I could put out a fire while it was still an ember,

that was the best course of action. Fortunately, they seemed to accept my

apology, so my ears remained un-nagged.

"There's a lot of them, huh? You gonna bring them all back, Touya?"

"Nah, I'll just report the discovery to Roadmare. I don't think it'd be right to

just take the stuff without asking."

If this was some sort of ancient Roadmarian treasure trove, it'd be morally

wrong for me to plunder it. A nation's cultural heritage belonged to them, and

them alone, after all.

It was possible they'd reward me for finding it, though, which seemed like a

fine alternative. In any case, for the time being, I decided to message the

government of Roadmare. I had to report what happened to the Crystal Dragon

too.

I whipped out my phone and called up the Doge.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Oho! What an incredible find! I never thought we'd uncover so many of

Reginabyln's great works! What a miracle!"

The doge of Roadmare seemed awash with excitement. In fact, it was a little

unnerving how amazed she was. I didn't really get why it was such a big deal.

Upon seeing my confused expression, the doge decided to explain the

situation to me.

"Reginabyln is a great genius from the past. They were an artist, an alchemist,

an accomplished professor of magic, and a true prodigy. Very few of their works

survived to the modern-day, so those that have are tremendously valuable!"

Huh? So what, this person was like Leonardo da Vinci? I guess we've got a

genius like that in the modern era, but she's an awful pervert...

"So then, how much is this stuff worth?"

"Honestly, I'm unsure. Perhaps its weight in orichalcum?"

Wait, what?! That's way more expensive than I thought! Maybe if I find a

large enough crystal, I could try crafting something with [Modeling] myself...?

I'm not much of an artist, though.

"They would certainly fetch a high amount on auction. But... they're works of

art. Cultural treasures! We can't simply sell this collection off. If possible, I'd

prefer to display it in a museum here in Roadmare."

The doge seemed quite passionate about the subject. Typically, adventurers

owned anything they found while out on a mission, but plundering cultural

treasures from ruins in a country's borders was probably a little much...

Archaeological sites and ruins were under the jurisdiction of the country they

were found in, so a person would, at most, get a finder's fee.

Technically, it was possible to just sneak off with the treasure, but that would

make you look like a huge asshole. You'd also probably make yourself a known

enemy of whatever country you decided to steal from. It was just sort of a big

unspoken rule among adventurers, like how you needed permission to enter a

specific country's dungeon and earn its spoils. Other adventurers would

probably view you negatively, too, so the trade-off usually wasn't worth the

potential gain.

Under most circumstances, when I came across stuff like this, I just negotiated

my way into getting something I could make better use of. Artifacts or weapons

were more valuable to me than statues, anyway. I personally didn't have much

of an eye for art, so I didn't care enough to claim it even if it was some great

stuff.

"I'm perfectly fine with donating the find to Roadmare."

"Thank you so much!"

In the end, the Roadmarian government gave me a ton of money, I couldn't

believe the statues were worth that much... I didn't understand art at all, but if

people wanted to spend crazy amounts of money on sculptures, more power to

them.

All that said, it was a nice little cash bonus for me and Brunhild. And so, I

headed home with my newfound riches.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Oh, Reginabyln? You must mean Doctor Babylon's pseudonym. She only

used that name for a little while, but it seems to have stood the test of time

longer than her real one."

"Wait, what?!"

I was explaining the day's events over dinner when Cesca, who was halfway

through pouring some tea, shocked the hell out of me with her casual

commentary.

"Wait... Wait... Then that crystal stuff was made by Doc Babylon?"

"Crystal...? Oh, yes! She was quite into that material for a while. It only lasted

about a week, as I recall. She's a woman of many tastes, and she often gets very

distracted. I think her crystal workshop's probably out there somewhere..."

Reginabyln. Regina Babylon. The names certainly were similar... But that

meant the Crystal Dragon was created by her, too.

"She seriously made art, too?"

"Back in Partheno, she was considered a jack-of-all-trades."

Seriously? Is there anything she can't do? This is a little much. I guess there's a

fine line between genius and insanity... Though in her case, maybe it's

perversion and genius.

"Then doesn't that mean all those statues belong to Touya? Doctor Babylon's

his property, right?"

"Hey, don't say something so ridiculous, Sue..." I quickly brushed off the girl's

comment.

It was true that Doc Babylon was a gynoid and part of the Babylon Numbers

like Cesca, and I was their master, but, well... I wasn't exactly going to tell the

doge of Roadmare something like that. It wasn't a huge deal anyway, and if her

art made some people happy, that was fine. Yumina lifted a cup of tea, sipped

it, and then spoke up.

"What will you do with the money you received, then?"

"I was thinking of dividing it into bonuses for everyone in the knight order."

"Bonus? Like an extra payment?"

...Yeah, basically.

I'd given bonuses to the knights a few times before. The knight order was

funded solely by me, rather than the state, so it made sense to pay them out

this way.

Sometimes, when I came into an unexpected windfall of cash, I'd just give it

out to the people who worked for Brunhild. It'd been a while since I paid out

the last one, so this seemed like the right time.

"I don't think we should just hand them money for nothing. Why don't we

give them some kind of incentive, instead? Or use it to pay for a prize of some

sorts?" Moroha raised her brow as she spoke across the table. I wondered what

she meant by prize.

"We could host a tournament, then give out prizes to the top contenders. Or

perhaps we could give the money out to knights who've served Brunhild the

best in recent weeks."

That sounds like a pretty fun idea, actually. It might help motivate them, too.

Hmm... I do have a lot of cash to spare, so why not do both? It might be good to

float the message that if you work hard, you'll be duly rewarded. Now, how to

go about this...?

◇ ◇ ◇

"Hmm? Crystals? I don't remember anything like that..."

"You don't?"

The next morning, I spoke to Regina Babylon, AKA Reginabyln, about what I'd

found.

"Ahhh... Haaah... D-Don't you remember, Doctor? You even made a Crystal

Dragon to guard the place, mhhh..."

"A Crystal Dragon, you say...? Oh... Ohhh... I totally forgot about those."

Tica, the gynoid assigned to the research laboratory, jogged the doc's

memories.

"That's right! At the time, there were a lot of Phrase sightings, so I started

dabbling with a little crystal crafting of my own."

"Oh, so the sight of them inspired you to make your own?"

I was a little surprised by that revelation.

"Indeed. But as the Phrase sightings became more synonymous with death

and destruction, I decided that the crystal constructs were in poor taste. And

so, I ended up having the facility condemned. Where was it located again?"

"Mfh... Haaah... It should be facility twenty-six... It's... ahhh... around where

Roadmare is now, as I recall..." Tica stated. That was right where I'd discovered

it.

Apparently it got sealed away, and she'd forgotten all about the sculptures by

the time she started working on the floating islands project.

"You don't need those statues for anything, do you?" I'd already sold the

statues to Roadmare, so there was no point asking, but I hoped for a favorable

answer.

"Nope. They were just a side project to kill time."

...Being remembered as a renowned artist for your side projects is pretty

amazing, Doc. Wait, if I ask her to make some new ones I can pretend I found

more and make a killing...

"I'm not interested in making more, either. It'd be a waste of time massproducing something solely for aesthetic purposes. I don't consider them worth

the effort."

I knew a lot of people considered the statues worth their time, but apparently

the artist disagreed. The mental image of a sculptor smashing his half-finished

vase into the ground out of dissatisfaction flashed through my mind. This was

fine, though. I had a feeling people would get suspicious if I suddenly found a

ton of priceless antique artworks. It'd be in my best interests not to invoke that

kind of scrutiny.

I left Babylon and headed to the Brunhild training grounds. All our knights

were there, except those assigned to guard duty or patrol. When Lain, the

leader of the knights, told everyone about the upcoming bonus, they just about

jumped for joy.

I was happy to hear them so excited, but part of it felt a little backhanded, like

I wasn't paying them enough regularly or something...

Maybe Brunhild paid a bit less than the knight orders of other countries, but

still...

"Now then, we'll be hosting a tournament with a special cash reward! Are you

all ready?!"

The knights cheered to the heavens, raising their fists with joy as Moroha

gave the announcement. They all seemed really fired up.

"But I think we should make it a little more interesting, no? Let's divide the

tournament into various categories. That'll allow your different strengths to

shine. Some can throw better, some can dodge better, some have more

endurance, and some are better at getting past obstacles... Whoever comes in

first place in these categories will receive a prize from Touya! Do well enough

and you may even qualify for multiple prizes!"

That makes sense. Some might not excel just at swordplay, so turning it into a

more general athletic meet gives everyone a chance to win. I like that.

In the end, we threw in an obstacle course and a bread-eating competition as

well. That way the paper-pushing members of the knight order had a chance as

well. We also decided to split everyone up into two teams, east and west. The

team that earned the most points would get a collective prize, which allowed us

to have both team-based and individual events... But it also meant I'd be paying

out a lot more than initially intended... Whoops.

"Alright! Time for the race! Those who want to participate, line up!"

This race was initially a simple one-hundred-meter dash. But since there were

so many participants, we decided to set it up like a relay instead.

"Hey, Touya? Shouldn't we make this an event for the townsfolk to watch?

They had stuff like this in your homeworld, right?" Sue, who was idly watching

by my side, made a small suggestion. She was referring to a track and field

event we'd watched on TV during our honeymoon. This was a little different,

but similar in principle. She had a point. Athletic events were more exciting with

spectators, so I'd definitely consider it.

I asked Sakura to make Mr. Mittens and his friends go around town telling

people about it. A few people ended up wandering over, and by the time the

race finished, there was quite a large crowd.

The second event was an egg-and-spoon race, which was one of those novelty

races where you had to balance a boiled egg on a spoon and beat everyone

else.

The crowd went wild, cheering whenever a knight dropped or picked up his

egg. It was surprisingly engaging.

"It's nice doing this every once in a while, huh?"

"Hm... I wish I could participate in this, I do."

Elze and Yae looked on with slight envy. I had to stop them from joining in.

Otherwise, I'd definitely just win all my money back.

I started to wonder if it'd be a good idea to host this kind of event on a more

regular basis. It'd be a good way for everyone to take a load off. Plus, making it

a public attraction could be good for tourism. Though, if I had to give out prizes

every single time, I'd probably drain my coffers pretty quick.

Well, maybe we'll try this again next time I have a little extra pocket change.