“…Snow?”
“Yes, I’m alright.”
Aria-san called out to me with a curious look on her face as I continued to stare in the direction the Fire Dragon had flown off.
I was, in fact, captivated by the Fire Dragon. True, its crimson scales and the sight of it soaring with wings spread wide were breathtakingly beautiful, but that wasn’t it.
I was captivated by the sheer power gushing forth from the Fire Dragon, the fire-attribute Magical Element that I had lost… a power that seemed capable of destroying everything.
Hehe. Do I still have destructive impulses within me? Or was it simply nostalgia?
However, it’s certain that there are beings I want to destroy.
After that, we returned to the carriage and reported to Dolton-san and the others. Well, Aria-san did the reporting, but the topic of discussion was the Hero’s party’s strength. Hero Klein-san’s combat power was still unknown. Then there was the heavy warrior Douglas-san and the swordsman Nighthardt-san.
“So, does it look like the Hero’s party can defeat an Elemental Dragon?”
“Probably, I don’t think there’ll be a problem.”
Aria-san nodded, though she seemed to ponder Feld-san’s question a little.
It’s still troublesome not knowing their combat power. It’s only a rough estimate, and you can’t know their true strength until they fight, but it serves as an easy-to-understand indicator. Even so, perhaps sensing something, Aria-san thought the Heroes could hunt an Elemental Dragon without issue.
The Fire Dragon was probably over Rank 7. I heard that even the Dark Dragon, which Aria-san and the others defeated in a life-or-death battle, was only just Rank 7, and they only won because its hatred for humans kept it from taking to the skies.
Aria-san, Kitty-chan, and I defeated a Rank 7 Chimera, but that thing had almost no combat experience and, in the first place, lacked intelligence.
But the Fire Dragon is different. It has lived for many long years as an Elemental Dragon and possesses intelligence.
No one on this continent would dare to challenge it. Perhaps some did, but well, they’re probably just dead now.
“Alright, we’ll proceed with caution. About various things.”
After discussing for about half an hour, when the Hero’s party and the Temple Knights announced their departure, we too set out in our carriage at Dolton-san’s command.
Caution is necessary. Truly, about “various things”…
There’s no telling what choices those three will make.
After that, we entered the Zentol Kingdom, the country closest to the “Dragon Hunting Grounds,” without any problems. The “no problems” part was that when the Hero entered the country, no one came to greet him. Apparently, the Hero disliked the fuss, or perhaps he deliberately didn’t contact the Zentol Kingdom.
From the Zentol Kingdom’s perspective, if a Hero from the Holy Church were to come, I imagine they’d give a grand welcome and even hold a banquet.
And if they found out the Hero came to subjugate the Fire Dragon, they might even dispatch their own army to declare possession of the “Dragon Hunting Grounds” just to snatch away the credit.
That’s how much the Zentol Kingdom desires fertile grasslands. Even before entering this country, flat roads became scarce, and while there were many forests, plains suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry were clearly few.
If that was the case, they should have focused on specialty products that could grow in such land, but they chose plunder through conflict instead.
“Well, none of that really matters to me, though.”
“That’s right.”
“Aren’t you two a bit too detached?”
Jesha-san, who had taken over as coachman from Feld-san, gave Aria-san and me an exasperated look.
It’s fine. For me, anyone other than Aria-san truly doesn’t matter.
“The Hero-dono intends to head straight for the ‘Dragon Hunting Grounds,’ it seems.”
At an inn town along the way, while we were having a meal after securing lodging, Temple Knight Vincent-san appeared and told us so. Of course, our inn was separate from the Heroes’. It’s too much trouble.
Still… Vincent-san. This person is a bigwig in the Holy Church, isn’t he? Why is he doing something like running errands?
Well, he looked displeased, perhaps because he himself was reluctant. He must be fundamentally serious.
I was rather taken with this flat-baked item made from a grain called soba, so I wasn’t really listening.
Vincent-san doesn’t seem to think very highly of the Hero. To be precise, he respects the title of “Hero,” but he apparently dislikes that the one bearing the name is “Klein-san.”
As long as Klein-san has the backing of the Holy Church, he shouldn’t be able to do anything too strange while Vincent-san is watching… but Klein-san’s principles of action are so different from ours that he’s truly unpredictable.
Vincent-san looked like he wanted to say something to us, but I don’t understand what religious people think either.
A few days later, we mostly passed through the Zentol Kingdom and headed towards the vast grasslands called the “Dragon Hunting Grounds,” where the Fire Dragon was said to be.
It would take more than ten additional days from the Zentol Kingdom. There were no decent roads on the grasslands, and the carriage’s progress would slow. It was incredibly troublesome, but we didn’t mind simple meals, and being able to sleep in the carriage might be better than what the Temple Knights had.
“Snow-san.”
“Not yet.”
A toilet spell using Light Magic’s [Cleanse] isn’t something you can do easily, you know.
Still, we were better off. But, aside from the nonchalant Hero Klein-san, the Hero’s companions… especially the swordsman Nighthardt-san, who seemed to be of noble birth, looked irritated by this pointless journey.
“Klein, let’s get this over with quickly!”
“It’s not good to rush too much, you know?”
“Shut up, let’s go!”
The moment we reached our destination, Nighthardt-san, having finished his preparations alone, hurried everyone around him. Klein-san shrugged at him and glanced as if seeking agreement, but the warrior Douglas-san remained silent and sullen.
Even if I say destination, we weren’t just standing in the middle of a grassland.
The Fire Dragon’s lair is apparently on Mount Curios, and it seems the Fire Dragon only uses these Rocky Mountains as a temporary dwelling when it has hunted large prey.
If we wait here for a few days, the Fire Dragon should definitely appear… or so it was said.
“It’s here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
The air in the Rocky Mountains felt different. There were supposed to be Wyverns here besides the Fire Dragon, but we couldn’t see any.
It was as if they were cowering in fear of some immensely powerful presence…
And so, as everyone was preparing to proceed on foot, Klein-san said something abrupt.
“Well then, we will take the lead, but Aria-san. I’ll have you move to our party.”
Aria-san frowned at those words, and even Nighthardt-san turned around.
“Klein! Are you really planning to make that woman a companion?!”
“That was my intention from the start, though?”
“I have not agreed to it.”
As Nighthardt-san and Klein-san began to argue, Aria-san calmly interjected, and Klein-san smiled broadly, his eyes narrowing.
“This time, I just want you to properly prove that you can fight a dragon. If you don’t have a certain level of power, you’ll be burned to a crisp by the dragon’s breath. Are you still planning to put your comrades in front, even so?”
“………”
Dolton-san and the others weren’t weak. Still, if a breath attack was unleashed in these Rocky Mountains with no place to escape, there was a non-zero chance that everyone except the heavily armored Dolton-san would die. If strong people go to the front, it makes the rear safer, but this is like taking a hostage, isn’t it?
Aria-san surely couldn’t refuse. That’s why—
“In that case, may I participate as well?”
As I stepped forward saying that, Klein-san’s smile deepened.
“…Yes. I was planning to invite you too.”
I knew from that battle in the forest that he wouldn’t refuse my participation.
Aria-san is looking at me with a complicated expression, but I’m sorry, Aria-san. …I hate being manipulated by someone else’s intentions.
Next time, the battle with the Fire Dragon.