Episode 21

When I couldn’t give any answer, he lowered his eyes.

“Since yesterday, you’ve been speaking of death strangely easily. What is the reason? Did someone tell you that you are fated to die?”

“No…… uh…….”

How could I possibly say that, in truth, I wasn’t a person of this world, nor was I Rene Blair…… and that I had come here after seeing Rene Blair die in another world?

Unable to agree with him, yet unable to deny it either, I gave a vague answer, and he narrowed his eyes.

“Or could it be that you, too…….”

For all the meaningful weight in his words, he did not properly continue. After waiting for what he would say next, I lost patience and urged him on.

“Could it be what?”

“……It’s nothing. In any case, you won’t die today. Yesterday has already passed, after all.”

Huh? Yesterday has passed? After muttering something I couldn’t understand, he rose from his seat without explaining further.

“Don’t be stubborn. Run. Subduing a half-dragon is easier than slaying a dragon. I understand what you are worried about, my lady, but…….”

“…….”

“Now, hurry.”

In the end, I nodded. Thinking about it, if I ignored Sion’s words and stayed here, it would only amount to dismissing them, dragon slayers though they were.

I was still terrified of entering the banquet hall, but I had no choice but to trust them. And so, I forced my reluctant feet to move.

More importantly, what on earth was the sudden mission? Naturally, questions arose about a mission that had never appeared even once until now. What mattered was that I had no intention of carrying out any mission like that.

Then I would certainly receive a penalty, but…… I’d think about that later. For now, if only something could be done about “that,” and everyone could be safe, I felt as though I would gladly accept any penalty.

I quickened my pace. Just then, the ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had suddenly struck.

“Wh-what…….”

And not long after, something rose up exactly in front of my feet.

I was so startled that words wouldn’t come out properly. All I could do was stare blankly like an idiot as something black shot upward.

What is this?

Something like a pitch-black curtain whose depth I couldn’t fathom rose toward the sky, until at last it covered the heavens like a dome.

“Kahahaha!”

The half-dragon’s booming laughter struck my ears. Whether he laughed or not, I trusted the two of them, so I didn’t look back and placed my hand against the black something.

‘Good heavens, it’s a wall.’

No matter how much I pushed or struck it, it didn’t budge.

‘No. If a wall like this appears, I can’t run away!’

It was obvious who had done this. Without hiding the irritation that had risen to the top of my head, I whipped around and saw the half-dragon cackling in a hunched posture, keeping his distance from Daiwen.

“You mustn’t run away, hm? After I kill these two bastards, I’m going to take you with me.”

Me? He was going to take me? Why? Why me?

My eyes widened at the sudden words, and then I heard a voice tinged with mockery.

“By ‘two bastards,’ do you mean me and this guy?”

Daiwen, whose face looked nearly dead, pointed at Sion with his thumb and laughed. As if he truly were in pain, his complexion grew worse with each passing moment.

Daiwen rested his sword on his shoulder and tilted his head to the side.

“Aren’t you a little too full of yourself? From the looks of it, you’re like a Black Serpent Dragon. Do you know that, among all the dragons we killed, killing you was the easiest?”

Good heavens.

As if he had lost his mind, he provoked the half-dragon. As a result, the killing intent spreading through the air once again pressed heavily against my skin.

“You’d better shut your mouth…….”

“I can’t do that. My mouth is the third-best thing I have for running wild.”

“Shut up!”

“The Black Serpent Dragon was famous, too. What was it again? They said you’d die just by meeting its eyes? But once we actually faced it, it didn’t even take a quarter of the time it took to kill the other dragons.”

“You…… You worthless worm…….”

The half-dragon bared his teeth. As his pointed teeth were hideously revealed, the black scales covering his skin stood out even more. No, it would be more accurate to say they grew a little larger.

The half-dragon, who had been so full of rage that his body trembled, suddenly stilled as if he had been doused with cold water.

At that moment, through the hopelessly rough strands of his hair, I saw the dragon’s eyes gleaming with an uncanny light. Black sclera, chilling gray irises, and long pupils dilated without end.

It was just when I instinctively thought it was dangerous. With a bang, the half-dragon charged at Daiwen.

It was a confrontation difficult to follow with the eyes. All I could tell was that Daiwen was dodging every which way quite well.

‘Why did he provoke him so much? What if he gets stabbed like that…….’

Just as I clenched both hands, damp with sweat from anxiousness, Sion, who had been watching the situation nearby, flinched and then charged toward the two of them.

At the same time, the half-dragon tried to stab Daiwen in the chest with his sword, and Daiwen dodged as smoothly as flowing water. Then he raised his sword overhead.

“It was nice seeing you again, but let’s not meet another time, shall we?”

Even though his face had gone deathly pale, and he was even sweating like mad.

Without losing his composure to the very end, he threw out one last remark to get under the half-dragon’s skin, then brought his sword down as it was.

His thin sword collided with the half-dragon’s arm, the one gripping the sword. Perhaps because of the scales, a sharp metallic clang rang out…….

The sword broke in two.

“Huh?”

Daiwen’s dumbfounded voice pierced my ears. I, too, let out a dumbfounded sound.

“Huh?”

In that instant, the half-dragon twisted his body, grinning once more as though his mouth would split open, and shouted thunderously.

“I’m the one who gives the final farewell, you trash!”

The half-dragon swung his sword at Daiwen.

* * *

The fierce energy that had been ominously pricking at Reuden since earlier grew even stronger as the ground shook. That murderous energy was something Reuden knew as well.

The moment he realized something unusual was happening outside the banquet hall, he stopped speaking with the noble and went outside.

And what unfolded before his eyes was a black hemisphere spread across the garden. As though it had swallowed the entire garden whole, the hemisphere’s presence was sinister.

“Wh-what is this?”

One of the knights of the Hugo Order who had come out with Reuden muttered in a shocked tone. Reuden immediately closed the banquet hall doors. He could not let ordinary people see this.

“W-we’re in trouble! Count Sirius…….”

A man who appeared clutching an arm streaming with blood shouted urgently. A knight with small scars on his face—that knight was Hazard, who had obeyed Daiwen’s order just moments ago and dragged Count Sirius away.

Upon seeing Reuden, Hazard made a slightly flustered expression, then began rambling with a face that seemed unable to grasp where to begin explaining.

“Th-that is called a dragon subspace…….”

“I know that much.”

Reuden muttered lowly and, with an indifferent air, grabbed the knight’s arm and pulled it upward.

“Keep your arm raised like that so no more blood flows out.”

“If you could use healing magic…….”

“I don’t use magic carelessly. Besides, it isn’t such a serious wound, is it?”

Reuden flatly refused, then asked what in the world had happened. Hazard began to explain while dutifully keeping his arm raised.

“I was taking Count Sirius to the carriage, but he suddenly went berserk like a madman and snatched the staff away.”

“Hmm…….”

“And then he became a half-dragon and attacked me……. Ah, a half-dragon is, you see.”

“Do you take me for an idiot? I know that much.”

Unlike usual, Reuden spoke harshly and cut him off coldly, then turned his gaze back to the hemisphere. What he had feared had finally happened.

“Where are Sir Fergus and Sir Glass?”

“Th-that, I don’t really know either…….”

“You, summon all the Hugo Knights just in case. Make sure no one else knows.”

“Yes!”

The knight who had followed Riden out answered swiftly and went back inside. Hezard, who had been furtively lowering his arm, blinked.

“Then what should I…….”

“What can you do in your injured state? Just keep that arm raised.”

“Ah, yes…….”

Hezard raised his arm again, and the moment Riden confirmed the banquet hall door was firmly shut, he unfolded a magic circle. A large blue pattern was etched beneath his feet, radiating light as it slowly rotated.

As Riden muttered something atop it, a thick book appeared in his hands with a *poof*.

*Fwoosh*—though no wind blew, the pages turned on their own and stopped. Riden fixed his gaze on the opened page and muttered once more.

A magical phenomenon occurred. The moment his muttering ceased, the pattern slowly spinning beneath his feet burst into particles with a sharp crack, rising into the air.

Hezard had never seen such magic and blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend the situation.

The blue light particles seemed to hover in the air for a moment before diffusing and spreading through the atmosphere. It was a detection spell.

It was high-level magic that allowed one to sense what was where through particles scattered in the air. Riden silently looked down, then clicked his tongue.

“There are three collapsed near the subspace. Inside are three. Two are knights, and one is…….”

“Th-the Commander is in there? Then it will be over quickly. It’s not even a dragon, so a half-dragon should be easy to…….”

Riden looked ahead with shocked eyes. Hezard’s cursing from beside him seemed to fall on deaf ears. He simply manipulated the particles with an unbelievable, delicate gesture.

The particles dispersed in the air allowed one to feel what was where, not see it. Sensing the outline of yet another individual the particles indicated, Riden squeezed his eyes shut.

Curly hair, a familiar build. With only those two things, he knew who it was.

“This damned sister of mine…….”

It was none other than his younger sister.

The moment he realized this, Riden immediately deployed another magic. It was teleportation magic. He intended to teleport into the subspace and bring his sister out.

But for some reason, the magic did not work. Only then did Riden recall a piece of knowledge he had learned at the Magic Tower in his youth.

That teleportation magic would not work when trying to enter a subspace.

Uncharacteristically flustered, Riden whipped his head around to look at Hezard. Hezard, who had been chattering excitedly, flinched at that sharp turn.

“How long does it usually take knights to subdue a half-dragon?”

“Uh, not long. At most…… Ah!”

Hezard, who had been answering reflexively, suddenly let out a groan. Riden quietly furrowed his brow.

“Now that I think about it, today the Commanders…… the Commanders didn’t bring their swords. To attend the banquet, both of them took ornamental swords…….”

“Is that a problem?”

“Ornamental swords aren’t made for fighting. They’ll break at the slightest touch……. Of course, if the Commanders envelop them in sword aura, it should be fine, but…….”

“A knight didn’t bring his sword?”

“W-well, it couldn’t be helped. If they’d attended the banquet carrying such swords, they would have been a nuisance to everyone around them instead……. I-it’s not the Commanders’ fault. I’m the one who told them not to bring them……. B-but it’ll be fine! Our Commanders aren’t the type to obsess over weapon types! They are geniuses!”

Hezard was confident that it would be fine, but there was no way such words registered in Riden’s ears. Riden’s greatest concern right now was not how much of a genius the two knights were, but how quickly they could subdue the half-dragon.

Riden sighed as if his head ached and covered his forehead. Then he spoke irritably to Hezard, who was still diligently defending the Commander and Vice-Commander of the Hugo Knights with his arm raised.

“Guide me. To where those swords are.”

If there were no swords, he simply had to bring them some.