REFDL 45

Yuram was still agonizing over it.

…Should he tell Kaelus that he was the person from that night, or not?

[…….]

‘I’m going crazy.’

Not telling him was despicable, but telling him…… was terrifying.

‘No. Seriously.’

The problem was hearing about Kaelus’s past.

How could you tell a dragon-hater who’d rampage about wiping out all dragons in the world, and still make people go, ‘Yeah, you get a pass,’ that ‘You actually slept with a dragon’?

‘Is this some new method of suicide?!’

If he hadn’t known, he might have at least tried to bring it up…

‘Or maybe not?’

Maybe the reason he was still alive was because he’d instinctively held back……?

“……”

Yeah.

That’s right.

If he had said it, he wouldn’t be in this world anymore.

No matter how hard he tried to think positively, he kept picturing Kaelus swinging his sword at him with a look of contempt.

Creepy!

In the end, Yuram endured the pangs of conscience to survive, avoiding Kaelus, while Kaelus led the extermination force and left the imperial capital.

Yuram didn’t know.

A few days later.

‘Even if I avoided him, how could he be completely nowhere to be seen?’

Only after belatedly feeling confused and asking Donon did Yuram learn of Kaelus’s whereabouts.

[?!]

Yuram was shocked.

[How could he? To me. Without a word!]

And he felt hurt.

[Did he not even feel the need to tell me…?]

Ah, or maybe…

‘Did he find out?!’

His lower body trembled, but upon calm reflection, that seemed unlikely. If that were the case…

‘He would have cut me down before leaving.’

Regardless, it was true that Kaelus had departed without a word.

Yuram slumped, defeated.

He looked drained of all energy and will.

Donon panicked. A flustered servant tried to comfort the heartbroken dragon.

“He… he probably did it because he was worried you’d be concerned! Lord Yuram is still young, after all…!”

Kya…

“……”

The effect was minimal.

‘Could it be that I was the one who misunderstood?’

To Kaelus, that night’s events meant nothing. That’s why he left the search entirely to the Emperor and went off to block the Monster Wave as if nothing had happened.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

[I have no appetite.]

Doonon broke out in a cold sweat.

It was only because they’d lived together and grown accustomed to each other; this dragon was a precious being.

He was a Kremlis dragon, the focus of the empire’s attention, even drawing the emperor’s personal concern.

Especially since his appearance at the banquet hall on the first day of the birthday celebration. That interest was skyrocketing without limit.

But if he were to get sickly from starvation, or if something terrible happened… whose responsibility would that be?

“I’ll fetch Lord Nitan.”

Donon made a quick decision.

And Nitan arrived.

Nitan had remained in the capital to lead the second subjugation force. Upon checking the dragon’s condition, Nitan couldn’t hide his unease. This was because Kaelus, who had departed first, had also left instructions regarding this dragon.

‘He’s an unpredictable creature. Keep a close watch on him.’

‘And……’

‘Now that he’s reached his sub-adult stage, if possible, start looking for his vessel.’

The timing for a ‘vessel’ to manifest differed for each dragon. It usually varied by species, though this wasn’t absolute either.

In any case, to confirm it, the dragon needed to be in his original form, so the training sessions were the best opportunity.

Kyaa……

“……”

Depressed, the Kremlis refused even training.

“Lord Yuram. Look here. Isn’t this fun?”

Nitan waved the stick toy the Kremlis usually went crazy for. His pupils darted around. But he soon turned his head away, burying it between his front paws.

……Nitan grasped the gravity of the situation.

‘This isn’t about the vessel……!’

He finally resorted to his last resort.

“We’re here!”

He had secretly brought the Forest Village trio from the Academy.

During the semester. Leaving during class was impossible without an extraordinary reason, but…….

‘Here, this is the order bearing His Majesty’s seal.’

The headmaster repeatedly took off and put on his monocle. The teacher in charge, hands trembling, accepted the order.

And to obtain the emperor’s seal, the phrase ‘The Kremlis Dragon isn’t eating’ was all it took.

Grrr!

The effect was tremendous.

The Kremlis, who had been slumped like wet laundry, perked up slightly.

The children drove the adults out and took up residence inside the greenhouse.

Except when sleeping, they holed up in the greenhouse all day, scheming and plotting, or snuck out with Yuram to explore the market.

There were several tense moments where they nearly got caught, but ultimately, they weren’t discovered.

Thus, every three or four days, the children’s visits to the mansion continued.

Yuram had fully recovered, and Nitan breathed a sigh of relief.

Kyaaa!

“……?!”

The people guarding outside the greenhouse exchanged glances. They opened the unlocked greenhouse door and rushed inside.

“What’s going on!”

“……Nothing!”

“We were playing tag, and Yuram got caught. He must have been really startled!”

“…….”

Kyu…

The dragon stiffly nodded.

Something was amiss.

But he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Even when he questioned them, they only repeated their initial answer.

Nitan reluctantly let it go.

…Truthfully, he didn’t have the mental energy or time to spare for this right now.

The capital was currently in a state of high alert.

It was due to the urgent report that had arrived just a few days ago.

“…….”

Nitan, his expression changed, signaled to the people in the mansion and the professional breeders waiting outside the greenhouse. They too nodded stiffly.

Nitan quietly slipped out of the mansion and headed toward the knights’s headquarters.

* * *

“Hey! That’s not yours! All the weapons are in that carriage over there!”

“……We’re short on crossbows. Not just one or two, but over ten are missing. If they went to another knight order, that’d be fine, but…….”

“Huh? Vice Captain!”

“Vice Captain, you’re here?”

Nitan gave a nod. The knights returned the greeting before going back to their tasks. Only a few left their posts to approach Nitan.

It was the Second Knight Order’ Vice Captain.

“What happened?”

The vice captain swallowed his frustration before answering Nitan’s question.

“…Apparently, the Council hasn’t given its approval yet.”

“……”

Nitan clenched his fist.

It wasn’t that approval hadn’t been granted. It was that the outcome hadn’t been decided.

Tortan was fighting fiercely against those complacent noble bastards. Nitan grew impatient.

‘I know he’s fighting his hardest.’

……Please, just a little faster. Your Majesty.

“Well, is there really a need to wait?”

“Exactly! If we still don’t have a conclusion tomorrow, let’s just go rescue the Captain ourselves!!”

Nitan massaged his forehead, giving them a look that said, Why are you guys doing this too?

“……If it’s just us, we could go right now.”

As always, the second subjugation force was ready.

The problem was its scale.

“Isn’t this whole situation because we know we can’t handle it alone?”

“Ah, what? Are you really worrying about that?!”

“They’re just monsters. No matter how much they struggle, they’re nothing compared to our mighty Miota!”

Watching the knight proudly proclaim the name of his partner dragon, Nitan did his best not to look exasperated.

…Did the dragon knights who went first just go in naked?

He wanted to say that aloud, but he held back.

Because he knew they weren’t speaking that way out of ignorance.

When a Monster Wave approaches, the first subjugation force always deploys the absolute elite.

Regular knights.

Dragon knights.

Soldiers and mercenaries alike.

It meant deploying the top-ranked individuals from each field first.

‘Because they must be taken down early.’

A Monster Wave was, literally, a phenomenon where monsters surged in like a tidal wave. Therefore, initial response was crucial.

“…….”

Upon receiving the northern fortress Lord’s report that the Sea of Trees’ movements were unusual, Tortan sent more troops than the previous wave, even if it meant stretching resources thin.

Even so, they were overwhelmed by the monsters and ended up completely isolated within the fortress.

Nitan was frankly skeptical.

Even if the second subjugation force went north, could they truly resolve the current situation?

‘Unless accompanied by military strength capable of completely reversing the situation, bordering on the miraculous…’